Knight Rider 2000

Future Doesn’t Matter

Written by

Scott Kirkessner

Based upon KNIGHT RIDER

Created by

Glen A. Larson

Original KNIGHT RIDER 2000 Concept by

Rob Hedden

New concept by

Scott Kirkessner

When the Ku Klux Klan slowly worms its way into the daily lives of the citizens of Naissa, Alabama, the Knight Foundation is called in by one of the victims of a recent hate crime. Shawn McCormick, still a learning rookie for FLAG, soon finds herself back in one of her home towns reunited with a former lover who seems more nervous than excited to have her back. Her investigation deepens when evidence connected to the hate crimes point to her former lover, and it doesn't take long for FLAG to quickly become the new enemies of the KKK. Now, against all odds, the Knight Foundation decides to take a final stand in Naissa... 

Rated R for strong violent content, profanity, and suggestive dialogue.

You know how sometimes there are events in one’s life which test the binds of a friendship? I guess that’s what you can call this. As friends, you and your friend go through many hard times. A boyfriend dumping you, calling up your friend at no matter what hour just to have them greet you by saying ‘what took you so long to call?’ Things like that. Over time, there are much more intense situations which can test a friendship. Test loyalties, in essence.

They say that friends have a much stronger emotional bond than lovers. And perhaps that is true, because one of the major people involved in this case was my ex-boyfriend, Jimmy Hawkins. He and I met in high school when my step-dad moved the family to Naissa, Alabama. Jimmy and I hit it off well. I kinda thought of him to be a little hickish, but he had a charm about him that I couldn’t explain.

The sad part is that he and I were forced to break up when I left for college in Washington. We kept contact, but soon lost touch, and I wouldn’t hear from him again until I encountered him back in Alabama.

So before I go any further, I guess I may as well introduce myself. My name is Shawn McCormick. I am an ex cop from Seattle, now working as an agent for the Knight Foundation.

Having only joined less than a month ago, and becoming an agent because of my personal connection to the car, KITT, it is my job to help fight the criminals who operate above the law. Now some may ask, how does racism tie into that? You’ll find out soon enough.

Racism, hate. The two words sound completely different, but mean almost the same thing. The only thing that really had my mind swimming through this ordeal is how can human beings, treat other human beings in such a horrible manner?

I know I sound like a televangelist on TV or something, but if you think of it, that is a question that will plague humanity for years to come.

Russell Maddock, our CEO once said that he lost faith in human beings. I don’t blame him, he was a DA. The human garbage which he helped run through the courts is enough to turn anyone away from hope that humanity will last much longer.

A good friend once said that loyalties and trust cannot be dictated, they must be earned.

All I have to say, is that this case was a major turning point in my life, and I will forever remember the time and place where I was when the Foundation got a phone call from a reverend in Naissa, Alabama...

April 5, 2000

Naissa Baptist Church

Location: Naissa, Alabama

My partner, KITT and I pulled up to the scene of about 14 police cars on the premises of what used to be a church. Oddly, the only thing standing in the rubble was what was left of the cross which was on the small steeple.

I was totally amazed as to the destruction which could be done, especially in this time. I got out of KITT and looked for Reverend Martin Holiday. I didn’t know who to expect, but when I saw him, I had half the case solved already.

Reverend Holiday stood 6 feet tall, wore the usual religious attire. He had dark brown hair, brown eyes, and was black. I knew deep in my heart that this was a hate crime. Before I could walk over to him, he walked over to me. I guess KITT’s appearance does attract a lot of attention.

I walked up and greeted the reverend and offered my condolences on his loss.

“Thank you,” was his reply. I saw him looking around and his eyes focuses on the chasing lights on the front of KITT.

“Reverend, do you have any idea why a crime like this would happen?” I asked, already knowing his answer.

“Ms. McCormick, this is primarily a black church. You and I both know this was a hate crime.”

Needless to say, I knew he was right, but I decided to play it right, like a cop, and ask for all the details. “How can you be so sure?”

