CHAPTER 3: "ASSASSINS"
Tuesday, June 17th, 2008 – 02:25 a.m.
Burbank
Cameron had left the house at 2 a.m. after John had fallen asleep. She'd waited until he'd entered is REM sleeping phase, then did her usual perimeter patrols before heading into Burbank on foot.
Like almost every night, she made her way down to the local library, which was only two miles away, and like usual, she stopped at a 24-hour donut shop on the way to buy pastries for the after-hour caretaker, a girl named Susan. After she'd pushed the buzzer at the employee entrance this time, though, it wasn't Susan who opened her.
It was Eric.
"Oh, it's you," Eric said in a flat tone to welcome Cameron.
"Eric," she replied, tilting her head, an expression of both surprise and joy to see him again. "You're back."
Cameron had befriended Eric last year. Being unaware of her true nature, he'd unknowingly helped her with developing her social skills. In return, she kept him company during his lonely night shifts. Eric sat in a wheelchair, suffering from Ewing's Sarcoma, a type of bone cancer. About half a year ago, they hadn't exactly parted on best terms. Eric had been extremely upset because Cameron had bluntly told him that his cancer was back and that he should see his oncologist. He'd thrown her out after that, and in the following night Eric wasn't there anymore, being replaced by Susan. Cameron hadn't looked for Eric but assumed he'd followed her advice and seen his doctors. His first words confirmed her assumption.
"I've been at the hospital for two months and then stayed at home to recover," Eric said. "You were right about the tumors. I guess I have to thank you, even though I have no idea how you could make such an accurate diagnosis."
Being a little embarrassed, Cameron held out her arm with the paper bag.
"I brought donuts. Susan favored a different type. Would you like to have them anyway?"
"Look, Cameron. I'm not sure about letting you in anymore. I thought a lot about what had happened and there are many things I don't understand or don't have an answer for. And I fear the answers might make things worse. I'm not sure it's good for me to be with you."
"But we're friends, right? Friends talk, friends work out their differences. Let me in, so we can talk, and you can eat your donuts."
Eric sighed, then rolled his wheel chair to the side to let her in. Like usual, Cameron looked over her shoulder before she closed the door behind her. Then she quickly brushed her hand over his neck with a friendly smile. A gesture he frowned upon.
"How do you feel, Eric?" She asked as they both moved towards their usual place, a table where they used to sit and read and talk about literature and what went on in their lives.
"I'm back in radiotherapy, no chemo so far. So, this time I can keep my hair. The tumors shrunk already and there is a good chance they may vanish completely."
"Yes, I noticed," Cameron replied.
Eric stopped the wheel chair dead in his tracks and turned around.
"Are you making fun of me?" he asked fiercely, "I already told you I don't think this kind of joking is funny."
Cameron looked at him, a bit shocked.
"I'm sorry, Eric," she said hastily, "I didn't want to invade your privacy. I... just did a quick scan of your vital signs."
"You…", he took a deep breath, "you have the nerve to come here after six months! Six months without a word or visit from you and tell me bullshit like that? What do you expect me to do? Laughing?"
Cameron looked him directly in the eyes.
"Eric, I am your friend. I'm sorry if I hurt you, I'm still learning how to interact with people."
"You can say that again!"
"There's something I want you to know, something you need to know about me if we want to stay friends. Do you believe me that I'm not a threat to you, not a danger?"
"What the fuck are you talking about? Leave me now. Please. Leave me alone."
"No!" Cameron said firmly. "Look at me and promise me to not be frightened about what I'm going to tell and show you. Please."
Despite his annoyance, Eric realized that Cameron was serious. So, after a moment of consideration, he nodded slowly.
"Fine, I promise. Now what?"
Cameron slowly took his hand while still looking into his eyes.
"By touching your skin, I can tell that your blood type is B negative. Your current blood pressure is 141 to 100 with a pulse of 89. There are multiple drugs in your system, you probably had a beer or two earlier this evening because there is a slight raise in blood alcohol. Your stress level is high."
"What!? Is that some magic trick?"
