The ride back to the foundation was stoic and silent. Eddie drove while Bonnie and Michael sat squeezed into the front seat. Michael sat pressed against the window and Bonnie sat on the bench seat, between the two men.

All three, deep into their own thoughts. There was a little sniffle and Michael glanced over, looking past Bonnie to Eddie. "Don't. He's not gone yet."

Eddie nodded, but he still had to wipe at his face, clearing his throat to push back down the emotion that bubbled up.

"What will it take to fix him, Bonnie?" Michael asked, glancing from Eddie, back to Bonnie as she let out a deep sigh.

"Michael… You're talking as if it's just replacing a few circuits. He's gone, Michael. His CPU has been breached, I'm not so sure if there's anything left."

"But, you can rebuild him, right?" Michael asked and Bonnie gave out a deep sigh.

"It's his brain," Eddie commented, causing Bonnie to nod from where she sat between the two men.

"Eddie's right. Its his brain. Like in a person, you can replace a heart. Just as you can an engine. If you lose a limb, you can live without it. There's only so much you can do for a person's brain. Once it's hurt, sometimes there's no fixing it." Bonnie tried to explain. "If… If we were to try and fix Kitt, I would need his original crew. The men who were originally here when Kitt was being developed into the AI that he is."

"Ok, so why don't we do that?" Michael asked and Bonnie nodded slowly.

"To an extent we already are. I don't know what the extent of the damage is until we get in there. I know that his CPU has been breached. What that means or how far that goes, I don't know. I don't know if I can fix him. I don't know if he'll be the same. I just don't know."

The three occupants of the truck fell silent, each now brooding in their own thoughts. It was such a rush to get Kitt onto the wrecker by the time they had him it just made more sense to get him secure and move as quickly as they could, rather than trying to get him into the semi. Bonnie had managed to get a breakdown of what they were dealing with and send it to Karr from the Semi and give him some instructions on how to get the lab ready, then they were on the road. It was weird seeing Kitt's burned and battered body just behind them in the rearview mirror like something collected from the scrapyard rather than the most highly advanced car on the streets.

The truck flew through security with Michael only waving at the guard to assure him of who they were as they bypassed the house and garage, heading instead, right for the labs.

The labs were behind the garages and sloped downward so that they were actually underground. They expanded into a massive system beneath the house. The main lab was the largest and open to the outside via a garage door and a ramp that led down into it. Another ramp led up into the back loading docks but other than that, the labs were primarily underground. Both for a perspective of space, secrecy and the possibility of explosions…

Wilton had thought of everything when he was building the mansion.

As they pulled up, the doors opened for them. Karr had the lab ready to go.

It was still extremely somber as they pulled in with the shell of what once had been one of the sweetest AI's any of them had ever met. Eddie hopped out of the truck as soon as it stopped, moving back to release Kitt's frame from the back bed.

The moment the truck was stopped and Kitt was loose, all hell broke loose. Michael was quick to hop down from the cab of the truck and crawl up onto the backbed of the wrecker as Bonnie grabbed a few tools she might need, pocketing them before following him up onto the wrecker to see just what they were dealing with. The latches were fused. They were going to have to get him up on the lift and at this point, with as degraded as his frame was becoming… Bonnie didn't want to do that.

If there was anything to safe, she didn't want to risk losing him. So it was decided, she would go in through the dash. She pulled on a pair of gloves and crawled into the driver's side of the car, via the window. The seat was gone as was the carpeting. She was resting on bare metal when she worked her way so that her upper body was beneath the steering column.

Kitt's CPU was in a compartment just beneath the hood, close to the steering column, seated behind the engine block so that it had the utmost protection from any impact. The neutralizing agent they used took care of most of the acid and most of it had been washed out but there was still a little sludge she crawled through that had once been the leather seats. She was probably going to grow extra limbs or turn green after this, who knew what else was in that pit…

The car shifted with a bit of movement as Joel crawled into the passenger side and wrenched a contraption into the car, similar to the jaws of life. It was smaller though. More compact. Without the MBS it was easier to bypass the frame but it would take much more effort, jarring what little integrity remained in the CPU. It would be safer to go in through the dash.

"You wanna go in under the steering column or here on the dash?" Joel asked, pointing the jaws at what was left of the screen of Kitt's voice modulator. For the first time since this started, Bonnie felt the hot sting of tears on her cheek. That had been his face. That was his face and it just disintegrated if they touched it.

Somehow it felt wrong to cut through it…

"The steering column. I think I can get a better look from there." She stated matter of factly as she wedged herself under the steering wheel, her head resting about where the gas and brake pedals would have been. They were gone now.

She took the jaws and cut into the fire wall like barrier under the wheel column. It gave easily, disintegrating away like everything else. As if it had been rusted for years… It allowed her to wedge her upper body into the engine compartment and it took her a moment to reconfigure just what she knew about Kitt's engine. It was much different staring up at it from the angle she was at. Even if they put him on the lift, it didn't look like this.

