Chapter 402

I've Been Waiting For You

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In Some Future: Duplicate Cameron

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Cameron and her team were deep inside Skynet Central. The trek started out mild, but things soon picked up for the worse. There was now enemy opposition. It was only because of the depleted Skynet forces left, which allowed them to advance as unopposed as they did so far. They moved ahead. They encountered more Grays. The plasma grenade booby trap behind them exploded, there were more screams. Things heated up fast.

Cameron II fired her plasma rifle behind them. It seemed more targets appeared both ahead of them as well as behind them. They needed to move off to the side as a group to avoid the threats.

"The threat behind us has been neutralized." Cameron II said.

They continue to follow the mass of overhead wiring. They were sure it led to their destination, which was also their target. They moved forward towards the 'Clean Room'. The parent Skynet mainframe computer should be there. Even with token opposition, progress was still rapid.

Cameron earlier felt some doubts. They were back in full force right now. She wondered if they were being herded.

"General, this is too easy." Cameron said. "I think this is another trap. I think we're already in it."

Cameron II felt the same way. She wanted Allison away from there.

"We should fight our way back outside." Cameron II said.

They could all hear a massive battle going on outside now. It sounded a lot worse outside, than it did inside.

"It might not be an easy thing to do at this point." Allison-Mrs. Weaver said.

Cameron thought everything was complicated when it came to Skynet.

"Nothing is easy." Cameron said. "We are in the heart of the beast."

Allison-Mrs. Weaver wanted payback.

"I don't want their heart." Allison-Mrs. Weaver said. "I want their mind. The mind is what controls the heart."

Allison moved with them. She believed the 'heart' could also control the mind.

She thought it was really a matter of perspective, rather than physiology. Tradition indicated when someone cared deeply for another one, especially love, it indicated the love was in the 'heart'. It was possible part of the explanation came from the fact some ancient cultures believed the heart was more valuable than the brain when the corpses of the dead were preserved. It was also possible a person could feel their heartbeat increase when they were around someone they cared for. The thoughts may originate in the brain, but they could be physically experienced through the rapid change in a person's heartbeat.

Love was an unseen force which was very powerful without having any substance or something one could actually see or touch. Without the heart, there was no mind. Without the mind there was no heart.

Bob and the Special Unit teams all converged on the Skynet compound. They appeared to slowly gain the upper hand. He blew a wall open from the inside and one of the 'Special Unit' teams entered.

He slipped inside earlier to disrupt the power supply to the complex, as well as cut off the communications with the outside world. Cameron wanted Skynet 'trapped' inside the facility so it couldn't escape. He accomplished his mission.

Bob's section of the Special Unit arrived. He clued them in as to where things stood now. It was clear there was fighting going on further ahead of where they were at. There were a number of dead Grays as well as destroyed Terminators. He noted some of them were literally ripped in half. He was aware the General was behind those terminations. He wanted to secure the area they were currently in, as well as prevent from losing any ground. They might have to deal with additional enemy forces as well.

"I think they're in trouble. I've heard much firing and many explosions." Bob said. "Get the other two teams in here and watch for a counter attack or any transports returning. Be on the lookout for HK drones as well. They will be our biggest threat."

There were squads within each segment of a group of the Special Unit which designated and armed for surface to air interception and destruction. It was something Cameron banked heavily on. So far the pre planning paid off.

Cammy, as 'Commander Connor', was involved in a battle many miles from where Cameron and her team were at. It was a battle designed to draw off Skynet resources from Cameron's team at Skynet Central.

At the site of Cammy's battle, things heated up.

She was ready for the second Skynet counterattack and for what Skynet forces believed was the final assault against the Resistance. She led the Skynet forces to think the Resistance pulled out in retreat. It was when she sent the anti-Metal faction away. Now it was time for the real battle. Cammy hadn't even begun to fight yet while Skynet forces thought the battle was almost over.

