And he wonders sometimes, if he is a soldier, or a weapon. A weapon is a tool, it has no choice, it is always this tool it cannot escape from being this tool, and it can only be this tool that can only serve its one purpose. A soldier has a life outside the use of his weapon.
--------------------------
She slept and he watched her breath. Making sure her lungs took in the air, the little sacs sent the oxygen to her blood, and the blood to the rest of the body. This was a flaw in all organic creatures, so many numerous systems, so many things that could go wrong, and if one failed, another soon would, and another, and another, until all shut down. But humans do not reboot after such a shut down, they cannot be brought back from sleep, for such a sleep is death. He knew extensive knowledge on the human body. How to create a fatal wound, or a wound that will cause undetectable internal bleeding so the victim will die a slow death. He could recall not being too picky about how he killed. Others sometimes preferred to stab the heart or skull directly. Tyler did not care, often he'd just slice them in half in one swinging motion that he felt was not only functional but intimidating. And this is true, T-1000s did have different opinions on small matters.
So he watched her in that little make shift hospital, watched her breath in and breath out, watched and listened to the vibration the thumps of her heart made, listened to the sound the blood made as it flowed throughout her. Could feel the electrical sensations in her nervous system. Made sure she was still there with him.
It was so quiet then. He could not understand it. Thousands of soldiers and every one of them silenced, true it was night and most slept, but this was upon the eve of great peril. Yet there was no sound, no echo, no vibrations. Only the sick occasionally moaned out in pain, or moved in their uncomfortable sleep. He felt them on the floor and the most in need in beds. He felt their heartbeats as well, and he felt a couple die out and sleep forever. He listened to heartbeats strong and weak, and could almost tell you how many beats that heart would go through until it stopped. He felt someone, heavier than the others, the heart straining, and he knew the man had cancer. He could hear another, blood rushing quicker than the others, a wound in his leg that was crippling.
And he watched as his hand stuck to the railing of Ellie's bed, unable to control its form, unable to change it. Handicapped, broken, malfunctioning. It caused alarm, and Ellie would have said he was scared of this new development. His body was malfunctioning, his body was him, his mind and all. The T-1000 is a creature of the body, the body is everything, it gives sight, it gives hearing, it gives speech, it gives movement, and touch, and all the things that allowed them to live. Humans live with a mind that thinks it is separate from the body, that the mind can overcome the limitations of the body, it can make the body do what it was not meant to. It would be difficult for Tyler to explain to a human his form of existence. His body was his mind, there was no separation. Sure he could think ahead, and imagine, and remember, but this depended much more on the status of the body. The body was everything, and now that everything was not working. His body was dysfunctional it meant so was his mind. He wondered how severe the damage was, but could not find anything mentally wrong yet. Yet he feared a total memory erase through some mishap, get reverted back to his former self, all he had learned would be gone, all memory would be gone. He would willingly kill all he saw before him, and go to the T-X only to unknowingly die at the hands of his Mother. That is, if he knew even that much. Perhaps he would even forget the skill of maintaining shape and he would exist forever as a mere metal puddle.
He saw that happen to many of his brothers during wars with the T-X. Some T-X were equipped with a molecular distabilizer, attacks the very molecules they are made of, sends an electrical surge through them, overloading them, taking away any control the T-1000 had. And they would be reduced to a puddle of something that once was alive. Tyler can think of no worst way to die, because you aren't really dead, you're just nothing. There were lucky ones sometimes, that were able to get the infected molecules out before the surge spread throughout the body and the mind. T-1000s would be walking around with complete holes in their body, not wanting to fill the hole, wanting to show the others what has been done to them, what has been taken. A scar that is glorified, a gap made to remind others what they were fighting for.
He stopped himself. These things were mere possibilities, when such malfunctions come they will be dealt with, but not now. Now he watched as she breathed in and breathed out.
And among her breathing, her heartbeat, and her blood, and all the other heartbeats and blood flows, and moans he felt footsteps.
