Disclaimer: I own nothing but the OC
Chapter 9: Keep Moving Forward
September 15, 2012, 12 pm
Jim was standing with Cameron and John Henry at the entrance to the new bunker. Construction had ended two days ago and the equipment had been moved out in the meantime. Utilities had just been reestablished hours ago and now they had lights and plumbing running.
"One step closer". Jim said as he patted Cameron on the shoulder.
"We are". She responded in her normal tone, but her mouth had a half smile on it.
The walked down the stairs to enter the bunker itself. The bunker was buried under ten feet of dirt and started about thirty feet from the house. The bunker itself was 50 feet wide east to west and 300 feet long north to south and twelve feet high on the inside. The concrete walls were four feet thick and lined with materials that would hold in any radiation should there be any.
The fusion reactor's antechamber was located on the north side of the bunker, attached by a 10 foot hallway that had blast doors on both ends. The reactor room was a 12 foot cube with five foot thick reinforced concrete walls, just to be on the safe side.
The small building on top of the bunker housed the cargo elevator, and it's dimensions were 15 feet wide and long and 10 high. It too was made of reinforced concrete and steel to hold up against any severe weather.
"Wow, it sure is big". Jim commented as they walked into the main area. The LED strip lighting spanned across the ceiling and down the corners of large room. The section that was walled off, a 20 foot east/west and 30 foot north/south room at the south west corner.
"It is, and everything is in it's place". John Henry said as his eyes swept the room, identifying every outlet, fire extinguisher, and light strip to make sure it where it was supposed to be.
"I guess so, now we just have to move everything in".
"Yes, the biggest machines first. The foundry equipment will arrive tomorrow, followed by the CNC machines and industrial 3D printers. Then the welding equipment and the tool benches. The hand tools will arrive last along with the computer equipment and all necessary components to centrally link everything to the three server towers".
Cameron explained to Jim as she too looked around and imagined where each machine would go, the electrical and communications ports sticking out of the floor, along with pipes that would carry gas, water, or lubricating fluids from tanks above ground. The exhaust and ventilation systems for the foundry and welding area all connected to the elevator building above.
"Well... it looks like we're going to be very busy over the next few months". Jim said as he continued looking around the vast room.
"It will be". Cameron paused as she tilted her head. "Good thing we don't sleep".
Jim snorted a laugh.
"Yeah, it is".
September 22, 2012, 6 am
Jim and Cameron were running to the small town nearest him, about a four mile run one way. They weren't jogging, they were actually running; Jim's training had picked up well after he recovered, plus he'd listened to Cameron's medical advice. He was able to run much longer distances without being out of breath, and his martial arts training had been going well. His whole body's musculature had been built up immensely, and now very defined.
His marksmanship had continued to improve as well, not just with standing targets, but moving and flying ones as well.
Sometime during the next week Cameron was going to start his wilderness survival training, which for Jim would probably be easier than the endurance training had been.
As they neared the small town, Jim spoke to Cameron.
"Hey, do you think that you'll be done installing everything today"?
"Yes, John Henry and I were nearly finished installing all operating software into the systems before you woke up. He planned on testing everything one last time before he began making parts for the fusion reactor".
"Good, things are still on schedule". He said as they stopped at a bench near the post office.
"Yes, and I know you want to be involved in the construction".
"Yeah, I know I can't do much, but I'd like to be involved as much as I can".
"I know you do, I think that you will mostly involved in putting the machines together. You can't help build the parts we have to manufacture. They require exact measurements that no human can do by hand".
"I can help with moving things around too, I want how this stuff works".
"I know".
They got off the bench and were about to begin running back when a pickup pulled up next to them.
Jim knew that the truck belonged to Dave Simmons. The passenger window rolled down and Dave greeted them.
"Well, what are you two doing out so early? The sun's barely up"! The 50 something year old man said in his grovely country accent.
"Running, I've been doing endurance training for the last few months".
"Huh, tryin' to get into the military"?
"Not really, just to help counteract the asthma, it's working so far".
"Good... that's good". He seemed a little hesitant to ask something, but Jim knew he'd do so despite it. "Ya know, the whole town, heck, the whole county wants to know what you was buildin' on your property. Popular vote says it's some kind of bunker".
