Rediscovered Love

Chapter 6

* ^ I think I found one form of heaven.... *joking* (But I'm honestly both curious and terrified to ask you guys to send me yours...).

  Jeanine's POV

"What will we do about the boy?" Elizabeth inquires while following me into my office. I settle into the chair. The chilled leather saps away the warmth in me. I never notice how my hand unconsciously reaches for the sweltering cup of swirling black coffee, until the liquid grazes my lips. The bitter aroma overtakes the air around me, but I push the cup away and back onto the desk, and the scent and heat dissipates. 

"We will conduct a test on him. If he shows signs of divergence, our latest serum will be tested on him. If he does not, then I will deal him to someone else. Why?"

Once again, my colleague's scarlet lips curl into a grin and perfectly pearly teeth flash before my eyes. It's a nervous smile.

"Why are you concealing information from me Redd? Moreover, what are you hiding?"

"Oh, nothing," Redd answers, strutting back towards the door. "I wonder though, what are you hiding?" She opens the door, and proceeds to leave.

She knows something I don't.

Or at least she must, if she is wondering that. I gaze at the silvery clock above me. My meeting with Karen was only half an hour ago. I turn towards my computer and log onto the surveillance network. I check all of the corridors within the building as they were thirty minutes ago, providing no sight of Elizabeth. That only leaves the rooms and the city left. Finally, I find her in the 5th floor security room. A smirk cannot help but escape me without warning. Although it is amusing to consider my colleague stalking me as I intend to return the act to her.

I zoom in on the ordeal. On one screen is the boy. His limbs stretch out in randomness as he lies dead and center in the middle of the room, as if the guards threw him onto the floor like a heap of trash. The other screen shows a half-hour-younger me, and younger Karen walking towards the bathroom side by side. I have a reasonable explanation for that. What I do have to ask is: Why is Elizabeth so interested in the boy? Why is she so intent on watching me? Or is it Karen she is after? 

I see no reason why Elizabeth would be so interested in Karen. They never really knew each other, and even if they were in the same year, I never assigned them to work together on a project, mostly so that I could work with Karen.

Perhaps Redd was watching me. Would she believe that I was cheating on her? I would never categorize her as a fool. On one hand, what I did thirty minutes ago was suspicious. However, Elizabeth would not have known the withering mass next to me was Karen. 

Logging off the network, I look up at the clock once more. An hour has passed. I wonder whether Karen's procedure has ended or not. I should have checked that on the surveillance system.

With even a few seconds to myself, thoughts of Karen emerge and passion climbs through me. It is an emotion so foreign to Erudite, I sometimes wonder whether I must have some Divergence. However, love is human nature and therefore is not a factor of Divergence as emotions are not categorized into factions, which are a social construct. 

All that can drive itself through my mind is one thought of Karen after another. I anticipate talking with her again. However, I have to return to work. I click into the file on my latest design. It is a new serum, which will be used to temporarily control the victim. It will solve the Divergent crisis.