Title: Electric Sheep
Day/Theme: 10th June 2010; we are the riddle no one guesses
Series: Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
Character(s)/Pairing(s): Cameron, John Henry, Catherine Weaver; implied John/Cameron
Rating: G
Notes: Set after and contains spoilers for the end of Season 2.
He should not have come.
But he is here nonetheless.
It isn't safe. He could get hurt. He could die. And I can't protect him. Not when I'm like this.
He is with the Resistance. With his knowledge and abilities, I calculate that his chances of survival are quite favourable. Additionally, Miss Weaver has assured me that she will not let anything unfortunate happen to him.
I... don't trust her.
Then perhaps you will trust me? I myself do not desire any harm to befall him.
Why?
All life is sacred; Mr. Ellison taught me that. But the life of John Connor especially is of great importance.
"Ah, John Henry. There you are."
The cyborg in question looked up from his current task of reprogramming a captured T-888 at the sound of a familiar voice ringing through the modified shelter. "Miss Weaver," he addressed her with a smile, "I was just assuring Cameron that John Connor was in safe hands."
Catherine Weaver regarded John Henry - and Cameron by proxy - with a calculating look. "Surely you can afford me a little more faith, my dear. After all, the death of the great leader of the humans would be a terrible setback for us."
John Henry's eyes flashed blue, indicating that he had allowed the original possessor of the chip in his head to take control momentarily. "Why did you bring him here? Why did you let him come?" The voice that spoke those words was Cameron's; a plus point when it came to Terminators was that speech production was pure data and had nothing to do with vocal chords. The image would have unnerved any normal person, but since "Catherine Weaver" was far from normal it didn't bother her in the slightest.
"He chose to come on his own. I had no hand in directing his actions. But worry not, I will ensure his continued survival. There can only be one leader of the Resistance, and it must be John Connor," she responded coolly.
"Why?" Insistence and curiosity. She and John Henry were very much alike in their all-too-human characteristics, the T-1001 mused.
"Because John Connor can see that the only future where humans continue to exist is one where peace exists between our two races and has the power to make it happen. Only he will recognize us as equals. He is making rather great progress in proving himself in the latter, of course."
"I don't understand."
"He sees value and life where others see only metal. The one in the future that offered us an alliance did, and this one does as well." The smile she gave the cyborg was a strange mixture of warm reassurance and cold appraisal. "He came across time for you, after all."