Raymond Stantz

"I agree with Ray," Kitt said as he observed Bonnie's work and began to double it. It would go faster with two. "What oddities there are here, no matter how odd, don't quite disobey accepted laws of physics as Milliways does."

But to Michelle, his voice was intentionally quieter. "I know how much it can hurt to feel unvalued, even when that feeling is untrue and unproven. I'm glad to see that drivers caring for their cars is a constant."

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"It's going back up-at the moment, it's at 77 percent."

Meanwhile, Bonnie's keystrokes were cuaisng hitches in KARR's singing. "I..I..III will per-mit you to use the br-brake/My beau-beau-tiful Daisy Bell..." The words of the song began to fade off, although he continued humming.

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"You're doing good, Karr," Bonnie quietly said to the one she was coming to think of as her Karr's double. She could see Kitt's work and devoted both hands to recoding blind. She knew the cars. That was one thing that never changed.

But she knew that, even with a familiar voice modulator in front of her, even in a seat that felt... familiar, it still didn't quite feel right.

"Okay, that's got the basics. Kitt... Fine tune, please - I've not got the tools in here."

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gone_byebye

Michelle nodded. "I might be his second," she said, "but that doesn't make any difference. He's saved my ass more times than my old Bradley did in Desert Storm. Even if I didn't- even if-" She sighed, looking up at the car. "Even if that were all there is to it, I'd owe him for that, at least..."

She reached up to run her hand gently along the curve of his forward panel. "How you doing there?" she asked softly. "Can you hear me yet?"

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"82 percent," Bonnie's KARR offered, continuing to watch the system integrity like a hawk.

"Beau-ti-ful Daiiisy Bell," the other KARR sang, then returned to humming for a few moments before finally saying, "Ouch."

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Kitt carefully continued, working on integrating the repairs to Karr's coding - and was gratified to hear the return to consciousness. "A few more moments and I'll be finished," he offered.

Bonnie slid out of the driver's seat. "He deserves a rest for the rest of the day," she said, "but he should be fine."

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gone_byebye

"I'll say he does," said Michelle, coming to her feet. One hand remained in contact with the car the whole time. "After all of that..."

[ooc: It's 2:30 AM. I fear I have to slowtime since I can't give Michelle's speech with any kind of coherence at this point.]

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"88 percent," the Milliways KARR chimed in with again. Progress was definitely being made when it came to the integrity.

"My CPU hurts," the other KARR complained quietly. He paused for a moment before asking, "Why can I not access any parts of the car?"

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"You were caught in a reboot cycle," said Bonnie gently. "When your system integrity's risen past ninety-five percent, I'll disengage the override. AI tech's honour."

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"Ninety-two percent," the Milliways KARR reported again. Close, but no cigar.

"....I do not want to think about why I was caught in a reboot cycle. But very well."

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"My apologies," Kitt said again. "I'm more used to people being used to my human form and my transition between the two."

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"Please do not mention it," he mumbled, finding himself with the sudden urge to very quietly retreat and find a safe spot from the alternate Kitt.

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gone_byebye

"It's okay, big guy. Not gonna happen again, right?" The last word came out from between clenched teeth as she darted a look at Kitt. "It's all gonna get fixed, and then we can tell the nice people from Bizarro World our part of the story."

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"Right," he said, sighing a bit. His CPU still hurt.

"96 percent," the Milliways KARR chimed in with again.

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At that message, Bonnie reached in and disengaged the computer override, the dial clicking softly until it was back in place. "There. True to my word. All yours again."

And she made her way back to her Karr.She couldn't have just stood by.

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As soon as he regained control of the car, Michelle's KARR backed up slightly, looking as if he was trying to take cover behind her. "I think you would be better suited to epxlaining our world at the moment."

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gone_byebye

Michelle patted the Trans Am fondly. "Probably," she agreed, and took a deep breath. "All right, let's start with this... KARR here and I are both operatives for the Foundation for Law and Government. We've been partnered for several years now, ever since his original driver retired. My name is- was- Michelle Long."

She pauses, to watch for a reaction.

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This time, it was Kitt's scanner that went dim.

A few moments later, he transmitted to his brother, [I hope that will lessen the number of the hits to the head you'll give me.]

But aloud, all he said was, "I see."

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[The hits to the head, yes, but your door is still mine.]

The Milliway KARR's scanner changed shades several times before settling down as he thought things over. "That's...rather eerie, actually. And I see you don't have that little 'til death do us part' problem for AIs here."

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gone_byebye

"Sorry," Michelle says. "About the eerie, I mean. The other thing was... well, they were afraid that might be the case, so back when Paul retired they made as complete a backup as they could of KARR here. Just in case. The transition was really, really tricky... he almost didn't make it." She looks down at the car with a worried little smile. "Pulled through in the end, though."

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Bonnie looked over at Kitt, who was markedly silent. She knew that no amount of backing up his memory would leave him the same if he was separated from Michael. Wondered if it would be that way for Karr, because she didn't have Michael's training. Her hand tightened on the lip of Karr's window.

"They're tougher than they look in some ways," she agreed quietly. "But... I've got to ask, you... You're not old enough to be a version of Michael. Too old to be his daughter, I'd think..."

She glanced over at Kitt again. Still silent. She worried.

"Are you... related to him at all?"

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"I am-or was-doing quite well now," Michelle's KARR added in.

"Ah. In our universe, we'd simply die from cascade failure, and that would be that." Bonnie's KARR felt her hand tightening, and he moved slightly to touch her with his prow.

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gone_byebye

Michelle winced visibly at the thought. To Bonnie, she said, "I have very few male relatives. My father's name is Richard, and yeah, I've heard the jokes. My grandfathers are named Tom and Wendell, and my only uncle is named Judd. None of my cousins are named Michael. Sorry."

Ray put up a finger. "Um, Bonnie? Could I talk to you and the guys for just a second, please?"

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