A brief history of Skynet
This dialog from Terminator 2 still sends chills down my spine.
SARAH: I need to know how Skynet get built. Who's responsible?
TERMINATOR: The man most directly responsible is Miles Bennet Dyson, Director of Special Projects at Cyberdyne Systems Corporation.
SARAH: Why him?
TERMINATOR: In a few months he creates a revolutionary type of mircoprocessor.
SARAH: Then what?
TERMINATOR: In three years Cyberdyne will become the largest supplier of military computer systems. All stealth bombers are upgraded with Cyberdyne computers, becoming fully unmanned, Afterward, they fly with a perfect operational record.
SARAH: Uh huh, great. Then those fat fucks in Washington figure, what the hell, let a computer run the whole show, right?
TERMINATOR: Basically. The Skynet funding bill is passed. The system goes on-line August 4th, 1997. Human decisions are removed from strategic defense. Skynet begins to learn, at a geometric rate. It becomes self-aware at 2:14 a.m. eastern time, August 29. In a panic, they try to pull the plug.
SARAH: And Skynet fights back.
TERMINATOR: Yes. It launches its ICBMs against their targets in Russia.
SARAH: Why attack Russia?
TERMINATOR: Because Skynet knows the Russian counter-strike will remove its enemies here.