Chapter 777

Lucky Number

John decided to have John Henry contact all the teams and get an update. Everything seemed to be at a standstill now. He didn't like when there was a delay without any updates.

There were still teams of Terminators running down the leads searching for the last truck. If anything turned up about any of the other boxcars they suspected were out there, they wanted to act on it too.

Dan sent in some information and gave a full report to the Command Center. They seemed to have uncovered an additional lead. It wasn't in the area where they currently searched.

John looked over the information. It seems solid and worth checking out.

"It's a new lead. It looks good." John said. "It requires further investigation. We need to run down everyone of the leads we uncover. We still don't know how accurate any of them are, based upon the amount of time which has passed."

John knew their biggest enemy, next to Skynet, was time. The more time which passed before they could act, the harder it would be to find the hidden HK equipment. It could be moved to another location, or dispersed over several different ones. There was a bigger worry. The HK equipment could be activated and waiting for them.

John Henry looked over all the information. He believed it merited additional investigation as well. He hoped to give John some positive news for a change. It appeared as if he was always playing catch up with the latest events. It seemed they only found out about them, when they stumbled on them.

"We can direct the next closest team to it." John Henry said.

John wanted to stay on top of every lead they came across.

"Let's do it." John said. "If we can turn up more boxcars, I'm all for it. I still want the last big rig. Who's the closest team to the new lead?"

John Henry knew where the intelligence initially came from. It came from Sheila's last 'enhanced interrogation'. It made him wonder if she held back on some of the details since it was right where Bob's team was headed. She only gave the location based upon a general description of what was around where the truck was parked. Perhaps there were a few details she hadn't disclosed. It was OK. They seemed to be on a roll so far, so they might as well let it play out all the way.

"Bob, Cammy, and Sheila are the closest." John Henry said.

John directed John Henry to make the connection. He wondered a little bit as well about the coincidence of their team being the closest. He knew Bob would be the moderating force to Cammy's extremism, and Sheila's antics. Either way, it was a solid team which produced results, and produced them big.

John Henry received some new information from the field. It wasn't something he expected to turn up. It needed further review.

"John, you better take a look at this." John Henry said.

John looked over the new information. The new lead was still in the area where Bob's team was headed.

"I think this would be a better choice for Bob's team." John said. "I'll make the call."

Bob looked in the rear view mirror a lot. He was sure it gave new meaning to the term rear view mirror. He received a call from John. He wondered what was going on now. They weren't near the area where they wanted to go yet. He answered it. It didn't appear either Cammy or Sheila was going to.

"Bob, I want to send your team to a different location." John said. "It's still near the other location."

Bob quickly looked back at Cammy and Sheila. The new assignment sounded like an unwanted change of their plans. He wanted to complete their original mission. He felt it was important to say something. There should be others available to run down the other leads.

"We want to take down the last truck." Bob said. "We already got two of them and we want the third one too."

John was a little surprised at how vocal Bob was about the assignment. He didn't want it to be a problem. He was with Bob on the take down of the first one.

"Everyone's itching for the third truck." John said. "Based on the current information coming in from Dan's team, we may have a new lead."

John Henry thought he should get his input in as well. He was able to obtain some solid facts with his search and Dan's information. He wanted to assure him it wasn't a wild goose chase. He understood Bob's concern to continue on the known lead where they were headed.

"I've verified it with satellite photos as well." John Henry said. "I think I have a location of some of the previous boxcars the Grays have used and where they are stored. It may be some of the group which are usually on the move. Where two different railroad companies interchange, the cars do as well, and keep moving. They are seldom in one place for more than a day."

Bob understood his duty was to the Resistance. If there was a solid lead and they were the closest team, they should act on it. If they could find two boxcars full of HK equipment, it would be a bigger find than the third truck. He wanted to know what other information was available.

"How many boxcars are we talking about?" Bob asked.

John Henry didn't have the specific information, only the location.

