The John Connor Chronicles: A Dark Wind
Chapter 4: Changes
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I don't own any part the Terminator franchise. But it would be nice if I did.
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Chapter 4:
John awoke from sleep, gasping in fear. He could still feel the horror, the death, the fear that permeated his dream, a dream that was fading even as he brought himself under control.
What had that been about? John Connor was not usually prone to nightmares, but this one was a doozy. Something…something about…about….
He couldn't remember. He groaned and put a hand to his head, as though he had a headache. As was the nature of such things, he found himself reluctant to go back to sleep, for fear his dream—whatever it was—would pick up where it left off. He knew dreams didn't usually do that way, but…
Well, he didn't have to get right back to sleep. It wasn't school or work day, so he could sleep in, if he chose…
If he dared.
There was a knock at his door, producing a silent sigh on his part. He knew who it had to be. "Yes, Cameron. Come on in."
The Terminator currently going by the name of "Cameron Phillips" opened the door. "Are you alright, John? I heard you making sounds of distress." And John Connor stopped and stared.
Because in place of her usual jeans and tight top, Cameron the killbot was wearing a set of powder-blue girls' pajamas. "Uh, C-Cameron? What, uh, what are you wearing?"
She glanced down at her attire. "Pajamas. I have researched current fashion, and this is listed as appropriate attire for this time of day. Or am I mistaken?"
"No, no, you're not mistaken. It's just…somehow, I never pictured you as wearing pajamas."
"Does it distress you? I can easily remove them, if you so desire." And she started to unbutton her blouse.
"No! I mean, don't! It, it, it's perfectly okay! I just never…oh, never mind. Just, just button up again, okay?" She complied, with what appeared to be a frown of puzzlement on her face. Then, just as he'd come to expect, she came over and lay down beside him. She'd taken to doing that quite often lately. Once again, she took his hand in hers, intertwining their fingers. She'd taken to doing that, too, occasionally, and he no longer found it all that unusual. Just part of her cover, he guessed. Or programming. Or…something.
In point of fact, he kinda liked it.
Cameron was learning new things all the time, and lately, she'd been assimilating social gestures and cues. He encouraged this; while her usual demeanor was adequate, he was always afraid somebody would notice something a little "off" about something she did…and he didn't have any ready responses to explain things like that. "Sister" didn't always cover it, "girlfriend" was out, "exchange student"…no, none of those would do. So, yeah, this, he guessed, was just part and parcel of the deal. But… "Cameron? What about your patrols? I thought you had another circuit to make."
"I completed my patrols one hour and twenty-six minutes ago. I also planted seventy-two remote sensors linked to my central hub. No unscheduled approaches will go unnoticed." She lay back. He wouldn't notice until much later that her head was resting on the same pillow as his. Well, it was a long pillow.
There was a pause while John collected himself from his nightmare. What had it been about, anyway? He couldn't remember. Something…something horrible was happening, or about to happen…
He became conscious of Cameron's closeness, and noticed a clean, soapy scent about her. Did Terminators bathe? Well, he guessed they must, at least, this one did; she smelled of soap and shampoo. (And conditioner, I'm sure.) He found her to be a soothing presence, especially in light of his recent nightmare….
No. No way is this happening. She's a machine. She just happens to look like a girl. An extremely hot girl, yes, but it's still just as illusion. Underneath, she's a skeletal metal warbot. I cannot be falling for her. I just simply can't be. "Cameron?"
"Yes, John?"
"Now I have a question."
"Shoot."
He momentarily grinned at her use of the very term he'd hesitated to use on her not so long ago. Evidently, her knowledge of human conventions and slang was up to par. But then he sobered. What he had to ask was an extremely important matter, especially to him. "That time in the warehouse….when you came to kill me. You were pinned between two trucks, and I was about to pull your memory core. You begged me not to. You told me you loved me, and that I loved you." He paused. She said nothing. "Were you lying?"
There was a long, long moment of silence from her. He noticed that she was closer to him now than she had been in previous "bed sessions." It was…well, he really didn't know what to make of it. "I don't know," she said, finally.
