Chapter 2
Two weeks earlier:
"When were you planning to tell me that Mom and K.I.T.T. had dropped off the radar, Uncle Devon!" Michaela demanded.
Michaela studied the old man for a moment, shocked by how his age suddenly seemed to show.
Devon shook his head sadly. "This is exactly the reason I wasn't going to tell you."
The sixteen year old girl moved with the same lithe, deadly grace her dead father had. Now, she stood with her arms crossed over her chest, just like Michael used to do.
Michaela's eyes narrowed, "How long?"
"Two days," Devon replied wearily. "Is there anything I can do to stop you?"
"No!"
Muttering under his breath, "Her father's daughter," Devon pushed a red button on his phone, but didn't say anything else.
A moment later, the office door opened, and a young man, only a little older than Michaela, walked in.
He flashed a dazzling smile at Michaela, and stuck his hand toward her. "Hi! I'm Casey, part of your new partner."
Michaela accepted the offered hand, her eyes lighting up with sudden realization.
"You're an avatar!" she exclaimed, looking to Devon for confirmation. "Does that mean..." she trailed off.
"There is a new AI designed specifically for you, Michaela Knight," Devon told her.
The human form avatar didn't surprise her one bit. K.I.T.T.'s avatar had been upgraded to take human form a couple of years ago.
Michaela's excitement was tempered by worry for her mom and K.I.T.T.
"How long have you been on-line?" Michaela asked curiously, as she followed Casey to the garage.
"I only received my body a couple of days ago, but I've been on-line for a couple of years. Bonnie wanted me to have a chance to gain some experience, before we met. I've been interacting with Bonnie, Devon, Carlee, and even K.I.T.T."
Casey pushed open the garage door, and allowed Michaela to precede him through.
K.I.T.T.'s usual spot was conspicuously empty.
Beyond K.I.T.T.'s spot stood a midnight blue GMC Canyon mid-sized pick-up truck. The four door truck boasted the more aggressive looking fenders of the off road package, though Michaela was pretty sure this particular Canyon was outfitted to handle any terrain imaginable.
The hood was open, and Michaela could see Bonnie leaning into the engine compartment. The truck was tall enough that her legs dangled off the ground.
"We have company, Bonnie," this time the voice came from the truck, instead of the avatar.
Bonnie slid backwards, until her feet were touching the floor. She wiped her greasy hands on her usually spotless white mechanics' coveralls. Michaela idly wondered how many coveralls she went through in a month.
Closing the hood, Bonnie patted it affectionately. "Michaela, meet K.A.I.S.Y., Knight Artificially Intelligent System."
"He's gorgeous!" Michaela exclaimed. "How did you know I've been eyeing the Canyons?"
"Casey!" Bonnie glared at the avatar, "You were told not to have any contact with Michaela!"
A slight blush touched the avatar's cheeks, "Tracking her internet activities isn't technically contact."
Michaela shot a quizzical look at Bonnie.
"He insisted his body be a Canyon, I had nothing to do with the choice."
Michaela strode around the truck, running her hand along the nanite "skin" as she went. When she got to the front, she backed a few paces away to get a good look.
K.A.I.S.Y. had a scanner similar to K.I.T.T.'s, but his was a blue so dark, she thought it would be nearly impossible to see at night. It was nestled in the grill beneath the GMC logo. At the moment, it tracked slowly back and forth in a way that she could only call contentment.
The driver side door opened for her when she approached it.
Climbing inside, she took in the highly modified dash.
Just like K.I.T.T.'s dash, K.A.I.S.Y.'s sported a myriad of readouts and buttons as well as a voice modulator.
It lit up as K.A.I.S.Y. spoke, "I've been looking forward to finally meeting you, Michaela." The flashing bars of his voice box were the same dark blue as his scanner.
"It's great to meet you, K.A.I.S.Y. Now, let's find my mom and K.I.T.T.!"
"Bonnie has already sent me all the information about the case they were working and their last known location," K.A.I.S.Y. supplied.
"Have you had any contact with K.I.T.T. since they disappeared?"
"No. He won't answer my requests to communicate, and his homing beacon has been disabled.
"Okay, so what do we know? What was the last case they were working on?" Michaela asked, as she pushed a long strand of curly dark hair behind an ear.
"They had just wrapped up a missing person's case. A father and young son went missing on a hunting trip. K.I.T.T. managed to track them down, a few miles from where they were supposed to be," K.A.I.S.Y. supplied instantly.
"Where had Mom been staying?"
"A motel near where the two missing people were supposed to be hunting. She checked out the morning she and K.I.T.T. disappeared. The last GPS location we have on them, K.I.T.T. had stopped at a Tasty Chicken, so your mom could have some lunch."
"Tap into the restaurant's surveillance system, and see what they've got on video the day they disappeared," Michaela ordered.
The video appeared on the five inch LCD monitor built into K.A.I.S.Y.'s dash. Michaela could see from the time stamp that K.A.I.S.Y. had started from the beginning of the day.
