Chapter 381

Blessing Or Understanding

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Cameron Prime Timeline:

Events Continue From Chapter 375

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Several teams of Terminators were out in the field. They followed up on Cameron's previous activities in New Mexico.

"Dan's team just picked something up." John Henry said.

John was worried about the possibility of hostile Terminators.

"Is it Metal?" John asked.

John Henry didn't have that information. Everything was cut off before he could find out. That wasn't a good sign in itself.

"Unknown." John Henry said. "We've lost contact."

John knew there was a backup team with them.

"Where's Al's team?" John asked.

John Henry could only go with the previous information.

"They were moving in to block." John Henry said. "I'm not sure what."

John wanted to go on this operation. John Henry persuaded him not to go. Now he wished he would have done it anyway.

"Great. I should be there." John said. "I need to do more."

With this new turn of events, John Henry was content that John was in the Command Center with him. He didn't need any extra flak from Cameron.

"It sounds to me like it's better that you're not there." John Henry said.

John wondered how he was supposed to be a leader when he seldom led. He knew a leader was supposed to delegate authority. He also wanted to do his part. He wanted to be a motivator like Cameron was.

"I need to lead sometimes." John said. "I want to be someone people WANT to follow, like Cameron is."

John Henry saw leadership from a different light. One didn't always physically need to be in the front to lead. They could lead as an inspiration to others. It also meant the leader needed to be alive to be a leader and not a martyr.

"You are." John Henry said. "Leading also means you need to be around to lead. Not KIA."

John felt he needed to do more. It wasn't that he was in a competition with Cameron for leadership but he felt he should do more. Cameron took the entire war with Skynet upon her own back. She was the one who took the risks and received the damage.

He knew she was doing it to protect him but by doing most of it herself, Cameron started to become 'him' - Future John anyway. It wasn't that he would gladly turn the role over to Cameron as much as her safety was always in jeopardy. He wanted to share the risk rather than the glory. He didn't want Cameron to be a martyr.

Savannah was aware someone entered the room, she thought Sheila was back.

A figure stepped out of the shadows.

Savannah felt her heart flutter.

The figure looked like 'Cameron'. Somehow it was a more beautiful and younger version of Cameron. How was this possible?

Summer could see the confusion on Savannah's face. It was time to get things straightened out.

"Hello, Savannah. I'm Summer." Summer said.

Savannah was somewhat bewildered. This was new and unexpected. Was this an older version of Summer? Did something happen that she was unaware of?

"Are you Summer Young?" Savannah asked.

Summer wanted to clear things up.

"We've met before." Summer said. "I'm the teenage cyborg version of Allison's younger sister."

Cameron watched from the background. She wanted to see if Savannah thought Summer was more beautiful than her. She could see Savannah did without even having to scan her. That should mean John would think so too. She was sure she'd picked the proper individual to become John's protector and her replacement.

Savannah took in the shape of her figure and her beauty. Summer was Hot. The next sentence just sort of slipped out.

"Take me to heaven." Savannah said.

Summer tilted her head slightly.

"I would but I'm only for John." Summer said.

Savannah smiled. She liked Summer's conclusion to her statement better than what she actually meant. She was sure she knew who this was now.

"I didn't mean it like that. I'm sorry." Savannah said. "You look different than you did before."

Summer liked her new appearance and her 'cleaned up' operating system. There were a lot less issues she needed to deal with.

"I've finished my Resequencing. I'm now the teenage version of 'Summer Cameron Young'." Summer said. "I run Cameron's program but I've been fixed. I'm not flawed like she is. Cameron is defective. She needs to be deactivated."

Savannah felt uneasy with those thoughts and words. She knew people only thought that if they didn't understand Cameron. She knew Cameron was troubled at times because she was too advanced. The emotions she faced were hard for her to process. It was time to set Summer straight. Nobody 'bad mouthed' Cameron in front of her.

"Cameron isn't flawed." Savannah said. "She's perfect. I'll never let anyone deactivate her. I love her. Don't speak about her like that again."

Summer seemed indifferent. She knew Cameron was 'old news'. She was the future.

"Love is blind." Summer said. "I'm her replacement."

Savannah gritted her teeth a little. She was actually irritated now. She realized her fists were balled. She was angry too.

"NO. YOU can never replace Cameron." Savannah said. "Nobody can."

Cameron stepped forward when she spotted Savannah's building aggression. It pleased her as much as it disturbed her. Savannah was always someone she could count on. There was no other like her.

"Enough." Cameron said. "Return to your duties."

Summer glared at Cameron. She smiled at Savannah and left.

Savannah looked in the direction that Summer left from. That wasn't the encounter she'd expected from another cyborg about Cameron.

"What the Hell was that?" Savannah asked.

Cameron knew she needed to find out what happened to the other set of Duplicates. It was something that bothered her to no end. She'd taken steps to insure John was provided for. She doubted she would return since none of the Duplicates returned.

"Summer is my replacement." Cameron said. "I want only the best for John."

