Chapter 258

Four Replacements

John Henry wanted to let John know the good news about the hard drives. He was pleased to have something positive to report for a change.

"I want to show you what Savannah found." John Henry said.

John was a little surprised to hear Savannah found it.

"What is it?" John asked.

John Henry was actually a little concerned about the time period it was related to.

"It appears to be the location of some 'secret' Skynet facility." John Henry said. "It appears to be an old one. They went back in time even further than the first encounter with Sarah and Future Kyle."

The mention of Future Kyle piqued John's interest. It also sounded like bad news. Who knows what Skynet altered or changed back then? They wouldn't know the difference now. They would simply know everything as they knew it.

"It is?" John asked. "How can you tell?"

John Henry showed John what Savannah worked out and put together to come up with the key. It was very forward thinking.

John was pleased. It was something the other Terminators missed. It was something he missed as well. The thought never even occurred to him. He wanted to make sure of Savannah's part.

"Savannah did it all on her own?" John asked.

John Henry wanted to give Savannah the credit she deserved. It was also something she asked to do by her own initiative.

"Yes. She's highly intelligent and has worked closely with Cameron over the years." John Henry said. "She's a valuable asset to the Resistance."

John wanted to give John Henry some credit too. He worked with Savannah a lot.

"It also includes Savannah working with you." John added.

John Henry wanted to remain modest. It was something Mr. Ellison taught him.

"We all do our part." John Henry said.

John looked over the information again. They appeared to have a solid lead. He wanted to view it as a team effort.

"I'm impressed." John said. "Everyone did a great job."

John was aware of some of the 'other things' Cameron 'worked' on Savannah with too. He knew Cameron leaned as hard on Savannah, as she did the adult females to do the same things. Age wasn't a factor in Cameron's calculations, functionality and availability was. Since Savannah progressed rapidly, it seemed even more so. Everyone knew Cameron's plan for Savannah in the future. It still disturbed him, even if it's how it was in Cameron's future.

He hadn't failed to notice the beautiful young woman Savannah rapidly became. He was aware Cameron always made sure Savannah was 'noticed'. The way Cameron dressed Savannah was proof of it. He couldn't help but 'notice' Savannah at times. There was a lot showing. Whenever there was a lot of skin showing on anyone, people looked. It was just human nature.

He was also concerned about the way Savannah was kept isolated from others in her age group. Whenever Cameron did take her out to socialize, she was strictly supervised. If Vanna was with them, she would go after any male who even 'looked' at Savannah. Jesse and Allison would back her up. None of them were afraid to brandish a weapon, or use one if necessary. The ways of the past, the future, died hard.

John Henry continued with the briefing, even after seeing John was distracted 'again'. It seemed to be more frequent these days. He wasn't sure if it was Cameron or Savannah who he 'fantasized' about right now. He actually thought it mattered. He was sure one would be a bigger distraction than the other. What was unknown was bound to raise more curiosity than what was well known.

"Savannah was able to see the visual indicators as part of the code. It led her to make a key." John Henry said. "Someone went to some trouble to hide whatever is at the location."

John looked at it all. He didn't 'see it' until John Henry walked him through it three times. It made him even more impressed with Savannah. It was all there for everyone to see who looked at it. Unless it was put together properly, it was nothing. His new goal was to find out what was going on there. The information was half a century old.

"Do we know what it is yet?" John asked. "What are they doing there, or what did they do there?"

The location seemed inactive to John Henry and evidently was so for years.

"I've checked the records. It was apparently constructed decades ago." John Henry said. "I'm not sure why it's not online or active now."

John hadn't seen Cameron around in awhile. He wanted to get out in the field and do some recon. It seemed like a good time. There was a lot less friction for him to go on an operation, when Cameron wasn't there to add her negativity. He knew he would get some push back from the other Terminators. It was usually John Henry or Bob. He understood it was their duty to give him a warning. They would always acquiesce to his desires. He was the 'General' after all.

"We need to check it out." John said. "We need to act before Skynet figures out some way to do so itself."

