Chapter 871

Depressing Down Here

John and John Henry were in the casino hotel Command Center. They currently operated with two laptops. It severely restricted their ability to observe everything as it happened. Currently there was a lot about to happen.

"We have two operations happening at once." John said.

John Henry would have preferred to have been in the Command Center at the Resistance base. They weren't. Because both operations were currently in Nevada, a lot of options that would normally be open to them weren't available.

"Isn't that how it usually is when we're short on resources?" John Henry asked.

John knew that they only needed to concern themselves with Cameron's operation. CamNet took over control of the other operation with Ally.

"It seems that way." John said. "Ally's operation is in CamNet's hands. That's one less thing that we'll need to worry about."

John Henry didn't think it would be a problem either way. The Resistance teams were very resilient and capable. Any encounter that they've been involved with always successfully concluded in their favor. Of course with Cameron involved it never would be over until they won anyway. Defeat wasn't an option for her.

"Our teams will prevail." John Henry said.

The events unfolded before them.

The action started at the two different locations and everything was going to play out, one way or another. More than likely both encounters would become very violent before they concluded. Cameron and Sheila both felt they needed to settle a personal score with the two unknown men who ran them around in circles at the tram stations. That seemed to be a personal vendetta that would be played out at some point. There wasn't a whole lot anyone would be able to do about it either.

Frank moved alongside the building where the drone scans indicated that there were several individuals in rooms along that side. There was a chance someone may make a break for it and jump out of a window to run. He would be there to make sure that they didn't get far.

Cameron led her team forward toward the front of the converted house. Sheila was behind her and Savannah brought up the rear.

Cammy led her team toward the back of the building. Dan was behind her and Gail brought up the rear.

At the exact same time both teams smashed down the doors and entered the structure.

They possessed the thermal imagery from the low flying drone. They knew the approximate location the men were at inside the building.

The interior of the house was almost in total darkness. It didn't slow the teams of Terminators who moved inside down at all.

Cameron and Cammy moved their teams forward.

Frank covered the side of the building as he waited for someone to try and escape through the windows. He heard the two teams make entry and waited. There were two windows on that side and the drone scans indicated if anyone was leaving that way, it would be there. It was unlikely anyone would try to escape that way but he was ready. So far the unknown group had proven itself to be highly unpredictable and exhibited extreme paranoia in their movements.

Cammy, Dan and Gail entered the back of the house at the same time as Cameron's team did in the front. They carried their weapons ready to engage any targets. Into the darkness of the house they proceeded. It was unknown how much opposition they would face. So far in the initial entry there hadn't been any. That could change rather abruptly.

Derek helped Holly finish loading the truck at the big box store. Holly needed to make it look like she was the one who assisted Derek instead of Derek looking like he watched Holly load everything. They didn't want to create a problem or attract unnecessary attention.

When everything was loaded, Holly was going to drive. She looked at Derek and moved around to the passenger's side. She could tell he wanted to drive. She understood that he liked the new truck that Cameron picked out for him. She didn't have a problem with that.

Derek needed to remember that Holly was a machine. She was a Terminator. It was easy to forget when one looked at her. She was very well 'built' and super pretty. He could understand why Riley tried to pursue her before. He always would liked to have pursue Holly himself but Cameron indicated that the Metal girls were off limits to anyone but John. No one was going to argue with her.

Holly wanted to be amicable. Allison taught her she should always interact with the other Resistance members in a positive way.

"Thank you for assisting me." Holly said as Derek drove.

Derek actually felt a little embarrassed about the entire episode. Holly hadn't hesitated one second when it was time to load the truck and started right in. If anything, he was the one that assisted her. She'd done most of the work.

"It was the least I could do." Derek said. "You didn't need my help at all."

Holly was never usually around bulky or heavy items when she was out with others.

"I forget sometimes that I need to watch what I do in front of others." Holly said. "I don't normally need to lift anything other than groceries or shopping bags."

Derek thought Allison was in good hands with Holly as her protector and lover, on several levels. He needed to think about exactly how he would go about the placement of the doors and how long it would take.

"I can have Kyle help me with the installation of the doors. We can probably get one done today and the other one tomorrow." Derek said.

Holly tilted her head slightly. She looked over at Derek. She didn't see what they would need the delay for.

"I'll have the doors installed one hour after we get back." Holly said.

Derek quickly looked back at Holly.

"Do you mean both of them?" Derek asked. "I can help."

Holly knew that she could accomplish the task very quickly by herself. There would most likely be other Terminators to assist her which would speed the process greatly. She could see that Derek wanted to be of assistance. Since it involved him personally and because it was his quarters, she understood his desire to help them.