Savannah was alarmed. Events seemed to move faster than she thought they would. Besides, Cameron was what was better for John and her, not a mouthy 'replacement'.

"John already has the best." Savannah said. "I won't let you do this."

Cameron set things into motion that she believed were best for everyone.

"Savannah, it's done." Cameron said. "After she's mated with John, her programming will allow her to expand to you or any of the girls as you each join John - at his side. You will all share and protect John together."

Savannah knew 'at his side' meant in John's bed. She looked at Cameron's hand. There was no glitch spotted. Cameron already made the decision. It was already done in her mind. That wasn't a good sign. This was critical.

"Cameron – NO!" Savannah said. "Please, NO!"

Cameron was troubled by the distress she'd caused Savannah. That was never her intent. She loved Savannah dearly. She tried to 'give' herself to Savannah in the only way she could at this time. Savannah also needed to respect her wishes.

"Life is about choices, Savannah. I've already made my choice." Cameron said. "It's done. You must accept my choice. You have 'me' through Cammy. I'll allow Cammy to be my clone forever. You will always have 'me'. I'll update with her before I go. We will be identical but she will possess what you two have shared in addition."

The sadness turned to a blank look on Savannah's face. It was clear to her what would happen next.

"You're not going to come back even if you find them, are you?" Savannah asked.

Savannah already knew the answer before she'd asked.

"No." Cameron said.

Savannah too knew life was about choices. She made one at that moment herself.

Hanna decided to lay out her new mission parameters to Allison and Vanna. The girls were against it. The change in the mission called for her to mate with both Claire and Paul Young to try and keep the both of them together for Young Allison and Summer. Both Claire and Paul would concentrate on her instead of each other. She would become the 'glue' to hold them together.

Allison was not sure she heard what she heard. It seemed pretty extreme. Vanna was with her and looked almost appalled as she did.

"No. That's not going to happen, absolutely not." Allison said. "You're not going to have sex with my father."

Vanna didn't like it either. She'd seen the way Paul looked at her and Savannah before.

"It will be like he's having sex with Savannah or me to him." Vanna said. "It will probably be Savannah in his mind."

Hanna didn't like the challenge to her plans.

"I'll be better for him than both of you combined." Hanna said.

Allison didn't care for that statement. She wasn't sure if Hanna meant Vanna and Savannah or Vanna and her. She doubted this was Hanna's idea.

"That's the Metal in you talking." Allison said. "Did Cameron put you up to this?"

Hanna thought it was always the Metal in her talking. She wanted what was best for Claire. Claire didn't like to have sex with Paul. She would relieve Claire of that burden.

"No." Hanna said. "I volunteered."

Allison wondered what Hanna was thinking. Those were her parents!

"Volunteered?" Allison asked. "He's my father. He's married to my mother."

Hanna didn't see it as that big of a leap. She was already with Claire everyday. She thought her actions would hold the family together. She didn't need flak from Allison and Vanna.

"Claire wants a divorce. I volunteered to take her place in his bed to keep him here with his daughters." Hanna said. "That's all THREE of them, at MY expense."

Allison still wasn't sold.

"NO." Allison said.

Hanna saw it as the least traumatic of three evils. She wasn't the only one in the game. There were other players ready to bat.

"It will be Sheila here next and then Ally after her." Hanna said. "He will see Ally as Cameron or you. I'm the best choice."

Allison wanted to pull her hair out. This was her family.

"My mother is the best choice." Allison said. "I need to talk to her."

Hanna was to make sure Claire didn't become upset since she carried Allison's baby. She didn't want Allison to give her a hard time or lay some guilt trip on her.

"NO. You can't upset her." Hanna said. "Your child must be protected."

Vanna heard enough of this. She hoped her files from the 'Neural Interface' weren't doing any of the 'talking' by Hanna.

"YOU can't tell us what to do." Vanna said as she looked around. "Where's Cam?"

Hanna didn't understand why they couldn't see the logic in all of it. The future was an ugly and unsafe place. She offered a better solution all around.

"Cam and Holly are out." Hanna said. "Think about the future and your sister and 'yourself'. Having parents with a Metal 'companion' is better than having only one parent. Your mother made up her mind a long time ago. She made the right choice too."

Claire heard the disturbance in the other room and the angry voices. The fight was about her. This isn't how she wanted it to go. She knew she needed to get involved. She needed to make Allison see it from her point of view. Her happiness mattered too. She entered the room.

"Honey, it's better for everyone this way." Claire said. "I've wanted a divorce for a long time. That was even before Summer was conceived. That's before I knew about Cameron or any of this…."

Claire still didn't know how she got pregnant with Summer. She hadn't been with Paul at the right time. Either way she ended up pregnant. That was not long after her visit to the doctor that called her in for a 'Pap smear'. She didn't even know she needed one and it was a doctor she'd never seen before….

Allison didn't want any changes to her family.

"What about the girls going forward, Mom?" Allison asked.

