Chapter 23
A date in the Reese boys. Target practice with a hint of love.
Wednesday October 22nd.
That was the date on the Newspaper John was reading.
John read the article on the grisly murders. 'Murder Spree Continues' the headline said.
"Damn it." He cursed before taking a bite out of his toast, he looked at Cameron who sat just beside him before passing her the paper. "Take a look." John said glumly.
Cameron took the paper and scanned the pages, the others were looking at her curiously, Cameron's CPU processed the information sorting between important information and the unnecessary. She placed the paper down and looked to the others.
"Another ten people were found dead in their homes, a to three shots found on each body, high calibre 44 magnum and 9mm rounds. No witnesses saw anyone go in or out but they heard the gun shots, some didn't go out to investigate afraid of getting shot, others who did saw nothing." Cameron informed them in factual monotone.
The other groaned once the information was relayed to them. "Machine style killing." Sarah said at last, the words were heavy with hidden rage.
"Were names released?" Derek asked.
"One of them was another Susan Jones, there's two left, likely the police will be looking for them." John spoke up.
"Like they did with me in 1983." Sarah said as her mind seemed to go back to that time when she first encountered the T-800.
"Process of elimination, literally." Danny said glumly, he turned to look at Cameron. "What if the terminator already killed the right one?"
"It wouldn't know and wouldn't stop until all were terminated, better to be safe than sorry." She replied a hint of sadness in her normally monotone delivery.
"And you still don't know any of them?" Derek asked keeping his frustration hidden, frustration not directed at Cameron but at himself for feeling useless.
"No, I've gone through all my memory, I do not recall any of the names." Cameron replied.
"Again, I think these people being targeted did something after Cameron's time, maybe they did some amazing in the future." John spoke up.
"Maybe, maybe." Was all Derek could say in reply.
A heavy silence arose around the household, not a word spoken all lost in their thoughts.
That was until Sarah spoke up.
"If the Machine finds out either of them are at a Police station, there'll be another massacre." She said as everyone's eyes turned to look at her.
"We need to keep an eye on which precinct they may put them in." Danny spoke up.
"That's IF they're in one, they may put them in a safe house. Maybe." Derek said.
John turned to look at Cameron. "Do you still have that police outfit?" he asked.
"No, it was left behind at the old house." She said sounding more reluctant to relay bad news.
John almost didn't want to ask the next question. "Could you get another one?"
Everyone looked at him with surprise. Not truly believing what he was asking, what could possibly happen with her locating an outfit.
"Yes. I could." She said to him.
"Could you find one and get the information inside a police station?" John asked.
Cameron looked at him slightly differently, a look of determination twinkled in her eye. "Yes."
"But how John, she's messed up." Derek said.
Cameron looked at Derek with hidden annoyance. "I'll handle it."
John placed a comforting hand on her shoulder and smiled. "I know you can."
Cameron turned to John and gave him a small smile in return.
"Right, you think you could do that tonight?" he asked
"Yes. I'll do what I did before, cut out the cities electricity, it should aid my infiltration." She told him.
"Excellent. Alright we got a plan, I just hope we're not too late." John said optimistically.
"So far the killings have been at night, so we should be okay." Danny said trying to bring more positivity to the conversation.
"But the killings haven't been consistent." Derek said trying to be realistic. "It may not kill tonight, it may do it tomorrow, hell it could have done it last night and she hasn't been found yet."
"True, but we can't just give up, if we do they win." Sarah said resolutely.
"What worries me is what it could do during the day." John thought out loud.
"If the Machine is killing during the night, it may go into stand by to save power during the day." Cameron said factually.
"Unless it's like Vick Chamberlin." Derek grumbled remembering the Triple 8 that shot him.
"Even so, let's hope it's the former rather than the latter." Sarah said as she took a sip of her coffee, wincing only when she realised it had gone cold."
"Normally Machines sent as assassins wouldn't have a specific copied form like Vick Chamberlin, it would have a generic infiltration sheath, like the 101 skin series." Cameron explained.
Danny's, Sarah's and John's thoughts immediately turned to Uncle Bob.
"Well at least we have a chance." John said.
The day was bright and shiny, breakfast had been decent and Sofia was at work, but now so was she.
Pecking-Wood Elementary school was bristling with life. That white walls were coloured with cartoonish background and a smiling sun, the last of the late arriving Parents were now leaving having left their children at the hands of complete strangers to raise their children intellectually.
