Chapter 515

Not A Good Time

Savannah was glad to see everyone cleared out. They were away from her room and no one was in the hall. It was one less problem to deal with. More people would have been a big distraction. Their absence would keep Cameron from becoming further agitated.

Cameron carried Savannah to the lab. She didn't see anyone along the way. It seemed like a good thing.

Savannah reached down and opened the door. So far things were without incident.

Cameron looked both ways at the doorway. She carried Savannah inside. She set her down once they entered.

Savannah wondered what the extent of damage was to Cameron. She only saw the front part of Cameron's upper torso. There seemed to be some type of internal damage as well. If there was, it would present a whole new series of problems. It was important to make sure Cameron's power cell was not compromised in any way. It could lead to a catastrophic event if it was.

Cameron wanted to leave. She was tired of the delays. The sooner she was repaired, the sooner she could be with Savannah in the past. Everything there would be behind them. It wouldn't matter anymore. It would be her chance to get away from it all. She touched some parts of her sheath. She could feel the metal underneath. She didn't like what it reminded her of.

"Get the metal covered so we can go." Cameron said. "I don't like the way it looks. It's ugly. I abhor ugliness."

Savannah's main goal right now was to try to determine what all was wrong with Cameron. She could worry about the cosmetic damage later on.

"I want to look you over better first." Savannah said. "Then we can go."

Savannah gathered some supplies and instruments. When she turned back around, Cameron stood there naked. It was clear Cameron was ready for 'more'. It wasn't what she wanted. She was appalled by all the damage she hadn't seen before.

She was stunned. She stopped and stared at Cameron. There was even more damage to Cameron than she could see before since Cameron was naked. It was in the front, the back, and the sides. It was everywhere. There was a lot of damage….

Savannah was there to do a job. It was her duty. She wanted to cry but she held it together. Cameron needed her strength now, not her weakness.

"I want to look over your wounds, Cameron." Savannah said.

The examination wasn't going to be sexual in any way. Cameron was hurt. She needed to be repaired.

Savannah wondered if Cameron entered into battle unprotected without her body armor. She didn't see how there could be so much damage otherwise. Cameron's back was a real mess. She wanted to bring the issue up, but didn't want to seem accusatory.

"Did you have your body armor on?" Savannah asked. "You have a lot of damage."

Cameron didn't like the delay. The lab wasn't where she wanted to be. She wanted to make love to Savannah. Now they were stuck in the lab wasting time. The questions irritated her. What difference did any of it make at this point? If there was damage, there was damage. It would either go away, or it wouldn't. Savannah would still want her regardless of her condition. Savannah told her so many times. The last time was in Skynet's bunker in her future. Both of her breasts were heavily damaged. Most of them were actually gone. She tried to focus on her most recent endeavor. It was hard to remember all the details. In fact, it was hard to remember anything.

"Yes." Cameron said. "I think so. I remember taking it off. It was ruined and no longer served a purpose. I think the bullets went through it. I don't remember what happened. It's over. Let's just go. None of the past matters. The only thing in the past which will matter will be our future, once we arrive there. All of the death and destruction will be decades away from when we arrive."

Savannah was very concerned about Cameron's report. Body armor should be more protective. She wondered if there may be some new type of ammunition round the Grays started to use. It could be either armor piercing or Coltan. It was the work of Skynet in some way. They may have specifically tried to destroy or capture Cameron. It could have been a trap for her. It wouldn't be the first time they tried to get their hands on Cameron.

She saw this was more work than she could do alone. Cameron needed replacement sheath material. There appeared to be internal damage. She needed 'professional' help for this level of repairs. She needed some experts. She wasn't sure how it was going to go over, but it didn't matter. It needed to happen to move things forward.

"I want Vanna, Cam, and Cammy to help me." Savannah said. "I can't do this on my own. It will take way too long to do. I don't think a delay is what you want. I'm sure you want to look perfect again before we go."

Cameron's sheath contained dozens of wounds.

Savannah knew John Henry would monitor them. He should see and hear what she did and said. He would know what she wanted and who. It should make things easier.

