The Girl Who Cried Dauntless

Chapter One: Miss Matthews

Human nature and ignorance were the ones to blame for the fall of society. It is in human nature to lie, to steal, to murder, to cheat; while human ignorance allowed them to do so, warranted by the lack of knowledge on how to stop them, let alone spot them. These human faults could have wiped out all of humanity for causing the war. A war that left the entire world in ruins, dilapidated. A war only we survived. They tell us that we're the only ones left. They also tell us that history is infamous for repeating itself. And that's why our founder built a wall that ran the perimetre of our city. It keeps all the toxins of the world beyond out, but the faction system was, by far their greatest achievement. It keeps us from being poisoned from within our compound.

When the founders built the wall, they also split us up into five factions. Each faction was created depending on what people thought started the war. The honest Candor thought duplicity and deceit started the war; those who blamed aggression formed the peaceful Amity; the selfless Abnegation believed selfishness started the war; those who blamed cowardice made Dauntless; and those who blamed ignorance became the Erudite.

Erudite is the faction I was born into and was likely the faction I would pick at the Choosing Ceremony. And why would I think the contrary. With an IQ of 139, I fit into the category of very superior intelligence. To understate it, the compatibility between Erudite and I is almost palpable. Primarily, my intelligence quotient on its own is enough to make me feel at home here. Though it does help that my mother is the leader of the faction. Jeanine Matthews was a name synonymous for power and respect within the Erudite faction for the way she represented her people. When I was born, her name branded me with the same power and respect of our people.

"Miss Matthews," a man's voice said respectfully from above me. "Your mother wishes to speak with you." I slowly raised my head, trying to peel my eyes away from the pages of the book I was reading.

"Regarding what, may I ask?" I finally tore myself away from the book and placed it on a glass table in front of me. My eyes drifted up to find a well-dressed man in a blue suit. "She didn't elaborate and it wasn't in my authority to question her motives," he spoke respectfully, while not breaking eye contact. "Very well then. I assume she's in her office?" The man nodded in confirmation and went back to his desk that had an up-to-date computer, pencils and paper, and a thick novel of the evolution of the Erudite faction. I was sure the novel was only for show though. We Erudites had a thing for appearances. That's why most of our faction, including myself, wore glasses despite having perfect vision; it gave us an extra push on how intelligent the other factions viewed us.

I walked through our factions building to get to my mother's office. On the way there, I was greeted with the sounds of people clicking away on computers, pencils scratching papers, and the click of my heels on the statuary marble tiles, but not much else. I've walked this route so many times, I knew it would take me approximately fifty-four steps depending on the usual length of my strides and the unchanged density of my body's mass.

When I arrived at the doors of her office, my calculations of fifty-four steps seemed to prove correct. I knocked softly on her glass doors and waited until I was given permission to enter. Two burly men opened the doors and stepped to the side, signalling for me to come in.

"You called for me, mother." My mother took a moment to answer as she finished up typing something on her computer.

"Yes, I did. Come have a seat, Adelaide," she gestured at the men in the room. Both men came and pulled out a chair for me. I smoothed over my blue blazer and black dress pants before I sat down. "You may leave now." My mother said sharply to the men, who obliged to the command without so much as a protest. Mother turned back to face me as soon as they left, a small smile playing subtly on her lips. She wasn't one for showing any emotion other than pain, or occasionally, anger. So this action took me by surprise. "You're aware of what day it is today, right?" I nodded my head hesitantly. "So you know what a big decision you have to make tomorrow," she questioned me. Her sharp, grey eyes never leaving my stormy grey ones. She didn't give me time to answer before she continued talking: "May I ask what faction you're going to choose?" I scrunched my eyebrows in confusion. Didn't my mother know me better than this? "Erudite mother. I thought you would have known that." That slight smile she wore before got slightly bigger. Seeing my mother smile was always a weird situation to be in. It was weird because it seemed like no matter how hard she tried, the smile never admitted any warmth. "I figured you would say that, but I'm going to tell you something I probably should have told you more," my mother paused and leaned forward in her seat. "I'm so proud of you, Adelaide." My body straightened with hearing the praise from my mother. "And there's no one I would trust more with such an important task."
"With what task, mother?" My mother's lips curled into a slim smirk and she started telling me everything she wanted me to do during the Choosing Ceremony.