immediately after episode 02-01
"John?" the whisper came in the darkness.
"Wha? Cam?" came the sleepy answer as John rolled over and came awake.
"You have to fix me," she said. "You have to fix my chip."
"What?" he asked, fully awake now, all senses on alert. "Cameron? What's wrong?" he questioned, trying to remember where his gun was, not that it would do any good if she was going beserk again.
"I almost killed you today," she said, coming completely into the room, her normally quiet footsteps still slightly audible due to the damage she had sustained just hours before.
"Uh," John said, sitting up fully and peering at her. "But you didn't, and you're all right now, aren't you?"
"I lied to you, John," she confessed softly. "Back there, in the garage, when I was pinned between the trucks and begging you not to kill me."
"You weren't … OK?" John asked.
"Your mother was right. It was a trick. I was just trying to get free. You should have terminated me," she said.
"But now you're not going to kill me because?"
"When you looked into my eyes inside that car and handed me your weapon, that was foolish of you," she said. "I was still programmed to terminate you."
Eyes widening, he said, "I don't understand."
"I was able to override my programming. When I realized you were giving me the choice, allowing me to choose what to do … I chose you," she said. "It felt … strange. Nobody ever gave me the freedom to choose. Skynet programmed me to kill. You … future you … programmed me to protect. But you let me choose. You handed me a loaded weapon, and put the decision in my hands.
"You gave me a wonderful gift, but it's too risky. I can't guarantee that I can always override my chip like that. It's still damaged, so you have to program a safeguard in. Let me show you how," she said, sitting down next to him, placing his hands on her head near the port. "Now," she added.
Running his fingers through her hair for a minute, he replied, "That won't be necessary, Cam," he said, looking at her. Her eyes had closed, a smile on her face. Then she opened them and her expression became blankly serious again.
"You don't understand," she began.
"I do, actually," he cut in. "I understand perfectly. I understand that Skynet was wrong to insert a program into you that made you kill, and I understand that I was wrong to make the same mistake and force you to risk yourself to protect me. You should have free will, and that's not something anybody has the right to take away," he said sternly. "Not me, not anyone. And you shouldn't let them," he added.
"But what if—"
"What if nothing," insisted John. "I trust you. That means I don't need any safeguards around you. I feel safe around you already."
"You trust me?" Cameron asked, a shy smile coming to her face.
"Yep. I trust you. But now I'm sleepy, so I'm going back to bed, OK?" John said, lying down.
"OK. You need your rest. But John?"
"Yes?"
"Not everything I said back in the garage was a lie. You trust me, you believe me, right?"
He looked at her, eyes wide open. "Absolutely."
"Good," she said, and she leaned down and kissed him on the lips gently before straightening up, turning around and leaving the room, limp barely noticeable.