Chapter 12

Reborn

Vanna was thrilled Allison was there. She didn't believe she would ever see Allison again. Now she was there. She couldn't wait to see her.

She entered the TDE room. Allison's back was to her. Allison turned around and looked at her. The look of joy and love was in her eyes.

"Savannah…." Allison said.

The two girls ran into each other's arms. It was hard to believe they were together again.

Vanna hugged and kissed Allison. They were both thrilled to see each other again.

They caught up on things briefly.

Allison needed to carry out a mission. She was told she needed to carry it out as soon as possible upon her return. There wasn't to be any delay. No one was to get in her way.

"I need to find someone named 'Cameron'." Allison said. "I need to do it immediately for several reasons. One of which is very uncomfortable."

Vanna headed for the lab. They observed Sarah exit from there carrying a large weapon. It was an M60.

Allison took Sarah in from a distance. She'd briefly dealt with her earlier. She looked like she wanted to kill someone when they'd arrived.

"She seems really intense." Allison said.

Vanna nodded.

"She is." Vanna said. "It's complicated."

They entered the lab. The door closed behind them. The room looked empty.

"So where's Cameron?" Allison asked.

Cameron stood up. She turned around and looked at Allison. She stared at her for a few seconds. It looked as if she might become angry. She didn't.

Cameron extended her hand and smiled.

"Hello, Allison, I'm Cameron." Cameron said.

Allison stopped in her tracks. She just stood there as she looked at Cameron. She stared at a much more beautiful version of 'herself'. She was told they would look the same but it was unbelievable. She didn't think a machine could look 'exactly' like her. This version of her - Cameron, was HOT. She wondered how it was even possible. John told her the how and why, but seeing it first hand was still a shock. It was a 'future shock' to say the least. There was a Terminator version of her and she was a total knockout.

Terminators were something to dread and fear where she came from, the future. Things changed over the last few months with the arrival of John and Mrs. Weaver. The Resistance took on a whole new face. They were able to make progress against Skynet. Some Terminators were reprogrammed and worked with them. It took some getting used to at first, but everything worked out fine.

Allison couldn't take her eyes off of Cameron. She needed to collect herself.

"I'm pleased to meet you." Allison said as she took Cameron's hand. "You're VERY beautiful, Cameron. I've heard so much about you from John."

Cameron was aware John was alive and in good condition from John Henry. Maybe Allison could fill in a few more details. It didn't take much imagination on her part to see John would have been attracted to Allison in the future. She was pretty sure something could have happened. Even in the 'raw' right out of the future, Allison was beautiful. She wanted to find out the details as to exactly how long John had been in the future before Allison's departure. She knew if it was more than a few months, John most likely would have pursued Allison for more than a working relationship. She couldn't really blame him, even if she could.

"You heard about me from John? Is he coming back now?" Cameron asked. "How is he? Is he uninjured? I need to see him. I need to bring him back. Is he safe?"

Allison noted the extreme concern Cameron showed. She saw the same feelings expressed by John whenever he spoke of Cameron to her in the future. It was evident there was something much deeper on both of their parts. She could understand some of the events related to John and her better now. Seeing really was believing, and it explained a lot.

"He was a few minutes ago." Allison said. "We took some gunfire but were about to regain control of the situation. John Henry protected me with his body. I need to thank him again. I would have been shot, maybe even killed. I owe him one."

Vanna looked at Allison and then to Cameron. Allison provided her some information on the way to the lab. It was very extreme, even for Allison. She needed to take some precautionary measures for more than one reason.

"Cameron, I need you to cut all the monitoring in this room." Vanna said.

Cameron cut the feeds and secured the room. She figured it must be something important. Jim started to protest. She told him Allison needed some privacy.

"It's done." Cameron said. "We're alone."

Vanna still looked around before she spoke.

Cameron noted the caution. It only seemed to deepen the mystery.

Vanna looked at Allison and then at Cameron.

"Allison has important information for you from John." Vanna said. "Nobody is to know the nature of Allison's true mission until it's completed. It should be very soon."

Vanna could see Allison and Cameron scrutinize and check each other out. They sized each other up. Something seemed a little deeper here on both of their parts.

Allison found it hard to take her eyes off of Cameron. She knew both men and women always stared at her. Cameron was at least three times better looking than her. Maybe it was ten times better. Her 'skin' was for sure. It was flawless and perfect.

"I just have to say before we get started, I've never ever in my life looked as good as you do, Cameron." Allison said. "You're very beautiful."

Cameron could see the beauty in Allison, even if it was unrefined. Maybe it made Allison more beautiful to look at. It was true beauty in the raw.