“Follow me.” The reverend showed me to a side of his house which had a bunch of windows in it. On them was the word ‘nigger’ written in blood. KITT analyzed it later and found it to be sheep’s blood. “Is this the proof you need?” he said, pointing to the graffiti.

I felt awful right then and there. Like I was about to throw up. I knew that this case could not be solved. “Reverend did you see anything last night?”

“I saw the Klan riding away.” he replied.

Shit! Is what I said in my mind. No way I was gonna let that fly in front of the reverend. I had no idea what to do. So I did what every cop would do in a situation. Lie. “Reverend, we will do our best to find the people who did this.”

“Thank you, Ms. McCormick.” the reverend said, with distraught in his voice. Thank the stars that he didn’t make me swear to the truth on a bible.

One thing that went through my mind was why the Foundation was called in on this. Luckily we had nothing to do for about a month so Maddock sent me and KITT and Kevin Williams, KITT’s mechanic, down here on the plane. “Reverend, why did you call the Knight Foundation?”

“Well, a few years back, a good friend of mine, Devon Miles, worked for you guys, and he said if there was ever anything I needed, just ask. I was sad to hear that he died a few months back. But I talk to Russell Maddock, and he and I talked for awhile and he agreed to send you down here.”

I was kind of angry for Russ’ rush to get us down here. I was very jet-lagged from the trip from Seattle. “Reverend, we will do everything in our power to help.” I said, shaking his hand, and walking away, before I bull-shitted myself into a deeper hole.

I walked over to KITT, who was patiently sitting there, with a small puppy sleeping on his hood. Which surprised me too because I knew he did not have a big fondness for dogs. “What’s up with this, KITT?” I calmly asked, pointing to the dog.

“She’s a stray, Shawn, and was tired. I didn’t ask her to jump up on the hood, but she did, and I just permitted her to sleep there.” KITT replied.

Now is it just me, or did an emotionless car show compassion? I didn’t protest and I got inside KITT. “KITT, I need you to run a scan of the area. I want you to scan for anything that could be traceable to the KKK.”

“Scans only come up with footprints, Shawn.” KITT replied.

“Okay, scan all the footprints, but exclude the footprints of the reverend and his family, police officers, and mine.”

“Right away, Shawn.” KITT quickly replied. One of the good things that I liked about him. He was obedient to the nth degree. It wasn’t long before he finished his scans. I was impressed at his accuracy, and quickness. “Since most of the compound is grass, these are the only scanable footprints, which are in ash. They all match, so it came from one person.”

“Good job, KITT. What can you find about the footprint?” I asked, only to dread his reply.

“It will take a few hours to run detailed analysis on the footprint and the shoe it came from, Shawn.” KITT replied.

“We’ll do it from the plane then.” I said. I started up KITT, forgetting about the puppy on the hood. KITT spoke up to remind me, which amazed me all the more. I got out and took the puppy in my arms and got back in the car.

“Surely you aren’t taking that dog with us?” KITT said. Despite what he said, deep down I knew he thought the little dog was cute. I put the dog on the seat next to me and drove back to the plane.

Knight Air Transport

Location: Crimson Air Force Base (non-active)

Leave it to Naissa never to get an airport with capability to handle a Boeing 747. The only place for that would be Crimson Air Force base, which shut down in 1998. We got permission to land there, thankfully.

When KITT and I pulled into the cargo bay of the plane, we were greeted by Kevin Williams, KITT’s mechanic and systems monitor.

“Hey you two,” Kevin said, with a smile. “did you have fun out in the hot sun?” Kevin was right about one thing, it was damn hot!

I got out of KITT and took the puppy with me. “I need you and KITT to run an analysis on a footprint we scanned at the fire, think you two can do that?”

“Sure,” Kevin said, “what’s with the dog?”

“She was a stray who found KITT’s hood to be a nice bed. I’m just gonna take care of her for now.” I said with a smile, and walked towards the elevator.

The 747 was a big aircraft, totally customized to serve as an airborne garage for KITT, and our hotel on wheels. The entire cargo hold was modified. In the front was a large galley, and the rest served as the diagnostics center for KITT.