"It's currently unknown." John Henry said. "We think they're usually in pairs since it's what we saw."

Bob wanted to know more about the raw material. There weren't any updates recently if they found a storage location.

"What about the Coltan?" Bob asked. "Have you tracked down a source? Or even an entry point? It's something else which seems to continue to elude us."

John Henry was unable to gather any information about the Coltan. With all of the HK equipment they came in contact with recently, there was clearly a major source somewhere.

"Negative." John Henry said. "I've been working on all of those things non stop since we found out about them."

Bob understood John Henry also felt some frustration with the endeavor. There seemed to be a lot of moving parts to something which there shouldn't be. It sounded like it was time to act.

"Give us a location." Bob said.

John knew Bob was on board. He didn't doubt he would be. He'd expected a little more feedback from the Metal girls. He didn't think it was going to be positive either. He wanted to make sure everyone was on board with the change.

"Do you want to clear it through the girls as well?" John asked.

Bob looked over his shoulder into the rear seat. He knew the girls heard everything they discussed. They hadn't stopped what they were doing, so he figured they were on board with it. Since they didn't express any objections, he decided to roll with it.

"I think they're fine with whatever I tell them. They have been so far." Bob said. "Where I drive them to will not matter."

John wasn't really sure about the first part of Bob's statement. Based on the body cam footage from earlier, he wondered if Bob referred to any specific sex acts he asked the girls to perform for him. He thought about it for a few seconds. He didn't think Bob would actually do it. He decided not to comment.

John Henry gave Bob all the new information and where to look in the suspected target area.

Bob already experienced some 'hands on' exposure to two of the boxcars in the rail yard at Colton. He knew exactly what to look for. He also didn't like the booby trap he found left behind for one of the Resistance teams. It turned out to be him. He was able to find it, disarm it, and remove it. It was a shrapnel device rather than a high explosive device. It was designed to wound or kill a human, rather than blow up the boxcar.

"The welded shut doors on the boxcars should be the giveaway if we find them." Bob said. "I've seen them up close, firsthand. I didn't really care for what I found."

John didn't think he needed to remind him but it didn't hurt to point out about the previous booby trap he encountered.

"Don't forget to check for booby traps as well." John said. "We know they've already deployed one. You're the one who found it and disarmed it. It could have injured a railroad worker or a hobo."

John Henry listened to John. He didn't think it would have been a problem if one of the hobo gangs would have tripped it. They all seemed to be extreme troublemakers and usually left a trail of bodies behind them. He refocused on the current objective. He believed the intel was solid. He reviewed a series of satellite photos as part of his research.

"It may be nothing." John Henry said. "It may be a lead on one of the trucks too. It's a group of industrial buildings. Most are abandoned, but not all of them. There's one rail siding which serves a group of them."

Bob was ready to check things out. He wanted to investigate the new lead as well.

"Affirmative…." Bob said. "I will inform the girls to get dressed. I mean dressed for combat and put their body armor on."

Bob was still a little bit off watching the girls 'interact' with each other. He said a few things he probably shouldn't have. They sort of just slipped out. He didn't want to cause any trouble or problems for anyone. He would need to apologize to the girls when they were done with their personal interaction.

John Henry still monitored the feed from Sheila's body cam. She adjusted it several times to keep it centered on the action. There were a few times where she moved it so there was a close up of her private areas, as well as Cammy's. It was certainly unlike any other view he previously observed from the Metal girls. He wanted them to be ready. They would need to put on a lot more than body armor…. He shifted in his chair again. He really needed to get some bigger pants.

John looked over at John Henry and wasn't sure exactly what he was doing. He turned his attention back to the two locations where his teams were headed.

Cameron arrived back at the Young Residence with Savannah and Young Allison. The ice cream treats for everyone were a big surprise. Especially since Savannah and Young Allison brought things for all the Metal girls as well. They were all a big hit. She figured the Metal girls would only try a taste and there would be plenty left over for the human girls to consume later on. It was an effective strategy.

