Authors Note: Okay, I decided to try writing a Knight Rider fic (yay!) and this first chapter is the result. Don't expect them all to be this long. Really, don't. I know that Mike doesn't talk much, but... well, his character was never fully 'fleshed out' in the 2008 movie, so I didn't know what to do. Otherwise, I hope you enjoy this really, really long chapter.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Knight Rider, EDI, Ford or anyother copyright items, symbols or phrases used in this story. If I did... that'd be fricken' sweet. Especially the Knight Rider part.

Latest message for C. Graiman:

"Ch-- Oh good god, Charles, it's me, Kris. I can't tell you anything now. Look, call me, and make SURE the line is secure. That's... that's all I can say right now."

End of message.

-xxxx-

Mike Traceur is your average ex-army ranger. A good day job. A good... prospect for a girlfriend. And a talking car. Okay, maybe that last one isn't as normal. You see, that day job is working for a organization that is basically the law, one called FLAG(Foundation for Law and Government). That... possible... girlfriend is the daughter of the founder. And the car... is the Knight Industries Three Thousand. However, you may call it... him... whatever you want to say, KITT. Basically, Mike and KITT go out and protect the world from people who operate above the law. Hooray! Isn't that just so much fun! Well, now that you've been briefed, I guess it's time to get the story started, huh?

-xxxx-

"What's up Carrie? I heard our next mission came straight from Charles." Mike said, walking into the meeting room on the cargo plane. Within was; Carrie Ruvai, a member of the FBI assigned to work with FLAG. Sarah Graiman, the daughter of Charles and one of the techs that work on KITT. And Charles Graiman himself. "Oh, sorry, didn't notice you there." he corrected, looking to Charles, who was in the chair to the far end of the table. "So anyway, what's going on?"

The face the good scientist had was grim. "Last night, I got a phone call from a friend of mine. Her name is Kristina."

"Kristina? I've never heard of her."

"Full name Kristina Annabelle Johnson, if that rings any bells." A voice form behind him said, causing the agent of FLAG to turn suddenly. She had tanned skin, black hair and navy blue eyes with a stern look in them. "But please, call me Kris. Nice to meet you, Mike Traceur. I've heard so much about you from Charles." The tone Kristina had said not all of it could be taken as compliments. "Mr. Graiman, has he been briefed on the situation?"

Charles shook his head. "No. Mike, this is Kristina, she works with artificial intelligence, similar to that of KITT." With a nod, he motioned for Kristina to sit. "As I was saying, I got a call from her, detailing an urgent happening. It appears that someone has tempered with the coding on the AI of an advanced warplane. As of yet, nothing has happened, but that could change if the plane goes rouge." That explains the grim look on his face. "Is there anything you want to add?"

"Actually, yes. One, the UCAV E.D.I. is a highly advanced machine with very dangerous weapons. Truncheon implosion bombs, AIM-9 Sidewinder Air-to-Air missiles, AGM-88 HARM anti-radiation missiles, AGM-130C Air-to-Surface missiles, dual cannons with an on-board ammunition factory... EDI is a state of the art stealth capable jet. Second, and perhaps most important at the moment, EDI has the ability to feel emotions. With the coding in his neural network adversely affecting his judgment, he may act on them and his mandate to survive. Finally, I'm coming with you, and there is no debating about that."

Mike stood up as if that was the straw that broke the camels back. "Hold up. You just said this thing is dangerous, and you want to come with us, even though there's a good chance of it going haywire?" That didn't make much sense. Kristina nodded, looking unfazed by the prospect. "You're crazy. If you think me or KITT are going to let you do that, you've got another thing coming."

Kristina stood at the mention of KITT. "The Knight Industries Two Thousand is here?"

"No, the Three Thousand is here."

"You finished the Three Thousand?! Oh, then I will have to meet it!" With that, she rushed out of the room, towards the cargo hold where the black Ford Mustang sat. Mike looked to Charles and Sarah, wondering if they were seriously going to let someone completely new to this, practically off the street, do that. Kristina popped back quickly, looking straight the pilot of the car. "Stop getting so worked up. I helped doctor Graiman with the original."

