'They all exploded?' Michael repeated.

'Asking me for the fifth time won't change what happened, Michael.' Hawke said cheerfully from his seat in the spy's office.

Michael glared at him. 'I just don't understand…'

'It's possible the element, whatever it was, became unstable when large quantities were in close proximity.' Marella suggested. She was perched on his desk, her hands folded in her lap.

'Yes, it was rather an unfortunate event.' Armitage said.

'An unfortunate event?' Michael bit out. 'The loss of the artefacts is an unfortunate event?'

'What amazes me is that it only took four of them to set each off like that.' Armitage mused oblivious to Michael's tone.

'What do you mean?' asked Marella. Her dark eyes flashed a warning at Hawke who wasn't bothering to hide his amusement.

'Well, in the legend, it's the five artefacts together that will release the spirits from their bonds freeing them to destroy the underworld.' Armitage said.

'Hey, that stuff caused enough of a bang without the fifth one.' Dom pointed out. 'We were almost toast back there.'

'I know but…'

'Professor Armitage,' Michael interrupted the man smoothly, 'I'd like to thank you for all your assistance with the mission.' He nodded at Marella who slid off the desk. 'Marella will show you out.'

'Oh, of course.' Armitage stood up a little flustered. He ignored Marella's gentle nudge and marched over to shake Michael's hand. 'Thank you very much for inviting me. I had a fabulous time.' He moved onto Dom. 'Although it's a shame I won't be able to write a paper on my experience.' He shook Hawke's hand and took Caitlin's hand in his. 'It has been a pleasure.' He said kissing her knuckles before releasing her hand.

Hawke scowled as the Englishman left the room.

Caitlin's hand slid over his and he turned his over to tangle their fingers together. He sighed at her knowing expression.

Michael's eye twinkled. 'You know Hawke there's really no need for the jealousy act.'

It was Hawke's turn to glare at the spy. He picked up his coffee cup and took a sip.

Michael grinned. 'You're much more Armitage's type than Caitlin.'

Hawke choked on his drink. Caitlin tapped him on his back as he coughed. 'You're telling me…'

'Armitage plays for the other side.' Michael said rubbing his moustache. 'I think that's the current euphemism.'

Hawke shrugged. He had a 'live and let live' philosophy on life. His hand tightened on Caitlin's; he much preferred his lifestyle and at least Armitage hadn't really been hitting on his wife.

'They all exploded…' Michael repeated again slumping back in his white leather chair.

'It's for the best.' Caitlin said. 'That stuff was pretty lethal.'

'Yeah.' Hawke agreed. 'Kinda makes you think the Gods knew what they were doing when they hid it away.'

'They've just finished downloading the data from Airwolf.' Marella said as she rejoined them and took a seat between Hawke and Dom. 'Our technicians will start analysing the information Airwolf managed to get from her scans and internal sensors. We might be able to work out what happened.'

'They exploded.' Hawke said with exaggerated patience.

'Well, at least there isn't more of that stuff out there.' Dom said as Marella punched Hawke in the arm. 'I don't mind telling you, I had a bad moment there.'

'Well, if you have everything you need…' Hawke began.

Michael waved Hawke back into his seat. 'Karen Hansen is on her way over.'

'We sent her the latest logs after you transmitted them.' Marella explained.

'As Airwolf initiated her own shutdown before the explosion, I had Karen take a look at them.' Michael said.

'It was probably her educational thingy.' Caitlin said.

'Thingy.' Dom rolled his eyes. 'Is that a word?'

'You know what I mean.' Caitlin laughed.

'Want me to punch him?' Marella offered.

'Hey!' Dom held up his hands in supplication.

'Maybe it was her educational thingy.' Michael said. 'But I'd like to be sure of that.'

'Has Karen learned anything else from the logs?' Hawke asked rubbing his chin.

Michael scanned Hawke's impassive mask for a moment, the deceptive lack of expression. 'If she has, she hasn't said anything to me yet.'

Caitlin squeezed Hawke's fingers comfortingly and changed the subject before Hawke could brood too much. 'How's the new Airwolf coming along?'

'Good.' Michael said. 'We're almost done on the inner shell. There are some new innovations that we're applying to the outside armour so it'll take a little longer to finish than we thought.'

'I can't believe you're almost done.' Dom said shaking his head.

'Hardly,' scoffed Marella. 'There's a ton of work to complete yet.'

'Which is why Marella is being reassigned to oversee completion.' Michael said. He smiled at the collective look of shock on the faces of the Airwolf team.

'You know the word you're looking for is congratulations.' Marella said a little huffily. 'You're supposed to be pleased when someone gets a promotion.'

'We are…it was just a bolt from the blue.' Caitlin said hurriedly. 'Congratulations.'

'Yeah, we're going to miss you around here.' Dom said giving Marella a gap-toothed grin.

'Will you be OK?' Hawke asked seriously. Marella had been badly injured during Moffett's attack on Red Star; he couldn't quite believe she'd want to go back.

She nodded. 'I'm looking forward to it.'

