ASN: I actually tried putting this up earlier, but the site was down. I know it's a little late, but it wasn't my fault.
AN: For once.
ASN: *glares* Comments from the peanut gallery are not appreciated.
AN: *evil grin* Anyway, this chapter's longer than usual. Be happy.
CHAPTER 10: TECHNO WARS
California Technology Labs, Bottom Floor
The two fairies looked into the office to see Artemis sitting in front of a large computer. His fingers were typing rapidly as screen after screen of classified information came up. Root successfully kept his mouth from falling open.
"How did you get into their files so fast?" he asked the criminal. Artemis shrugged.
"Well, last summer, I created a new Windows-type operating system for PCs. It's easier, more efficient, and cheaper than the older version Microsoft uses. Obviously, the owner here has gotten a hold of a prototype."
"Obviously," Holly said with no little amount of sarcasm.
Artemis ignored her. "When I created the program, I left myself a back door into the system. I can get into it fairly easily, just by bypassing any and all passwords the user may have installed. Fairly simple, really."
Holly turned to Root. "Remind Foaly never to use any technology he produces." She whispered.
Butler pointed to a file that had been pulled up. "This," he said, "is from the main network computer."
Root looked at the humans. "With this back door, you can get into the entire network?" he whispered in shock. "You could get into any computer, anywhere, that uses your software."
Artemis turned to look at the elf, and smiled his famous vampire smile. "I know." he said modestly.
Root decided to let that one pass, and motioned to the bodyguard.
"What did you find in that file?" he asked.
"Well, the company's expenditures for the last week have been significantly higher than anything they've done for the last few months, and many checks have written to classified companies." Artemis moved the mouse pointer to the payee line marked 'classified' and clicked on it. The information popped up obediently.
"And why does that matter?" Root asked, confused. Artemis sighed.
"They have Opal, they may have Foaly, and they're spending a lot of money on things no one is allowed to know about. Are those words small enough for you?" he asked snidely. Root turned red. Again. For the eight hundredth time since they picked up the miserable Mud Boy. He calmed himself by patting his buzz baton.
"Can the sarcasm and continue, Mud Boy." he snarled.
"My best guess is that they're building something, and that they have Foaly." the teen replied.
"What? A guess?" Holly asked incredulously.
"I'm working on it. But they do have Foaly." he said confidently. The two fairies leaned forward.
"How do you know?" they asked simultaneously. Artemis pointed at the classified payee slot he'd been reading. It was a check written to a Taiwan drug company, for a very expensive equine tranquilizer.
"Oh." they chorused softly. Root cleared his throat, and spoke louder. "All right, we know they have him. So, where is he?"
Artemis pulled up a blueprint of the building. "The elevator stops at the fourteenth floor. However, there is another floor above that, one that requires keys to make the elevator continue up. That's undoubtedly where the CO's office is, and probably where they keep their...guests."
"Great. How do we get there?" Holly asked.
"We take the stairs." Artemis said, punching in a few more commands on his laptop before he disconnected it from the office computer. He loaded his stuff into his hacker bag and casually walked out the door.
Three jaws hit the floor at the same time. "ARTEMIS!!!" He turned back, standing smack in the middle of the hallway.
"Yes?" he inquired innocently.
"The cameras are going to see you!" Holly hissed. The teenager shrugged.
"No, they're not." he said. The three companions nodded vigorously.
"Yes, they are!"
Artemis smirked. "No, they're not. I sent a loop into the security cameras, like Foaly did when I kidnapped Holly. I decided it was only fair, and besides, judging on the amount of time it took me to discover the loop, I figure we have an hour."
"It took you an hour to find out they were looped?" Holly asked in surprise. Artemis grinned viciously.
"No, it took me twenty minutes, but I believe it will take them three times as long. Especially if the president of the company isn't here."
"What if the president is here?" Butler asked.
"Forty-five minutes." he said. "So, let's go."
The rest of the group followed cautiously. They found the stairs easily, and pounded up fourteen flights. The fairies were sure the entire building would fall down from Butler's footsteps. But since no alarms were going off and no guard popped out of nowhere to investigate the sound, they didn't press the issue. Artemis kept up without much trouble, and Holly was torn between grudging admiration for his current fitness and disappointment that she couldn't complain about it anymore.
They stopped suddenly at the end of the fourteenth level. There was a large, padlocked door in their way. As one, the fairies turned to Artemis.
"Well, genius?" Holly said sarcastically. Artemis looked at her blandly.
"Well?" he echoed. "What are you waiting for? An engraved invitation?"
"What?" Holly turned back to the door. It was standing wide open and Butler was beckoning impatiently. She wanted to wipe that knowing smirk off of Artemis's face so badly. And only the thought that they needed him to get out stopped her from back-handing him down fourteen flights of stairs.
The four headed up the stairs and came to a large fire door simply marked fifteen. Before anyone could move toward the doorknob, Artemis said,
"This door is alarmed, and I couldn't turn it off from the computer downstairs. We're going to have to disconnect it manually."
Before either of the humans could move, Root turned to Holly. "Take care of it, Captain." She flashed him a perfect salute and took a pair of tiny wire clippers from her belt. One snip, and the wire wrapped around the lock was history.
Fowl Manor
Angeline Fowl sat brooding at her huge, Victorian style oak desk. Artemis Sr. had just hung up the phone, having another business meeting to attend. Now, once again, the entire manor was silent. And Angeline was lonely.
"Well, Arty said not to call," she murmured to herself.
California Technology Labs, Level 15
Opal was humming gaily as she put the finishing touches on the mindwiping machine. She stepped back and looked at her greatest invention. The entire machine was matte black, and just screamed ominous. She'd been given permission to redecorate the room to make it as frightening as possible. It looked like a medieval dungeon, with stone walls and floors. Torches flickered, and there were enough manacles on the wall to hold an army. She'd always been a romantic.
