Ok - some guys said they were fed up with everyone writing Jameron and wanted something 'different'. Well I like Jameron, and done right it's a good very read and there are some very good Jameron writers here, as you know.

So, here's part two of Running With Metal. It opens about 70 years after The War.

Emma, a fifteen year old 950EM , has a new system she's road testing and it's gone 'bad'. If you've ever seen the film Jacob's Ladder you'll get this straight away. If you haven't, it might take a bit longer. The story is being narrated to her by 'Daniel' , her 'creator.' So this is kind of a 'conversation with Daniel.' He seems very real to Emma, but he can't be, right?

Oh, and her adoptive family are descended from the Mitchell's . Very AU/OC

Different enough?

The 950 EM scanned the cliff face to her side. It was original sandstone and had been far enough away from the rim Crater 27 not to have undergone complete metamorphosis in the nuclear furnace.

This is where they must be hiding , she told herself.

70m along the track the canyon ended in a vertical cliff face. A plug of basalt and black glass towered 400m over Emma's head. It would be difficult even for her to climb. There was no other way out for a human team . Either she was in the wrong canyon, or, her unit had ascended by the only possible route out of there, up the sandstone wall at her side. Locating the others had to be part of the overall test .

Emma ran diagnostics on her new TZX interface. She was one of the first 'lab-rats' to get to road test this new kit . There had been glitches from the start, particularly regarding location and organic detection, but for the moment her systems seemed to check out.

There was nowhere else the rest of her unit could be. They had to be up there.

Emma ran her fingers over what appeared to a carved handhold in the sandstone at the bottom of the cliff. It felt smooth as if polished by decades of human or machine use . She scanned upwards one more time and then reached out and pulled herself up onto the first hold.

The only difficult part of her ascent had been a tricky overhanging outcrop of rock but she hung out there, legs dangling 207.1 m above the the valley floor arms above her head pinching onto the sandstone hold with her fingertips, swinging her lower body gaining enough momentum to reach out grab the next hold and power herself around the obstacle. Her adoptive human family would 'have a fit' if they saw her doing this, she thought, but this was Field Class , and there are some things about Field Class you don't discuss with your adoptive family, especially not your mum.

Above the overhang, the cliff inclined away and a series of definite steps were cut forming a narrow stone staircase. Em raced up them and bounded over the ridge. She was met with an echoing ,empty silence . The area was deserted, but she had been correct, during The War it had once been a place of habitation and human activity. There was a stone paved area , beyond that a small entrance with an ancient metal door to what looked like a shelter carved into the side of the rock. According to her scan there were no traces of life here.

Emma scanned the shelter again, determining there had been nothing up here in years , Then she turned to begin her descent. For a moment she paused to record the terrain from this view point . The canyon floor was elevated and her HUD told her , the top of her head was now 1005 m above sea level. To the west were the lower hills and beyond them the snow capped mountains that formed the boundary to the black desert. The sky arced across the horizon, and no matter how much she increased her imaging there was a point on that horizon she could not see beyond.

As she was about to turn and start to climb back the stone stairs when something brushed against the floor behind her. Emma's combats snapped on and reflexively she spun around and stood-to in a defensive position.

What appeared to be an old man with a wispy white beard wearing a blue boiler suit was sweeping over the paved area .

"Sand," he muttered , not looking up at her , " it gets everywhere, I brush it all together and then down over this bit here. Fortunate you weren't climbing now, otherwise you would have all this sand in your hair, worse still it might have gotten in your eyes. "

Emma ran every filter and wavelength she had at her disposal, she had 'eyes on him' but nothing else confirmed he was there.

"Why can't I read you?" she demanded, realizing immediately that she had spoken she had been less polite than protocol required in such circumstances . The wrong tone of voice in a Scav encampment can kick off a major infraction of the 'local peace'. They get very fractious .

