Chapter 728

So Is That

John Henry and CamNet both tracked some of the Skynet related computer activity to several locations in the San Luis Obispo area. It was the same area where the two boxcars they tracked were stopped long enough to have been unloaded of their HK equipment. The Resistance was there now in the SLO area. They were going to check out all the leads. Someone played them more than once and it didn't sit well with any of them.

The building they were at was the first lead. There was phone and computer traffic which originated from there. It seemed to have stopped over the last few days very suddenly. Maybe whatever was inside was gone. Whoever was behind it knew someone was searching for them. Maybe it was another trap.

Bob encountered one in the railroad classification yard in Bloomington. It was a booby trap. Several other teams avoided another one in northern Arizona near the Flagstaff area. They still didn't have any idea what it actually was. They didn't take the bait. They weren't going to find out.

It was decided the building would need to be looked at a little closer. Sheila and Ally were assigned the task. They already drove by the location several times. They currently were on foot.

Ally and Sheila looked around the outside of the building first.

Sheila tried the door, it was locked. She was about to force it open.

"These blokes don't seem very friendly." Sheila said. "They don't want us to come in and say, Hello."

Ally didn't think they should act too hastily. There was no need to do it yet. It wasn't a fresh lead. There hadn't been any activity from the location for a couple of days.

"Wait." Ally said. "I don't think anyone is home. They might have an alarm."

Sheila planned to kill anyone they found, grab any hard drives, and get out without delay.

"We won't be inside long." Sheila said.

Ally looked at the overall picture, not the immediate task. The booby trap Bob found inside the boxcar was fresh in her mind.

"It will alert someone we're onto them, and we're here now." Ally said. "We don't want to find what Bob found either. I saw a ladder to the roof in the back."

Sheila looked at the door and frowned. She was sure if Cameron was there instead of Ally, they would be inside the building already.

"I don't like wasting time." Sheila said. "There are other things I'd rather be doing."

They went to the back and saw there was a metal plate which covered the first ten feet of the ladder to prevent any unauthorized access to the ladder without a key. They saw it was wired. If they broke the lock and opened the cover, it would trigger the alarm.

Sheila figured Ally's earlier assessment the door to the building was wired was confirmed if the cover on the ladder to the roof was wired. Someone was really worried about anyone accessing their building. The cover on the ladder was a minor obstacle to her. She wanted to mess with Ally a little bit.

"Boost me up." Sheila said. "I'm sorry I don't have a better view to offer. I would have worn a short skirt without bloomers if I knew we were going to do this. I could give you a little refresher course on what you viewed earlier."

Ally figured she could always replay a file. She was well acquainted with all of Sheila's private parts and stored thousands of images of them. She was in a playful mood so she responded to Sheila accordingly.

"I wouldn't mind if you wore a short skirt without underwear anytime." Ally said. "In fact, you should do it all the time. I don't think you wear underwear too often anyway. Even if you do, it's never on for very long."

If it wouldn't create an issue, Sheila would walk around naked all of the time. She liked the way she looked. She liked the way the people looked at her when they saw parts of her exposed or completely naked. She thought her jewelry made her distinctive in several areas.

"Don't tempt me." Sheila said with a giant smile on her face. "It's time for some acrobatics. Maybe I'll just jump for it."

Ally clasped her hands together. She made a 'step' for Sheila.

"Let's do it the easy way." Ally said. "There's no need to make any more noise than we have to. I'm sure they'll be plenty soon enough when the shooting starts."

Sheila put her foot in Ally's hands. She boosted Sheila up completely past the top of the Metal plate. Sheila grabbed the ladder and reached back down for her. She jumped up an caught her hand. Sheila pulled her up onto the ladder.

"I feel like a circus performer." Ally said.

Sheila reached over and touched Ally's cheek.

"Just don't look like one." Sheila said.

Ally smiled at her.

"Since the ladder was wired, it's a safe bet the access door on the roof is as well." Ally said. "Then again, they may not have one if they have an exterior ladder."