The next level up was a little more modified. The floor was sunk, to create more room for 7 large cabins which lined the left side of the plane, with a small corridor running down the side. Then there was a small lounge area at the front, with stairs leading up to what used to be the first class level.

Four cabins occupied this area, which were for the flight crew, which consisted of the pilot, co-pilot, navigator, and extra pilot.

Whichever way you look at it, our aircraft was not normal at all. I walked to my cabin, and went inside, finding the opportunity for myself to stretch. I set the puppy down who scurried under my bed. I laid down on my bed, still tired from the rush trip down to Alabama.

I suddenly remembered about someone who I forgot. Jimmy Hawkins. Remember how I mentioned that friends have a better bond than lovers? Well, this is where it comes into play. After Jimmy and I lost touch, I totally forgot about him. I decided to give him a call, and see what he was up to, and hope that he still remembered me.

When the number was dialed, his voice came up over the speakers. “Hello?”

“Jimmy, this is Shawn... McCormick.”

“Shawn? Is this the same Shawn who went to Naissa High School?”

“Yeah....” I replied. Jimmy always liked to be a smart ass.

“The same Shawn who has my letter jacket?”

“Yes.”

“And the same Shawn who said we would never lose touch?” Smart ass.

“Yes, guilty on all counts.” I replied.

“Well Shawn, how the hell are you?!” he screamed over the speakers with enthusiasm. I wonder if he was faking it.

“I am great Jimmy. Listen, I’m in town for the next couple of days, and I wondered if you wanted to do anything at all?”

“Hey that sounds like a good idea, Shawn. Of course I wanna do something with you, we sure got a lot of catching up to do!” Well duh.

Jimmy and I talked for a few more minutes on the phone, and he agreed to pick me up at the plane at 8:00pm. I didn’t have any intention of rekindling a romance with Jimmy at all, but I decided that while I’m back in my town I grew up in for five years, I may as well visit my high school sweetheart.

A little while later walked back down to the garage and found KITT and Kevin working hard on the footprint that was found at the fire. “What did you guys find?” I asked.

“Nothing good, Shawn. It turns out that this type of boot is worn by about 400,000 people in Alabama.” Nope, that wasn’t good news at all.

“However, further analysis show fragments of foreign mud and horse manure which were on the boot. Also fragments of the boot are missing, in a style which corresponds to placing one’s feet in stirrups on a saddle of a horse.”

“Then it is the Ku Klux Klan?” Kevin asked.

“Oh, most definitely,” I said, “and the problem is these church burnings are random, and we probably wont be able to find them. I want you to tap into the sheriff’s office and get all records of KKK related arsons in the past two months.” I said as I walked towards the door.

“Where are you going?” Kevin asked.

“I got a date.” I replied with a smile, and I walked out of the plane.

I walked down the road a little, keeping a close eye and distance to the well-lit plane. I heard a car approaching, and I looked up to see an old blue Corvette coming towards me. It stopped and Jimmy got out. “Hey little lady, need a ride?” he said, with a smile.

I ran towards him and gave him a big hug. “It is so good to see you again.” I said.

Jimmy hugged back and walked me over to the passenger side. He opened the door and I got in. I was surprised he still drove the same Stingray he drove in high school.

“Wow, Jimmy, you sure kept this car in good condition.” I said as he got in.

“Yeah, what can I say? We Southerners like our cars.” He said, driving off.

Now first, let me tell some more about Naissa... When I lived there, the only major thing of the town was the Air Force base. My step-father got stationed there and we all moved with him. The town basically had, or has nothing. No fancy restaurant, no major shopping center, nothing that is the simple luxury to you and I which we mainly take for granted. So where are two people supposed to eat in the town? Easy, the diner. That’s what it was called, The Diner.

Jimmy and I got our food to go and decided to go back to Raven Rock where we used to hang out.

