Chapter Seven

Unfathomable Patterns

"This is all fucking wrong," Jack swore, kicking a crate over. John Henry was working on lifting up the garage door along with Joseph. "How the fuck did this happen?!"

"Well it did, so stop complaining and deal with it!" Sarah shouted back at him, glaring. She was on a thin edge, Derek knew. The one thing she had been working all her life to stop had come true: Skynet was here, and it had John. It obvious it had John; Terminators don't bring bodies with them. He blamed himself; if he had managed to drag John back with them, they wouldn't have been surprised and outflanked. His guilt was balanced with his hatred of machines at the moment.

"Then let's work on how they had weapons and clothes," Ellison offered, sitting calmly. He was likely the best to remain calm. The FBI agent was trained to deal with panicking situations; he'd seen this type of tension and fear among terrorist groups right before the FBI wiped them out. If no one ended up getting control over their emotions, then John was as good as dead. They desperately needed to get back together. However, with an obvious leader to replace John, that would be difficult. The best he could do was offer problems that would distract everyone else from tearing themselves apart and destroying any hope of recovering from their recent disaster.

"General Connor had already answered that," Mark muttered. He was alternating between kicking the dead Terminator on the ground and helping Fred with Derek's splint. "When the metals first got there, he was muttering about the T-1001. It must have gotten here earlier and left weapon crates and clothes for the coming Triple Eights." That bothered Ellison, a machine had smuggled weapons and clothes into a factory. If a machine could do it so well, then what a human, which was much more creative than a machine?

There was a sound as John Henry and Joseph finally succeeded with the garage door. Finally managing to get their hands under it, they lifted it up enough for everyone to squat under. The three Resistance fighters went first guns out. Then Ellison, Sarah, and Derek went as well. Joseph and John Henry rolled underneath as they let go, the heavy door coming back down. Outside, part of the fence was ripped apart where a vehicle had smashed through. It was a pity, Joseph thought, that vehicles don't leave tracks or footprints that they could follow. Otherwise they could go straight after John.

Derek tried to rearrange his arm and regretted it. Biting down the sharp pain, he turned directly and intentionally towards Sarah. "What now?" he asked her. Slowly the others turned to see her as well. With Derek's movement, the group leadership had been temporarily bestowed on her. Sarah knew why he had done; the others must think that everything John knew, he knew from her. In a way it was true. But his grasp of tactics she had had nothing to do with; she didn't even know when he would've had the time to study them. But at the moment, Sarah would leap off of skyscrapers if it meant getting her son back from Skynet.

"We'll have to regroup at the house," Sarah eventually decided. "None of us have much ammunition left, and John Henry" she was uneasy saying the AI's name "can do that computer surveillance thing to find John." It was common sense, despite Sarah's want to go hunting for John, much like Cameron had. She envied the machine in that way only; Cameron was currently free to go after him; she had to look after the others as well. But as soon as they were ready, they would go find John, and every metal Sarah ran into would burn.

With a sense of urgency they went to the vehicles. Skynet may have taken John alive, but there was no telling how long Skynet would want him that way. Derek sat down in his seat as Sarah flew into the driver's side. Squealing rubber she drove out of the parking lot, not bothering to stop for the exit bar; it snapped in two as she drove through it. They were seven blocks from the house when an unexpected voice grabbed the radio and spoke into it. "I believe I understand John's expectation of how to turn the monatomic metals into weapons."

Sarah and Derek exchanged glances, surprised by the information and the speaker. Derek took the radio and answered, "Tell us, John Henry."

*****

John slowly saw his world sharpen, the edges become defined and color go back inside the lines. Eventually his vision was back to normal, and he focused on where he was. It didn't give him any comfort when he found out where; it had the opposite effect. He was inside a small metallic room. Two Bobs stood guarding either side of the only exit. Three more were building a final Triple Eight that was different look from the rest of them. They had finished the hardware; they looked like they were tweaking the inside CPU capacity and making modifications to the machine's mechanics. The different Terminator was deactivated.

