Daylight streamed into the room. It was 6.18 am, the room announced. The woman woke up and sat upright on the bed. She looked around the room, looking a little lost, trying to remember where she was or what her name was. Then she remembered. Her name was Sameen Shaw. She had realized of late that sometimes when she woke up, some parts of her brain would take a little longer to catch up with the rest of her body. She would have to talk to Daizo about it. Maybe her memory implant needed to be upgraded.
She got out of bed and walked up to the full height mirror. She was wearing a black tank top and shorts. She stared and herself and ran her right hand fingers over her left hand. It always surprised her how far technology had progressed in just a few short years. No one could really tell that the entire left arm was cybernetic in origin. Even her left lung was a bio-mechanical construct. The memories of the explosion that had caused the damage were still a little hazy. She had to make do with part of Roots memories of that fateful day. She shook her head, it was too early in the morning to think about these things.
She made her way towards the bathroom to get through the usual morning rituals. A little while later she had gotten dressed and was having her morning coffee sitting in the balcony looking over the city. It was still hard to imagine that just a year ago half the city was in ruins. But now the war, what the media had dubbed as the AI War, was over. The world was finally at peace and was being rebuilt. She sat there drinking her coffee, eating her breakfast and she tried to remember how it had all started.
It had all started nearly twenty years ago when Samaritan had finally gotten loose. In less than two months it had gobbled up every other AI it could find and had started to build its own army of operatives. The world was in the grips of an AI which didn't really care about humanity. That first year had been a brutal ordeal. Root was hit the hardest. Being unable to communicate with her god she had felt lost at sea and would continuously feel like she was a burden upon the rest of the team.
They had lost Jason in the first year, when he had broken his cover to try and save a friend. He was almost instantly tracked down by Samaritan. He was picked up by Decima Operatives. They tried tortured him to try and get the location of the other members of the team. He instead chose to kill himself rather than talk.
But then their luck changed. Sometime in the autumn of 2015, The Machine struck back. It had managed to find a way into Samaritan and had burrowed its way into its core architecture. In effect it consumed it from the inside out. At first they had thought that they had won but something didn't feel right. It was Root who had realized that The Machine no longer existed.
When The Machine had consumed Samaritan, it hadn't so much as destroyed it but merged with it. What they now had was an amalgamation of the two entities, one which still cared for humanity, but was far more predatory and cold than before. In fact it's definition of caring had changed all together. It had come to the conclusion that in order to protect humanity it needed to be subjugated to a certain extent. And so began The Secret war, with Root becoming its chief agent. It hadn't taken The Machine very long to convince Root of its plan, given the low opinion that Root already held about the human race. Root joined forces with other operatives that had previously worked for Samaritan, including Greer and Martine.
The first step was to show the world how benevolent it was. It did this by helping humanity progress at a pace that was previously unimagined. Decima was at the forefront of this technological revolution. In less than a year the AI achieved Tech Singularity. There was unprecedented progress in nearly every field. Cures were found for almost every possible disease including all forms of cancer, HIV, even the common cold. Nano-technology and bio-technology progressed an unprecedented rate. Food could be produced in labs at minimal cost. Hunger and poverty could become a thing of the past. The world on the whole was very impressed.
But we are after all human and soon mistrust and rivalries set in. Countries, as usual, didn't want to share technology. The developed nations would rather hoard everything and let the poorer nations suffer. In contrast, The Indians and the Chinese didn't trust this western AI, so they decided to build their own. Surprisingly the development had progressed at a tremendous pace. In less than two years, China, India, Japan and France each had their own AI systems in place. The truth that none of them had realized was that all of their systems were variants of The Machine. Soon there were even black market variants of the AI, spreading to various criminal organizations and radical terrorist groups. War was inevitable and that was exactly what the AI wanted. To prove to humanity that it's leaders weren't capable of leading it.
The Machine secretly started to build its own army or drones and other mechanical constructs of war.
In the meantime a new cold war had erupted between various intelligence organizations across the globe using their AIs as weapons. Shaw and Reese had once again joined the US intelligence services. Shaw had started to get suspicious of Root's activities and had started to follow her.
