"Nice," Shaw inspected the whole apartment with trained eyes, opening every door and closet.
"Yeah, feel right at home," Root didn't mind, she had rented the place furnished and most of the stuff wasn't even hers.
"Is it safe here?" Shaw opened the fridge, surprised to find actual food in there. Fresh fruits and vegetables even. "You cook?" she asked surprised.
"Yes, to both." Root walked up next to Shaw and took out two bottles of water, handing Shaw one and closed the fridge again. "She's creating something like a white noise in here, we're free to talk."
"Great, let's get to work then!"
"Who's pushy now?" the hacker sat at the dinning table and opened her laptop.
Shaw flopped down in the chair opposite to her and looked up from under her bangs. "Give me a name, anything, just let me get to do something."
"There will be, soon, but right now we should be happy Samaritan hasn't picked up on us yet." Root typed on her keyboard and then looked over.
"Why can't we catch up with Harold and John yet? Samaritan doesn't seem to connect the dots with the two of us, so," Shaw was getting more edgy with each passing day. And her trigger finger was itching.
"Patience," Root nagged, "And this is Her talking, not me," she injected quickly when Shaw was ready to throw a pen at her. Knowing her skills, she could probably do some real damage with the office supply.
She spend the next hour assembling intel and trying to find an angle.
"Evening attire." Root grinned. "Or would you rather go as one of the catering staff?" Root raised an eyebrow. "Besides, Harold's going to be there." That caught Shaw's interest and she got up from the couch and starred at the computer screen.
"Where?"
"Astoria Hotel, 9 pm tonight."
"How? Did they get the same number?"
"I don't know, but his alias is on the guest list."
"What about John?"
"All I know is that we'll meet our suspect there," Root leaned back in her chair, mimicking Shaw's posture. "You're not getting more information out of me if you tortured me. But don't let that stop you." And there was the innuendo again.
Shaw sighed, she had to go home and get change.
"I knew I'd find you here," Root walked up to Shaw at the buffet, nodding appreciatively at Shaw's dress.
"How's the food?" Root leaned slightly over Shaw's shoulder, whispering in her ear. "You look stunning."
She had been watching the ex-agent for a while before she approached her, appreciating the way the short black dress hugged every curve and how graceful Shaw looked, engrossed in the delicacies in front of her. Her hair was tied up and her dress showed off just enough shoulder and neck to still look classy.
"It's pretty good," Shaw turned around, watching Root up and down in her sky blue evening dress. "You clean up nicely," Shaw stated casually before she turned back to the buffet.
"Was that a compliment?" Root didn't believe she heard right, maybe her implant was acting up.
"Yeah, I can be charming." Shaw said between bites.
"I can see that," Root took a canapé from Shaw's plate, nibbling at it deliberately.
"Don't get used to it though. Here's our number." Shaw glanced past Root to the guy they'd been targeting making an entrance with his entourage and the two women split up again to mingle and gather intel.
"Here you are," Root slipped up next to Shaw, apologizing to the people she talked to and dragged her away smiling brightly. "Just play along," Root whispered and they crossed the main hall and left for the hallway.
"Harold just arrived and the Machine warned me that out survival rate suddenly dropped drastically."
"But how? Why?" Shaw didn't quite get what Root was saying. How did Harold trigger something just by showing up at a business party?
They hurried further away from the main party until they reached a side entrance and ducked out to the parking garage.
"I hear you," Root mumbled and signaled for Shaw to follow her out into the streets.
"Damn, what the hell was that all about?" Shaw inquired but Root only shrugged. Her strides were longer than Shaw who had to make two steps to keep up. "And what about Harold, is he safe?"
"Yes, but it's obviously not safe to regroup with the whole gang just yet."
"No kidding. Define drastically? Single digit?"
"I've had less," Root shrugged again, thinking back at the time she was about to infiltrate Decima and that her chances were 2 percent at that time. Until Shaw had decided it was a good idea to bicycle through the blackout and save her sorry butt.
"So we can basically do what we want, but we can't get in touch with Harold." Shaw summed it up.
"I guess so." Root agreed. She slowed down some when the Machine gave her new directions and fell into step with Shaw, pointing they way they were supposed to take. "I hear you, thanks." she added in her talk to the machine voice.
"And I was so ready for action!" Shaw looked genuinely pissed, the muscles in her arm rippling when she clenched her fists.
"You're so cute," Shaw thought Root was talking to the Machine again, she had that tone in her voice. "I wasn't talking to Her." The hacker elaborated and Shaw slowed down, looking at her funny.
"Say that again and I'll kneecap you. So, what about our number?"
"I've managed to pair his phone," Root offered. "Let's see where that gets us." The hacker scrolled through the information off the phone.
"Where to now?"
"Apparently, Mr. Russel has a storage building in Queens and the Machine just flagged a shipment that's coming in tonight."
"Then we should go check it out."