Chapter 438
Temporal Trials
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Cameron's Future Timeline:
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The arcing and flashing started.
The energy bubble appeared
The arcing and flashing ended.
Cameron stood and looked around.
She was inside a bunker. That was where she wanted to be. This is where Duplicate Cameron was sent to. She'd been in this bunker before. She used it to hide Future Allison for part of the time when she'd rescued her.
Cameron quickly looked outside. She wanted to make sure she hadn't attracted any unnecessary attention. It was quiet.
If everything worked as planned she should have arrived three months after Duplicate Cameron arrived. It should be half a year after she'd last left this timeline. The stars showed she was where and when she wanted to be. That was a good start.
Cameron went back down inside the bunker. She moved to a lower section of the wall near a corner. There was some broken concrete. Duplicate Cameron should have done that. It hadn't been like that when she was here with Future Allison. Cameron smashed the concrete with her fist on the other corner of the wall and removed a small section.
Inside of the wall was a set of clothes and several firearms. They were all sealed in heavy airtight plastic bags. Cameron quickly dressed and armed herself. In the past before she left, she placed clothing and firearms in several locations as she'd done when she visited the future the first time to save Future Allison. She used structures that were in the past and in this future still. She knew what was there before Future John sent her away. This would become a way for her to send items and things into the future by leaving them in the past in a specific location that remained in the future. They would remain undisturbed for use in the future.
Cameron hoped arriving deep in the bunker would mask the temporal activity from Skynet and anyone else including Scavengers or the Resistance. This was an outlying bunker so she would have to get moving. It was midnight. She moved swiftly and silently. She was like a shadow at night.
Cameron approached the location of the Connor compound. It was quiet and security was heavy. She needed to take her time to slip past the defenses. She thought she'd made it undetected.
"Why are you here?" A voice asked her. "Did you forget something? This is MY future now."
Cameron turned. It was Duplicate Cameron. She didn't look very happy to see her.
"I'm not here for any trouble." Cameron said. "I'm here to help if it's needed."
Cameron asked Duplicate Cameron not to tell her anything she didn't ask about. She didn't want to know some things yet. Skynet here was defeated. At least all indications were that it was. She knew that was not always the case. Skynet always seemed to have a way to pop back up. Skynet truly was a Hydra. Duplicate Cameron led the final assault with Future John two months ago. She knew Future John believed he'd terminated Skynet several times in the past before she was 'banished'. A glitch impulse shot through her left hand. She knew this wasn't the time to think about that.
Duplicate Cameron told Cameron that she was very dissatisfied that some remains of Skynet hung on. She wanted Skynet terminated. She did it herself. Skynet's actions left a lot for it to answer for and she was going to make it 'pay'.
Cameron knew that's what she would have done as well. They were identical. At least they were when Duplicate Cameron was sent.
She was distressed to know that before they shut down the power to Skynet that it sent dozens of Grays and Terminators into the past to try and save itself. She was sure she'd already encountered several of those. She also knew they could be in her past as well as her future still with Past John.
Cameron asked about Future John, Future Allison and Future Savannah's relationship. She needed to know, even if she didn't really want to know.
Future John resumed his relationship with both of the girls and Future Allison and Future Savannah continued theirs with each other. That upset Cameron even more to know she'd disrupted that relationship in her past timeline with Vanna and Allison. That was a 'time ripple' she'd created. It was probably one of many.
Cameron didn't really want to know but she finally needed to ask. She nervously asked Duplicate Cameron to tell her everything. That specifically meant about her.
Duplicate Cameron clandestinely sought out and made contact with Future Allison after she arrived. They shared a long embrace as Future Allison filled her in on what happened since Cameron left Future Allison and Future John at the bunker. With Future Savannah and Future Allison at his side and Cameron gone, the anti-Metal faction dropped plans to assassinate Future John. Later, when it was apparent 'Cameron' returned there was a lot of grumbling. That mostly ended when Skynet was smashed and everyone knew John Connor and 'Cameron' were responsible for that and did it personally.
Duplicate Cameron explained she'd developed a secret relationship with Future Allison first. Future Allison persisted and she eventually submitted. That eventually expanded to Future John at Future Allison's urging and later with Future Savannah.
Cameron realized this now really was the 'Natural Order'. It was the four of them. This is what Mrs. Weaver indicated to her.
Future John maintained that there NEVER was a sexual relationship with 'Cameron' prior to their current 'arrangement'. He'd been very reluctant to start one but Future Allison facilitated it. Duplicate Cameron was still not sure Future John told the truth about what occurred previously. She knew he still seemed to cover something up. She'd been unable to determine what that was.
Duplicate Cameron eventually told them she was a 'Duplicate' created in a TDE malfunction. They all understood she was 'Cameron', just not Cameron Prime even though she was and identical in every way. She feared if she would have told them that at the beginning of her return that she would have been rejected. Now that Cameron Prime was here, she felt that fear again.
