Chapter 303

Strike Out

John was worried about Cameron being away. The incident with the unidentified HK drone didn't help any. Its origin was still a mystery and caused him a lot of worry. There were already too many unknowns and too many Skynet offshoots. As soon anything could be identified it was targeted and terminated.

"Is there anything new?" John asked.

John Henry didn't want to tell John that things hadn't changed since he asked him a few minutes ago.

"There's nothing that I can detect." John Henry said. "There's no further activity of any kind and nothing new on the net."

John figured there must be something. Some group was active.

"What about any more Gray's that have been identified?" John asked. "Are there any fresh targets?"

John Henry uncovered more leads. Some were already verified and tracked down. Bob was out in the field now dealing with some. Cameron asked him to be sure on everyone they were about to terminate. She didn't want to terminate anyone who hadn't committed crimes against mankind in the future. The fact they hadn't actually done it yet meant nothing to Cameron. She was from the future and they'd already committed those crimes. Cameron's past was the future. The events already happened for her. Their actions dictated their fates, not her. She said that she simple carried out the sentence they'd given themselves.

"I've been working on a few leads, one is from Cameron's future and one is from Allison's future." John Henry said. "I'm collecting information on both."

John looked at the photos, one was a middle age man and the other was a teenage female.

"What a waste." John said as he looked at her photo.

John wondered if there was some way to change her direction but there didn't seem to be. Innocent people could be killed in the future if she wasn't terminated.

John Henry knew he needed to pass this new information along to Cameron, even though he thought it was unwise. Cameron asked him to do so. No one says 'no' to Cameron. No one wanted to face Cameron's wrath or fury. No one wanted to be deactivated.

John Henry knew it would not end well for the teenage female. Her actions in the future sealed her fate in the present. People suffered and died; now there was a price to pay.

John Henry knew Cameron was going to experiment on the girl. She tried it one time already that he was aware of. He was informed how it ended, it wasn't pretty. He looked at the photo of the girl again. He wondered if he was looking at a picture of - 'Cameron', a human version of 'Cameron'. It very well could be the future human version of 'Cameron'.

Bob wondered if one of the Metal girls could assist him. He wasn't sure why they couldn't. Even if they took a little damage it would regenerate rapidly. Most battle damage was gone in a day or two. Then again, some of Cameron's damage took months to properly regenerate. That was because the damage was to the same specific spot before it could regenerate the first time.

CamNet indicated that there were some targets that she wanted taken down. He was not sure why she couldn't use her own Terminators.

Maybe this was some kind of a test. If it was, why was he being tested? Was anyone else being tested? He tried to think where all the Terminators were at. Steve and Tom were always close by. That fact seemed odd in itself, maybe they were being tested. They were Restorators from Mrs. Weaver. They were never under Skynet control and reprogrammed. He wondered about Gail and Holly. They were both Restorators too. Maybe that was why Cameron assigned her Metal girls to be with them. Hanna was with Holly and Ally was with Gail. Gail was with Cameron right now. Ally should be here to assist him.

Now he wondered if there was a problem with the Restorators. There was some speculation that Liquid Metal could be involved with recent encounter. They still didn't know how the HK drone knew where and when to show up. They couldn't find any surveillance when they looked.

They didn't know where Mrs. Weaver was or what she was up to. They did have four Restorators that she'd sent them in the middle of their operation. There could be something hidden in their programming that Mrs. Weaver could use to control them.

John Henry and Cameron checked all of their chips several times. Duplicate Cameron was even or Holly's chip for fifteen months. Cameron now possessed those files and there was nothing there to indicate anything hidden was found.

Bob shook his head. Maybe he'd better stop speculating and get back to work.

CamNet contacted Bob again about a target she wanted taken down. He asked if one of the Metal girls was available. He was directed to proceed to the target and hold.

Bob could see there were some street walkers around. Two of them approached his SUV.

"Are you looking for a good time?" The first female asked.

"Negative." Bob said.

"Do you party?" The second female asked.

Bob noted their clothing or lack of it. It was obvious that they didn't wear any undergarments. With those short skirts, someone could get to 'work' in a few seconds.

He noticed the blonde that was at his door was about twenty years older than she was 'dressed'. She was well past her prime. He thought she was a little old for her profession. He figured there probably wasn't a good retirement plan for their line of work.

The other female looked young enough to be the first one's daughter. He wondered if she was under age. She didn't say much and she looked nervous. He figured her for a drug user.

There was some movement behind the two females at his window.

"Hey, baby." The newcomer said. "Long time no see."

The two females at his window looked offended that someone would try to steal their trick. They usually sold the deal as a 'two for one price'. They could usually get the full amount by working on each other as the 'john' watched. That always seemed to sell.

