Chapter 18: Political Knight

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(A/N) as the name may suggest, this part of the story is a bit political, mentioning abortion. So all I ask of you is to avoid starting arguments in the comments, and please be mature.

I approached Kitt.
"That was nice of you," He said as I set my bag down on the passenger's seat.
"I just found out something insane," I stated, as I got into the car again.
"What is it?" Kitt asked as he automatically shut the door for me and started his turbine engine.
"That lady was my Grandmother by blood," I said.
"Is Bonnie not your Grandmother?' the car asked as he turned out of the Wendy's parking lot.
"No, well yes, okay I'll just tell you the whole story." I said.
"Okay?" Kitt commented.
"My birth Mother was involved with the wrong people, so she was abandoned by my birth Father, she was only 16 when she got pregnant with me. She died in the process of my birth." I explained.
"Why didn't she just get an abortion?" He questioned after a moment.
"She was denied," I said.
"You can't deny a 16-year-old girl an abortion, can you?" He said.
"You can now, I'm not sure about the rules then" I answered.
"I think that is stupid," Kitt said snarkily.
"It is what it is, America has been trying to take away women's rights as soon as we got them," I said. Glaring out the window.
"Doesn't the constitution prevent that?"
"Last time I checked abortion wasn't an unalienable right," I responded.
"Well all I'm going to say is that banning abortion would only prevent the legal ones, that means people will do it illegally, and probably end up hurting themselves more." He commented.
"There is no need to get political Kitt," I said.
"Is that political?" He asked.
"Yup, that's why I didn't say anything," I responded.
"What has society come to?" Kitt asked
"Well, let's put it this way, guys like Micheal are in their 60s to 70-s right now, and now they call the shots, what do you think?"
"I think women's rights are screwed!" Kitt exclaimed.
"Why do you care about women's rights?' I asked.
"I think you're forgetting who programmed me and what gender they were." He stated.
"Okay yes, but more literally, why do you care about women's rights?" I asked again.
"The 14th amendment. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. In other words, everyone should be treated equally." He replied.
"Have you ever considered becoming a politician?" I said jokingly.
"Can you imagine a car as a politician?" He answered.
"Yeah you're right, those other guys won't stand a chance," I said.
"You think that?"
"You're the smartest car in the whole wide world," I answered.
"I wouldn't say the smartest, I only know what my data banks tell me." He explained;
"But you've been around a lot longer than the competition, so you have collected more data on everything," I said.
"When did Tesla become a company?' He asked.
"Technically, 2003, however, Elon Musk became CEO in 2008," I said.
"Well, I guess you're right." He said.
"Is Tesla a threat to you?" I asked.
"No, I'm just trying to see how long they've been around." He said.
"Are you trying to hook up with a Tesla?" I teased.
"What! Heavens no! What would make you conclude that?" He exclaimed.
"Just a thought." I started. "Speaking of which, have you ever been in a relationship with another car?"
"No!" Kitt cried.
"Why not?"
"Because I'm not Micheal, Susan." He said, starting to get annoyed.
"Okay jeez, sorry," I said.
"It's fine"
"Have you ever had a crush?"
"Why are you getting so personal?"
"Just answer the question."
"Yes, yes I have, but so have you, so don't judge me."
"What kind of car?"
"She was a red 1982 red Camaro z28." He said.
"Camaros are cool," I said.
"Vehicles made by General Motors are cool."
"You're just saying that because you're a Trans-Am."
"No... I- Okay yes, But I'm allowed to have pride in what I am, aren't I?"
"Yes, yes you are," I said.
We sat in silence for a few minutes, as we cruised down the highway back to the Foundation building. I remembered when Micheal was trying to show me the videos of Karr, and Kitt had accidentally put a video of a red Trans-Am.
"I'm surprised you didn't say you had a crush on a certain red Trans-Am," I said.
"I was hoping you wouldn't bring that up again," Kitt remarked.
"Why?"
Kitt didn't say anything, he just kept driving, as if he ignored my question. I didn't want to pressure him any more than I had already, so I just decided we should continue the rest of the ride in silence.
"Would you like to see something cool?" Kitt asked as we pulled into the foundation parking lot.
'Sure?"
"Press the button with the large 'C' on it." He said.
I pressed the button, just as he had instructed me to, and the trunk shot open the wrong way. The roof subsided into the storage space, then it closed again. I felt the cool humid air of late summer seep into the car, like how water fills a glass.
"You're a convertible?" I asked.
"Yes." He said.
I pressed the button again and the roof went back up.
"That's cool!" I exclaimed, opening the door of the car.
I walked back into the building through the main entrance. I heard Kitt start his engine and then move away, probably trying to find a spot to get out of the rain. I waved to the receptionist as I walked by her. She didn't do anything but raise her hand as a simple gesture to wave back. She must be on a very intense round of solitaire. I went up the staircase, which consisted of a grand 5 steps, Then over to the left where my office was. The only noise I could hear was the heel of my shoes clicking whenever I took a step. The air was still the same, dusty with a tint of warm vanilla from one of Dahlia's wax warmers. She didn't allow anyone to burn candles in the building, she was too scared of the place burning down. As I got closer to my office from the long corridor, I could see the silhouettes of Dahlia and Sonia talking to each other at the end of the hall. The minute Dahlia saw me, she flagged me down, her voice echoing through the empty hallway like it would if she were to talk into the Grand Canyon.
