Chapter 478

Temporal Thunder

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Cameron's Future Timeline:

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Cameron made one last check around the Hanger Deck. She spotted an arms locker in one corner. She knew where she could get weapons if she needed them. They need to ditch the weapons they carried earlier since none of the others were armed. She avoided a Gray that looked around where she was at a minute ago. She ducked in back of a HK drone. When he turned away she exited back into the hall.

She was pretty sure her handiwork wouldn't be noticed. She was careful to cover her tracks. If someone ran a complete diagnostic on one of the drones they might find what she'd done. As in the past she used three different methods to cause failures once the drones were in flight. It was her goal to make them crash outside the complex and be destroyed that way. If she prevented them from taking off. They would be easier to repair.

Cameron went in search of the 'Clean Room'. She made note of the pathways and routes she could take to bring the 'package' in closer. She wanted to use its full effect deep underground. She knew she could get it inside of the mountain but she wanted to get it closer to Skynet itself. It was the only way to be sure. The main hall was wide enough for a HK drone to fly in if it blasted through the wall. She checked the walls construction and it didn't seem like a problem.

She knew she was going to need Cammy's help. There would be resistance here against her. It wouldn't be as 'easy' as the other times were when she'd terminated Skynet. This was a full on base, even if it appeared understaffed. The lower levels seemed to have plenty of personal. The good part was she hadn't spotted many Terminators yet. That was bound to change at some point. Skynet would leave itself plenty of protection. It wouldn't rely on the Grays for that.

Cameron knew once she made her move they wouldn't be able to retreat. The TDE here wasn't modified like the others they'd modified themselves. This TDE was still primitive compared to River's redesigned and the ones the Resistance controlled. She was sure Savannah would insist Cammy disable the TDE to stop the transfers of Grays and Metal into the past. That wasn't her plan. She wanted Savannah out of the future. It was clear that Savannah wouldn't go without her and Cammy both. That fact did make her feel a sense of pride but she didn't want Savannah hurt or killed. Not in her future. That failure would be on her forever. There were enough things to haunt her already.

She searched the entire area but was unable find the 'Clean Room'. This one was hidden well. She wondered if maybe this wasn't the parent Skynet after all. Maybe it was 'her'. Now she wondered if it was her, what would she do to hide herself here?

She would want to be away from everything. Maybe that was her desire 'to get away from it all'. She would want to be deep and bunker buster proof. She wouldn't want to be where anyone could get to her easily. That was pretty much how the Skynet was that Duplicate Cameron faced with the backpack nuke.

Cameron was unsure if she would feel anger to learn Skynet really was her or take pleasure destroying both of them together. It would be a way to terminate herself twice if it was. She would make sure this Skynet received the 'death wish' it made her feel. She hoped there was some way to make it feel the same torment she'd needed to endure. It didn't seem likely. That was a shame.

Cammy and Savannah tracked down the TDE. They knew they needed to get it offline and disabled. They didn't have any idea what damage was being done to the past. They knew it was always something. They'd heard it run two more times. There seemed to be a time lag between its uses. It was probably on the verge of overheating from all of the use. It wasn't designed to be used non stop. They were aware that John forced John Henry to use the original TDE at the base until it broke as he tried to 'get Cameron back' before.

The TDE was just used again. They seemed very close now. They felt the vibration and heard the noise and then the TDE spooled down.

Cammy noted there were more people moving around near where they were. The TDE seemed very near.

"I think it is right around the corner." Cammy said.

Savannah was worried more about the people they may encounter. Both times she was confronted by a Gray it seemed they noticed her hair. She knew red hair was not common in the past and it seemed a lot less common in the future. It felt like a liability at times. They'd found a cap in a room and most of her hair was stuffed underneath it right now. They didn't know much and the last Gray questioned her with things she couldn't answer.

"What if someone stops us?" Savannah asked.

Cammy was aware that Savannah all but exposed her breasts to the last Gray to throw him off. That allowed her to get close enough to snap his neck. She wanted to get to the control room for the TDE.

"We'll do whatever we have to." Cammy said. "I want to 'adjust' the controls."

Savannah wondered how they could disable it without actually destroying it. If they blew it up It was going to put the base on lock down. Everyone would be checked and questioned then. She knew that the Resistance TDE couldn't function into the past because of the encryption from River that was programmed into Duplicate Cameron. No one could break that encryption. Not John Henry or even CamNet.

"Can you transfer the encryption to it as you did, well Duplicate Cameron did, to our Resistance Base TDE in our past?" Savannah asked. "It seems quite effective."

