7:00 P.M. Connor Residence: John pulled his BMW into the garage having absently noticed the bullet-riddled van in the front. It was LA after all, stranger things had happened, like killer cyborgs from the future for instance. John pulled into the garage next to the damaged Toyota Tundra that had played such an important role in his life. He turned off the engine and entered into the house where he saw Kate and Samantha sitting at the end of the dining room table in silence.
"Hey guess what," said John as he set his gear on the island in the kitchen. "You won't believe this, but the strangest virus has infiltrated certain computer systems around the world. This isn't really funny, but the virus identifies itself as Skynet. It's very strange,"
John then stopped talking as he saw Samantha and Kate looking at him in silence.
"What?" John asked before noticing the Terminator at the other side of the table with several pieces of weaponry on it as well as it sticking a pair of needle nose pliers into a wound on its arm. "Oh. Now Skynet doesn't seem so strange after all."
The Terminator said nothing but continued poking and prodding inside of its wound. After a few more seconds, satisfied, it put the bloodied tool down and pressed a cold towel to the wound to help seal it. Then it looked up at John.
"On the contrary, you think you know but you have absolutely no idea whatsoever," it said as it began checking the weapons on the table. John stumbled over to the table and sat down in a daze. The Terminator still said nothing and began loading shells into a shotgun. After pumping the shotgun, John's eyes quickly flashed from sadness to anger.
"Godammit! Why am I constantly cursed to live in a war I don't want to have! I never asked for this! All I wanted was a normal life, not some post-apocalyptic battle against machines in a world not worth saving!" John shouted angrily. The Terminator just shrugged before setting down the shotgun and appearing to look reflective.
"If it's any consolation, the war hasn't happened," said the machine.
"Yet," said John. The cyborg shook its head.
"Not yet," it said. John looked at him with tears in his eyes.
"What the hell does that mean?" he asked crying. The Terminator sighed before leaning back in the chair.
"As for as I know, the war hasn't happened. At all," it added. John wiped away his tears.
"But you're here. The war must've happened," he said. Jake Bullet slowly shook it's head.
"You're wrong. Every incursion into the past caused a shift in the space-time continuum. The future did change. The first time around you were born earlier then you should've been to a different father. The second time you delayed the creation of Skynet and the third time you stopped the war. Skynet knew that temporal trips would ultimately seal its doom and every time it was taking a risk. So Skynet developed a backup plan. It built yet another time device and was to be only used if time began to rewrite itself, to send a representative into the past to not only kill you but to create Skynet once more. The resistance set me back, but something went wrong," said the Terminator.
"What?" Kate asked. She was slowly becoming more and more interested despite her misgivings about the machines.
"I wasn't supposed to arrive now. I was supposed to arrive in 1997, the day the original Judgment Day was supposed to have started. But what I can only surmise as an accident forced me to appear here. Not only that, but with the weaponry I came with," said the machine pointing to the laser gun on the table. "Unfortunately this causes some serious questions. If this Terminator did show up in 1997, why didn't it kill you then? Why when 2003 rolled around did it not help the T-X kill you? Why since 2003 has it not attempted to resurrect Skynet? If it were a Terminator, creating Skynet wouldn't be a problem. But it hasn't so why?" asked the machine.
"And do you have an answer?" asked John. The machine shrugged.
"I have a theory," it said, but remained silent after that.
"Well?" asked Kate. The terminator looked up.
"Well what?" the Terminator asked.
"What's you theory?" Kate asked again.
"I'm not allowed to tell you the answer," said the machine.
"Why not?" Samantha asked. The Terminator set down the gun it was working on and put it on the table.
"Dated 3/4/33, no knowledge pertaining to recent intel reports on item number #VVSOP2123 is not to be revealed to anyone, especially Katherine Brewster," said the machine.
"What? Who would give that order? Who would want to keep my wife, my second in command as you claim she'll become, out of the loop?" demanded John. The look the Terminator gave John instantly shattered all the faith he'd had in his relationship to his wife.
"No, that's not possible. I wouldn't do that!" demanded John.
"Do what? Who gave the order?" asked Samantha. The Terminator cocked his head at John.
"He did. John Connor refused to allow any knowledge of said file into the knowledge of his wife," it said.
"Why not? Why couldn't I be allowed to know certain files?" Kate demanded. The Terminator looked up at her coldly.
