Chapter 105
Desert
The arching and flashing began. It intensified brightly.
The energy bubble appeared.
There was a giant surge of energy.
The arcing and flashing slowly dissipated.
The group lay on the ground unmoving. They were inside a structure. It was dark and cold. The air was very dry.
Cameron was shut down from the massive power surge. The other girls were groggy.
There was some movement among them, it seemed something scurried away. They slowly became aware of each other and Cameron. There was some more movement among them. Cameron soon rebooted.
The four of them lay on the ground. The last trip was different.
Cameron opened her eyes and looked around. She counted the women in the group. It seemed at one point there was one more with them somehow. She replayed her files. She was able to review three distinct realities, or different time periods and locations. They were in each of them for a very short amount of time. In one of them, the last one, there was a female who looked like 'Allison', who wasn't Allison. When she touched her, she registered something 'different'. She just started to hold the female's hand in a handshake when the vision ended.
The time displacement transfer seemed completed at this point.
It was all very confusing.
Cameron knew they actually were in those realities, even if it was only briefly. She checked her files three times. Each time it was confirmed. Everything she just experienced actually happened. She wasn't sure how or why it was, or how it was even possible. Somehow with where they were now, was the proof it was. Otherwise they wouldn't be there.
She physically checked Allison, Vanna and Jesse. They appeared to be undamaged. They weren't bleeding or burnt from the power surge. They all started to look around. She was worried the girls were injured in some way. It was possible they suffered some internal damage, or even some psychological damage. There was no easy way for her to check either of those things where they were currently at. As to exactly where they were currently at, she didn't have a clue.
Allison lifted her head and sat up.
"What the Hell happened?" Allison asked. "It was one wild ride. It wasn't anything like that when I was sent into the past."
Cameron checked the time since the energy bubble left the TDE pad.
"I only register leaving our base sixty two seconds ago." Cameron said.
Jesse sat up and looked around.
"I saw a lot of things happen in just over a minute." Jesse said.
Cameron did too. She was as confused as everyone else was. She checked all of her files several times. She tried to make some sense of everything.
"The current temporal transfer was different from my eleven previous trips." Cameron said.
Vanna looked over Allison and Jesse to check them out. Everything appeared to be where it was supposed to be. Something started to 'click' in the back of her mind.
Cameron's statement seemed a little 'off' to her. There was some type of discrepancy based upon what she knew.
"Did you just say eleven temporal transfers?" Vanna asked. "I thought it was only seven temporal transfers."
Cameron looked at Vanna and tilted her head slightly.
"Yes it's what I thought, it should only be seven." Cameron said.
Somehow it was eleven in Cameron's mind, but she could only remember seven like Vanna said. Her other temporal files were damaged or deleted. There seemed to be even more of them missing….
Cameron didn't think she was operating at one hundred percent, but her systems showed she was. Things still seemed off to her. She checked herself again and everything came back as 'normal', even if it still didn't seem like it was. The 'feeling' was a little disturbing in itself. It seemed to raise questions for which there were no answers.
The girls all stood up. It was very dark where they were. They could only make out their shapes, there were no details visible.
"So where and when are we?" Allison asked. "It seems like a lot happened in sixty seconds."
Allison touched herself and looked at her skin. She couldn't see anything in the near darkness.
Cameron was about to correct Allison and remind her it was sixty-two seconds. She became alarmed as Allison touched herself. She checked over her a few moments ago and didn't find anything broken or bleeding. Maybe the girls were damaged in some other way.
"What are you doing?" Jesse asked Allison.
Jesse started to look at herself too.
Allison continued to touch her skin.
"I'm looking for insect bites. I think I was stung or bitten several times in the one reality." Allison said. "I don't even know if 'reality' is the right word. It just seemed like we were somewhere different three different times and this is the fourth."
Vanna touched and checked herself too.
"I can 'feel' them too, but I don't actually see or feel any." Vanna said. "It's like something happened, but didn't happen somehow, even though I know it did."
Cameron replayed her files again. There needed to be more in them than what it seemed there was.
They all wondered what actually did happen at this point.
Allison began to wonder if their 'memories' were the same for all of them. It seemed as if they were together during the process.
"Did we all experience multiple realities together?" Allison asked.
The women talked it over and they all experienced the same things. Their perception and recollection was all very similar. It wasn't a dream or mass hallucination.
Cameron confirmed they all experienced the same thing. It meant it was real, like she thought it was. It also meant she didn't experience any more nightmares in her mind. She never wanted to have them again. It further made her wonder about the discrepancies in the number of time transfers she believed she experienced. Maybe something which was hidden was unlocked during the procedure with all the energy passing around them.
Allison asked the question they all wanted to know.
"Were we in prehistoric times in the first reality we went to?" Allison asked. "It sure looked like it."
It was the same thought all of them shared.
Jesse thought about the things she viewed there, and the first thoughts which came to her mind. There were some other disturbing images associated with it.
"It's what I thought, especially with the volcano." Jesse said. "The last thing I would have needed to see would have been a dinosaur. It was bad enough to have to hunt and catch a lizard to eat. I sure didn't want a giant lizard to hunt me and try to catch me to eat."
