Chapter 1182
When She Smiles
Gail was very pleased Hanna wanted to hang out with her. Hanna could do a very good representation of Vanna and a pretty good one of Savannah. Either one was fine with her.
Hanna led Gail to the elevator.
Ally and Holly took Sheila and followed behind them.
They were going to ride it to the sky lounge above the top deck in the back.
"We need to stop at the buffet deck." Gail said.
Sheila wanted action, not to watch people eat.
"What's the purpose?" Sheila asked. "The action is in the sky lounge, not the buffet."
Holly pointed out what their original mission was.
"Gail wants to check on the others." Holly said. "We were watching them before she acquired a target."
Holly gave them a brief description of what happened.
Sheila reached over and pushed the button for deck seven again.
Ally wanted to go up, not back down.
"Why'd you push the button for the lower deck?" Ally asked.
The older couple still bothered Sheila. With the new information from Gail and Holly, they could make a clean sweep.
"So we can go back down and finish the job Gail started and take care of that older couple while we're at it." Sheila said. "I want to terminate them while I'm naked."
Ally thought Sheila's idea sounded a little absurd.
"Is that so you don't get blood on your dress?" Ally asked.
Sheila looked at her and smiled.
"No. It's so I look Hot while I'm doing it." Sheila said. "It will give them something to think about as they die."
Ally didn't think Sheila was thinking straight. Then again, she seldom did.
"That's the 'Gail' on your chip talking." Ally said. "We don't need to do any of those things."
Gail was a little upset at Ally's comment.
"I'm all Gail on my chip." Gail said. "Is there some problem?"
Ally didn't want to cause any trouble.
"There's no problem." Ally said.
Holly could see Gail wanted to follow up on their mission.
"Let Gail check on the others first." Holly said. "I'll go with her."
Gail felt responsible for the others.
"It's our assignment." Gail said. "I was only protecting them."
Ally wondered what was wrong with everyone.
"Oh, brother…." Ally said. "I'd rather choose booty over duty."
Gail wanted to reassure her there was time for both.
"Booty can follow the duty." Gail said. "We don't need to sleep."
The Metal girls continued their elevator ride up.
Cameron was pleased everyone was at the table with a large selection of food.
Sarah looked around at the other passengers in the buffet. Most of them wore casual clothes.
"I feel overdressed for our current location." Sarah said.
Kyle wanted to joke around a little with Sarah.
"You can take off your dress." Kyle said. "I won't mind."
Sarah reminded him once the dress was off, there wouldn't be much left.
"Then all I'd have on are my earrings, necklace and high heels." Sarah said.
Derek choked a little on the food he was eating with her revelation. He pictured what Sarah would look like. He thought it would be quite intriguing.
John looked nervous. He also pictured what his mother would look like. He didn't want his mind to drift there. It had done enough of that in the past.
Kyle was ready to go back to the room and see Sarah exactly like that. The thought was very enticing to him. He really liked the idea.
"I expect to see you in our room like that later on." Kyle said. "I can hardly wait."
It was fine with Sarah.
"You're on." Sarah said.
Cameron liked the idea too. It made her think about her lack of clothing before the lifeboat drill. She actually thought she would have looked pretty Hot with her life vest on, her sun hat and sunglasses and nothing else. She might do that at some point anyway just for the fun of it. Tonight was going to be her high heels and jewelry only. She wanted to give John something to think about.
"I'll do it for John." Cameron said. "I think it will wake things up a little."
Derek choked a little on the food he was eating again.
Riley wanted in on the same look as well.
"Me too, I'll do it for Derek." Riley said. "He'll like it too."
Riley actually thought it would wake little things up.
Derek choked a little more on the food he was eating.
Kyle wasn't sure what choked Derek up. They were consuming the same food right now.
Cameron was very content with the thought everyone would be pleased even more once they returned to their suites for the evening.
"I guess we all know what the dessert is." Cameron said. "It's not what's on my plate."
John noticed the older couple from lunchtime walk into the buffet. He hoped Cameron wouldn't notice them. It seemed the frown now on Cameron's face indicated she must have just spotted them too.
Riley noticed. She thought Cameron looked a little upset all of a sudden.
"Is everything OK?" Riley asked Cameron.
Cameron looked at Riley
"I'm fine." Cameron said. "Everything is perfect."
