CH 2
John Henry was designing a suit for John to wear to help him survive. It had to be radiation proof, it had to be able to deflect bullets as wll as a possible plasma attack, he had to be able to see in all spectrums, even infrared and it had to be environmentally self contained. With the weight of it due to the armor, it also had to have hydraulic power units so John could move, and a hefty power supply to power to the hydraulics, air rejuvenation systems and the electronics.
This suit was going to be bigger than a T-600. He made prints for it and got it on the special item assembly line.
.
John had agreed to spend the night with Anne in his bed. He wasn't surprised when she stripped all the way down naked to climb in bed with him. She also took her time. Being male, he couldn't help but stare at her. Damn, she looked fine!
Anne got in bed and with a blush, she said, "You can touch me if you want to."
With the covers over her, John got most of his senses back. He turned to lay and look at the ceiling. "Anne, we have to behave, remember?"
"I will, but if you want…"
"Good night, Anne." John said and closed his eyes.
"Good night, John," she replied. She went into standby for an hour to give him time to go to sleep.
An hour later Anne came around to feel John quivering. He was cold. She turned her body temperature up to 98.7 degrees. After a few minutes, John rolled over to her and hugged her to get some warmth. Anne smiled. He was only seeking warmth, but he was holding her. Moving onto her side, facing away from him, she gave him maximum body contact. His arm was around her, his hand buried in her cleavage. Soon, his other hand slid under her head and down her body. Anne really liked these sensations. She inched back slightly, he pulled her close. The sleepy sigh John let out made her feel good. John was sleeping soundly now too. She laid in place enjoying the feeling.
.
John had a wonderful dream. Cameron was back, and everything was fine. Waking up, the dream of all was right with the world persisted, Cameron lay in his arms.
Huh?
Opening his eyes, John found he was looking over the top of a strawberry blond head. His arms were wrapped tight around her. It wasn't Cameron he was holding, it was Anne. He jerked back and pulled his arms away. "Anne?" he asked in shock.
Anne rolled over to smile at him. "Morning, John."
John scrambled up which also pulled the covers off of her, exposing her naked body. He quickly tried to cover her up as he got up, tripped and tumbled to the floor. "What … what are you doing?" he cried, wide eyed.
"Jut laying here. You were cold. I turned my body heat up and you hugged me," she said innocently. "I found it feels nice to be held."
John shot to his feet and turned around. "Anne…" he wanted to yell at her, but it had been him holding onto her. " I…need a shower. Get dressed, we have things to do."
.
John Henry's 24 hour factory had been busy. Visiting John Henry, John saw the two person pedal machine that had a set of tracks on it with small road wheels along the bottom of the tracks. The two seats facing front each had a set of pedals that were joined on a single shaft that went to the automotive type differential in the center of the front axle. John Henry explained how it worked.
"The handlebars go to the differential in front to put more power to the left or the right track. It is sturdy enough to carry 1400 pounds. Three cyborgs and you in your suit, plus some extra. The gear ratio is variable, set by the thumb switch on the right handle bar here. It should handle all but extreme terrain. I would recommend a cyborg powering it with you on up slopes and over debris."
"Thank you John Henry," John told him. "You mentioned a suit for me?"
"Yes. It is an anti-radiation suit with a self contained atmosphere rejuvenating system. You will be exposed to enemy fire, so the suit is armored in coltan steel with an under layer of hardened ceramic. The suit is quite heavy, so it will have a hydraulic movement system and a power cell to supply energy to the suit."
John blinked. "It sounds like I'll be inside a T-600."
"Essentially, yes. The armor will be better." John Henry assured him. "The faceplate on the helmet is also anti-radiation, and you will have infrared capability. The suit should be finished in another two days."
It sounded like John Henry was making him a walking tank. John asked, "And this will fit inside a flesh bag?"
"It will be a big flesh bag," John Henry told him. "I did some calculations also. By the math, after the time portal deposits you at your destination, there is enough latent energy in the time path for a possible retrieval to the same time and place you left from, plu s or minus a day. This energy will dissipate after two hours. Past the two hour mark, retrieval will not be possible. Anything inside the flesh bag, should you activate retrieval, will return."
"We have a change of getting back," John asked.
"Within two hours of arrival."
"That's better than trying to flee the city," John noted.
"I also have news. General Derek has been asking if I knew your location. I told him you are here, working on a secret project."
