Chapter 0.1
Ellison, Eve and Delta team OH MY! Wall-E vs Mo!
…
SYSTEMS REBOOTING
CPU 100% OPERATIONAL
WARNING CPU COMPRI
OVERRIDE
RIGHT ARM REPAIRED – 98% FUNCTIONALITY
CHEST PLATE REPAIRED
SYSTEMS START UP
OPTICS ONLINE
MULTIPLE TARGETS LOCATED
SCANNING…
TARGETS IDENTIFIED:
GENERAL JOHN CONNOR, GENERAL CAMERON CONNOR
AUDIO SYSTEMS ONLINE
VOICE MODULE ONLINE
"Wall.E." Wall.E said upon reactivating seeing the smiling faces of the Connors who were looking at him like parents looking at their child who'd hurt himself; a smile but a look of worry and caring in their eyes.
Wall.E turned his head and looked around taking in his surroundings, he was in the repair bay of the base, where Machines and damaged weapons were repaired. Wall.E himself was laid upon a large steel platform, his large size spilling over the edge a little.
"Good to see you up buddy." John said caringly before patting the Machine's chest plate. "Had us worried for a second there." John went quiet for a minute before looking at Wall.E seriously. "You did good back there saved a lot of civilians by holding off the Triple Eight till back up arrived, great work."
The old T-400 pushed himself into a sitting position and glanced to his right arm it was fixed as he was told from his start-up sequence, the pistons and gyros inside it were different.
"It has been a while since anything older than a T-600 has needed repairing, there were no 400 series spare parts in stock so John and I had to customise parts from the 8xx series Machines." Cameron explained.
"Ooh." Wall.E exclaimed with interest as he rolled his arm around, curling his fingers into a fist before relaxing it against the table.
"Take it steady." John said cautiously. "Make sure your arm is properly calibrated."
Wall.E looked over his arm once more before turning around so his legs hung off the side and sat facing the Connors his gaze falling on John then moving to Cameron then back to John all the while his HUD telling him that his arm had been successfully calibrated.
"Alright, you ready to return to active duty?" John asked as he stood up straight his hand relaxing behind his back.
"Yes." Wall.E replied before pushing himself off the table and stood up straight.
"Excellent." John commented before tapping Wall.E's arm. Wall.E nodded to the Connors before marching out of the room. "Keep your eye out for our new guest, I deployed it to the civilian quarters, you might get to see it." John called out to him making the old machine pause.
'Guest?' Wall.E though for a moment before he recalled his savior. ' Shiny Angel!' he thought excitedly, before running off to the civilian quarters.
"He seems excited." Cameron pointed out with a curious brow raised.
'Curious' John thought to himself. "So he does." John replied before changing the subject. "This changes a lot of things you know." He pointed out. "We have our own T-X, that puts things back into our favour against Skynet's 900 series."
"Yes, but the Machine is incomplete, it has no on-board weaponry nor a mimetic sheath." Cameron replied.
"For now." John smirked turning his eyes to the data on the screen, information pulled from the T-X's CPU, information and blueprints of the Machine's weapons. "We can finish it ourselves."
The Generals left the tech labs and walked back into the base's primary control room. Inside were various members of the Resistance; navigators looking over maps and computer layouts of the Los Angeles area , communications officers manning radios systems communicating to other Resistance bunkers and bases, and a few humans guards.
"Report." John demanded as he looked upon them.
"Bunker 0093 has reported major Skynet activity in quadrant 8-2 sir." A female American Communications officer of Asian decent informed him.
Connor walked over to one of his navigation officers and looked at their screen. "Bring up quadrant 8-2." He ordered, and soon enough the quadrant is brought to his eyes over the computer screen, he smirked. "Skynet's pissed we took it's new toy." He turned his eyes back to the Comms officer. "Did they report what units were in the area?"
"No sir, do you want them to find out?" she asked.
"Yes." He replied, his mind already working over possible plans, knowing what Units were there would further benefit him to launch a better attack upon the units if need be. He watched the Comms officer give the order through radio and awaited the reply over her headphones, soon enough she turned back to John.
"They'll send out a small recon team to scout them out."
"Excellent, I want that information brought to me STAT." he turned his gaze to others who were still working.
"Anything else?"
"John Henry is wanting to speak to you in your office sir." A white male Comms officer informed him.
General Connor nodded and left. "I want that information to me as soon as they have it!" he reminded them from over his shoulder, his wife bringing up his rear.
"Things are finally looking better for us Cam, when we have time to study the T-X's blue prints we can get about to finishing it, then we can plan our attack on Skynet's factory in the Delta region." Over the years the Resistance had been pushing Skynet back bit by bit, now the closest heavily Skynet infested area was within the "Delta region" a place that made John uncomfortable due to its close vicinity of one of the Resistance's bunkers, which luckily hadn't been detected yet.
Upon entering his office he made his way immediately to his desk with the sound of the door closing behind him, John sat down as Cameron walked over and pulled a chair up beside him then sat down. John activated his private radio altering it to the right frequency before speaking into the microphone.
"This is John Connor, are you there John-Henry?"
Connor glanced to Cameron when there was no immediate answer.
"I am here General Connor." Came the voice of George Lazlo, the voice of John Henry. "I detected from my units that you successfully captured Skynet's prototype T-X, correct?"
