maddie.

Preparing for the test was a difficult task but not as daunting. At least she didn’t have to prove her intelligence to everyone around her. This was private. Of course, Madison didn’t spend her life studying science and math but she was a quick learner. Math just made sense to her. Just patterns and repetition. Science was harder to pick up on - besides physics, which was mostly just math - but Madison found it extremely interesting, so studying wasn’t a burden. She focused less on writing, since Madison had always had a way with words. Being a Candor born helped in that aspect. Being able to provide solid arguments and evidence and being persuasive only made her writing stronger. She didn’t have time to focus on her forte. She needed to pick up the slack in the bigger subjects.

She’d poked her nose around and gotten a few ideas on what Mark focused on. She invested herself in everything, studying acceleration to stoichiometry to glycolysis. She felt as if her brain was going to explode, but she took that as a good thing. She was retaining. This week, she allowed herself to get a decent amount of sleep. While many people pulled all nighters, she knew that if she was going to retain as much information as possible, she needed a good night’s rest and a clear mind. Focus was the key. The hours she lacked studying while sleeping she made up for in efficiency. A healthy body is a healthy mind.

Madison made notes to summarize all the topics she thought were important. She knew most history out of pure curiosity since she’d studied it while trying to make her choice and she had enough sense to guess any random trivia - at least she hoped. However, Mark’s written tests tended to be pretty straight forward from what she’d heard. Last week tested their out-of-the-box thinking. This was purely knowledge.

She showed up to the test with a good eight hours of sleep and a solid breakfast in her. She seemed to be one of the few well rested initiates there, but she could feel her tactics had worked for her. She may have been behind, but she figured the amount she studied gave her a fighting chance. Madison had a way of understanding things. She could be calculating. Sometimes, it just came down to natural smarts. She wasn’t as sharp as some of her competitors, but she was still confident in her ability. It wasn’t as much about rankings as it was about making it into the faction she felt she belonged in. Although a good score never hurt.

Madison had been working day and night on her invention. She’d had trouble coming up with what exactly she was going to make up until her roommate came back to their dorm looking like a train wreck. When Maddie had asked what was wrong, she had said she didn’t know. That was when it hit her. Of course, she had no idea where to start, but luckily for her she was Liam’s biggest fan and that gave her a slight upperhand when it came to getting some good advice. She was already behind having not spent sixteen years in Erudite like some of her competition but once Liam pointed her in the right direction, she didn’t hesitate to get working.

Granted, she had run into an enormous amount of issues. For being a transfer, she had taken on a pretty bold invention. She was motivated to make sure it became reality, though, as it would definitely be of use. People were always looking for new, efficient ways to get things done. To come up with and create and invention that was applicable to something essential and did just that... It was her goal. She knew it wouldn’t be easy. Hell, she wasn’t entirely sure she was even capable. She just knew if she got it to work, she would be proud of herself. Proud enough to maybe even get through the rest of initiation without having as many mental breakdowns as she did this week - which was a lot.

Madison stood with the rest of the initiates. She’d heard just about every Mark horror story there was to be told. While Madison didn’t have a Dauntless aptitude, she didn’t want to be intimidated. The more intimidated she let herself be, the easier she’d crack. She wasn’t about to let that happen. There was no way she left her friends and family behind just to get bullied out of Erudite. She knew she was smart, she knew she was capable and she valued knowledge as much as the next initiate. She just couldn’t let herself forget that she belonged in Erudite. It was where she was meant to be, she just knew it.

A small hush fell over the room as Mark entered but Madison put on her best face. She’d gotten some of the nicer Dauntless to help her move her invention to the testing area, which had been her last and final challenge considering it weighed a good few hundred pounds. Madison kept her head held high. While some drifted off into their own thoughts - or dreams, seeing as none of them had gotten nearly enough sleep - Madison watched each invention before hers carefully. She was glad that she hadn’t underperformed and that her invention was up to par. She just hoped Mark liked the idea.

“Miss Bowan,” Mark finally called, “please introduce your invention.”

Madison motioned to the machine next to her. It was the size of a dressing room just big enough to accommodate a human being. She opened the door which had a small standing area and at the top, a large hoop. Madison stepped in and stood on the marked footprints. “My invention is used to detect all symptoms a human has and provide all the possible diagnosis based on all of these symptoms. This machine can be extremely useful in situations where a patient may not even realize these symptoms are abnormal or are aware they are even occurring. For example, they may just think they’ve been working too hard and mistake it for the symptom of fatigue, while it may be illness related and not related to physical labour.” Madison pressed one of the buttons and the hoop moved from top to bottom, circling her in it. “This hoop is used sort of like an x-ray. It can detect pressure and pain among other things. It also works sort of like a PET scan, where a doctor can view the brain and draw conclusions from there. It also includes an option to insert the signs such as a rash or bleeding and it will search for symptoms that could be related and give possible diagnosis from there.”