The T-1000 Reforming
The mimetic polyalloy, also known as the polymimetic alloy, is a type of liquid metal compound that is applied to advanced Terminator series such as the Series 1000 Terminator and its variants, as well as the Series X Terminator. The mimetic polyalloy, as its name suggests, allows a Terminator to change into any shape or form that it touches, provided that the object is of similar mass. It could possibly contain nanites. It is harmless unless it is programmed with specific instructions.
Production History
The mimetic polyalloy was first created by Skynet and used with the Series 1000 Terminator.[1]
After time travelling was introduced into the equation, its history becomes muddled with potential alternate future and new predestination paradox influences.
In an alternate timeline, Clea Bennet, an I-950 Infiltrator, began the development of the material under the name Intellimetal to ingratiate herself with the executives of Cyberdyne Systems. The raw prototype material was highly carcinogenic.[2]
Known Terminators that used mimetic polyalloy
Series 800
- Main article: Series 800
The Series 800, while not composed of mimetic polyalloy itself, has displayed that it is capable of interfacing with and controlling liquid metal to an extent provided that it has not been previously programmed. The mimetic polyalloy can be used to repair damaged and incapacitated units in order to restore them to operational capability. The Series 800 could also develop and utilize replacement parts made from the polymetal.
Series 1000
- Main article: Series 1000
The Series 1000 Terminator is not issued with any weapons, but was capable of fashioning any solid metal form, such as knives and stabbing weapons. The T-1000 could not, however, form any complex systems which may have had moving parts or chemicals, like guns or explosives.
The mimetic polyalloy construction of the T-1000 allowed it to replicate any object or person of similar volume that it molecular sampled by physical contact.
Series X
- Main article: Series X
Like the Series 1000 Terminator, the Series X Terminator also utilizes mimetic polyalloy. However, whereas the Series 1000 Terminator is constructed entirely from this liquid metal, the Series X Terminator only has a mimetic polyalloy outer sheath covering its Endoskeleton.
Like the T-1000, the T-X can take the form of any human it touches. Stored within small reservoirs in the cranial casing of the T-X when in endoskeletal form, the mimetic polyalloy not only aids in infiltration, but also adds strength to the overall armor of the T-X. Like the T-1000, the T-X's supply of polyalloy can partially absorb the shock of gunfire.
Weakness
Vulnerabilities
The mimetic polyalloy can be destroyed by the following factors:
- Temperature
The T-1000 is melting in the molten steel.
Temperatures in excess of 1535 degrees Celsius, such as those needed to smelt iron, could permanently alter the bonding processes of the mimetic polyalloy. The molten iron (or any other element) could then mix with the elements of the alloy and physically alter its molecular structure, thus rendering it inoperative.[1] High temperatures added with collision damage, such as a crashing helicopter, can also destroy the mimetic polyalloy.[3]
- Plasma
The mimetic polyalloy can be destroyed by a plasma weapon.[4]
- Corrosives
Corrosives, such as concentrated Hydrochloric Acid, were also known to damage T-1000's.[5]
Incapability
The mimetic polyalloy can be impeded in a period by the following factors:
- Freezing
The T-1000 is frozen.
- The T-1000 is exposed to liquid nitrogen, which freezes its morphing processes long enough for the T-800 to shatter it with a single gunshot. The effect is only temporary; the heat from a nearby crucible is enough to thaw the scattered fragments and the T-1000 is able to reform itself. However, the Terminator also exhibits a glitch caused by the freezing-and-shattering process; it begins to randomly sample nearby objects (a safety railing, a diamond-plated surface). Later, when it imitates Sarah Connor to attract her son, John is able to identify it when it involuntarily imitates the surface it's standing on.[1]
- The T-1001 is placed in a box under a low temperature.[6]
- Magnetic Fields
John Connor is able to temporarily incapacitate a T-X by charging up a particle accelerator and triggering a magnetic field. The mimetic polyalloy is pulled off of her metallic endoskeleton by the magnetic field, until she is able to use an implanted saw to disable the field.[3]
Notes
- It is unknown how the mimetic polyalloy figures into time travel. As time travel requires organic tissues (at least wrapped around the robot), the alloy would have to actually generate a real outer layer of skin and hair (or some other material that is considered "organic" by the TDE) to allow a Terminator to go through time. This would, however, explain why the T-1000 in Terminator 2: Judgment Day arrived appearing as a naked human, not as a silver "Oscar"-like humanoid. This also seems to be true for the T-X, which also had adopted a human form before it arrived.
- It's also never really explained how T-1000 is able to move, think, see and talk when made out of mimetic polyalloy. The most likely explanation would be that it includes nano-robots, nanites, that communicate remotely, and are capable to move the polyalloy through magnetic impulses.