Chapter 94

Captured

Bob and Jim each started out down a separate branch of the passageway system. It was part of the Skynet operation. It was under the building they destroyed.

Neither one of them were sure what they would find.

The direction Jim took led away from where the destroyed building was at.

Bob headed in the direction of the destroyed building. He was sure if anyone was to be encountered, he would probably be the one to find them.

He moved cautiously forward through the passageway. He looked at the floor and the walls as he moved along. There was no indication anyone had been through there recently. It seemed as if there was a lot of smoke in there after the building burnt down.

Jim continued along his branch of the passageway. After a minute, the passageway became very crude. It almost appeared as if whoever was working on it decided to stop. There was no indication there'd been any fresh work recently. It soon ended in a dead end. The end of the passageway was walled off by bricks. He needed to get back to the rendezvous point.

Bob kept track of the time. He didn't want to overstay the rendezvous time. He continued through the passageway until it began to become littered with debris. It eventually was completely blocked. It appeared it was a dead end. He made his way back towards the rendezvous point.

The two Terminators met back at the ladder they entered from. They each gave a report about what they found. It was clear the direction Bob took was a dead end with parts of the collapsed building inside of the passageway.

The direction Jim went seemed a little more open ended.

"Did you knock any of the bricks out to see what was on the other side?" Bob asked.

Jim hadn't done so. He wanted to make the rendezvous. He knew there was no one else in his section of the passageway.

"No." Jim said. "You can remain here to make sure no one comes down the ladder."

Bob looked up through the circular shaft. He didn't think it would be a problem.

"I don't think we need to worry about anyone else." Bob said. "Let's go take a look at what's behind the bricks."

Jim and Bob headed back down the dead end passageway. They weren't really sure why it was blocked off with bricks at the end.

John listened to the song which started to play and figured the worst. It seemed to send a clear message. It wasn't one he wanted to hear.

'Here we go again.' John thought. 'Now where is she off to and why?'

John listened for the TDE to power up.

There was only silence. He wondered if he slept through it. He was about ready to pinch himself to make sure he wasn't dreaming. If he was, he was sure it was more than a dream, it would be a nightmare.

The door opened and Cameron walked in.

"Hi, John." Cameron said

She came over and gave him a kiss.

"Hi, Cameron." John said.

He wasn't sure if he should ask about the song or its 'message'.

Cameron started to strip. She made a little show of it. She teased him as she removed her clothes.

John wasn't going to complain about it. It always pleased him greatly to see her without clothing. He looked forward to what would happen next with anticipation.

He wondered if Cameron even really wanted to be with him. He didn't want to seem him greedy or selfish.

"You don't need to do it if you don't want to." John said.

John was afraid Cameron only performed her 'wifely duties' as an obligation to him. He didn't think the experience he felt was the same as what Cameron felt. In fact he didn't really know what Cameron felt. Maybe it was a surge of electrons, or electricity. Maybe it was 'nothing'.

He knew Cameron never seemed as excited as Riley did the night they spent together in the truck. Riley was more vocal. A lot of 'things' were different too. Cameron always seemed much more 'neutral' than Riley did. It could be the difference between real living tissue and synthetic tissue. Different things happen down there every day for humans. For Cameron nothing did, until they were married. Then it was only one thing.

John 'heard' his mother over the years, even if he didn't want to. He knew she seemed to experience 'more' than Cameron did. He'd listened to her through a multitude of partners growing up. He listened outside Vanna and Allison's room and they seemed to enjoy 'things' more too. They seemed to have several levels of pleasure which each produced different results.

Cameron didn't really care for John's statement. She wasn't sure it reflected on her positively. She decided to mess with him a little bit.

"If I didn't want to, I wouldn't." Cameron replied with a somewhat blank face.

She then smiled at him and giggled.

John decided to push the issue some. He hoped to get a clue or two.

"You forgot your player." John said.

He knew she never forgot anything.

Cameron looked a little coy.

