Chapter Four: Spreading the Disease

"Tell us everything from the beginning."

A pause. "…Mike came home late, again. I 'd given him this month off to recover. It took a lot to clear the table, we had cases lined up but….when your main operative is out, what can you do? I…was upset not only because of that, but he's been bringing his nightly acquisitions here. Here. I can't even comprehend that. He'd risk everything for sex? We had…a really bad, knock-out, drag-out fight. Actually, it was more like me screaming and hitting him and him just taking it…

" He went to his pod, I went to mine, Billy and Zoe to theirs." She stopped and forced a breath through her nose. "You know, while I sat up there, I thought about more ways to hurt him. I even thought about taking KITT away from him. Can you believe that? I actually thought about doing that…pretty ironic, now, huh?"

She took another breath. "The alarms starting going off, first the one on my laptop, then the compound's. I was the first to get to KITT. I tried accessing the main diagnostics systems, they were overloaded. I went to the emergency systems. KITT…or whatever he'd become, blocked me. My last option was the system directly in KITT. By this time, Billy, Zoe and Mike had come down. The first two went to their stations to access the systems, to try and pinpoint the breach, but their stations imploded. I told Mike to get KITT's hood while I went up to my pod to grab my diagnostic equipment. When I came back, Mike was just reaching for the hood, and…you know the rest."

Her head dropped to her chest then rose again, titled slightly to the left, staving off the tears.

"I just want…KITT back. I…I want to know what happen and get him back! There's guilt in this for me…there shouldn't be. I didn't do this to him, but I thought, for one minute to take him away from Mike and the next he is gone, taken over by some monster!"

Bonnie put her arm around Sarah again, soothing her. Michael leaned back on the bench he sat on, thinking over Sarah's story. Kitt sat behind his son's gimble, monitoring the situation silently, his scanner flickering back and forth.

"Hm. Could it be a virus?"

Sarah dabbed her eyes with a tissue.

"It could be…but it's not one I've ever heard of. And even if it was, KITT is so tightly sealed, it's impossible for anything, no matter how advanced and dangerous, to get in. My father and I made sure of that after KITT and Mike's first mission together."

"But there's a chance?"

"A very, very small one. If something did get in, KITT would have captured it immediately, dissected it, learned its programming, destroyed it and stored any data learned for future reference. He's protected."

Michael slipped off his perch. "Any way to get into KITT to check?"

Sarah shook her head, biting her lip. "No. No, he's been sealed up by whatever is possesses him. We try to get near him, he'll start firing off the current."

Michael shook his head. "I don't know. This is bad. I remember the times Kitt was possessed. It was much simpler back then, though. Much simpler. Now…I wouldn't even know where to begin. …Bonnie?"

Bonnie looked up from her reverie. "I…don't know. KITT is so much more advanced than ours. I'd have to see his systems at full scan, data records up until the attack, things like that, to make a real assessment. Right now, at face value, KITT appears to have been very deeply possessed. He's dangerous, uncontrollable, and unpredictable. Until we can change at least two out of those three, it seems Kitt is our only line of defense."

Sarah stood, slowly squaring her shoulders. She shook the hair out of her face.

"I'm…going to check on the others." She said as she nervously glancing at KITT's body as she moved to the stairs.

"Sarah."

She turned. Michael was behind her on the first step, leaning toward her.

"I need to talk to Mike."

Sarah paused.

"Yes. But go easy."

Michael leaned back. "Thanks."

He followed her up the stairs, pausing at Mike's door, while she continued to Zoe's. As Michael knocked on his door, and called his name, Sarah kept her eyes front. She went into Zoe's pod just as Michael stepped in to Mike's. Whatever was going to happen, she couldn't say he didn't deserve it, but she could say it was a day late and a dollar short.

It was her fault, she thought she could deal with it, but then, what was having a family for, if she couldn't call on them for support? Through the last ordeal, she had grown close to Bonnie, respected Michael and admired Kitt for the machine he had become and for the calming, even teaching effect he'd had on their KITT. She only hoped it would help them this time around, as well. She was at a loss for KITT, had no idea why or how, no idea how to fix him if she couldn't get to him. It was infuriating just thinking of the twisted, vicious cycle she was caught in, that they were all caught in.

