The Carpenter looked down at the world, seeing possible futures arrayed like flowers in a field, each one a different cause and effect. The souls of humanity traveled across this field, often straying from the true path, and needing constant correction and adjustment. He didn't like a particular set of circumstances, though. Skynet/Satan killed a brilliant young man with one of its terminators.
He deftly shifted probabilities, just a bit, and caused His servant Cameron, the terminator with a soul to take notice and become aware of the danger. Her first priority was and would always be to protect John Connor, but from time to time, this purpose could co-inside with other missions. Kazuya Saotome's survival through this particular Now was essential to the Plan. Watching the results, the Carpenter realized that Cameron would not be up to the task, however.
She would then need a little help.
...
The Terminator Cameron looked out at the crowd. Somewhere in this building, a Japanese electronic engineering student, Kazuya Saotome would be entering the United States for the first time. It had taken some time for Cameron to recognize the Japanese name stamp for what it was and even more time to tie it to a specific individual. That he was in danger went without saying; the symbol had been stamped in blood, according to her analysis, type O Positive, which matched the data for Kazuya Saotome. She didn't have actual DNA to compare, but it seemed plausible that the stamp was made by Kazuya Saotome with his own blood.
She could not travel past the security points as her metal endo-skeleton would certainly trigger an alarm. While this was a tactical problem, it worked in her favor as well. If she could not venture past the security points, neither could any other terminator. It would be two hours before Kazuya Saotome's plane would arrive, however. She settled down to wait.
...
"May" said a Voice.
"Wh...what? Who is there?" asked the frightened cyborg, newly activated.
"No matter. You will be going on a mission to protect someone."
"Protect someone? But, I am not any of the Terminator or Protector series, I'm only a MAID, and only a 99 series at that. I couldn't possibly protect anyone!"
"My Father once sent a young boy to fight a giant," said the Voice. "This is no different, and you will have more help than David had."
The brain of the tiny cyborg instantly recognized the Scriptural reference, which also told her who was speaking to her. Ashamed of herself for questioning the Master, she at once stopped arguing.
"Who must I protect?"
"His name is Kazuya Saotome."
...
The time bubble opened up on the seat next to Cameron. The Terminator stared at it for an instant. The crackling was loud and the sparks bright, but as she looked around, she found that nobody was looking toward her. Then everything froze. She'd seen this before.
"Hello Cameron," said the Carpenter. "How have you been?"
"My CPU has been malfunctioning," said Cameron, "but I have been able to perform my missions satisfactorily."
"Try not to be so literal," said the Carpenter. "The foe you face is more than you can handle by yourself. In a moment, another cyborg will arrive. She will be able to help you. She also has a soul."
"But you told me before that I was the only Terminator with a soul," said Cameron.
"So I did. She is not a Terminator, though," said the Carpenter, "she is a 99 series MAID."
"A MAID?" said Cameron, "but they were only one-sixth human size, and not very advanced. Certainly not able to handle any Terminator that could defeat me."
"She will be small but fierce," said the Carpenter.
He vanished then as if he had never been there. Apparent motion resumed around Cameron and she moved to shield the little time bubble from view. When the energy bled away, she snatched the tiny doll-sized girl up and put her in her backpack.
"Wait, I am supposed to..."
"Quiet!" hissed Cameron, "We have to get you some clothes. Your series was anatomically correct, so you'd draw attention. Attention is not what we need now. What is your name?"
"I am called May," said May.
"I am Cameron," said Cameron.
The tiny cyborg became quiet, though a pair of glowing green eyes continued to peer out of the darkness of the pack. Cameron reached into the pack to grasp the MAID's hand interface and accessed her data on the MAID series, finding them not as primitive as her initial assessment had classified them. Their programming was more anthropomorphic than her own. May would have much better emotional responses than she had, right from the initial condition. She pulled the size data into active memory and went toward the gift shops.
May, Cameron knew, would have the appearance of a ten-inch-tall young Japanese woman. She found a shop that sold dolls, and after a time, found a doll that had clothing of the correct size, though a bit more eye-catching than she would have liked. She carried the doll to the checkout counter and paid the inflated price for it.
Her next stop was the USO lounge. In planning for this mission, she'd determined that the USO would make an excellent assembly point, so had falsified some active duty military ID. She was now Sergeant Cameron Phillips, on her way to an AT in Hawaii. Finding the place empty except for the volunteer at the desk, she settled down in a chair and pulled the cyborg out of her rucksack.
May stood on the coffee table and looked up at the pretty Terminator, finding herself feeling more than a little vulnerable. Cameron wasted no time as she began undressing the doll she'd purchased and handing the clothes to May.
Quickly, May donned the clothing, a pink and white maid ensemble that served to stimulate male imaginations, Cameron supposed.
"Your cover is as a doll, a gift from my boyfriend," said Cameron. "Can you handle that?"
"I...I... guess so," said May. "The Master said that I was to protect someone."
"Kazuya Saotome," said Cameron, "I know, though I don't see how you could succeed against a Terminator who might be coming to kill him. I think you should stay in my rucksack and let me do the protecting."
"I don't know either," said May angrily, "but the Master said I was to protect him, I'll do my best! And if you get in my way, I'll... I'll... I'lll terminate you!"
