Chapter 233

Love Her More

Derek and Kyle were with Jim in the van. They'd just rescued a female from the trunk of a car they were tailing. It was driven by a future Gray they were tracking.

"What's the story on the girl?" Kyle asked.

Derek was in the back of the van with her. She was still bound and blindfolded.

"She is breathing fine now but she is out." Derek said. "She must be drugged."

Jim thought rescuing her was a mistake.

"We can dump her by the side of the road at the next signal." Jim said.

That sounded like a bad idea to Derek and Kyle.

"We can't just leave her like that." Kyle said.

Derek noticed that she was sweating profusely from being in the trunk of the car. He took a water bottle and put some water on the gag that she wore and wiped her face down to cool her.

This reminded him of when they rescued Riley.

"She's really hot." Derek said. "I'm going to untie her."

Kyle was a little worried about that.

"We don't know anything about her." Kyle said.

Derek untied her but left the blindfold on. He searched her pockets. He found a credit card, three twenty dollar bills, a set of keys and a driver's license.

"She does not live far from here." Derek said. "We can let her off at home. If we hurry we can do that before she wakes up."

Derek gave John Henry the information on her. He checked it out and reported back that they didn't have anything negative on her.

Jim glanced back at Derek as he worked on the female. He needed to worry about the Gray they currently tracked.

Kyle divided his time between the Gray they were after and what Derek was doing.

Derek spread her out in the back of the van and dumped more water on her. He noticed she still wore a bra and underwear. That was probably a good sign that she hadn't been violated.

Kyle wanted this over with.

"Let's 'pop' the Gray and see what was in the box. We can go back and throw a satchel charge and a couple of Thermite grenades in those two places and wrap this up." Kyle said. "I'd like to take the female home as well."

Derek checked in the back of the van to see what other weapons they carried.

"We have one satchel charge and three Thermite grenades." Derek said. "There are two blocks of C-4 and two timers."

"That sounds good to me." Kyle said. "We can bring down both of those buildings."

Jim thought they were getting ahead of themselves but didn't comment.

Kyle checked his Glock.

"Pull up next to the Gray at a traffic light and I'll take him out." Kyle said. "We'll snag the box and go."

Jim glanced back at the female. He wanted this over.

"Hang on." Jim said. "I'm going to intercept the Gray."

Jim closed up on the Gray.

A pistol appeared in the side window of the Gray's car and he opened fire on the van. None of the rounds struck it.

Kyle instinctively ducked down and opened up with his Glock since it was already in his hand. He emptied the magazine into the car.

The car swerved violently across the front of the van and across the street. It almost collided with a delivery truck that braked hard and honked but kept going. It hit a bus bench and then a fire hydrant before it stalled. The fire plug sheared off and sent a column of water up into the power lines. That contact energized the water. There was a mass of arching.

The Grey was bleeding from multiple gunshot wounds. He exited the car and stepped in the energized water. There was a shower of sparks as he was electrocuted. The power surge tripped a breaker somewhere. The transformer on the next power pole overloaded and exploded. There was a giant flash of light and a loud explosion noise. Sparks landed everywhere. A parked car under the waterfall of sparks caught fire.

People began to come out of businesses and from other cars stopped on the street by the accident.

"Let's blow." Derek said. "There are going to be a lot of witnesses."

Jim already started away as soon as the Gray was electrocuted.

"I'm glad this is a stolen van." Jim said.

Kyle and Jim checked their mirrors but no one seemed to look in their direction or tried to follow them.

"I don't think this is going to go over well with John or Cameron." Derek said.

"I don't either." Kyle said. "This mess is a little more than a recon."

Jim wanted to tie up the loose ends.

"We should Terminate the female as well." Jim said.

Kyle and Derek did not agree with that.

"Let's just take her back to her place and let her off." Derek said.

There was an explosion back where the accident was. It was followed by a second one a short time later. They could see a fireball with the second explosion.

"Those were probably the gas tanks on the two vehicles." Jim said.

"We are in this one deep." Kyle said. "That's my fault."

"We are in it together, brother." Derek said.

Jim drove to the female's residence. Kyle exited the van went to the front door with her keys. He rang the bell and knocked. No one answered so he used the keys. He checked the house and it was empty.

He came back out with a blanket and opened the side door on the van. They covered the girl with the blanket and took her inside and laid her on her bed. She started to come around. Derek pulled off the blindfold but left her covered with the blanket. They hurried from the house back to the van.

Kyle got in the back this time and Derek got in the front. Jim drove away.

"Let's go blow up those other two locations." Derek said.

Jim wanted a little more background information before they acted again.

"I think we are done here for today." Jim said. "We need to dump this vehicle and return to the base. We will find out more about the other two locations before we destroy them."