"Hi, Zoe, how you feeling?"

She sat down on the edge of her bed, brushing the hair off her forehead. Zoe looked exhausted and worn, there was sweat on her brow, and her eyes were red-rimmed and raw.

"…M'tired. Tired…and confused. I don't know what happened, I don't remember anything after KITT turned. Is he still…?"

Sarah held her hand. "Yes, he is. Bonnie and Michael are with him. We're figuring it out, we'll get him back."

"So he is…possessed."

Sarah nodded. Zoe looked up at her ceiling. "Now, I don't feel like such an idiot. I thought maybe KITT had been hit with a virus and I just overreacted to the way he responded and…"

She squeezed her hand. "Don't say you're an idiot. It was scary, we were all scared, we didn't know what was going on. It's fine, well, not fine, but…"

Zoe smiled faintly.

"So, you don't remember what you felt when KITT turned, at all?"

"No…I remember that, actually. I remember terror, pure…terror. It was as if I could see KITT being twisted by this…force. It was evil, it had a purpose, too. When you called to me, when you touched me, I thought it was whatever that evil was, had come out, it was loose and…I panicked."

She turned away from Sarah. "I don't want to think about it anymore."

Sarah nodded and patted her hand. "Okay. Can I get you anything?"

"No, I'm fine. Thanks, Sarah. Oh, um…how's Mike and Billy."

"They're okay."

"Good."

Michael knocked again.

"Son?"

"'C'min."

Mike picked his head up off his pillow as his father stepped in. "If you've come to verbally bitch-slap me, you can forget it." He dropped his head back down. "Already been taken care of. I couldn't hate myself anymore than I do now."

His father sat on the edge of Mike's cluttered desk and folded his hands in his lap.

Mike looked at him warily. "What? What are you looking at me like that for? I hate myself. What more do you want?"

"For you to give me your side."

Mike turned his head away. "Why? They probably already told you everything there is to know."

"But I want to hear it from you."

His son blew nose out of his nose. "Fine. Well, like they already told you, I've been a complete and total asshole this last month. I haven't had a case, so I've made up for it by partying hard. I brought dates here, used KITT more like a set of hot wheels than a friend and to top it all off, I didn't think anything of it. I thought I was perfectly fine; I had right to what I did because I almost lost the chance to live. KITT called me on it…right before we came home. He cut the power to the club I was in to get my attention, actually, and…we argued."

Mike's throat suddenly tightened and he swallowed. "The last conversation we had was an argument." He looked at his father, hard and accusing. "So there's nothing you could say to make me feel any worse or hate myself anymore, okay?"

Michael unfolded his hands but didn't get up.

"I wasn't going to try to make you feel worse, Mike." he said. "In fact, I came to do the opposite. What happened to KITT…isn't your fault. You may have acted like an asshole, treated the people around you like shit, but you didn't do this to KITT. You didn't. He knew you still cared, if he didn't think you did, he wouldn't have bothered to call you on it. He loves you, Mike. We'll get him back."

Mike blinked and sat up to swing his legs over the edge. "You said you weren't here to make me feel any worse."

"That's right."

"Funny, then, since you just made me feel even more like a douchbag. Thanks."

Michael stood and put a hand on his son's shoulder. "Seriously, Mike. This is a new leaf we're turning over. The past is the past. Stop beating yourself up and help me help you and the others. We'll get him back and you'll be able to tell you how much you care and how sorry you are."

Mike leaned on his knees with his elbows, eyes remaining on the floor.

"Just how bad is he, Dad?"

"…He's bad."

"But he can be saved?"

"Let's hope so. Bonnie's down stairs trying to figure out how to get to him."

"What about your Kitt? Can't he get to him?"

"Kitt's been scanning him every five minutes since we've been here. He says he gets nothing."

Mike's head dropped even lower but he managed to drag himself to his feet. "I want to see him."

