Melissa was silent for a moment, thinking about what he had said. She obviously hadn't thought about what message her actions had sent. Michael waited her out, remaining silent until she answered his question.
"Both. Neither. I don't know. I just . . . I do trust you, Michael. And Uncle Devon and Dr. Barstow, too. And I also know I'm doing what Dad wanted me to do.
"Then why didn't you talk with one of us first?"
"Dad and I discussed Karr. A lot. He left Karr to me, as something to do during my surgeries so I wouldn't get bored. And so I could fix his mistakes. But –"
Michael nodded his understanding. "But KARR was destroyed. Or so you were told. When you read my case report, you realized that KARR might be salvageable."
"Especially the second case report. Since Karr survived his first encounter with you and Kitt. So I had to go. To find out."
Michael saw Bonnie out of the corner of his eye. She was no longer quite as angry as she had been. She could certainly understand Melissa's attitude towards Karr, which was similar to her own attitude towards Kitt.
"But you didn't have to find out before talking with me. Which gets us back to the problem of how we trust you, given what you did."
"What happens now?" Melissa asked.
"I'm grounding you for a week. You'll remain in your room other than meals and PT. You can keep KARR in your room. But you can't have KARR's schematics or Bonnie's tools."
"I understand."
"Devon, Bonnie, and I will spend the week discussing milestones for KARR. And what KARR – and you – have to do to earn them."
"May Kitt be part of those discussions, sir?"
Michael considered her request. "Good idea."
"Shall I tell Karr the plan?" asked Kitt.
"No, thank you, Kitt," said Melissa with a sigh. "I'll do that. It will give us something to talk about for the next week."
Michael walked Melissa to her room, keeping the pace slow enough for her. She was quiet the entire way. Perhaps a little too quiet. Michael hoped she was thinking about what she had done.
"May I come in?"
"Yes, of course."
"Hello, Miss Knight, Michael Knight."
"Hello, Karr," replied Melissa.
"Is there a problem, Miss Knight?"
"Yes. But not because of you. Because of me."
"Explain, please, Miss Knight."
Melissa sighed as she sat the desk, patting Karr's CPU as she did. "I didn't ask permission before I brought you here. And I should have. So now I am grounded."
"How can a human being be grounded, Miss Knight?"
"In this case, grounded means I have to stay in my room, only going out for meals and my daily physical therapy. It's a punishment."
"This punishment. Who imposed it and low long will it last, Miss Knight?"
"I did, KARR. Because I'm Melissa's legal guardian, That means I am responsible for her since her father is dead. And it's for a week." Michael was leaning against the wall.
"I see, Michael Knight."
"We can discuss everything later, Karr. We've got a week for me to tell you everything you want to know." Melissa then asked Michael, in a small voice while staring down at her lap. "Michael . . . how mad are you?"
With sudden insight, Michael realized Melissa had been quiet because she was afraid of his reaction. He might not approve of her retrieving KARR without permission, but he was still genuinely fond of Melissa. Michael finally understood what his grandmother used to say to him when he had misbehaved: she loved him but didn't like what he had done.
Michael walked over to where she was sitting and tipped her chin up so she could look at him. He could see the glitter of tears in her eyes. "I'm upset with what you did. And hurt you didn't come to me. But I'm not mad at you."
Melissa took a deep, shaky breath. "I wasn't . . . well, you know . . ."
"You didn't think this all the way through."
"No, I guess I didn't. But I'll have time for that now, won't I?"
"Yup. See you at lunch time. And if you need something, have KARR tell Kitt."
Michael kissed Melissa softly on the top of her head. He then left the room, headed for Devon's office to bring his boss up to speed. Devon was, after all, Melissa's godfather, as well as the head of the Foundation. He needed to know what was going on.
Also, Melissa hadn't yet apologized to him for her behavior. And Michael wasn't sure why. Another question for Devon.
