February 8th, 1975
I was eleven!
It was the second birthday that I had experienced, without my parents, and my second with Guardian. A lot has happened over the past year and a lot has changed for Pops and me.
Where do we start?
Firstly, there are now three of us – more about that later.
Secondly, I have suffered the indignities of learning about puberty from a machine, not to mention my first bra. Less said about that saga the better!
Thirdly, we have been on an extended field trip, beginning the task of gathering parts that we will require for the assembly of a Time Displacement Device, for use in 1984. Apparently, you cannot just pick up a Time Displacement Device from Walmart – I checked! I have also learnt a few new phrases: 'Time Displacement Sphere', being among them. Otherwise, it has been a peaceful year, apart from the odd Terminator attack and having to teach Pops about the importance of human life.
Oh, yes, I also found out why Kyle Reese will be so special and what we are supposed to do in 1984!
Let us start with the first thing.
March 25th, 1974
About seven weeks after my tenth birthday, Pops received a message from the future.
We were sitting down eating. Well, I was eating; Pops was sitting to keep me company. He suddenly stopped talking and seemed to freeze for a minute before he looked at me.
"We have an updated mission. A file has just been unlocked in my database. We need to be at a certain location by the 27th March."
That was two days away.
"Where?" I asked.
"The location is at 40.679975 degrees north, 117.127253 degrees west. Approximately 10.2 miles outside Battle Mountain, Nevada on a heading of 285 degrees. It will take us more than one day to get there, a distance of almost six hundred miles. We must be there for 04:45 in the morning."
"That sounds fun!" I commented dryly.
..._...
We had loaded up the truck and then started on our long road trip. We headed north, first, to Sacramento and then northeast towards Reno. That was the easy part. The rest of the journey was northwest, through the desert. It was so hot that I had decided to forgo any modesty, at least while I was in the truck with Pops, and wore nothing but a pair of shorts, not that there was anything to see anyway! I tied my hair back into a pony tail to get it away from my neck. I so envied Pops' ability to ignore the heat.
We had packed plenty of water, for me and the truck only, as Pops did not require any. I will admit that although the initial drive had been exciting, the novelty soon wore off and I ended up falling asleep.
We stopped a couple of times for gas. We also stopped to get some cold drinks, for me. Naturally, I needed the bathroom quite a few times on the way, which annoyed Pops no end!
"Not again, Sarah Connor!" He complained each time we stopped.
..._...
Eventually, we pulled into a small town, some fifty or so miles beyond Reno. I woke up and looked out of the window. It was getting dark as Pops pulled into a slot outside a diner. Pops looked down at me.
"You putting some clothes on or staying like that?"
I had forgotten that I was only wearing shorts! I grabbed my top and dragged it on, covering myself up. We got out and went inside. I was starving. We sat down and Pops ordered some pancakes for us both. I knew that he would eat to maintain appearances.
At the counter were some men who were rowdy and they must have been drinking, too. I did my best to ignore them while I shovelled down my pancakes.
One of the men turned and gazed at me.
"You must have got your looks from your mother, 'cause this jerk is one ugly fucker!" He said, indicating Pops.
Pops turned to the man and I suddenly felt concern for somebody's safety.
**** LINGUISTICS DATABASE ****
Possible Responses
That is not very polite.
Have you looked in a mirror recently?
Go fuck yourself!
Fuck you, asshole!
Leave us alone, we are eating.
Pops looked at the man.
"Fuck you, asshole!"
The man looked a little stunned.
"Yeah; Fuck you, asshole!" I added with a grin. I then felt myself blushing; I had never said anything like that before!
"Fuck the both of you!" The man replied and headed outside.
"You should not have said that," Pops commented and I scowled at him.
When we had finished eating, Pops paid the tab and we left.
As we made our way back to the truck, the man from earlier, along with his three friends, ambled towards us.
**** THREAT LEVEL INCREASE ****
MODE CHANGE FROM SURVEILLANCE TO DEFENSIVE
**** PROTECT SARAH CONNOR ****
"You insulted me mother-fucker, and you're gonna fucking pay!"
"We are leaving, stay out of our way," Pops replied. "You are intoxicated."
"Fuck that; I want payback!"
The man started prodding Pops in the chest. I groaned; this was not going to end well. Pops shoved the man backwards and started moving towards the truck, keeping himself between the men and me.
Then the man escalated things as he drew a pistol and waved it at Pops.
**** THREAT LEVEL INCREASE ****
MODE CHANGE FROM DEFENSIVE TO OFFENSIVE
** TARGETS IDENTIFIED **
STRATEGY SELECTED
IMMEDIATE TERMINATION AND DETERRENCE
**** PROTECT SARAH CONNOR ****
Pops then reached inside his jacket and pulled out his Colt .45 pistol.
I hid behind a car and watched things unfold. First, the man snapped off a couple of shots at Pops, but missed. Then Pops just went haywire and blew apart the man's head with a single shot before striding towards the other men who had begun to scatter.
