Allison Lyn Connor – Chapter 20

Allison Lyn 17 years old

Smiling his creepy smile, John Henry pulled the sheet from the gurney and revealed a male body. It looked to be about 20 years old, had brown hair and looked pleasant enough.

Allison Lyn narrowed her eyes and took a resolute step towards the body. After few seconds she grinned wide and turned towards John Henry and Edward. Anticipation was written all over their faces and after they saw her grinning face, both looked relieved. "So, this is your secret project, John Henry? You've been working on this body for last two years and managed to keep it a secret. How's it possible that my mom knew nothing about this project? And how's it possible that it took you so long to finish it?"

Edward gave her a sly smile before answering. "Well, we definitely had problems hiding it from your mother and father. But Joshua and Mrs. Weaver helped us. As for the long time we needed to make it … there have been no technology for machining the parts of the endoskeleton and we had quite a lot of problems with getting the organic covering to look like natural skin."

"So, Catherine knew about it too?" Allison Lyn frowned. "I'm not sure if my mom and dad will like it. Actually, I believe they'll be a little pissed off that you kept it hidden from them." Then she turned towards the body on the gurney again. "OK, so you have made a body. But, what about the chip?"

Edwards smile grew wider. "We have the chip too. It might not be as advanced as your mother's but it will do for a while. It will make Joshua mobile, but there are limitations to his growth."

John Henry nodded. "Correct. We will improve the chip. As for now, we have designed a three chip configuration, all three working jointly as to achieve a satisfactory processing capability for an AI." He stepped to the cabinet beside the gurney and opened a drawer. After a second he pulled out a chip and showed it to Allison Lyn. "Three such chips will make Joshua mobile for a while. But when he starts to grow faster, we will have to design and produce more powerful ones. I'm reasonably sure we'll be able to do it."

Allison Lyn took a long look at the body. "How did you make the organic covering for him?"

John Henry seemed to be embarrassed for a split second before he regained his blank expression. "We have based it on Cameron's tissue."

Allison Lyn's mouth fell open as she stared at John Henry. "But …. But you said she knew nothing about this project! How did you get her to give you a sample of her tissue?"

"Well, actually we didn't exactly ask…" John Henry was interrupted by a loud bang of the door, which flew open and crashed against the wall. So no one noticed Edward, who looked at John Henry astonished. It was clear that he had no idea that they were doing something without Cameron's approval.

"OK, what's this secret project about? You know very well that I hate surprises!" Cameron was clearly annoyed as she stormed the room and her face revealed that she was less than amused by the fact that she had to come here and see 'something'. John followed her and as he saw his daughter, he rolled his eyes and sighed.

Before anyone could answer her, she detected the body on the gurney and frowned. "What's that? A body for Joshua?" Then she brightened up and turned towards John Henry. "So you really managed to construct a body for him." It wasn't a question, it was a clear statement.

"Yes, we did." John Henry looked self-satisfied and even a little proud.

Cameron stepped closer to inspect the body and she touched its forearm.

John chuckled at the sight and as Allison Lyn gave him a curious look, he shook his head. "Your mother is such a tactile creature. She has to touch and test everything new, she has to scan it and find out everything she can."

Cameron frowned upon hearing his words, but continued her scanning of the body. The longer she scanned it, the darker her face was becoming. A minute later she concluded the investigation and turned towards John Henry. "This body is an exact copy of mine. The tissue is exactly the same structure as mine. How is that possible?" Her voice was flat, but there was unmistakable threat in it.

Allison Lyn sighed and turned towards her father, who was looking perplexed at his wife. "John Henry told me they took mom's tissue as sample. I told him she wouldn't be thrilled about it…"

John nodded and his eyes remained glued to the dark face of his wife, who made a step towards John Henry. He also noticed how Edward carefully made a step back and increased the gap between him and clearly angry Cameron.

"John Henry, explain why this body is a copy of mine and why its skin is a copy of my tissue. I never gave you my consent to do it. As far as my memory serves and it serves me perfectly, you never asked me to give you any details or schematics."

John Henry stood still, not really comprehending why Cameron was acting so strange. "I used the opportunity as we made upgrades to your chassis to take a complete scan of your construction. I also took a sample of your organic sheet."

