I return to the Great Hall for dinner. Caleb barely acknowledges me, but the others seem to have forgotten the events of this morning. As I take a seat at the table with them, Linus is describing the molecular genetics lab he is working in.
"It's amazing, they've been able to identify hundreds of different single nucleotide polymorphisms that jointly predict faction choice. Pretty soon, they won't need the aptitude test, they'll just take a few drops of your blood, and they'll be able to tell you where you belong. It's all right there in your DNA"
"But you'd still have a choice, wouldn't you?" asks Amy.
"Wouldn't you rather know with certainty where you belonged? Then you wouldn't have to make the choice." Linus responds.
"I think we should still have a choice. Even Jeanine says so," interjects Emma.
"Anyways, what we're working on now is way bigger." Linus pauses, for effect, and looks around to make sure he has everyone's attention. "Now we're looking for a way to detect divergence." He's whispering now. "Jeanine's told the lab to drop everything else and work only on this."
It's as if my heart has dropped into my abdomen. I strain to hear what he's saying over the din of the hall.
"What's divergence?" queries Laura.
"Divergents are people who have something wrong with their brains, it makes them not fit into their faction."
"You mean like the factionless?"
"Not exactly - it's more than that. They have aptitude for more than one faction, and it renders them incapable of keeping their promises to their factions' creeds. That's what makes them dangerous, they're incapable of being loyal. That's how Jeanine explained it to us, anyways."
"Wow, I feel bad for them, it must be so confusing." offers Amy.
"Jeanine says they're a threat to our city, and they need to be found."
I find my voice and try to make it sound as casual as possible. "What will you do with them, when you find them?" I ask.
Linus looks surprised at this question. "I don't know. She didn't say. We're just supposed to develop a rapid blood test."
I glance over to Caleb and our eyes meet. His are wide with fear. Is he divergent? It had never occurred to me before, but if divergence is genetic, it is possible Caleb has inherited it as well, given our mother's admission to me the night before the choosing. I pull my eyes from him.
"How close do you think you are to developing the test?" I ask.
"Oh, I don't know. There's a big difference between finding a marker that is associated with increased risk and developing a diagnostic test. It could be years." Linus shrugs. "Plus we'd need a pretty large sample of divergents to test it."
I can feel my shoulders relax at hearing this, but a quick glance at my brother tells me his fear, if anything, has been intensified.
Linus continues, "To hear Jeanine talk, they're lurking around every corner, but my lab mentor says they're pretty rare. After she left, he told me he really doesn't understand the reason for her obsession, but it's apparently all she talks about nowadays."
"Weird," says Stephen.
"Yeah, weird. But still, who cares? It's fascinating work." Linus answers. If only they knew that it was my fate, and possibly my brother's, too, that they were so casually discussing. Given their scientific detachment, I'm glad they don't.
After dinner, on the way back to our rooms, I finally get a chance to get Caleb alone. I pull him into a dark recess that I hope isn't being monitored by one of the watchers' cameras.
"Caleb, we need to talk."
"What is it?"
I search his eyes. "You know."
"I don't know what you're talking about," he responds. Fine, have it your way.
I try another tack. "You haven't asked me why I chose Erudite." I say.
"I assumed your aptitude results were Erudite. You certainly seem to be doing well here." There's an edge in his voice as he says those last words.
"What were your results?" I ask.
"Erudite, of course." he answers. I search his eyes and wonder if perhaps I was wrong about him. But if that's the case, why did he react so strongly when Linus started talking about divergents? I try once more.
"Do you like the work you're doing in the lab?"
Again, I detect discomfort. So that's it. But why?
"Sure, why do you ask?" He's deflecting.
"You've been quiet," I counter.
"So have you."
"True, but you first," I smile. Why is it so hard for us to talk now? I followed him here because I couldn't bear to be without any family at all, but I've never felt such a distance from him.
To my relief, the words start to pour out of him.
"I told you we are studying the roots of aggression, and that much is true," he begins. "When they assigned me, I assumed the reason was to prevent aggression. Today, I found out that's not it at all."
"What then?" I ask.
"We're supposed to develop a serum that brings out aggression."
"Why?"
"I don't know. But they've already got a prototype serum and they've begun testing it."
"How are they testing it, Caleb?"
"I don't know everything, just what goes on in the lab."
"And?" I demand. "Are they testing it on animals?"
"You could say that," Caleb won't meet my eyes now. "Let's just say it's pretty disturbing."
I can see tears forming in his eyes now.
"This isn't how I thought it would be." he says, his voice shaking. I reach out and touch him arm.
"I know."
"I'm so glad you are here, Beatrice. I was angry when you chose Erudite, I thought you were selfish for leaving mother and father, but I couldn't bear it if I were alone now."
He squares his shoulders now and looks at me. "You haven't told me anything about what you and Jeanine are up to."
"I'm not really working with Jeanine, I only talked with her for a bit yesterday, then she took me somewhere else."
"Where?"
"Deep underground. Listen, Caleb, you have to be careful. The Erudite are spying on all of the other factions. I'm in the Dauntless room, and there are cameras everywhere. There was an Erudite room, too, but I haven't seen inside. They told me Dauntless is planning to attack Abnegation, but I know they're not telling me everything." It's such a relief to be able to talk to someone, and I can tell he feels the same.
"Well Beatrice, we both got more than we bargained for, huh?"
"Yes, but Caleb, we won't let them change us, will we?"
"No, we won't let them."
He looks around nervously. "We should probably get back to our rooms, we'll be missed."
"OK, I'll see you tomorrow."
"Goodnight."
When I get back to our room, Amy is still up, brushing her long red hair in front of the mirror.
"Where have you been?" she asks.
"Oh, just chatting with Caleb."
"Really, did he say anything about me?" asks Amy, eagerly.
"Um, no – do you want me to talk to him for you?" Amy would be good for him.
"Oh no, I couldn't ask you to do that."
"It's no trouble."
Amy hops over to me and plants a kiss on my cheek. "Thank you, thank you!"
I don't know what to say and I'm embarrassed by the affection. "We should get some sleep, aren't you exhausted?"
"Yes, definitely!"
I quickly ready myself for bed and turn the lights out. Sleep eludes me, though. I cycle through all the events of the day. I'm glad Caleb finally opened up to me, but I still have the feeling he's not telling me everything. Maybe he'll be able to talk to Amy. My mind wanders further. Now I'm back at dinner time, when Linus was talking about Jeanine's search for Divergents.
"…it's apparently all she talks about nowadays." Linus had said.
Then it's as if one more tumbler in a lock has fallen into place, as I recall Arnold's words about Four from earlier today.
"Jeanine's told us to keep a particularly close eye on him…"
And then this.
"…Suffice to say he may be a bit different than the others."
Four is like me. Four is Divergent. The next thought that enters my mind surprises me most of all.
I have to warn him.
A/N Thanks for reading and please let me know what you think. I don't know about you, but it's killing me that they haven't even met yet. There's still a few things that need to happen before then, but I'll try and make it quick!
Standard Disclaimer: All rights to Divergent and its characters belong to Veronica Roth.