Chapter 4 What Happened Here?
A.N. – So, this is the beginning of the second timeline. This timeline will be short too, but this is using the two twins, Erin and Erina, from the story Saving Our Future. Everything will be explained. Let's begin!
Short Summary – Erin and Erina return back to the time they left to stop Xana and ensure a safe future but arrive to see it much worse. They wonder if a time paradox could be the cause. They are soon captured and told the real reason.
Disclaimer – I do not own Code Lyoko, the Terminator franchise, or the story idea. I am just a fan of the show and movies, and the idea was submitted by James Marshall.
Beginning of the Second Timeline
The year is 2030, and a time portal opens and the two twins, Erin and Erina, arrive in the exact time they left in the future for the past. They hoped to come back to a much more peaceful place after defeating Xana along with their parents and friends. When they landed, they saw something way worse.
The land around them was a desolate wasteland. No buildings stood and no people remained. The ground was covered in ashes and human skeletal remains. There were also pieces of machine parts on the ground. The twins looked around in disbelief.
"Did Xana come back?" Erin asks.
"Impossible. We did everything possible to make sure that didn't happen" Erina responded.
"Then what could've caused all this destruction?"
"Maybe somehow, we caused a sort of time paradox."
"Meaning?"
"Since Xana ruled at this time in the original with the attack we prevented, we caused a shift in time by preventing the attack and destroying Xana, changing our present drastically,"
"Apparently not for the better."
"Messing with the laws of space and time are dangerous. I told you anything we changed could affect our future drastically."
"But if Xana is not behind this, who else rose to power to do all this?"
Erina picks up a robot head. "I don't think who, but what." She tosses the head to her brother. "That robot head is too advanced for Xana, and no one has technology this advanced."
"Then who are we dealing with?"
Suddenly, both of them are knocked out.
When they regained consciousness, they woke up in an unknown place, tied up and surrounded by humans dressed up in uniform and carrying advanced guns. They tried to escape but the guards noticed.
"I wouldn't try that if I were you" he said pointing the gun at her.
"Why did you tie us up?" Erina asks, clearly mad.
"Give us a reason why not? You already assisted the enemy."
"We just got here. How could we have assisted the enemy?" Erin asks
"Skynet has ways to travel back in time. Wouldn't be surprised if its agents have ways to travel forward."
"Skynet? Who or what is Skynet?" Erina questions.
"Don't play dumb with me girl or I will kill you myself. Everyone knows what Skynet is, at least the survivors from its nuclear holocaust."
"We deserve a full rundown" Erin asks.
"No, we got strict orders from our leader to keep you alive. But he said if you get out of control, we have authority to use lethal force. So don't test us."
"Who's your leader?" Erina asks.
"No. Skynet can never know."
"We're not in league with this Skynet!" Erin exclaims.
"Then explain this." The two twins were shown an expert from Jeremy's diary which explained the downfall of Xana. They were then shown another one that explained that if Xana survived, Skynet would have never existed, since Xana had the means to stop Skynet. "Due to you destroying Xana, you caused the extinction of us."
"We did not want Skynet to take over. We did that to secure our future. If we didn't stop Xana, an attack would have allowed him to rule" Erina explains.
"It had to be better than this."
"Maybe a little less of the death and destruction, but not much better" Erin says.
Suddenly, the leader came in. He was a man with a full beard in his late thirties. "Have we got any information from these two?" He asks.
"No Connors. They deny knowing anything of Skynet, but I don't know if we can trust them."
The man known as Connors pulls up a chair and starts an interrogation process. "Listen, if you know anything involving Skynet, tell us. It could help bring an end to this war."
"Listen Connors, we don't know anything of Skynet. We just arrived from the past to see our brand-new future, but we arrived in a living hell!" Erina says.
"We've been living in this hell, surviving and fighting, for years. A normal life for us was taken when Skynet rose. My life however was always tied to Skynet. How to fight it, what it is, what it did. All because I lead the human resistance. And because Skynet can't take over, he sees me as a huge threat."
"Listen, we can help you fight, but we need the full rundown. All from Skynet's rise, to where we are now" Erin asks.
"Alright, first though, my full name is John Connor. My mother, Sarah, and I were hunted by these monsters. Skynet has been trying to kill both of us to ensure that it takes full control. But the other me, sent back a few reprogrammed machines and a loyal human to stop that from happening. Since I am here, it succeeded. Now to tell you how Skynet rose." John started to tell the story.
"The year was 2017 and the technology age was evolving…"
The world after Xana's defeat was a golden age. No one questioned it as the lives of the Lyoko Warriors were sealed away, along with Xana. But as for everyone else, AI's and computers started to take over the world, as a means to help humanity. It was only a few days before the release of humanity's self-awareness Skynet. According to its creators, Skynet would be the last AI to be created.
