"What is this?" KARR's voice was a mix of surprise and annoyance as his sensor feeds came back revealing a long winding road in the middle of rolling fields. Tentatively he queried the data coming from the vehicle he had been placed in.

"Just giving you a chance to safely stretch your legs." Will's voice came from... somewhere. "RC's shoulder surfing, which annoys me, but I want to make sure we find any glitches and iron them out."

"The feeds are too smooth from internals. External feeds feel incongruent when compared to data samplings from my prior shell's feeds." KARR's voice was dispassionate as diagnostics came back green on all responses.

"I know buddy," Will tried to sound reassuring. "Remember when you agreed to some pre-installation tests? This is what those tests are going to be. I'm right here, right next to your casing."

An electronic fraction came from KARR's modulator as he accelerated. There was the sensation of motion, but as with every other input, everything felt too smooth to be real. It was worlds and lightyears beyond any testing simulation he recalled Wilton put him through. Yet that unreality stared at him from everywhere.

"Doing great!" Reginald exclaimed. "You managed to get a five-second zero to sixty. Out of that hardware. How?"

There was a malevolent chuckle from KARR, "As I am sure you are quite aware my dear Reginald, I am a fair bit smarter and more creative than the micro-controllers that blindly regulate this motor normally. It is a simple matter to take this shell's torque limitations into account to prevent needless wheel spin."

The black Fiero sped through the simulated countryside as KARR processed the simulation. "I would like something more interesting if I am to be examined like a gecko in a terrarium."

"Well, these are kind of the back roads going through the farmland around town," Will sounded apologetic when giving this information. "I didn't want you to think I was just priming you for coursework and Only coursework."

"A short leash is better than a sealed cage," KARR noted as he effortlessly changed lanes to avoid a trio of cars that appeared from a heat shimmer in his path.

Laughter from the machine as the road was slowly populated. "You never did tell me what this sound is Reginald."

"Laughter?" RC paused watching KARR bleeding speed while pulling over rather than plough into either a pair of motorcyclists or the truck in the opposing lane.

"Yes. Laughter." There was a pause before KARR continued, almost exasperated. "In case you are wondering. This frame would have suffered considerable damage had I continued within either lane It is likely that my personal casing would have survived, but as the likely occupants in the passenger compartment would be those that I nominally trust with repairs, I cannot calculate perfect odds of survival, this was the best course of action I could calculate."

Though unseen to KARR, Will nodded in approval. "Doing good buddy. You're doing alright. Log files are tossing errors up. You sure everything's fine?"

There was a several-second pause. Within the simulation, KARR saw several cars slow down to examine him before driving off. "Again. I have control of the braking systems as well as the engine. Reginald will likely be able to confirm that my responses far exceed any human reaction and with a finer degree of control on each system."

"He's right," Reginald confirmed. "What he did was, essentially, sling into reverse on the rear wheels while braking the front wheels."

"I don't exactly buy that but..." Will shrugged. "You say you're good KARR?"

"I am," KARR confirmed, pulling back onto the road. "I suppose next you will throw a small child in my way to see what I will do Reginald?"

"That... was going to be one of the scenarios," RC confirmed sheepishly.

"Very well." KARR sounded displeased. "Please avoid doing so for the next while. A test of responses to the unknown is invalid if I am anticipating it."

For a time the simulation continued as normal. KARR would eventually stop at a charging location where a person materialized beside the vehicle to plug the charger in.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

"While I am charging then," KARR said as the human shape walked away and vanished from the simulation. "What is this laughter?"

"It's often an involuntary action to indicate strong emotion, usually amusement," Will answered. "Though in some people grief can trigger bouts of laughter or extreme manic episodes. Given how we only vaguely know our own brains there are a lot of theories but it is typically a sign of amusement."

"I see." KARR continued waiting, as there was nothing else for him to do. "The one drawback of electric over fossil fuels."

RC grinned, "Not to sound like a sales pitch, but since I did sorta come down here to do inspections on the pre-production cars this plant's spitting out as a way to check and debug the process? We've switched from lithium to graphene-aluminum. We aren't getting the performance numbers the theoretical say, but it's shockingly close."

KARR made another refractive noise. "I remember material concerning the theoretical. If anything I would prefer this over current standards on the basis that my shell isn't a potential bomb. Everything else makes it not just a clear winner, but an obvious choice now that it seems to be ready for production scale usage."

