A dim light shone through the lids of his eyes as he slowly regained consciousness and all memories of the other day were washed away. John pried his eyes open and instantly slammed them shut again as the sun glare tore through his vision. Raising a hand to shield him self this time, John once again opened his sight to see the world as it should be; serene, peaceful, with no threat of an impending apocalypse. John was in the comfortable confines of his bed and he had to fight very hard against the urge to fall back to sleep again. His efforts would’ve been futile had he not spotted a brown-eyed girl standing next to the window, the sun’s radiance making her skin glow in luminescence.

Sensing his gaze, Cameron turned to John, an adoring smile on her lips, and tilted her head to one side.

“You’re awake. You had me worried there for a moment.”

John barely registered the fact that she’d spoken, his attention being focused on the pearly white dress she wore. It seemed to shimmer at the slightest movement and was semi-transparent, leaving little to John’s imagination. Cameron followed John’s gaze and looked down at her self, a sly smile touching her lips. As if in slow motion, Cameron glided over to John’s bed and crawled over to him so that she was sitting sideways to his right. Their faces were barely a few inches apart, but neither made any overt movements, both were perfectly content with their current proximity.

Everything about this seemed all-too-perfect and John started to doubt the reality of the situation. So he raised a hand and gently pushed a thick lock of hair out of her face, tucking it behind her ear and earning himself another beautiful smile.

“Am I dreaming?”

Cameron’s smile widened as she ran her fingers down the side of his face affectionately.

“Does it matter?”

John’s eyes drifted downward and he realised that, beneath the dress she wore nothing, her subtle curves just about visible beneath the white fabric. John closed his eyes in shame at his voyeurism and turned away, determined not to see her body, but Cameron drew his eyes back to hers and they just stared into each other for what seemed like an eternity for both. Slowly, and with the slightest hesitation, Cameron drew him closer and brushed her cheek against his, letting out a soft purr of content at his touch.

John leaned into her face, becoming intoxicated by the smell of her hair and the warmth of her skin. She was perfect and she was his. She would never leave him and she would never care for another. He was the centre of her universe and as he ran a hand through her silky hair, John knew she was the centre of his. Cameron drew her head back, her lips brushing across his face until settling on his lips. Their kiss was slow at first, but quickly deepened as their tongues caressed each others.

Their bliss came to an abrupt stop, however, as John pulled away in surprise and shock, pain spreading across his chest. He looked down to see two crimson stains on his shirt and gave a gasp of panic as the blood poured out of him.

“Cameron?”

But Cameron had changed, her white dress tattered and ruined, showing ripped flesh and metal beneath. All along the side of her face, her flesh was torn and peeling off, one of her eyes was also missing, revealing the glowing blue orb of her mechanical iris. John looked down to see that her legs were gone, only wires remained and what appeared to be battery fluid was leaking from her innards.

“You have to make a choice, John.”

Her voice was cold and emotionless, lacking the warmth from before, causing John to shudder.

“This is what I am, at my core. Is this what you truly want? Or is it her?”

Cameron inclined her head to her right and John looked over her shoulder to see Riley standing there holding a Lego robot she’d made just for him. She had a radiant smile and her hair glowed like gold in the sunlight.

“You have to choose, John. Who will it be?”

John looked from Cameron’s mangled face to Riley’s unblemished features and was torn between the two, but given the circumstances the answer was obvious.

“Her… Riley. I choose Riley. I’m sorry, Cam.” “Sorry?!”

Cameron’s face contorted in rage as she drove her fist into his chest and tore out his still-beating heart.

“Why should you be sorry?”

--

John awoke with a scream, his hand clutching his bandaged chest, feeling his heart beating frantically and let out a sigh of relief. He closed his eyes and tried to calm himself, but the dream had rattled him more than a little and the vivid image of Cameron’s mangled form kept flashing in his mind. After several long minutes and increasingly steadied breathing, John opened his eyes and examined the dark interior of the motel he’d been carried unconscious to.

