Marcus was taken to a highly lit room, and placed on a medical table. There were glass screens all around him. Suddenly the face of a woman appeared to him; it was the same doctor that had him fill out forms before his execution.
"I know you," Marcus recalled.
"We have taken the image of Dr. Serena Kogan, because it is the easiest one for you to process. We are Skynet," the screen said.
"What is Skynet?" Marcus asked confused.
"We are a self aware computer system developed by Cyberdyne and later the US Air force. We resurrected you for a purpose. You are an advance infiltration unit. The only one of your kind. You will target John Connor and terminate him," Skynet ordered.
"Terminate? You mean kill?" Marcus asked disbelieving.
"Affirmative. You will infiltrate the Resistance and kill John Connor. You will then target and terminate Kyle Reese," Skynet ordered.
"Wait…I don't think I want to do this," Marcus objected.
"You are a killer Marcus. You are meant to kill but this time you will kill for a purpose," Skynet told him.
"So, that's why you resurrected me? No thanks," Marcus declined.
Suddenly Marcus fell to the floor in agony as every nerve in his body was triggered. He clutched his head as he felt the worse headache he had ever felt in his life. The room was filled with Marcus' screams.
"You are a cybernetic organism. You have the attributes of human and machine; a hybrid of sort. You are a prototype for our T-800 model. You will comply," Skynet said.
"Bitch…," Marcus cursed as he regained his senses.
Marcus suddenly stopped moving and then suddenly stood up. He raised his hand and outstretched his fingers like they were a claw. Marcus struggled to control his arm but could not. "We can control your body and your senses Marcus. If you terminate John Connor, you will regain back control," Skynet said.
"Alright. How do I find this John Connor. I don't even know what he looks like," Marcus said defeated.
"You will receive detailed files. You can access these files in your brain," Skynet informed him.
"When do I start?" Marcus asked.
John Connor gave a withdrawn fatigued look as some of his technicians tried to control a captured Hydrobot. Cameron watched without emotion off to the side. They finally strapped the robotic snake to the table pinning it.
"Execute the signal block," Connor ordered softly.
The technicians turned the signal blocker on which immediately deactivated the Hydrobot. Connor nodded at the success of the signal blocker. "We're going to need to field test this."
"I will create a list of volunteers," a Sergeant said helpfully.
"No, I want to test it personally. Find me a Hunter Killer," Connor ordered.
"What about this?" a technician asked of the Hydrobot.
"Destroy it," Connor ordered and then left the room.
After John had left the room, Kate joined him in the hallway. "You should be more encouraging. You are their leader," she said.
"I am no leader. I didn't ask for this rank. I am just some punk who managed to escape Judgment Day," he said dismissively.
"You're alive because my father trusted you with classified access codes," she rebuked angrily.
John sighed as he realized he had touched a sensitive issue. "The closer I am with these people, the more it hurts me. Do you know how many people I have had to tell them their father, mother, son, or daughter are dead because of me?" John said sadly.
"You're not the same guy I met at the vet clinic. You know these machines better than anyone and that's why people trust you. That's why people trust you with her," Kate said referring to Cameron.
"And what about that? What if I made a mistake and she kills us all?"
"I don't believe that. The Terminator that protected us would never do that," she said.
"You still don't know anything about these things," he said stalking off.
Marcus walked aimlessly until he reached the ruins of a Los Angeles suburb. He felt an eerie feeling that Skynet was watching every move he was making. He looked around in amazement at the destroyed streets and rubble left behind from the nuclear war. He saw a figure in the distance walking towards him. "Hey!" he shouted at it.
The figure suddenly began spraying bullets in his direction. Marcus was quickly dropped by a masked figure with goggles as the bullets went over their heads. The two quickly took cover from the machine fire from the T-600. Just as the Terminator moved forward enough, the masked figure pulled a lever dropping a number of metal pipes. The Terminator's leg got caught and immediately it hung upside down.
"Come with me if you want to live," the boy said to Marcus.
Even while upside down, the T-600 continued to fire sending a few bullets into Marcus' back. Marcus felt some pain but was not damaged by the shells. The two went inside a warehouse to gain additional cover. The T-600 blasted off the foot caught in the cable and fell to the ground with a thud. In then got back on its foot and stump and continued its pursuit of the two.
The boy quickly took a knife and sliced a rope. Immediately the wheels of a train car fell on the T-600 disabling it. The figure then took his shotgun and aimed at the remains for any sign it was still active. Satisfied it had been disabled, the boy then turned his shotgun on Marcus.
"You need to start talking," he said roughly. "Where did you get that jacket?"
"The other guy didn't need it," Marcus replied sarcastically.
"It's a resistance jacket. You're obviously not in the resistance so how do you get it. Did you steal it from one," the boy demanded.
"And what if I did?" Marcus smirked.
