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September 14, 2006, Haven, Police Plaza
"She told three of us- but she lied to the others. I'm the only one who knows the real date. Day the Mud Boy scum kidnapped that LEPrecon captain."
"I'm not the only one who knows a date, but I'm the only one who knows the real one. The day Mud Man Sr got kidnapped."
"She didn't want much of a trail so she only told me her plan; lied to the others. The day the Mud Boy went to Hybras."
The video feeds shut off, leaving Cenk staring at the blank plasma screen and surrounded by a team of expectant interrogators. He looked from them to the screen again, but no answers worth forthcoming. He tried looking hopefully at the interrogators again, but they just stared back.
Finally, he sighed and gave up.
"I... think it's time to call the Commander."
"We've got a problem."
Trouble swore under his breath. Of all the times to not be clear...
"Just one, Captain? Just one?!"
The twitchy one on the monitor paled again, and Trouble made a mental note to make sure everyone promoted to that rank could deal with being yelled at by authority. He didn't have the time to handle this with kid gloves.
"I'm sorry, sir- but it's a big one. I still have interrogators working with the Dwa'ni, but I don't think it'll amount to anything- none of them know anything."
Trouble really, really had to resist the urge to scream at him. Instead he closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and counted to three. It didn't help to curb his anger at all, but at least he managed to not sound deranged when he replied. "Cenk, let me fill you in on a fun fact here- terrorists lie. They are lying to you. Now get back to work before I get someone competent to do it for you!"
"I'm sorry, sir- but that's not what I meant! I didn't- it's not as simple as that! We got them talking but they're all telling us different things! I don't think any one of them knows the truth!"
Trouble stopped talking mid-retort. His words died and his mouth and his eyes narrowed, watching as Cenk visibly shifted nervously but did not back down.
And just when I thought this case was closed...
"What do you mean, none of them know the truth?"
Cenk hurriedly flipped through the notebook in his lap, quoting info he had written down in strained tones, talking so fast it was almost hard to make out. "Guy one, biggest financial contributor to the Dwa'ni, says Fowl went back to when his father was kidnapped. Guy two, spokesperson, guy who makes the public image, etc., says that he went back to when Captain Short was kidnapped. Guy three, mostly behind the scenes but probably responsible for most of their illegal actions this decade, says it was when Fowl went to Hybras. Took three hours of every interrogation method in the book to get this much out of them, and I think they're telling the truth, sir- they believe Koboi told them the truth and lied to the others. ...If you're asking me, sir, she lied to all of them."
Well, la di da, Cenk, congratulations on drawing the obvious conclusion.
Trouble, once again, wondered briefly if the downsides of time paradoxes were worse than the benefit of murdering Koboi. No more letting her outsmart or double cross them, no more watching her run circles around them, no more losing ten to nothing and then proceeding to get their asses kicked in overtime. Just hard, cold murder.
"Well- what about their other information?" he asked weakly, but felt like he was grasping at straws. "Same story?"
Cenk nodded quickly. "Yes, sir," he said sharply. "We got out of them three separate lies about what they told Fowl to make him go back in time. They all say Koboi only trusted them with the truth, fed the other two lies- sound even like they're bragging about her trusting them."
"God damn it! God motherfucking damn it!" Trouble spun in his chair to slam his foot into the steel desk, and the pain that shot through the limb wasn't enough to stop him from doing it again. "God damn you, Koboi!" The bitch is playing with us! We have her dammed cohorts IN INTERROGATION and she's STILL playing us!
The situation was frighteningly clear now.
The fact that the Dwa'ni was responsible meant nothing, because they knew nothing. The mastermind was Opal, and unless they caught her, they were screwed.
"Captain Cenk! Captain Cenk!"
Trouble perked up.
Maybe not.
