Unable to keep the smile that keeps tugging across her face from appearing exiting out of the gas station feeling his hand firmly in his own looking up from their joined hands and towards their parked truck instantly as she sees Sarah looking over in her direction from the tailgate of the truck with an almost unreadable face tilting her head slightly looking back down towards the ground suddenly as she hears the sound of footsteps approaching looking back up without having a chance to respond instantly Cameron watches the older woman make her way past her sending her a quick loathing look before she watches her disappear inside of the side room connected to gas station.
" I don't think your mother likes me anymore."
Turning his attention away from the closed side door and back over towards Cameron feeling her hand leaving his own suppressing his urge to chuckle John watches her make her way over to the pump before he takes a seat on the tailgate as he sees her unloading the gas nozzle from a nearby pump.
" Well you did just drop a bombshell on us. You can't help but be a little shocked hearing the future that you thought you had prevented was still a go.
She just needs a little time to process everything and then she'll be fine. Trust me. One thing that i know about my mom. She always plans ahead."
" I suppose so. How are you holding up."
Casually shrugging his shoulders reaching into the bag next to him gently John retrieves a bag of chips from within and opens the bag before he lets out a sigh.
" Honestly, I can't say that i'm not surprised."
Gently nudging the nozzle into the gas tank with a look of interest coming across her face looking up towards John seeing him looking towards the highway before she tilts her head slightly.
" It was too easy. Retrieving the remaining parts from the first terminator that attacked my mom. Finding Skynet's creator so quickly. It was just too easy to believe that we truly stopped it."
" Who was it? The person that you thought created Skynet? It was never known in my time who the creator of Skynet truly was. There was theories and rumors but they were just that. Theories and rumors."
" Miles Dyson. He was this leading scientist and director of special section labeled Special Projects for Cyberdyne Systems.
He helped lead us into the building to retrieve the terminator parts but when we tried to escape he was gunned down by a swat team that just open fired on us."
Seeing John reaching into his bag to grab a chip looking up towards the sky as she goes through her databanks for the name Miles Dyson to only come up empty a frown comes across Cameron's face.
" I'm not familiar with that name. I do know this though. Miles Dyson was not responsible for creating Skynet."
Stopping himself in mid motion from taking another bite out of the bag looking over towards Cameron seeing her looking up with a tilted head gently John places the bag of chips down on his lap.
" Are you sure? Uncle Bob said that he was mainly responsible for Judgment Day happening."
Turning her head away from the sky to look back towards John slowly Cameron tilts her head slightly as she locks eyes with him.
" I'm positive. Miles Dyson was not responsible in the creation of Skynet. He might have in another timeline before you and your mother changed the timeline when he destroyed the remains of the first terminator.
When you did that everything changed. The whole timeline changed. For all we know it could be his son that creates Skynet or i could be an employee that worked under him that just merely copied his work.
There is thousands of possibilities. We will just have to check every last one of them."
Nodding his head reaching back into his bag slowly John retrieves a chip and takes a bite unaware that Cameron is watching his every move with a small smile on her face.
" John? Who is Uncle Bob? I didn't know you had an existanting family members still alive."
Feeling his lips tugging upward swallowing down his bite slowly John shakes his head as he looks over towards the gas station seeing his mother's retreating back enter the station.
" He isn't. Well, I guess you can say he's extended family. He was the terminator that i sent back to protect my younger self."
" Oh that Uncle Bob. The T-800 that you sent back after T-1000. An interesting choice on your part. I never liked having to deal with those little bastards.
I could kill them over and over again but they would just reform every single time. They were like a bad rash that just didn't want to go away."
Doing his best to suppress his laughter covering his mouth with his free hand after a few seconds as a smile comes across his face slowly John looks back towards Cameron seeing her grinning at him.
" Well it's true. There was this one time that i lodged a grenade into one's midsection only for it to just slowly reform in a giant puddle. I almost died of boredom just watching it piece itself back together."
Instantly as she hears John bursting out laughing feeling her lips tugging upwards slowly making her way around the truck to sit on the tailgate next to him reaching out gently Cameron lays her hand down on top of his own.
" We'll find a way to stop it. I promise."
Feeling his hand being gently squeezed returning the smile slowly John nods his head before he glances down towards their joined hands.
