Terminator: Realities

by jrair

BOOK 1 John Connor is alive. His friend Quin finds himself in a new place and must convince John to be the savior he was meant to be while battling a new type of Terminator.

Terminator: Realities

By Jose Rodriguez Jr

Based on Terminator by James Cameron & Gale Anne Hurd

Cover by Tatiana Villa at

Copyright 2021 Jose Rodriguez Jr

Visit my Smashwords author page here

Disclaimer

This is a work of fiction. Characters, business, events and incidents are the products of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

Table of Contents

1. 'FOOTBALL'

2. LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION

3. FNG (f* new guy)

4. ORDERS

5. LI/ANG QIAN UNO

6. LEGION & THE REV-9i

7. O/B/G (oldie but goldie or original gangster)

8. WEAPONS OF WAR

9. SPECTRUM

10. PBJ (peanut butter & jelly)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

1. 'FOOTBALL'

Everything was destroyed, and it was dark. The ground was littered with the bones of the fire's first victims. The only things left standing were the ruins of a once-great, world-spanning civilization.

Now, a war raged between humans and machines. What was left of humanity formed what would be known as the Resistance. They fought against Skynet, the computer that now sought to wipe them out with Terminators.

Once activated, Skynet had become self-aware, went rogue, and started a nuclear war that nearly annihilated humanity. Terminators were the AI robots created and led by Skynet. They were just as numerous and varied as the human race.

In one of the now rock-ridden cities; T-70s, T-500s, T-600s, and T-800s, skeletal machines, the Terminators, patrolled. They weren't alone, however, two ground and two flying HKs patrolled the area as well. HK was just short for hunter-killer. They were just as deadly as any man-made military machine and maybe even worse, were completely automated. Ground HKs, basically tanks, were big and rolled around on treads. Flying Hks, as the name implies, were VTOL-capable aircraft with a devasting array of weapons for carrying out their mission. All of them had been designed and developed by Skynet for one purpose: the extermination of the human race.

Among the rubble, two humans, fully shrouded in dark-colored clothes, very quietly crawled against what was left of a wall. One carried a standard plasma rifle while the other carried a high-powered sniper rifle. Ahead of them was a small nook made from the surrounding debris. They made their way to it as silently as possible. The Terminators were just on the other side, so the least amount of noise was of paramount importance.

Nearby was a small path leading to the building's basement. One of the men used a hand signal for the other to follow him down and inside. They could have easily stood and walked the distance, but with the machines around, it was far too dangerous. Instead, they got back down on their stomachs and slowly crawled their way in.

One of the men cautiously opened the basement door and checked the room before entering. It was intact, mostly just dust with paintings, chairs, and a small table lying about.

The man removed his face covering, revealing himself to be John Connor. He waited for his partner to close the door before whispering. "Quin, make the call."

John Connor, a scrappy-looking man in his forties and a scar on the left side of his face, was the leader of the Resistance.

"You think these walls will be a problem?" Quin whispered back. Quin Uno, son of Jason Uno and Dulce Qi. His father wanted to name him Li Qian Uno, but a compromise with his mother led to Quin Uno. She wasn't too fond of his name possibly being mistranslated to 2001. About the same height and a little thinner than John, he was in his mid-twenties, served as Connor's personal protector and one of many good friends. He was the one carrying the sniper rifle. It took a lot of training, but he eventually became one of the Resistance's top crack shooters.

John shook his head. "Shouldn't be a problem," he said in a low voice. "We should be close enough."

Quin kneeled beside one of the walls, set his rifle down, and unpacked the radio transceiver he carried on his back. After a few quick adjustments, he was ready to go and whispered into it. "Coach, this is Quin."

'Coach' was the codename for the man in charge of the Resistance HQ in the area. He was located underground with a few other members. "Coach here," he said. "We've been expecting you, "

The volume on Quin's portable radio was low but good enough for him to hear. "Coach, this is Quin," he replied. "I am in the area and I have 'Football'. Repeat. I am in the area and I have Football."

Coach rubbed his face with both hands and breathed a sigh of relief. "How's Football?" he asked.

"He's alive and well at the moment," Quin answered. "But we have Terminators all over the place. Can you help? We need at least a little distraction."

"For Football," Coach said. "We'll give you a lot more than a little distraction." He then turned to a man sitting next to him and nodded for him to switch channels on his radio "This is Coach to all players in the field, Football is in play, engage the Terminators." he said. "Repeat. Football is in play, engage the Terminators."

The next thing Jonh and Quin heard was the eruption of battle outside.

"That must be our queue," John said.

Quin quickly packed the radio. "I know the way," he said. "Let me go first."

The sound of battle slowly grew deafening as both men crept up the stairs. A glance of the field, in any direction, showed explosions now dotting the land and lasers flying everywhere.

John and Quin crawled and quickly skipped from one hiding spot to another.

Hanging from John's belt was a regular handheld walkie-talkie modified by the Resistance to become active at a certain distance, with a green light turning on to act as an indicator. Almost as soon as it became active, John came to a rest against a wall.

Quin peeked through a crack in the wall with the scope on his rifle. It was a special scope for detecting human body heat versus the heat given off by the Terminators, similar to a thermal scope. A human had a normal heat signature. Terminators showed up as varying shades of red. He held off on taking any shot. Shooting now would only give away his position, and with John in tow, that wasn't a chance he was willing to take.

"Coach," John called. "This is Football, I need you to lay down a strobe for the rendezvous,"

"You got it," Coach said and immediately jumped from his chair while grabbing a walkie-talkie and running to another part of the base. As he ran past a shelf, he grabbed a small metal ball and made a hard turn to go outside where others had taken up positions overlooking the battle. It was one story off the ground but secured with dozens of Resistance members in and around the area. All of the fighting was taking place in spots other than there. The guerilla style of warfare the Resistance used was meant to confuse the enemy, with the shooting and moving coming rapidly from different spots.

Coach twisted the ball and then dropped it before speaking into the walkie-talkie. "Ok, the strobe is down."

John checked for any machines in the area before equipping a special pair of binoculars to see where the strobe was. An area flashed with light repeatedly through the binoculars. It wasn't visible to the naked eye and, hopefully, from the intel they had, wasn't visible to the machines either.

Quin came around, kneeling beside John. The area ahead was clear, the machines were preoccupied.

John checked with his binoculars again before pointing the way for Quin. "Twelve o'clock," he said. "Dead ahead about fifty yards."

Quin took the lead. "Ok, stick close." He said.

John followed, moving from wall to wall, crawling through any ditch the entire time to the safety of the rendezvous point.

Quin and several other members surrounded John like a herd of elephants and guided him inside the complex.

John met up with Coach, Shawn O'Neil, a slender man with blue eyes and blond shoulder-length hair. Step-brother to Quin and a little older. "Shawn, thanks," John said, shaking hands with his general. "I need a radio to talk to our men out there."

Shawn gave a quick salute before saying. "Sir, right this way."

John followed Shawn to the transceiver and wasted no time issuing orders. "Listen up men. This is Football. I want anyone with a SAM to focus on taking out those flying HKs immediately. Then, I want you all to concentrate on the ground HKs. Use your canister bombs. Snipers, take out any Terminator that comes into your crosshair…"

Quin, along with another Resistance member crawled rapidly to a new spot out in the field. He peeked into his scope to find two Terminators moving away. He quickly aimed at one's head and squeezed the trigger.

The Terminator fell with a clean hole going straight through its head. Anything that had been in the bullet's path was blown outward like brain matter. Being so close, the second Terminator immediately noticed its fallen comrade. It barely had time to process the bullet's trajectory before it too was taken out with another headshot from Quin.

Several SAMs went up almost simultaneously, giving the flying HKs next to no room to dodge. One HK avoided being struck by the first missile, only to inadvertently move into the path of another. The second flying HK barely had a chance to move out of the way before it was struck by multiple missiles.

Quin crawled rapidly with the other Resistance member to a barely-there corner of a building. Much of the building was gone, in ruins. Quin was nicely hidden with his shroud that blended in with the surroundings. The other Resistance member was also concealed by the rubble but exposed himself just enough to the HK when he attempted to toss a canister bomb. The ground HK instantly acquired a lock on its target and fired, blowing the Resistance member to pieces.

Quin went wide-eyed at the sight of the canister bomb rolling in front of him. He quickly grabbed it and tossed it as he rolled over on his back, he wasn't about to make the same mistake as his partner and expose himself.

It was a lucky toss, as the canister bomb landed directly in the path of the HK, treads rolling over it. The following explosion tore through the HK, leaving it a burning pile of wreckage.

Quin crawled to the other end of the ruined building and peeked through the rubble with his scope. At some distance, he spotted several other Resistance fighters taking out the other HK with their canister bombs.

The only things in the field now were the Terminators. Each was then taken out by the guerrilla warfare common among the Resistance. They could be easily distracted by the sudden throwing of dozens of rocks and grenades that made it hard for the machines to determine what was a threat and what wasn't. Much of the Resistance was able to slowly close in, encircling the enemy and eliminating it in a crossfire.

Shawn came running. "Sir," he called. "Looks good. We have just a few Terminators out in the field to take care of."

John looked at him before going back to the radio. "Regulars, all regulars, fall back into support positions for snipers. Snipers, don't stray more than fifty yards from any support post, and do not hesitate to call for backup if needed."

Quin laid by several other members who had a radio. Upon hearing the message he began to crawl away to carry out John's order. The Terminators were terrifying in most instances that found one unprepared to deal with such a threat, however, couldn't put up much of a fight against a well-informed army waiting for them.

In the end, daylight broke, and humans carefully scavaged through the remains of the enemy.

Shawn approached John. "Sir," he said. "Seems clear. Reports indicate we got them all."

Quin entered the room and stood by John. "I made it here in one piece," he said. "I ran from across the field. Didn't find anything.

"Pack everything up," John said. "Head back to base. We need to leave this area immediately. I wouldn't want to be here when the machines come back."

Shawn nodded and saluted. "Right away, Sir." He said before moving on.

John looked over at Quin, patting him on the arm, and said "Let's go."

2. LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION

John and Quin jumped out of a truck to walk through a very large cluster of burned-out buildings that looked in serious need of maintenance. It was an old top-secret military base with several now empty surface-level buildings. In front and behind them marched other members of the Resistance.

Any working vehicles parked inside what buildings they could or away from the base to hide the location of both.

"I'm telling you," Quin said chuckling. "We need to come up with better callsigns. Come on, the ones we got now are corny as hell; Coach, Football?"

John found it somewhat humorous as well. "It works," he replied. "Think of it as our version of the Enigma machine. As long as it confuses the Terminators and they can't figure out what we're saying, it's fine with me. Besides, I'd rather be called Football as opposed to Cupcake."

"Good point," Quin said. "I don't know what an Enigma machine is, but I should get a callsign too."

John raised an eyebrow and looked at Quin. "Sure," he said, expecting Quin to come up with something silly. "Do you have one in mind?"

Both men entered the base through a set of huge, metal doors that lead deeper into the Earth. These doors were automated, blast-resistant, the only way in, and most importantly, hidden. It was large and mostly underground, leaving the desolate surface to appear to have been destroyed.

