Chapter 1181

Accepting Responsibility

Sarah and Riley hadn't seen the buffet up close yet. It was impressive for them to see for the first time.

Riley remembered the many times there was nothing to eat. She tried to eat boiled tree bark one time. There were other times she needed to trade her body for food or starve. It made her think of one female who refused to do it. She said she would rather die. It looked like she was going to die too. She submitted for her and gave her the food to eat. She was a little surprised after they shared the little food she'd received. The female wanted to be with her. The female explained to her it was impossible for her to be with a male again. It was just something she would rather die than do again. When she shared with her, it was clear the female had been in the hands of Scavengers at some point. The female was able to satisfy her but there wasn't anything she could do for the female. She tried anyway. She didn't want her mind to linger there. Right now there was plenty of food to eat. Life moved forwards not backwards.

"Look at all this food." Riley said. "I sure hope it tastes half as good as it looks."

Sarah did look at it. She could see it was all mass produced. It was still very high quality. She felt a little uncomfortable. It was all better than anything she could ever make.

"It's good food too." Sarah said. "None of it is burnt."

John heard her say it but refrained from commenting. He knew his mother was culinary challenged. He didn't think he was any better himself. He knew his mother could have fed him canned food or frozen food all the time. She didn't. She did try to make things. At the time he thought her cooking left a lot to be desired. Maybe she was a little inattentive and that's where some of the problems occurred. He did try to make things on his own sometimes and it did require effort and fortitude.

Derek liked what he saw. It was about a million times better than anything from the future. He didn't know what some of the names were but he didn't think it really mattered. In the future he didn't even know what he was eating sometimes. He was pretty sure he didn't want to know either. It was sort of a don't ask, don't tell type policy.

"The selection is even better now than it was at lunch." Derek said.

Riley was surprised Derek had already been there.

"You've already eaten here?" Riley asked.

Derek felt a little defensive with his inadvertent revelation. He wanted to try to clarify things.

"It was only a few bites before dinner. We only stopped by for a few minutes." Derek said. "It was mainly to look. It was when you went off to get dressed. I wanted to give you a little privacy."

Kyle wanted to offer an explanation.

"We knew we were going to eat dinner soon so we didn't overdo it." Kyle said. "We just tried a few things while you ladies were getting ready."

Sarah was in a playful mood.

"Ladies?" Sarah asked as she looked around.

Riley caught Sarah's drift. She needed to laugh to herself a little bit. She didn't think Sarah was too far off the mark. She was pretty sure what happened in the past, the future, would disqualify her from ever being considered a 'lady'. She did what she needed to do to survive. She'd survived and she was on a cruise ship right now. Who would have ever believed it in her future?

"I think he means us." Riley said. "It must be a case of mistaken identity."

John thought they both were dressed very elegantly.

"You both look like beautiful ladies with those dresses on." John said. "That's to say more beautiful than usual."

Riley and Sarah both smiled.

"Thank you." Riley said.

Sarah liked the compliment as well.

"Now I know why you're my favorite son." Sarah said. "Thank you."

John remembered having the same conversation several times. He decided not to comment on it this time.

"You both look very beautiful." John said.

John quickly looked around to make sure Cameron didn't hear him. He didn't want her to take it the wrong way. He could see the comments about the ice cream cone were enough to set her off earlier. He didn't want a repeat performance. He didn't think any of what was said was his fault. The way Cameron took it seemed to indicate it was his fault for his past actions.

Kyle watched Derek put something on his plate. He looked at the name on the little tag above it.

"What is it?" Kyle asked.

Derek shrugged his shoulders. The name on the tag didn't mean anything to him either. He went by the appearance of the food itself.

"I don't know. It looks good." Derek said. "I'm going to try it anyway."

Kyle thought about it and then did the same. There were foods there he'd never tried before. He doubted he would try them again any time soon. He was sure he would need to be in some fancy restaurant. He wouldn't know what the names were there either.

"We only live once." Kyle said. "We can take a little of everything and split it."

The Reese brothers happily moved down the food line and took some of everything.

Life was good in Paradise.