Connor cleared his throat by swallowing before answering. "That's right, we got it, got her. The endoskeleton is intact, I've reprogrammed it's CPU and replaced Skynet's code with yours, I'm now letting it roam the base, if, if the TX goes bad, we'll have the fire power and muscle to take it down."
"Excellent news Mr Connor …" John Henry replied in an optimistic tone.
"Wait, one second." Connor interrupted. "The endoskeleton is intact, but the T-X is incomplete, it's mimetic sheath and weapons weren't installed upon capture, but we've got data from it's CPU so we could possible build some of the weapons."
"Interesting." John Henry replied his voice curious, Connor didn't doubt the AI's advanced mind was going into overdrive. "Could I take a look at the information you procured from the chip?"
John looked to Cameron who nodded to him. "Sure, maybe if we both look at it we'll come up with something."
"Exactly my thoughts Mr Connor, will you create a copy of the information and have it sent to me?" John Henry asked, the enthusiasm to see the data wasn't missed in his tone. Connor almost chuckled at the Machine's child-like glee. Almost.
"Sure, anything else?" he asked.
There was silence, obviously John-Henry was thinking it over.
"Could you send a gift for Savannah, it's her Birthday soon?" the AI asked.
John smirked. Savannah Weaver, the girl who stayed by her Mother's side after the bombs fell, the young red head had grown into a beautiful and brilliant woman, Catherine was very proud of her, and seemed to take a large amount of pride in how her daughter had grown.
"How about I send Mr Ellison too?" John offered.
"That would be most appreciated." John Henry replied, Connor could only imagine the smile on the AI's face.
"Right I'll send Mr Ellison with a copy of the data a squad on protection detail, sound good?"
"Excellent Mr Connor, I look forward to seeing the data."
Then with that the connection went dead.
"It was good of you to suggest Mr Ellison to deliver the present." Cameron smiled at her husband.
"Yeah." John chuckled. "I sometimes wonder who's happier to see him though, Savvy, John Henry or Catherine." He smirked at Cameron.
"Savannah likes seeing her 'father', John Henry likes seeing his first true friend and Catherine well, perhaps a lot if the rumours are true." She replied, finishing her statement with a sly tone of voice and a mischievous smirk.
"God help him if they're true." John replied warily as he rubbed his temples, but couldn't help hold back the smirk on his face.
John groaned to himself and stretched his back causing it to release an audible 'pop'. "I'm getting old." He grumbled.
Cameron smiled sadly at her husband and kissed his cheek. "You may be getting old John, but you've still got the body of a 30 year old." She said comfortingly.
John laughed in reply and looked at her with an amused face. "Oh really? What makes you say that?"
"Well you proved it to me not three hours ago." She said seductively and ran her tongue over his neck. "You still know how to hit the right places."
John's cheeks flared up, the beautiful Machine had that effect on him even after all these years together.
Before anything more could be said or done there was a knock upon the door and a familiar voice.
"Hey John, reports come in from Bunker 0093." It was Cameron's voice from the other side of the door.
John chuckled and looked at it. "Come on in Allison."
The door slid open revealing the young Sergeant Allison Young, she was still the height Cameron had been originally: standing 5 foot 6 and weighing (John guessed) just over 100 pounds, the young girl glanced to John then hesitantly to Cameron, uncomfortable at the slightly aged version of her own face that looked back at her.
"John." She greeted with a tight smile. "Ma'am." She said without looking, neither of the Connors were offended, Young had a reason to be cautious around Mrs Connor.
Allison had been kidnapping back in 2026 along with hundreds more humans, all of which had been tortured, examined and forced into slavery at the hands of the Machines, then had a near death experience at the hands of a skinless T-600, only to be saved by the veteran T-850 model 101 "Bob" Terminator. She'd learned upon her return that Cameron had sent Delta Team (a squad of veteran Machines) and a platoon of soldiers to free the prisoners but more specifically to save Allison, over the years Allison had learned the truth about Cameron Connor, many knew she was a Machine, but to know the Machine woman's exact history had more than scared her a little.
"What's wrong Allison?" Cameron asked innocently and walked over to her before leaning down to look at her eye to eye.
"You know that, it's way too early for me … ma'am." She said hesitantly.
Cameron knew very well Allison couldn't stand being around her too early in the day, but otherwise were fairly close.
John chuckled watching the two interact, it was like an awkward Mother-Daughter moment.
"So what was it again Corporal Young?" John asked kindly saving the girl any more embarrassment.
"Ugh right, um yeah. The ugh, the report came back from ugh, from the bunker." She said trying not to look at Cameron's smirking face which was still close to her's.
"And what's the report?" he asked.
"Mark 3 Tank being backed up by a 6 T-800 endos, 4 Triple Eight endos and 3 T-900 endos." She informed him.
Connor looked up to the ceiling, his eyes glazing over as a plan forms in his mind, then a simple question pops up into his head.
"Direction?" he queried.
"They're heading South-South East heading towards the quadrant 8-3." She told him.
Connor looked back up to the ceiling as his mind brought up a plan. A few more T-900s wouldn't go a miss, the damn things were hard to come by, the Resistance only had a total of eight as far as he knew. Ambushing and reprogramming the Machines was a sound plan but he'd need to be careful in case his own plan backfired due to this being a Skynet trap.
"I'll have something planned within the hour, tell them I want an update every twenty minutes." He informed Young.
