Chapter 768

Chill Out

John arrived in the Command Center. He and Cameron spent a close time together earlier. Things seemed a little different now. They were both 'sure' of what the other must have 'done'. They at least knew what the other one wanted to do. Everyone wanted the same thing. It shouldn't really be a big deal. In reality, it really wasn't. The open lifestyle seemed to work for all the girls.

He was a little surprised that Cameron didn't shower with him. He was sure she would. She seemed to be in a hurry for some reason. He'd expected to find her in the Command Center. He figured that she would search for the information on whatever happened or was uncovered last night so she could go and deal with it herself. That was how she normally rolled anyway. She wasn't there. Maybe he'd check to see where she'd gone to.

John and John Henry greeted each other.

It was time to get to work. There must have been more than a few things happen since last night. He expected to get an earful.

"Did I miss much?" John asked.

John Henry really didn't want to get into any of the personal issues. He wasn't supposed to any way. He needed to worry about Cameron and CamNet. Strangely enough CamNet seemed 'absent' for a few hours earlier. He wondered if she was down for maintenance. He didn't ask. Maybe it was best not to know.

"So far it's been the usual drama." John Henry said. "A few leads have turned up Skynet wise."

John Henry filled John in on everything. He thought John seemed a little more distracted that usual.

"Is everything OK?" John Henry asked.

John wondered where Cameron needed to go in such a hurry. He needed to refocus.

"Yes." John said.

John Henry wasn't so sure.

"You seem 'different'." John Henry said.

John and Cameron said the same thing to each other earlier. They were both sure they knew why.

"I do?" John asked. "I just got here."

John Henry thought Cameron seemed 'different' too. Now He wondered what the files were that Savannah erased. He didn't have any idea. He wondered if something happened with John or Cameron. Maybe something happened with both of them at different times. Maybe it was both of them together. Maybe it was nothing and he should concentrate on his job like he was supposed to do.

Now he began to wonder what happened. He knew it was best not to speculate.

John was pleased to learn that Cammy's team looked like they found a solid lead. He didn't know all the details as to how that information was obtained. He only knew that the Grays were questioned until they provided answers. If Sheila was involved, it seemed to make everyone else 'uncomfortable'.

He didn't know that they didn't mind what she did. It was the fact that she seemed to enjoy it so much that bothered everyone. They didn't see how anyone human and especially a Terminator could derive satisfaction and pleasure from that. It seemed that half of the pain happened in the mind of the victim as to what was being done to them, rather than what the actual physical pain was of what was modified or removed. It was the emotional trauma that seemed to be what Sheila thrived on.

Cammy was ready to go into the building and wanted to get permission to get started. She wanted to move in and hit the target. If this is what they were looking for, there was no need to delay. She didn't like Bob's apprehension or John Henry's delays. Now John was there and she hoped things could get started.

"John, I think we can move in on the target." Cammy said. "I'm ready to go in now."

John went over all the information. There were still too many unknowns. They needed to know more about the force inside the building. They suspected there were Terminators there based on the two homeless men's descriptions and reaction to Bob.

"We don't know what we are dealing with yet." John said.

Cammy saw it as straight forward. They were dealing with Skynet in some form. What else was there to consider? They knew who the enemy was and where some of them were at. She decided to 'sugar coat' the report.

"Until I go in there we won't know. I'm ready to act." Cammy said. "We're looking for the trucks. One was reported hidden here for two days. Let's get in there and find out what we have or don't have. If we have a chance to score on one of the targets now, we should take it."

Cammy knew that wasn't quite true. One big rig was reported in the area but where it ended up at wasn't known. The two men saw it but they didn't know where it went.

John didn't think they possessed good enough intelligence yet that was solid.

"That's if the intel was good." John said. "We don't know. You don't know for sure."

Sheila was sure of her methods. The fact the homeless men actually saw it only reinforced her belief.

"It is, love." Sheila said. "I can personally guarantee it."

