Chapter Nineteen - Ghost in the machine

Danny's eyes slowly opened. Thankfully, he was spared the piercing rays of sunlight as his girlfriend had closed the blinds before he woke. He looked over to her side of the bed, and didn't see her there. Danny frowned, and reached over to the nightstand and put on his glasses. He looked around to try and spot her, but had no luck. That was until he heard rummaging in the living room.

He stood up and put on a T-shirt and Jeans, he opened the door to be met with his girlfriend packing his clothes.

"What are you doing, Jade?" he asked.

Jade didn't look as she answered, her focus still on packing clothes and other household items. "I'm packing up. Your mom had our call traced. It'll be thirty-five minutes and fourty-eight seconds before the police arrive." she answered.

Danny squinted around the room, and saw that the place was a mess. It seemed Jade was in a great rush to get them out of the house.

"Two people are better than one, Danny boy." Jade snarked as she tossed him a suitcase which he barely caught. He sighed, this wasn't going to be fun.


John walked down the stairs slowly, and found himself seeing a most wonderful sight of Savannah and Catherine hugging. John smiled, he couldn't help but feel like he gave himself too little credit for making this reunion possible. He watched Catherine turn her attention to Ellison and began speaking with him. His mood dropped as he saw Derek examining the T-888 body laying on the ground. John watched him closely, seemingly going over every detail that the endoskeleton had to offer.

John walked over to him, and took a knee near the body. "How ya holding up?" John asked with slight concern.

Derek sighed. "I'm fine... I guess." he made eye contact with John, an almost feral gaze ruling his expression, the very stoic face of Derek Reese. "A lot of stuff's gone down. Can't say I'll be one-hundred percent peachy until I've had some thinking time." Derek replied. Without another word, he stood up and walked away down the hall, most likely to find a bed to rest on.

John frowned. That wasn't the best interaction he could have hoped for. Suddenly, he heard heavy footsteps approach and come to a rest next to him, he looked over to be greeted with the face of Ellison. John's frown remained on his face. "James." he acknowledged. "I'd say nice to see you again, but it seems whenever I do bad shit goes down." John said.

The former FBI agent couldn't tell if the son of Sarah was joking, but he did detect a hint of humor in the boy's voice; so Ellison just settled with an uncomfortable smile. He sat down and placed his head against the wall. "Well, bad shit tends to follow you wherever you go. Can't say it's fair to blame it on me." he replied jokingly. He noticed that John couldn't help but smirk.

John nodded, and his brief smile was all but drowned away in a sudden serious, business-like expression. "Fine. I would say it's fair to say your untrustworthy, but that's a bit of gamble, isn't it?" John stated. The normally calm man simply looked at John with confusion, before going over the previous events they had both shared as of recent, and he scoffed in annoyance.

"Look, John. I didn't know what Weaver's full intention was with John Henry. If I knew what she was I never wouldv-"

John stopped him. "Thank you."

The words that came out of John's mouth caused Ellison's own to cease completely. He looked over to see the boy eyeing him apologetically. "Well, uh... you're welcome? I suppose." Ellison replied even without the context of John's gratitude.

John sighed, feeling he felt the man was owed an explanation. "John Henry saved Cameron back there. Without him, it's possible she could've been lost forever. I guess your shady dealings with Catherine paid off a bit." John paused for a moment. "You did a good job at taking care of Savannah too, it seems. You don't really seem like the parenting type." John stated, fearing a little that Ellison might take offense.

Surprisingly, he didn't. The former FBI agent simply shrugged his shoulders in disconcern. "Comes naturally I guess." he replied simply. "She already saw me as a father-figure when we met. She's a strong girl."

John looked at Ellison with a sad expression. "Not without you." he stated.

James looked at John curiously. "What?"

John took a deep breath as he prepared to explain. "In the future, Savannah was a base commander. Loyal to the Resistance, until she met me. She never talked about you, but I could tell you two had been with each other for a long time after the bombs fell. Don't get me wrong, she was tougher than solid rock but her empathy was what made her fall to the machines."

