Someone must have left the door open…
He feebly picked up on the swift and chilling burst of wind lightly salted with a fishy tang. Listening to a few gulls barking at one another in agonizing discontent — Maybe they'd lost a meal? He felt himself momentarily home and grasping for Michael in his painful discomfort. — It was the ocean, a touch of home. Perhaps he wasn't all that far from the foundation at all. He tried to momentarily blanket himself with that small hope. Feeling helpless at the merciless hands of Cameron's scientific team.
If he was close to home then maybe Michael could find him —
Then the door slammed shut behind them, sealing the wind quickly away along with the screech of birds.
The warehouse was enveloped in silence once more…or for a short moment…
Whoever they were, they had picked a peculiar set of footwear to visit his imprisonment. The methodical tap of heels echoing in the warehouse providing the AI with something else to keep his feeble being concentrated on.
Even with his CPU constricted cautiously to minimum power levels he could tell these high heels did not belong to those who delicately selected tools of torture thrown about on stainless steel insturment tables all neatley lined against the wall for later use.
The high heels subsided for a second, he wondered if she was simply dropping something off or possibly the opposite. There was a long pause before he heard her clicks come closer.
As she drew closer, he could faintly pick up on her uneven breath. It gave him the impression that she'd been in a rush to get here.
When she was close enough he could see just the faintest of forms with his intentionally opaque visual receptors, the scientist had been weary of his access to full range vision – He was to be kept shackled and handicapped.
The woman was close enough that he picked up on her concerned posture. A distinct change to that of the scientist who had been prodding him gleefully to no avail just a few moments ago.
He was still hurting and very exhausted but who was she? What was she doing here? Her intentions of being here were unclear, for starters having forgotten to approach the instrument table first for his next session of misery.
She reached for his prow, hastily running her finger tips along his weakly pulsating scanner, clearing out the grime and dust of deteriorated saws used in the last hour. It was here, under her touch that he was aware of who she was, it couldn't be clearer.
"Gina, what are you doing here?" Kitt whispered, unsure if anyone else was present. His proximity sensors were all afflicted by the constant interference from a nearby device, hindering his ability to read the environment correctly — Not that it had been necessary, he hardly had enough power running through his electronic veins to even keep himself aware...
"Oh my God." she stepped back, covering her gasp. "You're still operational." She hunkered closer to the scanner, taking in its sudden lapse to darkness with worry.
"Minimally operational." Kitt corrected, hastily dismissing that thought for a more crucial one. "Where are we? Where's Michael? Did you escape?" The car immediately bombarded her. Feeling the awkward pull of his systems all wailing to be revived.
There was a glimmer of hope in his faint voice, a little knot forming in his nonexistent throat that he hoped she was unable to pick up on. For his entire being was counting on Michael's survival —
The woman pinched her lips, his blurry vision noting the sudden solid line her cheery lips were making.
"Kitt, I –" She hesitated, now her entire body just tilting from one leg to the other in anxiety.
"Gina." Kitt interrupted her. "Pardon but we haven't got time — Cameron has inflicted damage on my system. I don't know how long I will hold before he's able to override access to my internals. I need Michael now. Can you contact him?" Kitt rushed her over the subject at hand. There was no need for apologies, those would have to wait until they could leave this all safely behind.
Gina simply ran a hand across her cheek. Her mouth pressed shut —
He awaited an answer from her patiently. Perhaps she'd just escaped her own containment and needed a moment of reflection. There were no sirens. No bells or whistles screaming abroad of her escape, but Cameron's men would figure it out soon. Especially with that no good for nothing Simpson patrolling the site. The man gave the car the creeps, always watching…always aware.
"Gina," Kitt remarked politely. "I'm sorry, but we have little time before they know you've left. Over there, on the desk with the orange lamp. There is a control panel that will release me from the lift." Kitt instructed, gravely.
Gina sobbed, running her hands through her eyes.
"Gina." Kitt lamented, meekly. How he'd wish Michael had come instead! The man was skillful when it came to escapes, they'd had their full share of them in the past — This would have run a lot smoother if he'd come instead of her!
Kitt tried to regain an eased composure, aware he'd have to give her another few moments to regain her own control. He didn't want to come off as pushy, he was a gentleman after all but this was merely more than waiting for social cues — They needed to leave now!
After several minutes of painstaking sobbing, Kitt remarked thoughtfully over her sighs.
"Gina, we really must be going, my dear."
The woman stepped forward, placing a comforting hand over the cold hood.
"Kitt, we can't leave." She expressed between her heaving voice.
"I wouldn't worry about that." Kitt explained, fondly. "Get me down and we will sort this out." Kitt cautiously added, somewhat distraught of the implications of her comment. Perhaps…Michael wasn't here at all…
The woman shook her head between tears.
"No, you don't understand." She briskly pulled a handkerchief from her pocket, dabbing at her eyes. "I helped Cameron."
"Oh, Gina." Kitt replied, unnerved. "I know, but you didn't mean too —"
The woman wrapped her arms around her, stepping away.
"No, I meant it — I mean it this time."
Kitt watched her clasp her hands together, rolling the handkerchief into a ball.
She was fairly dressed, everything neatly ironed and wrinkle free. Her wrists holding onto a profumo fragrance. That wasn't all, her hair was neatly balanced into a bun, accompanied by a plethora of jewelry dangling from her throat. Her heels — untouched.
"Gina," Kitt dared. His voice faltered. "You mean to say…that you're not here to…help me?" His voice broke into a static shriek.
The woman bowed her head in a slow nod.
"Cameron brought you here…I just…I needed to see you." She explained, suddenly closing the gap between them.
