H E R O E S
aren't born, they're made
DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything in any related to Terminator, not even an action figure. I do own Sally Green and her friend Martin. Anyone I find mentioning either of them without my permission will be terminated.
AUTHOUR'S NOTE: Yes, I know I'm probably not the first to do a fic like this and I won't be the last. I just had this idea bouncing around in my head and finally got motivated to write it. Also note that I have only watched the three movies, I've read none of the books so don't yell at me about some detail from the books. Flames are fine; I'm fire proof, just read the story first.
Special thanks go to Koyoko Mei for proof reading this for me, I owe so much to her.
The sun was going to be rising soon and Sally Green was hopelessly lost. During the night the patrol she pas a part of had detected a group of H/Ks moving towards the base. While tracking them the patrol was ambushed by a second, smaller group of H/Ks. In the midst of the fighting Sally had lost touch with the others.
For an hour she had tried to raise radio contact with the patrol but was unsuccessful. Now she had to face the possibility that the others hadn't made it.
At least she hadn't seen anymore H/Ks, leading her to believe that the patrol had been able to stop them.
It had been her first patrol and she had never been so far from the base before. Now she was wandering, hoping to find some place that looked familiar before she was spotted by the aerial H/Ks.
She didn't even want to consider the possibility that she might have to spend the day out in the open, waiting until nightfall to rejoin one of the patrols.
Movement nearby caught her eye. Adjusting the weight of her pack and readying her plasma rifle she went over to investigate.
Whatever it was, it was alone and making slow progress in her direction. As far as she knew the endos never traveled alone and in the increasing light she was unable to make out the tell tail gleam of metal. That and if she was able to see it, it was able to see her and if it was an endo it would have shot her already.
With growing certainty she believed it was another survivor.
Once absolutely positive the figure was a human she waved her arms and called out, "Over here! Hey, I'm here!"
It returned her wave and continued towards her without picking up its pace. As they came closer, she was able to make out more details of her fellow survivor.
It was a man, who it was she couldn't tell; she'd never been good at remembering names and faces. His uniform was too badly damaged to determine any rank and his armor was gone. In his left hand he carried a gun too large and unwieldy to be of normal issue. Closer inspection revealed the weapon to be a model normally used by the endos, at some point he must have found the remains of an endo and picked it up.
Making her way down a pile of rubble Sally tripped and rolled to a stop. She didn't attempt to get up at first, fear had brought her to exhaustion and relief had left her weak.
As she struggled to get up a shadow fell over her. Looking up she found herself staring directly into the man's brilliant blue eyes. Slowly getting to her feet she smiled.
He didn't return her smile. It was then that Sally noticed the gash on the side of his head.
"Oh, you're hurt!"
As she fumbled with her pack, hoping to find water to clean out the wound and some bandages, she took stock of their surroundings. They were near the remains of an old building with three walls still standing, it would provide them with some protection and if need be they could probably stay there until nightfall.
After a moment of searching Sally found her last bottle of water and a roll of gauze.
"If you'll sit down I'll clean that up for you," she said gesturing at his head.
Really, it was amazing that he could have made it so far with an injury like that. She knew head wounds bled a lot, but dried blood had matted his hair and caked the right side of his face partially obscuring his features.
As he stared at her Sally found herself quite taken with his startlingly blue eyes. An uncomfortable silence grew and Sally started to get nervous.
Finally he spoke startling her, "It is nothing serious."
Men, Sally snorted and sat down, taking a sip of her water.
Once she finished drinking she noticed that her companion had no pack. She offered him the last of her water and he took it with out a word.
"You're welcome," she muttered.
Her companion gave no indication of having heard her. He didn't drink, but poured the water into his hands and proceeded to clean his hair and face.
Once done he returned the empty bottle to Sally and stood up looking out at the horizon.
With nothing better to do Sally studied her new companion. Once clean his hair was sandy blond and cut short. Tall and muscular, he was very fit judging by how easily he held a gun. He must have taken from an endo, any weapon used by the machines was normally too heavy to be used by a human until undergoing heavy modification.
All in all he wasn't bad looking, Sally was surprised she hadn't noticed him in the patrol at some point before the attack.
Look at you, Sally chided herself, he's said all of four words to you and you're thinking how handsome he is. You always were into sappy romance stuff, just because it's just you and him.
In truth, Sally was a real romantic, she hated fighting and was more interested in the war ending than she was in being a part of it. With no interest in fighting she had loved to hear her grandmother's stories of life before Judgment Day. Some day when the war was over she hoped to find some place away from the ruins or anything else that was a reminder of what had happened. Settling down with a hot guy would be a major plus.
At seventeen she felt she was entitled to some romantic dreams and at least one bout of teenage puppy love. The dreams there had been plenty of, but love was lacking, none of the guys at the base had appealed to her. They all acted as if the war was all there'd ever been and was all that ever mattered. None of them were interested in making plans for after the war and quickly grew tired of her constant talking about her plans for once it was all over.
Eventually she ran out of things to think about and the silence started to get to her. "You probably know me, Sally Green, Private Sally Green actually, but that's obvious I guess. Well, I know it sounds stupid, but for the life of me, I can't place a name to your face."
A desperate attempt to start conversation at best, it was a complete failure. All the man did was briefly turn and look at her.
Doggedly Sally tried again this time making an attempt at humor, "Listen, it's not that I don't like the strong silent type, but would you at least tell me your name?"
