Part III:
Michael Knight opened the side door of the warehouse laboratory and slowly walked inside. Everyone had gone home for the night, and only a few overhead lights lit the large room. He felt terrible for the way he acted the day before, and was so embarrassed about it that he didn't have the nerve to go back until now. He knew that he had to talk to KITT.
The Trans Am was now covered with a white tarp with a light hanging above to illuminate the area. Michael found a chair and sat down, moving the voice column tray around to face him.
"KITT?" he called. After a moment of no response he again said his friend's name. "KITT, I know you're mad at me."
It was another long pause before there was any response. "I'm not mad at anyone except myself."
Michael smiled when he heard the voice. He had always enjoyed listening to KITT's voice. It was always calm and soothing, and Michael liked no other sound better than this one.
"Look, KITT, I didn't mean to say what I did," he told him. "I was out of line. I guess I was just being selfish."
"Perhaps you were right, though," KITT said. "Perhaps I'm the one that is being selfish."
"If you're selfish I'll eat my hat!"
"But you're not wearing a hat."
Michael chuckled softly. That was the KITT he knew—always catching on and making a joke of anything he could. "KITT, if anyone deserves better, its you. I've been thinking about this." He repositioned himself on the chair. "If this works out, you and I can take off and go places. I'd show you all the best places in town and…"
"Michael, I've already been there with you. I brought you there, remember?"
"Yeah, I remember. Look, what I'm trying to say is that I am really for this. Okay?"
"Okay." There was another long pause. "Michael?"
"Yeah KITT?"
"How long did it take you to follow Bonnie's advice?"
Michael raised an eyebrow. "What advice?"
"About coming to talk to me."
"She didn't." He smiled. "Now I've got to go clear things up with her and Devon."
"I'd like to help Michael, but I'm a bit wired here."
Michael let out a laugh. KITT's sense of humor was something no one could put by. "Yeah, I see that. All set for you big day, eh? Well, I promise I'll be there all the way, pal. You can count on it."
If Kitt could have smiled, he would have. "Thank you Michael."
The sun rose as it normally did at six o'clock in the morning, spreading light onto the world. The Foundation wasn't nearly as busy as it had been for the past several months, mostly because everything was already finished.
Michael followed Bonnie, along with a few technicians, down to the lab to gather what they needed to bring—mainly speaking KITT.
"KITT," Bonnie started.
"Good morning, Bonnie," he responded. "Are you there too, Michael?"
"Right here, pal," Michael responded taping the table so KITT could hear where he was. KITT's visual communications system had been shut off and disconnected the previous night. Along with that, his entire memory had been copied and stored onto a small microchip no larger than an inch wide. Even KITT had to agree that Bonnie was a miracle worker.
"Alright, KITT," Bonnie said as she sat down in front of a computer, which was the only thing that was keeping KITT on right now. "I'm going to shut off your main power and put you on backup until the surgery is completed."
"Wait, how will you turn him on once he's inside?" Michael asked, referring to Scott Bordeaux's head.
"Dr. Croffey will be the head scientist next to Dr. Larson's side," Bonnie explained. "He has to move a microscopic piece on this chip that will activate a signal. And hopefully, if everything goes the way it's supposed to, the brain will accept and the two will work simultaneously."
"For some reason, Bonnie, that doesn't sound as reassuring as it did the first time I heard it," KITT said.
"What's the matter, KITT? You're not getting cold feet, are you?" Michael jested.
"Michael, you know I don't experience things such as cold feet," KITT said in a matter of fact sort of tone.
"How could I forget?" Michael said rolling his eyes.
"Enough you too," Bonnie slightly scolded. "We have an hour to be at the hospital. KITT, are you ready?"
"As ready as I'll ever be, I suppose," KITT said in a monotone voice.
"Alright, shutting down the system…now." Bonnie typed in the action and then paused before hitting the enter key.
Michael could feel something pulling at his heart. This was it…the moment where the KITT he had known for nine years was leaving. "We'll be here when you wake up, partner."