-xxxx-

"Hello, KITT. I don't suppose you know who I am?" Kristina said, knelling down in front of the Anamorphic Equalizer, the scanner, on the front of the Mustang. The car hummed shortly before coming to life with a voice.

"Doctor Kristina Johnson, if I am not mistaken. You worked with Doctor Graiman on the Knight Industries Two Thousand." The car, KITT, paused before continuing. "You later helped work on the Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle, Extreme Deep Invader with Keith Orbit."

Kristina smiled. "That's classified information, KITT, and you know that." she replied with a bemused voice. "It would be too much to assume that you have the memory files of the Two Thousand. But I will admit, it is good to see you. It appears I will be working with you on your next mission. Have you gotten the mission files yet?" It was like she was talking with an old friend. One that she met all over again. "Hello, Sarah."

The young woman stopped mid-step as she entered the room. How did she know this stuff? Never mind. Somethings were better left unknown. "Getting reacquainted with KITT?" she asked, looking to the two of them. She remembered her father telling her about Kristina. After the first FLAG collapsed, she was recruited off to another civilian scientist. Though they tried, the two of them lost touch after work on her next project began. From what Sarah had heard, it started around the same time that her father started to build KITT. Speaking of which, there was something that was nagging at her, like she should be remembering something.

"Oh, quite quite. KITTs abilities are just so... so limitless that it's good to see him here. I was one of those stereotypical scientists who never left the lab, so I never saw him after initial testing was finished." She paused. "You really are amazing, you know that, KITT?"

"Yes, I know."

-xxxx-

It was three minutes to mission time. There were checks, and double check, and triple checks due to the nature of the mission today. One slip-up and they could unleash a flurry of fire upon the world. Not to even mention the fact that a non-agent was going with Mike on the mission. "It's okay, everything is fine. I knew the risks and dangers when I first asked to come. I am the only person - unless you want to drag Keith down here - who understands EDI."

"The building the UCAV is being held in is 20 miles east of the drop point. If anything at all happens and the warplane goes berserk, I want you to let KITT take control."

"Okay, Carrie, if we have anymore checks and information, I think we'll explode." Mike said, stopping the FBI agent before she could continue. "I'll just do what I normally do. No problem."

"What you normally do might get you killed today, Mike." Dylan, the mechanic, stated. Him and Mike had been friends for a while, and he was right. Playing it by ear wouldn't cut it today. "Just do us a favour, and don't get yourself killed."
Soon after he finished his sentence, the rear of the cargo plane opened, and the floor angled downwards. The clutch and the shifter emerged from their wells in the car, giving Mike control. Without even looking behind him, he put it in reverse, driving the Mustang out.

They were dropped ungracefully on the asphalt, and the plane rose up and took off. The brakes were then put on, causing the car to powerslide until it was facing the east. As soon as it was, Mike put the Mustang in gear, and they sped off. It was about five minutes into the drive, as they were going at it slow so they don't disturb the plane, when KITT spoke. "There appears to be a discrepancy in the files." he began drawing both passengers attention. "According to Navel records, the UCAV E.D.I. was destroyed in North Korea. And yet we are going to recover this same plane?"

Kristina sighed. She had a feeling it would come to this, but she had hoped it wouldn't. "KITT, you're right. He was destroyed in Korea. The EDI that we are heading toward is also EDI. It is the same plane, in a sense." She looked down, feeling that her explanation wasn't going to be enough. "Let me tell you from the beginning. After his program and chassis was finished, EDI was sent off to the U.S.S Abraham Lincoln, to join a stealth squadron. After his first observational mission, for learning purposes... he was struck by lightning." There was apprehensive silence in the vehicle, especially from KITT. Such a massive flux of electrical energy could adverse effects on anything, let alone an AI. "It wreaked havoc on his neural network. He started writing this code that... well, made no sense.

