Discoveries ✔ (Divergent Fourtris Fanfiction)

Chapter 6: Sunday, 13 days until initiation

Tobias

It's hard to get up early on Sunday morning. Usually I have the day off, at least when it's not my turn to manage the control room. I often spend it on my own and enjoy that I can just be me and not have to be Four, the soldier, or Four, the instructor, or Four, the secret Divergent.

But today I have to help get the initiate's apartments ready. Eric commanded me to supervise the assisting Dauntless and check that everything is done properly. He said he couldn't help himself, because, as a leader, he had more important things to do. Probably he still has a free Sunday.

At least that means I won't have to work with him today. I'll only have to inform him once the rooms are prepared.

I drink a hurried cup of coffee before I leave my apartment and then the hours pass quickly while I carry furniture around, repaint walls whose color is so old that it already peels away, fix showers and faucets and organize kitchen equipment.

When there's only little work left to be done, I go to the cafeteria to meet with Lauren. We sit down in a corner to have lunch and discuss room assignments. Lauren brings up the idea that the female initiates should move into the apartments closest to the pit, so they wouldn't have to walk far on their way home at night. It's actually a good thought and I can hardly think of an argument against it.

Still, I try to find a way to house Tris near my own apartment. That way it'll be easier for us to meet and, for mostly selfish reasons, I just want her close to me. In fact there is a nice room not far from mine that I have already chosen for her.

As far as I know, no one has lived there since I transferred to Dauntless. I can't say why, though. It may be rather small compared to other apartments, but it has a big window and therefore provides a beautiful view of the city. The walls are freshly painted now in a light shimmery gray except for one that is dark blue. I figured Tris would like it that way.

Lucky for me, it turns out there are not as many free apartments near the pit as girls among the initiates. That's why I suggest we could assign the remaining two to occupy the rooms closest to mine. Lauren is okay with that, so I can give Tris the room I picked for her and give the other one to Christina. They're not on the same corridor, but only one apart, and I think Tris will be happy to have her near, too.

After finishing the room lists together, Lauren goes through the apartments to see if everything's finished and I take the papers to bring them up to Eric's office.

Eric doesn't open when I knock. He must really be taking the day off, letting others do all the work. I guess it's one of the advantages of being a leader. Since I don't want to go looking for him all over the compound, I decide to just leave the lists here. I enter Eric's office and stroll over to his desk. When I put the papers there and turn to leave again, an email printed out on yellow paper catches my eye. It's signed by Jeanine Matthews. What has she got to do with Dauntless?

I remember seeing her only days ago at our compound, walking around with Max. I listen hard to be sure nobody's approaching and walk around the desk. The message is addressed to both leaders, Max and Eric. The subject startles me: "RE initiation/safety". My heart picks up speed while I skim the short text:

"Regarding our conversation yesterday I strongly recommend you to improve safety measures for your initiates as we can't afford to lose more soldiers. Individual rooms would be a simple way to separate them, so the opportunities for fighting each other in their free time will be less.

In addition, you should rethink the cuts during initiation. The more new members make it into Dauntless, the better for our purpose. There's no apparent reason for sending anyone to the factionless, as long as they pass the final test. This alteration should also decrease the mutual aggression between the initiates and instead support their focus on developing their skills.

I also like to inform you that we're currently working on the problem concerning D."

My thoughts are racing as I try to make sense of what I just read. Why would Jeanine write such a message, dictating changes in the Dauntless initiation process? And, more importantly, why in the world would Max and Eric obey her? What does she mean by 'our purpose'? And who is 'D.'? I don't know anyone important whose name begins with a 'D'.

I read the text two more times to memorize it as detailed as possible before I grab my papers and hurry back to the pit. I assume it's better to hand Eric the lists personally, in order for him to not know that I've been to his office and had a chance to read his email. He's neither in the pit nor in the cafeteria. I ask a group of older members having cake at a table nearby if they have seen Eric, but they haven't. I check the training rooms next and finally find him in one of them, shooting bullets at human-shaped targets.

"The apartments are ready. Here's the list with the assignments. We tried to put the female initiates close to the pit or at least to my apartment to improve their safety. Lauren came up with the idea," I explain.

I hand him the papers and carefully watch him while he looks them over, as if I could make any more sense of Jeanine's message by just staring at Eric's head. What's going on inside it? What are he and Max up to that nobody else knows about?

"Okay," Eric eventually grunts, "gather the initiates and take them to their apartments."

Our conversation is short and pragmatic, as usual. Neither of us is fond of prolonging it unnecessarily. I'm about to walk out the door when I hear Eric's voice again.

"You know, Four, it's evident you're still homesick. You put the stiff in the room closest to you," he smirks.

"Well, there aren't that many girls among the initiates."

He raises his pierced eyebrows, obviously not content with my reasonable answer.

"But you're right, once a stiff, always a stiff," I add to end the topic.

Eric has to feel like the winner in this conversation. He always has.

I meet Lauren again on the way to the dorms.

"Everything's finished. Let's take them to their rooms, so we can have at least the evening for ourselves," she sighs.

She looks tired. Sure, it was late last night.

The transfers are waiting for me when I enter their dorm. Everybody's there, and they have already packed their few belongings. I take the boys first and drop them off one by one at their new homes, making sure Peter and Drew are as far away from Tris' apartment as possible. Then I get back to pick up the girls. It's difficult not to look at Tris the way I want to and I put my hands in my pockets to not accidentally touch her in front of the others. I'm relieved when she has said her goodbye to Christina for the night and it's only the two of us left.

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DISCLAIMER: I own neither the Divergent world nor the characters, they belong to Veronica Roth.