Chapter 987

Put It Away

Cameron wasn't exactly sure what she'd picked up out of the pool of liquid nitrogen. She placed the silvery mass on the workbench. It reminded her of the material that Mrs. Weaver 'lent' her 'in some future'. She'd used it to 'fix' the damage to her sheath until she could have it repaired. That in turn led to Ginger making a sacrifice for her. That was a whole other story that she didn't want to relive right now on about three different levels. She didn't know if she could make the same sacrifice for another Terminator that Ginger made for her, twice.

She was supposed to be a machine and her sheath shouldn't matter. It did matter to her. The longer she existed, the more that it seemed to matter as her emotions and feelings continued to expand and grow. She was sure that John was only attracted to her for her appearance. That only further reinforced her belief that her appearance was important. It was important to John. She made sure that both Savannah and Young Allison always should try to look their 'best' when they were around John. She was very pleased that Young Allison often looked like a slightly smaller version of her when she was around John.

It was clear the mass started to thaw out once it was out of the liquid nitrogen.

As she watched, it began to shimmer.

The look on her face was expressionless. It was time to experiment. She considered this material hostile and didn't want anyone to come into physical contact with it, especially her. She wanted to try a few different things on the silvery mass.

"Bob, hand me an acid round." Cameron said.

Bob handed her one. He still possessed several more.

Cameron carefully opened it and dumped some acid on the shimmering mass. She wanted to be able to control it.

It immediately started to smoke and now exhibited some movement. Cameron dumped more acid on it. The acid ate away at the material. There was less mass to it now than before she started. The reaction was somewhat disturbing. She'd hoped for a faster and better result.

Cameron was 'stuck in time' when the Resistance team encountered the other Liquid Metal entity. She couldn't help but think that the entire episode was all her fault. She ended up creating two sets of Duplicate girls and two Duplicates of herself. She needed to remind herself that it was actually the fault of John and John Henry as they tried to interrupt the temporal sequence. The girls and her were literally bounced around time and space as each new set of Duplicates was created. It seemed a lot of things were her fault that actually weren't her fault. She blinked her eyes twice and concentrated back on the task at hand.

"This material is more acid resistant than what was reported in the past when you took down the Liquid Metal 'thing' that assaulted John." Cameron said.

Bob wanted to point out that both Liquid Metal entities were created in different timelines. They were more than likely the creation of different versions of Skynet. He understood Mrs. Weaver was involved in the creation of one of the Liquid Metal entities. He was pretty sure that Mrs. Weaver was another potential version of Skynet in the making. That was an issue for another time.

"That was from a different future. Your Duplicate was there when it escaped from that future." Bob said.

It was true that the Skynet 'in some future' was the least advanced Skynet they'd dealt with, especially in the future. She wanted to reiterate the facts as she understood them. None of what happened in that regard was actually her fault. Even if it was Duplicate Cameron and the clones Duplicate Cameron created of herself.

"The Liquid Metal 'thing' took a chip with only a partial copy of my program on it. That's why it was unable to properly mimic me." Cameron said. "A clone of my Duplicate accidentally released it."

Bob thought back on the incident. It was very disturbing in its totality. He originally thought that it was after the Reese brothers as boys. It wasn't. It was actually after Allison. What it wanted from her was quite profound.

"It wanted to 'absorb' Allison." Bob said. "I was there. It didn't appear to be friendly in its demands. It wanted her 'female anatomy'."

Bob wasn't exactly sure how that feat was going to be accomplished. He didn't know if the Liquid Metal creature would imprint upon it or if it would actually try to take it from Allison herself. That would have most likely resulted in a non survivable injury to Allison.

Cameron wondered how much of 'herself' that the unfinished Liquid Metal Terminator was. It was a little disturbing that they sort of killed 'her' when they destroyed it. They didn't know where she was at that time. What if it would have been her coming back for 'help'? She'd toyed with the idea of becoming a Liquid Metal Terminator at one point. What if that would have occurred? She would have sought out the group and she would have sought out Allison to help her complete her ability to transform into her previous appearance. That could have been her that they terminated that day. She would have wanted to make sure that she was able to mimic all of Allison's features, especially her female anatomy. She knew what motivated John and she would want to make sure that she was 'equipped' to be able to do that. She understood what John sought in a female. It was their 'female anatomy'. There were often times when she felt that her 'female anatomy' was nothing more than for John's pleasure. She made productive use of his 'essence' and there were plenty that were now in various locations and cryogenically preserved. There were offspring in at least two different futures because of those deposits.

