Disclaimer: I do not own Knight Rider in any way form or fashion. Enjoy, my loves!

xXx

"Karr, can you come with me please?"

Karr froze in is task of sorting through old parts, one pincher arm paused mid-way up. The Rover wasn't exactly the most ambidextrous thing that was ever created, but he could manage to put things on a shelf. In fact he found it something like a puzzle.

Though when Devon Miles interrupted his work, Karr took the moment to listen. He was still under the programming barrier to obey any Knight Industries employee. However, the way that Devon worded his question, it didn't sound like an order.

He appreciated that.

"Of course, Mr. Miles" Karr offered in that monotone voice that they were so accustomed to by now.

Devon moved to the edge of the labs, silently waiting for Karr to catch up to him, before opening the garage door to the outside. The Rover made Karr mobile but, it was slow. It had a top speed of about ten miles per hour and that was pushing it. He generally had to be somewhere very flat and open for that. Across the terrain, he slowed considerably.

Slowed to the point that Devon actually checked his speed so that he wouldn't leave the little Rover behind.

As they exited the garage, Devon fell quiet for the moment. They walked across the paved driveway onto one of the many paths of the estate. They must have looked a sight…

An old man walking with a robotic… Crab? With the pincher like arms, it certainly looked a bit like a giant crab.

Nothing to see here, just an old man walking his robot crab. The thought actually caused some amusement to go through Karr's CPU before he turned his focus back to Devon, who seemed to have a destination in mind.

"Where are we going?" Karr asked after a time.

"I'm feeling a little nostalgic, you could say. I found a few things that may interest you." He offered, silently holding up a battered, leather book that looked as if it were barely being held together by stitching. Scraps of paper stuck out here and there, the worn pages obviously well read. No… Well written.

"That is Wilton Knight's journal." Karr stated simply and Devon nodded, a fond smile given as he laid a hand on the cover.

"It is. I know, you're angry with Wilton. And don't start with the 'I feel no emotions.' The only ones who still believe that are you and Kitt." Devon stated simply, silently diverging off of the main path into an area that was still well maintained and surrounded by a neat, rot iron fence. Not a place that Karr had ever been. Even when he had gone through the security gates that day that he and Tony had set out to kidnap Bonnie…

Back then, the feeling that this was where his creator lived had hit, rather strongly. At the time, he hadn't been aware of Wilton's death. He had followed Tony's directions into the estate. Knight Estate… With Wilton's logo printed everywhere and hoped… He would catch a glimpse of Wilton. Would Wilton have been happy with him then?

Now, he knew he would not have tolerated such a thing. However, it would have gained the man's attention. Would the man have seen him for what he was back then? What he could be?

So lost in thought, Karr had to abruptly hit the breaks as Devon stepped off of the path and settled onto a bench. It was at that point that Karr took in a good visual of where they were.

There were gravestones. Many of them. The one that stood out was a large one with a Chess Piece that had the name Wilton Knight etched across it.

It was the closest that he had been to his creator since the night he had been shut down. He didn't know how he felt about the fact that beneath the ground were Wilton's remains and not Wilton himself.

"The night Wilton died… The entire house was somber. Bonnie didn't wish to speak to anyone. Wilton had given her an amazing opportunity and she had worked closely with him to build Kitt. Michael… Didn't know what to think. He just met the man, but he had been given this second life. I was grieving. So was the rest of the staff. In the middle of it, I realized no one had told Kitt. He was in the garage and had no idea that his entire life had just changed. So I brought him out here. Told him what would be happening. I'm not sure he understood. For weeks, I still believe he looked for Wilton as if he didn't entirely believe he was gone. It is difficult to say goodbye to someone who was the center of your life for any length of time."

Karr was quiet as he considered that and Devon gave the small, robotic Rover a kind smile. "I imagine it was more difficult for you. You were thrust into the world, without any guidance into a world that existed without your creator. Kitt at least had us."

"I had Tony and Rev." Karr reasoned and Devon smiled.

"Hardly any kind of support system. Although, I am told that the one you call Rev, has turned his life around. Once he was released from prison, he turned to the church. From what I understand he volunteers at prisons and assists other convicts in finding a way to stand on their own two feet as honest men when they are released."

"Rev was not deactivated?" Karr questioned and Devon gave a rather confused look at that.

"No Karr, he was only unconscious. Did you not scan his vitals?"

Karr paused for a moment, going back to that night. The fear and uncertainty as Tony and Rev turned on one another. Trying to reason the sudden betrayal into the only way he knew how. Rev must have been malfunctioning.

He had been afraid enough that some deeper programming kicked in and while the pair were fighting, he allowed Dr. Barstow to slip away. He would call it, later self-preservation as he did not want Tony to harm the only one who could fix him…

The reality of it was, she had spoken to him with kindness and respect, even when he shocked the hell out of her when she tried to sabotage him. She was direct about what she wanted and what she was being forced to do and he could respect that. So he hadn't said anything as she slipped away.

