Chapter Two – Review of Today's Observations
Disclaimer: Don't own TSCC
Data review has begun to take up more of my time as I patrol at night. I focus primarily on facts John teaches me, particularly on how to better convey my cover as a teenage female. I also find a preference for reviewing instances when John praised me. The fact I have developed a preference for positive feedback from John has been noted and will be reviewed further during a future night patrol.
Negative feedback from John is reviewed as well. I do not review this feedback more than once per patrol but I do take note of it and log the necessary information into my behavioral pattern generator files so I may make better decisions in the future. Why this valuable feedback seems less preferable I do not understand. This fact has also been noted and will be reviewed during a future night patrol.
Today during Chemistry class John was particularly upset with me. A blonde girl sat next to John and smiled at him. In order to discourage the female from making any further attempts at communicating with John I engaged her in a staring contest. The female quickly realized the futility of engaging me in this manner and looked away. I made certain I maintained a direct gaze in the event the female would again look in John's direction. The single attempt she made to do so was met with my intense gaze. This seemed to unnerve her. She did not attempt to communicate with John again.
As soon as class was over we entered the hall of the school building and John pulled me aside away from other students. I have replayed the conversation, if it can be called that, only once. John's apparent anger with me indicates the feedback and instructions he provided should be classified as negative feedback and filed accordingly.
Apparently my approach to warding off the potential threat to John is considered "psycho" behavior and "weird." I must not engage in this behavior or I will be labeled as "different." I do not understand why this is bad. I am different. There are no other female Terminators attending our school. John indicated clearly this behavior is not to be repeated.
Our cover story is we are brother and sister. Only a "psycho" girlfriend would act this way. Apparently it is a method an alpha female would use to stake her claim to her mate, warding off any potential suitors from the male she considers to be her boyfriend. I file this fact under several different categories.
Should John and I ever pose as boyfriend and girlfriend this appears to be a successful and commonly used tactic. As an alpha female I will have no problem using this technique to establish my claim to John as my mate, thus warding off possible female threats to my status as John's girlfriend.
I have also determined John seems to have a genetic preference for females of similar age to him who possess blonde hair. I have filed this fact in several categories, most notably in the threat category. I do not at this time understand why as a Terminator could have hair of any color.
Human females may have genes for blonde hair but I have noted they often engage in the subterfuge of changing the color of their hair, disguising their natural hair color. I believe this to be a common tactic or ploy used to attract a potential boyfriend, or more likely in the case of alpha females who engage in this practice, to steal a boyfriend from a weaker female.
I have made specific note of this behavior and filed it in the appropriate files for future reference.
Should John and I pose as boyfriend and girlfriend in the future, I will be able to quickly identify threats to my status as girlfriend. It would be no problem to eliminate all such threats but John has given me a directive forbidding me to terminate females I believe are a possible threat to him. This will make my task of protecting both John and my status as his girlfriend more challenging but not impossible.
On the way home from school I asked John if he would like me to change the color of my hair, specifically to a shade similar to the blonde female. John did not respond verbally. Instead a puzzled look appeared on his face prior to his shaking his head. Evidently John likes my natural hair color. This pleases me. I will maintain the same hair color for now.
Due to his preference for blonde females, I have decided if necessary I will engage in the subterfuge of coloring my hair. This should increase John's attraction to me if necessary, reducing the potential need to terminate my competition or any blonde female who is a threat to John.
Positive feedback was provided today by both Sarah and John in regard to my selection of attire. I selected a pair of cross training shoes Sarah recently purchased for me to wear instead of my combat boots. I wore my favorite jeans with a pink long sleeved blouse with buttons. For my accessories I selected a black belt with no decoration. My makeup was what Sarah refers to as subtle and subdued. I wore my hair down, parted in the middle.
When I entered the kitchen to wait for John while he ate breakfast Sarah told me "it's about time you wear something besides those combat boots Tin Miss." Evidently the wording of her feedback was not to John's liking as he rolled his eyes and glared at her. Sarah took notice and provide more feedback, telling me, "you look much better today Cameron. We might even have to get you a nice dress to wear to school."
I do not wish to wear the style of dress I believe Sarah will purchase for me. I prefer my denim skirts, but I have learned those are not appropriate attire for school. Evidently I am "advertising" I am a girl who is "loose" and "puts out" when I dress in that manner for school. I find this confusing. The same skirt is appropriate when I go on errands with Sarah.
Still, the feedback from Sarah was positive. Positive feedback from Sarah is rare so I make certain to file this feedback in the file I review each night when on patrol.
John provided no feedback until we were halfway to school. He told me I looked ladylike and while he was pretty certain I did not think my attire for school was "tight" it was appropriate and I was still pretty.
I agree with John. The outfit is not tight. I did take note for future reference that John finds me to be pretty when dressed in this combination of clothes.
I take note I particularly like positive feedback from John when he expresses his opinion I am pretty.
Authors Note: One of the reviewers pointed out the story might read better if I did not tell it from a first person viewpoint. I appreciate any and all feedback from anyone who takes the time to read my stories.
So why was this second installment also written using the first person? I am attempting to use this as a device to demonstrate Cameron's development and growth as the stories progress. In the first few stories I want to depict her as more machine and less human.
As she learns and develops, her ability to express herself, particularly in regard to her emotional development will become more complex. By shifting away from the simple use of the first person, I hope to be able to convey the sense of growth on Cameron's part as the language she uses to think, reason and feel becomes more humanlike.
It's worth a try. Let me know if you think it works as the story unfolds.
Thanks again for reading this installment.