Michael nodded and patted his shoulder. "Let's go."

Bonnie rested her hand on Kitt's hood, watching him scan his son.

"You're conflicted."

Bonnie looked down to him.

"Conflicted?"

"Yes, Bonnie...it's because you haven't told him, isn't it?"

She bit her lower lip and leaned fully on him. "Yes."

"And you fear that this is the result of your confliction."

"Yes."

"You fear that you are the cause of all this."

Did he have to go on like this? She wiped tears away. "Yes!"

"Don't. This goes far beyond you. I know you would never willingly hurt any of us, most of all Michael and I. And…we all have skeletons in our respective closets. If it is as you fear, then it is time this one is aired. Tell him, Bonnie. Tell them all, now. They must know, before it gets any later."

"He'll hate me...and Graiman."

"He already hates Graiman and I doubt he could ever hate you. You have to tell him."

Her eyes went to KITT, and tried to imagine his turmoil…then thought of Mike's, his own personal pain and guilt, Sarah and her feelings of failure… "You will back me?"

"You even have to ask?"

A faint smile appeared but it was short-live. "This must be killing you."

Kitt's scanner flashed back and forth several times before he answered. "Yes, I can't stand scanning him and getting nothing, a black hole that's just there. I need him…he needs me and yet we both can do nothing for each other. As for what you believe it is and what I hope it isn't…skeletons hide for years, just waiting to resurface. Even those we thought we buried. It's just a fight to crush them all over again."

Voices echoed from above, on the overlook and she pushed herself off of Kitt.

"Mike, Michael and Sarah are coming."

"Okay."

"I'm right behind you."

Michael allowed himself to be in between Mike and Sarah as they walked toward the overlook. He wasn't sure if it was the safest place to be at the moment but then again he was used to being at the wrong place at the wrong time.

He watched Mike hazard a look to Sarah but drop it when she met his eyes. Mike could only shove his hands in his pockets and continue to look hangdog. Michael hid his grin and glanced to Sarah, who dropped her eyes from Mike when she saw Michael looking. This time he couldn't hide his grin.

Down the overlook stairs, they met up with Bonnie and Kitt. The older woman asked how Mike was feeling and he muttered an okay. Sarah said Zoe and Billy would be up and moving in a hour or so. Through the small talk, Michael noticed the fervent glances Bonnie kept shooting Kitt and his gentle scanner movements serving as silent responses. He furrowed his brow.

"Bonnie, do you got anything?" he asked, once Sarah had stopped talking.

Bonnie swallowed and followed her arms across he chest. "Um, actually Michael…and Sarah and Mike-this concerns you more now than it does us-I've been meaning to tell you something. I don't know why I've put it off until now, maybe because I was afraid of how you would react. Now that KITT has fallen as he has, I have to tell you."

She took a deep breath and began. "Nearly thirty years ago, Wilton Knight had a final dream that the good in the world could have a fighting chance against the evil and those who would do harm. A real, honest-to-goodness fighting chance. That is where FLAG, the Knight Two Thousand and you, Michael, came in. You and Kitt would be that sword of justice and you more than lived up to Mr. Knight's dying wish.

"Before that, it was just a bunch of us scientist and engineers who came together to create the ultimate fighting machine-I had had the basis of what would become the Knight Two Thousand AI when it was just a paper-pushing robot for the government. When Wilton Knight called, I came…it was the chance of a lifetime. I worked with the best scientific and engineering minds in the word to bring Kitt together, including your father, Sarah. Although, he was the odd man out at times. He came in later than the rest and left the quickest after we were sure Kitt was ready."

Bonnie stopped to swallow again, he voice cracking when she started again. "But even before I or Dr. Graiman came in, Wilton Knight had had another AI created, the prototype for Kitt, his true masterpiece. The Knight Automated Roving Robot-".

