The Zaru-Kahn settlement had already begun to stir by the time
Nyima and Lhamo brought the T-800 through the outer camp. The storm from the
previous night had left a thin layer of sand across the ground, covering
footprints and settling against the wooden structures that formed the heart of
the settlement. Several warriors stopped what they were doing when they saw the
strange machine walking behind the two siblings, and the sight of its metallic
frame immediately drew whispers from nearby tents and shelters. Lhamo noticed
the attention and kept one hand close to the weapon at his side, while Nyima
seemed far less concerned, repeatedly glancing back at the T-800 as though she
still could not decide whether she was more fascinated or confused by what they
had discovered in the desert.
Their father was summoned before they reached the central gathering
area. General Wangmo emerged from one of the larger shelters accompanied by
several elders and armed warriors, his expression hardening when he saw the
machine standing behind his children. He was a broad-shouldered man whose years
as a warrior and chieftain had left him with a calm but imposing presence, and
he immediately raised one hand to stop the guards from approaching. His eyes
remained fixed on the T-800 as Nyima and Lhamo stepped forward.
"Father," Nyima said, "we found him buried in the desert after the
storm."
Wangmo looked at her, then at Lhamo. "You found him?"
"He was buried beneath the sand," Lhamo answered. "We thought he
was a man at first. Then we saw what was underneath."
One of the elders stepped closer but stopped several paces away
from the T-800. "What is it?"
"That," Wangmo said, without taking his eyes from the machine, "is
what I want to know."
The T-800 stood motionless as the warriors surrounded the area. It
did not reach for a weapon or react to the tension gathering around it. Its red
eyes moved methodically across the faces of the people standing nearby,
scanning them without explanation.
Wangmo noticed the movement. "You have been staring at my people
since you arrived."
"I am scanning them."
"For what?"
"Threats."
The answer caused several warriors to tighten their grips on their
weapons. Nyima stepped between them and the T-800 before anyone could make a
move.
"He hasn't attacked anyone," she said.
Wangmo looked at his daughter. "You have known this thing for less
than a morning."
"I know what I saw."
"And what exactly did you see?"
Nyima hesitated, then looked toward the T-800. "It told us it was a
Terminator."
The elders exchanged uncertain glances.
Wangmo returned his attention to the machine. "A Terminator?"
"I am a Terminator. Cyberdyne Systems Model 103, to be exact."
The strange declaration produced a few nervous laughs from the
elders. One shook his head and muttered that the machine was clearly damaged,
while another suggested that the desert heat had affected its mind. Wangmo did
not laugh. He studied the T-800 for several moments before asking the question
that had been troubling him since his children arrived.
"You claim to have come from the future."
"Yes."
"And you expect us to believe this?"
"Yes."
Wangmo finally gave a short laugh. "You expect me to believe that
you walked out of another age and into our desert?"
"I did not walk here. I was sent through a temporal displacement."
The elders laughed again, louder this time. Lhamo looked
uncomfortable, but Nyima remained silent. She had already seen enough of the
machine to know that dismissing it simply because its explanation sounded
impossible would be a mistake.
Wangmo raised his hand, silencing the elders. "If you are from the
future, then tell us why you are here."
"My objective is the comet."
The laughter stopped.
Wangmo's expression changed slightly. "What comet?"
"The object buried in this region. Its metallic material is the
reason I was sent here."
Several elders began speaking at once, questioning how the machine
could know about something none of them had yet discussed with it. Wangmo
silenced them again.
"You said you were sent here. By whom?"
"The Resistance."
"And what is the Resistance?"
"A human organization fighting against an artificial intelligence
called Skynet."
The name meant nothing to the tribe, but the T-800 continued before
anyone could dismiss it.
"Skynet controls machines in the future. It is responsible for the
war that destroyed much of human civilization. I was sent into this time period
because Skynet has already sent three machines here."
Wangmo's expression hardened. "Three machines?"
"Three T-1000 units."
The T-800's left eye brightened, projecting a faint blue outline
that formed into a human figure. The elders stepped backward as the projected
person changed shape, flowing from one human appearance into another before
becoming a near-perfect copy of someone else.
The warriors raised their weapons.
"Do not attack," the T-800 said. "It is a projection."
The image continued changing, its face, clothing, and proportions
shifting until it became another person. Then it returned to a human
silhouette.
