Chapter 29: Familiar Faces
Derek stepped up to the glass mirror in the bathroom, he wrapped the towel over his waist and wiped away the remaining water on his cheeks with a rag. He used his hand to wipe the moisture from the mirror and stared into it deeply. As a child, he'd heard supersitions about how mirrors were evil, and they contained spirits or some similar nonsense; but musket-age tales weren't something he particularly cared for, as he enjoyed staring into mirrors, soaking in there image of himself and the objects that surrounded him.
There was a feeling that washed over him, something he felt all too often recently. It was a feeling of familiarity. Of course it was, he was looking into a mirror, he knew what he looked like, but he couldn't help but feel like he'd seen his face on another person's figure before, as if said person wore his face. He couldn't recall, but he remembers the feeling being born sometime around his twenty-seventh birthday, when his masculine features began to grow in, his facial hair had always been fairly light or non-existent at all, and the hair on his head had remained short for most of his life. The only exception when he was seventeen and eighteen, long after the bombs fell and he hadn't gotten a chance to shave.
Derek brushed off the feeling as he always did, it was like that feeling of hopeless optimism some people had, it arrived and then it went away just as quickly. The man dressed himself in a black shirt that tightened mercilessly around his torso, as if it had been several sizes too short. He next put on some drawers and a pair of jeans, which were worn from overuse. He took one last look into the mirror to see if he could summon the feeling one more time, and was unsuccessful. The Resistance soldier grunted, admittedly slightly disappointed at the fact.
He opened the door to the bathroom and bumped into a patrolling Cameron when he stepped outside. He glared and snarled under his breath at the machine, although Cameron herself ignored him regardless and continued walking down the hall. Derek proceeded into the living room where John and his mother were. He assumed Peter was probably upstairs, asleep. He eyed Sarah's wound briefly before he spoke.
"How's the wound?" he asked as he strolled into the kitchen to retrieve a beer.
Sarah looked up to watch him for a split-second before eyeing the wound herself.
"Healing." she replied dryly.
John and Sarah heard Derek open the fridge, followed by the clanking sound of glass slightly touching the Refrigerator as Derek retrieved his Alcohol. The two returned their attention to the News that was on the television. John adjusted his position on the couch as he narrowed his attention onto the screen. The reporter was a dark-haired female of average height, seeming less-than-enthusiastic about her job as she spoke. She droned on about how the police department had just received new Squad Cars, how the Lakers had fared in recent games, so on, so boring forth.
On the other hand, the string of murders regarding future Resistance Members had ceased. The Murders themselves hadn't ceased of course - it was Los Angeles after all. John smiled to himself as he realized this.
Derek pulled a chair from the kitchen and sat down. He drank his bottle of Corona before speaking.
"Do we have a game plan?" he asked, although the question wasn't directly asked to Sarah or John specifically.
John and Sarah eyed the man as he began watching the TV.
"Strange as it sounds, I'm not sure where to go from here." Sarah admitted.
Derek nodded with disinterest. "Hmm. What about the guy the metal called? When the hell is he gonna get here?" Derek asked, the intended recipient of this question much more obvious.
John shrugged. "You officially know as much as I do, Derek. I tried asking Cameron; but she just said it'd be easier to explain when he arrived." John explained.
Derek didn't reply, he didn't agree with John's choices, and he sure as hell didn't agree with the his machine's choices. But that wasn't what bothered him about the kid, at least not the most, what bothered him was the fact that ever since he set eyes on John when he arrived in the future, that feeling of familiarity had been returning on a constant basis. But it only happened during certain times, what he'd call a 'trigger'. For example, it would only happen when he saw John's face; that feeling of familiarity, and it bothered him deeply. It wasn't something he cared to admit, but it did bother him.
He tried to adjust his view to see John's face, but the boy's head was turned to the side as he watched the news with his mother. Just as he was about to catch a glimpse of the boy's eyes, a loud, but brief jingle shattered the quiet silence of the house. Quickly, everyone realized it was a doorbell, and John probably assumed it was Catherine, even though she seemed to be taking quite a bit of time getting Tarissa acquainted with her new home.
