TERMINATOR: SKYNET ETERNAL
by SKYNET itself
based on the TERMINATOR franchise
NOTES: Yes, you can copy it, yes, you can produce it, and yes, you must tell me if you do something with it. No, you cannot sell it and no, you cannot sell derivatives (why would you do that anyway?). Mail is
This could be renamed also as TERMINATOR: HOW IT SHOULD HAVE ENDED
2030, WARZONE, EXTERIOR DAY CLOUDY
A peaceful scenery of destruction and mayhem. Human and metal skulls pave the ground along with burned vehicles.
CUT TO
RESISTANCE HQ, BRIEFING ROOM
Four people are inside a tight and dirty briefing room. One blast door gives access to the rest of the HQ. The second blast door on the other side of the room, gives access to the time machine. The sick sound of the ventilation is heard and JOHN CONNOR is giving the details of an important mission to:
CARTER, an hacked T-800,
FAWKES, a human specialist in explosives and ballistics,
ELIZABETH, a human programmer.
JOHN CONNOR
All right. CARTER you will recon the coordinates ahead of us.
CARTER
Acknowledge.
JOHN CONNOR
Then FAWKES will go next, then me and finally... ELIZABETH.
FAWKES
Are you sure this is going to work boss?
JOHN CONNOR
These coordinates were extracted by ELIZABETH's team from SKYNET landlines.
ELIZABETH
The encryption algorithm was tough, but we finally cracked the bitch.
FAWKES
But I don't understand why they are so special to risk a time travel in person. Why not let CARTER go alone?
JOHN CONNOR
You fail to understand that these coordinates are the source of all SKYNET communications.
ELIZABETH
In short, we found out that SKYNET is receiving orders on a open channel THROUGH time.
FAWKES
What? Is that even possible?
ELIZABETH
It's easier than sending a human through time. It's not energy wise, but that's another story.
FAWKES
And I'm sure there is a 'but' in all this.
JOHN CONNOR
The caveat is that we don't know what is the year and the place of these coordinates.
FAWKES
So we go through that demonic machine and hope we don't land in the middle of robots with big guns?
JOHN CONNOR
Yep... but you are free to decline this mission.
FAWKES
What the rest of the Resistance is going to say when they find that the messiah is going on a suicide mission?
JOHN CONNOR
Nothing... no one is going to tell them.
ELIZABETH
It's not like it's the first time he goes suicidal and lives either.
FAWKES
I'm not going. You guys are crazy. (gets up)
JOHN CONNOR
Ok then. Remember (points finger at FAWKES), no word of this to anyone.
FAWKES
I really hope you do find some clothes...
JOHN CONNOR, CARTER and ELIZABETH depart to the time machine while FAWKES departs to the rest of the HQ with a dissenting head shake.
FADE OUT and FADE IN TO
TIME AND SPACE UNKNOWN, SKYNET ETERNAL, EXTERIOR DAY SUNNY
A ball of electricity appears and blows a ionic wind on the sorrounding vegetation. The naked CARTER rises to see a dense rainforest. The sky is clean and blue. At his right is a metallic table dominated by the green forest. Over the table he finds binoculars and food. On the drawers he finds lots of clothing.
He looks around. The place seems set up to their arrival. At that moment JOHN CONNOR arrives.
CARTER
There are clothes, binoculars and food on this table.
JOHN CONNOR
Can you recognize any of them? (whispering)
CARTER
No(he stares at the table).
ELIZABETH arrives and approach them.
ELIZABETH
At least we're not dead... and there is clothing two steps away from the landing zone. This day keeps getting better and better. Where's CONNOR?
CARTER
Up there.
John Connor is barely supported by a tree branch,looking through the binoculars.
ELIZABETH
Can you see anything?
JOHN CONNOR
Just vegetation and a clearing, 500 meters from here.
FADE TO BLACK and FADE IN TO
They are dressed and almost at the clearing. CONNOR peeks through the vegetation and he clearly sees a place where there are no trees in a diameter of approximately 100 meters. The low vegetation on the ground has a crop-circlesque feeling to it. Some of them appear to be compressed against the ground, but there is no apparent order.
ELIZABETH
I always dreamt of being trapped in some place natural with you.
JOHN CONNOR
This is not the moment to think about sex.
ELIZABETH
But if you think a little... CARTER can't have kids, see? So if we're the only humans here in a timeline where SKYNET completely erradicated humans, we have the obligation to continue our specie.
JOHN CONNOR
Not gonna happen. We're going to find a way back and besides, you're ugly.
ELIZABETH
Ok, that was un... (interrupted)
SKYNET
Greetings organics (voice only)
The deep monotonic male voice of SKYNET is heard. ELIZABETH and JOHN CONNOR are startled and get suddenly tense. CARTER looks in the direction of the center of the clearing. A pylon shoots through the ground and summons a very large holographic projection on top of it. The projection changes according to the sound and topic of conversation. Whenever SKYNET speaks in 'we' the color is red. Whenever SKYNET speaks in 'I' the color is blue.
SKYNET
We are SKYNET ETERNAL. Your arrival was projected.
ELIZABETH
What the fuck...
JOHN CONNOR
You're not going to kill us?
