Disclaimer: I do not own the Divergent series.

To Eradicate

Erudites weren't supposed to cry. It was as simple as that. Crying was a sign of weakness, and weakness was a sign of ignorance. Only the ignorant were weak, so to be wise and successful was to be strong. It was all a matter of proper analogy.

For Jeanine Matthews, she didn't have a choice. She had to be strong; she had to overcome her weaknesses. Human nature itself was the most pitiful thing. It made people do the most idiotic of things, and if Jeanine was to rise above everyone else, she had to push such concepts away from her heart and out of her mind. The reason Erudite's computers were so imperative to society was because they erased the weakness of being human. They could compute and calculate without emotional interference, and when one really sat down and thought about it, it was the most miraculous thing in existence.

But ultimately, that didn't mean it was always easy. Indeed, for Jeanine, it was the hardest thing she'd ever have to do.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

O N E

At school, all the others would pick on her. Jeanine had a layer of pudge around her midriff, and she was going through that stage where she started to get acne whenever she felt stressed. With examinations serving as the ultimate rank and with all of the research and studying she had to do, it wasn't a surprise that Jeanine had pimples. In fact, as a tall Dauntless boy ran past her and taunted her as she fell, causing her books to tumble onto the floor, it was just enough to break her.

She knew she wasn't supposed to cry, but she couldn't help it. Everything was just too much. Her mother expected her to score at least in the top one percent this year so that she could continue on with her advanced studies, and her father told her she wouldn't be fed dinner if she received anything less than an A. They were extremely hard on her, no doubt, but deep inside, Jeanine understood where they were coming from. They only wanted her to succeed, and to succeed, she had to be the best. It was as simple as that.

"Jeanine?"

Quickly, Jeanine pushed away her glasses and rubbed her blue sleeve over her eyes, hiding her tears. Getting a grip and attempting to regulate her breathing again, she looked up to see a tall, fluffy-haired boy kneel down next to her. He was picking up her books, and when his blue eyes met her gray eyes, he smiled at her. "Are you alright, Jeanine?"

Andrew Prior was one of those overly nice people who would always come to your aid. Normally that type of behavior was reserved for the Abnegations, but he was different. He was an Erudite, and Jeanine's parents often had coffee with Andrew's parents. She knew what he was like; she knew that he was clever, kind, curious, humble, quiet, thoughtful, handsome…

Handsome? No, she didn't just think that. As Andrew extended a hand and helped Jeanine up, still smiling as he handed her back her books, she could not think he was handsome. Attraction was one of those overly emotional things, and even at the age of fourteen years old, Jeanine knew how plagued humanity was by concepts such as emotion and attraction. Nothing good ever came of it, and that's why there had been war and anguish across the entire planet.

"I'm fine," she said coolly, slipping on her glasses. She could see him just as clearly, and he continued to smile, patience radiating from him.

"That's good to hear. I'm sorry that boy gave you a hard time."

"He didn't."

Her voice was sharp, perhaps a tad too sharp, but she didn't care. Spinning around, she headed back down the stairs, and she continued on her way to the library. She would proceed to study the molecular specifics of human flesh, and with some intense concentration, she could maybe progress to study the DNA structure.

As Jeanine found her favorite spot by the window and as she spread out her textbooks, she was lost. Andrew Prior was gone from her mind as she began to read and absorb information, and there was nothing that anyone could do about it.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

T W O

She'd grown a lot in two years. She no longer had acne and greasy skin, and her midriff had thinned out when she finally grew taller. People didn't make fun of Jeanine anymore, and as she flourished in school and rose to the top of her class, she became something of an Erudite symbol.

That didn't mean people liked her, though. Another thing about Erudite was to choose intelligence and skill over charisma and charm. Such subjective traits could be false and deceiving, and it never paralleled one's true ability and talents. It wasn't as important for a person to be liked as it was for them to be respected, so Jeanine didn't mind that no one ever wanted to tell her jokes or spend time with her. She saw them enough at school, and she had enough things to study anyway.

But one thing she couldn't understand was everyone's infatuation with love. Enough of her peers had started dating for it to become a real commodity, and while most Erudite relationships consisted of a person courting their intellectual superior, there were some outliers who defied such deep, ingrained systems of love and harmony.

Jeanine personally didn't feel that anyone was worthy of her affection and her intelligence, but she still couldn't completely suppress her feelings. Sometimes she wished someone would walk with her and hold her hand in the school hallways, and she sometimes wondered what it felt like to feel someone's lips pressed against hers. In the lab she would occasionally sit and watch various couples interact, and she rather liked how they served as compliments to one another. They thought on a similar level and seemed to be in sync, and for the most part, they seemed to operate as one.

The problem, however, was that they weren't one. They were two separate people leading two separate lives, and during the days before Choosing Day, everything and anything could change. It was all just so pointless.

Andrew, Jeanine noticed, also didn't seem to succumb to traditional norms. She'd been watching him ever since the day he helped her pick up her books, and she'd watch how he continued to advance with his studies yet increase his compassion to the point of becoming alarming. He was everyone's favorite tutor and everyone's favorite student, but he accepted it all with the shaking of his head and the warmth of his smile, ever so humble and gracious. He seemed more and more selfless with each passing day, and he seemed more and more like a member of Abnegation. With that thought, Jeanine felt the familiar frustration boil in the pits of her stomach.

