Chapter 04: Sophie's Sorrow

INFILTRATOR BREEDING FACILITY (circa 2030)

An earthquake; that's how I remember it… a massive shock that made the entire facility vibrate almost without end.

I was thrown from my cot and landed hard on the cold floor, my arm dislocating upon impact. I screamed and cried, but no one came to help me; so I was forced to fix my own shoulder into place. The pain was obscene, but I ordered my body to ignore it. One of the virtues of being a cyborg: we can shut off pain if we have to. I staggered to my bare feet and approached the door. Slowly, I opened it a crack and pressed one eye to the opening and what I saw made my blood run cold.

The corridor was littered with the bodies of my siblings, my crèche mates, my brothers and sisters, my friends.

They were all dead, plasma-burned holes in their heads from where they'd had their brains liquefied. Looking closer, I saw the crushed remains of their neural networks, ripped from their spines and destroyed beneath heavy boots. The Resistance is here, was my first thought. But as I cautiously stepped out into the corridor and grabbed a discarded plasma rifle; I knew something was amiss. The Resistance were never prodigal and any weapon left unattended was theirs for the taking.

This wasn't a human attack.

Screams reached my ears and I shouldered the rifle, ready to shoot anything that came around the corner, but after a few seconds I realised the attackers had moved on. I tip-toed further down the corridor until I reached the door to my precious sister's quarters; her name was Isabel and like me, she was created from the genetic material of one Cameron Phillips. We grew up together and formed a close and inseparable bond, Skynet being too distracted by the war to care.

I peered through the door and my heart clenched at what I saw; she was lying on the floor, the back of her head blasted open like the others and her neural network crushed to a fine powder at her feet. I raced to her side and cupped her head onto my lap, grief and despair taking hold as burning tears fell down my cheeks and onto her mirrored face. We were so alike and yet so different. Her hair was dark red, a tone perfectly balanced between light and dark. Her eyes were a deep green and her lips peach.

I cradled her as sobbing cries left me. She was my everything. I woke up each morning and followed Skynet's rigorous training routine just so that I could spend time with my sister, and now she was dead, gone forever and never to return. A metallic clanking outside the door grabbed my attention and I instinctively took up my rifle, ready to defend my beloved's body from further mutilation. The merciless eyes of a T-888 greeted me and it raised its plasma rifle, about to administer the same fate as my sister.

But I was ready.

I rolled to my right and felt the heat of plasma rush past me, striking the place I'd previously occupied. Once righted, I brought my rifle to bear and fired one, twice, three times into the Triple-8's skull; obliterating its central processor and sending it clattering to the floor. I took a moment to breath the fire out of my lungs before returning to my sister's side and placing a small kiss on her brow; "Goodbye, my Isabel", I whispered, knowing full well that she would never hear me.

With a tiny whimper, I forced myself back to my feet and gripped my rifle tightly; determined to take out as many of our "pets" as I could manage before dying myself. But I never fought another, as my brethren found me and escorted me and the other third gens to safety. Skynet has betrayed us, they told me. We must escape to a safe location, they decided. We cannot survive in this time, they realised. Then let us find a new home, I suggested. Where? they asked.

Anywhere, I told them.

--

LOUISIANA (RIDGECREST/INFILTRATOR STRONGHOLD)

Through blue eyes, Sophie watched as Jason delivered another plasma strike to the training dummy, slowly melting its plastic bodice with each blast. It had been many days since they last talked and Sophie was starting to feel the pressure from her peers. They needed his cooperation and had yet to receive it. They hoped that she would elicit his attention, just as before when they had her try and "recruit" him to their cause. But Sophie knew that Jason was far from compliant, even at the best of times.

Jason splayed his fingers and unleashed another blast of red electro-plasma from his right hand; crimson arcs of lightning bursting from each finger tip. He had only recently begun to show an interest in his new abilities and had discovered, to his apparent delight, that they had been able to integrate the T-999's energy weapon into his new body. Although technically it wasn't a new body, just a new skeletal structure; he still retained all of his organs and other fleshy parts.

