Derek (Brian Austin Green) finds the T-888 chip in Cameron’s (Summer Glau) room and confronts her. She says the chip may have valuable information. They eventually agree to let John (Thomas Dekker) hack into it. This is dicey because they want to access the memory banks without activating the Terminator brain. John discovers that Barbara Chamberlain (Karina Logue), Vick’s wife, was project manager for ARTIE, a new traffic control system for Los Angeles. Vick’s mission was to see that it was completed, so it could be integrated with Skynet.
One reason Derek distrusts Cameron is that he does not know how the safe house was discovered. He finds that one of the freedom fighters was following Barbara and was tracked back, so Cameron is innocent. Sarah (Lena Headey) and John try to upload a virus into the traffic system but fail. Meanwhile, Cromartie (Garret Dillahunt) has been searching all the high schools in Los Angeles for John, and almost catches him. Cameron sends someone else for a meeting in place of John, causing Cromartie to continue the search elsewhere. John says not to tell Sarah because she will make them skip town again.
The T-888 brain starts up, takes over John’s computer and goes through the phone to the Internet. John and Cameron unplug the chip quickly. John realizes that Cameron’s brain has the ability to access traffic control and shut it down. It works, but Derek wants her shut down too. John refuses and strokes her hair affectionately, which she remembers when rebooted. Sarah realizes that Derek killed Andrew Goode and says that if he lies to her again, she will kill him. Apparently, the T-888’s infiltration protocols can go into deep cover. Vick may have been a real person married to Barbara Chamberlain. The song at the end of the episode is The Man Comes Around by Johnny Cash, and the Terminators, like him, wear black.