Cameron sat at the table with her plate full of little desserts as she waited for the others to arrive. There was a lot of background noise so she couldn't clearly hear what the others talked about as they moved down the food line. She did see Riley smile at John once and appeared to thank him. She didn't think it was a big deal since Derek and Kyle were there along with his mother. She didn't feel Riley had ever done anything to cross a line she shouldn't have with John. She appreciated it immensely. She would rather share with Riley herself than have the two of them share with each other. She was pretty sure if Riley was given the choice between them, she knew who Riley would select. She smiled to herself and she looked around and waited for the others to arrive.

She looked around the eating area. There were no real threats identifiable.

She noticed Holly sat at a table by the entry door as she looked at an alcoholic drink menu. Gail was out of sight for now. She was most likely by the rear exit.

The person who tried to take her table earlier never looked back when they'd left. They must have gone to the other side. It occurred to her Gail may have followed them. She hoped Gail didn't throw them overboard. She doubted Gail would snap their neck and leave them behind to be found. She would make sure any mess was cleaned up.

She decided to contact Jim and alert him to what might happen. He should try to prevent it.

There was no doubt in her mind about how serious Terminators took their jobs. Her main worry was how far they would go to make sure those jobs were done successfully.

Hanna and Ally wanted to keep Sheila out of trouble. They thought the best way to do that was to keep her away from the casino. They were in the smaller theater at the rear of the ship currently. They watched some of the passengers perform Karaoke songs. They waited for the live musicians to come up next and play. They were going to watch them use the instruments and emulate them later on when the other guests were asleep.

Ally enjoyed watching the guests as they sang to the recorded tunes. Some of them were as good as the performers they'd watched earlier during the stage show in the main theater. Most of them were not. She understood it was more about having fun than it was about being an actual performer. She thought some of the females looked good enough to be able to use some of their assets to open a few doors if they wanted to try for the big time.

There was something else that caught her eye. She tried to ignore it the first couple of times but it was more than a coincidence. There was one couple that seemed to stare at her a lot. She didn't think anything about it at first other than the looks she received because she looked like 'Cameron'. These people were different. She felt targeted. The more she noticed them, the more it bothered her.

"There's an older couple who keeps looking at me." Ally said. "I don't know what it is. There's something more to it than normal."

Hanna glanced where Ally indicated. It was clear it was more than a casual interest in her.

"I see them." Hanna said. "It appears you've been acquired."

Sheila looked over at them. She was instantly irritated. She wanted to send a message back to them.

"Let's give them something to look at." Sheila said. "Let me move the slit in my dress over another slit. I'll give them some 'camel toe' with a couple of other things to stare at. Maybe I'll even stretch things out for them. I bet I can give the older fellow a heart attack. I haven't terminated anyone with that specific method yet. I think I'll try it to see if I can do it."

Sheila liked the idea 'looks' could kill. She would pursue a similar approach later on, off the ship. She thought it would be a pleasant way for someone to terminate. It would be a high followed by a terminal low.

Hanna didn't want Sheila to get raunchy since she was dressed so nicely. There were less invasive ways to send a message.

"Don't do it." Hanna said. "Give Ally a kiss instead."

Sheila moved over to Ally and gave her a deep kiss.

"My turn." Hanna said as she did the same thing.

It seemed to have some effect. The older couple looked at each other and got up.

"They're leaving." Ally said.

Sheila wasn't done yet. She wanted to be the one they remembered.

"Let's follow them." Sheila said. "I'm going to flash them."

It sounded like a bad idea to Hanna. She wanted them to keep a low profile. There were a lot of other passengers around them. They might be able to follow them into a secluded location.

"What happens if they get in an elevator?" Hanna asked.

The tight location sounded even better to Sheila. She quickly contemplated what other things she could do. She wanted to do something extreme and memorable. She didn't think a termination was necessary at this time. She thought a lesson would do to start. If the older couple wanted to escalate things she was more than willing to assist them.

"I'll stop the elevator between floors and take my dress off." Sheila said. "CamNet or Jim will help me out. I bet they'd like to see me too. I know everyone does anyway."