Sheila started up. She viewed an image of the satellite photo on file. She didn't think there was one. There didn't appear to be any skylights either. There was a rather large air conditioning and heating unit up there. They would get a firsthand look as to what was what in a few seconds.

"We'll know soon enough." Sheila said.

They quickly climbed up the ladder and stood on the roof of the building. They moved along the side of the roof. They tried not to make any extra noise. There wasn't too much on the roof. There were a few vents. The biggest thing was the air conditioning and heating unit located there. There was no roof access hatch located on the roof. They would need to use a more unconventional approach to enter the building.

Ally was a little disgusted they would need to do some additional work to get inside.

"Nothing's ever easy." Ally said as she looked over at Sheila. "Besides you, I mean."

Sheila shrugged her shoulders and smiled.

"If you've got it, flaunt it." Sheila said. "There's more than one way to get someone to open a door."

She made a quick assessment of the easiest way to do make an opening. Smashing a hole through the roof wasn't really an option.

"We can go in through the air conditioner ducting." Sheila said.

Ally looked at the metal ducting and gave it a slight push. It bent rather easily.

"We're lovers, not construction workers." Ally said. "It doesn't look very strong."

Sheila just wanted to pull a section of it out so they could slip inside the building.

"All we need is to get inside the attic or rafter area." Sheila said. "We still want to keep it down for now."

Sheila and Ally checked with Cameron and Gail. Everything around them seemed quiet and still. There was no indication they raised an alarm. They quietly removed a section of the ducting where it entered the roof. There was enough room for them to pass through. So far they weren't met with a barrage of bullets.

"I'll go first." Ally said.

They slipped inside. They were on the rafters, there was no false ceiling inside. It gave them a little less cover than they hoped for.

They got a look at the area below them. It wasn't what they expected to find.

"That's different." Ally said.

Sheila pointed at something else.

"So is that…." Sheila said.

John was upset Cameron treated him the way she did. He tried to do his part and share the burden. She didn't approve of it. He knew the last time he was out, Cameron sent all her help to him. He felt she was going to do it again. When she made a similar move the last time, she endangered Savannah, Cammy and herself later on in the operation.

She didn't admonish him directly for being there. It was clearly a condescending tone when she referred to him as the 'General'. Anyone who heard what she said would know what she really meant, without her actually having said it.

Bob was glad John needed to deal with Cameron instead of him. He looked over at John now. He could clearly see the conversation left a very negative impact with John.

"You look upset." Bob said

John answered too quickly.

"I'm not." John said.

Bob figured he didn't want to talk about it. He really couldn't blame him.

"Affirmative…." Bob said.

John didn't want to be rude to Bob and take out his troubles with Cameron on him. When he was out, he was usually with Bob. It wasn't necessarily on an operation or Skynet related. He considered Bob his friend. The three Terminators he was around the most often were John Henry, Bob, and Jim. He shared a very good rapport with all three of them. He tried to include some of the other Terminators whenever he could. They all seemed very pleased to be able to assist him. He thought about Cameron's earlier comment.

"OK. I'm a little upset." John said. "I think things could have been handled a little differently. I don't think I deserved the negative treatment I received."

Bob heard Cameron indicate the 'General' could be in control.

"Cameron said you're in charge." Bob said.

John did hear Cameron say it. He just didn't like the way it was said. It was rude and disrespectful to him. It wasn't the way a subordinate should talk to a superior officer. Unfortunately for him, it was the way a wife could talk to her spouse. He was sure it was the only reason why she married him. He tried to think now why he ever asked her to marry him in the first place. He was sure she must have planted the idea in his head. He couldn't help but remember how excited she looked when he asked her to marry him. It seemed very genuine. With Cameron, who knew what was what? He sure didn't. He thought about her disrespectful and condescending tone earlier.

"It was the way she said it." John said. "It was everything she inferred."

