July 9, 2029
A truck stops in a deserted residential street about twelve miles from Los Angeles. A squad of soldiers all step out and look. There is the wreckage of an F-14 Tomcat scattered throughout this city block, lit up by a helicopter flying overhead. "I wonder when we get leave," says one of the soldiers.
"We'd better search for the missiles," saya the officer supervising this operation. "I..."
He is interrupted by a whining sound. Then lightning sparks all over the place, striking the truck. The soldiers run for cover, and one of them is zapped by the lightning. There is a flash of light, and then the electrical discharges cease. The strong scent of ozone fills the air.
"This is Unit Romeo," says the officer, speaking into a radio. "We've detected some sort of electrical disturbance."
He looks and sees a figure stand up. He sees a woman with long blond hair, without a stitch on her body. The soldiers gather around her. They all gaze at her beautiful form; there is not a blemish on her skin. "Who are you?" asks the officer.
"Give me your clothes," she says.
"Maybe we should find some privacy," he replies, excited by the prospect of this beautiful, naked woman who just suddenly appeared right before him and his team.
The Gap clothing store in Azusa has been closed since July 26, 2004 when the city was evacuated due to fallout from the nuclear blast in Los Angeles. It still has plenty of clothing left over from before the war. The glass door is kicked open and a naked woman with long blond hair steps in. She will need to blend in to accompish her mission. She sees the clothes and checks their sizes. She finds the right size, and puts it on. She then looks in the mirror. She sees herself in a white blouse and a red miniskirt. She then leaves the store.
She knows that Sergeant Kyle Reese's unit is currently in Azusa, securing the area. And she knows that the base camp is in the Azusa Greens Country Club. So she walks there. After a few minutes, she reaches the base camp. She sees tents and vehicles and soldiers walking around with rifles. "Excuse me," she says to one of the soldiers, an Army lieutenant.
"Hello there, miss," says the captain, eyeing the beauty. "How may I help you?"
"I'm looking for a soldier, Sergeant Kyle Reese," she says.
"Reese? He does not have night duty tonight. I think he went to the Metropolis, you know, the city ship."
"Thank you."
She leaves the base camp, and the lieutenant goes back to supervising the soldiers. "Excuse me," he hears the same voice say.
He tuerns and sees an identical-looking woman, wearing a soldier outfit. "what the?"
"I's like to know where Sergeant Kyle Reese is," she says.
"I think he went to the city ship Metropolis with some other soldiers."
The woman leaves for the city ship Metropolis.
Sergeant Kyle Reese sits down in the bus as it drives towards the Port of Los Angeles. He figures that the port was far away enough from ground zero to survive intact. He looks around and sees the port area. Most of the buildings are intact. The bus enters a loading terminal and park at Pier 400 on the southern tip of Terminal Island. The bus driver opens the doors. Kyle, Tony Sutter, and Lance Houser step off the bus.
Kyle lays his eyes on the city ship Metropolis. It is a huge ship, about half a mile long, and well-lit. A ramp leads from the dock to the main deck of the ship. "Let's go," says Tony. The three of them wealk up the ramp, which zigzags upwards. They then step on the main deck. Kyle can see the command tower where the captain command the ship's operations. He can see a helipad on the main deck. Police officers stand watch. And the American flag hangs from the ship's mast.
The three of them and some other soldiers go to an elevator and one of them presses the down button. The doors open and one pof them presses the button for the commercial deck.
The elevator descends and in a few seconds, reaches the main level. The doors open and they all step out. Kyle looks at amazement at the commercial deck. It is a bustling, brightly-lit place. There are vendors and stores and offices along the commercial deck. This place is thriving more than Corvallis or Juneau. Some of the shops are closed; other businesses like restaurants and clubs are still open at night. People are still walking along the deck's corridor. A police officer rides a motorcycle along the street that bisects the commercial deck. Kyle figures there are more people who live on board the Metropolis than there are living in Juneau. "Okay," says Lance. "Where do we go?"
"Maybe there's a bar or something," says Tony.
"And how are we gonna pay for it?" asks Kyle. "I guess there's gonna be a problem," says Tony. "I see some soldiers heading in there," says Lance. Kyle and Tony look. There is a nightclub called Stoker's. They all head inside.
