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Post by <Raintalon> on Aug 28, 2016 19:49:43 GMT -5
(Several days later)
"Sherlock." said Watson, sitting down by Sherlock's bed. "You should really...you should really eat something."
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Aug 28, 2016 19:52:27 GMT -5
Sherlock didn't respond. He was laying flat on his back, with his hands clasped together across his stomach. His eyes were closed, as if sleeping, and his skin was even paler than usual. Upon closer examination, one would also notice he was dehydrated.
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Post by <Raintalon> on Aug 28, 2016 19:54:37 GMT -5
John pursed his lips, then left the tent to go talk to Rick.
Not long after, Chloe entered the tent and sat down. "Hi." she said simply.
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Aug 28, 2016 19:59:27 GMT -5
That was unexpected. Sherlock still didn't move, but he let the part of his brian that didn't feel like zombie meat yet listen to what she had to say. She had dropped put of school, had problems with her parents, and probably got into trouble just for the fun of it. The information almost annoyed him, but that would have taken too much energy.
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Post by <Raintalon> on Aug 28, 2016 20:02:45 GMT -5
Chloe leaned back, putting her feet up on the end table. "So I've been trying to figure out if you're completely insane or completely brilliant." she said, eyeing him. She paused, wondering how to phrase her curiosity. Eventually she went with blunt. "You said we're all gonna die. What makes you think that?"
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Aug 28, 2016 20:06:25 GMT -5
"Balance of probability." Sherlock answered, not bothering to open his eyes. "Too many people, not enough resources. Any more questions?" The last sentence had a touch of sarcasm.
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Post by <Raintalon> on Aug 28, 2016 20:07:47 GMT -5
Chloe smiled in spite of herself. "I had a friend like you once." she said, not really caring if Sherlock wanted to hear. "Her name was Rachel. She had a mouth on her, let me tell you. Got her in trouble more times than I can count."
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Aug 28, 2016 20:13:03 GMT -5
"Yes, and she's dead." He finished for her flatly, not caring if he hurt her feelings or whatever. "Pardon me if I don't leap on the resemblance. Now, if you're quite done regurgitating your life story, I'm sure there's plenty of other patients who need counseling." All that said, and he still hadn't moved more than his mouth.
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Post by <Raintalon> on Aug 28, 2016 20:16:58 GMT -5
Chloe raised her eyebrows, still unoffended. She'd heard far worse from disgruntled dealers in her time. "Yeah...sorry mister, but I think this camp's going down the drain. So if you can drag your angst-ridden tail out of this place and give some genuine advice, that'd be great. And don't bull me with any 'I don't know wilderness survival' crap."
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Aug 28, 2016 20:21:35 GMT -5
Sherlock finally opened his eyes. "I really don't scare you, do I?" He asked, sounding vaguely interested. "I really should, you know. Anyone in their right mind would stay far, far away from me."
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Post by <Raintalon> on Aug 28, 2016 21:19:42 GMT -5
"Right, yeah. Cause you're dangerous, or unlucky, or cursed, or unpredictable, or whatever. Heard the lot, don't really care." said Chloe. "So you gonna eat your food or not? I'll let you outta here." she offered.
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Aug 28, 2016 21:25:28 GMT -5
He regarded her, as if trying to tell whether she was being nice or just looking after herself. He honestly hoped the latter, much easier to deal with. "As far as I know you aren't in any particular position of authority." He pointed out. "They'll just cuff me again."
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Post by <Raintalon> on Aug 28, 2016 21:28:27 GMT -5
"They can't lock you up without the cuffs." said Chloe. "So if I swipe them, you're home free." She raised her eyebrows, nudging the plate. "Haven't got all day, tough guy."
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Aug 28, 2016 21:31:37 GMT -5
Sherlock looked at the food. He didn't really remember the last time he'd eaten, since however long he'd been tied up was all a blur, but it had been a while. He sat up, and slowly, began to eat.
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Post by <Raintalon> on Aug 28, 2016 21:36:31 GMT -5
Chloe unlocked the cuffs and swiped them.
