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Chapter 15
"I'm going to be ranked last, for sure," Christina moaned. "I hate written tests, and I'm sure I've never done worse in my life than I did on that test."
It was Friday afternoon, and they'd just done their last written test for the second stage of their training. They had been required to prove their knowledge in the areas they'd been studying for the last 5 weeks.
"Babe, everything will be fine," Will reassured her.
"Easy for you to say, Wonderkid," Christina grumbled. "You and Tris here, you overachieving nerds."
Will and Tris grinned at one another, use to Christina hurling similar, affectionate insults at them on a regular basis over the past couple of weeks.
"Well, you won't have long to wait to find out," Tris pointed out. "Your suffering will not be long lasting."
"Yeah, your fate will be sealed and revealed in, oh, less than three hours," Will added teasingly.
"Yeah, I'm sure Eric is busy taking off marks because he hates me," Christina grumbled.
"I think you listen even less than I do, Christina," Marlene said with a giggle, coming up beside them.
"Yeah, Miss Fidget here spends most of her lecture time wriggling and day dreaming," Uriah teased, also joining them. He playfully grabbed at Marlene, who swatted him away coyly.
The two of them seemed to find enormous enjoyment in flirting outrageously with one another. They didn't seem to be dating, but Tris figured it would happen at some point.
"So, does anyone want tell me what I missed?" Christina huffed.
Will kissed her cheek consolingly and said, "None of the agents here mark our work. It's sent off electronically to other branches, for other agents to mark. There are specific agents dedicated to this at this time of the year. That's why it's all marked so quickly, and that's why Eric won't be marking your work. Everything is supposed to be marked without bias, hence sending it away."
Will had explained it just as it had been explained to them in several lectures. Christina had not missed hearing the explanation, she just seemed to legitimately have an issue with retaining what she had heard or even read. She learned by doing, which was why she excelled more in the physical aspects of their training.
As Christina had said, Tris and Will did favour 'book learning', and studying and attending lectures and workshops was a style of learning they thrived on. They both felt fairly confident in their written test performances, though nothing was certain of course.
"So, are there any plans for tonight, to while away the time before the rankings are out?" Tris asked Uriah.
Uriah was a good friend to have – as a 'legacy' he had inside information on a lot of things, including social events. He and his brother Zeke were close, and enjoyed blowing off steam and having a good time. It was a bonus for Tris that Zeke and Four were close friends, it allowed Four and Tris to spend time together in public without people thinking much of it. They were careful though, because they knew that they quickly got caught up in one another, becoming oblivious of others.
The five of them, and Lynn, ended up playing a simulated target practice game. It was one they had used before and were welcome to use any time. It was set up in a specifically designed room, and was very similar to Call of Duty – if you actually were dropped into the Call of Duty game and fought along side simulated video game figures – which they did.
When they had first used the training technique, Will had joked that whoever had designed it clearly had watched Spy Kids 3 one too many times.
At dinner, the recruits ate their food as calmly as possible, but as with the first round, they were eager and nervous to get their rankings.
Before dinner ended, a voice sounded over the speaker system.
"Recruits, meet in the lecture room on the fourth floor right after dinner. Anyone not there by eight will be severely dealt with," the voice said.
"Curiouser and curiouser," Tris murmured.
"Maybe we all failed and they're getting rid of us all in one big go," Christina said dolefully.
Marlene threw a bread roll at her.
Uriah chuckled at her antics.
When they reached the lecture room after dinner, they found Four and Eric waiting for them.
"At this stage in your training, we like to give you your rankings in person, as well as some information about what is to come next," Four began.
"You may have been training together in this section, but you are still ranked separately," Eric added. "When we pick the best ten recruits however, after the final stage of training, it will be based solely off your individual scores, regardless of your recruit group."
The recruits fidgeted, almost as one, just wanting their rankings. Their instructors seemed intent on torturing them with more information however.
"Once you receive this ranking, it will be difficult for you to make much of an improvement in the final state," Four told them. "It is not impossible however, and we can learn important things in the final stage of training."
"Meaning, no one is safe," Eric said coldly. "Don't even think of relaxing just because you're ranked highly – you can still be cut."
"Or your ranking can fall and you can end up with a crappy job that no one else wants," Four added. "The highest ranked recruits get to pick which area of Dauntless they most want to work in. There are top government roles, and field positions, and training roles that are most coveted and the most prestigious. The lower ranked recruits get to pick from the scraps. Not all of you will get to be field agents. Some of you may merely end up as technicians, or compound maintenance agents, or in paper pushing desk job."
"And with that, here are the rankings," Eric announced, projecting two lists up on to the screen in front.
Tris was first.
First. Her score was listed, and was better than that of Uriah, who was first out of Eric's recruits.
Peter was second, but quite a way behind Tris. Will was third, and only a few points behind Peter. Christina was fifth – second last. She had beat Molly, but not Drew.
"So, now it's time for you to know what to expect, come training on Monday," Four said loudly, snapping the recruits out of their buzzing chatter about the results. "The final stage of training is to assess as a whole, how well you have adapted to Dauntless life. Everything you have been taught over the last six weeks will come in to play. You will be given a simulated field mission to complete as your final test. There will be two weeks before you are assessed, and you will complete practice simulation missions in this time. You will also continue to keep up your fitness training, and working on your marksmanship."
Eric grinned sadistically at them all, enjoying the general exhaustion exuding from the recruits.
"See you Monday," Eric said coolly, and then departed.
"Are there any questions?" Four asked after Eric had left, surprising the recruits.
"Are we training in our old groups?" Lynn asked immediately.
"Yes," Four answered simply.