"You're soldiers, right?" asks a big beefy man.
"Uh, yeah," says Tony.
"Soldiers can come in for free."
"Thanks," says Lance.
The three of them enter the club. It is a lot more vibrant than anything they saw in Juneau. Music is already playing, and colored lights move about the main room. Cocktail waitresses in short skirts serve drinks. Some of the soldiers from their unit are already in, sitting down around the tables.
"Are these drinks free for us?" asks Kyle.
"Well, honey, the Army's giving us some of the scrap metal from the machines they blew up," says the bartender, a pretty red-haired woman. "We set sail for Japan in a week. Scrap metal is a valuable, ya know. So what do ya want, soldier?"
"Tell me what youn have."
"Beer, wine, vodka."
"Give me a vodka."
"What kind of juice."
"Uh, orange juice."
"Then you got yourself a screwdriver."
The bartender mixes some vodka with orange juice and gives it to the young sergeant who promptly sips it with a plastic straw. Kyle looks around, amazed at what refugees fleeing a war-torn nation could do in twenty-five years. He feels a sense of optimism.
The blond-haired woman wearing a white blouse and red miniskirt retrieved from the Gap clothing store, carrying a bag. She walks up the pedestrian ramp leading to the main deck. From there she goes to the passenger elevator and goes down to the commercial level. She knows about the history of this place. This had been a cargo ship that was used to evacuate civilians when Skynet started taking over. The ship had been retrofitted and turned into a floating city. Only a few thousand Americans were successfully evacuated; the rest were taken to death camps or hid in the hills. These floating city ships preserved part of the nation's industrial infrastrucutre, which allowed them to regroup and strike back against Skynet. She steps out of the elevator and heads out to the commercial level. She knows all about the history of this ship- as well as its destiny. Minutes later, another, identical-looking woman, in a soldier outfit, steps out of the passenger elevator. She too, seeks Kyle Reese. Both of these women scan the area. They can see people walking back and forth along the sidewalks of the street that bisects the commercial deck. The woman in the miniskirt enters a business called Stoker's. It is a nightclub. "Hey there," says the bouncer. "I want to go in," she says. "I'm looking for a man."
"There are plenty of men here who fought in the war," says the bouncer. "I'm sure they're lookin' for a lovely lady to spend the night with after a day of turning machines into junk."
The woman goes in. She looks at each and every soldier. She does not see Kyle Reese.
She approahces one of the soldiers, a nametag idnetifies him as Sutter.
"Excuse me," she says. "Where is Kyle Reese?"
"You're looking for Kyle Reese?" asks Sutter. He looks around for his friend, and then he looks at the lady. "I'm Kyle Reese. What;s your name?"
"You lie," the woman replies calmly. "You are not Kyle Reese."
"Well," says another man, whose nametag identifies him as Houser, "I'm not such a bad person to get to know."
"My objective is Kyle Reese."
"Okay," says Houser. He looks at the entrance and sees someone entering, dressed in an Army uniform.
He sees the face of a blond-haired woman. He turns and looks at the woman in the miniskirt, and they look exactly alike.
He approahces the woman in the soldier outfit. "Hey babe," he says to her. "I was talking to your twin sister."
"Twin sister?' asks the woman in the soldier outfit.
"Well, yeah, she's wearing this cute little skirt that shows off her legs. Maybe you should dress like that, show them your assets, you know."
"I'm looking for Kyle Reese."
Lance's eyes open very wide. "You're lookin' for Kyle too. He must be a hit with the ladies." He turns and sees Kyle, who had just come out of the rmen's restroom, now sitting ast a table. "there he is." He walks up to the table, dragging the blond-haired woman by the wrist.
"What's up, Lance?" asks Kyle.
"you're not gonna believe this, but this woman and her twin sister want to get together with you in a threesome."
"No kidding."
The woman in the miniskirt sees her "twin" stansding at a table. She moves to see the man sitting at the table.
That man is Kyle Reese.
She has acquired her target.
And her twin as acquired her target as well.
Kyle looks at the blond-haired woman in a soldier outfit. "I'm Kyle," he says. "What's your name?"
She pulld something from her shirt. He sees it is a pistol, a Beretta M93R. Time seems to slow down. He can hear the hammer cock.
