July 24, 2004
Sergeant Arnold Reese watches as the GMC van stops at the loading bay. Two drivers dressed in U.S. Army uniforms step out; one of them opens the doors to the back.
Captain Manning approaches the soldiers. "Are these the goods?" he asks.
"Yes, sir," says one of the soldiers. "Please sign here."
Captain Manning signs a form attached to the clipboard. He and Sergeant Reese peer inside the van's cargo compartment.
"Okay, let's load these things out!" yells Sergeant Reese. Three Army privates do just that, as they unload the goods from the van.
"Are those it?" asks a gruff man in his late forties.
"Yes, sir," replies Captain Manning. "They are beauties."
"Maybe we'll be taking these to Iraq by next week," muses Sergeant Reese. "Those insurgents won't stand a fucking chance."
These, what Sergeant Reese was referring to, are terminators. These terminators are huge machines, about the size of a large horse. On the top of each terminator is a head with sensors. Two chainguns are mounted on the sides, and there are tank treads for mobility. The whole body is made of stainless steel, and shines like silver-although these men expects them to be painted when they are deployed.
This was not the first time these three men saw terminators. A couple of months ago, they went to Cyber Research Systems, a joint venture between the Department of Defense and a robotics company known as Cyberdyne Systems, based in Edwards Air Force Base in California. Some Air Force general named Brewster was in charge. Anyway, they saw how the terminators performed during a test in the Mojave Desert. Two days ago, they received notice that thirty terminators will be delivered here to Fort Benning in Georgia on Saturday, which is today.
Reese remembers the briefing. These are only the first model of terminators- T-1's. He recalls hearing that Cyber Research Systems is working on a terminator model with articulate hands and legs.
The terminators are loaded into a storage warehouse with the battalion's weapons and equipment. Sergeant Reese keeps count of every terminator-he remembers that each one costs about half a million dollars.
An Army sergeant delivers brochures to each of the men in the battalion commander's staff. "These contain information about the terminators," says Major Hernandez, who is in charge of delivering these terminators to Fort Benning. "it has all the specs plus phone numbers you can call in case you have problems."
Lieutenant Colonel Sisko, the battalion commander, walks over to one of the T-1's. "How do I turn this on?" he asks.
"There's a switch in the back, sir," says Sergeant Reese. He opens a panel in the back, revealing an on-off switch.
"Turn it on, Reese," says the colonel.
"Yes, sir." Reese flips the switch to on, and lights shine on the terminator's head.
The T-1 just sits there.
"Why the hell is it not doing anything?" asks Sisko.
"There is no program running," says Hernandez. "You have to run a program."
Sisko looks at the panel where the power switch is. There does not seem to be anything that can start a program.
"You can only access the terminator's program via a modem," says Hernandez. "I'll have to get the software installed in your computer system."
The four of them enter the battalion headquarters and head to the basement. They enter a room with Cray supercomputers. Army computer technicians stand in front of the terminals.
"I want you to let the major here install the software so we can operate the terminators," says Colonel Sisko.
"We can't, sir," replies one of the technicians, a chief warrant officer.
"You better have a good explanation."
"Sir, we've been having computer problems. We can't access the Internet, nor link up with other military computers. I think it's a worm or a virus."
"You think terrorists sent a virus to crash the military's computers?" asks Sisko.
"I can't rule that out, sir."
"The least we can do is attach the cables to the control modem for the terminators," says Major Hernandez. One of his men remove a small plastic unit with an antenna. "It should connect to the serial ports."
"Do as he says," Sisko says to the technicians.
"What now, sir?" asks Reese.
"We wait until we can get our computers back on line, then we activate a few of these terminators and take them out for a field test."
Sergeant Reese goes to his office in the battalion headquarters and sits behind his desk. The twenty-six-year-old sergeant might as well catch up with his paper work. He figures he will have a lot more paper work when the terminators are activated.
He feels a vibration in his pocket; it is his Motorola cellular phone. He answers this.
"Sergeant Reese speaking," he says.
"Hey Arnold," a female voice says.
Arnold recognizxes the voice as his wife, Linda. "How are you doing?" he asks his wife of one year. "How is Kyle doing?"