We talked about what we’ve been doing since we lost touch, and I told him about how I became a cop, but then stumbled on a inside plan to run banned handguns on the black-market. I told him how I was shot in the head by their leader, and that I lost some of my recent memory, but then KITT’s chip was placed in my head and helped me retain my memory. I told how that I was basically hired right away by the Knight Foundation when they found out about me having KITT’s chip. When I finished, Jimmy was speechless.

“So what are you in town for?” he finally asked. If I knew Jimmy, I knew that question was burning him to ask all night.

I decided to be honest, and tell him why I was really here. “I’m here investigating a church burning by the KKK.”

“Oh really?” Jimmy asked, with a very odd look on his face, which kind of made me suspicious. But hey, this is Jimmy, he is kind of odd in his own little way, so I really thought nothing of it.

“Yes, Reverend Holiday of the Naissa Baptist Church, called us after the church was destroyed by arson.”

The weird look remained on Jimmy’s face, and at that time, I still thought nothing of it. I figured it was just Jimmy being his odd, usual self. I also remembered that his father was extremely racist, so maybe that was it.

We sat on the rocks we used to sit on for hours before, and hours again. We talked about everything you could think of. But as Jimmy probed on about my investigation, something told me that there was more than meets the eye here.

“How is your investigation of the fire?” he asked me.

“It’s going slow. But if we have any luck, we’ll catch the people responsible for this. We got a footprint which we’re scanning to see if we can match it.” I said.

It was when Jimmy dropped his drink on the rock, but caught it in time, that I got suspicious. I noticed that he subtly changed the way he was sitting on the rock, which put his boots out of my view. Now something was up.

“What do you find by scanning it?” he asked.

I was unsure what to say now. If I lie like a rug and say that we can find the owner in a matter of hours, what would he do? If I told the truth and said 400,000 people match, but it has distinct qualities on it, what would he do? I decided for an altered version of the truth. “We scanned the footprint and found that about 400,000 people wear that type of boot.” I looked at the stars, and heard Jimmy quietly exhale.

“But,” I said, and his head snapped to me, “we scanned some extra items that came with the footprint. Traces of manure, small pieces missing, and with that info, we can narrow it down a little more. To maybe about 9 or 10 people.” I said, lying.

Jimmy took awhile to reply. I knew I would ruin everything if I said, hey Jimmy, let me see your boot, so I played it cool. I looked at my watch and saw that it was near midnight.

“It’s getting late,” I said, “we got work to do in the morning.”

Jimmy nodded and jumped off the rock and into some dust. He helped me down. On purpose, I ignored his boot prints completely, and we walked back to his car. Everything was running through my mind at once, and at that point, I knew Jimmy was a suspect.

Jimmy pulled up to the plane, which was lit up like a park, and got out and opened the door for me. I kissed him and gave him a big hug and walked back to the plane.

Upon entering the plane, I immediately went over to KITT and told him the situation.

When we exited the plane, I had him scan the vicinity.

“There is no sign of a Corvette in the vicinity, Shawn.” KITT reported. Which was good, because that means Jimmy left.

We drove to Raven Rock and I got out and walked over to where Jimmy landed when he jumped off the rock. Sure enough, the prints were still there. I got a camera out of KITT’s trunk and took pictures of the prints. When I got back in the car, I plugged the camera into the dashboard interface and drove back to the plane while KITT uploaded the pictures.

When we made it back to the plane, I told Kevin what I found, and asked what should be done. He uploaded the pictures from KITT, and opened one, which was a clear shot of the footprint that I took.

He looked at it, and the brought up the scan of the footprint that KITT took. He typed on the computer and the two images disappeared.

“It will be a few minutes while the computer is closely scanning both of them to see if they match.” Kevin said. He took out a file and handed it to me. I opened it and saw it was a chart, with some papers with it.

“What is this?” I asked.

“It is records from the Sheriff’s office of KKK crimes within the last month. Check it out, there were little to no crimes in January, February, and early March. But late last month, they’ve been on the rise, and no one really knows why.” Kevin explained.

I read the files. “The hate crimes happen at random times, most during the night.” I said.

The computer terminal beeped and Kevin turned to it. He brought up the two images of the foot print as they slowly scanned onto the screen. When they were done, the two images moved over each other.

