Chapter 308

Her Own Self

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In Some Future:

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Cameron and her three clones left the main captured Skynet facility. She was worried most about allowing the Liquid Metal being to escape.

"Do you want to remain together or split back into teams." One clone asked.

Cameron thought they could check out more things as two separate teams. There seemed to be plenty that needed to be checked out too. It looked like they were going to need to spend a lot of time here. There were a lot of things that needed to be addressed.

She would really like to find the Liquid Metal being and see how it escaped into the past. That prospect seemed slim at this point.

Cameron split the teams. She and one clone would explore a new area and the other team would pass back through the area that they traversed to get to where they were at. They were to avoid the troublesome checkpoint. There was a chance the men there would panic about the earlier events and try and cover their tracks.

There was some weapon's fire up ahead. Cameron and her clone looked for cover in case they might need it.

They'd taken some additional weapons from the facility. They'd also found the area where the Grays were housed. The most disturbing thing that they found there was one of the bunks contained rope on all four corners. It appeared that bunk was used by the Grays to 'acclimate' any of the female prisoners that were rounded up before they were sent to a work camp and certain death at some point. It appeared that Skynet liked to keep the troops content. It appeared that some of the females died rather than 'serve' the Grays. It seemed like an honorable death given the choices.

They readied the newly appropriated gear and moved towards where the weapons fire was. They didn't know what was about to happen.

Soon there was the unmistakable sound of an HK drone. She figured that Skynet was doing reconnaissance and probably attempted to locate the transport they'd stolen. This HK drone seemed low and well into Resistance held territory. It could be damaged.

There was another round of weapons fire.

Cameron and her clone spotted the HK drone. It was low and right on the deck. It was smoking and trying to make a run for it.

The two of them quickly spread out and opened fire on it. They both hit it in a power plant and it impacted the ground and skidded across the dirt tearing a small furrow. It was mostly intact and suffered little crash damage. It was only about ten feet off of the ground when they took it down.

They closed in on it quickly.

"Keep a look out for a second one." Cameron said.

She approached the HK drone and disconnected the power source. She pulled the chip out of it. It appeared that the communications center was damaged. She removed the power cell as well.

She wasn't sure what the HK drone was able to transmit earlier but it was out of communication with anyone when she brought it down with her clone.

"There's a squad coming." The clone said.

Cameron looked around there was not a whole lot of places they could go.

They moved off into a dry gulch to see what unfolded. They were not sure who the men were.

There were five men that arrived on foot.

"See, I told you I hit it." The first trooper said.

"It was already damaged." The second trooper said.

"I still hit it." The first trooper said. "Here's the proof."

"What should we do now?" The third trooper asked.

"We tried to call HQ but never received a response." The fourth trooper said.

There was still some residual smoke that drifted from a hole in the side of one of the power plants.

"Can this thing blow up?" The fifth trooper asked.

The other four men started laughing.

"No, really." The fifth trooper said. "It might be booby trapped in case it is shot down or crashes."

The laughter quickly died off.

"Maybe he's right." The second trooper said.

The five men quickly moved away from the downed HK drone.

"Let's get a perimeter set up and guard this thing until we can get some of the people from Tech-Com here." The first trooper said. "Try and make a connection again."

Cameron and her clone continued through the dry gulch and away from the poorly disciplined squad of men. They went back the way they'd come. They chose not to interact with the squad.

"There is probably going to be a lot of activity from where this squad came from." Cameron said. "I don't want to deal with more of these people yet. They're probably 'trigger happy' to boot."

The dry gulch soon was too shallow to offer any cover so they moved back alongside the dirt road.

They picked up the pace and were soon on the trail of her other two clones. They spotted them at one point and then lost them.

"They're setting up an ambush." Cameron said.

"That's what I would do too." The clone said.

"Black." Cameron called out.

"Sheep." A clone answered.

The girls rejoined and headed back the Mrs. Weaver's headquarters.

Cameron and her clones returned after the meeting was finished. She went over some of the details with the girls. It was not a productive trip in the sense of anything new. Some of her goals were accomplished.

There was no TDE or any indication this Skynet ever constructed one. Since Skynet was winning the war before Mrs. Weaver and the Restorators showed up, there was no need to change the past. There was no specific target. There was no John Connor to hunt down and terminate.

Cameron informed the girl's that they each now could have a 'copy' of her that was identical to her. She said they were all free to do as they chose to. This thrilled the girls to no end. The fact the clones would all soon look like Cameron pleased them even more.