"Good-bye…" came the fading voice, and soon the blinking lights on the box stopped and dimmed out. The computer screen now read "System Shutdown Complete."
"KITT?" Michael asked, but of course, there was no answer.
Bonnie disconnected the single wire that was hooked up to KITT's box. She then picked up the CPU and the voice column and placed it in a small shoe-sized cardboard box for transportation. Next she reached over and picked up the few microchips needed for the procedure and put them in a metal case.
"That's it?" Michael asked, his Adam's apple feeling a bit larger than normal.
"Yup," Bonnie said standing up and handing the metal box to one of the bystanders, who then left the building with the others.
"What about that?" Michael said pointing to the shoebox.
"I thought we'd take this along to show KITT when everything was over," she said with a smile. "Ready?"
"Yeah," came the reply and they left the Trans Am and the rest of the CPU behind sitting in the corner of the warehouse laboratory.
ßßß
"The first step, of course, is to make sure Mr. Bordeaux's body doesn't have any reactions to the anesthesia," Dr. Larson explained to the group of people in a small lecture room in the hospital. "Then we will do the hardest part first to get that over with, and as you all know that would be placing these few microchips in the brain. Dr. Croffey, perhaps you would like to go over how that will happen to those that are not sure?"
Michael leaned against the back wall listening to the reviews of the procedure. He wasn't really in the mood to be listening. He knew that he had a very long wait ahead of him, a good ten hours at least, or so the doctors had said. Bonnie stood next to him, listening carefully at the work that was to be performed. Devon, on the other hand sat in the row of seats in front of them with Jennifer Knight and a few others.
"I can't listen to this," Michael said moving towards the back door.
"Michael," Bonnie called when she noticed him standing outside in the hall. "You okay?"
"I'm just concerned. They all seem so confident, but they've never put an entire personality into the brain before. This guy's only done things like putting small things in there and stuff," Michael said putting his hands on his hips and looking past Bonnie.
"If it makes you feel any better, KITT was the one who chose him."
"Not really," Michael told her but then smiled. "Its amazing on what he's developed into since I first met him."
"I know. But its more surprising, yet rewarding to me because I did most of his programming," Bonnie said. "Here, follow me."
They walked slowly down the hall where they came to a room with a sign taped on the door that read 'Oxygen In Use.' Bonnie and Michael stopped in front of the long window on the wall of the room and looked at the person lying helplessly in the bed.
"That him?" Michael asked.
"Scott Bordeaux. He's been in a coma for nearly two years. He had such a severe head injury that his doctors in Kentucky said he'd never recover from," Bonnie explained.
"So isn't that bad for KITT?"
"No because they're going to do reconstructive surgery," she continued. "See, if they did that to Scott and let him recover, chances are that he'd never be the same person he was before his accident. But seeing that KITT will be taking over, if you will, it'll be as if Scott died and KITT was reborn into the same body."
Michael looked at her perplexingly. "What does his family say about all of this?"
"As our luck has it, he was an orphan and has no family. They found his parents came over from Italy when they were both twenty-one, they had Scott when they were twenty-three, and died when they were thirty. Scott's only living relative was his grandmother, who still lived in Italy, but both countries took so long to confirm the crisis, she died. Scott then lived in an orphanage, never being adopted."
Michael couldn't help but feeling bad for this guy. He himself had had a great deal of tragedies in his life, but after his near fatal accident, he still had a second chance of living. Scott's body has a second chance, but Scott's soul would be put to rest.
After Bonnie had finished her little story, Michael studied the man that would be his best friend. It was hard to tell exactly how he looked, seeing there were several tubes around mouth and throat, but he got the basics. It was only suiting that this Scott guy would have extremely dark brown hair—almost black—and that KITT's old body was black. The eye color was right now undeterminable, but Michael had a feeling they'd be brown.
"What about his voice?" he asked suddenly.
"You mean will KITT sound the same?" Bonnie asked. She nodded her head. "They're going to something on the voice box that will give off vibrations similar to KITT's voice. I'm not even quite sure what that's all about."
Michael nodded his head in agreement just as a group of people in blue scrubs came walking down the hall, followed by Devon and the two doctors.
