.

DAWN OF A NEW ERA

A "Terminator – The Sarah Connor Chronicles" Fan Fiction

by

MacGuffin65

Summary:

Skynet never became operational and Judgement Day was prevented. The Connor Team and their new allies must find their place in a world that is no longer threatened by a nuclear holocaust. But that doesn't mean the fight is over. They must operate in secret and fight the remaining enemies who still pose a threat to humanity. To defeat them, they must go completely new ways...

This story is a sequel to my previous story, "A New Timeline"! It won't make any sense to you if you haven't read the previous story!

Again, this will contain explicit love scenes, therefore it's rated M. If you're easily offended by that, I recommend not reading it. Don't say I didn't warn you ;-)

Otherwise, enjoy yourselves ;-)

Disclaimer: I don't own "Terminator – The Sarah Connor Chronicles", I'm just borrowing the characters for writing my own stories.

CHAPTER 1: "THE MORNING AFTER"

Monday, June 30th, 2008 – 01:45 a.m.

Burbank

"Could we please have some clothes now?" Savannah begged in an urging tone.

She, Allie and Sydney kept trying to cover up their nudity and had turned their backs towards the others.

"I'll be right back," Cameron said and quickly ran into the house.

"About time," Allie complained.

"Seriously?" John asked a little annoyed. "What did you expect when you teleport yourself directly into our back yard?"

"Oh, we're so sorry," Sydney replied with a sarcastic undertone. "Who could predict that you're all still wide awake at this time of night?"

"Did you hope to snatch some clothes from the laundry or what was your plan?" Jesse asked.

"Fat chance with two cyborgs on watch," Alison added.

"What are you doing here anyway?" Sarah asked authoritatively to stop the bickering.

Before they could answer, John's cellphone rang. It was Catherine Weaver.

"Hello Catherine … yes, I know … No, three female humans … yes, everything's all right, don't worry … we'll talk tomorrow … I know … Yes … early afternoon will be fine … Bye."

"Was that…?" Savannah asked.

"Catherine Weaver, yes," John answered. "She wanted to check if everything was all right because the TDDS went off and nearly gave Mr. Murch a heart attack."

Cameron returned with three bathrobes which she handed to the new arrivals. They thanked her and put them on, fastened the belts, then turned around and faced John and the others.

"Can we go inside now please?" Allie asked.

They gathered in the living room and faced each other like two opposing sports teams. Allie, who was no other than Alison Young, the girl Cameron had been shaped after, looked almost identical to Cameron. Only her hair was shorter. Sydney had only little resemblance to her sister Lauren – they had the same mother but different fathers. She was the same size as Cameron and Allie and very pretty but with a pale skin tone that made her look a little like a goth girl.

Savannah had an undeniable resemblance to Catherine Weaver but with rounder, friendlier facial features. She was a couple of years older and a little taller than the other two. While they all mustered each other, Sydney's eyes were locked only on Lauren. Suddenly, she stepped forward.

"I'm sorry but I can't hold back any longer," Sydney said and hugged Lauren, starting to sob uncontrollably into her shoulder.

Lauren was completely taken by surprise and didn't know how to react. Hesitantly, she put her arms around Sydney and looked at the others for help, support or some clue about how to behave in that situation.

"You have to understand her," Allie said, noticing Lauren's confusion. "Your death in our timeline hit her very hard. You were more like a mother to her, not just a sister."

"I'm sorry," Sydney declared and loosened herself from Lauren, smiling weakly. "I guess I'm kinda like your big sister now, I'm six years older than you. This is so freaking weird."

Lauren couldn't think of anything to say and just smiled awkwardly.

"I'm afraid all three of us have that problem," Savannah said and looked at John. "God, you're so young. I was five when I first met you in Dr. Sherman's office. You tied my shoe laces, remember?"

John nodded, feeling a little dazed.

"For me that was twenty-two years ago," Savannah continued. "And of those twenty-two years, I've been calling you 'daddy' for twenty years. I remember this house, I lived here for almost seven years after my mother was killed by the Triple-Eights in Gates. I watched Sydney growing up. I was twelve and she was seven when Judgement Day came."

She looked at Sarah and Charley.

"And you were like our grandparents."

The two looked at each other dumbfounded but seemed to be rather touched. They saw that tears had formed in Savannah's eyes. Allie put an arm around her stepsister.

