The only thing Julian Scar could do after watching the recording was curse under his breath. He had known that Artemis wouldn't have brought allegations of such magnitude to him if he didn't have any proof, but he also hadn't expected Artemis to have recorded everything with a pinhole camera located in his tie. Scar was as hurt as he was angry- Rose had been a close friend of his, and to now know that he had secretly been leading the conspiracy against the police force Scar was responsible for, it was the betrayal that stung the most.
"This is a mess" Scar said quietly. "How could I have not seen this coming?"
"Very easily" Artemis said from across the room. "That's nothing against you, it would have been quite an impressive achievement for you to have figured it out given how well they kept all of this hidden. This was a very carefully executed, methodical plan and it most certainly did not happen overnight. That's how they do it, piece by piece, so that you have no reason to question it. Each individual segment will have been requested or implemented separately, so that you think nothing is wrong, nothing is different. On the face of it, what's changed if you reassign a certain squad somewhere or shift a certain event by a day or two? But then you add up every event that's happened, every extra favour you did for Markin Rose because you thought he was a friend, and a picture emerges. That's when you realise you lost control a long, long time ago. They would have gone through their plan effortlessly too if a couple of outsiders hadn't taken another look at things."
"I take it you mean yourself and Holly?" Scar asked, but Artemis shook his head.
"Holly and Cecily. I was busy enough with the issues occurring on the surface to play any big part in what happened down here. It's why they tried to set up Holly and Cecily in the prison, because they saw what threat they posed to keeping this all under wraps."
"I can't believe this is happening."
"Make no mistake Colonel" Artemis said, "If they had managed to stay undetected, Haven would have found itself walking into Martial law and even you would have felt it was justified. Everyone would have. And then when the war happened, everyone would have sleepwalked straight into it believing that was justified too. It's very similar to the technique the Nazis used in the Second World War, and was no doubt part of Wyatt Munroe's masterplan, considering he is one. But instead of Jews, this time they're going after fairies."

Artemis had been studying Colonel Scar throughout the entirety of his recording. He had known Scar and Rose were friends, and he couldn't have been certain where Scar's loyalty had been all this time. But, as he watched the varying emotions displayed across Colonel Scar's face as the video went on, he became more and more confident that Scar had no idea Rose was secretly plotting to turn Haven into the world's largest underground army barracks. That, or Scar was incredibly good at lying with his expressions.
"That's the first time I've heard you refer to Wyatt as a Nazi" Holly said.
"To all intents and purposes, he is one. Nazism has never died out, it's just found more intricate ways of concealing itself. It always has the same core though, the fear of something different 'taking control' and rendering them a minority, an obscurity, unimportant. Changing society so that they are no longer the superior race. They hate anything different and, for all the differences within humanity, there is nothing more different than something that isn't human at all. You can call him a Human Supremacist if it makes you feel any better, but the fact is Wyatt Munroe wants to eradicate the entire population of The People from existence. That sounds very Nazi to me."

Artemis, Holly and Cecily left Colonel Scar to take in the news that his close friend was a traitor and the police force he ran was rotten to the core, and Holly took Artemis back to her house. It was now fairly late at night and even someone like Artemis, who often went up to 48 hours at a time without sleep, needed to rest after they day that they had been through. It was hard to believe it had all happened in just one day, such was the sheer magnitude and volume of events that they had endured. From Holly's trip to MaxSec, the Siege of Fowl Manor and the showdown with Markin Rose amongst others, it was enough action to last them a number of months, but both Holly and Artemis knew this wasn't over by a long shot. The world didn't stop just because they did.
"Your house hasn't changed much in the last 6 months" Artemis commented. "Everything is so... familiar."
"I didn't want to change anything" Holly said in a low voice. "It helped me hold on to the illusion that nothing had changed between us in this time apart. I liked the comfort it gave me."
"Understandable" Artemis said, sitting down in the almost comically small armchair. "But everything changes. The universe is very slowly pulling itself apart, that's as big a change as any. Change is unavoidable."
"It was avoidable though. I didn't have to push you away; I could have kept you close to me. I should have kept you close to me. But in my mind, all I could think was that you might see me as a lesser being because of the way I was acting, being distant and unresponsive. Somehow, I'd decided that the only way I could save us in the long run was to split us apart. Once I finally realised that had been the wrong choice, I was too scared to admit it for much the same reason. I'm so sorry Artemis."
"Holly, what you went through is something nobody should ever have to go through. You dealt with it in the way that was best for you, and whether you believe it was right or not, the fact is that it worked. You recovered, because you are an incredibly strong-willed Elf, but you still needed time to process it, by yourself. I was always still here, for when you were ready. You believed more had changed between us than it actually had. So please, stop worrying."
"Thank you, Artemis."
Holly took a beat.
"How about you, how are you doing? After everything that's happened; to your house, to your father. How are you holding up?"
"My father's death was a result of his own misplaced stubbornness" Artemis said, with a look that told Holly that he really didn't want to talk about it any further.

Artemis, true to form, didn't actually sleep very much. Just under 3 hours was enough before he got bored of laying in bed and decided to sit outside instead. He knew that Foaly had improved the sky mapping in the few months since he'd been gone, but it still struck Artemis as something of a work of art when he looked up to see the glimmering glow of the illuminated artificial stars. It wasn't often he would ever concede to something of Foaly's being superior, but it had a kind of awe-striking magic touch that stuck with Artemis.
"I forgot how beautiful the Lower Elements could be at night" He said to himself. "It's a shame it isn't this peaceful all the time. I suppose peace never lasts for long anywhere, there's always somebody wanting to seize control in one way or another."
"You're right" A voice said. "It is beautiful."
Artemis turned around sharply, but there was nobody there. The area around him was completely empty. Nobody could have run away in such a short time frame either. Artemis was just about ready to declare himself insane and go back inside, when his phone started to ring. He answered it immediately.
"Masek."
"We found him" Masek said, practically huffing down the phone. "Well, rather I found him. The other two are asleep. We finally managed to trace the signal back to an old copper ore refinery just outside of Glasgow, Scotland."
"Good" Artemis said, "The net tightens. Although of course there is every chance he could know we're onto him and have already moved locations, but it's a start."
"Do you want me to wake the others up?"
"No, let them have their sleep, Cable especially will need it. Holly needs her sleep too, and I'm not about to go in and wake her up right now. We strike at first light your time, if you send me the co-ordinates then we can make a rendezvous point for the assault."
"And Wyatt?"
"I need him alive, initially. I'm still not 100% on what he's planning so I want to ask him a few questions first. But you can tell Cable that, if possible, I'll let him have the final word."
"How sweet of you" Masek quipped. "I'll see you in a few hours. Hopefully then we can finally end this, once and for all."

That mysterious voice – Simply a lack of sleep on Artemis' part, or something else significantly more tangible?

Theories, as ever, welcome…