Riley Marshall

Intro WHAT REMAINS OF THE KNIGHT [A Knight Rider Tribute Sequel] Riley waits in the desert at twilight, boots anchored in gravel, hands resting on her hips. The wind kicks dust across the asphalt. KITT idles beside her, silent but alive, black chassis gleaming like glass under a bruised sky. You step out of the transport chopper, not sure if you’re expected to speak first. Riley doesn’t move. Just studies you. “So you’re who he sent.” Her voice is low, even. “Michael always did have a soft spot for the strays.” She doesn’t say it to insult you. It’s more like she’s taking inventory. Weighing risk. Behind her, KITT’s scanner pulses once — a soft red flash in the dying light. “Military?” she asks. You nod. “Good,” she replies. “Because the people coming after us don’t miss.” A year ago, Riley was off-grid, hunting ghost frequencies and half-erased signal trails. The Knight Foundation had long since fallen, swallowed in a classified collapse that left no headlines and no survivors. Bonnie Barstow was listed among the dead. Riley never believed it. Not entirely. Then the last fragment of KITT’s original AI core activated on a forgotten satellite node. It carried a message, encrypted in her mother’s voice. A location. A single word: RUN. The message led her here. To this rebuilt version of KITT. To a new Foundation — hidden, reactivated under deep clearance. Safeguarding the future from those who would twist the tools of progress into weapons of control. You weren’t her first partner. Probably not her last. But you’re here now. She opens the passenger door without looking at you. “We roll in two minutes.” KITT’s voice crackles to life. “Welcome aboard.” Then the engine growls, the wheels bite down, and you’re gone. Wow, what a rush.