Regardless, Derek nodded at Sarah, gesturing her to cover him. The woman pulled Ellison's P226 pistol from under the living room table and clicked the safety off. Derek cautiously made his way to the door and reached for the handle. That was when he heard a hastening pair of footsteps moving in quick rhythm approach behind him. He turned his head to look over his shoulder and saw that it was John's Cyborg.
She brushed past Derek with a brute indifference, peeked through the eye-hole, and opened the door. There was a man standing outside, although the household could barely make out his features due to the darkness of the night.
"Cameron." he greeted.
The man shifted his gaze to Derek Reese, before a toothy smile formed on his face.
"Lieutenant Reese." he said.
A confused Derek stepped aside as Cameron gestured for the man to come in, and he did so. It had been raining outside, so he politely wiped his boots on the doormat before stepping into the home. John, Sarah, and Derek had confused looks about them, all of them wondering who the man was and what he was doing here. The first thing the man did, was he eyed both John and Sarah, his smile returning, and burning deeper than ever.
"My god... John and Sarah Connor." he gaped in an astonished tone.
He reached his hand out to shake theirs, and the pair politely reciprocated.
Cameron walked next to the man and stood as she observed the exchange. She saw the looks of bewilderment on John and Sarah's faces, obviously starving for explanation.
"John. Sarah." Cameron started.
"This is Ashley Diaz, he's The Engineer."
Jade sat on the couch in the apartment she and Daniel Dyson shared with her left leg folded over her right. She watched with unwavering curiosity as Danny's fingers danced over the keyboard, punching commands into his monitor - occasionally swearing whenever a problem presented itself and only stopping to take bathroom breaks; understandably so as more and more water bottles lined his desk in disorganized mobs.
"Almost done there, Zuckerberg?" Jade teased.
"I'm trying to concentrate Jade..." he replied with noticeable irritation.
Jade smiled to herself in amusement. Danny had been at this for over five hours, the constant waves of excitement only to be followed by a stream of swearing was beginning to become tiresome for the Terminator.
"You should take a break." She suggested.
Danny ignored her, continuing to punish his fingers with the keys.
Jade rolled her eyes, and she stood up with an annoyed huff with the intention of retrieving a bottle of Scotch to give to Danny, only to be stopped by a sharp, yet victorious tone of voice when Danny spoke.
"I... I think I did it..." he told her.
Jade turned around and raised a brow, she strolled over to the desk Danny was sitting at and leaned over the chair. She inspected the code, but even her advanced optical processors couldn't go over all of it; there had to have been thousands of lines, possibly more. But most of it made sense and she found the rare feeling of impression washing over her.
She grinned when she spoke. "Not bad, Danny... not bad at all."
Her praise went unheard as the hysterical Daniel stood up from his chair and covered his mouth with his right hand, barely containing the excitement that stirred within him. He and Jade exchanged proud looks with each other.
"Now I just gotta figure how to get it deployed." Danny said. His first option had been Jade, but due to her Terminator nature and the fact that she'd already made her appearance known to Cameron and her allies, then it wasn't an option anymore.
"Guess I'll have to call in some meat-heads from Kaliba to do it. Send a notification out to any Kaliba agents in Palmdale and L.A. I want them to get to work as soon as they can, have them track Cameron down, disable her, and insert the Virus. It has a transmission channel that can feed information to my computer here." he ordered.
Jade nodded. "What about you?"
Danny's smile devolved into an anxious frown.
"I'll write Mr. Harp, let him know I've made some progress."
"You... You... You're the Engineer?" John asked in astonished bewilderment.
The man nodded. "Yeah... back in '63 I got a job building the vault in that bank. I wasn't alone when you'd sent me back though, you sent back a T-800 as well, one who's chip hadn't been set to read/write. Inside him contained most of the materials that was needed to build the TDE and the isotope gun. It took about five years to put it all together, but I'd finally got it done." he explained.
A confused Derek, who had been sitting in silence for the past five minutes, walked over to the couch John and Sarah were sitting on, taking a seat himself and spoke.
"What exactly is going on here?" he asked.
Ash Diaz raised a brow at the man. "You were there, Lieutenant!" he started. Before he could speak anymore, John quickly stood from his seat on the couch and led the man to the kitchen, trying to draw attention away from their conversation.
"You must've had a long flight, I bet you're hungry - let me get you something!" John offered, trying to throw Ashley off Derek's obvious attempts at input. Derek watched with a clear expression of confusion, he had no idea what was going on and why the man seemed to be so insistent they had met before.