"No."
Beginning to get frustrated Sally raised her voice, "What do you mean 'no'?"
She started to say more but stopped as she remembered something. One of the soldiers at the base had been hit in the head when a Terminator had managed to get in. The man's skull had been fractured and for the three days it took him to die he had no memory of what happened to him or even who he was.
It was very possible that this was the problem with her companion.
"You sure you're alright?" Sally asked feeling bad for losing her temper and yelling. If he was hurt that bad she had no right to be angry with him.
"It is only superficial damage."
His reply was toneless, giving Sally the impression she was getting on his nerves.
She looked around listening to the sound of silence and trying to find something to occupy her mind.
The sky was tinged pink and orange with the coming dawn. It was beautiful, really. Once the war was over Sally decided she'd get up early every morning and watch the sun rise.
Presently the sunrise had a more ominous significance, it meant they'd be unable to move again until nightfall. If they were careful they'd probably be able to avoid being detected by any passing aerial H/Ks. She'd been told during the day they just used motion to detect the soldiers, and not infrared.
Looking back at her mysterious companion she decided to try and be optimistic. "Well, I guess once night comes we'll try and make our way back to the base. Until then we'll sleep in shifts."
With luck, she felt they'd probably be able to hook up with one of the nightly patrols. Someone in the group would recognize her companion and then everything would be fine. True they'd probably be the butt of jokes for some time, but in the long run it wouldn't matter.
"You try and get some sleep, I'll take first watch," Sally wasn't very good at staying awake but she couldn't help feeling sorry for the poor guy. A good night's sleep would probably do him some good.
The man didn't move or give any other indication that he'd heard her, he simply continued scanning the horizon.
Sally shook her head, "You want first watch? Just wake me up when you get tired."
Again no response, with a sigh Sally lay down and fell asleep.
The next thing she knew someone was nudging at her shoulder. Blinking and rubbing sleep from her eyes she looked up.
The man was standing over her poking her with the toe of his boot. Sally yawned, "My watch all-
She stopped abruptly when she realized it was dark.
"You fell asleep!" she accused, her voice full of righteous indignity.
Her companion was unfazed by her fury, his voice was calm and even as he replied. "I did not sleep."
Before Sally could say anything more he started to walk away from her.
Stumbling she got up to follow him. Still annoyed she continued to berate him, "You were up the whole time? If you're too tired to keep up I won't slow down for you. It'll be your fault."
Realizing she was starting to fall behind she stopped yelling and picked up her pace. Once along side him she spoke again, "Where are you going in such a hurry any way?"
He didn't even turn to face her, "You want to get to the base."
Sally was unable to tell whether it was a question of a statement and fell into silence.
Before long she was able to recognize the area they were in. In less than twenty minutes they could be back to the base if all went well.
Her companion knew where he was going, it seemed that he was getting some of his memory back, either that or he was just plain lucky. Giving the matter a moments thought Sally decided against asking him just how much he could remember.
The closer they got to the base the more nervous Sally became. It was just too quiet, there were no H/Ks, no big aerial units, not even a single endo. By now they should have at least come across one of the patrols from the base.
Picking up her pace she reached the top of a small rise. Looking down she was able to see the entrance of the base.
The still smoking remains of several endos littered the ground and on closer inspection she could see the bodies of several humans among the machines.
Never before had she seen bodies left out in the open, and so close to the base…
Leaving her companion behind Sally broke into a full run. He didn't even try to keep up.
Without breaking stride he examined the power pack of his rifle, it was at ninety-three percent charge. Enough for anything he might encounter, though there was no sign of a threat outside there was no telling what might be waiting inside.
The first thing Sally had seen upon entering were the guard dogs lying on the ground dead, their handler beside them also dead, a plasma bolt having shot him nearly in half.
Further down the corridor the blasted frame of an endo lay on the ground, its hands still clutching the throat of a soldier. Sally didn't look to see if she recognized the man, continuing down the halls she desperately sought another survivor.
Silence filled the halls; the only sound other than Sally's labored breathing was the scurrying of rats. Never before had she seen so many of them. Normally they stayed hidden, but now they were out in force feasting on the remains of the base's inhabitants. Everywhere she turned there were rats, seeing her they scattered, chittering and leaving little red paw prints.
Sally ran blindly through the corridors, her footsteps echoing in the silent halls. The base looked like a slaughterhouse, human remains mingled with the shattered and charred hulks of endos.
In the distance she saw movement, a little boy was twitching slightly. Sally ran to help him but once she got close to him several large rats scurried away and the movement stopped. The rats had been tearing at the corpse causing it to twitch and jerk.
With a strangled sob Sally threw down her pack and rifle and collapsed to the floor moaning softly.
Too distraught over what had happened to her home and friends she failed to notice something near her moving.
Looking up only when something brushed against her leg she let out a scream of terror.
One of the endos was still functioning. It had been badly damaged. Its legs, broken and useless trailing behind it held on by only a few frayed wires, twitched spasmodically as it dragged itself towards her.
Sally tried to get up and out of the way, but was too slow. The machine grabbed her by the left leg. There was a crunching noise and she fell back to the floor hard.
Screaming, she fought to keep the endo from getting its hands to her throat but the machine's great weight made it almost impossible for her to move out from under it.
With painful slowness the endo inched its way up her body, its hands now grasping her waist. It became difficult for Sally to breathe as the endo was able to put more and more of its weight on her chest.
