Chapter Three: Lost Knight

He hit the public streets at speeds far above the speed limit and his license plates rotated to his secondary backup plates even as he maneuvered through traffic towards the highway. It took three blocks before logic kicked in enough for him to slow; if he got involved in a police chase, he'd be easy to track down – the last thing he wanted now that his prime directive was gone. Accordingly, KITT dropped his pace to the speed limit and made several turns before rotating his plates back to his new Toronto pair.

As he cruised towards the highway that led out of the city, the AI calculated his escape with grim precision. He wasn't so foolish as to think his new friends would let him go easily; they would investigate his disappearance and they were unlikely to understand just what the goblins had done to him. Seeing him as a friend, they'd never realize just how dangerous he was now. That meant he needed to ensure they couldn't find him – and more, that no one else could either.

He considered Niagara Falls, but rejected the idea out of hand; too obvious and public – he'd be dragged out almost as fast as he went in. A quiet river, well away from civilization, was far better. Bonus points if he ended up close to the ocean; salt water would erode and destroy his MBS shell. His self-preservation protocols objected; the AI silenced them with an internal snarl of fury. He would not become KARR; he would not shame Michael's memory by putting himself first after all these years of upholding the sanctity of human life. He was a computer, easily reprogrammed and therefore, expendable.

A destination was selected and programmed into his navigation as well within his fuel range. KITT smoothly turned right at the next light to a road that ran alongside the highway. Technically a frontage road, but his map indicated it led to an on-ramp. Excellent.

Then his engine sputtered. The AI frantically checked his fuel levels, but they read the same as they had before the days-long procedure to upgrade his microprocessor. It took another millisecond for a swift query to finish computing, then KITT groaned. His fuel gauge was either broken or not responding to his new microprocessor – and he hadn't realized because he still had the old readings saved in his databanks.

The Trans Am coaxed his engine along, but without fuel, it was having no part of his 'escape from Toronto' plan. The best he could manage was to cruise to the side of the road, edging into the thick undergrowth before he came to a halt, stranded less than a mile from a highway on-ramp.

Account Manager Silnok was working with his son Silverock when the door to his office was thrust open so violently that it bounced off the wall. Both heads rose from the books laid out on the desk, the goblins giving the intruder matching unimpressed glares. The newcomer returned the glares with a deep, foreboding scowl, a low growl rising from his chest.

Silnok removed his reading glasses and laid them on his desk. "Chief Artificer Steeltooth. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Steeltooth's growl grew louder. "I spent weeks constructing those two microprocessors. Wasted months waiting for your machine to cease sniveling and cowering like the weakling it is. And now, it has thrown all my labor back in my face and run away. With my microprocessors!"

Silverock spoke before his father could, a sneer ringing. "Backdoor codes fail?" Even as Silnok swung towards the younger goblin in surprise, Steeltooth's fists clenched.

"What backdoor codes?" Silnok barked.

His son blinked. "You didn't know, Father? Anything the crafter clans make, they put a spell on it to reclaim their property if the wizards violate the purchasing agreements."

"Of course I'm aware of that," Silnok rumbled. "How does that extend to backdoor codes?"

The young goblin fidgeted. "Steelknife told me," he admitted. "They put codes in all the devices they've built, so they can be overridden and disabled if the Muggles try to keep them."

Narrowed dark eyes shifted to Steeltooth and Silnok voiced his son's conclusion. "Including the microprocessors you built for the Knight Industries Two Thousand."

Steeltooth sneered, lifting his chin. "It is our right to ensure our property is returned."

"So it is," Silnok agreed, tone mild. "But it was my understanding that the Knight Industries Two Thousand had agreed to surrender his original microprocessor for our study in exchange for a voiding of any right on Gringotts' part to reclaim equipment necessary for his very survival."

He waited several moments for a reply and shook his head when none was forthcoming. Tapping long fingers on his desk, the old goblin went on. "In point of fact, Chief Artificer Steeltooth, it was my understanding that the Ancient and Noble House of Calvin had bargained with Gringotts and offered significant monetary concessions in order that all items purchased by their known associates would be free of our traditional purchasing agreements."

The artificer's eyes widened in shock and he drew back as if Silnok had slapped him. "Free of our… You are allowing humans to retain goblin-made items indefinitely? You permitted a travesty not seen for centuries?"

Silnok never twitched. "The Ancient and Noble House of Calvin has been Goblin-Friend since time immemorial. Always, they have sought to treat our kind as respected allies – what other wizard family refers to us as cousins?"

