073 Directly Flipped the Table
Marcus chose to flip the table!
Waiting for the D.C. headquarters and DOJ to slowly negotiate, then going through endless bureaucratic wrangling with the DoD, ultimately giving Skynet time to develop?
That wasn't Marcus's style!
He was too lazy to waste time with them, choosing instead to break the rules by releasing all information, making Project One Star, the Terminator, and Skynet's affairs public.
The DoD likes to hide things? Fine, then let them reveal everything!
Skynet was indeed clever; it learned from Marcus's methods, leveraging this timeline to try and make Marcus hesitate.
And honestly, Skynet succeeded!
Following the normal process, Marcus would indeed be hesitant, even helpless against Skynet's opportunistic behavior.
But Skynet miscalculated a crucial point.
Marcus wasn't a native of the Terminator world!
Marcus didn't need to abide by the rules of the natives; he could simply flip the table at the drop of a hat, with a completely safe escape route. Even if Skynet won in this timeline, so what?
"If this place doesn't want me, there are plenty of other places that will!"
Marcus had set up a dimensional portal in the Terminator world, allowing him to escape anytime, anywhere. Even with the existence of a bizarre temporal prison in the base world, the Resident Evil world was a backup option.
The Resident Evil world also had a portal, which Marcus could enter at any time.
Given this situation, did Marcus need to play by the rules?
The post titled "The End of the World is Coming," which Marcus instructed Ayanami to publish online, was a global event. Wherever there was internet access, Ayanami distributed the post.
This post not only had a huge impact in the United States but also globally. This was because Marcus used top-secret FBI intelligence, along with photographic and video evidence. More importantly, some elderly people in Los Angeles spoke out, accepting a live broadcast invitation from a local Los Angeles news station to recount the events of 1984.
The Los Angeles news station's live report was then disseminated worldwide, further drawing global attention.
After all, it was the end of the world!
Who wouldn't care?
...
It was nearly 11 PM.
The FBI's Los Angeles field office's Conference Room One was packed with people, the lowest-ranking among them being Los Angeles SAC Colin.
"Boss, let me introduce you. This is Director Trevor from D.C. Headquarters, this is Assistant Director Dante from the DOJ, and this is a Congressman..." Colin began introducing them to Marcus, but was interrupted.
Marcus said bluntly, "Alright, Colin, I'm not interested in knowing who they are. They're all big shots, aren't they?" His tone was full of sarcasm.
"Boss, they..." Colin stammered awkwardly. As Marcus had said, these were all important figures, and even someone of Colin's status had to be cautious. He worried that these important figures might develop a negative impression of him.
Marcus interrupted Colin again. "Alright, Colin, they are indeed big shots, but they're still going to die!"
Trevor sneered. "You mean Skynet will kill us all?"
Marcus chuckled coldly. "I'd like to ask, are there any representatives from DoD here?"
A white-haired, distinguished-looking elderly man stood up. "Hello, Mr. Foster, I'm Elliott Kennedy, Assistant Secretary of Defense. What can I do for you, Mr. Foster?"
Marcus looked at Elliott. The man had passed through the X Corridor, which meant there was absolutely no problem; he couldn't possibly be a Terminator in disguise.
"Secretary Elliott, are you familiar with Project One Star?" Marcus asked.
Elliott nodded affirmatively. "If I said I wasn't familiar, you wouldn't believe me. In fact, I'm very familiar with Project One Star; I'm one of the supervisors of Project One Star. Mr. Foster, what aspects of Project One Star would you like to inquire about?"
Marcus didn't mince words; he asked directly, "Have you studied Skynet?"
"Sorry, we haven't studied Skynet!" Elliott replied.
Marcus stared at Elliott, completely disbelieving his answer. "Skynet is an artificial intelligence system. Hasn't your DoD been researching artificial intelligence systems based on the Terminator T-800?"
Elliott shook his head. "I'm sorry, Mr. Foster, I'm sorry to disappoint you, but we really haven't researched anything about artificial intelligence systems."
Before Marcus could respond, Elliott added, "Regarding your Los Angeles office's efforts against the Terminator, we at DoD actually have corresponding files. We know what Skynet is, and we also know how dangerous the Terminator is."
Marcus laughed. "Since you know it's dangerous, why did you research it?"
"Precisely because it's dangerous, that's why we research it," Elliott explained. "We hope to study the Terminator, then create our own, thereby countering a potential Skynet."
Learning from the enemy to defeat the enemy?
That reasoning gets full marks!
However, Marcus sneered, "How far has your research on the Terminator progressed?"
Elliott didn't hide anything, or rather, there was no way to hide this answer. After all, Project One Star involved thousands of people; surely they could find out what kind of Terminator they were researching?
"Currently, we have mastered the manufacturing technology for Terminator T-1, T-7, and T-50. Terminator T-70 is still under research." Elliott's answer was consistent with 'Don's' explanation.
This answer seemed fine!
After all, Elliott was telling the truth, without any concealment.
But in reality, a huge problem was hidden!
"Secretary Elliott, I'm curious about something. The Terminator you captured in 1997 was the T-800 model, right?" Marcus asked.
"Yes," Elliott replied. "Is there a problem?"
"A very big problem!" Marcus nodded.
"Didn't you ever consider that you captured the Terminator T-800, but how were you able to develop the T-1, T-7, and T-50, which are completely different models?" Marcus asked the crucial question.
Elliott paused slightly, then frowned. "Mr. Foster, you don't understand technology!"
"I don't understand technology!" Marcus nodded firmly. "Then explain it to me. The Terminator T-800 is a humanoid Terminator. How did you develop the T-1, T-7, and T-50 from it?"
Elliott hesitated slightly before speaking, "Our experts extracted some data from the Terminator T-800's database, and combined with our own research, we finally developed these Terminator models."
"Hahahaha!" Marcus burst into laughter.
"The Terminator T-800 is a combat unit; it's simply a combat robot. And you actually found technical blueprints in it!" Marcus sneered. "To put it another way, would you store fighter jet manufacturing technology inside fighter jets?"
Marcus added sarcastically, "Take the F-15 Eagle as an example. Would you store its production technology data in the F-15, or even the technical data of the F-18 Hornet and F-22 Raptor inside the F-15?"
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