Hmm, perhaps I should take a page out of Ariadne's book and reply to reviewers before each chapter proper.
Knightsky and the raving loony: Glad to hear that you're liking the story so far. I hope that my next chapters won't disappoint. Originally, this was a simple 10-page story from my typewriter, but as I retell the story, I'm also going back and improving on it.
As I said before, the original KR characters belong to Glen A. Larson. Marissa, Verona, Parkson and others all belong to me.
Okies, on to the chapter!
Chapter 3: Getting to Know YouKitt remained quiet, for the most part, while he watched over a bathing Marissa, as well as anyone that could be trying to go after her. On the way over to where she usually washed up, she had told him a few more things, all of which he found very appalling.
He beats and starves her, and when she stands up for herself she's thrown, as the slang goes, to the wolves! he thought, What sort of animal would do that to a child?
"Humans are such strange creatures," the AI murmured out loud.
"Yeah. All the humans I've met, Master Parkson and his friends, have treated me like this all my life."
"It's nowhere near decent. Marissa, are you washing your dress, too?"
"Uh-huh! What's the sense in me being clean when my only clothes aren't?"
"Very true. Although before the day is out, we may change that."
"Oh? How?"
"Just leave that to me."
"Okay." Marissa paused in her washing and stared at Kitt for a few moments.
"Is something wrong?"
"Huh? Oh, no. Kitt…you might not be a human, but you're really…nice."
There was no reply for a moment, then Kitt answered quietly, "You think so…?"
"Uh-huh!"
Another few seconds of silence before the AI replied in a hushed tone, "Marissa…I…" he gave up trying to explain and added, "Thank you."
That caused her to giggle a little, then resume her washing. A couple minutes later, she called out, "I'm done, Kitt!"
"Good. I'll open the door in the back, right-hand side. Get in."
As he put action to words, she asked, "Even if I'm soaking wet?"
"That's all right. You'll dry off quickly, believe me."
Marissa nodded and quickly entered the vehicle. As soon as she was seated, the door closed on its own immediately.
"Um, who's gonna drive?"
"I am." Just for safety's sake, Kitt activated the passive laser restraint mode, not knowing if the child knew how to use a seat belt. "Now listen. We'll go into the city and meet up with a friend of mine. He'll help get some food. When I tell you, hide yourself on the floor, okay?"
"Okay, Kitt. I can hide real good."
"Good. Are you ready to go?"
She nodded and added, "Yep," in case he couldn't see her from here.
"Okay, then let's go."
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RC was heading down to Helena's ghetto when he heard a familiar voice coming from his wrist. Before departing, Bonnie had issued him one of the comlinks to Kitt, in case he ever needed to get a hold of the AI for anything, or vice versa.
"RC, come in. Can you read me?"
Kitt's voice surprised him, especially this soon. He quickly looked around, then activated the comlink.
"Yo, Kitt, needing something already?"
"Yes, a favor."
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Shortly before pulling up to the block where RC was, Kitt said, "Alright. Get on the floor now."
"O-kay," the child in the backseat replied and quickly ducked down into a little ball.
"Good. Now, whatever you do, keep quiet. I don't know what RC would do if he finds out exactly why we're doing this."
She made a little affirmative sound and felt movement beneath her as Kitt began driving again.
A couple of moments later, she heard a door open, this one being on the front left. After then, a male voice with an odd accent said, "Hey now Kitt, what's the big favor?"
"You know that urban legend that I'm investigating, right?"
"The one about the ghost in the forest just outside of Helena."
"Yes. I'm getting some leads as far as the identity. I have reached the conclusion that it is no ghost. In order to investigate further, I'll need some human sustenance on hand twice daily."
"Lemme get this straight, Kitt. You want me to buy food for you? To lure out whoever's scaring the public?"
"That's correct."
There was an exasperated sigh before the reply, "Man…when I said to call me for anything, Kitt, I wasn't expecting this!"