John Connor at this time was trained in the arts of how to combat Skynet. He would have to find a way to stop it before Judgement Day would claim millions. His mother had passed away, and the last T-800 that was sent back to protect him, taught him enough on how to combat Skynet. The only thing he could do now was hope to stop Judgment Day.
"I tried to find a way to access Skynet's central command, but without clearance or a Terminator, I could not…"
The day arrived when Skynet would be released. John spent the whole night gathering weapons and technology for when Skynet would rise, he could assemble the human resistance that his mother and terminator guardians told him that he would lead. When his central base of operations was finished, Skynet was about to come online. John had no time to think, just act.
"Friends, investors, and general public. Today we witness the next step of humane evolution. After spending years developing AI programs, evolving technology and its means, we have developed our last AI… Skynet."
John moved through the city, trying to find a place where Skynet could not eliminate him, but he could save others.
"Skynet is self-aware. It can think and evolve itself without human involvement, making it more advanced than before. It also has the ability to think like a human and even tough it has achieved self-awareness; we have the ability to control and if needed shut it down."
John had a pistol, shotgun, and an assault rifle ready to take on Skynet as Judgement Day was about to happen.
"Now, witness Skynet." The speaker pressed the button, releasing Skynet into cyberspace. The machines on display activated and everyone was amazed. But instead of obeying, the machines turned to the speaker and shot him dead. The machines then turned to the crowd and started shooting. Everyone ran and panicked as some survived and others died. These T-1's came out of the building flying. They started launching explosions at buildings and debris fell onto the streets, also killing normal everyday pedestrians. The survivors were then hunted by the T-1's before being killed.
"My God…it's happening…" John said with horror.
Civilians ran and were shot down. John readied his shotgun and entered the battlefield. Some civilians ran past him as a T-1 came towards him. He shot it once and it fell. He shot it a second time before it could recover. "Go! Move towards the sewer tunnel! There is a safe place there! Bring any survivors with you!" They ran and John moved through the destroyed city. He heard another T-1 and saw one moving through the alley. He again shoots it two times making it fall. As he was moving forward, someone grabbed his leg…a child.
"Sir, what is happening!?" The mid asked in tears and covered in dust from the debris.
"Listen kid, I don't know but you need to move! Now!"
"Please don't leave me!"
"Okay, follow me and stay close. I'll take you somewhere safe."
John kept his shotgun ready as he moved through the city to get where his safehouse was. They hid from the T-1's and were able to get to the safehouse alive and unscathed. "Listen, you'll be safe here, okay? Stay strong. I'll be back, promise."
John then left to go back to the city.
24 hours later
"After Judgement Day, Skynet wiped out over 6 million civilians and every day that number climbs. I had a small band over 200 survivors and everyday we struggle to find more to keep the fight against Skynet alive."
The city now laid in ruins. Fire and smoke rose from the streets and buildings that still stood. Skynet was now in full control. T-1's and T-800's patrolled the streets, looking to wipe out survivors. John and his human resistance were safe, but they knew that Skynet would eventually find them.
"Okay, I know that only some of you can fight on the front lines with me against Skynet. It's time we get equipped and prepared. We need to fight back and gain the technology that Skynet has and maybe we can stop it."
"I trained and did what I could. We were able to take primary sites Skynet took, but we were never successful in defeating it. Everytime, we tried, Skynet was a step ahead and had its soldiers waiting for us. Skynet was not gonna let us win."
"Ever since then, Skynet has been hounding us every day. T-800's, T-900's, and sometimes even T-1000's come to try to kill us. We are holding out, but we really could have used Xana to help us wipe out Skynet. I'm sorry about the way we treated you, but after what you did, we can't trust you."
"Is there anything we can do for you to trust us?" Erina asks.
"Yes, help us fight this monster."
"How about we wipe him out?" Erin asks.
John gave a sarcastic laugh. "You? Wipe out Skynet? I fought and survived to try to kill this fucking thing. What chance do you have?"
"He means in the past, not now" Erina tells him.
"Exactly what do you mean?"
"We know Xana and so do our parents and friends. If we can convince them to keep Xana alive, maybe we can prevent Judgement Day" Erin tells him.
"If you want to try, I'll consent for your release. But your time-traveling ways will not work. Skynet has a way of sending someone or something back in time. We can send you there, but once that happens, it will be up to you to keep Xana online. Even you fail, Skynet immediately wins."
"Then you need to send us back with enough time for us to convince our parents and their friends to keep Xana alive. There was appoint where their one goal was to eliminate Xana" Erina tells him.
John cuts them free from their ropes. "Now we plan how to infiltrate Skynet's time-traveling base."
To be continued…
A.N. – Next time, the fight against Skynet as John and the human resistance try to send Erin and Erina back to possibly stop Judgement Day. What is the plan and what will Skynet do to stop it? Find out next time! PM me with story ideas if you have any! Don't forget to review with questions or comments! I will respond! Stay safe and healthy out there! As always, till next time! See ya! -lyokowarrior97