John was aware it meant everything was far from perfect. Whenever Cameron said she was 'fine', she never was.
Derek and Kyle both picked up on Cameron's earlier glance and searched for a possible target. They were both light on weapons currently. Whatever the problem was, it clearly bothered Cameron.
John wanted to diffuse the whole situation. He could see it was about to rapidly escalate out of control. It didn't need to turn into something it wasn't. He was sure whatever it was, was something insignificant and didn't matter. He wanted to take control of the narrative.
"Those are some people who kept looking at Cameron at lunchtime." John said. "It's not a big deal."
Cameron felt it was a big deal to her.
"I don't like them." Cameron said.
Sarah looked them over. She didn't like them either.
"They sure seem interested in us." Sarah said.
Sarah reached down to touch her weapon. She quickly remembered she wasn't carrying one with her dress.
Cameron could tell it was only her they appeared to look at.
"It's only me they're staring at." Cameron said. "They've targeted me again."
Sarah didn't like the attention period. It looked like those people could use a lesson in manners. She thought she might have a little less than friendly chat with them.
"I'll go over and set them straight." Sarah said. "I'll shake things up."
Sarah started to get up.
Kyle reached over and stopped her. They were on a ship with nowhere to go. He didn't want some type of incident to be created.
"Let's take it easy on our first day." Kyle said. "Remember where we're at."
Derek looked to the rear of the buffet area.
"Here come the reinforcements." Derek said.
Gail and Holly entered the buffet area from the rear.
Riley looked at Gail and expected her eyes to start glowing red. So far they hadn't.
"Gail looks like she wants to terminate someone." Riley said.
They all watched as Gail and Holly approached. Hanna ran up from behind them and took Gail's arm. Gail stopped and smiled at her.
Riley didn't often see Gail smile.
"Gail looks really pretty when she smiles." Riley said.
Derek, Kyle and John all thought the same thing. They also thought it was best not to say it out loud.
Cameron wondered if it was because Gail saw Hanna as 'Vanna' or 'Savannah'.
Cameron thought back to when she'd carefully 'inspected' the sheaths of both Hanna and Anna before they were activated. They were identical in every way except for age representation. The private parts were identical regardless of age sequencing. She liked the pigmentation of them over hers. She thought a uniform pigmentation was much more pleasant to look at.
It made Cameron smile to herself when Young Allison wanted to name the one drone she'd helped repair 'Pink Butterfly'. Savannah felt self conscious about the name and changed it to 'Coltan Overcast'. She was surprised Young Allison possessed such an accurate assessment of Savannah.
The older couple looked at Cameron and then behind Gail, Hanna and Holly. Sheila and Ally just entered the rear of the buffet.
John felt the situation just took a turn for the worse.
"Great." John said. "This is getting better by the minute. Now there's two of 'her' for the older couple to look at."
Cameron looked at Ally and decided it was time for action. She stood and smoothed her dress. It clung tightly to her sheath. It accentuated every curve.
It was time for action.
"I'll handle this." Cameron said.
Cameron was sure she must have been responsible for some infraction against the older couple at some point. She thought it also could be Cammy or Cam who may have interacted with them too. She wanted to know. She wasn't sure it was in a positive manner either. Whatever it was is what it was. It was time to find out.
Moments ago:
Gail and Holly exited the elevator. Hanna, Ally and Sheila were going to continue up to the sky lounge. The rear set of elevators were the only ones that reached it.
The elevator door started to close. Hanna stuck her hand out and tripped the door safety. The doors opened back up.
Ally wondered what the new delay was about. She wanted to go up and check out the sky lounge. She thought if Gail and Holly wanted to do their assignment, it was up to them.
"What did you do that for?" Ally asked.
Hanna noted a probable termination about to take place.
"I saw the older couple enter the buffet area from the other side." Hanna said. "I think Gail is going to need some help."
Sheila wondered what for. Gail was a Terminator. Well, she was actually a Restorator but her construction was the same.
"Gail could terminate everyone on the ship." Sheila said.
Hanna saw it as a potential problem. It wasn't the right time or place. There shouldn't be any terminations on the ship unless the situation actually warranted it.
"She's going to need some help NOT to terminate anyone." Hanna said.
Hanna moved out rapidly from the elevator to catch up to Gail and Holly.
