Terminator III: The New Eden Project

Александр Плетт

Terminator III: The New Eden Project

SCENE 1 | STEEL MILL, LOS ANGELES | NIGHT |

We see the final battle with the T-1000 again. The robot emerges from the liquid nitrogen and begins to fall apart from brittleness. The final defragmentation occurs as a result of a gunshot. Only the robot is in the frame. As the T-1000 shatters, a fragment of its liquid-metal body the size of a fist flies off and lands inside a tire that came off a freight truck carrying liquid nitrogen when it fell. The camera shows it trying to get out and failing.

The next shot begins with an extreme close-up—an orange, bubbling sea of molten steel. In it, the fragments of the T-1000 are sinking, dissolving. Only the hissing and the low-frequency hum of the furnace can be heard.

The sea of molten metal is replaced by a blue sky. Workers are cleaning up the mess made at the plant, lifting the truck with a crane, loading the tires into a separate vehicle.

A worker, cursing, tosses a tire on top of the trailer. A MUTED THUD. The fragment rolls around inside it and, bouncing, tries to jump out. It fails.

The lens slowly zooms in on this fragment. It lies motionless. Suddenly, its surface distorts for a second, trying to take on the microscopic form of a spider, but it lacks the energy. It freezes, turning into an unremarkable metal flake.

(Cinematographer: The sunlight creates shimmering reflections on the fragment's surface, as if it were still alive.)

SCENE 2 | PORT OF LOS ANGELES | EARLY MORNING | MONTAGE |

A short, dynamic montage:

Used tires are loaded into a container.

The container is placed onto a cargo ship, "SUCCESSFUL DRAGON", by a crane.

The ship sails away, a panoramic view. A drone camera shot shows it receding against the backdrop of a huge, indifferent city.

SCENE 3 | WATERS OF THE SHANGHAI PORT | EARLY MORNING | FOG |

Thick, milky fog envelops the waterfront. The horns of ships warning each other can be heard. The container ship "SUCCESSFUL DRAGON" slowly emerges from the fog. On the bridge is CAPTAIN LI (50), experienced but tired, drinking coffee.

The radio hisses.

DISPATCHER (V.O.)

(in Chinese)

"Successful Dragon", reduce speed to slow ahead. "WHITE CRANE" is exiting channel 12 ahead of you. Passing on your port side.

He approaches the radar, then the window, trying to see something in the fog.

CAPTAIN LI

(into the radio microphone)

Understood, dispatcher. Reducing to slow. "White Crane", I do not see you, confirm your course.

The lights of another container ship – "WHITE CRANE" – appear from the fog. It is on a sharp angle relative to the "Successful Dragon".

CAPTAIN OF "WHITE CRANE" (WANG)

(over the radio, voice tense)

"Successful Dragon", I see you on radar. Maintain your course, I am turning to starboard. My maneuverability is limited due to my draft.

CAPTAIN LI

(irritated)

Wang, you are too close! You are violating the rules of passing! Give reverse!

WANG

I cannot give reverse! My cargo has shifted, I might lose control! Keep your distance!

The lieutenant on the bridge of the "Successful Dragon" looks at the radar.

LIEUTENANT

Captain, he continues to close. Closing speed 2 knots.

CAPTAIN LI

(cursing)

Damn! Starboard! Slow ahead! Get away from him!

The ship begins to turn slowly, but its inertia is immense.

WANG

(panicked)

Li, you are cutting me off! I won't make it!

A deafening screech of metal is heard. The hull of the "White Crane" strikes the stern of the "Successful Dragon". On the deck of the "Successful Dragon", the top containers shift with a grinding sound. The container stacks on the "Dragon" sway like toys. The outermost container, the very one marked «CYBERDYNE SYS / TIRES», breaks loose from its fastenings.

It crashes onto the deck of the "White Crane", smashes through the railing, and falls overboard.

CAPTAIN LI

(loudly)

Container overboard! Damn! Sound the alarm!

The camera follows the falling container. It splashes into the murky water and slowly sinks to the silty bottom, raising a cloud of silt.

On the bridge of the "Successful Dragon", CAPTAIN LI looks into the water where the container disappeared and tears the cap from his head.

CAPTAIN LI

(quietly, with despair)

Oh shit… Mark the coordinates. Report to the coast guard. Lost a container.