" What model are you? Are you new? You seem different."
Keeping her eyes locked on his own feeling her smile only widening reaching over gently Cameron retrieves a chip out from the bag in his hand.
" I am."
Instantly as he sees Cameron taking a bite of the chip in her hand for her face to only cringe as though she had just eaten something sour a grin forms across John's face.
" God how can you stand those things. I mean barbeque chips? Really John? We're out in the middle of a desert."
Yep she's different alright.
Feeling his grin only widening picking up the bag of chips slowly John waives the bag in front of Cameron's face causing her to look towards him with a raised eyebrow.
" You know you wanna."
Rolling her eyes as she sees the bag getting closer and closer to her face reaching out gently Cameron pushes John causing him to lose his balance slightly and fall on his side on the tailgate with a shocked look across his face causing her to let out a giggle before without having a chance to react instantly she lets out a laugh when she sees him snapping himself upright to pull her close to his side tickling his side.
" Stop! Stop, I give! I give!"
Opening up the entrance doors to only feel a wave of heat hit her in the face hearing the sound of laughter coming from the truck repositioning the bag in her hand turning her attention over towards the truck as she sees her son smiling down towards his protector that seems to be returning the smile as he unmercifully attacks her side causing her to laugh unable to resist a small smile comes across Sarah's face.
A smile that she can't help but keep as she stares at her son's smiling face in total silence. Smiling at how happy he looks. Smiling at how in the last few months for the first time she could say that he was truly happy.
All thanks to this girl. This cybernetic girl. A girl that within hours has turned their lives upside down. A girl that has been on her mind for hours as she sat silently next to her son with his hand within her own.
A machine that was showing so many emotions. Emotions that shouldn't have been possible. Not from a machine anyways.
Yet she was showing it. Just like she was now. Showing how happy she was with her son as she attempts to fight back by chasing her son around the truck to only tackle him down and start to tickle his sides causing him to burst out laughing.
A machine that although a part of her was screaming that this wasn't possible from her past experiences she was putting on the backburner just observing what she is seeing.
Just like she had done a few years prior. Had observed what Uncle Bob was like around John. Seeing how the machine tried to understand all of the silly things that her son had tried to teach him.
Things that although he couldn't do in the end he did understand them. He did understand what they were feeling. Especially her son's last moments with him.
How the machine so softly wiped away the lone tear from John's cheek. Something that was so human like that would leave people speechless if said it came from a machine.
A machine that had made the ultimate sacrifice to ensure their safety. To ensure her safety on more than one occasion.
The very same traits that she could see in the young cybernetic girl in front of her. See how she would do anything to protect her and her son. Maybe more so her son than her.
A machine that deep down she knew was more than a machine. Just because of this. Just because of the emotions that she was showing right here and now.
The very same emotions that have always been there. Emotions that shouldn't be possible coming from her. But they were happening. They were as clear as day making her an enigma for her to solve.
Adjusting the light in front of him to get a clear shot at her exposed back seeing her back blood stained with blood still trickling out slowly from her gunshot wounds clutching the pliers tightly in his hand taking a deep breathe being as gentle as possible leaning forward slowly John presses the ends into a bullet wound causing to his shock him to hear Cameron letting out a hiss before in a sudden motion he pulls the ends out of look at the back of her head with concern.
" You okay Cam?"
Looking up from the ground as she sees to her shock Cameron nodding her head while she grits her teeth slowly Sarah sits up from her seat to look at her.
" I'm fine. Just give me a second. I need to turn that part of my system off."
Nodding his head awaiting in silence after a few seconds as he watches Cameron nod her head taking a deep breathe slowly John goes back to work on the bullet wound.
" Can you feel this?"
Gently tugging at the slug he feels at the ends of the pliers looking up to her face instantly John's eyes widen when he sees her nodding her head.
" I can. Other model terminators would label it just as pain. I however can feel it if, I don't turn off some of my sensors."
" So….whenever you get shot and your sensors are still on…."
" It hurts like hell? Yes, I can't die. Especially from bullets like this but it doesn't mean that i don't feel them nonetheless."
" Then how do you deal with it?"
" By not getting shot?"
Fighting back the urge to chuckle keeping her face masked of any emotions sitting up straighter Sarah locks eyes with Cameron as she sees her turning to look in her direction.