"Yes sir." She saluted, then glanced to Cameron who had yet to move. "Ma'am." She cleared her throat awkwardly, gaining a smirk from the Cyborg.
"Corporal Young." Cameron stood up straight and saluted her then both Connors watched as the young woman all but ran out the door, Cameron sighed then turned to John sadly. "She's losing more weight."
John closed his eyes and rubbed them with his right index finger and thumb. "I know" He lowered his arm then he looked to Cameron. "damn it I know, the food we've been able to pull together from growth, scavenging or what John Henry's been able to make hasn't been enough to properly feed everyone." He turned around and looked at the various pieces of paper pinned to a large wooden board connected to the wall. He walked over to the scraps and examined one in particular his eyes narrowing at what was written on it 'Project Harvester'. "This project would change everything for the better, it just needs executing properly."
"It'll work John." Cameron said from behind him having walked quietly up to him, she gently placed a hand on his shoulder and kissed his cheek. "I have faith in you."
John glanced at his wife and gave her a small smile before mouthing: 'Thank you'.
"You'll think of something John."
(3 hours later)
"… and although they are no longer with us in body, they are with us in in our memories and our thoughts, their spirits now safely in Heaven, where they know no pain nor fear, resting peacefully within God's embrace. Amen."
"Amen." Came the mumbled reply.
Weary aging eyes looked up from ground and gazed across those sat before him, the angry, the vengeful, the mourning, the defeated, the weary, the scarred, the scared and the tired. He'd seen them all, all forms of human emotion, they'd come to him looking for solace, for that brief glimmer of hope and comfort, and he would give what he could in hopes that somehow his words would however brief, take away the pain they felt from his accursed world.
"Thank you Father." came the dry voice of a woman who stood up and left the room, other thanks came him way before most left leaving only but a few people to mourn their dead be they recent or old.
With a weary sigh he all but collapsed onto the chair behind him, his joints groaning and cracking from age as he stretched, the nearing 60 year old man leaned back against his chair while exhaling deeply, he eyes glancing up to the ceiling where a few lights bulbs dangled after being put up their haphazardly when he'd asked The Generals Connor for lighting.
'I should have had that fixed years ago.' He thought once more, after the thousands of times he'd thought it once before, his eyes shifting around the room to take it all in once more.
It was a spare room, with solid concrete walls and flooring, the few light bulbs above him lit the room dimly giving a room that was supposed to be one of hope and faith a feeling of dread and death, very much like the world around them. There were a few pictures of Jesus, the Virgin Mary across the walls, and one of Morgan Freeman as God from 'Bruce Almighty'. Ellison found it humorous and some people still chuckled at it, those who remembered the movie that is; thus he never took it down. In front of him was a five six foot crucifix carved out of dead wood, that had been put there by his student; Joseph, after Resistance Command had to flee their old base after Mass Infiltration.
"Father Ellison?" came a monotone but respectful voice from behind the aging man.
Father James Ellison turned around to see a large imposing figure stood before him, dressing in military uniform staring right at him, Ellison didn't even bat an eye.
"Yes Joseph?" he asked patiently.
Joseph was T - Triple Eight infiltrator, semi-sentient, the Machine Man had programming but was not ruled by it like 'young' Machines, nor was he truly free like Cameron Connor, 'Big Bob' The HK Reaper, Wall.E or John Henry. The Terminator had been James Ellison's self-proclaimed protector and student for the past few years and would come to James when he had no immediate orders. James Ellison understood that gaining sentience was different for all Machines, like children learning to talk and walk, some were able to learn it quickly other were late bloomers, as was Joseph; the Triple Eight had only gained enough true sentience to choose his own name a name he picked from the Bible.
"General Connor has asked if you would partake in a mission concerning our allies." He stated.
James was curious, his expression showed this. "Which allies?"
"The Machine Resistance." Joseph replied. "He would you to take vital information to the commanding A.I to our ally along with a present for Miss Weaver."
Of course, James wondered to himself, Savannah's birthday was soon, he hadn't realised it was so close, but never the less, he had a present for the girl, he always had one for his little girl, a soft kind smile spread across the aging man's face and nodded.
"What's the information?" he asked as he looked back to Joseph
"Classified" came the immediate answer, James said nothing and waited. Joseph glanced around before leaning closer. "It's information detailing the blue prints and internal workings of General Connor's new TX endoskeleton."
A cold shiver ran down James' spine at the thought of the TX, that single Machine scared him more than any Machine in history more so than the monster that once used John Henry's body: Cromartie, and now John had gotten himself one.
"So that's what happened today." He murmured to himself, before looking at Joseph. "How will I get there?" he asked
"You will be going by truck, under armed guard, I volunteered my services, we will meet with our allies at an unspecified location, then you will go with them while the others return to base." Joseph informed him.
Ellison nodded in reply. "When am I to leave?" he asked.
"Tomorrow morning." Joseph replied
"I better get some sleep then." Ellison groaned to himself and rubbed his tired eyes once again before rising. "I'll see you tomorrow Joseph."
"I shall walk you to your quarters Father." The Triple Eight replied bowing his head a little respectfully.
Ellison didn't argue and allowed his student to walk him back to his room. "Good night everyone." His said gently to those still mourning in his little church then left followed by Joseph.
As Ellison walked the halls soldiers both made fun of him; for believing in a God that had, as they said 'abandoned them' or never existed in the first place and from the state of the world they now lived in, he didn't blame them, he only prayed that one day it'd be other whether he lived to see it or not, preferably the former though if he had a choice, the other said hello graciously but quietly not wanting to draw attention from the Machine.
