Chapter 370

You Know Why

Cameron was bothered by the fact she couldn't remember what happened earlier. She reviewed her files leading up to what she couldn't remember. She decided to slip out of the base and go back and start over. She would start at the location where she encountered the HK Tread.

She parked two miles away and went in on foot. She approached the area carefully. She was on the lookout for guards or sensors. She didn't want to walk into a trap.

They left behind some surveillance equipment of their own. All of it checked out as negative. It didn't mean there wasn't something going on outside the scope of their limitations. She used surveillance devices before against the people who placed them. They became overconfident in their ability. They let their guard down and she was able to make her move.

She was now at the far side of the structure. It appeared to be a burnt out shell. There was a lot of rubble in the center of the remains of the structure. She was mainly on the lookout for footprints or vehicle tracks. So far none were spotted. It was a good thing.

Cameron moved away from the remains of the building and took a wide circular route. She was about to disengage when she spotted some fresh footprints. They were from the last few days. It was a very disturbing find. They were footprints identical to hers. They were her footprints.

She backtracked them some and they ended up in a rocky area. It was a dead end. She thought the only reason to do it would be to set up an ambush. She became even more alert.

Trouble was soon spotted. There was a Claymore mine set to blast across her path if she continued on. She wondered if she set it or not. It seemed irresponsible unless there was some enemy close by. An animal or hiker could trigger it. She moved to disarm it. She decided to take it with her. She might be better able to deploy it in a different location. She didn't want someone to inadvertently trip it.

Her phone rang.

She saw who it was so she decided to take the call. She hoped it wouldn't become a distraction from her current mission. Some issues needed to be dealt with.

Holly wanted to get out in front before Allison made a rash statement or got more upset. She decided it would be best for Cameron to be in control of the situation. They were all Cameron created dilemmas anyway. They seemed to have a way of following Cameron.

Holly called Cameron with the news about Claire and Allison as well as Allison's father.

Cameron wasn't pleased with the recent developments. Claire was doing her a big favor now, and would do an even bigger one later. Allison wasn't thinking of the future. She caused herself unnecessary strife. She was worried about Allison's baby.

"I'll come there. Maybe it's time to get everything out in the open and straightened out." Cameron said. "I'll bring Vanna and Savannah."

Holly understood what Cameron was about to do. She believed Cameron could take things a step further.

"Will you bring Cam and Cammy too?" Holly asked.

Holly pictured the line up of females.

Cameron thought it was a good idea. It would certainly back up her statement about the creation of cyborgs if there were more of them there who all looked the same

"Yes. Seeing three cyborgs of his daughter should be convincing. I might bring Ally too." Cameron said. "Maybe he will stop ogling Allison then. He's in for a big surprise. It will be a real Future Shock."

Holly almost needed to expose herself at times to keep Paul's eyes from lingering too long on Allison. There wasn't much difference between Allison and Young Allison. Anyone who saw them for the first time would be able to tell they were nearly identical. Maybe for someone who saw them all the time, they only saw what they wanted to see. She was sure the real Future Shock would occur to Paul Young when he realized the female he continuously ogled was actually his daughter. It was bound to give him something to think about going forward.

"I hope so." Holly said. "I always have to pop a couple of buttons on my shirt when he starts doing it. It usually draws his attention. Claire never complains when I do, she likes it too. I can't make Allison understand I'm doing it for her to protect her."

Holly knew Allison thought she was 'hitting' on her father when she did it. It was in her programming to make herself the 'target' when the one she was supposed to protect was in 'danger'.

Cameron wondered about the progression of Hanna's and Claire's 'association'. She hadn't specifically authorized anything, nor did she do anything to curtail it.

"I'm concerned about Claire and Hanna." Cameron said. "What's their story?"

Cameron wanted to know if things were progressing. She wanted to make sure Claire remained happy. Claire specifically asked if Hanna could stay on Young Allison's Detail. She understood what Claire's desires were. She considered having Jesse or even Vanna visit more often. She didn't think it would be a good dynamic for Claire and Vanna to hit it off as a pair. She believed it would be a little more acceptable to everyone if Claire and Jesse became involved with each other. She wasn't so sure Claire needed the human connection. With her daughters, there was a human connection there all the time, even if it wasn't sexual. A Metal girl would ensure Claire would remain on the same path going forward. It would also keep her from straying elsewhere.

Holly wasn't so sure she liked the way things played out. She would have preferred to keep the extra attention Claire gave to her. Hanna took all of it away from her. She was completely satisfied with Allison, but Claire was very nice to her and pleasant to deal with all of the time. Allison seemed to have a bigger swing in moods. Sometimes she was unpleasant to be around.

