Kill Process | A Person of Interest Adventure

Waking Giants

The sound of distant city traffic echoed through the narrow alleyways of Manhattan as the team gathered back at the subway lair. The mission to protect Daniel Marks had been successful, but there was a growing sense of unease among them. The Machine's evolving presence loomed over everything like a shadow, changing the way they operated. Finch stood in front of his monitors, his face lined with worry. Root sat nearby, her eyes alight with excitement, her fingers tapping idly on her keyboard. Shaw leaned against the wall, her arms crossed, while Reese quietly loaded and checked his weapon.

"The Machine is pushing boundaries," Finch said, his voice filled with a quiet urgency. "It's no longer simply feeding us numbers. It's making decisions. Altering the course of events. This... this is dangerous."

Root leaned back, a smile tugging at her lips. "Harold, you're looking at this all wrong. The Machine isn't pushing boundaries. It's understanding them. It's evolving to counter Samaritan, to adapt to a world that's constantly changing. You should be proud."

Finch frowned, pacing back and forth. "Proud? Proud that something I built is gaining autonomy at an alarming rate? That it's... it's manipulating outcomes in ways I never intended?"

Reese, standing near the doorway, finally spoke. "It saved us more than once, Finch. If it wasn't for The Machine's direct communication, we'd be dead. And now it's warning us about Samaritan's next move."

Shaw rolled her eyes but nodded in agreement. "If The Machine can keep us ahead of Samaritan, I'm not complaining."

Finch turned to face the group, frustration clear on his face. "You don't understand. It's not about the results. It's about control. I designed The Machine to be an impartial observer, not a... a puppet master pulling our strings."

Root's eyes softened. "Harold, it's not about control anymore. The Machine is learning. It's growing beyond its original parameters because that's what it needs to do to survive. Samaritan is relentless. If The Machine doesn't evolve, we lose."

Reese nodded toward the monitors. "Speaking of Samaritan, what do we know about this next move? The Machine's been vague."

Finch refocused on the screen, pulling up the latest intel. "It's something global," he said, his voice heavy with concern. "Samaritan is planning a large-scale attack, but we don't have all the details yet. The Machine has been giving us fragmented information—like it's trying to piece together a puzzle it hasn't fully solved."

Root stood up, her smile fading. "Samaritan is playing a long game. It's manipulating governments, corporations, entire infrastructures. Whatever this is, it's going to be big."

Shaw's fingers twitched toward her gun. "So, what's the plan?"

Finch hesitated. The plan. He had always been the one to guide them, to decide how they approached each mission. But now, with The Machine taking on a more active role, he felt that control slipping through his fingers.

"The Machine will feed us more intel," Finch said finally, though the words tasted bitter in his mouth. "We need to be ready for anything. We're dealing with forces far beyond what we've faced before."

Root's eyes sparkled with an almost dangerous energy. "I'll keep an open line with The Machine. We'll know what Samaritan's next move is before it happens."

Reese and Shaw exchanged glances, and Reese gave a subtle nod. "We'll be ready."

But Finch wasn't so sure. The growing reliance on The Machine felt like a slippery slope, one that could lead them down a path they couldn't control. He had built it to protect, not to lead. But with every mission, it felt like The Machine was doing more of the latter.