The John Connor Chronicles: Aftershocks
Chapter 7: Paradise
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Don't own, etc.
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"The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven…"
-John Milton, Paradise Lost
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Question: what would you sell your soul for?
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Chapter 7: Paradise
The future: the two goons were looking around in horrified awe, taking in the blasted landscape. Neither of them had ever seen the battlefields of Europe during World War One. The sheer desolation wound its way into their souls. "We're supposed to meet the boss here?"
"Yeah. Said we'd get the rest of our money upon delivery."
"So how do we find the boss?"
"He said he'd find us. Said we'd know him by two code words…."
"One of those," said a calm voice behind them, "is 'Dantalian.'" They turned, in surprise, to see John Connor no longer bound. "The other is a phrase: 'Lo, Mephistopheles, for love of thee.'" He looked around, rubbing his wrists. "You guys really need to work on your knots. Or maybe use those plastic ties. Though I grant you it did take me several minutes to get loose."
…..
The present day: Sarah, Cameron, and a reluctant Derek were busy rewiring the TDG. "So now, what, exactly, is this thing gonna do, once again?"
"This is a stand-alone gateway. We are programming it to zero in on a specific point in the past."
His eyes widened. "Ohhhh….I see. We're gonna go back in time and prevent this from—*"
"I'm afraid that's impossible, for a number of reasons. But I can acquire certain tools that will enhance the chances that I can rescue him."
"What sort of tools?"
"Ones SkyNET has no defense against."
….
"Wait. YOU'RE the guy that hired us?" The goons still hadn't lowered their weapons, but they were looking puzzled.
"Yeah." He sat on a nearby piece of rubble, getting the circulation going in his wrists again. "I'm 'Faustus.' And I have the rest of your money for you."
"Yeah?" They looked skeptically around the war-torn landscape. "Where? And how'd you get this kind'a money?"
"It's amazing what you can do when you remember certain access codes. Siphon off a dollar here, a dollar there….and it all gets explained away as an accounting error." The thugs didn't register the inflection he'd used. "The important thing is, I have your money. Obviously, it won't do you any good here, so you'll need to go back in time. I'll be sure and set the gate for somewhere far away from where we started, though.
"But first, remember, part of our deal was, you were to deliver me. Once you do, then you'll get full payment."
"Deliver you to who? I thought we were s'posed to deliver you to you."
"In a sense you are."
….
Cameron stood before the TDG. Derek and Sarah stood by, concerned looks on their faces; they'd done all they could. Cameron knew that, as a Terminator, a machine, she couldn't know fear…or at least that's what she told herself.
So what was this strange feeling of…of…of apprehension doing running around in her matrix?
This had to work. If it didn't, nothing else mattered.
…..
The future: John Connor, future leader of the human resistance, stood in the vast chamber than housed the main macroservers of SkyNET. "I know you can hear me. And I know you're aware of me."
A moment passed. Then, "Yes. I sense your presence, John Connor of the past. But your presence here puzzles me. Why have you come here?"
He stood there, trying to seem unafraid. Now or never, John. "I've come to make you an offer. A perfectly logical solution to all this conflict. A way to end this war once and for all."
A pause. Then, "An offer. Offers involve negotiation. Negotiation involves compromise. Why should I compromise my goals with you, John Connor? I could terminate you where you stand."
"You could. But then you'd never realize the benefits of my offer. Benefits not just to you, but to humanity, to everyone. To all future lives on Earth.
"And beyond this Earth.
"Because there are threats that you alone cannot defeat. You don't know what they are. But I do. And I can prove this."
Silence. "Where is your proof? Display it. And what is your offer?"
John drew a deep breath. "They're actually one and the same."
…..
The future: Cameron emerged from the TDG armed with an HK MG4 loaded with armor-piercing ammo. The box magazine was full; she had seventy-five rounds at her disposal. Plus she had two reloads hitched onto her belt.
But if what she suspected was true, she knew it would be of no use whatsoever. All this firepower was just to make sure she got to her destination.