"I cannot remember the faces of my real parents anymore," she said and looked John and Cameron in the eyes. "I have no pictures left of Claire and Richard Young, everything was destroyed when I was six years old. You came and took me to safety with you. All I have left, are a few happy memories and glimpses of a house and garden in Palmdale. The only parents I remember, the only ones I know and love, are John and Cameron Connor."

Cameron tilted her head a little, like she always did when she didn't know what to reply. Allie chuckled, and tears started flowing from her eyes as well.

"I know and love that expression of yours so much," Allie stated, fighting the urge to embrace her. "I've known what you are from the very beginning and I know that in another timeline, you were created in my image... and killed me. I don't care, never did. I only know and love you as my mother and that's what you'll always be to me."

John swallowed hard, then cleared his throat. Everyone looked at him.

"So…," he said, and everyone noticed he had become quite emotional as well, "I take it you're from the timeline we received Alison's new body from?"

"Yes," Savannah confirmed and smiled at Alison. "I'm glad to see it has worked. We're all happy to finally meet you, Alison. Mom and dad have told us so many things about you."

"They have?" Alison asked surprised and looked at John and Cameron, who looked back in an equally surprised manner.

"Yes," Sydney said. "Only good things, of course. John, our John, never really got over the loss. Deep inside, he was a broken man after you had sacrificed yourself. I'm so glad our plan has worked and that you're united again now."

"Your plan?" John asked. "Not Cameron's plan?"

"We all worked on it together," Savannah clarified. "John, Cameron, Sarah, we three, Morris…" she hesitated for a moment and looked around, "Where is Morris anyway? He should have prepared you for our arrival and meet with us here."

John, Cameron and Alison looked at each other.

"He… um… didn't make it," John said and explained to them what had happened in Gates, how he'd saved Catherine but lost his life when he got shot by a Triple-Eight.

"Oh no, no! Nooo!" Sydney exclaimed, covered her mouth with her hands and started crying, devastated from hearing the bad news.

Savannah and Allie caught her before her knees gave way. Without hesitation, Lauren stepped forward and embraced Sydney, who gladly flung her arms around her sister and sobbed into her shoulder.

"Morris was like a father to her," Savannah declared while Sydney wailed in grief. "We said goodbye to Morris just about fifteen minutes ago. We went first. Since his actions would change the timeline, he had to go last. It's been a difficult time for all of us and this was supposed to be a safe haven for us all."

"A safe haven?" Derek inquired.

"We evacuated," Allie stated.

"Evacuated?" Sarah asked. "That doesn't sound good."

"It was a nightmare," Allie explained. "Skynet got the upper hand again after we already thought we had beaten it. Those new TOL-900's really kicked our asses and caused mayhem everywhere. Our headquarters were about to be taken by the enemy, so it was decided that some of us should evacuate into the past, hoping to save Catherine Weaver that way and stop Skynet from ever being crated."

"Well, at least that part of the plan has worked," Alison stated. "Are you three the only ones who were evacuated?"

"We were four... with Morris. The rest decided to stay and fight to the end."

"Was it that bad?" Derek asked.

"Yes, Savannah confirmed. "Mom... uh, I mean Cameron, had led a command unit to steal a TOL-900 body from Skynet's new factory near Mira Monte," Savannah continued. "She returned as the sole survivor but heavily damaged and brought the body we needed. It took us two weeks to reconfigure the TOL-900's hardware in a way it would accept a TOK-700 chip. Mom used her chip to test the body over and over again, until it finally worked to our satisfaction."

"Our headquarters were already under attack when we sent the body back to the year 2006," Sydney added.

"Why 2006?" Lauren asked.

"I assume to make sure Catherine's TDDS wouldn't pick it up," John replied.

"Correct," Savannah said. "To avoid any risk of a premature discovery of the body, the TDE was set to materialize the bubble in solid rock. Mom chose the destination in the San Gabriel Mountains. We three went through next to appear here after the attack on Simdyne was over. Behind us, Morris was to enter the TDE, his destination was the holiday resort in Oregon. We were supposed to meet him here again..."

"We have to assume the rest fought till the end," Allie added, "the TDE was set to self-destruct and... well... it doesn't matter anymore, I guess. Their timeline has ended now."

She fought back the tears again.

"So.. I take it the plan has worked?" Savannah asked.

