This (short) chapter is bittersweet. Karr doesn't realize how much he means to the kids until now. Also, in case you didn't know by now, I'm still totally BSing my way through all the technical stuff. Just so you know.
KEY: Italicized words are thoughts. Groups of paragraphs are flashbacks. Bold and italicized words are Karr's processors.
Warnings & Disclaimers
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Self-systems analysis check…running…all available processors functional…
The first thing he noticed was the noise. There were footsteps, shuffling, sniffles, and heavy breathing, as if someone had just come in from a long run. They were all human sounds. Other than the two children, he had no contact with any other human. Inwardly, he made a short prayer that whoever he was hearing was one of the children—he did not feel like putting up with strangers or Bridget's snooping mother.
Then he noticed that he wasn't on the shelf. Or in Bridget's room, for that matter.
Alarm kicked in.
All sensors went up and Karr was greeted by dim lighting and a familiar greasy environment.
Micky's garage, he reminded himself.
He remembered now. They were fixing the Ford Mustang and connecting him to it. The last thing he remembered was Micky finishing with the wires and then pain. Something had gone wrong. Nothing seemed out of place, but Karr couldn't be sure. He was about to run secondary scans on his new form when something distracted him.
A small gasp alerted him to the presence inside his new vehicle form. Bridget sat in the driver's seat, clinging piteously to the steering wheel. Something was off. Karr then realized that Bridget had noticed his dashboard lights were on. She looked up and Karr could see with his new optical sensors her tear-streaked face. She burst into new tears. It disturbed him greatly.
"What are you bawling about now?" he demanded. "Stop it."
Inwardly, he was panicking. Bridget never cried, or at least rarely did. She cried once when her father left and once more when her pet dog, Buster, died two years ago. Karr had been there to witness both events and found out that he was powerless in getting the child to stop crying once she got started. The noise and the mess was annoying, but the sight of the distraught child who was usually so collected and sharp-witted made his processor spin wildly. It was even more terrifying to know he couldn't stop it. For some reason, that fact alone shook him.
"Stop it," repeated Karr. "Bridget, stop crying. Bridget!"
Bridget let out a horrible sob and flung herself at the steering wheel again, much to Karr's horror. She cried openly and loudly.
"I thought we killed you!" she screamed hysterically. "I thought you died! You weren't answering me! I thought you were dead!"
Thought I was dead…? repeated Karr to himself. He stared at the child, unsure of how to reply. She's this upset because she thought I was dead?
"I was so scared!" Bridget wailed piteously. "Oh my God, I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry!"
Karr could not believe what he was hearing. The child was near hysterical because of the blown circuit? That's all it had been, he was sure. A spark jumped the wire and caused his systems to temporarily offline. That was all. Everything was fine now. Bridget knew the risks involved beforehand; why was she reacting so badly now?
"Karr?" croaked a new voice. Karr turned his attention to outside the vehicle. Micky was bracing himself against the worktable and looked just as shaken as Bridget did. It was equally disturbing. What was with these children?
"Yes?" asked Karr neutrally.
"Run a self-diagnostic, please. Is everything functioning correctly?"
He had run a self-diagnostic before he fully came out of stasis. Everything was fine, albeit shaky. Karr continued his indifferent tone.
"Yes. Etymotic equalizer, olfactory sensor, microscanners, voice synthesizer, alpha circuit, basic sensors and comlink, microwave jammer are all functioning at normal capacity. Unable to locate anamorphic equalizer, medical scanner and ejection seat system, but are unnecessary functions. Power sufficient for the moment."
"Thank God," whispered Micky, looking completely drained.
"Thank God!" echoed Bridget, her voice thick. Her grip on the steering wheel tightened and she started sobbing again.
Karr felt utterly helpless as he stared at his hostess. He had absolutely no idea what to do. He hated it when she cried. He hated it! Beyond anything else, it was the most wasted and unneeded human reaction. It positively—as Bridget would say—freaked him out.
"Bridget," he began evenly. He would not let her know it was getting to him. That would only make her worse. "I am functional. There is no damage to any of my systems. You are wasting energy for nothing."
Bridget sniffed deeply and shuddered. "I thought I lost you," she whispered into the leather.
At that, Karr scoffed darkly. "No, you stick to me too much like glue for that to happen. Even if I had been part of a flying apparatus, I'm sure you would have found a way to cling to me like a parasite." Being mean sometimes worked in these situations.
"I'm sorry," said Bridget. Her breathing had calmed down thankfully and she had stopped crying. She wiped her face with her jacket sleeve. "I'm really, really sorry. We shouldn't have tried this. It was stupid."
"Bridget."
"Yeah?"
"I'm in the car."
Bridget stared at the dashboard beyond the wheel, surprised.
"We have succeeded," said Karr simply.
He said that in his usual monotonousness tone, but it had a profound affect on the morose teenagers. Bridget's eyes widened slightly and she looked more surprised than upset. Micky moved closer to the car, wary.
"We did?" he asked.
Karr turned on his headlights, causing Micky to jump. His engine had already been running, so he pressed on the pedal slightly, earning a low purr. Bridget stared in amazement.
"Y-you're doing that?" she asked, almost speechless.
The multiple lights on the dashboard and under his CPU box lit up. He turned on his visual voice modulator.
"What do you think?" he asked sarcastically. He secretly enjoyed the dumbfounded expression on Bridget's face as she observed the flashing lights on the modulator.
