I looked at myself in the mirror, placing my hair on the crown of my head. I always hated how my hair would sometimes look like a straightening disaster whenever I put it up. There would be some parts that were curly, while other parts would be somewhat straighter than the other curls. How it happens, I will never know. I dressed myself in my usual attire: black half-tank top, jacket, jogging pants and combat boots.
The last days of the second stage flew by, and now the start of the third stage has commenced. I couldn't be there on the first day, since I had to go to a follow up meeting with Eric. The main point of the meeting was to conclude whether there was a way for the Divergents to be controlled. Due to my father not being able to make it to the meeting, it would only consist of the Dauntless leaders and myself.
To be honest I wasn't excited to encounter Jeanine again. The first meeting I went to ended on not-so-good terms, and with a slap on the face. Speaking of which, the day after Eric told me that there was no way I could back out of the deal I made with him and Max, I received a letter from my father.
Adelaide~
I just want to apologize for the way I acted towards you at the meeting and the unneeded slap after it. I am ashamed that I slapped my own daughter who was just voicing her opinion that should have been said. I don't expect you to forgive me now. However, I want to tell you that I have taken some of your opinions you voiced into consideration and have been talking about them with Brian, Killian, and Seersha. I hope we can meet up again soon, and forgive and forget for the wrongdoings.
-Your Father
After reading the letter I had mixed feelings about the note. A part of me believed him, since I knew that my dad had always been soft towards me after we had a harsh debate. And he would also apologize whenever he knew he did something wrong. On the other hand, I felt as if the letter was forced and that he wanted to use it as leverage to entice me to go along with Jeanine's plan. My father did agree with most of Jeanine's views after all, so the note could mean anything.
~
Eric and I strolled through countless hallways before we reached our destination. The 'conference room' we were to be using for this meeting was actually Max's office.
When we walked through the white door, I noticed Jeanine standing at the head of Max's desk, motioning us to sit in one of the six chairs that were lined up in a row. As I looked straight ahead I noticed a silver, metal table that was tipped in an upright position. There were three long leather straps that buckled across the table. I involuntarily shivered, reminiscing on when I had to go through a torture segment while training to be in Special Ops. That was not the best part of training.
I looked aimlessly, only to be met by Jeanine's cold gaze. She was wearing a similar outfit from the first meeting, except she wore a blue pencil skirt that stopped at her knees instead of blue dress pants. Her hands were crossed in front, holding a blue file labeled Test Results.
Her lips formed a fake smile, "Good morning to the both of you. Adelaide, I'm surprised you've come back."
I nodded, playing her game, "Well, I took your advice and discussed the terms with Eric, and now I believe I fully understand the benefits of the plan. I am sorry for not recognizing them at an earlier time."
Oh I hope that she doesn't try the truth serum on me, because every word that came out of my mouth was complete bullshit.
However, it looked like she bought it, since she smiled as if she had power over me, "That's quite alright. Everyone usually freaks out about it on the first day. The fact that you understand the terms now is quite grand."
I nodded, raising my eyebrows and smiling in the process, "I bet."
Her lips pressed in a hard line before she spoke again, "Please, take a seat."
Both of us graciously sat down, Eric taking the last seat on the left and me sitting to left of him. Next to me was Lauren, and Max sat next to her. The two seats next to Max stayed empty.
"The other two leaders are not going to be here today. There was an emergency at the fence. I will let them know all of the updates when they come back," Max said gruffly.
Jeanine nodded before sitting down in Max's chair, "That's alright, today is just a brief update on the plan at hand. The 'tracker device' for the Dauntless members is all ready to go, and will be shipped here the morning of the last day of the third stage. The injection will take place after the rankings are concluded and posted..."
Everyone was listening carefully, taking in all of the information. Honestly, there was a lot of it. I got tired of her voice fairly quickly, but forced myself to hear her out.