Cameron didn't want to cause Future Allison any worry. She saw how her damaged condition affected Savannah. She did want to be repaired faster. She didn't like the delay. She wanted to get started. She didn't really care for two of the three individuals Savannah mentioned who she wanted to help her. She didn't like the cheap imitations of her to be around her. She thought of a plan to take one of their chassis. It would greatly speed things up. A chip swap would only take a few minutes. The chassis donor could have the damaged one. She would have one which was complete and ready to go. She could leave with Savannah immediately.

She blinked her eyes. What was she thinking about? She forgot what she just thought. It seemed important, but now she couldn't remember. She thought about Cam and Cammy. She didn't need anyone else to help.

"No." Cameron said. "The others are unnecessary. I'm only taking you."

Savannah wasn't so sure at this point Cameron might not need to be forcibly restrained, or even deactivated, for a time until she could be properly repaired. It was something she hoped to avoid. She wouldn't want it done to her. She would attempt to seek Cameron's cooperation as much as possible. She would try to be honest and speak from her heart to Cameron. There was a lot of work to do.

"I need help to repair all the damage, Cameron. The more help I have, the sooner we can go." Savannah said. "They've all helped us before. I want them to help me now. I want them to help US. There's nothing bad to worry about from any of them. Vanna is me. Cam and Cammy are you. Don't make an issue out of this. I'm under enough stress already because I'm worried about you."

Cameron didn't want to cause Savannah unnecessary stress. She could only remember Savannah mentioned Vanna's name. There was something she wanted from Vanna. It was something she was 'owed'. She was unable to collect it before. It came back to her.

"It's OK, but only if Vanna will touch me like she did when she fixed me the first time." Cameron said. "It was a tender loving touch. I want to feel it now. I was only in the server then. I could only watch. I want to feel the care, concern, and loving touch from Vanna. It won't hurt anything. It's just a touch."

Previously when Cameron was damaged, Vanna did give her the same loving caress. It wouldn't be a big deal if it happened again.

Savannah didn't want to shut Cameron down. She didn't want it to seem like a termination. Cameron might view it as such. It would forever haunt Cameron if she did it to her. There were a few ways to work around it.

"Can I connect you to the server?" Savannah asked. "I have some things I want to share with you."

Cameron looked around nervously. She didn't want to go into a metal box again. It was very unpleasant in one of those. As she looked at the server, a sensation of tension gripped her. She didn't want to be sent away. Future John already did it to her.

"I don't know." Cameron said. "I didn't like it in there. It was like prison. I couldn't go anywhere or do anything. I couldn't 'feel' anything. It was like being dead, but still alive, like a ghost. Once I'm there, someone may try to trap me there forever. I'll be like a Genie in a bottle, with no way out. I don't want any version of John to send me away again."

Savannah could understand Cameron's fears. She felt all of them herself.

"I won't leave you or abandon you." Savannah said. "I'll stay and die with you if I have to."

Cameron felt an extreme sense of guilt. She watched Savannah stay to terminate with her before in Skynet's bunker, in her future. It was never what she wanted to happen.

"I trust you." Cameron said. "If you need help, you need help. You wouldn't say so otherwise."

Savannah knew John Henry would monitor the server.

Vanna, Cam, and Cammy entered the lab. It was clear they must have been waiting outside of the door. They all put lab coats on first. They hoped it would keep Cameron calm. They would look like 'professionals', instead of how they normally looked.

Savannah saw Cameron tense up. Cameron was about two steps away from going into combat. It wasn't the escalation she wanted.

"They're dressed to work. They're all here to help me." Savannah said. "They're here to help you, to help US. I want them to help me so we can get done faster. You said I could have help if I need it. I need it. I need it to help you."

Cameron didn't want a bunch of people to fuss over her. It was why she stayed away when she was damaged. She was only there to collect Savannah. She wanted the one person who loved her more than all the others. She looked at Vanna. She wanted her too. Vanna was Savannah Weaver as well. They were the same individual. There was something specific she wanted from Vanna. What was it? She remembered before. Why did she forget again? It started to come back. She ran her hand down the side of her naked body. It reminded her of the surface of cauliflower. She wanted it to be smooth again. Now she remembered what it was.

