Sisters Knight

"You know, most people don't make it a habit to visit junk yards on their off-days." Jess points out, following Heather through the rows of trashed out cars. Heather shrugs and grins.

"Hey, what can I say - I need a hobby."

"You need a life is what you need."

"Don't be mean."

"Why are we here again?" Jess asks again. "I mean, I get needing a hobby, but you don't do cars."

"Nope, but I do do mysteries." Heather points out. "The owner says he found a car here that's been on the books since the early 90s, and the thing has never rusted yet. Also, he has no idea who owned it or where it came from."

"So this is an investigative thing?"

"Maybe."

"I was right - you need a life."

"Shut your face."

"You know, there's bored, and then there's bored. Guess which category you fall into." Jess says with a grin. The grin gets wider as Heather flicks her off without looking back. She follows Heather as they wind their way through the stacks of compacted car. She looks around with mild interest. "How do you know it ain't been compacted into pieces?"

"Apparently they tried. Broke their compactor on the car." Heather says absently, looking around. She chooses a direction at random, and continues to walk. "So, I want to see it."

"And what happens when you do?"

"I haven't figured it out yet." Heather admits with a grin. "I'm kind of winging it, to be honest."

"Yeah, I can tell." Jess says with a grin. Heather turns to grin at her then something catches her eye, and she takes off down the isle. Jess watches her go, somewhat bemused. "Heather?"

"I found it!" The vaguely triumphant yell comes from a ways down the isle.

"Oh dear God." Jess groans. "Here she goes." She follows Heather down the row of cars to find a pristine 1980s era Trans-Am parked among the crushed vehicles. She blinks. "Okay. Weird."

"Tell me about it." Heather says with a bright grin. "Now, where do we begin?"

Jess just shakes her head. "You could check the glove box and see who the last registered owner is." she points out dryly. Heather just gives her a look as she does just that, finding the registration papers.

"Michael Knight." she muses. "Huh. I wonder if he's still around. Maybe he could tell us about the car."

"Why do you want to know?" Jess wonders. "I mean, it looks pretty, but can it drive?"

"Maybe? I wonder if they still have the keys for it."

Jess blinks. "Are you seriously going to take it?"

"I have 200 dollars." Heather muses. "Do you think that will be enough?"

"For God's sake, WHY?"

Heather laughs as Jess throws her hands in the air in exasperation. "Well, either they have the keys, and I walk out with a new car, or they don't and I keep my 200."

Jess shrugs, and follows Heather to the office. "What about your car?"

"I'll get Dad to bring me back tomorrow. I'm not worried." Heather grins at Jess's snort. "You sound so skeptical."

"That would be because I am." Jess says with a laugh. She opens the door to the office, and follows Heather to the desk.

Heather grins at her, then turns her attention to the man behind the counter. As they talk, Jess mostly tunes them out, looking around the office itself. The excitement in Heather's tone has her turning around just in time to see the keys drop into her best friend's hand.

"No way." Jess says, eyebrows rising. "You just bought that car, didn't you?"

"Yes!" The excitement is clear in Heather's voice. "Let's go!" She practically sprints out the door, running for the car. Jess gives the man an apologetic smile, then takes off after Heather.

"Why are you so happy about this?" Jess demands, panting to keep up. "I mean, even for you, that's weird."

Heather just shrugs. "It's been a while since I've had a good mystery to solve." she says. "And this one is real-life, too, not internet." She gets in the car and cranks on the engine.

And the entire dash lights up. "Holy shit. Jess, look at this! I don't even know what half of these buttons are!"

"You're like a kid in a candy factory." Jess mutters, but she gets in and takes a look. "Whoa. How are you going to figure that out?"

Heather grins. "The old race track. No one should be out there at night."

"And no one is supposed to be - you know what, no. I'm not being the voice of reason here, I'm not used to it and I'm bad at it."

Heather flashes her a smirk. "Does that mean you'll come with me to test it out?"

" . . . . . Yes."

"Yes!"

"This is why we get into trouble the way we do." Jess says with a laugh. "Either one of us will have a hare-brained scheme, and talk the other into going along." She gestures around her. "Case in point."

"Yeah, but we're not boring." Heather says, guiding the car to a gas station. "I'm going to fill up - the gas meter is low."

