Disclaimer: I don't own anything, please don't sue me!

October 30, 2007 06:00 PST
Los Angeles, California

The alarm clock across the room blared, and Sarah Connor begrudgingly awoke to silence it. 'Might as well shower, given that I'm up already.' As she opened the door, she saw one of the bedroom doors cracked open, and decided to look in there first. She opened the door only to find an empty, unmade bed and Cameron tinkering with a fusion pistol.

Cameron looked up from her project and said, "Good morning, Sarah."

She groggily replied, "Morning, yes. Good, questionable."

"What makes this morning questionable?"

Sarah sighed and explained. "Well, aside from getting Derek's nose fixed, he and I went to an Italian restaurant called Olive Garden. We're not going back there."

"I don't understand. Did something go wrong?"

"He had a few drinks and was... louder than usual."

Cameron tilted her head in the way she did when she encountered something she didn't understand and asked, "Did he make comments considered socially unacceptable?"

Sarah rolled her eyes and answered, "Yeah, enough to get us kicked out and told to never come back."

"How many alcoholic beverages did he consume?"

"TEN beers. He almost fell off the bike on our way back."

Cameron straightened her head and stated, "It doesn't seem normal for him to drink that much alcohol."

"Well, after the first four he didn't care about how his nose felt, and he wanted to forget the fight in the kitchen last night."

"John and I cleaned up the blood before we left."

Sarah was relieved to hear it. "Good. I have to shower, then I'll make breakfast. Pancakes and WD-40 for you?"

"Bacon and Rem Oil, actually."

"And where exactly did you pick up a taste for those?"

Cameron had a contemplative look on her face as she said, "It appears that my presentation of humor has room for improvement."

Sarah didn't know whether to laugh or be very worried. "Did some program tell you to make jokes to try and fit in?"

The cyborg shook her head and answered, "No. I did that on my own."

"Right, because apparently you're not all code and subroutines."

"I consciously decide what to say when dealing with you, Derek, and most importantly, John. I use a 'canned response' program when dealing with others in 95 percent of conversations."

"Do the males of the house know that?"

"Derek doesn't care, and John hasn't asked about it."

"And if he asks?"

"I'll explain it to him. Why do you act the way you do in regards to me?"

"What?"

"When you interact with me, you're either indifferent or borderline hostile, despite the fact that I fight for humanity. Why?"

Sarah sighed and steeled herself for explaining her attitude. "Okay, you're different. And as far as I can tell, John's happy with you. I don't like it, but I can live with that." She moved closer, leaving them nose-to-nose as she went on, "But I will never forget that a MACHINE took Kyle Reese from me. You may be more like a human than the one that killed him, and you may be on our side, but at the end of the day, you were built as a machine. It's impossible for me to forget that. And there's nothing I can do to change it."

"You're grieving over Kyle's death 16 years later, 24 if you count the time we skipped over. It's considered unhealthy to grieve over someone that long."

"And where did you hear that?"

Cameron remodulated her voice to sound like the Model 101 default as she explained, "Basic psychology is among my subroutines."

"Do you have all the Terminator default voices in your chip somewhere?"

She reverted to her own voice and replied, "Yes. SkyNet deemed those vocal modulations necessary to include in the databanks of all Terminators."

"Whatever. Now, what exactly were you doing when I came in?"

"I was attempting to convert this fusion pistol into a phaser, similar to the handheld units seen in Star Trek: First Contact."

Sarah's jaw dropped. She absolutely could not believe that Cameron would possess the inventive streak to do something like that. "I'm glad someone can figure it out. I wouldn't understand any of it."

To Cameron's credit, she didn't make a snide remark but instead commented, "I may need John's help with this project, but it would be an excellent learning experience for both of us. He is nearly finished with his CPU interface."

"Good. I'm going to clean up now."

"I'll give a briefing on the arsenal and security systems after breakfast."

06:55

John Connor slowly awoke to see Cameron kneeling by the right side of his bed with a smile on her face. His own lips twitched upward and he asked her, "Hey Cam, how long have you been there?"

"Two minutes. I heard you moving and decided to come in."

"When someone's waking up, it's called 'stirring.'"

She noted the term for future reference and asked him, "How did you sleep?"

"Better than usual. What did you do all night?"