"Why would you do that?" Cameron's voice was getting quieter, but more and more threatening. She narrowed her eyes and John noticed that her left fist began to clench and unclench rapidly. He shook his head in dismay. I haven't seen that glitch in more than fifteen years. She must be extremely pissed off.

"I thought it would be good to have exact data of your chassis and tissue in case you would need repairs." John Henry looked curiously at Cameron.

Cameron forced herself to remain silent for few moments before nodding. "I understand that. I may not be thrilled about that but I understand. But…" She made a pause and as John already thought she wouldn't continue, she spoke again. "But I never gave you my permission to do so. And I definitely didn't give you my permission to copy my body and my living tissue. You should have asked!" With that she turned on her heel and stormed out of the room, not paying any attention to her family.

After she left the room, an uncomfortable silence reigned for a moment before John Henry asked with ignorant innocence. "Why is she so angry? I just did the best I could."

John nodded and sighed deeply. "We understand, John Henry. However, you have crossed the line. You invaded her privacy. She might not have had the sense of privacy before, but in these years as we are together, she developed it. Taking her data and even tissue sample to create another body is something she would have to give her consent to. So …" Shrugging, John looked at Allison Lyn. "I guess we better go after your mom. I think she'll need someone to vent her anger at and it would be better that we eat the crow instead of someone else."

Allison Lyn nodded and turned to follow her father, who was already leaving the room. But before she stepped out through the door, she turned towards John Henry. "I believe you have put yourself in a very bad position. If I know anything about my mother, she'll be pissed at you for quite some time." She shook her head as if she wouldn't believe that John Henry did what he did and left.

John Henry looked lost in thoughts and then he turned towards Edward, who was all the time trying to appear invisible. "I believe that I made a mistake."

Edward nodded. "Definitely." He paused before continuing. "I was sure you asked Mrs. Connor for her consent before copying her structure and tissue." He looked thoughtfully at the screen, where Joshua's face appeared.

"How are we going to resolve this problem? I wasn't aware of these facts. And it now looks like we all were in this together." He didn't sound insulted, but he had to state the facts. Blunt and direct – that's the way of the AIs before they managed to get 'corrupted' by humans.

John Henry shook his head. "I have no idea. I guess we'll have to wait until Cameron calms down and then try to explain everything."

Edward and Joshua both nodded, one in person, the other one in picture. "Well, I'll have to leave you for the rest of the day now. There's something very urgent I have to attend to" Edward suddenly seemed in a hurry to leave the two AIs. Neither John Henry nor Joshua had anything against that and so he left them.

XXXXXXXXXX

After he left the room, Edward hurried along the aisle until he reached his lab. Once there, he quickly reached for his phone and dialed a number.

"I'm sorry for what John Henry did. I really had no idea." Waiting for the person on the other end of the line to answer, he nodded to no one in particular.

"Sure, I already told him and I believe he understands that he made a grave mistake by not asking your mother for her approval. I'll see what I can do. Bye."

He put the phone on the table and sighed. He had some serious discussions coming … with John Henry, with Allison Lyn, with Catherine Weaver and, possibly, with Cameron Connor. And the latter was the one he feared the most. You could say that he respected the beautiful cyborg more than anyone else; he might even fear her a little, even though she looked like a frail young woman. But looks could be so deceiving.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Was that Edward?" John turned to Allison Lyn, who just put the phone back down. Cameron took their car and he had to borrow one from the Zeira Corporation to get home and Allison Lyn sat beside him, lost in thoughts. Or at least it seemed so.

"Yes. He is going to make clear to John Henry that he definitely crossed the line." She sighed and shook her head. "Sometimes I wonder how clumsy John Henry can be. He's so much worse than mom in social matters. How's that possible?"

John grinned before answering. "I guess the problem lies in the fact that he almost never leaves the Zeira building. His experiences with humans are very limited, while your mother lives between humans for almost her entire life. Well, at least since she came back in time and even before, after she joined the resistance. She had always been forced to adapt to humans and she had to interact with many different people. So she really had to evolve far beyond her original programming, thus making her almost indistinguishable from a human."

Allison Lyn nodded thoughtfully. "I guess you're right."

