Note: I know this is a short chapter, but believe me, I have my reasons for it.
Chapter 5: Critical Decision
Kitt exclaimed, "Rissie!" as he looked at her. The child was a mess, moreso than when he first met her. Very fresh bruises covered her and her brown dress was torn in a few places as well. Underneath the tears in the cloth were new welts and cuts as well.
He could see someone else just entering sensor range just as Marissa whimpered, "The master's after me!"
"Get in, Rissie, and hold on tight!" he stated, opening the driver's seat door. The child didn't need to be told twice, and as soon as she was safely inside, he locked all the doors, activated the passive laser restraint, then hit the accelerator, backing up the way that he had come in. As he quickly drove, his cameras detected someone coming in from the direction that his little ward had run from. Going with a gut instinct, he quickly zoomed in, snapped a picture and then saved it in his memory banks. Once they were able to do so, Kitt switched from reverse to drive and left the forest quickly.
"There was someone behind us," he said after a moment, "Was it this 'master' you mention a lot? The man that's abusing you?"
She sniffled, "Uh-huh…Master Douglas Parkson."
"I see," was the reply while he quickly ran a scan on Marissa herself. The moment he did, he made a sound that would, on a human, be a sharp intake of breath. "Good heavens, Rissie…please, tell me what happened."
She sniffled again and nodded, saying, "The master found me a few hours ago, around lunchtime. He was really, really mad and slugged me, shouting that I had put on airs and was going above my place. Next thing I knew, I had a headache and was back in that awful shack. He kept punishing me, saying that I had really deserved it…"
"Rissie, I need to know," he said, voice pain-filled, yet quiet, "What else did he do to you? Something bad that wasn't in the scan before."
"He-he said he was gonna mark me as his slave, then…he started hurting me on the inside," she whimpered, "I snuck out as soon as I could, but…as you heard, he went after me. He grabbed be, but I used that self-defense stuff you taught me and got loose…" At that, she stopped talking and simply began bawling.
As he warmed the air in the cabin and whispered softly to the crying child, he seethed with anger that was close to rage.
"It's okay, Rissie…you didn't do anything wrong. I'm here…I won't let him get his hands on you ever again," he said quietly, wishing that he could hug her, "I don't care what Bonnie says."
"B-Bonnie? What'd she say?"
"She says that the group that I'm with, FLAG, will be leaving tomorrow morning."
"Y-you're going away tomorrow! N-no! Don't leave me alone!"
"I won't go anywhere without you. Rissie, I've made up my mind. When FLAG leaves in the morning, I won't be with them. You need me far more than they do!"
"What're you talking about?"
"I mean I won't leave you again. I'm staying right with you."
She shook her head, and he continued, "You're not going to talk me out of this."
"Kitty, I don't want you to get in trouble because of me," she hiccupped.
"I won't leave you behind!"
"Hey, Kitty…I got an idea," she whispered, voice trembling.
"What is it?"
"Take me with you."
Kitt was silent for a long moment. Marissa continued, "I mean it. Take me with you. That way, you won't get in trouble or leave me behind."
There was a sound that would be, in a human, taking a shuddering breath, and it was coming from the AI. "It will be hard living for a while, Rissie. You'd still have to hide until we're far away from here."
"I don't mind, as long as you're with me," she answered.
There was another long silence before Kitt replied, "All right. I'll take you with me, but if the people at FLAG try to place you back into his custody, we'll go somewhere where nobody will ever find us, okay?"
"O-okay…"
"Now, as soon as we stop somewhere, you use the first-aid kit that's under the driver's seat. After you have dinner, we'll leave for the semi immediately."
"Semi? What's that?"
"I'll tell you later." He approached the spot where just a few days ago, he and Marissa had watched the meteor storm and went into park.
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An hour after sunset, Bonnie received a message from Kitt, saying that he was on his way, as well as anxious to be on the road. When he read it, she let out a sigh of relief. If he was anxious to be away, it meant that he was back to normal, like he had said a few hours ago.
"That's excellent," Devon said as soon as Bonnie had told him, "It's good that this vacation has done wonders for Kitt, but it's just as well that he is ready to get back to work with Michael."
"I guess even AI like him need a break once in a while too…we ought to come back here next year, we may have found Kitt's kind of vacation spot."
