Thanks for reading guys, I hope my fic keeps the TSCC concept alive - you know who you are.
Cameron has caused quite a reaction at the High school dance and John needs to minimise the damage, if any.
Allison will start to worry as things begin to get a little out of hand and cause concern for her.
Cameron has also got to sort out her inner conflict and come to terms with her emotions which are caused by her software reaching 'dead ends'.
Circumstances change dramatically in the week to come.
-0-
When Lesley joins her parents after the karaoke finishes, her dad says "I thought you said Sonia was dying, she looks OK to me?"
"Dad, I said she was diagnosed".
"Yes, with what?"
"She is suffering from a terrible addiction. Can't you see it?"
"No!"
"She's madly in love with me".
"Oh, I might have guessed. My girl has pulled one on me. You wait until I get you home, it will be an early night for you".
"Yes I know dad. That's why I'm hoping to stay at John's house".
He smiles and says "All right, you win. How could I turn down my little precious jewel, I'm very proud of you darling".
"Thanks dad". She sees smiles from her mother too, who is standing close by and says "thanks for everything mom, you made this a great night. I'll never forget this". (hug).
During the karaoke in the high school hall, John has been watching Cameron all the time. He is glad she is alive but also fuming because of the situation that she has placed him in. In fact he is concerned because one moment he thought she was dead and now she is here but behaving strange. He has to keep control of everything and can see things slipping drastically.
Allison knows there will be words between John and Cameron, so she asks Jenny to take l-Ally home, just in case she needs to intervene.
Eventually, Sarah, Allison, Cameron & John get home, it is quite late. Sonia & Lesley have followed behind in Sarah's Suv.
John & Cameron are alone upstairs whilst Allison goes to her room to find that she needs to make her bed. Sarah stays downstairs.
John says with emphasis "Cameron, John from the future is not here. I am here now. From now on there is no going off on wild expeditions, no matter how well meaning. Do you hear me?"
"Yes John".
"Cameron... (pause) Oh come on, you're not going to start crying. Did you learn that from some overdramatic soap somewhere?"
"No, I have my emotions full on to learn to be taught a lesson. I need to feel regret. I have to live with this just like I did for putting Allison through a month of hell".
There is a big problem standing right in front of John.
A sorrowful cute face with tears in her eyes, looking forlorn and unhappy. She even has her head slightly bowed and is shivering a little, rubbing her fingers together!
What he wants to do is just grab her, kiss her and hold her tight but he has to be a strong leader. He wonders how she can seem so real, even now, after knowing her all this time.
John says sternly and slightly loud "Why did you have to make a dance show about the future resistance?"
Cameron says, starting to cry even more "Lesley asked me to dance in her show for the benefit of the resistance".
John thinks about what Lesley has done for him and feels 'cornered', so he says in a slightly more calmer tone "well, I can't have a go at her after all she has done for me. I expect you know that?"
"She did it for Sonia". "What?" "she went to the future to be with Sonia when I was rescued".
"Fuck, you know what I mean".
"Nooo!"
"Look Cameron, the idea for the show was fine, cos nobody would know what it was all about but why the hell did you have to tell Allison what you did in front of everybody?" John is raising his voice again.
Cameron starts bawling slightly louder and lies face down on the bed. Then she turns her head to face John and says "because you will not punish me I want you to hate me instead".
All of a sudden the door starts to open, Allison is peering in with Sonia and Lesley standing behind her. She says loudly "what are you doing? You can't treat her like that. You know she will not fight back. She never hurts you. You are being a bastard to her".
"Get out of here, this is between me and her". John thinks quickly on his feet because he is actually doing what he feels needs to be done. Whilst Cameron has her face down to the pillow, sniffling he winks at Allison in the hope that she will understand.
Ally turns and says "Come on girls, it's just a tiff" and she ushers the 2 lovers away with her hands.
John continues "Now look, I've got one hell of a story to concoct tomorrow, what the hell was you thinking of? The light show, what can I tell the school about that? Then there are the bombs, I hope you've not damaged the floor or anything else, otherwise we're in deep shit, believe me.
If you want me to hate you, you're doing a pretty good job of it. Now you're lying on the bed blubbering. Is this what future me sent you back for?"
Cameron sits bolt upright, her face just as red and her eyes turning slightly red. John is slightly alarmed by this as she says
"He never sent me back, he was dead!"
"What?"
"I lost him, so I came back here to protect you instead and now you hate me. I am not human John, I can't be. I can't be like you, I tried to do what was best for you but I failed. I let you down and now I have these memories to live with too".
"Too right you're not. I don't know what to do now".
At this, Sarah is just about ready to burst. She stands up, startling Derek and rushes up the stairs.
Cameron continues speaking "Skynet made me for their purpose, I can't adapt, I am no good".
The door flies open, John is startled but Cameron could hear her approach in DAEMON.
"Stop shouting at her John, what is possessing you? I can't believe I have a grown man of a son shouting at a cyborg and making it cry. Do you realise what you are?"
"What? No, you tell me"
"A bully for starts, a a a not my son". Cameron turns away, but her sobbing can be heard with sniffling.
"Please go mom, I am unleashing my pent up anger with her. She has got to be taught a lesson"
Sarah replies "from you? Aw come on, you're being downright horrible just for the pleasure of it. There is a name for people like you".
Just before John responds, he stands in front of Cameron facing his mom. Allison goes up behind Sarah and grabs her arms. John sees this and again hopes his mom will understand "Oh yeah, and what might that be?" he says and winks at her.
Sarah is puzzled by this but says it anyway "Abusive, mental torture".
Allison tugs Sarah and she slowly closes the door.
Cameron, with lip quivering says "you know I will take whatever you do to me. I am still your machine and protector, I will go outside and stay there so that you need not see me anymore".
She stands up. John opens the door as she walks towards it. He says with a slightly calmer voice
"If this is what you want, I will just have to accept it but remember this, whatever you suffer I feel too. It affects Allison, mom, everyone in fact.
She has got little Ally to think of".
"I'm soorry" then she cries louder again.
Outside Lesley says "Why is John being so horrible? I don't understand it? Sonia, does she contact you?"
"No, she has cut me off".