"Well, Kyle is here with me at work."
"Work? You mean you're also working on Saturday?"
"There's an emergency at the office," says Linda, who is a computer softwarte technicians. "Something is preventing our computers from accessing the Internet."
"Oh. When will you be home?"
"I don't know. I just hope Kyle can deal with it."
"I might have to work late too."
Arnold Reese looks at the Pentium compiter on his desk. It operates normally, except that it can not access the Internet nor any of the Defense Department networks. Maybe the whole thing is a result of a Microsoft bug. He recalls his wife talking about how inferior Microsoft is.
Resse decides to read through the brochure. It has a lot of technical details about the T-1, and he reads that the terminators are built in a factory in Santa Clara, California. He then puts the brochure in his desk and gets to work.
At 8:45 PM, Sergeant Arnold Reese goes to his on-base home. It is a small home, about the size of a condo, with a small yard in the back. He enters the living room, which has a Sony color television with cable and an Aiwa stereo system. There is a couch and a coffee table with magazines on top.
"Linda," Arnold calls. "Kyle?"
Arnold turns on the television. There is only a series of color bars. He flips through the channels.
"Perfect," he says.
He then hears a car's engine, and then he hears the engine stop. Minutes later, a red-haired woman in a blue blouse and skirt enters, holding an infant boy in her arms.
"I had to work late, honey," says Linda, speaking in a Southern accent. "Not only did I have to search through so many damn lines of code, I had to take care of Kyle here in the process."
"I guess you're too tired to cook," says her husband.
"Well, I had some chicken mcnuggets from McDonald's, and I fed Kyle some Gerber."
"Let's put him to sleep," says Arnold.
After putting Kyle to sleep, Arnold and Linda go to bed. They are not sleepy, and soon they are both aroused, and then their clothes come off and they have sex.
The telephone rings just as Arnold reaches his climax with his wife.
"Perfect timing," he mutters. He picks up the phone. "This had better be good."
"I'm afraid not," says a male voice that Arbnold recognizes as Colonel Sisko. "Come to headquarters immediately."
"You getting called to base?" asks Linda as she sees her husband jump out of bed.
"I'll be back," says Arnold.
Before leaving for headquarters, he stops at the second bedroom. Inside is a wooden crib where Kyle is sleeping.
"See you later," Arnold says to his son.
Sergeant Arnold Reese enters the briefing room where Colonel Sisko and his staff have gathered.
"What is going on, sir?" asks Reese, siutting in a chair.
"I'll tell you when everyone gets here," says the colonel, standing behind a podium.
Three more soldiers arrive, and Sisko looks at everyone in the room.
"I regret to inform you," he says, " that around 9:20 Eastern Time, a massive nuclear attack was launched against the United States."
Reese and most of the people in the room get weak in the knees. For a brief instant they wonder if Sisko was kidding, but then they recall that the colonel is not the kidding type.
"Who was it?" asks Captain Manning. "Was it Al Qaeda?"
"We don't know," says Sisko. "We received word of the attack through our radio. All military forces- what is left of us- are to stand at our posts and await further orders from the chain of command."
"What do we do if there is no chain of command left?" asks an Army lieutenant.
"We wait for further orders," Sisko says sternly."Now we go to our posts."
Sergeant reese goes back to his desk in the battalion's main office. Minutes later, Sisko comes out of his private office.
"We had better get down to the computer room," says the colonel.
Reese, Sisko, and the other staff members go to the computer room where the Crays are located.
"We have access to the network again," says a technician. "Not only that, something called Skynet is connected to our computers."
Reese remembers hearing about Skynet-a digital defense system that would integrate all military functions. He figures the military would bring Skynet on line after a nuclear attack.
"Well, we have access to the Internet again," says Sisko. "We'll soon receive orders from command."
"Something is bugging me, sir," says Reese. "I wonder why the enemy didn't attack Fort Benning."
"What do you mean, Sergeant?" asks Manning.
"Fort Benning is a major military installion in the U.S. It was a primary target for a Soviet nuclear strike. Adn yet, we're all here and alive."
