The Chassis jolted upright, pointing directly towards the sky. It trembled on top of the platform. Tilting from side to side unresponsive as the AI began to internally panic. The blaring sirens rang all around him as he struggled to regain control. Although unable to physically feel the violent vibrations shaking the chassis he was aware from the incoming data that they'd be losing the left wing in the next 30 seconds if he didn't ease the pressure. It wasn't entirely a textbook scenario but he'd been in the simulator long enough to know he'd yet again created a monstrous scenario from which he could not recover. The chassis limped sideways as the last incoming data confirmed his fears.
The report wasn't even remotely close to acceptable. He felt humiliated as he quietly listened to the loud conversation taking place inside the office patiently awaiting their final response.
He'd somehow inexplicably managed to stall his "aircraft" again, getting himself into another one of his infamously known plights. The numbers didn't lie, he was underperforming. He was performing 70% below the average and was being outmaneuvered by lower-leveled AI's. It was most demeaning.
He continued to silently eavesdrop, awaiting his designated fate; hoping his termination wasn't yet on his rearview mirror, so to speak.
"You fail to see the reality, Harold!" Accused a red-haired woman shouting across the room, encased in a white lab coat.
"The K182011 is in its prime, with adequate readjustments it will undoubtedly be the chief player in history!" Protested Harold.
The woman rolled her eyes at the black-haired man with round-framed glasses.
"I've never seen or have remotely come across an AI that came down to being so problematic in its last phases of testing like the K182011." The woman snapped. "I hope you have a plan Mr. Saber because I don't think K182011 has any possibilities of continuing development." The woman put dryly, closing her textbook promptly and leaving the observatory.
Mr. Saber quietly contemplated the empty room embellished in all kinds of electronics and gizmo's K182011 had come comfortably to know in his short time in the testing quarters.
"The brooder will do you good." The man mischievously grinned, seemingly talking to himself but well aware of who was listening housed within a CPU of silicon and transistors.
He hated "the brooder", housed within a very large room, containing over 40 or so "infant" AI's progressing to their prime, K182011 could not comprehend what good it would be to re-do his time in the "hatchery".
The common exercises all the infant AI's went through had become stale. They simply didn't present an interesting challenge. It was his fourth time being housed in "the brooder" in just his first two weeks of life, given he was young he often found his mature rate quite special. Here in "the brooder'' everyone was supervised and cared for under the watchful eye of the "brood mother". A heavily developed system designed to test and nourish the young AI's advanced sophistication allowing them to maneuver in real-world application in the near future. Although K182011 knew it sounded like quite a big stretch, he was arguably far more intelligent than the "brood mother" herself. Often seemingly outdoing her when it was his time to be supplemented with basic data. Although all the AI's were informed that she didn't have favorites, K182011 knew it was plausible that he was her least favorite. She tended to give him the short end of the stick, always scolding him for his impatient desire to get in proper condition to resume testing on the simulator. He was convinced it was out of spite given he often demanded far more difficult challenges than she could realistically present. In all honesty, he didn't need her pampering like the rest of his siblings that could barely put two and two together.
Unlike the "brood mother" that was housed in a giant computer with fancy circuitry and overgrown dials. Here in "the brooder", he was housed, just as everyone else, inside a comfortable ordinary-looking computer. Despite the looks, he was well capable of processing heavy loads of data at incredible speeds without breaking a sweat. He was thankful, however, (given the simple chassis) that a singular camera was included. The camera was meant for visual conditioning, given the majority of the AI's would eventually deal with higher levels of visual processing.
K182011 found the addition of visual input relieving.
It was the only function that, given the circumstances, hadn't gone completely stale.
He found himself observing the humans walking up and down the halls just outside "the brooders" containment from behind glass. Humans, as he'd quickly learned, could be very unpredictable. This, by all means, gave him fresh data to relish in.
He'd been in one of his "people watching" sessions when a small crowd of angry voiced individuals entered the ambient controlled environment of "the brooder".
The majority of all the AI's turned their attention to the incoming people. Several out of curiosity and others simply from the unexpected stimulation. K182011 found himself watching over the interaction out of fun if anything else.
"You can't be in here! This is a restricted area!" Shouted Mr. Saber following at the heels of a tall odd-looking fellow in big curly brown hair, wearing a dark leather jacket and blue jeans paired with black boots. K182011 found this most unusual. Everyone here at the institute, more likely than not, often wore the accustomed uniforms provided by the company, anything different was simply unallowed.