Kitt snarled his scanner, making the woman jump back.
"What for?" His voice rose.
"To forgive me." She pleaded, teary eyed.
Kitt thought it was the most selfish thing he'd ever heard!
"Excuse me? But do you understand what they are planning to do with me? I'm sorry but I seriously can't bear to speak to you right now!" The car snapped, Kitt stealing a last glance of her before metaphorically gazing away.
She was bright red, flushed with embarrassment. Suited her just fine!
"Kitt, Cameron just wants to know — Listen, it's not that bad…" She stumbled, between snorts. Poorly trying to believe her own lies, he almost felt sorry for her.
"You're an accomplice." Kitt gravely answered. "And Michael will hate you for it."
The woman's face drained of color.
"No, no….He wouldn't hurt you —" The woman insisted, suddenly hysterical. "Cameron just wants to know how you work, that's all."
"What happens after?" Kitt asked, sternly. "If he even succeeds with seeing what it is I am?"
The woman briskly brushed her arm.
" — I'm not sure." She stalled. "With time maybe —"
"Gina! Baby! It's talking to you?!"
Kitt jumped within his CPU feeling his electronic heart freeze mid pulse.
He watched her similarly tense before him in a blurry mess.
He felt frustrated that Cameron had heard his voice again. He'd sounded so — small, this morning. So…impotent when he'd yelled for Michael's help. And now the man had heard him converse so smoothly with this disdainful woman who had shamelessly turned on them both!
The man approached hastily, enveloping her in his arms without second thought. She gasped in complete surprise as his cheek touched hers.
"What's the matter?" The color nearly drained from his own face, when she didn't return the embrace. "Did it harm you?"
The woman balked at him, uncertain if to explain. She wasn't supposed to be here — and now she was talking with the car?
They held a gaze only for a mere second before the man's face darkened and turned to the instruments of torture set aside by the wall. Kitt was certain that he was finished — There was little energy left in him to fight and resist. Gina had all but taken his spirit with her betrayal, this fatal armament had done the trick. Tonight would mark his untimely end.
"No, it – he didn't!…We were just in conversation." The woman floundered over her heels, her eyes darting every which way.
The man eyed her skeptically before turning his attention back to Kitt, who was keenly keeping them both under his scrutinizing crimson glare.
"You were 'conversing' with the car?" The man asked slowly. "This car hasn't 'conversed' since we brought it in, how could you be having a conversation" The man pointed out matter-of-factly. "How did you do that?" He asked, completely astonished.
"I know." The woman took a coy approach. " — But Kitt finds me alluring." She meekly replied.
'Oh, please!' Kitt gaged silently to that.
"I do not!" Kitt irked out loud, his entire system bound to object. He found himself bashfully turning his front tires away in weak agony, as though his chassis was inclined to stroll away. Was the woman inclined to make a fool of him prior to his own demise!?
The outburst startled the man, making him jump before bursting into laughter that silenced them all.
Pointing at the car with a great smile he turned to Gina.
"Your great beauty has subjugated this creature to your heels." The man chuckled in time with Gina's flushed expression. " — I should have asked you sooner to join us…"
"No!" Kitt objected loudly. "I find her nothing of the sort!" Kitt panicked; he'd broken his silence and yet was awfully relieved to trash talk the foolish woman in front of the man — If he were to fall perhaps it would be best if it weren't in silence. "She came to me and asked for my —"
" — I asked for his complete cooperation." The woman intervened, smoothly. " — However, he did bring to my attention how awful his treatment is here with your team."
Kitt internally frowned, his obscured vision trying it's best to read the woman's fogged face. Why, what was it she was planning? It almost sounded like she was pitying him.
Cameron chuckled lightly before crossing his arms.
" — That's because I want the processor." He gawked down at the car as though he were, yet again, a school boy absurdly in love. Kitt whirred his scanner in consternation, it fell flat of an impression but he didn't care.
Gina felt a shiver go down her spine, she gulped before replying. Stealing her gaze away from the car.
"Oh, he sees that but he doesn't think that would be the best way to…'understand' him."
"Well that won't work." Cameron dismissed this thought almost instantly. "I need the processor, how else am I supposed to know how it works and use it?" The man was baffled with her sudden interest.
"Cameron, that might kill him!" The woman threw arms into the conversation.
The man furrowed his brows at her outburst.
" — and you don't want that?"
The woman felt her tongue scrape against the ceiling of her mouth, sandpaper like — Would he believe her? Would his love for her allow Kitt the exception of life? Even for a while longer?
"No, I don't want that." She insisted, taking a more assertive stance. "Kitt is just so pleasant to be around, I would hate to see such a complex system be suffocated under your impulse to scrap him all in one heap." She implored. "Wouldn't it be best if you studied him, while he's still — sentient? Even for a little while, I'm sure you would unlock a lot more if he's operational."
"You speak as though I want to put a dog down." Cameron grumbled, eyeing the car bitterly. "Gina, it's just a machine." He groused.
The woman burst into a bright smile.
" — But what if it isn't? And in taking the processor out you miss that completely?" She theorized excitedly, drawing closer to the man with a gleaming smile.
The man shrugged.
"I see what you're getting at but I can't keep an entire system online taking space and resources when we could be advancing our own agenda with this technology, dear. Simpson already has plans for possible usage of this device."
" — But you said it yourself, Cameron. We have all the time in the world, here on this island." She mischievously smiled, throwing him a sly wink.
The man smirked, collecting her in his arms affectionately.
"So it's settled, You'll be in charge of making our little canary sing."
Kitt coughed static, objectively close to having a memory dump.