Sheila and Ally looked at each other. If there was going to be some type of altercation, they needed to back up the other girls.
"Duty calls." Ally said.
Sheila hoped to check out some fresh skirt in the sky lounge. It was going to have to wait for now. If there was going to be some type of Terminator action necessary, she wanted to be a part of it. There were more ways than one for her to have fun.
"Booty stalls." Sheila said. "Let's see if we can bust a few heads."
Ally hoped it didn't come to that.
They both exited the elevator and followed Hanna.
They were there to provide additional security for the team. It was time to get to work.
Moments ago:
Jan was sleepy. The light Summer turned on to study bothered her. Summer left and went into her mother's room to study. She lay on the bed for a moment and looked at the closed pass door into Claire's room. She couldn't help but think about where Jesse, Claire and Samantha went. She looked over at the pass door into Claire's room again.
She thought she should have a few minutes at least until Summer returned. She was sure it would be at least fifteen or twenty minutes. It could be longer as well. She was only going to need a few minutes to do what she wanted to do. She took one more look at the pass door into Claire's room. She got up and headed for the door that opened into the hall. She quietly opened it and slipped out into the hall. She made sure the door closed quietly behind her. She went down the hall as silently as she could.
Jan looked back once before she turned the corner at the end of the hall. It didn't look like she'd disturbed Summer. She smiled and continued on her way. She knew what she was supposed to do right now and what she was about to do instead was 'wrong'. She was still compelled to do it. She wanted to check out Claire and Samantha. She'd already checked out Jesse dozens of times.
Summer listened to Jan exit her room. She knew exactly what Jan was going to do. It was why she offered to go into her mother's room instead of the bathroom to study. It was to give Jan the opportunity to make her move. She moved to the hall door of her mother's room and listened again. She wanted to determine the direction Jan went.
She waited and cracked open the door to look.
Jan just went around the corner.
"My turn…." Summer said.
Summer quietly slipped out the door and headed the other way at a silent run in her bare feet. She was pretty sure her movements wouldn't be known by anyone. The only person who would know would be CamNet. CamNet previously indicated to her she would mask all of her movements around the base. It wasn't something she asked for but she decided she would take it.
John Henry still peeked in the crack of the door at Jesse's room. He'd just witnessed a very wild reaction by Claire and Jesse at the same time from the stimulation Samantha gave them. Samantha seemed to intensify her stimulation efforts at that point.
It soon looked like Jesse was having a hard time breathing and Claire might be about to pass out. They both seemed incapable of verbalizing any words at this point.
The level of stimulation they were at was beyond his comprehension.
John Henry wondered if he was going to need to step in and stop what seemed like a pleasure 'attack'.
Samantha finally slowed and stopped. Claire and Jesse both lay on the bed. They seemed very content and happy even in their nearly incapacitated state.
John Henry realized he was still touching himself.
Something else caught his attention.
He'd missed it earlier because he'd been absorbed with what he was doing but now he heard soft footsteps coming. He looked around for somewhere to hide. There were few places to go. There was an open door down two rooms. He headed for it. He wasn't sure who was coming. He didn't look forward to making up another story about why he was there, especially if he'd been caught looking in the open gap in Jesse's room. He was aware everyone did it when they passed. He just didn't want to get caught doing it.
He rushed inside and closed the door almost all the way. He left enough room so he could peek out. He wanted to see who was coming. He didn't know if he'd been compromised. He sure didn't want to get caught. His pants were stretched to the limit.
Samantha glanced in back of her. She noticed John Henry was gone. She didn't tell the girls earlier he was watching them. She wanted him to see how she could make them feel. She also thought Claire might be a little self conscious about herself, even if she indicated she wouldn't be. She remembered the way Claire reacted when they'd first spotted John Henry. All three of them were naked but only Claire attempted to cover herself. It was only for a little while but it still indicated a certain amount of modesty.
She looked over both Jesse and Claire. It appeared like they would both recover quickly.
Jesse was the first one to be able to speak.
"Wow! It was out of this world." Jesse managed to gasp out.
Jesse looked over at Claire.
She leaned over and kissed her. Claire was unable to respond in the same way.
Samantha looked a little concerned.
"Let me scan her." Samantha said.
Jesse waved her off.
"She'll live." Jesse gasped. "She needs a short rest."
