DON'T TURN AROUND
I breathed in slowly, trying to keep myself calm.
My eyelids were rocks, my lungs full of lead. My brain pounded inside my skull as I rolled over my choices. Choosing day was tomorrow. I just turned 16 yesterday. Basic protocol: You turn 16, you choose your faction. Let's just say I am stressed out beyond belief.
Today we had our simulation test to help us choose what faction we belong in. We're not supposed to tell anyone about our results or what happens in our simulations, so instead of talking to my family about my day like I normally would do, I keep quiet and walk down the hall to my room.
I live in a city that was once known as Chicago. Its a big city I guess, but we only use so much of the land. In the center of our civilization is the Hub. A great big building, taller than all the rest, made of mostly glass. At the top are two tall polls, only increasing the height of the building. The entire city is surrounded by a huge fence to protect us from any outside activity that could bring harm, except for the marsh. The marsh I've been told was once a massive body of water, but it dried up a long, long time ago.
That's where all the kids under the age of 16 go to school. That's where my older sister and I went to school just yesterday. But now we are to move on to bigger and better things.
There are five factions in our system.
The Abnegation, those who believe in selflessness, runs our government. They don't think about themselves and are considered the least corrupt of the five factions.
The Amity are those who believe in kindness and happiness. They farm for us and provide us with all kinds of foods, but nothing too eccentric.
The Erudite, those who believe in knowledge, are the leaders in technology, but we'll get to that a little later.
The Candor, those who believe in total honesty, blamed duplicity and the deception of human natures faults. They believe that honesty is the one thing that keeps them from being corrupted, but, that's not so true.
Finally, there is the Dauntless. Dauntless believe in regular acts of bravery. They guard the Fence and make sure nothing gets in without getting a thorough beating first, especially if that person, or thing, needing a beating is dangerous or an enemy.
The factions work… sort of. There has been some heated debate about that lately.
I'm an Erudite. We're smart, mostly stuck up and knowledgeable; (Too knowledgeable if you ask me) we create, invent, build, plan, and basically do anything that involves anything technological or new. Erudite is the center of all knowledge in the city, the center of technology, and I'm a part of it. Everything I have ever known has been here, in the glass buildings and apartments of the Erudite headquarters, the Erudite territory.
The only thing is...
Everything I have ever known, everything that I'm familiar with? I'm about to leave it.
