#and kitt has some definite emotions regarding his predecessor

[knight-rider-fan-2000]

Knight Rider: A Modulator for Echoes

Summary: Takes place between episodes 1.13 and 1.14. Bonnie proposes a new voice modulator for Kitt, and his reaction is. . . mixed.  SFW

   Being in the hands of Bonnie always made Kitt feel- no, he did not feel, he reminded himself- anyways, it always told his sensors that he was in a place with no danger. That was always reassuring, especially after a harrowing mission. Bonnie was peace, Bonnie was calm. Her hands provided only gentle touches. She always talked while she repaired him. If he asked, she would talk him through exactly what she was doing.    Not that he would ever deny her any access or doubt her intentions. He was simply curious. He could vaguely sense what she was doing under the hood through her manipulation of his parts, but given that he had no visual sensors in that area he couldn't see any exacts. However, Bonnie was rather excellent at describing what she was doing, so he was able to piece together a somewhat accurate picture of what was going on underneath his own hood. It was satisfying to learn, and it helped him to understand where he was the same with ordinary cars and where he differed.    Most humans didn't have an accurate view of their own internal anatomy. Many didn't even know where all their internal organs were. Kitt found that odd, but then he remembered that most humans didn't like to delve too deep into their own biology. For some reason most of their bodily fluids disgusted them. Kitt could understand their aversion to blood- it would be like if he saw his own motor oil leaking, such a vital fluid to his engine -but the fact that humans were repelled by everything else was strange. He certainly didn't "freak out", as they say, when he saw a little bit of leaked coolant on the ground. "Alright, you're all set, Kitt." Bonnie said as she shut his hood. Her hands were stained with some lubricant or another. "Everything's looking good in there." "Thank you, Bonnie." He replied. "Here, let me wash my hands real quick and I'll come inside. I want to talk to you about something."    Bonnie walked over to the small sink in the corner of the semi. Kitt watched as she lathered her hands in soap and scrubbed. The stain faded but persisted. She gave a small huff before drying off with a towel. She then came back over around his side and opened his driver's seat door. "Micheal been treating your interior well?" She asked as she got in. "Yes. Ever since I implemented my "lid-on-drink" policy, there haven't been any more spills." Kitt injected humor into his tone. He reflected that if he were human, he would have laughed. Bonnie did laugh. "That's good!" "So what did you want to talk about?" Bonnie lifted her arm and trailed her fingers over his voice modulator. "Say, I was wondering. . ."    She then drew her hand back, as if changing her mind. Not that Kitt was a mind reader, but he had learned to read gestures well enough. "What is it?" He asked. "A few months ago I found a possible upgrade to your voice modulator." Bonnie continued, slower. "An upgrade?" Kitt suddenly became very aware of his voice modulator blinking to punctuate his words.    The light was originally only supposed to indicate that he was speaking in the first place, and it was supposed to be a consistent pulse. However, over the months, he had in a sense devolved from that. He had begun, almost with no judgement, to flash it in time with his syllables. "Yeah, it's an upgrade. Instead of one light it would be three lights, in a shape almost similar to your horizontal dashboard gauges, except vertical. Would you like it?"    An upgrade was an upgrade. Usually Bonnie installed those without him even knowing until after it was done. But now she almost seemed uncomfortable. Kitt could see and feel her body be tense against his seats. Not to mention the fact that she was giving him an option! "Why are you asking me?" He eventually replied. "Well, because. . . I mean, it's your body. Your choice." She said. Stranger, stranger still. "Alright. Let me see it first."    Bonnie opened the door and got out of his cabin. She walked over to one of her many drawers that lined the walls. She opened it and got out a little rectangle, presumably the new configuration. She returned, clutching the object in her hands. "See?" "No, I don't. You're covering the object with your hands. Hold it open, please." He replied.    She slowly turned it around in her hands. Kitt was going to scan the object in every frequency to get a better picture of it, but the mere visual sight of it brought his processes to a screeching halt. He knew this voice modulator.    It was the voice modulator in the blueprints of the original Knight Industries prototype. "Bonnie, what is that doing here? I don't understand. You didn't- you didn't pick this up off of Karr, did you?" Kitt didn't like how he couldn't hold his voice together. The shock at the mere thought of the implication seemed to send his processor scrambling. Bonnie wouldn't, would she? "Oh, no, of course not! This isn't his exact voice modulator, but," Bonnie clutched the box back in her hands again. "But it's a voice modulator that looks and functions exactly like Karr's." Kitt interjected during her pause. "Where did you get it?" "We got it from the warehouse Karr was stored in. I've been tinkering with it for a while now since then," Bonnie replied. "I think it's a better design then the one you got right now." "Is that so?" He couldn't keep the edge out of his voice. "Yes, actually." She gave a quick glare, before looking ashamed. "It's alright if you don't want it. That's why I asked." Kitt paused. "Why would you suggest it in the first place?" "I thought it might suit you better. It's a much more complex design. It would allow you to be more expressive." She hesitated a bit on the last word. "More 'expressive'? Wasn't Karr's problem that he was too 'expressive'?" He rebuked. "No, Karr's problem was that it didn't care about hurting people, a problem you certainly don't have." Bonnie put her hand above Kitt's dash. "And to be perfectly fair, this wouldn't be an upgrade in a technical sense. It's only about your preference." "My preference? Bonnie, you know I can't have preferences." He replied. "Bullshit. I know you don't like Micheal's music." Bonnie sometimes swore when she was working on him, but she'd never swore directly at him before. The absurdity made it all the more strange- and amusing. "I suppose that is correct." "So, would you prefer to try this new voice modulator or stick with your old one?" She asked. "It wouldn't be yellow, would it? I think that would clash." He remarked. "No, I made it red. Yellow would be horrible. It wouldn't match at all." Her double meaning was subtle but readable. "It wouldn't." He concurred.    