Cammy didn't know the specifics. It was placed in Duplicate Cameron by River to prevent her from meddling in the past. She'd told Duplicate Cameron that not everything was fixable. The encryption was the only way to make her stop meddling.

"I believe so." Cammy said. "I don't know how I did it as Duplicate Cameron before but somehow I did. It's on my chip. I have all of her files."

Savannah figured to recreate the events that led up to it being deployed might work again.

"Maybe you need to convince yourself you're going into the past to alter or change a timeline. That might trigger it. Or re-plan the mission Duplicate Cameron did to destroy that Skynet, relive that 'experience'." Savannah said. "Can the parent Skynet decode it?"

Cammy doubted the parent Skynet was as advanced as John Henry. She believed that CamNet was superior in every way to both of them.

"I don't think so." Cammy said. "I can't. We can't. John Henry has been working on it since it happened nonstop. CamNet can't break it either."

Savannah knew that was a long time for both of them to be working to break the encryption with no results. She figured she might need to create a distraction to allow Cammy the opportunity to get into the control room.

"I might have to start a diversion." Savannah said. "They may identify me as an infiltrator. I do sort of stand out around here."

Cammy spotted some Terminators she'd dealt with in the past. There was often more than one of each model. Cameron was unique but she'd since cloned herself. She was proof of that.

"We need to protect the past." Cammy said. "I'll try it on my own. These may be the very Terminators we've encountered these last few years."

As they watched, several 'Isabel Model' Terminators passed by.

Savannah remembered it was when she saw Isabel-Cameron nude with a set of nipple rings that made her desire to be 'around' females. As a girl she wished she looked like that. The female body attracted her. Males didn't but she would do her 'duty' and be with John at his side.

"Is one of those Terminators the one that Cameron became as 'Isabel–Cameron'?" Savannah asked. "There was more than one and we encountered more than one."

Cammy looked at them. She realized one of the female Terminators she'd seen here now could be her chassis. It made her wondered if she might erase her own existence by stopping this process. So be it.

"I don't know. It could be the same one." Cammy said. "She's very beautiful."

Savannah wondered what they were about to change or alter.

"What happens if we stop them now?" Savannah asked.

Cammy already pondered and calculated that eventuality.

"It would create a new timeline." Cammy said. "IF those are the ones we encountered. We could end up putting ourselves into an alternate timeline."

Savannah watched them go around a corner. She again thought back to 'Isabel-Cameron' naked with the nipple rings. Just to think of it now excited her again. 'Isabel-Cameron' was Hotter than Jesse or Sheila with their nipple rings even. 'Isabel-Cameron' was a stunning beauty with or without the jewelry. If they could stop them, they would need to do it anyway. They could be different terminators as well.

She'd started to get some pressure build up. At least her body appeared to have recovered some. She knew she was running her body hard by being in two different futures and having two babies. She'd only done what needed to be done, especially for those future versions of herself that were now sterile. She was the one who provided for them, for HERSELF, because of what they no longer could do. She hated Skynet now more than ever as she thought about what it stole from so many. She was able to help 'herself'. What about all the other childless females in the future. Who would help them?

"Wait here." Cammy said.

It caught Savannah off guard. Before she could protest, Cammy was gone.

Savannah almost went after her but stopped. This was bigger than any one of them. They all needed to trust each other. She was sure that Cammy and Cameron both would try to make sure she made it out of there. Things happened fast. Anyone of them could be terminated in a moments notice.

Cameron couldn't find the 'Clean Room'. It was well hidden. So was the power source for this entire complex. The more she looked, the more she was sure this was the parent Skynet. If this mountain was once a mine, there would be dozens of tunnels and shafts. That was what she'd encountered before with other Skynets. That was as Duplicate Cameron and herself.

She knew she needed to get creative. She needed to think deceptively. How would she hide herself in plain sight? She started to look at every minor detail now. She checked every wall and part of the floor for any gouges or scratch marks that were partially covered up. She looked for any clue. It appeared this Skynet was self contained and isolated. It was probably located deep or away from the rest of this complex to protect itself. She figured that was in case the complex was destroyed, Skynet would still survive.

She needed to wonder what was the point if everything was destroyed. Would Skynet remain hidden and isolated for thousands of years with no one to help it or serve it? What kind of a life was that? Maybe if it was found in a further future it would be worshiped as a 'god'. With new followers it could rebuild itself and take back over the world. It wasn't a pleasant thought.

Cameron knew Skynet could hide but she knew it couldn't run. She kept searching, some clue would turn up.

