expiationlogs | one way or another

[The apparent lack of immediate danger means that Shaw is fine with getting the full story when she gets there - she even appreciates the quick hang-up, because it means she can focus on where she's going without the distraction of a conversation.

Both of these are positions that she'll soon come to regret.]

Roleplaying? Really?

[She says dryly, crossing her arms over her chest and fixing Root with an unimpressed look. Had Root come to check up on her, not believing that she'd be able to find her way to the intersection without getting lost? Or is the unexpected waylay part of whatever game this clearly is?

Whatever. This might turn out to be interesting, so sure, she'll play along.]

Okay, Agent Shaw reporting for duty. Who're you supposed to be?

That sounds like an invitation, but your tone says otherwise.

[ Root can't resist throwing in another flirtatious line like that, but she remains focused on the mission. She reaches back to grab her two standard handguns from the small of her back in preparation. Shaw might notice they're different models than usual. ]

There's a copy of me about 1.3 miles that way, and we're going to take her out.

[ Somehow she knows precisely where the other Root is; that isn't an issue. But she respects her own capabilities enough to want to do this the smart way. That is, with a very convenient Shaw-shaped distraction. ]

A copy of you?

[Yeah, this is definitely a new style of game, and she's not completely sure she likes it. And that intersection Root that Root had wanted her to meet her at - that's a little over a mile away, isn't it?]

Wait.

[She puts out a hand - to stop Root from heading off if she hasn't started walking yet, or to hold her back if she has.]

Nix the sexy surprise for a sec. This would be a dumb question anywhere else, but this simulation doesn't actually make copies, does it?

You think I'm a sexy surprise?

[ Root's momentarily diverted; her tone is delighted. Wait, no, stay focused. She has to accomplish the mission, and if she can flirt with Shaw along the way, that's great, but not the real objective. ]

Apparently it does, because now there's two of me, which you're about to see if you'll just come along for the ride.

[ There's something pushy and insistent behind her words by the end. ]

[Shaw's expression shifts, betraying a sliver of uncertainty. Her hand goes to the gun at her hip, more on autopilot than anything else.]

How do I know you're the real one?

[How does she know either of them are?]

[ This is a question that jeopardizes the mission, so Root packs away the flirting and gives Shaw a tight, cold smile. ]

I just gave you an assignment, Agent Shaw. Are you with me or not?

[ She has a pistol in each hand; her grip tightens. There's nothing of the allowance in her that Shaw might remember -- the subtle patience, the tolerance, for uncertainty and humanity. The Machine's influence. ]

[The shift makes Shaw's blood run cold, and she steadies her grip on the butt of her gun. Samaritan hasn't even been mentioned yet, but it still reminds her all too well of the Decima agents in the simulations; of Greer treating her as if she was already one of his.]

Change of plans.

[She grunts, making to grab Root's arm.]

You come with me.

[ Shaw grabs her arm, but the other hand comes up to shove the muzzle of her gun directly into her gut.

Her eyes turn flinty. ] There's no changing plans after we get an assignment. You know that.

The intel is never wrong.

[ Shaw might not know where the intel comes from... but Root does. And she won't tolerate doubt or dissent. ]

No.

[Her breath hitches, a subtle but still uncharacteristic hint of panic.]

Gotta say, they did a good job switching things up this time. But this isn't you.

Edited 2024-11-18 13:46 (UTC)

Don't tell me you're falling for it. That whole humans deserve free will thing?

[ Root sounds scornful, sure of herself, but also frustrated. She doesn't want to shoot Shaw. Case in point about why humans shouldn't be allowed to make decisions for themselves; Root is drawn by her own all-too-fallible feelings to go easy on her.

She eases back with the pistol just a little. ]

You can't side with her.

[The penny, which had started rolling precariously close to the precipice, fully drops. Now, she knows exactly what's going on.

(No, she doesn't. But she thinks she does, and the logic makes a scary amount of sense. Convincing and manipulating her with Greer, Lambert, and Samaritan itself hadn't worked. The new thing they're trying doesn't just involve changing the setting, it involves changing Root, and it sickens her to the core to see it.)

In one swift movement, Shaw pulls out the gun and points it at her own head, finger playing over the trigger.]

So - what number are we gonna be on when I end this thing? I've lost count.

[ Root is actually astonished to see her threaten suicide. It's so completely foreign compared to the Shaw she knows. She falters back a step, lowering her weapon, eyes wide. ]

What's that supposed to accomplish? What's going on with you? We have a mission. You never turn down a mission.

I could shoot you, too. You're not even pretending to be like her; it'd be easy.

[She's not lying. She could do it. Physically and emotionally, she's capable of pulling the trigger on this offensively obvious trick, no matter how real it looks.

But she'd held off on killing thousands of fake Roots, in thousands of scenarios that she was sure were simulations. She can't break that streak now - because doing so would also break something small but irreparable in her.]

