Chapter 27: The Factor of Luck

Adrenaline wasn't something Cameron could experince; but if she could, now would be the most appropriate time. Her systems directed her around traffic and predicted road routes at lightning fast speeds, and swerved around cars as well as pedestrians.

"Hold on!" she yelled to Peter and Sarah as she drifted to the right, ramming into an ethnic food cart in the process, sending sauce and condiments flying onto the windshield. Bullets from the car behind her continued to whiz past her right ear, sometimes nearly missing Peter's neck. The turn led her into a parking garage that had unfortunately been placed next to a recreation center, resulting in many parked cars proving to be a minor obstacle.

Sarah winced in pain as the car danced around the parked vehicles. She looked around to see the seat was covered in her blood, and directed her gaze to the terrified Peter.

"Peter..." she said weakly, almost such that she was sure she wouldn't get his attention, and was surprised when he halted his panicked movements to look at her.

"Put pressure on the wound." she started. "Cover it with your hands."

Peter nodded and pressed firmly against the bullet wound, causing Sarah to yelp in pain as the tissue ached. Another bullet struck the Headrest on the left seat of the car, followed by another that struck the fabric of the seat itself.

The man was breathing heavily with every shot fired at them.

"How the hell are we going to lose her!" he yelled at Cameron.

The Cyborg paid no attention to him, and instead took the nearest exit out of the parking garage, their chase once again spilling onto the streets of Los Angeles. With the other machine gaining ground, Cameron realized she was out of options. She jerked the wheel to the right and drifted. After that, it was almost as if time had grinded to a near-halt. Cameron grabbed the shotgun from the Passenger seat, and fired twice at the Terminators car as her own passed by when she turned.

Cameron had pulled a 180, and turned the chase around. Assessing the damage she inflicted, she realized she had popped the front right wheel of her pursuer's car, and blown off the rear-view mirror on that side as well. The Cyborg floored the gas pedal, and the car flew away with a loud roar. Cameron looked back and saw that the other machine had halted the chase temporarily to get a new vehicle, as she could see the machine had gotten out of the one Cameron had shot.

"Did we lose her?" Peter asked as the machine's silhouette shrunk in the distance.

Cameron gave him the honest answer. "No. She'll be back."

Clearly not a big fan of her response, Peter looked down and observed Sarah's condition. He quickly noticed that her eyes were closed, but she was still breathing. He began breathing rapidly and notified Cameron with that same terrified tone she had become familiar with in the past ten minutes. "Oh, shit! I think she passed out! We need to get her to a Hospital!"

Cameron eyed him briefly in the rear-view mirror. "No hospitals." she shot.

Peter's eyes widened for a split second in shock. "Bullshit! What the hell do you mean 'no hospitals?'" he asked.

Cameron ignored him, and continued to drive, she kept it at a minimal speed but still fast enough to avoid their pursuer until she began hearing Sirens in the distance.


Catherine bumped into Tarissa as she made her way upstairs, and the two stared at each other awkwardly for a moment, as if one expected the other to apologize.

"Ah, Tarissa Dyson, just who I wanted to see." Catherine said.

Tarissa raised a brow. "Why?"

"You will be happy to know that I have secured a residence for you while the situation with law enforcement calms down. It is an apartment located four blocks away from Zeira Corporation. That way I can provide a squad of security officers to protect you and your daughter." Catherine explained.

Tarissa thought for a moment, she didn't particularly like the idea of being constantly observed by a bunch of guards who answered only to Catherine, but she supposed it was better than nothing; however, she decided to pry.

Tarissa took a seat on the spare recliner on next to the drawer, and she clasped her hands together in anticipation. "How do I know they're any good? More importantly, how do I know they won't freak out at the first sign of a machine?" she asked.

Catherine stared down at the woman, realizing the human was clearly unaware of how much she disliked being questioned. "I have paid the right people who aren't too curious, and some of them are ex-military. My company has the resources to acquire the best weaponry possible. So in the unlikely event that a Terminator were to attack the house, then security would dispatch it easily. You do not have to worry, I have personally gone over each of their background checks - they are the best of the best." Catherine paused, and gave the woman a smug grin. "By human standards of course."