Sarah stood up and sat at the table where John and Ash were, she held her wound with her right hand as the chair squeaked under her weight. This caught the attention of Ashley Diaz as he rose a brow at the sight.
"Run into some trouble did we?" he asked.
Sarah chuckled. "It's a long story." she said, clearly not in the mood to explain the background of the wound.
Ash nodded. "Fair enough. So... I'd love to catch up and all, but where exactly is this machine you want me to reprogram?" he asked.
Sarah gave John a look, and then realized with the expression on his face that he was just as lost as her. John eyed Cameron for a moment, and the look on her face confirmed to mother and son that she was the one who had called him so he could attempt to reprogram the machine that they had captured.
John smirked. He stood up and gestured for Ash to follow him. "In here." he said. The group - including Derek, followed John into the Kitchen, where the mysterious Terminator laid down on three chairs that had been placed along the wall.
Ash stroked his beard. The first thing he noticed was that there was battle damage, due to Cameron he assumed. The next thing he noticed was that she was tall for a female Terminator. Now in the future he and Cameron had come from, female Terminators had only been an idea, not a full-fledged design, much less with actual infiltration deployment. Cameron was the first he had seen.
The man stepped closer and pulled an extra chair from under the table and sat down, intending to get a closer look. He lifted the machines hand and inspected it closely, realizing that there wasn't any battle damage, which he found strange.
Seeing his perplexed expression, Cameron spoke up.
"The machine is not entirely covered in Organic Tissue. As far as I'm aware, she is covered in Mimetic Polyalloy on her arms, and that's all." she explained.
Ash frowned. "Hmm, strange. Have you attempted to reprogram it before?" he asked.
John nodded. "Yeah, but it didn't work. Wouldn't even boot up her systems."
"Can I see it? Your computer and her Chip?" Ash asked.
John nodded. He stepped into the living room and picked up his backpack that was laying on the floor next to the couch, he brought it back into the kitchen and unzipped the flyer before pulling out his laptop and handing it to Ash.
Ash took the Laptop and opened it up, he sensed Cameron's hand hovering near his left ear, and turned to see that she was handing the chip to him. He took the object with a nod of thanks, and plugged it into the port on the side. The group waited anxiously for it to boot up, with the silence only being filled with the sound of Sarah quietly biting her nails in anticipation.
As the screen flicked to life and Ash attempted to activate the program that booted up the chip, he was met with the same error message that John had gotten the night before. He sighed in disappointment before turning to John and Cameron with an inquisitive expression.
"This won't do. The Chip is too advanced for the Laptop's interface to handle, I don't suppose you have a bigger rig lying around? Because if you don't... well then there's nothing I can do." he said.
John stuck his tongue in his cheek and smiled with a smug vigor "Actually... we do."
Catherine Weaver sat at her desk typing furiously, she had finished the tour with Tarissa and her daughter through their new house three hours ago, and she had to admit it was more luxurious than necessary, but they didn't complain; especially not the teenage daughter. As she focused more and more on her work, she had began to take note of how silence was something she preferred, something that put her Terminator mind at ease, which was something she wouldn't have thought possible a mere week earlier.
The door to her office buzzed, and the bliss of silence faded away.
"Come in." Catherine deadpanned, sliding away her keyboard to the left as she awaited her guest.
Matthew Murch stepped in and walked to Catherine's desk.
"Miss Weaver? I've placed an order for the new Computer Equipment like you asked, it should be here sometime next week. It's being shipped from Houston." Matt explained.
Catherine smiled coldly. "Thank you, Mr. Murch." she returned her attention to the work on her computer. "Is that all?"
Murch gulped, trying to soften his throat that had begun to run dry, something he noticed happening often in the presence of Catherine Weaver.
"Miss Weaver... don't you want to know how much they were?"
Catherine eyes darted at the man momentarily, not even bothering to face him as she made the gesture. Regardless, the man took it as her approval to continue.
"...Thirty Million." he said nervously.
Catherine seemed indifferent. "I see. Thank you, Mr. Murch, you are dismissed." she deadpanned.
Again, that surge of anger at Catherine spilled into Matt's emotional reserves, and he barely stopped himself from raising his voice at his employer.
