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chapter i
ER·U·DITE (adjective): having or showing great knowledge, or (affinity for) learning; origins in latin rudis for "rude, untrained" later erudis for "instruct, train," ending in erudite in late Middle English.
Andrea Charr had eyed the definition once in a school book. She had needed to engrave it in at a young age, and soon she knew no truer way of being. She saw her faction clearly, with its ugly, rigid roots that consistently sprouted fruitful intellect. Erudite was a living, breathing organism which eloquently pranced in front of the other factions. They kept the others in line. Grotesque history was behind them, a firm 'thank you' owed to the factions that dichotomized the different psychologies at work. They each served their purpose, and weighed each other out.
The other children were not as impressed - with her, nor with learning, yet she never waned in her loyalty to her faction. Nothing brought her more pride than eagerly raising an arm to correctly answer a question, for she had spent hours the night before reading, always one step ahead. She did waver slightly, however, teeming with boredom when well aimed spit balls and whispered know-it-all's served to keep all the other children entertained at her expense.
So, when she eagerly penned in Tuesday, March 4th at 8:00 AM into her schedule, she knew in her mind that there was no question what the Aptitude results would be. There was no anxiety, she would later chose and be surrounded by like-minded individuals. Her parents had greeted her promptly two hours before she left, complimenting her on her sharp dress and punctuality. Their "Blue Light" would chose correctly, and bleed for Erudite.
She had walked calmly through the sea of students, all varying ages of 18, some colorful, some dreary. Never skipping a beat she kept her head up, meeting the eyes of whom those she could. Lined up behind what she supposed were her equals, she waited for her name to be called. She spent the next long moments in contemplation, only distracted by the sounds of the rushing train. She knew it was scheduled for 15 minutes before eight, and that it would bring whooping and yells. The Dauntless would soon be rushing by kicking up puffs of dirt into the air and cutting it close on time. She wondered if the train slowed for them to disembark.
No doubt they'd annoy the Erudite with their wild abandon for order, Abnegation would shy away from such shows of free will, Candor would whisper biased rumors, and Amity would…probably be looking at the puffs of dirt and marveling at the beauty that was the earth responding. The last one was the most interesting she supposed, the earth did respond beautifully.
As other names were called, Andrea grew impatient - the Aptitude Tests brewing conflicted thoughts. On a black to white spectrum, the test could be said to be wasteful. Everyone should be aware of their whimsies, they should be able to make an gut decision without being told. Those who did not know themselves were the weakest in their society. Of course, on the other side, those unsure needed a guide and at such a tender age, who were they really?
She smoothed out a wrinkle in her pencil skirt, which was a tad looser due to a slight drop in her body mass index. She would have these tailored, the fabric she had chosen was not forgiving to slight differences. The simulation had been uncomfortable, and that was all she remembered. At the end, she sat facing a somber Abnegation woman who read her results. A nod and slight smile later, she stood from the metal chair, heading back home to inform her parents.
'Erudite,' the woman had said.
Did they really need to look so sad?
Why give up the Self in Abnegation, when the acknowledgement of the Self is what drove unobscured intellect?
Why wander aimlessly in Amity, when one could have the expansive fields of the mind to run through?
Why break spines in Dauntless, when one can calmly peruse spines in libraries?
Why push the truth onto others in Candor, when one does so with a human bias and not with empirical data?
The Choosing Ceremony came and went.
Initiation came and went.
She remained Erudite.
That year she was offered a myriad of jobs as the top initiate. She accepted a primary investigator role in the department of Research for Psychological and Sociological Advancement, allowing her curiosity to spark up new experiments. She choose to start with behavioral modifications, recording and testing basic patterns; a subjects' color preference, reactions to sound, just to name a few. Her research papers were readily published, though they were often overshadowed by the constant reporting on Abnegation.
She had 'broken the mold' as her father stated, for she had not only been cleared to study children and adults in Erudite, but also to test others within the different factions. The results had lasting consequences for Candor, with the mouthpiece of Erudite used as a reason to revise standardized testing. Unexpectedly exposing slight flaws in what Candor previously correlated with body language, it shredded established processes when searching out fibs and truths. This won her appeasement from her faction, anger from Candor. She understood their resistance to her work, the possibility of exception fallacy could be at play; she never did chose her subjects, and they never did seem like random selections. She soon grew bored with the stagnation Candor brought into her research, as they began series of cabals, followed by conferences to halt the ongoing findings. Erudite gave into their protests, and she made the choice to leave the department instead of working within such tight confines.
Johnathan Charr was the head of Future Technologies, a community of engineers. The fact that the remaining jobs in her faction did not spark her interest lead her to proudly accept a job alongside her father. The promotion offered the same ties to rigorous research and subtle psychologies, and she settled into Advancement of Intellectual Warfare. Her new title afforded her great challenges, being the first woman Head Weapons Engineer. It seemed that in this male dominated field, she was the only one willing to endure back-handed compliments on her achievement. Endure she did, as well as deftly shut them down. She never quite knew what drew her to the subject matter, other than her affinity for learning new subjects, especially those that were non normative. Bringing home weapons and studying them for hours was also an interesting dynamic for her.
Why let Dauntless have all the exciting fun?
Thank you for reading!
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