A/N: Thank you so much for all the reviews, follows and favourites. I'm so glad you guys enjoy it! I love hearing from you, so it definitely makes my day. This chapter is a bit longer, but I wanted to show the whole meeting. Once again, a huge thanks goes out to my beta reader Sarah. Enjoy!
Chapter Four
The meeting was pushed back to the next week. There was an emergency at one of the labs and Candor requested a different date to settle an argument in their faction. There were always arguments in Candor and I've never been more grateful. It's given me the one thing I needed: time.
The report that Jeanine requested on encryption was more difficult than I expected, as well as the map of encryption we would use. I read the research over once, then again while writing out the important points before finally doing the report. The map proved to be more difficult. I searched through various histories on codes before finally adapting them to one that I liked. Jeanine proofread it twice before she was satisfied. I've barely slept and it shows. My hair is slicked back in a tight ponytail and the blue dress I'm wearing is immaculate...my face however is not. There is no cure for bags under the eyes. Thankfully, the frames on my glasses do wonders to hide it.
The meeting between the leaders is held in one of the Erudite conference rooms. We're the first ones there, which is not surprising. Jeanine likes to have everything prepared beforehand, even herself. I think that she likes to make them feel uncomfortable, like the fly entering the spider's web.
"Amelia," Jeanine calls me from where she is standing, looking out of the window towards the Millennium.
"Yes?" I ask, stopping my organization of the meeting notes and walking over to her. One of the Factionless should be arriving with soda soon.
"A healthy body is a healthy mind," she looks at me, scanning me over with her eyes. "You reflect me. I expect that next time you will do better." A blush stains my cheeks. I was wondering when she would comment on the exhaustion.
"Yes, ma'am," I say quietly. It's not the worse thing that she could call me out on but it still stings. She continues speaking, ignoring my embarrassment.
"When the meeting is finished, you will walk the leaders out." I haven't had much time to think about the Dauntless leaders, but the thought of seeing Eric just reminds me that he tried to push me into the cavernous pit. I stop myself from clenching my hands. "Dauntless will wait until the others are gone. Give them the codes then."
"Yes ma'am."
There's a knock at the door that stops any further thought. I go to open it, seeing the Factionless man we were expecting with a tray. He enters and I watch as he sets up the glasses in front of each chair. He's dressed in a patchwork of colours from the factions. Red pants and a grey shirt; the same colours of Amity and Abnegation. I wonder what it must be like to be Factionless. There are no rules, no reasons to always be on your guard...just mundane work. How boring and how humiliating it must be to live with the knowledge that they failed. I don't understand how they can live with it, but then again, how will I live with what's coming?
I'm pulled out of my thoughts as the Factionless stands against a wall and waits. There's another knock at the conference door and slowly, the various leaders come in.
It's never quiet when the leaders get together, at least not at first. Despite their agreements that working together is necessary, none of them really get along. Seating is hell to arrange. I'm sitting against the wall, behind and slightly to the left of Jeanine with my tablet open to take notes. It lets me observe everything without technically being a part of the discussions.
On Jeanine's left is Johanna Reyes, the representative from Amity. Amity, Abnegation and Candor don't have leaders. Instead, they chose as a faction someone to represent them as a whole. I didn't use to think it was much of a system, but after recent events...having a representative that listened to the faction might be a better idea. Johanna is unsettling to look at with the large scar that runs down the right side of her face from eyebrow to lip. It's unusual to see, especially in Amity, and I don't know what happened or why it was never healed properly in the first place, but she's rather cheerful for someone who's been blinded in one eye.
Next to Johanna is Marcus Eaton, the representative from Abnegation. He's dressed in the standard grey of his faction and smiling as he talks to Johanna, but his eyes shift towards Jeanine and harden. It throws me off. I've never seen any of the Abnegation look anything but kind. Jeanine thinks he'll be useful. She's had him researched, sent people to delve deeper into why his son transferred to Dauntless. I've seen her smile when she's talked about him and that's never a good thing.
