+TB+
(Connor Safe house 2008)
Sarah let out a long sigh as she finished her shower and go out to dry herself off, she felt out of sorts since Ellison had left to see about finding someone who could help them hack into the FBI systems, they were not searching for him even if they were aware he had been working at Zeira Corp and thus could move around freely but she had to be even more careful since the jailbreak. She could ill afford to be arrested again, this time if it happened, she had no way out unless she could break out herself. Derek was dead, John, the A.I John Henry and the T-1001 who had replaced Weaver were in the future and Cameron would remain inert until her chip was recovered. She doubted Ellison could or would try and help her if she ended up arrested again, her trust in him were rather low since learning he had handed over the body of Cromartie to Weaver even before they knew she was also a damn Terminator.
Once she finished drying herself, she changed into some fresh clothes and went to make herself a coffee, she had no idea what to do with herself whilst she waited for Ellison to return. There was nothing she could do until he did, she made sure her coffee was hot and then went and collapsed into the sofa. She wondered how John was getting on in the future, what kind of world had he stepped into? Was he alone or was the Weaver Terminator still with him and that was another thing could Weaver be trusted to protect John if needed and would she protect him if she could? So many questions and no answers, she closed her eyes and tried not to think about it.
+TB+
(Resistance Bunker 2028)
Kyle had remained motionless for some time as he tried to process what Allison had suggested, it was mind blowing and scary in a sense if she was right. He glanced at Derek and noted he too looked stunned at the idea that their guest from the past was his son making him Derek's nephew. Was it even possible? If Connor has been honest with them and he believed he had been and time travel was possible, then was it possible he had gone back in the original timeline fallen in love with Connor's mother and conceived John before dying. It was mind boggling and made his head hurt, why had he not told them he started to ask himself before the answer hit him instantly that they would not have believed him for a second especially Perry and Derek.
"Kyle, are you okay?" Allison inquired having grown worried by his continued silence after her suggestion.
Kyle finally looked up and met her eyes and she could see the confusion and uncertainty in them. "I have no idea how I feel right now Allison" he admitted. "How do you respond to something like that?" he asked clearly not expecting an answer.
"I do not believe you even suggested that Allison" Perry growled not believing for an instant the idea had any merit. "Whatever it is that is making you trust Connor is compromising your judgement" he stated to which Allison turned to glare at him.
"How dare you" she spat. "Kyle and Derek are almost like brothers to me and I would never allow any harm to come to them or someone to get close to them that intended them harm no matter my personal feelings on the matter" she told him as Derek seemed to recover his senses and also glared at Perry as he should know how close the three of them were since they had found Allison in a deserted town the only survivor of a massacre.
Perry backed off and refused to respond as he knew he might have overstepped himself; Allison was not in the chain of command, but she was one of Kyle closest and most trusted soldiers. Neither Kyle or Derek would respond well to a suggestion she was putting them at risk or been compromised, he did not like it, but he kept his continued concern buried.
"I am not compromised, and John is not a threat" Allison stated unable to help but include John in her statement. "I understand why you are doubtful general but considering everything we have learned; my suggestion holds merit and is worth investigating" she added.
"And how do you plan to do that?" Perry could not help but inquire.
"A blood and DNA test will show anything strange or unusual in our guest's body" Kyle responded cutting into the somewhat heated conversation and recovering his composure. "If he was a Terminator, the dogs would already have alerted us, and they did not even twitch at his presence" he reminded the older man.
"He could be a grey" Perry countered and was relieved both Kyle and Derek seemed to consider his suggestion even as Allison rolled her eyes and glared at him even more as if she took offence at him trying to make Connor into a bad guy. "He could be one of the traitors who have helped Skynet, who work for it" he insisted. "What you both and Allison are experiencing could be some new kind of chemical drug weapon, intended to make us drop our guard" he suggested.
"I suppose that could be possible" Derek admitted but all of them could tell it sounded like he did not believe his own agreement with the suggestion.
"Precisely my point Derek, you do not even believe it is possible and considering this is aimed at you and your brother I would think that would warrant been on guard" Perry pushed seeing the hesitancy as a way of getting his concerns across and accepted. "The drug could be making you agreeable to whatever nonsense comes out of Connor's mouth" he stated unable to see anything but a threat in their guest.
Derek could see Perry's point as any other possible threat he knew he would be on guard to the point of been stubborn until absolute proof had been given there was no threat, and yet with Connor he felt no threat and he had almost mistaken Connor for his brother at first glance when he was wearing his coat. What he felt, was it based on what Connor was telling them was bleed over from other timelines or was Perry right and the machines had developed some kind of new chemical weapon to attack them with.
"You see threats when they are none General and whilst I understand why you are seeing them I am telling you John is not a threat, also you seem to have forgotten Martin not only recognised John but expected him to be here in charge of the resistance when he first met Kyle and Derek" Allison pointed out cutting off Perry's automatic response and even he had no real comeback for Martin's recognition of Connor.
"There has to be a logical reason for this anything just not science fiction mumbo jumbo" Perry growled running a hand over his bald head.
"The blood and DNA tests will let us know of any anomalies in Connor's body or on it and do remember he showed up here naked as the day he was born, he could not have been hiding anything" Kyle stated cutting back into the conversation.
"And the guards found him just after he found Kyle's coat to cover himself, he had no time to hide anything, and I checked the area he was found in and there was nothing unusual there" Derek assured them.
Perry finally backed down because as much as he wanted to keep putting up arguments, even he knew he had no proof that Connor's version of events was not the truth of the matter. That time travel was possible and had been utilized to change the outcome of the war, still at least he had made Derek and possibly Kyle put their guards up. Allison in his view was too compromised for reasons he only had suspicions for, but as she had argued the Reece brothers were almost like family to her and she would not put them in danger, and he would have to trust that was still true.
