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She tugs at the hem of her shirt, then clasps her hands in front of her She seems nervous

"The Dauntless have allied with the factionless," she says "They intend to attack Erudite in two days’ tiainst the Erudite-Dauntless are they have worked so hard to acquire"

She looks down, breathes deeply, and continues: "I know that we recognize no leader, so I have no right to address you as if that is what I aiveif we can reconsider our previous decision to remain uninvolved"

There are entler, like birds launching from branches

"Our relationship with Erudite notwithstanding, we know better than any faction how essential their role in this society is," she says "They hter, if not because they are hus, then because we cannot survive without them I propose that we enter the city as nonviolent, impartial peacekeepers in order to curb in whatever way possible the extreme violence that will undoubtedly occur Please discuss this"

Rain dusts the glass panels above our heads Johanna sits on a tree root to wait, but the Amity do not burst into conversation as they did the last tiuishable from the rain, turn to normal speech, and I hear so, but not quite

Every lifted voice sends a jolt through uments in my life, mostly in the last two months, but none of theue

I decide not to wait any longer I walk along the edge of thepast the A over hands and outstretched legs So a red shirt, but the tattoos along my collarbone are clear as ever, even from a distance

I pause near the row of Erudite Cara stands when I get close, her ar here?" she says

"I ca on," I say "And to ask you for help"

"Me?" she says "Why--"

"Not you," I say I try to forget what she said about my nose, but it’s hard "All of you I have a plan to save some of your faction’s data, but I need your help"

"Actually," Christina says, appearing at my left shoulder, "we have a plan"

Cara looks froain

"You want to help Erudite?" she says "I’m confused"

"You wanted to help Dauntless," I say "You think you’re the only one who doesn’t just blindly do what your faction tells you to?"

"It is in keeping with your pattern of behavior," says Cara "Shooting people who get in your way is a Dauntless trait, after all"

I feel a pinch at the back of my throat She looks so much like her brother, down to the crease between her eyebrows and the dark streaks in her otherwise blond hair

"Cara," says Christina "Will you help us, or not?"

Cara sighs "Obviously I will I’m sure the others will, too Meet us in the Erudite dor, and tell us the plan"

Thelasts for another hour By then the rain has stopped, though water still sprinkles the wall and ceiling panels Christina and I have been sitting against one of the walls, playing a game in which each of us tries to pin down the other’s thumb She alins

Finally Johanna and the others who eed as discussion leaders stand in a line on the tree roots Johanna’s hair now hangs over her lowered face She is supposed to tell us the outcome of the conversation, but she just stands with her arainst her elbow

"What’s going on?" Christina says

Finally Johanna looks up

"Obviously it was difficult to find agreement," she says "But the majority of you wish to uphold our policy of uninvolvement"

It does not o into the city or not But I had begun to hope they were not all cowards, and to me, this decision sounds very ainst the

"It is not iven so o against this decision Anyone else whose conscience drives them toward the city is welcome to come with me"

At first I, like everyone else, a Johanna tilts her head so that her scar is again visible, and adds, "I understand if this means I can’t be a part of Amity anymore" She sniffs "But please know that if I have to leave you, I leave you with love, rather than eneral direction of the crowd, tucks her hair behind her ears, and walks toward the exit A few of the Amity scramble to their feet, then a few more, and soon the entire crowd is on their feet, and so out behind her

"That," says Christina, "is not what I was expecting"

CHAPTER FORTY

THE ERUDITE DORMITORY is one of the larger sleeping rooms in Aht craether on each side, leaving a huge space in the e table occupies that space, covered with tools and scraps of ears and old computer parts and wires

Christina and I just finished explaining our plan, which sounded a lot du us down as we talked

"Your plan is flawed," Cara says She is the first to respond

"That’s e came to you," I say "So you could tell us how to fix it"

"Well, first of all, this i it on a disc is a ridiculous idea Discs just end up breaking or in the wrong person’s hands, like all other physical objects I suggest you make use of the data network"

"Thewhat?"

She glances at the other Erudite One of the others--a brown-skinned young lasses--says, "Go on Tell them There’s no reason to keep secrets anymore"

Cara looks back at me "Many of the computers in the Erudite compound are set up to access data from the computers in other factions That’s hoas so easy for Jeanine to run the attack simulation from a Dauntless computer instead of an Erudite one"

"What?" says Christina "You h every faction’s data whenever you want?"

"You can’t ‘take a stroll’ through data," the young ical"

"It’s a ht?"

"A ure of speech?" he says, also frowning "Or is a ure of speech’?"

"Fernando," says Cara "Focus"