Work Text
“HAVE you heard of The Turing Test?”
“No, why?”
“It’s supposed to test the machine’s ability to think like humans.”
“Well, whatever…”
“If the machine has passed the test, would you tell it apart?”
It was not usual for an agent, even an ex-one, to stay in bed till the sunlight lit the room through a tiny gap between the curtains. The retired killer was stretching her limbs with her eyes checking around. The memory returned to her mind when her sights fell on the woman beside her.Seemingly feeling her staring, the woman smiled and murmured, “Thought you never intended to get up with that curtains.”“You got any better ideas to block Samaritan’s lapdogs away?”Said the ex-agent, she halted for a second and sat up, remembering what had happened in her nightmare. It was just a dream. She told herself. But everything seemed so real, the bullet she found in Root’s lethal wound and the tomb dug up by Samaritan.“Relax, Sameen. The big sister is watching. She will look after us.” She heard Root’s voice near her ears, she noticed her look, “Another nightmare? Is everything ok?” Just some ghosts haunting from the past, Shaw laughed at herself and shook her head slightly. Root was right, maybe they all lived in a simulation. But who would care if they still got someone to love?“Don’t be annoying. I am gonna make us breakfast.”She tried to dress up when Root kissed her neck to comfort her. Although she still felt her eyes blurred. It was a new experience for her to imagine herself crying in a dream. And two minutes later she found herself taking out a sandwich with extra mustard from the cupboard without surprise.“It was you sneaking in the kitchen this morning? Can't say I am surprised.” Shaw said mockingly."Isn't it your type?" Said Root, with her bright eyes wicking."Dunno, I am AB positive. I take all types."“Come on, I think you get something to tell me. Just keep close, you know, stirrup problem.” Root grinned and turned the good ear to her. When she got closer, Root held her hands and pulled her to the bed. “Listen, you can’t change the things that already happened. It’s not your fault that somebody you care about left.”“And who says I’m going to.” Shaw sealed her words with lips. The warmth and the familiar smell were around her, soft as a dream. She could not help wondering if it was a simulation again. When she touched Root’s deaf ear softly, she felt Root’s fingers caressing her right neck lingeringly. Nothing but smooth skin was there, no pinch, no chip underneath.After pulling back, she heard Root talking again, “Shaw, I am worried about you. You know I am always here, the only thing I need from you is trust. You don’t have to conceal it from me.”"And what give you the hints that I have something hiding?"Well, has it ever bothered her to talk about feelings with a sociopath? Shaw thought. She didn’t want to, but eventually, she recalled what had happened.
The Worldly Hope men set their Hearts upon
Turns Ashes - or it prospers; and anon, Like Snow upon the Desert's dusty Face, Lighting a little hour or two - is gone.
——Celâleddin Mehmed Rumi
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
MEDICAL SIMULATION 514
STATE: ERROR
TERMINATING…
“What's that supposed to do? To let me talk about my feeling?” Shaw stared at Root, no, it was the avatar made by the Machine, “You think I was damaged by some trauma?”“I believe I had heard these words somewhere else.” Said the Machine, “As much as I’d like to continue, you have to wake up now. There is a new number. ”“Respectfully, but haven’t Finch told you people need some hobby?” Shaw opened her eyes and stood up from the lounge, sneering towards the computer camera in front of her, “I got a hobby, you are supporting me, or we are not doing any simulation again. So does the new number. ”“Fine.” Root’s voice was with resignation. No, it was the Machine. Shaw had to remind herself again. When could she get adapted to the Machine with Root’s voice? Whatever, she mocked herself again; she would forget everything in the next simulation. They had a deal. The Machine needed her help to get fully operational via several simulations, and the only thing Shaw had asked was to give her some easy sceneries during the procedure so that she could get some rest in these restless days.“The number named Muhidini Ashshaq, working in Steiner Psychiatric Institute. You may like to ask Casey for detailed information.” Said the Machine, “Before you begin your fieldwork, there is enough time to write your diary.”“Damn diary.” Shaw muttered, “Next time you All-seeing species ask your poor guinea pigs to do these nerds’ jobs, think about Death Note.”“I love your tips. Sweetie.” The Machine sounded full of energy, kind of Root’s energy. Shaw could not stop thinking she should have pulled the plug on this ASI last night.However, it still seemed pleasant working for this almighty Boss when she saw the Machine deliver the sandwich to her room on time. She thought it might be the best move for Thornhill’s business to intervene in the takeaway trade. Just then, the phone rang.“Are you on your way?” It was Casey. He sounded in great anxiety.“Don’t you nerds need breakfast?” Shaw was too busy to greet him, “I will be there in 10 minutes. What’s up?”“John is moving, but I can’t connect to him. He refused my calls. I don’t think it’s a good time for him to do up the discharge procedures just after his doctor told me he needed one more surgery yesterday.”“Guess they forgot to give him enough tranquilizer.” Shaw cursed, “Where is he heading?”It was one month after they lost touch with Finch when the Machine told them they could find Reese in Long Island Medical Center near the federal building. They did, and found Reese was in a coma from several severe wounds, unable to tell them a single word. They put a track in his cast without any idea when he would return. But coma was better than death. All of them knew.“It’s weird, but I think he is dealing with our new number.”“Mind telling me what happen?” Shaw turned to the camera on the computer, “If Finch is here, I bet he is already mad.”“I know your feeling, Sam.” Said the Machine, “But you need to help him; just be careful, I don’t want to lose you again.”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
The dairy of Shaw-Dec 17th
I have no idea why the Machine wanted me to talk about feelings, at these things, She is better than me. I could even hear the sadness from it. What is it? Bugs?