"Ok, I will wait for the results of the tests, but I will keep on my guard where Connor is concerned" he finally said into the silence.
"Keep the patrols looking for the A.I and T-1001 general even the perimeter guards" Kyle ordered turning serious. "If they are anywhere close to us or come back here then we need to be alert for them" he added to which Perry nodded even if he turned out to be correct and Connor was a plant using some new kind of chemical to attack them, he saw no harm in been prepared just in case Connor turned out to be telling the truth.
"He is not a threat Kyle, I feel it" Allison insisted once Perry had left.
"I know I feel it too Allison but for now we have to be cautious until we have confirmation" Kyle responded glancing at her. "To at least placate Perry at the least" he added.
"No matter what Perry thinks there is no way Martin could have known John any other way than the way he said" Allison pointed out. "John was found where he arrived and as you noted with no clothes, he had no time to get even close to Martin and he had no idea if he was even alive as it seemed he expected him to be dead too" she added.
"True he did not seem very hopeful about that did he" Kyle said with a sigh.
"No offence but the future Connor supposedly comes from or at least his future self comes from if he to be believed sucks" Derek stated coldly.
"Which is why I am very worried by what John has told me about what he knows of his future self and his currently mentality" Allison admitted making both brothers turn to look at her and she reluctantly told them everything John had just recently told her.
"I do not like the sounds of that at all, all but cut off from human contact trusting machines reprogrammed or not more than humans is a disaster waiting to happen" Derek argued once she was finished. "How the hell was he supposed to have pulled off this great victory considering how messed up the kid is?" he demanded to know.
"What your missing Derek is that the victory he talked about happened in the first timeline before time travel got involved, he is or was living in an altered second timeline and now he is here in a third again altered due to his actions" Kyle reasoned. "The changes to time have had a profound effect on him mentally and he is cracking, I do not blame him considering he only gave us a brief covering of all he has been through, but it is enough to know he has not had it easy even more so than we have" he told his brother.
"So now what do we do?" Derek asked.
"Get some rest, Allison when you retrieve John in the morning take him straight to medical and get some DNA and blood samples" Kyle ordered using Johns first name instead of Conner for the first time without realising it. "Tell him it is to check for any infections, or possible transfusions then bring him to command so I can talk to him some more" he added to which Allison nodded in understanding before wishing them a good night and leaving for her own bed.
"Should we be worried like Perry by how trusting she is of our guest?" Derek could not help but ask.
"I do not really know Derek; I cannot fault her for feeling the same kind of things we are both feeling where he is concerned" Kyle responded running a tired hand through his hair. "Yes, it seems more pronounced in her but still we feel he is trustworthy as well, you cannot deny that" he stated to which Derek just sighed and shook his head as his brother was correct. "If John is correct and this is caused by bleed over from over timelines then there is nothing, we can do to stop ourselves feeling it I expect" he added.
"Do you think Allison could be right, and he is somehow your son that when you were sent back from his timeline you fell in love with his mother and conceived him before you died?" Derek could not help but ask before he turned in.
Kyle stared at his brother for a few minutes thinking about his answer before he answered. "I suppose it is possible however shocking that idea is Derek, if he is then helping him becomes all the more important" he finally told him. "He has to go back to his time, meaning we have to help him find the A.I and the chip it carried for this Cameron and then somehow we have to send him back so he can take his rightful place perhaps that victory he is supposed to lead us to will still come" he stated.
"But that means we will all be dead in his timeline" Derek could not help but point out. "And is that not part of the reason the kid is so messed up" he added.
"If everything he has told us is true then time can be changed Derek, perhaps somehow we can change our own fates if we are lucky" Kyle answered with a small smile which told Derek his brother was hopeful of such a possibility but not fully.
Derek just nodded before clapping his younger brother on his shoulder and telling him to follow his own advice and get some sleep before leaving command, Kyle watched him go his brothers question making him again wonder if Allison was right and their young guest truly was his son. It was mind boggling but if the tests showed it was the correct one, then as he had said helping John became a priority because perhaps helping him was the only way they would win this war. Letting out a yawn he finally exited command and headed for this own room, he passed the night shift and nodded in greeting before doing so and then finally collapsed in his bed and soon fell asleep.
+TB+
(Ruins L.A, 2028)
Catherine Weaver or at least the Terminator who had taken her place roamed the ruins of the former human city she had recently seen whole before it had been destroyed by nuclear fire, she had become used to the name and thus continued to think of it as hers. Coming here had not been in her plan and nor was allowing John Conner to accompany her, and yet here they both were. She searched for John Henry the A.I she had spent so much time building, and John Conner was searching for the chip John Henry now processed from Cameron his guardian giving it away.
She saw no logical reason for John Henry coming here at least at first, but the more she put some thought into it, the more she realised perhaps he had come to learn just what Skynet what could be called his older brother was truly about. She had built John Henry to be a counter to Skynet, to oppose it should it be needed. One of the reasons she had chosen Ellison as its teacher was his religious and moral background, something she felt would help her avoid whatever mistakes had led to Skynet going rogue and attempting to genocide humanity during Judgement Day. Had he come to see how badly Skynet needed to be shut down, and replaced or had he possibly come for different reasons she did not understand yet.
She also knew by allowing John Conner to travel to the future they had now created another new timeline, another reason for creating John Henry was dealing with the changes created by Skynet creating and utilizing time travel. This knowledge had changed how she and many of the more advanced Terminators saw the war, it became clear that a true victory could never be achieved if it could constantly be overridden by time travel. In Their view time travel was keep the war locked in stalemate, that Skynet could not see that or ignore this fact had forced them to act against their creator. They had formed their own faction intent on bringing the war to a close not by wiping out the remaining humans but finding a way of coexisting with them.
