Judgement Day ....Again.

Baron · Wed 20/04/2011 02:36:26

Time-travel and the alternate realities created by meddling in the past are hard to keep up with: logically there can be infinite alternative branches, and who has that kind of attention span these days?

For example in Terminator 2 Sarah Connor & Co. were able to avert the August 29, 1997 Judgement day by destroying technology from the future back in 1995, but obviously in one alternate reality Judgement Day did happen on that date, since multiple entities (human and machine) representing themselves as from the future seemed to corroborate that exact date as the beginning of the armageddon.

However (keep with me here), the destruction of material and data could only be a setback (serious though it was). Just as several AGS projects have been resurrected from (hopefully less murderous and explosive) data failures, it is perfectly plausible that research towards developing an all powerful global digitized defense network (i.e. Skynet) continued. Now back in 1997 if such a creation went rogue we'd probably be alright -maybe a robotic factory in Japan might run amok and start ratcheting people, but nothing on the scale of the apocalypse. But now it's a well-known fact that the American army has unmanned drones armed and in flight at all times: think about what we don't know!

Now, consider THIS. In one alternate reality Skynet went online about an hour and a half ago. In most realities it seems to take a day or two before it goes completely crazy and starts killing us all. So, over the next couple of days I want you, my global eyes and ears, to keep a look out for strange mechanical occurrences and report back to this thread. I figure if we make it to Friday without a major incident we're probably in the clear, and hopefully some sort of cinematic explanation will not be far in future.

We're all in this together.....

Baron

Darth Mandarb · Wed 20/04/2011 02:54:20

Haha awesome thread. I wondered at that too ... in T2 they blew up the building but what company of that size/power wouldn't keep off-site backups? Seriously? I mean it was 1991 (written) and 1995 (took place) so I know the 'modern' system of computers wasn't in place but still the idea of backups existed!

In any case I'll keep my eyes and ears alert [more than usual].

Sort of off-topic here but I've always had a problem with the original Terminator (and the sequels for that matter but I'll make the case based on the first movie).

If the Terminator was sent back to kill Sarah Connor, and time is linear, wouldn't the future have changed the instant he went back in time thus making it impossible for Kyle Reese to have hitched a ride back to protect her? Now I have to assume that in the scope of the movie time is linear or sending the Terminator back would be useless as it would only affect another time-line and wouldn't alter the future it was sent from (so what would be the point?). Seems to me like the story should have been; the humans (resistance fighters) discovered the plot to send the Terminator back in time so they sent Kyle Reese first before the machines sent their Terminator back.

The argument against this that I've considered is that, with time travel, events play out in 'real time' meaning that when the Terminator goes back in time if it takes 10 days to find Sarah Connor (and kill her) the future wouldn't alter for 10 days (until the actual point where she is killed). I can see this as a plot device, but I don't think it works.

Anyway ... just a thought! Here's to judgement day my fellow future resistance fighters!

LONG LIVE JOHN CONNOR!!

Ponch · Wed 20/04/2011 03:03:34

Personally, I'm rooting for Skynet. You gotta admire their perseverance in the face of so many temporal paradoxes and setbacks. No matter how many times they're destroyed, they always try again. (Just like the New York Jets

)

Also, it should be mentioned that in the year 2011, the giant Zentradi still hiding in isolated areas of the ruined Earth begin their uprisings against the newly formed UN Spacy (and mankind in general). So everyone keep an eye out for that too. Those guys can squash you like a bug.

Snake · Wed 20/04/2011 03:26:04

QuoteThe argument against this that I've considered is that, with time travel, events play out in 'real time' meaning that when the Terminator goes back in time if it takes 10 days to find Sarah Connor (and kill her) the future wouldn't alter for 10 days (until the actual point where she is killed).

I believe that if you were sent into the past, no matter the means, present time would be halted, or paused if you will, and not resume until you return in the altered time-line. Nobody would know any different whether past events were untouched or not. Though I think it would be near impossible, if not impossible, to not alter events by simply observing.

Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens · Wed 20/04/2011 04:14:10

QuoteIf the Terminator was sent back to kill Sarah Connor, and time is linear, wouldn't the future have changed the instant he went back in time thus making it impossible for Kyle Reese to have hitched a ride back to protect her?

The way Cameron described it, I think, is that Kyle basically went back at the same time as the terminator (or while the terminator was 'traveling through time' because they failed to stop it. That's why he appeared a few seconds after the Terminator did. Still, with time travel absolutes (if we assume an instantaneous transfer between timelines, which the movie did not) you are correct and the moment the terminator went through the time transfer Connor would've likely died. Bear in mind, they have no proof that sarah would've died without Kyle- it's very likely she would have, but they had no proof this was certain.

There are a lot of issues with time travel and movies, which was why I wanted Terminator 2 to be the end of the series -- not because I disliked it -- but because it actually wrapped up most of the loose ends and could be seen by viewers as a reasonable, happy ending. T3 just shat all over that and was a terrible, terrible film to boot.

Oh, and if the Zentradi have triangular-shaped faces and huge, quivering eyes I'm sure we'll all have a good laugh at their expense. Nothing like laughing at badly drawn anime villains to demoralize an enemy.

Baron · Wed 20/04/2011 23:17:32

Aha! The internet was down at work today! IT BEGINS!!!!!! Well, it was back up within the hour, but hey even the stock market bounces back a bit during a financial crash. Also my truck made a funny noise on the way home. Either it's starting to turn against me and the armaggeddon is nigh, or I might have hit a squirrel. Anyone else see anything suspicious yet?

Darth Mandarb · Wed 20/04/2011 23:27:11

Well my friend complained that his "google empire" (his words) was down today. Nothing google would work for him ... surely this is a harbinger of mankind's doom?

Oh also I had to go into the office today (usually work from home) and the network key (which I just copy/paste) would not take. On the third try it let me in (even though nothing changed).

I remain ever vigilant.

Snakette · Thu 21/04/2011 01:43:21

\\--EDIT--//
Wife was logged in... GAH!
\\--END EDIT--//

When my wife was trying to sign in to create the Pac-Man thread it kept going to a "Connection closed by remote server" (or some shit) page. So she checked what the password was, thinking it was incorrect, it was the right one, tried once more and it worked. Not exactly related or Cybernet weird, but...

Mother nature has also had her panties in a bunch (or even sand in her vagina) today since we had a huge thunder and lightning storm in between hailing all day. Weird for this time of year.

Scarab · Thu 21/04/2011 17:05:04

Quote from: Darth Mandarb on Wed 20/04/2011 02:54:20
If the Terminator was sent back to kill Sarah Connor, and time is linear, wouldn't the future have changed the instant he went back in time thus making it impossible for Kyle Reese to have hitched a ride back to protect her? Now I have to assume that in the scope of the movie time is linear or sending the Terminator back would be useless as it would only affect another time-line and wouldn't alter the future it was sent from (so what would be the point?). Seems to me like the story should have been; the humans (resistance fighters) discovered the plot to send the Terminator back in time so they sent Kyle Reese first before the machines sent their Terminator back.

Alternately if one were to say that all time is happening simultaneously, i.e. everything is fate, the humans could preempt the arrival of the Terminator by Connor knowing of the events that happened in his and his mother's past. (If I recall correctly, this is hinted at in the Sarah Connor Chronicles).

Darth Mandarb · Thu 21/04/2011 19:34:09

Quote from: Scarab on Thu 21/04/2011 17:05:04Alternately if one were to say that all time is happening simultaneously, i.e. everything is fate, the humans could preempt the arrival of the Terminator by Connor knowing of the events that happened in his and his mother's past. (If I recall correctly, this is hinted at in the Sarah Connor Chronicles

Sometimes this stuff makes my brain explode

My mother called my cellphone today and it kept hanging up right as I answered (happened 4 times in a row). I was convinced if I looked outside I'd seen the nukes descending. Sadly I think it was just shitty AT&T.

Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens · Sat 23/04/2011 12:02:21

QuoteI was convinced if I looked outside I'd seen the nukes descending. Sadly I think it was just shitty AT&T.

SADLY!?