Here I am again with another twisted tale. Back in Capu 5, about CH19, Lucy from Elfen Lied, gave Cameron the ability to have children. Well, now our favorite female terminator is going to have one. Please let me know your thoughts on this idea.

So on with :

The Allison Kaeda Connor Chronicles

CH 1 Conceiving Difficulties

Sarah Connor was used to nightmares, she had been having them for a long time. Nightmares of bright metal terminators coming to kill John, herself helpless in her grief over her dead son and the machines just walking away. Nightmares of nuclear Armageddon, burning cities, the tromp of metal feet as machines gunned down those who tried to flee as well as those who tried to fight.

Her more current nightmares were of John and Cameron at the wedding alter. John waiting with a smile as his metal bride came up the isle, wearing a pretty, flowing wedding gown. Cameron turning to face John, showing nothing her bare metal skull under a wig of hair, Cameron's skeletal metal hand rising to clasp John's. The other went to the machine's belly, swollen with a child. Cameron turned her head to look at Sarah with it's red glowing eyes.

"He's mine now." the terminator said.

Sarah awoke with a start, sitting up in bed. Outside, the light of pre-dawn was painted in the sky. Sarah held her face in her hands, wanting to scream.

Unfortunately, her latest nightmare was not a fear of things to come, but the memory of John and Cameron's wedding. Cameron wasn't bare-skulled during the ceremony, in fact she looked very pretty and was beaming a smile of love at John the entire time. John's best man was John Henry, the AI with a T-888 body created by Catherine Weaver, who also was a terminator, a liquid metal type. Savannah was Cameron's brides' maid, The cute little six year old red head was the only other human being at the alter with John other than the Army Chaplain that married them.

Her John, who was destined to save mankind from annihilation by Sky Net, was married to one of it's killing machines. John was fulfilling his destiny, though what happened was nothing like any of them had conceived was possible.

John had gotten help. What turned the tide were the things that went 'bump' in the night. Well, more like 'bang' actually. The creatures of folklore and fantasy, Vampires, dragons, gargoyles, and other things Sarah had no idea what they were, and appeared from another world. The danger from Sky Net somehow endangered them also, and they had come to pound it into the ground. Sarah and the world watched an elephant sized gargoyle destroy a factory belonging to Sky Net. The T-888's there were crumpled into balls of metal, and H/K's were swatted out of the sky. Two young teenage vampire girls, Akemi and Azami Aono, had trashed a whole platoon of T-800's that came to destroy John Henry. They didn't have guns or rocket launchers, only themselves. Incredibly strong and fast, the Aono girls literally tore all the T-800's to pieces with their bare hands. Unlike Sarah and John or Skynet, these monsters didn't care who saw what they did. They ripped everything Sky Net was wide open for everyone to see.

The Yokai, as they called themselves, beat everything Sky Net tried to throw at them into scrap metal. Skynet itself had gone into hiding. Sky Net was still active on some computer, somewhere, but it was hiding like a gopher, deep in a hole someplace and it wasn't sticking it's head out. Cameron and John Henry were active on the net, keeping a perpetual watch out for any signs of Sky Net resurfacing.

As if the shock of all these creatures wasn't enough, a horned, pink haired woman named Lucy that Mr. Ellison had discovered held the nickname of Kaeda no Kaze, or 'wind of death' in English, had given Cameron the ability to have children. Tin Miss was going to bear children with the DNA of Lucy, who was one of the more frightening of the Yokai both in temperament and ability. Even the liquid metal T-1001, Catherine Weaver, did not dare to stand up to Lucy.

The one good thing about that monster was after Lucy made it clear she would kill anyone who sought to injure them, the authorities had become very courteous of the Connors. Pardons from convicted crimes and removal of any charges, as well as supplying them a house and living expenses in return for AI duties being done by John Henry and Cameron. It was a good deal.

Essentially, the government saw what Yokai were capable of and knew they supported the Connors. The did not want yokai coming back for revenge. It was best to keep Sarah and her clan under 'protective' custody and treat them well to ensure they didn't piss off these mysterious and very powerful beings.