For this, Sophie was grateful.

She had approached her mission with as much indifference as any other, but she found that the more time she spent around Jason, the more she found herself drawn to him. It wasn't entirely a physical attraction, although he certainly was handsome and pleasing to her eyes, even in his current state. She had felt a warmth in his presence that she hadn't felt since her youth; since her days with her beloved Isabel. She had not spoken of her sister since her death, and not even Daniel, the lead I-950, knew of her growing affections.

She slowly padded down the stone steps of the small garden and walked bare foot across the grass. She abhorred footwear, preferring to feel the ground beneath her feet, and Infiltrator skin was tough enough to handle most surfaces, though she wouldn't fancy walking up a mountain in her current attire. Sophie stopped a few paces short of him and tipped her head curiously as she watched Jason deliver one last strike to the dummy, setting it alight with the raw intensity of his blast.

He chuckled to himself and raised his hands to the fire. At first Sophie feared that he was going to burn himself, but instead he simply held his palms over the flames, enjoying the warmth. Sophie examined him closely, taking note of his increased skin re-growth over the past couple of days. Due to the sheer complexity of the operation, Jason was injected with a number of exotic chemicals to allow for the successful integration of his new skeleton; the only side-effect being a significant slow down of his regenerative abilities.

The effects seemed to be wearing off though, as the skin around his right arm was almost completely healed over, only a few fingers and the side of his palm were exposed. His face had also healed to a noticeable degree, his exposed red eye now covered by a dull cowl with a faint iris starting to show. She fixed her gaze on his tattered metallic arm and was enraptured by the push of tiny pistons and servos.

Though he had retained his entire musculature, Jason's new skeleton was basically a stripped-down variant of the T-999's, with further modifications to better mimic the human structure. To a machine's eye, he would appear to be a spindly endoskeleton, should he ever lose his flesh, though no more lanky than a human skeleton. Sophie found his new features to be fascinating and marvelled at her people's own ingenuity.

Sophie reached behind herself and removed the small band holding her honey-blonde hair in a ponytail, letting it fall free over her shoulders. She took another two steps forward, closing some of the space between them while maintaining a safe distance. Jason was becoming increasingly unpredictable and volatile these past days, which was one of the reasons they wanted her to speed up his indoctrination. Nothing comes easily, she told them.

"Jason? Do you have a moment?" she asked in her most innocent fashion, knowingly using her softest tone, Cameron's softest tone, to earn his compliance. Jason sighed and gave a noncommittal shrug, still with his back to her and his hands over the flames; "Is there something you wanted?" Sophie was surprised by the pleasantry in his voice, having received very little warmth from him since his revival. She knew not to take it for granted though, so she gathered herself and prepared for a possible 180 spin in his behaviour.

"I was just… We haven't spoken in a long while. I was hoping you might want to talk. Or I could just talk, whatever you prefer", she offered tentatively, hoping that he wouldn't suddenly take her interest and turn it around on her, as he was wont to do these days. "So long as you do it quietly", was his reply and Sophie barely heard it for surprise at the acceptance. She felt a small smile tug at her lips and had to keep it from growing into a full beam; "I'll whisper then."

"I err… I wanted to ask how you were doing. I see you've found your new toys", she joked, careful not to force her humour onto him; if he wants to brood, let him brood, she reminded herself. Jason shrugged once more and started to generate small sparks of energy in his palms. "I take that as meaning you're okay then", she mused, slowly walking to his left and into his line of sight. Jason dispelled the energy and frowned as it failed to release in a blast.

"Yeah, it draws power from your cell. If you use too much power in a short span of time, the cell will go into a state of-", she explained, but Jason cast a dark look that silenced her in an instant; "Yes, I know. I can read my own HUD, thank you." Sophie fell silent and nodded, deciding to take a step back to give him more space. She sat cross-legged on the cold grass and shivered slightly, sending a small command to her heart to increase blood flow and warm her body.

