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Chapter 06: Endurance
Turncoat
"Endurance"
Calculating… Chances of survival 1/300… Suggestions: evade…
‘And how am I to do that with a poly-mimetic spear in my shoulder?’
In truth, Jason didn’t need a strategic analysis to tell him just how dead he was. Any confrontation with a T-1000, no matter the circumstances, was a one-way trip. Regardless, Jason wasn’t going to die without a fight. Jason gripped the spear with his endo-arm and squeezed, the metal cracked and broke beneath his fingers. He then threw himself forwards off of the spear and turned around to face his enemy. The T-1000 hadn’t chosen a camouflage yet, and was still in its default humanoid form, but that made it no less dangerous. It held out its arm and formed a long blade, large enough to sever Jason in half and, with one swift movement, slashed at his neck.
Jason ducked, raising his endo-arm to take the strike. The blade left a deep gash in his newly applied flesh, but caused no damage to the arm itself. He then lunged at the 1000, driving his fist deep into its face, which became soft, allowing his hand to pass right through.
‘This is going to take all day.’
Evade…
Jason wrenched his arm free from the metallic gloop and darted for the door, kicking aside the rack of computers blocking it. As he entered the corridor, Jason thought for a moment that the 1000 wasn’t going to pursue. He was quickly proven wrong, however, when its blade pierced his stomach and lifted him off his feet. The T-1000 examined him carefully for a moment, before changing its appearance to mimic Jason.
‘Now that’s just confusing.’
The 1000 withdrew its blade, letting Jason drop to the floor. It then lifted its foot and was about to crush Jason’s face when an explosion erupted somewhere in the complex, making the 1000 sway, and miss its target. Jason took the opportunity to jump to his feet and hurtle down the corridor, but the sound of all too familiar footsteps told him that the 1000 was close behind. Jason didn’t get very far before it caught up and threw him into the wall. Jason retaliated by kicking the 1000 in the face, causing it to stagger backwards.
Given its unique nature, the T-1000 was not as strong as other Terminators. Granted, it was more advanced and intelligent, but because of its liquid metal composition, it didn’t have the benefit of pistons and servos. This granted Jason a small sliver of hope, as it would take extreme physical dismemberment to stop him. Pain was meaningless, and his enhanced musculature structure allowed for greater applications of strength, putting him on par with the T-1000. However, all of this was meaningless if the T-1000 managed to drive a blade into his cerebrum, which was exactly what it tried to do.
Luckily, Jason was able to turn in time, earning a deep cut on his forehead, but nothing more. He then spin-kicked the 1000’s legs, knocking it to the floor, allowing him a little more time to escape, which, as before, was impeded by the T-1000’s persistence. They met again at the end of the burning corridor, outside the T-888 construction facility. The T-1000 grabbed Jason and ploughed him through the wall, and then proceeded to throw him onto an assembly line. Jason quickly came to his senses and got to his feet. The 1000 was making its way over to him, both arms in the shape of scissor blades.
Jason picked up a nearby endo-skull and threw it at the 1000, but it simply passed through its chest without taking any damage. Frustrated, Jason snapped a steel welder off of its machine and brandished the improvised weapon at the T-1000, causing it to do a double-take, before charging him regardless. As the 1000 brought its blades down in a snipping fashion, Jason ducked and drove the welder into its kneecap, causing the T-1000 to twist and fall to the floor. Before it could recover, Jason buried the welder into its eyes, temporarily blinding it.
He then headed deeper into the facility, ducking and weaving through the various construction machines, desperately trying to escape. Jason pulled the factory layout back into his peripheral and discovered that he was near one of the exits, but he needed to take a shortcut through another construction facility. As Jason entered the other facility, his arm began to vibrate. A brief analysis revealed that the room contained a powerful magnetic current, most likely used to seal the endo-skulls of some of the more advanced models. Jason ignored the slight tugging effect it had on his arm and continued onward, only to be waylaid by the T-1000, who blocked the exit.
Jason gave out a cry of frustration and rage as the 1000 advanced, its blades raised to kill. The environment was too confined to allow for any manoeuvrability; Jason would just have to take whatever the T-1000 threw at him. In the space of a few seconds, Jason had received a dozen deep punctures and more than a few lacerations, yet he was still capable of fighting back. He grabbed the 1000’s arms and delivered a kick to the face. His foot passed right through as the T-1000 reverted back to liquid form. Jason saw this as his chance and stepped through the mass of metal.
However, as he passed through, the T-1000 suddenly engulfed his mid-section and drove a dozen spikes into his abdomen, knocking the wind out of him.
Warning: significant stomach damage… Further damage will result in an organic system failure…
Jason dropped to his knees, his injuries finally taking their toll. He couldn’t carry on like this; he’d received so many injuries that his body was half-dead. His fate seemed sealed, he was already dead, he knew this. Yet for all the hopelessness of his situation, even as the T-1000 raised its club-shaped arm to smash his skull, Jason was within arm’s reach of the controls for the magnetic generator. He smashed the nearest button with his palm and was suddenly pulled to the other side of the room, his arm stuck to the generator.
The T-1000 was also held in place, a look of genuine shock on its face.
