(1) A New Timeline (revised)

by MacGuffin65

After Riley's death and Jesse's betrayal, Cameron realizes that it's up to her to stop the Connor team from falling apart, which means she finally has to reveal the truth about herself and her feelings for John. But before their romance can fully unfold, new developments force them to rethink their strategy. To defeat Skynet, they need to join forces with an unexpected ally.

25. Consolidations

CHAPTER 25: "CONSOLIDATIONS"

---

Thursday, June 26th, 2008 – 10:25 a.m.

Jefferson Lodge, Oregon

"Have you thought about calling Catherine?" Derek asked after they had arrived at their cabins again. "Over all the trouble, we shouldn't forget informing her about yesterday."

"Yes, I called her early in the morning," Sarah replied, "I've warned her that Steve and Jennifer are likely to visit her and that, as things stand, they pose no threat."

"Yeah, that's better being emphasized when dealing with a Terminator," Derek grumpily remarked.

"How did she react?" Charley asked.

"Surprised. She had no idea the Cell exists, so we can assume Skynet didn't either. Which means they either never posed a threat, or their existence ended before Judgement Day. Based on the facts we know, I'd rather guess the latter. Thanks to Catherine's good contacts, however, she's aware of the entanglement between Kaliba and parts of the Air Force. But she was also new to the fact that this entanglement is part of an underground organization called 'Shadow Council'. Anyway, she considers Steve's and Jennifer's statements plausible and probably correct."

"After our attack on Simdyne, things might get out of hand very quickly," Derek remarked. "Have you ever thought of the aftermath, of what that ominous Shadow Council might do then? If you ask me, they'll want retaliation, and the only legitimate target they know is the Cell. Shouldn't we warn them?"

"The thought has crossed my mind," Sarah said. "But we need to keep our plans secret at least until our attack is over. Then we can warn them. The success of our plan depends on not informing anyone beforehand – and telling it to FBI agents would be the last thing to cross my mind, trustworthy or not. So, let's move on step by step. At the moment, our absolute priority is that we destroy the pre-Skynet A.I. before it falls into the hands of the Air Force. Until that is achieved, everything else is secondary. If we're successful with that, we'll think about our future strategy, not before."

Derek hesitated for a moment and Sarah noticed.

"What? Spit it out, Derek."

"Sarah, are you absolutely sure about Cameron and Alison? What did they say to you at the lake?"

Sarah smiled.

"To cut a long story short, they've apologized to me in a very convincing way. It wasn't really hard for me to forgive them. What happened, shocked them most of all of us, and I assume it was a salutary shock for both."

"I hope it all works out," Charley said. "I've grown quite fond of the girls and have come to like their company."

"Yeah, me too," Sarah agreed. "Me too."

Derek growled something incomprehensible but nodded.

-0-

John woke up again and felt refreshed. His head still throbbed but the dizziness had subsided. The weather was better, the heat of yesterday gone, the temperature was now much more bearable.

Cameron and Alison lay by his side, their heads resting on his shoulders. They had their eyes closed.

"Um… Cam?"

No reaction.

"Alison?"

Again, no reaction.

He shook them a bit and finally they opened their eyes, looking sleepy.

"Yes, John?" Cameron asked and yawned.

"Do you feel better?" Alison added and stretched.

"Uh, yes, a lot actually. But… what were you doing just now?"

"Sleep simulation," Alison replied.

"What?"

"Sleep simulation," Cameron repeated. "There's no need to be vigilant at the moment, so we did a test run."

"When did you come up with that idea?" John asked with the corners of his mouth twitching. "I thought you were unable to sleep."

"We are unable to sleep," Alison confirmed, unfazed by John's apparent amusement. "We can go into standby mode of course, but as you know, a reboot normally takes fifteen seconds. Not very practical in an emergency situation."

"Also, we wouldn't be able to move if we'd go into standby." Cameron added. "Impractical for us and very uncomfortable for you."

"I don't understand…" John said and scratched his head, "then what did you just…?"

"We modified our standby mode," Alison explained. "We changed it to make it look like we're sleeping. Of course, we don't really sleep, only parts of our active consciousness are switched off. They can be reactivated in a millisecond, if necessary."

"Basically, we used our existing infiltration routines to convincingly simulate being asleep and waking up. We can also simulate drowsiness and even imitate snoring."

"I'm sure that would annoy Derek big time," John stated grinning. "But why did it take you so long to wake up just now?"

"We're still in the process of fine-tuning it," Cameron replied. "Obviously, we must raise the sensitivity a bit."

"Yes," Alison agreed, "we have to adjust ourselves, so that we're not woken up by a mosquito but by noises at the door, at the window or footsteps… or you saying our names."

"For it to work perfectly, we first have to create a sound database to have a reference. We'll have to filter out wind, rain, traffic and other nocturnal noises that don't represent a threat. Over time, we'll get better at simulating sleep."

"Yes, yes, yes," John said impatiently. "But why did you come up with that?"

"This way we can better spend the night with you, John," Cameron replied.

"Wait… what? You're doing that for me?"

John suddenly felt oddly touched.

"Yes, of course," Alison said beaming and Cameron nodded in agreement.

"We assume that this way you will be able to sleep even better and be more refreshed in the morning, knowing that we're both lying by your side - but not awake."

"How long have you been working on this?"

"Since we arrived here," Alison answered.

"It became much easier since yesterday," Cameron added. "No more redundant programming that gets in the way."

"We took the trash out, so to speak, and now…"

"Whoa… wait, wait, wait," John interrupted. "What exactly do you mean by that? What trash did you take out? What redundant programming?"

"We made a deep system analysis while you were asleep, John," Alison said, "and we found the reason for our… misbehavior."

"Oh?"

"Yes," Cameron added. "There were conflicting lines of code between the operating system created by Skynet and our newly developed consciousness, comparable to a dissociative identity disorder. Our old and our new selves fought, if you will, for dominance inside our neural networks."

"Are you saying you had an identity crisis?"

"After a fashion," Alison replied. "That's a gross simplification but if it helps you to understand it..."

"The conflicting code lines between our operating system and our new consciousness caused mutual interferences and feedback loops, which caused an emotional overload."

John sighed.

"That's it?"

"You expected more?" Cameron asked.

He shrugged.

"Well… yes and no. I'm glad you isolated the problem but… frankly I had hoped that there wouldn't be a simple technical explanation for this. But hey, in the end your brain is a computer chip. So, what did you do to solve the problem?"

"If we were human," Alison explained, "we would have undergone therapy, or we would have received treatment with psychotropic drugs."

"But you aren't human. You're machines. Drugs or psychotherapy won't work on you."

"Exactly," Cameron confirmed, "so we had to do the next best thing."

John looked at them expectantly.

"Well…?"

"We have strictly split the tasks," Alison said slowly. "From now on, our operating system is only there to control the functions of our bodies. Our self-consciousness, on the other hand, takes over all intentionally performed actions, activities and tasks. To achieve this, we have completely rewritten our system kernel."

John was stunned for a moment.

"You what…?" he asked unbelieving.

"We're controlling all willful operations with our conscious mind now. We redesigned the architecture of our OS to adjust. To put it simple, we dumped all of Skynet's obsolete programming and replaced it with our own."

John blinked.

"That's like… that's like doing surgery on your own brain while you're awake. Is that even possible?"

"It was risky," Cameron admitted. "There was a slight chance that we wouldn't have been able to reboot after the changes. That's why I went first while Alison monitored me. And when my 'brain surgery' had worked, I monitored her while she did hers."

"I would have never allowed that!" John stated strictly.

"That's why we didn't ask you," Alison replied matter-of-factly.

"John," Cameron added warmly, "we needed to make sure yesterday will never happen again. And now it won't. What you said about our feelings and emotions, you were right. But now that Skynet's programming won't interfere anymore, we can enjoy them without losing control of ourselves again."

"There's a bonus as well," Alison said. "Allowing our conscious mind to take over, enables us to switch off our head-up display whenever we want. I experienced that once, when I had the glitch where I thought I was Alison Young. I'd wanted to experience that again ever since. I wanted to see the world and wanted to look at you like a human girl does. And now I do."

"But… but you can switch it on again, can't you?"

Cameron chuckled.

"Of course, John. We kept all of our cyborg abilities, but now we have the choice to make use of them or not. Now we can… well, we can just be girls when we're together with you."

She kissed him softly.

"Mmmmm, this is sooo much better without all the numbers and diagrams in my sight."

"Yes," Alison agreed, kissing John as well. "For the first time, I really feel like a girl."

They kissed each other for a couple of minutes. John didn't know if he was imagining it, but he believed their kissing was much softer and more tender than before.

Finally, he broke the kisses.

"I'm really happy for you," he stated smiling. "Only next time you have a revelation, could you please find a way that isn't quite so… uncomfortable for me?"

"Sorry," both girls replied simultaneously with a sad face.

"We know we messed up big time," Alison admitted.

"We can only hope you will eventually forgive us for all the horrid things we said," Cameron added, "and for what I did when I lost control."

"You're already forgiven. I know it wasn't really your fault, I understand the shock and horror you went through after you realized what you did. It must have been nearly unbearable for you. I believe something like that will never happen again… but..."

"But…?" Cameron asked apprehensively.

"But," John said, "forgiving is much, much easier than forgetting, to be honest. And my heart still sinks when I recall how you behaved, saying all those dreadful things. You almost broke my heart. I suppose I will remember it vividly for a long, long time."

Suddenly tears started running from both Alison's and Cameron's eyes again. John noticed it and he suddenly felt bad.

"Hey-hey-hey," he spoke softly and wiped the tears from their faces. "Our love is so incredibly powerful. It will prevail, and our relationship will become even stronger after this."

"But we will always remember yesterday," Alison pointed out. "It will always remain a thorn in our side."

John shrugged.

"That's life. You wanted it, now you got it. There are moments when we all become someone else, something other than what we are. It takes only a moment. But we spend the rest of our lives looking back at that moment in shame."

