Knight Rider 2008 Alternate Storyline – Episode 11 – Turnabout
Chapter 3
R.O.O.C Factory, Phoenix, Arizona
Kat glanced over at Diana, who sat in K.I.T.T's passenger seat. They were approaching the gate to the factory, and they hadn't communicated for the entire trip.
She really didn't know Diana that well. They'd never spoken, using signs or otherwise. Kat knew very little sign language anyway. When she thought about it, she supposed that she hadn't wanted to make a fool of herself by trying to communicate, and failing.
But at the same time, she didn't want to be rude. She wanted to get to know all of the Team. They were the only human interaction she had for long periods of time.
Kat pulled up in front of the gate. It was guarded by a man in a blue security uniform. She could see R.O.O.C's logo on his front pocket. He walked over to her window. K.I.T.T lowered it for her.
She flashed the man her Phoenix P.D badge. “Can you please let us in? We need to investigate the scene.” She kept her voice firm.
“Weren't you guys here a few weeks ago?” The guard opened the gate for her.
“We just need to double check a few things.” Kat told him blandly.
“Nice car.” The guard commented as Kat drove through the gate.
The wreckage of the warehouse lay in front of them. Kat's mind immediately flashed back to the same building three weeks ago, when it had been a raging inferno. She had stared up at it in horror while someone tugged on her arm.
Her rescuers had tried to take K.I.T.T's CPU Core away from her, but she had refused to let it go. She didn't even look at the people around her, trying to get her to safety. Her eyes couldn't look away from that fire.
“Come on!” A voice had said in her ear. “Do you want to burn here too?”
“There are people in there!” Kat had exclaimed. Her hands tightened on the CPU Core. “KITT...”
It was then that she had realized that she was being bodily restrained. Arms locked around her waist, hauling her away from the fire. “Can you sedate her now?” The voice behind her said impatiently.
There had been a prick in her arm, then she was falling again. The CPU Core slipped from her hands, she tried to catch it...
Kat blinked, and the scene was gone, replaced by the blackened skeletal remains of the factory now in front of her.
Charles had told her what had happened after she was drugged. David had gotten her into the helicopter just after the Fire Department had arrived. He hadn't stayed around to answer questions. No one from F.L.A.G had gotten a chance to investigate the factory after the fire was put out.
Now she had her chance.
She felt a pressure on her shoulder. She started and turned to Diana, who had her hand up, giving her a look of concern.
“I'm all right.” Kat said immediately, then winced because she forgot that Diana couldn't hear her. K.I.T.T flashed the appropriate signs to her via the eye cam. She tried to repeat the signs, but Diana just shook her head.
She signed something to Kat. K.I.T.T translated for her. 'I can read lips well enough, as long as the person doesn't speak too fast, and they are facing me.'
“Okay then, that makes things easier.” Kat said weakly. Diana smiled.
'Shall we go?' Diana signed. K.I.T.T continued to translate for her, speaking into Kat's ear. She hadn't asked him to, but he had picked up on her discomfort and acted on his own, helping her. He was doing that more often as they spent time with each other.
That was what he was designed to do, Kat remembered. K.I.T.T was programmed to mold himself to his Driver, to compensate for their flaws and weaknesses. They had had so much friction in the beginning because K.I.T.T was used to Sam. Even though Sam and Kat were brother and sister, they were complete opposites.
Kat nodded to Diana. K.I.T.T opened both doors and they stepped out. A light drizzle was falling, the late afternoon sky was darkened by clouds. Not a sight seen too often in Phoenix. Kat hoped it wasn't an omen.
Diana pulled a large kit out of the backseat. She popped it open and pulled on a clear plastic coat. She also put her hair up. Then she closed the kit and took it with her.
K.I.T.T had let them out right in front of the factory. He proceeded to scan the area while Diana and Kat took a look around.
'Where did you find KITT's body?' Diana signed to Kat.
Kat looked around, getting her bearings. She pointed to the far end of the site, then gestured for Diana to follow.
The two women picked their way through the wreckage while K.I.T.T followed along the perimeter. Kat was frowning deeply. “There should have been bodies here, KITT.” She said. “The men shooting at me, the unknown man. At least half a dozen people. If the Police and Fire Department didn't pull them out, then who did?”
“Hopefully we'll find that out.” K.I.T.T said.
“They were there, though, almost immediately after the factory blew.” Kat said. “I remember hearing the sirens. I saw the Fire Department trying to put out the fire.”
“I know, I was there too.” K.I.T.T answered. “Their response time was fairly quick, given the locations of the nearest Fire House and Police Station. Calculating the distance now, it should have taken at least fifteen minutes before any authorities arrived.”
“Perhaps they knew about the explosion in advance.” Kat said. “Someone called in a bomb threat, or something. Maybe David.”
“Not David. He had a team with him, which included medical personnel. He didn't see the need to waste even a few seconds calling the authorities.” K.I.T.T paused. “Perhaps the sirens you heard weren't the Police.”
