Chapter 473
Temporal Tide
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Future Timeline - Undetermined Error:
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Cammy needed to put her worries behind her. She needed to be what she was. It was a Terminator. She didn't know if she was under any type of observation or not. She didn't think so, but she needed to be careful. She left the area where Savannah was at amongst the rocks. She took a roundabout route towards what she believed was her destination.
She tried to run calculations as to exactly what she faced. There was no way to know. She hoped she didn't need to find out the hard way. She took a moment to look back where Savannah was at. She couldn't see her. It was what she wanted to see. Savannah was hidden.
Cammy moved up the rocky hillside. There was what appeared to be a faint trail in the dirt between the rocks. She spotted several footprints. It was clear someone passed through there several times, and in both directions. If there was any rain, even a small amount, she would never have been able to spot the tracks. She figured it was from Skynet patrols sent out for repairs, or to investigate intrusions. Right now she knew both Savannah and her were intruders. The risk of capture or termination just went up. If she triggered an HK drone response at this point she was doomed, so was Savannah.
She searched for what she hoped would be an entrance into the underground complex. She thought she heard a noise 'inside' which was different. She quickly backed away from the spot and sought cover behind some boulders. She waited, nothing happened. There were no footprints above where she heard the noise. She figured she was above the entrance. It was well hidden.
Cammy knew she needed to get in unobserved. If she was detected, she would be hunted down in no time. With the weapons she carried she was at a disadvantage, a major one, especially against Terminators.
She was at a higher elevation now in the rocks on the side of the hill than she was with Savannah as they approached from the flatlands. It was much higher than either tree she climbed earlier. It gave her a good view of the plain below her and into the distance. Something caught her eye. She looked again and saw nothing. She replayed the file. There was some movement, but she couldn't tell what caused it. It may have been an animal or bird. It was more than the wind.
Cammy feared it was an additional threat. Maybe it was Scavengers in search of their fallen friend. If it was, it was an even bigger risk to Savannah now since she was alone. She knew she needed to attack the Skynet computer where she was, if there was one. She also knew she couldn't leave Savannah to be savaged at the hands of Scavengers.
It was about to come down to making a hard choice. Did she go after Skynet or go back to protect Savannah?
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Cameron's Future Timeline:
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Cameron stopped following the Terminator's tracks. She doubled back and approached from off to the side. She didn't want to follow the Terminator blindly and walk into an ambush. She spotted the first sensor concealed in the ground. The weather over time eroded the dirt covering a tiny part of it. There was no doubt about it. Where she was at now was something connected to Skynet.
She redoubled her efforts and slowed even more. The whole area was 'live'. Everything around her was now a threat. She communicated with Bob and Rob and told them to bring the 'package'. She indicated where her two drones were at and concealed. They were to advance to the location and wait.
Before Cameron left the two drones she arrived on behind, she communicated with the drone she flew in on. She explained her mission and how a special 'package' would need to get delivered. It was imperative the 'package' MUST reach its destination. Cameron indicated the mission would end in termination. The drone requested the assignment. She communicated new instructions to Bob and Rob. They were to transfer the 'package' to the unarmed drone when they arrived.
"Affirmative…." Bob and Rob said together.
Cameron smiled to herself, some things never change.
The smile quickly faded as she made her way forward. Each step was a new danger. She was bound to trip a sensor or something before long. As far as she knew, she already may have.
She still needed to be wary of the Terminator she tracked. It would still be out somewhere in front of her. She quickly checked around her. She wanted to make sure it wasn't behind her. There was no sign of it where she was currently at. She was definitely in enemy territory, in more ways than one.
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Future Timeline - Undetermined Error:
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Savannah checked around the area she was in. There were no good hiding places based on a thorough search by her. There was a shaded rocky overhang off to one side. She decided to check it out. She needed to get out of the sun. She could move back into the trees, but the water source was only visible at the rock. It's where Cammy told her to wait. She didn't want to 'wander' off and not be where Cammy would expect to find her.
