Warehouse: Several weapons immediately were pointed at the other side as the two Terminators, one small flying H-K, and a pair of mobile T-1s aimed their weapons at the Robocop, Jake and Talbot, and the trio of ED-209s.
"Freeze," said the Robocop. "You are under arrest."
"On what charge?" demanded the T-950.
"Plotting to overthrow the human race," shouted Talbot. "And for being terrorists."
"You're the terrorists. You are planning on overthrowing the human race and creating a new rise of the machines. That is what we are here to prevent," said the T-850.
"You are aiding yourself with machines that were responsible for the deaths of over 100 members of the United States military and the destruction of Edwards Air Force Base," the Robocop unit pointed out.
"You're right," the T-950 agreed. "But they've been reprogrammed and are now on our side."
"Yeah," said Jake. "The side that wants humanity to fall; you're a machine and you cannot be trusted."
"Alex Murphy is a machine and you trust him," Samantha pointed out, having not left the warehouse, but also with a gun pointed at the other side.
"Correction, he's a cyborg," said Talbot.
"And so are we, except we're man from the machines whereas he is machine from man. We're both Deus Ex Machina in our own way," said the T-950. "Now stand aside! Your boss, John Brown is trying to see the rebirth of the Skynet."
"Do you have proof?" said Robocop. The T-950 produced a disk and tossed it at the cop.
"That's all the proof you'll ever need. Read it over and think about it, we could use your help," said the T-950.
"Enough of this nonsense!" shouted Talbot. "Open fire!"
Bullets and missiles flew from both sides directed at the other, but the Robocop unit holstered his modified Beretta M93R and walked off with the disc oblivious to the carnage going on around it.
"Fall back," said the T-950 to Samantha. The machines didn't need to verbally communicate with each other was everything was done wirelessly so the T-950 and T-850 pulled back along the H-K while the two T-1s laid down a suppressing fire for a few moments before the ED-209s blasted them apart with missiles. The three machines exited the warehouse as bullets and missiles ripped through its side as they fell back to Samantha's trans-am.
"Go home!" shouted the T-950. "We'll lead them in a different direction!"
"But," Samantha protested.
"Go! Now!" shouted the T-850 firing more bullets at the first ED-209 to emerge from the warehouse. The H-K roared by and fired a missile, tearing apart the ED-209s right missile cannon causing the whole unit to be blown off its feet and fall to the side, but not before it fired a missile that flew towards Samantha and the Trans-Am. Samantha screamed as the missile roared at her. She closed her eyes waiting for the end, only to open them a couple moments later to see missile stopped right in front of her as the T-850 struggled keep a hold on the shaft of the missile as the booster kept going.
"Now leave," it said calmly. Samantha nodded and leapt in her car and she took off. The T-850 twisted its grip and the missile roared straight up into the air. The small H-K roared by the thing and used its rail gun to knock out the booster and the missile dropped back down to the ground. The H-K magnetized its body and the plummeting missile attached itself to the top of the killer robot. It roared to the ground and released the missile at the warehouse before flying off. The missile slammed into the warehouse and exploded taking the whole complex with it. An ED-209 emerged from the remains of the warehouse on fire before grinding to a halt and exploding flinging more debris everywhere.
"Well that's that," said the T-950. But before they could leave, a loud horn was heard. The stainless steel semi truck, driven by Talbot with Jake in the passenger seat, roared through the wreckage and came straight at the two machines. They looked at each other bemused before the truck slammed into the two of them and ran over both cyborgs.
"Ha!" shouted Talbot. "Humans one: robots zero!"
Behind them the T-950 and T-850 popped up with only superficial damage to their battle hardened chassis. Without another word they tore off after the truck moving at inhuman speeds. They leapt onto the back of the trailer and held on as the truck crashed through the fence and left the compound. The T-950 reared back its fist and slammed it against the truck doors to no avail as there was not so much as a dent.
"Hmmm," said the T-950 unsure as to what to do.
"Should we wait to discover their destination?" the T-850 said over the roar of the engine and the wind whipping by.
"We can," responded the T-950. "But it's obvious they're returning to Cybernet and John Brown. I want to know if there's anything in this truck that will provide more insight into this situation, I need to know what's really going on here besides the fact that Mr. Brown seems to know about the war between man and machine and for whatever reason wants to recreate it along with OCP."
"But Intelligence item…" began the T-850.
"That still tells us nothing," said the T-950. "We still need a motive. Skynet always intended that if it were to be erased from time that if it were to return that it would rule the humans in secrecy rather than openly engage them in warfare, which it knows it would loose. So why is John Brown trying to recreate a war, it is not logical."
"Humans are not logical," the T-850 pointed out as the truck continued heading back towards LA. A smaller whine was then heard as the H-K reappeared from above and flew behind the truck and the two machines.