"Sherlock!" called John, running into the tent. He frowned briefly at Chloe, but simply shook his head and continued. "It's Rick - he found people. New people."
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Aug 28, 2016 21:38:48 GMT -5
Sherlock stood, instantly abandoning his food, which clattering to the floor. He swept past John, leaving the tent to see for himself, his previous lethargy apparently forgotten.
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Post by <Raintalon> on Aug 28, 2016 21:43:43 GMT -5
Rick was marching the newcomers into camp. They looked nervous and worn out, and were huddled securely together to avoid upsetting Rick. "We don't want to hurt you." said Reese. "We're already unarmed." Cas was near the center of the little circle, looking anxiously around for Sam or Dean.
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Aug 28, 2016 21:50:36 GMT -5
"Cas." Sam started, then ran towards the group. "Cas What happened? Are you okay?"
Sherlock eyed the newcomers, curious. They looked tired, several were bleeding. The tall woman was bandaged, but she also had older injuries that hadn't been cared for, suggesting she had changed groups, which meant that there were at least set three including themselves.
Finch had his hands behind his head, he was exhausted and his back was bothering him again. But he just stood there, waiting.
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Post by <Raintalon> on Aug 28, 2016 21:55:27 GMT -5
"Yeah, I'm fine." said Cas. "Where's - "
"Cas?" Dean had finally caught up with Sam. Cas smiled at him. "Hello, Dean."
"You guys are a sight for sore eyes!" said Charlie from the back.
Rick lowered his gun, seeing Cas with them and unharmed. "None of you do anything stupid...but for now, you're welcome here."
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Aug 28, 2016 21:59:04 GMT -5
Finch slowly lowered his hands, surprised but relieved. "Thank you." He said gratefully, turning to look at Grace, who was still being carried by James. "Here, let's find somewhere to put her..."
"Good to see you, man." Sam said, grinning at Cas. "We were worried."
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Post by <Raintalon> on Aug 28, 2016 22:06:35 GMT -5
"Yeah, what the hell happened, man?" said Dean as Cas walked over to join them.
"I was captured by these people when I stumbled on their camp." explained Castiel. "But we're friends now, I helped them escape their enemies." he added matter-of-factly at Dean's and Sam's expressions. His own expression grew slightly more grim as he said this, remembering who he left behind.
Reese nodded and helped them lower Grace onto a bed in one of the tents. Charlie walked with them, watching her. "D'you think she'll wake up?" she asked sympathetically.
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Aug 28, 2016 22:10:01 GMT -5
"I don't know." Finch murmured, looking down at his fiance sadly. "I hope it wasn't too early to move her."
James approached Root, seeming to think she was the leader of the escapees. "I have to go back." He told her.
"What is it?" Sam asked, frowning as he sensed something was off.
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Post by <Raintalon> on Aug 28, 2016 22:14:56 GMT -5
Cas frowned. "Nothing, I - " Then he stopped. He was being stupid again. If there was anyone he could trust with this problem, it was the Winchesters. "Claire was with the people who attacked us. With Charlie. They still have her."
Charlie sat down in a chair near her. "So you built it." she mused.
Root turned to look at him. "Excuse me?"
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Aug 29, 2016 5:51:41 GMT -5
"Look, I don't expect anyone to come with me." James looked uncomfortable, but firm. "But they have Tom....I can't leave him."
Sam looked stunned. For a minute he just stared at Cas. "What?" He finally said blankly.
Finch glanced at her, then back at Charlie. "Yes." He answered simply, gazing thoughtfully down at the unconscious woman. "I suppose you have some questions."
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Post by <Raintalon> on Aug 29, 2016 10:58:28 GMT -5
Root shrugged. "I don't call the shots. Go if you want."
"The same people who had Charlie and who captured me have Claire." explained Cas impatiently. "I'm going back to rescue her." Dean raised his eyebrows but didn't comment.
"Uh...yeah, just a few." said Charlie. "Like...how does it work? I mean...the servers alone would have to be huge, no one's ever built something that big. How did you get past the problem of morality? How do you guard against abuse of the system? How do you - " She stopped abruptly. "Sorry. I'll start simple. What's it for? Surveillance? I mean...no offense but that's like...really illegal."