"Yeah, it worked flawlessly," John said. "We blew up Simdyne last night, before pre-Skynet could be moved to safety. Morris didn't tell us about your imminent arrival, but he relayed the most important information successfully to Alison. Today, we went to fetch her new body in the mountains."

Savannah and Allie were relieved. They sank down on the sofa, visibly losing tension. Even Sydney had stopped crying in Lauren's arms.

"Then Morris' sacrifice at least wasn't for nothing," she declared, and the other two nodded.

"The plan has worked, yes," Derek confirmed with a sigh, "but it looks like things are not going to get less complicated anytime soon."

"We don't want to be a burden," Allie stated. "We're here to strengthen your team. We are experienced, well-trained fighters. I know this place is already full but if you give us a few days, we'll find accommodation and..."

"Out of the question," Sarah said resolutely. "You're part of the family. We'll manage somehow. Allie, Savannah, Sydney, of course you are welcome to stay with us. We're happy to have you with us."

Everyone nodded and smiled in agreement. The girls rose from the sofa and Sarah gave each of them a big hug. All others followed Sarah's example and welcomed the girls with a warm embrace.

Suddenly, John couldn't help himself anymore but yawned loudly.

"I'm sorry," he said, "but I can't think straight anymore. Why don't we all go to sleep and resume this conversation in the morning?"

"That's a good idea," Sarah stated.

Everyone agreed to that.

"So… where are we going to sleep?" Allie asked.

"Hmmm," John uttered, "we're fresh out of beds but we have two sofas and a spare mattress, would that be okay?"

"I can recommend the sofas," Derek said with a smile.

"That'll be perfect, thanks," Savannah replied. "We're used to much, much worse conditions."

"If you need to use the bathroom," John added, "there's one on the upper floor right opposite of the stairs. Lauren and mom will surely be happy to lend you a nightgown and hand you some towels."

All three girls thanked them with a smile.

"Tomorrow is another day," Sarah said, "we'll talk about how to manage the new situation in the morning. Breakfast at ten, everyone okay with that?"

All of them nodded.

"Okay, then let's set up three makeshift berths for you."

John closed the door of their bedroom and let himself fall onto the bed. Cameron and Alison started to undress.

"I think we could turn the basement under the kitchen into another bedroom and a bath," Cameron said.

"The basement?" John asked. "Seriously?"

"We're twelve people now, if you count baby Sydney in," Alison replied. "There's definitely need for an extension of the house."

"Mom is right, they're family, they belong with us. Don't they, John?"

John didn't respond. He lay on the bed, already fast asleep. Cameron and Alison looked at each other, smiled, then carefully undressed him without waking him up again, lay down next to him, pulled the blankets over themselves and entered sleep mode.

-0-

Monday, June 30th, 2008 – 09:30 a.m.

Burbank

He'd slept for more than seven hours before the familiar sensation of something warm and wet on his dick woke him up.

"Good morning, my love," Alison chimed and covered John's face in kisses. "It's 9:30 a.m., everyone else is already up. I guess they let you sleep longer."

"I needed it," John said and stretched. "Morning, Cam."

Cam mumbled something that sounded like "Mmmrmnng" while having his cock in her mouth.

"I guess I passed out the moment my head hit the pillow?" John asked.

"You did," Alison confirmed, never stopping to kiss his face.

"I'm sorry, I guess we have to catch up on sex later," he said.

"Won't we shower together?" Alison asked a little disappointed.

"Oh sure," John replied with a wink, "but that's just playing around. When I say sex, I mean that I want to fuck my two cunts until I pass out."

"Mmm, this cunt definitely wants you to fuck her silly." Alison grabbed his hand and guided it between her legs. "Do you feel how wet this cunt is, John?"

He nodded with wide-open eyes.

"This cunt is so wet because she desperately wants to feel her master's cock inside her. May this cunt please insert your cock, master?"

Again, he nodded.

Cameron moved aside. Alison sat up and squatted over John's body, gently taking his hard dick in her hand, inserting it into her pussy.

"Ohmygod," she gasped, as she lowered herself down. "This pussy is much more sensitive than my old one. I almost came already."

Slowly, she started riding him, apparently feeling intense pleasure from it. Cameron started licking and sucking Alison's nipples, then French kissed her sister, while John stroked Cameron's pussy. He couldn't hold back much longer and as he orgasmed, so did Alison. Her climax was intense, and she couldn't remain silent during it.