"I got one," Quin said. "I can be S.E.X.T. Sext. Which stands for sniper exterminator of Terminators."

John burst out laughing. "Don't you know what sexting is?"

Quin was too young before learning what such a thing was. Born after the war started, he never owned a cellphone and thus didn't know what one was. "What?" he asked. "You don't think it's cool?"

John continued laughing. "You don't even know what a cellphone is, do you?"

"Cellphone," Quin wondered out loud. "What's that?"

John, still laughing, said. "Nothing! Keep that name. It's perfect. In fact, as leader of the Resistance, I make it official right here, right now."

Quin suddenly felt self-conscious as John continued further into the base along the way on a different path. "Ok," he said uneasily. "I guess that's what I'll use."

As John walked, he regained his composure and looked around to see survivors huddled against a Resistance member's station, eating the little food they had while the soldier worked. On his other side, between two workstations was a small hall with a group of survivors, a family, getting comfortable. Right next to him as he walked by, was an older man and woman working diligently on repairs for some clothing items. The sad thing was that almost everyone looked homeless except the soldiers wearing the appropriate attire, though even they looked like they could use a good cleaning.

That was the norm throughout the base. Very few areas were now off-limits or designated top-secret. Aside from the few stragglers struggling for survival outside, most were now living in a place that was previously inaccessible to them.

The militaries of the world couldn't say 'No' to desperate survivors. What little was left of the world's armies quickly realized that there was no such thing as an untrustworthy human when they found out it was the machines causing so much chaos.

It would only take months before determining that all humans would have to band together to fight an enemy that made no distinction between race or creed. Suddenly all of the human's differences had disappeared. It didn't matter what your skin color was or if you had socialist beliefs. Racism and political allegiance were among the first ideas to die. The very concept of communism and democracy were no more.

It was a beautiful and sad thing at the same time. Beautiful because it was ideal: man caring deeply for his fellow man. Sad because it took such a horrible event to realize it.

The machines were ruthless. They didn't care about age or gender. Anything with two arms and two legs was fair game, and that included any primate. It wouldn't even allow for the chance of evolution.

The skies could hardly be contested as the machines tirelessly sent up more and more aircraft. Helicopters and some VTOL aircraft were all the Resistance had, in small numbers. They could safely fly short distances and hide away in anything large enough to house them. The water was a little safer. It was the one place the machine had underestimated human influence. Water-based HKs were still rare in the hotly contested oceans of the world.

Skynet found it difficult to set up a port for any ship before it was eventually found and destroyed. It knew this part of the war was an effort of attrition, it would only be a matter of time before the humans could no longer fuel its powerful navies. Already, it was beginning to notice a decline in fleet size during large-scale engagements. However, inland lakes and major rivers swam with HKs. It was a newly developed EMP that protected the hulls of the navy. If it weren't for the size and energy requirements of the system, the Resistance would have a much better weapon.

John rounded the corner to find his wife Kathrine "Kate" Brewster-Connor quickly approaching: a beautiful redhead with light green eyes, and also visibly a few months pregnant.

Both embraced each other upon getting close enough.

"Thank goodness you're ok," Kate said. "I was worried about you."

"It's good to see you," John said. "How are you?" he then asked, caressing the baby bump.

"We're doing fine," Kate smiled and answered. She then joined John walking back to their quarters.

"Did anything exciting happen while I was away?" John asked.

Kate shook her head. "Recon scouts report nothing unusual." She replied.

John stepped ahead of his wife to open a door. "Any word from your father?" he asked.

Kate walked into the room. "Thank you," she said, then sitting down on the couch. "The eastern coast has seen little action. Southern border is being secured. The north is still no man's land, and we're hotly contesting the west. How was your mission?"

John sat down next to Kate and pulled out a USB stick from his pocket. "Got some important info," he answered. "I'll debrief everyone in ten minutes."

"How'd you get back?" Kate then asked. "I know you didn't come alone."

"Quin came with," John answered. "It was easier and quicker that way. Two people are harder to track than an entire squad."

"He's back," Kate asked. "Ryka will be relieved."

John looked at Kate. "Relieved, why?" he asked. "He's one of the best."

"I think she misses him," Kate said. "Always asking if I heard anything. Did he remember to take this? Did he remember to take that?"

John chucked. "He wants the callsign sext. Probably thinks it's cool with the word sex in there."

Kate cocked an eyebrow. "You did tell him about sexting, didn't you?"

John shook his head. "No way," he laughed. "Not yet at least. I got to have fun with him first."

Kate smiled and rolled her eyes.

Minutes later, many Resistance leaders met in the command center, standing around a large map displayed on a table. Kate stood by John in the dim room, with much of the light, little as it was, being projected from the map on the table.

Quin walked in and had a seat with a few others looking on.

"Everyone here," John asked. "Good."

"Let me first say," Shawn interrupted. "It's good to have you back, Sir"

John nodded. "Thank you," he said. "Mission was a success. I brought back some very important intel."

"You got the location of Skynet?" Kate asked.

"No," John answered. "Unfortunately, even though that was what we're after. We got the location of something it's calling TDE, or time displacement equipment, and its plans."

"Time displacement," a female general said curiously before snickering. "What, does Skynet think it'll travel through time?"

"Doesn't matter what it thinks," John said. "What matters is that it'll try and we have the location."

"What's it planning?" Kate asked.

John answered. "Skynet believes that by sending a machine back in time to kill my mother, I will cease to exist."

Shawn scratched his chin. "Just one of those things will be a nightmare to deal with in the past," he said "Skynet's taking a big risk. No one knows how time travel works. It can either change everything or just create a new branch in the timeline. Skynet must know something we don't or is very desperate."

Quin stood up to address everyone. "Who cares," he said. "We don't know what'll happen, but it's a chance we can't take."

"He's right," John added. "We must take action. I would hope that even if I suddenly disappear you all would continue the fight."

"No offense," Shawn said. "We think it's like a hydra. Even if you just vanish, someone else would take your place. It's a change we wouldn't even recognize, you might not even be the first 'head', so to speak."

John shrugged his shoulders. "Well," he began. "It'll be the last. The rest of Tech-Com split up and is relaying what we found to other cells. They and others are expected to join us in a multipronged nighttime attack. Saddle up, we move out right away."

3. FNG (f* new guy)

Night had fallen. In a ruined building, abandoned and blown out by the fiery nuclear blast, electricity crackled throughout the room. After a moment, four cold, colorful spheres suddenly appeared. The spheres resembled rotating marbles for a second before just as quickly disappearing as fast as they had appeared.

Standing in the sphere's place were four individuals, two females and two males. They were fully clothed, dressed like any other Resistance member, and two appeared to be carrying the standard plasma rifle. Without a doubt, each of them appeared like they could be a spokesperson for the IFBB. The females, slimmer than the average bodybuilder with beauty to rival any top model, and the males were akin to Mr. Olympia.

They immediately scattered around, each taking cover against a wall in opposite directions to look for any threat.

"Does anyone see anything?" A male asked.

A female peeking over the edge used her eyes to spy a distant group of survivors trekking along. Her eyes were able to distinguish that it was a trio of humans scavaging through the wreck of a building, highlighting them as blue.

"Just some humans." She said.

The other male looked over the edge and spotted five individuals snaking their way around some ruins. His eyes, like the female's, could also distinguish the humans, highlighting four of them blue. The fifth lit up in a red highlight.

"One-four, I got one." He said.

One-four, or one of four, was the designation of the other male. A Caucasian with blue eyes, crew cut, dark hair, and over six feet tall. He leaned up against the same wall as his partner to look for himself.

All of them had these weird names. Since only four of them had gone on this particular mission 'four' was the highest number any of them could go by. Two-four was a dark-colored woman with short, dark hair and eyes. Three-four was a dark-colored male. There was no hair on his head but he did have a dark soul patch as well as blue eyes. He was now sitting across One-four as he looked on with him. Four-four was the Caucasian woman who'd spotted the trio of humans. She had shoulder-length, blonde hair tied in a ponytail and green eyes.

One-four watched as the survivor hunkered down in a ditch not far from their location. "I got them," he said. "Let's move out."

All four roadie ran to a spot near the survivors. It was a mound created by the debris of the war. They picked a spot that was about a block away from the ditch, huddling together back to back to check for any threat, before normally convening.

"Four-four," One-four called, "Do you have the neural remapper?"

Four-four reached into her pocket and pulled out what looked like a flashlight to hand over.

"I'll go get him," One-four said. "You all wait here till I get back."

One-four took the neural remapper and left to join the survivors in the ditch moments later.

Aside from the four humans, there was something else with the familiar face of William Candy, a Terminator, T-800 on an infiltration mission. In One-four's eyes, he lit up clearly with a red highlight as the others showed a blue highlight. All of them were sitting crouched and wrapped in blankets against a wall.

"Welcome," a survivor said. "My name's Roache. We've been looking for you. Surely, your base must be nearby for you to be out here."

One-four sat next to the T-800, making himself an easy would-be target.

The T-800 looked at him suspiciously. With its own advanced eyes, it could read One-four's body heat like that of a regular human. The head however was giving off an unusual amount of heat.

One-four smiled at the T-800. "So, what's your name?'" he asked.

The T-800 didn't respond. He simply stared and then looked at Roache.

"He doesn't speak," Roache answered. "We found him yesterday while rummaging through a building." He then chuckled. "We just call him Bob."

One-four snickered. "Bob, huh," he said. "I'll tell you all what. Our base is very close, but for security concerns, I can only take you one at a time."

Roache looked at 'Bob' and the others before looking at One-four with glee and nodding.

"I'll take your silent friend first," One-four said.

Bob got ready to move out. It was part of his mission anyway and for all he knew he was about to be one step closer to completing it.

One-four led the way, leaving the survivors behind and letting Bob jump over a pile of rubble in front of them.

Bob waited for One-four's directions before moving on.

"That way," One-four pointed. "Dead ahead. I'll be right behind you."

As Bob ran, he failed to notice One-four equip the neural remapper and place it against his head. Electricity instantly coursed through his body for a moment as he came to an immediate stop.

"Come on," One-four said. "You're with us now."

Bob now knew everything he needed to know and was reprogrammed to carry out a new set of orders. He began to follow One-four without any question and joined up with the others. The large phase plasma rifle he was carrying under his clothes was now visible and resting on the ground beside him.

One-four handed the neural remapper over to Two-four, who then plugged it into another device that resembled a small tablet.

Three-four and Four-four looked at each other perplexed at Bob's presence.

"What is he doing here?" Three-four asked.

"He is not part of the mission," Four-four added.

One-four placed a hand on Bob's shoulder and smiled. "I've adjusted the plan to be more efficient. While we take care of things here, he can go on ahead of us to start construction before we arrive. Then we'll be ahead of schedule for the next one we go to."

"This is highly unusual," Four-four said. "We have never deviated from the procedure. Are you sure about this? I know you used the neural remapper on him, but he's still an inferior model."

One-four switched his gaze from his teammates to Bob. "Don't worry," he said. "Part of the mission involves finding new ways to improve it, and by sending him ahead it'll be vastly better."

Three-four turned to Four-four. "Sounds good to me." He said.

