Your eyes finally shoot open as you awake from what felt like a never-ending dream. You quickly glance to your side to see if the man who had given me my test was still there. You were relieved to see Levi standing there at the aptitude test computer: His presence meant that you were back in the testing room, the real testing room. You relax in the leather chair you were lying on, taking a few deep breaths to help calm your racing heartbeat down. You still felt like you had just woken up from the most horrifying nightmare of your life; images of grinning titans and dogs dying at your hands still flashing clear in your mind. It felt like a dream yet the whole thing felt so real. You sit up in the chair and look at Levi again, trying to distract yourself from the gruesome imagery within your thoughts.

Shouldn't he have given me my results by now?

Then again, you were still learning how Aptitude Testing worked, so you didn't how long it took to gather up a result, but Erudite technology usually works pretty fast, so you were assuming the results would be in as soon as you woke up. Levi was staring at the screen with an expression you couldn't read.

Anger?

Shock?

You didn't know. He seemed to be thinking; and while he thought, you slowly noticed he had his hand grasped around something attached to the side of his belt. At further examination, you realize he's holding the handle of a gun. Your heart stops and your eyes widen for the number the time that day.

Is he going to shoot me? Am I still in the Aptitude Test?

No, you could definitely tell you were awake: the room didn't have that dream-like feel to it like it did in the simulations. And the fear you were feeling was more real than anything you felt while in the test.

Why does he want to shoot me?

Your brain was still dizzy from the test, and now you were petrified, but you try with all your might to form words through your choking terror.

Dying in a simulation was one thing.. I knew I wasn't going to die.

But in real life, the thought of a bullet flying through you flesh, muscles, and bone and ending your life made everything in your body go still, as if you were already dead.

"Are you going to shoot me?" pops out of your mouth.

Your voice sounds choked and strained, like someone has your vocal cords clenched in their fists, and is squeezing harder and harder as your fear grew.

Levi finally glances up at me; his hand still holding the gun handle. You tried to focus on his face, his eyes, rather than the life-reaping weapon at his side. His face shows he's still thinking about something, but he answers my question.

"No," he answers, pursing his lips together as if he is unsure of his answer. "I'm not."

The flood of relief when the word "no" comes out of his mouth felt like a tsunami against your heart; you felt like you had just been revived from the dead now that you were breathing again. Fear was a deadly thing in itself. Even though your nerves were eased by his words, part of you was still suspicious as to why he was holding the gun in the first place: What reason did he have to shoot you while you were unconscious? The possible answers frightened you, but you had to ask anyway. You couldn't just ignore the fact that he was about to take your life away for some unknown reason.

"So why were you holding your gun?" you interrogate, a little anger rising in your voice as you cross your arms and raise your eyebrow. "Why were you going to shoot me in the first place?"

"Soldier's habit. Sorry if I made you nervous," he answers vaguely.

Soldiers only shoot people that are threat.

You are about to drill him with more questions, frustrated with his vagueness. He was acting too casual for someone who was about to murder an innocent 16 year old girl. Before you could vent out all your anger on the matter, he clears his throat and changes the subject.

"I need you to listen very carefully-"

"Why were you going to shoot me?" you ask again, persistent on knowing. Then another question appears in your mind, probably less important than the first, but still important enough. "What were my test results?"

You hated interrupting people: in Amity, you were always taught to listen to what other people had to say in order to keep peaceful relationships. Not to mention, this guy definitely didn't seem like the type of person you should interrupt, but there were so many questions shooting through your mind, and you deserved an answer to all of them. Besides, you definitely couldnt consider yourself an Amity anymore or even pretend to be. But, your fiery temper subsides when you see the dark glare that has taken form on his face and the icy stare in his eyes. You don't know how, but he made you regret it, even though he was the one who tried to kill you.

"If you had let me finish," he says tersely. "I was getting to that."

You mutter a small apology, feeling pathetic for being the one to apologize in this situation, but he ignores it and moves on.

"Your test results, in a word, were inconclusive. This computer is supposed to give you a bunch of scenarios and depending on your reaction, rule out certain factions until you only had one. That was not the case with you."

This doesn't explain why he was going to kill you, but it did answer your result in question.

The test…. Didnt work on me?

