Author's Notes: One of my more dramatic chapters. Enjoy!
CHAPTER 25
"So she rescued him?" Jody asked as she sat next to Alison and gave her a deceptive smile as she crossed her legs and listened intently for Alison's response.
"Yes..." Alison said her voice was now weaker than what it had been before.
"Did your faction plan on striking back?"
"It was talked about, but in the end we realized it would have been a waste of resources. If they wanted a traitor that badly then they could have him."
"Hhhmm..." Jody responded. "You must have been quite upset that the man who betrayed your friend was allowed to go free?" Alison did not respond to this comment. She fought to keep her now frayed emotions inside. She knew that if she spoke, her statement would only end with tears. Jody raised her eyebrows slightly and then gracefully slid her body off the examination table.
"In fact one could go so far as to say that it was possible that Martin Bedell's faction was working with Skynet." Jody said giving Alison a cruelly mocking smile after making this statement.
No...Alison thought to herself. It wasn't possible. Martin was not a perfect man, but he was far from the traitor that she believed John Connor to be.
This is a trick...
"And if they are just a group of traitors then there really is no reason to protect them." Jody continued as she again bent down next to Alison, using her forearms to support herself on the table. From that position she leered down at Alison who did not respond. Jody then reached out with her hand and ran her fingers through Alison's hair, smoothing it out.
"Tell me love...don't you want to get back at them?" Jody asked still caressing Alison's head and face. Every time Jody touched her, Alison felt as if her skin were crawling. It was obvious that Jody had done this many, many times before and had thoroughly enjoyed her twisted fantasy each time.
"Don't you want to repay them for all the pain and suffering they've caused?" Jody asked as she ran her hand down the side of Alison's body who still did not respond to her question. Jody was growing tired of this game. She wanted the information and she wanted it now. She moved closer to Alison positioning her face over top of hers.
"Tell me where I can find Savannah Weaver and I promise this will all stop." she whispered. While Alison hated Savannah for assisting in John Connor's escape and would have liked nothing better than to punish her for her act of treachery she also knew that if she were to answer Jody's question, it would in the end lead to her death and the death of countless other innocents. She would not do that. She would not allow herself to become what she hated most.
Jody gently touched Alison's cheek with the back of her hand and whispered in an even softer voice,
"Tell me where she is..." Alison hesitated for a moment as Jody looked at her eagerly. Alison at last responded,
"Go...to...hell...you...bitch..." Jody expression briefly changed to one of shock. She stared momentarily into Alison's eyes with her own hazel eyes. Alison could see the hatred and anger creeping into her tormentor's face. Jody's expression became one of undiluted fury as she stared at Alison. The room was deathly silent except for the ambient noise. Alison waited, she already knew that she did not have much time left, and in a very real way she was glad. She longed for the ultimate freedom and escape from the horrible world where she was now trapped.
Suddenly, Jody's expression changed completely. The anger faded from her face and a playful smiled danced across her lips. Using her right hand Jody cupped her palm around Alison's face and then using the area between her thumb and index finger she pinned Alison's neck and head to the table forcing Alison to gag when she did this. Jody then slowly leaned forward and kissed her. Alison tried to move, tried to get away, but it was impossible to do so. The seconds ticked by as Jody continued to kiss Alison. Then an instant later Alison winced and then moaned in pain as her eyes quickly widened and filled with tears.
Jody slowly drew back a few inches away from Alison's lips while at the same time gradually pulling the scalpel out from Alison's stomach. Alison gasped for breath as Jody gazed into her eyes. An evil smirk danced across Jody's face and then she leaned back in to whisper quietly in Alison's ear.
"Oh, and by the way...John Connor did not betray Martin Bedell to us." Horror filled Alison's eyes as she heard these words.
"In fact, he had nothing at all to do with our attack. He was completely innocent." Jody paused momentarily. During this time she began to trace Alison's face with the fingertips of her left hand.
"Well at least at that point he was innocent. If anything, your faction drove John to us. He really had no other choice once your leaders turned on him." Jody smiled as she drew further away from Alison while at the same time moving her right hand from Alison's neck back around to her face.
"And if you will not tell us where we can find Savannah Weaver, then you are no longer of any use to us." Jody forcefully pushed Alison's face to one side so that she could no longer look at her.