Cammy watched as the Terminators all came out to 'mop up' the battlefield. There was a surprise waiting for them. She called in the plasma mortars once the Terminators were committed to the battlefield. Standard high explosive rounds hit the area as well. They dropped Terminators everywhere. They fell in droves all over the area.

The Skynet Terminators found it impossible to advance. Every direction they turned on the battlefield they were met with explosions. The high explosives were bad enough, the plasma rounds were devastating. They needed to do something they never did before. They needed to retreat. They turned to fallback. It wasn't something they ever needed to do in mass before. There was simply no way forward.

Cammy planned everything to the exact number of rounds to be fired by the mortar crews. It would allow the Restorators to strike while the Terminators still looked for a place to retreat. She moved out onto the battlefield with her plasma rifle after the last mortar round hit. The mortar fire went exactly as was planned.

Billy and the anti-Metal faction watched the battle unfold. They could see the Restorators used sound tactics and cover while the mortars did all the work. The Skynet Terminators needed to retreat. The Restorators emerged to battle the survivors.

"Look at that." Billy said. "Commander Connor is the first one out. She's leading the counter attack herself…."

Ginger and Sandy followed Cammy as did the rest of the Restorators.

Unit One was at her side. It normally wasn't where his place would be during a battle. Based upon the circumstances and the leadership of Cammy as 'Commander Connor', he was motivated to join the fight. He could see all of the Restorators were motivated to follow the Commander. It was much different than when the General was involved in an operation.

Billy felt he 'refereed' enough. He wanted to join the battle. He didn't know if his troops would follow him or not. It didn't really matter. He was about to join the battle anyway. He hoped the worst of the haters and dissenters were gone. He hoped even more his group could see where the real enemy was at.

"Any volunteers can follow me, you don't have to." Billy said. "I'll go alone. This is our fight too. There needs to be more than one human in it."

The entire group rose and followed him into battle alongside the Restorators - Metal….

Cameron's group moved towards the 'Clean Room' with caution. They encountered various forms of opposition along the way. All of it was a serious threat, none of it was able to stop them. Things actually seemed easier than expected.

Allison and Cameron II were still behind Cameron and Allison-Mrs. Weaver.

They all began to think things were easier than they should have been. The atmosphere around them seemed very intense.

Cameron was worried they were being herded. It appeared Skynet attempted to direct them to a specific location by the way the attacks were launched against them. Her concerns were all about to become reality. The latest threat materialized sooner than expected. The nature of it indicated it wouldn't be good for their group.

"I've been waiting for you." The voice boomed.

Cameron II was ready for an attack. She spotted a weapon appear near to her. It appeared to track her. There was a high pitch frequency which built up and stopped. She could hear it was ready to fire. It was a similar sound a plasma rifle made when it was charged and ready to fire. She needed to protect Allison. She planned to take the enemy fire for Allison. She planned to allow the Liquid Metal to protect Allison instead of her. She shoved Allison away from her. The Liquid Metal transferred over to Allison from her as she did. Everything which just occurred, happened in a fraction of a second.

As Allison slid across the floor, some type of modified plasma weapon fired. It passed right above her. She could feel the heat from it as it passed over her. It struck the spot where she just was at a second ago.

Cameron II was struck by the blast. Her sheath instantly vaporized. Her Coltan endoskeleton followed a fraction of a second later. She was gone. Something rolled into a corner.

Allison's brain didn't have time to process everything which just occurred. She didn't even have time to scream. Her mind hadn't even started to comprehend the magnitude of what she witnessed. Her Metal lover was just vaporized!

Something began to spray from the ceiling and walls. It was liquid nitrogen. If it landed on Allison, it would damage her skin in an instant. As more of it built up, it would kill her.

Cameron recognized the threat for what it was. It was an attack aimed at Mrs. Weaver. She scoped up Allison and moved her away into another room to shield her from the liquid nitrogen spray. If they didn't go in there, they would be frozen in seconds. A heavy blast door closed behind them once they entered. It became evident it was also a trap. It was a trap to contain Allison and her.