Beside Marcus, directly across from Jeanine, is Jack Kang, the representative from Candor. Out of all the factions, they make me the most nervous. Candor are trained from birth to spot liars in everything from body language to tone of voice. I don't know how, but I avoid them whenever possible, just in case. I can't risk slipping up and being called out on being Divergent publicly. Luckily, it's not odd because most of Erudite don't interact with Candor. They don't seem to understand that lies can be necessary.
Lastly, between Jack and Jeanine are the Dauntless. There are five leaders in Dauntless but I've only ever seen Max before. At least until Eric showed up. I don't know why out of all of the factions Dauntless has the highest amount of leaders. I'm not even sure what they do. Only Max has been sent as their representative in the two years I've worked for Jeanine. Today, the two of them are accompanied by another. It's a woman with dark blond hair that's tightly braided down her back. She's wearing a blank tank top and pants, but what catches my eye isn't the scar on her shoulder. Her expression is blank, like she's seen everything and is not impressed. I wonder if she knows what the others are planning, if they've involved her too. I hate not knowing. Max is leaning forwards, engaged in a conversation with Jack. Eric is opposite. Leaning back in his chair, carefully watching his surroundings. He's silent. He must feel me staring because he looks away from watching Marcus Eaton and catches my eye. The bored look is slowly replaced with that smirk that I'm beginning to hate. I want to slap it off him. Instead, I narrow my eyes and Jeanine stands up, ending the eye contact.
"Thank you for coming," her voice is grating as usual but I've adapted to it. Judging from the wince on the blond Dauntless, others haven't. "I've asked you all here so that we can discuss one of the problems in our city."
"Pardon me, Jeanine," Marcus interrupts. "Shouldn't you have called a council meeting for this?" She just smiles slowly. Council meetings are open for audience to anyone in the city. This is only the beginning. She's aiming for the head before targeting the masses.
"I wanted to keep it less formal for now. Ladies and gentlemen, the issue I wish to discuss is Divergents." The word alone sets my teeth on edge. I want to fiddle with the remote for the slideshow I've prepared for Jeanine, but I don't. I've learnt to control the outward appearance of my nervousness, but it doesn't stop instinct. I watch as those not in Dauntless look around and murmur to each other. Nothing is clear though.
"Divergents are a myth," Marcus scoffs. "A fairytale for children." I look at him in surprise. I expected Jack to say something. Candor are always willing to argue, especially with Erudite. Coming from an Abnegation, it's...surprising. I can't see from my position, but I imagine the look of steel has entered Jeanine's eyes. If there's anything Jeanine loves, it's a challenge. She's prepared for this.
"Amelia, the slides," Jeanine orders.
I click the button to show the first one. It's a graph showing the statistics of the hypothetical rate of increase in Divergents over the past ten years. I am one of those numbers. "If you look in front of you, there are papers to assist you in following along. They're yours to keep." Johanna is leaning forward, looking at the paper with a slight frown. Jack is staring Jeanine down, watching and waiting, and I can see Marcus looking at the screen. The Dauntless haven't moved. "The statistics show that the rate of Divergents emerging in our society is increasing."
I've heard this speech before. Jeanine's practiced it to me twice, once to make sure I changed the slides as appropriate, despite the fact that I put it together for her.
"How do you know this?" Jack asks suddenly. "Where does this research come from?"
"We're Erudite," Jeanine says. Her left fingers twitch at her side for a second, hidden by the table. She's annoyed. "We know everything. As for the research, those in the Sociology sector recognized the pattern of statistics through the numbers submitted after initiations. They looked into it further and brought it up to me. I was concerned." The other leaders are silent. "Divergents pose a threat to our society. They lack the ability to fully conform into the factions, opposing everything that we and our ancestors have worked towards. This lack of ability to conform leaves most Divergents Factionless. " I click to the next slide. It's a clip of violence in the Factionless sector. She got it from the Dauntless security cameras. "The Dauntless, our protectors, have had to redouble their efforts in the last five years as more and more Divergents join the Factionless ranks." She motions to the three Dauntless leaders. Max nods.
"It's true," he says.
