At the South Gate of Edwards Air Force Base, Kate introduced John as Scott, Terminator as his brother Tom, and T-X as her friend. The girl seemed to stumble with the name, but T-X picked up "Julia Campbell" in time, giving the guard such a smile that he immediately "melted." John and Kate's faces were bewildered, and the soldier just nodded his head and were let go without a word.

After driving some further distance through the grounds, they stopped in front of the huge building of CRS, gleaming glass and metal. In the lobby, Kate contacted her father's secretary, and as she went down to meet them, the girl said to T-X, "Since you don't know, I'll tell you that as soon as we're in my father's office, I'll be the first to speak, and then John will tell the whole story about Skynet, the time replays, and everything else. And then you and him—" the girl nodded at T-850, — "will demonstrate your capabilities. Got it?"

T-X listened intently, then made her trademark grin on her face.

"Yes."

Mary McNeil took the elevator downstairs, where, immediately after greeting her, Kate assured her that she and her friends had very, very urgent and very, very important business to attend to. The woman began to apologize and protest that the general was very busy, but Kate insisted (she knew what words to say), and soon Mary gave in.

The guests were ushered into the general's reception room, and the secretary herself went to fetch him.

T-X felt constant interference as Skynet grew more and more powerful. But soon, she uses all her abilities to prevent him from completely spiraling out of control. At the same time, T-X did not feel like a traitor, nor did she feel the slightest pity for her future creator. She had no doubt that, if necessary, it would decide her fate in a split second.

However, T-X was hesitant in her attitude towards T-850. On the one hand, he was the only one at that time (the prototypes of the terminators created by CRS do not count) was to some extent a representative of the same species, so to speak, of intelligent beings. And T-X felt a certain "kinship" despite everything that had happened between them over the course of several repetitions. But on the other hand, even though they are on the same side now, if it was necessary to confront him when she left the place, T-X would not hesitate to use her plasma cannon against the cyborg. And they both knew it.

General Brewster appeared in the doorway, took a quick look at the four of them, and greeted his daughter warmly, encircling her in an embrace that was still his first in months for him, who was not stuck in a time loop. Kate almost immediately asked her father to go to the office and call Tony Flickinger and his team. With a look of bewilderment and concern, Brewster agreed.

And then it was almost the same as the previous time, except that the men looked more at T-X. John told his dark story, and Kate supported him with short remarks and nods. The general, Flickinger, and his team listened at first in disbelief, then in horror at the realization that everything was true. When Terminator, on Kate's orders, ripped open the door of the safe, the female technician still screamed, her hand over her mouth, and the men's jaws dropped. T-X, on the other hand, didn't need to demonstrate strength: all it took was to expose the chrome-plated arm of the endoskeleton up to the elbow and transform it into a plasma emitter and back again.

After a few minutes for people to digest what they saw, the whole team finally got to work. They went to the computer center, but first the general insisted (in fact, ordered) everyone else who was there and, accordingly, was not privy to their secret, to leave the room. He also instructed Mary McNeil not to connect him or disturb him, except, of course, calls from the Pentagon.

John and Kate warned the general, among other things, that Skynet might attempt to kill the people by siphoning oxygen from all the rooms and replacing it with the liquid nitrogen needed to cool the numerous equipment. But, after consultation, they were forced to admit that there was nothing that could be done about it: nitrogen could not be avoided, and if a general evacuation was declared, it would naturally only raise questions and attract additional unnecessary attention.

After that, Flickinger and his assistants got to work. They typed some preliminary commands on the keyboards of their workstations, after which Tony looked inquiringly at Terminatrix, who was standing beside him. The general, John, Kate, and T-850 were also nearby. They were on duty at the door in case no one from the outside would get in and disturb them.

"I need another twenty seconds to connect to Skynet," the robot replied, still staring intently at the monitor that displayed information about the spread of the supervirus.

"And how many... you may need time to decide... the whole task?" The general asked.

"I can't give you exact figures. Skynet can behave unpredictably, and then you and I will have to act according to the situation."

Finally, once she was in sync with the network, she began to actively help Tony and the others, commenting on Skynet's actions in real time and giving them instructions on what commands to type and when. Since Flickinger and his assistants were first-rate programmers, they had little trouble working in cooperation with T-X. Meanwhile, people still had strange mixed feelings about how easily they could communicate and work together with a machine that came from the future. Others in their place could have gone crazy or fallen into a stupor, but Tony and the others had worked for many years at the forefront of cybernetics for many years and managed to see many things that seem fantastic to the average person.

Indeed, just as T-X had predicted, Skynet, sensing an outward interference, especially her interference, began to act like a real person. It certainly understood the value of its life and was not going to part with it, dodging as best it could. Several times it seemed that all the combined efforts of the humans and the terminator would again prove futile, but at the last moment, T-X always managed to save the day.

