"Michael, I still don't quite understand." It was only a matter of time before Kitt brought something about the date up.
"What don't you understand, buddy?"
"Well, you've asked Bonnie on numerous dates prior, to which she's consistently declined." Kitt stated rather matter-of-factly. "However, in this instance she accepted."
He paused for a moment, his artificial voice seeming to grow more contemplative as he finished his thought process. "Bonnie's never appeared to express any interest in your 'friendly' advances, as you call them. I'm curious as to why she changed her mind so suddenly when before she was so adamant on refusing."
"Why don't you ask her, partner?"
"I would, but it hardly seems appropriate, Michael."
Michael smirked. Kitt wouldn't even consider the prospect. After all, Bonnie, for all her logistical, self-controlled, seemingly precise self, was as much a computerized human as Kitt was a humanized computer. If anyone could be understood by Kitt, it was Bonnie, and vice versa. With Kitt having been programmed by Bonnie, they practically shared the same thought process. However, Kitt could run every diagnostic imaginable, crunch every number and perform every calculation, but he just couldn't understand women, and when it came to Bonnie, Kitt often seemed to overlook the more unexplainable tendencies of females and their behavior. Such was the case this evening.
Speaking of which, Michael had to admit that the opposite sex often perplexed him just as much, and Bonnie was no different. Not that Kitt had to know that, of course.
"Nothin' confusing about it, Kitt." No point in pursuing that thought process any longer. "She finally realized she's missing out is all." Michael teased. "Besides, it's not really a date, but more like two close friends going out for dinner." He stated with an air of humor. Kitt had Bonnie wrapped around his steering wheel, and he was going to enjoy every moment of this evening watching her focus be on him and not the AI for a change.
"'Missing out' is a rather dubious term, Michael." Kitt responded flatly. "After all, Bonnie appears to be very informed on your tendencies regarding women, and I don't think she believes she is missing out on anything. Besides, aren't 'dates' exactly what you described?"
"Kitt."
"Yes, Michael."
"Shut up."
"Whatever you say, Michael."
It was later in the evening when the two pulled into the parking lot adjacent to the apartment building. Michael parked Kitt directly in the front, exiting the cabin and making his way onto the nearby staircase and towards Bonnie's apartment.
Kitt kept his scanner oscillating, a habit he had developed after several close calls with felons, crooks, and everything in-between. No point in chancing anything tonight, anyway. He wanted his partner and his engineer to have a pleasant evening together without any unnecessary interruptions.
After a few moments, the two appeared in sight, Bonnie wearing a very stylish pearl blouse with jet black dress pants, her brunette hair flowing around her shoulders with a wide smile adorning her countenance. A simple golden chain embraced her neck.
Although he didn't necessarily find humans attractive, Kitt thought Bonnie looked exceptionally beautiful in the evening light. He knew Michael thought so, too, given his cheerful expression.
"I hope I'm not intruding." Bonnie teased, shifting into the passenger seat as Michael closed the door behind her, walking around the front of the car and entering in on the driver's side.
"Not at all. In fact, it's quite surprising to have you accept Michael's offer at all." Kitt assured. He still wondered why, though, but did not voice the query.
"You look beautiful, Bonnie." He added after a brief pause.
"Oh, stop it, Kitt." She playfully punched his dashboard (gently, of course. She wouldn't dare to damage any sensitive components). She leaned in, eyeing Michael from the side, jokingly whispering to the voice modulator, "I'm only doing it so that he'll stop asking me."
"Oh." Kitt seemed to consider, whispering back, "Then I shall do my best to make it worth your while."
Bonnie softly laughed while Michael rolled his eyes, starting the car's turbine engine.
"If you two 'lovebirds' are finished chit-chatting, I'd like to take Bonnie out to eat; if that's alright with you, of course." He eyed the dashboard with a smirk and a hand gesture while Kitt switched to manual.
"Of course, Michael. Where to?"
"I've had my eye on a cute little burger joint a few miles down the road…"
"Really, Michael." Bonnie eyed the bright yellow Sonic sign with a tinge of humor in her voice as Michael backed into one of the open parking spaces midway from the entrance, grinning from ear to ear as he turned off the ignition.
"You should've told me this is what you had in mind when you asked me out for dinner. I would've dressed for the occasion."
"Michael, I'm with Bonnie on this one. Places like this really don't suit automobiles such as myself. Besides, just look at these cars." A rather dingy, rusty-looking grey sedan drove by them, perfectly timed with Kitt's displeased statement.
"After all, this 'burger joint,' as you like to call them, appears to be rather second-rate at best. My scanner indicates a percentage of grease present in the burgers that is higher than I'd care to mention."
"Thanks for looking out for Bonnie, Kitt, but this is my date, not yours." Michael teased, hopping out of the driver's seat, walking around to open Bonnie's door, helping her out of the car and onto the sidewalk surrounding the outdoor diner. With the cool summer evening and the lack of wind, it was the perfect evening to eat out. Literally.
"You're not going to eat in my cabin?" Kitt asked, somewhat stunned. This was, after all, a drive-in restaurant, and he was so used to Michael eating in his cabin that he was sure that fry he had dropped some months ago was still lodged somewhere between the driver seat and the adjacent arm rest.
"Not this time, Kitt."
"Oh, thank goodness."
Bonnie laughed at Kitt's relief, following Michael, who rolled his eyes as he led her to one of the few picnic tables set in front of the drive-in restaurant. The two sat down and looked over the menu while Kitt occupied himself identifying the various cars parked in the parking spaces surrounding him. Plenty of Fords and Chevrolets, among other makes and models. He even noticed a sedan similar in style to one of the other cars, only this one was a different year and had a slightly rusted paint job.