They were a little surprised when Jim contacted the three of them. He told them to let it go and not to engage them. He informed them Cameron was bothered by the same couple at lunch. He didn't approve of their plans for retaliation. He didn't think Cameron would either.

If Jim was watching them, maybe CamNet was too.

"Big Brother is watching." Ally said.

Sheila and Hanna weren't sure if her statement was a joke or not.

Hanna wanted to get away from it all and then come back before the live musicians started. A change in scenery seemed like a good idea right now.

"Let's go to the sky lounge and check it out." Hanna said. "I want to see what's happening up there."

Ally wanted to learn to play the instruments. She still believed the best way to do it was to watch the actual musicians use them. They could at least emulate them note for note.

"I want to come back here for the live music." Ally said. "We need to watch the musicians play."

Hanna wanted to learn too.

"We will." Hanna said.

Sheila already chose her instrument.

"I'm going to learn to play the bass. It's as big as me." Sheila said. "I think the way it's played for that style of music they call it a 'slap bass'."

Ally wondered how Sheila knew what to call it.

"Where did you get the term from?" Ally asked.

Sheila only came across the term a few minutes ago.

"I read it in the brochure. It tells the times they play as well." Sheila said. "It says the type of music they play is 'Rockabilly'."

Ally wasn't much into music.

"What's that?" Ally asked. "What does it mean?"

Neither Sheila nor Hanna knew. It was a term unfamiliar to all of them.

"I guess we'll find out." Hanna said.

Gail didn't like the challenge to Cameron over the table. The person irritated her for such a bold and provocative move on their leader. If it had been Savannah they tried to do it to, she would have terminated them for such disrespect and open aggression. Wait, Savannah most likely wouldn't want her to do something so extreme. Savannah would want a less terminal solution in a situation similar to the one Cameron just encountered. Savannah wasn't there right now.

She soon acquired the person who tried to take Cameron's table. She watched them until they finished. She decided to follow them. If they went out on deck seven, she would toss them overboard after she snapped their neck. It would be one problem that wouldn't repeat itself. She was used to dealing with problems when she went out with Jesse. She took care of those too, at least the ones Jesse left for her. Scavengers were a problem in the future. Jesse told her they were the 'cure' for the problem in the present.

Gail followed them into the elevator.

They didn't seem to notice who she was. She saw they pushed the button for deck seven.

Gail smiled.

It appeared the termination would be sooner and easier than she thought it would be.

Holly scanned the buffet area for threats. Other than the person who tried to take Cameron's table earlier, there didn't appear to be any. No one seems to pay any attention to the rest of the group.

She saw the group was headed for the table Cameron was at. Cameron stood and called them over. They each carried a tray with several plates on it. There was a wide selection of food. She thought they would share.

Holly saw Gail acquire and follow the person who tried to take Cameron's table earlier. She knew Gail was going to throw them overboard. She checked for threats again and went in pursuit of Gail. She was aware a 'missing person' would raise some kind of red flag. Almost all the passengers were in pairs or more. It was the way the cabins were set up. It would leave someone wondering where the other person went at some point. It would necessitate their termination as well. She would need for CamNet to erase anything indicating the missing couple ever was on the ship. It would most likely lead to additional terminations of persistent family members or friends. It could get complicated.

Holly headed outside the buffet area for the middle elevator. It was the closest to where she was at. She contacted Jim to help her out. She needed to know what floor Gail exited on in the number three aft elevator.

Jim agreed with Holly it would be simpler if she stopped the termination at this time.

Cameron previously asked Jim to keep an eye on everyone. She wanted to make sure if there were any problems, they could be dealt with swiftly.

Earlier he'd watched Cameron wait for a table to be cleared and noticed someone moved too close to her. He alerted Gail and Holly to check it out. He saw what occurred.

Recently on deck seven, he watched what happened with the older couple and Ally. The girls were all wearing their coms so it was clear what they planned to do, at least what Sheila planned to do. The fact they openly and deeply kissed already caused some alarm. One of them may have done a little more.

He contacted them and told them to back off.

Now Holly called him. She needed to know where Gail was getting off at. He saw Gail currently tracked the person who tried to take Cameron's table. It was bad news. They were headed for deck seven.