Future Allison spent most of her time with Duplicate Cameron, while Future Savannah spent hers with Future John. When the girls were together, Duplicate Cameron was with Future John. Sometimes it was three of them in various combinations, other times it was all four of them, usually it was only in pairs. That is how they preferred it. Duplicate Cameron was the one each of the three sought.
Duplicate Cameron asked Cameron if she wanted the files or even to switch with her. She didn't want to make the offer but Cameron made the same offer to her before she'd left for the future. She encouraged Cameron to 'expand' to the same things that she and Future John currently shared with the girls there too.
Future Savannah and Future Allison both experienced pregnancies. Future Allison was pregnant two times and Future Savannah once. All terminated within a month. Most of them ended sooner. It appeared the future girls were sterile.
Cameron asked Duplicate Cameron take her to the infirmary and she provided Duplicate Cameron with 'something else' to try. Duplicate Cameron said she would try it and see if it made a difference. She didn't think it would. It turned out it didn't. The girls were sterile thanks to Skynet. Their bodies were as 'worthless' as most of the other females were in the future.
Duplicate Cameron explained that the birth rate was low but it was still higher than the other two Skynet futures they'd visited. There was nothing promising about it in reality.
Cameron told of her plans to bring Savannah and Claire here to this timeline as long as they could be protected. They were to provide Future Allison and Future Savannah with their actual children in a more round about way. She said she would protect them herself. She explained she would personally be there with them and each would have their own Metal 'associate' as a protector and 'special friend'. That personal touch was to be respected and not interfered with unless the girls from the past desired something additional. Future John was not to touch Savannah under any circumstances even if it was something both Future John and Savannah wanted. She made it clear that Savannah's purity belonged to Past John. Claire was also not to be defiled unless she was the one to request it.
Duplicate Cameron didn't look forward to Cameron being there for months around Future Allison, Future John and Future Savannah. She knew it was necessary if Future John were to have children with Future Allison and Future Savannah.
Cameron made it clear she wasn't leaving Savannah unattended and why. Duplicate Cameron knew that was because Cameron believed Future John was with her and stripped her of her virginity and erased that from her files. She wanted Savannah's purity to go to John in place of what she believed she didn't give him. It was an 'emotional' issue for Cameron.
Duplicate Cameron accompanied Cameron back to the bunker. Cameron said she would appear three months from now in Duplicate Cameron's timeline and for her to be here with clothes for five. She stripped and returned her clothing and firearms back into the wall. She replaced the broken concrete sections.
Duplicate Cameron decided to make one last overture to Cameron as a good will gesture.
"I can return in your place, Cameron." Duplicate Cameron said. "You will not regret being with the three of them. It will give you three months to experience who you are to become. Cameron, you MUST try this. There is so much love, caring and feeling…. It is what you have always sought."
Cameron assured her she was not ready yet to 'expand'.
The arcing and flashing started.
The time bubble formed.
Cameron stepped into it and in seconds was gone.
The arcing and flashing dissipated into silence.
Duplicate Cameron decided to return to where she'd been earlier. She hoped it would remain as if nothing happened.
Nobody would know.
Duplicate Cameron exited the bunker to go back. She was troubled that Cameron was here at all. She did understand it was for a good cause and to help the girls. It was evident they needed help.
Perhaps with Past John's genetic material one of them might get lucky. She doubted it. It was clear the girls were most likely pregnant dozens of times over they years. It was something she'd questioned them on. The missed periods were not from poor nutrition as they often suspected. That was true for many of the females of the future but it was never their issue.
The prospect for Cameron to be in the future for months troubled her. It wasn't what she wanted. She could 'protect' Savannah and Claire herself. Cameron was redundant. She did understand that Cameron wanted to be with them in the advent of a temporal error. The girl's Metal lovers should be enough to protect them at that point.
Savannah was a teenager. She was sure Future John would try to make a move on her. She was aware in the past he'd been with plenty of them in the Wastelands. That was where he'd come across teenage Future Allison and her lover Future Savannah.
She was away from the old bunker for less than thirty seconds when she spotted something. There was movement off the her left side. Someone must have spotted them arrive a few minutes ago. It was possible the sound of the energy bubble made them come to investigate.
Duplicate Cameron didn't want this location compromised. She would need to terminate whoever it was. They might be after her too. If they weren't from the Resistance they wouldn't know she was a Terminator at first.
She messed up her hair some and rubbed some dirt on her face as she moved along. She didn't want to look too good when she confronted them.
It was possible they were a Scavenger and there may be more of them nearby. If there was, they probably moved closer to the Resistance compound so they could put the grab on some females.
The more worrisome possibility was that it was a Gray or worse yet, a Terminator. Skynet was defeated but the remains of it clung on in various places. Skynet always looked to rise again to rule.
She was a minute out from the bunker and they were still with her. They knew the bunker wasn't going anywhere so they could come back and check on it at any time. Right now it was her they were after. She tried to play it low key.