As soon as John Henry heard the 'we' part, he knew John was going to 'push' it again. It always upset Cameron greatly. The duty to issue John a 'warning' often fell on him. He was always uncomfortable to deliver it. It was probably because the outcome was always the same. John went anyway regardless of the warnings.

Skynet wanted something in the past. Apparently they still wanted it. They at least actually did something in the past. The question now was, what was it? Did they pull it off? If they did, what was it they changed or altered? It couldn't be anything good at all. They could all be living in an altered reality and not even know it. Maybe where they were right this second wasn't the actual future of the past, but an alternate Skynet timeline.

It was something serious to think about. Whatever they knew about the past didn't mean anything if it was changed before they knew it. However things were, was simply what they would know. There was no way for them to know anything different. There was no way to know what was before, if it was already changed.

Cameron was at her base. She was very pleased the Metal girls acted to take down the Skynet related target on their own. Now she wanted to get the new female Terminator processed, modified, and Resequenced.

It was clear one of her wasn't enough to get everything done. She would need at least one clone, if not more, to try to stay ahead of everything if she was going to remain in control.

Cameron watched Sheila, while trying not to watch her.

Sheila was 'all over' the 'Isabel model' Terminator. She wanted to give her a thorough examination. It was probably the hundredth one.

Cameron was a little concerned with the excessive contact Sheila seemed fascinated with. She touched the deactivated female Terminator everywhere, over and over. Maybe it was Sheila's concentration on the 'private parts' which bothered her the most.

"How many times are you going to touch her?" Cameron finally asked. "It's going to be me, you know. It will be my body, or my clone's body anyway. It's like you're touching me."

Cameron's statement made Sheila touch her again. She kneaded her breasts and then moved lower.

"It's even the more reason to touch and inspect everything now." Sheila said. "Nothing's going to look the same when the sheath is Resequenced. Besides, the shape, size, and pigmentation is all going to be different. I'm well acquainted with what Ally looks like. She doesn't look like this. Neither do you.

Cameron was aware of how everything was different on every female, even if everything was the same. The details were all completely different, along with the size, shape, and pigmentation. She was aware the Isabel model was a little more snug than her as well. It didn't seem to be something which carried over with the Resequencing. It was somewhat disappointing. She watched as Sheila's head moved a little lower. She didn't want things to go too far. It made her wonder if they already hadn't.

"You're practically physically abusing her." Cameron said. "You don't have her permission to do what you're doing. You don't have mine either. It doesn't matter if she's deactivated or not. You were only supposed to check to make sure everything was OK."

Sheila really couldn't help herself. It excited her to touch the deactivated Terminator. She offered a weak excuse.

"I needed to inspect her for 'damage'." Sheila said. "I might have missed something."

Cameron was disturbed with Sheila's latest action.

"Stop pulling on those." Cameron said. "They're not going to stretch as far as yours do. You've already checked multiple times."

Sheila reluctantly tucked everything back inside and closed the deactivated Terminator's legs.

"I didn't wreck anything." Sheila said.

Cameron was worried if the new Terminator didn't have any damage, she might end up with some through Sheila's aggressive 'examination'.

"She has no damage in those areas. Everything is protected when her legs are closed." Cameron said. "You've already checked multiple times. Don't make it 'sexual abuse'. It's what it looks like to me. I almost feel as if I've been examined just by watching you examine her."

Cameron's statement made Sheila want to touch her again even more. She felt a strong fascination with the 'Isabel model'. It was from when Jesse was with Isabel-Cameron. Jesse did all of the same things she did. It was done with Isabel-Cameron's permission. She wanted to satisfy all of Jesse's desires in her.

"Do we have to change her appearance?" Sheila asked. "She looks so Hot."

Cameron didn't want another problem with 'Isabel'. The incident the first time was bad enough.

"Yes. She needs to be Resequenced." Cameron said. "We need to do it, unless we want to keep her at this facility all of the time. They tracked our previous Isabel by facial recognition before and tried to get her back. I want her Resequenced with Allison's DNA. She will be my 'back up' for John. My chip alone will be copied and installed in her. Nobody is to know about this."