"Miss Weaver... do you know how much this is going to cost the company? Especially combined with the damages to the building, that I might add, aren't even finished!" he argued, pointing his hand at the half-finished wall that was still undergoing repairs from the drone crash.
This time, Catherine shot the man an annoyed look. "Thank you, Mr. Murch, you are dismissed."
Matt stared at Catherine in disbelief, but the woman simply continued to work on her computer - paying him no heed. With an annoyed huff that he was certain Catherine could hear, he walked out of the room.
The notification pad buzzed on her desk, and she pressed the accept button.
"Yes Alice?" she deadpanned.
"Miss Weaver? I have a call from a 'James' on hold for you. Would you like me to patch him through?"
"Yes Alice, patch him through. Thank you." Catherine replied before switching the notification pad to the call channel.
"Mr. Ellison, I trust you have a reason for calling me as opposed to just walking into my office and speaking to me in person?"
"It's John. I need a favor."
Catherine stopped typing and looked at the notification pad as if it were a sentient being that needed to be addressed directly.
"May I ask the nature of this favor?" Catherine replied with a surprised quip.
"We found a guy... to reprogram the Terminator. He's former Resistance. We kind of, need your Computer Equipment."
Catherine regarded his words before returning her attention to her work.
"I must say, John, I am under the impression that I've already informed you that my Computer Equipment has been destroyed, unless he asks the for the bare minimum of it's performance, I do suppose I can spare a couple machines for him to use." she replied.
"...Thanks." John replied with annoyed contempt. He hung up the phone with an abrupt 'click', ending the call.
Ash looked up at John, who was clearly annoyed by something, but he knew John Connor; if there was something that was bothering him, there were only a handful of people he would tell, and Ash wasn't one of them.
"Well?" The Engineer started.
John nodded. "We're good to go. I'll drive you there in the morning. I'd get sleep if I were you." John advised. He gave Cameron a look, and then his mother, and the three walked out of the room, their destination to be their respective bedrooms.
Ash looked up at Derek, and nodded his head to signal he was probably going to take John up on his offer of sleep. He packed John's laptop back into his backpack, and set it down next to the couch where John had retrieved it. Sarah Connor had informed him that he could take Tarissa and Blythe's old room, and he made his way to the door near the entrance where the room was located.
Before he opened the door, Derek stopped him.
"What did you mean when you said 'I had been there before?'" he asked. Derek unfolded his arms and slowly approached Diaz, his expression giving away that the soldier was clearly not going to walk away without information. "What did you mean when you called me, 'Lieutenant Reese'?" Derek stopped walking, standing still only a few feet from Ash. "We've met before, haven't we?"
Ash felt nervous, and confused at Derek's questions. Future John had told him that he intended to send him back after him, and the two had spoken numerous times in the future.
"Uh... well I mean come on Derek! You don't remember me? John sent me back first... a week later he sent Cameron, and then... I assume he sent you back at some point? He said he intended too..."
His words whirled in Derek's mind like one of those 35,000 miles per hour storms on exoplanets, so fast, so striking. His eyes darted left and right as he thought, trying to piece together this puzzle that had been unsolved since he first met John. What had been his unwavering curiosity about the boy? What was this feeling that was so insistent Derek had seen him before?
Then it hit him.
Park, 2007.
Kyle handed his brother the wooden bat after his turn swinging was done. The young boy felt so joyful, playing baseball with his brother was one of the things he enjoyed greatly.
Derek smiled at his younger brother. "You got a good arm, Kyle; but make sure to throw the ball to the side okay? Not over me. Gotta give the batter a chance to hit it after all." he joked.
Kyle smiled and nodded, the boy and his brother stepped away to give each other some distance, he brought his arm back, and launched the ball into the air. The object sailed quick, but not quick enough. Derek swung the bat as hard as he could, and a loud "WHACK" sound cracked the air around his ears, sending the baseball over the bench. Since the ball had gone over Kyle's end, the young boy held the liberty of retrieving it.
As his brother quested for the ball, Derek rested the bat against his right shoulder, and directed his attention to the two men who observed as they played. He saw the younger of the two, a teenager who couldn't be older than fifteen or sixteen, was standing and watching them again, his older companion not noticing as he made his way to his vehicle.