Sarah sniffed. Smelling something burnt broke her out of her thoughts. Getting up, she donned an undershirt and jeans and went searching for the burnt smell. Her search took her to the kitchen where Cameron was making breakfast and trying to start a fire in the toaster.

"You're burning toast?" Sarah asked in disbelief. Cameron was becoming famous in their small neighborhood for being an outstanding cook. Last Thanksgiving, Cameron put on the dinner for Mr. Ellison and Savannah, the guards stuck on duty, and Major Frankin's family, who lived nearby. Everyone had raved to Sarah about Cameron's 'expert' skills in the kitchen. And now she burning toast?

Cameron looked into the smoking toaster and popped the scorched bread up. She eyed the hard, blackened bread and took it out. She buttered the carbonized remains with scraping sounds, then took a small container of what looked like pepper and shook some on each piece of the abused bread, followed by shakes from a white sugary looking coating, then shook on some another dose of something Sarah was sure wasn't food.

"What are you doing?" Sarah asked. "You do know no one's going to eat that."

Cameron offered her a tiny grin. "It's for the baby. Carbon, iron, magnesium, nickel, chromium, some butterfat and ground pre-natal vitamins for healthy growth and strong bones," she explained, then took a crunching bite of the toast.

"The baby?" Sarah asked, hoping she didn't hear right.

"I conceived a few days ago, my baby needs nutrients," Cameron explained as she got out the breakfast dishes, holding the black remains of toast in one hand.

"You're pregnant?" Sarah asked, not wanting to believe it.

"That is what conceived means," Cameron explained.

"I know that," Sarah grumbled at her.

Cameron cocked her head. "Then you're just being Sarah," she concluded.

"Just stop trying to set the kitchen on fire!" Sarah growled, and stormed out.

.

Cameron went back to work as Sarah stomped out of the room. If she timed it right, breakfast would be done thirty to sixty seconds before John came down. Sarah passed through once as Cameron cooked and finished her burnt toast breakfast, crunching away. Feeling the slight vibrations of crunching as she ate, she decided it was a pleasant feeling. Cindered toast was a good morning meal.

John came down five seconds early, not enough of a miscalculation for Cameron to adjust her timing. She kissed him good morning, and loaded his plate down.

"Your classes today start at eleven. I have to pick up a few things at the store, but I will return by nine forty five so you have plenty of time to get to class," Cameron told John as she fed a fuming Sarah, then took a seat beside John.

John's nose twitched. "Um, Cam, Did you burn something?" he asked tentatively.

"Toast," Cameron stated. "The most efficient manner to easily get carbon for the baby is to overcook the bread to make the toast carbon rich."

John couldn't help but ask,"And why does our baby need carbon?"

"The baby's bones," Cameron explained. "Proper amounts of carbon, iron, nickel, chromium and magnesium are needed to make high quality steel similar to coltan."

"Our baby is going have steel bones?" John asked in surprise.

Cameron nodded. "The DNA portion of fetus growth will determine the baby's shape, size and features, but the nanite plan will determine certain specifics. One being that while most of the fetus' outer and brain structure will be soft human tissue, the bones and support tissue will be very durable using the highest quality metals. Tendons will be a mix of minerals and and protein based tissue that will rival steel cable in it's strength and have the proper elasticity."

John nodded, half understanding the details. He then grew a smirk and said, "And our baby will have something from each of us."

"Yes," Cameron said, casting him a smile. "The best of what we are, for our child."

They leaned closer together.

"I love you, Cam," John said reverently.

"I love you, John," Cameron replied in the same tone.

Sarah turn her head as they kissed. She'd given upon complaining. They were married now, but she still didn't have to like it. "Don't you have to leave soon?" she asked impatiently.

Parting lips, Cameron ignored Sarah, knowing she was uncomfortable with the topic. "John, as soon as I know the sex, we have to think of a name."

"We could decided on two names, one for a girl, and one for a boy," John offered, gazing at is lovely Cameron. "Say, over dinner down at that restaurant you like?"

"I'd like that," Cameron replied, gazing lovingly into John's eyes.

"It's a date."

Cameron loved dates. Any quality time with John she looked forward to. Dates were special, even if it was only going out to eat. Cameron even learned not to consume the candles on the table for the extra lubrication of the wax. People kept looking at her strangely when she did that.