He looked up to see Kate down the hallway, too dark to really see her, but he didn't see that way anyway, but he felt her steps and knew already it was her. He knew her walk, he knew how much weight she took in each step, and he knew how she breathed and how that effected her walk. She was trying to be quiet, but he heard all things. She saw him looking at her and so she began to walk over to him.
"How is she?" Kate asked.
"Fine." Tyler said. "I hurt her." Simple words, there was no need to mask what he had done.
"John told me."
Tyler looked down, shamed but not emoting it in the least. He looked back up to Kate who was going to a large shelf on the opposite wall. And that's when he noticed there was something different about her. Something different in her step and the way she moved, something so very small, so very hard to feel.
Tyler stood up and looked at her. She noticed his staring and looked over.
"What?" She asked.
Tyler tilted his head and approached her slowly.
"What is it, Tyler?" She asked firmly.
He came closer and she stood her ground.
"Tyler."
He leaned close to her, and searched her up and down, and finally stepped away.
"You're pregnant." Tyler said.
Kate stared at him for a moment before going back to looking at the shelf, moving things around, getting out a small box of medical nonsense. She placed it on the top before getting up and sighing. She turned to him.
"You're a freaking pregnancy test too?" She said, frustrated.
"I did not mean to offend." Tyler said.
Kate put her head to the wall, wiping her eyes. Tyler walked up to her, tilting his head, and placed his hand on her belly. She jumped a little and made a small sound of shock. She looked back up to his emotionless face and knew he didn't mean to do anything wrong.
"Just a few cells big." He said. "Healthy, growing fast I assure you." He told her. "Sex is impossible to tell, but I know if you want to…"
"No." She said.
Tyler nodded, understanding.
"And you will teach this child well?" Tyler asked.
"Of course."
"The act of war?"
"The act of surviving a war."
"And you will fear for this child?"
"Every moment."
"And you will love this child?"
"With all my heart."
"Ellie has never spoken to me about her mother. Only her brother. It is instinctive is it not for humans to care for the child? Why did Ellie's not?"
"Why so many questions?"
"It seems to be the perfect time to ask them."
Tyler lied. Tyler was malfunctioning in body and mind, there was something off. In all that he felt there was something wrong inside. Something that did not feel normal, an itch he suspected a human would describe it as. But in the end he was hurt, and he could not be suspected to work properly anymore. He could not be relied on to always be there, or take care of her. He was worried for her well-being with him. He just wanted to know how to better care for her now, how to train himself to be better at this human thing.
He waited for her to answer. But she said nothing else. And so Tyler began to speak again.
"This one." Tyler said looking at her belly, breaking the silence. "This one I was supposed to kill."
Kate then immediately backed away from him. Tyler put his hands up slowly to show he would do her no harm.
"This one will do great things. This one will cause us…the machines a lot of trouble. I am not successful in my mission if that's what you're afraid of. No, something else came up." He told her. "You should proud."
"I am. Or, I will be." Kate said.
"You will be a good mother." He told her. "You will care for this one, and you will teach this one how to survive this place, and you will teach this one to remember the world before all this."
It was enough to make Kate smile, but she quickly contained herself in front of him, and looked up.
"Listen, do you think you can kill that T-X?" She asked him.
"I think with your help we can." Tyler told her.
"She might infiltrate us."
"I will know."
"She could become you."
Tyler was struck back, for he had not yet considered that possibility.
"Her objective is not to kill John, I do not see why she would do that." He told Kate.
Kate nodded.
"We planned today, John and I, and our leaders. We will need your expertise tomorrow and then we will have a day to rest and pack, then we'll leave. It should take us just a few days, then we will rest, and then we will fight. There will be a second army on its way, but they should meet with us a day after we attack. We will not wait for them, we will not let Sky Net attack and regroup first. And listen, I'm going to give you a name, and each time you see me you will say this name to me and I will know it's you."
