A/N: Hello again! Here is chap 4. Someone asked if it was A/OC (and admittedly, I had to ask what that was) but yes, it will be. Anyway, this chapter is 'enter: the fairies' so it's starting to get exciting- I hope. Enjoy :)
The next day when Tali walked into film and drama class she was immediately pushed into a corner by Kat and Viva.
"Tali, we've hit a wall." Viva said.
"What? What do you mean?"
"Well," Kat began, looking worried, an expression unusual for her. "I was thinking about the project, and I realized that normal flirting won't work with Artemis. He won't go for you just because you sexy. You need to have something in common with him, or something stupid like that. You know, interests and stuff."
Tali raised her eyebrows.
"Well, what are his interests?"
"That's the problem," Viva said, "We don't exactly know."
Tali frowned.
"I thought you guys were, like, experts on this guy?"
"Well, we kind of are," Kat said defensively, "We know he's a loser, a genius and a social retard. But we don't know much about his interests."
Tali pouted, thinking. But no solution presented itself to her.
They spent the lesson trying to guess Artemis' interests, which got less likely and more funny as the lesson progressed. By the end Artemis was an obsessive collector of rare plastic hippos, who made virtual gardens and rearranged his shoes in his spare time. They listed all these possibilities and Kat put the list in a folder she had labeled 'Operation: Destroy Artemis'.
After school they were planning on going to Artemis' school again, in the hopes of catching a glimpse of him and his plastic hippo collection. Or, if they couldn't, just seeing what his real interests were.
As they passed through town, discussing ways of finding his interests, Viva rang the dentist on her mobile phone.
"I'm just going to call the dentist and make an appointment- my mum told me to." she rolled her eyes and made the call. She had only just started speaking when her phone made a beeping noise and turned itself off.
"Stupid thing! It's out of battery!" she said.
"Here's a payphone, just go in here." Kat said, pointing to a payphone further up the street.
Viva went in to the payphone, leaving the door open. Tali and Kat stood in the doorway as Viva dialed the number on a business card.
"Hi, I called before but my phone died, I'm still wondering about the time for my dentist appointment?" she said,
"One moment please," said the receptionist, and annoying 'on-hold' music started playing.
Viva dropped the payphone, not even bothering to cover the mouth piece.
"We have to crack this guys secrets. The operation will be a complete stuff up if we can't get this." Kat said, examining her fingernails which were painted a deep orange.
"But how do we 'crack him'?" Tali asked. "Artemis Fowl is kind of secretive. It's not like we can talk to his bodyguard for information."
"What about the maid?" Viva asked. "You know, the Eurasian girl that always wears the green eye makeup. She could tell us something. We're not that much younger than she is."
Kat shrugged.
"I think she's pretty close to Artemis though. We need someone who won't tell Artemis what we're doing. It won't work if he knows what we're planning." She grinned mischievously. "Total destruction."
"What about his friends? Or just kids from his school?" Tali suggested.
Kat frowned. "I don't know about friends- doubt he has any- but random St Bartlebys kids might work."
Viva nodded and put the phone back to her ear. She rolled her eyes.
"Still on hold." she said, "Screw this, I don't have this much change."
She cancelled the call and a few coins rolled into the return box.
"This will be the best film project ever!" she said.
Hundreds of miles below the ground, Foaly received an email from the Sentinel system. It was the same program that had alerted him to Artemis' call two years previously, the call that had saved Butler's life. He still got a lot of alerts from the program, but one stood out as being unusual. Instead of the usual words, it had a name that had only recently been added to the list. Artemis Fowl.
He played the tape, listening to the voice of a human girl asking about her dentist appointment. The call was put on hold at the Irish dental clinic, and another girl started talking.
"We have to crack this guys secrets. The operation will be a complete stuff up if we can't get this."
"But how do we 'crack him'? Artemis Fowl is kind of secretive. It's not like we can talk to his bodyguard for information."
"What about the maid? You know, the girl that always wears the green eye makeup. She could tell us something. We're not that much younger than she is."