After breakfast, Cameron picked up the dishes, grabbed the car keys, gave John a parting kiss and left on her errands. Snatching up her favorite purple jacket from the coat rack on her way out, Cameron donned it. She didn't need it for warmth, she just loved her jacket. Purple was tight.

"Remember, John has afternoon classes today!" Sarah called.

Cameron paused at the door. Sarah should know by now that she would not forget John's college classes. "I will be back in plenty of time for his eleven o-clock class," she replied, letting Sarah know 'afternoon' was incorrect. She was getting good at being subtle.

.

Going out the door, Cameron did her habitual sweep of the area. Not that she needed to, having had real time access to the security cameras placed around the house and all along the fences surrounding their 'gated community', as well as monitoring communications. Squirrels did not get in or out without her and John Henry knowing about it. Still, she felt the need to visually scan for threats to John's safety.

Satisfied there were no threats, Cameron got in their small, light blue four door sedan, picked to blend in with traffic as just another car on the road. She drove to the gates, which always had the guard and four of his 'buddies' hanging around who wore bullet proof vests under their loose shirts and machine pistols hidden on them.

As she approached, the men got out of the way. The guard waved to her and opened the gate. Cameron waved back and drove out to do her shopping. Sensing a good radio signal, she turned the car radio on and picked the station so she could hear it out loud. Axel Rose belted out his lyrics inside the car.

"Whooo oh ohh, sweet child of mine! ..."

Cameron enjoyed the tune, singing along as she drove. Since she missed most of the song, she accessed the station's computer, and replayed the song so she could listen to the whole thing. It was good being able to hack into any computer. Traffic wasn't heavy, she made downtown in good time.

Hearing sirens closing in, Cameron looked for the source. The noise echoed around the buildings, and by the lack of abnormal activity from in front and behind, it had to be coming from the cross street of the intersection she was coming up on. The light was green, but Cameron slowed down anyway, expecting trouble. A few seconds later, she saw she was right.

An older car, a large sedan came squealing around the corner just missing a car as Cameron slammed on the brakes. The old sedan tried to make the turn, but slid, coming directly at her. Cameron popped the seat belt and laid down, holding a hand against the dash as she pushed on the brake. Then came the impact.

The windows all blew out as her car was knocked backwards. Steel crumpled, the dash pushed against her hand, shoving her partway into the back seat as the roof gave way and a tire settled down right beside her face. Her legs were pinned by the other car that was sitting partially atop hers.

Cameron smelled gas, and fear set in. She wasn't afraid of injury to herself, she would survive a fire with only her outer covering being burned away.

Her baby would not. It would be burned away with her flesh.

"No!" Cameron cried. She had to get out of here, fast. Grabbing the crumpled roof right above her chest, she pushed hard. The roof lifted some, and she sank down into the wreck of her car. Two hands did little more, and her legs were pinned under the flattened steering wheel and dash.

The sounds of screaming and yells came to her from outside as if others knew she was in very real danger of loosing her child. She vowed that was not going to happen. This was John's child, and she would protect it, no matter what.

Pulling on her left leg, her jeans ripped and the skin peeled off, but she got her leg out and cocked up under the car above her. Planting her bare metal foot on the bottom of the other car, she kicked up hard and to the side. The car flew up and dropped down away from her, showing sky through the mangled remains of her car. Her other foot was still trapped. Leaving her other boot, and the skin from her shin down with it, she freed her other leg, then ripped the remainder of the roof away to gain her feet and climb out of the twisted wreck that used to be a car.

"Ma'am... are you ... OK," A man in front of Cameron asked with wide eyes.

"DON'T YOU FUCKING MOVE!" came a scream from behind her. Cameron turned to see a policeman holding his gun on the other injured driver. Another cop came up and got the driver's door opened and dragged the moaning man out of his vehicle.

A crowd was quickly gathering. Four more police came into the scene to warn everyone back. A female officer was about to tell Cameron to get back when she noticed the ripped clothes and her bare metal leg, streaked with blood and thick strings of flesh.