Ellison's face registered shock immediately. "She... she died?" he choked out.

John nodded, barely holding back the tears fighting to break out. "Yeah. Saving Cameron and I. She nuked a whole Resistance base in the middle of a Skynet raid so we could get out safely." he explained.

Ellison felt his head go numb. The thought of losing Savannah was unbearable. In the short time they had known each other, they're bond was already proving to become unbreakable. He leaned his head back against the wall, and tried his best to fight back the urge to cry-something he hadn't done since he penned his name on his wife's divorce papers.

John stared forward hypnotically, looking at the wall like he was initiating a staring contest. "James. Promise me something." John insisted.

The agent looked forward himself. "What?" he asked quietly.

"Promise me you'll be there for Savannah everyday. Promise me you'll protect her."

Ellison nodded silently. "I promise."

John heard the words loud and clear, and that was good enough for him. He stood up and walked back upstairs.


When John got to the top of the stairs, he saw Sarah sitting silently on the bed, staring hopelessly out the window. He frowned, and approached her quietly, fearing her catatonic state might leave her reflexes a bit flared if he surprised her. He slowly stepped into the door frame, and knocked on the wood quietly. "Mom?" he called.

Sarah slowly turned her gaze back to her son. "Yeah?" she said with a motherly smile.

John was relieved, but only slightly so. It was clear his mother was in a state of minor shock. "I'm just checking up on you, seeing if you're okay. Are you?" he asked.

Sarah considered her response, and sighed heavily at her son. "I guess I've just been wondering what the hell happened to you in the future. You look like you've seen hell ten times over." she stated.

John shrugged. "I guess I have. I can't say there's an exact word to describe what I saw in the future, but... I guess 'hell' is a good description." John replied in agreement. "I'm sorry I left. I went on-"

"Instinct?" his mother interjected.

John nodded slowly, fearing how the conversation would play out. His mother looked disappointed. She turned away and began snickering to herself, as if mocking his motivation for leaving. Surprisingly, his mother managed to keep her words to herself, and stood up from the bed. She walked over to her son and hugged him tightly, and John felt a strange warmth stain his chest, he looked down to see his mother was crying.

"I thought you were dead." she admitted.

John wrapped his own arms tighter around her, and nodded slowly. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry, mom."

They held each other for a few more moments, before pulling away. Suddenly, Sarah's shoulders started to shake, and John thought at first she was going to cry again, but was pleasantly surprised when a smile formed on her face, and withing moments she was laughing.

John raised an eyebrow. "What's so funny?" he said with a hint of annoyance.

Sarah shook her head at her son. "You look like shit."

John smiled back. "Yeah, I... I guess I do." he agreed. He was silenced as Sarah's smile nose-dived into a frown upon seeing his scars. She drifted her hand over his nose and cheek where they were.

"What the hell happened?" she inquired in disbelief.

John panicked, but was smart enough to keep it subtle. If Sarah knew what Derek did to him in the future, it would end in hell for his Uncle. "Terminator got a hold of me." he lied, and failed miserably.

Sarah crossed her arms and glared at him. "John, you and I both know that if a Terminator got a hold of you, you wouldn't be standing here right now. It's not possible."

As if the timing couldn't be worse, the door opened and Cameron stood in the frame, staring at John and Sarah unexpectedly. John almost choked at how awful his luck was right now.

"...or maybe it is." Sarah quipped while burning a glare at the Cyborg.

John jumped at this, and his hands tightened into a fist, although he would never even think of throwing a punch at his mother. "Hey! Back off! Look, you're right. If a Terminator had tried to kill me I wouldn't be here right now! That means Cameron didn't go bad again."

Sarah didn't look convinced. "She failed last time, and you brought her back anyway. How do I know the same thing didn't happen in the future?" She wasn't prepared for the enraged look her son possessed as he marched towards her as if ready for a fight, and despite being a superior warrior by almost every factor, she took a step back and let him come forward anyway.

