"I will ask you a series of simple questions so you can grow accustomed to the serum as it takes full effect." Says a boy named Niles. "Now what is your name?" I watched Tobias, his head low as if his body is to heavy. He squirms and says through gritted teeth.
"Four." He wasn't wrong. Four was the name he used in Dauntless, barely anyone there knew him as Tobias. Christina walks up behind Tris and I, stopping in the middle of us. We don't say anything, wanting to hear the questions and Tobias' answers.
"That is a nickname. What is your real name?"
"Tobias." Christina looks at me.
"Did you know that?"
"Yes." I mumble. I didn't like the idea of having to tell the truth, but I had been accused of being an accomplice to a man who had been accused of crimes against humanity. I would usually be defiant towards this sort of thing, but it is no longer only me on the line.
"What are the names of your parents, Tobias." My back straightened. To other people this question would be an easy one to answer, or it would be confusing as to why it wasn't. But Tobias' parents are not good people, and no one here knows his last name is Eaton yet.
"Why is this relevant." A burst of mumbling from the crowd. I looked around confused, he was right, why is it relevant?
"What's going on?" I asked Christina.
"It's extremely difficult not to immediately answer questions while under the truth serum. It means he has a seriously strong will, and something to hide." I roll my eyes and cross my arms.
"Maybe it wasn't relevant before, Tobias." Niles says. "But it is now that you've resisted answering the question. Thenames of your parents, please." I know that Tobias' parents aren't the best people, and it's a name that Tobias hates having, but Tris and I were also on the line here. He wasn't making himself look good, it felt like back in Amity when he turned hostile to the woman from Erudite. He was going to get us killed if he wasn't careful.
Tobias grits his teeth. "Evelyn and Marcus Eaton." People started whispering, it didn't take a genius to know the the crowd recognised those names. Considering Marcus was part of the government, and Evelyn was his wife who died young... Apart from those two things, the Eaton name was powerful, it was a name everyone knew, and everyone knew the rumours that circled Erudite's newspapers when Tobias left Abnegation.
Marcus' name was powerful, but Tobias Eaton had a whole different meaning to power.
Niles waits for silence before continuing. "So you are a faction transfer, are you not?" I raised an eyebrow at Christina. What was with these questions?
"Yes, isn't that obvious?" Tobias snapped. Even if I was starting to get annoyed too, all I could think was that it would take one wrong answer for them to throw us to Erudite.
"One of the purposes of this interrogation is to determine your loyalties." Says Niles. "So I must ask: Why did youtransfer?" I was slowly becoming more and more worried about these types of questions, maybe they were giving Tobias worse questions cause they believe he was the man in charge, but even so...
I watch as Tobias stops himself from talking, the serum clearly taking effect as his breathing got heavier, and his face turned red. Candor is an unforgiving faction, and it was starting to show more clearly.
Tris began to talking to Christina, voicing her concerns. "He's fine." I say through gritted teeth. Tris looks over at me.
"Whatever it is Y/n, he clearly isn't fine with it." She raised an eyebrow. "Do you know what his answer is?" I ignored her and watched Tobias as he continued to struggle against the serum. It was his business, and it shouldn't be pried out of him, but it is his pride he is trying to keep intact, he wants to forget about everything that happened and not talk about it, all because he wants to save his pride.
My heart dropped. He would really choose a story, that wouldn't even be needed told in full, over my life. Is he not thinking about how Erudite could walk through those doors rights now? How the only one they actually want is Tris and him, how I am disposable. And for a moment... I see a little bit of Marcus, and how Marcus would rather have his whole faction die than give a small bit of information to Jeanine.
Niles says. "I'll ask again. It is important that we understand the extent of your loyalty to your chosen faction. So whydid you transfer to Dauntless, Tobias?"
"To protect myself." Says Tobias. "I transferred to protect myself."
"Protect yourself from what?"
"From my father." And there it was, all of the conversation in the room stopped, and I was happy he said something, even if it was just so we could live, but I still had a bad feeling in my stomach from how long it had taken him.
"Thank you for your honesty." Niles says. The Candor repeat the phrase under their breath. I look around and watch as everyone mutters 'thank you for your honesty.'. And I understood that it was a way to welcome Tobias, embrace his darkest secret and then throw it away. It wasn't plain cruelty, maybe it was a desire for knowledge of some kind... but it was still horribly inhumane.
"Is your allegiance with your current faction, Tobias?" Niles says.
"My allegiance lies with anyone who does not support the attack on Abnegation." He says.
"Speaking of which." Niles says. "I think we should focus on what happened that day. What do you remember aboutbeing under the simulation?"
"I was not under the simulation, at first." Says Tobias. "It didn't work."
Niles laughs a little. "What do you mean, it didn't work?"
