Chapter 938

That Wasn't The Point

Cameron approached Savannah and Young Allison. She didn't know what she was going to hear or see. She felt it was going to be bad news. There was no other explanation for any of this. If Young Allison made this attempt to change the future from the past, something terrible must have happened.

She hoped if it was something bad, that it was to her and not to Savannah or John. That would be news she couldn't exist with. Maybe that's what happened and she self terminated. Young Allison may have been the only one left.

Wait.

If Young Allison went into the past to accelerate her age in the present, John must survive. If both John and Savannah were terminated, there would be no need for 'temporal aging'. If it was only Savannah that survived, she would accept Young Allison however she was. Young Allison wouldn't need to go into the past.

Cameron was very thankful John returned to the Resistance base. He was safer there than if he'd remained in Las Vegas. That was one less worry for her.

She could see both girls put on a brave face. They both stood tall to whatever it was. That made her very proud of them. They were the most special people in her existence, John was too, she remembered.

"Hi, Cameron." Young Allison said.

Young Allison tears were now wiped away.

"Hi, Allison." Cameron said.

Savannah and Young Allison both saw Cameron try to hide her glitching hand.

Savannah reached for it but Young Allison took it before she could.

In that instant, Savannah knew she'd been 'replaced'. It didn't surprise her. She'd waited too long for Cameron to act on her own. She always wanted to make sure it was Cameron's 'choice'. She never wanted Cameron to feel she'd pressured her into a sexual relationship.

When that relationship happened, it would be a love relationship where emotional love was shared and experienced physically.

Savannah was in Cameron's future. With her own eyes she'd witnessed how it was there. In that future, it was Future Allison and Duplicate Cameron that shared their relationship with Future John and Future Savannah. Savannah knew it would be the same in this timeline. It was as clear as it could be.

Maybe Cameron could only truly share herself with 'herself'. Maybe it was the version of herself that she could actually love. Maybe it was the version of herself she didn't need to hate. Maybe it was freedom for her.

Cameron looked at Savannah and reached over with her other hand and took Savannah's hand.

Savannah was very grateful for that act. It showed it was still the three of them. Nobody was being excluded or sidelined.

"It's all THREE of us." Cameron said. "It will ALWAYS be that way."

Savannah gently squeezed Cameron's hand and Cameron gently squeezed it back.

"It's actually all FOUR of us." Young Allison said.

Savannah and Cameron looked at each other. That was unexpected from Young Allison. It was clear she was ready to embrace the future and everything that it offered.

The happy smile slowly evaporated from Cameron's face. The glum look returned.

Cameron debated what was to happen next. Did she really want to know the future? She would try and change it too. She must not have survived to change it herself.

"Do I want to know?" Cameron finally asked.

"Allison has made it possible for it to remain all FOUR of us." Savannah said.

The realization of those words hit home. They left Cameron with a very unpleasant feeling. She always knew it was going to happen sooner or later. She was actually surprised it hadn't happened already. She debated with herself if she wanted to know how she 'went out'. She hoped it was with some dignity. She'd watched plenty of other people that she'd terminated not go out with dignity. Maybe there was no dignity in termination. Maybe there was only nothingness.

"How was I terminated?" Cameron finally asked.

Savannah was able to give Cameron some good news.

"You weren't." Savannah said.

Cameron felt a strong impulse as to who was terminated in her place. It must have been Savannah. No wonder Young Allison would change the future. She would do it as well to save Savannah.

"Oh, Savannah – NO…." Cameron said. "N O…."

Young Allison firmly held Cameron's hand to prevent the glitch. She wanted to reassure Cameron. She was able to manage one of her beautiful smiles. She looked at Cameron and then at Savannah.

"You both made it." Young Allison said.

Cameron wasn't sure if she understood. She was sure that either Savannah or her must have been terminated. That seemed to leave only one other individual that would matter to the future.

"You were in the past, so you made it too." Cameron said. "John…."

Young Allison wanted to make it clear to everyone. She wanted what was hers to have.

"Nobody is going to steal MY future from me." Young Allison said. "OUR future…."

Young Allison and Savannah went over the note with Cameron. They called Cammy and Sheila over to join them. Anna remained behind.

Young Allison waved her over. Anna was very important to her. She was with her almost every hour she was awake every day. She saw her all the time. She dreamt about her too.

"I don't leave anyone behind." Young Allison said. "I won't leave anyone behind."