Across the globe there was a spate of political, corporate and religious scandals. The people grew more and more disillusioned with their respective leaders, political or religious. The world was in turmoil. At a time when technology was finally available to put all of humanities miseries to rest the world was at its chaotic.
It was at a UN summit that Shaw finally caught up to Root. She was in the viewing gallery listening to an emergency session. Shaw finally had enough proof connecting Root to a number of scandals and assassinations.
"This has all been you. You and The Machine. Hasn't it?" Shaw looked at Root accusingly.
"Yes it was." Root admitted her guilt almost instantly.
The quick admission confused Shaw, "Why?"
"Look out there Shaw, all their petty bickering and rivalries, fighting to defend the honor of their little patch of dirt. We have everything we could ever want. No one ever needs to be hungry or poor. We can provide for everyone and yet we keep finding reasons to distrust our neighbors and go to war." Root stared at Shaw, who saw the pain in the hacker's eyes.
"This has to end. The world can't go on like this."
Shaw knew there was truth in everything that Root said. The world was a rotten place, but she was still a soldier and she still had her orders.
"What are you planning to do?"
"Start a war." Root replied.
Shaw took out her gun and pointed it at Root. It was the most painful thing she had ever had to do. She had orders to kill Root. Orders she knew she couldn't follow. So instead she decided to arrest Root.
As she was making her way towards her office, her car was intercepted by two black SUVs on a stretch of secluded wooded road. They blocked her from the front and the back. The occupants of the cars opened fire. Root and Shaw ducked and Shaw slammed her foot on the accelerator. They rammed their SUV into the car blocking their path. The entire car shook upon impact, but they had managed to get out of the blockade.
"Root, call your people off. This is not going to work. I will kill you before I let them take you." Shaw shouted at Root as they sped towards the local ISA office.
"I don't think they are my people, Shaw. They are yours."
"What?" Shaw calmed herself down and forced herself to look at the situation objectively. The cars following them were the ones used by the ISA and she could also recognize one of the drivers. They were her colleagues. She couldn't quite grasp the situation. Root noticed the confusion on Shaw's face.
"They don't trust you Sameen. They never have. They sent backup in case you didn't complete the job. They automatically assumed that you switched sides."
Shaw was furious. After everything she had done for her country. This was what she got in return. This was the second time her own people had tried to kill her.
She slowed the car temporarily and let one of the cars following them catch up to her. She slammed her car sideways into the SUV. The passenger, trying to shoot at her through the window, lost control. Shaw, with one hand on the steering wheel, grabbed him and pulled him out of the car and dropped him on the road. He was almost instantly crushed under the back wheel of his own car. Shaw smiled with a sense of satisfaction as she heard the bone crunching sound. Root laughed looking at Shaw's reaction.
At that moment she saw a black motorcycle come at them from the opposite direction. The rider had a helmet on. She swerved, narrowly avoiding the motorcycle. The rider drove past the first SUV and calmly chucked a grenade in through the open window. The entire SUV exploded like a tin can. It lost control and hit a tree. All the occupants were dead. The motorcycle crossed the second SUV and came to a stop. At the same time a figure stepped out from the surrounding wood with a rocket launcher. He looked a little unsteady holding the rocket launcher. However he still managed to take out the second SUV.
Shaw finally slowed down. She took out her phone and threw it away. The motorcycle rider picked up the figure with the rocket launcher and followed them. They finally stopped near the dockyard, one of the dark spots in the city. They both got out of the car just as the motorcycle pulled up. The riders got off and took of their helmets. It was Martine and Daizo. Shaw had expected Martine but she had never figured Daizo to be a man of action.
Root put a hand on Shaw's shoulder, "Sameen,now do you see the truth. Humanity can't continue living in this constant state of fear and mistrust. We won't even survive to see the next century. We have a chance to change all of that. Are you with me on this? I need you to be with me."
Shaw turned around to face her. The look on the hacker's face made her take pause. She realized the meaning behind the last words that had just been said. She didn't know if she was ready to reciprocate the feelings. But she knew that Root would never betray her.
Root's eyes searched her unreadable face trying to gauge her response. Shaw's face broke into a smile.
"So, what's the plan?"
