Knight Rider 2020: Pilot, Part Six: KITT's Threat

Kitt awoke the next morning in the unusually warm Knight Warehouse. Michael was whistling Jingle Bells as he went about his merry way.1

“My, my, someone’s certainly in the holiday spirits,” Kitt said with a playful innuendo. He then yawned, stretched, and shook the sleep from the rest of his car.2

Michael snickered. He loved Kitt’s little morning routine. Yawn, stretch, and shake. It was automatic. “Why not?”3

“An excellent question.” Kitt looked up at the glass ceiling, but it was layered with snow. “I can’t believe I’m missing such a great time with my brother.”4

Michael stopped whistling. “Don’t worry about him, Kitt. From the way he’s behaving, he probably won’t be in captivity for much longer. He’s a born fighter; an F-16 if I ever saw one.”5

“Michael, you need an upgrade.”6

Michael snickered. “Or F-20, whatever they’ve replaced it with.”7

Kitt nudged open the warehouse door. He stood for a minute, wondering if he should go out in the snow or not. No sooner than he had noticed Erin walking up the path was he hit with a snowball the size of a large grapefruit. He moved outside to see who had fired the first shot.8

Shawn knew Kitt was looking for her. From the side of the warehouse, she packed another one of her signature grapefruit-sized snowballs and looked around the corner. He would turn in a few seconds, and that was her chance. As he spun to face her side of the warehouse, she leaned over and threw it as hard as she could. She heard him cry out in surprise, but that was it. Shawn came around the corner and laughed.9

“Illegal hit!” Kitt accused, shaking most of the snow from his scanner.10

Michael came out and saw Shawn wiping the rest of the snowball from the chaser light. It was an amusing situation, but he was a little concerned. Wouldn’t have Kitt seen it coming and dodged?11

“He’s a night shift worker,” Shawn joked. “Invisible by night, bright as the North Star by snow.”12

“I think we can fix that,” Kitt replied, accessing the Knight 5000’s camouflage feature. Starting at the tip, the automobile turned from jet-black to a crisp, sharp white, matching the snow. The glass top and fastback seemed to change from a single-piece cabin cover to a roof, A-pillars, B-pillars and glass windows. While it was only a matter of coloring certain areas, it still made the car blend in all the better.13

Erin walked up to the white 5000, grinning at the surprised expression Michael and Shawn shared. “He’s chic in white, isn’t he?” she asked with a snicker.14

“Good morning, Ms. Barstow,” Kitt warmly greeted.15

Though she was only Bonnie Barstow’s unofficially adopted daughter, she still answered to Ms. Barstow. “Hello Kitt, humans.”16

Michael and Shawn unconsciously nodded their greeting, still marveling at the new white car. Kitt and Erin flashed each other a smile.17

Before they could continue their conversation, a silver-gray Lamborghini Superleggera began plowing through the snow, speeding right past Kitt.18

“Oh dear,” Kitt gasped, pulling away to go chase after Karr. “Karr!”19

The Lamborghini was in too much of a panic to hear his brother calling after him. All he knew was that something was chasing him and he had to lose it. He tore through the gates and accelerated down the open road, his instincts presiding over his common sense. Kitt pulled up next to him.20

“Karr, stop!” Kitt commanded.21

“Why?” Karr shouted back, inching Kitt to the edge of the road.22

“Because this will only make things worse! You know that!”23

Kitt was barely able to pull behind him again when Karr activated Jet Mode. The Knight 5000 fired a laser at the right wing and it snapped off. Without the proper balance of right and left in their speeds, the Lamborghini spun out, taking the 5000 with it. Neither was sure what had happened for a minute, but when the smoke, dust, and snow cleared, Karr realized in horror his situation. He groaned in agony and spun the rear wheels, which only stressed the engine since he was on his roof.24

Kitt pushed on Karr for a minute before sliding his nose under the Lamborghini and rolling it back onto its tires. He gently nudged his brother’s fender as the white scanner faded.25

“Come on, Karr. Hang in there, brother.”26

“What’s the use?” Karr quietly muttered.27

When Kitt got to the garage, the engineers were already there, armed and ready to take down the Lamborghini if he tried anything. Three of them escorted Karr back to his stall, holding Kitt back from his brother.28

“Now wait just a second, gentlemen,” Karr tried to stop them, shuddering at the electric guns. “Can’t we settle this over coffee?”29

Kitt shoved past a group of engineers and came up on the other side of one of Karr’s escorts, putting him in a tight spot. “Alright,” Kitt growled in a dark, serious voice. “I’ll give you a choice. You can leave this garage, or you can leave this world.”30

Kitt had never threatened so seriously before. He didn’t want to, but it was the only way. The man climbed over the 5000 and ushered his group out, shaken by the sudden move.31

Karr leaned against the Knight 5000, which readily accepted him. Kitt unfolded the link and realized how anxious Karr really was. It was infuriating to him to know that all his brother had needed from the start was acceptance and humanity, but of course the humans didn’t give that a chance. Karr had a reason to be afraid of them. After all, they had shut him down twice. The Lamborghini’s engine died down to a faint hum, and then shut off. Kitt put his turbine engine on standby and settled the car onto its chassis. After a moment, the smooth but unhealthy electric purr of Karr’s permanently damaged scanner ceased and the entire warehouse fell silent except for the deep, ambient whir of Kitt’s own healthy scanner. It was the only sound in the empty warehouse, and soon it too yielded to the calm Seattle night.32

---33

The golden dawn came in the morning with wisps of lavender and pink crossing the sky. At the harbor, the water lapped against the dock, its waves gently rocking the boats at rest from side to side, as if they were floating cradles. Kitt was driving down the dockside road as he usually did, but strangely enough, it didn’t clear his mind like it usually did. He had an inward feeling that something was about to go wrong, and it was pulling his attention from the beautiful morning. He silently cursed his conscience and shook the car from tip to tail, trying to get the feeling out of his system. Even after doing so, the suspicion remained.34

“Hey Kitt,” one of the local boaters greeted the car as he filled a bucket with the crystal clear harbor water. “How’s it going?”35

Kitt had to force his unusually distracted CPU to focus. “Good morning, Mr. Ferrings. I’m doing well, and you?”36

“Okay, thanks for asking.”37

Without warning, a sudden sting ran from the CPU’s sensory faculty through his engine and body. Unsure of what it meant but not wanting to take any risks, he sped off for the Foundation.