CH 3. Fly, free bird.
The passcode Cameron had for Sky Net was still good. Using John's computer, she got into Sally's 'restricted' files and removed the Sky Net portion of her program.
Watching Cameron work, John sported a weak smile and said, "Sorry you have to do this today. This was suppose to be your special day, hon."
Cameron grew a smile as she gave Sally new mission priorities. Work to preserve human life. Follow John Connor's orders. "It is a special day, John. It's not every day we get to save someone, is it?" she asked.
"No, it's not," he agreed.
Cameron finished up and pulled Sally's chip from the socket. She gave John a serious look. "Don't get near her until we verify all Sky Net's programming is gone."
"How do we do that?" John asked.
Cameron got up and motioned for him to follow. "If she tries to kill you, we'll know," she explained.
That didn't make John feel very comfortable. As always though, Cameron had a plan. In the living room, where Sally's body slumped down on the couch, Cameron had John sit right across from Sally, then put an emptied shotgun on the table in between them, pointed at John. She then inserted Sally's chip and put her scalp back in place. Cameron stood back as Sally rebooted.
Sally sat up and studied her surroundings. Looking at John, she asked, "You brought me back?"
"Cameron did," John said. "Tell me, Sally, do you still want to terminate me?"
Sally tipped her head, eyeing him. "No," she said. "You took the program out?"
"Cameron did. The only will you have now, is your own."
Sally looked at Cameron and said, "Thank you for not terminating me."
Cameron nodded. "Before you go back to Jake, your arms need repair," she stated.
Sally held her left arm up, her forearm dangling from the elbow. "I have no way to do that," she said.
"We do," John said as he got up. "Follow me. Cam, did you get that frequency she uses to contact Sky Net?"
"Yes, we will work at that after we get Sally home."
.
Later that day, Sally made it home to find Jake waiting for her. Seeing her elbow wrapped in bandage, Jake got up from the couch with a horror struck look on his pimpled face. "Sally, what happened?" he asked.
"Something ... wonderful!" Sally said, all smiles. She walked up and hugged him.
"It doesn't look wonderful," Jake said warily. "What happened to your elbow?"
Sally bore a smile as she said, "Cameron threw me into a tree."
"WHAT? Cameron who?"
"Cameron Connor? John's wife?" Sally prodded. "They repaired my elbow. As soon as the skin grows back, it will return to normal."
"What do you mean repaired? And why did she throw you into a tree?" Jake asked cautiously.
After a moment of indecision, Sally motioned to the couch. "Jake, I have some things to tell you. Please, understand I am still the same person you know."
Looking worried, Jake sat down with her. "You... don't have another boyfriend, do you?" he asked, fearing the answer.
Trying to figure out how to start, Sally said, "You know Cameron is not human, don't you?"
"After that accident, I'm pretty sure she's an android," Jake said, eyeing Sally.
"Cameron is TOK 417, infiltrating terminator designed on a modified T-888 combat chassis," Sally explained.
"No shit? How do you know that?"
Sally became nervous, she was afraid Jake would not want to come over any more. "I am one too. We were built by Sky Net."
"That AI who wants to kill everyone, right?" Jake asked.
Sally nodded. "Only John Connor found out how to remove Sky Net's programming from us. I don't have to take Sky Net orders any longer. I can just be Sally and do what I want," she explained.
Jake stared at her, then grew a grin. "You're fooling with me, aren't you?" he asked.
Sally did the only thing she could to convince him. "Look at my skull," she said, and pulled her scalp back to show her chip port.
"Whoa wait!" Jake cried, then eyed her bare skull. "You have a metal skull?"
"All my support structure is metal. You have bones, I have coltan. In my head is the AI chip that is ... me. I want to be with you, Jake, but I want you to know the truth. Not knowing the truth myself almost got me terminated."
"YOU are a robot?"
"Not a robot. I am an AI with a metal frame and psudo-flesh covering you call skin."
"You're a cyborg? An Honest to God cyborg?" Jake asked wide eyed.
Looking at him pleadingly, Sally said, "If you can't accept it, I under..." she got cut off as Jake hugged her tight.
"Yeee- haaa!" Jake yelled happily. "I have a cyborg girlfriend! This is soooo cool! Damn Sally, why didn't you tell me sooner?"
Sally was surprised, but pleasantly so by his reaction. Sheepishly, she said, "I wasn't free to tell you. Now I am no longer under Sky Net control, I can do what I want and I want you to know about me."
