Swan set the final neural net. It had taken twelve
hours to construct
the final network of paths in which Kitt would reside for
three or maybe
four days. She knew Nicholas and Karr, knew the link
that bound them
together and understood that Michael and Kitt shared the
same bond.
She had promised, sworn on her soul that Kitt was
perfectly safe, that
she realised what they meant to one another.
Michael promised her that she had no idea what they were
to one another.
�I�m ready.�
She turned, rubbing her eyes, gazing at the two computers
before her.
And at her own creation. The android had been
modelled on her brother.
Jez was dead now. But the android reminded her of
him from the outside.
At the lab her project was known as �Jez�. Here, she
hadn�t spoken
of the �droid in that manner. Because here, for just
under a week,
he would be Kitt. And Kitt to them was as human as
Jez was to her.
�I will inform Kitt.� Karr went quiet while the
silent communication
between the AIs happened.
�they are ready�
�karr are you sure this is safe?�
�yes. i will be here, i won�t leave you. i will make sure
they return
you as soon as possible�
�thank you for everything�
�anytime� �brother�
Nicholas watched. Michael fidgeted. Kitt
moved down the
physical channel between Karr�s CPU and the neural nets of
the android�s
brain, invisible to all but Karr who used his own energy
to keep Kitt linked
into his own CPU. He kept that up while Kitt settled
into his new
�home�. He kept it up until Bonnie and Swan had
moved the memory
over into the �head� of the android. He kept it up
until the download
of data was completed from disks to disks.
And then he let go.
Nicholas was there to catch him when Kitt finally left
his CPU.
Like Michael so many hours before, he was left with a
feeling of emptiness
and desolation that took him back to the agonising years
in the Knight
Industries warehouse.
<I�m here, you�re not alone. Never
alone> Very rarely
did Nicholas have to offer this level of comfort.
Karr was as independent,
as private, as introverted as himself when it came to
emotions. But
at this moment he was vulnerable.
<He was so scared, Nicholas. After the attack, he
told me
he had no choice but to go to Knight. He knew it
would hurt his partner
but he had had no choice>
<I know. He will be okay>
<I�ve lost the link to him, so has Knight. He�s
alone, Nicholas.
When was he last alone?>
*
Five feet, nine inches tall.
Short, sandy brown hair that looked like silk.
�He has brown eyes.� Swan looked down at Michael
where he sat
on the edge of the workbench on which the android
lay. It hadn�t
moved yet.
�Will Kitt have access to the� body?�
�Yes. It�ll be like� when you go from walking, to
driving a car.
Different function, but you have the knowledge to do it.�
Michael smiled without humour. �No, it won�t.
It�ll be
like putting my brain inside� inside a car, and expecting
me to know how
to operate the controls. What makes you think he�ll
be able to equate
the functions he has with the ones needed to control
this?�
But he looked so human�. Michael reached over,
touching the silky
hair.
�I know you�re upset. You�ve lost your connection
with him and
although I can�t begin to understand what that feels like,
I can try to
imagine what it means. This isn�t for more than
three days.
He�ll be back with you soon.�
Moving away, she glanced over to Nicholas and Karr
standing close by.
She�d known MacKenzie once. She wasn�t sure she knew
him now.
*
Bonnie looked up as Swan carefully put a mug of coffee
onto the workbench
beside her. They�d disconnected Kitt�s damaged CPU
as soon as they�d
been able, to allow Bonnie to start work. Over the
next three days
she�d exist on caffeine and maybe four hours of sleep a
night until she
had that oh-so-important computer mind fixed.
�Thanks.�
�I�m not feeling altogether welcome here,� Swan commented
dryly, dropping
into a nearby chair.
�You�re helping save his life.�
�So where�s the gratitude?�
Bonnie shrugged. �Do you really need it? Don�t
tell me
you�re not getting what you want out of this.�
�I guess.�
The two women regarded one another. �They feel
you�re using them.
Kitt�s in desperate need of a lifeline and along you come
with perhaps
not the perfect solution but definitely a solution.
It�s not the
first time Michael and Kitt have been attacked, it won�t
be the last, but
they�re getting tired of it. They�re not up to
trusting strangers
at the moment.� Swan took a sip of her own
drink. She didn�t
do coffee, couldn�t stand the taste of the stuff.