Everyone there except Cameron knew where things were eventually headed. It never seemed to work out. Cameron would end up terminating 'herself'. It always ended the same way. It seemed John always became the point of contention between them. They both wanted John exclusively. Perhaps removing her protocols for John would delay it from happening.

Hanna was glad she examined the deactivated Terminator when Cameron was away for a few minutes. She checked 'everything' herself. She was sure Ally did as well. Then again, Sheila carried it a little too far. She was really surprised how far Sheila stretched some things. She also knew it wasn't as far as Sheila could stretch herself. The Vanna in her indicated Jesse, and Sheila by extension, no pun intended, were at one end of the scale. They were at the complete opposite end from where Gail was. She turned her attention back to the deactivated Terminator.

"What will we call her?" Hanna asked.

Ally didn't really need any more competition.

"Ally and Allison are already taken." Ally joked.

Cameron didn't want anyone to know she created another clone. She especially didn't want John to know about it. She was fed up with him rejecting her program. The only way around it was to make sure there was no difference between them. They would even share the same name.

"She will be called 'Cameron'. She will be me. We will update every day." Cameron said. "Only you three will know of her existence. You're not to tell anyone."

Hanna began to wonder about the end game. She knew Cameron wanted the Duplicate set of girls back, especially Duplicate Allison. There seemed to be a pretty good indication of the way things were headed.

"So there will now be a replacement for you and the three girls." Hanna said. "There will be four replacements…."

Hanna and Ally looked at each other and figured what was coming. They glanced at Sheila who finally stopped fondling the new female Terminator.

Sheila saw it the same way Ally and Hanna did. Cameron wanted to rescue Duplicate Cameron and the Duplicate girls. They most likely were going to be the four replacements who became the sacrificial lambs. Someone was going to need to stand in place of the Duplicate girls who were killed. It wasn't lost on her each of the Duplicate girls were vaporized when a Terminator's power cell exploded. It just so happened each of them was a Terminator with a power cell. It seemed like a little more than coincidence now.

"Will we be sacrificed on the 'Day Of Loss', in their place?" Sheila asked.

Cameron didn't answer at first. The thought crossed her mind multiple times.

Hanna wanted to know the answer.

"Are we going to perish in place of you and the girls?" Hanna asked.

Ally could see it too.

"It's a fair question." Ally said. "Are we doomed?"

Cameron didn't want to destroy her friends. It still could happen.

"Not if I can help it. I won't lie, it's an option." Cameron said. "I can't alter the timeline if we do it, if I go after them. John was very adamant about it. I don't want you three harmed either. There must be some other way to accomplish it, and not change anything as we know it."

Ally didn't see a way to undo what was done, unless they took the places of the Duplicate girls on that day.

"I don't think there are too many options." Ally said.

Hanna couldn't see a solution either. At least not one which met John's demand of not changing the way things already were.

"How do you retrieve them and not alter the timeline?" Hanna asked. "Where are the Duplicates going to go if they're replaced on the 'Day Of Loss'? You need to put them somewhere from then until now. You're still most likely going to end up altering the timeline or creating a new one."

Cameron needed to get her hands on a properly functioning TDE. The one Sheila was constructing was almost done.

"I don't know yet." Cameron said. "I have several ideas…."

Ally wondered if the Metal girls and her only existed on borrowed time.

"Any ideas where we're not terminated are preferred." Ally said.

Cameron ignored Ally. She didn't want to cause trouble or any unnecessary terminations. She didn't want to sacrifice the Metal girls to save the Duplicate girls if it was possible.

Sheila went back to 'checking out' the new female Terminator. If she was going to be vaporized in the mine along with Skynet, a few more copped feels wouldn't hurt anything. She wanted to do another comparison to Ally. Her hand traveled down the Terminator's leg.

Cameron couldn't ignore Sheila's abuse.

"Sheila, stop touching 'ME'. Get started on the DNA Resequencing. Hanna, get the neck port installed." Cameron said. "Ally, I want you to help me copy my chip."