At the same time, the woman in the miniskirt pulls out a plsma rifle. She takes aim even as those around her give her space.
Kyle instinctively reaches for his own sidearm; he can see it is too late. He sees her finger on the trigger. There is a flash of light. The woman shakes and drops the pistol. "Get down!" shouts the woman in the miniskirt holding the plasma rifle. She fires more shots into her twin even as some of Stoker's patrons scramble away. She then runs towards Kyle, who backs away. "Are you all right?" she asks.
"What the fuck was that?" asks Kyle. then he sees her twin get up. Kyle coukld see her back. There is a burn at the top of her back from the plasma shot.
"Get out of here!" yells the woman in the miniskirt.
Kyle starts running for the exit. The woman in the soldier outfit gets up. She takes out another weapon in the arsenal she acquired, a nine-millimeter Uzi submachinegun. She then sprays the room with gunfire, and everyone in the club either flees, freezes, or takes cover. One of the bullets hits Sergeant Tony Sutter in the back and he falls on the floor, fatally wounded. Kyle looks at his fallen friend and goes for him.
"No!" yells the woman in the miniskirt. Then a light fixture falls, hitting Kyle on the top of the head. It hurts. A lot. He can hear the sound of a plasma rifle firing, and can smell the ozone.
"Come with me if you want to live!" yells the woman.
she drags Kyle outside. the commotion spread from Stoker's to the commercial deck street. A police officver on a Kawasaki motorcycle arrives and speaks into a radio. "We must borrow this," says the woman as she decks the police officer. "Hop on!"
Kyle hops on to the motorcycle, holding the lady's back. Then she accelrates and speeds down the street to the screw ramp that leads to the ship's main deck. Her twin comes out of Stoker's and opens fire at the fleeing motorcycle. Several more police officers arrive, some of foot, others on motorcycles.
"Freeze!" one of them yells through a megaphone. "You're under arrest!"
She loads her Uzi and then opens fire at the police officers and some of them fall. They return fire, and the bullets do not faze them.
Kyle sits on the Kawasaki as its driver drives it up and around the screw ramp. Soon they are on the main deck, with the cool night breeze blowing on their faces. The motorcycle then goes down the passenger ramp, zigzagging its way down to street level. Then it races towards the Vincent Thomas Bridge.
Seconds later, another Kawasaki comes down the passenger ramp, driven by a woman in a soldier outfit. She sees the motorcycle speeding away. Then she sees a supply truck.
She gets off the motorcycle and sits in the driver's seat.
"hey1" yells a soldier. "What the fuck are you doing?"
The woman starts the trucks engines and puts it in gear and she drives off. the man chases after her, and she punches him.
Kyle rides on a motorcycle with the mystery woman as they cross the Vincent Thomas Bridge.
"Are you hurt?" asks the woman. "have you been shot?"
"My head's pounding from that lamp that hit me. What was going on?"
"Do exactly as I say. Exactly. Don't move unless I say. Don't make a sound unless I say. Do you understand?"
Kyle does not responsd, still reeling from that blow to the head.
"Do you understand?" she yells.
"Yes. Just tell me what the fuck that was all about."
"I have been sent by TechCom to protect you. You've been targeted for termination."
"By whom?"
"By Skynet."
Her twin pushes the gas pedal of the Army truck to the floor. She depresses the clutch and changes gears. She sees her target ahead.
"Why me?" asks Kyle. "What have I done that makes Skynet want to kill me specifically."
"You haven't done anything of importance," says the woman. "But you will...and soon."
"I guess that thing is a terminator. She took a plasam shot to the back and stood up without a problem."
"Yes, she is a terminator. Model X. As am I."
"You are a terminator?"
"I was the best available for the job. I went back to intercept. I know from official records that your unit was in Azusa on July 9, 2029."
"Did General Connor send you?"
"No, it was General Neil."
"General Neil? Was Connor replaced?"
"Connor retired on July 4....." The T-X looks behind; she sees a truck heading towards them. "She's right behind us. We need to evade her."
Approaching the San Pedro end of the Vincent Thomas Bridge, she sees an exit ramp. she takes it, calculating that the truck only has a thirty percent chance that it will be able to follow them.
She looks behind and sees the truck follow them. she drives through the streets, with the truck following her. she makes plenty of turns to ensure the truck can not catch up with them.