"We're all set," Dr. Larson told them as he watched the nurses gather the equipment connected to Scott and began to wheel him out of the room.
Michael watched as they did this and didn't take his eyes off Scott until he was around the corner and out of sight. "How long is this going to take?"
Two hours. Only two hours had passed and already Michael was going crazy. He and Bonnie sat in the waiting room of the surgery unit in the hospital, while Devon went back to the mansion until the procedure would be almost complete. Bonnie sat comfortably in a chair reading a novel, but Michael couldn't sit still.
"If you find something to do the time won't seem as long," Bonnie said as she turned a page.
Michael stood up and went to another chair. "Bonnie, the suspense is killing me. I wish I knew what was going on in there."
"There's no way to know, so just sit and relax. We haven't heard any announcements for doctors to report immediately, so I'm sure he's fine."
"Yeah," Michael said leaning over to let his elbows rest on his knees. Although he knew Bonnie was right, it was hard not to let your mind wonder and think about the terrible possibilities.
Five hours. Michael had already visited the gift shop four times, and the cafeteria eleven. He had gone through several cups of coffee, compared to Bonnie's two. She had gotten up to accompany him on a few of the trips, but she wasn't as bouncy as Michael was.
"Why don't we go out to lunch or something?" Bonnie suggested. "That way you can get your mind off of this."
"I promised him I'd be here."
Bonnie moved from her spot to sit down next to him. She placed a comforting hand on his shoulder and said, "He doesn't know the difference if you're here or not. Leaving for an hour won't make any difference."
"I made a promise, and I'm going to keep it. KITT's always been there for me, and now it's my turn."
Seven hours. Michael sat lazily in his chair with his legs spread out before him, his mind trying to stay focused on the soap opera that was on the TV in the corner of the room. Bonnie continued reading her book and would glance up at the television set every now and then when something dramatic seemed to be taking place.
"Ah, you're still here," said a voice with an English accent. "How is everything?"
"No word yet. It's only been seven hours," Bonnie told Devon as he took a nearby seat.
"Seven hours and sixteen minutes," Michael corrected her after looking at his watch.
"I see Michael is on top of things," Devon joked, noting Michael's position.
"All morning," Bonnie said, waiting to receive a dirty look from her friend.
Michael sat up and let his arms rest on the arms of the chair. "So, you gonna stick around for the rest of it?"
Devon nodded. "It's just as agonizing to be sitting at home. Every time I'd find something to do, I'd lose my patience and walk around the table the phone is sitting on. I thought I'd go crazy with you two," he added with a smile.
Ten hours and twenty minutes. Michael hadn't sat down in the past half hour and paced the room. There were now other people that had been waiting with them, one being an older lady who was waiting for her husband to finish open heart surgery, and a sister and father of a guy going under knee surgery.
Devon had been talking to the older woman for the past hour, mostly talking about her trip to England and Devon's heritage. Bonnie would talk to the father every so often, but even now she couldn't stand reading her book.
"Michael, you should calm down," Devon told him as Michael looked down into the hallway.
"Devon, they said ten hours. Its been ten hours and thirty five minutes now," he told the Englishman.
"Sometimes it takes longer than expected," Bonnie said. "They're usually just giving you an approximate time slot."
Just then a nurse walked in. Michael's head quickly turned to her, but for once it wasn't because he found her attractive. His hopes were soon shot down when she asked for Mrs. Hartfield, the old lady waiting for her husband.
"It was nice talking to you," Devon said waving to her as she departed.
"Damn," Michael said moving over to the magazine rack and searched through the pile for the hundredth time that day.
Twelve hours and fifty-two minutes. The sister and father had left an hour ago, and now the only thing that kept the three occupied was a man who was asking where his mother was. According to what they over heard, this man dropped his mother off to have her hand operated on, and now was back to pick her up. Unfortunately for him, he couldn't remember the doctor's name and the secretary became skeptical about this man's story.