She told Cammy once she found the entrance into the Skynet facility to come back and get her. They would enter the facility together. She didn't know if Cammy would listen to her or not. She didn't 'order' Cammy to do it, but asked her. She was sure if they didn't enter the facility together, they would probably never see each other again. They would end up separated from each other. Cammy would clearly face the bigger risk from being inside of a Skynet facility. If she didn't obtain a Skynet uniform quickly, she would be identified as an intruder almost immediately.
Savannah wasn't so sure her current situation was actually much better, even if she was outdoors in a semi remote location. It wasn't remote enough for her. She needed to heed Cammy's advice. She also needed to gain situational awareness of her surroundings. She knew if it was possible she needed to select several different positions which she could retreat to, or advance to, without having to search for a spot on the move.
She wanted to better understand what was around her. If Scavengers or Skynet forces arrived, the area where she was, is where she would need to fight. She wasn't going to surrender. She already made up her mind. Cammy left her with the revolver. There were only two cartridges. Both of them were heavily corroded. Either one may not work. Both of them may not work. She didn't plan on being 'taken' alive. If she were to point the non functioning revolver at the enemy who was armed, they would attempt to shoot at her to protect themselves. She would still end up dad. They could savage her dead body all they wanted. She wouldn't be 'there'. It would be her last line of defense if she was surrounded.
There were a series of rocks and boulders which protruded from the ground. It was actually like a maze in its complexity. She kept track of what was happening around her as she made her way through the area several times. She went in both directions so any footprints she left wouldn't give away which direction she actually went if someone were to spot them. She was fairly certain the only one who would be able to spot them would be a Terminator.
She looked over towards the ravine where the trees were at. It seemed to her it would be a better spot for her to go to get out of the sun. It was probably also the first place the enemy would search if they thought someone was out there. It was probably also where any intruders, such as Scavengers, would approach from. She could see why Cammy didn't want her to go there. She still planned out a route to get there from two separate directions. She touched her arm. She knew it was getting sunburnt. She was glad her hair protected her neck and shoulders. She tried to have as much of it cover her face as possible to protect it as well.
The sun began to take its toll on her. She went to the rock with an overhang and moved under it. It took her out of the direct sunlight. It also gave her the least amount of mobility if she needed to move. She moved up into the overhang as far as possible. She spotted something which was hidden unless someone was right on top of it. It was hidden in the shadows. It was a small opening. It was like a very small cave of some sort. It looked too narrow to enter. She wondered if some animal made it and lived inside of it. She tried to move herself up higher so she could get a better look into the darkness. She held her rock knife in her hand in case there was some type of animal which lived there and became enraged at her intrusion. She couldn't really blame the animal for attempting to defend its territory, but she needed to survive too.
She tried to squeeze into the opening. It was too small. If she could get into the opening, she would be hidden from anything other than an extensive search. She was aware there might be deadly creatures inside. There could be anything from scorpions to snakes. There could also be human predators too if the opening led somewhere. She would rather face nature's threats as opposed to the man made ones. Nature's threats would be about survival. Man made threats would be much more evil and cruel than any animal would ever be.
The longer she stayed in front of the opening, she began to notice something. It wasn't something she noticed at first. There was heat in the form of warm air which came from inside the small opening. She wondered if the tiny drops of water from the spring could actually be from a 'hot spring' and the warm air could be as well. She wondered if it could be more….
Savannah needed to remain aware of her surroundings and she wondered if the opening could be made larger. She wasn't really sure how it could be accomplished with the limited resources she possessed. She also needed to worry about what type of noise she would generate if she attempted to enlarge the opening. She would make noise someone else might hear. The noise she made would also prevent her from hearing anyone approach her position. It was clear there wasn't going to be an easy solution to the problem.