Not that he would ever let any of them know that.

"I thought this might help with a bit of closure." Devon offered, breaking Karr from his thoughts.

The mechanical arm that held the camera turned, briefly looking up to Devon's face, then back down to the book, causing Devon to chuckle.

Devon grew serious though as he opened the book to a well worn page and silently pointed to the handwritten date. "I know Wilton didn't have the best handwriting… But do you know this date?"

Karr focused his camera on the page for a long while. Yes he could read Wilton's handwriting. It was the first bit of human handwriting he had ever been introduced to.

"That is the day I was deactivated." That date was also ingrained in his memory banks.

"Would you like to know what Wilton was thinking that day?" Devon asked and Karr instantly rolled his way around to a better position beside the bench. Camera arm lifted up so that he was looking over Devon's shoulder and the man chuckled softly. "I will take that as a yes."

He flipped one page back and held up the book. The date was marked the day before. "I thought you would also be interested in this. It was the night he made his decision."

Karr didn't know what to think about that. Devon reached out, lightly patting the robotic vehicle. That was a habit they had all picked up, even though it lacked a neronet and therefore, Karr couldn't feel the affection given to him.

Bonnie had already seen that problem. She was working on a neronet for the Rover.

However, if he wanted to be honest with himself, he still appreciated the gesture.

"I have made a terrible mistake." Devon said as he began reading what Wilton had written all those years ago. "I have exhausted all possibilities to fix it. Karr wants to leave that garage so badly, but I can't let him. When I was writing his code, I never thought how he would interact with the outside world. Who the people around him might be. I had one driver in mind but even I know when something will not work. When it comes down to it, I didn't want him to be harmed. At first it was because he was so damn expensive to build but as his personality began to develop, I was afraid of letting him out into the world. So I taught him to run away from danger. I taught him to protect himself. I never thought it would turn into such a disregard for human life. I don't know how I can teach morals to a computer that I created. I don't know how to fix the damage that I've done without tearing down the rest of him. I made an attempt at it, but so many errors came up I had to stop. In the beginning, I always thought that if something went wrong, I could just flip the switch and turn it off. Turn Karr off. How can I do that now? This AI who plays rock music when I've told him repeatedly to turn it down. Who looks forward to our weekly game of chess. How can I live with myself and shut off something that hasn't even been allowed to see the world? I will burn for this. That is my legacy. I will burn for smiting out the life of such a new and innocent being. But it has to be done. Tomorrow, I will shut him down."

Devon was quiet for a moment as Karr processed that, slowly turning to the next page.

"It's done. After much discussion with the other techs and with Devon, we realized that if he knew what we were doing he would never allow it, per his programming. So I had to lie to him. I tricked him into opening his hood. I used something he trusted only me with, against him. The last thing I expected to hear was emotion. The last thing I expected to hear was fear. I didn't expect him to ask what he had done wrong. I didn't expect him to ask me not to do what I was doing. I never expected his terrified screams as darkness set in. We covered him up and shut the door on him. We locked it and shut off all power to that lab. I've killed my creation and I will burn for it."

Devon slowly closed the journal, glancing over to Karr and giving the AI a sad smile. "I know… How things turned out doesn't seem fair. It doesn't seem right. It doesn't even seem reasonable but he did care about you. That choice was a hard one for him. I'm not saying it was the right choice. I'm not saying… That you don't have a right to be angry. You do. I am just hoping that hearing his own words, perhaps, can allow you to remember the chess games and the questions of wit and the pride he looked at you with… Rather than what was certainly one of the worst days of his life. And yours I'm sure."

Karr thought on that for a moment, the camera panning over to stare at the grave marker for a moment or two, before going back to Devon's face.

"Did he ever regret it?"

Devon gave a nod to that, the man setting the book aside and leaning back on the bench for a moment. "Oh he did… He spent the last few months of his life trying to figure out how to help you. He couldn't figure out how to fix what he had done without destroying you. Your mind, rather. If it was anything other than your dominant programming it could have been fixed. But repairing your primary directive would have caused a cascade waterfall like effect. It would have changed every part of you. You would not have been Karr anymore."

That camera was fixed on Devon for a long while. Seeming to be staring right past him as the AI fell silent. It was doubtful he was actually looking at Devon anymore, so much as just hadn't moved the camera. Eventually though, the yellow LED's that lit up when Karr spoke surged to life.

"I find it unfortunate that I could not speak to Wilton one more time."

Devon smiled softly, the old man giving out a soft sigh as he reached out, gently patting the Rover. "I know. I wish he could have seen you one more time.

xXx

"Dr. Barstow, I have an inquiry."

