The four of us were standing next to another group of people, only Dan was looking in the direction of our target, the Advanced Modern door.  

“Only the one Uglie guard, no sign of any patrols currently. Lots of groups this far in, so getting close won't be a problem.”-Dan 

“Good. I’m only really worried that the door can handle the four of us in quick succession. Logically it should, how else could it handle all of these people? Unfortunately, we will not know without trying.”-Me 

“If you Halo the Uglie, we wouldn’t have to worry about it.”-Ajay 

I could see Jessica sigh at Ajay’s enthusiastic suggestion. 

“At that will bring ever Uglie running straight for us, which is the opposite of being quiet.”- Dan 

“Ajay, what do you think would happen after one of the Uglies was killed by a light from the sky?”-Me “Ah, I guess they would wonder why it happened.”-Ajay 

I nodded. 

“And what happens when they hear about lights from the sky out on the border, were another Uglie happens to be missing?”-Me 

“They go looking for the missing Uglie. OK, ok, it was a bad idea.”-Ajay 

He looked both sheepish and put-upon at the same time. 

-Why am I suddenly missing Adriana? 

“I would like to get in without alerting the Uglies or creating a mess with all these people.”-Me 

“We could create a diversion.”-Jessica 

“That would mean someone would have to start the diversion, then get away and get too the door without anyone noticing. I could do it, but I’m not sure I could make it before more anymore Uglies show.”-Dan 

Jessica nodded. 

“I could create a diversion with magic, but that will attract the wrong kind of attention.”-Me 

I frowned. 

“I think we might be stuck waiting for a someone else to create our diversion.”-Me 

“Thats going to be really boring, isn’t it?”-Ajay 

“Very.”-Dan 

Ajay sighed with the exaggeration that only a teenager can produce. We moved to the fringes of another group nearby, one of us keeping an eye on the Uglie. 

What passes for time went by very slowly. 

“This whole setup is weird.”-Dan 

“Why?’-Ajay 

Ajay jumped on Dan’s half musing question, desperate for anything interesting to do. 

“The Uglies want everyone to go through the complex and get sheared.”-Dan 

“Thats what Magician said. You saw it too, right?”-Ajay 

“Yep. The Uglies then try to stop people from using all the other doors.”-Dan 

“Thats why they put up the ropes and have guards.”-Ajay 

“There is only one guard, anyone can go through the door while its distracted, and the rope hasn’t ever stopped any of us.”-Dan 

“Yah, I guess anyone can just duck under it.”-Ajay 

“Then why like this. Why not build a fence around them?”-Dan 

“Think about why every post, rope, and every piece of their equipment is identical.”-Me 

“What does that have to do with it?”-Ajay 

“Limited resources.”-Jessica 

Dan nodded slowly. 

“They don’t have enough wood to fence it off? Ok, but what is the identical thing got to do with it.”-Ajay 

“Each post is identical, like someone xeroxed, um, 3D printed, each piece. Then why don’t they have a ring of posts around each?”-Me 

I looked at Ajay. 

“That would mean that they can only copy a limited number of items, or only do so slowly.”-Me 

“They only have one model, and they only have one 3D printer, or a few really slow ones.”-Ajay 

You could see Ajay get it. 

“So, their spreading out what they have to cover the most area.”-Ajay 

“Yes. They probably don’t care if a few sheep jump the fence. Just that much tastier the next time they come through.”-Me 

Dan motioned to the rest of us. 

“I think our chance to jump the fence just came.”-Dan 

I turned to see the guard was taking long ground eating strides, moving at deceptively quick speed towards another door. I could just make out a large milling crowd in that direction. I noticed Dan frowning as he tracked the Uglie. 

“Looks like a football riot! Everyone is waving their arms in the air.”-Ajay 

-Does everyone but me have super sight or something? 

“Ignore them, we have our own touch down to score.”-Me 

I started walking towards the abandoned door. The others followed quickly. 

“What does a touch down have to do with football?”-Ajay 

“They call football, Soccer in the States.”-Dan 

“It never made sense why they call it football when all they do is throw the ball around.”-Jessica 

As we got to the Advanced Modern door, I noticed that a lot of the groups were looking or moving in the direction that the Uglie had gone. 

“Anyone see any more Uglies around? They are damn quick.”-Dan 

We stopped short of the rope and looked around. 

-I bet we look like a bunch of startled prairie dogs. Secret agents we are not. 

I ducked under the rope after no one spoke up and moved up the walkway and up to the door. The gravity like pull was there, just not as strong as most of the outer doors. I looked at the others. 

“Dan, you go first, Ajay and Jessica follow. I'll go last.”-Me 

Dan nodded then moved past me to the door. He paused and grinned at us. 

“See you on the other side.”-Dan 

Dan reached out the door handle and vanished. Ajay gulped then reached out to follow Dan. Just before Jessica reached for the handle, I reached out and grabbed her hand. 

“I’ll find you.”-Me 

I leaned close and kissed her for the first time. She was startled for a moment, then kissed me back. As we parted I could see her eyes glinting. 

“You better.”-Jessica 

She turned and grabbed the door handle, disappearing as abruptly as the others. I looked quickly around. 

“Hey! I don’t think you're supposed to be in there.”-Nosy Onlooker 

I tuned and yelled back. 

“We are dead, what is the worst that the Uglies can do?”-Me 

I grabbed the door handle.