“I saw Firefighters putting out the fire.” Kat said.
“Perhaps they weren't with the Fire Department.” K.I.T.T said. “They may have just looked like they were.”
“You think they were fakes?” Kat asked. A hollowness opened up in her stomach.
“It's within the realm of possibility.”
“Maybe they were working for KARR...” Kat said. “Can he do that? Have people pretend to be the Police?”
“ROOC is a huge company. If they are in league with KARR like David believes, then it's entirely possible. In fact, I would say it would be easy.”
Kat shivered. She was wearing a long, black leather coat to keep out the rain. It kept the outside chill out, but couldn't do anything about the one on the inside. “What are we up against?” She asked quietly.
“FLAG's greatest enemy.” K.I.T.T answered.
The two women reached the area where Kat had found K.I.T.T. Diana set her kit down and looked over the area. Wet, burnt debris covered everything. Kat wasn't sure how Diana would be able to find anything useful here.
“He's been after FLAG since the beginning, hasn't he?” Kat asked K.I.T.T. “The way he killed Sam, there was no evidence. No one saw anything. Something like that must have taken weeks to plan, months. Ever since FLAG started up, KARR has been watching.”
“He's been waiting.” K.I.T.T said. “Waiting for FLAG to come back, waiting for his chance at revenge.”
“He can travel through the Internet. He must have been searching for years.” Kat said. “Searching for some whisper or rumor, something that would tell him that FLAG was back.” She shook her head sadly. “We have to stop him.”
“We will.” K.I.T.T told her. “It's what I was built for.” Kat looked over at him, arching a brow. “Saving the day.”
Kat smiled. She turned back to watching Diana work. The redhead had pulled on a pair of latex gloves and was scouring the wreckage. “Someone's got a very high opinion of himself.” She muttered.
“I can't help it if I was made awesome.” K.I.T.T said smugly.
She glanced back at him briefly. “How does an ego that size fit under your hood?” She asked.
While K.I.T.T and Kat talked, Diana was busy digging through the wreckage. Some of the pieces in her way were large, but light due to being burnt out.
She discovered a few twisted pieces of metal. She picked one up and turned it over in her hands. She wiped away the ash, inspecting the color of the metal underneath. It was severely damaged. Probably not an external part then. They were small, so she bagged them and put them in her kit.
She pushed aside some more debris and found the remains of a car door. Her dark red brows pushed together. Something wasn't right here. She reached over to her kit, pulling out a blue spray bottle.
She grabbed a chisel and scraped the soot and paint away from a small piece f the door. Just about an inch wide. She sprayed the cleared area with the spray bottle.
She watched closely, but nothing happened.
Her frown deepened.
This definitely wasn't right.
She would have to collect a sample to bring back and test further. She grasped the door handle and twisted sharply. It came free of the door easily. This she bagged and tossed into her kit.
Kat scanned the wreckage. Something just didn't feel right. Her body was on alert. She felt like she was being watched. She heard a soft sound to her right. Her head snapped in that direction. “KITT, run a FLIR scan.” She said. “Is anyone else here?”
“Forward-Looking Infrared is not picking up any additional heat signatures.” K.I.T.T replied.
“Must have been some debris falling over.” Kat muttered to herself. The hairs on the back of her neck were raised though, and she couldn't shake the feeling that unfriendly eyes were on her. “Are you sure their's no one else here?”
“My scanners say no.” K.I.T.T replied.
“Well, they're more accurate than my eyes.” Kat said. “But I don't feel right.” She turned back to Diana. “Let's hurry up and get out of here.”
Diana stood up, pulling off her latex gloves. Just as she regained her feet a loud crack rent the air. Diana jerked, then stumbled forward.
Kat caught the other woman before she fell. She looked over Diana and saw a tall black silhouette about a hundred feet away, gun raised. Kat pulled Diana to the ground as more shots flew through where they had been standing. “KITT, help us!” Kat yelled to the car.
K.I.T.T armed his light machine guns, but he did not fire. “Where is my target, Kat? What is shooting at you?”
Kat looked at the car incredulously. “The man in black, he's right over there, can't you see him?” She demanded.
“No.” K.I.T.T replied. “My sensors are not picking up anyone other than you and Diana.”
Kat hauled Diana behind the remains of a wall. She kept low to the ground, hiding in the debris. The unknown man continued to fire upon the two women. She leaned her back against the ruined wall. She stared at K.I.T.T with wide, fearful eyes. “You can't see him.” She whispered. “How are you going to stop him?”
“I can follow the trajectory of the bullets.” K.I.T.T said quickly. He began calculating, till he had a rough estimate of where the shooter was. “I can fire in a large swath. There is a fifty percent chance I'll hit him eventually.”
“Don't talk about it, do it!” Kat yelled. She gripped Diana around the shoulders tightly.
Without another word, K.I.T.T opened fire.
