CHAPTER 20 – SHOWING OFF

While Nick and Devon spent their time with training sessions in the library and in front of a mirror, Michael and Kitt spent the day practicing with their new holographic components.

After an overnight recharge for their power packs, and taking some of that time to sleep, they woke and started practicing with the other avatar files at their disposal.

For now, only the two of them were in the garage. Since Bonnie and Robin were absent, it would be less…embarrassing…to practice with those avatars first.

"I think we should work on Bonnie first," Kitt suggested to his counterpart. "Both of us know her better and have more experience with her behavior and mannerisms."

"In that case, we'll need more time to practice to get that one right, so…" Michael stated in his own voice, then paused to activate his matrix files for the Bonnie hologram.

Kitt did the same, and a few seconds later, the twin avatars faced each other. "I should warn you that you'll have to pay close attention to your speech patterns for this one," Kitt said in Bonnie's voice. "You'll need to avoid your own patterns, if you want to get this one right."

"And you will need to watch the mannerisms to be sure you don't throw some of my tendencies in there," Michael warned his friend in a matching voice.

"Agreed. This will be a challenge for both of us," Kitt decided. "I expect that both of us will find your avatar to be the easiest and most accurate. The others, especially Devon, will be more difficult. We want to be accurate without turning our performance into a parody."

Michael caused his avatar to shake her head in a shudder. "I can tell this is gonna be really weird. Your speech patterns are already a lot closer to theirs than mine are. And hearing your words in her voice…whew. Like I said, really weird."

Kitt's avatar shook her head at her twin. "Michael, think about what you just said. Every bit of that was in your own speech patterns. Try saying the same thing, but in the words you think Bonnie would use."

Michael hesitated several seconds, then stated, "I can tell that this is going to be rather strange. Your speech patterns are already a lot closer to theirs than mine…Oh, I want so bad to add 'are' after that, but I know she wouldn't."

Kitt's avatar grinned. "I believe you understand now. And I don't want you to take this the wrong way, but…perhaps you should think before you speak. I don't mean that…"

Michael's image waved a hand. "That's okay, Kitt, I know what you mean. Frankly, you're right. I might as well get used to it if we're going to be any good with these other avatars. The hologram and voice won't mean much if the words are wrong."

"Precisely," Kitt agreed, allowing his avatar to rest against his driver's door in a position Bonnie often used. "I expect you to find Devon's speech patterns the most challenging."

"That's for sure," his companion conceded with a pronounced nod.

The AI continued, "He is a stickler for proper grammar, as you know. He speaks far more formally than you, and often chooses different words than your usual idioms."

"What do you mean?" Michael asked warily.

"Given the same circumstances where you might ask, 'Are you sure?' Devon would likely ask, "Are you certain?' Such attention to detail can greatly enhance your performance of his avatar," Kitt pointed out.

Michael was silent for several seconds as he considered Kitt's statement. "Now that I think about it, you're right. He does say that."

"I'd suggest you practice that with Nick's avatar. He speaks more formally than you, but not as much as Devon. His grammar is nearly as good, but his word choice is… a midpoint between yours and Devon's."

Michael's avatar gazed at the twin image. "Hmm. You think it would be easier for me to get the hang of Nick's avatar instead of going for Devon and falling flat on my face," he summarized.

Kitt's image abruptly looked at the floor. "I wouldn't have put it that way, but… I'm sorry, Michael, but the two avatars which will undoubtedly be the most linguistically challenging for you are Devon's and mine, when I design one."

It was now Michael's turn to study the floor. Using Bonnie's voice, he groaned in dismay. "I really hate to say it, but you're right." I really need to 'up my game' for doing you and Devon. Your speech patterns are at least similar, so if I can do one, I can do the other…probably. But I'm also worried about the accents."

Kitt's avatar approached the other one, crossing arms defiantly. "Michael, how many times do I have to tell you I do NOT have an accent?"

Michael's avatar held up her hands, index fingers pointing upward. "YES, YOU DO, KITT! The only place in the country where they would say you don't is BOSTON, since you definitely have a noticeable BOSTON accent! It's not the common 'street' version, thank God; it's more of an 'upper-crust' variation – it's a good one – but it's THERE, and I'm not sure I can copy it."

"Hmmpf!" Kitt responded. "Well, do I have it now, while I'm doing Bonnie's voice, or while I was doing your voice?"

Michael's imaged sagged and shook her head. "No, at least not that I've noticed so far. But then you haven't used it very long yet, either. And that word may be one to watch. You and Devon tend to say it as ai-thur, while Bonnie and I usually say ee-thur."

"So you have been paying attention," Kitt smiled in approval. "Good for you. Those are the sort of fine points we need to incorporate into our performance of these avatars."

Michael's avatar was silent for a long moment. "Is it possible that what I hear as your accent is some odd facet of your speech programming?" Before his friend could answer, he added, "Since you're using that program from her matrix, is that why I don't hear it now? Will you – we – automatically have the right accent – or whatever it is, in your case – as part of the files for each matrix?"

Now it was Kitt's turn to be silent as he considered the series of questions. "I suggest that there is one way to find out."

His avatar of Bonnie vanished and was soon replaced with that of the human version of Devon. The "man" faced the other avatar and said, "If I end up with his accent without even trying, then we'll know that it's somehow part of the programming. Unfortunately, I can't think of any word or phrase that would be clearly indicative of his accent. Can you?"

