After one week of the simulations, the rules change. The Dauntless-born join the transfers in training. May explains that the new simulations will have a goal: defeat your fears. The initiates will be conscious of the fact that they are in a simulation, and will be put up against their fears. In each one, they must either force their bodies to calm down enough for the simulation to move on to the next one, or do something to face their fears, something contrary to what every fiber of their body is screaming at them. "Some of you will have more fears in your fear landscape than others," she says. "But I've seen someone with fifteen fears get through faster than someone with only ten. You can't control the number of fears you have, but you can control how you respond to them." Just like life, Hunter muses. This stage of initiation is more congruent with his ideas about Dauntlessness than any of the others.
The initiates enter their fear landscapes one at a time. "Today," May informs them, "the simulator is designed to only put you through one of your fears. For the final test, though, it'll go through every fear you have. The more times you go through the fear landscape in practice, the more preparation you'll have for the test."
A Dauntless-born volunteers to go first, leaving all the others to sit in silence. Hunter ponders how many fears he might have. May said the average was ten to fifteen. Hunter can predict a few of the things that he's sure will be there, but what else is he afraid of?
He waits as long as he can stand to wait before volunteering to go into his fear landscape. As soon as the needle goes into his neck, he feels the difference between this and the other simulations he's experienced. The other simulations were like dreams: you can't tell that they're not real until you wake up. This simulation, though, he is conscious of the fact that this reality is not his own.
The spiders, however, look very real. Thousands upon thousands of tiny spiders race toward him like an ocean tide rushing in. They swarm over his body, crawling into his ears and under his fingernails. He presses his lips together and covers his nose, hoping to prevent the spiders from reaching the inside of his body. Rolling about, he tries to squish them or get them to stop coming, but for every one he kills, it seems two more come to take its place.
Face your fears. Hunter tries to calm himself, to slow his heartrate and breathing, but he can't stop hyperventilating from the panic of having his body covered in spiders. That means he has to go for the other option: contradicting every natural instinct he has. He tries to take a deep breath in preparation, but he realizes he's too panicked for that. Instead, he mentally braces himself, and then opens his mouth.
The sensation of spiders inside his mouth is even worse than he thought it'd be. I am brave, he reminds himself as they travel down towards his throat. I am Dauntless.
He smashes his jaws together, feeling the crunch of the spiders between his teeth. He is about to scream, when suddenly, the spiders are gone, and he's back in the Dauntless compound.
"Nice job," May tells him. "That was just under two minutes. If you can get your response down to one minute per fear, you're all set for the final test."
"That was horrible," he remarks.
"Yeah, but you got through it," May points out. "No need to be afraid anymore."
"Right," he says, trying to assure himself. "Nothing to be scared of."