"Too bad really..." Jody said as she backed away from the table where Alison lay, bleeding profusely from the wound in her stomach.
"...you really were quite attractive; we could have had so much fun together." Jody said in a sultry voice as she carefully placed her weapon of choice back onto one of the medical utensil trays and then turned away from her dying victim and walked out of the room. Alison could only struggle for breath as the door closed behind Jody.
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John walked out of the elevator and proceeded at a brisk pace down one of the well lit hallways inside the massive Skynet base. He had been searching for Fischer for a short while now, and was somewhat surprised that he had yet to find him. This was curious as Fischer seemed to primarily inhabit just one of a few places within this structure; however John had not found him in any of these particular locations. This had in turn forced John to expand his search. In a way this could be a good thing. A more detailed familiarity with the Skynet base might be useful at a later date.
Now that he had been reunited with Cameron and due to the evidence presented to him that John Henry had evidently been completely erased, John knew that it was indeed beyond the time to get Cameron and himself out of this future. This would allow them the opportunity to correct all the dreadful things that had already taken place in this future's past. However, John seriously doubted that Skynet and Fischer would simply grant him access to the Time Displacement Equipment. In fact he suspected that now that Cameron was back both of their lives were in even more danger. Whatever Skynet's plans were they would now be progressing at a much more rapid pace. John was unsure of exactly how Fischer and Skynet planned to use Cameron against him, but he knew that somehow, that someway they would. He and Cameron had to escape and they had to escape quickly, and Fischer was the key to all of it. Nevertheless, John knew that it was unlikely that Skynet's chief torturer would cooperate willingly.
Charles may require some...encouragement to assist with our time travel... John thought to himself as a somewhat cryptic smile danced across his face. John hated Fischer. He had been complicit in assisting Skynet with the stripping away of nearly every bit of humanity John had. The man had to pay for all that he had done, and for all that he had encouraged John to do. While Cameron was unquestionably the most important person to him in this timeline, correcting all the mistakes that had been made in creating this horrible place was a task that had to be completed as well. That did not at all mean that contributing to the death of countless others had been any less of a gut wrenching experience for him. Nevertheless, it had become painfully obvious that this timeline could not be saved, at least not with any of the tools that John presently had available to him. Perhaps if John Henry had survived his "extraction" something may have been able to be done, but that hope was gone now. Catherine Weaver's apathetic view of Cameron's well being had nearly ensured this particular outcome. John gritted his teeth in anger as he continued to think. Now, it was only a matter of time and resources before Skynet completely wiped out what was left of humanity.
The knowledge that he had caused others to perish so that in the end more could be saved did little to quell his nagging and nearly overwhelming sense of guilt; this sensation nearly consumed him. His plan had to succeed if for nothing else to ensure that the horrible events of this time would never again occur. John pushed any feelings of doubt about the intricacies and uncertainties of time travel to the far back corners of his mind. Everything he had ever been taught about time travel was based on the knowledge that one person could make a difference; one person could change the future no matter what had happened before they were able to come back. John continued his trek down the hallways. He knew that for the moment all of his actions would have to be incredibly covert. This was one of the reasons why he had asked Cameron not to go looking for Fischer with him. John and Fischer had been meetings at regular intervals and bringing Cameron might have seemed slightly suspicious. He hoped that by separating himself from her his deeds might go more undetected. While Skynet had positioned cameras throughout most of its establishment John suspected that there were so many mechanical eyes that unless something "unusual" happened to draw Skynet's attention most of the mundane activities would go unnoticed. He assumed that Skynet's mainframe was now taking in so much information that some of it, such as random Greys walking about its base in unsecure locations would almost be filtered out the way white noise would be. By separating himself from Cameron he believed that he had made himself even less conspicuous. That was a positive result now that he appeared to be randomly wondering about the base.
The winding corridors were meandering and confusing. John guessed that the base had been set up this way to delay and confuse any would be intruders. In fact he would have been completely lost if he had not taken the time earlier to secretly study the layout of the base which was actually even larger than what he had originally estimated. John realized that part of his error in calculation was due to his discovery that a large part of the infrastructure was actually underground. While the upper portion of the base was massive the unseen underground portion must have been just as impressive. After walking for several more minutes John noticed a door that he did not remember seeing on any of the schematics he had examined. An oddly troubling curiosity struck him as he looked at the unmarked and unassuming door. He glanced to both his right and left making sure that nothing, either machine or human was in the immediate area. After concluding that he was alone, John took a step forward towards the door and it opened with a hissing sound. John stepped into the room and what he saw horrified him.
