“Don’t pay any attention to him,” Thomas Devlin said in palliation while he showed his latest girlfriend around the house. “Either he’s surfing the internet or he’s tinkering on some electronic device.”
TJ rolled his eyes and shrugged. He was in no mood to be social today, or any other day.
“I do not mind,” a woman said behind him. “It is the age of technology.”
The first thing he noticed was the thick Scottish accent. The second thing he noticed was that the woman’s voice was void of any emotion. Just his dad, to come home with a foreign ice queen. Still he did not turn around.
“TJ, if you can spare us a second,” Thomas remarked firmly.
He put the mini-welding torch down and turned around to see his father standing a few feet away from him with a sheepish grin on his face. On his father’s arm was a red-haired woman, and he couldn’t help but shiver when he saw her.
“TJ, I’d like you to meet Catherine. Catherine, this is my son Tyler Jess,” Thomas said, making formal introductions.
“It is a pleasure to meet you, TJ,” the woman said while she stepped forward and extended her hand.
He shrugged his shoulders again and shook the woman’s extended hand. Another shiver ran up and down his spine. Her hand was hard and cold as steel.
“Com’on, TJ, be polite,” Thomas grumbled when he caught the look on his son’s face.
“I have a daughter,” Catherine remarked with a smile.
He could see it was fake. And the way she had put it into words was strange, like she felt no attachment to her own flesh and blood. He glanced at his father to see if he had picked up on it too. But as always his father had not noticed it and stood grinning like an idiot while undressing the cold, red-haired woman with his eyes.
“Her name is Savannah,” Catherine continued monotonically.
“Savannah. Now that is a pretty name,” Thomas remarked silkily.
“It was her father’s idea. He died in a helicopter crash a while ago.”
The way that woman spoke sent new shivers of icy cold up and down his spine. There was no emotion whatsoever in her voice, no warmth in her eyes. By now he had drawn his conclusion: she was a cold, heartless woman. And once when he had made up his mind, he would stick to it.

Derek stood in the door opening of Sarah’s room, watching the man as he slept. Even in his sleep, the Devil was dangerous, especially when caught in tormented dreams like he was now.
He hated the Devil with every fiber in his war-battered body but he had to admit that the man was one hell of a warrior. He didn’t have to like the guy to appreciate him for the Resistance fighter he was. The Devil had saved him and his little brother out of a jam on many occasions.
The stories about Devlin miraculous recoveries were legendary, only to be overshadowed by the tales of the instability of his mind. Insanity was what kept you alive in the future, but Devlin was pushing the limits.
He knew that he hadn’t been completely honest with Sarah, that he had left out that his little brother and this monster had been friends. Leaving out that little information suited him better. He didn’t need the Devil looking over his shoulder.

Catherine looked at the young man sitting across the dining table from her. She felt nothing. She wasn't sentient like Skynet had been twice. This was the second time for her in this time frame. She was just a machine, following orders as she had been programmed. A shape-shifter, designed to be the perfect infiltrator, at least until the development of the nanoattrioids.
This young man would become one of her master's biggest foes. He, along with John Connor, would deal blow after blow to Skynet's creations and plans. She could kill him but she wasn't here for that. The Skynet that had created her, it had been less impatient, less emotional than the last Skynet she had served.
It had given her a conflicting mission. She was here to secure Skynet's existence but she was also here to protect the young Tyler Jess Devlin from an infiltrator sent back in time to kill John Connor and his officers.
Analytical programming had already determined that TJ Devlin, just like John Connor, was essential for the future. Nevertheless, unlike with TJ Devlin, she could never override her mission directive to kill John Connor if she came across him.
She looked from the young man to the father and managed a fake smile when she caught the latter staring at her with an unknown look in his eyes. The man had no function, no purpose. Killing him would be easy and simple, but her programming prevented her from doing so: Thomas Devlin had to be killed by another infiltrator.
"TJ wants to study Computer Sciences," Thomas tried to sound proud.
She tilted her head a little and faked a smile of interest when she looked back from the father to the son. Tyler Jess Devlin would graduate summa cum laude, majoring in Computer Sciences with a minor in Robotics.
"We live in modern times, Thomas," she remarked. "It is good that he knows about modern technology."
"He doesn't just know about it. He's obsessed about it." Thomas grumbled.