Why would I--

[ She gets cut off by the crackling of static on Shaw's dark net communicator, a voice coming through with tense urgency. ]

Shaw, I may have been a little hasty in saying I had it under control-- [ The real Root's words break off into a cry of pain. ]

Root?

[This causes a bit of a scramble; she can handle a weapon with her non-dominant hand with more ease than she can work controls with it, so she swaps gun hands, then yanks out her communicator.]

Root, what the hell is going on?

[ There's sounds of movement and scraping, heavy breathing, before Root answers. ]

There's another one of you, and she's really hard to keep down. I take it back -- you're way more than mildly terrifying.

[ In the distraction of the conversation, Shaw may or may not notice that Samaritan Root is gone. That was all the confirmation she needed, and she could tell Shaw wasn't going to help her on this mission. The mission was what mattered. ]

I--

[She takes a step back from the spot where Root suddenly isn't.]

There's another one of you; I was just with her. I-- I lost her, I don't know how I--

["Find her and kill her," she hears her own voice instruct from over the line. "And I'll kill this one. You know we were always going to eventually."

She can't hear her double swing a fist at Root's face, but she'll hear the resulting hit - regardless of whether it connects with its intended target, or something else as Root dodges or redirects.]

[ Even in the chaos of the fight, Root can put that problem together immediately: Shaw had never managed to shoot her in any one of the simulations. Which means they need to trade opponents. Root has no compunctions whatsoever about shooting her own lookalike. She's rapidly getting over any compunctions about going after Shaw's lookalike with an intent to kill, either.

Root takes the punch on purpose with a short scream, knowing she's going to be paying for that one for a while in facial bruises but accepting it so she has an opportunity to pull out her second pistol and shove it into Shaw's double's stomach.

Just like Samaritan Root. Except this time, she pulls the trigger immediately, three times.

Over the radio, the gun shots fade into ringing silence before Root's voice comes through the line again. Briskly: ] We need to regroup. Meet me-- [ she thinks quickly ] at the library in twenty. Assume you're being tailed.

[ It's a central location, easy to get to from multiple angles, which means they can both try to lose their doubles before they get there. And it has some obvious sentimental value on its own, a way of maybe reaffirming to Shaw that the two of them are the real ones, for whatever that's worth. ]

Root!

[Shaw calls out when she hears the cry, already moving towards their original intersection; the subsequent gunshots only speed her along. And then Root changes the plan, and for one wild moment, Shaw reels in confusion: the library was compromised, the library is gone, how can they--

Right. An actual library. The library here; the one that she's walked past several times but not yet visited.

She redirects immediately, spinning on her heel and making her way there as fast as she can.]

[ Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, refuses to go away. Philip K. Dick. Or something. Root thinks the bracing reminder to Shaw of which simulation they're in couldn't hurt -- it's been surprisingly consistent lately.

Root limps in later than Shaw, having been especially careful not to leave a trail, duplicate Shaw left cooling but probably slowly resurrecting in an alley behind her. She hopes the massive gut wound slows her down, but can't bank on it. She has a huge bruise blossoming across one check and over that eye, and she is favoring one leg, but Root still moves with her usual merciless impatience to get to the next part of the job.

She finds her inside at a study table in an out-of-the-way nook. She feels herself soften with relief for one overwhelming moment before Root's brain kicks into gear and she thinks to do an identity check, for both of their benefit. ]

Ontspannen?

[ Dutch for relax, Bear's command that he's off-duty. It doesn't seem likely that creepy alternates of themselves would have ended up befriending the sad crusading duo and their dog. ]

[Shaw makes a small mmm sound - not a sound of confusion, but rather a sound of understanding the question, but not being sure of how to answer. She's stressed, she's rattled, and she is very much not doing okay.]

Bewaken.

[Alert and on guard. She looks past Root, her eyes scanning the room.]

Pretty sure she didn't follow me.

Good enough.

[ She'd understood the code phrase and responded, that was really all she was looking for. Root holsters her guns and rushes forward, putting her hands on Shaw's shoulders, meeting her eyes insistently. ]

Are you all right? What was I like? You were-- creepy.

Ditto. Big Samaritan fangirl.

[Slowly, she lifts a hand inch by inch, bringing it to rest on Root's clavicle.]

That's their new game these days. They don't just want me to lead them to the Machine, they want me on their side, Root.

It's not a new game, [ Root says gently, holding her in the quiet hush of the library, not moving. She'll deal with her double being a Samaritan groupie in a second. She probably should've guessed it would go in that direction... ]

That's the old game, Sameen. There's something else going on now. And it probably has something to do with us being criminals that need rehabilitating. That's the party line, after all.

Right.

[She says, not argumentatively or sarcastically, but like she's parroting a line she's learned by rote.]

What was my, uh-- what was she like? What did she do to your face?

one way or another

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cw: suicide threat

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