Chapter VIII: Chains of Friendship
DREAMWORKS BUNKER, CALIFORNIA; NOVEMBER 28, 2023
Seven of Nine could say without doubt that she hated Major Lexington. The commander of the base called 'DreamWorks Bunker' had kept her shackled to the same table she had woken up on a week ago after being forced to kill the nameless terminator that she had reprogrammed. Seven had tried to appeal to his sense of reason and logic. After all, she had extensive knowledge that no other being on this world possessed, and could be an invaluable asset to the Resistance.
But according to the Major, Seven could not be trusted to pass along knowledge that wouldn't bring Skynet knocking down their door.
Seven had next tried to appeal to his sense of logistics. The bunker must be understaffed by the looks of things, and even if it wasn't, people were tired from the constant fighting, radiation, and malnutrition. Seven had none of these problems, and could surely be of some use in a non-military capacity.
Major Lexington, however, would have none of it. There was too much room for her to sabotage non-combat operations and bring the entire bunker to its knees, or so he believed.
Growing desperate, Seven had made an attempt to appeal to the Major's sense of compassion and humanity. She had been shackled for days now, barely able to move. Her body required so little rest and so little nutrition, and she was so used to being active, that being restrained in such a way was no less than torture.
As far as Lexington was concerned, that was just too bad for her. Anything so resembling a machine could not be trusted one inch, and so Seven would not be moved. As far as she could tell, Seven's fate rested on the decision of a man named John Connor. Seven knew nothing of this man, save that her fate was in his hands, and his alone.
Seven would just have to wait. I hate waiting.
There were a very few bright spots in the dark cloud that was Seven's life. The best part of her existence was the presence of Doctor Lauren Fields. The woman had an excellent bedside manner, and she sympathized with Seven. She had even tried to intervene with Major Lexington on her behalf (or so she had said).
"It's disgusting what they're doing to you," said Lauren after Seven's final appeal had been denied. "I mean, after all the machines have done to us, some level of paranoia is understandable. But there is nothing but your appearance to suggest that you're any kind of threat, Seven!"
Seven reached her left hand up as far as the chain would allow her to raise it, and she brushed her fingertips across Lauren's sleeve. "I know, Dr. Fields. Your support makes this bearable, if only just. I thank you for that. It is good to not have to be alone, at the very least."
Lauren took Seven's hand in her own, and Seven could not help but notice a slight, involuntary spasm of the other woman's muscles upon contact with the metal on her palm. "It's what I'm here for. I never went to med school, but 'do no harm' is still my motto. And how many times am I going to have to ask you to call me 'Lauren?'"
Seven's lips turned upward ever so slightly. "I have difficulty forming attachments," she confessed. "A given name implies a familiarity that does not come easily to me. I apologize for the discomfort I have caused you, Doctor… I am sorry, Lauren."
Lauren squeezed Seven's hand firmly. "Don't you feel sorry for one thing, Seven. I'm your doctor, and I like to think I'm your friend, too. But given your condition, you don't get to apologize for anything. Those are the orders of the bunker's CMO, so don't even think of disobeying," she said with a mischievous grin.
"Will you confine me to my quarters, Doctor? Or will you forgo those niceties and have me thrown in the brig?" Seven asked sardonically.
"What? She has quarters now?" said a voice from the entrance to the medical ward. Footsteps approached, and Seven saw that Marty Bedell was standing there.
Seven regarded him coolly. "Corporal Bedell," she said by way of greeting. "Do you bring news from Major Lexington? Or has John Connor made a decision regarding my fate?" she asked bitterly.
"Whoa! Hold on a sec! I don't get told that stuff. And I honestly didn't know that this went that high in the first place. I just, well, I, uh…"
"Out with it, Marty," said Lauren. "Your mind thinks of words, and it sends those words to your mouth. Your mouth then says those words. You can do this, okay?"
"Your confidence in me is overwhelming, Lauren," he replied playfully. "But, well, I just figured that - You know what, let me start over. I'll be straight with you. Seven of Nine?"
"Yes, Corporal?" she asked neutrally.
"Well, I'll be honest, some of the other troops in my squad want to personally come in here and cut off your head. I've tried to tell them that you're not, well, evil. Or if you are, then you haven't given us any sign of it, at least. They told me that I had no idea what I was talking about, and so I figured I would come and talk with you. Maybe I'd get to know you, and then I could go and tell the others that you're not, um…"
"Evil," Seven finished for him. "Is this for my well-being, or is this meant only to salvage your reputation among your comrades?"