John figured someone would be looking for him. "Thank you, John Henry. This bag, it will hold me, Anne, Cameron, Catherine and Wanda?"
"Yes, you will not be able to bring your vehicle back, or the bomb."
"We're leaving the bomb there, trust me," John relied with a smirk.
.
One thing John realized was that he was in horrible shape. He'd let himself go the last couple years. He tried going for a run - Anne with him of course, and found he couldn't even make a circuit around the factory complex before running out of steam. Pushups, he managed ten. Situps, he got to fifteen. He was a wreck.
Angry that he couldn't even run, John kept going on his next try, walking as fast as he could go.
"John, you should rest," Anne coaxed.
"Can't," he panted out. He hurt, his legs felt like rubber and he swore his heart was going to burst. He pressed on, drenched in sweat. He told himself he was going to go all the way around, back to where he started. That was, until his leg went numb and he fell flat.
Anne was right there to help him sit up. "Will you please rest?" she asked.
Sitting there, John felt something weird. Like when a body part wakes up after falling asleep, his legs felt tingly. IN a couple minutes, the soreness was gone. He stood up. Anne stood in front of him. "John, rest!" she stated, eyeing him with a terminator gaze.
His soreness was gone. It was like his body had done a reset or something. He grinned at her, cupped her cheeks and gave her a kiss on her lips, then ran past her.
Anne stood still, surprised he'd kissed her. Staring at nothing she was clueless why he'd done that. Realizing he was running away, she turned and ran after him.
Whatever that was, John made a half circuit around the factory complex this time. He was forced to slow to jog, then a walk, but pushing on until he made a full circuit. This time, he stood on his feet to rest.
Gazing at him, Anne aid, "You kissed me."
"I did." he said, waiting for his breath to slow.
"Why?"
"Why not?"
Anne could not form a reply. She had no clue 'why not'.
John waited until all the little tingles he felt had gone away. He then took off on another run. As he ran he tried to think of why this was happening. He was feeling stronger. Running wasn't such a chore now. It was like his body was repairing itself.
Right, the nanites Cameron had been feeding him. His sore muscles were being repaired and strengthened from the nanites. The more he stressed his muscles, the more the nanites worked to rebuild tem. Even his heart wasn't beating so hard.
In two more tries, he made it all the way around the factory complex at a run. He was hungry as hell, but he'd done it. For some reason, the Rocky theme was playing in his head. He jogged back to their bathroom apartment.
John was famished. He helped Anne get some food ready. Lots of food. Everything looked good and smelled good. He ate twice as much as he usually did, then took a daytime nap.
.
Anne was confused by John's behavior. It seemed like he was trying to wear himself out, but the more he did, the longer he ran. That was illogical. He should have ran shorter distances or collapsed completely, not longer ones. And he'd kissed her. That also was the last thing she had expected.
Sitting on the bed watching him sleep she had no clue why John was not fitting any human norm. Did that kiss mean he would accept her? She wanted to wake him up to find out. Then again, he had expended much energy. He needed some rest.
John woke up in a stretch in the early afternoon. He was hungry again. Anne was sitting by him. "Hey Anne," he said and sat up.
"Do you want to kiss me again?" she asked.
John chuckled. "Food first," he told her.
John ate another whole meal, didn't kiss her, then went out and did basic pushups until he could no longer raise himself up. He waited for his tired arms to stop tingling, then did more until he could not raise himself off the ground. He didn't stop until he reached 50. That was a good start. He did situps the same way, pushing for all he was worth, then resting and did them again. These accumulated faster. He got to 250, and went on to his next exercise.
Anne stayed with John as he grunted and strained, and kept doing more and more. Her knowledge base told her that humans exercising made them stronger, but she had understood this was over a long time period, not in a single day.
When John was heading back in to go get more food, Anne asked, "John, how can you do more physical things right after tiring yourself out?"
"The nanites," he said. "Cameron gave me her nanites so I would heal faster and be more resistant to radiation."
"You have nanites?" Anne asked, surprised by him again. She had thought only cyborgs had nanites.
"I do. Many people do now. John Henry is even making what he calls free nanites that don't need a body to live in. They eat radiation," he explained. In a musing tone, he added, "I'm hungry again. I think we're going to need more food."
