Okay... so I've been engrossed in T:SCC for a little while now, and I think I'm about ready to return to my other story... but I feel like I should get in another chapter... since I've made you guys wait for so long.
Another, Insane Choice.
The Hand that Guides.
-Later that day-
Sarah stood over her son, watching as he fiddled with his lap-top. Ever since they had returned home, Sarah kept close to his side, eyes fixated on either him, or Cameron. As she watched her son, she couldn't help but regret not taking the chance she had, to bore Alex with more question, about future John and his decision to allow Cameron to essentially achieve sentience.
Sarah glanced over at the machine who stood staring out the window, Sarah wondered what was going through that robotic brain of hers, what was she thinking, and why was she thinking it? All of this was beginning to make her head hurt.
The group had returned just an hour prior and were waiting for nightfall to begin packing in the weapons. They didn't want to do it in the day time for fear someone would spot them.
Derek and Alex, sat off in the kitchen sipping back beers, from the sound of it, they were having a merry time. Given Derek's somber attitude when it came to the future, Sarah found it almost impossible to resist the urge to wander into the kitchen and see what they were chatting about, but in the end she stopped herself. Her eyes remained focused on Cameron, Sarah was doing a very good job, hiding just how much she was panicking over the news that Cameron had been free to choose what she wanted to do this whole time.
"Okay here's one. Five bedroom, three bath, a two car garage, and it's located only four miles away." John commented dryly. Ever since he had returned home, his mother had set him to work, finding a new place to live.
"... Wasn't that the day when Kyle woke up to find that big ass rat sitting on his lap?" Alex asked cheerfully as he and Derek wandered into the room.
"That was the biggest goddamn rat, I'd ever seen." Derek commented, making a face as he recalled that incident.
"I guessing the Reese brothers ate good that night." Alex commented with a laugh.
"Oh... don't remind me... I think that thing was pregnant." Derek replied with a shake of his head.
"Yeah well... it adds texture." Alex stated as he sat on the couch next to John, Derek quickly sat next to him and they both glanced at John for a moment, before losing interest and returning to their conversation.
"You two seem to be in good spirits." John commented, as he glanced at the two of them.
"I blame it on the booze." Alex replied as he held up the beer bottle and examined it.
"How come when Derek remembers the war, he becomes morbid, but when you remember, it seems like a big game?" Sarah asked, a mixture of curiosity and condescension evident in her voice.
"Unlike Derek, I was born into that world... it was home to me... I never had a problem with the desolation and the shattered ruins of a past I knew nothing about. So when he remembers the war, he remembers what we lost..." Alex responded, Derek offered a half-nod of agreement as he took another swig of his beer.
"You don't?" John asked tilting his head curiously.
"Nope... and I don't think I ever will. Coming back here and seeing all of this, it's nice, and beautiful, but it's not home to me. If all this went away, I don't think I'd be bothered at all." Alex replied, he had a far away look in his eyes, it was evident that there was deeper reason as to his lack of care for this age.
Before he could stop himself, John felt his curiosity get the best of him, and he decided to press for more info. "You're not bothered at all that, all of this... three billion live will be ended, in only a few years?"
"I once asked you a similar question. I asked you, if it was possible to stop judgment day, and go back to the way things were, would you do it. You replied that you would stop judgment day, but not so that things could go back to as they were before. I asked you why that was, what you thought was so bad with how the world was before. You told me, that it was the corruption of man, that led to this eventuality. You told me that with the way humans were before the bombs fell, judgment day was inevitable. I didn't really understand what you meant at the time, but after a few more years had passed, and I learned more about the world before the bombs fell, I finally realized what you meant." Alex explained.
"...And what was that?" John asked, very interested to hear his future perspective on the world, that he lived in now.
