Knight Rider Festival '09
Autographs
If KITT had been programmed with the ability to laugh, all of Fremont St would have known about it. He hadn't expected an innocent telephone call to have such a hilarious outcome. After scanning the elderly women for possible injuries, he had come to the conclusion that it was just a slight mishap and nothing more.
What had really surprised KITT was how devious the sneaky women were. After a quick review of the recent surveillance footage, KITT knew that this was no happenstance. He watched as they stalked Michael to the VIP Lounge. He also looked on as they positioned themselves inconspicuously along Michael's pathway.
KITT chided himself for not noticing them sooner. What if they were killers? It had surprised him at how complacent he had become. Here he had thought that maybe he was over-reacting about the loss of the earwig. Now, he really knew the true value of the little technological wonder.
Mike wasted no time getting back to Fremont St. Whatever KITT needed to say could wait. He had an event to attend and this one sounded like fun.
The very second that Mike set foot on the concrete sidewalk of Fremont St, Jessica appeared out of nowhere, "There you are. Where have you been? The event is about to start, come on." She enthusiastically urged.
Mike let Jessica lead him to an obviously crowded area off to the left. He had never seen such a long line in all his life. He stopped cold when he saw the Disneyland-like line winding around and around in front of another paper covered folding table. Mike couldn't believe it. All these people were here to see him? Wait. Not him, a man that looked identical to him named Justin. Mike had yet to meet this Justin guy and he really hoped that he would have by now. It was strange to meet all these clones and not the only one designed to be him.
The happily gathered crowd began to smile and wave at Michael Knight. They would have been surrounding him and roughly vying for attention if they hadn't been in line. Most had claimed their spot in this line right after the Q&A event and there was no way in the world they were going to give up their precious spots now.
Mike also found it interesting to see all the weird and crazy stuff the exited fans were hauling and waiting to get signed. Some people had bagfuls of items while others were hauling around car parts. One rather tall gentleman who was patiently standing in line, held on tightly to a huge plastic piece of car. Once Mike got a closer look at it, he realized that it was a tan dashboard. Actually, it was a piece of plastic that ran the full length of a dashboard. The sucker must have been 4-5' long. Mike smiled at how crazy that seemed to him.
Jessica daintily linked arms with Justin as she attempted to lead him to his predefined spot behind the flimsy conference table.
At first, Mike fought her. He would go when he very well pleased and some pushy little red-head wasn't going to decide it for him. But then, he mellowed and relaxed into Jessica's lead. He didn't mind her that much. He just wished that she would ask him before she did something.
Jessica felt Justin relax and smiled inwardly. She had hoped that he wanted to be led and she was happy when he allowed it. With a certain amount of pride obvious all over her face, Jessica pulled Justin around the flimsy table and to the open spot between Dr. Graiman and Zoë.
Mike couldn't believe his luck. He was placed next to the very man he and KITT wanted to talk to. Oh yeah, this event was going to be very interesting.
KITT wasn't being unobservant at this time. He noticed the only available position at the Autograph table and it made him both mad and excited at the same time. He was mad because Michael didn't have the earwig and he was excited because Michael was going to get a chance to talk to the imposter. He knew that Michael wouldn't be idle through this whole situation and that was one of the many things he liked about his partner.
Lieutenant Cast spread out her well trained security detail. She had already carefully briefed them on what exactly she expected of them. These ladies and gentlemen were hand-picked by Theresa herself. She wanted a strong and capable group to be her security detail. These men and women were that and more. And if anyone were to ask her about her crew, she would beam with pride and tell them just how great her team was.
At first, Mike reluctantly took his seat at the Autograph table. He had seen the rest of the Autograph artists lazily sitting down and copied them. However it didn't take long for him to become antsy in his hard folding chair. It probably had something to do with the 3 sugar-coated doughnuts, 4 cups of coffee, or his building anticipation of this event. Most likely, it was a combination of all three. Frustrated by the whole thing, Mike defiantly stood up and lightly kicked the black aluminum chair to the side. Who cares if he stood up or sat down.
