STD
I don't think there are enough stories with John getting, shall we say, "upgraded." Transhumanism is a big theme in science fiction and I feel it's a theme that, along with Kyle Reese's time travel screwing up, is something the TSCC community needs more of. So, here's my take on it. With, of course, my own twisted sense of humor.
But seriously, someone should really write a drama of this kind of thing.
John woke up feeling extremely hot and sweaty. His whole body itched like crazy and his hair was stuck to his forehead. He quickly ran to the bathroom and inspected his chest. It wasn't red or puffy, so there was no sign of a rash.
"John?" He heard Cameron enter the room. "Are you alright?"
"I feel weird," he said. "I'm itchy and hot, but my stomach feels fine."
"It may be an allergic reaction," she said. "I shall wash your sheets and pajamas."
Cameron walked back to the room and began stripping the bed. John changed into casual clothes and came downstairs to his mother and Derek. "Took you long enough," Derek snapped.
"Sorry," John said. "Rough night. Bad dreams." He really didn't want his mom to know Cameron had been "spending the night" with him.
Sarah put a few pancakes on John's plate. "Thanks, but I'm not hungry," he said.
"Nice try," Sarah said. "Have some breakfast before you go to school. No senioritis for you."
John rolled his eyes and began to eat. Truthfully, he wasn't hungry, and not just because his mom's cooking sucked. As he kept eating the pancakes, he noticed his appetite did not change. His stomach seemed not to register that it was being given food. It was like he was putting nothing into his body at all. When the pancakes were gone, John still did not feel hungry or full.
"See? That wasn't so bad, now was it?" Sarah asked.
Cameron finally came down the stairs. "Your sheets and pajamas are being washed, John."
"Thanks, Cam." John grabbed his backpack and left for the bus with Cameron, hoping he would be hungry enough for pizza day in the lunchroom.
…
John had never been so alert in his entire life. Biology class was more interesting than ever before. John's notebook pages were filled to the brim and he was dissecting the rat with intense precision.
"John?" Cameron asked. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm great!" John said. "Why do you ask?"
"Usually, you are asleep during these lectures and I must wake you up," Cameron said. "A change in sleep patterns is often detrimental to your health."
"I'm fine," John said. "And I stopped itching. Maybe Mom's pancakes did the trick. I guess she's gotten better at -"
"John, look out!"
He failed to pay proper attention to the scalpel as he spoke to Cameron, letting it slip and cut across his palm. John dropped it to the floor and instinctively held his hand in pain. Cameron asked the teacher if she, as his sister, could accompany him to the nurse's office for Band-Aids.
Before they reached it, John suddenly stopped at his locker. "Cam, wait. Something's wrong. It doesn't actually hurt."
They both inspected his palm. There was only a trace of red from the cut, but no actual blood. In fact, the wound already seemed to be healing.
John looked up at Cameron with a pleading expression. "What's happening to me?"
…
"Remarkable. Absolutely remarkable."
"That's the fifth time you've said that! Can you just tell me what's happening to me?!"
Catherine Weaver looked up at John from her medical reports. Cameron had taken him to Weaver's office to get some blood tests and x-rays done. Being a Terminator, Catherine was able to get results within the hour.
"Well, Mr. Connor," Weaver said, "it appears that your blood is almost completely gone."
John began to grow scared. "What?"
Catherine passed him her reports. "it appears that complicated nanites have made their way into your bloodstream. They have shriveled your blood and fluid count, possibly causing the itching and sweating, and having become your dominant cells. They are also affecting your brain, making you more alert."
She turned the page to show the x-rays. "They are also rebuilding your body structure, burrowing into your bones and replacing them with their saliva. This appears to be turning your bones and marrow into solid metal. Within the day, you will cease to be a fully organic being, as the nanites will have replaced almost everything but your organs and tissue matter."
John had to steady himself to keep from falling over. "I'm turning into a machine?"
"More specifically, you are becoming a Terminator."
Now John was beyond terrified. How could he lead the human resistance? Would Skynet or a Terminator try to hack him? How long would he live?
"Will...will I still be…me?" he asked.
"Oh, yes," Catherine said. "They will not destroy or replace your brain. They are merely accelerating it. And no, it will not kill you. If anything, your health and lifespan will increase."
John breathed a sigh of relief as Cameron clasped his hand. It was her way of saying she was relieved too.
"One last question," Weaver said. "These nanites can only be given by Terminators. One would have to have be given access to your bloodstream in order to infect you. How could one have gotten so close to you without killing you?"
Cameron and John looked at each other, a nervous smile growing on John's face. "Uhhhhhhhhhh…"
…
"YOU. GAVE. MY. SON. AN. S. T. D?!" Sarah was throwing whack after whack with her frying pan. Cameron effortlessly blocked every strike.
"Sarah, cease your attacks," she said. "Your frying pan will not do sufficient damage."
"She's right. I've got this!" Derek stormed in with his shotgun, loaded with thermite rounds.
John quickly jumped between his family and his girlfriend. "Guys, stop! This isn't her fault!"
"No, it's not," Sarah agreed. "It's both your fault! Why didn't you use protection?!"
"I thought it didn't matter!" John said. "She's a Terminator! How was I supposed to know I could catch something from a machine?"
"You shouldn't have been sleeping with it in the first place!" Derek said. "It can't love you back! It just uses people!"
"If I wouldn't to kill John, I certainly would not wait until after the first time we had sex," Cameron deadpanned.
"You shut up!" Derek snapped.
