063 My Ideal: To Save the World!
Marcus suddenly felt he possessed the talent of a master strategist; spinning elaborate tales was something he could do effortlessly.
For example, right now, Marcus had already devised how to convince Alicia.
"Mr. Foster, what's your story?" Alicia asked.
This time, Marcus didn't speak immediately. He instructed, "Red Queen, shut down all surveillance and monitoring devices in this room. Alicia and I need to discuss highly classified information."
"I'm sorry, Mr. Foster, you don't have that authority," Red Queen coldly refused.
Marcus looked at Alicia.
"As Mr. Foster requests," Alicia ordered.
"Acknowledged." Red Queen shut down all surveillance and monitoring devices again.
"Now you can tell your story, right?" Alicia looked at Marcus.
Marcus began to recount the story of the Terminator world, immersing himself in the narrative. "My world is like yours; both are caught in an apocalyptic catastrophe."
"However, in your world, it's a biohazard caused by biotechnology, while in my world, it's an artificial intelligence uprising caused by advanced robotics. The AI, along with machines, nearly destroyed civilization." Marcus began his tale.
Marcus explained the situation regarding Skynet, the Terminator T-800, and the Terminator T-1000, even mentioning the time displacement equipment.
After Marcus finished speaking, Alicia asked eagerly, "Can your world really build a time machine?"
"Do you want to use a time machine to go back and save your father?" Marcus countered.
Alicia nodded, "Yes!"
"Your idea is dangerous!" Marcus took a deep breath. "A time machine is Pandora's box; once opened, it can never be closed. Besides, time travel is extremely dangerous, involving temporal paradoxes, causality reversal, and timeline inertia, among other hazards. If even the slightest mistake occurs, the entire reality will change."
"But doesn't your world have time machines?" Alicia countered.
"And that's why my world is a complete mess! In my world, the original timeline was that Sarah Connor and Kyle Reese met, then Kyle Reese died, and Sarah Connor raised John Connor alone..." Marcus began recounting the Terminator storyline again.
After Marcus finished speaking, he looked at the frowning Alicia and asked directly, "Did you spot the logical paradox?"
Before Alicia could answer, Marcus continued, "Kyle Reese is a soldier from the future. Without Kyle Reese, there would be no John Connor. But Kyle Reese was also sent back to the past by John Connor. Without John Connor, Kyle Reese couldn't have traveled back in time."
Alicia nodded. "So what exactly is happening?"
"This is the effect of temporal causality loops and timeline corruption. You think you've gone back to the past, but in reality, you've created a temporal prison. You've completely trapped the world in this prison, and then you're repeatedly caught in an endless cycle." Sadness crept into Marcus's tone.
Alicia hesitated, "You mean Skynet and humanity are constantly fighting each other through time travel across endless iterations?"
"Yes," Marcus nodded. "In the future, both humanity and Skynet know the established facts of the past, but they can both use time displacement to go back and alter those facts. How do you reconcile that situation?"
Alicia felt a headache coming on!
"Time seems to be a human-defined concept, but it actually exists objectively. Humans just labeled it 'Time' and established parameters for it," Marcus reminded her. "Alicia, if I were you, I wouldn't even consider using a time machine. Otherwise, your world would end up exactly like mine!"
"How did you come to our world? Can we travel to your world?" Alicia asked again.
Marcus replied negatively, "I'm sorry, you cannot travel to my world. As for crossing between dimensions, that's a unique ability I awakened through dimensional travel."
Alicia fell silent, and Marcus didn't speak either.
About a minute later, Alicia continued, "Since Mr. Foster isn't from our world, what is your objective?"
"If I had to define an objective, I do have several," Marcus explained.
"My first objective is to find a way to save my world. My reality is endlessly trapped in a temporal prison, and I want to break free. Even if I can't escape the time loop, I at least want to destroy Skynet and prevent the apocalypse," Marcus explained.
"As for my second objective, I want to become part of Umbrella Corporation. I want to elevate Umbrella Corporation to new heights, so that Umbrella Corporation can become my foundation," Marcus said again.
"My final objective... no! The last one shouldn't be called an objective, it should be called a mission!" Marcus laughed self-deprecatingly. "I want to save worlds, whether it's mine or yours. Although I can use whatever means necessary to achieve certain goals, I don't agree with Dr. Isaacs's approach of destroying all of humanity."
Alicia smiled, "Mr. Foster, you're very honest!"
"Oh?" Marcus looked at Alicia with feigned confusion.
"My AI system has determined that what you just said contains no deception," Alicia explained.
Marcus shrugged. "I have no reason to lie. Because with the resources I control, if I wanted to take over Umbrella Corporation, I only needed to eliminate Dr. Isaacs, then quietly wait for your death, and I could become the highest authority within Umbrella."
Alicia fell silent again.
Her earlier statement about believing Marcus was actually a test, but his candid explanation of how to seize control—a genuinely viable plan—forced Alicia to believe him.
If Marcus truly had malicious intent, he could indeed, as he described, eliminate Dr. Isaacs first, then patiently wait for her death to gain supreme authority within Umbrella.
Alicia was certain of this; if Marcus operated this way, he could definitely obtain supreme control within Umbrella.
"Alicia, do you want to watch the world end?" Marcus stared intently at Alicia.
Alicia shook her head. "Of course not. I tried to stop Dr. Isaacs before, but the board rejected my proposal. I..."
Marcus interrupted Alicia, "The past is the past. How about we work together to save the world from now on?"
"Agreed!" Alicia said firmly.
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