"Please, only one article/item for signing. There is a long line and we have only 1 hour to get through as many people as possible." The dark haired promoter loudly announced from behind the Autograph panel. "These wonderful actors and actresses have generously donated their time to be here. They are not being paid, so please respect them."
The order of the lineup of personnel went like this: Sarah, Zoë, Mike, Dr. Graiman, and Billy.
All of them sat quietly in anticipation of the 'go' sign. Well, all of them except Mike. He smiled shyly at the waiting crowd and then casually glanced up and down the row of his friends.
"Justin, are you alright?" Bruce asked worriedly as he looked at Justin standing up nervously.
Mike gave the Dr. Graiman clone an odd look. "I'm fine. How are you?"
"You don't seem like yourself, Justin. I'm just a little worried about you." Bruce answered with real concern.
"Yeah, I'm just a bit tired. I should be fine as soon as all that coffee kicks in." Mike lied easily.
"You are a good liar." Bruce said with a devious smile. "You haven't been yourself through this whole event. Deanna told me about the odd way you have been acting. And then I saw it firsthand on the stage back there. If you need a friend to talk to, I'm available." He spoke sincerely.
Mike couldn't believe his luck. Dr. Graiman had asked him…Him. Yes! Now, he didn't have to come up with some excuse to get a meeting with Charles.
"Well, I sure could use another man tonight." Mike chuckled. "I have a double date tonight would you like to join?"
"You know that I'm married." Bruce added in shock. "You have even met my daughter."
"Once you meet my girls, you will laugh at what you just said." Mike smiled wide. "Please come along?"
"You won't tell Michele, will you?"
Mike crossed his heart in fun and then vowed, "I promise."
"I could use a free dinner…You're buying, right?" Bruce chuckled with a wink.
"Of course, I'll call you later with all the info." Mike agreed with relief.
"Alright but just let me know at the 3 o'clock event." Bruce grinned and then turned his attention to the dark haired promoter who had been talking the whole time. He was curious what Justin had meant by my girls but decided just to wait it out and find out later.
Before the dark haired promoter could finish his proclamation of the rules, the cute little blonde that had taken the very first position in the long line walked up to Sarah with a huge smile. "OMG! I love you! Thank you for doing this. Could you make it out to Wanda?" She begged in a high giddy tone.
Mike carefully watched the Sarah clone interact with the tiny blonde fan. He could see some of the mannerisms of his Sarah shine through this very good clone. He smiled and blushed bright red when he noticed the Sarah clone caught him staring.
KITT was quickly becoming bored just sitting there watching Michael. That's not to say that he was just idly standing by. He had 4 different angles of Michael feeding straight into his HUD. But for now, Michael was relatively safe. KITT had counted at least 10 uniformed security personnel strategically scattered about this event. He knew that such a well-planned and executed endeavor had to be the work of Lieutenant Cast. She was the only one he knew that had the skill and talent to pull it off so seamlessly.
KITT's boredom was short-lived. For at that very moment, his personal space was invaded by a very different replica. A replica of who? He wasn't quite sure. It was a Mustang, like him but its scanner was a blend of KITT, Two Thousand's LED light bar structure and a fibre optically generated light show which accurately mimicked his scanner. He was impressed and confused at the same time.
Then the driver of the interesting replica stepped out of his KITT. He stood 6'2" tall with honey colored brown hair and sported a slim figure with a muscular build.
KITT watched with interest as the driver surveyed his surroundings and then stepped over to him. He heard the nice looking man hum as he soaked in the appearance of KITT. For some odd reason, KITT really liked this guy and felt a bit of pride as the tall gentleman nodded in appreciation of him.
"Nice, very nice." The driver of the replica finally said as he tried to look inside KITT's driver's side window.
KITT kept his window tinted but he really didn't want to. He was enjoying the admiration from this tall replica driver. He didn't know why and it didn't make sense for him to seek praise from this man but he enjoyed it and that was that.
