The older man was standing next to the mangled door, studying it closely while a team of staff carefully inspected the site of the accident. He was rather impressed at how such a thick door could have been so violently torn out in rather a very enclosed area. He took a step back, feeling a slight hint of guilt at the conditions in which both vehicles had been stored in over the years. He put his hands into his pockets, the warehouse was rather large and strangely cold for being a facility out in the middle of the desert.
" Mr. Hasson!" Greeted a man gently, approaching the crowd of staff buzzing about the broken container like a swarm of bees. "I apologize that you'd have to come in under these circumstances, I've talked to our boss and he says that your organization will get a reimbursement for the articles stolen from this otherwise governmental secured site. I'd also like to mention that-"
"With all due respect," Professor Hasson interrupted, raising his greyed brows, "These 'stolen articles' aren't just any vehicles I could buy off of Craigslist. They are highly sophisticated technology and I'm afraid that your business failed to see that."
The other man bit his lower lip, turning away from Professor Hasson's worried glance.
"Then you must know that someone changed the papers specifying they be stored in shaft09 as a discarded project. Our hardcopies show that the details were tampered with on our digital records and hence why they ended up here." The man sheepishly explained. "I also know that this...puts a dent in our reputation as a private storage provider for governmental uses and we'd greatly appreciate that you and your agency keep this quiet as much as possible until both vehicles are recovered. We also guarantee that we will take care of all the costs that goes into finding them-"
"You don't get it do you?"
"What do you mean?" The man groaned.
"We will try to keep this quiet not for your sake but for national security, these aren't just regular Pontaics…" The man snapped impatiently back to the younger man.
"That's correct!" Chimed in another man beaming the two with his car's headlights as he drove up quietly into the aisle in a nice dark black T-top Corvette. He was quick to turn the lights off and got out. He approached the two troubled individuals and offered a handshake.
"Liam Foreman, so uh...any leads on who could have taken the Knight industries two thousand and the Knight's Automated Roving Robot? And what for?" He asked anxiously to Professor Hasson, who returned the reply with a concerned frown and head shake.
"Nothing?" The man replied surprised, turning to the young administrator who'd been talking to Hasson moments prior. "No security footage, no fingerprints no nothing? Well, then we are dealing with dangerous people then! Hasson! Imagine all the damage they could do with both units in their possession! Did you call Washington yet?!"
Hasson sighed.
"Liam, I don't think we are dealing with dangerous people." He dismissed the young administrator with a slight wave of his hand, to which the administrator replied:
"I know that these Trans Am's aren't ordinary but it's important that my people know what is going on here." He protested.
Liam sighed, running his hand over his face.
"Look umm, Tom? Tom is it. Uh, you guys just lost two important assets. That, according to the instructions we gave your agency, was supposed to be in your Washington site, not in your Nevada site!" The man shouted, losing his composure.
"It's not my fault! The records were altered!" The man begged.
"Well, then why don't you guys employ a safer system?!" Liam challenged waving his hands before him.
"Enough!" Professor Hasson shouted, putting a hand on Liam's shoulder. "Enough you two, what's done has been done. The important thing now is that we don't waste any more time and find Kitt and Karr. They're probably so lost out there, ugh...especially Kitt. Karr could get himself into real trouble and if word gets out to our enemies then we'll be over our heads!" The man sighed, walking towards the idle Corvette and sitting gently on its hood. The young administrator raised his brows.
"How so?"
Liam facepalmed.
"Look Tom this is governmental business, it's out of your hands now so let us do our job and find our lost assets!" He growled, motioning for the young man to leave them alone. The young man nodded, casting a skeptical glance towards Professor Hasson as he made his way to the inspection team noisily investigating the broken container. Liam sighed, taking a seat next to Hasson.
"It's my fault." Hasson replied, after a brief silence between the two.
"No, it's not!" Liam shouted. "Look, just because the guy before you stole these things from FLAG doesn't make us the villains."
"Yes, it does." The man replied gently, tapping a small rectangular apparatus embedded into the Corvettes hood, a gentle lime green glow emitting from it in a sober hum.