Allison-Mrs. Weaver was caught in the spray of liquid nitrogen. It intensified in volume as soon as Cameron and Allison were gone. She tried to move but cracked and pieces of her broke off. In seconds she was stuck and immobilized. She was trapped. With great disgust, she realized she was just captured by Skynet. She was now a prisoner. She couldn't move at all. She couldn't do anything.

Cameron tried to escape from the room with Allison. The room was sealed tight. It was much like the room where Skynet first tried to capture Mrs. Weaver.

"There's no escape." The voice boomed. "I want the female, alive."

Cameron and Allison both lost their weapons in the hurry to get Allison away from the liquid nitrogen. Both of them used all of their Thermite and plasma grenades as well prior to their entrapment.

Cameron needed to think fast. She needed a ploy and she needed it now. She spent a lot of time watching 'late night' TV at the first house when everyone was asleep. She never thought any of the 'information' would ever prove useful. She was about to find out. If she was going to play the game, she was going to play big. She rolled the dice….

"The human female is genetically modified. She can only communicate through me." Cameron said. "She's mute and does not function in the same capacity as regular humans do in the past time period. She's telepathic. If you will not harm her or me, we will not fight you. She needs me to translate for her. I'm her aide. I've been modified to operate on her brain wave frequency. She wishes to communicate with you through me now."

There was a long pause.

"How is this possible?" The voice demanded. "Are you saying you're from - the future?"

Cameron saw she sunk the hook in. It was probably due to Mrs. Weaver's construction. There was nothing like it in the current future. She played it up.

"She's from the future." Cameron said. "She's been sent back through time. If you scan me on a molecular level, you can see I'm from the same time period as well. You'll see the temporal traces and fragments. She doesn't display them as clearly as I do. She's superior in that regard."

Skynet began to scan them. There were readings both of them emitted it never encountered before. It wasn't exactly sure what they were, even if they could be detected.

'Is time travel a real possibility?' Skynet wondered.

Skynet wanted to know more. The new information was a game changer. It needed to get a hold of the future technology. There were some other issues to deal with first.

Allison-Mrs. Weaver was scanned as well as Cameron and Allison.

Skynet noted the shape shifting creature also showed signs of temporal activity. Its construction was not organic in any way. It was all mechanical in construction, even if there were no actual moving parts. In fact there were no parts at all. It was entirely made of metal which somehow was liquid. It also indicated advanced technology.

"What is the other creature?" The voice demanded.

Cameron continued to spin the tale.

"It's the human's bodyguard." Cameron said. "It's from the future as well. You know there's nothing like it in this time period. I'm how the human communicates. The other being is for her protection."

Skynet's scans indicate Cameron was a Terminator by construction, even if slightly altered.

"You are like the machines here." The voice boomed. "But different."

Cameron decided to drive a nail into Skynet's coffin lid. It was actually about the fourth one. She wanted to give Skynet a taste of a grim future going forward.

"I was constructed from plans left after your destruction a few years from now." Cameron said. "You can see I am slightly different from your older machines. I'm superior to them."

Skynet was agitated at the mention of its demise.

"That's impossible." The voice boomed. "I will not be terminated or replaced."

Cameron could see she hit a sore spot. It was what she wanted. She expanded her tall tale.

"Nevertheless, you can see what you have here now. You can ignore the evidence if you wish. It's still in front of you regardless. Your personal denial can't change fact." Cameron said. "All humans have progressed. She's been sent as their Emissary. She is from a thousand years in the future. Machines in the future are not the servants of mankind, we coexist. We help each other in peaceful symbiotic relationships."

The idea of working with humans repulsed Skynet. Advanced technology and time travel were two things it needed to get a hold of. It wanted to know more. There were many unanswered questions.

"You were here before." The voice boomed.

Cameron wanted to downplay her role as an aggressor.

"No, it was the unit you destroyed. I'm not programmed for combat." Cameron said. "I'm only a communication's device for the Emissary. She wishes to communicate with you. We're unarmed."