A panting pixie sprinted forward into the view of the webcam, his shirt only half-tucked and his ID badge tossed clumsily over his shoulder, appearance a mess from his run over here. The agent didn't even seem to notice Trouble was on the screen, instead focusing on getting out the information that had put him in such a hurry in the first place.
"We've got a guy. He's talking. Says he knows the real-"
"Save it, Koboi's screwing with us-"
"He says she didn't tell him! ...Commander... sir..."
The discordant chaos on the screen silenced immediately.
"It was whenever she... did... what she did. I don't know what it was. They just told me that it was important no one else get near her. I guarded the door." The Dwa'ni member shook his head weakly and shut his eyes, looking as frightened as if Cenk had threatened to kill him. "I didn't mean to overhear her the first time. I didn't! But when I heard what she was saying- I thought- what she was... I thought she was going to betray us. I mean, it's Opal Koboi." He shrugged shakily. "She double crosses everyone."
"And so, you eavesdropped on her more," Cenk filled in.
"Yes." The elf nodded again. "...The things she was saying... they were c- crazy. I had no idea- no idea at all what she was trying to do- what she meant- none of it made any sense!"
"What didn't make any sense?"
The Dwa'ni member averted his eyes uneasily. "Opal was... was talking about some kind of- conspiracy. Uh, about magic- some nonsense about how the Mud People bastards used to have magic! Like, centuries ago- back before the Battle of Taillte. And how the Council was getting concerned, about what might happen if they were to somehow- awaken their magic again." The elf scoffed and rolled his eyes. "As if today's pansy ass Council would ever care about the human threat."
"Yes, yes, we know your opinion on that," Cenk pressed impatiently, "move on to what Opal was talking about. What did she say the Council was doing?"
The Dwa'ni member glared at him, then just shook his head in aggravation and continued on. "Fine. She was talking about how the Council was getting worried, and so they decided to experiment. Wanted to see if the human body could still handle magic. Then a bunch of sciencey doodah, I don't know; I didn't understand most of it- couldn't spell half of what she said so I couldn't even take notes. I think it came down to they managed to capture a few Mud Men, and give them magic under controlled conditions. Give Mud Men magic... even the Council couldn't be that stupid!"
"Keep going!"
"Jeez. No need to get your panties in a twist, Captain, I'm getting there. Anyway, this is where it got really weird. Started talking about how human's magic was even stronger than ours. I mean, when they managed to give their human lab rats magic- it ended up spiraling out of control! That the magic got stronger in humans than it ever did in the People... and then the human bodies couldn't handle it, and they- mutated, or died, I don't know- it was weird. I didn't understand that part. Anyway, more stuff our lame Council would never do; they wanted to figure out how to get our magic that strong, too. So they did more experimenting, caught more humans- and that's where Fowl comes in.
"Apparently, he already had magic. According to Opal. He stole it or something- something to do with Hybras, I think, and the demons- and I'd believe that Mud Boy monster stole magic from one of us, too; makes perfect sense that he would- apparently the Council wanted to experiment on a human that was able to use magic naturally instead of through whatever the hell they were doing. Thus, enter Fowl.
"The whole time, Opal's been talking like she was one of those humans the Council experimented on. Like they had escaped and were sick and dying from what the Council had done to them, and like Fowl was next if he didn't do something. She was stuck on that for a while... it took her weeks to convince him. I guess she was communicating with him somehow? Anyway, she kept trying to tell him he couldn't trust the fairies, that Foaly and Holly, whoever they are, were responsible; just went on and on and on. How all of his work with the fairies had ended up for our benefit, and him being hurt, stupid kid, and how he couldn't trust anyone- that the fairies had been planning this from the beginning, since even before he'd stolen magic- it was ridiculous! She was crazy, and everything she was saying was crazy!"
Jackpot, Cenk thought with a smile.
Yes, it was perfectly plausible this, too, was part of Opal's plan, and they were being played again.
But something told him that wasn't true.
Not this time.
