Chapter 931
Your Approval
John Henry monitored the discussions of the girls in the desert. He explained to John what they knew or suspected. John looked rather perplexed.
This was information that John didn't want to hear. The implication of what was about to happen could be fatal. It seemed the more he heard, the more impossible the story became. He really wondered what they were doing.
"Hold on." John said.
John Henry thought he'd been quite clear about everything he'd explained to John.
"I can explain it again." John Henry said.
John waved his hand in disgust. He didn't need to hear again what he'd already heard.
"I heard you the first time." John said.
John Henry could see John was irritated and frustrated. He thought perhaps one of the girls could explain everything to him. They were the ones there after all.
"Maybe you should speak directly to Savannah." John Henry said. "You could speak to Cameron as well."
John wouldn't mind to speak with Savannah but he sure didn't want to speak with Cameron. Even with everything John Henry already told him he was sure Cameron was responsible for whatever the problem was the girls currently faced. He wanted to make sure he understood everything John Henry just told him.
"I might. Let me get this straight." John said. "There's an H-bomb that Cammy and Sheila stole in the past, maybe fifty or more years ago and then placed it inside the mine."
John Henry was glad John understood this part. He already told him three times.
"That's correct." John Henry said.
The next part is the part that John had trouble with. It seemed as illogical as it was impossible.
"They were told to do this by Savannah, in the past." John said. "It's our Savannah but she hasn't been to the past yet. Savannah has only been to two futures and in the present."
John Henry nodded. It appeared that John understood everything so far.
"That's correct." John Henry said. "The 'Chosen One' set things in motion in the past."
John was concerned as to why there were so many of their group in the past. He'd heard of the speculation for the 'temporal maturation' of Young Allison but what John Henry described to him sounded much more involved and complicated.
"Why were they in the past?" John asked. "Does something go wrong?"
John Henry didn't want to be the one to tell John that Savannah was in the past so she could have Vanna's baby quicker for the present. The same thing applied to Claire with Allison's baby that she carried. He was going to stick with the easy route on this one.
"That's unknown." John Henry said. "You would need to speak with Cameron about it. I don't know all of the details."
John's biggest concern right now was Cameron. It seemed the incident revolved around her if nothing else.
"Was Cameron terminated?" John asked. "Will she be terminated where she's at now?"
John Henry thought that was most likely but didn't want to speculate on something so extreme. Cameron was known for taking chances and pushing it. He was pretty sure that Savannah wouldn't have gone to all this trouble and drama for anything short of that.
"That's unknown." John Henry said. "You know from past experiences how she operates. I doubt this would be any different."
The lack of answers only continued to frustrate John.
"None of this makes any sense." John said. "If they're going to use the H-bomb deep underground, what exactly are they waiting for? Why hasn't it happened yet? Why have they waited so long? Why have we just found out about all of this right now? What's different now than was different a year ago, five years ago or fifty years ago? Is there something they need to wait for?"
John Henry could think of one obvious thing they might want to have. He was sure if Savannah was involved that she would want that as well.
"Maybe they waited for your approval." John Henry said.
That statement was almost laughable to John. It seemed if the implications of what was about to happen, happened, there wasn't going to be anything laughable about it. He was sure if Cameron was behind everything that he would be the last person she would ask for approval from. She most likely wouldn't tell him either. That would probably be true even if he asked. She told him once before that she'd lied to him. When he asked if it was about important things, she said 'yes'. At the time he'd asked that question he wasn't sure if her reference was to the future or the present. He had a feeling it was in regards to the future. The implication was if she lied in the future she would also lie in the present. There's no reason she wouldn't lie in the past on top of it.
"Hardly…." John said. "I'm just the leader of the Resistance. Sometimes I wonder if that means anything. Cameron seldom asks for my approval for anything."
John often felt Cameron was the one in charge. He felt he was more of a figurehead. It was clear to everyone in the Resistance that Cameron did most of the heavy lifting that needed to be done in regards to Skynet.
John Henry felt it was Savannah who was responsible for this. Cammy and Sheila both thought it was the 'Chosen One'. He didn't want John to blame everything on Cameron before they possessed all of the facts.
"It may have been Savannah, not Cameron who did this." John Henry said.
John thought about that. He was well aware his hands were going to be full in the future with Young Allison and Savannah.
"That's even worse." John said. "I can already tell that Savannah and Young Allison aren't going to listen to me."
John Henry heard Young Allison tell John that she always listened. It's what she'd said afterwards that drove home her point. She said that she 'didn't always obey'. He wanted to remind John that the girls were their own individuals. They had minds of their own with their own beliefs and opinions.