Within thirty seconds everyone was back in the game.
They all repositioned and started again.
Life was good in Paradise.
Vanna was very tired. She felt she needed to keep a constant watch on Precious. She was just about to drift off. She was unsure how many times she'd gone through the same procedure. She figured it must have been about a hundred by now.
Her eyes popped back open. She thought there was a noise from Precious.
She carefully got up to look. Precious was still asleep.
Precious didn't need to be changed and didn't seem to want to nurse since she hadn't woken up.
Vanna went to get back in bed. Allison was there sleeping peacefully. She carefully climbed in next to her and tried to fall asleep again.
She began to question her decision to want to do everything on her own. She remembered what a wreck Riley was for a while. She was sure it was going to happen to her. Maybe a Metal girl was better as a 'night watchman' than her. She wondered when Samantha would be back.
Vanna felt the welcome release of sleep approach.
Her eyes popped back open. She thought there was another noise from Precious.
She was sure she hadn't slept more than two minutes since she went to bed.
Jan hurried down the hall after she went around the corner. She passed by John's room and her parent's room. She was soon at Riley's room. She'd like to make another stop by there and check out Vanna and Allison. It wasn't her current focus. She wanted to check out some 'fresh meat'.
She quietly closed in on Jesse's room. She thought she'd heard some movement in the same direction. She carefully peeked around the corner. There was no one there. She looked behind her and both ways down the hall Jesse's room was on and headed for the door. She was pleased to see it was open a little more than usual. She was sure Jesse always left the door slightly ajar so she could observe her easier.
She remembered back on the first time she'd actually got up enough nerve to look in the open door. She was sure her eyes were as wide as saucers as she watched Jesse in action. She knew what to expect since she'd been watching internet videos for quite some time. It was just different to see and hear it in person. Jesse was with Vanna at the time. She didn't stay very long the first time. It was probably only for a few seconds. Each time she visited afterwards was always a little longer. Even though it was often the same things that were done, they seemed to be done in a multitude of different ways.
She moved up carefully and peeked in.
She was excited to see two 'new' females in there with Jesse.
Wait….
From his place of concealment John Henry watched Jan cautiously approach. He realized he'd almost been caught spying on the girls in Jesse's room. What was worse was he'd been touching himself too. Getting caught was one thing. Getting caught doing more than spying would be worse. He really didn't think there would be any way to explain it.
He watched Jan look into the gap in the door. He was aware from security footage it was something she'd done quite often. He'd mentioned it to Cameron. She told him he was to erase all traces of what she did in this regard and inform no one. He wasn't to interfere. She told him it was a learning and instructional process for Jan. She also told him to make sure Jan's internet viewing habits weren't restricted. She told him to review everything she looked at to make sure the site was safe. He'd watched every video Jan watched as well as looked at every image she'd viewed. He'd watched her viewing habits change almost exactly like Savannah's had. The only difference was Jan still looked at images of males every now and then. It wasn't very often. Savannah never looked at males anymore. He was aware Vanna never did either. He would like to see what Allison's current viewing habits were. Since she was back at the base, he would check it out.
He didn't realize it was actually a bone Cameron threw to him to view the images himself without any repercussions.
Cameron never said why to him but he understood she wanted to direct the interest and direction Jan might seek. He figured it would be to keep Summer satisfied when they were both a little older. Summer would serve as a 'backup' for Young Allison for John much like Young Jesse's role was. Summer would have companionship but be 'available' if she was needed.
John Henry looked around the room he was in. He used several spectrums of his Terminator vision. He wasn't sure he was alone so he checked. There was no one behind him.
"She doesn't know we're here."
John Henry almost jumped.
He looked down and Summer stood there looking at him.
Where did she come from?
"I didn't know you were here." John Henry said.
Summer was pleased she'd avoided John Henry's detection.
"I observed you before you came here." Summer said. "You were distracted."
John Henry was busted. He needed to offer some explanation.
"I was curious." John Henry said.
Summer understood the feeling. She didn't want John Henry to stress out over it. She'd only expected to spy on Jan. When she found John Henry already there, she needed to use a little more skill and stealth to avoid his detection. She noted he was distracted on several levels which made her task easier.
"We all are." Summer said. "It never hurts anything to look."