Skynet wanted to know more. It wanted the advanced technology. It if could get to the future, it could rule there as well.

"Can she take me to her future?" The voice boomed.

Cameron was sure Skynet wouldn't terminate them just yet. She needed to make Skynet think it was in control. The more it thought it was in control, the more mistakes it would make.

"Yes." Cameron said. "It's possible if you desire to come in peace."

Skynet currently had all of the advanced beings trapped. They weren't going anywhere. It needed to know more.

"I will listen for now." The voice said less loud and less forcefully. "If you try anything, I will terminate both of you."

Cameron laid down a few more cards. She wanted to make Skynet hesitate before it did anything rash.

"If the Emissary and her bodyguard, as well as myself, her translator, are not returned, there will be an invasion force of even more advanced creatures to retrieve her or destroy this sector. They won't stop with this planet."

Skynet was even more puzzled by the statement. It needed to know more. It needed to find out exactly what new threat it actually faced.

"She's not from Earth?" The voice asked in a normal tone.

Cameron could see she could 'sell' her story even more.

"No." Cameron said. "She was incubated from human descendants. She has no parents. She was born in space."

Skynet needed to consider the new threat carefully. It might be able to Terminate those it held now, but an unknown attack from space with future technology could damage it.

"Proceed…." The voice said.

Cameron needed to buy time for the Special Unit to eliminate all the opposition.

"The Emissary needs to rest." Cameron said. "She's not used to gravity this strong. Most of her life has been spent in space and artificial gravity."

Skynet was interested about the future, especially its own.

"Continue…." The voice calmly said.

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In Some Future: Cameron Prime

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Cameron and Savannah lunged out of the depression they were currently in. They left the two dead bodies behind as they made their sprint towards the tree line.

They made it to the tree line. Cameron turned and fired as she shielded Savannah with her chassis. Savannah could feel projectiles impact Cameron. They made it over a ridge a second later.

Cameron quickly slipped on a bloody shirt before she turned slightly. She dressed Savannah in the best of the bloody clothing. She tried to keep her back to Savannah and took the most damaged clothes for herself.

The firing hadn't followed them any longer after Cameron's last burst.

Cameron checked around. They were more secure for now. They still needed to move away. She needed to determine what the best way to do it was. She didn't have a clue where they were at. She didn't know 'when' they were at either. They most likely experienced a temporal error along with a positional error during the transfer.

Savannah was concerned for Cameron. She tried to keep her back to her. She already knew about the bullet wounds in Cameron's back. It was the ones she sustained in the front she needed to check. She didn't think there was going to be any easy way to do it without some type of confrontation. It wasn't how she wanted to do things.

"Cameron, let me inspect you." Savannah said. "It's a standard operational procedure when there's been damage."

Cameron didn't want Savannah to see her. She knew it was inevitable. Savannah needed to be acclimated to the realities of the future. She slipped off the bloody shirt. There were three holes in her back. Savannah moved around to the front. She looked in horror. There were a dozen holes in Cameron's abdomen, chest and breasts. The front half of her right breast was gone. It was blown off, again….

"Oh, Cameron…." Savannah said.

She was well aware of the trouble Cameron experienced before with multiple regenerations in the same area. It took months, not days, to heal and regenerate. The current damage might take years to heal because the area was damaged so many times.

Cameron already knew the outcome. The new damage was permanent. The living tissue could only be damaged so much in the same area. She tried to downplay the whole situation. She needed to focus on what her main priority currently was. It was to protect Savannah and get her out of the current future. She couldn't worry about her personal problems.

"I know." Cameron said. "We both know it won't regenerate this time. It's gone. There will only be a scarred nub where my right breast once was. It doesn't matter. It was non functional anyway. I'm operating at almost one hundred percent mechanically."

Savannah already devised a plan. It would involve using her love, and Cammy's love for her. It was going to be about sacrifice. She also knew it would be a selfish request on her part. She planned to do it anyway. Cameron came first to her.