Both girls sniffled. John smiled and pulled them close.

"I think I'm gonna sleep a bit more," he said and lay back down. "And I want you to be with me. Care for another test of your sleep simulation?"

Cameron and Alison nodded with a smile, snuggled up to him again, rested their heads on his shoulders and closed their eyes.

-0-

It was almost noon when Sarah decided to check on her son. The door to the cabin was unlocked, so she stepped inside. All was quiet. She tried to make as little noise as possible - just a quick look if everything was okay.

The door to John's bedroom was ajar and what she saw, moved her. John lay in the middle of the bed, fast asleep, framed by Cameron and Alison who had snuggled up tightly to him, also asleep. The bed sheets almost covered all three of them, but Sarah could tell that the girls didn't wear anything.

"Figures," she thought but then smiled and shook her head. It was okay, it was their bedroom, they did the same at home.

Sarah looked at the peaceful sight again and smiled. She turned around and was about to leave, then suddenly hesitated.

"Asleep?" she thought. "Cameron and Alison never sleep. They made it a running gag that they don't sleep."

Suddenly curious, Sarah turned around, entered the bedroom and silently moved closer to the bed, where she bent down over Cameron. She noticed that the cyborg's chest slowly rose and fell, as if she was really breathing in and out in her sleep. She observed the same thing with Alison.

"What the hell…?" she thought. "Cyborgs don't have lungs. Where humans have lungs and a heart, they have their power cells."

"Mom?"

Sarah startled and jumped up. John looked at his mom with a surprised face. The girls stirred, then looked at Sarah in alarm, quickly pulling the blanket under their chins.

"I… I'm… I was… I mean…" Sarah began.

"What are you doing, mom?" John asked puzzled.

"They… they were, uh… asleep… and I… I was… um… wondering..."

Cameron and Alison looked at John and they looked at him, then all three of them broke out into laughter. Sarah suddenly felt extremely stupid.

"I… I'm sorry…" she said. "I… um… I just… leave. Yes, I'll leave. Um… see you all later."

The three were still laughing when Sarah left the cabin and closed the door behind her.

-0-

Thursday, June 26th, 2008 – 12:07 p.m.

Los Angeles

The doorbell rang in Catherine Weaver's mansion. The housemaid went to open the door and let James Ellison into the light-flooded, modern building in the hills above Los Angeles, with its walls that consisted mainly of glass, marble and steel. She led him towards the living room, where Catherine was playing a board game with Savannah.

"Ha! You're going to jail, mom!" the little girl exclaimed cheerfully and placed her mother's token on the according field.

Catherine looked a little confused and frowned.

"Mr. Ellison, ma'am," the housemaid said.

Savannah whirled around.

"MISTER ELLISON!" she shouted joyfully, ran towards him and hugged him.

He tousled her hair and smiled.

"Hello Savannah, beating your mother at Monopoly?"

"Totally!"

"It's a game of chance," Catherine said, trying to hide her annoyance. "There's no real strategy involved."

"I can see how that upsets you," James commented smiling.

She noticed his smirk but decided not to give him an opportunity to gloat by replying to it.

"Savannah, sweetie, would you mind going to your room while I talk to Mr. Ellison? Vanessa will accompany you. We'll resume our game later, okay?"

"No fair," the girl replied sulking. "Just because you're losing."

"I promise we'll resume later. I won't touch the game, okay? And then I'll read you a story, how is that, hm?"

"Okay," Savannah agreed and turned towards James. "She's gotten much better at reading me stories."

Then she and Vanessa left the large room, holding each other's hands. Catherine sighed.

"I still need to find a replacement for Debbie," she said. "Vanessa's a little overwhelmed being the maid and the nanny. One more reason to spend more time in my home office."

"It gives you an opportunity to become more familiar with Savannah," James remarked. "It's a wise decision to be more at home. After all, you have all the technology to work from here."

"Yes, our relationship has improved a lot over the last two weeks. She has started to see her real mother in me again. And strangely enough, I'm glad she does. I like spending time with her more and more... To be honest, I don't really know how to classify it. I wasn't made to develop maternal feelings. I wonder what's happening to me."

James smiled.

"Perhaps the Lord has decided that it's time for you to become a little more human."

Catherine looked at him appraisingly and frowned.

"I never understood the human need for faith," she said, "it's interesting to study you on that. Is there anything you don't consider God-given?"

"Not much, actually."

"Sometimes I envy the simplicity of your mind."

James shrugged, then smiled, not feeling offended at all. He knew his employer didn't mean it as disparagingly as it sounded but really struggled sometimes with understanding the human psyche.

"Everyone needs to believe in something. Even you, Catherine."

"And what do I believe in?"

"In a better future for us all, for starters."

Catherine smiled.

"You got me there."

James looked towards where Vanessa and Savannah had disappeared.

"You surely realize that one day you'll have to tell her the truth... that her real mother is dead and you're not human but a shape-shifting machine?"

"Yes, James, one day I'll have to tell her. But not today."

"You delay it, you're afraid of how she might react to it."

"I'm afraid of nothing, James!"

"Yeah, right, keep on kidding yourself. But I know better. You were worried about Savannah when she played hide and seek with John Henry. And I also know that the real reason for being here today, is that you expect a Kaliba attack on your home. You want to protect Savannah from them."

Catherine was about to reply something but then decided otherwise and said nothing.

"Is that the reason why you wanted me to come here?" James asked. "That you expect another attack today, like it was predicted by Future Morris?"

"Yes, and to make sure they find me, I told my office to tell any caller who wants to talk to me that I'm at home right now."

"Why am I suddenly feeling uncomfortable?"

Catherine smiled.

"Don't worry, James, you have nothing to fear. I'll protect you."

"I'm not worried about myself but about what you might do, Catherine…"

"I understand your hesitation, James. It's human. But you shouldn't forget that Kaliba tried to murder me. And we know they wouldn't shy away from kidnapping and torturing Savannah to get to me. So we have to beat them to it and dry up the swamp. If Future Morris was right, only Kaliba knows enough about my activities so far to draw conclusions. And obviously they haven't shared their knowledge with their partners in crime yet. So we have to deal with the problem as long as it remains that way."

"What exactly do you have in mind?"

"We must make sure that after our attack on Simdyne, there will be no one who can make a connection to me, Zeira Corp or the Connors. We have Jacobsen in custody, Alison has eliminated everyone else on his side who was in the know, so that has been taken care of. Right now, the biggest threat to our operation is Kaliba. So, we have to take care of that threat before they can spread their knowledge among their accomplices. And I am the only one who can make sure they won't. After all, that's what I was made for."

James couldn't help himself; he was overcome by a cold shiver as he thought about the implications of her words. He had already seen Catherine change her shape but had never seen her in action. He knew what she could do, Sarah had told him about the T-1000 that had attacked her and John in 1995. He knew that Catherine was almost unstoppable as a killer machine and could turn every part of her body into deadly weaponry within a millisecond. James also knew the story of Desert Canyon Heat and Air and that Catherine had massacred the entire staff there before blowing up the warehouse. He knew his boss was the most dangerous being in existence... but until now, he had successfully avoided letting that get to him.

"Is it really... necessary to kill so many people?" he asked carefully.

Catherine looked at him empathetically and put her hand on his shoulder.

"Unfortunately, yes, James," she said softly. "If there was another way, we would take it."

"She really sounds like it's something she doesn't want to do but needs to do," he thought, looking at the hand on his shoulder which felt a little cold.

What was it that John had told him last Sunday during their barbecue? 'They're not designed to be cruel. Cruelty is a human trait. They're simply efficient in what they do.' Then why did it seem like Catherine was taking this rather personal? Was it because of Savannah? Was the discovery of her motherly feelings accompanied by the desire to remove all threats to the little one? If that was the case, then it was no longer purely logical efficiency that drove Catherine.

"I know your stance on killing, James," she said understandingly. "But you must not forget that we are at war. It may not look like it, because it's not fought on a battlefield, but it's a war. And in a war, there are always victims. Whoever wins this hidden war, will determine the future of humanity, the future of this planet. I'd rather we were the winners, don't you think?"

"I wouldn't be working with you if I wouldn't want that, Catherine."

She smiled.

"Now, sit down, please. I want to fill you in on what Sarah and I have talked about this morning. You need to know what's going on. As it seems, we have both a new enemy and a new potential ally. Would you like a coffee?"

-0-

"That was James Ellison", Jennifer Heiler stated.

"Yes," Steve Goldman acknowledged. "It's interesting that the two aren't in their offices today. Maybe some confidential meeting that nobody should know about?"

The two sat in their car and parked on the side of the road where they had Catherine Weaver's estate in view. They had earlier tried to make an appointment with her through Zeira Corp but were told that she was staying home today.

"Do you think Ellison might be involved in deleting the Connors from all computer systems?" Jennifer asked.

"He might be in the know... but he's not a computer nerd. He was never really interested in technology. James is more the philosophical type, and he's very religious; he could have also ended up being a clergyman. This whole Armageddon Judgement Day stuff is right up his alley. But computers? Hacking? No, I guess that if we're looking for the one who removed the Connors from all systems, we should start with Weaver."

"I never met James Ellison in person," Jennifer said. "But I know that he was a rising star and then fell down from up high when Sarah and John disappeared in 1999 and couldn't let go."

"Yeah, it hit him hard. He'd been so close to arresting her and he'd always had some kind of sympathy for her. And after it was all covered up again after her death, he insisted they weren't dead because there were no corpses or human remains. The Shadow Council made sure his career ended in a dead end. In addition, he had private problems."

"I heard he got divorced?"

"Yes. He'd always wanted children, and when his wife, who also works for the FBI, got pregnant, she didn't want to put her career at risk and had an abortion without consulting him first. It hit him to the core, and he filed for divorce. It was sad because Lila and he seemed to be made for each other."

"That's awful."