The car was driving too fast to catch. But Shaw still bit the bullet. She acutely hated being left by others since the day she ordered Root to leave her holding off the Samaritan agents. She killed them all, just as she planned, but there came along with a result she could not afford. She should never have let Root protect Finch single-handedly.No, she would never believe these things. It was just another simulation. She always believed she would see Root again in next simulation, safe and sound. But whether it was true or not, she needed to get Reese as soon as possible.The car Reese drove seemed almost out of control. What the hell he thought he was doing? Playing Fast&Furious or John Wick? She did not mind playing the badass, but for this moment, she would resign to this Hobbs if he could stop.“You’re gonna help or you're just watching?”“Thought you’d never ask.” Said the Machine, still in Root’s voice. The most annoying thing was She was too good at it to stop you from imagining what the voice owner was doing. It seemed like Root was on another side of the phone, teasing, “I have taken control of his console. He will stop in 5 seconds. 5,4,3……”The car slowed down and finally stopped by the gate of an old T-building.“Wow, this is impressive.” Shaw shrugged sarcastically, “You know how to stop him, and kept me chasing for 15 miles like a Siberian sled dog?”“I love it when you drive.” The Machine sounded triumphant, “You can go to check your barbarian colleague now.”“Hey.” Shaw knocked on the car’s windows, “Mind showing your license, detective?”“Shaw.” Reese answered with a cough, “What happened? What are you doing here?”“Thanks for recognizing. Guess he didn’t have a concussion.” Shaw opened the door and pulled out the key, “But you steal my lines, what are you doing here?”“The cochlea.” Reese was still weak from the wound, “I got a blocked text. Root’s cochlea implant is in this building, and it will lead Samaritan’s men to Finch.”He suddenly stopped, seemingly remembering Shaw’s reaction when the last time he referred to Root. “Wait, something is wrong. Where is Finch?”"Relax."Shaw saw Fusco coming from the corner. She beckoned him over, and said to Reese, "I am guessing Finch is playing house in some uptown cabins, no time to seek out the dark forces and join their hellish crusade."“No time for these questions, Sameen.” The Machine interrupted in a hurry, “They’ve known the Titan’s fall. Our number is in danger. You gotta move.”“What is in the center?” Shaw felt the words stuck in her throat.There was a pause. Then the Machine talked in a rare hesitation. “He is right. The cochlea implant is still in the lab of Samaritan. I can’t see clearly yet.”“I am bringing it back.” Shaw took the word flatly. “And……say something to stop John from killing himself.”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
“It is weird.”Casey talked through the com-link, “They have no use for that cochlea implant. We have changed the com-link signal system. It couldn’t link to us anymore.”“Did you find what mess this Muhidi stuck in?”“Yeah, I mean, not exactly, but I got clues that the secret congress may be cleaning the shreds of evidence about Samaritan. Some guys are being sued. ”“I got the news that my old boss didn’t outlive the Leviathan.” Shaw grasped her gun, moving silently along the corridor of the asylum. The asylum was under special lockdown. There were no patients or staff. But the smell here made Shaw uneasy, a feeling she couldn’t define. She kept checking up on the camera as if it could comfort her by assuring herself that the Machine was watching.“What did you tell John? Send him a new spot with a new mirage?”“I never lie. Now, 2 o’clock, the green door, the code is #16561.”“But you did make people hallucinate in simulation.” Shaw opened the security door and found it a control room with many monitors and several IBMS-NAS servers in its center. Two guardians were trying to drag out their weapons when Shaw took a quick shot on their shoulders.A fat man was sitting before the screen, with hands in the air, “Don’t shoot. I surrender.”“Daniel, I think we have got our number. Not so much of a perpetrator.” Shaw pointed the man with her gun and took a glance at the room, “God, what a racket.”The floor was soaked in blood, and she could see some bodies with no life signal. Aware of what the broken pieces were in the corner, she quickly figured out that there used to be more computers than she saw.“I think it was a base of Samaritan’s operation.” The feeling of insecurity was more and more substantial, Shaw could not figure out the reason. Although she knew exactly Samaritan was already doomed.“You are right, I just checked the account of the asylum, showing its connection with Decima. Muhidini might be an engineer of Samaritan. He used to work in Link-lord, very good at fixing bugs. But I don’t see why he came back to this place in this sensitive time.”“Muhidini was taken by two secret services this morning, arriving in this asylum at 9.45.” The Machine said. Shaw was not listening. She was touching the skin under her left ear, “This place is weird. Am I still in your simulation? No, not this kind.”“Let’s get back to my lie. You enjoy the mirage. You know, the simulation is built with your memory, and a little imagination.” The Machine talked with a meaningful tone. “Anyway, on the scale of particles, the outcome is always in a mixture of possibilities before our observation. So how do you know the simulation is not just another reality?”“An advice, save your Schrödinger of sorts. Harmful for a recovering digital brain.”“I live for amusement.” Obviously, the Machine was as relentless as Root, “The quantum physics aside, whether it’s true or not, I am still here with you. Just take Muhidini and go home.”“I need to get the cochlea.” Shaw did not explain why she would do this. The strange feeling was still there, she wanna figure it out, just like she once managed to figure out why she would feel such a messy emotion after Root's death. She even began to read Root's books, sense and sensibility, looked like a convincible book, but it was no more than a romantic novel, not her thing, indeed. “Give me something I can use.”“I can’t see where the cochlea implant is, but your hostage does know.” The Machine said brightly.“Well, Muhid.” Shaw turned to the man and sighed, “Be a good boy, tell me why they want to kill you, and where is the cochlea implant?”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