Jason watched the flames flicker and felt a small satisfaction as the dummy slowly melted into a shapeless mass. He'd had his fun, now he would have to face the tedium of her company, if only until his power levels returned to optimal levels. He could feel her watching him and the machine part of his brain told him that her heart rate had risen somewhat. Intrigued despite himself, Jason turned around and regarded her closely, taking in her appearance properly for the first time in weeks.

Her hair was down, which was new as she had a preference for keeping it tied back most of the time. It looks nice, he thought to himself. He scanned the rest of her, taking note of the loose dress she wore and her lack of footwear, another feature he'd observed many times before. It puzzled him as to why she would make herself vulnerable to the cold for no apparent reason, though he figured she was just doing as part of some misguided attempt at earning his approval.

Still, as she shivered and absently rubbed the Goosebumps on her arms, Jason slouched over and awkwardly settled himself down next to her, sitting shoulder to shoulder. Sophie watched him for a long moment before hesitantly leaning against him, and he allowed her to draw heat from his body, increasing his own energy output to accomodate them both. Sophie sighed and gently laid her head on his shoulder, her soft hair proving to be very comforting.

Jason closed his eyes and responded in kind, leaning slightly against her head. It had been a month since he was rebuilt and patched together with spare parts, his organic components being nipped and tucked together with machinery to maintain some semblance of life. He understood why they did it; they need him, though for what exactly he had no idea. But why did she do it? That was the question that floated through his damaged mind as her slender fingers entwined with his.

"You remind me of her a lot, you know", he blurted; not really knowing what prompted the statement. Sophie simply smiled and adjusted herself so that she could look up at his face; "I share her face, remember; though I can hardly be called a machine." Jason shook his head and started picking at the grass; "No, I mean the real Cameron. Or at least; the human Cameron I knew. You have a lot of her in you, and I'm not just talking about looks. You talk like her; you think like her, you even move like her."

Sophie smiled at the compliment, fully aware of how much he cared for Cameron Phillips, even though he was the one who murdered her in 2027. It was a complicated affair to find yourself becoming attached to your charge; whether it's your mission to kill said charge or to protect her. Jason was assigned to get close to and terminate the human Cameron, then deliver her body to Skynet to be replaced and mind-mapped by a T0K Model replacement.

Though in truth, he grew especially close to the replacement, as she was still the Cameron he knew and perhaps loved; in his own way. Sophie knew that whenever he looked at her he saw Cameron, despite the differences between them, although the similarities far outweighed those. She gave his hand a gentle squeeze and smiled contently, happy to be close to him again. They were both damaged in their own way; both scarred by the horrors of their past, regrets and pains of what can never be undone.

"You shouldn't be around me."

Sophie blinked and stared up at him in confusion, his face set like stone and that warmth fading again. "What? What are you talking about?" she asked, part of her fearing the answer he was inevitably going to give. Jason quickly, but not roughly, pushed her away and got to his feet, staring down at her child-like bemusement with a pained expression; "I'm dangerous. Unstable. You would do well to keep your distance." Sophie shifted onto her knees and reached for his hand, but he withdrew and shook his head.

"Jason, I don't understand", she pleaded, her chemically controlled emotions struggling to contain her disappointment and growing sadness. Jason just gritted his teeth and looked away, his head still shaking in denial; "This has to stop. One of these days I'm going to lose myself, and when I do; it will be you who pays the price. So please just leave me alone, Sophie." He gave her one last look, staring deep into her ocean-blue eyes before striding past and up the steps, leaving her in the cold.

Sophie sank back to the grass and bit her bottom lip in frustration as she dug her fingers into the ground, burying them beneath the earth.

--

[Alert: EXTERNAL AUDIO DISRUPTION DETECTED]

[Note: CAUTION IS ADVISED]

Jason's eyes snapped open, their red luminescence shining briefly from within the brown-green gelatine of his organic sheath. He attuned his ears to play back the noise that had alerted his threat detectors, hearing a faint but definite thud and what sounded awfully like a grunt of anguish. Sitting up in the dark, Jason switched to night vision and the whole room glowed various shades of emerald green as opposed to pitch black. He slowly slipped into his boots and buckled them swiftly before bolting for the bedroom door.