"Well handsome, I have to go back to my car." The driver commented softly as he patted KITT on his top. "You be good."
KITT had to catch himself not to reply. He wanted to give the man a snide remark like he did for Michael. But he contained it, as he very well should have. Why did he feel so comfortable with this young man?
The tall young man then began to prepare his replica for public viewing. He quickly dug into the trunk of the modified Mustang and pulled out a well-prepared and perfectly laid out signboard. It showed all the hard work that had gone into the building of his beautiful replica. It showed full color pictures of each change he had made and why it inspired him to add it.
The interesting replica was well represented by the 5' signboard. It showed: Pictures of a pure black Mustang GT500KR with the Cobra icon on the side and the trunk, the hood had the small raised aerodynamic scoop as the KITT, two Thousand Trans Am. KITT also noticed that this KITT had his Lamborghini doors in its Normal Mode.
The sign board went on to show pictures of the KITT's interior which he found rather interesting. He read about the interior having used the beige colors of the KITT, Two Thousand's design right down to the beige leather seats. It was well meshed into the original black colors of the Mustang. Also he caught sight of and liked the design of the gullwing steering wheel complete with a picture of a helmet and the word KNIGHT 2000 written in bold red font.
At the bottom of the tall informational sign in smaller font but still large enough to read, it read, My KITT designed and Maintained by me, Stefen.
KITT recorded his camera angles of the unusual replica and made sure to get a full view of the informational sign and the apparent builder, Stefen. He wanted to show Sarah. This replica looked great and he wanted to share it with her.
Mike was getting anxious about meeting his public when out of the blue, a heavy set Hispanic woman with long dark brown hair ran up to Mike at full speed. Mike could tell by the massive genuine smile making her whole face glow that her intentions were harmless. He smiled back sweetly.
"Oh My God!" She screamed as she ran up to him. "Justin, I have always wanted to meet you!"
Before anyone realized it, even Mike himself, she ran around the endcap of the Autograph table and happily wrapped her strong arms around a now startled Mike. She was about the same height as him and was just as strong. She held him tightly for about 5 seconds and then slowly released him with a sigh of satisfaction.
Lieutenant Cast was just as surprised by the sudden appearance of the happy woman as Mike. She had positioned herself about 4' away from him and was watching the line as it continued to increase in length. She definitely hadn't expected a fanatic fan to get passed her and her well-trained posse.
The second that the grinning Hispanic woman let go of her idol, Lieutenant Cast roughly grabbed the woman's arms and pinned them tightly behind the woman's back. Then she shoved the woman hard through a nearby unmarked access door leading into the casino.
"Listen carefully, don't resist and follow my directions to the letter." She whispered hoarsely into the shocked woman's ear. She wasn't playing around with this.
Mike was just as startled by the Lieutenant's rough reaction as the poor woman was. He quickly pushed his way through the white access door in hot pursuit of the struggling pair. He wanted to be sure that he was there to help out if either of them needed him.
The whole line of patiently waiting adoring fans groaned sadly when the saw Justin leave the Autograph table. Most had shown up just for him and were deeply saddened to see him leave so quickly and they didn't keep it to themselves.
These kinds of questions and more were heard grumbled and even rudely yelled from the crowd:
"Hey, where is he going?"
"Wasn't he supposed to stay for an hour?"
"Is he coming back?"
They kept up their griping long after their wonderful Justin had disappeared.
Mike didn't hear the protest going on outside. He was too busy trying to prevent a catfight inside. Once Lt. Cast let go of the angry Hispanic woman's slightly muscular arms, she shook the pain out of her shoulders and then viciously stared down the pushy officer that caused this pain.
Mike could clearly see the barely contained rage inside the pissed off fan's deep brown eyes. He knew that he had better step in pretty quick or his fan might be hurt. So he carefully positioned himself within 2 feet of the quarreling pair and lifted his hands in surrender when they shot him deadly glares for coming so close. Mike gave them a boyish grin and then in his sweetest tone, he intervened. "Ladies…Ladies, isn't there a way to settle this like gentlemen?"
