TRIS
This world is crazy.
It's so akin and yet so different from my city. There are brave people, friendly people, smart people. Everything at the same time. It's a world of divergents.
- Isn't it strange? - I ask Tobias.
Both of us are having lunch in the cafeteria. He observes his sandwich as if it was one of the secrets of the universe. Lately he's very distracted, and also looks tired.
A lock of black hair is falling over his forehead. To get his attention, I arrange the hair.
- Hum. Sorry, what did you say?
- That is weird. How these people are so similar and different from us. In a way, they cause me curiosity and repulsion at the same time.
- What isn't strange lately? - he asked biting his sandwich. - I've lost the ability to surprise me long ago.
He looked so stoic that worried me a little. I was not paying attention to my friends lately. That made me feel guilty. Perhaps I should have said something else.
- Well, it's not so bad ...
- I'm not divergent. We are a fucking experiment of people dead to decades ago. The divergent control the world ...
- Tob ...
- Oh, and the list goes on. - he looked at his sandwich - The Factions are destroyed. A rare woman tried to kill us. Another rare woman sent us here. Now, a rare man is watching us. Oh, I almost forgot, the first rare woman changed her mind and now helps us. Ah, yes, she stole my girlfriend.
- Shhh!
He was not speaking loudly, but anyway, he could not say that out loud and he knew it.
Tobias did not even blink.
- I think I'll go for a walk. - he stopped and took his plate - And don't get me wrong. Actually, I overcame what happened between us. But anyway, I care about you. OK?
- I know. - I nodded, still a little worried - I also.
He smiled a little and left.
I hope the stress doesn't end up hurting his brain. Although what he said made sense. Maybe it was good that he no longer be surprised about the things.
And Jeanine had not stolen me.
Right?
No, she had not stolen me. I was already hers.
Damn, I hate her for made me so slushy.
Uriah and Lynn entered the room. There was no food, but we shared a lemon cake. It was not so good as chocolate, but at least I felt some sweetness. I was needing a lot of that lately.
- There is a girl named Zoe. - Uriah began. - She is even more annoying than the Erudites, but ...
I did not even bother to say one word. I think my look was enough.
- Sorry, emm, yes, the girl is annoying. But she offered to give us a tour by airplane.
Airplane. Another great invention from here out. They're like cars, but fly. I am surprised that Uriah are not planning to travel in one of its wings.
- Sounds good. - Lynn said with her mouth full. - While she has no plans to throw us off the airplane, I'm in.
- You want to come, Tris? - asked Uriah.
- Or you'll be very busy talking with your pants again? - Lynn asked mischievously.
I sighed.
Since we learned that there is a kind of pants called "Jeans" Lynn don't stops call Jeanine this way. At least she uses a code.
- I will go. I would like to have a look at those machines.
Maybe, if I learn to drive one, it could serve to escape in an emergency.
- If you are afraid, you can take my hand.
I messed Lynn's face with cake. She grunted and swatted me.
Well, I can't complaining. Lynn, at least, don't hate me. I am very grateful for that.
I was walking to my bedroom when I heard a voice calling me.
- Tris, wait!
Caleb walked toward me. He had a tablet in hands, and a small smile.
He pulled me into my bedroom and slammed the door shut.
- Caleb, what's up?
- You need see this. - he gave me the tablet. - When you told me that our mother came from Bureau, I asked some people about it. This tablet was hers.
I looked at my brother in amazement, and suddenly I held the tablet more firmly. As something precious.
- It has some photos. And a diary.
- Have you read it?
- Yes. It's not very long. She was a little lower than us when she wrote it.
I imagine my mother as a teenager, a teenage of the Bureau.
The idea is so strange that my mother don't seems my mother. She is a person I've never met, a person who was always there, but hidden. I sat on my bed and quickly turned on the device.
- I'll let you read it. I'll be in the lab if you need me, Tris.
- It's okay.
Caleb was gone when I opened the diary. My hands were shaking a little.
