Part 6: Forgiveness

About six years later, TransAm KARR was back at FLAG fully functional thanks to Charles Graiman – as it turns out, Charles was a very good friend of Wilton's before his death. Cira was now 15, just about the age where she could start learning how to drive. A year after that, she would be privileged to drive car early for the sake of training and bonding with the AI vehicle. Little did they know Cira was ahead of them. She may have feared KARR when she was 9, but now that he was nowhere in sight getting repaired and retested, Cira was ever more curious about KARR; it helped that KITT was around to chat with when he and Michael weren't busy.

Michael gave her updates on KARR's progress, and this year he said he should be complete.

One day at the spacious FLAG mansion, Michael knocked on her room when she was getting math homework done at about 9 P.M.

"Cira, KARR is in the maintenance hangar online. They were done testing him yesterday." Michael leaned in against her door, seeing his lovely adoptive daughter scribble away at her desk. "You got some grand chances to chat with him and get to know him whenever you want, I told Charles and Wilton you might be interested in more…casual chances to interact, given your past with him."

Cira sat up at her desk, dropping the pencil. "Really? Okay!" Screw math. She'd been toying with the same problem for the last five minutes or so. "I wanna go over there now." She said as she jumped out of her seat. Wearing jeans, a t-shirt, and socks, all she'd have to do was slip on her shoes. Once they got out the main halls of the mansion, they went out to the front then banked a sharp left towards back side of the property towards the maintenance bays.

Michael smiled in amusement as the now teenaged Cira walked past him with a bounce in her step. He wasn't entirely surprised she responded this way, given her increasing interest in vehicles and KITT.

Once in the maintenance bay, Cira entered the dim building alone, walking swiftly down a flight of stairs, the same ones Michael had used when he met his 'refurbished car' (which was actually KITT) all those years ago. Some light seeped through the large vertical doors to let out fumes, but it wasn't much more than a foot or so.

The teen's dark brown eyes scanned the quiet, vast room. It had work stations off to either side and near the staircase, but hardly anything except the black and white TransAm was in the middle. Her heart skipped a bit, a remnant, a notion of fear from long ago. That vehicle which had the pacing yellow scanner was the same one that killed the last of her family and caused her to wind up here – not that she minded in that sense. Cira knew she was very lucky to have FLAG.{"But still…I'm alone. Well, it could be worse, I know that much."} she thought as she walked cautiously towards those hypnotizing scanners.

Cira stopped about two yards from it out of caution. She could hear the faint hum of the scanners. Were the vehicle's sensors scanning her every move? Likely. She might have disliked that idea should she have never encountered and interacted with KITT before.

She tensed a bit when the engine was activated. KARR was watching her speechless, semi-intimidated figure as he rolled forward at walking pace, stopping short at her shins.

For a few long moments, neither of them spoke. "Knight Automotive Roving Robot." Cira spoke finally. She didn't like awkward silences.

"Correct." KARR sensed recognition resonate in her vocal chords, and he grew confused quickly. "You are in my data base of close contacts, which validates my notion that you remember me…yet I do not remember you." KARR began to search deep into his processor for the reason why this was so. If there was no reason, perhaps that said something as well.

"I remember you very well indeed." Cira replied honestly with a dash of spite in her tone. "But it makes sense that you wouldn't remember much about what happened to you prior to being rebuilt."

"Indeed…perhaps…over time I can remember." KARR pondered aloud as he scanned her calmly, trying to dig through his processors for memories of her. He knew she was Michael Knight's adopted daughter, but beyond that, no memory fragments had come up. Perhaps he wasn't digging deep enough. "I cannot seem to remember any moment near or with you. Why is this?"

"The time was brief. I doubt you even saw me. But I saw you. There is a reason why my name shows up in your list of trust worthy people." Cira paused, biting her lip for a moment. She knew she'd have to explain, but she didn't want to relieve the memory again. For some reason, thinking about it wasn't much of a deal, but talking about it was always just a little more uncomfortable. Doing so often brought out emotions one thought they left behind. Cira learned this at an early age.

