Chapter 119
Liberation
Allison walked out into the hall.
She'd just spent a few hours with Cameron. A few hours she would never forget….
Allison felt happy but sad at the same time.
She reflected on what just happened….
John was in the Command Center. Savannah walked in and greeted everyone. He noticed the way she looked at him. She looked into him, not at him. She then turned her attention to John Henry. He felt she wanted to speak with John Henry. It looked personal.
He wanted to speak to his mother. He asked John Henry where she was.
John Henry told him Sarah was in the lab.
John excused himself and headed that way.
Savannah and him exchanged a long look as he left.
Along the way he spotted Riley. He did not want to speak with her right now. She seemed like the wrong person at the wrong time. It was too late, she'd spotted him.
"Hi, John." Riley said.
"Hello, Riley." John said.
Riley did not think John looked very happy. He actually looked sick.
"Are you OK?" Riley asked. "You don't look so hot."
John didn't feel so hot either. He did not want to let Riley slink under his armor at this time of vulnerability. He felt Savannah had just done that without trying.
"I'm fine." John said.
Riley doubted it.
"If you want we can talk about it." Riley said. "That helps sometimes to know that other people care. It helps me."
John did know that sometimes it was nice to have help. He just was not sure Riley was the one he should seek it from. He always still felt a twinge inside of him when he looked at her sometimes. There was always that feeling of 'love' that was soon over powered by a feeling of guilt. He still felt responsible for Future Riley's death. If he'd done things a little different and she had too, everything could have been different. They both played it too close to the vest. They 'trusted' each other but they did not trust each other enough.
He knew if he opened up to Riley right now it would open the door to more problems. It seemed as if Future Riley 'called' to him right now. He needed to clear his mind and think about Cameron.
He was surprised to see Savannah come around the corner and look at both of them.
John and Riley looked at each other and then back to where Savannah was.
Savannah frowned and walked away.
"No, really, I'm good." John said. "Thanks anyway."
Savannah's message was sent and received.
Riley and John both continued on their way.
John did not want to look back at her but he could not help it. When he turned to look back at her she turned to look back at him. There it was. The connection was still there. It was a 'different' Riley but it was still the same Riley.
They both quickly turned a corner and kept going.
Savannah waited to make sure they parted. It was her 'job' to assist Cameron in every way. That meant more than just the use of her womb. She returned to John Henry. Nobody slipped up on her watch.
Allison wasn't sure what to do. There were a million thoughts and feelings running through her mind right now.
She went to the lab to look for Vanna.
Allison felt she needed to talk with Vanna. She needed to tell her what 'happened' with Cameron and confess to Vanna. She sure hoped that Vanna would understand.
She really needed to talk to someone….
It was not who she expected.
Sarah was in the lab.
"Hi, Allison." Sarah said.
Allison looked for Vanna but did not see her.
"Hey, Sarah. Have you seen Vanna around?" Allison asked. "I really need to speak with her."
Allison was very uneasy right now.
"You just missed her. Cameron called and wanted to see her about something." Sarah said. "It seemed important. Vanna left in a hurry. I think I heard her run."
Allison cringed. She was sure what was about to happen right now. She'd just 'come' from there.
"Allison, what's wrong?" Sarah asked.
Allison knew she couldn't tell Sarah. How do you bring up something personal and private with someone's mother in law? She felt like a total piece of crap just thinking about it.
Vanna wondered why Cameron called her.
She figured it must be something important since she told her to come right away.
Vanna thought about how much she loved Cameron. She loved Cameron from the first time that they'd interacted. It was her and a very advance AI in a computer server. She knew later on that she loved the fact Cameron looked like 'Allison' but Cameron's personality and her presence is what captivated her the most. Cameron was so different and so very special. She sadly reflected on how they almost 'completed' their love for each other. It never happened. She'd give anything to have that experience. They'd been so close to achieving that before, so very close.
Almost….
Vanna wondered what was so important….
She was worried now and broke into a run.
