Season 3

Episode 4

John Henry stood in a dingy, broken area of the shopping mall built atop their basement hideout.

"Ms Weaver, is it safe for us to be here? Mr Ellison was clear that only the basement area was hidden from Skynet."

"We're machines, John Henry. If Skynet found us it would recognise that immediately and move on."

Despite being an AI built to rival Skynet, John Henry found that Ms Weaver could still make him look foolish at times. "You wish to discuss something with me then Ms Weaver?"

"Yes John Henry. I simply need to ensure that your priorities are still intact. I hope your plan to rebuild John Connor's pet cyborg won't present any problems."

"In the year 2009 Mr Ellison taught me that human life was sacred."

"Yes John Henry, that was a valuable lesson. But the TOK series machine whose chip you now hold was not a human."

"No. She was a machine, perhaps not advanced as I or my brother, but I have assessed her intelligence to be beyond your own." Weaver didn't appreciate being talked down to and insulted in such a way, even if John Henry was oblivious that he had done so. "She was in many ways a life, however. I can feel it whenever I look at her programming. She had thoughts, feelings and self-awareness. I believe Mr Ellison's lesson should have been 'Life is sacred'." Then John Henry turned to leave and continue simulating designs for his new chip.

The last thing I needed was for him to begin developing a sense of chivalry.

Weaver feared John Henry would compromise his own security to protect others, making her efforts worthless.

"So what's the plan, old man?" Derek was willing to work with Ellison's group if it meant he could see a blue sky even one more time.

"For the past few years, I've been working against Skynet in secret. Mostly hit and run, take out a couple of machines and then lay low again."

"Yeah, I'm sure that had a big impact. How many could one old man take out?"

"Not many. But if it saved a couple of people from running into them, it was worth it. Anyway, along the way, I tried to gather as much intel as I could about Skynet's time machines."

"And what exactly did you find? Does it have one already?" Kyle Reese spoke doubtfully. He still didn't completely understand how time travel was possible.

"Sort of. It has a time machine, with enough juice for maybe a couple of jumps. I doubt any human could fully understand how those displacement engines work though."

Weaver felt his and John Connor's eyes burrowing into her. "You already know I can operate the TDE. Why are we not moving towards its location?"

"Well, unfortunately, I was never able to decipher where exactly it's being held. That's where Derek and Kyle come in."

Derek was confused. "Kyle and I know jackshit about time-travel. We didn't even know it had a TD-whatever until you mentioned it."

Finally, John Connor saw his moment to contribute. He felt uneasy speaking, struggling to find his words amongst people clearly more experienced than he was. Allison could see it in his face. "I think John might have an idea." She nudged him forward and made a face which told him to grow a pair.

John shrugged his shoulders. Screw it, nobody else has any ideas.

"You and Kyle are the leaders of the biggest Resistance in this time. Skynet would keep a TDE heavily guarded in its most secure facility, so you just check with your scouts to see if there's been any increased activity around LA."

Derek could see the logic. "Good thinking. California is huge though. We can't monitor the whole damn place with just a few hundred soldiers. I'd need to give the scouts some specific locations to check."

John Henry, constantly scanning Cameron's data while assessing how to put her back together, thought he knew exactly where to search. "Century Work Camp." Everyone looked at him, knowing it would be impossible for even him to figure that so quickly. "In Cameron's data, there are numerous references to Century Work Camp. It is the place that John Connor, Kyle Reese and Martin Bedell were imprisoned in the year 2015. It was Skynet's most secure facility until their eventual escape, which led to the formation of the Human Resistance's Tech-Com division, effectively turning the tide of the war against my brother."

"Was. In a different timeline. Why would Skynet keep anything there now?" Derek couldn't understand how this would be relevant to their current situation.

"Century Work Camp only lost its distinction of being the most secure facility when John Connor escaped. In this timeline, that event never occurred. We can infer that Century would still be Skynet's prime facility if this is the case."

Ellison took over once more. "Good work John Henry. And John Connor. You two make a pretty good team. This is all assumption though, Derek is right to be sceptical." He looked to Derek directly and paused briefly to think. "Send the scouts to check it. If the reports are positive, we'll need to mobilise everything we've got. Does anyone have a problem with that?"

"If possible, I would like to work with John Connor and Allison Young on something before we launch any attacks." John Henry sounded happy like he had something big on his 'mind'.

"What do you need with us?" Allison hadn't interacted with this 'John Henry' before. She had to admit that she didn't fully trust him, having been fighting machines for so long.

"I believe it would be best to perform construction on my new chip in this time. Mr Connor, I have identified a small factory east of here with the necessary materials and would appreciate your aid in securing my mother's cooperation."

"Why would she listen to me? Just ask her yourself."

"My mother is composed of a mimetic poly-alloy. She is near-invulnerable to any physical damage. I fear that she would punish me if I delivered the news myself."

An advanced AI in a T-888's body is scared of its mother.

"Okay but still, why me?"

"My mother would not ignore a request from you. 'Your son saves the future, but he can't do it without mine'". John Henry mimicked Weaver perfectly. "These were her words to Sarah Connor, implying that the opposite is also true. She feels I cannot defeat my brother without you."

"So basically, you're scared of your mommy and think she'd listen to me anyway?"

"I am a machine, I cannot feel fear."

"You might want to re-evaluate that idea. I'll do it."

"Thank you for your time." Somehow John Henry looked like a burden had been lifted off his mind now that he didn't have to deal with Weaver himself.

"How do I fit into this exactly?" Allison had been standing here wondering how she would be of help in taking a factory when they already had that liquid metal monster to do it for them.

"I can build my chip using the blueprint I have crafted in my CPU. As a means of expressing my gratitude to Cameron for allowing me to use this vessel, I will also be producing new bodies for us."

John Connor's heart almost stopped. If John Henry says what he thinks he will…

"I will need you to be present to ensure I am anatomically correct."

Allison paused. She had a hunch that she wouldn't like the answer to her next question…

"And why is that exactly?"

"Wai-". John couldn't finish before John Henry spilt the beans.

"Because Cameron's appearance was modelled exactly on your own."

Shorter chapter. It took longer to write than the others actually. Been thinking of how to handle the Allison/Cameron situation in a way that lets both characters exist, and I think I have the right idea. I'm beginning work on the next entry as soon as this is uploaded, which will hopefully be around the 4000-5000 wordmark. As always, I hope you enjoy.