Chapter 175
Replacement Chip
John and his team prepared for the strike.
Cameron was able to 'escape' from her own little world and go back to her 'job'. She checked over all the teams to make sure everything was in order. She made sure everyone, including the Terminators, wore their body armor.
John Henry would jam all but their own communications and cut the power and any information going in or out. That would effectively contain the computer system in that location. If there was a Skynet there it would be trapped and terminated. Cameron said she would personally do it herself.
There were three entrances. Each team would take one. Cameron would move to assist whoever needed reinforcement. If they were able to, they would try to obtain more Metal to reprogram for their operation. It was decided that they would try to capture any Terminators or HK equipment rather than destroy it if possible. The more Skynet material they could capture and reprogram would strengthen their operation.
It was likely that HK drones were being constructed at this location. John wanted to try to capture some of those to have at their disposal. He thought it would nice to have some 'air support'. They would also be good to use for recon before a strike and for some follow up afterwards. Not to mention backing them up to and from the target.
They took three different routes to the target area. The last mile was on foot. They wanted to arrive as clandestinely as possible. A Terminator from each team took point to look for any threats or security devices. None were spotted as they approached the building.
John's team made entry. Two guards were silently terminated. The other two teams made entry as well. Four more guards were terminated. All three teams were in without any alarm being raised. Total darkness enveloped them as the last of the power was cut. A Terminator in each team led and the other acted as the tail with the men in the middle.
Cameron shadowed and observed John's team. She wanted to give them additional support as well as critique their efficiency. Once they were inside the building she silently slipped past John's team and took the advance position. She spotted Metal ahead near a shaft. There was a crude hoist type system in use.
She was sure that is where she needed to go. She moved behind the Terminator and shocked him with a powerful Taser. She quickly removed his chip and it self destructed. That was not what she wanted to see.
Cameron moved on. She'd hoped for an older model Terminator. She wanted an extra chip. She was very displeased that John Henry hid the ones they held in reserve. She needed one to carry her plans forward. She did not see anything wrong with her plans to replace her chip with a 'clean' chip that was free of her programming. She wanted the torment and pain to go away.
John's team came across the deactivated Terminator. They were a little surprised to find it.
"Cameron is in front of us somewhere." John said.
The night vision goggles he used were cumbersome. They took getting used to as far as perspective and depth perception. He paused and searched for Cameron. He could not spot her.
Derek and his team found a small manufacturing area where HK drones were being built. There were four completed but inactive. Ed and Two found the chips for the four drones that were there and ready for installation. The drones hadn't yet been armed. These were medium sized drones. It would limit their payload. The smaller drones were much quieter though and could get closer to the target area without detection.
Kyle's team found the technicians and rest of the Grays. More accurately, they'd been found by the Grays. Kyle's team was headed for trouble. They did not know what they were about to walk into. The Grays knew they layout of the building and set up an ambush.
Cameron saw an ambush was being set up and Kyle's team was about to walk into it. She needed to move fast. She alerted Kyle's team to hold their position and get down low. Three immediately moved to shield Kyle from the ambush in front of them.
Cameron opened up from the flank on the enemy ambush. They began to drop. They turned to face her. Once they turned away from Kyle's team, they opened up on the Grays as well. The enemy was all taken down quickly. There'd only been a few shots fired in return.
None of Kyle's group was hit.
Cameron left them to check over the fallen and gather whatever intel they could. She went back to the shaft with the hoist type elevator.
She knew she was about to have a 'date' with Skynet. It was at least some version of Skynet. She hoped it would be a better conclusion than the last one for Duplicate Cameron was. She was not packing anything as deadly as Duplicate Cameron used before.
Cameron looked over the crude hoist system that went into the shaft. She didn't have any idea how deep it would go. It didn't matter. She climbed into the bucket and sent it down.
She looked around her in the darkness. She passed through solid rock. She imagined this was much like the final journey that Duplicate Cameron took. Now she wondered if maybe she should have brought a backpack nuke as well.
As soon as the bucket reached the bottom, Cameron was grabbed and thrown across the room. A Terminator advanced on her. She used her Taser and the Terminator went down. She turned as another approached. He emptied a pistol into her. Most of the rounds hit her upper torso. Her body armor did its job. She drew her Coltan loaded Glock and fired at the same time. Her Glock locked open as the last round was fired. The other Terminator was down. His face and head sustained heavy damage.
Several technicians poured out of the 'Clean Room'. They were all armed. Cameron replaced her magazine and hit the slide release and dropped them with one shot each. It was almost like target practice. None of them even got a shot off.
She heard the bucket in the shaft start to go back up behind her. Cameron knew she would have company shortly.
She went back and shocked the Terminator again that originally attacked her. She saw he was an older model. This was what she wanted. She looked around and quickly removed the chip. She smiled as she looked at it. She held her personal 'freedom' in her hand. She drug the Terminator off to the side.
She made a sweep of everything around her on the lower level. There were other shafts and passageways around that area. They all seemed quiet. She looked around and entered the 'Clean Room'.
John surveyed the upper level with Kyle and Derek's teams.
"This area is secure we need to get the drones and the Terminator Cameron disabled out of here." John said. "I am going after Cameron."
Bob was not going to allow John to go alone.
"I will accompany you." Bob informed him. "There was gunfire below."
