Act II, Scene 1

The butler informed Michael that the Board was ready for him. He ushered Michael into an enormous room with a large conference table. Well-dressed men and women – most of whom Michael had met before – were seated along both sides.

Jack Lloyd, the current Chairman, rose as Michael entered. "Ladies and gentlemen of the Board, I'd like to present the Foundation's operative, Michael Knight."

"Hello, Michael," said Melissa via a speaker phone near where Lloyd had been sitting. "Where's Uncle Devon?"

"Dr. Quinlin, the consultant Devon brought in on the Cernium 116, asked to meet with him." Michael explained to the entire Board.

"Shall we wait for him?" asked Lloyd.

Michael shook his head. "No need."

"I see. Then be seated." Lloyd sat back down as Michael took the empty seat next to him. "This portion of the Board meeting will discuss an agenda item requested by Dr. Naylor."

Dr. Naylor regarded Michael briefly, then turned her attention to the Board members. "I'll get right to the point: The Foundation has limited resources. And limited resources require choices to be made. The Foundation's operative and his . . . support require a significant fraction of those limited resources."

"Umm . . ." said Melissa.

Only Michael appeared to hear Melissa. But before he could say anything, Dr. Naylor continued.

"Since a picture is worth a thousand words . . ."

She pressed a button on a remote. The lights in the room dimmed as she pressed more buttons, turning on a TV and a video. The video was comprised of clips of Michael and Kitt: speeding, crashing, making 180 degree turns at high speed, turbo boosting through everything from trailers to walls.

"What you see here is a clear waste of resources. Expensive state of the art technology being used to support a James Bond fantasy run amok."

"Now wait one minute," Melissa protested.

Again, only Michael seemed to hear Melissa. From the looks on various faces, he realized they were deliberately ignoring her.

"I believe Melissa has something to say," he said in a mild tone.

"Miss Knight?" asked Lloyd.

"I'm glad Uncle Devon isn't here to listen to this indictment of Dad's vision."

"Foundation resources should be used to help as many people as possible," replied Dr. Naylor, a tad condescendingly to Michael's ear. "A sentiment I am sure both Devon Miles and Wilton Knight would agree with."

Michael decided to jump into the conversation. "I grew up without money, influence, privilege. And I've seen first-hand how those who do have those things can abuse them. It may not seem like a lot. But Kitt and I, we are helping people. Okay, yeah, sometimes we have to go through a wall. But a wall can be replaced. A human life can't be."

There were murmurs around the table. Michael could sense some Board members were less supportive of Dr. Naylor than they had been originally.

"We really need to hear from Devon Miles himself. Not from those who claim to know his thoughts." Lloyd looked at Dr. Naylor and at the speaker phone equally.

"Claim?" Melissa was outraged. "I've known the man for 18 years, not 18 minutes."

Lloyd chose to ignore her. "We will reconvene on Friday to continue this discussion."

Quickly, Dr. Naylor said, "I move we suspend funding for the Foundation operations until we've had that meeting. And place Mr. Knight on probation, too."

Another Board member – clearly a plant, Michael realized – seconded the motion almost immediately.

Somewhat pained, Lloyd said, "We have a motion and a second. All in favor? All opposed? Any abstentions?" He tallied the count. "Let the record show the motion carries . . . by two votes."

The Board then voted to adjourn. Everyone but Michael and Lloyd left, and Dr. Naylor very pointedly ignored Michael again. Lloyd said goodbye to Melissa and ended the call.

"What just happened?"

"The money budgeted for Kitt's ongoing maintenance and repairs cannot be spent until the Board reconvenes and votes to unfreeze the funding. However, the money can't be spent on anything else, either."

"But –"

"Keep your head down, Michael. Just for a few days. The Cernium 116 will be headed for its home in a day or two. Then Devon will be free to focus on this . . . situation."

"But –"

"It's not as dire as it seems. Dr. Naylor's motion barely carried. Even then, I suspect a couple of Board members may have voted in favor because it won't have any real effect. After all, it's only for a few days. So, no James Bond fantasies run amok, eh?"

Michael looked at Lloyd for a moment, and then he turned and left the meeting room. He exited the building, never looking back. Not even when he was behind the wheel of the Trans-Am.

Act II, Scene 2

Devon had been strapped to a surgical chair, surrounded by several pieces of equipment. Another man was strapped to a second chair while a woman – Dr. Von Furst – operated the equipment as

Nordstorm gloated to Devon about his plans.

He had learned about the Cernium 116 when it had first been developed. And then he set his plans in motion. He had arranged for a man approximately Devon's build to have plastic surgery. Nordstrom had also arranged to replace Dr. Quinlin's assistant with his own agent.

And now he was in a position to replace the man responsible for the security over the Cernium 116 and also have an expert on the isotope in his possession. They just needed to make some minor touch ups to the surgery using laser reconstruction, so that the imposter looked like Devon did now, not as he did in the older photos they had been able to obtain.