"Oh my god," she whispered. A smiled wormed itself onto her face. She looked amazed. "Oh my god!"
Micky let out an uncharacteristic shout of joy and jumped up. "We did it! We did it!" he cried.
"YES!" Bridget exclaimed. She slammed into the steering wheel again, much to Karr's displeasure, but she was laughing as she hugged it. "We did it, Karr!"
"Can you move?" asked Micky, eyes alight with excitement and anticipation.
After shutting the driver's side door on his own (much to Bridget's surprise), Karr adjusted his gears and backed up a little. The sensation was alien, but it was comforting to be in a shell again. He didn't mind showing off a little—especially if it earned such humorous reactions from the humans.
"Oh, wow," whispered Micky, watching the AI move backward farther with a dreamy expression. "Wow."
Bridget giggled excitedly and patted her hands on the seat. "Turn on your windshield wipers!" He complied. "Eee! That's so cool! Do you have air conditioning?" A blast of cold air in her face made her shriek with glee. "Oh my God!"
Micky rushed around behind them and opened the garage door all the way. Karr slid out effortlessly onto the wide driveway. He was beginning to enjoy this feeling that had been robbed of him so long ago. He heard Bridget squealing again and, without putting much logical thought into at all, he spun around quickly. He made a quick circle, trying to get back his bearings in a vehicle. The old programming was all coming back to him with ease. The new car kept up just fine.
Bridget had been shocked at the sudden movement, but soon dissolved into elated hysterics. "Oh my—Karr!" she exclaimed as they came to a jerking stop at the end of the circle. She was laughing. "Do that again! Do it again!"
He did so, silently enjoying the fact that he had gotten her out of her depressed state so quickly. He didn't know why he was complying with her demands, other than he hated the tears. That had to be it.
"Whoo!" exclaimed Bridget, as they came to a stop again. She was laughing hard and could barely keep herself upright. "Karr, you're amazing! Absolutely, undeniably amaz—!"
Her compliment was muted out by a loud, somewhat heart-stopping bang that seemed like it originated from underneath Karr's hood. Karr hissed audibly, feeling the pain register to his processor. The pain was small, nothing like when the circuit malfunctioned. However, something was obviously wrong.
"Karr?!" cried Bridget, wide eyed. She looked as though she thought he was about to disintegrate right in front of her.
Micky had run from his spot by the garage door and nearly slammed into Karr's front. "What happened?!" he demanded, also fearful. The small trail of smoke originating from under the hood did not help in the least bit.
"The engine overheated," said Karr flatly. "It cannot function under its current condition. A replacement must be made for all of my systems to function in correlation with one another."
"Just the engine?" wheezed Bridget. She gripped her chest, trembling all over. "Oh…oh."
Karr winced. "Yes, it's just the engine. Calm down before you cause yourself to cease functioning."
Micky's shoulders slumped and he leaned against the hood. "My heart cannot take this stress," he said miserably. He opened the hood and waved away the smoke that was slowly depleting on its own. "Oh, yeah, the carburetor's fried. I'm going to have to replace the whole engine."
"I guess four years in sand can mess it up after all," said Bridget quietly, trying to regain her witty front. She sighed heavily. "I can just hear mom now: 'where did all of your college funds go?' 'Oh, I spent it on my sentient car, mom.'"
"Your opinion is not needed," snapped Karr.
"Well, guess what?" she challenged back.
"Listen," Micky said to interrupt their fight. He lowered Karr's hood and tapped it slightly. "You can't be rolling around with this thing."
Karr resisted the urge to sound sarcastic. "Understood."
"Would you mind sticking around the garage for a few more days until we can find a replacement?"
They were giving him the option? Karr fell silent as he thought furiously. Of course he could roll away free now and hijack some other mechanic to do the repairs. There was nothing tying him down and no shelf to keep him on. He was free. Free. Finally.
Then, he remembered Problem Number One: Bridget.
He looked intently at Bridget, knowing she could not tell. He had already memorized every line on her face, every specific detail over the course of seven years. She was an enigma in personality only; he could easily read her face. She was looking at his voice modulator, waiting. Karr knew she was anxious from her heightened body functions.
"I suppose I have no choice," he said finally. He kept his feelings under his cold mask of indifference.
Bridget did not seem to mind his tone. She never did. Instead, she smiled brightly and said, "Okay, let's roll you in."
"No!" snapped Karr angrily. Already, Bridget had slid out of her seat and walked behind him with Micky. "I am sick of you treating me like I'm some sort of pet animal!"
"I would so not roll my dog anywhere," Bridget corrected him simply as she and Micky heaved their combined weight onto Karr's back and began to push him. "Besides, you're still mine for the next few days until you get an engine, so put up with it."
"I am not yours!"
"Wanna bet? Who owns your body, huh?"
"The shell is the shell, but I am me and you do not own me!"
"I could Sharpie my name onto your CPU."
"Do it and I'll run you over."
"And where the hell are you going to get your brand spankin' new engine from if I'm dead?"
Micky rolled his eyes, smiling as he reveled in the sound of the normal interactions between the group, and continued to push.
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Aww, they're one big happy family again. Sort of.
1. "Before you cause yourself to cease functioning…" Karr didn't just say that for sarcastic effect. :]
2. I have no idea where Michael and the actual canon characters went. They'll be back in the next chapter, though. Haha.
Review, my darlings!