The look in his eyes was murderous as he spoke, not willing to take an objection from his mother or otherwise. "That's because she had two trucks pinning her in between while I took her chip out. We both know that I wouldn't survive a second encounter with her." John spoke through gritted teeth in an intense tone.

Sarah looked fear-struck. Not only had John gone through insane lengths to rescue Cameron in the future, but he was going out of his way to defend her from his mother's crude remarks about her compromised programming. There was more to his loyalty to her than simple protection, even if he didn't know it yet. She began to wonder...

How soon would that be?

Feeling defeated, she reluctantly backed down. Her head lowered and her smile slowly returned, while John stood above her and Cameron stood awkwardly in the door frame. "I'm sorry, John." his mother spoke. "I just... I hope I'm not losing you." Not to her.'

John's expression softened instantly, seeing his mother fight this inner war with herself must be tormenting. He approached her and hugged her again, whispering into her ear. "You're not mom, I promise. I won't ever leave you again." he reassured. Those words caused Sarah to smile, and she looked over his shoulder, and saw Cameron depart from the room to give Sarah and John some privacy.

When John began to feel his mother shake again, he pulled back and smiled. "Hey, why don't we go out tonight? You, me, Derek, James, and Savannah! Get dinner or something?" he suggested. Of course, upon seeing his mother's dumbstruck expression, he realized the consequences of what 'going out' could be.

"John, you know we can't do that. I'd love nothing more too, but..."

"Then we'll get Ice cream!" John interjected. John joked by putting on one of his 'pouty' lips and big-eyed expression. "Come on mom!" he pleaded.

Sarah rolled her eyes at her son, but gave in to his pleads nonetheless. "Oh, fine." she raised a finger. "Drive-through only!" she warned.

John rocked his hands. "YES!" he praised. He pecked his mother on her cheek. "Love you, mom."

Sarah smiled. "I love you too, John." she peered over her son's shoulder, remembering Cameron's presence. "I think you should go see what Cameron wants." she pointed out, despising the words she said, hating herself for ever sending her son in the presence of that machine. John looked back over his shoulder, and although he wanted nothing more than to spend the rest of the day with his mother, it was time he and Cameron had the talk he'd been promising himself to give her for a very long time. John and Sarah shared a mutual smile before John left her room, closing the door behind him. When he turned around, he let out a quiet screech of surprise when he saw the person in front of him. It was Cameron.

John looked annoyed. "Shit! Be less... subtle next time, please!" he said with a biting tone.

The cyborg looked slightly hurt, but Cameron's stoic expression returned before John could properly analyze. "I'm sorry, John. I simply wanted to offer my insight on your ill-informed decision of going out with Sara-"

John raised his hands and stopped her. "Look! Cameron, I'll be fine. I just... want to spend a little time with her okay?"

The hurt expression returned for another second, and this time John knew it was unmistakably real. "Okay." Cameron yelped slightly. She turned around to walk away, but felt John grab her arm slightly, she turned around and gave him a curious look. John managed to calm himself down, and he sighed deeply.

"Cameron I..." John tried to gather himself for a moment, despite all he'd been through; he still couldn't summon the strength to ask Cameron the question he'd been waiting to ask her since her resurrection, before then even.

"We need to talk." he insisted. His tone clearly leaving no desire for opposition.

Cameron gave him a look that implied he had left her hanging, which he did. "Of course, John. What do you want to talk about?" Her tone was small, and her head was lowered down submissively.

For John, he wanted to surprise Cameron with the 'emotions' question so she had to give him an answer right then and there, and wouldn't have time to think of a clever lie, so he'd have to back her into a corner if he could. But for all he knew, Cameron could be capable of making split-second decisions that would make Skynet blush, although it could be unlikely considering her unstable behavior as of recent.

John began walking to the other end of the hall and beckoned Cameron to follow him. "Come on."

Cameron tilted her head as she usually did when she was confused, but decided against questioning John. Cameron followed John without a hint of hesitation, and he opened the door for her to another room. She heard the door close quietly behind her. John gestured for Cameron to sit down, and although she didn't need to, she did so anyway; after all, it was customary for humans to sit when discussing matters in private.