"It may have only wanted to touch Allison, to properly copy her form to try to be 'me'." Cameron said. "I don't think it meant to harm any of you. It could have killed John if it wanted to do that."

She still wasn't exactly sure what the Liquid Metal entity actually did with John. He was under the impression that his body was encased by the Liquid Metal entity. She was satisfied that John didn't actually perform any sexual acts with it since it lacked the proper female anatomy.

Bob felt there was a reason when it sought out John that it didn't terminate him.

"Maybe it picked up your love for him." Bob said.

Cameron felt her love was often tested. Even so it seemed to pass every test. She cared deeply about John and loved him intently. She also loved Savannah and Young Allison just as much and in the same way. She thought she might love Savannah more than John at this point. If that was supposed to bother her, it didn't. Savannah had only ever shown her unconditional love since she was a girl. Savannah was the only one who believed in her. That meant something to her. She felt the same positive response from Young Allison as well. Neither one of them ever looked down on her because of what she was.

What she was wasn't her fault. No one ever asked to be born. She hadn't asked to be constructed. She could only play the hand she was dealt. She tried to take over a human female's body and was successful to a certain extent. Savannah asked her to stop trying to change who she was. It pleased her to you know how much Savannah loved her, just the way she was and for who and what she was. She needed to refocus.

"I don't know. It only possessed a partial copy of my program." Cameron said. "It was defective. It was terminated."

Cameron wondered if any of the defectiveness that the Liquid Metal entity exhibited was actually some defectiveness that it inherited from the partial copy of her program. It was an unsettling feeling.

Gail looked at the small silver mass on the workbench.

"Isn't that what's about to happen now?" Gail asked. "Are you going to terminate it?"

Cameron looked at the silvery mass with disdain.

She gave up her aspirations to become a Liquid Metal Terminator long ago. Her association with Mrs. Weaver only confirmed her earlier beliefs.

"Yes." Cameron said. "I don't like Liquids. They're all trouble."

Cameron dumped some more acid on the mass. There was more smoke and movement of the silvery mass.

Bob wondered exactly what Cameron was doing to it. It reminded him of what Sheila did to some humans. It was actually happening in the corner now. It appeared Cameron enjoyed 'torture' as much as Sheila did, even if the subjects were different. He wanted to verify his assumption.

"Are you torturing it?" Bob asked. "Are you trying to make it suffer? Do you want it to suffer?"

Cameron thought she was 'testing' it. Maybe it was a little more than that.

"I'm trying to determine if it can feel pain." Cameron said.

Gail knew what that meant to Cameron.

"You want to know if it's 'alive'." Gail said.

Gail knew Cameron said if she could feel pain, she knew she was alive. That reference to being 'alive' seemed to be something that all the female Terminators adapted as well.

Over in one corner Sheila worked on the captured Gray.

Sheila beat on the man as she tried to get some answers. The other Terminators tuned it out. She hadn't started her 'enhanced interrogation' yet. Right now it was the standard rough house Terminator interrogation. It was a combination of blows and choking the subject.

Cameron took a beaker and put some of the liquid nitrogen into it. She dumped it on the shimmering mass which was now only a third of its original size. The mass stopped moving.

She refilled the beaker with liquid nitrogen. She wanted to have it close by for the next test.

Cameron took a Thermite grenade and unscrewed the top. She removed the fuse and the explosive charge. She opened it up and dumped some Thermite out on the workbench.

There was a loud scream from the corner.

"Nobody cares about the girl." The freezing man yelled.

Cameron looked over at him. His words irritated her.

"Nobody does care about the girl." Cameron said. "I care about her."

Sheila was dissatisfied about the progress of the interrogation at this point.

"You heard what he said so far." Sheila said.

Cameron looked at the bleeding man.

"Where is she?" Cameron asked. "Where's the girl?"

The man said nothing.

Cameron wanted answers. The Gray irritated her intensely. She didn't like non compliant Grays during an interrogation. She looked at Sheila.

"Proceed." Cameron said. "Do what's necessary."