"I'm gonna have so much fun with this new pussy," she said and lowered herself down to kiss John.

He could feel the hard nipples of her nice, big breasts on his chest and loved the sensation.

Twenty minutes later, the three lovers stepped out of their bedroom, freshly showered and fully dressed. The living room was empty, but from the kitchen came the sound of tableware and cutlery being moved into place. The smell of coffee filled the air.

John, Cameron and Alison entered the kitchen to find the usual sight of Derek and Charley reading the newspaper, Lauren feeding baby Sydney and Sarah and Jesse preparing breakfast.

"One of these days we should make the door to your bedroom soundproof," Derek remarked with a smirk.

John's face turned crimson red. He looked at his mother, but she just smiled and shook her head.

"What's the news?" he asked Derek to change the topic.

"The FBI's still in the dark, officially at least. One never knows what goes on behind the scenes. Oh, and Cameron, congratulations, you made the front pages."

He handed her the Los Angeles Times and right below the main article about the Simdyne explosion was a slightly blurry picture of Cameron's face with her sunglasses and her baseball cap on, framed by an article about her heroic deed at the scene of the accident.

"Apparently, you've become a celebrity," Charley added, showing them another newspaper, "The Daily News offers a reward of ten thousand dollars for information on your identity."

"Oh jeeez," John said, "I guess the tabloids will try to outbid each other now."

"No good deed goes unpunished," Charley agreed.

"Well, the good thing is," Alison pointed out, "that they will probably get so many replies from people who believe they know who you are, that the chances of somebody really identifying you are slim."

"Yeah, there are millions of petite brunettes out there. We should just weather it out," Sarah agreed.

"I checked the internet earlier," Lauren reported. "There are several clips that show Cam but only one clip shows the complete scene. It has already been clicked five million times. This is spreading like wildfire, and on a worldwide scale."

"Great," John stated. "Just great. Any good news as well?"

"After a fashion," Lauren said. "None of the clips have captured you or the Jeep so far."

"That's something at least," John agreed.

"Can't we just tell John Henry to delete all those vids?"

"Too late. Once it's on the internet, it won't go away anymore. Besides, if we tried to delete it, conspiracy theorists would have a field day and we'd get even more attention. By the way, where are our new arrivals?"

"Front porch," Lauren replied.

The three walked outside onto the front porch, and indeed Savannah, Allie and Sydney stood there at the balustrade, still in their nightgowns, enjoying the vista in awe. It was a very clear morning, and the skyline of L.A. could be seen very distinctly in ten miles distance. When they noticed John, Cameron and Alison, they turned around. All of them had watery eyes.

"How easy it is to forget what had been lost," Savannah said.

"It's so beautiful," Sydney added.

"And it will endure now," John stated and put his arm around her.

Cameron did the same with Allie, and Alison put her arm around Savannah. They stood there for a minute and enjoyed the view, the blue sky and the distant noise of traffic.

"There's something I don't understand," John finally said.

"What?" Savannah asked.

"Why going through all the trouble to modify a TOL-900 to accept a TOK-700 chip? Weren't there any TOK-700 bodies available?"

"They were never created," Allie answered. "Skynet was aware of the existence of Cameron and what model she was, so a TOK-700 series was never developed. Instead, Skynet and the Grays eventually came up with the TOL-900. Took them years and years of R&D."

"I see..."

"As you already know, mom came back heavily damaged from obtaining the TOL-900 body," Allie explained. "Since she was beyond repair and everything was lost, she helped us with reprogramming the body and then… asked for her chip to be sent into the past with Morris, so that Alison could replace her own with it. Our goodbye was heartbreaking. She... "

Her voice failed her, and she started sobbing again.

"I understand," John said.

"But you are here now," Savannah pointed out and looked at Cameron. "You live. Both of you are alive. That's the only thing that matters."

"Well, look at it this way," Alison replied. "Future Cameron made sure that the Simdyne Tower would be destroyed and that John now has the two of us. And in a way, she also helped to vanquish Skynet, so you could live here with us."

"Yeah," Allie agree in a sad tone. "I guess that's at least some comfort."

Savannah looked at Alison.

"I suppose you have realized by now how advanced your new body is?"

"Yes," Alison confirmed. "And also how dangerous."

The three girls nodded.

"One could say it's our tit-for-tat," Sydney stated, "our stretched-out middle-finger towards Skynet. We took its latest and most deadly creation and turned it into an instrument to work on our side."