People came and went at high speed, as K.A.I.S.Y. forwarded through the footage. A little after noon, according to the time stamp, Michaela saw her mom walk into the restaurant and get in line.
"There, normal play, K.A.I.S.Y.," Michaela said, sitting up straighter in the seat.
Being a surveillance camera, there was no audio, only visual, so Michaela couldn't hear anything her mom said.
She watched as her mom waited a few minutes in line, then placed her order. After ordering, Carlee walked to the women's restroom.
Another woman walked into the restroom a moment later.
Michaela expected her mom to come out within a few minutes, but after five minutes, her mom still had not emerged.
"K.A.I.S.Y., forward until Mom comes out, please."
K.A.I.S.Y. did as instructed. Still, the time seemed to drag on. Finally, Carlee emerged. The woman who had gone in after her came out with her.
"How long was she in there?" Michaela wanted to know.
"Fifteen minutes, ten seconds," K.A.I.S.Y. replied.
Michaela watched her mom and the strange woman. The woman had her hand on Carlee's elbow, as if directing her. Looking at Carlee's face, Michaela was unsettled by her mother's expression. To be more precise, she was unsettled by her mother's total lack of expression. Her mother seemed to be in some kind of daze or trance.
The strange woman guided Carlee out to the parking lot, where she positioned Carlee by K.I.T.T.'s driver door, then walked around to the passenger side.
Carlee said something to K.I.T.T. and both doors opened.
"What did Mom say to K.I.T.T.?"
"We have a new friend and she needs a ride."
Michaela continued to watch as K.I.T.T. pulled out of the parking lot and drove out of the camera's range.
"Get me a print out of that woman, and run facial recognition on her. I want to see if Aunt Bonnie or Uncle Devon know who she is. Also, get me a print out of Mom's face. Maybe Jason will know what's going on with her."
"Right away," K.A.I.S.Y. acknowledged.
Two photos popped out of the printer built into the dash.
Michaela grabbed the pictures and was about to jump down, out of the truck, when the glove compartment popped open. A covered tray opened, revealing something resembling a tiny hearing aid, which Michaela knew was actually an earwig. Her mom's wristwatch comlink had been upgraded to an earwig a few years ago.
Plucking the earwig from the tray, she placed it in her right ear. Giving the dash an affectionate pat, she said a quick, "Thanks!" and jumped out of the truck.
Bonnie was sitting at her computer work station in front of K.I.T.T.'s spot in the garage, so Michaela went to her first.
Explaining to Bonnie what they'd found out so far, Michaela handed her the printout.
Bonnie studied the woman's face intently. "I've never seen her before," she said, shaking her head and handing the photo back. "Have K.A.I.S.Y. run facial recognition."
"Thanks, Aunt Bonnie. He already is."
Putting her arm around Michaela's shoulders, Bonnie hugged the girl affectionately.
Tears welled in Michaela's eyes, and she threw her arms around Bonnie. Her slight frame was wracked by sobs, as for the first time, she let her fear wrest control from her.
A moment later, another gentle hand joined Bonnie's on Michaela's back, and she turned to see Casey standing there, concern plain on his face.
"We'll find them!" he assured her. "Together!"
Wiping her eyes as she straightened and pulled away from Bonnie, Michaela smiled gratefully at both of them.
"I know," she replied to Casey. "I'd better go talk to Devon and Jason." Putting action to words, she turned and walked toward the connecting door to the mansion.
Devon had never seen the woman before, either.
Jason was in the semi, restocking medical supplies. His forehead was drawn down in worry, and Michaela knew it was worry for her mom.
In the six years since Jason had pulled Carlee out of a nearly destroyed Trans Am K.I.T.T., the two adults had become very close friends. Michaela suspected the two were on the verge of a much deeper relationship that they just didn't seem willing to admit to themselves or each other.
A look of guarded hope crossed Jason's face, when he looked up to see Michaela climbing into the trailer.
"Hi, Jason. I need to ask you something."
Jason put the roll of gauze down that he'd been holding. "Anything!" he responded easily.
Michaela held out the picture of Carlee from the restaurant.
Jason took the photo, studying it closely. He noted the blank look and the way the other woman seemed to be directing her.
"What could cause Mom to act like that?" desperation was clear in Michaela's voice.
"Some kind of drug. Maybe something like Sodium Pentothal," was Jason's nearly instant response.
He handed the picture back to Michaela, only then noticing the second photo she held. "Who's that?"
Michaela handed him the photo. "She's the woman who took Mom and K.I.T.T."
Jason studied this photo, his brow furrowing. "I think I've seen her picture somewhere before. In a magazine." He looked up at Michaela's forlorn face. Putting his hand on her upper arm, he squeezed it and said, "I'll look into where it was I saw her picture and get back to you. Can I keep this?" he indicated the photo.
Michaela nodded.
