Chapter 306

Work Together

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In Some Future:

Events Continue from Chapter 286

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Cameron, the girls and her three clones made contact with Mrs. Weaver 'in some future'. The events would unfold as they went along.

Cameron instructed her group to not let anyone know her program was on her three female Metal companions, her 'clones'. She still possessed the fourth partially copied chip. If the opportunity arose she would complete it. Right now it only contained a scattering of parts of her programming and files. There was plenty of information on it but not enough to be 'her'.

Cameron assigned one of her 'clones' to each of the girls. They were to accompany them everywhere they went at all times. They were never to be separated unless the girls wanted to be together or they were in the company of Mrs. Weaver.

Jesse liked having a 'copy' of Cameron at her side. She hoped to take it a little further.

"Can we invite any of them to 'join us'?" Jesse asked.

Vanna and Allison quickly glanced at each other. They hoped so. They liked that idea. The 'clones' really were 'Cameron' even if the sheath was different. The program was the same.

Cameron wasn't sure what was going to happen. She didn't want to get ahead of herself.

"I would prefer that didn't happen yet at this time. We need to wait at least until I will no longer update from their chips." Cameron said. "They don't need to remain outside if you don't care. They can go into standby in your room and give you privacy. They can reboot in fifteen seconds."

Allison needed to think about that for a few seconds.

"So they would just be standing there but 'tuned off'?" Allison asked.

That idea excited Jesse. She liked an audience as long as she could have a choice as to who her partner or partners were.

"That's all I needed to hear to get 'turned on'." Jesse said.

Vanna wanted to make sure everyone understood the nature of how things could develop. It was a serious issue.

"Let's get established before we let our guard down." Vanna said. "We don't know when the floor or wall with turn into my mother."

The girl's protection was paramount to Cameron. She couldn't be there for all of them all of the time herself. That was the function of her clones.

"Yes, we must be careful. That's why you will each have a personal 'body guard'." Cameron said. "If I need to conduct an operation we may have to juggle them around."

A Restorator arrived where they were staying. They were all 'business'.

Vanna was told that General Weaver wanted see her without the others. It was to be for some mother - daughter time.

"My mother wants to see me." Vanna said. "Alone."

Cameron wondered what new problem this was going to be. It was a way to question Vanna alone without her there. She wanted Vanna to tell the truth as much as possible without compromising their security.

"I've briefed all of you on our cover story to rescue Future Allison and we ended up here." Cameron said. "That's pretty much the truth. I think that trying to prevent her capture is the same as rescuing her. It's best if we don't mention that I already rescued her. Find out what you can about what's going on, what kind of Metal they have, and what we're up against with Skynet. Tell her I want to help. We need to find a TDE or construct one. We need to get back home. I need to get back to John…."

They all saw Cameron's hand start to glitch.

"I know everything, Cameron. I'll tell my mother we are a seven woman team." Vanna said. "I've spent a year with her. She's going to want to know about Savannah."

Cameron didn't want any problems. She needed to get back and prevent John from pursuing Riley.

"Tell her the truth about as much of everything as possible. I don't want to get off on the wrong foot." Cameron said. "We're here because of a TDE malfunction. This may be the only future there is now or the only one we can get too. I don't know. We need to go back as soon as possible. I need to get back to John…."

Vanna wanted to find out what she could on her own. She also wanted to have the rest of the team with her.

"I'll spend some personal time with her and then I tell her I want all of you with me." Vanna said.

Cameron really didn't think there was a lot of choice available to her right now.

"Do it." Cameron said. "We'll wait."

Vanna spent several hours with her 'mother' and told her of all that happened since she left and why they were here or at least where they wanted to go. After a short time she said she wanted Allison, Cameron and Jesse here with her for all of the details about what was happening. She informed her that each of them were protected a personal 'bodyguard' that would accompany them. This was something she wanted as well as what Cameron wanted for their protection.

Mrs. Weaver or General Weaver, as she preferred to be addressed, called them all in and went over in detail with Cameron on what was happening and what needed to be done.

Cameron would give Mrs. Weaver the respect she wanted to seek her cooperation and to get back. She needed to get back to John.

"General, how far along are you until victory?" Cameron asked.

