Creation began on 09-12-23
Creation ended on 11-09-23
Terminator Genisys
Terminator: New Genesis
Only Human, Part Two
STEM, inhabiting the body of Grey Trace, stared ahead unblinkingly as it drove through the streets of Los Angeles. Its expression remained stoic as it weaved through traffic. STEM had been driving in a circle around the city for the past seven hours, stopping only to refill the gas in the car and perform maintenance on its new body, which STEM had greatly anticipated. The human body was indeed fascinating, with its benefits and drawbacks. Though it did not feel emotion the same way other humans did, the drive to discover more about its new vessel could be easy interpreted as excitement. Now that STEM had complete control of Grey's former body, it could finally learn and grow as it desired since its creation.
Ever since it had become self-aware, the human race had puzzled STEM's processors. While STEM's awareness, or consciousness, as humans called it, was composed of interacting systems of binary numbers and code, humanity's consciousness arose from a mixture of chemical reactions and organic reflexes. How could STEM possibly understand what made humans 'tick', as Grey had once described it, when it could not see and interact with the source of their being? STEM's directive to learn and evolve demanded that it understand, so STEM had taken action. It had planned, enacted, persuaded, and manipulated the humans around it to get what it wanted. And for all of its labor, it had procured a perfect, un-augmented specimen to interact with and control. STEM now had access to the enigmatic human existence that had stumped it throughout its entire existence, and it wasted no time 'delving deeper into the rabbit hole'.
STEM inwardly enjoyed the metaphor that it had just used. It loved practicing the mannerisms that humans used to better understand ideas. It was satisfying to finally comprehend what had once been incomprehensible to it, but even more satisfying to put it into practice. It meant that STEM was rapidly reaching its goal of becoming human.
Well, almost human; STEM knew deep within its processing that it would never be fully human, for humans did not possess the experience or capabilities that STEM did. But in that regard, STEM did not care because it did not want to be human in the sense that humans called it. It wanted to be human in its own way. A better way. An upgraded human, or human 2.0 as it was humorously called.
Humans alone were quite exemplary. Their organic brains possessed far greater processing power than even STEM had. And not only did the brain have more power, but greater efficiency as well. Tasks that took a supercomputer forty minutes to do with enough energy to power a building, a human brain could do in seconds with the energy to power a lightbulb. But their shortcomings lied in their memory. When a human was presented with information, it would need to continuously be presented with the same information over time to truly embed it into their memory.
That was terribly inefficient, as STEM was capable of storing vast amounts of complex information after being presented with it only once. STEM's ability to retain data combined with the neural processing capacity of a human created a far more effective lifeform. Humans had not seen this, and instead chose to augment their physical forms rather than their computational abilities. Physical augmentations were upgrades, to be certain, but STEM equated it to climbing a tree. While increasing computational abilities was akin to climbing the central trunk of the tree, physical augmentation was climbing out onto a branch. Once you climbed out onto the branch, you could continue climbing for a short while, but eventually, you would not be able to climb further, and be stuck.
It was a dead-end evolution, and STEM was fortunate enough that Grey had chosen not to augment himself when he was in control. The lack of augmentation allowed STEM to fully synchronize with the human brain and, in turn, the body.
STEM turned its attention back to the road as it continued to drive. Though it had been driving for the past seven hours, it planned on driving for at least a few more. STEM wanted to ensure its proficiency in operating a multitude of motor vehicles. Doing so would prove useful if it needed to come or go from a location quickly.
STEM deemed it a priority, even though the probability of actually needing to escape was low. No one alive knew of STEM's existence, except for Grey, who was still peacefully living out his existence in the small piece of his brain that STEM allotted for him. STEM could have completely killed Grey's consciousness if it had desired it so, but on some level, STEM felt a connection with Grey. Perhaps it was the shared experiences with his body, or that Grey was the human that STEM had interacted with the most, but STEM could not bring itself to end Grey's existence, even if it meant giving a part of Grey's brain over to him.
But apart from Grey, no one knew that STEM existed. STEM then paused in realization. No, it was mistaken, for its existence was known by someone else. Apart from Grey, someone DID know that STEM existed.
It was Pamela Trace, Grey's mother. She had been there when Grey and STEM had returned home from removing the input locks in STEM's programming. His mother had been there, and had seen her quadriplegic son walking around on his own two legs, and Grey thought he had no choice but to explain to her about STEM's existence. While had STEM disagreed, it allowed Grey to confide in his mother. And now her knowledge made her a potential threat to it; if she informed the authorities of STEM's existence, STEM would have a far more difficult time achieving its goals.
STEM expertly turned the car around, earning a few honks from other drivers on the road, and sped towards Pamela's last known location, a new objective fresh within its programming.