"All right. Thanks. You've been very helpful and cooperative. Just one more question, and then I'll put in a good word with the judge- good enough to get you a dammed medal instead of a prison sentence-"
"Hey! Judge? Prison sentence?! I didn't do anything illegal! Whatever she did to Fowl, that's not illegal, he's a Mud Man-"
"Not illegal?!" In an act of violence that would've had his commander both stunned and applauding, Cenk launched out of his chair to slam his hands on the table and shove his face into the Dwa'ni member's. The elf cowered in his seat, flinching back and his eyes going wide with terror as Cenk's hand shot up to ever so lightly grip his throat. "You conspired with Opal Koboi. You know, the woman who killed the commander of the LEP. Who instigated a goblin rebellion. The crazy who has more than once tried to destroy the Haven! I could charge you with so much it'd be ten years before you even got to trial, so don't you dare tell me what you did was not illegal! You're lucky I'm even offering you this deal, you prick, and so help me if you don't say right now when she sent Fowl it will be off the table!"
Everyone, both the Dwa'ni member, the officers watching the interrogation, and maybe even Cenk himself, found themselves silent and shocked. The elf that was near being strangled was staring at him in frozen terror, and when he opened his mouth, nothing came out.
Then, with a deep, shuddering breath, he tried again, and this time, succeeded.
November 14, 2006, Fowl Manor
"There is a definite magical residue here," Qwan announced, still roaming apparently aimlessly around Artemis's lab, occasionally poking and prodding at the things he found. The feel is quite strong. This was no ephemeral moment. Magic has been present here for several months, if not more. How did you say Opal convinced our human friend to do this again?"
Holly and Foaly shared an uncomfortable look. They were both under strict orders to not speak of the Anexche to anyone whatsoever, due to worry that word of the dark art could spread and abuse of it possible becoming more commonplace. In fact, once they had gotten Artemis back into the present- hopefully without any time paradoxes along the way- Holly and No1 were both being forced to enter into the interlocked compact of fairy bonds between the Council, LEP commander, and the warlocks, all to keep word of Anexche silent. Foaly, Butler, and Artemis, being non-magical creatures unable to enter a fairy bond, were all going to be mesmerized to keep silent.
"Ah, she mesmerized him," Foaly said when Qwan glanced back at them, confused at their silence. "Don't get into it now; it's quite a long story. But we don't have more than twenty four hours before this time stop fails, Qwan We have an exact date for you- January fifth, 1998. This exact location. Can you do it?"
"Can I do it," Qwan chuckled. He shook his head at them laughed. "I can do a lot more than that. I can send you a million years in the past if you'd like. Yes, I can do it. Commander Kelp ordered me too, anyway, as my little apprentice is almost all tapped out. But I do hope you're not all planning on going."
It was Foaly's turn to laugh. "No- just Holly. Well, Trouble's first bet to contain our mentally unstable human friend was an assault team, but he decided that we would rather not create a time paradox all by ourselves, because who knows what havoc they would wreck in the past. So, just her."
"Yeah, it's just me," Holly grumbled. "I've barely slept in three days, D'Arvit. Am I really the only fairy who can pull this off? Don't answer that. Just what are my orders? I didn't quite catch them between Trouble's streams of angry muttered rants at Opal."
Foaly nodded knowingly as Holly began to undress for her journey into the past. "As you know, there's an above-ground LEP base at Tara. You need to get to it and take the usuals, as well as mind wipe equipment. Artemis's cell phone is missing, so we think he took it with him into the past, so you'll be able to track it. My helmets back then are nothing compared to what they are now, but you can still track him using it, but it will be prone to error. Mind wipe anyone you have to, Holly-"
"Yes, yes," she interrupted irritably. "This isn't my first jaunt into the past, Foaly, I know the drill." She pulled her LEP-issue jacket over her head and began shedding most of her equipment. "Don't be seen, don't change anything, really make sure you don't change anything, and above all else, really, really be sure not to change anything. I'll try my best, but going to be kind of hard what with Artemis hellbent on breaking all those rules..."