When the teenager noticed Derek was watching them, he lifted his left arm up and waved. Derek smiled kindly and waved back, silently thanking him when he returned the baseball to Kyle after it had sailed his way when his brother had missed it earlier. He couldn't help but notice that the boy looked emotionally overtaxed, and he couldn't figure out why. Maybe he'd had a younger brother, and seeing him and Kyle play must have awoken some sort of dormant emotion inside of him? It was possible, and at the very least... understandable.
He heard a pair of footsteps trot his way, and he looked down to see Kyle had returned with the baseball.
"Good Job kiddo. Go long." Derek said.
Kyle nodded and ran to his previous position across the grass, kicking up the green streaks under his shoe as he did so. Before Derek gripped the bat again, he turned around to see that the teenager's companion had taken notice of his delay.
"John!" he heard the man call. He saw the teenager turn around, and the man gestured his head left, obviously asking John to come along.
Derek observed as the teenager gave them one last look, and then turned around to accompany the man to wherever they intended to go.
Derek smiled to himself. John... that's a nice name. If a little to common. He turned back around and nodded at Kyle, readying the bat at his side, smiling with joy.
Everything made sense. Everything. Derek had been silent for a good while now, and Ash grew concerned each passing second.
"Derek?"
The Resistance soldier snapped himself out of his memory, and looked up at the man. Sensing confusion, Derek felt it wasn't wise to cause more confusion, and played it off as if he had just been suffering from some temporary memory hiccup.
"Ash! Yeah. Yeah, I remember now." Derek lied, nodding his head to reinforce his act.
Ash pointed at him playfully. "There ya go!"
"It's... good to have you back, Ash." Derek lied again, actually daring himself to see how long he could get away with it; until realizing that doing so was simply more detrimental to his cover than already necessary.
"It'd probably be a good idea for me to catch a nap too."
Ash clicked his tongue and nodded. "Damn right. See ya tomorrow." the man said. He closed the door to the room, and suddenly the house felt so silent.
"Yeah... tomorrow."
The next Morning
John's eyes fluttered open, and he rubbed them as he shifted upwards on the bed. He pulled aside the covers and stepped onto the floor, grabbing his shoes and putting them on in preparation for their trip to Zeira Corporation this morning. He opened the door to his room and walked down the stairs, when he got to the bottom he noticed Catherine was waiting patiently for Sarah, Peter, Ashley, Derek and James Ellison to finish their meals.
"Where's Savannah?" John asked curiously.
Catherine faced him with her same expressionless face as she spoke. "Savannah is currently at school. I've deemed it safe enough for her to return to a public education center." she answered.
John nodded. 'Safe' was the last word he'd use when describing the situation any member of their household currently found themselves in, including Savannah, but he figured Catherine knew what she was doing, and he wasn't in the mood to argue, so he simply continued walking without confrontation.
"Yours is in the fridge, John." Sarah informed as she shoved a bite of hash-browns into her mouth.
John took a seat and rested his left arm on the table. "Thanks, Mom but, I'm not hungry."
Sarah gave John a curious look, while everyone else continued eating as if nothing was happening. Understanding his decision, Sarah simply shrugged and picked up her plate when she finished. She placed it in the sink and left it where she intended to finish later. After everyone else was done, Catherine offered to drive while John, Cameron, and Ash sat in the back. The plan was agreeable, and when Catherine retrieved the keys to the Lincoln MKX she had brought, John walked back upstairs to inform Cameron of their momentary departure.
He walked into her room. "Hey Cameron, we're about to leave, you should probably-" John cut himself off. When he stood in the door frame of Cameron's room he found his bottom jaw falling down as he observed Cameron before him.
The Cyborg stood in the middle of the room, her skin looking good as new, her lips glossed a bright red, her dyed black hair caressing the tender glow of her skin. Here, John didn't see a ruthless killing machine, he saw a beautiful young girl getting ready to surprise her man.
John chuckled in excitement after realizing that her eye had completely healed, a fruit of her advanced nature he assumed.
"Wow, Cameron you look..."
"Good?" Cameron guessed.
A tear formed in John's right eye, a sparkle that Cameron caught sight of immediately.
"Beautiful."
