And so, in frustration...
Jul. 20th, 2010 08:53 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dragovianknight...I put Fallen Knight back on the back burner and spent my 750 words messing with Indestructible.
KITT was immobilized on a device clearly meant for the bulkier form of the Knight Industries Three Thousand. Michael circled slowly, aware that the whine he heard wasn't from KITT's turbine engine, but rather the sound of his tires spinning uselessly, unable to gain purchase on empty air.
The car was being held at an angle, so that his sensor light was at Michael's chest level when he finally finished circling and came to stop in front of KITT. Something -beyond the entire situation - bothered Michael, but he was distracted by the conversation around him, as Bonnie and Sarah conferred.
Finally, Bonnie joined him in front of KITT. "KITT," she said, in a voice that shook only a little. "Identify yourself."
"I am the Knight Industries Two Thousand. K-I-T-T. KITT, if you prefer," the car responded, the programmed identification making Michael's throat close with the shear normalcy of it. "Property of the United States Armed Forces."
/Property./ That made Michael's throat close for an entirely different reason.
"And can you identify me?"
The scanner kept up its slow, steady sweep, and finally Michael identified what was bothering him. KITT's scanner had always been a barometer of his mood. His tires were still spinning as he fought helplessly for freedom; the scanner should have been whipping back and forth like the tail of an angry cat, drawing in as much information as possible about the room, the people, not sluggishly crawling from side to side.
If KITT were human, Michael suspected he'd peg him as doped to the eyeballs.
"Dr. Barstow, Bonnie," KITT replied after a moment. He began listing Bonnie's various degrees and awards, working back from the present day, then - again in reverse chronological order - her jobs. His voice slowed as he said, "Employed: Knight Industries, 1980-1982, 1983-1991." His voice faltered; the scanner sped up, reacting to agitation that KITT's voice failed to reveal.
"Employed: Knight Industries," KITT repeated.
"And what was my job, KITT?" Bonnie pressed.
"Assignment: Head technician." The scanner flared, lit nearly from end to end. Behind him, Michael could hear Sarah issuing orders, muttered comments tossed back and forth. He suspected if he was willing to turn around, he'd see Sarah and the two techs he didn't know all hard at work at the computers KITT was connected to.
He wasn't willing to turn.
"Assignment: Head technician for the Knight Industries Tw..."
KITT's voice stopped mid-word; the scanner flared again, then froze, faded, a single point of light pulsing slowly in place like a heartbeat.
Bonnie made a noise and pushed away from Michael, turning toward the activity he could hear behind him. He still didn't look, but he could easily picture her taking over, fingers flying across a keyboard faster than he could follow. It was something he'd seen far too many times.
He kept his gaze on that pulsing, flickering light, and while Bonnie did what she was best at, he did the only thing he could do.
"KITT?" He stepped closer, planting his hands on KITT's hood, one on either side of the frozen sensor, close enough that he couldn't see the light, just its reflection against his chest. The whine was fading as KITT's tires slowed; he wondered if that was a good thing or a bad thing. "Hey, pal, since when can't you answer a simple question, huh?" His voice dropped. "I know you remember us. Somewhere, under all the crap tehy did to you, you remember."
The light pulsed, reflecting off his white shirt like blood.
"It's going to be okay, buddy. You just hang in there. Bonnie's still the best."
The tires finally ran down their momentum; the faint vibration they'd been sending through the car stopped.
The bloody reflection on his shirt was fading to pink.
Behind him, Bonnie swore, the kind of language he would never have believed she knew if he hadn't seen KITT threatened before. He didn't understand the conversation going on, rapidfire, between her and the others, but when he raised his eyes, he understood the look in his son's, meeting his gaze with the two most advanced cars in the world between them.
"Come on, KITT," he muttered, dropping his gaze again. "KITT? KITT!"
The pink reflection on his shirt was gone. He stared at it numbly for a minute, then whirled to search for Bonnie.
She was white faced and intent on the computer in front of her, surrounded by people working just as feverishly, as if they'd done this a thousand times instead of just this once.
"Got it!" Not Bonnie, but the Asian woman whose name he'd never caught.
"Transfer it to..." Bonnie didn't even have to finish the sentence.
"Power's coming back online," the man said, a trace of nerves in his voice.
"Monitor it." Sarah and Bonnie, in stereo.
Behind him, Michael heard a sound. He turned, half afraid it had been his imagination.
KITT's scanner tracked with painful slowness from one side to the other.
"KITT?"
An agonizing moment of silence. Then...
"Michael?"