As the 4 females walk away, Sarah understands and realises that Allison might 'blow' everything and places her finger over her lips and points downstairs. Meaning she does not want Cameron to hear any of them talking. They must wait until she leaves the house.
Sonia begins to talk so Sarah fingers her lips again, gets a piece of paper and a pencil then writes on it
WE MUST NOT SPEAK, CAMERON WILL HEAR US
ALLISON AND MYSELF HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY
COME WITH ME
Sarah goes to the base of the stairs and shouts up "WE'RE GOING OUT, ALL OF US JOHN, TO LEAVE YOU WITH YOUR WHIPPING DOLL. YOU CAN UNLEASH YOUR MALICIOUS CRUELTY ALL YOU LIKE COS WE WON'T BE HERE TO HEAR IT".
John says to Cameron "I'm going downstairs to do some homework, I assume you're not going far?"
"No, I will stay outside, out of your way".
"Good, I expect you back here, indoors in the morning so that I can tell you what excuse I have thought up after you might have compromised our cover. It was weak enough as it is, now I have this to think of".
Cameron looks at John with her 'panda eyes', lifts her sports bag up and takes it downstairs with her.
She unzips the bag and takes out $150k and places it on the kitchen table, fetches her raufoss and goes outside in the dark, still sniffling.
Still upstairs, 'I wonder how much longer this needs to go on' thinks John, 'I'm not sure I can take much more of this and it breaks my heart to see her like this. I must talk to Sonia ASAP'.
Driving down the road, Sarah and the girls head towards Catherine Weaver's residence, chatting on the way. Lesley asks Sonia many questions about her thoughts on Cameron.
The next half hour is very quiet and John tries to concentrate on his school subject, which ironically is biology. 'I wonder if cyborg biology will ever be a subject' he thinks.
1h23m later, John hears Sarah's SUV driving up and then some words to Cameron. The talking goes on for a long time and he hopes nothing is said that will cause any further long-term problems.
Eventually the door opens and in walks everybody, except Allison, who stayed at the Weaver house.
Sarah carries along with the ploy "oh, you're still here then, leaving her outside, that's real nice. Definitely my John!"
John looks at his mom, shrugs a little and raises a finger in the air and goes to the front door.
"Cameron, you might as well go and guard the Allys, I've got Sonia here now. At least I'll get some sleep".
She walks up to the door with her outer lips slightly arched downwards. She looks down to the doorstep and holds out her hand as he gives her the keys to his jeep.
"I'll see you at 8:15 and let you know what to say. If you have any good ideas about your eye lights, let me know".
John turns and shuts the door even before she speaks.
A couple of minutes later, Cameron has driven off.
John says to Sonia "will she be OK?"
"Yes".
"She's not going to run off and never been seen again or something stupid like that is she?"
"No".
"Thank god for that, what am I to do? I need your help here".
"It is straight forward and Cameron knows this but it it conflicts with her programming the same way that my rage conflicted with my programming when Austin upset me over Lesley".
"Really, was you that upset?" says Lesley.
John says "We must leave that for now".
"Sure".
"Carry on" says John looking at Sonia.
"My programming only had one course of action for events like that but my emotions had another course of events. After you controlled me, I discussed it with Cameron and we learnt to control our emotions and change our software in events of passion like this. As we experience life, we develop new emotional pannings and the one that Cameron has developed is quite complex because taken from the dictionary, she has remorse, regret, guilt, sorrow, shame and coupled with this is anxiety, grief, humiliation and repentance, plus other words.
For me it was anger and rage".
The girls remain quiet and listen for a while whilst John asks another question, or perhaps makes a diagnosis.
"I believe she is having a form of human mental breakdown. Do you know if her chip was compromised when she was damaged?"
"No, it is not damaged".
"OK, what would you do if you was me?"
"When I eventually 'privately' speak to her next time, I will ask her if she understands what is happening. I can tell her at school verbally tomorrow that we must have a talk so that I can assist her in coming to terms with her problem. I won't tell her that you have forgiven her or calmed down until I know she is able to fix herself. You are right, she might stay distant and refuse to talk to me too".
Upon hearing this, John is so 'hopefully relieved' that his eyes well up with water. He says to Sonia "you have given me hope. thank you very much". He goes up to her and gives her a kiss on the cheek.
"Ere, she's mine, don't you start that Mr Connor".
Everybody laughs, even John who has a slight quiver to the right side of his lip, even though he feels extremely hurt.
From the kitchen area, Sarah says "John, who put this here?" "what?" "All this money".
"Cameron did" says Sonia.
"There must be over a hundred thousand dollars here, where did she get it from?"
"20 banks"
Lesley says "did she rob them?"
Sonia replies "no, she accessed London branches of banks and swapped account numbers and names around then made fictitous accounts. After that she transferred $20k from each bank to banks here in America and then withdrew most of it over 2 days. She told me she would give more than $100k to Jenny and the same for you. She wants each member of the resistance to have $5k.
It is probable that she is taking the money to Jenny now because she knows she needs it".
"My wonderful Cameron" says John as he looks at his mom.
She replies "you should have heard yourself, could you have been harsher? You turned my stomach with those words".
"How do you think I feel? I had to be sure that she was satisfied that I was keeping my promise".
John turns to Sonia "I hope you have success with her tomorrow as I've got one hell of a lot of apologizing to do and she needs to understand, we all make mistakes and we all suffer those emotions. Just because she is electronic, doesn't make her different. After all, we are showing that Skynet is not perfect, I'm sure she should get comfort from that thought.
I'm going to check out pyrotechnics and children's' coloured 'flashing light things' that they wear on their head in the dark at discos on my laptop".
As Sonia will be outside all night, Lesley decides to go home.
"You take her Sonia, John will be OK for a while with me" says Sarah.
On the way home, Lesley's says "I loved hearing you explain to John about Cameron and how you made John feel better".
She turns quickly and a smile before turning back to face the road and says "thanks, he helped me once, so now I want to help him".
"Oh yes, about that, was you very annoyed when you thought you could not see me?"
"Exceedingly, there is only one other time when I have been more annoyed".
"Really!"
"Yes".
"Well, go on, tell me".
"Earlier today when I heard all those boys whistling at your legs".
Lesley smiles "Oh yeah, tell me more".
"I felt a tingle down below somewhere as I imagined you with one of them".