Duplicate Cameron was no stranger to games in the Wastelands. As 'Cameron' she'd conducted more than a few forays into the Wastelands. She wanted them to close up on her. She didn't want to spook them.
It was time to 'play it up' some. She moved around some tree roots that protruded from the ground. Her foot got caught and it caused her to fall. She let out a gasp of pain and a few choice curse words. She lay there for a few moments. The man moved up some but still kept some distance.
She got up and started forward. She grasped her leg as she fell on her first step. She issued another gasp of pain and more curse words. The man moved up closer on her now. He was satisfied she couldn't run.
She examined her leg some.
The man came up behind her.
"Don't turn around or I'll kill you." The man said.
Duplicate Cameron knew the man just signed his own death warrant.
"Don't hurt me." Duplicate Cameron cried out.
The man moved closer.
"You know what's going to happen next." The man said. "Get on your knees. Don't look back. It will be over fast. You know how it works out here."
She wanted the man to move closer.
"I don't want that." Duplicate Cameron said. "I was just engaged last week."
The man moved closer. He jammed the gun he carried into her back.
"Your wedding night is going to be a little early." The man said.
He moved the gun up and pushed it against the back of her head.
"Are you alone?" Duplicate Cameron asked.
The man grew impatient.
"Take your pants off." The man said. "I'll kill you right now and I'll take them off your corpse myself. You'll still be warm and it will happen anyway. It will feel the same to me either way."
Duplicate Cameron didn't get the answer she wanted. It seemed like the man was alone but there could be others. She was at least sure it wasn't a Terminator at this point. Her hand was on her Taser just in case.
She spun around and knocked the gun from the man's hand with more than enough force to break his arm. He cried out in pain. She stood and lifted him off of the ground. It was clear to him at this point that he was in the company of a Terminator. He frantically thrashed about. She squeezed her hand a little more and he blacked out. She looked around and scanned the area for any movement. It looked clear around her.
Duplicate Cameron searched him for weapons and picked up his pistol. She wanted to make a sweep of the area. She didn't want him to go far before she questioned him. She stomped hard on his sideways turned right foot. She heard bones break. His foot was only half as wide as it was a second ago. He wouldn't go far very fast if he awoke before she returned.
She made a wide circle of the area and returned to the bunker. It was clear. It looked like the man was alone. She made another wide circuit of the area and returned to where she'd left the man. He was gone. He was only a few hundred feet away. He cradled his broken arm and limped along with his damaged right foot. He wasn't headed for the Resistance camp but deeper into the Wastelands. He was most likely a former Gray or a Scavenger.
Duplicate Cameron moved around in front of him. She waited behind a tree. As the man neared she stepped out and grabbed him again.
"I didn't want you to leave before I could say 'goodbye'." Duplicate Cameron said. "I don't like to be rude."
She slammed the man up against the tree.
"Where's your camp at?" Duplicate Cameron asked.
The man only cursed at her when she released her grip slightly. She didn't want to waste time with him. She broke some more bones. There was a camp two miles away with two more men.
She snapped his neck and left him there. She made another wide circuit of the bunker and went in search of the man's camp. She would pay a 'friendly' visit to his two compatriots. They would suffer a similar fate.
They didn't need any trouble around the Resistance camp.
She would return back to the Connor camp when she was finished.
Nobody would know what happened.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Cameron's Base - Current Timeline:
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The arcing and flashing started.
The energy bubble appeared.
Cameron was in it.
The arcing and flashing ended.
Sheila and Ally armed themselves after they sent Cameron away just a short time ago. They were ready if anything went wrong or something other than Cameron returned. Cameron was only gone for a few minutes here in the current timeline.
Cameron remained on the TDE pad as both Sheila and Ally took in her naked form.
"How was your future?" Ally asked.
Cameron didn't feel like rehashing all the details. She already regretted not staying longer. She could have been with Future Allison and Future Savannah. She didn't think she would have been with Future John. She was still sure that event occurred before she was 'sent away'. She deeply resented the fact she didn't have those files to prove it.
"Everything was fine." Cameron said. "I ready to go now."
Sheila was ready with all the information for Cameron's second temporal mission.
"You're all set." Sheila said.
Cameron just wanted to leave and get all of this over with.
"Do it." Cameron said.
The arcing and flashing started the energy bubble formed. In a flash, Cameron was gone.
The arcing and flashing dissipated, into silence.
Trials
Everything in life
Seems like a test
Everyone wants to find
The one that is the best
Maybe that's the kicker
There is no such thing
Moments leading to it end
As nothing more than a fling
People are just people
There is no real magic
The way it often plays out
Ends as something tragic
All go through the motions
As they play life's game
No matter what rules are used
The end result is always the same
One needs to stay firm
Remember smiles are just smiles
The real action lies
Within life's daily trials
Nobody