[ wp ] In a world where good people grow halos and bad people grow horns , you are a con artist .

The woman looks at me curiously, eyes roving over my head and looking for the signs that should be there. She frowns at my hat. I smile brightly at her, whipping my hat off and bowing low. She scans over my head again. My hair is drawn into a tight bun at the back of my head. She looks notably more interested, seeing my lack of horns or halo. 
 
 “ Hello Madame. ” I sweep my hat to my chest, an award-winning smile on my face. “ I was contacted about your interest in our Halo program. ” She reaches up, touching a hand to the horns on her head. It looks as if I ’ ve caught her before she could hide them. 
 
 “ Yes. ” She opens the door wide, gesturing for me to come in. I step in, following her into a well-furnished kitchen, setting my briefcase down on the table as she takes a seat. I sit beside her, smiling brightly still. 
 
 “ I don ’ t wish to dally around the subject, so do you mind if I head right into it, Miss… ” I look at her expectantly. 
 
 “ Lawson. ” She supplies and I nod, opening the briefcase and beginning to pull my paperwork out. “ I don ’ t mind at all. The sooner the better. ” She touches the horns again with a frown. 
 
 “ Well then, we have a variety of plans, Miss Lawson. ” I lay the plans out in front of her. “ Each with a varying cost. The faster you want it to work, the more it ’ s going to cost. Simple cost and worth of the deeds you do. ” 
 
 “ Why don ’ t you have either? ” She eyes my uncovered head again, the hat sitting beside the briefcase on the table. “ This is good work you ’ re doing. Why no halo? ” 
 
 “ When it ’ s part of your job, you don ’ t get a halo for that. ” I laugh weakly, running a hand over my head. “ I do wish that it counted, I could do my job so much easier for helping people. ” She pauses a while before nodding. 
 
 “ So you null it all out? All the bad things? ” 
 
 “ Oh we can ’ t null it out for you. We work with you to change your horns to a halo. ” I point to the paperwork. “ This is the cheapest of our plans. We contact you and send you out on what one would term a mission, there ’ s a citizen in distress, someone you can help and do good for. ” 
 
 “ Does it work? You said that you don ’ t get a halo for doing a job. ” Miss Lawson frowns as she begins to read the paperwork over. 
 
 “ Ah but this isn ’ t a job in the true sense of the word. ” I offer her another disarming smile. “ You can refuse to do it with no ill effects. I ’ m not going to dock your nonexistent pay or fire you from a nonexistent job position. ” She stays quiet for a while before reaching up and touching the horns again. 
 
 “ What ’ s the difference between the plans? ” She finally asks and I know that she ’ s going to buy something. It doesn ’ t matter what it is. 
 
 I remind her when I leave that based on her plan, a midline plan, she would have slower results than the higher plan but that it was better to do it gracefully. I look up the next address option, reaching up under my hat to rub at my head. A pair of horns are starting to peek through the skin on either side of my head. 
 
 Flipping to the next address, I tilt my head, figuring out the route. Balance is key for a con man in this society. As long as you ’ re balanced, no one ever figures out that you ’ re not being honest with them.