"Wherre are we going?" asks Kyle.
"To the ruins," replies his guardian. "We should be able to lose her there."
They take a zigzag route through the streets, staying ahead of the truck but not being able to get clear away. The T-X checks the fuel gauge of the Kawasaki, and calculates that there is a eighty-seven percent chance that it will run out of fuel before the truck does. And she calculates that without fuel, there is only a twenty percent chance that she will succeed in her mission to protect Kyle. They continue driving through the deserted streets. They cut through the parking lot of a deserted mall. "there's the freeway," says Kyle.
"The truck has a higher top speed than us," says the T-X. "We need to stay on surface streets where we can take advantage of our manueverability."
"And if we run low on gas, we can just get gas from one of these gas stations."
"Skynet confisdcated ther gas after the survivors were evacuated. I have an idea. They continue driving along the streets as the truck chases them. They then approach a bridge. The T-X takes out the plasma rifle and shoots at a gate. Then they ride down a ramp leading to the levee next to the river. They ride down and soon they are riding along the concrete surface of the Los Angeles River. "No way she can follow us here," says Kyle.
He is proven wrong as he hears a crash. He looks behind and sees a truckflying off the bridge towards the river. It lands ion the concrete surface of the river with a thud. It bounces up and then lands on its tires.
And it is still going.
The T-X pushes the throttle on the Kawasaki as far as she can. the engine screams. And yet, the truck is still gaining on them. She aims the plasma rifle back and opens fire. One of the shots hits the front of the truck, and another shot hits the windshield. Still, the truck goes on. "Come on!" yells Kyle. "Can't this thing go any faster?"
"Hold on tight!" yells the T-X. Kyle looks ahead and sees the wreckage of a car on the riverbed. They are barreling straight for it. Kyle wonders if she intends to jump over the wrecked car.
She suddenly turns at the last moment, swerving around the car. Kyle looks and sees the truck turning to acoid the car. He hears a screech and a crunching sound as the truck collides with the car. The truck turns on its side and then slides along the bed of the river, sparks flying.
"So much for your twin," says Kyle as they leave the scene of the wreck.
"I calculate that the odds of my twin being destroyed in the collision is less than one percent," says the T-X. "She will not stop until you are dead."
Kyle and the T-X hide in a tunnel under the ruins of downtown Los Angeles. He had once lived in these tunnels back when they were used as an outpost. Now here he is again as a terminator tends to his concussion.
"Your odds of surviving your head injury are above ninety-nine percent," says his guardian. "So why is Skynet after me, specifically?" says Kyle. "I'm just a soldier in an armor regiment. If I die, someone else will take my place."
"Soon you will participate in an important mission in the human campaign for survival. Your role in this war in crucial. Skynet calculates that taking you out of the picutre will increase its odds of exterminating the human race to ninety-two percent."
"what is it that Skynet thinks I'm gonna do?"
"I am not at liberty to diuscuss this. General Neil has instrcuted me not to tell you about what youn will do. You must find this oput for yourself."
"Never heard of General Neil. Is he in Connor's staff?"
"No. Connor retired ten years before Neil received his commission."
"What?" Kyle checks his head. "am I hearing things."
"Your hearing is not damaged, Kyle Reese. Listen. TechCom discovered one of Skynet's secret lab. Soldiers were sent to raid the place. They found the T-X- my twin. She went through the time displacement unit. After that, General Neil and I went to the site. After I was briefed of my mission parameters, I was wrapped in human flesh and then I went through the time displacement unit to July 9, 2029."
"Are you from the future?" asks Kyle.
"Yes. I departed at 2129 Central Daylight Time on July 20, 2069."
"2069? Forty years from the future."
"Affirmative."
"So Skynet, and the war, is still going on forty years from now."
"Yes."
"Forty more years. Its' already gone on for twenty-five years. I mean, it doesn't seem that I did anything. I don't think I'm gonna deliver the coup de grace to Skynet if it's still around forty years from now."
"On the contrary, your actions will lead to Skynet's eventual defeat. Skynet calculated that if the T-X that it sent after you fails, that it will have a less than one percent chance of exterminating humanity."
"What do I do?"
"My mission parameters forbid me from revealing your destiny."
"So now what?"
"We go to Crystal Peak to see John Connor."