"...however, the serum for the Divergents is slowly making progress. The serum shows some of the same functions as the 'tracker device'; it can put them in a brainless state and allows us to control what we do with them. However, it takes a minute to sink in, and only lasts for about five minutes, seven being the most it has shown in the tests. Today, we have a live test for you to witness what this serum can do to a Divergent."
The door was slammed open by one of Max's body guards. While he kept the door open, the other bodyguard dragged a Factionless man into the room.
"This is Malcolm," Jeanine started. "We took him in a couple days ago and put him under an aptitude test. His tests were inconclusive, and has agreed to show you what this serum can do."
I studied Malcolm as he was led to the metal testing table. His grey clothes were ripped and caked with dirt, but it still managed to cover him. His hair was tousled and his eyes were droopy. It looked as if the bags under his eyes were trying to bring the eyelid down with them.
The bodyguard pushed him up against the table as the other one swiftly shut the door and strapped the straps around him tight enough to wear he couldn't budge.
He was oddly calm as all of this was happening. I expected him to be thrashing and screaming, maybe even trying to kill us since we were in a Faction and he wasn't. But he didn't move at all.
After he was strapped in and ready to go, Jeanine filled a syringe with a clear liquid. She flicked it near the bottom to get rid of any air bubbles that came up. Once finished she swiftly went over to Malcolm and placed the needle in his neck, injecting the liquid quickly and pulling it out to set it on a metal tray. It looked as if she did this on a regular basis.
"It will take about a minute to go through his system. We are still trying to figure out how to make the effect stand as long as the 'tracker device' we are using for our Dauntless soldiers. We can't tell you how long it will take, so on the day of action any Divergents that make themselves known will have to be shot and killed."
The serum immediately showed a dramatic change in his physical appearance. His head rose up and his top eyelids opened fully, showing off his light brown eyes. His gaze was dull, and the bags under his eyes sagged even more than they did before. Jeanine snapped her fingers a couple times in front of him. No response.
"As you can see, both the 'tracker device' and the Divergent serum will work in the same way. After it is injected we will be able to control them through the computer that is going to be set up in the upper levels of the compound. I have already set a schedule up that will be typed into the computer and put into action," Jeanine explained before making her way back to the desk, opening the file she brought and passed out a schedule to Eric and Max.
I was disgusted. The fact that we were going to put our people in a brainwashed state to do Erudite's dirty work pissed me off. But, I held my tongue back so I didn't have a repeat of what happened last time.
My eyes grazed the schedule that Eric held in his hand. It was figured out like a regular routine like anyone would do. It should what had to happen at the exact time, and when the trains would be heading out and so forth. I nodded, showing Jeanine that I agreed, even though that was one hundred percent false.
I looked back up to see the fake smile Jeanine loved to wear, "Seems like everyone is in favor and pleased with the schedule. Once the computer is set up on the upper floors I will manually enter it into the system before the day it is supposed to take place."
A knocking sound could be heard from behind Jeanine. All of us looked over to see Malcolm banging his fist on the metal, looking at us intensely.
"I did what you wanted Jeanine, now let me go," he said in a meek, pleading voice.
Jeanine smiled and nodded before turning to Eric, "You know what to do."
Nodding, Eric stood up from his chair and made his way to stand in front of Malcolm, pulling out a gun from his belt and pointing it at his head.
"What are you do-"
Bang!
Eric pulled the gun away, my eyes being met by a gaping hole in Malcolm's head. I watched in shock as an oversized blood droplet oozed from the wound, trailing down his forehead and dripped onto the floor. It took a little while for the blood to start coming down in a trail. Probably meant that the shot was angled. What shocked me the most was that after a bullet was placed in his head, a smile rose on Eric's face.
A fucking smile.
"I believe that is all for today. Everyone, except Max, can leave the office," Jeanine said, organizing the papers and closing the file while waving her hand.
I nodded before quickly exiting the room, going straight toward my apartment.
My pace quickened pretty quickly, not stopping to talk or to even recognize anyone. I was walking so fast that my breathing changed to become fairly heavy.