"I guess I'll stay with the car?" Jess says. "Hey, get me a drink?" she asks as Heather gets out.

"Sure, whatcha want?"

"Something with caffeine, please." Jess settles back as Heather heads inside. She stares up at the ceiling of the car.
"This has to be the most random impulse purchase she's ever made."

"There are other random purchases?" The voice that speaks is male, and makes Jess jump a foot in the air. She whips around to look in the backseat. When she didn't see anyone, she frowns. "Who the hell said that?!"

"I did." The male voice sounds distinctly amused as Jess stares at the dashboard in disbelief.

"Hey Jess, I got you a coke and - "

"YOUR CAR TALKS!" Jess almost screeches the words and points accusingly at the dashboard.

Heather blinks. "I don't think you need more caffeine."

"Fuck you and give me my coke!"

"I think giving her the coke is in your best interest."

Heather and Jess both snap to attention and stare at the dash. Heather blinks. "She's right. You talk."

"I do. If you get in the car, we can have this conversation in private."

For a moment, the girls just stare at each other, then at the car, then at each other again. Heather grins. "Frickin sweet!" In a flash she scrambles over to the drivers side and gets in. "So, you can talk. Are you an AI?"

"Is that a question you just come out and ask someone?" Jess wonders. "And why the hell are you so calm about this?"

"Because this is AWESOME!"

"I am an AI." the car says. "Let's get to this track you mentioned earlier. I can drive if you tell me how to get there."

Jess thinks for a moment then relays the directions, and watches as the gears shift and the car starts to move without Heather touching it at all. "This is so fucking weird." she mutters, then pauses. "Uh, weren't you gonna gas up? Did you already pay for the gas?"

"I was gonna, but at the pump." Heather says. "I don't pay inside unless I have to."

There's a moment's pause while the car considers, then backs back to the pump. "I do need gas." the voice is thoughtful. "If you wouldn't mind, of course."

Heather grins. "Not at all." she hops out of the car, and after a moment Jess can hear the pump working. Heather leans through the window, and glances at the dash before looking back at Jess. "What now?"

"I guess we go to the track, make sure the car can handle it." Jess says with a shrug. "If this is going to become your car full time, we should find out what it can do."

"There is not much I cannot do." The voice says simply. "But if you would like to still go to the track, I would be willing."

"I know I would." Jess says, and Heather nods. She finishes filling up and gets in the car.

"Actually, i have one question I want answered before we go." Heather says.

"What would you like to know?"

"What's your name?"

There's a very long pause. "My name - I'm the - I'm Kitt."

Heather and Jess exchange looks, but ignore the stammer for now. "Kitt. Nice to meet you. I'm Heather, and this is Jess."

"A pleasure to meet you both, although if you were discussing Heather being my driver, I imagine Jess has her own vehicle?"

"More or less." Jess says. "But you will still see a lot of me. We're best friends."

They reach the track in good time, and Heather stops at the gate while Jess hops out to open it up. As Heather pulls through, Jess grins as Heather guns it, and the engine roars as they take off. Jess closes the gate, then heads to the stands to watch Heather take the car around the track. If she listens closely, she can actually hear Heather laughing hysterically as the car zooms around the track.

After a little while, the car comes to a stop in front of Jess, and the door pops open. She slides into the passenger seat, and grins at Heather. "Have fun?"

"HELL YES." The grin Heather's wearing is a little wild, and Jess grins back in response. "That was amazing, I'm coming back out here and doing that again."

"I'm glad to have been of entertainment." Kitt's voice is dry, but both women can hear the amusement in it. Jess glances at the dashboard, then back at Heather.

"So, now what?"

"I guess we go home." Heather grins. "Besides, I wanna give Kitt a bath. No offense, but you need one."

Kitt makes a humming sound that might be agreement. "It would be nice to be clean again."

"Then it's a plan." Heather turns to Jess. "You wanna come with us, or do you need to go home yet?"

Jess considers for a moment. "I think I'll come with you. Aaron is working pretty late tonight, so he won't miss me. Unless you two need some alone time." The last part is added with a slight tease. Heather laughs and punches her in the arm.

"Hey, Kitt - can you tell us about yourself while we head home?" Heather asks. "I'll get us there."

"Of course. What would you like to know?"

"Who made you?" Jess asks. "I mean, you've got some serious hardware here. I don't know of any company that has that kind of tech."