"That's unnecessary." Holly said. "I do understand your need to assist. I'll allow it."

Derek could see that even as beautiful as Holly was that she was definitely a Terminator through and through. He actually knew that she was constructed in his future as a Restorator and never was a Skynet killing machine even though she was designed along the same template.

"Thanks, I think." Derek said.

Holly checked her phone as Derek drove. She could see that there would be additional help waiting for them when they arrived.

"Bob and Cam will assist us. Jim should return soon as well." Holly said.

Holly noticed Derek looked at her a lot. It was clear what he 'thought'. She wasn't sure how to address the issue. It seemed to be of a personal nature. Her files indicated that she should be of a direct nature. That way there wouldn't be any confusion or supposition.

"I know lately Riley hasn't been 'herself'." Holly said. "I'm not allowed to have sexual relations with a male other than John Connor. I will be deactivated if I do. I want you to understand that is the reason for my restriction."

That statement seemed to catch Derek off guard. He actually felt a little embarrassed.

"What?" Derek asked. "I didn't say that."

Holly based her observation on a normal outing away from the Young residence.

"Your body did…." Holly said. "It happens often when I'm out with Allison. I see the response we 'create' based upon our physical appearance."

Holly always thought it was Allison that excited the males. She didn't want to believe it was because of her voluptuous breast size. She always believed it was because of the beauty of Allison's face.

She always found it strange because she wanted to look like Allison and Allison wanted to look like her. Allison always spent a lot of time fondling her breasts when they were together. She carefully watched Allison when she was with other females and she didn't do the same thing. She did note the few times that Gail was around that she did fondle her breast as well. She asked Allison about it one time. Allison said in the past, the present, that it was a female asset to have large voluptuous well proportioned breasts. In the future it would have been an extreme liability and made a female an even bigger target for abuse and assault.

Derek was a little worried that Holly's observation might cause him some problems. She actually wasn't incorrect with what she observed and determined. He still didn't want it broadcast, especially since he hadn't said anything or made a move.

"I did LOOK at you but that's all. " Derek said. "Please don't tell anyone that. I do find you extremely beautiful. It would be a lie if I said I wasn't attracted to your appearance. I understand that you're much more than your sheath."

Holly looked over at Derek and smiled. None of it actually bothered her. She was used to it.

"Nobody will know." Holly said as she winked at Derek. "It'll be our secret."

Derek looked at Holly and swallowed hard. He couldn't help but think how beautiful she was. He forced himself to return his eyes to the road. He really wondered what it would be like to be with a female Terminator or in this case, a female Restorator.

Hanna took Claire on a tour around the entire facility again. Claire wanted to see everything one more time around the base.

They were off in a secluded part of the base now. She was pretty sure it was the first time that she was in that particular area.

"I don't think I've seen some parts before." Claire said. "Is this a storage area?"

Hanna looked a little uneasy about the area that they were in.

"Yes." Hanna said. "We never come here unless we need to. Nobody likes to come here."

Claire was a little surprised by that statement. She didn't think Terminators would be affected with such thoughts. It actually sounded very 'human like'.

"Why?" Claire asked. "That doesn't sound very 'Terminator like'."

Claire was told the story of Isabel-Cameron and that they thought Cameron's chassis was destroyed. She'd heard the story before but being in the area where it occurred seemed to make it real. The thought of what provoked the incident actually weighed heavily upon her and began to bother her.

She couldn't imagine the torment that must have happened inside of Cameron's mind to make her want to do that. It was self hatred, fueled by the way Cameron was made to feel. What made that worse is that several of the individuals that made her feel that way were the ones that were closest to her and that she cared the most about. It made her wonder how far Cameron actually would have gone on her own.

"Would she really have ruined her body like that?" Claire asked.

Hanna understood the anguish and torment Cameron faced. She didn't exist at the time that event occurred but the components that made up the files on her chip did. She possessed all of those files.

"Yes. She thought she did." Hanna said. "I have files from Holly and Vanna about it. It was what she thought was the best thing to do at that time. She wanted to start over. She wanted to be someone different."

Claire thought everyone wanted to 'start over' at times. She understood that there were times when humans thought the same way. When they felt overwhelmed and all alone, some of them took their own lives. It wasn't common but it wasn't uncommon either. Usually everyone knew someone who'd actually done that. It was very sad in reality because if most people knew that was going to happen to someone that they cared about, they would have tried very hard to help them and prevent it.

