Cross the yellow wire with the red one………Done………..Connect copper wire and twist…………Done………..Activate Proximity Trigger Response……….Done……………Trap set…………He won’t see this coming….

===============================================================================================

“What’s this for?”

John examined the watch with mild interest.

“Well I figured you might need one, seeing as the world is going to end in a few years. It’ll help you keep track of the time you have left.”

Derek was not known for his generosity, but he did have his moments. It is a nice watch, thought John, I wonder if he bought or killed for it. Better not ask him that.

“Thanks, I’ll a… be sure to savour every minute.”

John fastened the watch around his wrist; it was a good fit and didn’t chafe. Derek went back to loading the guns and said nothing. John couldn’t help but notice a small flicker of regret in his uncle’s face. Derek had been increasingly twitchy the last couple of days, as if something was weighing him down. John knew better than to ask what was on his mind, Derek had a tendency to be somewhat unstable when it came to his personal grievances, especially when it concerned Kyle.

John decided to go back to his room and finish catching up with his school work. Upon returning to school the other day, John was burdened with a week’s worth of catching up and had little time for anything else. Thank God I’ve got a genius friend who’s willing to give me a hand. As was her custom, Cameron crept into John’s room without making a single sound, though this time John was aware of her presence and didn’t suffer a heart attack. She quietly sat down on his bed and watched as he wrote the conclusion to a 2,000 word essay, waiting for him to ask for help, but he didn’t. John knows the value of education. He doesn’t cut corners, Cameron mused. After several minutes of silence John finally put his pencil down and let out a sigh.

“Finished, finally. See, I can do it alone.”

Cameron smiled; she’d only been called upon to deal with the unnecessary assignments that possessed no educational value to John. There’d been far more of those than any thing else he’d needed to do, so Cameron felt very helpful. She reached out and grasped John’s hand, which was sore from constant writing, and conducted a brief analysis. Readings suggest he is mentally exhausted…….His pulse has suddenly increased…….Blood flow has been redirected to-…….Physical contact has been broken……..Unable to complete scan.

John could tell what she was doing so he reluctantly moved his hand away from hers. Cameron looked slightly concerned.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing I just… I guess I don’t like it when you scan me. I know you only do it because you care, but it’s a little… invasive. Sort of like reading my thoughts, you know.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to invade you.”

John flushed. Did she know how provocative she was being? Probably not. As much as John loved her company, he often found himself struggling with his desires. This was why he didn’t want her conducting her scans; he didn’t want her to know how badly he was lusting after her. If she discovered this she’d probably jump me right here and now, and I would be unwilling to resist.

“Look, just save it for emergencies okay, or if I’m feeling generally unwell. No one likes being strapped to a lie detector.”

Cameron smiled slyly and tilted her head.

“We’re not strapped together. If we were I wouldn’t waste my time with bio marker scans.”

John suddenly felt very warm, as if he’d eaten her chilli pepper pancakes again, except this time they were pleasant.

“You know what; hold that thought while I take a cold shower, a very cold shower.”

Cameron was about to ask if he wanted some ice when Sarah suddenly came in, a bag in her hands.

“You ready for an assignment?”

John perked up immediately; he hadn’t been involved in their Skynet hunt for weeks.

“Sure, what’s the objective, and don’t tell me it’s a pizza run.”

===============================================================================================

Cromartie was not accustomed to conducting interrogations; his sole purpose was assassination after all. Though like any T-888, he could adapt and learn new skills. The art of torture came naturally to him, as it required an intimate knowledge of human pain thresholds and the correct manipulation of pressure points. His current subject was not your typical human however.

Subject: Jason Corvain

Accessing Subject History…………

D.O.B: May 5th 2004……Current Age: 23 years 6 months.

Important Dates:

2011: survives Judgment Day (age 7).
2022: joins Resistance Military, operation specialty Tech-Com (age 18).
2024: saves John Connor from T-800 assassination attempt, upgraded to Lieutenant (age 20).
2026: captured by Skynet and enlisted in experimental program “Sheep’s Clothing” (age 22).
2027: disobeys directives and severs connection with Skynet (age 23).

Accessing File 342555#SK: “Sheep’s Clothing”………

“Sheep’s Clothing”: one-shot experiment. Subjects were injected with nanobots with the goal of creating a new line of cybernetic infiltrators. Nanobots enhance or replace key organic components with cybernetics. Subject skeletal structure imbued with metallic compounds creating an organic-metallic alloy. All but one subject died during the process. Subject Jason Corvain remains the only survivor. Addendum: recent research shows that brain implants are subject to destabilization, thereby severing Skynet control. “Sheep’s Clothing” deemed ineffective.

He is no stranger to pain then; this may be difficult, thought Cromartie. Jason was chained to the wall, his cybernetic eyes scanning the triple-8. Cromartie was taking no chances with him; Jason had already proven to be more trouble than he might be worth.

“So, you going to torture me or what?”

“You already know the answer to that.”

“Yes, but I enjoy playing mind games with machines.”

Cromartie picked up a scalpel and began cutting into Jason’s chest, who only flinched for a second.

“Sorry, mate. Pain suppression system courtesy of Skynet. My neural implant is wired directly into my nervous system, so no joy.”

“So it would seem. But I will discover your purpose here. Connor would not send you back twenty-four years without a good reason.”