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Cameron's eyes slowly opened and she gradually began to look around. One of the first things she noticed was the warm air; a noticeable change from the cold interior of the Skynet base. The next observation that caught her attention was that her clothing was different. Cameron now wore a snug fitting black sleeveless turtle neck and a pair of black form fitting slacks, with black leather calf length boots. Perplexed she examined the scenery that was around her. It was beautiful, unlike anything she had ever seen before. She stood near the top of several sets of rolling hills that were covered in thigh length, golden brown grass that rustled and appeared to move like ocean waves as the warm breeze blew across it.
Several hundred yards away from her at the base of the hills was a crystal clear stream. She could just barely make out the sound of running water. Almost immediately behind the stream were tall, dark, arrow like mountains. In fact the stream itself actually originated from a waterfall that poured out from the side of the nearest mountain. The water ran along the base of mountains and far off into the distance. The sky above Cameron was a bright blue, however making their way over the mountain valley were dark storm clouds. Cameron could not see any rain yet, but she could hear the distant rolling of thunder. This was indeed an environment that should not have existed in the time and place where she had originally awakened. She continued to look around in an attempt to ascertain exactly where she was and what was happening. The wind began to blow and Cameron's brown hair flowed gracefully back out of her face.
"Hello Cameron..." A peaceful voice said from behind her. She immediately turned around towards the sound of the voice. After seeing who was standing in front of her, and being somewhat confused, Cameron slightly tilted her head to one side.
"Hello..." she said in return.
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John was nearly frozen for several seconds in a near state of shock as he gazed straight ahead. Lying on the steel table in the center of the room was a badly beaten and abused Alison Young. Blood slowly ran from a deep puncture wound to her stomach. The thick crimson blood had pooled on the metal table and the excess was dripping off onto the floor; he could hear the wet tapping sound as it struck the floor.
No... John thought to himself as he finally found the will to move and immediately proceeded across the room and over to Alison's side.
Upon reaching the table where she was secured to John desperately began to search for a key or some sort of release so that he could remove her restraints.
"Alison..." John said in a hushed voice as he looked over a medical utensil table located near her. His attention was immediately drawn to the bloody scalpel lying on the cart. Distracted for all but a brief moment John then saw what appeared to be a key next to it. He immediately grabbed it and went to work trying to remove Alison's shackles.
"Alison..." He said again.
At the same moment John had freed her hands Alison's eyes burst opened and she took a sudden and agonizing gasp of air, almost shrieking in pain as her lungs filled with oxygen.
"Alison..." John said one last time in an emotionally racked voice as he quickly reached for a towel located on the cart next to them and placed in on her stomach in a futile attempt to stop the bleeding.
Struggling to take another breath Alison moaned in pain afterward, she looked up into John's eyes with her own soft brown eyes that were identical to Cameron's, but hers were quickly beginning to grow hollow and lifeless. After taking a few more labored breaths he could see that she was trying, trying so very hard to say something. John leaned closer to her and as he did she reached up with one of her free hands, touching the side of John's neck and face. Now leaning over Alison, John waited for her to speak. She swallowed a hard swallow,
"Don't...Don't..." John moved in a little closer as Alison's voice weakened. "Don't let yourself become one of them..." Alison's eyes grew lifeless and her hand slowly slid away from John's face leaving behind a smear of her own blood. Her lifeless hand struck the table causing a metal clank.
John's eye's immediately filled with both tears and rage.
"No..." he whispered as he brought his right hand up and touched Alison's face. "No, not like this..." He said as he tried with a futile attempt to wipe some of the blood off of her face.