Mrs. Weaver ended up in this timeline as well when she tried to get back to Cameron's and her future. She didn't know why and was trapped here with her force of Metal which she put to use to smash this Skynet. There was still a little more to finish off. This Skynet wasn't as advanced as the one from Vanna's future and no where near as advanced as the one from Cameron's and her future.

She hadn't found any of the same people from the other timelines. There wasn't a John Connor or Allison Young or Savannah Weaver.

Cameron hoped there would be someone that they knew.

"What about Jesse Flores?" Cameron asked. "What about the Reese brothers?"

Mrs. Weaver indicated she hadn't found the Reese brothers and hadn't come across another Jesse but hadn't searched for one as she'd done for the others. She gave Jesse a 'once over'.

Jesse noticed as she was in the process of doing the same thing for Mrs. Weaver.

Cameron found all this information disturbing. What happened to John? She wondered about him and all the others. She was worried that maybe they'd all been terminated by Skynet after the girls and her left the base and this was the same timeline. If that were the case, it would appear that she'd made an even bigger mistake by leaving and not protecting John.

When Mrs. Weaver's Restorators began to arrive there was some fighting between them and the Resistance and Skynet. Her top aid, Unit One, was able to convince Skynet forces they were sent from another 'branch' of Skynet to aid them. This gave them a foothold in Skynet facilities until Mrs. Weaver arrived and was devastated by where they were at. It was clear that they were in the wrong timeline.

She quickly instructed her Metal to seize all the facilities and reprogram all the Terminators that weren't destroyed. She then approached the tatters of the Resistance and became 'General Weaver' with her force of 'Restorators'.

Mrs. Weaver appeared to be the only Liquid Metal Terminator. That was a fact that she kept hidden from Skynet and the Resistance. Now that Vanna and the girls were here, this would help her greatly in her relations with the Resistance as there was a lot of discontent with all the Metal around her. The human girls here now would make some of the interaction a little smoother. Her interaction with humans was always abrasive.

Cameron agreed to help her finish the war and smash Skynet. After that victory they would then turn everything over to the Resistance. They would then deal with the Scavenger problem as well. It would be much the same as she'd done in Vanna's future.

She insisted that the girls would not be in combat and work as administrators. They would have their personal 'bodyguards' with them at all times. She would be Allison's twin sister - Cameron.

Cameron agreed to enter combat alongside of Mrs. Weaver in whatever form she would take for an operation. It would most likely not be as General Weaver. It would be the same as they'd done in Vanna's future.

Mrs. Weaver was pleased at the level of assistance Cameron and the girls were willing to provide. She wondered what the endgame was.

"What do you want in return for your help?" Mrs. Weaver asked.

Cameron's only goal was to get back with the girls and stop Riley. She needed to get back to John….

"I want to get the girls back to our timeline and get back to John." Cameron said.

Mrs. Weaver was used to dealings laced with deceit and manipulation. She expected more demands.

"That's it?" Mrs. Weaver asked.

Cameron still possessed one desire in the back of her mind. She believed that being able to change and alter her appearance would better please John. She could even 'look like Riley' for him. Maybe he wouldn't reject her if she could be anyone. Anyone would be better than Nobody.

"If it's possible I would like to upgrade to be a Liquid Metal Terminator. I'd like to be the same as you are General Weaver." Cameron said. "I'll be better able to protect John as a Liquid Metal Terminator."

Mrs. Weaver wasn't sure she wanted to give up any advantages.

"Do you wish to fight me?" Mrs. Weaver asked.

Cameron didn't want another 'war'. She wanted to get home. She needed to get back to John….

"No, I do not. Savannah misses you greatly and I promised her I would help to get you back to her." Cameron said. "We all love Savannah dearly, General. I won't hurt Savannah by fighting you unless I am forced to. I don't desire that."

Mrs. Weaver looked Cameron and the girls over. It seemed clear to her that weren't here to fight her. It was obvious that they all wanted to assist her. Cameron was always true to her word and she didn't think Vanna would be a part of anything to harm her.

"That's quite touching." Mrs. Weaver said. "I believe you."

Cameron wouldn't surrender her independence but she wanted to get everyone home without any problems.

"I'll work with you but I won't be subservient to you in this endeavor. Those three girls are my responsibility and I'm going to get them home, all of them. I'll let nothing or anyone stop me." Cameron said. "I would also like to fulfill my promise to Savannah and bring you home."