"Susan!" She exclaimed as I approached. "I and Sonia are planning to see a movie tonight, wanna come with us?"
"I would love to, but I already have plans for tonight," I answered.
"It wouldn't happen to involve some cowboy we met today, would it?" Sonia asked, her voice silvery.
"Oh shush." I ridiculed
"That means it is Susan." Dahlia teased as I rolled my eyes.
"Someone took 'save a horse, ride a cowboy a little too seriously," Sonia added, smirking.
"Will you please!" I hollered
"I'm sorry Pookie-bear, you can do whatever you want, I don't care," she apologized soft-spoken.
"It's fine, Dahlia, why did you ask kitt to spy on me?" I asked.
"I wanted to make sure you weren't doing anything on company time- again." She alleged.
'Okay, to be fair, that was the first time I've ever kissed a guy." I testified.
They both stared at me.
"First? Here?" Sonia choked.
"Yeah?'
"Honey, of all places to have your first kiss, you chose here, in the interrogation room, not even the janitor's closet?" Dahlia said, clutching her hands to her chest.
"I didn't plan it!"
"Right, but when I had my first kiss, I made sure it was somewhere classic. You remember when I and Danny Koolic got caught making out in the Janitor's closet?" Dahlia teased, nudging me slightly with her elbow.
"We don't care about your high school relationships," Sonia said sarcastically, rolling her eyes.
"You're just mad because you never had any." Dahlia taunted.
"How can I forget you and Danny Kollic?" I said, interrupting their quarrel. "You two were the most basic high school couple ever. The cheerleader falls in love with the quarterback, yadda yadda, ends up in the janitor's closet, and then breaks up over a large fight."
"We were certainly not basic." Dahlia retorted.
"Right, Danny was acidic, because he was sour, so together the both of you were just neutral," Sonia said.
"Did I just hear a science joke?" Kitt's voice boomed from the loading dock.
The three of us erupted into large bursts of laughter. It was even funnier because every time we tried to calm down and catch our breath, we would all just start laughing again at our weird noises. It took us about fifteen minutes to collect ourselves.
When we were all calm we all turned to beat red, like we had been crying. Quincy walked down the hallway and just glared at us confusedly, with another twinkie in his hand.
'Where does he summon those things from?" I commented.
"I'm not going to tell you because you'd take them all, just like you did with my Cosmic Brownies."He said.
"It was a combined effort!" I cried out to him.
"You still ate them all!" He scoffed.
"I looked over at Dahlia because she knew I only ate one of them. She was the one who ate the rest. I never cared much for the little pastries anyway, having one was fine to me, but having two made me feel like I was going to be sick. Quincy turned into his office and then disappeared.
"What time is it Susan?" Sonia asked.
I looked down at my watch.
"3:30" I answered.
"Oh yeah, you guys can go home now," Dahlia interjected.
"I didn't know that, thanks," Sonia said as she sarcastically rolled her eyes at Dahlia.
'I better get going, I've got one heck of an impatient driver." I joked.
"I heard that!" Kitt shouted through the loading dock door.
"See what I mean?' I said as I began to walk away from the two girls.
"Bye Susan," Dahlia giggled.
"Yeah, see ya. Oh! Say hi to Bo for me, will ya?" Sonia added.
I mentally rolled my eyes at that comment, not wanting to start anything again. I mean, if she starts to tease me about it again, I'll just start picking on her about her exes. I walked into my office first, grabbing my bag and metal water bottle. Then, I proceed on my route to the loading dock door. Upon arrival, I pushed the door open and saw the black machine chilling in the spot in front of me. The rain had escalated from a small dribble, into a full-on storm. The drops of water slammed violently on the ceiling and walls, making it sound like someone was shaking a bag of rice up and down, or a pair of maracas.
"I hope you don't mind me moving here, I didn't feel like being assaulted by tiny drops of water," Kitt explained.
"I don't mind," I said, opening the door and placing my things into the passenger seat. Kitt, again, closed the door for me. "Let's hit the road." Kitt started his engine and the garage door magically opened behind us.
"Did dahlia give you a remote for that?" I asked.
"No, I've been micro-jamming it," He said as he backed out.
"I'll have to talk to her about getting you one," I said as the door closed again.
I drove him myself this time. I liked auto cruze, but I felt as if I was making Kitt work for me. Like he was my slave.
"No auto Cruze this time?" He asked after we hit the highway.
"No, I don't want to exhaust you," I replied.
"Susan, I rather enjoy driving, it gives me a sense of independence." He responded.
"Take the wheel then, we're stopping at the gas station before we go back to my apartment," I informed.
"Which one, the Sunoco, or the Seven Eleven?" He asked
"Whatever one has lower gas prices."
"Okay, that would be the Sunoco they charge- Oh my word!"
"What's wrong?'
"They charge $3.55 per gallon!"
"Yeah, and?"
"That's like, $70 just to fill your tank!"
"Inflation Kitt, Inflation."
"How bad is it, Susan? What is the average price for a new car nowadays?"
"I don't know, but if I had to guess, I'd say around $20,000."
"Oh my."
The rain pattered violently against Kitt's body. His windshield wipers swished from the left and right fastly, only clearing the windshield for a split second before it became covered in water again
"We oughta get you waxed," I said.
"Why?"
"To keep your paint protected, you're a California car, you don't have to deal with weather like this as often as we do in Chicago."
"Why do you care about me so much?"
"Would you rather me not?"
"Touche"

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