Chapter Fifty Four:
Born to Return
Serrano Point
TDE Chamber
Cody approached the biometric scanner outside the TDE chamber, letting the beam run over his eyes and confirm his identity. Not long after John's… condition…had been made known, John Henry had added both Cody's and Savannah's biometrics to the system, giving them access to see John… and hopefully talk him into taking up his responsibilities again.
Cody approached him cautiously, taking in the young General's appearance. It didn't seem to have changed much. In the first few days, John had a haunted look in his eyes, almost like he had gone into shock. Now, his eyes were still blank, but it wasn't a vacant stare anymore. It was just… grief-stricken. He'd completely and utterly lost the will to go on.
"Savannah told me you went on a mission," John said, his tone dull and emotionless.
At least he's speaking now, Cody thought to himself. "Um, yeah," he said, hesitating momentarily. He really didn't want to report the T-Xs to John, not right now, but Connor deserved to know. He needed to know why they still needed him.
"The T-X army is still out there," he said hastily, bracing for John's reaction. But – not surprisingly if he thought about it – none came. "They didn't get destroyed like we thought."
He saw John's face twist in agony. "So it was all for nothing? We killed those people for nothing?"
Cody bit his lip. But what could he say to that? There was nothing, no words at all. Except ones of understanding and encouragement.
"It's not your fault," he began. "You tried to call off the attack. It was Solo who went against orders."
John remained silent, staring straight ahead and Cody felt an unreasonable anger start to rise in him. This wasn't the John Connor he knew. This wasn't the John Connor who had led the human resistance through years of war. The John he knew wouldn't shirk his responsibilities, no matter how great the loss.
"Listen to me," he pleaded. "I know how you feel…"
John shook his head ever so slightly. "No, you really don't."
"I've lost too," Cody retorted, his voice cracking. "I lost both my parents. They died, sacrificing their lives to save me. And to save Savannah and Ellison and Danny." He swallowed hard. "They died for me. And nothing can ever make that better. Nothing is ever the same. That feeling of loss is always there... but you have to move on." What would get to John? The words of his father, maybe?
"Pain can be controlled. You just disconnect it."
He saw the flash of confusion on John's face but it disappeared instantly. "Where'd you hear that? Kyle was gone before you came along."
"My father told me about him," Cody said simply. "Kyle Reese is a legend in the Resistance."
John had already retreated back into his mind again and Cody sighed. "Cameron would want you to move on. We need you. I need you. And Savannah needs you and the entire human resistance needs you! You need to wake up and get back in the game!"
John didn't seem to respond at all, so Cody simply nodded to himself. "Okay… we'll check on you later."
He backed out, trying to shove down his frustrations. Though he had to admit, John had done well up to this point. With all he'd seen, all he'd done, all he'd lost, Cody was surprised he hadn't cracked before now. But when he did, he did it hard.
He met Savannah in the bunkroom and she instantly leaped up, her eyes betraying her concern. "How is he?"
"Same," Cody said shortly.
"I talked to Lauren," Savannah began. "She said what he's dealing with is basically post traumatic stress. Grief and depression."
"But it's not just depression," Cody retorted, shaking his head. "There's nothing normal about this kind of depression. Normal people didn't have to send away the person they love through time so that the rest of the world would live."
"Aren't you being dramatic?"
Cody shook his head adamantly. "No, I'm not. What would happen if he'd kept her here? The timeline would be screwed. There'd be no John Connor, no Rogue machines helping us. The Resistance would have been destroyed, finished. Skynet would win. In order to prevent that, he had to sacrifice his love, his heart. He sacrificed his future so that the rest of mankind can have one. How does one cope with that?"
"How does one cope with that," she repeated softly, shaking her head. "Cody…"
"Give him the tapes," Cody said suddenly.
"What?"
"The tapes that his mother made him," Cody replied. "If anything can get through to him, Sarah Connor can." Only Sarah Connor and Cameron had ever had that great an effect on John Connor. And obviously, since Cameron couldn't help, maybe hearing his mother's voice would snap John out of it.
