"Charlotte Prior?" an Amity man in a yellow tunic asks me. I nod and he guides me to the mechanical-looking chair in the center of the mirrored room. As I look around, I'm met by a whole world of Charlottes looking back at me and copying my movements.
"I'm Samir, and I'll be administering your test today." The black-haired man tells me. He seems nice enough.
He swiftly connects strange looking tubes to my forehead and presses two metal contraptions on either side of my head. I must look overwhelmed, because he says,
"It's just so I can see into your simulation. " Samir turns away and comes back with a small vial of clear liquid. When the light hits it, I can see a faint blue hue to it.
"Drink this." He tells me. Although my mind is racing with a million different question, I swallow the liquid quickly and close my eyes.
When I open my eyes, I'm no longer in the room. I find myself on a small, circular sandy island with soft waves pulsing in the cerulean sea. Water stretches for miles and miles on all sides. I kick the sand below my feet, testing it, and I feel the gritty grains against my leg. I guess whoever designed this did a good job.
There's a sudden gust of air, and a voice that sounds scarily like my own booms
"Choose."
"From what?" I respond to the air. I look around me, but I see nothing to choose from.
"Choose." My voice says again.
I look down at the sand, but this time there are objects arranged in a small circle around my feet. Starting from my right side, I see a hunk of cheese and an apple, a pair of glasses, a knife, a small pile of gray stones, and a black flat pallet. How could any of these objects help me right now?
"Choose." The voice reprimands.
"What are these for?" I ask.
"Choose now."
"Not unless I know what these are for."
This time, the voice doesn't respond. I shrug my shoulders and sit on the sand cross-legged, scooping all of the objects into a pile in front of me.
"What am I supposed to do now?" I call out to the sky.
Without warning, the previously clear waves turn dark blue and turbulent and the sky turns cloudy and shadowy. The water laps up past the shoreline, and now the island is half of its previous size. The sudden storm shows no sign of ceasing, so that leaves me with two options: I could swim out into the water, or I could wait for it to come here. Making my choice quickly, I start to load the objects onto the black board. I push it in front of me until it reaches the water. It floats on the surface with surprising ease. I slowly wade into the frigid water. My walk soon develops into me swimming behind the board. Once I'm farther out, it gets much harder to swim.
I momentarily glance back at the island to see that there's barely any land left. But what catches my eye is the small shape on the patch of sand but I can't decipher what it is from here. Remembering the objects in front of me, I hold the glasses out in front of me and look through one of the lenses. With a shock, I realize that it's Beatrice on the island. I drop the glasses into the sea.
"Beatrice! Beatrice!" I shout at her. She turns her head and waves at me. Without a moment's hesitation, I abandon my board and take off towards the shore. The waves push me back and spray into my face, but all that I can think about is saving my sister from drowning.
Strangely, I make it to the shore and scoop her into my arms. I notice that she goes limp and her face turns completely white.
No, no, no, no, I think.
I take off in a fierce paddle with Beatrice on my back, making my way back to the board despite the ferocious current around me. Then I realize that the waves parted for me to swim through. Whoever designed this simulation was kind enough to give me a break.
I lift Beatrice onto the board and hold the lump of cheese by her mouth. She takes a small bite and color floods back into her cheeks. As soon as this happens, the storm halts. The sky turns clear again and the waves return to their previous state, but the island is still gone.
I'm suddenly aware of the buzzing noise coming from above. I turn my eyes to the sky and see a rain of insect-like flying creatures coming down. I put my arms over Beatrice and duck my head, feeling pinches and claw-like limbs over them and over the back of my neck. I steal another glance over to the board, noticing the gray rocks. I place them in mine and Beatrice's pockets with jerky movements due to the swarm of bugs. Then, I grab her wrist before going underwater, sinking rapidly due to the rocks. After looking around for a few seconds, I find what I was looking for: A small hatch at the bottom. I dive down and swim into it. Within seconds I'm feeling air blast my face and receiving pitch blackness.
I sit up in the chair to see Samir looking at me with eyes as wide as the moon. He points a shaky finger at me.
"Y-you weren't supposed to do that." He forces out.
I frown. "What do you mean?"
"You weren't-you were not supposed to be able to do that." He inhales shakily "Any of that."
The realization dawns on me and I feel my face go cold and pale.
"What were my results?" I ask quietly.
Samir swallows. "You didn't get a result. Not even d-divergence." I tilt my head.
"What's divergence?" I ask. The word sounds familiar.
"It means you received more than one faction as your result. Divergents are a threat to the system, they say. All recorded divergents have gotten two factions. But-you—you-"
"I what?" I can't keep the shaking out of my voice.
"I can't tell you your result. I'm sorry." He turns away from me and starts to pack up the tubes. My frown becomes deeper and my worry starts to turn into impatience.
"I have extra files of others' results. If anyone asks, your result was Abnegation." He mumbles.
"Why can't you tell me?" I ask again, this time slipping. He whirls back around sharply and puts a hand on my shoulder.
"Because you didn't get one result." He whispers. "Charlotte, you got five."
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