A truck stops in a deserted residential street about twelve miles from Los Angeles. A squad of soldiers all step out and look. There is the wreckage of an F-14 Tomcat scattered throughout this city block, lit up by a helicopter flying overhead. "I wonder when we get leave," says one of the soldiers.
"We'd better search for the missiles," saya the officer supervising this operation. "I..."
He is interrupted by a whining sound. Then lightning sparks all over the place, striking the truck. The soldiers run for cover, and one of them is zapped by the lightning. There is a flash of light, and then the electrical discharges cease. The strong scent of ozone fills the air.
"This is Unit Romeo," says the officer, speaking into a radio. "We've detected some sort of electrical disturbance."
He looks and sees a figure stand up. He sees a woman with long blond hair, without a stitch on her body. The soldiers gather around her. They all gaze at her beautiful form; there is not a blemish on her skin. "Who are you?" asks the officer.
"Give me your clothes," she says.
"Maybe we should find some privacy," he replies, excited by the prospect of this beautiful, naked woman who just suddenly appeared right before him and his team.
The Gap clothing store in Azusa has been closed since July 26, 2004 when the city was evacuated due to fallout from the nuclear blast in Los Angeles. It still has plenty of clothing left over from before the war. The glass door is kicked open and a naked woman with long blond hair steps in. She will need to blend in to accompish her mission. She sees the clothes and checks their sizes. She finds the right size, and puts it on. She then looks in the mirror. She sees herself in a white blouse and a red miniskirt. She then leaves the store.
She knows that Sergeant Kyle Reese's unit is currently in Azusa, securing the area. And she knows that the base camp is in the Azusa Greens Country Club. So she walks there. After a few minutes, she reaches the base camp. She sees tents and vehicles and soldiers walking around with rifles. "Excuse me," she says to one of the soldiers, an Army lieutenant.
"Hello there, miss," says the captain, eyeing the beauty. "How may I help you?"
"I'm looking for a soldier, Sergeant Kyle Reese," she says.
"Reese? He does not have night duty tonight. I think he went to the Metropolis, you know, the city ship."
"Thank you."
She leaves the base camp, and the lieutenant goes back to supervising the soldiers. "Excuse me," he hears the same voice say.
He tuerns and sees an identical-looking woman, wearing a soldier outfit. "what the?"
"I's like to know where Sergeant Kyle Reese is," she says.
"I think he went to the city ship Metropolis with some other soldiers."
The woman leaves for the city ship Metropolis.
Sergeant Kyle Reese sits down in the bus as it drives towards the Port of Los Angeles. He figures that the port was far away enough from ground zero to survive intact. He looks around and sees the port area. Most of the buildings are intact. The bus enters a loading terminal and park at Pier 400 on the southern tip of Terminal Island. The bus driver opens the doors. Kyle, Tony Sutter, and Lance Houser step off the bus.
Kyle lays his eyes on the city ship Metropolis. It is a huge ship, about half a mile long, and well-lit. A ramp leads from the dock to the main deck of the ship. "Let's go," says Tony. The three of them wealk up the ramp, which zigzags upwards. They then step on the main deck. Kyle can see the command tower where the captain command the ship's operations. He can see a helipad on the main deck. Police officers stand watch. And the American flag hangs from the ship's mast.
The three of them and some other soldiers go to an elevator and one of them presses the down button. The doors open and one pof them presses the button for the commercial deck.
The elevator descends and in a few seconds, reaches the main level. The doors open and they all step out. Kyle looks at amazement at the commercial deck. It is a bustling, brightly-lit place. There are vendors and stores and offices along the commercial deck. This place is thriving more than Corvallis or Juneau. Some of the shops are closed; other businesses like restaurants and clubs are still open at night. People are still walking along the deck's corridor. A police officer rides a motorcycle along the street that bisects the commercial deck. Kyle figures there are more people who live on board the Metropolis than there are living in Juneau. "Okay," says Lance. "Where do we go?"
"Maybe there's a bar or something," says Tony.
"And how are we gonna pay for it?" asks Kyle. "I guess there's gonna be a problem," says Tony. "I see some soldiers heading in there," says Lance. Kyle and Tony look. There is a nightclub called Stoker's. They all head inside.
"You're soldiers, right?" asks a big beefy man.
