A/N: Cripes. I am so sorry. Here are the two reasons why:
1) It has been months since I last made a DarkeSword's ReMixes Oneshot, and
2) This one is only about 1,500 words long. I try to make all chapters at least 2k words. That's not the case with the other ReMixes oneshots, because they're older, but whatever.
Now, as with all of these oneshots, I strongly recommend listening to the original track while reading. To do so, go to ocremix . org, search for the artist DarkeSword, and check out the song of this title. This is especially important in this one, because the times remaining in the story correlate directly to times remaining in the one-minute-twenty-eight-second track.
And now, enjoy.
DarkeSword's ReMixes Project
Piece Six: Time Slips Away
May 27th, 20XX – Cahartha Storage Facility, 4 minutes and 28 seconds to Nova Bomb detonation
Artemis rubbed his hands together to stave off the cold of the refrigerated warehouse. Kneeling down on the frigid steel floor, he read the numerical readout of the time remaining until detonation. 4:27. Not long enough – not by half.
The young Irishman pinched the bridge of his nose, breathing though it heavily. There was only one option – try to disarm the bomb within four minutes and twenty-six seconds. This was a problem.
The Nova Bomb, properly the Nova-class Anima-Biological Energy Explosive, was in essence a massively powerful bio-bomb; though calling it massively powerful did it no justice. Artemis frankly admired Opal for her tenacity and determination in getting it built. It was powerful enough that on detonation it would launch a bio-bomb's energy pulse that would reach every corner of the planet. If Artemis failed, then in four minutes and twenty-seven seconds Earth would be a dead planet, devoid of animal life.
He booted up the computer which was running the bomb's countdown-detonation program. His shoulders sagged the instant he saw the screen.
Opal had developed an Eternity Code. What he was about to attempt was said to be impossible even given time – and that was one thing he did not now possess.
"Can you do it, Artemis?" Holly asked behind him. She stood there, along with Trouble Kelp and a human officer of the United States' Navy SEALs who'd been dragged into this mess under unusual circumstances.
"Probably not," said Artemis flatly. "But I can try."
"You have to get this right Mud Boy," Trouble snarled. "All of our lives are at stake."
"Who was it who let Opal stay free this long?" Artemis responded instantly. "Her capture wasn't my jurisdiction. You didn't try to get her in hard enough, and now we're all paying the price."
"Why you little…" Trouble began, but the SEAL, Christopher Huston, interrupted.
"You, Elf, are in no position to be calling anyone little," He said in a monotone. "And now shut up. Mr. Fowl needs to focus."
"Thank you, Mr. Huston," said Artemis, already engrossed in the program.
He made astoundingly quick progress – the imminent end of the world was quite a good motivational force, and he was trained in using stress to advance his performance rather than hinder it. For a while he began to hope that he might actually manage to do what was needed.
That was until the countdown read 3:48, when he hit the first major firewall.
He blinked in shock at its sophistication. He wondered how Opal had made it – he himself would have taken months to do something this powerful, and wouldn't have bothered anyway, thinking it unnecessary. She seemed quite determined to end his life. To end all of their lives – including her own. What, he wondered, could have driven her so far into madness? What could have destroyed her enough that she was willing to die and destroy all life just to get back at her enemies? It was clearly a sign that she'd lost all hope in ever defeating him – realized his superior intellect. But, he thought, looking at the timer, that fact doesn't give me as much pleasure as it might have.
He was able – just barely – to push through the firewall without the core language of the code transforming in retaliation and losing him valuable time, but it did take a while – and he was running short of seconds now. He gritted his teeth and a bead of sweat dripped down his brow – both uncharacteristic shows of tension.
"Even you can't do it, Artemis," he heard Opal say in his memory, tauntingly. "It's impossible to break into the code in the amount of time you'll have. I'll die, you'll die, we'll all die – and I will have won."
"Curse you, Opal," he muttered to himself.
"Are you managing, Artemis?" Holly asked worriedly. "Is there anything any of us can do to help?"
"No," said Artemis tersely, "And no, except by being quiet – unless one of you knows how to break this code."
No one answered and he continued his laboring. Opal was good, he knew – had always known; very good. He also knew that he was better. But what did that matter? She'd had years to prepare this trick – he only had four minutes and twenty-eight seconds. Correction, he thought, looking at the flashing 2:20 on the timer, Two minutes and twenty seconds.
