"They can't actually be hoarding all of that for themselves."
"Can't they? They've had enough time."
"But they're selfless. Even if the leader's aren't, the people are."
"Power corrupts, Jack. Look at Dauntless for God's sake."
"But we were the ones who did it to them!"
"Doesn't change the fact that it still happened."
"Jean, I don't know if I can support this."
"You don't need to support it, Jack, you just need to stand out of the way."
"Look at what it will do to us! Rebellion? Look what it got the rest of the world!"
"Guards, please come arrest Mr. Matthews for treason."
"What! Jeanine, I'm your husband!"
"I've decided that you're a threat to us, dear. Don't act surprised. Kill him."
"But our son!"
"I'll tell him myself. Don't worry. He has your logical processes."
"Go to hell, Jean-"
"Good. Now get me a janitor and clean up the blood. And find my damn son; he's late for his lessons. Again."
I pluck the short knife from the wooden dummy, and look at the facsimile of a face. It's a standard wooden combat dummy, and has what is supposed to be a human face is painted on it's head. Well, drawn, actually. I think it's in crayon. Dauntless buffoons. It's no wonder all my faction had to do to buy their leaders was say the word "power" twice in the same sentence.
I take a few seconds and scan the room I'm in. My mother, the leader of my faction, always has her cronies set up a few audio and video bugs daily in all the rooms she thinks I might go in. Meaning that every ten square meters of the Erudite compound there are at least five surveillance devices. It's not to spy on me though. It's a game we play. Hide and seek, almost.
It started when I was five, and she was just working up the ladder of command in Erudite. My father and her were talking at the dinner table about a new kind of camera they had developed, and while they were speaking, I looked under the table. I was bored.
I noticed a screw in the wood where no screw normally was, and, being the curious Erudite, I plucked at it. It peeled off to reveal a small circuit board and what looked like a mini microphone.
I had put my findings on the table and interrupted them. "Would this work for it's audio?" My mother had immediately grabbed the bug and took it into her laboratory and then reported it to the leader of Erudite. It turned out that the bug had been placed their by one of my mother's rivals for leadership.
My parents praised me, but I didn't really notice. It was so obvious. The table had twenty screws holding it together, and there was no need for an extra. My mother then decided that she would train me in finding security features, from tripwires to hidden cameras to possible guard posts. My father, like normal, didn't approve. He's too protective. My mother believes in taking risks for the best rewards.
I look at an ancient drywall slab that constitutes a wall, and immediately pick out a different shade of grey from the color of the wall. I walk over to it and peel it off and find a audio and visual bug behind it. I wave into the camera lens, and then crush it underneath my palm. I get a little jolt of electricity, but it doesn't do anything besides make my heart pound.
I look around for any other bugs. I'm in an ancient storage room, probably old when the Erudite had first occupied the compound. It's a storage room for things we don't need; fabrics, needles, ancient clothing display models, the occasional magazine. It must have been a dumping spot for a tailor. Now it had become my personal training room.
Training. Classes.
I'm late for my classes.
I drop all ideas of my physical training and looking for any more surveillance devices as I run out the door. I quickly shut it behind me, and the hinges groan their goodbyes. The abandoned warehouse is on the corner of the compound, so I have to sprint across a few hundred meters to get into the educational buildings. I pick up my backpack from behind a rock as I go.
I'm brushing the leaves and dirt off my backpack when I make it to the door. Two blue clad men step out from behind pillars. I do my normal visual check of them and realize that they both have some sort of weapon hidden in their sleeves. I'm in trouble.
"Gladius Matthews, please come with us." The one on the right side of me says. I look him in the eyes. I don't recognize him, and he speaks with a bit of a drawl.
"Give me a reason." I say, scowling at the one on the left while he tries to subtly position himself to chase after me in case I run.
"You have been invited to speak to Leader Matthews in her office immediately." The man on the right continues to try to direct my attention at him. It doesn't work. I feel my stomach start to make movements suggesting it's about to make a noise. That starts my plan formulating.
"Oh, but I'm hungry. Can't I eat first?" I put my hand on my stomach, and slowly approach the door to the educational building.
"No, I'm sorry, but-"
My stomach growls loudly. Like I suspected, the two guards look around for the source of the noise for a split second before it registers in their head that it came from me. But that split second is all I need.
I twirl around and extend my right leg. I hit the man in the right right on the back of the legs. He loses his balance, and I help him fall with a palm jab to the back of the spine.
The man in the left, expecting me to make a break for it, jumps in between the two pillars with his hands outstretched. Silly guard. By the time he realizes what's happening, I'm already through the doors to the educational building. The blue hallways are empty; everyone else is in class.
I don't look back to see if the remaining guard is following me. He's probably making sure I didn't injure his partner too bad. Good. That gives me time to get to class.
I calm my heart with a few rounds of deep breaths, and then walk the rest of the way to my classroom. I open the door and already have the first round of excuses on my tongue when I realize some thing.
One: The window on the classroom door was covered by a curtain, which only happens during tests.
Two: There is only one other person in the classroom, and they are sitting on the teacher's desk.
Three: It's my mother.
"Well, Glad, I must admit, I'm impressed." She gives me a smile, and tilts her head. She's probably going to ground me for the first time in my life.
"Aren't you always?" I ask, returning her sarcastic smile. "What's not to be impressed by?"
"Oh, you have made it far in Abnegation." She stands up from the desk, smoothing down her blue business suit. She has at least ten pairs of the same suit. My mother walks over to one of the classroom windows, and looks out to where a class of five year olds is studying a flower garden. I walk over and stand besides her, hands clasped behind my back.
"You moved the class to a different room." I say. My mother is very tricky when it comes to her plans. She weaves plans inside plans inside plans.
"Yes. Right now they're learning about the creation of new atoms from blades of grass. The test is tomorrow." My mother doesn't look at me, but I can tell from her eyes that she isn't angry. Then again, she rarely gets angry, sad, or happy. She's pure thought.
"I'll study tonight." I say, rocking back on my heels.
"No you won't. You're being pulled out of all your classes."
I keep my jaw from dropping. "Reason being?"
My mother finally turns to look at me. Her brown eyes have steel in them. "Your father is no longer around to keep me from developing your expertise."
I let out something akin to an "Ah". My father, dead. Meaning my mother probably ordered it. Faction before blood, I repeat inside my head.
"I've already notified the teachers. I've also notified the researchers in the Serum branch that you'll be withdrawing from their program."
"Good. Serum is your specialty." I look back out the window. I should have expected this development.
"And your specialties need to be honed. Combat. Subversion. Manipulation. Leadership. Strategy. All of the things Erudite needs if we're going to get rid of Abnegation."
"Why are we doing this, mother?" I look her between the eyes. It's about time she gives me an answer.
"Because sooner or later, the Abnegation council is going to decide that everyone should be like them. We'll be forced to abandon our libraries, our books, our computers. Each of us will be forced to become a shell of humanity. We need to help ourselves before we can help others."
I nod. It's an acceptable thought process. Bandage your own wounds before you bandage others. "What are you going to do about father's body?"
"Burn it. The body is just a shell, Gladius. The all we need is up here." She leans over and taps me on the forehead. "Now, let's go get something to eat. I hear you're starving." My mother leans over and plucks a leaf off of my backpack. She snaps it in half, and I see the small circuit board concealed inside. Genius.
That's my mother. Always three steps ahead when everyone else is still tying their shoes.