Sitting at an old steel work table, John watched as Cameron surveyed the area. The eyes of this machine are much more critical than any he could find elsewhere, whether they be those of a human or another terminator. Yet she didn't move around the site as he thought she would.

"Cameron, don't you want to move farther down the tunnel?" He had discovered quickly that it was best to ask questions rather than make statements. Statements sounded too much like orders, and if she had no need to inspect the area there was no point in making her.

She turned away from the closed end of the tunnel, addressing him. "No. I can see everything from this location."

It amused him that, unless ordered, she never moved very far away from wherever he happened to be. Being his bodyguard was her job and she took her job very seriously.

He watched now as she walked to him and sat to his right. The rough plans he had laid out were for his use only, but Cameron looked at them studiously. A blast shelter needed to be constructed at the end of this tunnel. A structure that would be able to withstand anything SkyNet threw at it.

"The walls should be no less than eighteen inches deep," she said, moving her finger along the lines indicating the exterior walls. "Twenty-four inches would be preferred." He nodded, so she continued. "A solid locking system will need to be in place. Under no circumstances should the door be able to open unless it has been unlocked intentionally."

The construction of this thing had taken first priority after he had finished reprogramming Cameron. Part of the reason he had taken several terminators back with him was he knew he would need their strength to build a structure to protect both he and the time displacer acquired at Topanga.

"An ocular scanner would be --" She was interrupted by the pounding of running feet echoing down the tunnel. Before his hand could reach the gun at his hip, Cameron stood and placed herself between the intruder and himself. She had lifted her own weapon from beside the table; a large shotgun shooting slugs meant to penetrate the dense shell of a terminator. That only worked if you knew exactly where to aim.

Only a few short seconds passed before a kid named Walker barged around the corner. Seeing Cameron brought him to a very quick stop. Walker's eyes never left Cameron as he said, "Sir, Lieutenant Carter needs to see you right away."

Moving from around Cameron, who had lowered her weapon but still looked at Walker warily, John said, "See me about what?" He could tell Walker was uncomfortable with what he was about to say, the words refusing to come because he was unsure of the reaction he would receive from his leader. "Spit it out, kid. I don't have all day."

Finally tearing his eyes away from Cameron, Walker said, "I have orders not to speak in front of it, sir."

Despite years of practice in schooling his features, John knew he must have made some sort of expression, because Walker flinched. With only a hint of malice John said, "Cameron, let's go see the lieutenant."

Walker made sure he stayed a few steps behind Connor and his terminator as they moved through the tunnels toward Carter's quarters. He might not like the machine, but he'd be damned if he was going to get on the wrong side of General Connor.

As John walked through Carter's door, Carter looked up with relief upon seeing him. After seeing Cameron, however, that relief was quickly replaced by one of suspicion.

"I need to speak with you, General. The machine can't be here," Carter said as evenly as he was able.

"She can and will be here, Tom." Gesturing toward Cameron, who was only an arm length away, he said, "What the hell's wrong with you? Do you think she's a fucking decoration?!"

"I'm not sure what to think, sir!" Taking a step around a table, Carter moved toward John. His forward progress stopped, however, when Cameron eyes flashed blue. It didn't matter how focused he was on Connor, you couldn't miss those eyes when they glowed.

No matter what their feelings were for Cameron, not a soul doubted the machine's dedication to Connor. What they all feared, however, was that one day the 715 would turn on him. God only knew what would happen to them all then.

John turned to look at Cameron, seeing the signs of an aggressive terminator. The makeup of her programming allowed her to identify human triggers that signified emotion. He knew all of those triggers identified Carter as a threat. It didn't matter that he was human and a Tech-Com soldier, if Cameron considered him a danger he would be "neutralized."

Maimed or dead were the words used by normal people.

"Tom," John got Carter's attention before he did something really stupid, "she's my protection. She keeps them from killing my sorry ass. You think they care where I am down here or who's with me? They'll kill every one of you to get to me. She's the only thing that keeps that from happening. You have to let it go, soldier."

Carter shook his head. "I can't let it go like you can, John. All I've seen them do is kill. That's all they know to do or be. Mindless killers. The last time one of them went berserk it killed nine of us!"

John felt responsible for that. He did the reprogramming and it was up to him to do it right.

