Cameron watched John with detached and clinical curiosity. He was so unlike his future-self. A boy that hadn't had the chance to grow into the courageous man everyone said he would become. But there was a hint of the future in him and it was waiting to break out. She could see it in the way he moved.
She watched him walk, his shoulders slumped and his mood dark. It was as though he was carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders, and perhaps that was true. After all, his mother did put a lot of pressure on him. No teenager should be told they're the savior of mankind. No child should know what the future holds for him, especially a future as gruesome as the one that was coming. Facts like these don't lend themselves to a happy childhood.
Cameron followed him closely, but always from a distance. She was always aware of his movements, where he was, and what he was doing. He might not know it, but in the past few hours she had catalogued 375 different motions and 14 different facial expressions, none of them happy. He didn't smile.
Cameron didn't understand the meaning of happiness. John, her John, tried to explain it to her once but he was unsuccessful. It was no wonder his explanations failed as he himself admitted he was rarely happy. But every once in a while, his normal stoic visage would break and he would allow a small smile to tug at the corners of his mouth. It was never a full-blown grin, but Cameron had grown adept at noticing when it was there. She found that she much preferred him when he smiled, so she endeavored to coax it from him when possible. He once told her that's why he liked her. She made him smile.
It appeared as though an integral part of being human was the ability to smile. It was what separated her from the rest of his loyal followers. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't do it because she wasn't human.
John continued to walk and Cameron followed. He sat down and she took a seat beside him. Leaning over she whispered quietly to him.
"What's your name?"
The boy who would become the man looked over at her.
"John," he replied.
"Cameron."
Then she smiled.