Artemis was asleep.

Considering the circumstances, that wasn't so unusual. It was nighttime, after all. He had also spent the last few days chasing around the fairy underworld with very little time for rest. To top everything off, he had been diagnosed with a fairy psychosis and obtained an incredibly annoying alter ego.

The unusual thing was that Artemis's mind was fully conscious, and trapped inside itself. He found himself in his office back at Fowl Manor, with its carpet, swivel chairs and desk. However, one of the walls of the office, which usually had several computer screens covering it, was completely blank and uncompromisingly black and deep.

Artemis looked around the room, taking in the comfortingly familiar surroundings and…the door.

He was certain that there hadn't been a door there before, but there it was, set in the same wall as the exit to his office back in the real Fowl Manor. He decided to try it, and was surprised to find it unlocked. It swung open easily and revealed a black space. In order to find out about this discovery, Artemis realized, he was going to have to head through the entrance. There could be a lock on the other side, or there might be a mass of hallucination-induced fours, but Artemis's curiosity was piqued. Against his better judgment, Artemis headed on through.

The door shut behind with a click, and Artemis found himself surrounded by impenetrable blackness. Only a few seconds had passed, however, when a blinding light came on, and was then removed to a spot where it did not sear the retinas of the space's residents.

Artemis's new surroundings were a forest glade, surrounded by a thick stand of trees with the door to his office in a particularly wide-trunked one. This space was also apparently inhabited by the person who Artemis least wanted to meet.

Orion Fowl was seated in the glade, but he did not look like the Orion who appeared outside Artemis's mind. Wearing medieval hose and breeches, and a feathered cap, Orion looked like a 1950s Disney Prince. He was also blond, which was simply absurd, considering that Artemis, and therefore Orion, had dark hair.

The prince rose and nodded to Artemis, then gave an elaborate bow. "Allow me to introduce myself, grand original," he speechified, "I am Orion, unrequited romantic and hero of the fair lady, Captain Short."

Artemis almost gagged. What did he have in common with this squishy romantic idiot? "Why are you here, Orion?" he asked.

"Because we are, as it were, asleep," replied Orion, blissfully unaware of the waves of dislike coming off Artemis, "We are abroad in the land of dreams, despite our regretful unconsciousness."

"So, who's in control of my body?" Artemis wondered aloud, not exactly expecting an answer.

"Not a soul, at the moment," said Orion, "Though I doubt that either of us will be abroad in the wide world when our body awakes from the abyss of slumber."

"Why?" asked Artemis cautiously, "Do you mean that my body will regain consciousness without a mind in control?"

"Absolutely not," explained Orion, "I guess that whoever takes control when we awake will be the inhabitant of that unexplored room," the young prince pointed at another door, set in the far side of the glade, next to a small black pool. At that moment, there was a short pulse of light within the pool.

"Ah," said Orion excitedly, "We awake, and our comrades shall meet a new version of us!"

Artemis blanched and raced back to his chamber, where he was, indeed, waking up.


Angeline Fowl had arrived by shuttle on the Nostremius aquanaut early in the morning, and had spent the last few hours with her sleeping son, in the company of Butler and Holly. She was aware that there was a possibility that it might not be Artemis when he woke up, but she thought that she wouldn't care. After all, he would have Arty's memories, so he would know her.

Butler and Holly tensed when Artemis stirred, worried that the first symptom of the Atlantis Complex Mrs. Fowl would meet would be the sappy Orion Fowl. They were both relieved when the teenager looked at Holly and did not begin spouting romantic platitudes, but they were puzzled that he looked so confused.

The new version of Artemis, for his part, was checking out the room, and was not yet aware that he was in Artemis's body. He expected to see his usual confinement chamber, with the mother of all messes on the floor and the TV that only showed what Artemis was doing. He didn't realize he was outside his head until Mrs. Fowl got uncomfortable.

"Arty? Arty, it's me," she whispered.

The boy wearing Artemis's face turned to her, surprised, and then he recognized her. "I guess you're Artemis's mom?" he queried.

Angeline, shocked, simply nodded.

"Hello, then," the new personality stated, satisfied. He then turned to Butler, "Hey man, my name's Noland," he drawled, getting up and thrusting out his hand for Butler to shake.

Too surprised to do anything else, Butler mutely shook the new personality's hand.

Noland's eyes passed over Holly, lingered for a moment, and then moved on. Holly breathed a sigh. She didn't know whether she was pleased or disappointed that this new Artemis was ignoring her.

A few minutes later, all three of the caregivers were heading out the door to allow Noland to change into the new clothes that Angeline had brought, in the hope that she could coerce her son into wearing them or, failing that, blackmail him. Since "Artemis" was now acting like an average teenager, however, the jeans and "Randomosity" T-shirt had gone over surprisingly well.

"I don't know what I was expecting," gasped Angeline, leaning against a wall, "But I was not expecting to see him so…different."

"Maybe you should have met Orion first, before we got to see someone we didn't know existed," said Holly, slumping against the opposite wall, "Then again, we always knew that this side of Artemis existed, just that Artemis never wanted to let it loose."

"What's wrong with Artemis?" asked Juliet, her jade pendant swinging on her braid as she joined them. "Hello, Mrs. Fowl," she added subserviently to her employer.

"We have a "normal" Artemis on our hands," replied Butler when both Holly and Angeline failed to elaborate, "One with all of Artemis's memories but the mentality of a normal teenager."

If Juliet had been a cartoon character, her eyes would have bugged out several feet, but as it was, the sclera was visible all around her irises. "I have to see this," she yelped, "When can we go in?"

