Hey everyone, well, it's certainly been a long time hasn't it? After hitting writers block, pacing issues, and dialogue issues, I think I've finally got my fire to burn once again for this story. Thank you all for sticking with me, all I can say is... I'm back!
Chapter Twenty-Three: The Demon Moves
TARGET INFORMATION...
ELLEN MARIE CARTER
DOB: NOVEMBER 16TH, 1987
ADDRESS: UNKNOWN. ATTENDING UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA.
ROLE: RESISTANCE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT TEAM
DIRECTIVE: PRIORITY TERMINATION.
The T-X skimmed over the information displayed on her HUD. It had only been three hours since she killed Seth Somers, and she had to lay low to confirm her presence was unknown to law enforcement. The only thing that would help her on her current target was her location, as she had no facial identification provided by Skynet. The T-X glared at the car in front of her as it drove unnecissarily slowly.
She shifted the car into a higher gear, and tore past the left side of the previously troubling vehicle without even a glance of spite at the driver. Law Enforcement in this area was surprisingly high, with the death of Seth Somers and trouble at Zeira Corporation. The University of California was just around the corner, and she stopped at the traffic light as it turned red. Waiting impatiently, she noticed that the car she sped past had pulled up next to her.
The driver was clearly irritated, as he poked his head of the window and shouted, "Hey! What's your problem?!" a scowl on the man's face as his words were delivered to her audio receptors. The T-X slowly turned her head to face him, a glare present clear as day. The man's expression of bravado and confidence slowly melted into one of fear, as he took one look at the woman in the car, clearly expecting her to step out and beat him to a pulp in a second if he were to aggravate her further. He lowered his head back into his vehicle, and sped away from her as the light turned green.
She followed, and the man finally took a turn where a grocery store was emplaced. The T-X smiled to herself mischeiviously, and continued her drive down the road. After another five minutes of uneventful driving, she pulled into the University of California parking lot. She found a space near the entrance, and exited the car, she glared at the educational center, her own devious way of expressing glee.
Matthew Murch sat at his desk finishing up papers for the day, the day he planned to put in his resignation papers. As the pen danced to form words, he heard footsteps, and saw a humanoid shape come to rest in the door frame of his office out the corner of his eye.
"Just put whatever request papers or any other related items on Harrison's desk. I won't have time to finish them today, I'm already stacked and I'm leaving this place after I'm done here." he said without looking up, impatience evident in the man's tone.
"Going so soon, Mr. Murch?" the voice said. Feminine, yet deep... and undeniably Scottish.
The man stopped his writing immediately, and dared himself to look up. What he saw in the door frame horrified him. It was Catherine Weaver... the forme- the CEO of Zeira Corporation.
Murch removed his glasses, and hung his mouth agape in utter shock. "Ms... Ms. Weaver? You're... al... alive?" he said aloud, shock, and even a hint of fear present in his tone.
"Disappointed?" Catherine quipped.
Murch flinched slightly in his seat. "No! No, of course not! I just... holy shit." he said, trying to calm himself down. He wiped his eyes before putting his glasses back on, and indeed still saw Catherine standing there; although he hadn't entirely convinced himself that he wasn't hallucinating.
Catherine smiled, and to the untrained eye, her smile was comforting, but Murch had worked with Catherine long enough to know there were two sides to just one of her smiles. The man gulped, not only did she seem as stoic as she had been before, but not even a hint of her body language had changed. It was still as formless as it had ever been.
"Yes I am, Mr. Murch." she walked over to a bulletin board on the eastern wall of his office. There were newspapers on them, reporting updates on the search for herself, and the Connors. She raised an eyebrow as she faced the still shaken employee.
"Keeping tabs on me?" she asked.
Murch dismissed her question, and simply pointed out the obvious. "You're here? How? Did the Connors let you go?" he jumbled out.
Catherine pulled a newspaper off of the board, and opened it with her body language still not shaken in the slightest. "Let's just say that I convinced them they were carrying 'fatal cargo'. Every agency in this country will be looking for me. After all, we do provide them with the most advanced weapons this country has ever known." she answered, placing the newspaper back on the board.
She turned to face him. "Has there been an investigation?"
Murch nodded. "Yes, ma'am."
