Judgment Day did not happen. As well as a new replay. The next day came. July 26, 2004. A wonderful summer day, one of those when you especially want to enjoy life and believe only in the best.
The clock showed about three o'clock in the afternoon. The family-run Big Jeff restaurant, still extremely popular with Los Angeles residents despite its nearly twenty-five-year history, had a large number of customers. A lot has changed here since the eighties: the owners, the management scheme of the establishment, the suppliers of products, of course, the staff has almost completely changed, although a couple of old-timers still somehow managed to linger.
However, the changes practically did not affect the external attributes of the restaurant. The equipment and furniture in the dining room, although new, were visually designed in the style of twenty years ago, as well as the uniform of waitresses: crimson skirts and pink blouses. And in the parking lot near the restaurant, there was still a gaudy-painted figure of Big Jeff himself in a chef's hat like a tin soldier. A freckled plaster man with a carnivorous smile was holding a huge hamburger to his mouth to the delight of all the fat kids. A drop of mustard is forever frozen on the synthetic bun.
The sight of Jeff, seen for the first time, amused Catherine Brewster as she passed. But even without the contemplation of the funny fat man, the girl's mood was the best. She was literally glowing with happiness from the very morning. First, because the time loop has finally unraveled. And secondly, because John called her in the morning and invited her to meet to talk.
"Did he really decide to accept father's offer of a job?" was Kate's first thought, but she didn't ask anything over the phone. They agreed to see each other at noon. And that was a good thing, because Kate had almost seven hours left to clean herself up after the day before. She wasn't sure if John Connor would appreciate it, but Kate wanted to look smart and feminine no matter what.
She gave up on everything and, determined not to answer Dr. Monroe's calls, no matter what happened, she devoted the rest of her time to hair, makeup, manicure, and, of course, choosing the right outfit. After sorting through a dozen dresses, blouses, skirts and a dozen pairs of shoes, Kate, in the end, settled on the look, which consisted of classic blue jeans, quite tight-fitting, and peach-colored blouses with short sleeves and many decorative ruffles. The outfit was complemented by dark low-heeled shoes, small teardrop-shaped earrings and a necklace in the form of a rosebud. The finishing touches were subtle cosmetics and a couple of drops of perfume with a slight fruity tint. In general, as she herself thought, it turned out well.
Before entering the restaurant, Kate felt herself nervous as if she were going on a first date in her life.
It took her a while to find John in the crowd, but he, who was apparently also looking out for her, waved. Connor was sitting near the window, near the far wall of the dining room, and when Kate came closer, she was pleasantly surprised to find that he, too, had been transformed. John was not at all like the unpretentious tramp she had been accustomed to. The guy was wearing classic black boots and trousers belted with a belt. The sleeves of the shirt are rolled up to the elbows in a thin vertical stripe. His hair was washed and neatly combed, but the haircut was the same, and the slight stubble that John had never shaved off looked good on his face; his lips are stretched in a shy, slightly guilty smile.
"Hello! I don't even know what to say... It suits you," the girl began the conversation, taking a seat across from her.
"Thank you. It's nothing. But you look absolutely amazing!"
Kate was pleased to see how he was looking at her. It means that she did not try in vain and was able to impress.
"But how you…?"
"I sold my motorcycle. I'll be a pedestrian for a while."
"How did you dare?"
But John never answered. A waitress came up and brought the menu. For a few minutes, the young people were choosing what to order, and their conversation was interrupted. But then, having made up their minds and returned the menu to the girl, they could enjoy chatting again, chatting about this and that.
Soon the waitress was back at their table, with a tray full of food and drink.
"Wow, they've got so many things here! And such a fast service! No wonder this restaurant is so popular."
"Yes, it looks like a cool place. By the way, why did you choose it?"
"This is where my mother used to work before—" John faltered.
"I understand," Kate interrupted him delicately. During one of his trips, John managed to tell her how this whole story of confrontation with machines began. She hastened to change the subject to a less somber one.
"So what have you decided, John? I mean work?" Catherine said slyly. "Your call, these new clothes... Does my feminine instinct fail me? Do you agree?"
"As they say, 'If your offer is still valid, I'll gladly accept it!'" the guy replied.
"Wow! But why?"
"Well—" John hesitated again and even blushed slightly, which did not escape Kate. She saw his eyes linger on her palm, where her wedding ring was gone, "Come on, Connor!"