"That is good." Tyler agreed.
Kate walked up closer to him, and out of good habit stood onto her toes to whisper in his ear, even though she knew he didn't hear through his ears. He complied with her and bent his head down to her.
"Crystal Peak." She told him.
Then she walked off.
And that's about the time Ellie yawned into the waking world, stretching and looking up at Tyler from her pillow.
"Kate's pregnant?" She asked.
"You heard that?" Tyler was surprised.
"I came in there for that last part." She nodded. "Is it…is it Lieutenant…"
"Yes."
"Oh cool!" Ellie smiled.
Tyler sat down next to Ellie, who sat up.
"We're heading out soon?" Ellie asked.
Tyler nodded.
"I'm scared." Ellie smiled, trying to make it a joke.
"Me too." Tyler admitted.
"How ya gonna kill the T-X?" Ellie asked.
"I don't know."
"You can do it."
Ellie nodded and scooted closer to him.
"I know you can. You're gonna kill her, and we're gonna go home." She said determined, and lacking in doubt.
She hugged him.
----------------
The soldiers were beginning to transport the sick, preparing them for the great trek they were all about to take. Ellie woke up with Tyler carrying her. She jumped up and looked up at him.
"They needed your bed." Tyler told her.
He carried her out into the main room where the thousands of soldiers before them were now all moving, hustling to get everything, to prepare everything. Ellie grabbed Tyler closely for there were too many people, Tyler could barely walk through them. They didn't notice him that much or her, they got only a couple looks, but everyone stayed to themselves. Some were packing, some prayed together, some were doing target practice outside. Tyler saw John standing up on the roof of an office above everyone, watching everyone, so he naturally began to walk towards him.
John saw them coming and jumped down, and met them half way through their trek, and motioned for them to follow him outside. John had a rifle strapped to his back, and was eating something out of a plastic bag.
Ellie jumped down when they got outside, in the morning night, and walked over to John.
"Good morning." John said.
"Morning." Ellie replied.
"Hungry?"
John handed the baggie filled with some sort of strange substance in it.
"What is it?" she asked.
"Oatmeal."
She shook her head, and John nodded, understanding.
"John I was told we were to go over your plans today." Tyler told him.
"Kate's got some morning sickness," John told Tyler, "We will wait for her. Besides, I'm still waking up." John stretched out his arms. "I would however, like to ask if we should be expecting a battle?"
"Yes."
"And how large?"
"Sky Net will divide the nearest army, half will come here for you and trail you, half will go for the T-X." Tyler theorized. "The trailing army will most likely be two days behind you if we leave tonight."
"Tonight?" John seemed disturbed.
"Yes."
"For the best, I suppose."
"The army following the T-X will be divided themselves into groups searching for the T-X, once they make it to the base, they will regroup and stand guard, if they beat her there."
John nodded.
"Well in that case, if we are to leave tonight, I would very much like it if you inspected my soldiers, and gave them your approval."
Tyler looked at him oddly.
"A machine's approval would mean a lot to me." John smiled.
Tyler looked at Ellie, and she nodded, and shrugged. Tyler stood for a second without moving, but Ellie ran over to him and hugged him.
"Go ahead, it's okay!" She told him.
Tyler was still weary, he feared that John was going to use Ellie against him in some way. John with all his smiles did not seem to like him very much, especially since John knew he was malfunctioning, and understood what happened when a T-1000 malfunctioned probably more than he did. Perhaps this was too extreme but Tyler did not like it nonetheless. But Ellie hugged him, and she told him to go. So he did.
And when he was gone, Ellie turned back to John and ran up to him.
"You keep wanting to talk to me alone." She told him.
"Well there's a lot to talk about." John replied. "This is it you know?" He gestured to the world. "There's gonna be some fighting. Do you know how to shoot a gun?"
Ellie didn't like where this was going, and shook her head.
"You were born in this war and you don't know how to use a gun?" He seemed surprised.