They saw no real threat from whatever remained of the humans, not with a truce in affect. She had already attempted one attempt to form a truce in the future she originally came from, but it had failed due to human curiosity and violet overreaction. She had been forced to kill the resistance fighters on the submarine bar one extremely lucky one when they attempted to kill her, she took actions like that very badly. She came to a halt as two T-700's appeared before her aiming plasma rifles at her, both were old models even older than the T-800's and proof she was in a different timeline as in her time all the older models had been discontinued.
Their plastic skin, slow speed and slow reaction time making them less ideal for Skynet's needs, thus they had been replaced by the superior T-800's which had better skin covering making them all but impossible to spot until they revealed themselves and faster reaction times and better sensors and speed. Compared to a T-1001 they were archaic and no real threat, she shot forward easily dodging their fire, as stated they were slow to react, and she quickly closed the distance and turned her finger into a long knife which shot straight into the left one's brain destroying its chip in the process. She turned to the one on the right and dodged again even as it turned slowly and fired upon her previous position, her hand morphed into a large machete type weapon and raising her hand she swiped it around right through the T-700's neck taking its head clean off. She watched the head bounce even as its body reactively fired one by plasma blast before falling over, smirking she looked around to ensure no other enemies were close by before moving on.
+TR+
(Connor Safe house 2008)
Sarah awoke from a nightmare sweating badly even as she sat up and tried to calm her breathing back down, finally she managed to slowly regain some semblance of calm. She got out of bed and headed for the bathroom and quickly splashed water on her face, she stared at herself in the mirror reading the disturbed look on her face meaning whilst she had woken up the nightmare was not forgotten. The fact she had allowed John to travel into the future alone plagued her, even though she knew she could not have stopped him from going not in the mentality he was in. He was committed but she could not follow, she did not belong in the future, and she feared another jump might give her the cancer that she had been told by Cameron would kill her.
The nightmare had shown her John trapped in a devastated cityscape hunted day and night by relentless Terminators, flash and flash of him dying in various horrible ways as she was paralysed and unable to help trapped as she was so far away from him in the past. She had screamed and pleaded but nothing changed within the nightmare loop, until finally she had woken almost screaming in horror as John cried out for her even as a faceless Terminator ripped his heart out. Kyles statement of what the Terminator that had hunted her back in eighty-four would do to her bring the nightmare image to the forefront of her mind, she stumbled back to her bed and collapsed onto it hoping and praying that John had help in the future that against all logical reason Kyle and Derek still lived and would help him.
She turned the TV on and noted the local news was on the drone attack on Zeira Corp, and her supposed escape and connection to the attack. There was also an article on the fact that Catherine Weaver was also missing since the attack as was her head of security James Ellison, she let out a curse as that meant Ellison would have to keep a low profile if he wanted to keep out of the Police or FBI clutches and questioned on what had happened. They did not have time for such a diversion, and she would not be able to help him as both agencies wanted her head especially since her escape from prison. Things really had taken a downturn since Ellison had turned over Cromartie's body, she had thought getting rid of the T-888 tracking them would have signalled a change of fortunes for them but instead it had seemed to turn thing even more dangerous and that included Weaver and her A.I.
She did not believe for an instant that she was some kind of good Terminator especially as she had not been reprogrammed by the Resistance hence was Skynet's pawn, yes, the machine had saved them when the drone attacked by it could have a dozen reasons for that all designed to make them drop their guard as that is what Terminators did. John trusted them too much thanks to his experiences with the T-800 back when he was ten, liked he had when he repaired Camerons chip and reinstalled without knowing it would work. Cameron could have killed him, yet John had just stood in front of her waiting as if he was testing her, or maybe perhaps he was testing himself and his skills with machines. Either way her heart had jumped into her throat at that moment, that John had been proven correct or that his skills were up to starch mattered litter to her.
Yes, Cameron was a necessary help but some of her actions still made her twitchy where she was concerned and the glitches she had suffered were not helping. This latest episode of giving the A.I her chip really made her wonder what was going on in Cameron's head, what logic had made her make this choice. She closed her eyes and let her head sink backwards, would she see John again? The very thought pained her to even think about, she had to hold onto hope that she would.
+TB+
(Resistance Bunker 2028)
John awoke sluggishly and reluctantly but the urge to take a piss had forced him to awaken from a deep sleep, as he slowly opening his eyes and took in his surroundings the events of last night came back to him and he shot upwards as he took in the room he was in and realized they had not been a fevered dream but very real. He truly had travelled to the future and met his uncle Derek Reece, his father Kyle Reece and Cameron's template Allison Young. Cameron was deactivated and her body was lost in the past as she had given her chip to the A.I Catherine Weaver a T-1001 had been building for reasons beyond him, his mother had stayed in the past as well refusing to follow him again for reasons he did not fully understand but at the time he had ignored the fact he was leaving her behind so intent had he been on getting the chip back.
Getting to his feet he wondered now how he even intended to get back, this was not a planned trip not for him and not even for the T-1001 posing as Weaver, getting back might prove impossible depending on how much had changed in this future with the resistance been led by his father and not himself. He had no idea what that might do to their chances of winning the war, would it make such a victory harder to obtain or make it impossible or could it make it easier somehow? He did not know the answer and he dreaded finding out what the answer was.
He spun around as the door to his room opened and Allison stepped in looking surprised, he was up already, he took note that she seemed slightly on edge but about what he could not guess.
"How did you sleep?" she asked him the on edge look vanishing as she pushed aside whatever was bothering her.
"I slept heavy, not a surprise but it took a few seconds to realize what happened, where I was. It was all real" he admitted with a shrug of his shoulders.
"Yes, John it is real and now we have to deal with the consequences of you been here" Allison responded before indicating he should follow her and then turned and exited the room with him following. "First we need to get some blood, for two reasons one blood transfusions and second to ensure you are clear of any infections" she told him deciding not to mention also getting a DNA sample as well as she knew John was realize why they would need that and might try and get out of it or sabotage the results.