"Well, we'll see, Bonnie…ah, there he is now."
She turned her head and saw that Kitt was opening the bay doors and letting himself in slowly.
"Welcome back, Kitt. I heard that you had fun on this trip," the Englishman greeted.
"That I did, Devon. How soon can we be on our way?"
"We were simply waiting for you," he replied, "Michael and RC are on board and everything else is ready."
"The sooner we're on the road, the better I'll feel."
Bonnie chuckled and went to tell the driver to take off while Devon asked, "Anxious to get back to work, are you?"
"Yes, actually."
He raised an eyebrow at that. Anxiety, coming from Kitt? "Well, there is a small lull in cases, so the first thing we'll do is head back to the Foundation. Most likely, we'll have a case waiting for you and Michael when we get there."
"Thank you," was the quiet reply.
Shortly after the semi departed, the time was spent with everyone relaying what they had done during either the convention or vacation. In Devon's case, aside from the incident near the forest, the convention had been eventful at some points, while boring during others. When he said that, Michael gasped in mock astonishment.
"You serious? The unflappable Devon Miles, bored with a law enforcement convention?"
He rolled his eyes, "Really, Michael…the convention itself was interesting, it's just the meal times that make it boring."
"And how did your vacation go, RC?" Kitt asked.
The Negro man replied, "Better than I mentioned before, Kitt. I'll tell you about it later."
"I certainly don't need to ask how Michael spent his time," the Boston voice said, "Most likely it was out mountain climbing or at one of those horrific derbies…and most likely over a woman."
"Hey now, Kitt, that's not how it went—"
Devon shook his head and smiled while Bonnie put in, "Sure, sure…face it, we know you that well. Least you didn't wreck up Kitt this time."
"That's because he was elsewhere!"
"Speaking of which," RC asked, "Any conclusions about the ghost hunt?"
"Yes, actually. There never was a ghost in the first place. One of the local kids made up the story in the first place, to cover the thefts. The things that could be have been returned. Rest assured, there won't be anymore 'hauntings', I made sure of that."
"That's a relief," Bonnie replied, "I guess Devon and I were wrong. You're not going to believe this, Kitt, but while we were out at a picnic, we both saw a scraggly child."
"I wouldn't know anything about that," Kitt smoothly replied.
"I guess not," Devon answered, although he seemed rather distant.
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Once everyone had left the back of the semi several hours later, Kitt quickly went from recharge to active, then sound-proofed the cabin.
"I know you're still awake, Rissie," he said quietly, then asked, "Are…are you going to be able to sleep tonight?"
"I-it's okay," a little voice answered from the floor of the backseat, "I've been black and blue before and managed to…somehow."
"If you can't, that's all right. Lie down in the backseat and rest, at least. If I detect someone coming, I'll let you know so you can hide."
There was a small affirmative sound, then after a moment, she asked, "The silver-haired man…he was in there. Is that this…Devon?"
"Yes, that's exactly who it is. His name is Devon Miles. The brunette woman is Bonnie, the man in the dark jacket is Michael…and you already saw RC."
"How long do you think before we'll be okay?"
"We'll be going from here straight to the Foundation headquarters. That will take three days."
"F---foundation? What's that?"
"FLAG stands for the Foundation of Law and Government. It's a special group that helps people that are in trouble."
"People that are in trouble…like me?"
"Yes, just like you. When we get to the Foundation headquarters, I'll tell the others about you then. Until then, you'll have to hide in here. I'm sorry."
"It's okay…I don't think I would talk to a human before then anyway…"
"I had a feeling you would say that. After what happened to you tonight, I don't blame you. I hope that someday…you'll be able to trust humans again."
There was a small sniffle, then a hiccup.
"Get some rest, little one," he said quietly while he started playing a rather familiar piece, Pachabel's Canon in D.
"Okay…so I guess I'm yours now, huh?"
There was a long pause before he replied, "It's odd to say that…that you are my child…but in more than one way, it's true."
She too was quiet before she answered as she scrambled into the backseat, "I like it…I really do. Okay, I'll get some sleep now. Night-night, Kitty."
"Good night, Rissie. We'll be safe in here, so I'll go back into a light recharge…or rather, a light sleep."
"Sweet dreams, Kitty."
