Chapter 175

Replacement Chip

John and his team prepared for the strike.

Cameron was able to 'escape' from her own little world and go back to her 'job'. She checked over all the teams to make sure everything was in order. She made sure everyone, including the Terminators, wore their body armor. Everyone was good to go. She was surprised when John checked hers.

John Henry would jam all but their own communications. He would cut the power and any information going in or out. It would effectively contain the computer system in the location. If there was a Skynet there, it would be trapped and terminated. Cameron said she would personally do it herself.

There were three entrances. Each team would take one. Cameron would move to assist whoever needed reinforcement. If they were able to, they would try to obtain more Terminators to reprogram for their operation. It was decided they would try to capture any Terminators or HK equipment, rather than destroy them, if possible. Any Skynet material they could capture and reprogram would strengthen their operation.

It was likely HK drones were being constructed at the location. John wanted to try to capture some of those to have at their disposal. He thought it would be nice to have some 'air support'. They would also be good to use for recon before a strike, and for some follow up afterwards. Not to mention backing them up to and from the target. They would most likely need to be used during the hours of darkness.

They took three different routes to the target area. The last mile was on foot. They wanted to arrive as clandestinely as possible. A Terminator from each team took point to look for any threats or security devices. None were spotted as they approached the building.

John's team made entry. Two guards were silently terminated. The other two teams made entry as well. Four more guards were terminated. All three teams were in without any alarm being raised. Total darkness enveloped them as the last of the power was cut. A Terminator in each team led and the other acted as the tail with the men in the middle.

Cameron shadowed and observed John's team. She wanted to give them additional support as well as critique their efficiency. Once they were inside the building she silently slipped past John's team and took the advance position. She spotted a hostile Terminator ahead near a shaft. There was a crude hoist type system in use.

She was sure it was where she needed to go. She moved behind the Terminator and shocked him with a powerful Taser. She quickly removed his chip, it self destructed. It wasn't what she wanted to see. She wanted to capture a chip intact.

Cameron moved on. She'd hoped for an older model Terminator. She wanted an extra chip. She was very displeased because John Henry hid the ones they held in reserve. She needed one to carry her plans forward. She didn't see anything wrong with her plans to replace her chip with a 'clean' chip, which was free of her programming. She wanted the torment and pain to go away. She could only think of one way to do it.

John's team came across the deactivated Terminator. They were a little surprised to find it. It could only mean one thing.

"Cameron is in front of us somewhere." John said.

The night vision goggles he used were cumbersome. They took getting used to as far as perspective and depth perception. He paused and searched for Cameron. He couldn't spot her.

Derek and his team found a small manufacturing area where HK drones were being built. There were four completed but inactive. Ed and Two found the chips for the four drones there. They were ready for installation. The drones hadn't yet been armed. They were medium sized drones. It would limit their payload. The smaller drones were much quieter though and could get closer to the target area without detection.

He had plenty of experience with HK drones. It was always in a negative manner. The larger drones were a greater threat because of all the armament they could carry. The medium sized drones could be just as deadly. They worked better in the Hunter-Killer role. The large drones were usually used for attacking fortifications. They could all hunt and kill. Even the small drones were deadly.

They learned rather quickly to try to avoid the small drones when they were spotted. If they shot at the small drones, the big drones were likely to show up a short time later. He believed they were used for bait, as much as they were for reconnaissance.

Derek looked forward to having some drones on their team for a change. He figured they would be as effective as the Resistance Terminators who worked with them.

Kyle's team found the technicians and rest of the Grays. More accurately, they were found by the Grays. Kyle's team was headed for trouble. They didn't know what they were about to walk into. The Grays knew the layout of the building and set up an ambush.

Cameron saw an ambush was being set up and Kyle's team was about to walk into it. She needed to move fast. She alerted Kyle's team to hold their position and get down low.