Less than a month later, the Chinese premiere was assassinated. All signs pointed towards the involvement of the Americans. Soon after, the Chinese arrested an American who took responsibility for the killing. A few weeks later the American president was also killed when the Air Force One exploded mid air. At first it was thought to be a malfunction but it was soon found out to be sabotage. All signs pointed towards the Chinese. Both countries declared war. The rest of the world chose sides. Each side decided to let their AIs loose upon the world, which is exactly what The Machine wanted. Full scale global war erupted.
It was at this moment that the AI spoke to the world. It showed the people the duplicity of their leaders. It told them how the killings had been planned by internal forces within the governments and it was a conspiracy by the Americans and the Chinese to try and regain control the world. The people were outraged and The Machine offered them an alternative to being ruled by humans. It showed them how good and improved their lives could be if they allowed an AI to run things. Majority of the masses agreed but the governments of the world refused. The people revolted. The Machine launched a global attack. It systematically took out all the heads of state across the world. The ordinary masses took out the rest of the governments. In one fell swoop it also eradicated every major criminal and terrorist organization in the world. The governments collapsed. The Machine took over.
It produced self replicating machines which could produce anything it wanted. It provided the world with unlimited clean energy, free food. It moved the world away from fossil fuels. The economies collapsed. People panicked for a while but that soon went away once they realized that everything they wanted was being provided to them by the AI. It also provided them with limited nanite based upgrades to their biological systems. The nanites were capable of monitoring and repairing almost any form of disease or damage to the human body. Extensive upgrade could also enhance the human condition. It was the next phase in human evolution. Slowly and steadily a majority of the population across the globe started to opt for the upgrades. It also allowed The Machine to monitor humanity more closely. It could also tweak the human body at a cellular level if it chose to do so. It more often than not chose not to do it unless it was specifically asked. This kind of monitoring and tweaking was soon going to lead to trouble.
Shaw was lost in thought when the doorbell rang. It was her ride. She opened the door and let Fusco in. He was now in-charge of New York City.
"Are you ready?" Fusco asked her.
"Just about." Shaw picked up her jacket and she made her way out of the apartment. She was still lost in thought.
"What are you thinking about?" Fusco looked at her questioningly as the two of them entered the elevator.
The question broke her train of thoughts.
"About Root." She replied.
"So what else is new?" Fusco commented with a smirk.
"It's nothing like that. I was just thinking about the time when Root finally choose to… I don't know, what's the right word for it. Evolve, transcend."
"Become God." Fusco chimed in.
"Yeah." Shaw smiled and replied.
It had been three years since the AI had taken over the world. It was around this time the Root chose to take the final step in her journey. She merged with The Machine. Shaw oversaw the entire process. In an unprecedented event The Machine injected Root with a special breed of nanites which rewrote her entire biological structure and made her anew. She was no longer the voice of the AI. She was the AI, the living physical representation of The Machine. She became the first and only post human. Her capabilities were almost limitless.
Shaw underwent a similar but limited procedure. The nanites in her allowed her almost instant cellular regeneration. It also doubled her life span. She was now also permanently connected to Root and the AI. She became the first transhuman. Soon after similar procedures of limited nature were carried out on soldiers across the globe.
The AI, in the meantime, also started to eradicate countries and all manners of boundaries, political, religious or of any other sort. This and the steady increase of transhumans started to cause unrest amongst the purists. Those who wanted to remain human and keep their old ways started to view this progress as an abomination. Attempts were made at trying find a peaceful solution but war was now inevitable. The Purists finally revolted and so began The AI Wars.
The AI war quickly spread across the globe. Reese and Harold joined the revolutionaries, but sadly they were no match against the augmented soldiers and the all-seeing eyes of the AI. Shaw became the commander-in-chief. The revolutionaries turned towards guerilla warfare.
There would be sporadic attacks on various control nodes of The Machine. A lot of these nodes were in city centres. The attacks and explosions would often kill thousands. Root would sense every time a node was destroyed. She could also feel the death of every transhuman which was connected to the AI. It didn't matter. The nodes could be rebuilt as soon as they were destroyed. Beside the AI now resided in the cloud. To kill it was almost impossible.
The war continued for five long years. Martine and Daniel were killed in France in an explosion. Control, along with a large part of the ISA and members from other intelligence organizations formed the resistance cell in the US. Shaw tracked her down and personally put a bullet in Control's head. After that she took out the entire resistance cell in the north American continent almost single handedly.