"You don't know? But…your memory core…."
"It seems that my memory of that incident has been either deleted, damaged, or overwritten. I don't recall the incident of which you speak." She turned her face to look at his face, only inches away, and again he was made conscious of her beauty. And his loneliness. "So I cannot answer your question."
"Then I've another question. Given how you're programmed, and how, how intricate your programming is…is it possible? Can you love me? Can you love? Are you able to? I mean, are you capable of it?"
Again a long silence. Her fingers gently but noticeably tightened around his. "I don't know. I don't know what my core programming will direct or allow me to do until it is time to execute it."
"Oh." Well, really, he'd expected nothing more. Only a computer's programmer knows exactly how it will respond in any given circumstance; the computer itself doesn't know. And Cameron's brain (like the human brain, for that matter) was, essentially, a computer. Human beings didn't always know how they'd react in given circumstances, either.
She let go of his hand, and rolled over to where she was facing him. "John. There is something I can say, in regards to your question."
"Hm? What's that?" His heart was still racing from his nightmare. Boy, it had to have been a lollapalooza.
She put her arms around a very startled John Connor and pulled him close. "I want to." And she pressed herself up against him….
….for just a moment. Then, she got up and, without another word, left the room, leaving a very puzzled human behind.
…
Twenty years into the future: Two people comprising the last humans on Earth, sat, huddled together, in a hastily dug foxhole, waiting for the End of the World. All around them, the countryside was barren and bleak, scoured clean of all life. There was no sign of the sun. There hadn't been for many days now, even though the sky above was clear enough to see the stars. "How much longer?" asked one. Although it was hard to tell, beneath the mud and the grime, she seemed scarcely more than a teenager.
Another shook his head. In another time, another world, he might have been an accountant or bank executive. Here, he was only another survivor.
For now.
"No way to tell. We've all heard how it's supposed to start…problem is, those who really know aren't with us anymore to confirm or deny it. So…for all we know, it might have already begun." And a secret fear, one that he'd never share with this girl, who could've been his daughter: what if it had already happened, and this was…what? What awaited them on the Other Side?
Maybe there was no Heaven. Maybe there was only Hell.
Maybe this was it.
At that exact moment, he saw something out of the corner of his eye. Without thinking, using reflexes he'd developed since that awful day, he threw himself over the squealing girl. C'mon, take me! Leave her alone! She's just a kid!
There was, of course, no reply.
….
The next day: "Cameron, I don't care what your programming has to say, you can't go on…scaring off people like that. That girl didn't do anything to you! And, and, it's not in keeping with your cover, anyway. Sisters don't act that way towards their brothers and girls they talk to." The two were in a small corner in the school hallway, alone for the moment. "It's not natural."
"She was a skank."
"She was not! And where did you learn that term?"
"I have accessed three years of magazines targeted at adolescent humans, as well as those directed at the older class. That girl was a skank, she was loose, she was a sleazy person. You are better off without her."
"That's for me to decide! Now, look: you aren't my mother or my smother. Stop trying to act like her."
"I am supposed to look out for you, to ensure your well-being. That includes your emotional needs as well."
"Which aren't getting met! Cameron, can't you see what's happening here? You, my supposed sister, are chasing off every girl who shows the slightest interest in me. Now, you didn't used to do that. I don't know when that changed, but you need to stop it."
She looked at him for a moment, tilting her head slightly in a very human gesture. "John. Are you that lonely?"
"Huh? No, I mean, there's people all around—Oh.*" He cut himself short as he realized what she was asking. "Look. Cameron. I can't have you hanging over my shoulder all the time. I'm supposed to go out on dates with girls. That's what guys my age do. It's normal, healthy, even. You're interfering with that. Can't you see?"
Again she studied him. "You are lonely. You miss the companionship of females your age. Therefore, since I have interfered with this natural process, it only makes sense that I correct this imbalance in your life.
"I will go with you to these places of entertainment."