It took a moment to get her bearings, but once she did, her gaze fell on the protective CPU casing, secured to the upper frame beneath the hood.

"I've got him. Someone get me some saline wash, I might have to wipe off the CPU." Bonnie called. With her upper body half wrenched into Kitt's dash, she wasn't sure if anyone even heard until Joel's hand reached in through a small gap near the steering wheel.

She took the bottle she was given, a soft word of thanks given as she reached up, lightly feeling along the casing. It was so damn dark and it was hard to get her bearings down there. "I need a static free rag too!" She called and almost immediately that hand returned with a soft, fiber cloth.

She took it, her focus then going to the CPU. She was right. The CPU had been breached. She could see the corroded casing and inside motherboard. She flinched as she delicately cleaned what she could to get a better look at just what was happening. And for the first time since they brought Kitt home there was a small hint of hope. A single light was weakly blinking, just barely lighting up and going out again, indicating at least some functionality.

"I've got something! We need to get him moved, set up a workbench and let's get him hooked up!" Bonnie yelled.

"Can you pull him out through the dash?" Joel's voice was muted but she still heard it, just above her as he yelled through the dash where one of the broken monitors were.

"I don't know! I can't see from this angle…" Bonnie cursed softly as she felt around for the latch that would release the CPU casing. She didn't want to wrench it open, the CPU was just too delicate. Especially exposed like that.

"Michael!" She abruptly called.

"Yeah?" Michael's voice rang out, sounding a little sharp and coming from somewhere underneath her.

That didn't make any sense until she realized that he was yelling from the small space beneath the car, somewhat looking up into the engine compartment as much as he could. He must have had his head down on the platform of the wrecker. That was perfect actually…

"I can't see what I'm doing! Get Karr's camera and remove it from the Rover, then hand it to me. Get Karr to come as close to the wrecker as he can get!" Bonnie yelled through the compartment to Michael. There was a moment or two of silence before something just beneath her was wrenched away, just enough that she could see Michael's hand come up through the space, Karr's camera in hand. "Perfect!"

She tilted the camera, uttering a soft apology to Karr for what she was about to do as she wedged the camera up into the cavity of the dash where Kitt's CPU sat. There was an electronic whine from outside the car and Bonnie let out a curse. It was dark in there… Of course Karr didn't like it.

"I'm sorry Karr. I can't see either. We need to get Kitt out though, so I need you to get a visual." Bonnie instructed, trying very hard to get over the weirdness of what she was asking Karr to do. It was like someone taking out their eyeball and putting it inside someone's body to get a look around. It couldn't be pleasant for Karr…

It was also difficult to talk to him this way. There was a microphone on the camera so he could hear everything she was saying. But his voice modulator was on the Rover outside, so she couldn't hear him.

"Karr says the whole thing is fused and corroded! He thinks that if you put pressure on the firewall that's protecting the CPU, you should be able to pop it off!"

"Shit…" She muttered softly, then she raised her voice. "Joel, are you still out there?"

"Yes Ma'am, Dr. Barstow!" Joel called and Bonnie gave a grateful sigh.

"Good! I need a shop light and something solid like a wrench!"

It didn't take long before that hand was back, handing her what she needed. The shop light lit up the tight space she was in. It was a good thing that Karr tended not to complain too much when they moved his camera around. He was getting a good view of her behind as she briefly set his camera down to wriggle into place.

"Sorry Karr," she muttered as she had to wriggle her way to the side, wrenching his camera back up to the gab. The shop light helped. Joel stuck it into the dash so that everything was cast into an eerie, golden glow.

"Alright…" She muttered softly, using the wrench to gently start tapping at the CPU compartment, careful not to knock around the CPU itself.

"Karr says to stop the wrench right where it is!" Michael called and Bonnie froze. "Good! He says move to your right, about a quarter of an inch, then directly up to the edge! He says that's where you need to lever it open!"

Bonnie frowned but she followed the simple directions. A firm tap with her wrench had the compartment popping off of its frame where it was anchored. She cursed and reached up to carefully rest a hand just below the CPU. The technician in her cringed at putting her hand, even gloved as it was on Kitt's CPU outside of a clean room. She reminded herself that Karr's had been out in the desert, then under Kitt's seat and he didn't seem to have any issues… But for the obvious ones that had nothing to do with his transport… Then kept going as she lowered Kitt's CPU down and out of place, detaching it from its frame…

"Karr says that the casing is pretty delicate, be careful!" Michael called from beneath the car. "He says there's a lot of corrosion and he's not sure what's holding it together!"

"Alright!" Bonnie called back as she tugged the CPU down. It came loose without issue. Any wires had been eaten away but there were still corroded nubs that were attached to the CPU. That wasn't good…

Just as she was lowering the casing down, the entire thing crumbled, falling apart in her hands, causing her to yelp in surprise. That wasn't supposed to happen!

