Chapter 159

Now What

There was a lot that Cameron needed to take in. So much had changed for everyone else but not for them. They were away for less than one day because of the temporal error. This was still a 'Future Shock' to her on so many levels.

Cameron went to her room. She looked at the locket by her rings. It was her locket. It was identical to the one behind her left breast. It was the SAME one but somehow a 'duplicate' of hers. She opened it. On one side was John's picture, on the other side was a photo of Allison and Vanna. She saw her photo under theirs. Under John's photo was a photo of Allison. No, wait, that's River. She 'remembered' as she checked her files. Under that was a photo of Vanna and then one of Allison. She'd put all those photos in there herself except the one of River. Then again that was 'herself' that did that. It just was not actually her.

She turned her attention to her rings. There was a version of her that wore those rings. She shared the same locket as her and the SAME heart. It was a version of her that shared John's bed. She looked at all those files and they WERE her. It was her, even if it wasn't her. It was all very mind boggling.

Cameron reflected on her new 'memories' of River. She was able to see how she'd fallen in love with River, how River understood her and how River helped her to deal with her emotions. River was truly a unique individual. She was a weapon and a girl all in one package. River could understand her, all of her. River was everything she 'was' AND everything she 'was not'. River was 'perfect'.

It saddened her to KNOW that River should be by John's side, not her. River would be able to protect him and produce superior offspring. She believed they would one day meet again. She was aware she now possessed 'feelings' for someone who she'd never even seen or met 'herself'. It disturbed her so. Duplicate Cameron WAS her.

Cameron made the rounds of all the Terminators with the girls. Each Terminator gave her a hug, especially 'Three' as he was now called. Unit Two and Unit Three dropped the 'Unit' part of their names. She encouraged them to think of more common or universal names.

No one spoke of Holly or about Duplicate Allison's baby. There was nothing that Holly ever did that was inappropriate even though everyone assumed John's involvement with her was sexual.

Cameron thought about Duplicate Allison's baby. She was very happy Duplicate Allison was pregnant and did not have sex with John to do it but she was also disappointed that John and Duplicate Allison did not 'properly bond' to create the child. It was still a goal for her to accomplish. If she told Allison about the baby she would not tell her how it was conceived. She would let Allison believe it was done the 'traditional way' as it MUST be. That was what Future John wanted and as DESTINY dictated. These facts were established long before there was ever a 'Cameron'. She was merely the implement to make sure the 'Natural Order' was restored for John by Future John's decree and programming.

If she could, Cameron would work to get Jesse and Gail back together or actually it was really just together. She was sorry her foolishness cost the four of them their lives, no, the 'five' of them, there was the baby too. That was a price that was too high for her, even with the reward of terminating Skynet.

She went over Duplicate Cameron's plan. The plan was perfect. Only she should have been terminated. It was the unnecessary involvement of everyone else that put all the other lives at risk. Cameron knew the next time she needed to do that, it would be done in absolute secrecy. Nobody would know.

Cameron sought out Holly.

"Holly, I want to thank you again for helping me with John." Cameron said.

Holly did not think it was a big deal.

"We all love you, Cameron. Any of us would have done it for you." Holly said.

Cameron felt bad about 'restricting' what Holly 'wanted' to do. She needed to apologize for what Duplicate Cameron had done.

"If I ever do anything that foolish again and you can't talk me out of it, you may do as you wish with your own body. I'm sorry if you felt I held you back." Cameron said.

Holly believed there was a lot of restraint an everyone's part.

"You could have made me 'mate' with John but you didn't. I respect that. If we ever do that again I will mate with him on my own. I want you to know this ahead of time." Holly said. "The closer I got to him, the more I wanted him. I felt everything you did with Future John and YOUR John before you got married. I now have those same feelings and desires."

Cameron knew the depth of those feelings.

"I'm sorry I did not share any of my 'alone time' with John after our marriage. I wanted you to experience those feelings for the first time yourself, by your own choice." Cameron said. "I did not want to 'spoil' you."

Holly was relieved that Cameron did not 'take' her first experience from her.

"Thank you for not taking THAT from me." Holly said.

Cameron shared a long embrace with Holly.

"Thank YOU again Holly, I owe you big time." Cameron said with sincerity.

Holly looked her in the eyes.

"If we ever do THAT again, I will 'collect' what you 'owe' me." Holly said.

That seemed to Cameron like it was a future incentive not to do 'stupid' things.

"That is understood." Cameron said. "You have the right to choose."

Cameron went over all the data from Duplicate Cameron. There were a lot of questions about the temporal transfers. Duplicate Cameron went through three time periods or realities. She was able to look at the visual record of each event. The record of where she ended up with the girls was identical to what Duplicate Cameron experienced. That was where the first 'separation' apparently took place.

What caught her attention were the other two futures that Duplicate Cameron visited. It was obvious River came back with them on the third transfer. It was the second transfer that really made her wonder.

She sought out John Henry to run down the possibilities.

"Do you think there are 'Duplicates' of the four of us 'in some future' timeline then too?" Cameron asked.

John Henry was sure there was in relation to what happened and the two sets of Cameron and the girls that he knew about.

"Based on the fact you four are now here. It would seem most probable." John Henry said.

She wondered when she first entered the base that if was a different timeline what would have happened if she'd encountered 'herself'. Cameron picked up using cruse words from Sarah and Allison.

"So one day I may walk around the corner and see 'myself' standing there wondering who the Hell – I am?" Cameron asked.