“It’s a match.” Kevin said.

“Oh my God....” was all I could say. I could not believe that Jimmy was involved with the Ku Klux Klan!

Kevin deserves credit for trying to help me out with the situation. “So you know this guy?” he asked, politely.

“Yes, I do. His name is Jimmy Hawkins, he was my boyfriend when I lived here in Naissa.”

I was about to fill them in more when a wave a nausea came over me. I started to get sick of the fact that I was associated with this trash. I quickly walked towards my cabin, and I locked the door once I got in. I went into the bathroom and I threw up. I was that sick because of what I learned about Jimmy.

I decided to call Maddock. It was midnight in Alabama, which meant that it was 9pm in Seattle. The number dialed and I laid down on my bed. The puppy jumped up and nestled itself nicely in my arms. Despite the way I was feeling, that little puppy made me smile.

“Hello?” Maddock said, sounding a little tired.

“Russ, It’s Shawn. Listen the fire was a hate crime from the KKK, and I know one of the people who did it.”

“You do? How?”

“First off, at the fire, KITT scanned a footprint which didn’t belong to any of the investigators on the scene. We scanned it more and found traces of horse manure, and pieces missing out of the boot, which meant the person rode horses. Later tonight, I went out with an old friend of mine named Jimmy Hawkins. When we were about to leave where we were, he left a footprint in the dust, which matched the footprint from the fire. It’s him, Russell.”

There was a long moment of silence until KITT broke into our phone call. “Sorry to interrupt, Shawn, but police scanners are reporting a fire at a family’s house down on Em Street.

The news made me spring up out of bed, scaring the puppy away and across the cabin. “Holy Shit, I used to live on Em Street. Russ, I’ll keep you posted!” I yelled as I left the cabin and ran towards the elevator.

KITT was started and running by the time I got to the cargo bay. Kevin was in his passenger seat. I got in and threw the car in reverse and sped out of the plane. I turned around and sped towards Em street, which was not too far from the base.

I noticed Kevin looking over at me, concerned, but he kept his words to himself. I still wish he hadn’t.

I turned the corner, barely making the turn at all and we saw a house fully engulfed in flames... I remembered the house well. It was my house I used to live in.

“Oh Jesus!” I screamed as I slammed on the brakes and ran up. A cop stopped me, but I flashed him my ID and he let me through.

I just watched as the house I lived in for only five years burned. I looked around for the family, and saw them standing across the street. My heart sunk to my feet when I saw them. They were black.

I wanted to run over to them and do my damnedest to comfort them but I couldn’t. I wasn’t real angry about the house going up. I was intent on getting Jimmy Hawkins.

Kevin walked up to me, and put a comforting arm around me. “What does this mean?”

“It’s a sign, Kevin.” I replied.

“A sign for what?”

“A sign for me. It’s telling me to back off, and leave Naissa.”

April 6, 2000

0829 Hrs

I laid in my bed, under the warm covers, with the puppy beside me, laying on the floor. I didn’t sleep at all last night. I just looked straight at the blank ceiling.

Kevin called up to my cabin on the comm-lines. “Shawn? Shawn you there?”

“Yeah, I’m here, Kevin, what do you need?” The night, I returned to the plane, but asked Kevin and KITT to return to the scene.

“We scanned the scene and found a ring in the rubble. We checked it out with the family and they didn’t claim it, so we brought it back here.”

I went to the small refrigerator and took out a bottle of water, while Kevin told me what him and KITT did.

I opened a small can of dog food and gave it to the puppy, who stuck her nose up at it at first, but then started to eat. “What else did you find?” I asked. My heart sunk again when I heard what Kevin told me.

“We scanned for Jimmy’s boot print and found it.”

“I’ll be right down.”

I walked into the garage and saw Kevin looking through a microscope. He must have heard me coming because he looked up. “Hey, this is the ring we found.” he said, taking it out from under the microscope and handing it to me.

I gasped as I saw the ring.

“What is it?” Kevin asked.

