Familial State

Mike yawned and stretched out on his pod's bed. He eyed the ceiling, bored and restless. The SSC was dead this night. Everybody else had gone out, leaving just him...and KITT. Speaking of whom... Mike swung his legs over the edge and stood up, yawning and stretching his arms high over his head, working the kinks out. He hadn't heard from said partner since earlier in the evening. Not that anything was wrong with that...just, well, he needed some of that stirring conversation that only a supersmart artificial intelligence could offer. Anything, really, just to break this damn boredom that had begun to settle in over the past few weeks.

"KITT?" he whispered, hoping to hear the AI's voice answer as quickly as he had come to expect him to. He received none. Hm. He went to his pod's door and it swept open for him. He shuffled out, stifling another yawn. The hallway opened up as he reached the overlook of the main floor of the SSC. It was still dimly silhouetted in shadow. They hadn't gotten around to getting any proper lighting for the place. Secretly, Mike liked the dimness, it added to the secret-organization-that-not-even-the government-could-know-about atmosphere they had built up since the FBI and NSA pulled the plug on them.

He leaned against the railing, his eyes sweeping the SSC: the large screen in the front of the room, the table with laptops and various other tech stuff Billy and Zoe used in front of the screen, before settling on his partner. KITT sat on his gimble, facing away from him. The Mustang's black skin gleaming even in the near darkness of the main floor. He smiled and pushed off the railing, walking silently toward the staircase down to the main floor. KITT would probably notice him before he even stepped down one stair, but even after Mike stepped off the final rung, KITT still hadn't acknowledged his presence, which in itself, was very out of character. He usually always kept a constant eye on Mike, even when they were here at home base.

Mike quietly stopped behind KITT's back bumper and shoved his hands into his pockets as he leaned forward to peek in through the back windshield. KITT had several files opened and displayed on his front windshield, which doubled as an interactive Head's-Up Display, or HUD. He flipped between two files, both having contents that dealt with the first incarnation of the Foundation for Law and Government, FLAG. Mike's hair bristled as KITT brought a dossier of his father, the first Michael Knight and driver of the original KITT, up for viewing. He had met his estranged father only once, at his mother's funeral. God...how long ago was that? Only a year...a single year. Seemed much longer than that. Only once, but he hoped it wouldn't be the last time.

He blinked and saw KITT bring another file up for viewing. This time, it was a dossier for the Knight Industries Two Thousand, the first KITT. He pulled up an in-action shot of his predecessor and seemed to ponder the picture, holding it up on his screen. Mike's eyes flickered to KITT's "eye", trying to get a glimpse at the AI could possibly be thinking. From his earwig, he could have sworn, at the moment, he heard a small whimper from his partner. Mike's eyes widened. KITT didn't whimper.

"KITT?" he asked hesitantly.

KITT did a virtual jump at Mike's voice and quickly shoved the files he had opened away and linked himself to the gimble controls, slowly bringing himself around to face his driver. "M-Michael. I-I did not hear you come down. Please excuse me...I hope you have not been standing there long."

Mike shrugged and grinned, "I wasn't. You're fine. Nothing wrong with going through the old family photo album."

KITT didn't respond and Mike wondered if he should have said that. KITT looked over his driver, his friend's face. He could tell Mike. He could tell him and he would understand. The bond they had formed through their many adventures would surely allow for that

"Michael, may I confess something to you?" Mike pulled up a chair and sat down in front of him, KITT's red hood scanner, faintly illuminating his shirt front