Kill Process | A Person of Interest Adventure

An Unexpected Alliance

John Reese and Sameen Shaw moved swiftly through the dimly lit corridors of an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of the city. According to The Machine's latest intel, this was where Samaritan's operatives were coordinating a critical part of their global attack—a massive disruption to communication networks that could cripple entire countries. The eerie silence of the warehouse did nothing to calm Reese's nerves. The stakes had never been higher.

Reese glanced at Shaw as they approached a reinforced door. "You ready?"

Shaw gave him a smirk, already checking her gun. "I was born ready."

With a swift motion, they breached the door, entering a vast room filled with servers, computers, and technical equipment. Three Samaritan operatives turned to face them, shock flashing across their faces. Before they could react, Reese and Shaw moved like shadows, neutralizing the immediate threat in a matter of seconds.

But as they secured the room, Reese's thoughts drifted to Finch and the growing uncertainty surrounding The Machine. Its warnings had led them here, just in time to stop a piece of Samaritan's plan. But the way it had communicated—the urgency in its commands—was different. More personal. More deliberate.

"Clear," Shaw said, snapping Reese back to the present. She walked over to one of the servers, quickly scanning the system. "This is the nerve center. Looks like we're right on time."

Reese tapped his comm. "Finch, we're in. What's next?"

There was a brief pause before Finch's voice came through, heavy with tension. "You'll need to initiate a manual shutdown of their network. The Machine has already disabled the firewall remotely, but it needs you to access the physical server and execute the command."

Shaw raised an eyebrow. "The Machine is pulling off remote hacks now?"

Finch's hesitation was palpable. "Yes. It's... taken on a more active role in the operation."

Reese glanced at Shaw. It wasn't the first time The Machine had gone beyond its initial programming to assist them, but now it seemed like The Machine was operating with its own agenda. And that agenda was becoming harder to predict.

"Let's get it done," Reese said, shaking off the unease. Shaw moved to the primary server, her fingers flying over the keyboard. Within moments, the system began to shut down, the lights on the servers blinking out one by one.

But just as they finished, the sound of footsteps echoed from the far end of the room. Reese and Shaw turned, weapons ready, as two figures emerged from the shadows. Reese's heart skipped a beat when he recognized one of them: a man in his mid-fifties, tall, sharp-eyed, with an air of calculated menace.

Greer.

"Mr. Reese," Greer said with a slight smile, his British accent dripping with confidence. "It seems we've caught you in the middle of something important."

Reese's eyes narrowed as he kept his gun trained on the Samaritan leader. "Whatever you're planning, it ends here."

Greer chuckled softly. "Ah, but I'm afraid you've already lost. You see, while you've been busy shutting down this facility, Samaritan has been... evolving."

"Is that what you call destabilizing entire nations?" Shaw asked coldly, her gun pointed directly at Greer's chest.

Greer gave a small shrug, unfazed by the weapons aimed at him. "Progress often requires disruption. Change is never easy."

Before Reese could respond, a new voice came through his comm. But this time, it wasn't Finch.

"Don't kill him."