I've begun to ramp up work on the 4th instalment of this series, though I won't do anything major until after my January exams. I'm genuinely excited for the next story, it's something completely different to this or the ones that have gone before it. Anyway...
The walk down the endless corridor didn't last long, and soon they had turned off through what Holly thought of as a graveyard for technology. All kinds of experimental devices were stacked high in boxes, never to be used again; The crew of Aquaria Major hadn't even been there that long, and yet already there was thousands of whichever currency you cared for sitting around gathering dust. Artemis couldn't resist taking a few things himself, stuffing them into whatever pockets he could find. Soon they came to their first locked door- not to be deterred, Artemis pulled one of the small, cylindrical shaped objects off his toolbelt and stuck it to the door lock.
"I would stand back at this point" He said, and everyone took a precautionary step back. A few seconds later, it exploded in a flash of sparks and a cloud of red smoke, and the door swung open.
"Red smoke Artemis" Holly said, "Was that really necessary?"
"No, but I did it anyway" He replied. Now the three of them were faced with a fork in the path. One of them led left, and one right. Artemis pondered which one to go down for a few seconds before reaching for his pocket.
"The great Artemis Fowl, lost" Holly said quietly to herself, but Butler heard and laughed, which alerted the teenage genius himself.
"Am I amusing everyone?" He addressed Holly and Butler.
"Yes, actually" Holly replied. "I don't think you've ever seemed this unsure about where to go in your life."
"Says the elf who once piloted a pod bound for Paris to a shuttle station in the Sahara desert, 4 hours later than they were supposed to arrive."
"I was young" Holly said, very much now regretting telling Artemis that tale one night when they were swapping stories. "You've been a genius all your life. What's your excuse?"
"You're right Holly, I am a genius" Artemis said, withdrawing his hand from his pocket. "Which is why I had the foresight to being a map with me."
"D'Arvit. Where in Frond's name did you get a map for this place?"
Artemis frowned at Holly swearing, then pointed at Butler, who gave a sly smile. "We go left" He said, once he'd studied the map for a brief second.
"OK" Holly replied, "But I swear to Frond Artemis Fowl II, if we end up going the wrong way I am never going to let you forget this."
The rest of their journey through the vast expanse that was Aquaria Major passed without any further delays, and soon they found themselves at the very rear of the base, where the main storage room was located. It was triple locked with titanium bolts- making it the securest room on the base, even more secure than the lab or even the base itself- and a pain to break into. Artemis used up 3 more of his cylindrical charges to try and break it open, and although it was considerably weakened, it had not yet opened. However, with the structure suitably damaged, Artemis was able to calculate its weak spots, enabling Butler to break it down with a few heavy kicks, a shoulder charge and a few strategic blows. All in all, it took them 12 minutes to get through the door, which was longer than it had taken to build it.
"These samples best be in here" Holly said, scanning the room. It was a storage room alright, but she had no idea whether they would be able to find a few small samples in the vast mess.
"They'll be in here" Artemis replied. "The question is where in here are they located."
"We can discount the stack of crates to the east side of the room" Butler said. He looked round a few more times. "The tankers can be discounted too, and the venting areas."
"Care to explain Butler?" Artemis asked, though Holly could tell he agreed with his friend.
"The crates are opened and unsecured, the tankers contain liquid as you can see through the colour difference, and the venting areas are too inaccessible."
"All very good answers Butler" Artemis replied, "But that's not why they're not in those places. There's one very large detail you're missing."
"Radiation!" Holly suddenly blurted out before she realised. She felt Artemis and Butler's eyes on her and steadied herself. "The metal gives off radiation, so it has to be contained in something that shields the base from that radiation."
"Give the elf a medal" Artemis said. "Preferably a gold one too."
"That leaves the freezer" Butler said, indicating the large, white door that was opposite them. Artemis walked over to inspect it and, finding a keypad to an electronic locking mechanism, attempted to crack the code. However, after a couple of minutes of trying various combinations and algorithms, he threw his arms up in the air, defeated. Holly walked over to him, wrapping her arm around his waist.
"Tough day at the office" She said, and Artemis nodded his agreement. "You can't crack the code?"
