The park was silent. A normal silence. The night insect was making their normal chorus, the street lump was flickering as it normally did and even the normal hobo was wrapped around a large piece of discarded newspaper, trying but failing to beat the night cold.
The nigh wind suddenly grew more violent, swaying the trees more violently and unfortunately for the homeless person rested on the bench, his makeshift blanket was equally blown away by this night wind.
"Can't a guy get a good night's sleep around hear." He complained, pulling his dirty torn overcoat tightly against himself. And he moved to pick up his blanket once more. He believed it was helping with the cold, and what would he read in the morning if he let it blow away.
It happened then, there was a sudden burst of light from one of the benches in the park, and then came the sound of lightning, or was it electricity. The Hobo wouldn't know, he felt it just sounded like that. But his vision had become blurry as he squinted his eyes and wondered what was happening.
The wind picked up further, the sound of electricity became more prevalent, and his eyes could see less and less.
He wondered what was happening, was this some sort of military thing, or an even worse idea suddenly came to him. He remembered one of the other homeless people that lived around these parts reading to him an article about how aliens had been abducting people and experimenting on them. What really terrified him was the part about how they would suddenly probe the abducted people and send them back with their alien babies!
He burst out into a run uncaring about the light and his blown away blanket. There was no way he was going to carry no alien babies!
The light deemed, the wind stopped blowing violently and everything returned to as it was, but the homeless man was long gone.
... Dream of Infinite.
Mikael took in the cold environment around him, letting the wind blow his hair gently. He mostly thought over the reason the System had chosen such a loud entrance to welcome his arrival in the Terminator world. Maybe it was simply a fun activity for it. He did not care.
He quickly checked making sure everything was in order, and this allowed him to find a new items within his storage. He took each one out confirming what they were.
There were identification papers with his name on it along with a bank card. A police badge holding the letters F.B.I and a Two-way radio, there was also a strange device like a sonar machine he believed it to be the machine he would use to find the Terminators. The knowledge given to him by the system allowed him to understand the what these things were and their functions. He was able to also instantly figure out his identity or occupation in this world which was part of the law enforcement. What benefit this identity would have only time would tell.
For now, he needed to start heading to his mission zone. From the knowledge provided by the system, Sarah Connor was currently out camping with her parents at Big Bear Lake, a region which was some distance away from where he currently was, which was Los Angeles in Echo Park Lake. Mikael was unsure why the system wouldn't directly take him where Sarah Connor was, but he didn't think too much into it. Zoe explained how before missions usually begin there was a sort of safe time. And the fact that this was a solo world mission world. Mikael was quite laid back!
He started moving to exit the park. At the same time, he organized his plans within this mission world. He recalled all potential side missions Zoe had said would be possibly achievable and possible titles he would also be able to receive from this world.
Mikael walked out of the park, a plan already forming within his mind.
...…
Finding a car was quite easy. The following steps of hotwiring it and driving to his location were even more so. It took some adaptation to get used to such old technology but in the end it all worked out.
Mikael was enjoying the view as he drived along. The night air blasting his face and hair. The neon lights from clubs and stores still open and even the occasion people that walked by. Possibly criminals and even possible normal blocks. It gave of a deep 80's vibe.
These sights were very new to him. To see a world looking somewhat so underdeveloped and still so full of life raised an emotion within him he could not explain. It was like someone from the future traveling back to the 100 years back in the past. Everything would look so strange and new and to Mikael that was how everything truly was. The basic common sense provided by the system was truly the most helpful function that he had so far.
[[
RADIO STATIC
"This is Diane Laker, KNEX News, coming to you live from our Sunset Boulevard studio with a breaking update on what officials are now calling a 'sustained surge in anomalous urban violence' across Southern California."
"Over the past 48 hours, Los Angeles and surrounding counties have seen a sharp spike in violent crimes, bizarre assaults, and unexplained firefights involving suspects reportedly *displaying 'inhuman durability,' 'non-standard weaponry,' and in some cases, 'vanishing from the scene with no visible means of escape.'"
]]
The random song that Mikael had been listening to suddenly fizzled out and interrupted Mikael's nodding head. But he soon raised the volume finding what was being reported interesting.
[[
"According to LAPD spokesperson Lieutenant Raul Navarro, quote:
'We're dealing with suspects who aren't behaving like any street gang, cartel, or militant group we've ever seen. Some of them don't bleed no matter how much they are shot at. Some have shown to possess above normal human strength and speed. Some were even noted to have… metallic like limbs!'"
"Police forces have been stretched thin, with major incidents erupting near Long Beach, Studio City, an abandoned aerospace facility and Cyberdyne systems — all within the past 12 hours."
]]
'The terminators are acting up.' This was what Mikael believed from the information he heard. The biggest reason for this was the fact that the people mentioned within the news station report could take bullets so easily.
But Mikael felt a strange tension on the news report. There was something wrong with the wording.
