Kitt was waiting quietly at the edge of the parking lot, doing some quiet people watching as slow-moving crowds exited and entered the rather large warehouse-looking building pushing extra-large grocery carts to their cars. The day was warm and hot, all the other car's parked around him broiling inside and becoming stuffy. Kitt felt pity for those other cars, unable to turn on their AC's on their own while their owners leisurely took their time inside of this humungous wholesale store.
Michael was taking a while too, having convinced Kitt that he'd only had come for a hotdog and would only take a couple of minutes had failed to keep his part of the bargain. Several minutes had elapsed and now it was over an hour.
Kitt wouldn't have minded the wait as much if Michael had bothered in calling him up first to let him know something had come up but of course he hadn't and Kitt was left alone bunched up between SUVs, Minivans, and pickup trucks. He was sticking out like a sore thumb mostly for being a now very extinct Pontiac, his black gleam making up for it to an extent.
Most people would walk by and point from time to time, mostly those who actually were aware of the treasure sitting smack dab in the middle of the SUV fortress surrounding him. The majority that nostalgically commented about him being older people, and maybe an occasional young car enthusiast.
Other than these small encounters, Kitt was rather bored in the parking lot. There wasn't much to do, other than watch and wait. He switched on his classical music listening to it soberly playing in his cabin as he compiled a list of complaints he'd be voicing to Michael a little later.
His attention drew to his systems after a while, wondering if he could play a game of sorts on his dash to pass the time but at the moment it didn't seem that enticing. Over the year's his dash had gone through several modifications but had held the same design that he'd come to love. With hardware modifications came software updates. Kitt had at his disposal all sorts of new and old programs alike.
He looked over his library of games, there was one he'd been wanting to play along with Michael given it was a coop game and since Kitt's graphic's card had been replaced recently with a much powerful one, he was rather excited to try it out. Sadly Michael being busy he wouldn't be able to see its first debut, Kitt took the liberty to try it out on his own.
The game loaded with little to no problems but the load screen was a little eerie...past his first impression of the game was the realization that it was the sequel and that he'd somehow missed that simple fact. There was always the option of waiting and downloading the first one but at the moment Kitt felt too impatient to wait, so he promptly started the single-player campaign.
Another loading screen later he was playing as a character stuck in a tightly enclosed space and a disembodied voice telling him what to do. The game controls were very basic, but it bothered Kitt that the character could not so much as run. Walking everywhere sounded daunting.
Finally after going through what the disembodied announcer claimed was a "mandatory physical and mental wellness exercise" the true fun began. He was quickly introduced to a blue-eyed sphere with a British accent. Kitt felt a little odd as he played along with the charade, knowing well that the blue-eyed sphere was supposed to be an AI. It was rather uncanny that an AI such as Kitt was playing a game about another AI. It was rather a curious situation. After perhaps another 30 minutes, Kitt had grown a friendly attachment to the blue-eyed sphere as it helped him throughout the game. The portal gun, as it was called, was an interesting game mechanic for sure and Kitt wondered If Michael would be able to even join him on the fun at all, given the experience could be disorientating. Although the science behind the portal gun was fictional is was very fascinating. The dialogue through the game was also very entertaining keeping Kitt glued to the entire gameplay up until Michael had knocked worriedly on the door.
"Michael!" Kitt cheerfully chimed pausing the game on his screen as he examined his driver over. "What took you so long?"
Michael sighed.
"Well, I ate my hotdog…"
"And?"
Michael put his hands up in guilt.
"I bought groceries."
Kitt glanced behind him, noting a heavily packed grocery cart with all kinds of edibles and housewares. Without a moment to spare Kitt popped the trunk, Michael nodding to him in appreciation.
As he promptly loaded the trunk Michael decided to let Kitt in on something else.
"I umm, I also bought a new phone."
The jealousy literally sprung from Kitt's turbine.
"I thought we'd talked about this."
Michael nodded reassuringly, taking a seat and closing the door behind him.
"Uh, yes."
"Michael, what is it about a new smartphone that I can't do?"
"Kitt," Michael groaned. "My old one was cracked, it froze a lot…"
"Yes, it did...but that was simply because you dropped it way too many times…" Kitt countered. "There was nothing remotely wrong with it, you could call and text! What more do you want? Besides, can't I do that too?"
Michael winced, there was something else he was holding on to.
"Kitt, uh, It had internet access problems and I wanted some, you know...hook up some music with this thing.."
"What's wrong with me using my tapes?" Kitt was well aware he had a disk player and mp3 player on board but he had to admit he had a warm attachment to his tape player, it was one of the things he really didn't want to let go even if it got jammed from time to time.
"Nothing…" Michael explained, "Just that, with a phone hooked up to your dash...we could listen to a wider range of music…"
"Michael I'm fully connected to the internet…" Kitt caught on to the loophole. "Why didn't you just ask?"
Michael clasped his hands.
"Thing is…" He gently grasped the yoke. "I want to listen to music on the go you know? Not just when we're on the road."
Kitt let out an internal sigh.
"I see."
He was honestly getting tired of being replaced by glass sandwiches that could barely hold onto a conversation and had little to no personality. Everyone had one nowadays...but not everyone had a talking car...
Kitt turned his engine on, deciding he be driving home for Michael given he was already fishing out the new phone from his pocket and commenting on its many functions…'What a waste.'...Kitt thought.
"Look, this thing has way more cameras than my old one," Michael commented excitedly, pointing out the four lenses on the back.
"Yes," Kitt grumbled, "Not that it has x-ray or micro scanners, or how about a chemical analyzer for size?"
Michael looked down at Kitt's voice modulator.
"Why do I get the feeling you don't like this thing?"
"Because I don't! You spend more time with that thing than me!" Kitt shouted involuntarily.
Michael's jaw dropped.
"Kitt, buddy, you don't have to be jealous about a simple phone. Now, you know what I think of you. You're my partner! My best friend."
"I've heard that one before." Kitt spat.
"Kitt," Michael went on gently grasping the yoke affectionately as Kitt continued to drive. "I am very grateful for having you as my greatest friend."
Kitt felt touched by the sentiment.
"Thank you Micha-"
"Devon Miles is calling." Chimed the new phone interrupting Kitt entirely, sending Michael in a frenzy to shut it up, accidentally dropping it between the seat and the central console. Michael prying at the upholstery desperately trying to reach the slim piece of glass.
Kitt internally grumbled his scanner loudly at the vermin, as he watched Michael struggle to simply answer the call while brushing it off gently. A simple action Kitt could instantly do without the hassle of having to say...swipe up or swipe down...He tinted the cabin windows as he continued to make his way home.
"Yo, Devon." Micheal nervously replied eyeing Kitt's dash apologetically.
"Ahem." Kitt went on quietly. "What was that you were saying a little while ago?"
Michael gestured for him to quiet down as he took the call privately...so much for consideration.
The call soon ended, Michael putting the phone just on top of the yoke under Kitt's voice modulator, earning him a loud protest from Kitt.
"Michael if we're going to be hauling that thing around then at least have some consideration."
Michael was quick to place it in the passenger seat but after a brief hesitation promptly opted for putting it inside the glove box.
"Kitt, you are irreplaceable." He emphasized. "A phone is simply just that, a phone, you...you are my friend and I mean it! I would never replace you with a phone, no phone in the world could turbo boost over trains or take bullets like you and especially turbo boost into my heart."
"Michael that's…"
"Bonnie Barstow is calling…" Chimed the muffled annoying brat once more.
"Nobody asked you!" Kitt snapped, as Michael groaned in frustration. Maybe he shouldn't have bought a smartphone after all.