Chapter 121. Part 1.

Hey, it's theramenlord, I'm really sorry for not uploading the past few days, I actually had made a scheduled post because I was already 5 chapters ahead.

But it got stuck for some reason, and I couldn't even make a new post to create a copy of the chapter and upload it or even just upload a short note on why I am not able to upload.

Even though I didn't want to do so, I left you guys hanging, and I am really sorry for that. Anyways lets get on with this chapter I think that I have kept you guys waiting long enough.

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~ Quote of the chapter ~

"The only true failure is not doing anything, standing still is a failure. Moving forward and tripping over yourself is not. It's a part of learning and learning is a part of success."

– Improvised quote from theramenlord

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Date: 23rd, March, 1991.

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Time: 08:21 pm.

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Last time on Chapter 120. Part 2 —

"Huh?" Nic was confused, as Mark had just agreed to give James what he had been desperately looking for.

"Because the pound of flesh gale is going to tear off of me, I'm gonna be taking it from him." Mark replied and patted him on the back this time and said, "Let's go."

While Nic was following him from behind, he couldn't help but unconsciously feel glad that he was friend's with Mark rather than his enemy. He genuinely felt a little bad for those poor bastards, for they didn't even know, what was coming for them.

Now Continuing —

While James observed Marc and Nicholas talking to each other, his friend was having a conversation with Dave, Nicholas' assistant. He got to know that the man was a recent hire, but he wasn't interested in Dave, but rather in trying to guess how the conversation between Marc and Nicholas was going.

For his sake, he prayed it went well, and that Marc succeeded in swaying his billionaire friend to help him out. At first, Nicholas looked peeved and a bit frustrated, most probably because of his bold offer. But thankfully, it seemed like talking to Marc had calmed the man down.

He kept his eyes peeled on Marc as he saw how the young man was able to converse freely with someone who was probably a decade older than him and a few billion dollars wealthier. Marc's background still remained a mystery, but when questioned by the media, he admitted to being brought up in an upper-middle-class family.

He knew that Marc wasn't one to lie easily and tried his best to maintain an upstanding image among his peers. So it was something he was willing to believe, but the way the young man had grown his wealth was speculated to be directly connected to the older gentleman beside him.

He was broken out of his thoughts by his friend, as he heard him say, "They're coming back."

He focused on them again to see it was true; the duo was coming back. Though their faces gave nothing away—there was no smile or reassurance to be found—and he felt his heart growing colder.

'Is this how Terminator was going to end?' He couldn't help but have that negative thought in the bleak situation he found himself in.

The fact that no one believed in him truly hurt his feelings and his pride as a director. He knew it was a lot of money, but he had not yet failed once to earn back the money for his producers. So what was it that made them so hesitant?

He knew the answer to that question, actually. It was simple: it was about the money—a hundred million dollars. It was an amount of money that had never been put into a single project before. Even he didn't know how much his film would be able to earn back and how profitable it would be.

"Hello, Mr. Cameron, Mr. Schwarzenegger. Sorry to keep you guys waiting." Mark said out of decorum.

"You can call me Arnold, Mark, and it's fine. So, what's the verdict?" Arnold replied casually, wanting to be done with this mounting tension.

"I will let Nicholas tell you guys about that," Mark replied as he stood aside and Nicholas stepped forward.

Mark had already explained to his friend what he needed him to say to them and how he needed to say it. He was doing this so James and Arnold could understand just how much risk he was taking and that it was only because of him that this deal was going through.

Why was Mark putting on the show?

It was quite simply actually, he needed to make them feel like he was doing them a big favor, which he was. But he needed to make them understand how big of a deal it really was as well, or it would have been for naught.

By doing so, he hoped that they would understand that he was going out on a limb for them, even though he did not even know them that well, except for their reputation in the industry.

And he was hoping that by putting on this little show, they would feel more grateful, which in turn will be more effectively amplified by his perk: [Beholden To The King].

"Mr. Cameron, Mr. Schwarzenegger, I'll be honest, I don't think your proposal is a good deal for me." The moment James heard it, the wind was taken out of his sails.

"I am sorry, but I'm a businessman at heart, and judging from your previous films, a hundred million is too big of an ask. I would have rejected it."

"Would've?" James asked, surprised, feeling a bit of hope in his heart. The beginning of his speech had really demoralized him.