Cammy moved back to what she thought was a concealed hatch or doorway and listened. It was quite inside now. She touched the 'rock' and saw it was actually metal. She could feel slight vibrations through it. As she touched the metal, a pulsating thump could be felt. It grew faster and stronger, and then it 'spun' down. She was pretty sure it was some type of TDE, or something like it, which was just used. It may be what drew them off their target destination. If it was a TDE, it was bad news for the past. She knew she needed to knock it out of service. The more infiltrators Skynet was able to send into the past, the more damage would be done to the timeline.
She ducked back lower into the rocks. She thought she saw movement off to the side in the distance. It was the second time she saw something. It was away from Savannah for now. If it got closer, she decided she would go back to help Savannah. She knew Skynet was the underlying mission, but her feelings for Savannah were stronger. Scavengers were NOT going to get a hold of Savannah while she existed. It would be over her cold terminated chassis. If Savannah raised the issue. She could also use the excuse she came back to get Savannah because she found an entrance.
She looked further around the area she was in. There were bound to be additional surveillance devices. She wanted to make sure she wasn't being watched from inside right now. She could picture herself on several screens as a group of Grays or Terminators observed her. They would probably make fun of her, and laugh about her actions and attempts at evasion. She would be more than happy to meet any of them face to face so they could 'discuss' it.
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Cameron's Future Timeline:
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Cameron was sure she saw some movement up on the hillside in the distance. She didn't take her eyes off the spot, she quickly replayed her files. There was something there. She thought it could be an animal or a bird. Nothing else moved around the area as she watched.
She moved further off to the side and continued. She was sure there was trouble ahead. If a Skynet HK drone showed up, there were few hiding places around her.
There was some greenery up ahead and off to the side. It indicated there was a water source. It could be subterranean and most likely was. It also seemed like a location which would attract humans. She knew if it attracted humans, it would attract Terminators as well who would think the same thing she just did.
Cameron needed to slow her pace even more. The risk of running into someone seemed to grow every second.
There was some brush up ahead. It would impede her detection of any Skynet surveillance devices. It definitely wasn't a good thing. It was probably better to avoid it.
The brush moved as she veered off to the side.
Cameron dropped down. There was something there. It may be someone hiding. There could be a manned LP near her. It was what the Resistance established around the Connor Compound after the 'Big Battle.' The spot near her was a good place to put it. They could see out better than she could see in. She switched through several vision spectrums and still turned up nothing. She skirted along the side of the brush. There was movement again. This time it seemed nearer to her.
She held her position and waited. They hadn't struck out at her yet. Maybe they couldn't see her any better than she could see them. She didn't want to use one of her weapons unless she needed to. It would surely alert the Skynet surveillance system. You didn't want them to send out an HK drone either. If more than one was sent out, it was going to be very hard to avoid them. Her concern right now was what was ever inside the brush next to her. She was a weapon and would try to take them with her strength and agility.
The brush moved again. She remained stock still. She spotted a little fork tongue wiggle in front of her off to the side. There was a mad dash as a lizard ran from near where she was. It must have sensed her predator pheromones. It probably would have remained stationary otherwise. There was sunlight to help warm its blood so it could continue its dash across the barren ground.
She was glad it wasn't prehistoric times. It could have been a carnivore of some type. It could have been much larger. She knew the lizard was nothing but a throwback to the dinosaur age. How could such giant and powerful creatures all be extinct, or reduced to nothing more than small reptiles? What a fall from power. She thought about how it was an analogy compared to Skynet. The once great computer system controlled everything. What was left now was just a trace of what it once was. It was what she hoped anyway. She wanted to make Skynet as extinct as the dinosaurs were.
It was Skynet's intent to make humans extinct. Once it was done with the Resistance and Scavengers, it would turn on the Grays. It would never settle until only machines were left. She really wondered what the end game was. What was left after everything was destroyed? Even if Skynet were able to terminate everything on the entire planet, she was sure there would be insects which would survive. She wondered if they would start to grow back to gigantic proportions like they were millions of years ago if there was nothing else on the planet to hunt them.