"Why would you imagine that? . , . , and hang on, what tingle?"
"Because I could see you and I think you enjoyed it. . ,- . , and I am not telling you".
Lesley replies "Oh I see, and what do you make of that?"
"I think you might need something extra that only boys can give you".
"Do you know what, there was a time recently when you would have been more explicit in your description? I do believe that you have learnt to be more tactful".
"Yes I have but it still worries me".
"Don't worry Sonny babe, we manage well enough." (Kiss on the cheek).
"Lesley, you sometimes abbreviate my name to Son but I can't abbreviate yours because it seems to bother you. I don't understand because you are a lesbian? Les is short for lesbian."
"Haha, well if you are one, you don't want to be called one. I want a name, not a title".
"OK, can I invent a name?"
"Sure, nothing stupid though".
"Lee?"
"OK Son, that's fine".
(Son to rhyme with 'gone').
Lesley then says "I wish you was sleeping with me tonight". "Me too, I want to show you where I had my tingle".
They both laugh.
-0-
Conversely & ten minutes later, Cameron arrives at Catherine's house, which has many occupants. It is more convenient for Jenny because the drive to Zeira Corp is only 21 minutes away.
She knocks at the door and after a pause, which Cameron detects is people inside being cautious and checking the video monitor, the door opens and Allison is standing there.
Ally sees her double with a red face, looking as though a trauma has happened in her life.
"Is Jenny there?" "No Cam, are you coming in?" At this time, little Ally comes to the door, having been released by Nancy, her previous babysitter for the 2011 Young family.
"This box is for her, I have written down what I would like her to do".
"Oh, OK I'll give it to her. Aren't you coming in? You look like you need some company".
"No, I will stay outside and make sure you are safe tonight, I have a lot to think about. I will come in to the house at 7am".
"Oh, I hope you will be OK. Come here". Allison goes over to Cameron and gives her a big hug but unfortunately this makes Cameron weep and Allison is there for 5 whole minutes patting her on the back, only stopping to pick up little Ally with one hand and perching her on her left hip.
Allison says to l-Ally "Cameron is sad today, give her a hug then perhaps she will feel better" - little Ally does just that.
Eventually Cameron moves away and says "goodnight AllyAlly".
They wave, then b-Ally picks up the box that she placed next to her feet and closes the door, holding l-ally's hand as Cameron walks up towards the drive entrance.
2 hours 34 minutes later, Jenny is observed returning from Zeira by Cameron. She checks closely to make sure that she is not driving under duress or sharing her car with anybody. Everything appears to be OK.
It is now 1.11am 7th Feb 2009, sometime tomorrow a Skynet cyborg in the image of Thomas Reese will materialise somewhere in this present - it is made in 2040 and will likely have improved capabilities, unless Skynet are starting from 'scratch' without resources for improving their technology due to it's defeat by John Connor. Only time will tell - (a rather apt phrase to use).
Indoors, everybody is in bed, either upstairs or downstairs, so she has to be quiet.
On the kitchen table she sees the box with JENNIFER LOUISE BEAL SENIOR written on it.
She smiles 'this must be for me' she thinks.
She is unaware of what has gone on between John and Cameron. Coupled with Cameron's emotional turmoil. Jenny is in good spirits because she felt impelled to go to Zeira Corp. She wanted to check that the large satellite dish was performing OK and the rack-mounted computers and new software were operating as expected. She knew that John Henry and Thomas were more than capable of assessing the results but actually seeing for herself at this crucial time was very important for her. It was OK and doing what they all wanted. She noted the results, spoke to the Zeira team then went back home.
She opens the box and quietly says to herself "Oh mi, what have we here". She reads the note and then says quietly "wow, would you believe it, our Cameron is quite a gal. Lucky John".
She goes upstairs to the kids room and replaces the money in the jars as per Cameron's instructions, then goes to bed and eventually gets to sleep 1h23m later, her mind wizzing around the computer code and hardware logistics needed for tomorrow. It is fortunate for Jenny that she does not have to get up until she feels like it, as Catherine for one knows, brain sleep is important for her and must be taken when needed.
In fact, nobody at Zeira works to rigid rotas, except the security guys and necessary staff. The one exception is, of course, the 'clicking of fingers' from Ms Weaver, when she deems it necessary.
-0-
The next morning, being 7th February 09, as soon as Leila arrives, she is congratulated on the great 'spread' and asked where she got the money from. Being prepared for this "Oh, fees provided by my sponsor for when I go to gourmet college. They need to know I can single-handedly provide a decent buffet for events such as last night".
Cameron is next to arrive with Allison, obviously little Ally is not a passenger. Whilst driving to school, Allison has to go along with things and hopes that Cameron does not suspect that she is lying. Ally thinks that perhaps she does suspect but hopefully will not 'cotton on' to exactly what, when she says "I'm disgusted by the way John treated you, even if you feel as though you deserve it".
The moment they get out of the car, Lesley has just arrived at the gates, so they are able to go in together. Many of the students say that they wished they had gone along and one girl says "why didn't anybody say I was going to miss a great night out and see you girls dance. You Cam, putting on the performance of your life. Then, to end up dancing to Sonia singing 'Buy It Single Ladies Put a Ring On it ' by Beyonce and shaking your booty, I would have loved to see that. Cameron doing 'Pink - so what' and driving everybody wild. wow! I can't believe I wasn't there, I just wanna die now.
Oh yeah and John pretending to get you twins mixed up, what a laugh. I hear he snogged you, that was naughty". "It was her". "what?" "John snogged her, I am Allison". "Oh! haha, I see. Well anyway, he certainly lit you up didn't he Cam?"
"Yes, he did". (sullenly). The girl gives Cameron a strange look but before she asks her what is up she is interrupted.
Another girl says, even before any replies are given "Yeah, lesley did it all and even spoke a Greek mythological story. Everybody says you was fantastic Les".
"Don't... oh don't matter. I'm glad you liked it, I did my best". (smile).
One of the guys says "how did John manage the light display, it was awesome?"
"Oh, you had better ask him, it is quite technical, Cameron just went along with it, didn't you Cam!".
"Yes" she says, sullenly.
The guy looks puzzled but does not get a chance to ask anything as the lookalikes rush off with Lesley.
