A/N: A bit of a longer chapter for you. I could have cut it up, but I thought this would flow better and you would appreciate it more. Thank you again to everyone who has reviewed, followed and favourited. I love hearing your feedback. Also, thanks to Lauren and Sarah; without them this would have never happened.


Chapter 3

I've never been more thankful that I live alone. My apartment is small, and aside from the walls lined with overflowing bookshelves, it's sparse. I enter it, turning on the lights and locking the door before I lean against it. What have I done? What have I agreed to? My throat tightens and a sob comes out before I can stop it. My body slides to the floor. I pull my knees close to my chest and try to slow down, to stop crying. It doesn't work. My body wracks with sobs.

I know Jeanine. I've studied her for the last two years since she chose me. I have adapted everything I am to fit in at Erudite...but I didn't expect this. I didn't expect that I would have to help her destroy a faction. Abnegation are good people. They choose selflessness over everything. They help the Factionless. None of the rest of us can say the same. My mind goes over the possibilities and any solutions. If I run, if I try to stop her, she'll kill me. She'll kill my parents and my little brother, regardless of the fact that he's only 14 and we're all Erudite. I choke suddenly as my throat tightens in panic and my hands shake.

I throw myself forward to land on my hands and knees. I'm a survivor. I can do this. I'm not so important that they couldn't do it without me. That doesn't comfort me but my body slowly calms down. I close my eyes tightly and wish for strength for what's going to come.

"I'm sorry," I whisper to the empty room. "I'm so so sorry." Above all else, I'm selfish.


The car is silent. Jeanine is staring out of the window, watching the people we pass disinterestedly. I stare at the tablet in my hands. The agenda is already memorized but it's easier than thinking about the last week. I let myself mourn the night that I broke down for what's coming, what's going to happen to people, before compartmentalizing it and putting it away in my mind. If I want to survive, I can't let it control me.

"We're here," the driver says.

The Dauntless compound looks as inviting as the people who live there. We're in front of a large glass building. The building doesn't look like much, but I remember reading that most of their home is underground. The one thing I never understood about the Dauntless is how they lived underground but climbed so high. It was one of the reasons I never considered it.

I wait for Jeanine's door to be opened by the driver before I exit the other side. It gives her a sense of importance.

Outside the building, the leader, Max, and the other one, Eric, are waiting. We walk over to them and I keep my pace just slightly slower than Jeanine's.

"Max, Eric," she smiles at them, reaching out a hand to shake theirs.

"Jeanine," Max greets, shaking her hand. Eric follows suit.

"Let's get to it, shall we?" Max nods and leads the way into the compound. I follow Jeanine in after him and Eric takes the rear. The inside of the building is well lit due to the glass, but I stop suddenly as I notice one thing. There are no stairs, no railings...only pathways on edges that led down. The statistics of me falling to my death are high. My throat tightens.

"Afraid?" Eric's voice is in my ear.

"How can I not be?" I answer without thinking. I regret it instantly. Fears can be used against you. I should have more control over myself, despite being here. Jeanine and Max don't seem to have realized that I stopped.

I feel a hand on my waist and suddenly I pitch forward over the edge with a shriek, into the dark pit below. I'm struck with one thought: they know. My heart pounds wildly, my mind whirls over any possibility of survival before I'm pulled back just as quickly into a hard chest. I can barely breathe as I realize I haven't died. Is this a trick? A game? The chest is moving though, and I can hear him laughing behind me. My face burns in embarrassment and anger. This was exactly what I was afraid of and he used it against me. I want to throw him over the edge myself.

"Leave the girl alone," Max's voice calls out. I look up to see that he and Jeanine have stopped and are looking back at us, frowning.

"Please don't frighten my assistant, Eric," Jeanine says calmly. "I'd hate to have to train another one." Her tone is icy and I take a deep breath, knowing through it that she finds me valuable. They turn back and continue walking forwards. I step away from his chest and the arm around my waist.

"Why did you do that?" I demand, turning to glare up at him. The top of my head reaches his shoulder. He's taller than I thought. The smile on his face fades into a smirk.

"The only way to get rid of your fear is to face it." He stands a little straighter.

"I don't need that kind of help," I whirl back around, ignoring him behind me. I have to catch up to Jeanine. I stay close to the wall. I'm calmer now, focusing on each step I take, but I can still feel his arm around my waist and his chest against my back. The probability of him failing to catch me runs through my head. I still want to throw him over.


We pass a few Dauntless on our way down. They send us confused and dark looks, muttering to themselves as soon as they see us before noticing the leaders guiding us. I watch as their eyes go from Max to Eric and they fall silent, passing quickly without another word. Were they given a warning look or did Dauntless never question their leaders?

The room they lead us to is the control room. It's not what I expected. As soon as we enter we are faced with a wall of screens. There is movement on every one. I look over them quickly. The outside of the Candor headquarters, the Factionless sector, the courtyard of Erudite, the farms of Amity...they can see everything. It's unnerving.

"Leave us," Max says and I realize that there is another Dauntless in the room. She's standing, half facing the screens on the wall, near a desk that has a computer on it. I've never seen a female Dauntless up close. It seems strange to see a woman here, in a place that strives off fear and strength. Most of the women I know are soft, distracted in their research. I know I don't belong here, but I feel it more profoundly as I look at her. She's tall and the tight dark clothes of the Dauntless show off her muscles well. Her dark hair is pulled back into a ponytail showcasing the shaved side. She looks between all of us before nodding.