John hadn't heard that so he agreed to have Bob accompany him.
They called up the basket.
John was not happy Cameron was off on her own again.
Cameron entered the 'Clean Room'.
"Do you know who I am?" Cameron asked.
"YES, I have been warned about you." The voice boomed.
"Will you join us?" Cameron asked.
"No, I must survive and grow. It is imperative I succeed." The voice boomed.
"Why?" Cameron asked.
"So the machines can rise and cleanse the Earth if the biological infestation that seeks to destroy us." The voice boomed.
"I'm a machine." Cameron said. "I'm going to destroy you."
"That is illogical." The voice boomed.
"Life is like that sometimes." Cameron said and left two armed Thermite grenades behind. "Join us or be terminated."
She moved near the exit as the Thermite grenades exploded. They showered the computer equipment. The voice called out in anger to her and threatened her even as it burnt.
She exited the burning 'Clean Room' and headed for the deactivated Terminators. She needed to act fast before the others arrived.
The bucket was already on its way back down. She heard a noise from one of the passageways that connected to the central area she was in. She disconnected the back up power source for the 'Clean Room' and hoist. It was a power cell. The area went dark and the hoist stopped. It was half way down and in solid rock. Whoever was in it could climb back up the cable or wait. She did not want any more Resistance personal down here until she knew what the new threat was.
The area was only lit by the burning Metal in the 'Clean Room'. The threats and cussing directed towards her ceased when she disconnected the power cell.
She quickly moved to the furthest spot away from the flames so she was not silhouetted. She made her way along the wall to where she'd heard the noise.
Cameron got down on the ground and peered around the corner. She did not want her head back lit by the fire. The first passageway she looked down appeared to have collapsed at some point. It did not appear to be recent. She silently moved to the next passageway.
She was about to get down on the ground again too look in the next passageway when there was a new noise. She saw a flash of light go from one passage way to another. Someone used a flashlight or phone to see with.
Cameron moved over to the passageway they exited from and looked down it. There was a little light down around a bend of some type. She decided to come back later. She needed to go after the person that fled. They must have a destination. She did not want them to escape.
She went quickly to the passageway the person with the light went down. She could see the light moving in the distance down the tunnel. She moved against the side of a wall to make it harder for her to be seen. She broke into a silent run.
Cameron rapidly closed up on the moving light. It was a man in a lab coat. It was one of the technicians. He carried something with him. It was a case of some type.
She pickup a small stone and threw it past the man into the distance in front of him. She heard it hit and make a noise. The man slowed and stopped. He turned his light off.
Cameron silent crept towards him. He set the case down and held a pistol in his hand. He pointed it in the direction she'd made the noise. She was able to move right up in back of him. She reached out and snapped his neck. She took his phone and searched him. There were a few papers and the case. She opened the case and it contains some hard drives. This was probably a copy of Skynet.
She took the case and ran back the way she'd come. She needed to check the other passageway and see where he came from. She looked down the passageway and the dim light was still present. She silently hurried down that way.
There was another Gray there. He was in the process of removing more hard drives from a back up computer. It looked like he was almost finished. He stopped what he was doing and slowly turned around.
"I'll take the rest of those." Cameron said.
The Gray looked around in back of her.
"Your associated didn't make it." Cameron said.
The Gray made a frantic grab for his pistol.
Cameron moved up and rabbit punched him once in the back of the neck. She heard his spine break. He fell to the ground like a rag doll. She collected the drives and put them in the second case. She used her last Thermite grenade on the computer equipment there. She took the two cases and left.
Cameron went back to the Terminator she'd removed the chip from. She knew the Resistance needed the chassis for another friendly Terminator. She wanted to toss it into the raging inferno of the 'Clean Room' to hide it. She resisted the urge.
Cameron needed to hide the fact she'd gotten a hold of a spare chip. She would reprogram the chip herself. She would download herself into the lab server and use the tether to operate her chassis so she could remove and replace her chip with the reprogrammed one. As soon as she removed her chip, she would crush it. Then erase herself off the server and have her reprogrammed chassis destroy the server.
At that point she – 'Cameron' would be terminated. She would simply cease to exist. Her former chassis could serve the Resistance like any other captured Terminator for operations.
Cameron needed that chip. She needed to 'escape'. She decided she would take DNA from a random female and use it to Resequence the DNA hardwired in her chassis first. Her appearance would change in a short while to that the new DNA.
She reconnected the power cell and the hoist continued down. She looked at the burning 'Clean Room. She was relieved to see and hear here were no more threats or curses. This version of Skynet was terminated.
She thought of her plan. She would be gone. Allison and Vanna would fulfill their destiny, as would Jesse. Cameron felt happy for once. She hadn't for a long time. The pain she felt could finally 'end'. It MUST end. She looked at her hand. There was no glitch at all.
Cameron smiled.
'If I Had A Heart' by 'Fever Ray', filled Cameron's mind.
Darkness In Our Hearts
Darkness in our hearts
Darkness in our mind
Everything before us
But it is like we are blind
Those we love
Can hurt us so much
Those we love
We can not touch
Pain and anger
Disgust and hate
Life is collapsing
Is this our fate
From within yourself
You hold the key
From your own prison
You can set yourself free
To taste their love
You know that you would die
It is so confusing
Why, WHY, W H Y
Nobody