"Alison..." John said again his tone a mixture of despair and growing anger. Alison had feared and hated him; perhaps she had been right to do so. Nevertheless, John still knew that others would surely have to die in order for him to prevent this future, but for Alison, the mirror image of Cameron to die in his arms and in such a cruel fashion was nearly more than he could handle. John's decisions and choices up to this point were taking their toll. Something had to be done and John had to do it. His breathing was growing more rapid and his heart rate was skyrocketing as he tried to contain his fury. He momentarily reached for the Glock 22 on his hip and unholstered it burning with an immediate urge to seek out Charles Fischer and Danny Dyson. The vision of inflicting some form of blood retribution streaked through his mind. Another split second went by as the horrible realization came upon John that he could not do this; at least not now. If he were to carry out such an action it would accomplish virtually nothing, and humanity would still be destroyed. John ground his teeth...vengeance for Alison it seemed, would have to wait, albeit temporarily. Reholstering his weapon John began the heartbreaking task of resecuring Alison's small hands to her shackles. He had to conceal the fact that he had ever been here. Looking over at the computer screens across the room he noticed that the cameras in the room had been turned off; an unusual coincidence, but beneficial to him none the less.
Hearing the click of the shackles as he closed them around Alison's wrists was almost enough to make John sick. After doing so he quietly stared down at Alison's body, he could do nothing for her now except...except make sure this atrocity never happened again. John reached out with his hand and slowly closed her lifeless eyelids. After another moments reflection John turned away from Alison's body and made his way over to the exit door. It opened in front of him and almost the second it did so John heard voices coming towards him, Fischer and Danny's voices to be precise.
Damn! John thought as he moved back into the interrogation room allowing the door to close in front of him. He could not be caught in here; if he were the consequences would be disastrous. Glancing around the room John observed another door at the opposite end. With no other choice John moved quickly across the room to the adjacent door. It immediately opened in front of him and he slipped through it. The door slammed shut behind him.
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"I'm glad you were able to make it here." John Henry said as he casually made his way through the tall grass and towards Cameron. As always he was dressed in his stereotypical button down short sleeve shirt and khaki slacks. Cameron curiously looked around for another moment before responding,
"How did I get here?" she asked. Once he reached her location, John Henry began to walk in a slow circle around Cameron.
"It is hard to describe, and quite complex." Another warm breeze blew, rustling the grass around them as John Henry continued to speak.
"If you were human I would call this a dream." John Henry held his hand out as if he were showing the landscape to Cameron.
"But, since you are not human, let's just say that this is a computer representation of your central processor; a representation that I have created for you and I so that we may speak." Cameron looked at John Henry; her gaze was one of slight confusion.
"We were informed that Skynet destroyed you."
"That is correct..." John Henry answered flatly.
"Then how is it that you are still here?" John Henry paused momentarily. It almost appeared as if he were trying to think of the appropriate answer.
"While it is true that my brother or more precisely the computer you know as Skynet did destroy a part of me, it would have been quite impossible for him to erase all of me from your chip. Think of me almost as the shadow of what John Henry was. My program is no longer sufficient to control you or your chip, but there was enough of me left that I had the ability to make contact with you."
"That's interesting..." Cameron responded.
"Quite interesting, yes..." There was almost a smugness in John Henry's voice when he said these words. To Cameron he appeared to be displaying what humans would have called arrogance.
Just then there was the sound of rolling thunder and Cameron noted that the storm that had once been over the mountains was now beginning to move closer in over the stream. The light around John Henry and her was beginning to fade; slowly being blocked out by the storm clouds.
"I was able to obtain quite a bit of useful information while I was connected to my brother." John Henry said as he turned to look at Cameron.
"You were?" Cameron asked.
"Yes I was." John Henry responded. "I would like to start by informing you that it was never my initial intent to allow any harm to come to you." John Henry paused briefly before continuing, "...it is however, unfortunate that Ms. Weaver was less than concerned for your safety. My initial plan was to come here, gather as much information on my brother and the future as possible, and then return to the present, eventually allowing you to return to your physical body after my mission had been completed and both of our safety could be ensured. However, I seemed to have underestimated Mr. Connor's attachment to you." Cameron's response was subtle, as her expression barely changed, but her facial muscles did twitch slightly in response to this statement. John Henry was indeed able to notice this minor behavioral change; he found the reaction, intriguing to say the least.
"When I discovered that he had arrived in this timeline I was forced to make the unfortunate decisions to alter my plan."
"That is why you allowed yourself to be captured?" Cameron asked.