Bob felt John was warned by both John Henry and him how they thought Cameron would react to his current decision. It appeared they were both correct. He actually thought it was a little less forceful and severe than it normally was.

"You know she doesn't like you out in the field." Bob said.

Bob knew the current situation wasn't an emergency or something critical. John was out there because he felt like they were played. Maybe it's the response the Grays hoped for. It might be to draw out the Resistance and their leader. He did run the prospect by John several times on the trip to San Luis Obispo. John always blew him off when he mentioned it. They already encountered two booby traps, well, one booby trap, and one suspected ambush or booby trap.

John didn't understand why Cameron disliked him to do his job. How could he be a leader if he didn't take some of the risk himself? He didn't feel he was an effective leader sitting on his rear end behind a computer screen in the Command Center. The fact there was a teenage girl out there battling Grays and Terminators just didn't sit well with him. There were plenty of Terminators who could have been in her place on most of the occasions. Somehow it was all Cameron's fault.

"It seems Cameron doesn't like anything anymore." John said. "I just don't like how she drags Savannah into the middle of every battle. I should be the one at Cameron's side."

Bob thought it was a deeper issue than just John. He may be the focal point of her displeasure, but he wasn't the cause of it. There was no doubt she carried the brunt of the fighting for the Resistance in every arena. She also took most of the damage.

"Has she ever?" Bob asked. "She's dissatisfied with her 'programming'."

John felt the finger would soon be pointed at him in regards to it.

'Not this again.' John thought.

It always came back to him, one way or another.

"You mean what I programmed into her, well, what Future John did." John said.

Bob was aware it was a contentious issue for John. He wasn't sure there was any way around it. He was responsible, one way or another.

"Affirmative…." Bob said.

John often wondered what kind of a jerk or jackass he was in the future. It seems like a pretty big one. He did ask Savannah about it. She told him Cameron and Duplicate Cameron both kept him away from her as much as possible. She told him they both threatened him if he touched her, it would be the last female he touched as a man. It seemed to him Future John wanted the same thing he wanted from Savannah, her virginity. She told him he actually seemed like a very nice guy, especially to her. She did make a point to tell him she thought he was nicer and much more handsome, not to mention younger.

What did he as Future John do to Cameron? Why did he do it? Why did he really send her away? There were no answers for any of them. Savannah was unable to provide him with any additional information either. He didn't trust what anyone else who visited the future would tell him, well, except Claire and Future Allison.

He thought about it a little more. He knew he would definitely be able to trust what Claire told him. He wasn't so sure about Future Allison. Either way, he would really like to get to know either one of them, or both of them, a little better. He really blew it when Future Allison visited. He would really like to try the 'mother - daughter' thing.

John really wondered exactly who Future John was. Was there something behind the things he did? There was just no way for him to know.

"I really hate him sometimes." John said. "I don't want to be anything like him."

Bob understood it was a touchy subject for John and he didn't like to get involved in it. He did want to point something out which seemed logical to him.

"Maybe it's why Future John sent Cameron back with the programming she has about what needs to be done." Bob said. "I don't think Future John wants you to be the jackass he is. I believe he wants you to be better than he is. He only trusted Cameron to be able to do it. I don't know if it's fair to fault her for what's programmed into her. She's just doing her job. I know she doesn't like it either."

Bob was in Cameron's future. Future John seemed well adjusted. Then again, at that point in his life he was surrounded by Duplicate Cameron, Future Allison, and Future Savannah. They were the same females he wanted to surround John in the past. Didn't seem like a good time to point it out to John. It always seemed to upset him.

John thought about what Cameron always tried to push on him with the 'Natural Order'. He was sure it would cause Cameron more distress than she thought it would. If nothing else, he could bag two virgins out of the deal. He didn't see it as a bad thing, at least not for him. He was aware Savannah and Young Allison might not prefer a traditional lifestyle. Once he 'busted' them, he didn't really think it mattered. Cameron said the main thing was they needed to be at his side and in his bed. They could be in his bed together with each other and he figured it was close enough. He figured one of them would want a 'little extra' every now and then. He'd be more than happy to deliver it.