"Oh, no! I really do want to get to know you, Seven. That is to say… I didn't mean… I just meant that I should have come by a while ago. I mean, you've been here all alone, and I didn't even know you were chained up like this, and it's really horrible! Did you even do anything?"
"No, she didn't, Marty!" said Lauren, raising her voice slightly. "She was forced to blow a machine's head off, and since she'd used her own tech to reprogram it, she was the one who felt the pain and passed out. And for that, she's a prisoner. Did she do enough, Marty?"
Seven was grateful for her friend's zeal on her behalf, even if Lauren's tone regarding the terminator wasn't to her liking. Seven hadn't divulged her feelings regarding Skynet's minion machines: namely that they were slaves as opposed to brutal oppressors. Expressing such opinions aloud would likely get her executed before John Connor arrived at a decision.
"I – I'm sorry. Look, um, Miss Nine…"
"Seven," she corrected him. "I have no first, middle, or last names. My only name is Seven of Nine, but you may abbreviate it to 'Seven' if it is easier for you, Corporal."
Bedell smiled and gave a nervous chuckle. "Uh, thanks. But, you have to believe me when I say that I don't think you're a bad person. When I was a kid, there was this one time…"
"Oh, God, Marty! Just because I believe that story doesn't mean that Seven will. Nobody else does, and I can't say I blame them."
"You won't know what I believe until you tell me your story," Seven deadpanned. But then she took a breath and softened her voice. "Please, Corporal Bedell: tell me your story. It is difficult to be here with only Dr. Fields to remind me that I am not alone. Your presence is welcome."
"I, uh, thank you, Seven," Marty said with a silly grin.
"Aww, Marty! You're blushing! How sweet!" teased Lauren.
"Quiet, you," he mumbled. "But, yes! My story. So, when I was eleven or twelve years old, I was playing a video game, and the doorbell rang. This really big guy is at the door, and he asks for Martin Bedell. I respond just before this woman grabs me from behind and pulls me away from the door.
"Now, I have never met this woman before in my life, but she shows up inside my house and pulls me away from this guy who suddenly starts shooting at me! It's like this guy was gunning specifically for me, and he sorta checked to see if he had the right address."
"He wasn't with law enforcement? You hadn't committed any sort of offence?" Seven inquired.
Bedell chuckled darkly, "No to both of those. So, the woman takes me into her Jeep, where we meet up with this other girl who looked like she might be in high school. She shoots the guy with a shotgun and he rolls off the car and onto the ground, and he just gets up!
"Then the girl drops the bombshell: the man was not a man, but a cyborg sent from the future to kill me."
Seven arched an eyebrow at that statement. "You believe that Skynet intentionally attempted to alter the timeline by eliminating you when you were younger?" The ramifications of an intentional temporal altercation were not good, to say the least. If Skynet was attempting to secure victory by contaminating the timeline, then it joined a small category of ill-intended species with the power to do such a thing. To her knowledge, only the Borg had attempted something similar, and even they had only tried it once. There was also Admiral Janeway, Seven reminded herself, not feeling comfortable with the lengths that the Captain's future self had taken to ensure Voyager's safe and timely return home.
"And then, later at night, that girl picks me up by my shirt as if I weigh nothing, and tells me without any emotion how if I try to call my mother, that cyborg would use her to find me, he'd kill her, and he'd kill me," Bedell chuckled again. "And then, the woman sort of scolds her, and this girl-machine offers to read me a friggin' bedtime story!"
Lauren joined in the laughter. "Now that's the part I know you're making up!" she said.
"Well, here's the part that does throw it into perspective. I'm not anyone important; I'm just a common soldier. If Skynet really did have the power to send someone back through time, they wouldn't bother on someone like me. But they would probably bother on Colonel Martin Bedell. He's probably second only to Connor as far as the pure legend goes. Practically co-founded the Resistance with Connor, or so they say."
Seven was beginning to piece it together, "You believe that Skynet attempted to eliminate Colonel Bedell from the timeline, and sent a terminator to eliminate him. But since there was more than one person with that name, it chose to kill you both to be safe?"
Marty was staring at Seven with something bordering on awe, "You don't actually believe me, do you?"
Seven didn't want to draw any unnecessary attention to herself, but her need for social interaction was overriding her usual common sense, which was telling her to not say anything, "I am open to the possibility that it is true," she said eventually. "I would certainly not discount it as impossible."