"Not even Aaron would know?" Heather asks.

"Nope."

Jess grins. "I'm not gonna lie and say that Aaron wouldn't love this, but even his familiarity with tech wouldn't help him here."

"Who is Aaron?" Kitt asks curiously.

"My husband. He's a bit of a tech-head, but he's working tonight so I've got the Mustang. I'll have to pick him up once he gets off." Jess looks at her watch. 9:45 pm. "I've got a couple more hours."

"Frickin' sweet!" Heather grins widely. "But back to the original question - who made you?"

There's another long pause. "Knight Industries. I rather imagine that they've been dissolved by now." Kitt's voice becomes a little sad, and it makes the girls look at each other.

Heather pauses a moment, apparently weighing her next question. "Who was Michael?"

Jess shoots her a reproachful look, and Heather shrugs in faint defense. "It's a fair question! His name's on the registration!"

Kitt laughs, and the sound is sad. "It's alright. Michael Knight was my driver. We were operatives for the Foundation for Law and Government - private investigators of a sort. When the Foundation was disbanded, Michael and I left together." He pauses for just a minute. "He's dead now."

"Oh, I'm so sorry." Heather murmurs. She hesitates, then reaches out and puts her hand against the dash. "Can you feel that?"

"Of a sort."

"Good. That's a hug. I'm hugging you right now."

Jess nods and puts her hand beside Heather's. "Me, too. No one should have to go through that."

((think this is sappy enough?))

Kitt laughs, but it's a sad sound, and it tugs at Jess's heartstrings a little. "Thank you."

Heather mulls something over, and she suddenly grins. "The guys are gonna be so jealous." The change in topic makes Jess blink a little, then grin.

"Translation - Colton is going to be so jealous." Jess laughs. She pauses for a moment. "No offense, Kitt, but I think you need a tune-up. Is there anywhere in particular we can take you? Because the hardware here is nuts."

Kitt hums in thought, then eventually speaks. "I do not think so, no. I would imagine that a regular car shop would suffice."

Heather and Jess exchange a long look. "I don't know about that." Heather says doubtfully. "Is this stuff wired into your engine?"

"Some of it, yes." Kitt admits. "But it's wired in such a way that you wouldn't be able to tell."

"Still," Heather muses, "let's keep things as close to the vest as possible, yeah? I don't know about you, but I don't want people thinking you're worth stealing. I'm running out of places to hide the bodies."

There's a very long pause. "I can't tell if you're kidding." Kitt says warily.

Jess bursts out laughing. "She's kidding, I promise. She hasn't asked me to help her bury any bodies." She looks at Heather. "Thinking about getting Colton to do the work?"

"Yeah. I trust him."

"Okay. Well, I need to go get Aaron. Meet with you tomorrow at Colton's garage?"

"You got it, girl."

---------/

In a facility on the other side of the country, a computer analyst receives an email. He blinks. "That's weird."

His companion, a young woman whose nametag reads Abby, glances at him. "What is?"

"Remember that trace on the Trans-Am the Director had us do?"

"Yeah?"

He clicks print and stands up. "Someone just bought the car."

The next day finds Jess walking into the garage with Aaron at her side. Heather looks up as Colton waves them in. "Hi, Aaron! You're not working today?"

"I took the day off. I figured I'd help with the car." Aaron says with a grin as Heather gives him a hug. He shakes Colton's hand and looks over at the Trans-Am. "Nice."

"Thanks!" Heather pulls Jess aside as the guys both lean over the engine. "Did you tell him about Kitt?"

Jess shakes her head. "I wasn't sure how to, to be brutally honest. It's not like I can just come out and say 'Heather's car is actually a really cool AI inside a car' now, can I?"

Heather bursts out laughing. "Well, when you put it like that, no." she looks up at Colton calls her name. "Yeah?"

"Can you come here? There's something here that I don't think belongs in the engine." Colton taps the black box with his wrench. "It's wired into the engine, but isn't part of the actual engine block."

Before either of the girls can come up with an excuse, Kitt speaks. "That would be my CPU, and I'd appreciate it if you didn't remove it."

((I'll leave the shadowy agency in your hands - I literally have no idea where that's going))

Colton freezes. He calmly backs up, sets down the wrench, and stares at Heather. "Your car talks."

