Joe stood at the overlook, watching the red sunset stain the horizon like the opening flash of Judgement Day. The future James Cameron warned about always felt closer to him than to anyone else—because Joe had seen the blueprints, the prototypes, the classified footage of machines built to replace men.
Nelly found him there, fists clenched, jaw tight.
“Joe… what are you planning?”
He didn’t turn. “You want the truth? The only reason I even try to stop Cameron’s Judgement Day… is you.”
She didn’t speak, letting the wind whistle between them.
“If it were up to me and my brother Mike,” Joe continued, voice low and raw, “we’d let the great powers nuke each other. Let the whole shitty world burn and reset. Wash it all away. Humans had their chance.”
He finally looked at her—eyes tired, angry, but still alive.
“But you…” His voice cracked just slightly. “You’re the only reason I fight it. The only reason I hold the line. The only reason I don’t just step back and watch the mushroom clouds bloom.”
Nelly swallowed. “Joe… that’s a heavy burden to put on someone.”
“It’s not a burden,” he said. “It’s the truth. Without you… I wouldn’t care. Not about the future, not about saving anyone, not about stopping Cameron’s robots or the idiots pushing us to the edge.”
He stepped closer, gently touching her hand.
“You make this world worth saving. Even when everything else makes me want to give up.”