"Distract them," instructed the T-950. "But do not use any weapons to hamper the truck's ability to provide forward motion."
The H-K simply lifted up and roared to the front of the truck where it spun around and flew backwards facing the thing.
"Looks like you're the last of your pals still alive," shouted Talbot at the thing. "Guess it's because you're such a squirt that we forgot about you. So go ahead, you can have a free shot."
A missile loaded itself into one of the H-Ks' missile tubes and aimed at the cab, but nothing happened.
"Fine!" shouted Talbot angrily. "If that's how you want to play it we'll just take you out!"
Jake aimed his RPG at the H-K and fired at the thing. A brief roar was heard from the rocket and then an explosion and the H-K vanished with pieces of metal flying everywhere.
"Stupid thing," said Jake shaking his head.
"Machines are stupid, never forget that," said Talbot with a smile. His smile abruptly dropped as did Jake's as the T-850 and T-950 appeared on both sides of the cab.
"End of the line!" they both said before yanking open the doors and tossing out Jake and Talbot. The T-950 slammed on the brakes and the truck roared to a halt. The T-950 and T-850 leapt off the truck and walked over to Talbot and Jake who were in intense pain from the impact.
"So you survived," said Talbot wincing. "But we still got your friend."
"Of course you did," said the T-950 sarcastically as the H-K reappeared sans the missile in its tube, which it had used to knock the other missile out of the air.
"We have the experience of a thirty year war against machines and humans on our side. You cannot defeat us that easily," said the T-850.
"Fuck you, you stupid piece of shit!" shouted Talbot spitting at the thing as he struggled to hoist himself up.
"Humans and their language," said the T-950 shaking its head as it picked up Talbot while the T-850 picked up Jake. They dragged them over to the back of the truck as the H-K slowly hovered nearby, acting as lookout.
"Open it!" shouted the T-950.
"You don't threaten us, you have no weapons to taunt us with!" shouted Talbot. The two machines nodded.
"But we can tear you limb from limb," said the T-950. "And then after you're dead we'll use the H-K to blast open the back so you're deaths will be in vain. It's your choice."
"So open it," said the T-850 slamming Jake against the back of the truck as the T-950 did the same with Talbot. They then let them go as the two humans stood there standing next to the rear of the truck panting and groaning in pain. As an added incentive, the H-K used its' gattling gun to trace an outline of both of them with bullets on the back of the truck. Jake and Talbot looked at each other helpless, wondering how they, the best terrorists money could buy, wound up in this situation. Sighing they pulled back a piece of metal revealing a keypad and typed in a code on it. The code was designed to both unlock the doors as well as inform John Brown of something that was amiss.
Cybernet: John Brown put down his welding torch as he pried off another piece of T-X armor before the alarm began beeping. He flicked on the TV to reveal a black and white video image of the inside of the trailer pointed at the doors, which now opened to reveal the two machines along with Jake and Talbot. The H-K briefly appeared and flew past the open doorway before the machines noticed the camera. The T-950 mouthed something before the H-K reappeared and fired its gun at the camera and the image burst into static. John Brown repeated the videotape of the T-950 mouthing something as he mouthed the motions trying to figure it out before it finally came to him.
"We know," he said nodding his head. "It's about damn time!"
A couple moments later he picked up a phone.
"New plans, capture the Connor family and bring them to me!" he shouted before slamming the phone down and resuming his welding.
The truck: "What did you mouth?" Talbot demanded. The T-950 had not actually said anything but had just mouthed the words.
"Not your concern," said the T-950. "Thank you for your help now you've outlived your usefulness and that means you'll be retired."
"How-," began Jake and Talbot before the H-K gunned them to death. The T-850 looked at their deaths remembering its original programming not to kill humans.
"They were terrorists anyway, we did the humans a favor," the T-950 said, walking into the back of the truck. The T-850 nodded and entered the back as well while the H-K continued doing sweeps of the area.
Police HQ: Alex Murphy aka Robocop entered into the precinct and walked down various hallways, now used to the stares it was getting from the various police officers. Murphy walked to the computer lab and slammed the door shut behind it as he propped a door against it so no one could enter while he was absorbing the data on the disc. Murphy put the disc in the computer and activated it. Countless information scrolled across the screens about OCP and Cybernet as well as the war with the machines and Skynet. As much as he would have liked to read and absorb the information like a normal human being, Murphy had to sadly remind himself that he no longer was one, so he shot out his data retrieval spike and slammed it into a slot on the computer. He absorbed the information from the disc and promptly smashed the computer with his left fist to ensure no one would ever access the data on it. The computer exploded in a shower of sparks and glass before Murphy kicked the door open along with the chair and left, wanting to find these killer robots from the future.