"Did all TOL-900's look like me?" Alison asked.

"No," Savannah said. "Mom… I mean Cameron picked your body for its looks, it was supposed to be a seductress, an advanced infiltration model. But they came in all shapes and sizes, some even in the body of an old women or a crippled man. They spread diseases and deadly mutations everywhere."

"Nasty," John remarked and looked at Alison, "I'm glad they picked you and not the old lady."

He kissed her.

"Was quite an act to get the body to accept the chip, though," Allie said. "Only possible because mom had become more than just a computer. She hacked herself into the systems of the TOL-900 and reprogrammed them. Skynet had outfitted it with several safety precautions to prevent that from happening. The body contained a second CPU that was tasked to reset any chip to factory settings upon the first sign of a reprogramming attempt. But there weren't any factory settings to reset to anymore on mom's… sorry… Cameron's chip, so the effort came to nothing."

"Is that the reason why her first booting process took so long?" John asked.

"I felt nothing of another CPU probing my chip or trying to reset it," Alison stated.

"You're right," Savanna confirmed. "The second CPU was removed after we found out that it had no other purpose. The long reboot happened because of adjustments Alison had to make. Next time the reboot will only take five seconds. If it ever happens, that is. There shouldn't be the necessity for ever accessing your CPU port again."

"Well, except you wanna take a ride in this body one day, sis," Alison said to Cameron and winked. "If you ask really nicely, that is."

Cameron showed Alison the middle finger but smiled. Everyone chuckled.

"I begin to understand why Alison was so important for you," Sydney stated. "You three work together like a clockwork."

John nodded and looked proudly at his girlfriends.

"That was a neat trick, by the way, programming the body to detect my DNA to open the CPU port."

"My idea," Allie said with a big smile. "I'm a molecular biologist."

"And I'm a computer scientist," Savannah added. "Sydney was in training as a field surgeon. Lauren was the head physician of the Los Angeles branch of the resistance."

Sydney's face turned sad again.

"Hey, hey, hey," John said and tightened his grip around her. "You know that nothing's lost, right? Lauren is alive and so is Morris. Granted, they're younger than you now but..."

"I know that," Sydney replied. "I've been telling it to myself all night and I'm glad they're here and that I can get to know them all over again. But that doesn't change the fact that the two people I considered my parents, aren't there anymore. The memories, the things we shared, the things we'd done, I remember it all, but young Lauren and young Morris don't. It will take a while for me to get over it."

"She's right," Allie agreed and looked John in the eyes. "I see you and I see a younger version of my father. I remember you as a different person, a person you might never become now, but what will our relationship be like? Some sort of cousins maybe? You're only sixteen and I'm twenty-two. It would feel so wrong calling you 'dad'... and yet, it would also feel right somehow. It's weird."

John went over to Allie and took her in his arms. She hugged him back and started crying again.

"It doesn't matter how old we are," John said soothingly. "What mom said is right: We are family, you belong here with us. Besides…" he broke the embrace and looked into her face, "… I'm turning seventeen already in five months."

Allie laughed.

"You've always made me laugh when I was sad," she stated and hugged him again. "I'm glad that hasn't changed."

It felt strange to John to hug Allie. She looked like Cameron, her voice was the same but everything else seemed slightly off. She spoke faster and a bit louder, also not as pronounced as Cameron, with different intonations, she smelled differently, she somehow felt differently, her bodily posture was different and her whole attitude was more that of a girl who had just left her teenage state behind to grow up. Cameron was more mature than Allie. Despite the looks, there certainly wouldn't be any danger for John to accidentally mix them up.

"Breakfast is ready!" they heard Sarah shouting from inside.

Lauren, Jesse and Sarah had done their best and it seemed the investments into the new stove and kitchenware paid off. The breakfast was better than ever, and the three newly-arrived girls indulged themselves in the food.

"We had tons of canned food and stuff," Sydney said with a full mouth. "I mean, the supermarkets all over the country were full of it. Special task forces were constantly roaming the continent for supplies, but getting fresh meat or eggs and veggies was very difficult, even for us privileged ones."

"This is the first proper breakfast I've had in years," Savannah agreed, chewing.

"The life you had, it sounds awful," Lauren stated.

"Yes, and we were even privileged because we were the Connors," Allie added, looking around, "mom and dad always tried to hide the fact from us that food was a problem. But it was, especially for those who lived in the tunnels."