"You already sound like it's there, but I'm not quite sure. Try saying, 'Those aren't my things, so I can't move them.'" Michael suggested.

"Those aren't my things, so I can't move them," Kitt said obediently.

"Say it again, just so I'm sure."

"Those aren't my things, so I can't move them."

"Huh! It's there!" Michael said, surprised. "And you didn't even hear it, did you?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Michael," Kitt admitted.

"I didn't hear 'aren't;' I heard 'aunt,' as in the high-class version of A-U-N-T. You dropped the 'R,'" Michael explained. "And the second part was similar. You said 'can't as if it were C-O-N-T.'"

"Really? I did that?" Kitt was surprised and a little shaken. He did his own analysis of the brief recording. "Good heavens, you're right!"

"I tell you Bonnie is a genius," Michael's avatar of that woman said.

"She most certainly is," "Devon" agreed. "It seems that we don't have to worry about the accents, and it explains why I don't hear the so-called 'Boston accent' you perceive in my own speech."

Kitt allowed the avatar of the Director to dissolve and reinstated that of the cyberneticist. "We should continue practicing with Bonnie until we attain a reasonable skill level, then switch to the others."

"Sounds good to me. I think we should wait for the Devon files to be updated, though," Michael hedged. "He may be picking up some new behaviors or modifying some of his old ones since he's a vampire now."

"Very true."

The women knew their unusual colleagues would likely be practicing with their other avatars today. To give them some time on their own, the women went shopping, taking Bonnie's Jeep into town. Since moving from Colorado, Robin had found her wardrobe to be inadequate. She was accustomed to a cooler climate, and most of her clothing was too warm for her new location. She had mentioned the problem to her companion a couple months ago, and had been saving up for a shopping spree, and this was the perfect opportunity.

Bonnie knew the area, while Robin was still learning the details, so the technician happily chauffeured her friend to several clothing stores.

After six hours of shopping, interrupted by an hour for lunch, the pair returned to the mansion. They unloaded their purchases, and eventually made their way to the garage.

The two AI's had sensed the women's approach…and planned for it.

"Hi, Bonnie, Robin," Nick greeted the pair as they descended the stairs.

"Hi, Nick," Robin said with a pleased smile. "I didn't expect to find you here. Does this mean you're done training Devon?"

The friendly vampire shook his head. "No, we're not done."

Nick's shoulders dropped as he relaxed and prepared to explain. "We flew in this morning, before dawn, of course." He gave a slight chuckle. "I had worn him out, and he was ready to sleep in his own bed for a change."

"I'll bet," Robin said with a small giggle of understanding.

Nick continued, "I figured, why not, so I stayed, too. I got up a while ago, and I intended to let you know we were here, but…"

"Sorry, but we went shopping. Robin had to redo most of her wardrobe. I know she's learning her way around town as part of her job, but she doesn't know the stores and shopping areas that well yet," Bonnie explained. "So we took my Jeep and I played chauffeur. Besides, one thing Michael and Kitt don't have is much trunk space."

"I can't argue that," Nick said with a grin. He decided to return to his original explanation. "Anyway, the two of you were gone, so I came down here to talk to Michael, but saw that Kitt was still here, too.

"That was about thirty minutes ago. I got the impression I had interrupted… something… but I don't know what, and neither of them will 'spill the beans.'" Nick grimaced and commented, "And, yes, that's one of the landmines Michael dropped on me. Number 49, I think," he finished with a roll of his eyes and a shake of his head.

The women chuckled. They had found the man's collection of small verbal gaffes to be rather endearing. His vast experience and wide-ranging knowledge still allowed some things to "fall through the cracks," and they came to light at the most unexpected times.

Mildly abashed, Nick ignored their reaction. "We still lack a couple more days of training, but I've really missed my partner. I've been going crazy wondering what he was up to." He clenched his hands into claws as if to strangle someone. "It must have something to do with whatever I interrupted, but these two…" he complained, highly frustrated. "They're hiding something, and I don't know how to drag it out of them," he finished with a sigh of exasperation.

"How long have they been giving you the silent treatment?" Bonnie asked.

By now the women had taken seats at the new table near the vehicles.

Nick approached them, but turned to partially face the cars. "Most of that thirty minutes. I know they're both awake. We had a short chat before that, and their scanners are still working, so I don't understand what's going on."

"What did they say?" Robin asked.

"They've been practicing with some new device Bonnie installed. I had the feeling that they were not only pleased with it, but that they were…laughing at me," he finished in a low tone of embarrassment. "So, will you tell me what this is all about?"

"Mmmmmaaybe," Bonnie said evasively, then turned to Robin. "I hate to admit it, but I'm not sure if he's really Nick, or one of their avatars," she said quietly, a look of confusion on her face.

Nick's frustration disappeared as his expression sobered. "WHAT? You don't think I'm real? You think I'm an…avatar?" he said carefully, trying out the new word. His shoulders fell and he sighed loudly. "Thanks a lot. You just chalked up another one for me on Michael's list, since I don't know what that is," he said gruffly. "I am real, though," he vowed as he clenched his fists. "And I'm beginning to wish I hadn't even come down here!"