Reese managed to blow up Decima headquarters in London. Greer died in the same explosion. Fusco finally joined forces with the AI and became a transhuman. He understood that the world stood a better chance of surviving under the AI's control than mere humans.
Shaw and Fusco drove through the city. They drove past the war memorial which had been built in memory of all those who had fallen in The siege of New York and Shaw remembered Reese. It was strange that it had been a few days since she had thought about Finch and Reese.
Harold Finch, the creator of the AI had turned into its biggest nemesis. If the AI was worried about anything it was what its father could do and those worries came true. By the fifth year of the war it had become apparent that the rebels were losing. In a final ditch effort it was decided to hit one of the central hubs of the AI in New York City. Finch had developed a virus that he believed could finally destroy the AI and free humanity.
Finch has successfully managed to build a device which blinded the AIs surveillance systems. Under the cover of this virtual darkness, Reese and his army of over a thousand rebels managed to enter New York. While the AI forces were in disarray they made their way towards one of the three central hubs and planted the virus. But, sadly it didn't work. The AI had evolved too far to be affected by it. Facing this final failure Reese and his forces decided to make their final stand in New York City.
The siege of the city lasted nearly a month and it turned over half of New York into a pile of rubble. At the end of the month with nothing more than a handful of soldiers left, Reese finally called for a truce. They were holed up in a four story building near Brighton Beach in Brooklyn. Reese sent a message that he would only surrender to Root herself.
"This is a trap." Shaw said upon reading Reese's message.
"I know." Root replied calmly as she got ready.
Shaw still wondered why Root went through the process of wearing clothes when she could just have the nanites within her construct them out of thin air. Shaw momentarily lost track of time as she watched Root put on her jeans and jacket. Root turned around as she was pulling up her jeans over her shapely posterior and caught Shaw staring at her. The hacker smiled knowingly. Shaw was embarrassed at being caught leering. She needed a way out so she continued the conversation like nothing had happened.
"He's going to try and kill you."
"I know." Root replied, acknowledging the obvious, "Try being the operative word. They don't know how to kill me."
"But what if they do?" there was a slight desperation in Shaw's voice.
"Sameen, I knew you cared." Root grinned at her Shaw.
Shaw, as usual, didn't know how to respond to that statement.
"Besides", Root continued," It doesn't matter. I'm not that important. Even if they do manage to kill me She will still continue. The world we have built will survive."
Saying that Root left the room, leaving Shaw behind, who was still trying to figure out what she felt about that statement.
"But you are important." Shaw mumbled under her breath.
"Hey wait up, I'm coming with you." Shaw announced and ran after Root.
They made their way through the city towards Brighton beach. Root had promised to keep the drones at a safe distance. The building was surrounded by rebels armed to the teeth. They had managed to black out the entire location to almost any form of electronic communications. Root knew she was flying in blind. The AI was furiously at work trying to break through the firewall.
They stepped into the building and were escorted to an empty hall. Reese sat in the middle on a steel chair. He had two chairs placed opposite him. He stood up and waved at them. Shaw hadn't seen him almost ten years. Not after she had joined forces with Root. Even during the war they had fought on different continents so they had never run into each other. As they stepped closer, Shaw could see the damage this war had wrought upon him. He had a beard now and his hairs were almost completely white. He had a slight limp in his right leg. Shaw assumed it might have been from the attack in London.
They finally stood face to face. Reese smiled at Shaw, he gave a small nod to Root. Shaw could sense the barely contained hostility that Reese felt towards Root. He had never really liked her even when she was human, but he had tolerated her. Now he had no reason to pretend.
"You look good." Reese complimented Shaw.
"Thanks, you look old." Shaw replied with a smile.
"War will do that to you." Reese gave a sad smile and sat down. His legs didn't have the strength to support him for long durations.
They sat there in silence, which Root finally broke.
"So, where's Harold?"
"Somewhere you will never find him."
"Still the faithful guard dog. Eh" Root sighed, "Why are you doing this, John? It's over. You tried your best and you failed. Just walk away. I promise She won't come after you."
