AN: This is my first fanfic. So, please reviews are welcome. I love reading all the time but never thought I would right my own story. One night this story popped into my head and I had to write it down. I await your opinions! Enjoy...
*UPDATE* I had previously started this story with little care and eventually abandoned it. To my previous readers, I am so sorry the original chapters of this story were so bad. This updated version still has the storyline I envisioned. The only difference will be some character name changes, more detail, and hopefully an overall better flow.
Disclaimer: I do not own the Divergent Trilogy. The privilege of ownership goes to Veronica Roth. The only thing I own is this plot and the characters I create.
What Started Everything
~ Many Decades Earlier ~
"Amanda, please you have to listen to me."
"My name is Edith now. Those going into the city have all changed names in preparation for the Chicago Experiment."
"Fine. Edith, the experiment isn't going to work!"
"Yes it will! I did the research and helped monitor the earlier experiments. The Faction system concept we've come up with, for the Columbus city Experiment, is doing well. The People there have fit into their factions, as expected, and data shows each new initiate group grows closer to the possibility of transfers. I've run a simulation and, once people choose to transfer, this will begin the first signs of genetic repair."
The man sitting across from Edith stands and starts pacing around the cramped office Edith occupies. Boxes are stacked around the room, which limits his path. It is clear on his face that he is struggling with a great decision. Edith watches him with concern in her eyes. He stops pacing and turns toward her. He stares hard at her and tries to convey all that he wants to reveal. Unbeknownst to Edith, no matter how changing the information he possesses would be, he cannot share what he holds. A few weeks before he was injected with a virus that keeps certain intelligence between individuals with an intrinsically designed, golden inked spider tattoo.
Closing his eyes and letting out a heavy sigh, the man addresses Edith once more.
"Amanda—"
"Edith"
Anger briefly flashing in his eyes and through gritted teeth, he tries again, "Edith, there are things… people…"
Believing he is trying to persuade her away from the experiment once again, she raises her hand to silence him and stands to join him.
"I am tired of this. I am not going to stop the experiments," she states. Giving the man in front of her a stern look, to stop him from interrupting her. "We have lost half of North America because of the Purity War. This selective breeding will repair the genetic damage. Though it is likely to take many generation, those we've termed Divergents will appear. Divergents are going to be those whose genes are repairing. They will be able to understand the different behaviors of society and they will be able to accept that there is more than one way to live."
"You can't know that for sure!" He reaches out and grabs her arms, shaking her. "Your simulations could be wrong! You must stay outside the experiment! Please!"
"No! I have to go! I am one of the few left with pure, undamaged genes! I am needed to help start the experiment. There are very few with natural genetics like me. I and four others are going to start the gradual repair, in this chosen groups DNA. This is my experiment. I came up with the factions and I have a right to be a subject to my own ideas!"
Dropping his head in defeat, knowing in his heart there was no way he could ever coax the woman out of her own operation. Only if there was a way to let her in on the danger… on the changes that will happen, if this experiment were to proceed.
Reaching up to stroke her cheek he says, "Amanda… there are things at work that will harm… just please trust me…"
Turning her head sharply away from his touch, Edith backs away and starts to gather the last of the paperwork on her desk.
"I… I've made of my mind. Everything is set to go. The video has been recorded, the city wall has just been finished, and all the chosen inhabitants have been inoculated with the memory serum. I and the other pure four will be inoculated tomorrow morning and transported inside the city walls."
Shaking her head, to keep the tears from falling, she gathers everything she need and straightens. Without looking at the man standing in her office, Amanda Marie Ritter, now known as Edith Prior, turns to leave her office.
Once at the threshold, she turns to look at the man in the middle of her office and addresses him one last time.
"Goodbye Robert… Please learn to accept my decision"
Robert moves to reach out for her but stops, when she shakes her head and finally shuts the door softly behind her.
Instead of chasing after her, Robert drops to his knees and stares at where the one he loves was just standing. His head drops into his hand, once he realized he will never see his Amanda ever again.
If only! If only he was allowed to tell her what the leaders of the Golden Spider, an organization unknown to the Bureau, have done to change the outcome. As his tears started to fall, his mind began to wonder back to the meeting he was required to attend only a month before.
*FLASHBACK*
The warehouse was dank, abandoned, and eerie. The sound of dripping water accompanied him as he walked toward the door with a golden spider hanging discretely above the door. The only way to notice it is by knowing when and where to look. Once inside, he is greeted by ten other people. All of which he knew has similar golden spiders, in various places, inked onto their bodies just like the one above the door.
Immediately he senses the presence of the man who obviously holds the room. This man easily radiates a sense of power. Nodding his head in greeting, Robert walks up to the powerful man with purpose.
"I am ready to take my tattoo."
The man standing above him smiles and nods to another who has the materials needed to complete the task.
As Robert is seated, he points to the area he wishes to have his mark placed. The artist soon sets to work and Robert watches in fascination as the man needles the intricate spider onto his shoulder.
Eventually, the man in charge addresses the entire room.
"Welcome Brothers and Sisters! This will be the last meeting to be held here because, by tomorrow, we will all be inside the Chicago city wall. As we are all aware, this government experiment will not work. At least not without our help. The Purity War has crippled the proper creation of humanity and we must fix it. Our operatives have already infused one of the Pure Five with our special gene. As we all know, this gene will be dormant for many decades. Only with the spilling, of the strongest Divergent blood, will our gene finally be ready. So, we must wait patiently, for that time to come!
Cheers erupted throughout the room. Each and every face there elated with the idea of what is to come and what they hope to change.
"Tomorrow we join those already inside the wall! We will assume lives inside the city but we will retain our memories. With our memories, we can watch the growth of Divergents and recognize when the strongest one arrives. Know that each and every one of you is responsible in keeping your family a part of the Golden Spider. Your descendants will be charged with continuing the work we have started. So, as you leave the meeting today, you will be given a new identity and all the information one would need to flawlessly integrate into the experimental society. Leave today knowing you are doing what is right and needed for our world! Never forget what is to come!"
Robert blinks out of his memory and rises from the floor. He knows without a doubt that the path he has chosen is right, but not having Amanda, by his side, and having the knowledge of what is to come, is difficult for him to accept.
Knowing that blood must be spilt is not an easy thing to carry.
Luckily, he will not be around to witness the destruction.
With that last thought, Robert leaves Amanda's office and starts to prepare for his new life as a resident of the Chicago Faction Experiment.
AN: That's it for the Prologue! Please review! Now, I know a lot of you will have questions about what I am trying to do but all will be revealed in time! To give a little hint on what I'm trying to do, I might bring into existence… magic. I know that isn't part of Divergent but I wanted to do something different than other 'Continuations of the Divergent Universe' stories. I am one who loves the idea of magic, so that's why I'm doing it. Think of it not as magic but as extreme genetic evolution. The reason I am bring this up, in the beginning, is because I know a lot of people will not be keen on this addition into the universe. So, I would love to hear opinions! I want to hear what everyone thinks about this and, if too many are against the idea, I won't do it and I will spin the story another way. (Don't worry I have magic and non-magic versions in my head) Please weigh in with your thoughts. Also, if you review and were one of my previous readers, let me know! I value your thoughts more so :)
Stay Adventurous!
~ EN