Chapter One
Tris POV
I wake up in an unfamiliar room. It looks like a hospital and I can see people walk past the window wearing scrubs and face masks. Around me is an abundance of equipment but when I try to sit up in order to investigate, I find my wrists and ankles bound and secured to the bed.
Somewhere in my mind the last minutes I remember resurface and I know I fell ill.
I did not pay attention, it seems, and the door opens. Inside steps a woman I saw just minutes ago.
"Beatrice, you are awake," she croons and for some reason it gives me goosebumps.
"Where am I," I ask.
"Ah, that's classified."
I stare at her dumbfounded.
"Beatrice, you are no longer a member of a faction but live to serve me," she croons once more.
I know I must be gaping while my mind tries to catch up to what she just said. I think I am having a nightmare. Maybe I should pinch myself and see if I can wake up?
I forgot I was restrained and my hands rattle the leather cuff and metal chain.
Jeanine moves closer, her hand cradling my chin, making me look her straight in the eye.
"You are rather special, Beatrice. I knew it when I saw your aptitude test. Two years of planning and waiting and you are finally here. A one hundred percent divergent, a female," she almost moans that last part and I think she means to highlight it for me. "You are completing my collection and I can't wait to get started."
"Are you going to kill me," I whisper, remembering Tori's warning.
Jeanine's head jerks back to me.
"You are of no use to me dead. I need you alive and you will stay that way for a long, long time. You are only sixteen and you will last me for at least two decades if not longer."
Jeanine seems to be the type to ramble, I did not think that was something Erudite did but at least she is giving me some information.
"I will let you in on a little secret," she fake whispers to me. "I have a boy who is just like you... one hundred percent divergent and I will order him to impregnate you once we retrieve some of your eggs. I will create my own lab rats, so to speak, and you two will be the control group and..." she pauses dramatically "...thanks to the little Candor that came with you I even found a partner for my ninety nine percenter. Unfortunately I don't have enough females here to grow the embryos in numbers but that's the beauty of the female body. It can give birth over and over for many years with the right medical attention."
Oh my god, she is a lunatic!
"I will leave you to rest a little before we get started. Try to get some sleep," she advises, sounding almost like my mother encouraging me to head to bed when I feel sick.
She leaves the room and I stare out the window at all those people passing me, knowing that they are part of Erudite, part of this sick experiment on Divergents. Each and every single one of them complicit in abduction and testing human beings against their will.
My mind wanders back and replays Jeanine's words over and over until I finally stumble across one word. "I will ORDER him to impregnate you."
How is she going to order another to impregnate me? If he is divergent surely he is in it against his will ...
Time must have flown by while I was busy thinking over everything that I now knew and before I am ready a few people, covered in scrubs and surgical masks, enter.
They don't talk to me when they walk across the room, they don't even talk to each other when they prepare a table with syringes and medical instruments.
A port is inserted into my vein and a drip attached. A man adds something from one of the syringes into the mix and continues with his work around the room.
I don't know how long it took but I feel some cramping in my stomach and when I groan in pain one of the females adds another syringe to my drip.
The pain recedes slightly and after a minute I am able to hold the moans back and the cramps fade.
They continue to ignore me until a timer beeps on the tray.
They all line up and face me, scrutinising my form and face.
Two people step forward and release my legs but as much as I want to kick them, I don't seem to be able to move my limbs.
A weird metal contraption is brought in from the back of the room they have been working on and attached to the bed. My wrists are released and my whole body pulled downwards. I am so numb; I don't feel a thing. My arms are restrained where my legs were while my knees are pushed up onto a leather covered armrest. More straps tie them down and I realise I am spread open. My slightly elevated head let's me see that I am only wearing a hospital gown and nothing else and my most private parts are on full display.
A man holding something akin to metal prongs glistening with some sort of liquid walks right up to me and starts pushing it towards my vagina.
I stare in horror as he moves it into me. I don't feel pain, but I do feel pressure and I can see blood when he pulls it out before reapplying some sort of jelly and pushing it back in repeatedly.
One of the females brings a strong light and I am momentarily blinded by it.
There is a flurry of activity but I see a very long needle in someone's hand before it is attached to a phallus shaped device.
I know what a phallus is thanks to the books in school and not thanks to my 'allowed' education.