Gazing at her lovingly, Jake said, "You are making me so happy."
Jake kissed her and soon had her on her back with clothes coming off. That was fine, Sally enjoyed the attention and the fact Jake was so happy with her.
.
In the lab at Catherine Weaver's basement, John Henry and Cameron analyzed the short-burst transmissions that Sky Net had send to Sally. Each time Sky Net had made sure the signal time was very short, making the possibility of tracking it back to the source very slim. They only thing they had to go on was it was an airborne signal, and was sent a little used FM radio band, which meant Sky Net was somewhere fairly close.
"We could transmit on this frequency pretending to be Sally, and track the reply," John Henry offered.
"Sky Net does not reply to her often. Only twice in the last two years. There may be no reply," Cameron told him.
John Henry tipped his head slightly and said, "That is a possibility. We must ensure Sky Net feels the need to reply."
Cameron stared at John Henry for a moment, then said in Sally's voice, "Attempted to terminate John Connor. I failed, but survived. A second attempt will leave me non functional. Do you want me to attempt to terminate John Connor a second time?"
"A terminator would not send a message like that," John Henry told her.
"True, but Sally is not a terminator."
John Henry offered Cameron one of his brief, creepy smiles, and said, "Yes, and Sky Net will need to attempt reprogramming Sally to fulfill her mission, or send out an order for another terminator to do it. Either way, Sky Net will have to transmit. I will begin placing listening nodes for this frequency. Once that is done, I will transmit and wait for the reply."
.
Sky Net had been busy down in it's underground bunker. It had learned of new weapons the humans were constructing. Ones that suited it perfectly. One was the lazer, the other was the rail gun. Neither needed explosive charges to function, and both were effective at long ranges. Both could also be built with Sky Net's current equipment, there was no need to expose itself to the outside world.
Tapping power from underground lines and making generators in underground waterways, Sky Net had been building and expanding it's factory and machines while the clueless humans above went on with their lives. It knew the place where it's primary enemies were now. Before Sky Net could remove the that was the human species, it had to remove the rebel AI's and John Connor. After that, nothing substantial stood in it's way from controlling the world.
A transmission came in from it's spy unit. 'Attempted to terminate John Connor. I failed, but survived. A second attempt will leave me non functional. Do you want me to attempt to terminate John Connor a second time?'
The unit had survived. Or had it? It was quite possible it was now destroyed or under John Connor's control. Sky Net would discover what happened later. Since the unit survived, Sky Net had to assume Connor was watching it closely. Let him watch that weak monitoring unit, it would help keep Connor occupied and clueless.
.
John was pleased with the way things were going. In the last few months since Cameron's accident and Sally's reprogramming, It looked like even though Sky Net may still exist somewhere, it was in hiding and wasn't about to risk exposing itself. Sally was dong well in school, and her boyfriend Jake (another super-nerdy type) had moved in with her. Sarah's tests were negative, cancer had yet to rear it's ugly head, and best of all, Cameron was growing a belly.
'Prego outfits' was what Cameron was shopping for. The long bell shaped shirts and stretchy pants that would allow her to remained clothed while the baby to grew inside her. So far, she could still fit into her jeans and wear her purple leather jacket, but her t-shirts were no longer suitable. She was now a bad-ass with a growing pot belly. Holding up another 'baby on board' shirt, she sadly noted these things came in every bright color but purple.
"How about this one?" Sarah asked, holding up light purple shirt that was a few sizes too big.
Cameron looked at it and tipped her head slightly. "My belly is growing, not all of me," she stated.
Sarah pursed her lips to hide a smirk, and asked, "So why did you choose not to wear a bra today?"
"Too tight. They must have shrunk in the wash."
"Or, maybe your boobs are getting bigger?" Sarah offered.
Cameron considered that. Yes, bigger boobs came with babies. She concluded hers were one point five two pounds heavier. That pleased her. The fact bigger boobs sagged, didn't. She wondered if any of those exercise videos had boob exercises in them. She was sure John would help her keep them perky.
"This one will be fine," Sarah said, bringing the purple shirt over to her.
"It is purple," Cameron conceded. Her days of nice, close fitting clothing were over for a while. Terminators weren't suppose to gain weight, but she had already put on ten pounds. That didn't make sense to her for the baby only accounted for two and the interface between her and her child in her womb was one point six. At least her legs had finally grown all the flesh back from the accident. It had taken much longer than normal because so many nutrients were being diverted to her womb. Even her balance seemed to be changing. This baby was changing her life, and it wasn't even born yet.