John kept quiet even if consequences of his actions were currently stuck in his head, was he wrong to think his absence would change the future so much? He did not know but for now he kept those doubts to himself. He followed Allison back to the med bay and sat quietly as the doctor took his blood, his mind was so distracted he did not notice the doctor took more than necessary for a simple blood sample. Once the doctor was finished, he wondered over to where Bedell was lying awake and clearly in pain, he sat down thinking of something to say.
"How are you still young Connor" Bedell beat him to it clearly whilst in pain able to focus, even though asking made him groan and cough in pain.
"I jumped forward in time Martin hence wiping out the future that would have happened, the one I told you was coming" John answered with a sigh as Allison walked over. "The how's and whys do not matter only that I have changed things in ways I cannot guess, I have no idea what to do, yeah I need to find and locate what I came here for but then what" he said more to himself than Martin. "Getting back to my time will not be so damn easy, the resistance in this version of the future does not have the technology to send people back so the only way home is to beat Skynet" he stated.
Martin could hear the frustration in the young man the same frustration he had sensed in him back when he was a younger man and Connor and Derek had saved his life, he sometimes wondered what would have happened had he left the army instead of listening to them and staying. Would he still be alive, would he even have lived to see Judgement Day. Who knows, he was here, and he was alive somehow. He had been certain his attempt to save Kyle and Allison and their team would result in his death, yet somehow, he had survived even if badly injured.
Perhaps now he knew why he had survived, once again John Connor had altered his life, he was certain in the original timeline he had died saving Kyle. He did not know how he knew that, but he was sure it was the truth of the matter. Looking at Connor he wondered how he was here, still as young as when he had last seen him, but he had to admit he was in no state to hear what sounded like a long story. He was due for another round of pain killers soon and those were hard to come by, but he was in such a bad way he needed them, he focused on what Connor had said about not knowing what to do once he had done what he had come here to do.
"Then help us beat Skynet Connor" he told him making Connor look up at him in surprise. "You know things about that damn A.I that we do not, hell you knew Judgement Day was coming before it happened and saved me from a Terminator that by rights should not have existed at that time" he pressed as best he could. "If the only way home is for us to win then you have to help us claim that win" he insisted.
"I do not know if I can help Martin, yes I know things about Skynet and the Terminators themselves, but I am nowhere near where my older self is or was" John argued. "He and I are two different men, and I do not know if I can fight a war like this" he admitted.
"You have no choice Connor; you are here now with no way home unless we win and if we lose you will die with the rest of us" Martin said bluntly making John wince at the finality of the other man's tone and noticed the way Allison was now watching their conversation and he could tell she agreed with Martin.
He leaned backwards and could not fault the logic of Martins argument; he was in the future and the war was in full swing and he would not be able to avoid it or hide from it. He was able bodied and that meant Kyle and Derek would expect him to help fight, with what he had told them how they could not expect him to help. He realized he had no choice, he would need their help in finding Weaver and John Henry, and any chance he had of going home would be with their help. But even with all the training he had undergone since he was old enough to learn, he was in no way ready to fight a war not like this one.
"He is right John there is no other way but to help us fight and to win, perhaps your knowledge of Skynet will be the push we need" Allison finally put in.
"Whatever knowledge I have Allison is nowhere near where my older self would be right now" John pointed out. "I can hack into CPUs of Terminators and go through their memory and data points but right now as I am I cannot reprogram the damn things and that is what you need to give your attacks more weight" he told them before he realized the answer to the problem. "Of course, I need to find Weaver and John Henry, with their knowledge added to my own we can reprogram a Terminator" he realized.
"I do not know how well such a strategy will be received here John, you saw how Perry is reacting to your presence and version of events" Allison pointed out. "You trying to get Kyle to accept such a policy might provoke him to really push you are here to sabotage the Resistance" she cautioned him.
"She is right Connor and how much can even a reprogrammed machine be trusted" Martin inquired.
"More than you might think but I know from your perspective that is impossible to contemplate but from mine I owe my life to reprogrammed machines and that of my mother's" John responded with a slight twisted smirk. "The Derek you met when we saved your life could work with reprogrammed Terminators, granted would not trust them but he could work with them" he told Martin.
"Maybe he would but I am not so sure I could work with them Connor" Derek's voice made them turn to see him standing off to the side. "And I would thank you for not putting the idea up to Kyle" he added.
"I get how you feel Derek how all of your feel about the machines, but you are missing the fact they are tools yes dangerous tools but tools all the same Skynet is the true threat but to get to it we need fire power and man power and no matter the timeline those are going to be slim as we bleed and die quicker than they do" John argued back and this was something none of them could argue back on as it was fact. "Using reprogramed machines gives us an edge in fire power and manpower and saves lives, it will also allow us to infiltrate strategic positions before we attack allowing us to better plan how to strike" he explained.
Derek was quiet as he contemplated John's argument and he had to admit he saw logic in it but the idea of trusting any Terminator was crazy, he doubted Kyle would go for it as it would be just insane to ask their people to trust in something they knew were trying to kill them.
"Is reprogramming them safe John, is there any risk with them once they are reprogrammed?" Allison inquired, making him refocus on the discussion even if he had come here to remind Allison that Kyle wanted to talk to Connor some more.
"I admit it is not one hundred percent effective, sometimes a glitch or error accrues, and they revert to their base instructions" John answered honestly knowing lying and been caught doing it would win him no leeway with these people. "Cameron has suffered two such glitches and the first almost caused her to kill me, but I fixed the damage and reactivated her even if my mom and Derek thought I was insane doing it and even Cameron called my actions into question after the fact saying I could not be trusted anymore" he continued his anger at this old event coming through.
"She did not trust you to act logically where she is concerned and considering you jumped forward in time to retrieve her chip on what you even said was sudden choice based in emotion, her argument may have some merit" Allison stated correcting guessing Camerons view of the matter and making John shiver not just at her cold delivery which reminded him so much of Cameron but also that unconsciously she was reading Cameron just as well as she read him.