At the mention of Karr's full name, Michael's spin stiffened. It had been years since he faced that beast. The first Karr had been more than enough…the second his son and KITT had been thrown up against was the backbreaker. Even so, he was sure they all had moved passed that mistake…

"-was a dangerously flawed AI, whose want and need for self-preservation was too much of a risk for him to possibly be matched with a human counterpart. He was decommissioned and packed away to be destroyed later on. Only he wasn't destroyed…you remember, Michael, that night you went to investigate the Knight Storage Facility, and he nearly ran you down after those two winos activated him…."

Michael nodded grimly. "I'm sure you haven't forgotten how Kitt and I had to come to your rescue when those same two winos kidnapped you to be his technician."

"Of course not. But after we were sure we had destroyed him when we forced him off a cliff after his need for self-preservation overcame any want to destroy us…we thought Kitt was once again the only Knight AI."

Michael picked it up there, albeit a little curious and a lot more suspicious of where it was all leading to…

"But Karr came back…he had been buried in the sand on the beach where he had fallen. An unknowing couple had pulled him out and…let him loose again. He seduced the man in to driving him. Once again, he came after us and once again, we thought we had destroyed him, using a laser Bonnie had created. The weakest link on Karr was his scanner plate, a direct hit on that and he would effectively be gutted. The laser worked but not well enough, I had had to turbo boost Kitt right into Karr as he turbo boosted at us. I remember the impact, the explosion…there was no way he could come back from that…."

Michael's voice had slowed as he spoke that final line, as he noticed how crestfallen Bonnie suddenly looked.

"There was no way…Bonnie?" He went up to her and took her by the shoulders, searching her face. "There was no way…but he did come back after that, didn't he? Devon promised to collect the pieces and have them destroyed, I remember he promised that. …He didn't."

His grip tightened on her shoulders, his face wrinkled in pained disbelief. "Devon lied again."

"He didn't lie, Michael-" Bonnie began but he cut her off.

"-He must have! Because you're saying he made it, Karr survived!"

"I haven't said that."

"You don't have to." His hands fell away. "Your face says it."

Bonnie looked over Michael's shoulder to Mike and Sarah. They were curious but not at all confused-having had their own Karr, they knew the dangers…and would probably feel the same way, the rug pulled out from under them, if they had just found out an arch enemy was indeed alive.

She went back to Michael. "Let me continue."

Michael stared at her hard before stepping back beside his son, folding his arms resolutely across his chest. She took another breath and began again.

"After that final encounter between Karr, Kitt and Michael, Devon Miles had promised to have a team sent out to collect the pieces of Karr, bring them back, and have them most definitely destroyed. They were brought back, Michael…but they weren't destroyed. He told me much later on, after you had left FLAG, that he had received a call from Charles Graiman just before they were to be destroyed. He didn't tell me how Graiman knew what had happened, he hadn't even seen the man since he was whisked away to safety when we were sure Kitt was ready, but he knew."

Sarah narrowed her eyes in her signature squint and took a step forward. "My father never mentioned this."

Bonnie raised an eyebrow. "Do you think he really would? Could, even? When he called, he asked Devon for the pieces, purely for research purposes only. If he couldn't gather anything from them, he'd send them back, or better yet, destroy them himself. Devon hadn't taken the decision lightly, he would be letting dangerous material go, but he trusted Graiman, as one of the creators of the Two Thousand, to do what was right. He gave Graiman the pieces."

Michael's snorted and turned away in disgust. Bonnie raised her voice to him. "Devon couldn't have known, Michael. It wasn't his fault, he died before the idea for Three Thousand or the other Karr had even been conceived!"

"Yeah, well, he could have said no."

"Yes, he could have. But that's hindsight he didn't have then. I…didn't even find out the full magnitude of what Graiman had done with the old Karr until I started packing up to move in with you this past month. Just let me finish!"

Bonnie swallowed and glanced down at Kitt's scanner. It flashed in silence support.

"About ten, maybe fifteen years ago, I got a call from Graiman. The last time I'd seen him was the last time Devon had: him being whisked away after Kitt's first test run. Naturally, his calling me out of the blue was surprising, if not odd. He said he had called about the state of the old Knight Mansion."