She wasn't going to leave here until she found it. The 'package' would be there soon enough. That computer was going down even if she needed to go down with it.

Cammy could see Savannah was distracted. She knew it was because of the 'Isabel Model' Terminators. Savannah told her the story of why she preferred females as sexual partners and lovers.

She fell into step in back of the 'Isabel Model' Terminators. She tried to look like she belonged with the group that just passed previously. She wanted to stop any more Terminators or Grays from leaving. She did wonder if she prevented the 'Isabel Model' Terminators from leaving if in a new timeline Savannah would make 'different choices' or if she would ever be created. She was right in back of what was most likely her past.

As Cammy approached the TDE it ran again. She saw the 'Asian Model' that Sheila was patterned after as well as the 'Sally Model' Terminator with the dark skin that Cameron recently acquired. Was she viewing the past? It seemed like it. She looked at the 'Isabel Model' Terminators again. It looked like they were next up. They were being prepped now. Their clothing was removed. They stood naked near the TDE pad. She could see why Savannah was attracted to that model. It was beautiful.

Cammy looked for the control room. She spotted it off to the side. It was being tended by one Gray. It appeared that the missions were being programmed off site. It was probably from the parent computer that made the selections and selected the missions and time periods. The Gray looked like a bored attendant. She thought if she couldn't get him to leave she would terminate him there. She needed to get a crack that those controls. This meddling in the past needed to end. Everything that happened in the past affected the future.

She was going to take a chance and see if she could transfer the encryption. If Skynet was directly linked to this system it should pick up the virus as well. She knew it would drive Skynet 'crazy' as it tried to break it. It would be equally frustrated as it tried to determine how it was even possible. She knew if she could transfer the encryption that Skynet was in for a - Future Shock.

Cammy headed for the control room as the TDE thundered. She looked over and the 'Isabel Model' Terminators were all gone. There was a new batch that she'd never seen before being prepped right now. Maybe this was the 'break point'. She needed to hurry.

Savannah watched Cammy follow the other female Terminators. That left her hiding off in the sidelines. She was upset she'd been distracted as she thought about the 'Isabel Model' Terminators. She decided to move back further back into the shadows. She didn't want someone to question why she was there and not doing anything. Everyone else seemed busy. Cammy told her to wait there so she was going to do that. She wasn't happy that both Cameron and Cammy went off on their own. That was so like BOTH of them.

As Savannah backed up she felt a small amount of heat coming from the wall. There was a small access door there. She looked around and opened the access door. Inside the wall it was hot. It appeared to be all the power cables for the TDE. She wondered if they led to the power source or even to the 'Clean Room' where Cameron was going to go. She knew she needed to intercept Cameron if at all possible. If nothing else she could tell her what she'd found. Maybe this was the curtain and she was about to see what the 'wizard' looked like.

Savannah left the canteen Cammy gave to her earlier in the corner near the access door. If Cammy came to look for her she should see that and figure that she left it as a clue for her to follow.

She yanked a strand of her long red hair out and let it hang partially out the access door. She entered the access door and closed it behind her.

These cables ran somewhere. She was going to find out where. There was a power source somewhere. Now she was off on her own. She could see why Cameron and Cammy did the same things, sometimes one just needed to act.

Savannah headed down the 'rabbit hole'.

Cameron found a corridor that ended in a blind wall. That made no sense, unless it used to go somewhere. She knocked on the walls, the end sounded hollow. She wondered if this is what she was looking for. She wanted to find another way in to this space without having to smash the wall open. She would do that if she needed to.

She went back to the last room she'd passed and looked up into the ventilation duct in the ceiling. She pushed a crate over and climbed up on top of it to open the ventilation cover.

As she peered inside, Cameron saw the ducting went the direction she wanted to go. She shoved the crate back over to where it was before. She jumped up and caught the rim of the ducting. She pulled herself up and squeezed into the ventilation duct. She reached back and closed the cover behind her. She started to crawl. She didn't know where this would take her but it would take her somewhere. Everything was the unknown right now. The clock was running.

Cameron headed down the 'rabbit hole'.

Thunder

Some events in life
Are earth shattering
They can reveal one's flaws
And make one look unflattering

Things can happen fast
They strike like lightning
The results of that are blinding
They can be quite frightening

Sometimes things build up
They linger like a hurricane
Before they finally blow over
They've created a lot of pain

Out of seemingly nowhere
Things rip apart like a tornado
If one chooses the wrong path
They can be left holding a hot potato

It will often be a blunder
If one chooses to plunder
It may leave them to wonder
Why their mind is filled with thunder

Nobody