"No, no trick. I know these things because I have sensors in my skin that can analyze your bio data and the chemical composition of the skin. This allows conclusions to be drawn about the chemical composition of the blood."
"What the hell are you talking about? Sensors in the skin?"
"I'm a cybernetic organism, Eric, a cyborg."
She let her irises glow with that low whirring noise, first in blue, then in deep red.
"What the fuck?" Eric exclaimed, fear and panic creeping into his voice.
He quickly drew his hand from hers and rolled back a couple of feet.
"Please remain calm," Cameron said. "I'm your friend. I am not a threat to you."
"That's a trick!" Eric stated, trying to keep his emerging panic under control. "Some magical trick. It's got to be. You're just a girl. I mean you're a teenager. You want to pull my leg, right? This is some sort of prank. Not funny, Cameron! Not funny at all!"
"No, Eric. This isn't a trick," she replied in a soft voice, then she lifted the heavy solid wood table with all the books on it with her little finger, about one foot high, without showing even the slightest sign of effort.
Eric looked at her flabbergasted as she remained in that position, showing no signs of fatigue whatsoever.
"You should eat your donuts now," she said. "Your blood sugar level is a bit low and you look pale."
"Why are you telling me this?" he asked.
"Because you need nutrition."
"Not that. I mean why are you telling me that you're a… a cyborg? Is that some kind of psychological disorder, or the result of a trauma? The human mind can be responsible for the strangest delusions. Are you in psychiatric treatment? If not, I know a..."
"Eric, I'm not human!"
"Just because you're very strong? Come on, Cameron, there are genetic differences in people's strength, that's a known fact. And you said yourself that you work out."
"I don't work out," Cameron replied and let down the table, "I'm not a freak and I don't need psychological help. I'm a machine with artificial intelligence."
Eric just shook his head.
"I'm sorry," he said, "I should have known... all your strange behavior, your apparent insensitivity, the protector complex with your brother..."
"John's not my brother, he never was. That was a cover. Other cyborgs want to kill him, and I protect him. He's handsome, he attracts girls. I don't like that. But everything's fine now. The blonde girl is gone, she was killed. John is now my boyfriend."
Eric looked at her with his mouth agape. The blonde was suddenly dead? And Cameron had taken her place? How much of what she'd told him before was a lie, and how much of it the truth? That was worse than he suspected. Clearly, she was completely delusional.
"I'm so sorry, I should have known..." he said.
"Then you believe me?"
"I believe that you need help, Cameron! Professional help."
She sighed.
"Please, hear me out, Eric. There's a lot I have to tell you."
-0-
The Connor home lay peacefully in the dark. The sky was cloudy, so neither the moon nor the stars were shining. Only the lights of the city further down in the valley provided illumination. Suddenly, the chirping of the crickets died away as a dozen men in heavy armor approached the house, each one equipped with night vision. In their hands they held sniper rifles with silencers.
Quietly, without making any noise, they surrounded the house, communicating by hand signals.
-0-
"So… cyborgs," Eric said, "The future. Nuclear holocaust. Time travel. Mankind fights the machines. And you're one of them?"
"That's right, Eric. I'm an infiltration model; my purpose was to kill the leader of the human resistance."
"John. The guy who is your boyfriend now."
"Yes."
"But you changed sides and protect him now."
"Yes."
"Because you love him."
"Yes."
"And all the wounds and cuts you always have, are from getting in fights to protect John."
"Yes."
Eric chuckled.
"I have to admit, that's a really elaborate story," he said. "But do you have any idea how weird and crazy all that sounds?"
"Yes, I do. Do you believe me?"
Eric scoffed and looked down.
"Would it make you feel better if I did?"
"Yes."
Eric shook his head, then chuckled. He looked up at her again.
"Hey, since you're from the future, you can probably tell me the Powerball numbers for this week, right?"
Cameron tilted her head.
"Actually, I could. That's one of the few records that survived Judgement Day. But the jackpot is supposed to go to a Mrs. Valentina Sanchez, a waitress in Greenville, Texas, widowed mother of five. Telling you the numbers would rob her of her price and change her future."
"Not really ethical, huh?"
"No. Not ethical."
"Bummer."