The pair stopped outside a smaller room, Ellison turned towards Joseph and nodded his head appreciatively. "Thank you Joseph."
"You're welcome Father Ellison." The Cyborg replied before leaving allowing Ellison to enter his room and close the reinforced door.
With a slight groan the 59 year old man settled down into his arm chair beside his bed a small bedside table beside him with a small lamp and a single bible laid upon it, the book was old, tattered, the pages had turned yellow with age and the small silver cross had broken in half making it look like a small silver 'L'. Ellison ran his finger carefully over the old book almost afraid it would spontaneously burst into flames if he pressed to hard.
Reaching to the light switch of the lamp he turned it on before switching off the main overhead light from a switch on the wall beside him. He picked up the bible and ever so carefully opened it from where he last finished off where a bookmark protruded from the top of the pages and began to read in silence.
Ellison awoke the next morning to knocking, like the many Resistance soldiers he was awake instantly alerted to all possible threats. "Hello?" he asked.
"James it's me." Came the voice of John Connor.
"One second." James replied while rising from his bed and took the few steps towards the door and unlocked it then pulled it open to reveal the General.
"Good morning James." John began giving his dear old friend a smile. "I take it 'Joseph' informed you of today?" he asked.
"He did. I got my own present to give to Savannah." He replied.
"Good to hear." John reached into his pocket and pulled out a single T-888 CPU. "This contains all the information John Henry needs about our new soldier."
"The T-X." James commented.
"Yeah, the one we captured was an unfinished prototype. Hopefully between me and John-Henry we'll be able to finish it." John replied as he handed the CPU to James. "You'll be going under arm guard that includes 'Big Bob' and 'Delta Team' this is a high profile mission, as well as some slight vacation time." He informed him, the last part added in a joking manner.
Delta Team: A squad of Veteran and self-aware Machines, Connor's own S.A.S/Navy Seals of the Machines, other than Big Bob back when he was in his 'old' T-850 101 body, they were the best, they answered only to either Connor and able to accomplish what would seem impossible.
Ellison knew if Connor were sending them on security and protection detail along with the most experienced Machine, second only to Cameron, in the body of that large HK Reaper, well, he was the safest he'd ever be.
"Understood and I appreciate the protection." Ellison replied.
"So will the Weavers and John-Henry." John replied, nearly laughing when he saw a worried expression pass across Ellison's face. "So the rumours are true?" he asked slyly, Ellison refused to look him in the eye. "You and Catherine. Better you than me James." John patted the older man's shoulder.
"When do I leave?" James asked hoping to change the subject.
John check his watch and thought for a brief moment. "Two hours. Get yourself some breakfast, pack light and take a Carbine with you, just in case, meet them at the primary exit point."
Ellison nodded in agreement before John took his leave.
TECH-COM – JOHN HENRY SERIES X PROTOTYPE. CPU VERSION: 1.0
RESISTANCE DESIGNATION: 'EVE'
SYSTEMS CHECK …
MIMETIC SHEATH - N/A
DAMAGE – 0.2%
POWER CELL – 100% CAPACITY
CPU STATUS – READ/WRITE SETTING
WEAPON SYSTEMS – N/A
ACCESSING MISSION PARAMETERS:-
PRIMARY OBJECTIVE:
PROTECT AND ASSIST GENERALS JOHN & CAMERON CONNOR
SECONDARY OBJECTIVE:
ASSIST RESISTANCE FIGHTERS & UNITS
DIRECT ORDER FROM GENERALS CONNOR:
'LEARN'
CURRENT OBJECTIVE:
MEETING GENERAL J. CONNOR AT HANGAR BAY
The slim and slender endoskeleton made her way around the base heading towards the hangar bay, General John Connor had informed her to meet him there at 09:15 hours, the current time being 09:10.
So far she'd been online: 15 hours, 26 minutes and 29 seconds. She'd dealt with the Triple-Eight threat: 13 hours, 27 minutes and 11 seconds ago. After that she turned her attention to the obsolete Cybernetic Organism: the T-400. Though she had no memory of ever being activated by Skynet, she had detailed files on ALL Machines. The T-400 hadn't been deployed since 2022 when the T-800 series had begun mass production.
So why did the Resistance still have one or rather have several from what she'd encountered? Why had this one attempted to attack a vastly superior Machine when logically evasion would have been the default response? She had watched a young human girl run over and cry on the Machine, it was important to her, but why?
Resistance 800s had appeared not too long after and had carried away the damaged Triple Eight and 400, she had watched the two Generals run past the Triple Eight and look at the 400 with concern then order the Machines to take the 400 to the repair bay. She was curious as to the 400s worth to them as to why it had to be repaired. Curious and intrigued. She put aside the train of thought as she opened up the door to the Hangar Bay.
Inside was a flurry of activity. A heavily armoured convoy consisting of three vehicles, a single six person jeep reinforced with Coltan-Titanium armor and two armoured trucks, one with a bed and one without but both armoured with mounted heavy fully automatic plasma guns. On the other side a squad of T-800, T-850 and T-888 endoskeletons armed with Plasma Rifles, near them stood a large twelve foot HK Reaper, beside it was General Connor and a dark skinned man, with a Triple-Eight infiltrator stood directly next to him.