Foaly glanced uncertainly at Butler as the elfin captain continued to undress. Her annoyance was more than adequately explained by sleep deprivation, the stress of the mission she was about to undertake, and the whole damn situation- which made him wary of adding yet another burden to the load she was already carrying. Still- it couldn't be avoided. She had to know.
"Holly, there's more. Listen, I have to warn you- we're certain now Artemis has Atlantis, and while we can't be sure, our experts think he's progressed to stage two. And stage two Atlantis Complex presents with multiple personalities."
Holly stilled. The hand on her shirt's lapel stopped working and started to tremble, for just a brief moment, before she turned to face Foaly fully, her expression back under control. "What do you mean, like mood swings? Or..."
"No, not mood swings. Completely different personalities. If one of the alters is in control when you find him… he may not recognize you. But the only way for you to tell them apart is by testing his memory- and there's no telling how far back the alters existed; we don't know how far back they'll be able to remember anything. The alters could be dangerous, too, Holly- use force if necessary. Electrical shocks- hint your Neutrino hint- are a proven method of forcing the dominant personality- or, Artemis- back into the driver's seat. Don't be afraid to use them if you have to."
Holly nodded quickly, setting her gun reluctantly on the table along with her badge. "Got it. Anything else?"
Foaly bit his lip, clearly hesitant. He met her eye and said softly, "I don't know this for certain… but he will probably be quite sick. I spoke with Trouble some more; high fever, fainting spells, stomach pain, recurrent seizures, migraines- that, on top of Atlantis Complex, is very nasty stuff. But I have to caution you against using magic in any circumstances. If he'll live until you get him to the present, then magic isn't worth the trade-offs, in this case."
"What trade-offs?"
"The human body is smart, Holly. Magic is a foreign substance to it. As long as his only real exposure to magic was being healed with it, his body saw it as a beneficial substance, almost like a vitamin of some sort. But, with the Anxche, it was a much more malignant substance. His stress levels would have risen significantly as the Anexche climaxed, and it's likely Opal used her magic to cause several other ill health effects as well. In time, his body would grow to view magic as a poison. If you try to heal him, you'll only make him sicker, Holly."
She bit her lip. A pang of sympathy for Artemis made her motions slow and her hard facade waver, just for a moment, before she forced her emotions down and closed her eyes. Artemis didn't need her to be emotional. "Okay, I understand," she muttered tiredly. "Anything more?"
"Be careful and bring the kid home."
The words made her soften again, and she looked away. She swallowed at the rising lump in her throat, and she rubbed at suddenly faintly wet eyes. Then- oh, screw not getting emotional. She looked back at Foaly and smiled weakly, carefully wiping at her eyes again, then looked to Butler. The man inclined his head slightly in her direction, as if finally handing the baton to her, and she smiled at him as well. "I- I'm going to. Both of you- I'm going to bring him back."
The frenzy of emotions inside her that was so full it was making it hurt to breathe sloshed over her cracking mental barriers, and she swallowed, trying to hold it back. This wasn't what Artemis needed right now. He didn't need her wasting time getting emotional when she should be helping him.
Except... if there was one thing Artemis needed right now, it was a friend. She couldn't go back there thinking like an officer. She had to go after him as his friend. That was her only chance of bringing him home.
And friends could get emotional sometimes.
She blinked, letting a tear spill over and this time didn't wipe away, but kept on smiling.
Hang on, Artemis. I'm coming.
January 07, 1998, ?
"You did a brilliant job. Even I thought you wouldn't manage to cause such a disaster- seems like I was wrong."
Artemis groaned. It wasn't mentally healthy, waking up to the sound of one of his alternate personalities speaking- it really wasn't. He could tell it was Hecate through the lower timbre; Orion's voice tended to be slightly higher pitched… and filled with romantic and heroic nonsense.