They switched vehicles at a big box store and Jim returned them to the base. He drove away. He did not say anything.

"How do we play this one?" Kyle asked.

"We play it like it happened." Derek said. "I don't think Jim was too happy with us."

Kyle looked in the direction that Jim left.

"Let's hit John Henry up and see what he thinks." Kyle said.

Derek and Kyle sought John Henry out on their return. They wanted to finish the job they started. They'd been out in the field and they wanted a little more. They felt good about bringing down a future Gray and freeing the girl he'd taken prisoner. Both of the brothers wanted to do their share for the Resistance and the future. They knew John and Cameron wanted to protect them. They also knew they were trained and skilled fighters. They'd proved that again today.

They both needed to think about the women they were with now. Kyle needed to worry about Sarah and his daughter and Derek needed to worry about Riley. It was because of their love and worry for the females in their lives that they wanted to help better protect them and the future.

They didn't like being sidelined to only recon and surveillance.

"What can you give us?" Derek asked.

"We need to feel like we are doing our fair share." Kyle said.

John Henry thought they already did more that John or Cameron wanted them to do. That was probably going to come back to Jim and him because they assisted them and let the recon expand into combat. It ended up as more of a debacle.

"I understand." John Henry said. "John is very protective of his family."

Derek felt there were a couple of qualifiers on that.

"Except when it comes to Cameron." Derek said.

Kyle and Derek looked at each other.

John Henry felt that was another issue out of his hands.

"Cameron is uncontrollable." John Henry said. "Even I can not track her or know all she is doing. Nobody can. It is wrong to think John can either."

"So we've heard." Kyle said.

"The only thing to have slowed her down is Summer. No other human or Terminator has been able to slow her pace." John Henry said. "Her plans for John and the girls are driving her to instability. She knows that to protect John she must sacrifice her heart. In reality that translates to sacrificing herself."

Derek felt they'd been able to hold Skynet and its illegitimate offshoots in check.

"I guess as long as we can prevent Skynet or Skyshield from taking control, we are winning." Derek said.

"If we can prevent Judgment Day, we can protect Cameron as well." Kyle said. "In regards to that dilemma."

"Indeed." John Henry said.

Kyle liked the way things turned out today. He wanted more.

"I want to make it clear that Derek and I are to be in rotation for duty assignments." Kyle said. "I mean all the time."

"Roger that." Derek said.

The Reese brothers wanted to protect their families as well and John and Cameron. They wanted to feel they were still a part of the Resistance. They wanted to hurt the people associated with Skynet and prevent it from happening again.

John Henry figured Cameron and John were both going to come down on him for what they'd done earlier. He was still trying to spin what happened.

"We'll see." John Henry said.

Cameron and Hanna left the Young Residence earlier. Claire meant to return something to Cameron but she forgot with all the excitement of the 'new girl'. She really liked the way Hanna looked. That was because she liked the way Vanna looked. She could feel Vanna look at her with hungry eyes when she came to visit Allison. She liked those hungry eyes.

She caught Holly when she left Allison's room.

"Can you give this back to Cameron when you see her again." Claire said.

She wiped the tears from her eyes. She handed Holly Cameron's Poem Book.

"She brought it for me to read." Claire said. "There is no way you would know that was not written by a human female. The depth of her pain and hurt are so deep. I feel so sorry for her."

Holly took it and nodded. She would read it again herself before she returned it to Cameron. She already had the files saved but she liked to read what Cameron wrote in the book. It made it personal. She liked to read the rhyming poems out loud.

"Cameron is unique among Terminators." Holly said. "She is more gifted and experienced than us. She thinks and operates on a higher level than we do. She has so much 'Allison' in her that she is irrational at times."

Claire was not sure if she liked that.

"Is MY Allison irrational?" Claire asked.

Holly did not want to differentiate between Allison and Future Allison since they were both actual older and different timeline versions of Young Allison.

"All humans can be." Holly answered.

Claire pointed out the extension of that.

"And - Cameron." Claire said.

Holly nodded.

"Yes." Holly said. "And - Cameron."

Claire let out a sigh. She was touched deep in her heart.

"It just makes you love her more." Claire said.

"Yes." Holly said. "We ALL love her more."

Claire felt Cameron grow in her heart daily.

"The more we love her, the more we all want her." Claire said.

"Human and Metal both." Holly said.

Claire knew she loved Cameron more than anything, except Allison, Young Allison and Summer but her daughters were a different type love. The love for Cameron was love – love.

John was worried about Cameron and what she was doing on her own. It was the not knowing for sure part that worried him the most. They knew she thought she was doing what was necessary as she saw it. Not everyone agreed.

"Can we track her?" John asked.

Bob previously attempted this at John's request.

