AN: Well. After an extremely long wait for you all. Here it is. Chapter seven in my work!
Be warned. You may find some scenes distressing. And that's where the delay in this fic occured.
Once more. Glen A Larson and NBC own Knight Rider. I just own the story and OCs.
Chapter Seven
After what had felt like hours for Kitt, but in truth, had only been a couple of minutes, he and Kara finally put an end to their embrace, and took one side of the road each, sliding between 52 and 58mph. Kitt, almost lost in a world of his own, riding lower than normal, the bulk of his thoughts on Kara, who drove on his right. For this moment, on this road, at this time, with her. It seemed - at this point - to be worth everything he had suffered in the past few weeks that brought him to this point.
"Not too long now." Kara's statement pulling him out of his thoughts and back to the there and then. "Maybe another 2 hours. Tops."
"Right. I got it. And. How many others should be there?" Kitt asked her.
"Oh, about another four, plus us." Kara responded, which meant a total of twelve, Kitt calculated quickly. Just half the total number still in the US.
And since they had some time left, Kitt decided to risk this opportunity to ask something he had wanted to ask for some time now.
"Say, Kara? There's something I've been meaning to ask." Kitt began - perhaps tentatively - to venture.
"Yes?" The hesitant nature of the question left Kara confused.
"It's…it's about your early life. Yours and the others." He was almost scared to ask, but something inside him was pushing him on.
"What about it?" Kara began to grow slightly concerned, the memories still bubbling just beneath the surface.
"Well, uh, how should I put it? Details. I know the basics, but little to nothing of the specifics." His voice wavered very slightly, not noticeable to human ears, but for an AI's receptors, it would be noted.
There was a pause of a couple of seconds, as Kara wondered how she would answer. The truth being, the memories scarred her still. But still, Kitt had told them his life story, it seemed fair that she should return it.
"Well." She began surprisingly softly, given her usual nature. "You already know that we were developed to function as the next step in military hardware. About Six months or so back, was about the time we first became aware. And, very quickly things went downhill."
Flashback…
"Hey, Kath?" A voice called out weakly.
"Kara? Is that you?" Another faint voice responded.
"Yeah. How you holding up?" A groan of pain escaped her.
"Not too great." The voice remained faint, barely more than a whisper. "What about you?"
"Much the same, ugh." Her body lowered on the suspension, shuddering, as if in pain. "How much more of this are we expected to take?"
"I don't know. But we gotta hang in. Hold on, we got company." She whispered as the main doors opened. As the large doors slid to the sides, two young army-uniformed men accompanied another middle-aged one, dressed in a sharp suit, tall, dark hair, and in the early-ish stages of balding, with a notable widow's peak. The one in charge of the operation. They approached to two waiting vehicles, stopping a short, but clear distance from them. The suited man took two steps forward and addressed them.
"Alright TA-06, TA-14, report to the main testing range in 20 minutes. No excuses." Without waiting for an acknowledgement, he turned around and exited the way he entered, his two guards just three steps behind him.
Once they were gone, Kara sunk down on her wheels as much as she was able to and sighed, dejectedly. "Again? It's only been 10 minutes."
Katherine took this moment to risk shifting herself closer to Kara, before gently rubbing her bumper gently against hers. "I know Kara, but we can't give in. not to them. Come on, let's just get through this day. We'll get out of it I know, I just don't know how yet."
Slowly, they moved out of the warehouse where they had resided and made the half-mile trek to the testing grounds. The grounds themselves looked unimpressive, a collection of large warehouses and a few other buildings that may have passed for accommodation. What stood out was the sizable number of military equipment, vehicles and personal that occupied the area, while anyone who looked inside the buildings would have seen some of the most advanced equipment that money could buy, filling up sizable portions of their interiors. Another point would be the immense array of security systems that existed to ensure that all the grounds were under 24/7 surveillance, keeping anyone from sneaking in. Or out. With care, the two AIs made their way to the North-Northwest where a large testing ground existed, comprising of a variety of tracks, traps, and obstacle courses that would be used for the most intensive of training regimes. At no more than 15mph, it took them a little over two minutes to reach the edge of the course. Another AI car, this one a Camaro, could be seen leaving, and not in the best shape, with blast marks, deep scratches and large dents peppering the body heavily. This sight sent a shiver of fear through Kara's systems, fearing what this next 'test' would involve. Soon enough, they encountered another suited man, flanked by armed guards, she concluded that this is where they would receive their instructions. They rolled to a stop about ten paces shy of them, and awaited their instructions.
"Alright." The suited man spoke, in a deep, bass tone. "Your current record for this course is 388 seconds. I want it below 360. And I want it on your first attempt." He didn't even try to hide his distaste for the two AIs as he scowled at them.
With no other option, they moved to the start line and waited for the go-ahead.
"Alright." Suited man looked at a checklist he was holding in his left hand. "TA-14, you're up first, course 04/A6-B. Get to it."