Holly hurried to the central elevators. She watched a door on one of them open as she approached. She entered the elevator. There was already a couple inside. Even though other buttons were pushed, the elevator skipped those floors to go directly to deck seven. The other two people in the elevator were upset it didn't stop on their floor. One of them cursed 'machines' for being unreliable.

"It happens." Holly said as she got off.

Holly exited on deck seven and headed for the aft elevators. She would need to pass by a group of shops, a lounge and a specialty restaurant. There were a lot of passengers to maneuver around as well.

Vanna lay in bed next to Allison. She was just about to drift off to sleep. Her eyes opened wide. She was awake. She resisted the urge to sit bolt upright again. Every time she did it, it disturbed Allison. She decided to check on Precious. She'd carefully got out of bed so she didn't disturb Allison to check on Precious. Precious was still asleep.

She went around the bed and carefully covered Allison with the sheet. Allison had since rolled over onto her back. Vanna looked at her perfect nude sleeping figure. The shape of everything on Allison's body was perfect. In Allison's absence to Palmdale, she often pretended Cam was Allison. It was when she didn't pretend Cam was Cameron. She carefully pulled the sheet up to Allison's neck and went back around to her side of the bed. She checked on Precious one more time before she lay down as carefully as she could.

Vanna thought there was something very precious on both sides of her, Allison and Precious.

She was very keyed up at this point. She closed her eyes and hoped sleep would come. So far it hadn't. Every time she was just about to fall asleep her eyes would open and she would be worried about Precious. She would need to get up to check on her. She wasn't sure at this point how many times she'd gone through the same procedure. She was sure it was quite a few.

Vanna lay down back in the bed. After a few minutes her eyes slowly started to close. All of a sudden they were open again….

Jesse opened the door to her room and let Samantha and Claire inside. She looked both ways down the hall and smiled. She left the door open a tad more than usual. She figured there would be some visitors by soon enough to check on them. She was sure John Henry hadn't gone too far. It was fine with her. She thought everyone should watch and learn.

The three girls set their clothes on top of the dresser and their shoes on the floor.

Claire and Jesse both started on Samantha as she lay on the bed.

Samantha liked the excitement level that Claire and Jesse brought. Everything was 'amped up' a notch. It made her wonder how Claire would react to her once her DNA completely Resequenced and she looked exactly like her. Claire still hadn't commented about how their bodies were identical.

Jesse was close to her. She wanted to see if there was a difference between Jesse and Vanna for lactation. She made a point to check Vanna when she was told she could be with Jesse as well. The first thing she noticed was Jesse wasn't the same as Vanna. It was a little plainer. Vanna seemed a little richer and slightly sweeter. She didn't think it mattered to Precious. It hadn't seemed to anyway from her earlier observation.

It didn't take her long to find out Allison and Claire exhibited similar basic comparisons elsewhere. Jesse and Vanna were noticeably different. As a matter of fact, everything was completely different. She collected and stored all the data for future reference.

Samantha decided to work on Jesse and Claire at the same time. They were side by side as she watched them kiss each other. She went to work on a specific internal spot. She could see the depth of their kissing increase once she found the right spot on both of them. She started out slow and increased pressure and stimulation. She'd done much the same thing for Vanna and Allison as well.

Holly wanted to make up time when she'd first entered the elevator.. There weren't a whole lot of ways she could do it. She'd asked Jim to stop the rear elevator Gail was in at every floor on the way down.

She exited the middle elevator bank on deck seven and headed for the aft elevators. She'd traversed through the shops and passengers along the way and was soon near the rear elevator.

She was able to see the elevator Gail and the other person entered. The door opened and Gail followed the person out.

Holly went to intercept Gail when she spotted the couple that watched Cameron at lunch time. She saw they were fixated on Ally. It looked like an additional problem developing.

She caught up to Gail and took her arm.

"Let it go." Holly said.

Gail was miffed about the event that took place.

"I didn't like how they disrespected Cameron." Gail said.

Holly didn't either but she also didn't want any more problems.

"It will cause a larger problem later on." Holly said. "There is another issue."

Holly indicated the older couple from earlier at lunchtime.