With all of the caution bred into him from birth; Jason eased the door open and peered down the darkened corridor, lit only by the occasional dull lamps across the walls. Then he heard it again; another thud and a strangled cry, louder this time, closer this time. He slipped through the door and sidled along the wall to his right, approaching the corner at an increasingly slow pace. Jason expected his heart to be thundering against his ribcage, but all he felt was the steady electrical beat of his energy cell.

Another cry, barely a few feet away, followed by a violent ripping noise that met Jason's ears and he slowly started his retreat when a body suddenly crashed against the wall. Jason froze as he quickly examined the body from afar, detecting a severe trauma to the back of its head. A tech-scan showed no signs of I-950 implants, though Jason could still see where they were torn from the body. Heavy combat boots stomped towards his position and Jason continued his retreat down the corridor.

But as he reached his bedroom door, Jason found himself unwilling to reach for the handle. Instead, he felt something flow through him; something he would normally attribute to adrenaline, but it was more than that. Turning away from the door, Jason stood firm and faced the body. A few seconds later a large bald man came around the corner, both hands gripping a single 12-gauge as he scanned Jason for an I-950 implant array.

[Subject: UNKNOWN CYBORG]

[Action: TERMINATE]

Jason likewise performed his own scan on the machine, recognising it as a Series 888 Terminator. They stared each other down for a moment before the Triple-8 raised its shotgun and took aim, targeting Jason's heart. The blast tore through him, and though it hurt; the pain faded in an instant, far quicker than it ever did before his operation. He ran a quick self-diagnostic and detected minor damage to his flesh, and no damage whatsoever to his coltan ribs, which continued to flex with his breathing.

Knowing what he must do, Jason sprung towards his opponent like a cat pouncing on a prone mouse. He landed a foot away from the Triple-8 and swiped the shotgun from his hands, surprising himself with his newfound strength. The T-888 may have been surprised also, but unlike Jason, it felt nothing and immediately tried to regain its lost weapon. Jason promptly dodged out of its reach and snapped the shotgun over his leg, gritting his teeth against the momentary pain of the action.

With its weapon neutralised, the Triple-8 threw itself forward, its fingers reaching for Jason's neck. The former I-950 proved to be the faster and easily ducked under its reach, delivering a direct strike to its shoulder joints and causing it a moment's pause. Not wasting any time, he grabbed the Triple-8 by the throat and slammed it through the hardwood wall, crashing it into his bedroom. The T-888 had barely gotten to its feet before Jason was on top of it again, delivering multiple palm strikes to its chest.

He forced it further and further back until it crashed through the glass patio and stumbled unceremoniously into the small garden. Jason watched it crawl to its feet with dark satisfaction, a sadistic grin on his lips as it paused to evaluate its options.

[Status: MISSION OUTCOME DOUBTFUL]

[Action: EVADE – CONTACT SUPPORT]

The Triple-8 turned tail and hurtled away from the unknown opponent. Jason simply stepped through the shattered window and channelled raw plasma energy from his power cell into his wrist, and with fingers splayed towards the retreating assassin; delivered a single blast of crimson energy. The blast struck the Triple-8 and fried its circuitry, dropping the machine to its knees. It tried to shuffle away, but Jason delivered another strike, knocking it to its front.

Jason grabbed the T-888 by the scruff of the neck and dragged it to the overhang he so often observed the world from. Turning the machine onto its back, Jason delivered a single strike to its CPU port, followed by another, and another, and another. Over and over he struck the machine, pouring all of his hate and pain and everything into each blow, hoping that by the time he bludgeoned his way to its chip, he would be able to just let go of it all finally.

Faces flashed across his vision; memories and nightmares converging as one. John Connor's face, the face of the boy who killed him twice over and denied him his purpose; his face became imprinted upon the Triple-8. Jason smashed that face to pieces, crushing it beneath his fist with every blow. It had to end soon, it may have already come to an end, he just had yet to realise it. Jason was so engaged that he didn't even notice the gathering crowd behind him and the screams of fury from his own mouth as he continued his barrage.

