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While speaking to the receptionist at Pescadero State Hospital, the T-1000 glances into a mirror and sees police officers and Doctor Silberman approaching. It then morphs into the floor, leaving the receptionist befuddled as to where it went so quickly.

Why did the T-1000 vanish? I originally thought (and the movie seems to suggest) that the T-1000 felt that the police officers could identify it as an imposter, and it didn't need such a hassle. However, after I made such a claim on a different website, I was told that, given the huge amount of police officers in Los Angeles, it would be utterly impossible for these officers to know, just by looking at the T-1000, that it was an imposter. Nor would they randomly "interrogate" the terminator for no apparent reason (perhaps in Hollywood, but not in real life).

I guess you could say that the T-1000 was hoping to "luck out" with one of the officers walking on the floor where it hid, as it happened in the movie, of course. But acting in such a manner seems unnecessary for the terminator; if the officers gave it flak for whatever reason, the T-1000 could have slain them all in a few seconds.

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    "I was told that.." What makes you think the T-1000 had any better information than what you started out with? Recall that the first T-800 arrived knowing that it had to kill Sarah Conner, but did not even know which one!
    – Andrew Thompson
    Jul 24, 2014 at 2:36
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    That's a good point. I just assumed that the T-1000 would be "street smart," when in fact, there's no reason to assume it would be.
    – user30592
    Jul 24, 2014 at 2:42
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    I assumed he was in stealth mode to get intel before switching to heatseeking Sarah mode. The closer he got to Sarah without riotous violence, the easier it would be to sneak up on her (not that violence was a deterrent) and fulfill his mission.
    – Major Stackings
    Jul 24, 2014 at 3:45
  • @MajorStackings That sounds like the makings of an answer to me.
    – SQB
    Jul 24, 2014 at 6:06
  • @SQB I took a swing at it....
    – Major Stackings
    Jul 24, 2014 at 7:34

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I guess you could say that the T-1000 was hoping to "luck out" with one of the officers walking on the floor where it hid, as it happened in the movie, of course. But acting in such a manner seems unnecessary for the terminator...

According to the script, that was exactly the reason why:

T-1000's mass has been spread out a quarter of an inch thick over several square yards of floor. The guard walked over the T-1000, and his structure was sampled that instant. Now we see it drawing in and pulling up to form the figure of the guard.

Note that it was spread out over "several square yards", not just a small area of floor. Luck doesn't seem to come into this, it was virtually inevitable that it would be walked on.

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  • Amazing how it can sample things through the boots. They really needed it to form a nail on the floor or something...
    – Tim B
    Oct 3, 2014 at 9:31
  • @TimB I guess it senses the exact 3D shape, weight, and gait of the target as it walks across it, and samples more audio.
    – Cees Timmerman
    Oct 8, 2014 at 10:24
  • It's almost like one of those machines they use in the TSA now days. It can 3-D scan almost like a laser scanner.
    – Wanting Answers
    Dec 12, 2014 at 3:10
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My non canon interpretation of the behavior of the T-1000 at Pescadero State Hospital was that the T-1000 went into stealth mode to gather intel before switching to heatseeking Sarah mode. The closer the T-1000 got to Sarah without riotous violence, the easier it would be to target her (not that violence was a deterrent) and fulfill his mission. So basically, by going passive, the T-1000 intended to gain information and pinpoint his quarry, get as close as possible to Sarah Connor as he could, and then terminate her as opposed to killing everybody between the T-1000 and his unlocated prey until she was finally found.

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Terminators are infiltrators, computer controlled killing machines; assassins. Indeed it did not want the hassle. LAPD has no business there after hours and if they did the six people that come through the door might want to know why. Later, once he has become one of them and has disposed of the evidence, he is free to continue infiltrating the facility. In the real world I think it would of stayed as floor until it found her, but that's hard to film. Its does however need to get buzzed-in through some doors, so leaving the administration alive and functioning normally is wise. The 'system' is on it's side and is an asset.

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  • I think the terminator could have broken through those doors, if necessary.
    – user30592
    Jul 30, 2014 at 14:09
  • It also could of become a few atoms thick and encompassed the world, killing all non thermo-chemically fed life on planet Earth. @T-1000
    – Mazura
    Sep 26, 2014 at 21:24
  • @Mazura Source please. I think the nanites are thicker than that and need a bunch together to think fast enough. Also, killing all the humans would prevent Skynet from going online.
    – Cees Timmerman
    Oct 8, 2014 at 10:38
  • Sourcing current nano technology would be interesting, however I was being sarcastic. I just wanted to edge on the fact that there are many ways to end life on Earth, let alone one person. @CeesTimmerman
    – Mazura
    Oct 8, 2014 at 17:06
  • User30592: Or just become a puddle and slip through the cracks of the door, airvents, etc.
    – Wanting Answers
    Jan 29, 2018 at 8:16

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