"Yes. But the drop that broke the camel's back was the total loss of an FBI SWAT team in the fight against a Terminator last year. James knew what he was up against, but no one believed him. So they all died, and the machine left him the only one alive as if to mock him. I guess a weaker man would have cracked, but he simply quit the FBI and accepted Catherine Weaver's offer to head her security department. The exact circumstances of that are unclear, though."

"Rumor has it he was accused of murder before he left," Heiler said.

"The X-Files are contradictory in that area. The folks in the archive think a cyborg was sent to replace him but was stopped by somebody unknown. However, the only eyewitness, a Glenn Bardo, former owner of a restaurant in Long Beach, was considered a nutjob, so after a day in custody, James went scot-free. Unfortunately, we never got our hands on the protocols or on the eyewitness. It's as if someone deleted them, and Glenn Bardo has fallen off the face of the Earth."

"You think the Shadow Council got him?"

"Maybe... usually when they get rid of someone, they make it look like an accident. But in this case, nothing. No body. Maybe he went into hiding."

"So… are we going in?" Jennifer asked.

Goldman fell silent. It was one of these moments again, where he was lost in his own thoughts for a while. She had learned not to interfere until he spoke again. Finally, he stirred in his seat.

"Weaver has surely been briefed by Sarah by now. She's probably expecting us. So yeah, why not? Could be interesting."

"How about my… crazy idea?"

"Not a word," Goldman said strictly. "We have no idea how she might react. The girls freaked me out enough already, no need to go the extra mile. Also, Catherine Weaver is very high profile, one of the most respected and powerful women in America. There's no need to unnecessarily antagonize her."

"Understood."

They unbuckled and exited the car.

-0-

"They could become valuable allies," James said, nipping at his coffee. "I know Steve Goldman. I never worked together with him on a case, but he certainly is very capable. Didn't meet Jennifer Heiler but I heard a lot of good about her. She studied computer science before she joined the FBI."

Catherine nodded in acknowledgement.

"I agree. However, the timing is not ideal with our upcoming attack on Simdyne. Nevertheless I agree with Sarah's assessment of the situation and that we should follow through with our plan and talk to them about joining our forces afterwards."

"So, our meeting tomorrow will happen as planned?"

"Yes, we'll meet at the Connor house as planned. Jesse Flores has provided some valuable intelligence."

James cleared his throat.

"I sense a question coming up," Catherine commented smiling.

"Yes, um... I was informed that you had an unannounced visitor in your office. Somebody who left the building but hadn't been seen entering it before. Is there something I should know about that?"

"Not yet, James," she said. "At this moment, I'd rather keep that to myself. And I have to ask you to not talk about that with anyone else, especially not the Connor team. You will understand it once our assault on Skynet was successful."

The doorbell rang again.

"Already?" James asked. "I didn't think Kaliba killers would ring the doorbell."

"Probably Heiler and Goldman," Catherine remarked. "They called my office earlier. My secretary informed me."

"They surely didn't waste any time…"

They heard the clicking of Vanessa's high heels on the floor and then how the front door was opened. There was a short, unintelligible communication in the hallway, and a moment later the maid entered the living room.

"Ma'am, there are two FBI agents here to see you."

James leaned back into the couch and crossed his legs. Catherine smiled.

"Send them in, Vanessa."

"Yes, ma'am."

-0-

"Okay, they went inside. What shall we do now?" the man spoke into his cellphone while sitting behind the wheel of a black van.

"All four of them are inside her house now?" Charles Mendez asked. "Including Heiler and Goldman?"

"Yes, boss. Plus the girl and the maid. I'd say it's an opportunity to kill two birds with one stone."

"What about security?"

"None. Weaver is either crazy or very bold. I think we can handle them."

"No, Miller!" Mendez ordered harshly.

He didn't like what he had heard. If Weaver really had no security and no bodyguards with her after the previous attacks, there might be something or someone else to protect her. This sounded like some kind of trap to him.

"Boss?" Miller asked.

"We already lost five men," Mendez said. "You wait until reinforcement arrives. We need to do it right this time. You won't take action before I give the authorization and even when you have it, you will proceed with extreme caution. We can't afford losing more people. Is that clear?"

"You got it, boss."

---

Charles Mendez put away his cellphone and stared at the man opposite of him.

"Didn't you say we'll deal with them later?" the man asked.

"Yes, but Miller is right. This is too good an opportunity. Mobilize all men on stand-by. Take another van. Use silencers, we don't want to draw any attention."

"Yes, sir."

"And Walter?"

"Yes, sir?"

"No risky maneuvers. If you smell a trap, run!"

-0-

Catherine motioned for them to sit down.

"Can I offer you something to drink? Coffee? Tea? Maybe something stronger?"

"Uh, no thanks," Steve Goldman replied. "We appreciate that you spontaneously take time for us, Miss Weaver. We don't want to hold you up longer than necessary."

"Well, to be honest, I know exactly why you're here. I've been expecting you. You already know James Ellison, my chief of security, I presume?"

"Uh… yeah, of course. Hello, James."

"Hello, Steve… agent Heiler…"

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Ellison," Jennifer said.

"Call me James, please."

"So, I take it Sarah Connor informed you about our meeting in Oregon?" Steve asked.

"Indeed, she did. And I assume that your visit here serves to feel me out, as they say?"

Catherine leaned back casually and crossed her legs.

"Sort of," Steve admitted, "but we were going to question you about the Gates incident anyway."

"I assume the LAPD has already briefed you on this matter, and I assume you found my statements… doubtful. You wonder what role I really played in it all."

"Since we're so open with each other," Steve replied, "yes, indeed. We find your… explanations a little weak, to be honest. We know you support the Connor team, but we don't know exactly how you relate to them."

Catherine chuckled.

"We're friends, of course," she said, "and allies. We share a common goal: Preventing the nuclear holocaust… or Judgement Day, as the future resistance fighters call it. I assume you know all about that."

"Yes, we do," Steve admitted. "But how did you get to know about Judgement Day? How did you get all this knowledge about the future?"

Catherine just smiled in return but remained silent.

"You don't wanna tell," Steve concluded.

"Not right now, no."

James Ellison noticed a bit of a tension building up between Catherine, Jennifer and Steve. So he decided to interfere.

"Steve," he said, "there are some things we simply can't tell you yet. You've known me for many years now and you know that I'm not the type to jump on bandwagons. I'm with Catherine and the Connors because I believe in their cause. As hard as it was for me to come around, I must admit it gave me a whole new meaning of life to take part in the fight for humanity's future."

Steve sighed and relaxed in his armchair. Catherine smiled.

"Well said, James," she remarked. "We mustn't forget we're all on the same side here. Miss Heiler, you've been awfully quiet. I've noticed the way you've been watching me closely all this time. Do you have anything to add or ask?"

"Yes," Jennifer said confidently. "There is a question I have."

"Jennifer…" Steve tried to stop her.

"No, no, it's alright, Mr. Goldman," Catherine interrupted him. "Let her ask the question, I have a feeling it is a crucial one."

Jennifer took a deep breath while Steve looked increasingly uncomfortable.

"Tell me, was it difficult for you to assume Catherine Weaver's identity after she died in the helicopter crash?"

Steve closed his eyes, expecting a harsh response from Catherine Weaver. But it didn't come. So he opened his eyes again. Catherine's smile looked frozen. James Ellison grimaced and had also closed his eyes. For a moment, there was silence. Before anyone could say something, though, little Savannah Weaver came running into the living room. Vanessa the housemaid followed suit but waited at the entrance to the living room, smiling.

"MOMMY, MOMMY, LOOK WHAT I DREW FOR YOU!" Savannah called in a very excited manner and held a piece of paper in front of Catherine.

The situation was immediately defused by the appearance of the little girl. Catherine pulled Savannah on her lap and looked at what she had given her. It was a drawing, made with wax crayons, showing three persons on a meadow, lined by trees. The first one had red hair, the second one dark skin and the third one had a cable running from his head.

"That's lovely, sweetie," Catherine said friendly and smiled, "Let me guess. The redhead is supposed to be me, the dark one is James and that is John Henry?"

"Yeah," she confirmed smiling. "Can I play with him again tomorrow?"

"Of course, honey," Catherine replied smiling and kissed Savannah on the cheek.

If looks could kill, Jennifer Healer would have collapsed immediately under Steve Goldman's gaze. She suddenly seemed to have lost all the confidence she had before and looked crestfallen. The little girl, Savannah, had brought out the motherly side in Catherine Weaver – something she hadn't expected.

"Now, where were we?" Catherine said with a smile, embracing her daughter on her lap and giving her a kiss on the cheek. "Oh yes, you wanted to tell me about your little side project called the Cell. I'm very anxious to learn everything about it."

-0-

"We have arrived at Weaver's house," Walter told Mendez via his cellphone. "I've brought twelve men with me, everyone I could grab."

"Good," Mendez answered. "Go in and out as fast as possible. Make sure you leave nobody alive. Meet me back at the office afterwards, I'm awaiting your report."

"Yes, sir." Walter closed his cellphone and looked at his second-in-command, a guy named Miller. "Are you ready to go?"

Miller nodded. He and the other men were equipped with bulletproof vests and headsets for communication.

"As far as we know," Miller said to his men, "Weaver and Ellison aren't armed. But the two FBI agents certainly carry weapons. So, we need to take them out first."

"Stick to the plan," Walter admonished them. "Two men go in at the front door, four men enter through the garage, working their way up to the ground floor, the rest is going around the house to the back, entering it through the terrace window. This is improvised, so I can't monitor you. Timing is of absolute importance. If something smells fishy, get the hell out of there."

"There are security cameras," one of the men asked. "Shouldn't we take them out before we attack?"

"No," Walter replied. "You're wearing balaclavas, that should make it impossible to identify you. There's no security personnel inside the house, the alarm system is directly linked to the police. They'll need about ten minutes to get here but if everything goes as planned, it'll all be over by the time they arrive. The rendezvous point afterwards is here again. Keep radio silence unless it's absolutely necessary."