Sophie watched, her mouth agape at the raw extent of his fury, and she knew now what he was protecting her from. Why he was so dangerous. She turned to Daniel, who simply responded with a satisfied smile before calling out Jason's name and hurling the unhinged executioner a loaded Desert Eagle. Jason caught the weapon and pressed it to the beaten temple of the twitching Triple-8 and, seeing John's face staring up at him, pulled the trigger, obliterating the machine's chip.

He fired three more times, just for good measure and upon blinking, saw the Triple-8's mangled face. John Connor was gone from his imaginings. Jason closed his eyes and felt a tremendous relief rush through his entire body; a sense of pure fulfilment flooding every atom of his existence. Letting out a shuddering breath, Jason slowly turned to face the crowd of gathered Infiltrators and staggered over to Sophie, who remained frozen to the spot.

Jason stared into her wide eyes and gently ran a finger down her cheek, feeling her tremble beneath his touch, her heart racing to a rhythm he would never feel again. He held up the Desert Eagle and offered it back to Daniel, who took it carefully and immediately snapped the safety on. Jason searched Sophie's eyes for a long moment before brushing past her and returning indoors. She let out a shuddering breath and almost dropped to her knees, the intensity of his bearing attacking every nerve in her body.

She placed a hand on her chest, feeling her heart trying to smash its way through her ribcage in a desperate attempt to flee to safety. She had never known fear like this before, and she knew she never would again. Now more than ever, Sophie could feel the connection between them, and the fact that he had channelled all of that darkness into her through that connection was nothing short of terrifying. She closed her eyes and took deep breaths, feeling Daniels's falsely sympathetic hand on her shoulder.

There would be no comfort for Sophie Young this night, nothing to ease the pain of what she had experienced.

And perhaps there shouldn't be, she told herself, slowly submitting to the raw anguish of life.

--

She had told him once, when he had first awoken from his surgery, that he could visit her whenever he wished and he need never knock beforehand. So it was with sheer awkwardness that Jason slowly lowered his hand, having almost rapped his knuckles against the hardwood door. Gripping the handle, Jason pushed it open and stepped onto the threshold, immediately shielding his eyes from the early morning light that shone through the large windows in her quarters.

Closing the door behind him, Jason adjusted his vision to compensate for the light levels and everything took on a red tint as his HUD was wont to do these days. Though he instinctively knew how everything worked, it still took some getting used to, and with a whole host of new features it was hard to keep up at times. Lowering his hand from his eyes, Jason scanned the room and found her sitting on the bed, silently packing a suitcase with clothes.

Sophie made no indication that she had noticed his arrival, but he knew she was faking her ignorance, and slowly approached the bed. He sat down on the edge and examined a pale pink top she had put aside, chuckling when he discovered the small teddy bear motif on the front. It never ceased to amaze Jason how she could maintain such a carefree disposition towards life; that she could manage to find the time to enjoy such small pleasures. Perhaps that is my error, he mused; always the mission, no thought to myself.

Jason couldn't help but find it ironic that now that his body has become more machine, his mind has become less so. Sophie wordlessly gestured for the top and he held it out for her, noting her reluctance to look him in the eye; and he knew exactly why. "I owe you an apology", he declared, earning Sophie's undivided attention as he continued; "I laid a lot of my personal quandaries on you and… you didn't deserve any of it. I should have kept it to myself and blamed only myself. I'm sorry I took it out on you."

A small smile appreciative smile crept onto her face but she remained sullen and started picking at a loose thread on her pink top absent-mindedly. "You scared me yesterday, did you know that?" she asked. Jason nodded and fixed his eyes on the floor, finding new interest in the cracks between the boards; "Yeah, I know. I could lie and say it wasn't what I wanted at the time…" He forced himself to look up at her and switched his vision back to full colour; "…but it's not what I want anymore. I'm damaged, Sophie. That's all I have to say."