"No wizard should," Steeltooth snapped. "We are not related to wizards."

"It is not a term of relationship, fool," Silnok growled. "Thus always have the royalty of Narnia referred to the citizens of Narnia – that they extend such a term to us is a gesture of the greatest respect. An acknowledgement that we are neither the Dark Creatures who followed Jadis, False Queen of Narnia, nor the thieving possessor spirits of Camelot." Long fingers clenched. "The negotiation between the House of Calvin and Gringotts Bank was lengthy and arduous, with many demands made of the House in return for this one favor. After many days, the House of Calvin agreed to the monetary concessions, but they also agreed to another demand. So long as Gringotts Bank granted the favor of permanently selling them goblin-made items, we would be the only entities to supply wizardkind with magical technology."

The old goblin let that hang, then drove forward. "All other contracts with associates of the House of Calvin are subject to the first, Chief Artificer. To break one contract is to break faith with the House of Calvin as a whole." He stood from his chair, black eyes boring into his opponent. "You will explain why the Knight Industries Two Thousand fled and you will explain these backdoor codes you saw fit to employ." A growl rattled the air. "And you will do so quickly, before I deliver what little is left of your head to Lord Calvin on a silver platter."

Silverock waited until the enraged chief artificer was gone to clear his throat. Silnok turned towards his second son, arching an eyebrow in silent invitation. "Father," the young goblin said, "You said that the House of Calvin bargained with Gringotts to remove our traditional purchasing agreements."

"I did," the elder goblin confirmed.

"Then why would the Knight Industries Two Thousand offer to trade his old microprocessor for the same?"

Silnok grimaced. "Your brother did much damage to our relationship with the Ancient and Noble House of Calvin during his short tenure as Junior Account Manager. I ordered him to inform the Knight Industries Two Thousand of our traditional beliefs regarding the ownership of property – he did so without ever telling the artificial intelligence that the House of Calvin had already dealt with that particular complication."

Dark eyes widened and Silverock's voice dropped lower. "How close are we to violating the Pact?"

His father's grimace deepened. "We have already broken it, my son. That fool compounded it, but in truth, we violated the spirit of the Pact as soon as your brother began lying to Lord Calvin."

The younger goblin swallowed hard – to violate the Pact between Gringotts and a Goblin-Friend was a death sentence for any goblin clan foolish enough to do so. It didn't even matter that his father had spent the past several weeks working as hard as he could to rectify the situation; if the upper ranks of Gringotts management discovered the Pact was broken, they would demand the lives of every Sil clan goblin as recompense.

"What can we do, Father?" he asked fearfully.

For a long minute, Silnok was completely silent. Then he sighed and closed his eyes. "The only thing we can do, my child." Without explaining further, he strode to his desk and pulled out a magical phone, long fingers tapping against it.

The humans who entered the office looked as nervous as Silverock felt. He maintained his calm, lifting his chin ever so slightly as the thinner, taller human examined him with interest. It was hardly uncommon for Muggleborns and their families to be curious about the different beings that populated the magical world.

"Gentlemen," Silnok rumbled, gesturing to the chairs in front of his desk.

The shorter brunet prodded his companion forward, though he cast the two goblins a skeptical look. "Gringotts doesn't usually call the Auror Division directly."

"No, we do not," the elder goblin agreed, tapping his long fingers together beneath his chin. "But these are unusual times, Auror Onasi." He waited for their guests to be seated before speaking. "Before I continue, I must ask. Has the Knight Industries Two Thousand contacted either one of you?"

Both brunets stiffened, sitting ramrod straight in their chairs.

"What did you do to him?" the taller one demanded, fists clenching.

"Roy, chill; he's an account manager, not an artisan," Auror Onasi intervened. Despite that, hard brown eyes glared at the two goblins. "What happened?"

"I shall take that as a 'no'," Silnok murmured. Sighing, the elder goblin rubbed his forehead. "From the beginning, then. Were you aware that the Knight Industries Two Thousand was to receive an upgraded microprocessor?"

"KITT. His name is KITT," the Muggle detective insisted, right before paling. "Microprocessor? They upgraded his microprocessor?"

Onasi glanced between his companion and Silnok, glare fading into puzzlement. "He said he was getting an upgrade and it might take a couple days, but…"

"That idiot," the Muggle hissed, fists clenching again. "First upgrade and they started with his microprocessor?"

"What's a microprocessor?" the Auror questioned, eyes widening at his Muggle's anger.

"His brain," the Muggle snapped. "If they screwed that up, KITT's dead."