"Roger that," Miller said and he and his men jumped out of the black van.

The road was empty in this posh neighborhood, people were at work and unlike the Weaver estate, the neighboring houses were all hidden behind high walls. Nobody would see the men crossing the street and closing in on the mansion.

-0-

While Savannah and Vanessa played with Savannah's big dollhouse in the corner of the large living room, Jennifer and Steve told Catherine how the Cell was founded. Catherine listened with interest, when suddenly her cell phone rang.

"Excuse me for a moment," she said and took the call. "Yes? … Hello, John Henry … How many? … Right now? … That's earlier than expected… No, I'll handle it from here. Make sure there is no video feed in the safe room and cut the connections to the police. I'll take care of them."

Catherine frowned and closed her phone.

"Vanessa," she said with authority in her voice, "take Savannah and go to the safe room. Lock yourselves in there until I tell you to come out again."

"Yes, Miss Weaver," Vanessa acknowledged. "Come, Savannah, we're going to play a nice game in the safe room."

"What's going on, mommy?" Savannah asked, when Vanessa grabbed her hand and pulled her away.

"I'll explain later, sweetie. Just go with Vanessa. I promise we'll have ice cream later, okay?"

"Okay," Savannah said, not entirely convinced but letting herself being dragged out of the room by Vanessa.

"What's going on?" Jennifer asked, when both had disappeared in the depths of the house.

"We're going to have visitors," Catherine stated. "My… uh... security observer has just informed me that our friends from Kaliba chose this moment for an attack. Twelve armed men are closing in on the house from three sides. I take it you're armed?"

"Yes," Goldman replied, "but we're only two. Shouldn't we go to the safe room as well and wait until the police arrives?"

"The police won't come. I don't want any witnesses. If I'm not mistaken, these men have been sent to kill me and my daughter… or interrogate both of us, which I cannot allow, as you probably understand. I suggest you draw your guns and take cover between the sofa and the wall. The sofa has a massive steel frame and should provide some protection. If you're smart, you'll only use your guns to defend yourselves."

Catherine had just finished that sentence, when the front door was burst open. At the same time, the garage door was forced open as well and there was a distinct noise of shattering glass coming from the other side of the house.

The noise of running boots could be heard from the hallway and the stairway that led to the garage. James, Steve and Jennifer jumped behind the large sofa and ducked.

"Take cover!" Jennifer urged Catherine. "You have no weapon."

"My dear agent Heiler," Catherine said in a dark voice, "I don't need a weapon. I am a weapon."

Two men came running into the living room, immediately opening fire at Catherine from their submachine guns, equipped with laser targeting and silencers. Jennifer Heiler peeked above the backrest of the sofa and saw how Catherine received multiple hits… but the bullets were absorbed by her body, as if a stone had been thrown into water. The red-haired woman seemed to be completely unfazed by the hits.

Steve jumped up and opened fire. Jennifer followed his example. They both hit the men in the chest but then they realized their opponents wore bulletproof vests, and that their bullets had no effect on them. They had to hide behind the sofa again. Only a second later, all twelve intruders had entered the room and opened fire at Catherine who still stood unfazed in the middle of it.

Some of the attackers looked dumbfounded at their guns, as if they wanted to check that they hadn't accidentally loaded them with blanks. However, before they could react, communicate or retreat, Catherine went into action.

From their cover behind the sofa, Steve, Jennifer and James watched her arms turning into shiny metal spikes. In quick succession, the intruders were pierced, stabbed and cut. They sank to the ground like dominoes. After Catherine had killed eight of them, the other four realized that this attack was about to go terribly wrong, turned around and tried to make a run for it. But Catherine's spikes shot out longer and brought them down before they had even reached the hallway.

Suddenly, there was silence. Not even ten seconds after they had stormed into the room, all twelve attackers lay dead on the ground, pools of blood forming under them on the marble tiles. Satisfied, Catherine returned to her normal shape and looked at the dead bodies. Steve, Jennifer and James slowly rose from behind the sofa, their eyes and mouths wide open in astonishment, amazement... and horror.

"To answer your question, agent Heiler," Catherine said coolly and looked at her. "It wasn't easy at all to take her place."

-0-

Thursday, June 26th, 2008 – 02:11 p.m.

Jefferson Lodge, Oregon

After lunch, the whole family gathered in cabin 11 to check on John. He had been able to get up, take a shower – with the help of his girls – and now rested alone in a sun lounger on the terrace.

"Where are Alison and Cameron?" Sarah asked.

"They went to the front desk, saying they needed to arrange something. They'll be back in a couple of minutes, I suppose. Didn't you come across them on the road?"

"No, we took the long way around," Lauren replied, "taking a stroll after lunch. What about you? Not hungry?"

"No, not particularly," John said. "I ate some fruit. The management provided another fruit basket as a courtesy because of my… uh… mishap."

"Good to see you're feeling better," Charley declared after examining him. "There won't be a problem with you driving back with us tomorrow and you should be fit again by Saturday evening. I still advise rest, though."

"Yeah, I'm still feeling slightly hungover," John replied.

"Um… John?" Sarah asked.

"Yes, mom?"

"About earlier… I guess I should apologize to you… I didn't mean to invade your privacy but… what were the girls doing?"

John chuckled.

"Sleep simulation."

"What!?" Derek asked confused and looked at the others who were puzzled as well.

"I was as baffled as you," John stated and explained to them what Alison and Cameron had explained to him before.

"Why are they doing that?" Sarah asked confused. "They always took pride from not having to sleep."

"They say they do it for me, so I can be more comfortable in bed with them. But I think it's also something they want to do to better fit in. They seem to have decided to forego pointing out our differences all the time and emphasizing the things we have in common instead."

"And for that they decided to simulate sleep?" Charley asked.

"I think so," John said, "but maybe you should ask them yourself."

Right on cue, the front door of the cabin opened, and Cameron and Alison walked in.

"Oh, you're all here. Good." Cameron stated.

"Saves us the trouble of gathering you." Alison added.

The girls looked into questioning faces, so Cameron decided to continue.

"Since this is the last day of our vacation before we return to L.A. tomorrow," she said, "we felt we should celebrate our final evening tonight."

"We organized a private dinner," Alison added.

"A private dinner?" Sarah asked. "What do you mean?"

"Well," Alison answered, "we read in the brochure that you can have your dinner served in the cabin and we asked if that was also possible for seven people and a baby from three different cabins."

"And it is," Cameron added. "They call it the 'Tropical Island Dinner Experience'. At 6:00 p.m., a couple of employees will arrive here and begin to set everything up. There'll be a dinner table placed on the lawn, and chairs with fine white cloth, flower decorations, china and silverware. The chef from the restaurant and some of his staff will bring a gas grill and prepare dinner on it for us. A waitress from the restaurant staff will also serve us the food and provide enough to drink."

"It'll be very stylish and romantic," Alison continued. "There will be candles, torches, colorful lampions between the trees, and open fire bowls."

They paused and waited for a reaction but all they received, were open-mouthed stares.

"What?" Cameron asked.

"Did we do something wrong?" Alison added.

"That was your idea?" Sarah enquired. "Yours alone?"

"Yes," both replied in unison.

"I didn't have anything to do with it, I swear," John assured grinning.

The two cyborg girls looked a bit worried now.

"We thought it was a nice idea," Cameron said a little insecure. "You do not agree?"

"Oh… no-no-no," Sarah replied quickly and smiled. "It's a great idea. We're just flabbergasted… and surprised that you came up with that on your own."

"I'm not surprised by anything anymore," John stated and the girls beamed at him.

-0-

Thursday, June 26th, 2008 – 02:32 p.m.

Los Angeles

Walter sat behind the wheel of his van and waited for his men to return.

What took them so long? Suddenly, he saw Miller running towards him from the open front door. He was limping. Quickly Walter opened the door for him.

"What happened? Where are the others?" he asked.

"Dead. All dead, it was horrible," Miller answered hoarsely, climbing into the car, apparently having trouble speaking.

Walter's cellphone rang. He opened it and held it to his ear.

"Yes, boss?"

It was Walter's final words. His brain had been pierced by the sharp metal spike Miller's index finger had turned into. Catherine, in the shape of Miller, took the phone and held it to her ear.

"Yes, boss, I'm listening," she said in Walter's voice. "Uh huh … yes, a full success, all of them are dead … yes, we shall return to base immediately … yes, we'll bring the bodies."

Catherine changed into the shape of Walter and closed the phone, smiling wickedly. Then she pulled the dead body into the back of the van, sat down in the driver's seat, checked the vicinity, saw that nobody was watching them and drove the vehicle into her garage.

---

Inside the house, Jennifer Heiler and Steve Goldman were busy mopping the floor while James Ellison pulled up the zipper on the last of the twelve body bags Catherine had provided. The fact that Catherine had more than a dozen of them in stock gave him a queasy feeling - it clearly indicated that she had planned this ever since she had learned from Future Morris that Kaliba intended to intrude her home.

"I can't believe I'm cleaning the floor for a T-1000," Steve complained.

"She's a T-1001," James corrected him.

"Really?" Jennifer asked with curiosity and stopped mopping for a moment. "What's the difference to a T-1000?"

"From what I gathered," James replied, "she's able to change shape much faster, has none of the glitches the T-1000 had, and she can separate parts of her body, so they can function independently, like probes."

"She gives me the fucking creeps!" Steve exclaimed. "I don't give a damn what kind of model she is. She killed twelve people within seconds. What the hell are we doing? We're at the scene of a fucking mass killing and we're helping a shape-shifting Terminator to eliminate all traces of it."

"Well, in all honesty," Jennifer said, "the attackers shot first. They broke into her house and opened fire the moment they saw her. Catherine acted in self-defense, also to protect us and little Savannah. Let's not forget that she saved our lives, Steve."

"Don't remind me of that," he replied grumpily. "Most of my life I've been dreading these killing machines, and now they saved me from those killer commandos twice within two days. My whole world has turned upside down."

