Chapter 30 - Answers

— Tris

"What the actual hell!" I hear Uriah storming through the ambassador hallway upset.

I wonder what it is this time.

"Uriah!" I yell as I hear his footsteps grow closer.

He's heavy on his feet; much heavier than his brother's steps. He also drags his feet when he walks, the heel of his foot, not the toe.

"Did you know about this?" He says holding up an erudite newspaper while leaning on the frame of the door. The magnetic whiteboard I have on there to write notes and information on goes crashing to the ground as his weight touches a corner of it. "Sorry," he bends and picks it up, holding it in his hand.

"It does that all the time. What are you all pissed about?"

"The trains!"

"Yeah, the trains are still trains. Uriah I don't see the problem."

"They stop!"

"What?" I ask, somewhat baffled.

It's always been Dauntless culture to use the trains that do not stop. Running and jumping to get on and off of them is one of the only things the Dauntless have had left from the old city.

"The board of leaders decided that it was right for all members of the city to be able to use them no matter what shape they are in. What bullshit! Those are our trains and we don't even get a say!"

"Uriah, chill," Lynn comes up behind him resting a hand on his shoulder. "What stick is so far up your ass to have you this angry? Go eat some Amity bread or something."

"We don't get to jump on and off the trains anymore," He pushes the paper in her hands for her to read.

"They're making designated stops," she reads from the paper.

"It's bullshit!"

"If you scream the word bullshit one more time I'm going to show you what real bullshit is," she says in her bitchy tone.

"Won't take forever to get everyone on and off though?" I think of my childhood and taking the community bus to school. It use to take a solid two minutes at each stop for people to pack onto the bus, and for people on the bus to move seats and give up their own.

"Probably," Lynn comments blandly, still reading the paper.

"Uriah, think about it. I mean, it's not the worst thing in the world. I mean, Tris, you haven't been able to take the train since you've been back. Shauna hasn't been strong enough to take the train except for if she's having a really good day, and that's after that medicine they invented for her four years or so ago."

"You do have a point," I think about being able to actually be on the train again.

It's still not ever going to be the same as the rush of running to get on, fingers slipping on the rail to pull the door open, then only to pull yourself inside to be jumping out of it again, crashing to the ground.

"Ok, touché. I'm still not going to be over the moon about it." He snatches the paper back from Lynn and storms down the hall.

"Someone's on his man-period," Lynn chuckles once he's far enough away. I roll my eyes and give her a laugh of satisfaction.

"What do you do in this office all day anyways?" She shuffles a very gnawed tennis ball of Indy's around on the ground with her foot.

"I'm only here every other day, and it's emails and paperwork. Other factions send stuff to us, we send stuff to them, they want to meet with us, we tell them we need to meet with them. A lot of the ambassadors are just around for visiting week and have other jobs on the side."

"Sounds exhilarating."

"It really is," I sarcastically reply.

"So," she says, expecting me to break the awkward silence between us.

Her and I have never been the pair to get along.

I'm not sure if anyone has ever gotten along with Lynn...

"Hey Lynn, Uriah, find Tris they need her too." Marlene calls from down the hallway.

"You heard her," Lynn remarks, giving the tennis ball one last kick into the wall as I stand. My hand automatically flies to the top of my desk for support even when I don't need it.

"No crutches today, huh?" She notices as I stand and walk with my boot.

"I'm living dangerously."

"Nah, I like it. You could easily knock someone out with that thing. One swift kick and they won't see it coming."

I smile. She doesn't know how to joke, but I appreciate her effort.

We are brought into the long meeting room where leaders are always meeting for various things. It's a formal setting compared to the ambassador's location.

I take a seat, Lynn is to my right and Uriah is to my left. Marlene sits next to Lynn and next to her is Will.

The room is full of faces, most I recognize, but some are unfamiliar.

At the front of the room stands Josh and Erudite leader Mark. There's a few other people in blue I don't recall knowing.

I look around the room again and my mind drifts.

I know all these faces.
This is all the Dauntless that were held captive in the building.

I snap my mind back, unable to fall into the hole of my thoughts that will throw off my mental state currently.

"I'm sure you're all wondering why I've called you here," Josh begins. "As most of you are aware, our IB, Investigate Building, group has been diligently working since each of your trials to figure out information from why such specific people, why each of you were taken from our city during the war. I could try to explain myself, but I am sure I will do something wrong in the process so I will let one of you continue," Josh motions to the group of Erudite standing in the front of the room.

"We have already spoken with the captives from our faction about this, and now we have come to you. What we know is that they needed intelligence and strength on their side, hence why only Erudite and Dauntless members were taken. We are also struggling to discover a possible relation to another city that had ties into where you all were held captive. This is what we come to ask of today." A shorter man states.

A tall brunette woman picks up where he left off. "It has been brought to our attention that there is possible infections and toxins that you might have been exposed to in the building. On specimens of clothing and other objects that have not been destroyed by natural causes we have picked up on drugs and various bacterial species that could be harmful in the future to each of you personally. We believe none of these could be spread from person to person, but as a precaution it would be wise to know what you have and haven't been exposed to for medical history. If you are willing, we really desire that you come over to our faction for a series of testing, nothing extreme, to just know what might be in your system. Nothing is mandatory, but the more people that can be tested will give us more information as to what we may be dealing with. A simple blood test with a few motor tests would be all we are asking from each of you, but again, I emphasize that it is not mandatory, however we strongly recommend doing the testing for your own sake. Some of these drugs or bacteria could react badly if you are ever needed to be given medication, and we are unsure of what may happen if this does occur. This is why we really need as many people to test as possible. We all are here today to answer any questions you might have."

I feel my face grow hot.

I want to believe them.
I want to believe they mean well.
I've been tested by the Erudite before.
And it's never ended well for me.

I feel like all eyes in the room are on me.
But they aren't.
But I feel like they are.

Breathe Tris.

"Why?" One person speaks up.

"Why the sudden urge to care?"

"It's been over four years now!"

"Does this have to do with that whole New York thing?"

"Yes." One of the Erudite finally replies.

Silence.

"It's not easy to explain, because even we aren't sure what we are looking for. We just need to keep looking until we find something."

"When does this start?" Marlene asks.

"We have a list of all your names at the front desk of our medical center. Whenever you choose, you can simply go over to our faction and check in, no appointment needed."

"Any other questions?" Mark asks.

Silence again.

"Thank you, everyone." He says and the Erudite leave.

Since all of this started, all I've ever wanted is answers.

Now suddenly I've been given that option and it makes me sick inside.

How can I bring myself to do this?