Chapter 178
Evade
Cameron needed to evade Bob and Holly. She made plans for 'herself' and no one was getting in her way - Nobody. John slacked his security to surveil her. It was useless to follower her or try to track her. She knew she was too elusive. She knew they knew it as well. John needed his protection. They should worry about that instead of her.
One of the Terminator's that she'd deactivated at the Skynet facility was reprogrammed from one of the chips John Henry kept hidden. He was now called Mel. If they found her secret chip before she reprogrammed it, she would take the one from the new Terminator to reprogram for herself. Once she connected with the tether to the server she would crush her chip anyway and then try to erase herself from the server before destroying it. She wanted to destroy her chip and the server so they could not collect fragments of 'her' off of it. She wanted to get away from it all, not be 'brought back'.
Resequencing her DNA first was top priority for her. The sooner she collected the specific sample, the sooner she could alter her sheath and its 'function'. Cameron did not understand why they thought something was 'wrong' with her. She felt fine. This seemed no different to her than throwing out the 'trash'.
These were the feelings she experienced right before the TDE incident. That incident started a series of events that ended up creating a set of Duplicate girls and maybe a second set of Duplicate girls as well. That was still to be determined. Cameron wondered about that. What if she was successful in erasing herself from this timeline and she ended up showing back up again from some future as another Duplicate version of her. It would defeat the whole purpose of what she was doing. The Duplicate version should still feel the same way she does. Maybe this was all for nothing.
John Henry was always on the lookout for Skynet related activity. He was somewhat surprised when he found something or in this case, it found him.
He called John to the Command Center. He arrived a few minutes later.
"What do you have?" John asked.
John Henry checked his monitors.
"I've picked up an HK drone flying around in the daylight." John Henry said.
John thought that was bad news.
"Where's it at?" John asked. "I hope it's not headed our way. How is our security?"
John Henry double checked the base security. Everything seemed in order.
"No, it's not headed here." John Henry said. "The base security is good. The HK drone is in the Tehachapi mountain range. It is about forty miles northwest of Edwards Air Force Base. It is not associated with any military testing. I have checked all the records."
It seemed to John that it would be rather bold for Grays or some version of Skynet to have an HK drone up in the daylight.
"How did you locate it?" John asked. "Did it attack something?"
John Henry thought the method of contact was rather strange in itself.
"It flew in front of a web cam or rail cam next to the railroad tracks and stayed there for three minutes." John Henry said. "After that it departed."
John thought about that. The HK drone appeared in a remote area in the daylight and stayed at a location for three minutes. There was no reason other than to be noticed.
"You mean it wanted to be spotted?" John asked. "Is someone knocking on our door?"
John Henry could see no reason other than to be known.
"Apparently." John Henry said.
John did not like the implication or bold challenge.
"Why?" John asked. "To draw us out and engage us? To try and trap us?"
John Henry did not know how else to read it.
"I would have to think so." John Henry said. "It appears to be 'bait'."
John hoped John Henry was able to get a fix on it.
"Where did it go?" John asked. "Were you able to track it?"
John Henry failed to detect anything once it was away from the rail cam.
"I don't know. It disappeared." John Henry said. "It was not tracked on any radar."
John didn't like this development. Someone was baiting them to come out and 'play'. This could only lead to a trap and casualties for their group. He knew they were going to have to be extra careful. It worried him that Cameron was not functioning at one hundred percent.
He only wished he could reach Cameron and try to help her. The last thing John wanted was another 'Day Of Loss' and having anyone get killed or terminated. One of those events was enough.
John was still upset at Cameron for that episode and the related events associated with it. John found it hard to believe Cameron would terminate herself and not even say 'goodbye' to him. Then again if she would have, he would have tried to stop her even if he needed to deactivate her. Now whatever she was up to seemed to have some other negative 'ending'.
It was a real 'Catch 22'. Do nothing and she self terminates or deactivate her and effectively terminate her himself. No matter what one does, they lose, Cameron loses. Do nothing and Cameron still ends up losing.
John hoped Bob and Holly could stay up with Cameron. She always seemed to have another trick up her sleeve and could anticipate what would happen next. He often wondered if that was because she'd actually done all this before like she thought. There were no files to prove that and she did not remember anything specific.
There was no way to know that for sure one way or the other. John wondered where Cameron would have stashed her chassis if she intercepted herself arriving from the future to come back and find him. He doubted she would destroy them. Then again maybe she did. She seemed willing to destroy herself now. Still the idea of a cave or bunker full of deactivated Camerons was intriguing.
Bob and Holly returned to the base. They both wore glum looks. It was bad news. Cameron was able to evade them. They went to find John to tell him they failed their mission.
Holly seemed even more disturbed than Bob about their failure. She'd never failed a mission before.
Bob started to explain what happened. He wanted to take full responsibility for the failure.
John cut him off right away. He was clearly irritated.
"What do you mean you lost her?" John asked. "There were two of you."
Bob knew it was more than about them. They needed to think of the safety of innocent bystanders.
"She was able to evade us in the subway." Bob said. "She forced the door open and climbed onto the roof of the car and jumped off."
Holly and Bob searched a full day for her with no luck.
"She tricked us." Holly said. "We've searched for twenty-four hours."
John shook his head. There was a new Skynet related threat and he needed to get more 'babysitters' for Cameron.
"Great. Now I will need to pull more Terminators off of the protection details to assist you next time, if there is a next time." John said disgustedly.
