"He drugged you? Damn, that's intense." Lucas commented on her recollection of the last days over breakfast. So far Alex only told him and Kylie about the drill and left out the details about her interactions with Eric as well as the whole Jack part.
"So … how was it with Eric?" Kylie asked.
"Huh?"
"How was spending two days with him? I don't know about you but I'm always so tense when he's present. He just has to be there and -" Kylie lost herself mid-sentence watching Rae, who had just entered the cafeteria.
"You really need to keep it in your pants, Kylie." Lucas nudged her to bring her attention back to their conversation.
"Hm? Yeah, sorry. You were saying?" Kylie said, biting her breakfast muffins with red cheeks.
"It was a lot. I could really use a break", Alex answered her initial question.
"Well, I think you should finally join us for a night out then! How about this weekend?"
"If I haven't been kicked out by then, sure", Alex muttered.
"Kicked out?" Lucas and Kylie asked at the same time.
"Ehm", Alex briefly considered how much she should confide in them, "Eric found out some things about my time before Dauntless and they're contemplating if they can let me stay now."
"What? They – What?" Kylie asked confused while Lucas just stared at her with wide eyes and furrowed brows.
"What the hell did you do before you came here?" Lucas asked.
"It's not necessarily what I did but - I'm not sure if I'm allowed to talk about it", Alex eventually tried to evade the questions.
"That sounds like a potential serial killer."
"I'm not a serial killer."
"Well, that's kind of what a serial killer would say."
Alex rolled her eyes.
"Look, it's more about certain people I know. One day I'll tell you everything, I promise."
Lucas and Kylie exchanged a look, then nodded hesitantly.
"Fine."
"Thank you."
"So, are you the daughter of the leader of Erudite?" Kylie asked.
"Are your parents crazy scientists that went over to the dark side of science?" Lucas proposed.
"The dark side of science?"
"You know, murder robots and trained ninja rabbits." He shrugged.
Alex laughed.
"Sure, my best friends growing up were my two rabbits Ninja Nibbles and Samurai Hopper."
"Were they part of the Bunny Bandits?" Kylie chimed in.
And like this, they spent the rest of their breakfast trying to come up with the best names for a ninja rabbit.
At least for a few minutes there, Alex forgot about the momentous decision that was to be made about her. As they made their way to the training room, the tension slowly returned. She kept looking at the door, waiting for Eric to show up, but today was probably one of the days when he had more important things to do.
When the other initiates were dismissed for lunch, Four called her to him and gave her a brief overview of the contents of the days she had missed.
"Initiate." Four had almost finished his recap when Eric entered the training room.
"Max wants to see you."
Alex's heart started pounding in her chest as she followed Eric through the corridors to Max's office. It was bigger than Eric's office and made clear who held the unofficial lead among the leaders. It even had its own outer office for people to wait.
In the middle of the room stood a machine with wires and sensors that made Alex feel uneasy. Max was seated behind the table, his face expressionless as he watched Alex enter. Then his eyes flicked up and down Alex's body, scanning her from head to toe.
"Initiate." He greeted her and Alex nodded in response.
Max gestured to the lie detector machine in front of him. "I have a few more questions for you and I'm sure you'll understand that I want to make sure I am getting a truthful answer to them," he said, "and then we'll decide what to do with you."
Alex nodded again and sat down. Eric set up the machine, fastened the straps tightly around her body and then stood at the side of the table with his arms folded in front of his chest.
Eric started with the same control questions to calibrate the machine and then gave Max a nod.
Max repeated a few of the questions she already had to answer with Eric, sometimes in a rephrased way but also added a few new ones.
"Do you believe in the Dauntless cause and its values?"
"Yes."
"Are you loyal to the Dauntless faction?"
"Yes."
"Have you ever considered defecting to another faction?"
"No."
"Have you ever shared confidential Dauntless information with anyone outside of the faction?"
"No."
"Do you have any connections to other known criminals in the city?"
"Yes, through Jack."
"Do you plan to betray Dauntless or its members in any way?"
"No."
"Have you ever lied to a Dauntless leader or member?"
"Yes. I lied about my abilities and my connection to Jack."
The questioning went on for almost an hour. They went over the same questions again and again in different wordings until Max finally leaned back in his chair. The machine did not detect a single lie. There was only one question that made Alex hesitate.
"Did Jack plant a mole in Dauntless?"
She swallowed.
"Yes."
"Who?"
"What are you going to do with them?"
"For now, that is not of your concern."
After a deep breath, she told them about the two moles she knew about—the one she used to communicate with Jack and the one in the control room.
After the test was over, Max dismissed Alex to the waiting room, where she sat down for a moment. Then, however, she heard voices from the office, indistinct and muffled but she heard them. Without thinking twice, she jumped up again and listened through the keyhole at the door to the office.
"What do you think?" That was Max's voice.
There was a short pause before Eric spoke.
"I think she has potential, and she could play an important role in improving our relationship with the factionless. If she's on our side, we could use her connection to our advantage. However, if she ever crosses over to Jack, she may as well provide Jack with a huge advantage."
"Do you trust her?"
Eric paused again before answering.
"We couldn't detect any lies."
"But do you trust her?"
"I'm not sure yet."
"I don't."
Alex' heart sank to her stomach.
"I think the risk is too high. She might be loyal to Dauntless now but we both know Jack has his ways to get what he wants. I don't want her strolling around Dauntless collecting information about our fraction and in the end maybe even getting a high-ranking position, just for her to join Jack," Max continued.
"So, you want to make her factionless now? Don't you think it's better to keep her close where we can have an eye on her than to send her straight into Jack's arms? Jack can use her potential against us after all."
It took a while until Max answered again.
"Fine. But I want you to keep a close eye on her."
"Understood."
"I don't think you do. I don't want her walking around freely anymore. I want her to be monitored by you at all times. I need you to find out if we can trust her and if her loyalty really lies with Dauntless. If she really is trustworthy, she could solve a lot of our problems. If she isn't, she's going to cause even more."
Alex felt a pit in her stomach as she heard Max's words. She should be relieved about being allowed to stay but she couldn't enjoy that win. Knowing that Max would have rather kicked her out weighed heavy on her shoulders.
Shortly after that, Alex got called back into the office where they informed her about their decision. Eric led her back to the training room where she looked for a quiet corner to continue her practice.
"What happened? Where were you at lunch?" Lucas came and stood next to her.
"Max wanted to see me."
"Max?" Kylie also joined them.
"Yeah", Alex answered tensely, still looking at the punching bag in front of her.
"And? What did he say?"
"I'm allowed to stay."
"But that's great! Why are we not celebrating?"
"Because they also decided-"
"Hey initiates, you're not here for chitchat!" Four admonished them sternly.
"We'll talk later," Kylie said before hurrying back to her own spot.
After training ended, however, a young Dauntless member picked Alex up and brought her to dinner, where she wasn't even allowed to sit with Lucas and Kylie since their table was "too far" from where Eric sat.
Only after Eric brought her back to the dorm after detention later that evening, did she see Lucas and Kylie again. Unfortunately, with all the other initiates there, they weren't able to continue their conversation.
This went on for a few more days. After the initial emotions had faded, she grew more and more frustrated with her constant company. It seemed like Eric made sure, she wouldn't get to spend any time with her friends. Lucas and Kylie, however, had their own plans to change that.