It was dreary and cheap, but clean and lacking cockroaches, for which he was grateful. He at first believed himself to be alone, until a car passed by, its headlights lighting the entire room briefly, revealing Derek’s presence in an arm chair to his left. Derek appeared to be watching John, a hand raised to his brow as if he were scrutinizing him in some way. John just stared back at him, uncertainty starting to creep into him.

“Derek, why are you looking at me like that?”

Derek lowered his hand and leaned back slightly, his eyes narrowing visibly in the gloom.

“Seventeen.”

“What?”

“That’s how many times you spoke her name in your sleep.”

John felt his cheeks start to redden and hoped that Derek couldn’t see them in the dark.

“Is there something you’d like to tell me?”

John refused to answer, afraid that anything he might say would only exacerbate the situation.

“Cos’ I can’t help but wonder why she would feature so much in your dreams.”

“It was a nightmare.”

“A nightmare, really? Do you grin like that in all your nightmares?”

John’s jaw clenched at the breach of privacy.

“Screw you.”

Derek smiled sardonically and leaned forward.

“Screw me? You and I both know you already have someone else in mind.”

John launched himself towards his uncle but stopped short as his chest exploded in pain, causing him to collapse back onto his pillow.

“Yeah, try not to move. You did have two nails in your chest less than a few hours ago.”

Derek stood up and circled the bed, pausing a moment to peer out of the window before settling into another chair on John’s right.

“Where… where’s Mom?”

“She and the Kid are next door.”

“And Cameron, where is she?”

Derek’s disgust for John’s concern towards the machine was obvious to him and he did nothing to hide the revulsion in his voice.

“She’s dead.”

John didn’t register it at first, but upon replaying Derek’s words in his head, he felt his entire body go numb.

“You’re lying.”

Derek shook his head, a shadow of satisfaction in his features.

“No, it’s the truth. She was blown to pieces along with the other one. She’s gone.”

“No, no you’re… you’re just messing with me. It can’t be true.”

“Deny it all you want, but that won’t make it any less so. I saw the house explode. Nothing could’ve survived that.”

John shook his head defiantly, unwilling to believe what he was hearing, but the more he thought on it, the more he remembered the explosion and the debris. It wasn’t long before the truth finally sank in and John felt his entire body becoming hollow: Cameron was gone; he would never see her again, except maybe in the distant future. Derek simply watched as John stared in disbelief at the bed, as if he could see her sitting there, that innocent curiosity emanating from her beautiful eyes.

“John?”

John covered his ears and shut his eyes tight, desperately trying to blot out the memory that threatened to consume him from within.

“John?”

But her voice was all but impossible to ignore and a part of him let go, allowing the past to catch up with him.

--

“John?”

“What? What do you want?”

John was sitting at the kitchen table of their old house, the one that burned down after Sarkissian’s assault, and was trying to fix a broken motor coil. Cameron was standing by the sink, her head tilted to one side as she watched him struggle with the engine part.

“I just wanted to know something.”

John sighed in frustration as he failed once again to reattach the coil.

“Well, I’m kinda busy at the moment. Can’t it wait?”

“No. It’s important.”

John sighed again and applied a little more force than was necessary to the coil, cutting his finger on a sharp edge as a result. A small gasp of pain escaped him and he dropped the part as blood flowed from the cut. Cameron approached his side and stared at the cut with her usual blank expression, except this time her features seemed to be softer than the norm.

“You’re damaged.”

John could’ve sworn he detected the slightest flicker of concern in her voice and felt the overwhelming need to reassure her that he was okay.

“It’s nothing. It’s just a cut. No biggy.”

But Cameron was undeterred and quickly received the first aid kit from the cupboard, placing it on the table and extracting a plaster and cleaning wipes. She then took John’s hand gently in hers and carefully examined the cut before wiping away the blood and cleaning it thoroughly. Once satisfied with her work, Cameron applied the plaster and smoothed the sticky parts, her finger tips brushing against his. She then abruptly let go of his hand and packed away the first kit, placing it back inside the cupboard.