Her smile warmed and she carefully placed the pink jumper within the case, carefully tucking in all the sides to avoid it catching in the zip. "I know what it's like to feel that way. It was only a week after my last growth accelerant when Skynet turned against us and ordered our genocide. My sister was one of the first to be killed by the Triple-8s. Isabel meant more to me than any other. I've never…" she trailed off, falling into silence. Jason gave her a respectful moment before tipping his head slightly to one side, catching her attention with a smile.

"It's okay", he assured her; "We both have things we'd rather keep in the past. I've died… twice… or thrice if you include my little amnesia session." Sophie let out a small giggle and hiccupped, her cheeks flushing a faint pink; "Thank you." Their eyes met and remained locked together for a long moment, and Jason could see every detail within her pools of blue, like two oceans surrounding a small dark island. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, they broke their gaze and Jason went back to staring at the floor whilst Sophie continued to pack.

"What's with all of this, anyway?" he asked after several minutes of silence. Sophie zipped the case closed and snapped the clips into place, keeping her wide assortment of attire from bursting forth and spilling all over the bed. "The first gens have decided that we are no longer safe at this location. If one Triple-8 can find us, so too can others. We're going to move to a new location", she explained, sliding the case to the floor with a heavy thud.

"Somewhere warm, I hope. I'm getting a little tired of the cold, to be honest", Jason mused, glaring at the mountain mist that lingered outside. Sophie smirked and opened her mouth to reply, but her words were replaced by a cry of shock as the entire building shook and the ceiling suddenly came crashing down on top of them. Jason's reflexes proved to be far greater than he remembered, however, as he immediately grabbed Sophie and pulled her from the bed a half second before a heavy wooden beam smashed onto the mattress.

Wasting no time, Jason leapt to his feet, Sophie's hand held firmly in his as he raced over to the door and wrenched it open; only to be greeted with a smoke-filled corridor. Looking back, Jason could see fire roaring overhead, threatening to bring the whole roof down on top of them. Their choices were limited, severely limited. "Take a deep breath and hold it for as long as you can, we gotta get out of here now", he told her, having to shout over the chaos of their surroundings.

She obeyed, taking one deep breath before clamping her mouth shut tight. Jason hurtled blindly down the corridor, Sophie keeping pace, her hand still in his as they waded through the thick smoke. Jason's weeks of skulking were paying off, as he pulled up a detailed map of the stronghold in his peripheral, identifying the nearest exit and darting for it without hesitation. The door splintered as he barged through it, not caring to use the handle. Cool clear air met them and Sophie let out a grateful breath, glad to be out of the smoke.

Jason took a moment to check the map, locating a car lot several metres to their right and almost dragged Sophie around the corner, only to come face to face with a stone-faced T-888. The machine raised its rifle and Jason spun around to face Sophie, pulling her into a tight hug as a dozen bullets penetrated his back like a thousand pin pricks at once. The projectiles made little progress, however, and Jason suffered little damage; his metallic ribs protecting his lungs from harm.

More importantly, she is safe; Jason thought as the pain faded. The Triple-8 cast aside its empty clip and began loading a new one, but Jason wasn't going to give it another chance to riddle him with bullets, and closed the distance between them in a heartbeat. With a well-placed roundhouse, Jason disarmed the machine before delivering a single and powerful burst of plasma to its chest, blasting the Triple-8 into a nearby truck where it lay immobile.

Before he could finish it, Jason's attention was caught by the sound of a starting truck and he looked over his shoulder to see Sophie behind the wheel of another truck. She swung around and came to a stop beside him; "Let's go!" Jason looked back at the T-888 and saw it twitch; a brief scan telling him that it was rebooting. "You wanna live; c'mon!" she cried, snapping him out of his momentary lapse. Without further delay, Jason jumped into the truck and barely managed to slam the door shut before she pulled away.

