AN: Welcome to the new readers :) So happy to have you all on board! I hope you enjoy this chapter. Things get more exciting from here on in.
Chapter 3
"Oh darling, I'm going to miss you," Natalie Prior said, hugging her daughter tightly.
"Can't. Breathe. Mom," Tris wheezed, as her normally gentle mother hugged her abnormally hard. "It's just nine months. I'll call, I'll write, send you snap shots."
"You just see that you do," Natalie said, releasing her and kissing her forehead.
"We'll visit you next year," her father promised, giving Tris a quick hug. "We'll have a family holiday and you'll know where everything is and be able to show us around like the perfect tour guide."
"Sure, Dad," Tris said, wondering how Dauntless would get around that one. She was sure they would though, they had a plan for everything. If she passed training, which she was determined to do, they'd even supply her with a graduation certificate at the end of her 'college degree', to keep up with her cover story.
"It's a shame your brother had to get back to college early," Natalie remarked.
"It's good that he's so eager to work on his studies, he wants to do well," Andrew countered.
"We hung out heaps this summer, it's cool, he's doing his own thing, I'm doing mine," Tris said placating.
Tris had made the most of her last summer at home, before her life was to change forever. She didn't have any friends that she needed to say goodbye to, she just spent as much time with her family, enjoying the simple pleasures of a beautiful summer.
Of course, she had spent a lot of time wondering about what Dauntless would bring her, but she tried not to let it consume her over the summer months. She was sure she would be consumed by it soon enough.
"That's your flight, Beatrice," her father said. "We'll go now. Make sure you call us when you land."
"Of course," Tris replied. "I love you both, talk soon."
She kissed her parents goodbye, and watched them walk away from the airport.
Instead of going through the boarding gate, Tris carried her overnight bag and purse and headed for the pickup zone, specified in her instructions from Dauntless. There she found a non-descript black car, and what she could only assume was an agent.
"Tris, your luggage has been retrieved," the agent greeted her. "Please get in. On the backseat you will find a blindfold. Before we start driving you will need to put it on. I will know if you try to peak, so don't bother."
Tris obeyed and shortly she was blindfolded and headed for the Dauntless compound at the Faction headquarters.
The ride was a little less than an hour, and a silent one.
Tris had plenty of time to think over the actions that had led her to this day, and just before her brain got into a truly heated debate with herself over her choice, the car stopped.
"You may take off your blindfold and get out," the agent instructed her.
Tris took off her blindfold and got out.
They were in an underground car park, it was well lit, but also dark, as was the nature of enclosed, concrete, underground car parks.
"This way," she was instructed.
She followed 'her' agent to the nearest elevator. As they walked, she noticed that there were other parked cars, other agents with recruits heading to elevators, and other cars driving in, presumably with more recruits.
She and 'her' agent, and two other recruit/agent pairs made their way to the very top floor.
There they were left, all alone.
A moment later, another elevator load of recruits arrived.
Within a few minutes, the room held about twenty recruits.
Five minutes passed and no more recruits arrived. Tris concluded that this must be their class.
"If this isn't the strangest thing I've ever been a part of, my name isn't Christina," a pretty, dark skinned girl, with long brown hair, standing next to her remarked in a quiet, dry tone.
"It may be right now, but I bet it gets stranger the longer we stay here," Tris countered. "I'm Tris. And I suppose you're Christina."
"Yes, I've helpfully already told you that," Christina remarked cheekily.
Just then there was a shift in the crowd atmosphere. The recruits surrounding Tris and Christina stopped their murmuring and became silent.
Two tall, imposing figures moved through the little, crowd, which pulsed with nervous tension and anticipation.
One figure was tall, with short, dark hair, cold, grey eyes, and several visible tattoos and piercings. The other was also tall, also with dark brown hair, but he had no currently visible piercings or tattoos. Also in contrast, his eyes weren't cold and hard, just a little distant, but an intriguing blue.
They both moved to the front of the room, and stood there, impressively silently, waiting expectantly.
The new recruits all turned to make sure they were facing them and maintained their silence.
"If you think this is going to be some sort of adventure, some easy ride of fun and games, you should leave now," the one with the hard eyes began in a hard tone. "I will be in charge of training half of you. Specifically, the half that already has relatives in Dauntless."
The other then began to speak, his tone firm, but not unkind, "In pop culture you will be familiar with most fictional agents of our nature calling each other by the surnames, or Agent, or Agent Surname. Here, we use our first names, we feel it allows you to create a closer relationship with your colleagues. In our line of work it is very important that we work as well together as possible. So, I am Four, and he is Eric."
"Four is not a name, it's a number," Christina said under her breath to me.
"The familiar use of first names does not mean we demand less respect from you, and it does not mean we're automatically friends. You give us the respect we are due, and in return respect and friendship is given to you new recruits. Otherwise, teaching you respect will be a painful process – for you," Four said warningly.
"Yes, training will be hard enough without angering us, which you will no doubt accomplish at some point anyway," Eric added, an evil glint lighting his cold, hard eyes.
