Chapter 3: 2000
It's good to see we're all making it into the new millennium without a hitch. No war against the machines, no nuclear fallout, no crumbled ruins, no scorched sky, none of that. Just clear skies, people civilizing, and life going on. All is well. Perhaps things will be alright. Maybe I have nothing to worry about. Maybe the Cyberdyne Incident did put an end to that possible future. If that were true, then why do I have these nightmares? In fact, why do I keep having the same one over and over again? I know it's not just a nightmare. I know it's a vision. It's a vision which gradually comes into focus. I doubt this is over.
If I'm going to survive this I cannot survive this alone. My mother always said I'm a natural leader, but I still don't believe it. If I'm going to lead any kind of resistance, I'm going to need help. I know just where to go. I have an old friend I went to school with. His name's Mike Cripkey. He's more of a leader type then me, I remember on all of our projects, any group that he was in, I'd participate in because he knew how to lead a group. He was a big party person too, he threw parties a lot, and whenever things would get out of hand, he'd take control of it. If I'm going to lead anything, I want him by my side.
Now if only I remembered where he was. It's been 6 years since I last saw him. I doubt he's going to remember me. It's always worth a try. This is why I'm at the library right now using their computers. I don't have much time, I don't have a card, so they'll usher me off. Looking on Super Pages, I need to find Mike Cripkey's address. Where is he. Ah! Found him! 9915 National Blvd. That's right next to I-10 on the Santa Monica Freeway. I know where that is. Here comes the librarian, I'm finished, I have his location, now I have to go see him.
As I ride up through the streets on my motorcycle, I think of ways I'm going to explain this whole thing to him. I have to explain the future, where I went, my absence, the rise of the machines, what happened to me, everything. I don't think he's going to believe me, nobody ever does. Nobody believed my mom, and from what she tells me, nobody believed my father. That's the reason my mom was in Pescadero, it was because of the truth of the Terminator. Nobody believed it.
Pulling up to his house, I forget try to figure out how I'm going to even get him to recognize me, I need to make a good introduction. I park my bike in his driveway and walk up to his house. It's much bigger then I remember. That's probably because it's been so long since I've seen it. I step up to his doorstep and knock.
*KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK* A tinny, robotic voice comes from a speaker to the right of his door. "Please state your name and business." "John Connor, reunion with Mike Cripkey?" "Please hold for authorization." After a few seconds of waiting, the door opens and I am shocked at what I see. It's a robot, but it looks like a butler, with a tophat, coat and tie, and everything. "Please come in, have a seat in the den, Master Cripkey will be with you shortly." I cannot believe I'm being ushered in by a robot. This can't be real. This must be remotely controlled. I take a seat in the den and wait a few minutes. Mike enters the den and sits across from me. He looks at me with bewilderment. "And you are.?" "John Connor. Aragon Elementary School? Went to one of your parties, disappeared the day after." "John! Long time no see! Where've you been??" I glance at the robot, who is now walking into the bathroom with a plunger in his right hand. I have to ask, "Wh-what is that?" "Oh, that's B. He's the best thing. My parents got him for Christmas. I don't have to do chores anymore, it's making our lives easier on us." "B? What is he, though?" "He's a servant droid. His actual name is B166ER but he knows himself as B." "Is he.remote control?" "No, it wouldn't be that much easier on us if he was now would it?" "So wait. he only does what he's programmed to do and what he's told?" "Not only that, whenever he finds something wrong around the house, he fixes it. We don't have to give him any instructions unless we really need something." "So wait, he's self-automated?" "Yup, he's a fully functional, self-sufficient, independent and artificially intelligent butler. Watch this. B, can I have 2 slices of pizza please?" From the bathroom, the tinny voice, "Yes master, 3 to 5 minutes sir." And it walks into the kitchen and starts to prepare the pizza, cutting up pepperoni and putting it on as a topping, then microwaving it. "That was very vague, how does it know how you like it?" "It's learned how I like my pizza made over time. It's noticed the repetition in the pattern of how I prefer it." "The thing learns???" "Well not really learning as much as detecting patterns and going with them. It's really the first of its kind."
I remember this. The last thing I saw that could do that was the Terminator. It had a chip inside of it that was essentially its brain. It could learn, and it took my orders. This. B166ER is basically a friendly Terminator. I still can't trust it. My god, they're still going in the same direction they were always going in, even before the incident.