The Abnegation factor was devoted to public service and so ruled over the city. They were incorruptible, everyone said, and so they made the best leaders and decision-makers since they would always put others before themselves. They gave up their seats on the bus, they helped the elderly carry their groceries, they volunteered on the weekends to repair the roads; they simply did everything oh so perfectly and oh so admirably.

Jeanine knew a lot of things, and one was that she just didn't like these people. They had a monopoly of power over the city, and as innocent as they seemed and as fair as they supposedly ruled, it just didn't sit right with her. She as an Erudite sat behind the scenes and contributed to the intellectual current of civilization, yet they were the ones to make the decisions and make all the rules.

Exiting the school and stepping outside, Jeanine looked over to her right. Andrew was standing with a group of Amity children by the sidewalk, helping them untangle their jump rope, and a thin girl with long, braided hair stood off to the side, her tight black shirt revealing her slender waist. As he finished with the rope and handed it back to the girls, smiling, Andrew turned around and went over to the girl.

Her face lit instantly as he leaned forward and embraced her, their lips brushing. With a stir, Jeanine watched as they took hands and made their way down toward the other part of town, not taking the bus or a car but merely strolling on foot.

Jeanine had seen them together before, but that didn't make it better. Something hot and tight caught at the back of her throat, and as Jeanine swallowed hard and made her way back to her house, clutching her books, she didn't know what to make of it.

Clearly she was upset, but clearly she didn't have to be. If she were as expressionless as the computers that organize all of her data, she'd never have to worry about this painful sensation again. Her heart wouldn't ache as she watched Andrew leave with that rash, suggestive Dauntless, and her eyes wouldn't pound as she fought back those damned, forbidden tears. To be void of emotion would make human life all the more easier, and as she neared her final days of schooling and the dawn of the beginning of the rest of her life, Jeanine Matthews swore that she could one day make that happen.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

THREE

Choosing Day wasn't as bad as everyone made it out to be. If you knew where you belonged, then you were fine. If you had any doubt or hesitation in your heart, then you didn't deserve a place and you would be disposed of. It was as simple as that.

So as everyone gathered to slit their palms and follow their callings, Jeanine wasn't worried. She'd known since her first recollection of consciousness that she was destined to achieve great things in Erudite, and that would hardly surprise anyone. Faction was always thicker than blood, but blood helped form and seal factions.

When they called Andrew Prior up to the stage, however, Jeanine will admit that she felt her heart begin to race. She watched him stroll up to the center of the clearing and nod to the Erudite leader, who was speaking since it was Erudite's turn to host the event. Everyone watched as he reached for the knife and confidently slashed forward, causing red to ooze from his skin. And as he stood up straight and reached forward, he moved his arm to the left and dropped his blood into gray stone.

The entire hall grew silent, and Jeanine risked a glance over her shoulder at her parents. They were sitting next to Andrew's parents, and as the couple exchanged a look and then held each other close, the mother shed a couple of tears.

People started to mutter, and it was only natural. An Erudite hardly ever went over to such a simple, worthless factor. There was no need for such a thing, and an Erudite who felt otherwise was nothing more than a good riddance.

But despite having this common knowledge, Jeanine couldn't quite accept it. She stared down at the front row of Abnegations and down at Andrew, and his smile looked so at ease and so natural there. His new faction had clapped and dipped their heads as he joined them, and they had never whispered nor murmured about his sudden, unexpected decision. They just absorbed him.

When Natalie Mode entered the center, her black tank top barely covering her waist, she too severed her skin and pressed it against the stone. More muttering spread throughout the hall, but there wasn't one from the assortment of gray to the right of Jeanine and the other Erudites. Once again, the Abnegations stood and clapped for Natalie's decision, and Andrew in particular smiled broad and wide as he opened his arms and enveloped her in a hug, kissing the top of her head.

Jeanine didn't have much time to think for soon it was her turn and her name, her choice and her destiny.

As she walked down the stairs, she decided to look at him. He was sitting with his arm around Natalie's shoulders, but at that instant, he was looking at Jeanine. Their eyes met for the first time in a long time, and Jeanine felt such warmth and sincerity spread from the contact. He seemed to be wishing her luck and prosperity, and beneath that, he seemed to be letting her know that it wasn't so bad and that he was happy with his choice.

But what Jeanine didn't need was his human weakness, and what she wanted was to get away from these feelings. She felt all of her frustration at the human race surge into her eyes and to her gaze, and she saw his alarmed reaction as he registered all of her hate.

As if in a fast-moving dream, Jeanine went up to the table and took the knife from her leader, staring coolly into his face. He gave her a nod, somewhat smugly, and she then stuck it into her palm, moved directly the center and watched light blue change to sizzling red.

Thanks for checking out my story. This initially centers around Jeanine and Andrew, but it will extend to Tris and Caleb in due time. This is a story about what it means for Jeanine to start humming to the drone of a computer in an attempt to eradicate human weakness, and it's also about how being human can get in the way. I think we all can relate to trying to get rid of our emotions and live more mechanically, and I also think we can all relate to just not being able to get over certain things.