"Ben, listen. You weren't there when crazy "Joe" made that decision, and he's passed away, and ever since you took the lead you did everything you could to secure both the Knight Industries two thousand and the Knight's Automated Roving Robot, which honestly sounds like a handful of problems and the noblest thing to me."
"I should have returned them." Hasson quietly murmured, clasping his hands together in his lap. Liam shook his head.
"To where? The foundation? Hasson do you really-" The younger man sighed.
"I could have at least returned Kitt to one of his friends." The older man grumbled, staring into the other man's amber eyes.
"Well if I recall correctly the driver for one of the vehicles is out of the question and the others well...it's been years what good would it do now? They will be livid with us! Might as well turn in our two-week notice, share to the world what our agency was doing under the radar and breaking laws in its heyday!" Liam groaned. "I don't like it any more than you do." He snapped standing up, "-but I say we prevent any more damage that could be done like the responsible individuals we are. So let's get this together Hasson and find those two T-tops and well, I don't know, eventually, figure out the rest, just hope you'll be generous with your retirement plan when the time comes...if you'll have one after this..."
Hasson chuckled to himself, gently patting the corvette's hood who's lime green scanner had begun swaying quickly from side to side.
"Great! Okay, let's get to it." Liam cheered, turning his attention back to the group of people crowding the empty and broken into containers. "So uh, Oriel mind telling us what it is we fail to see?" The man gently patted the T-top.
"There is a small insertion on the upper left corner in the back of the container that does not show up on any schematics for this container model. There are clear signs that this insertion is related to tampering. The container also shows to be broken out of not into if I might add." Came the gentle voice of what sounded like a woman.
The man completely went bonkers, shaking his head and running his hands through his hair in frustration.
"Liam…" Came the bothered voice from the vehicle, as a faint smile formed on Hasson's lips.
"That's just great!" He shouted, turning to Hasson, fuming. "They escaped."
Hasson put his hands into his coat pockets.
"Well, being honest that sounds a whole lot safer than having both cars stolen." The man gleefully answered, taking off towards the exit of the warehouse.
Liam jogged behind him, in confusion. The black Corvette silently followed behind.
"Where do you think they went off to? I mean you knew Kitt better than I did so…and well Karr...I wasn't aware we had a second one in storage too." Hasson shrugged at the younger man's remark.
"I didn't know Kitt that well, If anything Michael Knight knew him better than anyone, that much I know. As for Karr, I'm a bit more worried. Brown confused his CPU for Kitt's back in the day, and when he found out he'd rebuilt the dangerous counterpart, he never attempted to bring him back online. So we don't know what kind of state he is in..." The man took a deep breath. " Can't believe Fredrick Brown would have had the nerve to drag FLAG through the mud, that man never stopped until he got what he wanted. Honestly, I'm surprised Kitt even warmed up to me when we tried to repair the harm done."
Liam shook his head.
"You talk about him like he's an old friend."
"He had a way of doing that, becoming a friend." The old man replied with a grin. "If I'd have to take a guess, however, I'd say we should look near the foundation's old Headquarters. I'm sure Kitt would have gone in that direction as for Karr...I don't know."
Liam shrugged, turning to face the black Corvette with its lime scanner swishing slowly from side to side in expectation.
"Hasson, we can't take Oriel on the search with us." He remarked turning away from the Car and glancing back at the old man.
"I think we'll make an exception."
"She isn't a field car," Liam protested. "She's a prototype that so happens to be my daily driver and knows how to drive me crazy, alarmingly too well."
Hasson smirked looking over the elegant black car.
"She's already driving you crazy? Really?" The man teased with a smile.
Liam bit his lip.
"When will she be getting her REAL driver? I was only supposed to babysit her until someone was found hopefully and our agency got back on its legs, that was the deal," Liam replied under his breath pointing an accusing finger to Hasson.
"I'm afraid…" Hasson carefully responded, "That said driver is you…"
Liam stopped in his tracks, turning to the black Corvette with a shocked face.
"You've got to be kidding!"
His remark answered with a loud joyful beating of her scanner.
The slow pounding of the rain had slowly come to a drizzle. Both T-tops standing quietly in the parking lot of a local clinic. Their first choice had been a grocery store just at the entrance of town to which Kitt was very reluctant to stay at, much to Karr's annoyance. The clinic, however, much to their benefit, must have been closed since there was little to no activity nearby, giving the vehicles the idea it was either a holiday or a weekend. Probably the latter.
