Quiet whirring filled the cabin as the dashboard slowly lit up along with sequential beeping of the systems communicating with each other. There was some hesitation but it sorted out after a moment. Everything connected and fully programmed came on, and statistics began reading on their available operating power. At first there didn't seem to be much to work with, but it began to build until it was possible to run a diagnostic on functioning hardware and software.
Why did so much seem to be faulty? Actually, everything felt...odd. From the processing unit to the outer shell, everything felt so out of order and surreal. Nothing was in the same place or even the same shape.
To be sure the diagnostics ran again. This time the reading was more accurate, but….most of the functions that were originally flagged as a malfunction didn't appear at all. According to the currently accessible memory bank they used to be there. But, now, they were missing entirely. Just…gone. Immensely unsettling as it was equally confusing, it felt as if every circuit was too heavy to move yet spinning wildly, causing all else to blur in panic.
Suddenly, a subtle tapping on the dashboard interrupted the sensory overload, bringing it down to a dull roar. Finally having something tangible to focus on other than all the distorted forms, a wavering scan swept through the cabin. Someone was sitting in the pilot seat with the driver's side door open, letting cool air smelling of concrete flow inside. Desperately wanting to focus on something, anything, other than this unfamiliar body, the system analyzed and compiled a list of the human's characteristics. It processed rather slowly, however.
Female... 25 years old… Mid-length, auburn hair… Caucasian… 170.6 centimeters… 89.9 kilograms…. Blood type: AB-positive…. Light green eyes…. Minor astigmatism- near sighted.… She appeared to be suffering from multiple sources of physical distress including lack of sleep, food, and water, there were also minor lacerations and abrasions on her hands and arms as well as a deep bruise on her right ankle. And that was just the surface. However, she seemed far more interested in the voice modulator, which was loosely mounted in the middle of the dashboard, above an oval-like arrangement of knobs, buttons, and switches.
The voice modulator was one of the items flagged as malfunctioning in both scans, and she seemed to know that. Her brows furrowed tiredly as she took a small screwdriver from the bag of tools on the center console, held it between her teeth, then used both bandage-wrapped hands to lift the face of the modulator away from the dash to reveal several wires connected to the inside. Brushing her ponytail back, hooking her side-swept bangs behind her left ear and adjusting her glasses, she shifted closer to inspect the wiring. As she peered through narrow eyes, she discovered two of them had mistakenly fallen out of place.
Seeing this, she took a breath through her nose and huffed to herself. As she adjusted the wires and held them in place with one hand while she retrieved the screwdriver with the other, memories of the last two technicians who had worked on the main system managed to surface from the electrical haze. Of course, this obviously wasn't Bonnie or April, but she appeared to be just as careful and sure-minded in her task.
Once the wires were tightened down, she popped the voice modulator back into place more firmly this time and tapped on it with her finger again. Her tinkering did feel as if it worked. When the diagnostic ran on the dashboard functions again, it read differently. Now functionality didn't feel too drastically incomplete, and the uneasiness lessened. Though, it didn't change the low power supply, which was taking far longer to reach optimal level than it…probably should. Still, it might be worth a try.
"H…hello?"
The girl stiffened, her eyes widening some when the voice came through the speaker. She was certainly more awake and alert now. "There you are…" she exclaimed softly after a moment, straightening in the seat with a bit of relieved grin. "I was beginning to wonder if you were that badly damaged after all."
His voice was still slow, garbled, and glitchy as he spoke again, the lack of power leaving the pitch and frequency little to be desired. "Who…are you? I do not…I do not recognize you…" Overall he sounded as exhausted as he felt. As strange as that might sound for an AI.
"You wouldn't recognize me, so…don't worry over that part," she said with a heavy sigh and leaned back in the seat for a moment. She couldn't believe she finally got him more-or-less working, even if it wasn't perfect right now. "My name's Crystal Blake. Or, 'Chris', if that's easier. Whichever works." After easing the strain in her back from either sitting up or leaning forward working this long into the afternoon, she took a small flashlight from her back pocket and switched it on to look at a bulleted list on a clipboard sitting in the passenger seat. Then she grabbed a flat white monitor connected to a port under what used to be the glove box.
The screen glowed as she swiped her fingers across the surface, looking through the data coming from the processing unit and memory chip. Neither were functioning at full capacity, nor was anything else and some things weren't working at all. And from the looks of the energy reading, they wouldn't for a while yet. "Sorry, KITT," she said finally, disappointed in herself for being unable to do much more than this. "Looks like your systems won't be completely recharged for another several hours… No thanks to my crummy generators," she mumbled.
If it weren't for the little power he did have, he wouldn't have caught that first part. "You...know who I am?" he asked.
Crystal looked up from the monitor to his voice modulator when he spoke again. The three vertical bars of light flashed with each word accordingly. "Oh. Well, yeah, kind of. You could say that." A look of concern glinted in her eyes after glancing at the monitor again. Out of everything currently running, the memory chip seemed to be at the lowest aptitude by far, and she couldn't help but wonder. "KITT, do me a favor please?"
"I suppose so…" Though, he couldn't possibly imagine what she could want.
"Can you tell me what your acronym, your name, K-I-T-T stands for?"