The fact that they currently looked at the note and it was from inside Cammy seemed to be proof of Young Allison's resolve to make sure everyone made it.

Anna was just as confused as everyone else about all the drama involved up to this point.

"Nobody is going to die?" Anna asked.

Anna understood the true meaning of her words.

Young Allison smiled at all of them.

"Nope…." Young Allison said. "Not on MY watch."

Sheila was more impressed with Young Allison with every new turn of events.

"She isn't 'nitro'." Sheila said. "She's an atomic bomb."

Savannah couldn't help but think about what was in the bottom of the mine.

"That's an H-bomb to be exact." Savannah said.

Apparently Young Allison did her homework on the best way to bring down the Skynet operation and prevent the construction and detonation of any Cobalt bombs.

"That's what stops the C-bomb." Young Allison said. "It will."

It was apparent that they were going to use an H-bomb from the past to prevent Skynet from constructing C-bombs in the present and future. Based upon what limited information they actually possessed, that appeared to be exactly what was going on inside of the mine.

John watched the drone footage of the three trucks that were now driven into the desert away from the road. The Metal girls were in the process of deconstructing them. There was a mess of metal and other debris around each one. He was very impressed to watch them work. The only tools they used were their hands. If any of them ran into a rough spot, another one of the Metal girls came over to assist them. It didn't appear there was anything they couldn't destroy.

"The Metal girls are literally ripping the trailers apart." John said.

John Henry was aware the trucks were associated with the Syndicate. They attempted to operate the trucks as a legitimate trucking service. They usually hauled contraband of some type. From what information he could gather on the Syndicate, the trucks could haul anything from illegal narcotics to alcohol or cigarettes to avoid taxes in certain states. The Syndicate was all about money. Everything that they did revolved around it. It appeared that Skynet was able to get a foothold in the Syndicate operation in Las Vegas. That gave them access to the entire criminal network that the Syndicate was formed around.

His research on the three trailers that the Metal girls were now in the process of destroying, were part of the fleet of a nationwide trucking service. They were 'ghost trailers' that only existed on paperwork if someone would check on them. Even though they physically existed, they didn't exist electronically at any other time unless someone specifically searched for them. There was no doubt in any of their minds that because of the contraband that was smuggled in them that there were going to be hidden compartments in various places on the different trailers. Some of them may be in the same place; other ones would be in different places. By literally tearing the trailers apart, they would be able to find every hidden compartment. He decided to keep things simple for John for now.

"They're searching for contraband." John Henry said.

The girls all headed for one trailer when it was apparent something was found.

The drone image disappeared from their screens.

John's first instinct was that a Skynet jamming field had just gone into effect. He knew if that was the case, it was going to spell bad news. If Skynet thought it was about to be attacked or felt threatened, it would most likely deploy whatever C-bombs that it could to initiate the destruction of mankind. He didn't want to go too far down that path of speculation. He hoped John Henry actually had some facts.

"Why have we lost drone coverage?" John asked. "Is it Skynet?"

John Henry knew it wasn't Skynet. It was the next closest thing though.

"It's not Skynet. Not yet anyway. CamNet has control of the drones." John Henry said. "An educated guess would be that they found some 'contraband'."

John was most concerned about two types of 'contraband' if that were the case.

"Do you think it is the Cobalt or the nuclear weapons?" John asked.

John Henry could see that John was very concerned about the nuclear weapons. He'd pointed out to John before that if Cameron wanted to obtain them that she could do it anytime that they existed. He'd actually thought Cameron exhibited remarkable self control by not obtaining more of them already.

"John, Cameron can obtain or fabricate atomic weapons at any time if she wants to." John Henry said. "Everyone she controls herself is one more denied to Skynet's use."

John always needed to remind him of Cameron's biggest fear. She'd told him of it on multiple occasions.

"That's until Cameron becomes Skynet." John said.

John Henry just didn't believe that was going to happen. Not anymore. It wouldn't be Cameron who would become Skynet.

"You saw the THREE of them earlier. You saw Savannah, Young Allison and Cameron." John Henry said. "Do you think either of those girls is going to allow that to happen?"

It would seem as long as they all loved each other that it wouldn't happen.

Things happen and things change, nothing was written in stone. The future was fluid.

"I don't know." John said. "Their love for Cameron is strong."

John Henry wanted to remind John of the 'Natural Order'. He believed as a group that the four of them were stronger than anyone or two of them alone. He thought the sooner everybody got on board that things would be a lot smoother for all of them.