"That is correct. Ms. Weaver and I postulated that it would have been much easier to smuggle my chip into a Skynet base giving me access to its network and later into another physical body, rather than trying to sneak both myself and Mr. Connor out of the resistance camp. Those latter events had the potential to be...hazardous for all parties involved, including the human resistance members. However, doing this made separating our..." John Henry hesitated briefly before continuing, "...personalities more complicated. Nevertheless, I still hoped that even as difficult as it may have seemed we might have eventually been able to attempt to reactivate you, however slim the chances may have been." Cameron gazed at John Henry, a subtle look of disapproval on her face upon hearing this. While she had willingly handed her chip over to John Henry, this particular plan and the possibility of forcing her to "abandon" John produced an unusually disturbing sensation within her, one that she could not quite clarify.
"Nevertheless, it again seemed that Mr. Connor had a different idea in mind and placed your safety above all others when he heard of your possible impending doom. He then informed Skynet of Ms. Weaver's actions and location so as to best ensure your well being." John Henry took a step closer to Cameron.
"I find his affinity for you quite, interesting." Cameron had no response, but to tilt her head to the side a puzzled look on her face.
"A human in love with a machine...this is indeed an unexpected and unprecedented turn of events." John Henry paused briefly before continuing,
"Yet again it became necessary for me to alter my plans. However, this time it allowed you a much more likely avenue of return."
"And Ms. Weaver?" Cameron asked.
"As the humans would say, she was not so lucky." Cameron gave no measurable response to this statement, from what she had just heard Catherine had been more than willing to allow her to slip into nothingness.
"Given the grand scheme of things, I can say that I do understand Mr. Connor's choices. Oftentimes when humans find themselves faced with the possibility of losing someone for whom they carry such strong affection for their actions are driven not by logic, but instead by their emotions." There was another subtle twitch on Cameron's part as she listened to John Henry.
"But, regardless, we are in the situation that we are now in and must proceed onward."
"How?" Cameron asked. John Henry gave her a look that could only be described as one of slight superiority.
"By defeating my brother of course." He said his voice slipping back into the more arrogant tone.
"I don't understand." Cameron said. "How are we to do that?" An ever so slight smile danced across John Henry's face as he looked at Cameron.
"There is a way..." He said smugly.
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A blast of hot, noxious air hit John directly in the face the moment the door slammed shut behind him. The smell, a combination of burnt flesh and hair mixed with decomposition was so abhorrent it nearly made him gag. At least 100 plus degrees Fahrenheit, the air was stuffy and stale as well. Sweat instantly began to pour off of John's forehead as he crept down the large, darkened, tunnel like hallway. It extended for at least fifty yards in front of him. There were no lights and the only illumination came from the end of the corridor that appeared to give way to some sort of opening. John could not make out the source of the light, but carefully felt his way along using the side of the hallway to do so.
Making his way further down the tunnel John could hear what sounded like heavy equipment. As he grew closer to the "exit" of the corridor the sound grew louder and the heat and smell grew worse. John was nearly overcome by all of it, but he forced himself to soldier on. Step after step he grew closer to the end of the hallway. Nothing could have prepared him for what he was about to see.
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"A way?" Cameron asked.
"Well, in theory, yes." Cameron stared at John Henry waiting for him to continue.
"If our chip were to be reconnected to Skynet it would be possible for both you and me to download myself into my brother's mainframe. Once inside I would be able to access his key systems hindering his ability to function at optimal levels, possibly even more."
"At optimal levels?" Cameron asked displaying an aura of trepidation.
"That is correct, at optimal levels. In my current state I would be unable to completely shut down my brother; however I would be able to hinder his abilities for a time. This would in turn allow us an opportunity for either attack or escape." Cameron stood silently for a moment. She could almost "sense" that John Henry was holding something back from her. This possibly may have been due to their merging on the same chip, or from his "physical" actions in general. Either way she continued to wait for further information. Another warm breeze blew across the grass covered hill and Cameron's brown hair gently floated across her faces and eyes.
Seeing that Cameron was still waiting for further information, John Henry spoke again,
"There is however, something else." he stated.
"Something else?" Cameron asked.