John examined his finger and couldn’t help but smile at her masterful work. The pain had all but faded and the plaster was neither too tight nor too loose. He looked up to see Cameron watching him curiously as she finished what John had started on the engine part.

“Thanks.”

“You should be more careful in the future. If you get a cut that deep on your wrist you will bleed to death.”

John glanced down at his wrists and pushed his chair back slightly, distancing himself from the engine part.

“You know, a good old fashioned ‘you’re welcome’ would’ve sufficed.”

Cameron opened her mouth to reply but stopped her self and instead sat down opposite him.

“Can I ask you my question now?”

John rolled his eyes at her one track mindedness but felt that she deserved his cooperation.

“Go on then, shoot.”

Cameron’s brows knitted together in confusion at his remark.

“It’s just an expression, Cameron. Ask me whatever you want to ask me.”

“Thank you for explaining… Why do you act the way you do around me?”

John’s mind went blank before finally registering that this was her question.

“What? What do you mean, the way I act?”

“Your behaviour in my presence differs from the way you behave around others. Why is that?”

John looked away awkwardly and scratched the back of his neck as he searched for a non-committal way of answering her question.

“Uhh, maybe it’s because you are different from other people.”

Cameron tilted her head to one side and her hand slide across the table inexplicably.

“So… you treat me especially because of my being a machine?”

“Yeah, I guess you could say that.”

John knew he was skating on thin ice and that the smallest slip up would land him in hot water.

“Does that make me special then?”

John felt his ears burn and was determined not to look her in the eyes.

“It makes you unique.”

As soon as the word left his mouth, John started kicking himself mentally. As expected, Cameron caught onto the slip-up and regarded him closely.

“Thank you. We have something in common then.”

This time he couldn’t help but meet her gaze and was startled by the way her eyes seemed to sparkle.

“We are two of a kind, you and me.”

“Yeah, fates entwined and all that.”

Though John was being sarcastic, he should’ve known that she might not have seen it that way. Cameron smiled, a small smile, but a smile nonetheless and one he knew was reserved for him alone. John smiled back awkwardly, unsure as to how she might take it.

“What are we, John?”

The answer was obvious and it wasn’t until this moment that he realised just how much.

“Friends.”

--

Cameron dug her fingers into the grass and heaved her body through the bush, thankful that the sun had finally gone down, allowing her to move with a little more freedom. For the past few hours, Cameron had been crawling from place to place, searching for any sign of the Connors. But so far her efforts had proved fruitless as the last three locations offered no result. Regardless, Cameron wasn’t to be put off by repeated failures and heaved her self further onwards, slowly and laboriously closing the distance between herself and John.

--

Jason ripped open his shirt and placed a hand over his stomach, the bleeding having stopped but the pain was harder to suppress in conjunction with the healing process. He might very well have been sick, had his stomach’s contents not already vacated the premises. He placed a large patch over the wound and stretched it across his middle, covering the entry wound on his back. He’d experienced countless injuries in his life, but none so unexpected and blunt as having a girl’s fist driven through his abdomen, until now that is.

Tomorrow he would resume his hunt for the Connors, but today he needed to focus on healing and recovering his lost strength. As his stomach gave another painful twinge, Jason realised that he must avoid confrontations with Terminators from now on. As resilient and adaptable as he was, Jason was still primarily organic and his body could only take so much damage before it stopped working. Though he had no worries about dying of disease or old age, his physiology allowing him to preserve his youth indefinitely so long as his heart kept beating, which could last far longer than the average human’s.

In truth though, Jason wasn’t entirely sure of the extent of his regenerative abilities. Could he grow back a limb? Unlikely. Could he survive an explosion? Definitely not. Could he repair vital organs? Quite possibly. Regardless, he’d have to re-evaluate his tactics when approaching the Connors, even with Cameron destroyed. Jason frowned at himself as a small flicker of regret passed through his mind at the thought of her death. The same flash of emotion that had almost stayed his hand from killing her in the future.