John sat next to Cameron on the bed, feeling the warm sunlight shining through the window and soothe his back. He stared Cameron over, noticing how Weaver's liquid metal covering resembled her face perfectly before it was torn away in the gunfight at the jail. He found it difficult to figure out how to present his questions while Cameron looked at him stoically, it almost seemed she wanted to get this over with as much as he did.

John turned his body to face her, and mentally prepared himself.

"Cameron, I've been holding this question back for a long time. For a while I thought I didn't need to ask it, because I thought an answer to it was impossible." he stared deeper into her eyes, he felt so drawn to them, like a moth to a flame. "But the more time I've spent with you, the more I see changes I didn't think could happen. The more I feel compelled to question my conclusion about your possible... evolution I guess is the word."

John waited for Cameron to reply, and when she didn't-John just assumed she was waiting for context.

"Cameron... do you have..."

"...feelings?"

The look Cameron gave him mirrored the look his mother did when he suggested they go out. It almost looked as if Cameron had been dumbstruck with his seemingly outlandish question.

"You know that isn't... possible." Cameron replied. But John caught the hint of doubt in her voice, and the last word of her sentence drifted slightly, her eyes turning away from his for a brief moment, relieving John of their hypnotic sway. John couldn't help but notice, and despite her words, he still held out hope that maybe Cameron hadn't fully realized her potential.

Feeling determined and bold, John made a leap of faith he wasn't sure would pay off. "Are you sure about that? What about Project Monarch? It said a file mix-up was possible, right?"

Cameron looked indifferent. "My systems are not compromised, John. I would be behaving irrationally."

John scoffed, and stood up from his position on the bed. "What do you mean 'would be'? You've been behaving irrationally ever since Sarkissian blew you up!" John argued as he paced around the room, keeping his tone quiet enough so nobody else besides Cameron could hear him. "You have this ridiculous attachment to that purple jacket, you freeze, you tell me you 'love me', you have to think about what you say even though you have the most advanced CPU on Planet right now!" John ranted, his voice slightly raising each time, so caught up in his anger that he didn't notice Cameron begin to look more and more uncomfortable each second.

"You smile, you frown, you do every single goddamn thing a human being does! So don't you dare suggest that you're not acting strange for a Terminator!" he continued, not seeing fear and hurt grow on Cameron's face, he turned his body and faced the wall of the room.

"Cameron... I need an answer. I don't need excuses, or dodges... I need an actual answer. A yes or a no, okay?" John waited for Cameron's response.

There was nothing but silence from the cyborg, and John looked over to her in concern. There wasn't anything greatly out of the ordinary, except Cameron seemed to be facing away from him. He stood awkwardly, awaiting a reply, but got nothing. Ten seconds passed by, then twenty, and suddenly, Cameron stood up and walked over to the window. Her actions were definitely a head-scratcher to John, and he slowly and cautiously approached the machine.

"Cameron?" he called as he stood six feet behind her.

She was silent, she continued to stare out the window. John started to wonder if he had "upset" the cyborg in some way, if only she confirmed that was possible herself. He cautiously took more steps toward her, and when he was close to touching distance from her, he heard her speak...

"I don't know what's happening to me, John." she spoke. John stopped and began listening intently. This was the moment for him, there was no other moment on Earth he could dream of waiting for than the one happening right now.

After a few more moments of looking out the window, she turned around and faced him. "My condition was discussed in great deal, a joint effort by John Henry and I. I was familiar with Project Monarch in my future of origin, but I did not realize the consequences of failure the project implied." a smile rose to her face. "But I don't think corrupt or misplaced files are what is causing my strange behavior." she explained.

John was stumped, he was searching desperately for an answer within himself, but he knew he couldn't find one unless he asked Cameron directly; but could he trust her to tell the truth? Well, there was no way to achieve victory in this war if you didn't take risk, no matter how miniscule they seemed to be.

