The Transfer: A Divergent Story

He points at me as he speaks. I frown—four? Is he talking about my fears?

“Hey, Tori,” Amar calls over his shoulder. “You ever hear of anyone having only four fears in their fear landscape?”

“Last I heard, the record was seven or eight. Why?” Tori calls back.

“I’ve got a transfer over here with only four fears.”

Tori points at me, and Amar nods.

“That’s gotta be a new record,” Tori says.

“Well done,” Amar says to me. Then he turns and walks toward Tori’s table.

All the other initiates stare at me, wide-eyed and quiet. Before the fear landscape, I was just someone they could step on, on their way to Dauntless membership. Now I’m like Eric—someone worth watching out for, maybe even someone worth being afraid of.

Amar gave me more than a new name. He gave me power.

“What’s your real name, again? Starts with an E . . . ?” Eric asks me, narrowing his eyes. Like he knows something but isn’t sure that now is the time to share it.

The others might remember my name too, vaguely, from the Choosing Ceremony, the way I remember theirs—just letters in an alphabet, buried under a nervous haze as I anticipated my own choice. If I strike at their memories now, as hard as I can, become as memorable as my Dauntless self as possible, I can maybe save myself.

I hesitate for a moment, then put my elbows on the table and raise an eyebrow at him.

“My name is Four,” I say. “Call me ‘Stiff’ again and you and I will have a problem.”

He rolls his eyes, but I know I’ve made myself clear. I have a new name, which means I can be a new person. Someone who doesn’t put up with cutting comments from Erudite know-it-alls. Someone who can cut back.

Someone who’s finally ready to fight.

Four.