Prologue - Before the Faction System
The faction system wasn't the first idea the authorities came up with for restoring order. In fact, it wasn't even the first long-term solution they instated. There was a whole other system society ran under until it finally miserably collapsed and the need for a new system came. Most people don't know this of course. The government prefers to keep citizens unaware of their mistakes and fallibility.
I'm writing this down in the hopes of preserving some history. I'm hoping that once I'm gone and the few other people who know this information are gone, someone will read this with an open mind.
It's a bit foolish to assume that causing and winning a revolution will lead always directly to what you were fighting for. Of course it will bring you a step closer, but life is a process and, the fact is, some changes just cannot be made over night.
Chapter 1 - The Secret File
Tris noticed the thin, white slip of paper that the drive ejected after hologram video of Edith Prior played. After the initial state of shock settled a bit and she was able to tune out all the commotion and chaos going on, she hesitantly grabbed the small paper. It appeared blank except for a silvery, gleaming line running length-wise in the center of the paper. Tris stared at it until Tobias noticed and came over to inspect what she was looking at.
"Do you know what this is?" Tris asked as she inspected it curiously. "It just came out of the disk after the video played, almost like some kind of receipt."
Tobias looked just as confused as she did. "I have no idea.. sounds like a question for the erudite."
Tris snorted. "How convenient."
At the sight of the paper, Caleb's eyes widened in recognition. "That.. that can't be what it looks like." Even after everything that happened, he could not hide his intrigue and excitement when new knowledge or information was presented.
Tris struggled to withhold her rage. She still was in shock about Caleb's betrayal, but she forced herself to hold back for the time being."What is it?" she muttered.
"I.. I've only come across brief descriptions and books but.. it's supposed to be the stuff of legends! No one knows of any solid proof of these actually existing!
"What is it Caleb?" Tris asked less patiently this time.
"It's some kind of relic from the past, a previous order." Caleb said thoughtfully. "There have possible been certain changes and differences in the devices we use since the original faction system.. I don't know how extreme the differences were, it varies with each source.. But this is something that has been rumored to have existed at the beginning. It's some kind of memory recording device. People used them as kind of diaries to record accounts of their life story. I'm assuming all the others have been destroyed, for some reason.. but clearly the owner of this one found a good way to insure it's preservation."
"So how does it work? Is it like a stream of memories you can view through a serum? How do you access it's content?"
"Umm.. well its set to open it's contents only to specific or limited number of specific people.. I don't know the specifics.. but you're supposed to run your finger along the length of the paper and silver line.. and I guess from that it detects if you're someone the contents can be granted access to."
Tris had a curious look on her face and gently started to move her finger across the paper.
"Tris, I don't think.." but before Caleb could finish what he was going to say, the paper lit up and started to vibrate with a humming noise. Then the light started to spread until it became a screen with cloudy images forming behind it. And then.. the crowd was given a never before seen glimpse of history