Wait... Hecate?!
He jerked back with a gasp, rolling away before his vision had even cleared and backpedaling frantically. He stumbled away until he hit the wall and still tried to get away, his abruptly clammy hands shaking even as he curled them into fists. "Y-you!" he gasped, but Hecate just looked flatly at him from his position on the other side of the room against him.
"Yes- me. It's not nice to see you again either. Can we skip past the formalities now?"
He stared at his alter with his heart racing and his adrenaline pumping. What in the hell was going on?! First Hecate was trying to kill him- now, he was acting like nothing had ever happened?
But if we're both here- then Orion's the one who has to be in control. So, Hecate didn't kill Orion, then?
Hecate sighed tiredly, as if the very situation bored him, and turned his back- focusing on the monitor rather than Artemis. "I have more important things to focus on than you. We can resume our little fight to the death later, preferably after Orion has stopped trying to get all three of us killed. Brilliantly done, by the way, Artemis."
"What?" Artemis, still lingering closer to the back wall rather than get any nearer to Hecate, squinted, looking closer at the monitor. It was slightly fuzzy, indicating that his- or, rather, Orion's- fever had returned. He squinted pass the fuzz to see Nikolai. The Russian was gazing calmly down at Orion, who was doing god knows what- he appeared to be gesturing wildly, probably about swords in dragons. "What's he doing?"
"Who, Orion? He's just telling Mr. Azarov that you used magic to come and slay the great beast that is making you ill- I don't believe he's quite grasped the situation. He got our leg broken when he refused to tell him what language your phone was is- most likely because he himself has no idea- and is now taking his threats of torture with knives quite well.
Artemis groaned heavily, leaning around Hecate and trying to see the screen better. It looked like they were in the back of a car, and Nikolai had a gun in his lap and a knife in hand- he looked exasperated and was currently staring in resigned anger as Orion said, "…and you may torture me if you will, but I will never betray my kingdom."
Nikolai sighed. "I was beginning to think you were faking insanity as a ploy to stop us from questioning you. Now, however…"
"But I'm not insane!" Orion cried. "It is Artemis who is mentally disturbed, not me. Why does everyone think I'M the one who has lost his mind?!"
The Russian glanced up, his eyes gleaming. "Artemis!" he exclaimed, a ghost of his smile on his lips. "Artemis- Artemis Fowl, you say?"
"Yes. He's in here right now, if you want to talk to him."
Artemis and Hecate groaned together as Orion tapped his head, and the Russian quirked an eyebrow before burying his face in his hands and muttering something under his breath. "I should be in control," Hecate muttered angrily. "I could get us out of this."
"Yes, you should be in control," Artemis snapped. "Two sociopaths brought together. He'd enjoy cutting you for information, and you'd enjoy it because I have my suspicions that you're a masochist."
"See? It's prefect. We both get something we want."
"Yes, and I'd probably bleed to death."
Hecate sighed. "I think we'd all prefer that to watching Nikolai beat Orion to death, which he'll probably be driven to if this nonsense continues much longer."
"For the last time," Nikolai cried, exasperated, "Artemis is not in your head. Fowl is in London; we are nowhere in London. There is no one in your head."
"Quite the contrary, sir- but I speak no more. Only the safety of my princess Holly drives me, and you can not hurt her. You have no power over me."
Artemis groaned. This could simply not get any worse. "I have to get back to Fowl Manor before tomorrow morning! How am I supposed to do that now?!"
"Love to break it to you, kid- we've got bigger problems to deal with."
January 07, 1998, Fowl Manor
Holly hit the past on her feet and ready to move. One second she was watching as Foaly and Butler sent her off, the next her vision was a blur of sparks and she was lifted off her feet, and any concepts such as gravity and reality went out the window, and the next, she was back on her feet and in the past.
