"This is a problem that needs to be addressed! More and more uglies are going unaccounted for, the "smokies" as they call themselves are becoming more and more powerful, and even pretties are beginning to become restless, trying to heal their minds. It we don't solve this soon the whole system might collapse in on itself!"

I sighed and closed my eyes, resting my chin on my intertwined fingers. These people really were idiots. When I'd had enough of their jabbering I finally decided to speak up. I cleared me throat loudly and everyone turned to me expectantly.

"Don't you see? The answer is so obvious." I smiled slightly, raising my eyebrows.

"Please, enlighten us." Said Dr. Tanur dryly

"Very well . Tell me, what is it that keeps us from becoming like the Rusties?" He sighed in frustration before resisting

"We are controlled. We can manipulate both body and mind."

"Exactly, and what did we do with the ability?" I felt like a teacher trying to help a littlie figure out the answer to a problem. It was exhausting

"We added lesions to everyone's brains to make then less violent and more complacent. For those who managed to heal their brains we created the specials so we could control them."

"And why has that stopped working?"

"Because the temptation of being pretty is no longer enough."

"And why is that?"

"Because they would rather follow their friends to the smoke." Bingo. Maybe they weren't all compete idiot.

"Precisely." I let my smile widen "I've observed that most uglies actually would rather become pretties then go to the smoke, but the reason they leave is their friends. All we need to do us weaken those friendships and the number of uglies that leave will decrease drastically."

"We are aware of that Dr. Shyning, but we can exactly isolate the uglies. The reason most of them want to be pretty is for social exchanges, if we take that away the main incentive is gone."

"I'm not suggesting we get rid of their friends, although that's always and option if worst comes to worst, no I'm suggesting that we create a new kind of person. Not quite as ugly as uglies, not as pretty as pretties, and not as powerful as a special, but stronger then andy normal person. What I'm suggesting is this: we start watching the littlies the same way we watch the uglies, looking for someone who might be special. At age 12 we take those people and perform an operation on them. We make them prettier, but not as perfect as an pretty, that would be to obvious. We improve their strength, speed, and senses. Not to the same degree as a normal Special, no we need to make sure we're more powerful then them just in case, but enough that they're superior to any ugly. Think of it as a new kind of special who, instead of using intimidation and control, uses temptation and manipulation. From age 12 to 16 they will enter the uglies community posing as friends, enemies, or even lovers, doing what ever it takes to make sure that the uglies have one though in their uglies little heads: "I want to be pretty""

Part 1

PAWNS

someone who is used or manipulated to further another person's purposes.

definition of pawn

SUBJECT B23

My bright blue eyes quickly skimmed over the file, scanning faster then any normal ugly could, but then again I wasn't exactly normal. The file seemed average enough, nothing spectacular.

Subject B23

Name: Vardon Alvern

Gender: Male

Birthday: August 25, current age 15

Height: 70.4 in

Weight: 133.2 lb.

Dorm room: 38

Hobbies: chess, Hoverboarding

Contact with smokies: none

Objective: create strong relationship before August 6

Beside the text was a portrait of a young guy with pale grey, green eyes, dark curly brown hair, and pale skin , which as far as I would tell was clear and unmarked, a surprising feature for an ugly. The data was simple enough, but enough for me to get started. In one smooth motion slip the files back into their folder and then in to the drawer that recycled them. What I needed to do now was focus on building my own identity. That was easily the most difficult part of this career. Every month or so you simply have to wash away who you were.. Friend, hobbies, lovers all forgotten. It wasn't easy, but no one said it would be, and besides I was good at this stuff. For this job I actually got to use my real first name, something they only let you do when you're nearing the age of sixteen. Again I pulled out a folder and laid the files of my desk. My new identity. One of hundreds I had assumed during the past four years

Name: Neela Mor

Gender: Female

Birthday: August 6, current age is 15

Height: 64.9 in

Weight: 116.3 lb.

Dorm room: 36

Hobbies: Drawing, hoverboarding

Contact with smokies: none

Role suggested for subject: love interest

I sighed and pushed back my short, carmel hair. I hated being someone's girlfriend. Not that at wasn't good at it, acting attractive was easy enough, I just didn't like the way it made me feel. Revolted, but not by the guy, they were usually decent looking, but revolted by myself. It made me feel like I was one of the Rusties who sold their body although, I didn't usually have sex. It's not like I had a choice though. If the specials said I had to then I would do it. I was a puppet, I was a slave, I was a pawn, and I hated it.

A/N: So what do you think? Love it? Hate it? Let me know in the reviews and just so you know cunstructive critizisim is better then praise that I dont deserve. Please be honest I want to improve my writing. Anyway heres a quick trivia question: Where did Scott get the idea for the uglies series?