Yet another One Shot for Divergent.
"Uriah Arcane*" My name rang out through the room. I stood up. "Room 4." My friends behind me all whistled and shouted. I laughed in response.
I stepped forward into one of the rooms marked with a dark 4. A lady in Abnegation grey was sitting before me, her long brown hair piled on top of her head in a bun and her collar buttoned all the way up.
"Have a seat, please." She motioned to the chair. "I'm going to hook a few wires to you. Please, dear, try not to squirm." I nodded. Wires were hooked lightly to my arms and then she sat down. "Drink the contents of the cup to your right. As soon as you swallow, I will count down from sixty and you will be sent into the simulation." She smiled softly before turning to her computer. She put on a headset and then some glasses.
I raised the cup to my lips and drank it all. I sat back and counted backwards in my head. 60,59... In no time at all I was at three and then she said, "Simulation will being now." And the room disappeared.
"Choose." A voice told me.
"Why?" I asked, staring at the table in front of me.
"Just choose." They said.
"Okay." I replied. Cheese or knife. Knife. I picked it up.
A dog came barreling towards me. I jumped out of the way, stuffing the knife in my jacket.
I leaned down and held out my hand. The dog came towards me, growling, and I knelt down on one knee. I put my palm facing the ground and stared the dog in the eyes. It whined and flopped onto the ground.
A little girl ran over screaming, "Doggie!"
"No!" I shouted, jumping in front of the small girl and the dog's jaws clamped on my jacket. I snapped my hand against the dogs head and it fell back, whining and fell to the ground.
The scene changed and I was on a bus. A man sat across from where I was standing. We were the only people on the bus other than the driver. I gripped the metal bar above my head.
"Do you know him?" He pointed at a picture of a man, he was in the paper.
He looked familiar. "No." I said.
"You're lying." He shouted.
"No!" I snapped.
"You're lying! I know you are! I'm Candor!" He slapped the seat in front of him, his eyes bulging.
"I'm not!" I screamed.
"You could save me!" He yelled.
"I don't know him!" I screamed.
The bus disappeared. I was back in the chair.
"I'll be right back." She told me quietly.
"Okay." I said. I looked at my arm. No bite marks.
She walked back in. "That was.. interesting. It appears that you are a person which we call, Divergent." I hissed. "It's not as bad as it seems. You have, it seems, two aptitudes. Dauntless, of course, but also Abnegation. Instead of using the knife, you spared the dog. And instead of killing it, unlike a logical choice, you jumped and took the bite, for the girl. You have a choice to make."
I nodded and stood up. I walked out of the room. A girl walked out, she was in grey and looked like she had seen a ghost. I walked past her. Abnegation.
I walked back to my friends and my worries diminished slightly.
But I glanced over. The table of grey bodies. I could be there. But no, I belong here. In Dauntless. I think.
I glanced down the line. I would be the second to last to choose. Reverse alphabetical order. I watched as a Dauntless boy, I knew him well, stepped forward to take the knife. He glanced back at the Dauntless. He was dressed in black. But I already knew he would be a transfer. He was never the strongest, never able to fight. I looked away as he transferred to Amity, of course.
A chorus of anger rose form the Dauntless. The Amity looked smug, a brutal fighter becoming peaceful. But their expressions changed when the next boy, and Amity kid, changed to Dauntless. He was pudgy and I knew he wouldn't make it. Lynn and Marlene, both R's, chose Dauntless of course. A boy in grey chose Erudite. That didn't seem right. A girl in grey stepped up.
She seemed conflicted. Her eyes flicked between bowls on one side. Abnegation and Dauntless. The two I was fighting over. I watched as she breathed and sliced her hand open. And her blood sizzled on the coals. I knew she was one to watch. My brother had an Abnegation in his year. And he came out on top.
In no time it was my turn. I walked forward confidently and sliced my palm. Coals. No questions. But I hesitated. The blood swelled on my palm and ran down my arm. I breathed and dropped my arm over the coals.
I can be brave and selfless, but not selfless and brave.