CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Uriah
I have been at Erudite for almost two days; it's evening now. That means that tomorrow is the final test of Dauntless initiation- the Fear Landscape.
They have been performing various medical tests- other than the MRI, I really don't know what most of them were, just that they drew a lot of blood and did a few 'biopsies' as they called them, where basically they cut samples of my flesh out of me. I haven't slept much because they still won't turn down the lights in that cell, but eventually I have gotten exhausted enough that I could fall asleep anywhere, so I've gotten a few hours in here and there.
A couple of the pathetic Erudite guards open my cell door. Maybe I should just take them now, escape, run out of here. But then, I still have to worry about Eric, and he will hurt Marlene. Every cell in my body is telling me to fight and it would be so easy to disarm them, but I can't. I can't risk it. If I could take out Eric, that would be one thing, but I don't see how I can expect to do that, when I don't even know when he will be here at Erudite again. So I cooperate. I let their wimpy guards think they are any more use than Caleb on his own would be- they aren't. I'm not in great condition at the moment- physically exhausted, hurting from sleeping curled up on a stiff cot and from the biopsies and crap, underfed, head is pounding- but I could still easily take them. I'm Dauntless, one of the best in my initiation class.
When we get to the lab room where they'll have me this evening- it's nearly dinner time- it's a smaller room than usual, without the usual crowd of brown-nosing scientists. There are monitors and computers and electrodes, some desks, and in the center of the room… a simulation chair. In the room wait only two people: Jeanine, and Caleb Prior.
"Satan Spawn; Lemming," I say, nodding at Jeanine, then Caleb. I know he'll know what a lemming is, he is fascinated by all kinds of boring crap. I remember learning about them in some book the teacher read to us in lower levels. Caleb is just like one of those- he'll follow Jeanine right off a damn cliff. Jeanine makes that satisfying lip-pursing face and Caleb scowls at me. I just smirk at them, never taking my eyes off Caleb. I guess I must have picked up a few things from Four, because I know I intimidate the hell out of that coward.
Jeanine doesn't bother greeting me. "The image of your brain did give us enough information to develop a new serum. Our goal is to create a serum which the divergent cannot overcome; in other words, you should not be capable of discerning simulation from reality. You will demonstrate it for us today. Once we have succeeded in developing a serum which you are unable to distinguish from reality, we will no longer need you."
"And then I get to go home?" I know the answer to this. I'm never going home. I'm divergent, and Jeanine wants to wipe people like me off the face of the earth.
Jeanine chuckles. "Of course not. When you are no longer of use, you will be executed." Caleb is preparing something over at the countertop, then moves to a computer and begins reading lines of code. I watch for a moment, zoning out whatever Jeanine is saying to me, and watch the lines and lines of seemingly random characters run across the screen. Zeke is really good at computers, and he taught me most everything already. Computer code is like a language, and it's one that I'm nearly fluent in.
That's why by the time Jeanine is interrupted by a knock at the door, I've figured out what Caleb is working on. He's putting finishing touches and checking for errors in the program that will control Dauntless when they attack Abnegation.
My mind races. I have to protect Marlene from Eric, but I also have to get that hard drive. It's a part of the evidence we need to take to Candor.
My attention is drawn to the conversation Jeanine is having at the doorway.
"...is on his way to your office. He says he doesn't have time to wait on you."
"Fine," Jeanine says crossly. She turns to Caleb. "Caleb, you need to ensure that the subject is secure until I return. I trust that you can finish your work on the program while you guard Uriah. I will return with Eric when our meeting concludes." She does not wait for an answer, though Caleb bobs his head like a total suck up- which, of course, he is- as the door latches shut.
Eric is here, in this building. The program is on the hard drive of the computer just yards away from me. The guards in this building are completely worthless against a trained Dauntless, and I'm in a room that is not locked by a keypad.
The restraints on my wrists are the only problem. They are, however, only made of leather, with a closure that's just like a belt buckle. I can find a way, I know it.
Unfortunately, Caleb is watching. I have to get out of these restraints undetected.
"So, Prior, how's it feel to plan the murders of your own family? And force your sister to be a part of it, no less."
He grunts and looks back to his screen. Perfect. I'm going to lay on the guilt trip nice and heavy. Make him ashamed enough, and he won't look at me. I wiggle my arms back and forth- the right restraint is looser.
"Not that you're really her brother anymore anyway. Faction Before Blood, after all. All those years that you made her feel bad for not being selfless enough." I laugh as I twist my wrist and wriggle it so my fingers are near the end of the leather. "All those years you made her feel like she was less than you, all because she didn't give up a seat on the bus or carry someone's groceries. You and I, we both know who the selfless one really is of the Prior kids. We know which one will make mama proud and which she'll be ashamed of."
Caleb is staring intently at the screen, clenching his jaw. I'm hitting a sore spot. I continue working the leather strap with my middle finger, as it's the only one long enough to reach.
