Chapter 517

Dignity

John Henry went through Cameron's files, the ones on her latest strike mission. He made sure they were ready so John could view them as well. He was able to retrieve them from her when he 'visited' her in lab server.

Cameron didn't usually allow such access of her files. It was at Savannah's urging that she do so in this instance so they could try to prevent damage like this to Cameron and the other Terminators as well going forward.

John returned from the lab area when Vanna chased him away earlier. He walked into the Command Center.

"How's Cameron doing?" John Henry asked.

John was still a little miffed at being sent away. He was as turned on as he was repulsed to see Cam and Cammy naked. The missing sheath sections were very disturbing however.

"You probably know more than I do." John said.

John Henry did watch the surveillance footage from the lab. He liked to see Cameron, Cam and Cammy naked as well as the other female Terminators that were used for parts. It aided in his studies of females, Metal or otherwise.

"It's best not to dwell on Cameron." John Henry said. "The girls will have her fixed up in no time. You know that."

John did know that. He was also worried about her earlier behavior. That was unlike Cameron to show up with facial damage. That breech may indicate chip damage.

"What about her program?" John asked.

John Henry was sure that was due to some loose or damaged connectors. Cameron seemed fine to him in the lab server.

"I think that it's fine." John Henry said. "Once repairs are made everything will be properly connected again. There were a few loose wires so to speak."

John was well aware how that worked. He'd dealt with that issue before. That was when Cameron tried to kill him. She said she'd fixed herself and that she loved him. He pulled her chip anyway. It still haunted him how she begged for her life and that she didn't want to 'go'. What if he would have believed her back then? Would things have been different going forward? Would Riley - Future Riley still have happened? Would he have been closer to Cameron if he took her at her word that she loved him? He loved her but he didn't want to admit it back then. That was his mistake again. Cameron told him. He should have reciprocated. He needed to refocus.

"Do you know what went wrong?" John asked.

John Henry learned the 'trouble' was because of the lag in time.

"Yes, it was the delay of her strike on her original target the night Cammy and Savannah were attacked." John Henry said. "From what I gather, the two groups were not directly related."

John could understand that. It was the injuries to Cameron that concerned him. How was she so badly damaged? He was worried about a new weapon.

"So what went wrong?" John asked. "What new weapon did they use on her?"

John Henry wasn't sure if there were any 'new' weapons. It was a violent attack from the start.

"Since her original target wasn't hit the night she'd planned, they must have seen the news reports about the 'gang drug war'." John Henry said. "We suppressed as much of that as possible. It appears they'd fortified their operation as a result. It looks like they were running drugs as well to finance their operation."

John found the 'drug' aspect as somewhat ironic. That was what Cameron made it out to be for the police to find.

"So if Cameron would have hit them when she wanted with the Metal girls, everything would have gone fine and she would've exterminated them with less difficulty." John said. "The 'new' group with the sketches and Terminators messed that up."

John Henry figured Cameron would have fared much better. He could play some of the images from Cameron's visual files.

"We can look at most of what occurred." John Henry said.

John Henry played Cameron's video file for John to view. Cameron was alone and up against about twenty assailants. None appeared to be Metal. She went right in the front door and tore the place apart. All of the assailants were armed and ready. They were expecting to repel a local drug gang, not a Terminator.

John was a little disturbed at what he watched. Cameron walked right into the middle of a barrage of gunfire from the start. There were a lot of people.

"Did she have her armor on?" John asked. "I can't tell by the video file. I see people attacking her and her killing them."

John Henry reviewed the projectiles removed from Cameron. It was standard ammunition. It was the intense volume that caused the damage.

"Yes." John Henry said. "It was the fact she took multiple hits that caused the damage, not special projectiles. Her armor saved her from termination."

John didn't like what he'd watched. He asked John Henry show it to him again. He wanted his troops better protected.

"I want better armor for all our personnel including the Terminators." John said. "This can't happen again. This could have ended much differently if there were more Grays or if they'd used better weapons."

John Henry understood what the real problem was. It wasn't the body armor. It was the nature of the attack.

"I've already started on that." John Henry said. "Having additional personnel to accompany her would have helped as well."

John knew that too. He didn't want to say it. If he confronted Cameron with that fact, it was going to lead to a big argument. He didn't really have any control over her.

"Don't you think I know that?" John snapped and then softened his tone. "I'm sorry. It's that she just doesn't listen sometimes."

John Henry thought she didn't listen a lot more than 'sometimes' It was almost always 'never'. He understood why too.

"She wants to keep the rest of us safe." John Henry said.

John wanted Cameron 'safe' too. He knew he should lead the assaults, not Cameron. That was why she went off on her own, so he wouldn't be endangered.

"Let's watch it again." John said.

They continued to view Cameron's video file. They watched her move from position to position as she killed everyone in her path.

John could see when Cameron took hits. Her video feed moved a few times suddenly. Those were shots to her head. If that was him, he would be dead. He wanted to know what else was involved with this group. He wanted some payback.