John Henry figured based on Jan's past observations of the 'activity' she wouldn't stay very long. Maybe she only stayed long enough to learn something new. He figured if it was actually the case, she must have learned quite a bit of new things.
"She'll only stay for a few minutes." John Henry said.
Summer wondered if John Henry would go do his job or go back to spying.
"Will you go back?" Summer asked.
John Henry wanted to clarify what he would do. He realized it was an open ended question. It was what he should have done in the first place. No. He should have stayed in the Command Center in the first place. He still didn't know what compelled him to go spy on them in the first place.
"I'll go back to my duty." John Henry said.
Jan looked around again and headed back the way she'd come.
Summer could see from the small gap of light entering the door that John Henry looked worried.
"Don't worry." Summer said. "It'll be our secret."
The door opened a little more and Summer headed out.
John Henry opened the door back up like it was and looked out.
Summer was gone.
He looked around the room again. He wondered if his conversation with Summer was actually verbal. He wasn't sure it was at this point. He looked down the hall and around the room again. Now he wasn't sure if Summer was actually there at all. He needed to get back to his workstation.
Savannah watched drone footage of the motorcycle rider. She was aware Young Allison called for a drone to move into effective gun range. It was clear she intended to kill the motorcycle rider.
She knew Young Allison was about to make a hard choice. It would be an execution. It was what she figured Young Allison would do. She didn't want to influence her one way or the other previously. She was sure what Young Allison already decided. It was clear the motorcycle rider was a Gray or a Fanatic.
Cammy tried to keep track of where they were in relation to the motorcycle rider. She hadn't moved in close and needed to operate on a parallel route.
"We need to move in closer." Cammy said. "We're going to lose them."
Savannah saw Cam and Cammy both watched the same feed she did.
"Move up but stay on a divergent route." Savannah said. "I don't want any of our vehicles on the same route they've taken."
Cam didn't want to get set up either. There was additional help with them.
"Steve and Tom are responding too." Cam said.
On the feed from the drone, they watched the motorcycle rider head for a shopping mall.
Savannah didn't want to involve any other civilians. She understood why Young Allison decided to make her move.
"They're making a run for it." Savannah said.
Cammy didn't want them to get away. She thought there would have been some action by now. So far the drone hadn't acted.
"The drone needs to act now." Cammy said.
Savannah looked at the footage of a drone that showed the entire area. It gave them a good overview of everything.
"There are too many people around." Savannah said.
She wasn't sure right now was the right time. There was a risk of collateral damage. There was also the risk of more than a few witnesses.
Anna and Young Allison watched as things seemed to turn from bad to worse.
"The motorcycle rider is going to get lost in the crowd." Anna said. "There are too many people."
Young Allison decided to use a page out of Hanna's playbook.
"CamNet, I want you to fire one round into the rear tire now." Young Allison said.
The drone fired a single shot.
They saw the motorcycle swerve and then flip over.
"They're hit." Anna said. "They're down."
Young Allison didn't think it was for long.
"They bolted because they heard the drone closing in." Young Allison said.
Anna understood what Young Allison meant and why.
"It means they're…." Anna said.
They watched the motorcycle tumble over as the rider was thrown off. They impacted heavily into a power pole.
They lay there for a short time and then their head lifted up. They looked around and stood. There were a few cars that slowed. The rider stood the bike up and the cars moved on. They put down the kickstand and then took off on foot.
The motorcycle rider just took a lot of physical abuse and appeared to function as normal. It was clear it was what they both feared.
"It's a Terminator." Young Allison said.
They knew they would need to use extreme caution. It was also doubtful they dealt with anyone from the fanatical group of Grays. It was still a possibility but more than likely it was someone associated with Skynet as opposed to SkyMaster.
Cammy's team watched the incident unfold on their phones.
"It's a Terminator." Savannah said.
Cammy nodded.
"It explains a lot." Cammy said.
It appeared to Cam there was some damage to the Terminator. The fall from a motorcycle and the impact into the telephone pole were bound to have caused some type of trauma.
"They're damaged." Cam said. "We don't know how much."
A new problem presented itself.
"There's a police car." Cammy said.
The police car appeared to check out the Terminator leaving the scene of the accident.