A.T drove up to the entrance and got out of her car. Dressed formally in a blazer jacket, dark pants and black shoes she strode with confidence towards the reception door and opened it, inside she found a young woman in a small officer talking and laughing with other member of the faculty.
She glanced to the side and saw a small button connected to a buzzer. Pressing it she got their attention.
The young woman walked out of the office door and got behind her desk. "Hello, how may I help you."
A.T reached into her jacket and pulled out her fake FBI identification.
"I'm Agent Smith FBI, you should be expecting me." She said.
The woman sat down at her computer and looked over the logs.
"Ah yes, you're here to talk to the students." The receptionist looked up to her
"Yes, that's right, my department believed with the recent murders children should be cautious." She gave a simply shrug. "It's best to get it into their heads now while they're young and impressionable, yes?"
The woman nodded and smiled.
A.T looked into the office through the glass seeing the women looking right at her, she held their stare for several seconds before turning her attention back to the woman before her.
"Am I to see the whole school at once, grade by grade or class by class?" A.T asked.
"The ugh, Principal wanted to know your preference on the matter, he should be right through the door, I'll tell him you're here." The woman said before getting up and waking off out of sight.
A.T turned around and scanned the immediate area, like the walls outside it was colourful and bright, a mash of reds, yellows, greens and blues, a high ceiling with a glass sun roof which let in more light.
Earlier that day getting around to midnight, she'd hacked into the school's system and booked herself in that day under her FBI alias.
Other Machines would have gone straight for the boy's name, go into the class room possibly disguised as a teacher and, done whatever they needed to do. But not her, she was far more, subtle. Or so she liked to think.
"Agent Smith." A male voice called from behind her.
A.T turned around and looked at him, the Principal, he was shorter than her about 5'7 roughly 40 and bald wearing a tanned suit which looked years out of date.
"Good morning." She said professionally.
"Good morning if you'd like to come with me." He said before turning and walking off, A.T followed quietly behind.
Once inside the office A.T shut the door behind her and turned seeing the Principal sat at his desk.
"I'd like to look at the register for your students." She ordered.
"Why do you need that?" he asked curiously.
"To get a general idea of how many students are in each class, I have much work to do today and I'd like to be efficient." She replied in a cold professional manner.
The Principal never knew why, and would never tell anyone, but at that moment he felt intimidated, scared perhaps, but why he didn't know, was it the tone of the woman's voice, the way she carried herself with confidence, determination and strength or was it that emotionless dead look in her eye? He never knew.
He turned to his computer and began to type in it stealing glances at A.T every so often, cautious about what would happen if his eyes left her for too long.
"I've got the information here, if you'd like to take a look." He offered.
A.T walked up to the desk then sat down, the Principal turned the screen towards her and offered her the mouse. Her eyes scanned the information before her, and looked over the number of classes in the fifth and sixth grade the two main possibilities where she'd locate Derek Reese.
She found him.
She looked towards the Principal.
"Thank you for your time." She paused as she put her plan together quickly. "Where is the closest ladies room?" she asked.
"I'll get my receptionist to show you." He said before standing up.
Once located in a bathroom, A.T waited in a bathroom stall for an appropriate amount of time before coming out, she strode up to the receptionist and looked at her.
"I'm afraid I'll have to reschedule the talk, my superiors have contacted me."
The receptionist blinked for a moment then nodded. "Um alright, it sounds important."
"Thank you, you have my cell number yes? We'll make a rain check." A.T gave her a friendly smile. "I'm sorry for the inconvenience"
"Oh no trouble. It's understandable with your line of work, right?" the woman replied
"I'm glad you understand. Rain check?" she asked
"Of course, we'll call you."
"Excellent."
A.T turned and left the building pulling her cell phone out form her pocket and crushed it in her hand before depositing it in a nearby trashcan. The phone was no longer needed. She got into her car and drove around the corner away from the school and changed into something less formal, jeans and a blue t-shirt, and modern shoes.
'Very hip.' She thought with a smirk. She laid back in her car and brought up her current tasks.
CURRENT OBJECTIVES –
LOCATE DEREK REESE
SOFIA'S BIRTHDAY NOVEMBER 1ST
LOCATE SUSAN CHRISTINE JONES
LOCATE SUSAN ELIZABETH JONES
2 FOR 1 SALE AT GROCERY STORE – ACQUIRE MORE SODA AND DORITOS BBQ FLAVOR.
LOCATE JAMES ANTHONY SHEPARD
She selected her primary targets, and scanned for the closest one to her current location, the 2nd Susan Jones, she had only brought a subcompact Glock 26 9mm, the tiny pistol was tucked sneakily away in her jeans.