I move to the next slide, one that showcases the symbols of the factions and Jeanine continues. "The factions were put in place by our ancestors to create harmony, a world where everyone has their place. Faction before blood." She's passionate, I'll give her that. If I hadn't been exposed to her constantly for the last two years and helped create the speech, I might fall for it. "This peace is at risk, more than ever before and the threat is inside our walls." She pauses, giving the others time to think about what she's said. Johanna looks like she's politely listening but knowing Amity, they won't make any promises yet. They like peace but they vote on everything. I can only see Max and the woman from Dauntless. The woman's face still doesn't wear any expression but there is a glint in her eyes that alarms me. It looks like the insanity that the Dauntless are famed for. "We need to know more," Jeanine says. "In order to keep our society thriving, we need to rise up to this challenge as leaders of our community. Divergents are a threat, but only because we don't understand them. If we could learn more, find them a place in our society that will help us prosper...we could create a better world. One that exceeds what our ancestors created for us." One that would put them in the history books. She doesn't say it though, and I wonder what she sees in them that I'm missing.
"What I'm asking of you is to keep an eye out, watch for the signs." It's another cue to change the slide. This time it's signs of Divergence. I've read through them. Most of them are blatantly obvious, focusing on the idea that signs of Divergence are more evident after initiations. "The clearest sign of Divergence are those who suit more than one faction, despite their choices. Someone who strives for peace, but with their fists. Someone who lies while claiming to tell the truth. Someone who is aggressive but wickedly intelligent. Those who cannot adapt to one faction like us." She doesn't mention the Aptitude test results. The ones that are almost impossible to fake. All Aptitude test results are recorded in Erudite. Those that have to be entered manually are given to Jeanine. Even if your tester tried to help, there was no hiding.
I was warned with my results to not go near Erudite, my home faction...to transfer to somewhere safe, like Abnegation. I didn't listen. Sometimes the safest place for the mouse to hide is directly under the lion's nose.
"In the papers in front of you there is a list of signs with a few aimed to your faction. The easiest way to spot them is in the initiation tests. With this years Aptitude tests coming soon, I ask that you pay close attention to those joining you. It is only through our constant vigilance that we can continue to keep our society safe, or let it crumble around us. Which do you prefer?" I can hear the smile in her voice and I turn off the slides. It's time for discussion.
"And what," Jack asks, "do you want us to do if we find one?" I shift in my chair, moving slightly so that I could see the others better. Jack is watching her carefully, eyes travelling over her body looking for clues in her speech. I force myself to remain still. My stomach rolls thinking about her drive to wipe Divergents from the face of the earth.
Marcus is silent, the creases in between his eyebrows gaining more of my notice than the clasped hands on the table in front of him. He looks concerned.
"Bring them to us at Erudite. The more we understand about these...anomalies, the better chance we have to stopping it and protecting our people...our children." She says it straightforwardly, like it should be obvious to everyone there.
"You want to test them?" Johanna asks, worry in her voice.
"We want to understand them," Jeanine stresses.
"But-"
"She's right," Max's voice is sharp, cutting across the others with no difficulty. "We need to keep the peace," his eyes flicker to Johanna with a curl of his lip. "Surely you'd understand that." Johanna's voice is soft in reply.
"Peace is something we understand, but I don't believe that you do." Her voice gains strength. "Would it not be better to welcome these people? You mentioned finding them a place in our society. Surely we can avoid this...chaos you think will happen if we allow them to thrive."
"And if someone in Amity has an argument and murders one of your people?" Jeanine asks, calm as ever. "They won't conform to the peace Amity requires, nor the truthfulness of Candor, the...selflessness of Abnegation or the bravery of Dauntless." Jeanine sounds more determined than ever. Her conviction is in her tone. "These are people who will not fit in our society, who will bring danger to us all. I'm asking that you be aware, look around, and if you see anyone who fits the profile, inform either us at Erudite or our protectors of Dauntless so that we can monitor them. We just want to keep the city safe." There is a moment of silence that breaks when Marcus finally speaks.
"If you think this is as severe as you say," his eyes are hard. "Then it is a matter for the council. The statistics that you have given isn't enough to warrant an investigation on simply anyone that someone may not agree with. It is a serious accusation. While we," he motioned to the others, "appreciate your concern for our society, I don't think that Divergents are a thing to be worried about at this time." Jeanine's body has tensed and I can only imagine that while she is smiling, her jaw is clenched. It's not a good move for Marcus.