Both ladies continued their icy stares at him. They didn't find any light in this situation. He was interrupting something that he didn't need to get involved in, in the first place. Then suddenly, the livid Hispanic fan relaxed and smiled sweetly at Justin.
Mike gave her a bewildered look. Why was she so happy all the sudden?
"Hi Justin, I'm Rachel. There is no way that I could stay mad at you. I love you too much." She said in nearly a schoolgirl giggle.
"What part of 'Stay behind the table', did you not understand?" Theresa rudely butted in.
"Theresa, it's okay. She was just excited." Mike calmly added as he smiled softly to Rachel. "She promises never to do it again, right?"
Rachel smiled a knowing smile and then vowed, "I promise. I cross my heart and hope not to die as you stick a thousand needles in my eye." She joked as she used her index finger to cross-her-heart.
Mike chuckled softly and then asked her as an afterthought, "How can I make this up to you Rachel? How about this, would you join me for dinner tonight? Beware we are not going to be alone. I have already booked a pair of elderly ladies but it would be nice for you to come along too. So, what do you say?"
Rachel squealed in happiness and then threw herself into Justin in a tight hug. She couldn't believe her luck and his kindness. "Oh My God! I would love it!" She finally managed to say as she released him from her impromptu embrace.
"Good." Mike agreed with a huge smile. "Here is my card. Call this number and talk to my secretary. He'll fill you in with all the details." Mike instructed softly as he handed her a plain white business card that had on a typewriter written phone number on it. "I have to go. I have a long line of people waiting for me to come back. KITT will fill you in. See ya later."
Rachel didn't have time to thank him. Justin had already spun around on one foot and pulled on the white access door. He was gone in seconds. She didn't mind too much, she had a date with him later on tonight. She smiled contentedly, sighed, and then hugged the little white business card tight to her chest, right above her heart.
KITT had been a silent observer of the whole event ever since the woman grabbed Michael in a hug. It pulled him straight out of his reverie of the Knight 2000 hybrid replica. After about 2 seconds, he realized that the happy Hispanic woman didn't pose an immediate threat. He also believed that Lieutenant Cast's reaction to her actions were a bit over the top.
What KITT lip-read next surprised him to say the least. KITT was now a secretary? Michael had a date planned for later? Who was planning it? When was it? Who was he dating? It was times like this that made KITT really miss the little earwig.
KITT needed to get some answers and he needed to get them now. At first, he had planned on using the PA system to call Michael to a nearby House Phone. When he saw the red-headed Jessica talking on a cellular telephone, a new plan began to form in his bored CPU.
KITT quickly hacked into the small hot pink cell phone and determined its phone number. He dialed it.
Jessica had been paying close attention to Justin interacting with the happy crowd when she heard her distinctive ring tone. She quickly glanced at the highly polished face of her phone and frowned. The number it displayed was Restricted. She didn't know any Restricted number people so, she quickly pocketed the phone and ignored it.
KITT refused to be ignored. As soon as the automated answering service kicked in, he hung up and dialed again.
Jessica checked her phone once again and saw that it was that Restricted number again. This time, she sent it straight to her answering service and pocketed the phone again.
This game went on for 4 more times. KITT would call…She would send it straight to Voice Mail…and then KITT would call again.
Jessica was getting frustrated with this stupid idiot so, she finally did something about it. The next time the wrong number called her she answered it, "YOU HAVE THE WRONG NUMBER!" and then she hung it up.
She surprised KITT. He hadn't expected her to yell at him so loud and angrily, but that didn't stop him. He dialed her number again.
Jessica would have shut off her phone if she could. But she needed to be available to the dark haired promoter at all times so, she couldn't turn it off. So when it rang again, she growled and then answered it, "Whoever you are, you have the wrong phone number. Please do not call me again." She spoke more sweetly in hopes that they would listen and then she hung up before they could respond.