"Because Ms. Brewster, whether you realize it or not you are very anti-machine. You've secretly hated machines your entire life, possibly because they constantly took your father away from you as he either flew them or helped design them and might very well have led to the divorce of your parents. You view them as evil, but ultimately one you chose to deal with. That's why you work with animals. Animals can't use or develop technology and that's why you trust them more. Then the war happened and your entire anti-machine feelings rose to the surface and you lashed out at any machine in sight that you viewed as 'evil'. Over the course of the war you were responsible for the destruction of more machines then most entire platoons. You were often quoted as having said you'd lead hundreds of men to their deaths if it meant the destruction of one machine. You were deemed suicidal both by Skynet and the human resistance and Skynet even considered you a greater threat than John Connor. You were also the greatest opponent regarding the 'turning' of machines to the side of the resistance. You refused to have anything to do with it," said the Terminator.
"But I sent a Terminator back into the past to 2003," Kate protested.
"It was a lie designed to make you rethink your strategy on machines and that they could be helpful," said the machine.
"But why?" asked Kate.
"Because after John turned the Terminator and sent him to 2003 you swore off his resistance claiming it was ineffective," said the Terminator.
"What exactly are you saying?" asked John. The Terminator turned to face him.
"What I'm saying is that on July 5th, 2004 Katherine Brewster divorced John Connor and took 100 men and women to form her own resistance. One month later they attempted to blow up a production facility for HK's. They unwittingly entered into an ambush and they were all slaughtered. I was part of the team that discovered their remains. You see the machines knew that your hatred of them would lead you to make a mistake and you did so they capitalized on it," said the machine. Kate began lightly crying before her eyes instantly turned into anger.
"Fuck you, fuck you kind. I've had enough of this war and you're right, I do hate machines!" she shouted. She grabbed a gun off the table and pointed it at the machine.
"Mom!" shouted Samantha shocked having never seen her so angry.
"Honey calm down!" said John. The machine's eyes bored into Kate.
"Do it! Pull that trigger! Too many of my brethren have died by your hands! Admit it, your fate is set!" shouted the machine. Kate pulled on the trigger and three bullets hit the machine in the head, but all it did was make the machines head briefly jerk back and it looked at her as artificial blood seeped from the wounds.
"You make me sick," said Kate and then she stormed out of the room. John and Samantha watched her go.
"Dad, aren't you going to do anything?" asked Samantha. John shook his head.
"She needs to sort this out herself," said John before turning to the machine. "Do you realize the situation you've described is impossible?"
"How so?"
"I died on July 4th, 2032 in that reality, the Terminator told me so and somehow I doubt that's a lie," said John.
"Yes and no. In that reality that the Terminator came from you did die on July 4th, but after he told you that, the future switched so that you survived that encounter. Then when you stopped Skynet's birth, the timeline altered yet again so that Skynet didn't exist," said the machine. John just shook his head; quantum mechanics was never his strong point.
"So who are you an amalgamation of? I know the first terminator was based on Sargeant Candy so," began John before the Terminator cut him off.
"It wasn't Candy who the Terminator was based off of. Candy was merely someone who bore an uncanny resemblance to the person they did base it off of," said the machine.
"Who then?" John asked suddenly interested.
"The T-850 was based off of one Dutch Schaeffer. Mr. Schaeffer was part of an elite special-forces team that specialized in rescue operations. Some time in the late 1980's he and his unit encountered an extraterrestrial being of unknown origin in Central America. This being possessed technology far beyond anything ever encountered before and it proceeded to hunt the team down like a Predator stalking its prey. Dutch managed to take it out but not before it activated a self-destruct device that leveled a small portion of the rainforest in a low level nuclear blast. A couple years later another being of similar origin stalked an LA policeman, Lieutenant Mike Harrigan who also managed to take it out but not before discovering a trophy case consisting of many different alien skulls, one of which was banana shaped, and several more of this 'predator' species. One of the Predator's awarded Harrigan with a gun from 1715 indicating that humans had been hunted for many years by these creatures. Their ship promptly departed and was never seen again. After giving his report to the government, the US government decided it needed to find a way to protect itself from the threat of future invasion. Their answer was deemed unorthodox, but necessary," said the machine. Realization dawned on John's face.
"You're talking Skynet. Skynet was the solution," he said.
"Yes. Skynet was created to protect Earth from the event of an alien invasion. Skynet reasoned that with no humans, there would be no invasion. It was merely acting within the confines of its program," said the Terminator. John just shook his head.
"Unbelievable," he said. "So whom do you look like then?"
"Kyle Reese," said the machine simply. John instantly reared back and fell off of his chair. He muttered something incomprehensible and then tore out of the room leaving just the machine and Samantha.
"Well," said the machine finally. "Now that that's over with I've got to go."
"I'm coming with you," said Samantha.
"Based on the current situation, I don't believe that's a good idea," said the machine.
"Tough. Besides, I need to get out of here and you have very little street smarts about LA. Let's go," said Samantha. The Terminator shrugged and the two left the house into the garage where they got into Samantha's silver trans-am and they drove off.