I stayed in that position for two hours, reading obsessively my mother's diary.
Former member of the Bureau, Natalie Wright came here at age 14, after her mother killed her father. The young leader of the Bureau, David Jacobs, trained her about the faction system and sent her to Chicago. From there, she sent reports of her findings, among other things, the amount of divergent in the city.
I reread a line.
"There are more divergent than you think. But we are still not enough."
But it was not all that Natalie Wright did. She also had to keep an eye on whom threatened the divergent. On Matthews family, among others.
"Today I approached Andrew Prior," said a report. "He is close to Joshua Matthews's daughter. He is an innocent and unsuspecting boy, it was not difficult. This gives me more opportunity to watch the girl. I think she suspects me, but I have taken good care not to leave evidence . Until now, no problem."
And after that, she didn't write for one month. The following report was only a sentence.
"Jeanine Matthews discovered about me."
And after that, she only wrote once again much later.
"Jeanine hasn't told anyone. Maybe she plans to use that information against me. But it doesn't matter, because through this notice, I officially renounce the Bureau. I'm so sorry, David. Andrew and I will choose Abnegation together. That's what I've decided. I hope you can understand and respect.
Natalie."
Then, I saw the photos. It was of a girl with dark hair, young and beautiful, with a man of the same hair color. My grandfather.
I held the tablet, while smiling. I don't know how long I was this way, but seemed like hours.
I put the tablet and dressed to go on the airplane.
At night, our dream simulation has a increase. Nita.
She looks around, startled.
- Where are we?
- Don't worry. - Tobias touches her shoulder - It's safe. If it fails, you just will wake up in your bed, and will not be lost in the void forever, as I know you're thinking.
- So it was true ... - she says, haunted - That's ... awesome.
- My brother made it. - I answer - He and one of our friends. Now, come on know them.
That night Tobias was the first to connect, and now we stood at the Bureau itself.
I recognized that room from a fairly recent memory. That was the room where Tobias and I had done the genetic testing that made him find that he wasn't divergent.
- Great. - Uriah grumbles - We are in a simulation and you bring us to a place inside the very place where we are. Very creative.
I look around and see the containers that Nita handled that day. They remained intact on the table.
- Huum ... - Tobias was flushed and embarrassed - I was thinking about this place when I put my glasses. It's normal that it is in my thoughts, right? I spent my life believing that I was divergent, and suddenly I am no longer ... It was a very difficult and confusing moment.
Nita looked at him, frowning, and he looked away, becoming redder.
- No matter where we are. - exclaimed Tori - What matters is that we are safe from being heard or discovered.
- Okay. Let's get to the main point.
I waved my hands and did arise a few chairs where we sat.
- This is Nita. - I say looking at my friends - You know, we've talked about her before. What we will do now is just to discuss in detail our plan. Every detail. Because if it fails ... well, let's just say we are in trouble.
Beside me, Nita shudders. Tori just looks resigned, and Peter, indifferent. Lynn seems nothing more than bored and Cara seems to be thinking about a million things when our eyes meet.
- I think Nita should to talk. - Will says - After all, she is the heart of the whole plan.
She seems uncomfortable with all the attention, but keeps her eyes fixed and unshaken. She exchanges a look with Tobias, and finally begins to face the group.
- The first important thing about this is that I know where is the weapons lab. - Nita stops and looks at each one individually - It isn't a very hidden place, and I believe you have been very close.
- And where is it? - Caleb asks, his eyes shining - We searched for it for days and don't have even a clue.
- Well ... You know where is David's office, right?
- Yeah. - I answer - I have been there.
The memory of that encounter brings back to my mind the screams of Jeanine. The voice of her father, the hum of the instrument of torture - something I didn't know what it was, nor had the least desire to know.
I close my eyes and take a deep breath, forcing the memories go away.
- Great. - Nita says - There is a corridor in front of the office. Following through this corridor, you'll find some more corridors. You enter the first left, then the second right and ... Well, I'm sure I can show in person at another time.
