Dr. Edwin Mack was Tech-Com's head scientist who 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[]
At some point, he joined the Resistance as their technical expert. One day, while he was running experiments with an unarmed Skynet drone, a young girl, Jessica Baron, believing Mack was being attacked, came upon him 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 in March 2026, Mack found a vulnerability in Skynet's code- part of the original programming created by Miles Dyson- and was then 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. The virus made the Machines become "overzealous", killing all life: trees, rats, etc.. He said it was very dangerous, but Perry forced him 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. Perry, who was already wounded, nevertheless used this chance to eliminate the Terminator by shooting it in its 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 refuge's location, but at the end decided not to do it. He managed to capture and reprogram a Spider Scout, which he used to explore and to find a new refuge for himself at Hollywood Hills, where he built 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 reprogrammed Spider Scout before trusting him enough to let him get inside his laboratory, which under a ruined mansion.
Rivers, under the orders of Mack, stole the operating codes of Skynet through a disabled HK-Tank. 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 very intelligent and scientifically brilliant, and most of the Resistance's technological successes are his work. However, he was also paranoid, distant and arrogant. With little empathy, he cared about little more than his experiments, no matter the cost to other people. Very reserved, he spied on Perry often. However, he proved his humanity when he decided not to doom the South Division, despite them having hit and thrown him off.
Notes[]
- Mack's laboratory had several Terminators which he appeared to be studying, including two partial destroyed T-800s, and another Spider Scout. It is unknown how he obtained them, as he wasn't a fighter. He probably used Laser Traps, like the ones in his laboratory's entrance.