She drove to the address, she parked just outside and looked up. An apartment building.
'I'll come back tonight.' She thought in annoyance. And glanced at her clock. It was nearing Lunch.
'Time to go see Derek.' She thought with a smirk.
John Connor rose the AK rifle to his shoulder and aimed down the sights, his breathing was steady his grip was tight.
He fired off a single shot striking the lemon to its right knocking it off it's stand.
"Damn." He cursed aloud.
"You hit it though." Cameron said in a positive manner.
"Yeah, but I was aiming for the one next to it." He pointed. "I'm off my game"
Cameron strode forward to him. "May I see the rifle?" she asked.
After breakfast Sarah had suggested that Cameron take John shooting, keep his skills fresh try and get him back into his A-game. It was something John hadn't thought of but something Cameron thought was a good idea. If they failed John would need to keep his skills at his best.
So here they were, a small little picnic packed for them in the Hummer, and a small arsenal of guns. A typical Connor styled date.
John passed the rifle to Cameron who immediately raised it to her shoulder and fired striking a direct shot at another lemon.
"The sights are off by .002 millimetres." She exclaimed as she examined the weapon.
"Well at least I'm not totally at fault then." John said light heartedly
"Exactly." Cameron said as she smiled at him before passing it back.
John adjusted the sights on the rifle before shouldering it once more, he waited, he breathed, he aimed, he fired. The bullet sent a lemon flying off the table, he smiled a little.
"That's a little better, but I'm rusty, taking too long to line up a shot."
Cameron watched on silently as John continued to practise his shots, she calculated it was taking John 0.0023 seconds faster each time he lined up his shot and fired. She was so proud.
The magazine spent John looked more closely at his handy work.
"Not bad." He said somewhat unsatisfied with the results.
"There's still time to get better if need be." Cameron said from beside him.
John sighed pleasantly then looked to Cameron. "Do Terminators get rusty?" he asked
"The alloy Terminator are made from is incapable of becoming rusted." She replied.
John chuckled to himself. "That's good to know, but I meant can their skills get rusty, you know, bad from no use." He explained.
Cameron blinked and put her mistake to memory. "Oh, thank you for explaining." She said then smiled before looking back to the firing range. "No, a Terminator's skills are always at top condition, any possibility of its efficiency being dropped is most likely due to damage to the chip or endoskeleton."
John nodded. He needed to know more about his future enemy, more about the Machines. He knew very little about different models. The 800, the Triple-Eight and a 1000 series.
"Am I doing a good job?" he asked suddenly.
Cameron looked to him curiously then to the firing range. "Your skill has improved slightly from when we arrived."
"Thanks but, I meant, as John Connor, as the future leader of mankind."
"You show the abilities, and you care about people, their lives and well-being, we have not had much chance to test your leadership skills, but from what we've been through, I think they're adequate."
"Adequate but not great." He grumbled.
"Future John has over 20 years' experience at commanding soldiers, at the age you are now, you're more than ready." She said in a comforting tone.
John looked to her and smiled. "Thank you." He said quietly, just enough for her to hear.
The two shared a brief moment of silence.
John thought about his life, what would happen if they stopped Judgement Day and if they didn't, decisions he could make, try and be different from his cold hearted future self.
There was so much he could do, so many things he'd try to change. He closed his eyes and let out a long deep seated sigh.
"More Practice?" came the sound of Cameron's voice thankfully breaking the silence, and the spiraling dizzy thought he was having.
"Yeah, let's see what else we got." John replied before moving back to the small collapsible table which their weapons laid on.
John placed the AK back on the table and looked over the weapons, he picked up his M24A3 Sniper Rifle.
"I need more practice with this." he said in a mixture of sadness and anger, anger at how he'd been so slow to shoot the enemy Triple Eight with the rifle and sadness at what his slowness had done to Cameron.
"Maybe next time I'll actually save someone." He whispered to himself, though Cameron with her enhanced hearing heard him, she placed a hand on his arm and squeezed it reassuringly.
"John you did save me." She said.
"Not from the other one, I shouldn't have been so quick to celebrate a shot and lose focus, I should've checked the area. If I had." He paused forcing himself to calm, his voice had been getting filled with more self-hatred. " If I hadn't this wouldn't have happened to you. It's my fault, and I'm sorry." He closed his eyes knowing his voice would crack if he continued to speak.