John was sure he didn't want to know what happened to get that guarantee. Now he wondered what did happen. He didn't approve of Sheila's methods. Now he thought that Sheila inherited that evil streak from Jesse. Savannah was supposed to work with Sheila on alternate methods of interrogation. It didn't seem to work. Then again, Sheila did show restraint at the motel in Avila Beach.

He didn't know that after Cameron, Cammy, Savannah and he left that Sheila tried to resuscitate the female Gray. She wanted to finish what she'd wanted to do all along. She only wanted to do it if the female was alive so she would know what was done to her. Sheila was very disappointed she couldn't revive her.

Bob didn't like Cammy to jump the gun but if they wanted to move the operation along, they needed to get started. If this was a dead end they should find out and move on.

"We don't know what we're facing but Cammy is right." Bob said. "Out here we know no more than we did. If we want the trucks, we need to act. Their cargo is deadly. It is better to face it while it is inactive. We can always question any survivors and hopefully make them tell us where what we're looking for is at."

John could hear the logic but it was hours until it would be dark. If this was a bust they needed to move on to other targets. He wanted some planning. That was mainly for if things turned bad.

"Let's work out some kind of a plan…." John said.

John didn't want his people to get shot up or walk into an ambush. He was still miffed at getting played but wanted to go back to using caution. When any of them acted impulsively, the risk of mistakes grew many times over. They'd made enough mistakes already on this one. He didn't want to make one more but he did want those other two trucks.

Vanna went to see Allison. She'd left to collect Summer and returned a minute later.

Vanna was in the studio. She looked at some drawings. They were very good and looked new.

"Are these your fathers?" Vanna asked. "I've never seen them before."

Allison was proud of them. She'd worked very hard on them. Holly oversaw her work but only commented if she saw something that was questionable. She didn't tell her outright but it made her go back and double check her work.

"No, I made those. I drew them." Allison said. "I planned and conceived them myself. I'm trying to better myself. Cameron has encouraged me."

Vanna was pleased at what she saw and heard. It was clear Allison possessed skill to actually do this. She knew that Allison felt she'd become useless to the Resistance the last few years. She was a Resistance fighter but she wasn't in any frights for a long time. That was what everyone wanted for her but Allison herself. This line of work was a good alternative. She wondered why Allison never mentioned it. She was sure there were a lot of things that both of them didn't mention anymore. Some of it seemed best if they didn't. It didn't really matter anyway nor did it change anything. Life still went on.

"That's very impressive work, Allison." Vanna said. "It's clearly at a professional level. You never told me you were doing this."

Allison wanted to be useful when she was in the future. She wanted to be more than a parasite and a bed warmer for Future John. She would take over all of Future Allison's 'duties'. She thought it might take her some time to get acclimated to an 'activity' she wasn't used to. Her experiences were best not remembered.

"I didn't think it was a big deal. I wanted to do more. You do more all the time and always have." Allison said. "I've studied to do this and now I'm practicing. When we get to the future, we will be able to help rebuild things. I want to help rebuild. I want to fix things."

Vanna knew Allison talked about going into Cameron's future. She wasn't so sure that was a good idea. She would need to take over Future Savannah's 'duties'. She knew what to do for Future John by being forced to do it. She could put up with it again. That wasn't written in stone. If this was really going to happen she would need to talk to Cameron and ask if John could break her back in to that type of sexual activity. She didn't want to see it as a job. If she was going to do it, she wanted it to be for real.

"We aren't there yet." Vanna said. "We're not in the future, any future yet."

Allison didn't believe there was stopping any of it. She knew what she wanted to do. She wanted to be useful again.

"We will be, soon." Allison said. "We all know it. I have Holly check everything and all my calculations. I've made no structural errors."

Vanna did know good work when she saw it. It appeared that Allison really could do the work on her own. It was really all mathematics anyway.

"That's amazing." Vanna said.

Allison was tasked by Cameron to work on a specific project. It was unusual in how they were going to build if for the future in the past.