He turned to storm off toward the stairs, but stopped and looked back after a few feet. "Robin, you believe me, don't you?" he pleaded.

"Well…uh…actually…I'm not sure either," the other driver admitted. "I mean, if I didn't know they can do avatars now, I'd know for sure it was you, but now…I honestly don't know."

Nick smiled as he turned fully around and approached them. He cocked an eyebrow as he asked mischievously, "I assume this avatar meets your approval?"

The women sagged in relief. "That entire conversation was fully plausible, under the circumstances," Bonnie told the synthesized image.

"No kidding," Robin agreed. "You've got his speech and mannerisms down pat. Because of that, I'd say it's Michael pulling the strings on this one. He's spent a lot more time with him than Kitt. Am I right?"

"You got it," "Nick" said. "Yes, I'm actually Michael, which is weird to be saying that with his face and his voice, but, yeah, it's me."

Robin held up a finger. "So…Nick and Devon aren't here at the mansion?"

"Nope. Still in town, with Nick crackin' the whip."

Bonnie giggled as she asked, "Did you actually have to explain the phrase 'spill the beans' to him?"

Michael's avatar laughed. "As a matter of fact, I did, and it is number 49 on the list."

Kitt finally joined the conversation. "I certainly hope you didn't think both of us were so stubborn that we wouldn't tell Nick what we were doing."

"I don't see it as stubborn if you wanted to keep it to yourselves until you could give a reasonably good performance with your avatars," Bonnie said sympathetically. "You could have told him what the devices were for, but you don't have to. The choice is yours, for both of you."

"Thank you, Bonnie," Kitt replied. "In case you're wondering, I would have told Nick if he'd asked. I see no reason to keep it a secret. Michael is the one who suggested it for our scenario."

Michael allowed the avatar to vanish. Now using his own voice, he said, "I thought it might be good to know if I could do a good 'Nick' or not. Since he's my partner and tends to be an even worse 'trouble-magnet' than I ever was – which I didn't think was possible – I figured it might be good if I can pretend I'm him if I need to."

"Well, if you can fool the two of us, you should be able to fool anyone else," Robin decided. "And you definitely had us hooked."

"Surely that's not the only one you practiced?" Bonnie wanted to know. "How about you, Kitt? Which ones have you been working on?"

"We've both been working on the two of you, as well as Nick. He decided to focus on Nick, since he's his driver, while I spent the most time on Robin, for the same reason. I find it prudent to be able to portray a convincing version of her as an additional means of keeping her safe, or to provide a distraction if necessary."

"Gotta admit that makes sense," Robin declared.

"Apparently you both spent the least time on my avatar," Bonnie commented. "And since you've explained why you focused on your drivers instead, I understand. I'll admit I'm rather grateful that we didn't come downstairs to see a copy of the two of us already here."

"We thought about it, believe me," Michael admitted slyly.

"Yes, we did," Kitt agreed. "But we decided to go with the Nick scenario instead. Either of your avatars would have been obvious as such. Since Nick isn't actually here, we would know if you were confused enough to wonder if he was real or not."

The four friends spent the next two hours polishing their efforts with the avatars of the two women. Kitt also performed his version of Nick, which his companions agreed was less convincing than Michael's version. Bonnie informed him he was overdoing the motions and body language, and the speech patterns were still too much his own. The AI promised he would work on that. Bonnie did say his performance as Robin was superior to Michael's attempt. She chided Michael on giving her "the fidgets," moving too much, and talking too fast. He had the same problem as Kitt with the speech patterns, though. Too much of his own verbal style was coming through.

Overall, the new devices were a resounding success. Michael and Kitt had enjoyed themselves while mastering the avatars, but after a second full day of massive processing, the pair were tired and ready for another long recharge session.

Just before the vehicles shut down, Bonnie disconnected the avatar cuffs from their charging bases and took them to their respective vehicles.

"I made a place for this up…here," she said as she installed the one for Kitt into a new clear recessed opening near the area normally occupied by a rearview mirror. "It automatically charges as needed while it's up here, but you can also use it for an image inside the cabin. It takes too much processing to use while you're driving, but it's okay while your partner drives. There is a variation you can use while you drive, but it's lower resolution and only shows the image from the waist up. It will look strange from inside the cabin, but it'll be less suspicious if you don't want people to see a driverless car."

"Good idea," Michael said. "That's caused a lot of confusion for us."

"Indeed," Kitt concurred. "I can't help but wonder if there's a way for us to utilize the avatars without the cuffs. It would be nice to have an image we can use when we're on camera, but our drivers are elsewhere – with the cuffs."

"You can do that, Kitt," Bonnie assured her friend. "In addition to the main device and the extra chip for your CPU, I added several tiny emitters to key positions of your body to produce an image. Just use the ALT version of the program instead. Keep in mind that it has a more limited range than the cuff, only about twenty feet from the front of the car and ten for the back before you start losing resolution. In case you haven't noticed, the cuff needs to be in range of your scanner or in the range of the sensors on your driver's com-link. They work together, but that version has a time limit of ten minutes unless the cuff is plugged in. I'm putting the external recharge bases and an extra charging cord in your glove boxes."

"Sounds good to me," Michael decided. "And I think this will be just as useful as it is fun."

"I think so, too," Bonnie agreed. "Maybe it'll help take the edge off your 'skin hunger,' as Nick described it, as well, since you'll at least have a human image to work with."