Cameron detected his increased stress levels and placed a hand on his cheek turning his head towards her and kissed him passionately on the lips.
John's anger vanished with the taste of her lips upon his, he wrapped his arms around her as he kissed her back letting his rifle drop to the floor.
"I'm so sorry." He mumbled in between kisses.
"You have nothing to be sorry for." Cameron said back.
The two moved back from one another, John has kept the tears from flowing his eyes however were a little red.
"You have nothing to be sorry for." She repeated once more in a firmer tone of voice.
John breathed slowly through his mouth to steady his heartbeat. "Okay, okay."
Finally he calmed himself before kneeling down and picked up his rifle. "I need to get better, someone else's life could be at risk, and I may not be so lucky next time." He said in a firm tone. Cameron could still detect some anger in his voice directed at himself.
He walked back to the firing range and shouldered the rifle he looked down the scope and fired, the lemon he aimed at exploded upon impact.
"Excellent." Cameron commented from beside him.
John quickly manipulated the bolt mechanism chambering another round and fired at his next target.
Cameron's HUD told her John's rate of fire was increasing by .02 of a second each time between shots but his accuracy was dwindling a little.
"John make sure to keep the shot dead centre, if it were a moving target a single precise shot is better than multiple badly timed shots." She informed him.
John closed his eyes again, once more calming himself, he still had some pent up anger, and had been letting it out through blasting the lemons with his rifle, he let out a slow breath then aimed down his scope and fired his final round at the final lemon.
"Excellent. Shall I stack up more?" she asked.
"Yeah, I'll give you hand." He offered.
The two put up more targets for them to shoot, now at different ranges and scattered.
"I'm kinda glad mom suggested this, I've needed it, and just us, here, alone, it's kinda calming." John said, his tone thoughtful.
Cameron still didn't know too much about human emotion or the limits to her own, but she analysed John was much calmer than he had been over the past few days.
There was no sound, nothing this far out from L.A. peace and quiet, if that was believable, a couple of hours drive from where they were staying. It was good.
"You wanna go with the rifle?" he offered.
Cameron nodded before taking the rifle from him and aimed down the scope.
"This is a good weapon." She announced with some pride as she fired her first shot.
"I like it." John commented.
Cameron fired off the following shots with a comfortable silence between the two, only interrupted by the gunshot and the sound of exploding lemons.
"Lunch?" she asked, turning her attention back to John.
"Sounds good." John replied with a smile.
Derek Reese had come out to play. He was talking to his school friends, laughing and playing generally doing things an 11 year old did.
A.T watched him from distance her tracking systems keeping lock on the young boy. She needed the right moment. Which was now …
The kids had been playing ball and had been knocked away from them and over to her, Derek being the one closest ran to get it, A.T picked up the ball and offered it to Derek.
"Thank you." He said automatically before looking at the woman before him better. "Have we met miss?"
A.T smirked and removed her sun glasses. "Why I'm awfully shocked you don't remember me handsome." She smirked.
Derek's eyes lit up once he remembered her while his cheeks lit up with a blush. "Ugh hey your Sofia's friend."
"That's right, now you remember me, A.T." she said.
"Yeah, what're you doing here?" Derek asked.
"I came looking for you Derek." She said in a friendly tone of voice. "What're you doing after school?" she inquired.
"Well normally me and my brother Kyle would go to the park but since Kyle hurt his leg, mom's busy at work and so is dad so we have to stay home, they won't let us go by ourselves." He said sadly.
A.T faked a frown, before snapping her fingers enthusiastically with an idea, an idea she'd planned the night before.
"Hey, I'm not doing anything today, how about I ask Sofia to ask your dad if I can take you." She suggested.
Derek blinked and thought it over. "Yeah, would you?" he pleaded.
"Sure, here's the plan, I'll call Sofia, she'll ask your dad, and if everything's okay I come pick you up drive you home, you get Kyle, we'll go to the park, yeah?" Sofia said with fake enthusiasm.
"Awesome! Yeah, great plan!" the young boy exclaimed excitedly.
"Right then it's a date." She said slyly, causing Derek to turn a deep shade of red, A.T thought it was adorable. "Okay you go play, I'll go call Sofia." She said and the boy hurried off, forgetting his inquiry as to why she was there. She smirked at her own plan before pulling out her cell phone and called Sofia.
