Chapter 233

Love Her More

Derek and Kyle were with Jim in the van. They just rescued a female from the trunk of a car they were tailing. It was driven by a future Gray they were tracking. Since they acquired him, he stopped at two different locations. He retrieved a box from the first one and took it to the second location. He left the second location with a different box. They currently tailed him from a safe distance.

Kyle was in the front seat. He looked into the rear compartment of the van where Derek was at with the female captive.

"What's the story on the girl?" Kyle asked.

Derek was in the back of the van with her. She was still bound and blindfolded.

"She's breathing fine now but she's out." Derek said. "I can't get her to come around. She must be drugged."

Jim thought rescuing her was a mistake. There was no need to take on an unnecessary burden. They took the risk and trouble to free her. It was enough. Since she was no longer a prisoner, she could be jettisoned, and left alive somewhere.

"We can dump her by the side of the road at the next signal." Jim said. "We've done more than enough already."

It sounded like a bad idea to Derek and Kyle. It was possible someone else could put the grab on her. She could be pulled into an alley and abused in her current condition.

"We can't just leave her there." Kyle said.

Jim tilted his head slightly. He didn't know why not.

Derek noticed she was sweating profusely from being in the trunk of the car. He took a water bottle and put some water on the gag she previously wore and wiped her face down to cool her.

It reminded him of when they rescued Riley. He didn't know if it was something similar or not. He didn't plan to dump her anywhere until they found out more. What if she was from the Resistance in the future? They needed to be wary she could be anything from a Gray from a different future, to someone involved with the anti-Metal faction. His concern right now was for her physical well-being. It didn't seem to be very good.

"She's really hot." Derek said. "I'm going to untie her. She needs to cool down."

Kyle was a little worried about it. If she was untied, things could go bad fast.

"We don't know anything about her." Kyle said. "We might end up having to shoot her ourselves if she goes on the attack."

Derek didn't care for Kyle's assessment. He knew it was valid. He armed his Taser. He would rather bring her down with it than shoot her. He untied her but left the blindfold on. He searched her pockets. He found a credit card, three twenty dollar bills, a set of keys and a driver's license. The information he uncovered gave him an idea.

"She doesn't live far from here." Derek said. "We can let her off at home. If we hurry we can do it before she wakes up."

Derek gave John Henry the information on her. He checked it out and reported back he didn't have anything negative on her. There was no record of anyone else living at the same address. Even if they had her address and keys, he didn't know how they would explain walking into someone's residence with an unconscious female if they were there. It would present a whole new problem.

Jim glanced back at Derek as he worked on the female. He needed to worry about the Gray they currently tracked.

Kyle divided his time between the Gray they were after and what Derek was doing.

Derek spread her out in the back of the van and dumped more water on her. He noticed she still wore a bra and underwear. It was probably a good sign she hadn't been violated. He wasn't going to check further.

Kyle wanted things over with. He felt they could resolve all of the issues rather quickly.

"Let's 'pop' the Gray and see what was in the box. We can go back and throw a satchel charge and a couple of Thermite grenades into those two places and wrap things up." Kyle said. "I'd like to take the female home as well."

Derek checked in the back of the van to see what explosive weapons they carried.

"We have one satchel charge and three Thermite grenades." Derek said. "There are two blocks of C-4 and two timers."

Kyle knew they could do a lot of damage with what they possessed.

"It sounds good to me." Kyle said. "We can bring down both of those buildings."

Jim thought they were getting ahead of themselves but, didn't comment. He believed each location should be thoroughly investigated to determine exactly how it was connected to Skynet or one of its illegitimate offshoots. He wanted to personally question the Gray himself to get all of the information out of him. Interrogating someone Terminator style wasn't a problem for him. It was his job.

Kyle checked his Glock. He didn't think it would be a problem to kill the Gray.

"Pull up next to the Gray at a traffic light and I'll take him out." Kyle said. "We'll snag the box and go."

