Contents
Chapter 32: Four
Overview
Four supervises Dauntless fear simulations and discovers Al recognizes his scenario as false, signaling dangerous Divergent-like awareness. To protect Al and himself, Four instructs Al to act as if the simulation is real and keep quiet. Four prepares Will’s turn while warily monitoring Peter’s behavior, underscoring rising risks in initiation.
Summary
Four monitors initiate fear simulations, bored by the routine until Al’s scenario unfolds: a dim kitchen where Al’s mother berates him. When Al protests that his mother would never say such things, Four halts the program, recognizing that Al perceived the simulation’s falseness.
Four explains that fear sims suppress logic like dreams and that initiates should accept what they see as reality. Weighing the danger of exposing Al’s divergence from sim logic, Four decides against alarming him. Instead, he directs Al to behave as if everything makes sense during future sims to avoid harming his ranking and to prevent scrutiny.
Before dismissing him, Four warns Al not to mention this to other initiates, noting the risk to them both. After Al leaves, Four surveys the waiting initiates, wary of Peter’s predatory demeanor by the firelight.
Will steps up next, cheerful despite the task ahead. Four queues Will’s simulation, expecting common creature fears, and maintains vigilance over the room, signaling growing tension and the stakes of concealment within Dauntless initiation.
Who Appears
- Four (Tobias Eaton)Dauntless instructor observing fear simulations; detects Al’s awareness, advises concealment, and manages the initiates vigilantly.
- AlInitiate whose fear sim features his mother; realizes it’s not real, suggesting Divergent-like awareness; warned to keep quiet.
- WillInitiate next in line for simulations; upbeat demeanor as Four prepares his test.
- PeterInitiate watching from the sidelines; menacing presence that Four monitors for trouble.