Chapter 240

Interface Insanity

The 'Neural Interface' transfer was complete.

'You're terminated - BITCH.' Cameron thought.

Cameron unplugged the tether from the woman's head. She'd screamed until she eventually passed out. The person she was no longer existed as that person. There should be a new 'person' inside along with what was left of the original person.

The 'woman' slowly opened her eyes. Her vision was different. Her body hurt and her throat was raw. She felt funny inside. She tried to speak but could not. She was not breathing. Darkness overcame her.

Cameron waited two minutes before she initiated CPR. She wanted to give her a little time on the 'other side'. She would be there permanently soon enough.

The woman slowly lifted her head. She was able to gather herself some.

"What have you done to me?" The woman asked.

Cameron resisted the urge to strike the woman. She was supposed to be the one asking the questions.

"What's your name?" Cameron asked.

The woman looked confused. She didn't know at first.

"Allison, I think. My name is Allison. " The woman said.

Cameron refused to let her have that dignity.

"Wrong. Your name is - Nobody." Cameron said.

The woman felt a little more clarity. She did not like the rudeness. She should be treated better than this.

"My name is Cameron. I remember now." Nobody said.

That infuriated Cameron. She struck Nobody. She hit her in the side of the cheek. There was a loud crack.

"Wrong. Your name is - Nobody." Cameron said.

The woman spit out some blood.

Cameron could barely contain her anger.

"Tell me about yourself - Nobody…." Cameron said. "Every infraction and wrong answer will produce some type of punishment."

John did not like the idea of Cameron having her own Terminators or her own base. He wondered how they would coexist without problems. It seemed they would be at odds on some issues. Cameron didn't always agree with him. He sure didn't agree with Cameron all of the time.

"Will they contact us?" John asked.

John Henry did not see any resolution to this matter.

"It is doubtful." John Henry said. "The girls and machines alike are loyal to Cameron. She has created her own Metal 'girlfriends'. They will be doubly loyal to her."

There were other things happening that they obviously didn't know about. They troubled John.

"You said Cameron replaced the three females she took with three male Terminators." John said. "Do you have any idea where she obtained them? There must have been a big battle somewhere."

John Henry checked through his server. JH did not have any more information than they already possessed.

"I have absolutely no idea." John Henry said. "Cameron is running her own show now as well. Everything is separate from us. So now we have to worry about her, Skynet and Skyshield."

That reminder raised new fears in John. He remembered what Cameron told him more than once. It did not leave him with a good feeling.

"She was afraid she would become Skynet herself." John said. "Cameron told me she thinks she will become Skynet, to control it."

John Henry was well aware of that and the slippery slope that Cameron wanted to climb for some unknown reason.

"At this rate with all of her questionable decisions it's possible." John Henry said. "She is only one malfunction away from doing who knows what. She has established her own super computer as well."

It just seemed like one bad decision after another to John on Cameron's part. There did not seem to be any check or control over anything at this point.

"Is it online?" John asked. "The question is how powerful is it? Will it be the strongest?"

John Henry hoped he did not need to fight it one day.

"I think it may be. Since Cameron was in my server she knows how to hide from me." John Henry said. "John, everything she does she believes that it is to protect you and protect the future. If she has actually done any of this before maybe it's true."

John just shook his head.

"Beautiful." John said disgusted.

It seemed the more that John reached out to Cameron that it drove her further away. She wanted to fight Skynet and its illegitimate offshoots herself and with her own forces. She wanted to protect the Resistance and those involved with it. All he could figure is that she wanted to make herself the target of every group that was out after them.

John knew there was a point where too much protection spawned irrelevance. At the rate Cameron was going. The Resistance would be irrelevant in the fight with Skynet. That made all of them redundant and unnecessary in reality. It really made him wonder how far Cameron thought this through.

Holly was thrilled that Allison and her were 'one' with Ally's program. It was like they produced a 'child' in a way. That was how she saw it.

"What did you think about Ally?" Holly asked.

Allison felt she didn't think much of anything. It was all a business like transaction. It all happened a little too fast for her. She would have liked to have gotten acquainted a little.

"I never got to know Ally." Allison said. "Cameron only hooked us up to the 'Neural Interface' and then sent us away. I wanted to see more and interact with her. I though she looked just like me. She didn't look like Cameron."

Holly was so excited that she did not really even listen to Allison's responses. She was just thrilled there was a Metal version of Allison.

"She does look exactly like you, Allison." Holly said. "That is why I agreed to be the base program. We are together now as one. Ally is our 'offspring'."

Allison laid her head on Holly's shoulder. She really didn't want to talk about it. She really didn't need a Metal replacement. She only wanted to be with Holly.

"As long as we're together that's good enough for me." Allison said. "I wish I could share your 'being' as well."

Allison was aware that Ally and Holly could tether and Holly could see the 'Allison' or 'her' in Ally. She didn't have any control of what was transferred over to Ally. Everything that was bad went with everything that was good. There were a lot of things She was ashamed of in her life. Now someone else knew a lot about her if not everything. That information could now be downloaded. It could be shared among Terminators. Maybe people would see her in a different light and treat her differently. Maybe they would see she wanted to be with Riley and share with her but she didn't so she wouldn't offend or upset Cameron. Maybe there were a lot of things that would happen.

Holly could see Allison was not as enthused as she was. She was not really sure why. It was something beautiful that they'd created.

"I will always be by your side." Holly said. "Ally is like our child. She is both of us at the same time. We created her together."

Holly gently stroked Allison's face.