"Self-preservation. It's the primary drive of human beings. And as long as people see other people as a threat to their well-being, greater and greater weapons will be created to end that threat. The only way to end this loop, is to force a greater enemy to present itself before man. SkyNet is that enemy. General Connor understood, that the war needed to happen, otherwise, humans would just keep killing each other. After Judgment day, the whole of the human race will be united to fight this singular threat to their well-being, and thus the cycle ends." Alex explained.
"Using that logic though, wouldn't that mean the SkyNet would have to remain? If it were defeated, then man would one day resume killing man." John replied. Sarah, Derek, and even Cameron all listened intently to this conversation. Derek scratched his head trying to wrap his mind around what this could possibly mean, while Sarah simply made a face, as she listened to the conversation play out, both of them were well aware that this conversation was something of a pivotal one. It was a philosophical conversation with no real answer, and they both found it odd that the two people having this, 'deep' conversation were a sixteen year old boy, and a thirty year old soldier from the future.
"Yes it would... I'm not really sure what can be done about it. If SkyNet wins, we all die, but if we win, then aren't we just restarting the endless loop of violence? I don't know... it's something to think about." Alex replied, as he took another drink of his beer.
"The sad truth is that you're right, without SkyNet, one day humans will start fighting humans again. Did you ever ask the future me, about any possible solutions?" John replied, he had a far away look in his eyes.
"Yeah I did, he just laughed and said if I came up with any solutions to let him know." Alex answered, "Why? You think you might know the answer?"
"Theirs only one answer I can think of, and that is to stop being human." John replied shaking his head and sitting back on the couch.
"Well... isn't that a conundrum. If you figure out how we can stop being human, you let me know." Alex replied with a chuckle.
John stared off for a moment before he noticed Cameron staring at him, "What?"
"That was deep." Cameron replied, as she returned to staring out the window.
Sarah made a face, and glanced down at John, and the other men, she did a double take, when she noticed all three of them making the same face. There was something so similar about the way each one of them, tilted there head slightly, and narrowed their eyes. She guessed that it might have been something that ran in Kyle's blood, since John was Derek's nephew, but then again there was Alex, making the same face, so it might have just been a guy thing.
Sarah was quickly realizing that Alex was much more open about his past then Derek, and he had an even greater knowledge of the future then anyone they had ever met. She quickly made the choice to try for some more information about him.
"How did you lose your arm?" Sarah asked, John and Derek both glanced at Alex who grimaced.
"You lost your arm?" Derek asked as he glanced at Alex's arms.
"Yeah... I didn't necessarily lose it, but I had to get it replaced." Alex replied as he showed them all his right arm. "My whole right arm, all the way to the shoulder. Replaced with a metal prosthetic, and covered with skin and muscle, grown from my own tissue. Rewired with nerve endings, so I can feel, but because I'm a soldier, they left out the pain sensors, so you guys are going to have to tell me if I hammer a nail through my hand or something." Alex finished with a chuckle, as he flexed and un-flexed his hand.
"How did you lose it?" John asked curiously.
"Got into a fight with a 1200 series, me and a few guys. We were up close and the damn thing threw me into a wall of debris, that just so happened to be supporting, more debris. It wall fell on me, and a large chunk of concrete crushed my whole arm and some of my shoulder. The others managed to take down the 1200, but there was no way they could get me out. Two of them decided to run back to base and fetch one of the cyborgs, and some medics to help me out. The last one, a girl, she was about fifteen at the time, she stayed with me. Kept me breathing, kept me conscious. I was really lucky..." Alex trailed off, as a small smiled appeared on his face.
"Girlfriend?" Derek asked, sensing a connection between Alex, and the girl in his story.
"No... I was about twenty-five at the time, and I didn't even know her that well. Her name was Bailey, she was new to the field, she'd only been with my team for like three weeks, and everyone always gave her crap because she was an FM child..." Alex replied, after a moment his eyes widened, almost as if he realized he had said something he shouldn't have.
"An FM child?" John asked, narrowing his eyes.
Sarah and Derek both shared a glance as Alex cringed visibly from John's question.