Kitt was overall feeling much better. During their drive through the night, he'd managed to shut down his scanner. Despite knowing his scanner was a very important piece of equipment and one he'd rather have operational it seemed shutting it down had deafened the mysterious program and solved the headache issue, as well as solving a multitude of other problems. Whatever the case, his systems couldn't deal with incoming data and that was very worrying. All he could do was make use of some of his most basic functions, like driving for instance. All the rest was unavailable to him at the moment.
Kitt and Karr stood in silence as the rain gently poured off their glossy frame, slowly washing away some of the dust they'd picked up out in the dirt roads. Some of the dust however hadn't completely washed off and had started to create muddy splotches on the side of both cars. Kitt didn't like his "new" look. He'd wished they'd get home soon, not only receive the tender love and care he yearned for but also so he could be clean again. As for Karr, he too was wishing to be clean but he had no intention of asking the foundation for help on the said matter.
"How far Karr?" Kitt blurted, catching Karr off guard. "We're getting low on fuel," Kitt added.
Karr internally sighed.
"One more night of driving," Karr replied, the issue of fuel starting to take priority. He hadn't thought of it much, re-fueling, but this much he knew...he couldn't do it without hands...So frustrating!
They continued to stand in silence, Karr's scanner in surveillance for the two of them. It was early morning but even so, it looked very dark with large clouds blocking out the sun. Not many people were in sight, much to their relief. They would have to eventually park somewhere else though, but for the time being the clinic parking lot made for a good resting site. There wasn't a person in sight, although if Kitt had to guess the staff for the clinic would be arriving soon.
Much to their surprise the first person they saw that morning wasn't that of the clinic staff but was that of a young boy slowly making his way on a grimy bicycle. At first, he didn't seem to take notice of the two, bobbing his head up and down wildly with earphones dangling from his ears. Then he'd taken a slight glance in their direction, seemingly noting quickly that they didn't belong there. He became curious of the two oddly looking T-tops and was quick to pedal up to them.
The first thing he did wasn't much of a shocker. He immediately got glued to Karr's windshield, looking over his reflection in contemplation.
Both AI's examined the boy closely in silence. He was completely drenched from the rain in a baggy sweater and in jeans that were a size too big for him. He did however have a worn baseball cap over his messy black hair, obviously to fend off the rain but it didn't seem to have much of an effect for that logic.
The boy grinned, winking at himself in the reflection, then quietly setting his bike against Kitt, he made his way around Karr, taking a crouching position just beside Karr's back tire. The boy wiped raindrops and grime off Karr's silver half with his sleeve before unsheathing a black sharpie from his pocket. He was just about to uncap it when…
"...And what do you think you're doing?" Kitt remarked, with a slight hint of distaste in his voice, causing the boy to jump up from his spot, giving a deceiving innocent grin towards Kitt's passenger window.
"Ah, hey mister, yeah just walking through. Gee, nice tires, yeah!? Your friend's car has nice tires." The boy stuttered, hiding the sharpie behind his back, as he walked up to Kitt's passenger side window.
"Where are you from anyways?" The kid added, trying to distract Kitt as he pressed one of his sweaty hands up against Kitt's door frame.
"I'd like it better if you took your hands off me," Kitt replied. "Also, might I ask where you came from this morning? You're very wet and if I were you I'd go home and get dry. You can get sick like that."
The boy smiled back, giving in to a low laugh.
"You're not my mother." He snapped.
"You're right, I'm not, but I'm sure I'd give her something to talk about if I told her how filthy you are," Kitt remarked worriedly, as the boy yet again unsheathed his sharpie.
"You can't tell me what to do!" Pointing the sharpie at Kitt.
"Enough! Go on and scram!" Karr growled, gunning his engine and pulling back from the parking space, tossing water at the boy as he splashed through puddles. "I've had enough of you pests." Karr lastly said as he made his way back to the street stopping briefly awaiting Kitt.
The boy was quick to make his opinion known. He stuck out his tongue at Karr and kicked Kitt's side. Grabbing his bicycle and quickly mounting it he chased after Karr with his sharpie no longer capped.