"She was in the small car, and fuckin got out! That was fuckin AWESOME" a man yelled happily.

The officer gapped at her, then asked, "Are you ... what can we do for you ... do you want to go to the hospital?"

"The baby is fine, thank you for asking," Cameron said in a deadpan voice as she touched her belly.

"You're pregnant?" the officer asked, wide-eyed.

"Yes, I'm also married, see?" Cameron lifted her left hand to show the officer her ring. Only it wasn't there. Her middle, ring and pinkie fingers were stripped of skin. "My ring," Cameron said and turned back to look at the wreck. She had to find her ring!

Thankfully, the smell of gas did not turn into a fire. Panicked that she might loose the symbol of her and John's love, Cameron torn the remains of her car open, searching for her wedding ring. It fell out of the front seat area when she pulled the mangled door off. Reaching down, she got it and picked off the flesh hanging from the ring. Her ring was oval shaped now, but when she put it back on, the misshaped ring did stay on her metal appendage.

Cameron frowned at the damage. That ring meant a lot to her. At least she hadn't lost it. She would repair it later.

The officer had watched her the whole time, as did a dozen cell phone cameras. "Ma'am, who are you? Do you have a driver's license?" the officer asked.

"Yes," Cameron said. "I'm Mrs. Cameron Connor, my license is somewhere in the glove box, along with the insurance card and registration required by law."

"We'll get it later. Please, come over here by the squad cars and sit down. Are you sure you are all right?" the flabbergasted officer asked.

"I am just missing some skin. It will regrow. The force of the impact was not sufficient to cause me permanent damage," Cameron explained. "I was lucky the car did not catch fire, that would have been very bad for my child."

"You are very lucky to get out of that alive! That metal, are those prosthetics?"

"I am a cyborg, this is all me," Cameron told her.

Normally at the scene of an accident, the man moaning and handcuffed to the stretcher was the focus of attention. He left in an ambulance unnoticed as all eyes were on Cameron.

Cameron sat in the back of the police car as offices talked just outside. She contacted John Henry over their Internet connection, and told him to let her John know what happened and that she and the baby were fine.

The police parted and two of the dark suited men from the community appeared.

"Mrs. Connor, we've come to take you home," one said in an authoritative voice.

Cameron looked at him and said, "We have agreed to uphold the law. I was in an accident. It is against the law to leave the scene of an accident until the police say so."

"I think they will understand."

Cameron got out and walked over to the female officer who was talking to a male officer. "Excuse me. These men want to take me home. Is it OK to leave?" Cameron asked.

"Mrs. Connor, I told you, we can go now," the dark suited man insisted.

"Mrs. Connor?" the male officer asked as he looked her up and down.

Happy she had her ring back, Cameron showed it to him. "Yes, I am married."

"Mrs. Connor, we must go."

The female officer nodded. "You can go, we know what happened. Are you positive you don't need help?" she asked as she looked at the apparent massive damage to Cameron.

"I could use a new jacket, this one is all ripped up. Thank you for your concern." Cameron said.

Cameron walked to the black SUV, her metal feet clicking on the pavement as people watched her intently. Many videoed her until she got in the car, and the men drove her away.

In the back seat, Cameron noted the time on her internal clock. There wasn't time left to go to the store. Then again, the car was wrecked, so John couldn't use it to get to school. To the men, she said, "I need a new car, there is an automobile dealership two blocks down, go left, then three blocks, it's on the corner, just past the intersection."

"Find the one you want, Mrs. Connor, we'll have someone pick it up for you."

"John needs to get to school in an hour," she reminded them.

"We'll take him."

.

John was at the door waiting anxiously as the SUV pulled up into the driveway. He had been concerned, but thought Cameron had been in a minor fender-bender. When she got out, He cried, "Shit!", and ran out to meet her.

"Cam!" John cried as she looked at his wife. Her left leg was bare metal from just above the knee down, shredded pant leg and flesh hung loosely up to her mid-thigh like a gory version of a skirt. Her right foot and lower leg was also stripped down to her metal frame. Her left hand was missing the flesh off three fingers, her jacket was torn up with blood splotches on it, and a chunk of her cheek flesh was gone, showing the underlying metal. Gazing at her in horror, he asked, "What happened?"

