You And Me Against The World | ✅

Chapter 23

It doesn't take long and everybody who is needed for this meeting is gathered in the conference room. The round table is perfect for such meetings, since everyone can see every person sitting here.

I sit next to Tobias on my right and Dwayne on my left. Even though Tobias never said anything I'm sure he asked Dwayne, who is now head of security here, to keep me safe when he's not around. Although it's sweet that he always wants to protect me, sometimes it just bugs me that he doesn't trust that I could defend myself. I asked him several times to train with me but he refuses on the grounds that he doesn't want to hurt me. And since Tobias refused to train me I had to ask someone else. I knew that if I would ask Zeke he would refuse as well, so I asked Shauna. She and I decided to involve Lynn, Marlene and Christina as well and called it our girl time fun. The guys think we do some stretching and light exercises to maintain our weight, when in fact we do combat training. Shauna promised us to teach us everything she knows and even Lauren, the Dauntless-born instructor joined us recently. I learned that even though women are treated basically the same here, the Dauntless men still go out of their way to protect them from any harm. Sweet, but highly macho behavior for my taste. We had to survive the same shit like them during initiation, we are more than capable to defend ourselves. But if the men refuse to train us then we will do it ourselves.

"We asked you here today because we want to discuss something important with you," Tobias starts. "As you might remember during the interrogations I've told you that some people won't keep their jobs." They all nod. "Back then we haven't really discussed this issue, since we had more urgent matters to attend. After several days of studying the former system Tris and I came to a conclusion. Not everyone deserves his or her job. I will let Tris explain what we have in mind," he says.

"The thought first occurred to us when the initiates asked about available jobs. Back then we came up with three ambassadorships, a nurse job, a job in the tattoo parlor and of course the fence guarding jobs. As you all know jobs are picked according to ranking during initiation. We decided not to change that. It gives the initiates a reason to fight and work harder and show us what they are really made of, but more importantly what they are capable of. But after analyzing, mostly thanks to your input, we witnessed extremes. We saw people in high ranking jobs who were either lazy or completely incompetent or outstanding people in low paying jobs. I saw ambassadors who did a terrible job and I saw cafeteria personnel who showed not only skill but also interest in something other than their assignment. Therefore, Four and I decided to introduce this new system. With your help everyone will be evaluated biannually. If someone does a lousy job or just doesn't fit, he or she will be replaced. But not before that person is officially notified that he or she might lose his or her job and given the chance to improve. If that person realizes that changing the job would be better, he or she will be able to apply for one of the available ones. Also, before hiring someone new there will be a trial period in which time the applicant will learn what the new job is all about and after that period both employer and applicant will get the chance to decide if they want to work together or not. Hiring will be based on skill, aptitude and references from previous employers. I caution you however to request the entire file of the applicant. Everything clear so far?" I ask.

"I have a question," Ms. Aubrey says and I nod at her to continue. "During the trial period will the applicant receive any kind of salary or allowance?"

"No. It will be considered an internship. It won't last longer than two weeks, therefore I ask all of you to create schooling programs to teach new applicants everything in that time frame. Also, if someone is currently employed he or she can take his or her leave in which time he or she will be paid like it's an ordinary vacation. Every recording on an employee will be registered in a central data base. Everyone at this table will have access to it. Four and I are the only ones who can modify the data base, but also you for your respective department. For instance, if a cafeteria employee shows skill for accounting Ms. Stone will be the only one who can register this in the data base. If said employee wishes to pursue a career as an accountant he can officially apply for a job in that department. Clear so far?" They all nod.