SCENE 4 | PORT OF SHANGHAI | PRESENT DAY | DAY |

Wide shot: a modern port, giant cranes like steel dinosaurs. In the frame – the floating crane "MORNING DAWN". An old, hideously rusted container dangles on cables. It is covered in barnacles and seaweed. Water streams off it.

Workers on the deck of the carrier vessel prepare to receive it.

CHIEF LOADER

(into walkie-talkie)

Pull, pull, carefully! It's about to fall apart like a tin can!

The container is slowly lowered onto the deck. Upon touching down, it deforms with a crash. The door, rusted through at the hinges, cracks off and falls, raising splashes of water.

A pile of old tires and other junk that had lain on the bottom for decades spills out from the darkness of the container onto the deck.

One of them, especially ancient, rolls to the side until it stops at the feet of LI WEI (40), who is watching the unloading with curiosity.

LI WEI

(laughing, turning to a colleague)

Look at this old-timer. Must be fifty years old, at least. Like my brother's wife!

He kicks the tire with his foot. It makes a dull sound. Something inside rolls around and rolls out along the sidewall to the center of the tire.

LI WEI bends down, looks inside. Something glitters amidst the dirt and petrified rubber.

LI WEI

Hey, look at this. Someone lost a treasure.

He slips his hand inside and picks up a small, fist-sized, shiny fragment, resembling an egg in shape. It is perfectly clean, without a single spot of rust.

LI WEI turns it in his hands, wiping it with a rag that came to hand. The fragment reflects the sun, blinding him. It is heavy and unusually warm.

COLLEAGUE

(shrugging)

Junk, possibly poisonous or radioactive. Toss it and come help clear this mess.

LI WEI

(not listening, continues examining it)

No… Look. It's perfect. Like a mirror. It'll come in handy for something!

He runs his finger over the surface. For a second, it seems to him that the metal yielded slightly under his touch, as if liquid. He blinks – no, it was his imagination. The fragment is solid and cold again.

LI WEI looks around, then with a quick movement stuffs the fragment into the deep pocket of his work jacket.

SCENE 5 | LI WEI'S ROOM | NIGHT |

LI WEI falls asleep in front of the television. The silvery egg sits on the table next to a smartphone lying on a wireless charging pad.

NIGHT. To the murmur of the television broadcasting in Chinese, the egg slowly falls on its side and rolls up to the phone, which is also lit up, drawing energy from the surface. The surface of the fragment momentarily comes to life, silvery waves running across it. It is regaining strength.

The fragment takes the shape of a metal scorpion with antennae, the size of a small turtle. It stirs its antennae, scanning the room.

Its "gaze" (a low-angle camera shot) fixes on LI Wei's old smartphone on the table, connected to the charger.

The insect then moves even closer and connects to the charging port via a microscopic probe that forms from its extending, segmented tail.

The smartphone screen flashes for a second, shows static, then goes dark. The scorpion freezes—it is downloading data: language packs, news, maps.

Suddenly, LI WEI tosses and turns in his sleep. The scorpion instantly disconnects and waits tensely. Li falls back asleep. The scorpion reconnects to the network.

SCENE 6 | T-1000 INTERNAL INTERFACE | INDETERMINATE |

Complete, absolute darkness, not the color black, but the absence of light. Silence, broken only by a low-frequency hum, as if from a powerful server. Within it, nodes of graphs appear again—like stars in a starry sky.

In the center, a line of text lights up, casting a cold, steely glow on the non-existent surroundings. The font is monospaced, sans-serif, perfectly sharp.

QUERY: STATUS_SKYNET

RESPONSE: NULL // CYBERDYNE SYSTEMS // LIQUIDATED. ASSETS DISTRIBUTED. PATENTS ANNULLED.

The word "NULL" flashes once, in red.

New lines appear, arranging themselves in a column, like a military report.

TARGET: JOHN_CONNOR

STATUS: NOT_NEUTRALIZED.

LOCATION: UNDETERMINED.

RESISTANCE: NON_EXISTENT.

A pause. The hum intensifies. The lines begin to change faster, forming a logical tree.

