Chapter 10: Reunited
Summary
Cameron and John find each other, Catherine develops a plan to return to the past.
The area was exactly how Savannah described... secluded. John spotted the house as the truck rounded a turn. Savannah began to think to herself... she hadn't been here in eighteen years, but she did remember how beautiful the area was when she was first brought here. The green trees, the growing flowers, the animal songs that carried through the forest behind them. All that was gone now, it was simply a shriveled hell of what it once was.
As the truck approached the house, John saw the major disrepair the house had fallen in. The roof had collapsed in the back, the windows were shattered, and the garage door had been completely blown off. Had this place been looted? It was possible that survivors looted houses and did many other undesirable things before the machines had a proper chance to mobilize. Savannah parked the truck in the ruined driveway, and she was the first to step out. As soon as she slammed her door shut, she made a sprint toward the door.
It was so lightning fast that John barely caught a glimpse as she opened the door. When he entered the house, he saw her climb up the stairs. Something must have caught her attention, oh well, he figured it would be more efficient to split up. Where would his mother hide the body of an advanced killing machine? The basement? No, too obvious. Or was it? Maybe she was counting on it being obvious? Maybe she thought that no one would look in an obvious place? Maybe he was overthinking this slightly? John found himself despising the situation he was in; but for some reason, he couldn't bring himself to sigh. The attic perhaps?
Savannah didn't even need to open the door... because there wasn't one. Probably because of whatever caused the hole in the ceiling had made quick work of the door as well. Savannah walked next to the bed she had once slept in and she took notice of the Piano that was covered in dust and broken wood. She walked over and touched the keys with her fingers, letting the small objects soothe her skin with closeness. Of course, it didn't make a sound as she made contact, as the Piano was completely torn in half. Still, she found it satisfying to make contact with a symbol of human art.
When she looked towards the bottom of her bed, something immediately caught her eye... a chessboard. Savannah felt the all-too-familiar force of discomfort tug at her heart. With tears forming in her eyes, she knelt down and tenderly picked up the board with her hands. She blew away the dust and stared at it as if it was an old friend. She remembered her game with Ellison right before the attack on the house. The memory of Sarah's death finally caused her emotional barriers to fall, and she felt a single tear trickle down her right cheek. She placed the board against her forehead and sobbed silently. It was the first time she had cried in years... not even the deaths of her closest friends in the Resistance had caused an emotional uprising like this.
The familiar voice of John Connor calling her name mercifully put an end to her sorrow, and she slowly placed the chessboard back under the bed.
"Coming John." she replied after him.
Eventually, Savannah tracked the voice to the attic. She climbed up the deployed latter and found herself staring at an emotional sight. What she saw was John caressing the head of a disabled Cameron. Her face was still partially destroyed, with her formerly red eye remaining lifeless without the chip. She saw John rest her head in his left arm, and he pushed away a strand of loose hair on her face.
"John?" She quietly called to him.
John continued to stare blankly at Cameron as if it was the first time he had ever seen her. He felt himself close to tears.
"I never thought I'd actually find her. I honestly thought I'd die in the middle of this scorched hellhole." He turned around and faced Savannah. His voice was taxed with emotion, a mixture of happiness, grief, and glory.
Savannah felt steaming pride for John. Even though she could tell he was close to tears, she could make out the victorious smile fighting to break free. She bolted from the ladder and knelt next to John. It was the first time she had actually gotten a good look at Cameron. Her damage was unsettling, and it didn't take long for them both to realize that they didn't know how to completely restore her. Neither of them decided to address it since they both figured John Henry and Weaver had that covered.
"Come on, let's meet Weaver and get her chip back." John said.
Finally, after forty-five minutes of waiting, a worn but running Ford truck approached John and Savannah from the road. It was getting close to five 'o'clock now, and it would be dark at any time. When the vehicle came to a full-stop, John watched as Weaver and John Henry stepped out.
Bypassing Weaver entirely, Savannah walked right towards John Henry. For some reason, John Henry expected the young girl to be hostile; but all she did was stand in front of him with the most surprised yet relieved of expressions. The machine returned the smile, "Hello, Savannah." he greeted.
Savannah didn't respond at first, she looked him slowly up and down. She noticed he was covered in patch and rags that were crudely crafted. Aside from his bare hands, he had no other weapons. While he looked more weathered than she remembered, he still retained his overall friendly appearance. "Hello, John Henry." Savannah replied, choking back tears.
