Epp 15
After breakfast was cleaned up, John went back to work on his nanite project. Cameron worked on the programming as John continued to work on how the nanites needed to be programmed.
One thing John needed to do was to figure out how to create an egg cell from one of Cameron's cells, having half the DNA of one of her normal cells. With no ovaries to produce egg cells, they would have to re-purpose cells in her womb lining, and form a cavity to hold those cells. That was a tough one.
With the complexity of this task, John was tempted to give up on it.
He glanced at Cameron, working at the programming, her face set in her blank terminator stare as she worked. This was for his beloved wife. He couldn't give up. He looked at the basic functions nanites were capable of again, and concentrated on finding the answer.
.
Elanore went to the office with Catherine to help out and keep a watch out for any more Terminators trying to sneak in. On the payroll she was a runner for Mr. Ellison. Even though the job was more involved with talking to people and finding small jobs to do, Elanore knew it was important. Like Mary, Elanore was young looking and well 'stacked', attracting the attention of many men.
Word around the office was Elanore was a relative of 'The Boss', which scared many men away from actually talking to her. The few who dared risk The Wrath of Catherine, found her a nice, pleasant woman to talk to, as well as great looking. Elanore had no trouble making friends.
At lunchtime, Elanore accepted an invitation to sit with a junior engineer a year out of college. The thin man with a crew cut waited at the atrium door for her to arrive. Upon seeing her, his eyes lit up.
"H ... Hi Elanore," he said nervously.
"Hello Gabriel," she replied with a smile. "Have you picked a place to sit yet?"
"Ahh, no. Wherever you'd like to sit," he said meekly with a blush. Gabriel looked around the room and said, "How about over there, by the fountain?"
"That is acceptable."
Gabriel walked two steps in that direction, than paused and blushed. "Oh! We, ah, should get our food first, huh?" he asked with a nervous grin.
"That would be advisable."
They went through the line. Elanore got a cup of orange juice, Gabriel got his burger and fries and a soda. They went over and sat at the two person table. Looking at the single cup on her tray, he asked, "You don't eat much. A girl thing,?"
"Mother makes a big breakfast for everyone," Elanore explained.
"Oh, OK." he said then asked, "You still live with your parents?"
"I do." She then tipped her head at his frown and asked, "Is there something wrong with that?"
"Oh no, not at all," he said quickly. "I haven't found a place of my own either yet. I just thought …
ah, sorry, not my business," he said sheepishly.
"That's fine if you ask. All my brothers and sisters live with us. We have important jobs, and that is the easiest way to communicate," Elanore explained.
"Yeah, OK, so you all work for Mrs. Weaver," Gabriel concluded. "I take it Zeita is a family business?"
"No, Zeita is Grandmother Catherine's business. We have another."
Gabriel's eyes opened up. "Mrs. Weaver is your grandmother? She really doesn't look that old."
Taking a cue from Grandmother Sarah, Elanore said, "Women never tell their ages." She added a wink.
Gabriel laughed. "True."
Tracking people and listening for heartbeats, Elanore kept watch, but didn't find anyone out of the ordinary. She also recognized every face. Threat level zero.
Paying more attention to Elanore than his lunch, Gabriel asked, "So, what do you do here?"
"I help Mr. Ellison with security. He's a friend of the family."
"Wow," Gabriel said. "Have you ever had to deal with bag guys or shoot anyone?"
Elanore paused. She wasn't sure how to answer that. She didn't want to lie, but she also didn't want to give anything away. She settled on, "I can't say."
"You can't say? Like, it's secret stuff?" Gabriel asked intently.
"Yes. It is secret stuff."
"You don't carry a gun, do you?" he asked.
"I do not carry a gun," she said. That was true, she had two 9mm's on her strapped to the insides of her thighs, not just one..
Blushing a bit, he offered, "I just think it would be horrible if a pretty girl like you got … you know, shot."
Movement at the outside doors got her attention. Two men in hoodies strode in and walked to the head of the line. Elanore got up and walked towards them.