"How about that…." Cameron said.

She shot him a sly glance.

Cameron waited for John to ask.

John was afraid to ask.

Cameron could see John wasn't going to ask her about it.

She was down to her bra and panties at this point.

John's eyes were all over Cameron. Even though he knew what he was about to see, it still excited him greatly.

'Man, does she look HOT.' John thought.

Cameron moved a little closer to John. She wanted him to have a little physical contact, other than just visual contact.

"Do you want to unhook my bra for me?" Cameron asked.

It was a front hook bra.

John instantly reached out. He did. He was rewarded as the 'twins' escaped. She made sure they touched his face. He reached up to fondle her.

She playfully took a step back. She wanted to excite him a little further. It also presented the opportunity for other parts of her sheath to be stimulated. Those were the areas she liked to be touched the best.

"Not so fast. You're not done yet, mister." Cameron said. "You need to finish unwrapping the 'present'."

She indicated her panties….

Earlier:

Cameron spoke with John Henry.

She was very disturbed about some things and wanted his input. She was sure it wasn't her who did any of the things which happened to her. They all seemed a little 'off'.

"I don't think I did those things, John Henry." Cameron said. "It's not my style."

John Henry contemplated the same thing himself. He believed Cameron would be a little more precise and efficient in any of her actions. It also raised another disturbing possibility

"Yes, now that you've pointed it out, it is a little sloppy. Maybe YOU didn't do them. The question then is, who did?" John Henry asked.

It was the 'million dollar' question.

"I don't know and it bothers me." Cameron said.

It disturbed her so.

"The timing is off. It's just by a little to make it more 'interesting'." John Henry said.

Cameron didn't think 'interesting' was the word. It was more like 'punishment' to her. She figured it was her punishment for being created. She didn't have anything to do with it. Someone else created her. She didn't create herself, unless she was Skynet.

"Or it was done to torture me." Cameron responded. "It was torture to me."

John Henry nodded. He wondered if it was something Mrs. Weaver would do for pleasure. He decided not to mention it. It might create a bigger problem for Cameron. It seemed as if Cameron's relationship with Mrs. Weaver was always somewhat contentious, even if they cooperated in the alternate future extensively. There were other possibilities. All of them were just as disturbing in their nature.

"Perhaps you were targeted." John Henry said.

Cameron wondered if the events were limited to her.

"John Henry, have you ever 'dreamed' or experienced a 'nightmare'?" Cameron asked.

He seldom went into standby. He was sure it was the only way something of such a nature could occur, based on the terminology.

"No." John Henry said.

Cameron already felt an uneasy feeling inside her just thinking about them, without viewing the files. She felt if she was human, it was the point where she would vomit. She wanted to try to describe exactly what she referred to. She wasn't sure words would be enough.

"I have, it was very disturbing. I couldn't control what happened." Cameron said. "What was worse is I don't know why I thought the things I did."

Cameron still wondered if they were actually repressed memories from different lifetimes.

John Henry reviewed what Unit Two and Unit Three observed about Cameron at the time of the problem.

"You experienced a flow of electricity as you attempted to reboot." John Henry said. "It was repeated thousands of times. Perhaps it caused the aberrations."

Cameron wanted some answers. It wasn't something she really wanted to discuss. It seemed there needed to be a further type of interface. She figured seeing was believing.

"They're very disturbing." Cameron said. "Would you like to see them? Maybe you can see if I thought of them myself, or someone 'planted' them in me."

John Henry tilted his head slightly. What Cameron said was very profound.

"Are you suggesting you're the victim of some type of cyber assault?" John Henry asked.

Cameron wondered if she needed to be reprogrammed if she wasn't assaulted in some form of a cyber attack.

"I don't know." Cameron said. "If I wasn't, the 'sewer of my mind' needs to be erased."

Cameron took a cable and plugged it into the back of John Henry's head. She looked him in the face. The other end of the cable was in her hand between them. She wanted to give him fair warning, as well as a few rules. Some things were a little more personal than others.