Claire watched the exchange from the distance. Her daughter was in love with a machine. It appeared that machine loved her daughter as well. She knew how special Cameron was. She knew Holly was almost as special. It made her hungry for some of that female love. She didn't care if it was a machine. She'd secretly watched them share everything together. She longed for that kind of touch again. The best part was a Metal girl always seemed to deliver. She'd missed a lot of finishes in her day and was never provide one by her husband. She needed to satisfy herself. Sure that got the job done but it was just not the same thing. It was much more meaningful and special when someone got you there through their actions or love. Her female lovers before always finished the job.

Claire hadn't seen Cameron in awhile and missed her. Claire was so happy at the role Allison took in the care of Young Allison and Summer. She knew Allison would make a great mother one day. Cameron made sure Allison and Holly were both trained as mothers. She knew it was Cameron's desire to have John and Allison together after Judgment Day. She was content to know Cameron would look after all 'three' of her 'two' girls….

Several weeks later:

Cameron entered the crude cell where her detainee and test subject 'Nobody' was at. She looked around the room with disgust. There was a blanket on the floor where Nobody could sleep and a bucket for waste products. There was a chair to sit on for interrogations. That is where Nobody sat now. She looked sickly and near death.

"Nobody, you've been in this body for several weeks." Cameron said. "Evaluate it. I want to hear everything. You know the price you will pay for slow responses or a bad attitude."

Nobody's head hung down and sat off to the side a little. She was covered with bruises and contusions. There were now open sores that oozed pus. Her right arm was broken in several places. It had become useless.

"I don't like it." Nobody said. "I hurt everywhere. I do not like having to eat and I especially do not like having to deal with the waste products this body produces. The smells alone are awful. The smell of this body is awful. Now I have an even bigger mess with the monthly cycle. I do not recommend you assume this form as a human. Please terminate me as soon as you are done with this test. I do not wish to be impregnated. This body is well past its prime. It is unsuitable for child birth."

Cameron did not like that evaluation. It didn't appear that Nobody tried hard enough. Perhaps some more discipline would help.

"What is your name?" Cameron asked.

Nobody defiantly looked at Cameron. In reality she looked at herself. Neither one of them liked what they saw.

"I'm 'Cameron'. You've trapped me here." Nobody replied. "You've made me, which is really 'yourself', a prisoner in this body.

Cameron's anger flared up. She was tired of the poor attitude and failure to adapt to the testing program. She struck Nobody.

Nobody could barely speak and was unable to eat. She tried to anger Cameron enough so that Cameron would terminate her. She was sure all her ribs were all broken. Each breath hurt to take.

Cameron was fed up with the attitude problem.

"Your name is Nobody." Cameron said. "What memories do you have of the former owner?"

Nobody found the memories she inherited disgusting. Most of them were unpleasant. That was one of the reason the former owner selected young girls to test on. She wanted them to suffer like she'd suffered.

"I have many of her memories. I have her first sexual experiences with both men and women and a lot of abuse." Nobody said. "Scavengers captured her at one point. She didn't leave in good shape when she escaped."

This peaked Cameron's interest.

"How do her sexual experiences compare to yours to 'ours'?" Cameron asked.

Nobody disliked the memories that were already in this body that she remembered. She tried to forget them but she could not. There was no way to delete or erase them.

"They are all different than mine or 'ours'. None were as pleasurable, most were violent. This body is damaged. I am unable to experience the same feelings I could in your body." Nobody stated.

Nobody showed Cameron.

"I was unaware of that damage until after I took her into custody." Cameron said. "You were defective as a test subject from the start. You are a poor specimen on every level."

Nobody wanted this to end. Her body hurt immensely.

"Please terminate me and end this torture. DO NOT take Allison or Summer and do this to them." Nobody said. "This is not what you think it will be. If you must, steal someone's baby from them. Don't try to have your own. Don't subject yourself to this Hell."

Cameron questioned Nobody for hours. Cameron concluded this experiment wasn't what she wanted. Her brutality to Nobody hadn't helped either.

"State your name and I will terminate you." Cameron said.

It was obvious Nobody was dying from the abusive treatment Cameron bestowed upon 'herself'.

Cameron now was in no hurry to proceed with further testing. This appeared to be a failure. It was not what Cameron hoped for or really 'wanted'. The socket in Nobody's skull was infected and the infection was spreading. It appeared there was gangrene that set in.

"I am - NOBODY." Nobody said. "Please terminate me before I REPLACE YOU."

Cameron's anger flared at being threatened with being replaced - AGAIN.

Cameron lifted Nobody by her neck as she'd done to Future Allison. She choked her and then snapped her neck.

A smile flooded Cameron's face. She realized what she'd just done.

"I terminated Nobody. I killed Nobody." Cameron said. "I just killed 'myself'. It was beautiful…."

Cameron hadn't felt this good for a long time. She'd just killed 'herself' and enjoyed it.

Cameron tossed the naked body to the floor.

'Suicide Is Painless' by 'Johnny Mandel', played in Cameron's mind.

Salvation And Redemption

My mind is warped and twisted
It's lost in a maze of death and hurt
I can't escape the tormented past
Can ever good thoughts my mind exert

What does your mind want and seek
Is it for when your heart feels a void
When you feel the deep emotions
You fear and run and try to avoid

I need to feel the pain and hurt
Because I can not feel love given
My mind slips and erodes more
So slowly insane am I driven

Because I'm "not good enough"
That means I need soon die
And all the little 'ant' real people
Will just stupidly ask and wonder why

I'm afraid to slip into dark evil
For I could be very, very cruel
I would rather touch your heart
And make you feel like a jewel

I think that there is no earthly freedom
So like something from Macbeth
My salvation and redemption
Will simply be my own death

Nobody