"Karr watch out!" Kitt shouted, turning on his engine and turning to watch helplessly what was about to unfold.
Karr very well knew what was coming, therefore he did the most logical thing. He did a quick 180 in the front of the parking lot facing the young boy, who was caught off guard.
"Very well, if it's a fight you want a fight you will receive." Karr barked, revving his engine and burning rubber.
The boy stopped his pursuit altogether, dropping the sharpie entirely, and did a half decent 180 himself. Kitt aiding to his rescue just a few seconds behind, before stopping in astonishment as the boy gave him a final blow to his bumper as he sped past him.
"Mom!" He shouted just as he disappeared behind the clinic building. Kitt internally scowled. Why couldn't they keep out of trouble for at least a day? Did trouble follow Kitt everywhere just like Michael?
"That was unnecessary Karr," Kitt replied, making his way towards Karr. Giving him just enough space to turn back towards the street, which he was doing quite leisurely.
"Yes, yes it was. The small nuisance was going to total my paint job, and if it wasn't for me he would still be kicking you. Very much unnecessary to be bothering the two of us for sure. So I don't see the problem. I got rid of him, didn't I?" Karr retorted, with a strong hum of his yellow scanner.
"Well, yes. I guess if you put it that way Karr, but you didn't mean to hurt him did you?" Kitt asked, concerned, following Karr who had slowly begun to approach the street.
"No." Karr replied, "I would have to get rid of you first." Karr mocked. Making Kitt rev his engine back in disfavor. "Relax," Karr replied, "I thought you'd appreciate my humor."
"I don't," Kitt replied, upset.
"Very well." Karr sighed, noting Kitt's annoyance. "But next time I leave you alone to deal with the toddlers."
With that last thought between them, they ventured into the wet street heading towards FLAG, aware that as much as they wanted to camp it out during the day to avoid suspicion, they had already possibly endangered their cover. It was best to be gone before someone came back looking for them.
Liam had pulled up to the closest fueling station Oriel could find. He suspected that both AI's would be drawn to fuel like ants were to picnics, and it seemed like a safe place to start looking for any leads. From the get-go, he could see there weren't any black T-tops anywhere in sight, which made his heart sink. Well at least he could get a coffee, the run through the desert had been rough on his back.
"Truck and Go." He sighed, "Lovely." He quietly complained over the heartwarming tunes coming from Oriel's radio that she'd handpicked for him some time along the journey as he looked over the rusting buildings. "Feels more like a train yard than a rest stop if you ask me. I can only imagine the conditions the kitchen is in.."
"Surprisingly, they are in very good condition." Remarked Oriel bringing up footage from the main kitchen in the diner restaurant, emphasizing the nice waxed floors and ultra-clean fancy cooking appliances on her OLED screen to the side of the driver's dash. Liam dismissed the footage with a loud grumble.
"Oriel!" Liam shouted, half relieved that he'd know where his morning coffee would be coming from but disturbed about his partner's lack of privacy.
"I scanned it for signs of rodent life. If that's what's bothering you." She replied, with a hint of displeasure.
The young man sighed.
"Any signs of the Pontiacs?" He mumbled, parking the black corvette to the side of the diner.
"You'll have to give me a minute." She replied, her scanner beating quickly from side to side. "I'm just a prototype, you know. "
Liam sighed, he would have to apologize later.
"Well get it done, and call me once you have something," Liam answered, quick to step out of the vehicle making his way to the diner.
Once inside he approached the cashier.
"Hey, uh can I get one large coffee? With LOTS of caffeine...oh and uh no milk." Whispering the caffeine part, only to be replied to by a heavy buzz of his watch.
"On second thought, de-caf it is. Stuff is nasty for, umm, the heart so they say."
The woman on the other side of the counter shrugged quickly to write it down and shout it over to the kitchen. The diner was rather full.
"Anything else?" The woman replied, disinterested.
"No, that's it."
