(4-11-2020)
Hope everyone is staying safe and healthy out there. I'm trying very hard to finish this story up right now, but... this is the last chapter that is currently finished. I want to make sure that I wrap up all the pieces from this story and the Divergent World (and Dauntless Gray World) that it is meant to.
It will probably be at least a month before you see another post. I'm sorry. If I can get it out sooner, I will, but... I want to make sure all the pieces that are supposed to fit do!
(5-2-2020)
Yep, I thought I was going to get this out almost a month ago! Sorry it has taken me so long! I haven't written one word since 4/11! I'm trying to get myself back into the writing habit, hopefully getting this out will give me some inspiration! I've made myself a goal to have this finished by June so... I need to get this published and get to work!
Characters-
Beverly- Charlotte's daughter, Tori and George's mother
Devon- (mentioned) member of Top 10, was caught cheating at Trivia when he was younger. Jeanine's grandfather
Agatha- (mentioned) emeritus member of Top 10, Jeanine's grandmother, Bea's twin sister, transferred from Abnegation
Bea- (mentioned) emeritus member of Top 10 Andrew's grandmother, Agatha's twin sister, transferred from Abnegation
Anderson- Norton and Taryn's middle child, Norton had him stay in Erudite, he's Ariana and Evelyn's father
Adam- (mentioned) Lisette's late husband, he was killed when they discovered he was Divergent
Ian- (mentioned) Charlotte's husband (making him Beverly's father and Tori and George's grandfather)
Ariana- Anderson and Ilene's daughter, Norton's granddaughter (Evelyn's sister) she was chosen to stay in Erudite
Lisette- Norton and Taryn's youngest child, only daughter, she was sent to Amity. She turned in her husband, Adam, when she discovered he was Divergent
Charity- (mentioned) retiring leader of Amity
Jarrod- (mentioned) new leader of Amity (If you have read The Blackest Shade of Gray, he should sound familiar. He appears in that story as the leader of Amity. He is Lois's husband (see Lois to see who all that makes him related to!)
Lois- (mentioned) Jarrod's wife, grief counselor in Amity (Again she's in The Blackest Shade of Gray, she is... Hana's grief counselor. Jasmine's mother, which makes her Amar's grand mother)
Taryn- Norton's wife, he married her because she came from Dauntless.
Ilene- (mentioned) Anderson's wife, she transferred from Abnegation
Renee- (mentioned) Devon and Agatha's younger granddaughter. She is also originally from The Blackest Shade of Gray. Renee is Jeanine's cousin.
Chapter 24
"You have never taken such a personal interest in assigning summer internships," Beverly accuses me.
"I'm not sure I've ever had a group quite like this one. This is the first big test of Taryn's GRAMS. If you take a look at who all is involved in it, many of them have parents and or grandparents in the Top Ten. There's Tori, your daughter."
Beverly interrupts me with a laugh. "Putting her in computers like her mother."
"You do have a knack for them, and I want to see if she does, too. Devon, Jeanine's grandfather, is still in the Top Ten, her grandmother and great-aunt are emeritus, her father is in the Top Ten, and her mother is number eleven only because Devon refuses to step down."
"Why did you put her in serums with Devon instead of computers like Agatha and Bea?"
How do I answer this one? The truth is simply that I don't trust Tori and Jeanine to keep their antagonism towards each other in check. "I already have someone from this elite group in computers, I want to spread them around."
"But you put both Andrew and Evelyn in medical."
"Medical is a much larger area then serums or computers," I remind her. "Andrew's parents in the Top Twenty. He doesn't have anyone in the Top Ten, so it isn't exactly the same."
Beverly studies me for a second. "You have something up your sleeve. I really think there is more to this than what you are admitting, but I won't ask you to explain yourself any further. I know you have more going on than you admit to any of us." She gathers her papers and starts to leave the room, only pausing at the door to deliver her parting shot. "I'll let you keep your secrets."
"They turned us down." Anderson places a sheet of paper on the table in front of me.
Looking up from the records of Adam's and Ian's families spread out on the table in my private workspace, I look at him questioningly. "They turned us…" I trail off, realizing what he must mean. "The Abnegation say we can't change the Aptitude Test?"
"Not exactly." He sits down on the other side of the table. "They have no problem with us changing the Aptitude Test. They turned down our questions."
"What?! They can't expect us to work on it without any first-hand data!"
"They don't." Anderson clarifies, "They approved many of the questions. It just happens to be that the questions they did turn down were the most important ones, and the names of the individuals who give each answer will be withheld."
Pulling the list of questions towards me, I scan them. There are questions missing. I read through each one to identify which ones are gone. Anderson is right. They took away every question that would give us get any kind of an idea of the Divergent population. It doesn't matter as much that they won't let us know the names. Although it would be helpful to know who is Divergent and who is pure, without the names, we could have at least gotten an idea of what the population is. If we ask one hundred kids and none of them are aware, then it isn't as much of a priority as if we find out that twenty of the one hundred are. Any questions that would help us know that the subject was aware during the simulation are gone.
Every single one of them was taken out.
It is almost like they know what we are looking for.