Hanna led Claire around a corner and stopped. There was something on the wall. It was impossible to miss. That was the main reason why no Terminators ever wanted to go down there unless they absolutely had to. It was a painful reminder to all of them how far one of them could be driven by torment and agony.

Claire saw the poem carved into the wall. She touched it with her hand. She felt the letters cut into the concrete. To touch the letters that were forever cut into the concrete was very unnerving. The poem and the fact it was there as a reminder to the past.

"That is Cameron's first poem." Claire said as she looked at it. "It is beautiful and sad."

Outsider

When I look in the mirror
I do not like what I see
When I look inside of myself
I do not like what I can not be

I hate what I am
I hate what I am not
I hate everything about me
I understand that covers a lot

I feel so small
It is as if I do not exist
Useless and worthless, a Nobody
Nothing on which to subsist

I am an outsider
Always on the outside looking in
There is so much inside me
To want to share love is not a sin

From this eternal torment, there is no escape
My mind, heart and soul shredded and torn
If I had only one wish, it would be
Never to have been born

Cameron

AKA

Nobody

Hanna told Claire the story of when Cameron did that and the events that followed.

Claire listened to the story and the act of sacrifice it represented. It was still very unsettling to know that the outcome of those events was very uncertain at the time.

"So she knowingly blew herself up with a nuclear bomb?" Claire asked.

Hanna understood things were a little complicated in that regard. At the time the event occurred, no one understood about the temporal events and what they'd actually created.

"It was actually Duplicate Cameron. Nobody knew she was a Duplicate at that time. She didn't either. Cameron was lost or stuck in 'time' at that point." Hanna said. "Cameron would have done the same thing and did later on with the Skynet from the future that you visited."

Claire was aware of that story too and that Savannah stayed with Cameron rather than depart to go to safety and leave Cameron behind. It was because Savannah stayed behind that allowed both of them to be saved. Future Allison and Cammy went after them into the unknown. They all made it back.

It made her feel as proud as it did terrified to know that one version of her daughter knowingly went to where there was a nuclear weapon about to explode to help rescue Cameron and Savannah.

Claire didn't want to see any more pain or personal torment.

"This is depressing down here." Claire said. "Let's go."

Hanna silently nodded. It was why none of the Terminators wanted to go down there unless they absolutely had to.

Bob was very content to watch over Summer and Jan. He liked to watch them play and interact with each other. He could tell they really enjoyed being around each other.

They would make up some game with imaginary players and both of them would be playing it in seconds. They made up what they wanted as they went along. Sometimes they briefly argued over what one of the imaginary people could or couldn't do.

He noted that there always seemed to be an evil creature that tried to hurt and enslave the others in their game. The imaginary people would band together to defeat the evil creature. They would take turns being the one to lead the others to freedom.

Bob realized that they actually battled 'Skynet' in terms that they understood and could control. He knew they both prepared for the battles of the future.

They were the very battles that Sarah taught Jan and Summer, along with Cameron and the other Terminators. The girls were being prepared to fight. Those stories started when they were infants. They built on them as they grew into children and into tweens.

Bob really hated Skynet for what it already did or could still do yet.

Ally sprung the trap against the bikers when they came to accost her behind the abandoned building. It was their actions to trap her which set everything that was about to happen now into motion. It was their choice, not hers.

They could have simply passed on by and not bothered to mess with her at all. They all decided to make a different choice.

Ally was able to distance herself away from the bikers. She needed to travel three miles. It would take less than four minutes to cover that distance at the speed she traveled over the rough dirt road. The SUV bounced along wildly at those speeds on the old rutted dirt road.

She looked in her rear view mirror and saw the bikers fall behind on the rough road as they tried to see in the dust clouded darkness.

The bikers needed to let the dust cloud that they were enveloped in dissipate some so they could actually see where they needed to go. It was very hard for them to tell where the actual road was because of the dust cloud. They were pretty sure that the road would dead end up ahead because of the canyon that they knew was there. They wanted to hurry but they didn't need to hurry that much because they were sure the Bitch in the SUV would run out of road.

Ally followed the dirt road and headed for the west end of the excavation site. There was a small canyon located behind it. She passed around a ten foot wide shaft opening in the earth and headed out onto a pile of tailings that were dumped into the canyon a hundred years ago.

She slowed her pace as she neared her destination. She spun the SUV around so it would face the bikers as they approached. She was on a peninsula of tailings, which extended into the canyon. The canyon was around three sides of her now. Everything was exactly like CamNet indicated that it would be.