" What years are you from?"
" 2027."
" How long have you been looking for us?"
" I haven't."
Taking the slug out from her wound glancing up towards the back of her head with interested eyes slowly John goes to work on the next bullet wound he sees.
" Wait? So if you haven't been looking for us then how did you know where to find us?"
" You told me."
Feeling the slug at the ends of the pliers with slightly wide eyes John looks up towards the back of her head.
" I told you?"
" Yep. You gave me the exact time and date when you would arrive. I just needed to be there and poof there you were."
Fighting back the urge to grin nodding his head slowly John continues his work on her back as he sees her turning her head back forward out of the corner of her eye.
" And the war? What happened?"
" The Skynet missile defense system went online on April 19, 2011. The system declares war on all of mankind and triggers a nuclear apocalypse two days later."
" And Miles Dyson?"
" He doesn't create Skynet. Someone else does. Before you ask, I don't know who creates Skynet."
" You don't know who builds the computer that blows up the world?"
Hearing the tone in his mother's voice biting down on his lower lip gently John takes out another slug before he turns his attention towards another wound.
" I didn't come here for that. Trust me if i knew who created Skynet, I would have taken care of it long ago so we wouldn't be in this mess.
I would have just taken a little trip out of town to pay them a visit and then get back home just in time for supper. However, I don't know who creates Skynet so i can't do that now can i?"
Suppressing his urge to grin gently John wedges the ends of the pliers into the last of her gunshot wounds in her back.
" No you were sent here to keep my son from being assassinated."
" Yes and no. I did come back to prevent John from ever being hurt. I won't lie about that. However, I also came back in hopes of ensuring a better future.
And you need to be more careful in the future."
" Excuse me?"
" You heard me. The terminator that we just encountered. How do you think he found you? I'll tell you how. Your fiance went to the police. You should've changed your alias.
Instead you left a trail for any terminator to follow back to you and John."
" Go to hell."
Snapping his eyes up to look towards the back of her head as he imagines the furious look across Cameron's face quickly taking out the remaining slug reaching up gently John lays a hand down on her shoulder.
" I've already have and for your sake, I hope you never have to live a day seeing it."
Glancing over towards John as she sees him glaring at her from his spot on the ground rubbing her tired eyes slowly Sarah shakes her head.
" What is your mission then?"
" I don't have one."
" You don't have one Cam? I thought all terminators needed one or they would shut down or something?"
Glancing over her shoulder seeing a look of interest across John's face feeling her lips curling up reaching up gently she lays her hand on top of his own.
" They do but i'm not like most terminators. I'm different."
" I don't understand. What do you mean you don't have one? All of your kind have some sort of mission. Mostly consisting of something to do with my son."
Snapping her head back forward as she sees Sarah looking up towards her with interest other than the loathing look she was expecting to see feeling her facial features softening slowly Cameron nods her head.
" While that may be true like i said. I'm different. Almost every other model terminator are given a main mission objective fresh out of the factory to terminate John whenever they are presented the opportunity.
However while this is a objective they are all developed with others will be given other objectives to achieve first before going on standby to wait for further orders."
" Is that what happened to you Cam?"
" Sort of. It's a long story that i'll tell you later. Are you finished?"
Glancing over her shoulder as she sees him nod his head towards her retracting her hand from his own slowly she reaches over her shoulder to extend her hand out to him.
" I can take care of the ones in front. You're gonna need to buy me atleast dinner first before you get to do those ones."
Instantly seeing a blush coming across his face grinning down towards him gently taking the pliers out from his outstretched hand turning her attention to look down towards her chest slowly Cameron starts to take a slug out of her chest.
" How do we stop it?"
Letting out a sigh that doesn't go unheard by the other occupants in the room shaking her head slowly Cameron takes out the slug and deposits it on the ground before moving on to the next bullet wound.
" I don't think it can be. It can be delayed. That part is clear to me. I think no matter what though Judgment Day is inedible."
Depositing another slug down onto the ground glancing over her shoulder as she sees John looking down towards the ground with a defeated look reaching around gently Cameron lays a hand down on his shoulder.
" But that is only the logical side of me that thinks this way. In theory it is inedible. However, I have to believe that there is some way that we can stop it."