"EVERYONE SHUT UP!" John's final scream caught everyone off guard. His breath came out ragged and he had to steady himself against the table.
"Look," he said, running his hand through his hair. "I can't change what I did, and I don't regret it for a second. I don't care if you agree with it or not. I love her and she loves me."
Cameron turned to look at John. His use of her words after the explosion hadn't gone unnoticed.
"John, your love life isn't what bothers me," Sarah said. "Well, it does. But what scares me the most is how this disease will turn you into a Terminator. How will it affect you?"
"I mean, Catherine just said it would make my bones metal."
"So, we're trusting a metal that a metal's disease won't kill you?" Derek asked.
"We have no other choice," Sarah said. "Cameron, you need to watch John very closely. If he starts getting worse, tell me immediately."
"Yes, Sarah." Cameron said.
…
Usually, getting a disease meant you could stay home from school. Unfortunately, having sick days meant being on the radar and John couldn't afford to be caught by the enemy.
He sorely wished to be home when he regained consciousness. He had no idea how the T-888 had found him or how it snuck the bomb into his school. But the blast had knocked him to the ground and put him out for ten minutes. When he came to, he saw his friends running away to safety while Cameron stayed behind to fight the Terminator. Oddly enough, this triple eight was female and with a stronger build than Cameron.
The enemy was getting the upper hand. She placed her hand around Cameron's throat and literally pushed her into the wall. Cameron was unable to push her way out.
John slowly got to his feet and began shouting. "Hey! Over here! I'm John Connor!"
The female turned back to John, her eyes flashing red. She eyed John up and down, scanning his body. "Impossible. You have his appearance, but I detect an endoskeleton."
"Yeah. Nanites. I'm John Connor with a terminator skeleton. You want me? Come and get me, but I will put up a fight."
The female Terminator eyed him again, but she seemed different. Her features softened and her lips seemed to curve into a smile. "You are no longer human. It is logical you no longer need to limit yourself to humans. Skynet would grant you great favors for aiding it."
"I…what?" John asked. Was the Terminator asking him to switch sides?
"Our resources are greater than yours. Our weapons and money are limitless. Even our women are more suitable."
Cameron's eyes flashed blue. Her arm gripped tighter around her attacker's wrist.
"Um, I don't need a Terminator harem," John said.
"Why not?" asked the female. "Now that you are metal, human women will be unsatisfactory for you. Even this one in my grasp is beneath you."
Cameron suddenly turned hard enough to rip the triple eight's hand out of her socket. She turned around and backhanded her with her good arm, knocking Cameron away. John finally lost it and rushed at the triple eight. He brought his fist up and slammed it into her head.
John couldn't believe what happened next. The female's head popped off, wires and metal bones sticking out from her severed neck and head. It flew into the lockers as the body fell down in a heap. In his absolute shock, John stared down at his hand. The blow had scraped the skin off his knuckles, revealing the coltan bone beneath.
Another hand covered his and closed his fist. He looked up to see Cameron staring into his eyes. John wanted to say something to her. To make her feel better or make himself feel better. But he could only gape and breath in short gasps. They stared into each other's eyes until the sprinklers finally kicked in and began to put out the flames. John broke away to grab the remains of the triple eight before someone came along.
…
Sarah and Derek were surprisingly easy to calm down. Since John was becoming a Terminator, nothing could really surprise them anymore. His coming home alive from an attack and recovering the body was considered good news.
Nobody would need to move to a new town this time. The security cameras were destroyed in the blast and no one saw what had happened. But John and Cameron had left out how John had punched the triple eight's head off, and how she had hit on him.
The two Terminators set to work disassembling their enemy in the garage. It wasn't long before John couldn't hold back anymore. "Hey, Cam? Did you get jealous when this girl hit on me?"
"Jealous?" Cameron asked.
"Yes, jealous," John said. "Your eyes glowed blue when she flirted with me. Then when she called you inferior, you tore her arm off."
Cameron looked up at her boyfriend. "Would it be a shock if I did? You are mine, John Connor. I will not tolerate another female trying to make you hers., regardless of organic or synthetic body."
John smiled. "Well, don't worry. No Terminator is going to take me from you."
He looked down at his bruised hand. "Especially now."
Once they were done, Cameron took out the first aid kit and began stitching John's hand together. "It is nice to aid you with healing, as you do with me. It is more intimate."
"I guess that makes sense," John said. "Maybe now we can get closer without Mom and Derek going nuts."
"So, you are no longer afraid of becoming a Terminator?" Cameron asked.
"Not really," he said. "I'm still me. Nothing can change that. Plus, you can help me understand this body more than anyone. How can I be afraid when you are here for me?"
Cameron briefly looked up to smile. She leaned in to kiss John, her hands grabbing his hair in her hands. Before long, they had locked the door and were laying down on the table, its contents scattered over the floor. John briefly broke away to grab protection out of his pocket.
"Last thing we need is you getting pregnant."
It wasn't long until life returned to normal. Well, as normal as it could for the Connors. Fear of John's transformation had vanished, but the family still refused to let him fight. Powerful or not, he was still John Connor, and the resistance needed him. John and Cameron also wished to keep their relationship under wraps. Sarah and Derek knew about it, but they preferred not to hear about it.
There were only two things to worry about when it came to neighbors. What they were thinking when Cameron, who was supposed to be John's "sister," mentioned the possibility of having John's baby.
The other was the time the parking brake came loose from Derek's car and it ran over John. It certainly didn't help how nonchalantly he said, "I'm good!"