A/N: Thank you all so much for your patience. I know it's been awhile. If you follow my tumblr (asirensrage), you know what's been happening but if you don't then let me explain. It's mostly been school, but in December my grandmother got sick and passed away. After that it was holidays, then I got sick and I managed to successfully kill my computer. Luckily I had enough saved that I could buy another one. As it goes, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. Thanks again!
Chapter Twenty-Six
It has never been more difficult to return to Erudite. I cannot remove the image of Vera, tied on to that table, from my head. It sticks with me as I walk through the halls towards the elevator that will deliver me back to Jeanine.
"Amelia!"
The voice calling my name is overly familiar. I don't have the time or energy to deal with him. I pick up my pace, hoping that I can make it to the elevator before he can reach me. My shorter stature and heels betray me and Riley catches up to me first.
"I called your name," he says, straightening his suit as he stands next to me.
"And I ignored you."
"You could at least do me the courtesy of speaking with me," he snaps.
"The last time we spoke," I say slowly, "you refused to listen to me. You left bruises on my arm. We have no reason to speak again." The elevator doors open and I step in, hoping he won't follow. I am not that lucky.
"You are being unreasonable," he says as if trying to pacify me.
The doors close, locking me in with him. I press the button to my floor, hoping that he does not intent to follow me to my desk.
"Amelia, listen to me. I may have gotten…emotional when we last spoke and I apologize for that but you must see the logic in our pairing. We are the best that Erudite has to offer." He pushed his glasses back up to rest of the bridge of his nose. "There is no one else in Erudite who is as compatible to you as I am."
He still was not listening. I tried to take a deep breath to calm myself. Why couldn't he just understand that I wasn't interested? That I didn't want to be his wife? I couldn't deal with this. Not now. I felt his hand touch my arm, curiously close to the same spot he had bruised upon our last meeting.
"Let me arrange the meeting with the sociologists. They'll confirm what we both know: that we are well suited for each other. I can give you more time, but you have to understand that I need something in return. I need the guarantee of our relationship."
I hit the button for the next floor that the elevator could stop at. "For an Erudite you are incredibly stupid," I snap. "I said no. There is no relationship between us. Understood? And if you harass me again about this I will see you thrown out and Factionless. It's over." The elevators doors open and I hold them there until he steps out onto the floor. "Goodbye Riley."
His eyes darken as he scowls at me. "You are going to regret this, Amelia," he says as the doors close, finally separating us.
"Add it to the list," I mutter to myself. The elevator is silent in response.
Jeanine is in the middle of a conversation with Gregory when I enter the lab. She turns towards me expectantly, giving a response to Gregory before motioning him to leave.
"The agenda for today," she demands.
I look down at the list on my tablet, steadfastly ignoring the sound of muffled crying. "You are scheduled to give a speech in half an hour in the main auditorium. Afterwards, there is a meeting with the council at Candor. You have the afternoon booked here in the lab and I have sent you the list of candidates for you to approve to be brought to the project. You have a meeting tomorrow morning with the currently top ranked engineers and technicians." One of whom is my father. I could not keep him off the list without raising suspicion.
Jeanine stares at me for a moment and it feels as if her eyes are boring into me, expecting me to expose some flaw. "Excellent. I expect you to remain at Candor after the meeting to arrange the next series of tests for them. I want a diverse sample, understood?"
"Yes, ma'am," I said. I had forgotten for a moment that I would be required to attend the meeting. I had planned to make those arrangements by phone, but I was not going to counter anything that would keep me away from the further tests that she would apply to Vera. I didn't want to see it.
"I've arranged for your replacement. She will remain in the office for the time being until we are satisfied that she is to be trusted into the labs. You are to train her in the afternoons when you are not needed with me."
It feels as if my system shuts down. I stare at her in shock before I remember that we had spoken about this before. She trusts me, and as I am given more work to assist her, someone else will be given the menial tasks of setting meetings and arranging her schedule while monitoring her office. "Of course," I say quickly.
She tilts her head down slightly, looking at me over her glasses. It is a look that informs me she is well aware that I have forgotten. "Your duties will increase, as we have discussed."
I nod. "If I may ask, who have you chosen?"
"Catherine Bryant."
Catherine. She chose Catherine. Somehow, I am not surprised. Catherine has been adamant about the position long before I received it. She would take it as an achievement, a step towards overthrowing my position and Jeanine would not see her as any threat to her work. Training her will be arduous. I simply nod and look at my tablet for the time. "I will arrange a meeting with her this afternoon to schedule training. I'm afraid though, that we must leave now to reach the auditorium on time."
Jeanine nods and strides for the elevator without a word to Gregory. I follow quickly, trying to ignore the lingering thought of what will become of me when I am no longer constantly at Jeanine's side. If she no longer needs me? I cannot let fear overwhelm me. I will just have to be careful and face whatever comes.