That night, John agreed to let her lie down with him again, only NOT naked. He said not naked so she kept her underwear on. John did fall asleep and put an arm around her. Tonight though he slept deeply and didn't hold her close. She curled up next to him. The arm over her back felt OK, but hugging was better.
The next day, Anne went back for more food. If she didn't, John wouldn't have any more. While Anne was gone, John worked at making himself stronger. Pullups, another run around the complex to do a lap and a half, every sit up and push up he could mange, then gulped down the remainder of the food and took another nap.
Anne returned to find John sacked out in the bed. By the wet clothes and the fact he only had his shorts on, he'd taken a shower. Anne saw a difference in him. His belly had shrunken down. His arms and legs had gotten thicker. With all the food he ate, she expected his belly to be bigger.
She put all the food away, except for the meal she knew he'd want when he woke up. Not having anything better to do, Anne laid beside him.
John woke up and stretched. He looked at her. "Hey Anne."
"I have to know, why did you kiss me?" she asked.
John chuckled. "Because I was happy."
"Are you happy now? Will you kiss me again?" she asked.
John smiled at her and said, "Anne that was a one time, spur of the moment thing. I'm sorry if you think it was something more."
"Can you tell me why Cameron is so special to you?"
"That would take a couple days. Anne, like I told you before, to understand what's between Cameron and myself, you have to grow up more. It took years for Cameron to realize what emotions were, and how to handle them." he touched her nose with a finger. "You are just getting started. You brought food?"
"I did. Twice as much as before due to your increased eating habits."
"Great, I'm hungry!"
Anne got up to make food. She didn't know why, but she felt an urge to punch John.
.
John Henry sent a T-888 to find John and ask him to come to the factory. John went with the Cyborg, Anne trailing behind them. The cyborg took John to a dock. John Henry was inside as was something out of a HALO game. If it was all green and not mottled green and brown, and a little less crude looking, it could be Master chief.
"Hello, John Connor," John Henry said happily. He motioned to the suit and said, "I want to test fit you into the suit. We may need to make some modifications. I also added capability into the suit. Anne insists she is going with you. Instead of taking a separate body, which takes up more room inside the travel bag, her chip can be plugged into the inside back of the suit."
"My very own Cortana," John said vacantly.
John Henry tipped his head slightly. "I do not know what a Cortana is, but connected to the suit, Anne can do routine temperature regulation, monitor you and operate all the electronics. I added a type of a motion detection system, you will be able to detect things not in your line of vision. The audio sensors can also be sharpened to hear more, and the visual display has a twenty power zoom function. You will be able to communicate with Anne through voice or the HUD."
Yup, John thought, he was going to be a Spartan. "Let's see how it fits."
Like John suspected, the suit came apart. Cyborgs disassembled the suit, then had John slip into the thick metal shoes. They put on his 'legs', then lower torso. The upper torso and back pieces were attached. Close fitting, but not tight. Then they had John hold his arms out for the arm pieces and metal gloves to be put on.
John heard a short whine and his arms jumped up. He went to move them down and they came down fast. In a flying motion, he finally got his arms to hold still.
"The suit will copy your every move," John Henry explained.
John stood still and moved his arms. For how big and heavy this suit was it reacted to his every move. His fingers flexed, his wrists turned. "John Henry, this is amazing," he said sincerely.
"That is only normal movement. Make fist with your left hand and stick your middle finger out," John Henry said.
John did. Upon extending his middle finger, an optical probe came out a foot beyond his hand. "Neat!"
"Squeeze your index finger and I will curve right, squeeze your ring finger it will curve left. With your helmet on, you will see that the probe sees in your HUD."
John tried it and curved the optic probe one way then the other. He moved his thumb, the probe curved up. He moved his thumb down the probe followed, curving down. "This could be very handy," John noted. He relaxed his hand, the probe retreated back into his hand.
"The helmet will also follow your head motions. Attaching it activates the environmental control system," John Henry said.
The helmet was put on. John noted at first, the visor looked gold. When the helmet was locked in place, it turned clear. He also heard a small fan turn on. In the helmet's speakers, he hear John Henry say, "Walk round a few minutes, get used to how the suit reacts, then come to the firing range with us."
"You can hear me?" John asked.
"Yes, the suit's speakers are working as they should."
John took a tentative step. Like the arms, the legs reacted immediately. Walking was a bit cumbersome due to the big metal shoes, but John found it was no harder to walk. Just noisier with a solid thump each time he put his foot down. He walked to the entrance then turned and jogged back. Watching his balance he squatted down, bent down then side to side and turned around to look behind him. "This thing is awesome," he said.
