Chapter 414

Beacon

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In Some Future: Duplicate Cameron

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In Some Future: Cameron Prime

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Savannah was aware of the gift Cameron received. It was such a selfless act of love on Ginger's part. She knew most of the people didn't understand the machines but she did. She loved them for who and what they were. She'd known her 'mother' was not her real mother. That new 'mother' took care of her and provided for her. That was the first machine to look out for her. Then it was John Henry and Cameron, followed by all the rest.

She was also aware that her 'mother' could have terminated her to get her out of the way. Maybe she was kept around at first to give her 'mother' better cover and help her blend in. There was still a bond that grew between them. Maybe it was because of the physical contact with them. She was sure that must have been part of it anyway.

Savannah knew every machine there would sacrifice themselves for her, including her 'mother'. For that matter, the girls would too. It made her feel bad inside. She was just another human, she was no one special. She wasn't a princess or anything. She was just a teenager. The weight of the future weighed on her sometimes. Now was one of those times. Her life wasn't worth anyone else's life.

Cameron and Duplicate Cameron were together as they discussed the unpleasant developments Mrs. Weaver 'asked' for.

Duplicate Cameron noticed Savannah looked troubled.

"Savannah, what's wrong?" Duplicate Cameron asked.

Cameron and Duplicate Cameron sat on each side of her.

Savannah looked at both of them. She felt a heavy weight on her soul.

"Cameron." Savannah said as she took Cameron's hand. "You need to promise me you'll return with me. I don't feel I can face the future alone without you. I don't want to face it."

Duplicate Cameron and Cameron were both dressed the same. They looked like twins.

"How do you know that's 'Cameron'?" Duplicate Cameron asked.

Duplicate Cameron felt a little insecure.

"Silly, I know who everyone is." Savannah said as she took Duplicate Cameron's hand. "I can tell who is who even if you're the same."

Cameron and Duplicate Cameron looked at each other. They were identical. They didn't see how.

Cameron and Duplicate Cameron discussed some serious issues. It was about the future going forward and the past. Cameron Prime felt it was her obligation to make the choice as to which one of them went where and when.

"Savannah, one of us is going to return with you. The other one is going home to Future John." Cameron said. "I haven't decided yet."

Savannah didn't agree with the principle that Cameron's future was 'home.' She believed the 'home' was where you made it. Presupposed issues didn't matter. She didn't see it as a 'decision'. She wanted to make her position clear. If she really was the 'Chosen One' her opinion should matter.

"Duplicate Cameron will be the one who goes 'home' to Future John." Savannah said as she looked at Duplicate Cameron. "We all know it."

That was actually something that Duplicate Cameron thought about and decided on before Cameron and Savannah arrived 'in some future'. It was her choice but she still felt Cameron Prime needed to make the final call. The Savannah she'd left in the past was a young girl. The Savannah before her was a young lady.

"How can you know this?" Duplicate Cameron asked.

Savannah felt Cameron drilled the future into her head. She believed the things Cameron told her and she was there now because she believed them. She believed she saved Cameron's 'life' by entering the energy bubble. The thought that she may need to trade her life for Cameron's life didn't cross her mind. If it would have, it wouldn't have mattered. She would still have done the same thing.

"I know because I love Cameron and she'll return with me." Savannah said. "One day we will share the same future you will with Future John, Future Allison and Future Savannah, together. You will have that soon. Ours will take a little longer."

Cameron was very pleased to hear Savannah say these things on her own. She wanted to be sure.

"You'll do this for me?" Cameron asked. "Is that the future you will choose for all of us, for me?"

Savannah could see it was predetermined. She really was a cog in a wheel of the future and its events. It didn't matter if Cameron pounded them into her mind. She could see them laid out before her.

"I've promised you this for half my life. I carry John's baby now. I do it for you and for myself." Savannah said. "It's the 'Natural Order' for all four of us to be together in the future. Don't you understand, Cameron? When Duplicate Cameron returns home to your future, THAT is the 'Natural Order'. The FOUR of us together…."

Cameron for the first time in a long while wondered if she did have a place in John's life. Now Savannah just pointed out to her it was all supposed to be this way in the future. It would be the 'Natural Order' with the same people. Young Allison still needed to grow some. The 'age issue' was a hang up of other people, not her. It was all set in motion. She would make sure John watched 'Pretty Baby' some more when she returned. It should shave half a decade off the 'Natural Order' being established in their timeline.

Savannah watched Cameron tear up and she started to cry. She held Cameron and Duplicate Cameron held both of them. It was a moment for all of them to realize there was a future and it included all of them.