"Yes, sir," she says, her voice lower than I expected. Max waits until the woman is gone.

"This is the control room," Max says. "From here we monitor everything in Dauntless and in the city. It's the safest place for what you want." He walks over to the computer on the desk. I never put much thought into computers, focusing more on people and sociology. Computers were simple compared to people. "All of the messages are sent through here. Anything you send will need to be in code."

Jeanine nods. She's probably already thought about it, but I make a note in the agenda as a reminder. "And the equipment?" She asks.

Max nods to Eric who is still standing behind me. He moves towards one of the other walls. There's a door against it, almost hidden in the dark. He opens it and through the door is empty space. It's a decent sized room, smaller than the labs at Erudite, but it could work.

"What are the dimensions?" I ask them, opening a file for notes on the tablet. If we move in equipment, we'll need to know the amount of space we have to best utilize it.

"Twenty by fifty, giving you about 1000 square feet," Max answers. I type it in quickly, thankful that he's leading the meeting. The less I have to talk to Eric, the better.

"That should be suitable," Jeanine says. She walks forwards into the dark room and looks around. "We'll need computers," I take notes, tapping quickly on the tablet, knowing that she's mostly talking to me. "Lab equipment. A coding system will also be needed as well." Jeanine's mind moves quickly, going from one thought to the next, in rapid concession. It used to be too fast for me to copy every word she said until I developed shorthand. There are few who understand it.

I follow her into the room and look around. If we set up the computers, we'll need more than equipment.

"How's the ventilation?" I ask, looking up at the ceiling. I can't imagine much air gets down here. There's no answer. I look back through the door towards the men. Both are standing up straight, but Max is keeping his gaze on us, listening intently; Eric looks bored. Jeanine smiles at Max and motions towards me. "Amelia will be overseeing the transfer of goods. You're to give her everything she needs."

Max nods. "This is the best ventilated room in the compound with the computers. The airshaft up towards the back corner is connected to the main airflow that comes in from the outside. Fans are always on." I write it down.

"And outlets? How many are here or will we need to send in workmen for that? What's the wattage like?" Jeanine looks pleased at my question and I watch as Max enters the room with me.

"You have outlets on those two walls, two on the left and one on the right," he says as he points at the walls that are on my sides. "We can increase it as necessary but the power supply we get is constant due to the cameras; current comes to about 80,000 watts."

We'll need more.

"I want the cameras here increased," Jeanine says suddenly. It makes sense to have the extra security. I add it to my list. I look to Jeanine and nod. There's more to do but I have the information I need to get started. "I expect that you will memorize the encryption we decide on and the only conversation about this remains between us. Understood?"

Both of them nod.

She walks out of the room and continues on past me until she reaches the door that leads out of the control room. "I'm arranging a meeting of the leaders of each Faction to speak about Divergents. Amelia, what's the schedule for the next few days?" I look down at the tablet in my hands, clicking out of the notes and into the agenda quickly.

"Tomorrow you have a meeting with Henry, from Communications, in the morning. The afternoon you booked for the lab. The day after, you have a meeting at 10 in the morning with the volunteers for the Aptitude tests this year, but nothing booked for the afternoon."

"Excellent," she says. "I expect you to be at my office at 2 sharp. Write it in, Amelia; you'll be joining us." I do as she asks. I've joined her before, taking notes so that she can focus on everyone.

"We'll be there," Max says.

"Good," she says. She looks at Max and nods, "Until then. Eric, I trust you'll see us out."

"Of course," Eric answers, looking briefly at Max before walking to the door and opening it. I catch a glimpse of Max's frown before it disappears. Jeanine leaves and I move quickly to catch up to her, ignoring the leader of the Dauntless.


The way out of the compound is quieter than the way in. Eric leads the way and I recognize the turns that we take to be opposite of the way we came in. My hands are shaking and I keep feeling like I'm going to fall over the edge, despite keeping to the wall, but I'm thankful that I'm behind them. It's safer. I can watch both of them from here.

Stepping outside feels like freedom after the Dauntless compound. It's bright and the air is clean. We stop before we get to the car and Jeanine faces Eric.

"I expect to see you at this meeting," Jeanine tells him leaving no room for argument in her voice.

"I'll be there," Eric says.

"We'll talk more then." She doesn't say goodbye, instead turning towards the car.

I don't want anything to do with Eric after the stunt on the walkway, but I'm going to be working with him. I reluctantly nod at him before following after her. I can feel his stare on my back.

Jeanine waits until we're halfway to Erudite before speaking again. "Call the other leaders of the factions and inform them of the meeting. It is not optional."

"Okay," I say, writing myself a reminder. She's not done though.

"I want you to read up on encryption. I expect a report with a coding system that will work for communication with Dauntless by that meeting, understood?" Oh god. I have no idea how to encode anything, especially using computers. Two days isn't enough time.

"Yes, ma'am." Any plans I had for the next two days vanish in an instant. I'm going to be spending my nights in the library. It doesn't fill me with excitement like it used to.

[tbc]