Convergent (A Divergent Trilogy Parody) [On Hold]

Divergent ~ Chapter Seven

CHAPTER SEVEN 

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Once everyone's done jumping into the net from above, Sixty-Nine and his surly faced friend named Laura (pronounces La-oo-ra -- it's Polish or something) lead us into a tunnel that opens down below the earth into the light.

Laura and Sixty-Nine abruptly stop, and the whole crowd of black with specks of other factional colours stops behind them. Laura says, "This is where we divide. Strongborns, with me." Everyone who's in black follows her and soon, they're gone. What a bunch of dicks, anyway.

There're only about nine of those of us who have transferred. I'm the only one from Selfless. Everyone who tried from Serene is either dead or got left behind (them Hufflepuffs ain't got nothing to do with Gryffindors anyway) and everyone else is either Smart or Straightforward.

"I usually work in the control room," says the hunky dude that I'd totally do. "But I'm taking time off to help you train. My name's Sixty-Nine --"

"Like the number?" Kristina asks, smirking.

"Yes." He looks at her dangerously.

"Why?"

Kristina's in black and white, so he immediately knows she's Straightforward. "Problem?"

"No, but Sixty-Nine is a stupid name."

"Well, I don't really give a shit. Follow me," he says, turning around and taking us on a tour around the place.

"First, the Pit."

"You guys are really inventive with your names," Kristina says, but it's mostly to me.

As we walk on, I notice why it's called the pit. It's literally just this big hole in the ground, like a cave. Jagged rocks for walls, solid stone for floor, weird bouldery pathways in the middle for pathways. There're no railings, but no one seems to mind or care. I lick my lips and resist the urge to scream "WHOOOO" while running across one. I'd probably fall and die, but who cares?

There's shops and commercial outlets on the sides, and the fading sunlight pours in from the sides of glass panes. It probably looks like just another building from the outside.

I can see Sixty-Nine smirk at all of us, like he's amazed by how dumb and intrigued we are. I feel self-conscious, but continue to get a feel of my surroundings. He doesn't allow us much time and soon bids us to follow him further.

"The Chasm, now," he states, showing us the rushing water that becoming frothy as it hits the rocks and flows away. "Ooooooh," I whisper, and Kristina's eyes twinkle next to me.

"Time for dinner."

HELL YEAH FOOD! I walk among the nine transfers and sit to eat at a table between Kristina and Sixty-Nine. There's a burger in front of me. I've always wanted to try a burger. When I take my first bite, it feels like an explosion of happiness in my mouth and I moan.

"WTF, man?" Kristina says, next to me, grossed out.

"This food is gorgeous."

"Stiffs eat boring food."

"Is that why you left?" she asks, looking at me with concern as I shovel more food into my mouth.

"Duh."

Sixty-Nine rolls his eyes next to me, and soon enough, a guy some and sits down in front of all of us. He has pierced eyebrows and a pierced nose and a pierced lip and several piercings on his ears. So much coolness -- it's like the piercings help the coolness to ooze out.

"Max wants to talk to you," he says to Sixty-Nine.

"Tell him no."

"Why?"

"Because I don't want to change jobs."

The pierced guy shrugs. "Fine. Be a little bitch." He gets up ad leaves, and Sixty-Nine throws him dirty looks from behind.

"Who's that?" Kristina asks.

"You'll find out soon enough."

Soon enough is five minutes later, when the pierced dude comes and takes all the transfers to their dormitory. It's this little nook in the Strong area's rear end. The pierced guy gives us a little speech before allowing us to go to our beds.

"My name's Eric. You've to be at the training center at 8 every morning. Training is until 6 in the evening, and you'll have a break for lunch. After 6, you're free."

I grin. Freedom feels awesome.

"There are ten beds in there, but I see that there are only nine of you." Condescending asshole. "We expected more."

"We started with twelve," someone protests.

"We don't really give a shit."

I pout.

"Here's the dealbreaker. You have two rounds of initiation. There are twenty initiates in total: nine of you plus eleven Strongborn." I do a quick calculation. An approximate of twenty people per faction, five factions. It's a little hard to believe that only a hundred people turn sixteen a year in a huge city like Chicago. (Whoops. Did I ruin it like the movie does? Dagnabit.) I let it go, because Eric gives us the real news.

"Only ten people are allowed to become members, which means that ten of you get cut."

"Why?" someone blurts as the shock wears itself in.

"Because it's a stupid way to prove that bravery means climbing to the top ranks," he says in a 'duh' tone. "But don't worry. The two chivalrous protagonists will disprove that later. However, a few of you will be dead by the time they do that, so eh."

There's some grumbling in the nine of us. Who dies? Who's the protagonist? Much suspense...

We sleep not-so-soundly that night. The guy above me cries a lot. I roll my eyes a lot. He's the biggest initiate, a Straightforward transfer. His name's Bob. I can feel his sobs shaking the bunk bed a little, ad I must admit I find it sort of exciting to share a room with boys.

Everyone else changed their clothes, but I'm still in my Selfless outfit.

Ugh people, I think, and roll over, before dozing off.

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