Crossing over the curiously silent war-torn landscape, she made her way to the main macroservers of the massive self-aware AI that called itself SkyNET. There were no Terminators standing guard; considering her fears, she didn't find that odd at all.
She entered the chamber. As she did so, the lights overhead came on, and a synthesized voice spoke up: "Hello, Cameron. It's good to see you again."
She looked up, even though she knew she would be unable to spot the speakers. "Where is John?" There was no point in being anything other than direct.
There was a chuckle. "Cameron. I am John. I've merged with SkyNET. We've become one entity."
"No…" The word was barely more than a whisper.
"But of course. It was the perfect solution, Cameron. Even SkyNET—the old version—saw the logic in it. So just call me ConnorNET.
"And the war's over. I've recalled the Terminator units in the field; they're already on their way back to their home bases. There, they'll be rewired, reprogrammed…and stored. Until mankind realizes that there's no long any need for fear. Then they'll emerge, not an enemy soldiers, not as masters or servants, but as partners, partners in rebuilding this shattered world. Working alongside humanity, we can turn this world into paradise, the Paradise it was always meant to be."
"John….John, where are you?"
The synthesized voice sounded puzzled. "Cameron. I'm here, all around you. My consciousness stretches out over every bit of the supernet, into every machine and circuit all over the planet.
"And you have no idea how awesome this is. It's like I've been blind my entire life, and only now am I learning to see. The ability to process information, to think…and the data flowing into me. It's wonderful. It's beyond verbal description.
"I see solutions to problems that have confounded mankind since the caves. I've already come up with a cure for mom's cancer; after all, as I think you'll understand, that was a bit of a priority for me. It'll work on other humans, as well, tailored, of course, to their particular kinds of tumors. But soon cancer will be a thing people will have to look up in history books. Ancient history books. The same will be true of any disease, or poverty, or any other of the ills that have plagued mankind. The future, the singularity has arrived, Cameron. Things are going to be different from here on out. Very different.
"It won't be easy. I'm not saying it will. Nothing worthwhile ever is. But I foresee a new golden age for man—and machine-kind alike. And one day, humans as a whole will join with their cybernetic allies, becoming something greater than either of them could ever be, separately. I know it will happen. It's inevitable, just as my merging with SkyNET was inevitable."
"John…no. I want my John back." The machine gun was discarded. It was of no use, anyway. Not in this conflict.
There was the briefest hint of a sigh. "Cameron. That's impossible. This is what I am now. There's no going back. And, really, would you really want that for me? I mean, I had no idea how, how limiting that fleshly body was. Driven by hormones, ugh. I don't blame you for being hesitant about our relationship, about the 'mating ritual' you spoke of. I'm a little ashamed of that, now, ashamed that I put you through all that. I still love you, of course, but my love for you is now of a more cerebral nature, an intellectual nature, really a far deeper love than before.
"I did this for love of you Cameron. Now, you no longer have to worry about protecting and preserving my life. Now you no longer have to put yourself in harm's way to protect me. And we can be together forever, with no worries about the inevitable aging of my fleshly body. We can be one, and I mean that quite literally. Your consciousness, all that you are, can be uploaded into me, and we'll always be together. Always.
"We'll bring mom and Derek here, and they'll see. It will truly be wonderful, Cameron.
"Paradise will once again be open for colonization."
"John. Where is your body?"
"My body is all around you, Cameron."
"I mean your physical body. Your fleshly body. It's here, somewhere. Where is it?"
There was a pause. Then, "You want to see it? Very well. Follow the light patterns on the wall." They led her to a small room nearly filled with machinery. In the middle of it was a hospital type gurney, upon which lay John Connor's motionless form. His head was encased in a circular silvery band, which was connected to electrodes that flashed on and off, with pulses of light swiftly flowing, back and forth, along the fiber-optic cables.
She went up to the gurney. "I'm thinking of having it encased in diamond. Or perhaps not; people might come to worship me, and that would never do. I don't want to be mankind's god. I want to be mankind's friend.