Nicholas just nodded and pointed with his thumb towards Mark. "My friend over here, believes that you guys can prove me wrong."

"He personally vouched for you two and told me that he's willing to be the guarantor for this movie."

"So if in the unfortunate scenario, your film fails to reach the breakeven point at the box office, then he'll be the one to bear the losses and pay me back."

"Marc?!" James and Arnold couldn't help but call out Mark's name, they were stunned and touched by someone finally showing trust in them.

"The only reason I'm even willing to agree to this deal is because of Mark, because I trust him that he won't cook the books."

The two tried to speak up, probably wanting to defend themselves, but Nicholas just kept speaking, "I might be new to Hollywood but not to business. I know him, he won't reduce the losses or show less profits in the unlikely scenario that this does work out, so that he can pocket the extra."

"Another thing, I have no interest in buying out the Terminator IP, so that money will be coming out of his pocket not mine." He said, again pointing at Mark.

"Marc, I don't want to sound ungrateful but why are you–" James tried to question as he was puzzled by Marc's decision to help them, especially when he was taking such a big risk.

"Because, while my friend over is a businessman like me, he isn't an artist." Marc's reply made him understand the kind of man he was dealing with, James remembered a line from the film he had just watched.

'It's not about the money, it's about sending a message.'

"Also, please don't mistake my generosity for charity, or pity. I've actually read through a version of your script, Mr. Cameron, and while I feel it might need a few minor changes here and there. It's actually pretty well written."

"So you see, while it's true that I'm taking a very risky bet on you guys, it's a calculated one, as I am 60% sure that you'll at least break even."

"Obviously that's based on the condition that we properly advertise the film, which will unfortunately only add on to the already burgeoning budget of the film." Mark said with a shrug, but he had a grimace on his face, like he wasn't happy with the situation but had made his bed with it.

Then Nicholas spoke up again, laying out his demands. "Also I have a few conditions before signing on, Mr. Schwarzenegger, you already have a name for yourself, and you as well Mr. Cameron."

"But it still falls a bit short, so Marc here will be appointed as the executive producer of the film and as mentioned before it will be his studio that will be undertaking the production of this movie."

"Does.. Marc also has the right to the final edit?" James asked, feeling a little sad that once again he might not get creative control over his own work. The only time he had full control was in T1, and it felt amazing, he wanted that level of autonomy for himself.

"What?" Nicholas asked, a bit surprised as he wasn't quite sure as to what James was alluding to, though thankfully Mark took over and kept the conversation moving forward.

"I will only step in if you mess up too much, if that happens you'll be asked to step down, and I will take over to finish the film." James must've had a very sour look on his face, because what Marc said next immediately put his fears to rest.

"Relax, that is just the worst case scenario. As for the final editing, I will be the one to oversee the editing, but the how and where will be left up to you."

"It is only if I don't like your final cut that I will make my own. But knowing your level of skill. I don't think it will be necessary." Mark said as he checked Cameron's stats on his directorial skills.

[ James Francis Cameron

– Directorial Skills –

– Primary –

1. Creative Vision: 97

2. Aesthetic Cinematography: 94

3. Crew Leadership: 52

4. On-set Coordination: 85

5. Character Blocking: 90

6. Performance Guidance: 69

7. Artistic Communication: 94

– Secondary –

Miniature Model Crafting: 72

Art Direction: 90

Special Effect Direction: 94

Script Writing: 85]

The moment Mark saw the 52 besides the Crew Leadership Skill, he couldn't help but wince. Though it was only on the inside as he held a flawless poker face that didn't give any outward reaction.

But seeing that number made him remember just how infamous James was for his treatment of his crew. There was a running gag among his crew members, who made a T-shirt that said: You can't scare me, I work for James Cameron.

Even though he wanted to win over James as a director, he would never allow him to treat his crew the way he did to the crew members of Aliens 2 and The Abyss. They were a part of his team now and he won't allow anyone to disrespect or mistreat them.

"It's fine," James said with a shrug, "after seeing the Killing Joke, I know you'll definitely do a better job than any random editor we could ever find."

Mark chuckled and then asked, "When do you want to make it?"

"I want to start filming as soon as possible, actually, and if possible, I wish to release the movie this year itself." Upon hearing that, Mark's eyes narrowed slightly as he stared at James.