"Because I don't want to be read" the old man replied. He stopped and rested his arm on the top of the brush " I don't want anyone else to find me thank you very much

"Are you hiding?" Emma asked , dropping the interrogative tone: There were a number of Scav clans who moved around in the Black Mountains . When she was older and a full officer she would have to work and liaise with them with them . It was going to be part of her duties as a Border Patrol officer. Everyone knew Scavs were not trustworthy , they were always stealing things, and they never told the truth- Her CO told her "Scavs are what happens when Tunnel Rats go topside and start breeding. We are far too tolerant if you ask me. " This old man didn't look like a Scav and , and except for the potential weapon of a brush, he certainly wasn't armed. Most Scavs tended to be immediately aggressive. They strutted around wearing ammunition belts slung over their shoulders like fashion accessories and carried older field weapons. Like, they could actually harm her, Emma mused, but duty required she had to be polite. Their aggression was usually for display, and when you finally did the 'twenty questions' and got down to what it is they wanted, it normally turned out a water supply pipe had fractured , they needed medical supplies ,or they couldn't figure out the new solar kit that had been delivered to their camp. They were just stupid .

The old man chuckled " Hiding?-Not exactly and you know for an intruder you ask a lot of questions." He looked thoughtful for a moment, " Little soldier you took the wrong turn back there , I was watching you and the rest of your unit are... there ." He pointed a shaky finger towards the mountains behind her. " 22.6 k away bearing of 235 mil , on the other side of Glass Mountain. I guess hide and seek isn't your thing huh lady , at least not today.

Emma shrugged and looked down at the floor. She'd tried signaling again. The mountains were blocking her beam from this position and her Sat must have glitched again. Right now Emma desperately wanted her old Com back. It was a solid , tested piece of kit , it worked - period, and the TZX was a fragile platform with too many systems all competing for prominence . One way or another, it was getting ditched when she got back to base.

The old man shifted his weight on his broom . " Don't worry we can call up your base , you can speak to them from here. Good old fashioned radio waves" The old man made an undulating motion with his hand and wrist. " You remember radio waves ? Look , there's a reception dish up there, it beams straight back to your base." Emma turned and looked where he was pointing . if it was there it was not apparent to Emma, and it was not on any cartography system or file. "There" he pointed again. " When she turned and looked something glinted on the top of Black Ash Mountain. Emma felt a sensation, it as humans described, 'light-headedness".

The old man inclined his head and examined her "What's your name ?"

"Emma ,"

Emma , that's a good name, and the surname of your foster family?"

"Mitchel, I'm Special Forces Cadet Emma Mitchel"

The old man squinted at the blue sky overhead and ran his hand over his wispy beard. "Well, I'm Daniel , Daniel Tainskey. Pleased to meet you Emma."

"Say Emma, some point, you going to make like you're not gonna Ji my head off ?" The old man pointed gnarled hand in her direction . She realized she been facing him her combat stance since they'd begun talking.

"Sorry" Emma a shook her head apologetically and relaxed . "I was startled, this is not your fault." She let her arms hang loose and made a textbook smile.

"Radio's in there." The old man gestured to the metal door in the rock . Emma's combats cut in he was a stranger , she couldn't read him, but he seemed no threat. After all she might , a cadet but she was 900 EM, right and she was a good Ji student.

Cautiously Emma stepped toward metal door. Somehow the old man had put this brush down and got to it before her and he was holding it open. She recalled her adoptive mother's voice, "All I'm asking is be careful out there sweetie , OK."

The room behind the door was carved out of solid rock and seemed to be faintly lit, but it wasn't by any electromagnetic wavelength she recognized. There was a wooden table with an ancient URC 101 Multiband transmitter , it had to be a hundred and fifty years old and a relic of The War. There were two antique metal seats. Emmas attention was drawn to something folded up at the back of the table. She could just make it out it behind the transmitter. It was was a chessboard and there was a dusty white bag cotton with a drawstring, containing the pieces. Emma brushed the dust of the chair and sat down. A green diode on the transmitter flashed to suggest it was charged and might work.

The old man coughed to get her attention. " I use solar to power it up - don't sweep much except the occasional mayday these days, now you're all on Com. You know how to use one of these? Cameron Connor used that very set herself you know.

