chapter three
Three long days passed. Connor and Bonnie had taken out Karr's CPU and attached it to the computers. Michael had wondered exactly how long it would take for Bonnie to figure it out, or for Karr to refuse to allow her to help him, but nothing happened. In Connor's words, she had to shut him down because he wouldn't hold still. Michael knew better. She shut him down because he kept trying to hurt her.
He wondered, too, exactly how long it would take for Connor to finally admit what had happened. How long it would take for the pain to wear her down.
Three days and while Bonnie and Michael had gotten baths and decent amount of sleep, Connor hadn't. The underground chamber had been designed with the homeless in mind. There were cots built in to the walls, and the space was vast and wide open. On the north side of the chamber was a sectioned-off area with a bathtub, toilet, and sink. Connor refused to use the bathtub. It was hard getting clean with a sink, but it worked.
As for sleep, Connor always slept inside Karr. She wouldn't sleep in the shell of the Ferrari when Karr wasn't there.
Now she was leaning over Bonnie's shoulder, watching as she ran through lines of code. Michael sat on Kitt's hood, watching them work.
"Ok, you see that there?" Connor said suddenly, pointing at the screen. "That's not supposed to be there."
"That's a program." Bonnie murmured. "Some sort of guard program?"
"It's there to change the primary directive." Connor said. "My guess is the Institute wanted him to play bodyguard." Bonnie nodded distantly, typing in a few commands that changed the lines of code to an actual description of the program. Connor snorted in contempt. "And that's the problem, right there."
"There's a self-protection imperative." Bonnie said. "And this is the damage the program is doing to that imperative. They were trying to use him as a bodyguard, but they also programmed him to attack anyone who was a threat."
"Would that include Connor?" Michael asked suddenly.
"Possibly." Bonnie said.
"Definitely." Connor growled. "That needs to be removed."
"It may not be a bad idea to destroy the self-protection imperative." Bonnie pointed out.
"I've lived with that imperative." Connor shot back. "Leave that. The 'bodyguard' crap has to go." To Michael's shock, Bonnie simply nodded and typed in a few commands.
"That'll need to run for a few minutes." she said. "Let's see what else needs to be done." They fell silent as they scanned the lines of code. Suddenly, Connor reached out and stopped Bonnie. Bonnie started and looked over at her. "What?"
"That." She pointed. "That code is active."
"Yes."
"It shouldn't be active. That's the self-destruct sequence." She glanced over at the CPU on the table beside her, an odd look on her face. "Why?" she murmured.
"What do you want me to do with that?" Bonnie asked, ignoring the sudden tension in the room.
"Delete the code."
"He'll be mad at you." Michael pointed out.
"Let him." Connor muttered. "I'll be back." With that she turned and walked out of the chamber.
Bonnie turned and looked at Michael and Kitt. "Why do I get the feeling that there's something you're not telling me?"
It was Kitt who answered, surprisingly enough. "Her secrets aren't ours to tell."
/----/
Connor stood outside of the chamber, a lit cigarette in one hand as she stared at the thunderclouds overhead. She never smoked very often, but there was something comforting about holding the cigarette even if she never raised it to her lips. She took a shaky breath and leaned against the dirty concrete wall.
She couldn't stop the shakes, just as she couldn't stop the tears. What had Karr been thinking?! He had promised her he would never activate that code! He had promised her, and he broke that promise.
Karr had never broken a promise before. Never.
Then again, if he was conscious – if he knew what he was doing, then she could understand. That didn't mean it still didn't hurt.
Michael walked out and stood beside her. "I didn't know you smoked."
"Not often." She took a drag and made a face. "Tastes awful, but it helps calm me down. Karr would kill me if he knew." Michael nodded.
"Got a spare?"
She laughed. "Never pegged you for a smoker either." she teased, lighting a cigarette for him. Michael grinned and took a drag.
"Kitt'll chew me out when he finds out." he chuckled. "But hey – what's a smoke among friends?" Connor smiled tightly. Michael sighed. "So how long do you plan on keeping Karr out?"
"Until that clean-up program of Barstow's is done." she said. "Karr has to tell me if there's more damage. I don't know his programming that well."
"You knew that damage had been done."
"For good reason."
Michael tossed the cigarette down and stamped it out. "Karr hurt you."
"He didn't."
"Yes, he did. Denying it doesn't change the fact that it happened." Connor wouldn't look at him, and Michael growled something foul-sounding under his breath. "If it makes you feel any better, Kitt hurt me! It happens! Deal with it, accept it, and move on."
"And when Kitt hurt you," Connor said slowly, "did you blame him for that?"
Michael hesitated. "No."
"Did someone turn him against you?"
Once again, Michael hesitated. "Yes. But that's different!"
"No, it isn't!" Connor was shouting now, all her anger and pain shooting through her and lashing out at Michael. "They tried to change him! Karr should have killed me, but he didn't! He fought the programming – for me!" She was pacing, tears streaming down her face, and Michael let her vent. "He didn't hurt me. That thing they tried to turn him into hurt me!"
Michael waited until she had run out of steam. "All right." he sighed. "All right. I can take a hint." It was almost touching, really. Then again, Michael only knew the surface of her hell. He didn't know what else had been done to her. Karr was her partner.
"Wait a minute."
Michael and Connor turned towards the entrance to the chamber, facing a furious Bonnie. Connor took another drag on the cigarette, staring calmly at the woman.
Bonnie crossed her arms over her chest. "You mean to tell me I just wasted a day fixing Karr?"