Under the crushing weight of the machine she felt her consciousness slipping away, the world growing dim around her.
Footsteps in the distance snapped her back to awareness, remembering her companion she summoned the last of her strength and renewed her increasingly feeble struggle.
The man came around a corner and seeing Sally's dire predicament lifted his gun to take aim.
It quickly became obvious that he would be unable to get a clear shot, and if he waited much longer Sally would be dead.
Dropping the gun he grabbed the endo.
At first the machine didn't seem able to react to this new variable; then he began to twist its head. The machine began to struggle but by this time it was too late, with a metallic grinding the endo's head snapped off.
He watched the lights of its eyes fade then dropped it and turned to Sally, "Are you injured?"
She tried moving her foot and was pleasantly surprised to find that though it hurt she could move it. The snapping noise she'd heard must have been from some damaged part of the endo.
"Not too badly," she gritted her teeth and tried to stand.
Inhaling sharply as she tested putting weight on her injured foot she continued, "Did you find any survivors?"
The man had bent down to pick up his weapon, looking it over he replied. "No."
Giving up on trying to stand Sally slumped to the floor, "Oh god. What can we do now? Everyone's dead and what can we do?"
She was no stranger to grief and had long ago learned to put it aside. There were always orders to follow and H/Ks to fight, it didn't give you time to think about your dead loved ones. If you let sorrow get in your way you'd go mad.
But this, this was too much, or it would have been, had Sally been the only one to survive. At least there was her strange companion. Though he didn't seem to have much memory he was someone so she wouldn't be alone. She would have to manage for his sake.
Her companion spoke as she made a second attempt at getting up, "There are two resistance bases near here. One is an estimated sixty miles to the west. The other is an estimated eighty miles north but larger, the center of the human resistance."
Dismissing her companions manner of speaking as having something to do with his memory loss, the poor guy probably couldn't remember some words and had to think real hard about what he said, Sally again tested putting weight on her foot. Wincing she realized she wouldn't be doing much walking for some time.
"The north one then," she tried to take a step, "Could you give me a hand?"
He came closer and Sally grabbed his arm. Leaning heavily on him Sally managed to make her way down the corridor
Sounding almost annoyed her companion spoke, "If you are unable to move faster than this it will make reaching the base extremely difficult."
"It's not like I have a choice," her voice bordered on hysteria.
Her companion gave the matter some thought, "The Hunter Killer units will not return now, as they believe the base to be empty. We can stay here until you are able to walk properly."
Sally was shocked, he had said this as if there was nothing wrong with staying at the place where every person you've ever known is lying dead. Though because of his amnesia he probably couldn't remember anyone, it was still really disturbing to think about staying.
She shook her head, "No, we'll just have to do our best."
As they walked down the halls Sally had another go at conversation, she just wanted to talk so she wouldn't have to think.
"That was pretty impressive how you handled that endo. Do you think you could teach me?" flattery was the best way to get anyone to talk, no one didn't like to brag.
"No," Sally was positive she detected a hint of smugness in his voice.
"Why not?"
As always, he didn't bother to look at her as he spoke, "The T-800 series is slow to respond to new variables but would be able to respond to an attack of that manner if made by a human. Also, it takes an amount of force that most humans are incapable of generating."
Alarmed Sally missed a step and started to fall, when he tried to catch her she twisted away, "What do you mean?"
"A human would be unable to destroy a Terminator in that fashion."
Sally backed away, her mysterious companion suddenly terrifying. He, no it, was a Terminator. That was how he, no it came to be using an endo's weapon and why he, it hadn't slept. But none of that could explain why she was still alive, why he, it had saved her.
It bent down to help her up but she lashed out with her legs, kicking it in the chest. Pain shot up her already injured left leg.
Showing no sign of having felt the blow it spoke, "If you are not careful you will injure yourself further."
Still not letting it anywhere near her Sally questioned it, "Why would you care, you're just planing on killing me any way."
The Terminator stopped trying to come near her, "I do not understand."
She couldn't believe what she'd just heard, it sounded like the killing machine was trying to play innocent, "What the hell do you mean? You're a fucking Terminator, what else do you do other than kill us?"
It paused, seemingly in thought. Stop it, Sally scolded herself, you're anthropomorphizing, they don't think.
Its reply was unexpected, "I do not know. At some point I sustained damage that jarred my processing chip. Damage was dealt to it and I lost all programming other than my base programming. Any information acquired since activation was also lost."
Sally smiled despite herself, in a way it really did have amnesia, "And what exactly is your base programming?"
"The ability to process new data and in affect learn from it. To be able to interact with humans until my target is acquired, the specific target is not part of the base programming," again it offered its hand to help Sally up and this time she accepted.
They started to continue down the hall, "So you're not originally programmed to kill everyone?"
Unconcerned by the harsh tone of her voice it explained, "No, that would be inefficient and most instances counterproductive to a mission. Terminators are programmed as needed for missions."
That was something for her to think about later. For the time just staying alive was all that mattered and it would stay that way until she had a half way decent plan.
Reasonably sure that she wasn't going to be killed any time soon she had time to plan how to stay alive and get to other people before the Terminator decided that it really didn't care too much about humans and kill her.
Sally looked at where they were, "Turn left, we'll need to get supplies before we leave."
Stopping in the storage room Sally began to try and figure out how long it would take them to get to the base, it wouldn't be good if they ran out of water still three days from the base.
