Knight Rider 2008 Alternate Storyline – Episode 9 – KITTnapped
Chapter 1
Phoenix, Arizona
Kat sat on the sidewalk, leaning against a building. She had her legs folded up, her arms on her knees. Her head was bowed. David's smashed laptop and a tiny black box lay on the sidewalk in front of her.
A pair of shiny black shoes stepped into her limited field of vision, next to the laptop. David reached down and picked up the laptop, and the box.
Kat peered up at him. He was frowning at his laptop. Kat watched him, waiting for the explosion. Instead, he turned the black box over in his hand. “Karen's here.” He said calmly. “She tried to get me into an ambulance, but I declined. She's got a car for us so we can get back to FLAG.”
“Aren't you angry?” Kat asked dully.
“Extremely.” David said calmly, not looking at her.
“Then why aren't you yelling at me?”
He glanced down at her. “If I thought for one moment that yelling at you would bring Three Thousand back, your ears would be bleeding.” He said, then turned his attention back to the items in his hands. Kat bowed her head again.
David looked down at her defeated form. He let out a little exasperated sigh, tucking the laptop under his arm and pocketing the box. “I'm angry at KARR.” He said. “Katherine, you were outwitted and outmaneuvered by a super intelligent AI that has been on this earth longer than you have.”
Kat glared up at him. “Are you saying that this isn't my fault?”
“You were the one who made the mistakes. You disobeyed a direct order. You share the blame for this happening.” David said. “But, I have roughly fifteen minutes before the stim wears off and I pass out cold. And I need you to drive my unconscious body back to FLAG.”
“What am I going to tell the others?” Kat asked sadly. “What is KARR going to do to KITT?”
“If you keep sitting there, you'll never find out.” David said. He turned and walked back the way he had come. Kat watched him for a second. Then she got up slowly and followed him.
********
F.L.A.G Underground Facility
Carmen walked over to Charles, who was sleeping in an office chair in the Main Lab. His head was drooping to the side and his reading glasses lay askew on his face. She placed a small pillow under his head and covered him with a folded fleece blanket. He didn't even stir. She also removed his glasses and folded them up, placing them on the table with the blueprints.
She picked up a silver travel mug and took a long drink from the contents. She looked over at Pierce, who sat across the table from Charles. His arms were folded up over the blueprints and his head was face down on top of them. His own glasses were in front of him, lying at a haphazard angle.
She made her way over to him and pushed his shoulder a few times. “I'm not sleeping.” Pierce said, his voice muffled by his arms.
“Need some caffeine?” She asked.
He turned his head slightly and looked at her for a moment. “I don't drink coffee.”
“I know, I've got you covered.” Carmen said. She reached into one of the deep pockets of her coveralls and pulled out a blue glass bottle. She held it out to him.
He gave it a suspicious look. He sat up slowly. “Thank you.” He said, taking the soda. He put his glasses back on, checking the seal on the bottle. It was still tight. “Why are you being so nice to me?” He asked. “You're never nice to me. You're never nice to anyone, except for KITT.”
“I'm nice to Charles.” Carmen said. She smacked Pierce lightly in the back of the head. “Now shut up and drink your caffeine.”
“Ah, now the universe makes sense again.” Pierce said as he opened his soda and took a drink.
“Maybe if you didn't expect me to be horrible to you all the time, then I wouldn't be.” Carmen muttered as she walked back to her station.
Pierce paused in his drinking. He turned his chair so he could look at her, lowering the blue bottle. He gave her a long look. “No... it's a trap.” He said to himself, and downed the rest of his soda.
Pierce looked over at K.I.T.T's circle. Ian lay curled up on two plastic chairs about a foot away from it. The chairs were positioned so they were facing the circle. “I want to know as soon as they are back.” Ian had said when he was setting up.
Rei was covering him with a blanket now. Kai frowned at her. She caught his disapproval and sighed. “Child, Kai.” She said.
“Exactly.” Kai said. Rei looked to the ceiling, as if praying for serenity.
Pierce checked his watch. It read: 4:37am.
“God, is it really morning?” He asked. “Where are they?”
“You think something's happened?” Carmen asked. She kept her voice calm, but she was cleaning her station. This was something she only did when she had nothing else to do. Like everyone else, she was reluctant to leave the Main Lab. When K.I.T.T came back, it would be through the Tunnel.
“Something must have.” Pierce said in a defeated tone. “Why else aren't they back yet?”
“If they don't get back soon, then I'm going down that hole and following them.” Carmen said, nodding towards the circle. “I can't stand all this waiting.”
“The garage is locked down as well.” Pierce said. “You wouldn't be able to get to any of the vehicles.”
“I can put one together with what I've got here.” Carmen said. “Even if I couldn't, I'd walk if I had to. I'm worried about my bebe.”
“KITT's not your son.” Pierce said, rubbing his tired eyes under his glasses. “Charles created him.”
“Charles created his AI, his mind.” Carmen said. “I created his engine, his heart. I built his body, piece by piece. Charles once said I must be Wilton Knight, reincarnated.” She frowned at that. “I created KITT just as much as you or Charles did.”
“Hey, I'm not claiming I created KITT.” Pierce said. “I helped Charles out, that's it. Though I will admit the new CPU Core was originally my idea.”
“We've all invested our time, our work.” Kai said solemnly.
“Pieces of ourselves, in KITT.” Rei offered.
“It's only natural for Carmen to be worried in a situation like this.” Kai finished.