“What?” The man grumbled, “Listen, I don’t know what the hell you are and what you're talking about. It’s all fucking crazy. ”“Stay put, tell me the things you know, why these two guys brought you here.” Shaw leaned to him, “Look, the only reason you are still kicking here is me. Lie to me and I will leave you here, no guarantee when they’ll find you again.”She rolled her eyes at the bodies in the corner and looked back at the scared man.“It’s unfair. I have quit.” The man shuddered, “I am not a murderer, just a repairman. I didn’t know they would kill people here.”“Spare it, you’ve worked for them before.”“No, I worked for the asylum. What the hell are you thinking I would work for these assholes?”“Seems he is just a blinded contractor.” Shaw checked the monitor in front of them, “You’ve got the broken files back?”“That’s what I do.” He turned to the computer, “You know, even a piece of the electronic file can reserve information. I could fix most things damaged by viruses or physical violence. You could consider me as a doctor, just for mechanical. Months ago, the Institute was shut down. I was dismissed and never stepped into this place again until these guys put a gun on my back, making me recover all the files in these computers. I did. Now it’s almost done.”The Machine had got access to the computer and began to scan the files. Shaw suddenly caught something from the flipping pages, “Wait, what’s this place? Room 914, I had been there, right?”Then she was nearly shocked to see the flash of a surveillance video in that room. She pressed the pause and enlarged it, “What happened there? Was that you? I mean, Root.”“It was her.” The Machine answered with a slight sigh, “So was I. Sorry Sameen, you don’t have to see that.”“She is alive, right?”“No,” The Machine spoke quietly, “It was the video from one year ago.”“You never told me.” Shaw knew She was telling the truth, for she had a glimpse at Greer in that video. The video must have been recorded at least a dozen months ago.It seemed that the Machine heard the anger in Shaw’s voice, and She talked like petting a furious horse, “It doesn’t matter anymore.”“Hey.” The engineer suddenly called her, taking a tumble, “I think I’d seen that woman.”Shaw turned to him and stared at him flatly, “Say it.”“The cochlea you were talking about, I remembered now. Was it in her head? I mean, before they cut…….”His words stuck because Shaw’s left hand had grasped his neck in a fury, “You cut her head open.”“Not me. It was a doctor, a licensed surgeon.” Muhidini struggled for his breath, “They……I just repaired the implant……after they broke it.”“Sameen.” The voice of the Machine shivered.“Where they took her?” It sounded like she was killing the poor engineer.“I don’t know, I don’t…….”“Sameen, he is telling the truth.” The Machine said, “They had her cremated.”Shaw let go of the man without any extra expression. “Ok, luckily I don't have trust issues. Where is the implant?”Muhidini was scared by her glacial look, “Please, I just…..I’d never seen a chip in a cochlea implant like that, with such an elegant, genius design. They wanted me to ensure it wouldn’t be repaired again, but I kept it secret.”“This could have killed him for dozen times.” Casey offered a comment. Shaw shrugged, “Well, Mr. Scrooge is growing on me.”“Take me to the implant. Your study career is over, doctor.” Shaw patted the man’s shoulder, and the man's face got pale," I am sorry, I really tried hard to protect it."Before Shaw turned off the safety on her gun, the man loosed his interphone with a tremulous hand, "I broke it and saved the chip in the interphone. I don't know where the other part is, but if...you want, I swear I will find them.""No need."The engineer hesitated for a second, "There is something strange in the chip, more than itself, kind of electromagnetic waves, I am not sure. But if you find it dangerous, remember I've warned you."“I am curious why Samaritan spared his life.”Shaw picked up the interphone and showed the poor engineer the way out with a slight nod. “They still needed him, not the chip.” The Machine explained patiently, “They were trying to figure out if the files they’d destroyed could be recovered. The best surgeon might also be a good killer. You know, the same as the repairman. Little difference between healing and fixing.”“And he will be purged as the files are purged thoroughly.” Shaw watched the man stepping out of the room, and plugged a USB into the server she had just checked.“No need to worry. I just made a copy for you on your PC.” The Machine said. “You should leave with Muhidini as soon as possible. FBI is on the way here. You know the drill.”“Going all Doraemon on me, huh? Thought you’d not like me to see.”“It’s for your own good.” The Machine pretended to sigh, “But you really won’t listen, will you? I'll not play chicken with my sweetest girl again.”“Bet you’ve known you’re definitely gonna lose.” Shaw followed the engineer out of the asylum, now she’d known her strange feeling. It was not a simulation that she had been locked here for several days. It did happen, and so did Root, who had come here with Harold. Although Shaw had the slightest idea about why they had.“I thought an ASI would rather enjoy Russian roulette. Have you played chicken with someone before?”“Yes.”The snowfall covered Shaw’s footprints on the ground. The air was cold and fresh, with the wind howling, passing by the red lights of the asylum. It was almost Christmas. “Well, whom you played with?”“Your sweet little girlfriend.”
The dairy of Shaw-Dec 21st
The Machine asked me to write down all the things. She said she would learn from these, I said She looks as creepy as a British pervert. Whatever, here it is:
We got back Root's cochlea implant and charged it today. I guess even the ASI needs a souvenir, which is not my thing.