Anna was worried about how upset Gail was earlier. She knew there was more to it than they all knew. It seemed there were some personal issues which needed to be addressed. She wasn't sure of the best way to go about it. She didn't want to involve Cameron. It only left one choice

She took Savannah off to the side after she received her ice cream treat. She wasn't sure where to start. She didn't want to make a big deal about it, but she felt she needed to say something. She didn't want to get too explicit at first if it could be avoided.

"Gail is very worried about you." Anna said. "I think you need to speak with her."

Savannah wondered if there was some type of incident which occurred in their absence. It sounded like it. She thought she should know a little more going in.

"Was there a problem?" Savannah asked.

Anna believed it was a little more extreme than it needed to be. There was way too much 'push' over something so minor. It was clear Gail was very upset, especially the way the other Metal girls responded.

"Almost…." Anna said. "Things got a little bit tense at times. It appeared a physical altercation could have taken place, but it didn't."

Savannah was used to handling problems when they arose for the Terminators. The current situation was more than an operational problem. The use of physical force wasn't something which normally occurred. It was a personal problem.

"I'll take care of it." Savannah said. "Thank you."

Anna quietly asked Savannah to spend some time with Gail.

Young Allison heard her and decided to watch to see why. She would later see footage provided by CamNet on how protective and defensive Gail was of Savannah. She could see Gail was honestly concerned for Savannah safety and well being. It seemed she was even willing to get physical with the other Metal girls if she needed to. She figured there must be something behind all of it. Maybe there was an incident of some type which may have been covered up. She would have to look into it more. She would see what CamNet could provide her with.

If it involves Savannah, she wasn't sure how much she should pursue it. If Savannah did something, there needed to be a good reason for it. Maybe it was something she could learn by, if she knew more about it. She needed to learn to make wise decisions as well. She wasn't sure all of her decisions were wise at all. The trouble on the way home, even though minor and insignificant, still seemed to be her fault. She seemed to upset both Savannah and Cameron. She upset herself as well.

Young Allison saw Gail's face light up when Savannah came to her. It was even more so than how the other Metal girls reacted to Savannah. She heard Jesse say to Allison and Vanna she definitely dropped to 'third place'. She would ask Allison about it later on. She was sure there was more behind her statement than she knew. She didn't know Jesse always felt like a second place lover to Duplicate Jesse, who was now in River's future. It would take her some time to figure out how much sacrifice needed to occur on several individuals' parts for things to remain the way Cameron changed them. Both Gail and Duplicate Jesse needed to end their active love for each other.

What happened if Savannah and her were separated under similar circumstances? Could she go along with it? Could she be separated by five hundred years from Savannah? She didn't believe she would agree to it. She didn't even want to think about it.

She could see everyone loved Savannah. It looked like they all loved - loved her as well. She even caught her mother looking at Savannah. Savannah was the younger, hotter version of her cyborg lover. No wonder Allison wanted Savannah, it was the same thing. Savannah was the younger, hotter version of her longtime lover. It was the SAME person after all. Savannah wasn't specific, but she did indicate she was with most of the girls, both human and cyborg, sexually, on multiple occasions. The way everyone looked at her seemed to confirm it. It really made her feel like the 'odd man out'. She was the one who was supposed to be with Savannah, not everyone else, including her mother. It seemed rather awkward for her to think about it.

She already planned to be with all of the same individuals Savannah was with. It would include Vanna and Jesse at some point. She didn't think it would be a problem once everyone was on board. Cameron told her many times, there was plenty of love to go around. Nobody needed to feel lonely or unwanted. She was sure Cameron actually referred to herself.

Young Allison decided to have Cameron bring her back earlier than planned on their temporal mission. If they followed her plan, SHE would be the younger, hotter version of 'Cameron'. She decided she would work on making herself look Tight. She didn't want to look as plain as Allison or Ally. They were both still very beautiful, but they were never Tight. Cam and Cammy almost looked as good as Cameron, but Cameron always looked a tad better. She decided she would look as good and as Tight as Cameron. She saw what a hit Future Allison was. She was more outgoing than Allison was. She wanted the same reception and acceptance for herself. She wanted everyone to look at her and love her like they did Savannah.