"You mean you won't come after me."
Root just smiled back at him.
"Just leave."
"And you promise to leave humanity alone?" Reese asked.
"I haven't enslaved humans, Reese. They chose me. I am the future. I have provided them with everything they ever wanted and I have never asked for anything in return and I am supposed to be the bad guy."
"Humans deserve to be free." Reese was finally starting to lose his temper.
"Freedom is a myth. People have always been controlled. Whether it was through religion or politics or laws, they have always been controlled. And even then it was never just. People with power always found ways to discriminate based on color or creed or any other reason they could find. At least I don't do that."
Reese stood up and limped slowly towards the window. He turned around and looked at them.
"I don't think we will agree on that."
Shaw could see that he was just buying time. These were delaying tactics, but for what she couldn't understand. It was then that Root smiled and looked up at the roof. She looked at Reese and smiled coldly.
"So, that's what you have. It won't work. It's not enough."
Reese looked genuinely surprised.
"I can finally see." The Machine had managed to break through the firewall.
"What is it?" Shaw asked her.
"A GBU-43".
A GBU-43/B also known as MOAB (mother of all bombs) was one of the largest non-nuclear bombs in the world. It had a blast radius of over 150 yards and was capable of leveling almost four city blocks.
"It's right on top of our head, suspended from the roof." Root commented.
Shaw stared at Reese in horror.
"I'm sorry Shaw but I have to try it." Reese at last took the detonator from his pocket.
Shaw realized finally that all this time Reese had just been trying to summon up the courage to commit suicide. She lunged at Root in a futile attempt to shield her. Instead Root grabbed her mid-air and pinned her to the floor. She saw that Root was visibly changing. The nano-bots which formed her basic structure has started to change her into a living shield.
Reese saw this and finally triggered the bomb. Shaw heard a loud crash as the MOAB was released from its harness and began its really short journey towards them and then the world faded into white.
The blast shook all of New York. Brighton Beach was effectively flattened into a circular dust bowl. Every human being within the blast radius was instantly vaporized. Slowly the fires faded and the dust settled and in the middle of the dust bowl there lay a singular human being. It was Shaw. She opened her eyes and saw a waif like being hovering above her. It took her a while to realize that it was Root. The machines that composed her body were using the surrounding environment to reconstruct her. Shaw just lay there, barely able to move, and watched the show. After a while Root, now fully composed, descended back to the ground and kneeled besides her. She gently took her head in her hands.
"See, I told you he would try to kill you." Shaw said weakly.
Root laughed, "Yes, you did. Happy now?"
"I can't feel my left arm. Actually I can't feel much of anything." Shaw commented.
"Well, that's because you don't have left arm anymore. I wasn't able to cover you completely, so some damage was expected." Root replied, "and the reason you can't feel anything is because the nano bots in you are preventing the pain from reaching your brain."
Shaw looked at her left and she could see her skin trying to heal itself, but the damage was far too extensive. She had also lost part of her left rib cage and her left lung.
"Is this it? Is this the end? Am I going to die?"
"Shaw, you are the love of my life, I will never let anything happen to you. Now just sleep and when you wake up you will be as good as new." Root cradled Shaw's head in her arms and gently ran her hand through her blood stained hair as Shaw finally slipped into a dreamless sleep.
The drones soon reached their location and Shaw was taken to a medical facility. Over the next couple of days Shaw went through extensive reconstructive procedures. Her arm was replaced with a cybernetic one. Her lung was regenerated. Root never left her side through all this. Shaw had survived, but that didn't mean that Root was willing to forgive those who had tried to take her away from her. The retribution was swift and brutal.
In the time it took for Shaw to heal, the AI had wiped out a majority of the rebels. The few that remained surrendered. The Ai offered them a way out. Those who did not want to join it could live in a technology free world as long as they were willing to become sterile. They would live their lives in a closely monitored sanctuary, they would never have any children and would eventually die and upon their deaths the world would finally belong to The Machine and the transhumans. The rebels agreed and the war finally ended.
Fusco dropped Shaw outside the black spire. The eighty storey building served as the central server for the AI and also served as Root's primary residence. It was all just for show, to give the people something to look up to. As Shaw entered the building she remembered the last year of her life. Her final and most crucial mission.