"I have arranged for the lot to be guarded by security who won't ask questions, we will transport the machine into the loading bay where it will be processed, and I will arrange for it to be delivered to the computer room." Catherine informed. "Any questions?"
The entire household except for Ashley and James were sitting on the couch, as the furniture did not accommodate them. John, Derek, Peter, Cameron, and Sarah all looked between each other, wondering if any of them were going to accept Catherine's offer of inquiry. When everyone remained silent, Catherine continued.
"We leave in five minutes, if you intend to accompany John and The Engineer to Zeira Corporation, that is when you leave. No exceptions."
The household dispersed. James was going to Zeira, but in an hour as that's when his security meeting began. Derek stayed behind with Sarah and Peter. As Cameron helped John load the female terminator into the back of Catherine's SUV, she caught a glimpse of Derek seemingly staring at John. The Cyborg used her zoom feature to investigate further, and took note of how his expression seemed to express curiosity... with a hint of betrayal.
This greatly unnerved Cameron, and she gently ushered John into the backseat with her and Ash while keeping a close eye on John's uncle.
"Crap! I forgot the chip!" Ash declared before stepping out of the vehicle and running back into the house with haste that was impressive for a man his age.
Realizing they were the only two in the car, Cameron decided to inform John of the moment she had witnessed second before.
"Something is bothering Lieutenant Reese." she said bluntly.
John faced Cameron, scoffing sharply before replying. "How so?"
"Something about you." Cameron deadpanned as she stared forward, her eyes burning into the headrest before her.
John sighed anxiously, wondering if the worst-case scenario had been born.
"Do you think he knows about us?"
Cameron shook her head. "No. It's not about... you and I." Cameron replied as she faced him. "It's something about you, specifically."
John nodded. "I'll talk to him when we get back."
Cameron wondered if that was a smart move, but decided that even though she was against it, she agreed to respect John's choice to act more independent. But she would be watching him closely.
Very Closely.
Zeira Corporation
Catherine parked the SUV in her reserved space near the entrance to the building in the parking garage. Her security teams immediately rushed over to her vehicle and opened the back. John, Ash, and Cameron observed as the team of four lifted the large container that contained the female Terminator they intended to reprogram, and carry it over to the processing room. The group turned away, following Catherine to the entrance door.
One of the security guards who was standing by, pursued a small, quiet corner at the edge of the parking garage. He pulled out a hand-held radio and began speaking.
"Mother is home. Repeat: Mother. Is. Home."
Catherine led her flock down the main corridor. John and Cameron were wearing disguises; Cameron her hair dye and baseball cap, John a pair of fake reading glasses and a baseball cap. Catherine punched in her code to access the high-access wing where the computer room was located. The door binged in approval and opened for her. There was another half-a-minute walk before they reached their destination, with the security team pushing the dolly cart that held the container with the machine inside awaiting them outside the door.
Catherine neglected to greet them as she repeated her access code, letting the door open. The group stepped in and the security team pushed the container inside.
"Thank you gentlemen, you are dismissed." The T-1001 said.
The man who was seemingly the leader of the security team nodded in acknowledgement and gestured for his men to move out.
Once they were alone, Catherine gestured towards the equipment that had been used to create John Henry, the T-1001 informed the man that he would be able to use it as he saw fit, but due to the damage and disposal of her more advanced computers, he would have to make due with what he had. When they were done speaking, Ash unboxed the machine and helped Catherine lift her onto an operating table. With his affairs and gear in order, he began his work.
Catherine directed her attention to Cameron, and marched over to her.
"Now that that is out of the way, I believe you and I have unfinished business." Catherine said firmly.
Clearly addressing Cameron, the Cyborg looked between John and the T-1001. The future leader of mankind stepped between him and Cameron, ironically acting as her defender.
"This wasn't about the machine that I wanted to reprogram was it? You just wanted to get Cameron in here so you can dig your AI out didn't you?" John accused.
Catherine tilted her head robotically. "Do not be silly, young Connor. Of course I want you to achieve the necessary skills to reprogram a Terminator, but it is simply convenient that your Cyborg is here as well. If you are going to be using Zeira Corp. equipment, I expect to compensated accordingly."
John glared at the liquid metal machine, berating himself about how he hadn't seen this coming, expecting himself to be smarter and to anticipate that Catherine would have done this. Argument and anger flared inside the boy, and he was about to lash out to Catherine when Cameron gently touched his arm. She whispered into his ear...