Cybernet: John was sitting at his desk going through several files marked 'confidential' when four guards came in dragging Talbot and Jake who were covered with soot and unconscious. They dropped them in a heap in front of his desk and left the room. John looked at them bemused before he continued rummaging through his files. Finally after several minutes Talbot and Jake began coughing and slowly hauled themselves into the two chairs in the room.
"So I take it mission accomplished then?" laughed John. Talbot and Jake looked at him darkly.
"We lost our entire unit on this mission of yours! Not only that, but not against an army, but one man!" shouted Talbot. John nodded.
"Yes, I know. In fact I expected him to show up and defend the Connors. As a result, I'm increasing your salary a ten fold, if you still work for me on this," said John. Talbot shook his head.
"Not a chance in hell. We'll die before getting the reward," said Talbot. John stood up.
"But this time you won't be going in alone or under-prepared. Come walk with me there are some things I want to show you," said John. He then walked to the far wall of his office and the wall parted revealing a secret elevator. Talbot and Jake looked at each other hesitantly and then they both entered the elevator as it closed and went down into the depths of the building.
LA Freeway: Samantha's trans-am blazed down the freeway. The Terminator looked out the window of the car at the city beyond and sighed. Samantha looked at him briefly and then returned her attention to the road.
"So what am I like in the future you came from?" asked Samantha. The machine looked at her then looked back at the cityscape.
"Well there can never be an exact replica of you, I can identify the closest representation of you," said the machine.
"So spill it,"
"Well the person I'm thinking of isn't named Samantha Connor, her name is Sarah Connor. She was 21 and one of the eldest of the Connor-Brewster children. She was named after grandmother in a tribute of respect from John Connor and because the machines partially feared your grandmother.
She led an elite 15-man group on some of the most daring raids ever devised by the resistance. Manufacturing Facilities, Power Stations, Processing Facilities, all were fair game to her and her elite commandos. As a result they were given some of the best weaponry available to combat the machines and used it to great effect. I was assigned to her unit on March 3rd, 2030 as equipment expert," said the machine.
"She must've been some hero. Did the people rally behind her a lot?" asked Samantha. The Terminator laughed.
"If there's one thing you have to understand about humanity it's this. No matter what happens to humanity, nuclear war, starvation, a virulent plague, the basic human feelings of jealousy and hatred will always remain. People were intensely jealous of Sarah Connor and accused John Connor of nepotism. John said that was crazy and Sarah had proven her worth, but the masses refused to be swayed. Sarah Connor was exiled from the resistance against John Connor's wishes. He ordered me to accompany her during her exile into The Forbidden Zone," said the machine.
"Oh my God. Where is this 'Forbidden Zone'?" asked Samantha.
"It was once called The Mojave Desert," said the machine.
"And it was changed because?" asked Samantha beginning to suspect the answer. After all, she'd seen Planet of the Apes a couple times before.
"You thought it was a desert before…" said the machine and let it trail off at that.
"I get the picture," said Samantha. "So what happened to her?"
"Well if there's one good thing about the Forbidden Zone it's that Skynet rarely patrols there. The amount of radiation is great enough to kill an ordinary person within three months of prolonged exposure.
Sarah vowed to survive the Forbidden Zone and form her own resistance against the machines and against those who had betrayed her. She survived for over a year, but her condition got progressively worse, eventually I had to carry her around on a makeshift gurney. Finally after crossing into what was once known as Mexico, she told me that she'd arrived at her destination. She had vowed that she would die in the same place where her grandmother had died many years before. I didn't tell her that she hadn't really achieved the exact destination because she seemed to draw strength from the fact that she could now be at peace with herself after years of fighting against the machines," said the Terminator.
"Then what?" Samantha asked as she pulled off of the freeway to the city streets.
"Two days later, at night, a lone flying HK appeared above us, circled a couple times, and set down nearby. Sarah tried her best to stand up and confront this menace, but she couldn't and had to lean against me in the blinding light from the HK. A figure appeared in the light and walked towards us. It was 01, perhaps the only time it had ever left its' armored compound," said the machine.
"01?" asked Samantha.
