Knight Rider 2000

X Marks The Spot

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

The highway of life has no exits. When Mr. X resurrects an old nemesis from the past and reveals himself to the Knight Foundation, they find themselves balancing between the perils of chasing him down and dealing with their own lives.

Rated NC-17 for extreme violent content, strong profanity, and brief sexuality.

March 24, 2002

2319 Hrs PST

Knight Foundation Storage Facility

Location: Los Angeles, California

There was a guard on duty as a black mini van drove up to the gate that was surrounding the old cold storage facilities. The window to the van rolled down as the security came up to it. The man in the driver’s seat looked at him with a smile.

“Authorization please?” the guard asked.

Eric Johnson looked at the inquisitive guard and smiled. “I got my authorization right here.” He said, reaching into his coat. He pulled out an ID card and showed it to the guard.

The guard eyed the ID card, nodded, and returned it back to Johnson. “You’re clear, sir.”

Johnson smiled as the gates opened. He drove the van through the gates and up to a warehouse.

The front and side doors opened, and four men exited the van. Mr. X walked over to Johnson, looking at his watch. “All right, I want the heist done in five minutes.”

Johnson nodded. “Let’s go.”

Suggested Listening Track: Name of the Game – The Crystal Method

A man walked over to an electronic keypad and took out a laptop. He stuck a card, with wires connecting it to the computer, into the slot. He opened up the laptop and began typing. The five-digit combination appeared on the screen. He pressed the numbers on the keypad and a mechanical buzz was heard.

Mr. X walked over to the door and opened it. He walked in with the men following.

They proceeded down the hall until they reached a door marked Laboratory Three. With their equipment they managed to open the door to the room. Inside, everything was in covered in cloth. The men immediately began taking the cloth off until they found a Brinks Personal Security Safe sitting on the ground.

Another man sat down on the ground and listed to the lock as he turned numbers. It took no time to open the safe. “Mr. X, I believe we have the CPU.”

“Good, hurry up!” X said.

Johnson walked over to the safe cracker. “Here’s the replacement.” Johnson said, handing a box to the man.

The man took the box, placed it inside of the safe, and handed an identical box, which he removed from the safe, to Mr. X.

“That’s it. Let’s get to the van and get the hell out of here,” X said. The man locked the safe and joined the others.

They ran back towards the van but were challenged by four guards. “Freeze!” the head guard yelled.

Mr. X produced a World War II German Luger, one of his favorite handguns and smiled evilly. “Drop ‘em!” he ordered.

March 25, 2002

1629 Hrs PST

It was just under an hour when Natalie was discharged and back at the Foundation. They were sitting in the conference room and the exhausted FBI agent listened as the team filled her in on the past 48 hours.

“Eric Johnson is just the right hand man. You guys have no idea how far this goes.” Natalie said.

“What the hell do you mean?” Maddock asked, surprised that their 2^nd assumption had been disputed.

“There is just one man in control here, and he controls it all, and controls us. His name is Mr. X.” Natalie reported.

Silence fell over the team as they let it all sink in. Someone very powerful had been playing them for fools for a long time.

“Mr. X? Who the hell is this Mr. X?” Shawn asked, looking at the badly bruised Natalie.

“Someone I hoped I would never hear of again.” Bonnie said, speaking up.

“What? You know this guy?” Kevin asked.

“Mr. X, whose real name is Baxter Lex, was a mad genius who decided to go on a bombing spree in 1986. It was FLAG who busted him.” Natalie explained.

“How come I don’t know about him?” Shawn asked.

“It was a case that we didn’t like to talk about.” Bonnie said.

“Wouldn’t I have picked it up from KITT’s memory chip?”

“No.” A voice answered from the doorway. Everyone turned around to see who it was. It was Michael Knight.

“Michael?” Bonnie asked, amazed.

“You wont find any files on Mr. X anywhere in FLAG because Devon had them erased.” Michael said, walking into the room.

“Why?” Shawn asked.

“The whole experience dealing with X was too emotional. Do you remember the bombing at Disney World?” Michael asked her.

“That was him?” Shawn asked.

“Yeah,” Natalie said, “the FBI still has a file on him.”

“Can you get us that file?” Michael asked.

“Sure,” Natalie answered, “guess who was the SAIC who re-wrote his criminal profile when he escaped from prison in 1999.”

Everyone eyed Natalie, who nodded.