"Yes, it's a bummer."
"You're really pushing it to the limit, Cameron. I've never met a person who is so absorbed in their delusion. But at least now I know why you talk and act so strange."
"It's not an act, I'm just being effective."
Eric chuckled.
"Seriously, Cameron," he said in an amused tone. "you need help. Go see a therapist."
Cameron sighed again
"Maybe I better leave," she replied, "then you can resume your night shift. Think about what I told you. Sleep it over. I'll come back tomorrow. Then we can talk some more."
"Let me guess, I'm not allowed to talk with others about it, right?"
"You can try. But nobody will believe you. John's mom tried. She ended up in a mental institution."
"Seems like it's in the family, huh? All right, I get the hint. I'll keep my mouth shut. Everyone's entitled to their own delusions."
"Eric..." Cameron began but then stopped talking.
A low creaking noise could be heard. Cameron stood up from her chair and scanned the area.
"What's the matter?" Eric asked.
"GET DOWN!" she shouted and pushed Eric over in his wheel chair.
He fell out and rolled under the table, not knowing what was happening. A second later, bullets from rifles with silencers shot through the library, hitting Cameron in the chest and in the back. One projectile hit her forehead, two scratched her cheek. Standard bullets, not armor piercing.
Cameron decided to let herself fall to the ground and let the attackers approach her. Eric lay opposite of her, he was unhurt but in shock, trembling. He looked at her wounds, especially her head, where the impacting bullets had made her shiny metal skull partially visible. He stared at her and Cameron could tell he was terrified. Whether this was due to the shooting or to the fact that he now realized she'd told him the truth, she couldn't tell.
"Don't move", she whispered, and he nodded.
Cameron's sensors told her that three men in heavy armor were approaching them. When the first one was only six feet away, he talked into a headset.
"Target down. What do we do with the wheelchair guy?"
Thanks to her excellent hearing, Cameron could hear the response. It said to eliminate Eric. She jumped up faster than the man could react and while his mouth was still open in shock, she kicked him hard in the chest, breaking his rib cage, crashing his heart and lungs in the process. His body flew ten yards through the air towards the outer wall of the library between two windows. The body collided with the wall with an ugly, cracking sound, obviously more bones were breaking on impact, then it fell to the ground.
The second man approached Cameron from behind. She whirled around, grabbed his rifle and rendered it useless by bending it with her hands. While the man still looked at his deformed weapon in shock, Cameron grabbed his head and broke his neck like a twig.
The third man hesitated for a moment, realizing that his target was everything but helpless or harmless. He emptied the rest of his magazine into Cameron. She looked down her torso, then at the attacker with an annoyed expression and tilted her head.
"This was my favorite tee shirt," she said. "Now where will I find another one like this?"
Wide-eyed, shocked and uncomprehending, the man pulled out a large hunting knife and attacked her. Cameron caught his arm and broke his wrist. The man let out a terrible scream. She pulled the knife out of his hand, held it in front of his face, closed her fingers around it and crushed the hardened steel as if it was made of thin glass.
"Wha... what are you?" the man stammered in a panic.
Cameron activated the red glow in her eyes.
"My name is Cameron Baum. I am a Terminator, designed to kill humans. And I'm your executioner for the night."
She grabbed this throat with her left hand, lifted him up. Wide-eyed, he struggled to get free while Cameron considered him like an insect under a microscope, then crushed his esophagus and larynx and threw him into the aisle ten feet away.
The sudden silence was eerie. Cameron scanned the perimeter for any more intruders but there were none. She knelt next to Eric, who was trembling heavily and helped him getting back into his wheelchair.
"Are you alright?" she asked with a worried face.
"I… I guess so," he said, "maybe a little bruised. But I'm shaking all over."
"The adrenaline," Cameron replied, "I'll get you a glass of water."
"What about you? Are you hurt?"
"In several places. But no bullet went through my armor and I'm in no pain. The flesh will completely regenerate within a few days, don't worry."
"If… if I hadn't seen it… Jeez, Cameron, you killed them as if they were rag dolls. Who were these guys?"
"I'll find out. Do you believe me now?"