"On his next mission out, he disobeyed a direct order from his squad leader and bombed a warlords nuclear facility. I'm sure you saw the report on the television as to the result of that. Afterward, when he went off on his own, Keith was called, to attempt to bring him down for repairs. I never got all the details, not even from EDI, but it seems that he was saved from a system failure by his squadron leader and was subsequently seen by Keith. That code, it seems, actually allowed EDI to feel emotions. Keith established a constant connection with the UCAV, actively copying the complete files for study. Shortly afterward, EDI sacrificed himself to protect his wingmen.

"That was about... two and a half years ago? No, closer to three. Anyway, I obtained a copy of EDIs files, and started a little project of my own. Away from the eyes of the military, I built EDI again." the scientist stopped, taking a deep breath. "It seems that someone found out about this second E.D.I., because not long ago, I found his ammo factories activated, and missiles in his inventory. Immediately, I took him offline, and checked his program files and neural network, copying what wasn't tampered with. I... I thought I had fixed it by the time... I was attacked by whoever was working on EDI behind my back. Which is why I'm going to try and talk to EDI before we do anything." It was silent after that. Even Mike had nothing to say, which was an amazing feat in and of itself.

-xxxx-

They pulled up the warehouse where the warplane was held. It was old and in the middle of nowhere. Probably a converted bunker. Kristina looked to the entrance hesitantly. Mike rolled his eyes, handing her his earpiece. "Take this. It'll allow you to speak with KITT directly. If anything happens--"

"Trust me. If something goes wrong, you won't need me to tell you. But thank you." Quietly, she put the communicator on and got out of the car. Frowning at the building, she looked at KITT briefly. "I'm pretty sure the person is still in there. Let me know if they make a move." That said, Kristina strode confidently into the warehouse. It was dark through the single, all-encompassing room. Except for the open cockpit of EDI and a light on a desk near it. "Hey, EDI."

"Hello-brzzt-doctor Johnson. How-zzz-How are you?" EDI replied. He didn't sound like he was very good shape.

"I'm good." Kristina began. "But you sound bad. Has someone--"

"I--No--Wait--brzz--" The cockpit went dark, oh so dark. Slowly, it closed, and the glass went opaque. The engines, a pulse detonation engine with twin Hybrid Scramjet Turbos, started up, and the vertical takeoff jets on the underside started. Knowing exactly what this meant, Kristina turned, dashing out of the door. She waved her arms at KITT, screaming 'Go!' into the comm link. As the Mustang started to drive off, she hit the ground, and a missile soared out of the cracked open warehouse door, out into the ground almost exactly where the car was a split second earlier. EDI lifted from the ground, nudging his nose against the doors in such a way as to get them open.

It didn't take long for them to. When it was wide enough, the jet raced out of the building, looking slightly unstable as it did. Quickly, he took off above the clouds, however, the speed was awful slow compared to what he can do. KITT circled back around the warehouse to pick up Kristina, who immediately swore in several different languages. "EDI's being controlled remotely. I think he's fighting it. That or the person controlling him isn't a very good pilot."

Mike looked to her like she was crazy. "And you can tell this how? You know what, never mind."

"Yeah, we need to catch him. like now."

"What about the heat signature inside the warehouse?"

Silence, then, "Leave 'em. There's nothing there. Even if they have hostile intent, I can guarantee you that they won't be leaving anytime soon." Kristina's tone was cold and single-minded, she wanted to hurry and get that plane. Understandable. It could cause a lot of mayhem before having to so much as refuel if it's under the wrong control. "Okay, KITT, open a comm link with the UCAV E.D.I. IF he's fighting, I need to try and talk him through it first. Fear is the worst thing for him to be able to feel at the moment."

-xxxx-

Silence reigned in the makeshift control room. It was pretty advanced considering it was in the back of a parked van. "I don't think a self-automated stealth plane is going to get us any closer to getting Prometheus." a short and rather stocky man said. Their client hired them after the last group of men failed. It took them months to find the information required for their plan.

"It will draw out the car we were informed about." another man, skin almost as dark as coal, said, adjusting the useless sunglasses on his face. "That is if the 'master pilot' over here can keep it in the air." He motioned to a portly Asian fellow with overly thick glasses. In his hands was what resembled the control shaft of a jet, and it rumbled constantly as if he were really controlling one. A rather unruly one, at that.