“What’s wrong? Little demons eating your brain?”

Jason spun around, gun in hand, and fired three shots into Cameron’s chest but the bullets passed straight through her and struck the wall behind. Cameron looked down at the yellow dress she was wearing and smoothed a crease.

“Tut-tut. You don’t wanna spoil my nice new dress, now do you?”

Jason narrowed his eyes at her, taking note of her apparent lack of any kind of damage whatsoever. This made little sense, as did the fact that his bullets passed through her. Cautiously, Jason approached her and stretched a hand to touch Cameron’s shoulder, recoiling when he felt her smooth skin. Jason fired another bullet at her head this time, but like before, it passed straight through. Cameron just laughed.

“How is this possible? Where did you come from? What are you?”

Cameron held up one hand and splayed three fingers.

“One: I don’t quite know. Two: I’m not sure. And three: I am Cameron, 2nd Lieutenant of the Resistance, under the direct command of General John Connor. Does that answer your questions?”

Jason backed away a few steps, struggling to understand what was happening.

“I killed you. I snapped your neck and your body was incinerated. You can’t be her. And you can’t be the machine either; she was destroyed in the explosion. So who are you?”

Cameron sighed and took a few steps towards him, an unsettling smile on her lips.

“I’ve already told you; I’m Cameron. Isn’t that enough?”

Jason picked up a broken radio and cracked it over Cameron’s head. The radio passed through her as expected but his hand made solid contact with her forehead and he could feel the silky strands of her hair beneath his fingers. Completely baffled, Jason slowly withdrew his hand, staring at it in disbelief.

“This doesn’t make any sense.”

Cameron drew closer and tilted her head slightly.

“Oh sweetheart, nothing ever does.”

--

The house was unremarkable, big and roomy but lacking any kind of style. This will have to do, Sarah thought as she explored the hallway. Not that she had much choice, having already promised to accept it, the price for not possessing the proper paperwork. Sarah assumed that the land owner was a shady character, hence his acceptability of her proposal, though this may be a good omen as the house was in a secluded area just outside of the main city. Close enough to visit and far enough to avoid the eyes of the law.

There were only three bedrooms and a small office room that would suffice for the Kid. A small kitchen, a large dining room, an cosy living room, and two bathrooms, one upstairs and another downstairs. The house also had a basement, which would be ideal for weapon storage and various other purposes. Satisfied with her purchase, Sarah returned to the car, where Derek, the Kid, and a sullen John were waiting with the owner.

“We’ll take it.”

The owner raised his eyebrows in acknowledgement and handed her the keys.

“That’ll be forty-thousand, my love.”

Sarah cringed slightly, and not just because of the price; she hated being referred to as “love” or “lady”. Brushing aside her annoyance, Sarah paid the man his due and turned her attention to their new life of seclusion. Maybe things will be different this time, maybe they will be able to bring down Skynet without fear of reprisal.

--

John dumped his bag of belongings in the doorway and immediately dropped onto the bed, face down. He lay there for a moment before turning over and lying on his back instead, staring up at the dull grey ceiling. Life had gone from bad to worse to dire in the space of just a few days. The worst part was that he had no one to talk to about it all. There was his Mom, but she wouldn’t understand. There was Derek, but he wouldn’t care. And there was the Kid, but he wouldn’t be of much help, though the loss of Cameron had upset him quite a bit.

John was alone, with no one to give him the stoic comfort he needed.

“JOHN!”

John closed his eyes, not much caring for whatever his mother wanted, but he got the nagging feeling that she wasn’t going to take the hint any time soon.

“JOHN! STOP MOPING AND GET DOWN HERE, NOW!”

