Silence

The Machine is silent in Root's ear. She has been quieter for a while now, ever since Samaritan came online, but this is different. She hasn't said anything since they got out of the Stock Exchange, safe and sound except for one person. She had guided them out and then Her voice had faded away. It's been 3 days.

Root knows it's for a thousand of different reasons, but one stands out: the Machine doesn't know what to say. The Machine sees Root hurting, but there's nothing She can do about it; She doesn't understand grief, and pain. She doesn't understand love. Root thinks maybe the Machine is disappointed in her, now that She sees that human side of her Analog Interface that She can't understand. Feelings. Root has given the Machine everything; her blind trust, her full attention, her entire set of skills and her life. She thought feelings would never be an issue, but then she had met Shaw.

And now Shaw is gone.

And The Machine is silent.

Root is angry that the Machine won't help her find Shaw. That She stays silent while Root and Reese put mayhem through 5 different states before going to Maple after a very thin lead. That She doesn't warn her that this lead is not the right one, that it won't lead them to Shaw. That Her first word to Root in days go through a payphone and just asks her to "Stop".

Root walks away that day.

She says goodbye to Harold and even considers removing her Cochlear implant.

She doesn't.

The Machine doesn't talk to her for days after that. And when the leads for tracking Shaw run out, Root is left with nothing. Samaritan is too big, too strong and too guarded for her to take on without the Machine's help; it had never stopped her before, being faced with an organization she can't possibly win the fight against, but she is running out of options. And left with the realization that she has lost everything: Shaw, the Machine, and her sense of purpose.

The moment happens in the crowded hall of Singapore's airport, while she's about to board for her flight back to New York, thinking about what comes next. And for the first time in weeks, nothing comes to her mind. She freezes in the hall, her small bag slung over her shoulder, her eyes lost in the sea of faces. She looks down at the plane ticket in her hand, tries to think about the next steps she will have to take when she lands in New York, but her mind is blank, and no sound reach her right ear. The hall is crowded, but she doesn't hear a sound. People sidestep not to walk into her unmoving body, someone's suitcase bumps against her knees; but she doesn't see them, frantically searching for options and coming up empty.

And then, suddenly, she hears a whisper. It's low and it's quick, but it's right there, in her right ear, only for her to hear.

AF 7601. 11:30pm.

Root's freeze only lasted a few seconds, but it was enough for the Machine to pick up on it, thanks to the hundreds of cameras in the airport. And Root realizes that even though the Machine was silent, She never left her.

She doesn't take time to ponder on that, ignores the flutter in her chest at the sound of Her the voice in her ear.

She walks to the closest board of departures.

The number the Machine gave her is for a flight to Paris leaving in an hour. A ghost of a smile creeps at the corner of her mouth as she starts walking, steady and fast, towards the Air France counter. She passes next to a bin and throws away her former plane ticket to New York.

She smiles at the attendant, hands her current passport. Today, she's a British woman called Lara Johnson.

"Bonjour."

"Bonjour Madame."

The hostess studies her passport and her computer, and Root waits patiently.

"I have a booking for a one-way flight to Paris in business class. Do you have any bags to check in?"

Root smiles, fully this time. Not at the flight attendant, but at the warm reassurance that the Machine has her back again.

"No, thank you."

"Then you're all set. Boarding closes at 11pm. Have a nice flight!"

The Machine doesn't speak to Root for the entire flight, but she doesn't need Her to. She knows the voice will be back once she lands in Paris, and if it's not, there will be clues for her to find.

She's not foolish enough to forget that the Machine talked to her at this moment for a reason. If She had talked before, Root would have probably ignored her. But now that her track for Shaw is running cold, that she knows if she wants to get her back she will have to destroy Samaritan first, the Machine and her are finally back on the same page. She is sending her on a mission, now of all times, because She recognized in Root's moment of weakness that she was ready to follow directions again, without asking questions.

Root is too happy to have regained an objective to question the Machine on that. She doesn't know where she's going, but she knows she has a sense of purpose again. And it's enough, at least for now.