Chapter of Divergent (the actual book): 18 (I had to skip 17 because Four LITERALLY wasn't even present the whole chapter)

Disclaimer: I don't own the Divergent trilogy or any of the characters

"Lynn," I say into the darkness. It's her turn to go into the simulation. Lynn comes in, and I hook her up to the machine, hearing the familiar rattle of the monitors on the wall. I inject her with the simulation, no questions asked. She comes to after about 5 minutes.

"Peter," I call. I repeat my actions with Peter. I barely pay attention to his moany questions. I keep going with people, over and over, until I get to Tris.

"Come on, Tris," I say softly. I touch her shoulder, guiding her inside, trying to ignore the fact that Drew just tripped her. "Sit," I say. I squeeze Tris's arm and push her forward.

"What's the simulation?" She asks, nervous.

"Ever hear the phrase 'face your fears'? We're taking that literally. The simulation will teach you to control you emotions in the midst of a frightening situation."

"Do you ever administer the aptitude tests?" She sounds genuinely curious, but the question throws me.

"No," I say, stiffening. "I avoid Stiffs as much as possible."

"Why?" she asks me.

"Do you ask me that because you think I'll actually answer?"

"Why do you say vague things if you don't want to be asked about them?"

I brush her neck softly with my fingers, trying to find the right place to insert the needle. This obviously isn't it, as she tenses quickly.

"An injection?" She swallows some air as she asks me.

"We have a more advanced version of the simulation here. A different serum, no wires or electrodes for you."

"How does it work without wires?"

"Well I have wires, so I can see what's going on. But for you, there's a tiny transmitter in the serum that sends data to the computer." I turn her arm over gently, easing the tip of the needle into the skin on the side of her neck.

"The serum will go into effect in sixty seconds," I say softly, trying to calm her down as much as I can, "This simulation is different from the aptitude test. In addition to containing the transmitter, the serum stimulates the amygdala, which is the part of the brain involved in processing negative emotions—like fear—and then induces a hallucination. The brain's electrical activity is then transmitted to our computer, which then translates your hallucination into a simulated image that I can see and monitor. I will then forward the recording to Dauntless administrators. You stay in the hallucination until you calm down—that is, lower your heart rate and control your breathing." I can tell she has trouble following my words.

"Be brave, Tris," I whisper. "The first time is always the hardest."

I see Tris in a field of dry grass that is waist high for her. She hears a fluttering. I hear it too. Shadows swoop over her face. A large bird lands on her shoulder, pricking her with it's talons. I want so badly to stop watching, but I can't. I have to keep a record and see if she really is… well if she really is Divergent. There. I said it. Tris hits the crow with her fist and attempts to run, but she can't. I hear her scream and sob and I cringe, it hurts me too. I shiver in my seat, trying not to move. The Dauntless are watching me on their little cameras. I run my hands through my hair

"Help!" she screams. "Help!" You stay in the hallucination until you can calm down, Tris. Calm down. I will her to calm down, but she isn't.

"Help," she croaks. "Help." Be brave, Tris. Suddenly, something in her changes. She closes her eyes and sobs one final time until the screen goes back. She sobs into her knees. I lay my hand softly on her shoulder.

"Don't touch me!" She flings my arm back.

"It's over," I say, awkwardly stroking her hair. "Tris." She continues to rock back and forth in the metal chair. "Tris, I'm going to take you back to the dorms, okay?"

"No!" she snaps. "They can't see me… not like this…" I sigh.

"Oh, calm down." I roll my eyes. "I'll take you out the back door."

"I don't need you to…" Her voice trails off.

"Nonsense." I grab her arm, feeling the familiar tug of my heart that I continually ignore.

"Why did you do that to me? What was the point of that, huh? I wasn't aware when I chose Dauntless, I was signing up for weeks of torture!"

"Did you think overcoming cowardice would be easy?" I ask calmly.

"This isn't overcoming cowardice! Cowardice is how you decide to be in real life, and in real life, I am not getting pecked to death by crows, Four!" She puts her head in her hands and sobs. I don't interrupt her. I just stand there, allowing her to cry.

"I want to go home," she says weakly.

"Learning how to think in the midst of fear is a lesson that everyone, even your Stiff family, needs to learn. That's what we're trying to teach you. If you can't learn it, you'll need to get the hell out of here, because we won't want you."

"I'm trying," her lower lip trembles. "But I failed. I'm failing."

I sigh. "How long do you think you spent in that hallucination, Tris?"

"I don't know. A half hour?"

"Three minutes. You got out three times faster than the other initiates. Whatever you are, you're not a failure." I smile, just a tiny bit. "Tomorrow you'll be better at this. You'll see."

"Tomorrow?"

I touch my fingers gently to her back, and I feel the same electricity.

"What was your first hallucination?" She asks innocently.

I try to play it off casually. "It wasn't a 'what' so much as a 'who.' It's not important."

"And are you over that fear now?"

"Not yet. I may never be."

"So they don't go away?"

"Sometimes they do. And sometimes new fears replace them." I hook my thumbs through my belt loops. "But becoming fearless isn't the point. That's impossible. It's learning how to control your fear, and how to be free from it, that's the point." Tris nods softly.

"Anyway, your fears are rarely what they appear to be in the simulation," I add.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, are you really afraid of crows? When you see one, do you run away screaming?"

"No, I guess not." She takes a step towards me, and I try not to noticeably shiver. I can almost feel the electricity from here. She leans in, almost feeling the electricity.

"So what am I really afraid of?" she whispers.

"I don't know," I say. "Only you can know." She nods slowly.

"I didn't know becoming Dauntless would be this difficult."

"It wasn't always like this, I'm told," I say, lifting a shoulder. "Being Dauntless, I mean."

"What changed?"

"The leadership. The person who controls training sets the standard of Dauntless behavior. Six years ago Max and the other leaders changed the training methods to make them more competitive and more brutal, said ti was supposed to test people's strength. And that changed the priorities of Dauntless as a whole. Bet you can't guess who the leaders' new protégé is."

"So if you were ranked first in your initiate class, what was Eric's rank?"

"Second."

"So he was their second choice for leadership. And you were their first."

"What makes you say that?" I'm not saying she's wrong, just that it's surprising how she got there that quickly

"The way Eric was acting at dinner the first night. Jealous, even though he has what he wants."

I don't contradict her. She's right.

"Do I look like I've been crying?" She asks. I lean in close. We would be breathing the same air if I wasn't holding my breath.

"No, Tris," I smile. "You look tough as nails."