Determinant: One choice will change everything

Chapter 30: Tobias - Stymied

Chapter 30: Tobias – Stymied

I swear this day will never end. We've spent an eternity trudging around the two glass skyscrapers that might house the Control Computer, walking up and down various streets so we can stay close enough to see without drawing attention. When we were in Pittsburgh, it felt like the broadcasts came frequently, but that must have been because we were busy. Today, it's as if time stops completely while we wait for them.

And the slowness makes it difficult to maintain the expression I practiced in the van, so long ago. I keep finding myself standing too straight, or looking around too boldly, and I have to work at appearing downtrodden again.

Occasionally, we pass the other group at an intersection, as they move along a different path than ours. We don't acknowledge each other, because it could make strangers notice us, but it's always a relief to see that they're still safe. I try not to let my eyes linger on Tris.

Over the course of the day, my father's stiff walk gives way to outright limping, and Pari slows our pace to accommodate him. I'm not sure how I feel about seeing him this way – weak – and knowing it's because of what I did to him. He deserved it, I tell myself, and I know it's true. But whenever his eyes move past me, refusing to acknowledge my presence, I can't help remembering all the times my mother and I avoided his gaze the day after he beat us. It makes me feel far too much like him.

I suppose this day would be worthwhile if we were at least gathering good information, but it just doesn't seem that way. Even after the third broadcast, I personally still have no idea where the Control Computer is. I can only hope one of the others had better luck, or that we'll have some success once we combine our observations.

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It's well after dark when we head back to the place we slept last night. As we did before, the rest of us stay hidden until Margot and Christina are able to get us inside. We don't talk as we wait, but it's obvious from everyone's body language that frustration levels are running high. They get even worse once we're back in the basement room and it becomes obvious we don't even agree on which building has the Control Computer.

"The first broadcast was definitely coming from the southern building," Tris insists. "We were on 17th Street, right between the two buildings at the time, and that's the direction everyone turned."

"I don't know what to tell you," Cara responds. "We were on 17th too, but we were right by the southern building at the time, and everyone turned toward the northern one. Are you sure you got the direction right?"

"Yes," Christina says in exasperation. "How dumb do you think we are?"

Before Cara can answer the gibe, Caleb speaks up. "What about the next broadcast? What did you observe that time, Beatrice?"

"We were on Chestnut, and people seemed to be looking at the southern building," she answers, but then her voice turns a bit reluctant as she adds, "but the other building was directly behind it from that position, so I can't be sure."

"Could they have projectors on both buildings?" Uriah asks, and my mouth twitches just a little at his attempt to find a middle ground that lets everyone be right. His Amity is showing.

Cara begins, "Theoretically, they certainly could, but it would be a lot of extra work for no real gain...." And then her voice peters out at the look on Caleb's face. He's wearing the same expression I see on Tris so often when she gets something that no one else has thought of yet.

"They have to cover the whole area," Caleb says enthusiastically. "If all of the projectors point outward from the same building, then there'd be a dead spot in the middle of the building that didn't receive any signal. And if each projection is broadcast as a cone that emanates from the projector, they couldn't cover the full space around the building either. It can't be done from just one location."