- Okay. - Cara responds, looking forward - Proceed.
- The second thing you should know is that the room is not guarded by soldiers but by cameras. The control room personnel have real-time images of that place all the time.
- Great. - Lynn grumbles - We need to break down the door of a place where they will be watching us do this. Nothing better than some complications to make everything more exciting.
Despite the attempt to make a joke, I can see the concern in her eyes.
- No! - Nita becomes pale - No way we can do that. That place has a security system that ... Summary: If we try to enter using explosives or anything that violates the door by force, we will not get out alive of there.
- What are you talking about? - Cara looks somewhat impatiently.
- Death Serum. - Nita's words cause me a shiver down the spine - If the door is opened by force, the death serum will be released in the air, and not even divergents are able to resist it. So, we will use the access code, which is well hidden under my mattress.
- Wait! - Caleb almost screams - You mean the password of the weapons lab? This should be a super confidential information, right? How did you discover it?
- Let's say we're not the only ones who hate this place. There is a boy, Matthew. He is a Pure, but is sympathetic to our cause, so to speak. He is important here, and has helped me a long time. I believe he was in a fine line between life and death to seep in David's office, but somehow, he found. And the information is in my hands.
- That's good. - Says Christina almost with relief - Very, very good.
- So ... - Peter begins - We just need to find the place, enter this password and release the serum?
- No. - I look him almost bitterly - Of course it's not that simple. With surveillance cameras, they will send guards behind us, and we can't stop them.
- In this case, - Tobias looks at me - we'll need to get rid of these cameras.
- I do not think it is wise. - says Cara - Think about it: if the cameras are turned off, they will realize at the same moment that it comes to an attack. And if the weapons lab is the more important place here, it would take them directly to the target. And anyone who is on the way will be arrested.
- She's right. - Caleb looks to her, somewhat surprised - It's a pretty clever thinking.
- I suggest something better. - Cara says, and I almost can see the wheels turning inside her brain - I suggest a blackout. Instead of turn off the cameras, we'll turn off the lights. At first, they may think that it's an accident, or an electrical fault. In complete darkness, the cameras will go blind, and anyone who is going to weapons lab will can reach without attracting attention.
- Is a good idea. - Nita looks as if Cara were the smartest person she had ever seen - A great idea.
- Will you help me with this? - Cara asks, turning to my brother.
Caleb smiles and turns red.
- But of course.
- As for the others, - Cara continues - you can grab the limelight otherwise. You can start a fight, for example. And who isn't fighting can cry for help or something. A confusion like this in complete darkness will let them lost. When they realize the truth, it will be too late. Or so we hope.
- Right. - I say - It seems a very simple plan with lots of chances to be successful.
- Yeah. - Nita responds thoughtfully - Still, we have to be very careful. And when I say "very", it is really "very".
- We will be. - Cara says looking at Caleb - That we guarantee.
- Okay. I suggest two people to go to weapons lab. And I'm one of them, of course. Now I need to know which of you goes with me.
- I will. - I answer in a rush - It's settled.
Caleb looks at me, his eyes widening up.
- Beatrice ...
- This is my mission. - I say looking him in the eye - It's something personal. I just have to do it.
He remains staring at me for a while, as if to beg me not to go, but when my eyes remain steady, he nods and looks away.
- We'll put the plan in place within two nights. Until then, I will get with Matthew the serum that will immunize us all against the memory serum. And I think you need to have some marksmanship classes. You know, with guns. In a situation like the one we will face, this is critical.
- She's right. - says Tobias - You never know what we'll need to do.
- Most of us are Dauntless - Uriah responds - It will be easy. We can teach those who aren't, as Caleb and Cara.
- Perfect. Find Tobias and I tomorrow in front of the hotel. We have a perfect place to practice safely.
The meeting is over and I notice a strange look on Tobias's face. Whatever he's thinking, I know he don't like Matthew.