Savannah nodded, obviously agreeing with him on that aspect. "Okay."
Serrano Point
TDE Chamber
John wasn't sure how much time had passed. Savannah and Cody seemed to come in every day with a can of food and some pointless conversation that he barely listened to. What was the point? He was done. Done with everything. Done with life. The only reason he hadn't made that official was that he didn't have a weapon with him and didn't want to leave the TDE chamber.
Why couldn't they understand? There just wasn't a point anymore. He'd sent her back to ensure his survival… but what kind of existence was this? Forced to lead a losing battle? Forced to watch everyone he loved die horrible deaths, suffer horrible fates while he lived on through the pain? When was it his turn to escape from it all?
Even Cameron had escaped from it. His face twisted into a frown. No, he realized. She really hadn't. He'd sent her back in time to replay everything all over again. Her escape would never come. She couldn't die like he could. She was in an endless loop. Go back, save young John, give John Henry her chip, have her entity dumped onto the new chip in her new body and start all over again.
He heard the door open and out of the corner of his eye saw Savannah approach hesitantly, clutching something in her hand. He didn't look over.
His voice was etched with grief when he said, "I trapped her in a constant loop. Forever."
She was quick, he'd give her that. She seemed to understand right off the bat who and what he was talking about. "That means she has an eternity of being with you."
"It means she has to relive everything," he replied bitterly. "The fights, how I was such a jerk to her…"
"You scrubbed her memories, didn't you?" Savannah asked, bewildered. "She won't remember it. It will be new."
He didn't make a move to reply and she set something down in front of him. "Yelkov finally fixed up the DVDs," she said. He took a quick glance down and saw the portable DVD player, his tape player, and a stack of tapes that had been sitting on his desk. "I figured you may want to see your mother."
He resisted the urge to grunt in disgust. What good would it do to hear his mother's voice? She was still dead too, just like everyone else he loved. But instead, he remained silent and Savannah soon stood up and retreated. For a while, he just sat there, his gaze being drawn to the tapes.
Finally, unconsciously he reached out and hit play on the recorder, felt his heart wrench at the sound of his mother's voice playing off the tape he had left in there.
"I don't know what the future will hold for you," Sarah was say, her voice young and strong. "You'll grow up to be… a great leader, a great inspiration. And I hope that I'll be there to see it, but if not, I hope that you'll find someone. I hope that someday you'll get to experience the joy and love that I had for Kyle. And I hope it lasts longer than two days."
He looked away. That was just the thing. Sarah would never truly understand. She'd always been the lone wolf. She'd only had Kyle's support for two days. Of course, he wasn't denying that the two loved each other, that Sarah had been devastated when Kyle died. But it wasn't the same. He'd known Cameron for years and they'd been through so much together. It was a lot different losing an entire half of your soul. Maybe Sarah could bounce back and keep fighting, but he couldn't anymore.
When Cameron had left, so had his will to fight.
He opened the DVD player and grabbed the discs. There was one more than he remembered and the extra one wasn't labeled in any way. He stuck it in first, preparing to see his mother or Danny on the screen.
He was entirely unprepared to see Cameron instead.
"John…" she said.
He could feel his heart skip a beat and his breath come out in a quiet gasp. She'd left him a message? When had this happened? Oh, how he loved seeing her face again…
"I know what you did was hard," she was saying. He could see the hint of emotion on her face. "I know you're hurt and I'm sorry. You have to understand that I didn't want to leave you. But this has to happen. You – and I – have to make that sacrifice. Because sacrifice is the key. The key to the entire war." Her voice and eyes turned pleading, almost exactly like when she'd been begging him to let her go, that she was fixed, that she loved him…
"Please, John," she said desperately. "I know you'll want to give up, but you can't. You've come too far to give up now. They need you to be strong and to be a leader. Your mother believed in you and I believe in you. You're the only one who can stop Skynet and that's what you have to do. Don't let our sacrifice be in vain."
