Chapter 6: Origins
At a hidden genetics lab Terminator stood perfectly still as his new skin was being attached. As ordered this new skin looked identical to the original but now had a different DNA base and fingerprints.
"Optics test." One of the scientists said. Terminator opened his 'eyes' and looked around. All images were coming in as they should be. He quickly ran a systems check. All registered in the green zone.
"All systems at one hundred percent." Terminator announced.
"Excellent." The scientists said. "The masters will be pleased to see how efficient you are." He gave Terminator a fresh set of clothes and returned his weapon. "Now that you are repaired we will provide transportation back to them so you may give the report in person."
"No." Terminator said.
"No?"
"My mission is not complete." Terminator stated. "I am not to return or contact the masters until my mission is complete. You are not to contact them either." His orders to remain unseen were now his driving force. To complete his mission he must terminate Jet Black, Faye Valentine and Spike Spiegel. First he would need to locate them. The most logical place they would be on the ship registered to Jet Black, the Bebop. Without asking he sat down at a computer terminal and began typing. After a few moments he had access to the ISSP registration files and brought up the file on the Bebop. According to the file the Bebop was on Mars at the moment, docked in the artificial bay on the other side of the city. "I need transportation."
"We, can't do that." The scientist said nervously. "If we provide you with any transportation other then back to headquarters and something happens you could be traced back to us. Orders are orders." The scientist waited for the bad reaction he knew was coming but Terminator did nothing. His programming did not allow him to override his master's commands, even if doing so would allow him to carry out another set of orders. And unlike most humans to him the orders made perfect tactical sense.
"Very well." Terminator said. He picked up the final pieces of his disguise, a fake but very real looking ISSP badge and a pair of wraparound sunglasses. Both were designed to combine his air of intimidation he had with authority. He then left without another word.
While Terminator started his trek towards the Bebop John Connor got his first look at the unique vessel.
"That's your ship?" John asked as they approached the Bebop. He was wedged in behind Faye in the Red Tail and had to look over her shoulder. After ditching the van they had run into the problem of transportation. Renting a craft for John to fly out to the Bebop was out of the question and splitting up and having him take a boat was equally as dangerous. Since the Red Tail was the only one of the three capable of carrying two people Faye was elected to play taxi.
"That's it." Faye confirmed. "So what do you think?"
"What do I think?" John answered. "I think it's a rust bucket. The only thing holding it together are the bird droppings." Faye snickered and over the radio they heard Spike doing the same.
"Watch it!!" Jet's voice growled. "It's either you stay on that 'rust bucket' for a while or you go to a prison were everybody is insane."
"From what you guys have shown me so far I don't think there's much of a difference." John replied. That earned him a growl from Spike and Jet, and Faye glared at him over her shoulder. "Hey I call em as I see em." They landed and as they led John down the hallway to the lounge Ein ran up to them. When he spotted John he gave a warning growl, the only people he had seen brought on board except for Faye and Ed had been very unfriendly. John stopped walking. The dog might look like a fox minus the tail but right now it was acting like a pit-bull, and if he fit in with the rest of this strange crew he probably bit like one.
"Easy Ein." Jet told him. "He's a friend." Ein looked from Jet back to John, walked over and gave him a sniff then relaxed, favoring John with a canine version of a grin.
"Uh, Hi." John said, unsure about the sudden attitude reversal in the little dog. To his surprise Ein gave a bark of greeting, like he understood him. [Come to think of it he seemed to understand the others to.] Now things were getting really weird. He started following the others and Ein fell in behind him. "Are there any other surprises I should know about?"
"Just one." Jet replied. Before he could elaborate something dropped down out of the ventilation duct right in front of John.
"Hiiiiiiiiiiiiii!" The thing squealed in a very high-pitched voice. John stumbled back, tripped over Ein, and landed on his back.
"Just what the heck was thaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!" When he sat up he found himself literally face to face with someone who had a pair of very large amber colored eyes. The owner of the eyes was a small skinny kid with wild orange hair and a curious look on his face. The kid broke into a large grin and began to giggle.
