It's been a while, eh? I'M BACK! Seriously though, sorry for the long wait. NASA accidentally left me on Mars so I've been living off edible Space Rocks and humming to myself the entire time.
Chapter 26: Escalation of the Enemy
Sarah opened the door to the house. She saw Cameron and Catherine standing in front of them. There was a question dangling in her throat, although Cameron answered it before she could speak.
"We weren't followed." She bluntly stated.
Sarah didn't respond, but eyed Cameron up and down with a scowl before letting the Machines in. She noticed that Catherine was carrying something on her back, her hands placed as if she was doing weight squats at a Gym. Upon closer inspection, Sarah saw that it was a body bag. The T-1001 knew Sarah didn't know what it was, but she found verbal elaboration pointless as she placed the object down on the couch.
Sarah closed the door, and heard Savannah spring up from her seat on the couch, watching a cartoon on the Television with Blythe. Without surprising a single soul in the house, Savannah leaped into her mothers arms. Sarah instinctively balled her fists up at the smile Catherine gave the young girl as she hugged her tightly. She looked over to see Blythe watching the two with what Sarah could tell was sadness. Not that she could blame her.
"What's in the bag, mom?" Savannah asked Catherine.
Catherine tilted her head at the young girl. "Nothing dear, go up to your room, please. Cameron, will you assist me?" she asked.
Savannah had barely given any visual attention to the dark-haired teenager in the room. Savannah studied her, and Cameron stared back without a hint of emotion. The young girl looked as if she was looking at something very disturbing.
On Cameron's end, she didn't mean to intimidate the girl; but she had to keep her emotionless, stoic nature out for Sarah. She found herself disliking it more and more, but she had to do it; if not for her own sake, then for John's. She could feel the disapproving glare Catherine gave her, paving way for a long, awkward silence throughout the room. Eventually, the silence was broken as John walked in the room.
He eyed everyone, until his gaze settled on Cameron. The urge to run over and hug her ran over him like a tidal wave, a force he found himself struggling to control. When Sarah turned away, he gave the cyborg a smile. Cameron's face formed into relief in seeing John again, but quickly reverted to her 'default' state to keep up appearances for Sarah. She and John directed their attention to the man-sized bag. Catherine marched in the controlled way only she could, over to the body. She turned around and gave Savannah a dominant look, and the young girl scurried off upstairs.
"Blythe, go get your mother." Sarah ordered.
The teenager gazed over Sarah's shoulder, trying to catch sight of the object in the bag. When she saw the shape resembled that of a man, her eyes widened quickly. She pointed at the bag and looked at Sarah.
"Sarah... is there... someone in-"
The woman spun around quickly, an annoyed expression clear as day on her face. "Blythe, get your mother!" she barked, her voice much more commanding.
Blythe actually jumped at Sarah's words, and she ran upstairs to the room she and her mother shared.
Sarah eyed the stairs for a moment before returning her attention to the bag. She nodded to Catherine, and the machine began unzipping, making a sound that tore a hole through the awkward silence that Sarah had created when she yelled at Blythe. When the zipper had reached bottom end of the bag, Catherine carefully pulled away the layer of material that covered the top, and sure enough, John Henry's face lie beneath.
John leaned in for a closer look, noticing the physical body of John Henry still retained a pristine appearance. He glanced at Catherine. "He still covered in your liquid metal?" he asked her.
"Yes." Catherine deadpanned. She turned to Sarah. "Does this place have a basement?"
Before Sarah could answer, Tarissa and Derek walked into the room from upstairs. Without asking for input, the pair quickly jogged over to where everyone had gathered, over the couch where Catherine had set down John Henry. Surprising no one, Tarissa placed her hand over her mouth in shock.
"Oh my god!" she exclaimed in an alert, disturbed tone. "That's not a person, is it?" she asked, looking at Sarah.
Catherine was the one to answer. "No, it's a Terminator."
Derek looked over the deactivated body. "Too much metal in this house." he commented, genuine poison in his voice. "That's that machine you were dragging around." A statement he directed at Catherine. "What the hell is it?"
Catherine almost rolled her eyes at such ignorance as she answered. "His name is John Henry. He is an A.I. that my company was creating as a foe for Skynet. Processing speed that rivals it, as well as tactical skill. Fighting fire with fire, as you would put it."
Derek's eyebrows lifted up, confusion possessing his expression. "I thought John was supposed to defeat Skynet?"
The T-1001 glanced at Derek blankly. "That page has turned, Lieutenant Reese. Recent developments have determined that John can no longer work alone. Skynet's roots in the past dig deep, deeper than I had imagined."
As if on cue, everyone in the room looked at John Henry's body. His eyes remained closed, as if he was dead, and in a way he was. He just needed a resurrection.
"And the battle ahead will be a long one." Catherine added.