'Well, congratulations.' Hawke said with a smile. 'You deserve it.' His gaze slid to Michael. The spy's decision was a shock. Not that Marella didn't deserve the promotion but he'd thought Michael had started to see his senior aide as something more than…well, his senior aide. And maybe, Hawke thought, that explained the sudden reassignment. A knock on the door interrupted his musing and they all turned to greet Karen Hansen.

She was without the white lab coat, dressed instead in a fashionable feminine shocking pink suit that should have clashed with her hair but didn't. She immediately headed for the computer greeting everybody absently over her shoulder.

'You seem excited.' Michael noted easing his recovering leg into a better position.

'I've finished my analysis.' Karen said without preamble. She turned around and shoved her hands deep in the pockets of her jacket. 'Moffett did write the self-preservation code as a logic bomb.'

Michael swore loudly and noted the way Hawke's face was wiped of all emotion; an indication of how upset the pilot really was. Caitlin looked tearful and Dom…the lines on Dom's craggy face had deepened with sorrow.

'We'll have to ground her…' Michael began.

'No.' Karen said interrupting him.

He raised an eyebrow at her. 'No?'

'Sorry for interrupting you, Archangel, but that won't be necessary.' Karen said apologetically.

'Won't be necessary?' Michael shifted in his chair.

'If you just give me a moment to explain?' Karen asked.

Michael impatiently gestured for her to continue.

Karen tapped a command into the computer and the screen displayed a set of code. 'This is Airwolf's original programme.' She pointed out the lines which detailed the self-preservation code. 'Here is the code Moffett programmed. Effectively when Airwolf reached a certain level of maturity she would be able to access the code.'

'Maturity?'

'The algorithm is slightly complicated but he based it on years of service, along with her learning rate and used memory capacity.' Karen gestured. 'Not the point; the point is that when Airwolf became able to access this code, it effectively allowed her to put her own survival over everything else including the commands of her pilot if the pilot could not be identified as Moffett.'

'It was another bomb.' Caitlin murmured.

'Yes. I think Moffett figured that if his first logic bomb was disabled then this would do the trick of wresting control of Airwolf from whoever had control of her if it wasn't him.'

'Moffett would be the only one able to fly her safely and without consequence.' Hawke deduced. 'Damn.' It looked like Moffett had won after all…

'But she hasn't really taken control off us any of the times she's used the self-preservation command.' Caitlin pointed out.

'Exactly.' Karen beamed at her like a teacher at a schoolchild who had just figured a complicated math problem. She turned back to the computer and punched in another command. The screen split into two and a second version of code appeared next to the original. 'This is the self-preservation code currently in Airwolf.'

'What are you saying?' Michael asked sharply.

'This isn't the original code.'

They all stared at her.

'You mean you rewrote it…' Marella interrupted hesitantly.

Karen shook her head. 'I didn't do anything and this is where it gets really exciting…'

'I have a feeling I'm not going to like this.' Michael said. Marella rose and went over to the bar. She poured him a glass of bourbon and handed it to him.

'I traced the logs of that first incident where Airwolf used the code to preserve her existence.'

'In July last year.' Caitlin said.

'Yes,' Karen nodded. 'Airwolf used the original code to enable a reboot of her systems. She needed to take control because neither she nor her pilot had control at that point. But after the event, Airwolf's computers self-initiated in a very similar way to how she did when she was under the influence of Moffett's first logic bomb.'

'And?' Hawke bit out.

'And she reviewed her logs, reviewed the data. She used her educational module to analyse what response she would make in a future scenario and then,' Karen paused dramatically, 'she changed the code.'

'Airwolf changed the code?' Michael checked he had heard her correctly. 'Does this mean…'

'It could be argued that it is just an indication that Airwolf is simulating artificial intelligence.' Karen said anticipating his question. 'But actually I think the choice she made is more a sign that she's developing real intelligence.'

'What do you mean?' Dom asked when the others stayed silent.

Karen gestured at the screen behind her. 'This code is a self-preservation code but gives Airwolf access to it on meeting certain conditions; pilot incapacitated, for example. They all relate in someway to an instance in her records where she would have benefited from having the ability to execute the code. Importantly, she does not have the ability to take control in any given scenario just for her own preservation unless Moffett is her pilot…' Her eyes gleamed with satisfaction. 'She removed him.'

'She removed him?' Hawke felt his bones turn to water with relief.

'She reviewed every record of him in her memory file and removed him.' Karen said.

'We still have to ground her.' Michael said sadly. 'We can't fly her if she can take control for own preservation in any given scenario…'

Karen was almost jumping up and down to get his attention again. 'We don't have to ground her.' She gestured at the screen. 'Airwolf didn't just remove Moffett from the code, she replaced him.'

'She replaced him?' A strange feeling started to edge into Hawke's stomach; a fluttery nervousness.

'Yes.' Karen smiled at Hawke. 'She reviewed all her files and replaced Moffett with her current crew. She chose you guys as her safety net. You all can fly her safely.'

Dom's face broke into a wide smile. 'I knew it. I knew she was more than just nuts and bolts.'

'Well.' Michael slumped back in his seat.

Hawke couldn't speak; he turned to Caitlin. 'She chose us.' He repeated with a small laugh. 'Airwolf chose us.'

Caitlin smiled through her tears and shook her head. 'She chose you,' she corrected him gently, 'Airwolf chose you.'