Sheila planned to have Ally put her chip in the 'Isabel model' for a few hours when Cameron was away. She was going to break the new chassis in herself with Hanna and Ally. They all shared the experiences of the girls with Isabel-Cameron before her deactivation. She would need to be careful. She knew if Cameron found out, she was going to be angry. She watched Cameron and Ally walk away. She moved the deactivated Terminator's legs apart and started to inspect for any damage again.

Hanna looked over and shook her head.

"You're playing with fire." Hanna said. "Stop pulling on those."

Sheila was clearly very excited.

"I can't help it." Sheila said. "It's the 'Jesse' in me."

Hanna wanted to give her a warning.

"Make sure you tell Cameron the same thing when she goes to deactivate you." Hanna said.

Sheila was a little worried. She quickly let go of what she was holding.

"You won't let her do it will you?" Sheila asked. "I don't want to be deactivated."

Hanna didn't think there was much of a choice.

"I don't want to end up Resequenced and reprogrammed myself, or placed in the spare parts bin." Hanna said.

Sheila stretched everything out again.

"It doesn't hurt anything to look." Sheila said.

Hanna shook her head and walked away.

"You're doing a lot more than looking." Hanna said.

Sheila didn't realize, she was looking for trouble.

Cameron was alone with Ally now. There were some things she thought long and hard about. They were going to require some sacrifice if things went wrong going forward.

"I want to make two copies of my chip, Ally." Cameron said.

Cameron looked at Ally and gently touched her cheek.

"Do you understand?" Cameron asked. "I only want you to know…."

Ally caught the drift. Her chassis was to become a replacement for Cameron as well in an emergency. She hoped the new Terminator could be Resequenced as quickly as possible. It would mean both versions of Cameron were terminated if her chassis needed to be used.

"So I guess every 'Allison' draws the short straw." Ally said.

Cameron saw it as a higher calling and duty.

"It's your purpose." Cameron said. "We must protect John and the future."

Ally already knew the next line. She'd heard it enough.

"Everyone sacrifices for John Connor…." Ally said.

Ally was to be the third backup for Cameron.

"I'm afraid so." Cameron said. "It would only be if 'Cameron', the new one, and myself were both destroyed…."

Ally wondered what happened to her at that point. Did she just cease to exist? It seemed like a fair question to her.

"What about me?" Ally asked.

Cameron didn't see the short term 'fix' as a problem.

"Your program can be copied onto Hanna's or Sheila's chip. I'll work on having an alternate chassis for you." Cameron said. "I think Hanna would be pleased to share with you for a while."

Ally wanted another female chassis.

"I don't want a male chassis." Ally said. "None of us do, especially Hanna. Sheila only wants one to experiment with."

Cameron possessed the files from another version of her who was in a male Terminator chassis. Two of them actually.

"I was in Bob's and Jim's chassis for a while, a copy of me anyway was. It was very cumbersome with 'junk' I didn't need." Cameron said. "I actually considered removing 'everything' several times. It was very aesthetically displeasing. Since it served no function for me at the time, I didn't see it as a problem. I didn't want to 'short change' the next Terminator to have the chassis in case there was some problem with regeneration."

Ally did understand it as her duty. She still didn't want a male chassis.

"I know I sure won't need it. Too bad Sheila wasn't around then, she would have done it for you." Ally said. "I'll do what's necessary if such an 'event' occurs. If you and 'New Cameron' are terminated, my chassis, with your chip alone, will take your place. Life for John will go on as if nothing happened to you."

Ally wondered if this may have already been done before.

Cameron was pleased at the cooperation. She wasn't pleased at the prospects as to why it might be necessary at some point. It would mean her termination two times over.

"Thank you. It's what's necessary." Cameron said. "I appreciate this Ally. Remember, the other version of me is just 'Cameron', the same as me. There is no 'new' or 'other' or 'number' associated with her name. It's just 'Cameron'. We're going to be identical."

Ally wondered if she could play the part of 'Cameron' until another female chassis could be Resequenced.

"Can I try to infiltrate as you with John to see how far I can 'get'?" Ally asked. "It would be a challenge."

Cameron looked Ally over from head to toe and back again. She looked like Allison, not her.