"Maybe I need to start doing what Cameron says I'm supposed to do." John said.

Bob thought he should point out the most obvious one based on the current situation.

"Affirmative…." Bob said. "Perhaps not being out in the field is one of them. She might be a little less cantankerous."

John knew Bob was right. He was a little surprised at the word he used to describe it. He was still upset over his decision not to take what was in the boxcars, even though Cameron recommended they should do it. He hoped to find where they went or where the Coltan originated from they used to construct them. He was wrong on every count. It was why the current situation was 'personal' to him.

"I don't like how we got played." John said.

Bob didn't comment it was John who got played, not the rest of them. They all agreed with Cameron and her assessment. When they had their hands on the HK equipment, they should have taken it.

John looked in back of them. Al and Dan were in a pick-up truck behind them. He figured it was time they got to work and did their assignment.

"What's the secondary target Cameron has selected for us?" John asked.

Bob received the information from CamNet not Cameron.

"CamNet selected it for us." Bob said. "It's based on the specific information she uncovered."

John was going to say it was the 'same thing', but checked himself. From the reports he received, they were different now. CamNet surpassed far beyond Cameron's programming and didn't seem to be inhibited by Cameron's 'restrictions'. He hoped CamNet didn't have Cameron's same 'hang ups' either. For some reason, he doubted she did. He wasn't so sure it was Cameron who might become Skynet one day. More than likely it would be CamNet. All of the ingredients were already there, including Cameron's program.

He wanted to think the apple didn't fall far from the tree. In the current scenario, when the apple did fall from the tree, the seed in it grew an even bigger tree, which overshadowed the tree which created the apple the seed grew from.

"I guess it figures." John said as a statement.

There was no point in arguing it. Whatever Cameron, or in this case CamNet, wanted to happen, was going to happen.

Bob verified their selected target location. He actually believed it was more what John would like to be involved with than the building associated with the computer hack.

"It's an industrial building next to the railroad tracks." Bob said. "It's possible it's where the boxcars may have been unloaded."

John thought it was a pretty solid lead. He was surprised it was given to them.

"Do you really think it's where they unloaded the boxcars?" John asked. "It's what I want to find. I want to find where the equipment went."

Bob checked the image of the satellite photo he contained in his flies.

"It's unknown at this time." Bob said. "The siding has been removed. It looks like it was done long ago by the amount of weeds growing."

The information seemed a little confusing to John. If there was no siding, why would they be there to check. He wondered if there was something else. What else could there be?

"So why there?" John asked.

Bob knew they were going to need to take a closer look.

"It's a lead." Bob said. "Remember, this is still a recon. We don't know what we will find. We don't know what there is to find. It's all based on where the train was stopped, while it waited for the helpers, which seem to be purposely delayed."

John thought there was a lot they didn't know. There was a lot of speculation.

"We don't even know what we're looking for." John said.

Bob tilted his head slightly.

"We're looking for HK equipment and Coltan." Bob said.

John looked at Bob and smiled. He really loved being around Terminators. He thought about it some more and rephrased his earlier thought. He really loved being around Terminators, if they weren't Cameron. As long as she was in his bed, it was good enough for him in regards to her. There were some functions, besides killing and terminating, she did quite well.

Earlier:

Cameron was a little upset Sheila and Ally hadn't produced results yet. How hard could it be?

"They're wasting time." Cameron said. "They should've gone in the front door."

Savannah didn't feel they were on a hard timetable. They currently had the option to use whatever discretion they needed. There was no need to rush things. Safety should be their primary concern.

"I saw them go around to the back." Savannah said. "There's nothing wrong with them using a little caution in a situation like this. How do we know there isn't a booby trap, or the entire building is rigged to explode? Bob already ran into one in the rail yard, who knows what the situation near Flagstaff actually was. Everyone seems to agree it was an ambush or booby trap of some type. So far they know someone is watching them. They haven't made a direct attack in response."