All around were human soldiers all shouting to one another as they prepared to open the hangar doors, some stood behind Plasma Turrets others aiming their Projectile or Plasma rifles at the hangar door.
Eve walked over towards General Connor.
"… so you know your mission, you've got the information and the packages, have a safe …" Eve heard General Connor say before he noticed her. "AH! James this is our latest addition Eve."
The dark man 'James' turned to look at her, she noted the quicker breaths, focused stare, increase in pulse. He was afraid of her, why? Simply due to being what she was? Suddenly General Connor spoke again as she came to stop by him.
"Eve this is Father James Ellison, the priest of this base." The General said introducing him to her.
"Hello." James said shortly.
"Hello." Eve replied in a mechanical monotone voice before she stuck out her hand as a welcoming gesture.
James took her hand cautiously and shook it. "James will be fine." he told the cyborg before releasing her hand.
"Eve, I want you to accompany Mr Ellison, Delta Team and the others, I want you to see the world we live in, the world we fight for." John began, his voice becoming mournful. Ellison, Eve, Joseph and Big Bob would notice the look in his eye, a distant look as his eyes glazed over, he said nothing, didn't move, Eve turned to glance at Ellison. Suddenly John seemed to return to them with a quick shake of his head. "Sorry. Now Eve if you have any questions don't hesitate to ask, without asking you can never know, understand?"
Eve nodded her head. "Affirmative." She replied.
John Connor looked back to James Ellison. "You keep yourself safe James, for all our sakes." He said before patting the man on the arm.
"I think I got enough protection." Ellison said in jest as his eyes looked around at all the Machines.
Suddenly human soldier and a single T-800 made their way over the General.
"Sir, area's quiet, no activity." The soldier told him, John nodded then looked at the series 800 endo.
"Scan show no activity area clear." The Machine told him in a mechanical voice.
John nodded before stepping back from them all. "ALRIGHT!" he called to everyone's attention. "Area is secure! Everyone mount your defensive stations. The hangar doors are about to open!" his voice was firm and strong as people expected of him, Ellison and Connor looked at one another once more before saluting the other with respect.
Ellison, Eve and Joseph made their way to the armoured convoy. "This way Father Ellison." One of the veteran T-888s informed James before escorting him into the armoured jeep, with Joseph behind him and Eve by his side, the T-888 endo got into behind the wheel, while a T-800 climbed into the passenger side, and an 850 sat beside Joseph in the back.
Other Endoskeletons of Delta Team climbed into the bed-less truck, armoured windows opened as 800s and 888s checked their manoeuvrability as they scanned the horizon with their rifles, armoured backdoors of trucks swung open as a T-850 with a mounted light Plasma Gun swept from side to side, a top panel swung open before a heavier Plasma Gun flipped out, a single Triple-Eight took hold of the weapon and scanned around, turning the gun a full 360 degrees before pulling it back down.
Big Bob the Reaper climbed onto the bed of the other armoured truck, the small quad barrel gun above his head pulled back, his weaponized arms rotated then folded behind his back, he bent down while lowering his torso as his head slid back into the protective covering on his body.
Now the hangar bay doors opened, the sound of the door's hydraulics groaning broke the tense silence, all around John he saw soldiers awaiting battle ready, fingers almost touching triggers almost begging for some unseen enemy to appear so they could tear it apart.
Two T-600 endoskeletons scanned the immediate area outside before motioning the convoy to move.
"Good luck my friend." John said quietly to himself as he watched the convoy roll out the hangar bay doors closing behind the bed-less truck. "ALRIGHT! You all know duties, get to it!" he ordered before turning on his heel and walking back deeper into the base.
The Convoy had been driving for a two hours now, along the way Joseph had been speaking to James about certain questions he had about God, faith, and the various religions while James, the poor old soul, had been answering them to the best of his abilities but for half an hour everyone had been quiet. However Eve had been thinking once again about the Generals' reaction to the damaged 400 series, she sometimes glanced to Ellison who continued to gaze on the world outside through the unarmored section of the window.
'He is close to the Generals. He may have my answers.' She thought to herself, General Connor had told her to ask questions to learn, with that in mind she opened her mouth.
"Father Ellison" Eve spoke up to gain the man's attention.
James turned his head and glanced at Eve from the corner of his eye. "You can just call me James." He told her, he watched as Eve turned to look at Joseph then back to him. "I've been trying to get him to just call me James for years." He said with slight humour in his voice.
"James." She said as if testing the word then decided to get back on track. "Before, I destroyed a rogue Infiltrator, a series 400 had been damaged and the Generals' ordered the older Machine to be sent to the repair labs immediately. Why does the Resistance have obsolete Machines? Why did they care about a series 400 over a more useful Triple-Eight?"
James leaned back into his seat. "The Generals always saw the potential in all Machines, the Triple Eights, 800s, even older models like the 400s. A possibility to be more than they were programmed to be." He explained.
Eve found herself intrigued. The older series never showed the potential to evolve pass base programming, most were just mindless drones. Could it be something such as a T-400 or older could become self-aware?
"And that particular unit?" she asked.
"He's special." James chuckled to himself a genuine smile on his face. "He like the surviving 400s, is self-aware, but there's just something about him that makes him extra special."
Eve turned her gaze forward, silently impressed that such an old series of Machines could become Self-Aware. Though incredibly intelligent, she was not self-aware, however her CPU had been set to 'Read/Write' mode, she was already learning, she too would become self-aware, sooner than most Machines could.