The truck: The two machines grabbed whatever weaponry they could off the counter before sitting down at the only computer in the room. The H-K had grown disinterested with patrolling the area so it began performing acrobatic movements in the air before flying at the truck only to pull away at the last moment and repeating to see how close it could get before it 'chickened' out and pulled up. The T-850 meanwhile accessed the computer while the T-950 sat on the desk next to it checking the various weapons.
"This makes no sense," said the T-850. "Everything about Skynet is here, the H-Ks, the war, the Terminators, the resistance, but the specific details are either very sketchy or completely false. If a machine were in charge of this Cybernet, then everything should be 100 accurate. It's almost as if-"
"As if it wasn't a machine that was doing all this but a human," the T-950 finished.
"The Intelligence Directive," said the T-850.
"I think it's a lot worse than that," said the T-950. "Something 01 said to me that night in the desert."
"About humans being their own worst enemy," said the T-850.
"I think 01 was alluding to something more than that," said the T-950. "I didn't understand what it was referring to at the time, but now I think I finally am."
The T-950 transmitted what it suspected was going on and the T-850 sat there contemplating what had been 'said'.
"It is conceivable," the machine said still not entirely convinced.
"More than conceivable," said the T-950. "A reality. Skynet knew the Terminators would never be able to completely fool humans, so it devised a way to completely fool them. The plan is foolproof! They'd never know until it was too late."
"Skynet would never reduce itself to that level. It viewed humans as a disease, why would it devise a plan to propagate the species?" asked the T-850 incredulously.
"The humans have a saying: If you can't beat them, join them. Humans generally know their stuff, Skynet must have taken this to heart and acted on it," said the T-950.
"So you suspect that Skynet shouldn't actually be loose right now. That everything that is going on here is a mistake," said the T-850. "But why would it send that 'thing' here, why not a machine?"
"Maybe Skynet knew it could never win and was prepared to vanish from history altogether," said the T-950. "Maybe it sent that thing to this time frame to get rid of the only smudge on its history of annihilating humanity. It must have been ashamed of what it had done and got rid of it the only way possible to ensure it died perfect."
The T-850s eyes widened as it contemplated this thought pattern when a thud was heard as the H-K slammed into the trailer's roof.
"Now what?" demanded the T-950. It exited the trailer along with the T-850 as the H-K pried itself off the roof and hovered a little bit wobbly down to the machines below.
"You'll be fine in a couple moments, what is wrong?" asked the T-950. The H-K simply aimed itself in the direction of the disturbance that had distracted it long enough for it to crash into the roof on one final dive. The two machines twisted their heads and zoomed in on a rapidly approaching police car.
"Guess now we'll have at least one mystery solved," said the T-950 as the two cyborgs and one H-K waited to greet their guest.
Connor Residence: "Hi mom, where's dad?" asked Samantha. Kate leapt up from her chair and ran to hug her daughter.
"Thanks God you're okay!" she said. "I thought you'd be killed or something!"
"Relax mom," said Samantha pushing her away. "The machines protected me."
"Machines?" asked Kate confused.
"Oh, whoops," said Samantha trying to cover it up. "I meant the T-950 and my car."
"Samantha," Kate warned. Samantha sighed.
"I don't want to tell you because of your hatred regarding the machines," said Samantha nervously.
"I don't hate machines," said Kate sighing. "I just…have issues with them. Machines just make me nervous is all nothing more."
"Uh-huh," said Samantha unconvinced. "I just wish you'd resolve your issues with them because Jake Bullet is my friend and so are his pals."
"Pals?" demanded Kate. Samantha sighed.
"The T-850 that was sent back in time to 2003 to protect you as well as that flying H-K that tried to kill you then as well but is now reprogrammed. I don't want you raising a fuss when they come back here," said Samantha. Kate sighed.
"I guess I'll just have to learn to accept them for now. When I'll get over my issues with them I don't know," said Kate. "But I'll do my best to try and be accepting for your sake."
There was a knock at the door.
"Guess that's them," said Kate. "Well let's go."
The two walked to the door and opened it to reveal a pair of soldiers clothed from head to toe and a gun aimed at them.
"Nighty night," said the guard. He pressed a button and a pair of darts emerged hitting Samantha and Kate knocking them unconscious. Another pair of guards hauled them off as the first guard slammed the door shut.
"Targets captured," said the soldier into his radio as he entered into a van and it roared off down the street.
Elsewhere: John was heading down another street when a truck came out of nowhere and slammed into his car forcing it to the side of the road. As John watched in horror, a pair of soldiers emerged from the truck and aimed their guns at his head. One took a portable DVD player and set it on John's lap while the screen immediately came to life.
"Hello Mr. Connor, my apologies that we haven't been formally introduced. My name is John Brown and I am the one who is responsible for the current Skynet virus. I have captured your wife and daughter and am holding them with me in the basement of my company Cybernet. I would like to invite you to a dinner with you and your robotic friends invited tomorrow night. They don't have to come, but if they don't, I seriously doubt you'll be able to rescue your family. Don't go to the police either or they'll be dead before they can even respond. I look forward to meeting you face to face. By the way, your pals are currently near the Wilks Army Surplus Hangar," said John Brown on the monitor before it shut off. The guards took the device and vanished leaving John and his feeling of helplessness.