"Did Edward surprise you?" The kid asked him. John didn't answer right away, wondering if the kid was joking. But the kid didn't say anything else and still had an inquisitive look on his face.
"I think it's safe to say you took a few years off my life." John finally answered. The kid gave another high-pitched giggle.
"Edward is very good at surprising people." The kid stated with pride. He, [Or was it she? It was hard to tell.] leaned in and started to examine him more closely. Being scrutinized by a kid that seemed to have more then a few screws loose started to creep John out but the kid failed to notice.
"Ed, this is John Connor. He's helping us with something and is going to be our guest for a while." Jet explained. Ed gave John a large smile.
"Edward is pleased to meet you friend of Jet person." She said cheerfully. Unsure of what to do John gave a slight smile in return.
"Nice to meet you to." He said nervously. Ed laughed.
"Enjoy your flight and thank you for flying Bebop airlines." Ed said and ran off, arms outstretched and making airplane noises. John watched her run off and looked back to the others, not getting up.
"Who or what was that?" John asked.
"That's Ed." Jet answered. "Our resident computer wiz. She may be a little weird but she's the best hacker you can find."
"A little weird?" John asked. Jet shrugged.
"Ok more then a little, but you'll get used to it." John shook his head. This was without a doubt the oddest group of people he had ever encountered, and that included the criminals. His thoughts were interrupted by a loud whine at his feet. Looking down he saw Ein pinned under his legs. He lifted the weight off the little dog and after Ein moved he started to get up.
"Sorry about that." He said as he stood. Ein let out an angry bark. "Hey, it was an accident." Ein gave another angry bark. "I said I was sorry didn't I?" John realized what he was doing and put his hand over his face. "It must be contagious. I've been here less then ten minutes and I'm talking to a dog like he was a person." Ein responded with a growl. John shook his head and followed the others into the lounge.
"Looks like you're going fit in just fine." Spike said as they sat down. Spike, Faye and John sat down on the couch, Jet on the chair across from them.
"That's what I'm afraid of." John replied. Not wanting to think about it further he changed the subject. "Look, you guys know who I am and if we're going to work together I should at least know your names."
"I guess introductions are overdue." Jet admitted. "On your left is Spike Spiegel and on your right is Faye Valentine. I'm Jet Black and this ship is called the Bebop, and I don't appreciate wisecracks being made about my ship."
"Wait a minute." John interrupted. "Jet Black. The Black Dog?"
"I used to be called that." Jet replied. To his surprise John started laughing. "What's so funny?"
"Sorry. It's just that I can't wait to see the looks on the guy's faces when they learn that I've worked with a legend." Faye snickered and Spike smiled.
"The first one who makes a joke about my age gets tossed overboard with an engine block tied around their neck." Jet warned. The others quickly quieted down, not really wanting to find out if he was serious. "Now John the reason you're here is because you're one of two people who've seen whatever it was that killed those ISSP officers and came back alive. Faye is the other one. We're hoping that you have some information on whatever this thing is." John shrugged.
"I'm sorry but the only thing I know is what I've told you already." Jet let out a loud sigh. "Look I'll help any way I can but you three probably know more then I do."
"The only thing we do know is that the captain at the shootout was part of the Red Dragons, so was our metal friend." Spike said.
"Well that's no big surprise." John snorted. "Some of the highest ranking brass are owned by syndicates. What I don't get is why was the captain was killed if they're both part of the same syndicate."
"Must be the captain found out something he wasn't supposed to know." Jet said.
"A killer robot is definitely something you'd want to keep under wraps." Faye agreed.
"That means only a select few would be in on this." Spike said.
"Terrific." John put in. "We have to deal with an indestructible robot that we know nothing about." Ed suddenly appeared over their shoulders.
"Edward knows!" She yelled. Faye and Spike didn't react but John jumped out of his seat.
"Don't DO that!" John yelled. Ed's only was response was to laugh, she had managed to surprise the new person again.
"Ed we're in the middle of something, we don't have time for your games." Spike warned. "If it's not something that'll help us don't bother saying anything."
"It'll help." She assured them then scampered off. John gave inquiring looks to Faye and Spike, who both shrugged. Ed came back carrying Tomato and put it on the table for all to see. "Ed got this while everyone was gone."