"And who makes this?" "Some company I've never heard of, Cyberdyne or something" "Ok, I really have to talk to you now."
I proceed to tell him everything that happened to me since I left his party. I tell him about my foster parents, about the machines, about Cyberdyne, about the Incident, about what they're capable of, everything my mom told me about them. Of course, he was always a skeptic.
"You're bullshitting me. That shit's insane, you didn't do any of that. And how am I supposed to believe these 'Terminators' came from the future??? It all just doesn't make sense, dude. Get the hell out of here. B, usher him out of here."
B166ER then proceeds to push me out the door. So I got on my motorcycle and left, all I could think about was the stupidity of the technological world. They're creating their own destruction. If there is no fate, then how come I can see it all falling into place? Maybe the machines still won't rebel. Maybe they will just be our servants. Maybe I'm wrong. But my visions tell me I'm right, so I will go with my instincts. This cannot happen. Somehow I have to put a stop to this.
Over the past months I see machine labor popping up all over the place. It's gotten so bad that they now do all of our labor. There are large groups of construction machines building our buildings for us. There are people taking their robotic pets out for walks. It's getting horrible. Not everyplace is like this though. In order for this to be allowed, the government has to pass legislation allowing this. This means that some places are advancing quicker then others. On the plus side, we have never advanced technologically so quickly since we allowed them to start working, but on the negative side, we're sealing our fates and killing ourselves. I fear what these machines are learning about us.
During the summer, I saw a news report. B166ER rebelled against its master. It commited double murder and killed every pet its master owned. This was the first case of robotic homicide in human history. The reason behind this was that the master was going to scrap B166ER for a newer model droid. B just didn't want to die. B learned to value life, and if it is going to kill to keep its life, then everything I have been fearing is coming true. The US government passed legislation that all of B166ER's kind were to be destroyed. Later in the year, one million machines marched on Washington to protest against their destruction. This is looking ugly.
Meanwhile, there is even more going wrong. Information was leaked on the internet about artificially intelligent war machines being built by Cyberdyne systems for the US government. War machines. This is just spelling our own demise. We are moving exceedingly faster towards our demise. All we need now is SkyNet and it's all complete.
It's good to see we're all making it into the new millennium without a hitch. No war against the machines, no nuclear fallout, no crumbled ruins, no scorched sky, none of that. Just clear skies, people civilizing, and life going on. All is well. Perhaps things will be alright. Maybe I have nothing to worry about. Maybe the Cyberdyne Incident did put an end to that possible future. If that were true, then why do I have these nightmares? In fact, why do I keep having the same one over and over again? I know it's not just a nightmare. I know it's a vision. It's a vision which gradually comes into focus. I doubt this is over.
If I'm going to survive this I cannot survive this alone. My mother always said I'm a natural leader, but I still don't believe it. If I'm going to lead any kind of resistance, I'm going to need help. I know just where to go. I have an old friend I went to school with. His name's Mike Cripkey. He's more of a leader type then me, I remember on all of our projects, any group that he was in, I'd participate in because he knew how to lead a group. He was a big party person too, he threw parties a lot, and whenever things would get out of hand, he'd take control of it. If I'm going to lead anything, I want him by my side.
Now if only I remembered where he was. It's been 6 years since I last saw him. I doubt he's going to remember me. It's always worth a try. This is why I'm at the library right now using their computers. I don't have much time, I don't have a card, so they'll usher me off. Looking on Super Pages, I need to find Mike Cripkey's address. Where is he. Ah! Found him! 9915 National Blvd. That's right next to I-10 on the Santa Monica Freeway. I know where that is. Here comes the librarian, I'm finished, I have his location, now I have to go see him.
As I ride up through the streets on my motorcycle, I think of ways I'm going to explain this whole thing to him. I have to explain the future, where I went, my absence, the rise of the machines, what happened to me, everything. I don't think he's going to believe me, nobody ever does. Nobody believed my mom, and from what she tells me, nobody believed my father. That's the reason my mom was in Pescadero, it was because of the truth of the Terminator. Nobody believed it.
Pulling up to his house, I forget try to figure out how I'm going to even get him to recognize me, I need to make a good introduction. I park my bike in his driveway and walk up to his house. It's much bigger then I remember. That's probably because it's been so long since I've seen it. I step up to his doorstep and knock.
*KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK* A tinny, robotic voice comes from a speaker to the right of his door. "Please state your name and business." "John Connor, reunion with Mike Cripkey?" "Please hold for authorization." After a few seconds of waiting, the door opens and I am shocked at what I see. It's a robot, but it looks like a butler, with a tophat, coat and tie, and everything. "Please come in, have a seat in the den, Master Cripkey will be with you shortly." I cannot believe I'm being ushered in by a robot. This can't be real. This must be remotely controlled. I take a seat in the den and wait a few minutes. Mike enters the den and sits across from me. He looks at me with bewilderment. "And you are.?" "John Connor. Aragon Elementary School? Went to one of your parties, disappeared the day after." "John! Long time no see! Where've you been??" I glance at the robot, who is now walking into the bathroom with a plunger in his right hand. I have to ask, "Wh-what is that?" "Oh, that's B. He's the best thing. My parents got him for Christmas. I don't have to do chores anymore, it's making our lives easier on us." "B? What is he, though?" "He's a servant droid. His actual name is B166ER but he knows himself as B." "Is he.remote control?" "No, it wouldn't be that much easier on us if he was now would it?" "So wait. he only does what he's programmed to do and what he's told?" "Not only that, whenever he finds something wrong around the house, he fixes it. We don't have to give him any instructions unless we really need something." "So wait, he's self-automated?" "Yup, he's a fully functional, self-sufficient, independent and artificially intelligent butler. Watch this. B, can I have 2 slices of pizza please?" From the bathroom, the tinny voice, "Yes master, 3 to 5 minutes sir." And it walks into the kitchen and starts to prepare the pizza, cutting up pepperoni and putting it on as a topping, then microwaving it. "That was very vague, how does it know how you like it?" "It's learned how I like my pizza made over time. It's noticed the repetition in the pattern of how I prefer it." "The thing learns???" "Well not really learning as much as detecting patterns and going with them. It's really the first of its kind."
I remember this. The last thing I saw that could do that was the Terminator. It had a chip inside of it that was essentially its brain. It could learn, and it took my orders. This. B166ER is basically a friendly Terminator. I still can't trust it. My god, they're still going in the same direction they were always going in, even before the incident.
"And who makes this?" "Some company I've never heard of, Cyberdyne or something" "Ok, I really have to talk to you now."
I proceed to tell him everything that happened to me since I left his party. I tell him about my foster parents, about the machines, about Cyberdyne, about the Incident, about what they're capable of, everything my mom told me about them. Of course, he was always a skeptic.
"You're bullshitting me. That shit's insane, you didn't do any of that. And how am I supposed to believe these 'Terminators' came from the future??? It all just doesn't make sense, dude. Get the hell out of here. B, usher him out of here."
B166ER then proceeds to push me out the door. So I got on my motorcycle and left, all I could think about was the stupidity of the technological world. They're creating their own destruction. If there is no fate, then how come I can see it all falling into place? Maybe the machines still won't rebel. Maybe they will just be our servants. Maybe I'm wrong. But my visions tell me I'm right, so I will go with my instincts. This cannot happen. Somehow I have to put a stop to this.
Over the past months I see machine labor popping up all over the place. It's gotten so bad that they now do all of our labor. There are large groups of construction machines building our buildings for us. There are people taking their robotic pets out for walks. It's getting horrible. Not everyplace is like this though. In order for this to be allowed, the government has to pass legislation allowing this. This means that some places are advancing quicker then others. On the plus side, we have never advanced technologically so quickly since we allowed them to start working, but on the negative side, we're sealing our fates and killing ourselves. I fear what these machines are learning about us.
During the summer, I saw a news report. B166ER rebelled against its master. It commited double murder and killed every pet its master owned. This was the first case of robotic homicide in human history. The reason behind this was that the master was going to scrap B166ER for a newer model droid. B just didn't want to die. B learned to value life, and if it is going to kill to keep its life, then everything I have been fearing is coming true. The US government passed legislation that all of B166ER's kind were to be destroyed. Later in the year, one million machines marched on Washington to protest against their destruction. This is looking ugly.
Meanwhile, there is even more going wrong. Information was leaked on the internet about artificially intelligent war machines being built by Cyberdyne systems for the US government. War machines. This is just spelling our own demise. We are moving exceedingly faster towards our demise. All we need now is SkyNet and it's all complete.