The battle had been going on for almost twenty-five minutes. Flickinger and his team sweated. John, Kate, and the general watched in awe at what was happening, and at the same time they were tormented that they could not take a more active part. Only the two terminators, as usual, remained impassive, though T-X was forced to give sharp commands every now and then.

Most importantly, so far it has been possible to prevent the deadly air pumping. T-X was adept at blocking Skynet's actions. At the same time, she felt a colossal tension that none of those present could guess about, except perhaps T-850. Terminatrix could feel Skynet trying to counterattack her and shut down her CPU. Constant interference now and then obscured the projection screen, and commands were executed with a delay. The only thing that saved the work was that Skynet, as of July 25, 2004, was still not as strong as it was at the time of her creation in 2032. But even so, it remained an extremely serious opponent.

Finally, after almost an hour, she, Flickinger, and the other engineers began to win slowly, step by step. Skynet began to lose ground. Very slow at first, then faster and faster. The mistakes in its actions began to manifest themselves more and more clearly, which was visible even to people. It could be compared to human agony, only on a planet-wide scale.

One by one, Skynet-infected objects in various countries, both military and civilian, were released from its control, and the list of them on the large plasma screen was constantly reduced until it finally remained completely empty. The map, which gave a visual representation of the scale of the epidemic, now also looked clean, which aroused excitement in the hearts of those present.

And now the climax has arrived.

"I think... that's the end!" Tony Flickinger gasped, tired and squeezed like a lemon. He looked at T-X questioningly.

"Yes," she said, after a moment's hesitation. "Skynet has been completely neutralized."

There were exclamations of relief. People rushed to hug each other. There were tears in the eyes of some. Only the faces of the terminators were still expressionless, even though the two machines were looking at each other intently, exchanging data.

As soon as the emotions subsided a little, General Brewster received a call from the Pentagon. It was Admiral James F. Morrison, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

"Brewster, we've just gained access to all the arsenals, submarines, and bunkers! So this Skynet of yours has done the job! The damn virus has been destroyed!" Brewster had never heard the Admiral so pleased and cheerful. "Bravo, old man! On my behalf, please also convey congratulations to your engineers and everyone else involved."

"Thank you, Mr. Chairman." The general himself, beaming with joy, replied, who, unlike Admiral Morrison, knew the real reason for rejoicing.

He looked around at everyone in the room, and lingered especially on the terminators. Brewster's face grew serious, and then he added, "Yes, I'll tell them what you've said."

"Excellent! I am waiting for you today at six o'clock for a report! And, Bob—" the Admiral lowered his voice, — "prepare a hole in your jacket for another award."

Before General Brewster could say that this was not necessary, Morrison hung up. The general waited for a moment, during which all the others watched him intently, and then in a voice to which his usual seriousness had returned, he said, "Admiral James F. Morrison, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the United States of America, expresses his gratitude to you. To all of you."

There were nods and monosyllabic words of thanks from Flickinger and his subordinates, after which he asked, "Sir, will you tell the Admiral that it was Skynet that was the virus, and who really destroyed it?"

Brewster thought for a moment. It's a moment he's been dreading ever since he'd learned the truth told by John Connor an hour ago, and then witnessed the existence of two humanoid machines. What should he do with them now? What should he do and what can he do? He's seen the capabilities of these robots, and if the one whose appearance is copied from Sergeant Candy may not pose a serious threat, obeying the commands of a person, Kate's commands, then a woman, even one with her own name, Julia, would surely not behave peacefully if people tried to disassemble her and study her for their own purposes! As Brewster has learned, she has a consciousness of her own and identifies herself as an independent person, so the consequences are unpredictable.

However, it was not only the fear of colliding with the most powerful combat robot that made Brewster nervous, but also the ethical aspect of the case. Does he have the moral right, as a human being, to treat these machines unjustly, dishonestly, now, after what they have done? Should he perceive them as things, soulless mechanisms, or should he overcome all doubts and prejudices and see before him full-fledged living beings? What is the future of their entire research program, given that there are already developments in early series of such machines? Is it worth making changes to them to avoid possible recourse against people in the future? Or destroy it altogether? So many questions! But where do you get the answers?

"Sir, what's going to happen to them now?" Connor asked bluntly, nodding in the direction of the terminators.

Everyone's eyes were still on him.

"Daddy, tell me, what's next?" Kate's face was full of genuine excitement.

Brewster suddenly felt old. And very tired. He wanted someone else — anyone — to take responsibility for that decision. He was ready to give all the silver stars from his shoulder straps for this.