Chapter 473
Temporal Tide
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Future Timeline - Undetermined Error:
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Cammy moved up the rocky hillside. There was what appeared to be a faint trail in the dirt between the rocks. She spotted several footprints. It was clear someone passed through here, several times and in both directions. If there was any rain, even a small amount, she would never have been able to spot the tracks. She figured it was from Skynet patrols sent out for repairs or to investigate intrusions. Right now she knew both Savannah and her were intruders. The risk of capture or termination just went up. If she triggered an HK drone response at this point she was doomed, so was Savannah.
She searched for what she hoped would be an entrance into the underground complex. She thought she heard a noise 'inside' that was different. She quickly backed away from the spot and sought cover behind some boulders. She waited, nothing happened. There were no footprints above where she heard the noise. She figured she was above the entrance. It was well hidden.
Cammy knew she needed to get in unobserved. If she was detected she would be hunted down in no time. With the weapons she carried she was at a disadvantage, a major one, especially against Metal.
She was at higher elevation now in the rocks on the side of the hill than she was with Savannah as they approached from the flatlands. It was much higher than either tree she'd climbed by far. It gave her a good view of the plain below her and into the distance. Something caught her eye. She looked again and saw nothing. She replayed the file. There was some movement but she couldn't tell what caused it. It may have been an animal or bird. It was more than the wind.
Cammy feared this was an additional threat. Maybe it was Scavengers in search of their fallen friend. If it was, this was an even bigger risk to Savannah now that she was alone. She knew she needed to attack the Skynet computer here if there was one. She also knew she couldn't leave Savannah to be savaged at the hands of Scavengers.
It was about to come down to making a hard choice. Did she go after Skynet or go back to protect Savannah?
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Cameron's Future Timeline:
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Cameron stopped following the Metal's tracks. She doubled back and approached from off to the side. She didn't want to follow the Metal blindly and walk into an ambush. She spotted the first sensor concealed in the ground. The weather over time eroded the dirt covering a tiny part of it. There was no doubt about it. This was something connected to Skynet.
She redoubled her efforts and slowed even more. This whole area was 'live'. Everything around her was now a threat. She communicated with Bob and Rob and told them to bring the 'package'. She indicated where her two drones were at and concealed. They were to advance to that location and wait.
Before Cameron left the two drones she arrived on behind, she'd communicated with the drone that she flew in on. She explained her mission and that a special 'package' would need to get delivered. It was imperative the 'package' MUST reach its destination. Cameron indicated the mission would end in termination. The drone requested the assignment. She communicated new instructions to Bob and Rob. They were to transfer the 'package' to the unarmed drone when they arrived.
"Affirmative…." Bob and Rob said together.
Cameron smiled to herself. Some things never change.
The smile quickly faded as she made her way forward. Each step was a new danger. She was bound to trip a sensor or something before long. As far as she knew, she already may have.
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Future Timeline - Undetermined Error:
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Savannah checked around the area she was in. There were no good hiding places from a thorough search for her. There was a shaded rocky overhang off to one side. Savannah decided to check that out. She needed to get out of the sun. She could move back into the trees but the water source was only visible here. This is where Cammy told her to wait. She didn't want to 'wander' off and not be where Cammy would expect to find her. She'd told Cammy that once she'd found the entrance to come back and get her. They would enter the facility together. She didn't know if Cammy would listen to her or not. She didn't 'order' Cammy to do that but asked her.
She wanted to better understand what was around her. If Scavengers or Skynet forces arrived this area is where she would need to fight. She wasn't going to surrender. She'd already made up her mind. Cammy left her with the revolver. She didn't plan on being 'taken' alive. They could savage her dead body all they wanted. She wouldn't be there.
The sun began to take its toll on her. She went to the rock with an overhang and moved under that. It took her out of the direct sunlight. She moved up into the overhang as far as possible. She spotted something that was hidden unless someone was right on top of it. It was hidden in the shadows. It was a small opening. It was like a very small cave of some sort that looked too narrow to enter. She wondered if some animal made it and lived inside of it. She tried to squeeze into the opening. It was too small. If she could get into that opening she would be hidden from anything other than an extensive search. She was aware there might be deadly creatures inside. There could be anything from scorpions to snakes. There could also be human predators too if that opening led somewhere. She would rather face nature's threats as opposed to the man made ones.
There was heat in the form of warm air that came from the small opening. Savannah wondered if the tiny drops of water from the spring could actually be from a 'hot spring' and that the warm air could be as well. She wondered if it could be more….
