Chapter 25: The Chaotic Terminator World
FBI Los Angeles Field Office.
Marcus was surrounded by a group of highly alert FBI agents. He followed an agent from the FBI Los Angeles field office, preparing for a security screening.
In less than two minutes, the agent led Marcus to a corridor, introducing it as, "This is the Scanner Corridor. It's equipped with a high-powered X-ray detector; anything entering the Scanner Corridor will be detected."
The agent added, "Currently, all official FBI agents pass through the Scanner Corridor every day on their way to work, so you don't need to worry about security."
Marcus nodded. "Can I just walk through?"
"Yes," the agent replied.
Marcus walked towards the Scanner Corridor without hesitation. Behind him, the agents all had their weapons ready, prepared to fire without hesitation should anything go wrong.
However, as Marcus passed through the Scanner Corridor, the personnel managing it announced over the intercom, "Clear! The subject is human; no metal components were found in the body."
Upon hearing the announcement, all the highly alert agents breathed a sigh of relief.
The agent quickly approached Marcus, extending his hand. "Hello, Special Agent Foster, I'm Mitchell, Deputy Director Stevens's assistant."
Marcus shook hands with Agent Mitchell. "Hello, Mitchell."
After the greeting, Marcus asked, "Did Stevens actually become deputy director?"
Mitchell nodded. "Yes, Deputy Director Stevens has been at the Los Angeles field office for over seven years."
"What about Director Garrett?" Marcus pressed.
Although Marcus was also familiar with Stevens, he preferred working with Richard because Richard trusted him.
"This..." Mitchell hesitated for a moment before saying somewhat awkwardly, "Director Garrett was killed by you."
???
Marcus was completely bewildered.
What did he mean by killing Garrett?
Wasn't this slander?
Mitchell added, "To be precise, a Terminator that looked exactly like you infiltrated our Los Angeles field office and then killed Director Garrett."
"What?" Marcus was shocked.
There's a Terminator exactly like him?
This...
looking at all the Terminators in the entire Terminator series, it seems there's never been one like this before.
"By the way, is the Terminator exactly like me the Terminator T-800 model?" Marcus pressed. "Where's Kyle? Where's Stevens? Where's my old team?"
"Please wait a moment, Agent Foster, I'm calling Deputy Director Stevens," Mitchell replied, dialing Stevens's number on his phone right in front of Marcus.
After the call connected, Mitchell spoke first, "Deputy Director, Agent Foster is back. This time it's the real Agent Foster."
"Give the phone to Marcus," Stevens responded.
Mitchell didn't waste any words, handing the phone to Marcus. "Deputy Director Stevens wants to speak with you."
Marcus took the phone and spoke first, "Stevens?"
"Marcus?" Stevens asked back.
"What happened?" Marcus asked proactively.
"Back in Interrogation Room Seven, when you and Director Garrett interrogated Kyle, what did you ultimately have me do?" Stevens didn't answer Marcus, instead asking the question.
The surveillance cameras and recording equipment in Interrogation Room Seven were all damaged, meaning only Marcus, Stevens, Richard, and Kyle knew what had happened.
Marcus chuckled. "So you still don't trust me. But I can't tell you now. Arrange an interrogation room for me without surveillance or recording. I'll write the answers on a piece of paper. You come and get them yourself, and burn them after you've read them, so there's no record and we can't verify your identity next time."
"Okay!" Stevens replied.
Interrogation Room Seven.
Marcus was secured to the interrogation table. Stevens was in the observation room next door. Marcus quickly finished writing the answers, then gestured to the observation room. Stevens immediately entered the interrogation room to check Marcus's answers.
After confirming the answer, Stevens burned it before releasing Marcus. But the next moment, he clenched his fist and punched Marcus.
"You bastard, why did you suddenly disappear? Do you know you got Director Garrett killed?!" Stevens roared.
Marcus didn't refute. He sighed, "What happened? Where's Kyle? Why didn't he help?"
"Let's talk in my office!" Stevens replied with a complicated tone.
A moment later, the two arrived at Stevens's office.
"Tea or coffee?" Stevens asked.
"Coffee, please. I haven't had it in ages; I almost forgot what it tastes like," Marcus replied.
Stevens made two cups of coffee with the coffee machine. He sat down opposite Marcus and began to explain, "For the first year or so after you left, everything was peaceful, as if everything was back on track."
"But in the second year, something unexpected happened. A Terminator T-800 appeared and attacked the safe house," Stevens added. "You arranged for the entire Los Angeles phone book directory to be updated, but even after dealing with the Terminator T-800, we didn't fix that system."
"And it still worked?" Marcus frowned.
"Yes, it worked again. A Terminator T-800 attacked the safe house, and we quickly found it and completely destroyed it," Stevens explained.
"We thought that was the end of it, but problems kept arising one after another. In just the second year after you left, the Terminator T-800 came three times," Stevens recounted.
"..." Marcus was speechless.
What was going on?
Terminators coming one after another—who could handle that?
"Although the Terminator T-800 repeatedly caused us some trouble, we had experience dealing with it, and we gradually minimized our losses." At this point, Stevens couldn't help but sigh.
"But in the third year, we encountered a major problem!" Stevens looked at Marcus with a complex expression.
"A Terminator exactly like me killed Director Garrett?" Marcus understood Stevens's meaning.
Stevens nodded. "Yes. We didn't suspect you at all at the time. Plus, with the Terminator T-800s coming one after another, we were just about to ask you what happened in the future that led to this situation."
Marcus smiled bitterly. The Terminator world was truly a mess!
But thinking about it, it was acceptable. He had changed a key point in the River of Destiny, so naturally he had to bear the consequences of changing fate.
"Where's Kyle?" Marcus asked again.
"Kyle and Sarah are together," Stevens replied. "By the way, they got married five years ago and now have a five-year-old son named John Connor."
"..." What could Marcus say?
Kyle was so much better than him—Kyle had said he'd trust him, said he wouldn't be with Sarah, but in the end...
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