The large man looked to the side briefly before looking back at the monitor in front of him, which was displaying the zooming terrain of eastern Washington. "Oh, I'm sorry, would you like to sit here and fight with a fully aware and pissed off warplane? Be my guest if you do." No one answered. "Yeah, didn't think so... Crap, someones opening a secured line with the plane."

"Well, shut them out."

"I would if it were that easy, genius. That on-board AI has control of that function. I can't even listen in."

-xxxx-

"UCAV 'Tin Man' E.D.I., this is Kristina Johnson. What's your status?"

"Zzz-Someone is hacking my control system. Control system files: Corrupted and Compromised. Brzzt-Unable to access-bzz-system shut down files. I..." There was a pause. It lasted long enough to make one worry if maybe the line was cut. "I am afraid."

The scientist hesitated. "I know EDI, I know. We'll do all we can to stop it." She took a deep breath, biting her lip. "KITT, what do you have in terms of offensive weaponry?"

"I have a laser weapons system and a targeted electromagnetic pulse."

"We'll save those for later. Uh... signal and transmission jamming?"

"Would you like me to halt all incoming transmissions for the Extreme Deep Invader?"

"Yes, please do that, KITT." Kristina leaned back with a heavy sigh. This was never suppose to happen. Keith gave her permission to reconstruct EDI so it couldn't happen. Now it felt like her efforts to keep the jet out of the wrong hands and safe at the same time was for naught. How... "How were they even able to access his systems? It requires intimate knowledge of the complex files in his A.I. module. It would require knowledge of the module itself." she mused aloud. "Oh... no... KITT, I need you to call Keith Orbit."

Mike frowned and slammed on the brakes, looking to Kristina. "No, hold up, KITT. Where do you get off, lady? I've dealt with you ordering KITT around nearly all mission. Now I want some answers."

-xxxx-

Suddenly, the controls for the jet became sluggish. Which, in a way, is what they wanted. "Okay, I think we caught our car, initiating the skirmish program. That should keep them on their feet until we can get there." the large man stated with a smirk. "Once this van gets moving, we should be there in a few minutes."

The short man man rolled his eyes. "It's about time. Hang on tight. I'm not gonna be going under seventy."

-xxxx-

"Why did I come with you?"

"Yeah. It's obvious that you didn't really need our help. Or, more exactly, my help. KITTs, maybe." Well, he had been thinking about this. "Also, what's so important about this plane that you are trying to protect it, miss Kristina?" he added, straining the miss in front of her name.

Kristina shook her head. "I told you to call me Kris, and I already told you why I came with you. I'm the only one that truly understands him. Anything beyond that is between me and EDI. As to why I am trying to protect him is because he's the closest thing to a friend I have at the moment." She was never good at hiding things from people, as she had always been a little too... Blunt? Harsh? There was no word to really explain it, but it was showing now, even as the warplane turned in the air back towards them.

In the background, KITT was trying to get their attention, but Mikes next comment overruled him. "Look, we need to work together, and we can't do that if we can't even get along."

"Ahm. I hate to interrupt you, however..."

"What?" Both humans in the car asked at once, looking to the display in the centre column irritably.

"The Extreme Deep Invader has turned its attention to us and is approaching at a high rate of speed. What would you like me to do?"

Kristina looked to Mike with a look of worry. The transmission jamming should have stopped the UCAV. "Use the EMP." The two of them said again simultaneously. This time it was more of a shared knowledge that it could stop it, rather than a well timed coincidence. There was a high pitched sound, just low enough in decibels for the human ear to pick up. Suddenly, the plane wavered, and it's landing gear lowered before it bounced onto them when it hit the ground. A single round was fired from the cannon before everything went still. The engines shut down with their high-pitch whir, but it was otherwise quiet now. Both Mike and Kristina looked to each other, almost surprized that it worked.

