The T-800 finished putting on the new clothes. They were way different than his mission data described 1980s America. They were closer to those historical martial arts movies that started getting famous in the 1980s according to his database on 1980s era.
The trousers were tight on his large legs. The dark, rough long robe was dirty and smelled of sweat.
He looked down at the unconscious leader. He was still breathing. He was a variable. He could be a potential future threat.
The T-800 placed his hand on the leader's head. He applied pressure.
CRACK.
The Skull cracked and the threat was terminated.
Then his sensors suddenly registered a spike of that unknown energy releasing from the leader's body and getting absorbed into his own.
The T-800 then moved to the other bodies. He scanned each one with his now sharper, enhanced sensors.
[Scanning target 1... Unknown energy signature previously detected is now absent.]
[Scanning target 2... Unknown energy signature is absent.]
He scanned all seven bodies. The result was the same. The strange energy he had detected in them was gone. At the same time, his own systems reported a massive efficiency increase.
His neural processor correlated the facts.
The targets had possessed an unidentified energy. After he terminated them, their energy was gone. At the same time, his own power core efficiency increased by two hundred percent.
The hypothesis was a direct transfer. This unknown energy moved from them to him as he terminated them. It was compatible with his systems. It was a significant performance upgrade.
He needed more data to confirm it.
The T-800 needed more information about the environment. He walked to the pile of metal scrap in the corner of the cave. He picked up a broken sword. The metal was heavy.
[Analyzing material composition...]
[Result: Iron, carbon, and an unknown element.]
[The unknown element emits a low-level radiation. This radiation matches the frequency of the energy signature detected in the humans who were terminated.]
[Conclusion: The energy is present in the local materials.]
The T-800 dropped the broken sword. He walked to the body of the leader. He searched his clothes again. He found a small leather pouch tied to his belt.
Inside the pouch were ten small, flat pieces of metal. They looked like coins. The T-800 scanned them.
[Analysis: Copper and the same unknown element found in the sword.]
There was also a rolled-up piece of animal skin. The T-800 unrolled it. It was a map. The map was drawn by hand. It showed the jungle, a river, and a small drawing of a town. A series of symbols was written next to the town.
[Analyzing symbols...]
[Searching language database for matches...]
[Result: 60% structural match with Mandarin Chinese script.]
[High probability of script being a local variant or dialect.]
[Translation confidence: Low.]
[Hypothesis: The symbols designate the location marked on the map.]
[Conclusion: Insufficient data for accurate translation. More linguistic data required.]
[New objective: Proceed to the marked location to acquire more data.]
He also noticed something on each of their bodies. A repeating pattern, a mark or a brand like those brands put on cattles or slaves or criminals.
On each of the seven men, in various places like the neck, forearm, and chest, had this similar brand.
It looked like a brand of scarred flesh, a crudely burned symbol of a circle with a crack running through it.
As he was observing the brand on the nearest corpse, it started to fade away, the scarred tissue slowly smoothing out into normal, lifeless skin.
Like it was never there in the first place. The T-800 checked the other bodies, and that same brand on every other body also slowly faded away.
Suddenly, his body sensors registered something. He raised his right hand and noticed that same burn mark, that brand, was on his right arm, fresh like someone had just branded him.
Body sensors didn't pick any negatives, and his multiple vision modes also didn't pick anything negative.
It did have the same radiation signature as the unknown energy which was supercharging all his functions.
He quickly picked up a dagger, carved out the mark, and threw it away. The nanites, cut off from his central neural processor, didn't survive at all and turned into blood goop.
But the self-inflicted carving started to rapidly heal. Then his sensors alerted him of something new. He slowly turned his forearm. Just beside where he carved his skin, there was another brand, identical to the previous one.
Without wasting any time, he carved out this one too.
However, the result was the same. The brand reappeared just beside the newly carved-out skin.
There was no pause for decision. He swiped the dagger through his elbow to his entire forearm and pulled out the entire skin of his right forearm, leaving only the mechanical skeleton.
He threw away the strip of skin. It turned into goop in minutes. But the wounded arm skin started to heal and grow, covering the exposed mechanical skeleton.
Within minutes, a fully new layer took over as if he never carved or flayed his whole skin layer.
His body sensors again suddenly pinged, this time on his right shoulder. The brand had returned, and now it was on his right shoulder.
Concluding that he did not have enough data to tackle this tricky situation, he decided to not waste time and nanites anymore.
However, before leaving, the T-800 decided to test his upgraded systems. He saw a large, round boulder in the cave. The boulder was as tall as a man's chest.
[Calculating object mass... Estimated weight: 1200 kilograms.]
The T-800 walked to the boulder. He placed one hand flat against the cold stone and pushed.
The boulder did not shake. It did not tremble. It actually slid across the dirt floor of the cave. It moved easily, with no sound except for the grinding of rock on dirt. It stopped when it hit the far wall of the cave.
[System check: Physical strength output matches 200% efficiency increase.]
[Upgrade confirmed.]
The T-800 turned and walked out of the cave.