It's been a week since the accident - young Melissa, who at the tender age of ten, has to watch as her mother's cremated remains are under the ground. The girl can't stop crying, the pain neverending as some last words are spoken by her now guardian over the freshly filled grave.
She spoke quietly after her guardian finished speaking, "I miss you so much, Mommy." Afterward, Melissa is led away with great care from the grave to a waiting vehicle by her guardian, Brian.
The vehicle, a product of late twenty-first-century technology, includes a sentient Artificial Intelligence placed inside the chassis. "I'm very sorry for your loss, Melissa. Is there something I can do to help you?" The gentle, feminine voice of the computer speaks softly as its purple voice modulator lights up on the dashboard, and at the same time, the engine starts.
Melissa doesn't speak, and Brian glances at his ward. He replies, "Please drive us home. There's not much else you can do for now, but thank you for asking."
The computer with no name or designation does as requested without another word - 'Now is not the time to ask for a name.' The computer's circuits are running somewhat erratically, and she has emotions. The computer's processors feel sadness. 'Soon, I hope.' she thinks as she drives home.
Melissa barely hears the exchange. However, she does look up at the modulator and thinks.
Forty minutes later, they reach their destination - a large house west of Los Angeles. Melissa and Brian exit the vehicle, and the car drives to the garage, a short distance from the house. It then parks, turns itself off, and starts to recharge.
Before she proceeds into the house, Melissa looks toward the garage and then turns away, grasping Brian's hand as they walk through the front door.
"How about I'll get you something to eat, Melissa? There's something I like to give you afterward." Brian suggests and releases Melissa's hand. He kisses her forehead and heads off toward the kitchen. A few minutes later, Brian returns with one of her favorite meals, a peanut butter and jam sandwich with a glass of milk.
Melissa takes a few bites before deciding she has enough. She asks, "Uncle Brian, you had something for me. What is it?" The tears are starting to well up once again.
"I think your mother would have wanted you to have this..." Brian holds up a box about the size of a portable old-time television. He has a sad smile on his face.
Melissa takes the box, mutters a quiet thanks, and heads up the stairs toward her bedroom. She closes the door behind her once entering the room. Melissa places the box on the nearby bed. After opening the box, she discovers some pictures, mainly of herself when she was younger, and one is in a frame. It was both her and her mom when they were happy together. The framed picture now has a new place - the night table beside the bed.
Along with some papers, Melissa discovers a chip in a tiny container - a jewelry ring box. Despite being ten, she has the knowledge of how to use computers and a chip reader available. Tears now dry up - Melissa carefully removes the chip from the ring box and places it in the reader. A few seconds later, a holographic image shows. It turns out the chip has a tiny built-in projector as well.
Melissa stares at the image. It's blurry at first, then clears after a few moments. It's a black car, a model type unknown to the girl and a man beside it. The man had grey hair, bright blue eyes, and a nice smile, thinks Melissa. "To whoever is viewing this message, my name is Michael Knight, and this is my friend, Kitt," the man pats the hood of the car as he introduces it. "Say something, Kitt."
"Really, Michael. I can do my introduction, thank you," the car responds, along with what sounds like static from within it.
"Don't mind him - he's just laughing at me." Michael, in turn, winks at the car.
"I'm the Knight Industries Two Thousand - K.I.T.T. for easy reference. However, I prefer Kitt." The car has a dignified voice full of warmth as he speaks.
Melissa is very interested in the Holo image. She wants to know more about them.
The hologram continues. There are images of both Michael and Kitt together as they drive along a highway while at the same time conversing about topics from food to football. The conversations are endless, it seems. Michael explains, "We worked for the Foundation for Law and Government. Our job was dangerous at times." The images have both of them hit with bullets, bombs exploding, and fires. "I'm very sorry if what you saw was upsetting. It's examples of what we faced together, but we both felt you had a right to know what we did in the past."
Kitt said, "We survived everything you saw because we relied on each other. After so many years together, we knew we had and still have an unbreakable bond."
The images show how happy they are with each other as both tell jokes. There's laughter after each joke. More images show;
1. Michael washes the Trans AM.
2. Kitt's complaints about Michael's food choices.
3. Michael's affectionate pats on Kitt's dashboard.
4. Both of them played a quiet game of chess.
5. Kitt parked at a beach while he and Michael watched the sunset.
The many images continue for five more minutes. "These were the best times of our lives. I wish we could have shown more, but there's limited space on this data disk. At least you know a little bit what it's like for the both of us, a human and an A.I. - neither of us would change a thing." Michael smiles.
"If you have an A.I. Please give him or her a name. When I was first activated, there were only two of us - it was so long ago now. It was my brother Karr and myself." Kitt had decided it was his turn to speak. The computer's voice was sad for a moment and regained its warmth. "I never regretted working and in our later years living with Michael. Being a fully sentient computer, I learned and felt all the emotions a human has- joy, humor, sadness, anger, guilt, remorse, and especially love. Please remember this message and know a computer can have a loving relationship with a human like I have with Michael."
The image of Michael and Kitt disappears, and one last image shows - it's a headstone, and the markings on it read, 'Michael Knight and Kitt - Together Forever.'
Melissa, at first, starts to cry again but stops almost immediately and realizes despite her young age, the two of them were very happy right up to the end and wanted to rest together. Someone else must have added the last image to the chip.
No more tears, the girl decides.
Melissa removes the chip from the reader and places it into the ring box. She intends to keep it with all her other treasures. A picture of her mom she had previously on her dresser, the new one with both mom and her on the night table, her favorite stuffed toy on the bed, and now the ring box she places under her pillow for safekeeping.
Melissa leaves her room, goes down the stairs, and walks toward the kitchen, where her 'Uncle Brian' still sits in a chair by the kitchen table. "Uncle Brian, may I go to the garage, please? - I need to talk to someone there," she asks softly.
Brian, at first, is confused but knows afterward his ward is speaking of the car currently recharging there. "Of course, do you want me to go with you?" He replies with a slight smile.
Melissa shakes her head no. "I'm ok. I'll be back soon." She smiles at her 'uncle'. It's been many days since her last one. Melissa quickly walks over to the garage and enters the large opening. She turns on the nearby light switch. The garage is quite large, with enough room for several vehicles, but there's only one vehicle present at this time - the one young Melissa was in earlier. She walks to the car and lightly taps the driver's side window.
The computer immediately responds by opening the driver's door. "I'm sorry, Melissa, I was recharging. Is there an emergency?" The yet unnamed Artificial Intelligence asks gently.
Melissa smiles and replies, "No, I came to see you. I want to give you a name."
The computer is very surprised yet glad at the news. A piece of her identity is missing as long as she doesn't have a name or designation until a certain human would give her one - in this case the young child currently in the driver's seat.
"I like to call you, Bonnie," Melissa said with a happy tone and a grin on her face from ear to ear.
"Bonnie? I like it very much, thank you!" The A.I. responds happily. She finally has a name.
The next day, the girl tells Bonnie why she chose the name for the computer. "You're named after my great, great grandmother," Melissa said with a twinkle in her eyes.