KITT was immobilized on a device clearly meant for the bulkier form of the Knight Industries Three Thousand. Michael circled slowly, aware that the whine he heard wasn't from KITT's turbine engine, but rather the sound of his tires spinning uselessly, unable to gain purchase on empty air.
The car was being held at an angle, so that his sensor light was at Michael's chest level when he finally finished circling and came to stop in front of KITT. Something -beyond the entire situation - bothered Michael, but he was distracted by the conversation around him, as Bonnie and Sarah conferred.
Finally, Bonnie joined him in front of KITT. "KITT," she said, in a voice that shook only a little. "Identify yourself."
"I am the Knight Industries Two Thousand. K-I-T-T. KITT, if you prefer," the car responded, the programmed identification making Michael's throat close with the shear normalcy of it. "Property of the United States Armed Forces."
/Property./ That made Michael's throat close for an entirely different reason.
"And can you identify me?"
The scanner kept up its slow, steady sweep, and finally Michael identified what was bothering him. KITT's scanner had always been a barometer of his mood. His tires were still spinning as he fought helplessly for freedom; the scanner should have been whipping back and forth like the tail of an angry cat, drawing in as much information as possible about the room, the people, not sluggishly crawling from side to side.
If KITT were human, Michael suspected he'd peg him as doped to the eyeballs.
"Dr. Barstow, Bonnie," KITT replied after a moment. He began listing Bonnie's various degrees and awards, working back from the present day, then - again in reverse chronological order - her jobs. His voice slowed as he said, "Employed: Knight Industries, 1980-1982, 1983-1991." His voice faltered; the scanner sped up, reacting to agitation that KITT's voice failed to reveal.
"Employed: Knight Industries," KITT repeated.
"And what was my job, KITT?" Bonnie pressed.
"Assignment: Head technician." The scanner flared, lit nearly from end to end. Behind him, Michael could hear Sarah issuing orders, muttered comments tossed back and forth. He suspected if he was willing to turn around, he'd see Sarah and the two techs he didn't know all hard at work at the computers KITT was connected to.
He wasn't willing to turn.
"Assignment: Head technician for the Knight Industries Tw..."
KITT's voice stopped mid-word; the scanner flared again, then froze, faded, a single point of light pulsing slowly in place like a heartbeat.
Bonnie made a noise and pushed away from Michael, turning toward the activity he could hear behind him. He still didn't look, but he could easily picture her taking over, fingers flying across a keyboard faster than he could follow. It was something he'd seen far too many times.
He kept his gaze on that pulsing, flickering light, and while Bonnie did what she was best at, he did the only thing he could do.
"KITT?" He stepped closer, planting his hands on KITT's hood, one on either side of the frozen sensor, close enough that he couldn't see the light, just its reflection against his chest. The whine was fading as KITT's tires slowed; he wondered if that was a good thing or a bad thing. "Hey, pal, since when can't you answer a simple question, huh?" His voice dropped. "I know you remember us. Somewhere, under all the crap tehy did to you, you remember."
The light pulsed, reflecting off his white shirt like blood.
"It's going to be okay, buddy. You just hang in there. Bonnie's still the best."
The tires finally ran down their momentum; the faint vibration they'd been sending through the car stopped.
The bloody reflection on his shirt was fading to pink.
Behind him, Bonnie swore, the kind of language he would never have believed she knew if he hadn't seen KITT threatened before. He didn't understand the conversation going on, rapidfire, between her and the others, but when he raised his eyes, he understood the look in his son's, meeting his gaze with the two most advanced cars in the world between them.
"Come on, KITT," he muttered, dropping his gaze again. "KITT? KITT!"
The pink reflection on his shirt was gone. He stared at it numbly for a minute, then whirled to search for Bonnie.
She was white faced and intent on the computer in front of her, surrounded by people working just as feverishly, as if they'd done this a thousand times instead of just this once.
"Got it!" Not Bonnie, but the Asian woman whose name he'd never caught.
"Transfer it to..." Bonnie didn't even have to finish the sentence.
"Power's coming back online," the man said, a trace of nerves in his voice.
"Monitor it." Sarah and Bonnie, in stereo.
Behind him, Michael heard a sound. He turned, half afraid it had been his imagination.
KITT's scanner tracked with painful slowness from one side to the other.
"KITT?"
An agonizing moment of silence. Then...
"Michael?"
no subject
Date: 2010-07-20 05:26 pm (UTC)Poor Michael and Bonnie and everyone, but OH KITT!!!!
no subject
Date: 2010-07-20 05:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-21 03:18 am (UTC)D, you can't stop there. That's just cruel and unusual punishment.
no subject
Date: 2010-07-21 03:33 am (UTC)And I'm sure KITT would agree that I am both cruel and unusual. *evil grin*