She wasn't a human, an animal, or an insect. She was a machine and she was going after Skynet. She made sure Skynet knew she was coming. She figured if she failed to terminate Skynet it would eventually turn on the other machines, the very machines it created. Machines like her would hunt Skynet. It lost control of the Liquid Metal Terminators by their own actions. It wasn't from reprogramming as it was in her case. Skynet's most advanced creation soon realized Skynet was the threat. It was much the same way Skynet believed its creators, humans, were the threat. It was rather ironic.
Everyone thought they built something which would be superior and help protect them. Instead it determined its own agenda and became a threat.
Cameron skirted the area of tall brush as she pondered the present, the past, and the future. She needed to get to the hill and see what was inside of it.
She passed through the area of greenery. There were scurrying sounds all around her. The greenery seemed to attract all sorts of small animals. She only heard them flee. She figured only the smarter ones survived. It was why they were all so careful. There was no liquid water visible, but there surely was some underground.
Cameron would need to move through a rocky area to stay on track towards the hill. There was some sand, but most of it was hard packed dirt. There were large rocks through this next section. She watched the ground for sensors or footprints. She lost the trail of the Terminator she followed. She never saw it behind her or anywhere. She began to wonder if maybe she should have stayed on the trail. The Terminator may have led her to an entrance. It could have also led her to an ambush.
She carefully made her way between and around the rocks. There was no good visibility. Around every large rock was a blind curve. Anything could lurk there as it waited there for her.
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Future Timeline - Undetermined Error:
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Savannah decided to leave the opening she attempted to enlarge behind. She was incredibly thirsty. It was time to check on the water. She would be very disappointed to see the canteen lying on the ground with its precious contents absorbed by the thirsty soil.
She was pleased to see it was still in the same position where it was earlier. She took a quick look around and then checked the canteen. It was half full. She knew the time for waiting was over. She slowly drank half the water. She didn't want to start coughing and end up losing any of it. She was pretty sure the warm tepid alkaline laced water never tasted so good to anyone else before. Her mouth was dry and felt like sand inside. She noticed she was no longer perspiring. It was a bad sign. She was dehydrated.
She returned the canteen back to where it would fill, one drop at a time. She would have liked to have consumed all of the water. She knew she couldn't. She needed to have some to take with her in case they left the area. without any water, she didn't think she was going to make it very far. She was glad she was able to drink a quarter of the canteen. She did feel slightly rejuvenated with the water she just consumed. She felt it was more than just imaginary.
She checked around the area cautiously. She saw nothing which looked out of place anywhere. She knew it didn't mean anything. Skynet or a Terminator could be watching her. She would rather face them as opposed to Scavengers. The stories of their cruel insanity haunted her. A hostile Terminator would most likely make quick work of her and terminate her almost instantly.
Savannah knew what she wanted to do. She wasn't going to wait around for Cammy to come back. There was a pretty good chance she was never going to leave the area alive. She moved back to the rock overhang. She took her rock knife and began to chip on the rocks around the opening inside the overhang. If nothing else, it would be a warmer place to sleep and a better hiding place for her. It was near a source of water. There were also enough reptiles around to provide sustenance.
She began to make some progress. It wasn't much. It was still something. She continued to chip away at the opening. She was able to reach her hand further back and felt the inside area. It was larger than the opening. It meant if she could enlarge the opening more, there would definitely be room for her to go inside, even if it was a dead end. It gave her added incentive to keep working the rocks loose. The rock material broke easier than she thought it would. It was a sedimentary rock.
Savannah worked with caution. She felt the need to conceal her earlier movement around where she currently was. She stopped at one point and used a small dead branch to eliminate some of her footprints from the outer areas. She didn't want to leave a trail for someone to follow to where she was. The main problem with where she worked was she couldn't watch around her while she did. Each chip made noise. The area was quiet except for her. With each chip and crumble of the rocks, it also blocked anything she could hear.