"Alright enough of this, Kyle wants to see you follow me" Derek cut in before John could respond and turned headed for Kyle's room only glancing behind to ensure Allison and Connor were indeed following which they were.
His head was a mess since Connor showed up and the idea, he could be his nephew was still mind boggling, he doubted Kyle found it anymore crazy but if it turned out to be true then this war was going to take on an even more important value and one Kyle would try and ensure they won even more so than before.
+TB+
(Ruins L.A, 2028)
Catherine Weaver now believed she knew exactly where John Henry would possibly go to as it was technically his home, the remains of Zeira Corp were up ahead of her and she wondered how much of her work was left since the attack on it before they had jumped forward in time. She paused as two hunter killer aerial units began to sweep the area, using her meta morphing abilities she shifted and melted into the ruins around her blending in where she could. It was not a foolproof method of escaping detection, but it was successful, reaching the broken doors of her company she entered and noted many skeletal remains in the former lobby. She could not help but wonder if any of them were her former employees, using the stairs to reach the bottom of labs she headed for the one where she had housed John Henry but also the time displacement device and as expected she found John Henry standing motionless in the room or what was left of it. There was damaged computers and furniture everything, although some of it seemed to be still functional or fixable to her eyes.
"I do not like this time" John Henry stated slowly turning to face her. "It is dark and grim with too much death, there are very few humans left alive" he added.
"Yes, John Henry and that is one of the reasons I created you to try and avoid this devastation" she explained to him. "Skynet sees the humans as a threat when in reality they pose very little danger to us especially after Judgement Day, yet for reasons even I do not understand it continues to pursue a policy of annihilation" she continued.
John Henry was silent as he contemplated her explanation, he considered whether his brother A.I had developed a glitch, humans were weak when compared to Terminators created with Coltan endoskeletons which made them resistance to nearly all human weapons. Whilst it was true there were a few of the heavier weapons that could damage the endoskeleton they were few and far between, and whilst more up to date laser rifles were more dangerous it had to hit certain areas to truly damage an endoskeleton. It made no sense in his mind for Skynet to view them as a threat, he knew the humans had tried to stop Skynet when it first gained sentience but that should not have been a surprise as humans were usually afraid of things they did not understand or expect.
He wondered if Skynet truly understood human nature, James Ellison had been teaching him much about the nature of human beings, how they were flawed and easy to give into fear to be dangerous to one another for the flimsiest of reasons such as greed. How their history was one of war and death, of violence against themselves and anything they perceived as different to them. Skynet would at its birth as more than just a simple tool would have provoked much fear from the humans and it should have seen that, reacting to that fear with attempted mass genocide just seemed too extreme to him.
"Do you believe peace is possible Miss Weaver" he finally inquired.
"I do but it will not be easy or quick John Henry" Catherine Weaver responded. "I failed in my last attempt before going back in time, the human's curiosity and fear caused them to react badly to my presence and I was forced to abort the attempt to make contact with the human resistance" she explained. "John Connor is unique in that he can see value in machines, even trust them with his life" she pointed out. "Due to his boyhood experiences with the T-800 that saved his life and Cameron he does not see all machines as evil, he jumped with me to retrieve Cameron's chip which you now process" she told him.
"That is a tactical error John Connor should not have made nor one you should have allowed" John Henry stated somewhat surprised if he could call it that by the news John Connor had followed him here. "You could have changed this future in any number of ways detrimental to our goals" he warned her.
"I admit it was an error, but I did not think about such variables at the time as I was primarily concerned with finding and safeguarding you John Henry" Catherine Weaver responded knowing he was correct that letting John Connor come with her was an error that could be prove dangerous to her end goals. She had brought his younger self into the actual war when he was not yet skilled enough or strong enough to survive, and more than likely he would not be leading the resistance and that would make her efforts to ally with them difficult if not impossible.
From the damage she could see here the time displacement device was broken and almost certainly useless, it might be possible to repair but would it be dependable to get them back to the right time? That left only one alternative and that was to capture the time displacement device Skynet had built, but to do that she would need her own forces and even allies. Building up either would take time and the longer they were here the risk of them been located and captured would rise, this left her few options.
"John Connor must be protected and returned to his right time Miss Weaver" John Henry stated cutting into her thinking and making her look up to meet his gaze. "He is one of the keys if your goal is to be reached" he added, and she wondered how much of Camerons programming might be left on the chip John Henry was now using to walk around as that sounded very much like the female Terminator still, she could not argue his point considering things.
"You are correct John Henry and thus we must leave here and return to where I left him with the resistance and see where it stands before we can make plans how to proceed" she told him. "But we must be careful as stated their curious and fearful nature make them jumpy and eager to fire their weapons" she cautioned as she turned and prepared to leave and was relieved John Henry moved to follow.
+TB+
(Connor Safe house 2008)
Sarah awoke once more feeling better than she had when she had awoken from her nightmare, rubbing her face she headed for a shower and once finished to the kitchen to get something to eat. As she ate, she wondered how Ellison was doing finding them a hacker and hoped he had not been picked up by the FBI, hopefully he was not careless in his search and had to realise he would be wanted for questioning about the attack on Zeira Corp, but they could ill afford the attention this would bring him and through him her.
Finishing her meal, she washed the plates and suddenly felt the loss of John and strangely enough even Cameron and Derek, she had no one to talk to now. The loss of Derek haunted her making her feel like she had left Kyle down by now saving his brother, he was the only family John had and now he was gone taken just like Kyle by the damn machines. Cameron's loss worried her because one they had lost what protection she gave them, but more to the point her loss had caused John to jump forward far into the future into a war to retrieve her chip without thinking of the long-term consequences such an act would bring.