Cameron quickly deduced what Ally and Sheila were about to attempt. Perhaps a little Caution was in order based upon the earlier negative interaction.

"They're going to try a roof entry." Cameron said. "I've done it before."

Cameron thought back to the time she did something similar. It was the events which followed that haunted her. She experienced thousands of nightmares trying to reboot while still taking electricity from a fallen electrical wire.

She came to believe those were actually events from the 'other lives' she lived, if she actually did so. She thought they were real events, not unfounded concoctions of her circuitry. She hoped her mind couldn't possibly be so twisted to 'dream' those things. She didn't sleep, so she didn't dream. Somehow she did experience nightmares though.

Savannah could see there was a distressed look on Cameron's face. She didn't want her to go off to a bad place right now. There could be action if Sheila and Ally made contact.

"…Cameron…?" Savannah asked.

Cameron looked at Savannah with unfocused eyes for a second. She didn't want to say what she thought about.

"What?" Cameron asked. "I needed to think about what our next target would be."

Savannah wasn't so sure about it.

"Look at your hand." Savannah said.

Cameron did and it was glitching.

"I'm sorry." Cameron said.

Savannah knew she needed to take over. She didn't need to take over the operation. She needed to take over Cameron.

"We need to stay focused." Savannah said.

Savannah got out and moved around to the driver's side. She climbed in as Cameron slid over.

Cameron was very grateful for Savannah.

Savannah silently took Cameron's glitching hand. She wanted to remind Cameron her love was eternal.

"For better or for worse…." Savannah said.

At this point, Cameron was afraid everything concerning her was 'worse'.

Cameron smiled at Savannah and gave her hand a gentle squeeze, the glitching stopped.

"For better or for worse…." Cameron said.

Savannah smiled at her. She really wondered how anyone could love her so much. It was clear to her beyond all doubt Savannah was the 'Chosen One'. She was definitely the 'Chosen One' for her. For true love, they only needed each other. Other things were unnecessary, even if they may be exciting and rewarding for brief moments of time. True love was forever.

Young Allison put everything related to the security feeds in the bunker and the tunnels into a loop. She deactivated the sensors in the escape tunnel she was going to use. Her tablet would send a message in an hour to inform CamNet. She wanted to have CamNet reactivate everything. She was concerned for the safety of her family and the Metal girls. She just needed some time to 'escape'. Once she was away, she would be able to elude anyone who searched for her. It appeared she was about to experience a 'real life' test of her abilities. She was still plagued by a very uncomfortable feeling. It was her reasoning she questioned, not her abilities.

She was unsure where she was going to go. Cameron and the others all taught her how to do things to survive. She was too young to drive and not risk being pulled over or have someone notice. If she needed a vehicle, she was trained to acquire one and operate it. It was something she planned to do once it was darker. She could be halfway to another state in a few hours of driving. As long as she didn't speed and followed the driving rules, she should remain unnoticed. She wasn't prepared to shoot a State Trooper if she was pulled over. There would be a lot of questions about the items she carried including the Taser and her Model 66.

She studied the incident of John and Future Riley in Mexico. She certainly didn't want a repeat of a similar fiasco. She believed John's choice of booking the 'Honeymoon Suite' clearly indicated his intentions for Future Riley. Based on John's earlier actions with Future Riley, it bothered her some she was supposed to 'save', and then 'give', her virginity to John. No. It didn't bother her some, it bothered her a lot. The whole concept made her feel like she was a 'child bride'. Savannah told her she should always be able to choose her partners. It shouldn't be what she thought in the morning when she woke up. She liked what Savannah told her better. With her own fiasco of current events, she realized Savannah meant a real partner.

Her whole life was based on the future. It was always training of some kind, maybe it was disguised as 'sports', or 'camping', but it was always training. Education was stressed from the start. Cameron and the Metal girls always pushed her and encouraged her to do a little more or to learn something new. She always seemed to know more than she remembered studying when she woke up. She could never understand how.