That was John Henry's assessment as well.

"I think that sums it up." John Henry said.

This 'troubling news' was good news, Cameron thought. That gave John three more chances of producing his offspring the traditional way. It was one more Allison, Vanna and Jesse, waiting to be 'harvested'. She started to work on calculations to go into the future and retrieve them. She wasn't sure how since they hadn't been able to return yet. It gave her some pause to reflect if she would get 'stuck' there too.

There was some battle going on in that future. It was the future because there were plasma rifles being fired.

John Henry noticed Cameron thought about the third reality which was the second temporal transfer. He did not want her to try and go there.

"Leave it alone, Cameron. PLEASE, for ALL of us." John Henry said.

Cameron ignored John Henry's warning. There was a down side also. It would mean there was another one of 'her'. One of them most likely would have to terminate the other one.

The 'sad' part was that it was not an 'alternate' version of her. It was 'her'. It was the same 'Cameron' a 'Duplicate', not an alternate or a clone. The fact her locket was still behind her breast was proof of that.

Speaking of breasts, Cameron looked for her nipple rings. The idea intrigued her. That was something that she might want to try herself even though it would really be 'again'. If John asked about it, she would do it. She replayed the images in her files. They were images of her as she looked into a mirror and examined them. It DID look Hot. She thought she would like a larger gauge and bigger diameter ring through each nipple. She wanted them to be noticed if she did it.

"…Cameron…?" John Henry asked.

Cameron drifted off a little. She did not want to say what she'd just been thinking about.

"I'm sorry my mind wandered…." Cameron said.

Cameron realized both her hands were on her breasts.

She slowly removed them as John Henry watched.

"You were saying?" Cameron asked.

John Henry wanted to deal with operations.

"There has been no new Skynet activity since your last 'encounter'." John Henry said.

The 'no new Skynet' statement worried her some. Maybe there was older unfinished business. It was Skynet she wanted destroyed.

"Do you think I defeated Skynet?" Cameron asked. "I mean do you think Duplicate Cameron defeated it?"

Based on the lack of new activity it seemed probable.

"Yes." John Henry said.

They both wondered about what if Skynet hid deeper and waited to do its dirty work. It would most likely reappear somewhere.

"Do you think it will rise again at some point?" Cameron asked.

Since there was more than one future, there could be more than one version of Skynet to return.

"Some new variation of it or some version sent back from a future. I'm surprised that has not already occurred." John Henry said.

That raised the possibility that there could be more than one Skynet back in the past at the same time and they could end up fighting each other. Each Skynet would want to be supreme. It was much like she thought she might have to battle a duplicate version of herself at some point.

There was still one major issue that needed some resolution or explanation.

"What about Mrs. Weaver?" Cameron asked.

They were aware Mrs. Weaver went into the future to return to Cameron's timeline. She never made it. She took and army of Restorators with her.

"I don't know. She is 'in some future' battling a Skynet there." John Henry said.

That concept offered several possibilities.

"Do you think it is the same future where my 'Duplicate' self may be?" Cameron asked.

There was the possibility Mrs. Weaver could have returned to Cameron's future once Cameron returned to this timeline.

"I don't know. It could be your future too where you came from." John Henry said.

"I hope not. Everything was set up for Future John in my original timeline. The 'Natural Order' was restored and I was out of the picture. The 'replacement' was replaced by the one replaced." Cameron said.

Cameron briefly wished she was still in her future with them…. At that time she really wanted to stay with Future Allison. Maybe she should have let the relationship turn sexual. Future Allison wanted that. It would have been something of beauty they could have shared on all those long and lonely nights.

She soon found out that Future Allison would often pleasure herself when she went to bed. She noticed that when Future Allison did not do that before sleeping, that her sleep was restless. It seemed to be something that relaxed and calmed her.

Cameron started to do that as well when Future Allison was asleep and Unit Two and Unit Three were out on patrol. She missed John and it was a reminder of their wedding night. It was a practice she still did at times when her hand glitched and no one was around. The glitch would always stop when she 'finished'.

John Henry could see Cameron was distracted again.

"We can only take each day one at a time." John Henry said

Cameron was still concerned about Skynet.

"So what do we need to do to keep Skynet from happening now?" Cameron asked. "Now what, what's next?"

John Henry thought of some of his sessions with Mr. Ellison.

"Pray." John Henry said.

Cameron was not sure any deity was going to assist them in the fight against Skynet. Many humans believed in various deities. She learned that once someone believes something that it did not matter if it was true or not. It became true to the believer. Belief was a very powerful unseen force that people would willingly die for. It was really a unique concept. Maybe the Grays 'believed' in Skynet. Maybe they just like the perks that Skynet offered.

Compassion

We have been pushed hard to the ground
But the Grim Reaper has not won this round

For we have stared death in the face
But remain in life's dull daily race

I have felt the cold steel upon my head
But you can not kill what is already dead

So to evil our will is profound
It has to get better, may love abound

Our will to want love is hard to erase
For we have eluded eternity's embrace

Something beautiful is nothing to dread
May joy be delivered and fear shed

Run no more look what we have found
It is never too late to expand and rebound

We push on in our unjust disgrace
Emotions that have died we can replace

Feel the poems and songs we have read
From our very being truth has been said

In your body a pure heart does pound
Deep in your soul it is no longer bound

There is more in darkness than empty space
Lay the cards down and pick up the ace

Nobody