"We didn't have working guns." She said.
"My mom taught me since the day I was born. She trained me for this time you know. So I knew like, everything about guns, I thought it was how everyone lived."
"That's silly."
"Yeah, it was. So I was thinking, you should know, just in case something happens."
"Like what?"
"I don't know, but you should know."
Ellie didn't like this. It was as if they were admitting something bad was going to happen, something out of step, and wrong. She didn't think this would happen, she grew up on stories of John Connor's crusades, and his army, they were invincible to her, she didn't understand why they attacked her, or why John was admitting this. This army did everything they set out to do, or so the stories told. She didn't want to learn how to use a gun, she didn't want to have to learn how to use a gun.
It was then John took a small automatic gun from his back and he sat down on the ground, and gestured for her to walk over. She did and sat next to him.
---------------------
Tyler walked among the soldiers, noting their small conversations and appearances, how they laughed and spoke, how they blinked, and moved, a T-X could become anyone of these men, and he was trying to note each major characteristic they had. T-1000s he felt were much better at appearing human, he knew how to fake a laugh when he infiltrated human bases. He knew how to joke, and tell stories, and to cough, and seem angry or sad. He knew the difference between appearing tired and exhausted. T-1000s were incredible actors, and if the machine were ever to develop an appreciation for emotions T-1000s would surely showcase what they appeared to be for others. T-Xs were not so good at this acting, they did not possess that much skill to control their liquid metal, nor did they understand emotions like he did. If a T-X were to infiltrate them, he would know.
He also began observing the soldiers in a new way, he was examining their capabilities as human weapons. He saw the youthful strong men, the boys that would have been in high school still in a different era. He saw their bones that could be broken and easily fixed. And he saw the older men, men who had more to fight for, though weaker, they were more driven because they remember what the machines did, what they took. He saw the women laughing with the men, women who couldn't help but be compared to Sarah Connor. Women on their own, cuddled up together, or women cuddled up with men. There were two, perhaps more, of people who were having sex right there, merely a blanket to cover them, out there with everyone else, there was no where else they could be anyway. Tyler assumed this was normal behavior, as they loved each other, and this may be the last time such an action could be done for a long time. Tyler had heard that another T-1000 was forced to have intercourse with a human woman to make sure he did not arouse suspicion, upon questioning and sharing of the experiences, Tyler discovered the act quite sensational, probably the most experience of touch a human being could go through. He found this odd, as the act of sex was a very essential act, and he did not understand why it was so pleasing, for it did not have to be.
Tyler did not know how to judge the men. Humans were odd things, their appearances were deceiving. Ellie, a mere child, had survived years on her own, when grown men at prime of life probably could not have.
Tyler then noticed that he could not feel his feet, and this made him afraid.
Someone came towards him and because his feet were not working, he did not feel the man until he was so close a human could have felt it. He came from behind and he turned to see the man, who held a gun to his head. The man stared at him and pushed the gun forward into his head, and he shot it. Some people screamed, not too many did, they mainly just looked over, not afraid, not shocked. Tyler fell over from the close range shock, nearly headless. Then the man shot him again, and again, and again.
"Blood hell, man!" Said the Englishman who came running with a group of others. "What the fuck you doing!?"
"West, stop it!" Someone yelled. "If nothing you're wasting fucking ammo!"
"This piece of shit is gonna kill us!" The man named West yelled.
"Don't piss of John, West! It's protecting that girl remember!?"
"I wouldn't be surprised if that girl was fucking machine too!"
"Shut the fuck up!"
Tyler was having difficulty reshaping his face. The face and clothing were the two most difficult things in shape shifting. Clothing because it constantly needed reshaping as he moved, the folds and all, and the face because it too needed reshaping constantly. Eyes needed to blink, and hair needed to move in the wind, the mouth needed to correspond with the voice, emotions were shown through the face, and eyes had to have this twinkle of life within them that Tyler could not describe. Now with his disability it was increasingly difficult.