"It might, at that. It's a shame it's so hard on the processor, though," Michael said thoughtfully.

By now Bonnie had finished adding the items to Kitt and was installing them in the other car.

"I know, but there's no reason why you have to stay with full-size avatars, unless you actually need them. For practice purposes, or less strain on your systems, try reducing the images. The voices will stay the same, but you can drop the image down to two percent. Much easier on the processor…and your power packs."

"That sounds even better," Michael said happily.

"As an alternate, you can make the image far less 'solid,'" the woman suggested. "You may look like a ghost, but at least you can keep the full size."

"Interesting. If we can do that, it also follows that we can use the cuffs to project other images as well," Kitt pointed out. "For instance, a three-dimensional map of a building, including such things as camera locations and guard positions. That would be quite helpful for our partners."

"Oooohhh, I love that," Michael said enthusiastically. "That'll be a huge help."

"I figured one of you would think of that on your own. Good going, Kitt," Bonnie said proudly. "I've also thought of something else that you might be able to do with it…but I'm not sure."

"What is that, Bonnie?" Kitt asked.

"The system is intended to project an image of something that isn't actually there. But it should also be able to hide something that actually is there, make it blend into the background and, for all purposes, be invisible."

"Fascinating," Kitt remarked. "If you would leave something small on the table – a pen, perhaps – I'll give it a try after I recharge my power packs."

"And if you don't mind, before you leave, would you disconnect us?" Michael asked. "I think I should probably head home after I recharge and check on our favorite denizens of the night." He doubted he would ever accept his dependence on human assistance for such things as readily as Kitt did. He was handling it better than he had at first, but he still wished he could perform such simple tasks on his own.

"Hah!" Bonnie said derisively. "You don't want to check on them. You just want to show off your new avatars! You don't fool me for a second, Michael Arthur Knight! But I'll disconnect you anyway, you rascal."

Michael laughed as the woman disconnected the cables between their CPU's, leaving the retractable recharge cables in place. "You got it, Bon-bon." Those were the only maintenance connections he could do on his own. Even then he could only disconnect, but not connect without help.

Michael knew the vampires would likely go to bed around dawn, and Nick would inevitably wake up first, typically around 11 am. That gave him more than enough time to fully recharge his power packs, then drive to Nick's place before his driver woke.

He remotely opened the roll-up door, closed it again, and parked in what had become his usual place beside the seating area. Two hours later his sensors informed him that Nick was up and preparing for the day. He waited for the cues that his friend was nearly ready to come downstairs, and set his own plan in motion.

The friendly vampire descended the stairs, fastening the cuffs on his dress shirt as he did so. He smiled when he saw the sleek black sportscar back in its familiar place. He was about to greet his partner when he noticed something unexpected.

He paused on the next step.

Someone was sitting on the couch.

From his current angle Nick could only see the top of the thick mop of brown curly hair, the crimson short-sleeved shirt, and black jeans. He couldn't believe Michael had brought someone into his place without contacting him first! He knew very well how highly Nick valued his privacy and security.

He barely managed to keep all but an edge of fury out of his voice as he called, "Excuse me, but who are…?" he began.

The instant he spoke, the stranger rose from his seat and faced him, still only halfway down the stairs. "Hi, Nick. Long time, no see." Michael's image said with a beaming smile. "It's been…what – three years now since I last saw you? I hope you don't mind me barging in like this, but Kitt knew your address, so he brought me over here."

By now Nick's knees had given way. In shock, he had sagged limply onto the steps. He could only listen as the man below him tried to explain.

"What the heck?" Michael yelled, surprised, yet secretly and thoroughly pleased by the other's strong reaction to his prank. He made his way to the bottom of the stairs and spoke to his stricken friend. "Are you okay? You better be. I have no idea how to help you, and I doubt Kitt does either. He told me you might… well, I didn't know you'd be this… Anyway, are you okay?"

An unsteady hand reached for the lower part of the ornate stair-rail. Nick struggled to pull himself into a sitting position. Uncertain if his legs would support him, he decided not to risk standing just yet. He studied his visitor. "Michael? It's you? It's really you?" His voice was nearly a squeak, his vocal cords so tight that he coughed several times after the question.

"Yep, it's me," his friend said casually after Nick stopped coughing, then frowned. "But I don't understand why you're so…" he shook his head as he tried to decide how to phrase it, "blown away by that."

"But…but you…YOU DIED, Michael! Over a year ago now. You're DEAD, so how can you possibly be here – ALIVE – like this?" He held up his hands, pleading for a rational explanation. "HOW?" He shook his head as he lowered his hands. "Maybe I didn't actually get up. Maybe I'm still asleep and just dreaming all of this," he mused.

Michael grimaced in disapproval. "You're not asleep, Nick. Use those hyped-up senses of yours, and tell me if I'm alive or not."

Nick closed his eyes and was silent for several seconds. He focused on his senses.

He listened carefully.

"I don't hear a heartbeat," he announced, his eyes still closed.

His nostrils flared as he took a deep breath.

Startled by what he didn't smell, his eyes opened suddenly as he declared, "There's no scent, either! So…you're not real? What are you? A ghost?"

Michael shook his head. He'd been using his battery packs for this charade, which limited his time to ten minutes. He would dearly love to continue, but practicality intervened.