As she packed she looked over her shoulder and noticed that the Terminator wasn't taking any supplies for itself. With a sigh she spoke to it, "Listen, I'm not going to pack for you, so you'd best take care of yourself."
"I do not need food or water."
"Right then," she nodded slowly, "Still you'd best take a pack, when we meet the others it'll look strange if you don't have one."
Watching her the Terminator packed. It was disturbing to be so close to one of the machines but Sally really didn't have a choice. There was no way she'd make it to the base on her own. A classic case of 'damned if you do, damned if you don't' if there ever was one.
Once done packing food and water Sally moved on to the room where weapons were kept. It made her a little nervous to be in a room full of guns with a Terminator but since he hadn't killed her yet he probably wasn't going to decide to now.
She selected a standard issue plasma rifle and two spare power packs for it, still half expecting the Terminator to shoot her in the back as she put the power packs away. She knew it was stupid but she couldn't help it.
The Terminator had taken two of the larger model plasma rifles, the kind normally used to take out the large ground H/Ks or shoot off the engines of the aerial ones.
Now it was taking enough power packs to take out a small army of machines. Wide-eyed Sally watched as is put on the pack as if it weighed nothing then sling the plasma rifles over its shoulders.
She shook her head in amazement, "You sure you can carry all that until we get to the base?"
Not that Sally expected it to get to the actual base, as soon as they met a group of humans she planned to destroy it.
Her foot hurt worse than ever as they left the base, it was probably sprained. By tomorrow it would most likely start to swell and it would hurt like hell but for now she could walk well enough.
At first she followed the Terminator, keeping her flash light beam focused on the ground directly in front of her. She kept her eyes on the ground, not wanting to look at what she was traveling with.
After some time she picked up her pace, passing the Terminator. With tears in her eyes she looked at the blasted landscape ahead of her. Somewhere out there was another base, other people and if she just kept walking she'd get there. If she just kept walking everything would be fine. If she just kept walking…
Soon she was running, looking straight ahead, never back at the Terminator or the remains of the only home she's ever known.
She ran ignoring the pain in her foot. Several times she stumbled and fell but always she got to her feet and continued running.
Everything would be fine if she could just keep walking…
Exhaustion eventually forced her to slow to a walk. Her breath came in ragged gasps and the pain in her foot had intensified to a constant throb but she refused to stop. If she just kept walking everything would be fine.
They continued on through the night without stopping, the Terminator not needing rest and Sally too lost in her haze of grief and pain to care.
The sky grew pink with the coming dawn, but still Sally continued to walk.
When the Terminator caught up with her she didn't look at it, as long as she continued to walk it didn't matter. If she kept walking everything would be fine.
If she didn't think about the pain in her legs or what had happened it didn't matter. The pain in her legs was a good thing, it took her mind off the pain of her sorrow.
If she could just keep walking she wouldn't have to think, everything would be fine…
The stars faded and the sun came up but Sally didn't stop. She was moving slower now and the Terminator had adjusted its pace to match hers.
Keep walking, everything will be fine
. It became a mantra, keeping her going well past the boundaries of exhaustion.More and more often Sally stumbled but she managed to keep walking. If she kept walking…
It was about four hours after sunrise that Sally fell and was unable to get up. Curling up on the ground she began to cry.
Puzzled as to what was wrong with her the Terminator knelt down next to her. Before it was able to react Sally had grabbed it and was leaning against its shoulder, still crying.
After some time she had cried herself to sleep, still leaning against the Terminator. It remained completely still, only moving to put its arm around her when she started to slide to the ground.
Sally woke to a throbbing pain in her ankle. For a moment she was disoriented, unable to tell where she was or what had happened.
There was someone holding her, that much she knew, but she couldn't remember who. Looking up into a pair of brilliant blue eyes it all came back to her, getting lost, finding what she thought was an other survivor, the base, her break down.
Everyone she knew was dead and somehow she'd fallen asleep in the arms of a machine. Repulsed at what she had done she began to try and squirm out of its arms.
As if understanding her discomfort it let her down gently, but she couldn't help but wince slightly as her left foot was moved.
She spoke while she unlaced her boot, just to break up the silence, "I guess I was pretty stupid running like that."
Gingerly she pulled her boot off, "I mean a H/K could have spotted me or something."
The Terminator had remained sitting next to her, watching. Much to her surprise it spoke, "That would be unlikely, Hunter Killer units only patrol an area of approximately thirty square miles around each known base."
That was a useful bit of information, everyone she knew was dead, but she didn't have to worry about any machines other than the one next to her.
Peeling off her sock she examined her ankle, it was badly swollen with deep blue-black bruises marking where the endo had grabbed her. By the looks of it she wouldn't be doing any walking that day.
Judging by the position of the position of the sun it was about noon but Sally could have sworn she'd been asleep for longer than just a few hours.
Figuring the Terminator would have an idea of the time she inquired, "How long was I out for any way?"
"I do not understand."
Realizing that it was confused, if that was the right word, by how she'd asked, she tried again, "How long was I asleep for?"
This time it was able to understand, "Fourteen hours, thirty-seven minutes, approximately."
She hadn't expected a response like that Sally laughed, "Could you get any more exact than that?"
It stared at her, "No."
Apparently for all their advanced programming and artificial intelligence, Terminators had no concept of sarcasm.
