Fowl Manor, Ireland
"Love is a foolish and irrational concept. I see no merit in it clouding a person's judgement."
"OK Artemis" His father sighed. "You've made your point. All I'm trying to say is not to write it off completely. I know how you probably feel; There's too much work to be done, nobody will ever match your intellect, nobody will ever understand somebody like you. I felt like that too, once upon a time. But things change, and you will one day find somebody. I know you don't think you will, but I know you will."
"Can we please get back to business?" Artemis asked sharply. His father sighed again, this time even more dramatically.
"Fine" He said, looking away from Artemis and towards the silver console that stood in the middle of the room. "I still can't believe you managed to get an actual Energy Matrix. I know the theory about them has been around for years, but to have actually built one... It's a work of art. How did you get it?"
"An old friend of mine."
Artemis Sr.. looked back at his son briefly. Artemis couldn't decide if it was because he was surprised he had any friends, or if he doubted the legitimacy of the statement for a more serious reason.
"I must meet this 'friend' of yours one day."
"They are no longer with us" Artemis said. "That's why I now have their console."
If Artemis Sr. had detected the bitterness in Artemis' voice, he didn't say anything. He did however stand up. Artemis thought he looked weary.
"You are OK with the principle of the experiment, aren't you?"
"Of course" Artemis said bluntly. "After all, I was the one that came up with the idea."
"Quite true. Now if you don't mind, I have a video call to make to a certain Hammad Al-Bakari about our Sonar Deflection system."
Artemis raised his eyebrows. "You're seriously considering selling our technology to terrorists?"
"No. I'm calling him to politely tell him to take his offer and shove it somewhere it will never see the light of day again. Then I'm going to bomb his palace, which is more than the Americans seem to have managed."
Artemis laughed shallowly as his father left the room. One of the many things he had learnt since spending more time with his father was that Fowl Industries owned a private army. A very powerful, well equipped army at that. And his father was turning into something of a military General, more and more every day.
Butler sat down next to Artemis. He had been present whilst Artemis had been with his father, but just as his bodyguard, not as his friend. Now they were alone.
"'Love is a foolish and irrational concept'? You delivered that so well that I almost believed it."
"I wasn't saying anything that wasn't true" Artemis replied. "Love is irrational and it's a good idea to try and avoid it if you are trying to stay emotionally disconnected to the world around you. I failed in that respect."
"That might be something of an understatement" Butler said. "You ended up falling in love with an Elf."
"Please don't say that whilst there's a chance my father could hear you."
"You're going to have to tell him one day."
"Yes, I know" Artemis said, trailing off in thought as he finished. Butler picked up on it.
"Artemis? What is it?"
Artemis took a deep breath. "I want to ask Holly to marry me."
Butler's face did not betray any emotions, so Artemis couldn't tell if he was internally celebrating or scolding what he had just heard.
"That is a big step Artemis."
Artemis knew it was a big step. But it was something he had been thinking about for a long time. He wasn't in the business of rushing things.
"I am aware of that. I've put a lot of thought into this."
"Artemis" Butler said, raising an eyebrow. "You haven't seen her in 3 months. Ever since... You know."
"That was her decision, and I respect the fact she wants space to deal with it. We've still been talking every day, so I see nothing wrong with the situation."
"You should see her, in person, before you do anything like what you've suggested."
"I agree" Artemis said. "But for now, we have work to do."
"This is what will make all of this worth it" Artemis said, touching the side panel of the Energy Matrix he had taken from Opal Koboi's hidden tunnels once she had been taken care of inside the Solenheim Radar Facility 6 months previous. It had always been a part of the plan to take the Energy Matrix. What hadn't been part of the original plan was Artemis Sr. getting involved, but with Holly back in Haven and Artemis around Fowl Manor so much more, he naturally gravitated to spending more time with his father. Within about a month or so, they had began inventing and experimenting together, and this would be the end goal of everything they had worked towards.
"Think of everything you've done Artemis" Butler said. "Over the course of the last 3 months you've scammed 3 different corrupt businessmen out of €12M each, invented a new Radar evasion device and sold it to the UK and US militaries and even created a new division within the CIA to help retrieve fairies. And yet this is going to be make or break?"
"Think, if we can channel the energy of a matrix and make it useful, we can finally put the final touches to the clone programme, and so many other possibilities."
"I would have thought, with everything going on, that the clone programme was off the table?"
"You, my friend, believe more has changed than it actually has."
Artemis Sr. walked back into the room just as Artemis (The other one) was connecting up the wires to the Energy Matrix. It was a complicated process, with several filters and bypass modules to go through, but they had to get the procedure absolutely right. Artemis Sr. looked over the arrangement, before turning to Butler.
"If anybody calls saying that they're from the UN, hang up. Well, you can threaten them first, but just don't hand me the phone."
"Understood" Butler said, standing back beside the door.
"Now, Artemis" His father said, "I want to make sure one more time that you're fine with this. That you know what we're doing and what the risks are."
"Believe me, father, I have more than thought about the risks. What this could mean if we are successful is worth far more than the risks that present themselves. Besides, there are so many filters and suppressors that I'm not overly convinced we will have enough energy to make the transfer a success."
Artemis Sr. frowned. "You want to remove one of the suppressors?"
"If it doesn't work this time around, then yes. But for now we can keep the configuration as it is."
Artemis Sr.'s hand hovered over the side of the Energy Matrix, hesitant. Artemis spotted it.
"For science" He said, unwavering.
Artemis Sr. looked back at him. "For Science."
And then he flicked the switch.