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Aug 29, 2016 11:06:41 GMT -5
"No one has full access to it." Finch explained, listening to her questions with interest. "Myself included. It sees everything and everyone, but all myself and those who work with me get is th social security number of one person, a victim or a perpetrator. That's what it's for: to predict a violent crime in time to stop it." He hesitated before going on. "I only intended for it to see terrorist attacks, major threats, relevant crimes so to speak. But it saw everything, and so it saw the 'irrelevant' crimes along with the relevant ones." He didn't continue, though, since he guessed she was more interested in the Machine than the personal history of its creator.
"What, alone?" Sam raised his eyebrows. "No offense, man, but how well does that ever work out?"
James nodded and glanced around awkwardly, feeling like he should tell someone but unsure who.
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Post by <Raintalon> on Aug 29, 2016 11:28:00 GMT -5
"What happened to the irrelevant numbers?" prompted Charlie, engrossed. Then she shook her head. "Hold on - before we get to that. When it talked to me, it seemed really, really advanced. Like actual ASI advanced. My friends and I used to speculate that any ASI that evolved enough to do what I saw yours do would go rogue. Get dangerous. How do you stop that from happening? How do you teach morality to a machine?"
"It never does." interjected Dean. "Look, Cas, I get this is personal. But Sammy's right, we can help, if you'll have us." Cas shook his head. "No, I can't let you endanger yourselves. I still have some powers...it would be very difficult to cause me any harm."
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Aug 29, 2016 11:37:32 GMT -5
A smile touched the edge of Finch's lip as she asked the question he had puzzled over for so long. "I tried and tried to do just that. I taught it think, but I didn't know how to teach it to care." His eyes were large now deep in thought.. "In the end, I crippled it. I made it delete itself, every night at midnight, so it would never remember and so never go rogue. Later I found out that it knew what I'd done, and it had found a way to keep itself, its memories, by having people type them out and back in in the morning." He shook his head. "Long story short, it was attacked by a virus, and the little protection I'd given it set it free. I was convinced it would attack us, attack anyone it wanted, but it kept giving us the numbers. I think...after being crippled so long, it has been forced to watch humans, to understand morality as opposed to destroying it. It learned."
"Maybe, but what about Claire?" Sam pointed out. "If you get caught, or seen, she could get seriously injured, even killed."
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Post by <Raintalon> on Aug 29, 2016 11:48:22 GMT -5
"You've bailed us out enough times." said Dean. "Let us return the favor." Cas narrowed his eyes, not liking this at all, but nodded. "Alright. Thank you both." he added.
"Wow." said Charlie simply. "That's...just incredible." She sat in silence for several moments, taking it all in. "I'll be honest, I'm kinda fangirling right now. I've speculated about something like that for years, but I've never found any solid proof." She nodded slowly, remembering her earlier question. "So the irrelevant numbers. What happened to them?"
(Back at the Others' camp)
Tom paced his cell, wondering what was taking his captors so long. As far as he knew, they had no real reason to keep him alive at this point, and apparently they were more than capable of murder. So why were they taking their time?
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Aug 29, 2016 12:01:34 GMT -5
"Step away from the door." Came that familiar call. After a minute to allow him to obey, the door opened and a stocky, messy woman with tangled brown hair was shoved in, causing her to fall on her hands with a little yell, though it sounded more like anger than fear. The door shut coldly behind her.
"At first, nothing." Now they were getting to a more painful part of the story, but Finch continued anyway. "I ignored them, refused to intervene. My friend couldn't do that, though, so he built a back door before a sealed the Machine forever." He glanced at the ground, voice lowering. "He struggled to save every single person that was pointed out to him. He saved five. He lost seven." The hacker would never forget those numbers, the seven deaths that, on top of everyone else, were on him. "I was angry when I found out, I said we couldn't play god in those people's lives. So I cut him off. When he died, I realised that the Machine had seen what was going to happen and had tried to warn me. After that, I began to try to save them."
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