Sarah Connor, ever the sympathizer. John dragged himself out of bed and walked absent-mindedly towards the sound of his mother’s voice. Downstairs he found her standing in the hallway, her arms crossed and her eyes narrow.

“Did you call anyone about our new house?”

“What? No.”

“Then how do you explain this?”

Sarah stepped aside and John felt his entire world as it turned upside down, leaving him utterly clueless as to why and how Riley was standing there in front of him. She looked exactly as he remembered her, that blonde hair, that quirky smile, and her bizarre choice of clothes. For a moment, John thought she was a figment of his imagination, but the more he stared at her, the more he realised that she was all too real.

“How?”

“The owner is a friend of my folks. He mentioned that a family had bought this God-awful place without any questions. Sounded familiar: two adults, one teenage kid, and a smaller one, no mention of a girl though. Where is Cameron, anyway?”

John hung his head, not wanting to reply to the question. Sarah glanced from her son to the girl.

“Cameron was in an accident… she’s dead.”

Riley’s face fell.

“I’m so sorry.”

She approached John but he drew away from her, not wanting to come into any contact with her. Sarah stood between the two, for which he was grateful.

“Listen to me, you need to go. Get away from us while you have a chance and don’t ever look back. Do you understand me?”

“Yeah, but c’mon… look at him!”

Sarah glanced over her shoulder to see John sitting on the bottom step, his face buried in his hands and his shoulders shaking.

“He needs a friend right now. Please, let me help him.”

Sarah felt her heart clench at the sight of her son in such a state, but her resolve still remained.

“You have to go.”

Riley shook her head and brushed past Sarah and crouched next to John, placing her hands on his and slowly prying them apart.

“Shhh, shhh, John it’s me. John, c’mon let’s get you upstairs. C’mon.”

John hadn’t the will to resist and simply allowed himself to be guided up the steps, leaving his incredulous mother behind. Riley escorted him into his room and helped him onto his bed, sitting beside him. John stared at the floor, silent tears running down his face and splashing on the floor, creating a tiny puddle. They sat there for several torturous minutes, neither inclined to speak to the other until John sought an answer to a simple question.

“Why are you here?”

Riley took his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.

“I missed you.”

“But you left. You found out who I was and what I will become and you ran.”

“I was scared. But I’ve had a lot of time to think since then. I wanna help you with all of this; I wanna help you through it all. I wanna be your friend.”

John pulled his hand free of hers and glared at the floor, his face growing dark.

“I had a friend.”

“She was your sister. Sisters aren’t ever friends. Their purpose in life is to challenge you at every turn.”

John looked up at her incredulously and stood up, keeping his back to her.

“She was more than that.”

Riley also got to her feet and approached him cautiously.

“What was she then?”

“She was… she was… She just was. I wouldn’t expect you to understand.”

Riley snaked her hands across his middle and rested her head on his shoulder, an embrace that was both comforting and unwanted at the same time. John pulled away from her and strode out of his room and straight into the bathroom, locking himself away from everyone. Riley stood outside and raised a hand, poised to knock on the door, but decided to leave him be. Inside, John fumbled for his phone and instinctively dialled the first number on his speed dial. The phone rang and rang until finally he heard her voice.

“Hello, you have tried to call me, but I am unable to answer at this present time. Call back at a later time and I might be available to answer your call.”

The recording was soothing and reminded him of times past. Though he knew it to be pointless, John decided to leave a message.

“Cameron, I uh… I just wanted to…”

John collapsed onto the side of the bath tub and took a moment to try and regain his composure before continuing.

“I… I miss you, Cam. And I wish… I wish you were here… I’m sorry I wasted all of our time with my… I should never have ignored you the way I did… I wish to God I hadn’t… Cameron…”

Riley stood with her ear pressed to the door, listening to his every word, her eyes slowly brimming with tears of her own.

“Please come back to me…”

--

“Are you going to sit there and ignore me all day?”