Cameron could see that everything that transpired up to this point was clear. All of the pieces of the puzzle fit now. Maybe events didn't revolve around John or her. Maybe they actually revolved around Allison Young and Savannah Weaver.

"I promise, Savannah." Cameron said. "We're all going home to where we belong, to where we're all supposed to be. It's all become clear for once. That's all because of you, Savannah."

Savannah disagreed. The focal point was Cameron and the fact that there was now three of her as the same individual.

"No, Cameron." Savannah said. "It's not because of me. It's BECAUSE of YOU. You're the one that made all of this all happen. You're the one who gets to be with everyone you care about and love this way. It's all because of you. Your life will be complete in three different time periods with the people you love the most. You're with River, Future John and John. It's all really you too. It's not clones or alternates. Your heart proves that. It is the same heart. There are THREE of YOU that all have the same heart."

Cameron knew there was a 'Savannah Weaver' there too in each future.

"And 'you' are there in every one of them." Cameron said. "In the same way that each of us is."

Savannah knew they weren't actually her but they all began in the same place, from her.

"They all started out from me." Savannah said.

There was only one Savannah Weaver born.

"I know they did." Cameron said.

Savannah really didn't see any other way to look at it.

"If that isn't the 'Natural Order' of time asserting itself, I don't know what would be." Savannah said. "You get everything and everyone you ever loved and ALL of them love you."

Cameron felt the past still haunted her. She could not escape from it's shadow. She'd been 'sent away'. She'd been rejected and replaced. She was cast aside like so much rubbish, like so much junk or scrap metal.

She still could not understand anyone loving someone who was 'not good enough'.

Maybe that was what made Savannah special. It was clear she loved her despite all of her shortcomings and failures. That was true love.

Cameron made the modifications from River's improvements to the TDE. It was what she watched Sheila performed on her TDE. She sure hoped her work on it wouldn't end up encoding it from working into the past. She knew she should be able to get to River's future and could return from there with Savannah. Cameron kept expecting something to pop up in her HUD. It never did. That was a good sign. At least she hopped it was.

The bad news was the power. There did not seem to be any source capable of the power demand they would need. Constructing that would be much more difficult. Most of the major Skynet power sources were destroyed. That seemed to be something Skynet did on its own.

Mrs. Weaver was made aware of this event. She wasn't happy about it at all. The fact the people here WANTED her to stay longer, pleased her. She finally felt some appreciation, even if it wasn't love. She knew she'd started to get this feeling in the other future and missed it when she'd left. Now she obtained it again, even more. She also knew if she returned to her future she would be just another machine. She would more than likely be despised. Here she was one of a kind. She wanted to say a 'God' but checked herself. That's not how she wanted to be seen. She went out of her way to make Allison and Jesse notice her and spend more time with her. The more time she spent with Jesse, the more she realized she was the one who would most likely want to 'experiment' on her own, willingly.

She was alone now. The thought of being with Jesse willingly excited her. She stood in front of a 'mirror' she'd made from some of her Liquid Metal.

Mrs. Weaver made her 'clothes' disappear. She looked at her self naked. She made her breasts larger but immediately returned them back to her normal size. She preferred that look. She assumed Jesse's form. She liked the look. She replaced Jesse's head with hers. She rotated side to side. She liked the look. She opened 'things' up and switched Jesse's varied darker pigmentation to what hers was. She kept it that way and did the same with her nipples. She 'dressed' again. Clothes appeared and covered her.

She tried something else. She assumed John form and made the clothes disappear. She examined herself. She made something fifty percent larger. That was something Jesse might like. She found what was beneath it slightly unsightly. She made those fifty percent smaller and then eliminated them. That act of 'streamlining' made her actually look larger still without any additional increase in size. She assumed her nude form with Jesse's body again but kept the single apparition from John. It fit nicely above what was already there. It only took a slight adjustment to make 'everything' fit in nicely. Now she could offer Jesse the best of both worlds. Her General's uniform appeared over everything.

Cameron and Savannah arrived 'in some future' several weeks ago. They now possessed a TDE but lacked the power to operate it safely. Constructing a major power source was problematic.

"Savannah, we've been here much longer that I've wanted to be." Cameron said.

Savannah immediately touched her lower belly.

"Am I OK?" Savannah asked a little worried. "How's the baby?"

Cameron or another Terminator scanned Savannah regularly. They'd located stores of consumables for the Grays. Those items were all collected and stockpiled for Savannah and the girls. Even that source was checked and checked again.

"Relax, you're fine. One of us scans you at least once an hour." Cameron said. "You haven't been contaminated yet. Everything you drink or eat is checked twice by one of us. You're very healthy."

