Warning: Skip Rhiannon's POV if you are not comfortable with mentions of suicide.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Truth is now acceptable

Fame is now injectable

Process the progress

This core is critical

Faith is unavailable

Lives become incredible now

Please understand that

Rhiannon's POV

Later… on Visiting Day…

The room is completely dark, pieces of metal scattered all around. She is still too afraid to open that cupboard, one which contains memories of her brother Nigel. If she opens that, she will believe that he is alive, only to be shattered by reality. The cupboard still has his violin; the same cupboard still has his notebook in which he wrote the notations of pieces he made up himself. She didn't dare put her fingerprints on both of them after his death.

She looks around her room but is not able to do so. If she turns on the light, everything will become real. She wants to see what her mind can make of the dark. Light numbs the senses, it shows you only what your eyes see, not what your mind does. Trusting the eyes too much is fatal.

The dark has such a deathly beautiful embrace, you can disappear in it and no one will know. You may be missed by the world for a minute, but the darkness becomes reality after you step into it.

Is all of this worth it? What is my worth? What is worth exactly? What exactly do I believe in? What is belief exactly?

She has contemplated it for so many times but has never been able to take the final step, the one stride that makes embracing the dark a final, universal truth.

Where are you now? Will I be with you when I step into the dark?

She gets up and walks into a shape. She gathers her courage and fumbles for the light switches, she is too afraid to switch it on.

Gear up.

She switches the light on. The sculptures made by her are scattered around the room. She picks one of them and pulls the wires apart.

The next one is a humanoid; she rips its limbs off.

One by one she smashes those into the ground, all of her exploding in pure, violent, catharsis.

"WHERE ARE YOU NOW?" She shouts. Another sculpture finds itself defeated on the ground. There is a copy of the periodic table on the wall. She rips it off; science is nothing but harsh rules. Those harsh lines are life and death. She spent all of her life dying for answers. The ultimate answer is death.

"WHERE ARE YOU NOW? ANSWER…"

"ANSWER… answer… please…" She crashes into the wall, tired of the world.

…

Caleb's POV

The next day…

"Don't worry, you'll be alright. You have to research into Serum D2 to stop this. Although I don't know what 'this' is. "

"Will you be okay?"

"It's not the question of being okay, it's the question of whether everyone is willing to fight for a cause or not. Okay is a state of being, one which makes us submissive and compliant."

"Yes mom."

"I wish your dad would have come, but he's acting…selfish now."

"Dad… selfish?"

"Don't question it, child. He will come to visit you the next time. Don't worry son, I'll come again when all of this ends."

These were the last words which my mom told me before she left, maybe never to be seen again. She was dressed in Dauntless clothes, I wonder how she got a hold of them, maybe from the factionless bin, maybe she was a Dauntless transfer to Abnegation.

The more I think about her, the more it makes sense. She was a bundle of energy, which got transferred to Beatrice.

I wonder when 'all of this' will end.

I reckon it's time to play my big move now. I need people in my team, and mom has given me a starting point to work upon. It's better to put all of the cards on the table. The team would include Tristan, Anahita, Rhiannon and I.

I reckon it's time for war.

"All the initiates are requested to assemble in the main hall." My old enemy, the speaker, fills the silence like an hourglass, the sand slowly trickling by, threatening to suffocate, if the silence isn't broken.

The initiates line up like mindless cows. We go into the main hall. Jeanine announces the names of the 'brilliant initiates'.

"The initiates who are privileged to benefit from the advanced program are-

1. Fernando Jameson.

2. Rhiannon White.

3. Xander Hedge.

4. Caleb Prior.

I request the named initiates to come up on the stage for a round of applause." Jeanine says.

My heart floats twice like helium in air and sinks once like mercury in water. I am so happy to find Rhiannon's and my name on the list but the other reaction's cause is quite obvious.

I can't help but feel that I don't deserve it.

We are pushed onto the podium. There are three other faces beside me, all the targets of ear- numbing and hand-reddening applause.

I look over to the people alongside me. The only new character here is this Fernando guy, who wears a thick pair of black-framed glasses, with dark hair that looks like it has never been run through with a comb. If the hair was white, he would look like Albert Einstein, one of those old-time geniuses. The guy that gave us the theory of relativity, although I couldn't figure that one out.

Xander has a characteristic copy-pasted sneer on his face. Nothing new.