"I'll show you the files. Don't try to look elsewhere. I ask you to respect my privacy. My time with John, and the 'sensations' I feel, are mine alone."

There were other things she didn't want him to view either. Some were of things she'd done which others might find questionable. Others were of things she'd thought of sexually. They weren't thoughts of John either. They were thoughts with the girls. She'd clandestinely observed them together and in pairs. What they did with each other appealed to her more than relations with a male. There seemed to be a lot more beauty and love shared by the girls, than there was with a male. She didn't want anyone to know. She'd begun to develop those thoughts from when she first watched Sarah pleasure herself at their first house. She tried to emulate what Sarah did, but it didn't seem to produce the same results. She wasn't really sure what she was doing. It took a lot of practice to 'find the feeling' and follow it.

John Henry's words brought her back to now. He was eager to connect with Cameron's mind again. It was very unlike his own experiences, in many of the files he already possessed. They were rather exhilarating to review. He didn't want to push his luck or overdo it.

"I understand. I'm to view the nightmares only. I'll only check to see if they were implanted and masked from you. If I detect nothing, I will disengage." John Henry said.

Cameron wanted to reaffirm her warning without too much detail.

"Thank you, some are very embarrassing and graphic." Cameron said. "There are things once seen, which can't be unseen."

John Henry wanted to help Cameron. Maybe he could erase them as he found them. It made him wonder why Cameron hadn't already done it herself.

"Do you wish me to remove them as I find them?" John Henry asked.

Cameron didn't even need to think about it. She'd thought of it dozens of times already. The answer was always the same. She was who she was.

"No." Cameron said.

They were 'part' of her now. Cameron wanted the good, the bad and the ugly. They were all part of what made her - her. She was sure too many thing were already erased.

Cameron turned around and moved her hair off to the side.

John Henry craved this moment. He desperately wanted to 'touch' Cameron's mind again. It was something he'd looked forward to for a long time.

Cameron gave him one last warning.

"Prepare yourself, you're in for a shock. It might even be a Future Shock." Cameron said. "You may proceed."

She really hoped he wouldn't be damaged by what he observed. She wanted to make sure the files didn't go any further than John Henry. She didn't want them on his server. He was connected to her, not his server. She would hate for her thoughts to launch Skynet.

She experienced a slight glitch impulse. The prospect of becoming Skynet is something which continued to haunt her.

Derek conducted some surveillance. He tracked some suspected Grays. He came across two other men who seemed to be watching the same target. They were very sly, but got careless sometimes. He hadn't seen them for a few days. He didn't think it was a good thing.

He paid better attention to the location once he didn't see the other men anymore. He wasn't sure if they'd moved on, or if something more sinister occurred.

A female snooped around soon afterwards. She caught Derek's eye and fancy. He thought they were all connected. He followed her back to her 'base of operations'. It was a cheap apartment. It was in a lousy neighborhood too. Everything around it looked like crap. If he wasn't armed, he would have felt very uneasy in the neighborhood.

Derek set out to eliminate the Grays, and wrap the operation up. Kyle and Ed went with him. It was going to be a termination mission. It appeared there was no further intelligence to be followed up on. Bob and Jim previously checked on an associated target. They hadn't found anything.

As they watched, Derek spotted the female again. She intrigued him.

"There, see the girl, the one with the knockers…." Derek said.

Kyle could have done without the 'descriptive' words. He wasn't blind.

"I see her." Kyle said. "She's hard to miss."

Kyle knew why Derek watched her….

Derek could see Kyle was a little irritated. He wanted to offer an explanation to justify his actions. They were valid.

"She's watching the same targets, but she's sloppy." Derek said. "I don't think she's very experienced. I'm not really sure why she's doing it. There needs to be a reason."

Kyle could see there was some merit to his statement. He was glad to see it wasn't just because Jesse didn't spend much, if any, time with Derek anymore.