‘I guess they do feel something after all.’
Jason pulled with all his might and, after several minutes of struggling, managed to pull his arm free of the generator and staggered back to the exit. He turned back to see the T-1000 dissolving back into liquid form and spreading across the generator.
“Let’s see you get out of this one, you son of a bitch.”
Jason then sprinted out of the factory, narrowly avoiding plasma fire from the numerous FKs and began climbing his way out of the canyon. Upon reaching the top of the rocky hill, Jason turned around in time to watch as the factory’s core went into full meltdown, causing an explosion that destroyed the entire factory and sending Jason hurtling down the other side of the hill.
--
“Why am I here?”
Jason looked up from his notes and frowned slightly at the girl.
“Sorry?”
“Why am I here?”
Jason thought this an odd question, given how obvious the answer was.
“You’re in this room because we need to get your mind working properly. You still need a little work.”
“No, I meant; why am I here? What is my purpose?”
Again, Jason found this odd. Surely she knew what John had in store for her.
“Your purpose is to protect John Connor from a Skynet attack.”
Cameron looked confused, as always. She seemed to be struggling with something.
“I don’t understand. What am I? Am I alive?”
Jason froze. Never before had any machine asked these questions. Was she alive? She possessed existential thought, which could only mean one thing. She had become self-aware.
‘I don’t believe it.’
Though he always knew she possessed the potential, Jason never thought it would actually occur. Cameron just sat there, waiting for his response.
“You… are alive… but not in the same sense as we are. Do you understand the difference?”
Cameron looked at the floor, quietly contemplating her existence.
“I am a machine, built to mimic a human, but ultimately synthetic. I am an artificial life form. I’m not real.”
“No, you are as real as any human. Life isn’t defined by how organic you are. If you can think or feel, who cares whether or not your physical body is made from metal. You are what you are.”
Cameron slowly lifted her head, locking eyes with Jason.
“And what is that?”
Jason reached out and took her hand.
“Alive.”
--
Jason’s vision was blurred and his ears were bombarded by the sound of roaring flames. As he gathered his senses, Jason remembered that he’d been blown off of the hill by the explosion and had landed at the bottom. He couldn’t get his arms of legs to move, he felt totally numb.
Analysing… Spine has suffered impact trauma but remains intact… Temporary paralysis will subside in a few hours…
‘Great. That gives Skynet plenty of time to send a bunch of Terminators to investigate.’
Jason closed his eyes and tried to will his fingers to move, with little success.
Warning: Proximity alert…
Jason opened his eyes to see a single Resistance fighter standing over him.
“I take it this was your handiwork. Well done.”
“Thanks. Connor send you?”
“Yeah, he was concerned that you’d gotten yourself into a spot of bother. I’m guessing he was right.”
Jason laughed, but was cut short by a coughing fit; his lung had been punctured again.
“Aside… Aside from a T-1000… So… you gonna help me up? I’m kinda stuck like this for a while.”
The fighter called a friendly T-888 to help Jason to his feet.
“We got a vehicle nearby; we’ll get you back to HQ in no time.”
“Much appreciated.”
--
“Sounds like I missed quite the party. You didn’t have a tree did you?”
“Sort of.”
“What did you put on top?”
“A triple-8 skull.”
“Very appropriate.”
Jason and John were sharing drinks in the safety of the Resistance headquarters, a vast underground bunker built deep beneath Los Angeles. Jason had since recovered from most of his wounds, though his stomach was still sore, as he discovered when he swallowed the liquor.
“Argh… I guess alcohol really is bad for you.”
John smirked. The destruction of the factory had earned Jason quite a lot of praise from the soldiers, despite his history with Skynet. He was now considered as one of them. John was amazed that Jason had survived the venture, especially when told of his encounter with the T-1000. Jason took another swig and winced again before putting the empty glass down. He needed to get something off his chest.
“I met an old man in the wastes. He looked like he’d been living there for a very long time.”
John looked up at him; a look of surprise crossed his face.
“What? Like a hermit?”
“Sort of, he was living in an old gas station.”
John let out a low whistle.
“I’m surprised there was anyone left alive out there.”
“Well he wasn’t exactly the picture of health.”
“What did he say?”
Jason shifted uncomfortably.
“He thought I was a Terminator.”
“Ah, I see. He attacked you, right?”
“Yeah, with a knife, he must have been driven insane by the solitude.”
John poured himself another drink.
“And you killed him?”
“Yes. I just reacted, you know. It’s what I’m trained to do.”
“I get that. You can’t argue with your instincts. You were bred for infiltration and assassination. It’s what you do.”
“I guess that’s what separates me from you lot.”
“That… and the fact that you have cybernetics wired all over.”
Jason laughed. If John, the man who was preordained to save humanity, can see the funny side to his position, then why can’t he? Jason decided to put the thought aside and accepted John’s offer for another drink.
Next: Chapter 07: What You Leave Behind
Previous: Chapter 05: Exile
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Veran |
Latest page update: made by Veran
, Jul 23 2008, 5:22 PM EDT
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Keyword tags:
Cameron
Derek
I-950
Jason Corvain
John
Kyle
Sarah
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