"They'll listen but they may not 'obey'. There's a difference there." John Henry said. "They'll question and challenge you. It's what you really want anyway. You know it will make you a better leader. You can't 'reprogram' them."
There it was again. John felt the jab at him about Future John. He was aware that Future John reprogrammed Cameron at least once. It was probably several times. Cameron told him before that much of her life was 'missing'. He was sure Future John erased Cameron's first sexual experiences. It was what Cameron believed anyway. He didn't want to think about things that he hadn't actually done himself even if he did them later on or in another future. He tried to picture things going forward with Cameron, Savannah and Young Allison.
"If we are all one 'big happy family', I'll have even less control of them." John said. "Like I do with Cameron now, she's uncontrollable."
John Henry didn't think there was 'control' in any relationship. Even if there was, it wasn't for very long before whoever was being controlled would want their voice heard.
"That seems to be the way relationships 'work'." John Henry said. "One partner isn't supposed to 'control' the other in any relationship. You know that."
John wondered sometimes if he wasn't a victim rather than a participant.
"I'm sure that's all part of Cameron's plan to 'control' me." John said.
John Henry wasn't so sure of that.
"Cameron is an infiltration unit." John Henry said. "She's trained Savannah and Young Allison with her programming. She's taught them what she feels is best for their survival in the future."
John didn't think Sarah assisted him very much in that regard.
"My mother helped with some of that as well." John said. "I'm sure her advice wasn't much different when it comes to me…."
John Henry understood that Sarah wanted to protect her son. He also understood that she would want the girls protected from her son.
"Indeed." John Henry said.
Savannah led Cammy into the restroom. She didn't like to see Cammy cut up. They needed answers and they needed them soon. It seemed they were on some timetable here they didn't fully understand yet.
Cameron hadn't given up the idea of entering the mine. She was back where she started earlier in the operation when they found out the destination of the armored car. It was the H-bomb that concerned her the most.
"I still want to verify what's inside the mine. I need to check on what will set the H-bomb off." Cameron said. "I don't want to do it manually if it can be avoided."
Savannah didn't agree to that at all. She didn't want Cameron inside of the mine.
"That's not going to happen." Savannah said. "You're not going to do that."
Cameron didn't say anything.
Cammy thought her programming was altered to make her think her power cell was still there. She was under the impression she did this herself under the direction of the 'Chosen One'. It bothered her somewhat that her programming had been altered in this way. It was obviously done specifically so she wouldn't know she was missing a power cell.
"Open me up first and make sure my other power cell is actually missing. I still show it being there, even though there is no energy output." Cammy said.
Savannah somehow was supposed to be a part of everything that happened in the past, even though she hadn't left for the past yet. She didn't see how she could have done any of this if she hadn't even left. If she actually did any of this it would have to have been for a very good reason. If it was to prevent Cameron from being terminated, that seemed like a pretty good reason to her.
"Cameron, I think if I ordered Cammy and Sheila to do this in the past, it was to keep you from going into that mine in the first place." Savannah said. "I'm sure of that. I can't imagine the use of a weapon like that under any other circumstances."
Sheila was worried about the C-bomb.
"What do we know about the Cobalt and a weapon being fabricated from it?" Sheila asked. "I know there is more than one kind of C-bomb now. I definitely prefer one over the other."
Cameron hoped to find some better information about that. All of her records indicated a C-bomb was too dangerous to actually build and test. Sometime during the late Sixties, plans for that test were canceled as being too dangerous. The fear of an 'end of life' event was too great to risk it.
"Let me ask John Henry something." Cameron said. "Cut Cammy open while I check."
Sheila moved forward with her knife. She felt a sudden rush of excitement. She knew that this wouldn't be the first time that she'd used her knife on Cammy. She wasn't about to say anything in front of Savannah where she'd used her knife at before on Cammy's sheath. She thought maybe it would be better if Savannah did it.
"Do you want to do it, love?" Sheila asked Savannah.
Savannah didn't look forward to having to cut Cammy open but she would do what needed to be done because they needed answers. She would let Cammy make the decision herself.
"Cammy?" Savannah asked. "You pick."
Cammy could see that Savannah didn't want to damage her sheath. She could see that Sheila was more than anxious to do it. She might as well let Sheila have what she desired. She wanted Savannah to keep her decency.
"You're both my lovers." Cammy said. "I don't want Savannah to have to do this to me."
Sheila was very excited to hear that. She tried not to show it in front of Savannah.
"Sure, love." Sheila said. "You know I always wanted to use a knife on you anyway."
