Taking place 300 years prior to the events of the first film in present day 2009, the narrator describes how the government knew what was happening. A woman is seen driving recklessly on a California highway while arguing over her cell phone. Police officer Ryan Hadley (Bruce Boxleitner) pulls her over and gives her a warning. The man calls her back, but she tells him off and throws the phone down; the phone then transmorphs into a robotic spider and kills her.
At Edwards Air Force Base, an NSA officer informs her superior about intercepting a signal. In Los Angeles, Jo Summers is shocked to read in the newspaper about of the death of the woman from the car. In the Kern County Morgue, the police are baffled by the wound that killed the driver. Madison arrives home to discover her television is out. A repairman is called to fix the television. It ends up his name is Jake and he is an old friend of Madison who hasn't seen her since the war. Jake is shocked when the satellite dish transmorphs into a robot. He runs inside to warn Madison, but when he goes back the robot is gone. Summers arrives to investigate the death of the driver, but the NSA show up and asks her to go with them. She advises Ryan to find the driver's missing phone.
A man is driving an SUV when his GPS gives him a five seconds warning to exit the vehicle. He is shot in the forehead with a laser and the body is dumped, the SUV driving off by itself. Ryan meets with Madison and hears her story. He takes them in his car to look for the cell phone, but he is called to the scene of the SUV driver's body. A young boy tells Ryan that the empty car drove away. Ryan picks up the first driver's cellular phone from the coroner's office. He then intercepts the SUV, which tries to ram him. When Ryan pulls the SUV over, they are jumped by the satellite robot. They drive away, but are chased by the SUV, who also transmorphs into a robot.
The machines quickly seize control of the Earth. After surviving an assault and avoiding the destruction, the small group learn that aliens are changing the water and the atmosphere to fit their physiology. They hear about this from a soldier who claims that this information came from Russia, where they captured and tortured one of the machines. They manage to salvage explosives and destroy one of the terraforming devices. This has a negative effect, though: the release of toxic chemicals into the atmosphere, to which the machines have adapted, and what is left of mankind takes refuge underground.
What is the name of the police officer?
Ryan Hadley