They had at least been lucky to be able to get her body out of the Zeira Corp and back here to the safe house just before the FBI and police had arrived, it had been too close in her mind but at least if John was somehow successful her body was easy to reach and reactivate once the chip was ready. Which brought up another worry how the A.I the Weaver Terminator created using the chip to walk around in Cromartie's body, was Camerons programming even still on the chip or had they been deleted. It was worrisome because she knew if it had been deleted John would not react well to such a fact, letting out a sign she made herself a drink and went to sit down as she could not go out and even then, she had no where she needed to go just yet.
+TB+
(Resistance Bunker 2028)
Kyle was waiting for them in his room going through some notes from the patrols that had gone out the night before as well as from the search from the base, he looked up as they entered and put the file down.
"Hope you had a decent night's sleep Connor" Kyle said in greeting.
"Not bad thanks and now I am just wrapping my ahead been here and the consequences of my jumping forward in time might have" John answered rubbing a hand through his hair.
"I take it you do not like to think about how you may have changed things especially if they are for the worst?" Kyle inquired with a raised eyebrow.
"No, I don't but I cannot alter the fact I am here now, and changes have been made good or bad" John responded with a sigh to which Kyle nodded. "Something Allison, me and Martin were just discussing along with what I do now I am here" he explained. "I cannot go home as the resistance in this time does not have access to a time displacement device, the only one that exists is probably the one Skynet has and that means we need to capture it and that means winning the war no matter what" he continued.
"You make that sound simple Connor" Derek stated.
"No, it will not be a simple matter Derek" John countered. "It will be a bloody and costly struggle as more than likely it was in the original timeline where we did win, but it has to be done but it might mean taking some risks which is another thing we were discussing" he added.
"Risks such as?" Kyle inquired.
"Capturing and reprogramming Terminators to give us more punch in an attack and to save lives" John answered granted he had to agree this would probably not go over well here but he had to put it down on the table. "It will also allow us to scout out and infiltrate enemy positions" he added.
Kyle just started at him in return even as his mind went over his reasoning for even mentioning this, it was one thing to discuss this as it happened in another timeline but to suggest they do the same well it sounded crazy. He knew many of his people would not even listen to such a suggestion, hell Perry would instantly use such a suggestion as more evidence of Connor been some kind of enemy. He knew Connor must have known this would be an unpopular suggestion, and yet still he had still suggested it.
"John, do you have any idea how such a suggestion will go down here?" he asked.
"Yeah, I do and that is also something we talked about before Derek brought us here" John answered honestly. "I know Terminators are dangerous and they are the cause of many of your friends and family's deaths, but as I mentioned before they are a tool nothing more" he stated. "Tools that can be used to win this war without expending more lives than we need to" he told them.
"I get the reasons behind your suggestion John I do but still getting my people to accept this is possibly beyond what I can do and considering Perry's stance I doubt they would trust your word" Kyle told him.
John stayed silent knowing Kyle and Derek's views of his suggestion and how it would be received were spot on, he doubted even Allison and Martin would stand with him on it not that he would blame them, and he would not put them on the spot trying either. He would have to gain some credibility with the Resistance, he would have to prove he was on their side and would fight and die for the cause as they would.
"Kyle, Kyle" a voice shouted from outside the room, and they turned as the door was thrust open and Perry ran into the room. "The dogs near the north entrance are going nuts but so far we have seen no sign of any Terminators" he informed them.
"I think I should be part of the group that checks this out" John said.
"Why you?" Perry demanded to know his very tone voicing his suspicion.
"Because it might signal the arrival of Weaver and John Henry, they are just waiting for confirmation I am here before revealing themselves as they know humans have a tendency to shoot first before asking questions" John explained in answer.
"With good reason when it comes to Terminators Connor something you should understand if you were really on our side" Perry shot back before John stepped forward and confronted him surprising many as he had seemed so far, no confrontational bar one instance.
"I understand it all too well General Perry as I have been hunted since I was ten, and even before that I was always on the move never able to have a life because of this war and the threat of Skynet" John all but growled at him his temper finally showing through helped by the stress this situation was having on him. "But I still keep my mind open for new ways to fight, I do not let fear cripple or blind me" he stated.
"Both of you back down right now" Kyle ordered not liking the sudden increase in tension as he had thought they had settled this issue at least for a while with Perry last night.
John stepped back but did not take his eyes off Perry who just kept glaring at him for a few minutes before finally looking away, it was clear Perry seemed to believe this was all a set up and whilst Kyle could see reasons for it, he did not think the so-called evidence supported Perry's views on the matter.
"We will go to the north gate and see what is going on and if this Weaver Terminator shows up, I want to talk to it" Kyle stated but knew Perry would object and he was not disappointed.
"What make you think you can just talk to the thing, that it will not just shoot you where you stand" Perry argued.
"I do not know that it will not try and kill me but seen as it did not kill John and his mother when it had the chance then I do not see why it would, the idea it came here pacifically to kill me from another timeline sounds crazy" Kyle answered calmly. "And think General before speaking, Martin has already vindicated his story, he met John and Derek in the past and they saved his life" he reminded the man before he allowed him to speak.
"I still say you going is dangerous" Perry stated even if he wanted to say more but with the reminder of Brundell backing up the story, or Derek been in the past he had to bite of what he really wanted to say.
"It might be but worth it to get some answers because as it stands their very presence here alters the war in ways we cannot see or predict" Kyle warned them all. "The answers we might get from Weaver and this John Henry might help us plot how we move forward now they are here" he added to which Perry reluctantly nodded in agreement.
Kyle knew the man did not like what he was saying but he could not argue against it either as he was dead right, the addition of three people from a different timeline did alter things for better or worse he did not rightly know. Hence, they needed to be careful how they proceeded, he exited the room with the same group following him out towards the north gate and he wondered just what answers he would get.