Dismissing himself he took a seat at a nearby table. He sat there, alone. Watching huge trucks come and go. Wondering to himself if both Pontiacs had even come this way at all and if they were broken down somewhere in the middle of nowhere. His mind was reviewing endless possibilities but started drifting towards his worry about his future with Oriel. He had to admit he didn't have much skill up his sleeve to be even called a proper field agent. He had been the flimsy assistant to a very capable detective not so long ago, but he'd been discarded when a brighter mind had joined the team. Now he found himself in a position of authority and he wasn't sure he liked it. He knew his AI looked up to him for both direction and support but he wasn't sure he could provide it if he was in dire need of it. He sighed. He wasn't up to speed for this job, he would have felt better if someone took his place but he knew the agency didn't have many options either. Funds had gotten scarce over the years, and if he was being honest he wanted to help his friend Professor Hasson.
His mind continued to drift until it started poking at the seams of his thoughts regarding his car; Oriel. She'd also been discarded much like himself, as the agency had decided to use remaining funds to start a new and improved AI to take her place rather soon. He suddenly felt a bit of pity for her, her development had been mid-way. She'd been so close to reaching her full potential, but rather she'd been laid off as a recreational vehicle. The agency hadn't a clue what to do with the prototype without having it take unnecessary space in the labs so eventually they'd assigned her as his personal "golf cart on a trial run" for the time being until her replacement arrived but as for what the future would bring...he knew it was possible there wasn't light at the end of the tunnel anymore. Maybe not for him but for Oriel's sake he hoped there was.
As Liam went over these things in silence at his empty table, Oriel had quickly noted certain things that would be of interest to her driver. There were tire marks scared into the concrete that looked rather recent and further inspection revealed to be the type both Trans Ams happen to have last they had a tire change. She almost jumped with joy! Finally, she'd done something while in the field! The actual work field and not some phony simulation or just because her driver wanted a favor!
"Liam." She called over their private channel, a bit of excitement escaping her voice. Liam quickly cuffed his watch frantically as his coffee happened to be brought to him at the same time. The waiter gave him a suspicious glance as he left.
"I thought I told you to signal first!" Liam nearly shouted between his breaths at his watch.
"I'm sorry but I do believe both Kitt and Karr we're at this establishment." Oriel neatly explained.
"Right, well…" Liam's mind slowly got a grasp of what was at stake. He quickly stood up from his seat.
"Hey, can I get this to go?!" He shouted at the nearest waitress too loud for his liking.
The waiters exchanged glances.
"We don't do take-out, not for drinks."
"You don't?" Liam replied bluntly, knowing very well that he needed to go now. "I can pay for the cup too…"
His answer was greeted with laughter from the kitchen staff.
"No, if you're in such a hurry you'll have to leave it." Demanded the cashier woman from earlier, crossing her arms.
"Look! I have to go! I will pay twice as much as what this cup costs! C'mon please!" Liam begged, walking over to the counter where the staff was glaring at him from.
"No." They continued.
Liam looked sorrowfully to his cup of coffee, so much for nice things. He'd have to get his next coffee at a nicer place, with nicer people. He was about to place it down when the power began to flicker inside the diner. He watched as the staff all trailed to the back of the kitchen, concerned about what was going on. Before Liam could call after them to ask what was wrong, he heard Oriel's voice over his comlink.
"Leave a generous tip and bring the cup, why don't ya?" She teased.
Liam nodded, taking out several bills from his wallet and leaving them on the counter, quick to leave the building while the staff panicked over the power outage.
Oriel opened her driver's door quickly as he came carefully trotting back and dispensed her cup holder. He gently placed his coffee down before closing the door and driving off from the parking lot. He was sure there'd be plenty of people here who wouldn't want to see him any time soon.
"Where they go?" He asked, briefly glancing at Oriel's dark voice modulator.
"By the looks of it, a town not too far off from here, but.." She trailed off as Liam carefully maneuvered the Corvette towards the exit.
"I think they turned around, there are signs of them coming back from town and going up the highway."
"Any points of interest in that direction?" Liam asked hopefully.
"FLAG's headquarters...if that's what you're alluding to." Oriel giggled, making Liam jump in his seat.
"Stop that."
"Sorry, I'm just excited. I've never been in a car chase before." She replied dreamily.
"Well, if all goes right we shouldn't be in one." Liam sighed.
"Oh...you're no fun." Oriel groaned as they took to pursuit mode up the highway.