Aberrant

Thirty-Three: Dex

I'm sitting in a room. Judging by the walls, I'm in Abnegation. At least, I'm in what my brain thinks Abnegation looks like. I'm on my own. There's no people. No bed. No games or music. Nothing. Everything's so silent. 

I sigh and stand up and walk about the room for a bit. The quiet feels so oppressive, like there's an expectation that's something's going to happen. Only it never does. 

I sigh again. This is dull. "Alright Amar," I shout, "I'm coming out of the simulation now!" And I will myself to wake up. 

The first thing I see when I come out of the simulation is Amar's angry face. 

"Do you know how long you were in the simulation that time?" he hisses. 

I sit on the chair with my arms folded. "No. But I know you're going to tell me."

"One minute!" Amar shouts, "One minute, Dex! "

I shrug, "If you expect me to spend longer than a minute in a simulation where there's nothing exciting going on, you better prepare to be disappointed. What was the point of that simulation anyway?"

Amar stares at me, "The point? That's one of your fears!"

"What?" I retort, "An empty room?"

Amar raises his eyebrows. He sighs and then asks quietly, "Were you scared?"

"I-" I begin. I'm about to say that I wasn't scared, but now I realise that I was in fact, terrified. It felt like the silence was watching me. "Yes." I admit, quietly. 

"You see?" says Amar. Something's irritating him and he begins to pace about the room. 

"But why?"

Amar shrugs, "Fears in the simulation room are sometimes symbolic. This one means that you Dex absolutely hate boredom. And it seems that you also have a disdain for peace and quiet. Rather fitting, I think." His voice sounds cutting. 

"What's that supposed to mean?" I ask. 

"Oh, I don't know," Amar says, rounding on me, "You're brash, loud and you don't seem to even care about other people!"

"That's-" I'm about to protest, and then I realise that he's speaking the truth. I'm not quiet, yes. And yes, my friends and other people aren't at the top of my list. But I can't help but feel a sense of injustice at what he's said. "Is this about my simulation time?" I ask angrily. 

"Yes, it's about your time!" Amar splutters, "You were on three minutes yesterday and now you're on one! If they didn't notice before, they'll definitely notice now. It's like you've set off a firework telling everyone that you're Divergent!" 

"It'd be really helpful if you actually told me you 'they' are," I retort bitterly, "Then I might have a better chance of surviving." I make my move towards the door. 

"This isn't just about you, you know!" He shouts, as I lay my hand on the door handle, "This is about the other Divergents. If they know there's at least one Divergent, they might try and kill the others too!"

I remove my hand from the door handle and whirl round to face. "Other Divergents?" I say, whilst he stands there shocked. "You didn't tell me there were others!" I accuse. 

He looks flustered, "Yes I did. Yesterday. You just weren't listening!"

"Who are they?"

"I can't tell you." He's recovered some of his composure now, "You'll just blurt out their names the moment someone asks you." I glare at him, and then he adds, somewhat patronisingly, "And anyway, I thought you said there was only one April Dexter Meadows."