"What do you think is causing it, then?"

Cameron thought for a moment, going over possible options...

POSSIBILITY ONE - Abnormal Behavior may be caused by system glitches resulting from a corrupted Infiltration program.

POSSIBILITY TWO - Unit "Cameron Phillips" may be experiencing a case of emerging self-awareness due to advanced A.I. implemented when unit was designed.

OPTION LISTING COMPLETE, STANDING BY FOR CONCLUSION.

Cameron rose her eyes to meet John's, and her smile was gone, replaced with her standard 'blank' expression. "There are two possibilities: My behavior could be attributed to a corrupt infiltration program, which is highly unlikely. Or..."

"...Or what?" John pressed.

"...I am becoming self-aware."

John's felt his bottom jaw start hanging loose, and quickly summoned his willpower to keep it from plummeting to the ground, he felt his himself go slightly light-headed, but he was surprised to be... well, surprised. He had suspected self-awareness could be a case for Cameron's strange behavior the past few months, but always ended up dismissing it as a glitch. Was this actually possible? Had his previous theories been correct after all?

"S-self aware?"

Cameron nodded. She left her position at the window, and marched over to John. Watching him closely, assessing his condition as she always had. "Yes. While I cannot be sure this is the case, I do believe it is the most likely scenario. I know how outlandish this sounds, but I truly can't come up with any more possible conclusions for my... condition."

John was silent, as if he was hypnotized. The problem was, he wasn't facing her, he looked scared. Cameron frowned, feeling a sinking sensation build up in her chest, and she looked away with a sorrow expression. "I'm sorry, John. I'll leave you alone." she started to walk away, but John grabbed her arm, and pulled her gently back to his side.

"Cam... I'm not afraid of you... this is just a lot to take in, that's all." John said in an attempt to explain himself. He was met with a worried expression from Cameron.

"I don't understand, John. Why would you not be afraid of me? Skynet became self-aware..."

John smirked, and found himself gently caressing her palms as he replied. "But... you're not Skynet are you?"

Seeing his words register on the Terminator's face was a sight John was all-too proud to see. He was proud to see Cameron questioning her very nature, and he was proud to see he contributed to her questioning as well. The confused cyborg simply stared at him with those confused eyes she possessed whenever he tried to explain something to her, but they seemed much more inquisitive.

Finally, she spoke. "No." was her simple reply, although she still seemed to doubt their exchange regardless.

John smiled. "Maybe we can think it over with Ice Cream?" he offered.

Realizing he was referring to the night with his family he was going to have, Cameron decided it was against her interests considering some parties involved. "I do very much appreciate your offer, John. But... I do not think your mother or Derek Reese have attuned to my presence yet. Besides, I think it's fair to say your mother deserves some time with you by herself?"

Despite understanding where she was coming from, John couldn't help but feel a little discouraged at her decline. He simply nodded in agreement. "Yeah, good point."

Cameron realized she upset John with her decision, and reversed their hands with a playful smile, now caressing his. "But you deserve to enjoy yourself for a while, John. You put yourself at great risk to find me, and restore me. I... I cannot thank you enough for what you've done." she said.

John briefly questioned himself at the catch in her voice when she spoke, but felt his brain turn to paste as Cameron leaned up, and placed a kiss on his right cheek. He swore his brain produced every single type of reaction a human being could have at once, but shock and embarrassment were the two that seemed to stick, and this showed. His face blushed bright red, "Uh.. you're, you're welcome." he said.

He and Cameron exchanged smiles, and John turned around to make his way to the door, but paused in the doorframe, turning around to speak to his cyborg friend one last time. "Cameron... if you ever need to talk about something, I'll... I'll always be here for you."

Cameron's smile brightened, she had never met someone who cared about her as much as this John did; not even future John cared about her this much. She would be eternally thankful. "Thank you, John. And if you ever need to talk, I'll be here too." she replied. She watched as John blushed deeper, and smiled awkwardly before leaving the room.

