blood being frequently described as having a "coppery smell" in fiction is kind of funny considering that there is a metallic component to blood and it's not copper
in fact if your blood smells or tastes like copper you probably have more urgent things to worry about than it being outside your body. it's probably better that it's not inside you anymore actually.
story where blood is described as smelling or tasting "coppery" and it's actually early foreshadowing that all the characters are suffering from heavy metal poisoning
It is so like that rancid old queen lindsey graham to die right while everyone is waiting on mitch mcconnells death certificate. he Would feel the need to steal the spotlight
[part one bc turns out i have many thoughts]
In which KITT and Michael meet sooner in KoTP, along with a few other misc changes
[under cut bc long post]
Wilton Knight decides the best course of action to leave a legacy is to get himself another son (what with Garthe being estranged and on the run and all)
And he did just find a half dead cop in the desert while taking a joyride in the chopper (i know thats not canon but hear me out its fucking hilarious)
Just a bit of facial reconstruction and some forged documents, and hello Michael Knight
Michael is, admittedly, rather distressed about this whole thing, Devon and Bonnie are baffled by the sheer insanity of basically kidnapping a grown man to play house with for the last month or so of your life
Garthe is also not thrilled by this development when he eventually finds out, but that's not for a while yet
During his recovery, a stir-crazy Michael stumbles upon KITT while wandering to alleviate some boredom after being bedridden for days
Michael is more than a little freaked when KITT first turns on his scanner
KITT, however, is ecstatic.
Michael’s nerves are promptly calmed when this silly little autistic car asks if he’s here to visit and starts rambling about how he misses company
Don’t get him wrong, he loves Bonnie, she made him afterall, but he’s lonely. He hasn’t been allowed to see his brother in over a year, the only mechanic with clearance to work on him is Bonnie, Mr. Miles is always so busy with the foundation and doesn’t get enough free time to talk, Mr. Knight only visits when he wants a progress update, and Mr. Garthe left when KITT’s programming was still in alpha so they never got the interact
'To hell with it' Michael thinks, how often do you get to talk to a sentient vehicle?
They end up talking for a while, falling into an easy banter that comes so naturally like they were made specifically for each other, before KITT reluctantly tells Michael he should go before Bonnie gets back, knowing this new person likely isn’t supposed to be in the garage and doesn’t want to see him get in trouble [getting in trouble is what got KARR sent away and KITT doesn’t want that to happen again :( ]
Michael hesitates a moment before he promises to keep visiting KITT as long as he’s staying at the Knight estate, a promise he is fast in keeping
Bonnie is admittedly suspicious of KITT’s sudden uptick in mood over the next couple weeks, but he seems happier and that’s what matters to her
She tells him that they’ve found a suitable driver for him and he’s very excited when she tells him that they’ll be introduced in the next day
Of course KITT is happy when telling Michael, though there’s a wistful undertone to his synthesized voice, an unspoken ‘i wish it was you’ KITT leaves out but Michael hears away
They stay up late that night, just talking, and Michael doesn’t end up getting to bed until around 5am
He doesn’t mind though, talking to KITT is worth being tired over (<< man who is falling for a car)
Later that morning (after 3 hours of sleep and several coffees) Devon tells Michael that Wilton would like to speak with him, hesitantly he agrees
So Wilton makes his pitch to Michael, who doesn’t immediately reject the idea but certainly doesn’t agree to anything either.
He asks for time to think about it and Wilton says he doesn’t have anymore time to give, but perhaps Michael could be swayed into agreement once he sees what he would get to work with
Michael finds himself facing a very familiar door, thinking to himself that there’s no way, right?
The black Trans Am gleams under the garage lights, as sleek and beautiful as he was last night, scanner speeding up when Michael steps through the door
The Knight Industries Two Thousand
KITT swears something in his circuits nearly pops when he realises what happening
Bonnie makes introductions, they aren’t supposed to know each other after all, and they play pretend well enough
KITT and Michael mutually showing off during the drive with Devon (they do still accidentally run through the garage door, though it's out of barely contained excitement)
Devon swears he’s never driving anywhere with Michael ever again (this will not last)
Taking what Devon said about KITT being designed to prioritise Michael’s safety to a logical extreme
KITT’s primary directive is the wellbeing and needs of his driver above everything else, meaning it supersedes his ‘preservation of human life’ and ‘preservation of self’ protocols (FLAG accidentally overcorrected the problem with KARR lmao)
KITT is allowed to situationally choose violence, as a treat
Michael doesn’t hesitate accepting Wilton’s deathbed offer, let the old man die thinking that Michael is doing this altruistically for him
The body isn’t even cold before Michael back in the garage to see KITT
Maybe, Devon thinks, he’s just overwhelmed by so much death recently? Maybe he’d rather get to know his new partner then sit in quiet grief?
Bonnie swears there is something suspect about how easily the two interact, but she can’t prove anything (though honestly she can hear how energetic KITT is and as long as her boy’s happy she’s happy)
Well, it’s time to head to silicon valley, we’ve got revenging to do :)