Kitt watched her as she opened her mouth to say something, but closed it again. Her face cycled through a range of recognizable emotions, and some emotions that weren't quite so easy to read. He studied her features intently, hoping to learn perhaps what she wanted him to say next. "Well," she eventually spoke, "would you like me to plug it in so you can get a feel for it?"    It wouldn't make any sense for him to deny the offer, would it? An upgrade was an upgrade. Never mind the strange thoughts going through his processor. He'd never turn Bonnie down. "Sure."    Kitt removed the power from his current voice modulator. Bonnie made short work in taking the panel off. Being able to actually see its removal was different to say the least. He was tempted to bring power back to the empty port to explore what it felt like, but that would be irresponsible, as it would put Bonnie in danger of being shocked. Soon enough, however, she had the new panel back on. "Alright, try that."    He brought power back to the unit slowly. It felt. . . different, as all of Bonnie's changes did, but it didn't feel foreign. The most pressing difference was the sudden jump in complexity. It wasn't just three vertical bars of lights; each bar had ranges of motion up and down. He fiddled around silently with all the different settings and configurations. "How. . . does. . . this. . . look?" He eventually spoke, trying to match the lights with his words in a way that felt normal. "I think it looks good." Bonnie nodded. "How about. . . this?" He spoke quieter, and at the same time he shortened the vertical lights. "I'm whispering, see?" "That's great!" She smiled. "Or this?" He announced louder, expanding the bars. "When I need to get Micheal's attention?" "That's perfect. That's wonderful. See, I told you the ability to be more expressive could be good." Bonnie had laughter in her voice. "Perhaps it will be an advantage." Kitt replied. "Well that's that then." She tapped the panel. "I'm glad you like it." "Thank you, Bonnie." He said simply. "Alright, well I'm off to go tell Micheal and Devon that you're all set." Bonnie opened his door. "Do you think Micheal will like the new look?" Kitt asked. "Of course." She replied before leaving his cabin.        Kitt didn't track her from there. Instead, he turned inward. Already his processor was making comparisons. Did Karr experience the exact same sensations when he had activated his voice modulator? Before now, it had been easy for Kitt to separate himself from his predecessor. Kitt knew that Karr had many of the same functions he did- auto mode and turbo boost, for example, but how Karr had used those functions had been totally different.    But the voice modulator. . . Karr had talked. He had expressed himself plenty, and though Kitt had never seen Karr's interior he knew that Karr flashed his voice modulator lights as he had spoken. It was programming, almost like human instinct. No doubt Kitt had picked up on this new voice modulator so quickly through a very similar program.    A similarity in processing. A glimpse into the experience of his imperfect, dangerous, and violent predecessor.      Micheal entered the trailer with a smile on his face. Kitt was brought out of his thoughts immediately as his scanners traced over every inch of Micheal's body. All was well. It looked like his partner had slept well and had a good breakfast meal (which Devon was likely the one to thank for). His vitals were normal, and of course, the expression on his face was genuine. A surge of something- perhaps contentedness? -swept through Kitt. "Good morning, Micheal." Kitt greeted. "Morning, Kitt." Micheal waved. The gesture filled Kitt with warm familiarity. "How've you been? How's Bonnie been treatin' ya?" "Good, as always. She just finished my repairs." Kitt replied. "Any new upgrades?" Micheal came alongside him, putting his hands on his roof. "Nothing much." "Ready for a drive?" "Why would I say no?" Micheal tapped Kitt's roof before opening the door and hopping in the driver's seat. It didn't take long for his eyes to find the new change. "Oh? What's this?" "I got a new voice modulator. What do you think?" It felt like an eternity before his partner answered. "Looks great, buddy. Looks great." "Thank you. Bonnie suggested it might help me to be more 'expressive'." Kitt continued in a relaxed tone. "More expressive? You didn't need any help for that." Micheal's mischievous smile seemed to light up his entire interior. "Yes, I don't need the help, but it might help you. Bigger lights might help you notice and listen when I'm trying to give you sound advice that you should really listen too." He teased in return. "Hey! I listen!" Micheal's heartrate elevated a beat or two at the accusation. A sign of irritation, but only slight. "Yes, and about that time when I was telling you about the security camera, and you didn't hear a word I said-" "Okay, okay, okay. Let's hit the road, shall we?" Micheal made a calming gesture with his hands. "Of course, Micheal. You have the controls."    Micheal laughed and tapped the steering wheel, but otherwise said nothing. The rear of the semi trailer opened, revealing a wide blue sky and a gently curving road ahead.    Micheal resumed control and surprisingly didn't talk more, but the silence wasn't heavy or awkward. The feeling of Micheal's hands on his steering wheel was all the interaction needed. Kitt liked the whole scenario very much (he did have preferences, after all). Micheal, his driver, his partner, his whole reason for existence, leading the way, picking their path.    In that moment Kitt knew that Karr had never experienced such a sensation.