Eric nodded hastily.
"I'm glad we're friends," he said, looking at the corpses. "Really, really glad."
Cameron smiled, and Eric tried to smile back, though not very convincingly.
"Can I leave you alone for an hour?" she asked. "I need to head back home to check if everything is okay there. I have a really bad feeling."
"Yeah. Sure. But… what about the bodies?"
"Don't worry. I'll come back with help and then we'll eliminate all traces of the fight. I was careful to not spill any blood. Are you gonna be okay? Can I leave you alone for a while?"
Eric swallowed hard.
"Do you promise me to come back? Because I don't know how long I'm gonna last in here with three dead bodies lying on the ground."
"Yes, Eric, I promise," she said and gave him a peck on the cheek, "I'll be back."
-0-
Cameron approached the Connor House in her stealth mode. She scanned the area but there were no apparent threats. All members of the Connor household seemed to be asleep, even Derek on the sofa - she could hear him snoring through the open window. As she was about to enter the house through the front porch, she noticed a pile of bodies lying next to the wooden garage. But there were no life signs, they were all dead. She counted twelve of them. They were dressed and equipped just like the attackers in the library. From this, Cameron concluded that the men belonged to the same unit and that it must have been a coordinated attack to take out all four members of the Connor Team at once. She checked the bodies but there were no bullet wounds. Also, no blood. It carried the handwriting of another Terminator. Alarmed, Cameron scanned the area again, but nothing showed up on her HUD. She decided to wake up the family.
"Who the fuck is that?" Derek asked, being the first one to see the pile of dead assassins in the yard.
Sarah and John followed right after him, dressed in a bathrobe and a pajama. Derek always preferred to sleep in his clothes on the sofa.
"I don't know," Cameron responded. "Obviously, it was supposed to be a sneak attack but apparently they ran into an obstacle they hadn't expected."
"Some obstacle indeed," Derek said and looked at Cameron.
"Are you okay?" a worried John asked, looking at her body. "You seem to have taken heavy gunfire."
"Yes, I'm fine," she replied and smiled. "'tis only a scratch."
"Good work, Tin Miss." Sarah stated, looking at Cameron's wounds and the pile of bodies.
"To avoid misunderstanding, it wasn't me," she said. "This has to be the work of another cyborg, probably an infiltration model like me. I wasn't here when it happened."
"What?" John asked. "But who shot you then?"
"I was…" Cameron began.
"Where were you then when this happened?" Sarah interrupted her angrily. "Aren't you supposed to protect us? What if they had been successful and surprised us in our sleep? You said nobody knows about this place."
"That is what I strongly believed, Sarah. But apparently, I was wrong."
"Okay, that's it," Sarah said, "First thing in the morning, we move. Start packing, John."
"We have work to do first," Cameron objected, "there are more bodies in the library, which I killed myself. They need to be retrieved first."
"What the fuck were you doing at the library at night?" Derek asked.
"Studying."
"What are you studying?" John inquired with a puzzled face.
"Art, literature, military history, social behavior. Eric's been helping me with it."
"Who's Eric?" John asked.
"The after-hour caretaker at the library. He's my friend."
Everyone groaned and the looks that John, Sarah and Derek exchanged, said everything.
"He's in a wheelchair," Cameron quickly explained. "He works the night shift and lets me in. I bring him donuts. We talk a lot. He was a big help for me in understanding human behavior. He is alone there right now with three dead bodies. They must be retrieved. Eric must be taken care of and the bullets and shells need to be removed from there as well. The library opens again in six hours and the first commuters will soon be driving to work."
"Okay, let's go then," John said. "We take the RAM. Derek and mom, could you search the dead bodies and take everything from them we can use? Weapons, armor, tech stuff. Maybe something tells us who sent them."
"Uh… yes… yes, we'll do that." Derek confirmed and pulled Sarah with him before she could utter any protest.
-0-
John parked the Dodge RAM close to the employee entrance of the library. Together with Cameron, he approached the door, looking around for any danger but everything was quiet. Cameron pushed the buzzer and after a short moment, a muffled voice asked:
"Cameron, is that you?"