I look over at Rhiannon, she is completely new. Her hair length differs from half an inch to an inch all over the place. She makes everything work on her. I didn't think I would find incredibly short hair beautiful on a girl. She is dressed in a shirt of the darkest blue, almost black. It is almost Abnegation-level baggy but looks fantastic on her. She looks like a soldier, out to blow your brains out with a laser gun. Totally dangerous.

"You are expected to report to Examination Room 1 after the assembly."

"Yes madam." All of us reply at once.

...

The Examination Room is almost empty with only one person, Aster standing there. I expected Jeanine to be there but she isn't.

"Initiates, I would like to assign a project to all of you. You are requested to make a case study on the population. It could be any kind of a demographic study but it must be supported with adequate facts and graphs."

"Any questions?" Aster says. Xander raises his hand. Oh no.

"Are we allowed to have research partners for this project?"

"Yes, I will assign those partners to you. You will be paired with Fernando Jameson, while Rhiannon White will be paired with Caleb Prior."

"Thank you." Xander says.

"Ready to do this, initiates? You've got a week to turn in your projects. Don't make Jeanine regret her choices."

"And something else I forgot. There are a few passes here which entitle you to issue books from the library, media archives, anything to help you in your research."

"What a perfect pair… The Stiff and the freak…" Xander whispers into my ears after Aster leaves. Well, he can go to hell for all I care.

We grab a pass each from the table in the centre of the room. It is of a shiny silver colour and marked with a black stripe. It proudly announces 'official apprentice' in jet-black for the entire world to see.

Oh? So, it's a special VIP ticket to almost everywhere in the compound?

I like it. (Insert evil maniac laugh.)

…

"Okay so what are your ideas for this project?" Rhiannon asks me.

"I guess we have to find a pool from which to gather data."

"Yeah, where would we get the pool from? I don't think anyone would be willing to become a temporary lab rat."

"Keep the volume down okay?" I need to remind her to censor her words.

"Would you like to go somewhere else?"

"Where?" Are there any new places left to find?

"Come with me."

"Okay."

She leads me outside, out of the main hall. She runs ahead of me in the vast empty piece of land, known as 'Millennium' to Erudite laypersons. Her mahogany hair flails around in the light and looks like strands of burnished, almost burnt gold.

The light makes everything looks so stunning, if only if it's the right kind.

"What are you staring at?"

"Nothing" If only nothing included you but I'd be cruel if I did that.

She leads me to the forge and to the place behind it. It is so impossibly near to the point where Mom met me. Was she near me when Mom came to meet me? Did she eavesdrop?

The place is a freaking dump. It looks like an enormous rusted automaton puked its parts all over the area.

"So, what do you think about utilising this place for discussion?" She asks. I pinch my nose and attempt an impersonation of an eighteenth century Englishman.

"I wouldn't want to break thy heart but I think that I require a wooden peg for my nose, for this place is an assault to my olfactory bulb."

"Oh shut up, methinks that this place needs to be cleaned up. The waste of this enormous factory is an attack to my olfactory as well." She says.

"Okay, we need to get serious now. What do you suggest as a starting point?" I say.

"I think we need to make something radical, something to wake them up, something which highlights the problems of the population. We could make a report on the factionless, and before you question me, I do NOT believe that the Abnegation is involved in something shady with the factionless. What do you think?"

"The idea is very good, but I don't think you are trying to understand, Jeanine wants from us what she wants to see. I think she wants every group to prove Erudite supremacy. I think we should make a pro-people report, but I think in a little subtle manner. Views that are too radical will land us in punishment."

"Why does everyone just not understand? I am tired of these threats of punishment! Why is everyone too busy trying to protect themselves? I thought you were different, but you are just like them! Just like…" she finds herself at a loss for words.

"Just like whom, huh? Stop overreacting. I don't disagree with you but we need subtlety." The tone of my voice is harsh like Abnegation soap which (probably) has a pH of 14. She walks away, away from me.

"Please don't run away… Please don't…" My pleas fall on deaf ears.

…

I sit on the lunch tables. My grades will go for a dive if she abandons the project. Well, I need to go over with the next part of my plan.

Well, it's time for the next part of the plan. I need to get to Tristan and Anahita. They sit on the other side of the hall. Rhiannon sits on the corner of the hall, beside another girl.

Ugh, Tristan is acting all mushy with Anahita. Their hands are linked; Tristan pushes his foot to bump it with her leg. I bet he already kissed her or something. They are in a public place after all. I brace myself for some hard core third-wheeling.

"Hey guys, I wonder if could sit here."

"Yeah sure, grab a seat." Anahita replies. She turns away from Tristan and looks at me, waiting for something.