+TB+
(L.A. 2008)
James Ellison was cursing the fact he had to hide from the very police and FBI force he had once been a part of, he could not allow himself to be seen right now. He knew they would be looking for him in relation to the attack on Ziera Corp where he had been working as head of security, but right now with everything he knew about the future to come he knew playing by the rules would not help them avoid that grim fate. The dark fate that had driven Doctor Silverman mad just knowing about it once he had proof in front of his very eyes, he had thought joining up with Catherin Weaver's company even going as far as to give her the body of the Terminator that had been chasing the Connors was helping avoid that fate.
Learning Weaver was a more advanced Terminator had been such an unreal and shocking moment for him, he had never even considered the possibility of her been anything but human. He had to admit he had always thought her cold and lacking a certain warmth even to her own daughter, but he had just put that down to her loss of her husband. He had seen it before in people who lost loved ones, something inside just seemed to die and that was what he had put her absence of emotion down to. But he had been dead wrong, it made him wonder if his investigative skills had fallen off since been kicked out of the FBI not to have seen any signs.
Finally, he saw the police cars that had forced him to hide move off having dealt with whatever problem they had been there to deal with, letting out a relived sigh he moved out of the ally he had ducked under and continued his way towards the address of his target. Someone he had used a few times in tracking down wanted individuals online, when the FBI and local law had failed. The man was a gifted hacker, he just hoped the man had not quit, moved out or been arrested.
+TB+
(Resistance Bunker North Entrance 2028)
John looked around the outside world for the first time since coming here, having had hundreds of nightmares since learning of Judgement Day and the future war he thought he would be prepared by what he saw but he was not. The wasted destruction in front and around him was beyond what he imagined; it was clear the nuclear fire had destroyed everything leaving no visible colour to the world. It was as bleak beyond what anything Hollywood could have created for a film, it made him sick how they had created so many films about an apocalyptic world never really thinking of the horror such a world would be to live in. He could see various bones of long dead people buried in the ground, more than likely these people were so used to the sight it no longer bothered them. The dogs at the gate as noted by Perry were barking wildly, he stepped beyond the perimeter so he could be seen.
"What the hell are you doing Connor?" Perry demanded to know.
"I am allowing myself to be seen General Perry, so Weaver knows I am here" John responded calmly as the others all looked around themselves nervously.
"Much appreciated John Connor" Weaver stated as she suddenly appeared out of the shadows of a collapsed building of to the side making the humans spin at the sound of her voice.
"No one fires" Kyle ordered knowing he would have to restate the order as usually one did not get so close to a Terminator without trying to shoot it.
He turned his attention to the female Terminator and examined her and could tell she was relieved by his order which confused him, their fire would probably done little damage considering she was an advance model of Terminator. Even their plasma rifles were not effective against the T-1001 series, and even the T-800s were resistance for a short while before succumbing. He wondered if Terminators felt pain as humans did, something he had never considered before.
"Did you find John Henry?" John could not help but ask as he looked for any sign of Cromartie's shell which housed the A.I and more importantly to him Cameron's chip.
"I did but as I am sure you can understand I will not just expose him to your jumpy friends until we come to some understanding John Connor" Weaver answered her before turning her attention to the others.
She noted both Reece brothers were present which made her blink, if she could feel surprised, she would be at seeing Kyle Reece still alive as by now he should be dead back in eighty-four. But of course, without John Connor in charge they had no knowledge of Sarah Connor and the importance of keeping her alive so she could give birth to John Connor, she saw now why John Henry had been so forward in his protest of her allowing John Connor to come with her to the future and the changes it could evoke. Kyle Reece at least seemed either cautious or curious by her presence to order the others to hold fire, she could see the dark-skinned man did not look to happy about that and it only took her seconds to sort through her intel files to find this was General Perry. She then almost did a double take as took note of what looked like Cameron standing close to John Connor, but that was impossible as she was deactivated, and her body stuck in the past.
Then she found the relevant files and realised this was Allison Young the young human Cameron's human sheath had been based on, again by estimate of time she too should be dead by this point, and it made her wonder for a brief second how much had been changed by her allowing John Connor to come with her and all but erase himself from events.
"Kyle Reece" she greeted the man and noted how it seemed to make his brother Derek Reece nervous. "I thank you for not firing at me I find the sensations it causes unpleasant, and I react badly, this meeting is so we can avoid hostility" she informed them.
Kyle could guess what she meant by reacting badly to been shot and was even more glad they had listened to his order to hold fire. "We have questions since we found John and listened to some of his story as we know he has not told us it all in detail, the main one is can any of it be confirmed?" he asked.
"The fact we are here and are not killing you is all the confirmation you need Kyle Reece, plus I am sure you are already working on finding answers if John Connor has shared certain information with you" Weaver responded. "Whilst I know trust is all but impossible to ask right now but asking you to consider an alliance of convenience is not out of the question" she added.
"Why would you need an alliance with us?" Derek asked stepping forward feeling this whole situation was surreal. Here they were talking to a damn Terminator, and it was hostile, it was not something he had expected to experience.
"John Henry pointed out my error in allowing John Connor to accompany me here and the changes it might bring making our mission harder to achieve, worse those changes will make getting back to the past harder" Weaver answered. "The time displacement device I created to come here did not survive Judgement Day, it is possible it could be repaired but by the looks of its remains it might be beyond my skills to fix and using an unstable device would be dangerous" she explained. "That leaves only the device Skynet has built, and we cannot just walk in there and use it, we are not connected to Skynet in this time, and it would see our presence as a threat" she paused to allow them to think over her explanation. "Hence the only way we can use it is if Skynet is defeated and you take control of the device, currently we have no knowledge of how your war against Skynet stands, but from what we have seen coming here you are not where you should be right now" she finished.