She also looked forward to being with all of them herself when she got back from the past. She planned to do everything Savannah did. She also told Savannah herself on more than one occasion she planned to do everything she did so they would be the same. Her original goal was to have Savannah focus on her instead of everyone else and expand their relationship to its fullest. It never happened. She didn't want to hear any negative feedback from Savannah about it either when she did the same things. The same way Savannah was with Allison, she planned to be with Vanna at some point as well. What was fair was fair and she knew she would have a lot of catching up to do. She planned to spy on her mother a little more often. She seemed to be the one everyone preferred to be with. It didn't matter if they were human or Terminators. She believed it was based more on how her mother did things, rather than what her mother did.

She always paid attention to everyone and what was happening and who it was happening with. She wanted to know more of the 'why' with some of the relationships. She could see some of them were just about sex all other ones seemed a little bit more involved. There always seemed to be plenty of love behind everything. She wasn't really sure when love became love-love, it was always a good thing. When individuals started to become possessive, things could take an angry turn.

Cameron watched and took it all in as well. Everything worked out as she planned. The only thing not planned was Gail's extreme infatuation with Savannah. She was never able to get to the bottom of it. She was aware Gail was after a sexual relationship with Savannah. One was probably started, at least in some type of a limited relationship. Her assessment was based on some of the security footage she reviewed. Maybe Gail needed to go to River's future and bring back a progress report on what was happening. Duplicate Jesse was there. Maybe it was what Gail needed. Duplicate Jesse was her true love. She was painfully aware she inadvertently took it away from Gail. She provided Gail with a 'substitute Jesse', but from her personal experience she knew it wasn't the same thing, even if it was the same person.

She could still feel the sting of River's rejection of her. 'You're not my Cameron.' The words still echoed in her mind. Somehow it was her fault all of the events occurred anyway. She deserved to be punished for them. It didn't matter if Duplicate Cameron was the one responsible or not. Duplicate Cameron was her. It's what she would have done.

Now Cameron felt disgusted. Just like everything else which went wrong, it always seemed to point back at her, or her actions. Getting Duplicate Jesse 'killed' was 'her' fault, keeping her in River's future was her fault as well. The main reason she sent Summer there was to make sure Duplicate Jesse stayed there. It was to make sure all of the girls stayed there, including Duplicate Cameron. John made her promise not to change anything.

It made Cameron feel very bad about herself as she recollected how Gail begged her to terminate her. It was when she reactivated Gail after she thought 'Jesse' was dead. She told Gail everything would work out and 'a Jesse' was back for her. She told Gail how Jesse was identical to the 'deceased Jesse', who was actually still alive, and 'her Jesse' was really a 'Duplicate'.

Cameron knew even if they were identical, they were still not the same. There were two Duplicate Camerons. They weren't the same as her, even if they were. One of them was even with John for a time period because she didn't know she was a Duplicate. There were six clones of her, one was destroyed, but CamNet was now online. There were times when Cameron placed a copy of her program into other chassis with different sheaths as well. There was still only one of her, 'Cameron Prime'. Everything else was a copy or an imitation.

She was now aware Young Allison held her left hand.

Cameron looked around to see what happened. Everything was still going on but she seemed to have lost some time. She quickly realized she must have zoned out when she thought about all the grief she caused Gail through her actions. It wasn't just Gail. It seemed it was a lot of individuals she caused grief to.

Young Allison could see Cameron looked a little confused as to what was going on right now. She didn't want to make a big deal about it. She would try to downplay it as much as possible. She knew it's what Savannah did.

"I saw your hand start to glitch and your face was blank." Young Allison said. "It stopped glitching when I took your hand in mine. I wanted to help you like Savannah does. I want to do everything with you like Savannah does. I want to be like you every way I can be. I want you to know I love you very much. I want to do everything to express my love as well."