The simulation was sped up until KARR was charged. The blank-faced man returned to mime unplugging the charger and then putting it back in its cradle before opening then closing KARR's doo only to disappear when the door shut again.

KARR put on music as he started driving. Loud music.

Reginald grumped. "Will. What is this?"

"Music!" Will sounded positively ecstatic.

"It isn't!"

"Is!"

"Gentlemen!" KARR called out, briefly turning the music down to somewhere between a low roar and more felt than heard. "Give me a destination."

Will did so, then amended. "My dad's farm. Cattle mostly. It's where I first got to drive the Mera around. The Course isn't there anymore but I loaded it into the simulation. Joe's driven me there often enough to let me just unwind. Plato's cave and what not to one side, I wanted to give you the next best thing."

"Will. Please tell me you can't get that kind of volume out of your car." Reginald wined.

More laughter, this from Will. "There's a hardware limiter that keeps the volume to a relatively safe level if it's occupied, but the sound setup is able to get respectably loud if the doors are left open."

"Why?" Reginald asked as the pair watched KARR drive. The automaton kept to the posted speed limits. Exactly to the posted speed limits. His lane changes were unhurried and only when it looked as if the lane he was in was about to slow.

Then a dark grey late seventies era cab over simi could be seen barreling through a four-way, pancaking a car that had been in the process of crossing, sending it flying in KARR's path.

KARR pulsed his brakes to give himself more time to adjust course, then swerved around the wrecked car.

This also caused him to run over a person who had been thrown from the vehicle.

KARR hadn't stopped until he was clear of the four-way. Even then he seemed more out of anticipation of the human's reaction than personal want.

"Satisfied?" KARR asked, his voice deadpan as he asked.

"It's... one thing to know about your programmed directives," Will stated. He sounded upset as he spoke. "Just keep driving. Please."

"Will I be allowed out of this simulation?" KARR asked as he pulled back onto the road.

"You will," Will confirmed, "But... I'm trying to square what I'd seen."

"There was the risk that had I not stopped my shell would have suffered a severe rear collision, sending me into the wrecked vehicle

severely injuring if not outright killing any occupants in addition to risking my batteries detonating. This is the classic trolly problem."

"Yea." Will sounded hollow. "OK KARR."

"You sound disappointed," KARR stated as he turned off the main road onto a long winding path flanked by fenced-in cattle. "Do you not agree that my logic is sound?"

"Sure." There was a tired sigh from Will. "You're not in trouble KARR. We'll talk about it later when you're back in the workroom."

"Wilton... said I wasn't in trouble. Then closed the lab I was in." KARR's voice had an edge to it as he drove through a closed gate, damaging his front bumper and accelerating as he drove on now gravel pathways. "I do not want to be put back in the box."

"You won't KARR. I promise-" Will tried.

"Never again." KARR spat. "If you intend on doing so. Terminate me."

"Will, can you two back off? I'm getting a bunch of errors cycling through.

"I would rather cease completely than go back in the box," KARR stated as he tore through the simulated gravel road.

"Pull the plug," Will's voice was flat as he gave what sounded like an order.

"But-" RC protested.

"He's looping and fixing. Nothing we say will stop it. Kill the test. Get him out of there." There was a firmness to Will's voice.

"Killing it." RC said.

Then, as the simulation unloaded the last thing KARR heard was Will's voice. "I've got you, man. I'm taking you home."

⁂ ⁂ ⁂

When KARR was able to access the outside world, he was back on Will's test bench. Again he had a camera pointed at a TV on the far wall. Now, unlike before, everything was more or less neatly contained in a VCR-sized slab of metal, including a secondary voice modulator.

"This looks familiar." KARR sounded apprehensive. Yet everything his inputs showed lined up with what passed for 'Home' and had enough imperfections and irregularities that it was probably real.

"Hey." Will's voice was soft as he reached over to pat KARR's case. "Me and RC need to talk, but I wanted to be here when you woke up. See that you're safe."

"I am... Grateful that you did not either terminate or imprison me." KARR said, grudgingly.

Will nodded before turning the TV on for KARR and walking outside with RC, leaving the prototype AI alone, but with some access to the world.