She knew what Hanna's focus would be. It would be Claire. She also saw the way Allison looked at Hanna. She looked identical to Vanna in every way. Vanna was seldom at the house in Palmdale. Hanna was there all the time. She knew it wouldn't be too hard for Allison to reach out and want a little more from Hanna at some point. She believed Cameron was in control of everything, even if she didn't think she was.

"It's playing out just like you planned." Holly said. "It's the same way everything you plan for everyone does."

Cameron wasn't sure if it was a statement, or an accusation. She didn't feel she ever made anyone do anything. She might orchestrate something, or set it into play. There was never an ultimatum for someone to do something.

"Everyone has a choice." Cameron said. "I only facilitate their desires. Cam spoke with me too…."

Holly didn't say anything about it at first. It was something which didn't sit well with her at first. It was also something Allison needed. Allison's well being and happiness came before hers. She was willing to sacrifice for Allison. She was able to benefit from it. It actually made the decision much easier on her part. She was open to a repeat performance as well.

"Allison needed it." Holly said. "It was what we ALL wanted."

Cameron smiled to herself. She didn't want Claire to worry about anything.

"Everyone has a choice." Cameron said. "Tell Claire I'm coming."

Holly knew Claire made a point of taking things to the next level for Cameron.

"Claire's going to have YOUR baby." Holly said.

Cameron didn't understand the full impact or meaning of Holly's statement.

"No, she's having Allison's baby." Cameron said.

Holly went over all the details and what happened. Cameron was a little surprised. The surprise was only by the acceleration of events she wanted to happen. Not the events themselves. She wanted them to be done in a certain manner. It was very important to her John expand his horizons, and have available the protection he would need going forward.

"I know you can fix it, you always fix everything." Holly said. "I will ask Hanna again to see if she wishes to expand her mission parameters. She said if you approved it, she would."

Cameron knew Hanna was willing to be with both of Allison's parents if it would smooth things over and keep everyone 'in place'. With the prospect of Claire becoming 'available' for John, she wasn't sure if it was the right move yet. She also wanted to placate Allison and keep her from worrying about her parents. She wouldn't stand in the way of anyone if they wanted to expand their love life, even if there was no love in it. She wanted to give Holly the option as well.

"Everyone has a choice." Cameron said. "What about you?"

Holly felt no desire to be with a male except for John. She wanted John to be her first. It was her desire all the way back to when Duplicate Cameron was on her chip for fifteen months.

She was always there for John if he ever wanted a little more. She really thought some of the times when she changed her clothes in front of him, he would make a move. He never did. She knew he wanted to, but he didn't

Holly was sure Cameron programmed it into her and all the other female Terminators as well. Relations with any male were grounds for deactivation. It would be termination in reality.

Cameron wasn't sure how events would play out. Some of them seemed they would be in her favor. She wanted to remind everyone where they actually stood.

"Everyone sacrifices for John Connor." Cameron said and hung up.

Cameron ended the call. She looked at her phone for several moments and put it away. Didn't she have enough to deal with?

She collected the mine and moved on. She hoped she wasn't too inattentive during the phone call. There were some touchy subjects which were hit on.

She looked down at the Claymore mine she carried. It made her wonder if she placed the mine or found it and left it in place before. Either way, there must have been a reason. She didn't have any recollection of the previous events. She was still sure the footprints she spotted were hers. She wondered if she did the same thing before as she currently did. Somehow it seemed most likely she did.

She went around the perimeter twice more and didn't find any clues. She backtracked her earlier footprints to a paved road. It was two miles away. It was even further than where she parked on this endeavor.

None of it made sense to her. She must have tracked someone or some thing, but there were no other footprints. Maybe they weren't her footprints after all. She decided to return to her SUV. What if it was another female cyborg?

As she neared her vehicle, she detected some noise. It sounded like trouble.

"I found something." The first voice said. "Get over here."

"I'm coming, man." The second voice said. "I thought we were supposed to have an 'easy life' when we got back. 'Stank' is even harder to get in the past, and it's diseased a lot of the time. Most of the homeless sluts we can put the grab on are in worse condition than anyone we could find in the Wastelands."

"Shut up." The first voice said. "I found footprints. They're smaller than ours."

"Jeez, dude, un-pucker some." The second voice said. "It's probably a hiker. If it's a skank, we can 'do' her and kill her. If it's a young guy, we can do the same."

Based on their conversation Cameron thought they sounded like Grays for a number of reasons. She wondered where they came from. There were still no other vehicles detected.

She watched as they booby trapped her SUV. It sealed their fate. She might not have found it if she arrived ten minutes later.