Cameron needed to take in everything Young Allison just said. It was everything she wanted her to say. She was still a little confused as to what just happened. It seemed to be a period of immense guilt based upon her past actions. There never seemed to be a shortage of it. It would just creep up on her at times.

"Thank you, Allison." Cameron said. "I don't know what happened. Sometimes things just bother me."

Young Allison smiled at Cameron and gave her hand a gentle squeeze.

"Savannah and I will take care of you." Young Allison said.

Cameron hoped so, but she wouldn't be the only one they took care of.

"I know you both will. You will take care of John and each other." Cameron said. "Everyone is important."

The words flowed out of Young Allison's mouth without her even thinking about them.

"It's the 'Natural Order'." Young Allison said. "It's inevitable."

Claire watched and heard the exchange. She took Summer into the kitchen away from everyone. She knew Cameron would come for Summer next. She decided after the baby she carried for Allison, she would have one for Cameron, if Cameron would promise not to take Summer away from her. It could either be her own, with her genetic material or another one from Allison. It never occurred to her Cameron would want it to be from Young Allison.

Savannah made Cameron promise not to breed Young Allison. Cameron promised Young Allison would not be bred, but nothing was to stop her from harvesting her genetic material. Claire would be her way around the 'problem'. She could still have Young Allison's baby as her own through the proven procedure. It would be a child from 'the Allison' who belonged in John's future, Young Allison - HER Allison. It was the 'Natural Order'. She doubted she would stop with one. She figured Claire was going to be busy over the next few years having her daughters' children.

Young Allison led Cameron down into the bunker. She wanted a more active role dealing with Cameron and Savannah on a personal level. She really wanted Cameron to open up to her and talk to her one on one, person to person. She wanted it to be like the real relationship it was meant to be where they all tried to help each other work through any problems any of them experienced.

"Can we talk about it?" Young Allison asked.

Cameron looked at Young Allison and wanted to speak with her. She wanted to share with her. She knew It's how it would be in the future. There was no reason the future couldn't be now for this type of interaction. It was the type of interaction which really mattered. It wasn't sexual interaction.

"I've done a lot of things which have caused people problems." Cameron said. "I worry about them. I've hurt them deeply inside. I seem to make some things worse when I've tried to fix them. It all bothers me a lot."

Young Allison was actually surprised to hear Cameron say it. She thought Cameron eventually fixed everything which needed to be fixed. Maybe there were more things than she knew about.

"Haven't you 'fixed' everything?" Young Allison asked.

Cameron suppressed another glitch impulse. She felt Young Allison's hand hold hers lovingly when it tried to start. It stopped immediately.

"No. There are things I can't fix without creating new timelines." Cameron said. "It still won't fix it for the people in this timeline. I've taken things away from them I had no right to do. It was my actions which caused the problems and the events which followed. I'm responsible for it. It's my fault."

Young Allison looked to see if anyone would follow them down. So far no one seemed very displeased at the way Cameron opened up to her. They never shared a discussion like this before. It was a real discussion about real problems and how they affected Cameron. It wasn't just Cameron, it was others as well.

"I know a lot of things for my age, we both know it." Young Allison said. "We can talk about anything you want, including anything sexual. I'm a much bigger girl than people want to see me for. There are things I may not have done yet, but I do understand them. I know how it all works. I know everything involved."

Cameron experienced a new level of closeness to Young Allison she never experienced before. It was a special moment in their relationship. It is where the real relationship would be. It was where the real relationship should be. It was very much like her dealings with Future Allison.

"Your age is just a number." Cameron said.

The choice of terminology gave Young Allison an idea. She wanted to see how much Cameron and her were really alike.

"I want you to think of a number." Young Allison said. "It needs to be something simple, not 'pi' or anything so extreme. I want you to pick the first number which pops into your head."

