"So do we actually believe that she is immortal?" Jeremy Lambert asked as he stepped into the observation room, folding his hands behind his back.
John Greer arched an eyebrow, flicking his gaze away from the single large, split-screened monitor. "You have seen the video and read Martine's report. The evidence would appear to be incontrovertible. She was medically dead for three days and yet she still breathes."
"So how old do you think she is?"
"When Miss Shaw first awoke, she spoke in what Samaritan has since identified as Sumerian and Middle French."
"Sumerian, that's… like the Bronze Age, at least three thousand years ago. That's…"
"Impossible?" Greer interrupted.
"Incredible," Lambert corrected. "Do you realize what this could mean? Think about it, the people she has met, things she has seen, done, learned. She could answer some of the most important questions about history."
"Unfortunately, that is not your purpose here. Do you think you can do it?"
"Mr. Greer, you seem to be overestimating the extent of my abilities here. The reason why I am such a good psychologist is that I can empathize and think like my patients. With Ms. Shaw, I have nothing in common with her, nothing to compare to. Her mind might as well be Martian."
"Well then, what can you tell me?" Greer asked, tone flat.
"I can tell you I honestly don't know how Samaritan expects me to be able to turn her. Is there any other evidence of her age?"
Greer handed Lambert a brown folder filled with pictures and pictures of art. "We have positively identified Ms. Shaw in or the subject of at least forty-three photographs, portraits and other works of art spanning at least fifteen centuries. We have assembled dossiers on every identity we can find Ms. Shaw has worn. " Greer pulled open a drawer in the desk the monitor was on and handed Lambert another dozen folders, none containing more than a half-dozen pages.
Lambert frowned as he flipped through the photographs. "Well, you can rule out the possibility of physical coercion being effective then. Any levers she has are going to be mental and impossible to evaluate the usefulness of as we know nothing about her true personal history. Does she view the members of her team as friends, coworkers, pawns? How loyal is she to the Machine? Her statement of all tyrants being alike would seem to indicate strong feelings on authoritarian rule, but how much of it is Sameen Shaw and how much is her?"
"Then that is what you need to find out. Samaritan is putting you in charge of Ms. Shaw's recruitment."
"Wouldn't Martine be a better choice to head up the interrogation of the immortal former covert government assassin and who knows what else?"
"Unfortunately Martine is busy elsewhere, but Samaritan would not give you a job if it did not know you were equal to the task."
Lambert considered that a moment before coming to a decision. "Very well. Priority?"
"Your only. I cannot stress the importance Samaritan has placed on Ms.. Shaw's recruitment. You have full access to Samaritan's every resource."
"Then I want Martine. The woman is a human lie detector," Lambert explained when Greer shot him a look.
Greer nodded. "I will pass your request on.I want a report on your initial impressions and plan to turn her by the end of the day.
Greer smiled and clapped Lambert on the shoulder as he left. Lambert frowned at Shaw's image on the screen and sighed, sitting at the desk and setting to work.
:\\
The next time the being known as Sameen Shaw woke up she was in a proper hospital room, linoleum floor, pale blue walls containing nothing more than herself, her medical monitors a mirror that was probably two-way and a single hardbacked chair. She did not observe any cameras or other recording devices, but there must have been at least one secreted somewhere because the moment she started stirring, the particle board door swung open and revealed a well dressed man, younger and darker-haired than Greer.
He said nothing but wore a confident smile as he strolled to the chair and arranged himself in it. "Good morning, Miss Shaw. My name is Jeremy Lambert. First of all, please allow me to apologize for the manner in which you were brought under Samaritan's care."
Shaw snorted. "Switching strategies? Realize the friendly old man threatening torture isn't going to work on me?"
"Samaritan gave Mr. Greer his instructions before It had all the facts. Knowing what It knows now, It desires to come to an agreement with you regarding your employment by Mr. Finch."