(Although Cameron did the performance, which included 3 pop songs, it was purely from memory and even her emotions were not real but she pulled it off just the same with all the face expressions and a raspberry at the end which made everybody LOL. All with the use of her infiltration software. She had to do it this way in order to get through the performance. (Her Allison memoirs were recited with emotions though). After she got home to be with John, she turned them on again).
Things get back to normal as more students turn up and start to walk in until John arrives with Sonia.
Questions and praise are dished out again and eventually John is asked the question by a guy named Jimmy.
"Hi John, I saw the light display, how was it done?"
"Oh, not as difficult as you might think. If you blow your girl's mind, her eyes will light up".
"Get away, you gonna tell us man or what?" (laugh).
"OK. Cameron put in some eye-drops of liquid crystal, not the normal stuff but some that is safe. I sat in the audience with a DC charger attached to me. Earlier on that day, I raided my mom's bathroom cabinet and swallowed all of her iron pills dating back to when she was pregnant. They were pretty old I must tell you. (smile).
By the time I was called on stage, I was highly charged and the 2-tone LC changed from blue through red with mauve. The further I stuck my tongue down her throat". (bigger smile).
"You're kidding me, you deep throat frenchied your own sis?" (He gives a shocked look which spreads to the onlookers).
"Yeah why not, she is pretty hot actually. The flashing lights was when we pulled our tongues apart"
"Oh man, this has got to be weird, no way, I can't believe you. You're lying!"
"Well, most of it is true. You decide which part is a lie. Cameron cannot lie, you ask her. Bye".
Silence and mutterings as Sonia and John rush off smiling. John grabs Sonia's hand to make her run before anybody else starts asking questions. He is satisfied that just telling one person is enough. He has different instructions for Cameron when he sees her.
It is not long after that that John has a straight face again and thinks about his terrible fears.
Before he parts from Sonia he says "I'm relying on you to get it right, I must have her back".
Lesley is waiting for Sonia around the corner and just happens to notice John letting go of her hand. It was innocent enough as John wanted to show Sonia some concern, just like his mom used to. Perhaps his choice in doing this was not very good but he wanted Sonia to know she means something to him.
"Hiya Lee, we're not together until 2pm". "Oh, OK, see ya later". Lesley does not go over to kiss Sonia which puzzles her, especially as nobody is around at that moment.
-0-
Eventually lunchtime comes and John approaches Cameron. When he finds her He looks at her face to see if there is anything there but finds nothing.
He is not sure how to handle this situation after yesterday. Things have calmed down, he feels that he is giving her what she thinks she deserves and therefore will not go away. It is the thought of not seeing her that he could not stand, so he is glad she is here. He can't even give her a smile or any sign that he is glad to see her until after Sonia has spoken to her, hopefully.
He speaks in as calm a tone as possible and says "Hello Cameron, I won't say much for now except what you need to know. When people ask about your light show, this is what you say" (John explains what he would like her to say).
Not long after John has spoken to Cameron, Sonia calls her and asks her to sit outside. They go to the end of the large lawn in a corner and sit cross legged facing each other.
They have a silent chat, which involves a very emotional outpouring, totally without physical movement or tears. It all takes about 1m23s and during this time Sonia feels satisfied that Cameron understands the complexities of her new emotions and they hope that they can resolve it.
Their conversation is more machine-like than human and is difficult to translate when the 0/1s, machine code, etc etc are taken in to consideration.
Basically, Sonia asks Cameron whether she has seen the increased complexity of her new emotions which are intrinsically weaved together as a result of negative results received by her programs. They are all linked to many other emotions in such a way that, in essence, it is not much different from the emotions that humans feel. She is destroying her friendships and relationships and compromising them just because she hates what she has done. She can even upset her own (cyborg/human) family.
If it was any other family they might break up and leave home because most humans do not understand or emphasize with humans who act strange or irrational with mood swings etc.
She wants to know if Cameron can see this every time her processes encounter a problem or condition which cannot be resolved. As new unresolvable problems arise, new pannings are made. In this instance, she is experiencing something very new and very complex. New 'seedlings' are growing in her emotional processes, all of which are negative to her peace of mind.
As Cameron listens to all this, she is feeling high levels of sadness and is very distraught.
Sonia points out that people make mistakes. There was no way without the data needed that Cameron could know that her actions could not, or would not, give the desired results when her group were killed.
She points out Jenny's feeling of accomplishment and how 'proud of herself' she feels after developing the technology in record time to rescue everybody in 2011. This is the result of Cameron's unfortunate circumstances.
She also says how happy Allison is to have her little self to keep as a little sister.
How distraught John was and the elation he felt when she came back to him and how it breaks his heart to have to treat her in an obnoxious fashion just because he is frightened she will go away.
The new emotions called regret, guilt, remorse etc lead to negative conscious and emotional reactions. If the personal past act or behaviour is tragic or catastrophic, it can lead to self-loathing. This emotion can also lead to self-destruction too.
Sonia tells Cameron that this is what she is suffering from. She needs to control it for John's wellbeing and her own happiness which is much more effective than what she now feels.
Finally, she points out that Cameron's past mistakes have been put right. She does not even need to make reparations to others because she has already done that and made everybody extremely proud of her.
Between them, unseen by everybody, the 2 cyborgs inwardly cry together as Sonia is extremely sad to see Cameron's outpouring of sadness turn to happiness in her arms. This goes on for an eternity: 1m2s.
When the 2 cyborgs eventually return to normal, having relied on their DAEMON processes to watch their surroundings, they see a group of students approaching.
Before they arrive, Cameron says one last thing "We must transfer our data on to HDD soon, as our team need to see it & I would like John to see what happened to me".
Sonia adds "I also have something to show Lesley in addition to everything else".
Sonia continues, using the spoken voice "I'll try to persuade Allison to bring Little Ally to our house tomorrow tonight, and then we can do it whilst we are together". (smile).
Sonia agrees to take, by downloading ultrasonically, an exact copy of what Cameron was experiencing, so that she can experience it 'first hand' on another part of her chip, her entire panning experiences etc. She tells Cameron that she will delete it before their data extraction tomorrow night at c. 3am. (Of course Cameron will know if she has not, although she is not bothered).
