T2 (novel series)
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|Author||S. M. Stirling|
|Media type||Print (hardcover and paperback)|
|Preceded by||Terminator 2: Judgment Day|
The T2 trilogy is a series of novels written by S. M. Stirling, set after the events of Terminator 2: Judgment Day, and first published in May 2001, which makes them the first works to officially continue the franchise. The series consists of three novels: T2: Infiltrator (2001), T2: Rising Storm (2003), and T2: The Future War (2004).
A few years after the events of Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Sarah Connor and her 16-year-old son John live under the name Krieger near a small town in Paraguay, believing they have destroyed Cyberdyne and prevented the creation of Skynet. Then, Dieter von Rossbach, a former Austrian counterterrorism operative and model for the Terminator, moves into the neighboring home. He is drawn to the Connors, and after Sarah tells him about the future war, they are attacked by a new T-800, created in the present by a new Terminator model, the I-950 Infiltrator. Realizing that Judgment Day was not averted, they attempt once again to stop Skynet's creation.
Unlike the T series Terminators, the I series are not factory built machines. Skynet decided that the best way for one of its terminators to act human was to start out with a human and add technological enhancements where necessary. The I-950 starts out as a baby with a neural net processor attached to its brain, providing an up-link to Skynet. To condition it physically, it is coaxed with holographic toys to crawl until it is exhausted. After four years, it is given an injection that rapidly ages it to maturity to finish its training. In an effort to blend in better with humans, the I-950 is allowed to feel emotions, but the range is limited by one of its cybernetic implants. Because it is far more human than machine, dogs are not alerted to its presence, and the infiltrator can go undetected for extremely long periods of time inside a resistance base.
The I-950s carry Model 101 CPU's in case they are needed, as well as power cells. Once the "living" portion of the I-950 is dead, the CPU then takes control of the body, but can only do so for a short time. They can reproduce with other 950s but not humans. If the female I-950 decides that the pregnancy would stop them from carrying out their mission, they could fertilize their eggs in vitro and would be implanted in human surrogate wombs. They are also able to clone themselves.
- Sarah Connor – Sarah is now living under the assumed name Suzanne Krieger (the German word for "warrior") in Paraguay, hiding from the U.S. government with her son John.
- John Connor – John is now 16, attending school and attempting to lead a normal life, after his destiny is apparently re-written when Skynet was last defeated.
- Dieter von Rossbach – An Austrian ex-counterterrorism operative, and the eventual model for the appearance of the T-800 Model 101 series of Terminators, who joins the Connors on their quest to destroy Skynet once and for all (It is established during the novel that he was confirmed to be in two specific locations during the events of the first two movies, hence explaining why he was never called in for questioning regarding the T-800's actions as his superiors always knew that he wasn't where the T-800 was). He is also Sarah Connor's eventual love interest and husband therefore would become John Connor's stepfather.
- Serena Burns – The I-950 Infiltrator unit sent back to the present to kill the Connors and secure the birth of Skynet.
- Jordan Dyson – Brother of Miles Dyson and FBI agent, obsessed with finding out the facts of his brother's death and bringing Sarah Connor and John Connor to justice, before he witnesses the I-950 and the Terminators in action and learns the truth about them.
Publishers Weekly reviewed T2: Infiltrator and says the author gets the details of the Terminator universe right and thought the story made sense that tellls how Skynet, after two failures, would try again to kill John Connor again. SF Crowsnest reviewer Laura Kayne enjoyed T2: The Future War and praised how the story ties in with the first two Terminator films.