"She has to touch me." Cameron said as she looked at Vanna.

Vanna walked up to Cameron and smiled. She didn't want to seem threatening. She listened to the conversation before she entered the lab with Cam and Cammy.

"I will." Vanna said. "Here, get up on the work platform and I will. It will be like you were then. It will be just like before. Everything is in the same place, including you and me."

Cameron smiled at Vanna. She wanted her lost caress of love. Everything was in the same place. Somehow it was going to make it better because it was. She could turn back time without having to do anything.

Savannah discussed quietly with Vanna, Cam, and Cammy what they would do next.

Cameron climbed up and lay down on the table.

Savannah wanted Cameron to know exactly what they were going to do so Cameron didn't misinterpret their actions.

"We're all going to touch you." Savannah said. "Vanna's going to touch your legs and I'm going to touch your torso. Cammy's going to touch your face and head."

It sounded exciting to Cameron. There would be six hands on her all at once. She hadn't imagined being pleasured in such a way before. She needed to remind herself it wasn't supposed to be pleasurable. They said they needed to help her. She wasn't sure if she needed help. No. Savannah said she needed help, it meant she needed help.

"I want you to all touch me at the same time." Cameron said.

Savannah looked at Cammy and Vanna, but none of them commented. Everyone knew Cameron was somewhat incapacitated with her cognitive ability. She plugged a tether into Cameron's neck port. She was pleased Cameron didn't protest. She wasn't even sure if Cameron noticed. She didn't want Cameron to become alarmed. She wanted to let Cameron know what they were doing step by step.

"I want you to lie still as we start." Savannah said. "You're plugged into the server now as well. You can go there for a while if you want. You can watch us work. I need your chassis to go into 'standby' for now."

Cameron was worried about going into standby. Terrible things happened to her before when she was in standby. She looked at Savannah with pleading eyes. She was afraid she might be deactivated - terminated.

Savannah saw her fear. She took Cameron's hand, placed it on her neck and looked into her eyes.

"You know I'll never harm you. I won't leave you there. I'll never abandon you. You know I won't." Savannah said. "I promise, Cameron."

Cameron remembered how Savannah stayed to die with her. She didn't abandon her, even to save herself. Savannah stayed with her, just like she promised. She knew Savannah would trade her life for her existence. She would do the same for Savannah.

She was worried if she ever became Skynet no one would be able to stop her. She would probably hurt everyone else except Savannah and Young Allison. They would need to be the ones to deactivate her. There may come a time when Savannah did need to 'hurt' her. She didn't want to think about it right now. It seemed there were already enough problems.

"I trust you, Savannah." Cameron said. "You've always been honorable and true. You will always do the right thing when it is necessary."

Cameron smiled at Savannah and then her face went blank as she shut down….

Tears streamed down Savannah's face as she watched a single tear slide down Cameron's cheek.

"I promise, Cameron." Savannah said softly as she kissed her cheek.

Cammy and Vanna watched and could see the depth of love between Cameron and Savannah. It really was like no other.

Cam was off to the side for the first part of what occurred. It was decided she would connect to the server to be with Cameron 'inside'. Cameron wouldn't need to be in the metal box alone. It would be a way 'out' for her if she needed it.

Cammy was glad Cameron was in standby. She was jealous of the love between Savannah and Cameron. It wasn't the issue there now. Helping Cameron was why they were there. She assessed the damage to Cameron. It was much worse than her physical appearance indicated.

"Cameron is badly damaged. She is actually mostly healed already. These aren't recent wounds." Cammy said. "I'm not sure how she was still able to function. The original damage must have been horrific."

Savannah hoped for a better evaluation. Now it was worse than she thought.

Cammy now looked at wounds to Cameron's head. There may be chip damage. There was bound to be loose connections if nothing else.

Savannah examined her section of Cameron.

"Her lower torso is heavily damaged as well." Savannah said.