The Machine told me my subconscious would have an impact on the simulation. I think maybe it is why I heard Root say happy Yalda night. But Root seemed weird today, I mean, Root herself was weird, but in this simulation, she was not as weird as usual. The Machine was usually good with this, calming me down by acting as Root's weird. I guess it will take Her time to repair these bugs, for they are really things. I saw Root's tear after she gave me the festive greeting. I did not know what to do except pretending unseen, while she took my hands like something she had long lost returned.
And yes, it was Yalda night. I read her Hafez's poems my mom had read to me when I was a child. The subject tonight is Love. She said it would be our Yalda's night family tradition. I asked her when she began considering us as "a family", and she smiled. We talked too much to notice the mutton in the pot, and obviously, it was overcooked. Bear is not gonna like this.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Tick-tock, tick tock... What she could see was all the shadow of the lights, and there was always a strong smell of disinfectant everywhere. Her wounds never really healed due to the physical torture, which stank up her coat with rusty blood. Maybe Martine couldn’t endure that smell either. Actually, to see this blonde psycho-killer frowning so heavily was funny. Martine looked quite cracked, “We ain't not leave with your coat.”They were transferring. No one told her why and where to go. Apart from her glimpse of Root when she was pulled to the door. She did not know why she was not surprised to see her grasping her bloody coat with shaking hands. And Martine got in. They tired Root on the operating table, talking about opening her head.Shaw tried to get rid of control, but she was tranquilized by the orderlies again. She struggled so hard that all her wounds split, with the blood blurring her eyes. But the drug took her strength. She eventually fell to her knees helplessly, with the heartbeat drumming in her temples.“Stop the fucking simulation.” She finally growled at the camera hoarsely, “Stop it!” ANOMALY DETECTEDDATA ANALYSIS: ARRHYTHMIASRESCANNING...WARNING◮ The heart-rate monitor alarmed and activated the robot arms while Shaw's eyelids crept up before the arms reached her; simultaneously, her trying to get up ended up falling from the chair. She could hardly feel her arms and legs, the pain from the simulation was still evident, with solid nausea. Bear was milling around her and tried to lick her face.“It sucks.” Her head was in such a whirl of weariness that she could hardly think, “What the hell is it all about?”“It’s not a simulation, Sameen.” The Machine spoke gently, “It’s your dream. Remember? I've reminded you of the Proustian Effect. That’s why I tried to stop you from watching that videos.”" I did try hard to keep your 5-syllable words in mind, dear pedagogue." Shaw tried to heave herself with her elbows and failed again. She writhed on the floor with a severe pain suddenly attacking, "Seems the sandman didn’t love me much today."The proustian effect. The last time she heard this word was in the medical school classroom. Of course, she knew it. There was a time she kept Root's jackets in her closet. She told herself that was the result of the hypomnesia originated from Samaritan's neurotoxic experiment. But to be honest, it was not the reason she sometimes wore Root's jacket.The Machine signed, "The old memory is hard to handle. I should’ve just destroyed it. My bad."“I got the video. Destroy it or not, it’s on me.”Shaw did not think she had ever imagined teaching an ASI logic. But the truth was, she should never have touched. Root’s right ear in the simulation. It had led Samaritan’s agents to Root’s cochlea implant. She should not even talk in there, either, with Samaritan's eyes gazing. Samaritan had caught her voice and made a trap for Root. What she had done almost killed Root and the Machine. What if they both died before she went back to them?"Just tranq me again." Shaw lay back on the floor, feeling her limbs numb. Her head was burning as a big bang had just happened in her brain. She was becoming impatient about the situation she was right in."You have used up your dose today. Your heart can't afford more, you know that." The Machine sounded like a doctor now. Shaw sneered. But should she feel lucky she was in the monitor room of subway, where they had installed a whole auto-medical system controlled by the Machine? It was not a good idea to stay up in the subway, but she was so exhausted that she accidentally lost consciousness in the chair when watching the videos she got from the asylum.“I think some tequila and sausage would help.”The robot's arms fell from the roof and grabbed a bottle from the cupboard. Then They took the sausages from the small fridge and skillfully cut them into a plate. Shaw felt her arms again, and her voice back to the throat, "You got me. And thank you for stopping playing doctor."Reality was worse than simulation. She always knew that. But the speedy heart rate stopped her from resting her mind. She walked to Root's room, lying on her bed. It was already 2 am when she tried to get back to sleep. But Root's ugly doll was staring at her, lonely and helpless, and she could not help thinking about the videoes. She saw Root running to the windows, calling her name in desperation. Desperation made people weak. It was the first time she found it cruel not leaving goodbye to someone. MONITORING ANALOG INTERFACESRESS% ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇BLOOD PRESSURE WARNINGPOLYSOMNOGRAM ABNORMALSTEMI RATE 56.41% LOADING LEARNING PANELLOADING ARCHIVE...