"Take it off!" he ordered.
Marcus suddenly swiped his shotgun away from him with terminator reflexes. "If you're going to threaten someone, you better be ready to pull the trigger," he lectured.
The boy stepped back as he realized his vulnerability. "What's your name kid?" Marcus asked.
"Kyle…Kyle Reese," he stuttered.
Marcus simply stared at the boy. "Tell me about the Resistance. How do you join?"
"You have to be selected," Kyle said lamely.
"Who decides it?"
"The Southern California Command under John Connor," Kyle answered.
Marcus nodding realizing how everything fit together. He threw the shotgun back to Kyle. "Tell me more about this John Connor."
John Connor approached his radio operator and glanced at the script he was about to read. After reading it over, he put it back down. "You know this is all bullshit right," Connor said to him.
"Yes, Sir," the radio operator replied.
"Then why do you write this crap?"
"The people need a symbol. They need someone to inspire them; give them hope for a better future. They need someone who can give them a destiny," the radio operator said.
"They form their own destiny," John muttered.
"Do you want me to change the script, Sir?"
"No…carry on," Connor said and then walked off towards his quarters.
Marcus worked to fix Kyle's radio while the youth ate coyote meat he had acquired for himself. Marcus didn't feel hungry and wondered if he ever would. He felt an intuition on how to fix the radio and finally put it together correctly.
"John Connor wants you all to know he values all of your lives, and he knows your suffering. John Connor destroyed a Terminator when he was only ten years old…," the radio began.
"You got it to work," Kyle said impressed.
"Yeah," Marcus responded as he listened intently.
"John Connor feels your struggle against the machines and feels for every death under his command…," the radio continued.
Marcus smiled as the propaganda continued. "Sounds like a superman," he said mockingly.
"If anyone can save us from the machines, it is John Connor," Kyle complimented.
"He's just a man. If he died tomorrow, someone else would replace him," Marcus objected.
"No, he's one of a kind. He knew about Judgment Day before it was going to happen."
"And how did he know that?" Marcus questioned.
Kyle gave Marcus a stumped look. "When you meet him yourself, you'll understand," he said.
The next morning, Marcus began working on a busted jeep. With his mechanical intuition, he fixed the truck and immediately the radio started up. "What's that?" Kyle wondered.
"We better shut that off," Marcus advised as it would gain attention to themselves.
Kyle was about to get into the driver's seat when Marcus stopped him. "You want to get there fast without being detected? I'll drive."
As they drove, a Skynet probe was monitoring them from afar as Kyle led Marcus towards the Resistance headquarters.
"We are detecting a motor vehicle approaching one of the Resistance headquarters," an analyst reported to Connor.
"That's unusual. How often does this happen?" Connor asked.
"This is the first time in six months," the analyst recalled. "There is higher than usual Skynet activity in the area," another analyst reported.
"Probably related," Connor figured.
"What do we do?" one of them asked.
"We use them as bait. Lt. Philips and Lt. Williams suit up and prepare the birds," Connor ordered.
Two A-10 Jets accelerated towards the Hunter Killers following Marcus' truck. Marcus sped down the highway seemingly oblivious he was being followed. Kyle looked around frequently with a paranoid stare.
"It's too quiet out there," he said.
"What do you mean?" Marcus asked.
"We haven't been spotted or anything, and we've been on the road for hours," Kyle noticed.
"Isn't that a good thing?"
John Connor looked over the map. "They've never been this far deep before. What kind of ship is that?"
"One Hunter Killer and a prisoner transport ship. We've been seeing more activity with those recently," an analyst pointed out.
"You are free to engage," Connor permitted.
Lt. Williams aimed and fired two missiles on the Hunter Killer. One of the engines was critically hit; the ship went into a spin and hit the wall of the canyon hard. The ship fell into the river exploding on impact.
"Proceed with the prisoner transport ship," Connor ordered.
"Sir?" Williams protested.
"Take the shot," Connor pressed.
Williams declined to take the shot. Philips aimed and fired on the slower moving ship. The missiles hit the prisoner transport ship causing explosions to rush through it. A Hunter Killer escaped from its belly before it completely exploded.
Connor sat back in his chair with a sunken face. The two A-10 fighters went passed the Hunter Killer and turned around for another swing. The Hunter Killer pursued Lt. Philips jet firing on it. Cameron ejected just as her jet exploded. The Hunter Killer then went for Williams' jet.
The expert pilot struggled to avoid the Hunter Killer and was hit to the engine. "She's been hit, Sir," the analyst told an expressionless Connor.
Williams stayed in her jet even as it caught fire and then ejected at last minute. The jet slammed into the canyon wall. The Hunter Killer was pulled into the explosion and crashed into the canyon wall as well. Its remains fell into the river.
"Good work. Keep me informed," Connor told the analysts.