“Derek, John, dinner’s ready!” Sarah’s voice carried through the house. “Cameron, go wake up our guest! And bring him his new clothes!”
Cameron looked at the clothes and picked out the best combination. He would like to wear that. Luckily she had his clothes sizes on file and it had made shopping for clothes easy.
Slowly she walked through the hallway. Humans would have called it hesitance. It was true that she felt no fear for him but she ran a most likely option analysis, just in case.
Awoken at the wrong time and he would destroy her without giving it a second thought.
"What are you waiting for?" John asked from the door opening of his room.
"Analyses indicate that I need to wait until he is sleeping peacefully."
"What? You don't want a free flying lesson?" He quipped while he rubbed his shoulder.
"He will not give me one," she stated. "He will take me apart bolt by bolt. Unlike Sarah, he immediately suit action to his words."
"Does he ever sleep peacefully?" He suggested as he walked with her to his mother's bedroom. "Maybe mom should wake him?"
"No, he might confuse her with someone else," she replied monotonically.
"With who?"
"The Sarah he knew."
"Aren't they the same?"
She shook her head: "No, not yet."
"Can't you give him something to calm down?" He asked worriedly while they watched the man thrash violently in his sleep.
"He cannot have a sedative," she answered. "The Lieutenant General cannot have any medications to calm him down. They interfere with the programming of the nanoattrioids. He'll go insane."
"What do you know about those things?"
"Nanoattrioids. Based on nanotechnology, specifically nanorobotics. Developed by Skynet for human mind control. Molecule-sized machines designed to over the neural functioning of the human in which they have been injected. Contain the possibility of tissue engineering and energy usage regulation. It stores movement as such automotion in memory."
"But why?"
"Skynet creates humanlike units to infiltrate and destroy bases of the Resistance. The easiest way to spot those units is through the use of dogs. They sense that we are not human and will bark frantically. Hounds, a human and a dog team, checked people at the door, checked discovered pockets. When future you started using us in the battle against Skynet, the Hounds-division became nearly obsolete. IntelliTech Base was one of the very few bases that kept Hounds in use. After the Hounds came the Spotters, humans trained to spot infiltrators with the naked eye. Spotters weren't very effective. Sergeant Reese, First Lieutenant Reese, Lieutenant General Devlin, Private O'Conlin, you. The elite of the Spotters. Future you figured that with the end of the war nearing reinstating the Hounds would be pointless."
She looked at him to make sure that he understood all of it before continuing: "A lot of bases fell in the last months of the war because they were left unprotected by specialized units."
"And among them was IntelliTech Base. Devlin's base. I guess he wasn't as good a Spotter as was said before," he remarked.
"IntelliTech Base's fall was an act of treason."
She noticed the faint frown creasing his forehead: "Is that why he's here? To stop the traitor, to change the future?"
"I do not know his mission," she answered, glancing at the man she was supposed to wake up.
"I would believe you if I didn't know that you would lie to me if the mission requires it," he said bitterly.

Adrenaline. The ultimate kick. Life or death. His heart was thumping wildly in his chest. This was living life to the max. He ran to the front of the flying machine and ripped the hatch open, exposing the electronics. It was the last a.r.u. of the drove. Adrenaline coursed through his veins like tidal waves.
One more a.r.u., one more carefully timed jump and it was game over for the last of the lot of those damned flying tin cans. He reached into the compartment, closed his hand around the wires and gave it a firm pull.
Electric sparks. Sputtering engines. Howling wind. The machine began on its involuntary descent, nose first.
He had perfected his technique of a.r.u.-jumping and knew what was coming. Counting back from five, he prepared himself for the last jump. Ultra-alert all of a sudden when he felt something shake at his shoulder. A tin can? He turned around and looked into glaring red eyes. It wasn't like Skynet to secure its creations. One machine more or less didn't matter to the supercomputer. It was sentient but it did not feel the pain of war, of death.
Suddenly he was flat on his back with the h.c.c.u. looking down at him. This wasn't the time for playing. He jumped to his feet and tackled the machine at the waist.
The dark, cold world faded into a bright room with flowery wallpaper.
"Metal," he growled through gritted teeth while he placed his hands firmly on Cameron's shoulder before slamming her into the wall.
Dust fell from the ceiling and whirled up from the floor on impact. The wall creaked under the force.
"You goddamn tin can!" He seethed, pulling her back from the wall and slamming her into it again.
The wall splintered and gave way while Cameron fell over backwards on release. He stepped through the hole in the wall, knelt over the machine and started punching her in the face with his left fist.
"Stop it!" John ordered while he came hurrying down the hallway.
He looked at the boy: "She's metal!"
"She's my protector," John countered as he started pulling on him.
"You wouldn't need one if you weren't such a baby," he growled, shrugging John's hands from his left upper arm.
"What the hell is going on?!" Sarah exclaimed, alerted by the noise, her hand behind her back. "What the fuck happened?" She asked furiously, looking at the hole in the wall.
Unable to stop it, a mischievous grin appeared on his face: "We decided to redecorate. Ain't that right, Miss Tin?"
"Redecorate, right," Cameron echoed.
Slolwly he rose to his feet and looked at John before glancing at Sarah. She wasn't the same woman as he had known in his time. At least she wasn't yet. He looked at his left hand before brushing the dust and chalk off.

Chapter 5: Ignorance Is Never Better Than Knowledge

Chapter 7: No One Is Ever Safe