She did Diet Coke.
Caffeine and E numbers. She lived on Diet Coke the
way that Bonnie
lived on coffee and Devon lived on tea. �Give
Michael and Kitt some
time, okay?� She turned back to the electronics in
front of her.
�Let them work it out by themselves.�
�I need�.� But she stopped, and instead of
explaining that there
would be a lot of instructions she would need to give to
Kitt, a lot of
telemetry she would need to record, she nodded. Now
was not the time.
They were all exhausted. �I�m going to get some
rest.�
Bonnie watched her go and cast a glance around her.
After the
attack, Justin had come to collect the remains of the car
and return the
shell to the Foundation lab for rebuilding. They had
the equipment,
the parts and the team there. They had the
dedication there.
Justin wouldn�t let anything bad happen to the
TransAm. And he�d
promised to return within the week with the completed
car. Some of
the engineers had joked that they were so used to
rebuilding it now they
had schedules and plans. But everyone there knew
what it meant to
rebuild. And no one involved had missed the
implication of the missing
CPU casing. Sighing to herself, she returned her
attention to her
task.
Nicholas tapped furiously at the keys, accessing files
that were encrypted,
running decryption programs, saving what he needed before
leaving through
the back door. No one was fast enough to stop him,
block him or even
realise he�d ever been there. Currently he was in
FLAGNet, perusing
Jennifer�s files, checking the access dates and names on
the files regarding
the Tarasine experiments she�d had run on Kitt over a year
and a half ago.
Someone had definitely been at the files recently,
reading the data
collected that terrible day. Just for good measure,
he took a copy
of everything and then deleted it, wiping the system clear
not of the evidence
they had performed the tests, but of any results, any data
concerning Kitt�s
performance that day. Anger unfurled within
him. Usually he
went in and out without being seen. This time he
wanted to be seen,
he wanted them to know he�d been there. Someone was
using Jennifer�s
torture of Kitt against him. Someone wanted Kitt
dead. The
million-dollar question was who. He didn�t give a
rat�s ass why.
Not yet anyway.
Logging out, closing the laptop he took it down to where
Karr was parked,
ten feet from where Michael still sat, the AI keeping a
vigil over his
younger brother. Getting into the car Nick closed
the door and stretched
his legs out over the passenger seat. He reopened
the laptop.
�Look at some files for me?�
�I�ve nothing better to do.�
�Good.� Nicholas gave Karr the files he wanted
analysing.
Times, dates, systems that had accessed the data on
Tarasine. �I
want to know who shouldn�t have been there and what they
looked at.�
�You don�t think Jennifer staged the attack?�
�I don�t know. She never wanted him dead - she
didn�t ever see
him as alive - just as something she could sell. I
can�t see a motive.�
Karr mentally shrugged and started to scan down the lines
of data.
Nicholas sat back, eyes coming to rest on Michael.
He had shifted
from the workbench to a chair he�d moved closer in.
He was waiting.
Nicholas knew what Michael was feeling, the awful
disconnection of his
most intimate link with Kitt. All he had now was the
physical form
lying inert before him. How the hell he was
surviving was anyone�s
guess. As to what Kitt was going through in that
body they�d imprisoned
him in, Nicholas couldn�t even begin to imagine. He
was regretting
it now, regretting ever calling Swan in.
<He will survive. You did what you thought was
best>
<Now I�m the good guy? What happened to suspicion
regarding
my motives?>
<I do not suspect. I know what your motives
were. Now
I know you�re regretting it>
Because he must be so alone. Both thought it,
neither gave mind
nor voice to it.
<Back to work, Karr, I need that information>
Michael sat up, knocking the chair away and closing up to
the workbench.
Liquid brown eyes were looking up at him with such
terrible fear that he
would have believed the man lying before him was human had
he not known
the truth.
�Kitt, can you hear me?�
Across the room, both Bonnie and Swan turned at the sound
of Michael�s
voice, at the words of his question. Swan stood,
coming over to her
�lab�.
�Kitt, you need to access sub-routine p/9 and p/10.�
A moment later, they heard, �Michael�.� The sound of
that so-familiar
voice took Michael completely by surprise. It was
Kitt�s voice.
