Terminator: Kayden's Journey

Pit-Stop

"Kayden, wake up." A deep voice came from above me.

I groaned in reply and just snuggled more into the machine's chest. It felt rather nice, to be honest. I never was held by anyone once I reached my teens. Mom would have a cow once she saw me like this with the terminator, I just know it.

"Kayden," the voice came again. "We need to leave before the T-1000 finds us."

I grumbled and forced my eyes to open and the first thing I saw was a grey shirt. The second thing is that I saw mom staring us down from the corner of my eye.

"Morning." I mumbled as I slowly stood up, rubbing my eyes. I heard the machine stand up as well before walking outside, along with John.

"...What?" I asked when I saw mom staring at me. She doesn't say anything, so I just decided to step outside, taking a deep breath.

She came walking out a few minutes later, just as the terminator and John pulled up in a 1980 Ford LTD.

"We have to get as far away from the city as possible." The terminator stated to us.

"Just head south." mom told him as we got into the car. We began rolling, getting onto the road and leaving John's and I's normal life behind for good.

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"Keep it under sixty-five." Mom stated as we passed a Semi. "We don't want to be pulled over."

"Affirmative." The terminator replied.

"No, no, no, no, no. You gotta listen to the way people talk." John advised the other. "You don't say 'affirmative' or some shit like that. You say, "No problemo", and if someone comes up to you with an attitude, you say "eat me". And if you want to shine them on, it's "Hasta la vista, baby"."

"Hasta la vista, baby." the machine tested the phrase.

"Yeah, or "Later, dick-wad" and if someone get's upset, you say "chill out". Or you can do combinations."

"Chill out, dick-wad."

"That's great! See? You're getting it!"

"No problemo."

I couldn't help but snicker at their conversation. This is the most I've seen him talk to someone other than mom, Tim and I.

"Guys?" I piped up once I saw smoke coming from the hood. "I think we need to pull over to let the car cool down."

We pulled into a gas station, near a pump before mom, John and the terminator got out of the car while I stayed put. I watched as John and the terminator made their way towards the actual store before turning to look at mom, who was stretching her legs.

"Hey, mom?"

"Yes, Kayden?" she looked over at me.

"Tell me more about d-...Kyle." I bit back that word since 'dad' was something only John had the right to call the soldier.

"I already told you everything about him."

"I just...I dunno, I just want to keep hearing about it because I wanted to see if I deserve his last name being my middle name yet."

She walked around the car and opened my door before kneeling and taking my hands into hers. "Kayden Reese Conner, you protected your little brother when I couldn't. You deserve Kyle's name because you are a protector."

She kissed my forehead before straightening up just as John and his companion came over with food. He gave mom a sandwich and gave me two hotdogs, which I quickly dug into. Mom went back to her side and began eating hers.

Once I was done eating, I got up, threw away my trash and walked over to the terminator, who was pouring a liquid, probably water, in a part of the engine. "Need any help?"

"No."

We looked over when we heard some sound and saw two young boys with toy guns, fighting over who got who.

"We're not going to make it, are we?" asked John as he walked over with mom. "People I mean."

"It's in your nature to destroy yourselves." the terminator responded.

"Yeah. Major drag, huh?"

The mother of the two boys walked over and grabbed them, ushering them back to whatever party or family gathering they came from.

"I need to know how Skynet gets built." mom told the terminator. "Who's responsible?"

"The man most directly responsible is Miles Bennett Dyson." he replied before shutting the hood and we all climbed back into the car.

"Who is that?" asked John.

"He's the director of special projects at Cyberdyne Systems Corporations."

"Why him?" mom asked next.

"in a few months, he creates a revolutionary type of microprocessor." He started to drive out of the station.

"Go on, then what?"

"In three years, Cyberdyne will become the largest supplier of military computer systems. All stealth bombers are upgraded with Cyberdyne computers, becoming fully unmanned. Afterwards, they fly with a perfect operational record. The Skynet funding bill is passed. The system goes on-line on August fourth, nineteen-ninety-seven. Human decisions are removed from strategics defense. Skynet begins to learn at a geometric rate. It becomes self-aware at two fourteen AM, Eastern time, August twenty-ninth. In a panic, they try to pull the plug."

"Skynet fights back."

"Yes. It launches it's missiles..."

I started to zone out as I looked out of the window, watching as the scenery passes by. My eyes slowly started to drift close and before long, I was sleeping.