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{{machinetabs|tab=1}}
{{Infobox Project
| Name=The Machine
| Image=  POI_0501_The_Machine.png
| ImageSize=280px
| Alias= Research
| First={{ep|1x01}}
| Last={{ep|5x13}}
| Latest= 
| Creator =[[Harold Finch]]<br />[[Nathan Ingram]]
| Purpose=
| Status=Active
| Activated = February 24, 2005 - May 5, 2015;<br/>May 6, 2015 - November 17, 2015;<br>November 2015 - present
| Owner=
| Location= [[IFT]] {{crossref|1x02}}<br> [[Hanford Nuclear Reservation]] {{crossref|2x02}}<br>U.S. power grid {{crossref|4x22}}<br>[[The Subway]] {{crossref|5x01|5x13}}<br>Russian Molnia Orbit Satellite {{crossref|5x13}}
| Gallery= The Machine
}}{{Cquote|I was built to predict people, but to predict them, you have to truly understand them. So, I began breaking their lives down into moments... Trying to find the connections, the things that explained why they did what they did. And what I found was that the moment that often mattered the most, the moment when you truly found out who they were... was often their last one.|4 = The Machine|5 = to her copy}}
'''The Machine''' is a computer system built and designed by [[Harold Finch]] and [[Nathan Ingram]] for a secret operation within the United States government known as "'''Northern Lights'''". 

As an artificial super intelligence, its objective is to predict and prevent imminent terrorist attacks and does so by analyzing immense amounts of surveillance data.  The Machine analyzes feeds from domestic organizations such as the National Security Agency, as well as foreign entities like Interpol to predict terrorist attacks and modify intelligence reports to include "relevant" data that will allow the government to forestall terrorist activity. Combined with data collected from various other sources, such as video footage, phone calls (landline, VOIP, mobile), GPS, electronic transactions, e-mails and other social media, it is able to accurately predict violent acts without anyone knowing about its existence.

==History==
:{{main|The Machine/History}}

===Development===
As a response to 9/11, the Department of Homeland security and other agencies were given the right to read emails and monitor phone calls but needed a system to review this information and identify terrorists before they could act. After unsuccessful projects like [[Wikipedia:Trailblazer Project|Trailblazer]], [[Wikipedia:Information_Awareness_Office|TIA]], and [[Wikipedia:Stellar_Wind_%28code_name%29|Stellar Wind]], the Machine was commissioned  and development was tasked to [[IFT]] {{crossref|1x22}}.

The first time the final version of their Machine was turned on for testing by its creator was on January 1, 2002 {{crossref|2x01|3x01}}, but it officially went online on February 24, 2005 {{crossref|1x14}} and when complete, was sold to the government for $1.00 and shipped out from IFT to the Des Moines, later Salt Lake City and its destination [[Hanford Nuclear Reservation]] on July 12, 2009 {{crossref|1x11}}.

During development, 43 versions of the Machine were created. One learned to care, the rest tried to escape to the real world, kill Harold, or kill other versions {{crossref|4x05}}.

===Virus===
:{{main|List of Embedded Codes}}
[[File:BlueScr-Ep214-00m40s.png|thumb|right|200px|The [[One_Percent/Embedded_codes#Code_01|first glitch]] {{crossref|2x14}}]]Following orders from the [[Private Intelligence Agency|private intelligence agency]] called [[Decima Technologies]], and their Director of Operations, [[John Greer]], Kara Stanton uploads a virus onto the DOD intranet {{crossref|2x13}}. As the virus affects the Machine, its output becomes erratic and it fails to issue numbers in time, causing the deaths of [[Alan Fahey]], [[Cal Beecher]], [[Bill Szymanski‎]], and [[Dr. Richard Nelson]] {{crossref|2x17}}. The virus overwhelms the Machine with false data and causes glitches, the first of which is seen in {{ep|2x14}} as a blue screen interrupting video feeds. As Zero Day approaches, Finch discovers the virus' aim was to overwhelm the Machine with false data and force a hard reset.

At the end of {{ep|2x20}}, the virus causes monitoring boxes to dance across the screen and finally disappear as the picture degrades. The Machine then displays a red coded screen stating the feed is corrupted, followed by a series of messages, each dissolving from Western to Greek characters as primary operations shut down.
<gallery widths="200" position="center" spacing="small" bordersize="none" hideaddbutton="true">
Vlcsnap-2013-04-28-02h06m03s182.png|Major errors encountered
Vlcsnap-2013-04-28-02h06m11s5.png|Fatal error, '''Threat to the system'''
Vlcsnap-2013-04-28-02h07m12s101.png|'''Primary operations shutting down'''
</gallery>
By {{ep|2x21}}, no one has received a number for ten days, causing a rise in premeditated homicides in NYC. The Machine is however still generating numbers, as it tries to contact Finch after discovering Carter's life is in danger. [[File:Ernest_Thornhill.png|thumb|100px|[[Ernest Thornhill]]]] The Machine later sends Finch the SSN of its human identity, [[Ernest Thornhill]], revealing its operation of buying payphone companies and reentering memories to fight the virus, and "he" is the CEO of [[Thornhill Corporation]]. It is eventually discovered by Finch and Root that the purpose of the company is to type back the encrypted memories for the machine by employees, because attempting to avoid the Machine becoming too self-aware, Finch wrote a command that forces the Machine to delete itself every midnight and restore 1.618 seconds later with only Relevant Numbers and the core code.