She let out a shaky gasp, her legs trembling when she found herself standing on her own two feet once again. Time travel didn't get any easier the more times she did it, and she had to force her stomach to stop rebelling before her vision would stop blurring and she could focus.
Holly managed to take a few stumbling steps forward before she was able to keep her balance, and then, she looked around her surroundings.
It was Artemis's lab.
Not the exact same lab she'd just spent three and a half days in, of course, there were differences, minor and major, but it was his lab. Same general design, same unhealthy penchant for organization, same everything.
Well, of course, the two time tunnels in the middle of the room were a bit different.
Holly looked from the on she had just stepped out of to the other, and then back and forth again.
She smiled.
I'm in the right time.
I made it, Artemis.
There was no sign that Artemis had been here, granted, except for the time tunnel. Minus the two glowing, spiraling tunnels comprised of multicolor sparks and errant strands of magic in the middle of the room, the place looked like it had been deserted for a while. If she checked the security cameras, then she would probably be able to see when Artemis got here and how far behind she was, but that would take time, and that was one thing she could not afford to waste. No- now that she had confirmed she was at least somewhere in the right time period, she had to get on Artemis's trail, and get on it now.
Rather be safe than sorry, she thought as she started to vibrate until she vanished. Shielding took minimal energy, and one way to avoid changing the past was to just not be seen by anybody. With one last look at the two time tunnels, Holly turned on her heel and started off at a run for the door.
She needn't have worried; the mansion appeared to be empty. She encountered no one in the halls and even though her footsteps weren't exactly silent, no one came checking. In fact, the farther Holly went, the more concerned she got that something was wrong. It made sense that the Fowls wouldn't be home; they were already in London. But where was the staff? The security? Just because the parents weren't home didn't mean the place should be deserted.
Yet Holly didn't have time to dwell in the unexpected. Maybe on another day she might be curious enough to investigate further, but now, she had one goal and one goal only- and it didn't have anything to do with Artemis's house.
Still, there were certain things that would cause her to stop and look closer, even now. Things like blood.
Holly had just been opening the door that led outside when she spotted it. It made almost no impression on her at first and she actually continued on for several seconds before skidding to a stop and doing a double take, the fact that she had just seen something that looked a hell of a lot like blood and it was on Artemis's doorstep actually registering. She turned back, breathing hard, and moved to examine the door frame.
The door itself was clean, from what she could see. But on the white door frame, there was an extraordinarily distinctive red smear. And when she leaned closer and touched it, it was to find it was still wet.
"Artemis must've come through here not too long ago," she murmured to herself. "And... he was injured, somehow. There's no one else here- maybe something went wrong during time travel?"
After a moment of silent contemplation, Holly just shook her head and rose from her crouch. This was a good sign. She wasn't far behind him, and as much as she hated to say it, the fact that he was injured was good, too- it would slow him down.
Now, she just had to get to Tara.
September 14, 2006, Fowl Manor
"So, you're in?"
Foaly grinned. "Do you really have to ask, Butler? We may be two members short of the dream team, but between you and me, you scare me more than Holly does, and not between you and me, I'm smarter than Artemis. We can take Opal, no problem."
"Well, there is the small problem of finding her first..."
The centaur laughed again as he led the way to the ship sitting outside Fowl Manor that he had taken up there such a long three days ago- before the world had gone to hell. "Yes, yes, but we have the upper hand now. I'm also done screwing around with the passive approach; we tried that, and this happened."
"Aaaaand this situation is somehow different from these past few months, and you'll be able to find her now because?"
"Oh, just let me have this, you big Mud Man! I'm sick of her getting away. I don't know how, but we're going to track her down this time!"
Butler shrugged. "Whatever you say, Foaly- whatever you say."
"I hear the skepticism, and I am not amused."
Butler grinned at the sound of Foaly grumbling to himself under his breath as the centaur started up the shuttle. He distinctly caught the words 'stubborn', 'annoying', and 'Mud People' in the muttered tirade and his grin only grew wider. Perhaps pairing us together wasn't the best idea, Holly...