"I can crack the code" He replied, "I just don't have long enough to do it. I managed to back trace all of the previous code combinations from the time they've been here. It changes every week via a computer randomiser, but as they've only been here for a couple of months it isn't possible to determine exactly what code the randomiser uses."
"No randomiser is ever actually random" Holly recalled, echoing what Artemis had told her once before when they were trying to crack Foaly's new, state of the art encrypted locking system, which implemented the use of a randomiser. Naturally, Foaly had not been best pleased when he had entered his office the next day to find everything had been wrapped up in clingfilm.
"Exactly. No matter how much we try to avoid it, all computers are logical. When we tell them to pick a random number, we're actually telling them to create and implement an obscure coding pattern. I have 3 different options for what pattern this locking mechanism could be using, but I don't dare try them because one false entry locks down the entire system."
"What happens then?"
"We have to do a full hard reset, and I just don't have the equipment to do one down here. The only way to open this now would be to find the code. The only people who'd know the code are the people working here."
"I would suggest we find someone and take the code, but I haven't once seen a single person down here today. I would have expected to have seen at least one person, especially now we're in the very heart of the complex." Holly said, staring at Artemis.
"Ah, yes. I can explain that, but I don't think you're going to like it..."
"We don't know where they are. The crew have disappeared." The way Butler said the words, so calmly and coolly, you have thought he'd just told Holly the evening's weather forecast. She almost wanted him to repeat the words, just so she could be sure he had actually said them.
"When?" Was all Holly said.
"A few days ago" Artemis said. He had now separated himself from Holly, and was over the other side of the room, facing away from them. "A mayday signal was sent by Aquaria Major 3 days ago, intended for XTECH headquarters in Melbourne. The signal wasn't strong enough to reach Australia, but as Butler's contact had synced their phones so I could be kept in the loop, we received the mayday. The mayday signal was received as a 'Code Black' message- abandon all stations, seal the area. That signal is only given in the case that there is no possibility of survival and precious cargo must be secured."
"So that's why we're here, to secure 'precious cargo'?" Holly said, venom in her voice. "And you didn't at any point decide to tell me?"
"I didn't want you to come along" Artemis said, genuine pain in his voice. "I really did not. But as you insisted on joining the expedition, I made the executive decision that you should be told as little as possible."
"Yet everyone else knew. I bet Scar knew, didn't he? He wouldn't have agreed otherwise. Foaly probably knew too, so he could send the right equipment." Holly continued. Artemis' meek nod indicated to her that she was right. "But you didn't tell me. I'm your sidekick Artemis, your partner! I'm the person who turned your life around and you tell me nothing!"
"What if I had?" Artemis said, turning around to face Holly. His eyes were an angry red, water brimming around the perimeter. "You would never have let me go. You would have done everything in your power to keep me out of this."
"You're damn right I would have. A group of experienced scientists go missing you send a search and rescue party, not two mud men and an elf! You shouldn't be keeping secrets from me." As soon as she had said the words, Holly realised how empty they were. Wasn't she doing exactly that to him? Holding a secret inside of her that he really should know about. Was she even any better than he was in general?- The renegade cop who likes to bend the rules, who likes to improvise and ignore orders rather than follow the rule book. Were they really so different? Holly in that moment wanted to take back everything she had said, to turn back time and say something, anything other than what she had. But it was when Artemis started talking again that she realised just how much regretted it.
"I did it to keep you safe. I did it so that you didn't spend the entire day worrying about me. I did it because I care about you Holly and I'm not going to stop now. I want to keep you safe as much as you do for me."
Holly, tentatively, brought herself closer to Artemis. "I know, Artemis. I'm sorry. I just didn't expect this, and I overreacted. I understand why you wanted to keep me out of this. Are we really just here to collect samples?"
"Yes, the aim has always been that. But we're down here because we need to secure those samples before somebody else realises they're unguarded and takes them first, including whatever was responsible for the mayday signal."
Holly glanced at Artemis, who for once in his life looked as truthful as he sounded. Overcome by the emotion, she grabbed him in a great hug, bringing herself as close to him as she could. Artemis reciprocated the embrace, lowering himself down to her level.
"We will find a way to get those samples, and then we will leave. I promise."
"OK. Let's do this" Holly said.
"Let's do this" Artemis replied.
And then the room went black. And then the sirens started screaming.
And now the fun begins.