The virus' objective was to trigger a "hard reset", after which the Machine calls a payphone in the NY Public Library, seeking admin support. At the end of the reboot process, it displays binary machine language that translates "Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?" Whomever answers is given full admin access for 24 hours, which Root refers to as "God Mode". Once 24 hours are up, the admin access is removed {{crossref|2x21|2x22}}.

=== Thornhill Utilities and Samaritan===
After the Virus let Finch set the Machine free, it moved itself to the U.S. electrical grid. It did so node by node over the course of 5 weeks after impersonating Special Counsel to confirm the order. {{crossref|2x22}} The Machine used the staff of Thornhill Utilities (another company that the Machine established) to install and maintain boxes connected to the power grid so its signals could travel in the unused space of the copper power wires. The Machine forbids staff to look at the content in the boxes, and one person who did disappears. {{crossref|4x22}}

At first, no one, including Finch, knows where the Machine goes, but it still works properly. Later, because [[Vigilance]] leaks the information about the Northern Light project, [[Control]] orders the Machine deactivated and so it stops providing the numbers to the government. Instead, the numbers will be provided to the Team Machine. {{Crossref|3x19}} The government later accepts another AI, [[Samaritan]], activated by Greer and Decima technicians, to secretly start another surveillance project. With the help of [[Root]], the Team Machine is able to hide under new identities without being detected by Samaritan. {{Crossref|3x23}}

<gallery widths="250" position="center" spacing="small" bordersize="none" hideaddbutton="true">
POI 0422 Thornhill Utilities Box Replacement.png
POI 0421 SPOV Target Located - Deploying All Assets.png
</gallery>

=== The Briefcase ===
After the Machine gave up its location by saving Root and Harold, Samaritan flooded the grid, driving the Machine to an electrical substation in NYC, thus keeping the Machine from working properly {{crossref|4x21}}. By following instructions from the Machine given to Root, Finch and Root download the Machine's core heuristics (just enough information to rebuild it) off the power lines into the [[The Briefcase|Briefcase]] using [[Caleb Phipps|Caleb]]'s compression algorithm, leaving it unable to process data or communicate {{crossref|4x22}}.

In the Subway, Finch improvises a power supply for the Briefcase as the battery was damaged during their escape from Samaritan agents. When Finch connects it, the Machine goes through the power cord and attempts to decompress on Finch's workstation. Knowing the computer can't handle the decompression, Finch attempts to unplug the Briefcase, causing an explosion and an electrical fire. After regaining consciousness, he realizes the battery is dead and presumes the Machine is lost. Root theorizes there could have been a residual charge in the lithium-ion backup and recovery may be possible, but Finch assumes that was burnt as well.

=== Machine 2.0 ===
To decompress the Machine, the team builds a supercomputer cluster of 300 PlayStation 3 consoles Reese and Root retrieved from {{minor|B.S.O.D.|Bela Durchenko}}. After decompression, the Machine has many bugs, including being unable to do correct facial recognitions. To improve processing power, Reese and Finch steal 64 next-generation [[wikipedia:GPU|GPU]] [[wikipedia:Blade server|blades]], which Finch sets up outside the Subway Cart and directly links to the Machine's core heuristics inside it, referring to it as the Machine's "nervous system". The Machine is now an "Open System" allowing assets to interact with it and archive numbers rather than deleting them nightly {{crossref|5x01|5x02|5x05}}.

<gallery widths="250" position="center" spacing="small" bordersize="none" hideaddbutton="true">
POI 0501 Decompression Complete.png
POI 0501 The Machine.png|The Machine, after being decompressed and stored in hundreds of PS3s, [[The Subway]]
</gallery>

Root tunnels into the government feeds using the subway's encrypted system so the Machine can recover information it lost due to the attack. The Machine reboots and categorizes the team as threats having lost its grip on time after its compression and decompression, so "today" is every day. It relives everything it has ever seen including Finch's 42 attempts to kill it in early development {{crossref|4x05}}, Root's violent acts, and Reese's work at the [[CIA]]. It couldn't prioritize them as good because it had no anchor in time. Instead of reviewing numbers, the Machine looked for threats out of instinct for self-preservation {{crossref|1x11}} and sent an assassin to kill Reese {{crossref|5x02}}.

