Set ten years after the events of Terminator 2: Judgment Day, John Connor and his mother, Sarah Connor, are off-grid and separated in 2005. While Sarah is at Norfolk, Virginia, for matters too personal to tell her own son, John is surviving on his o...
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As a former college student and waitress, Sarah Connor knew not only what foods tasted well on one's tongue, but also words. Waitress. Prey. Mother. Murderer. Well, almost-murderer. Sarah Connor didn't terminate Miles Dyson like she intended to. She only wounded him, though she would have fulfilled her intention if it wasn't for her son, John.
Murderer. The word didn't taste well on her tongue. Is that what she is now? She was only doing the right thing. Right?
By terminating someone in front of their family? Sarah shook her head at herself in disappointment.
Now, she was sitting in his family's dining room alongside her son and the terminator- the T-800- he had gotten well-acquainted to. John had convinced her not to terminate the T-800 when she got the chance. Although it hadn't tried to terminate either of them, she still felt uneasy around the machine. After all, the same model tried to terminate her ten years ago.
Sarah looks from the T-800 to John, and back again. Both were explaining to Miles what could happen if he didn't destroy his latest project. She excuses herself from the Dyson's dining table, muttering something about finding the bathroom.
There was that word again, could. It was like the word 'can,' but only under certain conditions. The T-800 could terminate John if it weren't programmed to protect him. Kyle could be alive-
Stopit. Sarah slams her fist into the wall, leaving a shallow crater behind. Kyle wouldn't want her to do this to herself, not when they were so close to preventing Judgment Day. She would avenge his death soon but not now. Now, she had to protect her son, whose concerned voice was checking on her.
"Mom?" He asks warily. "Are you okay?"
"Just lost my balance, John." She answers calmly. "I've found what I'm looking for."
Sarah finds herself back in Dyson's office. His room looked as if the Fourth of July had occurred. The screen of his computer was shattered, bullet holes peppered his desk, and little fires sprouted from the floor.
Out of curiosity, Sarah opens the drawer of his desk and thumbs through the folders. One by one, she feeds the folders to the fires after reading their title.
Deus Ex Mach
CalculUS
Cyberdyne
Sarah rips the Cyberdyne folder into shreds before tossing it to the flames. Before she could do the same to the next folder, the title caught her eye.
HOMONOVAE
[REJECTED]
She skims the description and plans of the Homo Novae project. It appeared to be a program specifically designed for the military.
Faster, stronger, more durable soldiers using advanced genetic technology.
Why would Dyson reject a project like this? An idea begins to form in Sarah's mind. Could the victory against the machines be in her hands?
Before she could answer her own question, three pairs of footsteps drew closer to the office. Sarah throws the rest of the files into the fire then pockets the Homo Novae file.
"Mom?" John looks around the room. "What are you doing here?"
"Housekeeping." Not a lie, but what to housekeep when Dyson's entire office was destroyed?
Dyson gulps. "Good, then."
"We don't have much time before the T-1000 tracks us down." The T-800 says stoically. "We must leave, now."
As she follows the T-800 and Dyson, Sarah stays close to John. She walks with a confident stride and sliver of hope. If their efforts didn't come into fruition now, they will come in the future.