After a short moment, Kristina was the first to talk. "Uh... could you get me to him? I need to repair his files before the shock from the pulse wears off." Mike nodded, putting pressure on the accelerator of the Mustang. The car rolled forward cautiously, coming to a slow halt about a yard from the nose of the stealth jet. Kristina got out, looking to the underside of the cockpit. Hopefully the voice recognition was still able to open it. "Here goes nothing... Open for Kristina, please." There was no reaction at first, but slowly, the 'door' to the inside of the jet opened like a mouth. With a slight smile, the scientist reached inside the Ford and picked up a laptop off the floorboards.

"Be careful." KITT warned, and with a deep breath, Kristina strode forward. Silently, she sat down in the pilots seat, staring that the large orb that effectively housed EDIs brain. Opening the laptop, she began to work like the wind. In a matter of seconds a wireless connection with the UCAVs core was set up, and woman began copying the back-up command files over the corrupted ones. Not exactly easy, since there were protections and firewalls in place to keep the files from being touched by anyone without proper authorization.

Which only served to fuel her suspicion about how the person who altered his files managed to get in. The only way they could is if they had gotten their hands on EDIs original A.I. module and studied it. But that was impossible. Keith told her the module was destroyed when EDI exploded. And she knew Keith would not risk this plane over anything. The E.D.I. was practically his baby. So... what or who could have done it? I'm thinking myself in circles. the scientist noted wryly as she repaired the last file.

Just before she closed the laptop, she found an anomaly. A new file. Her face contorted into a strange cross between a scowl and confusion. Investigatively, she opened the file labeled 'skirmish'. For one, she knew that neither her nor EDI wrote it. It was not written in TeX, and the code for memories and emotions was so completely different it almost hurt. Curious, Kristina read further into it. The code was set up for targeting something. That target? Well, judging from the signature listed and the final reaction of EDI, it was likely KITT. For a second more, she examined the orders within the file, then promptly deleted it.

The cockpit lights brightened from their dimmed state after a moment, almost blinding the person in the seat. "EDI back online... Doctor Johnson." The red 'eyes' on the orb gave off very little light compared to the rest of the electronics on the jet. Perhaps he felt guilty? "I apologize for any trouble I might have caused you and those helping you."

"It's okay, EDI, you didn't mean it, and I know that. Have any clue as to what those that tampered with your files wanted?" She was much more calm around the A.I. Maybe she wasn't that much of a people person.

"I am not entirely sure. But one of their program inquiries was about a 'Project Prometheus'." Both KITT and Mike became extremely quiet upon hearing this. "I denied them access to the file I have on it. Though, all it does is explain the purpose behind the project and nothing more."

Leaning back, Kristina sighed. "A dead end." she stated, leaning back, looking up through the glass above. The good scientist didn't even realize the sudden change in the demeanor of Mike and KITT.Kristina didn't exactly know about all the things that the two had been through over Prometheus, so it was impossible for her to see how important it was that whoever had tampered with EDI was looking for it. "After all that, we still don't know who..."

Suddenly, KITTs door shut, causing her to look up. "Perhaps not." the car said. Silently, the A.I. scanned the surrounding area as he explained the events prior to the resurrection of the Foundation for Law and Government. "There is a large van two-hundred and fifty miles to the southeast rapidly moving towards our position. I estimate fifteen minutes before they are in sight, and another seven before they reach us."

Mike frowned. "That gives us about twelve minutes to come up with a plan. Anyone got any ideas?"

"Well, it seems that whoever they are, they wanted EDI to at least attack you. So why don't we follow their plan?"

-xxxx-

When they came in sight of the car they were after, it was in the middle of dodging bullets flying from the jet. The short man slacked off the engine as he watched, seeing the black Mustang barely miss the high velocity cannon rounds with a desperate swerve. "I've got to hand it to you, man, you're a genius." he said, looking into the rear-view mirror at the man with the sunglasses. The man said nothing, so he gunned the gas, causing the van to shoot into ever higher speeds, topping out at ninety-five miles per hours due to the heavy load in the rear. "With all that maneuvering it's having to do, we should be able to get ahead of the car."