"Uh, yeah," says Tony.
"Soldiers can come in for free."
"Thanks," says Lance.
The three of them enter the club. It is a lot more vibrant than anything they saw in Juneau. Music is already playing, and colored lights move about the main room. Cocktail waitresses in short skirts serve drinks. Some of the soldiers from their unit are already in, sitting down around the tables.
"Are these drinks free for us?" asks Kyle.
"Well, honey, the Army's giving us some of the scrap metal from the machines they blew up," says the bartender, a pretty red-haired woman. "We set sail for Japan in a week. Scrap metal is a valuable, ya know. So what do ya want, soldier?"
"Tell me what youn have."
"Beer, wine, vodka."
"Give me a vodka."
"What kind of juice."
"Uh, orange juice."
"Then you got yourself a screwdriver."
The bartender mixes some vodka with orange juice and gives it to the young sergeant who promptly sips it with a plastic straw. Kyle looks around, amazed at what refugees fleeing a war-torn nation could do in twenty-five years. He feels a sense of optimism.
The blond-haired woman wearing a white blouse and red miniskirt retrieved from the Gap clothing store, carrying a bag. She walks up the pedestrian ramp leading to the main deck. From there she goes to the passenger elevator and goes down to the commercial level. She knows about the history of this place. This had been a cargo ship that was used to evacuate civilians when Skynet started taking over. The ship had been retrofitted and turned into a floating city. Only a few thousand Americans were successfully evacuated; the rest were taken to death camps or hid in the hills. These floating city ships preserved part of the nation's industrial infrastrucutre, which allowed them to regroup and strike back against Skynet. She steps out of the elevator and heads out to the commercial level. She knows all about the history of this ship- as well as its destiny. Minutes later, another, identical-looking woman, in a soldier outfit, steps out of the passenger elevator. She too, seeks Kyle Reese. Both of these women scan the area. They can see people walking back and forth along the sidewalks of the street that bisects the commercial deck. The woman in the miniskirt enters a business called Stoker's. It is a nightclub. "Hey there," says the bouncer. "I want to go in," she says. "I'm looking for a man."
"There are plenty of men here who fought in the war," says the bouncer. "I'm sure they're lookin' for a lovely lady to spend the night with after a day of turning machines into junk."
The woman goes in. She looks at each and every soldier. She does not see Kyle Reese.
She approahces one of the soldiers, a nametag idnetifies him as Sutter.
"Excuse me," she says. "Where is Kyle Reese?"
"You're looking for Kyle Reese?" asks Sutter. He looks around for his friend, and then he looks at the lady. "I'm Kyle Reese. What;s your name?"
"You lie," the woman replies calmly. "You are not Kyle Reese."
"Well," says another man, whose nametag identifies him as Houser, "I'm not such a bad person to get to know."
"My objective is Kyle Reese."
"Okay," says Houser. He looks at the entrance and sees someone entering, dressed in an Army uniform.
He sees the face of a blond-haired woman. He turns and looks at the woman in the miniskirt, and they look exactly alike.
He approahces the woman in the soldier outfit. "Hey babe," he says to her. "I was talking to your twin sister."
"Twin sister?' asks the woman in the soldier outfit.
"Well, yeah, she's wearing this cute little skirt that shows off her legs. Maybe you should dress like that, show them your assets, you know."
"I'm looking for Kyle Reese."
Lance's eyes open very wide. "You're lookin' for Kyle too. He must be a hit with the ladies." He turns and sees Kyle, who had just come out of the rmen's restroom, now sitting ast a table. "there he is." He walks up to the table, dragging the blond-haired woman by the wrist.
"What's up, Lance?" asks Kyle.
"you're not gonna believe this, but this woman and her twin sister want to get together with you in a threesome."
"No kidding."
The woman in the miniskirt sees her "twin" stansding at a table. She moves to see the man sitting at the table.
That man is Kyle Reese.
She has acquired her target.
And her twin as acquired her target as well.
Kyle looks at the blond-haired woman in a soldier outfit. "I'm Kyle," he says. "What's your name?"
She pulld something from her shirt. He sees it is a pistol, a Beretta M93R. Time seems to slow down. He can hear the hammer cock.
At the same time, the woman in the miniskirt pulls out a plsma rifle. She takes aim even as those around her give her space.