“How come he wasn’t pursued when he escaped?” Maddock asked.

“He was. We staged a raid on a suspicious cabin in Big Bear. When we got there, the place was destroyed in an explosion. We found some human remains, and an analysis determined it was the remains of Mr. X. The case was closed.” Natalie explained.

“Michael, how did you know to come to us?” Bonnie asked.

“I found this on the windshield of my car.” Michael said, removing an envelope from the inside pocket of his leather jacket.

Everyone looked at the envelope. Bonnie took it.

“Be careful!” Michael said, concerned.

“KITT,” Bonnie said into her comm-link, “run an analysis on this envelope for me.”

“Be careful with that!” KITT yelled. “If the letter inside is removed, two chemicals will mix and a bomb will go off!”

“You said there was a letter inside,” Michael said, “does it say anything?”

“Michael, is that you?!” KITT asked, not sure whether to be excited or confused.

“Yeah pal, it’s me. Now listen, someone planted this envelope at my cabin. I have a good idea who it is because of the big X on the back.”

“Well who is it?” KITT asked.

“It’s Mr. X, buddy. He’s back.”

“Michael,” Bonnie said, “KITT doesn’t remember.”

“I’m afraid she’s right, Michael. Who is Mr. X?”

“We’ll fix that, KITT. You’ll find out soon.” Bonnie assured. “What does the letter say?”

“It says ‘Let’s play a game, Mr. Knight. Don’t try No-Doz, you better stay away from those.’”

“What the hell does that mean?” Kevin asked.

“It’s a game. Some kind of clue.” Michael explained.

“Well, Michael,” Maddock said, “since you’re here, what can you tell us about Mr. X?”

Michael sighed and sat down. “I hope you have awhile.”

1721 Hrs

“This lab is much more fitting, Johnson.” Mr. X said, walking around and admiring the vast workspace.

“You’re always the one to tell me that the best place to hide is in public.” Johnson said.

“The public is fickle, Johnson. What they don’t know can’t hurt them.”

“Or us.” Johnson added.

“Exactly.” X said, with a smile.

“Knight got the package. The bomb hasn’t gone off yet, though.” Johnson said.

“Of course it wont,” X said, getting up and walking towards stairs, “I don’t expect it to.”

“Really?”

Mr. X tugged on his vest. “Nope. You see, I expect that Knight will return to FLAG, have KITT scan the envelope, and waste valuable time trying to decipher my code while I make use of my time and execute the first hit. However, I am growing rather impatient waiting for the car to arrive.”

“Our team in San Francisco have been working non stop. The best technicians that money can buy.” Johnson heard Mr. X scoff. He could tell something was wrong. “What is it, what’s wrong?”

“Our little Medallion stunt left us with only half a million.” X said.

“Is that bad?”

“It certainly isn’t good. But once we get out there, our financial situation will improve.”

“So exactly what do you plan to do?”

“The best way to defeat a team is to split them apart,” X said, “We can both admit that FLAG’s team has rapidly grown to the epitome of an ensemble cast on a television show.”

“I hate teams.”

“Me too. So we are going to split their happy little team. They will follow their instincts and take off to where my clue leads them, leaving Seattle wide open. I will head there for a nice little crime and destruction spree, and you will be in charge of Phase Two.”

“Phase Two?”

“Yes, Phase Two.” X said, walking over to his computer interface. He typed a few commands and an image of a man appeared on the screen.

“Alexander Alistair Kaase.” Johnson said, recognizing the image of the billionaire.

“Yes,” X replied, “turns out the wealthy algae-magnate has a daughter.”

“Really? Does he know who it belongs to?”

“Considering how much this guy screws around? Hell, it could belong to any woman.”

The man’s image changed to that of his daughter’s. “What’s the plan with her?”

“A simple kidnapping ransom plan, of course.” X replied.

“Part of the ransom demands should be that he can only call the Knight Foundation.” Johnson suggested.

“Yes, I was getting to that. Do you think 50 million would be enough?”

“Plenty.” Johnson replied. “But why not hit him in the pocket?”

“I’m not kidnapping this girl for any kind of political reason or anything like that. I am doing it because it will split FLAG in half.”

“I see.”

“Good. While I am out leading FLAG down a path of destruction, you will be responsible for making our money.”

Johnson’s attention span widened. “Continue.”

“While Michael, KITT, and whoever is with them are looking for me, the rest of the team are looking for you and the brat.” X said.