The two men set out to follow her footprints in the dirt. They were both armed with long guns. She listened to the sounds they made as they moved. They were not quiet.

She found the trail they came in on. There was a Jeep parked there. It wasn't there previously. They came looking for her vehicle and her. She must have triggered a sensor somewhere. They knew right where to go. She booby trapped their Jeep with the booby trap they left on her SUV. It seemed like the right thing to do, and return it to its proper owners.

Cameron left the Jeep behind. There was an explosion thirty seconds later. It was followed by an agonizing scream which soon faded and stopped. She hurried back to the Jeep and saw two dead men. One tried to crawl away without legs. She looked at their phones, they were both destroyed. She hadn't spotted the men previously either. They could have caught her putting the booby trap on their vehicle if they arrived a few seconds earlier. She knew this was sure to bring the other two men back. They would assume it was her SUV which just exploded. They would think they killed her.

Once she got to her SUV, she went down the path the men took and rigged the Claymore mine. They would trigger it if they returned the same way they left from.

There could be one or two more men out there besides the two she first spotted. She moved back to watch her SUV and see if any others approached. The Claymore went off two minutes later. There was no scream. She remained where she was and waited.

The Gray that talked with a foul mouth appeared in the brush on the other side of her. She hadn't expected him to be there. Wait. It must be his brother. He looked like a twin. He was dressed differently.

She listened and could hear someone on the path she returned on. She picked up two rocks and tossed them to strike a tree branch over each of the areas she detected the two men. They both opened fire at where they heard the other noise from. There were two groans now. One was from each spot. They shot each other.

Cameron checked on the two men. They were identical twins. They were both dead. It seemed somewhat ironic they ended up terminating each other. She wondered if it was a thought they often shared when they were growing up. She understood there were some violent sibling rivalries. She was able to get their phones. She disabled them so they couldn't be tracked. Her current excursion didn't answer any questions, but it did raise a lot of them. She would need to see where the cell phones pinged at and pay those locations a visit. She checked her SUV one more time for any booby traps and drove away. She stopped by a mall and dumped her SUV. She took another one and left. She didn't want to chance one of the men may have taken a picture of it. She needed to deal with some non Resistance issues now.

John was back in the Control Center. He wanted answers. There were two things on his mind. The first one was Cameron's 'non Resistance' matters. He didn't approve of her drug and sex trafficking take down operations. After seeing the girls Cameron freed first hand, it made him wonder. The girls looked to be in a range from indifferent to terrified about it all. It wasn't a forced lifestyle he would wish on anyone.

He wasn't sure if it was the twenty to thirty different men a day requirement, or how drugs were used to gain compliance and submission which made the girls look the way they did. The enforcement methods of torture and brutality were bad as well. It was clear Cameron was helping people. He was also sadly aware some of them didn't want to be helped.

The other thing on John's mind was why was Cameron where she was found at in the first place? She wasn't out for a Sunday drive. She would have been after a lead or a target.

"There has to be something Cameron was on to." John said. "Those Grays didn't just get lucky. We're still missing something."

John Henry already went through everything with Cameron several times.

"Cameron has reviewed her files." John Henry said. "There was nothing to review. When she has one of these 'episodes', there never is."

John still couldn't understand it. There needed to be something there since Cameron did things.

"How's it even possible?" John asked. "She thinks she's Allison when it happens. As Allison, she leaves no record or trace on her chip? It's like she's really 'human'. Is it like she is really Allison, Future Allison?"

John remembered how happy Cameron looked when she thought she was 'Allison' at the halfway house. She looked so happy and natural. He was the one who ruined it for her as well.

John Henry was puzzled and confounded.

"John, there are so many unknowns we're dealing with." John Henry said.

John wanted answers not speculation. Everything was there. They just needed to find it.

"Let's keep looking for whatever it was Cameron came across." John said. "We keep missing something."

Derek and Kyle showed up. They were there to assist.

"Don't even say it." John said. "I know what you want."

Kyle was worried about the future.

"We want to do our share." Kyle said.

John worried about his mother if anything happened to Kyle.

"What about my mom?" John asked.

Derek saw it beyond a personal level. There was a bigger picture in play.

"She's willing to pull her weight as is Riley and all the girls for that matter." Derek said.

John knew it was all personal to Cameron. It always was.

"Cameron is trying to keep everyone safe." John said. "If Skynet takes control you will all have plenty of action. Be careful what you wish for."

Derek and Kyle left. They knew John Henry would find something for them, he always did. As long as they took plenty of Terminators with them, it should be fine.