For the first time it spoke without her having addressed it, "Sleeping that long is not a normal part of a human's daily routine, are you damaged in some way?"
Sally sighed, "No, not damaged. I guess I had a bit of an emotional break down, all that had happened and then I just ran myself to exhaustion trying to get away. Not that I loved life at the base but it was all I had."
The Terminator had nothing to say to this.
Sally took out a canteen and a packet of dehydrated something out of her pack. She mixed the contents of the packet until it was the right consistency, not that there was a wrong consistency.
She ate a mouthful and grimaced, it tasted just like it looked, bland was one way to put it, like shit was another. Which was more accurate was open to debate.
Taking out another packet she turned to the Terminator, "You want some?"
Sally knew she was imagining it, but it sounded smug as it replied, "I do not require food. All my energy needs are provided by a hydrogen power cell."
"You know," Sally commented as she put the packet away, "I think I envy you for that."
The Terminator continued to stare at her but said nothing. Shuddering she turned away.
When she heard movement she glanced over her shoulder, the Terminator was getting up. Nervously she called out to it, "Don't leave me, you know I can't walk with my foot the way it is."
It stopped and stared out into the distance. Sally imagined it was looking for any possible threats that would be heading their way.
For the first time in as long as she remembered she had nothing to do. Normally the constant activity of the base left here with little time to even consider what she'd do if she wasn't busy, but now it was gone.
Eventually they'd reach another base and there would be plenty of things to do, but at the moment there was nothing.
Oddly Sally wasn't depressed. Her run the previous day had used up all her grief. She still hadn't exactly come to terms with what had happened but she was ready to stop thinking about it.
Leaning back she looked up at the sky.
It was a clear day with only a few clouds sitting low on the horizon. The sky was such a breathtaking blue that it almost made her eyes hurt. As she stared without blinking she felt as though she could fall into the infinite blue extending above her.
So brilliant a shade that it left no room in your eyes for tears.
Its eyes were sky colored
Abruptly Sally sat up straight. The Terminator hadn't moved, it was still standing a distance away. Looking for enemies that hopefully would never come.
For some reason she felt bad thinking of the Terminator as just 'the Terminator' even though that's what it was. On a whim she called out to it, "Hey!"
She didn't know how else to get its attention, saying 'hey you' made it sound like they were complete strangers, which unfortunately they weren't and it didn't have a name she could address it by.
It turned. Feeling rather silly Sally continued, "You really don't have a name?"
"Terminators are given identification numbers, based on their model, series and batch in which they were made, I am Terminator Unit 101-800.53," it said this without emotion, it was simply stating a fact.
Sally smiled, "That's not much of a name, can I give you a real one? Just so I have something to call you and all."
She couldn't believe what she was doing, not only was she naming a machine, she felt sorry that it didn't have a name to begin with.
Either the Terminator was getting better at imitating human intonation or Sally was going crazy but when it replied she thought it sounded interested, "You may give me a name."
"Let me think," She didn't want to name it after anyone she knew, that would be just plain wrong. Never having been very good with remembering names it took her some time to think of a decent sounding one, "How about Martin?"
The Terminator nodded, "If you want, Martin is an acceptable name."
The newly named Martin returned to watching for any approaching enemies.
Almost immediately Sally regretted her decision to name it. Now it would be harder to think of the Terminator, Martin, as just an it. She hoped she wasn't getting attached to it, that would only make it more difficult to let it be destroyed when they made it to the base.
Lying back down Sally resumed looking at the sky and tried to make some sense of her situation.
Martin was the first time she'd seen a functioning Terminator up close. True she'd seen other Terminators, ones that had gotten in and attacked the base, but by the time she actually saw them they'd been shot to pieces with only a few ragged patches of flesh clinging to a broken metal frame.
Not until meeting Martin did she realize just how hard it was to tell one apart from a real person. It was scary, not until it had practically told her what it was had she actually had any idea. Now it was learning by watching her and becoming able to act more human all the time.
More likely than not she was the first person to actually get close to a Terminator and live. There had to be something she could do. Probably she should try to get information from it about SkyNet and the machines, but it seemed unlikely that a single Terminator would know any more about SkyNet as a whole than she herself knew about General Connor's plans for the resistance.
This train of thought would get her nowhere. It struck her as rude to just ask 'could you tell me how to best win the war against you guys' but there was no other way of putting it.
She knew she wouldn't ask Martin about what he was until she thought she could understand him better. What motivated a machine? Why did they fight, or in Martin's case, not fight?
Looking over at Martin standing near by she wondered if it got bored. It looked human enough and even thought to an extent but something about Martin made it so very different from a human.
With no one to talk to Sally wondered if she could start a conversation with Martin. It would give her something to and she could justify it if in the process she learned something about the machines.
She called out to it, "Hey Martin!"
It turned as though it expected an attack. As a Terminator it was programmed for combat and had to be ready at all times. Seeing no threats and now aware that humans, or Sally at least, expected a response when spoken to Martin determined the best reply, "What?"
Sally motioned for him to come over, "I'm bored, lets talk."
Conversation would provide an opportunity to gather new data on human social behavior. Martin walked over and stood a few feet away.
"Don't just stand there, sit down, relax," she motioned to a clear patch of ground next to her.
Slowly Martin lowered itself to the ground, carefully mimicking her posture.