"When was this?" John asked.

John Henry knew the time frame. It wasn't that recent.

"This was two days ago." John Henry said.

John needed to think about that. Cameron was away for two days in damaged condition. It was clear she hadn't been at one hundred percent either. Who knows what else may have happened.

"Where did she go after this? She was partially healed up before we saw her." John said. "She changed her clothes someplace. The ones she wore would be nothing but bloody rags based on the damage to her."

John Henry only had the file he obtained from Cameron to work with. It was incomplete.

There were blank spaces in the video and then there was nothing until she was back with John and John Henry in the Command Center.

The blank spots bothered John. He was aware that there were times when Cameron thought she was 'Allison' that also contained blank spots. It was during those times that Cameron didn't know she was a Terminator. Since she was shot up, this was different. There was a nagging concern in the back of his mind.

"Did she erase those parts?" John asked. "Could something else have happened to her that she didn't want us to see?"

John Henry knew where John was headed with this line of questioning. There was no other evidence other than what they could view. It wasn't good to speculate. He wanted to stick to the facts.

"I don't think so." John Henry said. "Her chip port was damaged and not everything worked like it should have."

John feared that something sinister may have happened to Cameron. He knew that was a 'fear' of hers. She was worried she would be incapacitated and assaulted.

"Is there any chance she was captured?" John asked.

John Henry could only go by what was there.

"That's unknown based on what we can view." John Henry said. "I saw no evidence of tampering in her files. If she was, she evidently got away."

John wasn't sold on that idea. It seemed too convenient. He could think of a few things that might have occurred. He wanted to watch everything again and look for further clues.

"Let's review everything again…." John said. "Look for anything out of the ordinary."

John wondered if Cameron was captured. If she was, what would that lead to? Maybe someone pulled her chip and copied it and erased the fact she was captured and that they'd changed anything. They could have followed her back to either base or even gotten that information from her chip. It was a sobering thought. In fact if of any their Metal was captured, it would lead back to all of their operations and details.

He wanted to institute a better procedure for tracking the team members, both human and Metal. There was too much that could go wrong. This latest episode with Cameron was evidence of that.

He thought about going to full alert but that seemed to be past the time to do that. If they were going to get hit, it most likely would have happened already.

Cameron dressed after Vanna left. There were clean clothes waiting for her. She left the lab. She wanted to get things straightened out with everyone.

She went to Sarah's room. She knocked and waited.

Kyle opened the door. He was surprised to see her again. He looked at her for a few seconds but didn't comment. He could see she'd been repaired.

"Come in, Cameron." Kyle said.

Jan ran up to Cameron and wanted her to pick her up, so she did.

"You're a big girl now." Cameron said.

Jan touched the sutures on Cameron's face and neck.

"You'll always be able to pick me up." Jan said. "I wanted to make sure you were OK. You're my sister."

Cameron tilted her head slight and smiled. She was Jan's 'sister in law' so to speak. That was if her marriage to John would have been official. She wasn't sure a human could actually marry a machine.

"I'm fine." Cameron said. "Thank you."

Sarah could see Cameron was back to 'normal'. Her appearance would still need some time. She felt very guilty about her earlier comment when she was angry at Kyle.

"Cameron, I'm sorry." Sarah said. "I'm sorry for how I spoke to you earlier. I wasn't angry at you."

Cameron was surprised to hear that. She was worried she'd acted inappropriately.

"I came to apologize for whatever I may have said or done." Cameron said. "I wasn't operating at one hundred percent. If I upset or offended anyone, it wasn't my intention."

Kyle took Jan off to play. He left Sarah and Cameron alone. He could see Sarah wanted some private time.

Sarah gave Cameron a hug.

"I'm so sorry for everything, Cameron." Sarah said. "We all know you're doing more than everyone else combined. I know I can be a real jackass sometimes."

Cameron knew that they didn't always like the way she did things. It was her that offended everyone with her actions.

"No, Sarah." Cameron said. "It's I who has done things to offend EVERYONE."

Cameron and Sarah spent a long time going over a lot of things….

They both felt the needed to atone for some of the actions of the past. It was a real moment of healing and friendship. There was no animosity between them. That was all in the past.

Savannah returned to her room after Cameron was repaired. She needed to change her clothes and get cleaned up.

A knock came at Savannah's door.

Savannah rushed to open it.

It was Cameron.

Cammy was busy out doing other things. Savannah didn't think it was by chance.

Cameron and Savannah just stood there looking at each other, neither one of them spoke.

Savannah rushed forward and gave Cameron a giant hug. She'd been very worried about Cameron.

Cameron could feel the love radiate off of Savannah. She knew that Savannah cared about her. She was worried she'd taken things too far earlier because she'd basically attempted to 'kidnap' Savannah and run off with her.

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

Savannah didn't think she should be. Cameron was damaged. Things happen.

"There's nothing to be sorry about." Savannah said.

Cameron thought that there was. She'd said a lot of things and been willing to do even more.