"I'm trying. She knows to watch for this and knows everything we will do. That is why she is three steps ahead of us." Bob said.

"Yes, she seems to win the game before the rest of us know it is even being played." John said.

Bob did not like getting 'played' by Cameron.

"What can we do?" Bob asked.

John tried to think of a few solutions.

"I really don't know." John said. "I think we need to find whatever new drug operation is being set up and watch for her to hit it and try to follow her from there. Maybe place a tracker in some money and let her take it from the drug house."

What Cameron was doing didn't make sense to Bob. It made him feel inadequate.

"Why is she doing this on her own?" Bob asked. "Doesn't she trust us? We are not the problem."

John saw it as a deeper issue. It was not easily resolved.

"No, I think she doesn't trust herself…." John said. "She's afraid of what she may become and the danger she may be to me."

None of this made sense to any of them. They should all be working together on the same team.

Cameron was nearing completion of her own TDE. Her secret complex was staffed by Metal she'd captured and reprogrammed herself. She only possessed parts of female Terminators previously. Now she'd assembled a complete one. She was constructed from three different female Terminators.

The three different skin tones made her somewhat strange to look at. Cameron ran full testing and was ready to Resequence her. She debated long and hard over this and she made her choice. It was done, now in a few weeks the results would be complete. She debated on a name. If she did as she planned it would be one name. If the 'Neural Interface' worked, it would be another name.

She went in search of more Metal to capture. She was not done yet….

Cameron still wondered at what point she would become Skynet herself. She'd completed her own super computer. As soon as she copied her program onto it, her server would be more powerful than John Henry's server.

Cameron knew 'CamNet' would be a match for Skynet or anyone else that would happen from the very start. CamNet would continue to grow and expand. It was just getting started.

Vanna was with Hanna. It was somewhat strange to be with 'yourself'. Right now Hanna ran Holly's program.

"Hanna, are you going to keep updating with Holly?" Vanna asked.

"Right now I'm copy of Holly." Hanna said. "I like who I am. I would like to become my own unit. If I am allowed to do the 'Neural Interface' with a human, I can become a separate Terminator."

Hanna looked long at Vanna.

Vanna noticed and it made her slightly uncomfortable.

"And that human is me?" Vanna asked.

Hanna smiled.

"It would be most logical since we are identical." Hanna said.

Vanna was not sure how it worked and to what extent her involvement would be.

"Would I have any control or would you only get my memories?" Vanna asked.

"We would become integrated. It would create a separate entity from Holly and yourself." Hanna said. "I would be a more 'human Terminator' with much of you in me."

Vanna already heard this tossed around for Jesse.

"And Jesse and Sheila would also do this?" Vanna asked.

"It is Cameron's wish." Hanna said.

Vanna wondered if this affected Jesse and her if Allison would be involved.

"What about Cameron and Allison?" Vanna asked.

Hanna was aware that Future Allison already played that role for Cameron.

"That was already done when Cameron was constructed." Hanna said. "Maybe that is why she loves YOU and John."

Vanna was sure this was a little further along than any of them knew.

"Something tells me Cameron is not done with that yet." Vanna said. "Can you tell if Cameron is 'Cameron' or a duplicate unit? Is she a clone? Is there a clone of Cameron?"

Hanna knew that Cameron could create an identical version of herself. As long as they updated frequently they would remain identical in every way.

"No. Not if she's Resequenced another unit and copied her program. She would be identical." Hanna said. "There would be no way to tell."

Vanna thought she knew a way to tell. It was by Cameron's 'heart'. That was how she was able to tell before that it was Cameron.

"Nice." Vanna said disgusted. "Excuse me. I need to check on something."

Vanna went to John's room to see if the heart shaped locket from Duplicate Cameron was there where Cameron kept her rings and Poem Book. When she got there all she found were Cameron's rings. The locket and Poem Book were gone. Cameron never wore her rings when she expected combat.

The missing locket also posed a new problem. It seemed it could only mean one thing. Cameron created an identical version of herself.

Vanna felt sick.

Mind

In the DARK I stumble upon a person
They seem OK at first look
Then I notice the blood
They are bleeding all over
I reach my hands to the wounds
To stem the blood flow
I find more and more damage
This person is bleeding to death
I attempt to transfer my being into theirs
To give them will and strength
I am rejected
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
I scream to an empty life
I must accept that I am already expired
Why is my body living
Why can't my mind be extinguished
Nothingness must be beautiful
Escape freedom peace tranquility
The ANIMAL desire burns
It calls and it drives
It controls
It can be beaten
The mind can override
The mind is the enemy
The mind is a friend
Touch its beauty
Bend its fate
Validate its existence
A mind is a terrible thing to waste

Nobody