Jim refrained from rolling his eyes, he knew this day would come, and he was glad he had a cover story.
"It is, but it's just a safety precaution to protect all the expensive equipment we put in there. Cameron and her partner didn't want their investment lost from a mere bout of bad weather".
"What kind of investment, if you don't mind me askin"?
"There attempting to build something new, something that would easily pay everything back they spent money on. They are distant family and I was the only one they knew who had enough land, so I made them a deal. They may be young, but they're smarter than Stephen Hawking".
"Really... Well that's interestin'. Well unless you two want a lift home, I'd better get going".
"Were good, I usually run 8-10 miles a day".
"Well, have good morning then".
Dave rolled up the window and drove off.
Once the dust cleared, The stood up and prepared to head back.
"He believed our story". Cameron said as she eyed the truck going down the highway.
"Yeah, for now. Hopefully nobody decides to do any digging". Jim sighed as they began their run back.
"I hope not either". Cameron's tone was darker than it usually was which prompted Jim to look over at her.
He knew what would happen to the person who dug just a little too deeply for their own good.
It wouldn't be pretty, that much was for certain.
October 27, 2012, 9am
Survival training sucked.
Jim had been out in the forest for the last four days, by himself, with no electronics of any kind.
He didn't even have a compass.
All of the training he'd learned over that last 6 months were being put to the test in this 'midterm exam' as Cameron had put it.
She told him that right before she had dumped him somewhere in the Rocky Mountains...
After fighting the cold, wild animals, rough terrain, and wind with little more than the clothes on his back, Jim found himself plum wore out.
But he had done it, he'd caught his own food with weapons he'd made with his own two hands. Four fish and one rabbit had learned how well Jim knew his stuff.
Right now Jim was making his way down a hillside, carefully making his way around rocks and vines that stood in his way.
He had to make it through three more hours before Cameron would come get him, she had implanted a device in his right forearm that would give his global position and transmit his vitals to her just in case he couldn't handle it.
Jim made his way into the valley, looking for the nearest stream so he could catch breakfast. It didn't take him long to hear the sound of rushing water, and soon he found himself at the banks of of a good sized creek. He gathered some sticks and kindling so he could start a fire. He was fortunate enough to have steel and flint with him to start it, otherwise he would've had a hard time starting one otherwise.
About twenty minutes later he had a good sized blaze going and left it to hunt fish in the stream. Using various techniques to fish for the trout, he managed to finally catch one after half an hour. He cleaned it on a large rock with a his switchblade and cooked the meat on the hot stones around his fire. After eating the meat, he treated himself to a drink of water from the stream. He had gotten used to drinking unclean water, it hadn't been easy, but it made him respect those who had no clean water a lot more.
He cupped his hands and dunked them into the cold water, taking several drinks before letting out a contented sigh.
He was feeling pretty good about himself until he heard a growl not too far behind him. His hair stood on end as his brain recognized the sound as one coming from a bear.
This wasn't going to be easy, that he knew for sure.
Jim turned around slowly and saw that the bear was about thirty feet from him. He tried formulating a plan, but his weapons were limited, and his escape routes weren't the best...
Unless he had a distraction.
Jim saw that he had the fire between him and the bear, while the fire wouldn't be much of a weapon against the grizzly, it would distract it quite well.
He crouched down slowly and then ran forward quickly. He dropped to his knees and grabbed two large sticks that had enough sticking out of the fire for him to grab. He threw both at the bear's head, singeing it's fur and enraging it further.
Jim used that precious time to run across the creek and up the next embankment. The bear sensed it's target getting away and ran after him, bellowing and growling his paws bounded across the ground.
Jim had a decent head start on the bear, but he knew it would catch him sooner or later if he didn't do something quick. He looked around the forest trying to find something for him to use as a weapon.
After three minutes of running, he spotted an RV in the distance. His breathing was getting labored after the intense sprinting, and he wasn't sure how much longer he could go at top speed. He hoped that whoever owned that RV had a weapon he could use, because it was his last option.