"Wait for a second, I need another person." I walk over to Rhiannon's table.

"If you want to make it count, this is your only chance. Please come with me to that table." I whisper into her ear. She seems to consider it with a distant expression. It breaks my heart.

Stop it, Caleb. You got to be professional now. You destroyed it.

She follows me, rather reluctantly. I don't blame her. The other girl at the table, beside Rhiannon looks incredulously at her. The look on her face screams a very harsh interrogation with Rhiannon on her agenda.

"Alright, where are you leading me to?" She asks.

"To a place where at least one of the three cares about the city. I think even you do. Please take a seat." I go to the table. Tristan and Anahita greet her.

"Alright people. I don't think she needs introduction." I point towards her.

"Now on to business. Before I say anything, I need a solemn promise that none of this transpires beyond us four people." Promises are useless, no one can be trusted.

"I promise." Rhiannon is the first to speak up.

"I promise, but what is this about?" Anahita asks.

"Even I promise, but what is this about?" Tristan asks.

"This place is unsafe to discuss this, so I advise all of you to finish your lunch and come with me."

All of us shovel our food down. We are finished in a matter of minutes.

"Finished now?" All of them nod. I lead them to the transfer dorm. The dump behind the forge is a better place but I am reluctant to take Tristan and Anahita there. I don't want them to discover it. It's a secret, between Rhiannon and me.

"You do know that the transfer dorm is practically illegal for me?" Rhiannon asks with a voice as distant as the stars.

"I know but I wouldn't want to be jumped by legacies who decided to skip lunch and hang out in the dorm." I say.

I go to my bed and grab my tablet from the bedside cabinet. The key was in my pocket. The tab has some pretty sensitive information.

"So, all of you, what do you think of Erudite? Say whatever you truly think. For example I think…" I fill in the blanks with whatever I think of Erudite and the city in general. I don't hesitate to add some curses in there for added effect. Everyone fills in what they think about it. If I take it to be true then pretty much all of them agree with my views. It's another benefit of including mostly transfers in my group. All of them have experienced different sides of the story.

Tristan even goes as far to quote "Erudite trains us like f-ing mind controlled zombies. I didn't know that I signed up for this s-." Dauntless, I guess.

Anahita is gentler but she agreed with what Tristan said. I don't need to know what Rhiannon said, I already know that. She phrases all of it in the exact same manner as Tristan but with euphemisms included.

"Okay, before you start thinking that I called all of you to just curse Erudite, you're wrong. We are here to do something."

"Before I show you anything, I want to inform that what we are doing involves a lot of risk, which includes prosecution by Erudite, torture or even death. If anyone wants to turn back, they are free to do so."

Fortunately, no one turned back. I knew that Tristan wouldn't turn back as soon as the word 'risk' was involved. Anahita was a little unsure but she didn't turn back as well. I was sure about Rhiannon, I think she or someone close to her was a victim. I could see vengeance burning in her eyes as soon as I opened this particular can of worms.

I must salute their courage. Every one of us really has a bone to pick with the city. Even if it costs us our own lives.

"I know for sure that most of the news the media house circulates is fake or blown out. I have proof."

I show them the reports; the media archive articles, everything else. I think that I blindly trust them. I even tell them about Serum D2. Well, risks need to be taken. Rhiannon looks at it with wide eyes. I guess she figured out what my 'history project' exactly was.

"Any questions/suggestions?"

"Yes, what exactly will we do?" Tristan asks.

"I think we need to gather more information. All of the nudging by Erudite is bound to come to a crescendo. I think we have only the end of initiation to figure out and stop whatever Erudite plans on doing. How much of an experience do both of you have in computer hacking?"

"A lot of it. I hacked into Dauntless's secret files. I know that what you are saying is correct. I think Jeanine plans to use the Dauntless in some way in her plan. We do see Max around Erudite a lot."

"What did you find after hacking into the Dauntless files?"

"Oh, nothing much, just some lists, names, plans, etc. Although I do think those plans, lists and names will be very important now. Anahita and I will do our best to dig into the Dauntless servers."

"Okay, so you focus on the Dauntless side of things but I need Anahita and you to dig into Erudite also. I have a doubt that only Jeanine knows about the full extent of the plan. I don't think Max knows about the complete plan."

"Okay." Both of them reply.

"What will I do?" Rhiannon asks.

"You and I will focus on the more physical part of things and Serum D2 as well. We need to snoop around the whole compound to get information. I hope both of us can come up with some weapons for self defence."