Tarissa nodded, logical enough. "We'll have our privacy right? I don't want them watching over us constantly."

Catherine adjusted her neck slightly, a clear sign of her waning patience. "Tarissa, it is unreasonable to request my security teams to protect you and your daughter at full efficiency if they are not actually keeping an eye on you. However, your species unfortunate habit of privacy leaves me no choice but to order the security teams to keep their observations at a minimum."

Tarissa inhaled sharply, but probably loud enough for the T-1001 to hear. "Thank you." she forced out.

Before Catherine could respond, she heard her phone ring. She checked the number and recognized it immediately; Sarah Connor.

She clicked the answer button and held the device to her right ear. "Sarah?"

"No, this is Cameron. Sarah has fallen unconscious from blood loss. There is a Terminator that is chasing us, we have what we believe is her intended target." Cameron said from the other end.

"What model is the Terminator?" Catherine deadpanned.

"I'm not sure. My heads-up-display informed me she was a member of the 900 series, although I do not know which one specifically. She also has mimetic polyalloy capabilities." she answered.

Catherine paused for a moment, searching for files trying to narrow down a 900 series that was capable of Liquid Metal attributes. As far as she knew, the 1000 series was the first Terminator to possess such an ability.

"What is your location?" Catherine asked.

"We're hiding at an underpass near Long Beach. I will text you the location after we end the call; however, Law Enforcement is searching the immediate area. They have our plate number and we can't make our way back to the James' house without drawing attention. If you intend to come, please hurry." After hearing this, Catherine heard a 'click' on her end, signaling Cameron had hung up.

Catherine pocketed her phone and turned to Tarissa. "I must go, please watch Savannah while I am gone. Derek Reese will guard the household."

Tarissa nodded, not really a fan of the man, but once again... it was better than nothing.

Seeing she had acquired Tarissa's approval, Catherine trotted back downstairs only to find John waiting for her.

"Where are you going?" he pried.

Catherine opened the door and looked at John before she stepped out. "It seems your Cyborg has once again gotten herself into trouble, and I must rendezvous with her at Long Beach. If you insist on coming then I suppose I can't stop you, but I will NOT take responsibility for any injuries you may achieve." the T-1001 shot.

John rolled his eyes and picked up the Sig Sauer P226 that Derek left on the dining room table. "You're all heart Catherine." he quipped as he brushed past the machine and out the door, followed quickly by the former.


The underpass was dark, and somewhat cold considering this time of Summer and the reputation California had for heat. Cameron once again assessed Sarah's condition by examining her pulse. She had ripped off some of the fabric on her clothing to ease the blood loss from the bullet wound - but she knew Sarah's fate would be a gamble if she didn't receive proper medical attention soon. James had kept medical supplies back at the house so luckily they wouldn't have to seek any assistance at a hospital.

Peter marched towards her, his arms crossed, his own way of conveying discomfort. "Is she gonna make it?" he asked with worry in his voice.

The Cyborg eyed the man briefly. "I don't know." she turned her attention back to the unconscious Sarah and felt... something. It was akin to what she had felt when she had begged John to let her fall back at the Skynet base during her time in the future. She deduced it to be dread from a sense of loss. This surprised her, as Sarah hadn't treated her very well at all, even before the car bombing that caused her to almost kill John. But there was truly a sensation that bothered her that accompanied the thought of Sarah dying; even though the human wasn't exactly singing her praises, Cameron couldn't help but feel a sense of what she assumed was a maternal liking.

Her thoughts died quickly when the loud roar of an engine made itself known around the corner. Cameron quickly motioned for Peter to take cover behind a small damaged wooden crate. After the man was in position, Cameron loaded three rounds into the Shotgun she had acquired, and cautiously approached the entrance to the underpass. A few moments passed, then a few more... nothing happened. Cameron began stalking closer towards the sunlit entrance of the underpass, and that was when she heard it...