Jim glanced back at the female. He wanted things over. He didn't want the reconnaissance to turn into a major combat operation at two separate locations, along with the Gray they currently tailed. It was time to take action.

"Hang on." Jim said. "I'm going to intercept the Gray."

Jim closed up on the Gray.

A pistol appeared in the side window of the Gray's car. He opened fire on the van. None of the rounds struck it.

It wasn't what they expected to happen. Obviously they'd been made.

Kyle instinctively ducked down and opened up with his Glock since it was already in his hand. He emptied the magazine into the car.

The car swerved violently across the front of the van. It went across the street. It almost collided with a delivery truck which braked hard and honked, but kept going. It hit a bus bench and then a fire hydrant before it stalled. The fire plug sheared off and sent a column of water up into the power lines. The contact energized the water. There was a mass of arcing.

The Grey was bleeding from multiple gunshot wounds. He exited the car and stepped in the energized water. There was a shower of sparks as he was electrocuted. The power surge tripped a breaker somewhere. The transformer on the next power pole overloaded and exploded. There was a giant flash of light and a loud explosion noise. Sparks landed everywhere. A parked car under the waterfall of sparks caught fire.

Events were all spectacular in a very short amount of time. With all of the noise and explosions, it would be noticed by anyone around the area.

People began to come out of businesses and from other cars stopped on the street by the accident.

Derek could see things rapidly spin out of control. There wasn't much they could do about it.

"Let's blow." Derek said. "There are going to be a lot of witnesses."

Jim already started away as soon as the Gray was electrocuted. They wouldn't be able to get any information out of him.

"I'm glad this is a stolen van." Jim said.

Kyle and Jim checked their mirrors but no one seemed to look in their direction or tried to follow them.

Derek was sure they were in for some trouble when they returned to the base.

"I don't think this is going to go over well with John or Cameron." Derek said.

He looked back at the confusion behind them. It was extensive.

"I don't either." Kyle said. "This mess is a little more than a recon. Let's hope they're still out."

Jim glanced in the back of the van as he drove. He wanted to tie up the loose ends.

"We should terminate the female as well." Jim said. "We can dump her in an alley. Everything will be concluded."

Kyle and Derek didn't agree with his plan.

Derek checked over the female again. He didn't want her to die. He didn't want to be the one to kill her either.

"Let's just take her back to her place and let her off." Derek said.

There was an explosion back where the accident was. It was followed by a second one a short time later. They could see a fireball with the second explosion.

"Those were probably the gas tanks on the two vehicles." Jim said.

Kyle was sure the repercussions were going to be extreme when they returned to the Command Center.

"We're in this one deep." Kyle said. "It's my fault."

Derek didn't think Kyle needed to take the heat alone. They were part of a team.

"We're in it together, brother." Derek said.

Jim drove to the female's residence. Kyle exited the van and went to the front door with her keys. He figured he should try a simple approach at first. He didn't want to appear as an intruder. He rang the bell and knocked. If someone answered he would ask for someone. When the person told him there was no one there by that name. He would give them an address with reversed numbers for the first two digits and leave. No one answered so he used the keys. He checked the house and it was empty.

He came back out with a blanket and opened the side door on the van. They covered the girl with the blanket and took her inside and laid her on her bed. She started to come around. Derek pulled off the blindfold but left her covered with the blanket. They hurried from the house back to the van.

Kyle got in the back this time and Derek got in the front. Jim drove away.

Derek wanted some payback.

"Let's go blow up those other two locations." Derek said.

Jim wanted a little more background information before they acted again. He knew the buildings wouldn't go anywhere. They could be a target at any time. He would prefer to set up a few surveillance cameras and see who else came and went from those two locations. They might be able to acquire a few more targets. Maybe nothing would pan out.

"I think we're done here for today." Jim said. "We need to dump this vehicle and return to the base. We will find out more about the other two locations before we destroy them. We need to know what they're up to."