The pair of headphones attached to a black computer seemed slightly out-of-place.
The design was ingenious, really. Nothing Foaly ever would have come up with. All you had to do was slip the headphones onto the... guinea pig, press a sequence of buttons, and voila, fricasseed Foaly. The computer would mindwipe him in a matter of seconds, and convert the electronic pulses into readable material.
Opal had finished lovingly wiping the machine down when a massive hand clamped onto her shoulder and spun her around and lifted her right off the ground. She squeaked in fright when she saw one of her worst nightmares.
An immensely tall, well muscled Mud Man held her easily in one grip. She recognized the hulk immediately.
"You're that bodyguard." she whispered. "How did you get in here?" The question was answered by a voice from below.
"Hello." Captain Holly Short said sweetly. "Long time no see, Opal. How's life as a convict been treating you? Oh, I love what you've done with the place, by the way. The torches are a nice touch."
Butler dropped Opal and she fell like a brick. She landed on her feet though, and was up and facing the fairies in no time. "What do you want? Why are you here?" She backed away from the LEP officers as she fired questions at them.
"Three guesses and the first two don't count." Root snarled. "Where's the centaur?"
"Uh, centaur? What centaur? Oh, you must mean Foaly, how is he? I kept meaning to look him up when I was set free, but I hadn't gotten to it yet. I misplaced my donkey repellent." Suddenly, the pixie bolted for door. Freedom was at hand.
THUMP!
Artemis staggered as the pixie bounced off of his knees and landed with a thud on the floor. The teen stared down at her. "I didn't think you fairies could get any shorter." he said incredulously. Holly winced and Root just sighed. Butler, hiding a grin, picked up the pixie and held her more securely. Artemis gazed around the dungeon and his eyes fell upon the computer. Within seconds, he was at the keyboard and typing furiously.
"No!!" shouted Opal. "You can't do that!"
"Why not?" Artemis asked absentmindedly. "I wonder what the headphones are for. Perhaps we should put them on Miss Koboi."
"No!" Opal yelped. "I mean, you don't want to do that. It's not, um, nice." She was floundering for excuses. Holly grinned.
"Okay, tell us what this is, or we'll put the headphones on you and let Artemis start pushing buttons." Opal's eyes widened.
"You can't do that to me! I'm a fairy, I have rights! The Council would never let you get away with this!"
Root studied the pixie. "Because you made off with a valuable fairy citizen, who has rights, unlike convicts, the Council is buried under three tons of garbage. As long as we get Foaly back, they don't care how we do it."
"What is this?" Artemis asked curiously, motioning to the computer monitor. The pixie pressed her lips together, then decided to be dramatic.
"I'll never tell." she declared to the unamused fairies. "No matter what you do to me."
Holly shrugged and picked up the headphones. "Okaaaay."
"Uh, it's a mindwiping machine." Opal said promptly. The fairies looked at each other in confusion, and Artemis said,
"How does it work?" Opal glanced at Holly and started talking.
"The headphones send electronic pulses into the brain, wiping the person's mind and depositing the contents on the computer's hard drive."
"Leaving the victim with no more mental capabilities than a potted plant." Artemis finished, nodding understandingly.
"Exactly." Opal beamed. "My greatest work."
Within seconds, Opal was hanging suspended from the manacles surrounding her 'greatest work.'
"Wait!! You can't leave me here!" she yelped. Holly grinned at her, a thoroughly scary experience.
"Watch us."
Root stopped and turned.
"Oh, I almost forgot. Where's Foaly?" he questioned.
"Put me down and I'll tell you." she promised, her feet dangled three feet off the ground.
"Tell us and we'll put you down." he countered. She sighed heavily.
"He's in the last room on the left. Big black door with 'Dangerous Material' in red letters. You can't miss it."
"Thank you." Root said, walking off, the rest following.
"Hey! Get me down!" she yelled. Holly waved.
"Bye, Opal." she called gaily as she shut the door quite firmly behind them. The four walked down the hall, her cries cut off by the sound-proofed door.
"I love my job." Root grinned. Artemis shook his head, smiling slightly, then froze.
"Do you hear that?" he hissed. The fairies stopped. They heard the sound of footsteps. Big ones. Coming their way without delay.
"D'Arvit!" Holly whispered.
"Captain, such language." Artemis whispered back as they bolted back down the hall. Holly glared at him, and ran into Butler as the bodyguard yanked open a tiny supply closet. The four squeezed in among reams of computer paper and office supplies. It was a tight fit, even with the fairies hovering above the human's heads. They stood in the dark, panting slightly as they heard the footsteps grow closer. As one , they held their breaths as the footsteps approached...and passed by. A soft sigh of relief echoed in the close quarters. Suddenly, they heard the slow squeak of a sound-proofed door opening.
"Uh-oh." they chorused. Opal's screams echoed through Level 15.
"Captain, you forgot to silence her." Root reprimanded in a whisper.
"Sorry, sir, I forgot my needle to sew her mouth shut." she snapped back, as the footsteps went pounding by, much faster this time. Human shouts joined the pixie's screams. Apparently, the guards had left the pixie hanging there as they ran to sound the alarm. The footsteps pounded back by, and stopped by the closet.
"Find the intruders!" shouted a loud voice from just outside. The footsteps passed.
And then Artemis's cell phone rang.
ASN: *grins* And all the readers scream in frustration.
AN: You get a real kick out of these cliffhanger endings, don't you?
ASN: Yes I do, actually. It's so much fun to listen to the readers write and complain.
AN: *stares* That's sorta weird, Ryn.
ASN: Weirder than carrying around pics of Duo Maxwell from Gundam Wing in your wallet?
AN: *blushes furiously*