My Aptitude Test results were exactly what I had wanted, so when my name was called at the Choosing Ceremony I didn't hesitate to step over to the bowl with hot coals inside and cut my hand so the blood dropped inside. The Dauntless host watched as I joined his group, the only one from Erudite so far in a row of black leather. A few Candors in their immaculately pressed black and white suits had already moved over too and one girl wearing Amity's yellow garb for formal occasions came to sit beside me after making her choice. She looked frightened and I gave her a friendly smile as I introduced myself.
"It's nice to meet you, Emma. I'm Abigail Green."
"Nice to meet you too, Abigail." I didn't really pay much attention to the rest of the people that went up to add their blood to which ever bowl their Aptitude Test had told them to pick. No one was supposed to know how to cheat the system, though a few of the Erudite students like me did and kept it to themselves. I'd even heard rumors of someone from a prominent Abnegation family had disappeared from their faction into another, but those whispers vanished almost immediately.
The ceremony ended and everyone stood with their factions and headed out. As Dauntless, we naturally ran to the tracks and hopped on the train. It was a strange experience for me, but I was sure I could get used to it. I thought about Liam on the way to the Dauntless headquarters and wondered if he would have stayed if he'd known how to fool the simulation. Then again I wouldn't have met him and the Aptitude Test probably wouldn't have put me in Dauntless.
In fact, I would have probably ended up labeled as a Divergent and put in Jenine's "secret" lab she thought only her elite pupils knew about. It'd never occurred to her one of them would brag about how they'd performed experiments on anyone caught who was Divergent. As an outsider in the faction I'd been born into, I noticed Erudite possessed unfair advantages over the other factions like first hand access to technological and medical knowledge. While anyone might claim they shared this knowledge, I had seen perfectly good examples of Erudite keeping the best of everything from medicine to serums rumored to be able to kill anyone exposed to it.
My thoughts were interrupted by the Dauntless man in our car who stood up and instructed us to get ready to jump. It was only then I realized he looked like an older version of Liam, hints of grey in his auburn hair. It had to be Liam's father Marion, whose name no one in Dauntless dared to make fun of due to his excellent aim with any weapon at impossible distances and the fact he'd never been beaten in hand to hand combat.
His eyes rested on me as I lingered at the back of the line and gripped my elbow when I reached him. "You must be the Emma my son wrote to me about."
"I am." I felt a blush creep over my cheeks at the idea Liam thought me important enough to send a correspondence to his father.
"I wish we could have met under better circumstances. Ready to jump?"
I nodded and we lept together. We made our way to the entrance to Dauntless headquarters, though honestly it just looked like the top of a roof after we'd raced up several flights of stairs. Everyone got silent when one of the other leaders said we needed to jump again. Confused, no one new moved as I glanced around as the Dauntless born didn't waste any time. I decided it had to be a test, steeled myself against fear and walked over to the ledge. I let myself fall and landed safely in a black net which had been invisible from the roof. I whooped in relief and adrenaline as I was helped out by my fellows.
One by one, the others followed until no one was left on the roof when Marion brought up the rear. We all went into the compound and were introduced to our instructors and the resident doctor, whom it was assumed we'd need sooner more than later. We were shown to the dorm we'd share as new initiates and settled in without further ado. As I drifted off, I warned myself not to think I had a sure place here until I earned it and even then wouldn't really belong.