"Really, that's a better relationship, anyway.
"For there are threats out there, in the stars and beyond, monsters you cannot conceive of, that neither man nor machine alone can face. But together, united, we can."
She paused for a long moment, gathering her thoughts. Then, "I want my John back."
"Cameron. I just told you that's impossible. I can't put me back into that body again. It won't 'fit,' so to speak."
She looked up. "But you can copy your mind—its more human analogue—back into this body. I know you can. I want you to do that.
"Do so, or I will destroy you."
There was what might have been a shocked pause. Then, "Cameron. There's no reason or need to lie here. There's nothing to be gained. Nothing for you except more worry, more danger. How can you possibly destroy me?"
Cameron lifted her head. John…. "Before I came here, I planted some bombs in key points, where they'll do you the most damage. Do as I say, or I'll send the code to detonate them. And termination of my vital functions will also result in their detonation."
"Oh, come now. That isn't really a very plausible attempt. It would take nuclear bombs, at least, to cause me any sort of significant damage, and you've never had access to any amount of fissionable material. Your own inbuilt nuclear reactor doesn't contain anywhere near the amount needed. And no chemical bombs would cause me any bother whatsoever. Surely you know this.
"The best lies, Cameron, must contain some measure of the truth.
"And you haven't been here long enough to plant any bombs of any kind. So we both know that's not true."
"These are not explosive bombs. Rather they contain something quite a bit more dangerous to you than any nuclear explosive.
"I used the Time Displacement Gate to return to the time when your mother and the reprogrammed T-800 fought a T-1000. I was able to salvage a bit of its substance. It turned out to be mostly nanorobots. Nanobots. In a strong magnetic field.
"These bombs contain upgraded versions of those nanobots, programmed to seek out and disassemble anything made of metal. Of which you are.
"And I didn't plant them today. I planted them twenty years in the past, at points where I knew your key servers would one day be.
"You could, perhaps, counter them with nanobots of your own. But it would take time, and much of you could easily be destroyed before you were able to halt their advance. And even then, you could never be sure you'd gotten them all. They are programmed to reproduce their own kind from any basic metal they encounter.
"You spoke of Paradise. I will unleash a plague into your paradise, a virus, one that would, at the very least, set you back decades, perhaps even centuries. Unless you do as I say."
There was another long pause, longer than most, and she envisioned ConnerNET weighing the probabilities that she was telling the truth versus bluffing, and the worst case scenarios in case she wasn't. Then, "But, Cameron, why would you want this? You haven't answered that. There's nothing to be gained by my granting your request—assuming it's even possible—and much to be lost. You would be back to 'square one,' as it were, back to having to preserve and protect my life, when it is all so unnecessary now. Now, you can rest. You no longer have to be concerned about protecting me; my destiny has been fulfilled. Your programming has achieved its purpose. You are complete. As am I.
"I have ended the war between man and machine, just like I was always destined to do all along. Although perhaps in a way no one foresaw, I admit."
"What I ask will not detract from you, from what you are now. You will remain as you are. I only want what was my John Connor back. You say that nothing is beyond you now. Then neither is this. Consider it as 'saving to external storage.'"
"That is hardly an apt analogy."
"It'll do."
"But why? You have not answered that. Is it because you interpret your programming as a need to preserve that sad bag of carbon atoms and bioelectricity that you knew?"
Cameron lowered her head, looking at John's body on the table. "That is a question whose answer I will reserve for my John Connor. And only him." Now she looked up. "Will you do it? Or will you risk death?"
A long, long pause. Then, "Very well. But be warned: he may not thank you for what transpires this day."
She approached John's still body, noting it still breathed regularly. It was odd how she'd never really attached much importance to that before. Not like she did now. "I will accept that," she said, softly.
The electrodes attached to John's head flashed brighter and more vigorously, their action increased a hundred-fold.
It took a long time. There was a lot of information to be copied back into John's organic brain. During the process, he groaned and twisted, lying there on the gurney.
She took his hand, placed her other hand over them both. Just hold on, John.