Caleb doesn't look away from the screen as he says through gritted teeth, "It doesn't matter. Faction Before Blood, remember? Unless you're a traitor."
"Oh no," I reply, continuing to inch the leather to the left with my finger. "No, I'm not a traitor. But I think helping exterminate the entire faction that raised you is a bit extreme. That's not just about being a traitor to your faction, that's being a traitor to humanity. That's just evil."
Soon the tail of the leather strap is out… I just need to pull it back and tight enough to release the tongue of the buckle. "Your sister isn't a faction traitor either, but she still has a conscience. It's no wonder she decided to find a new brother within her own faction." I twist my arm back so it looks as he expects- I don't want him noticing that he hasn't looked at me in a while and glancing at the wrong time.
Caleb's eyes snap to mine just when I wanted them to. In his eyes I see embarrassment and anger. "What do you mean a 'new brother'?"
I shrug my shoulders. "Me, of course. I always have her back. I encourage her instead of giving her those disapproving glares you always used to. Remember me? From the choosing ceremony?" Caleb looks at me one more time like he has finally noticed that he's seen me outside of this prison, then he looks back to his computer work, glaring at the screen intently. I twist my arm uncomfortably again, and work the buckle tongue out of the hole. The pressure on my wrist fully releases as I pull it free. "You were wrong about her having a thing for me, though. She's got a thing for someone else. He's a few years older. They're very… very… close. She doesn't talk to me about that stuff but by the way she was smiling the other morning..." I chuckle for effect. Implying his sister is being screwed by an older guy will get his goat. I've almost pushed him over the edge, and it's been damn fun. He's glaring at that screen so hard he just might go blind. He's not seeing a thing I'm doing. I quickly unbuckle the other wrist. "No, I'm just the brother she never had."
I knew that would get him. Caleb may be Erudite, but being 'smart' doesn't make a person wise. Caleb turns, furious, and lunges at me. He was going to put his hands around my throat, but he didn't expect that I was no longer restrained. I dodge his hands and slide under them, turning and kicking him in the back as I stand up behind him. When Caleb turns, his eyes are filled with rage, but he backs up as I come at him, closing him between me and the counter.
Except… it seems maybe that's just what he wanted me to do, because he reaches back and grabs a glass beaker with some sort of orange fluid in it. I try to duck as he brings the beaker down on my head, but I was just barely too slow. Quick enough to avoid the intended impact, but the glass still breaks on the side left side of my head, and I stagger backward, some of the chemical dripping into my eye. It burns and my vision blurs; good thing I moved when I did, or I wouldn't be able to see out of either eye. My hand automatically goes to the part of my head that was hit, and it is smeared with blood when I pull it away.
Out of my good eye, I see Caleb charge at me and I step out of the way, leaving one foot out to trip him. He sprawls over the tile floor cursing. It takes him a moment to recover, and a moment is too long in a fight; when he tries to push up on his arms, I knock him back with a couple of kicks to the ribs, then keep him down by pressing my foot hard on his back.
Caleb turns his head to look up at me and I smirk as I carefully bend, transferring the weight pinning him down to my knee. "You picked the wrong side, coward," I say before punching him hard in the temple, and he's out like a light.
Quickly, I drag him to the simulation chair and strap his wrists down tight. I search the cabinets and find zip ties, I assume placed there in case they needed them for my own wrists, and I secure his forearms and his ankles to the chair as well. There's no way that know-it-all is getting free on his own now.
Next I need that hard drive. I work quickly, popping open the side of the console and scanning the many components with my eyes. About a minute later I have freed the hard drive and stuffed it into my back pocket. I glance down at my bare feet, then at Caleb's; his shoes look about my size, so I remove them and pull them quickly onto my feet. They're ugly dress shoes, totally impractical for running, but better than barefoot and they fit well enough.
The door isn't locked in any way, and when I peek my head out there aren't even guards nearby. These Erudite really are arrogant.
Now that I'm out in the hallway, though, I have a problem. I don't know how to get out of this building. Every hallway looks the same as the next, and I can only see out of one eye. The blur from my left makes it hard to see much of anything, so I try to keep the damaged eye closed. It stings more that way, but it's more important that I can see. I pad quietly down the hall. I think I came from the third hallway down on the left, so I try that first.
The second random turn I take, my arm is grabbed by an Erudite guard. He's weak and inexperienced at combat, and it doesn't take me long to gain the advantage. I've got the guard's arms twisted behind his back and have just punched him in the temple when I feel the air shift behind me.
I react, I turn and punch, but he catches my arm. He was too fast for me.
That familiar sadistic grin stretches the piercing holes in that creepy, familiar way and I am mad as hell at the sight of his face. He thinks he's won. But Eric is always second best, and today, he's gonna be second best to me.