John wanted to ask Derek about Riley and him. He knew they were trying to have a baby. He knew they were trying a long time so far, for years now. His mother indicated to him Kyle and her were trying as well. It was also ongoing for several years. The results looked dim for both couples. He was worried maybe Cameron was right about the people in the future, or from the future. She told him children were few, and most people couldn't have children. Maybe his sister Jan was the exception to the rule, but his mother wasn't from the future and was in excellent health, she was always on the watch for cancer. She was in top physical condition and kept a very healthy diet. He did know his mom worked with Riley to get her in top shape and on the healthiest diet.

He thought of talking with Cameron about it. Maybe it was time to start and try 'something'. It looked like if, or when, Judgment Day hit, they were all going to be out of luck. It would be those who survived anyway. Then again, if he brought it up, Cameron would intensify her efforts. He knew her main push would now be Savannah. He decided to drop it. He'd noticed the ravaging young woman Savannah quickly became. Thanks to Cameron's meddling, everyone noticed. It was impossible not to. She was into her teenage years already. Where did the time go? It seemed like only yesterday he met Cameron in New Mexico. Then again, it seemed like a lifetime ago at times.

"…John…." John Henry said.

John knew his mind was a million miles away.

"I'm sorry." John said. "I was thinking about some other things."

John Henry knew they were about Cameron, or her actions. They were always very distractive when someone thought about them, including him He wasn't about to be the one to tell John about some of them. It was Cameron's job. She would need to answer for her 'activities'. He went on with the briefing.

"One of the companies on the truck route made the run Cameron seems to have started out on. They used to anyway several years ago." John Henry said. "I think it was Coltan related."

John knew Cameron actively searched out anything Coltan related she could.

"Don't you and Cameron control most of the known supplies of Coltan now?" John asked.

John Henry knew Mrs. Weaver started doing it before he was activated with her company. Cameron's operation from her base took over from there.

"We do, Cameron has control of most of it." John Henry said. "She has also intercepted any known Skynet or Sky-whatever supplies as well."

John still needed to worry because Cameron thought she needed to become Skynet herself.

"So when Cameron becomes Skynet, it looks like we're really screwed." John said.

It was definitely something John Henry couldn't disagree with. It was a major concern for him too.

"Apparently…." John Henry said.

John Henry really didn't know where any of it was headed. He was sure there was more in play than he could uncover. Cameron must have found something and decided to play it out. The question was, what exactly was it?

Cameron drove away from the mall in her 'new' SUV. She was unsure what to do about Paul Young. It briefly crossed her mind a termination was the easiest solution. She also knew Allison, all of them, would never forgive her, if she ever did. He must at least suspect Allison and Young Allison were the same person by now. It was more than obvious. In fact years ago, when they were out at times, people complimented Allison on how much her 'daughter' looked like her. Now everyone referred to Young Allison as her 'sister' as she got older. It seemed to be more so everyday. Claire and Holly would always get a kick out of it. Allison would just say 'thanks' and leave it alone. It sure did seem like Young Allison grew very rapidly.

Allison thought about the same thing herself. Young Allison did look like her. She was her. Everyone thought she was Young Allison's mother at first. They didn't know it secretly stabbed her heart whenever it was mentioned, especially now since she didn't think she could carry a child to term. Then again, Cameron started on a solution to deal with the problem. Everyone knew she was going to 'use' Savannah and Young Jesse for Vanna and Jesse, if they 'failed' again. It was everyone except John. It was going to be Cameron's problem.

'Better her than me.' Allison thought.

She wanted to tell her father herself she was his 'daughter' Allison. It was time. It bothered her greatly since her first known pregnancy terminated. She should be the one to tell him his wife, her mother, carried their daughter's child. It was actually their grandchild in reality. It was the right thing to do.

Allison knew when they started laying everything out it was going to be a Future Shock to her father. It was all about the future and the future was always knocking. They may be able to slow or bend it, but could they ever really change it? Somehow it seemed unlikely. Perhaps Cameron was correct in the way events would play out. Even if there were changes made to some of them, they were stuck in a 'tide in time', and would happen again in some way, even if it wasn't identical.

Closing monologue by Cameron:

You Know Why

Why does anyone do what they do
Do they ever think things through
There are times of little distinction
Between one's life and inside a zoo

Everything becomes a question
That can create confusion
The sad part about all that
Is it normally leads to delusion

It becomes much easier
To exist in a world of denial
Maybe if everything isn't a test
Perhaps it is really a trial

Things can slowly deteriorate
As they bend and break
That happens much faster
When one only wants to take

For some it is always easier
To propagate and live the lie
It is something to resonate
It's safe to say you know why

Nobody