Artemis Fowl was cleaning out his lab. It was a disaster in there and he knew it needed to be done sooner or later. He had just hoped it could have been later, but when Angeline Fowl caught one glimpse of it she ordered him in there and locked the door. The boy genius could have easily gotten out, but he decided against it simply because he adored his mother.
As he sorted through piles and piles of paper with flawed equations, working equations, and other projects, he heard a car door slam. Glancing out the window he saw a woman with red hair climb out of a black SUV in the drive. She looked vexed. A thousand possibilities were swamping Artemis' brain. Who was she? By the looks of her jacket she was a government agent. She had some sort of insignia on her sleeve that he couldn't quite make out from this distance. She moved her hand to the her ear to listen to someone saying something and then walked out of view. Artemis sighed and went back to work cleaning his lab. It wasn't that he was not curious - in fact he was burning with curiosity - but he knew that if she was there for any important matter he would be alerted. In the mean time… those files were a mess.
In a few minutes Juliet opened the lab door. "Some one here to see you Artemis."
The young man stood up, accidently bumping a pile of papers and scattering them on the floor. He sighed and elected to ignore them for the time being. He left the lab with Juliet leading him to a sitting room. Inside Mr. and Mrs. Fowl sat on one sofa and the red haired woman sat on another, Butler was standing in the corner giving the newcomer a suspicious look.
"Arty," Mrs. Fowl smiled, "This is Agent Romanoff of… what did you say your organization was called again?"
"SHIELD, which stands for Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcment, and Logistics Division - it's a agency dedicated to keeping the world safe. You may have heard, we had a hand in taking care of incident in New York." Agent Romanoff smiled politely.
Artemis had, of course, heard of this and known of SHIELD before the time of the attack, but he decided it would be best not to let on that he knew so much. "Oh yes, I believe I read something about it online. A pleasure to meet you." He offered his hand and a small smile.
Romanoff shook his hand and he sat down in a chair, apart from the rest. He wondered what this had to do with him and came to a thousand possible conclusions. He supposed he would have to wait for her to give out a little more information.
"Agent Romanoff was just telling us that they'd heard about some of your projects, Artemis," Mrs. Fowl gave him a warning look while still appearing hospitable to the guest, "Seems she and her agency are interested in buying into some of them."
Artemis straightened his tie. "Oh? Which projects would those be? I have so many."
"Could we perhaps talk about this, just you and me?" She asked.
"I'm afraid not. Whatever you have to say to me you can say in front of my family," He looked pointedly at his father, "Fowls don't keep secrets from each other, after all."
The agent sat up straighter and seemed to gain a more hostile appearance. "Let me be frank: SHIELD has quite a bit of dirt on the Fowl name, enough to bring you in, should we so desire."
Mr. Fowl cocked an eyebrow. "It is no secret that the Fowls have been involved in some… unsavory business, but that is all in the past. I am a legitimate businessman, my son is a scientist, we no longer partake in such enterprises."
"So you wouldn't mind if I sent some agents to search your property?" She quickly bit back, "Or perhaps look into little Arty's bank account? Or maybe you'd like to talk about a Mr. Jon Spiro?"
The three Fowls and two Butlers all exchanged distasteful looks. Artemis Jr. gave a short chuckle at the name.
"And what do you know of our dealings with Mr. Spiro?" He asked, hoping to know exactly how much this woman knew about him and his encounter with the American businessman.
"I know he and you had a business meeting in London. I know he stole some sort of supercomputer from you and that he nearly killed Mr. Butler. I also know that, with the help of some unidentified associates, you both retrieved the computer and set Spiro up to be caught," She looked him in the eye and scowled, "What I don't know is what happened to the computer or how you managed to break into the Spiro Needle. Care to enlighten me?"
"No, I don't particularly care to, thank you. Perhaps you would care to tell me what this is really about?" He made a steeple with his fingers and leaned forward a little, "A busy agent such as yourself probably doesn't want to waste any more time than she should."
"Alright, here's the deal. SHIELD caught wind of what that computer can do. They have picked Spiro's former employee's brains, but none of them know how it works." Romanoff told the family.
"Of course not. They couldn't begin to know how to use it or recognize its full potential. They never cracked the eternity code that protected it." Artemis snorted.
"If some of the top scientists in the world couldn't figure this little cube out, we want to know how a teenager built it," She gave them a bright smile, "The director of SHIELD would like to invite young Artemis to our base and have him talk with some of our guys."
"I suppose I will be expected to bring the C Cube?"
"The computer? Well yes, that is what the director was hoping…"
"I'm afraid I no longer have access to it." He answered shortly. When the mindwipe had occurred the LEP had taken the C Cube with them and Artemis was yet to discover what they had done with it.
"Really? How's that? Didn't you create it?"
"Indeed, but I… gave it away."
"You gave away a piece of technology that is fifty years ahead of all other tech? And you expect me to believe that?" The redhead laughed.
"My associates, who helped retrieve it, decided that it would be in the best interest of everyone if they were in sole possession of it. I gave them the plans, the cube, and all information regarding it. There is no way that I could bring along the C Cube to your base."
She looked at him dubiously. "Your file says you have a near photographic memory. Couldn't you just remember what was on the plans and remake it?"
"Even if I wanted to I could not. I would require certain equipment that is nearly impossible to obtain," He shook his head when she looked ready to object, "I know that SHIELD is rather good at getting such items, but these are most definitely not available to even the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcment, and Logistics Division."
"Fine, I'll take your word for it, kid. What do you say of the offer to come visit our base?"
Artemis looked to his parents, who seemed slightly overwhelmed. He looked to his faithful bodyguard, who seemed a little on edge. Finally, he glanced at the communicator ring on his finger. What would his fairy friends have to say about this? He knew that he wouldn't be doing anything that directly affected them, but it still felt wrong to even discuss the C Cube with anyone.
"What exactly would this visit entail?"
"A trip through our labs, a chat with the director and a few other higher-ups, and if you're lucky, lunch." She smiled, genuinely this time.
Artemis thought it through briefly. He didn't know exactly what he would be "chatting" about with the director of SHIELD, or what they would ask him, but he felt confident that he could visit SHIELD and still keep the People a secret. He nodded his head. "Alright, as long as my parents agree."
Angeline smiled. "If you'd like to go Artemis, I'm fine with it."
"As long as Butler goes too." Mr. Fowl agreed.
Agent Romanoff shook their hands. "Excellent. How soon can you be ready to go?"
"In just a moment, please excuse me." Artemis stood and exited the room to go and pack his bags. The red haired agent watched him go with a smug expression on her face. Fury would sing her praises after this.