"Bonnie! Any luck." Michael strolled into the semi, but before he could
finish Bonnie interrupted him with a wave of her hand. "Hush, come and take
a look at this will you." Michael leaned over her shoulder to get a better
look at the monitor. Computer code was scrolling down it at an incredible
speed. "Umm, what's that mean Bonnie?" Michael had never been any good at
the technical side of FLAG. The code meant nothing to him. "It's Kitt,
Michael!" Bonnie responded sounding awed. "It's the very essence that
makes him. What you're seeing on that screen IS Kitt, well a part of him
anyhow. Michael, something's happening to him. This code is new. I've never
seen it before. It doesn't show up on any of the blue prints I have of
Kitt. Michael watched the code scroll down. "Is Kitt communicating? Do you
know where he is?" Bonnie turned back to the keyboard and started typing.
At the same time she attempted to explain to Michael what she thought was
going on. "This program is self-writing. It seems to be updating some of
Kitt's response protocols. It's triggered by some action, but I haven't yet
determined what that's been. The time it has started reads about three
hours after Kitt vanished. This *new* program controls Kitt's reactions to
certain things. It's highly complicated but I'm almost certain of one
thing. Someone who knows Kitt designed this program. Or should I say knew.
It's part of his original programming but it hasn't activated until now."
Bonnie turned back to Michael only to find him staring back at her blankly.
"How is all this going to help us find Kitt?" Michael asked. Bonnie signed.
"It's not, at least not right away. The internal modem on the Knight Two
Thousand contacted the Foundation as soon as it detected Kitt's core
program being affected by the sub programs changing. I'm sure Kitt's now
aware that the modem is connected. Fortunately for us, Kitt can't
disconnect this modem from the Foundation not even if he tries. Eventually
I might be able to use the Foundation's satellite to trace this link to
Kitt. Perhaps even pinpoint his location." Michael took a step make to
digest the information. So they had a link to Kitt, which was good. They
didn't know his location, that was bad. Kitt's program was changing. How
dramatically, or how it was going to affect Kitt, he didn't know. "If we're
connected to Kitt via a modem, can't you communicate with him?" Michael's
question drew a glance from Bonnie. "Unfortunately this modem is strictly
one-way. It's used for information exchange from the Knight Two Thousand to
the Foundations data banks. The other two modems are used for communication
and two-way data transmission. Kitt has control of both of those modems and
at the moment he has deactivated them. He still doesn't want to talk to us.
I'm going to try and use the satellite to pinpoint the location of the
modem and Kitt. It's gonna take a while." Michael immediately got the hint
and turned to go to let Bonnie work in peace. "Bonnie, please find him. I
want my partner back." Bonnie watched Michael exit the semi. "Don't we
all." she thought to herself and set to work.
Back at the impound, hundreds of miles away Andrea watched the car's windows darken and the car, Kitt wasn't it, grow silent. "How'd you do that?" she asked. The car remained silent. "Hey, now don't do this to me. You CAN talk! This is going to make my report SO much easier. Who owns you? Come on, tell me, we can get you out of here!" The windows slowly un- darkened again. Andrea leaned closer to the driver's side window to pear at the dash. She watched bars of red lights light up as the car responded. "I am owned by a privet foundation. Your report will probably get longer. There is no need to contact my driver or the corporation which owns me. They do not know where I am and I plan to keep it that way." Andrea blinked, now how are you supposed to respond to that?! The car sounded quite sure of it's self. "So you WANT to stay here with all these pieces of junk?"
It was a simple enough question Kitt decided. He certainly didn't want to be here. But deep down he had decided he deserved to be here. Kitt signed. "No, but it's better this way." Kitt was about to say more when he detected the modem. Within nanoseconds he had determined that it was transmitting data to the Foundation. No! He wasn't ready to face Michael yet! Franticly he tried to disconnect the modem. He sent commands for the modem to enter standby mode, but did not get the response he had hoped. Quickly he determined that it was a one-way connection and that there was no way that Bonnie would be able to gain access to his systems through it. He had no doubt though, that Bonnie would use the modem to locate him. Kitt turned his attention away from the modem and back to Andrea.
Andrea stared at the TA in astonishment. If she was talking to a computer how was it possible to hear genuine emotion in the words? "Better this way?" she repeated. "Why? Look, it's getting cool out here. Can I get in?" To her surprise she saw the driver's side door open on it's own accord. "Thank you."
This was something Kitt rarely did. Allowed a stranger access to his interior. However his thermometer did indicate a drop of several degrees and he did not wish his newfound friend to catch a cold. Kitt switched to interior sensors to watch the young cop settle onto his seat. It felt strange having a stranger there. The weight was different, as was the height. Kitt watched as Andrea took in his interior. She gave a low whistle. "This is cool. Why would a car like you choose to be in a place like this?" Kitt paused for a while before deciding to tell her. "I killed somebody."
Back at the impound, hundreds of miles away Andrea watched the car's windows darken and the car, Kitt wasn't it, grow silent. "How'd you do that?" she asked. The car remained silent. "Hey, now don't do this to me. You CAN talk! This is going to make my report SO much easier. Who owns you? Come on, tell me, we can get you out of here!" The windows slowly un- darkened again. Andrea leaned closer to the driver's side window to pear at the dash. She watched bars of red lights light up as the car responded. "I am owned by a privet foundation. Your report will probably get longer. There is no need to contact my driver or the corporation which owns me. They do not know where I am and I plan to keep it that way." Andrea blinked, now how are you supposed to respond to that?! The car sounded quite sure of it's self. "So you WANT to stay here with all these pieces of junk?"
It was a simple enough question Kitt decided. He certainly didn't want to be here. But deep down he had decided he deserved to be here. Kitt signed. "No, but it's better this way." Kitt was about to say more when he detected the modem. Within nanoseconds he had determined that it was transmitting data to the Foundation. No! He wasn't ready to face Michael yet! Franticly he tried to disconnect the modem. He sent commands for the modem to enter standby mode, but did not get the response he had hoped. Quickly he determined that it was a one-way connection and that there was no way that Bonnie would be able to gain access to his systems through it. He had no doubt though, that Bonnie would use the modem to locate him. Kitt turned his attention away from the modem and back to Andrea.
Andrea stared at the TA in astonishment. If she was talking to a computer how was it possible to hear genuine emotion in the words? "Better this way?" she repeated. "Why? Look, it's getting cool out here. Can I get in?" To her surprise she saw the driver's side door open on it's own accord. "Thank you."
This was something Kitt rarely did. Allowed a stranger access to his interior. However his thermometer did indicate a drop of several degrees and he did not wish his newfound friend to catch a cold. Kitt switched to interior sensors to watch the young cop settle onto his seat. It felt strange having a stranger there. The weight was different, as was the height. Kitt watched as Andrea took in his interior. She gave a low whistle. "This is cool. Why would a car like you choose to be in a place like this?" Kitt paused for a while before deciding to tell her. "I killed somebody."