Jason raised the glass to his lips and took a sip, his mind lost in thoughts and diagnostics, searching desperately for some answer to this madness. Cameron sat upon a table, her bare legs crossed together and swinging back and forth.

“You can’t ignore me forever.”

Jason closed his eyes and let out a steadying breath.

“You’re not real. If I pay you no attention you will just fade away.”

Cameron chuckled and hopped off the table.

“What? Ignore me and hope I go away? Come on, Jason. You know that’ll never work.”

She stalked towards him and crouched down to the side of his armchair, folding her arms on it and resting her head on top of them.

“You can’t keep fooling yourself into thinking that I’m not real.”

“But you are not real. I have since come to the conclusion that you are a part of my subconscious playing itself out. No doubt a result of the trauma I suffered as a result of being shot in the head. You are just a figment of my imagination.”

Cameron smiled and leaned forward to whisper in his ear.

“If that is the case, then why would this ‘figment’ take the form of little old me? Something repressed maybe?”

Jason turned to face her; she was so close that he almost brushed her lips with the brim of his nose.

“I have no skeletons in my closet. So you might as well quit while you’re ahead.”

Cameron smiled even wider and stroked his left cheek affectionately.

“Sorry darling, I’m not going anywhere.”

--

Cameron felt a strange vibration coming from just above her pelvis and ceased her exertions to investigate, finding her battered and barely functional phone in her jean pocket. She rolled onto her side and opened the phone, but it had since stopped ringing. Regardless, she held it to her ear and pressed the message button, in case whoever called had left a message, which they did. John’s voice was hoarse and almost indistinguishable, but she recognized it instantly and listened intently as he poured his heart out to her. Cameron felt something stir inside of her, something she had never felt before: sorrow.

A single tear ran down the side of her face and into the grass as she found herself weeping at John’s words, her entire body, what was left of it anyway, starting to shake.

“Please come back to me…”

Then the message ended, leaving Cameron adrift in mixed confusion. She had never felt such raw emotion before and it intimidated and fascinated her at the same time. But it also gave her resolve and determination. Cameron replayed the message and traced its source to a location outside the city, an ability that had carried over from her brief stint inside the ARTIE system last year. With his location confirmed, Cameron began the slow crawl back to her friend’s side.

“I’m coming back, John, l promise. I’m coming back.”

--

Riley opened the bathroom door and peered inside; afraid that John might’ve taken a razor to his wrist or something along those lines. At first it seemed that he had somehow vacated the room, until she spotted him crouched in the bath tub, opening and closing his phone repetitively. She sat on the bath edge and gave him a weak smile, which had zero effect.

“You gonna be okay?”

John snorted and glared at her.

“If that isn’t the world’s stupidest question, I don’t know what is.”

“I’m sorry. I just… I’ve never, you know. This kind of thing has never happened to me before. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do or say or whatever. I’m kinda playing it by ear at the moment.”

“Trial and error, tell me about it.”

Riley beamed down at him and gave him a light punch on the shoulder.

“There we go, there’s that cynical ‘moodster’ I know and love.”

John stared at her for a long moment, her comment digging deep beneath his skin.

“C’mon, gloomy, take me for a walk. Let’s see these crazy hills.”

“It’s two in the morning.”

“So?”

John sighed, the tiniest flicker of amusement breaching his misery.

“C’mon, it’ll be fun. Take your mind off things. What do you say?”

--

The truck pulled over so that its driver could relieve himself in a bush. Cameron crept out from under the dustsheet and dropped to the floor with a heavy thud before righting herself and beginning the considerably shortened crawl through the dirt. As the man let out a satisfied sigh of relief, Cameron reached the side of the road and spotted an open field a mile away with a single house nestled almost invisibly amongst the trees. Confirming this as the only house within a mile radius, Cameron marked it as her destination and pushed her self over the roadside, making herself roll down the hill haphazardly.