“It’s the duplicate of Jimmy’s high school ring he had made after he gave the other one to me. He was wearing it last night when he took me out.”

“Do you think he planted it there, or someone else did?” Kevin asked. He was always one who was inquisitive, and asked questions constantly. He would have made a good detective.

I shook my head, and tried hard to think what Jimmy did after he left last night...

I see him walking down Em Street, looking at the class ring on his hand. I see him pulling out a Molotov Cocktail, lighting the rag, and throwing it at the house. The bottle shatters and explodes and the house goes up. He rips the ring off of his finger and throws it into the fire...

No. I don’t think it was that. He is not one to act alone in a lot of things....

I see Jimmy walking to wherever the Klan meets, and talking to them, making up some kind of BS lies about the family living on 2010 Em Street.

Down the street they come, turning the corner on top of their horses, carrying torches, riding towards the house which used to be mine.

People look out their windows, wondering what the commotion about, and then they see what’s coming, and they run to gather their family, and pray to God ten times over that the Klan isn’t coming for them.

Then the Klan stops, and turns towards their target house. They slowly walk towards the target, clubs and torches in their hands, ready to lay waste to a house with an innocent family still in it.

Closer and closer they approach the house, until one finally throws his torch at it, igniting the side. They cheer in unison as they run and throw their torches and Molotov Cocktails at the house.

Inside, the family, already knowing the Klan is there to get them, runs out the back, and into a neighbors yard.

As their end tribute, the Klan hammers a cross into the front lawn and lights it ablaze.

Jimmy walks up to face the blaze, and removes his mask, looking down at his finger, he rips the ring off and throws it into the fire.

Everyone returns to the horses they rode in on, and rides off into the night...

I knew in my mind that is what happened early this morning. Now all we had to do was stop them. “Jimmy was there last night, what we have to do is determine how many KKK were with him.”

“How do we do that?” Kevin asked. Another question from the genius.

“We talk to everyone we can on Em Street.” I said.

We later found out that talking to witnesses of hate crimes are easier said than done.

Kevin walked up to one house, and I walked up to the one next door. We knocked on our respective doors.

“Hi, my name is Kevin Williams, from the Knight Foundation, we’re investigating the recent hate crime in this area...”

“...tell me was there anything you saw or heard early this morning?” I asked.

Both doors slam in our faces. I look at Kevin from the neighbors porch.

House after house after house turned up nothing. People were so scared of getting hit next, they lied and said they didn’t see anything, or weren’t home that night.

Kevin and I finally walked down to the last house on the street. We rang the doorbell and an old lady, who was white, came to the door. “Hello.” she said.

“Hello, ma’am,” I said, “I’m Agent Shawn McCormick, this is my partner Kevin Williams, we’re from the Foundation for Law and Government. We are investigating the fire a few houses down, and would like to know if you saw anything.”

We both prepared ourselves for a slamming door, or a lie, but were amazed when the lady replied, “Yes.”

“Can you tell us what you saw?” Kevin asked.

The lady hesitated for awhile. “Yes, I can,” she said, “please come in.”

We were sitting inside the living room, in front of the air conditioner which was running at full blast. She introduced herself as Victoria Hamilton. “I’ve lived in this house since 1953, and I never saw a rash of hate crimes as worse as this. This is the first time one happened on this block.” She stopped and looked at me for a moment. “Shawn McCormick, that name sounds so familiar...”

“I lived in this town for five years, when my step-father was stationed at Crimson Air Force Base.”

“Robert McCormick?” she asked.

“Yes,” I replied, “I lived in the house that was destroyed.”

“Oh my, I’m so sorry. It was about 1am this morning, and I heard chanting coming down the street. I looked out my door, and I saw a bunch of men in white sheets on horses, some carrying clubs, and some carrying flaming torches. They walked down the street and stopped in front of the Johnson’s house.”

“Then what happened?” I asked.

“I quickly went inside then.” Victoria said.

“So you didn’t see anything at all?” Kevin asked.

“No,” Victoria replied, but then I saw her expression change, as if she got an idea. “You can check the security cameras across the street.”

