Prologue
Foaly's Lab, Haven City
Foaly was tired and his eyes stung. It was late and the darkness was creeping in. In order to avoid curious eyes, he had turned off all unnecessary lights, leaving only a single lamp and several gas screens to light up the small room. After several hours of this poor lighting, he was just about to shut everything else down when there was a knock at the door.
He jumped at the sudden noise, then grumbled "It's about time,"
He trotted over to the door of the lab, fumbled briefly with various locks, and eventually swung it open to reveal a diminutive figure clad in a dark cloak. The figure gasped at the sudden movement, involuntarily lifting his head. Bright orange eyes shone out from under the hood, and Foaly grinned, immediately knowing this was the person he had been expecting.
"No.1. You finally made it."
No.1, the young demon warlock, smiled fondly and whispered, "Sorry I'm late, Foaly. Loads of sick people today and the other warlocks needed me at the hospital. Must be a stomach bug going around."
The two of them stepped out of the cool night air and into the dim lab. In the corner, a shining silver pod gleamed, reflecting the small light available. Next to it was a small screen with various numbers and lines moving at a steady rate. Life support monitors.
"I'm going to need a bit more light than this to work. Can't you just draw some blinds, or something?" the young demon asked.
"Nope. We don't want anyone getting suspicious, do we?" Foaly replied tersely.
"Nobody will get suspicious. Anyone in their right mind is in their home, getting some sleep. And even if someone is awake at this ungodly hour, all they will think is that the Great Foaly is working on some crazy invention that will make their lives better."
The centaur sighed in resignation and flicked on an overhead light. The sudden change in brightness made his eyes sting even more, and he surreptitiously wiped away some involuntary tears.
No.1 nodded quickly at Foaly, both thanking him and beckoning him at the same time.
He wants me to open the pod. Foaly thought, then; I must be really tired to have needed to think that.
He clopped over and hesitated, his hand hovering over the button to release the latch. He couldn't see inside the pod at all, as the glass was fogged over due to the heavy breathing of its contents.
The clone is weak, he realized with a start. Clones aren't supposed to be this weak. It could die if this doesn't work. I wonder what made it this...weak.
No.1 stood behind him, waiting for him to open the pod. He coughed loudly, bringing Foaly back to reality.
"Any time, Foaly." He glanced over the centaur's shoulder and saw two things. One, the fogged glass; evidence of the clone's ragged and heavy breathing. And two, he saw the fear and worry on his old friend's long face. "It's fine," No.1 assured him, "It doesn't have a soul, yet. If our experiment doesn't work, no harm done. If it does, it will heal. I can heal it. Although, you know as well as I do that it probably won't work. This is my first attempt at the spell, after all." The demon smiled to show Foaly that, no matter what, it would work out in the end.
Foaly grinned weakly in return. "I know the spell probably won't work. That's why I chose him to clone. It probably won't survive, so we can save success for a...safer donor." But Foaly knew in his heart that this reasoning was flimsy, at best. He stepped back, not wanting to end a life, even if it was doomed to death the moment of it's creation. "You open it. Just press that red button. I don't want to be responsible."
No.1 stared at his friend, his powers of empathy revealing the centaur's internal moral conflict and anxiety.
"Of course, Foaly. No need for you to be responsible." No.1 took a deep breath, and pressed the button.
There was a soft click, and the lid of the silver pod popped up like the trunk of a Mud Man's car. Steam immediately poured out the sides. It was all very melodramatic and sci-fi.
No.1 peered in and saw nothing but the clone. Its familiar face stared up at the ceiling, blue eyes piercing in through the smoke. The display on the screen next to the pod suddenly changed, the heart monitor beating faster, blood pressure rose, all vitals deteriorating.
"I-I should have warned you," Foaly stammered, "during its growth, th-there was a power surge, so, uh, it-the clone, I mean- it is still unstable, and it might b-be physically...different, a bit, from the original, um, donor, and-"
No.1 cut him off. "It's okay, Foaly. I can fix it." He turned back to the pod. Placing his grey hands on the clone's forehead. It is already warm, he thought, On the verge of feverish.
The demon warlock focused his magic on the clone. He scanned its DNA with his mind, and pulled knowledge and memories and life from the strands.
There isn't enough, he thought, panicking. I can't give it all its memories. But the demon forged on, giving it all he had, determined to succeed.
