Family United
Mike had awakened an hour before and watched as KITT maneuvered through traffic. After another hour they arrived at beautifully manicured mansion, enclosed behind a wrought iron fence.
"KITT, where are we?" he asked for what had seemed like the umpteenth time.
The car remained silent as the gates opened and they pulled onto the grounds. KITT seemed to know exactly where he was going. He zipped around a parked black semi with gold trim and a Knight chess piece stenciled on its side. They bypassed the driveway and shot around to the back of the property, which seemed to go on forever. A few minutes later they arrived at a complex and stopped in front of a garage door. A few seconds later they were sitting inside the low lit garage.
"You may exit the vehicle," a voice called out. Mike tried the door to find that it opened easily.
"Who are you and what the hell is going on?" he said into the darkness. He heard a slight hum as the lights flicked on. At the base of a set of stairs, there stood a young man looking at him.
"Welcome home," he said.
"I don't live here," Mike said spat out.
"I wasn't really talking to you. I was talking to KITT."
"He doesn't live here either."
The man laughed out. He walked over to Mike and KITT. He walked around the car looking it over. He came to a stop in front of KITT and turned to face Mike.
"Who are you?" Mike asked.
"I'm family," he replied with an easy smile.
"What does that mean? And why have you stolen my car and kidnapped me?"
"Technically, I own the car. It is unfortunate that you were inside, but I had to take my chances by overriding his program while en route back to the SSC."
"You still didn't answer the other half of my question" Mike stated. The man waved off the comment.
"Dr. Graiman had no right to restart anything, let alone build another car based off of my grandfather's designs. The car belongs to me and I can prove it in a court of law. As for you, you are family, of sorts. Let me tell you a story. My grandfather saved your fathers life. He gave him an opportunity at something that can only be called a chance of a lifetime. He also gave him a new face and his name, which you have also taken. That makes us family. There is so much that you don't know. I'm giving you an opportunity to find the answers you seek."
"Yeah, I know all about that" Mike replied. "We were in the middle of discussing it, when KITT went AWOL."
"I'm sorry about that, I was left with no choice but to come up with a back-up plan. I had to change my schedule and show my hand early. After the whole KARR incident, I had to play it safe and put everything off and come up with a new schedule."
"How do you know about KARR? And ..."
"We really don't have time for this, Mike. We have bigger problems at hand. Dangerous, serious issues we need to deal with immediately. We can play twenty questions later. I need your help."
"Why should I help you? You still haven't told me your name," Mike said scornfully.
"There is a plan I discovered that is being perpetuated by other members of our family. Let me ask you this: Do you know how the government got hold of KARR?"
Mike paused. "No."
"Graiman did not give it to them. He was brought in after the government had already designed and built it. He was sold to the army by someone who found a CPU. One that was still alive."
"What are you talking about?" Mike asked. "How could a CPU be …." He stopped and looked at the car beside him. Then he looked back at the man standing before him.
"I'm afraid it was the original CPU from another vehicle my grandfather had built. It was named the Knight Automated Roving Robot and was supposedly destroyed by your father and the Knight Industries Two Thousand."
Mike's face went white.
"Another KITT?" the car asked.
"Yes, there was one before you." The statement was simple, but cold.
"So you're telling me that someone from our family," Mike said the words our family sarcastically, "found the cpu and sold it to the government and they created that monster?"
"Yes."
"Well, I hate to break it to you, pal, but just like my father and his car, KI3T and I destroyed the new KARR. He's not coming back. We left him in pieces."
A quiet silence permeated the air.
"How certain are you of that?"
Mike felt uneasy all of the sudden. He felt like his world was crashing down around him and he had no way to stop it. All he could do was watch, helplessly.
"You're not suggesting what I think you're suggesting, are you?" Mike asked, afraid that he knew the answer already.
"I'm afraid I am. As we speak, KARR is being reconstructed. Not by the government, but by some very unscrupulous people who will stop at nothing to get what they want."
"And they are?" Mike paused, "And how do we stop them?"
"I need you, KI3T and everyone else at the SSC to help me carry out a plan to stop them from destroying everything my grandfather worked so hard to build."
"Hold it! We don't do anything without talking to Sara, Billy & Zoe. But not before you tell us who you are," Mike demanded.
"Simple enough," the man responded. "I am Wilton Knight, the second."