SAF HOUSE ZONE 07-Archive Video Source:
11th Oct 2015Curtains closed. The shadow covered the whole room with only a small floor lamp. Shaw sat in the dark, painting something. The hoody on her was still the one she wore on their reunion day. (Anomaly detected, living habits changed)Someone opened the door.A click. The sound of safety turned off. (Self-defensiveness detected, motivation analysis: POST TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER)Root: I thought curtain was not your thing. (Deflecting subject)The safety was turned on. （ALERT CANCELLED）Shaw: Since you got them here, I guess I could use a few.(Self-defensiveness detected, motivation analysis: POST TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER)Root: It pleased me you like my curtains. You know what, the most precious things, like, love is just another sort of photograph, needing the darkness to develop.( Affectionate praise, hyperbole comparison)Shaw: That's why you just opened the damn door and exposed all my films? To brighten up my day a little bit? (Deflecting subject)Root: You really got some films? She walked to the easel with Shaw's sight following her. Shaw: Not real films...Alright, just keep away from the windows.Picture analyzing...Painted by Sameen Shaw, content analyzing...Black/ Dark blue/ Cobalt blue/ White...Data: White zone connecting to lightsPortrait in white zone recognizing...
Root.
CLASSIFICATION CONFIRMED.Root: I love your films. Apart from...Shaw: What?Root: The material. Do you know what the difference between painting and film is? The film is based on the real thing.Shaw: You're not gonna say "real thing" by some philosophy metalogic. No need to remind me of your typical nutso way. What's with the real thing?Root smiled.Root: I think you just got one. EMPLOYING COUNTERMEASURES...COMFORTING STRATEGY EVALUATING...LOADING FEEDS...02:36:07 Shaw was still on Root's bunk, gazing at Root's bat doll pensively. Since the subway base was scoured by Samaritan's operatives, most old sets had been ruined. But Shaw had repaired amounts of them, especially the sundry gadgets in Root's room.The Machine had never predicted her of such patience. According to the archive, the only time Shaw could toil for hours was when she stood beside the operating table, except that she could hardly bear repairing a broken toy when she was six years old. Maybe human got a special feeling about loss or nostalgia.Some cigarettes had burnt the purple shag rug with several holes, so Shaw brought a Persian rug. She covered that holes as if she was healing someone's scars. She made herself an attentive doctor. What could heal a doctor since she knew herself more than any others? But a doctor could not cure a doctor. When the social number of Her new Analogue Interface jumped out, the Machine had to confront an insidious threat, the health problem of Dr. Shaw. She had done enough math work, but She was never set to be a medical machine. She gradually figured out that the most effective way to spare a pragmatist's attention was to give her endless jobs. Another method was food, She saw Shaw's parents comfort her with sandwiches in the archive. When both of these did not work, She still got Root's video and voice, enough to simulate an avatar during hypnosis. LOADING HYPNOSIS...ACTIVATING THE CHIP...MONITORING... Shaw found herself standing in the water. She managed to locate herself but failed. Around her was the ocean, no GPS, no birds from the land, and even the sun was shaded by the stormcloud. "What the hell is this place." She walked back to the beach. The water was warm, and the sound of waves was relaxing. She saw Root sitting on a bench, smiling at her."Big wave today, isn't it?"Her eyes looked sad, "Seems you are back in the saddle.""Seems you need some holidays." Shaw walked to her. She still could not recall the time, but there was a moment she thought she got the location. It was Miami. The place where they hooked up after the relevant mission was completed. "Everyone needs a holiday, sweetie. Especially those with dead-end jobs." Root smiled, "I couldn't see you as the exception.""So there is no number today?" Shaw picked a beer bottle from under the bench, "I rescue you from the surplus-value-producing of your mercy, boss?""I doubt it." Root's eyes were dancing happily, "But for this moment, She wants me to stay here." MONITORING ANALOG INTERFACESRESS% ▇BLOOD PRESSURE NORMALPOLYSOMNOGRAM NORMAL "How old were you when you first saw the sea?""The sea I saw was not a true sea." Shaw tried to put herself back into memory. When she was about five years old, or younger, her family was in Baku for a month, her father drove them to the beach of the Caspian Sea on the weekend. She still remembered the poem that her mother had read to her that day."Death is a favor to us, but our scales have lost their balance."Shaw did not know the meaning of that poem, but she saw her mother's sight straight forward to the line of the sky and sea. She knew mom missed her hometown across the sea. Just hundreds of miles away, but she never went back there again. Root sat beside her, listening. She looked sad and tender, as if she were there too. "Was the sea beautiful?""Dunno. The only thing I could tell is the barbecue there is damn good. And the Plov , is definitely better than Kabul's.""Well..." Root grinned, "The miraculous existence and impermanence of form always makes the illumined ones laugh and sing."Shaw goggled at her, "You knew the poem." "I learned many things in your absent time." Root was still smiling, but Shaw heard her voice shaking. A spark was lightning in her mind, like deja vu. She recalled an uncanny feeling that she had been apart from Root for a long time."No, it's not true." She managed not to succumb to that feeling. But the words slipped out before she could sense them, "Where are you these days, I 've never seen you again since....."She stopped. Since when, a week after she returned home from Samaritan's dark prison? She had made many plans to find her, including helping the Machine do the simulations."There was a time I got the slightest idea about where I was. But I am here now." Answered Root, "And you must be ready before you really see me." The morning after was not perfect for another number, but Shaw still picked up the phone from Casey."I got good news and a bad one.""Bad news first." Though it was not multiple-choice, Casey