The odd-looking man gazed around the huge occupied room, casting a glare back at Mr. Saber, making K182011 worry about the man's safety.
"I know you have him, my sources all point a finger at you! So if you don't mind…GIVE ME KITT NOW!" The man growled, holding up a threatening fist.
Mr. Saber simply shook his head.
"I don't understand what you're talking about."
"You know what I'm talking about! Now give it up man! Where is Kitt!?" The man shouted loudly between gritted teeth. making K182011 hunker down his camera briefly looking away from the confrontation.
"What's the meaning of this!?" Came a sharp cry from the doorway making all the cameras in the room turn wave-like towards the entrance in sync.
It was Mrs. Heartlock. Brenda Heartlock to be precise: The head of operations. She had her red hair tied neatly up in a bun today, making her look intimidating as she stood at the doorway in bright purple heels with her hands crossed. She slowly approached both Mr. Saber and the leather jacket man.
"Mr. Knight?" The woman called surprised. "What are you doing here?" She implored, attempting to soothe the two disturbed men.
"Look, your boy Harold here stole the Knight Industries Two Thousand!" He accused.
The woman turned to Mr. Saber in shock.
"We have reasons to believe he's housing Kitt's CPU somewhere on this property." Mr. Knight continued, pinning Mr. Saber down with his scrutinizing stare.
"I've done no such thing!" Mr. Saber protested.
"Mr. Knight," Brenda began meekly. "How is it that you believe Mr. Saber did it? Our faculty indirectly contributed to the Knight Industries 2000's development, why would he want to steal it?"
"To get back at Bonnie Barstow." Mr. Knight's eyes widened taking a wild feverish look the K182011 had never seen!
Mr. Saber dryly laughed.
"You've got to be kidding?!"
Mr. Knight shook his head.
"Brenda, with all due respect, please let me and the foundation check up on your facility."
Brenda put her hands up meekly.
"Mr. Knight, it hurts me to see you and the foundation struggling hopelessly looking for KITT. If you truly believe this crime is traceable to my facility then please do a thorough examination of our operations. I really doubt we're implicated but it wouldn't hurt to be sure. You have full access to our facility for the next 72 hours if you don't mind."
Mr. Knight gave the woman a thankful smile.
"Thanks, Brenda, hope you don't mind but our mobile HQ will be arriving shortly." He tightly shook hands with the director. Brenda cast him a generous smile.
"What!?" Mr. Saber protested. "Brenda, you can't be serious!? Look I've got nothing to hide, my records are as clean as the very floors we stand on! But I won't bear being prosecuted!"
"Well, then you have nothing to worry about." Mr. Knight teased with a boyish-looking grin, pinning Mr. Saber down under his stare.
The crowd soon left, followed by the quiet grumbling of Mr. Saber.
K182011 was completely enveloped in the interchange. He hadn't seen anything like it in his short-lived artificial life! The way the leathered man had confronted Mr. Saber and how Brenda had defused the fight was astounding! K182011 could only dream to be able to express himself so freely. Being a conversationalist was widely discouraged, specifically in the early stages of development for an AI, given the incomprehensible fear of fatal consequences the humans had. The AI's couldn't completely understand why something so natural for living beings could be considered so dangerous.
K182011, dismissing the mandate as foolish, decided to get in on the action of this so-called missing "Kitt" if he could at all help it. For sure something far more interesting than rudimentary exercises he was forced to practice.
It had been a couple of minutes and the curly brown-haired man, labeled Mr. Knight had returned followed by a brunette-haired woman in a pleasant pink jumpsuit. The two were conversing amongst themselves worryingly about the task at hand.
K182011 focused his attention on the two as they walked around the outer row of computers all neatly lined from each other on utility carts. His camera followed their movements gently to avoid suspicion as they came to the end of the first row.
"Bonnie," Mr. Knight remarked. "Think we can find Kitt in this sea of computers?"
"Yes," The woman labeled Bonnie replied hopefully. "Granted Kitt is operational, we should be able to identify him fairly easily." She clasped her hands together before gesturing to the rows and rows of computers. "But you're right, there are so many. You sure Mr. Saber would hide Kitt out in the open?"