She did ask that if she was terminated that one of the Resequenced clones be returned to John in her place but ONLY if she were terminated. That clone would revert back to the programming from this day and anything after that was to be erased. Everyone agreed, Allison and Vanna said they would 'share' one clone between them if that event occurred.

The girls now all obtained what they wanted most, 'a Cameron'. There was a 'Cameron' for them as a lover and mate forever. They all knew that forever was a long time. They didn't realize this was done because Cameron thought they would be trapped in this timeline forever and none of them would every return to the past.

Cameron wanted to make their lives safe and as full of love and joy as possible. It was really a symbol of sadness that could now be expressed as joy.

Cameron didn't look forward to the next event. She needed to face Mrs. Weaver and tell her the 'bad' news. She was responsible for the Liquid Metal being's escape. It may have been her clone but her clone was still her. She needed to take the heat.

She wasn't really sure where to start. She decided to just say it.

"There was an incident and the Liquid Metal being escaped." Cameron said.

Mrs. Weaver needed a few seconds to think about what Cameron said and what the implications of that were.

"What do you mean it escaped?" Mrs. Weaver asked.

Cameron was worried this would be viewed as being done on purpose.

"When I inspected the facility it got out and disappeared. We couldn't find it or track it." Cameron said. "It was an accident. I apologize for my carelessness. This wasn't an intentional act."

Mrs. Weaver was worried about how she treated the Liquid Metal being. It wasn't in the most favorable way. She might have to fight it now.

"That creature is unstable and unpredictable." Mrs. Weaver said. "We didn't have any control over it. It lacked purpose and was not programmable. It refused to accept any programming and tried to act on its own."

Cameron stood humbly before Mrs. Weaver.

"I'm sorry, General." Cameron said.

Mrs. Weaver went on to berate her and she really could offer nothing to say in her defense. She explained to Mrs. Weaver that somehow it would find its way back to John and end up being destroyed. She told her about what happened to John and the events at the park. That was when she'd already gone into Her Future but left that part out. She asked the girls not to mention that either about her actually rescuing Future Allison.

"General, what's done is done. Please, let's move forward and work together on defeating this Skynet." Cameron said. "I will be less careless in the future. It was an accident."

Mrs. Weaver questioned her on how the Liquid Metal being got back to the past that Savannah was in. Cameron told her John Henry was experimenting with the TDE and must have 'picked it up' somehow. That event already happened in the past. That showed some hope that maybe there was a way back home, at least to the past.

There were a lot of unknowns involved in all of that. Cameron didn't have many concrete answers.

Mrs. Weaver wanted to find out how or when it left so she could get back as well. Mrs. Weaver said that she and the girls could 'take over' this future and she could return to the past and then maybe back to Her Future. She would take Savannah with her this time.

Cameron wouldn't allow Savannah to be taken from her. Savannah was very important to her, REAL important.

She could see Mrs. Weaver calculate and plan but she said nothing. She decided unless they could ALL return to her past that it was better if everyone stayed here.

Cameron would sacrifice her love for John to protect him and the future. She was afraid this was her fate. It was all her fault and she brought her three friends with her. The only consolation she could find was to know that that Savannah and Young Allison would grow up and take their rightful places at John's side. The 'Natural Order' would be restored.

She was sure Riley wouldn't stop Savannah from keeping her promises. John Henry and Bob would see that Savannah and Young Allison were given the chance to 'bond' as each grew and matured. She hoped Holly stepped up and guided the girls into their proper future. Their proper future was the 'Natural Order' of time. She'd made sure that Savannah understood her place in time and the future and with John. She believed that Savannah would 'take' what was rightfully hers.

Cameron would pursue this war here with a vengeance. She'd inadvertently 'given' John to Riley. It was all her fault. She didn't have any idea what actually happened and there was no way for her to know 'she' was still at John's side. The original version of her, Cameron Prime was there with John now. She didn't know she was a Duplicate.

She reached up and pushed in on her sheath. She could feel the locket inside of her. She was a Terminator and it was time she started to act like one. To keep an eye on Mrs. Weaver was now her mission to protect John.

'Everyone sacrifices for John Connor.' Cameron thought. 'It's my function to protect John Connor.'

Cameron insisted on a new battle strategy. That was based on her experiences from Her Future. She wanted the Resistance losses to be kept at a minimum and Metal to be used as much as possible. She was aware of the planned assassination attempts by some disgruntled Resistance fighters against Future John and made sure Mrs. Weaver understood this.