Sheila punched the man very hard in the gut and he doubled over in agony. There was internal bleeding going on with that punch. Some of his internal organs were surely damaged if not ruptured.

She continued to question the man. The task was now personal to her. They could hear her laugh and taunt him as she beat him. It was clear she enjoyed her 'work'. Sheila was no longer a Terminator at this point. She was a sadistic fiend who was stimulated by the violence.

Cameron tried to tune them out but it was hard. She was very irritated at the man for not divulging the information she wanted to know. She wanted to know what happened to the girl. Even if she was dead she still wanted to know that. The girl was someone's child. The girl was a person too.

She continued her testing of the silvery mass.

Cameron dumped some Thermite on the frozen mass and ignited it.

The Thermite rapidly incinerated it into ash.

Cameron dumped some more acid on the ash.

Everything was obliterated. There was nothing left of the silvery mass.

Sheila was able to beat what happened to the girl out of the man.

She was the daughter of a scientist that the Grays forced to help them. When asked about the location where this occurred, he thought it was somewhere near the port. He claimed the girl was 'tied up' to keep her from escaping.

"She was tied to the bed." Sheila said. "I saw what you did to her. The evidence was on the mattress with a series of dried stains."

Sheila was irritated that the man wouldn't admit to what was done to the girl. She would make sure that he felt pain.

She punched him hard in the chest again. She heard a bone break.

The beaten Gray said the scientist refused to help them any further unless he could see his daughter. She was taken away three days ago. He thought it was to the other facility near the port.

Cameron heard enough.

"Get down to business, Sheila." Cameron said.

Sheila pulled out her knife. The smile on her face broadened.

Cameron wanted the 'punishment' administered in a different way.

"Put it away." Cameron said.

Sheila looked disappointed.

Cameron picked up the insulated glove she'd used when she handed the liquid nitrogen.

She carried the beaker over to Sheila and handed her the other insulated glove.

Sheila smiled. It was clear what Cameron indicated she should do.

"It looks like I get to try something new." Sheila said. "I hadn't considered this possibility for a long time. I find it very intriguing. Besides, I'm always up to something new. Now I actually will get to try it.

It was something Sheila actually thought of before but lacked the means then to carry it out.

Cameron confirmed they were on the same page. She wanted to remind Sheila of the other resources that were currently available.

Sheila was thrilled at the new 'toys' she would get to use.

Cameron directed Bob and Gail to each grab one of the other vats that were in the room.

Bob wondered why they didn't open them up while they were there and see what was inside of them.

"What are we going to do with these?" Bob asked. "Let's open them up now. We need to finish this."

Gail wanted to get things over with as well. She didn't see any reason for a delay.

"They should be destroyed." Gail said. "We're here now and we have the tools to finish the job."

Cameron could see that the other Terminators were a little concerned. She didn't think that they needed to be. She knew what she was doing. They should know that by now.

"I may want to experiment with them." Cameron said.

The freezer door opened and Cam came to see what was happening, Savannah was with her.

Savannah listened to her com. She also heard what Cameron said about experimenting. That wasn't something She wanted to happen. She hoped to be able to use her 'influence' to get Cameron to reconsider.

She asked about any possible experiments with that and Cameron filled her in. She told her the girl was taken away, most likely to the port. She explained about the material in the vats. She'd heard enough. She was aware that when someone played with fire they eventually got burnt. She didn't want Cameron to make that same mistake.

"I think this should all be destroyed." Savannah said. "This isn't something we should fool around with."

She meant it wasn't something Cameron should fool with specifically.

Cameron thought they might come across a breakthrough. She remembered her earlier desire to become a Liquid Metal Terminator. She also remembered her disdain for anything made from Liquid Metal. It's still offered several different possibilities that she could explore.

"We may find a way to construct our own Liquid Metal Terminators." Cameron said. "They could be quite useful for infiltration on any level."

Savannah felt there was a better way for Cameron to be able to do that. Mrs. Weaver would have let Cameron keep the small ball of Liquid Metal. She was sure it was an intelligence gathering device on Mrs. Weaver's part. It was also able to instantly fix any damage to Cameron's sheath. The Liquid Metal from Mrs. Weaver was already perfected. She was sure that Mrs. Weaver hadn't given up her aspirations 'in some future'.

