Tris tidies up her apartment for what feels like the hundredth time this week, an old Abnegation habit of not sitting idly around has stirred in her ever since this quarantine started. She multi-tasks while on a leadership conference call, something that's become a regular occurrence as late. A few weeks ago, several Dauntless members had gotten ill from an unknown virus that everyone had assumed was the flu. However, when their conditions hadn't improved, they were sent to Erudite where they continued to deteriorate even with their top of the line care. It didn't take long for the scientists in Erudite to determine they were dealing with a virus strain that hadn't been seen before, and that it was not only very contagious but also deadly.
The city quickly enacted a lockdown, with strict quarantine in place rules. Tris, along with the other members of leadership had developed the detailed plans to take care of their faction, and strict guidelines had been enacted to ensure that anyone who had a job that could be performed from their home could do so without interruptions.
Most of the shops in the compound had closed, with only a few remaining open as mission critical. The cafeteria had been closed, instead turned into a wholesale grocery outlet in order to provide the compound with the necessary supplies to shelter in place until a cure to this unknown virus could be developed.
The first few days were incredibly busy, since Tris was a member of junior leadership she was still working partial days outside of her apartment to help with the shutting down of the faction. However, they are now in week four with no end in sight, and she's begun to get a bit more stir crazy. Her home is cleaner than she ever had time to make it before, all of her closets and cupboards are organized, and even though she can still perform her leadership duties from her home her uptime is greatly diminished since leading a shut-down faction tends to keep issues quiet. Their cross-faction leadership meetings have been focused on taking care of their sick, and developing a cure for this virus.
All in all, she's thankful that she's remained healthy, along with her friends and family.
The beep from her tablet makes her smile, since she knows its distinct tone is from the DateMe app. She opens the app and her smile widens, she sees a message from ManofMystery and she opens it up immediately, excited to hear from him after the draining virtual meeting she just had with leadership.
ManofMystery: I'm not sure what today is, can you remind me?
OnYourSix: Tuesday? Or maybe Thursday? I'm pretty sure it's a day that ends in Y.
ManofMystery: Incredibly helpful, thank you. How was work?
Work was the one subject she and her new friend have both skirted around. She knows whatever he does for the faction, he's still able to do from his apartment, and he knows the same about her. They had made plans to finally meet, and before that could happen the entire city was turned upside down due to this virus.
OnYourSix: Another day. I've heard rumors that the virus numbers are up, so it's made me a bit nervous.
ManofMystery: Same. I can't ever remember a time that this faction has been so quiet, or so serious. It's eerie.
OnYourSix: Have you lived here your whole life?
There's a definite pause. She begins to wonder if she got a little too personal.
ManofMystery: Lived here long enough to know this is really damn weird. How about you?
OnYourSix: Yeah, same here. It's been so strange not being around my friends and coworkers, but I keep telling myself I should be thankful that no one's gotten sick.
ManofMystery: Absolutely.
They talk back and forth for a while, in between texts with Christina. Chris has been missing Will, they had made the decision to break up a few weeks before the quarantine, and he had moved out of their shared apartment. Since then, they've been in regular contact electronically, but since they weren't living in the same apartment when the quarantine went into effect they've not been allowed to see each other. For someone as social and interactive as Christina, this has been increasingly difficult for her, so Tris is sure to make herself more available. When the video chat alert goes off, she answers it and sees her beautiful mocha skinned friend grinning back at her.
"I miss you." Christina says.
"I miss you too." Tris replies.
They catch up on their daily activities, as it's not unusual in these circumstances for the two to talk multiple times a day. When Tris' tablet beeps again, Chris' smile widens.
"Ooooo is that mystery man?" She asks.
"Indeed it is." Tris grins back.
"Tell me you've gotten some pictures of him!" Chris implores.
"Nothing other than the ones that pass through their policies on sending personal pics." Tris shrugs.
"How can you talk to him all the time but not get any pics. Haven't you all passed the mandatory waiting period? I thought the app had lessened it since there's a lock down in place too."
Tris shakes her head. "It works for me, Chris. Whoever this is will want the same identifying information from me once we cross that line. What if it's someone who is looking for the intel I have as a leader?"
"Or what if it's Peter?" Christina retorts.
Tris scrunches up her nose and makes a face. "We broke up months ago, why would he be seeking me out on a dating app?"
"Because all of his other avenues to get you back are closed. He can't send you flowers or takeout, he can't drop by when he's back in the compound, he can't show up uninvited to our girl's nights in the Pit." Christina sighs. "Tris, I know you're worried about protecting your identity as a leader, but I don't want you to get hurt if this is Peter trying to weasel his way back in."
"We still talk often, we are part of the junior leadership team." Tris replies.
"Does he still have personal conversations with you though?" Christina implores.
Tris thinks about that question and realizes that Chris might be on to something. Peter did try to talk to her almost daily about their relationship in the first several weeks after their break up. Their personal conversations had waned, however she didn't suspect him of anything since he did seem to be making an effort to change some of his ways.
She opens the app and the message that appears is a photo, not of him but definitely taken by him. He has his TV on, and a game paused.
"He's playing an old school video game, look…" Tris says as she screen shares with Christina.
"What even is that?" She asks.
"It's the original Legend of Zelda. You've never played it?" Tris asks, then prattles on about the vintage game that she loves so much. Before she realizes it, Christina has taken control of her tablet and typed a message in return.
OnYourSix: I love Zelda! I got excited that I was getting a pic of you though. Care to turn that camera around?"
"Christina!" Tris shouts.
"Girl, come on. You've talked to this one for months now, you should know who it is. If it's not Peter, make sure it's not some sixty year old man living in a basement apartment, collecting used socks or something…."
"Ewwww… I hate you." Tris replies.
"You love me." Christina replies. "Look, he read it."
Tris ensured that she had control of her tablet before ending their screen share session. She sent a quick message through the app.
OnYourSix: Sorry, my friend and I were screen sharing and she decided to take over.
ManofMystery: Your friend knows about me?
OnYourSix: Yeah. She's naturally curious as a rule, and she wanted to know who I was talking to.
"Did he send the pic?" Christina asks.
"No, I apologized for my crazy friend taking over my tablet." Tris replies with a scowl.
ManofMystery: How about a picture for a picture? If you send one, I'll send one too.
OnYourSix: Ok, I'd like that.
"He wants a pic of me. Do I look ok?" Tris asks.
"You look beautiful, honestly I wish I could get away with not wearing makeup like you." Christina grins.
Christina helps her to snap the perfect selfie and Tris sends it, nervously watching the app.
"It shows he opened it." Tris smiles.
The two women chat, with Tris nervously checking the app for a return pic. She sees the chat bubble showing that he's typing a response, but it keeps disappearing.
ManofMystery: You aren't what I expected.
OnYourSix: Is that good or bad?
Tris is nervous, she didn't expect such an ambiguous response. She looks down and sees that he has logged off the app.
"He logged off." She says to Christina sadly.
"Wait, what? Did he say anything?" She asks.
"He said I wasn't what he expected, I asked if it was good or bad and he read that message, but just logged off." Tris replies sadly.