"Yes, it's me, Eric. Please open the door."
The door swung open, showing a relieved Eric.
"Thank God you're back. This place is giving me the creeps with those dead bodies."
They stepped in and closed the door behind them.
"John, this is my friend Eric," Cameron said, "Eric, this is John, my boyfriend."
Both shook hands.
"So, you're the famous John Connor?" Eric asked.
John looked at Cameron.
"You told him my name?" he asked reproachfully. "My real name? What else does he know?"
"John, please don't be angry," Cameron replied. "Eric can be trusted. He's been my friend for months. I needed someone to talk to outside the house. You already know why. So please, don't be upset, okay?"
John looked at her for a moment.
"Whatever", he then said and sighed, looking around at the mess. "I suppose we should get to work."
With the help of Cameron's perfect memory of the events, it didn't take long to collect all the bullets who went astray and retrieve the empty shells from the floor. Afterwards, Eric got some coffee from the vending machine in the foyer and handed two cups over to John and Cameron.
"Do you drink coffee?" he asked Cameron. "I've never seen you drinking or eating anything."
"I can drink," she replied and accepted the cup of coffee with a smile, "thanks."
They all took a sip and then Eric was the first to talk.
"So, what now? Do you have any idea who's behind the attack?"
"Not a clue," John said.
"I suppose calling the police is out of the question?"
"Definitely out of the question," John confirmed. "We don't want any attention. We'll start an investigation as soon as we arrived back home."
"How will you get rid of the bodies?"
"We'll have to dump them somewhere. Desert or ocean," Cameron replied, "we might have to drive multiple times. There are twelve more of them at the house."
"Jeez, Cameron," Eric gasped, "did you kill them, too?"
"No," she said, "but it was another cyborg."
Glancing from Cameron to Eric and back, John was getting a little annoyed.
"How long have you been knowing about us? I mean about Cam being a cyborg and the whole backstory?"
"I just told him tonight, John", Cameron replied before Eric could. "I decided to let him in."
"I thought we were over that," John said and shook his head. "I mean you doing things without telling me or mom."
"I'm sorry," Cameron stated. "But I feel the need to be honest with everyone I care for. Besides, he would have found out tonight anyway."
Eric nodded.
"It was quite a demonstration. I didn't believe her when she told me. At first, I thought it was some idiotic prank, then I suspected she has a severe mental problem. But then those attackers showed up and I saw what she did to them and how unconcerned and cold-blooded she killed them... and I… I..."
Eric's voice broke and suddenly he was overpowered by a crying fit. John padded him on the back, understanding how overwhelming the whole experience must have been for him. Cameron looked at Eric with a worried expression. After a few minutes, he recovered a bit.
"Would you please excuse me?" he asked, "I'd like to go to the bathroom."
"Sure, no problem," John replied.
Cameron waited until Eric was out of hearing distance, then turned towards John.
"He should stay with us for a while," she said. "He might be in danger. We don't know who hired those men. He can have my room for the time being."
"Now wait a minute, Cam, he's not a stray puppy dog you can simply bring home."
"Please, John?" Cameron begged and kissed him gently on the lips.
"Plus, we aren't equipped for wheel chairs," John added, determined not to give in.
"I'll carry him up and down the stairs," she argued, kissing him again.
"But we're probably moving tomorrow anyway…"
Another kiss.
"Alright, alright," John said, giving in. "But I won't explain to mom. You will."
"Thank you," she replied with a warm smile and kissed him longer.
Much longer.
After a couple of minutes, Eric rolled back into the room and observed the two kissing lovers for a moment. Then he loudly cleared his throat. John broke the kiss.
"Sorry, this must seem very weird to you," he said.
"To say the least," Eric confirmed. "I have a hard time getting this into my head. I mean I can understand it. She is so pretty and seems so fragile and vulnerable. But from one second to the other, she becomes a cold-blooded killing machine. And then, abracadabra, suddenly the scene changes to a teenage love romance. It's like I'm watching scenes in a stage play, and it's kinda freaking me out, to be honest. How can you blind out the fact that Cameron is a killing machine?"
John looked at Cameron and she looked at him.