KITT was surprised at how easily he was wearing her down. She was almost ready for a conversation with him. He smiled internally and dialed her number again.
Jessica's frown turned into a scowl as she noticed the Restricted number had called again. "STOP IT! Will you please stop it?" She yelled but didn't hang up.
KITT immediately noticed that the connection was still intact. She didn't hang up on him. "I apologize for disturbing you." He spoke with as much sincerity as he could muster. "I need to speak with Justin…Justin Bruening."
"This is not his phone!" She snapped and then hung up.
KITT dialed her number again.
Jessica found it easier to ignore the Restricted number this time and let it go to Voice Mail.
KITT felt like he had taken 2 steps back. They were back to this old game again. Oh Well, here we go again. KITT redialed her phone number.
The third time the Restricted number hailed her phone, Jessica answered in a livid tone, "This is not Justin's phone! I am not his secretary! Please stop calling me." And then she hung up.
'Not this again.' KITT thought as he redialed her number.
"WHAT!!!" She screamed.
"I wish to speak with Justin Bruening." KITT answered coolly. He didn't need to add fuel to her already blazing fire.
"Call his phone!" She answered in a barely contained rage.
"His phone has been currently misplaced. I was instructed to call you. Please let me speak to Justin Bruening." KITT asked sweetly, almost too sweetly.
"How do you know Justin?" Jessica asked out of pure curiosity.
"I am his…secretary, apparently." KITT paused a little mad that he had been volunteered into the new position with out his knowledge or permission.
"And what is your name?" She needed to know, having the personal secretary to Justin Bruening calling her phone had to be a privilege.
"KITT." He said proudly.
"No way! Your name is Kit?" She asked in pure shock.
KITT internally groaned and then answered, "Can you pass the phone to Justin?"
The second Mike set foot outside onto Fremont St, the whole line-up of fans happily applauded. He had only been gone for a couple of minutes at the most but it had been enough to make them worry about his return. Mike smiled broadly as he immediately retook his spot in between Zoë and Dr. Graiman.
"Did you have fun while you were gone?" The Zoë clone asked with a wink.
Mike leaned down and whispered in a barely audible tone, "I have plans for tonight. So, you tell me?"
The Zoë clone socked Mike in the arm lightly and then jokingly added, "Don't kiss and tell."
Mike smiled huge and was getting ready for his comeback when Jessica, the apprentice to the dark haired promoter, tapped him on the shoulder. When his brown eyes connected with her green, he saw that she looked really confused. "What's up Jessica?"
"How did your secretary get my cell phone number?" She asked completely flabbergasted. "I never gave you my number. So how did he get my number? And one more thing, why is he trying to call you through me? Don't you own a phone?"
"Secretary?" Mike asked in deep thought." Who would—KITT!"
"Yeah, that's him and how odd is it that he goes by the name of the car?" Jessica asked curiously as she passed her hot pink cell phone over to Justin.
"KITT?" Mike asked in shock as he placed Jessica's 'girlie' phone up to his ear.
"Michael, when were you going to inform me about my new secretarial duties? I am an Advanced AI, not your personal black book." KITT gruffly complained.
"You commandeered someone's personal cellular telephone to complain about a few phone calls? KITT, I gotta go." Mike grumbled into Jessica's phone.
"Wait, wait…If you are going to put me in charge of your social life, do you want me to determine your event schedule or do you want to tell me exactly what you wish to do?" KITT asked a bit unsure as he reluctantly accepted his new duties to his driver.
A nice looking man in polo shorts and a Hawaiian shirt stood smiling in front of Mike. Mike could tell that he was patiently waiting for him to get off the phone. "KITT whatever you decide is fine. Now I really gotta go." Then he quickly hung up the phone before KITT could respond. He smiled evilly and softly tossed it back to Jessica.
