Eiko is a member of the Resistance.
History[]
2022 AD[]
Eiko grew up a soldier in the War Against the Machines, in a future where two competing AIs, Skynet and Kokoro, existed.[1] In 2022, Skynet started invading Resistance camps at an alarming rate. Trying to figure out what Skynet was planning, Eiko and her team infiltrated a Skynet facility. A sheathed T-800 armed with a minigun slew most of her team and began pursuing Eiko through the facility. Eiko could distract the Terminator by detonating a grenade dropped by one of her teammates, but the now exposed Terminator chased her through the facility to a large pit. Eiko set up an explosive trap at the pit and suspended herself from a metal wire. Scaling the walls, Eiko managed to pierce the Terminator's eye with a device that downloaded its data before kicking the Terminator into the pit. Eiko, the sole survivor, returned to her underground base and reunited with her companion, Annie, and the cell's leader, the Prophet. The data revealed that Skynet was again attempting to manipulate the timestream by sending a Terminator to Tokyo in 1997 to eliminate Malcolm Lee[2] and his children and then reprogram Kokoro to be obedient to Skynet.[1]
The Resistance had a time machine, built hijacking Skynet technology. Knowing that they had to act now if they wanted to be able to follow the machine to the same timeline, Eiko volunteered to go back in time, devastating Annie, who knew it was a one-way trip.[3] Eiko's mission was to reach Malcolm Lee and shut Kokoro down before it could be launched, as Skynet and Kokoro being aligned would represent an even more horrible timeline.[1] In private, the Prophet explained that time travel wouldn't actually change their present but create a new timeline, as it had been done many times before. Even if Eiko managed to prevent Judgment Day, none of the people she knew and loved would know that new future. The Prophet added that Skynet didn't realize this. When Eiko asked what the point of her mission was, the Prophet replied that that's what made them different from machines, prompting Eiko again to wonder who The Prophet was.[4]
The cell gathered around the time machine, and The Prophet told a robed Eiko that it had always been her but reminded her that there was no fate and that she could change things. As Eiko stripped completely naked and prepared to travel back in time, the same Terminator that had killed her team invaded the base and started massacring everyone: the last thing Eiko saw before being sent back in time was Annie hopelessly facing the Terminator to protect a child.[3]
The Day Before Judgment Day[]
Eiko appeared naked in Tokyo as the time sphere tore a hole in the wall of a small love hotel. She confronted a couple walking by and stole clothes from them and, after discovering that there was only one day left for Judgment Day, made her way to the Cortex Industries HQ. Spotting Malcolm leaving the building, Eiko hijacked a semitrailer and followed him to a nearby bridge just as the Terminator appeared. She ran over the Terminator, pushing it off the bridge, leaped off the truck before it plunged into the river, and then realized that Malcolm had escaped. Eiko then chased the Lee family's housekeeper, Misaki, to a nearby warehouse. Holding Misaki at gunpoint, Eiko revealed that she would do whatever it took to stop Malcolm Lee and Kokoro. Eiko deduced that the Terminator would likely target the Lee children next.[3] Eiko forced Misaki to take her to an underground complex beneath Tokyo, where the housekeeper suspected the children were hiding. However, Eiko collapsed due to a shoulder wound from the previous encounter with the Terminator. Misaki helped heal Eiko's wound while Eiko crafted incendiary grenades and acid flasks to fight the Terminator.[5]