They switched vehicles at a big box store. Jim returned them to the base. He drove away. He didn't say anything.

Kyle watched Jim leave. He looked at the door which would lead inside the Resistance base. He glanced over at Derek.

"How do we play this one?" Kyle asked.

Derek didn't think they did anything wrong. If anything, they helped someone. It was just bad luck the Gray made them before they could act on their own.

"We play it like it happened." Derek said. "I don't think Jim was too happy with us."

Kyle looked in the direction Jim went again.

"Let's hit John Henry up and see what he thinks." Kyle said.

Derek wanted to tell it like it was.

"It's time to pay the piper." Derek said.

The Reese brothers entered the Resistance base and headed for the Command Center.

Derek and Kyle sought John Henry out on their return. There were no repercussions over their recent actions. Neither John nor Cameron was in the Command Center to give them any additional flak. They wanted to finish the job they started. They were out in the field and they wanted a little more. They felt good about bringing down a future Gray and freeing the girl he took prisoner. Both of the brothers wanted to do their share for the Resistance in the future. They knew John and Cameron wanted to protect them. They also knew they were trained and skilled fighters. They proved it again today.

They both needed to think about the women they were with now. Kyle needed to worry about Sarah and his daughter. Derek needed to worry about Riley. It was because of their love and worry for the females in their lives they wanted to help better protect them and the future.

They didn't like being sidelined to only recon and surveillance. They wanted another assignment.

"What can you give us?" Derek asked.

John Henry thought about their recent adventure.

"I think you've done enough for today." John Henry said. "You should let things settle some."

Kyle liked to remain active.

"We need to feel like we're doing our fair share." Kyle said.

John Henry thought they already did more than John or Cameron wanted them to do. It was probably going to come back to Jim and him because they assisted them and let the recon expand into combat. It ended up as more of a debacle.

"I understand." John Henry said. "John is very protective of his family."

Derek felt there were a couple of qualifiers on it.

"You mean everyone except when it comes to Cameron." Derek said.

Kyle and Derek looked at each other.

John Henry felt it was another issue out of his hands.

"Cameron is uncontrollable." John Henry said. "Even I can't track her or know all she's doing. Nobody can. It's wrong to think John can either."

Kyle witnessed a lot of things first hand.

"So we've heard." Kyle said.

John Henry witnessed some of the 'discussions' which occurred at the Resistance base.

"I'm sure there are times your spouses don't listen to you two either." John Henry said.

Derek and Kyle both knew it was true. It was usually a problem when they wanted to go out on an operation.

"There are times when we don't see eye to eye." Derek said.

Kyle nodded.

"It happens." Kyle said.

John Henry thought about some of Cameron's recent activities.

"The only thing to have slowed her down is Summer. No other human or Terminator has been able to slow her pace." John Henry said. "Her plans for John and the girls are driving her to instability. She knows to protect John she must sacrifice her heart. In reality, it translates to sacrificing herself."

Derek felt they ware able to hold Skynet and its illegitimate offshoots in check.

"I guess as long as we can prevent Skynet, or Skyshield, from taking control, we're winning." Derek said.

Kyle didn't want anyone else to experience the future Derek and him came from.

"If we can prevent Judgment Day, we can protect Cameron as well." Kyle said. "In regards to the dilemma, it will prevent most of it."

John Henry agreed.

"Indeed." John Henry said.

Kyle liked the way things turned out today. He wanted more.

"I want to make it clear Derek and I are to be in rotation for duty assignments." Kyle said. "I mean all the time."

Derek wanted to stay ahead of Skynet. He believed it was 'all hands on deck'.

"Roger that." Derek said.

The Reese brothers wanted to protect their families, as well as John and Cameron. They wanted to feel they were still a part of the Resistance. They wanted to hurt the people associated with Skynet and prevent it from happening again.

John Henry figured Cameron and John were both going to come down on him for what they were a part of earlier. He was still trying to spin what happened. He figured freeing the female captive would work in their favor. He would need to check into her further to find out what part she actually played.