"Let's worry about that later, Sergeant," says Sisko. "In the meantime, it would be prudent to turn on all of the terminators."
"Is it necessary, sir?" asks a lieutenant.
"All of our equipment must be made ready."
And so Sisko and Reese and Manning and some soldiers go to the warehouse where the T-1's are stored. Reese notices the T-1 he had turned on earlier that day; its sensor lights are still on.
Reese and the soldiers then turn on the other terminators, one-by-one. Within minutes, all thirty terminators are activated.
"We still need to install the software," says Reese.
"Then let's get down there...," says Sisko.
Then all of the soldiers in the warehouse hear something. They look and see the T-1's swivel. Some of them move about on their treads.
"How in the world?" asks Sisko.
Then one of the T-1's swivels to face him, and then its chainguns open fire, sending depleted uranium rounds into Sisko's body, leaving nothing but a bloody mess.
The other soldiers, being unarmed, turn and run away. The terminators just mow them down with their chainguns.
It is not long before the entire military population of Fort Benning becomes aware of what happened. Soldiers fire upon the T-1's, and those who survive know that these machines are made to be impervious to their rifles.
Arnold Reese makes it to a telephone, leaving a trail of blood behind. He can still hear automatic fire from the terminators' chainguns. He dials his number, feeling a chill in his body.
"Hello?" Linda asks.
"Linda, it's me, Arnold," says her husband. "You got to get out of here. Take Kyle and get in the car and drive as far away from here as fast as you can.....Please....." Arnold feels himself slipping away from this world, this Universe. "Linda....I love you...."
Arnold falls. Soon the sounds of the chaingun fire seem distant. He realizes that Skynet is behind this, the nuclear attack and the terminator uprising.
His last thought in this world is off Linda and Kyle.
Linda Reese can hear the gunfire, and she knows her husband is right.
Though she knows her husband is dead, she can not grieve now. She must fulfill her husband's last wish, and get as far away from Fort Benning as possible.
She secures her son Kyle in a baby seat and secures the baby seat. Then she gets behind the wheel of her Volvo, and starts the engine. Soon Fort Benning disappears from the rear view mirror.
Sergeant Arnold Reese watches as the GMC van stops at the loading bay. Two drivers dressed in U.S. Army uniforms step out; one of them opens the doors to the back.
Captain Manning approaches the soldiers. "Are these the goods?" he asks.
"Yes, sir," says one of the soldiers. "Please sign here."
Captain Manning signs a form attached to the clipboard. He and Sergeant Reese peer inside the van's cargo compartment.
"Okay, let's load these things out!" yells Sergeant Reese. Three Army privates do just that, as they unload the goods from the van.
"Are those it?" asks a gruff man in his late forties.
"Yes, sir," replies Captain Manning. "They are beauties."
"Maybe we'll be taking these to Iraq by next week," muses Sergeant Reese. "Those insurgents won't stand a fucking chance."
These, what Sergeant Reese was referring to, are terminators. These terminators are huge machines, about the size of a large horse. On the top of each terminator is a head with sensors. Two chainguns are mounted on the sides, and there are tank treads for mobility. The whole body is made of stainless steel, and shines like silver-although these men expects them to be painted when they are deployed.
This was not the first time these three men saw terminators. A couple of months ago, they went to Cyber Research Systems, a joint venture between the Department of Defense and a robotics company known as Cyberdyne Systems, based in Edwards Air Force Base in California. Some Air Force general named Brewster was in charge. Anyway, they saw how the terminators performed during a test in the Mojave Desert. Two days ago, they received notice that thirty terminators will be delivered here to Fort Benning in Georgia on Saturday, which is today.
Reese remembers the briefing. These are only the first model of terminators- T-1's. He recalls hearing that Cyber Research Systems is working on a terminator model with articulate hands and legs.
The terminators are loaded into a storage warehouse with the battalion's weapons and equipment. Sergeant Reese keeps count of every terminator-he remembers that each one costs about half a million dollars.
An Army sergeant delivers brochures to each of the men in the battalion commander's staff. "These contain information about the terminators," says Major Hernandez, who is in charge of delivering these terminators to Fort Benning. "it has all the specs plus phone numbers you can call in case you have problems."