After the dust had settled, Cameron and Catherine had placed John Henry in the Basement of the house, Sarah walked impatiently towards the kitchen where she had hung a bag with all of her belongings by strap on a chair.
"Where's James?" she asked as she dug through, looking for car keys.
Derek answered. "He went to go get food at that convenience store about a mile up."
Sarah heard his answer, but didn't respond verbally. Instead, she grabbed her emergency cell phone, deciding to toss her normal one out. She pulled out the business card for Peter, and began dialing the number. She put the device to her right ear, she moved past Derek and tossed the keys to an unexpecting Cameron who was watching the window.
"You're driving." she barked.
"Now's not a good time, Sarah." Peter said as he finished his fifth beer that day. He set the bottle down, making a subtle 'thump' sound, which kicked off his next statement. "I've got some family business to attend to." he said sadly. He wiped the tears from his face, before fresh ones were born from his eyes.
"That's precisely why I need to talk to you. You're in danger." Sarah said on the other end.
Peter's eyes lit up, he didn't feel fear at Sarah's words, but anger. "Did she know something?" he wondered. He pulled out a twenty dollar bill from his pocket, and slapped it on the bar table.
"Thanks Les, keep the change." he said. The bartender nodded at him, and put the money someplace where the other patrons couldn't see. For privacy's sake, Peter walked outside of the bar and into an alley next to it.
"What the hell are you talking about?" he asked, caution clear and present in his voice.
"I know what happened to your brother, someone was sent to kill him, and I need some... information. Whoever killed him was after something, and I need to know what it is."
"He's my cousin!." Peter said with a raised voice. "Who the hell are you?" Peter sneered.
"Someone who's gonna help you. But I need you to trust me, can we meet?"
"No. I don't know who you are. You could've been the one who killed him for all I know."
"Fine, then we meet in a public place. Griffith Park?" Sarah offered.
Peter hesitated. Mulling over his options. He'd been informed of his cousins death an hour ago, and rather than be with his family or comfort Ian's widow, he'd taken himself to the bar. The Police said they would handle it, but he knew Los Angeles Police; they weren't exactly what he would call "pure". Maybe his cousin's murder could use some outside help. With a heavy sigh, Peter gave Sarah his answer.
"Fine, Griffith Park, twenty minutes. I'm driving a black Corolla."
"Okay. See you then." Sarah responded, before the call went dead.
Sarah tossed the cell phone onto the dash of the car. She sighed heavily as she crossed her arms while waiting at the red light. She had decided to put on her blonde wig in order to remain anonymous against her true identity as Sarah Connor. Griffith Park was no longer than a five minute drive away, but she felt nervous nonetheless. A lot could happen in five minutes.
The silence in the car was broken, when Cameron, who was driving the car-spoke.
"We should consider the possibility that he could notify the authorities." she suggested in her usual deadpan tone.
Sarah ignored her, the woman silently glaring at the stoplight, eagerly waiting for it to turn Green. There was another long silence between the two, before a question that had lingered in Sarah's mind spilled out to break it once more.
"What happened to him in the future?" she asked dryly, still looking ahead.
Cameron turned to face her. "Could you be more specific."
Sarah sighed, struggling to maintain her patience. "I mean what happened to John? What did you put him through? What did he see?"
Cameron noticed the light turned green, and gently tapped the gas pedal, keeping a steady distance from the vehicle in front of theirs. "A lot."
Sarah eyed Cameron momentarily. " Like what."
The Cyborg kept her gaze strictly on the road, taking a right turn at an intersection. "Death."
This time Sarah gazed at Cameron for a long time. The way she said it made it seem like it meant something to her, like it was supposed to be a dramatic line in a book. Dare she say... emotional.
Before Sarah could say anything, Cameron spoke again.
"Memento Mori." she uttered.
Sarah's lips parted slightly, completely caught off-guard at the Cyborg's words. "What did you say?" she asked with utter incredulity.
"Memento Mori. Latin. It means 'remember that you must die', although occasionally it is shortened to just 'remember death'." Cameron answered. With Sarah still staring in shock at her, Cameron pulled into one of the open parking spaces at Griffith Park. She put the vehicle in park, and turned it off. The Cyborg turned to Sarah before she finally spoke again.
"Future John taught me it. He told me that a Resistance Squad Leader, Michael Matkin, had tattooed the phrase onto his left arm, and he shouted it when ever he charged into battle against Skynet."
"What happened to him?" Sarah asked curiously.
"He was killed on December 8th, 2019. After his death, his entire platoon adopted the phrase as their motto. They became known as The Screaming Legion. They liberated six Skynet work camps in 2022." she answered.
Sarah smirked momentarily. "After the Roman Legions?"
Cameron nodded. "One of humanity's strongest warriors." she replied briefly.