He turned to Anne and said, "I think my chances of survival just went up a notch or two."
Anne frowned at him. "Sky Net will see you and hear you coming far away. You look like an old T-600."
"Does that mean you'll stay behind?' he asked.
"No."
"You're not taking your body with you if you come. You'll be in this suit with me," he reminded her.
"Then that is where I will be."
"Let's go to the shooting range." John said. He saw John Henry waiting at a doorway. He walked towards him, John Henry let them to the range.
It was a fairly standard looking indoor range with a few tales at this end and paper targets at the other end, 25 five yards away.
A think looking plasma rifle and a longer big diameter rifle laid on the middle table. The rifles looked odd. The stocks thinner and curved down. John eyed them and asked, Modified weapons?"
"Yes, stand facing the target," John Henry instructed. Moving around John, he picked up the plasma rifle and fit it in John's right hand. "The plasma rifle gets power from your suit."
As he explained, John saw targeting crosshairs come up in his vision.
"When it is ready to fire, you will see the sight on the rifle, same with the 25MM semi auto rifle," John Henry explained. "Put the sight on the target and shoot when you're ready."
John did. Aiming, he found it was easy to put the crosshairs dead on target. He fired. A foot diameter white hot plasma round obliterated the target, the backstop and melted the steel stop behind it. Upon putting the gun down, the crosshairs went out.
John picked up the big projectile rifle, sure this thing was going to kick, even with the muzzle brake on the end. He aimed and shot. It was loud, the boom he felt in his suit, though the speakers dimmed it down to less than painful levels. It didn't kick back, his suit absorbed the rest of the recoil the muzzle brake didn't. An inch diameter hole was dead center in the bull's eye.
John turned to the target to the left, shot, then got the one to the right. "Very nice, John Henry."
John Henry then showed him how to turn the exterior speaker on and off with his tongue, and explained the other suit functions would be activated once Anne was in place inside the suit.
John noted only one problem, there was no way he was going to fit in the truck wearing this thing.
Going back to the dock, the suit was taken off and the pieces were put on a shelf. John got to see the bomb next. It was the size of a CO2 extinguisher. Instead of a handle on top, it had an electronic box for a timer. Like his weapons, it had a magnetic pad to match a pad on the back of his suit to keep it in place.
Next was the bio bag. It looked like a giant deflate balloon. This balloon had a seal along the top side of it as it lay. The 'zipper' that looked like a big scab was on one end if the seal.
"This will fit you in your suit and your vehicle inside, and four of you returning, if you are able. There is a carry bag with nutrients to keep the biomass alive so it can function," John Henry explained.
John nodded. "I thank you very much, John Henry. How about the TDE, any information on that?"
John Henry paused, then said, "The streets of downtown Los Angeles are filled with debris. I will give you a photo of the area. You may not get your truck though, you might have to walk. Mrs, Weaver's building is mostly intact, so the basement should be also. You have been to the lab. On the left side in the back is the electrical room door. Inside, the middle, bottom breaker is for the computer equipment I was in, and the TDE. Turn the breaker off, pull the wires and connect the power unit I give you to the wires. If it is still capable of operating it will. I have the coordinates to set in. The safest place I can find is in the train station Catherine's group came out of, thirty minutes before they get there."
With a slight tip of his head, John Henry said, "I maintain my opinion that you should not go. Even with the assistance I gave you, you only have a 17.6 percent chance of success."
"That's better than .001 percent," John said with a grin. "I have to try, John Henry."
John Henry turned and said, "I will collect your information for you while you suit up." He walked away.
A skinless cyborg came up and said, "General, we need to put Anne in your suit before you put it on."
John looked at Anne. "Sure you want to go?"
She nodded. "John, I want you to take my chip."
The cyborgs walked them over to an easy chair with a cover. Opening the cover, one said, "Anne your body will remain here, inside and protected until you return."
Anne got on the chair. A cyborg handed John a scalpel and a chip puller. John sat down on the arm of the chair. "Last chance to back out," he told her.
Anne sat up and hugged him for a moment, then sat back. "Pull me," she stated.
John leaned over. He brushed her hair to the side as much as possible. She stiffened up. "Relax, I've done this many times," he assure her. He carefully cut around her chip port and pulled her scalp back. He unscrewed the cap. "See you soon," he said, then pulled he chip out.
