Wow. I wrote seven pages listening to Enya. Sorry it's been *checks*
omigod, a MONTH??!! I'll be better in the future.
For the record, the Eternity Code made me cry. Eoin Colfer sucks. *holds up middle finger politely to him* you pervert! What a stupid way to end a trilogy!
*
Chapter Eight: More Tales To Tell
Opal reviewed her action when the bomb did not return. Deciding to use a different method, she slit Chix Verbil open and collected his magic. Instead of a magical byway, she opened a portal.
It succeeded.
*
After her report from the swear toad, Holly had gone first to Root and then the Council. While both were not pleased to hear she had used the mesmer on an animal, they admitted the news on Kaboi was serious.
"Serious?" chuckled the earpiece in Holly's ear as Foaly listened to them arguing. "Have they forgotten how Opal almost kicked their asses? She baffled me, of all people. Of course it's serious!"
"We can handle it," decided Root when they heard the news. "We'll put a double shift on the labs right away."
This was acceptable as an answer to the Council and they set the matter aside. Not such a great idea. Every man - er, Recon officer - that was sent out never came back. Holly took the case back on the second day of disappearances.
Days of debate went by. Holly grew more impatient. She probably would have acted without a license had she known that Opal was currently in the act of gathering an army to her, having opened the portal with fairy magic.
At last the verdict returned to her: "Put Foaly on it right away."
The centaur already had a lead and was proofing his files against Kaboi. Holly helped by sending out more illegal mesmered animals to map. An offer for Mulch Diggums caught alive was circulating (he knew the labs end to end), and Root worked on recovering commander's privilege Kaboi documents even when he was out of action.
The very day that the cousins and Artemis Fowl reunited, his results came through. Bodily functioning blueprints of Kaboi Laboratories.
Foaly summoned Holly and Root to his office. "We have a bit of a problem."
*
A few hours later, following their use of a manor toilet ("Omigod! Black marble, Tessa! LOOK at the BATHTUB! It's like a Jacuzzi!"), the cousins and Artemis went to eat. Leah and Kristin both recognized the pale youth. For Leah, seeing him triggered her memory of the LEP, but she had long since brushed that off at a dream and so was not disturbed.
Halfway through the meal, Artemis's cell phone rang. With an apologetic glance at the visiting family, he betook himself to the parking lot and flipped the case open.
Root's voice came in loud and clear. "-y not ask him to save Haven in a couple weeks too? Honestly Foaly, can we do anything without him? The day he dies we may as well just give up hope-"
"Shut up! I want to hear what ideas he might have, Julius!"
"And then what? We wipe him again? Oh that's right, we can't."
"He's left us alone." Foaly sounded bitter.
"Only because h-"
"Yes?" said Artemis calmly.
Dead silence.
"Artemis?" Holly. What was going on?
"Fowl. We need to know exactly what you remember about being returned from Middle Earth."
"Why?"
The three fairies on the other end hesitated. Artemis decided another tack. "If you refuse to tell me anything, I refuse to be a party to this."
"If you don't tell us," Foaly retorted, "you will die whether or not we mind-wipe you."
That caught the teen's attention. "It's the future of our civilization?"
"Yes," said Holly. "The fourth time, I might add, you've jeopardized us."
"Short. I don't even know what you're talking about. How is it my fault this time?"
"You ran away. Your associates transported you to Middle Earth. Your files gave Opal Kaboi enough material to construct a retrieving bio-bomb. That failing, she opened a subtle portal to Isengard and chained an Orc march to the labs. In short, about eight thousand. Already armed to the teeth."
Artemis's mouth fell open. "And... guessing that's not good?"
"No. We need witnesses to our first transport conduct so we can reverse it."
"So you need me and the cousins?"
Foaly considered it.
"Yes."
The mastermind made some quick calculations. "We would be perfectly willing to help you. Send Holly up here immediately with the blueprints."
"Up there?" Holly demanded. "Why not down here?"
"There's a little matter that needs to be taken care of up here first."
"Of course. The great Artemis Fowl's price. What is it this time? Do I even want to know?"
"Nothing large."
"Why do I have a bad feeling," Root groaned.
Artemis smiled a vampire smile. "I need a time-stop."
*
The quick exchange over, the boy stepped back into the restaurant. Holly and a Retrieval team could arrive in ten minutes maximum. He had that much time to sneak Tessa, Jennie, and Alison out of the building.
Tearing off the paper band that held his silverware together, Artemis scribbled furiously, a note to Jennie:
Say your hair messed or something and get Alison to go help you fix it. Come back and ask Tessa if she has an extra rubber band. Get her to go with you. Meet me outside. Don't ask questions.
He slipped it under her fingers and took a drink of his iced tea.
Jennie read the note under the booth, nodded, and dragged Alison towards the girl's bathroom. She demanded Tessa moments later. When the trio did not return, Artemis heaved a quiet sigh of relief and stood.
"I think I'll go see what they're up to..."
They were out.
Artemis strolled through the front door to see the three girls stretched on the lawn, reading his note together. Alison looked cross.