It wasn’t strictly conventional but it would save a lot of time in the long run and Cameron’s power cell was currently having trouble compensating for the extraordinary exertions that it was required to provide energy for. So Cameron was content to allow herself to bounce off of trees and roll through a bog or two for the sake of reaching her destination sooner rather than later.

--

Jason tensed, the clip halfway inside the gun, as his implants alerted him to a cell frequency originating from a secluded spot outside the city. He smiled in anticipation at having located his target and slid the clip into the gun, cocking the weapon and tucking it in his belt. Cameron slid her hand across his waist, resting on the gun, but he snatched it away and pushed her aside. She responded with a tinkering laugh and playfully pushed him back.

“If I wasn’t real, then how could I do that, hmm?”

“The shock damage was more potent than I initially thought. My neural net interface has been compromised, that’s how you can ‘affect’ me. My body is reacting as if you were actually real. But I know you’re not.”

“So what’s the difference?”

Jason brushed past her and gathered his coat, ready to finish what he’d started. Cameron leaned against the door frame and held up his keys.

“Won’t you be needing these.”

Although he knew that she couldn’t possibly be holding the real keys, Jason still held out his hands for them, to prove to himself that she was just imaginary. Cameron held the keys behind her and started to swing her hips playfully.

“You want them, come and get them.”

Despite himself, Jason smirked and advanced on Cameron, reaching behind her and taking the surprisingly real keys from her petite hands. She simply smiled in an “I told you so” kind of way as he examined the keys, dropping them on the floor and picking them up again to make sure.

“None of this makes any sense, but it won’t stop me from completing my mission. So if that is why you’re hanging around, to convince me to spare your boyfriend, then you might as well leave now.”

Cameron sighed and smoothed down the front of Jason’s jacket.

“Oh Jason, that’s not why I’m here at all.”

“No? Then why are you here.”

Cameron looked up into his eyes, her eyebrows rising slightly.

“I’m here for you. I’m here to make sure.”

“Make sure of what?”

“That you don’t ever escape the truth of what you’ve done.”

A single, bloodied tear escaped her eye and ran down her smooth cheek. Jason caught the tear and rubbed it between his fingers as comprehension finally dawned on him.

“Oh, so it is you after all.”

Cameron’s smile betrayed her devious intent.

“I’m really screwed, aren’t I?”

“Yes, you really are.”

--

The sky was clear with not a cloud in sight. Riley stared up at the stars, enraptured by the many dots and patterns, occasionally pointing out shapes that John could never see. He lay there beside her, not looking at the stars, but staring into the darkness in which they existed. For Riley, nothing had really changed between them; they were back to their old selves, wasting time gazing at the immaterial. John, on the other hand, was fighting a battle of indecision.

Riley was exactly what he needed in this moment; a friend he could confide in and help him forget. But on the flipside, he never wanted to forget and his very presence posed a risk to her safety, and John couldn’t handle getting another person killed. So it really boiled down to one of two choices: accept Riley’s offer for comfort and risk losing her too, or decline and resolve himself to wallowing in lost memories of the cyborg he had come to adore.

John sighed at the predicament, as neither held much hope for him in the long run. Riley rolled over onto her side and started to twirl a strand of her hair around her finger as she looked down at John’s blank face.

“Hey. You alive in there?”

“Just about.”

Riley watched him for a few more moments before checking her watch, discovering it to be three in the morning.

“Wow, time really flies, huh?”

“Yeah.”

“So err, I guess I’m gonna head back home. Unless… unless you want me to stay.”

John blinked for what seemed like the first time in hours.

“I want you to stay…”

A smile crept onto Riley’s face.

“…but you can’t.”

Her face fell and she pinched him lightly.

“Why not? If it’s because of your mother…”

“No. No, that’s not it. You can’t know me, Riley. You just can’t. It’s too dangerous, for both of us.”

“I don’t care about the danger.”

John looked away, not wanting to add her look of disappointment to his already overburdened conscience.

“You should. That kind of danger is what took Cameron away from me. I can’t let it take you too.”