"A little bit better every day," he stated smiling and Cameron gave John a gentle nudge in the side.
"Eric," Cameron said and squatted down before him, "I'm sorry that you saw my ugly side. But understand that I'm a protector, a bodyguard and that I'll do everything in my power to make sure John survives. I'd sacrifice myself if it meant saving his life."
"Wow, must be real love then," Eric replied sarcastically.
"I'm sorry that I pulled you into this," she continued. "This was never my intention. It would be wise for you to stay with us for a couple of days, until we made sure it is safe for you to return home. Are you okay with that?"
Eric was taken aback a little by her offer. He thought for a moment, contemplating what he had witnessed and how he would feel later, all on his own.
"Maybe it's a good idea to have company," he finally said, "but I don't want to be an inconvenience."
"You won't be," John replied. "Besides, Cameron's friends are always welcome in our house."
Cameron beamed at John's last words and kissed him again.
"I only hope I'm not getting blind now," Eric added sarcastically.
They moved the three bodies onto the cargo bed of the pickup truck. According to Eric, nobody would find out that he ended his shift earlier than usual, having his own keys for the building. He called off the transport service for disabled people that drove him between his apartment and the library, saying he was riding home with a friend today.
"The wounds she has, won't they get infected?" Eric asked from the back seat before Cameron entered the vehicle.
"No, her flesh isn't like ours," John replied. "It'll regenerate within a few days, leaving no scars. But it will heal faster with the bullets removed. And I definitely will remove them because I don't want to feel them under her skin when I touch her."
"Duh, no kidding." Eric said and shook his head in disbelief. "If anybody would have told me about this yesterday…"
"Yeah, I know what you mean. I was there once, too."
Cameron quickly scanned the whole library again for any traces of the nightly fight. Then, as she found that everything was okay, she locked the door and walked towards the waiting Dodge RAM with John and Eric.
"All clear," she said upon entering, "we're good to go."
-0-
Back at the Connor house, Sarah and Derek had removed the weapons and the useful gear from the dead assassins and searched their bodies. However, there were no indications about their identities: no wallets, no cellphones, no dog tags, nothing.
"The serial numbers have been removed from the weapons," Derek said. "But they must have come in a vehicle. They surely didn't walk to our place in that outfit. I'll go and check the side streets, see if I find a suspicious looking van or truck parked anywhere."
"Yes, do that," Sarah agreed.
She was exhausted. All the excitement had taken its toll on her. Would they ever have a moment of peace? It seemed like they'd slide from one crisis into the next. This had to stop, or she'll eventually lose her sanity. Still lost in thoughts, she saw the Dodge RAM return.
"Thank God, they made it", she thought.
It wasn't before John steered the truck into its parking position that she noticed a third person inside the cabin as well as a folded wheel chair on the cargo bed next to three dead bodies.
"Oh great," she said to herself, "just what we need. Another complication."
Knowing that Eric was not to blame for any of this, she tried her best to be friendly. When Cameron explained the events at the library in detail and how they came to think Eric might be in danger, she had to agree that keeping him as a temporary guest was probably a good idea. Cameron carried Eric inside and John brought his wheel chair. After they made sure he was comfortable in Cameron's room, they returned to the yard.
"Okay, now to the tricky part." Sarah stated. "We need to get rid of the bodies. Permanently. They mustn't be found. Any ideas?"
Before anyone could reply, a brown UPS van rolled into the driveway. They saw that Derek sat behind the steering wheel.
"Look what I found further down the road," he said upon dismounting the vehicle. "From what it looks like, it's been converted into a troop carrier inside, with benches and gun racks and all. Enough space for up to twenty soldiers. It's a good guess they let out three men at the library first, and then drove here to spill the rest."
"Any sign of the driver?" Sarah asked.
"Yup. Dead. Dumped in the back with a broken neck. I also found that the electronics in the car were destroyed. Looks like the handwriting of our mystery cyborg. I have no idea what its mission is. I can only hazard a guess it's not here to kill John. Because tonight would have been the best opportunity to do so."
Derek shot a glance towards Cameron, who stared right back defiantly.
