Miles Bennett Dyson

Infobox character
colour =
name = "Miles Bennett Dyson"


caption = Miles Dyson in his final moments and just before he blows up the Cyberdyne building
first = ""
last = ""
status = Deceased
nickname =
alias =
species = Human
gender = Male
age = Mid-30's
born = 1960s
death = 1995
occupation = Scientist
title = Doctor
family =
spouse = Tarissa Dyson
children = Daniel "Danny" Dyson, Blythe Dyson
relatives =
residence =
episode =
portrayer = Joe Morton
Phil Morris
creator = James Cameron

Doctor Miles Bennett Dyson is a character in the sci-fi series "Terminator". He was the original inventor of the neural-net processor which would lead to the development of Skynet, a computer A.I. intended to control and defend the United States, but which would later seize control of the world and launch a global war of extermination against humanity. He is the man most directly responsible for causing Judgment Day. In "", he is portrayed by Joe Morton.

"Terminator 2: Judgment Day"

Plot Summary

Dr. Dyson was a cybernetics scientist and Director of Special Projects of Cyberdyne Systems Corporation. He was tasked with creating a new neural net processor by reverse engineering two pieces of advanced technology, coming from an unknown-source. The technology actually came from a ten-year-old crime scene at another Cyberdyne facility (the Terminator's arm and CPU from the first film). Miles worked on the project around the clock with his colleagues at the main Cyberdyne office, where he was one of the few people who were given access to the original Terminator arm and CPU chip. He also worked on the project at home. Miles truly believed in the potential of his work, as the processor could lead to a revolutionary new brand of automated systems and a more advanced form of artificial intelligence, which would make other existing computer systems obsolete by comparison. The project eventually reached the point where he nearly completed a prototype of the processor. Had the project been completed and distributed to the nation, the processor, named Skynet, would have gained self-awareness and waged a genocidal war on mankind beginning with a nuclear holocaust.

This was averted, however, when Sarah Connor, who wished to stop Skynet's attack before it began, used files from another Terminator from the future to track down Miles at his home in the hope of killing him. Sarah initially tried to kill Miles with a CAR-15 sniper rifle, but Miles evaded the bullet when he was momentarily distracted by his son, Danny. Sarah opened up with a volley of automatic fire but Miles took cover behind his desk, where the bullets, though critically damaging his computer and prototype, failed to reach him. With her rifle empty, Sarah ran into the house with a .45 cal side-arm and began shooting at Miles at close-range, eventually hitting him in the shoulder and cornering him, his wife, and son, screaming at him that it was his fault without giving any explanation, leading a confused Dyson to utter, "What?" Upon hearing this, Sarah suffered an emotional breakdown, unable to kill Dyson in front of his wife and children when he wasn't even responsible for anything yet. At that moment, Sarah's son John and the T-800 Terminator arrived in an attempt to stop Sarah from killing him. Once Sarah had been convinced not to go through with the assassination, in order to show Dyson his cybernetic nature, the Terminator cut off the outer-flesh of his arm, exposing his cybernetic arm and hand. Miles was shocked to discover it was identical to the one in the laboratory and realized the connection to him at this point.

After Miles's wound was partially healed and the shock of the attack had died down, Sarah, John and the T-800 explained Skynet's future and its true effects on humanity to Miles and his wife. Miles was convinced to quit Cyberdyne and said he would destroy his prototype unit, computers, disk drives, optical drives, files, notes and any other contents of his office. However, the Terminator made him realize that as long as the laboratory and technological artifacts at Cyberdyne were intact, Skynet could still exist as others would use his research and continue to create Skynet. Miles then decided to go with the Connors and the Terminator to destroy the research in the Cyberdyne building and send his family into hiding. Before leaving, Tarissa agreed with Miles that Skynet had to be destroyed above all else and bade him good luck.

Miles initially hoped to enter the building undeterred and destroy the contents of the lab without opposition, but the guard refused him entry due to the late hour of the night and lack of proper paperwork. Instead, the group forced their way in at gunpoint. Miles helped John gather the advanced technological artifacts of the original Terminator from the high-security lab and they began preparing to destroy the entire laboratory with a massive polydichloric euthimal bomb. Just as the bomb was ready, multiple SWAT teams arrived in response to the break-in and one unit stormed the building. The team opened fire and Miles was riddled with bullets before he took cover.

Knowing his injuries were fatal, Miles bid the others to escape and stayed behind to trigger the bombs' remote, which would be flipped by a large piece of the Neural Net Processor model in Miles's hand; which would drop when he died. The SWAT team realized this too late when they cornered him at gunpoint as he lay on the ground, and promptly panicked, running away. Miles succumbed to his injuries with a heartfelt and slow death noted by shallowed labored breathing and died a few seconds later. His lifeless hand dropped the model on the trigger, destroying the lab and a sizable portion of Cyberdyne Headquarters.

In the end, Miles's brave and selfless act and sacrifice was only a delay of the inevitable. Though it was enough to bankrupt Cyberdyne and end any possible reconstruction of the Skynet Project by them, it was rebuilt by Cyber Research Systems, a subsidiary of the United States Air Force who bought out Cyberdyne's remaining patents and projects; including Skynet. The final version of Skynet was ultimately created and activated by the head of CRS; General Robert Brewster (father of Kate Brewster, soon-to-be wife of John Connor), who used Miles's original research to create it.

Commentary

Critic Sharon Willis has noted the significance of Miles Dyson: [cite book
title= High Contrast: Race and Gender in Contemporary Hollywood Film
last= Willis
first= Sharon
year= 1997
publisher= Duke University Press
isbn= 082232041X
pages= pp.122,124
url= http://books.google.com/books?id=L37U85DpkNEC
accessdate= 2008-03-04]

Dyson's sacrifice lines up with the [T] erminator's as the necessary condition of [Sarah] Connor's reunion with her son... "T2" literally immolates [Dyson and the Terminator] on thealtar of a future conditioned by humanist values.

Willis comments on Connor's speech to Dyson:

"Men like you... you think you're so creative," Connor continues. "You don't know what it's like to really create something, [...] [Sharon Willis's rendition of Sarah Connor's lines is missing the phrase "to create a life", included in other sources. For example: cite web
url= http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103064/quotes
title= Memorable quotes for Terminator 2: Judgment Day
publisher= Internet Movie Database
accessdate= 2008-03-04] to feel it growing inside you. All you know how to create is death and destruction."

John Connor humorously stops his mother's tirade, breaking the tension of a white woman confronting a black man, and of "feminism" confronting "apolitical technophilia". The phrase "men like you" "ironically highlights Dyson's exceptional position" as a black man in "T2", Willis states, citing African American film critic Lisa Kennedy.

"The Sarah Connor Chronicles"

Miles's wife, son and home appear in the pilot episode of , and although he appears in only a family photograph, his part in "Terminator 2" is mentioned. It is revealed that the FBI believes (incorrectly) that Sarah is responsible for his death, which explains his wife Tarissa's hostility towards her after they meet in 1999, though they manage to convince her that she is innocent of the crime. In episode 3, his grave is visited by his wife and Sarah. Sarah asks her if she knew anything about some men involved in the creation of Skynet. Tarissa mentions one man who created a form of AI called "The Turk," a computer system capable of playing chess. In the photographs, Dyson is portrayed by Phil Morris.

References