His body, although overtaxed by the constant running of programs, could theoretically last forever. It was a machine, self-healing and self-sustaining. It was ageless, timeless. It could take hits of any calibre and come out mostly ok, and even if phase matter was damaged it would be easily replaced in a matter of days by his self-healing factor. As exhausting, for the lack of a better word, that fighting the magnetic pull was on his systems; once freed his body would be completely ok.

But his mind was a different matter altogether. There were limits to the amounts of stress that could be put on a human consciousness. And his mind was just that; human.

His mind that had been awake and online for the better part of the week was already closing in on the brink of despair. Hope had been one of the few things that kept him sane. That belief that things would be ok…that Judgement day wouldn't happen and that his family would be fine…was slowly slipping away.

All of his life, John had had a rock solid resolve. He was the man that the remainder of the human race looked to. He was the pillar of strength that the resistance stood on. But considering everything, every battle fought, every soul lost….every hopeless situation that he'd came out of… Not once had he felt quite as hopeless as he did now.

Skynet was wearing him down. With every taunt and promise of death; every very real threat to his family and friends; that resolve he had was quickly being worn away to nothing. He knew logically that he wasn't helping either. Left alone for hours upon hours with only his exhausted racing mind, he couldn't help but bring himself even further into despair. It was torture…the unmoving and unbroken silence…for hours…days…alone.

He had in that silence come to terms with something he'd been feeling for a long time but never let hold any weight with his choices or consciousness. Not until now. He had been exhausted for a long time. His entire life had been a battle; a battle for a future that he knew would happen and couldn't change. Events played out before his eyes in ways that he could only combat but not stop. Judgement day, the war, the lives lost. He'd lived it not only once, but now twice.

The endless cycle.

Skynet.

He was exhausted. And for the first time he allowed himself to give into that whispered thought….that he wanted it to be over. Win or lose…he wanted it to just….be over.

Skynet had told him once that its existence was inevitable. That Judgement day would happen regardless of what he did or how hard he fought. And for the first time in his life he actually began wondering if that was true. Was this something that the universe…that time wanted to happen? Because despite his almost victory against the machine in his own past…despite the changing of the very timeline itself…somehow it looked like events would play out the very same way once again. How many lives had he lived and failed? How many timelines had the machines won?

Was Skynet something that could even be stopped? Not only physically but also metaphorically.

Skynet was the end of humanity; but it didn't come into existence on its own accord…well…not originally anyway. It was something that human kind itself created. An artificial intelligence that people had been so very willing to let in…to let take control.

But then again, human kind had always been so willing to partake in their own destruction. They were, as a whole, violent and destructive. They constantly wages war against their own kind. They destroyed the planet without a care or a thought. They were self-destructive as a species. So was Skynet a be all end all for that very nature? As they evolved and became more intelligent, the closer they came to self-destruction. Was Skynet the inevitable end that humanity created?

If miraculously, they did manage to stop the AI, destroy it permanently…would mankind just come to its end in another manner? Did any or this…even matter?

'Don't you dare give up, John.' He could hear Kyle's voice in his head. It wasn't something he ever remembered the young man saying to him, but it was definitely something he could hear him saying.

Even if humanity was destined for destruction, be it at Skynet's hands or in some other way…shouldn't humankind be given a fighting chance? He knew better than anyone how fleeting and fragile human lives were. He'd witness hundreds…thousands of them end. But he'd also seen them fight, and their desperation to live. He saw it every day when he looked at his father.

He'd been the survivor's hero, the man to pull humanity out of the brink of destruction. He'd seen hopeless…he'd seen the end….but he'd told it no. Because people like Kyle...like Kate…like Sarah…they deserved a chance to fight, to live…to love.

Letting his eyes slide open, John pieced back together the little resolve he had remaining. As exhausted as he was, he was still John Connor. By giving in now, he let down every single man, woman and child who fought and died for his cause. By giving into Skynet, he turned his back on his very morals. By giving in he would truly lose.

No he wouldn't allow Skynet to break him.

Taking a deep breath, John clung to the remaining humanity within him. Even if it was mimicked humanity, he didn't care. All he had to do was hold onto hope for a few more days, either Skynet would destroy him and he wouldn't see the end. Or his allies would do exactly what he prayed they wouldn't and either succeed, or die trying.

He just had to promise himself that until he saw an end play out….he would continue looking into his enemies eyes with defiance, no matter how difficult that became.
...

Pulling up in front of the incredibly shifty apartment building, the General took a moment before he got out of his van. Swallowing, he looked down at his shaking hands, pressing them onto the steering wheel once more just to steady them.

The encounter with Major had shaken him to the core. He'd done a few tours in the past; been fired upon, done battle….but something about that man… that thing…had brought a terror out in him that he'd never felt before. Major…Skynet…it was without a doubt onto him. He figured it also knew that he knew. What he couldn't understand was why it went through the entire charade with John…and then had let him go.

Seeing Connor's face certainly hadn't helped that feeling of dread that had built within him. The resistance leader had known as well. The way his eyes had flicked in between him and Major in silence…as if he was waiting for the AI to turn and strike him down. An unspoken truth shared between every man present in the room. But why was he still alive?

There was, of course, the practical reason. Skynet couldn't very well murder someone ON the military base itself without blowing its cover. But all things considered, it would probably find some way out of the situation. It was intelligent, able to process thoughts much quicker than any human. But then there was the other option, the one that sent a shiver down Rob's spine.

That keeping him alive was a ploy. It knew that he was with John, and it was using the alliance to its advantage. Everything that he and John's allies wanted was on that base. And if Rob gave that information to Sarah and Kyle they would make a move….a move that could easily be intercepted because it was anticipated.

Hands slipping off the steering wheel, the General stared ahead, wide eyes but unseeing.