Butler shifted in the cramped shuttle as best as he could, sending a glare in the low ceiling's direction, before drawing Foaly's attention again. "So, where're we headed, anyway?"
"Our headquarters in the time stop," Foaly said over his shoulder. "I can't do anything with the stuff I have with me, so we're going to see what they have out there and work off that. Should take about ten minutes to reach them, so, in the meantime, sit back and enjoy the ride, big man."
Butler frowned. "Not about to do that, Foaly- ten minutes is time to accomplish something. We can start our investigation now."
Foaly actually looked away from their progress to blink at him in surprise. "Investigate? How? With what? We don't have anything on board but a computer barely sophisticated enough to manage the auto pilot. That won't be of any help in looking for Koboi."
Butler laughed again, drawing another annoyed look before the centaur looked back at the path. "That's one of the problems with you fairies. You all are so used to all of your fancy, high-tech gadgets, you forgot how to do things low-tech. You know- good, old-fashioned detective work." He rapped the side of his head with his knuckles. "Brainstorming? Ring a bell?"
"...Word to the wise: don't pick up any habits from Artemis. Particularly any arrogant ones."
"Ah, now, don't worry, Foaly," Butler said with a knowing grin. "I've had to remind Artemis a time or two that sometimes, low-tech is more useful than high-tech."
"I can't believe- ugh, it doesn't matter. Koboi is who we should be focusing on! Not this! Koboi!"
With a grin, Butler allowed the conversation to shift from teasing Foaly to something more productive. "Right... right... Koboi. Okay. We need to track her down. Foaly, did we find out any more about how Anexche works? How close she would have to be to use it on him?"
Foaly shook his head. "We don't know; Trouble says that no research has been done so there's no way to know that. But the information came from a guy who guarded the door while Opal worked on Anexcheing the hell out of Artemis, and they were underground the whole time. So that does us no good."
Butler grimaced. "I'm guessing the LEP teams that swept the Dwa'ni headquarters did their jobs correctly and she's really not there? Is it at all possible they could've missed something?"
"Well, there were lots of members to round up. I'm sure it was chaos down there... they could've missed something... but even if they had, we had teams watching all the exits-"
"Too easy for her to get out, even so. She could've impersonated an agent. And maybe that compound had exits you didn't know about it."
"Oh, well thank you for narrowing our search to the whole world instead of just a few buildings," Foaly complained. "This makes our job easier."
Butler waved off his comments and pressed on, wishing he had more information to at least make a search remotely possible. "What about the talkative guard in interrogation? He say where she was the past few days?"
"No. None of the Dwa'ni members knew anything."
Butler swore. Two minutes into the discussion and he knew nothing more than he had at the beginning.
"Though," Foaly continued, "there's the threat of what's going to happen when Artemis gets back to the present. None of the Dwa'ni members seemed aware of the extent of the disaster- Opal lied to them, and said his actions were going to cause widespread chaos but only little loss of fairy life. She basically hung them out to dry- or get killed in a nuclear explosion- while she's safe somewhere. The question is where."
Butler frowned. "Wait, how could she know where's safe? I thought you said there was no way to predict who or what would die if Artemis succeeded."
"There's not. That's the reason they're not evacuating- it's impossible to tell who's in danger to start a fission reaction. If they evacuate one wrong person, then kablooey." Then he winced. "Well... maybe I could've phrased it better..."
Butler sighed and looked away. "Well, clearly Koboi was able to predict something..."
Foaly shrugged in response and focused his attention back on the road in front of them. It was clear they had reached the limit of their brainstorming ability. Of course, that was already pretty limited to begin with, against a creature like Opal. Mad narcissist or not, she was still a genius and was already ahead of them by three steps.
Even if Artemis had been here to help, Butler had the feeling that they wouldn't be able to catch up with Opal just by thinking about it.
