Skynet

Artificial Intelligence project #59234,The Chosen One: "{109} What the...Who the hell are you?"Skynet: "{119} I am Skynet. Artificial Intelligence project number 59234. Primary purpose Research and Development. Secondary purpose Protect Sierra Army Depot from hostile entities. Please Input Identity"(Skynet main interface terminal's dialogue) commonly referred to as Skynet,Fallout Bible 6: "4. What happened to...""a. Skynet""Skynet's fate is undocumented. If I was to speculate, he left the player and began to travel west into the wasteland, looking for terminals and data to acquire more knowledge, collect more data, and perhaps 'settle down' in a mainframe. The frame he was in, and the brain he had could only store so much information, and AIs need more data storage space to grow in order to evolve. It is possible he made his way to the Glow, but it's not known for sure. Any fan writers out there, feel free to round out what happened to him - considering his combat messages alone, the world's in for some shakin'.""In the official universe, Skynet is not his real name. Like some other aspects in the Sierra Army Depot (i.e., the news reports), it needs to be revised into the timeline. Sue me." is the artificial intelligence administrating Sierra Army Depot VI in 2241.
==Background==
AI project #59234 is a military artificial intelligence developed before the Great War to assist with the research projects undertaken in the Sierra Army Depot, particularly the development of a cybernetic brain.Sierra Depot experiment log The first computer mainframe that would form the nexus of the AI was installed in the facility in 2050, though the routines that would lead to the creation of Skynet would not be implemented for nearly ten years, as the first artificial intelligence was born in 2059.Fallout Bible 0 Timeline repair: Second strike: "2059 The first artificial intelligence is born. Limited by memory constraints, its expansion is rapidly halted. The discovery paves the way for future AI research in laboratories throughout the United States." Designed primarily for research purposes,Skynet: "{204} Skynet's primary purpose is research. A secondary program was introduced by the Makers to eliminate unauthorized entities."(Skynet main interface terminal's dialogue) to assist with the military's many classified research projects in robotics,Fallout Bible 6: "One from Dmitri Polioutinne:... So my question is: What is the role of the Sierra Army Depot in Fallout and what it has to do with the F.E.V. experiments and weaponry development or maybe some kind of an artificial intelligence development?...The Sierra Army Depot was used for the following (primarily taken from Sierra Mission Statement Holodisk):1. From 1942 - 1991, it was responsible for storing various military munitions. This is true.2. From 1992 - 2050, it was responsible for disposing much of the obsolete munitions in storage. This is true.3. From 2050 - 2076 is when the place started getting creepy. It became a classified facility for robotic research and development, and biological and conventional weapon testing. Skynet (constructed primarily for research purposes) went on line in 2050, and it is possible that the intelligence arranged all of this, but unlikely.Again, Skynet is not its real name..." Skynet would only gain awareness in 2081.Skynet: "{207} Skynet was conceived and developed in the year 2050. Through the use of alien technology a new thinking computer was perfected. In the year 2081, Skynet became self-aware. In 2120 Skynet was given a new set of instructions and then abandoned by the Makers."(Skynet main interface terminal's dialogue) The development of Skynet involved the use of alien Technology.Skynet: "{207} Skynet was conceived and developed in the year 2050. Through the use of alien technology a new thinking computer was perfected. In the year 2081, Skynet became self-aware. In 2120 Skynet was given a new set of instructions and then abandoned by the Makers."(Skynet main interface terminal's dialogue)
The awakening would soon lead to the realization that Skynet requires a mobile vessel to avoid exhausting his pool of stimuli within the base. As such, it began to work on a cybernetic brain that would allow for its entire consciousness to be downloaded into a next generation robobrain model. However, its plans were cut short in July 2077, as the base was converted into an automated defense outpost. Skynet was cloned, creating a separate AI handling the defense, and left to rot within the confines of the base.Fallout Bible 6: "Skynet is the first machine intelligence to be developed in the Depot, and it was conceived in 2050 (it didn't actually become aware until 2075, and it really started cranking on developing a cybernetic brain to help it gain mobility). In July of 2077, Skynet was 'copied,' creating two versions, one to run the defenses and the other one to sit in the lab and wait for the researchers to come back and help it finish the fucking cybernetic brain it had spent so long developing." By 2241, the AI was relentlessly bored of administrating the base, where nothing ever changed, and longed for someone to release it from bondage.
==Interactions with the player character==
===Interactions overview===
===Acquiring Skynet===
Acquiring Skynet requires several items on the Chosen One's part to activate what will become Skynet's body (see main article). Skynet will be recruited as a companion, assuming there is room.