John gave the chip to a cyborg, got up and closed the cover. He followed them to get suited up.
John Henry returned as John stepped into his blocky shoes. "John Connor, I will need the keys to your truck."
Oh shit, that would be a big oversight! John dug them out and handed them over. Seeing the briefcase John Henry had, he asked, "Who is going to drive me?"
"I am. There may be problems booting up the system," John Henry stated.
"Again, thank you."
"Friends help friends. Ensure you have everything. I will bring your truck." John Henry said and walked out.
Joh's suit was assembled around him. This time, he heard a voice when his helmet was locked on. It was Anne.
"John? Can you hear me?"
"Loud and clear. How are you in there?"
"This is fantastic! I have all my inputs and more!"
John grinned. "I'm glad you're happy. This suit is better than your body?"
"It is. Not only can I sense things easier, I'm wrapped all around you. It's like the best hug ever."
John sighed. He swore the suit just tightened around him a little more. "Well enjoy it while you can. Once we get to London it may well be a slug-fest."
"Then take your time and be careful," Anne replied.
Right, more time to enjoy her hug.
John put his weapons on their pads, a Cyborg mounted the bomb on his back behind his left shoulder. John grabbed the canvas bag with the bio bag in it.
"John, get one last meal before we get into the TDE," Anne told him.
"Good idea." he didn't think he could fit into the bathroom door, so he asked a cyborg to get him some food. John got his bag and the pedal car into the truck, folded up. The cyborg returned with the food. John thanked him, climbed into the bed, making the truck sink down some and they left for LA.
Like John Henry had said, nearing LA was going into a danger zone. Not only the radiation but debris was everywhere. Coming to a bridge that was clogged with dead traffic, John tapped on the roof. "John Henry, let me go clear some of that away."
John Henry stopped. John jumped out, leaving cracks in the pavement where he landed.
This suit had great strength. Cars, John just lifted over the side to fall. Vans were also not a problem. Pushing a moving van to the rail, John did have trouble lifting it. John Henry helped him push it over the side.
Moving some and clearing more roadway, they got over the bridge. On this side of the bridge, the roads were full of wrecks. It took then until dusk to even get within sight of Catherine's building.
Some palaces, it was easier to go down the sidewalk. Other, collapsed buildings made pushing and flipped cars atop one another easier to get through.
As darkness fell, Anne turned on John' helmet and torso lights, which he hadn't realized he had.
"Better?" she asked.
"Yes, thank you."
Finally getting to the building on the sidewalk, John unloaded the truck, bag in one hand, the pedal vehicle slung over his other shoulder. The glass doors into the building were shattered. John stepped though them and followed John Henry to the basement.
"The nanite seeding of this area are making progress," John Henry noted. "The radiation has been reduced by half."
"Yes, if it is reduced by half again, Salvage operations can be performed," Anne agreed.
They had to go down the stairs to get into the basement. John teetered a couple times, but negotiated the stairs. He just had to watch his left side. He didn't want to bang his vehicle into the wall.
Getting down into the lab, John Henry went to the electrical room. Lights came on in the server racks.
"John Henry the servers work," John called.
John Henry came out and plugged a cord into the back of his neck and the server rack. "John, Anne, I will download the coordinates into the server, file name 'transport' I will also load in all the information, past and present of London in a file named 'London' When I plug the suit in, Anne, you will be able to retrieve this information."
John Henry did his thing, then put the neck cord into the back of John's suit.
"I an receiving the data, John Henry," Anne said. "OK, I have it."
John got the bio bag out, John Henry showed him where to place it in front of the racks. John laid it out, seal up and opened it. He grabbed his vehicle and stepped onto the bag.
"John Connor," John Henry said suddenly. "It is my strongest desire that you return with our warriors." He stuck his hand out.
Carefully, John shook his hand. "Be assured, I will try my very best. Thank you again, my friend."
John Henry stood back. John Connor put the bag up over him and sealed it shut.
The room lit up blue with streaks of lightning. The bolts formed a circle around the bio bag which turned into a globe. In a flash the globe disappeared as did the bio bag.
John Henry left to wait for news. Ojhn Connor was know to have performed miracles fighting Sky Net. This was one miracle he very much wanted John Connor to perform. He missed his mother, Catherine Weaver.