"It's good to see you again." he said.
Not wasting a moment more, Savannah sprang forward and gave John Henry the tightest hug she had ever given. She had to hold back the tears that demanded release, and she felt a happiness she had never felt in many years. Of all the friends and family she had lost; it was still good to find someone familiar again. Savannah smiled. "You too, buddy. You too." she greeted back, her voice was laced with sadness but topped with relief. When the two released, John Henry noticed that John Connor was frozen stiff, staring expectantly.
John Henry smiled warmly. "Hello, John Connor. It is nice to meet you, I am John Henry." he greeted. "Miss Weaver has spoken a great deal of you."
John didn't return his warm welcome. Instead, he was sweating aggressively and he felt his throat go dry. He knew he'd eventually meet John Henry, and he knew he'd wear the cloak of Cromartie... but he didn't expect it to be so... friendly.
John regained some of his previous bravado and addressed John Henry in the most masculine tone he could muster. "Where's Cameron's chip?" he demanded.
Catherine, Savannah, and John Henry decided not to address his rudeness; as they could see how his point of view of the situation, he had gone through terrible lengths to reach her, and his attachment to her was unmatched.
John Henry pointed to his head, "It's in here." he answered. Before John could begin speaking, John Henry had something to add. "I have managed to erase the corruption from her files. All of them, however, it seems some of the corruption was rooted in her memory and system files. Which means-"
"-Some of her memories will be deleted since you had to delete memory files in order to get rid of the corruption? I really appreciate that those glitches were a pain in the ass after the car bomb." John interrupted.
John Henry and Catherine Weaver stood in complete silence, although Savannah didn't know the entire story, nor did she want to, she figured John must have said displayed more knowledge than they expected him to have. This was the first time they had both been impressed with the boy, and they were both sure it wouldn't be the only time either. Not to mention his surprising bout of gratitude he had offered.
"Yes, how did you know?" John Henry inquired.
Feeling a little insulted, John simply shrugged in reply. "I've been running from Terminators all my life, it only makes sense I know at least a little bit about them." he answered honestly.
Before the A.I. could pester him with any more talk, he made a silent gesture for him to lie down. With everyone watching, John Henry did as he was asked. Savannah handed John her combat knife, which he eagerly took. He plucked the blade into the head of John Henry and snapped off the port. John didn't need to look at Catherine as he reached in with pair of pliers and pulled out the chip; for he knew she was very against this procedure. He would have to do well with her so close in order to guarantee her satisfaction for the favor of getting Cameron back.
He finally pulled out the chip, he watched John Henry's normally non-expressive eyes go completely lifeless; as if someone had removed his soul entirely. From a certain point of view, that was indeed the case. John repeated the same port extraction on Cameron, and he slid the chip slowly into the chip bay. Almost forgetting to put her chip port back on, he did so, and he returned Savannah her knife. He stood up to wait for the one-hundred twenty seconds to pass.
When they did, he felt tears threaten to spill as he watched Cameron rise up from the ground which he had placed her. He watched her examine her surroundings, trying to make sense of the world she was in. Seeing her move, John almost stumbled onto his bottom, he almost couldn't believe it was real, but it was true; fate was kind this day, Cameron had been returned to him. Once she had fully booted, he watched as her organic and metal eye hovered over to him. He eagerly grasped her shoulders and formed a huge smile as he watched her look at him. "Cameron, can you hear me?" he asked.
Cameron tilted her head. "Yes. I can hear you." she deadpanned, looking at him with indifference.
John smiled and laughed a little, although it was more of a sharp exhale than a laugh. He was too overjoyed to analyze the correct bodily responses. He noticed she was acting strange, she should have acknowledged his presence, or at least pestered him for coming after her... but she was acting like she didn't know him, which meant...
"Who are you?" she asked him.
Upon processing her words, John immediately felt his heart plummet. "Cameron? It's me! John!" he yelled in panic. "You don't remember me?"
Cameron looked confused as if she had never seen him before. "No. I don't know you." she responded, she had a tone which confirmed she was as serious as she could have been.
John's entire body went cold, he felt the blood in his veins either turn burning hot or freezing cold; he couldn't tell and he didn't much care. He felt his nervous system almost shut down when he heard her words. He looked her up and down frantically, "How do you not remember me? You were sent to protect me!" John argued.
Cameron did a quick scan and retrieve of her mission files, yet found no such mission this 'John' was speaking of. "Negative, I do not have a mission that contains the scenario you described in my files."
