CHAPTER 34
MAX POV
I'm sitting in my office when Lauren comes running in. I don't remember ever having Lauren in my office before. She usually deals with Four.
"Max, I'm in trouble I've made a terrible mistake," she says.
I look up and see she has tears coming down her face. Lauren has always been one of the toughest women I know. That is why she is so good at training the Dauntless-born initiates.
"Lauren what seems to be the problem?" I ask.
"I did something really stupid last night and I think it may compromise our security system," she says.
"Tell me what happened," I say.
"I got hammered last night. I was in Dauntless Nights with some girlfriends and Eric came in. He started buying me drinks and well I took him back to my place. When I woke up this morning he was gone. Thank goodness. But so was my security pass and it looks like he has gone through my files and found my password as well."
"You keep your password written down?"
"Not my everyday password but the password I have for the secure files yes. I don't have to use it that often and so I keep it written down. Now with all the security upgrades and the fact that we are changing our passwords once a month I needed to write it down."
"Okay, I am going to have Four take you off the system temporarily. I want to see what Eric is up to. I need to catch him in the act. Don't tell anyone about this. I want Eric to think he has gotten away with this. Do you understand?" She nods.
"I will have Four give you some other type of log in, I don't know how it all works, he will fix it up for you and let you know what it is about. That way you can enter all your initiates' results. Now I want you to keep a low profile for a few days. I will help Four out with simulations. I won't need you back until we are ready for the initiates to go through your fear landscape, ok?"
"Thanks Max. I am so sorry," she says.
"Don't worry about it. We have all done stupid crap while we have been drunk. I don't know what is more embarrassing, the fact you took Eric home or that he stole your security pass."
I walk down to the control room to see Gus. I am going to need to put an alert out on Laurens' security card and I need to know that the cameras are working outside the server room.
"Gus," I say as I enter the control room.
"Max, good to see you. What do you need?"
"I need you to put an alert on a security card. I need to know if and when it is used. I will need you to send alerts to myself, the four other leaders and also to the head of security. I also need you to make sure that the cameras are working in and around the server room. I also need you to have those cameras continuing recording what is going on. It is extremely important," I say.
"Not a problem. I can have that all done for you," he says.
"Now are we able to track a member while they are in the compound?"
"Yes, we have facial recognition software. Four made me install it two months ago."
"Excellent. I want you to track two people for me. I need it done around the clock. Have you got someone who you can trust with this? I don't want this information getting out," I say.
"Yes. Just tell me who and I will set it up."
FOUR POV
The initiates might have the day off but I still have to work. Everything is set up for the fear simulations to start tomorrow but I still need to enter all the information from stage one into the computers. I also have a stack of work that is in my in tray to do.
There is a knock at my door and I look up to see dad enter my office. He sits in the chair opposite my desk. He is looking as tired as I feel. "Bad day?" I ask.
"I have taken Lauren off the fear simulations, I am going to have to help you with them," he says.
"Why?" I ask.
"She has had her security pass and password stolen. I asked her to keep a low profile until we catch the person who took them," he says.
"Do you know who it is?"
"Eric," he says.
"What would he do that for?"
"I think he may be working for Jeanine," he says. "When he went through initiation Jeanine tried to convince Shane to give him a leadership position. He had been friends with Jeanine for years and he told her that if you didn't want the position he would offer it to Eric. Well that all changed after you and he had that little bet."
"Everyone in leadership was happy when the bet for the fight was announced, we all knew you would beat him and it meant that Jeanine didn't have any influence at Dauntless. Not that I would have ever let her but she is a great manipulator, I wouldn't be able to trust that she wouldn't get to any of our other leaders."
"Now that we have taken all our files off the faction's server she can't see what is going on here. I would say Jeanine has convinced him to do this. I just haven't worked out why she is so determined to get into our files."
"Do we have anyone in Erudite who could tell us what is going on over there?" I ask.
"No. We don't usually associate with them unless we have too. I never felt the need to try to befriend anyone," he says.
"So I need you to give Lauren a temporary log in so she can complete her initiates reports. I have told her to keep a low profile. I want to catch Eric in the act. I have Gus tracking his movement. Good idea to have the facial recognition software installed by the way. I'm also having Lauren tracked. I need to make sure she isn't working with Eric or that she doesn't give him a heads up that we know that he has her pass."
"I couldn't imagine Lauren working with Eric. We have been working closely together and she never seemed the type," I say.
He just nods. "How did it go with Evelyn?"
"Not good. She wants me to join her. She seems to think she is going to overthrow the faction system. I wasn't very nice to her and I don't think I will be let back in to see her any time soon. She doesn't know what is going on with Erudite and if she does she wasn't telling me. She told me I would regret my decision not to join her," I say.
"She is hard work that woman. What about Tris?"
"I am not having my best week when it comes to women dad. She is angry. I pushed her to talk about everything and she stormed off. I have no idea what is going to happen there but I'm not giving up," I say.
"Just give her time. If that's what she wants than you will have to respect her," he says.
"You never told me that she saw," I say.
"I couldn't. You were so determined to tell her you were alive. I knew if I told you that you would go straight to her. You were too important to me. I couldn't put you in any more danger than you already had been. Watching you in that hospital bed was the worst three weeks of my life and I had only just met you. You looked so tiny and helpless in that big bed. Your injuries were life threatening. Doc Simon had prepared us for the worse, no one thought you were going to make it for those first few days. But you showed us just what a fighter you were. I made a vow that if you made it I would never let anything like that happen to you ever again."
"I understand, it just doesn't make any of it any easier. It was just such a shock when she told me," I say. I do understand and I will be forever grateful for everything he has done for me. I just feel so emotionally drained.
"I'm going to take Tris through her fear simulations," he says. "I will also take Uriah, Marlene and Lynn. I think you deserve a break. I don't want you to have to deal with them with everything else you are going through at the moment. Once I finish with theirs I will just take whoever is left to try not to make it suspicious."
"Thanks dad," I say. "I know I will have to see them when we get to fear landscapes but I will appreciate not having to see them now."
"Have you decided anything about Marcus?" he asks.
"Yeah. I am going to go and see him this week. Now you are helping with the simulations I will have time to go and confront him," I say.
"Do you want me to give you a heads up on what is in Tris's fear simulations?"
"Not really. I'll try and talk to her. I think she deserves some privacy. But if there is something that involves me then it might be better to know before I have to see it in her fear landscape. Let me think about it."