"I patrolled the perimeter for two hours, five minutes and nine seconds, then I discovered more about the security systems built into the house. I already told Sarah that I'd brief everyone after breakfast."

John sat up, stretched and asked, "What about the rest of the time?"

"I put the other Terminators away and tried to convert a fusion pistol into a phaser."

"Like on Star Trek?"

"Yes." She sat on the bed and wrapped her arms around him as she said, "I thought about you all night."

"I thought about you too. I love you, Cameron."

"I love you too, John."

Just as their lips met, they heard Sarah declare that breakfast was ready. They pulled away, and Cameron told him, "I'll see you downstairs."

07:22

After everyone had eaten, Cameron started her briefing with, "Durandal provided us with elaborate security systems and an arsenal suitable for most threats."

Derek was the first to ask, "What exactly did he leave us?"

"50 Glock 19 pistols, 500 15-round magazines, 3 million rounds of Federal Hydra-Shok 124-grain ammunition, 20 fusion pistols, and 600 batteries. Carter and the other Terminator are also there, in the cryogenic vault where I put them yesterday."

The older man asked, "Wait, cryo vault? Where would Durandal put this stuff?"

"The shed covers one access point to the underground portion of this enclave. The other is in the closet under the stairs."

John spoke up and asked, "Why would we need giant freezers in the first place?"

"If we're deactivated and exposed to the elements for too long, out skin will start to rot and degrade. It's a problem common to all flesh-covered machines. Also, the belts will prove useful."

John asked, "No offense, but what makes those belts so special?"

"They contain personal energy shield generators and continuously recharge the shields on their own."

John casually snarked, "Durandal to the rescue."

Sarah asked her, "What about the security systems?"

"There are turreted particle beam weapons hidden in the structure. I had to look at the schematics of the house to find them, their energy signatures were hidden from my optics."

The embittered Resistance fighter concluded, "And if you can't see them, neither can SkyNet's machines."

"Good to know. John, Cameron, I want you two to work together today. Get your various projects either done or close to it. Derek, you rest and let your nose heal." Turning to Cameron, she said, "I'm going to see about school for you and John."

Derek snorted and dismissively said, "You're wasting your time and his, Sarah." He looked at John and added, "Nursery rhymes and art class never did anything to prevent Judgment Day."

"I don't like it either, but if she and I don't go to school and blend in, the neighbors are going to ask questions."

"Tell them you're home-schooled. From what I've heard, it's not like you weren't before."

Cameron turned to Sarah and told her, "Both of their arguments are valid, but John is exposed to more risk by going to school."

"Thank you for stating the obvious." She asked, "John, what do you think?"

John rubbed his chin and thought about his mother's question, then answered, "Let's deal with SkyNet. If we prevent Judgment Day, then I'll worry about education."

Sarah decided that John's skull was too thick and she needed to get through it. "Those who fail to learn from history-"

"Are doomed to repeat it. As if that hasn't been drilled into my head throughout my life."

Derek jerked a thumb at Cameron as he said, "Get her to teach you all that stuff. May as well make herself useful."

Cameron threateningly asked him, "Would you like the rest of your ugly face broken?"

He merely shook his head in annoyance and sulked off to his room. Sarah gave the two of them a look that said, 'Don't do anything stupid while I'm gone.' She then left to investigate area schools.

John asked Cameron, "What's wrong with Derek? Is he insane?"

"No. When I met him, he was angry and very, very broken. He and I came from different timelines, but I calculate that he is a 92 percent match to the Derek Reese I knew. The complexities of time travel and alternate timelines sometimes confuse me."

John couldn't help but chuckle at her admission. Cameron asked him, "What is humorous?"

"You're not alone. My entire existence revolves around these time loops and I have trouble sorting it all out."

"Let's not concern ourselves with temporal mechanics for now. The CPU interface is closer to completion than my attempt at building a phaser."

John knew they needed to get to work, so he replied, "OK, but there's one other project to get to first."

Cameron asked him, "What project is that?"

"Making your bed. I told you I'd help you."

She smiled as she said, "I'm glad you remember. After that we have a computer to build."

John grinned, took her hand and responded,"All right. Let's go."

They ascended the stairs, made her bed in less than two minutes, and then went into his room to build the CPU interface.