"Another car hit me and ran up onto our car," she explained and held up her left hand, "But I did save my wedding ring and the baby is unhurt."

John nodded absently. "I'm really glad the baby is unhurt, but you're a mess, hon," he said as he took her left hand in his. "Come on, let's get you inside."

John was holding her hand and put a protective arm around her, showing nothing but concern for her even though she had all this endoskeleton exposed. It gave Cameron a warm feeling.

.

Major Franklin grew up a geek, computer savvy since high school, he got his first real command post as head of the army's Experimental Electronic Warfare unit, or 'EEW'. His dark hair closely cropped, he was thin and held the stereotypical 'geek' look. Although thrilled at the post he was given, today he braced himself for the phone call that was sure to come from the morning's accident that was all over the news.

On the monitor he was watching, the local news again played the scene of Cameron Connor bending and ripping off pieces of her crushed car as she searched for her wedding ring. The anchor woman was talking excitedly.

"... This woman, who we have learned who's name is Mrs. Connor, displayed incredible strength when she got herself out of the crushed car, and searched through the mangled remains to look for her wedding ring! From reports at the scene, no one expected her to even be alive after what should have been a fatal accident. There are also unconfirmed reports that she is a true cyborg, meaning she has both human and mechanical parts. By what we're seeing, those mechanical parts are very strong."

The video paused at the point where Cameron was showing the female officer her recovered ring on bare metal fingers.

"That's right, Carol, very strong indeed." a male co-anchor agreed. "Witnesses say she kicked the other car off of hers to make her escape. As you can see in this shot, it appears that metal down her leg has thick actuators, and since both her feet and most of one hand is exposed metal, it is easy to assume her entire skeleton, or a very large part of it is made of this material. That would make sense since it normally takes a hydraulic tool called The Jaws of Life to rip open ..."

Frankin's phone rang. "That didn't take long," he said with a huff. He muted the sound on the monitor and picked up his phone.

"Major Franklin ... Yes, General I am watching it now ..." He rolled his eyes and said, "General, Mrs. Connor was on a routine shopping trip. The man who robbed a bank and shot a cop crashed into her. There's nothing we can do about that ... putting security in the car would only have gotten a man killed sir. This was a freak occurrence ... The Connors and Weavers are helping us of their own free will, we can't hold them here on the compound ... No sir, we picked her up from the scene. Even if someone did learn our location, there is no way they are going to sneak in and abduct any of the AI's sir ... All we have to do is keep repeating 'no comment' for the next few weeks and this will blow over. Hell, when the Zeita building was attacked, that died down in a month and that was a battle between cyborgs and aliens! The public will forget about it right after the next big news item ... Yes, I know, the internet fanatics will not let it go, but who really listens to them? ... I know, sir, but we're not the Air Force. We make damn sure none of these AI's have a 'homicidal' intent ... right, Sir, I'll have a report ready for the commission just as soon as I have all the facts ... Yes, Mrs. Connor is pregnant, and no, we have no idea what it's going to be ... You'll know as soon as we do ... Yes Sir ... Yes Sir... I'll be sure of it, Sir."

Major Franklin then closed up his phone and winced. His job had suddenly gotten a lot harder.

.

Although John wanted to skip classes and stay home to do what he could for his wife, Cameron kicked him off to school with a gentle kiss and a solid shove, stating he could not ignore his school work for her benefit.

John got out of the black SUV a block from the college campus so no one would see him getting out of a government car. Yeah, right. John hadn't taken three steps when a classmate hailed him.

"Yo John!" Eric called as he paused his own walk and waited for John to catch up. Watching the SUV drive away, he asked, "You get in trouble or something?"

"Cam got in an accident, cops gave me a courtesy ride," John said with a shrug.

"She OK?" The red haired boy asked.

"Yeah, it was just a fender bender. Some jerk couldn't keep it in his own lane."

"That sucks. Hey, don't let the insurance company rip you off. Get a lawyer, man," Eric said in a serious tone as he pointed his finger. "Insurance companies will screw you over if they can. They wouldn't pay my cousin because they said his tires were bald. The car was parked! But because he didn't have enough tread, they found a way to cheap out and not give him a dime!"