Candor unnerves me.
The meeting passes without incident. The leaders from the factions are there but I am for once lucky with Eric's absence. I remain silent through the meeting, taking notes as needed, but Anna, one of the other Dauntless leaders who accompanied Max, continuously stares at me when she can. It is as I am a puzzle she is trying to solve. She is not the only one. I am well aware of Jeanine's eyes on me when the Dauntless entered the room. She seemed to be expecting a reaction, but with Eric gone there is only relief.
As I wait for Jeanine to finish her conversation with Jack Kang, Anna is in the process of following Max out. She looks for a second like she wants to stop and speak to me. Instead she gives me a small smile that does not reach her eyes and walks out. I wonder what it was but if it is important, she has the ability to contact me. Perhaps Eric had finally tired of me now that he had gotten his…stress relief and she had wanted to pass on the message. Somehow, I doubted it. Eric would be more likely to deliver that news face to face. If only to see if the reaction was something he could use.
"Amelia," Jeanine calls, pulling me from my thoughts. "Jack will lead you to one of his associates who will assist you in the process of testing."
"Yes, ma'am," I nod before looking at the leader of Candor. I remind myself to breathe and remain calm. "I look forward to working with you." He looks amused but nods.
"When you're ready," he prompts.
I look towards Jeanine. "I expect you at Erudite when you are finished. Your training with Catherine begins upon your return."
"Yes, ma'am." I am suddenly even more reluctant to go back to Erudite but I would rather deal with Catherine than stay in Candor longer than I have to.
"Jack," Jeanine nods to him before turning and walking out alone. I am left with the leader of a faction whose entire identity is based on their ability to tell truth from lies.
I turn to Jack and nod.
"Follow me," he says and leads me out of the room. As we walk down the corridors, the people who greet us nod to Jack but look at me curiously. It is no different from my experience in Dauntless, however I am certain that Jack will not harm me. At the very least he will not pretend to throw me off a cliff. "You are not fond of Catherine?"
I look at him sharply.
"Forgive me," he says. "I noticed it when Jeanine mentioned it." I tried to think of whether or not I had let any expression show on my face. "I wouldn't worry. Jeanine did not see it."
"Interesting," I say carefully. This is precisely the reason I avoid Candor and those that belong here. They can see emotions through even the smallest expressions. For some reason, he does not continue to pry. As relieved as I am, I cannot help but wonder why. Was the question merely meant to prove their ability to me? To make me uneasy? Or are Candor incapable of small talk? At least any that does not involve invasive questioning on what they observe in others.
He smiles before stopping at a door. He knocks twice before entering, motioning for me to follow. There is a sole desk in the room and behind it is a small woman who grins widely at us.
"Jack! I would say it is good to see you but you just interrupted my thought process about how to improve the initiation process. How are you?" She stands up and makes her way towards us.
"As well as can be expected after another council meeting. I have come to introduce you to Amelia, the representative from Erudite that I told you about before." Jack motioned to me and I nodded towards the woman.
"Great! I was hoping that this was happening sooner than later. Initiation will be upon us sooner than you think. I'm Alethea," the woman said, sticking her hand out towards me. "Call me Allie though. Alethea can be a little troublesome for some people. They have a hard time pronouncing it but no one ever wants to admit that."
I shake her hand and smile. She is more than a little overwhelming. The speed at which she talks reminds me of Brighton when he is excited. "Pleasure to meet you," I say.
She laughs. "We both know that's not true, but don't worry about it."
"Alethea is one of the instructors in lie detection. She specializes in micro expressions," Jack explains. Of course she is.
"Don't worry," she says lightly. "I can control myself." It does not seem possible. Candor are well known to always speak the truth, regardless of what harm it may do. For someone who speaks at the speed that Brighton does, with knowledge and mores of the faction? It was highly unlikely that she would not slip up and reveal what she sees. It is far too alarming, but I cannot panic. I must remain calm.
"I'll leave you to it," Jack says. "Amelia, if you need anything, please let me know. Also, when you have composed the list of volunteers, I would appreciate you informing me before they are scheduled for testing. I will be sending an escort with them."
"What he means," Alethea says, "is a body guard. You can leave now Jack, I'll take it from here." He nods and leaves the room. Alethea stares at me for a moment before motioning for me to sit in the chair across from her desk. As I do, she sits down across from me, clicking something on her computer before she turns away from it and looks at me.
"So," she says. Her tone has changed slightly, less of the happy, easy-going tone she had when we first met. "Why don't we start with you telling me exacting what you're looking for in this testing?"
"What do you mean?" I ask. My voice is steady, but the way she stares makes me nervous. I cannot give anything away.
"We both know that there's more to it than looking for effects of a gas leak, don't we?" She pauses for a moment before smiling. "There it is," she points towards me. "So what's going on?"
To use one of Eric's expressions, fuck.
[tbc]