"A.T? What's up, something wrong?" Sofia asked.
A.T smirked before relaying her idea to Sofia, whom by the sounds of it was with Dennis. 'Perfect' She heard Sofia and Dennis talk about it, Dennis judging A.T's trust worthiness since they met only once, suddenly Sofia excused herself to the bathroom, a ploy to speak alone.
"They'll be safe with you right?" Sofia asked.
"Sofia, I'm an advanced killing machine, if the best defence is a good offense, then the Reese boys will be as safe as safe can be." A.T assured her human ally.
"I guess that makes sense, will you be carrying?" she asked.
"I can if you prefer." She said merely to act innocent, she was already carrying a weapon and would be regardless of what Sofia said.
"Well the boys are no stranger to guns, their dad being a cop and all." Sofia shrugged.
"I'll carry then, it'll keep them safer, can't trust people these days anymore." She said seriously despite the smirk on her face.
Sofia thought it over and agreed then walked back to Dennis, who after a quick confirmation of A.T's trustworthiness and his boy's security agreed to the plan.
"Awesome, I'll pick up Derek, when his school finishes."
"Right … wait how did you meet up Der …" Sofia asked as the thought came to mind.
"Sorry gotta go bye!" A.T hung up and turned off her phone.
She calculated Derek's school would finish in another five or so hours, she got into her car and drove home to prepare for her 'meeting' with Susan Elizabeth Jones.
OBJECTIVE REMINDER …
2 FOR 1 SALE AT GROCERY STORE – ACQUIRE MORE SODA AND DORITOS BBQ FLAVOR.
Her HUD objective flashed infront of her eyes, she cancelled the reminder and made her way to the store.
Once home and groceries placed on the kitchen side, A.T withdrew her bags of weapons placing them on the floor and looked them over, it was a big place and likely guarded by security.
OBJECTIVE: TERMINATE SUSAN ELIZABETH JONES.
- LOCATE APARTMENT BLOCK FUSE BOX – DISABLE
- DISABLE SECURITY SYSTEMS.
- TERMINATE HOSTILE TARGETS.
- LOCATE TARGET – TERMINATE.
A basic formula of her plan had already been set up, if anything went wrong she'd work around it, it's what she did, it's how she'd programmed her creations.
Plugging herself into her laptop she hacked her way into the Apartment blocks security bringing up building's floor plan, she scanned and quickly located the buildings fuse box and located it's back-up generator: she'd have to disable to generator first before working her way to the fuse box.
A.T brought a bag into the living room and examined its contents. Moving away from the classics, A.T looked at the various 9mm pistols and ammunition scattered amongst larger weapons, compact submachine guns, compact rifles and two shotguns.
'Excellent.' She thought as she zipped up the bag.
Her internal chronometer told her it was getting to about 1 o'clock in the afternoon. She analysed her internal calorie intake and upon seeing it sufficiently full, decided just this once, once in a long time, she'd act more like what she was, and skip a meal.
'I'll just pig out tonight.' She thought.
She leaned back on the sofa and analysed her recent activity. By sheer luck no short of a miracle she'd accidentally stumbled upon the Reese brothers: Derek and Kyle Reese.
Two of John Connor's most trusted soldiers. They had been a part of "Tech-Com" John's forces. The Elite of the human resistance, best of the best. Like Spec-Ops. His wife had been the commanding officer of the group, her word was law.
She hoped, again another strange human concept, that the boys would somehow lead to Connor, or at least a resistance team, perhaps they'd know where Connor was.
She'd accidentally befriended and, possibly gained affection for one of her primary Termination targets.
She had located one of her most loyal and intelligent of agents back in his youth: Charles Fischer. She was hoping he'd find something important and inform her, so far she'd been more than generous, freeing him from prison, paying his mother, giving him a new life.
What she was doing was not part of her mission, but then, she could put her 'free' time to practical use, this was it, perhaps he'd hit the mother lode and lead her to her infantile self. But what then?
At her core, regardless of how human she acted or how human she'd become, she was a cold efficient (at least, most of the time these days) killing machine. And even though she'd left the majority or herself and memory back in her future, she was still THE most powerful computer in history.
Resolute, she steeled herself and gazed to her bag. Her internal chronometer told her another hour had passed. She had nothing else to do, but wait. She looked to the TV and turned it on watching a re-run of 'Jackass'. Watching humans harm and possibly kill each other, accidentally or not, was hilarious.