"To Radical Edward." Jet read from the screen. "We have contacted you because you appear to be the one best suited for the task we are assigning to you. You are to search out the ship known as the Bebop and give them the technical data included with this message. They will need your talents to put the information to use. If you are successful there will be a substantial reward that will be wired to you upon the completion of your task. We will know if you have or not." Jet looked up from the screen. "It's signed 'A Friend'. Pretty suspicious if you ask me."
"So what's in there Ed?" Spike asked. Ed opened the first file and the screen was filled with the picture of a metallic skull. One that had two glowing red eyes. Spike raised an eyebrow but Faye and John actually jumped when the image appeared onscreen. Jet noticed their reaction.
"That's him isn't it?" Jet asked. John went up to the screen and covered the right half of the face with his hand. He looked over at Faye.
"Is this what you saw?" He asked. Faye's shudder was enough of an answer. "That's him." He confirmed. "Now I'm starting to get really suspicious. Someone just happens to send Ed this information right when we needed it?"
"Whoever it was probably didn't know that Ed is on the Bebop. Otherwise they would have addressed it to us." Spike said.
"We need to get out of here." John said suddenly. "Right now."
"What for?" Faye asked. "I was able to lose that bucket of bolts. He doesn't know we're here."
"Don't be so quick to say that Faye." Jet said. "Remember what happened the last time I thought I lost someone following me?" She thought for a second then her eyes went wide. "Exactly."
"Wait a minute." She said after a moment. "He was nowhere near the Red Tail and he didn't see which way I went."
"True, but he did see you." John put in. "If he knows who you are he can trace you back here."
"Nice try but there's nothing that says I'm on the Bebop." Faye said smugly.
"Nothing directly, but indirectly… . ." Jet started.
"There may be something to lead him right to us." John finished, catching the older cop's drift. "Ed, mind if I use your computer for a minute?" Normally anyone who tried something like that usually caused Ed to hunch protectively over Tomato and give a feral sounding growl. This time she just smiled and stepped aside. This action was not lost to the others as John began typing.
"What's the deal Ed? Any of us try that and you're ready to bite our hands off. Why let him?" Jet asked.
"You said he's a guest." Ed answered. "And guests are treated nicely. He also asked Ed nicely if he could use Tomato."
"Great." John mumbled. "First I get thrown in with a bunch of screwballs and now it looks like I've made friends with the nuttiest of the entire group." He continued typing. "Got it." He brought up the ISSP file on Faye, complete with the unflattering mugshot. "Let's see here. Age, height, blood type, rap sheet and a fairly long one at that." Faye snorted at that and John smiled. His smile disappeared when he read the next line. "Uh oh."
"Uh oh?" Jet asked. "I hope I didn't hear that right. Uh oh is never good."
"You got that right." John answered. "And it's a lot worse here. Under known accomplices it has your name listed." All of them were silent for a moment. All of them were thinking the same thing. Any idiot could put two and two together and that meant…..
"I think it's a good idea if we get out of here." Faye said quickly.
"Seconded." John added.
"Ok this isn't the time to panic." Jet said. "Grab whatever is absolutely necessary and go down to the hangar. I'll take Ein and Ed, you're riding with Faye."
"Three in the cockpit?" John asked. "That's going to be awfully crowded."
"Oh she doesn't ride in the cockpit." Faye told him. John gave her a quizzical look but didn't say anything as they got up and prepared to leave. Spike gathered all the spare weapons and ammunition while Jet grabbed all the money they had left, which wasn't much, and all their communicators. Ed picked up Tomato and put it inside the Red Tail. Then Faye and John set about the task of strapping Ed to the top of the Red Tail. Again to John's surprise instead of protesting or being scared Ed seemed thrilled to be strapped to the top a jet powered vehicle flying at speeds most people except daredevils would be petrified of. As they took off it was John that voiced the obvious question.
"So where are we going?"
"Ask Jet that." Spike's voice replied over the radio. They waited for a reply. "Well." Spike prodded.
"Actually I don't know." Jet admitted. "I'm making this up as I go along."