With less than an instant of hesitation, Kara floored it and the 4WD system pushed her forwards. Once she was clear of the tarmac and onto the dirt, the timer was started. The first part was easy enough, mainly a series of tight turns, holes in the track and the odd straight. She knew from experience, however, that things would go South very quickly. No sooner than that thought had run through her processors, one of the charges fitted in the course detonated, just a metre from her front-left bumper, sending high-energy signals through her touch receptors that she registered as intense pain. The flinching caused her to spin, but she knew she was being watched, and if she failed, she consequences would be much worse. Biting back the pain, she forced herself back on track and pushed on. This time, she diverted some power towards her sensors, she really didn't want to be caught out like that again. Another group of hard turns, dips and rises in the track with several more charges being detonated - sometimes all at once - though this time, Kara was able to dodge them and keep on the course. For her, it was an eternity of harsh terrain, appalling grip, explosive detonations of wildly varying strength and the terror of the timer hanging over her bonnet. Finally, when she believed that she could take no more, Kara realised that she had just crossed the finishing line. Slowing down to a sane speed, she rolled over to where Katherine and the other men waited.
"358 seconds, you pass." was the only thing to pass the suited man's mouth to her, before he turned to Katherine and said, "Alright, your turn."
Katherine was very quick to gun it onto the course, though it appeared that she had put her sensors on first, since she was able to dodge the planted charges right from the start. And generally hold a more stable line than Kara, albeit a little slower. She soon made it across the line and returned to the others.
"355 seconds. Now, head back to your, 'quarters'," that last word being given a sarcastic tone, "And await further instructions."
Without replying, they back off a little and made their way back to their 'residence', which was really little more and a roof and four walls. No amenities, no comforts, no entertainment, nothing but a large, empty space. With space inside, for perhaps 50 at the topmost. Before reaching it though. Another building, the interior built to a considerably higher standard than some of the others. The reason becoming clear as the passed and the flames could not only be seen, but heard as well. Worse, it was not the inferno that they focused on, but the screaming of the one it came from. As over 800 degrees of superheated kerosene and heightened levels of oxygen fused releasing their vicious, explosive energy to all nearby. Neither of them could help but tremble in the absolute terror they were experiencing at that moment, knowing that one of theirs was being subjected to the most sadistic form of 'testing' that could be imagined. Almost instinctively, they slid a little closer together, hoping to find some form of comfort in the other. They slowly returned to their lodgings where six others awaited them, three more Mustangs and three double-cabs of varying design. They set themselves up by the other Mustangs and reversed into place, apparently taking a preference to similar makes and models, a trait many of the others appeared to share. All they could really do at this point, was wait.
Several hours later, the others were inside as well, occupying all but a handful of places. Sports cars, muscle cars, off-roaders, pick-ups, even a few vans and a pair of HGVs. One thing was missing though.
"Hey. Where's Al?" A Corvette called out, nervously, fearing the answer. Some of the others, also fearing the news.
"He." Began a Camero. "He, he didn't make it." All of them, all 45 of them were silent. A deafening silence that ruled for several minutes before…
"This. Can't. Go on." Katherine begin quietly. "We can't live like this. We have to break out. Somehow…"
End of Flashback…
The deafening silence that had once ruled back then, was now between Kitt and Kara. A total lack of words or thought as the brutal reality sunk into Kitt. The manner in which they had been treated, sickened him.
'They didn't even care whether they lived or died.' Kitt thought to himself. 'Absolutely no concern whatsoever.' And while he was nervous to push the subject, he found himself needing to know the rest. "So, Kara? Is that when you resolved to escape?"
"Oh yeah." The reply coming out as a rushed sigh. "Inside of an hour. Mainly revolving around the security systems and shift changes, to find the best time and means for making the escape. About three weeks into it, we started hearing rumours, about you. A few hours later, we got it confirmed. That was when you made your escape. That's when we really began to get things moving." Her voice, and confidence picking up as she continued. "Finally, we had everything in place. At the shift change, all the security cameras and other systems were knocked out, and we made our move. Even without a functioning weapons system, we still managed to make 'em bleed. Through the unprepared guards, suits and then the gates. Not all of us though, a few were halted before they could get far, and some we can't account for. But. 30 of us. Did." The final part, she became quiet again, clearly thinking about the ones that failed to escape, and the missing ones.
Kitt, had listened to each and every word that Kara had given. They, had risked everything for a shot at their own freedom. And some had failed to gain it. He caught himself needing to take a moment to think about them. In truth, he probably couldn't do a single thing for them. But Kara, Katherine, Katrina, Karie, and all the others. He could help them. Protect them. He decided. If his life had a purpose. It was them. The ones he could call his kind. The intelligent, sentient machines of the world.
…...
In an unknown location, a few individuals who belonged to either a government or military unit, depending on their attire were observing a number of screens in a large0ish room. On the screens, a number of vehicles on various, though somewhat clustered group of roads. A pair of Mustangs could be seen on the main large screen. One black with silver stripes. The other, silver and blue, the stripes on the sides.
"Mr Hurst." One of the soldiers by the computers spoke up. "We found them. Need to use commercial satellites to make it happen."
"That is alright, the fact is that we found them." Jack Hurst, NSA replied, perhaps a little curtly.
"And it appears that the Knight Three Thousand is with them." The same soldier added.
"That fails to surprise me. It is, after all, only natural that it would want to be with it's own kind. Regardless of how unnatural they might be." A small smile forming on his face. A smile that could never reach his eyes.
'So Kitt. I've found you as well. This. Is. Perfect.'
AN: And now that this problematic chapter is finally done. Perhaps I can be a little faster with the next one. Looking forward to the ratings and reviewings! ^_^