"What do you want?" she demanded, applying lip gloss by light of a lamppost.
The mastermind motioned her to be quiet and drew them out of view of the restaurant windows, explaining in a whisper. "Kab - well, you don't know who she is - a betrayer of the People summoned an army of Orcs after she read our files and discovered it was possible. We're being taken to be questioned but first-"
"First we have to time-stop." Holly Short's voice echoed from behind them. When they turned, however, she was still shielded. "Artemis, we're setting up. Lucky for you the sun's down."
"How fun is this!" squealed Tessa. "Our very first night together and things are happening!"
"And there are so many reasons that sounded wrong," chuckled Jennie.
Unseen, Holly rolled her eyes. Trouble and his men finished setting up their time stop equipment, and she opened a channel to the Ops Booth.
"Foaly? You watching?"
"No. I'm updating FSE records and processing the Orc blueprints to the Council. Give me a moment."
Holly waited patiently, listening to the sound of a keyboard on the other end. Then a mouse-click.
"Right," said Foaly. "What do you want?"
"Press the button. We have it set."
An aqua colored bubble blossomed over the restaurant a moment later. The cousins watched, excited but not unnerved. They had seen time shields before.
Foaly sighed loudly in the captain's ear. "You're welcome."
"I don't have time for your I-am-so-unappreciated lecture today, Foaly. I have to bring these Mud People down for questioning."
"Why don't you question them there?" the centaur demanded. "I equipped Trouble with standard Retimagers."
"Negative. We don't have standard liability tools if the eight hours go by with no product."
Listening, Artemis visibly flinched at the barely audible words.
Liability.
The cousins were going to be red-flagged.
"Holly, wait a minute," he ordered, spinning her around to face him. "You can't. Don't think this is their fault. It was your magic a month ago that started this."
"What does liability mean?" asked Tessa blithely.
Artemis's face became a mask, leaving the captain to answer.
"Two years ago, Artemis Fowl had endangered the People yet again. He lost technology to a piece of American shit that could reveal us. When the recovery of the item was over, we. . ."
"You wiped me." Artemis's stomach clenched as he thought back to their goodbye. The wipe had left him a cold-hearted bastard once more.
"He gave Mulch Diggums his memories on disk. One year later, the dwarf returned to company. I was sent after him, but it was too late. Fowl had recovered his memories."
"She was going to have to do a block wipe, erasing almost everything this time," Artemis continued painfully.
"I had the equipment," the captain admitted.
"But I forgave her. For taking everything away from me. And she couldn't. It would have shattered her." A bitter smile graced his lips.
"So I agreed to keep it quiet. But the Council found out in the end. Artemis met the team at the door and forbade them to enter. He had saved us enough times that we couldn't bio-bomb the place. It was truce."
"I have made my peace with the People," Artemis agreed. "They will never mind-wipe me again."
"That's horrible!" Jennie cried, staring at Holly. "You mind-wiped him? Can you imagine if it was the other way around? If humans mind-wiped fairies and one had given you your family, your conscience, and was your dearest friend? And then to have that erased? Forever? What if Mulch hadn't been able to come back? You would have let him go?"
The captain turned away, feeling her eyes brim. It hadn't been easy then, and it wasn't easy to relive. Artemis was a dear friend, for all he was a teenage Mud Man.
The Retrieval team had unshielded and were strapping on Moonbelts. Trouble handed the captain some foil sheets. "Wrap them and snap them on. We have to get moving. You just wasted fifteen minutes."
Holly nodded, composing herself and swathing the humans in foil. "This will protect you from radar. We're going to fly you to Tara."
Jennie was strapped to Trouble; Tessa to Grub. Alison, being a slender young woman and not a slender teenager, was carried between two sprites. Artemis found himself flying with Holly.
As they lifted, he spoke softly to her. "I still hardly believe you betrayed me."
"Oh, Artemis." Holly was quiet for a minute. "You hurt people. Including me, and Butler twice in bygone days. The People don't want to be wounded like that. Yet your schemes persist. And now, you will hurt the cousins, wait and see."
"Never."
"Why is it they mean so much to you?"
"As well ask why you mean as much."
Holly faltered in flight. "Don't guilt me. I could never have pressed that button under normal circumstances. But you almost exposed our world. The blood of the entire underground would be staining your hands right about now if we hadn't succeeded in recovering that Cube."
"You turned me back into the person I was!"
"Against all probability. Even that shows your cruel streak."
"Holly. I am sorry for everything I caused you. I would erase it if it hasn't made me who I am today."
She was silent for a while as the Retrieval team arrowed through the air. "I'm sorry too, but you are no different. You drew the girls into this."
"It's not the same! They're a part of me!"
Distantly, they could see the location of Tara. The fairies sped up, making talk between human and elf difficult, but Holly answered anyway. "You spoke the truth when you told them you could never be mind-wiped. Do they know that everything will be gone to them if this errand fails? Doesn't that count as hurting?"
Artemis clenched his fists inside the foil. "No, but you don't have to wipe them if we don't succeed!"