"We'll see." John Henry said.

Cameron and Hanna left the Young Residence earlier.

Claire meant to return something to Cameron. She forgot with all the excitement of the 'new girl'. She was more than surprised to find out she was another 'special girl'. She really liked the way Hanna looked. It was because she liked the way Vanna looked. She could always feel Vanna look at her with hungry eyes when she came to visit Allison. She liked those hungry eyes. Her eyes were just as hungry. She longed for the old ways of days gone by.

She caught Holly when she left Allison's room.

"Can you give this back to Cameron when you see her again." Claire said.

Claire wiped the tears from her eyes. She handed Holly Cameron's Poem Book.

"She brought it for me to read." Claire said. "There's no way you would know it wasn't written by a human female. The depth of her pain and hurt are so deep. I feel so sorry for her."

Holly took it and nodded. She would read it again herself before she returned it to Cameron. She already had the files saved but she liked to read what Cameron wrote in the book. It made it personal. She liked to read the rhyming poems out loud. She thought most of them told a story. She understood why Cameron referred to them as 'rhythmic short stories' at times.

"Cameron is unique among Terminators." Holly said. "She's more gifted and experienced than us. She thinks and operates on a higher level than we do. She has so much 'Allison' in her she is irrational at times."

Claire wasn't sure if she liked the assessment of her daughter.

"Is MY Allison irrational?" Claire asked.

Holly didn't want to differentiate between Allison and Future Allison since they were both actual older and different timeline versions of Young Allison.

"All humans can be." Holly answered.

Claire pointed out the extension of her statement.

"And Cameron…." Claire said.

Holly nodded.

"Yes." Holly said. "And Cameron…."

Claire let out a sigh. She was touched deep in her heart.

"It just makes you love her more." Claire said.

Holly understood the feeling. It seemed to be universal.

"Yes." Holly said. "We ALL love her more."

Claire felt Cameron grow in her heart daily.

"The more we love her, the more we all want her." Claire said.

Holly couldn't disagree.

"It applies to both humans and machines." Holly said.

Claire knew she loved Cameron more than anything, except Allison, Young Allison and Summer, but her daughters were a different type of love. The love for Cameron was love – love.

John was worried about Cameron and what she was doing on her own. It was the 'not knowing for sure' part which worried him the most. They knew she thought she was doing what was necessary as she saw it. Not everyone agreed.

"Is there any way we can track her?" John asked.

Bob previously attempted to do so at John's request. Things never seemed to work out.

"I'm trying. She knows to watch for it and knows everything we'll do. It's why she is three steps ahead of us." Bob said. "It seems to be a fruitless endeavor."

John was aware how slippery Cameron could be. Her resolve was also very intense.

"Yes, she seems to win the game before the rest of us know it is even being played." John said.

Bob didn't like getting 'played' by Cameron.

"What can we do?" Bob asked.

John tried to think of a few solutions.

"I really don't know." John said. "I think we need to find whatever new drug operation is being set up and watch for her to hit it and try to follow her from there. Maybe we can place a tracker in some of the money and let her take it from the drug house."

What Cameron was doing didn't make sense to Bob. It made him feel inadequate.

"Why is she doing this on her own?" Bob asked. "Doesn't she trust us? We're not the problem."

John saw it as a deeper issue. It wasn't easily resolved.

"No, I think she doesn't trust herself…." John said. "She's afraid of what she may become and the danger she may be to me."

None of it made sense to any of them. They should all be working together on the same team.

Cameron was nearing completion of her own TDE. Her secret complex was staffed by Terminators she captured and reprogrammed herself. She only possessed parts of female Terminators previously. Now she assembled a complete one. She was constructed from three different damage female Terminators.

The three different skin tones made her somewhat strange to look at. Cameron ran full testing and was ready to Resequence her. She debated long and hard over it. She made her choice. It was done, now in a few weeks the results would be complete. She debated on a name. If she did as she planned it would be one name. If the 'Neural Interface' worked, it would be another name.