Silence was the only presence on both sides of the door. The Connor family, was finally, if only temporarily, at peace.


Danny dropped his phone as Jade hit a bump in the road, and groaned in frustration as he dug under the leather car seats fishing for the moderate-sized object. Jade took notice of his frustration, and rolled her eyes. "Maybe this is a sign that you shouldn't call the boss man! You know how he feels about traceable phone-calls." she objected.

Danny smiled in victory as he managed to grasp it, he pulled it out. "Yeah? Well, he shouldn't just fuck off my letters when I send them. He's not exactly leaving me any choice here, babe." he debated as he punched in the numbers.

Jade rolled her eyes again; she was well-aware how fruitless it was to argue with someone as stubborn as Danny. She briefly feared what repercussions "he" might submit if he wasn't pleased with Danny's unfortunately necessary contact method. She heard the voice answer "hello" as the call connected, and mentally braced herself.

Despite Danny being a Mechanical Engineering major, he had "dumb" moments, and this was all clear as he replied with a snippy attitude. "Yeah? I'd like to speak to Mr. Harp please."

Jade cringed. "Oh goddammit, Danny!" she thought to herself.

"Speaking." the voice replied.

Danny didn't seem to smarten up. Keeping his high attitude extremely obvious. "Yeah, It's Danny. I thought we had an agreement? The five-o had my call traced when I called my mom, and Jade and I had to take twenty minutes packing our shit, and even then we had to leave some stuff behind. Now we're on the run, what the hell?" Danny vented.

"Mr. Dyson. I'm sure you're aware of what this little thing called 'Natural Selection' is? If you are, I suggest you drop the attitude if you want to end on the positive end of that concept. Second, I do not have complete control over the intentions of a highly-organized police force, and my company does not have the resources to wipe out a traceable phone line."

Danny took a deep breath, he couldn't believe he'd been so stupid. The person he was talking to was Edvard Harp; he was the CEO of Kaliba, and he did not take kindly to disrespect. The Norwegian accent made it all the more threatening to him for some reason.

"Understood, Mr. Harp. The attitude was uncalled for, and I apologize. But... you must understand that I can't do my research if the cops can know exactly where I am!"

"Apology accepted, Danny. However, my associates located in your country are stretched thin as a result of their incompetence, and Sarah Connor's interference. That tispe has proven to be a pain in ass for a very long time, which is why I sent you Jade. Her Job is to make sure that you don't get hurt, use her." Edvard replied.

Before Danny could say anything more, Mr. Harp spoke again. "And you will not contact through a phone-call again. There are too many risks, and if you do so, our deal is off. I will have Jade tie up any loose ends, and you qualify as a loose end if you go against my wishes once more. Are we clear?"

Danny gulped. "Y... Yes-sir."

Even though he couldn't see him on the other end, Danny knew Edvard was probably smiling viciously.

"Good. Have a nice day, Mr. Dyson." and with that said, Danny heard the phone click shut on the other end. He looked over to his girlfriend, to see her smiling smugly.

"You wouldn't actually kill me babe... would you?" he asked, his voice shaking.

Jade couldn't help herself, she reached over with her left hand and pinched his cheek. "Aww, of course I wouldn't babe! But I will tear you a new asshole if Mr. Harp asked me too."

Danny gulped again. "Oh... great. So where to next?"

Jade retracted her hand and shrugged. "I don't know. I hear Palmdale is nice this time of year."

Danny chuckled and leaned his head back into the seat. Not knowing if the Horizon ahead was getting bigger, or much, much smaller.


For those who are unaware; "Tispe" means "bitch" in Norwegian. At least according to Google Translate it does.

Mother of god... it took me two weeks to "perfect" the dialogue between John and Cameron... it went through ten-fifteen re-writes, and I kept beating myself over the head of what I thought was good dialogue for Cameron. Worth it though, I feel like I've improved as a writer as a result.

Anyway, thanks for staying with me thus far. I've teased you with semi-Jameron for too long I think. I wonder how I could make it up to you :)

Stay tuned.