"You would have to look a little more Tight first to get very far." Cameron said. "You look rather plain with your current appearance. You look like Allison. It's exactly what you're supposed to look like. Allison radiates natural beauty. So do you. It's different from my refined beauty."

It was a real confidence blow to Ally. She wasn't sure if Cameron insinuated she was 'not good enough' or not.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence." Ally said. "Appearance was never a priority for Allison."

Cameron knew her appearance was what John liked about her. She didn't feel it was actually 'her' John wanted.

"It is for me." Cameron said. "It is very important to me. John likes me to look Tight. I like to look Tight. I'm worried if you don't look Tight, he will reject you."

Now Ally was flooded with some files from the 'Allison' in her. They weren't pleasant at all.

"Allison was more worried about where her next meal was going to come from, or worse, what it would be." Ally said. "If I ever go into a future, I'm going to hunt Scavengers whenever time away from my mission will allow it."

Cameron knew all the girls from the future suffered in more than one way. For some it was worse than others. She witnessed the 'darkness' in Sheila come out during the interrogation in the van. It was brutal and violent. She knew it was from the 'Neural Interface' with Jesse. It was one thing to know about it. It was another thing to witness it.

"Allison was the lucky one." Cameron said. "Vanna and Jesse were less fortunate and heavily abused. Those events damaged Jesse very deep within herself. I'm going to work with her to help free her demons. I've been trying. I want to help her be 'free'. I want to 'fix' her. I saw them. I saw the demons in Sheila. I didn't like what I saw her do. Terminating Scavengers is a good idea anytime."

Cameron was more disturbed about how much Sheila enjoyed what she did, rather than what she actually did. She believed some punishment was justified before termination.

The Metal girls hoped to score a mission to the future at some point. They already developed a 'game plan'.

"We've talked about it. Hanna and Sheila are going to do the same thing, especially Sheila. Sheila has vowed to personally terminate one thousand Scavengers. She wants to do it in the most brutal and graphic way possible."

Cameron thought it would send a message to all Scavengers. The problem was different in other future timelines.

"It will all depend on which future any of you are sent to, if ever." Cameron said. "I terminated many Scavengers myself. If I'd known the full story of the girls at the time, I wouldn't have left until every single Scavenger was terminated. At some point I would have personally terminated every Scavenger who ever abused the girls."

Ally was aware there were a lot of Scavengers in the timeline the girls from the alternate future were from.

"It would have taken years." Ally said.

It didn't matter to Cameron. Justice would be served.

"My power cell lasts a long time." Cameron said. "With the TDE, I could have come back right after John did, or even before him."

Ally wondered what the end game for Cameron was.

"Will you ever go to your future again?" Ally asked.

Cameron was sure she would. It would mean Skynet would have done something which necessitated her to do it.

"I believe I will in some way. My interaction with Future John isn't over. It's what I 'feel'." Cameron said. "There may be other issues I need to look into as well."

Cameron was pretty sure there was a lot of interaction remaining. She wondered how many times she did it, and what changed, if anything. She still felt some resentment toward Future John for banishing her. How could he do it to someone he loved? What happened to her life with him? Why was most of it erased along with all of their 'personal interaction'? Why would he do it to her?

Ally saw Cameron's hand begin to glitch. Cameron may be 'hard' on them sometimes, but she loved her nonetheless. She took Cameron's hand and held it. The glitch slowly stopped.

Cameron looked at Ally and gave her a faint smile.

Ally knew the weight of the world and future was on Cameron's mind. She really felt sorry for her.

'Kodachrome' by 'Paul Simon' played in the background.

Closing monologue by Cameron:

Burn Baby Burn

I see the dancing fire
I reach into the flame
I know what I'm doing
There's no else to blame

I know the pain will come
I won't back away or stop
I want to grasp the flaming mass
I refuse to let it drop

Defeat is not an option
I reject any form of surrender
Are they for real
Or just another pretender

So it goes without saying
No matter how many times we are burned
We can't accept the results
Therefore nothing is ever learned

Incinerate my bloody shredded heart
For I'm never letting go
Burn baby burn
Who don't think so

Nobody