Cammy allowed Sheila to 'work' on her before. She was a little apprehensive but Sheila told her that everything would eventually regenerate. It did.
"You did, twice." Cammy said. "Everything regenerated. It took a little longer the second time because you took a little bit more than you'd indicated."
Sheila looked quickly at Savannah but didn't say anything.
Savannah didn't look pleased with that revelation. She'd heard Ally complain about the same thing before.
"Tell me about it." Savannah said.
Sheila glanced at Cammy who nodded slightly.
"They made a Hell of a set of earrings." Sheila said. "We were forty years ahead of our time with that outpatient procedure. It's rather quite common now. Women pay good money to have that done. Recently, some model made a necklace with her own. I saw it on the internet once. I know we were ahead of the times with the 'smooth' look too. I believe that's referred to as 'The Barbie' currently."
Savannah looked even less pleased with that new revelation.
"Maybe we started that 'trend' way back then." Cammy said. "The fact that our 'tumbleweeds' were gone seemed to catch on about twenty years earlier than the other procedure."
Now Savannah wondered if they hadn't changed the future after all. Two of those modifications were quite common now among females. It made Savannah wonder what else they may have inadvertently been altered in the past.
Actually the more she thought about it, the more she figured that some of what they'd done may not have been inadvertently. It may have been done intentionally. She thought about how all the females in the Resistance looked now. They certainly didn't look like they did in the Sixties or earlier.
Cameron went outside and spoke with John Henry back at the Resistance base. There was more information that she needed before she acted. She'd asked him earlier to make sure that there was a physical check done on the nuclear weapons at the nearby Air Force Base.
"Has the inventory of nuclear weapons been completed at the local Air Force Base yet?" Cameron asked.
John Henry was very disturbed with the results of the physical inspection. The computer records showed everything was still in the arsenal. The physical check came up a little short.
"Yes." John Henry said. "There are five nuclear weapons missing. They went missing just recently."
Cameron was afraid that's what was going to come back as the results. She was correct.
"Skynet has them." Cameron said. "I bet they're in the mine and I bet the Cobalt is in there as well. I believe this is a major threat to the human population of the planet."
John Henry agreed with her theory. A few quick calculations confirmed Cameron's assessment.
"If they build five C-bombs, they can kill half the people on the planet with atmospheric detonations." John Henry said. "The Cobalt radiation will blanket the Earth within a few years time span, billions will die."
Cameron saw this as a back door way for Skynet to take control. It could remain in the shadows and simply pick up the pieces of what was left of humanity in a few years time. Skynet could then launch its attacks against the pockets of the population that remained. It was an effective strategy.
"Skynet doesn't have to take 'control' to do it either." Cameron said. "They have everything they need now, if they actually have it. They can use HK drones for high altitude explosions to maximize the Cobalt radiation dispersal. Once that radiation is in the jet stream it will be everywhere."
John listened intently to the discussion between John Henry and Cameron. He could see the serious nature of what Skynet wanted to do. He could see why the girls wanted to act on the procedure that would happen inside of the mine to set the chain of events into motion. They needed to wait until all the pieces were in play before the mine was destroyed with everything inside of it. He'd been against the use of the H-bomb when he'd first heard about it. Now that he'd heard what the H-bomb might be able to stop when it was used to collapse the mine, he was on board with the idea. He wanted Cameron to act with a few restrictions and limits.
"Cameron, if you can collapse the mine with the H-bomb that may be inside of it and not set off the other nuclear weapons or spread the Cobalt, I want you to do it." John said. "You're not to enter the mine."
Cameron needed to know more about how the H-bomb was supposed to be detonated. Cammy and Sheila were unable to give her any specific details as to what they'd done. She was aware there was another way to make sure that the H-bomb was detonated.
"One of us may have to trigger it manually." Cameron said.
There was a long silence.
John better understood what Savannah's plan was before. He didn't want Savannah to be the one to trigger the H-bomb.
"We need to save innocent people and the future." John said. "I don't want Savannah to do it. Is this why Samantha was created?"
Cameron was afraid it would come down to this. It had. Now it was time to act. She needed to protect the future. She needed to protect John, Savannah and Young Allison. It was her destiny to take control and make sure the job was done.
"I'll do it." Cameron said. "My program is copied on my server…."
John Henry didn't want Cameron to get ahead of herself. He thought there were other options available.
"Is there any chance the H-bomb can be triggered from outside or remotely?" John Henry asked.
Cameron hoped to have an answer to that when she returned into the restroom.
"We are checking on one possibility now." Cameron said. "It may be wired to a Terminator power cell and timer."