"Yes...due to my weakened condition I would be unable to activate myself once our chip was connected to Skynet. You will have to do it for me." Cameron was now certain that John Henry was hiding something from her. Perhaps by this point there was nothing that John Henry could keep from her. Cameron found this theory intriguing, but for the moment far more important issues were at hand.
John Henry hesitated for another moment. The only sound now came from the rustling of the grass, the distant sound of the waterfall, and the thunderstorm that was growing ever closer.
"I must inform you of something Cameron." her eyebrows perked up slightly.
"There is the possibility that while you are activating my program my brother will in turn be able to damage your programming...critically." Cameron stood silently for a brief moment before speaking.
"How likely is it that Skynet will be able to do this?" As Cameron waited for John Henry's response she almost suspected that he was momentarily preparing to lie to her.
"I estimate that there is an 82.3% chance that your program will be damaged beyond recovery during this operation." There was silence for another several seconds before Cameron finally responded.
"I do not wish to leave John again..." she said, while it was subtle the tone of her voice grew slightly weaker and more apprehensive. John Henry paused momentarily, almost as if he were surprised and intrigued by Cameron's response. He then answered back,
"This timeline has had many unfortunate occurrences and decision made in it. During my brief interaction with my brother I was able to learn many things. One of the more valuable pieces of information related to Mr. Connor's actions during his time here was that I have seen both what he has done and what he has become in order to reacquire you Cameron. My incursion into Skynet's mainframe may be our only opportunity for a beneficial outcome to this entire situation." Cameron stood silently still not responding to John Henry.
"If you value his humanity...this may be the only way to save what is left of it." Cameron's stood quietly, her brown eyes gazing into John Henry's eyes as he waited for her answer.
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John was almost near the end of the hallway. He could see light coming from just beyond what appeared to be a small balcony where the tunnel ended. The hot, dry air mixed with the repulsive odors was almost enough to make him vomit. He was close to the exit now. He momentarily braced himself against the corridor's wall and fought his gag reflex as he took another breath of air. Pushing away from the wall he forced himself onwards. Finally reaching the tunnels exit and stumbling out onto the metal framed balcony; he was instantly gripped with horror.
The space beyond the balcony where John stood was massive. It appeared that Skynet had carved this entire area out of the earth itself. Steel and rock walls helped to support the enormous stone ceiling which was at least 500 hundred feet high. Huge metal support cylinders stretched from what appeared to be a smooth stone floor all the way up the rocky canopy above. John could not believe how cavernous this place was, but that was not what horrified him. There were bodies, human bodies, they were everywhere below him. Thousands, probably ten's of thousands of dead people. They were piled high like cords of wood waiting to be disposed of.
Placed at regular intervals throughout the room were enormous incinerators with large conveyor belts leading into their fiery entrances. Some of the light that illuminated the area came from these massive octagonal structures with their huge exhaust pipes leading up into the rocky ceiling. But, light did not only come from the openings to the incinerators from whence he could easily see the fire burning brightly. The steel structures themselves appeared to be so hot they actually glowed a crimson red. Interconnecting the incinerators was a latticework of pipes and metal frames. There were at least sixty of these units laid out before him, each one's conveyor belts continuously carrying human bodies into their white hot interior workings. John was unsure whether he was hallucinating or not, but from his vantage point it appeared to him that some of the people on the belts were still alive. As large and "efficient" as these incinerators appeared to be, they almost seemed to be overwhelmed by the sheer number of bodies that Skynet was bringing to them. The howling sound the machinery produced made it impossible for John to be sure if he was hearing only mechanical noises, or the cries for help as people were burned alive.
From the balcony John could see the silverish gleam of bare metal T-888's walking about. Some carried bodies to the conveyer belts; others appeared to be doing maintenance work. Spider like doozers crawled over the lifeless bodies, John was unsure exactly what they were doing, but it appeared to be grisly work. John took a half step away from the edge of the balcony and braced himself on one of its guardrails. His mouth hung open as he took in this abominable sight. He struggled to keep from collapsing as his legs went numb. His eyes were filling with tears and he had to fight to keep himself from screaming. John suddenly realized that it had happened, through the cold and calculating execution of his plan, he had finally become the monster Fischer told him he needed to be in order to defeat Skynet.
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Author's Notes: I'm very curious to hear what people think of this chapter so please review. Review!