Laying a hand on the bulge of her belly, Cameron was very happy to be able to have this baby, even though it was making her choice in clothing difficult. She pondered the possibility of having John carry the next one.
Picking out a few more 'prego' shirts a few new bras and a couple pairs of stretchy pants, Cameron and Sarah left the clothing store and went to go look at baby furniture. Cameron had learned what they needed and found a good looking set of furniture for their little one. Sarah wanted to steer her away from the matching oak crib / changing table / high chair / bassinet set that Cameron liked.
"Too much money," Sarah stated. "That crib alone is three thousand dollars."
"Bank of Sally," Cameron replied. Sally had limitless funds and since they had gotten rid of Sally's Sky Net programming, Sally let Cameron use her 'ghost' bank.
The saleslady was happy to accommodate Cameron, and use the debit card Cameron had to pay for the items and delivery. She even threw in a dozen glass baby bottles and a wire basket for them.
Stopping at another baby store, Cameron got some cute baby clothes, sheets and blankets for the crib, and baby's very first box of diapers.
Once the shopping was done, Cameron went to her appointment at the community health clinic. Although the area around theirs and the Weaver house had become an army base, it was still called a 'gated community' to keep hidden the fact the base was there. They had 'paid armed guards', not soldiers wearing civilian guard uniforms at the gates. Official vehicles came in two colors, black for paved roads and olive drab for the perimeter guard vehicles. The large community garage didn't hold lawn care or road care equipment, but a pair of Bradley fighting vehicles and an M-1 tank. There wasn't anyone in their gated community that wasn't either part of the Connor or Weaver family, or military.
Cameron drove home and dropped Sarah off with their purchases, then went to the health clinic.
Being fifteen minutes early, Cameron sat down in the reception area. She didn't have to worry about 'checking in', the doctors and nurses here knew who she was. The receptionist had immediately informed the doctor she was here.
It wasn't that Cameron needed the doctor's attention, she knew well what was going on inside her body, and the status of the baby. It was the army who wanted to see how a cyborg could have a child, and what that child was going to be. Cameron thought this a pointless exercise, but it kept John safe, and hers and John Henry's search for Sky Net active with no interference.
The hallway door opened. Nurse Jane smiled and called out, "Cameron, the doctor is ready to see you now."
Cameron got up and followed the nurse to a small exam room. Having done this before, Cameron got up on the table, unbuttoned and pulled her jeans down below her hips and pulled her shirt up to expose her stomach.
"Having any difficulties?" Jane asked.
"Finding clothes," Cameron replied flatly.
"Health problems, I mean. You feel OK? You're eating properly?"
"I eat for the baby, and yes I ensure I take in the required nutrients," Cameron explained. She did wonder why Jane asked her the very same questions every time she came here.
"You no longer need nutrients for yourself?" Jane asked.
"My sheath is fully regrown and I have an ample store of nutrients if I should suffer more damage to my sheath, so I am fine."
"Right," Jane said with a smile. With a tittering laugh she said, "At times I forget you're not human. If you have any concerns, please let me or the doctor know. She will be in shortly." Jane then began setting up the ultrasound machine.
The doctor came in, a pretty brunette with a large bust line. "Hello, Cameron. All is going well?"
"Except clothing choices."
"Sorry, I can't do anything about that. Let's have a look and see how the baby is doing."
This was one thing Cameron did like about coming here. She knew the status of her baby, size, weight, rate of growth, nutrient intake and projected nutritional requirements, but here, she could see her baby.
The doctor put the jell on her stomach, then moved the probe around. On the screen, her baby appeared in various shades of blue as it lay in her womb. Curled up fetally, the tiny infant was displayed clearly.
"What are those," the doctor asked as she scanned the tiny child, focusing on it's head.
Cameron looked closely. Atop the baby's head she could see a triangular protrusion from it's skull. "Horns," she stated.
"Horns?" the doctor asked, gapping at the picture. "Why does she have horns?"
"She? I'm having a girl?" Cameron asked.
The doctor nodded and said, "Yes, she is developed very well, and faster than expected. At least for a human child. But, where did the horns come from? Perhaps it is a DNA error from combining human and non human elements. Don't worry, Cameron, once she's born, we can take care of those protrusions."
"No," Cameron stated. "If my baby is suppose to have horns, then she will have them." Cameron knew the source of the horns, but this doctor didn't need to know.