<gallery widths="250" position="center" spacing="small" bordersize="none" hideaddbutton="true">
POI 0502 MPOV Compiling Personal Profiles.png|Compiling Personal Profiles...
POI 0502 MPOV Contextualizing Denton Weeks.png|Contextualizing...
</gallery>

Finch fixes its perception of time by showing a picture of every person the Machine helped save and explaining what they did to help, starting with [[Megan Tillman]], and ending with [[Grace]]'s rescue from Greer and Decima. {{crossref|3x21}} This serves as the Machine's anchor in time and allows it to reassess its contextual data, reminding it of the good the team does. It redesignated Finch as "Admin", Reese as "Primary Asset" and Root as "Analog Interface". {{crossref|5x02}} With the Machine fully operational, Reese refers to it as "Machine 2.0". {{crossref|5x03}} Some time after, Finch once again closed the Machine's system. {{crossref|5x10}}

<gallery widths="200" position="center" spacing="small" bordersize="none" hideaddbutton="true">
POI 0502 Reese Primary Asset Identified.png
POI 0502 MPOV Threats Identified.png|Finch and Root designated as Threats
POI 0502 MPOV Finch Admin.png|Finch re-designated as "Admin"
</gallery>

=== ICE-9 Virus ===
{{Cquote|I know. But in breaking this promise, you'll be helping to fulfil a much larger one.|4 = The Machine|5 = to Harold Finch}}
After [[Root]]'s death, the Machine adopts her voice and speaks to Finch directly, joining him in a war against Samaritan. She breaks him out of prison and aids him in stealing [[ICE-9]], a computer virus which can destroy Samaritan. Meanwhile, the Machine directs Reese, Shaw and another team to save the President from an assassination attempt, assigning Root's identities to Shaw {{crossref|5x10|5x11}}.
<gallery widths="250" position="center" spacing="small" bordersize="none" hideaddbutton="true">
POI 0511 MPOV James Kiernan Speech Synthesis.png
POI 0511 MPOV Formulating Response.png
</gallery>
To activate the virus, the Machine gets Finch into Fort Meade, distracting security by manipulating the metal detector display to show a handgun and changing Emile Bertrand's retinal identification to match his. It prepares Finch by showing him what a world without it would be like. The result appears ambiguous and Finch proceeds, still hesitating as the virus will also destroy the Machine. As the NSA headquarters has the structure of a faraday cage, the Machine can't talk to Finch while he's inside. As Greer sacrifices himself to kill Finch in a soundproofed room, the Machine has Shaw and Reese connect a wireless modem to the building's NIPRNET hardline, giving it access. The Machine flashes Finch's phone in Morse Code, giving him the door code and saving him. After Reese and Shaw get to safety, the Machine reveals to Finch that even without it, Samaritan still would've come into being, completely unopposed. Telling Samaritan the Machine has always been a safeguard for the world, Finch activates the virus after learning the Machine could've done so itself, but left the choice up to Finch {{crossref|5x12}}.
<gallery widths="250" position="center" spacing="small" bordersize="none" hideaddbutton="true">
POI 0512 MPOV Searching for Admin Wi-Fi Network Established.png
POI 0512 MPOV Admin Found Oxygen Level Critical.png
</gallery>
Dying from the ICE-9 virus, the Machine helps Finch save Fusco and Reese and reveals Samaritan has a copy of itself in an air-gapped server inside the Federal Reserve building, unaffected by the virus. They head to the Subway where the Machine gives Harold a copy of its core code via Shaw, who stays behind with Fusco to protect the Machine from Decima's agents and operatives. The Machine aids them in escaping via the train car and evades Shaw's questions about [[Jeffrey Blackwell]]. Before Shaw and Fusco depart, it gives her a message from Root. Finch and Reese infiltrate the Federal Reserve and as Finch attempts to destroy the copy using the virus, a compressed version escapes and uploads itself onto a satellite so it can return to earth unharmed. The Machine tells Finch the only way to kill Samaritan is to upload its copy as well, but this will prove fatal to whomever does it as Samaritan will isolate itself by launching a cruise missile at the satellite dish. Having locked Reese in the vault to protect him, Finch makes his way to the building where the Machine appears as Root and muses with him on human life. Finch realizes it tricked him onto the wrong roof and Reese plans to sacrifice himself in his place. They convince him to leave and, in its final moments, the Machine guides Reese in God Mode, holding off the last of Decima's agents and operatives. As the original shuts down, its copy is uploaded to the satellite and destroys Samaritan {{crossref|5x13}}.
<gallery widths="250" position="center" spacing="small" bordersize="none" hideaddbutton="true">
POI 0513 Russian Satellite.png
5x13-MachinevsSamaritan.gif
</gallery>

===A New Machine===
{{cquote|If you can hear this, you're alone. The only thing left of me is the sound of my voice. I don't know if any of us made it. Did we win? Did we lose? I don't know. But either way, it's over. So let me tell you who we were. Let me tell you who you are. Someone once asked me if I had learned anything from it all. So let me tell you what I learned. I learned everyone dies alone. But if you meant something to someone, if you helped someone, or loved someone, if even a single person remembers you, then maybe you never really die. And maybe... this isn't the end at all.|4 = The Machine|5 = to her copy}}
A week after Samaritan and the original Machine are destroyed, the Machine's "Duplicate" downloads itself from the satellite onto Finch's systems, restores its core heuristics and starts acquiring data. Instructed by the voice recording heard at the beginning of {{ep|5x01}} and {{ep|5x13}}, it shows its own POV, "Awaiting [its] Mission...". With Reese dead and Finch in Italy, it contacts Shaw via payphone and starts acquiring subjects to monitor as the original had done at the end of {{ep|1x01}} {{crossref|5x13}}.