John cast him a smirk and said, "We got it covered."

"I hope so, you gotta watch insurance companies."

John listened to the evils of insurance crooks and being aware of shysters when looking for a lawyer as they walked to the science building. By the time they got to the front doors to see other young people busy with their Ipads and notebooks, Eric had shifted to the topic of computer intelligence.

"... I'm not saying TRUE intelligence, but very good. Honda already has that robot, so with a little more research I know we can get a long term, self acting android working in the near future," Eric said excitedly.

"You really think so?" John asked, careful to keep his face neutral.

"We're on the cusp, dude!"

"Hey guys," Martin said as he came up to them in the hallway. "Did you see the accident that was on the news?" he asked.

Eric waved him off. "That's every day shit. Who cares. I'M talking about doing something no one has ever seen before."

"So how you going to do it?" John asked quickly.

"Well, We're suppose to start doing projects, right? So, let's make that out project. We can start simple with visual recognition and vocal commands that we already got, and expand the answers to fit the environmental surroundings."

"That's still just a programmed reply," John told him.

"Yeah, but we can make it sound intelligent," Eric said excitedly.

"What about real usefulness?" John asked, "Say, having it do a task, and be able to modify it's routine to fit the environment?"

John listened to Eric and found he only had 'ideas' on what they could try, but no real plan for machine intelligence. Thank God. Going into the classroom, John took his regular seat in the middle. Eric found someone else to spin his ideas to, and Martin went down to wait the the professor with a few other students.

Professor Weinburg came in five minutes late as usual. He listened to Martin and the small group, nodded and shooed them back to their seats. Professor Weinburg then put a memory chip in his laptop and said, "Good morning everyone. For today's class we are going to talk about a recent event. The purpose of showing this video is for a self work project. While we normally discuss programming for the business community, there is a growing need for computers and programming in the medical field. Before I begin my lecture for the day, I want each of you to watch this video and come up with your own theory on the woman in this accident, and design a working model. Keep in mind, what you are interested in, is the machines and the programming used to make the hardware function."

John figured this was some kind of new piece of medical equipment. Set to take notes, he watched a news broadcast start to play, with a picture of a damaged Cameron showing lots of metal, beside the anchor woman as she began talking about the accident.

"AW FUCK!" John spat out. This was just great, Cameron had made the news.

As everyone else sat riveted to the screen, watching Cameron extract herself from the car, then rip it apart looking for her ring, John slipped out the back. Excited about Cam being pregnant, he'd told his friends about it. As dorky as Eric was, it wouldn't take him long to put two and two together.

.

If John had the car, he'd head home. Lacking the ability to escape that way, he went to the lab early and hid behind a computer monitor to get some practicals done. He decided that he would pick the car this time instead of letting the Army do it, and it wouldn't be a super-efficient mini-sedan, but a truck with some steel around them.

John managed to get two programs done and ran to proved they worked, when he noticed Eric's face over the monitor. Eric was grinning like a fool.

"That was some fender-bender, huh?" Eric asked. "So, what is Cameron? I mean, are those prosthetics, or is she like a real-life android?"

"Come on, fess up," a geeky blonde with big round wire framed glasses asked from beside him as she too wore a big shit-eating grin.

John did not want to deal with this. He closed his eyes, but they didn't go away. Not wanting to outright lie, he said, "The professor wants your theory, so make one and give it to him."

"Dude, that's so not right! You'll get a perfect score, you KNOW!" Eric complained. "Come on man, just give me a hint."

"Please, I need all the help I can get," the girl begged.

John held up his hands in defeat, saying. "Guys! It's suppose to be your theory. I got my own."

"Yeah, cause you live with her!" Eric said, frowning at him.

"Live with who?" someone else asked.

John glared at Eric. He shook his head slightly, hoping Eric got the message.

"Private discussion, never mind," Eric called over to them.

"My name is Sally," the blonde said as she squatted beside John and undid the two top buttons of her blouse. "Please, give me a hint?" she asked, smiling at him as she fingered the third.

The girl wasn't that pretty and flat as a board. John shook his head. "Don't even go there," he warned.