He could feel his eyes burning as she smiled on the screen. "I love you, John."
The screen blinked out and he felt an incredibly longing fill his heart. He quickly rewound it, heard her voice say "I love you, John" again and paused it, soaking in her image.
What would she think of him now? Sitting here, moping, contemplating suicide, giving up… He felt a thrill of horror shoot through him, one of the first strong emotions he'd felt in a long time.
What am I doing? He was John Connor! Hero of the Resistance, leader of mankind! Why was he still in here? What was wrong with him? He stood up abruptly, feeling his face flush with anger at himself. How much time had he wasted? Cameron was right. He couldn't let their sacrifice be in vain. He needed to lead, needed to fight.
He picked up the other DVD, one about his mother's research and slipped it in. Now was time to concentrate on a way to stop Skynet. For good. Forever. No more sitting around, no more shirking his responsibilities.
He felt emboldened, empowered. That was the effect she had on him. Even when she wasn't here anyone, her words, her voice, it had still inspired him. As he began listening to his mother's research, he felt his sense of purpose come flooding back.
John Connor had returned.
Serrano Point
Tech Room
Cody stood in front of Michael Logan, Ellison, and John Henry with his hand on his chin, deep in thought. "The TDE is going to be tricky, especially if there's an army of T-Xs waiting to kill us."
"Uh, yeah, that's usually a problem," Logan agreed.
"So we don't focus on the TDE," Cody responded. "We focus on Skynet. A way to stop it. Permanently." He pointed a finger at Logan. "What was your strategy to defeat this thing? You and Sarah Connor and Danny were working on something."
Logan cocked an eyebrow. "You were there when we planned it."
"Um, yeah but I was still a kid," Cody protested. Wasn't that obvious? "It's not like I remember the intimate details. I doubt even Sarah Connor remembered everything. She probably had Danny explain some of the technical things on that tape."
"I never really understood the premise myself," Ellison admitted.
"Perhaps I can help," John Henry added with a cheerful smile.
Logan gave him a dubious look. "We already had a plan in place. But we didn't have the ability to enact it. I'm still not sure if we do."
"So refresh my memory," Cody cut in. "Start at the beginning."
Logan shrugged, relenting. "Okay, well, Ellison, why don't you start?"
Ellison nodded. "Sarah Connor, Danny, and I learned that our original plan to defeat Skynet was not enough."
"From my parents," Cody cut in.
"Right," Ellison agreed. "They told us that there would be a Skynet II. Since our first idea for killing the first Skynet used a software virus – which worked thanks to John Henry – we decided that this time we'd try to break Skynet through the hardware internet infrastructure instead…"
Serrano Point
TDE Chamber
John sat cross-legged on the ground, the miniature DVD player in his lap. On screen, his mother was sitting inside some kind of computer laboratory, and he could see her eyes go misty, as if she was truly imagining him sitting there watching this.
"John," she began. "I promised you I'd stop this, and I will. We've been working as hard as we can finding out new ideas and research strategies. If you're watching this, you've no doubt been to Zion and found Ellison, Danny, Savannah… and Cody. I hope that our first plan worked and that you were able to defeat the first Skynet. We've learned from a… friend…" She cast a quick glance backwards and he could see two figures in the background, shrouded in darkness.
Maybe they were Cody's parents, the ones who were sent back to help her. He frowned at the look on her face. He'd seen another tape where she looked like that, back when she was telling him about her new friends. They were important to her, he realized.
He had speculated on who it was that he would send back to help her that she'd get so attached to, but always drew a blank. He'd eventually concluded that maybe they had saved her life or maybe it was because they had Cody. Maybe she liked having a kid around again. Maybe Cody had reminded her of him, her runaway General son.
