"John" Cameron said as she stood outside the bedroom door. "Are you ready?"
"Yes," John Connor answered as he came out of his bedroom and looked at her.
"Good," said Cameron as she looked at him with her head cocked slightly in her analyzing pose. She then turned around and walked away. She heard the door slam behind her.
John looked at himself one more time in the mirror, ran his fingers through his hair, and picked up his backpack off the end of his bed. 'Another school, time to pretend to be someone else.' he thought to himself. 'Wonder if there would be any cute girls. Would love to have a girlfriend.' But he knew it would not be a reality this time. John hated his life. He was not some super leader for the future. He never asked for it. He wanted to be a normal kid. His mom was always training him and preparing him. Nothing was off limits from her constant training. Even a simple dinner turned in to a training session. Which foods to eat. Which to stay away from. How to take a part this gun or reassemble this gun. How to rewire technology. Constantly a training session.
All he wanted was a mom to tell him about girls. How to talk to them. How to make them laugh. How to tell him if they liked him or not. No, stuff like that was not for the great John Connor, savior of humanity. No, he had to lead. Show no emotion. He did not have room for romance. He felt so hollow inside. It was like he was trying to give up his humanity to save it.
He took one more look at himself in the mirror. He made sure he was inconspicuous as possible he needed to blend in. He ran his fingers through his hair one last time before heading out the door.
"Morning," John said as he walked into the kitchen. His mom was at the stove cooking pancakes. She always made pancakes when they were starting over. Reece was at the table cleaning his gun. Cameron was just standing near the window looking out it. Constantly on guard.
"Morning," his mom said as she put a stack of pancakes on the table and sat down. Reece moved his gun parts to the side and took two pancakes off the stack and put them on his plate.
"What is your name," his mother barked at him. She never let up on him. The constant drill instructor.
"John Smith," he stated filling his cup with coffee.
"Where are you from John," barked his mother again.
"I am from Paradise Falls, Ohio," stated John pouring maple syrup over his pancakes. He really was passed the petty stuff of why he was here. Who he was etc...? But his mom always went over the "basics".
"What brought you here to Beacon Hills, John," stated Reece this time. Reece normally did not go over the basics with him. This sudden interest from Reece threw him for a loop. He suspected that Reece knew he was answering the questions giving no thought to them.
"Well, after the terrorist attack at my old school my mom got scared and moved here," stated John in a bored voice he would not give Reece the satisfaction of knowing this was boring him.
"Why would she come here," asked Cameron this time.
"Yes, why would she come here?" asked Sarah while giving Cameron the 'I don't trust you look.'
"Because she is hiding me from killer robots that are trying to kill me. Because I am the great John Connor the savior of mankind," stated John shoveling a fork full of pancakes in his mouth.
"This is not what we discussed," stated Cameron.
"John this is no joke. You need to keep your guard up, always," stated Sarah. "One little slip up John and this will all be over. You will be dead; the world will be dead. I will be dead."
"Mom, I know the drill. We moved here from Paradise Falls, Ohio. My uncle and cousin joined us. My father died in Afghanistan while serving in the Marines," said John. "My mom worked at a flower shop in Ohio. She is now looking for a job. My uncle works in IT. We moved here to get away from some bad memories. Plus, my mom was freaked out by the accident at the school. I wasn't there that day, so I don't know what happened. My uncle can work from anywhere, so we came here. Good enough?"
"John what is wrong with you?" yelled his mom getting up.
"Nothing!" yelled John back while getting up and dropping is plate into the sink and grabbing his back pack and heading out the door." Cameron looked at Sarah then to Derek and then followed John out the door.
"Teenagers," said Derek and went back to eating his pancakes.
"This is not funny," said Sarah.
"You forget that John is a teenager," said Reece. "You had a life changing experience. He knows what is going on. But he is still a teenager."
Sarah looked at Reece. "I need to train him."
"Yes, you do," Reece said. "But, he is still a teenage boy. He is not interested in saving mankind. Right now, he is more interested in the fairer sex and trying to figure out how to approach girls."
"He does not have time for that," said Sarah.
"Do you remember when you were a teenager?" asked Reece.
Sarah thought for a moment. She tried to remember what it is like to be a teenager. All those hormones running through you. How things were confusing and trying to figure out who you were.
"What did you do in the future?" asked Sarah.
"We would have gotten the young man or woman laid," said Reece. "This way we could continue the war. Sex was something to continue humanity. There was little emotion in it. But, it does not have to be. John wants to be with someone he cares about."
"So, you think his behavior is all to do with his hormones?" asked Sarah.
"Would you like me to show you his internet history?" asked Reece.
"He doesn't have time for romance," said Sarah sadly.
"Yeah, but right now that is the only thing on his mind," said Reece as he put his guns back together.