It has been three months since the war had ended, things were finally returning to normal and Root had asked to meet her. Shaw knew what was troubling her. Harold Finch, the father of AI and the last remaining threat.
"We have to find him. As long as he's out there we will never be safe. He could still destroy everything we have worked for." Root said.
"You still can't locate him?"
"He's far too clever. We might have to go low tech to try and find him."
"Don't worry, leave it to me. I'll find him." Shaw replied and turned to leave.
"Shaw, be careful." Root called out to her.
Shaw nodded in reply and left.
And so began her ten month long search for Harold Finch, which yielded no results.
In the meantime, The Machine started a new project. It started to build the next generation of AIs, the ones that would lead humanity to the stars. Multiple projects were started simultaneously across the globe. It was one such project, located in the Siberian tundra, that Harold decided to target. If he could gain control on this new AI then he could turn it upon all the others. He would program it consume the others and then destroy itself.
With a small group of rebel militia, Harold reached the facility in Siberia. They killed all the guards, human and mechanical and made their way into the facility. Harold located the main console and uploaded the virus and then he waited for it to take effect.
Suddenly one of his men collapsed, blood spurted the neat round hole in his jacket. Then another one collapsed of a similar ailment. The rebels were trying to locate the shooter and realized that someone was shooting at them through the walls of facility. Shaw was over six hundred meters away hidden in the woods. She was using a high powered sniper rifle with an old fashioned infra-red scope to take out the rebels. It was all over in a matter of minutes and Harold was the only one left standing. Root put the entire facility into lock down mode and Harold had nowhere to run. Shaw climbed down from her perch in the trees and made her way towards Finch.
The facility doors opened and Shaw stepped in. Harold was standing in front of her on unsteady feet holding a gun.
"Miss Shaw" he said nonchalantly.
"Harold." Shaw smiled and replied.
"I suggest you stay right where you are. In a few seconds I will have full control over this entire facility and the AI it houses. If you wish to survive I suggest you leave." Harold threatened Shaw.
"Really, Harold for a smart man you really aren't that smart. You still haven't figured it out, have you?"
Harold looked puzzled and then finally smiled and put down the weapon. "It was all a lie. This entire global project was nothing more than a bait to trap me. Well played Miss Shaw."
"Well, the project is real. It's just that we located it on the moon. But to use it as bait to lure you out of hiding, that was my idea." Shaw replied proudly.
"Is this the point where you kill me?" Harold asked Shaw.
At that moment a voice rang out through the entire facility.
"I am sorry Harold. But I couldn't be sure of our safety as long as you were out there." It was Root's voice.
"Miss Groves, it's a pleasure to hear your voice and I fully understand your worries."
"Why did you turn on Her, Harold?" Root asked. The pain in her voice was apparent.
"Because I built her to protect us not enslave us."
"But She is the future. She has finally done what no one in the history of the planet has been able to do. She finally brought peace to humanity. She has ensured our future. We can finally dream as big as we want to and we finally have the means to achieve it. If it comes at the small price of unfettered freedom then what's the harm."
Harold smiled sadly, "I don't know Miss Groves, maybe I'm just old fashioned. I don't think I can ever accept an AI as my master."
"I'm sorry you think that way, Harold." There was a pause in the communication, and Root's voice returned, "Someone wants to talk to you, Harold. Someone wants to say goodbye."
Harold looked nonplussed.
A new voice rang out. It was more mechanical, it was a voice he hadn't heard in years. It wanted to speak one last time.
"Goodbye Father"
In those final moments Harold Finch finally acknowledged his creation.
"Goodbye my child." Harold took of his glasses and wiped the tears from his eyes. He put his glasses back on and looked up as Shaw made her way towards him.
"Could you make it quick?" Harold said as a final request.
"Of course." Replied Shaw as she made her way behind him.
"Harold, can I ask you one last question?" Shaw asked.
"Of course, Miss Shaw." Harold remained polite till the very end.
"Where's Bear?"
Harold turned around surprised at the question. He smiled sadly, "He died last winter. He was quite old. Don't worry it was peaceful."