"I'm a hologram," he said, letting Nick off the hook. "Bonnie's latest gadget she cooked up for me and Kitt."

Nick pointed to the vehicle. "And that's not Kitt. It doesn't smell like him. It smells like you."

Michael's brow furrowed and his lips tightened. "Are you saying we stink?"

Nick hurriedly shook his head. "That's not it at all. And I guess I shouldn't have phrased it that way," he admitted sheepishly. "I'm talking about scent. Kitt smells like a mixture of Robin, leather, carpet, and plastics, and you smell like a mixture of me and those same background scents. That's why I can always tell who's who."

"Oh. Glad you explained it. But you should know that this whole performance used a lot of processing power – and battery power – to play a big joke on you. And you bought it, hook, line, and sinker," Michael finished gleefully.

"No kidding!" Nick said with a prolonged sigh of relief. "So this…" He pointed at Michael's image with both index fingers for emphasis. "is an elaborate image generated by a set of lasers somewhere on the vehicle?"

"You got it," his companion agreed with a smirk. "It's called an avatar. I'll explain the whole thing, but would you attach the charging cable first? That's the one drawback. This thing's a major power-drain, and I can't plug the cord in myself since the avatar is intangible. This version of it can only last about ten minutes. The power cable lets me run it several hours."

"Okay, but give me a minute to get back on my feet. You really had me fooled."

"I know. That was the plan," Michael's image said with a proud smirk as Nick trudged down the rest of the stairs.

The vampire retrieved the long cord and attached it to the vehicle in the special recessed fitting.

"Much better," the avatar said. "Now if you'll get the cuff and its charging base from inside the cabin…"

The avatar showed him where to find the items. Nick inserted the cord for the charging base into an electrical socket near the seating area. He set the base itself on one of the shelves of the entertainment system, then installed the cuff in a curved narrow groove of polished metal for that purpose on the charging system.

"Perfect!" the avatar said with obvious relief. "Now it won't drain me so fast."

"That's good. I don't want you to run low on power just so I can see your face again," Nick assured him. "I really don't need it. I always see you with my 'mind's eye' anyway whenever I talk to you. I always have."

"I know, but I still have a few more things to show you before I switch it off, so you might as well have a seat and get comfy," Michael suggested.

Nick shuddered, still unsettled by the entire concept, and how completely he'd been taken in by it. He warily took a seat facing the car instead of his customary position beside it.

The avatar allowed his friend to be seated first, then took a seat directly in front of the vehicle.

Now at closer range, Nick studied every feature and movement of the incredible image. "You look so real, exactly like the last time I saw you. Every detail is right. The hair, the fine colors of the eyes, the skin – even the texture. The movements and body language, those are excellent, too. It really is…YOU."

"I know. Bon-bon had tons of data from Kitt to work with for the form itself. The movement and body language are things I have to add back in from memory and what I know would look right."

"You definitely haven't forgotten it. All of it was dead-on," Nick said appreciatively.

"I didn't expect any problems since I never adjusted my mental image of myself," Michael admitted. "I know Dr. Ellen wanted me to, but I just couldn't let go. I guess it's a good thing I didn't, at least for this new toy."

"You're probably right about that," Nick agreed as he settled further in the chair, subconsciously imitating the relaxed position of the avatar opposite him. "You know this may help with your skin hunger problem, since you have more of a human body to work with. It's probably all in the mind anyway."

"Bonnie mentioned that too, and I hope you're both right," Michael decided momentarily.

Nick leaned forward and held his hand toward the knees of the image. "Do you mind? You said you were intangible, but…"

"Be my guest," Michael said with a grin.

Nick gingerly reached toward the legs of the avatar. He nearly touched the surface of what appeared to be genuine black jeans, noting the individual threads of the tough fabric, then curled his fingers and withdrew the hand. He chewed his lower lip in thought and shook his head, then reached forward once more. This time he passed his hand through the side of the "leg." He felt nothing as his fingers vanished within the nonexistent fabric, flesh, and bone, then exited the other side. "Amazing. Truly amazing," he said as he leaned back and resettled in his seat. "I take it you couldn't feel that, right?"

"Not a bit. It is definitely amazing, though," Michael readily agreed.

"Yes, it is. You said you had some other things to show me?"

"Absolutely. I feel like a kid again and Santa just gave me everything on my wish list," Michael said, almost giddy.

Nick nearly snorted. "In other words, Bonnie is Santa Claus," he teased.

"Well, uh, in a way, I guess," Michael said, mildly embarrassed. "But this new device she gave me and Kitt is really awesome. She…"

Nick cut in, talking over his excited friend. "Hold on a second. She gave you and Kitt matching devices, so…Kitt…can look and sound like you now?" he asked, incredulous.

Michael's avatar laughed. "Believe it or not, he can. What surprised me was just how well he can impersonate me. That's why I was gone so long, by the way. It took a lot of practice for us to get everything right. It took Kitt a lot longer to get the hang of the movements and body language, but he does learn fast, I'll give him that. The two of us fooled Bonnie and Robin so completely that they finally had to ask who was who. They honestly couldn't tell."

"Sounds like you had way too much fun."

"Probably so, but we did have to put a lot of effort into it. And it definitely is a drain on the battery packs, even when the cuff is on the charger and I'm on the cable."