"One of the defining characteristics of the Divergent is that their minds are resistant to simulations." Says Tobias. "And Iam Divergent. So no, it didn't work." My heart skipped a beat for a moment as Tobias admitted to being Divergent, there were mutters around the room, but nothing that could suggest we were unsafe from that alone.
"Did you know that?" I hummed and looked at Christina. "Are you Divergent too?" My heart skipped again, I was told to never tell anyone, I was told countless times I would be killed for it. And I didn't know what to answer, I should say yes since it is the truth and I was clearly safe, but something about the fear of the word made me want to say no.
"Yeah." And I turned away quickly, trying my best to keep a blank face. Christina continues to ask Tris who says the same. Tris and Christina went into more depth about being Divergent and what it meant, Christina couldn't wrap her head around it and insisted being awake in simulations was impossible.
In the centre of the room, Niles has his hands up and is trying to silence the crowd, but there are too many whispers—some hostile, some terrified, and some awed, like Christina's. Finally Niles stands and yells, "If you don't quiet down, you will beasked to leave!"At last everyone quiets down. Niles sits."Now." He says. "When you say 'resistant to simulations,' what do you mean?"
"Usually, it means we're aware during simulations." Says Tobias. He seems to have an easier time with the truth serumwhen he answers factual questions instead of emotional ones. He doesn't sound like he's under the truth serum at all now, though hisslumped posture and wandering eyes indicate otherwise. "But the attack simulation was different, using a different kind of simulationserum, one with long-range transmitters. Evidently the long-range transmitters didn't work on the Divergent at all, because I awokein my own mind that morning."
"You say you weren't under the simulation at first. Can you explain what you mean by that?"
"I mean that I was discovered and brought to Jeanine, and she injected a version of the simulation serum thatspecifically targeted the Divergent. I was aware during that simulation, but it didn't do much good." My hand instinctively went to my throat, rubbing it softly as I remembered Tobias trying to kill me.
"The video footage from the Dauntless headquarters shows you running the simulation." Already paranoid, my back straightened as I hear the change in Nile's voice. "How,exactly, do you explain that?"
"When a simulation is running, your eyes still see and process the actual world, but your brain no longer comprehendsthem. On some level, though, your brain still knows what you're seeing and where you are. The nature of this new simulation wasthat it recorded my emotional responses to outside stimuli." Tobias says, closing his eyes for a few seconds. "And responded byaltering the appearance of that stimuli. The simulation made my enemies into friends, my friends into enemies. I thought I wasshutting the simulation down. Really I was receiving instructions about how to keep it running."
I let out a long breath as I see the Candor nodding along, this was our upside with the truth serum, no matter how ridiculous our story sounded, no matter how impossible it seemed... they couldn't say we were lying.
"We have seen footage of what ultimately happened to you in the control room." says Niles. "But it is confusing. Pleasedescribe it to us."
"Someone entered the room, and I thought it was a Dauntless soldier, trying to stop me from destroying the simulation. Iwas fighting her, and..." Tobias scowls, struggling. "...and then she stopped, and I got confused. Even if I had been awake, Iwould have been confused. Why would she surrender? Why didn't she just kill me?"My face turns hot and red as Tobias makes eye contact with me."I still don't understand." He says softly. "How she knew that it would work."
I didn't know it would work. I had found a new feeling of peace, the thought of dying and not having to work so hard seemed so nice. But I could never tell him that. "I think my conflicted emotions confused the simulation, and I don't know how, but I heard her voice. And that enabled me to fight the simulation." My face turned redder and redder. I remembered that moment in the room so clearly, and I hated how much I remembered. I wonder if he heard what I said. "We went back into the control room and stopped the simulation."
"What is the name of this person?"
"Y/n L/n." I continued watching Tobias, and he done the same. The constant staring and small comments of endearment were beginning to make me uncomfortable. We were required to keep our relationship unknown in Dauntless, done it in Amity because we couldn't stop to think, and now...
"Did you know her before this happened?"
"Yes."
"How did you know her?" As I realised we were getting closer to the end of Tobias' questions and slowly getting closer to mine, I felt my chest tighten. Surely there wasn't anything I am purposefully hiding? Well there is a few things, but those can be missed out, not important to the story.
"I was her instructor. Now we're together." I finally looked away from Tobias and decided to look at Christina who was trying to stop herself from laughing.
"Aw, are you embarrassed?" I scoffed slightly. Before nodding my head.
"Yeah, a little bit." It was weird hearing him say we are together in a room full of people, it was a real feeling and not something I was imagining.
"I have a final question." Niles says. "Among the Candor, before a person is accepted into our community, they have tocompletely expose themselves. Given the dire circumstances we are in, we require the same of you. So, Tobias Eaton: what are yourdeepest regrets?"I look back at Tobias, I had wanted to know more about him since day one, but I don't like that he has to say.
"I regret..." Tobias tilts his head, and sighs. "I regret my choice."