"Shit..." Alex sighed,
"FM brigade... Free Machines brigade." Cameron stated, as she returned to the conversation.
"Yeah..." Alex sighed again as he scratched his head.
"FM child... Free Machines child?" Cameron asked.
Alex simply nodded and hung his head.
"Like... as in a machine... and a... … … holy shit!" John stated as his jaw dropped.
"Yeah... was waiting for a more appropriate time to bring that up." Alex stated, as he glanced over at John.
"That's not possible. You can't possibly be saying that there are machine that can have children!" Sarah hissed, as she came to the same realization as her son.
"Well... there are." Alex replied as he took another swig of beer.
"That is bullshit! Who in the flying fuck thought that was a good idea?" Derek whined as he rubbed his temples.
"SkyNet." Alex replied.
"What do mean?" John asked, his eyes still wide.
"We call them MK. 2's. They're refurbished infiltrator models, 800's, 888's, and all infiltrator models that followed, SkyNet's way of reverse engineering Hybrids without the need for human beings..." Alex began to explain, but Sarah cut him off.
"Hybrids? What the fuck are those?" She hissed.
"Humans who have been outfitted with Metal endoskeletons and other machine base parts, while retaining there human organs, heart, brain, intestines, so on and so fourth. Anyway, the hybrids were meant for long term infiltration, I'm talking months. So they had to appear mostly human, but still remain under SkyNet's control. As some point or another, in the 2020's SkyNet started making the MK. 2's. These guys were outfitted with several unique modification to allow for long term infiltration. When I say long term I mean 'long' term, like as in decades." Alex continued to explain as Derek and Sarah both grumbled angrily.
"SkyNet, switched out a shit-load of parts, and human organs, and ran a lot of test around dogs. It kept trying until it found the right combination of man and machine, that wouldn't set the dogs off. It then proceeded to modify these models and most future models with the ability to enter into a long term infiltration state. These models could do anything, from get sick, to have babies." Alex finished with a shake of his head.
"That's not possible." Sarah stated, she almost looked sick.
"It is. We've seen it happen. SkyNet wanted to make infiltrators that could remain undiscovered for years. No one will suspect you of being a machine if you're walking around with a baby in your belly. It was around 2031 when we started to realize that these models had infested our bases, and were acting as sleeper agents for unknown purposes. After we found them, Connor began cleaning house, and we quickly identified dozens of them. These refurbished models, were lighter and weaker then their counterparts, so they didn't pose much of a threat when we started to destroy them. It was only when John got his hands on one did he realize what this truly meant. He quickly began reprogramming these machines left and right, hell now a days, almost any machine with a skin-sheath can be modified to allow for child-birth. Bailey was five when she learned that her mother was a machine. Her and her dad, didn't know what to do. From that day forth, children of men and machine, were known as FM children." Alex explained, he was very careful how he worded everything, she shock the Connor's must be feeling at this revelation, had not escaped him.
"That's amazing." John stated, in a both shocked and amazed tone.
"Yeah... it is pretty amazing. SkyNet gave both sexes of cyborg, the right... 'parts' and had the DNA match the skin-sheath. Like I said, both sexes have been extensively modified, the females more then males. So the end result, the machine is much weaker and easier to dispose of, but they're also much harder to detect. These Mk. 2's also operate using advanced CPU's that allow them to mimic human behavior much better then then other variants, while still retaining their connection to SkyNet. The FM brigade offers any machine that desires it, the choice of getting these modifications." Alex stated.
"What in the hell is the FM brigade? You said 'in good time' well it's been some time, now talk." Sarah growled, as she messaged her eyes. This was all way to stressful, the knowledge that Cameron was sentient, and now baby making machines? Sarah didn't know how much more news she could take.