How typical for automobiles; always rusting and breaking down, blowing a tire or two every so often. Kitt certainly did not relate to nor envy that. After all, his molecular bonded shell guaranteed that rust would never compromise his chassis. Besides, these older models were always built so particularly square. Quite clunky, if you asked him, whereas his design was streamlined for power and performance, assets he used to his advantage.
However, he wasn't without reason. Besides, these cars were built for transportation and daily commerce, not high-speed getaways and pursuits; explosions and missiles; nor hydroplaning, either.
The latter made him want to cycle through a completely different memory. The amount of water he'd had shoved through his turbine was reprehensible. For once he understood what accidentally inhaling water though one's nose felt like.
Perhaps the simple life of the typical automobile wasn't so bad. He had to give them that.
Speaking of typical automobiles, the station wagon parked next to him had quite the collection of young characters filling their parents' ears with their orders. Phrases such as "Corn dog with ketchup and mustard!", "Apple juice with fries", and "I wan'a burger with fries on it… Or maybe a corn dog" reached his audio receptors.
Children. He favored most youth quite fondly, but couldn't they simply make up their minds? The food here was bad enough. No need to make things worse by prolonging the inevitable sampling of large quantities of grease by being indecisive.
After several moments of back-and-forth bickering and more than one irritable parent yelling for the kids to be quiet, the family finally settled on their ideal dinners and ordered. Kitt could've breathed a sigh of relief if he could. However, the small dog in the blue sedan opposite to him was quickly beginning to grate on his nerves with its incessant yipping.
"I would appreciate it very much if you would quiet down." Kitt reprimanded sternly. The dog, however, took his rebuke as an incentive to become even more obnoxious.
"I said cut it out!" Kitt raised his voice to try and get the dog's attention. However, it started barking all the much louder.
"Very well, then. You leave me no choice." Kitt activated his sound synthesizer, emitting the bark of what sounded like a much larger dog.
The small dog jumped several inches into the air, wailing and turning to its owner, who had likewise been startled by the occurrence, abruptly starting the car, skidding off without even taking the opportunity to finish her order. This sudden movement, in turn, coincided with an oncoming vehicle, which had turned to enter the parking lot but was quickly hit by the fleeing female's vehicle, causing a loud ruckus as the two individuals exited their vehicles and began exchanging heated words. This likewise created a chain reaction in the station wagon next to him as multiple kids began noisily asking questions about where the "Big dog" came from and where it suddenly went.
Given the volume of their voices, Kitt determined that neither of the individuals involved in the crash had been seriously harmed beyond fractured pride, though he secretly hoped Michael and Bonnie hadn't been paying attention to anything that had just transpired. However, given their sudden wide-eyed expressions, they had at least seen the latter portion of it.
"Kitt, what the heck just happened?" Michael spoke into his commlink in a low voice tinged with suspicion after a few moments, his brow narrowing as he turned to look in Kitt's direction. Bonnie's mouth finally closed as she reciprocated the action, turning to stare at Kitt.
"I'm not exactly sure, Michael." Kitt responded, a hint of embarrassment evident in his tone. "That little dog… It all happened so quickly."
"I think we'd better go, Michael. Besides, it'd probably be best if we had dinner at my place." Bonnie stated in an equally low voice, the unspoken "we don't want anyone to ask any questions" evident in her tone. Michael agreed, somewhat annoyed at his partner, helping her up as they both made their way toward Kitt and got into his cabin, going the opposite way out as to avoid the crash currently blocking the front entrance.
Kitt was quiet for most of the way back to Bonnie's apartment, eventually breaking the silence after several tense moments.
"Michael, I'm terribly embarrassed…"
"You should be, Kitt." Michael finally released his aggravation. "I mean, what were you thinking scaring that lady like that?"
"I only intended to startle her dog, Michael. He was causing quite the disturbance."
"Kitt, you can't just go around scaring people like that over an animal. She could have been seriously hurt."
Bonnie kept quiet as she listened to Michael gently admonish the AI. It was an unusual sight, yes, but she had to admit that sometimes a person's best intentions landed others in the worst of scenarios, and even as an AI that could've easily been programmed to avoid such a mess, it was often best if Kitt learned how to address certain real-life conditions as they arose rather than to assume a stereotypical variable and act on a general programmed consensus. Patience wasn't something she could program quite so easily, anyway.
… Not that she truly appreciated seeing him get scolded like a child. On the contrary, it bothered her because she valued Kitt very much and it upset her when she saw him get hurt. But at the same time, this knowledge might eventually help Kitt avoid a much bigger issue later.
The two went back and forth until Kitt seemed to accept Michael's point.
"I'm sorry for ruining your evening, Michael." Kitt apologized, his voice somber.
"C'mon, pal. It takes more than that to rattle me." Michael patted the steering wheel. "But I do think you owe Bonnie the apology more than me."
"Bonnie, is there anything I can do to make it up to you?"
"As a matter of fact, Kitt, there is. We were going to go back to my place for supper, but I bet I have somewhere better in mind."
"Oh my gosh, Michael. This burger is delicious!" Bonnie exclaimed, taking another bite out of the juicy meat, grinning.
"See, what'd I tell you? Burger heaven."
"Michael."
"What is it, partner?"
"You dropped another fry between your seat."
"Don't worry, pal. I'll get Bonnie to dig it out later." Michael grinned.
Bonnie glared at him for a moment before descending into laughter, Michael joining her. Kitt, however, kept quiet, deciding that from now on, fries were banned from being consumed by anyone while within his cabin.
