Terminator Salvation_ The Official Movie Novelization - Alan Dean Foster [64]
Hanging here before him was a frighteningly superb example of its ability to learn.
“How did we get here?” Barnes murmured thoughtfully. The thing in the sling did not answer. The lieutenant hadn’t expected a response. Nor did he care especially if he got one. He took another bite of the apple as he continued his casual, introspective stroll.
“I guess it’s divine order. We all have our paths to walk in. And you’re part of mine.” He continued reminiscing aloud. “I was caught up in a world of chasing things that didn’t mean anything. I was conscious, but not aware. Able to feel, but I had no feelings. But now, I’m awake. Our spirits are awake.” He halted and stared directly at Wright, who returned the gaze unblinkingly. The captive might not have been aware that he was failing to blink, but Barnes noticed immediately.
“You machines,” he began, “would have us believe you can survive without us. That we don’t need each other. That we don’t need the sun. That we don’t need trees. That we don’t need love. But God’s greatest gift to humans is each other. And I have to thank you for that, because I no longer look at people by race or religion or gender. I know what it is to be a human, and not a machine. And now I see God’s path. He chooses a different one for each of us. Maybe even for machines. But I can’t worry about what path he’s chosen for you. Only for me.”
There was nothing left of the apple when he tossed the gnawed core into the silo. It took a long time to hit bottom. There was, however, plenty left of the gun he picked up. A check showed that its chamber was loaded. When he resumed speaking it was as if nothing had changed. He might as well still have been munching on the apple.
“You’ve united the Children of Abraham. And I know that all we are going through right now will deliver us. Deliver our salvation. This is the great war of which the Bible speaks, and Skynet is the Antichrist. It’s so obvious I’m surprised so few saw it coming.” He smiled, content and happy within himself. “But then, it had to happen, didn’t it? Without the war there would be no Second Coming, no return, no Rapture.”
He raised the weapon. Wright just stared at him. It was all he could do.
The single shot struck his shoulder and he looked away as the slug ricocheted harmlessly off exposed alloy. Recovering, Wright stared expressionlessly back at his tormentor.
Barnes smiled. “Saw you flinch. I thought you were tough.” Once again, the muzzle of the weapon rose and its wielder took aim. A second shot pinged off the revealed metal, spinning the captive around but otherwise doing no visible damage. Wright’s continued silence surprised but did not infuriate Barnes. The prisoner’s failure to respond represented a malfunction of its programming, the lieutenant decided. It was reassuring to see that Skynet wasn’t perfect. If it had done its research thoroughly, this hybrid thing would have reacted to each shot like a human, with moaning and pleading and pain.
Williams entered the silo just as Barnes’s second shot finished echoing around the chamber.
“Christ, man, watch what you’re doing!”
He looked over at her.
“Sorry, Blair. Don’t tell me you’re scared of a little ricochet?”
“I just don’t like walking in to what’s supposed to be a quiet holding area to find myself greeted with flying slugs. What are you doing?”
He shrugged. “Target practice. I was bored.”
She nodded knowingly. “Yeah, and we all know what you do when you get bored. Were you preaching again, Barnes?”
He looked at her, then back at the silent prisoner. “Nothing to get exercised about. I’m just seeing what he’s about.”
As soon as Williams had entered the room, Wright’s attitude had perked up. Previously silent and indifferent, now he growled at his tormentor.
“Let me down and I’ll show you what I’m about.”
Barnes chuckled.