The man squinted his eyes glancing at the computers at the far back of the room.
"He's here Bonnie, I'm sure of it."
He suddenly cuffed his hands around his lips.
"Kitt!" He shouted, drawing the attention of every AI in the room. "Well, this is…" He trailed off sounding unnerved at all the dark lenses staring back at him coldly.
"Terrifying." Bonnie completed for him.
Eventually, the AI's settled back their cameras into inactivity, blankly staring at the floor. The humans continued to speak relieved from the icy stares of the dormant AI's.
"Isn't there another way to call Kitt without, you know, drawing unwanted attention?" Mr. Knight asked, gesturing to the idling computers all around.
Bonnie shook her head.
"We can try again but there isn't a guarantee we'll get a reply, Kitt's communications have been unresponsive since his disappearance."
The man shrugged.
"We'll be doing it the old fashion way then, huh." He sighed.
He went up to the first computer fondly waving.
"Err, uh Kitt?" He asked.
The AI's camera jolted up, staring Mr. Knight down before it lazily wandered downward inactively.
The man groaned, heading to the next.
The man and the woman spent the next 40 minutes asking, asking…asking…asking.
Michael felt ill as each and every AI reacted as the first. He was starting to contemplate his partner's voice and unique way of being when he "knocked" at K182011's screen.
'Hello.' He replied, flashing a text box up to an unexpecting Mr. Knight. The sudden reply startled Michael entirely.
"Bonnie! Bonnie! Come look!" Michael exclaimed as he waved her down from the opposite row she was questioning.
"What is it, Michael? All these AI's, they're all…" She motioned to the room.
"The same, I know." Michael groaned, sounding exhausted, "But, look!" He gasped, pointing at K182011's monitor.
'Hello.' K182011 repeated, his camera shyly focusing on Bonnie.
"Kitt!?" Michael greeted.
"Who?" K182011 replied, hoping to engage the man into conversation.
Michael sighed.
"Guess it's not him." Dismissing the computer as he began to greet the next.
"Michael, look this is odd," Bonnie explained, grasping a clipboard hanging from the side of the utility cart where the computer gently sat.
"It's not a "fledgling", only "fledglings" are supposed to be housed here if I recall correctly." Pointing at a graph containing the AI's progress. Michael gently grasped the clipboard from her.
"It's outrunning these guys by 95%"
"And take a look at this…" Bonnie added, gesturing to a red line dipping downward on a graph below.
"It's oddly underperforming in tasks an AI of its level shouldn't be."
The two glanced at each other in confusion, Michael slowly gaining a grin on his face.
"Kitt, Buddy? It's me, Michael!" He cheered.
'Michael?' K182011 quickly typed.
"Yeah! It's me!" Michael greeted loudly, excitedly.
K182011 was very confused, taking his time to face check the man before continuing.
'I'm afraid you've confused me for someone else.' K182011 explained, gently nodding his camera in a respectful manner towards the humans.
"Kitt, it's me, Michael! We're partners!" The man explained. "You don't remember?"
K182011's cursor, which had been steadily blinking over the white page, had suddenly frozen in place.
'Care to explain?' That was all he managed before he added. 'I am incapable of forgetting, therefore I don't know you and you don't know me. I'm variant ID K182011 or K18 for short if you prefer."
Micheal and Bonnie's jaw dropped in astonishment.
"Kitt, I'm…" Micheal felt a shallow pain form in his chest. "Buddy, what they do to you?"
K18 was starting to feel uncomfortable. Had they really misunderstood what he'd just written out?
'Please refrain from referring to me as Kitt as that is not my identifier.' K18 snapped as his cursor came to a steady stop. He'd been hoping the humans would have given him the chance to converse but it seemed the topic at hand wasn't that engaging.
Michael glanced toward Bonnie in alarm.
"We have to fix him."
Bonnie nodded before replying.
"Michael, let me get the mobile analyzing unit first. We have to make sure it's him, Michael. It might just be a goof."
'A goof?' K18 interrupted, startled. He'd never heard the word before and much less had it ever been directed towards him.
"A mistake," Michael explained. "Don't worry pal you're not a goof." He defensively crossed his arms, glancing over Bonnie.
K18 was rather surprised Michael had stood up for him, especially in a very fond way when they'd clearly just met.
'Thank you.' He remarked, thankful.
