** Anything recognisably Divergent belongs to Veronica Roth… I simply like to play with her world and characters.
FOUR'S POV
This was my second year training initiates. Last year the training had gone much more smoothly. Eric had still been there, overseeing it all but he had been more in the background, watching and acting bored the majority of the time. Lauren and I had worked well together, training soldiers and pushing their limits without completely breaking them.
This year though, things were different. Obviously there was more at stake with Tris and the baby, but aside from that there was a tension in the air, a sense of urgency to get the latest class of trainees up and running. To completely crush them and make them over into this new way of Dauntless life… a way of life I wasn't sure I was liking the more I saw the attitudes and the leadership shift.
This new way of training, the pressure we were putting on the initiates was becoming problematic – and dangerous. I had seen it with Edward as soon as I had returned from the roof with Tris.
I had been focused after I left her, busy putting back on my mask and becoming Four the instructor again. It wasn't just Tris who needed to make it through training; I also had to focus on running the simulations and being the leader that they would all soon expect me to be.
It was probably a good thing I could shift easily back into that persona, as within minutes of moving through the compound and heading for the control room I had been hauled into the infirmary to see to my top initiate.
What concerned me the most was the arrogance of how it had happened; Edward walking towards the dormitories and turning a corner only to have the butter knife plunged directly through his eye by someone obviously waiting for him. His face masked but his disregard for time of day or potential witnesses completely conceited as he simply turned and walked away and into the shadows.
I can't say I was surprised when I had heard what had happened and immediately I had an idea of who would be capable of such a thing. But when I asked Edward who had done it, he couldn't say for certain. Unfortunately the angle of the cameras, combined with the shadows and the mask he wore made it impossible to confirm my suspicions of who it was. Digging around I knew that Peter and Edward had been in a confrontation after they had come out of the training room and the ranks were announced, Peter shoving Edward and accusing him of not belonging here, believing his higher rank was undeserved. Edward had walked away and ironically enough had decided to quit; he was going to follow his low-ranking girlfriend out and become factionless by choice, heading to the dormitories to pack his things when the attack had happened.
"Come on in Four," I jumped when I heard Max's naturally loud voice, surprised to see the door to his office now open. I had been so absorbed in my thoughts from Edward and the previous day, on worry for Tris and the rest of the initiates after the first day of simulations that I hadn't been paying attention.
Standing up from the chair in the hallway I made my way into his office, closing the door behind me and having a seat across from him.
"I want to get you caught up on a few things right away." He began without pleasantries as soon as I was seated. I simply nodded at him to continue as he folded his hands on the desk and sat forward.
"As a faction, we maintain five leaders at all times. It is our job to oversee not only how our faction is run, the training of new initiates and the governing of our police… but we are also the ones that maintain peace and order among the faction system. We work closely with leadership from all factions to settle disputes and to ensure that our society continues to function in the way it has been established." Max continued to tell me about the role of leadership within Dauntless, explaining that I would be taking over for Griffin, an older member who would be retiring to a role as advisor, similar to what Ashe did.
"In recent years there has been a growing dissention between Abnegation and Erudite, with potential to break out into a war that could destroy the faction system and the way of life we are accustomed to. It is our job to investigate the problem, weed out any potential threats – such as the divergent – and to enforce certain changes to prevent that from happening." I tried not to cringe back as Max spat out the word divergent, remembering my instructor Amar and the death sentence that his divergence had been. I tried to focus on what Max was saying and to read between the lines and understand what it was exactly that he wasn't telling me.
"Where exactly do I fit into all of this… why was there such a huge need for me to accept this role?" I asked carefully, not entirely sure that I wanted to know the answer to that question.
"We've been watching you since the day you let your blood drip over the coals at your choosing ceremony Four. It was apparent from the beginning that you were a leader – even among your initiation class. You weren't chosen just by me. It was a decision that was made before you were even fully Dauntless by myself and Ashe, Quinn, Jade and Griffin as well as the rest of the advisory committee. Not only did you earn your place here at Dauntless, but you came from a place where you understand the truth about human nature better than most others." He answered me and I felt my teeth clench at what he was referring to, my past life in Abnegation.
"The main thing you need to know right now and that you will learn as you learn your new role – is that things are changing. Both here in Dauntless and throughout the city and it is our job to ensure a smooth transition that will at the same time preserve our society." He stressed and I nodded. I didn't fully understand but something about his tone and his expression told me not to ask right now. I knew I would find out soon enough.
"How did day one of simulations go?" Suddenly the air was lighter as he sat back and spoke and I shrugged before replying, "They went fine. The usual fears popped up – spiders, abandonment, becoming Abnegation or Amity..."
"This is the stage where you need to watch your initiates Four. Any sign of Divergence among the initiates and you need to bring it back to us now that you are in leadership." He stated, his voice cool and I stopped myself from shuddering as I remembered the first time someone had mentioned the term Divergent to me. It had been during my own initiation by my instructor Amar, right before Amar had been…
"Anyone stand out to you today?" He asked pulling me from my thoughts and I quickly shook my head. There was no one that I had run sims for that would stand out like that… but my thoughts were on Tris again. I didn't know how her sims had gone today – Lauren and I hadn't had a chance to go over the results yet, but I did know what her initial test results had been thanks to Tori.
"Keep an eye out. We can't afford to let even one Divergent slip through." He warned and I nodded my head, my mouth oddly dry at what he was implying.
"Is there anything else I need to know or that I should be doing?" I asked a minute later, the silence uncomfortable as I thought over everything he had told me.