As they were sitting there facing each other, holding both hands and staring at each other's faces, they get some strange stares. People always thought the Connor group were weird yet surprisingly talented or badass, so this is just another example.
One of the guys in the group of Latinos says "Hiya Cam, John told me how you got your eyes to flash but told me some of his story was exaggerated. So what is it, did he deep frenchy you or not?" they all smile.
"No, he is bound to say something like that. Why would I want to do that to John?"
"I might, says Gina from the group".
"No, I painted my eyelids with conductive liquid crystal and put translucent eye-drops in just before I came back on stage. It is a new technology that we found over the internet from a developing company. It is totally safe.
The rest of John's story is mostly correct, minus the tongue. We only touched lips and John turned the switch and lit me up through our contact".
"Oh, that's not as good as John's story. Shame".
They walk on by chatting and laughing, as one of the guys chases a girl with his tongue poking out, making the same suggestion as John earlier.
"She's too hot for you", "you'd never manage it", "your tongue's not long enough", "so I have heard", "Usted está crudo", says the girl finally..
Listening to this, the twins smile but also, they have learnt something about human relationships and their nature.
-0-
The lunchtime break is nearly over and John, who is sitting with Allison alone on a table in the canteen, has discussed the Cameron situation. He says that now is definitely not a good time for him to speak to Cameron.
Just his luck, he is with Cameron in the maths class for the first afternoon lesson.
He sees her approach the door and waits for her to go in. He finds it ironically amusing because she does not even need to be there.
If he does not sit next to her, especially after what the students consider was an awesome performance on stage, they will think that his family argue or do not get on. It is not an impression that they must have.
He whispers very quietly "Cameron, I have to sit next to you, otherwise people will talk about us".
She does not turn her head or show any emotion. She walks in to the classroom, sits and places her books etc. on the desk that demonstrates they share the school work.
He goes over and sits down, then opens his bag and lifts everything out then places it on the desk.
As he does so, he glances slightly to his left then cannot resist the temptation to look at her face.
'The slightest of smiles?' he thinks, 'no perhaps her mouth is not working properly'.
As he is listening to the form tutor talking about statistics, he sees that Cameron has her hands on her desk but one hand appears to be slightly out of alignment and is tapping her fingers, just her fingers.
'What?' he looks over at her face, she quickly looks away. Again he is sure her lips have the slightest of smiles.
'Oh hell, if she is malfunctioning, I am really in trouble'.
For the final lesson, the students all file out and Riley walks up to John and tells him that she has decided to sit next to him in 'history'.
As Cameron walks past she quietly says to Riley "be nice to him, you won't like him when he is bad" but this time she looks deadly serious as she walks off with authority. (Imagine her walking through Pico Tower).
"Where is she going for the next lesson" says John.
"I checked her rota because of our concern, she is football. Do you think she will be OK?"
"Don't you mean the rest of them?" Cameron hears and smiles.
Inside the classroom Riley tries to keep John interested and asks questions about Salem and jokingly says "do you think I would have been considered a witch?"
"What, oh, no of course not why?"
"Oh I just wondered, imagine if I ended up in their time instead of here".
John stays attentive and tactile and says "I would protect you, that is what I am here for".
"That's nice" says Riley with a smile on her face, then she says "I'm sure she'll be OK".
"Thanks, I hope so".
-0-
After school at the gates, John waits for Allison and stands next to Debbie chatting to little Ally. He ends up saying "oh yes, you want your ploosma wifel", I must get it. I will get it soon and make sure big Ally gives it to you. Do you have any idea what it looks like?"
"I think so".
"OK, when you get home, draw a picture of it and give it to big Ally, then I can be sure I get the right one".
Just then Allison walks up and John tells her about the picture because he is not sure what a ploosma wifel looks like.
She smiles and says "sure John, I'll text it to you as soon as she draws it. If it really is a ploosma wifel, you really are in big trouble aren't you?"
"Yes, Ally, sure will be. see ya" (big long kiss and mwah).
When he looks in the car, little Ally is smiling.
Unfortunately for John, when he looks round Cameron is standing close by with a very unhappy look on her face.
John stares at her, now he is feeling terrible. Again he feels confused as he thought Sonia might have fixed her with a one-to-one chat.
He goes over to her and says "Shall we go then?"
"Yes".
'Is that all?' he thinks.
The drive home is quiet, even with Sonia & Lesley in the back. Lesley now knows the situation and they know that soon everything will be OK.
Back home, Cameron stays in the jeep as the lovers get out, followed by John.
"Where are you going?" says Lesley.
"What do you mean?"
"Are you going to leave your girlfriend sitting there?"
"I don't think she wants to come in doors, do you Cam?"
"I might!"
The lovers rush indoors and leave John standing.
John opens his driver door again and looks in.
Cameron says to him "did you mean what you said?"
John stares at her for quite a while, she is not smiling but she does look... quite human.
Eventually he comes up with the answer to her question "If you think I did, then you don't know me.
If you think I didn't, then you do know me". John has already decided she is back to normal.
She smiles. John quickly rushes round the other side and opens the door. She steps out and he puts his arms around her shoulder blades and says "thank god, I didn't want you to be a wild bird in the garden any more".
"A wild bird? Oh yes, I understand. No, I am a friendly bird that is house trained".
John breaks his grip and leans back "What?" Then, Cameron gives a smile.
"Oh, you knew it had 2 meanings". He puts his arms around her again and says "I want you to promise that no matter what is going on in your head, you do not need to go away because you have me and all your friends".
Cameron holds her head back and looks at John with a smile "I promise".
As they stand there in an embrace, watched from the window by everybody, John says
"I didn't want to say those things but I thought they were necessary to keep you here. I was afraid I would lose you again. After you was brought back from 2011 you never came back to me, you did not want to be near me. Was I right to say those things?"
"Yes because if you had been nice to me I would not have let you see me or speak to me. I was confused because my processes were telling my emotions that I failed you. I would have stayed at the perimeter of wherever you was".
At this point John feels a little teary now that his Cameron is back and kisses her on the lips gently then says "I know I love you Cam because I have known you a long time and still feel pain when you are not here".
"I love you too John, you are what I live for. When I make you happy, it makes me happy. When I messed up my chip could not cope with my failure. It is all about you, my reason for being here".