Now this knowledge makes me watch with renewed trepidation as it is coated with the same jelly and brought closer and closer to me.
It makes contact and I feel the pressure down below. It is halfway in when someone else pushes my gown up and another wand onto my stomach and stares at a screen.
They all do and then the phallus is pushed in further and further, adjusted and re-adjusted.
I follow the person moving around the room and see them checking a vial that is filling with liquid. My eyes trace the cable and I see it is attached to whatever they pushed into me.
When the vial is full they give a signal and the wand is removed from my abdomen and the phallus pulled out none too gently.
Nobody is talking to me when half the staff clears out and the rest stays behind to clean me up and reposition me in bed.
Another syringe is pushed into my drip and I can feel all conscious thought leaving me.
…
When I come to again, I can immediately see that I was moved.
I am now lying in a large bed in a darkened room. My body feels sore and I slowly try to move my limbs. They are responding to my commands, but it also causes me to moan in pain.
"There are painkillers on the nightstand," a rough voice whispers.
I turn my head and see someone I recognize.
"You were there..." I start but have to stop when I notice my own voice sounding just as rough. I turn to the nightstand she indicated and with the painkillers comes a glass of water. I take both and swallow greedily.
"You were there when I was taken," I finally rasp out.
"Yes," she answers.
"Did they..." I start, unsure how to continue.
"Tell me that they abducted me because of my aptitudes and want to use me in some sick genetic experiment?" She supplies.
"Yeah, that!" I pause while trying to get my bearings.
"They stole my eggs and told me I will be raped," she cries suddenly, and I look over.
"Raped?"
"If someone puts his dick into you against your will it is called rape," she shouts, and I cringe.
"I don't know those things,' I admit quietly.
"You are Abnegation," she remembers.
"Not anymore. Now I am presumed Jeanine's property," I state gravely.
"Bullshit! I was Candor and now I am Dauntless," she declares.
"We never made it to Dauntless," I remind her, and myself.
"Doesn't matter. I did not choose Factionless and I was not made Factionless by someone in Dauntless. I guess we will find out once we get out of here."
"Uh, any idea how to accomplish that? Jeanine made it sound like I was a long-time guest - two decades feel like more than a lifetime," I relay.
"Two decades," Candor girls asks, sounding rather shocked.
"Well, she said she will create new babies for as long as she can with us and the females she holds captive. Something about us being a control group. I have no idea what she was talking about half of the time."
"Well, my parents should know by now that I am not in Dauntless and I think yours do too."
"What," I ask. How does she know those things?
"What's your name," she suddenly asks me.
"Beatrice," I mumble.
"That's a mouthful. I will call you... Tris. I am Christina, but you can call me Chris. Huh, Chris and Tris..."
"How do you reckon we are missed," I repeat my question.
"There is a digital clock and calendar on the wall." Christina points behind us and I turn around.
"I never saw one of those before," I whisper in awe, but she hears me.
"What?! You never saw a clock?"
"I was allowed to have a watch but not a calendar. Abnegation don't follow the norms of the other factions. The only way we count days is by the work we do. We don't celebrate any special days like birthdays but there are school days and days for volunteering and worship and then we repeat the cycle. The only exemptions are the days assigned to the aptitude test and our Choosing Ceremony," I explain.
"You were seriously deprived growing up," she surmises, and I chuckle.
"I didn't know any better,' I admit.
"Well, according to this calendar we are here for ten days already and Visiting Day was supposed to be yesterday. I know my parents would want to check up on me, so they know I am not in Dauntless," she states and I nod.
"Will they try to find you," I ask hopefully.
"I am sure they want to know the truth about what happened to me. Don't you think your parents will wonder why they did not see you amongst the Factionless if you are not in Dauntless?"
"I don't know if they will find out. My choice wasn't well received." I can feel the tears well up in my eyes when I think back to how my father looked at me.
"They are your parents. Wouldn't it be selfish to not go and visit?"
"I don't know but I do hope so," I admit.
"How long are you awake for," I finally ask. Her voice is rough, but she seems so much more coherent than I am.
"I woke last night, and they have been in to check on you twice since. Seems they are going to feed us properly." Chris nods at a small table on the side where I can see some fruit and a large plastic bottle. "They brought warm lunch and dinner but since you were still unconscious, they only brought food for one. Be warned, everything they serve us can only be eaten with a spoon."