Gail looked where Holly indicated and spotted the older couple from lunch. They irritated her too. She felt it was an issue they should have already dealt with.

"They are those people who targeted Cameron earlier." Gail said. "I knew we should have terminated them before."

Holly figured the older couple mistook Ally for Cameron. The way Ally currently looked, it was understandable.

"They're checking Ally out. They don't know they're two different cyborgs." Holly said.

Gail decided to terminate them this time. She didn't like how they acted either.

"If they go out on the open deck, I'll terminate them." Gail said.

Holly didn't want any incident of that nature to happen.

"Not yet." Holly said. "We can't terminate anyone unless they're a direct threat."

Gail didn't see why not. When she was out alone with Jesse, there weren't too many rules. Not only was the present a safer place, the future would be as well.

Ally, Hanna and Sheila followed the older couple. Ally and Hanna both thought it was a bad idea. Sheila wanted to mess with them more. They only went along with Sheila to prevent her from doing something too extreme.

"Hey, look. There's Gail." Ally said.

Hanna spotted Gail and Holly.

"I see Holly too." Hanna said.

Sheila saw both of them and noticed Gail looked very 'Terminator like'. Gail was her base program. She was pretty sure what Gail was up to.

"It looks like Gail is going to terminate someone." Sheila said.

Hanna noticed that too. She didn't think the cruise ship was the right place for terminations.

"We need to stop it." Hanna said.

Sheila didn't see why they should try and stop it. The older couple was too interested in Ally. There needed to be a reason behind such scrutiny. It couldn't be good.

"You've been hanging around Claire too much." Sheila said.

Hanna took her statement as an insult.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Hanna asked.

Sheila spelled it out for Hanna. She decided not to mince her words.

"Just what it sounds like, you've gone soft." Sheila said. "You're a killing machine, not a mechanical love doll."

Hanna saw it differently.

"I've become more responsible." Hanna said. "I'm a better infiltrator.

Ally wanted to come up with a better solution for everyone. She decided to bring Gail and Holly to the sky lounge with them.

"Let's just go." Ally said. "We can invite Gail and Holly to the sky lounge with us. We can all try to have a good time and not need to worry about terminating anyone."

It sounded good to Sheila. It would give her a chance to do a little more with Holly since she was normally in Palmdale. She wanted to stake her claim and make sure everyone understood what she wanted.

"I've got Holly." Sheila said.

Sheila's choice upset Ally. She wanted Sheila to be with her.

"You already have me." Ally said.

Hanna attempted to diffuse the situation.

"I'll take Gail and you both can have Holly." Hanna said.

Ally still seemed a little miffed. She loved Sheila deeply. She also knew through experience Sheila had an insatiable appetite for females. It didn't matter if they were humans or Terminators.

Holly spotted Sheila, Hanna and Ally. She wanted to try to refocus Gail.

"Let's go see the other girls." Holly said.

Holly led Gail away from the three targets she'd selected for termination.

Gail looked back at both sets of targets she wanted to terminate.

Holly could tell Gail was still steamed.

The two sets of girls converged into one group.

Gail brightened up when Hanna approached her. She figured it was the closest she was going to get to 'Savannah' on this cruise until Vanna was aboard when it was her turn. She would ask Cameron if she could watch over Vanna exclusively. She hoped Allison and Cam would understand.

Young Allison put her phone away.

Anna studied her for any changes. There were none apparent. She would try to scan her again. She wasn't sure of her decision.

"Did you get what you wanted?" Anna asked.

Young Allison sought guidance from Savannah. Savannah didn't tell her anything one way or the other. She'd only told her she knew the answer all along.

"No." Young Allison said. "I'm back to where I started."

Anna nodded. It appeared Savannah wanted Young Allison to make a 'hard call'.

"It happens." Anna said. "The ball is back in your court."

Young Allison decided to bring down the motorcycle rider. She didn't want to endanger any of the team members since the target was suspected as a possible Fanatic.

"I want a drone to move into effective gun range on the motorcycle rider." Young Allison said. "It's dark enough now to move one in close."

Anna warned Young Allison of the unknown. There were still more than a few unanswered questions.