Watching Martin Sally couldn't help but think it would have been rather handsome if it were human. She was disgusted at herself for thinking this but it was true. It seemed that SkyNet had a good idea of what people found appealing and made good use of the knowledge. That and other than the gash on its head Martin's fair skin was unscathed, something very rare in this time of constant fighting.
When Martin remained silent Sally laughed, "I guess I'll start this conversation. What's it like to be you?"
Martin seemed puzzled by the question and Sally couldn't help but notice that it was in fact picking up human gestures and expressions.
Deciding not to think about that she continued, pressing for an answer, "I mean do you have feelings?"
"When damage is dealt to the skin it is picked up by sensors, the resulting data could be called pain."
Martin had apparently misunderstood her question, "No, what I want to know is do you get bored or happy or sad. Do you have emotions?"
What she really wanted to know was why it had saved her, but she was too nervous to just ask.
Martin startled her with his response, "You place a great deal of value on emotions, why?"
A question like that was unexpected, really, Sally hadn't been expecting it to ask any questions at all, "Our feelings make us who we are."
"They are like programming," it nodded understanding.
"Not at all! Emotions are why we act the way we do, but everyone feels different about things. You just do things because of the way you feel about them, like how you try and comfort someone who's sad because you know how they feel, or if you really like someone you're nice to them. It's really hard to explain but without emotions I guess we'd be," she paused uncomfortably, "well, like you."
"I do not understand."
Sighing she shook her head, "Yeah, I didn't think you would."
At a loss for what to say Sally let the conversation trail off. Martin made no further inquiries but didn't get up and resume his watch.
Having gotten used to sleeping during the day Sally eventually dozed off in the warm afternoon sun. Martin remained watching her unable to understand why humans did something as inefficient and wasteful as sleep.
When Sally woke up it was dark out. Her foot was still slightly painful but the swelling had gone down some. Gently she put on her boot, fumbling with the laces in the dark.
Unable to see clearly in the dark she called out to Martin hoping it was nearby, "I think I can walk, we can go now if you're ready."
Something moved near her, turning to look she saw twin red lights, the glowing eyes of an endo.
Fumbling in the dark for her rifle she took aim.
"I'm ready."
She nearly dropped her weapon in shock. Only now did she remember hearing that in the dark you could make out the lights behind the eyes of a Terminator.
"Oh god, don't ever do that to me again, I almost killed you," her voice was shaky as she scolded Martin.
"Do what?"
Finding a flashlight in her pack Sally turned it on and aimed it at the red lights to reveal Martin standing a few feet away from her.
"Don't sneak up on me like that, I can't see in the dark you know. I almost shot you because I thought you were an endo," as she spoke she carefully got to her feet.
Martin didn't comment, it simply started walking. As a Terminator it had no need for light and could find its way through the ruins as though it was day.
Keeping her flashlight beam aimed at the ground Sally did her best to avoid any obstacles in her path. Even without looking up it was easy enough to follow Martin, its never faltering footfalls seemed to echo in the otherwise silent night.
The going was slow, the pain in her foot making it hard to match Martin's pace, but she had to manage. Every step brought her that much closer to the base and rescue.
When they got there it would be the end of Martin. They would probably hook up with a patrol and Martin would be recognized for what it was in an instant.
Even if that didn't happen and they made it all the way to the base there was no way in hell it would manage to get past the dogs.
Sally felt guilty about that but Martin was one of the enemy, end of story. If she died it wouldn't care, so why should she care about it?
In hindsight she probably shouldn't have named it, that might make it harder to let it be destroyed but what was done was done and there was no way to fix any of it now.
In the back of her head that little voice of unreason known as the conscience nagged her, 'but he did save you.'
With a small amount of effort Sally as able to ignore it.
Still partially lost in her internal battle between right and wrong Sally didn't notice when Martin stopped abruptly.
She kept walking and bumped into it, which was like walking into a brick wall.
"What the-
It turned and she was able to see its eyes glowing red in the darkness, shuddering she fell silent.
"Turn off your light and get down," in its tone it managed to convey a sense of urgency.
She couldn't see much in the dim light but judging by the faint rustle of cloth and a slight click Martin had taken one of its plasma rifles and was preparing to fire.
"What's going on?" she whispered as if though someone or something might hear her.
"Seven," a pause, "endos about thirty meters away. I don't know what they'd be doing this far away from the battle fields but they appear to be looking for something and haven't detected us yet."
Martin took aim and fired. One, two, three, four, five plasma blots.
Sally lifted her head to try and see how many it had gotten but Martin dropped and pushed her down.
The air crackled as the endos returned fire. Two plasma bolts went over their heads so close Sally could smell the ozone as the intense heat seared the air.
Four more bolts passed overhead in rapid succession, then the firing stopped. Martin stood up and fired twice more.
After a moment it turned back to Sally, "It's safe for us to continue now."
Sally was amazed, "You mean to tell me that you took out seven endos in the dark with only one shot to each?"
It slung the gun back over its shoulder, "Yes. I'm able to shoot with ninety-two percent accuracy under ideal circumstances. They were fairly close and did not move as they were not expecting an attack."
They stopped just before sunrise, the sight of the endos seeming to have put Martin on guard. It thought that the endos may have been looking for it but there was no way to be certain.
This time when Sally took off her pack and sat down Martin imitated her. She almost laughed at the sight of it trying to look relaxed.
Noticing a wet spot on the bottom of her pack Sally rummaged around to investigate, scowling when she discovered one of the canteens had come open. The moisture had bled through two packets of dehydrated food mix, ruining them.
