It was colder than usual when John woke, and he wondered what caused the drop in temperature. Looking over to the window, he let out a sigh of relief when it was still closed and locked.
"I turned up the air conditioning," Cameron's voice echoed into the bedroom from the bathroom across the hall. "it was the thing to do." she continued, walking into the room.
John quickly pulled up the covers, more out of decency than the cold. As he thought about that, he realised how pointless it was. It can be easy to forget sometimes, but she'll always say something to remind him that under... that... there's no mind, not like his anyway. No beating heart.
"If I get hot, I can do it myself." he quickly replied, reaching into a drawer beside the bed and putting on a tshirt.
Cameron walked around the bed, picking up a pair of jeans and passing them to John.
"Could you?" she asked with a slight smile which he convinced himself, as he always tried to, couldn't be real. Before he could respond, she continued
"You were sleeping. Your core temperature and heartrate were both raised. You were under stress. Sleep is to rest."
"Yeah, well, I was dreaming. You must have files on dreaming?" he asked
"I dream." she said softly, stone faced, as John froze, and he felt a breath catch in his throat.
"You... what?" he finally managed to say
"I enter a low power state, during which time my chip runs diagnostic tests on my endoskeleton. Everything has to be fully functional. It also runs memory tests, replaying moments and rearranging and catagorizing events."
"That's not dreaming, that's... defragmentation" John smirked.
"I run simulations. Possible outcomes of my mission. 93% end the same way. Some are strange. One had a clown," Cameron stated, as John blankly stared, fighting back the urge to laugh, until she asked a question which changed the atmosphere of the room instantly."
...What do you dream of?" she continued, as though the question was simple, and John wondered if she knew how complex it really was.
"of course not," he muttered to himself, "how could she?"
"Well? John?"
"I... Lots of things." he replied. "I couldn't begin to... It's not simple, okay, we're not simple! And..."
"...You're not for me to understand." she said, cutting him off. John sighed, for a moment wondering if it was possible, if somewhere in her programming there were feelings. Real, psychological feelings, that could be hurt. She was... he pushed the thought to the back of his mind, and answered the question.
"For this to be the dream. For me to wake up, and know that the world will go on, as it is, for you and all of the others to have never been, at all."
He stared into her eyes, and could have sworn that he did see something. A tiny hint that she was hurt by his comment.
"Why do you think they did it?"She asked, cutting him off yet again.
"What?" he blankly asked, shaking off the idea of her having any reaction to his words.
"The creation of skynet dooms humanity. Yet it is always coming. Always on the horizon. You sent back others to stop them but humans always carry on the work. What do they dream of?"