What happened next astounded everyone.
Cameron walked in the door. She smiled at everyone and winked at Holly.
"Hi, guys." Cameron said.
She walked by like nothing happened. She headed in the direction of John's room.
John, Holly and Bob all just looked at each other.
"We have another problem to deal with besides her. Get Gail and Three and we will meet with John Henry in thirty minutes. I'm going to talk to Cameron first." John said and left.
It seemed that Cameron wanted something additional rather than a conversation to Holly.
"I think Cameron will do a little more than 'talk'." Holly said.
Bob witnessed defective behavior before.
"Affirmative." Bob said. "She is malfunctioning."
Holly did not like how Cameron winked at her. It was to rub in her failure.
"She needs an attitude adjustment as well…." Holly said.
Bob and Holly were both displeased at the way Cameron behaved and with what she was attempting. She seemed to be confrontational and looking for a fight.
Bob believed if Cameron wanted to fight that she should save it for Skynet and whatever this new HK drone threat or challenge was about.
John thought about what he wanted to say when he found Cameron. It looked like she headed for their room. Maybe that was where she stashed the chip. That would be just like her to hide it right in front of him.
When he reached their room Cameron stood there naked. Her panties were still in her hand as she'd been in the process of removing them as he walked in the door.
He took in the scene somewhat confused. Cameron evaded the others on purpose and now she was back here like nothing happened and stripping? Here she was now ready to offer herself to him like it was any other day. None of it made any sense.
John wanted to get some clarity before things moved too far along.
"Cameron what are you doing?" John asked.
Cameron tilted her head slightly. She looked down at her naked figure. She thought it was obvious. She wondered why John was confused.
"I've removed my clothes so we can make love." Cameron said. "Don't you want me?"
John was confused by Cameron's erratic behavior.
"Cameron what are you doing?" John asked again.
Cameron ran her hand down her naked sheath.
"Look at me. Don't you want 'this'?" Cameron asked. "It's all for you."
This was too much for John.
"Cameron, I…." John started.
Cameron was tired of waiting. She overpowered John. She grabbed him and picked him up and moved him closer to the bed.
"Cameron, STOP IT." John shouted.
Cameron needed to be touched. She wanted to make love.
"No! You will provide me with sex, NOW." Cameron said.
John tried to move away. Cameron held him.
John stopped and looked at her. She looked back at him.
John was afraid Cameron was about to revert or malfunction.
Cameron looked at John for a long moment.
She soon realized the irrationality of her actions.
"John, I'm sorry." Cameron said.
She released him. She retrieved her panties from the floor and slipped them back on.
John did not understand any of this.
"Cameron, what's wrong with you?" John asked.
Cameron's shoulders sagged.
"I do not know." Cameron said. "I DON'T KNOW."
John tried to 'reach out' to her. He was a little concerned for his safety but he wanted to 'connect' to Cameron.
"Talk to me, Cameron. You know I love you. YOU KNOW IT." John said.
John so desperately wanted to 'reach' her. There were other times he wished he could have as well. He did not and 'bad' things happened. He understood Cameron was a machine and 'ran' from a program. She was not a 'real' female even if she was designed and constructed to emulate one. He saw all that as something that made her special. It did not subtract from her presence but added to it.
He knew humans had problems and some suffered from various ailments to mental illness. Most of that was not their fault. It was the make up of their body that brought on those afflictions.
He was sure there were times Cameron may have suffered from a form of 'mental illnesses' in her own way. He'd been around computers for much of his life and they did not always perform as they were supposed to. Sometimes they broke or shut down. None of them lasted forever. Mechanical devices were subject to wear by their very nature. Things wore out and stuff happened at times. Nothing lasted forever except death.
John understood all of that and accepted that as part of who Cameron was. He was very aware that if he lived he would grow older and be afflicted by many things. A lot of what happened to older folks was not pretty. He'd want Cameron to accept him for what happened to him over time. He was willing to do the same for her. That is what love was about. Love was about sacrifice.
Cameron could see and feel John reach out to her. She appreciated it greatly. She'd acted on impulse and done things in the last day. She believed she successfully altered her DNA and her sheath already started the Resequencing process. She really wanted to be with John one last time before she couldn't. Now it looked like she'd ruined even that. She at least needed to try and explain her abusive actions towards him.
"I do, John. I do. I can't seem to control, myself." Cameron said. "I've done something terrible. I believe I have altered my sheath. Everything will 'change'. I wanted you to have 'ME' one last time…."
'Iron Man' by 'Black Sabbath', played in Cameron's mind.
Evade
As each day passes
Our love may start to fade
A heart can begin to crack
When the edges get bent and frayed
The hurt and sting we feel
Cuts like a sharp blade
Isn't it really of ourselves
That we are actually afraid
At one point it seemed
As if all the stars were arrayed
Maybe time has shown
It was all a cruel masquerade
We thought we could win
But it seems we were only played
Hope, joy and happiness evaporated
That left us feeling dismayed
To get that love back
What would we sell or trade
The love trapped inside of us
Is going to explode like a grenade
There are those who have stayed
There are those who have strayed
It is all some wild escapade
Until one day we are all betrayed
We are where we are now
Does that make the grade
What price will need to be paid
To serenade in love's crusade
As we try to persuade
Some may be swayed
We think it is an upgrade
In reality it is another barricade
To share with another
One may soon invade
To get away from it all
Is easier if everything we evade
Nobody