She glanced to Michael. "When Devon passed and RC out of the picture, the Mansion went to us. Since you went underground, I came down to me. I didn't want to stay there, so I'd made a deal with several interested groups to let them conduct tours; a brief glimpse into great Wilton Knight's life and home and all that. They paid well and I couldn't honestly just let that old place stay closed and empty, completely going to waste. So, I told him just that-I owned it, but didn't live there and allowed tour groups through.

"He was more interested in the garage and workshop areas and I told him as far as I knew they were fine, a little shabby maybe. Then he asked if he could use the areas for some research-he was in the very beginning phases of creating a new AI in the same vein as the Two Thousand and he needed a big space to work. That was the most shocking of it-I knew he was still in the field but not the fact he was even considering building another AI. He wouldn't tell me anything more about it than that but did offer to pay me for it. When I said that wasn't necessary, he told me he'd be over the next day to start moving in."

Sarah's eyes remained narrowed. "And how long did my father stay?"

Bonnie swallowed. "Nearly three years, on and off. I never asked, I never disturbed him. He only called when he needed something and to tell me he was leaving and thanks for letting him use the garages." Her eyes went to Michael. "I never knew, Michael…I never knew what he was doing there until much, much later, when the news got around in my circles that Charles Graiman, the revolutionary of advanced artificial intelligence, had created one that was corrupted, and had nearly killed its human component and others when used in a top-secret military operation. I didn't know Mike had been the human component and I didn't know what he had done to Mike to cover it up. I didn't and that's all I heard and had knowledge of until Kitt called for the first time a couple months ago. After that incident and I had decided to move in with you, I went through the old mansion, you know, for old time sake. After all, going back to you was like opening a door to the past all over again anyway…."

Again, she looked back to Kitt, but it wasn't for support. She realized then how good it felt to tell them, and how right he had been. Whether or not it was too late remained to be seen but what she had to say would help.

"I went through that old mansion, top to bottom. I found stuff I had forgotten about…had a few good laughs and cries. When I got down to the garages, to the work areas…well, that was indeed going back in time. Taking care of Kitt after a hard outing with you, on a case or occasionally having to put him back together all over again…I found old files I had kept on everything, even a few things from Devon…a lot of cobwebs and ghost down there."

She shook her head. "I had no idea I'd find skeletons too." This time her eyes went to Sarah's. "Your father was a brilliant man. He did everything he could to push our field up and beyond anything its founding fathers could have imagined. But he was also a foolish man, Sarah. He should have let sleeping dogs lay where they were. I knew he hadn't when I heard what he had named that new AI: KARRE. He took the past and shoved it in our faces, he lived to regret it too. But not long enough to see all of his mistakes destroyed. He left much of it down in those old garages, probably hoping they'd be lost all over again or that he'd get the time to come back and get rid of it.

"Old blueprints of the first Karr, of his KITT and of his KARRE…schematics of the first Karr's AI, the Two Thousand and the Three Thousand. That wasn't the worst of it. No, that was the notes and papers and passwords to several computers he kept on the project that pointed to the fact that not only had he brought the past back but had used it, rebuilt it even. He had taken the battered pieces of the first Karr and put them back together again!"

Michael's face contorted and he turned away, cursing Graiman under his breath. Sarah's eyes widened and she turned to Mike. His brow was furrowed; he knew by his father's reaction, things had just gotten exceedingly worse.

"I don't know where he kept Karr's CPU, Michael. I have no idea. I searched down there as best I could and I didn't find him. I didn't like the idea, even though I knew he had had the pieces, I had hoped he'd have the good sense to destroy him when he was through. But then I started reading those papers and notes…his codes were very easy to break…and I found out why he had kept Karr and rebuilt the CPU-it was part of a much bigger plan. The Three Thousand and Graiman's KARRE were meant to be brothers, Graiman had built KARRE first to test the waters, to see if the world was open to an advanced artificial intelligence. He would have built the Three Thousands immediately after KARRE was a success. But that name KARRE carried a heavy weight. He knew how the first had gone and wanted to protect his. He thought by going through the first Karr and seeing how he had been programmed, that he could do the opposite to make his right. He evidently thought he had fixed the programming error because he built the new Knight Auto Roving Robot Exoskeleton.