Looking up at Anderson, I point out the obvious. "Today I almost wish we had sent Arianna to Abnegation. It is going to be very important that we get Evelyn to Abnegation. I'm beginning to wonder if Abnegation knows something."
"Grandfather!" Arianna smiles as I meet her for the first time after initiation at her piece of art work. Her piece is the first one that makes me wonder if someone is in the right faction. Arianna chose a black cabinet that is shaped like a skyscraper. It is more of a sky line than just one building, but it makes me think of the Hub where those crazy Dauntless preform some of their stunts.
"Hello, Arianna. How does it feel to be Erudite?"
"Perfect! I'm so glad that you wanted me in Erudite. When you mentioned to me that you considered sending me to Abnegation, I panicked. I don't know what I would have done if you had really wanted me to go somewhere else."
"I'm glad you ended up where you wanted to be." I look over at the cabinet, wondering if she is telling me the truth or not. "Why did you pick this one?"
Her face becomes thoughtful. "It reminds me of our city. Doesn't it look a little like the skyline? I know it's not our skyline. It doesn't match up to any section I've ever studied, but I love our city, and I will do everything I can to protect it. It reminds me of why I am helping you. I want to make sure that everyone is safe."
The answer that she gives me is perfect. It is logical and thoughtful. It has nothing to do with a hidden desire to be Dauntless but rather a desire to do exactly what I need her to do.
"How are you doing?" I ask Lisette when I meet with her after Arianna.
Lisette stares listlessly at her picture. The red, yellow, and blue bullseye holds her attention more than I do today. "I'm still in shock. I'm a grieving widow, who isn't completely grieving the way everyone thinks I am. Yet, despite what he was, I miss him. I shouldn't, but I do. I think about the years that we were together, the years before those last awful days when I knew the truth about what Adam really was. Sometimes I just remember the good times and how much I loved him. I recall how he adored the children. He doted on them, on me. On those days, what I lost hits me all over again." Silent tears fall down her cheeks. "On other days, I analyze those same days, wondering what I missed, how I overlooked the hints that he wasn't pure."
Taking Lisette into my arms, I hold her while she weeps the silent tears that she doesn't feel she should have. I war with myself. Should I tell her it is all right to mourn him? Or should I tell her she should be thankful that we discovered him before it was too late? That not only are she and the children safer because he is dead, but all of Amity and the entire city are, too.
"We're better off without him." Her voice is muffled by my shoulder. "I know that, but it is still hard. Of course, no one but you and my brothers know the truth. So, it in a way it is a good thing that I am mourning him. Amity expects the show of emotion. Charity asked me if I wanted to postpone the meeting about the new leader since there had been so much talk about Adam being the next leader. She wanted to check with me to make sure it wouldn't be too painful."
"What did you tell her?" I know the leader was chosen on schedule, but I do wonder what she said about it.
"I told her that we should go on ahead, that I appreciated the kindness of letting me have a say, but that I knew she wanted to start training her replacement so she could retire as planned. Maybe it was the wrong thing to say. There were actually a few people who brought my name up in place of Adam's. If I had waited, maybe I would have had a chance."
It had never occurred to me that Lisette might be nominated out of sympathy in place of her late husband. "Do you think time would have made a difference?"
She pulls her head off my shoulder and wipes her face. "No, I think there would have always been a couple of 'sympathy' votes, but I think if we would have waited, it would have taken away the momentum that Jared had. Jared was Adam's best friend, and most people who supported Adam turned to Jared out of association. Jared's wife, Lois, and I are friends, so I am not completely removed from leadership. And Lois happens to be my grief counselor. I've been spending a lot of time with her these days."
"How are you enjoying your summer internship?" I ask Evelyn as we sit next to each other on the rooftop waiting for the Founder's Day fireworks to start.
She chews the inside of her cheek for a moment and then answers me, "I'm learning a lot. I'm not a natural like Andrew, but I'm getting better at it."
"Well, Andrew's been around medicine a great deal more than you. Most of his family has some kind of a medical job. I'm sure he's grown up hearing about it. It probably makes a difference."
"That's what he said, but he's also very smart, Grandfather. He picks up on things very quickly and seems to know what needs to be done before the doctor even asks him to do it. One of the doctors mentioned to him that they are planning on asking for him to be assigned to medical again next year. He looked very pleased about that."
Studying her reaction, I ask, "What about you?"
"If that is what Andrew wants to do, I think that would be great."
"No, I mean, have any of them mentioned they would like you back?"
Evelyn hangs her head and mutters, "No."
"Do you want to do medical?"
"That depends."
"On what?"
"Oh, lots of things," Evelyn answers indifferently. "What do you think I should do?"
Looking at her out of the corner of my eye, I wonder if it will really be this easy in a couple of years. The first firework of the evening explodes as I give her a non-committal answer. It's a little early to let her know I'm planning on sending her to Abnegation. "I'm not sure, but having a basic medical knowledge always comes in handy."
"Jeanine is going to replace me." Anderson studies the waves of his painting, not looking at me.
"What makes you think that?" I ask him sharply. Anderson is number one on the Top Ten. I have been counting on him being the one to replace me ever since Edmund retired to being Emeritus and Anderson took his place.