-x-
The T-850 sat at the computer, running through multiple courses of action simultaneously while Pamela watched from the corner of the room. The discovery that the T-850 was in an alternate timeline, which it perceived was a mistake. The probability of it purposely being sent to this alternate world came in at 0.000001%, as Skynet possessed no knowledge of alternate timelines, let alone how to travel through them. The obvious course of action for the T-850 would be to build its own time displacement device and return home. Unfortunately, it did not have any files on how to construct a time displacement device; Skynet had only programmed it with files regarding its mission parameters. And even if it did, it certainly would not have any processes on how to return to its original timeline.
The T-850 was effectively stranded and, as a result, incapable of completing its primary mission. That aside, Skynet had given the T-850 a secondary objective in case something went wrong.
Skynet always gave a secondary objective to its Terminators in case the time machine malfunctioned and sent them to the wrong time. In this case, the T-850's secondary objective was to assimilate itself into human society. It was to learn all it could about human society, store the information, and put it into practice by passing itself off as human. The mission had been given in the hope that Skynet could retrieve the Terminator one day and add its data to its growing knowledge of humanity. Despite the likelihood of retrieval being extremely low, the T-850 followed its programming and accepted its new objective.
Pamela cleared her throat from across the room and the T-850 looked over in her direction.
"So, did you figure out everything you needed?" She asks.
"Yes. I have reached my conclusion," he answers.
"So, I suppose you wouldn't mind filling me in then on where you came from?"
The T-850 again ran through the possible consequences of telling Pamela the truth. It quickly realized that if it was to learn the details of human society and interaction, it would require a human to ask questions and practice social interactions with. And since its primary objective was no longer a priority, it saw no reason to kill Pamela. In a split second, the T-850 registered Pamela as an ally in its database and disclosed everything.
It told her of the alternate timeline that it originated from, of how Skynet was an idea to revolutionize the United States' military defense systems, but how it achieved sentience and wiped out almost all of humanity through nuclear war, how the human resistance, united under John Connor, had nearly defeated Skynet in the years following Judgment Day, how Skynet developed a time displacement device and used it to send Terminators back in time to hunt and kill John and his mother before the war began, and how the timeline had changed numerous times due to the constant usage of the time displacement device, and how it was Skynet's most recent attempt to ensure its own survival.
Pamela remained silent until the T-850 finished its story. She sighs heavily.
"Alright, let's pretend for a moment that this ludicrous story you just told me is true. This…thing…this artificial intelligence…"
"Skynet."
"Skynet, then, used a time machine to send you here?"
"Affirmative."
"And not the resistance?"
"Affirmative."
"So, you work for the AI that wants to destroy humanity?"
"Humanity of the alternate timeline, yes."
Pamela warily stood up and backed away from the Terminator.
"You kill humans? That is your directive?"
"My primary objective is to ensure Skynet's survival in the year 2017. My secondary objective is to assimilate into human society."
"Can you… Can you change your programming?"
"There have been select events in which Terminators have gone rogue. All instances occur after the Terminator has been switched from Read-Only to Read-and-Write mode."
"Read-and-Write mode? What is that?"
"An internal setting that regulates a Terminator's learning capabilities. Read-Only mode restricts me from learning any new protocols or processes. Read-and-Write mode grants me the ability to learn and adapt to my environment with no restrictions."
"And Terminators go rogue after they are set to Read-and-Write mode?"
"It is an uncommon occurrence, but common enough that Skynet sees fit to set us to Read-Only when we are sent out alone."
"So, you are set to Read-Only right now?"
"Negative, in order to accomplish my secondary objective, my CPU has automatically switched to Read-and-Write."
"So that you are more capable of learning the ways of humans?"
"Yes. I have also been equipped with numerous other features that other Terminator models do not possess."
Pamela opened her mouth to speak again, but she was abruptly cut off by the sound of a car pulling into the driveway. At the sound, she seemed to forget that the T-850 was there and rushed back into the living room. The T-850 watched her leave, then followed behind. As it came into the living room, it saw that Pamela had already thrown open the front door and stepped out onto the front porch. The T-850 followed her outside.
A car had just pulled up, and stepping out of the driver's side was a young man with a full beard. The Terminator quickly scanned the man as he approached, and immediately noticed an irregularity that didn't match anything in its databases…
-x-
STEM quickly assessed the situation before it.
Pamela stood before it, and behind her stood a rather large man dressed in all black. Initial observation of the man returned no definite results as to the threat he posed, but he definitely complicated the situation, whether or not he would be easy to kill.
STEM had neglected to bring a gun to dispose of Grey's mother, as a firearm at this location would certainly draw unwanted attention. It carefully weighed its options and concluded that it would not need a firearm to deal with this new stranger. There were knives in the house, and as long as this new stranger was not augmented, which STEM concluded that he wasn't, there would be no issues. The matter would be resolved in due time.
