This time, the phone in General Brewster's pocket didn't ring at the most inopportune moment, so watching the demo video he attended went on as usual.
The image had just moved to a laboratory where a man with well-developed musculature, broad shoulders, narrow hips, and strong legs was training on a treadmill. He was wearing spandex shorts and a gray T-shirt. Sensors were placed on the sweaty body, doctors monitored the condition of the athlete.
"Motion capture technology is already being used to create robotic defense systems of the future," the voiceover explained.
On a screen next to the track, an animated model of a steel robot mimicked the subject's movements.
The camera shifted to a man jumping off a treadmill and wiping his charming, masculine face with a towel.
"Hello! I'm Master Sergeant William Candy," the athlete introduced himself, stretching out the words in Texan lusciously. "I am honored to have been selected by CRS in their ongoing efforts to save the lives of Americans."
Brewster frowned. He hadn't seen the last part of the video before. He glanced at Shelby's Assistant, who was in charge of most of the production work.
"I don't know... I don't like the accent," Shelby grumbled.
"It can be corrected," the assistant assured.
General Brewster's secretary, Mary McNeil, a pleasant, soft-featured, bespectacled woman of about thirty-five, walked timidly into the room and, careful not to make a sound, approached the chief.
"Excuse me, sir, but your daughter has just arrived, and there's a young man with her," she whispered in Brewster's ear so that no one could hear. "She wants to see you as soon as possible, she says, it's something very urgent."
"Kate and Scott did get here. Oh yes, I invited her to come yesterday... Damn, it's not the right time!" thought Brewster to himself.
"Tell them to wait," the general said quietly. "You see, Mary, I can't leave right now!"
"Sir, she's very insistent and says it's literally a matter of life and death." The secretary's voice sounded very guilty.
Brewster cursed softly.
"Oh, damn you!"
He didn't mean Mary herself, of course.
Shelby looked at Brewster puzzled, even irritated.
"Bob?"
"I'm sorry, something important has happened," the general announced.
"What could be more important?" Shelby pointed to the screen. The video playback was interrupted. The rest of the audience also looked dissatisfied.
"Consideration of the budget will begin next week. If we don't advance the production contract—"
"You must excuse me," interrupted Brewster, and went away with the secretary.
"That man can't concentrate," Shelby's assistant muttered angrily and clicked the remote to continue his video presentation.
On the screen, Sergeant Candy appeared in uniform. He was standing next to the non-functioning skeleton of the terminator.
"It is now in our power to make the war safe," he said categorically. "It's really invaluable."
"CRS presents you with the face of the future," Candy announced pathetically after a few moments.
The camera shifted to the model of the head, with no teeth, eyes, or flesh, but the outline was that of the sergeant's face. The real Candy took it in his hands and said in a feigned frightened voice, "Oh, that's me!"
Once in the corridor, Brewster immediately asked, "Where are they now?"
"I... I took the liberty of letting them go straight to your reception room... I'm sorry if I—"
"No, that's right! The general said a little harshly, and realizing that he could have been softer, he added, "Well done, Mary."
As they entered the waiting room, he saw his daughter sitting on a wide leather couch, her hands clasped around her knees, staring intently at her feet. Near the window, looking out into the street, stood the same guy whom the general considered his future son-in-law. By coincidence, Brewster had never seen a picture of Scott Mason, so he didn't know what he looked like. However busy the general's mind might be with other problems, he automatically noticed the unsightly appearance of "Scott," who looked more like a tramp than a decent young man who had achieved something in life. "Couldn't you have dressed more decently?! After all, you knew that you were going to meet the fiancée's father!" the general was mentally indignant.
At the sight of her father entering, Kate jumped up from the couch, rushed to him and hugged him tightly, not in the least embarrassed by the presence of Mary McNeil. For her part, the woman smiled indulgently and chose to leave the room for a while, even though her workplace was here and there were still a lot of things to do.
"Daddy, I'm so glad to see you!"
"Me too, baby!" Brewster tried to take his mind off his worries for a while and just be happy to see his daughter, whom he hadn't seen for almost a year. He still needs to give them at least half an hour, although he will have to catch up with everything at a frantic pace.