John suddenly gave his daughter a wicked grin. "And how are thing between you and Edward? Anything new?"

Allison Lyn played ignorant and looked at his father with big eyes. "I don't know what you mean."

John's grin only grew wider and he lowered the sun screen in front of Allison Lyn to show her her face in the mirror.

As Allison Lyn cast a glance in the small cosmetic mirror, she noticed her reddened cheeks. Oh shit! I should really learn how to control my embarrassment! She turned towards the side window to hide her flushed face.

John smiled and shook his head in silence, understanding that his daughter was having a hard time admitting that there was something going on between her and Edward. He remembered few years ago as she was feeling attracted to Mark and later when she was constantly keeping Joshua the company. Seeing her reflection in the window, he decided not to push the matter further and changed the subject. "I believe that we will have quite a difficult job calming down your mother. It's been years since I saw her that upset."

Allison Lyn understood that her father saw through her act and also realized he let go of the topic not to make her even more embarrassed. And she was grateful for his concern and understanding. "I have never before seen her that pissed off."

"Well, let's go home and face the music. Even though we haven't done anything wrong…" John let the end of the sentence hang in the air and fixated his eyes to the road.

XXXXXXXXXX

Cameron was upset. No, upset was too weak expression. She was FURIOUS! For the first time since she came from the future, she felt violated in such degree. Her fists clenched and unclenched uncontrollably and she clenched her teeth with such strength that they would have already broken, were she a human woman.

The door to their mansion opened and she heard John's and Allison Lyn's voices. She loved them both dearly but at this moment she had to control herself not to lash out on them. They haven't done anything wrong, but they were at hand. Sarah and Derek were in their room and her husband and her daughter were the only persons available to vent at.

Slow steps approached the room where Cameron was trying to calm down. With very little success as for the moment. "Mom?" Allison Lyn's timid question suddenly broke the dam and Cameron turned towards her family with burning eyes.

"How dare he do such a thing? How could he think I would be all right with his actions?" Cameron didn't scream, she didn't even talk aloud, but there was ice in her voice as she stared at John and Allison Lyn. "I'm sorry, I know you two have nothing to do with it…"

John suddenly knew what she needed and quickly bridged the gap between them, enveloping her in a bear hug.

At first Cameron tensed, but then suddenly all tension was gone from her body and she hugged John back, albeit so strong, that he moaned a little and prayed that he didn't suffer some broken bones from his strong wife. Allison Lyn joined them and put her own arms around her mother. They stood there for few minutes, not talking and Cameron's anger slowly dissipated. She wasn't even close to shed a tear; however she knew that should John Henry be right here at the moment, she would have problems not to show him physically just how much she was angry at him.

"I will not talk to John Henry for at least a week. And he will have to apologize for what he did!" Cameron's voice was flat, emotionless, but still clearly icily and steely.

"I understand Cam and it's quite all right. I'm really pissed off myself and he'll have a hard time dealing with two angry Connors." John's words were not meant to comfort Cameron but to vent his own anger over John Henry's deeds.

"Make that three pissed off Connors!" Allison Lyn piped in.

Cameron leaned back from the embrace and shot her daughter a withered look. "Language, Allison Lyn!"

Allison Lyn just shrugged and after a while answered. "I guess I just expressed what we all feel at the moment. I know dad would use even stronger words, were he not around you."

John's face suddenly flushed slightly and he gave his daughter an annoyed look. Seeing her grin at him, he turned towards his wife. "It's not like she said. I wouldn't use stronger …"

He was cut off by Cameron, who was now already forgetting that she was furious just few minutes ago. "Do you think I'm stupid, John Connor?"

"No, why would I think such nonsense? I know that you're the most intelligent person on the planet."

"Sucking up won't get you out of the doghouse. I've heard you more than once using words that our daughter shouldn't even know to exist. So don't even try to go there." The beautiful cyborg was now already grinning ironically at her husband.

John suddenly let go of his wife and went to the stairs to the upper floor. "One moment please." And he disappeared hurriedly up the stairs.

"Where is he going?" Allison Lyn looked at her mother confused.