"Yes." Her eyes shine with the word 'weapons', although I have no idea how to make one. Biological weapons, sure, but how does someone construct a mechanical weapon?

"Is all of it clear?" I say.

"Yes."

"Remember what I said, nothing should transpire beyond the four of us."

"Okay." All of them head out of the dorm, except for Tristan.

"What are you hanging back for? Anahita's right there." I point forward. I can't help the note of bitterness crawling into my voice.

"I just wanted to talk to you. You rarely show your face around the dining hall anymore, even then you are staring off into God knows what…" He crosses his eyes and stares up at the ceiling. I crack a small smile at this goofball.

"Did anything get into your head after I finished this long lecture? No matter you pay so less attention to anything except Anahita." I say.

"Hey, don't feel sorry for me. I am glad that I didn't get into that tiny little group of special people. Though congratulations are in order for you." He extends his hands. I extend mine and he shakes my arm so hard that it seems like he wants to wrench it away from my elbow. He doesn't feel bad at all for not making it. He really seems happy for me. I regret it all the more for ignoring the both of them.

"And, special person, what did you learn today at Jeanine's special class?"

"Nothing, Aster came to the class and assigned us a project on demographics. What did you do today?"

"We did some science experiments. Then I decided to play a prank. I made the whole lab smell like fart. I didn't get into any trouble for that. Everyone was left guessing who did it. Most of them thought it was Alev and he ran out of the dorm with a face so red with anger and embarrassment. Imagine, that statue-like guy had such a red face that it looked like he contracted scarlet fever."

He smiles at himself with a really devilish smile at the accomplishment. So bad I wasn't there to see it. I laugh so hard that I am standing there with my hands across my stomach. Laughs are hard to come by and something to be cherished in Erudite.

"So bad I wasn't there to see it…"

"Yeah, it was very bad. Oh, I wanted to tell you one thing…" He goes all shy, shrinking violet kind. He even blushes and holds his hands behind his back. I didn't expect a Dauntless like that to have such a shy expression. I know immediately that this concerns Anahita.

"What?"

"I…I…did something…"

"Did what?"

"I…IkissedAnahitayesterdayalthoughshekissedmefirstandIpulledherbackin…"

"What did you say?"

"Oh, how do I say this? I kissed Anahita yesterday although she kissed me first and I pulled her back in." He says those words so shyly.

"I was right! Congratulations, dude!" I slap him on the back.

"What were you right about?"

"I thought to myself this very lunch time that the both of them are acting so mushy that they must have kissed already. Guess I was an expert on predictions…" I wriggle my eyebrows and give him a nudge.

"Oh stop that… Rhiannon seems like a really nice girl for you though…"He mirrors me and wriggles his eyebrows and gives me a nudge. Now it's my time to blush to the roots of my hair…

"Stop it, Tristan. We are friends." My heart breaks at 'friends'. It was completely my doing. I could have handled it properly. Now we would be more like business partners or something. Well, that's me for you. I set out to destroy anything even before it is properly constructed.

"Oh yeah, keep telling yourself that. You don't think I notice the way you look at her? Your eyes proclaim 'I wanna kiss you!' louder than your vocal chords ever could."

"Stop it! Now run away before I break your arm." I give him a death glare, the art of which I have perfected over many years.

"Yes, I'll go now." He visibly shudders under my death glare. It gives me a sick sense of satisfaction and makes me want to laugh in the evil-villain kind of way.

…

A hand shakes me awake at night. I wonder who it can be.

"Who are you?" I ask groggily.

"Hey, it's me, Tristan. I got something for you." I wake up and look at him

"Caleb, look what I found." He whispers it into my ears.

We are in the dorm; it's the middle of the night. I don't think anyone will be able to look over my head now.

I lead him outside taking precautionary measures.

"Crashing into Dauntless is way easier than expected. This list is just the tip of the iceberg." He says.

It is a list of names, many of them unfamiliar. I look at the first name on the list.

Beatrice Prior.

…

*Cymbals crash*

I was waiting so long for Tristan to have a moment. The last song was "Say Goodbye' by Green Day. It was off their album 'Revolution Radio'. This chapter turned out morbid, isn't it? I guess that is what happen when you overdose on My Chemical Romance. Do you know, Gerard Way had an obsession with death? Don't worry, I am not like this in real life. Do you know what I have an obsession with? It's ice-cream. Guess this song, it comes from My Chemical Romance, from their album Danger Days. (I am too lazy to type the full name of the album.)

Signing off, (I wouldn't bother you with any more of my gobbledygook.)

TheVibrantNight