Allison knew she needed to leave before Sarah started asking her questions. She did not want to lie to Sarah about where she'd been and what she'd done. She was not ashamed of her actions, she was actually proud.
The door to the lab opened.
She hoped it was Vanna returning. It wasn't.
Allison saw it just went from bad to worse.
John came into the lab.
Allison saw him and wanted to run or hide or get away. She did not want to be around him right now. She felt the guilt creep back in.
There was no where to go. She decided to make a break for it.
Allison looked at him and quickly walked out.
"Hey." John said.
"Hey." Allison said.
She tried not to look at John.
Allison looked back once as the door closed.
John looked right at her.
'Great.' Allison thought. 'He is going to know.'
John turned back to Sarah.
"Hi, Mom." John said.
Sarah felt she had a pretty good idea why he was here.
"Are you here for some motherly advice?" Sarah asked. "I know I'm not a great mother but I have seen a few things."
John needed some advice and he needed it straight.
"I could a little motherly insight and some womanly advice." John said.
Sarah wasn't sure where this was headed but it needed to be headed somewhere.
"Shoot." Sarah said with a smile.
John looked back at the door Allison just passed through. He then looked back to his mother. Something was off about that…. That wasn't like Allison at all.
John reflected back on his interactions with Cameron earlier. She was wired up to prove something, to do something. Allison looked at him with 'guilt' on her face. John brushed it off. He was sure he was seeing things where there was nothing to see. He refocused on his mother.
It was time to swallow his pride and see how he could 'fix' any of it.
"Mom, I am losing Cameron. I don't know how to 'fix' it." John said. "I need to 'fix' it somehow.
Sarah thought back on her life experiences. None of them were very pretty or ended well for her or the other person.
"Sometimes it can't be fixed." Sarah said. "You do understand you two are 'different'."
John wondered where this conversation was headed.
"Yes I do." John said.
Sarah did not want to sound negative but she did want to point out the reality of life.
"Sometimes someone stays with another until they can't face another moment of life." Sarah said. "If you love someone so much, sometimes you need to let them go."
That sounded like what he witnessed growing up with his mother's personal relations.
"Who knows that better than you?" John said.
Tears welled up in Sarah eyes.
John felt she took is words as an insult. That was not his intention.
"Mom, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that." John said.
It was the truth in that statement that hit home with Sarah. She needed to put John's safety first. That led to every bridge behind her being burnt. It left more shattered lives and more broken hearts. It was a smoldering path of emotional destruction as terrible as the physical path of destruction left by a Terminator.
"It's true." Sarah said. "How many men did I hurt by running? I hurt you too. I took away any security and sense of a home you felt. Don't you think that still bothers me?"
The emotional toll was obvious to John.
"You did what you thought was best for me to protect me and protect them from harm." John said. "I understand that now. I understand the sacrifice you have done for me. I know how it must have hurt you and ripped you apart inside. I am sorry it took me so long to realize your suffering."
Sarah appreciated John's words of understanding.
"Everyone sacrifices for John Connor." Sarah said and started to cry.
Now John really felt like crap. He left Cameron in bad shape and now he put his mother in a bad place. It seemed the past to all of them was nothing more than a living Hell.
Savannah knew Cameron was having problems. She really did not understand why.
"Is Cameron broken, John Henry?" Savannah asked.
That question made John Henry reflect that there were many ways for things or a person to be 'broken'.
"Yes, in a way she is." John Henry said.
Savannah believed she could help if she knew what to do.
"Can you teach me how to fix her. I want to help her." Savannah said.
John Henry did not think outside help was always the solution.
"Sometimes people need to fix themselves." John Henry said.
Cameron once delivered a direct but cryptic message to her.
"I can tell she is hurting." Savannah said. "She won't tell me what is wrong. When I ask her she starts crying. She hugs me like she is never going to see me again. She once looked at me and said, 'Stay a girl – forever'."
John Henry felt having a chip instead of a brain played a big role in how events played out. They processed everything differently.
"Cameron has experienced much trauma and suffering in her life." John Henry said. "They have caused problems that don't seem to go away like they do for you and other humans."