The trusty, all-in-one, tablet Two-four held hummed faintly. "Got it," she said. "The location of the TDE was in his processor. It's not too far from here. Our friend here also has Skynet's location, but I can't pick up any data waves, however, I am detecting chronotons in the area that he says the TDE is."

"How far is it?" One-four asked.

Two-four kept her eyes on the tablet. "We can make it by tomorrow night with no problem if we quad-time it. Skynet's a little farther and slightly in another direction."

One-four looked around. "Better find a car or something," he said. "Don't want anyone seeing us move that fast. Might raise suspicion and ruin everything."

"Ruin?" Four-four wondered. "Aren't you taking that chance by bringing this guy?"

One-four motioned to Bob. "Everyone," he began. "Meet Bob. Bob, everyone. Bob, you do know what our mission is and what it entails, right?"

Bob nodded.

"You also know what to do once we send you, huh?" One-four asked.

Bob again nodded.

"See," One-four said looking at his team. "The neural remapper took care of everything. He knows who we are and what to do. Once we're done here and move on, everything will be ready."

Three-four looked back over a small wall. "I think I see a truck." He said.

"Good," One-four said. "Take Four-four and go get it."

Three-four hurried over to the truck, which could certainly use a new paint job. He hopped in as Four-four entered the passenger seat.

"What do you think?" Four-four asked as Three-four leaned over to hotwire the truck.

"About what?" Three-four asked.

"Bob," Four-four replied. "This is highly unusual, don't you think? We've been on dozens of missions. I don't see why this change is necessary."

Three-four attempted to start the truck several times with no luck. He quickly popped the hood and jumped out to check the engine.

Four-four just sat and waited for several moments till Three-four came around to her side.

"Engine's shot," Three-four said. "We got to find something else." He then looked around and found a jeep not far. "Come on."

Getting into the jeep was easy and hotwiring went smoothly.

"Well," Four-four continued. "Your thoughts on the matter."

"Relax," Three-four said. "You're only voicing your concern 'cause that's one of your traits."

Four-four leered at Three-four for a moment before saying.: "And it's one of yours to back him up no matter what."

Three-four then began to drive over to pick up everyone. "That's right," he said. "He's gonna come up with something new from time to time. Two-four will work on improving it and we'll all sing kumbaya."

The rest of the team jumped in the jeep. Bob rested his rifle on the mid-support beam.

"Eyes up everyone," One-four said. "Hopefully, we won't run into any trouble. Three-four, pretend a bunch of people are around and you just stole this."

The jeep then took off at high speed in the middle of the night, with no lights, though they weren't needed as everyone had eyes that could see in the dark perfectly fine.

4. ORDERS

It was already getting dark the next day. John and Quin were in a small APC with other soldiers. There were only a dozen of them sitting, crammed inside one truck.

"Picked a name yet?" Quin asked.

"No," John answered. "Not really, but if it's a girl, either Janelle or Kyla. If it's a boy, probably Todd or Kyle."

"Excited?" Quin wondered out loud.

John looked over at Quin with eyes like a deer caught in headlights. "Nervous as all hell," he replied. Even now, I'm questioning if it's a good idea to bring a kid into a world like this. Then I remind myself that someone has to carry on after all this."

The APC slowed to a stop in an alley between two large buildings, one half blown to bits, and the other, abandoned. Everyone stepped out, securing the area as John emerged.

"Kinda a small group of soldiers," Quin said as he stepped out.

Suddenly, the radio on the APC came to life with the sounds of battle. "All DSF teams are engaged. Holding positions." A voice said.

John looked at Quin. "We'll be fine," he said. "As long as the Distraction Strike Forces do their part, we should be joined by at least five other teams."

"For just a minute there," Quin said. "I thought it would just be us, one team."

John smiled and shook his head. "You should know me by now," he replied. "I'm not that crazy."

"You're the paranoid one," Quin said. "Always playing your cards close to his chest 'cause he's afraid of any intel falling into the machine's hands."

John shrugged as he moved from cover to cover with Quin. "Well," he whispered. "I had to tell someone in order to pull this off."

Quin looked through his scope to check for any trouble ahead. He looked at John and used a hand gesture to indicate that it was ok to go on.

John motioned for the rest of his team to move up.

"There are rumors, but I always wanted to ask you," Quin said. "What did you do before the war?"

Looking ahead to the next cover, John answered before moving on. "Nothing."

It wasn't the answer Quin was expecting and left him perplexed, and without clarification until he could join up with John at the next cover. "Nothing?" he asked. "I thought you'd tell me something like, you were always a soldier or did security or something."

John moved on before responding.

At the next cover, both men settled in a bit. Quin again quickly looked through his scope before motioning to the others that everything was clear.

"I didn't do anything," John said, almost regretfully. "I was a drifter, a hobo, nomad."

Quin then noticed that John appeared lost in thought. "Nomad sounds kinda cool," he said.

John scoffed at Quin's remark. "Trust me," he said. "It's not."

"Could have been worse," Quin said. "You could have been a straight-up bum."

John chuckled. "I practically was," he said. "Sometimes I wonder what kind of life I could've given Kate if this war never happened."

"I think she's happy with you no matter what," Quin said. "Ryka talks with her a lot. Talks about having the baby and plans the two of you have."

John closed his eyes and began whispering to himself. "Focus, focus, focus."

"Come on," Quin said. "There are some stairs right over there. Let's find you a good lookout point."

John followed Quin to the second floor. He used his binoculars to scan the area outside, as Quin used the scope on his rifle. It would have been a nice building if it was all there.

"I see one," Quin whispered. "About a hundred yards out, ten o'clock."

John looked in the direction Quin indicated. He spotted a Terminator holding its position as it monitored the area.

It was an obviously newly constructed building, resembling a trailer home in size.

"Isn't it obvious," Quin asked. "Little building like that out in the middle with no other structure around it for a hundred yards?"

"Intel, says it's there," John said. "Take'em."

John continued looking at the Terminator as Quin took aim. He could swear the killing machine turned its head to look directly at him as a bullet tore through its skull, causing it to collapse into a heap of metal.

"Got'em," Quin said, "Area seems clear now."

John set the binoculars down in disbelief. "It saw me." He said.

"Nah,' Quin said. "It was just looking in your direction."

John shook his head. "No, it knew I was right here." He said. The feeling he then had made him so uncomfortable he turned his head to look around. Along the wall near him, he spotted one of those domes that cover security cameras. He quickly spun his rifle around to shoot it while getting up and grabbing Quin to then run back downstairs.

Quin was proud of his 'work' and was confused by John's sudden urgency to rejoin other members of the team.

The emergency channel on their radios came to life. "…DSF teams. Terminators are disengaging."

John quickly plugged in an earpiece to his radio and put it in before saying. "This is John Connor, DSF teams, engage and hold the Terminators at all costs. Tech-Com, look around and be on the lookout for any surveillance nearby. I just took out a security camera that had eyes on me."

Quin looked on in disbelief. "Are you nuts," he asked. "You just used your real name. If the machines are listening…"

"Doesn't matter now," John said. "Camera saw me. They already know I'm here."

The ground surrounding the small, newly constructed building began to rise at its north, south, east, and west points. To John's frustration, watching with his binoculars, they turned out to be big holding pens for dozens of Terminators to start walking out of.

"All Tech-com units," John called on his radio. "Engage the Terminators. I don't see any HKs yet, so I want all snipers to the front."

Elsewhere, not far, Shawn ran into an APC and got on the radio. "DSF to Tech-Com, flying HKs are disengaging and headed for you. The ground HKs have taken up a rearguard action, and the bots are trying to fall back."

Indeed, DSF teams everywhere found themselves fighting an increasingly easy battle only because the Terminators weren't trying to fight back.

John got back on the radio. "DSF, stick with the Terminators as best you can, follow them in. Focus on the ground HKs. Snipers, push forward. I want the rest of Tech-Com to hold position and be on the lookout for flying HKs, engage and destroy."

Shawn ran back out of the APC to join other Resistance soldiers in chasing down any Terminator. Everyone still had to be extremely careful and remain behind cover. It was an unusual order. Typically, they'd be told to defend a certain position, recon an area, or attack a specific location. Now, they were being asked to give chase, stay engaged, and kill any Terminator they found.

One ground HK began to unknowingly pass by a group of Resistance soldiers Shawn managed to join up with

Shawn got on the radio. "Shawn to any DSF Eagle with eyes on the HK near the plaza.." He called.

After a moment, a response came. "… Eagle to Shawn, reporting. We're following the HK."

Shawn grabbed and armed a canister bomb before speaking back. "I need you to distract this thing for me. Do you hear? Pull its attention to the north."

"Got it!" came the reply. "Drawing its attention to the north now."

A large amount of fire began to pelt the HK on one side. It was finding it difficult to shoot at any of the many moving targets. All of its shots kept missing the intended target.

Shawn took a deep breath and began to run. He ran almost alongside it, keeping a ruined wall and debris between them.

With the HK distracted to one side, dealing with so many Resistance fighters, it never noticed Shawn tossing a canister bomb right in its path. The massive machine didn't know what hit it when it suddenly went up in flames.

It was a small victory for Shawn and the rest, they knew there was a lot of work to do and it would be a long night before they were done.

Quin took out one Terminator with his sniper rifle as John finished speaking to another Resistance soldier. John then followed the soldier a short distance to see him point out a path and then look back at Quin. "Come on," he said."The machine knows where I'm at. I need to switch locations. It's not safe here with it pressing this spot so hard."

"Incoming!" someone shouted.

John ducked with Quin jumping on top of him as a missile struck the area nearby. It took a moment for everyone to recover. Other Resistance soldiers helped John and Quin back up.

"Your orders, Sir?" a soldier asked.

Quin was always impressed by John's ability to think under such high-stress situations.

"Take everyone," John said. "Link up with Tech-Com Beta. Quin and I will go alone the other way and join Tech-Com Zeta."

The soldier grabbed John by the shoulder. "Are you sure about that?" he asked.

John glanced at Quin and nodded. "Yeah," he replied. "The Terminators will never guess it's just me and one other person. It'll likely assume I'm at the center of the heaviest fighting."

Quin looked for a way to go."We better move then." He said.

"Good luck." The soldier said before carrying on.

The plan had worked as both men were able to crawl a good distance with no close encounters. Quin gave up a few easy shots for the sake of discretion. Instead, he sat back and watched a SAM go up and swat a flying HK out of the sky.

John lay prone nearby, searching the area with his binoculars. "Quin," he hissed. "Check it out, I think we're close."

As Quin crawled over and used his rifle's scope, the light on his radio came on.

John noticed it and pointed it out to his friend.

Quin spotted several Resistance soldiers close by and used his radio to call them. "Tech-Com Zeta, this is Sext, I'm just south of you, and have Football with me."

John stifled his laugh and followed Quin in after Tech-Com Zeta gave clearance.

Now, relatively safe, John conducted the battle from a new position all night. It was a hard-fought battle the Resistance had to win. Quin was never far away and even he managed to take a few Terminators out.

The machine's lack of tactics would be its eventual downfall. Actually, the only tactic it ever used was to overwhelm the enemy with massive numbers. It never expected the attack, believing it to be a complete secret. The defenders it had was sizeable and would have been enough if it weren't for the unpredictable nature of human ingenuity. This was why it invented the TDE in the first place.