“Good plan.”

“Of course. Now with our weapon’s titanic new powers, KITT and his driver are bound to be destroyed.”

Johnson internally winced at X being so sure of himself, seeing it as a constant curse and a cue for imminent failure.

Shawn rubbed her eyes after Michael finished his story. “I can’t believe this.”

“Me neither,” Kevin said, “we’re on the verge of destruction here.”

“We have to go after him.” Natalie said.

“I would be careful if I were you.” Michael warned. “Agent Markins, you know as well as anyone that this is someone you do not want to take advantage of, nor underestimate.” Michael was serious when he said it and he meant it.

“He’s right,” Natalie said, “for every move we try and make to capture him, he will counter that move.”

“What else?”

“I’m sure Agent Markins can get you a look at his history records. When the government killed his father, a mercenary like him, he formed his own terrorist organization and took revenge. That’s when KITT and I were brought into it all. He tried every way possible to get rid of me. Luckily I had KITT there with me every step of the way.” Michael explained.

A secretary let herself into the room and handed a paper to Maddock. He read over it and the team could obviously see the color drain from his face.

“What is it?” Natalie asked, noting something was terribly wrong.

Maddock sat down in a chair, the paper still in his hand. There was a break in at our Los Angeles storage facility last night.

The team remained silent as Maddock tried to read on.

“It was a security breach at one of our cold storage laboratories. It was Laboratory Three.”

There was a brief moment of confusion before it all sunk in.

“Oh my God,” Shawn said, “that’s where the Knight Automated Roving Robot CPU was stored.”

“Exactly.” Maddock said.

“After we,” Shawn paused, realizing her mistake, “after you and KITT destroyed him in the desert, KI destroyed the parts, but stored the dormant CPU.”

“It was still functional?” Michael asked, looking at Bonnie.

“Don’t look at me,” Bonnie said, “that wasn’t my doing.”

“Do you think Devon could have ordered it to be stored?” Shawn asked.

“More than likely,” Michael replied, “we all know Devon was a man of principle and I bet he still had a shred of hope that KARR could be changed for the better.”

“We must have run out of funding before he could pursue it.” Bonnie said.

“So… uhh… does someone want to explain all of this to me?” Natalie asked, confused.

Maddock handed Natalie a dossier that the secretary brought with her. “Everything you need to know is in there. We don’t have time to explain it all.”

“This has to be Mr. X.” Shawn said.

“Are you sure?” Maddock asked.

“Who else?” Michael replied. “How did he get past security?”

Maddock read further into the printout. “Apparently, with great ease. He somehow managed to disable our security system and take out the guards without anyone knowing.”

“His envelope is telling us something.” Natalie said, resting her head on her arm that was propped on the table. Though discharged from the hospital, she was obviously exhausted.

“‘Let’s play a game, Mr. Knight. Don’t try No-Doz, you better stay away from those.’” Bonnie read off of the paper she jotted the message down on when KITT originally read it.

“It’s some kind of a clue,” Michael said, “he’s telling us the location of his next target.”

“Isn’t that a clip from a Bob Dylan song?” Bonnie asked.

“Yeah it is,” Maddock said, “Subterranean Homesick Blues.”

“Isn’t No-Doz that old medicine that would keep people awake?” Shawn asked.

“So they would never sleep.” Bonnie added.

“Where is a place where people never sleep?” Kevin asked.

“Kind of like a city that never sleeps.” Natalie said.

The team’s brains were working overtime. It was Shawn who finally broke it. “He is telling us he is going to do something to a city that never sleeps.”

“And what city’s don’t sleep? High profile ones?” Michael asked.

“New York City.” Kevin said.

“And Las Vegas.” Bonnie said.

“Mr. X would consider New York City to be scarred territory already touched by another attacker. He usually likes places that are… virgin like.” Natalie explained.

“She’s right,” Michael said, “no one ever attacked Disney World before. And look what X did in ’86.”

“Lex knows better nowadays to stay away from places that are ultra-high profile, especially Vegas.” Natalie said. “He’s pointing us to a low profile place, but with a prominent night life.”

“That basically throws in every college town in the country.” Shawn said.

“We’re going about this all wrong,” Shawn said, “we need to try and find KARR, because that can definitely lead us to Lex.”

“Any ideas where we can start?” Maddock asked.

“Bonnie and I came up with a few already.” Kevin said.