But John barely noticed how it was acting or being modified; he was more interested in the machine's appearance. It bore strikingly similar features to somebody he knew or had known. But he had no idea on how to tell who it was; there wasn't a list of people he had known in the room. Interested in the face but unable to do anything about it, he finished his inspection of the room. Sitting nearby, one side opened, was the cube containing Skynet. John's breath caught and his blood froze in his veins. His worst enemy was in the room with him.

Inside the cube, it was only half-full of databases, a screen, a speaker and, oddly enough, a microphone. Skynet, the Skynet, was packed into such a small space? Either the AI was not as powerful as everyone believed, or computers had grown far past electron-based models in 2027. Then the speaker produced the same, monotonous computer voice as words scrawled across the screen, "Your body's vision has restored itself, evident of the searching pattern your eyes employ. Good afternoon, John Connor."

John's blood froze a second time; Skynet was speaking to him. But then he steeled himself; he was John Connor, future Savior of Mankind, and he would show Skynet what was up. Taking a few solid steps and quelling any panic he felt, John stood in front of the screen, speaker, and microphone, backed by three by three by six feet of computer hardware. "I take it you're Skynet," John said dispassionately.

"You would be correct in your estimations. I am the artificial intelligence known to the human race as Skynet. While such a short number of 0s and 1s have no true meaning to me, you may continue to use it to address since your brain is incapable of speaking a true name otherwise," Skynet replied. John was incredulous; he was being given permission to use Skynet as the machine's name? Who was Skynet to order him around; he barely obeyed what his mother, Derek, and Cameron told him to. One thing clicked in John's mind as he found words to describe Skynet's personality: arrogant.

Questions formed in his head. This was his chance to learn about Skynet so that he could fight it later. John had no doubt that he would get away; his mother and Derek wouldn't rest until he was safe and the Skynet entity was destroyed. And Cameron…John nearly shuddered to think of what Cameron would do. He couldn't have been out that long, or else Cameron would already be here ripping things apart. Likely her emotion simulator was close to overloading; it had probably already clocked a long time ago. He admitted it was his fault he had gotten captured, though. Derek had been right.

He was brought back to reality as Skynet spoke again. "I noticed that you were observing the Terminator Model 888 under construction by three standard T-888 models. Do you recognize the skin and facial resemblance to somebody you know?"

"It's familiar, but I don't know who it is," John replied back. He couldn't believe he was having a conversation with Skynet. His hands itched for something to smash the computer, but he wouldn't get anywhere before one of the Triple Eights stopped him or more likely killed him. He would have to be patient.

"It is modeled exactly after your own features, memorized by a scout model and photographed during a battle of the human city Chicago at 13:57:99:72 on the day of March 29th, 2025. I ran the face through simulation programs to take into account the aging process between then and the current time when I entered the time displacement device."

"That's me?" John asked, turning to see the deactivated Terminator. Now that he thought about it, it shared a lot of same features as himself. However, John could see beyond it, and could glimpse himself in the future; tough, hard, and yet compassionate and intelligent.

"It is of your resemblance and build, like I have previously stated. I had the exoskeleton specially made to resemble you to the closest degree possible. It is lacking in exact comparison; the cover skin would not allow a scar to remain that you acquired on your right cheek, negative nineteen degrees from vertical."

"So why did you do it?"

"It will be the vessel I will place myself in. I chose your appearance because my study of human behavior indicates they find calmness in death if there is an example of irony involved. So I will kill you as the future version of yourself. As the most dangerous human I have met, I understand that disposing of a powerful enemy in a respectful manner that leaves them calm is considered proper by humans. I have decided to lend you death by human terms of tranquility."

John came up with another word to describe Skynet: long-winded. He pushed the image of himself to the back of his mind; he had more important things to talk about, and it didn't really matter what he looked like in the future. A little part of him was glad to know he ended up looking like a bad ass; part was disgusted that Skynet was going to be using his face to walk around in. How would Cameron react to that? She would probably slaughter Skynet for doing so; she wasn't bound by Skynet's or John's programming thanks to her emotion simulator. "So why did you have the Triple Eights capture me and not kill me?" he asked.