For once Michael started to laugh when the man left, having finally convinced them that it was really his mother. He couldn't understand how someone could lose their mother like that. Then he thought how unsupportive that guy was compared to the three of them who had spent the past thirteen hours waiting for KITT.
"Mr. Knight and Ms. Barstow?" a feminine voice asked.
Michael spun around on his heals and Bonnie stood up from her seat, Devon doing the same. "That's us," Bonnie replied.
"You can all sit down," the nurse said with a slight laugh. "You friend, Kitt has just been taken to the first recovery room. Because of the length and complication of the surgery, he'll be in three recovery units, the first two solitary and for personnel only."
"Is he alright? Did everything go good?" Michael asked quickly as if he was in a life or death situation.
"One of the doctors will come by to explain everything, but as far as I know he's doing alright now," she said. She gave a smile and left.
Michael rethought her words. "He's doing alright now? What does that mean?" His friends shrugged.
It was only another fifteen minutes until Dr. Larson came into the waiting room, wearing light green scrubs that looked rather untidy, although his hands and face seemed very clean. He folded his hands together before him and was already being bombarded by Michael.
"Kitt is doing just fine, Mr. Knight," he said reassuringly.
"How did it go?" Devon asked, taking the words right out of Michael's mouth.
"Well, it did take longer than we planned, but once we sorted out the few minor problems, everything went along rather quickly," he explained.
"What problems?" Michael asked.
"Well, the heart started to speed up, but we were able to subdue any further complications," Larson explained. "We had an excellent team in there that stayed on top of things, and with our efforts, Kitt is resting in the recovery units."
"Did the body accept the chips?" Bonnie asked as she uncrossed her legs and sat at the edge of her seat.
"As far as we know they did," Dr. Croffey said coming up behind Dr. Larson. He spoke with a Polish accent, which was sometimes hard to differentiate. "At first we had to wait several minutes after we finished the installation. We didn't close him up until we were sure everything was working like clockwork."
"How long of a recovery?" Devon asked.
"I think as long as the microprocessors are functioning to their full potential, we're looking at a total of perhaps eight weeks," Dr. Larson informed.
"How 'bout until he wakes up?" Michael inquired.
"That all depends on Kitt, Mr. Knight. He'll decide when he's ready to come to," Dr. Croffey said. "Well, my wife expected me home an hour ago, but I'll surprise her with dinner tonight." He shook everyone's hand, thanked them, and departed, soon followed by Dr. Larson.
Michael let out a large and much needed sigh of relief. He just hoped that Kitt would recover without any complications.
ßßß
It was only another hour or so until they were allowed into the recovery room, which was a small price to pay for the good reports they received beforehand.
Michael led the procession behind the nurse down the hall and to a small room on the ICU floor. This is where Kitt would spend the next few days until he was ready be moved to another room.
The door once again had the 'Oxygen In Use' sign taped to it, and the little identification sign next to the doorframe contained a small piece of paper that was labeled "Kitt Knight."
"Kitt Knight?" Michael asked Devon as the nurse began to open the door.
"It's only appropriate, don't you think?" Devon regarded smiling.
They all entered the room and was reminded that visiting hours were over at eight o'clock and they needed special permission from a doctor for one person to stay the night. That gave them only forty-five minutes, but there wasn't much to do anyway.
Michael took a deep breath as he, Bonnie, and Devon heard only the constant beeping sounds of the heart monitor and the motionless figure of the person before them. If Michael had trouble distinguishing the appearance of this man before, it was even harder now. His dark hair was covered with layers of white bandages and gauze, and an oxygen mask covered a good portion of his face. Both arms lay atop the single white blanket that covered the lower half of the body, and several IV's were inserted and taped to the right hand and left forearm.
"Kitt?" Michael asked after he took a place at the side of the bed near Kitt's head.
"He can't hear you, Michael," Devon said placing a hand on his shoulder.
"I know," Michael said softly. "Thought I'd try though."
Both Dr. Larson and Dr. Croffey had come in before going home, and also gave the nurses the word that any of the three visitors could stay as long as they wished. Bonnie and Devon decided to go home, but Michael stood true to his word and remained at Kitt's side through the entire night.