"Cameron asked me to design an entire base addition that is family and children friendly." Allison said. "Cameron will build it in the past and make it available to Future Allison. It will be there all this time but Nobody will know. The same way we've 'sent' supplies to Future Allison."

Vanna went to Allison and held her. She knew Cameron was really doing it for Allison if she went into the future. She knew Cameron wanted to provide Allison with everything she could. Cameron wouldn't stop Allison from leaving if that's what she really wanted. Cameron would build the complex and it would be waiting for Allison to 'find' once she arrived in Cameron's future. It was a very loving gesture. She personally never intended to 'lose' Allison again.

"We will always be together." Vanna said.

Allison loved Vanna dearly but she also like the variety. There was no shortage of females available to her now and all of them were pristine. That was all except Savannah. She bore the markings of the 'future' in the past. That always disturbed her.

"I know that but I want to keep it 'open'." Allison said.

Vanna was always open to that concept. She'd been with dozens of females when she was with Allison full time in their future.

"So it's meat and potatoes, which is us, but dessert every now and then." Vanna said.

Allison thought of all the females they were with now. They didn't even have to ask. There were plenty of people that would be there for them. She did notice that they all tried to be with her mother first if they could. Her mother was the busiest female of them all. She'd even passed Jesse. There were always a handful of Metal girls waiting to be with her. They would settle for her when Claire's schedule was too full.

"Isn't that what we have now?" Allison asked.

Vanna knew that it was. She hoped to get a crack at Claire later on herself.

"Yes, it is." Vanna said. "Your mother is having dessert right now."

Allison didn't like to hear about her mother and her sexual exploits but she literally watched them all day long everyday. She thought her mother should get all the enjoyment she could out of life. In her future, her mother died years ago. She knew from personal experience that life could get pretty rough at times.

"Please, don't remind me." Allison said. "If it makes both of them happy, who are we to judge?"

Vanna was well aware everything could come crashing to an end in an instant. She'd already experienced that once in her life.

"Nobody…." Vanna said. "If Skynet blows up the world, there is no more happiness."

Vanna knew it was mostly hurt at that point, for everyone.

Allison wanted to do something about the future.

"I want to help fix what Skynet took from us." Allison said.

Vanna wasn't sure another future was the place to do that.

"It's not our future." Vanna said.

Allison's daughter Destiny was there. She wanted to be with her daughter if she couldn't have a baby here.

"Does it matter?" Allison asked. "My Destiny is there."

Vanna knew that statement said several things. In fact, it said them all.

Cameron didn't like the developments with CamNet. She knew what it was like to be stuck in a server. It was really little more than a metal coffin. At least when she got the neck port and tether she was able to move around and was back in her newly repaired chassis. It was her 'home' and she liked it. She didn't like to dwell on what all of that meant. She never could get away from it. It was always there to remind her.

John Henry was plugged into his server almost all the time, so it wasn't an issue for him or his server. He could unplug and walk away at any time to do other things or go anywhere that he needed to go. Cameron knew she needed to take care of other duties and responsibilities. There were many obligations to fulfill.

CamNet didn't tell her where Savannah was at specifically but she knew. It was a new problem she'd created and something that caused Savannah a lot of grief.

Cameron knew where to find Savannah. She headed down to where Savannah's 'parents' were at.

Ally waited outside.

Cameron could see that Ally didn't look very pleased.

"How's she doing?" Cameron asked.

"I don't know." Ally said. "She was very serious when she went in there. She didn't tell me and I didn't ask. It appeared that she needed to deal with a lot of emotions. She looked very hurt."

Ally didn't want to leave Savannah alone like that and decided to wait outside. She knew she wasn't allowed in the room and knew whatever was in there hurt Savannah deeply inside. She could see that it was very important for Savannah to go in there even if it seemed like she didn't want to. She really wondered what madness Cameron was up to this time.

Cameron knew it was her fault. She knew all of this was her fault.