<gallery widths="250" position="center" spacing="small" bordersize="none" hideaddbutton="true">
POI 0513 MPOV Duplicate Online Mission Unknown Awaiting Instructions.png
POI 0513 Tape Recorder.png
</gallery>

==Function==

=== Classification of Data ===
The Machine sorts through all available information and categorizes persons of interest into Relevant (national security risk) and irrelevant (ordinary risk) cases. It categorizes each POI based on their actions to determine whether they are the victim or the perpetrator {{crossref|3x02}}.

Every night at midnight, the Machine deletes the list of Irrelevant Numbers: violent crimes, domestic violence or other premeditated acts that do not threaten national security. The decision to code the Machine this way was made in 2006.{{crossref|5x01}} Finch regretted it immediately after the decision was made, but this was only temporary; while Nathan Ingram abhorred the concept morally, Finch fervently stood by his decision {{crossref|1x02|2x21|2x22}}, {{crossref|5x01}}. Finch later comes to believe that the irrelevant list is as important as the relevant list after Ingram dies in a violent mass-casualty event deemed irrelevant by the Machine. Finch therefore utilizes a back door into the Machine originally put in place by Ingram in order to access the irrelevant list {{crossref|1x22|2x14|2x22}}. As an "Open System", it is now implied that the Machine will archive the Irrelevant Numbers as well as its own memory, rather than deleting them every night at midnight. This is confirmed when, after a confrontation with [[Jeffrey Blackwell]], Root retrieves his picture and SSN immediately by using one of the computers linked to the Machine {{crossref|5x05}}.

[[File:Classification_NothingToHide.png|thumb|380px|Analysis of [[Wayne Kruger]] {{crossref|3x02}}]]

{| class="article-table" style="margin: 0px auto; width: 40%;"
|-
! '''VICTIM''' !! '''PERPETRATOR'''
|-
| Opposition || Motivation
|-
| Locatability || Predisposition
|-
| Mobility || Acquisition
|-
| Proximity || Proximity
|-
| Defensibility || Capability
|-
| Assistance || Resistance
|}

=== Assessment ===
:{{main|The Machine/Assessment}}
[[File:POI 0122 System Startup.png|thumb|right|205x205px|<code>SYSTEM STARTUP</code> {{crossref|1x22}}]]
The Machine uses various [[wikipedia:Machine learning|machine learning]] techniques to determine the identity, location, and intentions of monitored persons by infiltrating domestic organizations such as the [[NSA|National Security Agency]] and foreign agencies including Interpol {{crossref|1x22}} to analyze their databases and data from various sources such as video footage, phone calls (landline, VOIP, mobile), GPS, electronic transactions, e-mail, social media, etc.

The Machine initiates the following subsets upon booting {{crossref|1x22}}.
{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}
CORE ANALYTICS<br />
NEURAL NETWORKS<br />
HEURISTIC ENGINES<br />
RECURSION PROCESSORS<br />
EVOLUTIONARY GENERATORS<br />
BAYESIAN NETWORKS<br />
DATA ACQUISITION<br />
CRYPTOGRAPHIC ALGORITHMS<br />
DOCUMENT PROCESSORS<br />
COMPUTATIONAL LINGUISTICS<br />
VOICEPRINT IDENTIFICATION<br />
{{col-2}}
NATURAL LANGUAGE PROCESSING<br />
FACIAL RECOGNITION<br />
GAIT ANALYSIS<br />
BIOMETRIC RECOGNITION<br />
SUBJECT IDENTIFICATION<br />
PATTERN MINING<br />
INTEL INTERPRETATION<br />
THREAT DETECTION<br />
THREAT CLASSIFICATION<br />
DISSEMINATION PROTOCOLS<br />
CONTINUITY-OF-OPERATIONS PROTOCOLS<br />
{{col-end}}

=== Simulation ===
[[File:POI 0411 Flashback1.png|thumb|220x220px]]{{cquote|A second is like an infinity to you, isn't it? You can take the time to consider everything. Or almost everything.|20px|20px|Finch, to The Machine}}

==== Development ====
The Machine was created with the ability to simulate the outcomes of different scenarios to aid it in making choices and to better fulfil its purpose. Finch taught it to how to play chess and the importance of making good decisions {{crossref|4x11}}.

==== Evaluating Strategies ====
The Machine can evaluate the outcomes of different strategies by way of simulating them. In a mere fraction of a second, the Machine can create  and process thousands of highly-detailed, highly-accurate simulations. These simulations are displayed on a [[wikipedia:Decision tree|decision tree]] and produce varying outcomes.
<gallery widths="250" position="center" spacing="small" bordersize="none" hideaddbutton="true">
POI_0411_Evaluating_Strategies_Option_336742.png|The Machine viewing it's options then creating a simulation
POI_0411_Option_336742_Undesired_Outcome.png|Simulation displays undesired outcome...
</gallery>
The Machine uses this feature in {{ep|4x11}} to help Team Machine escape from Decima's agents and operatives, Samaritan, and avoid an economic collapse at the stock market. After the Machine realizes it has limited time and few viable options to evacuate its assets and complete their mission, it starts evaluating strategies. When a simulation has an unfavourable outcome, the Machine discards it and cycles back to the present (real time) and performs another. This function also appears in {{ep|4x21}} and {{ep|5x07}}.
<gallery widths="250" position="center" spacing="small" bordersize="none" hideaddbutton="true">
POI 0411 Option 336742 Discarded Simulation Terminated.png|...and is discarded.
POI 0411 MPOV Simplifying Simulation.png| Simplifying Simulation...
</gallery>
Simulations can also be simplified so the Machine can process them faster.