Cameron chose this moment to speak. "I was present to see the reprogramming of that triple-eight. The logic in the code was flawless. Its actions do not reflect incompetence. Any number of unknown variables could have been the cause," she said.

"Unknown variables?" Tom asked, with more than a little bitterness in his voice. "What's to keep your unknown variables from killing him in his sleep?!"

"My mission is to protect John," she said, face blank. As though that answered everything. John was sure that to her it did, but it was impossible for nearly every member of the resistance to trust a machine. They had too many bad memories and no good ones. This was the main reason it was only he performing the reprogramming of the terminators. No one else had the patience or willingness to invest time into something they felt should be destroyed outright.

There were so few, now, who remembered what it was like to truly marvel at the brilliance of a new gadget or computer advancement. They lived in a time now where either of those most likely meant death.

John watched as Tom looked between he and Cameron. Sighing, John said, "Tom, I know it's hard, but I need you to trust me on this one. It's my fault the others have gone bad, but trust me a little longer. I've taken us this far."

Carter knew he could not and would not win the argument, so he acquiesced. Once Connor had made up his mind about something there was no changing, and it was well known that Connor had long since made up his mind this machine.

Carter shook his head, smiling wryly. He motioned toward the chair opposite him and said, "Please sit, General." Connor sat, breaking the tension that had spread throughout the room. "We found something for you, sir." Looking at Cameron warily he continued. "It's a much more powerful magnet than the one you've been using. We think it's an industrial grade. Probably used by the military to wipe their drives."

The words weren't out of his mouth long enough for the sound to die when Connor jumped up from his seat and said through gritted teeth, "God damn it, Carter. You don't have that thing in here do you?!"

Carter, standing quickly, shook his head. "Hell no, sir! I've got enough sense to know not to have it out in the open."

Connor blew out a frustrated breath. He waved his hand dismissively, apologizing with a gesture. "Some of those things have a wide enough field that they'd affect a drive within a certain distance."

"There is no cause for concern," Cameron said. "I would have received a warning should I have entered the field of a large magnetic force."

Carter's eyes went from Cameron to Connor and back again. "That's why I didn't want her coming, sir. I figured if you wanted to use it on her it probably would have been best she not know about it in advance."

Cameron spoke to John saying, "It was a sound strategy, John."

Carter was surprised to hear his decision defended by the machine. The damned thing kept surprising him. He didn't like it.

"Thanks for hauling it in, Tom. Where did you find it?"

"Edwards," he said, indicating the Air Force base near China Lake. He and a crew had gone out to the old base on several occasions, searching for anything that might be useful. Usually there was only time to grab a few things and run, but this time the machines hadn't been buzzing around. It had allowed exploration and with any luck, one day soon the resistance would be able to set up a permanent base there.

"I'll take a look at it later," John said. He shook Carter's hand, then turned and made a motion toward Cameron with his head that it was time to go. She was well ahead of him, though, and moved to check the hall before he entered. Finding it clear, they moved back toward the tunnel they had occupied before being interrupted.

They had been walking for several minutes when Cameron spoke. "Perhaps it is a good idea to use this new magnet. The cleaner you wipe the hard disk the more effective the new programming will be." She paused for a moment before continuing, "Using it on me would bring peace of mind to your soldiers."

"No, Cameron," John said, his head shaking. "Your programming is fine. There are aspects to your CPU I hadn't counted on, but they're far more valuable to me than they are a danger. You give me access to how SkyNet operates that I wouldn't otherwise have. I need you like you are."

Cameron stopped walking, causing John to stop with her. "It is not logical. I do not know if my programming will revert. Neither do you." She stopped, as though trying to make sense of the data tumbling through her processors. "It's not safe for you, John."

Even though she had observed enough human interaction to have compiled a list of circumstances in which humans touched, it continually surprised her when simple conversation led to touching.

John's hand came up and cupped the underside of her jaw. She had seen this action once or twice. Its purpose was to focus the attention of the one being touched onto the one doing the touching. She required no such action. Losing focus was a human trait.

He spoke forcefully, his breaths registering on the sensors scattered so finely over the skin covering her endoskeleton. "I said no! Under no circumstances are you to seek out this magnet. That's an order, Cameron. You stay as you are. The only person who makes changes to you is me. Do you understand?"

Her face still clasped in his hand, she said, "Yes, John."

"Promise me," he said, hoarsely.

"I promise."

"Thank you."