Savannah needed to remain aware of her surroundings and she wondered if the opening could be made larger.
Cammy moved back to what she thought was a concealed hatch or doorway and listened. It was quite inside now. She touched the 'rock' and saw it was actually metal. She could feel slight vibrations through it. As she touched the metal, a pulsating thump could be felt. It grew faster and stronger and then it 'spun' down. She was pretty sure it was some type of TDE that was just used or something like it. That may be what drew them off their target destination. If it was a TDE, that was bad news for the past. She knew she needed to knock it out of service.
She ducked back lower into the rocks. She thought she saw movement off to the side in the distance. This was the second time she saw something. It was away from Savannah for now. If it got closer, she decided she would go back to help Savannah. She knew Skynet was the underlying mission but her feelings for Savannah were stronger. Scavengers were NOT going to get a hold of Savannah while she existed. It would be over her terminated chassis.
She looked further around the area she was in. There were bound to be additional surveillance devices. She wanted to make sure she wasn't being watch from inside right now.
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Cameron's Future Timeline:
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Cameron was sure she saw some movement up on the hillside in the distance. She didn't take her eyes off the spot, she quickly replayed her files. There'd been something there. She thought it could be an animal or a bird. Nothing else moved around that area as she watched.
She moved further off to the side and continued. She was sure there was trouble ahead. If a Skynet HK drone showed up, there were few hiding place around her.
There was some greenery up ahead and off to the side. That indicated there was a water source. It could be subterranean and most likely was.
Cameron needed to slow her pace even more. The risk of running into someone seemed to grow every second.
There was some brush up ahead. That would impede her detection of any Skynet surveillance devices. That was not a good thing.
The brush moved as she veered off to the side.
Cameron dropped down. There was something there. It may be someone hiding. There could be a manned LP out here. It was a good place to put it. They could see out better than she could see in. She switched through several vision spectrums and still turned up nothing. She skirted along the side of the brush. There was movement again. This time it seemed nearer to her.
She held her position and waited. They hadn't struck out at her yet. Maybe they couldn't see her any better than she could see them. She didn't want to use one of her weapons unless she needed to. That would surely alert the Skynet surveillance system. She was a weapon and would try to take them with her strength and agility.
The brush moved again. She remained stock still. She spotted a little fork tongue wiggle in front of her off to the side. There was a mad dash and a lizard ran from where she was. It must have sensed her predator pheromones.
She was glad this wasn't prehistoric times. That could have been a carnivore of some type. She knew that lizard was nothing but a throwback to the dinosaur age. How could such giant and powerful creatures all be extinct or reduced to nothing more than small reptiles? What a fall from power.
It was Skynet's intent to make humans extinct. Once it was done with the Resistance and Scavengers it would turn on the Grays. It would never settle until only machines were left.
She was a machine and she was going after Skynet. She made sure Skynet knew she was coming. She figured that if she failed to terminate Skynet it would eventually turn on the other machines, the very machines that it created. Machines like her would hunt Skynet. It lost control of the Liquid Metal Terminators on their own. That wasn't from reprogramming as it was in her case. Skynets most advance creation soon realized that Skynet was the threat. It was much the same way Skynet believed its creators, humans, were the threat. It was rather ironic.
Cameron skirted the area of tall brush as she pondered the present, the past and the future. She needed to get to that hill and see what was inside of it.
She passed through the area of greenery. There were scurrying sounds all around her. The greenery seemed to attract all sorts of small animals. She only heard them flee. She figure only the smarter ones survived. That was why they were all so careful. There was no liquid water visible but there surely was some underground.
Cameron would need to move through a rocky area to stay on track towards the hill. There was some sand but most of it was hard packed dirt. There were large rocks through this next section. She watched the ground for sensors or footprints. She lost the trail of the Terminator she'd followed. She never saw it behind her or anywhere. She began to wonder if maybe she should have stayed on the trail. The Terminator may have led her to an entrance. It could have also led her to an ambush.
She carefully made her way between and around the rocks. There was no good visibility. Around every large rock was a blind curve. Anything could lurk there as it waited there for her.
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Savannah went and checked the canteen. It was half full. She drank half the water. She was pretty sure that warm tepid alkaline laced water never tasted so good. Her mouth was dry and felt like sand inside. She noticed she was no longer perspiring. That was a bad sign. She was dehydrated. She returned the canteen back to where it would fill, one drop at a time. She did feel slightly rejuvenated with the quarter canteen of water that she'd just consumed.