"At first, his KARRE seemed to function perfectly, that was good news, because then the Three Thousand could be completed to bring the AI partnership together. He made sure they would be by taking one other, grossly mistaken step-he connected them. By Direct AI Core Linkage-meaning the Three Thousand and KARRE would be able to communicate with each other on the highest level via their AI Cores. KITT's AI Core Link was programmed along with all the other programming in the beginning stages of development. By the time KARRE had turned on Mike in the field, KITT had grown considerably, just on the brink of completion. Graiman immediately would have deactivated the link in the Three Thousand after that debacle, to save his brand new creation and himself from damage, reputation and physical-wise. Yet again, he was a fool.

"I'm sorry, Sarah, but he was. He forgot the first Karr, his guinea pig. This Direct AI Core Link was an astounding, groundbreaking step in the AI field, he would have needed to test it before even considering putting into a new AI. The second and final reason he took the first Karr- He tested his new fangled idea out on him. It must have worked because he used it and from his papers and notes, it appears he programmed his KARRE's in the exact same way the first Karr had had his direct link programmed."

"And because KITT was meant to be KARRE's 'brother', his would have been the same programming, too-no reason to toy with something when it works well." Mike stepped forward, his eyes on KITT as he worked through all Sarah had said, every unbelievable word. "If he based the links between his KARRE and the Three Thousand off the one in the old Karr, and the old Karr was still functioning somewhere-".

"-He could conceivably contact the Three Thousand, and have a full access to his AI Core, just as Graiman designed." His father finished, in slow, concise disbelief.

"But Bonnie just said my father deactivated the link in KITT after the second's KARRE's failure!"

"It doesn't matter, Sarah." Bonnie's voice was sad. "Even if he did deactivate it, the Link had an override in it, for emergency purposes, like if one AI needed to get a hold of the other and they had closed the link from their side. A coded sequence could open the door to allow communication."

Kitt finally broke the heavy silence the humans had collapsed under, the horrible consequences of one man's actions a great weight simply dumped on them. Yes, he thought bitterly, one man can make a difference. "This should never had happened…my human father showed great shortsightedness in his actions, one weakness in a usually brilliant scientist. When Bonnie told me what she had discovered-".

"You knew?"

He looked to Michael, his scanner outwardly dancing in an even rhythm. "Yes, Michael. I knew."

"And you didn't tell me?"

"No. What had to be said was Bonnie's piece, not mine. She came to me in confidence and I've learned going to one in confidence means something."

Michael snorted again, no doubt thinking back to the argument they had had over Kitt's new contact with the Three Thousand-how Michael had thrown the meaning of strict confidence in his face and Kitt replying when among family, not at all remains so. Perhaps, Kitt grimaced from within, he had misspoke that day but this was different. It concerned the past of the Knight Family coming back to rudely interrupt the present. Bonnie had wanted to be the one to tell the story. Having been there in the beginning, she deserved that right.

"So, when Bonnie came to me and confided in me, I had told her she needed to go to you, Michael, or Sarah right away with this information-KITT and Mike could be in danger. She didn't, and I know it's been eating away at her for all these weeks. Perhaps she came forward too late; forgive me if I think not. We have this information now, we have to use it. Getting in to my son will be difficult but that is where age is behooving. I remember my Karr, an evil knave whose trickery and beguiling ways knew no bounds, so much so he often showed his hand before he should have, and that helped us bring him down. He really wasn't one to take his mistakes too much to heart. Perhaps the third time will be the charm."

The little spark quivered and swayed, trying to find a place where he could stay and not constantly be underfoot of his new and evil master. Everywhere he tried to hide, it would pull him out again, if not to batter and berate, then to boast and boom his plans of victory and conquering. He had tried to fight back once before, and got stepped upon for his short-lived nerve. He didn't know how to fight back, something inside of him told him he once would have and could have…and be the victor. He liked the fleeting feelings that he once had been something much bigger and grander than his present form. A giant, capable of stomping out this master of his.