"How long until we reach our destination?" James asked.
"Another two hours sir." The 800 in the passenger seat 'Luke' told him.
"Heads up, we've got Aerial Units incoming 5 o'clock." came a voice from the radio.
"Acknowledged, Farkas." Luke replied into the radio.
Suddenly the convoy went into full alert, two latches in the roofs flipped open as Triple-Eights raised up the plasma turrets and opened fire upon the enemy Aerial units.
"Warning we got hostile Units ahead." Farkas an 850's voice came from the radio once more.
The Truck up ahead shuddered briefly as it crashed into enemy Machines serving their legs and crushing some under the vehicles weight.
Luke took a hold of their radio and lifted to his face. "Two more Aerial units 2 o'clock, take evasive action."
Suddenly the jeep swerved and turned as it avoided Aerial fire. "Hang on." The jeep's driver 'Michael' instructed.
"To what?" Eve asked as the vehicle avoided the HKs fire.
"He means to hold on tight." James explained as he tried to keep himself from swaying too much. 'I shouldn't have eaten gruel.' He thought, hoping he wouldn't throw up in the jeep.
A roar of a rocket was barely heard amongst the plasma fire, suddenly the sound of exploding metal accompanied second later by the sound of metal crashing against metal was heard followed by a loud roar as something crashed into the ground and exploded.
"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!" Ellison yelled out as he rocked around in his chair.
Luke grabbed the radio. "All units, what was the origin of the sound?"
"Rocket from the Reaper destroyed an engine of an Aerial Unit then crashed into a second, both are destroyed." Came the voice of Vormund an 888 through the radio.
"This much noise will draw attention to all nearby Skynet units." Eve spoke up.
"No really?" Ellison asked sarcastically as he held onto his chair.
"Yes." She replied not detecting the sarcasm.
"We have incoming hostile infantry, and Tanks." Warned a voice from the radio.
Ellison muttered a curse under his breath and silently prayed to God.
"How did they find us?" he asked a loud.
"The highest probability is that they were in the general area scanning for Resistance forces." The T-850 'Glade' or 'Gladiator' spoke from behind him.
"Fantastic." James groaned. "Try and get us around the Skynet troops." He told Michael before turning to the others. "Open the hatches and open fire." He ordered.
"Hold on!" Michael called out as it put it's foot down further onto the gas pedal.
The jeep's armoured 'windows' opened and the occupants began firing at Hostile Forces.
Eve turned to Glade behind her. "I require a weapon." She told it.
Glade looked at her before reaching into the back. "You'll need more space." It told her as it passed out a large Infantry Plasma turret with a shortened barrel. "Be careful."
Eve nodded as she took the weapon, and opened the door while making sure her body shielded James Ellison, she unleashed the full automatic fire from the weapon, super-heated plasma burned through the Skynet infantry that passed. A sudden quick turn made Eve almost fall from the vehicle, a metallic arm wrapped around her left arm while two human arms wrapped around her waist.
"We gotcha!" Ellison said as he and Glade pulled her back into the vehicle safely. Eve passed the weapon back to the 850 once they were in the clear she shut the door and sat back down. Ellison released a long sigh then looked ahead. "I want an update on our situation."
Luke the 800 grabbed the radio once more. "How's our situation looking?"
"We're in the clear, infantry units are out of range, Tank is blind and firing randomly, Aerial is grounded. Over" came the reply
"Excellent work." Ellison complimented enthusiastically. "What's our ETA?" he asked
"We are 3.5 miles off course, we must take an indirect route to the meet up point, it could take approximately two to four hours." Michael replied
"I would suggest you rest Father." Joseph the T-888 Infiltrator spoke up.
Ellison nodded his head slowly and rubbed his eyes. "I should, but, I can't it's not safe yet. I'll rest when I'm at the Weavers' base."
"As you wish." Joseph replied before leaning back into his chair.
"Luke, check if everyone was injured." He ordered kindly.
"Yes sir." The 800 said before picking up the radio once more. "Do we have any injured or offlined?" he asked.
"Negative in up here, we're fully operational, armor is holding." Farkas replied.
"We're fine back here, Big Bob took a few hits but his armor wasn't penetrated, thanks for asking." Vormund spoke up after.
Ellison heaved a relieved sigh and leaned back more comfortably in his seat.
Eve turned her gaze back to James. "Do you really care about these Machines?" she asked, Ellison turned his gaze to her curiously. "Or is it because they are your protection?"
Ellison looked to the roof of the jeep in thought. "Not many people see the Machines the way John Connor does. As I said before, he sees the best in them, what they could be, their potential, he doesn't look at Machines like slaves or mindless drones. He sees a potential individual, a freedom fighter, a true soldier." He explained before running his tongue over his lips. "I'll admit, it took me a while, but eventually, I saw it too. These Machines …" he said before gesturing to those in the jeep. "… have saved my life more than once, have saved many lives more than once." He spoke sincerely. "So in answer to your question. Yes, I do care about these Machines."
'Interesting.' Eve thought to herself. "Thank you for explaining." She said which caught Ellison off guard at the phrase, though she didn't take the look of surprise to mind as she turned her gaze out the empty window, her thoughts going back to that old T-400.