"Thank you. I like to look Tight for John." Cameron said.

Cameron knew John liked it when she looked Tight. She knew her appearance was very important to John. She'd learned the Tighter she made herself look, the more John looked at her. He also liked to look at her sheath. She let him see as much as possible without creating additional issues with Sarah.

Allison looked down below her waist area and then at Vanna. Her gaze settled on Cameron.

"Tight? Speaking of tight, I have something for you from John. He only wanted me to know about it, when he sent me here." Allison said. "He was afraid I may be searched and what he wanted to send back would be taken away or even destroyed. He was concerned some in our 'group' might not want you back in the picture. Once he showed me what it was, I told him I could hide it where no one would search me and live."

It caught Cameron's interest. It must be a secret message from John. She looked at Allison and wondered where it was. She thought it would be something verbal but Allison indicated otherwise.

"What is it?" Cameron asked. "Where is it?"

Allison looked at the tether connected to Cameron. She then looked Cameron in her eyes. She'd found it a little strange when she first heard what it was from John. She quickly understood exactly what it was and represented.

"John said it was YOU, your chip." Allison said. "He said it was HIS Cameron. He wanted me to give you life. He wanted to give you your life back again."

Cameron quickly replayed the file. She wanted to make sure she'd heard Allison clearly. If it was her chip, she could go and get John right now. She waited for Allison to produce it. She didn't see it. She wasn't even sure how she could have transported it back.

"Where is it?" Cameron asked again.

Allison whispered in Vanna's ear.

Cameron listened too. She was surprised and somewhat amused at the symbolic nature of what was about to happen.

Vanna looked at Allison, then at Cameron, and then back to Allison.

"Get up on the work platform, Allison." Vanna said.

She indicated where she wanted Allison to go.

Allison was aware she was about to be exposed in a very physical manner. It was just the way it was based upon the circumstances.

"Well, as strange as this seems, Cameron, you're about to be 'born' or maybe 'reborn'. I transported it in the most shielded part of my body, which I could easily and quickly access and no one else would see or look." Allison said. "It's an old smugglers trick for contraband."

Vanna and Cameron looked at each other and both smiled. Then all three of them started to laugh.

Cameron viewed females apprehended on the TV show 'Cops' hiding drugs in the same location before. They usually 'came clean' before the authorities searched there themselves, not all of them did.

"It's why the police invented the 'body cavity' search." Cameron said.

Allison only wore a robe. She didn't have anything to hide from Vanna. Apparently she didn't have anything to hide from Cameron either. They should look identical. She untied the robe and opened it up. She let Cameron see her.

Cameron felt a rush of excitement to see all of Allison. It was different from looking in the mirror. She looked at another version of 'herself', even if it wasn't her. She knew it was how people would see her.

Allison noted Cameron's gaze upon her nakedness.

"I guess you get to see 'yourself' from a perspective no one else gets to see." Allison said. "Then again, I guess 'it' is identical too."

Vanna giggled slightly. She knew it was based upon her personal observation of both of them. The conditions for viewing each of them were totally different though. She tried to ease the tension a little with a joke.

"One 'secret spot' coming up." Vanna said.

Allison wasn't shy about letting Cameron see her, all of her.

Cameron was able to see everything on Allison. She noted the multiple cuts, small scars, sores and bruises on Allison's legs. Her whole body was the same way from what she could see. This girl was in worse shape than 'Her Allison' was. She was worried John may now be in the same condition or worse. Vanna previously told her she looked the same way too when she'd returned from her past, the future. The toxins and damage of the future were very evident on Allison's body.

Allison indicated for Vanna to proceed.

Vanna didn't have a problem with it. She had plenty of experience 'down there' on Allison for years. She was pleased to see everything looked the same. She was also glad everything was still there. It looked like Allison was able to avoid capture by Scavengers. They were known to take 'souvenirs' and 'mark' their victims. Those were the lucky ones who lived. By the time Scavengers were done with someone, either a male or a female, the lucky ones were the ones who died.

Vanna removed the anti-static bag from inside Allison.

Cameron zoomed in on Allison as Vanna removed her chip from her. She was very pleased to see things were exactly the same.

"You're correct. We're identical even down to the pigmentation variations." Cameron said.

Vanna thought to herself she could've told Allison and Cameron they were. She'd checked on it too when she'd 'inspected' Cameron.

Allison was just relieved to be freed of the burden.

"TMI." Allison said. "I'm glad it's gone."

Allison was going to joke that maybe Cameron could show her the same 'things'. She would like to verify what Cameron said. Maybe it was best left for another time. It would be a way for her to see what she actually looked like to others from their perspective.

