Reawakening

Chapter Twenty-Six

Uriah

"So are you gonna tell me how you saw my sim, or what?"

The city flies past in a dark blur out the open door of the train car. The zip tie securing my hands behind my back digs into my wrists and Eric watches me like a hawk to make sure I don't try to make a run for it. I won't. Not with Marlene's safety on the line.

Eric smirks. "Simple. I programmed the computer we run the sims from to send them straight to my personal computer electronically, the moment they finish recording. That idiot Four" --he spits Four's name like it's poison-- "can delete sims all he wants. It doesn't keep me from seeing any of them."

Simple as that. There was no way for Four to protect us. I was screwed from the moment I stepped into that simulation room for the first time. I sigh and look away. There was nothing I could do to prevent it, and now I'm going to be forced to help that demon-spawn Jeanine, only to be executed in thanks.

But, why didn't this happen last time? Something changed. Something one of us did... changed everything.

"What made you decide to do that? And when?"

Eric scoffs. "I already answered what I agreed to, I told you how I found out. Why should I tell you anything else?"

I contemplate that for a while. I don't have a reason to give him. He has no reason to indulge me. Eric is an Erudite deep down, all about logic and strategy. But... one thing Erudite and Dauntless have in common? We're prideful. And Eric has pride for his Dauntless persona, too.

"Why not tell me? I'm never getting out of this hellhole you're taking me to, right? Indulge me. At least let me understand why I'm here. You know, unless you're afraid for some reason. That would be pretty pathetic, wouldn't it? Big, bad Dauntless leader Eric, Erudite spy, faction traitor... afraid of an initiate whose hands are zip-tied behind his back and who will never see the light of day again."

I see something flash in Eric's eyes and I know I've won. Yep, insulting Eric's pride is the sore spot, the psychological kick in the nuts. I raise my eyebrows as he glares at me, waiting for him to start speaking. Because I know he will.

"Fine," Eric says, feigning boredom. "It was the Stiff. She was like a puzzle. Showed up fresh out of Abnegation, feisty and confident from day one. It didn't make any sense, it still doesn't. She intrigues me."

"Okay, so?" Maybe there's a little Erudite in me, too, because I'm definitely brimming with curiosity tonight. I mean, hey, this is probably the last time ever that I get something I want, and what I want to know is exactly how I ended up here. Exactly how I have been ripped away from the girl I love once again by these monsters.

Eric shrugs. "So, I wanted to see her fears, and I also wanted to see if divergence was the key to that puzzle. But then her fears, specifically the one Four deleted, just showed me I didn't stand a chance with her. He'd won already, like always." The look in his eyes is murderous. I knew he hated Four but I'm not sure I realized just how much until this moment.

"And? Is she?" I ask, hoping to hear that Tris, at least, is safe. You know... unless she acts like Tris and does something stupid and selfless. Who am I kidding? There's no way she won't. She had better not drag Marlene into it. My head starts feeling all floaty from anxiety just thinking about it. Eric looks at me like he has no idea what I'm asking him. "Tris. Is she divergent?"

"Nope. Just you." He leans out the open door, then pops his head back in. "Well, looks like we're just about at our stop. I kept my part of the bargain, now all you have to do is cooperate and I'll leave your little slut alone. Besides, think of it this way." Eric grimaces. "Despite your defective brain, you get to do some good in the world by helping science rid the world of divergent scum like you."