John slowly backed away. Every step he took backward, the deeper his stare collided with Cameron's. Savannah was fearing for John's well-being at this point. "John?" she asked him.
I've lost her... oh god... I'm sorry Cameron. I'm so sorry.
"John!" Savannah yelled.
Her call momentarily snapped him out of his shock. He slowly shifted his gaze toward Savannah, completely in a shocked trance. She grabbed him by the shoulders, "John, are you okay?"
It took him a moment to respond. Savannah couldn't tell if he was close to tears, or close to anger. "Savannah.. I've lost her. Oh god, I've lost her." he said. John backed away, he felt the catalyst of self-hate. But why? It wasn't his fault...
"You!" John yelled, pointing an accusing finger at John Henry's lifeless body, even knowing he was unable to respond.
Catherine followed John's finger that was pointed at her son, and she moved closer to him.
"Mister Connor, please do not become irrational."
"You! You took her from me! Why!? I needed her! I still need her!" he said in rage, approaching John Henry threateningly. By this point, Catherine had moved to place herself between Connor and her son, daring him to get physical.
"John, just calm down!" Savannah urged.
John approached Weaver, but Savannah jumped in front of him to calm him down. "John! Stop, think, and calm the hell down!" Savannah yelled at him.
Cameron sat on the nearby rock watching the commotion unfold in front of her. She momentarily looked at John Henry's motionless body. As she did, she felt something surge inside her; as if another part of her body had been awoken. When the surge passed, she saw one simple sentence display on her HUD.
SYSTEM FULLY REBOOTED - MEMORIES RESTORED.
Cameron then began to remember... John Connor... future, teenager, child...
Leader.
She sprang up from the rock and called his name as he berated Catherine. "John!" she called.
John ignored her, he continued his rant, "I nearly got killed! I'm being hunted by the Resistance! For what?! Nothing!" he screamed.
Catherine stood her ground, "I suggest you calm down, John. The situation does not allow for rash emotions." she reasoned.
This only heated John's fuse, "Don't you fucking pester me about my emotions! You don't know anything about them! You're not like her." he pointed at Cameron.
"John!" Cameron screamed once more in unison with Savannah, albeit much louder. She could detect astronomical levels of stress in John's system, if he kept this up, it would drive him over the edge. She had to put a stop to it.
"We are machines that have kept you alive and protected you. You would be nowhere without us." Catherine calmly argued.
"Protected me? Protected me?! You left me to die as soon as we got here! Admit it, you never wanted me to find Cameron, you didn't care either way!" he screamed at her. Loud enough to wake the dead.
"John Connor!" Cameron screamed... upon hearing her voice, John stopped yelling, silencing him completely.. It felt as if the whole wasteland had gone quiet. He turned around and saw a much more lively Cameron staring back. He felt as if he was in a dark alley as he and Cameron exchanged stares, but there was one very bright light at the end. The silence lasted a good six seconds.
"Cameron?" he asked.
He saw her smile. That same one she gave him when they had first met.
"It's me, John." she replied. John's eyes were wide by this point; he, Savannah, and Catherine were all staring at Cameron.
John's next move was a flash. In mere milliseconds he had Cameron wrapped in his arms in a tight embrace to rival even the one Savannah had given John Henry.
The contact made Cameron feel another strange sensation. It felt like another power surge, but this one was more... welcome. She responded accordingly as she wrapped her arms around John and returned his affection. The next words were spoken by John.
"You're back." he said, his voice dripping of both sadness and relief. He held on to her much tighter as he finished his words.
Meanwhile, the others stood watching them awkwardly. Savannah was happy for John. After all this time, she had accomplished her mission of reuniting him and Cameron. Even after all those years of waiting, it took a simple hour and a half, she still felt accomplished. Catherine on the other hand was more concerned about John Henry. She trusted him, at least to an extent she did. For her, giving Cameron her chip back was a colossal leap forward. She expected to be properly compensated.
"If you don't mind?" Catherine started.
John and Cameron pulled slowly away. While John unconsciously refused to let go of Cameron, he still turned around and gave Catherine his attention. "Guys... thank you. I don't know how to repay you..." he asked.
Catherine tilted her head and gave him a disapproving glare. "Well you can start by-" her sentence was interrupted when the loud rumble of jet's roared over the hill. "Hide!" Catherine ordered.