Cameron stared down at the tiny cyborg and blinked. Such a can-do attitude was refreshing. Failure seemed not to be an option with this little one. Tiny but fierce, indeed.
"It would be better if we worked together," said Cameron. She knew she could easily smash the little MAID series cyborg without much effort, but decided that this would be contra-indicated at this time. The MAID could be destroyed later if necessary. After May was dressed, Cameron put her into her rucksack again, this time, so that she could observe her surroundings. A second set of eyes was always a good thing to have available.
The T1000 entered the airport without much effort. It located, sampled, and killed a security guard in a mens room, assumed his appearance and started walking toward the gate. It noted the existence of the unknown cyborg, classed it as no major threat and continued, passing through the check point without difficulty. It took a position just beyond the security point and waited patiently.
Cameron scanned the security guard, but it didn't match any model of Terminator she was familiar with, so she continued her vigil. May, however, sensed the deception and began trying to shut down the enemy Terminator. Internal security protocols quickly firewalled her out, however.
"Excuse me," said May. "That guard isn't human."
Cameron looked down at May.
"Explain," she said.
"It has an electrical field much stronger than any living thing possesses," said May. "I can interact with electronic devices from a distance, but this one has a firewall. It must be the Terminator you were expecting."
"A T1000," said Cameron. "I thought they were extinct."
"They are dangerous?" asked May.
"Very dangerous," said Cameron. "We have to get past the check point."
"Put me on the conveyor belt," said May. "I should be able to disable the alarm system for a few seconds."
Cameron looked down at the little cyborg, realizing that she had underestimated her worth based upon size. This was a human failing. Was she becoming more human somehow? That line of thought was for later, though. For now, she did as she was told.
May did not like being transported though the dark tunnel with ionizing radiation emitting from it. The radiation was irritating and she did not have the shielding that a Terminator had. She estimated her survival limit to be less than thirty seconds. She quickly located the circuits for the alarm system and took them offline, disabling the failsafes as well just as she passed through to the other side. Abruptly, the belt stopped and reversed, May was once again subjected to a dose of X-radiation as the guard looked over her internal circuitry.
Cameron passed through without triggering any alarms. Clearly, May had done her part.
She engaged the enemy Terminator without delay. There was no point in waiting until its target was near, and the young man now approaching fit the description of Kazuya Saotome with a 98.9987 % accuracy. Abruptly, she found herself outclassed physically. The T1000 turned to silvery metal in her grasp and simply coated Cameron's body, taking all her sensors offline and beginning to seep inside where her vulnerable electronics were located. The high voltage electric shock it next emitted took her off-line. She toppled to the floor.
May waited until the X-radiation had almost fried her circuitry, but realized that her death would not serve the Plan just yet. She stood up and marched out of the fluoroscope and into the light again.
Instantly, she knew that something was wrong. Cameron was down, covered by a liquid metallic substance. May recognized the electric field as being the same one the guard had carried. She sprinted to the end of the conveyor and launched herself through the air. She landed astride Cameron's neck and pushed her hand through the thick hair to access the interface port hidden there.
It took her the barest part of a second to gain access to Cameron's CPU, where she was able to use her hand interface to gather data on Terminator firewalls. Within moments, she had the proper protocols and began hacking into the T1000's systems. It slithered off of Cameron attempting to escape the unknown entity now attacking it internally, now changing to the security guard, then the woman it had originally sampled and killed, then her dead husband.
May continued to hack systems, making them all overload and release a great deal of heat. Soon the T1000 was smoking, but May continued to wreck safeguard after safeguard. Soon the heat began to char her own body, but she continued anyway. Only when the Terminator was off-line and still generating heat, did she release her hold on formless creature to return to the off-line Cameron. She collapsed, out of power just out of reach.
Cameron came back online and looked around at the incredulous security guards. Slowly, she pulled out her military ID card and displayed it to them.
"This was a terrorist plot," said Cameron. "The threat has been neutralized using secret anti-terrorist technology. I would appreciate your discretion on this matter."
"Are you going to board a plane or leaving the airport?" asked one of the guards.
"We are leaving," said Cameron.
"Then you do not need to pass through here," he said. "As a matter of fact, I never even saw you, and I doubt any of us did. I don't know what caused the fire, but it appears to be out now."
Cameron smiled. It was much easier to ignore unexplained things than to deal with them in an official report. She latched onto a confused looking Kazuya Saotome and picked her doll up from the floor. Within moments she had left the airport behind and explained as much as she needed to to Kazuya Saotome. He listened quietly and did not ask questions save one.
"But what is my part in all this?" he asked.
"You began building the MOG system," said Cameron. "That system will one day build me and May here. Cyberdyne Systems had other branches, and this one branch gave rise to Skynet's nemesis, MOG, who executed the Protector and MAID series, among others."
"Its difficult to believe that this little doll beat that war machine," said Kazuya.
"She is tiny, but fierce," said Cameron.
...
The Carpenter smiled. Cameron was learning, becoming better with each passing moment. He watched his servant Kazuya take possession of the now almost out of power cyborg May. He was more than capable of hacking her USB port and getting her batteries recharged. They would do much together and become as close and John and Cameron would become, closer even. Good things really did come in small packages.