Bonnie glanced up at the announcement, for a moment watching the Rover who was staring at her from behind the desk Karr had rolled out from behind.

She nodded slowly, silently putting down the soldering iron she had been working with and gave the AI her full attention.

"Sure Karr. What do you want to know?"

"What will happen to Kitt when he is permanently shut down?"

Bonnie froze for a moment, a glance given towards the Rover as that camera focused on her for a long moment. "Ok… That's a strange question, Karr. What brought this on?"

"Mr. Miles and I had a discussion near the site of Wilton Knight's grave." The Rover reported and for a long moment Bonnie nodded. So it had Karr having thoughts of mortality? She calmed a bit. Karr wasn't plotting his brother's death, he couldn't ask a general statement because his programming would interpret the thoughts as the possibilities of his own demise. So he asked specifically about Kitt. It was a work around that the vehicle sometimes used. It was an unsettling one, but still it worked.

She felt guilty about the first place her mind seemed to go when it came to Karr's questions but that couldn't be helped either. There was just too much history.

"Are you asking in general? I need more details of the question."

"What will happen to what remains of him?" Karr clarified carefully, trying to avoid tripping up his still fragile CPU.

"Any remains of an AI that can not be salvaged will be recycled if possible…" She recited, a pause given as she glanced towards the Rover. "Kitt… Will likely be treated with a little more respect. I imagine he would be buried near Wilton."

Karr took a moment to process that, the AI obviously thinking that over.

"That respect extends to other AI's like him too." She offered, for a moment catching Karr's attention as that camera refocused on her face.

"What… Would it be like for Kitt?" Karr asked after a time and Bonnie thought about that for a moment.

Eventually she twisted around in her seat, giving the Rover her full attention.

"I don't know." She offered honestly. With Karr, honesty was always best. "I wish I could tell you more than that. I would like to think that all AI's that we create will be here forever or at least long after I'm gone and I'll never have to worry about it. Kitt has a dangerous job. You also know first hand how close an AI can come to being permanently deactivated."

She didn't really have to go much further into that. Karr knew very well how lucky he was that his CPU had survived.

"Kitt's job is dangerous." Karr offered after a time as if just realizing that. "Michael Knight takes care of him."

"He tries." Bonnie offered softly. "Michael's job is dangerous too."

"This line of topic has put an unpleasant buzz in my CPU." Karr complained and Bonnie nodded in understanding.

"Is it because… You started asking about Kitt because you couldn't ask about your own mortality?" She asked and for a moment Karr was silent.

"Is it maybe because, you started out wanting to know in general, what happens to AI's when they die but now that you're thinking about Kitt gone, it makes you sad and scared?" Bonnie then ventured.

"Is… That what the buzz is?" Karr questioned slowly.

Bonnie paused for a moment or two, a frown crossing her expression before she sighed. "I don't know Karr. I don't know how you're feeling. Describe it to me."

"It is unpleasant." Karr explained softly. "It is the same static that occurs when I pull up the memory files of Wilton."

Bonnie nodded slowly and reached out to lightly pat the Rover.

"You think that if Kitt were gone, you would miss him." She pointed out and for a moment Karr considered that.

"It would be unpleasant without him."

Now that, Bonnie could understand. She smiled sadly and nodded. "I would miss him too."

She sighed softly, for the moment turning back to her computer and closing out of her work. Nothing like talking about the mortality of her 'baby' to put her off wanting to work on programming and statistics.

"Ok, I think I'm done here for now." She mused softly, a glance then given towards Karr. "How about you and I watch a movie?"

"I am no longer permitted to watch Christine." Karr grouced, drawing a soft laugh from Bonnie.

"I was thinking of something a little happier… Have you ever seen The Wizard of Oz?"

It didn't take much to get Devon to allow the AI to watch the happier movie. When it came down to it, so long as it didn't have any suggestions of vehicular manslaughter in it, he was happy.

Still if anyone had ever asked, any one of them if they ever thought for a moment that the three would be putting in a call to Michael to stop on his way home and find the Wizard of Oz because they needed Karr to see it… It likely would have come with a mental evaluation.

As it was, the night found their rag-tag little family packed into Kitt's garage with the old movie playing.

"Where does the red road go? Are there other colors?" Karr asked, the AI having had questions the moment the twister dropped Dorothy's house in Oz…

"Try not to think about it too much, it will only harm your CPU." Kitt advised. "Just keep scanning the screen and regard the attractive colors."

Bonnie giggled behind her hand, a smile crossing her face.

No one had expected it, but it was still a good life.

"I do believe the book supplies a little more information on the other lands of Oz…" Devon mused, trying to be helpful.

"There's a book?" Michael asked and Bonnie and Devon had to hold back a laugh.

"Yes Michael, there's a book." Kitt offered, sounding just a bit exasperated.

Strange family indeed but it was theirs.