I yelled after Pops to stop, but he ignored me, or plain did not hear me. The large Colt boomed three more times and I ran towards the truck and climbed in as Pops did the same, shoving his pistol back inside his jacket.
He started the engine and shoved the truck into gear before accelerating away, fast.
**** THREAT LEVEL REDUCED ****
**** STRATEGIC UPDATE ****
MODE CHANGE FROM OFFENSIVE TO SURVEILLANCE
TARGETS TERMINATED ONE
ROUNDS EXPENDED FOUR
**** ALL CLEAR ****
**** SARAH CONNOR SAFE ****
I was totally, stunned by what I had just witnessed.
I had just seen Pops do what he was designed to do; he had just killed four men in cold-blood. It was another half-hour before I was able to speak again; I was so shocked.
"Pops! Stop the truck!"
Pops stopped the truck and I jumped out. I began gazing up at the stars until I felt Pops standing behind me; I turned to look up at him.
"Listen to me, very carefully, okay? You're not a Terminator any more. All right? You got that? You can't just go around killing people!"
"Why?"
"Whattaya mean, why? 'Cause you can't!"
"Why?"
"You just can't okay? Trust me on this."
"I only use appropriate force."
"You shot four men, tonight!" I yelled at him.
"Correction, Sarah Connor, I shot one man."
"You fired four times. You telling me you missed?" I asked dubiously.
"On purpose. The first man was self-defence. Killing the other three would have been counter-productive to the success of our mission."
I decided that it was pointless to argue, although I was so mad that I craved an argument, but I knew that it was not the right moment. We climbed back into the truck and Pops continued driving. I refused to look at him and tried to get to sleep, but all I could see was Pops terminating those men. The images played repeatedly in my mind.
I ended up stripping again as it was so hot.
..._...
Since leaving the house, we had been travelling for almost twenty hours.
We finally arrived at the base of North Peak. Pops said that we could drive most of the way towards the peak, but the final mile or two would have be on foot. The only good thing was that while it was dark, it was cooler, which meant that I could put my clothes back on again. I was desperate for a shower and I felt really, really, yucky with all the sweat.
"Pops, can Terminators smell?" I asked tentatively.
"Enough to know that you need a shower."
"Great, just great!"
Pops drove with the lights off for security, using his night-vision capabilities that I had learnt about some time previously. There was still a lot for me to learn about Terminators and their capabilities, however, Pops refused to detail everything that he was capable of and I had a feeling that was for security reasons.
40.679975 degrees north, 117.127253 degrees west
I will admit that I felt a little stupid standing on the side of a mountain, in the dark, just looking around.
The place was desolate and a little chilly, if I was honest. Pops was gazing around the horizon, scanning for anything that moved. Pops insisted that something would happen and bang on 04:45 there was a strange, crackling sensation in the air, a little like the onset of a violent thunderstorm. I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up and for some reason I felt scared and stood closer to Pops.
"There is nothing to fear, Sarah Connor," Pops said correctly interpreting my closeness.
There!
Suddenly, I could see what could only be described as lightening that seemed to hover above a small clearing on the mountainside. The lightening was blue in colour and it seemed to originate from a central point, and as it increased, there was a breeze, which blew sand and loose vegetation around. I put Pops between whatever, was happening, and me; I felt safer.
Then there was a clap like thunder and a large, blue, flashing sphere grew out of out of nowhere, and the lightening began to subside.
"It is a Time Displacement Sphere," Pops said.
"A what?"
"Time travel. It is how I got here."
As if that answered everything!
The sphere darkened and it seemed to vanish with a bright flash of what seemed like fire and we were plunged into darkness, as all lightening and illumination vanished. Pops turned on a flashlight and aimed it at where the Time Displacement thingy had been. At first, I saw nothing but a crater, maybe four feet or so across.
Then the flashlight illuminated an object and I was surprised to see bare, human skin.
..._...
The person stood up from their crouched position in the crater.
My eyes almost popped out of my head by what was illuminated in the flashlight beam.
"Err, Pops, it's a woman!"
"Your powers of observation continue to astound me, Sarah Connor!"
I ignored him.
"She's also, err, very naked…"
"Why are you worried, she has the same equipment as you?"
"I wish! I don't have tits, I don't have hips, I don't have an ass and I don't have the, err, other stuff either. So no dice, supercomputer from the future!"
The naked woman looked at me and spoke.
"During temporal displacement, any inanimate object, or object not covered in living matter, will cause the destruction of both the traveller and the Time Displacement Equipment."
"Oh, great!" I moaned "Another Terminator!"
The woman frowned, "How did you know?"
"Well, you talk like one for a start!"
"What are you doing here?" Pops asked, getting back to business.
While Pops and the woman engaged in conversation, a nasty thought occurred to me.
Things could have gone so differently if Pops had been butt naked when I had looked up from below the dock at him. I would have been looking straight at… Ewww!
