No other guy in the world was this lucky, John thought as he lay there with Cameron. It had become a daily ritual for them; Cameron would sneak into John’s room half an hour before Sarah awoke and they would just lay there, silently exchanging kisses, with Sarah none the wiser. John could think of no better way to start his mornings, especially on a school day. He ran his fingers through her soft brown hair and smiled; she was his, forever devoted to him, and him alone. John would do anything for Cameron, all she need do was ask, but she never did, so he had to guess what she wanted. He knew this would be how it would always be, and nothing could change that.

As their lips pressed together once more, the alarm on John’s clock went off, signalling the end of their bliss. Cameron reluctantly pulled herself away from him and, after one final kiss, crept back into her room. Little did they know that Sarah had cottoned onto their scheme, and was already coming up with a plan to stop it. For now though, Sarah had to direct her attention to the morning paper, which told of a murder in the dregs of the city and reports of a lightning storm in the area.

She stood in the kitchen, absent-mindedly preparing John’s lunch while reading the article. John came in and made himself a bowl of cereal, an expression of contentment on his tired face. Sarah could guess why this was, and had to remind herself of the compromise she’d chosen in relation to them two. As John tucked into his breakfast, Sarah dropped the paper on the table in front of him.

“What?”

“Look at the headline.”

John read the paper, which declared: YOUTH FOUND MURDERED. John looked up at Sarah with a slightly confused expression.

“And? There isn’t a day that goes by when there isn’t some poor kid getting killed. Why is this one any different?”

“The way he died. Somebody punched through his ribcage and pulled out his heart.”

“Mom, I’m eating here.”

“Don’t you think that’s a bit odd? Someone managing to drive a fist into a person’s chest?”

John put his spoon down, realising what Sarah was getting at, but it didn’t make a lot of sense.

“Not every terrible thing is the work of a Terminator. It was probably a bunch of voodoo cultists looking to add another heart to their psychedelic rituals.”

“Witnesses report a brief lightning storm in the area, and the boy was stripped of his clothes. Sound familiar?”

John sighed and carried his bowl over to the sink just as Cameron entered.

“Well when you put it like that. Hey Cam, Mom thinks we got a new visitor.”

Cameron looked around the kitchen, looking for someone who wasn’t there.

“Is this new visitor imaginary?”

John laughed and placed his bowl on the drainer, Sarah just shook her head and handed Cameron the paper.

“You’re playing hooky. I want you to investigate, find out if one of them came through.”

John looked put out; he’d obviously been looking forward to going to school with Cameron.

“What are you gonna tell the school? She’s already missed several days this past month.”

Cameron finished reading the paper and turned to John.

“It won’t take me long to complete my mission, I should be able to join you by lunch time.”

John looked hopefully at Sarah, who sighed; she really wanted to induce some separation anxiety between them.

“I’ll tell them you have a migraine and that you should be alright by 1:00pm. That’s your deadline, Tin-Miss.”

“I’ll get right on it.”

Cameron put the paper down and headed for door, stopping to kiss John on the cheek, which made Sarah’s stress vein twitch. At least she’s being discreet.

--

Topography matched… Location confirmed… Mission: Investigate any and all signs of Skynet activity…

Cameron pulled away the crime scene tape and entered the building; an immediate scan confirmed the presence of a time sphere. Sarah’s suspicions were correct; someone had come through, but from which side? Cameron had read the article carefully; the victim was killed by a blunt penetration to the chest, his heart was then removed. Cameron thought this odd behaviour for a Terminator, there are many ways to kill a human, but removing an organ seemed rather inefficient, not to mention messy.

Cameron performed a scan of the surrounding atmosphere; time travellers gave off a low-level radiation that lingers for a few hours. Unfortunately, the air had been corrupted by multiple contributors, the most prominent being human sweat. The trail of radiation had dissipated, removing any possibility for a trace.

Cameron returned to the outside and analysed what she had learned: someone, most likely a Terminator, had arrived here and killed the youth, stole his clothes and fled the scene. Standard practise for any infiltrator, except for the heart removal, that wasn’t typical behaviour. Then something clicked:

Stole the youth’s clothes… Processing… Victim was approx. 17 years of age… Standard height of said age would not encompass the diameter of any adult infiltrator model… Model must be of adolescent design… No known adolescent models other than myself exist… All evidence suggests that a new model was been sent back…

This was troubling, and not the least bit insulting. Cameron felt wholly unique in her petite design and did not relish the idea that another may be walking around with a similar build.