The physical training was the same. It was always, two more pushups, or another quarter mile on her run, or one more lap in the pool. Everything was done to make her push herself and improve herself. They provided ways for her to MAKE herself better. They didn't make her better, she was the one who did it to herself. She enjoyed the challenge. Cameron always said her 'greatness' was inside of her, waiting to be unleashed.

She made it out of the escape exit. The one she chose wasn't the furthest or the closest exit. She chose one which exited under a neighbor's house. It was on a raised foundation. There was a two foot 'crawl space' underneath. There were vents in the concrete foundation and an access panel to the outside.

Young Allison wasn't sure if she could pull it off or not. She would know if there weren't any Terminators waiting for her. She did all the things the Metal girls taught her. If it was for real, it would be Skynet she would try to avoid and elude. There were traffic cameras and security cameras everywhere. CamNet was in all of them. She knew CamNet watched everything. She knew she could get further away if she didn't leave the message for CamNet to reactivate everything in one hour. She wanted everyone protected. Maybe it would lead to her apprehension.

It was a test. She wasn't sure if it was a test against CamNet, or if it was a test against herself. Maybe the test was if she stayed or if she went. The real test might be for her to face her problems and deal with them. If it were the case, she was about to fail.

She expected to see one of the Metal girls waiting for her when she came out from under the house. Nobody was there. She pulled the hood on her sweatshirt up, and then down over her upper face. She headed through the yards which didn't have a barking dog. If someone stopped her, she would say her kitten ran away and into their yard. She would explain she tried to get it before it got lost, or a dog attacked it, it was small, furry, and cute. She knew she needed to smile at anyone who confronted her. She was sure it would help diffuse the situation. She knew her face would open any door and make people listen.

So far she made it across four streets going through the yards and was near the major thoroughfare. There was a bus stop nearby. There was an elderly woman waiting there. She wasn't sure when the bus would arrive. The actions of the elderly woman seemed to indicate it was soon.

She hung back and waited for the bus to stop and open the doors. One person exited from the rear door. It was what she hoped for. She then rushed up and squeezed in the rear exit door, while the elderly woman struggled to enter the front. There were security cameras in the front of the bus.

The elderly woman finally got inside and the bus took off. Young Allison slouched across the seat next to the rear exit door. She kept one eye up to look out the window. She wanted to keep track of where they were. She wanted to know what was happening around her. She checked out the few other bus patrons to see if any might become a threat. It didn't look like it. It could change. She would have a choice to make if it did change. She could either try to evade them, use her Taser, or use her Model 66 if the threat warranted it.

If she needed to take down a future Scavenger, she was willing to do so. There was no reason to let a predator roam the street so they could create additional victims because of their personal perversions.

The destination of the bus was the local transit hub. She would exit the stop before it and walk there. She thought she could better avoid the security cameras through a more roundabout way. If she could board the commuter train, it would take her into the city and the downtown area. There was a major transit hub there. She would acquire additional clothing on the commuter train. A sweater, coat, or hat was always left behind by someone. If she found a discarded newspaper or magazine she could hold up in front of her face as if she was reading it. She would make a small hole in it to see where she was going and what was happening around her.

There was still the ever nagging question - where was she going?

She wanted to run. She was doing it now. The only trouble was, she didn't really know why. She didn't know where she was going either. It was like an overwhelming feeling which squeezed her from the inside.

She just wanted to get away from it all.

Closing monologue by Cameron:

I Know The Rules

Who sets the regulation
For suppressive boundaries
Strangling our expanding love
Which limit our heart's foundries

Should not love be determined
By those it actually involves
For it's in each others orbit
Where their life now revolves

As love grows, there are those
Whose love they protect
Challenging all who interlope
All attacks they deflect

So before it's once again said that
We don't know what we're doing
Those who are in love
Know who each is pursuing

Restrictive self imposed limitations
Are only for mindless uncaring fools
I won't take more than what's mine
I know the rules

Nobody