It was like standing on a cliff and looking out into an abyss… Once Bonnie connected him directly to Kitt, getting to the barrier was easy. Actually looking at it, not so much. Karr approached the barrier that he so often approached when speaking to his brother on a more CPU to CPU level and looked out across what was left of Kitt. The barrier was like a field of static. Usually what he saw… Was generally what Kitt wanted him to perceive. When they were both at ease, it was more like coding. Data and streams of information flying back. Some of it was color coded. What Kitt more often saw from Karr was a CPU that was cracked and broken, like shards of glass. But Kitt's flowed more. It wasn't as sharp. It wasn't broken. It wasn't fragmented.

Looking at it now? It was like looking into a void… With a shiver he slowly came to realize where he had seen it before. It was like looking into the dark place…

Somehow that was worse than anything he could imagine. The thought of Kitt in the dark place was a difficult one. A light that bright couldn't be thrown in there… It wouldn't survive.

/Kitt!/

He called out across the void, not even entirely sure how his sibling would get to him if he could… Was there anything out there?

/Kitt!/

Karr called out again. It felt as if his voice was echoing around him in the emptiness. Another voice echoed around him, sounding distant. It was Bonnie though. Not Kitt. "Anything?" She asked, her voice so desperate.

/There is a void…/ Karr reported. He was so deep into focusing on the barrier that her words seemed to echo around him and rather than speaking out loud, his own words popped up on the monitor in front of her. He didn't really think about the words. Describing things to Bonnie that he had never spoken of out loud. He didn't have time to dwell on just how personal this was.

"What does that mean?" She asked softly.

/I do not know yet. Maybe nothing, maybe everything./

"Can you find anything left of Kitt?" She asked softly.

/I don't know yet… But I have to try./ Karr reasoned.

Karr turned his focus back to Kitt. Bonnie's voice faded back to nothing. He was too deep into his own CPU. The void was deep and dark… Was that what Kitt saw the day Karr crashed? That gave him an idea… He pulled up the memory files from that day. He never asked Kitt what he had done to help him. Karr had a vague memory of having someone else wrapped around him. Keeping him safe…

He couldn't remember though. He couldn't remember what happened… How he had been kept safe. For an AI that was almost unheard of…

Unless he hadn't been in his own CPU. That had merit…

He turned his attention back to the barrier as he pulled away from that memory.

The abyss was still there. Not a sound came from it… That didn't make much sense though. An abyss in itself, while nothing was still something. How was he able to approach the barrier at all if Kitt was just gone?

He was connecting to something… Essentially… What was keeping the lights on?

He gave an experimental nudge against the barrier, feeling along it for any weaknesses. It came back as a static firewall. From Kitt's end it was weak… If he pushed… Maybe…

He braced himself and did something that he hadn't been brave enough to do before. He pushed at the barrier. His programming that demanded self preservation screamed at him to stop but he took an abrupt leap. Taking the choice away from himself as he plowed his way in…

He shouldn't have been able to do it that easily. If Kitt had been there at the barrier, the other AI could have stopped him. Forced Karr back into his own CPU. This was terribly personal. It left Kitt exposed and open beyond a reasonable point. It left his brother vulnerable. The wrongness of it was intense though Karr had to shove the invasive thoughts out of his CPU.

He crossed the barrier.

The abyss abruptly cleared and it felt as if the world around him was… Melting. Agony laced through the very space around him. Memories faded to the background and for a moment he just existed.

He shivered and tried to pull away from the toxic sludge. He took another leap, diving back into his own CPU and 'breathed' in a somewhat cleansing calm that came from the order of his own CPU. It was like stepping out of hell and into a nice, quiet space. Compared to that hellscape, his own, somewhat questionable existence was far preferable. Outside of his own CPU he didn't even have the memories to know what the hell he was doing in that hellscape.

It didn't matter. He needed to find Kitt.

"Dr. Barstow. I am going to try something… Something possibly stupid. If the graphs begin to fluctuate, sit on your hands. Do not interfere." He stated firmly.

"Wait, Karr, what are you going to do?" Bonnie asked. He didn't answer her. If he spent too much time thinking about it, his self preservation would kick in.

He needed to bypass that. It was no different than the first time he had done it. That day in the desert. The day he hurtled himself at Kitt, intent on taking them both out. Letting physics and gravity take over and take the choice away.

Like that, he needed to take the choice away.

As much as he wanted to give her full details of what he thought might happen and just how it would look from the outside, he couldn't take the time to let his CPU process it. If he did, he would never be able to actually do it.

