The Love and The Lie

Chapter 3

Karen's POV

Jeanine flicks on the laboratory lights. On our side shines a blue glow. On the subject's side are regular lights. We split the testing room and the analysis room with bullet proof glass for optimum safety.

"Fetch the subject in cell A18," Jeanine orders as she organizes the documents needed for the experiment. She glances up at me with her specticles on. Jeanine looks menacing with her lipstick red, small smile. I can't stop staring at her. I fall for her every second of our time together. My heart plummets as the back of my head swarms with thoughts involving my divergence.

"Yes ma'am," I respond before swirving around and heading out the doorway. I walk over to cell A18, focusing on the sound of my footsteps. The room is only a few hallways away from the laboratory. I reach the cell in only a few seconds. The steel door is heavy, but I manage to push it open. Inside he cowers in terror and scoots around to room to avoid me. Subject 974 was a factionless man by the name of Henery White. Jeanine promised him food and shelter, but she can be manipulative. Henery only gets one meal and a snack amounting to 1500 calories a day. He gets food, but not enough. Henery traded his old life for a life without freedom, being trapped in a cage. He gets shelter, but is trapped all day in a cell. Part of me despises that I could even love a person like Jeanine. And part of me still looks up to her, and yearns for the comfort that she brings me.

I finally manage to get a hold of Henery's wrist. Tears streak his face. I want to cry too, but I have to keep my cover. I try to muster a cold expression to fool the camera in the far left corner, and take Henery out of his designated cell. He begs for mercy the whole way to the lab. "Please, please!" Cries out quickly, trying to persuade me.

I sigh trying to maintain my superior mien, "Just following orders 974."

Henery doesn't stop crying or begging. At this point, I want to punch him, regardless of whether we both have the similarity of being divergent. What people don't understand, is that I don't choose who gets tested on.

The laboratory door slides open and I stride into the room intended for subjects, with Henery in cuffs. Jeanine glanced up from her papers and we look at each other through the glass wall. She smiles and I can feel my face warming up and going red. Henery sobs as I strap him to the chair and hook him up to the monitor. He doesn't want to go through his fear landscape. Or maybe he doesn't want to face the fact that he has lost all control of his future; that he no longer knows if he'll live or die, and that the chances of death for him are greater than him surviving all of the tests.

I inject Henery with the clear serum and he squirms around as I do so to make my job more difficult. Through the glass Jeanine gestures for me to join her. As I walk out the doorway, Erudite guards take the position of watching Henery. In a minute I'm standing beside my faction leader. She plants a quick kiss on my forehead.

"Faggots!" Henery spits on the other side of the wall. Jeanine slowly looks up at him, her sudden frown growing. I know what she's going to do. It doesn't matter though, Henery would have gone through it anyway. Jeanine jabs her finger over the red button on her tablet, and Subject 974 goes limp.