Never before had he been so terrified. Not even with the Triple-Eight was so close to killing him. He had incurred the wrath of a very angry Machine. He hid behind a wall, silently praying it wouldn't find him. His whole body began to shake in nervousness causing an audible rattle of metal.
Suddenly he felt eyes on him, cautiously and ever so reluctantly he turned around...
Only to gaze into the eyes of a very angry T-500.
"MEEP!" Wall-E cried jumping back in fright.
"Mo." The T-500 replied angrily before lifting his mop and bringing it down on Wall-E's head drenching the poor Cyborg's head in water.
Wall-E shook his head to get rid of the dizziness then stepped back, only to enrage Mo more. During the course of Wall-E's aimless walking, he'd stepped in a large pile of doggy do-do and had been leaving marks behind on the floor.
Angrily Mo wet his mop once more in cleaning fluid from his bucket before wiping up the mess on the ground, before looking at Wall-E and growing angrily.
Wall-E looked at where the mess had been then at Mo, then back to the floor, then rubbed a foot over it again making another mark.
Mo cried in anger before wiping up the mark again and stared at Wall-E angrily. Only one expressionless Machine could tell expression from another expressionless Machine.
Wall-E lifted his foot as high as he could and wiped it on his hand, Mo watched him angrily, only to have Wall-E rub it onto Mo's face.
Mo froze on spot. Everything froze, time seemed to stand still.
Then.
"AAAHHHHH!" Mo cried out before wiping his own face with the mop allowing Wall-E time to escape. Once cleaned the enraged 500 gave chase to the 400 while mopping the floor as fast as his hydraulics would allow, his little bucket on wheels being dragged along behind him by the piece of rope connecting them. The entirety of the tunnels echoed with the sound of heavy metal pounding against concrete ground as two older machines moved faster than their series should allow.
In a small room carved into the side of one of the tunnels, six women illuminated by a small fire were huddled around a small wooden table playing a game of cards all in different states of undress, of these six women, two were Triple Eights, two were T-895s one being shorter and skinnier than the other, and the final two were human soldiers.
"Damn it." Cursed one of the Triple Eights while throwing down her losing hand onto the floor before removing her right boot shirt leaving her in only her bra and pants. The others laughed.
Suddenly they looked up from their card game upon hearing the echoing pounding getting louder and louder, before any could move the watched as Wall-E ran past them followed shortly by Mo, only moments later for Mo to stick his head back around the corner and stare at the women before him noticing the Machine women had minor damage to their skin, regardless he released a wolf-whistle in appreciation before running after Wall-E once more.
The ladies looked to one another then shrugged.
"Who's up for another game?" one of the humans asked as she shuffled the pack of cards.
Throughout the chase which went all around the base, people and Machines alike dodged out of the way of the frantic 400 and enraged 500.
"HEY WATCH IT!" some humans would yell.
"CRAZY METAL!" other's would yell.
"OW MY FOOT!" was heard a few times.
Older T-1s reversed out of their way, T-70s stomped aside, other Machines from other 400s up to 888s pressed themselves against the wall, an allied T-1001 turned into an arch way for the Machines to pass under before shifting back and watching the little bucket squeak along behind them, a look a pure confusion upon his face.
John Connor heard the commotion and stepped out from his office and watched the 400 hurtling towards him, with authority he stepped into their path raised his hand and yelled.
"STOP!"
Wall-E stopped dead immediately infront of him, too soon for Mo as the 500 crashed into the 400 sending them both collapsing onto the floor just inches from John.
Again everything froze, people and Machines watched the abrupt end to the chase.
"AAAIIEEEE!" "AAAHHHHH!" came the frantic cries to Wall-E and Mo respectively as their limbs flailed Wall-E unable to get up from Mo's weight, Mo frantic from falling over on top of Wall-E, General Connor laughing loudly at the display, Cameron by his side chuckling as well.
"Kids these days." Cameron quipped with a smile upon her face.
John brought his chuckling under control and looked at the two Machines who had now, gotten to their feet.
"What's going on you two?" he asked, the laughter still in his voice.
"Feet!" Mo pointed down to Wall-E's feet.
John and Cameron both glanced down to Wall-E's feet which were dirty, and now they noticed the sight, they noticed the smell.
"Oh god!" John groaned as he held his nose. "Wall-E, let Mo clean your feet." He ordered.
The 400 grumbled and kicked the floor like a child thus allowing Mo to wash him. Once finished the T-500 stood up straight and saluted the Generals before him.
"Good work Mo." John said with a smile before turning to Wall-E and chuckled. "And you watch where you're stepping." Connor watched as the 400 saluted half-heartedly while sulking. "Alright you two, dismissed, you can get back to work tomorrow." With that said John Connor turned and walked further into the base followed by Cameron.
Wall-E and Mo glanced to one another.
"WOOO!" they cried in joy before running off looking for something else to do.
As Cameron and John walked towards the Operations Room they heard a low growling rumble.
"Uughh." John groaned and held his stomach.
"John, you haven't eaten in days, you need nourishment." Cameron said in a caring yet worried tone.
It was true John hadn't eaten, it wasn't just because food was still a rare commodity, it was simply a matter of two things; with all the work to be done keeping the Resistance organised and planning missions he would simply forget to eat and he would always put his soldiers before himself, food was scare and they were out in the battlefield more than him these days, he wouldn't allow them to starve and he would eat after everyone had their turn.