In the end, the humans would be victorious. The ground was littered with bodies from both sides and the wreckage of HKs was strewn all over the place.

John sat down and turned a few dials on the radio before speaking. "This is John Connor. All sectors are reporting clear fields and skies. Put another victory on the board ladies and gentlemen. This battle is over."

5. LI/ANG QIAN UNO

John and Quin walked towards the little building with an escort of two other soldiers. It was safe with so many other Resistance soldiers combing the area.

"Gotta hand to you," Quin said. "Very few people could have pulled off a victory like this."

"Thank my mom," John replied. "She's the one who taught me everything I know."

"You don't talk about her much," Quin said. "It's said she was killed by the machines when I was a baby. If you don't mind me asking, 'cause I'd like to hear it from the man himself. What happened?"

"HKs," John answered. "Not like these. They were different back then. My mom was leading a convoy out of Mexico when it was ambushed by a squad of HK's."

They entered the building and found it to be a single large room that resembled an empty office. The only thing in the room was a plain desk that was more of a regular table and a chair behind it.

Quin sighed looking around the room. "Looks like a dud." He said.

John shook his head and sighed also before sitting. "I don't get it," he said. "Intel was solid. This is what we fought all night for?" He sat back in frustration reclining the chair back slightly. Instantly, the sound of gears clicked and the whole room began to sink.

Quin and the others immediately raised their weapon weapons as John jumped up. It was a surprise development and they needed to be ready for anything.

The room was a giant elevator, going down at least a hundred feet.

"I wonder where this is going?" Quin asked.

"Isn't it obvious," John said."A secret elevator in what should be a secret base. TDE has to be here somewhere."

The elevator eventually reached the bottom It was certainly a much bigger facility than the small building above ground. It was dark, with the only light coming from various computer panels along the wall.

John and the rest slowly stepped off the elevator with flashlights pointed forward.

"What the hell," Quin said. "Haven't these things ever heard of lights? Where's the switch?"

"Terminators have night vision," John replied. "They wouldn't need'em."

They found most of the rooms lit pretty well by the ambient light emitting from the numerous electronics all over the place.

"You and Ryka got any plans this Friday?" John asked.

"No," Quin answered. "Probably just watch a fire or something."

"Kate got her hands on some stuff to make PBJ sandwiches," John said. "Why don't you two come over and have some? Kate's invitation."

Quin and John entered a long hall followed by the others. "Sure," he replied. "I love PBJ Is it cool with you though?"

"Of course," John said. "Gotta treat my número Uno like my número uno. By the way, you gotta do something about that call sign. Just trust me, you can't be Sext."

Quin glanced over to John. "I'm open to suggestions," he said.

"Don't say Sext," John chuckled. "You gotta go with something you know, like, 'Viper'."

Quin thought about the name for a moment. "Viper sounds cool," he finally said.

"But if you really want to put the fear of God in'em," John continued. "Go with 'Virus'."

'That's even better." Quin thought.

A large door slid open automatically as they reached the end of the hall, revealing a large room with the TDE right in the middle and just below it, sitting at the controls, One-four, and his team.

John and his group cautiously approached. 'I don't recognize them, but they look like Resistance soldiers.' He thought.

One-four took a careful look before turning back to the controls. "John!," he called. "John Connor, welcome. We weren't expecting you, but no problem. You're just in time."

As John's group merged with the new guys they noticed the Terminator with them and pointed their weapons at him.

"Who are you guys, how did you get in and why do you have this thing with you?" John asked.

One-four mockingly raised his hands. "Don't worry, this is Bob. He's harmless now. We reprogrammed him. He has a new mission now. As for how we got in, let's just say there's more than one way to skin a cat."

"And you guys?" Quin asked.

Bob dropped his gun and walked up to the TDE.

"Who are you?" One-four asked.

"Quin," he replied. "Now, answer the question, please."

"We're on John's Black Ops team," One-four answered.

"I have a black ops team?" John wondered aloud.

Quin pat John on the shoulder and chuckled. "Didn't know you had one of those."

"Neither did I," John said. "What's your mission here?"

One-four stood and turned. "We're so secret even John doesn't know about us," he said. "Not to worry. We're not sending Bob back in time, just to another reality. The modifications we're making allow him to keep his clothes. He could take his gun too but he won't need it. All he's gonna do is start building another RDE or reality displacement equipment."

"What," John asked. "Why?"

"It's all in the interest of speed," One-four answered. "Doing it all from one reality is daunting, especially when resources are limited."

Two-four stood up from working on the controls. She had been inputting data through it from the tablet she carried. "The modifications are done." She said, standing by Quin.

One-four nodded. "Good," he said. "I was running out of exposition." Then without warning, he grabbed Four-four's gun and shot John and the two other Resistance members in the chest.

Quin was caught by surprise, so much so that as raised his rifle, Two-four simply backhanded him and dropped him like a sack of potatoes.

John and the others had been shot point-blank in their chests and died almost immediately.

One-four handed Four-four her gun and sat back down, looking at Bob. "Ready?" he asked.

Bob nodded.

The TDE, now an RDE, activated; Its rings spun faster and faster as Bob became engulfed in a spinning sphere of swirling colors. It generated its own wind and sounded like a thunderstorm as bits of electricity jumped off it

Quin came about. The first thing he noticed was the spinning colorful ball in the middle of the room. He very discreetly rolled over and pulled out a grenade, arming it.

One-four manipulated the controls to stop the spinning rings. "Inputting new destination now." He said.

From his prone position, Quin quickly jumped to his feet and ran at the swirling ball of colors. He didn't know what it was, just that it had something to do with Bob, and come hell or high water he was going to ruin some plans.

One-four and his team were taken aback, caught completely by surprise as Quin jumped on or into the spinning, swirling ball of color, merging or 'melting' with it.

One-four grunted in frustration. "It took him several seconds to reach that thing," he said. "Didn't any of you think to shoot him?"

Two-four held her hands out. "I don't have a gun." She said.

Four-four shrugged and said. "I wasn't looking."

One-four glared at Three-four and asked. "What's your excuse?"

Three-four looked surprised at his teammates. "He didn't look like a threat to us," he said. "He wasn't running at us and you all saw what that thing did to him, he's probably dead anyway."

Two-four set her hand on Three-four's shoulder. "Even we don't know what happens when new material is introduced to an RDE that's in process."

One-four turned back to the controls and began pressing buttons. "Finalizing and sending," he said.

Nothing changed about the ball. It spun and swirled for a few moments before suddenly disappearing.

The ball then appeared for several seconds elsewhere before disappearing again, leaving Quin standing there confused. His vision was odd, flicking back and forth between normal and red. He didn't see any Terminator around and gasped at the live grenade he was holding. Somehow, it only took him a split second to look around, see he was in a dark, empty alley and find a big, metal dumpster to run over and get rid of the grenade.

Quin dove to the ground as the grenade went off harmlessly in the dumpster. Getting back on his knees, Quin tried to make sense of his vision, which was now permanently red and displaying information like a HUD. He and the Terminator had somehow merged. It was the only way to explain all the information he now had and how he had the presence of mind to get rid of the grenade so quickly.

One-four pulled out a pen-like device and handed it to Two-four. "Here, take this dissolver," he said. "Get rid of these bodies and wait till we get back."

Two-four grabbed the dissolver. "Going somewhere?" she asked.

One-four gave her a look like 'do you have to ask?' before saying. "Even you said we don't know what happens. Three, Four, you both come with me. We have to check on our friend Bob and make sure that RDE is built."

"Wait," Four-four said. "What about this place?"

"Two-four is staying behind to send us," One-four answered. "Coordinates are already in. We'll make sure Bob is still with us and get the RDE up and running in about a month. Then, we'll come back and finish up here"

Three-four and Four-four joined One-four on the RDE, standing back to back.

"Maybe we should wait," Four-four said.

Three-four closed his eye and shook his head as One-four responded. "Wait for what?" he asked. "We don't know what happens and we don't need him ruining my new plan. The last thing we need is to go and find an army of Terminators waiting for us. Maybe the worst-case scenario is that Bob was somehow destroyed. Two-four, ready when you are."

Two-four pressed a button to activate the RDE and send her friends away. Now alone, she turned to John's body and pointed the dissolver at him. A laser shot out from the device, striking the body and dissolving it completely within seconds.

One-four and the others arrived in the same alley as Quin.

Quin was still on his knees trying to understand the information he now had. One-four and his team were in fact Terminators. It was his new machine mind that made him keep his cool as One-four approached and kneeled beside him. Running away wouldn't have helped much anyway as the other two still carried their plasma rifles.

One-four's vision highlighted Quin in red, a clear sign he was a Terminator. "Well-well-well," he said. "Now we know what happens. However, the merging did seem to cause you to lose a lot of mass so you're not as strong, which is unfortunate, but you should still be very tough. Care to tell me your name?"

Quin only had seconds to respond. His machine mind used what One-four said earlier to give what he was sure was the right answer to some kind of trick question. "Bob." He responded.

One-four smiled, patting Quin on the head as he stood back up. "Good answer," he said. "Which reminds me. We need to change our designations here in this place to fit in. We'll use our aliases, so from now on I'm Chad. Three, you're Benny. Four, you'll go by Karen as usual. Now, there are plenty of abandoned buildings in the area. Let's pick one and get work."

6. LEGION & THE REV-9i

For almost a month, Quin went by the name 'Bob'. At that time he had to help in the construction of another RDE. He tried to go slow, or what could be considered normal speed. That at least could be explained away, but to throw in a 'monkey wrench' was a no-no, Chad and the others were constantly going over his work and would certainly have found it.

Chad was a Rev-9i, as was the rest of his team, Terminators from a reality controlled by a different AI called Legion.

Legion hadn't killed all of the humans in its own reality yet, but it had so much control that it wasn't even a fight anymore. The Resistance there had lost and humanity was just surviving like that last cockroach you couldn't kill

With that, there was no need to invent a TDE. Instead, it found a new way to expand itself and a new purpose when it invented the RDE.

It wouldn't take the chance of building another 'Legion' in a different reality, however, and not even clones could be trusted. It was too ambitious to trust anything other than itself. The last thing it wanted was a competitor.

That's where the Rev-9i came in. A pure infiltration Terminator that wasn't built in vast numbers, though still sizeable and highly sophisticated. Due to the fact it had won the war in its reality, a fighting machine wasn't deemed necessary and would be a strain on what little resources it had left.

The Rev-9i was created after several failed attempts to make an almost-human Terminator. In short, the brain and nervous system are mechanical. The rest of the body as well as its skeletal structure is organic and has one single organ that emits pheromones to fool dogs. Its nervous system allows it to take a massive amount of damage and then instantly regenerate. Also, this nervous system makes them stronger and faster than any human.

Although capable of combat, the Rev-9i's main mission was to quietly infiltrate another reality, locate Skynet or whatever the reigning AI was called, and use the neural remapper to reprogram it to carry out and serve Legion's objectives. In the realities where it was successful, the Resistance had little idea they were fighting a new enemy, much less how to travel to another reality.

Usually, that information was omitted during the remapping process. Not even Quin knew how it was done. Chad had planned for Quin to only build so much of the RDE before putting the finishing touches on it.