"We went to a chip factory in Irvine, California," Sarah continued. "Broadcom Corporation, one of the leading communications chip companies. They specialized in EPHY chips. According to Danny, they are Ethernet Physical Transceivers…"
Serrano Point
Tech Room
"In 2011, they came to my company," Logan explained. "Broadcom Corp. At the time, we owned more than fifty percent market share of the world's Ethernet chips and have shipped more than two billion Ethernet ports since 1998."
"So Broadcom is a leader in these EPHY chips," Cody concluded.
Logan nodded. "Exactly. The EPHY chips were our specialty."
"The EPHY is a silicon chip which implements sophisticated digital signal processing techniques to convert the computer's digital data into analog signals that are transmitted through the copper wire and optical fiber cable," John Henry added.
"Meaning?"
Logan decided to put it simply. "The EPHY is much like the tires of a car that allows us to travel through the internet superhighway. Where the 'rubber meets the road' as people used to say."
Cody nodded once to say he understood. Technically, this was his first real time hearing this since he hadn't really been able to comprehend it when Sarah had first discovered the method.
"The purpose of the EPHY is to physically connect each computer to a repeater or switch," Logan explained. "The switch connects each computer to one another based on a unique Internet Protocol address. If the IP address does not match any of the other computers connected to the switch, then the packet traffic is sent out to the internet. The EPHY chip is the physical hardware glue that holds the internet together."
"So if we disable the EPHY chip, the internet falls apart?"
"You could say that," Logan agreed.
Cody frowned. "So how do we disable the chip if it's inside the internet?"
Ellison began talking again. "That's what we were trying to find out. Sarah and Dyson searched the Quality Assurance database that contains all customer issues with Broadcom EPHYs. In particular, they were searching for failing conditions that totally incapacitates the chip."
To replicate it, Cody added mentally. It was very reasonable of them.
"It took weeks of hard labor and compiling data, but eventually Danny found a unique problem with the EPHY that causes it to overheat and distort the transmitted signal if power is not interrupted," Ellison finished.
"How?" Cody asked.
Logan flashed a smile. "That's when they came to me. They called me up and explained their problem and offered me a job at Zeira Corp. It was a better job opportunity and a higher salary, so naturally I decided to come in for the interview. But instead of asking me questions, they took me down into the basement and showed me… everything. The TDE, the Turk, one of the machines…" He cast a quick look at Cody. "She explained about things to come and that Skynet would go online in 2011."
"You believed her," Cody stated.
"Of course," Logan replied. "I'm was a computer scientist faced with all that hard evidence. I joined the team, as you would say. Sarah never much liked working with me. I guess she just has a problem with anyone who can actually enjoying working with computers and AI. Danny and I found it fascinating."
"And the EPHY chips," Cody prodded. "You found the flaw?"
"We found an inherent problem in the IEEE 802.3 Ethernet specification that was created by DARPA with regards to the amplitude voltage adjustment of the signal on the wire. There were hidden control bits that are accessible to the firmware which enabled the amplitude voltage to exceed the turn on voltage of the CESD diodes, which are used to protect the chip from a short burst of static electricity when a copper or fiber cable is plugged into the Ethernet port. However, when the CESD diodes are inadvertently turned on by the high signal amplitude, it heats up by conducting excessive current through a phenomenon called 'thermal runaway'. In a silicon diode, the temperature increases as more current flows which in turn further increases the temperature and current in a positive feedback until enough current flows through the diode to heat it up and cause it to malfunction by distorting the signal. The CESD protection circuit is designed for short current bursts and not for a sustained current operation. This was a major oversight in the specification that was not easily detected."
When he finished, Cody was staring at him blankly. The words had basically gone in one ear and out the other. "What's that in English?"
Logan smiled sheepishly, as if he just remembered that he wasn't talking with fellow computer geeks. "There is a flaw in the internet specification that can heat up the EPHY chip's static protection circuit which was originally designed only for short bursts of current and not a sustained flow. This flaw can be activated by increasing the amplitude voltage of the EPHY chip's signal through hidden control bits in the software."
"Cranking the juice," Cody said aloud. "So all EPHY chips have this same problem?"