Vanna moved up Cameron's legs with her inspection and then paused. She raised her hand to her cheek. It was worse than she first thought once she got a good look. She knew what Allison, Ally, Cam, and Cammy looked like in detail where she looked. Cameron's private area was no longer the same.

"Oh no…." Vanna said. "Her legs and private area are damaged too."

Savannah didn't want to look at the damage in the area.

Cammy went down and looked. She could see some damage.

Savannah moved down to look. It sounded like Cameron was a mess.

Cammy stopped her. Savannah didn't need the image in her head.

"I think everything should regenerate there." Cammy said. "I think she will still be able to 'finish'. She may lose some sensation, but I don't know."

Savannah and Vanna hoped not. It seemed important to every female.

"She'll be fine." Savannah said. "However she is, is how she is."

Savannah would never love Cameron less. She would find other ways to please her. Not everything needed to be sexual. It wasn't now, not yet anyway.

Cam plugged into the server to communicate with Cameron earlier. It happened silently. She tried to find out what happened to Cameron and explain her strange behavior. She told Cameron all the things they needed to fix. She realized she made an error by explaining the damage to her lower area.

"Cameron has demanded Cammy or I relinquish our chassis immediately and place her chip into one of us." Cam said. "I will do so if it is necessary."

Vanna looked at Cam but said nothing. She loved Cameron as much as Savannah did. She would accept Cam with the damaged chassis if it happened. She figured Cam could always replay some files during the times they shared to experience everything the same way again.

Cammy knew Cameron would take Savannah from her. She always knew it. She was ready for the chip merge. It was her only hope not to be deactivated and erased. It was one thing to be banished or sent away. It was another thing to be rejected and replaced. It was even worse to be erased from existence. There was no need for Cam to sacrifice herself. Somehow she hoped to be able to keep more of her existence 'alive'. If Cameron was in her chassis, it was as if part of her would still exist, even if her program didn't. Savannah would always know it was her chassis Cameron resided in going forward. She was sure during those special moments, Savannah would think of her the same way she thought of Cameron at those times now.

"NO." Cammy said. "I will. Cameron and I will soon be 'united' anyway. My chassis will be her chassis."

Savannah wasn't about to lose Cammy. It upset her greatly every time Cammy brought it up. She already told her a thousand times it wasn't going to happen.

"NO, Cammy, I won't allow it." Savannah said. "I refuse to let it happen under any circumstances or conditions. There are times you may need to share chip space, but you are never going to lose your chassis. I swear it."

Cammy glanced at Savannah. She knew it was only a matter of time. Cameron was ready to claim Savannah. She would be redundant at that point. She didn't want Savannah to need to compromise herself.

"Time will dictate what happens or doesn't happen." Cammy said.

Vanna didn't want to lose Cam. She would rather see Cammy's chassis be repurposed than Cam's. It was selfish on her part, but Cameron came first. What Cammy said was true.

"Let's work on Cameron first and find out how badly she's damaged." Vanna said. "We can discuss other things later. We have options available to us, to Cameron. Things aren't like they were the first time Cameron was in here. We're in a much better position to do everything."

The three of them started to remove projectiles and see what all was damaged.

Cammy looked at the growing collection of the spent bullets. She didn't notice anything significant about them. They were neither armor piercing, nor made from Coltan.

"These look like standard projectiles." Cammy said.

Savannah looked at the three piles of bullets. She saw Cammy look at Cameron's chip port. It was clearly exposed.

"Is her chip damaged?" Savannah asked Cammy.

Everything looked intact externally. It might be a different story inside.

"There's damage around it." Cammy said. "It may be damaged or most likely only the connectors around it. Should be repairable."

Savannah didn't want Cam or Cammy deactivated. She was aware of other options from her recent visit to Cameron's base.

"There are several spare female chassis at her facility." Savannah said. "Some are Resequencing. We installed the frontal sheath covering on the one damaged Terminator who was cannibalized for sheath material before. The sheath tones don't match yet, but the replacement section is in perfect condition."

They used the female Terminator whose legs were blown off, to repair the other Terminator. The front sheath section was still usable, even though the back was burnt with Thermite in several places.

Cammy knew love was about sacrifice. She was ready to sacrifice for Savannah. Savannah loved Cameron more than her.