And in an instant he was done. No.1 sank to his knees, exhausted by the ordeal. On the screen, life signs evened out, showing that the clone was now peaceful and its vitals stable, if not at the peak of health. I must have healed it while I restored its intelligence, No.1 thought dully. Then the world came back into focus as his magic was restored. The young warlock stood up and turned to Foaly.
"I did what I could. If it worked, this clone will have the same knowledge, memories, and emotions as the original. Does it have a name, by the way?"
Foaly had been watching nervously the entire time. He had mixed feelings about the whole thing. On one hand, he desperately wanted it to work, desperately didn't want the clone to die. On the other hand, he didn't want the clone to be as intelligent as its DNA donor. For although the original didn't know it, Foaly had actually cloned Artemis Fowl the second, teenage genius and former criminal mastermind. The world isn't ready for another Fowl, he realized.
"What? Oh. It-his name, at least his technical name, is A2.2. But I suppose, knowing Artemis like I do, he will tell us himself what he wants to be called."
Despite Foaly's almost jovial tones, he didn't want to see his friend's handiwork. No.1 was still looking into the pod, however, searching for signs of intelligence.
No.1 frowned, studying A2.2's features. Something was off somehow, and it took the demon a moment to pinpoint it. "His hair is too long," he exclaimed.
Foaly barely paid attention. He was busy with the life support systems for the pod. "Of course, it-he has long hair. It hasn't been cut yet."
But No.1 wasn't reassured completely. He was about to voice his concerns when his demon empathy sensed something.
"He's waking up!" he cried.
Foaly immediately stopped what he was doing and stared in wonder at the pod's surface. His position prevented him from seeing A2.2's face.
The clone groaned and tried to sit up, and struggled when he realized that he was bound to the pod by thick leather straps.
"Calm down, relax,"' No.1 whispered gently. "You just woke up for the first time, and we don't want you to hurt yourself."
A2.2 settled, and turned his head to face No.1. His blue eyes shone bright with life and an unmistakable will to live.
"Tell me, do you know what your name is?" A nod from the clone. "Do you think you can speak?" Another nod. "Why don't you try? Tell me your name, to start."
No.1 leaned in with excitement. Foaly couldn't stand to look at A2.2's face. It reminded him too much of his good friend. What if this one is completely different from the Artemis I know? Foaly couldn't bear to think about it.
A2.2 took a deep, ragged breath, and said "My...name...is...A...Artemis...Artemis Fowl."
No.1 squealed with glee, and Foaly heaved a huge sigh of relief.
The young demon regained his composure and whispered gently, "I am pleased to meet you, Artemis. My name is-"
"No.1. I am...aware. Some...of my...m...memories...are...are intact. If I...am not..." he took a huge gasping breath, "mistaken, F...Foaly sh...should be...around here...some...somewhere."
"I'm right here, Artemis." Foaly blurted. He trotted over to the pod and tried to take No.1's place in front of the pod, but the warlock held up a hand to stop him.
Arty's voice is...higher. Almost feminine, Foaly mused. But then he dismissed these thoughts, rationalizing that the boy was using his vocal chords for the first time, and was perhaps unsure how they worked.
"How much do you remember?" No.1 asked, in an eager tone. Artemis took several breaths, trying to fill his weak lungs. "On second thought," No.1 hurried, "How about I say something, and you just nod if you can remember, alright?" The boy in the pod nodded gratefully, glad to be able to save his small amount of air.
After several minutes of questioning and empathic reading, they were able to determine that Artemis retained his general genius, and also had a vague idea of who No.1, Foaly, Holly, Mulch, the Butlers and a few other people were. However, he did not have any specific memories, such as those of his adventures with fairies, or humans, for that matter.
Finally, No.1 let Foaly see the conscious and intelligent clone, but warned him that he sensed something wrong with the clone's body itself. Not just the difficulty breathing, but something bigger, more important. Foaly brushed aside these warnings, and gazed into A2.2's pod.
"D'Avrit," he mumbled. "No.1 was right."
For when the centaur saw A2.2 laying there, he realized the gravity of that power surge. Physical differences, indeed.
The boy in the pod had Artemis Fowl's face, but it was not quite right. There were some small differences in the shape of the face, and when Foaly took a closer look at the clone's body he realized just why that was, and felt shock run through him.
He...he's a girl!