Jack was equally bewildered. While he and Shaw were removing the restraints from all four wheels, he called Braxton, one of the Wolfe brothers.
As everyone knows, if your car isn't driven often, it's more likely to be driven by someone else, which in turn makes it more likely to break down. His "Mammoth," which he left in Los Angeles, was usually parked in the brothers' farm garage, maintained by the farmhands.
Braxton, however, was even more bewildered than Jack when he received the call. "Didn't you call me over three months ago and request that the car be sent back to the Hennessy factory for a rebuild?
The tow truck showed up the next day, and I loaded it myself."
"Huh?" For a moment, Jack wondered if he'd lost his memory, or if he'd been too busy lately.
But he quickly thought of another possibility and laughed it off, brushing Braxton off for the time being. After hanging up, he sped up the removal of the restraints.
"This car is really nice. Can I drive it for a bit? You can treat me to whatever food you want for the next two days. Even if it's the same treatment as Little Bear, that's fine."
Although he asked a question, Xiao had already opened the driver's door.
"You gnawed that bone last night even cleaner than Little Bear did. Aside from onions and garlic, is your diet any different from Little Bear's?" Jack shook his head helplessly and opened the passenger door.
With Xiao's appearance, Aubrey encountered the true challenge of his life. In terms of appetite and eating manners, the two were barely even, but considering height and weight, Aubrey was completely defeated.
Fastening his seatbelt neatly, Xiao licked his lips excitedly. "This view is perfect! This is a beast of a car."
Although his body proportions were good, his height was still limited. Xiao's short legs could only kick in the air twice as he lowered his head to search for the seat adjustment switch.
"Welcome aboard, Ms. Xiao." As the engine revved, a seductive, queenly voice boomed from the car, startling Xiao, who was reaching under the seat.
Then, the driver's seat slowly shifted, the backrest automatically adjusted forward to a perfectly comfortable angle.
"And of course, you, dear Jack. We finally meet."
Though prepared, Jack, buckling his seatbelt, couldn't help but tense at the indistinguishable voice. "'Machine'? Is that you?"
Xiao turned stiffly, her eyes demanding what was going on.
The alluring voice echoed again, this time with a slightly plaintive, yet deeply human sigh. "I thought you were going to call me 'KITT,' or Kate."
"Damn, is this car haunted?" The voice gave Xiao goosebumps, and the hairs on his arms visibly stood on end.
The "machine" kept sending numbers with that strange, synthesized voice. If Jack hadn't asked, Xiao wouldn't have guessed it could actually speak, and it did so with a seductive, slightly Southern accent.
"Wow, this is real." Jack was at a loss for words.
—
"Surprise?" Finch, who had been waiting outside the base building, saw the dark red "Mammoth" car, which was shuttling back and forth, stop in front of him. He excitedly stepped forward to greet the two people in the car.
He was recovering quite well. If you didn't look closely at his gait, the limp was almost invisible. With more exercise, he would be back to normal.
Xiao jumped out of the car, rolled his eyes, and stood aside with his arms folded, saying nothing.
Jack moved his butt from the passenger seat to the driver's seat with a guilty look on his face, then reached out and pulled Finch into the car, "So you knew it a long time ago?"
"Just one day earlier than you. The 'machine' imitated the voice of Special Prosecutor Bolton and ordered the two servers containing its core programs to be shipped out of the secret facility in Hanford under the pretext of maintenance.
It told me that it modified a car in the name of a virtual company, filled it with batteries and memory, and if it didn't need someone sitting in it, it could drive to me by itself."
Finch finished speaking at a very fast speed, not noticing Jack's indescribable expression at all. Instead, Xiao Liangliang, who was standing outside the car with her arms folded and an unhappy face, continued, "Yeah, she can drive it by herself."
Who could understand her bad mood of wanting to experience the performance of this big guy so excitedly, but ended up being a passenger in the driver's seat all the way.
Before Finch could react, a sweet, clear voice echoed from the driver's seat, "Daddy!"
Finch's face froze, and he instinctively glanced around. His neck was now flexible enough to even look around and around the backrest.
"Don't look for it, it's this one. Um, she insisted I use the pronoun 'she' the whole way," Jack said, facepalming.
"'Machine'? Is that you?" Finch asked the same question Jack had asked an hour ago.
"
How did your car become like this?" Cassel, who hadn't seen him in a while, brought his daughter to Jack for lunch. He was surprised to see Finch alone, busy in front of the Mammoth, surrounded by a crowd of onlookers.
Mr. Writer had seen Jack's big pickup truck before. After all, Shangri-La is now headquartered in Los Angeles, where they often hold book signings and premieres of film and television adaptations.
With his social skills, Cassell had already made friends with everyone at the Wolf Brothers farm. Even the LAPD guys were quite fond of this great writer who looked exactly like old rookie John.
Jack had set up two grills on the lawn beside the driveway, where steaks, chicken wings, and various seafood were sizzling and emitting an enticing aroma.
But aside from Ms. Xiao Dachui, who was devouring her food, and Little Bear, who was quietly munching on a steak at her feet, everyone else had no interest in the food and instead gathered around the "Mammoth" to watch the fun.
Of course, there were people helping out, like Reese, who was helping Finch organize a pile of cables, each the thickness of a baby's arm, connected to the closed back of the pickup truck.
And Gen, who had rushed over from Washington after hearing the news, was busy working excitedly on a laptop.
"So, why did you name yourself Kate?" Hannah asked curiously, leaning against the car.
The "machine" now had a different voice. It wasn't the alluring, magnetic, queenly voice of someone doing ASMR in your ear, nor was it the childlike voice that had called Finch "Daddy.
" "Because Jack's script features an AI car called 'KITT,' it inspired me."
This emotionless female AI voice made Jack want to call out "Little Ai."
(End of chapter)