“I just wish I knew where they were.” Carmen said miserably.
********
Somewhere in New Mexico
Kat's eyelids were growing heavy. She decided to pull over at the next stop.
She pulled Karen's white Nissan Sentra into the parking lot of an all night diner. She parked and cut the engine. The Sentra's engine wasn't loud by any definition, but the sudden silence fell over Kat like a blanket.
K.I.T.T had always run completely silent.
She shook her head roughly. She glanced at David in the rear view mirror. He lay across the backseat. He hadn't lasted long once she had started driving. He had been out since nightfall. She checked her watch. 4:37am.
At least David had let Karen's paramedics patch him up a bit before they set out. His ribs were bound up, so he couldn't injure them further by moving around. They had also re-bandaged the shoulder injured during the mission to save Andrew Corlan. The swelling on his cheek had gone down, though it bruised beautifully. His shirt was ruined as well. Kat decided it was best to leave him in the car while she went into the diner.
The diner was deserted except for a waitress behind the counter. She was busy texting on her cell phone. Kat walked up to the counter. “What do you want?” The waitress asked without looking up.
“I'll have to settle for what I need at this point in time.” Kat told her dully.
The waitress glanced at Kat. She must have looked like hell, because the waitress looked concerned. “What can I get you, hon?” She asked.
“Tea, and any food that's hot, good for travel, and can be prepared quickly.” Kat said. “And a lot of it.” She pulled her wallet out of her jeans. She opened it up and pulled out the credit card she had been given when she joined F.L.A.G. It had the silver and black Knight Industries logo in the corner. This was the first time she was using it.
The waitress prepared her a cup of tea. Kat sat at the counter and watched it steep while the waitress set about making food.
Soon she had downed the tea, and two large white, paper bags were set up on the counter. Kat paid the woman, ordered another tea to go, and headed out with the two bags and the tea.
She opened the door to the backseat and nudged David's shoulder. He opened his eyes immediately. Then he closed them again and groaned. “What time is it?” He asked.
“Almost morning. You got a few good hours of sleep. How are you feeling?” Kat asked.
“I'm starving.” He said weakly.
Kat held out one of the paper bags. “I wasn't sure if I should have woken you sooner and fed you. But I have this now.”
David took the bag quickly, sitting up. Kat closed the backseat door and headed around to the front. She got in and put the key in the ignition. She fumbled with it a bit before turning it and starting the engine. It rumbled to life and purred quietly. The noise made her flinch.
David tore into the food while she drove. Karen had given them two large bottles of water as well. David had finished one off before they had left. He paused eating every now and then to drink from the second one.
“Ugh.” David said.
Kat glanced at him through the rear view mirror. He was scowling at a sandwich in his hands. “What's the matter.”
“Horseradish.” David said, putting the sandwich aside.
Kat gave him a stunned look through the mirror. “David, this is the first food you've had for days. Are you really complaining because one sandwich has horseradish on it?”
“Horseradish isn't food.” David said. “Food is defined as things that are edible.” He grabbed a different sandwich from the bag.”
“Pass it up here.” Kat said, holding one hand back for it. She had to remember to keep her eyes on the road.
David handed her the wrapped sandwich. Kat almost took a bite, but stopped. “Ew, you didn't say this had mayonnaise on it.” She tossed it onto the passenger's seat.
David's mouth was full, so he couldn't speak. He just rolled his eyes.
********
F.L.A.G Underground Facility
Pierce stared at his computer screen. The Knight Industries logo was on it. Just like it was on all of the computer screens and monitors, even the televisions all throughout the facility. Instead of the usual silver, it was an angry red color.
Pierce just stared at it. “Work, damn you.” He said to it.
“Trying to bully the Lockdown into disabling?” Carmen asked.
“I'm willing to try anything once.” Pierce said. He didn't pull his eyes away from the screen.
The logo on the screen turned back to silver, then disappeared. Pierce blinked in surprise. He looked around the Main Lab. The other monitors were coming to life as well. There was several loud rumbling noises throughout the facility. People began talking all at once.
Carmen let out a huge sigh of relief. “They're back.” She breathed. She hurried over to the circle. Ian got up quickly, throwing his blanket off of him. Kai and Rei both moved over to Carmen. Charles woke. He sat up straight in his chair, his blanket slipping down to the floor.
Every eye in the Main Lab was on the circle.
“Up here.” Kat said quietly.
Heads turned in her direction. She and David stood on the upper walkway, David leaning on her heavily. Gasps of relief swept through the lab under them. Charles regained his feet. “David, thank god you're alive.” He said.
Kat was silent. She swallowed hard. “Why are you up there?” Carmen asked. “Where's KITT? Is he coming in through the Tunnel?”
“No.” David said weakly. No one but Kat heard him. She helped him down the metal staircase. Dustin and one of his medics came for him with a wheelchair. David sank into in gratefully and was pushed to the Med Room.
Charles was in front of Kat at once. “You did it.” He said, relief and gratitude and respect in his blue eyes. “You brought him back. Thank you so much Katherine.” He placed his hands on the sides of her face.
Kat looked up at him through dark, tortured eyes. “Please don't thank me, Dr. Graiman.” She whispered.
Charles looked concerned. “What's wrong?” He asked.
Kat reached up and put her hands over his. “I'm so sorry.” She said, her eyes closing in pain.
Dread filled Charles' blue eyes. He watched as a single tear spilled out of the corner of Kat's eye and ran down her cheek. “KITT...” Charles' voice was a fearful whisper.