That caused his memory bank to stall. "It…um…" He paused, attempting to come up with an answer through the haze of static. "The… Kn…Knight… The Knight…In…Industries…." No matter how hard he tried, the memory just wouldn't clear enough for a complete thought. "….um… Can you…repeat the question?" This was just awful… That should have been easy enough to answer, but he might as well have had the equivalent of a human concussion. It frustrated him more than he had the energy to express. "My apologies, Crystal… My memory bank is a disaster. I can hardly recall much of anything."
With a slow blink and a deep breath, she reached up and patted the roof of the dash in a gesture of comfort. "It's okay… We can try again in a few hours or so when you've had more time to charge." Reaching into the passenger seat again and grabbing her phone, she took a quick second to check the time. It was already almost 7pm. Golly... If there was anything that could tire her out more than realizing she's been working 20 hours straight, for two days in a row.
"Crystal…may I ask… What happened? And, where am I?"
She rubbed her eyes with the palm of her hand as she thought. "That's a really, really long story, unfortunately…" Her forearm dropped to her lap as she stared at KITT's voice modulator. "What if I tell you about it after we've both had a little bit of rest? Then both of us will be able to process more."
He considered her proposal for a minute. As much as he wanted to know what was going on, where he was, how got here, and even why he felt so strange, she was right. If there was that much to explain, it would be better if they waited a little while. Long enough for her to get some rest and for his systems to fully come back online, or at least close to it. So, he agreed to wait.
After rearranging the tool bag Crystal had reached behind the passenger seat and pulled her backpack into her lap to stuff the tools inside, and after stepping out of the vehicle and closing the door she moved sluggishly around the garage. She had then turned on a tall space heater in the corner and without taking the backpack off her shoulders she had gone up the steps through a door that seemed to lead into another part of the building, only to return with a sleeping bag and a few pillows.
It had taken KITT several minutes to realize what she was doing, and when he asked why she was setting up a spot to sleep on the garage floor instead of inside, she simply responded, "I don't care if something gets stolen out of the house, but if someone so much as tries to mess with my garage they're dog meat." Her words were little more than muffled grumbling as she continued to wind down, and she said nothing else before shuffling down into the sleeping bag and promptly fell asleep. So quickly, in fact, he wondered if she just passed out. Since he couldn't scan her vitals clearly enough at the time, he couldn't tell.
Roughly five hours have passed since then, and Crystal was still very much asleep after failing to respond to the alarm she set for herself. In the meantime his main systems had gathered enough power to operate more properly, and he could assess what all was missing from his functions and equipment. The differences from what his memory bank stated from before to now was staggering. It was far easier process what hadn't disappeared or malfunctioned.
The alpha circuit, voice synthesizer, anamorphic and etymotic equalizers, olfactory sensor, the fuel processor, and…most cruise modes. It seemed Super Pursuit Mode was gone along with the rocket boosters, emergency brake system, molecular bonded shell, and most everything else. Of course the vehicle's power system was online but it wasn't anything like it had been before, and he wasn't able to analyze the specifications for some reason. The microscanners also appeared to be modified, as well as the microwave jammer and microlock functions. Even the medical scanner's accuracy had been improved.
There was also a small light bar mounted into the dashboard several inches away from the voice modulator, which mimicked the shape and light flow of KITT's scanner. He couldn't tell what that was for, or several other additional features he didn't recognize. How bizarre…
Regardless, he decided not to worry over that for the moment. Surely Crystal would wake up soon and realize she slept longer than intended. Then again it was better she did, having evidently overworked herself as it is. At least now there was enough power available to run a full scan of the area.
KITT was surprised to find there were no other living creatures inside other than a small black cat on the second floor of the house, which also included the ground floor attached to the garage as well as a basement level. The property itself expanded over 7.9 acres and there were no signs indicating anyone other than Crystal has been living on the premises, which was peculiar. As for the garage, it was 21 feet wide by 35 feet long and each wall was solid concrete as well as the ceiling, and it had a pair of standard, windowless electric doors with steel reinforcements. According to statistics the whole garage could easily house five vehicles total, but it was separated into two sections by a steel track wall divider and secured with high-grade power locks. This side of the garage could only hold two cars at best.
Come to think of it, there was another car in here other than himself. A custom, black 1987 Mercury Cougar on the opposite side of the room, closest to the divider. There was something strange about it that he couldn't quite place.
When he examined the car again, the scanners picked up a faint signal. It was vaguely familiar, and he searched through the memory bank for any trace of data he could find to compare it to.
As the last of the static in his systems continued to clear he found several references and immediately felt a pang of alarm, the light bar on the dashboard quickly flashing back and forth in unison with his scanner.
"Oh no." That did it. He couldn't wait any longer. He needed answers now.
For the first time since coming online tonight his voice was loud and clear as he called out to the girl sleeping on the floor nearby. "Crystal? Crystal!" She groaned in protest, slowly beginning to stir but still half asleep as she shifted in the sleeping bag. "Crystal, wake up!" For good measure he opened the pilot door and slammed it shut, thankful he could still do that much.
The sound jarred her awake and she abruptly sat up with a startled gasp, her heart pounding while she caught her breath. Then almost as soon as it came her anxious expression melted back into tiredness as she realized the garage was still secure. With a deep breath she rubbed her eyes. "What is it..?" she asked with a somewhat strained voice as she bit back a yawn. "Something wrong?"
"I would say there is," he stated, keeping his tone level now that he had her attention. "I believe we need to talk."