She still had a half-full canteen and three packs of dehydrated food mix, with luck it would be enough. Spreading out the remaining contents she turned the pack inside out to dry.
Taking off her boot she noted that the bruise was already starting to fade, turning a sort of yellowish color around the edges.
Next to her Martin hadn't only taken off its pack but put down its plasma rifles. Sally thought it was strange to see Martin not looking as though it expected an attack at any moment. It was starting to do a better job of acting human. The sooner she got to the base and got rid of Martin the better.
"How much farther do we have to go?"
"We have approximately twenty-one miles until we reach the edge of the battle field. After that the going will be slow since we'll need to avoid being seen by aerial H/Ks and groups of endos," as Martin said this it was clear that it felt no attachment to its fellow machines.
Sally couldn't believe how detached Martin was from others of its kind. Not that she had a problem with that but she found it strange, not only had it destroyed seven Terminators of the same model, it for some reason wasn't bothered by the need to avoid any H/K units they encountered.
"Martin, why didn't you try and rejoin that group of endos?"
It managed a very convincing expression of puzzlement, "What's left of my programming is to remain hidden among humans until I've acquired and terminated my target. Since the part of my programming determining my specific target is gone I will simply interact with humans until I am discovered, then it is probable that I will be destroyed."
This surprised Sally, though she knew that the machines had no fear of death such complete indifference was almost frightening, "But if you went and rejoined the machines you'd get fixed and all."
She knew what she was doing was stupid and could get her killed if she gave Martin any ideas, but she was curious and felt compelled to get an answer.
"I had no reason to return," as if by afterthought it added, "T-800 units are being modified due to problems with their processing chip."
What it had said was in some ways disturbing, Martin felt no need to be with others of its own kind and the last part of what it had said made it sound like it would rather be destroyed than be reprogrammed. Could Martin possess any sense of self and as a result feel the need for self-preservation? If so destroying it would be more like killing a person than Sally wanted to think about.
Sally could no longer be sure if her seeing Martin as having some very human behaviors was still just her anthropomorphizing.
Disturbed by the thought that Martin might not want to die, Sally watched the sunrise and thought about what she'd do when the war was over, something she usually did when thinking about the present got to be too stressful.
She truly did believe that it would end soon, according to reports from other bases the machines had started to withdraw in some areas.
In the dawn's first light she saw a small yellow flower growing amongst the rubble. Sally decided it was a good omen, a sign of life triumphing even in the midst of ruins.
A slight breeze blew at one of the plant's feathery seed heads sending the minute seeds drifting through the air. Most would land on stone and concrete and die but some would land in soil and grow. Some day there would be no traces of the ruins, but there would still be fields of flowers like the ones from her grandmother's stories.
Some day when the war is over I'll live far away from the ruins and I'll plant a garden full of flowers like that.
She couldn't tell if she'd said it out loud, when she turned to Martin its face was blank as always.
When she fell asleep she dreamed of the sun and flowers but also of a companion with blue eyes as deep and as empty as a cloudless sky.
Once the sun set they took their time getting ready as this was most likely their last chance to relax before returning to the on going battle between the resistance and the machines.
Sally finished the last of her water and one of the dehydrated food packets. She considered throwing the rest away but thought better of it, it was impossible to tell how long it would take them to find the base.
"Martin, do you have any spare water?" if it did they could probably share, chances were that it wouldn't mind.
Martin reached into its pack and pulled out a canteen. Wordlessly it tossed it to her.
It was unopened, "Thanks," Sally put it in her pack for later.
"You're welcome."
As it said this it smiled. Sally felt her stomach lurch. Martin was getting harder and harder to think of as being an it. It was a good thing that they'd be reaching the base soon, much longer and it would be impossible to tell just how human Martin would be acting.
This made Sally think a bit and attempt to plan ahead, "Martin, what's the quickest way to get to the base, so we could avoid the worst of the fighting?"
A shrug, "I don't know."
Hearing this Sally nearly dropped her pack, "What do you mean? You said that you knew where the base was!"
"The exact location of the base is unknown. The estimated location is monitored to find the exact location. As far as I know there might not even be a base, but the amount of human activity in the area indicates that there is."
"What about the Terminators, they get into the bases?"
Martin nodded, "True, but they join groups of humans. None of them survive to bring any information on the bases back to SkyNet."
It made sense to her when she thought about it but she still felt mad that she hadn't found this out earlier, "Damn Martin, there had best be a base when we get there."
They walked steadily on through the night. After several hours of walking they could see distant flashes of light from the big aerial H/Ks and the occasional muffled rumble on an explosion.
While they walked Martin explained the situation to Sally.
"Chances are we'll be in the midst of the fighting around one hour before sunrise. That could be risky because there's a chance that by the time we get there the humans will have returned to their base. If we stop here and wait until tomorrow night there is a possibility we may be detected by one of the aerial H/Ks or a group of endos"
"We'll keep going," so close to the base Sally found the idea of stopping and waiting even longer unthinkable.
For the most part Martin was able to predict the actions of any machines they encountered and managed to avoid all but one small group of endos. These he managed to dispatch with the same ease as the seven they'd encountered the night before.
There had also been a close call with a tank like ground H/K but when it detected Martin it moved on.
To Sally it seemed that the machines were focussed on something other than her and Martin and judging by all the explosions and circling aerial H/Ks there had to be resistance fighters near by.