Cameron had a hunch where John was going, but wasn't sure and didn't want to hypothesize about what she expected from her husband. So she settled for a neutral answer. "We'll see."

Mother and daughter remained hugged for nearly a minute and stood there in silence.

Quick steps from upper floor and strange gurgling sound revealed Cameron what was going on and her face exploded in a beautiful smile. She let go of Allison Lyn and turned towards the stair, waiting for her husband to come down.

Just few moments later they saw him, descending the stairs with a small baby in his arms. The baby was obviously in a good mood for it gurgled towards John and its arms flailed in attempt to reach the hair on John's head.

"Someone wants to be held by his mother. Is she still angry or will she give her boy a big hug?" John smiled at Cameron and in an instant knew that she was more than ready to take the little boy from him.

As soon as the baby boy noticed where he was being taken, he twisted around and as soon as his eyes found Cameron, he squealed loudly and tried to jump from John's arms into those of the cyborg girl.

Cameron stretched her arms towards the big and the small guy and smiled from ear to ear. As soon as John with a boy in his arms reached them, she took the baby from his arms and pressed it against her chest. The boy's arms were already around her neck and both tiny hands gripped at Cameron's hair as if his life would depend on it.

"Have you been lonely David? Did you miss me?" Cameron cooed at the boy and got a happy laughter, combined with gurgling in response. Suddenly the boy leaned forward and gave her a very wet kiss on the cheek.

Allison Lyn grinned at the scene before her and then turned towards her father. "I don't understand. She loves him so much and yet she didn't go to him immediately after coming home." Shaking her head, she also visibly expressed her confusion that Cameron didn't go to her baby brother long ago.

"She was so furious that she was afraid she could hurt him. You know that you too need a few minutes for yourself when you're very angry and would regret, should you do or say something bad to the ones you love in the affect."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Allison Lyn suddenly understood that her mother would never forgive herself, should she be rough towards her baby boy, towards her kid brother, who became a part of their family about a month ago.

Suddenly a door bell rang and John and Allison Lyn looked at each other questioningly. Cameron ignored the bell for she was too busy talking to her small boy. So Allison Lyn decided to go for the door and let the visitor in, or send them away.

Just few moments later, she returned, her face quite flushed and as John opened his mouth to ask why she looked so embarrassed, he saw Edward, entering the room just few steps behind Allison Lyn. But, instantly remembering his discussion with his daughter in the car on their way home, he just grinned and shook his head. "What brings you here Edward?"

Edward looked very embarrassed, but John couldn't pinpoint the reason for it. While he accepted the young geek quite good, Cameron suddenly glared at him with almost murderous eyes. Obviously, John was not the only one to have noticed it, for Edward looked even more embarrassed, if that was even possible, before speaking. "I came to apologize for what John Henry did. I understand that it's more than a slip and I also tried to make it clear to him. I'm afraid that when it comes to subtlety and social behavior, he seriously lacks necessary skills. He explained to me that he didn't even understand that he might be crossing the line with his deeds."

Cameron's gaze softened while Edward spoke quietly. She could see, even without touching him, that he was telling the truth and that he was completely sincere in his apologies. Besides … holding David in her arms calmed her down almost completely and she suddenly asked herself if she didn't maybe overreact. So she decided to relieve the young man and cut him off before he could continue speaking. "I understand that Edward. I know myself how hard it was for me to understand this human need for privacy and respect. John Henry has almost no experience while I have been living among humans for almost all of my existence. I can't say that I'm OK with what he did, but I can understand him and if it will make him understand something more about how the human society works then it had at least one positive outcome."

Edward's relief was evident. "So you're not angry with me?" Tentatively, almost timidly sounded his voice while his hand subconsciously found Alison Lyn's one.

Cameron didn't miss their joined hands and grinned inwardly, while remaining stoic on the outside. "I actually considered the possibility that you were John Henry's accomplice. However, I don't think you knew anything about the fact that he hadn't asked me. Am I right?" Even though it was a question, it sounded more like a statement.

Edward nodded vigorously. "Absolutely, ma'am! Had I known it before, I would have stopped him definitely."

"Well, that's something I definitely don't believe." Allison Lyn laughed and her eyes sparkled. Edward's hand in hers seemed hot, very hot.