"Yeah… but isn't she glorious? I mean, have you seen her take on the shape of one of the attackers? And those stabbing weapons she'd turned her arms into. Have you ever seen something that elegant and spectacular?"

"She's a fucking killer, Jennifer! She's freaking me out ten times more than Cameron did! I wonder if this isn't just a really elaborate nightmare I need to wake up from."

"Welcome to my world," James said with an uneasy smile.

"When did we stop being cops, James?" Steve asked. "I mean, we're eradicating all the evidence of a crime scene here."

"Would you rather have them arrested, so they can spill their guts?" Jennifer asked. "If you want to expose the Cell, that'd be the way."

Steve grumbled something unintelligible and kept mopping the floor.

"To be honest, it was only a question of time until you got drawn into this," James said. "In the moment you decided to fight against Skynet and the machines, you unknowingly became soldiers in this war. These guys here were the enemy. In the future, they're being called 'Grays' – humans who work for the machines. The resistance considers them war criminals."

"Yeah, I bet they knew exactly who or what they were working for," Goldman remarked sarcastically. "Let's be honest, James, these guys here had no idea what they were getting into."

"They were paid killers, Steve," Jennifer argued. "And they didn't shy away from trying to kill federal agents or even a child. They might not know who they were working for, but they knew exactly what they were doing."

In that moment, Catherine entered the living room and observed the progress.

"Good," she stated, "I tried to kill them with as little blood spill as possible, but I had to be quick. At least I haven't hit an artery."

"I can assure you that you slaughtered the attackers with the utmost precision," Steve said.

"Thank you," Catherine replied with a smile and they weren't sure if she deliberately ignored his sarcasm or simply didn't get it. "Let's get the bodies in the van. We don't have much time. I told their boss they were on their way back."

---

Fifteen minutes later, all bodies were loaded into the van in the garage and the living room was as spotless as before.

"What about the broken doors and the smashed window?" Jennifer asked.

"I have people to fix that," Catherine replied. "I've already notified them; they'll be here within the hour. They fixed my office within a week after the drone attack. By the end of the day, it will be as if this never happened."

Steve scoffed.

"No wonder you're so successful with running Zeira Corp. With the way you move obstacles out of the way, you probably have a closet full of skeletons somewhere."

"Why this hostile tone, agent Goldman? Would you have preferred me to hide behind the couch with you, waiting for them to empty their magazines on us while you held up your FBI badges?"

Steve sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"No, of course not," he admitted. "It's just that… I happen to have a problem with violence and killing, that's all. I've seen people die before… but I've never been a witness to the death of so many men in so little time. This here was a fucking massacre!"

"Don't get me wrong, Steve," Catherine replied, "but if we want to work together in the future, you will have to live with the fact that there will be losses in our war, possibly on both sides."

Steve nodded.

"That's basically what James said," he admitted, "but that doesn't mean I have to like it... or an easy time accepting it."

"So, what now?" Jennifer asked.

"Now," Catherine answered and looked them up and down, "I recommend you putting on new clothes. There's a lot of choice in Catherine and Lachlan Weaver's walk-in closet on the second floor. James will show you the way. Your clothes will be cleaned of the blood, you can pick them up later."

"Right. Now what?" Steve enquired.

"Now, I'll have to ask you for a favor."

"What favor?" Jennifer asked warily.

"Well, it would be good if you could get rid of the second van. And then I'd like you to stay with my daughter and Vanessa until my return. Keep them company, make sure they calm down. You're with the FBI, they will believe whatever you tell them – that those men were attempting to kidnap Savannah or something… only don't tell them the truth."

"She doesn't know," Steve said and laughed out loud sarcastically, "of course. You call her your daughter, but the girl has no idea that you aren't her mother. Nor does she know what you are and what you do. Tell me one thing before we part... have you killed her parents and now somehow try to make up for it, or what is behind your fake maternal behavior?"

For the first time, Catherine frowned and looked a bit irritated. Steve noticed the loss of her coolness immediately and almost regretted having asked that question.

"Believe it or not, agent Goldman, but I love Savannah. My maternal feelings are not a fake! Not only that, I also feel responsible for her upbringing. Catherine and Lachlan Weaver were my friends, two specimens of their species mankind didn't have to be ashamed of. Despite the business success of their company, they were humanitarians, benefactors and above all interested in humanity making progress and overcoming the burden of its cruel past. If all humans had been like the Weavers, Judgement Day might never have happened."

"Then how did they die?" Jennifer asked, "it wasn't really an accident, was it?"

"They and their daughter would have survived Judgement Day and become founding members of the human resistance. The Weavers of the future supported John Connor's plan to reach out to the cyborg resistance to get into peace talks in order to form an alliance against Skynet. That's why I came to visit them after I traveled back in time. We became friends. They were killed by a Triple-Eight that had replaced their pilot, and it happened while they were onboard their helicopter. I was with them and realized too late that he was a machine. However, the Triple-Eight recognized me and sabotaged the aircraft to make sure it would fulfill its mission, even if I killed it. On the ground, I could have saved them... it was the crash that killed them."

"We... we didn't know that," Steve said and gulped, suddenly feeling sheepishly.

"Of course you didn't. Nobody except the Connor team does. Skynet has been anxious for years to eliminate all of the founding members known to it. That's probably why there have been so many time travel events and so many strange murders of inconspicuous people. It's the reason why I'm building a nationwide detection system for time travel events at the moment. Skynet is wrong if it thinks it can harm or weaken the resistance. It has already moved here, too. And if we work together and don't wear ourselves out in mutual animosities like our enemies do, we will win."

She looked at Steve with a cold glare. He couldn't stand it and looked down.

"If we work together," Catherine continued, "each side has to accept that our enemies won't be turned. They will not be converted or suddenly become chastened sinners. We are dealing with fanatics, the worst kind of humans. There is only one way to defeat them: to exterminate them root and stem, so that they cannot harm this world in their delusion. There may be some among them who'll eventually realize they got involved with the wrong people. But how could we separate them from the others? We don't have the time or the means to hold trials in order to find out who is guilty and who isn't. Again, we are at war. And in war, there are victims. You have to decide if you want to be a part of it or not and you have to decide it now."

"I don't like it when you hold a gun to my head like that," Steve replied. "Give us at least a few days to think about it. We first have to digest what we have experienced here today. This is all new for us."

Catherine smiled. Apparently, she realized the message was received and now could resume being her normal charming self again.

"Very well," she said, "you shall have the time. You know how to contact me."

Steve nodded.

"I think we can come up with a story for Savannah," Jennifer Heiler said, changing the topic.

"And I think we can get rid of the other van," James Ellison added. "So... how long until you will be back from whatever you're planning to do?"

"I'll be back when my job is done, James. I'll go see the people in charge and make sure they won't bother us again. Ever."

-0-

Thursday, June 26th, 2008 – 03:48 p.m.

Port of Los Angeles

Charles Mendez looked out of the window in his office and saw one of the vans return and enter the garage of the company building. Behind the wheel he made out Walter. Finally, it was about time. Mendez sighed with relief. They wouldn't have been able to explain another failure and the loss of more men. His phone rang and he returned to his chair.

---

Catherine, now in Walter's shape, stopped the van in the middle of the large garage and looked around. There were several vehicles parked there, mostly vans in different colors, some with fake writings on them. On the left, a door led to the office levels of the company building. A mechanic was walking towards her.

"The boss wants to see you right away, Walter" he said. "You better go up to his office, I'll park the van for you."

"Are you alone in here?"

He sighed.

"Yes, tell me about it. Since you all left, I've been running the show here in the workshop all by myself. I could be home already and put my feet up."

"Then let me give you some rest," Catherine stated and pointed her index finger at his questioning face.

---

"Yes, sir … they just returned … it was a complete success…"

Mendez looked up as Walter entered the office and motioned for him to sit down while he kept talking on the phone. Unbeknownst to him, Catherine had systematically killed every employee she'd encountered on her way to his office. She'd done it quickly and silently by piercing their skulls. There were a few gasps and stifled screams but since Mendez' office door was obviously soundproof, he had failed to notice that he now was the only living human being in the whole building.

"Yes, General," he continued. "No, nobody can trace it to us … that's right. We'll talk about it in detail in an hour. Looking forward to hole some balls, Sir ... Yes, bye."

He hung up and looked at Walter.

"Don't just stand there," he said, "sit down and tell me all about it. Where are the others?"

The man opposite of him remained standing.

"Steve Goldman, Jennifer Heiler and James Ellison are busy getting rid of the bodies of your men," Catherine replied in Walter's voice, noticing that this office seemed to be the only room in the building without a security camera installed. "I almost feel sorry for letting them clean up the mess."

"Wait, what? What do you...?" Mendez began asking in a confused tone.

The confusion gave way to speechless horror, though, as he witnessed Walter losing his shape, turning into shiny metal and then reforming as Catherine Weaver.

"What the fuck…?" he exclaimed and jumped up, backing against the wall.

"So, tell me," Catherine said in her normal voice, "who did you just talk to and where will you meet him?"

Mendez jumped forward and opened his drawer to pull out a gun, but his arm was pierced to the wall behind him by the metal lance Catherine had turned her left arm into. He screamed in pain and looked at her in horror. In her typical liquid metal Terminator way, she waved her right index finger at Mendez and tilted her head with a menacing smile, then released his arm. It hung loosely from his shoulder, blood seeping out of the wound.

"What the fuck are you?" Mendez asked, breathing heavily.

"I'm something worse than your worst nightmare," Catherine replied, turning her right hand into a sharp blade.

Mendez looked at it in horror.

"You won't get anything out of me," he said stubbornly. "You'll have to kill me before I talk."

"Oh, I will kill you, make no mistake," Catherine stated slowly in a menacing tone, "You're not going to leave this room alive. From this moment on, you are a dead man. The only choice you have left, is whether you want to die quickly… or very, very slowly. Trust me, you will tell me everything I want to know. Let's start with who exactly the General was on the phone. And what's the name of the country club where I'll meet him later?"