It was a common fear all the girls faced. It was tough enough in the future to get food sometimes. It would be a lot worse trying to stay alive and not be caught by some large predator as they did with the smaller ones to survive. They would simply be another meal to the large predator. They would become part of the food chain.
Cameron needed to pull it together. The girls would need to depend on her at first until they were situated. In at least two of the realities they visited, the survival of the girls would depend upon her. She was unsure about the last one. Somehow it was something new, even if it was old. She replayed the events of the first reality.
"I was unable to see the stars in any of them. I don't know when any of it was." Cameron said. "In the first reality, I didn't detected any man made noises of any type. It could have been the jungle in some other part of the world. It could have been any time in the past, present or future. There's no way to know now."
Jesse remembered a movie she watched late one night between sexual encounters at the base. It was somewhat disturbing to have animals in charge, and other humans as ignorant animals themselves.
"I would hate for it to have been a 'Planet Of The Apes' type situation." Jesse said.
Allison watched the movie as well. She didn't think it was too far from their own reality they grew up in. She felt they faced a similar reality in their own future. It was just of a different nature.
"I doubt 'Planet Of The Terminators' would be a better choice." Allison said.
Vanna was sure the distant past would have been more detrimental than the future. There wouldn't be any type of medical facilities if they became injured or sick. They would have been on their own, quite literally.
"I think sixty million years ago would have been worse than either of those." Vanna said. "We already know how to deal with Terminators. We would be able to deal with the apes as well."
The girls could clearly see Cameron was upset and their joking wasn't having any effect on her to cheer her up. If anything, she seemed to regress a little further into herself about their troubles.
"The future war zone looked and sounded like it was a full on conflict." Jesse said. "It was a real battle zone. I'm pretty sure with the last explosion, there were some body parts that landed around us."
Vanna recognized the sound of some of the weapons. There was a distinctive sound to one of them when discharged. She thought it at least gave them a clue to the time frame.
"There was plasma rifle fire going on in the one. I clearly heard it." Vanna said. "It was a future timeline for sure."
Cameron was able to look over the edge of the bomb crater they were in on that transfer. It was in the future. She couldn't determine if it was before or after any time periods she visited. She did recognize a few things in her brief glimpse.
"It was the future, but I was unable to tell when or where." Cameron said. "Skynet was there in some way. I saw several terminated Terminators."
She knew they could have been Restorators from the other future too. She didn't have the time to examine anything.
There was one thing they all wanted to talk about. They saved it for last. It wasn't just because it was the last reality they visited. In a way, it was the most troubling.
The strangest thing to all of them was the 'other Allison'.
Vanna liked what she saw in the female for obvious reasons. She loved Allison and Cameron. The female looked like them.
"What about Allison's and Cameron's 'twin'?" Vanna asked. "We all saw the ship she was on, or whatever it was."
Cameron was puzzled at how the female identified her as 'a weapon' almost instantly. No one ever 'made' her as a Terminator so quickly, especially when she was polite and cordial. She tried to determine if the female was some type of clone of one of them. It could have been the result of some Skynet experiment.
"I started to scanned her DNA. She may be distantly related to the Young family." Cameron said. "The results were inconclusive because of the return of the energy bubble."
Vanna wondered how distant. Without some type of time frame, it didn't really tell them much.
Jesse thought about what Cameron said. The 'look' of the unknown female wasn't in doubt. They all saw her.
"So did one of the 'Allisons' get 'lucky'?" Jesse asked. "We know there are at least three of them."
The girls thought her statement was somewhat amusing.
Savannah wasn't sure if 'lucky' was the right word. She knew what was done to females to see if they could reproduce in the future she left behind. It always troubled her somewhat because even though she physically left the future behind, it still existed in her mind as if she was still there at times.
Allison wondered which one of them it was. There were at least three 'Allisons' she knew of. There was Future Allison, Young Allison and herself. They all started as the same individual. With all of the changes there was speculation there could be other timelines as well, other than the three they knew about.
Vanna didn't remember any other human contacts.
"Does anyone remember anyone or anything else?" Vanna asked.
Cameron rechecked her files half a dozen more times.
"I show no other human interaction." Cameron said.
Wherever they were, it was very cold. The girls began to feel it now as the after effects of the last temporal transfer wore off.
Jesse reached up and touched herself. She wanted to confirm what she 'felt'. She was right.
"Does anyone else have hard nipples besides me from the cold in here?" Jesse asked.
Allison thought the same thing. She confirmed it.
"I do." Allison said.
Vanna did as well.
"Me too." Vanna added.
Cameron didn't think her nipples were much different than before. Her sheath was better able to regulate itself with temperature changes. She didn't comment. She briefly considered asking Allison if she could compare the affected area to see exactly what the difference was. It seemed like something which could be done another time.
Allison wondered what was going to happen next. It seemed like if something else was going to happen it should have started by now.
"Can we move around from here, or are we going for another ride?" Allison asked.
Jesse thought they'd been there the longest at this point. There was no indication anything was going to change.
