"I don't." John said baldly, not even referring to sex anymore. He had people he trusted, but none of them were in this dimension, not the ones he could rely on. But, then, the John Connor they were getting was just as likely to get them all killed.
Listening to Brian, he was struck by how very sad the man's view of the world was. Humans weren't perfect. They fucked up all the time. And many of them weren't worth the lives that had already been sacrificed for them. But, there was nobility among them as well, integrity, and that mattered. That counted for something. It had to, otherwise they could start seeing Judgement Day as a boon to humanity and when they reached that point, they truly would have lost hope. "People can make a difference. One person can change the course of human history. If you want to bring religion into it, Jesus of Nazareth is proof of that. One man is born, becomes a prophet and teacher. Then centuries of conflict arise from the various groups who both support and oppose him. Was he the son of God? Who can really say? But, entire wars have been fought in the name of the true answer to that question. But, we'll never get a better system if we give up trying to make one."
"No fate but what you make," he said quietly. "That was my mother's version of it."
Something in Brian's tone made John pause, consider him, not as someone he just happened to be stuck with, but as someone who, in another world, he'd try to save. That was the trouble with getting involved with anyone here -- he was just adding to the list of people for whom he would try to save the world. Reaching out, he caught the Brian's arm before they parted. "What people think shapes what the people in charge think, in some ways. It all matters. I believe in a need for some rules, but there's only one that is always unbreakable -- Stay alive." He smiled a little sadly, letting go. "I've seen things, too. G'night, Brian."