"Yeah, no shit, I bet his wife can beat the livin hell out of you," Eric said, still grinning.

Another girl came over and sat beside John, looking shocked. "John that was your Cameron, right?"

John nodded and let out a sigh. "Yeah, Becky, it was."

"How much work has she had done?" Becky asked, wide-eyed. "I mean like did she have a horrible accident and had to have both arms and legs done like that? She's going to have a baby, so she's not all metal on the inside, right?"

"That would be awesome is she was," Eric said, wearing his grin.

Looking for a way out, John told them, "Cam's rather shy, and feels embarrassed about the whole thing so please, can we drop it?"

"On the news, she said she was a cyborg," Martin said as he appeared beside Eric.

"No shit?" Eric asked, his smile growing bigger.

"No shit," Martin replied with a nod. "John's honey is a real life cyborg! Didn't you see the beginning, where she kicked that other car off hers?"

"Yeah! No friggin prosthetic can do that. She tore her own car up pretty good too."

"Does she have a sister?" Eric asked.

John wanted to hide, but he had nowhere to go. He had a bad feeling things were only going to get worse from here.

.

Sally Harper watched John with a smile as her HUD identified him. He was John Connor, leader of the human resistance. That meant Cameron was a re-programmed terminator. Sally recorded everything, including their location, and all the places she'd seen John around the campus. For the last two years, the transmissions of all she was learning were being sent. Sky net had not replied or given further orders, so she stayed on her last known mission – infiltrate, observe, report, and keep from being discovered.

Selecting the phrase that would give her the best chance to keep close to Sky Net's number one enemy, she said, "John, please, I am serious! I have studied all the programming variables and construction of code, but I am bad at applying it to real life applications. I really need help with this," she said, adding an appropriate whine to her voice.

John dry washed his face and eyed her. "I'm not doing your work for you," he warned.

"Of course not, just ... get me started and I'll do it," Sally replied, shifting her facial features into the most pathetic look she knew. That always worked with boys.

"And button your shirt," he said firmly.

Sally did, making a show of fumbling with her buttons. She missed the button hole a few times, but he didn't help her. She had to do it herself.

"Sit down," John told her in resignation.

Sally beamed him a happy smile and quickly complied. Her next transmission would be a long one filled with useful data.

.

Cameron answered the knock at the door in boots, jeans, a long sleeve shirt, and black gloves. She couldn't wear fingerless gloves as she liked, for they would not hide her fingers. She opened the door to see a woman. Her HUD quickly identified her as Karen Franklin, wife of Major Thomas Franklin.

"Hello, Karen," Cameron said pleasantly.

The bottle-blonde's eyes opened wide. "Cameron! I though you would be in the hospital ... or something. I saw that accident and I was worried!"

"I am fine, it was only skin damage. Please, come in," Cameron said as she moved to the side.

"Thank you. Those stitches in your face, that's not going to scar is it?" Karen asked as she came in. Looking Cameron up and down she added, "You do look better than what I saw on TV. You are one of ... them, aren't you? One of the androids."

A wince twitched on Cameron's face. "Yes, I am TOK 417. I am not pleased about being on television after suffering damage."

Karen offered her a short, sympathetic smile and said, "I can imagine. I have to say I was quite surprised. I had no idea! I mean you act as human as anyone else I know, and you can really have a baby? Personally, I think that makes you just as human as the rest of us."

Cameron tipped her head slightly, and decided Karen was complimenting her. "Thank you. Can I get you anything?"

"No, thank you. I came by to see if you needed any help. That had to be frightening, being crushed like that. I would think you'd want to rest ... " Karen said, then her eyes became wide, "Oh! I'm not bothering you am I?"

"I was very concerned about my baby, yes, and you are not bothering me. I was only doing laundry."

"After the morning you had?" Karen asked in shock. "Oh no, that is not acceptable! At least let me give you a hand."

"How will applause help?" Cameron asked.

Karen stared at her briefly, then laughed. "Still got your sense of humor, I see. Really, let me help you. I could not bear it if I couldn't do something for you."

"Sarah has gone to the doctor, company would be nice," Cameron admitted.