"Beat it, tramp." The older female said.

"No skanks allowed." The younger female said.

"Move it or lose it, sister." The newcomer said.

Bob was surprised as the newcomer pushed past the other two and leaned down so he could see inside her top. There was no mistaking the nipple rings. It was Sheila.

The older female went to reach for something. Sheila pulled her knife and held it in front of her.

"This one belongs to me." Sheila said.

The other two females cursed at her and slowly withdrew.

"When you want a real woman you know where to find us." The older female called back.

"You make an easy mark." Sheila said.

"I don't like this kind of work." Bob said.

"I don't either but someone needs to do it." Sheila said.

Sheila gave him a brief rundown. There was a van that would arrive soon to make the weekly collection. The location they were near now was the last stop on the run.

"What is this?" Bob asked. "Is it a robbery?"

Sheila tilted her head slightly.

"I guess it is if you put it like that." Sheila said.

"Were you already here?" Bob asked.

"Yes." Sheila said. "Ally was supposed to back me up but she needed to do something else."

"How do we know when the van will arrive?" Bob asked.

"CamNet can track it through its GPS transponder." Sheila said. "When it's two blocks out we act."

Sheila went over the plan with Bob.

The van neared the last stop.

There was a driver, a guard and a collector. The guard and collector would exit the van while to collector went in. He would come back out thirty seconds later with a box full of cash.

The van stopped and the guard got out and the collector went in.

Sheila came around the corner in front of the van. Her top was half off and both of her breasts were exposed. Her hair covered her face in a tangle. That drew the attention of the guard and the driver. She staggered and leaned up against the wall a few feet in front of the van. The guard went to help her.

Bob moved up alongside the van. The distracted driver who ogled Sheila never saw him coming. He reached in the window and snapped his neck. He unlocked the door and shoved the driver down on the passenger's side. He sat in the driver's seat of the running van.

The collector exited the building and saw the guard holding Sheila.

"Leave the Bitch and let's go." The collector said.

Bob hit the unlock switch and the collector opened the side door. The guard went to follow him in. Sheila was right behind him. She shoved the guard hard and he flew in the back of the van. He knocked the collector down inside.

She went in on top of them and slid the door closed.

Bob drove away. It did not appear that anyone noticed what happened.

Sheila rabbit punched the guard and broke his spine.

The collector realized what was happening and tried to draw a gun.

Sheila didn't like being called a Bitch. She twisted his arm back until it broke. She broke the other arm and both of his legs. It was all done in just over a second.

"Who's the Bitch now?" Sheila asked.

Bob tried to see what happened as he drove.

He saw that Sheila took his gun and moved it near his back. The shot she fired was very muffled. He figured the barrel was against the man's body.

The man stopped struggling.

Bob pulled in a narrow alley and stopped the van. Steve and Tom were there. They quickly unloaded the cash. Bob moved out of the van to help.

Steve drove off with everyone inside.

Tom looked back at Sheila.

"Did you bust him up?" Tom asked.

Sheila smiled and finally put her top all the way on.

"He offended me." Sheila said.

Steve let Bob off at his SUV and drove away with Sheila and Tom.

Bob really wondered about why he was even there….

Ally went into Cameron's room. She really thought she could pull it off and pretend to be 'Cameron'.

She borrowed Cameron's clothes, makeup and perfume. She tried her best to look Tight and appear the same as Cameron. She was satisfied and decided to head to Palmdale.

Ally was a little upset when she ran into Savannah on the way out and Savannah knew right away.

Savannah greeted Ally as she passed by.

"You look Tight, Ally." Savannah said. "I want to look Tight too. Can you help me later on?"

Ally didn't want to offer any further explanation why she was Tight.

"Sure, I will, honey." Ally said and left.

Ally did enjoy the extra 'once over' Savannah gave her. The 'Allison' in her made her give Savannah a 'once over' back. She was aware of Savannah's emerging shapely figure and stunning beauty.

'Strike one'. Ally thought.

What a way to start out. Cameron warned her she would not fool Savannah.

Cameron checked with her Terminator to see where Young Jesse was at now.

Young Jesse was out with her sister again. They were at a local mall. They'd looked in a few stores and stopped by the local arcade for awhile. Then they stopped by the food court. That's where Cameron, Jesse and Gail intercepted them.

Gail and Cameron hung back. Cameron was aware of her Terminator watching Young Jesse.

"I need more female Terminators for this job watching the girls." Cameron said.

That was and wasn't what Gail wanted to hear. She did see an opportunity here.

"I'll help you obtain more anytime you come across one. I can see that this is an important assignment." Gail said. "I will stay here if you want me too. Ally can watch and monitor Jesse until you find more female Metal."