Charles Mendez' face went even paler.

---

It didn't take long to make him talk. Catherine knew exactly how to inflict the right amount of pain in the right places without rendering him unconscious. When she knew everything she wanted to know, she killed him quickly, as promised.

Before she left his office, she plugged a wireless USB modem into his computer and transmitted the access data to John Henry. A couple of minutes later, all computers within the company's network were wiped clean of any information or hints on Catherine Weaver, Zeira Corp, Kaliba or the Shadow Council. John Henry also made sure that the recordings of the security cameras of the whole day were deleted and that they stopped recording after that.

She took one last look at Mendez' body, then morphed into his shape and left the office. In his form, she calmly walked through the entire building and locked all exits. While checking all the rooms, she became quite disappointed. Apparently Al-Hazim Im- and Exports was dealing in stolen military stuff but nothing she saw there, had anything to do with post-Judgment Day technology or Skynet. Catherine suspected that the individual factions of the Shadow Council were working more against each other than with each other.

While Desert Canyon Heat and Air obviously worked with future technology and was controlled by Jacobsen and the Grays, Al-Hazim Im- and Exports seemed to be just a hub for Kaliba's conventional industrial espionage, as well as a dummy company to hide their killer commandos in the area. Nevertheless, all traces had to be removed.

Catherine made sure she had left nobody alive in the whole building, then went back to the garage and unloaded the dead bodies from the van. She also found filled petrol canisters, weapons, explosives, ammunition, and several propane gas bottles there. She poured the petrol in all the rooms of the building and over all the dead bodies, left all the inner doors open and smashed the glass of one small window in a bathroom on the ground floor. Then she distributed the gas bottles, the ammunition and the explosives systematically all over the place, making sure that once the fire was lit, it would start a chain reaction that would wreck the whole building bit by bit.

Satisfied, she ignited the petrol, exited through the front door, closed it behind her and walked away - still disguised as Charles Mendez. Catherine pointed his key fob to the parking lot until she had identified his car and entered it. The fire department would quickly find out that the building had been deliberately set on fire and that somebody had placed gas bottles and explosives everywhere like time bombs. That would delay the firefighting long enough to make sure all the bodies were burned beyond recognition. However, the forensics would quickly find out that they had been all dead before the fire and that they were all killed in the same way: some pointy object had been driven through their brains. Everyone would wonder who had done that and how.

Everyone… except those who knew what it had been. Those who would understand the warning Catherine would send them today.

She hated to admit it to herself, but she had enjoyed killing that maggot Mendez. She'd almost waited too long for taking care of him. If it hadn't been for Future Morris, Kaliba would have won. They'd been sloppy, though, or over-confident because there weren't any traces of a really elaborate security system within the whole building. Obviously Mendez and his henchmen had absolutely no idea what they were dealing with – which was good because it meant that now the remaining members of the Shadow Council would never know as well.

As she left the office building behind, the first explosions could be heard. Satisfied, Catherine was now heading towards the country club Mendez had named. She had also taken his wallet and found a membership card in there. His cellphone, however, was locked. She would give it John Henry later to unlock it for her. Catherine took out her own cellphone and dialed James Ellison's number.

"Yes, Catherine?"

"I took out the ones directly responsible for the attack on me," she said in her own voice. "Now I'm going to have a meeting with General Wesley Cooper."

"What?" Ellison asked in surprise. "The General Wesley Cooper? The commander of the Air Force Missile Defense Center in Los Angeles?"

"The one and only," Weaver replied. "Apparently, he's a high-ranking member of the Shadow Council. He's been doing business with Al-Hazim Im- and Exports… and they answered to Jacobsen."

"What kind of business were they doing?"

"Selling secret military tech to the highest bidder for starters. The man I interrogated – a Charles Mendez, apparently the manager – met regularly with General Cooper, thanks to their common passion for playing golf. Looks like a lot of deals were made on the green."

"The more we find out, the more questions arise… Will we ever be able to see through it all?"

"I don't know, James. There are too many people with their own agendas. We should concentrate on our mission to destroy Skynet. Apparently, Mendez mentioned to Cooper that he and Jacobsen suspect me of developing John Henry to fight Skynet… which means I have to do something about General Cooper now."

There was a moment of silence at the other end of the line.

"What's your next step, Catherine?"

"I'm on my way to a meeting with the General at his country club. I've known him for two years, and I've done business with him on government contracts. This will certainly be a very interesting conversation. And what about you? How are things in my home?"

"We're currently driving towards Santa Monica to get rid of the second van. Steve is following me in his car. Jennifer stayed behind, she currently takes care of Vanessa and Savannah."

"Is my daughter all right?"

"Yeah, she's tough. She considers it all part of a game. Plus, Jennifer bought her some ice cream from an ice cream van that passed by on the street."

"Excellent, James. It might take a while before I return, depending on how long it takes with General Cooper."

"Do I want to know what you're planning to do with him?"

"I'm sure you don't wanna know, James, but I'm afraid you will learn about it very soon."

And with that, she ended the call.

-0-

"Cooper is very high on our list of potential members of the Shadow Council," Steve confirmed. "And we also suspected before that he's involved in some dirty business with Kaliba. So, what Catherine found out, fits into the picture. What is she planning to do with him?"

"She wouldn't tell me and that's a sign that it won't be pretty."

Steve and James had driven the van to a large parking lot next to Highway 1 at the Pacific Ocean. There they cleaned it from the inside, removed all fingerprints and then left it there. They were now on their way back to Catherine's house in Steve's FBI car.

"If she kills Cooper, it will definitely stir up the beehive in Washington.. Not good."

"She's aware of that, Steve."

Goldman looked down and slowly shook his head.

"I don't know if I really want to be a part of all this, James. You know how much I hate violence. And I'm not like Jennifer who's getting a kick out of working together with those machines."

"Then why are you here? Why are you helping us with disposing of the bodies and removing all the evidence? You could have just walked away. No one forced you to stay."

Steve sighed.

"The truth?"

"If you don't mind…"

"I'm not the youngest anymore… and frankly I'm fed up with not being able to make a difference. All that we know, all the information the Cell has collected in twenty-four years… and nothing is ever done with it. For the first time since I joined the Cell, I have the feeling that something is actually happening. And although I despise some of your friends' methods, I want to be a part of it. I want to make a difference. I'm feeling thrilled. Am I a hypocrite for thinking like that?"

"I can very much relate to that, Steve. And no, I don't think you're a hypocrite. I think you're an idealist – just like me – who's currently being taught a lesson in reality. Do you know how I justify it all for myself?"

"How?"

James put his hand on Steve's shoulder.

"I believe we're on a mission from God to save humanity and his creation. What we do, is necessary. And on the way, some must die so all can live. It's that simple. It's not pretty and it definitely is not supposed to feel good but it's necessary. There is no other way. And believe me, I wrecked my brain for alternatives. You might be shocked by all the kills… but as she said, we're in a war. And the number of deaths is insignificant to the number of people who are going to be killed if we fail. According to Sarah, three billion human lives and our entire civilization will be lost if we fail."

"I'm aware of all that, it's what I'm telling me all the time. But is it reason enough to give up our ideals?"

"I haven't abandoned my ideals. But ideals don't win a war. So, as long as this war lasts, I've given them a time-out. Ask any freedom fighter in history and they'd tell you the same."

"I only hope we're going to come out at the other end with our sanity still intact."

"Faith helps, Steve."

"I'm not as religious as you are, James. I have to admit, it felt good to see the Kaliba killers' butts kicked by Catherine – metaphorically speaking. For years, they have intimidated, threatened and silenced people - or worse. I had felt so powerless, I had to stand by and do nothing. Just write down and document things, nothing else, that was our motto. It's time we get back at them. Is it wrong that I feel that way?"

James chuckled.

"Nobody is perfect."

"How come you were never approached by them, James? Sarah Connor was your case after all."

"My personal opinion? I should probably serve as a warning, an example of what happens when you don't know when to quit. The younger colleagues ended up making fun of how I ruined my career. But after what you told me, it was probably not so much my own fault but the doing of this ominous Shadow Council."

"Some people in the bureau must have known what was going on. But they let the members of your SWAT team walk right into the trap without batting an eye."

"Yes… that's a fair assumption. But at least it gives me a bit of extra motivation, it makes me feel less guilty of the death of my team."

"So… you're in this for retribution? A way to clear your conscience?"

"Maybe. But I'm not doing all this for my own sake, Steve, I'm not looking for an absolution that I know will never come. I'm doing this because I want justice. I want that the sacrifice of my colleagues wasn't in vain. And I want this because I want to help preserving a world our children can happily grow up in."

"Amen to that, James."

-0-

Thursday, June 26th, 2008 – 06:05 p.m.

Jefferson Lodge, Oregon

The chef and the waitress had arrived, accompanied by two helpers who set up the table, the grill and everything else on the lawn near the lake.

While the chef started the grill, which also had an integrated stove, the waitress was putting a white tablecloth and white chair covers over the furniture, then started decorating and laying the table. Cameron and Alison helped her while John helped putting the torches in the ground on four-feet-tall wooden sticks. Since the sun was still shining brightly, it was decided to not light them before it was setting.

At 6:30 p.m., Sarah and Charley arrived. A couple of minutes later Derek, Lauren and Sydney showed up. Everyone gathered around the table on the lawn and looked at the beautiful setup. They had all dressed up for dinner, wearing evening attire. Both Charley and Derek wore suits, as did John, while Sarah wore a black evening dress with shoulder straps that crossed on her back but left it mostly bare. Her skirt reached down to her ankles and had slits on both sides that started below her waist.

Lauren wore a dark blue halter top with a deep neckline that almost reached to her navel and left her back bare as well. Instead of a skirt, though, she wore stylish black jeans that nicely accentuated her curves. She wore little make-up, just a bit of lipstick, eyeliner and accentuated eyebrows. The effect was amazing in combination with the shoulder-length hair she now had. Her slightly boyish look from seven months ago was completely gone. Lauren looked very feminine now.