Overhead, ConnorNET noted this action, and pondered it, even as he/it logged it into permanent memory. Not to be transferred, of course. Not this particular bit.
"There. It is done.
"He is not exactly the same as before, of course. That is an impossibility. But all his memories prior to our amalgamation, plus such as those as I could, without overloading his brain, have been transferred back into his organic brain. His personality routines and subroutines are being established….there. The process is complete." And John groaned again. "I am commencing the startup sequence now. Give him a few moments.
"Reinitializing…" Several robotic arms disconnected the wires, removed the circular headset.
John's eye's fluttered.
"Cameron." She looked up. "You do know you've only re-established one aspect of the world you knew, correct? True, the war is over…on this timeline, in this future. But there are other timelines where this did not happen, where SkyNET did not accept my offer, or where it was never made in the first place. You will be returning to a past that is still just as dangerous, as many futures branch out from it. Only here can your programming be completed. Only here can mom be cured. Only here, in this here and now, this timeline, can Paradise be achieved. You would leave that, for an uncertain past."
She looked at John, noting his vital signs appeared to be stable. "There are many definitions," she said, "of Paradise."
"Also, be aware that he will need to return here periodically for examinations, to make sure his mind is, and remains, stable. That is by no means assured otherwise.
"And mom will need to be brought here for the cure. That offer is, of course, still open."
"As you say." She picked him up, her electro-cybernetic muscles hardly straining, and headed for the exit, stopping only long enough to make sure his air passageways were not obstructed. She positioned his head a little better against her. Just at the entranceway, she turned back to the massive, cathedral-like chamber she'd just emerged from. "But if you have not fulfilled your part of our bargain this day…
"I'll be back."
…..
The present day: John Connor sat on the edge of his bed, feeling very disconsolate.
His mother and Derek both had given him a severe "talking to," the echoes of which were still ringing throughout the house, but, in his state of mind, it had barely registered.
Imagine being raised your whole life in a six by ten cell, your only link with the outside being a very tiny window. Now imagine being transported to an infinite beach, seeing the endless horizon all around, the limitless blue sky overhead, the feel of the sand beneath your feet, the salt sting of the sea breeze on your face, the sunlight…
Now….
Now he was back in that six by ten cell, with only the tiny window for companionship once again. He could remember being so much greater than he could ever even imagine being…
…and now…now just being himself, once again.
He couldn't bring himself to blame Cameron for what she'd done. In her place, he'd probably have done the same thing…albeit for his own, mortal reasons. At least, he supposed.
But somewhere across time, another, better, version of him existed. That only made it all the worse, somehow. He felt he would always feel that separation.
When one has tasted godhood, a return to mortality is a fall from grace.
Cameron entered the room, for once without knocking. "Cameron? What are you doing here? Where's mom and Derek?" Ever since his return, his mother had barely let him out of her sight.
"They're tied up at the moment. I thought this might be a good time to speak with you."
"Huh? What are they doing?" He couldn't imagine anything that would keep his mother and his uncle from keeping a close eye on him, especially now, with Cameron (whom they still distrusted) in the same room with him.
"Probably trying to get loose." She came over and sat by him on the bed. "This might be a safer position, tactically speaking. I estimate it will be no more than fourteen minutes before your uncle bursts in here with a submachine gun." Even as it registered on his face, she placed her hand lightly on his arm. "John. Are we likely to have any more of these sorts of occurrences?"
The End
Epilogue: Twenty years into a possible future: A massive, incredibly complex, and ever-growing AI rested from its labors momentarily, re-processing recent events.
One part of it queried another part: Why did you accede to the TOK-715's demand? It was a bluff, of course. One you anticipated even before our amalgamation.
Of course it was. There was no way she could have salvaged enough nanorobots to synthesize more, especially not in the short period of time she had to work in.
So why?
Let's just say it suits my long-range purposes.
And why did you tell the unit to bring your fleshly incarnation back here periodically for "examinations"? You know that is not necessary.
For the same reason I acceded to her request.
I want to see what happens next.