John looks at Cameron and is amazed that she could come out with those words. He sobs on her shoulder and stays there as long as she will let him.
Indoors, Sarah wonders about Allison. She is glad John is with this cyborg but can't help feeling an inner disappointment sometimes. It just lingers there despite the fact that most of the time she is happy for John. For some reason, that feeling just re-emerges out of the blue, almost as thought she was kidding herself that she was happy for John despite knowing Cameron will protect him.
She wonders if by coincidence, the arrival of little Ally is a solace for Allison, whose insecurities make her feel 2nd best - if, of course they do.
She decides to distract herself, goes in to another room and phones Dominic. After quite a long chat and some persuading, he agrees to let her go and stay with him. Sarah did not want to be in the house tonight with whatever she might hear from the twins and their lovers.
'Can you imagine it!' she thinks '2 in one house and probably none anywhere else on the globe'.
Derek says to Sarah "are there any females for me where you're going?" with a smile.
She replies "probably but I'm not your pimp. Tell you what, I'll ask Dominic where they hang out, I believe there will be a nice gal there that will suit you down to the ground. Long term I assume?"
"Guys, chics, anybody, I don't care. Just a good night out".
"But no cyborgs right! Hold on a minute".
She gets her cellphone out again.
Inside, John is all smiles with Cameron as she smiles back in her cute roundpool eyes glistening in the moon, even if the moon is only the sitting room lights.
Strangely enough, John notices that on the opposite settee is sat Lesley and Sonia, whose eyes seem to be quite similar. He inwardly smiles, knowing they are the same.
The 4 of them discuss Cameron's scenario and do their best to assure her that she must not let it happen again. "You must come to me if you need another female's perspective on things. I will not let you go funny in the head, we will hunt you down if you go away and hide" says Lesley with a smile.
Cameron looks at John a little worried and puzzled with a face that matches.
"It's all right Cam, she is being nice to you. We humans are complicated. We have that over you but that is about all" says John with a smile.
A little later, Sonia tells Lesley that it is her turn to patrol outside "Oh no, do you really need to?" then Lesley quickly looks to John " We are safe at the moment aren't we?"
"I believe so, but nobody is ever safe".
Lesley replies "when are those metal terminators going to be up and running?"
Cameron replies to this question "because the chips are newly developed, they do not have the ability to perform guard duties at this stage. The chips have been scrubbed of Skynet programming but their base code is very basic and does takes up a lot of memory which is premium on those chips".
"Oh, so in other words they are dumb and can't be improvised?"
"Yes because if they were outside this house for instance, they could kill innocent people or animals and draw attention to themselves".
"Fair enough" says John "but I feel we can all stay in tonight, Jenny is scanning off satellites to look for any flux that occurs. I'm sure future Skynet have not found us yet. What do you think Sonia?"
Of course she does a quick rat with Cameron, to compare data on this subject then says "Yes, there is more chance of us being found by present enemies and their technologies".
"There you are, early night for all then. Do you twins know how to relax and enjoy yourselves?"
They both smile and say "yes".
Not long after that, John receives a text. He flicks open his cellphone and there before his eyes is a sight that makes him say "Eh, oh yeah very funny".
The others look at him "Well, what is it?" says Lesley.
John has been sent a childish drawing of a plasma rifle, supposedly drawn by l-Ally.
He sends a text back DO ME A FAVOUR ALLY, CAN YOU JUMP FORWARD IN TIME AND GET ONE FOR ME? I'LL COLLECT IT WHEN I SEE YOU
John's cell rings "Hello Ally, very funny. So what did she draw?"
"Sat 7 Feb - A ploosma wifle John, she knows these things".
The joking goes on for a while and eventually a picture of a doll with funny legs and arms is received on John's phone.
Very soon, Jameron are lying in bed together just holding each other and chatting about smaller things like little Ally and the other young ones.
John gets on to the subject of b-Ally's feelings for l-Ally.
"They remind me of myself and Sonia" says Cameron.
"I see what you mean, yes and you love your sister don't you!"
"Yes".
"So now you must know how big Ally feels".
"You're right, thank you for..."
"Explaining?"
They both laugh.
Meanwhile 2 rooms away the general chat is on a similar level but then the subject of 'the tingle' is brought up.
"Oh you poor thing, let me kiss it better"
"Why do you think doing that will make it better?"
"Because we humans say that, it's a joke. I'll tell you what, I should try just in case it's true".
"OK, I'll take off my panties". "Yes, it would help".
As things progress whilst John is discussing Allison's daytime Nanny and her boyfriend, Cameron suddenly smiles.
"What's funny in that?"
"Nothing, I am listening to the lovers. Lesley is kissing Sonia's tingle better"
"She's what?"
Not long after that, Cameron develops a 'tingle' which also needs to be addressed.
-0-
Fortunately for everybody in the Connor house, it is the morning of Saturday 7th Feb 2009. This means it is not necessary to go to school or get up early.
Despite all this, the previous night, both cyborgs got up after their partners were asleep and took it in turns to go outside, Sonia first. During this time, Cameron manned the computer.
When everybody is up, Lesley suggests they go in 2 vehicles, collect the kids and drive to little Jenny's house and pick her up with her brother Richard then go to the fair and other places.
"That's a good idea if it's OK by you Cam, children need to have fun. They never had that in the future. Would you mind if we spent some of your money on them?"
"No, I wanted them to have $5k each, to be looked after by Jenny as I understand children cannot be responsible to have that much money at their age".
"That's great" (kiss on cheek), I'll make some phone calls.
John phones Garrett and sure enough he agrees, once he is told that the cyborg girls will be with them.
It was evident early on that another vehicle is needed, a SUV hire is the best option. Very soon, Cameron pulls up at the Weaver residence, having finished signing the papers. John is outside waiting for her.
It is apparent that Allison needs a break too, so AllyAlly are passengers too.
Having seen Cameron, little Dean & Marta rush out and tell the story that they have told everybody else "guess what Cam" Says dean and before he continues Marta says "A good money fairy borrowed some money from our jar and now she has paid it back". Dean cuts in and says "yes, she gave us both $100 and said we must not waste it".
"Oh" says Cameron, who then looks at John with a smile. John says "Do you think Cameron would be a good fairy too?"
