You are being watched. The government has a secret system, a machine, that spies on you every hour of every day. I know, because I built it. I designed The Machine to detect acts of terror, but it see's everything. Violent crimes involving ordinary people, people like you. They wouldn't act so I decided I would, but I needed a partner, someone with the skills to intervene. Hunted by the authorities, we work in secret, you will never find us, but victim, or perpetrator, if your number's up, we'll find you.

PERSON OF INTEREST

[Location: Houston, Texas, 'The Library']

[Characters: Harold Finch: Hacker, and John Reese: Vigilante, Sam 'Root' Groves: Hacker, has direct communication with The Machine]

[Setting: The Library, Harold is at his computers, working at his computers]

Finch: Mr. Reese? Have you convinced Mr. Ortega not to murder his wife?

[Location: Apartment in west Houston, John and a man (Presumably 'Mr. Ortega') are fighting]

Reese: *Still fighting the man* Not yet Finch *Throws a few punches*

Finch: *Over phone* Is everything alright?

Reese: Not *Gets hit* Really!

Finch: Should I call you back?

Reese: IF IT'S NOT TO INCONVIENIENT!

Finch: Very well *Hangs up*

Reese: *Slams the man's head down on a table, and throws him into the mirror, knocking the man down unconscious* *Walks over, and pulls out a handgun* Pretty sure that's a parole violation Ortega *Taps earpiece* Alright Finch, what is it?

Finch: We have a new number, are you ok?

Reese: I worked for the CIA for 3 years, unruly parolees aren't a real threat to my health. I'm heading to The Library now.

[The Machine POV]

[Time-lapse: 30 Minutes, 20 Seconds, 213 Milliseconds]

[Regular POE, Location: The Library]

*Reese walks in and finds Finch sitting at the computers like normal*

Reese: Who's the new number?

Finch: *Stands, and walks over to the glass board, with his normal limp, and puts up a picture of a teenage girl, short, brown hair, Brown eyes, dressed in a ROTC uniform* Mackenzie Jimenez, 15, attends Klein High School, takes Civil law, and ROTC.

Reese: Any enemies?

Finch: Well, given she's in ROTC, she's bound to have a few, and from what I have heard, ROTC can be very competitive.

Reese: Any relationships?

Finch: Currently dating… *Walks over to computer* Zachary Tamayo, 12th grade, also ROTC… He's made a few more enemies.

Reese: So, how do I get close to her? She's in high school?

Finch: Oh, you're going to be a substitute.

Reese: That sounds more like something you'd be good at, unless they have a knee-capping 101 class.

Finch: Unfortunately, I think I would be better here. I 'Substituted' in Klein High School once, and the experience went… less than satisfactory.

Reese: *Sighs* Ok, who am I substituting for?

Finch: *Apologetically* English

Reese: *Looks at Finch with an annoyed stare*

Finch: And, unfortunately, the school has a 'No Firearms' policy, so you'll have to leave your firearm here

Reese: *Looks at Finch even more annoyed* Harold…

Finch: I understand the frustration John, but it has to be done

Reese: Fine. *Takes out a pistol, and puts it on top of a nearby filing cabinet, and begins to walk out*

Finch: AH! The other one too Mr. Reese

Reese: *Stops, turns around, pulls out another pistol, and places it next to the first one*

[Location: Klein High School: Room 405, English Class, There are 27 students, including Mackenzie]

Reese: Uhm, Good Morning, my name is Mr. Riley, and I'll be your substitute today.

Jimenez: *Raises her hand*

Reese: Yes … *Checks roster* Mackenzie?

Jimenez: *Nods at her name* Where's Mrs. Murphy?

Reese: She won an all-expenses paid trip to Hawaii, Anyway, *Begins to call off roll*

*One by one, the students say 'Here' as there name is called*

Reese: Ok, you have online work on… Blackboard.

*The students open their tablets, and begin to work, Reese goes and sits down at the teacher's desk*

Finch: *Over earpiece* Mr. Reese, have you managed to hack Miss Jimenez's phone and tablet?

Reese: *Quietly, so the students won't notice* Working on it Finch. *Looks down at his phone, which says that the Force Pair of Mackenzie's phone and tablet are complete* Ok, it's done.

