Divergent Fanfiction: Power of Three

TWO

I jerk awake, almost falling off the chair. The Abnegation woman stands beside me and pulls off the electrodes. She does not speak.

'So?'

She glares at me, almost as if she is disgusted - but then it fades to a look of fear and confusion.
'Excuse me. I just need to confirm your result.'

No. No, there's something I did wrong.

Actually, what didn't I do wrong? I lied to the man. I talked back to the bully. I gave up the useful item because I feared having to fight. What if they tell me I'm meant to be factionless? Is that possible?

I remember my sister Marianne. She received aptitude for Abnegation, and she joined them. My parents refused to visit her.

I wait two, four, six minutes when the woman finally returns. 'Your results were inconclusive. Rosalind, you are equally suited to three factions - quite a high number, even for a.... Anyway, the aptitude test was meant to eliminate four factions, but we only ruled out two.' She clears her throat.

'You outwitted the simulation, something only an Erudite mind could do. However, an Erudite would have not have risked injury by retaliating to the bully. Also, the fact that you knew it was a simulation is... interesting.'

Her words finally sink in. 'Wait... three?'

'Similarly, a distaste to violence is a trait of Amity. This was suggested when you took the cheese, but your willingness to argue with him implied otherwise.'

I breathe deeply. What's worse: fitting in nowhere or being split between factions?

'Refusing to back down is a Dauntless response, but so is taking the knife, which you didn't do. At least your dishonesty and refusal to help ruled out Candor and Abnegation.'

'So... which faction should I choose?'

'This isn't something to be taken lightly. It's called... Divergence. You must never tell anyone. Ever. Guard this secret with your life. I've told the computer you received aptitude for Erudite.'

'Why?'

'Because being Divergent is dangerous. You betrayed the values you were raised with to apologise. I owe you at least this.'

I swallow. 'So... I'm not cut out for Erudite?'

'You are. And also for Dauntless and Amity. It's your call. But choose wisely, you can't go back on it.'

I knew that. But hearing her say it makes me feel worse. Erudite. Dauntless. Amity. Intelligence. Bravery. Kindness.
                                                                                                                    ~

I curl up tightly, holding onto my knees. I desperately want to leave, to go home. Or maybe not home. Just... somewhere that's not here. Somewhere all factions are equal, or don't exist at all. But I shouldn't think like that...

My eyes close, and I listen to the tables. The shouting Dauntless, giggling Amity and chattering Erudite. My stomach hurts, and my head is spinning.

'Are you feeling alright? You appear troubled.' I hear the voice of another Erudite boy - either Sebastian or Jaques, I don't really care.

'Yes.' I open my eyes, but stare at the floor.

'Are you certain?'

'I said I'm fine!' I cross my arms to make it clear I'm not interested in talking.

I need to think for a while.
                                                                                                                    ~

The five faction manifestos sit before me. Three in particular I'm reading. All of them are enough to convince you to join that particular faction. They help little.

I'm in the library. Despite knowing the day is over, I don't notice the bell ring. When I look up, everyone has left and the teachers are glaring at me, silently demanding that I leave.

I walk past the park, where one or two factionless are camped out. They won't last long - the Dauntless will be ordered to drive them out. Erudite can't stand factionless this close to their headquarters.

My apartment is on the seventh floor. I head inside the elevator - there are no stairs in the building, the power is designed to never run out.

After I arrive at my floor, I enter my code into the panel beside the door. When the door unlocks, I open it and head straight to my room, picking up a novel (though most Erudite prefer non-fiction) and trying to block out everything else.
                                                                                                                   ~

'Rosalind! How was the aptitude test?'

I don't look up at my mother. I can't.

'I apologize, I'm not allowed to ask. Well, you clearly did not receive aptitude for Candor, or you'd tell me.' She smiles. I try to smile back, but I don't have the spirit.
'Well, I think you're cut out for Erudite. You did amazingly well in your last couple of assignments. The teacher was most impressed.'

Closing the novel, I head back into the kitchen, because when my mother arrives home from work dinner is not far behind.

My father, in a peacock-blue suit, places a bowl of spaghetti bolognese on the third spot at the square, glass table that used to have four chairs, but now has three.

I sit down facing the clear window which has a full view of the city.

'I've got good news.' My mother smiles only slightly, but her tone is happy. 'Jeanine is willing to give you a job as an apprentice to one of her colleagues, Leonardo Johnson.' I raise my eyebrows and widen my eyes to appear happy, even though I could be leaving Erudite. I could be.

My parents immediately engage in a long conversation in which I do not appear welcome. I zone out.

'And apparently Marcus is refusing to speak to any Erudite journalists.'

'But that's only evidence of his involvement.' My mother turns to me. 'What do you think?'

I close my eyes. I have no idea what they mean exactly, but my response is automatic. 'We don't know for sure.'

'But everything they've done suggests...'

'They're innocent until guilty.' I say, quoting a book I read, written before the war.

'They are almost certainly corrupt.'

My eyes open and I stare her down. 'I don't care. You're being unfair.'

She frowns. 'Do not argue with me about things you do not understand!'

'I do understand. I understand that you are persecuting the Abnegation, and if you refuse to give them a fair chance... I'm leaving Erudite.' I can't stop the words from coming. My father looks away, but my mother narrows her eyes.

'For which faction?'

I pause. I'm on the brink of revealing I'm Divergent, and that can't be a good thing. 'For... Abnegation.'