Before she could even act, the same car that had been chasing them through the streets of Los Angeles screeched as the vehicle drifted to the left, aligning itself with the tunnel of the underpass. Cameron started to raise her shotgun, but before she could pull the trigger, the car rammed full speed into her. Her body was caught under the vehicle as the driver continuously ran over Cameron's head with the wheel.

The driver stepped out of the vehicle, and a terrified Peter noticed that it was the same woman who had tried to kill them before. He slowly stood up and backed himself into the wall. The woman didn't even hesitate as she aimed her pistol at his head, he watched as her index finger found the trigger, and he closed his eyes for the shot.

Except no shot came... in the place of the loud bang a gunshot would make, there was a crash. He opened his eyes to see Cameron had ambushed the machine from behind, clearly not disabled like it had expected her to be.

Cameron slammed the head of the machine into her car, once... twice, and then a third - each one leaving a dent on the exterior of the car until the alarm blared throughout the tunnel with astonishingly loud efficiency. Before Cameron could do it a fourth time, the machine grabbed a hold of Cameron's arm, pulled it over her head, and punched her in the stomach.

Cameron staggered briefly, and before she could regain her composure, the machine pushed her onto the ground. Cameron kicked the machine's legs from under her as hard as she could, causing it to fall onto it's back. Cameron recovered quickly and grabbed the machine by the collar of her shirt, she picked it up and slammed its figure against the car, which still continued to sound it's alarm. Cameron repeatedly punched the machine in it's face, quickly revealing to her that the machine wasn't covered entirely in liquid metal; it seemed the head was covered in living tissue much like a Triple-Eight.

The machine caught Cameron's fist as she went in for another punch, and backhanded the Cyborg, knocking her sunglasses off. With an opening acquired, the machine pushed Cameron away from her. The two Terminators circled each other, assessing each others condition, like two ancient warriors readying to fight in some sort of grand arena. The machine glanced at Peter briefly, flashed him a sinister grin, as if she was saying "When I'm done with her, you're next."

The man gulped, acting as the bell-ring for the fight to continue. Cameron and the rival machine charged each other - with both of them crashing into each other, sending their forms in a struggle of strength. Of course, the rival machine was a newer model and she had achieved the upper hand, she grabbed Cameron by her throat, and threw her sideways, causing her to hit the wall with a loud crash. The aging blocks buckled and fell when Cameron impacted them, and some small debris fell into the strands of her hair.

The machine approached Cameron slowly, she reached out in an attempt to grab Cameron's throat, but the Cyborg was quick on her feet; she charged straight into the machine's waist. She charged the machine once again into the car she had driven before tossing it to the side. Cameron saw a black shape near the front tire and looked down to see it was her shotgun. She reached down and retrieved the weapon; without a seconds hesitation she fired to rounds into the head of the machine. The first shot impacted it's eye, while the second almost missed completely - a few stray rounds making their mark on it's forehead. To her surprise, the rival machine seemed only minimally phased by her attack, and marched towards Cameron once more.

The Cyborg was once again prepared as the rival machine grappled her by the shoulders. Cameron knocked her arms down, directed all of her combat power into a single-charged kick. The machine soared a few feet into the ground; but before it could get up, Cameron noticed a small junction box on the wall of the tunnel that she assumed was used to light it during the night back when it was in use. Her strategy made clear, Cameron allowed the machine to get up and follow her. Cameron - with her back turned, led the machine towards the junction box. When she was close, she fired her last round of her shotgun into the machine's waist, sending a deafening bang throughout the tunnel.

When the machine staggered, Cameron saw her chance... she grabbed the machine by her right arm, tossed her into the wall with a loud SLAM!. The bricks buckled slightly under the pressure of the impact, once again weakening the foundation of the aging tunnel. Before it could react, Cameron grabbed the machine by the back of her head, and slammed the machine's entire head into the junction box. As expected, the electricity short-circuited the systems of the rival Terminator, causing it to shut down. After a moment, gravity caused the machine to tilt back, and it fell onto the ground - lifeless.

Cameron approached the Terminator, not knowing how long it would take to reboot considering it was a newer model, she didn't waste any time before she loaded a single round into her shotgun; but when she took aim, a memory came to her...