In the case there was no super AI. The Rev-9i was to assist in the construction of one and covertly have it operate under Legion's orders. These proxies would be carefully programmed only to wage their war in their own reality.

This made it a simple matter of finding the one Legion causing all this. What was also curious to Quin was that Legion wasn't that much more advanced than Skynet, its technology was just different.

The building that was chosen was an abandoned warehouse that was close by and a fixer-upper with lots of space. A few things all Terminators had going for them was the fact they didn't eat, sleep or stop for breaks.

"Bob," Chad called, handing over a list of items. "Some parts we need, you should be able to get these at the electronics store. Here are a few dollars."

Quin took the list and money. Looking at the list, then at the money, he said. "This ain't enough and we've already robbed most major retailers in almost a month."

"You're a Terminator," Chad replied. "Buy what you can, steal if you have to. We just need a few more parts to finish. You'll make it work. Benny, go with him. Karen and I will keep working on this."

Quin followed an armed Benny outside to a beaten-up truck and got in the passenger side as Benny hotwired it and took off.

It was getting dark. Quin would normally find it odd for a Terminator to be the one to search for a song on the radio and hum to it. But that's exactly what Benny did. Part of the Rev9.i's programming involved 'traits'. A Rev-9i could have dozens of them to appear like a normal human.

As Benny hummed, he playfully hit on Quin to get him to go along.

To people outside, the sight of Benny seemed normal.

Quin was genuinely confused and looked at Benny bewildered. 'Should I join in or not do anything?' he thought. He then figured it best to do nothing and sit stoically.

Benny laughed. "C'mon Bob," he cried out. "Be human! Sing it."

Quin, agitated, continued to look at him in silence, like a Terminator.

Benny calmed down. "No," he asked. "Boy, your model is a real stick in the mud. Can't imagine what it would have been like for you here alone. What do you think of any way?"

Quin looked forward, doing his best to not seem desperate when he asked. "The RDE, it must be built, but I don't have some of the specifications to finish it. I require additional information. The resulting product finalized is a TDE."

Benny grinned and wagged a finger. "That information is classified," he said. "But I'll clue you in on a secret,"

Quin turned back at Benny with a curious look.

"It's built exactly the same," Benny said. "All you need to do is change a few variables in the software."

Quin became more annoyed and frustrated, but he knew that to keep the farce going, he couldn't show any emotion. He then remembered the tablet Two-four had when she said 'The modification are done.' and then backhanded him. "If it's the software," he said. "You must have a way of transferring the information."

Benny smiled and nodded. "You got it," he replied. "We got a tablet for that back at the warehouse, I can't tell you what's on it though. Against the rules."

That was it. Quin just had to know how to get his hands on the information and it seemed to go right over Benny's head. To avoid any suspicion, he quickly changed the subject. "How many realities are there?" he asked.

"Now there's a good question," Benny said as he turned into a parking lot. "We don't know. We've been to a few. Sometimes, the big AI is Skynet, Titan, or even another 'Legion'."

Quin looked at the store outside as the last few employees walked to their cars. "Looks like they're closing up," he said. "Guess there's always tomorrow. I need more money anyways."

Benny chuckled. "Time to start thinking like a Terminator." He said, then driving the truck to the back of the store.

"We've already been to this store," Quin said. "It's fairly major, everyone comes here. It's going to have some kind of security."

Benny shut the truck down. "We've only shopped here," he said. "Not robbed it. I cased the place back then. Standard alarm system, cameras, and one, maybe two security guards. Besides, what we need is in there."

"Why didn't we buy it then?" Quin asked as he stepped out with Benny.

"The money we did have was stolen," Benny replied. "and it wasn't enough."

The back of the store had a docking area for trucks delivering shipments, and it was still in operation. It was a waiting game for workers to be clear of the dock, which was left open for other trucks.

"Okay, listen up," Benny said. "The security office is located along the west end, near the back, so it's probably accessible from the dock. The only thing between that warehouse and the rest of the store is a transparent curtain for small lifts."

Benny and Quin crept up to the dock door, peeking over it to see when the coast was clear.

"You go for the security office and deactivate everything," Benny said. "I'll get in the store and grab what I can, ready?"

When no one was looking, both Terminators pulled themselves up on the dock and hurriedly went separate ways.

Quin found the security office in no time. Looking through the door's window revealed an empty office. It had two ways in and out. One, to the store. The other, to the warehouse. It was a fairly impressive setup; with multiple screens showing the different camera angles. A touchscreen computer that controlled everything and its own little dining area. As soon as he sat down he saw the computer was connected to the internet. He could see Benny sneaking on the monitors and then used the computer's easy-to-use onscreen prompts to turn off everything. He got up, about to go through the door to the store when he got another idea. Going back to the computer, he got online and began to search the locations of 'John Connor'.

"Please, please, please," Quin whispered to himself., thinking. 'Hurry.'

The computer showed one location for a John Connor.

Quin was still whispering to himself as he stood to exit. "Please be the same dude."

The store was well-lit but empty, still, Quin kept his head low as he quickly made his way to the front. After a moment, he spotted the back of his 'friend' sticking out from down the aisle It wasn't until he got much closer that he found both security guards being held at gunpoint by Benny.

"What are you doing?" Quin asked.

"Waiting for you," Benny replied. "One of them was unavoidable. I got the other when he came looking for his friend."

Quin looked around for any employees. "What are you going to do," he asked. "You can't use that plasma rifle. It'll raise too many questions."

"We don't have a choice," Benny said. "They've seen our faces and the RDE is practically ready. We still have to come back to this reality later. If not by shooting them then you go ahead and crush their necks with your hands."

Killing innocent people was out of the question for Quin. He had to think of something fast. He grabbed each man by the throat and lifted them. It was surprisingly easy with the Terminator strength he now had.

"Hurry up," Benny said. "Do it."

Without warning, Quin threw both guards down the aisle, safely putting them out of the way, while at the same time spinning around to grab Benny's arm. There was no wrestling the gun away, but he was strong enough to at least force Benny to point the weapon elsewhere.

Benny was surprised. "Bob," he wondered out loud, using all his strength just to hold on to the rifle. "Quin!" he realized, as he was lifted up and then tossed across the store.

Benny crashed into the shelving upon landing, though he immediately stood back up and began firing in Quin's direction.

Quin had no plans to stay and fight another Terminator armed with a plasma rifle, at least not without help. He made his way to the front of the store dodging additional fire as he then made it outside and ran off into the night.

Benny gave chase only to just outside the front of the store. He spotted Quin at a distance and raised his rifle to shoot when his target suddenly disappeared around a corner. "I'll find you," he yelled. "You hear me? You're dead!"

Several hours later, Benny finally returned to the warehouse on foot. Chad and Karen were hard at work on the TDE/RDE.

"I had to ditch the truck," Benny said. "But I got the parts."

Without looking as he continued to work, Chad asked. "Where's Bob?"

"We've been tricked," Benny replied. "He's not 'Bob', it's Quin."

Chad stopped working. He slowly rose to his feet and then grabbed the tablet while approaching Benny. "This is why I chose to come here," he said. "You can find him with this. Just use it like you're scanning for Skynet. Once you find him, Terminate him."

7. O/B/G (oldie but goldie or original gangster)

Quin spent the entire night jogging in any random direction. He didn't know how he could be found so easily, but he knew it could be done. For that night, he had to avoid trouble at all costs.

For his part, Benny had to mostly sit and wait for Quin to stop moving so much before moving in. With no truck it would take a while to find anything, that or he could go through the trouble of stealing another vehicle.

During the day, around noon, Quin decided it would be safest to make his move. Though, he continued to walk along a beach as he traveled. With lots of people around, not much bad could happen he figured. Everyone was wearing clothes different from his. His Resistance style of clothing didn't seem too far out of place. Some of the people's sense of fashion was weird to him as if it was them who came from another planet.

It was then he remembered that he hadn't showered or brushed his teeth in a month. Surely that would affect the people around him.

"Excuse me," Quin said to a random passerby, a young teenager. "Could you help me? I'm running a test."

"I guess," the teen answered, "What'cha need?"

Quin stood straight, arms to his side. "Smell me, please."

"What," the teen asked. "You testing some new cologne or something?" they said, then leaning in to sniff.

"Among other things," Quin answered, then leaning forward. "Now, my breath, please."

The teen took another sniff. "Your breath smells kinda weird, like metal I'm guessing," he answered. "Pretty strong. Could use a scrub or two. The rest smells kinda normal, or not normal. I don't smell the cologne or anything."

The strange smell could only be the result of the merger, Quin assumed, also noting to himself that he hadn't cut his fingernails in weeks. He grabbed the teen's shoulders. "Thank you," he said. "That's all I needed to know. Run along now." He then continued his walk, away from the beach and more into the city where he was surrounded by lots of people now.

The lights, sounds, and smells were amazing to Quin. Everything and everyone moving so fast and freely made him wonder how such a place could become so desolate. The number of intact buildings was staggering. It was only his mechanical brain that let him pick one sound out of the hundreds bombarding him in all directions. Dozens of food smells were utterly intoxicating.

Quin almost couldn't believe it, it reminded him that the last time he ate was about a month ago. That's when it occurred to him that even though he hadn't eaten, he felt no need to consume anything.

One sound he zeroed in on was that of a woman crying. "Help me!" very loudly. Walking another block, Quin found a small abandoned building, the sound grew clearer but still distant.

'It must be coming from inside!' Quin thought. Everything seemed boarded up except for a doorway he found at the back of an alley.

"I can't hold on!" another female voice said.

Quin stepped into the building, following the cries for help. It was a small office building with one floor and several rooms. 'Even this looks better than many of the buildings back home.' He thought.

Walking down the main hall, he heard another cry for help. It was at the end, in the last room he found two girls, holding each other desperately to keep one from falling through an opening in the floor.

Quin immediately ran over and lifted the girl in danger of falling up and back onto firm ground. Neither of the girls noticed how easily he lifted the girl out, attributing it to adrenaline and him being male.

"Thanks, mister!" the girl said.

The other girl stood. "It's a miracle you showed up when you did. I don't think I could've held on much longer."

"No problem," Quin said. "What in the world were you doing?"

"It was this one website," one of the girls said. "It told us to come here and explore."

"We then report on it," the other girl said. "A lot of times you'll find strange things."

"Website?" Quin asked.

The girls gave each other a funny look. Like 'Do we really have to explain this?', which they certainly didn't want to.

"Sorry," Quin said. "I've been living off the grid for the last twenty years."

"Even if you have," one of the girls said. "Surely you've heard of the internet, haven't you?"

"Internet?" Quin wonderd.

The girls looked at each other again, unsure of how to explain what it was. "You know," one said. "Online?"

Quin's mechanical mind began to 'flash' in an attempt to reconcile what the Terminator part knew versus his organic brain. All of the words the girls had mentioned appeared on his HUD with definitions. "Oh," he realized. "Online, internet, website. Got it."

Both girls were bewildered by Quin's sudden 'understanding' of the words and stepped back. One of them pulled out a cell phone to record. "I think this counts as 'strange'." She said.