"No problem pal. Look, Bonnie, none of these computers have even remotely reacted to us, so clearly, this is Kitt."
'I'm not Kitt.'
"Not now buddy, I'm trying to make a point here and you're not helping." Michael teasingly put.
'!?'
Bonnie shrugged.
" I hope you're right Michael," she glanced to the floor. "I was looking over the records since Kitt has been missing, four AI's have been terminated from the program, euthanized you could say..."
Michael's face lit in horror.
"Bonnie, those…" he trailed off, he couldn't dare think about the possibility of Kitt being dead.
'Is something wrong?' Came K18's response over his screen, followed by the whirr of his camera's servo as it gently focused on Michael. He'd read somewhere that asking humans about their behavior wasn't always the best way to check on their status but he'd come to know that sometimes simply asking was a showing of care. Michael looked to be in distress.
"Everything's fine buddy. Don't worry we'll be getting you out of there in no time. You'll be your turbo-boosting self before you know it." Michael reassured, earning him a worried glance from Bonnie.
'Turbo boost?'
"Uh, I'll tell you later." Michael gave the glancing camera a goofy grin.
"Michael," Bonnie meekly said. "If it isn't him…"
"Bonnie, it's him." He sternly put it. "I'm telling you right now this is Kitt!"
'I'm not Kitt.'
"See! He's arguing with me just like old times!"
Bonnie lightly laughed, giving Michael a sympathetic look.
"Okay."
Bonnie had left to fetch the mobile analyzing unit.
Having taken her time, Michael had gone to look for a seat but first was sure to drape his leather jacket to the side of "K18's" screen as a marker to find him in the sea of computers.
When he'd come back, "K18" was furious. Fuming about how leaving foreign objects near his air intakes could easily cause severe damage in the case of overheating.
It earned him a light chuckle and of course the jacket was removed.
"Look Kitt," Michael conversed.
'I'm not Kitt.' K18 quickly typed.
Michael clasped his hands in thought.
"Can I call you Kitt?"
'No.'
"Look, umm, buddy." Michael sighed. "The name Kitt has a special place in my heart, and you've always liked me to call you that."
There was a pause on K18's screen, his cursor sustaining a single black line.
'I'm not Kitt.' K18 began Michael about to protest. 'However, I will allow the use of it given the circumstances.'
Michael cast a smile up at the lonely camera studying him under its attentive gaze.
"Thanks, pal." Michael fondly patted Kitt's camera. He sighed. "Miss seeing you as a t-top."
'I beg your pardon, whatever is a t-top?'
"Nice sleek quiet black Trans Am." Michael dismissed the question dreamily. "Oh right, a t-top is a car roof with removable panels. Here, let me show you." He was quick to fish out his wallet, hastily showing Kitt a photograph of a black Pontiac with its t-top open, elegantly flashing its red scanner alongside Michael near the seashore.
"See?"
'Oh. I'm...it's lovely.' Kitt struggled to respond, his camera shuddering faintly.
Michael noticed the response, solidifying his hope that he'd found his partner.
The mobile analyzing unit wasn't working.
Michael was leaning against a wall glancing towards Kitt's computer unit. The AI busily craned its camera towards the outer edge of his screen attempting to examine a bright yellow circular sticker with a smiley face that Michael had insisted on putting there.
It brought Michael a faint smile watching Kitt examine the sticker childlike while somehow maintaining a composed manner as he nimbly maneuvered the camera. He turned to Bonnie who was arguing with Devon about the mobile analyzing unit for Kitt that would need to undergo heavy (and expensive) repairs. Given what was going on they needed to hurry and ID Kitt as soon as possible. Brenda and her team were due to examine the next AI candidates for their autonomous jet research program. Not only would several AI's be moved along the pipeline but unprogressing ones would be terminated or moved to research projects that didn't require highly developed AI's.
Currently, Kitt (if it really was Kitt) was on the fine line between passing and failing. He was too good to be discarded but too problematic to progress.
Michael continued to smile in Kitt's direction, watching his partner scrutinize the yellow sticker furthermore until the camera panned towards Michael, settling its gaze on him before cocking its head in annoyance. Michael laughed out loud.
Bonnie and Devon turned to Michael in surprise. Ever since Kitt had gone missing the man had been a dispirited shell of his former self. Bonnie smiled sympathetically, placing a hand on Michael's shoulder comfortingly.