"Then you better start doing your part.…" John Henry said. "If it is the FOUR of you, you will all hold each other 'together'. The sum of each of you alone will be magnified ten times as a four member 'unit'. The four of you together will be unstoppable."

John hung his head for a few seconds. There was no way around it. The 'Natural Order' was unstoppable and would exist no matter what. He'd tried to resist it for as long as he could. He could see that there was no stopping it. Cameron was determined to make it happen even if she needed to make it happen herself. Sometimes everyone needed to be reminded that they couldn't fight 'City Hall'.

"I'll do what Cameron wants." John said.

Sometimes John Henry wondered if John ever listened to what Cameron told him. He knew that John heard her but he didn't think that he actually listened to what she said. None of what was happening was Cameron's doing on her own. She's simply carried out the desires and wishes of Future John. It was the same John that currently sat right next to him.

"It's more than what Cameron wants. It's what you want." John Henry said. "It's what Savannah and Young Allison want. YOU are the one who wants them."

John thought of how hot Savannah was. Young Allison would soon look exactly like Future Allison did…. Both of the girls would be his. They would at least be Cameron's and she would share with him. He really wanted to be the 'first' for each of them. That was something that he really wanted with Savannah and Young Allison.

"Cameron will guide all of us." John said.

The path was unsure but the destination was known. It would be the journey to the destination that would be the eye opener. It would be an adventure.

"Then that shows your love for Cameron is strong." John Henry said. "Sacrifice is the greatest component of love. It's to put the needs of the ones you love, before your own needs. It's the willingness to do anything for the ones you love. Everyone…."

John knew what John Henry was going to say. He didn't want to hear it.

"DON'T SAY IT." John interrupted him.

John hated hearing that. It made him feel bad most of the time. He didn't think there was anything about him that anybody should sacrifice anything for.

"Everyone sacrifices for John Connor." A voice said from the hallway.

John quickly looked over in the direction of the open door.

"Damn." John said.

John jumped up to look and see who it was. He felt very confrontational right now.

It was Sarah walking by with Jan and Summer.

John cooled down real fast when he saw who it was. He knew that was an argument he was never going to win. He was curious as to who actually said that though.

"Did Summer say that?" John asked.

Sarah looked at Jan and Summer. She wasn't about to squeal on either of the girls.

"Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't." Sarah said.

John was sure it was Summer.

Summer smiled at John as Jan led her away.

"You two go on." Sarah said to Jan and Summer. "I'll catch up in a minute."

John watched his sister and Summer walk away. Once they were out of earshot, he turned and faced his mother.

"Who taught her that?" John asked.

Sarah didn't think it was a big deal. Everybody knew what was in store for John.

"Everyone…." Sarah said.

Sarah looked around. She decided to lay it out to John. She'd viewed the Terminator version of Summer with her own eyes. Metal Summer was a total knockout.

"You already know what she will look like as a teenager." Sarah whispered and walked away.

Sarah glanced back at John.

"Let's see you say 'No' to that…." Sarah said. "I can tell you right now that I wouldn't."

Sarah winked at John with the last statement.

John thought back on how beautiful Summer – Metal Summer was. He knew Cameron sent her away because Summer's beauty was greater than her own. That was something Nobody could accomplish except Summer.

What position would Summer fill in the future? What was her role? What would Cameron do about her? Would Cameron banish her to the future or the past? He thought about it a little more and decided he wouldn't mind if she was thrown into the mix. There was just something about her that was extremely captivating. Besides, there was something else that he wanted from her as well.

The Metal girls tore the entire floor of the trailer up. They'd already knocked off the sides and roof.

Ally didn't like doing manual labor or repetitive tasks. She found them incredibly boring and would rather be elsewhere.

"Why do we have to do this?" Ally asked. "We're lovers not some kind of wrecking crew."

Hanna threw some metal debris down on the ground as she passed by Ally.

"You just miss Sheila." Hanna said.

Ally did Miss Sheila. She was also worried about her. Somehow Sheila was tied in deep with whatever was happening now. The 'Allison' inside of her always was attracted to 'any version of 'Vanna'. Hanna was the Terminator version of Vanna.

"You're here…." Ally said as she reminisced of old times.

Gail didn't like Ally complaining. There was to be no lollygagging.

"Get back to work." Gail said. "Cameron needs this done ASAP."

Cam didn't like Gail telling her team what to do.

"Who put you in charge?" Cam asked. "This is my team now."