I look at her, trying to figure out why this sounds strange.
"They want to make sure we have nothing to harm ourselves. Everything is plastic and unbreakable plus there are cameras everywhere."
I look around the darkened room but notice the red light in every corner. They are not even trying to hide the cameras.
"Is there a... bathroom," I ask.
"Over there." Chris points into a corner and although I can't see much, I try to climb out of bed and walk over. My legs give out before I can take two steps and Chris is beside me, helping me up.
"Easy," she whispers while looking to the camera. "Let me help you and then you need to get back to bed for a bit. It took me a while before I got back on my feet," she admits and supports me the whole way.
I moan with relief when I sink back onto the mattress.
"Try to get some sleep. They will be back early in the morning to check us over and deliver breakfast."
I close my eyes and try to find some place within that will make me happy and relaxed enough to fall asleep. It doesn't work but exhaustion finally takes over and I am out.
...
Jeanine POV
Finally, Beatrice is awake. It took her longer than Christina and I am wondering if there is a reason why the sedative seems to be stronger for her.
I make a note in my book to follow up at an appropriate time.
The girls had a check-up and ate their breakfast, we let them be, apart from that, because I don't want to stress them out unnecessarily.
"So they are both medically cleared," I double check with my current chief medical examiner. He seems a bit uneasy with my latest project and as soon as I find a suitable replacement he will be taken out of the equation.
"Yes, but I still think you are going about this the wrong way. Forcing the females will stress them and that will lead to either their bodies refusing conception or miscarriage," he warns once more. I heard it over and over again, but I am in charge and he has to learn that what I want goes.
"My boys will succeed no matter what," I boast, and he wisely keeps his mouth shut.
I fine-tuned the programming for both, they know their target and what they are expected to do. All it takes for me to initiate the sequence is to bring them into the room and hit the start button.
"Please bring Eric and Tobias over to the holding room," I instruct my loyal assistant who dashes out.
On the cameras I can see both men being led to the door and then their guards step back while Claude, my assistant, steps forward.
I double check their facial expressions and eyes via the camera embedded in his glasses and I am happy enough to see they are fully under the influence of my serum.
Perfect!
"Phase one is about to commence," I announce loudly over the tannoy and cringe when I realise the girls can hear too.
Well, too late!
I hit enter and watch with rapt attention as the scene unfolds in front of my eyes.
...
Tris POV
"Phase One is about to commence!"
Jeanine's voice can be heard loud and clear through the room and both of us look to see where it came from.
Seems the round thing on the ceiling are speakers but did Jeanine mean for us to hear her announcement?
My thought progress is derailed when the door opens suddenly and two men walk in. They look young but I don't think I should call them boys.
Both are tall and where one has more bulging muscles the other seems equally fit despite being slim. They walk with purpose towards where we are sitting on our beds and come to stand in front of them.
Chris has the leaner one, his hair is quite dark and his skin has an olive tone. The most striking thing about him are his eyes which I can see even from the distance, they are a really hypnotic shade of blue that reminds me of something else I saw before. His eyes, although in such a striking colour, seem off. It looks like he is blind.
The bed dipping under a heavy weight makes me pay attention to the man that had been standing in front of my own bed mere seconds ago.
His hair is blonde and shows a tendency to curl. His eyes are gray but just like the other one his eyes are unseeing, and it is creeping me out.
His muscles bulge as he kneels on the bed and slowly moves forward. His strong arms are placed on the sheets and I can see the different muscles - that's how well defined his physique is.
Why do I focus on all those things when said man is slowly but surely inching closer to me? Only god knows!
My head quickly turns to check on Christina and I see her man did the same as mine. When I turn my head back I see that I missed the approach and now he is looming over me.
My breath catches in my throat when he uses his knees to push my legs apart before I screech in fright. He doesn't react at all when I try to squirm away but his hands move onto my shoulders, holding on tight. I could have avoided them but once more I was staring at his trance like movements, hypnotised myself like the mouse staring at the snake seconds before it strikes.
Christina's screams are louder and her curses more vocal than what I could ever dream of uttering but there is no time to check on her when my man lowers himself onto me and traps my body beneath his.
I am in panic mode, pushing him away when he starts moving rhythmically.
After a moment my brain starts working again and I cease my struggles when I realise that even I know what he is doing is wrong.