Vanna opened the protective anti-static bag and Cameron reached out and picked up her chip. She now held 'herself' in the palm of her hand. For a brief moment she considered crushing it. She wasn't sure why. She figured it was for the same reason Cameron Two tried to self terminate. The earlier incident still troubled her.

Cameron wanted to put the chip in as soon as possible so she could complete her mission. Her mission was to protect John. She had a promise to keep as well. Her promise was to bring John back as soon as she was mobile.

"I'm ready for it now." Cameron said.

She glanced back at the server her tether was plugged into. There was a slight frown on her face. She didn't like being trapped in a metal box.

Vanna thought they should take a few precautions first. There could have been others who 'handled' the chip when John was unaware.

"I'll hook this up to the server." Vanna said. "We can go through it before we put it back into you, Cameron. I want to make sure everything is OK and there are no surprises. Anything you want to add or delete can be done then. Is it fine with you, Cameron?"

There was only a blank look on Cameron's face.

"Cameron? Cameron?" Vanna asked again.

Vanna became worried at this point.

Cameron still wondered about her previous thoughts. She collected herself.

"Yes. Let me try to communicate with Cameron Two. She attempted to self terminate earlier." Cameron said. "Show Allison where to clean up and she can use any of my clothes she wants, except my purple coat. Fix her up and help her look nice. She's very pretty. I want her beauty to shine."

Cameron almost said 'look Tight', but she could see Allison was going to need a lot of 'work' to get there. It would definitely be a lot of work and need a lot of healing.

Vanna noted Cameron looked at all the imperfections on Allison.

"I told you I was the same way when I returned as well, Cameron. Most will heal and go away in this environment." Vanna said. "It just takes a little time. We have medicine here to help with most of what's wrong."

Cameron sat at her terminal and contacted Jim. Both John Henry and Jim prevented Cameron Two from self terminating. Jim filled in all the information John Henry acquired. She then contacted Cameron Two and told her of the recent developments.

Cameron Two asked what they were going to do about the 'Bitch Whore' in the future. Cameron said they would deal with it soon enough. She did remind Cameron Two the 'Bitch Whore' was also them, a copy of them. Cameron Two requested to be integrated with 'Cameron Prime' as one program. She said she would do it. Everything would be updated and transferred to her chip.

Vanna and Cameron checked Cameron's chip and found nothing wrong with it. 'John Henry' was already completely removed from it. There was no trace of his program on it any longer. They then proceeded to integrate everything from Cameron's server and her chip into one file. The act made Cameron complete.

Cameron looked at her server. She thought it looked very small and confining.

"I want 'our' file transferred to my chip and then this computer copy of me deleted." Cameron said. "Stuck in a box is no way to exist."

Cameron looked at the server with disgust. Freedom was near.

Vanna completed the transfer. She removed the cable from Cameron's neck and caressed her chip. Cameron's chassis was off line now.

"I love you, Cameron." Vanna said softly as she kissed the chip in her hands.

Allison watched with some apprehension as Vanna cut the scalp open to get to the chip port.

"Is it going to mess her up?" Allison asked. "Don't do anything to destroy her beauty. I know beauty when I see it. I know it isn't me. Cameron is beauty.

Vanna didn't want Allison to worry.

"She heals very quickly." Vanna said.

Vanna didn't want to get into all of the details about the condition Cameron was in when she'd first viewed her. She didn't even want to think about how Cameron looked then. She carefully inserted the chip into the port.

After the reboot, Cameron opened her eyes. She looked at Vanna as she touched her sheath.

"Get Sarah in here, please." Cameron said. "I only want Allison, Sarah and you here before I go."

Vanna only put Cameron's chip in a few seconds ago.

"Go? Go where?" Vanna asked.

Cameron stood tall and looked confident. She intended to carry out the promise she'd made to go after John as soon as she was able to. She was now able to do so.

"Back to the future." Cameron said. "I'm going to bring John back. I'm going to bring John home. I'm going to do it right now."

Closing monologue by Cameron:

Reborn

First there is nothing
Then we're born
Should it be celebrated
Or should we mourn

Between many things
We may become torn
They can crush our spirit
Leaving us feeling forlorn

Many things can happen
In advance I will warn
Time has its effect
As things become worn

We may love many
To one love is sworn
When others interlope
That love can be shorn

To some we give hope
To others we're a thorn
If one looks deeper
Can we be one they adorn

The future is fluid
That I can forewarn
Is it better to be dead
Or better to be reborn

Nobody