Gail didn't want to get into a power struggle with Cam. She decided to give her a reminder as to who was in charge and it was what they said is what mattered.

"Cameron did." Gail said. "Cameron Prime put me in charge of the 'recovered items'. It's still your team. I'm personally responsible for any contraband that's confiscated."

Gail just no so subtly reminded Cam she was only a clone of Cameron.

Cam didn't want any trouble with Cameron. She looked at Ally with a look of disgust on her face.

"Get back to work." Cam said. "Cameron needs this done ASAP."

Ally didn't like manual labor. She didn't need Cam to repeat what she'd already heard.

"Is there an echo out here?" Ally asked. "I didn't think the desert echoed."

Samantha could see the tension level continued to rise.

"Watch it." Samantha said.

Ally saw that Cam and Gail moved away from where she was at with Samantha.

"How soon will it be until you're deactivated?" Ally whispered.

Samantha looked around to make sure no one was listening. She understood what Ally's question really was. She hoped to experience that before she was deactivated permanently.

"Hopefully after we 'hook up', I want to try it." Samantha whispered back.

Ally wondered what Samantha's primary interest actually was in her. She figured it was the same as everyone else's was.

"Is that because I look like 'Cameron'?" Ally asked.

Samantha found Cameron to be highly desirable. Her beauty was next to none. Cam and Cammy came in at a close second. It looked like Ally brought up the rear.

"Beggars can't be choosy." Samantha said.

Ally actually hoped for a better answer than that. That left her feeling a little self-conscious about herself. She was about to respond in a negative manner when somebody else spoke.

"I found something…."

It looked like they'd just hit 'pay dirt'.

Savannah read the note again. It was very vague and non descriptive. It was intentional. She looked at Young Allison.

"It says you have a 'code word' for Cammy and Sheila." Savannah said. "It will unlock the files related to this 'mission'."

Sheila thought that was over complicated.

"Why doesn't it say the code word on the paper?" Sheila asked.

Cameron could think of the obvious reason. It was clear Young Allison wanted to maintain control.

"It's so only Allison - Young Allison can activate it herself." Cameron said.

Young Allison shrugged her shoulders. It could be hundreds of things if not more. She didn't have a clue. She said the first thing that popped into her head. There was a movie that she saw one time that everyone else seemed to think was a great movie. She had a different interpretation about the movie herself. There was one line in the beginning of the movie but it didn't make sense until the end.

"Rosebud…." Young Allison said.

Cammy and Sheila looked at each other.

"Nothing is happening." Cammy said.

Sheila hoped that she would feel something. She didn't.

"I don't have anything either." Sheila said.

Savannah didn't want Young Allison to fool around. This was a very critical time that they were in currently. They needed to know more about the mine and specifically the H-bomb buried in the bottom of it.

"Stop fooling around, Allison." Savannah said. "She saw that in a movie called, 'Citizen Kane'."

The Metal girls all accessed their files on 'Citizen Kane' and 'Rosebud'.

The answer was illogical on several levels to the Metal girls.

"A snow sled would be inappropriate for this climate and location." Sheila said.

Savannah was aware that the Metal girls took some things a little too literal at times. This appeared to be one of those times.

"That wasn't the point." Savannah said. "It actually referred to happiness, joy and hopefulness."

Cameron, Cammy, Anna and Sheila all tilted their heads slightly. Cammy, Anna and Cameron did it exactly the same way at the same time. They all ran the same base program.

Cameron didn't think Young Allison knew what the word was. She actually hadn't done this after all, at least not yet.

"Do you know what the code word is?" Cameron asked. "You actually haven't set it yet. That's still in the future, which needs to be carried over into the past."

Young Allison racked her brain and hoped something would pop into it. She thought it would be something bold and distinctive. All she did was continue to draw a blank. She wanted to be honest with Cameron.

"I don't know." Young Allison said.

Cameron was very concerned about that answer. It wasn't good enough.

"You have to know." Cameron said. "You did this. You locked up their files. You have to know."

Young Allison felt everything that she said would only be a guess. There was nothing that stood out distinctively. She wanted to be honest with Cameron since she knew how critical the information was.

"I don't know, Cameron." Young Allison said. "It could be a million things."

Savannah was more than a little concerned herself. She knew they were on a timetable and that no one knew what that timetable was.

"It has to be something unique and distinctive." Savannah said.

That seemed to trigger a response in both Sheila and Cammy.

Sheila grabbed Cammy's arm.

"It was a question." Sheila said.

Cammy looked at Young Allison.