"That is a T-1000," the T-800 said. "It can alter its physical
appearance and imitate humans."
The elders stared at one another.
"How do we know that is possible?" one asked.
"You are looking at evidence."
Wangmo's eyes narrowed. "You said three of them have arrived."
"Yes."
"Where are they?"
"I do not know."
The answer immediately changed the atmosphere. Warriors turned
toward the people beside them. One elder instinctively stepped away from
another, while a guard looked toward the settlement entrance as though
expecting something to emerge from the desert. Suspicion spread through the
gathering, and for the first time since the T-800 arrived, uncertainty appeared
across Wangmo's face.
"If they can look like us," one warrior said quietly, "one could
already be here."
The thought spread quickly. Warriors began questioning one another,
and several elders demanded that everyone remain together until the machines
were identified. Lhamo looked around the gathering and saw suspicion growing
between people who had lived beside one another for years.
Wangmo turned sharply toward the T-800. "Are you saying one of
these things could be standing among my people?"
"I am saying they are capable of assuming human forms."
"That does not answer my question."
"I have already scanned everyone present."
The gathering fell silent.
Wangmo stared at the T-800. "And?"
"There are no T-1000 units among the people currently gathered
here."
The warriors slowly lowered their weapons, although the unease
remained. Wangmo looked at each of his people again before turning back to the
machine.
"You are certain?"
"Yes."
The T-800's left eye dimmed, and the hologram disappeared. The
tribe still did not know where the three machines were, but they now understood
that something capable of becoming one of them could be moving through the
region without being recognized.
Wangmo folded his arms. "If these machines are searching for the
comet, why?"
"Because Skynet intends to create an advanced Terminator."
The T-800's left eye activated again, projecting a larger image of
a machine with a solid endoskeleton beneath a metallic outer layer. The model
shifted to reveal its weapons and mechanical structure, then showed the
liquid-metal exterior moving over the rigid frame.
"This is a T-X prototype," the T-800 said. "It is an advanced
Terminator designed to combine an armored endoskeleton with a liquid-metal
exterior and heavy onboard weaponry."
The elders stared at the projection.
"Where did you see this?" Wangmo asked.
"On the Factory Ship before I entered the temporal displacement."
"You saw this machine in the future?"
"Yes."
"And the comet is connected to it?"
"The material contained within the comet can be used in its
development."
The implications began to settle over the gathering. Wangmo looked
toward the distant mountains, then back at the projected machine. The comet had
been an object of curiosity, something strange that had fallen from the heavens
and become buried in the earth. Now they were being told that its metal could
become part of a weapon that would exist long after everyone standing there was
dead.
"So these three machines came here for the metal," Wangmo said.
"Yes."
"And if they obtain it?"
"Skynet will have the material required to continue developing the
prototype."
One of the elders shook his head. "This is a matter for another
age. We should not involve ourselves in affairs that belong to the future."
Several men agreed. Another elder argued that the comet belonged to
no tribe and that fighting over it would only bring death. Wangmo listened
while the T-800 stood silently, allowing the disagreement to develop.
Nyima stepped forward. "There won't be a future to stay out of if
those machines are already here."
The argument stopped.
"You heard him," Nyima continued. "They are not coming someday.
They are already here. Three machines have crossed into our time, and they are
searching for the comet. If they take the metal and use it to build that thing,
then whatever happens in the future begins here."
Nobody answered.
Lhamo looked at his sister with a mixture of concern and approval.
He knew their father well enough to understand that challenging the elders so
directly could have gone badly, but Wangmo did not reprimand her. Instead, he
looked toward the vanished projection.
"The other tribe," Wangmo said slowly. "The Vakari Folk."
The T-800 turned toward him.
"If those machines are somewhere in this region, the Vakari may
already be involved."
"We do not know their location," the T-800 replied.
"But if they discover the comet?"
"They will attempt to secure the material."
Wangmo looked at the elders. "Then they will not be the only ones."
The discussion that followed was no longer about whether the T-800
was telling the truth. The tribe had too much evidence to dismiss the
possibility, and the comet had suddenly become something that could determine
the future of humanity. Wangmo ordered the warriors to prepare for
reconnaissance rather than an immediate attack, insisting that they needed to
understand the threat before committing the tribe to open conflict.