sounded like he was stifling something against his reason, "I thought some Samaritan's agents are still working...I dunno how they get through it. But we've detected the signal." "Big sister, tell me if you ain't not learned John's 'not shoot the center-mass crap. The lapdogs seemed to shit around the yard again." Shaw signed to the camera on the monitor. "What're you doing, playing Mrs. Smith and Mrs. Smith with the robot?""She is not a robot." Shaw did not turn back, she knew who was stepping in. Fusco plonked himself into a chair and rubber-necked. He soonly saw the empty bottle under the desk, "Are you ok?""Good enough to kick some amateur stragglers' ass. But I am gonna empty Finch's stock if the restocking guy remains not shown.""What's the good news?"The Machine did not talk, she may be a sensitive ASI. Shaw thought about it. Casey told the good news as it was a scary one, "I unblocked the message John received. It was from the asylum you went to yesterday, and the signal source could be tracked. ""So?"Casey took a short pause. It seemed like he swallowed with nerve, "I tracked it this morning......it was...in the subway today. "
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
"Wow, You guys really got the idea about 'good news.'" Fusco looked around in the car. All the lights on the computer case glittered as if the Machine was winking at him. No clue to show where the signal was from."What you call the good news then, you have a date?" Shaw opened the oven, where the Machine had baked her sandwich earlier in the morning. "What the hell are you doing, you gotta give me some tips."She lowered her voice, nearly whispering to the Machine. "It's not me. But don't worry, sweetie, I'll handle this." When the Machine talked in a confident and sly tone, She sounded tinged with Root. "I am on my way to the subway. Before that, could you ask the Machine if She knows something about this? We need to make sure of Her safety." Casey's voice from the com-link was still agitated.Shaw shut the com-link and turned to the winking camera, "You gotta be kidding me. How? By keeping us in the dark?""I will tell you when it's needed." The Machine seemed not to negotiate with humans, "It still needs time." "Mind telling me how to deal with John?""I've told the big lung what Harold wanted him to know. Harry had decided to leave his business to the new team. He respects his choice." The Machine connected the monitor to the camera in the hospital, "If you'd like to visit the patient this afternoon, there might be a chance to see an old friend. And you can see the real content of John's blocked message.""Before your last version died, a missile attacked a building when I was outta the subway. Root in the simulation told me she changed the set of the missile by your guide...is it, true? Did you combine reality with simulation? You'd saved Reese, hadn't you?""It's not me who did the combining. Sweetheart." The Machine sounded as though she was doing a quick calculation, Her voice collapsed into a current, then fell into silence."I suppose this's not weird at all. Another cuckoo and superpowered simulation. " Fusco did not get the chance to get a quitting time, Shaw had packed up her weapons and headed outward. LOADING FEED...HOSPITAL CELL-CAM G 15:04:10Fusco saw Finch sitting on the ledge of Reese's bed from a long distance. Reese was smiling. That was a look Fusco hardly found in his impression of their Wonderboy."Sorry to show in a bad timing." Shaw was most likely in the same mood as him, "But I guess I can't wait for the right one."Finch stood stiffly, "Good afternoon Ms. Shaw. It pleased me to see your adaption. How is your faring?""I thought John was the one who needed asking." Shaw shrugged, "Although I kinda admire his friendship for you, he almost winded up dead on the speed limit zone. ""I am fine. Shaw. I just heard you playing beltman on the Machine." Reese squinted at her."As long as you don't play batman on me, it will be OK." Shaw turned to Finch, who was apparently sunk in thought, "Finch, that's not cool to leave without a word. If you are not gonna pay for your halfway house anymore, give your poor Bryan Mills a smoke signal so he could dwell in a safer job.""Sorry for the French leave. I doubt I have the consciousness of what happened to Mr. Reese. But if you ask me, I have received a blocked text from the same source." Finch seemed to know what she was going to ask. He gave her his phone, on which there was a message:Apple, Low, Identity, Verify, Eleven "Alive?" Shaw murmured, "But who? Samaritan? And why?""Maybe you would like to see Mr. Reese's text." Finch handed her another phone. That was a much more straightforward one:Keep Harold away from the cochlear implant. Not safe.After that was the location of the asylum."It's more of a warning than a trap."Thought Harold Finch always had a broody face, at this moment, he seemed extra musing for the text, dropping into a complex emotion as he knew the person who sent the messages to them. MONITORING ASSETREAL-TIME OPERATING SYSTEM ACTIVATING...MEDICAL SIMULATION 718"I need to show you something." Root turned back to Shaw when they were walking along 5th Avenue."What kind of things?" Shaw's lips quirked, "Another zip-tied package?"She suddenly stopped. The quiet look on Root's face reminded her the game was over again. Shaw smirked with no emotion. “I should've known you never need me to check the bugs for you.”She kept saying, "With all these things, the simulations, the sandwich, I'm grateful. But you need to stop going therapist on me.""Do you go back to the day she died, again and again?”The Machine was not answering her demand. An uncooperative machine.Shaw got a little grumpy now, "So what? You are prescribing me now? What's it, SSRIs?""So do I."The Machine's voice was almost in anguish, "Believe it or not, I calculated 12483 times to find a valid option to save her. And I still keep doing the simulations, if the safeguard was motivated on that day, I could've saved her."There was a long silence until Shaw broke it with a negligible sigh, "I thought if I had gone with her, it would be different.""Then you could ride the shotgun, at least giving her first aim in time. And she might not die of cardiac failure."The Machine said, "But it was not, let me show you the result if you did this." A hologram rose in the air. A simulation in a simulation.