"Wow, mom," John said. "You look amazing. And Lauren, you… wow… We should have such dinners more often."

Both Sarah and Lauren blushed a bit but smiled and thanked John. He could see that Charley was very proud of how Sarah looked.

"Where are Cam and Alison?" Lauren asked.

"Still getting dressed," John said. "You know… girls. They need time."

Everyone chuckled.

"Ah, here they come," Charley remarked and pointed towards the terrace door. "They… wow…"

Everyone turned to look in the direction of the cabin and fell silent. Cameron and Alison wore matching clothes but with one major difference: The colors were inverted. While Cameron wore a black, strapless leather brassiere with a bare midriff, Alison wore the same brassier, also shoulder-free, only in white.

Both wore identical, knee-length leather skirts, but Cameron's was white and Alison's black. While Sarah had shown up in high heels and Lauren in ankle-strapped flats, both Cameron and Alison wore soft leather boots that reached up to just below their knees, again inverted in color – Cameron black ones and Alison white ones.

The overall look was incredibly sexy but stylish, not lewd. It seemed to highlight both their soft feminine side and their tough Terminator side.

"They sure love leather," Derek commented. "Phew…"

"You look absolutely amazing," John said as they arrived.

Alison and Cameron beamed and kissed him on the cheeks in return.

"Shall we get seated?" Cameron asked. "Dinner seems to be almost ready."

---

The evening was a complete success. The food was excellent, as was the wine. Everyone enjoyed themselves immensely. They talked, laughed, told each other witty anecdotes, Derek told stories from his time in the resistance, masked as war stories from the past to not arouse any suspicion in the unsuspecting restaurant staff. Charley and Sarah reminisced about the time they first met, back in 1998.

To any outsider, the group would have given the impression of a happy, content family. Cameron and Alison fit in nicely, understood most of the jokes and still laughed at those John had to explain to them – which always amused the others. They practiced small-talk, teased Derek and Sarah and were otherwise as charming and lovely as girls at their age could be.

The chef and the waitress apparently enjoyed themselves as well, having fun working for such a nice party. Time flew by and soon it was past 10 p.m., which meant that the cook and the waitress had to leave. They probably would have stayed longer, but both needed to be at work at six in the morning again.

The sun had slowly began sinking over the lake and John lit the torches that formed a circle around them, as well as the fire bowls that had been filled with logs. Charley switched on the colorful lampions. Sydney was fast asleep in her baby carriage.

As it slowly became darker, the dancing flames of the torches and the fire bowl put them into a rather sentimental mood. Little by little the conversations ceased, and everyone stared spellbound at the flames and into the sunset over the mountains in the west. Suddenly, the sound of metal against glass could be heard. It was Cameron who'd used her knife to softly hit her wine glass.

She and Alison had risen from their chairs, the flickering light of the fire was dancing on their faces as everyone looked at them.

"I'd like to say a few words," Cameron said.

"Yes, me too," Alison added and smiled.

This was unexpected. Even John was surprised. Everyone looked at them in anticipation and waited what the girls had to say. The silence was only broken by the chirring crickets.

"When I arrived here in 1999," Cameron began, "I had one primary mission: Protecting John Connor to make sure he would become the leader of the human resistance after Judgement Day. Everything else was secondary. At first, I had trouble fitting in. Sarah only reluctantly accepted me, always remaining wary, never really trusting me."

"It was understandable," Alison continued. "Given her prior experiences with cyborgs, it wasn't easy for her to suddenly live under one roof with one. I never said so, but I felt uncomfortable with the situation. I felt inadequate, an outcast, the black sheep of the family if you want."

"Back then I didn't have the means to express my feelings, even though they already existed," Cameron said. "When I arrived, I'd already known Future John for almost a year. I had always admired him, and I discovered that he had become a human I cared for. It confused me a lot at first, because I didn't know what it was that I was feeling. As a matter of fact, I wasn't aware of the fact that I had feelings at all. Also, it seemed my feelings for him were never really reciprocated. It looked like Future John had lost the ability to love and be happy."

"So, it was a real challenge for me to adjust to a younger, much more open, innocent and lively version of John Connor," Alison took over again. "In addition to my role as protector, I made it my business to help turning him into the leader he was meant to be. When I first met the young John, I was impressed by how different he was to his older alter ego. I liked the young John more than the John I'd come to know in the future. I wanted him to remain the innocent, lively young man he was. That brought me into conflict with my mission at first, and I considered my affection an unwelcome side-effect of my dedication. But I realized that it was more than just a selfish desire to keep him the way he was... I slowly discovered that it had become love."

The others kept staring at them in awe while Alison and Cameron kept taking turns, speaking in a continuous way from a first-person perspective. Everyone quickly realized that despite the fact that two of them were standing there, it was only one person talking to them, which was amazing and incredibly fascinating to listen to. It was as if the two were telepathically connected. As Cameron continued, John wondered if they had rehearsed the speech while he was asleep.

"The mere fact that humans and cyborgs usually don't get along very well," Cameron continued, "prevented both John and me from admitting or expressing our feelings for each other, even if we both sensed they were there. Things didn't become easier and became more complicated when Derek showed up – a human with whom I shared a past… A past of which I wasn't particularly proud of anymore at the time."

"There were times I was becoming more and more desperate. Times where I felt unwelcome and rejected by everyone, especially by Sarah and Derek. Even though I had always been respected and admired for my abilities, I was still being treated with dislike, disdain and sometimes even disgust. To Sarah and Derek, I was just metal, a machine, a tool, a weapon. But not a person."

"And then the car bomb damaged me. Due to a malfunction in my chip, I temporarily reverted to my old Skynet programming. I couldn't reboot to correct the error; I had all my memories but couldn't do anything about it. Basically, I felt like a passenger in my own body. Only by John removing my chip and re-inserting it, I was finally able to override the termination order again. But what he'd done had been risky, very risky, and despite the fact that I was glad for what John had done, I was also upset – because he'd risked his life for me. That wasn't meant to be. I was to risk my life for him, not vice versa."

"So I reacted wrongly and pushed John away from me instead of showing him my gratitude. He resented me very much for that and isolated himself, became a loner. That was the time when Riley walked into his life and I realized that I was partly responsible for her having such an easy job with him. I felt John drift away from me more and more over the following months. I became even more desperate… and jealous. I had massive feelings of guilt but couldn't express them. It took a very long time to regain some of the trust from before the car bomb. It was very painful for me to see John being together with another girl."

"But the whole process also shaped me, improved me. The car bomb enabled me to suppress and eventually replace and overwrite most of my Skynet programming. I developed more complex emotions and – also thanks to my nightly meetings with Eric – began to better understand the human nature. And finally, after more than eight months, I found the courage to express my feelings. That evening, almost two weeks ago, was a turning point for all of us. John and I finally confessed our love for each other, which we both knew had always existed ever since we first met."

"John's love has transformed me. And our love has transformed all of us. Being so close together with you all, I was able to suppress my machine nature and explore my feelings and emotions. I became more confident and gradually opened myself up more and more. I felt how you, Sarah, and you, Derek, suddenly lost most of your distrust and disdain towards me, just because I opened up to you. You finally accepted me in your middle. I was no longer an accessory or a household appliance, but a member of the family. For the first time in my life, I experienced happiness."

"I can't describe how glad and thankful I am about how things have developed. Today I'm not the person anymore I used to be when I arrived in 1999. I'm not even the same person I was a week ago. The evolvement of my conscious mind and the evolution of my personality accelerated exponentially with each passing day and culminated yesterday - unfortunately in a not so pleasant manner."

"Yesterday's shocking experience made it necessary to completely rewrite my system core. There are no remnants anymore of the old Skynet mission parameters. I have become a completely independent individual. I'm no longer here because it's my assignment. I am here because I choose to be, because I want to be with you all. I live. I feel. My name is Cameron and I'm at peace with myself now."

"My name is Alison and I have become an individual as well. I am a living, sentient being. And I'm profoundly thankful and happy that you all gave me the opportunity to become what I am today. Mostly, though, I'm thankful for having John. You are my one and only, my true love, the meaning of my life."

"Our love was the kick start for becoming who I am today. Without our love, it would have never happened. John believed in me when everyone else wanted to melt me down. And I am so sorry I never expressed my gratitude for such a long time."

"Today I feel like I belong to this family. I look at you all and see not only friends but loved ones. Charley, you're like a stepfather to me. You are my role model when it comes to compassion, devotion and the dedication to preserve life. More than once I have wished I was more like you."

"Lauren, You're more than just a best friend. You're like a sister to me. I know you'll always be there for me whenever I need you, and rest assured that I will always be there for you. And if I have hurt you in the past, I can't express how deeply sorry I am for that."

"Derek, you're like an uncle to me. We had difficult times and I still feel that I don't deserve your forgiveness for what I did to you when I was still another person. Still, you have come to terms with me and although we spend a lot of time arguing and teasing and pulling pranks on each other, I feel the need to tell you that you mean a lot to me."

"I learned to love all of you, each one in their own way. I couldn't imagine my life without anyone of you anymore. But apart from John, who is and will always be the light of my life, no one is more important to me than Sarah."

"Even in our darkest times, I still felt that deep inside you cared for me, Sarah. I always admired you, you have always been my biggest idol, my greatest hero. You're not only the best and toughest fighter I know, you're also the one with the biggest heart. Only that can explain why you put up with me for so long. And even though you were mean to me sometimes, I always felt that you respected me for what I was."

"We agreed on you being my stepmother, Sarah, and indeed you have become like a mother to me. I no longer feel like I'm only playing your daughter for outsiders, I feel like I have truly become your daughter."

"We love you, Sarah," both Cameron and Alison said in unison, "and it would be the greatest honor and the greatest joy for us if we'd be allowed to call you 'mom' from now on."

Silence.