Fresh horror morphed into fury and Onasi's hand went for his wand.

"The upgrade itself was a complete success," Silnok announced, bending a frown at the humans. "Do not bring Gringotts security down on your head by drawing your wand, Auror Onasi." Dark eyes shifted to the Muggle. "I was unaware you had knowledge of electronics, Detective Lane."

One shoulder hiked. "I'm no computer tech, but I get along. 'Sides, I'm driving around in an AI – you kinda gotta learn the lingo." Gray narrowed. "How come you morons started with KITT's brain?"

Silverock growled at the insult, but his father lifted a hand to still him. "The original microprocessor is a work of art, but it was built in 1982 with the components of that era."

"1984, actually," the detective countered, "KITT gave us the rundown on all the upgrades he's had, but I think I get where you're going. It's too old, am I right?"

"Too old," Onasi echoed. "Roy, that was only thirty years ago."

"Yeah and if I build a computer with top of the line components today, in six months, it's already outta date. The march of technology."

"True," Silnok agreed. "However, a computer built today would have modern components, connections, and power expectations. Upgrading it, if you so desire, is relatively easy." He shook his head. "We are many technology generations past KITT's era, gentlemen. Almost immediately after his components were modified to survive in magical environments, our chief artificer began research on upgrading his systems to modern technology."

"And?" the Auror prompted when Silnok paused, expression grave.

The old goblin sighed. "He came to the conclusion that the original microprocessor was literally incapable of supporting any form of modern technology. The only way to modernize the Knight Industries Two Thousand was to build a new microprocessor and base all other upgrades on that microprocessor. It was understood by all parties that the initial transfer of data would be the riskiest part of the procedure."

"But he still went ahead with it? Without telling us?" Hurt rang in the Auror's voice, mirrored by the stricken expression on his companion's face.

Silnok gazed at the humans. "The new microprocessors have been ready for the past three months, gentlemen. KITT refused to authorize the procedure until this week."

The Muggle snarled an oath, burying his head in his hands. "Right after he almost couldn't stop that truck."

"I am unaware of his exact reasoning," Silnok inserted, tone smooth. "As I said, the procedure was a complete success."

"But?" Auror Onasi demanded, hand twitching closer to his wand. "You wouldn't be callin' me 'n' Roy in if everything's fine and dandy."

The account manager drew himself up and only Silverock could see his father's unease. "During the upgrade, our chief artificer saw fit to remove portions of the Knight Industries Two Thousand's programming. Specifically, his prime directive and several behavioral safeguards installed by the Foundation for Law and Government." A pause. "As soon as the AI discovered this, he demanded that the programming be restored. Chief Artificer Steeltooth refused, multiple times, and reports that KITT nearly attacked himself and his assistants. He then fled and has not attempted contact since."

Silverock jumped when the Muggle's fists came down on the desk, a blistering stream of profanity and insults darkening the air, right before he snarled, "Are you people absolutely frickin' insane? You deleted an AI's primary directive? You deleted safeguards from an AI installed in a bulletproof super-car that makes armored trucks look flimsy?"

"Roy, what's wrong?" Auror Onasi asked, eyes wide in bewilderment.

"What's wrong?" The Muggle slammed one fist on the desk again. "AI is a crapshoot, that's what's wrong!"

Silverock blinked. "Beg pardon?"

The human growled another vicious obscenity and pushed himself up out of his chair. Though he didn't pace, his hands gestured along with his words, emphasizing each point. "KITT's an anomaly; most of the time, you see an Artificial Intelligence and you go the other way. Won't be too long before it goes rogue, decides murder is the best solution, or does exactly what it's told to do. Whichever one it is, you get the same result – an evil, outta control machine that either wants to wipe out humanity or take over the world." Whipping around, he pointed at Auror Onasi. "Remember when KITT told us about his older 'brother', KARR?"

The wizard frowned. "Didn't KARR end up going off a cliff or something?"

The Muggle flicked the question away. "Not the point right now, buddy. KARR's prime directive was self-preservation. KITT's is…was… protecting human life. Take that away and what's left?" Spreading his hands wide, the human answered his own question. "If he's not protecting human life anymore, then all that's left is self-preservation. In other words, our genius goblins deleted KITT's morality chip and now we're dealin' with HAL."

The two goblins traded bewildered glances and both were grateful when Onasi hesitantly inquired, "Who's Hal?"