Heather grins. "Yeah?"

"You didn't think to tell me this?"

Aaron and Jess are starting to laugh at this point. Heather just crosses her arms over her chest and grins. "This is so much more entertaining."

Colton sighs. "Why are you determined to give me a heart attack?"

"Why do you make it so easy?" Before Colton can respond, Heather continues. "Colton, Aaron, meet Kitt. Quite possibly the coolest friend I've ever bought."

Jess bursts out into hysterical laughter over Kitt's mock-indignant response. Aaron just looks at Colton.

"Why do we hang out with them?" he asks balefully.

Colton shrugs. "You're the one who married crazy. I'm just friends with it."

((i don't know what the hell is going on either! They're gonna show up again eventually, I just don't know how or what they are yet lol))

Jess grins and slides under Aaron's arm, wrapping her arms around him and settling in comfortably. "And to be honest, how would you explain that? There's no real good way to say it."

Aaron jabs a finger into Jess's ribs, causing her to yelp, and try to move away. "You could have said something to me, so I could have warned him!"

Jess shrugs. "Would you have believed me?"

There's a short pause while Aaron considers the question. "I probably would have been skeptical." he admits. "But I wouldn't completely rule it out because I never really know with you two."

Heather looks over at Jess. "Was that a compliment?"

"I have no idea." Jess says with a grin. The grin gets wider when Colton picks his wrench back up, and warily approaches Kitt. "He won't bite you."

"Yeah, because he doesn't have teeth." Colton shoots back. "I know that - I just don't want him to run me over."

Kitt laughs. "I will not run you over. I'm programmed to protect human life, so I will not hurt you. But I would be very appreciative if you'd be able to help with the tune-up."

Colton grins. "I can do that. Aaron, give me a hand here?"

"Yep." He disentangles himself from Jess, and wanders over. "Gimme some tools."

Heather watches the two settle in to a rhythm working on the engine. Jess leans against her with a smile. "Look - our boys are happy."

That earns her a laugh. "Yep - all three of them." she says cheerfully. Kitt makes a sound much like blowing a raspberry. Heather laughs. "How rude! You should apologize!"

"You're the one who said you bought me." Kitt retorts gamely. "Colton, if you could tighten that bolt by one-quarter turn, that will be fine."

"Got it."

Aaron pokes his head out from under the car. "So what happens now? I mean, this is an incredible piece of technology. I'm sure someone is out there looking for it - him."

Heather shrugs. "Well, that depends solely on what Kitt wants. If someone comes for him and he wants to go, then that's what he'll do."

There's a brief pause from Kitt. "And if I would rather stay here?"

Heather grins. "You think I'd argue?"

((behold the shitty post!))

Aaron gives a considering hum as he goes back to work. "Well, with Kitt in charge, I rest reasonably assured that Jess'll come back home mostly in one piece."

"HEY!" Jess and Heather both find something to throw in Aaron's direction, who starts laughing as he ducks.

"Just because you drive like a grandpa doesn't mean the rest of us do!" Heather protests with a grin.

Aaron makes a vague scoffing noise and waves Heather off as his attention focuses on a particularly worn piece of tech. "Kitt, what's this supposed to be?" He gently taps the component with his screwdriver. There's a pause as Kitt thinks about it.

"That helped FLAG locate me. It's like a GPS tracker." Kitt's voice is subdued.

Aaron gives Kitt a faintly sympathetic look. "Do you want me to remove it?"

"It is not operational. It's not using any power, so I'm not especially concerned about it." The shrug is clear in Kitt's voice.

Heather considers that for a moment. "If it turns back on, can you shut it down?"

"I imagine so, but I've never had a reason to." Kitt says. "Are you expecting someone to try to remotely turn it on?"

Heather shrugs. "Maybe? I watch too many Bond movies."

"And true crime shows." Colton points out. "Which explains some of the dumb shit you've done."

"Okay, now, this isn't about embarassing me!" Heather laughs. "We're talking about the GPS!"

Aaron takes another look at it. "Actually, I don't think it can be turned on remotely. This is state of the art. Government issued. You don't want your enemies to be able to turn on your own tracker."

"So someone would have to have the right code to do it."

"Pretty much." Aaron moves on to something else under the hood. "So that might not be an issue. If you want it gone, Kitt, just let me know."

"Thank you, Aaron."