Disclaimer: I don't own Divergent.
The huge, reflective lima bean sitting in the center of the park tells Eric that he's close to the headquarters of his former faction. Close to the main mentor in his life, the woman he can't wait to see. He doesn't even try to stay unnoticed in the otherwise empty streets. It'd be impossible anyway, with all the lights that are on.
The main Erudite building, the library, is where Jeanine's office is located. Eric trusts his memory to show him the way, even though he hasn't been here in ages. As for the security, getting past them's gonna be easy. All he has to do is have his card ready.
He gets to the doors at the front of the building and stops for the Dauntless policeman, who's holding out a hand, half in greeting, half in warning. "Got authorization?" the man asks.
Eric shows his access card. The man doesn't blink, just lets Eric through. "Thank you," he monotones.
So far, so good. Eric goes on walking, looking everywhere but the bookshelves and the tables where people study. This library doesn't feel like home, not anymore. Eric's almost fully Dauntless now. No Dauntless, other than the security, are welcome here.
You can tell by the scandalized whispers as the students and researchers take in Eric's all-black attire, his combat boots, and his hair that hasn't touched styling gel in weeks. They're talking bad about him, quietly judging him in front of his face. Well, he comforts himself, that kid they're talking about is dead. Only Jeanine Matthews still gets to speak to him.
He walks out of earshot of those judgmental strangers. Soon after that, he reaches Jeanine's door. It won't open without the passcode, but that's only a small hurdle for him.
Two-one-two-seven. That's what Jeanine told him that day. Eric punches the number in and waits. An instant later, a light above the knob flashes green. Eric opens the door.
Jeanine takes no notice of him at first. She keeps her cordless phone held to one ear and talks. "And when I get a chance, I'll tell Max…"
Eric pushes the door in a little, and it squeaks. That's how he gets Jeanine's attention.
She turns and almost drops the phone in her surprise. "Oh! Eric!" It takes her a moment, but someone like her doesn't stay flustered for long. "Go ahead, make yourself at home," she says, pointing to the first empty chair she sees. Then she goes back to addressing the person on the other end. "I'll speak with you later," she says.
She hangs up the phone, and Eric sits down. Now he's in a place where he can pour his heart out, and be safe while doing it.
"Just how you like it," says Jeanine, "with a bit of honey." She dips the stirrer in the coffee and spins it around a few times, then she surrenders the cup to her former student. Eric takes it and sips longingly.
Jeanine goes on talking, but Eric doesn't really mind. "So sorry about the clutter," she says, looking both annoyed and embarrassed. "It's just been an overwhelming day. That wretched assistant of mine decided to play a practical joke. Put superglue in one of my hats." She sighs. "Makes me wish I didn't need hired help."
Eric hopes he looks as supportive as he feels. "I wish I didn't need friends," he says.
Jeanine smiles. It's so easy for the two of them to agree. "Going through a rough patch with Tobias?"
"You could say that," Eric says. He just shrugs in response to Jeanine's quizzical look, telling her without words that he doesn't feel like sharing. In reality, he'd feel too humiliated if he gave away all the details.
Of course, Jeanine responds with patience and understanding. She doesn't even attempt to pry further. "This'll lift your spirits," she says encouragingly, taking their conversation in an entirely new direction. "How would you like to be part of a revolution?"
Eric stares at her, mute. He did not expect that.
After a couple seconds, he remembers how to speak. "You mean," he gets out, "one that's starting right now?" It's a really stupid question, but how else can he reply to this insane offer?
"In the near future, yes," Jeanine clarifies for him. She smiles at him again, and this makes him feel so at ease, he wants to say yes to the offer immediately.
But any Erudite-born would keep his guard up. "So why is it happening?" he asks Jeanine. He needs to know how this revolution was born, why the people aren't satisfied, if they're for or against violent resistance, and more. He knows he's getting off track, when originally he just wanted to vent about the rankings. But he's close to becoming a member of a faction that values action over complacency. This revolution is calling to him, and he already wants to answer that call.
"Well," Jeanine answers, looking thoughtful, "the current government hasn't worked for us for a while. It's a classic example of one-party tyranny. For such a selfless faction, Abnegation is tight-fisted with their power. They have the sole decision-making capacity in the city government."
Yes, very true, Eric thinks. He lets his eyes hang on Jeanine as she goes on.
"The other factions all have some level of autonomy," says Jeanine, "but not enough." After plainly stating this fact, she motions to the rows of newspaper clippings covering the surface of her desk. Eric looks at them, recognizing various headlines from the Erudite Sun-Times. Yes, there's the story about the council voting to kick the Dauntless out of parts of the factionless sector, against Max's wishes. And there's the story about Andrew Prior successfully shutting down a Candor tabloid that published a piece on Marcus Eaton's wife, Evelyn, having an affair.
"Now," Jeanine continues, straightening in her chair, "even the little they have could be snatched away. Doesn't that sound like a nightmare?"
"It does," says Eric, as he stares at the pictures of Marcus Eaton and Andrew Prior. He never did feel any particular fondness toward these two influential members of the council, but now he can say he hates them both, every bit as much as he hates Tobias.