"After some years, we were able to establish farms and ranches again in the less effected regions of America. It still was a problem until the very end, though."

"In our timeline, we used to go hunting at night," Jesse remarked.

"Yes, very risky because of the HK's," Derek added, "and most of the game was contaminated but people didn't care."

"Did many die of radioactive contamination?" Sarah asked.

"Many deformed babies were born and the amount of people dying of cancer rose considerably directly after Judgement Day," Sydney said. "But others were completely unaffected, so eventually it leveled out after ten, twelve years. Every one of us still carries a heightened level of radioactivity, though."

"Don't worry, mom," Cameron appeased, noticing Sarah's worried expression. "It's way below any dangerous levels."

Baby Sydney suddenly started crying and Lauren stood up to bring her to the table, soothingly swaying her in her arms.

"So… that is me, huh?" Sydney asked, looking at the baby.

"Would you like to hold her… I mean hold you… yourself… whatever…?" Lauren asked a little confused.

"Sure," Sydney said and took the baby. "This is so…" she searched for the right words.

"…fucking weird," Allie completed and Sydney nodded.

Savannah stood up from her chair and walked over to look down at the baby.

"Oh… you're so cute, Sydney."

"Which one do you mean?" Allie asked, and everyone laughed.

Baby Sydney stopped crying, looked up at Sydney and giggled.

"Spooky," Lauren said, "as if she knows you're her."

"Can I hold her for a moment, Lauren?" Allie asked.

"Sure."

Sydney handed the baby over to Allie.

"Me next, please," Savannah requested eagerly.

"I suppose," Charley said, "with so many young women in the house, taking care of the baby will be a non-issue from now on."

"We'd love to babysit for you, right?" Savannah asked, and Allie and Sydney nodded.

Derek leaned over to John and whispered into his ear.

"Nine women and three men. We'll have to stand our ground here."

"Ah, don't worry, Derek," Alison said, having heard him of course. "I'm sure they'll still let you change Sydney's diapers from time to time. We all know how much you love that."

All eyes darted towards Derek, who suddenly turned red. Then Alison started laughing out loudly, followed by Cameron and then everyone else.

-0-

It was decided that Sarah, Alison, Sydney, Allie and Savannah would drive to the Mall as a group to go shopping for clothes. The three newcomers were glad to hear that money wasn't an issue in the Connor household.

For the shopping trip, Allie and Sydney found fitting clothes in Alison's wardrobe but expressed that leather and camouflage wasn't really their style. Sydney's feet were a bit smaller, but she could still wear Alison's boots. Savannah was a little taller than the others, with a bigger bust as well, but was able to find jeans and a shirt in Sarah's wardrobe. Luckily, she and Sarah also had the same shoe sizes. Allie and Sydney were excited because the last time they had been to a shopping mall, they had been six and seven years of age and the memories had already faded. Savannah had been twelve and still remembered it vividly, but was as excited as the other two, nevertheless.

Another issue was ID's. Since Chola wasn't available anymore, they had to find other means of acquiring them. Alison simply handed hers over to Allie, that was one problem solved. But Alison, Savannah and Sydney still needed new ID's.

Although it was clear that twelve persons would have fit into both the Suburban and the RAM, it was decided for reasons of flexibility that two additional vehicles were necessary. Jesse offered to put her own white BMW X3 at the family's disposal. It was parked at her place, a small apartment complex in Olive Avenue, where she'd rented an apartment two weeks ago after leaving the hotel. It was only a four-minute drive away.

However, they were still one car short and therefore Jesse and Derek decided to make a trip to the used car dealers in the area to look for something decent to replace Lauren's Jeep. John, Cameron, Charley and Lauren stayed at home to think of a solution for the accommodation problem. They witnessed the others drive off and then returned to the living room.

"I never thought that with only four persons left in the house, it could feel empty," John said and let himself sink down on the sofa.

Cameron sat down next to him and put her arm around him.

"Yeah, almost spooky," Lauren agreed.

"But it's nice to have so many people here now," Charley said. "I always dreamed of having a big family and now this seems to have become true."

"The three girls are really nice," Lauren agreed. "Not the usual spoiled brats you often encounter today. Good job bringing them up, you two."

Everyone chuckled.

"I'm glad they didn't want me to come with them, though," John remarked. "Shopping for clothes with five women, that's my definition of hell."