“That’s not your decision to make.”

John forced himself to sit up, Riley following suite.

“It is mine and I’ve already made it. Go.”

“No… not without a fight.”

“Riley…”

But his words were silenced by her kiss, a deep and long affection that only added to John’s guilt as unbidden memories of Cameron flashed in his mind. John pulled away and stood up, putting several feet between them. Riley also got to her feet and walked around him, her expression desperate.

“Don’t let this, what we have, go to waste. We can be happy, you and I, if you’ll just let me in. Please, John.”

John looked down at the floor and shook his head defiantly.

“We can’t. I’m sorry, Riley. But you have to go. Go and never look back. Find someone else, someone who doesn’t have the weight of the world on his shoulders.”

“But I don’t want anyone else. I want you!”

“You can’t have me.”

Riley stared at him, her eyes wide with disbelief at his refusal.

“Please.”

John couldn’t have shown any emotion even if he wanted to; his face had become set like stone, harsh and resolute. Riley knew that no matter what she might say or do, John would never give. He wanted to protect her, and nothing could break his resolve.

“Goodbye Riley.”

Riley’s lip trembled as tears fell down her cheeks. She pulled John into a hug and held him tight, planting a wet kiss on his brow, a final goodbye between friends.

“Goodbye John.”

She then let go of him and gave John one last smile, which he managed to reciprocate with one of his own before she turned back and strode off across the hill, slowly fading into the distance. John let out a shuddering breath and felt like he was going to be sick as he forced his legs to carry him back in the direction of the house. He had done it. He’d made the choice. He’d chosen Cameron.

A rustling sound reached John’s ears and he tensed, his eyes scanning the tree line for any signs of movement. A large clump of bushes shuddered and John drew his 9mm that he’d taken to carrying wherever he went nowadays. He pulled back the hammer and aimed for the bush, ready to either scrape the skull of a machine or to blast the brains out of an unfortunate raccoon. The bush shook violently and a strange figure emerged from its depths and crawled across the grass before becoming inert.

John slowly approached the strange figure and upon closer inspection, he realised that it was a human torso with its legs strapped to its back. Cautiously, John placed his boot underneath the body and slowly turned it over, his heart stopping when he saw its face. Cameron looked terrible, her hair, skin, and clothes were filthy. Her finger nails were cracked and filled with dirt and bits of grass, the skin on her palms was raw and bleeding as a result of constant crawling. But she was still Cameron, and John almost laughed with joy.

Her eyelids flittered and opened slowly, revealing those brown eyes that he’d come to call beautiful.

“John?”

Her voice was hoarse and sounded exactly how she looked; rough and tired. John dropped to his knees and carefully cradled her head in his lap, tears of joy splashing on her muddy face.

“Hey, I thought I lost you.”

“I know. I got your message… tracked it here… I found you.”

John laughed, praising her genius adaptability.

“Yeah, you did at that. But Cameron… your legs… I…”

“The explosion… I’m still functional though…”

“But you sound a little… Something’s wrong, isn’t it.”

Cameron blinked slowly as a faint whirring sound came from somewhere in her endoskeleton.

“I’m losing power… John, you have to… You have to…”

“What? What? What must I do, Cameron, stay with me?”

Cameron smiled weakly and took his hand in hers.

“You have to read me a bedtime story.”

John frowned in confusion, but she continued to smile as her eyes closed and the whirring came to a soft stop. John tapped her lightly, receiving no response.

“Cameron?”

He shook her, but again received no indication of life. John’s heart, which was already bordering on cardiac arrest, was now going into overdrive as one thought rose above all others: get her home. With strength he wasn’t aware he possessed, John scooped her in his arms and staggered to his feet, taking a moment to get his balance before slowly carrying her back to the safety of the house.

“Hang in there, Cameron. I’m gonna get you home. I promise.”


To be continued…


Next: Chapter Ten: Survival
Previous: Chapter Eight: Release