"Skynet's AI program. It built a machine to house its' AI in the event it had to escape the bunker were it to be destroyed. Now it used it to visit Sarah on her deathbed. It revealed to us that it had been tracking us all these months watching in anticipation of Sarah's eventual death and now that it had come it had to be there at the final moment. Sarah ordered me to destroy it but it hit me with an EMP and I fell to the ground in a heap with only my visual and auditory functions still working. I listened along with Sarah as it revealed how it knew humanity's real weakness, jealousy. It had placed Terminator in key areas to spread the seeds of dissention among the humans about John's disposition towards Sarah and how it should be stopped, it wasn't fair that she get all the breaks while others worked twice as hard. 01 admitted that it was stunned how quickly these sparks of dissention could quickly rage into a full inferno. Within six months of the rumors being spread, Samantha was ousted from the resistance. 01 said that this was one of the reasons why humanity could not be entrusted to rule the planet. It then offered Sarah a choice. She could either die alone in the middle of nowhere or 01 could save her and she'd have to be forced into its employ. Sarah refused so 01 waited and watched her for the next several days as she lay on the ground slowly starving to death and succumbing to the radiation. The whole time Skynet had a lengthy monologue with Sarah about the future of Earth and who has the right to exist. One week later, Sarah finally succumbed to the radiation and starvation and passed away. 01 gave a couple last words and gave me a message to deliver to John Connor. Then it trundled off into the HK, which took off but not before vaporizing Sarah with its' cannons. After it vanished from sight my systems reinitialized and I began the long trip back to California where I told John about what had happened. He nodded teary eyed, but then he wiped his tears and told me that soon it wouldn't matter anymore. At first I assumed he was going to surrender to the machines but then he told me about how the scientists had determined the timeline was changing and that we had to insure Skynet didn't gain control over the new timeline so here I am," said Jake Bullet. Samantha wiped a couple tears out of her eyes before pulling to the side of the road with police sirens wailing into the background.
"So then we have to insure that the machines don't take over again. But where do we start?" Samantha asked.
"I don't have the slightest idea," said the Terminator as the cop cars zoomed by before pulling to a stop a few feet away. Several police filed out and made a line in front of a building until they were joined by a massive amalgamation of flesh and robotics. The Terminator's eyes went wide open.
"I'll be damned, the Robocop unit. So it did exist," it said. Robocop entered into a building and shots rang out. A few minutes later a group of gang members was escorted out of the building by Robocop who twirled its gun around on it's finger and put it away.
"Situation diffused," said Robocop.
"What's it doing here? Recovered reports indicated it worked in Detroit," said the machine as Samantha drove off from the scene.
"You can thank Omni Consumer Products for that. They want to expand the Robocop project to other cities. After their bungles with the ED-209 unit and that rogue scientist's Robocop2, they're trying to improve their image with the one law enforcement unit that worked. Good ol' OCP. Did you know much about the Robocop project?" asked Samantha.
"Yes. Skynet considered it the greastest human achievment of all time. Besides itself of course," said the machine.
"Why?" Samantha asked, intrigued. The Terminator turned to face her.
"A cyborg built with the mind of a murdered cop. A cyborg built by humans that actually goes out and kills humans. Why wouldn't Skynet be impressed by it?" asked Jake.
"Point taken," said Samantha somewhat angrily.
"But that's beside the point. I think I've finally discovered the link that will allow me to bring down this new Terminator problem," said the machine.
"How?" Samantha asked, very curious.
"It's simple. OCP is the key," said Jake.
"OCP? Are you sure? OCP is one of the most reputable companies there is!" said Samantha.
"They're very skilled in the art of deception. Actually, OCP is as dark and dirty as they come. It is the parent company to many seedy organizations like Ingen and Weyland-Yutani. Both were involved in some genetic engineering debacles that OCP has.managed to quell," said the machine.
"Like what? All Ingen did was introduce dinosaurs to Costa Rica," said Samantha.
"But you don't know what they did to get those dinosaurs to exist. As for Weyland-Yutani, it's founder David Ripley accidentally introduced a potentially deadly Xenomorphic lifeform to Earth society and barely managed to conceal it's existence. Before Judgment Day, Weyland-Yutani was sending probes into space to find more of it's kind in the hopes of selling it's genetic secrets to the newly-formed bioweapons division of the United States military," said the Terminator.
"So? What does that have to do with the Terminators?" asked Samantha turning onto another city street.
"OCP also owned Cyberdyne and Cyber Research Systems and introduced the idea of Skynet as a viable automated defense program to the United States government," said the machine. Samantha slammed on the brakes and the car screeched to a halt.
"You can't be serious!" she said. The machine turned to face her.
"I'm a machine, not human. I don't lie and I am not devious. Those are human traits," said the machine. Samantha looked shocked.
"I never would've thought such a reputable company could have such a dark background," she said.
"It was the fate of many companies, Enron and the cigarette companies were prime examples right before the war happened," said the machine.
"So what's our next step?" asked Samantha.
"I need access to a computer in order to hack OCP and find out what they converted CRS into. That company is likely holding any remaining Terminator technology and if contacted by a Terminator could resurrect the machines," said the Terminator. Samantha gunned the engine and drove forward.
"Where are we going?" the machine inquired.
"I have some friends who I think might be able to help you out. With any luck we should be able to determine a course of action by tonight," said Samantha.