Chapter 36: What's Yours is Mine
"Dan, Mr. Jackson is here to see you." His girlfriend informed him.
"About damn time, he is four minutes late, and I am ready to finish this last land acquisition. Let's get this over with, send him in." Dan told her leaning back in his chair with his feet on the meeting table.
She walked out the door and about two minutes later she returned with Mr. Jackson. He was dressed in a black suit and carried a briefcase. He looked at Dan and didn't look pleased to see him. He expected a professional meeting to sell his land, not a teenager dressed in a Hawaiian shirt with his feet up.
"Okay, let's make this simple and quick. I will give you a hundred thousand dollars for you to sell me your land and leave by the weekend." Dan told Mr. Jackson.
"You must be a comedian, a hundred thousand dollars for my land? Not a chance, I see I have wasted my time." Mr. Jackson said starting to stand up so he could leave.
"Okay fine, I am feeling generous today, hundred and twenty thousand." Dan countered him.
"My land is worth at least double that, and I have documents and papers to show it." He said opening his briefcase and sliding the documents to Dan.
"I really don't care about your personal opinion on what you think the price should be, Mr. Jackson; you just need to sign over the land. If I were you I would just sign the deed over, take the money, and leave." Dan told Mr. Jackson standing up and sitting on the table near Mr. Jackson.
"Maybe your parents didn't teach you manners or real estate. Maybe your bully tactics worked in school, but it won't work in the real world." Mr. Jackson scolded Dan.
"Parents? My dad died when I was a boy. If you talk about them again, you will join him. Also for your information, I believe bullying works quite well. I suggest you realize that quickly and take the deal, before something quite unfortunate happens to you." Dan replied to him.
"I am done with this conversation and I am leaving. You are lucky I don't call the police on you right now." Mr. Jackson told him giving a bitter stare at his direction.
"No you aren't leaving, because I don't have my land yet. I am not a patient man, Mr. Jackson." Dan responded back to him. His girlfriend got in the way between the door and Mr. Jackson so he couldn't leave. "Here is my final offer and I am doing this because I am feeling pathetically nice today. I offer you one hundred and fifty thousand dollars and your life."
"First off boy, your father should have taught you some manners. Never threaten someone that could really mess you up. So on that note, Go to hell and have a great day." Mr. Jackson informed him.
"You first Mr. Jackson. Honey, do what you do best." Dan said sitting back down.
Mr. Jackson watched in terror as the liquid metal cloned his every look. He felt something pierce him and a warm liquid run down his arm. As he looked down he found both her hands through his chest. Speechless, he drew his last breath and died. The metal released her blades from him and he fell to the ground.
"Some people just don't learn." Dan said out loud. "Honey if you don't mind could you please get all the paperwork taken care of. I think I am going to go to DisneyWorld and take the rest of the day off. All of these business talks this week has worn me out."
"What about the body?" she asked shifting back to her normal form.
"Wait for about two days when we have the title, then you can take the corpse and drive into a semi or a train. Make it look like an accident or something. Cops won't know a thing that way." Dan said grabbing his keys and wallet heading out the door. His non-metal guardian followed right behind him.
---------
Cameron spent the whole night cleaning and stitching John's leg and arm. John was out cold due to the medicine she injected him with. She knew that he would only resist the stitching or try to be tough, but this was just easier on him and her. She hated seeing John upset or in pain, despite her being a machine. Morning came all too quickly as it was time for her to do her standard patrol. She left leaving John sleeping in the room with the two offline machines.
As she came up the stairs she ran into Weaver.
"Cameron, get everyone ready to leave this afternoon. I found a house on the beach that was for rent. It will be more than adequate for our needs. I am meeting the owner now to sign the paperwork. It is fully furnished. Here is the address." Weaver explained to Cameron handing her the keys to the car and address on a piece of paper.
"I think we should run this by John first. He won't like being that far away from his mother in the hospital. Plus I won't be able to patrol both here and the hospital at night." Cameron spoke.
"It is only a fifteen minute drive from here. He will get over it. I think you need to readjust your priorities, Cameron." Weaver told her.
"What is that suppose to mean?" Cameron asked not liking the tone of Weavers statement to her.
"Are you John's protector or John's bitch? I for one am here for the survival of Judgment Day and defeat Skynet, not cater to John's every want and demand." Weaver bashed Cameron as she walked away.
Cameron was so upset with Weaver, when she entered the room she broke the doorknob off the door.
Mark was there watching television in the room as he saw her walking in with the metal in her hands. "Been working out or something Cameron? He said chuckling at his joke.
