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.It's not like he wants to resist.We just haven't done this in a thorough way."She laughed."Now you're calling him, 'him,' John.You're getting as bad as me."He laughed back, enjoying their easy friendship."I say it in front of Mom.""No, you better not.Look, I'll you race you back to the casco" She turned to the T-800."You, too.Come on, soldiers, let's get moving."Next day, they put together a group to help conduct the interrogation, with others to witness it.John and Sarah had to be there, since they knew most about what was to come in the future, the way the war would unfold.Gabriela and Carlo looked on but took no real part, just informing themselves.John got Danny as another witness—he was smart, and could offer an objective opinion.Finally, they used Howard, along with Bruce Axelrod, whose training had covered military interrogation.He was the kind of guy who'd make sure nothing got overlooked.John had known him, on and off, for many years, and they trusted each other—he'd taught John a lot, even as a little kid.John wished he could have brought more of his friends along to this session—Angelo Suarez maybe, or some of the Salcedas—but he'd brief them afterwards.They wanted to keep down the numbers here, and there had to be priorities.The Terminator sat at one end of the big table in the casco.It looked relaxed but alert, with both hands on the tabletop in front of it.The others lined up along the table's sides, John hunching forward, eager to hear what he might learn, how much new information the Terminator had after all these years.Sarah was fidgety and nervous with bad memories coming back, or so John guessed.Her experience was so different from his: The first T-800 she'd met had almost killed her; her lover and protector, Kyle— John's father—had died fighting it She'd lived through all that, traumatized, yet come up so much tougher.[ Howard and Bruce sat on the same side of the table, up near the Terminator, both of them looking stiff and military, though Bruce gave John a wink, to show it was all a kind of game."Let's start," Gabriela said."This could take a while."She'd found some pads and exercise books—plenty of paper for everyone to take notes.She also had a tape recorder running, a handheld device, like a Dictaphone, placed on the tabletop, two feet away from the Terminator.John chose a 224-page exercise book to write notes in."All right," Howard said."This is not a normal interrogation.It's not like the subject is hostile.So we don't need any tricks, or anything fancy here.It's just a matter of being thorough, making sure we get all we want.Is that clear? We can do this again if we have to, but it's good to get it right the first time.""Amen to that," Bruce said.He looked hard at the Terminator."What sort of information do you have?""I have detailed files relevant to my mission.Also standard files for Terminator operations.""Like what?" John said."General military data.Maps, designs.Human physiological data.Basic psychological theory—""What about Skynet's headquarters?" he said."How it's laid out? In 2029, I mean.Have you got files on that?""Yes, sufficient for operational purposes."Howard put up his hand to stop proceedings.He looked across the table to where John and Sarah were seated."You guys are the ones who know what questions to ask.The rest of us can help you, but it's really up to you.You happy to go on like this, John?""Sure." John was starting to enjoy it."He's dealt with the Terminator more than anybody," Sarah said."He knows what to ask it, and what won't help."John thought about the Terminator's answers so far.Back in 1994, when they'd fought and fled from the T-1000, it had mentioned its files.It held detailed files on human anatomy, it had said, all the better to be an efficient killer.But there was no reason for it to know everything that Skynet itself knew, or would know in the next twenty-three years."So how much gets programmed into a Terminator?" he said."How much information?""All Skynet war units are equipped with basic information relating to their essential operations, and additional information sufficient for their current missions.""Okay, so what do you mean by 'war units'?" John had a good idea of what kinds of machines that meant."You're programmed with that information?" Sarah said."Yes, recognition of allied units is basic information required for all missions.No unit could function without it.""Okay," John said."So what don't you know?"The Terminator looked at him sharply, almost reproving."Unclear question."John rolled his eyes.The more it dealt with humans, the more the T-800 resembled them in its superficial responses, but there were limits.When it followed John around the estancia or on his various missions, the Terminator seemed totally convincing as a strong, rather silent, human being.But fundamentally it still thought like a computer; like any computer, it could give precise answers, but it needed fairly precise questions."Do you have Skynet's plans for human extermination?" Howard said.John looked the T-800 in the eye and nodded, indicating it should answer."I am equipped with files on general concepts and strategies.""All right, we'll come back to that.What is Skynet up to now? How far advanced are its plans right this moment?""Unknown."John smiled.He could have answered that.Still, he could see what Howard had in mind, getting a broad overview of the sorts of the things the Terminator might or might not know before getting down to specifics."What about Skynet's HQ," Bruce said lazily."As of 2029—that's when you come from, I guess?""Yes.""Well you must have some kinda map in there." He pointed at the Terminator's forehead."Could you draw the layout for us?""In general terms.Not all of it was relevant to my missions."Bruce smiled John's way."Your question, counsel." John could see the approach.Start broad, then get specific.For the next few hours, he worked through it as systematically as he could, sometimes taking notes.The others took notes of their own or sometimes gave him hints.As Howard had said, no tricks were needed: it was more a matter of being thorough.John got a lot of information, but found some disappointing gaps.The Terminator's knowledge of the Colorado mountains in 2029, Skynet's defenses, and even the layout of its fortress headquarters all had limits.It knew the general plan of the HQ, but not the details of every floor.It was designed to infiltrate the human Resistance, not to operate at home base or direct defenses in the mountains.It knew even less about the defenses established around the fortress, since it did not have any mission to take part in those.It had only enough information to negotiate entrance and egress to and from the fortress and through the defenses.It relied more upon being recognized by other units.It did have much considerable knowledge of other Skynet war machines, including their strengths and weaknesses, and John scribbled that down eagerly.It might prove invaluable.Again, the data was more about operational specifications than design detail, but that was important [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]