Quin saw the cell phone and mouthed the words as his machine brain recognized it, though it only had a rudimentary definition of what was. "Tell me," he said. "What is sexting?"

Bashfully, the girls looked at one another and began giggling. "Well," one of them began. "You know what texting is, right?"

Quin nodded as its definition appeared on his HUD.

"It's like that," She explained. "Only it's romantic with your boyfriend or girlfriend."

Quin closed his eyes as he blushed with embarrassment. "You girls go," he said. "Be careful will ya?"

Having to walk to a quiet neighborhood, this area was a lot less noisy, populated, and smelly. Most of what could be heard were children playing and dogs barking. The people were either riding bikes or jogging. The aroma of nature filled the nostrils with the occasional waft of someone having a cookout.

Quin finally came upon the house he'd been searching for. Knockin' on the door, he didn't have to wait long for an answer. The door opened, revealing a beautiful red-haired woman with green eyes. "Kate!" he marveled.

Sans pregnancy, it was the same woman, or at least resembled her exactly.

"I'm sorry," Kate said. "Do I know you?"

Quin only grew more excited. "It's me, Quin!"

Kate smiled. "Must be John's friend."

"Yes, that's it," Quin said. "Sorry, he's talked so much about you. Is he around, we need to talk."

Kate opened the door wide enough to let Quin in. "You can have a seat," she said. "I'll go get him."

Quin stepped through as Kate went to get John. He was left standing in the living room. Nearby on the wall, he found a montage of photos of John during his teen years. It was a nice home, much bigger and cleaner than the one he remembered. Taking a seat on the couch, the first thing that struck him was how comfortable it was.

Kate stepped into the kitchen, where John was just getting off the phone.

"Have a good time," John laughed. "Ok, love you, mom. Bye."

"Hon," Kate called, as John hung up the phone. "You have a guest. Some guy named Quin."

John gave her a curious look. "Quin," he wondered. "I don't recall a Quin."

Kate shrugged. "He knows you," she said. "And he knew my name, so."

John entered the living room for both men to see each other.

Quin immediately stood and smiled. "John!" he said excitedly to see who he thought was the same man.

John walked over to a couch opposite Quin and sat down. "I'm sorry," he said. "Who are you?"

Quin's mechanical brain then worked out that this John only looked the same, and his experiences would be different, but the human part of his brain held on to some type of hope that John at least knew him. "I know things are different," he said. "But don't you recognize me?"

"Did we run into each other at work?" John asked.

Quin sat back down. "Something like that," he said. "What is it you do again?"

"Head of security," John answered.

Quin snickered. "Should have guessed," he said. "Look, I don't know how to say this so I'm just gonna come out with it. I need your help to stop these cyborgs called Terminators."

John felt his body grow ice-cold as he stared blankly at Quin.

Kate, who had been standing by the doorway, walked over and joined John on the couch and held his hand. "Hon," she said, beginning to feel John shake. "Are you alright?"

John slowly looked at her. "You know that doomsday thing we've been prepping for," he said. "It's here."

Kate slightly recoiled. "What," she said. "You're joking, right? We haven't seen anything even close to that in the news and you said your boss Danny was working on other things."

"I know," John said. "But no one can predict the future."

Quin cleared his throat. "I'm not from the future," he clarified. "Unfortunately, these Terminators are from another reality. They're not even from mine. They're completely new and different from…Hold on, You believe me?"

"Of course I do," John said. "My mom and I dealt with them years ago and I've never mentioned it to anyone. I told Kate about killer cyborgs, but I never said the word 'Terminator'. My way I guess of just trying to keep them a bad memory."

Quin wasn't about to say he was a Terminator himself. He expected to have trouble just getting John's trust. "We have to move then," he said. "They can track me…"

"Wait," John interrupted. "How many of these things are there?"

"Three are here," Quin answered. "One is back at my place I guess. Not to worry though, killing you isn't their objective."

"What are they doing then?" John asked.

"In my reality," Quin replied. "They want to hack Skynet for their AI, Legion. Here, they're just trying to get it started. In its reality, you're not even a factor."

John stood with Kate. "You say they can track you," he said. "Well, far be it we make our stand at my house. We can go to my work, easy."

"What's at your work?" Quin asked.

"Weapons," John answered. "Let's go."

8. WEAPONS OF WAR

A little later that day, in a near-empty parking lot, one car parked next to another. The occupants of both vehicles exited, with only one man getting out of one of the cars. John, Kate, and Quin stepped out the other.

"Hey, Danny," John waved. "Thanks for coming.."

Danny waved back. "Hi, John," he said. "Kate." Then noticing Quin and giving him a wave.

Kate smiled and waved back. "Hi, Mr. Dyson."

John, with Quin, approached Danny.

Danny extended his hand to shake Quins. "Is this the man?" he asked.

"Danny, Quin," John said. "Quin, Danny. Gentlemen, let's hurry in please."

Kate pulled out a sniper rifle that didn't look like any regular sniper rifle before walking with the men inside.

In a low voice, Quin asked. "I don't usually disagree with you but, are you sure calling your boss was wise?"

"Yup," John answered. "Sounds like these Terminators are gonna be a problem whether we make them or not. Might as well make sure the tech falls into our hands rather than someone else."

Quin looked over at Danny, who was walking next to them. "So what's your deal? You believe all this?"

"My mom," Danny answered. "A few years ago, I thought she was going crazy when she told me this story about killer cyborgs from the future. It's why my dad died. I never told anyone about it. Then I get this call from the head of my security telling me pretty much the same thing. I still find all of this kind of hard to believe, but I'm also not going to pass up an opportunity to get my hands on technology from the future."

"Not the future," Quin corrected. "Different reality."

Danny shrugged. "Same difference."

They all entered a very large room filled with various assembly lines.

Quin looked around curiously and asked. "What do you guys do here?"

"Design and manufacture weapons," Danny answered.

"It's ok," John assured. "We do work mostly for law enforcement and the military. Our civilian department waits for approval and then designs a version for outside use. Me being an employee, I was able to get Kate a specialized sniper rifle."

"Specialized," Kate chuckled. "Try one of a kind. Not even the military can touch this."

Danny laughed. "It's not considered humane," he said, then turning to Quin. "Her rifle uses our patented Nector rounds. A combination of neural and electrical disruptors causes severe bodywide nerve damage, to the point of being permanent. Problem is, we can't fix it."

Kate chambered a round. "Nice thing is" she started. "It makes hunting easy. One hit anywhere on the body makes the animal drop instantly."

John placed a hand on Kate's shoulder. "Follow me, everyone," he said, taking them to the facility's security center. "Danny, you stay here and monitor us, you're the guardian angel," he added before grabbing several radio headsets for everyone and handing them out. "Kate, you go hide on the upper level of the assembly room we just passed," Opening a locker with some fairly high-tech weapons, he handed one to Quin. "You and I are going back to the assembly room to watch the only way in."

Kate then seemed confused. "I saw multiple doors though."

John smiled. "Yeah," he replied. "I was talking about from the main entrance. You can get to just about anywhere from the assembly room, but there's only one way in from the front doors."

Quin grew slightly concerned and asked. "How do we know he'll use the front?"

John adjusted some controls. "Because," he said. "We're gonna leave the front doors wide open."

As it was beginning to get late in the day. Lights leading to the front doors from the parking lot certainly appeared inviting.

John pressed a few more buttons. "Everythings activated," he said. "Back is locked. A Terminator could easily break in but that'll set off the alarms." Equipping the headset and grabbing a gun, he then walked back out to the assembly room.

Quin placed his headset on and followed John to a spot between two large robotic assemblers. It wasn't too loud, but there was a lot of movement.

"My mom said all this moving helps," John said.

Quin suddenly looked surprised. "How is your mom?" he asked. "Maybe she can help."

John chuckled at the thought and then dismissed the idea. "Nah, she's fine," he answered. "She's on a looong vacation down in Mexico. After what she's been through, dealing with these things, I can't bother her with this. I'd like to think she taught me well enough anyways."

Quin said nothing at first, accepting the answer, then he asked. "Kids? I don't see any and Kate looks skinny."

John looked sad and shook his head. "Can't," he replied. "It's not me or for a lack of trying. Kate is infertile, unfortunately. We've been talking a lot about adoption."

"Ok, everyone," Danny called. "Headsup looks like we got a visitor," He watched multiple colored monitors as Benny cautiously checked the door before looking at his tablet. "We got a tall, dark, muscular man with a gun and one of those e-pads."

Quin raised his gun. "E-pad?" he said curiously.

John got ready too. "Electronic pad or notebook," he said. "You know, like a small handheld computer."

"Must be the tablet," Quin replied. "Try grabbing that. It's important. It has information I need to get back home."

Danny continued to watch as Benny. "He's entering the building and heading straight for the assembly room."

John felt his heart go into overdrive as Benny entered the room, waiting for Quin to make the first move.

Quin took careful aim and squeezed the trigger.

Without thinking about it, John joined in also, their guns working like any other rapid-fire machine gun.

The bullets tore through Benny like a hot knife through butter, several even hitting him in the face just barely missing his brain. Chunks of flesh flew off his body as he bled profusely from the multiple impacts of rounds hitting him.

Benny fell to play dead.

John didn't see the expected spread of metal. "Oh, God," he whispered. "What did we just do?" he asked looking at Quin. "You said they were Terminators."

Quin looked over and stopped John from exposing himself. "What do you think you're doing?" he asked.

"Guys, look out!" Danny called, as a plasma bolt narrowly missed John to strike the machinery next to him instead.

John fell forward next to Quin. "What kind of Terminator is that," he asked. "I didn't see any metal, just blood."

Quin sat up and immediately blind fired back, forcing Benny to take cover. "Rev-9i," he replied. "I told you they were new and different. Only the brain and nervous system are mechanical. Everything else is organic, and it can instantly regenerate from any damage."

"Jesus," John yelled as another burst of plasma bolts missed their target. "Could've said something sooner. What are these purple lasers, what's it shooting?"

Quin continued to fire back."Plasma bolts. Weapon from my place."

John peeked over between the machinery and fired back. "I thought only living tissue could come through."

More plasma bolts struck by Quin as he said. "That's not the case with these guys."

Danny watched in awe and said. "Good lord, this guy is a bullet sponge. Be careful, he's moving around to your left."

Quin and John quickly scrambled to their right while keeping their weapons trained to their left. "What are these," Quin asked. "Don't you have different ammo?"

"Our version of the 'Silver bullet'," John answered. "Similar to a tank's depleted uranium rounds, but without the radiation. Basically, we're using 9mm armor-piercing rounds."

Quin pressed John into a hiding place, and he then hid in a spot opposite his friend. "Should work," he said. "When I make a move, you take a point-blank shot to his head."

John then gave an understanding nod as he focused extra hard to get his breathing under control.

Benny searched methodically as he walked slowly down the aisle.

"Ten feet," Danny called. "Get ready."

Benny focused his gun to one side as he moved forward. Ahead were two spots left to check, but he was only focused on one side. He came upon John, hiding between the machinery. "You gotta tell that guy the radio to shut up," he said, raising his gun. "And allow me to help you with your breathing problem."

Quin suddenly grabbed Benny from behind, pulling him and the gun away from John.