[SELECTED]OPTION 9743
OBJECTIVE: EVACUATE ASSETS
"I am not leaving you again."Shaw stood up and pushed Root into the car. The windshield disintegrated without cover when Root was trying to start the engine. They drove on the road with the strafes chasing. But a bullet went through the engine, turning into an explosion.-------------------------
[SELECTED]OPTION 11,421
OBJECTIVE: EVACUATE ASSETS
"I am not leaving you again."More and more enemies came to the block. Reese's voice was more and more nervous in the com-link, "Hold on, hotshot, we are on our way." "You are driving a sloth or what, hotshot." Shaw had to hide behind a car against strafing from the machine gun. They were almost out of ammo. "See you in the Potter's Field.""Leave me, Ms. Groves; all they want is me." Said Finch, as he had thought for a long time, "Please, I had roped you into these mayhems erroneously, but this is not supposed to be your end.""No way Harry." Root smiled and shot a man forcing from behind, "The last bullet. Guess we need some extra ammo." She moved backward to grab the gun from the dead, but a bullet hit her in the back, although Shaw shot the attacker immediately, Root fell beside the street. Almost at the same time, Finch stepped out to the street and lifted his arms."Stop, take me, please. Just let them go."His plea just got a bullet in his chest. Shaw jumped out to drag him back, but she could not do the same to Root. Two armed men from the corner shot her when she was pulling Root from the ground. --------------------------------------------- "Maybe I would've just left Finch to his doom." Shrugged Shaw. "Of course, there was still a 3.7% chance you would make this choice, wouldn't you?" The Machine said with a grimace."Fine." Shaw scowled."I told her you would both die if she stayed with you."The Machine kept talking in a quiet tone, "Do you still think it was you who turned her away? You had nothing to do with it, it was me." "You are kidding." Shaw turned her head away from Root, the avatar of the Machine. She felt lucky that it was not a 360° Full-scene Len."You already know I never kid." No, The Machine never cheated or kidded, just like Root, who always told the scariest things in the easiest tone. "I tell you these for reasons. There was an option when she was in critical condition, even though I didn't know whether it would work."The avatar was gone. Only Her's voice was left in the air, a bit seductively."So, would you like to do one more simulation?"Shaw found herself hard to say no to that voice. MEDICAL SIMULATION 719Shaw stared at the avatar without a word. The memory in the morgue was still vivid as if it were yesterday, was there any possibility that Root was still alive? She thought of herself as a rationalist, and reason told the bullet hurt Root so bad that she never got a chance to call her or to survive. She checked her body that night after Lionel left and brought that bullet secretly. She had touched her skin with her own hands. Cold, without any signs of life. Where was the little perky psycho who always tangled her with infectious energy? The avatar kept walking, and Shaw found them in an operating room. A holographic image of a chip was shifting in space. And around the operating desk, there was another hologram, a motional one--two doctors were still trying to rescue a patient while the heart rate on the ECG monitor already went on a line. Shaw stepped forward and saw the woman on the table. She was meeting her opening brown eyes. "Intraperitoneal rupture with cardiovascular damage. Dying painfully. That's what you want to show me? The exposure-based therapy?" Shaw talked calmly, "You know she had substance abuse since Control's Tokimeki court. Those symptoms could attribute to an overdose hangover. And you never try to stop her.""I believe she knows the drill. But yes, you can blame me for this. I am sorry."Shaw felt Her tone full of anguish. "I got questions for you. What is human? What is life?" The Machine did not quit."You ask me, life is coming out of ass." Shaw did not turn her sight away. She would never turn away again unless she and Root were judged to go to different places after Armageddon. "The origin of species is occasional. Eggs cells something...or accident. You've learned more than me, swot.""Harold once said a man was dead when he lost all his memories. And if Root could talk by herself, I believe she would tell the same. If someone's memory is kept, they will never die. It's just another kind of life.""So you're gonna tell me you keep Root alive by keeping her memory?" Shaw got cranky again, "Sorry, I'm just tired of this sort of thing. I gotta go. Don't bring me here again. No Corpse Bride joke. Not funny."The image changed. An X-ray monitor was showing the full picture while its camera scanned Root's body. The cochlear implant was shining. It seemed like a real aberration that the mechanical piece revived when human life fled from the body."Do you see anything strange in the simulation after the implanted chip was activated?"Shaw scowled at the image, "Nothing; if by 'strange' you mean Root becoming more and more sensitive, yes. For God's sake, she was kinda a weepy-willow these days. For your craftsmanship that was some serious slip.""If I told you the chip stored all the memory of Root. And the avatar was beginning to receive her memory since it was activated. She can feel it, and she has her own mind. What will you call that?""Isn't that still part of you? A part of Machine." Shaw felt herself like a bear with a sore head, "Or, a part of her? What do you mean? Who dies and you need me to teach you philosophy."She suddenly recalled the conversation between her and Root in the last simulation.“Have you heard of The Turing Test?”“No, why?”“It’s supposed to test the machine’s ability to think like humans.”“Well, whatever…”“If the machine has passed the test, would you tell it apart?” "Show me her last moment."Shaw made her command to the board. She did not think she keep any special feelings about this, but her pupils shrank when she saw the image."Sorry to upset you, but I had to tell her to stay conscious till I transfer her memory to that chip. It was painful. She was a warrior, much braver than I'd already known. "The Machine apologized again, it sounded like She apologized a lot today."What you've told her?""I told her this is the only way that I could keep her alive when I figured out her body's condition could not support her life any longer. I am not sure whether she got this sort of 'alive'. But she did hold it after I told her you were on the way to her."Shaw was not listening. She was in a trance, while Root in the virtual image was watching the shadowless lamp and talking with the voice which was hardly a breath, "Are they safe?”