The Intelligent and the Honest

Chapter 1

The large glass room was silent. Only two colours were ever seen, black and white. The very colours of truth and deception in accordance with Candor beliefs.

The initiation had just begun, and there was nothing but an air of order and respect. Everyone at Candor stood straight and waited for a single, fairly short and discreet teenage boy to make his way down the stairs. It felt like it lasted decades, every step was daunting for him. Unlike his confident friends and colleagues, he had tried to conceal his nervous sweat from under his chestnut hair, wiping it away. He felt like it was him against the world and could only hope he would be saved.

He stepped into the open chamber. There were mirrored pillars around him and the whole of Candor faction as his audience. He should have had nothing to be nervous about, but he was no ordinary Candor initiate.

"May the truth set you free" He heard.

The needle pierced his neck as it had done hundreds before him. He flinched at the pain slightly as the truth serum, courtesy of Erudite, made its way into his bloodstream.

Jack Kang, the representative and leader of Candor stood not so far away and began the initiate's round of questions.

"What is your name?" Jack Kang asked monotonously.

"Ethan Kang."

There was a sheer lack of emotion between the uncle and nephew, faction before family as expected. He started with the generic questions at first to test the serum's effectiveness.

"How old are you, Ethan?"

"Sixteen years old."

"And what faction were you born into?"

"Candor."

"You completed the necessary aptitude test?

"Yes."

It was at this point, Ethan began to really sweat, the serum was more potent than expected, and Ethan could simply not resist. The final question remained.

Jack proceeded, watching Ethan as closely as the rest.

"And, tell me Ethan, what was your final result on the aptitude test?"

"Divergent."

The words squeezed out of Ethan and he spat as he finished the word. He was done for, he was sure of it. The whole of Candor knew what he was. There was loud uncompromising chatter erupting from the audience. All of their faces were filled with confusion, surprise and fear.

Kang raised a hand to silence his faction.

"We will have order here!" He faced Ethan head on, attempting to disguise his intrigue and disappointment.

And so Candor was once again silent.

"Ethan Kang, I recommend you stay here while we resolve the situation. Do as they say now, we wouldn't want to behave uncivilly." Jack was holding back a range of emotions now and started walking back up the stairs towards the entrance, questioning his loyalties.

Two experienced dauntless guards appeared from the two entrances. They were athletic, faster and stronger than Ethan.

As the guards grew closer, hurrying with every step. Ethan panicked and his eyes sporadically searched around. The guards were so close now, and looked bigger than before. They were only a few feet away now, brushing past the other shocked but obedient members.

Ethan felt the need to escape, his blood was rushing faster than ever before and his legs became tense. His mind was terror stricken with uncertainty. He wasn't an erudite, he could never figure out what they did with divergents, but he knew it wasn't good.

Ethan spotted an exit, quickly glancing at the guards and broke from a standing position to a dash quickly. Surprised by his sudden speed, the guards broke into a run.

Ethan was so close to the exit now, but they had ridiculous pace and were catching fast. He came to the double doors, slamming his shoulder into them as they sprung open. He was ever so close now, he only had a flight of stairs to go and the main doors.

Not taking any notice of the building alarm being tripped, he turned a corner to the right, his feet sliding temporarily. Rushing down the spiralling stairs, his feet ached and cramped up. Nearer to the bottom, he could only hear the dauntless guards' boots smacking down from above him. Ethan made it to the bottom, he managed to stop and catch his breath as he formed a plan. There was only the doors to the room up ahead, and the main entrance left. Acting with great haste, he snatched up a flag stand depicting the scales on Candor's symbol. Tearing the cloth off in the process, he used the steel pole to insert it in the double door's handles, so that when the guards try to enter, the door could not open. After barring the door, he was in the empty reception-like room. There were wall paintings and information posters on all the walls, welcoming visitors to Candor, citing the faction's ideals and values everywhere. Only the entrance door remained. Looking back, he could see the guards attempting to kick his barricaded door in. He ran towards the door with all his speed, and by the time he touched the handle, he was propelled straight back. He stumbled and fell backwards as he ran into the locked door. There was a fairly deep gash on his forehead now and he was concussed. With the room seemingly spinning, he attempted to get back up but stumbled and fell once again. They must have sealed it during the alarm. Luckily, the door was just glass.

Ethan, fearing for his freedom and his life, managed to get on two feet. The two dauntless entered the room in a bang, destroying the barricaded door behind him. They both unholstered their handguns now, angered. "Divergent, stop!" The taller one demanded.

Ignoring them, Ethan proceeded to throw the closest object he had at the main doors. Reaching over the receptionist counter blindly, he ended up throwing a vase, but it just shattered on impact as expected. The guards cautiously closed in on him and were coming into accurate range. He collected his thoughts, before looking to his left. An aluminium chair. Sturdy and light, and with not much time, he began smacking the chair, legs first into the hardened glass doors.

His arms grew as tired as his legs. By the third hit however, the glass began to crack. At this stage the chair's legs were bent and unusable. He threw it in frustration. The guards behind him stood there, taking aim and calling in support, thinking him cornered.

With his last ounce of energy, Ethan put his hands up.

"Divergent, slowly, back away from the door, towards me, slowly!"

Ethan did as he was told, still facing the damaged glass door in front of him. His hands still high, he backed up until he was within reaching distance. "Divergent, on you knees, now!" The one behind him, the closest one, lowered his weapon and reached for Ethan.

Ethan ducked the guard's lazy grab and sprinted at the door.

Balling up as he came into contact with the door, the shock was mostly absorbed. The door's glass structure broke into thousands of pieces. Ethan's momentum stayed constant, with the door shattered, Ethan received a sharp pain across the right side of his body. He was cut everywhere, on his face and arms, littered with glass fragments. Falling forward, he was propelled out of the building, and tumbled down the concrete steps that awaited him outside.

Ethan felt broken, his pain was unbearable and he groaned. He wasn't cut out to be on the run, someone like him would never make it. He was done for he thought.

Before succumbing to his unconsciousness on the cold ground, guards arrived in large numbers each carrying top of the range rifles and gear. He blinked slowly, the world around him turned dark as he was swarmed by all kinds of intimidating people he didn't know, all apart from one who stood clearly out, Jeanine Matthews.