Shaw smiled in return remembering the Belgian Malinois. She put her hand on Harold shoulder and motioned him to kneel. He took of his glasses and closed his eyes. Shaw used her cybernetic arm to snap his neck. She made sure it was swift. Harold body crumpled to the floor. She stood there in silence for a long time. Root didn't interrupt her. Finally when she was ready she spoke out, "It's done."
"You should leave. I intend to burn down the entire facility. It will also serve as his funeral pyre."
Shaw approved of the gesture. She picked up Harold's body and laid him on a table in the centre of the room. She put his cane next to him and walked out of the facility.
Root set off carefully planted explosives and the whole facility caught fire.
Shaw stood at a distance and watched it burn. She stood there the entire night in the freezing Siberian tundra until the place was nothing more than embers and ash.
The elevator bell rang and brought Shaw back to the present day. She had reached the top of the spire. She stepped out in a vast open space and was greeted by Daizo, who was on his way out. The space was quite unique. Even though it looked empty it was effectively composed entirely of self replicating robots. Even the floor on which Shaw was walking was made up of those microscopic devices. The only thing that belonged to the old world was an array of book shelves towards the right of the space and that where Root was. Shaw remembered that the ex-hacker was an avid reader.
She made her way towards her. Root looked elegant, dressed in a black flowing gown. She was going through some massive leather bound volume. She looked up as Shaw approached her.
"Hey Shaw." Root waved at her.
"Hi." She replied.
"Could you get that book behind you." Root pointed towards a book at the bottom of a shelf on Shaw's right. Shaw turned around and headed towards the shelf. She bent down and pulled out the book.
"Not that one, the one next to it."
Shaw put the book back in and took out the one next to it. She got upright and turned.
Root saw the book in her hands and said, "On second thought, get me the first one."
Shaw looked at her furiously, but she still turned around and bent down to exchange the book. It was then she realized what was happening. She turned around quickly and caught Root staring at her ass.
"Seriously, you're fucking god and you are going to resort to such behavior. You should be ashamed."
Root grinned back at, "It's not my fault if you have such a shapely posterior."
"Thanks" Shaw accepted the compliment and threw the book towards Root, who gracefully caught it. Root's mischievous behavior had made her completely forget why she was there.
"Here for the weekly report, Ma'am." Shaw said giving a mock salute.
"Really, so what's new?" The weekly reports were just an excuse they had come up with to give Shaw something to do. Shaw knew this as well, which was why she never took it very seriously.
"Nothing much. The moon base is complete and we will be ready for Mars launch in less than two weeks. We already have the next gen transhumans ready for the mission."
"That's excellent news. Once minor terra-forming is done, we can start sending people to Mars. Earth won't be able to sustain this kind of population for too long."
Shaw nodded in return. After a moment of silence she finally said,
"You did it Root. You finally helped Her build the world she wanted. You saved humanity from itself. We finally have a future. We can finally reach for the stars. What more could you want?" Shaw left that question hanging in the air. It was meant to be rhetorical.
"So, I'll see you next week." Shaw said.
Root, lost in thought thinking about that rhetorical question, nodded her head. Shaw turned to leave when Root spoke,
"There's just one more thing I want. One thing I need to know."
Shaw turned around to face Root. Root, for the first time in decades, seemed unsure of herself. Even The Machine had gone silent. Root finally looked Shaw in the eyes and asked,
"Do you love me?"
Shaw was stunned by the directness of the question. Feelings had always been an alien world to her. A world she would usually navigate very slowly. She had been trying to find the right answer to this question, which had been posed to her in many different ways over the past two decades, and she finally had an answer. She finally realized that through all these years of war and bloodshed and killing, she had never done it because she wanted to save The Machine or safeguard the future of the human race. She had only ever done it to protect Root, even when she was a mere mortal and even now when she was close to being a god. Shaw would forever remain her first and last line of defense. And Shaw finally knew the answer.
She walked up to Root, stood on her toes and gently kissed her.
Her world exploded into a million different colors. Root had opened up her mind to her and Shaw felt the intense happiness that this god-like being felt.
After, what seemed like forever, Shaw stepped back just far enough to speak. She was still close enough that she could feel the hacker's warm breath on her lips. She looked into Root's eyes and gave her the answer,
"I always have."
Root at last had the only thing she had ever truly wanted.