She went in search of more Terminators to capture. She wasn't done yet….

Cameron still wondered at what point she would become Skynet herself. She completed her own super computer. As soon as she copied her program onto it, her server would be more powerful than John Henry's server.

She picked a name for it. She knew 'CamNet' would be a match for Skynet or anyone else which would happen from the very start. CamNet would continue to grow and expand. It was just getting started.

Vanna was with Hanna. It was somewhat strange to be with 'herself'. Right now Hanna ran Holly's program.

"Hanna, are you going to keep updating with Holly?" Vanna asked.

Hanna wanted to move her existence forward.

"Right now I'm a copy of Holly." Hanna said. "I like who I am. I would like to become my own unit. If I'm allowed to do the 'Neural Interface' with a human, I can become a separate Terminator. It's what I want."

Hanna looked long at Vanna.

Vanna noticed. It made her slightly uncomfortable. She knew where things were headed.

"I take it you want the human to be me?" Vanna asked.

Hanna smiled.

"It would be most logical since we're identical." Hanna said.

Vanna wasn't sure how it worked and to what extent her involvement would be.

"Would I have any control, or would you only get my memories?" Vanna asked.

Hanna knew the files from Vanna would be incorporated into her files. Her program would be in control, but infused with the new 'information'.

"We would become integrated. It would create a separate entity from Holly and yourself." Hanna said. "I would be a more 'human Terminator' with much of you in me."

Vanna already heard the same scenario tossed around for Jesse.

"Would Jesse and Sheila also do the same thing?" Vanna asked.

Hanna was aware of Cameron's plans.

"It's Cameron's wish." Hanna said.

Vanna wondered if this affected Jesse and her. She wondered if Allison would be involved.

"What about Cameron and Allison?" Vanna asked.

Hanna was aware Future Allison played the role for Cameron. It was done in Cameron's future.

"It was already done when Cameron was constructed." Hanna said. "Maybe it's why she loves YOU and John."

Vanna was sure things were a little further along than any of them knew. She was worried about a few different issues.

"Something tells me Cameron isn't done with everything yet." Vanna said. "Can you tell if Cameron is 'Cameron', or a duplicate unit? Is she a clone? Is there a clone of Cameron?"

Hanna knew Cameron could create an identical version of herself. As long as they updated frequently, they would remain identical in every way. The new unit would be a clone in every way.

"No. Not if she's Resequenced another unit and copied her program. She would be identical." Hanna said. "There would be no way to tell. As long as they updated frequently, they would remain identical."

Vanna thought she knew a way to tell. It was by Cameron's 'heart'. It was how she was able to tell before it was Cameron.

"Nice." Vanna said disgustedly. "Excuse me. I need to check on something."

Vanna went to John's room to see if the heart shaped locket from Duplicate Cameron was there where Cameron kept her rings and Poem Book. When she got there, all she found were Cameron's rings. The locket and Poem Book were gone. Cameron never wore her rings when she expected combat.

The missing locket also posed a new problem. It seemed it could only mean one thing. Cameron created an identical version of herself.

Vanna felt sick.

Closing monologue by Cameron:

Mind

In the DARK I stumble upon a person
They seem OK at first look
Then I notice the blood
They're bleeding all over
I touch my hands to the wounds
To stem the blood flow
I find more and more damage
This person is bleeding to death
I attempt to transfer my being into theirs
To give them will and strength
I am rejected
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
I scream to an empty life
I must accept that I'm already expired
Why is my body living
Why can't my mind be extinguished
Nothingness must be beautiful
Escape freedom peace tranquility
The ANIMAL desire burns
It calls and it drives
It controls
It can be beaten
The mind can override
The mind is the enemy
The mind is a friend
Touch its beauty
Bend its fate
Validate its existence
A mind is a terrible thing to waste

Nobody