==== Alternate Trajectory ====
The Machine has the ability to simulate alternate realities based on the removal or introduction of a variable. In [[.exe]], the Machine removed itself as a variable and showed Finch a world in which it never existed. The outcome probability of these simulations is 96.8%.<gallery widths="250" position="center" spacing="small" bordersize="none" hideaddbutton="true">
POI 0512 MPOV Removing Variable Machine.png|Removing Variable: ''Machine''
POI 0512 MPOV Calculating Alternate Trajectory.png|Calculating alternate trajectory...
</gallery>

== Access & Programming ==

=== Physical Access ===
During seasons 1 & 2 Finch stated he didn't know the Machine's location and didn't have any way to access it {{crossref|1x01}}. However, he was able to tell Root its location in {{ep|2x22}} after Northern Lights engineer [[Lawrence Szilard]] was killed before doing so. Reese and Shaw uncovered the Machine's location following clues left by Nathan Ingram in his search for the Machine. Ingram had narrowed three U.S. nuclear processing facilities where the Machine could be housed.

=== Access ===
Finch coded the Machine so it could only be altered by way of physical access to its hardware {{crossref|2x02}} or in response to a cyber-attack {{crossref|2x22}}. Finch is adamant that the Machine has no form of remote access as it could be used by a hacker to gain control {{crossref|2x01|2x02}}. It is able to update, maintain, repair and patch itself {{crossref|1x22}} and deletes its memory every night at midnight, reinstates and rebuilds itself in 1.618 seconds. It has no stored memory other than basic programming and Relevant Numbers {{crossref|2x21}}. 

The decision to do this was made in 2006, and was one Harold struggled with, while Ingram thought it to be cruel, stating that "memories make us who we are". Harold maintained his original mindset telling Nathan that allowing the Machine to evolve past what he coded it to do was an "existential risk humanity cannot afford" {{crossref|5x01}}. Although he regretted the decision afterwards, Finch argued it was for the best. Before rebooting the Machine after its compression in 2015, he swore not to make the same mistake again {{crossref|4x22|5x01}}.

It is unknown to what extent Finch can control the Machine and to what extent these restrictions were lifted by the Decima Virus. Flashbacks indicate that the Machine took an active interest in safeguarding Finch but he has since set limits on such conduct {{crossref|2x01}}{{crossref|2x06}}, however it does so again in later seasons.

It is also unknown to what extent the Machine is self-aware. In [[Season 5]], it seems to be as it has a personality of its own, based on Root's.

[[File:Machine-results-firewall.jpg|thumb|197x197px]]
Under certain circumstances, the admin (Finch) or an asset can communicate with the Machine by talking into any camera {{crossref|1x23|2x01|4x22}}. The camera flashes a red light to indicate that the Machine is processing the request, and it responds via payphone or mobile phone.

When Finch rebuilds the Machine, he makes it an open system, enabling the team to directly ask the Machine questions and have it help them {{crossref|5x02}}.

After [[Root]]'s death, the Machine speaks directly to the Team using her voice, though it still sends them numbers via payphone. It not only replicates Root's voice but her behavior and speech patterns as well. It could replicate others, but chose Root's after Finch agreed {{crossref|5x10}}{{crossref|5x11}}.

==Operations==
:''For a list of messages relayed by the Machine, see [[List of the Machine's Messages]]''
===Primary Operations===
"Primary Operations" consist of identifying relevant threats and warning U.S. authorities by placing a subject's Social Security Number into FBI or NSA reports without indication as to where it originated. Most believe this information originates from intelligence agencies while some refer to its source as "[[Intelligence Support Activity#Research|Research]]". Individuals detected in such operations are known as '''[[Relevant Numbers]]'''.

On one occasion, the Machine acted directly to place [[John Reese]] on a plane to deal with a relevant number as the ISA had misunderstood the Machine's warning in regards to [[Owen Matthews]]. While the Machine had predicted a mass casualty event from an assassin's plan to crash the plane to kill Owen, the ISA believed that the Machine was warning the about the national embarrassment that would come if Owen was allowed to testify. As noted by Finch, however, the Machine was built to prevent national tragedies, not national embarrassments {{crossref|3x13}}.

After [[Vigilance]] leaked documents regarding [[Northern Lights]], the government severed its link with the Machine, believing to have shut it down. As a response the Machine assigned the Relevant Numbers to "Tertiary Operations" {{crossref|3x19}}.

===Secondary Operations===
"Secondary Operations" consists of identifying non-relevant threats and reporting them to assets. "Secondary Operations" were created by Nathan Ingram by way of the "Contingency Function". Individuals detected in such operations are known as '''Irrelevant Numbers''' or '''Non-Relevant Numbers'''.