Catherine's attention peaked. "And what did you tell them?"
Murch scratched the back of his head, sighing deeply. "Well, they asked if there was any video footage of Sarah and her son, and that crazy chick who blew through the high-access wing. Then they asked about John Henry-"
Catherine cut him off. She took an aggressive step forward. "You didn't tell them about John Henry did you, Mr. Murch?" she asked, in an irritated voice.
Murch gulped, taking steps back in order to put distance between him and Weaver, but he wasn't as subtle as he thought, and Catherine followed him. "I um..." he started.
"You signed a non-disclosure agreement." Catherine started, her voice was angry, and she looked like she was going to end him. "It was in your contract, never reveal the details of secret projects to anyone!" she said in a raised voice. She had backed the man into a corner, and he looked as if he was awaiting his spot in hell.
"Ms. Weaver! Please listen! The FBI! The NRO! The CIA! Basically the entire fucking United States Government was here except the goddamn President! Do you know the consequences for not revealing a little thing like 'we were building a highly intelligent artificial intelligence' to the investigators of a crime scene?! I would've gotten life!" he protested, getting mildly irritated himself, and even somewhat proud of himself for standing up to Weaver; something he had never done before, not even when they disagreed completely.
The machine tilted her head at the man, making her even more intimidating than ever before. The man's confidence quickly took a nose dive as he saw the expression on the woman's face. His gut told him there was no way he was walking out of this office unless he appeased Catherine. He reduced himself to a more submissive tone, and then spoke.
"Ms. Weaver, I am sorry. I didn't mean to raise my voice, and it won't happen again. I am happy your back, but I can't withhold information from the FBI." he said.
Catherine smiled, another shield of her devious nature. "Apology accepted, Mr. Murch. I thank you for your concern, but I can assure you I will be fine. Now, I must address the company on Television. Would you be so kind to contact Law Enforcement and the media to inform them I'm here?" she asked the man politely.
Murch was still shaken at Catherine's outburst, but nodded compliantly. "Yes, ma'am. Right away, ma'am." he turned to reach for the phone on his desk, but Catherine called to him before his hand reached it.
"Oh, and Mr. Murch?"
The man turned his head to face her.
"If you ever violate your contract again, I will make sure to punish you properly. Punishments may include docked pay, less hours, and even... Termination from the company. Do not think I am joking for even a second. Is that clear, Matthew?" she said.
Murch took a deep breath, realizing his lungs were devoid of air as he stared the machine down. A telltale sign of the truth in her statement was evident by the fact she used his first name, which she only did with her employees when she wanted to make a point, otherwise she addressed them by surname.
"Yes, Ms. Weaver. Crystal clear, ma'am." he managed to reply.
The machine smiled at him, before walking out of the office and leaving him to make the phone call, or cry in the corner, she didn't particularly care which. She hated talking to the media anyway.
If Sarah was anything when she was being hunted by Law Enforcement, it was cautious. But, when she had to pee, she had to pee. Instinct was the greatest power over a human, even more so than emotion, although she believed people who tend to overthink things might argue they are one in the same. But a combination of Caution and Instinct was one she always welcomed. That being said, she hadn't passed a gas station for thirty minutes, and when she spotted a rest stop off the side of the road, she sighed in relief.
Sarah parked her car to the side of the road, coming to rest perfectly between the white line and the landscape that opposed it. Sarah got out of her car, and made her way towards the outhouse. There was only a single occupant at the rest stop, a younger man, probably no older than twenty-five, who was working on his van. As much as Sarah tried to avoid contact with the man, she found herself standing her ground in frustration as he wove to get her attention.
"Hi! Excuse me! Miss? Can you help me real quick?" he asked.
Sarah wanted to tell him off, but the man sounded so innocent and helpless, he'd probably been stranded here for hours. Sarah reluctantly walked over to the man, who was sitting on his knees dealing with what seemed to be car trouble.
"What's the problem?" Sarah asked in not so enthusiastic tone.
The man didn't seem to notice. "Well, I was on my way to see my cousin and the damn thing decided to break down on me! It's not that old! 03." the man explained with frustration.