“Security cameras?” Kevin asked before I did.

“Yes,” Victoria replied, “when the Air Force was at Crimson, this entire neighborhood used to be for the base. You know, those stationed here and their families. To maintain security, they installed security cameras across the street in 1970, on every three light posts. There was one right across the street from our house. In the other old base neighborhoods, they installed them too.”

“The Air Force would have removed them when they closed down Crimson.” I said.

“No, because they only closed down two years ago, and there were about 20 retired families living on the street, they left the cameras up, and transferred the signal to a satellite. Well, that’s what my son told me, he’s overseas at Ramstien now.”

I looked at Kevin, and he looked over at me, and we both smiled.

“Mrs. Hamilton, thank you for your help.” Kevin said.

I wasn’t ready to let this lady go unprotected, so I offered to have her taken to a safe house. “Mrs. Hamilton, we are concerned since everyone else on this street refused to talk to us, so we would like you to come with us, and we will arrange to have you transferred to a safe house.”

“Is that really necessary?” Victoria asked, obviously concerned.

I nodded. “You may be a viable witness at a possible trial in the future, we need to ensure your safety. I got a car down the street that will take you to a waiting airplane.”

One good thing with the way Maddock runs the Foundation is his ability to prepare for anything. As a DA himself, he saw witnesses come and go, and sometimes vanish, so we wants to ensure that if we find a witness in a case, but have to stay in town, we would be able to fly them out at a moments notice. So that’s why he has a LearJet fly with us, wherever we go.

Victoria nodded. “Let me pack a few things.” She got up and walked into another room.

Glad that she was gone, I raised my wrist up to my mouth and spoke into the wristwatch-communicator link that connects me with KITT. “KITT, I need you down here.”

It’s still taking me a little getting used to KITT’s ability to drive himself, but if someone would have been sitting inside KITT down the street, the would have been treated to quite a show.

Inside KITT, lights, which signify systems powering up. flash on. The turbine engine whirs to life. The gear shift automatically shifts into drive, and the gas pedal is depressed, almost as if by magic.

I went outside of the house to meet KITT, who was driving down the street. I walked over to him and opened the passenger side door, to be greeted by the puppy sitting in KITT’s seat.

“Hey you,” I said, petting the puppy, “how’d you get here?”

“She must have snuck into my backseat, Shawn.” KITT said, almost too innocently.

I took the puppy in my arms and sat down in KITT’s seat. “Level with me here, KITT. You like the dog.”

“Well, I am very fond of dogs,” KITT said, “when they behave.” he added.

I smiled and got out of the car, to meet Victoria walking down the steps, with Kevin carrying her suitcase. I stepped aside and let her get into the passenger seat. “Victoria, meet KITT.”

“Who’s KITT?” she asked, looking around the car.

“I am KITT, Victoria.”

I watched Victoria look around the car as KITT spoke up. “The car talks?” she asked me.

“Yes it does. Victoria, KITT is the state-of-the-art of Artificial Intelligence technology. He can drive himself, he talks, he thinks, and can do almost anything you imagine.” I said, giving the usual spiel about KITT.

“It is a pleasure to meet you, KITT.” Victoria said, still unsure about talking to a car.

“The pleasure is all mine, Victoria. Are you ready to go?” KITT asked, with the utmost sincerity.

“Yes I am.” Victoria replied.

I walked over to her, before KITT closed the door, and handed the puppy to Victoria.

“Here,” I said, “I thought she could keep you company.”

Victoria smiled and took the puppy. “Thank you, Shawn. Do me a favor?”

“What?” I asked.

“Find those horrible men.” she said.

I gave the puppy one last pet and smiled. “I promise.” I stepped back and closed the door, and KITT took off for the plane.

I turned to Kevin and we both walked back into Victoria’s house. He took out his laptop and connected to the Internet.

I always was impressed at Kevin’s skill of computers and his ability to work on the Internet. I guess that’s why Knight Industries hired him. But I was amused as to how he let nothing stop him on the Internet.... and I mean nothing.