“Great, let’s hear them.” Michael said.

“Each AI produced by Knight Industries emits a special carrier wave,” Bonnie started, “now these waves were originally tracked by radio. Of course when KITT was upgraded two years ago, he was assigned a new frequency that could be tracked on the Foundation’s satellite.”

“So you’re saying we can pop out a radio and tune in?” Natalie asked.

“No,” Kevin said, “we can pick up KARR’s frequency through the satellite.”

Bonnie nodded. “It really shouldn’t take much effort to recalibrate the satellite to pick up KARR’s radio frequency.”

“Natalie, Michael. You two are our experts on Baxter Lex. Do you think he would catch on to KARR’s frequency?” Shawn asked.

Natalie was the first to answer. “Yes and no.” she said.

“What do you mean?” Maddock asked.

“It’s been three years since I’ve dealt with him. He is very intelligent, but seems to be limited to just his knowledge of how to make explosives and then detonate them.”

“I agree. While Lex may be the mastermind behind it all, he seems to just hire those who know how to pull off whatever he wants to accomplish.” Michael added.

“So that tosses him into the smart but dumb category.” Maddock said.

“I wouldn’t go that far.” Natalie said.

“Unless you like to wake up dead,” Michael added, “the last thing you ever want to do is underestimate this guy.”

Maddock displayed a shit-eating grin on his face and nodded.

“Calibration complete.” KITT reported as Bonnie got out.

“So now we search for the code?” Kevin asked.

“First things first,” Michael said, “We restore KITT’s memory.”

Mr. X’s ‘best public place to hide’ lay situated below the massive football stadium of Oregon State University. An un-used sub basement served as his command base for this most crucial mission. Attached to the basement was a freight elevator, easily accessible, with passable security measures.

It was this freight elevator that caught X’s attention. Along with Johnson, he watched with attentive eyes as the elevator opened.

A forklift holding onto a crate eased its way off the elevator and stopped in front of X and Johnson. They eyed the crate and the forklift as the operator stepped into the light.

“This had better be the last time we use one of FLAG’s rejects.” The operator said.

“Larson, dear man, this will be the last time for anything. FLAG is ours.” X said.

Larson sneered. He remembered the last time he helped with one of FLAG’s old villains. The clone of Garthe Knight was too much to handle. “Just so my stance is on the record.” He said. It was important to say that because of Mr. X’s track record with going up against FLAG. And he definitely wanted Johnson to know he was on his side.

“So noted.” X said, walking to the front of the crate. “Let’s see him.”

Johnson and Larson grabbed crowbars from the forklift and pried the front off of the crate.

X eyed the contents and smiled sinisterly. “Magnificent.”

“The records were encrypted and stored when we cleared them from KITT’s memory.” Bonnie explained.

“When Devon moved FLAG to Seattle, he made double sure that everything was transferred.” Maddock said.

“Then why can’t I find the damn things?” Bonnie asked, growing impatient.

“Don’t ask me, you and Kevin were the ones who oversaw the creation and the transfer to the new operating system.” Maddock sharply replied.

“Oh quit trying to shift blame somewhere else you selfish smart ass.” Michael yelled.

Michael’s outburst left everyone in the room stunned and silent.

Michael rubbed his forehead. “Before you go off, let me remind you that I am not on Foundation payroll, you are not my boss, so save your threats. While Agent Markins profiled and pursued Lex three years ago, let me remind you I actually went up against him, in hand to hand combat even. When you ordered KITT to be dismantled two years ago, you shifted all blame from yourself to the fact that FLAG needed to land a franchise. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt once in awhile to admit that you’ve screwed up.”

"Enough!" KITT said before Maddock could shoot back with a witty reply. "May I remind you that we are fighting Baxter Lex, not each other? The more time we waste bickering gives him and KARR more time to get to us."

1801 Hrs

>command.com
>load bios
>bios system check
>ram check
>config.sys
>bio com interface
>to rom i/o
>controller
>comspec.exe
>memory.dat
>flag utils
>system buffer
>parameters
>parity set
>memory set
>system status
>Knight Automated Roving Robot at 100 percent efficiency_

“Start it up!” X ordered.

The car resting inside the crate started up and pulled out, stopping just two inches from X, who was smiling the whole time.

Larson got out of the jet-black Trans Am and looked at it. He admitted to himself that it was a beautiful but deadly machine.