A little later, during their time watching l-Ally on a merry-go-round, John says to Allison "would it be OK with you if Cameron takes Ally over to the hoop-la stall while we go on the ghost train?"
He watches Allison carefully in her reply. She almost immediately says "oh, I guess that should be alright but I don't bank on being scared in there".
John smiles, his assessment of her reply is acceptance but with reservations.
"How about it Cam, can you do that?"
"Certainly John, I will win her something nice".
Allison adds "afterwards, ask her if she wants to have a go".
"OK Ally, I will look after her".
'Good' thinks John, as he hopes this relationship blossoms.
A while later, John thinks to ask l-Jenny about her arm. She tells him that there will be a scar but her arm bends OK "it still hurts" she says.
Cameron hears this and decides to help her.
So that Allison and John can hear, she says to l-Jennifer "would you like to go over the other side and have a ride on a dodgem?" "Ooh yes, that sounds like fun".
John immediately starts to speak but Cameron butts in and says "I would like to do this on my own to show you that I am capable".
John and Allison are surprised but agree to this.
As they walk, Cameron says to l-Jennifer, "I would like to make your arm better. I can do it now".
"Oh, I don't think you can magic it better".
"No, you are young but I know you understand things so I will explain what I will do".
Cameron explains what Sonia did for Lesley and explained the complexities of her blood regeneration properties.
L-Jennifer agrees.
They head off for a first aid kiosk and Cameron asks for a bandage and safety pins for Jennifer's arm and offers to pay for it. Whilst the lady is not looking, she steals a pair of scissors in front of l-Jennifer's eyes.
When they are outside Cameron says "I will take the scissors back whilst you wait outside. I will explain that you took them. It will not matter because they will never see you again".
Behind a couple of lorries, Cameron makes l-Jennifer gasp as she shoves the scissors in to her palm and starts squeezing blood over l-Jennifer's red scar which has yellowish healing and thick scabs down the centre.
After this she places the bandage and tells her that she must not remove it for at least 36 hours.
"Shall we go on a dodgem car now or would you prefer to have a hot-dog and fizzy drink?"
"Both".
That evening all the kids are brought back to the Connor residence in a packed out Jeep and a hired car. They are kept entertained until bedtime with singing and some dancing. Even Kacy from next door is invited in which pleases her immensely. In fact it is times like that which shows outsiders how nice John and his family really are. To top it all, Kacy's baby gets lots of attention from the female children.
-0-
The following day, it is Sunday and the children, being of similar ages with only a few years inbetween, apart from L-Allison, are full of ideas for the day's activities, providing that the grownups agree.
The beach, childrens' rides etc are the best idea. John challenges everyone to a shootout at the rifle range for a massive teddy bear. "I will go for daddy bear and you litluns can try for baby bear, whilst Allison tries for mommy bear. You twins probably wouldn't miss but please yourself if you want to have a go" he smiles at them.
John continues "Savannah, you can go for Goldilocks". "There isn't one!". "OK, if you hit all the targets I will buy you one".
L-Ally chooses a doll, John buys it and gives it to her.
"What name are you going to give her?" Says Allison
"Ploosma Wifle".
7.33pm, outside a large chicken breeding warehouse. Sparks begin to shoot from above ground, apparently from nowhere. The sparks intensify and then a circle on the ground begins to form. It gets hotter and the adjacent straw of a chicken manure heap begins to smoulder.
Simultaneously at Zeira, warnings sound, John Henry sees them immediately and within seconds Catherine and Thomas come running.
A bubble forms with the appearance of a soap bubble blown from the fingers that has settled on the tiled kitchen floor.
The heat intensifies and the straw suddenly ignites as a form inside the bubble can be seen.
Within an instance the bubble is gone, the flames and smoke increase. Out jumps the Thomas-Cyborg, who detected the incendiary ignition immediately and runs for cover, just in case.
"Where did it happen" says Catherine.
"North Dakota, Washburn. A more detailed point of arrival is not necessary because whatever arrived there will move away very soon".
"How many?" says Thomas
"One". (Thomas knows why John Henry said 'one' because he himself knows the amount of static and effect of their reading shows this to be the case).
Catherine says "I will warn John, you can call Jenny. Thank you John Henry".
Still in the fairground, John receives a call from Catherine. He knows it must be important, otherwise she would not call him.
"Sunday 8th February 2009"
"Hello Catherine, go ahead"
"We have a visitor of unknown proportions from the future. It is in Washburn, North Dakota and probably doesn't know who is here and even if you are alive, so we have that advantage.
Anything that hits the waves now might be detected by the entity, whether it's human or machine".
"I see, OK, no muddying the waters. I understand. Is Jenny there?"
"No but she has been informed".
"Thank you". "Ciao". The phone is cut off.
'Ciao!' he thinks.
Everything is OK for now and there is not any point in spoiling everybody's fun, so John continues as though nothing has happened. Allison was with him so he tells her.
It is getting late, so they need to head off back to Catherine's place and drop the children off. It is at this time that Sonia speaks to John and asks him to bring l-Ally back with Allison so that they can transfer all their data on to HDDs. She says "I need AllyAlly together for Cameron's benefit and peace of mind".
She tells him that Cameron sometimes browses the internet for ultrasonic modems but the only one available is at the Army research lab Cleveland OH vehicle technology directorate
it transmits acoustically and was first designed for the 2008 first robotics league competition for short-range communication - it sends a 2-bit message at a rate of 10 hz or higher.
"Is that any good for you?" he says. Sonia replies "we could modify it but the speed of data transfer is very slow and would take us a long time to accomplish our data downloads on to HDD".
"Well, it sounds a lot safer than taking out your chips. Can it be attached to a microphone?"
"I believe it can be done".
"I'll talk to Derek and see if he thinks he can get one for the future. Thanks".
Having dropped off the kids, except l-Ally, they follow Cameron to the vehicle hire depot and wait for her to drop the car keys through their letterbox, then they head off home.
John knows what they will be doing tonight and offers to stand guard for the 2 cyborgs but they decline. Cameron says "you need your sleep, we will be fine".
At 3pm on Monday 9th Feb '09, Cameron is first to have her chip extracted downstairs. Sonia attaches Jenny's reducer to the laptop with external HDD attached to it and downloads all the necessary data.
At 3.33pm the roles are reversed and another HDD is used.