"You don't know who they are." Anna said.

Young Allison needed to follow her instincts. It was what Savannah indicated she should do.

"I know they're a threat." Young Allison said. "They're either a Gray or a Fanatic. My evaluation is they're a Fanatic."

Anna made sure everything was ready.

"Where do you wish to strike?" Anna asked.

Young Allison turned the hit over to CamNet.

"As soon as they're isolated, CamNet can take the shot. I'm accepting responsibility for whatever happens." Young Allison said. "I've made my decision. CamNet will carry it out."

Anna was surprised at the transmission she received from CamNet.

"CamNet says it's unnecessary. She'll be responsible." Anna said.

Young Allison wanted to stick with her call.

"It's a 'hard call'. It's life or death." Young Allison said. "The other choices I made were easier. They were cut and dried. I'm responsible for this."

Anna could see Young Allison was still troubled.

"You still doubt your decision." Anna said.

Young Allison did question herself but felt it was justified based on the evidence.

"I do." Young Allison said.

As they watched, the motorcycle rider abruptly turned and headed for a crowded area. They would be able to reach it in a relatively short amount of time.

"They're headed for that shopping center." Anna said.

The time to think was over. It was time to act

"CamNet, take the shot." Young Allison said. "Bring them down - now."

Things were winding down in Summer's room.

The girls were cleaned up for bed and in their bed clothes.

Jan was ready for bed. She looked over at the desk where Summer studied.

"The light bothers me." Jan said.

Summer wasn't finished studying.

"I'm sorry." Summer said.

Jan yawned.

"I'm sleepy." Jan said.

Summer collected her study materials. She could either use the bathroom or another room. At this point in time, the room next to hers was empty.

"I can use my mom's room to finish up." Summer said.

Jan wasn't sure if Summer was going to stay in there or not.

"You'll come back, right?" Jan asked.

Summer looked over at the two beds.

"Of course, this is my bed now." Summer said.

Summer quietly excused herself and entered her mother's room.

She closed the pass door and then listened at it.

It wasn't long until she heard Jan moving around. There was the sound of the door to the hallway opening and then closing very quietly.

Summer smiled. Things played out as she thought they would.

She knew where Jan was headed. It was what she wanted to happen so she could test her skills further.

John Henry was still a little disturbed about his encounter with Jesse, Claire and Samantha. He knew he should go back to the Command Center but he wasn't ready to do it yet. He moved to Riley's room and listened. He could hear Vanna, Allison and Precious in there. It sounded like they were all resting.

He was going to check on Summer and Jan to make sure they were in Summer's room still. He could see no reason why they wouldn't be.

He carefully moved up to Jesse's room. Even before he was near the door, he could hear them inside. It seemed to be the sound of two females experiencing intense pleasure.

His eye carefully moved into the gap Jesse left in the door.

He was rewarded with a scene of Samantha stimulating both Jesse and Claire as they wildly kissed each other.

Now he was stimulated again himself, just to watch them.

The experience was always more stimulating to witness in person than off a body cam or the internet. There was no doubt what he witnessed currently was real. It wasn't someone acting for the camera. He was pretty sure most of what he witnessed for the camera was acting on the internet. The real girls didn't respond quite in the same vocal manner.

He looked down at the bulge in his pants and thought about entering. He was ready for his first experience of not having to do things himself. Maybe three females would be intimidating to him, one was a Terminator.

He thought maybe being with a human female would be better for his first time. Jesse often indicated he knew where her room was and Claire clearly sent him an 'invitation' earlier.

It was just so fascinating to watch them and hear them.

His right hand slid down the front of his pants. He knew he should return to the Command Center before things went too far. Right now the events controlled him.

Accepting Responsibility

It's easy to point the finger
In more ways than one
Maybe it all depends
On how the story was spun

It's been said every action
Has an opposite reaction
What may have been an addition
Really was a subtraction

When push comes to shove
Who is to blame
Does it ever change
Does it remain the same

Expect a little more
Than just a tear
When one realizes
The buck stops here

Prepare for the worst
It's the lack of compatibility
When one owns up to events
Finally accepting responsibility

Nobody