That night, Nyima, Lhamo, Zeek, and several Zaru-Kahn warriors
moved beyond the settlement under cover of darkness. The T-800 followed at a
measured distance, its sensors sweeping the surrounding terrain. They carried
no torches; Wangmo had ordered them to remain concealed, and the moon provided
enough light to navigate the uneven ground.
Zeek kept close to the siblings. He was younger than Lhamo but
experienced enough to understand the danger of traveling through unfamiliar
territory at night.
"Your father actually believed him?" he whispered.
"He believed enough to send us here," Lhamo replied.
Nyima looked toward the horizon. "He didn't have much choice."
The group continued until the land rose slightly ahead of them.
From the crest, the enormous object became visible in the distance. The comet
was partially buried beneath the desert, but a massive portion remained exposed
above the sand, its strange metallic surface reflecting the moonlight.
Zeek stared at it. "That's larger than I imagined."
Lhamo nodded.
Nyima looked back toward the T-800. "Is that where the metal is?"
"Yes."
The machine's answer was quiet, but its eyes remained fixed on the
object.
None of them noticed the figure observing them from farther away.
The T-1000 had assumed the appearance of a Vakari scout and was
moving through the desert when it spotted the Zaru-Kahn reconnaissance party.
It studied their position before turning back toward the Vakari settlement. The
discovery gave it an opportunity to turn their preparations into an attack
against them.
The T-1000 reached the Vakari camp and alerted a group of warriors,
telling them that the Zaru-Kahn were moving against them and preparing to
attack. The warning convinced the warriors that waiting until morning would
give their rivals an advantage, so a dozen men gathered their swords and spears
before following the scout into the darkness.
By the time the Zaru-Kahn group began returning from the
reconnaissance position, the twelve Vakari warriors had already reached them.
They emerged from the darkness and attacked without warning, forcing Nyima,
Lhamo, and Zeek to draw their weapons as the rest of the Zaru-Kahn scattered to
avoid being surrounded.
"Get behind us!" Lhamo shouted.
Nyima refused to retreat. She moved beside her brother while Zeek
took the opposite side, the three of them fighting together as the Vakari
warriors pressed forward. Spears struck against their weapons while swords cut
through the darkness, and the Zaru-Kahn struggled to maintain their formation
against the larger group.
Nyima blocked a spear thrust and pushed the attacker back, but
another warrior immediately moved in from the side. Lhamo intercepted him
before the blow could land, striking his weapon away while Zeek engaged two
others.
The fight became increasingly difficult as more Vakari warriors
surrounded them.
"Uncle Brad!" Nyima shouted.
The T-800 emerged from the darkness.
The distant T-1000 stopped watching the battle and focused on the
machine approaching the group. It had expected the Zaru-Kahn to be vulnerable,
but the T-800's appearance changed the situation immediately. The T-800 walked
directly into the fighting. The first Vakari warrior attacked with a spear. The
T-800 caught the shaft, pulled the man forward, and drove him into the ground
with enough force to leave him motionless. Another warrior swung a sword at its
head, but the blade struck the T-800's metal frame and glanced away before the
machine seized the attacker and threw him into the path of two others.
The remaining Vakari fighters hesitated but that hesitation was
enough. The T-800 advanced through them with brutal efficiency, breaking their
formation and cutting down one warrior after another. Nyima, Lhamo, and Zeek
were forced to move aside as the machine took control of the fight, its
movements precise and relentless. Within moments, the dozen Vakari warriors who
had expected to overwhelm three young Zaru-Kahn fighters were instead
struggling to survive against a single machine.
The T-1000 watched from the darkness, its borrowed face
expressionless as the T-800 transformed the ambush into a massacre. It remained
hidden while the last of the Vakari warriors fell beneath the T-800's assault. Nyima
stood breathing heavily, her weapon still raised. Lhamo looked across the
battlefield before turning toward the machine. The T-800 scanned the
surrounding desert, its red eyes stopping briefly on the darkness where the
T-1000 was watching. The T-1000 remained perfectly still. After several
seconds, the T-800 turned back toward the surviving Zaru-Kahn. None of them
knew they had been watched or that one of the machines they feared had
witnessed the entire battle. But the T-1000 now understood something that had
not been part of its calculations before that night. The T-800 had already
found the tribe, and the tribe had accepted its protection.