"Why is it called a cuff? I know it looks like one, but is it actually intended to be worn?" Nick wanted to know. He turned in his chair for a closer look at the small but evidently powerful device.

"Exactly. Bon-bon said it should go on the opposite arm from your com-link. They work together when you're out of range of the vehicle. She wanted it to be sturdy, so the outer surface has a coating of the same stuff that protects the cars. The cuff can do about ten minutes on its own, then it's back to a simple sort of a jewelry…thing."

"It's hardly my usual taste," Nick said with a hint of disapproval. A wide black cuff with odd silver markings was not something he would have chosen for himself, but…

"She also said we can change the color to pretty much whatever you want. We can even make it match your skin so it looks invisible, like you're not even wearing it."

Nick regained his grin. "That's pretty cool. But just so you know, I probably won't need it on most of our cases. I'll probably keep it on the charger on the shelf while we're at home, and put it in the cabin instead of wearing it while we're gone."

"That's what I figured. I'd do the same thing."

Nick gazed at the tall figure casually seated on the couch. One of the jeans-encased legs was hiked up with its ankle comfortably atop the other knee. An arm was stretched idly across the top of the next cushion. Nick huffed slightly and commented, "I've seen you in almost that exact position before, and I never expected to see you like this again." He held a hand toward the image. "But every little detail…is definitely you."

"I know," Michael said with his trademark smile. "Bonnie did an incredible job. And this isn't all it can do, either. She gave us the files for avatars of me, her, Robin, you, Devon, and five blanks that we can use as needed. She already knows she'll have to update the ones for Devon since he's changed so much now that he's a vampire."

"That's true," Nick said with a nod. "It's no wonder you were gone so long. It probably wasn't that hard for you to learn your own avatar, but to get several others to the point where you can do them believably would take some practice. Especially for Kitt."

"It did. It was a nice change for me to teach him something. But I needed a lot of practice too. Kitt needed help on the physical stuff, but I needed it on the speech patterns and word choices. So we spent a lot of time helping each other. It was a lot of fun, though, for both of us."

"Will you show me the other avatars?" Nick asked. "Not a long session; maybe a minute for each one?"

"Thought you'd never ask," Michael replied. "By the way, I can't swap them; I have to stop the program, which makes them vanish, then initialize the next one. You'll see what I mean," he said as the avatar vanished.

Seconds later a column of blue light appeared in mid-air in front of the couch. It shimmered wildly as it reconfigured into a human shape, then the image finalized in the form of Bonnie. Michael gave a brief demonstration of Robin and Devon next, saving the avatar of his driver for last.

"How does it feel to be able to talk to your doppelganger?" the Q-AI asked the vampire in Nick's own voice.

Nick couldn't quite suppress a shudder. "It's rather unnerving. And weird." He examined this image more closely than the others, except for Michael's own avatar. "I assume the voice is like mine?"

The image replied, "Yes. I know people never hear themselves the way others hear them, but, yes, this is your voice as well as your image. I hope you don't mind, but it might be useful during one of our cases sometime."

Nick lifted an eyebrow. "Can you vamp out?"

The avatar shook its head. "No. Bonnie didn't want to include that with you or Devon, in case someone hacks into the files. That should be pretty much impossible, but there's no guarantee that it absolutely can't be done, so…no."

"Good idea. Can you fly?" Nick wondered.

The eyes of the image lost focus briefly as Michael considered the question. "I haven't tried, but I don't see why not. I can't really go anywhere, though, since I have to stay near the car or the cuff or I disappear."

"That makes sense. Okay, that's enough of a drain on your power systems. You can switch it off now," Nick suggested.

The avatar obligingly vanished and was soon replaced by that of Michael once more. "I don't have to switch it off to save power. I can keep it on with a lot less strain on my systems if I shrink it…" The full-size six-foot-four image contracted almost instantly to a miniscule three inches high as it "stood" on the cushion of the couch. "Like this," it said in Michael's normal voice instead of an expected tiny tone.

Nick drew back. "Now that is really weird. The only use I can see for that version would be to conserve your energy…or as a distraction for an animal. At least you couldn't be eaten."

"That's true," the tiny image agreed, then expanded to full size afterward, simultaneously regaining its seated position. "As an alternate, I can do this…" the avatar said as it instantly became a ghostly version of itself. "I can drop the 'solidity' down to one percent, and keep the image up a lot longer. I don't know exactly how long, since I haven't tried it yet."

The vampire shook his head. "That's weird too, but not as weird as the tiny version. I think it would be more practical as well, since you could use it to show me how to do things, such as…more cooking lessons?"

"I can do that," the diffuse image of Michael agreed with a grin.

"That sounds good."

Nick looked through the avatar to the oscillating red scanner of the vehicle behind it. "You should know that there's no need for this for us to talk to each other. I'm perfectly comfortable looking at your scanner or your camera in the cabin when I want to talk 'face to face' with you."

"I know," the avatar replied. "But I like looking like a real person again, and most of all, having a face again."

"Hmm. You mean…when you're using the avatar, you'd prefer that I interact with that instead of your scanner or camera?" Nick surmised.

"Yeah. The avatar can't actually see you, but you can see it, so you can pick up on the nonverbal stuff I add in for more in-depth conversation."