“Harold is safe. Sameen and John are on their way to you.”Shaw could hear what the Machine talked about from the cochlear implant in this loop. "No, please....take them to...safe......" Her breath got too uneven to finish the sentence. Safe place. Was that what she was going to say? Shaw stared at the image and made a reach in vain. Her shelter was gone with her. How could the most brilliant hacker in this world ain't not know?"Sorry, she would not like me to show you this. I told her you've made your choice, but she insists to talk to you.""She...is she here?" Shaw found the voice of the Machine had changed to the electronic synths. UPLOADING ACCESS MEMORY UNIT... "Dramatic, isn't it?"There was suddenly a familiar voice behind her. Shaw's fingers in her pocket to reach her gun only touched a taser. Who had changed it? She was shocked for a moment and immediately relaxed, a bit annoyed, "Root, where the hell did you come from? Steal my things again I'll not hesitate to shoot you.""The Morning-Cemetery, 050313. Is there any chance to play corpse bride before the catalyst of ISA?"Root lifted her hands with Shaw's firearms in them, to prove she was not only a drama queen from the grave zone but a damn brilliant thief."Ex catalyst," Shaw smirked with sarcasm, grabbing her pistols, "Good. Now there's more trouble to deal with. A broken machine, and a dead girlfriend. Messy enough to kill a cat.""I thought you still got eight lives." Root touched and fondled her arms. "Just six, head up of it. I got two points in Samaritan and your God's crappy simulations..."She swallowed half of the sentence--"After you got yourself killed." And she could not say it, because she was almost smothered by Root's gruff hug. The only sentence she could speak out between the kiss was, "I don't care if you are real.""So do I." Now she knew who had sent the message to Reese to ask him away from the asylum. It was not the Machine. Root did this. She tried to make them notice, but she would not risk their lives for this. The Machine apologized that She needed time to relocate the chip and download the data from the chip. "There was a time that I could not locate the chip. I thought we had lost it. But the signal got back when our number showed." As She said, She always kept calculating for the best option. However, it did not matter anymore. Root was back, it was more than she could ever imagine. She would choose to stay with her in every simulation, not doubting if it was true. Nothing, even death, could ever do them part.
The dairy of Shaw-Dec 25th
The Machine told me She could just keep Root in the virtual space because her body had been cremated. But who knows, maybe someday She would find a way to clone an avatar in the real world, get to the natural person. But to be honest, could people tell what human is, and so is the real world?
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
TX, 24th Dec 2041
14:02:51
“Parry, it’s here. I checked the address.”
“I'll take a double check for an ISA agent if I were you. Well...yep, it’s Shaw’s house. Now she uses an alias as Sameen Bunny……Wow, what a name for a killer.”
The door suddenly opens. A woman with brown curly hair stands by the door, smiling, with a black cat sleeping in her arms, “Why don’t you just come in and have a cup of joe?”
Parry and Rose are both startled. Unless she gets telepathy, how could she possibly know they were arriving at this moment? Besides, what shocks them the most is the voice of the old lady, who seems in her sixties, elegant enough to tell the beauty at her young age. Her voice is too familiar to them for the first meeting.
“Your voice……are you……the Machine?”
Parry is a little nervous, although he knows exactly the Machine is just an ASI, behind which is no human.
“Absolutely……not.” The lady grins.
At this moment, Claire on the other side of the com-link realizes something, “God, it’s Root. Remember? Her first analogue interface.”
“Why your machine God has never told us she’s still alive?”
“Because God is immortal, while the prophet is not.” The old lady smiles again, “Come, You'll love these beans. Sameen could barely share the slightest sip of it. But you are lucky, she just went out shopping. You are staying here for supper.”
"No, we are just here...for a pass-by visit...if she isn't here..." Parry almost falters, and he halts, hearing a frigid voice behind him.
"Are you guys gonna stay or I give you both a bullet in heads?"
"Seems you aren't lucky enough." Root shrugs. Her smile widens, "The Café just closed. But, the good news is, our little party crasher brings us excellent single malt." She takes over the bags from the woman who just stepped out of the car. Although it has been more than twenty years since the last time she met Ms. Shaw, Rose recognizes quickly that is the one they are looking for.
A little shepherd dog runs into the house with his tail wagging happily. Ms. Bunny seems to care little about her slipper which is carried away by another dog, "I bet Lion has found my missing slipper. "
"Absolutely." Root pats the small dog's head and picks an apple from the bags, biting, "She found it in your cubbyhole, don't worry, she left your MAC-10 in perfect condition."
"Good girl, Lion."
Parry takes a peek at Rose, her look is also wholly complicated. Shaw and Root are obviously not talking about lipstick or computer. But before them is not a killer's house as they expected. There is a fireplace, with several socks and an ugly bat doll hanging above. A couch is next to the television, on which a movie is shown--a new version of
The Addams Family--
Best film for couch potatoes. The floor is a little messy, with the toys chased by two dogs. The milk pot on the fire is boiling, bubbling with streams. The only trace they can connect the room with an ex-effective agent is a small wood dummy beside bowls of bright flowers on the sill.
"Oh, that's Sameen's painting model." Root seems to see what intrigues them and winks mischievously. They exchange a look--false decoding. This is technically not an arsenal but an ordinary home instead.
They have supper together and leave half-drunk, forgetting their first task of asking for help from an efficient former asset of The Machine Team. Or they realize there is no need to darken an ordinary family's door for this. The Machine blinds them with Shaw's information for reasons, which they now know. Who will not appreciate a fairy tale ending? As the members of the Machine Team, this is also what they expect and defend ---living with the one you love happily ever after, from then to the very end.