Veronica Roth - The Traitor: A Divergent Story

COVER ART TM & VERONICA ROTH 2014

COVER ART AND DESIGN BY JOEL TIPPIE

ANOTHER YEAR, ANOTHER Visiting Day.

Two years ago, when I was an initiate, I pretended my own Visiting Day didnt exist, holed up in the training room with a punching bag. I was there for so long that I smelled the dust-sweat for days afterward. Last year, the first year I taught initiates, I did the same thing, though Zeke and Shauna both invited me to spend the day with their families instead.

This year I have more important things to do than punch a bag and mope about my family dysfunction. Im going to the control room.

I walk through the Pit, dodging tearful reunions and shrieks of laughter. Families can always come together on Visiting Day, even if theyre from different factions, but over time, they usually stop coming. Faction before blood, after all. Most of the mixed clothing I see belongs to transfer families: Wills Erudite sister is dressed in light blue, Peters Candor parents are in black and white. For a moment I watch his parents, and wonder if they made him into the person he is. But most of the time, people arent that easy to explain, I guess.

Im supposed to be on a mission, but I pause next to the chasm, pressing into the railing. Bits of paper float in the water. Now that I know where the steps cut into the stone in the opposite wall are, I can see them right away, and the hidden doorway that leads to them. I smile a little, thinking of the nights Ive spent on those rocks with Zeke or Shauna, sometimes talking and sometimes just sitting and listening to the water move.

I hear footsteps approaching, and look over my shoulder. Tris is walking toward me, tucked under the gray-clad arm of an Abnegation woman. Natalie Prior. I stiffen, suddenly desperate to escapewhat if Natalie knows who I am, where I came from? What if she lets it slip, here, surrounded by all these people?

She cant possibly recognize me. I dont look anything like the boy she knew, lanky and slouched and buried in fabric.

When shes close enough, she extends her hand. Hello, my name is Natalie. Im Beatrices mother.

Beatrice. That name is so wrong for her.

I clasp Natalies hand and shake it. Ive never been fond of Dauntless hand-shaking. Its too unpredictableyou never know how tightly to squeeze, how many times to shake.

Four, I say. Its nice to meet you.

Four, Natalie says, and she smiles. Is that a nickname?

Yes, I say. I change the subject. Your daughter is doing well here. Ive been overseeing her training.

Thats good to hear, she says. I know a few things about Dauntless initiation, and I was worried about her.

I glance at Tris. Theres color in her cheeksshe looks happy, like seeing her mother is doing her some good. For the first time I fully appreciate how much shes changed since I first saw her, tumbling onto the wooden platform, fragile-looking, like the impact with the net should have shattered her. She doesnt look fragile anymore, with the shadows of bruises on her face and a new stability in the way she stands, like shes ready for anything.

You shouldnt worry, I say to Natalie.

Tris looks away. I think shes still angry with me for the way I nicked her ear with that knife. I guess I dont really blame her.

You look familiar for some reason, Four, Natalie says. I would think her comment was lighthearted if not for the way shes looking at me, like shes pinning me down.

I cant imagine why, I say, as coldly as I can manage. I dont make a habit of associating with the Abnegation.

She doesnt react the way I expect her to, with surprise or fear or anger. She just laughs. Few people do, these days. I dont take it personally.

If she does recognize me, she doesnt seem eager to say so. I try to relax.

Well, Ill leave you to your reunion, I say.

On my screen, the security footage switches from the lobby of the Pire to the hole hemmed in by four buildings, the initiate entrance to Dauntless. A crowd is gathered around the hole, climbing in and out of it, I assume to test the net.

Not into Visiting Day? My supervisor, Gus, stands at my shoulder, sipping from a mug of coffee. Hes not that old, but theres a bald spot at the crown of his head. He keeps the rest of his hair short, even shorter than mine. His earlobes are stretched around wide discs. I didnt think Id see you again until initiation was over.

Figured I might as well do something productive.

On my screen, everyone crawls out of the hole and stands aside, their backs against one of the buildings. A dark figure inches toward the edge of the roof high above the hole, runs a few steps, and jumps off. My stomach drops like Im the one falling, and the figure disappears beneath the pavement. Ill never get used to seeing that.

They seem to be having a good time, Gus says, sipping his coffee again. Well, youre always welcome to work when youre not scheduled to, but its not a crime to go have some mindless fun, Four.

He walks away, and I mumble, So Im told.

I look over the control room. Its almost emptyon Visiting Day, only a few people are required to work, and its usually the oldest ones. Gus is hunched over his screen. Two others flank him, scanning through footage with their headphones half on, half off. And then theres me.

I type in a command, calling up the footage I saved last week. It shows Max in his office, sitting at his computer. He pokes at the keys with an index finger, hunting for the right ones for several seconds between jabs. Not many of the Dauntless know how to type properly, especially Max, who Im told spent most of his Dauntless time patrolling the factionless sector with a gun at his sidehe must not have anticipated that he would ever need to use a computer. I lean close to the screen to make sure that the numbers I took down earlier are accurate. If they are, I have Maxs account password written on a piece of paper in my pocket.

Ever since I realized that Max was working closely with Jeanine Matthews, and began to suspect that they had something to do with Amars death, Ive been looking for a way to investigate further. When I saw him type in his password the other day, I found one.

084628. Yes, the numbers look right. I call up the live security footage again, and cycle through the camera feeds until I find the ones that show Maxs office and the hallway beyond it. Then I type the command to take the footage of Maxs office out of the rotation, so Gus and the others wont see it; it will only play on my screen. The footage from the whole city is always divided by however many people are in the control room, so we arent all looking at the same feeds. Were only supposed to pull footage from the general rotation like that for a few seconds at a time, if we need a closer look at something, but hopefully this wont take me long. I slip out of the room and walk toward the elevators.

This level of the Pire is almost emptyeveryone is gone. That will make it easier for me to do what I have to do. I ride the elevator up to the tenth floor, and walk purposefully toward Maxs office. Ive found that when youre sneaking around, its best not to look like youre sneaking around. I tap the flash drive in my pocket as I walk, and turn the corner toward Maxs office.

I nudge the door open with my shoeearlier today, after I was sure he had gone to the Pit to start Visiting Day preparations, Id crept up here and taped the lock. I close the door quietly behind me, not turning on the lights, and crouch next to his desk. I dont want to move the chair to sit in it; I dont want him to see that anything about this room has changed when he gets back.