Sarah nodded to herself. That kind of soul was only found in a human, and that kind of legacy is what made them human. Maybe the future wasn't as bleak and hopeless as she had thought.
John closed the door to the basement, and soon found his only company inside the house was that of Catherine Weaver and the deactivated body of her A.I. John Henry. The teenager licked his lips as an uncomfortable reminder to himself that he didn't much like being around the T-1001, but he figured if he was going to Ally with her, he might as well assess her skills at small talk.
With no other words to sub with, he spoke. "What's going on?" regretting his words immediately, mentally beating himself up afterwords. Great job, John. Talk to the Cyborg with a bad case of resting bitch-face like she's cheerleader at a High School drug party.
To his relief, Catherine didn't seem to notice. "I just received a very angry phone call from my Technology Specialist Matthew. He was very curious regarding the circumstances of the destroyed twenty-two million dollar computer equipment in regards to our skirmish with the female machine inside of Zeira Corporation." she answered as she pulled shrapnel out of John Henry's burnt skin.
John felt that plummeting feeling he got when he witnessed something that disgusted him, and briefly covered his mouth with his left hand with the fear he was going to vomit, before putting it back in place when he realized he wasn't going to.
"Yeah uh... Mom said something about that. Is Cameron okay?"
Catherine remained focused on her work with John Henry when she answered. "She's fine. In fact, she handled the machine quite efficiently."
Suddenly, John remembered the story Tarissa had told he and his mother the other night. About the mysterious female that had entangled Danny Dyson in her fingers.
"What did she look like?" John asked.
"Tall, Blonde Hair." the T-1001 answered. "She was a 1000 series like me, but I do not know which sub-series specifically. As much as I dislike to admit it, she had more raw strength than I, so I'm inclined to believe she was a more advanced one."
John eyed the floor of the basement he was in. Tall and Blonde Hair fit the description.
"Do you think Skynet sent it?" he asked.
Catherine ripped a piece of lead out of John Henry's cheek, which left a large cut that oozed fresh blood. John saw this and gagged. But Catherine spoke in her usual non-caring way when she answered him.
"Truthfully? No. She took a rather long time Terminating us, which is why Cameron was able to defeat her in the first place. She acquired a shotgun and fired high-powered shells at the machine until she had retreated. If she were sent by Skynet, she wouldn't have taken so long gloating about how powerful she was, and just gotten the job done at first sight."
John took a deep breath. He concluded that when his mother returned, she and Catherine would have a long-discussion on this new mystery Terminator. Maybe this one is the one that has been killing off future Resistance Leaders in Los Angeles.
"Thanks." he uttered. He turned around to leave the room before Catherine called to him, stopping in his tracks.
"John?" she said.
He turned around. "Yeah?"
Catherine paid no visual attention to him, instead focusing on John Henry still. "You know that what you and Cameron have? It's dangerous." she deadpanned.
John's heart skipped a beat, his blood ran cold. He always had an idea that Catherine probably knew about he and Cameron's special bond, the precursor to their now romantic involvement.
"We'll deal with it." he replied simply.
"Will you?" Catherine chirped. She stood up from her previously hunched over position. She now looked at John, but the power in her eyes was both patronizing and contemptuous.
"What you have? What you intend to build upon? It will fall. Or both of you will die."
For the first time in a while, John's impatience at Catherine boiled over. He clenched his fists, and gritted his teeth. He turned around to face her, a glare piercing through the air.
"You don't know what the hell you're talking about." he sneered.
Catherine rose a brow. "I know more than you think." she quipped.
John scoffed. "Maybe you're right." He un-clenched his fists and took a step forward, now face-to-face with the machine. "But maybe... you know too much."
The two stared at each other for a long while-what seemed like an eternity. John realized that he had fallen victim to his own anger again, and he retracted his glare from the machine. He took a glimpse at the charred body of John Henry, before turning around and leaving the room. Not wanting to build up the tension any longer.
After waiting a long while, Cameron pointed out to Sarah that a black Corolla had parked two spaces away, and the two exited the car. They both watched as Peter exited his, and approached them.
"Alright, I've uh, got the cops on Speed Dial, you try anything they're gonna put you away." he threatened, albeit poorly. He looked between the two women, and realizing that he wasn't intimidating them in the least, he spoke.
"What did you want?"
Sarah was the one who spoke up. "We know who killed your Cousin, but we also need to know if there's anything he was working on that someone might want to get their hands on, something valuable."
Peter looked between the two again. "Are you two like... private investigators or something?"
Sarah scowled. "... In a manner of speaking."
Suddenly, Cameron caught glimpse of a woman who was sitting in a car across from where they were speaking. She dismissed the dark tint from her sunglasses as she zoomed in with her HUD.
