"I told you the last time you brought someone in, KITT isn't ready." Bonnie's voice was hushed, but her anger was unmistakable.

"What would you have me do?" Unlike Bonnie, Devon was making no effort to keep his voice down, testament to the amount of stress he was under; KITT didn't even have to boost his sensors to pick up the words from the other side of the door. "I can hardly explain to the government that our field operations are suspended while our car works through the grieving process."

"Tell them we haven't completed repairs, then. Tell them something."

"As much as I would like to give KITT time, there are limits. I'm afraid you've long since proved yourself far too efficient at keeping him on the road."

"Devon." Bonnie's voice faltered, dropped. "I can't fix this."

"I know you can't. But..."

KITT dropped his sensors back to their passive setting. Devon and Bonnie had been having variations on this argument for three days, since Bonnie had completed repairs on his primary systems, and KITT projected at least another three days before Bonnie finally gave in and let Devon introduce any candidates for Michael's replacement. Thus far, neither of them had asked KITT his opinion on the matter. Normally, such an oversight would have offended him, but at the moment he would have no answer even if they did ask. Not when he had no interest in returning to duty as his programming demanded.

Unbidden, his memory banks summoned up the details of that night. He had already analyzed the data more times than he cared to count, his efforts both fruitless and pointless, yet he couldn't seem to stop himself from going over every second, searching for what he had missed, for some way he could have saved Michael. The data remained stubbornly unchanging no matter how many times he went over it: no sign of an incendiary device, no sign of anyone but Michael in the building, then Michael's commlink dying, and seven point three five seconds later, an explosion ripping through the warehouse.

He always tried to stop the playback there - before he smashed through the weakened wall in a frantic effort to find Michael, before the remains of the building collapsed on him and he had to fight his way free, still hoping for some sign, even when it became clear he wouldn't find anything but Michael's body - but he never succeeded, and the memories left him feeling as drained as he had been when he limped back to the semi and reported his failure to Devon and Bonnie.

This afternoon, though, the playback loop was interrupted. "I'm sorry, KITT," Bonnie said softly; for the first time, KITT noticed how tired she looked. "I tried to stop him, but he's right, we can't make excuses forever."

KITT was glad he couldn't show surprise, but wondered if there really was some remaining damage, for him to have misinterpreted the data so badly. "You've selected a new driver for me, then."

"No, of course not. But Devon's insistent that you start to meet the candidates." Bonnie ran a hand ran along the door frame, frowning a little, as if she'd found a flaw in his molecular bonded shell. "The final choice will be yours, I promise."

"What if I don't like any of them?"

"We'll bring in others."

Bonnie was sincere, KITT knew. He also knew she was in no position to make such a promise. She could argue with Devon all she liked, but in the end, they were working with a limited pool of qualified candidates, and the government was in a position to force their hand. In the end, she would have to yield, just as she had today.

His hesitation was probably too slight for her to have noticed. "Very well, Bonnie, I find those conditions acceptable. When do I meet the first candidate?"

"Devon's gone to get him." Bonnie moved away, toward one of the computer banks along the wall. "His name is Ben Jacobs; I'll download his personnel profile into your system."

"Thank you, Bonnie," KITT said quietly, though what he felt was more like panic than gratitude. He couldn't take his agreement back, and now he was going to be partnered with someone new.

Michael was really gone.