Revolution -Eric Coulter-

Chapter 50

Riley ignores her brother for two days. It's easier than she expected, but the guilt eats away at her. Tobias doesn't look like himself. He seems sad all of the time. He doesn't approach her, not once. He's giving her space.

She's grateful for that. Riley makes a plan in her mind to speak to him later.

The last two days she spent in the control room watching the cameras. It brings her comfort. Most often, she watches the Evelyn camera. Riley hates how badly she misses her mother. Her entire childhood, she would imagine her mother taking care of her. Back then, it was just a woman without a face. Riley didn't remember her mother. Marcus always spoke about how much they looked alike. He said, "the only difference is your hair. You have the hair of the devil." Riley never believed that. It was just hair.

She switches the camera, and Maddie's face appears. She's with Johanna, as she is most of the time. "Boring." Uriah changes the screen back to Evelyn. She's with Edgar. "Much better."

Riley playfully glares at him. "You're an idiot."

"I'm a simple man," he argues. "Who needs to be entertained."

She doesn't bother with a response. The two of them had spent a lot of time together. They both enjoyed watching the cameras. Christina would come and go, but she never stayed long. She thought it was creepy to watch people. Riley agreed with her, but she still stayed.

Her mind goes back to Tobias. She starts to feel guilty again. She learned from Christina that the genetic testing told them that Tobias wasn't Divergent. He was genetically damaged, as were most of them. The Bureau still wanted her to test. They believed she was truly Divergent, unlike her brother. Riley refused. She didn't care about that stuff. It didn't matter. Riley didn't believe her genes made her act a certain way. It was a ridiculous ideology.

Walking past the door is Peter. In his hands are several books. She thinks about chasing after him but decides she doesn't care. Riley had convinced herself that caring about what other people were doing was simply too much work. It wasn't as if they cared about her.

~~~~~~~~~~

Riley stumbles into a lab that evening. She had never been overly interested in science, but she was marked as an Erudite. Erudite's were smart and liked science. Riley was desperate for something to do. Tobias and Tris seemed to be fighting. He was always off with Nita or others. She had caught them twice today whispering in the hallway.

Inside the room is Nita and someone else. "Hi," she greets them. "Sorry, I kind of stumbled in here."

"That's Four's sister, right?" The boy is looking at Nita. "Does she know?"

"She's a GP." Nita glares at her. "She can't help us."

Riley's beyond confused. "Sorry, what's a GP?"

"Genetically Pure," he says.

"Oh." Their staring makes her uncomfortable. "Sorry?"

The man smiles. "I'm Reggie."

"Riley."

"We're kind of busy right now," Nita says. "Come back later."

"Oh." And just like that, she's leaving. Riley can't shake off what they said. It was odd and cryptic. There was something about the way Nita was looking at her. It was full of hatred and annoyance. She wasn't sure why.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Riley slips out of her bed as the lights go off. Tobias isn't anywhere to be found, but she knows where he is. She walks down the hall to find him standing in front of a window. "It's funny," she says. "One is scared of heights, and the other loves them."