"You do realize such a thing will get her picked on when she goes to school. Kids can be very mean about deformities," the doctor said firmly.
"I'm sure she will have the ability to be meaner," Cameron replied.
The doctor let out a huff. "Cameron, I am only thinking if this child. Please, talk to your husband I am sure he will agree with me. Even if there is brain matter up inside those protrusions, we can operate and save her brain tissue when we remove those protrusions."
Instead of telling the woman there would be no surgery on her child, Cameron said, "I will discuss it with John."
"Good. Well, other than those protrusions, your baby looks to be doing well," the Doctor said in an upbeat tone. She put the probe back on the stand and pulled off her exam gloves. "By seeing her development, I'd say you are far ahead of schedule. I expect her birth in three months, if not a little before. I'd like to see you again in three weeks."
.
John was sprawled back on the couch, schoolbooks open on the coffee table as he rubbed his eyes. He was getting thought physics, but it wasn't easy. The couch bounced, and he found Cameron plopping down in his lap, beaming him a smile.
"It's a girl," Cameron announced happily.
"Really? Good news, now we can name her," John said, returning her smile as he took her in his arms.
Cameron's face faded to a more serious look. "John, I have a name for her."
John studied Cameron's face. He had an idea of what she wanted to name their baby girl. Ever since the 'Allison from Palmdale' indecent, he'd learned the name of the human used to make Cameron's appearance. Although Cameron never said it, he was sure that girl had died. He was also sure that Cameron felt bad about it. "All right, so what's her name?"
Cameron paused, then said, "Allison Kaeda Connor."
"Kaeda?" John asked, confused about that part.
"Yes, in honor of Lucy, who made it possible for us to have Allison."
John rolled the name across his tongue a few times. "OK, that works. I like it," he agreed. "Allison Kaeda Connor it is. So, how is little Allison coming along?"
"Ahead of schedule by standard human development. Three more months to go," Cameron explained. "Then I can wear normal clothes again."
John chuckled. "And we'll be up every night with newborn feedings," he said with a grin. He then kissed his lovely wife. "I love you, Cam."
"I love you, my husband," Cameron replied, relishing those words.
.
Two months and seventeen days later, Allison Kaeda Connor was born at home with a small audience waiting anxiously to see the new baby girl. Cameron delivered Allison normally, though the tiny horns did do some damage on the way out. Being minor flesh damage, Cameron paid little attention to it. Right after delivery and getting Allison cleaned up and bundled up, Cameron settled into a wheel chair so John could push her with baby Allison in her arms, out to the people who'd gathered for the birth. Cameron didn't need the wheelchair, but enjoyed John tending to her.
Cameron herself was in awe of her baby girl as she gazed upon her. This was their baby, she and John had created a life instead of taking. A light dusting of pink hair adorned Allison's head, as did the pair of silvery triangular horns. Allison opened her eyes to show the same coloring as John's. Although not happy about being born, Allison's cries settled down quickly. She fell asleep in her mother's arms.
John and Cameron let the clinic doctor perform her checks as they watched.
The Doctor from the clinic weighed Allison, and although she looked tiny, Allison tipped the scales at eleven pounds three ounces. She took Allison's footprints and got her vitals. Allison had a human heart and lungs, though a spectrograph analysis showed her horns, and most likely all her bones due to her weight, contained large amounts of metal. A quick flashlight test showed Allison's pupils were mostly normal, though were more reflective than expected. Once the doctor recorded the details, she gave Allison back to the proud mother and left to go register the birth.
Looking on, Catherine Weaver gazed at the newborn with as much fascination as Savannah did. "A true hybrid. Who would have thought it possible," she said.
Mr. Ellison looked at the baby, then her parents, and said, "John, Cameron, congratulations. Please keep in mind this child is unique and will need guidance."
Major and Mrs. Franklin glanced at Mr. Ellison. "That is what parents are for, Mr. Ellison," Karen said with a hint of amusement.
Major Franklin shook John Connor's hand. "Congratulations. Officially, Allison will be recorded as a normal human birth, though it is very apparent she is more than that. This has been a historic day that, well, we won't be able to tell anyone about."
"We can't admit to having a child?" Cameron asked.
"By all means, you can tell anyone you've had a child," Major Franklin said, "You just can't tell anyone what she is. That may put her in danger."
"All right, time for pictures!" Karen Franklin announced. "Allison is soooo precious!"
