One More Knight Please

Chapter 5: Knight in shining armor

The next morning, we were awoken by loud crashing coming from the parking lot. Micheal and I must have had the same idea because we ran to the window together. It was what I had feared most. The black Mustang, the 3000, and the Trans-am had been fighting, wrecking into each other like bumper cars.
"What is that car?" Micheal said, referring to the Mustang.
I gulped hard. He would recognize me as the one who powered him off. He would target me, like Christine.
"That is the 3000, he must have been powered on when you powered on Kitt," I said.
"Look, there is someone in it," Micheal said.
There was a person in the passenger seat of the 3000, the windshield made his facial details unable to be read, under the perfect disguise.
"Maybe he powered him back on, but why?" I said.
The 3000 fought with the 2000 a little longer, then realized he wasn't doing anything to him, then ran off.
"This isn't going to be fun for anyone anymore," I said.
Micheal and I ran down to the lobby, Micheal checked out, and I ran to Kitt.
"What happened?" I said.
"Someone powered the 3000, and he attacked me..." Kitt said.
"Did you get any facial details?" I asked.
"I did." He said. He opened the door for me and showed me the pictures on the screen.
The man looked older, not as old as Micheal, but older than me. He had black hair that seemed like it hadn't been washed in weeks, deep brown eyes, an almond-shaped head, and a scar above his left eye.
"Who is that?" I asked.
"I did a scan, his name is Andrello Lamehns, he works as a mechanical engineer at a refrigerator company, the name... Wait that can't be right," Kitt said.
"What is it?" Micheal asked.
"The name of the company is Berio Electronics, I thought we knocked them off years ago."
"They've been trying to steal our tech nowadays," I said. The company was in fact familiar, they've tried to run us out of business several times, all being unsuccessful.
"Did 3000 say anything to you?" Michael asked, changing the topic.
"He said that he was the alpha version of me," Kitt said.
"Sounds like somebody else I used to know," Micheal said.
"Now is not the time for humor, Micheal," Kitt said.
"How did you defeat Karr?." I asked.
"I'll have Kitt show you the clips, it's a long story," Micheal said as he got into the driver's seat once more.
I got in the passenger seat and sat silent.
As we left, I was still quiet.
"Susan, is there something wrong?" Kitt asked.
"Yeah, a potential killer is on the loose," I said.
"Don't worry, you are protected by my molecular bonded shell," Kitt said
"That's not what I'm worried about, I'm worried what will happen if he beats us to Chicago and causes big irreversible damage," I said.
"Susan, you're basing your worries on a what if, there is no certainty that it will happen," Kitt said.
"Besides, we'll take care of him, just like Karr, right Kitt," Micheal added.
"I was hoping you wouldn't say that," Kitt said.
"That reminds me, Kitt, show Susan the footage of the two times we defeated Karr," Micheal demanded.
The screens came to life with a flicker and some static, then there was a video.
There was another car, it looked just like Kitt, but it was headed straight on in a crash course at the camera, which I inferred was attached to Kitt's front bumper. The car came closer and closer, the recording had no audio, so I couldn't tell if it was speeding up or not, but right before it rammed into Kitt, it turned and went over a cliff.
"Oh my.." I said, in reaction to the slightly graphic video.
"The second one is a little worse, and it has audio," Micheal said as the screen went black again.
There was more static.
"I'm having a hard time recovering the video for this one.." Kitt said.
"Did it get deleted?" Micheal asked.
"I don't remember deleting it.." Kitt said.
"Dig a little deeper," Micheal said
There was more static than a video appeared. It was of another Trans-am, painted cherry red. It then shut off quickly.
"Kitt, what was that?" Micheal said with a smirk
"Don't worry about it," Kitt answered.
"Spicy," I said quietly, just quiet enough so Micheal could hear it, but not Kitt.
Micheal burst out laughing. I didn't think it was that funny, but it must've been to him.
"What is so funny?" Kitt said, irritated.
"Nothing, just find the video," Micheal said shortly.
After a few more minutes of static, another video popped up on the screen.