The motorcycle rider saw the police car and broke off the trek toward the shopping center. It appeared they were still going to attempt to get lost in the crowd. The interest of the police in them changed things. They ducked into an alley. It appeared they were about to lure the police car into the alley. It would most likely lead to a termination. They wanted to do it where there were fewer witnesses.
Savannah saw what was about to go down. She didn't want any unnecessary terminations.
"John Henry, send new information to the police car to go elsewhere immediately." Savannah said. "They're going to get terminated if they investigate."
John Henry sent out new information to the cruiser.
The police car turned on its flashing lights and sped away on a new call.
The motorcycle rider moved into an alley when they'd spotted the police car. They wanted to lure the policeman in there and terminate them. They wanted to take their police car. Now the option was gone. They would most likely exit the alley and attempt to get lost in the crowd at the shopping center.
Cammy increased her speed and headed for the alley.
Savannah wanted to get there as fast as they could.
"How soon until we get there?" Savannah asked.
Cammy calculated the distance.
"It won't be soon enough." Cammy said.
Steve contacted Cammy's team.
"We're nearing the location." Steve said. "We have an M203 and M249. We can take him."
Savannah pictured stray bullets hitting the shopping mall in the near distance and a group of casualties.
"We don't want a shootout near the shopping mall." Savannah said. "I can see the Terminator is holding a pistol."
She wondered why. She hadn't spotted it earlier.
Anna looked at Young Allison.
"This is falling apart fast." Anna said. "We're either going to lose the Terminator or there's going to be a shootout with a lot of civilians around."
Young Allison blamed herself. The Terminators wanted to act earlier. Both Savannah and her wanted to use caution and see where the motorcycle rider would end up at. They wanted to get a new lead.
"I should have acted sooner." Young Allison said.
Anna thought it was a teachable moment.
"It's a lesson learned for the future." Anna said.
Young Allison was reminded caution and action weren't always compatible. Sometimes risks might be necessary.
It was time to finish it.
Young Allison quickly calculated her options. There were still a few cards to play. It was time to play them.
"Press the drone attack." Young Allison said. "They're not leaving that alley."
Jan moved back towards Summer's room. She hoped Summer hadn't returned from her mother's room yet and discovered she was gone. She didn't know what to offer for an explanation if she was asked. She decided to say she wanted to check on something in her room. She looked down the hall to Summer's room. It looked clear all the way. She hurried down there and turned the door handle. She was glad it wasn't locked. She hadn't checked before she'd left earlier. She'd been in too big of a hurry. She quietly opened the door and slipped inside.
She was glad to see Summer wasn't in her bed yet. It meant she still must be studying next door.
Jan climbed into bed to sleep. She was still very excited about what she'd done. She could feel her heart pounding. It gave her time to think about how Claire and Samantha looked almost identical. It was a big surprise to her. Only their faces were different. None of the other females were close to identical unless they shared the same DNA.
She figured it out. Samantha and Claire must have the same DNA. She didn't know it was the choice that was made. She actually thought her mother wanted a Terminator version of herself. She'd heard her parents talk about it a few times. A single tear slid down her cheek as they discussed why her mother considered a Terminator version of herself. It was to be her 'replacement'.
It meant her mother would be dead. She wondered about her father. It was a cruel business they were all in and anything could happen at any time. It was a sad reminder about what the future held. It wasn't written in stone yet but there were people back from two different futures where it had already happened. Skynet took over and ruined everything. It certainly wasn't anything to look forward to. She didn't know all the details but she knew what some of the terrible things done to the girls from the future were.
Seconds ago:
Summer watched Jan come around the corner from the crack in the door. She listened at the pass door when Jan entered. It sounded like she went to bed.
She picked up her book and studied a while longer. She finished and then slipped inside her room.
Jan was fast asleep.
Summer climbed into her bed to sleep. She looked forward to the adventure tomorrow.
The adventure tonight tested her skill and ability to move with stealth. She thought she'd pulled it off very well.
When She Smiles
There are many simple things
To give life some spice
Some of them are easy
They don't come without a price
To see another's anger
Won't be their first choice
They would rather see them happy
Full of joy and to rejoice
The many cards of life
Don't always land face up
Will it be half full or half empty
When one looks at life's cup
The daily twists and turns
Leave one feeling confused
More often than not
One will be left used
Try to stand up straight
As one faces many trials
Things will go smoother
When she smiles
Nobody