He sighed, leaning against a locker. "Cameron…it's not that simple. Look. Our cover story is we're brother and sister, right?" She nodded. "It's true brothers and sisters do thing together. That's a given. But not everything. That's unnatural. People will start to think that I either can't get a date on my own, or that we're…you know. What we talked about the other day."
"An incestuous relationship?"
"Yeah, that. I didn't wanna come right out and say it, but yeah. And that…wouldn't be good. Trust me."
Again she studied him. Then, "Very well. Even though it goes against my programming, I will not stand in the way of you getting a date."
"Good deal. Now-*"
"And to further solidify our cover story, I will acquire one as well. Then we may go out together, a 'double date.' Would that be acceptable?"
"Uh…" He was momentarily thrown for a loop. Cameron, out on a date? With a guy? Somehow that didn't sit right with him. For some reason. "W-who would you go out with?" His mind raced; the opportunities for catastrophe in such a situation were nearly endless.
"The one called 'Jack,' who wears the red vest with the letter 'C' upon it. He has asked me numerous times to go out with him. I will now simply accept his offer."
He shook his head. "No, no, not Jack. He's too full of himself. Plus, I've heard things about the way he is…no, not Jack."
"Then what about Bruce, in chemistry class? He seems nice."
Again he shook his head. "I don't know anything about him, he's just recently arrived. I-*"
"There are plenty of other choices. I have been asked by numerous males to go out with them. Would you like me to provide you with a list?"
He rubbed his hand over his face. Somehow, the notion of Cameron actually out on a date just seemed to shriek "disaster." "I'll…I'll have to think about it. Yeah, maybe the list thing. Just not right now."
"Very well. In the meantime, I have noted that a new movie is debuting tonight at the Mall. Would you like to attend?"
He was still reeling from the notion of Cameron out on a date, that he barely took notice of what she was saying. He leaned up against the wall, rubbing his neck, trying to marshal his thoughts. "Uh, yeah, I saw the previews of it, looks pretty good, sure, we'll go. Whoops, there's the bell. Let's get to class."
Halfway through Western History class it dawned on him: I just agreed to go out on a date with a robot.
How did she do that?
….
Twenty years later: "Is this all?" The captain of the space ship was obviously nervous, wanting to get out of here as soon as possible. But he wouldn't leave anyone behind.
"Yes, sir. There were reports of others, other small groups, but they've fallen silent. Given that they were counting on us to get them to safety, I can only think of one reason why they'd cease broadcasting."
The captain nodded, his face showing clear dissatisfaction. "Run one more check. If everything's in order, we'll break orbit immediately." I only hope it's soon enough.
I further hope breaking orbit will save us.
"Sir, all cells are reporting in. We can't find anyone else."
"Then it's time to go." He glanced out the viewport, one of the very few on the ship that was not a live video feed from sensors placed on the hull. "Let's-* Wait. What's that?" His attention was drawn to a spot apparently just over the North American continent. Then his eyes widened. "All hands! Prepare for emergency acceleration! Grab whatever you can, people!" To the bridge crew: "Get us out of here now!" They scurried to obey; the engines were already partially charged, and all it took was the flip of a switch….just a few moments…. "Sir! If we engage the engines this close-*"
"Don't care! Just do it! Now!" The navigator's fingers flew for the switch, no more than three inches from his hand….
He wasn't quite fast enough.
….
"I don't understand, John. Why did you offer to share your popcorn with me? I don't eat, or require human food in any form. It seems like it was an unnecessary gesture." They were sitting in the darkened theater, with John offering her a box of popcorn the size of a small garbage can. Fake butter and all.
"It's customary, Cameron. The couple shares the popcorn. The drink, too, sometimes, but that one's yours entirely. Yeah, I know, I know: you don't need to drink. Well, think of it this way: it promotes your cover as a human being."
"Ah. Now I understand. A couple is two. We are a couple. So I will eat the popcorn with you. And I can store the drink for later disposal." And she dug in.
Behind them, Steve and Adrian from English Lit class were talking. "Hey, isn't that John? Who's the girl?"
