Hayes gruffed, "What is she doing here? She clearly showed her maturity of things a couple of days ago"

"Silence! She's still part of the council. Also, I will not have you speaking about my daughter in such manners like that" Jeanine responded.

"My apologies" Hayes mumbled as Rikki sat down in her normal seat.

"Now, where were we?" Jeanine asked the council.

"We investigated the box that Max gave to us not 24 hours ago and found something rather peculiar about it" Theodore explained.

"Continue" Jeanine provoked.

"There is a message about the Divergents inside the box but in order to open it, a Divergent must do this" Elba stated.

"Well, that proves to be a slight problem" Jeanine mumbled.

"Maybe not"

"Veronica?"

"We can create a device that shows whose Divergent and who isn't"

"That's impossible!"

Rikki turned and glared at Hayes as if to challenge him in any sort of way. She started to argue her point across but each time, Hayes would counter it out. Elba seemed to side mostly with him but maybe that had something to do with her being an old family friend of his. Theodore seemed to be giving it a slight thought as he only asked questions about what to use for it to work rather than saying it wouldn't for the longest time. Rikki almost forgot that she was supposed to be expressing her idea to the Head of Erudite but Jeanine seemed to only sit back and watch the scene unfold in front of her. No one at the table seemed to have noticed Jeanine until she stood up from her spot as she always does to call the meeting to silence.

Rikki's eyes met her mother's for a split moment as she realized how impressed she was of her. Suddenly, a twist came from deep within her stomach. She hadn't seen that look since the day she introduced her different kind of serum in order to control the Dauntless. Rikki wondered if her mother was going to warp her design once more. Which could only mean that the death toll will be higher than 82 bodies as it seemed to be today.

"I believe that is an excellent idea" Jeanine smiled.

"When should we start?" Theodore asked.

"Veronica?" Jeanine asked.

Rikki glanced up to her mother in surprise as the other three seem to be staring between the two Matthews at the table. Never in her life has Jeanine suggested someone to act on a plan, especially something as important as this. Rikki felt her lips run dry as she tried her best not to lick them in front of everyone in the council. Rikki cleared her throat as she sat up straighter.

"Immediately" Rikki answered, "I want only the fastest and most seasoned engineers to do this task"

"Your device is showing great results" Jeanine complimented, "I'm very pleased"

"Let's just hope that the Divergents give just as much promise" Rikki said, "When are you going to test them?"

"I'm already on test subject 7" Jeanine informed, "It's been frustrating"

Rikki did her best not to tense up as she noticed her mother staring at her while they stood on the balcony. Since Jeanine's eyes were on her daughter's face, she didn't see Rikki's hands tighten on the silver bars of the railing. She looked back to her mother and gave her a pretend inquisitive look as she dreaded asking the next question.

Rikki didn't want to know but the more she asked questions in a light manner, the more her mother will think she isn't defying her. Jeanine was smart and knew when Rikki was either judging her or curious about the project.

"What happened to the failed projects?" Rikki asked, "Did you let them go?"

Jeanine scoffed, "Oh no, dear, they died while trying to open the box"

Rikki did a sharp intake of air as she meant it as being surprised but luckily for her it sounded like a hiss of frustration.

"Do you think anyone can open it?" Rikki questioned.

"The box was made for a reason, the message is worth dying for" Jeanine responded.

"I couldn't agree with you more" Rikki said sarcastically, "We need to protect it from people who want to use it as a weapon"

"Good evening, ladies" a voice said from behind them.

Rikki turned around and noticed Eric was standing within the office room. His hands were behind his back as he tried to look as formal as possible. His eyes only skirt in her direction for a moment but it felt like they lingered on her forever. Rikki had to fight every fiber within her body to run over to him and embrace him in a tight hug. She hasn't seen him in four days as he was doing nothing but searching Abnegation and Amity for Divergent rebels. From the thwarted look on his face, she could tell he had news to share.

Jeanine must've noticed it as well as she walked into the office and resumed her seat in her chair. Rikki inhaled sharply as she walked in and closed the sliding door behind her. She looked up to Eric's eyes but it seemed like he was refusing to look at her. He does it so well sometimes that she feels like he's doing it because he really doesn't know her. Jeanine sat up straighter as she was waiting for bad news.

"Mission report" Jeanine told him, "What happened?"

"We found Tobias Eaton, Caleb and Beatrice Prior" Eric mentioned.

"Are they here?" Jeanine questioned.

Eric let out a sigh, "They escaped on an Amity train. It was heading into the city. We have reason to believe they were making their way over to Candor Headquarters"

"They could've jumped off anytime and could be crawling around the city right now" Jeanine got up and looked out the window.

"We'll find them" Eric said through gritted teeth.

"I want them dead" Jeanine said in a dark tone.

"They're both Divergents, we might as well test them to see if they can open the message, once we find them, bring them back here" Rikki quickly ordered.

Jeanine was quiet for a moment before she commanded, "Do as she says"