Savannah spoke without hesitation.
"I want to be like Cameron and my mother when I grow up." Savannah said.
John Henry was not really sure what that meant. Cameron and Mrs. Weaver were both machines.
Savannah looked sad.
"When is my mother going to come home? I miss her so much. Can you make my mother come home?" Savannah asked. "I am afraid she is never coming back, now both of my 'mothers' are gone."
John Henry really wished there was an answer to that. There wasn't.
"I don't know, Savannah." John Henry said. "Your 'mother' is trying to save the future. We don't know which future she is in anymore. She may never return. She believes what she is doing is to protect you and all of us including me. It is possible she will perish doing what she feels she needs to do to protect you."
Cameron tried to tell Savannah what she thought the truth was. It was not a pretty picture. The prospect of hope seemed slim.
"That is what I am afraid of." Savannah said. "Cameron told me my mother is most likely never going to return or she would have several years ago. It would have been soon after she left. Cameron said she and Vanna would be like my mother with Allison, Sarah and Jesse. Vanna helps me with all my 'girl' questions and knows everything I want or need to ask without me having to ask it. I think I know why. I understand what is happening here and about both of the futures that Cameron has been to. When I look around me, I see the future."
John Henry didn't want Savannah to worry about either future. They were trying to prevent that.
"You are very intelligent, Savannah." John Henry said. "Don't dwell on the future before you. Your future has not happened yet. You only need to accept life as it is now. Everyone is here for a reason and we are all trying to protect you and the future itself."
Savannah knew what awaited her. She was ready to embrace it. She really wondered why she needed to wait if the future was inevitable.
"When do I play my part?" Savannah asked. "I am prepared to fulfill my 'obligations' to time. Cameron has been very open and honest with me about them. I do not intend to wait until that future to take my place. I am going to take it as soon as I am 'ready'. I will be ready sooner than everyone thinks…."
John Henry did not like to hear this development. These were not things that a girl needed to worry about. She was going to be a 'woman' without ever being a teenager.
"Cameron is rushing you too much." John Henry said. "You must wait your place in time."
Savannah did not see it as a problem. She knew where she was headed and what she needed to do. She planned to act as soon as it was possible. If she could provide Cameron what she wanted. It would help 'fix' Cameron.
"I have been trained and prepared for my rightful place. It is mine to take as soon as I am ready." Savannah said. "Time waits for Nobody."
Savannah made sure there was a copy of 'Petty Baby' for John to watch. It would send a message. She did not know who left a copy of it for her to watch.
Vanna knocked and entered the room.
Cameron lay covered by the sheets.
Vanna wondered if Cameron was – ill.
Vanna looked at the door as she closed it softly, when she looked back, Cameron lay naked before her.
"I NEED you." Cameron said.
All Cameron saw was - liberation….
'Sugar, Sugar' by 'The Archies', played in the background.
The lyrics echoed in Vanna's mind.
Complete Embrace
Your fingers streaming through my soft hair
Your fingers slowly caressing my face
Gently over my lips and smooth cheeks
From forehead to chin they sooth as they trace
Your lips slide across my arched neck
Pausing only to sweetly tug on my ear
They then glide down my bare shoulders
Advancing upon each soft firm sphere
Top to bottom around the side
To the tip they do follow
My breath draws deep
It becomes hard to swallow
From one to the other
Then down the tummy to the navel
The breathing is faster
My bottom shifts hungrily to enable
The backs of my finger tips bracket your cheeks
As your lips touch my moist supple lips
You gaze up through the valley of my breasts
Our eyes meet and affix as the twins cause an eclipse
My knees rise up then bend out
The gate of my soul is infused smooth and slow
The contact is mutual and pleasant
Our hearts are pounding as your face is aglow
The excitement peaks as the feeling grows
The plateau is building then it explodes
The vision blurs words can not form
Our bodies relax as the mind unloads
We are two who shared as one for a long moment
Our bodies shift to the side arms still held
Our eyes embrace, the lips tenderly touch
Such sweet loving beauty as together we meld
Nobody