"As soon as Noland Fowl says that we can," answered Holly, rubbing her forehead where a headache had suddenly materialized, "He's getting changed into Artemis's new clothes."

"Honestly," muttered Angeline, "I can't wait to see Arty wearing jeans and a T-shirt, but I would much prefer if he was our Artemis and not someone else."


"Our Artemis" was currently staring at his mindscreen in shock. Not only did he have more than one alter ego, but the one who wasn't a hopeless romantic was a normal teenager. He fell into his swivel chair with a bump just as Orion opened his door and walked in.

"You could knock," said Artemis testily, "And I don't feel like entertaining visitors at the moment."

"I wanted to know what you thought of Noland, actually," Orion sniffed, "I think that he's even worse than you, especially in terms of romance and adventure."

"At least he isn't prone to driveling on about Holly," retorted Artemis.

"You could try being less touchy," Orion grumbled, "Believe me, Your Grumpiness, I don't enjoy constant company either, but we have to live together for now, so we may as well make the best of the dark times."

Artemis put his head in his hands and screamed.


Noland was enjoying being in the real world. Sure, he had to put up with Artemis's physical limits, but at least he could talk to people and do more than lie in his bed. He called Artemis's friends back in once he was feeling comfortable and not dressed like an invalid, and was not surprised to see that Juliet came too, who giggled brightly at the sight of "Artemis" wearing such normal clothing. Noland blushed, pleased that he seemed to have made a good first impression.

"Do you fairy people have any food?" he asked Holly, "We slept for way too long, and I am starved."

"Is there any particular food you would like?" asked Holly, wondering whether to honour Artemis's liking for expensive cuisine or order Noland a burger and fries.

"I dunno," Noland shrugged, "My guess would be that I share Artemis's food tastes, considering that we share the same body chemistry, so I'll just go with whatever Artemis would usually have."

"Butler, Angeline, maybe you should help me," said Holly as she looked at the Nostremius's menu, "I wouldn't want to order the wrong thing for Mud Boy."

The three adults left, leaving Juliet with express orders to keep an eye on Noland and keep him within his room. They didn't know enough about this personality yet to be sure it wasn't toying with them, waiting to escape and wreak havoc.

While the others perused the menu, Noland and Juliet spent the time chatting.

"So, you're part of Artemis?" Juliet asked skeptically, "I always assumed that Artemis's "normal" levels were too low to show up in this kind of way."

"Yup, I'm a part of Artemis" replied Noland, "As far as I can tell, there were personalities formed by the Atlantis Complex for the parts of our personality Artemis was dwelling on.

"That's why sap boy was the first to appear," Noland continued, "Artemis was worrying about Holly, so the ick he feels for Holly became a personality, along with the lack of his guilt."

"Then how were you created?" smirked Juliet, "Artemis doesn't usually seem to dwell on being normal."

"True," conceded Noland, "But he was worrying so much about pleasing Angeline that he accidentally made me," he shrugged, "And being able to be the dominant personality is pretty cool, so I'm not complaining there."

"I have an urge to give you an IQ test," said Juliet, "You seem to be just as smart as Artemis, but I can't tell."

Noland rolled his eyes. "Same memories, same knowledge," he provided, "I just don't think that being smart makes me better than everyone else," he shrugged, "I just wanna be normal."

"You're doing a pretty good job of that," Juliet pointed out.

At this point, the sandwiches that Angeline and Butler had recommended that Holly order arrived, and Noland spent the rest of the day surrounded by people, including Doctor Jerbal Argon, who basically interrogated Noland while noting down everything he said. Noland was careful to keep up the pretense of lacking Artemis's mental capacity, which the others were quick to notice and played along. Noland was also aware that everything he said would be used in Argon's eventual book, so divulged as little about Artemis and the Atlantis Complex as possible. Argon left disappointed, leaving Noland exhausted. After eating a light dinner, he quickly fell asleep.

"I was expecting him to stay up late," admitted Angeline, staring at her sleeping son, "Isn't that what teenagers do?"

"My guess is that having a new personality awaken put a lot of stress on Artemis's mind," said Foaly, who had arrived during the day to "monitor Noland's behavior," which was Foaly's code for "collecting material for blackmail." "It probably needs to rest to better assimilate Noland."

"Whatever the reason, I'm glad he's asleep," said Holly, "I want to talk to Artemis tomorrow."

"Hopefully its Artemis we see," Butler pointed out, "Artemis was dwelling on a lot of things when the Atlantis Complex developed, and if we can believe Noland, then there might be many more personalities to come."


Meanwhile, Artemis and Orion had found that the door to Noland's room was also unlocked, and had marched in only to trip over the masses of clothing and homework on the floor.

"Hey," was the only greeting Noland provided. He was sprawled on his bed, reading a book. Like Orion, he also looked nothing like Artemis. He had long, wavy brown hair and a tanned, handsome face. He was of an average build, shorter than Orion and taller than Artemis.

Artemis groaned at the sight of what he was wearing; apparently Noland really liked Angeline Fowl's sense of style, and he was wearing the clothes he had worn all day, several sizes larger of course.

"Must you wear those creations," groused Artemis.

"I like them, so I wear them" answered Noland, then he looked up and caught Artemis's eye, "And don't even try to get rid of them by playing mind games, Artemis. Both of us are stronger than you and share your knowledge."

"I surmised that," replied Artemis archly, then he frowned, "Who will be dominant when I wake up tomorrow?"

"Not we," Orion gestured at Noland, "Most likely either you or another, as yet unsurfaced, version of ourselves."

"Great," muttered Artemis, "Just great."

Both of the personalities looked at him.

"I get to see another version of me mess with my life," Artemis explained.