Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles: Chronicles

Summary: This is a series of random things about the Sarah Connor Chronicles. Some will be one-shots, some will be two-shots, some will be full-fledged stories. They'll be thrown in intermittently with each other. New characters will be introduced, current characters will be used, and old favorites might be brought in. Please R&R!

Disclaimer: I do not own Terminator or Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles or its characters.

A/N 1.0.0.0: This is my first Terminator fic, so please please please be nice! Constructive criticism is appreciated though, and so are educated flames. Random shouting is not.

Warp—A One-Shot

Summary: Cameron tries to explain time travel to Sarah.

"…forty-eight…forty-nine…fifty!" Sarah Connor dropped from the playground bar, breathing deeply after finishing her daily fifty chin-ups. Cameron stood watching her, face expressionless as usual.

"You are very strong," the Terminator noted. Sarah brushed past her, mumbling a quick note of gratitude. Inside the house she poured herself a glass of water and opened a cabinet. There must have been twenty pill bottles. She took one of each into her mouth, washing them all down at the same time with an obnoxious gulp.

"That was loud," Cameron said. Sarah jumped slightly; she hadn't even noticed the girl come in the door.

"Loud is a human thing," Sarah said. "Not that you'd know about it."

"No," Cameron replied. "I do know loud. John taught it to me."

"Which John?" Sarah asked.

"Your current son," the machine said. "He taught me the burping and the shouting and…" She stopped for a moment. "Many other things."

"Lovely," Sarah said. She pulled out a chair at the kitchen table, Cameron following suit. The house was silent. "Where's John?"

"He is studying for a test with his chemistry partner and his friend from the garage," she said. Sarah nodded, an awkward silence falling over the two of them.

"So…"

Cameron tilted her head slightly. In her mind, Sarah swore that Cameron could have been a camera zooming in her lens. She erased the image to avoid breaking into laughter.

"How does long distance time travel work?" Sarah asked, desperate for any subject. "What does it feel like?"

"It is bright," Cameron said. "There is a lot of energy and then you arrive at your destination without your clothing." She seemed to think for a moment. "John told me that being without clothing is embarrassing. I think I understand. But the time travel does not hurt me. I have heard that going for a long time, around forty years, will cause much pain to a human."

"This may sound strange, but what happens if you die in time travel?"

"I do not understand the question," the Terminator intoned. "It depends on the situation. Are you trying to infer that you wish to know what happened to Kyle Reese?" Sarah nodded. "It is much better to ask a question directly. I may answer it with error otherwise. If one is terminated in the past when they come from the future, simply their past self dies."

"I don't get it," Sarah said. "So if I was sent back to, say, 1982, and I was killed there, then myself in 1982 wouldn't die?"

"Correct," Cameron replied.

"But what if myself in 1982 was killed while me from 2007 was there?"

"Both would die," Cameron stated. "And if you in the past was killed before you gave birth to John, every John would die along with you, including the one in 2007."

"Okay, so if I was killed in the past after being sent back in time to the future and then the past after the present that I was sent from and I was killed there, and by that I mean present me, I wouldn't go poof in the past and future?" Sarah asked, barely understanding her own question.

"I do not understand," Cameron said. "What is this 'poof'?"

"Disappear," Sarah said.

"Thank you for explaining," Cameron said blankly. "You in the future would not die because only your present-future-past self had been killed, which was after the existence of your present-future and present self. You in the present until that point would not die. For example, you would not 'poof' from right here."

"But if…"

"I do not wish to answer any more questions," Cameron said. "Humans are very confusing, and I believe that you are only wishing to aggravate me. My CPU does not deal well with aggravation and confusion, and if I was pushed to a certain point, I may be forced to terminate you." She paused for a moment. "Machines are very touchy."

A/N: Good? Bad? Confusing? If it was the first and third, then I guess I did well. More updates will come later! Please review!

Till next time,

L.R