"Does that mean we can't reprogram Terminator's in the future?" John said with naive innocence.

"Unlikely. Even if you had lacked the knowledge, I have detailed files on the process, as does John Henry and Catherine." Cameron responded.

Cameron lowered her shotgun. She knew that John would need all the help he could get, and this machine might prove useful - if he could learn how to reprogram it. Cameron turned her attention towards a visibly disturbed Peter.

"Do you have a knife or similar cutting object?" she asked.

The man was in shock, he looked down at the seemingly disabled machine, processing the events that had just happened. He was in a trance for a while before snapping back to reality and fumbling around his person for the object Cameron requested. He pulled out a pocket knife that his cousin had given him and handed it to Cameron with care. The Terminator wasted no time in performing her task, and she cut around the skin, pulling it apart as the tissue became more fragile. The port eventually revealed itself to her, and she plucked open the cap that covered the chip.

Realizing she had no pliers, Cameron carefully positioned her small finger and the knife on the opposite ends of the chip. Her internal timer notified her it had already been a minute. As she carefully began to pull out the chip, life returned to the machine's eyes, and it stared directly at Cameron. On instinct, Cameron yanked out the chip with a sharpening haste, and the eyes fell lifeless once more.

If Cameron were human, she probably would have sighed in relief. She brought the Chip closer to her eyes for further inspection, and noticed that it looked much more advanced than her own. The Cyborg was even feeling something she attributed to jealously, especially as she investigated the glowing-blue rings that lined the border of the object. Her inspection would have to wait however, as another car was heard nearby. Cameron stood up and pocketed the chip, reaching over to retrieve her shotgun. She loaded a few more rounds before waiting cautiously.

Relief would once again prove itself as genuine when the driver, whom was revealed to be Catherine stepped forward. She eyed both the disabled machine and Sarah before settling her gaze on Cameron. Another door opened and John stepped out. When he saw his mothers unconscious body, his eyes widened.

"Mom!" He shouted. He ran over to where she was laying down, worry in his eyes.

Cameron knelt down next to him, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. "She's going to be okay." She reassured.

Catherine stepped forward, reminding them of her presence and interrupting their moment.

"Let's go, the authorities are narrowing their search on this area." she said.


James Ellison was sitting at a park bench near the Los Angeles River, something he hadn't done in years. A monk had his temple, James had his bench near the river - a place of contemplation. He leaned back into the bench, picked up the bag of groceries that he had bought and set it down next to him. Admittedly, he was still new to all of this; the machines, Sarah and John... Catherine. This type of stuff isn't something he could just adjust to on the fly.

"Nice view, eh?" a voice said behind him.

James looked around before settling his search on the origin of the voice from behind. It was a man, someone all-too familiar. He was well dressed, chest-to-toe in formal black suit attire with a tie. Seeing him, Ellison turned back around and sighed deeply.

"Elliot fucking Aldridge." he said to himself quietly. This was one of his old partners back when he was a young agent with the FBI... the man who interrogated Sarah Connor after she was captured at the Theater with Savannah.

When James didn't say anything, Aldridge stepped forward right behind the bench, and joined Ellison in his view over the river.

"Never really thought of you as the scenic type, James." Aldridge declared.

Ellison shrugged. "It's personal. How did you find me?"

Aldridge ignored him. "You know, after all this time, I expected a 'Hello? How have you been?' You know? All that formal shit." he replied.

Patience was a virtue that began to degrade over time with James Ellison. He possessed almost none of it anymore, especially when he saw Aldridge. He looked up and stared firmly at the man, leaving no room for argument.

"You didn't answer my question." he paused briefly, wanting a dominant emphasis on his next words. "How the hell did you find me?"

Seeing a friendly reunion with his former partner was out of the question, Aldridge sighed quietly. "Lila told me I'd find you here." he answered. "Mind if I take a seat?"

Ellison seemed to consider it for a moment, before returning his gaze back to the river.

"It's a free country." he replied.

Aldridge smiled wordlessly, and took a seat next to Ellison on the bench. For a moment, they shared a mutual bliss of silence, both of them admiring the beauty of nature and slow, quiet serenity of the river, watching cars pass by on the other side, and the occasional bird to chirp a song to it's own kind.