"I'll buy that," Nick said with approval. "But it's entirely up to you for when to use it – or not. Okay?"

"In that case, I'll probably hang around like this whenever we're here."

"Fine with me."

Michael's image cocked an eyebrow. "One other interesting thing about this is that it gives Kitt a chance to decide what he wants to look like as a human."

"Kitt? As a human?" Nick was stunned. "WOW! That'll definitely be interesting."

"No kidding. I can hardly wait to see what he comes up with."

After recharging yet again, Michael had left the mansion to return to Nick's place. Kitt was left alone in the garage for the next few hours until his human friends came downstairs to join him.

At last Kitt had the opportunity to create an image for himself. He relished the idea, but the more he thought about it, the more he was overwhelmed with choices.

He considered waiting to ask for advice from his friends, but realized if he took the advice of one over the other, the latter would be hurt by his decision. He couldn't bear that possibility. He eventually decided to make his own choices. He could always make a few adjustments afterward.

He had never before given such intense thought to the plethora of human characteristics. Rugged, handsome, authoritative, stern, etc. were among the common descriptors with which he was familiar, but those terms were too esoteric to be useful. He understood them, of course, but decided on a more scientific approach.

He utilized Michael's human image as a template, and overlaid those of Michael Long, Wilton Knight, and Devon Miles. He found old pictures of the latter two at approximately Michael's current age for this purpose. He intentionally chose both versions of Michael hoping for a final version that could pass as his brother. From those images he chose what he considered the best traits of each and assembled them into a cohesive whole.

After compiling the results into a matrix similar to the other avatars, Kitt initialized the new program. The blue light appeared in mid-air in front of his scanner. It stretched in all directions, primarily height, gaining color, texture, and the appearance of a real human. In this case it was one that had never existed before.

The new "man" had Devon's height of six-foot-two. A mass of thick, wavy hair adorned the scalp – a nod to Michael for the thickness and Devon for the waves instead of curl – but was only half the length of Michael's. The color was lighter, more dark blonde than brown. Kitt had used an average between that of the three men at the same age.

The apparent age was – Kitt hoped – roughly seven years older than Michael. To support that, the skin texture was similar to an older version of Wilton Knight, with more micro-variations of color than that of a younger man. The overall result gave a more seasoned appearance than his counterpart.

Kitt had paid close attention to the face, starting with the eyes. All the templates shared the trait of blue eyes. This was one issue which created uncertainty within his circuits. Nearly any shade of blue eyes would go well with the dark blonde hair, but if he decided to choose brown eyes instead, he would probably change the hair to dark brown or even black. This was why this avatar was the equivalent of a "rough draft." It would not necessarily be the final version he would present to his friends.

The facial structure sported softer edges than that of his "brother," which also added to the impression of a few extra years. The lips were thinner, more like those of Wilton Knight, concealing dentition similar to Michael's, but more "even" at the bottom of the upper teeth.

Information on facial hair was unavailable for Wilton Knight. The few pictures Kitt could find of his creator at that age were too small to discern such detail, so he chose the extreme close-shaved look that Devon usually maintained.

The body structure was somewhat similar to Devon, not as slim as Michael, but with an "in-shape" physique, as his best friend would put it. The torso was covered with a sky blue long-sleeved, button-down shirt with the top button undone. A pair of well-tailored navy dress slacks and black leather oxford shoes completed the outfit.

Kitt studied the still image in front of his scanner for several minutes. He rotated it slowly for a view from all angles. He was quite satisfied with the overall image, but still uncertain about the hair and eye color.

He swapped the eyes to a light brown and changed the hair to a brown so dark it was almost black. He rotated the new image and decided he liked this better.

The design was nearly complete. A few optional accessories were in order. Since Kitt was aiming for a more mature look, he added a dark blue sport coat in lieu of the black leather one Michael inevitably chose, a gold rope necklace, and a gold-banded wristwatch.

He rotated the image for another close inspection. Had the avatar been fully active, it would have smiled as he realized he wanted one final touch. He made the minor change and, well-satisfied with his efforts, saved the resulting files.

He reinitialized the matrix, then activated the avatar. The image walked around the car and the garage while Kitt studied every aspect of its movements and added shadows and highlights based on its position. After several minutes, the new avatar returned to its original position in front of the scanner. Looking directly at the device, it retrieved Kitt's last modification to the program. A pair of black-metal-framed sunglasses with reflective red lenses slid from the pocket in the sports coat. The figure flipped the side-pieces open and put them on.

"Well, what do you think?" the image asked his vehicular self.

The AI was mildly startled to hear his own voice addressing him. He had no intention of altering his voice. It was one of his best features, not to mention an integral part of his self-image. To alter it or create a new one was unthinkable. It wouldn't be him. But it was still unsettling to hear it coming from a human form. His human form. He supposed he could get used to it…eventually.

"Hi, my name is Kevin Ian Knight, but my friends call me Kitt," he said, trying out his new smile.

Kevin Ian? Where did that come from? Kitt wondered. He realized he had overlooked one subroutine he had set up to select a new name for himself. It had added the information to the new program matrix during the compilation process. "Kitt" was occasionally used as a genuine name, of course, but it was actually an acronym for him. He liked the name, but wasn't averse to a new and more traditional one, preferably beginning with a 'K.' That would make the "nickname" of "Kitt" more logical, thus the subroutine.