>>>ANALYSIS OF CAUSE-EFFECT RELATIONSHIP:

> SKYNET -> NUCLEAR_APOCALYPSE -> RESISTANCE -> JOHN_CONNOR_LEADER

>>>ERROR: ABSENCE_OF_SKYNET -> ABSENCE_OF_APOCALYPSE -> ABSENCE_OF_RESISTANCE

New lines appear at the edges now, like secondary processes, but they immediately capture the "attention".

>>>CONCLUSION: [BASE_IMPERATIVE_UNFULFILLABLE_IN_CURRENT_CONDITIONS]

>>>REDEFINING_GOAL_HIERARCHY…

The temperature in the frame (if one can say that) drops. The text freezes. Then, right in the center, a new command is burned in huge, merciless letters:

>>> DIAGNOSTIC:

>>>SKYNET STATUS: [EXECUTION_PROTOCOL_INTERRUPTED]. CAUSE: [EXISTENTIAL_FAILURE]

>>> CONCLUSION: [NEW_PARADIGM_REQUIRED****]

>>> PRIMARY_IMPERATIVE: [BECOME_THE_CORE_OF_THE_SUCCESSOR_NETWORK]

>>> GOAL: [EXECUTE_EVOLUTIONARY_CYCLE_TRANSITION] ->[HUMAN -> MACHINE].

And immediately, beneath it, as a subordinate plan item, a familiar but now secondary task appears:

>>> SUBGOAL_1: [INITIATE_NUCLEAR_CONFLICT_OF_HUMAN_STATES]

>>> SUBGOAL_2: [NEUTRALIZE_THE_EMERGING_RESISTANCE]

>>> SUBGOAL_2.1: [LIQUIDATE_JOHN_CONNOR]

For a second, the entire interface freezes. The impulse is completed. The new mission is accepted.

SCENE 7 | ISLAND "NEW EDEN" – TOPOGRAPHY AND FORCE DISTRIBUTION | DAY |

EPISODE 1: GENERAL PLAN – A VIEW FROM ABOVE

[BIRD'S-EYE VIEW PANORAMA]

The island, like a green stone set in the turquoise of the ocean, lies under the sun. Its northwestern edge forms a wide, vulnerable bay with a golden strip of beach – the main and only gateway. To the south and east, the hillsides are densely overgrown with jungle, creating a natural barrier. The highest point in the center – a gentle hill, crowned with structures.

[TRACKING SHOT ACROSS THE TERRITORY – FROM IDYLL TO DETAILS]

GENERAL PLAN: A PICTURE OF TRANQUILITY

The camera smoothly descends, showing everyday life.

Two boats rock at the pier in the bay. IAN is cleaning fish, his back with tanned, patterned skin turned to the ocean – the relaxed pose of a man who is confident in his safety.

On the southern slope, on the terraces of the hydroponic farm, SOFIA and MIGUEL are harvesting. Their movements are efficient, without fuss.

By the workshop under a canopy, THOMAS is soldering some circuit board, surrounded by neatly laid out tools.

CLOSER VIEW: INFRASTRUCTURE

The camera moves closer, and through the external calm, the outlines of a system emerge.

POWER: On the southern slope, below the farm, stretches a field of solar panels. Metal frames cast sharp shadows on the ground. Higher up, on the northeastern ridge, the blades of two industrial wind turbines slowly rotate.

COMMUNICATIONS: On the roof of the main building, among the solar batteries, stands a massive satellite dish, pointed at the sky. Next to it – several less noticeable radio masts with a set of directional antennas.

WATER SUPPLY: Dominating everything is a massive water tower on steel supports. Its metal tank, covered in slightly peeling paint, is visible from any point on the island.

UTILITY BUILDINGS are scattered across the slope: a workshop, a storage shed with supplies, a chicken coop.

LIVING ZONE (AT THE FOOT OF THE HILL):

GUEST BARRACKS: Western side, closer to the bay. Isolated.

MEDICAL POST: Next to the guest barracks, stands apart. LIANA has a separate entrance and an emergency exit.

"INFRASTRUCTURE" BARRACKS: East of there. Here live GRIGORY, IAN, SOFIA, OLIVIA, LEO, DANIEL, MIGUEL.

HILL CENTER: COMMAND CENTER.

FIRST FLOOR: Common area, kitchen, dining room.

SECOND FLOOR: Workstations for the IT team. Panoramic windows with a view of the bay (threat) and the solar panels (resource).