She was forced to drop Karr's camera in favor of holding Kitt's CPU together. They could replace a camera. The parts of Kittarr's CPU were delicate and irreplaceable. Dropping them would mean losing Kitt.

It still must have startled Karr though because she heard an electronic yelp from outside.

"Joel! The CPU casing came apart!" She called out and there was a pause.

"What do you mean it came apart?"

"I mean I'm holding an exposed motherboard in my hands and I need a static free box, what the hell do you think I mean?" Bonnie barked. She wasn't entirely sure just what was happening outside but she trusted her people. As she wriggled her way out, Eddie met her halfway, carefully taking what was left of Kitt's CPU in a microfiber cloth and shifting it over to Joel, who moved the whole thing over to a workbench.

Bonnie breathed a partial sigh of relief as she scooted out of the Trans-Am shell and back into the light of the garage, for a brief moment flopping onto her back on the flatbed. It had been getting a little claustrophobic in there. Once she took a deep breath, she pulled herself up again and hopped down from the wrecker. She was right, Michael was laying on the flatbed of the wrecker, now pulling Karr's camera out of the engine compartment. Karr was parked as close to the wrecker as he could get so that the wires would reach.

The moment Michael had his camera remounted, the Rover backed away from the wrecker, hurrying to follow after Bonnie with Michael hopping along behind him. Joel already had Kitt on the workbench, working on transferring what they had left of his CPU into a protective casing so that they had something to connect to and monitor.

As soon as they had the CPU hooked up to their monitoring equipment, the alarms started screaming in protest. What little integrity the CPU had left was failing. If there was anything left of Kitt, it was about to be gone… Bonnie quickly got her station set up, before sitting down at her computer and searching. Searching for any sign that even the smallest fragment of Kitt was left… Just a line of code, anything!

"Damn it…" She muttered softly, broken fragments of data and code flying by her monitor.

"Dr. Barstow…"

Bonnie would likely feel guilty for it later. She had yanked Karr into Kitt, right along with her and he hadn't said a word of complaint. Even when she took him into the dark. She just expected him to be there.

Karr also had the entire lab ready for their arrival. She had made a single phone call to the AI from the site and he put it all into motion followed by a literal grocery list of orders to get the lab ready and he hadn't complained. He had been an asset. He was becoming one hell of an assistant. She could trust him to get things done. But at that moment… She ignored him.

"Dr. Barstow… Let me try to help him." Karr tried again, one of those pincher hands yanking at the fabric of her jumpsuit.

"Karr, not now." Bonnie snapped.

Karr's voice was always relatively even and monotone. At that moment, there was an edge to it. She couldn't explain it. Couldn't describe it… He was hurting too perhaps.

"Dr. Barstow, I can help him! I can help him the way he helped me, please allow me to do this." Karr insisted, that pincher hand giving another firm tug of the fabric.

"Bonnie, listen to him!" Michael pleaded and finally, Bonnie glanced over to Karr who was watching her intently. His camera was barely peeking out from beneath the work bench. Karr liked places he could hide. So long as they weren't closed in… This was no different. He liked to hide under the workbenches. Under Bonnie's desk. Anywhere he could wedge himself. In that moment it also put him directly beneath Kitt's CPU.

"Bonnie, what else have we got to lose, let him try!" Michael pleaded, breaking her focus.

She stared down at Karr for a long moment. The memory of Tony forcing her into Karr's passenger compartment flared up. She had honestly been more disgusted by Tony than Karr. Karr didn't seem to entirely understand the situation back then. He was dangerous though. He packed one hell of a shock when she tried to sabotage him. Just a few months ago he had launched himself through the back of the Semi with John at the wheel.

He had been a confused toddler the first time he was released. The second time he had been a pissed off teenager. What was he now?

Now, here was Kitt… Prone and weak…

Karr could do so much damage to him. Karr could be one of a kind again…

Later she would probably feel guilt for that dark thought. The thought that Karr might want to be the only one again. That he might not want Kitt to survive. That his own instinct of survival would kick in and bring down the younger AI while he could.

But also there… The insanely curious AI who found Oscar the Grouch unsettling and was afraid of the dark. Who seemed so happy when Kitt came home. Who instantly went looking for Kitt when he suffered a bad memory fragment during recharge…

There was also no time for debate.

They were losing Kitt.

Karr had a unique perspective of the inside of Kitt's CPU which could help…

The older AI seemed to sense her unease. Guilt would probably win out later about that too, but he seemed to pick up where her thoughts were going.

"Bonnie please… I would never hurt my brother. But I cannot connect to him this way. There is too much damage and I am separated from the barrier between us. I need to be connected to him, via the network. Please, allow me to help him." Karr pleaded and for a moment, he almost sounded human. Something Karr had always struggled with. His voice broke with static as Kitt's did when emotion he didn't entirely know how to deal with took over.

She pulled in a deep breath and squeezed her eyes shut as she nodded quickly before she could change her mind. "Ok.. Ok."