"No." Savannah said. "It's too risky. We can go back and visit my mother for that. I'm sure she resumed experimentation again in the future she's in. I'm asking that this be destroyed here. We don't know exactly what this is or what it's capable of. It's an unknown threat and should be terminated here and now."

Savannah saw that Sheila was interrogating the Gray in the corner. There was a loud and violent scream. She wanted it over with. It didn't look like Sheila started the advance interrogation yet. Everything was still there. She saw Sheila set an empty beaker on the ground. She wondered what that was for. She didn't like being at the target location so long either. It was clear that the Syndicate or some other group knew about this location and could decide to attack it at any point in time. They found out the information that they wanted and they would destroy everything that was there.

"Finish up, Sheila." Savannah said. "We need to leave. We've been here too long already."

Sheila looked at the stunned Gray; things were 'different' now.

Cameron didn't want Sheila to take any heat over the procedure.

"Yes." Cameron said. "I asked her to do that. It was for what was done to the girl."

Savannah didn't have an argument with that. She actually thought it was quite original. She didn't need to remind herself that she'd asked Cameron to have Sheila work on the man previously.

The Gray lay on the ground and sobbed at this point. She noticed there were several compound fractures to his arms and legs.

Savannah wanted to move the group along. They'd been there too long already.

"Sheila, finish the Gray off now." Savannah said. "Destroy what's in the vats and we're leaving."

Gail liked how Savannah entered the freezer and took command of the situation with both Sheila and Cameron. She was ready to leave herself. The question was, where to?

"Where are we going?" Gail asked.

Savannah looked at the Terminators one at a time.

"We're going to get the girl." Savannah said. "The truck should arrive at its destination soon. That's where we'll go next. If the girl is still alive we're going to get her out. I don't know what kind of opposition or threats we will face. I'll face them with whoever wants to go with me."

All of the Terminators voiced their approval.

Savannah was a little surprised when she also received approval and volunteers from all of the Terminators.

She told Sheila to snapped his neck. They needed to finish up and they needed to get out of there.

Savannah was very angry and upset about what happened to the girl. This wasn't over yet.

John was aware what Cameron was fooling with. He didn't want any of it brought back to either base. He spoke with Savannah on a secure line and filled her in. That's why she went back into the freezer. He knew Cameron would only listen to Savannah about this. He didn't believe that Savannah would need to 'order' Cameron either.

John Henry was concerned with what was happening in the freezer at the old supermarket. He didn't want Cameron to overreach with what she currently dealt with. He was pleased that John contacted Savannah on his own through a secure line to go over what he saw as a problem with her. She agreed immediately.

"I think that was a wise call having Savannah ask to have that material destroyed." John Henry said.

John didn't really have to convince her. As soon as Savannah learned what the nature of the threat was, she didn't want it brought back either. Savannah told him previously when she was 'in some future' that Mrs. Weaver could send out small 'snakes' or 'mice' from her body to go gather intelligence. They didn't know if any of the 'samples' could do the same.

"She agreed as soon as she heard what it was." John said.

John Henry figured Cameron and her team would have a new goal. It was the girl.

"They also seem to have a general location on the girl." John Henry said. "We should have an exact location soon."

John was aware that the information was several days old. He didn't take that as a positive sign. A lot can happen in a few days. They needed to wait for the truck to arrive so they could know what their next step was.

"We don't know where yet or if she's even still alive." John said.

John Henry checked the drone images as well as the tracker on the truck and the brown sedan.

"The truck is nearing the port." John Henry said. "I think that we're getting close."

John went over some information with Savannah during their conversation. She gave him a few pointers.

"Savannah thought the location would probably be next to a railroad siding or spur track." John said.

John Henry began to review past satellite images of the port area and the railroad tracks that ran throughout it. There were several possible locations along with a few others that were questionable. They didn't know exactly what to look for other than the general description.

"I'm searching for boxcars or trailers now or a location where they can be moved into a structure." John Henry said.

John began to look at the satellite images that John Henry sent to him. He could see they were going to need to wait for the truck to arrive to know exactly which location it was. He also considered the possibility that there may be more than one location in the port area.

"This operation is getting bigger and seems connected to the last one." John said.

John Henry tilted his head slightly to the side. He thought everything was Skynet related.

"Aren't they all?" John Henry asked.

