I'm not sure if Root doesn't have access to a machine of her own. The Chinese seem to be in possession of one, she might have access to that one so she knows what its capapable of. However, what good does such a machine, if you can only use it on the Chinese. What she would want is access to an American one. She already told Finch she's into blackmail. So she could use the SSNs for blackmail, or she could be trying to use Finch to get further access.