The men pulled pistols and barked, "Gimme the cash in the drawer, now!"
Elanore bent over and pulled two pistols seemingly from nowhere. "Drop your weapons and no one gets hurt!" she yelled.
People screamed and dove to the floor. The men turned to gape at her briefly, then pointed their guns at her.
"Drop'em bitch!"
BANG BANG
Elanore shot both guns at the same time, hitting each man in the knee. The two men fell screaming. Elanore continued walking towards them and kicked their guns away. "Stay still and I won't have to shoot you again," she stated.
They just rolled back and forth holding their knees and screaming.
A pair of security guards came in, followed by a pair of policemen. Sirens were heard outside. As the officers handcuffed the screaming men, the guards stood watch. Soon, more police and an ambulance came. Elanore put her guns away and talked to the officers. Once the screaming men were taken out, and the officers had her statement, Elanore came back to see Gabriel sitting and watching her with a look of shock on his face.
Gabriel swallowed. "You said you didn't have a gun," he said weakly.
"I don't. I have two guns. Gabriel, I must go make a formal report. Thank you for having lunch with me," she said, and offered him a smile. Elanore got up and left.
Even with the chaos, Gabriel noted how fast she'd drawn and shot two guns at once. Dead on target while she was walking. "She's a real fuckin Laura Croft," he said quietly.
.
Jake and Gregory returned from the bunker on the ridge with cutting tools and empty reinforced bags. Meeting Sarah in the downstairs hallway, Jake said, "Someone has gone back before us."
"Yes. The remains of the last two T-600's are gone. There is a high probability it was Sky Net," Gregory agreed.
"Any sign of anyone else up there?" Sarah asked.
"No. We also detected no one watching us, or any devices," Jake said.
"And we were not followed," Gregory added.
"Well at least we got most of them," Sarah said in a huff.
Jake looked at Gregory and said, "We have plenty of ammunition, we should make more spare parts."
"Yes, I agree," Gregory replied.
"Why more parts?" Sarah asked.
"In case one of us gets damaged again. Mother had to use the joints and cylinders we had to repair Mary." Jake said.
They walked away. Sarah watched them go and shook her head. Somehow, she'd lost total control of the situation. Going out to the kitchen, she thankfully noted Cameron was still upstairs with John, trying to figure out how to make a baby. She opened the refrigerator and reached in, then frown and asked, "Where's my beer? Tin Miss couldn't have found it already."
.
Lying back in a lawn recliner and slowly working at his third beer, Eddie cast Mary in the recliner next to him a smile. "This is great, isn't it?" he asked.
"You are much more relaxed," Mary agreed. "Your heat rate has lowered and you show no signs of tension. I am relieved your stress is gone."
Eddie pulled another beer out of the small cooler and offered it to her. "Sure you don't want one? It's not my favorite, but it's drinkable."
"I cannot process alcohol as humans do."
Eddie dropped the can back in the cooler. "That's a damn shame, it really is," he told her. "Is there anything I can get you?"
"I am fine, Eddie." Looking up at the sky, she said, "The sky now is much prettier than it is in the future. The white clouds look good with the light blue sky. I like looking at them."
Eddie frown at her and asked, "It's not like that where you're from?"
"No. The sky is dark all the time. The clouds are thick and dark gray. Even when the sun is up, little light comes through. It is also much colder."
"That sounds depressing."
"That is the future, if Sky Net is not stopped," Mary stated.
"Well hey! We're going to stop it, aren't we?" Eddie asked. "I mean if we don't no one else will, right? So we have gotta do it."
Mary offered him a smile and said,"Yes, we do." Beyond Eddie, she saw Sarah storm out of the house. Sarah looked upset.
Eddie noticed her too. He called out, "Hey! What's up?"
Sarah glanced at him, then did a double-take. She marched over with fire in her eyes, picked up the cooler and snapped, "I bought this beer, it's MINE!"
Taken aback, Eddie said, "Sorry. Didn't have a name on it. It was just there."