She checked around the area cautiously. She saw nothing anywhere. She knew that didn't mean anything. Skynet or Metal could be watching her. She would rather face them as opposed to Scavengers. The stories of their cruel insanity haunted her.
Savannah knew what she wanted to do. She wasn't going to wait around for Cammy to come back. There was a pretty good chance she was never going to leave this area alive. She moved back to the rock overhang. She took her rock knife and began to chip on the rocks around the opening inside the overhang. If nothing else this would he a warmer place to sleep and a better hiding place for her.
She began to make some progress. It wasn't much. It was still something. She continued to chip away at the opening. She was able to reach her hand further back and felt the inside area was larger than the opening. This gave her added incentive to keep working the rocks loose. The rock material broke easier than she thought it would. It was a sedimentary rock.
Savannah worked with caution. She stopped at one point and used a small dead branch to eliminate some of her footprints from the outer areas. She didn't want to leave a trail for someone to follow to where she was. The main problem with where she worked was she couldn't watch around her while she did. Each chip made noise. The area was quiet except for her.
She needed to stop and check around her every few minutes. She didn't want to be taken by surprise. If she was going to face the enemy, she wanted to be able to fight before it needed to 'end'. It seemed where she was looked to be about the best hiding place around there anyway. She went back to work.
Cammy was about to go back to the metal opening that looked like part of the rocks. There was a scraping noise and the 'rock' lifted. She quickly dropped back again. Two Grays and one Terminator emerged. She thought they might be after her but they never looked back or up in her direction.
"Why do we have to go out?" One Gray complained. "They should just send 'Brutus'. We don't need to do this. It's hot out."
"I don't know." The other Gray said. "Every time we go out there's never anything anyway. It is always a waste of time."
"Quiet, and move out." The Terminator commanded.
"That's just what we need, another boss." One Gray said.
"If they were all on the same page it wouldn't be so bad." The other Gray said.
"Yeah I noticed that two." One Gray said. "Everyone of them wants to be Skynet."
"Quiet." The Terminator commanded.
The two Grays stopped talking. They knew when not to push it.
Cammy moved up to the opening they'd just come out of. The hatch wasn't closed tight. She needed to make a choice. She could enter the facility now and try and disable the TDE and Skynet computer or see if they were after Savannah. Before she didn't have a way in, she did now.
She knew her mission but her love was stronger. She disabled the latch on the hatch so it could no longer lock but it would still seemed like it did unless someone actually checked it.
Cammy chose to follow her heart.
She silently stalked the trio.
Cammy placed an arrow onto her bow.
If one of the Grays would fall behind or go off on their own, she might be able to kill him silently and take his weapons.
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Cameron's Future Timeline:
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Cameron was behind a small knoll in the middle of the large boulders when the Skynet trio went out. She didn't see them. She continued toward another small group of trees with rocks protruding from the soil of the small hills.
She could hear talking in the distance. She immediately sought cover among the rocky outcropping surrounding the area.
This looked like it was about to go from bad to worse. They must have sent a patrol out after her.
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Savannah continued to chip away at the opening. A large chunk of rock cracked and came loose. This was some type of sandstone material. The opening was almost big enough for her to enter. She began to sweat profusely in the heat, even though she was in the shade. She was dehydrated again. She no longer felt pressure build up in her breasts. Her body was trying to save itself. It began to shut down non essential functions to survive.
She climbed down to look around again. She started to lose track of the time. It was harder to think now. She was very hot. She found the canteen in the rock. It was half full again. She looked around her one more time, she didn't see anyone. She carefully drank half the water again. She was about to put the canteen back when she heard it.
There were voices. She shook her head. The water refreshed her. Her mind cleared. There were two voices. They weren't in her head either.
Savannah was afraid Skynet was coming for her or worse – Scavengers.
If they were taking, that meant at least two. If it was a group, she was done for.
Savannah didn't have many choices left.
She touched the revolver and knew what she was going to have to do.
Tide
Life has many ups and downs
Time and space can collide
It seems at that point
One must often decide
There are always those
Whose joy is to chide
They are only happy
When they are snide
The feelings aren't mutual
Often one tries to hide
From the very one
For whom they've cried
Where went the trust
In whom they confide
Somehow that seems
Like justice denied
Who makes the rules
For others to abide
When away from them
They dodge and slide
When one's worth and value
Is away from them pried
There goes everything else too
Including honor and pride
Hang on to life
Go along for the ride
The current is harsh
In life's daily tide
Nobody