Template:Featured Articles/29-2022

Moment of Awesome - Hope Abbott/Trance: A seemingly ordinary trip to town hall for information turns into something more for Hope and Quentin Quire. Hope efficiently scanned several quotes from caterers for a Victorian style charity gala that she was planning as they waited, frowning at some of the truly idiotic dishes they had come up with. One even had gone for the Titanic menu, completely forgetting that this was from the Edwardian period. Glancing up at QQ, she noticed he was focused on his phone as well. They never spoke much when they were sent out together and things had become even weirder after she'd become trapped in his head. Yet when she tossed him another glance and noticed two men writhing on the phone screen, Hope could not stop herself from sending him an incredulous: "Seriously?!?" Quentin plucked out an earbud and glanced at her, raising an eyebrow. "Yeah, I don't think this one is gonna get many views, either. He wasn't particularly good, just kind of pushing rope. Oh, don't give me that look. It's the least offensive thing you'll see here in this flatscan bureaucracy hell today." Rolling her eyes at him, Hope hissed in a low voice: "Watch whatever of that stuff you like. Just not here, because if you get us kicked out and I have to get back into this line alone or even navigate this bureaucratic hell alone, I will ruin your online reputation in whatever way I can." "That sounds like a challenge. I would love to see it." Still, he put his phone away and decided to spend his queue time perusing the thoughts of the thankless clerks at the counter. Nothing intrusive, just an assessment of the day's troubles and what to expect when they got called up. "Ugh, she won't stop thinking about how her husband is leaving her," he muttered, eyeing one of the clerks. "If she keeps blubbering over that guy she's helping, then I can see why he's packing up. Still, I'm sure she's desperate to please someone. She might not ask too many questions." "Or she might just decide to take it out upon her customers." Hope commented cynically, having tucked her own phone in her tote. "The man over there is telephoning his wife about not being able to get the papers because an initial is out of place?" Glancing over at the other clerks, she spotted a sour faced woman with a tight bun and black glasses. "And behold, is that not the woman you managed to get in an argument with the last time. Something about being a hoodlum?" "How could she have called me that when my shoes alone cost more than her whole Dress Barn wardrobe? These are Louboutin!" Which he was wasting standing in this infernal line. It felt like an eternity before they were finally called up, thankfully not to either clerk they had clocked as a screaming match waiting to happen. Instead, just a generic civil service schlub. Nothing interesting going on in his brain, just waiting out the clock until his lunch break. Quentin felt a modicum of something approaching sympathy, but it was gone just as quickly as it came. After all, if this person had any self-respect, then he would have taken literally any other job. Hope immediately pulled out her business smile and removed a neat folder from her tote. "Good afternoon. We would like to request the property records for the following three properties since they were not available digitally." Removing three forms from the folder she quickly gave them a final once over before handing over the forms. "I believe that is everything that is required?" The civic automaton wordlessly took the forms and turned to his computer. He paused after a few seconds, something approaching an actual human emotion passing over his face before he erased it just as quickly. "One moment, please," he said, standing up. "I need to speak with a colleague." Quentin raised an eyebrow at Hope as the man retreated, and then extended his mind to follow him into a back office. "Well, this is fucking fishy," he said. "Did you use the wrong color pen?" "Not unless blue ink suddenly is an issue." Hope stared at the door the man had vanished through. "It is all double checked, initialized and filled out in triplicate. No, something more is going on here. He did not even have the time to look at the forms properly. He barely glanced at the properties we wanted information on..." She took a quick glance around her and lowered her voice: "You better take a peek at what's going on. I cannot... not here in the open."