"I acted and spoke inappropriately." Cameron said.

Savannah didn't think so. She believed that Cameron spoke the truth earlier.

"Did you?" Savannah asked.

Savannah and Cameron looked at each other for a long while. They both knew Cameron said and did what she really wanted to do. They both knew that Savannah would have left with Cameron.

Savannah felt her point was made. She didn't want Cameron to feel bad about it. She wanted to provide some 'cover' for Cameron.

"You were damaged." Savannah quickly added. "It was understandable. I never saw it as a problem."

Cameron could see again how much Savannah loved her. She felt the same way. Savannah would never turn against her. That worried her some. If she ever became Skynet, Savannah wouldn't terminate her. Savannah would allow herself to be terminated instead. That was unacceptable to her.

"You've never given up on me EVER." Cameron said. "You've always been there for me. You've saved my life and even prevented me from terminating."

Savannah wasn't ashamed of the way she felt. Cameron was 'everything' to her.

"I love you, Cameron." Savannah said. "I've always loved you from the day YOU first saved me. I'll always love you. I'll love you forever."

Cameron knew that forever was a long time.

"I love you too, Savannah." Cameron said.

Cameron gave Savannah another long close hug and left.

Savannah watched Cameron go. She felt tears in her eyes and cried tears in her heart….

She didn't know how to give Cameron everything she wanted and not hurt her. She knew EVERYTHING Cameron wanted her to do. Maybe it was time. IT was what Cameron wanted.

Savannah wanted to give Cameron everything that she wanted as well. They both wanted the same things. It was the 'Natural Order'.

Cameron decided it was time to find John. She didn't look forward to it. He was going to be upset with her. She didn't like to upset John.

She entered the Command Center. It was time to face the music.

John immediately got up and gave her a hug and kiss. He was very pleased to see her.

Cameron wanted to get the guilt off her chest first. She spoke before John could.

"I'm here to apologize for my behavior." Cameron said. "I spoke and acted inappropriately."

John wanted to tell her he loved her. He didn't want to push things too far.

"Cameron, STOP." John said. "You were damaged. We're all glad you're back and OK. I'm glad you are back and OK."

Cameron thanked both of them for helping her and their understanding.

Earlier Cameron allowed John Henry to see her files related to Savannah. He knew Cameron did and said what she really wanted to do. He wasn't sure why she'd allowed him to see those files unless it was a mistake on her part. He knew Cameron made few mistakes…. Maybe she'd silently 'asked' for his help without asking. He was unsure. He didn't want to address it now, especially in front of John.

"You two can 'rest' for awhile." John Henry said. "I'll work on this."

Cameron touched her cheek. She wasn't perfect yet. She wanted to be perfect for John.

"I need another day before I can 'rest' with John. I'm ashamed at the condition I'm in." Cameron said. "I'll be one hundred percent tomorrow thanks to Cammy and Cam. Their sacrifice is greatly appreciated by me."

John didn't think Cameron looked too bad. The sheath sections were all a perfect match. There were just a lot of stitches.

"Cameron, you know I don't care about that." John said.

Cameron was aware of repairs in areas that John couldn't see tight now. She'd been a little shocked about the missing 'parts'. Everything was repaired now. It would all be perfect tomorrow.

"I do care, John." Cameron said. "It's what little dignity I have left, if any."

John didn't want it to turn into an argument.

"Fine, we can go over the strike." John said quickly. "You know what's best for us."

John knew for Cameron to look perfect for him was important to her. He knew it was something she took pride in doing, to be perfect and Tight. It was one of the things she could do that no one else ever could seem to do as well.

Cammy, Cam and Camille all could, because they were all Cameron clones but none of them ever looked better than her. They all respected her as Cameron Prime and took a step back. He feared that one day one of them would have to step up and relinquish their chassis for Cameron. He'd seen Cam and Cammy, as well as Ally offer their chassis before to Cameron when she was damaged. He wasn't even sure how much original sheath material was still on Cameron's chassis. Between regeneration and replaced sections he would doubt it was very much. In a day she would be perfect again. As good as the day she was constructed. That should be all that mattered. If Cameron was happy, then he would be happy as well.

Cameron was displeased with her current appearance. She wanted to try and prevent such damage again.

"I seem to make more and bigger mistakes. I'm not sure why." Cameron said. "Let's try to see what went wrong…."

Cameron believed it was because she was 'defective'. There could be no other explanation.

Dignity

Everyone wants to have honor
They'd like to do it with pride
Life dictates otherwise at times
Forcing some to cower and hide

Many are caught up on appearance
They are ruled by vanity
Soon that becomes an obsession
As a veiled form of insanity

Perhaps is about self esteem
Things that give one self worth
When one loses focus
Events can be viewed with mirth

Those caught up in themselves
Show their very arrogance
Maybe in actual reality
It's really just ignorance

Until one can grow a backbone
They need to cast off malignity
It is at that point in time
That they will show some dignity

Nobody