Finch: Ok, I've managed to hack into the network, I'm sending access to your computer now.

Reese: *Pulls out a laptop from his bag, and opens it, the school's network opens up, Reese opens up the schools camera's*

Finch: Now we have eyes and ears all over the school, AND on Miss Jimenez.

*The Lunch bell rings*

Reese: I'm going to try and scope out 'A' lunch, see what I can find.

Finch: Do be careful, when I substituted Klein, the lunch was almost the equivalent of near total anarchy

Reese: That's why I'm going to stay up on the balcony

Finch: The balcony?

Reese: Did you not know? They've redone Klein High

Finch: Hopefully they fixed up the students

Reese: *Walks onto a balcony overlooking the cafeteria* Based on the noise, I'd say they haven't changed

Finch: I can hear them from here.

Reese: Tell me about i- Wait, I've got eyes on Jimenez

*Mackenzie walks into the cafeteria, and sits down with 5 friends*

Reese: She has friends. She's sitting with 5 people

Finch: Yes, I see. Let's see *Muttering to himself* mmhm. Yes... Ok… Ok. *To Reese* Payton Williams, the one in blond hair, Courtney Mayhew, the one in the batman jacket, and I'm still searching for the others. Wait, that's odd.

Reese: What?

Finch: Earlier this year, Miss Jimenez was texting a boy named Daniel Mccree. He wears a black leather jacket, wears jeans, and always has a 'Doctor Who' lanyard…. He's also… Interesting. Mr. Mccree is a hacker. Not a novice, but not the best. He's done some interesting things with his school issued tablet. An Administrator account, games, proxies. No wonder he looks paranoid on all the cameras, one wrong move, and he could be looking at anything from In School Suspension, to expulsion.

Reese: So? What does this kid have to do with Jimenez?

Finch: He hasn't been sitting with her for over a week. The cameras show that about a week ago, by the looks of it, he got into an argument with Miss. Jimenez, although, an argument usually involves BOTH parties arguing. It looks more like Jimenez did the yelling, while Daniel just continued working… or playing, on his tablet.

Reese: That could be an incentive to take down Daniel. Especially given that she's in ROTC, it's a good program, but short tempers.

Finch: In that case, we'd better keep an eye on Mr. Mccree too.

Reese: Wait, does he have brown hair?

Finch: Yes.

Reese: Alright, I have eyes on him. He's sitting alone, eating… a lunchable by the looks of it, and on his tablet.

Finch: Alright, I'm trying to hack his tablet. *Pause* Whoa.

Reese: What's wrong finch?

Finch: I can't access Daniel's tablet.

Reese: Is it the network?

Finch: No, it's the tablet itself.

Reese: Odd.

Finch: Maybe Mr. Mccree has something to hide.

Reese: I'll try to get a talk in with Daniel- Wait, he's leaving.

Finch: THE SCHOOL!?

Reese: The cafeteria, I'm going to tail him.

Finch: Wait Mr. Reese, the school Nurses office has Daniel down for an afternoon dose of Focalin, medication to help with ADHD, and he takes it during lunch, and according to the camera's, after that, he heads back to his classroom, and waits outside.

Reese: Ok, I'll see if I can pull him aside

[Location: Klein High School, Room 405]

Reese: Ok Finch, the bell rung, and the student are coming back, I'm going to pull Daniel out.

Finch: For some reason, that doesn't sound good.

*Mackenzie walks in*

Reese: Yea, it may not be. I'll be in touch.

*Reese walks out into the hall*

Reese: *In a confused substitute tone* Sir?

Daniel: Me? Oh, yes sir?

Reese: Can I see you in here for a moment, I'm substituting for this class, and I'm kind of confused on what to do.

Daniel: *Suspiciously* Ok *Closes tablet carefully*

Reese: *Walks in and sits down at desk*

Daniel: *Walks in, and gives Mackenzie a death glare, then looks away, and maintains a normal expression* What do you need help with?

Reese: Yes, on this paper, it says to rewrite in 'Grammatical and proofical order' what does that mean?