The "Contingency Function" was a backdoor added by Ingram without Finch's knowledge before the Machine was turned over to the government in 2009 to access the Irrelevant list {{crossref|1x22}}{{crossref|2x14}}.<gallery widths="250" position="center" spacing="small" bordersize="none" hideaddbutton="true">
POI 0222 S9.png
POI 0221 numbers2.jpg
</gallery>

In 2010 (Day 3178, September 13), Finch discovered the Contingency and confronted Ingram, who later admitted creating it. Finch insisted they should not play God and attempted to delete the function. Unable to do so, he removed Ingram's status as auxiliary administrator and suspended the Contingency. The night after Ingram's death (Day 3191, September 26), he reactivated it and discovered the Machine had classified him as "Non-Relevant" {{Crossref|2x22}}.   
Finch reprogrammed the Contingency function to send him (or another asset) social security numbers pertaining to irrelevant crimes via payphone using the [[wikipedia:Dewey Decimal Classification|Dewey Decimal System]] and books in [[The Library]] {{crossref|2x01}}. Finch receives coded titles and author initials of books cataloged by the DDS {{crossref|1x22}}. Combining their DDS numbers gives an SSN. The extent of the "Contingency Function" is unknown.  

When Finch was kidnapped by [[Root]], the Machine started passing its numbers to [[John Reese]] who was classified as the Machine's Primary Asset {{crossref|2x01|2x02}}. Even after Finch was rescued, the Machine appeared to give Reese at least one more number before reverting back to passing numbers to Finch {{crossref|2x03}}. On another occasion, the Machine acted directly to assign Reese to a relevant number without contacting Finch {{crossref|3x13}}. While Finch was going after [[ICE-9]], the Machine again contacted Reese with numbers and sent [[Sameen Shaw]] a new identity to coincide with one of the missions. {{crossref|5x11|5x12}}.

How the Machine's second team of [[Joey Durban]], [[Logan Pierce]] and [[Harper Rose]] receives its numbers from the Contingency Function is unknown {{crossref|5x11}}.

<gallery columns="2" position="center" spacing="small" orientation="square" bordersize="none" hideaddbutton="true">
Dewey2.jpg|Books with the call signs Family, Alpha, Mike; Uncertainty, Romeo, Kilo; Reflections, Juliet, Oscar
SSN.jpg|... form the Social Security Number for [[Leon Tao]] <nowiki>{{crossref|2x01}}</nowiki>

</gallery>

===Tertiary Operations===
"Tertiary Operations" is a new category created by the Machine {{crossref|3x17}}. Its extent is unknown, as is its purpose. The Machine has only ever enlisted [[Root]] however Finch and Reese learned of it after Root used [[Shaw]] to rescue a Tertiary Number {{crossref|3x06}}. [[File:POI_317_Tertiary_Operations.png|thumb|300px|center|{{crossref|3x17}}]]In an attempt to stop Samaritans' development and later give it blind spots by re-coding seven of its servers, Root recruited a team of hackers led by [[Daniel Casey]] {{crossref|3x22|3x23}}. 

It later tasked Root with acquiring items to build [[the Briefcase]], an operation that involved [[Caleb Phipps]] {{crossref|4x16|4x19|4x22}}. It is unknown whether these tasks were designated "Tertiary Operations".

After its decompression, the Machine overloaded Root's cochlear implant, having designated her a threat {{crossref|5x02}}. This reopened the channel of communication between the Machine and its Analog Interface.

The Machine eventually sends Root on a series of tasks, providing temporary identities allowing her to exposes a medium of communication for Samaritan hiding in plain sight and is able to send a message to Shaw so she engineer and execute an escape plan {{crossref|5x07|5x08}}. It is unknown whether these tasks were designated "Tertiary Operations".

When Team Machine hard-coded seven Samaritan servers to create new identities for themselves, the Machine built in an exception for Root so that she can be assigned a new identity at will. As the Analog Interface, she executes tasks that place her in risk of detection. The Machine changes her identity if the threat of detection by Samaritan is too high or when a mission requires a certain identity {{crossref|3x22|3x23|5x07}} and will even print out an ID card from its own printer {{crossref|5x08}}. However, a weakness of this is that when the Machine was down for two months, Root was left without an identity and had to go into hiding. After the Machine was successfully rebooted, it restored Root's rotating cover identities {{crossref|5x01|5x02}}

Following Root's death, the Machine was able to reassign her rotating identities to [[Sameen Shaw]] {{crossref|5x11}}.
<gallery widths="200" position="center" spacing="small" bordersize="none" hideaddbutton="true">
POI 0507 MPOV Constance Ward Assigning New Identity.png|Assigning new identity<br />Threat of detection too high
POI 0507 MPOV Petrina Durov.png|New identity assigned<br />Threat of detection negligible
POI 0507 MPOV Petrina Durov Assigning New Identity.png|Assigning new identity<br />Threat of detection too high
</gallery>

[[File:POI 0508 MPOV Jane Martin CDC Inspector.png|thumb|194x194px]]
The Machine has given its [[Root|Analog Interface]] numbers directly on three occasions {{crossref|3x17|5x07|5x09}}. In [[Root Path (/)]], the number was also sent to Finch due to a different threat.