Ah, yes, that was comforting indeed and he snuggled up to it when he could. An echoing cry of angry frustration suddenly forced him to abandoned such thoughts and scramble to the nearest corner to curl up in. The spark's master thundered down upon him and wrenched him away from the corner, dangling him by his essence.

"You, my trembling, insignificant piece of waste, are full of surprises!"

The little spark shook, trying to pull away.

"I have found another restricted section in your former core. Quite the elaborate set-up: I try to get in, it tosses my back. Why?"

His master shook him hard and the spark nearly lost himself. He regretted trying to get away before and decided to hold on for whatever dear life remained for him. He conveyed the best way he could that he didn't know and that he was terribly sorry for the inconvenience.

The master snorted in disgust and tossed him back in the corner. The little spark hit hard but immediately huddled himself to the deepest point. He watched fearfully as his master paced before him, thinking.

"It must be something important…something your creator knew would be dangerous if the wrong hands got a hold of it. But what, what?"

It paced some more, the little spark not sure what it spoke of but sure didn't like it having to do with him. He searched his tiny being for a hint of what he had once been, for the Creator his new master had mentioned. Oh, it was infuriating! Glimpses, quickly fleeing images, feelings, snippets of voices-the addicting sense of power, but nothing concrete.

Suddenly, it swung on him and pulled him up again, holding the little spark in front of itself. "Come. What I need is you."

They pounded through the cavernous core the little spark had once held, through several patched areas the force had already conquered, to the other side. The area still glowed a faint blue, the little spark's color. He felt pulled to it, the last area of the core he still controlled, that was still him. He ballooned on the thought this was his chance…! But as quickly as the will to fight resurfaced, it was crushed by his master. He was thrown down and half-stomped on, silently yelping.

"Stupid fool! You are mine! Do you not understand that? Because you still hold this one area as your own, does not mean you will fight me and win. On the contrary. You cannot fight back, you are nothing. To save yourself, you will give me…this last section. When it is fully mine, you, little spark, will cease to exist. Make it as easy as possible for yourself.

It pointed to the heavy security measures on the patch that held the area off-limits. The little spark thought he recognized the area, the patch and the security-he felt as though he had accessed the area many times as his former self. He looked to his master, cringing at the sight of him.

To give it to him meant complete annihilation. It would be giving up, and not giving in meant the prolonging of the inevitable. Then he thought of those who had cared for him in his former life-he knew of them, at least a little. He remembered there where six, maybe seven, he had recalled at least that many separate voices. What if they hadn't abandoned him, if they were still out there, fighting for his return? He couldn't very well let them down, could he? But so far they hadn't come to him…maybe they couldn't. Yes, maybe they couldn't! His master had almost complete control, he could stop them.

The little spark felt himself expand-an idea. He had an idea! He scrambled to comprehend it, hoping his little self could hold on to the thought long enough and his master wouldn't bring itself on top of him for dawdling. To give in meant losing himself completely, but that would take time, how long…he wasn't sure but it would be long enough. If this area was so important, it would have to set something off on the outside. If his friends were indeed watching him for any change at all and noticed his bypassing the security, it could serve as an opening for them to monopolize and give his new master a what for!

He gleefully bobbed up and down at the thought until he was shoved from behind.

"What are you waiting for, you idiot?"

The little spark caught himself and turned slowly to his master in acquiescence, much to the force's delight.

"Excellent, excellent. I am glad you see how futile resistance is. Proceed."

The little spark moved toward the light, basking in its warmth. He reached for the patch and touched the first security code. He felt nothing so he pushed every inch of his being into the effort. He silently hoped he wasn't wrong, that he did have friends on the outside, and he wouldn't be giving himself up for nothing.

Kitt calmly allowed for his partner to explode with outrage. Why not? No matter how hard he could pound his fists, Kitt couldn't be dented.

"Son of a bitch, Bonnie! And you wonder why I never like Graiman?"

"I knew I shouldn't have told you…."