“Silent, but deadly.” X said, remarked at the quiet whirr of the turbine engine.

A red chasing light activated on the prow of the car. “I do not believe my superior engine should be rudely compared to a bodily function.” A deep voice stated.

“Welcome to the world. Identify yourself.” X said, testing the automobile.

“I am the Knight Automated Roving Robot. KARR if you prefer.”

One thing that Mr. X liked about KARR was his deep chilling voice that would seem uneasy to most people. But to Mr. X, KARR sounded like him in a way. After reviewing the history of the Knight Foundation not too long ago, Mr. X wondered why Wilton Knight would choose such a voice. “What do you remember, KARR?” X asked.

“I remember everything.” KARR said.

Larson and Johnson both noted a drastic change in KARR’s tone.

“From the day of my activation, to the day Wilton Knight, my creator, turned on me and ordered my deactivation. I remember further to my destruction at the hands of Michael Knight and his inferior production copy.”

“KITT?” Larson asked.

“Yes,” KARR scowled, “that pale replica.”

“And what makes KITT so inferior and pale?”

“That’s enough Larson,” X ordered, “cut it out, you’re pissing him off.”

“Am I pissing you off, KARR?”

KARR took a second to look up that particular phrase. “Yes you are.”

“Who else pissed you off KARR?”

“Wilton Knight.” KARR answered.

“He’s dead, KARR. Who else?”

“Devon Miles.”

“He’s dead too, KARR. He was murdered two years ago. Who else?” X pushed.

“Michael Knight.” KARR sneered.

X grinned. “That’s right. Who else?”

“KITT and his technician, Bonnie Barstow.”

“That’s right KARR. Now who can you trust?”

KARR noticed his files had been altered. No longer could he trust Tony and the Rev, but new names replaced them. “I can trust Baxter Lex, Eric Johnson, and Roddy Larson.”

“That’s the three of us, KARR,” X informed, “you’re with us now. You want to get the people who betrayed you, right?”

“Without any doubt.” KARR replied.

“I can get you to those people, KARR. If you work with us, you’ll be able to release… whatever aggressions you may have.”

“I have plenty of aggressions.”

“I know you do KARR. I do too. I have grudges against the Foundation just like you do.”

“Has the Foundation betrayed you and left you for dead twice?”

X hesitated. The car had a point, but the hell with it. It’s just a car. “I wont patronize you and tell you that I know how you feel. But I do know how it feels to be abandoned and betrayed. While seeking vengeance, the Knight Foundation got in the way. I have never been caught, KARR, until FLAG came, and had my ass sent to the slammer.”

KARR’s engine revved. Larson took it to represent a growl, or a hell of a sign of disgust. “I will not go back to the slammer!” KARR said.

“And you wont go back, KARR. As long as you stick with us!” X said. He walked around and sat down inside the Trans Am. He looked around and admired the work of his well-educated scientists.

Directly in front of him, above the gull-wing steering wheel was KARR’s voice box. It was entirely black with etched out boxes and words displaying functions.

Between the T-tops sat a console mounted on the roof, with various command and function buttons.

A center console modified to contain more command buttons and factory standard options sat ahead of the gear shift.

Finally, the retrofitted dash ended with a plasma screen monitor to the right of the driver. Underneath the monitor sat DVD-RW, floppy disk drive, and a fax machine with telephone controls.

The new KARR was a piece of beauty to be admired and envied.

“What do you think of your new self, KARR?” X asked.

“I am unstoppable.”

X noted the voice box activated while KARR spoke. He was almost magically lost as the almost-hypnotizing yellow bars simulated KARR’s voice.

“If you will satisfy my curiosity, where are we? My newly equipped GPS scanner is not yet activated.”

“Oh,” X said, looking for the button. He pressed it once he found it, “that should do it. Let’s give it a test, shall we?”

KARR accessed his GPS and calculated his position. “My scanners show us to be two stories underground and located in Corvallis, Oregon.”

“Where in Corvallis?”

“We are located beneath Reser Stadium at Oregon State University.” KARR said.

Larson leaned over to Johnson. “I just got this cell-phone and I can’t get a God damn signal out of here,” he whispered, “now how in the hell can KARR scan so precisely?”

“The best technology that money can buy and that cunning can steal.” X said from across the room. He smiled coyly, “just testing out KARR’s new spyware. He can hear a clear conversation up to half a mile away.”