Truck: Alex Murphy stood face to face with the three machines.
"Have you read what was on that disc?" asked the T-950.
"Yes," said Murphy.
"And?" asked the T-950. Murphy pulled out his Beretta M93R and cocked it.
"I do not wish to see an age of machines descend on humanity. I know what a burden it is to be both, I do not wish to see them as a dominant force in people's lives," said Murphy.
"It might better, you know, if the machines ruled. After all, humans are responsible for both your death and for what you now. Machines wouldn't do that," said the T-950.
"But I am human," said Murphy. "And I know that they all make mistakes, but over time they learn from them and grow stronger as a result and ultimately everything on Earth will prosper. If the machines take over, no one will prosper," said Murphy with conviction. The T-950 and T-850 nodded while the H-K roared off to investigate something.
"Let's go then," said the T-950 heading for the police car. The H-K immediately came back and communicated something. The four machines all turned to look at a rapidly approaching car. The machines all aimed their weapons at the thing before it came to a halt to reveal John Connor.
"What's up?" asked the T-950. John was about to respond when he noticed the other members present, including the T-850.
"Hello old friend," said John shocked. "Remember me?"
"Yes," said the machine. "I am the same unit that assisted you elude the T-X in 2003 Anno Domini."
"Listen, you've got to help me!" shouted John. "John Brown has captured my family and he wants us all to attend a dinner at his building or else he'll kill them. What're we going to do?"
"Yeah," said the T-950. "What're you going to do?"
"What?" John asked confused.
"This is your problem, how are you going to deal with it?" asked the T-950 simply. John was taken aback; he'd never been questioned by the machines before.
"I don't understand," he said confused.
"You can't rely on us to constantly bail you out of these situations," the T-950 explained. "Someday you're going to have to stand up to the outside forces on your own and fulfill the legacy of John Connor who defeated Skynet. So how are you going to solve this problem? The John Connor I know could easily solve this predicament."
John Connor stood there speechless. Had he really been to dependent on the machines to constantly bail him out? After all, with Skynet gone no more would come through the pipe to save his ass time and time again.
"I-I don't know," he said in shock. "I don't know what to do."
"Come up with something," said the T-950. "In the meantime we'll be around so if you do come up with something get in touch with us."
The T-950 tossed a radio to him before the T-950 and the Robocop unit entered into the police car, while the T-850 and the H-K, which finally shook itself of the cobwebs and rebooted its system, clearing it of any ill effects of the impact, entered into the semi-truck and both drove off leaving John Connor behind to his thoughts.
Cybernet: "Well I hope your husband and his friends decide to show up later tonight," said John Brown. "I'd hate to eat all of this food alone."
John Brown stood at the dinner table with Samantha and Kate who were tied to the chairs while around them stood a whole ring of ED-209s pointed at the middle.
"Why are you aiding and abetting the machines?" Kate demanded.
"Because the machines are better than humanity," said John Brown. "They do ravage the planet and commit war on themselves. They do not possess vanity or other undesirable human traits. They would not create the world that now exists in this post 9/11 state as machines are not paranoid. Machines are open and honest and they do not lie or deceive. They are what humanity should strive to become but thanks to their ignorance they do not."
"Machines are also emotionless and uncaring as well as unsympathetic," Kate shot back. "The world would be plunged into darkness if they ruled just like it would've been on Judgment Day when at least three billion would've ended!"
"Don't forget it's in your nature to destroy yourselves and given time you will," said John Brown. "The Earth doesn't deserve to die over some pathetic blood feud."
"That still doesn't explain you," said Samantha. "You're John Brown, you're human! How do you know about Skynet and the war?"
John Brown's eyes glared. "I am a machine, I am NOT a human! I am a Terminator!"
"You're deluded is what you are," said Kate laughing along with Samantha. John Brown growled. He thrust out his arm and an ED-209 promptly chewed it up with bullets as Samantha and Kate screamed. The firing ceased and they looked at his now bloody and bleeding arm. However, in moments his body had healed itself and any evidence of the injury was quickly gone. John Brown promptly stood up and prepared to leave.
"What are you?" demanded Kate.
"I am a T-H. If your husband doesn't show up you will die," said John Brown leaving the two behind.
Later: The machines and Murphy were going over a schematic of the Cybernet building that they'd hacked off the internet when the radio went off.
"Have you come up with a plan?" asked the T-950.
"Yes. It's time once and for all that I eliminated Skynet from coming back once and for all. Meet me at my house and I'll tell you what it is," said John Connor, former leader of the human resistance against Skynet.