empathicfault | IC Inbox

However bad you are, there's no way you're worse than Root.

[She sits down finally, cross-legged on the floor instead of taking a chair (... or dog bed) .]

When I got back from that whole captivity thing, they needed back-up; we couldn't really afford for me to take time off. They all made me sit out a week anyway, to make sure I rested and recovered or whatever. That whole thing with Jack? Wouldn't've happened to you with us, or any solid team.

[OOC: just noticed that five-ish tags up I forgot this was action now and switched back to audio formatting; I am so sorry, I don't know what's wrong with me this week!]

[ Winston can't help it- someone is on the floor. And Will seems- well, more normal-ish, as much as he ever is. So Winston trots over to request some pets from Shaw.

Will, meanwhile, nods appreciatively at Shaw's description of an enforced recuperation from work. She's not the type to lie, but it still feels weird to him, the idea that even a bunch of rogues would take care of each other better. Having faith that someone would at least try to back you up when you needed help-- wait, he had that once before, didn't he?

He narrows his eyes and then sighs, as he realizes it's not his memory. It's brief, though. He rubs his eyes and then looks to Shaw. ]

Uh- think I just remembered something of yours. Did your group work with something called The Machine?

[Shaw doesn't know if she'll ever stop feeling a sharp, sudden burst of suspicion when people on the Barge ask questions like this. Honestly, she hopes she never does stop. When it comes to graduating an inmate and working towards a deal, it's best to assume that the Barge is real and act accordingly - but when it comes to talking about home, and to sharing information that Decima and Sameritan would be all too happy to get their hands on, she can't lose sight of the fact that this could all be an elaborate ploy to get her to let her guard down and give away more than she should.]

Yeah.

[She says guardedly, rubbing a hand over Winston's back and letting him flop down in her lap.]

What do you remember?

[ He can feel the suspicion spike, bursting in his ears briefly like radio static. But that makes sense, and he's certainly not going to take offense at it. He'll talk to her about it, see how long it takes for her to get the rest. Because he knows how off-putting this is, and it sounds like sensitive information.

Although, as he starts, he laughs a little. ]

I think it's Root. Did she tase you and drug you and zip-tie you to a steering wheel? [ That might not be helpful, if Shaw doesn't have it, so he continues on. ] Uh, wavy brown hair, brown eyes, black leather jacket, about my height probably...pretty flippant about kidnapping.

[ He raises an eyebrow at Shaw. Does that sound right? ]

[Whoopsie-daisy, is she about to be called out for thinking Hannibal is clearly bad news while she has Root lurking in her history? The fact that she doesn't look remotely surprised upon hearing this story is probably telling, but she at least has the grace to look mildly sheepish about it.]

Yeah, she, uh-- she got better about that. Mostly.

[But not until well after Shaw started sleeping with her, so really, feel free to judge away, Will.]

She zip-tied me to a steering wheel? Not a chair?

[ The slight amusement is as far as Will intends to judge, promise. Because while Root might enjoy a little kidnapping and tasering, Will is pretty sure she's not an unrepentant cannibal. (although hey, who knows?) ]

No, it was definitely a steering wheel. I think Root just wanted you to listen for a bit. She kept calling the Machine 'she', and said that it needed her help. That the first part of that was getting your help.

You were, understandably, pretty mad about the whole thing. Apparently, the Machine talking to Root was unusual? You didn't expect it.

Edited 2023-04-26 19:27 (UTC)

So really early days, then.

[Shaw murmurs, half to herself.]

She say anything about us keeping her locked up?

No...

[ And he was going to continue on, but as he processes that, he has to raise an eyebrow. ]

You kept her locked up?

To be fair to us, the drugging and kidnapping and tasering habit wasn't a one-time thing.

[The locking up is something that Shaw doesn't particularly regret, though she feels more conflicted about the involuntary commitment to a mental hospital than about the extra-judicial imprisonment at their home base. Purposefully keeping her in places where she was cut off from the Machine, though, is something she wishes they'd done differently.]

I decided to go with her, didn't I. She convinced me.

[ Will just nods in acknowledgement at the reasoning. He knows it's something he's particularly sensitive about, but he doesn't know all the details. He's not going to judge. ]

You did. She said something about your father. Gave you a date. Pissed you off, but I think it convinced you that The Machine trusted her. And that she wasn't lying about trying to save people. Or- no. Save The Machine, but that would save people.

Smug little asshole.

[Shaw murmurs, closing her eyes as the memory starts to leak its way back into her.]

Yeah, that was a couple years ago. We went on a quest to save this guy who ended up joining her nerd squad and being pretty useful to us later on, so. Things turned out okay.

[ Will smiles slightly as Shaw clearly starts to remember. Okay, they're really getting the hang of how this works. ]

Had a feeling. And yeah- she clearly didn't care about you holding a knife up to her throat. Was that the first time you met?

Second. Or, third, depending on how loosely we wanna define "met".

[Does Shaw shooting her in the shoulder and then holding her at gunpoint after she'd kidnapped and traumatized Finch count? A question for the ages.]