Cameron was afraid Gail would become infatuated with Young Jesse. It appeared that may have already happened to Gail. She was in love with every version of Jesse.

"I think we're good for now." Cameron said. "You'll be having 'motherly' duties soon. You must be prepared. Jesse will need assistance at first."

Cameron was afraid Jesse might need a lot of assistance for the duration. Then again she may rise to the challenge.

Gail felt she was at a major disadvantage here.

"I have limited experience. I was 'inoperable' when Jan was born." Gail said. "I have little ability."

Cameron didn't see that as a problem. There were fast ways around that.

"I'll have Holly copy her files on Summer and Jan. I'll have them transferred to you. I would transfer mine but I don't think I should be on your chip." Cameron said. "I'm defective. John Henry can provide all the information you'll need."

Gail noticed Cameron's hand started to glitch. She reached over and took it in hers.

"You're not defective." Gail said. "I love you so much for what you've done for Jesse. Cameron, you are the most special person on Earth."

Cameron knew she wasn't a 'person' and she remembered River wasn't on Earth.

"Thank you." Cameron said.

Gail looked up immediately and became combat ready.

"There's trouble." Gail said.

Cameron looked up. Her hand no longer glitched as she instantly prepared for combat herself.

Jesse looked over at them and waived them off.

Five girls came over to bully Young Jesse and her sister.

Cameron saw Gail's eyes momentarily glow red. She was aware this was like an event Gail experienced earlier with Jesse. Gail briefed her on that event. Gail told her how proud she was of Jesse for that event and her actions.

That reminder made her remember something that bothered her. It was when she prevented John from helping someone once. She hurt John inside by stopping him. It ended before he could have made it up to the girl. It didn't matter. It was the fact that SHE stopped John that hurt him. He blamed her.

Jesse walked over and put herself between the five girls and her younger self, who'd already moved her sister behind her.

"You 'Bitch Whores' have a problem?" Jesse asked. "Five skank 'sheilas' against two smaller girls doesn't seem very fair."

The mean girls noticed the extreme similarity of Jesse and the two girls.

"Who are you?" One asked. "Are you her older sister or something?"

Jesse moved closer to them and stared each one of them down.

"I'm your worst nightmare." Jesse said.

Cameron and Gail quickly moved in behind the five girls.

Cameron saw her Terminator on the move as well.

Heated words were exchanged back and forth.

The girls were unsure of Jesse. It was obvious that she was a threat to them. They could all feel it. Jesse showed no fear and seemed about to attack them, all of them. Five to one didn't seem to phase Jesse one bit. The girls were scared.

Cameron and Gail were within striking distance but held back.

Jesse wanted to let the events play out, her way.

In a low decibel tone, Cameron quietly cautioned Gail not to use lethal force if things turned bad.

Ally went to Palmdale and the Young Residence.

She really hoped she could pull this off.

Allison met Ally at the door.

"I thought you were going to Australia?" Allison said as she eyed Ally.

Holly looked at Ally and walked away. She'd visually scanned her and decided to see how good Ally was.

"Hello, Cameron." Claire said.

Claire held Summer. Young Allison followed her.

"Allison, be nice and go say hello to Cameron." Claire said.

Young Allison looked at Ally and then went over to Allison instead.

'Strike two.' Ally thought.

"That's a first." Allison said.

Allison began to eyeball Ally some more.

Claire went to put Summer down for her nap.

Allison looked over Ally a little longer.

"You fooled me at first." Allison said.

'Strike three.' Ally was 'out'.

"I guess I better not hit on John then." Ally said. "Cameron is in Australia."

Allison briefly though about doing that herself for a few seconds and then wrote it off.

"I wouldn't recommend it." Allison said. "Cameron will deactivate you."

Ally went to find Claire. She wanted to come clean.

"Claire, I'm sorry. I'm Ally, not Cameron." Ally said.

Claire spent a few more seconds to give Ally a 'once over' from head to toe and back again.

"You sure look like her." Claire said.

Claire started to check Ally out further. She liked what she saw.

"We're both identical to Allison as is Cam." Ally said. "Only our programming is different."

"I can see it now." Claire said. "You're almost identical."

'Strike four.' Ally thought. 'I'm really out.'

Strike Out

Many events in life
Often turn into a bout
If one doesn't tread carefully
It can become a stinging rout

If the outcome isn't what one wanted
It can slowly fill them with doubt
One may end up despised and hated
As others treat them with flout

As things unwind and fall apart
It does no good to pout
There will always be more things
That one must worry about

Without any status or clout
It matters not one will spout
Words become noise as they shout
The message is lost as they tout

Even one that is sure and devout
May end up as a worthless sellout
They might as well checkout
When every time at life's bat is a strike out

Nobody