Logan nodded. "Yes, because they were all built using the same faulty specification. When an EPHY chip heats up, the transmitted signal becomes distorted thereby preventing the receiver from successfully decoding the transmitted information. Either way, this will bring down the internet connection permanently until the board which contains the EPHY is rebooted."
"Which means the internet infrastructure in the world can be semi-permanently destroyed and then restored," Cody agreed.
"Danny and I created the software code that induces the failure," Logan said. "We gave it to Sarah for safekeeping and I don't know what happened to it…"
Serrano Point
TDE Chamber
John picked up the other DVD and turned it over, staring at it curiously as Sarah's voice continued.
"Enclosed is the software code that will cause the EPHY chip to fail," she explained. "We call it the 'Angel of Death.' You can convert it into a virus code and download it into every computer in the world using Skynet's internet infrastructure. We don't think Skynet will notice it because it is so small and seems harmless. All it does is access the control bits of the EPHY chips that are connected to the internet infrastructure. But if all goes as planned, it will bring down the entire internet."
John held up the "Angel" disc with a new respect.
"According to Danny and Logan," Sarah went on. "Skynet will be forced to power off to protect the computer system from the virus. With the network down, it won't be able to call for help or send commands. It can't escape to form a counter attack. It's trapped, like an octopus without tentacles."
"So this is gonna kill it?" he said aloud.
Sarah's face twisted as if she could hear him. "There is one small thing…"
Serrano Point
Tech Room
Cody leaned forward, his eyes alight with excitement. "This is gonna kill it?"
"Even though I was aware of the weakness I did not install any countermeasure to protect the EPHY chip from the virus," Logan confirmed.
"Not even when you were a Gray?"
He saw Logan flush a little at the mention, but he shook his head adamantly. "No. I was trying to keep Skynet from becoming too powerful, not make it invincible."
"So this is gonna kill it right?"
"It'll make it stop," Logan replied. "Trap it. Destroying the internet infrastructure isn't enough to defeat Skynet. This smaller virus could be successful, but anything larger will be detected easily and immediately destroyed." He frowned, deep in thought. "We can destroy Skynet after the internet infrastructure is disabled because it can't escape or call for help. The only problem is, we need a more powerful program than Skynet to defeat it once it is trapped."
The door burst open and Cody stared in shock to see John Connor standing in the door way, his face completely serious. But he actually looked well. Like the General had just returned.
"Connor," Logan greeted, his voice equally grave. "We have a problem."
"I know," John replied, striding forward. "I've been listening to my mother's tapes. The plan is good. But we need a code powerful enough to destroy Skynet, which we don't have."
"What about John Henry?" Cody asked. Hadn't John Henry killed the first Skynet?
John shook his head, quickly dismissing that idea. "John Henry's code isn't more powerful. Skynet II would have killed him in SRD if Weaver hadn't unplugged him."
"How so?"
John glanced at John Henry, but the machine remained silent, almost encouraging John to speak. "Skynet II is even more powerful than the first. Remember the singularity? Skynet built a better version of itself and it became active when John Henry killed the first Skynet. There was a black code on the screen that would have completely engulfed his own if Weaver hadn't been there to save him."
"Oh," Cody remarked. "Right." He'd forgotten about that. "Thanks for explaining."
For a moment, he saw a flash of utter shock on John's face. "What?"
Cody frowned. "What?"
"What did you say?"
What had he said? I just said thank you, didn't I? "Um, thank you?"
"For explaining," John finished slowly. "Cameron used to say that."
"I'm pretty sure she's not the only one," Cody pointed out, though he understood completely.
John nodded, his eyes distant. "Just.. the way you said it."
"You explained something… and I was grateful," Cody said helpfully. "How else do you say it?"
"Never mind," John dismissed it with a wave of his hand. A moment later his face looked torn again, though. "I just… can't stop thinking about her."
Cody felt completely sympathetic. "I know. It's okay." Hey, at least John was alive and well and outside that chamber. And he looked like he was refreshed, rejuvenated.