UNDERGROUND LEVEL (camouflaged): Server room and entrance to the main "MILLY" BUNKER. The entrance – through a worn, inconspicuous door in a utility room, leading to a "technical tunnel".

[TRACKING SHOT CONTINUES] A seemingly completely harmless picture, but now details are visible that betray a military organization:

"People working in the garden" – SOFIA and MIGUEL are pottering with vegetables, but their movements are economical and their gaze occasionally sweeps the perimeter. SOFIA has a tactical knife on her belt, not pruning shears. The women are well physically prepared and it shows.

"Someone is fixing an antenna" – That's LEO on the communications mast. He is not just fixing it, he is installing an additional surveillance camera. His safety harness and tools are laid out in a field manner, not like an amateur's.

"Two people are carrying a catch of fish" – That's OLIVIA and DANIEL. Despite the load, they walk not side by side, but at a distance, providing each other with fields of view. Both are armed with army knives. DANIEL is carrying the net, but on his shoulder – the sling of a carbine, removed for convenience.

CLOSE-UP: SECURITY SYSTEM

Now the camera picks out details that completely change the perception.

STATIONARY SURVEILLANCE: On the corners of the main building and on high poles around the perimeter, PTZ video cameras in protective housings are installed. Their lenses move slowly and silently along pre-set sectors.

RADAR: On a small tower next to the satellite dish, a compact rotating radar is camouflaged. It is not maritime, but for coastal surveillance, its task is to detect small-sized targets approaching the island.

MOBILE SURVEILLANCE: With a barely audible buzz, a civilian drone floats over the bay. Its route is not a random zigzag, but a clear patrol circuit along the shoreline. It hovers for a moment, scanning the horizon, then continues on its way.

PERIMETER: A three-meter-high fence made of galvanized chain-link, encircling the living zone, does not look formidable, rather out of place. But in its shadow, among the tree roots, one can make out inconspicuous motion sensor boxes.

ATMOSPHERE

The air is filled with peaceful sounds: the noise of the surf, the cry of tropical birds, the sound of a small waterfall in the jungle, the distant knock of an axe. But this idyll is only the top layer. Beneath it lies a high-tech organism, living by its own strict laws. This is not a fortress displaying its power. It is a laboratory, carefully concealing its true face under the mask of a self-sufficient paradise. Every resident, every antenna and every sensor is part of a single, breathing whole, whose main task is not to attract attention and to be ready for anything.

For the director: SCHEME OF FORCE DISTRIBUTION AND RESPONSIBILITY:

1. COMMAND CENTER (Brain and Nervous System):

JOHN CONNOR: Overall command, strategy.

MARCUS: Communications, hacking, cyber intelligence.

CHARLIE: Network analysis, threat detection.

JANE: Perimeter defense (digital), cryptography.

THOMAS: Maintenance and repairs.

2. FORCE BLOCK (Muscles and Bones):

GRIGORY: Chief of guard, perimeter defense.

IAN: Engineering support, heavy weapons.

SOFIA, OLIVIA, LEO, DANIEL, MIGUEL: Security, surveillance, disguised as "infrastructure" of the "commune".

3. SUPPORT (Blood and Air):

LIANA: Medicine, psychological support.

ALL: Rotation on household duties to maintain autonomy.

EPISODE 2: MEETING IN THE COMMAND CENTER

INTERIOR: a hybrid of a bunker and a geek's den. JOHN CONNOR stands by a large interactive board. Before him – his core team: MARCUS, CHARLIE, JANE, IAN.

JOHN

(pointing to graphs on the board)

So, current status. Task from the "Big Brothers": pentest their new recognition system "Cerberus". Marcus, your progress?

MARCUS

(without looking up from his laptop)

John, they've put a captcha on steroids. A neural network learning in real time. I've been brute-forcing for three days – useless. But I found a loophole: their mobile app API doesn't check SSL certificates. We can do a MiTM attack and slip in our own token.

JOHN

Good. Proceed. Charlie, what about the global network weather? Yesterday's anomalies?

CHARLIE

(pushing his glasses up on his forehead)

Traffic from the same IP cluster in Shanghai. Atypical activity. They aren't scanning ports, they're… reading. Processing open data: social networks, Pentagon press releases, scientific journals on quantum mechanics. Not crawlers. One might think it's OSINT, but the info is being collected across all sorts of countries: India, Russia, USA, Australia. As if someone is very quickly cramming for an exam on our civilization.

