Quote Originally Posted by itadakimasu
I was wondering the same thing.

I was confused though about them meeting the machines out in the middle of nowhere via submarine... was it all a ruse? i mean.. had john conner opened the case, then he would have been killed and copied.

I don't see how or why they would be asking the machines to join them.
Well, that Cameron was aware of what was in the package makes me believe that John knew what was in it. Remember, that he's already seen the T1000 in action since he was a teenager, so he won't be surprised by it. I bet that he wouldn't have opened the box without being fully prepared.