Ally readied her M4. She checked its hundred round magazine. She may or may not need to use it. That was up to the bikers once they arrived. They would be given a choice to make once again. That was something that was to be done at Young Allison's request. She was sure that once the bikers thought she was cornered that there would be some type of 'demands' made upon her before they acted.

She listened as the motorcycles drew closer. She could see their headlight beams dancing in the dust cloud that she'd left behind her.

Ally exited the SUV and moved around to the front of it. She placed her M4 on the hood and stood in the darkness. She waited for the bikers to arrive. She held the SUV's remote, ready to activate the headlights as she stood between them.

The sound of the motorcycles grew louder as they approached. The motorcycles almost sounded angry. It was a thunderous roar. They weren't moving excessively fast at this point at all. They were sure that their prey was cornered and they all prepared to feast on that pray once they got their hands on it

The other sounds she heard were music to her ears, all of the other sounds…. They were sounds that only she could hear right now but they were there. Everything was as CamNet indicated that it would be. She felt very confident about what would unfold.

It meant her team was ready to face off with the biker threat.

Ally smiled and tried not to laugh. She really wished that Sheila was here with her. She thought that Sheila would enjoy it even more than she did.

Young Allison watched the drone footage at both locations as well as the body cam footage from all of their team members. There was a lot to take in all at once.

She was worried about all of them but especially about Savannah and Cameron.

Both of the operations were about to go hot with a lot of gunfire.

Anna could see that Young Allison was pumped full of adrenaline and her heartbeat increased dramatically. She didn't even need to scan her to tell those events happened inside of her.

"You're getting stressed out." Anna said. "That's not good for your health."

Anna stood and moved to Young Allison and started to scan her. She wanted to see Young Allison's reactions more than she was actually worried about any detrimental effects. This would be an indication of what her stress levels would be during combat on her first encounter.

Young Allison was a little irritated that Anna was going to scan her. She was going to say something at first but she thought about it a little bit more. Savannah told her how to help Terminators when they were stressed out at times. She understood this was one of those times. She appreciated Savannah's insight greatly.

"Any of them could be hurt or damaged." Young Allison said.

Young Allison felt Anna touch her neck. She knew Anna was stressed too, to scan her made Anna worry less. She allowed Anna to scan her to help Anna.

"Yes." Anna said. "We will emerge as the victors."

Young Allison could see that things were about to come to a head where Ally was. There was no turning back at this point. She still knew that the bikers might have one more chance in order to save themselves.

"I sure hope so." Young Allison said. "There are people that are about to die soon."

Young Allison was aware she was going to be responsible for what happened where Ally was. It was her plan enacted by CamNet.

Claire and Hanna passed by the Command Center.

"This place seems empty." Claire said. "I saw a lot of action happen in here before."

Hanna was aware of the two operations that were in progress.

"John is out with John Henry." Hanna said. "There are several operations currently underway now."

Claire never wanted to be a bother before and disturb John and John Henry while they were at work. Now that no one was in the Command Center she wondered if they could view some of what went on. She was aware of how much time that her daughter spent in the bunker at their house going over all of the information as well. It bothered her some that her daughter didn't have social interaction with other children her age and would rather be involved with Resistance matters.

"Can we see them?" Claire asked.

Hanna hadn't followed the operations directly but she was aware that things were going to go hot on them soon. She didn't think Claire needed to see that. She didn't believe it would do anything other than upset her and cause her unnecessary stress and anguish.

"I don't think that's a good idea." Hanna said. "They'll cause you much stress."

Claire still thought it was a good opportunity since there was no one else around. She could always tell Young Allison didn't like when she was down there or to watch her. Right now there was no one else where they were at.

"I see them in the bunker at MY house." Claire said. "MY daughter is watching them right now."

Hanna thought it was important to point out that there was a difference between Young Allison and Claire.

"That's her future, not yours." Hanna said.

Claire was painfully aware of some of the things that happened to her daughter in the future. She knew that bad things happen to her in any future that there was.

"I don't want it to be her future." Claire said. "I've lived in that future, I've seen it with my own eyes."

Claire hoped that future never happened for her daughters, any of them.

One Of Our Best

Is it really nothing more
Than beneath the breast and chest
Two hearts beating inside them
A journey in which to invest

Will the feelings that develop
Be something both can digest
Or will one run afoul
Soon the other egest

Maybe it will lead
To the construction of a nest
Or even worse still
One will become a pest

Will it be a shrinking path
Or magnificent and manifest
Maybe a shared future
The events will suggest

If life is a puzzle or quiz
Have we not passed the test
I think we both can say this was
One of our best

Nobody