Daniel: Well, you see-

Reese: Actually, can we talk outside for a minute, the students are beginning to come back in, and I don't want to 'Give away answers' or anything *Manages a fake laugh*

Daniel: Ok….

*They both walk out into the hall*

Daniel: Ok, so, look here-

Reese: Never mind, why did you look at Mackenzie Jimenez

Daniel: Wait, what? You're not a sub… are you a cop?

Reese: Why, should the cops be interested in that?

Daniel: *Quickly* No!

Reese: Never mind, just answer the question.

Daniel: We were friends, we got in an argument, she screwed me over, we're not friends.

Reese: Ok, go, but you do NOT talk about this.

Daniel: *Walks off*

Reese: *Taps earpiece* Finch, this might be the other way around. Daniel might be after Jimenez after all

Finch: Possibly, although, given how Mr. Mccree described the… argument, Jimenez shouldn't be ruled out as a threat.

Reese: Great, so now they could be a threat.

Finch: Yes. Let me check more.

Reese: Well, better find out fast

[Location: The Library, New York City]

Root: *Walks in*

Finch: Hello Miss Groves. What can I do for you?

Root: Hey Harry, we have an issue. You're latest number, Mackenzie Isabel Jimenez? Is it?

Finch: Yes, why?

Root: Her friend, Daniel.

Finch: Yes, what about him?

Root: She says we need to recruit him… and Jimenez. And 1 more. His name is Zachary Tamayo.

Finch: Absolutely not. The Machine may know what's best, but it doesn't always know what's right. They are CHILDREN.

Root: So were we

Finch: They have a chance at a normal life. That is not something I'll take from them, all for THIS.

Root: For what? A chance to help others. A chance to save innocent lives?

Finch: They would get themselves killed

Root: She would protect them

Finch: The Machine said it would protect us, but if anything, Samaritan proved that wrong

Root: She had no choice. It was to save us, and herself

Finch: And because of that, we lost Sameen (Sameen Shaw was a character in Person of Interest Season's 3 and 4. Killed by Samaritan agents while helping the team stop Samaritan from crashing the stock market)

Root: *Looks off into the distance solemnly*

Finch: *Looks down at his keyboard guiltily* I'm sorry miss Groves, but I won't RECRUIT these KIDS.

Root: *Walks off*

[Location: Klein High School]

Reese: Everything ok Finch? You've been awfully quiet, I hope bear hasn't gone rogue.

Finch: No, Miss Groves stopped by. Apparently The Machine wants to RECRUIT Daniel, Mackenzie, and someone else named… Zachary

Reese: Zachary Tamayo?

Finch: Dare I ask how you know that?

Reese: Overheard the gossip. Daniel and Mackenzie were close friends, bu-

Finch: But due to an argument, their relationship ended in hostility, Daniel told us the same thing

Reese: The only thing is, Zachary Tamayo is Mackenzie Jimenez's boyfriend. My best guess is Daniel had hostility issues with Zach, took it a step to far, and ruined his friendship with Mackenzie in the process, if so, then Daniel might blame Zach for the problem, or the problem might have hurt Zach's relationship with Mackenzie, in which case Zach blames Daniel. Either way, that's 4 suspects.

Finch: We'd better keep a close eye on them all then.

/Samaritan

Locating Targets:
Mccree, Daniel: Located
Jimenez, Mackenzie: Located
Tamayo, Zachary: Location Unknown

[Primary Subject: Zachary Tamayo]

[Retasking Agents]

Assimilating Data

[Location: Kle-]

/Location

Klein High School

[Primary Target Located]

[Informing Operatives]

Finch: Something's not right. I'm showing a discrepancy in the schools ca- ah, there we- oh dear. Mr. Reese, Samaritan operatives, get Miss Jimenez and Mr. Mccree out of there now

*Root walks into the school*

Root: Hello john.

Reese: Kind of busy Root.

Root: I know, that's why I come bearing gifts. 2nd on the left. You get Mccree and his friend out of here.

/Operatives En Route
Time Remaining to target [Zachary Tamayo]: 0:00:02:18

Warning: Deviant detected
Subject deviant:
Illegal use of firearms on government premises.
Monitoring
[Reassessing]

[Targeting Mccree, Daniel]

[Targeting Jimenez, Mackenzie]

Root: *Standing above Samaritan operatives on the second floor* Harry, I'm about to do something you're not going to like

Finch: Miss. Groves? What are you doing?