It was the first time we worked on the same side, though. And--

[Huh. She's never really thought about this in context before, but now that she is--]

I'm pretty sure it was when she decided that I was someone worth knowing.

[She remembers the look on Root's face when she'd gone back to make sure she got out of her end of their caper okay (a wise decision, considering she'd found Root facing down the enemy with a bulletless gun). In retrospect, the big, genuine smile Root had given her had been telling.]

[ Will can tell the feelings are sort of fading- which is nice, because it allows room for him to look back at it with almost an outsider's fondness, as a fun story. ]

Yeah? Figured it out pretty quick, then.

Did she join the rest of your team, later on, or did she mostly stick with her...uh, 'nerd squad'?

[Shaw, on the other hand, is perturbed by the process of the memory returning. She wants it back, of course, but feeling it fill out the empty space it had left behind is weird, almost as if she's experiencing it again for the first time. It's disorienting how the annoyance and frustration of that day in the car feels every bit as current and fresh as the dull thudding she's starting to recognize as her version of grief, and the warm oozing sensation she's starting to recognize as her version of love.]

No...

[She says slowly, trying to use the question as a way to reorder her thoughts.]

No, she was dangerous. To us, I mean. And Finch thought she might be dangerous to the Machine.

[The fact that she hasn't explained the Machine to Will doesn't ping her radar; she's half-talking to herself here, anyway.]

He locked her up in a room at the library. She wanted to help, but he didn't trust her yet.

[ Will gives her time, because- yeah. It's been rough getting the memories back on his end anyway, and it's probably worse for her. He'll let her talk it out. ]

That's understandable. But from what I'm remembering, Root was anthropomorphizing the Machine. She clearly felt strongly for it.

I mean, that doesn't mean she wasn't dangerous to it. But it helps. How long was she locked up?

Yeah. Finch was wrong.

[Shaw leans back against the wall, slouching, letting Winston flop onto her more fully.]

We kept her in the library for a few months. She wanted to help us out because that's what the Machine wanted her to do, but, uh-- trust has to be earned, you know? Eventually we cut her loose. She mostly did her own thing for a while, showing back up if she needed us for something or if we needed her. She was always jetting around the world, doing crazy stuff.

[Her voice grows quieter. Fonder.]

She didn't get hired on the way the rest of us did; there was no one conversation or decision or turning point. It just... happened gradually. But it did happen. She became one of us.

[ Will smiles slightly, hearing all that. He doesn't need his condition to tell how important Root is to Shaw. How unique she was. ]

Your team is so important to you.

[ An obvious statement, but it sheds new light on her telling Will that she'd hire him. He will have to add weight to his consideration. ]

Glad she was a part of it, too. Even if it was in an unconventional way.

Yeah.

[She doesn't try to deny it - she has no desire to. Emotion-based words are something she struggles with, leaving her never quite sure when and where she should apply them; if he'd said you love your team, she'd have hesitated, no matter how true it is in her own way. But whether or not something - or someone - is important to her is an easy judgement for her to make, and there's no question of how high her team ranks.]

Teams in general are important to me, but... I've never had anything quite like them.

[A pause.]

And neither had she.

[It's no surprise that she'd been willing to die for Finch.]

[ All right. Now that she's talking them up so much, he kind of has to ask. He looks almost confused. ]

...and you were saying you'd hire me on?

Well, Finch is the boss, not me. But he'd like you a lot.

[She glances over at Will, wondering if he'll be skeptical of this judgement.]

Taking in people from shitty circumstances and giving them a new purpose is... kind of what he does, and I guarantee you're not the worst case he's seen. So, yeah, we'd want you. Whether you would want us when we're dealing with a stupid war between robot overlords might be another story.

[ There is skepticism, but not directed at her. Instead, he looks down at his hands, frowning thoughtfully.

That breaks up into some quiet laughter as she starts talking about 'robot overlords,' though. ]

Is that The Machine, and whatever you're fighting? It helped you stop the violent crimes before they happen...maybe someone else didn't care for that?

Someone wanted to take the same idea and go further with it. Control society way beyond what we do. And Finch already has enough personal crises about what we do to begin with, so, obviously he's not on board with that.

Ah...and there's the thought crimes. And/or Illuminati situation.

[ Will nods, feeling like he understands. ]

Well, that's definitely something to consider. Maybe I can meet Finch after I graduate- if we haven't been jumbled around too many times by then. Do you think me coming from a completely different universe would confuse the robot overlords?

[ He smiles, a little spark of interest in his eye. He could really use a good fight. ]

[That is... a very good question. Would Samaritan and the Machine even know? The Machine would surely at least know that something was up if one of its new agents appeared out of thin air.]

Uh-- it'd be a big advantage when it came to hiding you from the enemy. The rest of us had to get fake identities. We'd probably have to prove the existence of the... multiverse or whatever to the rest of the team, though.

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empathicfault - 2023-04-28 20:31 (UTC) - Expand

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