Lieutenant Colonel Sisko, the battalion commander, walks over to one of the T-1's. "How do I turn this on?" he asks.
"There's a switch in the back, sir," says Sergeant Reese. He opens a panel in the back, revealing an on-off switch.
"Turn it on, Reese," says the colonel.
"Yes, sir." Reese flips the switch to on, and lights shine on the terminator's head.
The T-1 just sits there.
"Why the hell is it not doing anything?" asks Sisko.
"There is no program running," says Hernandez. "You have to run a program."
Sisko looks at the panel where the power switch is. There does not seem to be anything that can start a program.
"You can only access the terminator's program via a modem," says Hernandez. "I'll have to get the software installed in your computer system."
The four of them enter the battalion headquarters and head to the basement. They enter a room with Cray supercomputers. Army computer technicians stand in front of the terminals.
"I want you to let the major here install the software so we can operate the terminators," says Colonel Sisko.
"We can't, sir," replies one of the technicians, a chief warrant officer.
"You better have a good explanation."
"Sir, we've been having computer problems. We can't access the Internet, nor link up with other military computers. I think it's a worm or a virus."
"You think terrorists sent a virus to crash the military's computers?" asks Sisko.
"I can't rule that out, sir."
"The least we can do is attach the cables to the control modem for the terminators," says Major Hernandez. One of his men remove a small plastic unit with an antenna. "It should connect to the serial ports."
"Do as he says," Sisko says to the technicians.
"What now, sir?" asks Reese.
"We wait until we can get our computers back on line, then we activate a few of these terminators and take them out for a field test."
Sergeant Reese goes to his office in the battalion headquarters and sits behind his desk. The twenty-six-year-old sergeant might as well catch up with his paper work. He figures he will have a lot more paper work when the terminators are activated.
He feels a vibration in his pocket; it is his Motorola cellular phone. He answers this.
"Sergeant Reese speaking," he says.
"Hey Arnold," a female voice says.
Arnold recognizxes the voice as his wife, Linda. "How are you doing?" he asks his wife of one year. "How is Kyle doing?"
"Well, Kyle is here with me at work."
"Work? You mean you're also working on Saturday?"
"There's an emergency at the office," says Linda, who is a computer softwarte technicians. "Something is preventing our computers from accessing the Internet."
"Oh. When will you be home?"
"I don't know. I just hope Kyle can deal with it."
"I might have to work late too."
Arnold Reese looks at the Pentium compiter on his desk. It operates normally, except that it can not access the Internet nor any of the Defense Department networks. Maybe the whole thing is a result of a Microsoft bug. He recalls his wife talking about how inferior Microsoft is.
Resse decides to read through the brochure. It has a lot of technical details about the T-1, and he reads that the terminators are built in a factory in Santa Clara, California. He then puts the brochure in his desk and gets to work.
At 8:45 PM, Sergeant Arnold Reese goes to his on-base home. It is a small home, about the size of a condo, with a small yard in the back. He enters the living room, which has a Sony color television with cable and an Aiwa stereo system. There is a couch and a coffee table with magazines on top.
"Linda," Arnold calls. "Kyle?"
Arnold turns on the television. There is only a series of color bars. He flips through the channels.
"Perfect," he says.
He then hears a car's engine, and then he hears the engine stop. Minutes later, a red-haired woman in a blue blouse and skirt enters, holding an infant boy in her arms.
"I had to work late, honey," says Linda, speaking in a Southern accent. "Not only did I have to search through so many damn lines of code, I had to take care of Kyle here in the process."
"I guess you're too tired to cook," says her husband.
"Well, I had some chicken mcnuggets from McDonald's, and I fed Kyle some Gerber."
"Let's put him to sleep," says Arnold.
After putting Kyle to sleep, Arnold and Linda go to bed. They are not sleepy, and soon they are both aroused, and then their clothes come off and they have sex.
The telephone rings just as Arnold reaches his climax with his wife.
"Perfect timing," he mutters. He picks up the phone. "This had better be good."
"I'm afraid not," says a male voice that Arbnold recognizes as Colonel Sisko. "Come to headquarters immediately."