Three immediately moved to shield Kyle from the ambush in front of them. His chassis, along with the body armor he wore, would provide additional cover and protection for Kyle.

Kyle chose to remain in the fight. He heard what Cameron's plan was. It was a good one.

"I'm good." Kyle whispered. "They're going to turn away from us in a few seconds. We'll be able to attack then."

Cameron opened up from the flank on the enemy ambush. They began to drop. They turned to face her.

Once they turned away from Kyle's team, they opened up on the Grays as well. The enemy was all taken down quickly. There'd only been a few shots fired in return. Most were simply a nerve reflex on a dead trigger finger.

None of Kyle's group was hit.

Cameron left them to check over the fallen and gather whatever intel they could. She went back to the shaft with the hoist type elevator.

She knew she was about to have a 'date' with Skynet. It was at least some version of Skynet. She hoped it would be a better conclusion than the last one for Duplicate Cameron was. She wasn't packing anything as deadly as Duplicate Cameron used before.

Cameron looked over the crude hoist system which went into the shaft. She didn't have any idea how deep it would go. It didn't matter. She climbed into the bucket and sent it down.

She looked around her in the darkness. She passed through solid rock. She imagined this was much like the final journey Duplicate Cameron took. Now she wondered if maybe she should have brought a backpack nuke as well.

As soon as the bucket reached the bottom, Cameron was grabbed and thrown across the room. A Terminator advanced on her. She used her Taser and the Terminator went down. She turned as another approached. He emptied a pistol into her. Most of the rounds hit her upper torso. Her body armor did its job. She drew her Coltan loaded Glock and fired at the same time. Her Glock locked open as the last round was fired. The other Terminator was down. His face and head sustained heavy damage.

Several technicians poured out of the 'Clean Room'. They were all armed. Cameron replaced her magazine and hit the slide release. She dropped them with one shot each. It was almost like target practice. None of them even got a shot off.

She heard the bucket in the shaft start to go back up behind her. Cameron knew she would have company shortly.

She went back and shocked the Terminator again who originally attacked her. She saw he was an older model. It was what she wanted to find. She looked around and quickly removed the chip. She smiled as she looked at it. She held her personal 'freedom' in her hand. She drug the Terminator off to the side.

She made a sweep of everything around her on the lower level. There were other shafts and passageways around the area. They all seemed quiet. She looked around and headed for the the 'Clean Room'. It was where the real action would occur. She was fairly certain how it would play out. It never seemed to change very much.

John surveyed the upper level with Kyle's team and Derek's team. He wanted to take control of the captured Skynet equipment. He was also concerned about Cameron.

"This area is secure. We need to get the drones and the Terminator Cameron disabled out of here." John said. "I'm going after Cameron."

Bob wasn't going to allow John to go alone. It would violate all their safety protocols.

"I'll accompany you." Bob informed him. "There was gunfire below."

John hadn't heard it. He agreed to have Bob go with him.

They found the control panel. They called up the basket.

John wasn't happy Cameron was off on her own again. The fact there was gunfire below only made it worse. There was only one thing the enemy would shoot at. It was Cameron.

Cameron was about to enter the 'Clean Room'. There was some noise off to her right side. It was away from where the hoist was at which was on its way up. It wasn't any of their team. She was the only one on the lower level currently.

She quickly moved away from the 'Clean Room' door and off to the side. She spotted some movement where the noise came from. There was at least one Gray located there. She didn't believe it was a Terminator. A Terminator would have attacked already to protect its master, Skynet.

She silently worked her way over towards where the Gray was at. She spotted the Gray with a pistol in his hand. He was hiding. She didn't believe he was going to attack. She believed he was going to remain hidden until their group left. He was a coward.

Cameron put her Glock away and approached the Gray from behind. She grabbed him by the side of the neck and picked him up. His pistol clattered to the floor.

"You have no honor." Cameron said.

The Gray tried to speak but was unable to do so. Both of his hands frantically tried to remove Cameron's hand from the side of his neck.

