Knight Rider 2020: Pilot, Part Three: A Brother's Love

“Excuse me?” a young man exclaimed over the phone in a Brooklyn accent. “Let me get this straight. You want me to bring my car all the way across the country to Seattle, Washington? And for what? Some detective game?”1

“Brett, this is serious,” Maddock replied. “Kitt can’t do this alone. He can’t take on Karr and the memories.”2

“You know, if you’d just let him and Shawn work it out, they could kick some serious asphalt. Don’t you get it, Russ? They’ve got a mental symbiosis!”3

“Maybe. But Kitt asked for help and damn it, I’m not going to rest until he gets it! So you can either take the job or I’ll reboot the Four Thousand’s original unit.”4

“Does he need the help that desperately?” 5

“I can try to force him out on his own. Keep in mind though, I can lead the horse to water but I can’t make him drink.”6

Brett was silent for a moment. “When do you want me down there?”7

“You’ll do it?”8

“I won’t put my car in the middle of the war for it. But we’ll do the detective work for you.”9

“Thank you, sir. When is the earliest you can get here?”10

“I can put my car on a jet and be there by tomorrow afternoon.”11

“Best wishes.”12

“Take care.”13

They both hung up and Russell smiled. Maybe Kitt would take this as his apology for the shutdown.14

The next morning, Karr awoke silently so as not to disrupt Ace and Lance. The two were talking about their plans, whispering so as not to wake Karr up, even though he could sleep through nuclear warfare.15

“Do you think they’re onto us?” Lance asked, punching a few numbers into the calculator. “I mean us, not Karr.”16

“Possibly,” Ace coolly replied as he sipped his coffee. “But they’re not stupid enough to come after us. They know we have Karr now.”17

Lance stopped and looked up at his partner. “Is that motivation enough for them? I’m not sure anyone would miss him.”18

Ace’s gaze wandered over to the Lamborghini and his cool expression turned to one of surprise as he noticed the tracking chaser light. “I’m not sure how we could do without him.”19

Lance gave him a questioning look, and then followed his friend’s eyes over to the chaser light. Karr lifted the left of his prow up, questioning their stares.20

“Good morning, Karr,” Ace greeted, his suspicious glare making way for a sweet smile. “Did you sleep well?”21

“I had to put myself to sleep with some baroque, but other than that, yes. Although I must say, I should be asking you the very same question,” Karr replied, noticing how tired Winston looked.22

“I did,” Ace lied, straightening his back to seem more awake. “You look stunning in that Lamborghini, you know.”23

“Thank you,” came the rather surprised reply. “It suits my driving habits very well.”24

Ace nodded to Lance, who checked off ‘Equalizer’ on the clipboard. Despite being prototype, the car’s systems were getting outstanding scores. Karr checked the side view mirrors. The car was a work of art.25

“Checking yourself out, Karr?” Winston asked, snickering.26

“Hey, you spent at least ten minutes in the mirror this morning,” Lance said, passing a sly smile to Karr. “Besides, it’s hard not to notice lines like that.”27

The automobile’s lines were an achievement only possible by Lamborghini. They were rather bold at the start above the air intake, then swooped down to hide it and came in at the front fender well, echoing the design of 2008. “What are the plans for today?” Karr asked.28

“Well, I’m expecting a visitor. I hope you know how to fight.”29

“Never worry about that. I refuse to die.”30

Kitt halted by the warehouse, looking to Shawn for confidence. He was tuned to her chip’s frequency and sharing her emotions, though it didn’t seem to be helping today. He took a moment to pretend he was somewhere else. He didn’t know where. He didn’t *care* where. All that mattered was that he wasn’t here, readying himself to face death. A blue Shelby GT500 with white racing stripes pulled up next to him, so close that the sports car’s mirror almost touched Kitt’s A-pillar. Kitt could sense the Shelby’s tense aura. He was scared, too. The quick pace of the cobalt chaser lights above the front fenders proved it. Neither wanted to do this. The overhead warehouse door opened and Karr stood in the doorway, almost ready, but not quite. Kitt carefully opened the link between him and Karr.31

“Why, Karr?” he quietly asked, unsure of the response.32

Karr hid his emotional reaction. As he took one last look at his younger brother, their chaser lights mirrored each other. For a moment, they communicated with each other in a language of emotions unreadable by anyone but them. Neither wanted it to end this way. Kitt pleaded his brother to turn around, to take it back, to start over, but Karr simply couldn’t agree. He had no one except Ace and Lance. He had nothing to lose but his life, why take the risk?33

He debated on whether or not to fire at Kitt. His brother was the only family he had left. Whether or not he did it was up to his conscience. After a moment of contemplation and reflection on the future, Karr put away the under-prow laser. He loved his brother too much to take his precious life. Just as he was about to approach the 4000, a command was sent remotely that he wouldn’t have been able to reverse even if he had had the time to. The 5Lite fender cannon aimed for Kitt’s scanner, but all Karr was able to do was redirect it to the engine. A xenon beam shot out of the glowing cannon and penetrated the hood before Kitt could even dodge it. The strong front end of the fiery red automobile pointed downwards under the force of the laser as it penetrated the hood and ate into the turbines. There was too much power feeding through the system for the computer to remain online.34

“Kitt!” Karr shouted over the roar of the laser and its generator. There came no response. He searched for the source of the command and tried to cancel it out, but it required a password. Karr didn’t have enough time to hack it, so instead he was able to override the automobile’s force-halt. He carefully let a little pressure off the brakes and the car scooted back under the force of the laser, and then turned to the right, directing the beam off the Knight 4000. Its Shelby partner fired a powerful laser at the Lamborghini, hooked a grappling hook to the red car’s bumper and hauled it off. The laser shut off and Karr took off after them, wanting to apologize and explain. Without warning, a strong electrical charge surged through the turbines, causing Karr to stop short. He backed up and it ceased. There was an electric fence holding him back. He turned and shot for Ace, but halted less than six inches before him, growling viciously. He wasn’t going to lose any of his dignity. Not this time.35

Ace stared down the chaser for quite awhile, knowing Karr’s gaze was just as deep. They each acknowledged each other for being better than the other had anticipated. Karr was much more obstinate about his superiority than Winston had expected, and Ace was much more cunning than the AI had expected. An electric fence was something Karr wouldn’t have seen coming. The Lamborghini turned and drove into the garage combatively, refusing to give up his dignity to this arrogant human’s over-glorified dominance. -Now is the time,- Karr thought. -The deadline is near. If I stay, I shall be hunted down again. If I go, I still have a chance to start over.-36

-I hope.-