The bear was gaining on him and Jim knew he didn't have much time to put a plan together. When he reached what he had seen earlier, he ran into the camping ground, which happened to be full of families at that moment.
"Crap... not good" Jim hadn't intended to endanger a whole bunch of people, he thought it was just one camper! He looked around furiously for a weapon, and nearly shouted for joy when he spotted a truck with a ton of NRA stickers on it. He ran over, broke the window with a rock, and took the shotgun attached to the back windshield. He checked it for ammo, which it had, and flicked the safety off. He pumped the gun and pointed it at the rapidly approaching bear.
People were running and screaming as they ran away, but Jim only made sure none were in his line of sight before he fired the 12 gauge right into the bear's head.
The bear went down in an instant as it's brain was turned to mist, stopping not ten feet from Jim.
"Serves you right". He spat at the animal as he wiped the gun of his fingerprints. He put the gun in the in the bed and ran off before the park rangers could arrive.
After an hour or so walking in the woods, Jim reached a two lane road and followed it south. He figured Cameron was going to find him eventually so he just stuck to the road as closely as possible, but staying in the woods just in case a ranger drove by.
After following the road for half a mile, he sat down for a moment to rest, feeling just a little worn out after that mad dash through the woods. As he sat there thinking about stupid he'd been for letting the animal sneak up on him in the first place, a black Dodge Ram pulled off the road. Jim snapped out of his thoughts when he heard the sound, but relaxed as he recognized the truck.
He let out a sigh of relief now that this little trip was over. Jim stood up as Cameron got out of the truck and walked over to her.
"You're a sight for sore eyes, how you been"? He asked as he embraced the machine in a hug, which she awkwardly returned.
"Fine". She stepped out of the hug and took a good look at him, he had no obvious injuries and seemed to be in decent health, but he seemed very tired for it only being noon. "You look a little worse for wear".
Jim nodded as he let out another sigh.
"Yeah, that happens when you get chased by a grizzly for mile".
Cameron cocked her head when her voice analyzers told her that he was not trying to be humorous.
"You did"?
"Yeah, ran into a campsite and broke into a truck and shot it with a gun. Couldn't kill it with much else".
Cameron's eyes widened considerably, she'd wondered what all the police sirens were about, now she knew.
"Then it seems your endurance training was worth it".
"No doubt about it! I'd be mincemeat by now if I hadn't"!
When Jim raised his arms at his exclamation, Cameron's nose crinkled from the smell that emanated from under them.
"You need a shower, badly". She emphasized the word 'badly'. He looked at her like strangely for a moment before responding to that comment.
"You spend that long out in the wilderness and we'll see if you smell all nice and pretty Cameron".
She gave him a look before retorting.
"I still wouldn't smell that bad".
Jim just rolled his eyes and rolled down the window to let in fresh air.
"Find a hotel so I can change and take a shower". Jim managed to say as he let out a long yawn.
Cameron looked briefly at him before turning back to the road. When she spotted one ten miles later, Jim was already asleep in the passenger seat.
The cyborg frowned slightly for a moment, and wondered if she should just let him rest for a while longer, or wake him up.
She decided to let him sleep until they reached to next town, he'd done well on his test and she was proud of him.
Twenty hours later they arrived back at the farm, Jim had slept most of the way and was feeling back up to par.
They went down into the bunker immediately after they got back. John Henry greeted them at the door with his still creepy smile, but Jim had grown used to it after so long.
"Did you finish the reactor while we were gone"? Jim asked as they walked across the room.
"Yes, however, without Cameron I was unable to start it".
"I assume that's what we're going to do now"?
Cameron answered in his place.
"Yes, we need to perform the reactor extraction procedure".
Jim nodded as they stopped at an empty tool bench. Cameron ordered her sheath to retract around the breastplate assembly as she laid down on the cool metal table.
She removed her jacket, shirt, and bra, revealing a bare metal thoracic region.
"Jim, John Henry already knows how to do this, but you need to know just in case". She paused as she released all locks and disconnected all power and data pathways leading to the assembly.
"Are you sure"? Jim was skeptical at handling what was essentially her heart.
