| Name | Decima Technologies |
| First Appearance | “Dead Reckoning” |
| Latest Appearance | “Deus Ex Machina” |
| Leader | John Greer, Director of Operations Others Unknown |
| Purpose | Private intelligence firm |
| Connection | Samaritan Vigilance |
| Status | Dismantled |
Decima Technologies is a private intelligence firm initially believed by Harold Finch as having developed a virus designed to infect the Machine. Decima is connected to a covert group in league with the Chinese to steal U.S. data, and is based in Shanghai. Finch discovers that only a small percentage of the data stolen goes to the Chinese, with the remainder going to another: an unknown recipient. The Office of Special Counsel is also aware of Decima. The organization is responsible for the creation of Vigilance.
The only known leader of Decima is John Greer, identified by the Machine as the firm's Director of Operations (“Root Path (/)”).
Although Decima's director of operations manipulated and brainwashed Kara Stanton to download a virus to target the Machine so they might get administrative access to it, Finch anticipated such a contingency might arise. The laptop that was sold to the Chinese contained a code that Finch developed to teach the Machine how to put itself into "God Mode", where it could not be harmed and could protect itself, thus foiling Decima's first attempt to access the Machine.
A brief background of Decima can be found in Special Counsel's memorandum (“Zero Day”).
BACKGROUND:
DECIMA TECHNOLOGIES is a private intelligence firm based out of Shanghai. DECIMA TECHNOLOGIES is an independent, international organization and is not affiliated with the Chinese government. Leadership is currently unknown.
After the failure of their attempt to wrest control of the Machine, Decima turned their attention to developing an alternative and previously abandoned open-system artificial intelligence, Samaritan. Though Finch convinced Samaritan's creator, Arthur Claypool, to destroy the remaining drives containing the Samaritan program, Decima were able to take the real drives into their possession (“Aletheia”).
Over the course of early 2014, Decima stole an extremely powerful computer chip and a number of high-power generators on which to run Samaritan (“Root Path (/)”) (“Allegiance”). They then convinced Congress and the government to approve a limited 24-hour beta test of the program (“Most Likely To...”).
Greer's exposition of his aims and his behavior towards Samaritan suggest that Decima's purpose is not to control artificial intelligence, but to follow it (“A House Divided”).
Decima operatives sign an insurance policy upon their employment in the organization where it is sent to their families upon their death, including accident or suicide. If caught or captured, that policy nullifies (“A House Divided”).
By engineering a high-profile terrorist attack by Vigilance, Decima are able to convince the government to grant them permanent access to official feeds, allowing Samaritan to come online with full cognitive capabilities. As of April 2014, Samaritan is active and under the protection of Decima (“Deus Ex Machina”).
Ross Garrison later states Decima was dropped as a reliable business (“Panopticon”). Right after its operation, the company begins a world wide search on Harold Finch (“Panopticon”) (“Prophets”).
Following the activation of Samaritan, Decima employees began working for the AI in their efforts to turn it into a digital god, led by Greer. After the death of Greer and the destruction of Samaritan, Decima's goals were foiled (“.exe”)(“return 0”).
Known Personnel
Leadership Members
- Unknown employers
- John Greer (Director of Operations)
Known Operatives (Still Active)
- Carlson
- Maybank
- Unidentified Guard (“Deus Ex Machina”)
Known Allies in the U.S Government
- Senator Ross Garrison
- Congressman Roger McCourt
Deceased Operatives
- Jeremy Lambert
- Zachary
- Martine Rousseau
- Virgil
- Bank Manager
- Martin Baxter
- Ken Davis
- Otto (“A House Divided”)
- Jerome Eckert (unknown whether he was affiliated with Decima, or a spy for China)
- Unidentified Decima agent (“RAM”) (“Deus Ex Machina”)
- Every member served under Vigilance.
- John Greer
Notes
- The name Decima refers to one of the three Parcae (or Fates) of Roman mythology, the personifications of destiny. The Fates control the thread of life: Nona, the youthful fate, spins the threads of life; Decima, the fates in middle-years, who measures the threads of life, weaving them into individual patterns and controlling interactions among individuals; and Morta, the elderly fate who cuts the tapestry of life, determining when life ends.
- It is Decima's role to determine how long life will be, as well as how, when and in what way each individual interacts with others. Decima also represents the present day, as we live our lives.
- Although Decima Technologies' reason for using the name is not entirely clear, it suggests they will attempt to control the fate of the Machine or the numbers it produces, as well as how others will interact with it. The name alludes to the classics Greer discussed with Kara Stanton when they first met. However, given Greer's conversation with Samaritan at the end of "Deus Ex Machina," the name Decima can also be interpreted to refer to the rise of Samaritan as the entity which determines fate, as Greer asked Samaritan for its commands.
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