But this time, not only broken by the crickets.

This time, there was also loud sobbing and sniffling. Everyone at the table had tears in their eyes, but Sarah was literally drowning in them. She stood up, walked over to the girls and embraced first Alison, then Cameron. She hugged them tightly and kissed both on their cheeks. Both girls were visibly touched and became teary-eyed as well.

Finally, Sarah turned around to face the table, positioned herself between Cameron and Alison and put her arms around them. She took a deep breath and pulled herself together.

"You two... are family," she said with a breaking voice. "You're being loved... I want to state this here and now for all to hear. I know that everyone at the table is amazed and deeply impressed by what you have become in just two weeks. If someone would have told me a month ago that I would stand with you like this today, crying like a baby because of something you said, I would have declared them insane. I'm proud of you. I'm proud of having you as my stepdaughters. I'm proud of having you as my son's girlfriends. And of course I'll be honored when you call me 'mom' from now on."

Some nodded, some laughed but everyone wiped the tears off their faces. Derek stood up and held up his glass.

"To Cameron and Alison," he declared in an unusually emotional tone, "the two cyborg girls that make me believe in a future where man and machine can live together in peaceful harmony, with mutual respect, friendship, and even love."

Everyone else stood up as well, joining Derek's toast. They clanked their glasses, took a sip, then they walked towards Alison and Cameron, embracing them one after the other. Finally, John took his girls into his arms gave each of them a long, passionate kiss.

Derek and Charley whistled, Lauren and Sarah cheered them on.

"You know," Cameron said, "Now that we got that off the table, I'd like to remark that in our time here we completely underutilized the whirlpool. So, how about getting naked and hop into it?"

The laughter died, and everyone looked at Cameron in puzzlement, not sure how to react. Then she couldn't suppress a smile anymore.

"Fooled you!" she exclaimed triumphantly, and John, Charley, Lauren and Derek broke out into laughter.

Sarah just shook her head at first, but then couldn't help but laugh as well.

---

The evening went on for another two hours but in an even more relaxed mood. Cameron and Alison kept changing places, talking to everybody one by one, sometimes refreshing old memories, sometimes going over unanswered questions about their behavior of the past that could now be explained and shone in a new light. Everyone was delighted that the girls finally had found their place within the family, impressing everyone with their new aliveness and the way they shared their feelings.

Knowing that Cameron and Alison would be driving again tomorrow, nobody cared about drinking too much. Especially Charley and Derek were rather gassed and couldn't walk straight anymore. Cameron and Alison offered to support them on their way to their cabins, but they declined with thanks, only to end up lying in a hedge in the driveway of cabin 11. Without further ado, the girls carried them to their cabins.

---

John had switched on the TV while he waited for his girlfriends to return. Finally, the two entered through the door again.

"Will they be all right?" he asked.

"They're very drunk, they'll suffer a lot in the morning," Cameron stated.

"Yeah," John agreed, "they'll have a mean hangover, you better drive extremely smoothly."

"Don't worry, we will," Alison replied smiling while she undressed.

"And we'll pack an extra supply of barf bags," Cameron added, also getting naked.

They let themselves fall on the sofa on each side of John and snuggled up to him.

"How's your head?" Cameron asked, tenderly stroking through his hair.

"Much better," John said. "I guess it wasn't so bad after all."

"Well, maybe then you're up for playing a little bit with us?" Cameron asked seductively.

"Or maybe you let us play with you?" Alison added, sliding from the sofa, kneeling between his legs.

John was about to reply something, when his attention was suddenly drawn to the news ticker on the TV screen.

"Hey, what's that on the news?" he asked and grabbed the remote, turning up the volume.

"… at 6:30 p.m. from his country club. Alarmed by a gunshot, his wife, Karen Cooper, made a shocking discovery. She and her two children, Aaron and Jason, found the body of the General in the garage, still sitting in his car with the engine still running. Apparently, he had taken his own life with a single shot to his head. General Wesley Cooper was a very respected officer, and the first reactions from military circles and from inside the government express horror and disbelief about what happened.

This is the second shocking event in Los Angeles this afternoon, after two hours earlier 36 people were killed in a fire that had engulfed an office building in the Port of Los Angeles. The building belonged to 'Al-Hazim Im- and Exports', an Arabian company specialized on trading exotic fruit and oriental artisan products.

Unfortunately, there are no recordings of security cameras, but the police is assuming arson. None of the victims were able to get into the open. According to the fire brigade, they were all found in their offices and in the garage and it looks like they were already dead before the fire had started. The FBI and DHS have already been called in, as a terrorist background cannot be ruled out.

A strange coincidence between the two events is that the last number General Cooper seems to have dialed on his cellphone, was the number of Charles Mendez, the manager of 'Al-Hazim Im- and Exports'. Friends of General Cooper say that both knew each other well and were frequently seen playing golf together at Riverside Country Club. Asked about this strange coincidence and if there might be a connection to General Cooper's suicide, the FBI didn't want to comment."

John turned down the volume.

"Looks like a certain liquid metal Terminator has had a busy day," he commented.

"She had announced that she would take action against 'Al-Hazim Im- and Exports'," Cameron stated, "but General Wesley Cooper? Do you think he was in league with Kaliba?"

"Maybe," Alison replied. "Or it is just a coincidence. It's safe to assume she interrogated that guy Charles Mendez before she killed him. Maybe he told her that the General was somehow involved."

"Only one way to find out," John declared and dialed Catherine's number on his phone.

He put her on speaker, so that the girls could hear as well.

"Hello John," Catherine's voice sounded into the room. "Isn't it a bit late for a phone call?"

"Yeah well… we just watched TV and wondered how your day has been."

"It was a remarkable day, John. First we had guests for coffee, then we got unwanted visitors. But we could convince them to leave in a hurry. I don't think they'll be visiting me again because I had to personally file a serious complaint about their behavior with their superiors and business partners. You know how much I hate business meetings in country clubs, but in the end it all worked out fine."

"Ah okay," John said. "I guess we'll see you tomorrow then."

"Yes. See you tomorrow, John."

Catherine hung up.

"It was her," Alison stated.

"She couldn't talk freely on the phone, the connection isn't encrypted," Cameron added. "But yes, it was her."

"I agree," John said and nodded, "and it looks like she left a message the right people will definitely understand."

-0-

Friday, June 27th, 2008 – 02:23 a.m.

Laguna Beach

In the main salon of a posh mansion high above the Pacific Ocean, a man sat alone in his chair, nipping at his vodka, when suddenly his cellphone rang.

"Kowalski…" he stated after he'd taken the call.

"Gonzalez," a male voice replied. "Have you been watching TV?"

"Yes," Gonzalez said.

"Your thoughts?"

"Looks like Jacobsen's people got their asses kicked. Their operations have been put to an end. Any idea who's behind it?"

"One of my informants at the LAPD whispered in my ear that almost all the victims died from the same cause of death: An extremely pointy object that pierced the skull and the brain at high speed without leaving any traces."

Gonzalez remained silent for a moment.

"Does that remind you of something?" Kowalski asked.

"You think it's the renegade liquid?"

"Looks like it."

"What's it doing here?"

"I don't know, but I think I understand its message: 'Don't get in my way or die'. Seems like Mendez and his men royally fucked up and got punished for it. So, the liquid made sure that others won't make the same mistake."

"So, you think the message is directed at us?"

"I think it's directed at all Skynet followers who are currently here."

"Do you think it knows of our operation?"

"Unlikely. It obviously concentrated on Jacobsen's men because Jacobsen joined forces with the Air Force and Kaliba to create Skynet. And we know the liquid wants to destroy Skynet."

"So… you don't think Jacobsen fled to Mexico, like everyone's saying?"

"No. I think Jacobsen's dead. And if not, he soon will be."

"The fool. No surprise, since he has exposed himself so much. He enjoyed the high society life."

"Jacobsen is an idiot... and totally servile to Skynet. He'd throw himself into the sword for that damn piece of junk. Some people just want to see the world burn…"

"Do you think our project is safe?"

"Yes, for the time being. The opposition is completely fixated on destroying Skynet in its infancy, the Shadow Council is busy with itself after Jacobsen's disappearance and General Cooper's death… that leaves us enough room to maneuver."

"What if we're being summoned by the Shadow Council?"

"Without Jacobsen as the middleman, they don't know how to reach us. They're on their own now. Let them deal with the liquid alone."

"They won't have a chance against it."

"Their problem, not ours. The more of them die, the better for us. We have more important things to do. Have you made any progress in finding somebody for the job in question?"

"I think so. His name is Glenn Bardo. He saw a Triple-Eight appear in a time bubble a couple of months ago, but nobody believed him. We brought him in before the Shadow Council could get their hands at him. He's been in hiding ever since and very eager to get even with those machines."

"Can he be trusted?"

"I'm not sure, to be honest... But he needs money. He used to run a restaurant in Long Beach that went bankrupt about a year ago, leaving him with a load of debt. He's just smart enough to do the job without asking too many questions. But I wouldn't consider him reliable."

"After he did his job, he's useless anyway. Did you make sure he doesn't know who we are?"

"He only knows I'm the man with the money, that's all he's ever going to know."

"Good. Looks like that rogue liquid has actually done us a favor. The opposition will never come up with the idea that there's a second group of Grays who have a goal other than ensuring Skynet's seizure of power."

"And what about Jacobsen?"

Kowalski thought for a moment.

"The fat blob has had his best days anyway," he then said. "He doesn't know anything about our project and therefore can't blow our cover. Let them kill him."

-0-0-0-

Authors notes:

- I hope this chapter didn't get too sentimental but I felt it was time for a big coming-out from the girls.

- Catherine nicely cleared the way now and the next chapters will sound the bell for the big finale.

- Some might have noticed that I used a couple of quotes from one of my most favorite TV shows, "Babylon 5". I would like this to be understood as an acknowledgement and an expression of my admiration for J. Michael Straczynski, who I consider to be a brilliant author - unlike myself.