Odd… It seems I am experiencing outrage as a result of personal pride… Interesting…

--

“…and you’re sure it’s one of them...? Right, good work, now get to school before John wets himself… I heard that, metal-head.”

Sarah hung up on Cameron and immediately dialled a different number. After a few seconds of ringing, a familiar voice on the other side said “hello”.

“Hi, Jason, it’s Sarah. I’ve got a favour to ask…”

--

The bell rang out, signalling the end of lunch and the start of John’s last lesson. He gathered his books and headed for class, but was waylaid by Chloe, who greeted him with that intoxicating smile of hers.

“Hey, John, it’s nice to bump into you again. So, have you thought about my invitation?”

“Invitation?”

“Yeah, you know, to the party tonight. Please say you’re going, it’d be ever so dull if you don’t.”

Chloe batted her eyelashes and tilted her head slightly. Sort of like Cameron does, John observed, speaking of Cameron…

“Uh, I don’t know. I’ve got a lot of work to get through and…”

Chloe’s face dropped, she seemed to go from overjoyed to depressed in an instant.

“…I guess I can put it off tonight.”

John mentally kicked himself for his cowardice. Chloe’s face lit up like a Christmas tree and she grinned even wider, her hair even seemed to glow.

“Brilliant, be sure to bring your sister along if you like. I can’t wait to see you tonight, bye.”

“Bye.”

She strolled off, gleeful to say the least, leaving a defeated John in her wake.

What would Cameron say?

--

Cameron could’ve kicked him for his stupidity. How can the future leader of mankind be so gullible?

She stood there, watching them talk from a distance. John was just about to tell the siren where to go, when he suddenly cracked under her pout, and agreed to attend her party. Cameron watched as Chloe skipped away from John and joined her gaggle of cackling friends. The group passed Cameron’s hiding place and she managed to catch a snippet of the conversation.

“Just watch, girls. I’ll have him in my bed by the morning.”

Cameron was incredulous; this girl intended to seduce John to the fullest extent. This made her a very real threat… not just to John, but to herself too. Something switched in Cameron’s mind and she found herself following the girl, her fists ready to kill and maim. Before she could act, however, she heard John call her name, which snapped her out of her murderous pursuit.

“Cam, there you are. Come on, we’re late for class.”

Cameron looked into his eyes and wondered whether or not to warn him of the girl’s intentions, but ultimately decided to keep quiet, and swore to keep a close eye on him during the party. They walked to their lesson, which ironically, was about predatory courtship and placed heavy emphasis on the Black Widow spider. Cameron found over sixty similarities between the arachnid and Chloe, and was more than a little disturbed when they watched a video that showed a Praying Mantis eating its mate after copulating.

Cameron swore not to let that bleached bimbo devour her John.

--

Sarah scan-read a dozen files, looking for something she might’ve overlooked. She came upon Andy Goode’s file and stopped, a wave of regret washing over her. Poor Andy, you didn’t deserve to get mixed up in all of this… Sarah put the file down and noticed as a small slip of paper fell onto the floor. She picked it up and read the little note it contained:

Hey Bobby,
Thanks for your help with getting Turk running, I was pulling out handfuls of my hair trying to figure out what was wrong, I’d be bald if it wasn’t for you. You’ve got quite the talent for computers; maybe you should look into designing software of your own some day. Anyway, I’ve got to get to work setting up the learning systems (BTW, I found a guy who’s a genius chess player, calls himself Dmitri Shipkov).

Thanks again,
Andy

Sarah read the letter through a dozen times, committing it to memory. She then took note of the address on the top. This man, Bobby, was connected to the Turk. He might have something to do with Skynet. Sarah just hoped she’d get to him before someone else did.

--

It had taken quite a lot of convincing to get Sarah to let them go to this party. It was only when John mentioned Chloe that Sarah finally relented, possibly under the hope that he would find a proper girlfriend. Cameron parked the car alongside the other attendees and looked at John for a moment before getting out. The party was held in a woodland area, just off the main road. There were dozens of fellow students, all partying around a large fire, a car with loud speakers spewing forth music. John instantly regretted his decision to attend.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

He turned to Cameron, expecting to see a similar expression of disappointment, and was surprised to see a look of genuine interest on her illuminated features. She was enraptured by the scene. John found himself repeating his last statement, this time to Cameron directly. She dragged her eyes from the fire and looked quizzically at John.

“Is there something wrong?”

“I was just wondering what is so fascinating about this sorry excuse for a party.”

Cameron’s gaze returned to the fire, her eyes glowing blue for a brief moment.

“I’ve never seen this type of social gathering before. It’s… intriguing.”