"I'm smart, but that girl is... She's something else, Father. Have you worked with her much? I mean, one on one. Have you had much interaction with her?"
"No, most of my interaction with her has been when your mother has had her at the apartment for some kind of a GRAMS study group."
"You should try to find some time to be with her. One on one. She is unbelievable. She seems to know things instinctively, but when you ask her why she thinks that way, she doesn't tell you it is a hunch, or that she's not sure, or that she just knows that is the way that it should be. No, she backs it up with clear logic. She is able to think incredibly fast. She works out complex math problems in her head in less time than it takes me to put the problem down on paper."
Chewing on the arm of my glasses I realize this is a possibility I haven't thought of. I have counted on Anderson being the one who continues the fight against the Divergent when I'm gone. "Do you think I should retire?"
"Why would you retire?" Anderson is puzzled by my line of thinking.
"If I retire now, you would become the leader. If I wait..."
"It might be a good idea to start feeling her out. See where her loyalties lie. I have a feeling that she will be just fine with having an enemy to work against. Jeanine reminds me of Devon in some ways."
"What ways?"
"She's power hungry, like her grandfather. The only reason Devon won't go Emeritus is that he knows once he does that, his time as the leader of Research and Development is coming to an end. He doesn't want to give that up to anyone, but especially not to me."
"What does he have against you?" I can't stop myself from asking.
"You. He has never completely forgiven you for becoming the leader of the Erudite and then outlasting him. He wanted to see you fail, because you were a transfer. He actually had the nerve to make sure that I knew you weren't from Erudite during my first year in Research and Development. He thought that letting me know that you are a..."
"A what?"
Anderson licks him lip. "This is his word, not mine. Fraud."
"He called me a fraud, to my child?" My voice is deceptively soft. Inside I am raging.
"Yes, he did."
"Jeanine won't go anywhere..."
"Father, don't hold her grandfather against her. You are going to need her. She might be everything we will eventually need."
The paper hides Taryn's face from me. She's slowing down. I hadn't noticed it before, but now that I know about her kidney failure, it seems obvious to me. I need to get to work, but by the time I get home tonight she is going to be worn out. Her mind won't be as sharp. It won't kill me if I am a little late getting to work so that I can get her take on Jeanine.
"Can I get your opinion on a few things?"
Taryn's face is surprised when she puts the paper down. I've never asked her opinion on too many things. "What do you need my opinion on?"
"GRAMS. From your perspective, how do you think it has worked out?"
Taryn grins. "I think it has turned out very well. Oh, part of it is probably the children that I had to work with, but Arianna stayed and is going into the medical field. If we look at the group that will choose in two years..."
"What do you think about them?" I probe.
"Evelyn is probably doing better than she would have without the extra help. Where she will end up is a little bit of a mystery to me. Since Raymond and Lisette left us, I've watched both of our grandchildren to for signs that they might leave."
"And?" I ask her, a bit amused.
"I was pretty sure Arianna would stay. She's slightly more intelligent than Evelyn. Evelyn... She's more like Ilene. There are times I watch her, and I think she will be the one to go to Abnegation. I know it can't be easy for you to face the idea of another descendant leaving, but you need to face facts, Norton. She's not a genius like you or Anderson. She's not even smarter than the average Erudite like Arianna. She has several of Ilene's Abnegation characteristics. She offers to help. She will do what no one else wants to do, even if she doesn't really want to do it, either. She is the first one stop and help the younger children in GRAMS if they need help. You should start preparing yourself for the idea that she might leave."
"What about the other children?"
"What about them? Tori is smart. She could easily fit in and stay. You were right to put in her computers over the summer. She, like Beverly, has an aptitude them. She might leave though."
"Tori?" I ask surprised.
"She resents the time that her mother spends on her work instead of with them. I've tried to take Charlotte's place, but I think she really needed someone there that was just hers to feel like she was loved. If she leaves, there is a very good chance that George will."
"Why do you think that if Tori leaves, George will?"
Taryn laughs at me. "He's her shadow! Wherever she goes, George goes, and she lets him. They are closer than your average siblings. Especially with their age difference."
"Andrew?" I ask, trying to put off Jeanine so she doesn't realize I am really fishing for information on her.
"Andrew will stay. He's smart and with his family tree... he'll end up being a doctor. In the conversations I've had with him, I don't think he wants to deal with babies like Marion and Anthony. I think he would rather be in the ER. He wants to help people, but it's not the same as Evelyn. He's happy to do what he enjoys and if it benefits people, even better.'
"And Jeanine?"
Taryn makes a disgusted face. "She is Devon's granddaughter. Even though Jeanine's cousin, Renee, is the one being raised by Devon and Agatha, Jeanine is the one who is more like him, but not by much. Jeanine and Renee are both... manipulative. They don't mind bending the rules to get what they want. Jeanine is smart enough to figure out how to get what she wants."
"Do think she'll stay?"
Taryn laughs and then predicts, "Norton, that girl will not only stay, but she will replace you one day."
If you get a chance and have the time, please send me a review! Knowing there are people who want to know how this ends might help me with the inspiration I am currently lacking!
Thank you!