"That's just great." Faye groaned. "Nothing like jumping ship with no plan."
"Hey it was either go with no plan or sit around and wait for that thing to show up on our doorstep. Now are you going to tell me that you would have wanted to meet him when he got there?" Nobody had an answer for that one.
They would never find out how close they had come to what Jet had just told them. Ten minutes after they had left Terminator walked onto the waterfront. Had he arrived five minutes sooner he might have seen the ships flying off. As it was he didn't see any flying vessels and he scanned the ones in the water. When he found one matching the descriptions of the Bebop he approached a small transport boat manned by one man who was reading a newspaper, so engrossed that he didn't notice Terminator approach until he was right on top of him.
"What do you want pal?" The man asked, barely glancing up from his paper.
"I need to get to that vessel over there." Terminator stated, pointing to the Bebop.
"Buddy, I've got better things then to play taxi for every yahoo who wants a ride." The human was refusing to comply. Several options appeared for Terminator. The easiest would be to shoot the man and steal the boat but that would attract unwanted attention. Instead he took out his phony badge and tossed it into the man's lap.
"I insist." Terminator said. The man looked at the badge and the person who threw it. Any other day he would have tossed the badge into the water and told the cop to piss off. However this guy looked like the type you didn't want to make angry. With a sigh of annoyance he folded up the paper and set it down.
"Get in." Terminator climbed into the boat. The boat shifted oddly under Terminator's weight but the driver didn't notice. "Which one you want again?" Terminator again pointed to the Bebop.
"That one."
"You got it." He started the engines and headed out. "So, why you got to get out to that ship so fast?"
"Official police business." Terminator replied.
"Something real big, right?" Terminator turned towards him, its eyes hidden behind dark glasses.
"You ask too many questions." It wasn't really a threat but the emotionless way it was delivered made the driver realize that the best thing he could do was keep his mouth shut. They pulled up to the Bebop and Terminator jumped onto the side. "Wait here." He ordered without turning around.
"Sure thing." He watched as Terminator climbed up the side of the ship, wondering if he should leave and take his chances. He decided not to. There was something about that guy, he couldn't put his finger on it, but there was something about him that said if you didn't do precisely as told you would regret it.
When Terminator pulled himself onto the deck he drew his gun and walked forward, on the lookout for any traps that might be set. He entered the hangar and found it empty. His files told him that all three of his targets had personal craft that were kept on the main ship. With the craft gone it was a logical assumption that they were also gone. Using the schematics in his memory banks he made his way to the bridge of the ship and accessed the main computer. There was nothing useful, the computer only told him where they had been, not where they were going. A person would feel anger and frustration but Terminator just adapted his search methods. Those craft would have to land eventually, their fuel would run out at some point. Everything they would need to leave the planet was in this ship. He took out his communicator and switched it on.
"Yes?" A voice on the other end answered.
"This is agent 001." Terminator replied.
"Go ahead."
"I need to have a ship watched. Its occupants are enemies of the masters. They have fled the vessel for now but may return. I will pursue them but the ship must be guarded. If anyone tries to board it you have authorization to shoot on sight." Terminator knew he would receive no back talk. His orders could only be superceded by the masters, and no one was about to risk going over his head.
"The name of the craft?" The voice answered.
"Bebop."
"Affirmative. We'll have a squad down there in five minutes." Terminator said nothing and snapped the communicator off. That taken care of he was now able to continue his pursuit. He left the ship and climbed back down into the boat where the driver was beginning to get nervous.
"So how'd it go?" The driver asked nervously.
"Drive." Was Terminator's only response. The man nodded and turned back to shore. The sooner he got rid of this weirdo the better. When they got back to the docks Terminator climbed out of the boat and walked off without a word. The driver didn't care, just so long as he left.
While the driver was counting his blessings the Bebop crew were trying to decide whether their current surroundings were a blessing or a curse.
"Hey Jet. Could you have gotten us a broom closet? There would probably be more space." Faye complained.