"'It wants to come to an agreement regarding my employment by Mr. Finch?' God, I hope that Samaritan was feeding you that line straight, because if not, I'm gonna have to ask if I could get Greer back in here. He at least seemed like he might be some fun," she said as she rolled her shoulders and hips, her injuries protesting pleasantly.
Lambert didn't react to her insinuation and leaned back farther into his chair. "For someone as old as you are, I would think that trying to make me uncomfortable by making insinuations of masochism is beneath you."
Shaw shrugged. "For all your claims of personal liberation, the people of this century can be rather prudish."
"If you say. To be honest, I would expect a degree of masochism in someone as old as yourself. If you don't mind my asking, do you know how old you are?"
Shaw shook her head and sighed. "Okay, listen, I am not really feeling like playing Twenty Questions so I need to tell you how this is going to go or I will never hear the end of it from Finch.
"You and your boss are going to spend the next few days gently interrogating me while performing some non-invasive tests. When your boss decides that I am not going to turn, you will start questioning and experimenting on me in earnest. However, there is one little snag."
"And what might that be?" Lambert asked, honestly curious.
"The thing is, by the time you figure out that I won't be recruited, I will have been resting and healing. Once I am feeling well enough, I am going to break out of whatever hole you decide to keep me in and proceed to kill every Samaritan asset in this building. So, you have the next couple of days to decide whether you live or die."
Lambert considered her words carefully. As long as she had lived, he was pretty sure that she could slip her bonds and kill him six ways to Sunday with her bare hands before the guards stationed outside the room could do anything.
"You seem very confident of that assertion. Samaritan spares no expense when it comes to recruiting soldiers. Most of the people in this building were either Special Forces or spies, if not both. Not to mention all the electronic ways Samaritan has of hampering your efforts. Are you still so sure?"
"I am. I mean its common sense mostly. I get as many tries as I want to kill you all and you can't return the favor. Put me down and I will be back in a couple hours. You will still be dead."
Lambert made a show of thinking it over before outwardly coming to reluctant agreement. "Unfortunately, Samaritan has asked me to keep an eye on you during your recovery. So since I have only a few days to live, what is the harm in answering my questions?"
"Because I don't feel like it." Shaw growled, scowling fiercely.
"What about if I swear not to ask about the Machine or your friends and stick to the strictly historical?"
"Did I blink and the meaning of 'no' change?"
"Fine," Lambert said, seeing that he wasn't going to get anything else from her. "Then perhaps you have questions of your own? Anything about Samaritan, Decima... I'm an open book."
"Then I have to wonder if you know anything useful at all."
"Samaritan desires you as an ally and I was tasked with facilitating that. I have the broad strokes on all major operations and this," Lambert said, withdrawing a small, black smartphone and tossing it near her hand, "is a direct line to Samaritan."
Shaw eyed the phone. "And how am I supposed to know It will tell the truth?"
"Ms. Shaw, I have already said that Samaritan wants you on Its side. Lies, deceit or obfuscation at this juncture would be counterproductive." Shaw gave him the point, tilting her head to make a show of considering it.
"Take as long as you need to think about it. Call me when you are ready to talk." Lambert told her, crossing to the door in three steps and leaving. The lab was two floors down, Dr. Sokolowski flagging him down as soon as he entered the pristine space.
"Tell me you have something," Lambert demanded.
"I am sorry, sir, but there hasn't been much to find. All her preliminary tests are well within the expected parameters for a normal person. Aside from an abnormally high percentage of scar tissue, the only thing remarkable about her is that there is nothing remarkable about her."
Lambert scowled. "The woman came back from the dead; you can't tell me you have no idea why."
"Sorry Mr. Lambert, but the results speak for themselves." Sokolowski shook his head. "But is only been three days and we have hardly exhausted all our options."
Lambert scowled but he recognized that science could not be rushed nor falsified just because the results were not what were expected.
" Very well, keep running your tests then. Greer has put me in charge of Ms. Shaw so come to me with anything."
Lambert spun on his heel and left. He needed to get working on Greer's report if he was to finish it by his deadline.