"Yes, now pull the breastplate assembly off the chassis frame".
Jim nodded and reached around on both sides, gripping his fingers under the tiny gap that had appeared. He yanked a little to break the seal and pulled it off.
Underneath there was a maze of plasma conduits, electrical wiring, actuators, and the four booster thrusters. He could see her lungs that look in fresh air for her reactor and noticed it was made of the same silvery gel that her skin was.
His observation was broken when he heard a series of locks release around the apple sized reactor in the middle of her chest. The plasma conduits went dark as the reactor was disconnected and the backup powercell in her abdomen took over.
"The reactor isn't hot, use your fingers and pull it firmly".
Jim did so and the reactor came out of it's housing in the same way Tony Stark's Arc reactor did. While her fusion reactor didn't look like his, it ran on the same principles. It was cylindrical in shape, but only roughly. The inner shape was that of two cones that met at the tip while the outer shape was where the reaction was contained, it was basically an oval shaped tube that wrapped around the valley of the two cones. The reactor had it's own computer built into the top while the connections to the endo were on the bottom.
Cameron remained on the table, active, while Jim and JH went off into the secure antechamber where the fusion reactor was housed. It looked like a bigger version of the one in his hands, but with the plasma/electric converter built right into the floor of the room.
The port for Cameron's reactor was at the base of the converter. Jim carefully inserted it while John Henry typed commands into the terminal to lock it in place and connect it to the systems. Then he opened the valves for the deuterium and tritium tanks and allowed the gases to thoroughly mix in the pre-injection chamber.
John Henry connected Cameron's reactor and let it power the new reactor's magnetic containment field and kick start the reaction. John Henry then let the mixture into the reaction chamber at the predetermined rate and let the reaction begin.
Ten seconds later and the new fusion reactor was self sustaining.
"Output is nominal, efficiency is rising at an acceptable rate, tritium and deuterium production are as I predicted. Jim, please remove Cameron's reactor, I've already ejected it".
Jim tore his eyes away from the blue glowing machine and removed Cameron's heart from it's socket. Jim left the room while John Henry continued monitoring the reactor for any changes.
Cameron was waiting anxiously on the table, when the reactor started, the blast doors had been closed. When Jim walked out of antechamber, Cameron knew that it had started without a hitch.
If the huge smile on his face wasn't an indicator, she didn't know what was.
"It works, everything is working like it should". Jim slide her fusion heart back into place and put her breast plate back on.
When she was all back together, she redressed and got off the bench.
"I want to see it". She walked into the reactor room and stared at it. Hope once again lighting up her stoic face.
Jim walked up beside her and crossed his arms, he too was taken by the blue glowing structure.
"We keep on moving forward". He whispered to no one in particular.
"Always". Cameron whispered back as the light of pulsing blue plasma filled her with hope.
December 25, 2012, 5 am
Jim's alarm went off as it always did, but he was already awake. He was just laying in bed waiting for it to go off.
He climbed out of bed, fully awake, and put on running pants and shoes along with a t-shirt. He threw his keys, phone, and wallet into his pocket as he walked out of his bedroom, but stopped in his tracks when a familiar smell hit his nose.
Coffee? Who would have made coffee?
He walked briskly through the house to the kitchen where he found a fresh pot sitting in the maker.
"I don't even remember unpacking that..." Jim pondered to himself as he walked toward the machine.
He smiled to himself when he saw the note left in front of it.
"You don't have training today, Merry Christmas".
Both Cameron and John Henry had signed the note and he felt touched by the gesture. He pulled down his favorite mug and poured a cup. He let out a contented sigh as the beverage rolled down his throat, it had been too long since he had a brew.
Instead of eating breakfast, he went to his room and pulled the presents out he had bought for the two cyborgs and put them under the tree in the living room. He noticed that they had bought presents too, but wasn't surprised. They had decided to get into the Christmas spirit not long after Thanksgiving was over. The house had plenty of lights on it and the interior had plenty of his grandmothers old holiday decorations.
John Henry had even put a wreath in the bunker over the tunnel leading to the house.
Even after 8 months of living with the two machines they continued to surprise him.
