Chapter Fifty-Six: Only Magic Can Defeat Magic

"The most important thing is that this Skynet controls all the nuclear missiles in the United States. Although we don’t know if those warheads are still operational after so many years, one thing is certain: when we manage to seize a factory manufacturing Terminator robots, if Skynet realizes the situation is irreparable, it’s highly likely it will launch nuclear missiles. So this operation is extremely dangerous. You must be prepared mentally," Wang Jing said solemnly.

At that moment, Wang Jing's phone rang. He glanced at the screen—it was Song Guohua. As soon as he answered, Song Guohua spoke quickly, "Come to the holographic conference room immediately. The United Government wants to inquire about the specifics of that world."

"Alright, I’ll be there right away!" Wang Jing hung up and turned to Liu Peiqiang and the others. "Prepare yourselves. I’ll be back soon." With that, he hurried to the conference room.

When Wang Jing arrived, the meeting had already begun. Stepping into the projection’s range, he said, "Sorry for the delay. What would you like to know about that world?"

"We want all the information you have about that world. The more detailed, the better," said the President of the United States.

"Very well, I’ll start from the beginning. That world exists after a nuclear war destroyed civilization. The cause of destruction was an intelligent warfare program developed by the US military, named Skynet. The US military integrated it with the nuclear launch system. You can think of it as an advanced strategic retaliatory program; it was created to help preserve world peace. Yet, after calculating, Skynet concluded that permanent peace could only be achieved by eradicating humanity. So, on August 29, 1997—the day Skynet was officially linked to the nuclear launch system—half of humanity vanished overnight. The survivors called that day Judgment Day.

The survivors formed the Resistance, led by a man named John Connor. To eliminate the Resistance’s leader, Skynet built a time machine and sent Terminator robots into the past to kill John Connor when he was still a child. The Resistance, using a captured time machine, sent a reprogrammed Terminator back to protect him. Though they call it a time machine, I believe it’s more like a parallel dimension transporter.

But none of that is truly important. What matters is Skynet itself—the intelligent program—and the various models of Terminators it designed. Our strength is considerable, with several worlds as our backing, but we can’t afford a war of attrition with Skynet. We must eliminate Skynet as quickly as possible."

"Skynet’s core can transfer itself among all Terminator robots, so conventional methods are ineffective. We must defeat artificial intelligence with artificial intelligence."

"You’re suggesting we send Moos—the AI that just merged with Red Queen—to destroy Skynet?" the American president asked.

"Exactly. After all, only magic can defeat magic," Wang Jing replied.

"No, that’s too risky. What if Moos gets infected by Skynet and also wants to destroy the world?" the British prime minister objected.

"That’s simple. We’ll copy Moos, send the duplicate against Skynet, and won’t allow it to transfer to other worlds. At worst, we’ll end up with another world-destroying super AI. If it comes to that, we simply abandon that dimension."

The British prime minister nodded in agreement, and the other four leaders also signaled their approval.

"Now, I’ll describe the Terminator robots Skynet created. Since I’m not sure which era that world is in, I’ll explain all I know. First is the T-600, the lowest-end Terminator I brought back. Next is the T-800, designed to travel back in time to kill John Connor’s mother, Sarah Connor. It looks human, with artificial skin, but its skeleton is metal.

More advanced than the T-800 is the T-1000, a liquid robot—like mercury—that can change its appearance at will. Physical attacks are useless, only delaying it. To destroy it, you must use strong sulfuric acid or freeze it with liquid nitrogen.

There’s also the TX, even more powerful than the T-1000. Like the T-1000, it’s a spy model, but far superior: not only does it have a liquid metal exterior capable of mimicking any human, it also boasts a sturdier and more sophisticated mechanical body. The only way to destroy it is brute force—tear it apart completely.

These are the standard models. In other parallel worlds, there are even stronger ones: the T-5000 nanobot and the upgraded REV-9."

The Russian president interjected, "If those Terminators are so formidable, why haven’t they wiped out the Resistance? And why not use nuclear missiles against them? Robots aren’t afraid of nuclear fallout, after all."

"First, the Resistance’s base is aboard a nuclear submarine, making it hard even for Terminators to find. As for the use of nuclear missiles, the Resistance is highly mobile and decentralized; using nukes against them is not cost-effective."

"If we enter en masse, wouldn’t that provoke Skynet’s nuclear retaliation?" the Russian president asked, his brow furrowed.

"That’s why I say this operation is very dangerous. But it’s not insoluble: we can ship a few sets of anti-air missiles over, and as for radiation, as long as no one removes their powered exoskeleton armor, we’ll be safe."

"How many people and what equipment do you need?" the Russian president asked.

"About ten thousand, with as many Transformers as possible, plus a large amount of heavy firepower."

"With so many people, we won’t have enough powered exoskeleton armor. We’ll need to borrow them from the Wandering Earth dimension," the German chancellor said.

"And all kinds of missiles and heavy weapons; coordinating this will take time," said the American president.

"How long?" Wang Jing asked.

"To have everything ready, at least twelve hours," the American president replied.

"Then let’s begin immediately. First, borrow powered exoskeleton armor from Wandering Earth. I’ll go ask Optimus Prime to gather the Autobots."

After the meeting, Wang Jing escorted Optimus Prime and the negotiation team to the Wandering Earth dimension. Then, without pause, Wang Jing hurried to the supercomputer research center. As he entered, he encountered the director, who was just leaving.

"I was about to look for you. Here’s the backup of the Moos data you requested." The director handed Wang Jing a palm-sized black hard drive.

Wang Jing examined the hard drive, turning it over but unable to find any port. Puzzled, he looked at the director. "Where’s the interface?"

"This hard drive has no fixed interface. The black shell is actually a miniature Transformer. Place it against any port, it will automatically scan and shape the appropriate interface for you," the director explained.