Kyle instinctively reaches for his own sidearm; he can see it is too late. He sees her finger on the trigger. There is a flash of light. The woman shakes and drops the pistol. "Get down!" shouts the woman in the miniskirt holding the plasma rifle. She fires more shots into her twin even as some of Stoker's patrons scramble away. She then runs towards Kyle, who backs away. "Are you all right?" she asks.
"What the fuck was that?" asks Kyle. then he sees her twin get up. Kyle coukld see her back. There is a burn at the top of her back from the plasma shot.
"Get out of here!" yells the woman in the miniskirt.
Kyle starts running for the exit. The woman in the soldier outfit gets up. She takes out another weapon in the arsenal she acquired, a nine-millimeter Uzi submachinegun. She then sprays the room with gunfire, and everyone in the club either flees, freezes, or takes cover. One of the bullets hits Sergeant Tony Sutter in the back and he falls on the floor, fatally wounded. Kyle looks at his fallen friend and goes for him.
"No!" yells the woman in the miniskirt. Then a light fixture falls, hitting Kyle on the top of the head. It hurts. A lot. He can hear the sound of a plasma rifle firing, and can smell the ozone.
"Come with me if you want to live!" yells the woman.
she drags Kyle outside. the commotion spread from Stoker's to the commercial deck street. A police officver on a Kawasaki motorcycle arrives and speaks into a radio. "We must borrow this," says the woman as she decks the police officer. "Hop on!"
Kyle hops on to the motorcycle, holding the lady's back. Then she accelrates and speeds down the street to the screw ramp that leads to the ship's main deck. Her twin comes out of Stoker's and opens fire at the fleeing motorcycle. Several more police officers arrive, some of foot, others on motorcycles.
"Freeze!" one of them yells through a megaphone. "You're under arrest!"
She loads her Uzi and then opens fire at the police officers and some of them fall. They return fire, and the bullets do not faze them.
Kyle sits on the Kawasaki as its driver drives it up and around the screw ramp. Soon they are on the main deck, with the cool night breeze blowing on their faces. The motorcycle then goes down the passenger ramp, zigzagging its way down to street level. Then it races towards the Vincent Thomas Bridge.
Seconds later, another Kawasaki comes down the passenger ramp, driven by a woman in a soldier outfit. She sees the motorcycle speeding away. Then she sees a supply truck.
She gets off the motorcycle and sits in the driver's seat.
"hey1" yells a soldier. "What the fuck are you doing?"
The woman starts the trucks engines and puts it in gear and she drives off. the man chases after her, and she punches him.
Kyle rides on a motorcycle with the mystery woman as they cross the Vincent Thomas Bridge.
"Are you hurt?" asks the woman. "have you been shot?"
"My head's pounding from that lamp that hit me. What was going on?"
"Do exactly as I say. Exactly. Don't move unless I say. Don't make a sound unless I say. Do you understand?"
Kyle does not responsd, still reeling from that blow to the head.
"Do you understand?" she yells.
"Yes. Just tell me what the fuck that was all about."
"I have been sent by TechCom to protect you. You've been targeted for termination."
"By whom?"
"By Skynet."
Her twin pushes the gas pedal of the Army truck to the floor. She depresses the clutch and changes gears. She sees her target ahead.
"Why me?" asks Kyle. "What have I done that makes Skynet want to kill me specifically."
"You haven't done anything of importance," says the woman. "But you will...and soon."
"I guess that thing is a terminator. She took a plasam shot to the back and stood up without a problem."
"Yes, she is a terminator. Model X. As am I."
"You are a terminator?"
"I was the best available for the job. I went back to intercept. I know from official records that your unit was in Azusa on July 9, 2029."
"Did General Connor send you?"
"No, it was General Neil."
"General Neil? Was Connor replaced?"
"Connor retired on July 4....." The T-X looks behind; she sees a truck heading towards them. "She's right behind us. We need to evade her."
Approaching the San Pedro end of the Vincent Thomas Bridge, she sees an exit ramp. she takes it, calculating that the truck only has a thirty percent chance that it will be able to follow them.
She looks behind and sees the truck follow them. she drives through the streets, with the truck following her. she makes plenty of turns to ensure the truck can not catch up with them.