"If everyone relies solely on me to protect the house while they spend their nights drinking in a bar," she said coolly, "it's no wonder such things happen."
"It's your job to protect the house," Derek shot back. "To scan and patrol the perimeter or whatever you do. It's not your job to wander around in town and study at a library at night."
The staring competition between the two continued.
"Derek, Cam," John addressed them wearily, not wanting another fight. "It's nobody's fault. Perfect security doesn't exist. And Cam is right, we shouldn't only rely on her for our safety. We have allowed ourselves to become careless and vulnerable. Plus, Cameron also has a right for privacy."
"I agree you'd be more helpful if you stayed sober every night," Sarah said to Derek.
Derek shot Sarah an angry glance.
"Whoa," John exclaimed, "calm down everyone. Remember what we agreed on. No hard feelings. We do things together now."
"Fine," Derek replied, "have it your way."
"Alright," Sarah said. "The UPS van is our answer to how to get rid of the bodies. Cameron, is there a tracking device on it? Can you scan the van?"
"I already did. There used to be a tracking device, but it was destroyed by our mystery Terminator."
"It's almost as if this mystery Terminator intentionally left the van for us to discover," John speculated, "so we can use it to get rid of the bodies."
"I don't like to be played with like that," Derek said grimly, "even when it's for our own good."
"Yeah, we should remain watchful," John added. "Cam, could you please load the bodies into the van and drive it to the cliffs near Oxnard where we sank the coltan truck into the sea? I will follow with the RAM and pick you up after you drove the van over the cliff. I think it's the best solution."
"I think so as well," his girlfriend replied and went to work.
-0-
Cameron and John returned three hours later, when the sun had already risen. Inside the house, Derek and Sarah sat on the sofa, having a cup of coffee.
"Any problems?" Sarah asked tiredly.
"No, everything's fine," Cameron replied. "Where's Eric?"
"Asleep in your room."
"Good. He might be a little traumatized. Sleep will help."
"Everyone we meet gets traumatized," John added exhausted and let himself fall onto the couch. "Man, I'm tired, too. I guess I'll pull the bullets from Cam's body and then just fall dead into my bed."
"We should go upstairs for that, John," Cameron said.
"Hm? Yeah, yeah. Go ahead, I gotta get the pliers and the band aid."
Cameron went upstairs.
John retrieved the tools he needed and was about to follow her, when suddenly the body of a tied-up and gagged fat man in his pajamas flew through the open terrace door into the living room. The man, apparently in his late fifties, landed hard on the floor and writhed in pain, moaning. Startled, everyone jumped to their feet, grabbed their guns and pointed them at the open door. There, in the morning sunlight, stood Cameron, and considered the room with her usual stoic terminator look.
"Sorry, I'm late," she said calmly, "it took me longer to get this man than I thought."
"Cam? How?" John asked, then hesitated as he noticed that she no longer had any bullet wounds and was wearing baggy clothes that were a few sizes too big for her.
Upon seeing him, Cameron suddenly ran towards John, flung her arms around his neck and hugged him tight.
"I'm so glad to see you again, John" she said with apparent relief.
He was so surprised that short of hugging her back, he didn't know what to do.
"Would someone explain to me what the fuck is going on?" Derek asked.
"I think we're having another branching of timelines," Cameron's voice said.
But it came from the stairs, not from the cyborg girl who was hugging John.
There, halfway down the stairs, stood Cameron in her bloody tee shirt and with all the bullet holes still in her. It took a moment for everyone to realize that there were now two Camerons in the house. Everyone looked back and forth between the two cyborgs. Cameron One looked at Cameron Two with a mixture of surprise and curiosity.
Slowly, Cameron Two loosened her embrace of John and looked around.
"It's a long story and he is responsible", she said, pointing her finger at the fat man on the floor who was still writhing in pain. "He is behind the assassination attempt. And also the mastermind behind the new Skynet A.I."
-0-0-0-
Author's notes:
- You didn't think this was all just about love and family therapy, right?
- Eric deserved a comeback IMHO.
- Two Camerons. I borrowed the idea from Pjazz but intend to go down a different path than him.