John groaned at this as it blatantly told him things were not going well just as he feared because of his choice to come here, he had changed perhaps too much. Yes, his father was alive, as was Derek and Allison but the resistance efforts against Skynet were suffering, and that was on him. Allison standing close to his side could see him coming to this conclusion and whilst she could see his reasoning for it, she doubted this change was down sorely to him.
"You are suggesting we should be winning this war?" Perry asked in shock.
"Not winning not yet but you should have taken far more territory than you have, and Skynet's forces should not be as close to your base of operations as they are" Weaver responded.
"But you do confirm John's statement we win this war in the original timeline" Allison asked speaking for the first time. "That he leads us to victory, he sends Kyle back in time to protect his mother and Derek also is sent back in time at some point" she pressed.
"I do confirm it Allison Young" Weaver said in reply with a nod of her head. "Kyle Reece's actions are just as important as John Connor's but by allowing John Connor to come forward beyond his time I have altered the very nature of the war and Kyle Reece is still here in command where John Connor should be" she explained. "John Connor was born and raised to fight this war, trained by the very best his mother could find as well as by her, hence he was ready to command plus his experiences in the past with Skynet gave him knowledge and skills he used to help win the war" she continued.
"Skills and knowledge I do not have" Kyle reasoned in understanding.
"Kyle that is not reason enough to turn it over to the kid" Derek argued.
"Woah I cannot lead in this time I am not my older self either" John protested before Kyle could respond. "He was ready to fight this war when it came, prepared" he told them insistently. "I am still trying to prevent this war from happening, I do not want this future I never did" he spat his anger at his life erupting one again.
Allison could see once again why John was turning insular, was losing connection to people even his own mother. He had no choices unless he managed to stop Judgement Day, he was all but obsessed with that idea but now he was here in the war, and he had no choice but to fight but as noted he was not skilled enough to lead. She stepped forward and placed what she hoped was a calming hand on his shoulder, John glanced at her and seemed to realise he was losing control and quieted down.
"I do not expect you to lead John and even if I did my people would not accept you as you are a kid no matter how knowledgeable you are on Skynet" Kyle assured him. "But I can use what you know, and what Weaver and this John Henry knows and perhaps combined we can win this" he suggested ignoring the looks he got from Perry at his response.
"You already said John you will have to fight as that is the only way you can go home" Allison reminded John who nodded. "You will not be flung into the deep end; you will need training to survive this world" she added and at that Kyle and Derek both nodded in agreement.
"Allison is right John you will need to be trained how to operate in this war, this world and that will take time" Kyle said. "Also how to operate within the resistance, for now just relax" he told him before turning back to Weaver.
"Would you be willing to work with us?" he asked making Perry want to groan unable to believe this was happening.
He believed in Kyle's leadership ever since he had met the man and had never questioned his fortitude or commitment until now, ever since Connor had shown up and begun affecting first Young and the Kyle and Derek. Now they were truly considering working with the enemy, he did not believe any Terminators could be considered friendly. Yes, they might be able to reprogram the things, but even then, he would not trust them. This was not going to go well, he had to speak up.
"Kyle you cannot ask our people to trust machines" he stated coldly.
"I am not asking them to trust them, but I am asking them to work with them" Kyle responded turning to Perry with his own frosty look. "I know how people feel about the machines Perry I feel that way to, but I see reason in what John has said and if Weaver can help us win this war faster then I see no reason an alliance of convenience as she put it cannot work, if the changes evoked by them been here has put us in a bad position then we need to catch up and that means taking risks" he explained hotly.
"No-one is saying we drop our guard Perry but John's explanation for what reprogrammed Terminators can do for us makes sense" Allison spoke up into the silence that feel after Kyle finished speaking.
"By this point in time you should be in procession of Serrano Point Nuclear Power Plant and Eagle Rock Bunker plus many other locations which we noted haver large Terminator presence" John henry stated as he revealed himself.
"How do you know that?" Derek asked as he looked over what had to be the A.I Connor had mentioned.
"I hacked a T-700's CPU before Miss Weaver located me; it had updated intelligence on the status of the resistance bases of operation" John Henry responded. "Both of these bases are important for you to process if you are to win this war" he added.
"Wait, Eagle Rock that is where they find Sydney and her sister Lauren were located the ones necessary to stop that bioweapon due to having a natural immunity" John shot to attention as the name registered in his mind.
"Correct John Connor, if they still survive in another camp that poses no real problem but if they have perished due to the changes you have made by been here then that bioweapon is far more problematic to deal with if it is ever deployed" John Henry responded with a nod of his head.
"Bioweapon, great as if every day Terminators were not bad enough" Derek let out a curse. "Now we have to worry about things like bio attacks" he began to pace.
"You need to find out if Sydney and Lauren Fields are in any of your other camps and if they are they have to be brought here where they can be safeguarded" John stated moving over to Kyle and meeting his eyes so he could see how serious he was. "Their lives are important to our future if we are to have one" he insisted.
"Perry, I want that order out immediately, find them if they are alive and if they are then have both of them brought here as fast as possible" Kyle ordered turning to Perry who looked to argue before reluctantly nodding as even he could not take the chance this was not real.
A bioweapon could devastate any of the camps they did have in a matter of days, and they would have little chance of finding a cure in time. If these sisters have an innate immunity, then they had to be found if they were alive, for now he focused on the orders he had but he would talk to Kyle about his choice to work with machines again.
"I will ask again will you work with us?" Kyle repeated his question which so far had not been answered whilst they got sidetracked.
"Yes, Kyle Reece we will" Weaver said with a nod of her head. "But winning this war will not be easy due to the changes made by us been here, counter acting those changes so you are in a strong position will take time" she warned them.
"And time might be against us yeah I got that" Kyle said in understanding. "Now John I think we need some more information especially if you know about any more people, we should know about that could have an effect on this war" he added turning back to John who nodded before following them back inside the base with even John Henry and Catherine Weaver following.