�Partner. I�m here, it�s okay.� He looked up
at Swan with
a question in his eyes.
Swan smiled. �I duplicated it, coded the same voice
- accent,
pitch and such - as is coded in the CPU.�
�Why?�
She smiled gently. �Is it Kitt?�
Michael looked at his partner. He didn�t know how he
knew, he
just knew. �Yeah, it�s Kitt.�
�Would it be recognisable without the voice?�
He almost laughed. �Yes.� His answer stunned
her, but before
she had chance to question it, Kitt asked,
�Michael, where am I?�
�Karr told you what we were doing, remember? You�re
in Swan�s
android. You�re in a human form. You�re safe,
I swear to you.�
He covered the android�s hand with his own. Swan saw
it.
�Sub-routine e/2.�
A quiet whimper escaped the pale lips and Michael felt
pressure on
his hand as Kitt�s fingers closed over it. He might
have whimpered
a little himself. Because in all the years they�d
worked together,
in all the months they�d been in each others� minds, this
was the first
time that Kitt had ever touched him.
The realisation hit him like a brick, squeezed his heart,
even went
a little tiny way to filling the massive hole Kitt�s
absence had left in
his mind. He returned the hold on Kitt�s hand with
both of his own
as Swan spoke.
�Kitt, listen to me. The sub-routine system is
simple.
e/ are limbs, fingers, arms, legs, feet, head. p/
sub-routines are
senses, sight, audio�.� She continued for a few
minutes, explaining
the basics of her system to the one currently operating
it. Kitt
listened. But the whole time he kept his eyes on
Michael, trying
to say everything that he�d have otherwise poured through
the link.
Finally Swan finished. �Now try sitting up.�
Gripping Michael�s hand, Kitt tried a combination of
sub-routines that
seemed right. Nothing happened.
�Try again, slowly.� Another combination, this time
slower, more
defined. And this time it worked.
�Michael�.�
He looked at Swan. �Could you just� give us some
time?�
She hesitated, there was so much that she had to tell
Kitt, had to
do for him. But again she just nodded. �Sure.�
There was no privacy. But this was the best they
would get here.
For a few seconds, Michael couldn�t break the lock between
his eyes and
Kitt�s. He was aware of something passing between
them, like an echo
of the link they shared, there just for a moment and then
gone.
�Kitt�.�
Breaking the eye contact, Kitt looked down at his other
arm and after
a moment, he lifted it, turning the hand.
�Wow.� The sentiment
was quiet, uncertain, but it was more than Michael had
expected.
�Yeah. Wow.�
Swan had dressed the android in a pair of Jez�s black
jeans and long,
loose denim shirt. He�d always looked good in them,
her beloved younger
brother. They fitted the android as they�d fitted
Jez. But
there were no socks, and for a moment Kitt�s attention had
been drawn by
the discovery that he could wiggle his toes. Smiling
despite himself,
Michael reached down and covered the toes of Kitt�s left
foot with his
hand. When he looked back, Kitt was gazing at him
again.
�I can� feel you.� His voice held amazement.
�I know. I can feel you too. Here.� He
rubbed his
fingers over the toes, marvelling at how human they felt,
how real the
skin was.
Kitt touched his forehead. �But not here.�
�No.�
�It�s hard.�
�It�s worse than hard, Kitt. I can�t believe how
much I miss
you, how difficult it is�.� He broke off.
�Sorry, you didn�t
need that right now.�
�It�s the same for me.� Kitt reassured, �I miss you,
Michael.
In Karr�s CPU�. And the attack�. Oh, God,
Michael, why?
Why? Who? Who�s done this to us?�
It was instinct, a natural reaction for Michael to move,
to put his
arms around his partner and draw him close. They�d
hugged a thousand
times before, in their minds, in the place where their
link connected them.
Now they held one another physically for the first
time. Michael
shifted up onto the workbench, tucking Kitt�s head against
his shoulder.
He combed his fingers into the silken hair, holding him
tight and close.
�It�s okay, partner, it�s okay. I�ve got ya.�
He tried
to wrap his whole being around Kitt as he could do when he
held him in
his mind. �It�ll be over soon, I swear, Kitt.