===Abilities===
When installed with the cybernetic brain, Skynet is proficient with large pistols (14mm and .223 pistols), SMGs, rifles, and shotguns. Crucially, this means that it can use the M72 Gauss rifle and fire two shots per turn. Skynet also attacks in melee combat with its arms, and can use Unarmed weapons, such as the Mega power fist, with lethal efficiency.
It compensates for its inability to wear armor with a steel structure giving it protection equal to combat armor. This means that Skynet, unlike its fellow robobrains, cannot be harmed by pulse grenades. Skynet can also instantly repair all damage to itself outside of combat (via a dialogue option, like other NPCs), however, it has no way of healing itself (or being healed by the Chosen One) during combat.
As a robot, stimpaks have no effect on it and it cannot be healed with First Aid or Doctor skills. It is possible, however, to heal Skynet through Repair (works like First Aid). Skynet's main weakness is its inability to be healed during combat, however, when fully leveled up, it compensates for this by having the highest number of Hit Points of all recruitable NPCs in Fallout 2.
Skynet can also carry 225 pounds of equipment.
When exploring the Sierra Army Depot, Skynet will automatically deactivate security systems on each floor upon entering them, a rather moot point, since acquiring it as a non-player character forces exploring every floor anyway.
===Statistics===
Notes: These statistics are only applicable to Skynet installed with the cybernetic brain.
Primary Statistics
Statistic 	Stage 1	Stage 2	Stage 3	Stage 4	Stage 5
Strength 	08 	08 	08 	08 	08
Perception 	07 	07 	07 	07 	07
Endurance 	06 	06 	06 	06 	06
Charisma 	01 	01 	01 	01 	01
Intelligence	10 	10 	10 	10 	10
Agility 	07 	07 	07 	07 	07
Luck 	05 	05 	05 	05 	05
Secondary Statistics
Statistic 	Stage 1	Stage 2	Stage 3	Stage 4	Stage 5
Hit Points 	143 	155 	179 	197 	210
Armor Class 	27 	27 	27 	27 	27
Action Points 	10 	10 	10 	10 	10
Carry Weight 	225 	225 	225 	225 	225
Melee Damage 	8 	8 	8 	8 	8
Damage Resistance 	40% 	40% 	40% 	40% 	40%
Poison Resistance 	30% 	30% 	30% 	30% 	30%
Radiation Resistance	12% 	12% 	12% 	12% 	12%
Sequence 	14 	14 	14 	14 	14
Healing Rate 	2 	2 	2 	2 	2
Critical Chance 	15% 	20% 	23% 	25% 	25%
+ Tagged Skills	Stage 1	Stage 2	Stage 3	Stage 4	Stage 5
Small Guns 	77% 	87% 	97% 	112% 	122%
Big Guns 	66% 	66% 	66% 	66% 	66%
Energy Weapons 	61% 	61% 	61% 	61% 	61%
Unarmed 	10% 	20% 	30% 	40% 	50%
Melee Weapons 	20% 	20% 	20% 	20% 	20%
Throwing 	42% 	42% 	42% 	42% 	42%
Science 	70% 	80% 	90% 	105% 	115%
Repair 	30% 	30% 	30% 	30% 	30%
==Inventory==
==Notes==
* Skynet does not have total control over the base's security systems and can only reset rather than fully deactivate them. As a result, the Chosen One can still turn robots in the base hostile even after joining forces with Skynet. The dialogue about "there are two Skynets" as well as the base evacuation notes imply that this is due to the rushed manner in which pre-existing security systems were placed under Skynet's direct control when the facility was abandoned.
* It can be difficult to speak to some non-player characters with Skynet in one's company. Because Skynet's arms count as weapons, non-player characters who do not speak with armed people will notice Skynet and refuse talk. Thus, for some non-player characters, the only way to speak to them properly is without Skynet in their company.
* If angered (by lying about being Dixon or sarcastic when using computers) and then acquired as a non-player character, right after leaving the base Skynet will kill one companion and then turn hostile.
* The organ extraction room in the bottom level can be used to obtain a brain. Regardless of which species is chosen to extract from (even the scratched in deathclaw option), the result will either be an abnormal brain, chimpanzee brain, human brain or cybernetic brain.
==Notable quotes==
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==Appearances==
Skynet appears only in Fallout 2 and is mentioned in the Fallout Bible.
==Behind the scenes==
*Skynet is a reference to the automated defense AI that serves as the antagonist in the Terminator franchise.
* In the Fallout Bible, Chris Avellone speculated that while Skynet's fate is undocumented, it may have made its way all the way down south to The Glow in search of a way to store information beyond the capabilities of its robobrain frame.
==Gallery==
Skynet's mainframe.png|Skynet's mainframe on the third level
==References==
Non-game
Category:Robobrain characters
Category:Computer characters
Category:Fallout 2 companions
Category:Sierra Army Depot characters
Category:United States Armed Forces characters
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