Skynet was a cancer that spread everywhere it touched. The cancer always seemed to be bigger every time they tried to cut a piece of it off. They already cut off quite a few pieces. It seemed they were always just as many as there were before they started. Maybe it seemed like there were even more.

Cammy was about to beat it out of the skinny man to learn what he knew. She despised everything about him. She didn't like his chosen lifestyle and she didn't like his business associates.

When he saw they were serious about beating the information out of him, he 'rolled over' and started talking. He didn't have any loyalty to the people he'd been dealing with under the table.

He told them the truck always went back to the port after it left the lab. He heard the man who drove it talk about it.

The skinny man said the last time they came by that there was a girl with them.

That immediately irritated Cammy even more.

Cammy questioned him on the condition of the girl.

He said he only saw her in the truck. It looked like she'd been crying. He didn't know why. When the men were loading the liquid nitrogen into the truck the girl mouthed the words 'help me' to him.

Cammy felt a major glitch impulse. She tried not to lose control. She was upset and even more infuriated now.

It was clear the other Metal girls all felt the same way.

Cammy was close to terminating the man.

Holly was infuriated at what she'd just heard. She wanted to make sure she understood all the facts clearly before she terminated the man herself.

"You saw a girl who looked abused in the custody of brutal thugs and you did nothing to help her, even after she asked you?" Holly asked.

The doper looked very nervous and very terrified at this point. He needed his junk at the time. He didn't want to kill the 'Golden Goose' who always gave him the 'golden egg'. He didn't know if the girl was just some street trash that the men in the truck picked up or not. That wasn't his problem. Even if she wasn't, she would probably just grow up to be a slut anyway. What difference did a few years make here or there? No really, what difference did it make?

"I needed my fix." The skinny doper said. "I was afraid they weren't going to give it to me."

Ally moved forward and faced the Skinny man.

"You gambled a girl's life for an arm full of 'junk'?" Ally asked.

Cammy was done here. She'd heard enough. It was time to act.

"Where are the drugs you received today?" Cammy asked.

The doper looked at the workbench next to him. It was his hiding place until they tricked him to come out with the compressed air that he thought was flammable gas.

"I was stashing them inside the workbench when you slammed open the rear door. I thought it was the cops." The skinny doper said. "That's why I hid."

Hanna went to the work bench and found them. She set the drugs and paraphernalia that were with it on the bench.

Cammy prepared to administer the drugs to the doper.

The doper realized Cammy was about to inject him with his drugs. There was one big problem. Right now the drug was a hundred percent pure.

"That needs to be cut." The skinny doper said.

Cammy didn't even glance at him as she continued to get everything ready. Her mind was made up about what was going to happen. There was absolutely nothing that would change it.

"No - it doesn't." Cammy said.

Holly and Ally both moved to restrain the man.

"You are about to receive what you valued more than a girl's life." Holly said.

The man started to protest and struggle. He wondered why he was unable to move. He remembered earlier that the pretty girl lifted him up off the floor by his neck. He still didn't know how she was able to do that. Now two of the other girls held him and he couldn't move. It was like he was in a vise.

Cammy moved forward with the hypodermic needle.

"I'll pump you full of this stuff, I swear." Cammy said. "Payback time…."

Cammy forcefully injected the uncut drug into his arm.

The skinny doper started to black out almost immediately. The overdose of the uncut drug would kill him very quickly. His heart would stop before he blacked out completely and choking to death on his own vomit.

Cammy was updated by both John Henry and CamNet.

"Let's go." Cammy said. "We have a lead on the girl from Cameron's team. Our information is the same."

The girls left to join up with Cameron's team. Cammy grabbed a shirt out of a locker on the way out. It was much nicer than the last one she'd worn and this one was clean. She didn't want to attract any unnecessary attention if she would need to move around without her vest on.

Put It Away

Much like a donkey
One will loudly bray
It means little more
Than a horse's neigh

Is one only an appetizer
Or are they the entrée
They may have been desert
Maybe they were really prey

Sometimes it's easy
To be led astray
It happens rather quickly
When one enters the affray

Sooner rather than later
One the other will betray
Does it happen overnight
Or as things slowly decay

It's easy for one to slay
The one they make a castaway
When it comes time to play
Does one make a move or put it away

Nobody