Chapter 31: Caleb

Caleb administers yet another round of a facial-recognition protocol, noting predictable results as an Amity volunteer more quickly flags stereotypically Dauntless features. The monotony and apparent obviousness of the findings leave Caleb feeling sidelined and insecure about his Abnegation background.

Outside work, Caleb reads game theory with Fernando and plays chess with Fell but avoids looking back at his past. Frustration peaks when he suspects Erudite is withholding the study’s true purpose, possibly due to his transfer status.

Determined to learn more, Caleb sneaks into the darkened laboratory at night, retrieves a key code he observed Cara using, and accesses her computer. He finds notes indicating his test is the control group for a broader attempt to separate conscious from unconscious identifiers, but Jeanine Matthews arrives and catches him mid-search.

Instead of punishing him harshly, Jeanine explains that obvious results are essential for a reliable control. She frames his frustration as healthy curiosity and reveals the experiment’s goal: to selectively suppress activity in the fusiform gyrus, enabling simulations to present familiar or unfamiliar faces without emotional bias for more precise aptitude testing.

Humbled yet validated, Caleb accepts her perspective. Jeanine, impressed by his initiative, assigns him to assist her and Cara every Wednesday for the remainder of initiation—an apparent punishment that actually elevates his involvement and cements his place in Erudite research.