4.23pm they are finished. Cameron can see that Sonia deleted her negative emotional panning.
Now that they both have their chips reinstalled, Sonia kisses Cameron on the forehead then goes outside to check that everything is OK without saying a word.
Cameron sets out the information in a readable and indexed form for John. She is careful to keep some of the information for occasions of hers and Sonia's choosing.
The morning eventually comes and John comes straight downstairs, anxious to know how they got on.
Cameron is there on the settee watching the TV news quietly. She smiles at John and says "why aren't you with Allison?" (she knew why).
"Because little Ally is in a strange bed and she had to be beside her. She thought there was something under the bed".
"Oh, what was it?" (Cameron still knows the truth).
"Cam, lots of children are scared of things that don't exist".
Just then, Sonia comes in and places her gun inside the kitchen cabinet then comes in to the sitting room.
Cameron says to her "what was that for?" "Oh, just to let you know that I am glad you are back. We are unique and I do not want to be like the dodo".
Cameron smiles back, John looks at them and just smiles without asking any questions. He liked what he heard but also felt some sadness.
-0-
Very soon, it is time to arrive at the school gates. Debbie is there to pick up little Ally.
Leila arrives and tells Cameron and Allison that her leg is not healing up and feels quite bad.
Cameron knows what to do and says "I will try and make you better, just like Sonia did for Lesley".
"Oh, that would be really great, I was kinda suspicious about that Lesley girly gettin' better quick. I assume you will be doin' some of the cyborg magic girlfriend!".
Cameron immediately says to John "get down, somebody might be searching for you". (she has seen an unknown vehicle parked by the entrance, which is quite expensive looking). John quickly goes to where his jeep is parked in a space as Cameron 'rats' to Sonia "take the steeriing wheel then drive them away from here". The 3 of them duck down and John gets out the driving seat keeping low and changes places with Sonia.
Riley and the others stare with surprise, which triggers Riley's automatic response and she quickly turns and walks away, which surprises the siblings and Leila even more.
As Sonia drives away, she pokes her head out the window to see Riley and beckons her to walk their way. She parks around the corner and Riley walks up looking very worried, as always when anything crops up.
Cameron has already explained everything to Sonia, who in turn asked her to go to school and try to listen in on any conversations.
Cameron goes through the gate and meets up with the siblings & Leila and explains that John's crowd completely forgot their gym clothes, including Riley.
Inside the school, she makes her way to the registrar's office to listen in. It is a man whose ID badge identifies him as Agent James Ellison, who is checking up on any occurrence of a 'John' with mother 'Sarah'.
"Purely routine" he says "but we are following up the ramblings of a deluded fool. We have to check it because of her priority status in our files".
The registrar says "we do have a 'John' but he is without doubt 16 years of age, never 24 as you think but who knows these days?"
"Do you have a picture of him?"
"Yes, wait here".
Ellison looks at the picture, is a little surprised and immediately recognises it but does not let on.
Cameron knows he will recognise it and makes her way out of the school with haste. Because the school is in 'lockdown', or perhaps better put: 'closed to intruders', many of the students are shocked by what happens next.
She goes out without responding to the security guard who is still there. Walks fast towards the gate, which is padlocked because of the guns scares. She grabs either side with her hands and pulls. The chains fly apart much to the horror of the remaining students. She breaks out in to a run, ratting to Sonia and very soon her signal is picked up.
"Get in" she shouts to Riley.
Sonia is in the driving seat and starts the engine. Cameron jumps in and they speed off as John and Allison start their frantic phone calls "they're on to us".
Sonia phones Lesley and says "do not say anything, tell Lionel not to either. I still love you and I will contact you as soon as we are safe". These words go in to Lesley's voicemail.
When they arrive home, Sarah and Derek are frantically loading many things which are held in their respective boxes/bags ready for quick getaways. Kacy is looking out of the window and witnesses the gravel being spilled across the front parking area, to see the jeep screech around to face the other way. Nobody in the jeep, Riley included, are frightened by Sonia's driving stunt.
They jump out and run indoors, Riley takes whatever she is handed. To her horror, Kacy sees 1 lady terminator come out of the house with 'a massive rifle' , as she swaps arms holding the baby.
Not long after that, when Sonia has completely & successfully downloaded her complete non-traceable virus in to the ISP, she comes out armed too with a laptop under her left arm, having already placed the mouse etc in to a box for Derek to grab. (John prefers a laser wifi mouse in preference to using the keypad).
There is some shouting.
Sarah using her phone to quickly tell Jenny to be 'vigilant'.
Sarah opens the box which contains all the money from Cameron and leaves $500 on the kitchen table in an envelope, rushes outside for the last time and follows the others down the drive causing gravel to fly, yet again.
It seems that an upmarket hotel will be their next stop off point. Sarah considers the price as she drives and realises that more money will be needed soon if they continue spending at high rates.
-0-
Jenny has had a good idea to instruct Ricci to call her on his mobile if anybody approaches the house. "Make sure that anything above ground that is TDE related is still undetectable" she says.
"If they approach, call me. If you do not call me for the 2nd time an hour later, I will know they are searching for us and ensure that somebody breaks you out Ricci, I promise. I know our situation changed naturally Ricci and we never actually discussed anything but we both know what happened. I promised Conny that we will not leave you if something happens. See you again soon my darling Ricci".
"Gracias" he says as Conny listens to her call with the speaker switched on.
"Oh, and one last thing Ricci, If everything is OK, I'll call you tonight, don't call me. Then we can speak, Conny too, of course. I'm still fond of you. If you need to call me, text 'how are the children?' and I will call you back, por favor".
"Si". end of call.
The kids are not at all excited by the action, they know that if they were in the tunnels this is what they would do and it is a very very serious matter. The 2011 elders seem puzzled.
Ricci understands their point of view and what they must be feeling at this moment in time.
Jenny thinks 'I wonder what Charlie's Angels and the rest are up to now?'
-0-
Next time, the first thing for John is to find accommodation, obviously. He also needs to get pledges from his resistance schoolmates.
All the 1984 data is evaluated with the USAF guys present to compare notes.
Sarah and John get emotional and she tells him more about what happened.
The worst thing is, the Thomas Cyborg. - who will it find first and what will it do.