It's another day of training and everyone is exhausted and at the end of their tether. Plato is still in hospital, meaning that one person does not have to fight, and there's an audible sigh of relief as everyone realises that Isaac is without a partner. 

Training passes fairly quickly. Edgar gives up after one punch from Cassie, Jo forces Dex to the ground in the space of a few minutes, Sam does that to Phoebe in a matter of seconds and I quickly manage to beat down Amy. 

It's clear that everyone just wants to get to the end of the First Stage of Initiation, even the ones who are going to be cut. We all either just want to leave Dauntless for good or get that one step closer to being actual members. 

As we file out though, Edgar is worried about the consequences of being cut. 

"Hey Brooke?" he says. I look at him, surprised at how polite he sounded. And he see that he's terrified. It's as if the realisation that he's going to be cut and its' impact on his life has just hit him right in the face. He looks pale. 

"Yeah?" I ask casually, as we follow Isaac, as usual, towards the Cafeteria. 

"You know your dad is a representative of Candor?"

"Yeah?" I ask. I think I know where this is heading, but just to pretend otherwise, I add nonchalantly, "What about it?"

"Do you think he'll let me back into Candor?" he asks. Isaac leads us to an empty table and we begin to fill up our plates. I don't reply, knowing full well that my father won't, but Edgar takes my silence to mean that I don't understand what I've just said. Which is, ironically, the level of stupidity I've wanted people to think I am ever since I stepped foot in Dauntless.

"You know?" Edgar persists, "Pull some strings? Change a few rules?" He's growing in confidence now. "I mean, he does know who I am, I'm sure. I mean, he should know every Candor person." He looks at me for assurance, as he adds, "Right?" This time, he sounds slightly more subdued, as if he knows that it won't work. 

 I sigh. After a full day of training, this is not what I need. His line of reasoning makes no sense at all. The idea that Candor, the faction of all factions, that he wants to manipulate the rules is ludicrous. 

And it's almost funny to think that he's hoping that my father, a man who values honesty and law above everything else, will change the rules just for him. My father wouldn't change the rules for anyone. Not even his own daughter. Which is why that the moment I was told I was Divergent, I couldn't stay in Candor. 

"What?" snaps Isaac, looking at Edgar as if he's gone mad, and spits out half his food to command: "Repeat what you just said."

Edgar swallows nervously and loudly; so loud that I can literally hear him gulp, but he pretends to sound casual and offhand as he says, "I was just thinking that Brooke's father could, you know, let me back into Candor when I'm cut." He cringes slightly as he says it, as if hearing the fully-formed thought out loud has made him realise how stupid and hopeless it is. 

"You're an idiot." Isaac says curtly, and resumes eating. Then something seems to occur to him, and he starts laughing, a high-pitched laugh, that this time actually seems genuine, unlike the one he does when he's taunting other people. 

"Wait." He says, turning to me, grinning, "Your father's the Candor representative? Jack Kang?"

"Yeah," I say, eyeing him carefully, "What about it?"

He snorts and then getting control of himself, just sits there smirking maliciously. There's a pause before he looks at me right in the eyes, and says, "You must have really hurt his feelings when you transferred." I blanch inwardly, but outwardly I pretend to feel indifference. I shrug, and he begins to giggle, hysterically, this time. 

Then Isaac takes a deep breath, and says, "Just imagine it. The daughter of the great Jack Kang. The one he-" He starts laughing again, but then takes another deep breath, "The one he probably trained to take over as representative. And what did she do?" He looks round at me and Edgar expectantly, but we don't reply. He answers his own question as he says, "She transferred. Imagine it! The shock and hurt he must have felt! Brilliant!" And he begins another round of laughter. 

I wait, curious, for the laughter to subside. I already knew that Isaac was a bully. And he revealed to me when he was drunk that he had ambitions to become a Dauntless leader. But I never fully realised until now that not only does he have a great disdain for other peoples' emotions, but he seems to enjoy seeing others suffering. 

