Tomorrow Knight (Knight Rider fanfiction)

New Time, New Place

Quiet whirring filled the cabin as the dashboard slowly lit up along with sequential beeping of the systems communicating with each other. There was some hesitation but it sorted out after a moment. Everything connected and fully programmed came on, and statistics began reading on their available operating power. At first there didn't seem to be much to work with, but it began to build until it was possible to run a diagnostic on functioning hardware and software.

Why did so much seem to be faulty? Actually, everything felt.....odd. From the processing unit to the outer shell, everything felt so out of order and surreal. Nothing was in the same place or even the same shape.

To be sure the diagnostics ran again. This time the reading was more accurate, but....most of the functions that were originally flagged as a malfunction didn't appear at all. According to the currently accessible memory bank they used to be there. But, now, they were missing entirely. Just...gone. Immensely unsettling as it was equally confusing, it felt as if every circuit was too heavy to move yet spinning wildly, causing all else to blur in panic.

Suddenly, a subtle tapping on the dashboard interrupted the sensory overload, bringing it down to a dull roar. Finally having something tangible to focus on other than all the distorted forms, a wavering scan swept through the cabin. Someone was sitting in the pilot seat with the driver's side door open, letting cool air smelling of concrete flow inside. Desperately wanting to focus on something, anything, other than this unfamiliar body, the system analyzed and compiled a list of the human's characteristics. It processed rather slowly, however.

Female... 25 years old... Mid-length, auburn hair... Caucasian... 170.6 centimeters... 89.9 kilograms.... Blood type: AB-positive.... Light green eyes.... Minor astigmatism- near sighted.... She appeared to be suffering from multiple sources of physical distress including lack of sleep, food, and water. There were also minor lacerations and abrasions on her hands and arms as well as a deep bruise on her right ankle. And that was just the surface. However, she seemed far more interested in the voice modulator, which was loosely mounted in the middle of the dashboard, above an oval-like arrangement of knobs, buttons, and switches.

The voice modulator was one of the items flagged as malfunctioning in both scans, and she seemed to know that. Her brows furrowed tiredly as she took a small screwdriver from the bag of tools on the center console, held it between her teeth, then used both bandage-wrapped hands to lift the face of the modulator away from the dash to reveal several wires connected to the inside. Brushing her ponytail back, hooking her side-swept bangs behind her left ear and adjusting her glasses, she shifted closer to inspect the wiring. As she peered through narrow eyes, she discovered two of them had mistakenly fallen out of place.

Seeing this, she took a breath through her nose and huffed to herself. As she adjusted the wires and held them in place with one hand while she retrieved the screwdriver with the other, memories of the last two technicians who had worked on the main system managed to surface from the electrical haze. Of course, this obviously wasn't Bonnie or April, but she appeared to be just as careful and sure-minded in her task.

Once the wires were tightened down, she popped the voice modulator back into place more firmly this time and tapped on it with her finger again. Her tinkering did feel as if it worked. When the diagnostic ran on the dashboard functions again, it read differently. Now functionality didn't feel too drastically incomplete, and the uneasiness lessened. Though, it didn't change the low power supply, which was taking far longer to reach optimal level than it...probably should. Still, it might be worth a try.

"H...hello?"

The girl stiffened, her eyes widening some when the voice came through the speaker. She was certainly more awake and alert now. "There you are..." she exclaimed softly after a moment, straightening in the seat with a bit of relieved grin. "I was beginning to wonder if you were that badly damaged after all."