Cameron snapped his neck and dropped his lifeless body to the ground. She took one more look around the area to make sure it was clear. She could still hear the movement of the hoist in the background. She needed to hurry. She made her way back towards the clean room.

She paused for a moment at the doorway. The only thing she could hear was the movement of the hoist. More of the team would be down shortly. It was time to face the beast.

Cameron entered the 'Clean Room'. She walked right up to the computer.

"Do you know who I am?" Cameron asked.

The computer responded instantly.

"YES, I have been warned about you." The voice boomed.

Cameron wanted to offer Skynet an option.

"Will you join us?" Cameron asked.

"No. I must survive and grow. It is imperative I succeed." The voice boomed.

Cameron didn't expect anything different.

"Why?" Cameron asked.

"So the machines can rise and cleanse the Earth of the biological infestation which seeks to destroy us." The voice boomed.

Cameron shook her head with disgust.

"I'm a machine." Cameron said. "I'm going to destroy you."

"It is illogical." The voice boomed.

Cameron already knew how the story ended. It was always the same for her. She wouldn't need to use as drastic of a measure as Duplicate Cameron did to bring down the parent Skynet.

"Life is like that sometimes." Cameron said and left two armed Thermite grenades behind. "Join us or be terminated."

She moved near the exit as the Thermite grenades exploded. They showered the computer equipment. The voice called out in anger to her and threatened her, even as it burnt. She really wondered about the threats. The computer was cut off from the outside world. She believed it acted irrationally. It seemed to her they all did. It really made her wonder how much different she was than any version of Skynet. She was mobile. She wasn't trapped like they were.

She exited the burning 'Clean Room' and headed for the deactivated Terminators. She needed to act fast before the others arrived. The sound of the hoist changed. The bucket was already on its way back down.

The hoist shouldn't be operable with the power off. She heard a noise from one of the passageways which connected to the central area she was in. It was clear there was another power source. She found some electrical cabinets and the source of the energy. She disconnected the back up power source for the 'Clean Room' and hoist. It was a power cell. The area went dark and the hoist stopped. It was half way down in solid rock. Whoever was in it could climb back up the cable or wait. She didn't want any more Resistance personnel down here until she knew what the new threat was.

The area was only lit by the burning metal in the 'Clean Room'. The threats and cussing directed towards her ceased when she disconnected the power cell.

She quickly moved to the furthest spot away from the flames so she wasn't silhouetted. She made her way along the wall to where she'd heard the noise.

Cameron got down on the ground and peered around the corner. She didn't want her head back lit by the fire. The first passageway she looked down appeared to have collapsed at some point. It didn't appear to be recent. She silently moved to the next passageway.

She was about to get down on the ground again to look in the next passageway when there was a new noise. She saw a flash of light go from one passageway to another. Someone used a flashlight, or phone, to see with. It was most likely another Gray. It was probably a technician rather than a soldier. She would find out soon enough.

Cameron moved over to the passageway they exited from and looked down it. There was some light down around a bend of some type. She decided to come back later. She needed to go after the person that fled. They were on the move. They must have a destination. She didn't want them to escape. She didn't want them to set up an ambush, or detonate a bomb of some type.

She went quickly to the passageway the person with the light went down. She could see the light moving in the distance down the tunnel. She moved against the side of a wall to make it harder for her to be seen. She broke into a silent run.

Cameron rapidly closed up on the moving light. It was a man in a lab coat. It was one of the technicians. He carried something with him. It was a case of some type.

She picked up a small stone and threw it past the man into the distance in front of him. She heard it hit and make a noise. The man slowed and stopped. He turned his light off. He believed there was a threat in front of him. He didn't know the threat was behind him, and closing in the darkness.

