[ She likes Accelerator personally quite a bit by now, for a multitude of reasons: he's fantastically smart and capable of inhuman feats, a representation of evolution finally progressing, taking them farther; he's snarky and fatalistic but has never lost his sense that things could be better, that it's possible; and the Machine put him in her care. That last alone would be enough to make Root deathly serious about looking after him, but combining her personal motives and the Machine's means she's at the top rung of intent, only Shaw and Harold above.
Not that she needs to advertise that. Root is practical and action-oriented, and she knows it's likely that the Machine will need to pull her away from this kid eventually, maybe even sooner than later. She gets attached -- but she doesn't cling.
The drive through the dark woodlands is peaceful and eerie. It reminds her of when she'd come up here with Reese to track down that lead on Shaw that hadn't gone anywhere. The desperation to find her, the urgency... Objectively, it's lessened since then, but only in the way that it's numbed somewhat simply so she can function. A hollow ringing pain she can't ignore but has learned how to live alongside.
She'd failed Shaw, but she isn't going to let Samaritan get its tendrils of influence into Accelerator. She can't imagine what it would do with him, and he's a natural target. If she's going to make sure he stays convinced, stays trusting her, pit stops like this one are not trivial at all. And it's emblematic of why she follows the Machine, isn't it? Root might gripe over Harold's refusal to face the war they've found themselves in, but he'd made something that saw every human being as precious. That believed these kinds of moment matter.
Samaritan would crush acts like these as irrelevant. Taking time for it now is a kind of rebellion.
A few hours later, Root slows the car as they approach a turn-off, and she eases it over bumpy gravel to an empty parking lot. A path with an educational National Parks sign beside the entrance leads away and almost immediately disappears from sight, angled downward sharply. Before them is an enormous open space framed by cragged cliffs, and the thunderous murmur of water tumbling from a great height is audible even through the windows.
The car rolls to a stop. It's hard to tell quite what it is yet from this distance and in the darkness, the moon casting sharp, clear arcs of light from a cloudless sky. ]
[The gentle thrum from the engine of the car lulls Accelerator to sleep. Exhaustion is catching up to him, and he trusts Root enough that she isn't going to try anything shady while he naps, so he passes out and stays asleep for a while.
His dreams are a surreal, confusing mess of white walls, conifer trees, and intimidating shapes in white lab coats. None of it makes much sense to him, it's more like a mass of feelings rather than following any kind of logical order. For someone who grew up in an environment where emotions weren't encouraged, it's uncomfortable and unnerving, and prevents his nap from being as restful as it could be.
The bumpiness of the car turning off the main highway thankfully rouses him, and by the time they've stopped in the parking lot Accelerator has started to wake up. He blinks his eyes open, staring fuzzily into the darkness in confusion for several long moments. Waking up has never been something he's any good at, so even as his brain catches up with what happened, he remains groggy and reaches up to rub his eyes.]
Where the fuck are we?
[It's... a lot more trees, and a rumbling whose source he can't place. Sitting up, he casts Root a quizzical look.]
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Not that she needs to advertise that. Root is practical and action-oriented, and she knows it's likely that the Machine will need to pull her away from this kid eventually, maybe even sooner than later. She gets attached -- but she doesn't cling.
The drive through the dark woodlands is peaceful and eerie. It reminds her of when she'd come up here with Reese to track down that lead on Shaw that hadn't gone anywhere. The desperation to find her, the urgency... Objectively, it's lessened since then, but only in the way that it's numbed somewhat simply so she can function. A hollow ringing pain she can't ignore but has learned how to live alongside.
She'd failed Shaw, but she isn't going to let Samaritan get its tendrils of influence into Accelerator. She can't imagine what it would do with him, and he's a natural target. If she's going to make sure he stays convinced, stays trusting her, pit stops like this one are not trivial at all. And it's emblematic of why she follows the Machine, isn't it? Root might gripe over Harold's refusal to face the war they've found themselves in, but he'd made something that saw every human being as precious. That believed these kinds of moment matter.
Samaritan would crush acts like these as irrelevant. Taking time for it now is a kind of rebellion.
A few hours later, Root slows the car as they approach a turn-off, and she eases it over bumpy gravel to an empty parking lot. A path with an educational National Parks sign beside the entrance leads away and almost immediately disappears from sight, angled downward sharply. Before them is an enormous open space framed by cragged cliffs, and the thunderous murmur of water tumbling from a great height is audible even through the windows.
The car rolls to a stop. It's hard to tell quite what it is yet from this distance and in the darkness, the moon casting sharp, clear arcs of light from a cloudless sky. ]
no subject
His dreams are a surreal, confusing mess of white walls, conifer trees, and intimidating shapes in white lab coats. None of it makes much sense to him, it's more like a mass of feelings rather than following any kind of logical order. For someone who grew up in an environment where emotions weren't encouraged, it's uncomfortable and unnerving, and prevents his nap from being as restful as it could be.
The bumpiness of the car turning off the main highway thankfully rouses him, and by the time they've stopped in the parking lot Accelerator has started to wake up. He blinks his eyes open, staring fuzzily into the darkness in confusion for several long moments. Waking up has never been something he's any good at, so even as his brain catches up with what happened, he remains groggy and reaches up to rub his eyes.]
Where the fuck are we?
[It's... a lot more trees, and a rumbling whose source he can't place. Sitting up, he casts Root a quizzical look.]