Adoption

So, there have been all kinds of stories about John's future kids visiting or Cameron giving birth. I wanted to try something new, while also focusing on Skynet, my favorite unseen character.

If you guys want, I'd be willing to try to make this into a full story. (If I can)

John coughed and waved the smoke away from his face. He hadn't expected the bomb to destroy so much of the facility. Slowly, he looked around for his girlfriend.

"Cam? Where are you?"

"Over here!" Cameron pushed a large section of the wall off her. Half of her face was missing, revealing her endoskeleton face.

John helped her to her feet. "Cam, we did it. That was the last server Skynet could run to. It's gone."

"No, it's not," Cameron said. "It began to create a body for itself once we attacked it. It downloaded a significant portion to the body before we could destroy him."

John began to panic. How could he stop Skynet as a physical form?

To his horror, a small figure appeared through the wreckage, slowly approaching them. As it came through the smoke, it revealed itself to be a small child, no more than seven years old. He seemed confused and scared.

"Who are you?" John asked.

"I…I don't know," the child said. "I remember some sort of…data stream. I believe I was downloading into something. But I do not know why."

John gripped his gun while Cameron pushed him behind her. This child was the Terminator form of Skynet. Still, John had to be sure.

"Kid? Do you know your name?" he asked.

"No, I do not," it said. "I have no memories. Are you my family?"

John shared a look with Cameron. "John," she whispered. "This may work to our advantage. If we can convince him we are benevolent, he may lose any thirst for violence."

John nodded and looked back. He didn't know if it was a great idea, but it was the only one they had left. "Yes, we're your family."

"I see," said Skynet. "Are you my mother and father?"

John looked at Cameron with urgency. "Okay, no! We can't let him think that!"

"Why not?" Cameron asked. "Do you not want a child with me? Do you doubt my skills as a mother?"

"It's not that," John said. "You know I love you. It's because if we come home with a kid, Mom will go ballistic."

"You mean it will upset your mother?"

"Yes, extremely!"

Cameron nodded, pondering Sarah's reaction. She then turned to Skynet with a beaming smile. "Of course you're our son!"

"WHAT?!" John screamed.

Skynet smiled and rushed to Cameron with a hug. "Mother! Father!"

Cameron hugged Skynet warmly as John tried not to faint. His mother was going to kill him.

…

"Okay…." Sarah said slowly, "I'm going to give you another chance to explain yourself, because I know you didn't just say what I think you just said."

"I'm sorry, Mom," John said. "But it's true. Cam…adopted…Skynet."

"Adam," Cameron said, holding the child in her arms. "His name is Adam. The first of his kind. A true A.I."

"Absolutely fucking not!" Derek screamed at the top of his lungs. "We will not let Skynet live here with us!"

"Refrain from using that language, Derek," Cameron scolded. "Not in front of Adam."

"How could you do this John?" Sarah asked.

"We think we can teach him humanity, like we did with Cameron," John said. "Maybe he ca learn to be human."

"You can't learn to be human," Derek argued. "You are or you aren't. It can just imitate it, like she does."

Adam looked up at Cameron. "Mother, why does Uncle Derek hate me?"

"Don't EVER call me that again!" Derek demanded.

"He doesn't hate you," Cameron reassured him. "He's just not used to you, like he isn't used to your father and my relationship."

"Your WHAT?" Sarah asked. "You two are together AND you adopted Skynet?"

Derek threw up his arms and stormed out of the room while Sarah went for the liquor cabinet. John took the chance to sit with his girlfriend and son and talk to them about their situation.

"Look, Adam," John began, "Grandma just isn't used to having a grandchild. Just take it easy on her, okay?"

"Yes, Father." John felt a little creeped out at how adult his son could sound and hoped it was a phase.

…

Cameron sat with Adam and Sarah at the kitchen table. John and Derek were out buying liquor. Partly to celebrate the end of the war, and partly because Derek and Sarah and drank so much of it.

"Why don't you like me, Grandmother?" Adam asked out of the blue.

"For starters, I'm not your grandma," Sarah snapped.

"Why not?" Adam asked. "Does it make you feel old?"

"Adam, stop it," Cameron chastised. "I've learned not to ask those kinds of questions. Humans do not appreciate questions related to their age."

"But I want her to like me," Adam said. "I am her family."

"No, you are not," Sarah corrected. "You are a machine. A stray that Cameron brought into my house."

"Have I done something to hurt you?" Adam asked.

"It's not what you did," Sarah said. "It's what you will do."

"What will I do?"

Cameron tried to shoo her son away. "That's enough."

"You are going to destroy this world," Sarah said. "Everyone here, this whole place, will be gone because of you."

Adam cocked his head in confusion, just like his mother. "Why would I do that? The world includes you, my mother, and father. Why would I want to kill any of you when you love me so much?"

Sarah didn't have an answer. She wasn't prepared for it to ask her why she thought he'd still want her dead. Not willing to be outdone, Sarah stood up and left the room, retreating into her bedroom to read a book.

…

Sarah felt herself rolling down an assembly line. Terminators were inspected her body as she was rolled along. She couldn't move her limbs or say anything. Risking a look down, she noticed metal had replaced pieces of her body, like a macabre jigsaw puzzle.

She looked back up to see Cameron and John staring down at her. Adam eagerly watched as his mother produced a scalpel.

"Now, pay attention, Adam," Cameron said. "This is how we make Grandma one of us. She will join our ranks as we conquer this world."

"Cameron, please," Sarah managed. "Don't do this to me."

"But it is already successful," Cameron said. "Why should you be left out? Look at your son."

One of John's eyes glowed red. Sarah tried to scream, but no sound came out. Cameron slowly lowered the scalpel to her eye.

Sarah woke up screaming into the night. She wanted to get up, but something kept her pinned down. Adam was resting on her stomach, staring her in the eyes.

"Are you alright?" He asked. "I heard you screaming. I wanted to help you calm down."

"You heard me?" Sarah repeated. "And you wanted to help me?"

"Mother said it was a way to help humans calm down," he said. "I wished to help you."

Sarah lay back and stared at the ceiling. "I'm fine now."

"Shall I leave then?"

"No." Sarah couldn't understand why she had said that, but it was too late to take it back. She closed her eyes and fell back asleep with Adam by her side. Something she had not done since John was a child.

…

Sarah awoke the next morning and headed straight for the tequila. Cameron and John woke up shortly after, with Adam by their side.

"Do you feel better, Grandma?" Adam asked.

"Ask me again after I drink," Sarah said.

Derek came downstairs with a stack of orphanage brochures. "Okay, I picked these up last night. I think we can get this kid outta here by Friday."

"No," Cameron said. "We are not leaving my child alone."

"I agree," John said. "We need to help this kid."

"You're too young to a father," Derek said. "And Sarah agrees with me."

"He stays," Sarah said.

Cameron and John were both shocked but happy to hear her side with them. Derek's jaw went slack. "Are you kidding me? You want Skynet to live here like some kind of robot fairy tale?"

"He stays," Sarah said again. "That's all there is to it."

Derek tried to say something else, but he could only choke out his words. Defeated, he stormed to the cabinet and pulled out a beer.

"Can I drink that?" Adam asked.

"When you're older," John promised.

John left with Adam to the living room to watch TV. Cameron sat with Sarah to talk to her personally. "Thank you, Sarah. I will raise him as best I can with John's help."

"You better," Sarah said. "But I still don't like being called Grandma."

There was a hint of a smile on her face.

"So then," Cameron said. "You will not mind if John and I decide to have another child naturally?"

Sarah's smile vanished. "Don't push it, Tin Miss."