When he entered the bunker he heard the sounds of the CNC machines running and the sounds of other tools being used in the TDE chamber.
He looked around the room and saw Cameron working on the power conduits leading to the TDE.
"Merry Christmas Cameron".
She put her tools down and gave him a small smile.
"Merry Christmas Jim, how's the coffee"?
"Good, thanks for that". He paused as he set the now empty mug on a table. "So how close are we to firing this thing up"?
"Close, John Henry is installing the last of the superconducting field coils. Then we can use the subspace sensors to calibrate them".
"Good, then we'll open gifts".
"That's the plan". She said as she continued her work. Jim left her to her work and went to finish the control board he had been wiring the night before.
He did all the work that didn't require a machine's precision touch. Wiring, assembly, and moving parts around were just some of the tasks he did.
This particular board he was wiring was going to be housing the TDE power monitoring equipment.
In two hours he was finished, and so were the cyborgs.
They gathered around the control station for the TDE after Jim had thrown the switch to turn on the station on, but the actual time machine itself was still off. When the computers had powered up and synced with one another, John Henry used his wireless link Cameron had made for him and connected the new equipment to the main servers and installed the necessary software.
As soon as all systems were ready John Henry switched on the main power feed and started running diagnostics and the calibration sequence.
Jim and Cameron looked through the glass window and watched as the TDE powered up for the first time. Electricity began arcing from the superconducting rings on the ceiling onto the invisible bubble surrounding the white pad in the center.
"The constant's of this universe are slightly different than ours, The sensors will help me tell me exactly how much they vary".
"Good, now that we've done everything we can for now... let's go open presents"! Jim grabbed their hands and pulled them out the door.
Once they made it to the basement, Jim let go of their hands to open the door.
"You seem overly excited about this holiday". John Henry observed as they made their way upstairs.
"I am". Jim opened the basement door and entered the hallway. "This is the first time in two years that I'm spending the holidays with...". He trailed off and averted his eyes, not sure how to explain how he felt.
"With who"? John Henry asked as they made their way to the living room, but it was Cameron who answered.
"Family, you think of us as family". Cameron's tone made it seem that she barely believed the words that were coming out of her mouth.
Jim let that roll around in his head for a moment... family. Did he really think of these two as family? He considered both more than friends at this point, but family? Yeah... family, it was almost like having a sister and older cousin.
"I guess so". He looked up from the ground and straight into their eyes. "Yeah, definitely. I guess it was time I moved on... you two have helped me do that, you've helped me heal".
Cameron's lip quirked a little.
She, a terminator, had helped someone heal from emotional pain, but had been designed to cause nothing but pain and death.
She really had changed, all three of them had.
"I think that would be appropriate, don't you Cameron"? John Henry asked, he too having a small quirk on his lips.
"Yes, I do". Her face now held a small smile and Jim knew that no matter what happened in the future that they would stick together and take care of each other. Hopefully they would get the chance to expand their family someday if they managed to get back.
"Good, now let's open gifts". Jim said as he bent down and gave a present to each of them. Cameron handed Jim the one she had gotten him.
When they tore them open, John Henry had a whole set of the newest Bionicles, Cameron had pair of ballet slippers in her hand and a CD filled with classical music. Jim opened his and pulled out a Smith and Wesson Model 29, his favorite handgun. It came with a case of .44 mag rounds as well. They opened more gifts, each of them getting two. John Henry received a Dungeons and Dragons set from Cameron while he gave her a custom made Swiss Army knife, designed by him for chip extractions in mind. John Henry gave Jim an Xbox with some of the most popular games, including the Halo saga.
While Cameron said that it would be useful for training, Jim knew better than that though.
After they had cleaned up the paper, Jim ate a Christmas breakfast fit for kings. Cameron herself had a small meal to enjoy the holiday.
All in all, it turned out to be one of the best days the trio had ever had.
A/N: For those of you who didn't like the review requirement
it wasn't chapter hostage, it was just "if you want it quicker"
motivation. It would have been posted regardless three days later.
BTW: Same thing applies as last chapter, if you want it posted sooner rather than later, motivate me!
Once again, thank you for all the feedback and reviews!