Terminator: Return of the Fallen

Part XII

For two days after the incident with Trent, I just stayed in my room. My friend had tried to kill me, and I had killed him. More blood on my hands. I'm not sure if I can do this anymore.

"Hello? Lieutenant? Are you in there?"

"What is it Savannah?"

"My mommy got me involved in a local theatre, and she wants you to come with us".

"Tell her thanks for the offer, but I'm not interested".

"Charley? Are going to stay in your room for the rest of your life?"

"Catherine, what I choose to do with my life, or rather, with my lives, is my own business".

"Savannah is going to be in Les Miserables. That is your favourite play, is it not?" I open the door. It is my favourite play.

"You remembered that?"

"I remember everything. John Henry is going to audition for the role of Enjorlas, and I'd like you to audition for the role of Marius".

"I've always wanted to be Marius. All right, if J.H. is doing this, then I will give it a shot".

"I always knew that you two would get along".

"Currently, he's the only friend I have. Let's go".

To be honest, I have never been much of a singer. But there is an advantage to being a Terminator; you can manipulate your voice to sound like anything you want it to. The whole Connor Clan comes with us to the audition. John Henry sings "The Song of Angry Men", and nails the audition. He looks like he is having the time of his life.

"Next up: Mr. Zacks and Ms. Young as Marius and Eponine". What?

"What are you doing, Corporal?"

"Auditioning for a role, just like you are".

"I'm doing it because I can use a distraction from T-R-E-N-T! Why are you doing this?'

"It looks like fun. Excuse me, they are waiting for us".

"Do you have a preference, young lady?"

"A Little Fall of Rain, if that is all right with our Marius?"

"It is. Just between you and me, that song always makes me cry".

Our performance is the best I have ever seen. Her movements, her facial expressions, everything is done perfectly. We have both seen enough people die that we can imitate it flawlessly. As I sing, real tears flow down my face. I am not actually singing about Eponine, I am singing as thought it were Allison that was dying in my arms. It amazes me to see just how much she means to me. By the time we are finished, everyone is crying. Even stone hard Sarah Connor is weeping. The director shouts: "We have found our Eponine and our Marius".

"Wow. That was very impressive, Corporal".

"Thank you, Sir. You were amazing".

"You weren't actually singing about Marius, where you?"

"I don't know what you are talking about". As she walks away, I call out after her.

"Allison! I wasn't singing about Eponine". She stops dead in her tracks.

"Really? Who where you singing about?"

"I think you know her. She is young, and I have only known her a short time. But she means a lot to me. She also looks adorable when she covers her face with her hand to try and hide that fact that she is blushing".

"Yeah! She does, Lieutenant. Thank you"

"You're welcome, Corporal".

Everyone is having a great time. I think we all needed this distraction from the death and destruction that is our lives. When Allison and I are on stage, sparks fly. John Henry keeps teasing me about it. Usually he is never wrong, but I hope he is now. I am loyal to Catherine; I can't be involved with Allison.

"Have you ever noticed that you and Allison have a sort of...chemistry between you?"

"Well, chemistry was always my best subject in school".

"I'm serious, Lieutenant. There is definitely something between you two".

"In case you have forgotten, I already have a girlfriend".

"It is my understanding that my mother is open minded. If you were to discuss this with her, I'm sure she wouldn't mind sharing".

"No! Bad John Henry! " Allison is cracking up offstage. "How much did you hear?"

"Everything! Haha! John Henry is trying to set up a threesome with you, me, and Catherine. Hahahaha". The director starts to shout out orders.

"Marius! Eponine! On stage now!"

"As soon as Eponine stops laughing".

"Ok. I'm ok. No, I'm not. Hahahaha".

"Is the idea of sleeping with me really that laughable? Great, now she's on the floor."

"Maybe you should stop telling jokes, Lieutenant".

"J.H., you're my friend. Not my subordinate. Call me Charley".

"Charley, I don't think that we are going to get much done today. Maybe we should continue this tomorrow".

"J.H. That is the most sensible thing you have said today".

"Really, I thought the threesome remark was a valid suggestion".

"Ok. If Allison starts laughing any harder, she is going to pass out".

The following day, we all act a bit more seriously. John Henry has stopped teasing me about Allison. I think he wants us to sort this out ourselves, which sounds a lot more reasonable than a threesome. Sheesh!

"Hey, Allison. I think we need to talk about yesterday".

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that. It was completely unprofessional of me".

"What? No, not the laughing. I meant the other thing".

"The threesome? You're serious about that?"

"NO! Stop telling jokes, that's my thing. I'm talking about the chemistry between us".