"Aw, that's his sister."
"His sister? He couldn't get a real date?"
"Yeah, I guess he could, but she acts weird. Runs off the girls he tries to date. Ever since his mother disappeared, she's pretty much been the only woman in his life."
"You don't suppose they….?"
"Oh, get real. They're not dating. They just go places together. She's probably just being over-protective. You know how some sisters can get."
"Hm."
….
"John? Could we talk?" Once again, Cameron had come to him as he lay in bed, mulling over the day's events. Once again, she was wearing her blue pajamas. He had to admit, they looked good on her. She had good taste. Considering that she was a machine, that is.
"Sure, Cameron. What's on your mind?" He'd found he couldn't go to sleep right away anyway. It had gotten to the point where their nightly conversations had become so regular that, on those few nights when she didn't show, he actually found it harder to go to sleep. I guess you can get used to anything.
Especially a beautiful robot girl wearing pajamas who wants to lie down beside you and talk.
Now stop that.
"I have assimilated the data from today's sojourn to the mall. I found it most interesting."
"Oh?"
"Yes." Once again, her fingers found his. He didn't even take notice of it by now. In fact, he would have been more surprised if she hadn't. She turned her head towards him. "I noticed that you shared your popcorn with me. And I noticed that some couples—in which both were male—each got their own popcorn and did not share. So this was behavior exhibited only between couples of the opposite sex?"
"Well…yeah. I mean, I guess sometimes guys—or girls—might pitch in to buy one big mega box, but, yeah, usually it's couples of the opposite sex. Why do you ask?"
"Do you then consider us to be a couple of the opposite sex?"
"Of cour-* Wait. Maybe I'd best…tread carefully here. Yeah, we're a 'couple of the opposite sex' but not…not in a dating sense."
"Did we not date, tonight?"
He thought, trying to come up with reasons why they hadn't. "Well….yeah, I guess we did." The notion made him somewhat nervous, for some reason.
"So we were a dating couple."
"Well…yeah, I guess so. But, but, you know, not like boyfriend and girlfriend. Not like that."
She turned her head towards him. "Why not?"
"Well…I guess it's…just because, Cameron. Anyway, we're supposed to be brother and sister. Brothers and sisters don't date each other."
"But we dated tonight."
"Well, yeah. Sort of."
"So tonight we were not acting as brother and sister."
"Cameron, I'm not exactly sure where this conversation is going…" But it's beginning to make me nervous as hell.
"I think we should sleep together."
It wasn't possible for his jaw to drop while lying in bed, but for a moment he was too stunned to react. Then, "C-Cameron? Sleep together? W-what do you-*"
"I don't mean in terms of sex. But we can both enter our own sleep cycles while lying in the same bed. It would enable to me maintain a closer eye on you, and protect you from any and all possible threats that may come. And it would be a wiser use of available resources."
"Cameron. No. We are not sleeping together. Not. Gonna. Happen. I, I just wouldn't feel right…" He gathered his thoughts. "It would make me very uncomfortable, emotionally."
She turned her face towards him again. Dammit, why did SkyNET have to make her so damned beautiful? "I know about your nightmares, John. I have heard you in your sleep. I would," brief pause, in which he could have once again sworn he saw something like emotion flicker in her eyes, "comfort you, if would let me."
Okay, now wait just a minute. Things are happening too fast. I am developing feelings for a robot girl from the future who's programmed to kill….er….anybody she's programmed to kill. There is no way that is not sick and wrong. Just no way.
So won't my lips move to tell her to get the hell outta my bed?
…..
Twenty-one years in the future: A dry, dusty wind swept over a planet completely devoid of any sign of life. There was no indication of any buildings, roadways, or cities, or any animal or plant life. There was nothing. The rocky sphere was as sterile as if it had passed through the photosphere of a star.
There was no sun, no moon. Hoarfrost began to form as the atmosphere began to leak away into space. The planet that had once teemed with life now drifted through an empty wasteland in which the silent stars watched, without mercy or pity.
To be continued….