From behind Kate, Brewster saw "Scott" also head in their direction, so softly freeing himself from his daughter's embrace, he said in what seemed to him a friendly tone, "Well, it's nice to meet you, Scott. Finally, I will be able to communicate with my almost son-in-law."
The general held out his hand to John to greet him in a manly manner and to test the strength of his handshake when Kate literally stunned him, saying, "Father, it's not Scott."
"My name is Connor, sir. John Connor," he introduced himself as "not Scott" and managed to shake his hand, which the general had not yet removed.
"I don't understand," Brewster's face was full of bewilderment. He looked from his daughter to John and back again.
"We'll explain it to you now. Just let's go to your office," the girl said very seriously.
Brewster nodded and led them into the next room, holding a special magnetic card with his personal code to open the door. In the office, he sat down in his office chair at a massive desk in front of the large picture windows, while John and Kate sat in identical leather chairs on the other side.
"Well, I'm listening!" The general, who was now extremely serious, urged them.
"Sir, you must prevent Skynet from activating at all costs!" John announced to the general head-on. Being as open as possible from the start was a strategy he and Kate had developed on the way here. He didn't want to waste time on foreplay and long explanations.
"What?! How did you know…?" Brewster's first reaction was logical and predictable. A top-secret project worth billions of dollars, which he had been leading for several years, and to which a very limited circle of people had access, in some incomprehensible way became known to this... the ragamuffin that his daughter had brought here!
At the same time, the thought flashed through Brewster's mind that this guy might be the hacker who had been terrorizing the world with his supervirus for the last few days, but the old warrior's instinct told him not to jump to conclusions. It's worth listening to what he has to say next.
"Please, Dad, listen to John! He's telling the truth." Catherine did not fail to support her friend.
"All right, speak," Brewster leaned back in his red leather chair, ready to listen to the end, however strange and unbelievable it might seem.
"This virus that has been haunting you and your people for days is Skynet. He is the cause of all the recent failures..."
The general's eyebrows crept up in surprise, but he didn't even change his position or say anything.
John continued. He told everything he and Kate knew about Skynet, Judgment Day, the terminators from the future, how he and Kate had met under very unusual circumstances, and the mission for which John's mother had been preparing him since he was a child. Catherine periodically supplemented Connor's story, and when she was silent, she nodded affirmatively, confirming the boy's words.
She and John had told the general something similar in the hospital, but this time the story was much more detailed. Time allowed for such an extended version of the story, and nothing was more important than to persuade Brewster to believe them and to influence in the end the events in which he was to be the most direct participant. If the general agrees with what he hears, then not only will he not press the cherished button himself, but he will not allow anyone else to make this irreparable mistake with his authority.
As the story progressed, the general's face grew more and more gloomy. He shifted his intense gaze from his daughter to John Connor and back again, so many times in the half-hour they had been talking. At first, Brewster thought what Connor was telling him nonsense, but as he gave more and more details about their top-secret research, including when John had described the terminators in such detail, samples of which were already ready and being tested in CRS, the general began to believe the guy more and more. He also remembered his own fears about handing over full control of the weapons systems to Skynet — had his premonitions not deceived him?
But when John spoke of a time glitch, a repetition of that very day, Brewster felt for a moment that he was ultimately being deceived. But it only lasted a few seconds. And why can't it be as Connor says? Is it really that unbelievable when you think about it? And besides, Katie, his beloved girl, would she mock her father like that in such a performance?
No, all of this seems to be true! And, therefore, the fate of all mankind now depends on him, Brewster! For the first time in his adult life, the general, a very brave and cold-blooded man, was truly frightened.
John had finished speaking, and he and Kate sat silently, looking at him expectantly. Brewster swallowed the lump in his throat and was about to say something in response when the emergency alert system, which penetrated every corner of the vast CRS, cut the silence with a loud and frightening alarm.
"Attention, attention! Emergency! Highest level of danger! All personnel of CRS immediately leave their workplaces and evacuate as soon as possible!" an electronic voice announced over the loudspeaker simultaneously with the siren turned on. The message was repeated over and over again.
"What the hell is that?" Brewster exclaimed instead of replying.
John and Kate looked at each other anxiously, and the boy answered, "It's begun, general!" Alas, sooner than we expected…"
In support of their words, another electronic voice, superimposed on the evacuation message, announced: "Skynet activated."