Isaac takes deep breaths and then turns to me maliciously, "Oh please tell me you're an only child? Or," he adds before I can reply, "better yet, tell me that you're the youngest and all your older siblings transferred too?" I can see the maniacal laughter in the glint in his eyes. 

"No," I say, evenly, pleased not to give him something else to laugh about, "I have a younger sister."

He curses and bangs his hand on the table. 

"And anyway," Edgar adds, trying to get his oar in too, "Candor representation doesn't work like that."

"What?" snaps Isaac. 

"You have to be voted in to become a representative."

"What do you know?" asks Isaac scornfully, "You're a nobody."

"I'm not a nobody!" Edgar flushes, "And I do know about Candor! Because I'm Candor!" 

"No you're not," Isaac says softly, watching Edgar carefully, "You're Dauntless, soon to be nothing. And besides, Candor wouldn't even want  to accept a failure like you."

"I'm not a failure." Edgar growls, visibly hurt, "And Candor care about me."

Isaac shrugs, looking at Edgar coldly. The feigned friendship between the two of them died the moment Edgar failed his first match in training. "Even if you weren't a failure, they wouldn't accept you anyway. They rejected you the moment you chose Dauntless. Even Brooke, the daughter of the Candor representative. They don't care about you. They don't even want to acknowledge you. You'll see that on Visiting Day."

His words are so cold, so piercing, and yet so true that I'm surprised that Edgar doesn't break down crying, right there and now. But he must have got Dauntless in that Aptitude test for a reason, and he pulls himself up. 

Sitting at his full height, he looks at Isaac right in the eyes as he says, "Well I may be a nobody and failure like you said," he spits out the words, while Isaac just sits there with a smirk on his face, "But you're a nobody just like I am. Erudite rejected you just like Candor rejected me and Brooke. Nobody will visit you on Visiting Day either."

If he expected Isaac to be cowed down, he's disappointed. Isaac just laughs, a short barking laugh, as he says, "Oh, I'm no nobody."

"What?" snaps Edgar. 

"Didn't I tell you?" Isaac says, casually, "My father's Carl Zylons." He looks at us expectantly but is met with silence. Then, with a slight trace of impatience, he adds, "Jeanine Matthew's second in command. And I'm fairly sure he'll visit me on Visiting Day."

"Why?" asks Edgar, his voice cutting. 

Isaac shrugs, "He's the one who wanted me to come here." 

I keep my expression calm, but inside my brain is a whirlwind as I'm trying to connect the dots. Isaac is from Erudite. Isaac's father is second-in-command of Erudite. Isaac wants to be a Dauntless leader.  Why?  What would Erudite possibly want with Dauntless?

As all this is rushing through my head, I find my mouth opening and I find myself asking, without my brain authorising it: "Why?"

Isaac smirks. And the look he gives me makes a chill run down my spine. I've messed up. New-Brooke would never have been curious enough to ask 'why'. But before Isaac can say anything, Edgar, thankfully, takes up the question. 

"Yeah, why?" he demands, "Why did your father want you to come here?" I see Isaac's brow furrow in confusion as his attention turns on Edgar. I doubt he was expecting the further questioning to come from him. But Edgar's anger has given him courage. 

"I got Dauntless in the Aptitude test," he says evasively, waving one his hands vaguely, "I would have been unhappy in Erudite." Edgar shrugs, his question answered. But I know what Isaac has just said is a lie. Isaac's gaze sweeps to mine, challenging. I look down at my food, and returning to eating. 

There's an awkward pause, before Isaac breaks it by cheerfully saying, "Well, I can't wait for Visiting Day tomorrow", before casting a malevolent look at me and Edgar. 

I tune him out, choosing instead to ponder what the Erudite would gain from having one of their own as a Dauntless leader. 

The implications hit me so hard and suddenly, and that I take a sharp intake of breath. Isaac and Edgar look at me suddenly and I pretend to have a coughing fit. 

The only reason Erudite would want control of Dauntless is...

To have an army. 

But why?