Just as I entered the hallway that led to my apartment, I heard my name being called out.
"Adelaide!"
I kept walking, ignoring the person who was calling me. I didn't care who it was, I just needed to get away from everyone.
"Adelaide!"
A hand grasped mine and tugged me into a branched off hallway, pushing me up against the wall. I looked up to see the piercing blue irises I didn't like at the moment.
"Let me go, Eric."
"We both know that isn't going to happen until this is settled."
I sighed, "There's nothing to talk about."
"Then why are you ignoring me?"
"I don't know, why am I?"
Eric sighed before gathering his words, "It had to be done."
"No, it didn't! He was an innocent person who was bribed into his own death!"
"Because he heard some of the ideas that we planned without us realizing it."
I shook my head, "It wouldn't have mattered. It's not like if he were to tell someone they'd believe him! Isn't there like a memory serum that could've wiped his memory? Maybe you should have Jeanine whip something like that up!"
"We don't have something like that. If anything you should've taken that as a lesson."
My brows furrowed, "To have pleasure in killing people? Yeah, that's definitely a great lesson to learn."
He rolled his eyes, "No. You will have the same fate as him if you back out of this deal."
A silence came over us. He was right, and he knew it. Eric and I stood in the same position for a bit, not daring to speak another word.
Suggest a way out. Suggest the plan.
I sighed before speaking up, "What if there was a way where that wasn't a suggestion."
Eric's right eyebrow rose, "What do you mean?"
"Eric, we can prevent thousands of citizens from dying. We can put an end to this, and just learn from them. We can-"
"No, that is not an option, Adelaide," he said strictly.
I sighed in frustration, "Do you honestly think that killing a whole faction will help relieve the problem?"
"If it gets rid of the threat."
"How do you know, Eric?! How in the hell do you know whether they are dangerous or not?! How do we know that they're appearing in only one of the five factions? Why haven't you even considered the benefits?!" I yelled. Now I was starting to get pissed.
"Because Jeanine-"
"Because she said so? Because whatever she says is right because she knows what's best?! Well, guess what?! She isn't doing this for the benefit of the citizens, she is doing it for herself! She wants the power! Don't you see that!? You're her puppet, and she is the puppet master! Don't you see she is only using us and in the end we'll be killed off like the innocents she plans on getting rid of!?"
Eric's eyes held a dark aura behind them. I could tell I was making him angry, and I was glad. Maybe I could open his eyes and have him see passed the bullshit he believed in as the right thing.
The hand that gripped my wrist was now placed on the left side of my head. His face came closer to mine, the tips of our noses touching.
"This is the way it has to be, Adelaide. It is you who doesn't understand the danger we are put in and can't see the benefit in killing the Divergents. You agreed to go through with this mission, and I suggest you do, or else I'll have to throw you in the Chasm myself. Hopefully I won't have to do that. I expect a log tonight, my office, nine o'clock. Don't be late."
As the last consonance left his lips, his arm went down at his side and he walked away, leaving me to be alone in the hallway.
I felt the pressure build up in my chest and the tears well up in my eyes. It wasn't until a couple seconds later that I couldn't hold them in anymore. My knees unbuckled causing me to collapse onto the floor. Tears poured out of my eyes, staining the carpet. I swore that was the most I've ever cried in my life.
I didn't know what to do anymore. Should I stay alive and be responsible for the death of Abnegation and Factionless innocents? Or do I bail out of the plan and throw myself into the Chasm and not try to help anyone escape death?
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a shadow emerge on the ground. I could see its legs move at a fast pace as if it was trying to run out of the floor.
"Adelaide? Are you okay?"
My head was lifted up by a calloused hand. My eyes met with the green hues I was used to seeing.
Lucas.
I instantly wrapped my arms around his neck and pushed my head into the crook of his neck, soaking his shirt with tears.
"Shh, it's okay. Let's get you to the apartment," he whispered before hooking his arm under my legs to carry me bridal style to the apartment.
What should I do now?