A few hours went by before A.T rose from her couch and turned off the TV, she would go meet the young Derek Reese. She grabbed her small Ruger P-100, stuffed it into her hidden holster and left the room, the building and drove to Derek's school.
Once there she got out of her car and waited, she watched as children left the school some running happily to their parents others looking upset, and angry. The typical day of children.
Her HUD picked up her target her targeting system locked onto his face. Derek Reese. She suppressed a smirk and raised her arm waving to him, the boy saw her and waved back before rushing up to her.
"Hey." She greeted simply.
"Hey!" he returned with a bright smile.
"Ready for our … date?" she teased, making the boy go red once more. She chuckled to herself, "Right let's go." She said before getting into her car. "Could you show me the way to your place?" she asked
"Sure." Derek replied trying to get his face to his normal colour.
This was perfect, now she'd be able to locate the residence of the Reese's, this would be beneficial information later.
A.T drove and Derek directed her. Soon enough they were there.
'The Reese residence.' She thought to herself as she scanned the building, a single house, two stories, a small garden out front, clean cut and tidy. All they needed was a white picket fence and a dog then it would be the very picture of the American dream.
Derek got out of the car as did A.T, he walked enthusiastically to the front door with A.T walking behind him, her eyes scanning the neighbourhood. It was quiet, picturesque, like you'd have imagined from a 1950s TV Show.
She looked to the door and watched as Derek unlocked the door and opened it.
Time seemed to slow down as Derek suddenly jumped out of the way as a large Alsatian dog barked loudly and ran past Derek. A.T paused in step and watched wide eyed at the dog charging towards her barking like a dog from hell.
"Rufus!" Derek called out in shocked horror, the dog stopped infront of A.T and continued to bark at her savagely.
She paused, a threat warning flashing on her HUD demanding the Dog's termination. She felt the gyros and pistons of her right arm begin to move to make a grab for her Ruger when Derek; now with a dog lead ran up behind Rufus connected the lead to the collarand pulled him away from her.
"Sorry, he's not normally like this." Derek apologised as he pulled the large angry dog with all his 11 year old might.
"It's okay." she replied steadily. "Must be my cats he can smell." She lied.
Derek nodded in agreement and pulled the dog into the house, with A.T following them.
"You might want to stay out here, in case he gets loose." Derek said.
A.T gave Derek a small smile before replying. "It's alright, I'll be fine."
Once inside the house Derek dragged Rufus to the back garden and forced him out.
"Don't know what's gotten into you Rufus, but stay. Stay!" Derek said with authority, the dog obeyed but continued to bark.
Derek shook his head in confusion. 'He's not normally like this.' he thought once more.
"Hey Derek, I need the bathroom, could I use yours before we go?" A.T asked behind him.
Derek turned around and nodded. "Sure it's just up the stairs and … third door on the right." He smiled.
A.T nodded and walked towards the bathroom.
Derek walked into the living room where Kyle was listening to the TV while doing his school work.
'Nerd.' Derek thought and walked over to his younger brother.
"Hey Kyle."
"Derek, how'd you get home so quick?" Kyle asked "And why was Rufus barking, he never barks, not even at cats."
"You remember that lady who's friends with dad's friend?" he asked, Kyle nodded.
"The tall lady." He clarified.
"Yeah, she's here to take us to the park and play ball." He said with an excited smile on his face.
"What!? Really!?" Kyle asked excited, the thought of school work forgotten.
"Yeah! Dad said it was okay. You need any help getting ready" Derek asked, since Kyle was still in his wheelchair.
"Yes please." Kyle said timidly.
While the brother had been conversing the Machine was looking around the upper level of the house, the layout, the bedrooms, she looked under beds and in closets.
Her analysis clarified that Dennis Reese was a paranoid or over protective man. A simple Double Barrel 12 gauge under the bed, a Remington 870 in the closet, a 9mm Glock in the draw of the side table next to the bed, and a .357 Colt Python right beside the Glock.
All this in just the main bedroom. He was well armed, and rightfully so she thought, he was a cop, cop's gained enemies after so long. And even this idyllic place could have its fair share of criminals.
She left the room and walked into the bathroom and flushed the toilet to cover her tracks then walked downstairs, with the general layout of the house saved to her CPU she walked into the living room and saw Derek putting a protective cover over Kyle's bad leg.