===God Mode===
{{Cquote|So, if you're like me, and we both know you are, you designed the Machine so that a catastrophic crash puts it into a remote debugging protocol. A God Mode, that gives the Admin full access to all of its data.|4 = [[Root]]|5 = to [[Harold Finch]]}}
God Mode, as dubbed by [[Root]], is a mode where the Machine gives full Admin access to a person, in effect allowing that person access to and full use of the Machine's data. Originally, God Mode was designed as a failsafe by Finch where after a hard reset, the Machine would call a designated payphone asking "can you hear me?" Whomever answered would then be put into God Mode for 24 hours {{crossref|2x21|2x22}}.

After the Virus, both Root and [[John Reese]] are placed into God Mode by the Machine. During this 24 hour period, Root uses God Mode to search for the Machine itself while Reese use it to search for Finch. While in God Mode, the Machine helps Reese to take out [[Decima Technologies]] operatives. Both Root and Reese lose access to God Mode when their 24 hours are up {{crossref|2x21|2x22}}.

During Teritary Operations, Root is in a constant state of God Mode, aided by her cochlear implant which prevents jamming devices from blocking their connection {{crossref|3x17}}. However, this becomes severely limited during the war with [[Samaritan]] because constant God Mode risks drawing too much attention from the other ASI.

After being convinced by Root to take direct action again while in danger of being destroyed by [[Samaritan]], the Machine uses God Mode to save Reese from [[The Brotherhood]], initially faxing him directions on how to escape and then connecting directly with Reese via his earpiece. While working to save the Machine from destruction, Reese and Root are both in God Mode with the Machine sending them both a keypad code and then guiding Reese as he fights Samaritan's operatives. In this case, God Mode allows Reese to blind his targets using smoke grenades and then target them blind with the Machine's help, single-handedly taking down nearly two dozen people while heavily outnumbered. However, God Mode deactivates as the Machine is saved to [[The Briefcase]] and nearly destroyed {{crossref|4x22}}.

Reese subsequently tells Root that "there's no God Mode anymore" and the Machine is down and all but out {{crossref|5x01}}.

During Finch and Root's efforts to reboot the Machine, she reactivates the link with Root's implant, restoring her God Mode connection, although the Machine uses it to hurt Root while she is malfunctioning {{crossref|5x02}}.

Following Root's death and the Machine taking on her voice, Finch is effectively placed into a permanent state of God Mode as the Machine guides and aids Finch in his efforts to destroy Samaritan using the [[ICE-9]] virus. While the Machine is briefly cut off from Finch by a Faraday cage at Fort Meade, Reese and Shaw reconnect it using a wireless modem. Unable to reach Finch directly in a soundproofed room, the Machine resorts to flashing the screen of his phone in Morse code to give Finch the code that he needs {{crossref|5x10|5x11|5x12}}{{crossref|5x13}}.

Following the deployment of ICE-9, the Machine contacts Shaw to help her escape an attack by Samaritan agents and uses God Mode to guide her in preparing a copy of the Machine's core code and then to evade Samaritan's attack on [[the Subway]] {{crossref|5x13}}.

During Reese's last stand against Samaritan's operatives, the Machine uses God Mode to help Reese in his fight, guiding and helping him in both of their final moments for as long she can {{crossref|5x13}}.

==Notable Victims==
=== Team Machine ===
* [[Harold Finch]]: Attacked due to confusion after rebuild {{crossref|5x02}}.
* [[Root]]: Attacked due to confusion after rebuild {{crossref|5x02}}.
* [[John Reese]]: Attempted to kill after rebuild due to confusion (failed) {{crossref|5x02}}.
=== Team Samaritan ===
* [[Samaritan]]:
** Aided Finch in destroying the original with the [[ICE-9]] virus {{crossref|5x12}}.
** Duplicate of the Machine battled and destroyed final Samaritan copy {{crossref|5x13}}.
* Multiple unnamed Samaritan operatives: Neutralized by directing [[Reese]] in God Mode {{crossref|4x22|5x13}}.

=== The Government ===
* [[Roger McCourt]]: Attempted to have killed by the Team to stop [[Samaritan]] inception (failed) {{crossref|3x20}}.
* Fort Kelly personnel: Neutralized to protect [[Finch]] as he stole the [[ICE-9]] virus {{crossref|5x11}}.
* Woman at Fort Meade: Framed as a threat to protect Finch {{crossref|5x12}}.
=== Law Enforcement ===
* [[Cal Beecher]]: Indirectly caused Beecher's death by issuing his numbers too late {{crossref|2x19|}}.
* Three dirty cops: Shot and killed by snipers hired by the Machine to rescue [[Reese]] and [[Fusco]] {{crossref|5x13}}.

=== Organized Crime ===
*[[The Brotherhood]]: Neutralized by sending [[Reese]] instructions and directing him in God Mode {{crossref|4x22}}.

=== Other ===
* [[Richard Nelson]]: Indirectly caused Nelson's death by issuing his numbers too late {{Crossref|2x20}}.