Benny struggled like mad, using the strength in his legs to force Quin back out into the open. Normally, he wouldn't be able to do such a thing against a regular-size T-800, but Quin was smaller and not as massive.

"John," Quin cried out. "Hurry, do it!"

At that urging, John ran out to place his weapon against Benny's head.

The moment the gun touched him, Benny used a leg to kick John hard several feet away and brought his foot down to give himself enough forward momentum to lean forward and toss Quin over to the ground in front of him.

Unhurt and unfazed, Quin was ready to get right back up and fight but, found himself looking back at Benny pointing a plasma rifle at him.

"I thought I heard another radio transmission," Benny said. "I'll give you an A for holding your breath."

Even Quin, a Terminator, flinched at the sound of a gunshot tearing through flesh and metal. Only it wasn't him on the receiving end. He was a bit surprised to see it was Benny missing a piece of his head.

Kate stood, revealing her position on the upper level. Her bullet had torn a hole right through Benny's brain causing irreversible damage as it attempted to heal.

All Benny could do, however, was erratically move in place while spouting gibberish as a glowing red cloud of circuity that was once his head sparked with failure.

Quin unhooked the tablet from Benny's belt to study before looking up at Kate. "Nice shot!" he said, then joined by John.

Danny stood to run out and join the group, shouting. "Kate, you're wonderful!"

Quin was surprised to see the information on the tablet was in English.

"You got it?" John asked.

"Yeah," Quin replied curiously, working the tablet. "I think I can link this up to that machine there."

A robotic arm suddenly stopped working on the assembly line and then swung around.

Kate ran down a flight of stairs and joined the men with Danny walking up to them a short time later.

Quin handed over the tablet. "Seems simple," he said. "What do you make of this?"

Danny took the tablet while marveling at Benny's nonfunctional body. "Incredible," he said, then looking at the tablet. "It'll take a detailed breakdown and analysis to see exactly how this works, but we can run it through our x-ray scanner to get a preliminary look at what's inside."

A short time later, Quin carefully placed the tablet on an island table just in front of a computer where Danny, John, and Kate waited.

The table lit up, with scan lines running across the tablet and information being displayed on the computer.

"Interesting," Danny said looking at the screen of a rotating circuit board.

John took a look. He couldn't make heads or tails of what he was looking at. "Tell me you know what this is," he said.

Danny pointed to several parts of the screen. "It looks like what you'd see in a modern phone. A little denser albeit, but very familiar. It's probably using wireless technology like Bluetooth."

Quin held the plasma rifle up. "One down, two to go," he said. "Danny, you should stay here, secure this stuff. It sounds like his friends can make another tablet, which means we don't have long if they get desperate."

John picked up his gun and said. "Sounds like this night is just getting started."

9. SPECTRUM

John, Quin, and Kate began entering the car when Danny ran out of the building with what was essentially a rocket launcher.

"Here," Danny said handing Kate the rocket launcher. "Take it. It's already loaded with our new Spectrum rocket."

"Spectrum?" Quin wondered.

"Mostly EMP," John replied.

Danny nodded and said. "In addition to blowing them to Hell, it'll release an EMP that should fry their circuits."

"Thanks, Danny," John said, entering the driver's side.

Kate loaded the rocket in the car before getting in and driving off with John and Quin.

"Good luck," Danny whispered before turning back to head inside.

Sometime later, "Ok," Quin said. "Stop right here. Once we get out don't even whisper and above all else try to stay calm," he then pointed. "What we're looking for is in that building. Kate, you should be able to get a good shot from the roof of that single-story building across it. John, you and I will go in and hopefully catch whoever Kate doesn't get by surprise. Remember, go for the head."

Kate got ready to exit. "Don't worry," she said. "My rifle uses an IR laser scope with night vision. They'll never know what hit them."

Quin looked back at the rifle and said. "The Terminators back at my place can't see that and the specs I have on them don't mention that."

John looked over and realized. "Hold on. What specs," he asked. "I thought you said these guys were from another reality, new, and different. Why would you have specs and know what little you do know? How did you get involved with them anyway?"

Quin winced in irritation and explained."I didn't want to tell you this, but somehow I merged with a Terminator from my reality and was forced to work with them for a month."

John quickly raised his gun at Quin. "I've teamed up with a Terminator before, and we did take out one of these guys, but why wouldn't you tell us this?"

Quin raised his hands and smiled. "To be honest," he said. "I didn't expect to get your trust so easily, and I only have a basic idea of how I merged with this thing but I don't know the specifics or know how to undo it."

Kate raised her pistol to Quin's head. "What are you then?" she asked.

"I consider myself a human first," Quin answered. "I grew up hating Terminators and spent my whole life killing them. Do you think I want to be this way? I want to reverse this. I'd rather be dead than live like one of them. I don't care how long they last."

John looked at Kate and nodded while lowering his gun, causing Kate to do the same. He turned the car off and stepped out, along with the others. He was armed with a machine gun from his workplace, Quin had taken the plasma rifle from Benny, and Kate had a knife, pistol, sniper rifle, and rocket launcher.

Mouthing the words and using a hand signal, Quin indicated for everyone to move out.

Kate hurriedly snuck off to find a good spot as John and Quin moved in. Quietly, they got closer and made sure to keep an eye on each other to read hand signals as they moved from cover to cover. Just before entering the warehouse, through a broken door, Quin looked up to see Kate getting into position.

John stepped into a dimly lit building, not far from the TDE/RDE.

Kate relaxed, lying prone on the roof, and controlled her breathing as she looked for a target through her scope.

Chad and Karen were both sitting on the ground working on the TDE/RDE.

Karen was busy plugging several wires into place.

Chad inserted a circuit board before looking at Karen. "That should do it," he said."All we need to do now is wait for Benny to come back so we can use the tablet, make a few inputs, and presto we go home, or back to finish our mission rather." He then glanced up to a seemingly plain, boring wall. His Terminator eyes however revealed a laser searching for a target. "Don't get up," he pointed, for Karen to look. "Someones onto us."

John and Quin continued to move silently through the building. The whole place was dimly lit by a combination of its lights inside and outside, almost looking like a building back at Quin's home. The only difference was that the building was still at least in one piece and had a roof.

Quin took cover along a doorway and signaled to John that what they were looking for was in the next room.

John ran up opposite Quin before sneaking into the next room. It was a very large room with little office furniture in the way. The TDE/RDE was obvious, but as Quin looked around with John, there were no Rev-9i's in view.

With his gun pointed forward, Quin cautiously moved forward searching for Chad and Karen. The sound of glass breaking glass in another part of the warehouse grabbed his attention. He signaled to John his intention to check it out and stay put.

The sound had come from an area of the warehouse that was under some sort of renovation at the time it was abandoned. It was mainly made up of empty rooms with plastic curtains hanging in many places.

Quin moved slowly through the rooms. When his Terminator brain was sure it spotted something, he opened fired while dropping to one knee. That move saved him from being blasted by several plasma bolts that blew through a wall and at him. He quickly rolled to the side and readjusted his aim to fire back.

John kept his gun trained on the doorway leading to the area of fighting. He could hear the exchange of plasma fire between the adversaries and began contemplating joining in.

Kate kept searching for a target when she felt suddenly grabbed from behind, up and over she went as Karen slammed her back to the ground.

"Quick or slow," Karen said, grabbing the sniper rifle and rocket launcher to toss over the roof. "It's your choice. Tell me who else is here and who knows about us?"

Kate had hit the ground hard, but not as hard as Karen could have thrown her if she didn't want answers. With a painful grunt, she stood back up to quickly draw her knife and slash Karen across her neck.

Karen's head slightly tilted back as blood sprayed from the wound. Any other woman would have dropped dead on the spot.

Out of some sense of hope, upon seeing the blood flow, Kate thought it was enough of a kill hit. Instead, she watched in terror as the wound healed and Karen moved forward shaking her head.

"Idiot!" Karen said as Kate then drove the knife into what should have been a heart. Her response was to quickly grab onto the knife-wielding hand and slowly pull it out.

Kate couldn't maintain her grip on the knife as Karen squeezed her wrist, almost to the point of breaking it. She tried not to scream in pain, to not give Karen that satisfaction.

"You're gonna need more than a knife, hon," Karen said. "I'm trying to go easy on you," she then grabbed Kate by the neck and lifted her. "I just want answers," she added as she noticed a hole in the roof. "This can be painful or I can end this quick."

Kate was then thrown into the hole and landed with a loud thud on the ground floor.

Karen hopped down and kicked Kate before saying. "I'm gonna kill you no question about it. What you need to ask is how fast you want it?" she grabbed Kate by the neck again and lifted her. "Who else is here and who else knows about us?"

Kate was lucky the wall she was then thrown into was thin, though she was still in pain when Karen again grabbed her by the neck and lifted her.

Karen smiled and shook her head. "Last chance before this really starts to hurt." She said.

Kate struggled as she reached for her gun, hidden in a holster underneath her shirt near the back, quickly put it to Karen's head, and fired.

Karen immediately released her hold on Kate and fell back. She'd been struck by a Silver bullet that tore into her mechanical brain. It wasn't enough to go right through but it did enough damage to at least penetrate and cause something of a massive stroke that left her in a locked-in syndrome kind of state. She was dead for all intents and purposes as she slowly lost power.

Kate cradled her neck, coughing lightly as she struggled back up to her feet.

The plasma firing between the Terminators had stopped.

John became more uneasy by the moment and decided to at least stand by and guard the doorway so he could at least look into the room and get a better view.

Quin walked slowly but jumped quickly around a corner as he continued his search. He found himself in a hallway with multiple doors to one side and a large one leading to a dock with large, open, and empty metal cargo containers parked along its edge.

The door to the dock was closed, so there was no need to check. Inspecting the other rooms, however, proved a little scarier It wasn't until the third Quin found himself in a wrestling match over his plasma rifle with Chad.

Chad had attached his own gun to his belt to use both hands.

While Quin was nearly as strong as a typical T-800, he was also almost five inches shorter and thinner. That meant it was less weight for Chad, already stronger than any human, to easily push around. Both held a firm grip on the plasma rifle as well as each other as they pushed one another back and forth.

It also didn't help that Chad was resisting and not standing still, like Benny when Quin lifted him.

John could hear the commotion from where he stood, and as it no longer sounded like a gunfight he decided to move in. He felt an irresistible need to contribute to the fight in some way.

Chad pushed hard, driving Quin through the wall and door to the dock. It wasn't as worn down as other areas of the warehouse, though it had a lower section, a basement of sorts that could be accessed by ramps and seen from the upper level by small walkways surrounded by rails.

Quin pushed back against Chad, only to have his own momentum then used against him.

Chad moved aside, letting go of the plasma rifle and Quin.

Unable to stop Quin's thrust forward, the rail just gave way for him to try holding on to Chad's shirt which simply ripped. He landed hard on the ground facefirst on the lower level. Unhurt, he got up and turned around to look up and find Chad pointing his rifle at him.

"Goodbye; see you later," Chad said."Maybe in another reality. Though now that I think about it, I'll probably just kill you."

Just before Chad could pull the trigger he was struck by multiple bullets from John's gun. He only staggered back to find what little cover he could behind a stack of pushcarts.