"As a first initiation task, you have to face your biggest fear. This fear was disclosed when you filled out paperwork after accepting the offer back in May. Think about what you wrote, because you are about to come up against it," Four announced. "First, we will split you up into the two sections, according to the system Eric mentioned before."
A few minutes later one group was following Eric into an elevator, and the other was following Four into another.
As they crammed into the elevator Christina – who was with Tris – whispered in Tris's ear, "He's very young."
Tris sneaked a look up at Four. He was very young. Probably only a couple of years older than her 18 years.
Just before she looked away, Four caught her eye and gave her a small smile.
He was nowhere as frightening as Eric, more impressive than threatening. Tris felt he could be more than threatening though, if the need arose.
Surprisingly, Four then spoke, "Contrary to the impression Eric gives, this is not going to be some alternative form of hell. It's going to be hard work, but you were picked because we believe you're the best recruits possible. You will find parts of this journey enjoyable as well as difficult."
"You're starting off by making us face our worst fears," a tall boy with blond hair and green eyes countered.
"You're training to be Dauntless, if you can't face your fears you might as well leave now," Four replied, a little coolly. "I don't need to explain why we start with this challenge, but I will."
They had left the elevator now and were following Four along a long corridor.
"The way you attack this test is the best way to assess how you will approach the rest of your training. There are three stages to Dauntless training: the physical, the emotional, and the mental. As your training continues, in stages, you will be ranked, and at the end of training, you will receive an overall ranking. Those will the lowest ratings will be cut. Look around you, some of you, all of you, might not make it," Four said seriously, his voice a little grim.
Tris looked at Christina, whose eyes were lit up at the prospect of the challenge. Tris squared her shoulders in determination. She would make it, she wanted this. She had noticed that physically, she was one of the smallest recruits, but she was fit, and she was smart, and she was determined. She would be Dauntless.
They followed Four into a large room, which contained a room within the room, or perhaps more of an enclosed arena.
There was a large whiteboard which Four approached and wrote up a list of names.
Molly
Edward
Drew
Will
Christina
Peter
Myra
Albert
Tris
Joan
Ten names. Five boys and five girls.
"This will be the order in which you face your greatest fear. No one else will watch, but I will be closely monitoring the situation, and it will be recorded for later us," Four explained. "After you face your fear another agent will escort you out of the room and arrange for you to be supplied with several uniforms of the right size and you will be shown to your dorm. The rest of the day is yours. Tomorrow, training begins in earnest."
Second last, great, Tris thought. The wait in itself was practically a test.
All of the recruits waited in silence. There had been no instruction as to this, but clearly no one felt like talking.
As her fellow recruits disappeared one by one, as Four called their names at varying intervals, Tris put names to the faces. The blond boy with green eyes was Will. Peter had beautiful facial features with dark, sleek hair, but eyes that appeared cruel. Molly was a big, physically imposing girl, with largely unattractive features. Albert was taller and broader than any other recruit, and had a surprisingly kind face.
Tris mentally catalogued the details of the others and saved them for later. None of them particularly stood out, but she was sure she'd learn more about them as time went on.
Albert had been gone for ten full minutes, according to the clock on the wall.
It would be her turn soon.
Several minutes later Four called, "Tris!"
Tris rose and walked for the door in the inner arena. She turned the door knob an entered, marvelling at the amount of rooms containing the unknown that she had walked into since coming in contact with Dauntless. She had no idea how they would make her face her fear.
The minute she stepped into the room she was surrounded by ocean waves.
Her heart rate immediately picked up and her breathing quickened.
The rolling waves of the ocean rocked her up and down, thoroughly wetting her.
She choked on some salty water and struggled for composure fighting to stay afloat.
Deep in the logical recesses of her brain, she realised there was no way this was real. The ocean, in a room in a city building? Impossible. And yet, another bit of salty water was making its way down her throat and into her lungs, choking her.
Dammit! She would not lose it and drown in this accursed arena.
She made an effort to calm her breathing and tried to tread water. She began to concentrate on something else, anything else, and pretend that she was not in the middle of the ocean, potentially minutes away from drowning.
She mentally recited Hamlet's soliloquy from Act III of Shakespeare's famous tragedy.
Her focus composed her and as she reached the end of the soliloquy she realised the waves were gone, she was on solid ground.
She clutched at her clothes, realising they were completely dry.
There were no visible effects from the ocean waves, although she could still faintly taste salt in her mouth.
She felt exhausted, and a little faint.
Tris stumbled to the edge of the room and out the exit door.
Four was standing just outside, expecting her.
"How did you do that to me?" Tris asked, gasping.
"Simulation technology, cutting edge intelligence stuff," Four answered, grabbing Tris as she swayed.
"I'm fine," Tris protested, pulling away and steading herself.
Four looked doubtfully, but said, "An agent will meet you through those doors."
Tris did not look back at him, and made her way towards what she hoped would bring her some comfort after what had been a trying day.
AN: Thanks for reading :) Please review and let me know what you think! Merry Christmas for tomorrow :)