Tris looks uncomfortable with all the attention.
"And Christina, Uriah, and Lynn", I add, trying to help her out.
Tris's eyes sweep around the room, like she doesn't know what to do.
"Aren't you supposed to be dead?" A factionless man suddenly asks.
That evokes some laughter.
"Supposed to be", Tris replies with a stiff smile.
"We don't like to give Jeanine Matthews what she wants, thought", I say. I rise, walking up to her and offering her the can with scrambled eggs. She takes it, and we sit down again. I reach for a random can, which turns out to be peaches, as Tris tastes the scrambled eggs. Then she passes it on to Christina and take the peaches from me.
"Why is everyone camped out in Marcus's house?" Tris asks.
"Evelyn kicked him out", I reply with a smile. "Said it was her house too, and he'd gotten to use it for years, and it was her turn. It caused a huge blowup on the front lawn, but eventually Evelyn won."
She'd told me this before I went to Erudite after Tris, so I'd know where to return to.
I notice that Tris has put the can of peaches down, after barely touching it.
"There's bread somewhere", I say, scanning the room for the bread basket and passing it to Tris. "Take two pieces. You need it."
She doesn't protest, just looks over to the other side of the room as she eats. I follow her gaze to find my mother talking to Peter.
"I think she's trying to recruit him. She has a way of making the factionless life sound extraordinarily appealing."
"Anything to get him out of Dauntless", Tris says sourly. "I don't care if he saved my life, I still don't like him."
"Hopefully we won't have to worry about faction distinctions anymore by the time this is over. It'll be nice, I think."
She doesn't reply to that, but I get the feeling that she disagrees.
Then someone, who can't be anyone other than Edward, the initiate, walks in the room. Or well, he used to be a Dauntless initiate. Now he was factionless.
An eye patch, a constant reminder of what the initiation and Peter did to him, covers one of his eyes.
Edward ignores the greetings he get, because he's already noticed Peter. In the blink of an eye he's crossed the room, walking up to Peter. Edward moves toward him with a jerk, scaring Peter who jolts away, into the wall.
"Not so brave in broad daylight", says Edward as the factionless laugh.
He turns toward Evelyn. "Make sure you don't give him any utensils. Never know what he might do with them."
Edward takes the fork that Peter was holding.
"Give that back", Peter says.
Like he was waiting for that reaction, Edward immediately wraps his hand around Peter's throat, holding the fork against it.
"Keep your mouth shut around me, or I will do this again," Edward says, voice threatening, "only next time, I'll shove it right through your esophagus."
I can't help but enjoy the frightened expression on Peter's face. But then Evelyn jumps in, face stern. "That's enough", she says.
"I don't know if you know this, but Edward is a little unstable", I say to Tris.
"I'm getting that."
"That Drew guy, who helped Peter perform that butter-knife maneuver, apparently when he got kicked out of Dauntless, he tried to join the same group of factionless Edward was a part of. Notice that you haven't seen Drew anywhere."
It felt good to share the big amount of gossip I'd heard in being here just less than a day.
"Did Edward kill him?" Tris asks me.
"Nearly. Evidently that's why that other transfer- Myra, I think her name was?- left Edward. Too gentle to bear it."
Her face remains neutral, and I understand how she feels. No harm done there. Drew was a bad guy, and he probably just got what he deserved.
"I don't want to talk about this", Tris says.
"Okay." I reach for her shoulder, remembering how she just lost her entire Abnegation family. "Is it hard for you to be in an Abnegation house again? I meant to ask before. We can go somewhere else, if it is."
She looks around a little. "Yes. But not as hard as you might think."
I lift my eyebrows at that.
"Really", she ensures me. "The simulations in Erudite headquarters… helped me, somehow. To hold on, maybe." She hesitates. "Or maybe not. Maybe they helped me stop holding on so tightly. Someday I'll tell you about it."
A distant expression crosses her face. I let my fingertips touch her cheeks, and then, ignoring all the people in the room, I kiss her.
"Whoa there, Tobias. Weren't you raised a stiff?" Someone says. "I thought the most you people did was… graze hands or something."
"Then how do you explain all the Abnegation children?" I shoot back, humored.
"They're brought into being by sheer force of will", a woman says. "Didn't you know that, Tobias?"
I can't help but smile at that. "No, I wasn't aware. My apologies."
oooOOOooo
Later that day, Tris tells me that she wants to take a walk, alone. I agree, thinking that it'll probably be good for her. Besides, I have some things of my own to do anyways.
After Tris has left, I seek out my mother.
"Tobias", Evelyn says as she sees me. "We have things to discuss."
I nod. "Yeah, you have to tell me everything I've missed."
And so she does. Tori and Harrison join us in a private room and we all sit down, my mother catching me up on their plan to take down Erudite.
"We concluded a broad approach is the best strategy, splitting the factionless and Dauntless into groups with different assignments", Evelyn explains.
"So one large group will clear the building, getting rid of all the Erudite", Tori adds. "One will occupy the control rooms, another will locate and destroy the information Erudite has on us, and so on."
"Wait, getting rid of all the Erudite?" I repeat. "What about those who do not agree with Jeanine Matthew's ways? We slaughter them too?"
"Unfortunately, there's no way of knowing who's loyal to Erudite and whose not", says Evelyn. "Our best chance will be to assume that those who aren't loyal to Jeanine have already left her faction, and kill those who still remain there."
I clench my teeth together, but don't say anything else. I feel Evelyn's harsh eyes studying me, but refuse to look at her.
"This is war, Tobias", Harrison says intently. "There's no way we're getting through this without bloodshed. A lot of it."
I nod, staring down at my hands. "Yeah, I know."
"Okay then. So, we decided that the attack will start in three days, if everything goes as planned", Tori says. "Everyone needs to be informed and ready by then."
"Are we really going to bring everyone?" I ask.
Evelyn frowns at me. "What do you mean?"
"Well, a lot of our people are still injected with the simulation transmitters. What if Jeanine decides to turn them on? Half our people will start to fight against us."
Harrison, Tori and Evelyn all exchange brief glances.
"You're right", Evelyn finally says. "Those who were injected with simulation transmitters will have to stay back here."
"They won't like that", says Tori. "The Dauntless want to fight."
"We'll handle them", I say. "They'll understand that it's for the best."
Harrison and Evelyn nods.
"Alright, then", Tori says. "Let's gather our people for a very important message."