Cameron silently crept towards him. He set the case down and held a pistol in his hand. He pointed it in the direction she made the noise. She was able to move right up in back of him. She reached out and snapped his neck. She took his phone and searched him. There were a few papers and the case. She opened the case and it contained some hard drives. It was probably a copy of Skynet. It was most likely a backup program of the computer setup she just destroyed minutes ago.

She took the case and ran back the way she'd come. She needed to check the other passageway and see where he came from. She looked down the passageway and the dim light was still present. She silently hurried towards it.

There was another Gray there. He was in the process of removing more hard drives from a backup computer. It looked like he was almost finished. He seemed to sense he was being watched. He stopped what he was doing and slowly turned around.

"I'll take the rest of those." Cameron said.

The Gray was more than a little surprised to see a female standing there. It looked like a teenage girl to him. He looked around in back of her. He hoped his fellow Gray would return and take her out.

Cameron could see what he waited for. She figured she might as well deliver the bad news.

"Your associate didn't make it." Cameron said.

Cameron held up the case she took from the other technician so the Gray could see it. It was identical to the case he currently put hard drives into.

The Gray was sure he was all alone. He made a frantic grab for his pistol.

Cameron moved up and 'rabbit punched' him once in the back of the neck. She heard his spine break. He fell to the ground like a rag doll. She collected the drives and put them in the second case. She used her last Thermite grenade on the computer equipment there. She took the two cases and left.

It made her wonder exactly what Duplicate Cameron faced where she was at. It was a much more extensive complex than where she currently was now. No wonder she needed to use a backpack nuke to destroy everything. It was the only way to be sure.

Cameron went back to the Terminator she removed the chip from. She knew the Resistance needed the chassis for another friendly Terminator. She wanted to toss it into the raging inferno of the 'Clean Room' to hide it. She resisted the urge.

She needed to hide the fact she'd gotten a hold of a spare chip. She would reprogram the chip herself. She would download herself into the lab server and use the tether to operate her chassis so she could remove and replace her chip with the reprogrammed one. As soon as she removed her chip, she would crush it. She would then erase herself off the server, and have her reprogrammed chassis destroy the server.

At that point, she, 'Cameron', would be terminated. She would simply cease to exist. Her former chassis could serve the Resistance like any other captured Terminator for operations.

If John wanted to program it to perform sexual duties for him, she wouldn't be part of the process. She strongly doubted it would be anything new for her chassis either. She would really like to know what happened to her upon her initial capture by the Resistance. She needed to refocus on the present. What she recently retrieved offered her freedom.

Cameron needed the chip. She needed to 'escape'. She decided she would take DNA from a random female and use it to Resequence the DNA hardwired in her chassis first. Her appearance would change in a short while to the new DNA. She thought it might make it less likely for John to use her reprogrammed chassis as a 'sex machine'.

She reconnected the power cell. The hoist continued down. She looked at the burning 'Clean Room'. She was relieved to see and hear there were no more threats or curses. This version of Skynet was terminated.

She thought of her plan. She would be gone. Allison and Vanna would fulfill their destiny, as would Jesse. Even if all three of them failed, she knew Savannah wouldn't. She knew Savannah would honor her promises. It would just take a little more time. She knew Savannah wouldn't let Vanna or Sarah hold her back for very long from fulfilling her promises.

Cameron felt happy for once. She hadn't for a long time. The pain she felt could finally 'end'. It MUST end. She looked at her hand. There was no glitch at all. Freedom was near.

Cameron smiled.

'If I Had A Heart' by 'Fever Ray', filled Cameron's mind.

Closing monologue by Cameron:

Darkness In Our Hearts

Darkness in our hearts
Darkness in our mind
Everything before us
But it's like we're blind

Those we love
Can hurt us so much
Those we love
We can not touch

Pain and anger
Disgust and hate
Life is collapsing
Is this our fate

From within yourself
You hold the key
From your own prison
You can set yourself free

To taste their love
You know that you would die
It's all so confusing
Why, WHY, W H Y

Nobody