Sarah was indifferent, but that was a trait of hers. She popped the hood open, and began her investigation. She leaned in and touched the battery, taking note of how hot it was. She turned around and addressed the man.
"When was the last time you worked on this thing?" she asked.
The man suddenly looked very nervous. "Uh, February two years ago..." he answered.
Sarah sighed quietly, and rolled her eyes as she closed the hood. "Do me a favor would you?"
The man raised both his brows. "Yeah?"
Sarah turned around and leaned on the front. "Start it up, tell me if the Battery light comes on the dash." she instructed.
The man looked like he'd just been asked to instruct quantum physics to a second grade class. "The uh... what?"
Sarah pinched the bridge of her nose. "The car battery light, it shows up off to the side of the speedometer. It lets you know if there's an issue under the hood you should worry about." she clarified.
The man chuckled nervously. "Oh! Uh, right." there was an awkward silence. "Uh, well, let me start 'er up!" the man said as he made his way to the van. The man twisted the keys, and the van struggled to start. When the rumble signified the vehicles awakening, the man yelled over the sound, words Sarah could barely make out.
"My name's Peter by the way!" he yelled.
Sarah crossed her arms and stared into the pasture. "Sarah!" she answered back. There was another two or so seconds of silence before the man spoke up again.
"Hey, Sarah, there's this red light that came up it's like a square? Is that the battery?"
Oh you've got to be kidding me. Sarah thought to herself. She walked over to the open driver's door, and peered inside the van. Peter pointed his finger at the symbol he described, and Sarah immediately recognized it as the battery warning symbol.
Swallowing her frustration, she simply nodded at the naive man. "Yeah, that's the one."
Peter sighed in angst and buried his face in his hands, while Sarah leaned over him awkwardly awaiting a response. The man shook his head at his apparent lack of mechanical knowledge.
"Well... thanks anyway. I'll just call the nearest tow company and see if they can get me."
Sarah gave Peter a fake smile, and climbed out of the seat. She expected their encounter to end there, but the man quickly caught up to her.
"Oh, wait!" he urged.
Sarah once again stopped, fighting the urge not to strike him in the jaw. He scratched his head nervously.
"Hey, uh... my cousin runs a software company in San Diego. He's not too big, but always looking to grow. So can I give you his card?" he asked.
Sarah fought the urge to roll her eyes, but reluctantly nodded. Peter smiled and handed a copy of the card to her, surprisingly, it wasn't a picture of his cousin like Sarah expected, it was a picture of Peter himself along with his phone number. Sarah rose a brow, but Peter didn't seem to notice so she brushed it off.
"I'll look into it." she answered simply, with a slight hint of impatience. Peter smiled nervously.
"You uh, have a good day!" he said cheerfully.
Sarah smiled forcefully. "You too." she replied dryly. A void of awkwardness fell around them.
Sarah pointed at the porta potty at the other end of the stop. "I need to go, I'll uh, see you around." she said.
Peter nodded nervously. "Yeah sure!" he waved Sarah goodbye, and she waved back. Peter retreated back to his van, and Sarah made her way to relieve herself. As she began walking, she heard her secondary cell phone ring in her pocket. She pulled it out and saw Tarissa's number. She had only given the number to two people, Tarissa and John. She told them to never call her on the phone unless there was a life-threatening emergency. Sarah swallowed nervously, and put the speaker to her ear.
"Hello?" she started.
The background noise sounded like a speeding car, the wind outside was rushing buy, and she could hear the vehicle jolt as the person on the other end drove against the inconsistent roadwork.
When Tarissa spoke, her tone was frantic. "Sarah? Hi! Uh... June ninth, right? Listen, I need your help."
Sarah turned around to make sure Peter wasn't eavesdropping, and she returned her attention to the phone, albeit with a hushed tone. "What is it?"
Tarissa sounded like she was almost hyperventilating when she responded. "There's one after us! We're on our way to L.A.! Can you meet us somewhere?"
Sarah exhaled sharply. The stakes had just been raised tenfold, and that was the last thing she needed.
