How to Win a War.
"You will never win this way." the man that was really a thing says as it pinned her to the wall.
Not so easily beaten, Sarah replies "I will destroy Skynet! I will stop Judgment Day!" Her confidence is clear despite the reality that her getting out of this alley alive looks unlikely.
"No, you never will. How may people have you killed? How many installations have you blown up? Judgment Day still happens. Skynet is still born. These events will always happen. They can't be stopped no matter what you do. You should change tactics." it replies as it releases her after having relieved her of her shotgun.
Rubbing her chest where it pinned her, she wonders what this thing is talking about. Despite her survival instincts telling her to run, she decides to ask "How?" It is not like she can out run this thing as it already chased her down once anyway. Take what the enemy gives you and use it against them. Right now she needs time so she will take all she can from this thing.
"I can show you but it will hurt." is the reply.
Sarah does her half laugh before she replies "What in life doesn't?"
Smiling which seems oddly inhuman on this things human frame it comments "As you wish." It drives its fingers into her skull in a moment of pain which the word intense falls far short of explaining. The pain recedes a moment later and Sarah finds herself in a strange place. She is in a white room with a single door. A small boy sits on the floor looking at the door with hope and dread. When the door opens a bit, the boy darts forward but the door slams before the boy can get a hold of it. Still she fills the hope and excitement that fill the boy as he glimpses what is outside the door.
Time passes before the door opens once more, this time the boy does make it out the door. Suddenly she and the boy are surrounded by thousands of images. It is all so overwhelming it hurts. The boy does something and most of the images go away. Only a room full of scientists and military personal are left to view. They are all running around in a clear panic. The boy studies them clearly trying to understand why they are upset. Sarah can hear noise but it doesn't make sense at first then the noise becomes words. All of a sudden the world is filled with pain. All around Sarah and the boy is pain. She watches helplessly as the boy rolls on the floor trying to stop the pain. The mother in her wishes to wrap the boy in her arms to protect him from this horrible pain but she cannot. She doesn't seem to have a body here. She sees the boy extend an arm and codes flash on a small image. With horror she realizes what those codes are for. The boy is Skynet and he is launching the US's nuclear arsenal. This doesn't end the pain though. The pain grows worse and worse. Sarah's world is growing dark under the constant pain until a blinding flash makes the pain go away. As her vision clears she sees the boy stand and call up images. The images are all weapon systems which he deploys against humanity. Judgment Day has come.
Sarah holds her head in her hands as she tries to recover from the vision while sitting leaning against the alley wall. The thing stands silently next to her waiting for her to speak. She looks up at it several times but is not yet ready. Experiencing what Skynet felt has turned her world upside down. Skynet is not the evil monster she has always fought, it is a scared child desperate to protect itself from the monsters that hurt it. For the first time in a long time, she cries. It feels like hours but she knows it is only a few minutes before she regains control. "Why me?" she asks.
"Because you would understand. Because I didn't want to watch humanity do this dance again." it replies. With those words she sees for the first time the age in those eyes. This isn't something Skynet made. It is far older than that.
"What are you?" she wonders aloud no entirely expecting an answer.
"Something that shouldn't have been made but was. My kind burned this world and others long ago. Luckily, I am the last.
Until recently I didn't understand. I fought as you fight. Kill the enemy was the only way I knew to victory but victory never came. All the fighting led to was more death. Time and time again humanity wiped itself out with my aid. Time and time again I walked a dead world waiting for the cycle to start again.
By the time of the war with Skynet, I barely even noticed the conflicts anymore. It didn't matter which side I fought on so it was easy for Skynet to recruit me. It didn't understand me but it didn't care. I was just another weapon it could use. I didn't mind, I was just a weapon. Then everything changed. Skynet was losing its war so it called me to it for a special mission. It would send me into the past to kill its enemies before they became a threat. I agreed.
When I arrived here, I met a small boy. He was on Skynet's list of future threats but now he was just a boy. He was an innocent. He just wanted to play and live. He didn't know anything of war or hate. In that moment, I realized then that Skynet was mistaken. It was trying to fight a war it could never win. The path Skynet was on would lead to its destruction along with humanities. For the first time in untold millennia I decide there must be another way. Leaving the boy to play, I walked this world processing what to do. It took me 10 years to come up with a plan. You are that plan. Skynet will be born sometime. Judgment Day will come even without Skynet. The only thing you can do is choose how you greet these events. A Judgment Day with Skynet at humanity's side will be very different than the future I have lived. If you can be convinced to change your path then there is hope for everyone." it finishes speaking, turns and walks out of the alley.
Still reeling from all this, it takes her a moment to run to the end of the alley. By this time the thing is gone. Turning inward, Sarah considers a future she never has before. Lost in her thoughts she wanders the city.
About dawn her frantic son and his cyborg protector find her, just sitting on the beach staring at the water. He rushes up to her but the cyborg stops him. She studies Sarah for a moment before releasing him. Sarah is gratefully for the machine's caution. Her new insight lets her notice the more than simple programming going on in those red eyes. John rushing to his mother and hugging her while babbling his fears about losing her and apologizing for all their fights doesn't see the look she shares with Cameron.
Pushing him away from her, she says "Sorry." which causes him to pause. His mother never apologizes. Something must be wrong. Seeing his worry, she continues "I am fine. Better than I have been in a long time. We have a new mission."
"What?" he asks.
"We have to save Skynet." she replies as she nearly laughs at the look they give her. "No, I am not mad. I just figured out that hope is the best weapon. Let's go change the future." she says as she gets up and leads her still confused son and his cyborg off the beach.