He looks up at Jeanine and sees her take on a faraway expression, like she always does when she's preparing for a debate. "Now," she says, "imagine the entirety of Dauntless under Abnegation influence. Imagine their socialism eroding the Dauntless ideal of healthy competition."
Eric doesn't have to imagine. He saw for himself how Tobias' lingering sense of loyalty to Abnegation poisoned his mind. Didn't he think he was being both brave and selfless, when he volunteered to go back and try to help the savage who attacked them all in the factionless sector?
Jeanine goes on. "Much in the same way, they're a threat to our ideal of meritocracy," she says, referring to those in her own faction. "How is that good for our society? We created the factions for a reason, to give people freedom of choice."
"I get it," Eric says. He's in complete agreement with his mentor. "You want to protect our right to choose."
"Perfectly stated," says Jeanine. She gets that faraway look on her face again, as she taps one fingernail on the surface of her desk. "Unfortunately, there's a whole network of people who oppose us. They are known as the Divergent. These individuals are somehow immune to the effects of our serums."
Immune? Wait, that's… Tobias!
A lightbulb's turned on in Eric's head, and it's flashing too brightly for him to ignore it.
His former best friend is Divergent. His sympathies lie with his ex-faction, Abnegation, probably more than with his current faction, Dauntless. He advocated to help that factionless savage, not because he thought it would make him more Dauntless, but because he can't let go of his Abnegation tendencies. When he's a full member of his new faction, he'll probably promote other such acts of degeneracy that'll soften and emasculate the Dauntless. That's why they need to take this problem seriously.
Eric's aware of his hands tightening over the armrests of the chair he's sitting on. A militant instinct's awakening within him, and it calls on him to neutralize the Divergent.
Jeanine's still talking though, so Eric listens, wanting to learn more about the Divergent. "Many," says Jeanine, "are also eligible to join more than one faction."
"The aptitude test doesn't rule that out?" If Eric's mouth hadn't been firmly closed, it would have dropped open. This is news to him.
"Not for them, no," Jeanine tells him. "The disturbing part? There are people like Melvin Emerson, a Divergent from Candor." She points to one of the newspaper clippings, which shows the face of an eccentric-looking, mustachioed man. Quite unlike any Candor Eric's ever seen. "He swore to live an honest life," says Jeanine, "yet he was resistant to truth serum. He managed to hide the fact that he was equally qualified for Amity."
Like Tobias hiding his obvious advantage in the simulation stage, thinks Eric.
"Later in his career," continues Jeanine, "he was found to have a bias toward his Amity clients. We speculate that he helped free as many as one thousand guilty Amity. You see, that was before we fully understood what Divergence was."
Eric allows these words to sink in, and he lets his growing horror strengthen the militant instinct within him. Now more than ever, he wants to do something awful to the Divergent, to show them that their agenda won't be allowed to spread.
"It sounds dangerous," he finally says in reply to Jeanine, and his former teacher nods enthusiastically.
"It is," she says. "Especially when you ask, where were most Divergent individuals born? The answer is, of course, Abnegation."
That one word is like an echoing drumbeat, like the boom of a judge's gavel, removing all reasonable doubt from within Eric. Yes, Tobias is his enemy, and yes, he's ready to go to war to stop the Divergent.
His hands squeeze the armrests of his chair, the tips of his fingers throbbing.
"So how will you stop them?" he asks Jeanine of the Divergent.
The serene smile returns to Jeanine's face. "Oh," she says, "I won't be doing everything. I'll have to rely on people like you." And she points at Eric's chest, her smile never wavering.
"Me?" Eric gasps. He can't lie, he feels honored to be given this distinction.
"Yes, to expose Divergent individuals hiding in plain sight. That's the most effective thing you can do to advance our cause." Jeanine's voice takes on an authoritative tone. "Keep your eyes peeled and your senses alert. If you meet someone you suspect is Divergent, report them at once."
"Yes, ma'am," says Eric.
The sun's rising over the Dauntless compound. Shauna's still yawning as she walks through the halls, but she made it a personal goal to be up and moving at six sharp.
She wishes it were possible to hear the morning birds from inside the compound. But some things a Dauntless has to sacrifice. You don't sign up to join this faction for a privileged life.
Still, Shauna thinks to herself, it's hard. Putting one foot in front of the other, over and over again, when literally all the parts of your body want to get back into bed.
Shauna's so listless, she barely even notices when she walks past the transfer dorm.
Until she hears a recognizable voice coming from behind the closed door.
"Good overseer… what's he talking about?" The words don't make a whole lot of sense to Shauna, and the voice is muffled, but she can tell that's her boyfriend talking. She's wondering what he could be doing this early in the morning, so early in fact, that the majority of the Dauntless guards aren't yet on duty.
After considering it for a moment, she opens the door and lets herself inside the transfer dorm.
Her boyfriend has to hold back a gasp. He actually looks scared, seeing her here, and she doesn't get why. He's not doing anything bad like, God forbid, cheating on her, all he's doing is reading from an old paperback book. Nothing wrong with that, unless, of course, it contains illegal material.
"Hey, Thomas," Shauna greets her boyfriend. "What's that you're reading?"
AN: Next chapter will contain some disturbing violent content. Someone's gonna die, so watch out! And no, I'm not gonna tell you beforehand who it's gonna be. Leave a review and I'll get to posting the next one soon.