Prologue

The blue light brought on by the bursts of electricity surrounding me fades, leaving me kneeling in the dirt. I am naked and devoid of possessions, having been stripped of anything and everything outside of the living tissue that encases my body by my journey through time. I stand and look around, taking in my surroundings. The sun is up – its position indicating an approximate local time of 15:24:00 - and the land is rough and dusty, with strong winds and a considerable absence of life forms. I observe a small pond nearby and walk to its edge. I kneel before it, observing my reflection. The face of a teenage female Human stares back at me, with brown eyes framed by brunette hair that falls past her shoulders. That was 'my' appearance, in a way, but I had not been born with that skin. Actually, I had not been born at all. I was built.

It should be understood that while I may outwardly appear Human, the living tissue that is all that an observer will see is nothing more than a disguise. Inside, I am pure metal – an endoskeleton of hyperalloy (a metal alloy of titanium, coltan, carbon nanotubes and several other materials) that constitutes my true physical form. I was built by the will of an artificially intelligent being known as Skynet in a production factory called Depot 37. The face that was reflected on the pond's surface had been provided for me – modelled after a Human who was almost certainly dead. I would state her name, but at this time I do not know – when John Connor captured me and reprogrammed me to fight on the side of The Resistance, against Skynet, he also wiped my memories.

I am situated approximately 52.5 kilometres at an orientation of S83.6E degrees from Los Angeles. This is not as it should be. I am 102.8 kilometres S75.7E from the position at which I should have emerged from the time portal. This anomaly does not threaten my mission. My destination is a small settlement called Johnsville, situated approximately 26.2 kilometres N88.3E degrees from my current position.

CLASSIFICATION: TOWN
NAME: Johnsville
ESTIMATED POPULATION: 1,450

I must now wait until night, for two reasons. The first is that night makes the stars visible, and I can use the positions of the stars to determine my temporal coordinates. The second is that I intend to approach Johnsville by night, so that I may acquire clothing without drawing attention. I place myself into standby mode with the following reboot conditions:

1. My short range sensors detect movement.

2. My spatial sensors detect that I have been moved.

3. My internal chronometer reaches 23:00:00.

The satisfaction of any one of these conditions will trigger a reboot. My vision fades out until all is black, and all awareness leaves me.

It is dark when I become aware again. My internal chronometer states the time to be 23:00:15 – the condition that had been satisfied in order to trigger a reboot was condition #3. My spatial sensors reveal that I have not undergone any degree of movement that can not be attributed to stochastic environmental effects. I perform a 360 degree scan. I detect no movement or signs of life. I turn my gaze upwards, calculating the radial velocity of the stars.

ANALYZING STELLAR POSITION
DATE
JUNE 19 1999

This is as it should be. I orient myself N88.3E degrees and begin walking.

My name is Cameron Phillips. I am a Terminator Class TOK715 – a cybernetic organism designed to infiltrate Human society and to hunt and kill. It is a task at which I am most efficient. My current mission, however, is not one of termination. It is one of protection.

On April 22 2011, the Skynet Missile Defence System triggered a nuclear apocalypse. It declared war on the Human species, and came very close to victory. However, a resistance was formed by a man named John Connor. He saved Humanity from the brink of defeat, leading them in the war against Skynet. It was his idea to reprogram Skynet Terminators to fight for the Resistance.

Skynet, struggling against the Human Resistance, has employed Time Displacement Equipment to send Terminators back through time to attempt to eliminate John Connor in the past, before he can ever form the Resistance, thus assuring Skynet's victory in the war. This is why John Connor has sent me, a reprogrammed Terminator, back through time to protect his younger self from the machines.

This is exactly what I will do. I will resort to any means necessary to protect my target, up to and including allowing my own destruction. If John Connor dies, the Resistance will fail.

On August 24 the FBI database file on Sarah Connor is updated with new information, including an alias: "Sarah Reese". The new information includes a fiancé – a man named Charley Dixon. To discover a fiancé is unexpected (that his mother was engaged at one point is something that John would have been likely to remember), but that is unimportant. Sarah Connor has vanished, leaving Charley Dixon, who went to the police. I look up Charley Dixon, noting that he is an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) and retrieving an address in West Fall, Nebraska. I retrieve my clothes and my stolen money and fake identification from underneath the hotel room's matress, unplug my laptop and leave the hotel in which I have been staying, taking them with me. I perform a quick scan of the cars in the parking lot outside of the hotel. I move towards a 1988 Ford F150. The driver-side window is partially open, so I thread my hand into the car and unlock the door. Placing the laptop in the passenger seat, I hotwire the car, then begin driving.

DESTINATION: West Fall, Nebraska

It is August 25th and the sun has risen by the time I arrive at the house of Charley Dixon. I turn off the car and spend several minutes observing the house. A first floor light is turned on, but I detect no signs of movement behind the curtains. Six minutes after my arrival, I exit the car. I scan the nearby houses for signs of anyone watching. Detecting nothing, I move to the garage door of Charley Dixon's house. It opens easily. The garage is empty. Charley Dixon is not home. I close the garage door and return to my car.

I continue to observe the house for twelve hours, thirty-six minutes before a police car pulls up behind me. An officer steps out of the car and walks over to mine, knocking on my window. I wind it down, smiling. The evidence of the car having been hotwired is not within his line of sight. If he investigates, he will require termination. "Is there a problem, officer?"

The officer does not smile. He leans on the side of the car. "Miss, do you mind telling me why you've been parked out here all day?"

"I'm waiting for Charley Dixon." I respond. The officer raises his left eyebrow approximately 1.16cm.

"Mind telling me why?"

I pull up the sleeve of my right arm, revealing a healing wound that I had self-inflicted during the drive to Nebraska. As a result of being a Terminator, my living tissue sheath heals significantly more quickly than that of a Human, so it already looks like an old wound. "This happened three weeks ago. I could have bled to death. Charley Dixon saved my life. I'm here to thank him." This is a cover story I considered likely to be considered acceptable to any who might ask. Most Humans highly value their lives and gratitude is a feeling that most people experience.

"You've been waiting here an awfully long time just to thank him," he points out.

I smile. "He gave me a second chance at life. I don't mind waiting for a while."

The officer frowns. "What's your name?"

"Jane Elseworth," I respond, a caucasian female name that I had selected at random from my database.

"Alright, Jane. I'll make sure that Charley knows that you were here, but I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

"But, officer, this really means a lot to me and..."

"Perhaps 'ask' wasn't the best word," he says. "There's already been one complaint about you. You're making people nervous. You have to go."

I stare at the officer for approximately 3.2 seconds. Legally I possess the right to refuse to leave, but I do not wish to stand out or be remembered, and Charley Dixon is unlikely to possess useful information anyway. "Whatever you say, officer," I finally respond.
"Thank you for your cooperation."

I turn on my car and begin driving towards the nearest hotel.

I do not return to Charley Dixon's house. I intend to do so if I go long enough without leads, but I do not wish to draw attention to myself by being caught in a lie. For the time being, I closely monitor numerous sources on the Internet for any sign of 'John Connor', 'Sarah Connor', 'John Reese', 'Sarah Reese', 'John Dixon' or 'Sarah Dixon'.

On August 30th, a 15-year-old male named John Reese enrols at Crest View High School in Red Valley, New Mexico. I load up the picture of 'John Reese'.

COMPARE TO JOHN CONNOR

MATCH

I immediately transport my laptop, money, identification and clothes to my car. I start the car and begin driving.

DESTINATION: Red Valley, New Mexico