ANALYZING SUBJECT...
MODEL... T-9?
SUBJECT IS REMAINING COVERT IN ATTEMPT TO EAVESDROP ON SUBJECT-001 (SARAH CONNOR), SUBJECT-002 (CAMERON PHILLIPS), AND SUBJECT-003 (PETER HENDERSON).
DIRECTIVE... RETREAT.
Realizing that Sarah had been talking to Peter the entire time, she called her. "Sarah."
The woman turned to Cameron, and followed her gaze to the car she was looking at.
"The woman, she's a machine. She's watching us." Cameron said.
Sarah's eyes widened, and she turned to Peter. "Get in the car, now. Don't look ba-"
It was too late, Peter turned around and eyed the woman, and saw that she was getting out of her car, realizing she had been compromised. She pulled out a Glock Pistol, and began firing at the group. Predictably, the screams of all the park-goers filled the air, with families running for cover as soon as the weapon discharged. Luckily Cameron had taken the bullet that would have torn the Peter's right thigh, and she turned back at the two.
"Get in the car! Now!" she yelled.
Sarah and Peter didn't hesitate to comply, and the pair entered the car in the backseat. Sarah tossed Cameron the shotgun she had taken from Zeira Corporation, and the Cyborg had absorbed the impact of every bullet in the rival Terminator's magazine. Once it started to reload, Cameron fired a blast. It knocked the machine back, and Cameron cocked the gun and fired again. The second blast caused the machine to fall back onto the trunk of the car. With brief time bought, Cameron rushed into the drivers seat. She placed the gear in reverse and started the engine.
She looked in the rear view mirror to see the other Terminator was regaining it's balance and standing up. Without a moment's hesitation, Cameron floored the gas pedal, causing the engine to roar as the vehicle plowed backwards. A loud "CRASH" was heard as the car sandwiched the machine between it's own car and the one Cameron, Sarah, and Peter were in. Cameron shifted the car into drive, and sped out of the parking lot. Once they had made their way onto the main road, Cameron turned to an obviously terrified Peter who was breathing heavily and constantly looking behind him and in front as if his head was on a loose pivot, muttering a string of curse words along with horrified ramblings
"Peter, you're hyperventilating. You need to calm down." Cameron said.
Peter's eyes widened in surprise. "Calm down? Fucking calm down? Did you just fucking see what happened? How the hell is she still alive, I saw you dump two shotgun bullets into that bitch! And you? You took a fucking mag of that pistol like someone was throwing candy wrappers at you!"
Having no retort, Cameron decided to focus on driving. Sarah was searching for words to say, but found nothing.
"Does somebody want to tell me what the fuck is going on?" Peter demanded.
Sarah looked at Cameron, hoping she would explain, but the Cyborgs silence and indifference suggested otherwise. In the seat next to him, Sarah looked at the visibly disturbed man and spoke.
"Peter, there's no easy way too explain this, but that woman? She's a machine. Sent to kill you by the looks of it."
Peter swore he went through every emotion a human could go through in a span of just two seconds, and probably discovered entirely new ones at that.
"Is this some kind of sick joke? A machine? What, like R2-D2?"
Sarah couldn't help but smirk, although she hid it from the man. "Sure, if R2-D2 was a homicidal asshole that had red eyes and a serious mean streak."
Peter shook his head at Sarah. "You're fucking with me... you gotta be!" he argued.
Seeing no other way, Sarah nudged her head towards Cameron. "Tin-miss, show him."
Upon hearing Sarah's words, Cameron used her right hand to remove the sunglasses she was wearing, revealing her red eye underneath. The look of horror on Peter's face reminded Sarah of the first time she had seen a Terminator endoskeleton, back in 1984 when the fire had burned away the skin coating of the T-800 that had been sent to kill her. For the first time in a while, she felt guilty. She knew what it was like to be sucked into a world like this.
Peter's eyes darted between Sarah and Cameron, until the Cyborg decided to put her sunglasses back on and return her attention to the road. The man was trying so hard to find the words he needed, but to no avail. Suddenly, the world he thought he knew felt so small, and he knew that this new one he found himself in, despite not knowing anything about it, would be ruthless.
Finally, Sarah spoke. "Peter, I'll tell everything when we get back to our safehouse, but for now-"
"BAM!" Sarah's words were cut off by the sound of a gun shot, and the front window of the car shattering. Cameron jerked the wheel to the left in an attempt to throw the shooter off, a quick glance at the rear-view mirror confirmed her suspicions... it was the machine from the park, she had caught up to them. Once the dust had settled, Peter looked at his hands to see they were covered in blood. He quickly realized it wasn't his, and turned to see that Sarah was gripping her shoulder yelling in pain, as blood oozed from her wound and soaked the seat material beneath. Peter's eyes widened in shock.