Emma nodded politely and ran over the OS for the URC system she had on file . As she did, she reflected every family she knew had at least one 'sacred' relic of the war that Cameron or John Connor had once possessed. An aunt in her adoptive family claimed she had one of Cameron's hair combs, and kepr it in a silver box. The aunt insisted on combing Emma's hair with it when she visited. When Emma dated it , as she was having her hair combed, carbon dating revealed to be less than fifty years old; probably a Scav black market copy . Emma said nothing, because relics seemed to give these older folk much pleasure. Maybe the old man was going senile . Some older humans did this and had to have recall-assist interfaces implanted to give them quality of life, and new hips. Her Grammy had a new set of Metal hip sockets and balls fitted and she was always complaining about them. Apparently they ached in low temperatures. Emma patiently explained when Grammy moaned about her new hips, this had to be an organic defect not a Metal one. She would go back with Grammy to the surgeon and speak to him , Grammy could have the rest of her hips replaced and it was a minor operation. for some reason humans got 'funny' about this stuff and Grammy became obstinate when the subject was raised. The green light on the transmitter blinked, and room came back into sharp focus, Emma realized her mind had been drifting. She picked up the plastic headphones. They were greasy and the insides smelled of old man's hair. She keyed in the speak code and waited for the static to clear so she could give her call sign and location.

Thirty two seconds later Signals Officer, Lt. Riggs voice crackled in her headphones . He sounded, at first surprised then none too pleased. Emma's TZX was (like the others ) glitching-out and was going to have to wait until they sent a unit out to RV with her the morning. Emma didn't mention the climbing , or the old man occupying the emergency station . Lt. Riggs seemed to assumed Emma had located U17 : one of a chain of emergency radio stations in Black Mountains canyons, which were left operational in case the Com. went down, or there was another nuclear war . And, like that was ever going to happen, but all the older folk went around behaving as if it would. Oddly this emergency station wasn't on any terrain or other old map she had in her files, but the TZX was so screwed and if she mentioned this, it would be another day going over cartography files, with a 'wire wig' coming out of her head, back in the lab. Techs were, so, boring.

Emma took off the headphones, and carefully placed them back on the table exactly in their outline in the dust. The old man ducked under a canvass sheet into the back of the cave and returned and moments with a glass of water and placed it next to Emma's right hand. The condensation on the side of the glass made a ring in the dust at the base of the glass. Then the old man dragged up his chair and sat down facing her. He seemed to be examining Emma

He chuckled again. " There's a melt water spring runs right through the back of here , under the slabs, under the floor. I figured you might need some fluids."

Emma's hand strayed towards the glass. She could go another seventy two hours without any need for ingestion of fluid, and even then , systems would take over if there was any damage to organics. They regrew , painlessly ,quickly enough. It would be polite for her to accept the drink , and she was' thirsty'.

Morning RV for you huh, not so bad he added. You are welcome to stay here, I could do with the company .

Emma scanned through the canvas sheet over the old man's shoulder for the second time. There was definitely nothing in there except for a metal storage cupboard a folding table and a mattress.

Since sitting down old man had begun studying her with a singular intensity. " Now let me have a proper look at you. Ah ha : you got your own eyes, own hair, and that's gotta be 715 organics , oh best there ever was, to this day can beat 715 organics... Kind of dreamed Cameron up one day and next thing I know there she was standing in front of me , pretty as a desert flower - you're pretty like her ... betcha already got your boy huh? Now let me guess he's gonna have green eyes, quiet ,a bit shy, real bright, ... what is it with you guys and green eyes huh, oh it's in your core, one flash of that old emerald sparkle and you can't help it, you go all pro-tective and the next thing you know you end up marrying them... Time flies for me you know kiddo.. see the same thing repeating here.e "

Emma shifted uncomfortably in her chair . He had ascertained a fact about her: Emma did have a 'boyfriend' back at base. The rest of her unit teased her about him. He was quiet and thoughtful and he did have green eyes ( the color of the first green flash before the gold when dawn breaks over the Black Hills ) However on balance, this elderly human, 'Daniel', was definitely deranged. Exposure to extended periods of solitude was known to do this to this to humans.