"Do we complete our mission alone? Do we train on solo missions?" Will queried.
"You will complete a variety of paired and solo practice missions. Your final test will be alone though," Four replied. "Any further specifics will be answered on Monday, as Eric and I may differ in anything more specific, regarding training methods."
The recruits took that as their dismissal and filed out of the lecture room.
"Interesting," commented Tris to Christina.
"So basically, we'll be continuously playing our own, sort of real life version of Call of Duty," Christina mused. "Just like what we were doing before dinner, but more complex, I guess."
"Yeah, I suppose we'll have case details, in some depth, as well as having to make our way through a simulated environment, including shooting at enemy targets and whatnot," Tris agreed.
"I think it sounds pretty fun," Will remarked. "We'll probably get to use lots of those new gadgets we trained on, and we'll really start to get a feel for what it is like to be a Dauntless agent."
Tris agreed with him on the whole, and wanted to talk more about it, particularly with Four. He always understood her and often provided useful insight.
As it was Friday night she doubted she would see him until the next day, but as it was the weekend she hoped they'd be able to find some good together, as they had the past couple of weeks.
On Saturday morning Tris completed her now usual routine of a sleep in, breakfast, and a trip to the computer lab to write to her mother. In the evenings during the week she would often send brief text messages to her family, or call to say goodnight, but she left Saturdays for making substantial communication. By Saturday lunch she was free to enjoy her weekend.
This particular Saturday Tris was feeling pretty good, she had the top score in the second stage of training, and the final stage of training seemed to be something interesting to tackle.
When she walked into the dining hall and saw Four sitting alone at a table, thoughtfully chewing a mouthful of sandwich, she moved straight over to him and sat down, without thinking twice.
"Hey," she said cheerfully.
Four glared at her.
She drew back a little, but persisted, ignoring his confusing expression.
"I can't believe I ranked first," Tris went on happily.
"Yes, you must have worked hard. It was a good result," Four said impassively.
"Aren't you pleased?" Tris asked, a little irritated.
"I'm always please when my recruits work hard," Four said, almost sounding bored.
"Four?" Tris queried in a hiss.
"Is that all? Or can the rest wait until training on Monday?" Four said tiredly.
Tris looked at him, hurt, and stood, suppressing a huff, and stormed away.
She plonked down next to Christina at their table.
"You fighting with Four again?" Christina asked, amused.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Tris asked with a scowl.
"Oh you know, in the beginning you two often seemed to argue with one another," Christina said, smothering a smile.
"He's a very frustrating person," Tris said through gritted teeth.
"Yeah, but he's just our instructor," Christina pressed, amused.
"Sometimes he seems more than that," Tris muttered. "It's always more complicated here."
Tris sat, glowering for a moment more, then said suddenly, "Where's Will? Where are the others?"
"In the gym, I finished early, so I came to lunch before them," Christina explained. "I figured you'd be here too."
"I should head to the gym after lunch," Tris mused.
"You don't want to hang out with us?" Christina asked, confused.
"Oh no, I do, but I also need to spend some time in the gym today," Tris explained.
"I figured you'd want to celebrate after your ranking," Christina said, a little stiffness entering her tone.
"Not really," Tris said dismissively. She did want to celebrate, but she wanted to celebrate with Four – or at least know he was pleased for her. "I'm going to grab some food."
Tris grabbed a chicken salad and ate it quickly, and left for the gym before any of her other friends arrived for lunch. Four had left while she was eating.
"Come hang with us once you've finished in the gym," Christina said when Tris stood. "I'll message you to let you know where we are and what we're doing."
Tris gave her a smile and left.
Part of her knew she needed to put more effort into her friend, especially just after their rankings had been announced, and Tris's was so much better than Christina's. Unfortunately, Tris was too caught up in what was going on with her and Four. She couldn't understand why he was giving her the brush off.
Was he tired of her? Maybe now she knew who he really was he didn't want to spend time with her anymore. Maybe he regretted letting her in.
Tris headed up to the gym, taking several levels by the stairs, in an effort to use more energy and think less.
When she reached the 15th floor, she left the stairs and headed along the dark, quiet corridor to the elevator. She moved along, staying quiet in the shadows, not wanting to encounter anyone.
She was startled out of her thoughts, which were on Four, regardless of her efforts to avoid thinking over him, by a couple of voices.
She stopped silently and listened. She quickly recognised the first voice as Eric's.
The other voice was that of an unknown female.
"And you're sure you can keep up your side of the plan?" the female asked in a quiet, but urgent tone.
"Of course," Eric said haughtily. "I've told you from the outset that I'm onboard. You just keep your promise to me, and I'll come good."
"Surely you can understand my caution," she replied. "You Dauntless are a superior, elitist lot who stick together. Of course I would worry that you might turn on me."
"Well, I won't," Eric said coolly. "I'm not one of them. Not really. I came here for me, and me only. They annoy me just as much as they do you. We want the same thing, just for different reasons."
"Fine. And you're sure no one suspects anything?" she pressed.
"No one. I do my job, I'm an excellent agent," Eric boasted. "And I do my part for you just as well."
They left then, mercifully not passing Tris, who stood silent and still in the shadows, her mind racing.
Should she tell anyone? Who could she tell? What could she even tell them? That Eric was chatting about some undisclosed plot with a strange, unidentifiable woman? The only person she would tell was Four, and she didn't even know if they were on speaking terms anymore.
Tris composed herself and continued on to the gym. She needed to log at least an hour in the gym, and she had no idea what else to do besides fulfil that responsibility. So she did, hoping that something or someone would show her what to do next.
AN: So, what did you think? And who's excited for Divergent? It's coming out this month!