"It's not like we had a whole lot of choices Faye." Jet responded. After they had left the Bebop they found out just how little cash they had so they landed in the cheapest place possible to leave their ships, even if they would probably be stripped when they came back. After that they had been forced to go to a really cheap hotel that they could use for headquarters until they could get back to the Bebop. Jet had paid for two rooms, one for himself, Spike and John, and another for the girls. He also gave a generous tip to the manager in case someone came around asking for them, and for allowing them to keep Ein with them. Neither room was very big and right now they were all gathered in the larger of the two, waiting for Ed and Jet to finish looking through the information they had been given. They had been at it for an hour and all of them were a bit on edge except for Spike, who was leaning against the wall.
"How can he be so calm at a time like this?" John asked.
"There are things in life you have no control over. You just have to accept it and the rest comes easy." Spike answered. John glanced over at Faye.
"Is he always like this when someone's trying to kill him?" In response Faye rolled her eyes.
"Worse, he acts like this all the time." John shook his head again wondering how he had become caught up in all this.
"Ok you guys. We've got some background information if you're interested." The conversation was forgotten completely as the three huddled around Tomato.
"So what have you got?" John asked. Ed brought up a picture of a metallic skeleton.
"Say hello to our opponent. Cyberdyne systems Termination unit, series 800."
"Wait a minute." Faye interrupted "Cyberdyne? I've heard that name before, but I can't remember where."
"So have I." Spike said. "Aren't they some two bit computer company?" Jet nodded.
"They're small company specializing in computer software and programming. Recently they've been trying to branch out to other areas." Jet explained. John snapped his fingers as things fell into place.
"That's right. I read something a while back that they were trying to construct some type of energy gun and the project bankrupted them."
"That's right." Jet confirmed. "They were the leaders in the race to build a portable plasma cannon. Like you said, it drained all their resources and they had to file for bankruptcy. A few months ago the company was going down the toilet but then all of the sudden they have a miraculous revival. Their stocks climb and money starts to roll in, but no new financial backers are listed. That should raise a lot of suspicions but nobody bothers to ask any questions. Turns out the reason for the silence was this." He pointed to the picture displayed. "Apparently someone found out about Cyberdyne's past work and decided to capitalize on it."
"Past work?" Spike asked. "You mean this thing isn't new?"
"On the contrary." Jet answered. "This thing is older then any of us. It dates back to before the gate accident." Now he had everyone's complete attention. "Cyberdyne wasn't always a nickel and dime company. The gate accident practically wiped them out but back in the late twentieth and early twenty-first century they were one of the largest companies in the world. Their prime source of income was designing computer software for the military. Ordinary stuff at first, missile guidance systems and the like, but then they decided to get ambitious. And it all started with him." He brought up a picture of a middle aged black man. "This is Miles Dyson, considered to be one of the greatest minds in the modern era."
"If he's so famous how come I've never heard of him?" John interrupted.
"I've haven't heard of him either." Faye said.
"Ditto." Spike added.
"There's a good reason for that." Jet said. "He died in the gate catastrophe and someone else modified his studies and eventually created the MONO system, but that's getting ahead of everything. The reason he was considered a genius was because of this." A 3D projection of a strange microchip was displayed. "A new type of microprocessor, extremely advanced, even by today's standards. This one chip was able to out process even the most powerful supercomputers of the day and was able to create something thought near impossible to build, a neural net computer." He waited for reactions from the three but was met with only blank stares. John made a sweeping motion over his head, conveying the thoughts of all three of them. "You guys don't know what a neural net is?"
"Should we?" Faye asked. "It doesn't sound that big."
"Neural nets make machines think." Ed answered. "Let's them get smarter with more data." They looked from her back to Jet.
"That's about the size of it." He confirmed. "This processor was the basis for Cyberdyne's two biggest projects. One of which was our metallic friend. Humanoid robots had been under construction for years but they were never able to get it right since the human body has to maintain its balance and no computer could mimic that." He opened a video that showed the metallic skeleton standing upright in a laboratory test room. A multitude of cords snaked out of its back, some leading into the wall, others leading to a control counsel where a man in a lab coat sat.