John wondered when that happened and who the unlucky donor was.
"Whose power cell was used?" John asked. "Was it yours in the past?"
Cameron thought it was only indirectly hers. Cammy was her clone.
"No, it's Cammy's power cell." Cameron said.
John was a little shocked to hear that, especially if Savannah was the one behind the H-bomb. He wouldn't expect her to sacrifice her Metal lover.
"Savannah did that to Cammy?" John asked. "I can't believe it."
Cameron sometimes wondered if John paid attention to everything that was happening.
"Cammy has two power cells." Cameron said. "Cammy's here now."
John wasn't worried about Cammy. It was Cameron that bothered him.
"So are you." John said.
Cameron looked over towards the mountain where the mine was at.
"For now…." Cameron said.
John hoped to find out a little more about what Cameron was up to in the past. He was sure that she probably changed more than a few things when she was there. He wouldn't know the difference because all he would know is what was changed as to how things were.
"Cameron, what were you doing in the past?" John asked.
Cameron assumed John referred to the current situation. She wasn't going to be specific about anything else.
"I don't know." Cameron said. "I haven't left yet."
That answer wasn't good enough for John. It bothered him that Savannah was in the past. He was aware that any use of the TDE could result in a temporal error.
"What was Cammy doing in the past and why was Savannah there?" John asked.
Cameron didn't want to have this discussion. Technically, none of them had even left.
"John, don't worry about it." Cameron said. "The past wasn't altered. Drop it."
Cameron cut the connection.
She didn't want to get into a conversation like that with John. He was supposed to accept the future as it was delivered to him. He should be content with the future she'd created and provided to him. It was why he – Future John sent her back in the first place. She was very irritated that John seemed to be unable to comprehend what HE - Future John wanted.
Cameron felt she'd needed to sacrifice a lot of things personally in order to carry out John's - Future John's wishes. She really thought John should be a little more appreciative of everything that she'd done and orchestrated for him.
John slammed the heel of his fist on the table. The conversation with Cameron upset him. He didn't like how she cut him off either.
"DAMN IT." John said angrily.
John Henry wanted John to understand how any events in the past would play out in the present.
"If they were in the past, whatever they did has already been done." John Henry said.
It still bothered John anyway. It was just the fact that if Cameron could do something, he felt that she would if it suited her goals and agenda.
"I know they did something." John said.
John Henry knew what the purpose would have been on the latest temporal visits. Those included the ones that hadn't happened yet even though somehow they already had in the past.
"They may have taken Young Allison into the past to accelerate her maturation for you and Savannah." John Henry said.
That wasn't any news John wanted to hear either. He wondered what happened if it all fell apart and they were all arrested as terrorists. He could just picture some of the charges.
"Please - stop." John said. "Do you have any idea what my 'Rap sheet' is going to look like with my official birth date and Young Allison's birth date as 'evidence'?"
John Henry was aware that there was a new form of 'selective prosecution' for various individuals.
"I think it would be about a thirty year sentence in the 'big house' for that alone. That will make you unpopular with the other inmates as well." John Henry said. "I'm sure that Cameron will at least mature her to the legal 'age of consent'. Savannah would want that as well for her."
John was irritated by another contentious issue that already happened.
"Savannah wasn't even at the 'age of consent' when she gave birth to two of my children." John said. "That should bump it up to a fifty year sentence in 'the slammer'."
John Henry was aware that those were future events. Not past events like the current situation dealt with.
"Technically, that hasn't happened yet." John Henry said. "Even if it already has…."
John didn't want to go down the convoluted road of temporal management and malpractice.
"Stop…." John said.
John Henry figured John didn't want to hear or be reminded about who else was under the age of consent when they'd done things like Savannah.
"Then I won't mention Young Jesse." John Henry said. "She was under the 'age of consent' as well when she delivered your child."
John shook his head. That was another reminder he could have done without.
"You just did mention it, even if you didn't." John said. "Tack on another twenty years in 'the pen'."
John Henry didn't believe John committed any type of crime to begin with. Everything happened artificially.
"You didn't even 'touch' them." John Henry said.
John didn't think it would matter during the 'perp walk'.
"Save it for the judge." John said.
John doubted the truth about any of it and everything else would matter to a jury. They would all be sent to an institution for the criminally insane. Now he could see what his mother needed to deal with. The truth was insanity.
Seconds ago:
Savannah didn't want to see Cammy cut up but it was necessary. If her power cell was gone, then all of this was most likely fact.
Cammy looked at Savannah as she removed her top. Sheila stepped forward.