Root: *Points her gun at the ground*

[Location: Klein High School]

Warning: Multiple gun shots detected.

Tracking…

Root: *Shoots at agents through the floor*

/Reassigning

Iverson, Karen

Classification: Enemy combatant

Location: Known

Reese: *Runs into the English class where Daniel and Jimenez are* Come on! *Pulls out a pistol*

Daniel: What's going on?

Reese: A homicide if we don't get out of here

Daniel: *Looks at Jimenez* She stays

Reese: For Christ sak- *Enemy agents run around the corner, and open fire, John ducks behind a table, and returns fire*

Daniel: Is it clear yet

John: *Partially annoyed* Do you hear gunfire?

Daniel: Yes?

John: Then NO, do something productive and make up with Jimenez!

Daniel: I'm sorry?

John: You heard me

Daniel: I was afraid of that

John: Ok, let's go.

Daniel: Fine *Jimenez and Daniel walk out*

John: Ok, le- Wait. 2nd on the left… stairwells… ok, let's move, now.

*John, Daniel and Mackenzie head down the stairwell. Operatives begin coming up*

John: *Kneecapping the agents* Stay behind me!

Daniel: Yea, no problem!

/Monitoring

Reese, John
Mccree, Daniel
Jimenez, Mackenzie

[Deploying Additional Operatives]

Reese: Ok, we're outside.

*A room explodes on the 4th floor*

Reese: GET DOWN!

*All 3 drop to the ground*

Daniel: The hell was that?

John: Root

Daniel: Stem?

John: No, she's a hacker. Her alias is root

Daniel: Ohhhhh. Ok, so, why is this happening?

Finch: Because, you're very important. Hello Daniel. You can call me Harold.

Daniel: Why me?

Harold: Because, our system wants to recruit you, but an opposing system is trying to prohibit that from happening.

Daniel: System? What system?

Harold: On 9/11/2001, you were in a hotel just outside of Florida. I was here in New York, working on new algorithms for our servers. I didn't even know about the attacks until that night. I couldn't grasp the violence, the death, many people, INNOCENT people died that day. After 9/11, congress began searching for people that could make a system that could monitor everything, emails, phone calls, pictures, music, videos, and everything else to detect acts of terror.

Daniel: So how do you know about it?

Finch: I built it

*Gunshots sound again from inside the building, and Root runs out*

Root: We need to move, NOW.

*Daniel, Reese, Mackenzie, and Root begin to run off, Harold limps fast behind them, Samaritan operatives run out the door*

Root: I'll hold them off. Go, White SUV, Keys are in the glove compartment"

*Root turns around, pulls out her pistol, and begins to open fire*

/Assessing

Enemy combatant: Identifying

Primary Target: Enemy Combatant

Survival Prediction:

Enemy Combatant: 24.93%
Additional Targets: 89.49%

*Daniel, John, Harold, and Mackenzie get in the SUV, and begin to drive toward the Samaritan operatives*

Daniel: John, what are we doing?

Reese: Convincing Samaritan to stand down

Daniel: You're gonna get us killed!

*The SUV charges toward the agents*

Reese: Harold, open the door on the left side!

Harold: *Opening door* Why!?

*Reese stops the car near in between Root and the Operatives*

Root: *Runs into the van* Thanks Harry

/Notification

Primary Target Location Lost

Last Known Location: [Searching]

[Attempting To Reacquire]

[Location: Unknown. Presumed Location: Houston, Texas]

*Harold, Daniel, and Mackenzie are walking in a park, with John following closely behind, people walk through the park walking pets, exercising, and in the right corner, a soccer game is taking place*

Harold: You're safe for now, I can have new identities ready by tomorrow

Daniel: Actually, you were talking about recruiting us, weren't you?

Harold: I wouldn't want to put you in more danger, and if you do stay, you'll only be in more.

Daniel: That's a choice for me to make. The world is a dangerous place, and it's only getting darker. There has to be someone out there to try and stop it.