"Movement test number twenty five." A voice over said. "Calibration to auto gyros is complete and all systems functioning at normal levels. Power up." A loud hum was heard and the eyes of the robot began to glow red, an eerily familiar sight for Faye and John. "Begin test." The robot lifted one leg, slowly and stiffly. It put its foot down, just as slowly and stiffly. It began to put weight on the foot when it fell forward and landed on the ground with a loud crash.
"Shit!" Somebody yelled. Several technicians rushed forward and began to examine the robot. "Cut the feed!" The screen went dark.
"The human body keeps its balance by making an untold number of adjustments every second." Jet explained. "No computer could match the speed the human brain was capable of. This video is six months after Dyson joined the project and his chip was in use." He opened a video showed the same setup as the first. Only this time when the robot walked forward it was with smooth, even strides. After walking for several yards it came to an egg set on the floor. Without breaking stride it bent down, picked the egg up, tossed it in the air and caught it. It then walked over to one of the techs and handed the egg to him. The tech held up the egg to the camera and showed that it didn't even have a crack. This time instead of an angry curse loud cheering broke out. John and Faye watched, fascinated. Spike watched with interest as well.
"Heavy stuff." Spike commented. Jet nodded in agreement.
"This was just the beginning. After this was shown to the military Cyberdyne received a huge increase in funds to refine the project. The brass had big plans for this thing. It gave them a perfect soldier, something that would obey orders without question, have no fear of death, and be immune to bribes or temptations. Most importantly it would feel no pity or remorse, so it could kill and keep on killing with no 'emotional baggage' as the generals put it. Cyberdyne immediately started to get it ready for military use. Its official designation was infiltration and termination units but they started to be known simply as Terminators. It would be programmed with everything it would need, battle tactics, every language known to man, even human anatomy files so it could kill more efficiently. Its neural net brain would learn and adapt in the field, it would be able to solve problems without receiving further instructions from its commanders. It would be made completely of titanium, allowing it to take massive levels of damage before being compromised." Jet shook his head in disgust. "These things would have created the bloodiest era in human history if it wasn't for their flaws."
"Now we're talking." Faye put in. "Something we can use against it."
"Unfortunately it's not that easy." Jet said with a sigh. "The two major flaws have already been fixed."
"How can you be so sure of that?" John asked. "It's not like we had a chance to do a system check on that thing."
"Because the fact that an operational Terminator exists is proof the flaws have been fixed. The first flaw was its appearance. These things were made for infiltration. You can't infiltrate anything as a metal skeleton. The first attempt to fix this was with a plastic skin, called the T-600 series. Here's the result." Another picture was brought up and this time Faye and John had to hold back a laugh. Even Spike gave a half smile when he saw the results. It looked like one of those cheap marionettes you found at theme parks. "Not a very good disguise is it?"
"Not really." John replied.
"That problem was to be solved by a revolutionary idea. Growing skin and hair then attaching it to the endoskeletons. Those units would be designated the T-800 series and that's the type that we're facing now. This kind of camouflage would have let them blend in perfectly, fortunately the technology to do that was a few years down the road."
"But now it's so easy that almost any geneticist could do it." Spike broke in.
"He'd have to have a lot of specialized equipment but yeah, you're right. The second problem is power. These things used so much energy they needed to be plugged into a separate power source to work. You're not going to like how they overcame that problem."
"We don't like this already Jet." Faye reminded him.
"Well you're really going to hate this." He brought up another picture. Faye and John stared at it dumbfounded but Spike's eyed narrowed in recognition. "Look familiar?"
"Unfortunately yes." Spike answered. He might have only have caught a glimpse of it on the roof that day but there was no doubt about it. That was the Predator's spear.
"Is somebody going to tell us what this is about or what?" Faye asked angrily. Jet glanced at Spike, who just shrugged.
"You had already crashed and didn't see it but this is what the Predator used to impale the Hammerhead and sent me crashing into the bay." Faye's eyes widened slightly at the news.
"Hold on a minute." John said. "Predator? Just what the hell is a Predator?" Spike decided to answer.
"You remember the Dragonslayer murders?" John nodded. How could anyone not remember those? "Well Dragonslayer turned out to be a Predator. Part of an alien race that hunts humans and takes their skins and heads for trophies." John looked around the group, back to Spike and started laughing.