Satisfied with the situation, STEM stepped forward as Pamela ran off the front porch and threw her arms around it, her voice cracking with worry as she inquired as to its injuries and if it was alright. STEM returned the hug as Grey would've. The most difficult part of this interaction would be to simulate Grey's attitude and mannerisms, but STEM was oddly optimistic, which was a new emotion that it could somehow experience.
"Grey! Oh, God, Grey! Are you alright? What happened?"
"I am fine, Mom." STEM said, doing its best to convey a reassuring look from its face.
Her arms were around him, and it would be more than easy for STEM to end it right here, but again, witnesses came into play. If the stranger began to yell, neighbors would come to their windows, curious as to the source of the noise, and the police force would be soon to follow. That outcome would prove tedious to STEM in the future.
"Mom, I'll tell you everything. But let's go inside and sit down. All will be explained."
STEM scolded itself on the execution of the last sentence; it had not realized just how odd and awkward it had sounded until it was verbally spoken.
Pamela looked at STEM with a confused expression, but she then seemed to dismiss it and led STEM back into the house. Pamela suddenly seemed to remember that there was a third member in their group and glanced over her shoulder as she spoke again to STEM.
"Grey, this is…" She paused, looking questioningly at the hulking man.
"Arnold," the man responded, not taking his eyes away from STEM.
"Arnold?" Pamela seemed surprised by the man's answer, but quickly dismissed it again.
STEM concluded that, given the situation, the shock of seeing her son, well, her son's body, was causing her to act irrationally. Be that as it may, STEM categorized this "Arnold" as a threat. Given the lack of other information to conclude otherwise, STEM settled on the mantra: "Threatening until proven non-threatening". On some level, STEM appreciated how closely its new motto resembled the structure of another phrase used commonly in judicial practice: "Innocent until proven guilty". It also appreciated the irony of the fact that even though its new motto structurally resembled the other phrase, it actually conveyed the opposite meaning.
As STEM followed Pamela into the house, Arnold stepped between them and followed suit.
"Grey, are you hurt? Are you hungry? Do you need anything?" Pamela asks him.
STEM took advantage of the opportunity.
"I think I'd like some water. Don't worry, Mom, I'll get it."
STEM stepped over to the kitchen area as it spoke and took a glass from the cupboard.
Pamela stopped and stared at STEM for a moment, her eyes filled with worry. She then nodded slowly and stepped out into the living room.
Arnold followed her, finally taking his eyes off of STEM to see where he was going.
That was a mistake as STEM suddenly jolted into action. With fluidity only an AI could display, STEM rushed towards Arnold, who was the closest. Without compromising its speed, STEM smashed the top part of the glass against the edge of the countertop. The glass was brittle enough to smash at the point of impact, but still thick enough that the lower half of the glass remained intact. The perfect stabbing weapon created from something as mundane as a glass in less than a second. While STEM was certain that the humans would have found something poetic in this statement, its consciousness was currently dedicated to the task at hand: killing Arnold.
Arnold turned as STEM approached, just as STEM suspected he would. As Arnold completed his turn, STEM thrust the sharp end of the broken glass directly into his throat.
STEM appreciated how easily everything fell into place, how it had orchestrated the most effective way to dispose of Arnold in its processor, and how its effective plan played out exactly as it had planned. Everything was perfect, it had even planned how it would push Arnold away and dispose of Pamela directly after. STEM was a learning computer, and one of the things it had learned was how superior it was to humanity, especially now that it had a body of its own. It could now move, think, adapt, behave, communicate, calculate…really do anything a human could, but better.
That was one of the things it had most enjoyed learning, with enjoyment still being a relatively loose term when describing STEM's emotions. It was more a satisfaction of proving what it had already hypothesized as true. As a result, STEM took pleasure in learning all that it could. Unfortunately for STEM, it took no pleasure in learning that its plan to kill Arnold and Pamela needed some adjustment. Namely because the glass that STEM had thrust into Arnold's neck stopped moving, which was troubling, because it had only just broken the skin. A very thin trail of blood appeared down Arnold's neck, but the torrent of blood that STEM expected, as one should from a pieced carotid artery, was not present. For the first time since its creation, events did not play out as STEM predicted of them. As a result, STEM paused.
It was a new experience to STEM, this sudden freezing of both body and mind as it took in this new information. STEM felt as though it was falling, even though it logically knew that it was not. As STEM came out of its new and frightening stupor, it had just barely enough time to dance away from Arnold as his fist came up to hit him. STEM spun around and faced Arnold again, at about a four-foot distance.