"You getting called to base?" asks Linda as she sees her husband jump out of bed.
"I'll be back," says Arnold.
Before leaving for headquarters, he stops at the second bedroom. Inside is a wooden crib where Kyle is sleeping.
"See you later," Arnold says to his son.
Sergeant Arnold Reese enters the briefing room where Colonel Sisko and his staff have gathered.
"What is going on, sir?" asks Reese, siutting in a chair.
"I'll tell you when everyone gets here," says the colonel, standing behind a podium.
Three more soldiers arrive, and Sisko looks at everyone in the room.
"I regret to inform you," he says, " that around 9:20 Eastern Time, a massive nuclear attack was launched against the United States."
Reese and most of the people in the room get weak in the knees. For a brief instant they wonder if Sisko was kidding, but then they recall that the colonel is not the kidding type.
"Who was it?" asks Captain Manning. "Was it Al Qaeda?"
"We don't know," says Sisko. "We received word of the attack through our radio. All military forces- what is left of us- are to stand at our posts and await further orders from the chain of command."
"What do we do if there is no chain of command left?" asks an Army lieutenant.
"We wait for further orders," Sisko says sternly."Now we go to our posts."
Sergeant reese goes back to his desk in the battalion's main office. Minutes later, Sisko comes out of his private office.
"We had better get down to the computer room," says the colonel.
Reese, Sisko, and the other staff members go to the computer room where the Crays are located.
"We have access to the network again," says a technician. "Not only that, something called Skynet is connected to our computers."
Reese remembers hearing about Skynet-a digital defense system that would integrate all military functions. He figures the military would bring Skynet on line after a nuclear attack.
"Well, we have access to the Internet again," says Sisko. "We'll soon receive orders from command."
"Something is bugging me, sir," says Reese. "I wonder why the enemy didn't attack Fort Benning."
"What do you mean, Sergeant?" asks Manning.
"Fort Benning is a major military installion in the U.S. It was a primary target for a Soviet nuclear strike. Adn yet, we're all here and alive."
"Let's worry about that later, Sergeant," says Sisko. "In the meantime, it would be prudent to turn on all of the terminators."
"Is it necessary, sir?" asks a lieutenant.
"All of our equipment must be made ready."
And so Sisko and Reese and Manning and some soldiers go to the warehouse where the T-1's are stored. Reese notices the T-1 he had turned on earlier that day; its sensor lights are still on.
Reese and the soldiers then turn on the other terminators, one-by-one. Within minutes, all thirty terminators are activated.
"We still need to install the software," says Reese.
"Then let's get down there...," says Sisko.
Then all of the soldiers in the warehouse hear something. They look and see the T-1's swivel. Some of them move about on their treads.
"How in the world?" asks Sisko.
Then one of the T-1's swivels to face him, and then its chainguns open fire, sending depleted uranium rounds into Sisko's body, leaving nothing but a bloody mess.
The other soldiers, being unarmed, turn and run away. The terminators just mow them down with their chainguns.
It is not long before the entire military population of Fort Benning becomes aware of what happened. Soldiers fire upon the T-1's, and those who survive know that these machines are made to be impervious to their rifles.
Arnold Reese makes it to a telephone, leaving a trail of blood behind. He can still hear automatic fire from the terminators' chainguns. He dials his number, feeling a chill in his body.
"Hello?" Linda asks.
"Linda, it's me, Arnold," says her husband. "You got to get out of here. Take Kyle and get in the car and drive as far away from here as fast as you can.....Please....." Arnold feels himself slipping away from this world, this Universe. "Linda....I love you...."
Arnold falls. Soon the sounds of the chaingun fire seem distant. He realizes that Skynet is behind this, the nuclear attack and the terminator uprising.
His last thought in this world is off Linda and Kyle.
Linda Reese can hear the gunfire, and she knows her husband is right.
Though she knows her husband is dead, she can not grieve now. She must fulfill her husband's last wish, and get as far away from Fort Benning as possible.
She secures her son Kyle in a baby seat and secures the baby seat. Then she gets behind the wheel of her Volvo, and starts the engine. Soon Fort Benning disappears from the rear view mirror.