"I'm sorry about this, love." Sheila said. "I would like to say this is going to hurt me more than you but I know it won't."
Sheila lightly moistened her lips as she moved forward with the knife.
Cammy briefly wondered if the act of Sheila cutting into her smooth sheath aroused Sheila sexually. She was sure it did. She didn't want to ask in front of Savannah.
Savannah watched as Sheila stuck her knife into Cammy.
Cammy winced.
It irritated Savannah that Cammy could feel that.
"Turn your pain receptors off, Cammy." Savannah said. "You don't need to feel pain."
Cammy frowned slightly.
"I will if you insist." Cammy said.
Savannah was aware that some Terminators didn't shut off their pain receptors when they were damaged. Cameron was one of them. Apparently by extension so was Cammy. Cameron previously stated if she could feel pain, she knew she was alive.
"I do." Savannah said. "We both know you're alive. You do know that I've proven that to you in other ways. It's much better to feel pleasure than it is pain."
Cammy didn't want to cause any problems for Savannah.
"OK, Savannah." Cammy said.
Sheila's eyes were wide with excitement as she began to move the knife.
She made the incision bigger and then made a second cut so she could peel back a section of the sheath easier. She lifted the bloody flap up and looked inside.
"It's gone." Sheila said. "The secondary power cell is there but the primary one is missing."
Sheila figured that was because it was easier to get to the primary power cell than the second one that was installed.
Savannah wondered if there was any note or message left behind. She thought she would do that. It seemed to her that some type of explanation should be there if the power cell was missing.
"Is there anything inside her in its place?" Savannah asked. "Is there something to give us a clue?"
Sheila looked around inside Cammy again.
"I don't see anything." Sheila said.
Savannah was still dissatisfied with that answer.
"Triple check." Savannah said. "I think I would have left a message."
Sheila reached her hand inside of Cammy's sheath.
Cameron entered the restroom and went over to Cammy. She was very displeased at what she saw as Sheila reached around inside of Cammy.
"Why are your pain receptors off?" Cameron asked.
Cammy was about to answer when Savannah cut her off.
Savannah didn't see the need for anyone to feel needless pain, even if it was only discomfort.
"I ordered her to turn them off." Savannah said.
Sheila would have liked for Cammy to leave her pain receptors on when she cut into her. She probably would have 'finished' if Cammy felt enough pain.
"You actually asked." Sheila said. "Not ordered."
Savannah was irritated by the 'technical call'. She decided to do something she should have done a long time ago.
"In that case, I 'order' any Terminator that's damaged to turn off the pain receptors in the damaged area." Savannah said. "Make it official."
Cameron nodded at Savannah's order. She transmitted the order to CamNet to forward to all of the Terminators.
"It will be so." Cameron said.
Savannah heard what Cameron told CamNet. She was more than a little dissatisfied with Cameron's wording. It seemed that she purposely left out one person.
"That 'order' includes you as well." Savannah said.
Cameron frowned even more than she'd done previously.
"Then how will I know I'm still 'alive'?" Cameron asked.
Savannah figured the answer to that was very simple. She would use the same techniques on Cameron and she did the other female Terminators. She was able to make them feel 'alive' with pleasure.
"Seek me out and I will provide you with pleasure instead of pain to prove to you, that you're still 'alive'." Savannah said. "That applies to any female Terminator."
Sheila was very pleased to hear that. She wondered about the rest of the Terminators.
"What about the males?" Sheila asked.
Savannah decided the male Terminators could take matters into 'their own hands' if they needed to.
"Sorry, they're out of luck." Savannah said. "That's the price they pay for having 'junk'."
Sheila reached down and touched her knife.
"I can always take care of that problem for them." Sheila said.
Sheila and Cammy 'high fived' each other up high and then down low….
"I like the way you think." Cammy said.
Sheila actually performed that 'procedure' on more than a few human males. They were the ones usually involved in the sex trafficking of younger females.
Savannah wanted to keep everyone focused. She still believed there should be some type of message inside of Cammy to explain what happened to her power cell.
"Cameron, check inside of Cammy for a clue." Savannah said. "If I did this, I would have left one."
Cameron looked inside the gap cut into Cammy sheath.
"That's interesting…." Cameron said.
Your Approval
When two want to become one
Each hopes to be accepted
They want to do things right
They want to do what's expected
Both of them will worry
They may come up short
They don't want the issue
To be decided in court
Each may wonder
If they're good enough
They hope that they
Have the right stuff
Maybe they try to hide
Who or what they really are
That only lasts so long
It only goes so far
What they fear most
Is their impending removal
They will do anything
To seek your approval
Nobody