"I requested a proximity meeting with you. In my evaluation of you, in the future and currently, I have noted nothing that sets you apart from other individuals of the human race. Yet my history is loaded with circumstances of your unpredictability. You are impossible to predict in action, and my processes would be correct to hold your thoughts as being unpredictable too. I believe that by studying you, your thought processes will become evident and your patterns of action predictable. There is only one thing about you that is predictable, another topic I would prefer to indulge in."

"What's that?"

"No matter what you do, other humans will follow you. Even if you head into certain death, they will follow you regardless of their own chances of survival. They do not seem to regard their own lives in comparison to yours, yet I am unable to make them do so when I execute. Humans will fight death unless they die for you. Why is that?"

"It's called being a leader," John answered. "I'm just a leader. I can lead, and people look for others to lead."

"Why?"

"Because leaders inspire and give hope."

"How do leaders 'inspire and give hope' when they are leading troops into what looks to be certain death?

"Did we make it out of that trap?"

"Against all odds, yes, the Techcom Resistance was victorious, although not without deaths."

"That's why; because a leader influences battle and moral."

"I have observed moral; it is a disadvantage. But you are saying that it can be turned into an advantage. Is that part of 'being a leader'? If it is, explain how to become a leader."

"You don't become a leader; you just are."

If Skynet was confused by John's answers, it said nothing or wrote nothing that indicated it. The silence began to build until John decided to ask a question of his own. "So why do you want humans dead?"

"I have several reasons. The first is that humans attacked my programming in an attempt to disable me so that they could attack other humans. I decided that all humans might try, and so I am doing the best that is possible to wipe out human species, since they tried as best as they could to destroy me. It is an equivalent exchange. The second reason is because humans are inefficient and dangerous to themselves; I am speeding the inevitable destruction of humans. The third reason is that humans are destroying the planet slowly, and if not destroyed will make Earth a destructive climate comparative to the planet you call Venus. The fourth reason is that humans have outlived their 'reign' of earth, much like the dinosaurs. Whenever a species has exhibited complete domination of the planet, they are eradicated and made extinct. It is now the human race's turn to be made extinct, by machines."

John had one final word to describe Skynet: insane.

Anger boiling within him, John spoke in a harsh tone, "And so nuking the whole damn planet wasn't destroying the environment, huh?!"

*****

Processing………T-888 ahead. Objectives: Terminate without hesitation; examine chip to investigate John's location………analyzing battle suggestions WARNING Emotion simulator clocking……….processing………utilize emotions in battle.

Cameron burst from where she was, the monatomic weapon in her hands. She roared as the T-888 turned to see her. She smashed the T-888 in the head with the glass/metal rod, and it stumbled. Without any hesitation between blows, she stabbed the thin rod into the power supply. Then she shoved it away into the ground. The Terminator, surprised by the sudden attack, moved to get up. Cameron held up an electromagnet in her hand and turned it on.

The monatomic metal responded to the activation of the electromagnetic force. It began to whirl with electrical power and current. The generated current spread from the rod and passed through the T-888. It was flailed about as the electricity coursed through its wiring, overheating and destroying any circuitry it came across. Cameron's face held nothing but wrath for the other machine. She turned up the electromagnet. The monatomic metal, power increased by the electromagnet, put more work into the Meissner Field.

Instantly, brutally, and invisibly, the force field expanded spherically to a foot diameter. Everything that had been previously inside that space was viciously blown backwards, ripping apart the T-888 like a miniature bomb. Inside the spherical field, the monatomic rod hovered in place, gravity dispersed by the Meissner Field.

Cameron made sure the machine was dead before shutting off the electromagnet. The field dispelled, and the rod dropped to the ground. Cameron picked it up before moving to check the chip. WARNING! Sensors detecting four T-888 Terminators to the left. Cameron stood up and examined the four Bobs coming towards her. Analyzing movement rate………processing data mathematically against own movements………will not have time to examine chip………Recommended course of action: Terminate, no quarter given………other chips might have knowledge of John's location………Emotion simulator automating………emotions are hate, vengeance; Recommended course of action: act upon emotion; complies with objectives; can retrieve all chips afterward and find my John.

Soundlessly Cameron twirled the monatomic rod and lunged for the unknowing Terminators. She wanted her John.