Bonnie�ll fix
your CPU and you�ll go home.� He felt Kitt snuggle
against him, trying
to burrow deeper, to shut out the rest of this frightening
new world.
His mood had swung too quickly from curiosity to upset and
that worried
Michael. �I won�t leave you.� He
reassured. �I won�t
let you go until this is over. And then� God, Kitt,
I couldn�t lose
you.� Turning his head, Michael pressed a kiss into
that silky hair.
�I love you.�
Eyes closed, Kitt searched his mind again for the mental
link with his
partner, not the hardware but the warming presence.
He�d thought
before that he�d felt something. But there was
nothing there now.
He was reminded of being in Geiger�s prison, being held in
Michael�s arms,
fingers brushing over his sensor where no one had ever
touched him before.
Now Michael was holding him again. But the sensory
information was
coming in from all over, not just from one place.
Michael was all
around him, surrounding him, hugging him.
For the first time since Swan had set foot in the
warehouse, Nicholas
felt something akin to peace with his decision to contact
her. He
couldn�t help but smile to himself when he looked out of
the windscreen
to see Michael and Kitt locked in a tight embrace.
�Does it strike you as odd that the same neuro implant
technology could
produce such different results?� Karr said nothing,
but sent a wave
of questioning. �You think that would be us if the
situation were
reversed?�
�I�m not the hugging sort.� But there was a note of
amusement
in the AI�s tone. He went back to Nicholas� files
for a time.
Then, �Nicholas?�
�Umm?�
�Kitt and his driver� they have a� different closeness to
us, don�t
they?�
Nicholas pulled in a deep breath. �They had an
easier start than
we did. There was so much pain between us for so
long, they trusted
each other from the beginning.�
�I�ve seen them, when they�re sleeping. They stay
close to one
another, wrapped in one another. Kitt often reaches
for me too.�
�And I don�t.� At least, not as often and not as
intensely.
There were moments, brief encounters, and throughout their
'career', especially
after Michael and Kitt had shown them that the implant
could be such a
beautiful thing, there had been more. But never for
long. Nick
couldn't say why, but in a way, it frightened him.
The moments of
intimacy were always chased by the fear of revealing
himself. Karr
knew him, but still, the instinct of self-protection was
there. It
was hard to lose.
Nicholas shook his head. He had known that having
Kitt and Michael
around would change them, but he�d not expected such a
startling change
in the AI he was linked to; the same AI that had once been
nothing but
a cold-blooded killer, hell-bent on destroying the other
car, its driver
and the human intruder in his mind.
�You�re right, Karr. They have a very different
closeness to
us. Their relationship� shatters the boundaries.�
Karr seemed to contemplate this. Nicholas could feel
him mulling
over his thoughts. �Is that why Dr Barstow and
Knight are no longer�
dating?�
�Yeah, something like that.�
"I never affected you that way."
Nick blinked in surprise, then he understood. "No,
not really.
Although it was awkward at first, I have to admit."
<Why?>
He was silent for a while. <Because I was afraid
of what it
might do to the bond we had by then>
Now it was Karr's turn to be surprised. <You
thought I could
be jealous?> He sounded almost amused.
Nick laughed briefly. <And that, yes. But I
didn't know
how much would translate through the link, what you would
feel, what you
could understand>
<I understand the human need for.... sexual
intimacy>
<You sound like a medical book. Yes, we humans
have a certain
need>
<I can accept that. I accept Dr.
Christopher. She is
good for you. And I can process the data>
Nick gazed at the dark dash. "Data?" he asked out loud.
Karr was silent and his driver sighed, shaking his head.
<Knight found a human partner. What changed
him?> the AI then
wanted to know.
Nick mulled it over. "I don't think anything changed
him at all.
He�s still the same."
Another pause for thought. �Baring that in mind,
Nick, what will
the impact of this current situation be?�
Nicholas looked up again from the screen of his
laptop. He stared
at Michael and Kitt, the embrace had loosened but they
were still sitting
with their arms around one another, holding and touching
in a desperate
need to replace the intimacy lost from their minds.
Karr�s question
slowly blossomed in his own mind, with all its
implications. Perhaps
the AI understood more than he was admitting.
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