I'm glad I received some nice feedback on the very first chapter. I'm even more nervous about this chapter than the first! The characters are a little more out of character than usual, I think. My mind is in different places. I've been asked why I made a T3 reference in the first chapter because T3 has been ignored in the TV series. Well, there you go. That's the reason I've mentioned T3. They're not going to mention anything T3 related in the TV series, so why not just add it into a fiction story made by a fan? I'm adding a little T2 into this chapter right now.

I had readers guess where the title came from if they wanted to. The title is a lyric of Thomas Dekker's (John Connor) song, The Future.

I've traded my heart for a gun
'Cause I've been told I'm the only one
To put an end to all that I've ever known
And now the time has come
I know the past is gone
And I'm gonna be...a machine

The song is obviously Terminator related, so the song has been stuck in my head since I first listened to it, and I thought that specific lyric, or part of it, would be a good title. If you search "Thomas Dekker Music MySpace" on Google, you'll find his MySpace and you can listen to the song.

CHAPTER TWO

Thank you for being my new friend.

Cameron

"That was your letter?" John opened his locker and exchanged his chemistry book for his geometry book.

Cameron nodded. "Yes. Was it bad?"

He shook his head. "No, it was nice. You only knew her for, what, two minutes? You can't write a speech with that."

"Thank you."

He chuckled. "Why are you thanking me?"

"You told me my letter wasn't bad." Cameron walked past him and headed for geometry class.

-

Auto shop was the one class John Connor enjoyed the most. There was no Cameron watching his every move and breathing over his shoulder. There was no mother around to constantly annoy him. He was able to keep to himself in class most of the time. Sometimes he would help Morris if he asked. The two of them had gotten closer since they met a few days ago, but John was careful to not let them get too close.

"Hey, John, you want to hang out after school?" Morris asked while working on the carburetor.

"Sorry, I can't."

Morris rolled his eyes. "Come on, man. You keep saying that. Why can't you?"

John barely looked at him and kept his focus on the car. "My mom needs me to help around the house. We still have boxes lying around that we haven't gotten to."

"Well, what about Cameron? Does she have to help too?"

John shrugged. "She's usually busy studying. That's why she's so smart." He chuckled.

Morris thought for a moment. "I could always use some tutoring for Chemistry."

Raising an eyebrow, John chuckled. "Studying is the last thing on your mind."

"Yeah, so?"

"Cameron's not gonna go for you, man."

Morris scoffed. "And how do you know that?"

John cleaned his hands with a rag. "I know because she doesn't date anyone. The last time a guy asked her on a date, she wanted to file a restraining order against him. And we were ten when this happened. Remember what I said a few days ago? I'm just looking for ya."

"Yeah, fine." Morris gave him a disappointed look.

No hard feelings, man. John thought. It might be for your own good that you don't get close to her. And me.

-

Instead of taking the school bus, John decided it would be nicer for Cameron and him to walk home. It would have been stuffier on the bus than outside.

"This is a long walk, "Cameron said, looking at the sky. "We get home faster on the bus. Sarah must be worried."

"I just wanted to be surrounded by quiet and fresh air instead of loud, stuffy kids. They'll end up hurting someone one day if they keep throwing that damned football around."

"It isn't allowed." She looked at him.

John shrugged. "They won't listen to anybody."

"You could make them listen one day."

He gave Cameron an uncomfortable look. "Let's not talk about the future for a while, okay? Our conversation just becomes a pain in the ass whenever you bring it up."

John and Cameron arrived at the house about fifteen minutes later. They saw Sarah sitting at the kitchen table and she didn't even look at them when they arrived. She seemed as if she didn't notice they were there at all. Her eyes were focused on a small object. The same object that was pulled out of a certain T-888 just a few days ago. The same object Cameron was worried about.

"Did you ever figure out what that thing was?" John sat in a chair and placed his backpack beside the leg of it.

Sarah glanced at him then turned back to the chip. "It's something that keeps the machine working."

"It has to be something bigger than that if it was freaking Cameron out a few days ago. She kept staring at it when she pulled it out of the T-888. I was there to see it."

"We were all there to see it, John." Sarah turned to Cameron. "Do you know what it is?"

Cameron gave her a blank stare. "No."

"How can you not know what it is? He's a machine just like you."

"It's like you said. It's something that keeps the machine working. I have homework." Cameron took her messenger bag and walked upstairs.

John turned to his mom. "She knows more, doesn't she?"

Sarah nodded. "Of course she does. Tin Miss knows everything about these things, or she should. We just have to get her to talk. If she's not going to tell us what it is, it must be bad and she's trying to save us when only, she's making things worse. Do you still believe she's completely on our side?"

John thought for a couple of minutes.

"GET THE HELL AWAY FROM ME!"

Sarah snatched a shotgun and ran upstairs. She heard the scream from Derek's room. Kicking the door open, she ran in the room and held the gun in the air. She saw Cameron standing beside Derek's bed. "What are you doing?"

John caught up to Sarah and his eyes went wide. "Mom, what the hell are you doing?"

"He was making painful sounds. He hasn't been taking his medication." Cameron held up a bottle of Aleve.

"I'm fine. I'll be even better knowing that this hunk of metal will be out of my room soon!"

"Derek, shut up. You're supposed to be resting and shouting is not helping." Sarah turned to Cameron. "You, Tin Miss, get out of the room. I don't want to deal with anymore trouble for at least a week right now. John, you go into your room or the kitchen and do your homework. You will not have Cameron do it for you, got it?"

"Just put the gun down and away. You might scare off the neighbours." John muttered, turning on his heel and went off to the kitchen.

-

"Have you noticed that my mom's been more…snappy since we brought Derek here?" John looked at Cameron, who was having her nose stuck in a textbook. "She's been so jumpy and she carries a gun everywhere now. It's insane."

"Your mom is human. She worries." Cameron looked at him.

"I've never seen her so freaked out since she saw Uncle Bob."

Cameron tilted her head. "Uncle Bob? Who is that?"

John almost smiled a little from the past memory. "He was a Terminator, kind of like you. He helped save me and my mom a few years ago when I was a kid. We were hoping to stop Judgment Day. He's gone now. He was terminated after we terminated a T-1000. After all this happened, I've been hoping every day we won't have to go into another huge battle like we did before."

Cameron closed her textbook. "John, I have something to tell you."

"What?"

"We might get into some trouble in the next few days."

Author's Note: I really have no idea what Cameron would write in a letter to Jordan. Since there was no long conversation, I don't think there would be very much written. I thought a plain simple sentence would suffice.

There will be a new episode tomorrow night! Don't forget to watch it!