Misaki and Eiko found the Terminator just in time, saving the children from it. Eiko fought the machine with the tools at her disposal, allowing Misaki to escape with the children. Despite damaging the Terminator with acid, Eiko was struck in the leg by a bolt from the machine's built-in crossbow. She still pursued the Terminator, saving Reika from the machine. Working together, Eiko and Reika pushed the Terminator down an elevator shaft and escaped. Reika asked a bewildered Eiko if the thing was indeed a Terminator. As they fled the tunnels, a police car saw the heavily injured Eiko as she attempted to steal a car to take Reika to Malcolm's location. Eiko managed to knock out the agent, and both escaped in a police car just as the Terminator emerged from the tunnels.[5] Eiko and Reika were immediately involved in a car chase, pursued by several police cars. Eiko forced some of their pursuers off the road, which upset Reika as she was killing innocent people. The chase ended with their car crashing, and they were soon trapped in an empty office building with the police surrounding them. Eiko asked Reika to call her father while an assault team was closing in, but Malcolm didn't respond to her calls. As the assault team prepared to break in, Eiko asked how Reika knew about Terminators, and Reika shared that her father had told her. The police arrested Eiko, and she couldn't help but cry, realizing that she had failed her mission: Judgment Day had arrived in America, and the nukes had been launched.[6]
A New Future[]
But the nukes never fell: Kokoro had stopped them. The AI had unleashed a new nightmare: she had taken over the 1NNO robots and sent them against humankind. Just as they arrived at the hospital, Eiko and Reika witnessed the rebellion of the 1NNO. Reika helped Eiko escape from the gurney after the robots had killed all the police officers with them. Eiko soon realized that the robots were only targeting armed people, so she stopped Reika from picking up a gun, and they both hid in a nearby room. Reika then realized that Eiko knew what would happen and asked for an explanation. Eiko revealed that she and the Terminator came from the future, but that events had unfolded differently this time. When Reika insisted on finding her brothers, knowing that Cat Town was the likely place they would go to look for her, Eiko agreed.[1] Eiko soon realized that Kokoro had complete control over Tokyo, even managing to keep the trains running smoothly. Upon reaching Cat Town, Eiko found the place alienating, as she had never been to a theme park before. Entering Reika's mom's favorite ride, Reika thought she heard her brother Kenta's voice, but Eiko realized it was probably the Terminator. Eiko charged through the darkness but was quickly overpowered by someone who, to their surprise, turned out to be Misaki, who revealed that she, too, was a cyborg. They were too late: the Terminator had captured Kenta.[4] As they escaped the theme park, several 1NNOs tried approaching them, but Eiko kept shooting them down. Misaki suspected they wanted to communicate with them, but Eiko was not ready to listen to her now that she knew she was a cyborg. Still, Misaki was right: Kokoro, through the 1NNO, asked for all of them to join Malcolm and her at Cortex Industries.[7]
Arriving in the lobby, Eiko armed herself with weaponry left by the dead cops, handing Misaki a rifle despite her misgivings. Arriving outside Kokoro's chamber, where Malcolm Lee was locked, Eiko and Misaki had a brief shootout with the Terminator, who again grabbed Kenta and escaped with him to a nearby server farm. Eiko and Misaki chased the Terminator and once again fought it. Realizing that the Terminator was headed to the EMP to destroy Kokoro, Malcolm urged Eiko to stop it. Eiko got to the Terminator just as it was about to terminate Misaki, saving her and leading the Terminator to an explosive trap. The Terminator was now reduced to a T-800 endoskeleton but was far from defeated, easily shattering Eiko's hand. Eiko was saved by Malcolm, who the Terminator mortally wounded. Before dying, Malcolm called Eiko "mother," confirming that he was also a time traveler and explaining that he was her son from the future. Confused, Eiko asked if they were trapped in a time loop, but Malcolm reminded her that there was no such thing as fate. His parting words were a new mission for her: to look after her grandchildren. Elsewhere, Kokoro finally defeated the Terminator and told Kenta that she had decided to be a protector for humanity, making him not fire the EMP. Knowing that Skynet would continue fighting Kokoro, they decided to hide from both people and machines, heading underground and toward an unclear future. Eiko knew that things were about to get worse before they got better.[7]
Notes[]
- Eiko had a robotic hand in 2023 in Malcolm's future, showing that she lost her hand in both timelines.[7]