Human social interactions were not KITT's cup of High Octane. So KITT began to scour the Internet for good resources on the subject. He wanted to be sure to set up a proper evening of entertainment.
"Hi Mr. Bruening, it is sooo nice to finally meet you. You have no idea how much of an honor it is to meet you." The young man said proudly with a massive smile as he presented Justin with a small book to autograph.
"Thank You." Mike said in a very official tone. "Now who may I make this out to?"
"Edward…No make that Ed." The man stuttered as he watched Justin sign his book cover.
Just as Mike finished up penning his name on Ed's paperback book, Jessica lightly tapped him on the shoulder again. "Justin, will you tell your secretary that my cell phone is not your cell phone. By the way, where is your cell phone?"
"When someone made me leave the room before checking, I left it behind." Mike accused with a huge smile as he snatched the hot pink cell phone from Jessica's outstretched hand.
Jessica gave him a shy apologetic look as he stole the phone from her.
"KITT, can't this wait 'til later?" Mike snapped.
"I need to know how many are in your party." KITT asked with a humorous laugh.
"5, now goodbye." Mike cutoff quickly and the tossed the phone onto the folding table in front of the red-headed Jessica.
Jessica rolled her eyes as she picked up her phone and asked, "Is that it or should I expect another call?"
Mike smiled unknowingly and then shrugged his shoulders. He knew that KITT was having difficulty dealing with the loss of the previously ever-present earwig. This was just KITT's way of dealing with the loss.
KITT had just discovered a new game: Call Michael and ask and easily solvable question every couple of minutes. If Michael was going to make KITT do all the work of planning these dates, then KITT was going to make a game of it. KITT smiled devilishly as he plotted his next question and the perfect timing of it.
Mike was getting good at this. Smile…Sign…Thank. It had become a pattern that he fell into easily. He had just finished his 3rd fan in like 3 minutes, when he heard the familiar sound of a cell phone playing music. After a few notes had played, Mike recognized the song and smiled knowingly. The song fit Jessica just perfectly, it was, These Boots are Made for Walking.
Jessica looked at the Restricted number and rolled her eyes as she practically threw the pink phone at Justin without answering it.
Mike was getting frustrated too. He was in the middle of signing a little remote controlled Mustang car for a little boy named Joe. He didn't have time to talk to KITT right now.
KITT on the other hand was enjoying the exchanged looks of frustration on both Michael's and Jessica's faces. Jessica was frustrated because of his constant barrage of calls. Michael was frustrated because KITT always picked the most inopportune time to call. 'Like that was a mistake.' KITT thought sarcastically.
Mike quickly pressed the talk button and then placed the still-turned-on cell phone on the table in front of him. If KITT wanted constant contact, then by golly he was going to get constant contact. Mike was just going to let KITT sit there waiting for him until he was ready. As for running out the phone's batteries, Mike didn't care. At least this kept KITT busy. He then went back to paying attention to his fans.
KITT didn't get it. Why didn't Michael turn the phone off? Why did he just set it down in front of him? Shouldn't he hang up and call again? KITT didn't know what to do now. So, he decided to just enjoy the sounds coming into the phone from both Michael and the fans. It wasn't the earwig, but at least it was something.
Mike went back to paying attention to his fans. He loved all these people and it seemed that they all loved him.
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A/N- I'm sorry to all of you that have been patiently waiting for this---My muse wasn't awake to this story for a whole month and then when it did start to show life, my computer lost the file. Grrrrr
Well, as you can see…I solved that issue.
Some side notes:
#1-Bruce Davidson is actually married to a woman named Michele and has a 3 year old daughter…I looked it up. Yey! and I bet she is beautiful (Both of them!)
#2- The replica I described was envisioned by Spidey2. I promised him a cameo in my little story. He has put a lot of work into the design of his KITT and he wanted me to show him off at the Festival, even if it's my version of the Festival. :)
Thank You to everyone that has given me reviews!!!!! You ALL keep me inspired to keep going!
Take Care Everyone…and Enjoy!