"Why?" KARR spoke promptly, wondering why she'd paused.

"When I was young, 8 years old to be exact, you had recently been rebuilt by someone but hadn't been around for all that long (so I was told by Dad), but you were way different back then. They said you were focused only on self preservation. You were violent, competitive, manipulative, and selfish. You did things that would ensure your safety but didn't care if doing so hurt others in the process. And one day you were driving on a highway recklessly the same time I was out with my Aunt. You recklessly shoved our SUV off the highway. Well the rolls did a number on us – my aunt died, I got a broken leg and some other scratches...Your license plate was reported and FLAG set out to investigate the accident in hopes to get a lead on where you went. Before they continued, they and the other cops discovered I was still alive. Devon, Dad's boss decided to have Michael Knight adopt me…" Cira knelt down and gazed at KARR's pacing scanner as she continued, "During this time, Devon and one of the mechanics April dreamed to rebuild you in hopes that you wouldn't suffer such major 'flaws' again – and some guy named Charles Graiman agreed to help. They succeeded, and well here we are. It's why I have memories and you have so few…" by the end of her response, her voice was a bit heavier. It was clear she didn't like the feeling of being alone and recalling the pain she'd gone through during the accident. Visions of her Aunt flickered through her mind as she fell silent…

KARR recorded her explanation and considered it intensely. Her tone was serious and he knew she was telling the truth by how concentrated her face was. That emotion she carried was hard to hide too. When he scanned Cira's left leg, he could see that the left looked weaker than the right, slightly underdeveloped due to having grown quite quickly up to her early teens. The differences were subtle that only an AI like KARR would notice the weaknesses from where the upper leg bone had cracked.

"I see…" It was KARR's turn to pause. "Something in my processor is causing me to think on a couple things. But I suppose I will learn these questions in due time with research." KARR began to run a separate search on this, seeking answers all over the internet- focusing on animal behavior. Something clicked in him. "I was trying to survive."

"Yes, yes you were."

"Did I not have a right to preserve myself, then?"

Cira paused a moment in thought. This seemed to be something of a complex question, at the very least one that contained a fair bit of thought. Sure, all beings had a right to survive. But it was how one survived that makes one who they are. It made perfect sense that this was why KARR's faults shortened his life. "In a way, yes." She hesitated for a moment, but she realized her words were true. "How we survive is what makes us who we are." She said softly. Had FLAG made a mistake? Had KARR needed to go through all the reprogramming and rebuilding to get him to where he was now? Why had Charles had such trouble with this one? Wasn't it possible he was really still the same?

"You say that because we are still here. We found our own ways to survive." KARR answered, making sure he understood what she was saying.

"Yes."

"If what you say is true, perhaps it was because I refused to consider other alternatives. At the same time, it feels like I am missing something, so I cannot be sure of this. It does not help I cannot remember much of what I was like. I suppose it is for the better." KARR mused aloud.

"I didn't know you well back then, but it is likely."

"Even so, something in my processor tells me it is logical that an apology may be in order, even if it seems outlandish of you to accept it. I will offer it nonetheless. Sincerely." KARR replied. Indeed, the words were quite sincere despite the calm, emotionless tone, for these words were laden with logic. "Would you accept such an apology?" he offered, his tone unchanging. "Could I be forgiven for such an act of cruelty even if I do not remember it?"

How could she not accept his apology? Could she live her life unable to forgive an intelligent AI that was deemed innocent because of a major flaw (which in her right mind seemed more like a being?)? Cira hated holding grudges, something she'd learned quickly at school. She also hated dwelling on fear and pain even though sometimes it had to be focused on. As a result, Cira decided it would be unhealthy to hold a grudge, especially if she was going to be working with KARR someday.

Cira rested a right elbow on KARR's hood and sunk into the floor a little as her eyes blurred. What KARR heard next relieved him – he would be further relieved if he had remembered what she had explained. Only flashes of colors and voices came to him when he tried to remember that "far" back. Perhaps they would show themselves to him in due time…Wiping some tears from her right eye with her right hand, she replied: "Yes…I forgive you."

(chapter was redone in 2011!)