"What choice?"
"Dauntless." I raise an eyebrow, I thought Dauntless was what he wanted. "I was born for Abnegation. I was planning on leaving Dauntless, and becoming factionless. Butthen I met her, and... I felt like maybe I could make something more of my decision." I frown and shake my head slightly, I knew Tobias had a hard life, I didn't know he wanted to leave Dauntless... And I sure didn't know that he only stayed cause of me.
"Choosing Dauntless in order to escape my father was an act of cowardice." He says. "I regret that cowardice. It means Iam not worthy of my faction. I will always regret it." I expect the Dauntless to shout or do something, but they stay quiet and away. Everyone stayed quiet for a few minutes. Until someone said 'thank you for your honesty', more people began saying it but I don't. Now that he was honest, I knew that his biggest regret kept going all because of me.
He wanted to leave Dauntless, I am not worth more than what he wanted... And I have no idea what to think.
-----------------------
I try to keep my legs steady as I walk towards the chair. Tobias and I meet in the middle, his hand grabbing mine before letting go and standing where I was previously.
I sit in the chair, watching the ceiling, hating the fact that everyone was watching me. The injection still laid on the table beside me, but I was already sweating, from the lights? Nerves? I don't know. I don't know a lot lately. As much as I would like to intervene and offer to do my own serum injection, I'm not sure my hands would be steady enough. A small groan left my mouth as I felt the needle pierce into my neck.
For a moment I panic, my veins feel like they are turning to lead, and I wait for the intense pain to start but it doesn't, no wond-
I furrow my eyebrows, what was I thinking about? It doesn't matter.
"What is your name?"
"Y/n L/n." I answer quickly, something about this question felt safe, why am I looking for viciousness in his questions?
"Do you have any other names?" I shake my head.
"No."
"What are your parents names?"
"Rosanna L/n. I don't know my father." The questions were still going well, but I kept my stare to the ceiling.
"Why do you not know your father?" I looked at Nile's, feeling warm and starting to sweat as I never answered.
"Cause he wasn't around." I spoke through gritted teeth, but felt slightly eased when the heat went away.
"And you are a transfer too?"
"Yes." Too? Oh yeah, Tobias was here before me. I try to pull a picture of Tobias, but I can't. I can see his body but I can't see any features. Tobias sitting in the same chair flashes through my mind and for a moment, I remember what he looks like.
"You came from Amity and chose Dauntless?"
"Yes." I answer again.
"Why did you transfer?" I stop. I know why I transferred, everyone who had picked up a newspaper from the last two years know why I transferred. What was my reasoning before, because no one liked me? I didn't really care about that did I? I must have in some way.
"I made a bet." I groaned and arched my back slightly as pain ran down my spine, sweat gathering on my face.
"I'll ask again, why did you transfer?" I was breathing heavily know, thinking hard about why I transferred, I should just let the serum speak, or I might not be getting out of this chair.
"I didn't like my original faction." More pain shot through me, but I couldn't lift myself higher, the heaviness in my bones set on keeping me in that chair. "Why did I transfer? Because Amity was a horrible fit and I wanted a fresh start." I stop gasping for air as the pain subsides along with the horrible heat.
"How was Amity a horrible fit?"
"I wasn't kind enough. I was also allergic to the faction serum." Niles raises an eyebrow.
"You're allergic to the peace serum?"
"Yes."
"You weren't kind enough?" The previous question gets thrown away.
"No I wasn't."
"So you're kinder now?"
"I suppose, it got harder to be less kind in Dauntless. There were people I had met that all I wanted to do was be nice to them, that the thought of being intentionally horrible to them was heart breaking." Is that what I really thought? I mean it must be, I only tell the truth right? And a tingle goes up my spine, truth. I was taking a big lie-detector test.
My eyes narrowed and I watched Niles, I wasn't fully out the serum yet, but I was enough to know what was happening. I was going to have to fight with myself if I didn't want certain things getting out.
"Y/n, can you tell us what happened on the day of the attack?" I looked over at Christina, Tris and Tobias.
"I woke up," I looked back to Niles. "Noticed everyone was under a simulation, so I played along until I found Tobias."
"What happened once you and Tobias were in custody?"
"A bunch of Dauntless took us to Jeanine, she had me sent to die and had put Tobias into a simulation." I again raise my hand and rub my neck, staring at the floor. I can't get distracted.
"And what had happened once you two were separated?"
"I could imprisoned along Tris, who got there before us. Her mother saved us and I split ways from them, and I started making my way to the Dauntless compound." I stop. On the way to the compound I had seen Will, dead.
"Did anything happen on the way to the compound?" I look at Christina who has a small smile.
"On the way, I found a friend of mine on the ground... dead." Christina's face slowly fell. "It was my friend Will." Christina turned to Tris, they both had a conversation which I couldn't hear. And when Christina turned around, she looked distraught.