"So what have you been up to?" Aldridge asked as he continued to stare forward.

"Head of security at Zeira Corp." James answered honestly.

Aldridge smiled mockingly. "Oh how the titans have fallen." he commented.

Ellison glanced at the man, a single glare present clear as day. "Excuse me?"

Aldridge spoke quickly. "No offense intended, James; but what the hell? What happened to you? One minute you're an FBI agent top of your class - the next? You're barely above a mall cop." he explained.

Ellison shrugged, not sure how to justify his next words. "What can I say? I'd been chasing Sarah Connor for so long I figured it wasn't worth it anymore. When Weaver offered me that job at her corporation it was like a door had been opened. A lot less stress for double the pay." he answered.

Alridge stared at him wordlessly for a moment, studying the man.

"You chased Sarah Connor for the better part of ten years, James. One day you just decided to give up?" he said, challenging James answer.

The former FBI agent remained silent for a moment, truly unsure of how to respond. Seeing this, Aldridge sighed.

He reached into his right pocket and offered Ellison a smartphone that had a video on it ready to play. "Do me a favor, watch this." he requested.

Ellison looked at the object for a few moments, studying it. He cautiously took the phone from Aldridge's waiting hand and pressed the play button. It was a surveillance video from the police station when Cameron broke Sarah out.

Aldridge noticed Ellison's reaction; or lack thereof as he observed the footage. He chuckled. "What was that thing that Sarah Connor was afraid of? Oh yeah, machines from the future sent to kill her son John. One big computer called Skynet that would order the entire extinction of the human race, and would've succeeded if it wasn't for him." the man folded his right leg over his left and smirked. "Crazy stuff, huh?"

James considered himself good with his head games, but Aldridge was better, something he didn't care to admit. Without a word, he handed the phone back to Agent Aldridge.

"It's nothing, just some crazy chick with makeup." he deadpanned.

Aldridge took his phone from James and returned it to his pocket, he then reached into his left pocket and handed James a single photograph. The one that had been haunting Sarah and the others for a very long time. The photo from the bank robbery in 1999.

"That's the same girl from the footage." Aldridge said. "I know some people age real damn good, I mean look at Raquel Welch! But this girl... she still looks the exact same. How old was she in this picture? Sixteen? Seventeen? Now the video, yeah her face has been a little blown-off but you can still see the features." Aldridge leaned closer to James, personal space a thing of the past. "Now, you tell me... is there any difference?"

James looked at the man closely for a second, he determined the best course of action, like he knew, Aldridge was a master-manipulator. Ellison had met his match.

"You're telling me that this may have to do something with that time travel thing that Sarah's thinks is going on with the robots?" James said mockingly.

Aldridge shrugged. "I don't know, you tell me. You're the one who was chasing this case for 10 years."

Ellison shook his head. "You do know you're one of those guys that talk a lot but never actually say anything?"

Aldridge was taken aback by James' comment. His former partner was brash, but never an asshole.

Seeing his reaction, Ellison reassured him. "Look, like you said I'd been chasing Sarah Connor for ten years. I know what it's like for a case to eat on the inside, turn you into a cliche of the obsessed cop. Eventually, I just woke up. Sarah's just like any other psychopath; except she's not my problem anymore." he lied. He stood up and picked up his single bag of groceries, shared a gaze with Aldridge one last time, and then walked away wordlessly.


Derek opened the door to the house upon hearing knocks. What he saw was Catherine and Sarah, each of them holding two separate bodies, with Cameron holding Sarah and Catherine holding someone else. Once they entered the house they were followed by a younger man that was quite short, almost as short as Cameron. He walked into the house wordlessly.

Cameron set down Sarah's unconscious body onto the couch, while Catherine carried the other downstairs to the basement. Derek began fuming, and walked grumpily towards Cameron. He grabbed her by the arm which quickly caught her attention.

"You. Me. Talk. Now." Derek barked.

Derek let go of her arm and walked into the adjacent room without saying another word, with Cameron in tow. Derek shut the door and began speaking.

