The First Real Fans

“Why does it look like it wants to throw hands with the door?” Aiden muttered. The manager rubbed her forehead. “His name is Duke. He’s always like this.” Aiden almost laughed. He checked the door frame, the track, and the angle of the floor, then did something nobody expected. He did not force the gate open. Instead, he copied the tiny twist accumulated in the frame and the floor vibration, then let them slowly settle back in the opposite direction. The steel gate gave a quiet click. Then it opened smoothly, as if it had suddenly remembered that opening was its original job. The dogs poured out at once, while a few cats panicked harder and launched themselves toward the roof beams. The whole site instantly turned into another kind of chaos.