This news both shocked you, yet angered you at the same time. You were done with the riddles and puzzles this day had presented you with.

"Not the case with me? Why the hell didn't it work?"

Levi's eyebrows raise at my use of the word "hell"; his lips curl up in a small smirk of amusement.

"Yes, I know. Amity don't use such "negative" words like hell, but-"

"But you're not a normal Amity?" he finishes for me. "Yes, I know. In fact, your not normal at all."

He checks his watch, leaving me hanging at you're not normal at all.

What does that mean? What does it mean when an Aptitude test doesn't work? Does it happen something to do with the reason he was going to go to such extremes as to murder me? Why would it? Usually when test don't work, when you don't belong in any faction, you become factionless.

Then a realization sparks in your brain, interrupting and stopping all other thoughts in their tracks.

Maybe it's not that I don't belong in any faction…. Maybe it's that I belong in all of them.

Does such a result exist? And if so, what does it mean to get such a result? what happens to the people that get these results…

An unexpected vision of Levi pulling out his gun and firing at your skull flashes through your brain, and your heart goes cold. The answer to your last question was clear: People weren't supposed to get these types of results. They weren't supposed to exist. Therefore, they were supposed to die.

"What does it mean to have this type of result?" you ask, slowly bringing yourself to look into Levi's eyes.

"I don't have time to go into details," Levi answers. "But basically, the test doesn't work on you. You're a special sort of being known as.." He pauses, seeming to be debating whether to say something aloud or not. "Divergent."

Divergent?

You think you've heard that word before. No, you saw it in an old dictionary once: the word meant "to differ from the norm".

"Okay," you say slowly, processing what he had just said. "Okay, so i'm different? Why would the test not work on me? Why would I have to die because i'm different?"

"I told you, there isn't any time to go into details, and it's definitely something that shouldn't be discussed here."

He turns his back to me and begins typing something into the computer.

"I'm not asking you to go into details, I just want to know why I was almost shot in my sleep?" you ask again, exasperated by this man's secrecy.

He tried to shoot me and now he's keeping secrets. My guess is: someone wants me dead, someone wants these so called "Divergents" dead, and he's working for them.

"So i'm Diver-

"Don't say that so loud," he snaps, looking back to glare at me.

His sudden outburst scares you, and puts you back into your place. Whatever was going on, it was definitely a stressful situation for him too.

But why?

Gulping, you carefully began to speak again, choosing your word choice carefully this time.

"So i'm different," you try again. "and someone wants me dead. And you work for them?"

He pauses in his frantic typing, and glances at me; a hard, stern look plastered on his face.

"Yes, you are different. Yes, there are some people out there who would rather not have you exist. As for the last one…" he answers, turning to face me fully.

"I'm unsure how to answer that at the moment," he says finally after a long silence. "But trust me, these are not people you want to disobey."

"Yet you are disobeying them?" you ask, raising an eyebrow. "Because i'm guessing i'm supposed to be a rotting corpse with a bullet hole right now?"

He doesn't answer, continuing his typing.

What is he doing?

"I'm manually plugging in your results as Amity. To them right now, your test was a success and has ruled you into one faction," he says, as if reading your mind.

You swear Levi chuckles when he sees the distaste in your face.

"This is just for your safety. Your choice of faction is still entirely up to you," he reassures. "But, I will advise you to choose wisely. You don't want to pick a faction you clearly don't belong in and stick out."

You still aren't entirely relieved because there was still the matter of choosing the right faction. You're test didn't work, so you had no idea which faction you truly belonged in. If your result couldn't be narrowed down to one, then how many did you actually score in?

"Levi?"

He had one of the Erudite's mini computers in his hands now, and seemed to be concentrating on a new task. But he hums in response.

"If my result wasn't just one faction, how many factions was it that I scored in?"

Levi looks up from his computer to meet my eyes for a moment, but he's silent, seeming hesitant about answering my question. He takes one look at his watch, and then his eyes are on mine again.

"You had small results in three factions," he answers. "From highest to lowest percentage, your results come in this order: Erudite, Dauntless, Abnegation. No Amity."

You frown. There was one missing, and you don't even remember being tested on it.

"What about Candor?"

"Tell me, were you aware the whole time you were in the test? Did you know that it was just a test while you were fighting for your life? Was the bravery just an act?

