Dr. Edwin Mack was Tech-Com's head scientist that served under Justin Perry's 132nd Division during 2026. He was primarily responsible with experimenting on Skynet's forces in order to devise methods of hacking the network.
History[]
One day, while he was running experiments with an unarmed Skynet drone, a young girl, Jessica Baron, believing Mack was being attacked, came upon them and started attacking and smashing the drone. Mack tried to get her to stop, but Justin Perry started to laugh at the sight. Baron was later welcomed into the 132nd Division.
While experimenting with a computer virus on March 2026, Mack found a vulnerability in Skynet's code, part of the original programming created by Miles Dyson, was pressured by John Connor and Perry to rush the usage of the virus on a deactivated Terminator in order to prolong the survival of the Resistance, making the Machines to become "overzealous", killing all life on his advances: trees, rats... It was very dangerous, and he said it... but Perry forced to do it at gunpoint. While Mack successfully hacked the Terminator, the Terminator re-activated and fatally wounded Perry with a bite to his neck, whom, already wounded, nevertheless used his chance to eliminate the Terminator by shooting in his head with the plasma rifle which Mack had previously reprogrammed. Jessica Baron arrived in the aftermath, unaware that Perry ordered Mack to rush the experiment. Mack was ultimately blamed for Perry's death and was exiled while the 132nd Division relocated to the Resistance Shelter. Unknown to the rest of the Resistance, the virus had helped turn the tide of the war on April 21, 2026 with the Resistance gaining victories against Skynet, delaying greatly the advance of Annihilation Line.
After being thrown out of the refuge, Mack considered to tell Skynet the new's refuge's location, but at the end decided not to do it. He managed to capture and reprogram a Spider Scout, which used to explore and to find a new refuge for himself at Hollywood Hills, where he mounted a new laboratory.
Unknown to Baron, John had dedicated a small Tech-Com unit to maintain surveillance on Mack for the next few years, believing that Mack was still vital to the Resistance's war effort. John's intuition paid off when Jacob Rivers had successfully disabled a T-850 and brought its CPU over to Mack in 2029. Rivers explored the area where Mack was hidden, which was beyond the Annihilation Line. To make sure than he was not an Infiltrator, the Doctor made him to kill several T-800 unit in the area, which he said were searching for him, and recover a turned reprogrammed Spider Scout, maybe the same he captured before, before trusting him enough to let him get inside his laboratory, under a ruined mansion.
Rivers, under orders of Mack, stole the operating codes of Skynet through a HK-Tank disabled. Mack then uncovered that the T-850 (Resistance) had come from the future. Mack successfully transmitted all of his findings to John before disappearing, and provided the means for John to reprogram and send a T-800 back in time to protect his younger self.
Despite Mack's efforts to disappear, he was ultimately captured by Skynet and was incarcerated until the end of the war, where he was liberated by the Resistance. Terminator: Resistance
Alternate fate[]
Depending on Jacob's decision, Jacob can execute Mack with his side-arm as part of a revenge mission assigned by Baron. In this timeline, John would not have been successful in reprogramming the T-800 and he had to find a replacement in the Terminator Storage instead.
Personality[]
Mack is a very intelligent and brilliant scientific, and most of Resistance's technological successes are his work. However, he was also paranoid, distant and arrogant. With little empathy, he cared about little more than its experiments, no matter the cost to other people. Very reserved, he spied Perry often. However, he proved its humanity when decided not to doom the South Division, despite having hit and throw him off, when he had the chance.
Notes[]
- Mack's laboratory had several Terminators which he appear to be studying, including two partial destroyed T-800, and another Spider Scout. It is unknown how he obtained them, as he wasn't a fighter. Probably using Laser Traps, like the ones in his laboratory's entrance.