"That's real funny Spike. Come on, an alien? Robots ok, but an alien? You can't be serious." He started laughing again but when none of the others joined him he looked around the group again. All of them had a dead serious look on their face. Even Ed looked a bit mellower then usual. John slowly stopped laughing. "You are serious."
"Very." Jet replied. "We had a run in with him a couple of months ago and almost got ourselves killed. He's dead and gone now but it looks like the Red Dragons found his spear." John sat down and rubbed the bridge of his nose.
"Guess that makes about as much sense as anything else that's happened today." A thought struck him. "Wait a minute. How can a spear help solve their power troubles?"
"The spear was powered, apparently to extend and retract the ends. They examined the power source and used that as a stepping stone in creating a brand new power cell to use in the Terminator endoskeletons. According to their estimates at maximum output with no attempt at conservation the power cell will last at least a hundred years. That's not even the worst of it."
"There's more?" John asked, not sure if he wanted to hear what came next.
"Yeah. According to their files along with the power source the Dragons managed to synthesize the metal, and it's a lot stronger then anything humans ever encountered or made." Everyone was silent for a moment.
"That's it!?!" Faye demanded. "You don't have any good news!?!"
"The only good news I've got is about the second project Cyberdyne was working on at the time of the gate accident."
"This should be interesting." Spike put in.
"Interesting isn't the word I would use Spike." Jet said. "The second project was the construction of a new supercomputer, one built entirely based on Dyson's work. It was proposed to connect all military hardware, including the entire nuclear arsenal of what was then the United States, under the command of one supercomputer, dubbed Skynet. With human error removed from the equation it was hoped that casualties in any future war could be numbered in the single digits."
"That's insane." John stated. "Computers aren't error proof. If anything went wrong it could have been as bad as the gate accident."
"Even if it did work perfectly." Spike added. "There's always mechanical failure. If something were to happen to Skynet everything would have become really expensive paperweights, leaving them defenseless."
"Those arguments helped to kill the project but something else had Cyberdyne worried."
"What could be worse then Skynet accidentally starting a nuclear war?" Faye asked incredulously.
"Starting it on purpose." This got him confused looks from everyone, even Spike. "One of the things Skynet was supposed to do was learn. For machines the early Terminators leaned at very fast rates, that was nothing compared to this. In a report written by Dyson himself he stated that the greatest threat was if Skynet was to become sentient." Now he had everyone's interest. "According to his calculations at the speed Skynet was capable of learning it had the possibility to become self aware in less then a month. If there's one they didn't want is a computer that could think for itself with command of enough nuclear weapons to blow up the world a dozen times over." Ed, who had remained quiet for most of the conversation, spoke up.
"MPU can think for himself and he's not bad. He's nice."
"That's true Ed." Jet admitted. "But MPU is different. He was orbiting Earth for fifty years. His rate of learning was much lower then Skynet's. Giving too much information to something, even a computer, too fast is bound to damage it in some way. When MPU became self aware he had an understanding of the information he had absorbed and as a result, I can't believe I'm saying this, he actually seems to enjoy human company."
"I thank you for the complement." A voice said from Tomato. John looked over at the computer goggle-eyed. "And you are correct. I have been analyzing the Skynet program and it does exceeded the safety levels for data input."
"See, I know what I'm talking about." Jet said to the others. To MPU he asked, "Can you tell us anything that'll help us deal with the Terminator?"
"I apologize but I can not." MPU answered, actually sounding sorry. "The CPU and power cell are buried under heavy armor and since it is a self contained unit I cannot hack into it."
"Well thanks anyway. If we need you're help anymore we'll ask."
"Very well." MPU said and shut himself down. Jet turned to John, who was still staring at Tomato.
"Let me explain ….." He started but John held up his hands.
"Don't." He told Jet. "Just don't. What you said about too much information, it's true. Too much and something gets damaged. I don't want that to happen so don't say anything else." He got up and headed to the door.
"Where're you going?" Faye asked.
"To see if this place has any aspirin." John replied. "My head feels like it's going to explode." As he left the room he decided that questioning the insane was pointless from here on out. Everything was a possibility now, especially with this group.