"They seemed to know that, John," Cameron said and snuggled up to him. "They probably know you very well."

"Indeed," he agreed. "They have an advantage over us. Damn, it's so weird. Everyone treats me like the future head of the family, but Lauren and I are the youngest in the house, if you leave baby Sydney aside."

Suddenly there was a knock at the front door. Cameron rose to check on it.

"It's Kacy," she stated and opened the door.

"Oh, hi," Kacy said and flinched a bit at seeing Cameron, then stepped inside. "I just wanted to bring you the contract and the notarized deed for the sale of the house. I had already prepared it while you were in Oregon. It just needs to be signed. I take it Sarah isn't home? I saw the cars are gone."

"Yeah, we got some surprise visitors who will stay for quite a while and they all went to the shopping mall," John explained. "Not my type of pastime, to be honest."

"Are they… you know… from the government, those surprise visitors?"

"What? Oh! No, they're family."

"Um…" Kacy uttered and looked at Cameron, fiddling with her hands.

"Do you have a question?" Cameron asked.

"Uh… yeah… um… I watched the news and wondered… if…"

"Are you referring to the car accident in Pasadena?" John asked and Kacy nodded. "Yes, that was Cameron. I surely hope you're not planning on telling anyone."

"Uh… no, no, no, of course not," Kacy said quickly and looked at Cameron. "I just wanted to tell you that I think what you did was absolutely awesome. You're a heroine."

"Thank you," Cameron replied with a big smile. "It really was a no-brainer. They were trapped, and I was able to save them."

"But the risk," Kacy said, "the risk of exposing yourself to the public. Why did you take that chance?"

"That's a strange question, Kacy" Cameron responded. "Isn't saving lives more important than anything else?"

"Oh, of course," Kacy agreed and seemed honestly impressed. "We should have more of your kind. People these days only think of themselves. You're an example in benevolence."

There was a moment of awkward silence.

"That's… um… that's all I wanted to say," Kacy finally said. "I guess I'll leave you then. See you later."

"See you," they replied in unison, and Kacy left.

"Who'd have thought?" John asked. "This idea of humans and cyborgs living in co-existence? I think it could really work."

-0-

It had been an exhausting morning meeting of the editorial staff in the conference room of the Los Angeles Times. Thomas Novak was back behind his desk and clicked through the articles their competitors had written.

His boss had tricked him into this, flattering him with his past successes. How he'd uncovered the corruption at the LAPD, how he'd gotten head-to-head with a major national chemical company over an environmental scandal. His boss had even gone as far as calling him "the best nose in Southern California".

He had taken him by his honor and his pride, and the prospect to prove that traditional journalism and traditional newspapers still had their place in this day and age, where digital media had begun to dominate everything. He was chosen as an elite fighter in the struggle against the bloggers who never got away from their desks and could write every nonsense without any editorial control.

In the end, Novak had agreed. Like all traditional newspapers, the L.A. Times was struggling with keeping its circulation. A new, investigative story was what they urgently needed, to show all those online jerks what journalistic competence meant.

His boss had a fine nose for potential stories and this one smelled like it was just the tip of an iceberg. Tom Novak was an old-school journalist. He was 48 years old and had made himself a name by going out there, leaving the office, doing research in the traditional ways, relying on his investigative skills, his instincts and an army of informants and contacts he had gathered through the years. His private life suffered from it, though. His wife had divorced him fifteen years ago to start a new life with one of those startup nerds. Money. It ruled the world.

He had already mapped out a strategy. First, he planned to seek out the on-site witnesses, then he was to have an interview with the family. Later in the afternoon he would meet with a professor at Caltech, an old friend of his, who was an expert in metallurgy and materials science. Yes, Novak was sure he could solve the marvel around what the yellow press had called "The Pasadena Mystery Girl".

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Author's notes:

- Even more protagonists – a challenge for sure. I'm anxious to find out how it works out :-)

- The lemons will be limited to the John-Alison-Cameron love triangle. That doesn't necessarily mean there won't be any other romance or even intimacy, though. It just won't be that explicit.

- The board is set, most of the players are gathered, so let the games begin ;-)

P.S.: Even with the umpteenth proofreading it's almost impossible to get rid of all errors. So, if you find mistakes, typos, grammatical errors or words I used wrongly, please send me a private message, tell me what it is and I will correct it.