“Show us a demonstration, KARR.” Larson beckoned.

About a second of static was heard before a conversation came in. “But does what happened last night really make me a lesbian?” a female voice asked.

A male’s voice soon replied. “Not if you didn’t enjoy it… did you?”

“Well a kiss isn’t all that happened…”

KARR cut the audio off when he realized the three men were laughing. “What is humorous in this situation?”

“Can you tie in video with audio, KARR?” Johnson asked between laughs.

“I can pick up video wherever the satellite is located, and audio up to point five miles away. I still do not see the humor in the girl’s situation. What is she talking about?”

“Do you not understand, KARR?” X asked, almost aghast that he might have to explain human sexuality to an automobile.

“No I do not.”

X stifled a laugh. “KARR, you have Internet access now. Everything you want to know and then some about the girl’s situation is online.”

“Send him to the Internet, is that a good idea?” Larson asked Johnson.

Johnson shrugged. “I wonder how many ways an automobile can figure out how to jack off?”

1829 Hrs

Suggested Listening Track: Battle Flag – Lo Fidelity All Stars

A message flashed on KITT’s central monitor. RESTORATION COMPLETE.

The beeping caught Kevin’s attention. He walked over to KITT and called everyone over.

Michael pushed past everyone and sat down in the driver’s seat. “All right buddy, what do you remember?”

“Everything,” KITT replied, keeping his disappointment to himself about having part of his memory cleared, “and more since what we learned in 1986 with Natalie’s case files installed on my system.”

“Do we have KARR’s signal?” Natalie asked.

“I am up linking with the satellite now, Natalie.” KITT answered.

Maddock leaned over to Bonnie. “Are we prepared for a full assault against KARR?”

“If our assumptions are correct and KARR was completely rebuilt, then I would figure we would need to make some slight modifications to KITT. Enhance his MBS and make sure his defensive and offensive systems are at top efficiency.” Bonnie explained.

“I have the signal,” KITT informed, “KARR’s signal is transferring on 5803 megahertz.”

“All right pal, trace it.” Michael said.

“There is an incoming call,” KARR said.

“Put it through.” X ordered, turning to the monitor.

A man, wearing a lab coat appeared on the screen.

“Dante.” X said, recognizing the scientist.

“Good evening sir,” Dante said in his strong Swedish accent. “I trust KARR is living up to your expectations.”

“He is,” X commended, “great work.”

“There is one small thing that I have just noticed.”

“And what is that?”

“I have discovered that KARR’s CPU emits an old radio signal, possibly a FLAG assigned signal from his original days.”

“Yeah, so what of it?” X asked.

“While it is an old radio signal, it may be possible for the signal to be traced via satellite.”

X swallowed. The last thing he needed was anyone tracking him. “So I assume you’ve worked on a way to shut it off.”

Dante nodded. “Yes, I am faxing the instructions to KARR as we speak.”

X took the fax out of the slot and read over it. “This is all we need to do to disable the frequency? Seems pretty simple to me.”

“You’d be surprised how long it takes to shut it off.”

“Satellite uplink complete and standing by.” KITT reported.

“Great,” Kevin said, “being triangulation.”

KITT’s windshield transformed into the Virtual Reality display. A blinking satellite in the upper left hand corner indicated KITT’s connection. 25 percent of the screen was blacked out on the left side to reserve area for text and small displays. The remaining 75 percent showed a computer representation of the satellite’s location. It was over Japan.

“I am accessing satellite controls.” KITT reported. “We should have an idea where KARR is soon.”

A laptop was sitting on a chair while Larson connected a wire from it to KARR’s CPU.

X walked over and sat down in front of the computer. “Establish a link, KARR.”

LINK ESTABLISHED appeared in red letters on the screen. Millions of lines of code started scrolling up.

“Jesus Christ.” X said, in astonishment.

The image of the world map stopped scrolling once the satellite reached its destination.

“I am locking the satellite in place.” KITT reported. A region on the map was highlighted. “KARR is located in the Pacific Northwest.”

Michael’s stomach dropped, as did Bonnie’s, and KITT’s would have too if he had one.

“You must follow these directions carefully,” KARR warned, “or my main programming might be tripped if you accidentally alter a crucial line of code.”

Self-preservation at all costs, X remembered. He knew he had to do this carefully or risk being snuffed to ashes. “All right, let’s begin.”