"No. We'll keep in touch… right now your priority is the initiation class and keeping an eye on your trainees." In his voice was a warning, against what I wasn't entirely sure. But as I left his office, the entire meeting kept replaying in my mind. I still didn't fully understand what my role was going to be, why they had seemed almost desperate to have me join them in leadership and why things were suddenly changing.
By the time I made it back downstairs and into the cafeteria, I was exhausted. Glancing around the room I saw Tris sitting across the dining hall, her back to me as Uriah rolled his eyes at something she was presumably saying.
"Four!" Reaching the line of food, I ignored Zeke's call and grabbed a plate, loading it up with meat and potatoes.
"How'd it go?" He asked as I grabbed a mug and filled it with coffee.
"Fine I guess."
"That's all you're gonna give me? A fine?" He balked and I shook my head as he grabbed a slice of cake and added it to my tray.
"There isn't much to tell… this morning we ran the initiates through the sims – which were all pretty much the usual…"
"What happened with Max?" He interrupted and I smirked at him before answering. "Absolutely nothing… it was a quick meeting and honestly we didn't cover much."
"That's it? No big secret or crazy leadership inauguration ceremony?" He mock saluted as we moved towards a table in the back of the room, as close to privacy as we could get in here.
"Knock it off Zeke. You know it's not like that here at Dauntless." I rolled my eyes as we sat down, making sure that I could still see the back of Tris from where we were.
"Is she okay today?" He questioned as he saw where my eyes drifted and gestured over his shoulder. Unfortunately I didn't have an answer for him and all I could do was shrug. "Haven't seen her really since dropping her off yesterday afternoon." I told him as I shoved a piece of meat into my mouth.
"So you didn't know then?" He suddenly turned serious and I shot him an angry glare, warning him to spit out whatever he knew.
"She was the one who found that kid with the knife in his eye yesterday… she kept him calm while she called for help. I assumed you knew that." He explained and I felt sick to my stomach. Nobody had mentioned that detail to me yesterday or even today. "Anyways, I saw her this morning on my way to the control room. She looked like hell and said she hadn't slept much last night." He continued and I sighed, closing my eyes briefly in frustration at the fact that I couldn't help her right now. "She was with Uriah this morning and I can't help but notice that they're together now as well…" He trailed off and I nodded my head, swallowing another bite of food before pushing my plate away.
"Speaking of Uriah… you better tell him to watch his back from here on out." I warned my friend, knowing that as much as he and his brother bickered and argued, they were really close.
"Oh yeah?" He raised his eyebrow up at me in question.
"Yeah, I have a sneaking suspicion that I know who attacked Edward and that it was all because of the rankings. Seeing as Uriah was also ranked above him, I would let Uriah know to watch out just in case." I told him in a low voice.
"Thanks… I'll let him know." He answered, grabbing the cake off my tray and digging in.
"Any weird ones today?" Lauren asked as I joined her back in the training room.
It had been a long day, running the simulations in the morning and going through the initiates' fears with them. Following that up, we took them on a run out of the compound and through one of the factionless sectors in this area of the city. Not many of them were happy with the resuming of the physical aspect of training, but honestly what did they expect. Everyone at Dauntless was expected to maintain an optimal physical shape, it wasn't a quick program that they completed once and could then let slide.
"Nothing out of the ordinary… there were moths and abandonment issues, a fear of mice and crowds… all pretty standard stuff." I told her, trying to recall if even one of them had stood out to me as out of the ordinary.
Nothing. All of it mundane and fairly simply.
"What about you?" I asked her and she twisted her hands behind her neck, stretching out before answering.
"Nothing unusual as in what the fears were." She told me and I nodded, that was good. "But I do want you to go over one initiate's sims when you have a chance… it wasn't really that her simulations were unusual in content… but the time frame. I've never seen anyone get through them as fast as she did." I felt my stomach sink at her words, my thoughts immediately turning to Tris; instinctively I knew it was her.
"Alright, let's head over and take a look." I sighed and headed for the office off to the side of the landscape room. A minute later and I was watching Tris' first two days of fear training, watching as she fought off crows and calmed herself down within three minutes and then following with her being locked in a glass tank and drowning, evacuating the sim nearly as fast as the first time.
"See what I mean?" Lauren asks me as soon as I pull the wires off my temples and shut down the computer program. Silently I nod my head and feel my brow furrow as I think over what I just saw.
"Yeah, I see it. She seems to be exceptionally good at calming herself down in the midst of her fear." I say as diplomatically as I can and Lauren hums in agreement. But I can tell she isn't quite satisfied with my response.
"Think she might be… you know, divergent?" She finally spits out and I fight to remain calm, breathing evenly as I think through the correct answer.
"I doubt it. She doesn't seem to be aware in the simulations or manipulating them, simply calming down quickly. Let's watch for a couple more days and see what happens." I answer and she nods thoughtfully.
"Alright. We'll wait and see…" She said and then switched off quickly, returning to her assessments of the other initiates and giving me a rough idea of how she's already ranking them for this stage. Keeping part of my mind focused on what she's saying and giving her my evaluations of the transfers so far, I run over ways to get to Tris in my mind. I know now that this is going to be the hardest part of training for her, the part where she has to hide who she is – what she is – and not be discovered as the same thing that I am. She has to shut down her divergence and I'm the only one who can warn her.
A/N: I'm back. I promise I haven't abandoned this story, however updating may be a little longer between chapters than I had planned. Hope you enjoyed and please review, I read every review that I get. Thank you to all who have reviewed so far and to those continuing to follow/favourite this story, it means the world to me that so many people enjoy my fic.