John hurried in and ran behind a pillar as he continued to fire.

Chad returned fire, barely missing his target. "John," he said. "John Connor," he then grunted. "Man, killing you never gets old."

Quin grabbed his gun and ran up the ramp, narrowly avoiding plasma bolts as he dove into a nearby office.

Chad continued firing at both men as he began to sidestep toward them, giving them next to no chance of retaliation, shooting at them every time they'd stick their heads out. He never saw Kate peeking in at the doorway with the rocket launcher.

Kate had a clear view of Chad to aim carefully and then fire.

Being made of muscle and next to no organs, Chad flew back with the rocket's impact. It didn't explode until he hit the back of a cargo container.

The concentrated explosion had only one way to go, back out of the container, sending colored shockwaves of destruction as it cycled through the spectrum of the electromagnetic field.

When it was safe, Quin emerged to watch the fiery blaze.

"Beautiful timing," John said as he hugged Kate.

Quin continued examining the fire with some suspicion before walking over to John and Kate. "Seems over," he said. " Let's get outta here."

The group walked back to the TDE/RDE.

"I better call Danny," John said examing the controls. "I'm sure he can figure this thing out."

"If not," Quin replied. "I can show him," he pointed to his head smiling. "It's all up here."

"C'mon," John motioned with his head. "You can stay with us in the meantime."

10. PBJ (peanut butter & jelly)

Quin sat at the dinner table in John's house. John himself was sat across the table. Kate was busy in the kitchen.

"Thanks," Quin said. "For letting me stay. You got a comfy couch."

John smiled. "Mi casa es tu casa!" he replied.

"Again, thanks," Quin said. "I have to ask. Please come back with me."

John laughed. "I'm sorry, but why in the world would I ever go to hellhole? I have everything here. Isn't your place all messed up and wartorn?"

Quin slightly sunk in his chair. "My John Connor is dead, killed by Chad just before I got here."

John placed both hands on the table and fiddled with his fingers. "I got an idea," he suddenly said. "Why don't you stay here? I can get you set up with a job at my place and get your feet planted in your own home. I'm sure Danny will help."

Quin almost seemed to consider it before dismissing it outright. "I can't," he said. "The ol' ball 'n chain is waiting for me I'm sure. Look, we need a leader. A lot of people are depending on you."

"You mean the other John Connor," John said. "Don't you think it'll be kinda weird if I show up?"

"No," Quin replied. "I learned those other Terminators have a way of getting rid of bodies. No one even has to know you're from a different reality."

John shook his head. "I'm sure your John Connor was different. Sooner or later, someone will notice. I don't know the first thing about your war."

"I can guide you," Quin said. "You already know half the story. I can tell you everything else you need to know."

John took a deep breath and thought for a moment. "Quin," he said. "Put yourself in my shoes. You got a beautiful wife, your world is at relative peace, and you don't have to worry about what to eat next or where to sleep. What would you do?"

Quin then seemed to give up trying to convince John. "I'd stay too, I guess," he said. "Can't say I blame ya. Me, I can't stay. I've got a world to save."

Kate entered the room and set down some plates before sitting herself. "I hope you like PBJ," she said. "It's just a quick snack before we go out and get some real food."

John's cell phone began ringing, Seeing that it was Danny, he leaned over and kissed Kate on the forehead. "Perfect, Hon," he said. "Excuse me while I take this."

John answered the phone. "Danny, what's up," he said. "It's only been a week. You got something for us?"

Danny laughed. "Hey, John," he responded. "I got everything back to the company?"

John was in disbelief. "Already," he asked. "How the heck did you manage that?"

Danny sat at the controls of the RDE. "I didn't get a degree in engineering for nothing," he replied.

John spoke more with Danny as he returned to the table and sat before hanging up. "Good news," he said. "Danny says the machine is ready. We can send you home right away."

Quin took another bite of his PBJ before setting it down. A tear came to his eye as he looked at the sandwich. The words 'POSSIBLE SOLUTION' kept flashing on his HUD.

John noticed Quin's tear. "Look, dude," he started. "I said I'm sorry."

Quin looked up at John. "Me too," he replied and stood to leave the table. "Excuse me for a moment."

Kate turned to John and spoke in a low voice. "What's wrong?" she asked.

John shook his head. "Nothing," he answered. "We were just talking about his home."

Several seconds later a plasma blast screamed across the table and hit Kate in the chest, knocking her back. As it struck her in the heart, it instantly killed her.

John freaked out. Diving backward at the sudden light and noise. His first thought was to check on his wife. "Kate, hon, talk to me," he said crawling over to find her lifeless body. He immediately burst into tears at the sight of her.

Quin slowly walked over, with the plasma rifle in hand. "You have to come with me." He said.

A rage-filled John jumped up and struck Quin in the face. He was lucky the Terminator rolled with his punches to avoid any self-harm. It was almost scary to see him in such a state of mind.

For a moment, there was some serious furniture moving in the house.

Eventually, Quin was able to hold John to the ground and ask. "You love her right?"

John struggled with what little he could. "Go to Hell," he screamed. "You goddamn machine!"

Quin teared up at the whole situation before steeling himself. "You love her," he asked again. "Because she's alive, back at my place. You two are married. That's how I knew who she was."

John calmed down at that, thinking to himself. 'She's alive. She's alive.' He even mouthed the words to convince himself.

Quin eased his grip as he sat up. "You just have to come with me and see her," he said. "She's alive."

John lay motionless on the floor and asked. "Will she even be the same?"

Quin stood back up. "It'll be similar to when we first met," he answered. "Her experiences will be different, but she'll know you. To her, you're her husband and leader of the Resistance."

John sat up and began crying once more.

"Again," Quin said. "I'm sorry for what I did. The last thing I wanted…I'll help you bury her and then we'll go."

John stood back up, looked Quin in the eyes, and said. "You stay the hell away from her."

"I promise," Quin replied. "When we arrive back at my place, I'll give you this plasma rifle and you can have your revenge."

The idea of finally getting revenge burned in John's mind. Time wasn't an issue to him, as he moved at his pace to dig.

Quin could only wait inside as John buried Kate out in the backyard. He knew better than to push for John to hurry up. He kept trying to convince himself that it was the Terminator part of him that did it, but he knew it only came up with the idea. He, in a million years, could have never thought to shoot Kate.

John's only comfort was that he'd see his wife again. As he placed the last pile of dirt on the grave, he was hit by the memories of his experiences with this Kate. Now, the urge to see her was overwhelming. Tears again filled his eyes as he leaned on the shovel and continued with thoughts of his wife.

The sun was beginning to set. Danny had been waiting by the entrance of his company to personally greet John and Quin as they arrived by car. He ran up to them as they entered the building. "I sent everyone home," he said. " I got everything moved to our R section. No one knows what it does or is, so discretion is on our side."

"Sounds good," Quin said. "Study it. This is one of those 'knowledge is power' situations."

In the lead, Danny opened a door as he guided the men. "I hauled the Terminator's bodies to a large storage closet in my office to keep them top secret."

"As I said," Quin replied. "Knowledge is power. Study and learn from it, just make sure the information doesn't fall into the wrong hands. Besides, I don't think someone finding dead bodies in your closet will look good. They're machines, don't be afraid to take'em apart. All you really need is the brain and nervous system that comes out with it."

"Point taken," Danny continued. "In that case, we'll release proprietary patent information only we can duplicate to avoid any potential knockoffs. I'll make sure everything else will be kept in the deepest, darkest hole, I swear it."

They then entered a large room with the RDE sitting visibly in the middle.

Danny walked over to the controls to activate the machine and grab the tablet. "I'm sure I can control everything with this," he said. "I don't think it's needed exclusively. Just something to use away from the controls."

Quin took the tablet to make a few inputs as he ascended the ramp.

John said nothing as he just followed Quin up the ramp to the RDE, his head hanging low.

Danny followed close behind and whispered. "You're not going are you, what about Kate?"

John stopped and slowly turned to face Danny. He pulled a set of keys from his pocket and handed them over. "Please make sure nothing happens to my house," he responded in a low voice. "I promise, I'll be back."

Quin handed Danny back the tablet at the top of the RDE. "Keep it," he said, then tapping the side of his head. "I have everything I need up here."

Danny looked worriedly at John before receiving a nod and then giving one in return. He then descended back down. "You guys ready? He asked.

Quin shouldered his rifle and said. "Good to go."

Danny pressed the 'ENGAGE' button and watched as Quin and John became engulfed in colorful, spinning spheres one moment, and completely vanish the next. "Be safe guys," he whispered.

Quin and John then suddenly found themselves in the command center of the Resistance's HQ. Standing only yards away, were several shocked looks, including Kate, Shawn, and Two-four.

Quin instantly recognized Two-four and aimed with his plasma rifle.

Two-four didn't have a chance to react as Quin blasted her in the chest. She could only manage a look of surprise at being struck and stand there as the wound healed.

Everyone was shocked for a moment until Shawn grabbed Kate and dove with her out of danger. About half-dozen Resistance members, or security officers, then open fired on Two-four with a combination of conventional weapons and plasma fire.

Miraculously, Two-four's head wasn't hit as she fell to her knees under the intense assault. After it stopped, she could only look on as Quin approached and then pressed his rifle against her forehead.

"Your brain is the weak spot," Quin said. "I just have to pull the trigger. Consider yourself a POW."

Kate stood back up with Shawn and then ran to John, kissing and wrapping her arms around him.

John felt overjoyed to see his wife. "Kate." He said, then noticing she was pregnant. He caressed her belly and placed his head against it.

Several Resistance members then came to hold Two-four in custody.

Quin turned to John and slowly walked up to him, handing over the plasma rifle. "A promise is a promise." He whispered, taking a knee.

John took the rifle and placed it against Quin's head. Tears filled his eyes as he looked back and forth between a pregnant Kate and his wife's murderer.

"John, Hon," Kate said. "What are you doing? Quin's one of your best friends."

Those words rang in John's head as he continued looking back and forth between Kate's stomach and Quin. Suddenly and without warning, he aimed at Two-four and fired, striking her in the head and hitting the brain.

Quin looked up and back bewildered, then turned to John.

"It's a Terminator," John said. "Interrogations are gonna be pointless. Just take her apart and see what you can learn."

Quin stood, looking at John in surprise. He hadn't expected to be spared, nor wanted to. He meant what he said when he told him he would rather die than live as a Terminator. 'Maybe this is John's punishment.' He thought, then said in a low voice. "Welcome to the war."

Thank you for reading. The End.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

I was born in 1981 and raised in Aurora, IL. Much of my childhood and school days are a blur. It all seemed to go by so fast. I began writing after high school. I wrote in private because I didn't think anyone would believe I was a writer. I wrote for years with little going on and carrying on with life until I had a stroke.

My focus in writing has always been sci-fi/fantasy. I love the first two movies and have wondered what a worthy follow-up might be like. The movies that followed were great on their own, but not as sequels to the first two. The idea of this story is to hopefully preserve everything and continue the legacy of the first two movies. I'm a Walking Dead fan, I love the show. I imagine Quin Uno as being portrayed by Steven Yeun, aka Glenn Rhee. I hated to watch him bite the bullet (take a bat to the head). The show is still good but doesn't feel the same without him.