The Terminatrix had successfully managed to disguise itself as a female student. She had heard from the other students that Ellen always studied for tests in the library after her first class had ended. The machine took a left down the hallway where it was located, and entered through the doors. The library was large, very roomy, and very fitting for a quiet place to study. Surprisingly, there were only about four people in the library, and only one was female. The Terminatrix scanned the area thoroughly, and noticed that the three other students were sitting a distance away from the girl, and probably wouldn't notice her if the machine were to lure her away.
Satisfied that she was in the clear, the machine approached the girl who was reading a large book at the western end of the Library. She had dark hair, wore small-framed glasses, looked rather short, but was stocky. The girl looked up and smiled at the machine. "What's up?" she asked curiously.
The machine's smile was convincing as she responded in a chipper tone. "Nothing much. I'm new here, my name's Penny." she replied.
The girl's smile grew wider, and she offered to shake Penny's hand. "Nice to meet you, Penny. Name's Ellen." she replied.
Penny stared at the girl's hand, before running an internal etiquette scan. Penny's smile became friendlier in turn, and she shook the girl's hand. "What are you reading?" she asked in a sweet tone.
Ellen looked at her book briefly, then adjusted her glasses as they had fallen slightly off as her head moved. "Oh, it's 'The Singularity is near' by Ray Kurzweil. It's on our reading list in our class. I want to be a Computer Engineer, so we're studying Artificial Intelligence right now. You know what Artificial Intelligence is, right?"
Penny stared at the girl. "Yes." she answered stoically.
Ellen paused for a moment, finding the way the girl answered rather strange. But she pushed it out of her mind just as quick. "Well, that's what the book is about basically. The advances in AI and how close we are to achieving it."
Penny tilted her head at the girl. "That's interesting." she deadpanned.
Ellen chuckled awkwardly. Being increasingly unnerved by the new student's behavior. "Yeah... so what are you studying?" she asked.
Penny answered simply. "Math."
Ellen raised an eyebrow. "So... Algebra, Geometry?"
Penny remained silent.
Ellen began snickering. "Just math in general, huh?"
Penny smiled again. "Yes." she paused for a moment, an awkward silence falling between the two of them. Penny began to realize her behavior could compromise her mission, and she spoke again. "I need help. I'm very nervous."
Ellen looked sympathetic to the machine. "Yeah, I'm with you there. Our professor gives us pop quizzes all the time, but luckily he's gotten lazy recently so that hasn't happened in a while." She closed the book, and placed it back in the empty spot she seemingly took it from. She clasped her hands together and gave a friendly smile to Penny.
"I have some time to spare, if you need help with your math homework." she offered.
Penny smiled at her. "Please?"
Ellen presented her hands outward. "Lead the way."
Penny and Ellen had left Campus in order for Penny to lure her target to the back where there were no witnesses. Ellen began growing weary of where she was being lead to, as the parking lot was on the other side of the campus.
"Uh... where are we going?" Ellen asked, cautiously.
The woman she was following stopped walking, becoming a statue. The girl who had led her out of the library stood motionless in a patch of grass, staring forth with no movement whatsoever. Ellen began to approach the girl, but as she neared her, the seemingly unresponsive new student lashed out and grabbed Ellen's hand. Ellen whimpered slightly as she tried to escape, but the grip on her hand became tighter every second.
"HELP!" she yelled. But no one heard her cry, as they were in a secluded area of Campus. She looked at the girl right in her eye, and saw that she was completely devoid of emotion. Ellen continued to try and pull herself free, but the girl grabbed the back of her skull, and the last thing she saw was her vision darting quickly towards the brick wall. The first hit, she felt a warmness spreading down her forehead, and she realized it was her own blood. The second hit, it hurt even more, but this time she wasn't given any time to process what had just happened.
Penny repeatedly slammed Ellen's head against the wall of the building. Every hit caused the girl to scream in pain, and then finally... it was over. Penny dropped her corpse on the ground, a bleeding maw that used to be her forehead facing outward for the world to see. Her mission completed, Penny returned to her car. She sat down in the drivers position just as her HUD updated.
MISSION UPDATED...
ELLEN CARTER TERMINATED... MISSION COMPLETE.
REMAINING TASKS...
TERMINATE PETER HENDERSON.
Penny shifted the car into proper gear, and sped out of the Campus lot before anyone could discover the body.
