"Dad, where are we going now?"
Sarah Connor glanced at her adoptive father — the T-800 — whose mechanical eyes were locked on the road, fingers moving in steady precision across the dashboard.
He clearly had a destination in mind.
"Leaving this timeline," the Terminator replied flatly.
"…What?"
Sarah blinked.
Leaving the city was one thing. Leaving the country she could understand.
But leaving the timeline? What the hell did that even mean?
"The divine entity contains excessive amounts of unknown energy particles," the T-800 explained in his monotone. "Estimated to possess high-velocity trans-dimensional movement. I lack the ability to protect you from such a being. To preserve your survival, we must depart from this timeline and destroy the time-travel device afterward. Probability of success: one in one million."
Fantastic.
Now he was calling Balder a divine entity — and apparently even running away across timelines only gave them a one-in-a-million chance of survival.
"Wow," Sarah muttered. "Your definition of 'safe' is really comforting."
A smooth, pleasant voice answered from the back seat:
"Glad you think so."
Sarah automatically nodded. "Yeah, right, he—"
Then froze.
Wait a second.
She whipped her head around — and there he was, sitting casually in the back seat as if he'd been there all along.
Balder.
Looking as godlike and unbothered as ever.
And, somehow… holding a coffee machine.
Sarah just stared. "Where the hell did you get a coffee maker?"
"Would you like some?" Balder asked, adjusting the settings with a smile.
"…If that's an option… sure, thanks?" she said automatically.
Before she could even blink, a metal fist came swinging from the front seat — a blur of steel aimed straight at Balder's chest.
The T-800's strike never landed.
At thirty centimeters away, the fist simply stopped mid-air, frozen as though time itself had halted.
Balder glanced lazily at him. "Rude."
The Terminator's servos screamed, metal grinding against metal — but no matter how much force he exerted, his arm wouldn't move another millimeter.
Sarah sighed.
"Forget it, Dad. Just… let it go."
She threw up her hands in defeat. "We can't fight him anyway. He's a god. Let's not make this worse."
The T-800's red optics flickered.
Protecting Sarah was his prime directive. If she ordered retreat — he obeyed.
And strangely enough, once he stopped resisting, his frozen arm lowered smoothly, as if the invisible force had never existed.
Balder tilted his head. "Not struggling anymore?"
Sarah shook hers. "What's the point? Against a being like you, what can two mortals possibly do? You've just been toying with us from the start — like a cat teasing its prey."
Her tone carried a hint of irritation, but also resignation.
Balder chuckled softly. "I was planning to play with you two a bit longer, actually."
So he admitted it.
Sarah puffed up in indignation, cheeks full like an angry kitten.
"Well then, oh mighty and glorious God," she huffed, crossing her arms. "Surely you didn't descend just to mess with us?
I doubt you care about some so-called 'mother of the savior.'
Skynet, Terminators… to you, they're probably no more than ants fighting in the dirt."
"You're not quite an ant," Balder said with an amused glint in his eye. "Ants aren't nearly as cute or as charming as you."
Her brain short-circuited for a moment.
Don't blush, Sarah. Don't you dare blush—
Too late.
Her face turned crimson.
"Sarah Connor," the T-800 announced in his cold monotone, "your body temperature is elevated. Female hormone levels are rising rapidly."
SMACK!
Sarah slapped his shoulder hard.
"Damn it, Dad! You don't need to analyze that kind of thing!"
Balder watched them with faint amusement.
This girl really was something — lively, impulsive, and stubborn, so much like a kitten that it made him want to tease her more.
"Curious what I'm here for?" he asked.
"If you're willing to tell me," Sarah said honestly. Despite the fear, her curiosity burned bright.
A god — a real god — had shown up in her life.
Even after years of fighting killer robots, she would never have believed it without seeing him with her own eyes.
"I'm looking for warriors," Balder said, his tone calm but resonant. "I intend to wage war against a certain… being."
Sarah swallowed hard.
A god recruiting soldiers? To fight what, exactly?
Whatever it was, it sure as hell wasn't something ordinary.
Other gods? A demon? Something beyond that?
Her palms went cold.
"May I ask," she ventured cautiously, "who you're going to fight?"
Balder smiled faintly.
"In terms you'd understand…" he said lightly, "…a being your kind calls God."
Sarah's eyes rolled back.
And she fainted on the spot.
~~----------------------
Patreon Advance Chapters:
[email protected] / Dreamer20