"The future belongs to those who know where they belong. I want you to choose wisely, and I know you will." -Jeanine Matthews

Mara POV:

When the train arrived at the Erudite compound all of the returning initiates and the transfer initiates entered the large and spacious building.

Once I walked into the building, I immediately noticed the polished floors, the long stairways, and how most of the walls were made of glass.

I noticed some of the initiates were in awe about the appearance of the Erudite compound. I thought it was indescribable compared to Candor.

Once everyone arrived inside, a young female with red hair led us toward a room that resembled a classroom. The room had chairs placed in several rows just like the Hub. There was around twenty rows of chairs, and I took a seat on one of the top rows close to the back of the room.

I noticed there was a young male and a middle aged woman standing in the front of the room.

The young male had coconut colored hair with forest green eyes. I noticed he wore a pair of royal blue pants, a white button down shirt, and a long royal blue jacket. The middle aged female wore a royal blue pencil skirt, a pale blue blouse, and a pair of royal blue flats. Her honey blond hair was placed in a tight bun.

I thought they both looked like unbreakable statues.

"Welcome initiates. I would like to introduce myself, my name is Judith Matthews. I am also referred to as Jeanine Matthews niece. Now, I am sure you have heard horrific stories about my aunt, and I can assure you that I will not allow my family member's past mistakes to cloud my judgement. I want to improve the lives of each and every one of the faction citizens. I have done a lot of research and conducted a solution to improve the lives of all citizens in each faction. I will discuss our new experiment in a moment, but first I would like to introduce your instructor." Judith said gesturing the instructor to stand in front of the class.

"Greetings initiates. My name is Paxton and as Judith already stated, I am your instructor. I am here to assist some of you in training to become a member of our faction. I am sure that all of you are questioning, why am I only helping a number of you train? Only a true Erudite member would question our intentions, and as our leader stated all will be explained in time. First, I would like to inform you initiates what you will have to endure in training. Training for all of you will be separated into three stages. The first stage will require you to read and study under subjects in which you must be educated in. These subjects are Sociology, Psychology, Mathematics, Science, Communication, and History. The second stage in training will require you to apply what you have learned. You are required to take rigorous test in order to show how much knowledge you have obtained from your studies. You will be scored on you performance on these test, and if you fail you will become factionless. Now, the final stage requires you to apply everything you have learned from each subject matter under simulation. You will have to rely on your knowledge alone to pass the final test in order to become an Erudite member. I assume none of you have any questions, so return your attention to our leader Judith." Paxton said and I did not know how to process everything he said.

I did not realize that Judith had even left the room while Paxton was talking. Judith entered the room with a large glass bowl in her hands. Judith sat the glass bowl down on the desk in front of the room, and some of the initiates whispered amongst each other.

I noticed the glass bowl was filled with folded pieces of paper.

"Silence." Judith said calmly and everyone stopped talking at once.

"I know all of you must be curious about this object before you. This object is only the beginning of what is to come." Judith stated stepping in front of the desk.

"Over recent years, I have seen a steady decline of citizen's performance in their chosen fields of choice. Whether they choose to be doctors, scientists, teachers, or librarians. I am beginning to sense that even though some initiates may pass through training they are not mentally prepared to be a part of our faction. Everyone has their own destiny and sometimes people choose the wrong path based upon their dreams. To avoid initiates from choosing the wrong faction, I have decided too began a little experiment. This experiment will ask from one male and one female from each faction to sacrifice their lives in three trails. The point of this experiment is to make an example for future initiates to choose a faction that matches there characteristics perfectly. Your faction should not be selected only on interests but skills. Think of yourselves as human sacrifices or test subjects. This could change the future of the factions forever." Judith said and I shook my head at her selfishness.

My parents were right about the Erudite faction. They only look out for themselves and could care less about the well- being of others.

"There is no need for the long faces. Only two of you are selected, and this is not a guaranteed death sentence." Paxton said standing beside the bowl.

"I am going to pull two names from this bowl, and I would like the chosen initiates to stand beside me once your name is called. I will call the female initiate first." Paxton said I figured it could have been anyone.

"Mara Pedrad." Paxton called and I wanted to disappear. Out of all the female initiates my name was selected.

"Now for the male initiate. Axl Amery." Paxton said and a male around six feet tall stood from his seat with a shocked expression. He walked slowly towards the front of the room like a zombie, and I felt his pain.

"Now, Paxton will lead the rest of the initiates toward the dressing rooms, so you can dress and prepare for training." Judith replied facing the rest of the initiates.

Once the initiates exited the room, Judith turned towards us.

She smiled lightly. "Neither of you should look so down. I am sure you will pass through your trails effortlessly. Remember, the only solution for conflict is knowledge. The Erudite members rely on knowledge and knowledge alone. If stand by that, then you will succeed." Judith said.

"I have no doubts." I said trying to hold my tongue.

"Me neither." Axl agreed and I refused to look him in the eyes.

"Good. Now follow me. It is time for you two to board the train."

Judith said and I instantly regretted my decision to leave home.

AN: First of all, thank you so much for the feedback. I submitted this chapter at 4:00 a.m. so hopefully this was not disappointing. I tried to cover a lot of information in this chapter and more will be revealed about the experiment later on. So stay tuned and let me know what you think. Thanks again .