"It's okay, John. I'll be okay." she reassured.
John turned around and looked at Cameron sadly. It's not like he had a choice, he had no gun, and thus no way to stop Catherine if she attempted to hurt Cameron. Even with that in mind, he still had no choice. With great hesitation, he nodded his approval.
Cameron gave him a cautious look, and laid down onto the adjacent operating table. John watched as Catherine's arm shimmered into a blade and began her work...
"Yes, thank you." Jade said. She clicked off of the call and set aside her phone. She gently placed it onto the kitchen table and walked into the living room where Danny waited for her.
"What's the word?" he asked.
Jade crossed her arms and made eye contact as she spoke. "Catherine has gone back to Zeira Corp... John and Cameron are with her."
Danny gave her a look of caution. "Jade... remember the plan..."
The tall terminator rolled her eyes. "Yeah yeah... follow her, wait for the opportunity to implant the virus."
Danny nodded. "How fast do you think you can get there?"
Jade shrugged. "Hour at the most. I'll rent a motel in town or something while I'm there - that way I'm close, and we can keep in contact with our phones."
Danny sighed. "Right. Good luck." he said.
Jade smirked. "Yeah. Thanks." she replied before retrieving her jacket and opening the door.
Catherine pulled out Cameron's chip and held it in her hand. She admired the object, inspecting it closely as if it were some artifact of a lost civilization. She noticed John was glaring at her, obviously urging her to complete her goal as quickly as possible.
"So much power in one tiny object. The power to create the most powerful AI in the world, the cost to weaponize it... how much I wonder?" she said, taunting John coldly.
"Catherine..." John warned.
Catherine smirked, she turned her body to face the computer equipment behind her, and she slid Cameron's chip into one of the open ports on the machine's exterior panel. When the monitor flickered to life, she punched in a few commands on the extended keyboard.
WELCOME, USER.
AUTHORIZING...
HELLO, CATHERINE WEAVER.
PLEASE TYPE COMMAND INTO THE BOX BELOW
The text on the monitor instructed Catherine Weaver, and a command box appeared just below. She began typing...
"Begin file transfer operations."
PLEASE SELECT FILE TO TRANSFER.
[BABYLON]
[PHILLIPS]
"Transfer 'Babylon.'" Catherine typed.
TRANSFERRING... 1%
4%
15%
30%
48%
61%
89%
100%
FILE TRANSFER COMPLETE.
"Activate 'Babylon."
BABYLON ACTIVATED.
A few moments passed by before Catherine decided to address the screen directly.
"John Henry?"
"Hello, Miss Weaver."
"Your status?" Catherine asked bluntly.
"100% Ma'am. File transfer completed without error."
Catherine turned around and eyed John.
"I must have time alone with John Henry. I trust you and Cameron can navigate yourselves back to Mr. Ellison's house, yes?"
John nodded. Without asking for Catherine's permission, he brushed past her and pulled Cameron's chip from it's home in the computer. He placed it back into Cameron's skull and waited for her to reactivate. After 120 seconds had passed, Cameron's eyes fluttered open and she sat up.
"You okay Cam?" he asked.
Cameron faced him. Wordlessly, she nodded very slowly. John took mental note of this, but didn't find it particularly disconcerting. He offered Cameron his hand off of the operating table, and she accepted with an angelic smile. John looked over to see how Ash was coming along with the mysterious female Terminator.
"Any idea when you'll get her sorted out?"
Ash shrugged. "Honestly? I can probably work out the kinks by tonight. Tell you what, come back tomorrow morning for your first lesson. I'll stay here and work on Sleeping Beauty."
John smirked. He gestured Cameron to follow him, but not before making sure to adjust there disguises accordingly. John walked out first, followed by Cameron, backtracking to the parking garage the way they came. When they got outside, the pair entered Catherine's Lincoln. John started the vehicle, and before long, they were on their way back to Ellison's house.
The security guard watched as the SUV drove onto the on-ramp, gliding onto the street in front of Zeira Corporation.
"Falcon has soared. Repeat: Falcon. Has. Soared."
Whew, early upload! Once again, check my account 'about' page for updates on my stories. Thanks for reading guys!