John shook his head in disbelief.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

--

Cameron had been so entranced by the activities of the students that she didn’t even notice when John was accosted by Chloe.

“Hey, John, great party, huh?”

“Err, yeah, it’s totally wild. Never been to one like it.”

And never will again, he thought. Chloe placed her arms behind her back and rocked from side to side, as if expecting something. Eventually, she spoke.

“Hey, d’you wanna take a walk?”

John considered her request. On one hand; Cameron would kill him. On the other; she was the reason he was dying of boredom. So he decided to accept and walked with Chloe into the woods, away from the racket of the party. They came to a stop in a small glade and Chloe leaned against a tree, biting her lip playfully.

“So, uh, John, have you ever had a girlfriend?”

John’s heart skipped a beat, did he hear her right? He didn’t like where this was going.

“Uh, yeah, in fact I have one at the moment.”

“Oh, who? Have I met her before?”

John scratched the back of his head, searching for a response.

“I don’t think so; she goes to a different school.”

“Oh, I see, so I would never meet her. Very convenient.”

She giggled and took a few steps towards him.

“Come on, John. You think that old line will work on me. I know you’re not going out with anyone.”

John was starting to feel very uncomfortable. He wanted to leave, but his feet seemed to be glued to the spot. Chloe drew closer.

“I mean, it’s pretty obvious. The only girl I’ve seen you pay any attention is your sister.”

John gulped, fearing the worst.

“Cameron?”

Chloe took another step towards him. She was too close.

“Yeah, you guys are tight, and that’s good. I never had any siblings, so I don’t know what it’s like to care for another.”

She was now close enough for John to count every freckle on her face.

“But I’d like to find out.”

Then she was upon him, and his entire mind went blank. He wasn’t fully aware of what was happening, and couldn’t quite grasp the fact that her lips were on his. He was drowning in confusion.

--

Cameron froze. Her entire body locked in one position. Her visual receptors were showing her the impossible: John was kissing another girl. A mixture of emotions coursed through her as she analysed a list of possible responses, finally choosing the most direct reaction. Cameron strode towards the couple and grabbed the girl with and iron grip. She cried out in pain as Cameron squeezed her arm, dragging her away from John.

“Cameron, stop! Let her go, please.”

But Cameron had become deaf to his pleas. She pushed the girl away from him. Chloe staggered backwards, catching her foot on a root and falling down the hill. She screamed as she rolled downwards, finally colliding with a broken tree stump. John carefully made his way down to her.

“Chloe, are you okay? Chloe talk to me.”

John rolled her over and was horrified to see a piece of branch protruding from her head. Her eyes were distant and her face blank. John crept away, his whole body shaking.

“Oh, God, oh my God, what have you done? What have you done?”

Cameron stared at the dead girl with wide eyes. It hadn’t been her intention to kill her. This was a freak accident, surely John will see this, she thought. But John was hardly in any state to see reason; he staggered to his feet, his hand covering his mouth. Suddenly, without warning, John threw up in a nearby bush. Cameron approached him and placed a hand on his shoulder, but he recoiled from her touch.

“Get off of me! Don’t you touch me!”

“John I-…”

“Don’t you ever come near me again!”

John’s face was set with disgust and rage the likes of which Cameron had never seen before. And then it hit her. The blonde girl; she brought back memories of Jordan Cowan, and Morris, and the way she died; Jessica Peck, one of Vick’s victims. She drew closer to John and placed her hands on his shoulders, ready to give him a comforting hug, but he tore himself from her arms.

“Stay the hell away from me! You’re sick! Derek was right; you don’t even care about her do you?”

Cameron was becoming very upset by his behaviour, he’d never been this angry with her before.

“I care about you.”

John laughed manically and placed his hand on his head. He glanced at Chloe’s body and closed his eyes tight, pacing back and forth as he spoke.

“You don’t care about me. You can’t, you’re just a machine. You don’t care about me, her, or anybody.”

Cameron felt her eyes brimming with tears.

“But I do… I love you.”

John stopped pacing and opened his eyes; they had darkened, as if something in him had died.

“You don’t know what love is.”

And with that, he scrambled back up the hill and drove as far away from Cameron as he could.

Cameron dropped to her knees next to the body and cried without restraint. Everything had gone so wrong. John hated her. Was disgusted with her. He might never forgive her.

“What do I do? What do I do?”

Chloe gave no answer, and nothing in her databanks could console her. She was alone.


Next: Chapter Three: Devil on His Shoulder
Previous: Chapter One: Intrusion