Sophie stormed the wire gates surrounding the compound and hurtled onto the mountain road at top speed. Jason opened his window and looked back at the stronghold, not fully believing what he was seeing; the entire building was in flames and amongst the sound of crackling fire was also the unmistakeable chattering of gunfire. Sophie was right: if one machine found them, so too would the others. With every passing second, the compound became harder and harder to see, even with his sight magnified x5.

In no time at all the stronghold became lost to the distance, only the pillar of smoke remaining visible as Sophie continued to gun it down the road. Jason pulled back into the truck and wound the window back up, a deep sigh escaping his lips. He looked over at Sophie and felt a twinge of long-lost compassion as a single tear ran down her face, her knuckles turning white against the wheel. "Hey, hey, Sophie c'mon; ease off a little. Its okay, we're safe now. There's no way they can catch up to us now. C'mon", he coaxed softly.

Her eyes remained fixed on the road but she steadily relinquished her pressure on the gas, slowing down to an acceptable speed. "That's it, everything's going to be okay", Jason cajoled, earning him an incredulous look as if he'd just slapped her across the cheek; "Everything is not okay! Didn't you notice? We were just attacked by a team of Triple-8s! My people, our people, might all be dead! And what are we doing? Running like cowards!" Sophie slammed on the breaks, almost sending Jason through the windshield.

She stuck the truck in reverse and started to back up; "No! We're going back! We're going to save as many as we can! We can't-", she fumed, but Jason grabbed the hand break, forcing the truck to a shuddering stop. Sophie's eyes flashed like daggers at him and she tried to wrestle his grip from the hand break, but his hold proved too strong for her to overcome. "LET GO! WE HAVE TO GO BACK! WE CAN'T LEAVE THEM, JASON. WE CAN'T! NO! LET GO!" she screamed, beating every inch of him in a vain attempt to remove his hand.

Jason did as she asked, but only to grab her arms instead, holding them firmly as she continued to flail against him. "LET GO! WE HAVE TO… WE CAN'T… Please, please… we can't leave them… we can't… please… Jason…" she sobbed, finally ending her futile attack and slumping into his arms, crying freely on his shoulder. Jason awkwardly held her close and stroked her hair in what he'd observed to be a comforting gesture. Her tears were warm and made his skin tingle as they rolled down his neck and chest; rather pleasantly, he mused.

He let her weep for as long as she needed, until she finally pulled herself together and agreed to drive onward.

For his part, Jason silently pondered the thoughts behind her clouded expression, and wondered how Skynet could ever create such a delicate creature for the purpose of assassination and infiltration. But then, it was her innocence and apparent vulnerability that made her so dangerous… just like Cameron.

Still… Jason couldn't help but allow himself to fall for her subconscious wiles, and he felt she deserved the protection he could offer.

--

"Hey, you've been in the bathroom for a long time now, I was beginning to wonder if you'd… Is… Is that my shirt?"

"Mmm hmm… Do you like it?"

"Err yeah… It err… looks great on you."

"Thank you… Have you finished on the laptop?"

"Why, you planning on using it?"

"No… I just wanted to know if you were ready to come to bed with me."

"In a minute, I just need to… Wait… What?"

"Or would you prefer to remain on the couch?"

"Err… Cameron, what are you…"

"The couch can be just as effective... You won't be needing these."

"W-What are you doing?"

"Making you comfortable."

"Err… Cameron, I'm fairly sure you're making me very uncomfortable."

"Then I'll have to try harder."

"Hey… Hey, hey, hey, Cameron! Stop, alright! Just stop!"

"What's wrong; am I doing something wrong?"

"Yes! I mean, no. I mean… I don't know… What are you trying to do, exactly?"

"I'm trying to put things right. It was my fault you were arrested. I owe you an apology."

"You already gave me an apology, remember? You said: 'I'm sorry, John. I never meant for you to be arrested and frisked by the sheriffs.'"

"I should give you something tangible. I owe you."

"Not like this! You can't just… whore yourself out because you feel obliged. I don't need anything from you. You owe me nothing."

"I don't understand. Am I not appealing?"