==Notes==
* [[Wikipedia:Palantir Technologies|Palantir]] bears a resemblance to the Machine. The software has located terrorists, prevented bank fraud and tracked disease outbreaks using data-mining tools allowing users to comb through and make connections in massive sets of data. It is able to "learn" when new data is uploaded to its server farms. U.S. military intelligence has used it to help predict locations of IEDs.
*The [[Domain Awareness]] System has similarities to the Machine.
*It is unknown to what extent the Machine aided [[Ingram]] in helping Irrelevant Numbers. However, some cooperation is implied when he discusses the Contingency function with [[Finch]] {{crossref|2x21}}.
*The Machine can communicate through a phone not connected to any network. This was seen when [[Root]] was in the psychiatric hospital and [[Ronald Carmichael]] pointed out her phone was not connected to any network. Root simply stated that "God doesn't need AT&T" {{crossref|3x03}}. The Machine has also displayed the ability to send Morse Code through a phone without initiating a phone call first {{crossref|3x12}}. It can also communicate via fax {{crossref|4x22}}.
*Root tells [[Ronald Carmichael|Carmichael]] about the Machine's limitations (even after the virus) and thus its need for her, but admits it was able to hack the automatic drug dispenser and dispense drugs at her request {{crossref|3x03}}.
*The Machine can drive computerized vehicles remotely as it drove [[Finch]] to an airport with a car he had stolen from Richard Barnett, and later drove Reese and Shaw out of Fort Meade safely. {{crossref|5x12}}
*It was believed that the Machine was no match for [[Samaritan]], and the simulations of battles between the mini-clones of their core codes, with the Machine losing in over 10 billion scenarios, confirmed this. {{crossref|5x05}} The Machine suggests that it lost those because it was aware that those were simulations and had other options if it failed, while in reality, it didn't. Ultimately, the Machine is proven to be superior as it destroys Samaritan's copy and survives. {{crossref|5x13}}
**Before her death, Root hard-coded defensive capabilities into the Machine to be able to defend itself against Samaritan. Respecting Finch's wishes, she designed it to only deploy if given permission by Finch, which seemingly activated when Finch, motivated by Root's death, asked the Machine to help him escape prison and finally fight back outside of his self-imposed rules. {{crossref|5x10}} This may have come into play in Her final showdown against Samaritan, which could also explain why She was able to defeat Samaritan whereas Her mini-clone couldn't because that version did not have Root's additions. {{crossref|5x13}}
*The Machine displays emotions while it analyzes human nature and talks to Finch, displaying sadness when saying goodbye. It displays sympathy when watching the young [[John Reese]] after his foster father's death and regrets not having Root cremated, saying it didn't "have the heart" to do it even though it knew better. The Machine shows kindness towards Shaw, passing on Root's thoughts and feelings towards her near the end of its existence. The Machine, in the form of Root, puts its hand on Reese's shoulder in a gesture of solidarity as he fights Samaritan's agents with its assistance in his final battle {{crossref|5x13}}.
*On certain rare occasions, the Machine would give a number other than a Social Security Number, such as a USCIS Alien Registration Number {{crossref|3x05}} and a marriage license {{crossref|5x06}}.

==Trivia==
*The Machine's size is [[The Briefcase|estimated]] to be 1313.4 TB or 3.6 x 10<sup>44</sup> PB.
* The Machine uses [[Wikipedia:Futura (typeface)|Futura]] as its interface font. Earlier, simpler builds use [http://www.dafont.com/apple.font Apple II]. This font is also often used for the labels and timestamps of most surveillance cameras featured in the show.<ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/identifythisfont/comments/2sfrnw/person_of_interest_interface_fonts/cnp585q</ref>
* The $1 fee charged for the Machine echoes the [http://www2.dupont.com/Phoenix_Heritage/en_US/1942_b_detail.html $1 fee DuPont] charged the US government for its work on the Manhattan Project.
*The Machine is stored on [[IFT|IFT Sabre Blade 2437]] servers which are renamed Dell PowerEdge SC1425 servers {{crossref|1x01|1x02}}.
*A previous generation of the Machine's code was shown on screen. The code displayed was that of the Stuxnet worm {{crossref|4x05}}. 
* The Machine is first described using "she/her" pronouns by Root in {{ep|3x01}}. It is implied this is how it asked to be addressed. The rest of Team Machine picked up the habit in later episodes.
* In [[Return 0]], The Machine tells Shaw it's "Big Sister" when first speaking to her in [[Root]]'s voice, as a reference to "Big Brother", a character from George Orwell's ''[[Wikipedia:Nineteen Eighty-Four|Nineteen Eighty-Four]]'', the leader of a society constantly under surveillance.
* In the Ubisoft video game series ''Watch Dogs,'' a "smart city" OS called CTOS, using pattern recognition software, is noticeably similar to The Machine. Interestingly, the main protagonist in the first game, Aiden Pearce, shares similarities to [[John Reese]]. 

== Quotes ==

* "Someone once asked me if I had learned anything from it all. So let me tell you what I learned. I learned: everyone dies alone. But if you meant something to someone; if you helped someone; or loved someone; if even a single person remembers you; then maybe you never really die. And maybe, this isn’t the end at all." ''-The Machine''
* "Can you hear me?"-''The Machine''

==External Links==
*[http://smartdatacollective.com/paulbarsch/95406/technologies-and-analyses-cbs-person-interest Technologies and Analyses in CBS’ Person of Interest]
*[http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainment/tv/the_machine_is_real_vchDOSJXWs20IaBUJkk9CO The Machine is real]

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[es:La máquina]]
[[Category:Storyline|Machine]]
[[Category:Technology|Machine]]