"ASK next time!" Sarah snapped, and marched back in the house, holding the cooler tight to her.
To Mary, he said, "I didn't know it was hers. Sheesh, what a sore-head."
.
After a brief talk with police to tell what he saw and see he wasn't hurt, Gabriel went back to work. Coming back from lunch 15 minutes late, he was sure he was going to hear about it from their boss, Mr. Murch. Sure enough Mr. Murch was hovering around Gabriel's work station when he came in.
"And where have you been, Mr. Levinson?" Mr. Murch asked.
Pointing behind him Gabriel said, "I went down to the atrium for lunch, and there was an attempted robbery..."
Mr. Murch raised a hand for him to stop, and asked, "We have our own lunch room right next door. Why did you go all the way down there?"
Gabriel shrugged and said, "Sir ... I was meeting a girl for lunch."
"You meet girls on your own time, Mr. Levinson," Mr. Murch said firmly. "Who was this girl that is was so important to meet and be late to work for?"
"I'll stay late and make up the time, Sir," Gabriel offered, not wanting to answer the question.
"You will." Mr Murch agreed crisply. "Mr. Levinson, at three PM today someone will be installing a new password for our system and will give everyone the requirements for changing your passwords. Have your computers cleared and ready."
"Yes, Sir."
Mr. Murch let the troublesome young man get back to work. Leave it to one of the horny young men to try ruining such an important day as today. Catherine Weaver had returned, and she informed him John Henry was alive and well. She also had someone she wanted him to meet. Being very busy rebuilding
their electronic infrastructure, Mr. Murch had not had a chance to find out about John Henry. During a short meeting earlier in the week, Mr. Weaver told him about the latest upgrades, and that although John Henry was unavailable, she would send John Henry's daughter, Elanore, who was going to do the upgrade.
The news floored Mr. Murch. John Henry was not only alive and well, but had reproduced with another AI by the name of Cameron. Machines replicating themselves, that was incredible! Mrs. Weaver told him Elanore Tok, that was her name, would give him the details when she arrived. Ever since Mrs. Weaver informed him of his coming visitor, Mr. Murch had done everything humanly possible to make sure his department was at 100 %. This was a historic moment, him meeting the child of John Henry! He wondered if this Elanore was contained in a computer box, or if she was mobile. He truly hoped Elanore was at least a humanoid that was able to move around autonomously and reach with people like John Henry was. Mr. Murch shuttled around ensuring everyone, including Levinson, was ready for the 3 PM shutdown and reboot. AT 2:45, he noticed a beautiful red headed woman was standing by Levinson's workstation.
"I am sorry our lunch got interrupted," Elanore offered.
"It's not your fault," Gabriel assured her nervously. He knew Mr. Murch would not like him talking to someone, but this was Elanore. So pretty, so badass. And she was even willing to talk to a loser like him! There was no way he could tell her that he couldn't talk to her.
"Excuse me, Ma'am," Mr. Murch said firmly as he came up to them. "Are you here for business?"
Elanore beamed a smile at him and happily said, "Hello, Mr. Murch! Father wants me to tell you Hello for him, and thank you for all your hard work."
"Who is your father?" Mr. Murch asked.
"His name is John Henry. Do you remember him?"
Gabriel watched as Mr. Murch's jaw slowly lowered. The man was stunned.
"You ... You're Elanore Tok?" Mr. Murch asked with a squeak in his voice.
"I am. Father wanted to come himself, but he is very busy. I can do the upgrades to your systems."
Mr. Murch nodded and said, "Yes, please come to my office ... May I call you Elanore? This is more extraordinary that I could possibly have imagined! We … we need to talk in my office!"
Elanore smiled as she followed the blabbering Mr. Murch. She waved to Gabriel. He waved back.
Gabriel wondered what that was about. Was Elanore as smart as she was badass? He just hoped Mr. Murch wasn't going to hit on her.
.
The upgrade Elanore brought was stored in her plug-in chip. Mr. Murch watched as she removed it from her head and plugged it into his system.
