Hello, my name is KITT

The night seemed to last forever. Every twenty minutes or so, KI3T’s scanner light would flash brightly, his engine revving as if trying to escape some unseen threat. Then he’d wake up, realize where he was, and attempt to go back to sleep mode. It continued for hours.

“Poor thing,” KI2T commented, watching his son try to settle down again for the fifth time.

On KI3T’s other side, Herbie was pacing angrily, engine growling.

“Look at him,” Herbie spat, “he’s suffering. He’s been suffering for so long, KITT, and there’s nothing we can do about it! Now KARR won’t even play the song anymore. That was the one thing that helped him the most and now he has nothing.”

“He has the team,” said KI2T.

“But not us! There’s only so much we can do from the afterlife.”

Herbie rolled back to KI3T, pressing against his fender. The younger car gave no response, even though they could tell he was still awake.

“See,” sighed Herbie, “he can’t even feel how much we love him.”

KI2T’s voice got softer. “Or how much we miss him.”

The two cars inched closer to their son as the storm raged outside, wishing they could be a source of warmth for him.

“It’s funny how you can miss someone when you cannot hear each other, no matter how close you may be.”

~

KI3T wasn’t sure how much rest he got, but he was grateful for the dim light streaming in through the windows. The storm had passed overnight; he checked local weather reports, and it seemed like it would be a pleasant day.

He looked at one of his internal camera feeds: the one pointed straight at his rear-view mirror. A small metal chain was still hanging there, after all this time. Herbie had given it to him for his birthday. He examined every charm. Each one meant so much. The flaming bird for KI2T. The VW in a circle for Herbie. And the cobra, meant to represent himself.

The charms were still together, but his family was not.

The sound of an engine pulled KI3T out of his thoughts. A sleek black Trans Am approached, and KI3T had to correct himself. This wasn’t his father.

“Good morning, Uncle KARR,” he said, polite as ever.

KARR didn’t give any indication of hearing the greeting. He slowed his already lazy pace. “What are you doing awake? Your past behaviors lead me to believe that you would spend all day today crying.”

He rolled past the Mustang and out through the tunnel. “Why you continue to waste everyone’s time with such nonsense is beyond me.”

KI3T waited until he could no longer hear KARR’s engine, and the doors slid shut. Then he relaxed on his wheels, letting the tension ebb away. Uncle KARR never used to put him on edge until his programming was altered.

That was what he needed to give Sarah an answer about. How could the team be willing to put themselves and other humans in danger again? It didn’t make sense. KI3T knew Uncle KARR was programmed for self-preservation: shouldn’t humans have some degree of wanting to protect themselves, as well?

They must, he thought. But I must protect them. I cannot allow Uncle KARR to become a threat again, no matter how much it hurts. ….I am a computer. I am the Knight Industries Three Thousand. I don’t hurt. I live to protect.

And that was that.

~

When Mike opened his bleary eyes, it was already bright. He blinked, looking out the window at the raindrops falling off the roof. The gentle pitter-patter almost lulled him back to sleep, but thoughts of KI3T meandered into his mind. Mike let out a yawn and stretched, rolling over to face Sarah.

She was already awake and dressed, flipping through a book. “Morning,” she said, glancing at him. She put down her book.

“Mm. Morning. What time is it?” asked Mike, closing his eyes again.

“9:30. Sleeping this late is new for you, even on your days off.”

Sarah showed him the time on her phone, which read 9:32 AM. Mike stared at it.

“....damn. Well, I didn’t sleep great anyway.”

“Thinking about KITT?”

“Yeah.” Mike flipped onto his back, sighing. “I dunno what to do, Sarah. I’ll do anything for KITT, but there’s gotta be a way to make KARR, y’know, not dangerous, right?”

“We’ll keep working on the code, Mike, but I can’t tell you anything for certain.”

When Mike said nothing in response, Sarah leaned down to give him a kiss on the forehead. “Listen to me, don’t worry about it. I promise we’ll figure something out. Besides, you’ve taken down KARR before.” “It wasn’t easy!” Mike scoffed. “And how can we protect people from other criminals when we have to worry about a demon car straight outta Transformers?”

Sarah rested her head on her hand. She bit her lip; Mike had a good point. “Just… don’t stress about it. Today’s our day off, so why don’t we take KITT for a drive?”

“He only ever wants to go to the graves.” “Today we’ll do something fun. Make an adventure out of it. And we can bring Billy and Zoe along. Fresh air means a clear mind, and that means better results, right?”