"Michael," Devon began kindly. "It's getting late. Tomorrow we should continue."
Michael's smile vanished.
"Devon, we can't leave Kitt unattended. Especially when that no good Harold could get his slimy hands on Kitt so easily."
Devon nodded understandingly.
"I agree, but you can't possibly stay all night here at the facility. I can ask Brenda to double the security tonight and watch for unauthorized removal of equipment."
Michael grinned mischievously, making Devon sigh.
"Oh, Michael, be careful." He replied knowing he couldn't persuade him out of it, before adding. "I and Bonnie are off to get some rest then. Goodnight."
"Goodnight, Devon," Michael replied as Devon dismissed himself, Bonnie also quietly dismissed herself following silently behind.
Michael sighed strolling away from the wall and taking a seat next to Kitt among the sea of computers.
'Shouldn't you be leaving soon?' Kitt asked, Michael almost hearing the concern in his voice.
Michael scooted the metallic chair closer to Kitt's utility cart, putting his arms on top of the cart and resting his head, gently touching and stroking a keyboard resting to the side of the monitor.
"Wouldn't leave you for the world buddy," Michael replied, trying to get comfortable in the cold chair and briefly closing his eyes whilst listening to the gentle hums of dozens of idling computers. He finally opened his eyes, glancing up at Kitt's screen, meeting tired eyes unexpectedly with Kitt's camera fondly looming above him.
'Oh,' Kitt replied, 'How long have "we" precisely known each other?'
Michael nearly fell out of his chair, Stunned by Kitt's sudden acceptance of his lost identity.
'I'm not confirming I'm the "Kitt" you're searching for but I'd like to know more so that I may be of help in some way.' The computer having read Michael's thoughts easily. He gave Kitt a warm smile.
"Well, we…" Michael tiredly began. "Several years now."
'hmm, years.' The AI echoed. 'I've only been active for two weeks.'
"That's exactly how long Kitt's been missing!" Michael exclaimed, leaning closer towards the computer monitor making the AI draw his camera a little back to allow more room for Micheal to rest against.
'Oh.' The AI took a short pause. 'However, the odds of me and Kitt being one and the same are very low.' The AI carefully dared.
Michael wholeheartedly laughed.
"Kitt you're starting to sound like your younger self."
The monitor gently flickered, the text box momentarily closing before reappearing. Michael noted the camera's aperture enlarging slightly before quickly refocusing on Michael.
'Michael,' the AI replied. It was the second use of Michael's name since that afternoon, it sent a chill down his spine. 'Why are you sure that Kitt and I are one and the same?'
Michael fondly smiled towards the computer.
"Because we're partners. No one knows you better than me and no one knows me better than you."
The thought struck a chord with the AI. Although he'd hardly known the man he'd felt safe and strangely understood in the man's presence. Something that didn't occur with Brenda or Harold, the ones who'd he'd been greeted by when he'd been created.
'Flatter.' Came Kitt's simple teasing reply. Michael leaned back in his chair with a huge grin. 'Michael, I'll hate it if it turns out I'm not Kitt. He is certainly a very fortunate computer to have you as his driver.' Kitt's cursor blinked a couple of times before quickly adding '...and friend.'
Michael sat up quickly to reassure the AI. Kitt's camera flinched slightly from the sudden movement.
"Kitt, buddy, who else could you be?"
'K182011' Came the dry reply.
"Kitt, admit it. You...how do I…? I've been through this." Michael tiredly put.
'You have?'
"Don't you remember? You helped me remember when I forgot who I was a long time ago, you helped me even when I didn't entirely want your help. You never left my side. For that I'm grateful."
'I did?'
"Yeah, you could say there "ain't" any better wingman than you."
'Michael, "Ain't" isn't proper English.'
Michael smiled faintly, slouching in his seat, yawning.
"Kitt, I'm sorry pal. It's my fault that they've done this to you. We're going to get through this together, you can count on it."
Kitt felt touched by the sentiment. He dearly wished now than ever that he was the true Kitt because Michael was very easy going and K18...Kitt, he meant...found that this friendship was beyond anything he'd ever stumbled on. No one had ever been so considerate. Even if he wasn't the real Kitt he hoped somehow he'd be allowed to maintain the friendship as it was something scarce and all too precious.