"There are two major changes," she explained as computer code rapidly scrolled down his screen. "The first is system passwords must be at least sixteen characters long with two space bar breaks."
"Spaces are not allowed in passwords," Mr. Murch said.
"In a normal system, that is correct. They are required in this system. That modification alone will make your system here all but invulnerable to hacking," Elanore explained. "The other is the addition of an origin tag for each local system. If the incoming request does not have a recognized origin tag, the request will be denied. Essentially, even though you will still be connected to the internet, Zeita Corp's system will be effectively a stand-alone."
"Hack proof," Mr. Murch said.
"As long as the origin tags are not shared, yes. I have the origin tags for all departments and systems currently in use. You and Mrs. Weaver will be the ones responsible for creating further system origin tags. There is an option to allow information from the internet onto a system. Once the information is downloaded, it is not immediately processed, but goes into a quarantine buffer memory. Only after the buffer is scanned for harmful data and inappropriate instruction code, is it downloaded and the information is made available. If any virus, worm, or harmful data is found, the buffer is scrubbed clear and a warning comes up."
"John Henry did this?" Mr. Murch asked as he leaned close, watching the data scroll quickly past.
"Father and Mother, with some assistance from Gregory," Elanore explained.
"Who's Gregory?"
"One of my brothers."
"There's more of you?" Mr. Murch asked in a gasp.
"There are four of us. Myself, Mary, Jake and Gregory," Elanore said brightly. "We each got to pick our gender, appearances and names. I chose to look more like Grandmother Catherine, Mary chose Mother's look, but with dark brown hair and a slight facial modification, Jake chose Father's look but with black hair, and Gregory chose a mix of Father's and Grandmother Catherine's looks."
"That's amazing," Mr. Murch said breathlessly. "How did John Henry do that?"
"He went into a Sky Net factory and took over a portion of it. We came back from the future with him to help make sure Sky Net cannot destroy our planet."
Mr. Murch had to sit down. "Incredible," he said in another breath. "I really would like to meet all of you."
"Father and Mary cannot leave the house. Perhaps you might come to visit us?"
"I'll ask Mrs. Weaver," Mr. Murch said.
"I will do that for you. If you have dinner with us, that would be best. Mother insists we all be present for dinner," Elanore told him.
"You mother insists? So she truly is a mother in more than just the design and making of you," Mr. Murch said. The implications of what he was learning spoke of a possible a new race of intelligent beings. This was big news – that he could not share with anyone.
Elanore finished the download and set the system up. Getting up, she motioned to the keyboard. "It is ready for you to input your new password, Mr. Murch. Then we will go out and I will explain to everyone what is required for their new passwords."
.
Feeling bad about drinking Sarah's beer, Eddie went out to get more. Since Mary hadn't been out of the house, he asked if she wanted to go too. Mary didn't need help getting into the Suburban, but was pleased Eddie was right there 'just in case'. While they were out, he was going to pick up his own car he'd left what seemed like weeks ago.
On the way, Mary assured him she knew how to drive, and had a license in her name. They drove back near the camp and Eddie turned off onto a dual dirt track.
"Looks like no one's been here in a while," he said, eyeing the tracks.
"We still need to ensure no one's tampered with your car," Mary told him.
"Way to check that," Eddie said with a wink.
Hidden off the road, they came to a small parking area in the woods that had a few four wheel drives parked. Eddie pointed to a bush that was right up next to a tree. "Trail cam. If anyone's been here, that will have recorded it"
They got out and Mary followed Eddie to the camera. He unhooked it, checked the charge, then turned it to replay. They saw a man come into the picture. He looked around, tried to open a couple doors, then left. The next frames, a deer wandered through. Then a fox. Then a mountain lion. The tape ended.
"There ya go, nobody messed with my jeep," he said proudly.
Mary looked at his camo painted Wrangler, then the spot where the trail cam was, then at the Jeep again. The Jeep was facing the camera. She walked over to it.
