Page 123 of The Sixth Fraction

“Let’s lay out the facts,” she says. “Erudite is releasing propaganda about Abnegation to destabilize its leadership. They might be strategically placing themselves in Dauntless and reporting back to Erudite from there. And one thing they seem to be doing is targeting the fear simulations.” She pauses. “Do you know anything about that boy, Al, the one who died? About why he would catch their attention?”

I glance at Tris. “His fear simulations were . . . out of the ordinary.”

“So he was Divergent.” At my wide-eyed expression, Natalie waves a dismissive hand at me. “Yes, I know. This is where you ask me what that means, as if you don’t know, and where we all pretend that Tris isn’t one of them, even though you’ve just admitted that you went through her fear simulation, so I’m sure you noticed.”

“I don’t understand why Jeanine would care that a random Candor transfer is Divergent,” I say. “Or why anyone bothers to target Divergent at all.”

“Our society relies on the faction computers to keep things stable,” Natalie says. “You helped my daughter rescue that girl who needed to be removed from her mother’s care? The reason Candor didn’t get to the truth of that situation is that they rely on their truth serum to provoke honest confessions. But depending on how strong a Divergent’s will is, they can lie under the influence of the serum. So the social control doesn’t work on them.”

“And the Memory Vault,” Tris says quietly. “Abnegation thinks I don’t know that I saw Evelyn alive the night of the Choosing Ceremony. But I do.”

“Exactly,” Natalie says. “I don’t know what Jeanine Matthews is planning, but she’s very diligent and careful. A Divergent is like a stick shoved into the spokes of a bicycle wheel. Small, but enough to keep the bicycle from moving. If she had your initiate killed, it’s because she didn’t want him to be that stick. What we have to do now is figure out where the bicycle is going.”

“Do you think the factionless stealing Dauntless weapons is related?” Tris says.

“I’m not sure. It’s possible that Evelyn and Jeanine aren’t at all connected,” Natalie replies. “I hoped you could give me some insights.” She glances at me. “Or you.”

“Would Jeanine work with Evelyn?” Tris asks. “I thought Erudite was just as scornful of the factionless as the other factions.”

“The factionless have access. They can go anywhere in the city,” I say. “I don’t know much about Jeanine Matthews, but I can’t imagine she’d refuse to use a tool if it’s that useful, no matter what she thinks about it.”

“The real question is, would Evelyn ever work with Jeanine?” Natalie asks me.

I don’t know who Natalie really is, or what her goals are. But she seems to be trying to unravel the same things I am. And I don’t know how much longer I can walk around like this, not quite knowing what my mother is planning, helpless to stop it.

“Evelyn wants my father dead,” I say. “If Jeanine Matthews was willing to facilitate that, I’m sure they could make a deal.”

Natalie looks surprised. “You think she’s that extreme?”

“This isn’t something I just think. She told me.”

She drums her fingers on the edge of the table. Her fingernails are bitten down to the quick, her cuticles red.

“That can’t happen,” she says, and it almost seems like she’s talking to herself, not to us. “Marcus is too important to lose.”

“What do you mean?” I ask.

“I told you faction representatives have deeper access to each faction’s computer,” Natalie says. “Well, that’s not entirely accurate. They can access every faction’s computer except Abnegation’s. That honor belongs to one man and one man alone.”

“There’s no backup?” I ask.

“Usually there is. The council leader’s spouse.” She gives me a pointed look. “But Marcus revoked Evelyn’s access, for obvious reasons. I urged my husband to push for a replacement, for redundancy, but he didn’t understand the urgency. Said we should give Marcus time to remarry.”

“I don’t understand the urgency either, I guess,” Tris says. “What happens if we lose access to the Memory Vault?”

Natalie meets my eyes.

“We lose everything. Everything I’ve worked for.” She says it fervently, like a prayer. It’s a strange thing for her to say, like she’s peeling back another layer of herself to let us see what’s beneath it, only I don’t know what I’m really looking at. She makes it sound like she’s been on some kind of mission, but for what? For who?

She gathers herself, straightens, and adds, “I mean, we would lose everything we have ever known about what’s outside the wall. Everything about our history. Everything.”

We’re all quiet for a few long seconds.

“Okay,” Tris says. “That sounds bad, but—”

“I know you’ll hate to hear this, but I need you to listen to it anyway,” Natalie interrupts. “You—both of you—are too young to understand this yet. But if you change the historical record, you can shape people’s understanding of the present. And if you shape their understanding of the present, you can change society itself. Who’s in charge. Who’s to blame. Who’s the enemy.” She meets my eyes. “You do not want Jeanine Matthews to decide who the enemy is.”

I think of the simulation projection of Jeanine Matthews, right after she looked up Al’s records—and mine. Every inch of her polished and perfect.