"I think she's pretty close to Artemis though. We need someone who won't tell Artemis what we're doing. It won't work if he knows what we're planning. Total destruction."
"What about his friends? Or just kids from his school?"
"I don't know about friends- doubt he has any- but random St Bartlebys kids might work."
The conversation seemed to end there, because the first girl said,
"Still on hold. Screw this, I don't have this much change." and disconnected.
Foaly sat back on his specially designed desk chair. Sure, it wasn't the stuff they normally followed up. There was no threat to fairy existence in this conversation. But there did seem to be a threat to Artemis Fowl. Once, Foaly would have given them the information they needed himself, but like a lot of members of the LEP, he had grown to like the annoying Mudboy. Artemis was without doubt a friend to the people. And it sounded like these people were planning to kill him. Total destruction. While Foaly doubted they would succeed- the girls sounded young and had Butler to contend with- if he did nothing and something happened to Artemis, he would feel terrible. And so he radioed the only officer who he knew would understand.
Holly Short was already above ground, on her way to Tara, to return to Haven. She had been surveying a human in Finland, who had been relocated after a mind wipe. Usually relocation was not necessary, especially for a human who had only caught a glimpse of a junior officer on his way to perform the ritual, but this particular human worked in a 'magic' shop, and pictures of fairies were everywhere. Although it was doubtful that these completely inaccurate images would cause recall, it was best to be on the safe side. Holly had reported that none of their original personality remained and they were settling into life in the small Finish village.
She was enjoying the feeling of flying- the wind on her visor, the slipstream tugging at her toes, the fresh surface air- when she heard Foaly's voice in her helmet earpiece.
"Holly. Before you come back down, I need you to check something."
Holly pulled up and hovered in the air.
"What is it?" she asked.
"A message from Sentinel. I know how much you love those."
Holly rolled her eyes. Last time she had responded to a Sentinel message, the outcome was not what she expected.
"Another kid on his PC?"
"No. This isn't your usual alert. It came from a phone box in Wicklow. I'm sending you the file now."
A sound file appeared on Holly's helmet. Slowly she descended, shielding as she did so. She was above the English countryside, with no humans in sight. But if she was seen, it would mean a mind wipe, and more paperwork.
She lowered herself onto a farmhouse roof, the vibrations of her shield splintering the rotting wood.
"Play." she said clearly.
"Hi, I called before but my phone died, I'm still wondering about the time for my dentist appointment?" said a voice. It was hazy with distortion, but it sounded female.
Just as Holly was wondering how this was a Sentinel alert, a different female voice spoke.
"We have to crack this guys secrets. The operation will be a complete stuff up if we can't get this."
"But how do we 'crack him'?" A third voice, still female. Three people on one end of a telephone line? "Artemis Fowl is kind of secretive. It's not like we can talk to his bodyguard for information."
"What about the maid? You know, the girl that always wears the green eye makeup. She could tell us something. We're not that much younger than she is."
"I think she's pretty close to Artemis though. We need someone who won't tell Artemis what we're doing. It won't work if he knows what we're planning. Total destruction."
"What about his friends? Or just kids from his school?"
"I don't know about friends- doubt he has any- but random St Bartlebys kids might work. We'll go there tomorrow."
There was a pause.
"Still on hold. Screw this, I don't have this much change."
The file closed automatically as it finished.
"Well?" Foaly asked.
"I don't like it. They don't sound like a threat- more like teenaged girls- but it sounds like they're planning an attack on Artemis." Holly paused, wondering if Foaly would agree with what she was suggesting. "Maybe I should go and check his house?"
"Good idea." Foaly said immediately. "Just check. If everything's fine, you can come straight back to Haven."
Holly didn't reply. She was already on her way to Wicklow, Ireland.
"Honestly Artemis," she muttered to herself, "Can't you go five minutes without getting yourself into trouble?"
A/N: So... wdyt? (Which means 'what did you think?', for anyone that didn't know) I hope I wrote Holly okay. And Foaly. It's a lot easier to write humans, especially my OCs. But I think I did alright. Anyway, click on the little green box :)