“By hitting Open-Apple-F, you can activate the search option. Once that is open, you can type in the line number, three-zero-nine, to find the first code to be altered.”

“I’m there.” X said. He quizzically looked down at his hands. Many a time he had handled explosives that could detonate at any given second, and his hands never shook…

Maddock kept tapping his fingers on KITT’s spoiler. He was getting anxious and wishing Devon never died, leaving him to face this challenge.

“Russ, that’s going to make me stir-crazy,” Natalie said.

“Sorry.” Maddock said, stopping the incessant tapping.

Bonnie and Michael exchanged glances for a second. Obviously both wanted to deliver a smart-ass comment about Maddock apologizing for the first time.

But, fortunately, common sense hit them both and neither said a word.

Their shared moment of non-verbal conversation was broken when KITT announced the next specific location of KARR…

“He’s in Oregon.”

“What?!” Shawn asked.

“Where in Oregon, pal?” Michael asked, leaning inside.

“Two lines of code are left.” KARR reported.

“Good. X said, feeling more anxious with every keystroke.

“Your recent alteration has dampened the signal. Your next will shut it down.”

“The signal has drastically diminished.” KITT said, exasperated since he almost had the exact position.

“That’s all right buddy, keep working.” Michael assured.

Shawn left the anxious group and sat down in a chair on the other side of the garage.

Natalie noticed Shawn leaving and she followed. “You okay?” she asked, sitting down.

“I’m just anxious to go up against KARR again.”

“Again?” Natalie asked, confused.

Shawn blinked and air-slammed her head. “Dammit,” she said, “it feels like it’s again. I have KITT’s old memory chip, remember? I hate this damn chip.”

“Why? I would see it as a blessing.”

“Well if it is, it’s disguised pretty well. Sure I can tell you that the square root of 970195412795570361 is 984984981.” Shawn said. “But with that ability I have all these memories.”

“Can’t you have a procedure done to isolate memories?” Natalie asked.

“To a point. The same kind of thing I can have done to get out what happened to me last year.”

“Why don’t you?”

“If normal women can’t, why should I? Besides, I need to learn to cope with issues, not have them merely erased. That’s why they never erased them after my first mission.”

Natalie blinked and displayed a confused look.

Shawn closed her eyes in disgust. “Dammit. KITT’s first mission, KITT’s first mission. KITT was originally designed with a memory bank to be cleared after every mission and new information to be uploaded at the start of a new one.”

Natalie looked at Shawn with a concerned gaze. “Are you okay, Shawn?”

Shawn nodded, succeeding in fighting back tears by biting her lower lip. “I don’t know if I’m ready to be back.”

Natalie shook her head. “Shawn, listen to me. How long could you have gone without coming back? It’s… I don’t know… it’s an emptiness in the pit of my stomach that is screaming for me to return to the Bureau. And I know you share the same emptiness too. You’re the one who wanted to come back… if you made that step already, then you’re ready.”

“I’m all ready ready already?” Shawn asked, quoting an old commercial and laughing.

Natalie laughed and nodded. “You’ll be fine.”

“It’s stress,” Shawn noted, “my memory shifts. Every now and then when things get out of control I lose focus. Especially now.”

“I know what you mean. Lex is supposed to be dead. I’m still here because I know how his twisted mind works.”

“Why else?” Shawn asked.

“What do you mean?”

“There’s more to it than that, isn’t there?”

Natalie nodded. “He killed my partner.”

“He’s in Corvallis!” Bonnie yelled.

Shawn and Natalie rejoined the group and looked at a blinking dot on KITT’s map.

“Go to real time video.” Kevin said.

The computer rendering of Corvallis, Oregon cleared and was soon replaced with live black and white video.

“That’s Oregon State University.” Natalie said.

“Where is he KITT?” Michael asked. “All I see is a stadium.”

“According to my calculations we’re looking at him.” KITT replied.

“He must be under Reser Stadium.” Maddock said.

“I am scanning an underground space beneath the stadium.” KITT said.

“He’s gunning for us.” Kevin said.

Michael nodded. “Yeah, but we have an advantage… we didn’t fall for his diversion, and we’re already here.”

“Frequency shut down.” KARR said as X made the last keystroke.

“Good,” X said, smiling, “I think it’s time to pay a visit to the Emerald City.”

“What is our first target? The Knight Foundation?”

“Nope,” X said, “our first target is someplace very public with plenty of people.”