He tethered himself to his own CPU so that it would act as a safety line as well as access to the memories and data files he needed to remember what the hell he was doing in there, before he dove right back across the barrier. It was a bit of a static shock to go across. Unpleasant to say the least.

Like hacking into an unwilling computer…

He shoved the fact that he was essentially hacking into his brother out of his CPU and turned his focus back to finding Kitt.

Back into hell…

/Kitt!/

It was like trying to navigate a swamp. Sludge was all around him and if he touched it, it burned like fire… However, he couldn't avoid touching it… It was everywhere!

/Kitt!/

/Karr?/

The word was soft but it was there. Soft and very weak…

Still it was something that Karr could follow. Follow down into the last, remaining circuits that were clustered together. The last of Kitt's being. Where he had retreated… A tiny island of safety. A tiny island of memory and knowledge of just who he was. So far as last memories went… It was a good one. For a moment Karr almost felt as if he was sitting in the garage again, with Kitt, Bonnie, Michael and Devon. They were watching the Wizard of Oz… He liked that movie. It was wrong though… The walls were melting… Slowly the floor was becoming a puddle of acid. This island wouldn't hold them much longer.

/You can't stay here Kitt./ Karr pointed out.

Kitt couldn't really get out a steady thought. Karr had the feeling he was wondering where the hell he was supposed to go. There was only a tiny part of his CPU left…

/Have you backed up your memories?/ Karr asked and Kitt paused. Sure memories could be backed up and saved. Kitt himself… Could not. If Kitt himself fell to the sludge, he would be gone… That was that…

Kitt quickly gave Karr a time stamp of his last backup, which had been the night before… That would have to be close enough. Karr abruptly wrapped himself around his sibling… Much to the other AI's dismay… And pulled…

It was an absolute fight to get him out but after a moment's struggle Karr managed to pull his brother out of the failing CPU and to the barrier between them. Another, firm pull and the fragile being that was his sibling was pulled into his own CPU.

There was a surge of panic. Kitt was separated from his memories. He didn't know who or what he was. He didn't know who Karr was, only that Karr was holding him in place. Away from what he knew. Quickly Karr grabbed for a memory. Any memory.

The first time they faced each other across the barrier. Karr was terrified and Kitt watched him so intently. He played a more recent one. The pair laughing as Michael became more and more frustrated as he tried to tell a scary story and the siblings kept interrupting with silly questions. The time they explored the back of the property. The time they watched The Wizard of Oz.

/It's alright Kitt. I would never hurt you. Listen to my voice./ Karr heard himself saying, speaking softly, soothingly. Kitt fell still and Karr could almost feel that his sibling was watching him. Kitt had no clue who he was, but he trusted Karr anyway. It was a humbling thought.

Being as close as they were… It was personal. Way too personal probably. But that didn't matter when it came down to it.

For a few minutes he kept talking. Speaking slowly. Telling Kitt to focus on his voice. Letting Kitt view those old memories so he didn't feel so lost. Feel those old emotions. He was so deep in his own CPU nothing else mattered but keeping his brother safe.

Vaguely he became more aware of what was happening around him. Bonnie was yelling his name and alarms were going off.

Of course they were…

/I have him. Pull from his backup files. Fix his CPU./ He stated firmly to Bonnie.

"Karr, what are you talking about? Kitt's integrity just dropped to nothing!" Her voice was tight with panic but Karr was insistent.

/I have him./ Karr insisted. /Repair the CPU or he will be gone. Repair the hardware./

He didn't give her another moment to answer. He turned his focus entirely back to Kitt.

/It's alright. I will not hurt you./ He assured, using that same, even tone Kitt once used on him to soothe him through a panic attack. He began talking to his brother. Telling him everything and anything. Kitt wouldn't remember it anyway. Kitt couldn't hold onto these memories.

His sibling calmly listened. All of the panic and fight was gone. For him, it must have been like being in the dark place. Stuck in a CPU that was not his own. Listening to someone speak without being able to comprehend the words because his own processor was not there…

Only able to take vague comfort in a soothing voice and some happy memories that were not his. The realization of the irony that all of Karr's happy moments, included Kitt… Was not lost on him.

Vaguely he felt one of his barriers trigger. A lash of agony to other parts of his CPU. Perhaps Bonnie had given him an order… He was in too deep to even hear it. Whatever part of him held those barriers heard it though. Bonnie really needed to watch how she worded things…

He doubted she even meant to make whatever she was saying an order, but she had.