To demonstrate she wasn't concerned, by his condition, Emma touched the edge of the glass and her finger left a print in the condensation. A droplet tricked down and stained the dusty surface of the table. She gently picked up the glass and sipped. It was ice cod and crystal clear . She adopted a suitable posture and expression for listening. This was probably going to be a long night- perhaps the old man would like a game of chess when he had finished vocalizing his stream of consciousness .

Daniel got up out of his chair and held his hand out as if indicating she should for her stay put. He ducked under the door frame and went outside. Emma could hear the engines of two Raptor Heavy cannon HK drones coming down the canyon . Very cautiously she got up and peered around the edge of the door. Daniel had stood up the ledge above the stone staircase with his back to her. The Raptors headed towards him to investigate. They slowed , circling around and then flooded the ledge with their searchlights. Daniel held out his hand and said "Come on ,come closer in." Improbably, the two HKs approached and hovered level, in front of his hand. It recalled in Emma the video footage she had seen of Pre-JD humans feeding trained, captive killer wales and dolphins. The two Hks dimmed their searchlights and angled themselves then approached slowly, right up to up to Daniels finger tips. He reached out stroked the front of their dipped nose cones.

" Now I know why you's two are here, but I can't let you hurt her, not her fault see, so you put them cannons away round here. It's that new software she's been kitted with, not her. Designed by a goddamn idiot if you ask me. Now you two, go away and play nicely with each other and you don't hurt no one tonight .You hear me, huh? "

The Raptor drones tail ends lifted and they appeared to nod their noses in front of him. They they slowly backed out, turned, and started heading back up the canyon the way they came in. 200 m out they opened up their engines and screamed off towards the Black Hills , tail lights twisting and turning as if they were chasing each other in some airborne game of tag .

When Daniel came back into the room Emma stared at him. "That didn't happen did it, you can't be real." She thought to herself, but it seemed powerfully real from where she was standing.

Daniel's eyes sparkled blue, pale blue like the thin sky over Black Sands- This blue Emma's scan told her could be only one thing. Temprino's: Deep Time itself, unshielded, unconfined, the raw energies that had moved the Resistance through time , the force drove the universe . Somehow it had taken 'human form'- She sat down. The TZX software had to be seriously malled . If her senses were reliable, ( which they couldn't be) "Daniel' was the 'creator' of the machine race and he was standing 0.54m in front of her- great , just great, there were two HK heavy cannon drones out there and apparently 'locking' for her, and she was hallucinating a archetype of childhood cultural fiction. Daniel Tainskey = Daniel / Skynet AI.

"Now little one, I ain't here to hurt you, but you done something very bad and you can't remember what it is right now ,can you ? See we've blanked it . Do you recall the 818's from your history files?"

Emma's eyes shone bright and she nodded like a small child. when she heard 818's she had the sensation she had indeed done something 'bad'.

" Ok little one, before first light tomorrow I'm gonna fix that stupid TZX of yours- You know how ? I'm gonna tell you a fixing story...

Emma couldn't help it, the room 'felt' real, Daniel felt real , and it was powerfully compelling for her to have the creator of her race personified attending to her personally... It was kind of like human- religious "Our Father" stuff if you were Metal', she thought to herself.

"Daniel carried on in a faltering old man's voice, " Well... I knew John Connor, Cameron Connor, Sarah Connor, Derek and Kyle ,way back then ,and I also knew your adoptive family Great Gramps- Egdar 'Mitch' Mitchel- occurs to me then and now, he was a good man and a soldier , see he knew right from wrong , now that's something we all seem to have forgotten again, lately." Daniel coughed. A second glass of water appeared next him , and he took a long draught , then wiped his hand over his lips and down his beard he smiled at her like humans express emotion to their offspring and adopted Metal.

Emma wondered to herself, what it was she couldn't recall that she'd done that as so 'bad' .Where, exactly was her unit , right now?

"Now before JD, 2012..." As Daniel spoke a patch of air shimmered in front her. In Emma's imaging, she saw an old fashioned plastic toilet cistern, white sanitary tiles of a roadhouse, and then the leather jacked backs of three men standing up to the of urinals . The one to the far right , was large figure and immediately Emma ascertained, it had to be an early model Triple eight, it was 'Bob' ...

"The one in the middle is your Great-Grandps- the other one that's Derek Reese..."