The human in the vehicle stomped one foot in irritation, which kicked up some dust from the boot…dust that got into a certain little girl's nose.
The tiny passenger scrunched her nose, but within minutes, she lost the battle and sneezed.
There was a little pause, and the voice asked, "A sneeze?"
"Ha-choo!" Kitt quickly said, "Sorry about that. I am merely practicing sneezing."
That made the male voice laugh, "Hey Kitt, why would you be learning how to do that?"
"If you must know, Reginald, something like that could come in handy if I ever need to cover a conspicuous sound for someone, like Michael on a mission. I've learned all too well how the smallest sound can send a mission into failure."
As she listened, Marissa gaped. It seemed very strange, but Kitt was actually covering for her.
"Okay, okay! I get the point. All right, Kitt, I'll get the food. Twice daily, right? Any preference?"
"Nothing fancy. It can even be as simple as a cheeseburger meal."
"Good thing. Okay, I won't be able to get food tonight, so I'll go ahead and order double. The Street Avenger's already got a stakeout in the brewing."
"They aren't going to like that." There was a little pause before Kitt continued, "I won't tell Devon or the others about your Street Avenger cases this month—"
"And I help your little case out by getting food twice daily. Deal."
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As soon as RC left the vehicle and Kitt was out of sight, he called out, "Okay, Marissa. The coast is clear. Get in the front seat, then take one bag and one cup."
"Uh-huh," she replied and quickly got out of the back, then sat in the right passenger seat. She looked to where this RC had been, and saw two bags full of food, as well as two cups in cupholders in front of her.
"Wow, smells good!" she exclaimed while putting a hand into the bag. A second later, she pulled out one of the burgers, unwrapped it, then began eating it rather quickly.
"Hey, hey! Not so fast! You'll really hurt your stomach if you wolf down your food!"
She swallowed before answering, "Sorry…it's a habit. If I didn't eat quickly enough, the master would either throw it out or give the food to the dog."
"Dog?"
"Mmm-hmm. It's a real big, wide black and brown dog. It's real mean, too."
"Does it look like this?" Kitt asked and brought up a particular image on the monitor.
"Yeah! That's the one! Wow, how'd you know that?"
"That's a rottweiler, Marissa, one of the worst dog breeds around."
"You don't like dogs?"
"Most of them, no." he than changed the subject, "Marissa, do you know of a good area in the forest that we can both access?"
She thought for a moment, then replied, "Yeah. A little ways from the waterfall where you found me, along the river, there're some ruins. It used to be a cozy house before it burned down. I use it sometimes."
"After we get back to the forest, can you take us there?"
"Huh? You're gonna…you're gonna stay with me?"
"But of course! I'll be here for a long while, about a month. I swear, I won't let anyone cause you harm."
He was rather surprised when he heard nothing for a few minutes, then small hiccups and sniffling. "Marissa, what's wrong?"
"W-well," she replied as she scrubbed her eyes, "Nobody's done that for me before."
"Then it's high time for some things to begin changing."
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Kitt looked about him, feeling rather surprised. Marissa had led him to the spot she was talking about, and it looked…strange, for ruins. The walls were burned to the ground, with a large half-rectangle of cement bricks, with plenty of room for her and Kitt to be in. Apparently, that area was the foundation of the building. The fireplace was completely intact, as well as a stove and what looked like a cement bench just outside. In one corner were a few torn, thin blankets while in another corner was something large and thick. Also just outside of the foundation was a wooden table and a rickety chair. Now, Marissa was exchanging the rags she had been found in for a brown, somewhat worn dress that Kitt had found for her. After lunch, he had driven around parts of the city, looking for a couple changes of clothes, as well as a nightgown, if they were lucky. According to him, it wouldn't be stealing, for the clothes they searched for had been left in front of the house to be thrown away. As some humans put it, the items were "fair game".
"This is the ruins?"