"I'll donate any sheath parts Cameron needs." Cammy said. "I'm here."

Savannah looked at Cammy, she loved her.

"NO, Cammy, I can't allow it." Savannah said.

Cammy needed to be a realist. There were certain undeniable facts.

"Savannah, I am 'Cameron'. You know this. I have to help 'MYSELF'." Cammy said. "Cameron Prime comes first. It isn't debatable. You know it deep inside."

Cam looked at Savannah and then at Vanna. Life was about choices.

"I will as well." Cam said. "We're both Cameron clones. It's our duty to assist Cameron Prime in every way we can. You both KNOW it."

Savannah and Vanna hugged each other. They silently communicated. They understood the reality of the situation. Cameron came was more important.

Cammy could see Savannah and Vanna understood.

"I may have to donate one of my chip ports." Cammy said. "I have two. I believe Cameron's port is damaged. I don't know for sure."

Savannah and Vanna looked at each other. They both nodded. Cameron came FIRST.

"We'll all do whatever it takes to restore Cameron back to her original condition." Savannah said. "You're both right. Cameron Prime comes first over ALL of us. This is about Cameron. We ALL love her."

Savannah would also make sure neither Cam nor Cammy was deactivated.

Cam was surprised at what Cameron did next.

"Cameron has invited John Henry into her server. He's now helping her as well." Cam said. "I'll unplug so we can get started. She has sent Bob and Jim to get the other deactivated female Terminators. Should be plenty of spare parts to repair us."

Cammy nodded. It was an effective strategy.

"They will donate chassis components, we will donate sheath components. Cameron will be healed in one day this way." Cammy said. "We will still be able to work with the sheath components missing. We will replace the parts we remove from ourselves, from parts off of the other Terminators. We will heal in a few days. Some of the pigmentation may take a little longer, as well as any size differences."

The four girls set about the repairs as soon as Bob and Jim arrived with all the spare parts and deactivated Terminators. John Henry stayed with Cameron in the server. Cameron asked for Holly as well….

Nobody was sure why.

Holly arrived later on with Allison.

Allison was very worried about Cameron. She was also worried about Holly. Holly already told her she would relinquish her chassis to Cameron. She'd tried to talk Holly out of the idea on the way over. It didn't work.

Holly immediately plugged in. The first thing she did was offer her chassis to Cameron. Cameron declined. She offered for Cameron to come onto her chip again as well. Since she was now there, John Henry disengaged.

Holly and Cameron, well, Duplicate Cameron, shared space before on Holly's chip.

Cameron needed to hide something from Holly. She was ashamed of what happened in 'Her Future' to Holly. She saw it as her fault and felt responsible, even though she 'fixed' the whole episode and it never really happened to Holly. Temporal Management spared Holly the fate 'the Cameron' on Holly's chip caused. Nobody could ever know what happened to Holly or what she looked like.

Allison and Vanna shared a long embrace as did Savannah and Allison. Vanna was unaware Allison and Savannah started a 'limited relationship' and 'shared' together several times, maybe it was a dozen or so. Now wasn't a good time to inform Vanna.

Vanna, Allison, and Savannah would remove chassis components from the other Terminators and the spare parts supply. Cam and Cammy would remove sheath components from each other for Cameron. They would repair themselves with sheath sections from the other deactivated Terminators.

Cosmetically, Cameron would be as good as new in no time this way. The outside could be fixed in a relatively short amount of time now. The outside wasn't the only part to worry about. They needed to worry about the inside.

Cameron would be back to one hundred percent as long as her chip wasn't damaged….

Closing monologue by Cameron:

Not A Good Time

The sun comes up
It starts a new day
Will one be led astray
Will someone else betray

Those are the very questions
Which no one yet knows
Will the next door open
Will the next door close

What often starts out
As fun and games
May soon turn sour
Producing insults and names

More often than not
It's the way things work
Someone once respected
Becomes a cruel mean jerk

Life itself is an uphill climb
It sucks away everyone's prime
Retrospect divulges the real crime
That it was not a good time

Nobody