"Wherre are we going?" asks Kyle.
"To the ruins," replies his guardian. "We should be able to lose her there."
They take a zigzag route through the streets, staying ahead of the truck but not being able to get clear away. The T-X checks the fuel gauge of the Kawasaki, and calculates that there is a eighty-seven percent chance that it will run out of fuel before the truck does. And she calculates that without fuel, there is only a twenty percent chance that she will succeed in her mission to protect Kyle. They continue driving through the deserted streets. They cut through the parking lot of a deserted mall. "there's the freeway," says Kyle.
"The truck has a higher top speed than us," says the T-X. "We need to stay on surface streets where we can take advantage of our manueverability."
"And if we run low on gas, we can just get gas from one of these gas stations."
"Skynet confisdcated ther gas after the survivors were evacuated. I have an idea. They continue driving along the streets as the truck chases them. They then approach a bridge. The T-X takes out the plasma rifle and shoots at a gate. Then they ride down a ramp leading to the levee next to the river. They ride down and soon they are riding along the concrete surface of the Los Angeles River. "No way she can follow us here," says Kyle.
He is proven wrong as he hears a crash. He looks behind and sees a truckflying off the bridge towards the river. It lands ion the concrete surface of the river with a thud. It bounces up and then lands on its tires.
And it is still going.
The T-X pushes the throttle on the Kawasaki as far as she can. the engine screams. And yet, the truck is still gaining on them. She aims the plasma rifle back and opens fire. One of the shots hits the front of the truck, and another shot hits the windshield. Still, the truck goes on. "Come on!" yells Kyle. "Can't this thing go any faster?"
"Hold on tight!" yells the T-X. Kyle looks ahead and sees the wreckage of a car on the riverbed. They are barreling straight for it. Kyle wonders if she intends to jump over the wrecked car.
She suddenly turns at the last moment, swerving around the car. Kyle looks and sees the truck turning to acoid the car. He hears a screech and a crunching sound as the truck collides with the car. The truck turns on its side and then slides along the bed of the river, sparks flying.
"So much for your twin," says Kyle as they leave the scene of the wreck.
"I calculate that the odds of my twin being destroyed in the collision is less than one percent," says the T-X. "She will not stop until you are dead."
Kyle and the T-X hide in a tunnel under the ruins of downtown Los Angeles. He had once lived in these tunnels back when they were used as an outpost. Now here he is again as a terminator tends to his concussion.
"Your odds of surviving your head injury are above ninety-nine percent," says his guardian. "So why is Skynet after me, specifically?" says Kyle. "I'm just a soldier in an armor regiment. If I die, someone else will take my place."
"Soon you will participate in an important mission in the human campaign for survival. Your role in this war in crucial. Skynet calculates that taking you out of the picutre will increase its odds of exterminating the human race to ninety-two percent."
"what is it that Skynet thinks I'm gonna do?"
"I am not at liberty to diuscuss this. General Neil has instrcuted me not to tell you about what youn will do. You must find this oput for yourself."
"Never heard of General Neil. Is he in Connor's staff?"
"No. Connor retired ten years before Neil received his commission."
"What?" Kyle checks his head. "am I hearing things."
"Your hearing is not damaged, Kyle Reese. Listen. TechCom discovered one of Skynet's secret lab. Soldiers were sent to raid the place. They found the T-X- my twin. She went through the time displacement unit. After that, General Neil and I went to the site. After I was briefed of my mission parameters, I was wrapped in human flesh and then I went through the time displacement unit to July 9, 2029."
"Are you from the future?" asks Kyle.
"Yes. I departed at 2129 Central Daylight Time on July 20, 2069."
"2069? Forty years from the future."
"Affirmative."
"So Skynet, and the war, is still going on forty years from now."
"Yes."
"Forty more years. Its' already gone on for twenty-five years. I mean, it doesn't seem that I did anything. I don't think I'm gonna deliver the coup de grace to Skynet if it's still around forty years from now."
"On the contrary, your actions will lead to Skynet's eventual defeat. Skynet calculated that if the T-X that it sent after you fails, that it will have a less than one percent chance of exterminating humanity."
"What do I do?"
"My mission parameters forbid me from revealing your destiny."
"So now what?"
"We go to Crystal Peak to see John Connor."