His hold is on my shoulders, his knees inside mine, holding me open, but the rest of his body is just gently rubbing against mine. We are both fully dressed and I don't even feel pressure where men are supposed to go.
Christina gave me extensive anatomy and biology lessons and this is so not what she explained it would be like.
Right on cue Chris giggles and it triggers my own.
Neither man reacts and it confirms my theory that they are not themselves. Is this what Jeanine meant with ordering the other Divergent to impregnate is like? God, I hope her orders always end up like this!
Undeterred the men continue with their... workout ... until the door opens and a sleuth of armed guards move in. Once they surround the beds both men suddenly freeze and both get pulled off us and dragged out the door none too gently.
...
Jeanine POV
"What just happened?"
I turn around and give those scientists around me a nasty look, daring them to answer a question I did not mean to say out loud. Everyone avoids eye contact and I turn back around to face the monitors and my computer so they won't be able to see my face.
I screwed up! How did I manage to do that? Where did I go wrong?
"Bring Eric and Tobias to their rooms and give them a sedative," I say I into the microphone connecting me to Claude only.
I dismiss everyone and lock the door before I open my new simulation program and look over the data I entered.
I don't want to relive my failure, but I need to evaluate the video feed of Tobias and Eric with Christina and Beatrice in order to compare it to my programming.
An hour later I am still as clueless as I was before, but I made a slight adjustment and tomorrow I will try again.
The girls seem to have recovered from meeting the boys and are eating their lunch as if nothing happened. Good!
There is nothing left for me to do and I leave my secret facility and head back to Erudite to take care of faction business. Looks I will have to stretch myself a bit more before I get my project running smoothly.
...
Tris POV
The guards drag the two men out and the door slams shut, the external locks engaging.
I look over at Christina who looks as dumbfounded as I feel.
"What just happened?"
"Your guess is as good as mine," I answer.
"That was creepy."
I ponder her choice of words for a moment.
"It started out scary and they were clearly not themselves. What exactly were they trying to do to us," I ask.
"Teaching you how to not have sex," Chris snorts.
"It has to be bad if even I recognise they are doing it all wrong," I admit.
"What was wrong with their eyes?"
"I have a theory, but I need you to answer something for me first."
Christina motions for me to go ahead so I do.
"What did Jeanine tell you she planned on doing to you? I need to know how she phrased things so think back and try to be accurate," I request.
Chris ponders this for a good minute or two before she finally nods to herself.
"She told me there is someone just like me. Ninety-nine percent divergent. She wants to create more Divergents of this calibre so she has free for all access to her test subjects. Pick of the litter, so to speak. I told her the only way to accomplish that is to take me by force and she said that would be no problem at all, he would do whatever he was told ..." Christina trails off, clearly seeing the connection and implication. "She found a way to control their minds?"
"That's what I figured as well. If she does it to them why did she decide to leave us be? Why does she need a control group anyway? She took our eggs and apparently their sperm. She is going to ... mix it all up and insert the end product into other girls she is holding captive. Why do we need to get pregnant? Wouldn't it be easier for her to just use us as an egg farm?"
I might have been clueless before meeting Chris but she made sure I understood biology 101 and all the advanced classes. Seems Ms Candor was actually paying attention in school and she admitted to having had sex before, so I got real life examples.
"She is bat shit crazy, if you ask me," Christina huffs. "But it seems this is to our advantage. If she tries and fails to have those men come in here and do the deed it gives us more time to get out of here unharmed."
"What about those babies she might give to other women?"
"I have no idea, I am just sixteen and I sure as hell am not ready for children I did not ask for or chose the father to help make said children. I might be considered old fashioned but I want to be in a proper relationship before I have children."
"You sound like an Abnegation now!" I wink to show I am only teasing but she huffs.
"You told me Abnegation don't have sex unless they want children. I want to have the relationship first and decide when I have children. I never said I would abstain from having sex any other time."
"Fair enough," I concede. "What now?"
"Now we relax and pray Jeanine is as stupid as she seems. How did she become leader of Erudite?"
"No idea," I laugh. "My father said once that there is no vote, it simply goes by highest IQ."
"Well, then she is an unstable genius who needs to be locked up in a padded cell with a ton of medication as her daily snack," Chris snarls and we leave it at that.