"I hurt her." Cameron said. "I'm going to go in."

Ally thought Savannah wanted privacy.

"Is there some way you can knock first?" Ally asked. "I think that she wants to be alone. It seemed very important to her."

Cameron felt a glitch impulse. She felt the need to be closer to Savannah.

"I could call her." Cameron said. "I need to be with her in person."

Ally thought that she'd seen something late last night. She'd been by Savannah's room as well.

"I thought you were earlier." Ally said.

Cameron quickly looked at Ally. She didn't know that she'd been observed.

"Don't concern yourself with that." Cameron said.

Ally didn't like Cameron's sudden change in demeanor.

"Chill out." Ally said.

Cameron didn't think that Ally was needed any longer. She was there now.

"I'm sorry." Cameron said. "Thank You for watching over her and helping her. You're free to go now. I appreciate your assistance."

Ally looked at the closed door. She felt she needed to say something to Savannah before she left. It appeared Cameron wanted her to leave now.

"You know we all love her." Ally said. "Please make sure she knows that I was here until you sent me away."

Cameron never felt bothered by all the females that Savannah shared with. She wanted Savannah to have as much love as possible. She believed she was able to provide that to her.

"I do." Cameron said. "All Savannah has ever felt is love for her and love around her. It's a gift I've helped provide for her."

Cameron was very pleased and proud of the atmosphere of love she was able to surround Savannah with. It was something she felt no one ever tried to do for her.

She was always worried about the loss Savannah suffered with her parents as a small child. She tried very hard to fill that void as did everyone else. She was aware they could never replace them. Now she was worried she may have gone too far.

Ally found it somewhat perplexing that Cameron wasn't bothered by all of Savannah's sexual activity the way she'd been bothered by John's infractions.

"I would think it would bother you." Ally said.

Ally thought of John and Riley, the dead one.

Cameron only wanted the best for Savannah.

"When she takes her place in the 'Natural Order' it might." Cameron said. "Until then I want her to know love, feel love, experience love and share love. I never want her to feel like I did, like I do."

Ally knew Cameron still felt the same way. She sure hoped when Savannah and Young Allison were with Cameron that would change. Now she wondered if it even could change. Maybe Cameron was so scarred at this point that she could never fix herself.

"Good luck." Ally said. "If you need me or Savannah does, call me. I'll be close by. If Cammy is busy and no one else is available, call me and I will come to her."

"Thank You." Cameron said as she gave Ally a hug before she left.

Cameron debated what to do. She knew the best thing to do was face the problem head on. When it was time for battle one forged ahead. Still, she was very unsure what to do at this point.

Cameron stood at the door for a few more minutes before she entered the code….

Young Allison saw Holly and Hanna wanted to be alone. Holly carried a tether.

"Anna and I will watch Summer." Young Allison said.

Hanna and Holly looked at each other.

Young Allison didn't want anyone to seem surprised. She knew everything that everyone did and the way they reacted to everything. She knew every sound that they made when something specific was done. She was pretty sure that they knew that she'd seen it all. She briefly wondered if that was something that Cameron programmed into them to leave the door ajar and not be cognizant of the fact that she was there to watch them. That would explain a lot.

"Relax." Young Allison said. "I keep TELLING all of you. I know what happens around here. I have for a long time too. I've even seen it. I've seen everything…."

Holly was informed by Allison that Young Allison 'spied' on her and Vanna together. She figured Young Allison 'spied' on her and Allison too. Allison told her since it was 'herself' she really didn't mind. She actually hoped that Young Allison would be able to learn a few things and know her way around a female body a little bit better when she was actually with one. She figured that would actually benefit Savannah in the long run. Savannah told her that Future Alison and her liked many of the same things. She figured that knowledge would benefit Young Allison one day.

Holly and Hanna wordlessly disappeared into the back of the bunker complex.

Young Allison got Summer started on a project on one the computer monitors. She worked with Summer and showed her how to do a few more things. Summer was a quick learner.