Highway, Gas Station
Sarah was sitting in her car at a gas station along the highway, waiting for Tarissa. This was the place they agreed to meet. Sarah was instructed by Tarissa to keep an eye out for a black sedan that was speeding very fast. Sarah waited and waited, only for about fifteen more minutes before she saw the car come into view. It drifted to the left, before burning rubber on the road as it came to rest on the gravel off of the Interstate. Sarah urgently approached the car, her right hand ready to draw her hidden sidearm to make sure it was actually Tarissa. The older woman stepped out with Blythe exciting the passenger seat immediately after, and Sarah relaxed herself.
"Did you lose him?" she asked cautiously.
Tarissa was panting heavily, and when she spoke, she practically exhaled every word. "I'm not sure! We took a left off the highway in the middle of traffic. I think we lost it, but I'm not sure." She eyed Sarah's car briefly. "We need to go." she insisted. "I'll follow you.
Sarah nodded, and motioned for the woman to follow her. She tugged at her daughter's hand and gestured for her to get back in the car, and when Sarah caught a glimpse of the girl's face. She was absolutely terrified. Sarah took an extra look around, and confirmed they had indeed not been followed, although a single motorcycle passed them by as Sarah stepped in the driver's seat. Hopefully she would make it back to Los Angeles before the machine that was after them could pick up their trail.
Derek and James eyes were glued to the screen before them on the Television. There was a news report of a young man named Seth Somers. There were dozens of murders in big cities like Los Angeles every day, but he felt better safe than sorry to get Cameron and John's attention.
"John! Metal! Get your asses down here!" he barked.
The two men heard footsteps rushing down the stairs with haste, and John and Cameron stood at Derek's side very quickly. Derek gestured at the screen, causing the boy and the Terminator to turn their attention to it. The woman was repeating the investigation information of the man named Seth Somers, who was found dead in his home with a single bullet in his heart.
"That name mean anything to you?" Derek asked Cameron dryly.
Cameron ran a scan for files a man named 'Seth Somers'.
SCAN COMPLETE, RESULTS WILL BE PRESENTED AS FOLLOWS...
SETH BENJAMIN SOMERS: RESISTANCE MECHANICAL ENGINEER
SETH MICHEAL SOMERS: RESISTANCE TANK CREWMAN
SETH GORDON SOMERS: RESISTANCE HIGH-COMMAND
SCAN COMPLETE, RESULTS STANDING BY FOR CONCLUSION...
Cameron tilted her head at the screen for a moment before turning her attention to Derek. "My internal scan found three matches, but only one of them is a likely target for Skynet. Seth Gordon Somers. He was placed in charge of the San Francisco branch of Resistance military."
John spoke up. "Did you know him?"
Cameron faced John, her expression was one of confliction. "I never met him personally. But you told me he once liberated four Skynet work camps, and destroyed a Hunter-Killer factory in a span of nine hours."
John cocked his eyebrows. "Well... shit."
Cameron smiled at him, withholding her response until she re-faced the screen. "Yes... shit." Her profanity catching Derek completely off-guard, while John barely kept himself from chuckling.
James, who had been quiet throughout the course of the discussion, decided to speak up. "So, what are the chances we have a machine here?" he asked.
All eyes in the room looked at him, each pair holding a glint reluctance except for Cameron. As everyone expected, she was the one who answered. "High. Although we may have to wait until it strikes again before we can identify for sure." she said.
John stepped in, surprised to here that talk from Cameron. "What? No! No way! I'm not gonna let someone be bait!" he protested.
Cameron turned her entire body to face John, a new gesture of hers he noticed. "We don't have a choice, John. If it is allowed to operate further, it can lead to many more deaths of Resistance Fighters. If it kills another fighter, and the identity is traced positive in my database, then we will have confirmed a Terminator presence here."
John scoffed, running his hands through his hair. "Well, what if it kills all the Resistance fighters here?"
"Unlikely." Cameron shot.
John shrugged. "How many Resistance fighters live in L.A.?" he asked.
Cameron was silent for a moment, going through her records. "Seven-Thousand, five-hundred and eighty-one." she deadpanned.
John's eyebrows twitched. "Oh, well... shit."
Don't worry, next chapter is already being worked on. Hoorah.
