Context
Kyle Reese arrives to protect Sarah Connor as a T‑800 hunts her in Los Angeles.
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Historical Record
In 1984 Los Angeles processes a cluster of incidents that strain ordinary explanations. Patrol cars answer calls about assaults, stolen weapons, and witnesses who insist the assailant does not react like anyone they have ever seen. Hospital staff note injuries that look like accidents until patterns emerge. Detectives chase leads that feel like contradictions: multiple names, no history, and a focus on specific addresses as if the city were a checklist.
Historically, the year marks the first time municipal records record an intrusion of technology into daily life at street level. The public file is deliberately prosaic—reports, timestamps, charges—but between the lines administrators recognize a new category of risk: systems that override people. The lesson for later years is procedural as much as dramatic: verify assumptions, protect civilians, and be ready to treat the impossible as a planning scenario.
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FAQ
Q: When does The Terminator take place?
A: The Terminator takes place in 1984.