He was skeptical if this was destiny or fate correcting itself, because he thought that due to the butterfly effect, maybe the Terminator would be delayed and released next year.

"Hmm, then we'll definitely not have enough time to put together a new crew." Mark said, to which James nodded his head.

Mark then looked towards his own stats, but more specifically his Crew Leadership, On-set Coordination and Performance Guidance skills. As those will be the ones that will be truly put to the test while executing the plan that he had in mind.

[3. Crew Leadership: 86 → 92 (90+2*)

4. On-set Coordination: 77 → 84 (83+1*)

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6. Performance Guidance: 70 → 79 (78+1*)]

He knew it was going to be a risky and daunting task because his Character Template had expired, but he didn't just want to back down from the challenge.

But to him this was nothing but just another chance to improve, after all, directing was a line of work where one could only get better with every film they make.

It was the reason experienced, and successful, directors were valued so highly. It was also why his stellar performance with the filming of Knives Out made the news. His performance as a rookie director went completely against the norm and logic.

He was a rookie director making a debut with his first film, but somehow his film was so good that people found it hard to believe that it was he who had really made it. It was the topic of discussion that was constantly printed in the small magazines that circulated Hollywood.

After seeing his stats again, he was happy to see that they had risen by a significant amount from when he had first started out in Hollywood less than a year ago. But there was still a long way to go before he could stand shoulder to shoulder with people like Spielberg, Lucas, Nolan, and the rest.

He had divided his conditions for helping James make T2 into two and let Nicholas take the lead because he didn't want to come off as too authoritative or tyrannical. So, Nicholas had laid down the conditions, on his behalf, though to the duo before it must have looked like Nicholas making his own demands.

Now it was time for him to make his own demand, he hoped that James would be able to put aside his ego to work together with him to become a better version of himself.

As Mark didn't just want to bring James into his camp as he is, maybe if he didn't have the power of the system behind him, that is what he would have done.

But with the help of his system, he knew he could help James become a better director.

He was able to see skills where it was that James lacked the most, and it wasn't a surprise to see that leadership had the lowest stats. It was just how low it was that surprised him, it also made him realize that he had his work cut out for him.

'The stats of his Crew Leadership Skill are abysmal. But it is accurate to the history I know, he was infamous for being an abusive and uncompromising director, his attitude, and behavior made the crew miserable. He was quick to shout, showed bouts of anger and a lack of empathy.'

The crew would have to work day and night, unlike his, where he gave them enough time to rest and recover. He was so uncompromising that he didn't even allow people to take bathroom breaks in between scenes on the set of True Lies and The Titanic.

These were things he knew about the man, but he also knew that people could change. Will at least some good, he knew James did, in his past life, but that change had come too late. It was only when he was in his late 50s did he start to mellow out and relax his dictatorial style of directing.

He wanted for this change to happen early, the other way of making Cameron feel indebted to him that he had come with was teaching him. If everything went according to plan, then James would learn on the set of T2 how if he wants to make better films, he must first learn to be a better leader.

And even though the rest of his skills weren't there yet, his [Crew Leadership Skill], had been the first of his Direction Skills that reached the 90 threshold. And for that he had been awarded with a General Achievement for it when it happened.

The rewards were so good, that it made him even more eager to raise the stats of his other skills to 90 as well.

He checked the perk that he had been awarded with again.

[ «New Perk» A Leader's Mind: The user instinctively gets knowledge or solutions as to how to solve the problem of the group and also on how to draw out their maximum potential.

This perk also gives a medium boost to the user's charisma and Crew Leadership skill (+2)* when they are actively participating in roles of leadership. It also provides a small boost to the On-set Coordination skill (+1)* and the Performance Guidance skill (+1)*]

Till now, it had been the [Character Template of Mr. Spielberg] from his past life that had been helping him cope, and he had improved his stats a lot thanks to it. But now it was finally time to put himself to the test, he took a deep breath and let out a sigh as he told James his condition.

"James, before we shake on it, I have a condition, because we'll be using my crew for the filming. I want to be the co-director."

That sentence from Mark had James immediately seeing red, thankfully he didn't have a drink in his hand or he would have immediately shattered it.

– To be continued in Part 2...

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Word Count: 2834 words.

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