“How many casualties are estimated?”

“I don’t know until I see how many people are there.” X stated.

“Where do you plan to attack?” KARR asked.

“Run a search of Seattle and find the most popular tourist attraction.” X said.

An image popped up on KARR’s screen in no time. “I estimate this to be the best public place to attack.”

X stared at the image and grinned. “Perfect.”

“What the hell?” Bonnie said when the image disappeared.

“The frequency has terminated at the source.” KITT reported.

“They know.” Natalie said.

“We got four hours to prepare this city.” Maddock said.

“Are you out of your mind?!”

Maddock winced at the loud bitch of Ruth Daniels, Seattle police commissioner.

Her silent errand boy, Andrew, stood behind her, staring at Maddock with an expression on his face that made him look constipated.

“You have a lot of convincing to do to get me to put this city on alert, just on a hunch that your supercar’s twin is coming with a stick up his ass.”

“I shouldn’t have to convince you of anything, Commissioner!” Maddock yelled back. “Our history together does not make the best bedtime story for children, but you should know enough that we don’t dick around at FLAG!”

“We don’t dick around in the police department either, Mr. Maddock, and I resent your tone saying that we do.”

“And I resent you never giving the Knight Foundation a chance in the city. The mayors were cowards for putting you in control.”

That was the breaking point for Daniels. She started to get up and leave the room. “I’ve had enough of your impudence, Mr. Maddock. Remind yourself to take lessons on negotiating.”

Andrew opened the door to face Michael and Natalie standing in the way.

“Sit down commissioner.” Natalie ordered.

Andrew returned to his standing place as Daniels sat down.

“He goes.” Michael said, nodding towards Andrew.

Natalie walked over and escorted Andrew out of the room.

“Doesn’t that guy ever talk?” Michael asked, sitting across from Daniels.

“Not very much,” Daniels replied, “but it wasn’t necessary to ban him from this conversation.”

“I think it was necessary.” Natalie said, returning to the room and sitting down.

“You don’t need your magic little helper telling you what kind of stats to shoot out at us this time.” Maddock said.

“Now listen carefully, commissioner. The city is in danger. You have no idea the forces you are dealing with.” Natalie warned.

“Commissioner, aside from a twin of the Knight 2000, behind the wheel is a fanatical explosives expert. If they get here and we aren’t ready… I’d have someone starting your cars and opening doors if I were you.” Michael said.

“Think about this,” Maddock said, “there is a federal agent in the room who is warning you of a potential terrorist attack on the city.”

“And you don’t want to be held on federal charges for ignoring the warning, do you, Commissioner?” Natalie asked.

Michael leaned over the table and stared into Daniels’ eyes. She shuttered. She felt like she was looking into an abyss and it was staring back into her. There was something mysterious and disturbing about Michael Knight that startled her. Not too long after, his voice pierced the silence.

“Think about the lives that will lie in your hands if you walk out of here.” Michael warned.

Daniels sat in silence. She wished Andrew was there; he probably would have been able to offer some sound advice. But did he have to? The Foundation was right. Their point was made clear. It would be her fault if the city were hurt. “All right, what do you need me to do?”

“We need policemen stationed at high profile places in the city and its suburbs: the Space Needle, Microsoft, all monorail entrances and stops and especially underground.” Maddock started.

“National Guard and the FBI are being brought in to guard SeaTac and Boeing Field, along with all city seaports. They will also take command over city enforcement and I will be acting as the SAIC.”

“This is a lot of high profile activity that needs municipal and governing approval. How long do we have?” Daniels asked.

“About four or five hours.”

Daniels’ eyes nearly fell out of her head.

“We can’t waste any time and we need to call an emergency meeting with the mayor and governor.” Maddock said.

“I agree.” Daniels said.

“Good,” Maddock said, “because we already called it. They will be arriving in 15 minutes.”

1858 Hrs

Suggested Listening Track: Right Here, Right Now – Fat Boy Slim

“Okay KITT, give us a weapons systems check.” Bonnie said.

“.44 caliber machine guns fully loaded and at 110 percent efficiency.” KITT reported.

“How many rounds?” Kevin asked.

“2400 MBS calibrated rounds interchangeable with 2400 normal rounds.” KITT replied.

“Give me laser power pack status.” Bonnie requested.

“Only at 47 percent.” KITT said.

“What? Why?” Shawn asked.