He had by now gotten through a good few firewalls and here was a stretch of fairly easy code – not too difficult to crack. He began to relax ever so slightly. If everything continued as it was with no unforeseen problems, he decided after running a couple mental calculations that he'd likely be done with over thirty seconds to spare. Good – but he couldn't relax. There might well be unforeseen problems. It would be just like her.
He navigated himself through the code in silence, admiring his enemy's skill as he did so. She was brilliant – that he could not deny. It was a shame that her talents were so ill-used. Suddenly he came upon something that seemed… odd – a strange deviation in the code – something that seemed out of place. It was one letter of code that should have been something else. A typo? he wondered, Or something else, more sinister?
He passed it by – there was no time to contemplate it or to check his previous calculations. He was running short of that.
Suddenly the easy stretch he had been enjoying gave way to a sudden blank stretch followed by another painfully difficult firewall. Artemis looked at the timer and allowed himself to clench his fist when he saw the amount on the clock. 1:22. One minute and twenty-two seconds. He was running out of time. He forced his mind into overdrive, pushing everything he had into cracking the code before him. Trouble made a strange, strangled noise of what might have been suppressed terror behind him, but Holly instantly shushed him.
Artemis' fingers were flying over the keyboard he had brought to hook into the computer now, and his eyes were darting at maddened speeds over the screen. He had somehow been lured into what was almost a trap by the code. It was almost as though it was itself actively trying to stop him – which, he realized, it was. It was an Eternity Code – AIs were said to be common in such things. He clenched his teeth and forced his way out of the box the enemy had sealed him in and pushed past. He was in a constant chain of firewalls and blockages now, with no respite between, and always the clock kept ticking, ticking…
Another trap averted. Another seal avoided. He was losing focus now, the strain of constant force on his brain starting to show. But there wasn't time. Not for anything. Not to stop, not to rest, not to slow down.
It was said that time was the only thing men truly possessed. Artemis almost chuckled as that thought crossed his mind. If only it were true – time was exactly what he needed more of now.
And then it was done. He had reached the core mechanic of the countdown. He lunged in with his fingers on the keys and set the program to disarm the bio-bomb.
Suddenly the computer closed the program on him and refused to open it again at his command. The timer was still running, however. He looked at the time remaining – 0:26. What is happening? he wondered.
And then everything was clear. It was so simple; he laughed softly as it came to him. The typo, the shutdown; everything fit.
"What is it?" Holly asked breathlessly. "Did it work?"
"I don't know," Artemis said, his laughter growing raucous. "I don't know! Ha, ha! Opal, you ingenious pixie! You vain bitch!"
"What?" asked Trouble, his voice slightly high with panic. "What is it?"
"She programmed it," Artemis said, still chuckling, "So that there were multiple interpretations of the language. Therefore, there were multiple points at which one could finish the program – but any but the right one wouldn't work! And, to top that, she set the program to close all command prompts once whatever end was reached so we'd be left in suspense until the final moment! Even if she loses, she wants us to panic!"
He looked back at the clock – ten seconds. He stood up.
"Well," he said, looking at Holly, who blinked. "At this point, I don't think I have much left to lose."
And, leaning in, he embraced her small form. Their lips locked. He thought he heard Huston chuckle slightly, and Trouble gave a half-cry, half-squeak of surprise and outrage.
"Mud Man!" he began, but the rest was drowned out of Artemis' mind as Holly started to kiss back.
The lip lock lasted only five seconds, but they were the longest five seconds of Artemis' too-short life. As they broke apart, he turned and stood beside her, looking at the clock.
0:05.
"I'm glad you're here," he said to Holly. "I could have never done that otherwise."
She laughed slightly, and it was almost a giggle. "I might actually love you, Mud Boy," she said.
"Mud Man, thank you," said Artemis with a grin.
0: 02.
Holly took his hand.
0:01
He squeezed hers.
Their eyes – all four pairs of them – shut in unison.
0:00.
Time.
A/N: As I said, I'm sorry about the shortness, but I really couldn't lengthen it any more. If you liked this story, you can do one (or more) of these four things:
You could review.
You could favorite this story.
You could check out my other DarkeSwrod's ReMixes Oneshots.
You could look into my full-length fanfictions.
Even if you don't do any of these things, I thank you for reading. Adieu!