"What the fuck?" he started.

Cameron analyzed Derek for a moment, determining he was greatly stressed. "Sarah was shot, the body Catherine is carrying is a Terminator that John and I will reprogram, and the man with us was one of her Termination targets."

Too many things at once - way too many. These words raced through Derek's mind. He observed Cameron's features closely, taking notice of how, aside from the damage, she looked exactly like Allison. He couldn't take it anymore, the eyes, the nose, the cheeks, it was all too much for him. He turned around and held his balance against the drawer, unable to face Cameron.

"There's already way too much metal in the house. And you? I don't trust you." he turned around again, pointing an accusing finger at her. "You think you can just call all the damn shots just because you're this kid's head of security? Fuck that. There's always something with metal, all the infiltrators I've seen had some sort of agenda. It always ended with the death of a human, and I may not particularly like the kid - but I'll be damned if I see it happen to him. You watch you're back, because I'll sure as hell be watching mine."

Derek and Cameron glared at each other for a long while before Derek broke off and stepped out. The Cyborg realized he was probably a bigger threat than she anticipated, and made a mental note to give him more due attention, because she knew he would definitely do the same.

With her intentions made clear to herself, Cameron stepped outside to witness John was looking over his mother. His expression didn't bear worry, but she knew that he was afraid regardless. He turned back to Cameron.

"What happened?"

Cameron blinked before responding. "The machine we brought back had fired a fatal shot. She lost a lot of blood, but she'll survive. James has the proper medical equipment in the basement somewhere. I will retrieve them immediately." she said.

"What about you?" John called to her as she approached the hallway.

Cameron turned and looked back at him. She smiled. "I'm fine."


A few minutes later...

Cameron bandaged and sterilized the wound, placing aside the first aid kit onto the table. She gave John a sly smile, receiving one in return. Noticing they were the only ones in the living room, Cameron leaned in for a kiss, an offer John gladly accepted. The two held each other in their own embrace for a while, not wanting to leave each others company, but knowing that anyone could just walk in and witness them would not end well.

John wrapped his arm around Cameron's waist and brought her close. "Thanks, Cameron. You saved mom's life."

Cameron smiled. "You're welcome." She replied simply.

John sighed and rested his chin on Cameron's head. "We should talk about this new guy. Peter." he said.

Cameron slowly retreated from his embrace, and sat tall. "Sarah believes he is a Termination target for the machine I want you to try and reprogram. We think he might be some sort of technology specialist, but it's possible he could be any number of things." she said.

John looked upstairs to where he and Derek had decided to give a room... well, it was hardly a room as it was the bathroom. With the house being as crowded as it was there were simply no more empty rooms to accommodate more people. The man didn't seem to mind though, not even as Derek handed him the sleeping bag and told him the bathtub was as close to a bed as he was going to get.

"We'll let him rest. We'll talk to him tomorrow morning and see how he's doing." John insisted.

Cameron looked up at him. "Do you still have your laptop?" she asked.

John nodded. "Yeah! I found it while you and Mom were out." He leaned back and picked a small backpack leaning against the fireplace, he unzipped it and pulled out a laptop, placing it in front of Cameron and himself.

Cameron reached into her pocket and pulled out the chip she had taken from the machine. She plugged it into one of the ports of the laptop, much like John had done with Vick before. She watched the computer process the new software before a generic blue screen displayed on the monitor.

ERROR, SOFTWARE NOT COMPATIBLE WITH INTERFACE.

John frowned. "What does that mean?" he asked.

Cameron pulled the chip out of the port in the laptop and examined it. "It means that the software is too advanced for your laptop to handle. It needs to be inserted into a more powerful machine." Cameron placed the object back into her pocket and thought for a moment. Her irises darted left and right much like a human's would when they were trying to solve a complex situation.

Cameron's head shot up, and she stood on her feet. "I'll be back. I need to make a call." she said.

Before John could ask what she meant, Cameron snatched her hat and sunglasses, and stormed out the door. Leaving a clueless John Connor sitting on the floor, watching over his mother.