“Don’t tell me you’re going to eat a mashed-potato sandwich”

“I laugh shakily. ‘You’re a little scary, Four.’‘Do me a favor,’ he says, ‘and don’t call me that.’‘What should I call you, then?’‘Nothing.’ He takes his hand from my face. ‘Yet.”

“Aren’t you going to ask me if I’m all right?” I say.“No, I’m pretty sure you’re not all right.”He shakes his head. “I’m going to ask you not to make any decisions until we’ve talkedabout it.”

“I think they're going to force us to eat lots of cake and then take an unreasonably long nap.”

“Pain can't make me tell you. Truth serum can't make me tell you. Simulations can't make me tell you. I'm immune to all three.”

“feel Tobias brushing my hair back before the first simulation. I hear him telling me to be brave. I hear my mother telling me to be brave(...) I am brave.”

“Uriah drops his tray next to me. It is loaded with beef stew and chocolate cake. I stare at the cake pile.“There was cake?” I say, looking at my own plate, which is more sensibly stocked than Uriah’s.“Yeah, someone just brought it out. Found a couple boxes of the mix in the back and baked it,” he says. “You can have a few bites of mine.”“A few bites? So you’re planning on eating that mountain of cake by yourself?”“Yes.” He looks confused. “Why?”“Never mind.”