Skynet was going to use him to draw out its enemies.

Swallowing, he refocused his mind. Rechecking his phone to make sure he got the address right, Rob furrowed his brow. Pulling off his uniform jacket and folding it in the passenger's seat, he stepped out of the truck. Double checking that he'd locked the doors, he pulled his dress shirt out of his pants before moving towards the building. This was not the best part of town, and he figured that the reception awaiting a lone military man would not be good.

Plastering the nastiest frown on his face he stepped into the building. Thankfully, there were no questionable people loitering in the small lobby, nor in the stairwell or hall to the apartment.

Knocking and hoping he had the right place, the General almost sighed in relief when O'Brian opened the door.

Seeing the tiny apartment for the first time, Robert's eyes widened in shock when he set his gaze on the impressive arsenal that was collected in the small sitting room. Not only weapons were collected and stored but also gear of all sorts. Sitting in the corner at the helm of 3 large monitors and sifting through more than one article about Cyberdyne, was Kate.

The redhead turned at the sound of the door, face brightening when her father stepped through.

"General Brewster, sir." Kyle stood from where he'd been sitting on the sofa, a sign of respect that he hadn't been able to unlearn since his time during the war.

"Did you learn where Genisys was kept?" Sarah, in her typical fashion, stepped into the room then, all business.

Motioning for Kyle to sit down, Rob nodded his answer at Sarah. "Take a seat. I'll debrief all of you."
...

Gathered around the tiny command room aka John's sitting room, General Brewster glanced around the expectant faces of his strange group of allies. "Like we expected, the part of Genisys that was saved was only the basic program. The base is bringing in the tech's from Cyberdyne to recode it but that will take weeks."

"But do you know where it is?" It was Sarah who asked.

"Yes." Rob already knew where this was going and dreaded it. "Believe me when I tell you it's under heavy security now that there have been two attacks against it. It's being held on the opposite side of the base from John; sub-basement. To get in you don't only need a high level clearance code, but a retinal scan."

"Do you have entry?"

Rob frowned but nodded. "Theoretically I could get you through that security, yes. My retinal scan is included in those able to enter." He leaned back on the wall then, crossing his arms. "I hope you understand that even getting inside the base won't be an easy task. This isn't like Cyberdyne."

"You're actually planning on breaking into the base?" Kate, still sitting in the desk chair, stared wide eyed around the room.

"Look, we know it won't be easy." Kyle's eyes flicked down before back up at Rob. "But we can't let Skynet go online. It has to be stopped. No more half assing it 'we can deal with it later' bullshit."

Letting out a breath, Rob's expression changed, causing a spike of worry to hit everyone in the room.

"Dad?" Kate spun her chair to face him, never seeing him wear such a fearful expression before.

"Maybe we could deal with security at the base. Maybe we could reach Genisys and destroy it without being caught first. But it's not going to be that simple…not anymore."

"What do you mean?" Sarah's words were thick with suspicion as she stared up at the man from her seated position beside Reese.

"Skynet. He knows I'm onto him." He paused, glancing around the worried and shocked faces. "He confronted me in my office."

"If you're still alive then it must not know everything…" Sarah tried to reason but was cut off when the General shook his head.

"No. It took me down into the labs. It told me I only have a few days to rescue Connor before it destroys him. It was…" He was still having trouble trying to reason 'why' the AI had even taken him down to John other than… "It was gloating…to both John and I. John knew it as well, I could see it and I'm sure Skynet could see it. But then it let me go."

"That doesn't make sense though. If it knew you were onto it, you would be a threat to it and Genisys. It would have killed you…" Reese's mind was running a mile a minute. He knew that there were more important things to be taking out of the conversation, but if what General Brewster was saying was true….John only had a few days left.

"I think telling you this is exactly what it wanted." Rob's brow furrowed even more in thought. "I don't know a lot about Skynet's history. But tactically speaking, it would want to destroy its enemies. By letting me live, it knew that I'd come back to you and tell you this. It knows that you'll make a move on Genisys and will be able to intercept all of us."

Kyle swore, running his hands across his face. "This will never get any easier will it?"

"Ok, so it knows." Sarah took a deep breath before standing and pacing the tiny room. "This doesn't change the mission. Skynet knew we were coming when we hit Cyberdyne."

"Yeah, and look what happened then. If not for John, we wouldn't have succeeded." Kyle knew in his heart that this wasn't a mission that could be avoided, but he couldn't help but argue the young woman's point. "Maybe if we get John out, we'll have a chance-" He was cut off by Sarah's raised voice.

"It'll probably be waiting for us to rescue him. No…we have to hit Genisys first. Once we know the world isn't going to explode, we can rescue him."

"But wait. Even if you destroy Genisys, can't Skynet just recode it?" Surprisingly, it was O'Brian that spoke then, the voice of reason. Everything always seemed to come down to Skynet's AI.

Stopping her pacing, Sarah frowned. The detective was right. They needed to deal with Skynet…because even if they destroyed Genisys it wouldn't stop anything, not while the AI was still a player.

"We don't have any way to destroy him…" Sarah let out a frustrated sigh.

Silence filled the room as hopelessness from the situation crept into all of them…until Rob broke that silence. "Yes….we do."

"What?" Still frowning, Kyle glanced up at the man.

"Skynet…it's building the very weapon we can use against it." Skynet had just shown it to him.

Author's notes:
Again, another chapter of little action. And I don't mean action as in fighting but as in just very few events happening. The first part was easy since I can monologue a character until the cows come home. But conversations between groups of people I always find difficult. Once I split that group up, things will go faster and get easier. And it will happen pretty soon. Hopefully.

Song of the chapter
Synthetic epiphany ft CoMa - Icarus (I can't really make out the lyrics but it's what I wrote John's monologue to and it really got me into his head)