"Thanks for letting me use the bathroom, you ready to go?" she asked
"Just a sec, this stupid thing isn't on right." Derek grumbled trying to do it right.
Kyle looked at A.T and smiled. "Hello."
"Hello Kyle. Are you feeling any better today?" she asked.
"Yeah, the Doctor said my leg should be better by the end of the week." He said as his smile only seemed to get bigger.
A.T nodded and watched as Derek jumped to his feet. "Done! Finally!" he said. "Now we can go right?" he looked to A.T
"We can go. You get your things, I'll get Kyle into my car." She instructed and walked further into the room and got behind Kyle and wheeled him out the door.
"You excited?" she asked for conversation sake.
"Oh yeah! I haven't played ball since I hurt my leg." He replied excitedly.
A.T almost smiled at his never ending levels of enthusiasm. It was almost contagious. Almost.
"How're you going to get me in your car?" he asked as she put the brake on the wheelchair.
"Easier than you think." She commented as she opened the door then walked back to Kyle, "Put your arms around me." She instructed and the young boy did so, wrapping his arms around her neck.
She lifted him with ease and placed him into her car gently and strapped him in just as Derek came running up behind them with his baseball glove, ball and bat.
"Wow, you're strong." Derek commented.
A.T looked at him slyly. "You like strong women Derek?" she said just as sly as the look on her face.
The poor boy's face lit up a deep red causing his young sibling to laugh.
Derek ran around the car and climbed in next to his brother as A.T got into the driver's seat.
"Show me where the park is boys." She said as she and Derek strapped themselves in.
The boys were excited. Their excitement evident on their young faces. They could play again at last. All thanks to this nice tall lady. No one would mention that Derek's face was still as red as a tomato.
The Hummer's windows were steamed up with condensation, the rocking that the vehicle was experiencing had finally ceased.
John and Cameron snuggled up to one another on the seat kissing each other affectionately.
"I think that was the best one yet." John commented with a smirk.
"I like all our passionate moments John." Cameron replied as she pulled John back down for another quick yet loving kiss.
"I think we should think about heading back." John said regretfully.
Cameron checked her chronometer and agreed. "It would be best, or else Sarah might … freak out." Cameron said trying her hand once again at more human slang.
John snuggled up to her warm body once more, burying his face in the crook of her neck and breathed deep her scent, or rather her perfume. Her scent brought him comfort.
John pulled himself away from her and slid himself out of her sex before the two began the search for their clothing.
Clothed, weapons put away, they began their journey back with Cameron driving as John slept.
She looked towards him, scanning every part of his peaceful form in detail, every line, every curve, every tiny little twitch. John Connor, the boy who stole her metaphorical heart. Not the man, not the General, the boy. Her boy, her man.
She looked back to the road and examined her existence. Her change from original activation to a Resistance Cyborg, to all the way to now. Ever since the bomb incident, some parts of her oldest existence had returned to her. Memories. Allison Young for instance.
She found she hated the memory of being one of Skynet's slaves. A mere expensive toy for it to manipulate and use for its own goal. Though with that in though, the Resistance was only slightly better in that morale sense.
'But the cause was more just.' She argued mentally, and General Connor was her friend, at most anyway.
But from her first meeting of younger John, she found her relationship with him even then was deeper than the General's it was closer, they were friends even at the worst of times. Well except for during the 'Riley incident'. She acknowledged her own downfall in that respect. A simple communication error had almost ruined everything, the friendship she and John had built.
She looked back to the boy who still slumbered. She needn't think of what could have happened, her logical side told her, that was irrelevant, John was her's now wholly, fully, her's.
However her newer side, the growing emotional side argued back, that mistakes weren't irrelevant, were never irrelevant, as humans say 'Learn from your mistakes'. Cameron would. She would, for John.
Cameron looked back to the road just as John let sneezed jumping in his seat, Cameron's head shot back around to him, her eyes a little wider in surprise. She reached out with one hand to analyse him. He was fine. Perhaps a little cold. She remedied this by turning on the heating in the Hummer.
She looked back to the road and looked at the setting sun. It was getting closer to Winter, in just over a week it would be November. Then it would be John's 17th birthday. November 13th …
'I should get John a present.' She thought. Try and make up for what happened on his 16th Birthday.
She turned the headlights on though it was more for the benefit of others and to not get pulled over rather than her herself, she could see everything.
She thought once more about the mission John had given her, her dispatch a police officer and take his or her uniform, and search for information on the two Susan Jones'.