The group wasted no time complying, and they all found themselves behind cover immediately. In the sky there were two small Recon Helicopters that circled above them, searching the area.
"Kiowa Scout Choppers. It is surprising the Resistance retains such an armament. Most airbases were bombed beyond use four months after Skynet went online in the future I came from." Cameron stated dryly.
John scoffed. "Yeah... whoopee."
Catherine found her sense of urgency rather quickly, and immediately took control of the situation. "Listen up, everyone. Twenty miles from here there is a U.S. military nuke silo hidden in the mountain. I want you to take John Henry's body, go to this facility, and wait for me. I need to infiltrate General Perry's fort and research intel on Skynet."
John's gazed at Catherine, "What kind of Intel? A way to defeat Skynet?"
"Not exactly. I'm searching for a way back."
"Back? You mean like to the past?" John asked.
Catherine nodded. "Yes. We don't belong here John.
John tried to get the dusty gears in his mind to spin. "Wait... why would Skynet need a Time machine or whatever in this timeline? Wasn't the whole point of it to kill me in the past in the old timeline? There's no point to it now." John argued.
Catherine, hard as she could, couldn't contain the uncontrollable smile that broke out due to the young boy's naive opinion of himself. "John. Do you think yourself so important that you would assume Skynet wouldn't build one of it's most effective military assets? You think it wouldn't take advantage of that kind of technology just because you are 'absent' in this timeline?"
John rolled his eyes, "Ok fine, I have a huge ego. But are you one-hundred percent sure there is a Time machine out there?" he asked.
"Of course not, John. That's why I'm going to find out if I'm right or not. Now, in order to reach the silo, just follow the road and you will reach it in about twenty minutes. I will see you in two days time. Good luck, and keep John Henry safe." Catherine said. She didn't allow any of the others to say anything as she started her truck and left.
"Did she say two days?" Savannah said, almost as annoyed as John.
John exhaled in exhaustion. "That she did." he turned and looked at Cameron, and he felt sudden happiness at seeing her walking and talking again. "It's good to have you back, Cameron."
His machine companion smiled warmly, and he felt safe, finally, he felt safe.
"General, I got incoming from Razor 6-5." the Resistance soldier informed. General Perry tore himself away from the intel station and made his way to the communications room. He approached the radio. "What you got for me Razor?"
The pilot's response was muffled but audible. "No eyes sir. We spotted the truck that John and Commander Weaver commandeered from the Motor Pool, but no sign of them. Should we recon more?"
"Affirmative, keep us posted." Perry replied.
"Understood, sir."
"Roger that, Razor. Don't worry, we'll blow those bastards up soon enough."
"Looking forward to it, sir."
Perry chuckled slightly, "We all are. Stay safe up there, over and out."
"Sir!" a voice echoed from the intel room. General Perry wasted no time making his way back, and he found himself staring at a screen showing massive amounts of Skynet activity.
"What the hell?" he said, looking at the screen in disbelief.
The soldier manning the radar seemed to share his current state of thought, "Sir, as you can see, Skynet is mobilizing a massive assault force, tanks, aerials, and god knows how much infantry for some kind of assault. Orders?" he asked.
Suddenly Derek walked into the room behind him. "They're trying to protect Connor." he suggested.
Perry and the other soldiers turned around to face Derek, expecting an explanation. "You got something to back that up, Reese?" Perry challenged.
Derek resisted a smug smile. "Sir, In a humble soldier's opinion, I don't think it's a coincidence that Skynet is mounting an assault force that large at the same time Connor and Commander Weaver disappear together. With all due respect, I think John Connor is a grey. Think about it, we pulled that kid out of the ruins, he looked clean, he wasn't malnourished, but he looked at us like we were a pack of Lions hunting a Gazelle. The Commander left with him willingly, so I think she made a deal with Skynet. She has a history of PTSD, so I think she has had enough of war, and just wants an out."
It was a stretch but Perry saw his subordinate's point of view. What if he was right? John and Savannah had interior knowledge of two very important Resistance bases. Layouts, Armament, Civilian Count... it just wasn't worth the risk.
"Communications!" Perry yelled.
"Sir?" the Resistance comm operative responded.
"Get Glen, get Harvard, and get Washington on comms! We have a defense to mobilize!" Perry barked.
"Yes, sir."
Perry walked away from his post and stood next to Derek.
"We have to organize the defense of this base first, and then we'll go after Connor. Get the men on high-alert."