"Yep. I call it the Wall-less House."
"It should work well for a while," Kitt replied to her, "The sun will be setting in a couple of hours. Where will you be sleeping?"
"Probably in the blankets."
"That's what you think," was the answer, "It's going to be cold tonight. I wouldn't mind if you sleep within me."
"Within you? Um, won't that be uncomfortable? For you?"
"Not at all. Michael tends to do it a lot, and for some reason, he prefers it."
"Um, I heard that name mentioned a few times. Who's Michael?"
"Someone I work with," he replied, "It's time for dinner, Marissa."
"D-Dinner? I actually get to eat more than once a day?"
"Well, yes."
She giggled and said as she got in the vehicle, "I could get used to this!"
As she ate, Marissa asked, "Don't you get hungry, Kitt? I mean, you can have some of this if you want."
"That's sweet of you, Marissa, but I don't consume the same kind of sustenance that you do."
"Well, what do you eat, then? It's not fair that I eat and you don't!"
Kitt felt somewhat surprised to hear himself chuckle as he replied, "In your terms, I had a big breakfast before I came here, one that will last me a while. Don't worry, I'll 'eat' when I need to."
"Oh, okay," she replied, then looked outside at the sun that was just beginning to set. "Wow…this one's really pretty!"
"It…I have to admit, I can see where it could be pleasing to the eye." Kitt sensed something…perhaps surge within him and he found something in his database that he began to put on speakers.
Her head perked up when she heard something that consisted of a piano, a violin, as well as some other instruments. She had been about to ask Kitt something, but she listened quietly instead, as well as watched the sunset.
"It's…it's real pretty…like something that was made for sunsets. What is it?" she asked in a hushed voice that seemed to hold a bit of contentment in it.
In an equally hushed tone, Kitt replied, "Pachabel Canon in D…some music from a genre that I like. You're right…it seems as though perhaps the setting sun may have been what he was trying to envision when he wrote it. Marissa, I've…never thought about it that way before."
"I'd sure like to meet him someday and thank him."
"He's…he died a long time ago…a very long time ago."
"Oh," she replied and listened quietly while looking as the sun set and the first stars began to appear in the sky.
As the tune ended, she blinked and then looked about her. "It's really pretty," she said again, "I think I like it too." She then added, "Can I go out for a couple please? I better get this trash out of you."
"Go ahead, but don't go too far from me, okay?"
She nodded and the door opened. She gathered the trash from the meals and walked a short distance from the house ruins, where she found a basket, then put the refuse in it. The child hurried back and was about to go back in the car when she simply said, "Oh!" and left for another section of the Wall-less House and grabbed the rather large, plastic item and hurried back to Kitt.
"What is that?" she heard him ask, but didn't reply. Instead, she checked where the wind was before she flapped the item open and started mumbling a little as she threw it over him, using the wind to help her.
As soon as the item was covering him, she smiled and said, "You said it'd be cold tonight. You need a blanket too."
He realized that the item was a large tarp. In a hushed tone and without thinking, he said, "It's very sweet of you, Rissie. Thank you." A second later, when he heard her giggle, he realized what he had said.
"Rissie…I don't know why, but I like it," she remarked, opened the door only enough to get in then closed it. She then lay across the back seat, snuggling in. "It's really fuzzy and nice," she said, "I think I can really sleep quickly in this. Kitt, do you sleep too?"
"Yes, but I don't need to right now. I'll let you know if I need to, okay?" Kitt didn't want to correct her by calling it going into recharge, she might or might not know what it meant. He was honest, though, he didn't need to yet. He warmed the air in the car by a few degrees, enough to keep her warm without making it too hot. "Good night, Rissie. Sweet dreams."
"Night-night, Kitt," she mumbled, yawned, and fell asleep within minutes.
As she slept, Kitt thought to himself, I mean it, I swear I won't let anyone harm you, and I do mean anyone.
