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-9.i 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-9.i 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-9.i’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, that 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-9.i 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-9.i 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 whispe
ring 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 cost.
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 him. 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 in 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 cellphone to record. “I think this counts as ‘strange’.” She said.
Quin saw the cellphone 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.”
Realities Page 4