Harold: If you do continue, you will eventually wind up dead, I can promise you that much

Daniel: We all die in the end, it's what you do while you're alive that matters, this is my decision, I want to help people. Even if it means ge- *A gunshot rings out and rips through Daniel's leg*

Mackenzie: DANIEL!

*John pulls out his gun and begins opening fire while Mackenzie and Finch pulls Daniel to his feet*

John: Get him out of here!

*John returns fire while catching up with Finch*

/Locating

Ta-

[Location: Safe-house 002]

[Reformatting Text]

Finch, Reese, Mackenzie, and Daniel are all in the safe-house, Daniel lying unconscious. "With any luck, Daniel will be ok, however the bullet hit a muscle" Finch reports. "Meaning?" Inquires Mackenzie "Meaning, we'll walk the same way" Finch replies. "Listen, Miss Jimenez, Daniel wants to stay behind and save people, but if you want to leave, I can give you a new identity, and enough cash to leave, and begin a new life." Mackenzie looks at Daniel. "I used to hate him, I still kind of do, but a small part of me always kind of wanted to help him, you said he won't walk normally?" "No, he won't be able to run either" replies Finch. "Then give him a choice, 2 identities, one will give him a new life, one will give him a chance to help people" explains Mackenzie. "Why?" asks Finch "To give him a final choice to turn back" she replies somberly. Finch replies, and comes back an hour later with 2 yellow envelopes, one labeled 'New life' and the other labeled 'A chance to help people'. "Unfortunately, Mr. Reese and I have a new number back in New York-" Begins Finch. "Number?" asks Mackenzie, bewildered "Ah yes! That reminds me" says Finch, as he pulls out a 3rd envelope, and hands it to Mackenzie "This should help with explaining the numbers, at any rate, Mr. Reese and I have to head back to New York, you're welcome to stay here as long as you like" Harold's phone begins to buzz, and he answers it. "Hello? Ms. Groves? Are y- yes.. Ok" He hands the phone to Mackenzie. "It's for you" Mackenzie answers the phone, and Root begins to talk "Hello Mack, when Daniel is better, tell him to go to the corner of Leeland and San Jacinto in downtown." the line goes dead, and Mackenzie hands the phone back to Finch "She gave me a location" says Mackenzie, completely confused "Well, in some cases, it's better to just relay information" says Finch, as he turns around and leaves. An hour later, Daniel begins to wake up. "Hey" says Mackenzie softly. "What are you doing? I thought you'd be half way to London by now" replies Daniel groggily. "Nah, London's not my type, and neither is letting people get hurt when I know I had the chance to save them" she replies. Daniel looks over and see's the 2 envelopes. "New Life, and A chance to help people" reads Daniel aloud. "What is this?" "A choice" replies Mackenzie "Stay, or leave" "I think that's rather obvious" He picks up the envelope labeled 'A chance to help people'. "In that case, someone named 'Root' had a message for you.'The corner of Leeland and San Jacinto'" reports Mackenzie. "Ohhh, that's GOOD" says Daniel. "It looks like we're in business". "Also, she left this for you" Mackenzie says, as she hands Daniel an earpiece. He puts it in his ear, and answers his phone, listening through the earpiece. After a minute, he begins to smile, and replies with one word.

"Absolutely"

Epilogue:

The blonde haired woman walks into the old, untidy, warehouse. "Samaritan has lost track of the targets. 3 in particular, Daniel Mccree, Mackenzie Jimenez, and we're still identifying the 3rd one." She reports. An aged man, dimly lit by the projector, replies without looking away from the screen. "If they had contact with Mr. Finch, and his associates, its likely Daniel Mccree, and Mackenzie Jimenez don't exist anymore Martine" replies the man. "How about the 3rd target Greer?" Inquires Martine. Greer smiles a little "We'll leave that up to Samaritan now." Both Martine, and Greer look at Samaritan's UI projecting on the wall.

/Calculating Response

Response calculated

Relaying

The orders appear on the screen, one word at a time. They read: Find. Allison. Pawelka. Greer smiles a bit wider. "Well Martine, it looks like you have your new orders. Bring Ms. Pawelka to us."