Young Allison returned to Anna.

"Summer is highly intelligent." Anna said. "She's able to learn everything at an accelerated rate without anyone having to 'push' her. It's almost like she already knows how to do everything."

Young Allison often wondered about that. Sometimes she wondered if Summer didn't actually hold back on what she could really do. There was a lot of speculation as to what actually may or may not have occurred in regards to that.

"Did Cameron take Summer to River's future?" Young Allison asked.

Anna verified the information on her chip since she ran Cameron's program several times.

"It's not on my chip if she did." Anna said.

Young Allison hoped for some clarification.

"Did she ever take Savannah or me there?" Young Allison asked.

That was something else Anna checked as well.

"I have no knowledge of that." Anna said.

Young Allison looked at Summer. She wanted to feel a little jealous but instead she felt proud for her sister.

"Great, so Summer will be smarter than me and look prettier than me." Young Allison said.

Anna was sweet on Young Allison. She wanted to make a few things clear about beauty or what was perceived as beauty. She wanted Young Allison to know how she felt about her.

"Beauty is subjective and transitory." Anna said. "You're beautiful. You will always be beautiful."

Young Allison remembered her limited exposure to Cameron in Summer's chassis.

"We all saw 'teenage' Metal Summer." Young Allison said. "She was better looking than Cameron and Nobody is better looking than Cameron."

Anna knew Cameron's beauty came from Young Allison. That was where the DNA came from that she currently used.

"Your beauty will be equal or better than Cameron's." Anna said. "Her beauty is actually your beauty. Never forget that."

Young Allison was sure Summer would be more beautiful than her.

"Maybe, until Summer grows up." Young Allison said.

Anna didn't think that was anything that Young Allison needed to worry about, especially at this time.

"That will be a long time from now." Anna said.

Young Allison knew Cameron's plans for her. It was what she wanted as well. She wanted to speed up the aging process in this timeline by visiting the past. She figured something like that would happen to Summer as well.

"Promise me that." Young Allison said.

Anna said nothing.

The lack of a promise confirmed Young Allison's suspicions as to what may be in store for Summer.

"You can't make that promise can you?" Young Allison asked.

Anna didn't know what Cameron would do later on. Everything would revolve around whatever Cameron did or wanted to have done.

"No. I can't." Anna said. "Nobody can."

Young Allison looked at the security camera.

"How about you, CamNet, can you promise me that?" Young Allison asked.

'No.' Appeared on Young Allison's computer screen. 'The future must be protected. Nobody knows what will happen.'

Young Allison wanted to see if she could get some answers out of Anna or CamNet.

"Is Summer, John and River's child or from their genetic material?" Young Allison asked. "Or a human clone of River?"

Anna could find no files that supported any of those claims.

"No." Anna said. "I have no knowledge of that or any of those things."

Young Allison hoped that CamNet was in a talkative mood and might actually reveal something.

"CamNet, is she?" Young Allison asked.

'Unknown.' CamNet responded. 'DNA samples show she has the same parents as you.'

Young Allison was aware Cameron could have manipulated quite a few things in her temporal travels.

There was no Summer in Allison's future or Future Allison's future. She only existed in this current timeline….

Young Allison really wondered about this….

She knew that ethics and moral constraints were not Terminator strong points.

She was aware that they weren't being stressed in her Metal upbringing either.

It appeared that Cameron wanted to offer a lot of moral wiggle room going into the future. Savannah was the counterbalance to that.

You And I Talk About It A Lot

I know many times
I've pulled a foolish stunt
I'm not sure if it's because
I don't know what I really want

Sometimes we think we know
When we usually don't
We say we can't
And can't means won't

It seems that we run
When we should converse
It's almost as if
We live in our own universe

We move forward
We move back
We want to share
Instead each other we attack

We each speak of loneliness
Even feel like a misfit
What are we waiting for
You and I talk about it

Nobody