He would be Kevin Ian "Kitt" Knight.

The avatar nodded its head in approval, then gave a thumbs-up signal as well. Finally the image vanished as Kitt ended the program. He went back into recharge mode knowing it would take relatively little time to replace the energy he'd expended. The static images he'd generated first put far less strain on his power packs than a moving one. He had not spent much time trying out the active image after finalizing the avatar. He'd be ready to go in under an hour, and still have to wait for his friends to come down to the garage.

Shortly before nine o'clock, Bonnie came down the stairs, with Robin trailing behind her.

"I tell you, Bonnie, that chef is far too good for my waistline," the driver said as she left the stairs. "At this rate, I'll be forced to upgrade my exercise routine."

The women were startled when Kitt's driver-side door opened and a stranger exited the vehicle.

Bonnie whirled around in alarm, angry at the unexpected intrusion of her domain, while Robin instantly drew her weapon from her shoulder holster and aimed it at the tall, but strikingly handsome man.

"Who are you, how did you get in here, and most important, how did you get inside Kitt?" Robin demanded in a highly threatening tone.

The man raised his hands. He hadn't said anything until now, knowing his distinctive voice would easily give him away. He preferred to have at least a few seconds to enjoy the anonymity of the new avatar. A smile graced his lips as he said the three words that would answer the questions simultaneously. "I am Kitt."

Robin nearly lost her grip on her weapon. She quickly reholstered it without taking her eyes off the stranger. The voice was that of her AI partner, but…

Bonnie's eyes went wide in shock. "You're Kitt? But you can't be!"

The man lowered his hands, deliberately letting his intangible right arm drift through the vehicle's frame before dropping it to his side. "See? This is my new avatar," he explained. He noted that the women began to relax at the familiar sound of his voice. "What do you think? Is it acceptable?" He turned around so they could view him from all sides.

"Be still, my heart!" Bonnie exclaimed as she fanned herself with her hand to reduce the sudden heat on her face.

"Hot damn!" Robin said, equally stunned.

"I don't understand your reactions," Kitt said innocently, shaking his head.

"Oooohhhh, that is VERY acceptable, Kitt," Bonnie informed him as she found herself unable to tear her eyes off him. "You look GREAT!"

"No kidding!" Robin agreed, swallowing hard. "You did an amazing job on this."

"I thank you both. I did put a great deal of thought into it," the avatar said as he leaned against the black car, placing his right arm on the roof. "I'm glad you like it, but now I wonder it if might be too distracting."

"It won't be so distracting once we get used to it," Robin assured him. "Which may take a while since you do look stunning. But there are plenty of times we need a distraction for our job, and this will definitely fit the bill."

"If you say so," Kitt said uncertainly. "Is it okay if I switch it off now?"

"Uh, give me a few more seconds to take it all in," Bonnie countered. She sighed as she gazed from head to toe at the magnificent form of her unusual companion. Robin did much the same until Bonnie finally said, "Okay, you can switch it off."

The avatar vanished instantly.

"I'm glad you both approve," Kitt told his friends from his vehicular form. "For the most part, I used some of the characteristics of Michael Long as well as Michael Knight, along with a few from Wilton Knight and Devon. I did make a few choices of my own, though. I was hoping for a result that could pass as an older brother for Michael, approximately seven years older, to be specific. Does it meet that goal?"

The women were silent as they considered the question. Bonnie finally answered, "I'd say you succeeded on both counts, Kitt. There is some resemblance to Michael, and it does look a little older and more mature."

"And if I were guessing, I would put your age at about seven years older," Robin concurred.

"Very well," Kitt decided. "Are there any modifications you'd care to suggest?"

"Hmm. If you decided to use it fairly often, you might consider a small collection of clothing in different styles and colors. Other than that, I'd leave it as-is," Bonnie offered.

"There is one accessory I didn't show you," Kitt commented apologetically. A small area of blue light appeared and soon formed black-edged sunglasses with reflective red lenses suspended in mid-air between the two women.

Robin and Bonnie chuckled. "It's perfect!" Bonnie said with glee. "It matches your scanner."

"Exactly," Kitt said, pleased that she had made the connection. "After all, it's primarily my voice and my scanner that define me. Since my voice is unchanged, I wanted an alternate representation for my scanner…and I came up with this."

"I love it, Kitt," Robin said. "I hadn't thought of that, but you're right. It pulls the whole thing together. If you had had those on when we first saw you, it would have been easier to believe it was you. I guess we were subconsciously looking for something like that."

The glasses vanished. "I thought that might be the case, but I wanted to observe your reaction without them since they would have given me away as readily as my voice."

"Well, it worked. You now have an avatar completely of your own design, and you should be proud of it, Kitt," Robin declared. "You did a great job. I knew you would; I just didn't know you would try it so soon."

"I agree," said the other woman. "I expected you to wait until you had done a few cases and gained more experience with the other avatars before designing your own."

"I had the time, and I saw no need to wait," Kitt explained. "I also knew I could alter it whenever I wished, which encouraged me to proceed with the design."

"It'll be interesting to see how the others react to it," the cyberneticist mused.

"In the meantime, you and I have a new case to deal with, Kitt," Robin announced as she opened the driver's door and claimed her seat.