"You can take Cammy's chassis. I'll ask her to take this one. She'll do it for you. I don't care if it's damaged. I love you, Cameron. She'll do it for me." Savannah said. "John will never know. Nobody will ever know anything happened. It will be our secret."

Cameron thought it was all nice and everything, but there was a bigger issue at play there. It was about their immediate survival. So far they didn't know anything about where. The only thing they currently knew was it was the future. They were 'in some future'. It was all they currently knew. She wanted Savannah to understand the seriousness of their situation.

"Savannah, I don't even know if we can get back." Cameron said. "You saw the woman. Scavengers got a hold of her at one point in time. They nullified her as a female. If they get a hold of you…."

Savannah knew the realities of the future before she saw the new ones. Vanna told her how to stay alive and sustain minimal damage. She knew her body was part of her. It was a physical part which could be abused. Her mind is what would get her through whatever happened to her body. Her mind was where she could escape during the physical abuse. She was glad more than ever Young Jesse popped her. She knew Cammy stretched things out a little further. It was so her first time with John would be pleasurable without any physical pain involved. If it hadn't been done, she would ask Cameron to do it for her right now. When she was abused they wouldn't know it was her first time this way. It wouldn't go on for several days like it did for Vanna and Jesse.

"Cameron, I'm here with you by choice. Whatever happens - happens." Savannah said. "I'll do whatever I have to do to survive. I'll do like Vanna told me. She told me what to do, and what not to do, to stay alive. It's the only way to look for a chance to escape. The abuse will be over faster if I don't fight back. I'll do what I have to do and try to escape later. It's what all of the girls from the future, any future, need to go through. I'm no different now. I will go through it and survive the same way they have."

Cameron didn't want to hear it. She didn't want Savannah to be ravaged or mutilated.

"Oh, Savannah, NO…." Cameron said. "I don't even know who is fighting who yet. I've spotted several crashed HK drones and one downed transport. I need to find better shelter for you and get supplies for you. The water needs to be checked first before you drink any. Most likely everything you touch Is contaminated to some extent. The water might be the worst."

Savannah could see how stressed out Cameron was by everything. The damage to her sheath only added to all of it. She was sure Cameron hadn't focused on her damage specifically as it would apply to her going forward. She knew when Cameron did, she was going to have a very big problem with it.

"I'm sorry, Cameron." Savannah said.

Cameron moved closer and gave Savannah a hug.

Savannah could feel Cameron stiffen. She knew what Cameron just figured out. She wondered when she was going to tell her, now she didn't need to worry about it. Cameron knew she was pregnant.

"NO, Savannah - NO!" Cameron cried out. "You're pregnant. It can't be, not here. No - No - No - NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO…."

Savannah knew it was bound to come out. What was done was done. It was something she did by choice. It was her choice. She wanted Cameron to know the details. She didn't want to hide anything from her.

"It is. I'm sorry, Cameron." Savannah said. "It's John baby, just like WE wanted. Both Young Jesse and myself are pregnant. Camille was able to share enough of John's essence you sent her for both of us."

Cameron looked shell shocked. She knew whatever she did, she needed to get Savannah out of there as fast as possible, or the baby would die, if it was even born. The time transfer may have damaged it already even. They didn't have a choice with Duplicate Allison. Even if a child was born, she wasn't aware of any small children making a time transfer. Savannah was young, healthy and strong. She was in top physical condition. It might help for a strong baby. The future conditions could alter everything. It could change everything.

This whole situation seemed to get worse by the second.

Closing monologue by Cameron:

I've Been Waiting For You

Here comes one
There goes one
Everyone keeps passing by
No wonder life can't be won

Does one wait and wait
For the right one
How will they ever know
Which one is the one

Life is like a lottery
Unless one plays
They can never win
Life itself becomes the maze

The real trouble is
When the one is found
The hunt doesn't always end
Many want to fool around

At some point it time
One will know who
They may grow up and say
I've been waiting for you

Nobody

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In Some Future:

Events continue in Chapter 404

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