Alex stared at Sarah for a minute before letting out a sigh, and beginning. "The Free machines brigade, is equal parts, scientific research, weapons testing, military unit, and social movement. It consists of mostly younger individuals, people who were born after judgment day, who all believe that cyborgs should share the same god given rights as a human being. About forty percent of all cyborgs are members of this group, and it strongly advocates for the rights of machines freed from SkyNet." Alex explained.
"So it's a bunch of machine sympathizers and their cyborg buddies trying to convince everyone that these tin cans are human?" Derek chided angrily.
"No... they aren't trying to convince people that the cyborgs are human, their main goal is to show the world that the machines are in fact sentient. They advocate of behalf of the machines in the hopes that people will realize that the cyborgs are just as much a part of this world as we are, and are deserving of better treatment, then simply being thought of as...'Tin cans'" Alex replied, glaring at Derek. Derek simply huffed in reply.
"Machine are machines. They can't feel, they can't love, or hate. They're are just metal, and computer chips." Sarah stated, glaring down at Alex darkly.
Alex glanced at her for a moment, before locking eyes with John and smiling. "Did you know John, that their has never been a single recorded case, where a cyborg parent has harmed it's child? Never. We've seen these sleeper's wipe out an entire bunker, and when we bust it, do you know what we find? The cyborg huddled next to it's child trying to comfort it."
"Why is that?" John asked.
"I don't know... it's one of the biggest mysteries there are. My mother once hypothesized that the cyborg sees the child as an extension of itself... like a literal piece of it's body. She guessed that since all cyborgs are incapable of self-termination, they cannot kill their children, but if that's true then why don't they simply return to SkyNet once everyone is dead, why do they remain and try to comfort their children?" Alex finished, keeping his smile.
"That would make sense... but then again, if it's only a hypothesis, then I guess, there's nothing in the terminators code to back it up? Plus, you're right, why would they remain once their mission is complete?" John replied, deep in thought.
Alex glanced up at Sarah, who eyes were still boring into him, "Glower at me all you want. I'm simply stating a fact."
"Come on, Mercury. You can't possibly support this crap. Did you forget everything that they did to us? Or has the apocalypse gotten a lot prettier since I've been away?" Derek chided, almost sounding disappointed.
"You don't need to remind me about what they've done to us! Take a good long look at me! I've given half my fucking body to win this war, Reese!" Alex snapped suddenly becoming very angry, and surprising both Derek and Sarah. John did his best to hide a smirk, he sympathized with his mother and uncle, but sometimes their paranoia of the machines, and their constant bashing on the terminators that helped them, really annoyed him. He especially found it frustrating when they bashed on Cameron, sure she was a machine but come on, if she was a dog their treatment of her would be borderline abuse. As he sat their John felt a twinge of guilt pass through his body, as he recalled how his own treatment of Cameron had not been very positive either. 'Jesus, I'm becoming my mother.' he thought as he refocused on the fight that was likely to break out.
"Hey! Don't get pissed at me! You're the one who let Connor, put that shit inside of you!" Derek retorted, as he stood. Alex quickly stood too, locking eyes with Derek, as the two men stared each other down.
"Watch yourself Lieutenant! I'm not some kid that you can pick on anymore." Alex rebutted.
"... We're not in your little 'Federation', either! This is the wild west, and people get hurt out here." Derek growled.
"You really want to do this Reese?" Alex asked angrily.
"Take a good long look around! All these people, everyone here, dead! Your precious machines kill them all, and those of us that survive are left to fight the fucking terminators. You may not care if all of this goes away, but some of us do." Derek stated coldly, the two still hadn't broken eye contact.
"Do you know why Connor chooses to lock himself away? To hide behind a wall of cyborgs? People like you." Alex replied, his eyes aflame with anger.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Derek asked, John could tell, his uncle was getting ready to sock Alex right in the kisser.
"Men built my precious machines!" Alex nearly shouted. Derek stared at him for a second, thinking about that statement for a second.