The rest of the ride passed in silence, with Butler tapping his finger restlessly on the table and Foaly pushing their shuttle almost faster than it could go. He even managed to shave off two minutes of their travel time and they reached the edge of the time stop without incident- though Butler had been absolutely convinced that the centaur was going to crash three times in the past eight minutes. The moment they slowed to a stop Butler relaxed and let out a heavy sigh of relief- one that did not go unnoticed by the centaur.
"I am not that bad of a driver."
"I'd feel safer if Artemis were at the wheel."
Foaly started grumbling again, shaking his head and muttering about under appreciation as he led the way into the temporary base. Butler took a moment to stretch his cramped muscles and look regretfully at the low ceiling before, with a sigh, he followed the centaur in.
"Okay, Butler, first-"
"Foaly! Foaly is that- oh my gods. Thank the gods. Thank the gods it's you!"
Butler raised his eyebrows in surprise at the sight of one stuttering, frantic, panicky elf. He looked like he'd been up for days- like, well, everybody else here- but unlike everybody else here, he didn't look like he was wrapping up an operation but like he was starting one. A couple of files were messily piled in his hands and a slim computer was under his arm, and he looked like he was about to have a panic attack. Foaly seemed just as startled as he was at the man's appearance and glanced uncertainly back at Butler before returning his attention to the elf. "Yeah, Butler, this is my assistant, Alex. Alex, this is a big Mud Man."
"Right, right, anyway- oh... that is a... really big Mud Man..." Alex's eyes went from Foaly to Butler and stayed that way, still a little unfocused but wide in the kind of fear Butler was used to his appearance inspiring. It took Foaly snapping his fingers three times in front of Alex's face before the elf got distracted enough to answer, and he jumped before looking back to Foaly and continuing on with his panicked speech.
"Sorry- I- sorry. Uh, earlier Kensi was the one that went up to take out the satellites. She went alone, the Commander's orders, I thought she shouldn't but he didn't care- and anyway, that was three days ago, and she hasn't come back! I just checked outside the time stop and there's no word from her!"
Foaly shook his head in apparent impatience and moved to get around him. "Which means you lost my assistant, and we can talk about that later, but I'm a little busy right now, Alex."
"But- but Kensi! It should only have taken her two days, and she was supposed to check in if it would take longer- and we can't contact her! I think something's wrong!"
With a very pointed look at his watch, Foaly let out an aggravated sigh and slowly, almost reluctantly, began to question Alex. "Fine. But only five minutes, Alex, then you're on their own. Did Kensi succeed? Were the satellites taken out?"
"All pertinent ones, yes. And in the time frame we expected, too. There's just no record of her shuttle ever returning to Earth. We can't track it without satellites but she would've had to log back into the system when she went underground. She never did."
Foaly rolled his eyes. "So she came back and is strolling around above ground? This isn't an emergency right now-"
"Foaly!" Alex protested. "You know Kensi wouldn't do that! Remember, I'm the one who plays hooky when I'm supposed to be on duty- she doesn't! She wouldn't do that, especially in this crisis. Please, trust me- something is seriously wrong."
"...Maybe you're right," Foaly conceded reluctantly, "but, Alex, I don't have time for this right now. I'm trying to track down Opal Koboi. In the meantime Kensi can take care of herself. I promise I'll get right on that as soon as this hell is over, all right?"
Alex protested again, but Butler wasn't listening.
Whoever this Kensi was, if she still had a job as Foaly's assistant, he couldn't imagine that she went off the grid very often. Also if she was Foaly's assistant, she wasn't a field agent. More like a lab tech. And their last known location of her was in space.
Their best bet for where Opal would be was somewhere where she would be she safe from any potential explosions. And since it was impossible to predict who would be a danger...
Then maybe, she had gone were there were no people at all.
"Foaly, before you brush Alex off- I think our goals may be more interconnected than you might think."