Ready to fight.
"So we're back to the beginning," Ellison spoke up. "We're at a standstill."
"Unless we find a code that's more powerful, that strategy won't work," Cody agreed.
John frowned deeply. "It is a good strategy. There must be something…"
The door burst open and communications tech Yelkov entered, looking hurried. His eyes widened with shock at seeing Connor out and about.
"General!" he gasped, snapping his hand up to salute.
John returned the gesture. "Yelkov," he said. "What is it?"
Yelkov hesitated, that horribly confused look back on his face. "Um, zere is someone here to see you."
John frowned. "Who?"
"Honestly… I don't know," Yelkov replied. "I thought zey were both gone."
John's brow furrowed and Cody racked his brain. Was anyone missing in action that he knew of? Who would be out there?
"Where?" John asked crisply.
Yelkov gestured down the hall. "In ze meeting hall. I put her in zere because people were staring and she was uncomfortable. She vants to see you."
Cody shifted his attention to John who was no doubt as confused as anyone. Finally he started forward and out the door, leaving Cody and everyone else in the room as bewildered as ever.
Serrano Point
Who?
Try as he might, John couldn't think of anyone who would be asking for him. Everyone he knew was gone. Maybe it was Blair… or Kristin Hamilton. They could be asking, right? I mean, he'd practically been AWOL for the past month or two, in self-imposed exile in the TDE chamber.
As soon as he turned into the meeting room and saw who his visitor was, his heart stopped. Absolutely stopped dead and suddenly John felt like he was going to pass out.
No… He was crazy, absolutely crazy. It was all that time being locked inside those four walls. His mind filled with agony. Great. Leader of mankind and I'm delusional.
Hallucination. It had to be.
Because Cameron sure as heck really wasn't standing here in front of him. His breath came faster. But… what if it actually was? What if he wasn't seeing things? What she had truly come back? It was wild and crazy but he had to know…
"Cameron…?" he whispered.
Her beautiful face twisted into an expression of pain and she took a step forward. "John, it's me… Allison…"
His mouth dropped open. This was a dream. A nightmare, actually. Or maybe a ghost. Savior of mankind sees dead people...
Despite himself, he took a tentative step forward. "No… you're dead," he said, as if she wouldn't know already. "You… you died, I saw you…" He'd held Allison Young's dead body in his arms because he'd been too late to save her. Was this punishment for abandoning his responsibilities and moping for a month? He was forced to see visions of people he hadn't been able to save?
Cameron – Allison – The ghost-vision-thing looked utterly confused. "I remember her breaking my neck… then I woke up and I was confused and scared…"
He could have laughed. This was impossible… absolutely impossible.
He was delusional, clinically insane. He should be in a nuthouse, up in Pescadero with his mother. They could be cellmates…
Or… there was another possibility. Maybe it wasn't Cameron or Allison. Maybe it was… an it. Another TOK, another Skynet trick. He instantly was on guard. She certainly didn't look like a machine, but who could tell these days? He took a tentative step forward and reached out to put a hand over where her heart would be if she had one.
And to his utter shock, he felt it.
She had a heartbeat. She was human… real.
Was it possible to trick your mind into thinking you were touching a hallucination? Was that part of it? Could he be in a dream and not realize it? A dream looks real and it feels real, but how do you know it's not real?
Sometimes you don't.
But John Connor knew. In that instant, staring into her wide, frightened brown eyes, it was as if everything became crystal clear. This wasn't a dream, wasn't a vision or a hallucination.
His mouth dropped open in absolute astonishment. There was no way, no possible way she had survived. And yet… it was.
It was Allison Young.
Next Week on Born to Fight: JOHN: Cameron told me that they'd put your body in… cold storage… No… you're here to kill me! Skynet brought you back to kill me! ALLISON: No! YELKOV: Connor! Machines in the base! [Triple 8 reaches out and grabs Allison by the throat.] JOHN: Allison!!