The implication was that an anti-Metal faction might try to assassinate Mrs. Weaver. While she might survive the attack, there was a good chance that Vanna, Allison and Jesse might not.

Cameron was willing to take much of the risk herself going forward. With three clones she felt confidant one of them would survive. It was doubtful that they all would.

"I will lead any assault myself to further our cause, General." Cameron said. "I want the girls kept safe no matter what. They each have a 'bodyguard' that will become their confidant and 'partner'. I also don't want them to face the threat of assassination."

Mrs. Weaver was very perceptive. She was pretty sure why Cameron really visited her facility.

"I've believe that the 'bodyguards' will all soon take on your appearance." Mrs. Weaver said.

Cameron was not proud of what she gotten everyone into. It was a mess that she was responsible for.

"It's what the girls asked for." Cameron said. "It was the least I could do for them. I'm ashamed I have marooned them here and will protect them until I can return them home, ALL of us."

Mrs. Weaver assumed Cameron's appearance.

Cameron became agitated. She was not really sure what Mrs. Weaver wanted to prove. Maybe it was that she could 'replace' her. There was one issue she didn't want repeated.

"I know you tried to fool John as 'Allison' once." Cameron said. "General, I ask you to respect my husband and our marriage. Please respect your 'daughter' and her lovers as well."

Mrs. Weaver seemed to want to make some point.

"What if I choose to be with one of the girls or as them with one of your clones?" Mrs. Weaver asked.

She changed from girl to girl and then back into Cameron.

Cameron didn't think deceit was the way to find acceptance. Once it was discovered it would have the opposite effect. She really didn't know how to make Mrs. Weaver understand this.

"I would prefer you be yourself to the girls and the clones." Cameron said. "In the end, the only person you fool is yourself. What ever isn't real, isn't real no matter what."

Mrs. Weaver noticed how everyone looked at Cameron. She'd never seen anyone look at her like that. They looked at Cameron with love and they looked at her with contempt.

"Everyone loves you." Mrs. Weaver said.

It took Cameron a long time to figure some things out. There were still a lot of things that she needed to figure out. She did know that to be true to yourself was important to everyone.

"They love more than my appearance." Cameron said. "General, Savannah and Vanna love you for how you are. To know love you need to be yourself and you will find real love."

Mrs. Weaver assumed the form of John.

"And if I choose you?" Mrs. Weaver asked.

Cameron controlled her anger. She was not sure what the end game here was. Maybe it was to make her lose her cool. It seemed pretty close to that right now.

"I'm a married woman." Cameron said. "If you choose me, perhaps we can make a copy of my program and Resequence the sheath of another female Terminator if that is what you desire. I will make a clone of myself for you and be with you that way if it is what you truly want. That will still not be 'earned' love for you but 'forced' love. She will be a 'Metal Whore'."

"If I can make a workable Liquid Metal Terminator next time, I think that is what I will do. Then both of us can be anyone, anytime." Mrs. Weaver said. "That way I won't disturb your 'marriage'."

It was at that point that Cameron was sure that Mrs. Weaver would find a way to be with each of the girls. She didn't know if it would do any good to warn the girls or not. She didn't think Mrs. Weaver would hurt them but she was sure she would 'experiment'. She could see Mrs. Weaver wanted what she 'shared'.

Cameron was very disturbed by all this. She was sure Mrs. Weaver was trying to get under her skin and keep her off balance.

She doubted Mrs. Weaver needed or could love anyone but her own self - Mrs. Weaver.

Cameron wished she could love herself as much as Mrs. Weaver loved her own self.

Unrequited Love

It is a natural desire to love and seek love
Hearts and minds cry for requited affection
Most only want to use others for their personal pleasure
Subjecting hearts and minds to bloody dissection

It is their uncaring greed, lust and selfishness
That is the only motive of the masses so lecherous
Who the person is inside means nothing at all to them
Soon against their thrall they become treacherous

They can never comprehend or empathize
The honest pure affection there is to offer them
To truly love, honor, respect, worship and adoration
Tenderness and emotions are soon confined to a coffer

Should one just play their cruel meaningless game
Throw meaningful true sweet love away
Submit feelings to destruction, dismay and decay
Or try to tell them there is a better meaningful way

Everyone must do what they believe in their heart
Shower them with bountiful eternal love
Even as one is scorned, spit upon and rejected
To survive one MUST send their endless unrequited love

Nobody

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In Some Future:

Events Continue In Chapter 331

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