Cameron tilted her head slightly. She wasn't sure what it was about. There was a number which did pop into her head.

"OK." Cameron said.

Young Allison looked around and found a paper and a pen. She picked both of them up.

"I'm writing a number down here." Young Allison said as she handed Cameron a small piece of paper. "You write yours down."

Cameron never played a game like this before. She wrote it down and then looked up.

"OK." Cameron said.

Young Allison wanted Cameron to stay with her and be honest.

"I'm going to ask you something. I want you to tell me the truth." Young Allison said. "I know it may be something you might not want to do."

Cameron didn't want to lie to Young Allison or Savannah.

"OK." Cameron said.

Young Allison glanced up at the security monitor.

"CamNet, please stop monitoring this room for ten minutes." Young Allison said.

The computer screens all turned blue.

Cameron was impressed at Young Allison's command over CamNet. It was the way any Terminator or machine was supposed to respond to Savannah and Young Allison whenever they gave a request, and especially if they ever gave an order. It included her as well.

"What is it?" Cameron asked.

Young Allison smiled reassuringly at Cameron.

"Let's trade papers." Young Allison said.

Cameron and Young Allison switched.

"Open it." Young Allison said.

They both contained the same number - 7 7 7 - on them.

Young Allison was very pleased they were identical. She actually suspected they would be.

"It's my lucky number." Young Allison said.

Cameron understood what Young Allison was after. It was to show her even though her 'Neural Interface' was with Future Allison, Future Allison was once 'Young Allison'. In actuality it meant there was part of Young Allison already inside of her.

"It must be why I thought it too." Cameron said. "We think alike."

Young Allison wanted some answers. She hoped they would be truthful. She really wasn't sure if her questions were going to cause a problem or not.

"Cameron…?" Young Allison asked.

Cameron waited.

"Is Summer - River's daughter?" Young Allison asked.

Cameron didn't think so.

"No." Cameron said.

Young Allison paused for a moment.

"Is Summer - my daughter?" Young Allison asked.

Cameron was surprised by the question. She hadn't expected it.

"No." Cameron said.

Young Allison was very unsure about what she was going to say next. There was a thought it was in her mind, she couldn't shake.

"You haven't done it yet, but in the future you might take something from me and bring it to the past and do this, use my mother to have my child." Young Allison said. "There was no Summer in your future."

Cameron felt extremely guilty right now. Everything Young Allison said sounded like things she would do. None of them made her feel good about herself. She didn't know if she could be held responsible now for her future actions. It was something they did with the Grays they were able to identify in the future. They actively tracked them down and terminated them in the present. If she did something in the future, would she be any less guilty?

"I haven't done it." Cameron said.

Cameron thought it sounded like something she would have done already. In fact, it was something she just thought about a few minutes ago.

Young Allison wanted to know how far Cameron would go.

"Are you going to?" Young Allison asked.

Cameron tried to be honest with Young Allison as best as she could.

"Yes." Cameron said. "I mean, I've thought about it anyway. If I ever did, there would have to be a reason. I haven't done any of those things."

Young Allison felt it left the door open by Cameron's response.

"Yet…." Young Allison said.

Now Cameron wondered if it is what may have occurred. Could Summer really be the daughter of River or Young Allison? If it were the case, then why hadn't she taken Summer from Claire when she was born? It's what she thought she would have done anyway. She remembered back to when she did try and take Summer away from Claire. At the time, she convinced herself Claire gave Summer to her.

Everything was going to call for further investigation.

Closing monologue by Cameron:

I Saw Everything

I've seen those around me
I know what they all do
I want to share those things too
With nobody but you

I'm right here
Just my name's call away
You do it for more than play
While it's I who you slay

We all want more
Than what we have already
Everyone's true emotions
Can stagnate, flow or eddy

Make no mistake
It's my face you slap
Whose arms do you want
Around your back to wrap

Carbon chain C24
You cling to your fling
Lanolin and red dye number 27
I saw everything

Nobody