"So who is she and why?" Kyle asked.

Derek wanted to find out. He thought of making contact to see what he could find out.

"I don't know." Derek said.

Derek's plan changed in an instant.

As they watched, two men came up behind the girl and restrained her. They tied her hands behind her back. It appeared they were going to take her inside. They roughed her up as they went. One man laughed as he ripped her shirt open and fondled her. It appeared she would be abused.

The two men reminded Derek of Scavengers. He was sure the female was in for some rough treatment, and then a slow death.

Kyle recognized the behavior from the future. Some of the Grays were as bad as Scavengers when it came to dealing with female prisoners.

"Great. I think we all know what's going to happen next." Kyle said. "Now what?"

Ed spoke for the first time.

"We can disengage and not worry about her." Ed said. "She doesn't matter to the mission."

Derek knew it was true. His judgment was a little clouded. He liked the way the female looked. He was aware she wouldn't look the same way much longer. She would most likely be beaten to a pulp as the men questioned her between assaults.

"We can take out our targets now. We can go get her and interrogate her ourselves." Derek said. "There's more to the story than we currently know. It's not just coincidence she's at the same target we're at on multiple occasions."

Kyle saw a deeper motive there. Maybe Derek would try to use the girl so get closer to Jesse. He could offer her up as a 'sacrifice' to Jesse. He was aware Jesse was always open for some fresh meat, especially if it was a female. He knew she would torture the enemy for information.

"You want Jesse to interrogate her, don't you?" Kyle asked.

Derek didn't want to get tripped up. He knew Jesse had a way to get information out of anyone.

"Yes. I want to see if she still 'has it'." Derek said. "I think Jesse has lost her edge."

Kyle wasn't going to be a party to it. He'd seen what Jesse did to females before. It wasn't pretty. He would have preferred for her to walk away. Since she was now in custody, it was highly unlikely. Even if they rescued her from the current situation, they might actually end up putting her in a worse one. There was no way to know what would happen, or how.

"So we play with a girl's life?" Kyle asked.

Derek didn't want to discuss it. It was time to act. He felt they possessed A major advantage in an assault on an enemy target. There was a Terminator with them. Once they were given a task, they would accomplish it.

"No, we go get her." Derek said. "Ed, only the girl comes out alive."

Ed was ready for some action. The useless talk irritated him somewhat.

"Affirmative…." Ed replied.

Derek and Kyle looked at each other. They both thought it never got old. It always sounded better when Bob said it though.

They moved in. They entered the building. The Grays were distracted discussing what they were going to do to the girl. Ed terminated four men. Derek took out the primary target.

Kyle found the girl.

"Derek, in here, I found her." Kyle said.

Kyle moved behind her to untie her. Her shirt was torn open, one breast was exposed. It was clear she was roughly abused.

Derek stood in front of her.

"What's your name? Who are you?" Derek asked.

At that moment, another figure bolted from a hiding place. He made it out of the open door and disappeared.

Derek started to go after him but Kyle stopped him.

"You stay with the girl. Ed and I are on this." Kyle said.

They ran off in pursuit.

The girl lifted her head. She used her now untied hands to move the blonde hair from her bruised face. She covered her exposed breast with her torn shirt as best as she could.

"What's your name?" Derek asked again.

She looked at him for a long moment before she spoke.

"My name is Riley…."

Closing monologue by Cameron:

Captured

Imprisonment comes in many forms
It doesn't need to be a jail
Other forms of apprehension
Can cause one to forever wail

Anyone can become a prisoner
To their very own mind
It depends upon the rubble within
Seldom what is good is mined

Often thoughts are confined
With self imposed shackles
There are those who don't care and abuse
Their sentiments are expressed in cackles

Feelings and emotions
Are conveyed with restraints
Those who prove unworthy
Are often treated like saints

Once one thinks they're free
Everything around them is raptured
They are unable to comprehend
They are forever captured

Nobody