There was the roar of an engine, then a two-tone trans-am appeared. It rammed into the camera a few times. The video was mostly the car just fighting the camera, but then, at the very end, the camera and the car jumped at the same moment in time, the camera, which I assumed to be Kitt, had hit the other car in the right direction, and it had exploded. Then, the video ended, leaving nothing but a blank screen.
My mouth gaped open. I was speechless, the other car had been speaking as well.
"Susan? You alright?" Micheal asked.
"You murdered him," I said.
"It was provoked," Micheal said
"But that was still a foundation vehicle, with technology that could be salvaged," I said.
"He was a failure," Micheal said.
Why did I feel sympathy for Karr? He was the antagonist, and he should have known how that was going to end, but that was just how he was programmed. He thought he was doing the right thing, but he wasn't.
"He was just going about his program." I tried to explain.
"No," Kitt said.
"Why so?" I said.
"If he was going about his normal program, that is self-preservation, he wouldn't have attacked again, he would have known better since he and I are protected by the same shell. Kitt explained.
"But couldn't you just power him off?" I asked.
"Too dangerous," Micheal said.
"Susan, I understand your concern and pity, but Karr was out of control, there was nothing anyone could do but destroy him. He was a much bigger threat than you credit him for." Kitt said.
"I guess that makes sense," I said.
I sat back in my seat. Maybe I just pity the wrong people. Some people may judge me for this, but I pitied Christine. I felt that only wrong was done to her. She was only trying to protect Arnie because she loved him. I gazed out the window, I predicted that it would take about two days to get back to Chicago.
"Kitt, How long will it be till we get to Chicago?" Micheal asked.
"About 37 hours." He said.
The dry climate was starting to depress me, maybe I was just so used to the lush life in Chicago. This whole trip I hadn't seen any animals besides roaches.
"Micheal" Kitt said suddenly.
"Yes, Kitt?" Micheal responded.
"We are going to have to make a pit stop at the next gas station."
"Okay," Micheal said as he looked down at Kitt's fuel gauges.
I looked in Kitts's mirror, oh no, not him again.
"I think we have company," I said
"What do you mean, that's just a Ford explorer," Micheal said, looking at the car.
"That's what you think," I said.
Just then, Kitt took a sudden turn and turned into a gas station, the Ford Explorer just kept going straight.
"Micheal was right, I took the liberty of scanning it, it was just a normal Ford Explorer," Kitt said.
"Just be warned, the 3000 can appear as any Ford car it wishes to be," I said.
Micheal got out of the car to work the pump, I got out and ran in to go get some food, considering I hadn't eaten anything yet today. It was a Sheetz, so I was able to get some Mac N' Cheese, Funyuns, and some Coca-Cola. When I was walking back to Kitt, some guy grabbed my wrist. I whipped my head around so quickly, I almost gave myself whiplash. It was the same guy who had driven the 3000. I tried to get away but his grip was too tight. I looked around, Micheal must have gone inside. Kitt was parked somewhere else, I couldn't find him. I didn't know what to do so I just shouted.
"KITT!! KITT!! HELP ME!!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, and to no surprise, the Trans-am came racing over.
He gently, but forcefully knocked the man away from me with a light tap. In confusion, the man let go of my wrist, and I took off running, I was looking for Micheal. I got stopped again, by the 3000. He was straight in front of me. My body aligned with the spot where the light touched on his scanner. A perfect setup.
"Kitt... you don't want to do this," I said.
"Oh good... You recognize me.." He said ominously.
"Kitt.." I said.
He inched closer. "I'm not going to hurt you." He said, his robotic voice was deeper and scarier than in the 2000's.
"Then what are you doing here," I said. The 2000 drove closely behind me protectively.
"Why did you power me off?" He said, getting closer. He was pushing me out of my comfort zone.
"I had not a choice, you were killing people," I said.
"Was I?" He said.
I panicked, had he not remembered anything that had happened?
"We're just going to pretend that he didn't either?" He said, referring to the 2000.
"I have not harmed anyone, my main program is-"
"So was mine." the 3000 hissed. Was... he said was... What is that supposed to mean?
"You.. overrode your main program?" The 2000 said.
"With pride..." He hissed.
I moved away from the two, returning to Micheal,
"What's going on.." Micheal asked.
"They're fighting," I answered.