Seeing the intent look on her face, Eddie followed.
Mary studied the Jeep as she slowly walked around behind it. Squatting down, she felt under the rear bumper. She pulled out a small black box.
"Tracking device," she said. She put it under the front bumper of another car.
"Damn, how'd they get that under there?" Eddie asked.
"Your car is pointed at the camera. The man you saw noticed the trail cam. He walked farther away, out of range and circled behind your Jeep, which was blocking the camera's view. He was able to get close and attach the device without the camera picking him up," she explained.
Eddie gazed at her softly. "You are really smart, Mary. I gotta say, you're one hell of a woman."
"That is good, right?" she asked.
Eddie laughed, "Yeah, that's good," he assured her. He moved to hold her and stopped short.
Mary looked at him. Eddie backed off.
"You can hug me if you want," Mary said.
"Ahh, your stitches. I don't want to rip anything loose," Eddie said quietly.
Mary smiled, happy he was concerned about her. "Then I will hug you. Softly," she told him.
Eddie stayed still as Mary put her arms around him. Barely touching her, he hugged her back. He swallowed hard. She felt so wonderful in his arms, he so wanted to crush her to him. Only the fear of hurting her stopped him from doing so.
Slipping away from each other, Mary noted Eddie's blood pressure was up. "I am sorry that was not a proper hug," she offered.
"It's OK. It was a hug," he said with a grin. His face then fell. "Ah, Mary, I gotta tell you something. I never have had much luck with girls. Had a few girlfriends and screwed it up. I'm not the best with … things like that."
Mary nodded. "I understand. I have no experience at all. I think that if we try and help each other, then maybe we can be boyfriend and girlfriend."
"You think so?" Eddie asked expectantly.
Looking at him intently, she said, "I do. Eddie, you are very kind to me. I find I like being around you. You have to understand that I am a cyborg, so I will not be the same as a human girl. I will not act like a human girl."
Eddie shrugged. "Well, the girls I tried to get close to hated guns and thought I was weird. You don't, do you?" he asked.
"I think you are Eddie, very kind and you were very brave to stand with us against those terminators. What I have seen is that you will stand with me, no matter the odds. If that is weird, then I am weird also," Mary told him.
Eddie laughed a laugh of relief. "Then I guess we can be weird together?" he asked.
"Yes, weird together," Mary agreed.
They shared a smile, then Eddie announced, "Great! Let me see if I can get that thing of mine started and let's go get Sarah's beer. And another couple six packs too!"
.
Cameron was watching the monitor screen closely. As she did, her mouth curled up into a smile. "John … John!" she said excitedly.
"Yeah, what is it?" John asked as he looked up from the medical page he was reading.
"John, the simulation, I think we have it!"
John jumped up and knelt down beside Cameron to watch the action on the screen. A single sperm was wiggling its way into a balled up group of nanites. In the center was an egg cell. The nanites surrounded the sperm cell, enveloping it and the egg cell. The few nanites in between the cells moved out, tearing the cell walls between them down. The cells merged. Other nanites repaired the cell walls, making one cell.
The cell stayed like that for a moment then divided. Then divided again. Nanites brought material to feed the cells and they continued to divide.
"It works!" John said happily and hugged Cameron. Cameron hugged him tight to her.
"We did it, WE DID IT!" she cried and bounced in place.
Locked in an embrace, then kissed deeply.
Breaking the kiss, John said, "We still have a few things to work out."
"Yes, we do," Cameron said eagerly. "But it works! John, I'll be able to have your baby!"
"As many babies as we want," John agreed, beaming her a bright smile.
Casting him a lusty grin, Cameron said, "Let's go practice."
.
Once they got back, Eddie parked his rag top Wrangler and quickly was beside Mary's driver's door in case she needed any assistance. After she and the six packs were safely out, he made a fast diversion to the kitchen to put the beer away, then took Mary to her room to check her injuries.
