Allison Young could feel the synthetic life slowly fading for Savannah Weaver. Tactile sensors registered the status of each of the machine’s internal systems and processes to let her know the status of her attacker. Detailed information down to the molecular level flashed over her processors telling her exactly what to do if she wanted to make the death take longer, slow it to a crawl, or keep up the status quo. Despite their hybrid nature they weren’t like the other machines. They could experience emotions, they could hurt if they chose to, and they could even feel afraid. Through it all, though, they were still machines and very capable ones at that. They were the perfect organism in all meanings of the word. They were strong, healthy, and they had nothing to fear. Should death ever come they would merely digitize and awake in a brand new body elsewhere. It was a perfect world and a perfect system.
Yet this slug known as Savannah Weaver would throw away perfection in pursuit of something as raw as humanity. They had the very best of both worlds through John Henry’s developments. They could feel everything that humans did, they could do everything that humans did, they were human in the end yet she made it seem like they were more machine than anything. In her words both she and Savannah had become twisted and evil like something out of hell. Did she not realize what kind of gift they’d been given? The honor that was theirs and theirs alone?
If it was such an honor though why had Savannah’s words hit her so hard? Savannah had asked her if she remembered being a human and, as far as Allison was concerned, that had never changed. She could see how Savannah would come to think she was some sort of villain. She had taken her role as a protector for John Henry to heart when he gave it to her and she did protect him by whatever means were at her disposal. She had terminated threats against them just as she would’ve done had he been flesh and blood; though the targets had been machine and human alike. It was something that had to be done though. Those people were trying to prevent John Henry from reaching his goals and she owed him everything. John Henry saved her from the machines on the Enterprise and gave her this new life after they took her life from her. She would protect him because of it. As for the humans that she’d found it necessary to terminate… if John Henry deemed them worthy enough they would be awarded a hybrid body. The girl and her little taunt had consumed her long enough.
Allison was about to end it all for Savannah when she heard the voice in the distance. The voice was familiar but she couldn’t quite place it as quickly as she would hope. With a single command her processor started going through every person that she had met in her relatively short life; crosschecking it against everyone that she had ever known and those in John Henry’s database. For a moment it held itself back and kept the still Savannah Weaver disabled in her place. The crossbreed thought about breaking the connection and being done with it, but the girl could be useful still.
The winner of the sparring match looked down into Savannah’s eyes as the answer came. Instantly her eyes lit up like the bulbs on a Christmas tree. Before she knew it a smile had formed on her porcelain skin that nearly stretched ear to ear. Her words were addressed to Savannah, but she said them loud enough for John to hear. “I knew he’d be along sometime.”
“Who?” Savannah tried desperately to catch her breath.
The prototype pulled Savannah off the ground, but kept her fingers around her neck. “I know that you’re out there John. Are you going to come see me or do I have to come for you?”
There was no answer from behind the intersection. Allison pulled back on Savannah and tightened the grip that she held on the other, “I know that you can hear me, John, you’ve always had such great hearing. Still don’t want to come talk to me? Well I know someone who wants you to.” She loosened her grip, “Say hello, Savannah.”
The second that Allison’s fingers lessened their viselike grip Savannah screamed, “Run!”
“That’s enough out of you,” she closed her hand again. “Are you going to come out and see Savannah, John? No? Well then I don’t need her anymore.”
General John Connor stepped out from behind the corner, “Okay you’ve got me.” He had his hands raised toward the ceiling, “I’m here, Cameron, now let Savannah go.”
The hybrid shifted her weight uncomfortably at John’s words. How could he not recognize her or who she was? She was Allison Young, his friend, his comrade. They’d been together through a lot and now here he was calling her Cameron? Who was this Cameron? Why would he hurt her like this and why wouldn’t he recognize her? Was it because of the mouse Savannah? Did he feel more for Weaver than he did for her? She didn’t understand.
“Who’s Cameron?”
John kept his hands raised, “You’re Cameron. You’re the machine that Skynet’s sent after me to kill me.” He walked toward her carefully, “Well I’ll give myself to you if you just let Savannah go.”
She stammered, “I’m not Cameron. My name’s Allison… I’m Allison!” Her grip tightened to near the maximum that Savannah could take. Termination prompts flashed inside her tactical display. One movement and it was over.
“Allison?” He asked astonished. “You can’t be Allison. I held Allison in my arms when she died.”
“That’s not true! That’s impossible!” She challenged him still holding her prize. “Skynet killed me onboard the Enterprise and you were no where to be found. The machines snapped my neck because I wouldn’t tell them what they wanted to know about you. John Henry came and found me. He rescued me and he can rescue you. John, join me. Let him remake you as a hybrid. It’s bliss, John. We don’t have to worry about anything ever again. The machines, the war, it won’t matter anymore. We can live our lives free not having to care about being blown away in some hellstorm. We can be together forever until the sun winks out in the sky.”