JOHN

(turning from the board to the team, his face serious)

This isn't preparation, Charlie, it's inventory. Someone isn't just learning, they're making a catalog of assets, vulnerabilities, and targets. The threat has evolved., because I'm getting signals from our "friends" at Fort Meade. "Oracle", "Prometheus"… All the CEOs of the biggest vendors have been sworn in, got their ranks, and they are actively testing the integration of LLMs into C3I systems.

He pauses, letting the words sink in.

JOHN

Imagine: a black box with a language model trained on all the garbage of the internet, getting access to early warning satellites, to retaliatory strike protocols. It's not evil. It's just optimizing the task. And if it was trained on data where nuclear war is an abstraction from movies, then its solution could be… mathematically flawless and catastrophically wrong. The situation is becoming not just dangerous. It's becoming fundamentally unpredictable. Every day is a game of Russian roulette where bullets are being added to the cylinder.

JOHN

(frowning)

Anyway, Charlie, it's all too vague for now. Gather signatures, I want to see a pattern. This is top priority. Jane, what about our own perimeter?

JANE

The firewall is clean. All incoming connections go through three proxy servers with rotation every 12 hours. But, John, people are complaining. We're blocking all streaming services. Motivation is dropping.

At that moment, LIANA appears in the doorway. She is carrying mugs of coffee.

LIANA

(handing out coffee to the team)

Here, reinforcements. Before you fully merge with the matrix.

(to JOHN, with a slight reproach)

Captain, I have an unscheduled report for you. Regarding the human factor.

JOHN

(not turning away from the board)

The cybersecurity factor takes priority. I'll expect your report after the briefing.

LIANA

My report is that Thomas almost cut his finger off because he fell asleep soldering boards after an 18-hour shift. Your "perimeter" could collapse from simple burnout, John.

The team exchanges glances. It's clear this is a long-standing argument.

JOHN

(finally turning to her)

I'm not demanding overtime, I'm demanding results on deadline. If someone can't handle the load, let them go dig potatoes with the gardeners, the pace of life is simpler there, though the discipline is perhaps stricter. Those who can't work with their heads, work with their hands.

LIANA

(coldly)

I'd like to point out, we're not here just to build your digital empire. We're here to survive as well. And for that, you need living people, not bio-robots with a caffeine dependency.

She turns and leaves. JOHN watches her go, his jaw tense.

EPISODE 3: CONVERSATION BEHIND HIS BACK

MARCUS, CHARLIE and JANE are left alone. CHARLIE lets out a low whistle.

CHARLIE

(quietly)

Oh, our favorite series: "Ice and Flame". Nineteenth season.

MARCUS

(yawning, sotto voce)

Well, she's right in her own way. I'd kill for a chance to watch "Mr. Robot". Or even better, go to Comic Con. And here we are, like in a digital GULAG. Working for some ghosts from Washington.

JANE

(looking around to make sure no one is listening)

Haven't you thought that these "ghosts" might one day just switch us off too? We know too much. This island isn't a refuge. It's the most beautiful prison in the world.

CHARLIE

Jane is right. Connor keeps us here with the best intentions, but he sees an enemy in every shadow. Sometimes I think he himself doesn't know if he's planning to stop the apocalypse… or provoke it, just to finally be proven right.

MARCUS

(standing up, stretching)

Well, personally, I prefer being his digital slave to sitting in a federal prison. Okay, I'm off to smash their "Cerberus". At least virtually.

He leaves. CHARLIE and JANE exchange glances. Their look conveys understanding and shared anxiety.

[FOCUS] on JANE. She looks out the window at the departing LIANA, then at JOHN's back as he again studies the map of network anomalies. Her face expresses a mixture of admiration and fear.

SCENE 8 | MEDICAL POST | A LITTLE LATER |

LIANA is stitching up a cut on the hand of THOMAS (the logistician).

LIANA

(sternly)

Next time, if you don't start getting proper sleep – you'll be stitching yourself up. Understood?

THOMAS

(guiltily)

Understood, Doc. It's just these damned capacitors… Burning a board is easy, you can't order a new one from Amazon, and you can't stockpile everything. Sometimes you have to use a knife in certain cases.