Upon reaching the top of a small hill they saw a group of soldiers exchanging fire with about twenty endos as an aerial H/K circled above. Another group of endos was advancing on them, getting dangerously close.
Squinting Sally tried to get a better look at the soldiers as they divided their attention between the endos and trying to take down the aerial H/K so they'd no longer be in its spot light. From what she could see they were only focusing on the one group of endos while the second group was nearly on top of them.
"What's going on, don't they see the endos?"
It didn't make sense to Sally but she thought Martin, being programmed for combat, might be able to figure out what was happening.
Martin took a gun in each hand, "No, the group firing is a distraction, it's an ambush similar to the one used on your patrol."
Without saying another word Martin took aim and began firing.
Sally nearly screamed until the saw two endos in the ambush party fall. As quickly as she could she took her own rifle and began firing. Though her aim was nowhere near as good as Martin's she did get a few lucky shots in.
Puzzled at first, the soldiers soon realized what was going on and began to focus on the ambush party.
Martin turned its attention to the aerial H/K. Finding weaknesses that only another machine would know, Martin was able to take out one of its searchlights and hit it several times in the engines.
The H/K started loosing altitude and flew off to get out of the line of fire.
Still uncertain, the soldiers began to look for their unseen rescuers.
Sally started to get up but Martin motioned for her to stay down, "They don't know who we are, if they don't realize that we're friends they might start shooting."
It stood up, flashlight in hand and waved at the soldiers, "We're on your side! Over here!"
Whoever was in charge of the group waved for them to come over. Sally stood up crying with relief. Ecstatic with the prospect of rescue she acted without thinking and hugged Martin.
It looked down at her unable to comprehend such bizarre human behavior, "For what reason are you sad?"
Suddenly aware of what she was doing Sally pulled back, "I'm not sad you idiot. I'm crying because I'm happy."
She laughed as she said this, there were some things about humans that Martin would never understand.
Still crying and laughing Sally ran to her rescuers. Even Martin picked up its pace though it was impossible to tell whether it did this because of being rescued or simply to keep up with Sally.
Once they were with the group they were on the move again. The officer in charge questioned them as they went, Sally was unable to figure out his rank as the uniforms at each base differed slightly. Plus ranks were another thing she had a hard time remembering.
"Who are you and what the hell are you doing here?"
This was her chance. She'd tell all about the attack on her base and Martin and the journey… and Martin… She'd have to explain all about Martin and that would be the end of it.
Taking a deep breath Sally began, "I'm Private Sally Green from Base fifty-nine, the one about eighty miles from here."
She looked up at the officer helplessly, how could she possibly explain all that had happened to her?
He nodded, "We lost contact with fifty-nine four or so days ago, what happened?"
Closing her eyes against the tears Sally continued, "We were attacked and everyone", she choked wondering if she'd be able to say anything, "and everyone was, oh god, they were all killed. I was the only survivor."
The officer patted her on the shoulder comfortingly. Then he turned to Martin, "And you are?"
It remained silent, looking at Sally for a cue.
Now was the time, Sally had to explain what Martin was. It was now or never.
"That's Martin, I don't know his last name or his rank. He got hit on the head and can't remember much."
The words came out in a rush before Sally could stop herself. Afterwards she felt exhausted as if the entire ordeal had caught up with her at once.
The officer shook his head in disbelief, "And you two made it all this way. Amazing."
Sally had fell back a few steps to be next to Martin. She'd done it, there was no way of telling what she'd done had been right or wrong, but she'd done it.
Taking his hand in hers she smiled at him. He returned the smile. It was a perfect imitation, but it was still an imitation, his eyes showed no emotion.
Some people would consider what she'd done wrong, but Sally attempted to justify her actions by telling herself that Martin had saved her life and she was just returning the favor.
Their arrival at the base was expected, the information having already been radioed in.
Sally went in before Martin and looked around. There were people gathered to greet the returning soldiers, probably family and friends grateful for their safe return. Three dogs sniffed eagerly at the returning soldiers. For Sally it was a wonderful, comforting experience.
Then all hell broke loose.
The dogs had begun barking madly. Sally spun around realizing what was going on.
Martin and three of the soldiers were stopped at the entrance, a dog handler instructing them to put down their weapons.
If she didn't think of something fast they were going to figure out what Martin was and since she'd claimed to know him she'd be in deep trouble.
"Martin!" Sally called out praying her plan would work, "Put the guns down and get the hell out of there. The dogs smell something!"
Martin was quick to do as told and started to move away from the dogs. One of the soldiers tried to stop him, but one of the dogs lunged and knocked him down while trying to get at Martin.
In the confusion he managed to make his way over to Sally. Together they watched as the dog handlers attempted to restore order.
Eventually the barking stopped and the handlers apologized for the false alarm once it was obvious that there was no Terminator.
One of the handlers reasoned that sometimes the dogs would smell metal and oil on people and get nervous. The soldier explained it as 'that damn animal always did have it in for me'.
Sally knew she had given up her last chance to feign ignorance about Martin, but she didn't regret it. Martin had been her companion and, in a way her, friend. On the journey he'd protected her from the machines, now it was her turn to protect him from the soldiers.
A person had to look out for their friends even if it meant doing something risky or making a choice that other people wouldn't understand.
In the end it was the situations like this that really determined what made people different from machines.