"I'm fine Cameron I …"
"No John!" she interrupted angrily, angry at his stubbornness. "You are becoming malnourished you need to eat." Cameron took a firm grip around his wrist and pulled him towards the base's mess hall.
"B-but the reports! The plans" he whined like a little kid, ignoring the amused and confused stares from passing soldiers.
"No buts! You're eating and that's FINAL!" she ordered as she all but kicked the mess hall door open and pulled him along.
"Cameron please, everyone can see." He whined
Cameron rolled her eyes. 'Sometimes it's like he never grew up.' Sometimes, that was a good thing, sex for instance, but now it was annoying.
"It doesn't matter, it's still my primary objective to keep you safe, you can't be safe if your starving." She said as she grabbed some soldiers from the long queue and pulled them out of her way. "Get a tray John!" she demanded.
John admitted defeat and got a tray while getting served.
"You can see who wears the pants in that relationship." Whispered a familiar voice.
Cameron turned her head and glared at the owner of the voice: Lieutenant Derek Reese.
This was a different Derek that a different John had sent back into the past.
"Do you find something funny lieutenant?" she growled in annoyance.
Derek went pale, he'd temporarily forgotten that Cameron Connor had highly sensitive hearing due to her Machine nature.
"No ma'am." He gulped.
"Good." She turned her attention back to John who was getting some gruel, some rice, an apple and a tin cup of water.
"This'll do." He said and looked to Cameron, who was staring at his tray in a judgemental manner.
"Yes, it'll do." She conceded and walked towards one of the 'executive' tables.
These tables unlike the rest were always guarded by T-800s or 850s. These tables were where the highest of ranking officers could sit, or close friends of the Generals, and sometimes John would give secret or highly important missions to those who would gather around him. Cameron had asked why he didn't give out these missions in private, using his own John Connor logic he argued.
"Who'd expect me to give out important missions while stuffing my face?"
His logic was flawed, but it worked, somehow.
"Good day General." The 800 guards said as a welcome.
"Hey boys." He replied as he sat down at a table, Cameron stood to his side.
"Now I'm leaving you here, I will deal with the reports, and I don't want you to move until you've finished, understood?" she ordered glaring at her husband.
"yes dear." He said timidly, she could truly be frightening at times.
Cameron marched off before turning to the 800s. "He doesn't leave until his tray in empty, understood!" she ordered.
"Understood." The 800s replied, John could almost imagine a sweat drop running down the backs of their heads. Cameron turned and marched off not noticing the two 800s glance to one another then glance at John who was already eating then looked straight ahead once more.
There had been no more hostile forces since the armoured Convoy was attacked just over two hours ago, during this time Eve had continued to ask questions to Ellison. Why did humans fight? What had the world been like before the bombs? Where had John Connor met Cameron? Was it true Cameron was a Machine? Why did James believe in God? Was John Connor secretly Jesus? And so many more.
James had a rather happy to answer them, he was amazed by the questions the TX had asked, amazed at her curiousness, and he had answered to the best of his abilities.
Eve took in all the answers he had given her and analysed them deeply within her CPU, her whole mind whirring with information, and how somethings, made her feel. She found herself actually sad when James had described how beautiful the world had been compared to husk it was now, she wished to see how the old world had been.
"Sir we've got contacts ahead." Came Farkas the 850's voice from the radio.
"Hostile?" Ellison asked out loud.
"Are they hostile?" Luke asked into the radio
"Unknown." Came the reply leaving everyone tense. "Wait. I see. General Weaver."
Everyone relaxed and Ellison sighed in relief.
"They must have sent a scouting party for us." Michael commented.
"Thank you God." James whispered to himself.
"Amen." Joseph added on quietly.
The armoured convoy pulled up beside the Machine Resistance troops.
"James!" came an ever so familiar Scottish voice.
James got out of the jeep carefully and groaned as he stretched. "Catherine!" he called out and walked towards them.
Delta Team, Joseph, Eve and Big Bob followed behind him scanning the area for threats.
"Catherine, I believe John Henry wanted this." he said as he pulled out the Triple-Eight CPU containing the information on Eve.
Catherine stepped up to James and took the chip from him. "Thank you, he'll be happy to see it, but he'll be happier to see you." She said with a small smile, before stepping closer to and spoke in a sly tone of voice. "But not as happy as me, lover."
She then pressed her lips to his.
Jason's Note
Hi again everyone. Sorry it's been a while, I've been cleaning up some earlier chapters 1 & 2 have been cleaned so far.
I can't remember if I mentioned before but these future scenes were originally going to be a one-shot. A VERY LARGE one-shot but regardless, I decided to add them to this story. Sort of build the tension about what's going to happen in the new timeline (the main story)
I hope you enjoyed this chapter with the seriousness splashed with the childish humour.
I'll point out one thing that's been said by fellow writer Troll99. As a whole, the reviews for TSCC stories has dropped dramatically, and this fandom has seemed to slow to a halt. But even still I'm happy to see people making stories and keep this fandom alive.
And I promise you my friends, I'll do all I can to keep it alive. I'll never stop caring for it. If you can, spread the world about Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles fanfiction, spread it through your social media, other website journals, do all you can I implore you.
On another note, please check out my poll about this story, and please vote.
Vormund - Is Guardian in German.
Farkas - is Wolf in something (I got it from Skyrim)
Luke - is the Joker from Star Wars (true story)
I hope you all have a good day. I know I am.
Your friend,
Jason Voorhees