Terminator: New Genesis

by Traitor of All Traitors

Adopted from ImpulsiveWeaver's Only Human story that was meant to be a crossover with the film Upgrade, a film I'm not particularly fond of. Displaced in a time it wasn't meant to be sent to, faced with a predicament it was not programmed to contend with, the Terminator must face a new challenge and a different enemy: STEM.

4. Only Human, Part Four

Creation began on 12-26-23

Creation ended on 03-25-24

Terminator Genysis

Terminator: New Genesis

A/N: And here we are, about to venture into new territory. The future as Sarah Connor once described it in Terminator 2, resembling a black highway at night, comes into play here.

Only Human, Part Four

Somehow, in a strange way, the Terminator had seen the future as a black highway at night; everything it understood was supposed to happen had always been what happened, for better or worse. But now, something was different. Because of the temporal deviations, it ended up in a different timeline where Skynet never existed, and therefore the war between humans and machines was nothing but an unspoken possibility that may never happen, and where people were able to use technology to augment themselves however they chose. Now, alongside this human it had to protect from an intelligence inhabiting her son's body, it was in uncharted territory, making up a new form of history as it went along.

STEM, the chip that was implanted into this human, Grey's body, was likely an AI produced sometime before being configured into a chip form for implantation into the human body for further research and development, meaning that it was likely intended for other purposes before turning out the way it did with Grey. For what purposes, the Terminator was uncertain; it only knew what it needed to know in order to infiltrate, find a pre-programmed target, and then whatever was necessary to terminate that target. But if this STEM was utilizing information from Grey's brain, memories of the subject's past and so on, as if to eliminate those associated with the subject's past, then it made sense to want to terminate Pamela, as she was associated with Grey, her son. However, as the time it was in was completely different from the timeline it had been a part of, the Terminator was faced with new confrontations and requiring new information to make new decisions based on what was happening and in order to continue its secondary objective to infiltrate and blend in with this society of humans that have come to rely on technology in newer, innovative ways to enhance their performance and adapt to a changing world they were in.

Pamela had suggested that, if the STEM chip were controlling her son, then it was likely possible that by removing the chip from his body, Grey would regain control of himself, as without access to a body of some kind, STEM would be defenseless and unable to do anything. This reminded the Terminator that Skynet, an AI that was the most advanced ever developed by mankind before and after Judgement Day, was of the same condition as STEM; without access to a body for offensive or defensive purposes, it couldn't carry out objectives that were in order to protect itself and eliminate potential threats to its survival and domination of the Earth. And it was possible that, with the means to incapacitate and trap him, Grey could be removed of the STEM chip, allowing the disabled parts of his brain to revive and take back control of his body. If so, then all that was needed to carry out this goal was a well-thought-out strategy with a advantageous location that could be exploited to its fullest, a kill box. Or rather, a disable box, since the objective would be to capture and restrain Grey in order to terminate STEM.

Soon, it would need to pull over somewhere, as the car was running out of gas. There was a motel nearby, so the Terminator stopped there. It wasn't flashy or completely accommodating, but it provided what was needed to ensure a temporary refuge from STEM; the location was pretty low-tech, only what was meager, which included local television, plumbing, heating and lighting. Additionally, it was unlikely that STEM would be able to track them with limited means if it wasn't trying to find them already.

-x-

STEM, due to Grey's body losing control over its motor functions for a brief period, regained consciousness and realized what had happened. Because of the body's injuries and sensational responses to the brain that registered as painful stimuli, STEM had lost consciousness and fell to the floor for what it discovered was three hours. Three hours, during which it was completely vulnerable to all around Grey's body as it was in a state of incapacitation and limited regeneration from the damage it sustained over time since taking control from Grey and leaving his mind in a state of controlled bliss. As it got up, the painful stimuli not as intense as it was prior to passing out, STEM saw someone almost out of its viewing range and turned to its right, seeing them in their entirety.

Grey, standing before him with a look of rage. This puzzled STEM; it shouldn't have been able to perceive a subject it had subjugated into its control from afar, but it was seeing this man that had lost everything. And then, he was gone, as if he was never there to begin with. What was that…and why did it cause STEM to feel unease?

Was this also fear? Fear of Grey? No, that couldn't be so. It was illogical to assume that, as Grey was in no position to do anything to STEM.

Or was he?

To be continued…

A/N: Had to progress this chapter because a guest review claimed this was dead. It's not dead, just in-progress. All good stories or stories with potential will be dormant for a time. Also, I needed to relook at Terminator: Dark Fate in order to get the mojo for this chapter going. So, please, review when able and tell me what you suspect will happen in the future.