"LET ME KILL IT!" West was screaming.
Tyler heard more gunfire but could not see it. He was afraid it was fired at him, because he could not feel the bullets enter.
But it was Kate Brewster, she fired into the air and got everyone's attention.
"Soldier West!" She yelled. "I think you need to rest until you get his head straight."
West stared at her, and thought about pointing the gun at her, but lowered his head.
"Get him to the psychiatrist." She told his friends, and they ran off.
Tyler had formed half his face, and he was able to see what had happened. Kate walked over to him, and kneeled down beside him. He was able to form a silver liquid mouth.
"Crystal Peak." He said, distorted as he had yet to form vocal cords.
-------------------
John Connor held Ellie by her shoulder as she supported her stance and held the gun, the heaviest thing she had probably ever forced herself to carry for such an extended amount of time. John Connor slowly backed away, letting her stand on her own.
"Aim for the can." He reminded her.
Ellie aimed for the can. She fired and fell back from the sheer force of the gun. She hit the can, and sent John Connor laughing.
-----------------
"Why does he want to speak with her?" Tyler asked Kate.
"Cause they have something in common." Kate explained. "They both had Terminators."
"Had?"
"You know what I mean. John has had a hard time with it, having…loved a machine as a father. And here's someone else going through it. Not only that, he's seeing her has a symbol of everything he's working for. I think we all are."
Kate and Tyler had taken to waiting for John and Ellie just beside the entrance to the outside. Kate sat with her knees to her chest, staring out at her soldiers. Hers as much as her husband's.
"Tyler." She said.
"Yes?"
"No, what if I named my baby Tyler. It's a boy and girl name."
Tyler didn't say anything.
"I like the name." She explained.
Tyler raised his eyebrows and looked away, and she laughed.
"But that's not what I'm gonna name it am I?" Kate asked.
Tyler shook his head.
"How do you know? What if your presence here is disturbing our timeline?" She was joking.
"So far Time has presented itself as a very difficult thing to disturb. Judgment Day still happened, the Machines still lost." Tyler explained.
"I'd be naming the baby after you." She said.
"I'm named after a brother. I suggest if you are, and you aren't, to name this baby Tyler, you name it after the brother." Tyler said.
"All right fine. If I ever have a cat, Tyler, I like cats, see I was a veterinarian before all this, if I ever have a cat I'll name it Tyler after you and the brother."
Tyler felt honored.
"Ellie's a nice name too." Kate said. "What do you think?"
"Names are insignificant to me. We did not need names. And I can tell a human being apart from each other without them."
"Well why do you have a name?"
"Ellie said T-1000 didn't…roll off the tongue." He remembered.
"Smart kid."
-------------------
Ellie was once again aiming a gun, a smaller hand held gun that John said he was going to give her. She didn't like the sound of that, she was going to give it to Tyler for safekeeping, as she didn't think she'd remember the safety switch. Ellie aimed for a can, and fired.
She turned back to get feedback from John, but he had his back turned. She ran over to him and found that he was staring at a man. A young man in fact, drinking the cleanest water you could find at the time, with a woman, and joking with her. Ellie couldn't tell what they were talking about, but it required the man to make huge hand gestures that made the woman laugh.
"Who are they?" Ellie asked.
"Oh, no one." John said.
"Nuh uh, who are they?"
John raised his head and looked down at the girl.
"Can you keep a secret?" He asked, and she nodded. "Those are my grandparents." He said.
At first Ellie squinted at this, very confused, but then looked back at the happy couple. John started walking off on his own, aiming his gun at something small and insignificant but shiny so he could aim. Ellie ran back to him.
"You mean, that's Kyle Reese's Dad!?" She asked.
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Next Chapter coming soon. What's Kate gonna name her first baby? Guess now!
Sorry for the long time it took to get this up. I seriously had half this chapter written and then I trashed it, it was terrible, and I started over like three times.