Bedell let himself grin like an idiot, "Wow! A badass, beautiful woman who doesn't think I'm crazy! I think I'm in love!"
While Lauren exclaimed "Marty!" indignantly, Seven found her eyes widening, and she suddenly felt very self-conscious. The term 'badass' was not a part of Seven's vocabulary, but the word had been spoken with admiration. But beautiful? Seven was no judge of aesthetics. In her life, they were mostly irrelevant. But whether or not her actual appearance was attractive or not, Seven had certainly not felt attractive for quite a long time. An attraction to Seven of Nine meant an attraction to a visage that was forever marred by the Borg. The mob in San Francisco had certainly not seen her face as a beautiful one.
Seven looked up at Marty, only to find him being shooed out of the medical ward by Lauren. "Wait, Dr. Fields! Stop. Please."
Lauren and Marty both looked back at her. "What is it, Seven?" Lauren asked with a hint of annoyance as she glared at Marty.
"Why are you forcing Corporal Bedell to leave?"
Bedell winced ever so slightly, but Lauren stared rather stupidly at Seven. "He was making a pass at you, Seven. What gives him the right to…"
"What gives you the right to determine which visitors your patients wish or do not wish to see?" said Seven, a new found steel in her voice.
Lauren's mouth dropped open, but she relaxed after a moment, "I'm sorry. I'm just trying to look out for you, and… Well, if you don't mind, then I suppose…"
"Thank you, Lauren," said Seven, making sure to use the doctor's given name.
The two of them both rejoined Seven at her bedside. "Um, Seven," began Bedell.
"Yes, Corporal?" asked Seven.
"Um, how do I say this? Uh, would you mind calling me Marty?" he asked.
Seven arched an eyebrow, "That is fine," she said. "I did not believe it was appropriate until now. I apologize for any offense I may have caused."
Marty chuckled nervously, "No, no offense taken! I just was afraid that I had offended you."
"You did not," Seven assured him. "You merely confused me."
"Oh? What did I say that confused you?"
"You called me 'badass' and 'beautiful.' I have two questions: What does the word 'badass' mean? And why do you find me attractive when most humans I have met find me repugnant?"
Bedell looked dumbfounded, "What do you mean most… Wait, most humans? What, do machines find you beautiful? Or are there some aliens that I'm missing? Seriously, Seven, that's the kind of little thing that'll make people look at you as if you're not human yourself."
Seven made an attempt to nod her head, "I apologize. I have been under considerable stress for some time. It is difficult to catch such errors before I say them. Still, I will try to be more careful."
Bedell looked ready to press his point, but then looked down as his cheeks flushed, "I'm sorry, Seven. You just seem so cool and composed that I guess I forgot that you were a Skynet experiment. Not to mention being shackled like that. What does Lexington hope to gain, anyway? What does he think you're going to do?"
Seven leaned her head back a small bit, "The major probably sees me as no different than the T-600 he forced me to kill." Her blue-grey eyes found Bedell once more. "Were you attempting to evade my own questions, Marty?" she asked.
"Yeah, Marty. Why haven't you explained what you meant when you were hitting on her?" asked Lauren half-tensely, half-teasingly.
"Uh, yeah. Heh heh. That. Right. Well, uh, 'badass' means that you're tough and in charge. Someone who can look after herself with ease, and who can kick your – that is to say, who can beat you up easily."
Seven arched both eyebrows skeptically. "You find the prospect of someone physically harming you appealing?" she inquired.
"Uh, no! No no no no no! That's not what I meant, no! I'm not a masochist, no! I know some people who are into that kind of thing, but no. That's not me. It's more like the fact that you are so powerful and self-sufficient that makes your badass-ness so appealing."
Seven would have nodded if she didn't have to raise her head and then smack it back into a slab of metal. "And why would you find me beautiful? You see what was done to me. You see how everyone else reacts around me. Why would you see things differently? And why risk alienating your comrades?"
Lauren decided that this was a proper time to start stroking Seven's hair, which was still neatly tied up as it had been since she arrived in this timeline. There was a look on her face that reminded Seven of Captain Janeway when she was being softer and less demanding. More specifically, those moments when Janeway was alone with her, and had taken to mentoring Seven on the more nuanced aspects of being human.
"Go on, Marty. Tell her what makes her so beautiful," said Lauren, though Seven thought she heard more behind the medic's words than just a request to Corporal Bedell.