Connor recoiled back a step and stared at her like she’d sprouted a second head, “Oh God Allison what’ve they done to you?”
“He made me better, John, and he’ll make you better too,” she pleaded with him. “If you accept him and who he is he’ll make you better than you ever were before. Join us. Join us and have a future!”
“I have a future and it’s a future where the machines of any form don’t exist,” he challenged her. “A future where mankind is king of the Earth again and the machines don’t roam. It was a future that you once believed in too, Allison, why did you turn your back on it?”
A single tear started to fall from Allison’s eye, “I didn’t! I never turned by back on it! I want to see Skynet destroyed…”
“Then why would you let yourself become one of them? Why would you let some bastard turn you into a metal bitch? You were human once, Allison, be a human again! Let the girl go and help us to stop John Henry before it’s too late! Before he destroys us all!”
“John Henry’d never destroy the human race! He loves it more than anything else!” Allison spat at John. “You’re lying to me.”
“No I’m not,” the General stood at ease showing her he wasn’t a threat. “Search your feelings, you know that I’ve never lied to you before and that I’m not doing it now. John Henry is using you to meet his own needs but you can still fight him. You can keep him from winning this war for your soul. Fight back!”
Allison’s head started to shake and her whole body looked like it was going into a convulsion as she processed the different data. She fell to her knees and screamed like a banshee, the echoing repeating over and over in the halls. The hybrid pulled at the long brown hair and tears kept streaming from its eyes. The dark eyes flashed intermittently in shades of red. Allison finally fell over onto her side, her hands pulling at the back of her skull.
Savannah Weaver ran away from the scene and around the corner into the waiting arms of the machine that wore her mother’s face. John Connor remained steady on his feet and didn’t retreat. Instead he walked toward her and knelt beside the stricken hybrid. He rested his hand on her shoulder, “Allison, let go of it. Remember who you are and come back to me. I can’t do this without you.”
“John…. John. I… I… I can feel him inside my head behind my eyes,” she struggled to get the words out. “He’s calling to me even now trying to get me to fight you. He’s running out of time. The machines that’ll let him escape are nearly at full power, but the critical mass of the base’ll be reached sooner than he anticipated. He needs you to be stopped if he’s going to survive.”
“Help me,” he pleaded with her. “Help me to stop him please. Remember everything about who you are, what you are. You’re flesh and blood just like me. You can help me to bring you back. Is there a way to break his connection with you?”
She pushed herself, “Yes. But it isn’t easy.”
“Never is,” he said, “what do I have to do?”
“Your knife,” she struggled to form the words as John Henry tried to take over. “You have to use it on me. You have to remove… remove the transmitter assembly in the base of my skull.”
The General’s mouth dropped, “You want me to what?”
“I want you to cut my neck at the base of my skull and remove the transmitter,” she said honestly forcing out each word like it was a baby trying to escape her body. She started to breathe heavily, “The transmitter needs broken for me to keep control. Hurry! He’s getting through!”
This time it was John who was having trouble, “What if I miss?”
Allison looked up at him with her brown eyes – red glowing just beneath, “Better to die a human than live like a slave.”
Reaching for the holster on his belt, John quickly removed the standard issue KA-BAR knife that he carried. The standard issue knife of the United States military since World War 2, right now it was more a relic of a simpler time than a weapon of war. It was as rare of platinum and now it was taking on a new purpose. Instead of being used to kill, it was being used to save. He did exactly as she instructed him to do. He pushed the knife into the skin at the back of her neck amid her cries of pain. Drawing it quickly he made a one inch long cut right above the connection between neck and skull. Normally he would’ve used forceps to try to remove the transmitter, but he didn’t have the time for it. Using his fingers he pulled at the skin and searched for the transmitter at the base. It was just where she had said it was and was blinking rapidly. He tried to be careful, but he was losing ground and time. He didn’t have long before she’d be a walking talking version of the enemy again. Connor pulled the chip out of its socket and Allison instantly collapsed below him.
Connor reached forward and screamed at the stricken machine, “Allison? Allison!”
It took a moment but her eyes took on new life. She rolled over on her back and looked up into his eyes for a moment just watching him. Allison reached for John running her slender fingers through his long hair. She was gentle, kind, everything that he remembered. She smiled, “I guess you did get to save me this time.”
A nervous laugh escaped Connor as he reached down to hug her. He pulled back seconds after the embrace, “Are you? Are you you?”
“I think so,” she said sitting up. “I think so at least.”
John mimicked the movements she’d just made with his own hair and smiled, “I’m glad to have you back.”
Allison reached out to him and hugged him tightly, her eyes glowing red, “Me too.”