Act II, Scene 3

Michael and Kitt left the Board meeting. Kitt was in shock at what had happened, that the Foundation Board could let Wilton Knight's vision die. Michael was furious . . . and desperate to talk with Devon. That meant going to Dr. Quinlin's home.

"Michael?" said Kitt, "Melissa will be in Chicago as soon as her exams are over. And will attend the meeting on Friday . . . in person."

Michael chuckled. "Not surprised. It'll do the Board – and Dr. Naylor – good to hear from Wilton Knight's daughter in person. Oh, and ask Karr to give us a heads up when they leave Lafayette."

"Actually, Michael, Karr wishes to speak with you."

"Wonder what about. Put him through."

"Hello, Michael Knight," said Karr through Kitt's speakers.

"What's up, Karr?"

"Miss Knight is . . . highly displeased with Jennifer Naylor."

"Now there's a surprise." Michael's tone turned thoughtful. "But you didn't need to call me to tell me that."

"Jennifer Naylor came to visit Miss Knight two weeks ago."

"Oh, did she now?" Michael found that very interesting.

Kitt asked, "What did Dr. Naylor want?"

"Jennifer Naylor wishes to serve as a maternal figure for Miss Knight."

"Did she come right out and say that?"

"Not exactly. She stated how unfortunate it was that Miss Knight had lost her mother just when she was of an age to have benefitted from her mother's guidance."

"Dr. Naylor clearly has no understanding of Melissa's relationship with Elizabeth Knight," Kitt observed drily.

"No, she does not," agreed Karr. "She also talked about how important it was for a young lady to have a strong female role model."

"What did Melissa say to that?" asked Kitt.

"She assured Jennifer Naylor that she had strong female role models, especially Bonnie Barstow and April Summers."

Michael chuckled. "And how'd Dr. Naylor take that?"

"She suggested that Melissa needed someone more . . . nurturing."

"So, Dr. Naylor has two strikes so far," said Michael. "She wants to replace Elizabeth Knight, who Melissa doesn't miss, and also Wilton Knight, who she does."

"A baseball metaphor?" Karr inquired.

"Yes," said Michael approvingly.

"Then let us hope Jennifer Naylor is playing baseball and not bowling."

Act II, Scene 4

Michael pulled up in front of Dr. Quinlin's house. Knocking on the door, he heard a dog barking. A woman opened the door, a small dog jumping around and barking at Michael. Apologetically, the woman placed the dog – Roger – in a bedroom, explaining he was going to the vet soon to get fixed.

After Roger was settled, the woman introduced herself as Marta Simmons, Dr. Quinlin's assistant. Michael introduced himself and explained he was looking for Devon Miles. Marta explained that both Dr. Quinlin and Devon were at Thortex, which had offices in downtown Chicago. Michael offered to drive Marta there rather than having her call a cab, since he had a car.

Act II, Scene 5

After making some final touches to the imposter's face, Dr. Von Furst used another piece of equipment to give him Devon's palm print. Then the man who now looked like Devon, began practicing sounding like him, too. Nordstrom – a man who expected perfection at all times– critiqued his efforts. The lookalike Devon reminded Nordstrom he was a professional. Nordstrom dismissed him as a mere craftsman, not a visionary.

Act II, Scene 6

When Michael and Marta arrived at Thortex, the receptionist called upstairs. Shortly, Hower showed up. He explained that both Dr. Quinlin and Devon had already left Thortex, but he offered to have Thortex employees try to track them down.

After a few minutes, the receptionist had a call for Michael. The man Nordstrom had hired to pose as Devon was on the other line. The imposter reassured Michael that he was fine and that he and Dr. Quinlin were working together . . . elsewhere. Michael was only somewhat mollified, in part because the man on the phone hadn't given him his location but mostly because he was suspicious of Hower.

Meanwhile, Kitt was waiting outside. Two men came by and discussed Kitt. They were car thieves but decided against stealing Kitt because he was an older model vehicle. Kitt was quite offended.

Act II, Scene 7

Michael drove Marta home, flirting with her the entire time. Marta flirted back, though she also warned him that she was trouble, to which Michael just grinned. After seeing her safely inside Dr. Quinlin's apartment, Michael decided to go check on the Cernium 116, hoping to find some clue about where Devon was. Or better yet, the man himself in person.

On the way to the storage vault, Kitt raised concerns about his appearance. Due to his earlier run-in with the car thieves, he was feeling old and unwanted. Michael reassured Kitt, though he was amused by his partner's worries.

Act II, Scene 8

On their way to the vault, Michael and Kitt came across some street construction. A maintenance worker waived them into a tunnel. Two other cars came up behind, cars who passengers had semi-automatic rifles. Which did them no good up against Kitt's MBS coating.

Michael suggested they use Pursuit Mode to escape. But there was a dump truck parked at the other end of the tunnel. Seeing no other option, Michael used Turbo Boost to get them over the dump truck and away from danger.