"That may be," Jeanine's voice is hard. "But we're not talking about a moth around a candle that is simply an inconvenience. We're talking about an invasive species, the kind that if left unchecked will dig into the roots and grow until it finally consumes everything it touches. What will happen when you can't control your faction? When our people stop listening, stop trying and everything shuts down? Will we let it grow out of hand when we can work towards controlling it now?" Jeanine takes a deep breath, reigning back the fierceness she let show.
"Thank you Jeanine," Johanna speaks suddenly. "We know that you're just worried about our city and that is an admirable trait. I will need to speak to my faction before we come to a decision," Jeanine nods her head and Johanna smiles. "I'm sure we all will keep an eye out in the meantime, just in case." Typical Amity, trying to keep the peace.
"I, too, will need to speak to the others," Marcus says.
"As will I," Jack agrees. "This isn't something to be taken lightly. We'll speak about it in depth." That was Candor code for more arguing. We probably wouldn't hear from them for a while.
"Of course. Thank you all for coming." Jeanine motions towards me. "My assistant will show you out. We have cars available to take you home."
The leaders slowly stand, talking amongst each other softly. There is a tension in the air and it has nothing to do with the fact that Johanna and the Dauntless are avoiding each other like normal. I stand, straighten my dress and smile. The sooner I get out of the room, the sooner I'll feel like I can breathe again. I clutch my tablet and the folder with the codes closer. Jeanine has turned away to look out the window. I can only imagine what her mind is strategizing.
"If you would all follow me, please," I ask. Marcus, the Abnegation representative, hears me first.
"Of course." I wait until the attention from everyone is on me, ignoring the fact that I know Eric is staring at me, before I lead them out of the room.
It doesn't remain silent for long. No one speaks to me, following dutifully as I lead the way through the halls and offices, but that doesn't stop them from speaking to each other.
"I don't believe Jeanine really meant to scare us," Marcus is talking quietly to Johanna at the back of the group but I can hear them. She'd want me to listen in. "She's most likely just worried."
"How does it feel to know that you are so insignificant in their eyes that they don't see you as a threat, not even working with Jeanine?" The voice is soft, close to my ear and I don't have to turn around to know it's Eric. My jaw clenches to keep myself from saying anything back. I don't know how he made his way to the front of the group, but I don't look. I won't give him the satisfaction of getting under my skin. It's quieter behind me and I realize I missed the rest of the conversation between Johanna and Marcus.
We arrive the at the elevator that will take us to the first floor. I press the button to go down and the group behind me falls silent. It's easier to talk about people when you think you won't be overheard. Elevators are no place for privacy. I motion for everyone to get on ahead of me, stalling only when Marcus refuses to get on before me.
"I insist," I say after he threatens to take the stairs. I try to appeal to his selflessness. "It would help me if you would get on so that I could complete my job." My voice is hard, but he is wasting time. A hand grabs my upper arm and I am pulled into the elevator. Marcus gets on only when he sees there is still room, and I turn to glare at my attacker. Eric is standing next to me, hand still on my arm, smirking. "Let go," I demand quietly. He does slowly as the doors close but doesn't move. The hairs on the back of my neck stand up as I feel him next to me. I want to flee.
Outside the Erudite building, I direct everyone to the cars that are there to take them back to their factions. Johanna and Jack both thank me, getting into separate cars and going in opposite directions. Marcus refuses but not for long. I watch him as he gets into a car. I expected more of a fight. The three Dauntless refuse a car, claiming to wait for the train. No one argues.
I wait until I'm sure all the cars are gone before handing Max the folder I have with me.
"When should we expect you?" Max asks, flipping through it before handing it to the woman.
"I'll call you to arrange it. I'm going to need people to carry some of the supplies in. We also have to revamp the power supply, so I'll have to make another visit to get the specifics and decide if we need a contractor. I'll let you know." The woman hands the folder to Eric who glances at it but doesn't hand it back to Max.
"Good," Max nods. "Eric will be your guide in the compound. He'll arrange everything for you."
I glance at Eric who looks amused. They were leaving me with the one person who's already tried to kill me. I grit my teeth, and smile as I reply, "Great."
[tbc]