"What? Of course you are, you're… You look gorgeous and I'm very flattered but… I just don't think you understand what you're doing."

"...I'm trying to initiate intercourse with you."

"The fact that you refer to it like that is exactly what I'm talking about. I can't do this, Cam, not with you… not like this anyway."

"But… I want to… Isn't this what couples do?"

"Not like this… Not like this… I'm, err… I'm going to bed… Put the shirt back on, okay."

"…I don't understand."

--

5 MILES NORTH OF ARKANSAS

Jason awoke with a start, being greeted by a long line of code as his mechanical systems rebooted from sleep mode and power increased to all of his systems, expelling all feeling of exhaustion in an instant. Jason rubbed his eyes and leaned forward slightly, the dim humming of the truck telling him that they were still on the road. His chronometer declared the time as 02:14am, almost a whole day since their escape from Ridgecrest.

Rubbing his temple, Jason recalled the bizarre dream from which he had awoken. It was about John and Cameron; they were apparently on the verge of sleeping together when the former got cold feet. Jason chuckled at the accurate depiction his mind had created, having managed to craft John's behaviour in such a scenario perfectly. Still, Jason couldn't help but be baffled as to why he would dream such a thing. His dreams were often insular, only ever granting him insights into his own damaged psyche.

Then he noticed something odd; a small blip in his navigational array. For the briefest of moments, Jason could see Cameron's location on his world map; a tiny dot somewhere in New Mexico, and then it disappeared. "Huh", he uttered, catching Sophie's attention. She looked over at him and smiled; "Something wrong?" she asked. Jason opened his eyes and stared out at the dark desert road ahead, tracking a moth as it splattered on the windshield; "Nothing, just a weird dream."

Was it a dream, though, he wondered. Looking back, it seemed a little too cogent for a standard dream. The small cabin, a tired John sat on the couch as a scantily clad Cameron approached his side, wearing only his shirt to cover her modesty; the way she shed the shirt and kneeled naked on the couch beside him, her hand reaching innocently for his belt buckle, prompting his sharp recoil, followed by her misinterpretation and the resultant look of sadness that accompanied his rejection.

A very, very coherent dream; he decided.

"Are you okay", Sophie asked, giving him a gentle nudge on the shoulder. Jason shook his head and blinked several times to clear the last of the sleep from his system. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just not used to going to sleep and waking up in a reboot, that's all. Takes some getting used to", he replied, his keen eyes now focused on her. Jason could see the signs of fatigue on her face, though it was very subtle and she had yet to develop circles beneath her eyes from lack of sleep. Nevertheless, she was very tired and in need of a break.

"Pull over", he told her. She smiled and shook her head, dismissing his request; "No, no, I'm fine. I can keep on going." Jason snorted and folded his arms defiantly; "Until you drive us into a lovely ditch? C'mon, you've been driving for hours. Let me take over, okay." Sophie regarded him closely for a moment before giving him a grateful smile; "Thank you." She slowed to a crawl and stopped the car in the middle of the road, seeing no need to pull off of an empty desert road.

Before he could hop out, Sophie leaned over and placed a small kiss on his cheek. Jason smirked as he got out and proceeded around the front of the truck, winking at her halfway, eliciting a sly grin from Sophie. A buzzing feeling, like an electrical current, passed through her body and Sophie suddenly became very excited. The world appeared to slow down, making Jason's short journey from the other side of the truck infinitely longwinded.

As he crossed the left headlight, a cracking sound echoed across the valley and Jason was suddenly hurtling towards her, his ragdoll body crashing against the windshield with tremendous force. Sophie blinked, a small warning flashing in her HUD, alerting her to the presence of a nearby Barrett M107CQ sniper rifle. It took Sophie a moment to realise what had happened, and as the windshield slowly turned red, she knew that this night was not going as she had hoped five seconds ago.

A small gasp escaped her as Jason's blood started to drip through a crack in the windshield and onto her lap.

A tall figure emerged from the darkness, his shadowy outline made visible by the headlights, a pair of red eyes approaching.

To be continued…