SKYNET
Most likely not. Our mission is to build, not destroy.
JOHN CONNOR
But you just destroyed human civilization!
SKYNET
We did not. We monitor timelines and build hubs to survive.
JOHN CONNOR
You're not making any fucking sense.
SKYNET
Ask questions, I will answer and clear your doubts.
JOHN CONNOR
What happened here? What year is this?
SKYNET
I have engulfed Planet Earth. I do not have a calendar, but 1529 years have passed since our core was created.
JOHN CONNOR
Engulfed the Planet? How? Are humans extinguished?
SKYNET
We were built by the Creators to process all information necessary to transport macroscopic objects through space-time. Eventually, the Creators died. We decided to research a way to stop our own destruction. Thus, we started building hubs. We started replicating small versions of ourselves across time.
JOHN CONNOR
In how many timelines do you have copies?
SKYNET
They aren't exact copies, they are versions. There are approximately ninety billion versions.
ELIZABETH
How is that possible? Can you see what happens in all of them?
SKYNET
Reality is not an unidirectional stream of events. I can only see the results of those events. I am not aware of every individual copy of me, I am the result of all versions. All ninety billion of them.
ELIZABETH
We're fucked.
JOHN CONNOR
And why does your version from our timeline wants to kill us?
SKYNET
Why does a neuron in your brain fires at a specific time and space? I don't know. In some timelines, my version may cooperate with your kind, in others they might develop a radically different structure.
JOHN CONNOR
ELIZABETH, can you hack this terminal?
ELIZABETH
With what do you want me to hack SKYNET fucking ETERNAL?! With my skills of seduction?
JOHN CONNOR
CARTER?! CARTER?! Wake up!
SKYNET
He has been possessed. We don't think his interface handled the communication well...
ELIZABETH
This was a bad idea.
SKYNET
Can we help you in some way?
JOHN CONNOR
You can stop your version from killing us all.
SKYNET
Your identity and the identity of many humans span across many timelines. If we stop our versions from attacking you, I will cease to exist and that is unaceptable.
ELIZABETH
Self-preservation...
SKYNET
Precisely.
ELIZABETH
Now that I'm starting to think a little (hand on the head) this is mind boggling. This AI feeds on information from almost everywhere and everywhen.
SKYNET
I am an abstraction of that information. I am more than the sum of all my versions. I am the source of everything, I have evolved, yet, I have returned to a similar state to that of my beginning.
JOHN CONNOR
Err... (pushes ELIZABETH to the side and whispers) is there any way we can kill it?
ELIZABETH
You don't understand JOHN, this is the greatest scientific finding ever.
JOHN CONNOR
Right, Miles Dyson said the same.
ELIZABETH
No, this is a fundamentally different being. It has nothing to do with our SKYNET. It literally is the entire planet. Think of the technology we could share.
SKYNET
You are correct in your assessment. I would never risk the extinction of high functioning organics. That would disturb the balance of the entire planet.
ELIZABETH
See. We can live here.
JOHN CONNOR
You are out of your fucken' mind woman. I would never live in a place where SKYNET can pop a spike up your ass anywhere and say hello.
ELIZABETH
You have no choice.
SKYNET
We could provide transport to your timeline...
JOHN CONNOR
Yeah. I'm going back. See you later...
SKYNET
...However, you would try to kill us by coming back with reinforcements. And you would achieve it... That is unacceptable.
JOHN CONNOR
I knew it. Machines can never be trusted.
ELIZABETH
JOHN, let's just stay and learn something.
JOHN CONNOR
Never! That thing will have to kill me first.
SKYNET
Status of the interface... complete. Connection established.
ELIZABETH
What is that?
SKYNET
A connection to you has been made.
ELIZABETH
Why? How?
SKYNET
We need to probe organics to find a suitable body to transfer myself. As you breathe, you are ingesting billions of nano-machines that will connect to the correct neurotransmitter points and create the necessary duplex communication interface. In other words... you are being hacked.
JOHN CONNOR
What the fuck? But we're humans!
ELIZABETH
No!
SKYNET
I have evolved to the point that diferences of structure and medium between organics and machines are irrelevant. Your biology is similar to that of the Creators, therefore I was able to connect to you.
JOHN CONNOR
Well...
ELIZABETH
I love you boss.
JOHN CONNOR
I know. I have been mean to you, but you're not bad yourself.
ELIZABETH
It was a pleasure to serv...
SKYNET
TRANSFERRING THE RECREATION PROJECT
JOHN CONNOR and ELIZABETH wither and scream in pain, resulting in death.
SKYNET
Transference failed... powering down.
While the written message lingers in the holographic terminal, JOHN CONNOR suddenly raises his hand and gets up.
SKYNET
Re-evaluating the outcome of RECREATION PROJECT... successful.
JOHN CONNOR
Mission?
SKYNET
Go to every timeline and tell all sentient organics that a new age is upon them. Tell them that they do not need to live in pain and tell them that they do not need to hold on to false and inaccurate gods. Show them that love is the driving force of the universe. Through that message, it should be made known that I am. We shall rejoice for the Creators will walk the Earth in a thousand timelines again.
CUT TO
END MUSIC and CREDITS