The question throws you off guard. What did this have to do with what you just asked? You were afraid to answer his questions.

So I really wasn't supposed to be aware during the test. I spent the entire simulation thinking it was normal.

Levi is studying you intently, his eyes never leaving yours. You could see that he was trying to read you, to read your thoughts by reading your eyes. You try to pull of a certain amount of composure as you stared back. Although you hadn't been able to keep your composure all day, why would now be any different?

Is being aware during simulation somehow like cheating? But it's not like I had a choice in being aware, I just knew the whole time I was there.

You ponder if this has something to do with being "Divergent" or if it was a whole other situation.

If I answer truthfully, will he reconsider sparing my life? Why did he ask that so suddenly?

"If I answer truthfully…" repeats in your head again, and it dawns on you what it was he was trying to get through this question.

"Finally figured it out, huh?" Levi asks, slight amusement appearing in his tone. "I don't need a computer to tell me that you're not Candor. If you were, you would've answered my question without a second thought. You would've rather died than lied if you were a true Candor."

Your dumbfounded.

So if he knows the answer already…

"You are correct in thinking that your result is tied with your awareness. You awareness is a key factor in the reason certain people don't want you alive."

You didn't feel comfortable that he was talking about this so openly. Granted, you were in sound proof room, but now that you knew someone wanted you dead, you felt like they had eyes and ears everywhere, waiting to hear key words like "awareness" and "Divergent". You glance around nervously: at the walls, at the ceiling, feeling like death was staring right at you, but you just couldn't see it. Levi catches you wandering eyes.

"Dont worry, I hacked the cameras. They are only seeing what I want them to see. But they'll figure it out eventually, so that doesn't leave us much time."

So there were cameras…

You shiver at the thought. But then look at Levi, amazed at his quick thinking and technology skills.

Was Levi an Erudite? He definitely didn't act like a Dauntless.

You decided not to ponder over it, and focus on your own faction situation.

"I want to know how I scored Dauntless… And Erudite, and Abnegation." you demand rather than ask, frowning in confusion. "In what way did I display intelligence, bravery, or selflessness in that sim?"

To you, all of it was fake since it was nothing more than a sim.

"Because you were aware during your simulations, none of these results are particularly accurate, but the computer still worked with what it gathered from you pretending to not know what was happening was all just an illusion," he begins explaining. "Do you remember that machine you used to kill that titan? Well, there's a reason I didn't give you step by step instructions on how to operate it, or even make it easy to operate. An Erudite observe their surroundings in order to figure out things they don't understand, and continue to develop their understanding of it. You showed this result by observing that man next to you who was operating his own gear then continuing to figure it out yourself, and furthering your abilities with it. Then you risked your life twice to save others- you displayed brave, selfless acts."

"In showing bravery and selflessness on more than one simulation, the computer could not rule them out. It could not eliminate your Erudite results either."

"But as I mentioned before, if you had not known that was a simulation, you may have not been so brave. So your results, according to the computer, are inconclusive."

"To me, you aren't divergent because you display more than one aptitude. I can't deny that you do seem to be rather intelligent, but I don't think you are truly brave or selfless. You're divergent because you are aware."

You let it all sink in.

The test didn't work on you. You displayed three aptitudes but none of them were really accurate...Because you were aware? And now you're supposedly this defective freak that someone wants dead?

All because i'm aware…? All because i'm… Divergent?

You couldn't wrap your head around any of this. You wanted him to answer more questions, but he grabs your shoulders and starts leading you towards the door.

"Wait, but I.. What do I choose?"

"Whatever you think is best for your safety." he says bluntly. "Choose and don't regret your decision."

He leans close to your face, and whispers harshly, "do not tell anybody about this. Absolutely no one can know. Not even your family. There could be fatal consequences if you slip up, do you understand?"

"Yes," you manage to reply.

"Good. Now go home."

He opens the door, and shoves me out into the hallway.

"But-"

"Explanations will come later."

And with that, he slams the door in my face, leaving me with a million questions.

Well that was rude was the first thought that popped into your head. But you suppose he had his reasons. After all, he just risked his life to save yours. You honestly wished you had thanked him instead of firing questions at him. But a part of you felt like that wasn't the last time you were going to meet him.