Savannah looked down at her belly. She didn't have much morning sickness at all. She pushed in on her belly some. She wasn't sure if anything looked different. She checked everyday, maybe that's why she couldn't tell if anything looked different.

"Are we going to get back before I start to 'show'?" Savannah asked.

Cameron worried more and more about how the time transfer would affect the baby inside Savannah. Sure they'd needed to transfer Duplicate Allison to keep the timeline the same but there was advanced medical technology in River's future. They didn't have that luxury where they were at or in the past.

"I hope so." Cameron said. "I don't know what the time transfer will do to the baby. There is no record of infants making the jump. Until we can come up with a lot more power, we're stuck here."

Savannah understood they would be here for months now instead of weeks. She felt an obligation to talk to her 'mother' and explain her situation and as to why she was pregnant and how it happened.

"Cameron, I want to tell my mother I'm pregnant." Savannah said. "I don't want her to find out from someone else or by 'seeing it'."

Cameron hoped to be out of that future before that was necessary. She was sure it would create a new set of 'issues' and 'demands' with Mrs. Weaver.

"I'm afraid there'll be a 'problem'." Cameron said.

Savannah believed in what she did and why. She didn't see it as anything 'wrong'.

"I understand." Savannah said. "If it comes up I'll tell her. I want to do it myself. I'll make sure she understands I've never been with a male."

Cameron was uneasy. She was sure she would get the 'blame' for Savannah being pregnant.

Savannah could see Cameron was apprehensive. She wanted to set her mind at ease. She would do what she'd done before again.

"Cameron, I did this on my own with Young Jesse." Savannah said. "You didn't do it and you didn't make me do it. I did it for you and for myself. My life is very confined and limited but I have wants and desires too. I have free choice and I have the ability to 'help' someone I love very much."

Cameron appreciated Savannah's motives and knew it was done out of love for her. It just didn't seem right to her. Maybe it was the result of all the 'things' she'd whispered to Savannah as she'd slept. To produce children for John and her was part of that 'conditioning'. Now that event actually happened. She felt she'd stolen Savannah's childhood and teenage years. She'd tried to get Savannah into John's bed and at his side for years. Since she knew the future she didn't see the need to wait for anything. It was all going to happen anyway. Why wait? A glitch impulse shot through her left hand.

"I know, Savannah." Cameron said. "You don't know how bad I feel about how many things in life you haven't experienced like other teenagers."

Savannah obtained what she'd wanted, more or less. She did what other teenagers did. Not every drum beat the same tune.

"You've allowed me to experience what I've asked for." Savannah said. "You've provided for and enabled me to have the most beautiful 'moments' in my life."

Cameron's hand started to glitch more. Maybe she'd overstepped with her actions.

Savannah noticed. She moved over and took Cameron's hand. The glitch stopped immediately.

Cameron looked at Savannah with guilt and remorse.

"I'm ashamed of the worst moments that have been in it as well because of me." Cameron said.

Savannah didn't feel that way. She'd done what she'd done because she loved Cameron. It was all for Cameron.

"Cameron, I want to give this baby to you as your own." Savannah said.

Another glitch impulse shot through Cameron's hand even as Savannah held it. She couldn't rip Savannah's baby from her arms and claim it as her own. It didn't matter what the circumstances were.

"I will not take your child from you, Savannah." Cameron said. "There may be other 'options' depending on when we get home."

Cameron really wondered if they would get home at this point. What if they did get a power source and the TDE was encrypted to not go into the past? What if she couldn't get to River's future or any other one?

Savannah looked at Cameron and felt nothing but love.

"I'll do anything for you, Cameron." Savannah said. "I love you."

Savannah and Cameron both knew that meant Savannah would die for her too.

Cameron knew they couldn't get the power for an actual time transfer yet but she was sure she could send out a beacon that would draw a 'lifeboat' from River to her. They'd discussed this before she'd left. The variable now was the temporal displacement Savannah caused when she'd entered the time bubble and threw off the careful calculations.

She would set the beacon and make sure it was manned twenty four hours a day. If that 'lifeboat' arrived, someone would need return in it. Hopefully all the proper adjustments could be made and then they would return for the rest of them….

Cameron hoped for this to happen….

What else could she do at this point? Faith wasn't part of her programming.

Beacon

One wanders through the maze of life
The direction to go forward
Can often be very confusing
The path may actual lead backward

A life jacket does little good
If it is not properly worn
The results of that infraction
May leave others to mourn

What the eyes will see
Is not always really there
For some it matters not
If they don't really care

The parachute of life means little
If it is ripped and full of holes
It does little to stop the fall
When two have different goals

To reach out more
Serves only to weaken
There's no end point
Without some kind of beacon

Nobody