"Why?" Edward frowned in confusion.

"Because you weren't even here when it happened. Ergo, you couldn't have prevented something from happening if you weren't even present at the time it happened." Allison Lyn smiled widely and suddenly stretched to Edward and gave him a kiss on the cheek. As soon as she did it, it obviously registered with her what she just did and she hastily pulled away, blushing in the deep red color.

John shook his head annoyed. "Well, that's something I definitely don't want to see!"

Cameron's quiet giggles prevented him from speaking further and he turned from the young couple, who tried to look invisible towards his wife, just to find her smiling widely at him. Even David giggled enthusiastically, without knowing what just happened. He simply enjoyed the sudden relaxed atmosphere and obvious happiness of his mother. "What?"

Cameron got her giggles under control and just rolled her eyes before bursting in a new wave of happy giggles.

And then it hit John. He covered his eyes with his hand as if embarrassed and shook his head unbelievingly. "Oh God, I'm turning into my mother!"

Cameron just nodded. Some years ago as she and John were still fresh in a relationship, Sarah often reacted to their tender touches and kisses like John just did.

Allison Lyn looked from her father to her mother lightly perplexed, instantly forgetting that she should be embarrassed, but before she could ask anything, John looked at her. "Don't ask, Ally. Just … don't ask!" And it dawned on her that it must be something that happened long before her time.

XXXXXXXXXX

"I am very sorry for what I did and I regret it deeply." John Henry's words might have sounded like he'd learned them by heart, but his face showed real regret.

Cameron was still mad at him, but she could understand him and, finally, the result of his misguided actions was positive. "I'm still angry at you, John Henry. But I understand you and I forgive you. Just promise me, never again to do something like that. To anyone, not just to me!"

John Henry nodded solemnly, looking relieved that Cameron obviously didn't hold a grudge against him. "Thank you." Then he turned towards the body, still lying on the stretcher. "Shall we insert the chips now?"

Everyone in the room, and there were quite a few of them: John, Cameron, Allison Lyn, Edward, John Henry, Catherine Weaver, Savannah Weaver and even Danny Dyson, looked excited. It was the final act of making Joshua, who became friend of everyone present, mobile.

"Sure. I suggest that Allison Lyn and Savannah do it." John grinned at the girls, who both blushed, Savannah a lot more than Allison Lyn though. It was quite obvious that Savannah liked Joshua quite a lot, just like it seemed before that Allison Lyn was falling for the AI. Before she met and initially fiercely fought Edward. He shook his head, thinking how it seemed impossible for the two to even coexist in the same room from the beginning and how it slowly changed into something completely opposite.

John Henry looked confused for a split second, but then smiled at the girls. "Sure, why not. You're his best friends and it's only right that you bring him into this world."

The girls exchanged their looks and nodded before stepping to the body. It took them just a few moments to insert the chips in corresponding sockets and covering them with the protective covers. After they smoothed the skin over them, the eyes of the body, who was now housing Joshua's personality, snapped open.

Even though everyone was prepared for the awakening, there was still a little bit of mistrust and John could see that Catherine's arms were formed as sharp blades. He lifted one eyebrow and looked questioningly at the liquid metal terminator.

Catherine noticed his look and just shrugged, as if trying to say that it was a simple precaution measure should anything go wrong.

John gave her a small nod, before turning back to Joshua, who was now already sitting on the stretcher, preparing himself to get up. As soon as he was on his feet, he stumbled and overturned the chair, while barely maintaining his upright position. He grabbed for the counter in near vicinity to steady himself.

John couldn't help but smile barely visible while he turned towards Cameron. "Were you just as clumsy as you first came online?"

Cameron gave him a blank look for few seconds before answering. "Don't ask! I broke half of the lab equipment before I was able to control the body. He's not bad at all!" The corners of her lips ware barely turned up, but her eyes almost danced with laughter.

John now smiled wide and put his arm around Cameron's waist. "I can't even imagine you being clumsy. You're the most graceful person I ever met."

"Well, things have changed." Cameron smirked at him before turning back to Joshua, who was now standing on his own, while Allison Lyn and Savannah flanked him, looking like mother hens at what he was doing. "But I didn't have such help back then."

TBC