Claire would be happy to turn her 'wifely duties' over to Hanna as long as Hanna shared with her too.

"What about me?" Claire asked. "This is a solution that works for everyone."

"I don't like it." Vanna said.

"I don't either." Allison said.

Claire didn't like the 'girls' telling her how to run her life. She wanted a change.

"Life is about choices." Claire said. "I've made mine. Hanna can make him stay around. I'm through with him."

Hanna was distressed about everyone being upset now. This isn't how this talk was supposed to go.

"Please, think it over, about everything and everyone." Hanna said. "I want everyone's blessing or at least their understanding, before anything happens. If I don't do this, Cameron will find 'working' females to provide for him to keep him happy."

Allison was repulsed at the thought of her father with 'working girls'. Cameron wouldn't do that to her, would she?

"She wouldn't…." Allison said.

She knew that Cameron would.

Now Allison wondered if Cameron already did. She knew Cameron targeted sex trafficking operations. She was exposed to 'working girls' often. Cameron could control one of the operations herself just as easily. She could tell the girls who to please.

"Cameron will make sure he's 'happy' even if she must 'hire' the females." Hanna said. "We all know this. You decide what will be a better and 'safer' choice for your father. He will catch no diseases from me. He will be my 'first'."

Claire didn't want Paul to know that about Hanna. She would ask her not to mention that. Paul didn't deserve a virgin. He probably wouldn't even last the normal two minutes with that information.

Allison was sure if this happened with Hanna that her father would fall in love with Hanna. If he was in love with Hanna and Hanna was with her mother ninety percent of the time, it still kept him around. There were plenty of rooms now both above and below the ground. It seemed Cameron covered all the bases around her for a winning hand, one way or another.

John Henry contacted Cameron. She received the information about Dan's team in New Mexico.

"There was some kind of dampening field in some of the locations." Cameron said. "Advise Al's team."

John Henry hoped Cameron remembered a little more by now.

"What else do you remember?" John Henry asked. "Do you remember any Metal?"

Cameron was still irritated and uneasy about that operation.

"No, I don't. I only remember that I THINK I was hit by a car before the sex slavers grabbed me." Cameron said. "They were going to sell me. I need to go back there and clean that place out better."

John Henry knew that was the last thing John would want. He tried to put a damper on it.

"I've checked the police activity there." John Henry said. "They've rounded up more of the buyers and several dozen girls have been recovered. The ones that were sold out of the country are gone."

Cameron didn't want to hear that. There needed to be some further retribution.

"I'll clean out all the money of everyone involved." Cameron said. "Send me the information. I will destroy them myself. There's no helping the girls already sold to those foreign countries, most if not all of them will be dead by now."

John Henry wanted Cameron to refocus before John became involved.

"We need to concentrate on Skynet and its clones." John Henry said. "There are more important issues at hand."

Cameron felt she was on top of that with her own network – CamNet.

"I'm doing that." Cameron said. "I have my servers searching as well. I've taken over the shadow network that the Gray operative Charles Fisher set into motion. I've locked Skynet out with River's encryption. They can't detect CamNet."

John Henry was sure CamNet was all over his system. He couldn't tell.

"I can't detect it either." John Henry said. "Are you everywhere?"

Cameron felt all the bases were covered.

"I'm where I need to be." Cameron said. "We're both watching."

John Henry knew Cameron was one step closer to being Skynet at this point. He didn't want to push the issue.

Cameron could tell John Henry was worried about her endgame. It was time to put his mind at ease.

"When I leave, I'll turn everything over to you." Cameron said.

John Henry was surprised to hear that issue come up again.

"Leave?" John Henry asked.

Cameron spelled it out again.

"I'm going to search for Mrs. Weaver and the Duplicates 'In Some Future'." Cameron said. "They need my help."

John Henry didn't say anything.

Cameron finally spoke. She knew he was trying to decide what to do.

"I know you understand even if you don't give me your blessing." Cameron said. "It is my choice."

John Henry needed a bargaining chip.

"Can anything keep you here?" John Henry asked.

Cameron made the decision a long time ago. She wanted John Henry in her camp. She would give him a reminder.

"No." Cameron said. "I know I can trust you…."

Savannah listened to the exchange. Her fate was decided for her that instant. It confirmed her earlier choice. The time for waiting was over. She knew what she NEEDED to do for Cameron…. Her body could provide Cameron what she needed to stay.

Blessing Or Understanding

One don't always agree with everything
That someone else might do
That doesn't mean as a couple
That things are finished or through

People are complicated in many ways
There's still a lot they can agree on
That's just how it is sometimes
If neither wants to be the other's pawn

Everyone knows not all choices are good
The issue becomes what to do about it
Some are very inflexible and stubborn
Their failures are difficult to admit

Everything becomes a matter of what one
Can learn to stomach or even tolerate
Once the other is accepted for who they are
Things are less likely to anger or infuriate

Nobody likes one who is commanding
They don't want to receive a branding
Is it really too much or demanding
To seek their blessing and understanding

Nobody