"What happened next?"
"I met up with Beatrice, her father and Marcus Eaton on the train and we made our way to the Dauntless compound. Tris and I made our way to the room Tobias was in, her father sacrificing his life to make sure we got there. Tris waited outside and I went in."
"Tobias said you fought him, and then stopped. Why did you do that?" I tensed my arms as I stopped an unknown answer leaving me.
"I didn't want to fight him anymore, not when there was a possibility he wouldn't snap out of it."
"So you gave up?" Yes. I tighten my lips.
"No... I don't know maybe. I wanted to keep trying, and for some reason I thought, I believed he would never shoot me. And he woke up." I try to keep my voice down as I begin to get a sore head.
"Were you ever under the simulation." I leaned back in my seat.
"No... No, I'm divergent."
"Just to clarify," says Niles. "Are you telling me that you were almost murdered by the Erudite... and then fought yourway into the Dauntless compound... and destroyed the simulation?"
I clicked my tongue and threw my hand up. "Yeah, that's what happened."
"I think I speak for everyone when I say you've earned the title of Dauntless." Dauntless over to the left throw their fists in the air and yell, I glare at them slightly as they continue to cheer. I didn't deserve the title of Dauntless, I was never Dauntless, I couldn't even be brave against my own faction. I wanted to kill myself and I couldn't even admit it to anyone, because killing yourself is a sign of cowardice in Dauntless...
"What is your worse regret?"
"My worse regret?" I muttered. Chuckling slightly. I looked over to the small group, Christina still trying her best to not cry, pushing herself to analyse everything and distract herself. Tris was acting nervous, the thought of being up next getting to her. And Tobias was silently waiting for my answer, does he notice how much his answer hurt?
"My worse regret is..." Not killing myself? Wanting to? Choosing Tobias? Being on this side instead of Erudite? I thought for a moment longer, and nothing came to mind, idea's did, but nothing solid. Once it came to my mind, I couldn't stop myself form saying it. "I regret killing a girl two years ago. It was an accident, but I still deeply regret it."
The room lit up with 'thank you for your honesty' as I'm helped from the chair, Tris begins walking up. We walk past each other and I stand beside Christina. She didn't say anything and continued watching Tris.
"What is your name?" Niles says.
"Beatrice Prior." Tris answers without missing a beat.
"But you go by Tris?"
"I do."
"What are the names of your parents, Tris?"
"Andrew and Natalie Prior."
"You are also a faction transfer, are you not?"
"Yes." Her eyes narrow slightly before she looks over to Tobias and I.
"You came from Abnegation? And chose Dauntless?"
"Yes." Tris becomes abrupt with her answers.
"Why did you transfer?" I remember choosing day, I was right when I said I transferred over a bet, but I was planning on transferring anyway. I never found out why Tris chose Dauntless.
"I wasn't good enough for Abnegation," Tris says, "and I wanted to be free. So I chose Dauntless."
"Why weren't you good enough?"
"Because I was selfish," Tris says.
"You were selfish? You aren't anymore?"
"Of course I am. My mother said that everyone is selfish," Tris says. "But I became less selfish in Dauntless. I discoveredthere were people I would fight for. Die for, even." The answer was so clearly truth-serum, I could almost see the puzzle pieces connecting in Tris' mind.
"Tris, would you please tell us what happened the day of the attack?"
"I woke up," She says. "And everyone was under the simulation. So I played along until I could find someone else who was awake."
"What happened once you were captured?"
"Jeanine tried to have me killed, but my mother saved me. She used to be Dauntless, so she knew how to use a gun. She distracted the Dauntless soldiers so I could get away, and they killed her, I kept running," Tris says, my eyes narrow as I watch a small bead of sweat on Tris' forehead. "And... And I found my brother and father and Y/n, we formed a plan to destroy the simulation. We infiltrated the Dauntless compound, and my father, Y/n and I went up to the control room. He fought off Dauntlesssoldiers at the expense of his life," she says. "Y/n made it to the control room and then the simulation got shut down." I nod as she gets through her last question.
"I think you also earned the title of Dauntless, Beatrice." I smiled and looked back at Tris, suddenly feeling nervous as I looked at her face. It looked like she was going to be sick.
"Beatrice Prior," says Niles, "what are your deepest regrets?"
"I regret... Will, I shot Will, while he was under the simulation. I killed him. He was going to kill me, but I killed him. Myfriend." I had a small suspicion, but hearing it made it so much worse. Christina shut down and looked away from Tris. I couldn't believe anything that was said, but I had to, she had to tell the truth, she had killed Will. Once of my friends.
"Thank you for your honesty." Tobias, Christina and I stay quiet.
4000 words When you get two chapters in one day because I accidently wrote this whole chapter on the last one. yay.