"So only living skin can go through?" I queried,
"Yes," Pops responded. "You will use a similar device with Kyle Reese in 1984."
I considered that and did not like what my mind told me.
"A butt naked Sarah Connor will be time travelling with a butt naked Kyle Reese? Not a goddamn chance! Why do I get the feeling that there is more to 1984 than you are telling me?"
"There are facts that are not suitable till you are older."
My life with Terminators is going to go in some really strange directions! I decided to get back on track.
"Anyway, you trust the naked bitch?"
Pops hesitated, but only for a second before replying.
"I do. We have exchanged authentication and she can be trusted… For now."
The naked woman was examining me, which was creepy.
"This is what we are protecting? This girl?"
"At least I'm not standing butt naked on the side of a mountain!"
"We need to talk," Pops said, looking at the naked woman.
It occurred to me that if Pops was a normal human then he would probably have been mesmerised by the naked woman, who I had to admit had a very nice figure.
"Before we dive into any further conversation can she please put some clothes on? Her standing there with her hands on her hips like that, its freaking me out!"
There are some things in life that you should be able to unsee!
After Pops lent the woman his leather jacket, we proceeded to walk back down the mountain towards the truck.
"What is your designation?" Pops asked the new arrival.
"Cameron."
"Cameron?" I asked. "You have a proper name?"
"As do you, Sarah Connor."
"But, aren't you a Terminator? I thought Terminators did not have names; at least he didn't."
"The mission required it, so I was provided with one."
Cameron had a rather snarky tone, but she seemed likeable, at least as much as you can like a machine!
"So, what is she going to be, my mother?" I asked Pops.
"Cameron will take on the role of your sister. That would provide the best cover.
"What is your mission?" I asked Cameron.
"My mission is the protection of Sarah Connor."
I kept my distance from 'Cameron' as we headed back down the mountain and enjoyed the walk. Once back at the truck I sat in the middle seat, sitting as close to Pops as was possible and decided to keep my clothes on and put up with the heat as the sun came up.
The trip back home was long and we bypassed the town where Pops had gone berserk.
I still had to stop to use the bathroom and to eat. Thankfully, Cameron now had clothes to wear, so I do not have to look at... Never mind! Cameron was then able to join Pops and me when we ate. I noticed that she ate, as Pops did.
The last portion of the trip was the worst as it was tremendously hot and I ended up sleeping for most of it until I was woken up as Pops nudged me after we had arrived back home.
The House
We gave Cameron a bedroom, despite her comments of, 'I don't sleep'.
Pops has provided Cameron with a Browning nine-millimetre pistol and a pump-action shotgun. They both intend to stand on guard at night, in a different part of the house. Pops had given Cameron a rundown of the rules that we both followed.
Afterwards, I gave Cameron a rundown of my rules. Another toaster was just what I did not need; I was still getting used to the one that I already had!
"No walking around butt-naked. No talking about my underwear or personal development. No doing anything weird in public that might embarrass me. Pops is in charge and I will follow his instructions over yours. Given a choice, I'd rather lose you, than Pops. I reserve the right to come up with more rules."
"Is that all?" Cameron asked with an exasperated tone. Apparently, Cameron was a little better at emotions and therefore blending in, than Pops was.
"Oh, one more thing, Cameron – stay away from the squirrels!"
T-800 (Model 101) v2.42
****STATUS UPDATE****
Mode: Surveillance
Targets: None
Mission: Protection
Health: 99.03% Endoskeleton: 98.60% Living Tissue: 100%
Power Cell 1: 99.92% Power Cell 2: 99.95% Remaining Life: 119 Years 6 Months 18 Days 14 Hours
Probability of Attack: 19%
Mission Parameters
Primary Mission: Survival of Sarah Connor Current Status: ALIVE
Secondary Mission: Training of Sarah Connor Current Status: PROCEEDING
Other parameters available
Status of Mission: CURRENT PARAMETERS MET
Updates to database
Humans are not to be terminated.
Sarah Connor is upset by naked Terminators.
Model 715 is now available for protection.
T-800 Series (Model 715) v1.08
****STATUS UPDATE****
Mode: Surveillance
Targets: None
Mission: Protection
Health: 99.98% Endoskeleton: 99.99% Living Tissue: 99.98% [Regenerating]
Power Cell: 99.99% Remaining Life: 119 Years 11 Months 30 Days 2 Hours
Probability of Attack: UNKNOWN – MORE INFORMATION REQUIRED
Mission Parameters
Primary Mission: Survival of Sarah Connor Current Status: ALIVE
Other parameters available
Status of Mission: CURRENT PARAMETERS MET
Updates to database
Do not walk around without clothes.
Do not talk about Sarah Connor's underwear or her personal development.
Do not do anything weird in public that might embarrass Sarah Connor.
Sarah Connor will respond to Model 101's orders above my own.
Sarah Connor has developed an attachment to Model 101.
Do not touch the squirrels (reasons currently unknown).