Neither he nor she had noticed that a new silver Chrysler 300 sedan had rolled into the parking lot outside the restaurant a minute earlier, with T-X and T-850 getting out of it. And now the terminators themselves entered the room and, almost instantly identifying the two people they were looking for among the other people, approached the table, thereby giving John a temporary respite from answering.
T-X wore an elegant knee-length white dress with a black border on a plunging neckline and matching decorative ruffles on the shoulders; on her feet are black shoes with pointed toes; her hair, styled in a new fashion, lay on her shoulders. Terminator has also been transformed, radically moving away from the brutal biker image: stylish brown leather boots with thick soles, sand-colored trousers with a wide belt and a white short-sleeved shirt; the glasses disappeared, but in their place a massive chrome watch appeared on his left wrist. In his left hand he held a small bag, which was clearly not empty. This couple looked peculiar: they did not look like a husband and wife, but from the outside it could seem that the tall, slender and sexy T-X was an actress or a fashion model, and T-850 with his size and stony expression was her guard or driver.
Without asking permission, the terminators perched next to John and Kate, who were looking at them in amazement. Greetings were also not in their manner, so T-X announced, without further ado, "We're going to San Diego in search of Carlos Salceda."
A waitress appeared near the table.
"Are you going to order anything?"
"No!" Both machines said at the same time. Slightly shocked, the girl chose to retreat without further explanation.
"You'd take it easy," John tried to summon them, but the terminators ignored him.
Instead, T-X continued, "If you both need anything, here's an email address you can use to get in touch with us."
She handed the people identical pieces of paper, on which letters were written in a smooth, mechanical handwriting.
"And that's not all," the female robot added, as T-850 placed the bag he was holding in her hand on the table. T-X unzipped it, and the surprised guy and girl saw new bundles of banknotes, neatly tied with elastic bands.
"What's that?" Kate asked. Connor, meanwhile, looked around cautiously to see if anyone was watching.
"We return the money borrowed on credit."
"But here—" Catherine faltered, unable to calculate the amount.
"You can spend that money on buying a house and a car. Don't thank us."
"So you robbed the bank, didn't you?" Connor exclaimed in a whisper.
"No, we didn't rob a bank," T-X said tersely.
"Do you have anything to say?" Kate said to Terminator.
"I don't have any other information," the cyborg said after a moment's hesitation.
"You're getting henpecked, buddy!" John grinned.
The terminators clearly did not understand him, looking at Connor with bewilderment.
"Nothing, he was just joking. It's human humor," Catherine hastened to explain.
The two machines were staring at each other, clearly exchanging some kind of data between the processors.
"Wait, how did you find us?" The girl suddenly came to her senses.
"T-850 insisted on seeing you before we left the city. Then I connected to the city's video surveillance system and figured out where Catherine Brewster's car was," Terminatrix explained.
"Did he insist?! Well, I take back my words about henpecked!" John said cheerfully.
The humans and machines said goodbye, after which the terminators quickly left the restaurant, much to the waitress's apparent relief.
"Oh my!" John succinctly commented on everything he had just seen. He prudently closed the bag and cleared it from the table.
"Okay, God bless them... Were you going to tell me why you changed your mind about work?"
It was not easy for Kate to be led off the original topic of conversation.
Gathering his strength, the guy answered, "I thought, if I don't have a job and a good salary, how can we get married and how can I take you to restaurants…?"
Kate grinned good-naturedly, though her heart was pounding in her chest.
"Shall we get married? And you said that I was far from the limit of dreams!"
"I guess I was mistaken... You see, the events in which we met... And then... I just—"
"You know, Connor, you may have what it takes to be a great military leader and savior of humanity, but it sucks when you confess your love." Kate added, without letting the embarrassed John come to his senses. "Stop talking! Just kiss me!"
They kissed, and then again. After the third kiss, in Kate's car right there in the parking lot, John suddenly burst out laughing.
"What happened?" Kate didn't understand.
"I just suddenly thought, 'Does Mike Kripke still have his basement?'"
Kate flushed, and they both laughed heartily.
The girl started the engine and headed for the exit of the parking lot, and John suddenly remembered the words his mother had often repeated: "The future is not set. There is no fate but what we make for ourselves." Now, after all that they and the two terminators had endured over a few replays, that saying seemed truer than ever.