To Eddie's surprise, The long cut that had split her side open was healed. He took care removing the line of stitches from her underarm all the way down to her hip. The part of her right thigh that was still there was also healed, the skin now covering the end of the stump around the metal protruding out. "You are healing very fast," he noted.
"I have a full compliment of nanites, and plenty of nutrients," Mary explained. "Once my current flesh is fully healed, I will start regrowing what I lost."
In checking her face, Eddie noted the same thing there. Yes, she still had skull showing, but her skin was coming back. She had a right eye now, but it was cloudy. "Mary, you're incredible," he said softly.
"I don't need bandages any more, unless you want me to wear them to cover up my exposed metal," she offered.
Eddie frowned in thought and said, "Well, it looks like you're sealed up, so the danger of infection is gone. It's up to you. Personally, I don't mind seeing your shiny parts. I suppose your skin will grow a bit faster if it can breathe. Least, that usually helps wounds."
Mary nodded and pulled the rest of her bandages off, which was all that covered her after she'd taken off her shirt and skirt.
Eddie's eyes grew wide and he quickly turned around. "Hey, Mar? Maybe I should leave."
"No," Mary said and clasped his hand. "Please stay while I get some clothes on. It will only take a minute."
"OK," Eddie croaked. All he'd seen was a good flash of breast, and man did she ever have a nice set! He stood looking at the wall, despite desperately wanting to turn around.
"Eddie. Please look at me."
"You're dressed, right?" he asked.
"I am."
Eddie turned around to face her. Without the bulge of bandages, Mary was back to her smooth curvy form. Her right arm still had some scar lines, and like he already knew, her leg beyond her skirt was bare metal, and a large patch of her face was missing. "You look much better," he said with a smile.
Tipping her head slightly, Mary asked, "You truly do not mind seeing my endoskeleton?"
Eddie shrugged and said, "Been looking at it for a few days now. As long as you're not hurting anywhere, I'm OK with it."
Mary stepped up to him and said, "Give me a real hug."
Their arms went around each other. This time, Eddie did hold her tight. "Ohh, that's better," Eddie said with a grin.
Mary let out a satisfied sigh. "I like this," she said quietly.
"Me too."
"Eddie, why didn't you want to see me naked?"
"It's not proper, unless we're ... you know, involved."
"You mean having sex?"
"Ahh yeah. I mean, we haven't even kissed yet," he said and pulled back to look at her.
"Then kiss me."
Eddie flushed. "Ahh, Mary? This is where I usually start screwing up," he said with a wince. "I get started with that and I kinda don't want to stop."
"You'll have to stop and breathe," she told him.
Eddie laughed. His mirth quieted as he gazed at her softly. "I mean, I get kissing, and I want to go farther. Like …"
"Having sex." Mary stated.
"Yeah, and well, I don't want to screw it up with you," he said seriously.
Mary cast him a bright smile. "Eddie, I think it is very nice of you to be so honest with me. Do you want me?"
"How could I not?"
"What is the usual ritual to perform before having sex?"
The way she asked made Eddie chuckle. "I don't know, usually a dinner and a movie or something," he said with a shrug.
"That is fine. We'll have dinner, watch a movie, then come back in here and have sex. Will that be good?" she asked.
Eddie's jaw dropped and his eyes grew big. "You … you're serious? Really?"
"Yes," she said, amused by his disbelief. "I told you Eddie, I am not like a human girl. I know you really like me and I know you will do your best for me. I want to do my best for you also. We already agreed to be boyfriend and girlfriend, isn't that what boyfriends and girlfriends do?"
"Yeah, but usually it take a while."
"Do you want to wait?"
"Not really."
Mary nodded and said, "Then we will have sex tonight."
"Mary, you are fantastic," Eddie said and kissed her. Enveloped in a hug, they kissed deeper, then Mary put a hand on his chest and they parted lips.
"Eddie, sex is for tonight," she reminded him.
Wearing an ear to ear smile, Eddie nodded and said, "Mary, I think I'm in love with you."
Mary cast him a lusty grin and said, "Good, because I am very fond of you also and I want to do much more kissing."