Disclaimer: I make no claim to the plots, materials, characters, and premises of the Terminator franchise nor of Stranger Things. Mitch and CJ are OCs; but this work may end up making references to brands I do not own, and to shows not on the public domain, like Full House, or Trollhunters.

A/N: This is a first work here in FFN. Since I saw it hasn't been tried before, and everyone I pitched it to expressed no interest in doing it. I decided to go ahead and do it myself. Please be kind as I'm doing this to refine my writing style before I proceed to make original work. Constructive criticism and comments will be greatly appreciated.

This is als a prologue chapter to gauge interest in this kind of story. I'll write the rest once I know enough people are interested in it to be worth giving up the rest of my Christmas break. Thanks for reading. I'll be preparing the next chapter for upload soon.

You will probably spot A TON of typos here and then. I apologize as I am one handed, which leads to a lot of those unfortunately. Those of us with disabilities have to make do the best as we can.

November 6, 2023

Time is an interconnected series of strings. Tugging one string will pull the two endpoints it is attached to; tugging another will do the same. It used to be that past was past. We in the present had no way of undoing strings tied by past events. The invention of the time machine in 2033 changed all this. A sudden rush to the past happened as people rushed to undo their regrets, and get their second chances.

At first, this was harmless; history hardly cared if you changed your major to computer science, or invested early in Google stock after changed a month ago hen a massive "timequake" was detected. Not long after, hordes of super powered individuals quickly overthrew governments across Europe and the Americas. Apparently, somebody had found that crucial string whose unraveling caused a large section of the web to collapse and tugged hard at it, pulling the entire future own with it. One moment, modern civilization was peacefully humming along; the next it was being overrun by thousands of otherworly monsters quickly identified as 'demogorgons and 'demodogs.' With these creatures seemingly impossible to kill; and militaries ill-equipped to deall with them, much of the world quickly succumbed to the onslaught. Big cities like London, New York, and Chicago fell; as did dmaller cities like Indianapolis, Gary, and Des Moines. Frim fallen regions emerrged hyman soldiers seemingly controlled by a hive mind. With the Battle for Earth quickly turning south. humanity's last hope gathered in a small pocket in Northern Indiana where the last time machine still in human control could be found. As soldiers rushed to delay the oncoming onslaught for as long as possible, calculations pointed that the source of the "timequake" was November 1983, near the edge of the 50 years that safe time travel was supposedly possible. A theory was quickly agreed upon experts and an expedition, humanity's last desperate hope, the expedition was quickly being outfitted.

The quartermaster was busy preparing a visibly unhappy Michelle.

"Take this pill; it will provide you with time protection in 1983" the quartermaster said.

"Why would I need it?" The nervous raven-haired, 12-year old asked.

"Because even the smallest change in 1983 in close proximity to your would-be parents can result in some consequences for your health. Think of it as the biological version of the big protection generators protecting this facility from the aftereffects of time manipulation. Simply put, if the Mind Flayer's agents kill anyone in 1983, you might feel the aftershocks or even disintegrate. This pill will keep you aware of your mission, protect you from time manipulation, and should last the one week necessary to complete your mission in 1983."

"Wait! One week? Why would it take so long?" A second girl asked. CJ was Michelle's cousin. She was about 14-years old, with shoulder-length, brown hair."Mitch, you promised me all we need to do is make sure the most critical series of meet cutes in history happen then everything is peachy; now, I find out it's gonna take a darned week? I ain't got time to spend a week shipping people!"

The quartermaster answered. "Well, Carrie Joy, it's actually two things: first you have to set them up; then you have to keep them alive for as long as history needs them to be to maintain its assumption here is that the Mind Flayer now knows how big a threat Eleven will become to it the moment she meets Mike; and it will keep coming until it neutralizes this threat."

"Fair enough." CJ conceded." But why are you sending a bunch of middle-scholars born four decades after the eighties; and who have never known a world before the Internet to undertake such a critical mission in the 80s? I mean I don't know what either of us will do without Netflix for a week"

The quartermaster was silent for a moment exchanging glances with Michelle, who promptly took over the job of explaining. " I hate to break this to you, Ceej; but it's more like no Internet for a decade, then no Netflix for two. We don't exactly have a return plan so this is more of a one-way trip."

CJ took a moment to reflect on this; then promptly exploded on her cousin. "WHAT THE HELL, MITCH? YOU'RE TELLING ME MY LIFE IN THE 2030S IS OVER IN EXCHANGE FOR A BARBARIC 20TH CENTURY EXISTENCE?"

"Well, you agreed." Mitch calmly responded.

"UNDER FALSE PRETENCES!" CJ countered.

"I asked you if you wanted to go to the past to save Mike and Eleven. You said yes before I even finished that sentence. Not my fault you got the wrong impression." Michelle said.

"NOWHERE IN THAT FREAKING SENTENCE DID YOU MENTION IT WAS A ONE WAY TRIP!" CJ screamed back. "BESIDES. WHY SHOULD IT BE ME?"

"You've been obsessed with the late 20th century ever since youfirst watched that darned Netflix documentary Stranger one knows more about Hawkins and Mileven than you do. I'm gonna need you to survive back then if we do this. Besides, I doubt Netflix is going to release a new season of Troll Hunters any time soon if we screw this up." Michelle said.

The quartermaster added to this explanation "There aren't exactly a lot of alternative to you two. Mitch is the only one with combat capabilities without 21st century technology; and you're the only one who knows 20th century well enough to help her back in 1983. The Mind Flayer has practically eradicated almost everyone outside our pocket; and, while not ideal, you two are the best we have available. All our grizzled soldiers are already fully committed fighting off the demodog hordes outside this facility."

"Demodogs. Pfft. that's a stupid name." CJ said.

"HEY! Watch it! It makes sense." The quartermaster said.

"One last thing." CJ interrupted. "Why go all the way back to1983 when we can just go a few months ago to uninvent the time machine?"

"If we use the Time Machine to prevent the invention of the Time Machine, we create a time paradox. Those are unpredictable but the effects should be similar to this time quake we're trying to prevent." The quartermaster said." Good luck out there! We're all counting on both of you."

Mitch carefully led CJ to the time machine. If anything, this mission was not just about saving the world; it was also about preserving both of their existences. This was not her first rodeo; she knew Time travel sucked. There was the nausea, the disorientation, and the part where you arrive with no clothes on. On top of that, there was the weight that went with knowing the fate of the whole world rested on their shoulders. They were humanity's last gasp. Mitch heaved a sigh, asked herself what her father would do, before a voice inside her assured her he would totes be fine with making the sacrifices she was about to make.

One moment she was in 2033; the next, she was in 1983. Now, it was time to get to work.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed this. Don't worry if it feels incomplete. I plan on filling in the gaps as I write more chapters. In the next chapter, our heroes will be meeting Joyce because what kind of Stranger Things time travel story would it be without starting with The Vanishing of Will Byers?

Tell me what questions you'd like succeeding chapters to answer; or if you want more chapters. I'll be writing as much as I can unti early January then upload pre-written chapters on a schedule after that. Speculation is welcome in the comments.