"Human being's in their quest for eternal safety turned to something they thought they could control. Thus, SkyNet was born. Man did this Derek, people like you, and Sarah, who are too preoccupied with your own damn fears! I've been here one damn day, and I can see it! Why the hell can't you?" Alex hissed before turning to focus his attention on Sarah.
His features softened slightly, John could tell that, Alex didn't want to take his anger out on her, but he needed her to understand.
"God created man, and we created them... at what point do you take a step back and realize... that you might have just created life?" Alex asked, with a sympathetic look.
Sarah simply, let out a sigh and bit her lip in reply.
"They can have children... with humans... and probably with each other too... that makes them a species... kind-of. Though of course, people like you won't be satisfied until you see a cyborg weep, with the body of it's dead child clutched in it's arms." Alex stated, darkly before taking a deep breath and regaining his composure.
Alex glanced back at Derek, who had his head bowed, and looked to be deep in thought.
"Look... I'm not asking you to like them. These are my beliefs, I'm not gonna force them on you, but i wont let you force yours on me, either. I'm sure we'll butt heads over this topic again, but until that time... sorry I brought it up, it was slip of the tongue and you didn't need to know." Alex stated politely.
"Thank you for explaining." They all heard Cameron state, as she turned to exit the room, and wander upstairs.
"It'll be dark soon, I'm gonna go for a walk... clear my head." Alex said as he turned and began walking towards the front door.
"Alex..." Derek halfheartedly tried to call after him, but stopped and simply rubbed his eyes tiredly.
John simply shook his head, and pulled out his phone, deciding to use Riley as a good excuse to leave the room.
"I'm gonna see if I can't get in touch with Riley. She still hasn't called me." John stated as he stood and headed for the stairs.
"Yeah... you do that." Sarah said more to herself then to him.
John left the two of them standing in the living room, as he headed for his bedroom. On his way there he passed Cameron's room, he glanced in as he passed, but stopped when he noticed something curious. Cameron was standing in front of her mirror, with her hands on her stomach, staring at herself.
"What are you doing?" John asked out of curiosity, as he stood in her door way.
"I always wondered why my design would incorporate, such flaws." Cameron replied, as she continued to stare at herself in the mirror.
"What do you mean?" John asked as he stepped into the room and leaned on the wall.
Cameron turned to look at him, her hands still on her belly. "There is an opening here." Cameron stated, as she glanced down at her stomach.
"Like where your stomach is?" John asked, tilting his head in confusion.
"I don't have a stomach. There is simply a large amount of meat and tissue in this area. It's a weak point in my design. My endoskeleton structure in this area is almost identical to a human's bone structure. In this area, my endoskeleton is shaped like a spine, hip bone, and pelvis." Cameron explained in simple terms.
John stared at her for a moment, before his eyes widened in as he realized why she had been designed that way.
"John... do you think I could mother a child?" Cameron asked, with an innate sound of curiosity.
John didn't reply, he simply stared at her, as she returned to examining herself in the mirror. 'What in the hell, was happening?' he thought as he continued to watch the machine examine itself. After a moment John turned to leave, as he was though, her question echoed in his head, 'could she possibly mother a child?'. John was about to shake off the thought when for some reason the memory of how much Samantha, and Cameron sounded like each other, when they said good-bye to each other, flashed into his head.
John stood there for a moment... processing this influx of information. For some reason his brain was forcing him to think about Samantha and Cameron, he knew there was a connection between the two, but he just couldn't place it.
"John." Cameron stated, drawing John's attention, and breaking his line of thought.
"What?" He asked.
"Your mother is calling us." Cameron stated, as she walked past him.
John decided to shake off the thought, as he followed after Cameron, to see what his mother wanted, 'probably time to start on those weapons.' he thought as they made their way down the hall. He decided to wait until later when he was alone, to put some more thought into the connection between Samantha and Cameron.
Alright so here's then next chapter... had some drama in it. I've got to return the my other story, so for now, let me know what you think and until next time, SEE YA!