"Oh yeah, that. What about it?"

"We can't pretend that there isn't something between us. So I suggest we..." I place my fingers on my lips. "Shush".

"What does shush mean?" I place my fingers on her lips.

"It means shush".

"Do you want to kiss me or something?"

"Just, be quiet Corporal. That's an order!" I smash open a prop and pull out my M82.

"What the hell are you...Oh my God!"

"Everyone be quiet. I just heard a pft sound".

"What makes a pft sound?"

"A silenced pistol". I walk to the spot where the pft sound was originating and open a door. The corpse of the director drops to the ground. "Two rounds at close range. I don't think everyone here is who they are pretending to be".

"Oh my God! What happened? Why is he dead?"

"Because someone shot him twice in the chest. J.H., go check to see if the alarms are still active".

"Right". After a few minutes, John Henry returns to report his findings. "Everything is still working".

"And no one has used the main exit. This means that the killer is still here. Good".

"Good? Are you out of your mind, Lieutenant?"

"Corporal, I need you to remain calm. Can you do that?"

"Yes".

"Good. Cover the body with a sheet. J.H., get everyone in a circle. If they ask questions, tell them it is some acting thing. I have a Terminator to kill".

I am positive that a Terminator blew away the director. No one else would be carrying a silencer around here. After John Henry has assembled everyone on stage in a circle, I come out holding my M82. People shriek at the sight of the massive weapon.

"What is going on? What are you going to do?"

"I ask the questions here". I lift the sheet to reveal the dead director. "This man has been shot twice at close range by a silenced weapon. I know that the killer has not left this theatre, so it must be one of you. I say IT, because I do not believe that the killer was human".

"He's insane. Run for the exits".

"As precaution, I had my friend John Henry wire all of the exits with alarm systems. If someone had entered or exited the theatre, the alarm would have been triggered. That means that the killer was already in the theatre and has not left. The use of a silencer indicates a professional assassin".

"Why would an assassin want to kill Redgie?"

"He didn't. Our foolish director was just at the wrong place at the wrong time. I believe the true target is an officer in the Resistance. Long Live John Connor!"

That little outburst was exactly what was needed to draw my target into the open. The man playing Javert pulls out a silenced pistol and shoots me twice; once in the chest and once in the head. I hit the floor and pretended to be dead. The Terminator walks over to me, shoots me once more in the head and then checks me for a pulse. Fortunately, Terminators do not have a pulse. It believes that I am dead and begins to walk away.

That is when I grab his leg and throw him off the stage. The machine drops his gun, and then scrambles to retrieve it. We both grab our weapons at the exact same time, and then turn to fire at each other. Four fifty calibre rounds demolish the Terminator's head. I then rush to the edge of the stage and fire two more rounds into the remains of its skull.

"See you later, Terminator!" Despite everything that had just happened, I start laughing.

"Was your brain damaged when he shot you?"

"No, Corporal. Don't you see? I was the target. Skynet sent that thing here to kill me, only they didn't know that I was a Terminator. That tells us two things: one: that I was not built by Skynet and two: that I am important enough to kill. Since they do not know what I am, they do not know what I am capable of. It's like I'm our own X-factor: the unknown element in our war against the machines".

"Great. What now?"

"Well, Javert just killed the director and I just killed Javert. I think it is safe to assume that this play will not be opening. Let's grab the dead machine and go home. LOOK OUT SKYNET! THE ANTI-TERMINATOR IS BACK!"

This is the happiest I have been in a long time. Skynet actually thinks that I am important enough to terminate. The best part is, they have no idea what I am, so they can't actually terminate me. Catherine tells me that the same thing happened to her. It is so much fun to know that the enemy can't kill you. Let them come. Let all of their armies descend upon me. I will destroy them all. Plus, John Henry has started to make new types of weapons from all of the nuclear power cores we have pulled out of dead Terminators. We now have soldiers they know nothing about, and weapons that they are completely unaware of. This war just got interesting.

"Good evening, Corporal. Join me for a drink?"

"No thank you, Lieutenant. I do not drink".

"Neither did I, when I was human. It's amazing how things change when you are a Terminator".

"Speaking of change, I believe you were going to say something to me before you heard the silenced pistol shots".

"I was going to suggest that we try to avoid complications that could ruin our friendship. I value you as a friend, Allison. More like a sister, actually. Do you think we can work through our issues without ruining that?"

"It sounds like a plan to me".

"Good, because I really do not want to change things between us. You are very important to me. Goodnight, little sister".

"Good night, big brother". All things considered, this is the most fun I have had in years.