Jason flexed his muscles, he was testing his strength against the chains, but Cromartie had been thorough.

“You can’t escape. Those chains are strong enough to hold a T-600 in place.”

“Uh huh. But I’m not a rusty old “rubber skin”, and I won’t be used to get to John. So quit while you’re ahead.”

Cromartie was undeterred; he had a mission to complete.

“It is apparent that I will not be able to break you…”

“Your grasp of the obvious is inspiring.”

“…but you have already served your purpose. Your displacement here made it into the local papers. No doubt the Connors are aware of it and will come to investigate. You have helped me draw them out.”

Jason stared at the floor for a moment as he considered this information before looking back at Cromartie and smiling.

“Well done, but in case you’ve forgotten; John has a protector.”

“I already know about the girl.”

Jason suddenly froze, a look of disbelief on his face.

“Cameron?”

===============================================================================================

“Time displacement? You sure?”

“Positive.”

Derek was driving John, Sarah, and Cameron to the location of an “electrical disturbance” via an isolated back road.

“How?”

John wasn’t aware that his mom had kept such a close eye on the media, but this was only because Cameron had been too busy helping him about the house to pay much attention to the news.

“Witnesses reported an electrical disturbance in an old factory three miles ahead, one of them claimed to see a man appearing in a sphere of blue light. It was in this morning’s paper.”

John nodded slowly and then cocked his gun, checking the chamber to make sure it was ready.

“Hang on, what about the cops? Won’t they be crawling all over it?”

“No. The people up here are known for their story-telling. They just dismissed it as a farce.”

John leaned back in his seat and turned to Cameron, she looked at him blankly. Knowing that Sarah would flip if she saw them being too friendly, Cameron often acted inconspicuous around John when his mother was present.

“What do you think Cam? Skynet or Resistance? Terminator or Fighter?”

“It’s Impossible to tell. It’s always better to be prepared though.”

She was eying his gun. John turned it over in his hand. Up until a few weeks ago, John hadn’t fired a weapon in years. He was surprised at how natural it felt. Cameron, on the other hand, was still not 100% trust-worthy to hold a weapon in Sarah and Derek’s eyes. It was understandable, after all, the last time she held a gun it was pointed at them. Nothing shatters trust like looking down the barrel of a gun.

“I don’t see why John would send someone else back.”

Derek was being twitchy again. Everyone had noticed, especially Cameron. In fact, thought Sarah, he looks a bit pale. “You feeling alright, you look a bit… off.”

Derek gave a loud sniff and scratched his forehead.

“I’m fine I just… I don’t know, I think I’m coming down with something is all.”

Cameron leaned forward and placed her finger on his neck, causing the car to swerve violently as Derek pulled away from her touch.

“Get the hell away from me, metal!”

“You have a fever, I need to diagnose…”

“Touch me again and we’ll take a detour to the scrap-yard, you hear me?”

Sarah turned around to look at Cameron.

“Do as he says.”

Cameron sat back, a look of hurt on her face. John slid his hand discreetly into hers and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

“She’s right though, you need to take it easy. Maybe stay in the car while we take care of this.”

“I’m fine Sarah, I look worse than I feel. Trust me.”


They pulled up outside an abandoned warehouse and got out to investigate the immediate area. It was deathly quiet, and Cameron could not detect any signs of life. John noticed a hatch to his right and motioned for Cameron to help him open it, which she did with minimal effort. All four of them shone their lights into the dark hole, revealing stairs leading to an underground corridor. John placed a foot on the first step but Sarah grabbed his arm.

“John. Wait. We don’t know what’s down there.”

“That is why we need to go in to find out.”

Something moved in the corner of Sarah’s eyes, she spun around to see the warehouse door swing shut, followed by a scraping noise from within the hatch. Derek cocked his gun and approached the warehouse.

“Derek. Wait.”

“Mom, you go with him, I’ll find out what’s in here.”

“I told you, you don’t know what’s down there.”

“I’m not deaf. Besides, Cameron will be with me, I’ll be fine.”

Cameron gave her a reassuring smile. Sarah struggled for a moment before relenting and following Derek, looking back to see John and Cameron descend into the hatch. The corridor was wide and cool; John ran his hand along the wall as he drew closer to a heavy door at the end of the corridor. Cameron wrenched it open and stepped through, calling the all clear seconds later. John followed her into a large square room with four columns. A bomb shelter?

Suddenly the large door slammed shut behind them. Cameron made towards it but stopped, staring at John.

“What?”

Cameron placed her hands on his chest and began running her fingers across his body. John felt that familiar heat rising in him again.

“Uh, Cameron? I’m not sure this is the time or place.”

Don’t stop though, part of him thought. Cameron did stop however, a look of confusion on her face.

“John?”

“Yep?”

"Your ticking."

"Huh? I'm what?"


John froze, he could hear it too. He frantically felt every pocket on his person but found nothing. Cameron suddenly grabbed his wrist and held it level. John's watch was beeping, an ominous red light flickered, becoming increasingly erratic as the beeping became steadily more frequent. John looked at Cameron hopelessly. She opened her mouth as if to say something helpful, but instead opted for:

"Oh, shi-...."

To be continued…

Next: Chapter Seven: Conflict
Previous: Chapter Five: Confidence