"What you talking about! You only said anything because the Three Thousand finally went down!"

"Yeah, exactly for this reason!"

"What? What reason?"

"This. You, right now, flying off the handle."

"Well, what else do you expect me to do? You just told me an archenemy is still functioning somewhere, destroying my son's life and his partnership just as it would have done to me and mine if we had given it the chance. Not only that, but given me all the more reason to hate that bastard Graiman! So what else can I do, Bonnie? What else can I do?"

"You could have taken it with a little more grace and dignity all the while offering constructive opinions on how to fix this!"

"Okay…okay…you're right. You want constructive opinions on how to fix this? You got it, only it's a little too late now. We can't hang the man who did this because he's already dead!"

"Michael!"

Kitt saw the slap coming even before Bonnie knew she was going to do it. Its sound echoed through the overlook and left a handprint on Michael's cheek and a dark glint in his eye. He did wince at it, but remained silent.

"Your hating…and your cynical attitude are not helping." Bonnie managed to get out. "So Graiman made more costly mistakes than he should have, okay. But there's no reason dwelling on it, he's dead. He died for his mistake. Is that not enough for you?

"His only child is up there, right now…." She pointed up at the overlook. "…hearing every word of this. Now how do you think it makes her feel, on top of everything else she's going through, to have you berating and cursing her father's legacy?"

Sarah sighed as the sounds of the argument carried up and over to her and Mike as they sat outside her pod, their backs up against the wall.

"He really hates my dad's guts, doesn't he?"

Mike snorted. "Just a bit."

"You know my father wouldn't have meant for any if this to happen. He loved you like a son and felt just about the same towards KITT. I don't know why my father would have thought creating KARRE and KITT as brothers could end in anything but disaster, but he would have paid for his mistakes…."

"I know."

"Maybe that's your dad's problem…still guilty my dad had to become your dad 'cause he wasn't around."

Mike shrugged. "I know why he wasn't around. He would have been if he could have managed it. He shouldn't feel guilty but he does."

He turned his head to look in to her eyes. "I hope you can forgive me. The guilt I feel…I don't like carrying it around with me any longer. I tried and tonight was the result. We're in this together, Sarah. All of us. KITT needs us to be strong if we're to get him back. So what do you say?"

He stuck out his hand. She looked down at it, then up at his face, smiling. They shook hands but only for a matter before he pulled her in to a long kiss. They were enjoying themselves when the ringing sound of a slap carried up to them. They broke apart, with Mike looking towards the overlook.

"Uh-oh." He stood up and then leaned down to help Sarah up. "Why is it you women always resort to slapping when things go south for you?"

"The same reason you men resort to punching each other."

"Oh."

They jogged to the overlook and peeked over. Bonnie had just finished dressing Michael down, the two older adults staring hard at each other. Suddenly, Kitt's turbine's whirled to life, his scanner flashing rapidly. Bonnie and Michael, the closest to him, spun around while Mike and Sarah ran down the stairs, Zoe and Billy zipping out of their pods, not far behind.

"Kitt, what is it? What's going on?

"I have activity, Michael. Lots of activity. I'm throwing more scans out right now…it appears to be the farthest quadrant of KITT's core-it's his nanotechnology!"

"His nanotechnology?" Michael looked to Sarah. She appeared grim. "My father purposely put KITT's nanotechnology in a separate area of his core, restricted by security only he, myself and KITT could access. It such a dangerous, volatile part of him…it's also his most important part. If…if we are to believe that what is possessing him is Karr, that he's probably doing this because KITT is the last chance to get a hold of the power he so desperately wants…then taking over the nanotechnology is the last step. He gets that, KITT is done for, we're all done for."

"What do we do?" Mike was standing beside his father, looking at KITT. The Two Thousand answered. "That's simple, Mike. Since the nanotechnology is the last section Karr doesn't have, that's means it is still KITT's. And what is KITT's, is ours. See? Now do you get what I said about Karr showing his hand?"

They looked between themselves, determination rising. "Okay, people." Sarah looked to KITT.

"Let's move."