A grimace appeared and the Muggle scrubbed his hands through his hair. "It's from an old sci-fi movie. HAL's the master computer for a space ship and partway through the movie, he goes rogue and kills the whole crew except for one guy. And that one guy nearly dies tryin' to deactivate the thing." The grimace deepened. "There's no telling how KITT's gonna react to losing his prime directive. Even if he sounds like the KITT we know, they ripped out part of his brain when they deleted his programming."

"I thought the microprocessor was his brain," the Auror countered.

"Then maybe it's more like ripping out part of his mind," the Muggle replied, shuddering. "The microprocessor's the hardware, but it doesn't do any good without the programming. If the microprocessor's the brain, then the programming is how KITT thinks. That's how he connects to the car and drives by himself and the whole gig."

"So removing some of that changes everything?"

The Muggle swallowed hard. "Yeah." Shivering hard, he whispered, "They lobotomized him, Giles." He shook his head, ignoring the looks he was getting. "They reached inside his head and took away what made him KITT."

Silverock choked back bile and he heard an aborted noise from his father's direction. But then Silnok spoke up, forced calm ringing in his voice. "I am not certain I agree, Detective Lane." As the humans turned, he adjusted his reading glasses. "Yes, our artificer acted very foolishly and quite rashly, but although the Knight Industries Two Thousand was extremely angry, he did not harm anyone. Instead, he ran away. That does not match your cautionary tale of a rogue, murderous AI."

Hope lit Onasi's eyes, but the Muggle scoffed. "So he held back once. Right after it happened and he was scared to death. Won't take him too long to get used to the idea. Then we're expendable."

"Why?" The wizard lifted his chin, defiance flashing at the Muggle's scorn. "Roy, I hear you. I believe you – they hurt KITT and ripped out all the programming that made him good. But programming's not all there is."

"For a computer it is!"

"Did programming make KITT befriend Michael?" Onasi smirked when his Muggle froze. "Roy, they were best friends. How can you be friends with a computer if all it's got is programming? How can a computer choose to leave FLAG and move to Toronto if all it's got is programming? How'd that computer choose to get upgraded, huh? What computer cares about helping complete strangers or keeping the peace?"

"Artificial Intelligences make decisions outside their programming all the time," the Muggle snapped. "That's what makes 'em an AI instead of a supersized computer!" He shook his head. "KITT's prime directive and safeguards – that's what you call a morality chip. So long as he had that, he was good; literally. Michael's a bad example anyway – KITT was programmed to prioritize human life in general and Michael's in particular. He told us that, remember? Of course they were friends; KITT was programmed to be his friend!"

"Fine. Michael's a bad example. What about Devon and Bonnie and April and R.C.? What about us? You can't tell me KITT's programming forced him to make friends with all kinds of people. You can't tell me his programming forced him to tell us all about the days when he loved working for FLAG." The wizard stopped, breath shuddering a moment. "You can't tell me programming made KITT grieve when he lost those friends, one by one."

Swinging around, the Auror glared at the goblins. "Where is he? Don't tell me you don't know; you lot made his new microprocessor – you bloody well know exactly where he is."

"Giles."

Brown flicked back to the Muggle for an instant. "I heard you, Roy, but I'm not gonna just throw up my hands and walk away. Maybe our KITT is gone, but I'm not giving up without even trying."

The Muggle muttered something ungracious under his breath, then heaved a sigh and stepped back up to the desk. "Sure, fine, let's go get ourselves killed. You get to tell my brother by the way."

The wizard flinched, but nodded acceptance of the other man's terms.

Silnok grunted, unimpressed by the theatrics. "I shall send the precise location to your phones, gentlemen, and update you if the Knight Industries Two Thousand moves." There was a pause as the elder goblin pulled out his magical smartphone and flicked it open, frowning ever so briefly. "He has not moved for the past several hours." Glancing up, he added, "May the Lion Himself guide your steps."

Auror Onasi's hands came down on the desk as he glared at both goblins. "Don't think this means you're off the hook. Once we've got KITT, we're comin' back and you'd better have a damn good explanation for Lord Calvin, understand?"

"Perfectly."

In the background, Silverock gulped, though softly enough that the humans didn't hear it. He waited until they'd stormed out before gazing towards his father, eyes wide and long fingers trembling ever so slightly.

Silnok returned his son's regard with a calm expression. "There is much yet to be done, Silverock, but we have made a beginning." His black gaze dropped to his desk, a faint grimace emerging. "Now for the hardest step of all."

Though he did not explain, as the old goblin returned to his chair and began to write a new letter, Silverock found that he understood his father's words all too well.