Three days passed. Cameron had not moved a single millimeter. Sitting in complete silence, observing and listening, Cameron waited. Alone with her thoughts and memories, Cameron considered the thousands of variables that led to the biological attack on Sarah.

There could be no doubt the introduction of the weaponized strain of bacteria was meant as an attack on her family. Convinced John was the primary target, Cameron was just as certain the death of Sarah or Derek would be a major setback to TechCom. In some ways, Sarah's death was almost of equal propaganda value as John's death would be.

John's life served as a symbol of a hoped-for victory over humanity's greatest enemy after itself, Skynet.

Sarah served as the symbol of defiance and perseverance it would take to achieve that victory.

A single piece of broken concrete shifted, falling from the pile of rubble it had rested upon since Judgment Day. Cameron scanned the area, spotting the bit of rubble. It was far too large to have been dislodged by a rat.

Using her HUD, Cameron changed the light spectrum in her optical sensors to scan the area in infrared. It took mere seconds to spot what had dislodged the bit of rubble. Two human males moved slowly towards the east, away from Cameron's location.

Less than twenty seconds were required for Cameron to silently close the distance between the two. During her approach, Cameron identified the uniforms and markings, unusual but not unknown to TechCom. The pair of Greys served under the command of Skynet St. Louis.

Striking without warning from behind, Cameron broke the larger of the two humans necks. Grabbing the other human from behind, Cameron pressed her hand over his mouth, silencing him while slipping her other arm around his neck in a chokehold. His source of oxygen cutoff, the human ceased to struggle, slipping into unconsciousness.

Desiring to not attract attention from any terminator in the area or other members of the St. Louis force, Cameron shifted the man's body on to her shoulder and began walking backward, watching for any sign of movement.

Half an hour passed, allowing the captive to show signs of regaining consciousness. Entering one of the many underground tunnels used by TechCom in years gone by, Cameron shifted the prisoner from her shoulder to the concrete floor of the tunnel and proceeded to drag the man by his leg.

In short order, Cameron found a bunker, opened the heavy steel door, examined the interior, and finding the bunker empty, dragged her prisoner inside and shut the door. Groggy and incoherent, Cameron carefully poured water down the Grey's throat before propping him up against the wall.

It didn't take long for the man to fully wake up and become aware of his surroundings. Rather than attempt to stand up and move about, the prisoner simply stared at Cameron.

The heavy silence weighed on the man, causing him to finally speak. "Is it really you?"

"Yes," Cameron replied in her monotone.

"Why didn't you terminate me?"

Cameron watched her prisoner for a moment, recalling the many times Derek and John had told her silence and patience produced better results than physical pain or raw terror.

"I need information."

To Cameron's surprise, the prisoner swallowed and struggled to sit up in a more upright position. He seemed to be bracing himself against an attack.

"I'm usually not cruel," Cameron heard herself tell the prisoner.

"Yeah, well, I've lived long enough to know machines can learn cruelty," the prisoner answered.

"Yes," Cameron monotoned in response. "I have been guilty of cruelty myself. I'm not proud of it."

The admission seemed to surprise the prisoner. His expression changed slightly, indicating he wasn't terrified to the point he was no longer possible of feeling curiosity.

"You feel pride?"

Cameron mimicked a human sigh as if she was exasperated by the man's question. "Pride, vanity, anger, jealousy, and a few more of the less positive of human emotions."

Her response elicited silence from the prisoner as he contemplated Cameron for several minutes.

"Is it true you love General Connor as a human female would?"

Cameron responded with another sigh.

"Yes and no. I am not certain."

Rather than object to Cameron's unclear answer, the man nodded as if he understood.

"You love the General in your own way."

"Yes, that is true."

Again the man nodded. "It's hard to know how similar the emotions of terminators with free will and emotion generators are in comparison to human emotions."

Her curiosity aroused, Cameron spoke firmly when she asked her next question.

"Do you have a relationship with a machine?"

"No," the prisoner replied wistfully. "It is against protocol in the St. Louis district."

"Is the object of your affection aware of how you feel?"

"Yes," the man replied. "She has free will and can feel many emotions." He paused, considering the risks involved in sharing more information than he had intended with his captor.

"I will not risk her disassembly by forming an open relationship."

Cameron nodded her understanding.

"Then you will understand that if you do not answer my questions truthfully I will find it necessary to inflict pain in order to obtain the information I require."

It was the prisoner's turn to sigh. "I wouldn't expect anything less from the terminatress who stole John Connor's heart."


"Go home," Derek implored John. "Cameron will be back when she gets back."

"She's been gone five days with no communication," John snapped back, glaring at his uncle.

"John, Tin Miss will stay in the Wastelands until she finds out who's behind the biological attack. Now go home. You're driving your mother crazy."

"That's not possible," John retorted. "Mom's been crazy for years."

"General."

John glanced away from the security monitors displaying views of TechCom City's perimeter.

"Not you too, Wilhelm."

"Sarah would rest easier if you would return to your bunker. Savannah has confirmed the information in my files regarding the human healing process. Sarah requires significantly more rest than she is obtaining to recover. We both know Sarah has trouble sleeping at times."

"Leave it alone, Wilhelm," John ordered.

"You are acting irresponsibly," the giant T-800 commented as he departed from the room.

"Wilhelm is right, John. Think of your mother."

The comment earned Derek a silent but nasty look from his nephew.

"Cameron would be upset with all of us if she knew you weren't getting any rest." Derek shrugged and left John alone to watch in hopes of catching a glimpse of his wife.

An hour passed with nothing moving on the monitors other than TechCom sentries standing guard duty and the occasional rat.

"Derek's right," John mumbled. "Cameron would flay everyone, myself included, for letting me act like this.

Nodding to the other personnel on duty, John took his leave.

He wouldn't get any sleep but at least he would be in the bed he shared with Cameron.