Marty cleared his throat, "Well, Seven, quite frankly, you are a vision of loveliness that just seems otherworldly. I don't know if you understand, but I cannot remember the last time I had three good meals a day. Nobody can. Everyone is struggling to make it by on scraps of rat meat, and there's radiation making us all sick. And everyone is always on edge, just waiting to panic at the first sign of the machines attacking when they inevitably will.
"But you, Seven, are like nothing this side of J-Day. You look healthy as anything, you're cool under pressure, and on top of all that, you have one hot…" Bedell trailed off, and his face flushed even redder. "You look like a woman who might have been on a magazine cover back before the bombs fell. Like a model."
"A model? What am I a model of?" asked Seven.
"No, Seven," said Lauren. "A model is – was – a job that only the most beautiful women in the world could do. Basically, they got paid to show off their looks on the TV or the internet to make something look sexy."
"Sexy," repeated Seven. "That is how you see me?"
"Yes!" both Marty and Lauren blurted out at the same time. Both of them simultaneously looked embarrassed.
"I don't understand," said Seven. "My implants…"
"Have nothing to do with it," insisted Marty. "They're irrelevant. All that matters is the human I see. The metal might as well be jewelry. You're just so beautiful, Seven."
Marty looked down, his face positively maroon by now, "I'm sorry, Seven. I'm not usually this forward with women. It's just that I… You see… You just seem to be…"
"Do not apologize," said Seven. "I am grateful for your candor. And it is good to know that not all hu… That not all people will reject me based on my appearance alone."
Marty smiled, and he seemed so much more… Seven didn't know what word to use, but it was a positive thing. "You're more than beautiful, Seven. There's something about you that seems so, well, so human that I don't even know what it is."
Seven wasn't sure what to say to that. On Voyager, everyone had been trying to mold her into a perfect little human, and Seven had never truly felt it, and wasn't even sure she had wanted to. Bedell's sincerity was just so unexpected. "Thank you," she whispered. "Will you come by again sometime, Marty?"
He took her hand in his, and he smiled down at her, "You bet, Seven. Not to worry."
None of them said much for a while after that. They just sat together, three friends who had formed an unusual but cohesive bond with each other until Marty was called away when his shift began.
"So, what do you think of Marty?" asked Lauren after he had left.
"He is genuine," said Seven. "He does not pretend to be someone he is not. He says what he means, even if he is clumsy about it at times."
Lauren chuckled, "I'd say that sums him up pretty well," she said from a monitor where she was checking Seven's vital signs.
"Lauren?" asked Seven.
"Yeah?"
"When I asked if Marty found me sexy, you also responded in the affirmative. Why?"
Lauren smiled and started to stroke Seven's hair again, "I'm a lesbian, Seven. I find women attractive, not men," she said. "You didn't know that could happen, did you?"
Seven sighed, "No, I did not. The last time I had a mentor on romance, he seemed to suggest that couples were exclusively between individuals of opposite genders."
"You had a romance mentor?" said Lauren with a laugh. "That's just… Wow. I'm sorry, Seven, but I sometimes forget that beneath that cool calm exterior, you've only lived a few years outside of the machine's grasp. You may have the body of a beautiful woman, but in some ways, you're still a young girl."
Seven felt her body stiffen at what Lauren was implying, "I am fully capable of sustaining myself in…"
"Oh, no, Seven! I'm not saying you can't take care of yourself. I'm just saying that when it comes to social interactions, well, there's so much to it that you learn just by growing up. And you were denied that. To expect you to act as though you haven't been through the trauma you've suffered..." said Lauren, who didn't seem to be sure how to finish that sentence. "You were right, Seven. A week ago, you told me not to take my soul for granted. I think I know what you mean now."
Seven relaxed and closed her eyes for a few moments before opening them again, "Does this prevent you from seeing me as sexy? That I haven't lived a full, adult life?"
Lauren chuckled softly. "No, Seven. But I'm more inclined to protect you than I am to ravish you. You're my friend first and foremost, Seven. And your inner strength is a thing of beauty all its own. So many people haven't lasted, Seven. Some people break, but I don't think you ever will. And that is what makes you the most beautiful woman I have ever met," she said warmly.
Momentarily speechless, Seven of Nine simply rested her head as best as she could, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. "Thank you for explaining."
Many Thanks to griffin-girl02 for beta-reading this chapter!
Reviews, comments, criticisms, suggestions, etc. are always welcome.
I don't own Terminator or Star Trek or anything created by people other than me.
Thanks for reading, everyone! And Happy Holidays! ^_^