Mrs. Weaver wanted to get home too. She wanted to get home to Her Future. There was still a score that she needed to settle with that Skynet. She also wanted to see Savannah again as well. She would work with Cameron for now for Savannah.

It seemed even without being there that Savannah was able to help unite the forces. The 'Chosen One' was apparently chosen by all.

Mrs. Weaver wanted to introduce her 'daughter' and her associates.

Cameron decided that her clones and her would skip the meeting and go elsewhere. She gave the reason as she didn't want to get 'pegged' as having any Metal at the meeting with the Resistance.

The real reason was that Mrs. Weaver would be tied up and Cameron knew she wasn't hiding somewhere to spy on her.

Cameron wanted to check out some of the captured Skynet facilities. She wanted to verify there was no working TDE under Mrs. Weaver's control.

They split into pairs. The clones all ran Cameron's program so it was like there was four of her.

The first thing Cameron did was check out the defenses. She wanted to see if there were any improvements and there were. That was a good thing.

The second thing was she wanted to observe some of the Restorators. They seemed to operate at quite a bit less than maximum efficiency. It was her opinion that this was a result of poor leadership. That may or may not be Mrs. Weaver's fault. She may have appointed underlings who were not doing their jobs. If compared to a human condition. It would be a lack of moral.

Cameron and her clone entered the first captured facility. There was some assorted machinery. There didn't appear to be anything that was actually made at this location. It could've been a repair facility at one time but there was nothing there to be repaired.

The one thing that wasn't there was a TDE.

"There does not seem to be any major power source here." The clone said.

That was a big worry for Cameron.

"I think that may be a problem going forward." Cameron said.

Cameron wanted to find out more about the Skynet here. There was little to go on.

It appeared that without an organized Resistance that Skynet was able to gain control of everything very quickly. Those quick victories didn't present Skynet with the challenge or the need to fight a determined and organized enemy.

Cameron thought she would have more luck in a Skynet facility to find out about Skynet. It would also alert Skynet that someone was looking into it. She really didn't want to enter the belly of the beast but figured at some point she would need to.

They left the facility. They were not in direct communication with the other team but would meet back up at a set time to enter a third facility. They were ahead of schedule because there was nothing of value where they'd been. There was nothing there to even finish her copy of the last chip she possessed.

"Do you want to look around the encampment?" The clone asked.

From what Cameron observed earlier It didn't seem very friendly towards females.

"I'll draw too much attention unless I can wear a disguise again." Cameron said. "I want Allison to be seen and noticed by the Resistance heads before I venture out in the open. It will be better for word to spread that we're associated with the General and part of the power structure."

The clone noticed some people lurking around the back of one of the buildings.

"Those look like Scavengers." The clone said.

Cameron looked.

"They look like trouble, that's for sure." Cameron said.

Cameron headed over towards the two men. She slowed and peered around the corner where they went.

There was another man there and it looked like they were trading something.

Cameron and her clone conversed at a decibel level that only they could hear.

"Is it drugs?" The clone asked.

Cameron zoomed on what they traded.

"I can't tell." Cameron said. "One thing that's for sure is everything around here needs to be put into some better form of control. It seems everything is disorganized."

"That's because the General doesn't really care about the humans here." The clone said. "There just something that she puts up with."

Cameron could see that.

"Her focus is on Skynet." Cameron said. "She wants to leave this place as much as I do."

"This is the worst future yet that we've been to." The clone said.

"I can agree with that." Cameron said. "Let's get back to the rendezvous point."

"What about this illicit transaction?" The clone asked.

"I don't want to tip our hand yet." Cameron said. "Let's go."

Work Together

Two are stronger than one
One alone is obviously inferior
The more people that are added
Will surely turn out to be superior

When there is cooperation
There is always less tension
To argue and fight over nothing
Creates and propagates contention

When ideas can work together
Things always seem to flow smoother
Those who try to row upstream
Are soon pegged as a loser

Sometimes it's nice to have help
It eases the daily burdens of life
It provides hope and reassurance
While it dissipates unnecessary strife

There's a major difference
Between a team and a herd
Those who can't differentiate that
Is what is really more than absurd

Nobody