[[
"In response, Governor Reagan's office has formally requested federal anti-terrorism support, including a counterinsurgency task force from San Diego's military district and possible cooperation with U.S. Air Force Project: Sentinel — a Cold War-era rapid response unit originally meant for domestic nuclear sabotage scenarios."
"The Department of Defense has not confirmed these deployments, but sources tell KNEX that military-grade equipment has already been diverted to high-risk sectors near Cyberdyne Systems, following a failed break-in at their Phoenix research facility late last night."
]]
'Why would terminators try to break into Cyberdyne.' The sinking feeling he felt increased further. But Mikael was also confused why so many Terminators were present. From his information, Skynet would usually send one terminator to eliminate Sarah Connor. It could possibly be his involvement in this world that caused this change. Or simply because this was a mission world that made the difficulty rise. Mikael could simply speculate.
As the Supreme one had said, it desired two things from these missions. For the Dreamers to evolve and entertainment. Mikael did not understand much about the entertainment part but from what he understood about evolution, it happened under strict conditions and one of them was for a creature to be able to survive under harsh conditions and adapt to those conditions. The entertainment part could also be explained in simple terms that the more dramatic and intense a plot was the more entertaining it would be.
That was what Mikael believed, and Zoe had only supplemented this belief. She had told him how in each individual dream world, there would be a counter force for the actions Caused by Dreamers. She said that these counter force had been speculated to be the involvement of maybe the plot/timeline/the tower or maybe even the world itself moving these pieces maybe to return the plot to its normal condition or maybe as a means of increasing the difficulty for Dreamers. It had merely been speculation on the Dreamers part.
But Mikael was still confused, with his own new identity as a member of the F.B.I, how would that affect how the authorities responded to his actions.
What he remained confused about was what would a bunch of Terminators want at Cyberdyne
[[
"Authorities are urging citizens to stay indoors after sunset, report any suspicious inhumane behavior, and refrain from approaching anyone displaying strange abilities, monotone speech, or glowing red eyes. I repeat — do not engage."
"We'll continue to follow this developing story. For now, this is Diane Laker with KNEX 780, Los Angeles — stay safe, stay smart, and if you see something you can't explain... don't wait to call it in. Goodnight."
]]
The radio report came to an end and with it the music returned. A gentle companion for his once more turbulent thoughts.
His dread was soon proven true.
...…
[EMERGENCY MISSION! EMERGENCY MISSION! EMERGENCY MISSION!
Mission: Sarah Connor and her parents have been attacked by invaders, ensure their safety.
Requirement: Rush over and protect Sarah Connor
Side Mission: Ensure Sarah's parents survive
Mission rewards: To be determined upon completion
]]
"Damn it!" Mikaels fragmented thoughts was quickly brought back to attention. What exactly had happened? And who were these Infiltrators anyways. He knew only Dreamers would in places that he would least want and everything started to make sense.
He stepped on the gas pedal, pushing the car from the average speed he had going to its maximum capability. The mission had never said he would need to arrive at the earliest possible time and Mikael had been taking his time, enjoying the quiet of everything before the storm would start.
Lucky for him he was already three quarters of the way there when the emergency mission had come. Now if he pushed this car to its max capabilities Mikael would arrive in maybe ten minutes. But would that be too late. Would Sarah Connor already be dead before he even arrived!
"Shit!"
...…..
The breath-taking night sky exposing a world beyond the small planet that was earth. The full green forest is made up of a variety of towering trees such as oaks and pines and even the normal still lake that glinted with the glow of the stars above. This was what had welcomed Mikael as he arrived at his location.
He would have been enchanted in fact. Star gazing had been one of his past favorite hobbies, but his mind was currently occupied.
Mikael stood, upon one of the many tall pines, his gaze fixed upon the lone cabin that lay rested beside the big bear lake itself. The cabin had a homely feel to it, warm porch lamps, a rusted old wood that gave of the feeling of passed good times and a welcoming mat at the steps of the door with the words 'Home.'
Looking closer, you would start to notice oddities in this strange cabin that had its homely feeling replaced with oppressive death. Bullets marks now marked the outside walls of the cabin itself cracking and destroying the cabin. Broken shards of the window were scattered on the ground, and the door lay ajar as if to welcome an unwanted guest. But Mikael could identify the fact that the hinges of the door were busted. The lights of the cabin were even more so on at this time. And in that light Mikael had been able to identify people, their shadows appearing and disappearing. Their voices too far to be able to hear what they said.
He moved closer, wary of being found and wishing to search for additional information, most importantly the whereabouts of Sarah.
His breath slowed and his body became unnaturally fluid. Everything about hm became silent, like he wasn't even there anymore. It was unnatural. But this was a skill he learnt, allowing him to lower his presence as much as possible. It was so effective that if you weren't focusing on him completely, you would find your eyes ignoring him.
He moved in the darkness, moving with the shadows made by the tall tress until he had managed to approach a place with a broken window and where he could hear the voices.
"She's gone! We can't find her anywhere in the cabin!"
'He was absolutely F*****!"
...
A/N: Newest chapter, please enjoy.
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