"It was a question from the future." Cammy said.

Young Allison wasn't sure how she was supposed to know the future if she'd only been in the present.

"I haven't lived in the future yet." Young Allison said.

The talk about the future gave Sheila another clue. She got it out there as quickly as possible for Young Allison to use.

"It's not your future. I believe it's from Cameron's future…." Sheila said. "It's something that already happened."

Cameron's hand started to glitch again. This was all coming back on her. It seemed that is where everything ended up anyway.

Young Allison and Savannah both reached for Cameron's hand. Savannah stopped short. She yielded to Young Allison.

Young Allison felt it was Cameron that held the key.

"Tell me, Cameron." Young Allison said.

Cameron thought back to a phrase that seemed to haunt her. It was usually followed by her being the one that needed to sacrifice. She'd actually first heard it from Future Jesse.

"Will you join us…." Cameron stated.

Savannah wondered why Cameron was confused. They were all right there together.

"We're all here with you." Savannah said.

Cameron wanted to clarify her response.

"That's the 'phrase'." Cameron said. "That was the question."

Savannah looked at Cammy and Sheila. Nothing looked any different.

Cammy and Sheila both shrugged their shoulders. It was clear nothing happened.

"Why didn't it work when you said it?" Savannah asked.

Cameron quickly realized why it didn't work. It was because she'd said it.

"All of our voice modulations are unique, like fingerprints." Cameron said. "They are all slightly different. That is how we can tell each other's voice apart from one another, even if we're 'identical'."

Savannah wanted Young Allison to get the phrase out there immediately.

"Say it, Allison." Savannah said. "We don't know what the timetable is."

Young Allison placed Cameron's hand in Savannah's hand and faced Cammy and Sheila.

"Will you join us?" Young Allison asked.

Cammy and Sheila looked at each other. They both became clearly alarmed within seconds.

It was obvious whatever information they held was something bad.

Cammy looked around at their current location. It wasn't where they wanted to be right now.

"We need to get away from here." Cammy said.

Savannah wondered how much time they actually had.

"When, right now?" Savannah asked.

Sheila looked at Cammy with grave concern before she looked back at Savannah. They were in serious trouble right now.

"We needed to be away from here about twenty minutes ago." Sheila said. "We've missed the deadline that was set for some reason."

Cameron pointed at the SUV. If they needed to get moving, they needed to get started right now.

"Let's go." Cameron said.

Cammy didn't believe they would be able to get far enough away from the danger zone. There wasn't enough time.

"We won't make it." Cammy said.

There was an unmistakable noise in the sky.

The Metal girls all looked up.

"Drones…." Cameron said. "It's a group of them."

Savannah moved to put herself between the drones and Young Allison. It was clear that they'd been caught in the open.

"Are they attacking?" Young Allison asked. "There's nowhere to go…."

All of the girls feared that by stopping and taking the trucks that they'd triggered something at the mine. It appeared that Skynet wanted to get what was ever taken from it back. Right now they stumbled upon the group of girls.

John didn't receive much information from where the two groups of girls were. They were mostly in the 'dark' as events played out.

John Henry suddenly received radar contact information. He knew it was only one thing.

"I just picked up what has to be bad news." John Henry said.

John figured it was the usual source of their trouble.

"Is it Skynet activity?" John asked.

That seemed like the logical choice to John Henry based on the fact that they just intercepted and confiscated the trucks that were headed to the mine.

"It's a force of drones is approaching the girls." John Henry said. "There are actually two separate groups of them."

John didn't know how they could be surprised like that. Any group of drones must have come from a local source. That was probably the mine. They had two drones in the area earlier. He wondered where they were at.

"Where did they come from?" John asked. "Why aren't our other drones engaging them?"

John Henry lost contact with the drones once CamNet took control of them. He didn't see them in the air any longer. There was only one place they could be.

"Our drones that were there earlier appear to be on the ground." John Henry said.

John can only think of one conclusion if there was a force of enemy drones on the way.

"Do you mean they were shot down?" John asked. "Beautiful…."

That Wasn't The Point

One must do as they say
Not as they do
Does that sound fair
In anyone's view

One must treat others
As they want to be treated
Anything less than that
Leaves one feeling cheated

Everyone wants something
That's the bottom line
About everything else
The other is treated as swine

Things don't need
To be that way
All that's needed
Is to hear what one will say

Don't be smug and wait
For the other to anoint
As part of the relationship
That wasn't the point

Nobody