Raymond Stantz

"Would you two be quiet?!" Kitt demanded of both of them, his accented voice bright compared to the two Karrs. "Bonnie and Ray are both right in declaring we aren't here to fight - and Ray can make a very good explanation as to how and why we're here. He can't explain over the quarreling of Knight AIs. So If You Please."

Kitt, when using this tone, sounded quite certain of getting his way.

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Both KARRs made a frustrated, angry noise that was almost identical, aside from the slight differences in pitch. The pair's scanners were matches as well, aside from color-both were rapid moving, angry blurs.

"Fine," they both spat. Then paused.

"Damn, that's unnerving." Again they spoke in unison, then paused.

"Stop that!"

"Bastard!" The frustration of mimicking one another finally got to them, and both AIs quieted down.

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Bonnie cleared her throat to keep from laughing at them. As much as she knew how frustrated Karr was... that was amusing. She patted his roof, leaning gently on the MBS-coated glass.

The floor was Ray's.

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Under other circumstances Ray would almost have found the situation funny. Right now, though, was no time for laughing. Not at all. He moved forward, hands still up and scarred palms still outward. "My name is Dr. Raymond Stantz," he said. "You may have heard of me. Feel free to look me up, KARR. I used to be a professor at Columbia University-"

Not that it mattered, because Michelle had sat bolt upright at the name. "KARR, he's one of the-"

Ray didn't hear her, and so kept talking. "I don't know how you are at handling the more peculiar concepts associated with modern physics, but this fellow here-" He pointed at Kitt. "Is not the Kitt you know. And Karr, as I think you've found out, is just as much Karr as you are- but what you're looking at involves a minor fracture in the space-time continuum dating back about twenty years or so. An alternate universe- yes, I know, it sounds insane, but I promise you, if you have any kind of reasonable understanding of modern physics at all, I've got the equations to back up the assertion. Along with a significant chunk of observational data you might find useful in proving what we're saying."

He reached slowly into one of his pockets. Michell tensed, then relaxed as he withdrew a sleek, up-to-date PDA.

"If you've got the interface for it, you're welcome to the contents of the memory stick. It can explain things better than I can."

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"I have a suitable interface," KARR finally said, once he was fairly sure he wasn't going to be mimicked. "Michelle, I would like to see it." Anything to explain this mess further.

The Milliways KARR, meanwhile, grumbled unhappily despite the pat.

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"I don't know, KARR," Michelle said warily. "He's driving KITT. He might be some kind of-"

She stopped. She'd been about to say 'hostage'. But if KITT had somehow kidnapped one of the Ghostbusters and that man was trying to pass a message stick along, it was almost certainly going to contain the truth about how to get him out of there.

"Okay," she said. "Go for it."

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Inside Karr, Bonnie flicked her hand, pointing toward the other Karr. How to gesture 'she's suspicious', Bonnie wasn't sure, but she... could tell.

Ray might be in inadvertant danger.

"In our reality," she said, speaking deliberately, "Karr was deactivated not long after his creation. Kitt was created to take his place - and I was his primary technician. Karr spent two years at the bottom of a cliff, and after his resurrection, he looked like he looks now. Now, I'm Karr's partner."

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The Milliways KARR had been watching the other KARR like a hawk, and even though he didn't show any sign of it, he focused on Michelle. "That's the short version, anyway," he added to Bonnie's explanation.

The other KARR unlocked a door. "I need someone to insert it."

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"I'll do it," Michelle said. She stepped out cautiously, staying well behind KARR's door.

Ray nodded, pulling the memory stick free and holding it out to her; she accepted it.

"Just a warning, though."

Her eyes flickered for a moment to KITT before returning to Ray.

"If anything happens to my car because of the contents of this stick- anything-" She lightly touched the site of a concealed holster with her free hand. "-you're a dead man."

Ray swallowed, but nodded.

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"It seems you're forgetting that we are bulletproof," said Kitt simply.

But he had to wonder about Karr. His scanner whispered as he thought it over - couldn't he simply access the PDA wirelessly?

"And I will give you fair warning. That may contain some details about quantum physics which has been proven slightly hazardous to our logic circuits. If you begin having trouble, reboot them - better to be incapacitated for a few moments than permanently."

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"We can still do damage to each other," the Milliways KARR murmured.

"Incapacitated for a few moments?" The other KARR's scanner flared, and he spoke quietly to Michelle. "Stay alert. It could be a trick."

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Bonnie rolled her eyes. "Please. If we wanted you dead, we're two cars against one. Think for a minute," she groused, leaning against Karr's door. HER Karr.

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Michelle's eyes narrowed. "Dr. Stantz, stay out in the open where I can see you.. KARR, if you still want to go through with this-" She held the memory stick at the ready. Her other hand hovered within striking distance of her holster.

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"We may as well. Otherwise this could continue for hours."

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"All right."

She slipped the memory stick into place and waited to see what would happen.

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KARR was quiet for several moments, reading through the information. His CPU almost ground to a halt several times, his scanner flashing and fading alternately. After a few minutes, he finally spoke again. "...oh my."

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Kitt was quiet, actually making the effort to monitor Karr's - the one that wasn't exactly his brother - reactions. He didn't want to be responsible for the death or damage of another AI. Even if he did seem a bit thicker than Karr as he knew him. "I take it you're beginning to understand."

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"Yes," KARR said slowly, his scanner beginning to return to normal. He called up some particularly interesteing information, displaying it on his screen. "Michelle? You ought to see this."

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Michelle frowned a little and slid forward to see. Ray, for his part, looked over his shoulder towards the others. Otherwise, he stayed where he was.

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Bonnie leaned slightly forward, curious, but making no further move.

When had FLAG assigned handguns, she wondered.

But more than that, just what was it that was so weird that Karr had picked out for his driver to see? A part of her hoped it wasn't really about Michael.

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The information mainly concerned Milliways and how it worked-KARR found it fascinating and CPU-ache inducing at the same time. "This is the most bizarre thing I have ever heard of," he finally said.

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"You must be reading about Milliways," said Kitt. "I had to write in many acceptance clauses to function there, and while I would quote Max Planck's theorems, I'm afraid that those tend to do more harm than good in car form."

And only after he'd said it did he realise he'd said 'car form.'

Perhaps it wouldn't be caught.

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Michelle, for her part, didn't notice. She was too busy staring at the Milliways information. "How do they- but- I don't-" She threw her hands up in the air. "Never mind the big questions- where are they getting their supplies from?"

"Uh, can I sit down now?"

She waved a hand in the man's direction. "Go ahead, Dr. Stantz. Where did you get this?"

There was a pause.

"Never mind. That was a really stupid question, wasn't it."

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