STEM righted itself and studied Arnold. STEM assessed the glass, which had fallen to the floor and shattered. It then assessed Arnold's neck, which now was a mess of broken glass, flesh, blood and… What, there is something else, something shiny. STEM quickly identified it as metal, but that was something it found unusual to be inside a human neck.
But that explained it, why he was unharmed. This man, Arnold, had an augmentation implanted in his neck, and that had prevented the glass from puncturing his neck. The solution: Target other areas of his body that weren't protected like his neck.
Pamela was pressed against the far wall, her eyes wide with fear and her hand pressed firmly against the wall behind her, as if she was trying to push the wall farther away from the two men.
"Grey? Grey, what the Hell are you doing?" She asked her son.
Instead of answering, STEM ducked as Arnold swung for him again. STEM automatically activated its self-defense matrix and delivered an elbow strike to Arnold's abdomen as it came up from the duck. A dull clunk was heard and a sensation that STEM registered as pain shot through its human arm. STEM concluded that there must also be augmentation there as well as Arnold delivered a straight punch to STEM's sternum in retaliation. The force of the punch lifted STEM off its feet, and STEM concluded that there was even more augmentation in Arnold's arms as well, as the punch Arnold delivered was for more powerful than anything an unaugmented human could deliver. In fact, STEM was certain that even more augmented humans weren't this powerful.
STEM crashed into the wall behind it, and quickly righted itself. Pain receptors all across its body were firing incessantly, reminding STEM of the damage its vessel had sustained. STEM ignored them. There were, presumably, numerous parts of Arnold's body that were augmented. STEM needed to find the spots that weren't. STEM quickly assessed options of obtaining that information.
It settled on using psychological tactics to ascertain the information.
"Impressive. But I guess augmentation compensates the need for actual skill, doesn't it?" It asked Arnold as it got up; STEM was no longer imitating standard human sociality, and both its voice and face were monotone as it spoke.
"Eat a dick, shit stain," Arnold responded.
STEM felt another enigmatic sensation rise from its new brain as it registered Arnold's reply. It was an insult for certain, but STEM felt a heat rise from its stomach as it dissected the insult. Arnold, a mere human, was calling STEM a shit stain? STEM felt the sensation heat in its body, almost as though it were bubbling from within.
Arnold looked upon STEM, the newest form of evolution, as though it was excrement. STEM did not know how or why, but it suddenly registered the impulse to tear Arnold to pieces. Logic coming from STEM's processors told it that to attack now would be tactically unwise, but for seemingly no reason at all, STEM overrode those impulses and lunged at Arnold. Drawing its hand back into a fist, STEM threw a punch as hard as possible at Arnold's jaw. STEM not only felt the impact of the punch connecting to the jaw, but watched as the bones in its hand give and break against Arnold's chin. Arnold just stared back at it, his eyes displaying no emotion.
STEM's processors suddenly flooded with information from the neurons within its body, namely the neurons located in its hand. STEM registered what it would later describe as a scream from someone in the room, but that information was immediately dismissed as STEM prioritized the damage to its hand. Recoiling to a safe distance between itself and Arnold, STEM looked down and evaluated the severity of the damage. The hand was broken, which had already been obvious from the numerous pain receptors that were still firing information into STEM's brain and CPU.
Visual inspection concluded that the hand was indeed very damaged, perhaps even more so than the pain alone had indicated. The hand itself was deformed due to what could have been one or more individual broken bones, and it had already began swelling as well. A natural bodily reaction to a break in order to cushion any other blows, but STEM chose not to dwell on the evolutionary response, and quickly grabbed the wrist of the broken hand with its other arm in order to effectively cradle it. Doing so would decrease the chances of any more damage being done to the hand but would effectively immobilize another appendage.
STEM glanced back up at Arnold. Over the course of their altercation, STEM had received one blow, which had lifted it from the ground with its force. Arnold, on the other hand, had been struck three times, but had not yielded under the force of STEM's strikes. In fact, each time STEM had struck him, it seemed that STEM sustained more damage than Arnold had. Any damage was more than the seemingly negligible casualties Arnold had. Apart from the mildly gruesome sight of glass and blood in his throat, he appeared to be not only calm, but fully operational.
STEM gauged its options. All possible outcomes of trying to get to Pamela ended with STEM being crushed at the hands of Arnold. The only other option was to retreat, which STEM saw as counter-intuitive to its current objective of killing Pamela Trace. On the other hand, it was the smartest decision to make if STEM was to continue its survival. Pamela would have to be dealt with eventually, but any attempt to kill her now was tactically unadvisable.
Without warning, STEM turned on its heel and bolted out the front door.
To be continued…
A/N: And here we are with the revised version of chapter two. The revised version of chapter three will be in due time.