The mission was tactically dangerous, searching for these women would bring them or more rightly her back into contact with the Terminatrix. The unknown Machine.
Cameron would have to prepare herself in case she and the enemy Machine fought once more. Her new pistol loaded with hyperalloy rounds may put them on more even footing.
Cameron thought no more about it, and put her thoughts to driving and analysing her regeneration process.
The park was quiet enough. Families enjoying the day out. A.T's eyes never left the two boys playing with the ball. Derek making extra careful with Kyle due to his injury.
For 2 hours she'd watched them play, for two hours her CPU had not calculated, analysed, nor scanned anything. She merely watched the two boys play.
She noticed the ball pass Kyle and come near her, she glanced down and picked it up.
"Thank you mommy." She heard a voice say. She looked up suddenly to see Derek blushing.
"What?" she asked shocked.
"I said Thank you A.T" he said, and smiled.
Wordlessly she gave the ball back to Derek who rushed back to play with Kyle.
She blinked, blinked again and replayed the audio. "Thank you A.T" it said.
"But … I heard." she was sure she heard it, she was certain. But the memory file said otherwise.
She was malfunctioning, she had to be. This 'humanization' it wasn't an evolution, it was a viruses, it had to be. She.
She closed her eyes and focused on her mission for tonight. She calmed.
Maybe it was just a slight audio glitch. It was of no matter, she was old enough, she could have a few glitches here and there. Humans glitched when they reached a certain age. It was natural.
She looked to the sky, it was growing dark quickly. Her chronometer told her it was nearing 5 in the afternoon, she looked back to Derek and Kyle.
"Come on guys!" she called. "It's getting dark, I want you back before your parents."
Derek looked to her. "Okay!" he called back, he sounded flustered.
With her enhanced hearing she heard Kyle tease him. "Derek's' got a GIRLFRIEND!"
"I do NOT! Shut up Kyle." He grumble but still blushed beet red.
A.T smirked as she watched Derek push Kyle back over to her. She picked up her phone and called Sofia.
"Hey girl, it's me." She said into the phone.
"Hey, what's up?" Sofia asked
"Just finished playing with the boys, they've had fun." She smiled to herself. "Just about the take them home before it gets dark."
"Right Dennis should be back home by now. See you at Dinner." Sofia said.
"Right see you then, bye." A.T finished and hung up then looked up to the boys. "Let's go guys, Sofia said your dad is already home."
She drove the boys home the two telling her about the fun they'd had and how they would want her to do it again for them. Something she found she was taking into consideration. Perhaps somehow, through the Reese's she'd find Connor. Or Derek's older self.
Humans were always ones for Nostalgia.
She got them home not too long after 5:30 and was greeted by Dennis at the door.
"Thanks for this A.T, it means a lot to the boys, and me." He smiled
"It's no problem, the boys were great." She said back kindly.
The boys thanked A.T for the trip to the park before Dennis helped Derek in with Kyle.
A.T spoke up before Derek disappeared further into the house.
"How about next time you buy me some flowers handsome?" She teased making the poor boy go red for the umpteenth time.
"DEREK'S GOT A GIIIIRRRL FRIIIEEEND!" Kyle cried out laughing as Derek wheeled him further into the house causing both A.T and Dennis to laugh.
"Thanks again." Dennis said.
"Maybe I can do it again tomorrow, see if my schedule is clear." She smiled
"I'd like that, and I'm sure the boys would too." Dennis chuckled.
A.T gave him a friendly nod before turning and waving goodbye.
A.T left for home in her car, tonight would be an interesting night.
Tonight Susan Jones would die.
Jason's Notes
Hey again everyone, just a short chapter today. Sorry I've been quiet for a while :/ and I really DID want to get this chapter up before Halloween sorry.
My laptop has been experiencing a few viruses with are messing up with its effectiveness, I'm going to try this month to make it up to all of you out there and get out more chapter.
This I promise, and hopefully the viruses I'll be able to get rid of them by the end of the month.
Oh also, a little bit of help from my American readers, or anyone who knows.
Generally how many people is there on a single floor of an apartment building, and how many people in total. Like imagine a skyscraper apartment building, if they exist (I don't know)? I need the info for my next chapter :/
I mean, me just being a simple Northern Brit knows nothing about American Apartment Buildings. I never even seen a BRITISH Apartment Building.
So yeah help :3 please! :D
So yes, read, review, etc etc. and thanks again.
Jason Voorhees.