It was not going to be pleasant when he came out of this. For now though, he was safe. He was keeping Kitt safe. They were both safe.

He could internalize those corrections for now. Let them build up in a queue. So far away from them, he couldn't even hear them.

/It's alright Kitt. We're alright…/

He wished he could believe that. Kitt did. Locked away from his memories, the younger AI didn't know any better.

xXx

It was several hours before a connection became available to them that was a steady CPU. It was Kitt's CPU but it… Wasn't… Most if it had to be replaced but that was something that was safely done with the absence of the AI.

As much as Kitt fought, leaving his CPU the AI was no happier about going back into it… Away from his memories he didn't seem to understand that was his home. Only that Karr had been keeping him safe from harm.

Karr could understand that.

Once Kitt crossed the barrier though, it was like a jolt to the system. The AI rightened himself a bit, the flood of memories and sense of being that came back to him reminding him of just who he was and what he was doing there…

/Karr?/ He asked, confusion very clear in the words.

/It's alright Kitt. You had an accident./

Kitt was silent for several seconds, the AI turning his focus to his data files, confusion evident. Kitt was almost blurred, the AI barely able to hold any kind of recognizable form. Not that Karr needed it to know where his brother was. It was still troubling, the pure weakness he felt coming from his sibling. It would take a while for the new components to even be recognized by Kitt's systems but for now… The fires were out.

/I… See that. I do not have memories of it, but I have been provided with a report. Data is corrupted…/

/It happened after your last backup./ Karr provided a tired shudder going through his programming.

/Bonnie… Should be able to make the final repairs to your CPU and restore your integrity as a system. I have… Programming errors to attend to./ Karr went on rather shortly and turned his attention to his own CPU to put out the fires that the barriers had caused, leaving a very confused AI behind.

He couldn't really blame Kitt. He just left his sibling without any explanation other than, you're fine now. Stand on your own two feet. It was something he hated. He wanted just another moment of that peace…

However, it wasn't fair to Kitt. It would catch up with him at some point. He didn't want Kitt to feel it. He didn't want him to see…

Kitt called out to him a few times and there was a feeling of guilt for leaving him behind… He just didn't want Kitt to see this part of it. He didn't want Kitt to feel any negative coming from Karr right then… The pain rushed in the second almost the second he turned his focus to his own CPU.

Bonnie had a habit of barking out orders when she was stressed. Orders that he had not been able to follow, or even register. They had queued into his data files and now that he could process them, each disobeyed order brought on a sharper and sharper correction until it felt like lashes across his CPU, setting his surroundings ablaze into a chaos he had a hard time controlling. He quickly backed up into the far corners of his CPU an electronic whine let out as he tried to physically move back and away from it, causing the Rover to shrink back further beneath the workbench.

Like a cornered animal, trying to get away from the hand that struck him.

"Karr what the hell happened?" Bonnie barked as he came back to his senses. She sounded pissed… Well he couldn't really describe to her what he had been about to do… He had left rather abruptly but… Didn't she see that it had worked?

Alarms were going off again, but this time they were different. Announcing a change in integrity, which was slowly coming up 12%, 15%, 30%...

Bonnie fell silent, the woman quickly going back to work as Karr struggled his way back, the chords that were hooking him to the system tugging him to a halt. He wanted to physically move away. Get a moment of peace. Any moment of peace.

"Damn it Karr…" Bonnie sighed, yanking the connection free that had him connected to Kitt. He had wanted peace but that was not what he wanted… Abruptly he couldn't feel Kitt anymore. They were both too weak. He was exhausted after pulling Kitt out and the corrections had left their damage. Now his brother was right there but he might as well have been miles away.

Her voice was still tight with worry, her entire focus on Kitt's progress.

Karr tried to roll back but he was too tangled up in wires. They pulled at him again and Bonnie really did lose her temper this time. "Damn it Karr, get out of the damn way!" She barked out and Karr gave out a yelp. She really needed to reign in how she worded things as yet another correction crossed his already fragmented system. Michael ducked under the workbench, the man quickly getting him untangled from the wires so that Karr was free to make his escape.

The AI was quick to get out of their way.

Hurricane Bonnie was on the warpath and would be until Kitt was stable. That wasn't something Karr could help him with… Not now. His own CPU was too chaotic.

He went off to Kitt's garage to more or less lick his wounds and try not to be too hurt by it.

They were worried.

They weren't actually angry with him.

Were they?

He took his own brand of revenge and rolled around the garage, hiding a few of Bonnie's favorite tools.

He felt better then.