"Cameron, did Ms. Weaver tell you about the plans for the day?" John Henry asked her.
"Yes." Cameron answered him in a short manner.
"Excellent, I will let you take John and Mark in the car. I will deal with the two other machines." John Henry said.
"What do you mean deal with them?" Mark asked.
"Ms. Weaver told me to clean the room and burn the bodies. Was this not what you had in mind?" John Henry asked.
"No, John Henry. You need to transport the two offline machines to the new house. I want you to override Ms. Weaver's command." Cameron told him.
"I am sorry Cameron, but I was told to ignore your commands and follow my instructions." John Henry informed her.
"Fine, but you will not refuse my orders John Henry." John said in a weak voice limping badly into the living room. Cameron rushed over to him helping him stand up so he wouldn't put too much pressure on his leg and stitches.
"Are you back to one hundred percent Cameron? I have been thinking about you." John faintly talked to her.
"Yes John, I am fine. I have you on a lot of drugs for the pain so you will be really tired and numb. We can talk later about everything." Cameron smiled at him being glad to see he was awake and concerned about her.
"I am really sorry John, but Weaver told me." John Henry started to reply to John before he was cut off.
"John Henry, I know what she said, but as John Connor, I will overrule her decision. The two other machines come with us. I will leave you with the task of transportation and sanitizing the room." John replied in a respectful manner to John Henry.
"And if I don't proceed with your request?" John Henry answered John in a way that a typical defiant teenager would his elders.
"Then I promise you John Henry that you won't be mobile anymore." John told him.
"I don't think you will terminate me, Mr. Connor." John Henry responded to him.
"Terminate you John Henry? No, I would never do that to you John Henry. I need your help for the war; however, I don't need you to be mobile for that. I will gladly rip parts off your endoskeleton for repairs on Cameron or others later. You are perfectly useful to me permanently seated in a chair just like you were prior to having Cameron's chip." John explained to John Henry. Judging by the look on John Henry's face, he figured that thought finally processed into his chip.
"You are right Mr. Connor. I apologize. Using both machines for spare parts makes sense to me for repairs. Perhaps Ms. Weaver didn't think about that idea. I will transport them to the garage of the new house." John Henry replied to him as he got up so he could start scrubbing the room down.
John whispered something into Cameron's ear and she looked at him and nodded.
"I will go ahead and grab our stuff, and then we can head out." Mark said. "Can we get some food on the way, I am starving."
"Same here." John said. "We should stop by the hospital too."
"I agree with the food, but not the hospital. You are too injured John and if they see you limp around and look all banged up the way you are now, then they might force you to stay there." I cannot protect you from there. The amount of people traffic is too much for me to handle." Cameron told John.
"Yeah but," John started to say.
"Tomorrow John. I checked on her early this morning. Sarah and Mr. Ellison are both in a coma and the probablility of one of them waking up in the next twenty four hours is about one percent." Cameron cut off John.
John didn't look thrilled that she told him no, but looking at himself he realized that she was right. "Fine he said."
"Owned!" Mark said rubbing it into John as he walked back carrying about three bags of supplies down to the car.
Cameron looked at John and asked, "Are you able to make it down to the car without assistance?"
"Yeah I should be good." John told her.
Cameron walked in the bedroom and grabbed the two CPU's and put them in her pocket. She collected the rest of the supplies and left John Henry with the bloody mess and two offline machines.
Cameron walked outside to Mark and John standing around the car waiting for her to unlock the doors. She unlocked the trunk and doors and Mark started to throw the supplies in the trunk. Cameron did the same and shut the trunk door. Cameron opened the back seat for John so he could extend his leg out in the backseat.
"I need something first." John told Cameron.
Cameron looked around wondering what it was. Everything seemed to be in order. She realized what it was when John placed one of his fingers gently on Cameron's lips. She smiled at John and happily accepted his request. As they kissed Mark stared at them.
"Get a room!" he said splashing a bit of water at them from his water bottle.
John and Cameron were not phased by the water assault and finished their kiss.
"I dreamt about doing that ever since I lost you at the power plant the other day." John grinned at her then getting in the car.
Cameron blushed a little bit and got in the car and they drove off to their new home.
John Henry picked up the two offline machines and without being detected crammed them into the trunk of another car Ms. Weaver rented for him. He walked back up to the room with a bottle of bleach and cleaning supplies. He walked in to the bedroom and stuffed the bed sheets into a plastic bag. They were beyond cleaning and he would just burn them later. John Henry grabbed a towel and soaked it in bleach and started to get to work.