"It looks like we are staying in this spot for now." Jesse said.
Allison wanted to know more. She wanted to know where or when they were in time. She didn't want to get separated or left behind. Maybe they needed to stay together. It would be terrible if some of the group was separated from the others, especially with everything unknown.
"Is it OK to look outside?" Allison asked. "Is it safe to split up or do we wait?"
Cameron waited as the girls watched her. She didn't know for sure. The current location seemed final to her at this point.
"I think we've stopped traveling. We're here, wherever, and whenever, it is. Let me see if I can determine where we are or when." Cameron said. "Stay here. Stay together for now in case something happens. Don't split up."
Cameron was a little hesitant to leave them behind. She needed to find out more as to where and when they were. She headed for a door and went out. Her first impression wasn't positive. She decided to double check everything, and then triple check it.
The girls waited nervously. None of them thought it would be good news. They worried what would happen if the energy bubble reappeared and Cameron wasn't in it. Should they get out of it or stay and go to the next location?
Cameron came back. She didn't look well. It looked like she was about to experience a 'melt down'.
The girls expected the worst at this point.
"There was a temporal error." Cameron said.
It wasn't the news any of them wanted to hear.
Vanna needed to ask what she was worried about with every transfer.
"Are we lost in time?" Vanna asked.
It wasn't the problem as Cameron saw it. She feared it was much worse.
"No. We're in a timeline which is concurrent to the one we left." Cameron said.
It left a lot of leeway as to where they were. Somehow it seemed like it could have been a lot worse.
Allison thought about Cameron's terminology.
"Is it the same one?" Allison asked.
Cameron couldn't make a determination yet based upon the current information. She needed to check on some more things. She didn't have any way to do it at this time.
"I don't know yet." Cameron said.
Jesse wondered 'when' they were.
"Is it the same date?" Jesse asked.
A single tear ran down Cameron's cheek. The date is what troubled her.
"I show it to be several months after we left." Cameron said.
Allison could see Cameron's pain. She tried to redirect the focus.
"So in sixty seconds we lost months? We went months forward in our timeline?" Allison asked. "I guess it's one way to keep from getting old."
Cameron remained silent. There were more tears on her cheeks now.
The girls all looked at each other. They knew what it actually meant. John and Riley were together and 'alone' for several months now. They were alone without Cameron, or any of them there, to 'stop' John and Riley. They were all gone. It must have seemed they were gone forever to John after several months passed. It most likely meant one thing.
Allison asked what everyone thought.
"If we're in the same timeline, what will happen?" Allison asked. "Are you going to terminate her?"
The girls all wondered the same thing.
Cameron couldn't help but say what she felt.
"I don't know…." Cameron said. "I'm 'not good enough' for John."
The girls all decided to act on their own and independent of each other.
Jesse thought if Cameron didn't act, I will. I'll kill the 'Bitch Whore' for hurting Cameron, even if it's a 'different' one.
Vanna thought she would 'handle' the 'Bitch Whore' herself if she touched John. She would do it for Cameron so John wouldn't hold it against Cameron. She would take the heat and the punishment for the corrective action.
Allison thought she would do what was 'necessary' to reunite John and Cameron. She would remove the 'Bitch Whore' from the mix, once and for all. The cards would land where they fell.
Cameron thought John was able to spend time with Riley. There was enough time for him to make a choice. She was painfully aware the last time John had a choice, he chose Riley over her. He made it clear it was what he wanted by the way he taunted her and rubbed her face in it. It made her think of her options.
'If he has chosen her again, I'll use the Thermite. My choice is termination. I'll let John have what he wants, his choice. 'Everyone sacrifices for John Connor'.' Cameron said to herself.
She sadly reflected history was about to repeat itself. She wouldn't be a part of it this time. She wouldn't allow herself to be humiliated in such a fashion again.
Jesse touched both of her breasts.
"We're freezing our nipples off in the cold darkness." Jesse said. "It's starting to affect other places as well."
Allison broke the long moment of silence they experienced as they pondered the immediate future. Each of them secretly planned an act of violence. The girls would all seek to kill Riley. Cameron planned an act of termination against herself.
"So where are we?" Allison asked.
Cameron stated the obvious which didn't yield much.
"We're in a building in the desert." Cameron said.
It was the only fact she knew for sure at this point.
Vanna was afraid of the answer but she asked anyway.
"Which desert?" Vanna asked.
Cameron remained silent as more tears silently streamed down her cheeks.
Nobody could feel the tears which streamed from her 'heart'.
Closing monologue by Cameron:
Flaming Downward Spiral
These are more than just words
That appear before ones eyes
They are pieces of my soul
Nobody can hear my painful cries
I can honestly say
It has ALWAYS been that way
'Not good enough'
Is all I have heard them bray
From where I exist
There's nothing new to learn
This is what it looks like
To watch someone crash and burn
It's happening again
As the thoughts compound
The pain only goes away
When one is put in the ground
I wanted my thoughts
To be enjoyed and go viral
Now I am once again trapped
In a flaming downward spiral
Nobody