She needed to stop and check around her every few minutes. She didn't want to be taken by surprise. If she was going to face the enemy, she wanted to be able to fight before it needed to 'end'. It seemed where she was, looked to be about the best hiding place around there anyway. She went back to work.
She was mindful of the pieces she was able to chip off. She stopped several times to gather them up and scatter them behind other rocks in the area.
Cammy was about to go back to the metal opening which looked like part of the rocks. There was a scraping noise and the 'rock' lifted. She quickly moved back. Two Grays and one Terminator emerged. She thought they might be after her, but they never looked back, or up in her direction. They didn't seem to be in too big of a hurry. They still might be after Savannah.
"Why do we have to go out?" One Gray complained. "They should just send 'Brutus'. We don't need to do this. It's hot out."
"I don't know." The other Gray said. "Every time we go out, there's never anything anyway. It's always a waste of time. No one in their right mind would even be in this area."
"Quiet, and move out." The Terminator commanded.
"That's just what we need, another boss." One Gray said.
"If they were all on the same page it wouldn't be so bad." The other Gray said.
"Yeah I noticed it two." One Gray said. "Every one of them wants to be Skynet."
"Quiet." The Terminator commanded. "Don't make me repeat myself again."
The two Grays stopped talking. They knew when not to push it. They knew a death threat when they heard one.
Cammy moved up to the opening they just came out of. The hatch wasn't closed tight. She needed to make a choice. She could enter the facility now and try to disable the TDE, and the Skynet computer, or see if they were after Savannah. Before she didn't have a way in, she did now. It was nearly gift wrapped for her.
She knew her mission, but her love was stronger. She disabled the latch on the hatch so it could no longer lock but it would still seem like it did unless someone actually checked it.
Cammy chose to follow her heart.
She silently stalked the trio.
Cammy placed an arrow onto her bow.
If one of the Grays would fall behind, or go off on their own, she might be able to kill him silently and take his weapons. She would worry about his clothes later on.
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Cameron's Future Timeline:
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Cameron was behind a small knoll in the middle of the large boulders when the Skynet trio went out. She didn't see them. She continued toward another small group of trees with rocks protruding from the soil of the small hills.
She could hear talking in the distance. She immediately sought cover among the rocky outcropping surrounding the area.
It looked like it was about to go from bad to worse. Skynet must have sent a patrol out after her. She didn't think it was Scavengers. She quickly looked around to see if the Terminator she stalked was anywhere near her. Nobody was spotted.
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Future Timeline - Undetermined Error:
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Savannah continued to chip away at the opening. A large chunk of rock cracked and came loose. It was some type of sandstone material. The opening was almost big enough for her to enter. She began to sweat profusely in the heat, even though she was in the shade. She was dehydrated again. She no longer felt pressure build up in her breasts. Her body was trying to save itself. It began to shut down non essential functions to survive.
She climbed down to look around again. She started to lose track of the time. It was harder to think now. She was very hot. She found the canteen in the rock. It was half full again. She looked around her one more time, she didn't see anyone. She carefully drank half the water again. She was about to put the canteen back when she heard something.
There were voices. She shook her head. The water refreshed her. Her mind cleared. There were two voices. They were male voices. They weren't in her head either. Whoever they were, they were a threat to her.
Savannah was afraid Skynet was coming for her, or worse. It might be Scavengers.
If they were taking, it meant at least two. If it was a group, she was done for.
Savannah didn't have many choices left.
She touched the revolver and knew what she was going to have to do.
Closing monologue by Cameron:
Tide
Life has many ups and downs
Time and space can collide
It seems at that point
One must often decide
There are always those
Whose joy is to chide
They are only happy
When they are snide
The feelings aren't mutual
Often one tries to hide
From the very one
For whom they've cried
Where went the trust
In whom they confide
Somehow that seems
Like justice denied
Who makes the rules
For others to abide
When away from them
They dodge and slide
When one's worth and value
Is away from them pried
There goes everything else too
Including honor and pride
Hang on to life
Go along for the ride
The current is harsh
In life's daily tide
Nobody