"They will be responsible," Holly said heavily. "Do you have any idea how serious this is?"
"Then you must be marked as responsible too!"
The painful silence suddenly told Artemis the truth.
"I am marked." Holly's voice was quieter now. "I will lose my badge, according to Root. There is no more leash for your trouble. Now do you understand, Mud Boy? You hurt the people around you. Even if you are immune."
*
I cannot believe I just put myself into jeopardy. I hated EC. I cannot replicate it! Must not! BAD DOBBY! GAHHH!
For the record, the Eternity Code made me cry. Eoin Colfer sucks. *holds up middle finger politely to him* you pervert! What a stupid way to end a trilogy!
*
Chapter Eight: More Tales To Tell
Opal reviewed her action when the bomb did not return. Deciding to use a different method, she slit Chix Verbil open and collected his magic. Instead of a magical byway, she opened a portal.
It succeeded.
*
After her report from the swear toad, Holly had gone first to Root and then the Council. While both were not pleased to hear she had used the mesmer on an animal, they admitted the news on Kaboi was serious.
"Serious?" chuckled the earpiece in Holly's ear as Foaly listened to them arguing. "Have they forgotten how Opal almost kicked their asses? She baffled me, of all people. Of course it's serious!"
"We can handle it," decided Root when they heard the news. "We'll put a double shift on the labs right away."
This was acceptable as an answer to the Council and they set the matter aside. Not such a great idea. Every man - er, Recon officer - that was sent out never came back. Holly took the case back on the second day of disappearances.
Days of debate went by. Holly grew more impatient. She probably would have acted without a license had she known that Opal was currently in the act of gathering an army to her, having opened the portal with fairy magic.
At last the verdict returned to her: "Put Foaly on it right away."
The centaur already had a lead and was proofing his files against Kaboi. Holly helped by sending out more illegal mesmered animals to map. An offer for Mulch Diggums caught alive was circulating (he knew the labs end to end), and Root worked on recovering commander's privilege Kaboi documents even when he was out of action.
The very day that the cousins and Artemis Fowl reunited, his results came through. Bodily functioning blueprints of Kaboi Laboratories.
Foaly summoned Holly and Root to his office. "We have a bit of a problem."
*
A few hours later, following their use of a manor toilet ("Omigod! Black marble, Tessa! LOOK at the BATHTUB! It's like a Jacuzzi!"), the cousins and Artemis went to eat. Leah and Kristin both recognized the pale youth. For Leah, seeing him triggered her memory of the LEP, but she had long since brushed that off at a dream and so was not disturbed.
Halfway through the meal, Artemis's cell phone rang. With an apologetic glance at the visiting family, he betook himself to the parking lot and flipped the case open.
Root's voice came in loud and clear. "-y not ask him to save Haven in a couple weeks too? Honestly Foaly, can we do anything without him? The day he dies we may as well just give up hope-"
"Shut up! I want to hear what ideas he might have, Julius!"
"And then what? We wipe him again? Oh that's right, we can't."
"He's left us alone." Foaly sounded bitter.
"Only because h-"
"Yes?" said Artemis calmly.
Dead silence.
"Artemis?" Holly. What was going on?
"Fowl. We need to know exactly what you remember about being returned from Middle Earth."
"Why?"
The three fairies on the other end hesitated. Artemis decided another tack. "If you refuse to tell me anything, I refuse to be a party to this."
"If you don't tell us," Foaly retorted, "you will die whether or not we mind-wipe you."
That caught the teen's attention. "It's the future of our civilization?"
"Yes," said Holly. "The fourth time, I might add, you've jeopardized us."
"Short. I don't even know what you're talking about. How is it my fault this time?"
"You ran away. Your associates transported you to Middle Earth. Your files gave Opal Kaboi enough material to construct a retrieving bio-bomb. That failing, she opened a subtle portal to Isengard and chained an Orc march to the labs. In short, about eight thousand. Already armed to the teeth."
Artemis's mouth fell open. "And... guessing that's not good?"
"No. We need witnesses to our first transport conduct so we can reverse it."
"So you need me and the cousins?"
Foaly considered it.
"Yes."
The mastermind made some quick calculations. "We would be perfectly willing to help you. Send Holly up here immediately with the blueprints."
"Up there?" Holly demanded. "Why not down here?"
"There's a little matter that needs to be taken care of up here first."
"Of course. The great Artemis Fowl's price. What is it this time? Do I even want to know?"
"Nothing large."
"Why do I have a bad feeling," Root groaned.
Artemis smiled a vampire smile. "I need a time-stop."
*
The quick exchange over, the boy stepped back into the restaurant. Holly and a Retrieval team could arrive in ten minutes maximum. He had that much time to sneak Tessa, Jennie, and Alison out of the building.
Tearing off the paper band that held his silverware together, Artemis scribbled furiously, a note to Jennie:
Say your hair messed or something and get Alison to go help you fix it. Come back and ask Tessa if she has an extra rubber band. Get her to go with you. Meet me outside. Don't ask questions.
He slipped it under her fingers and took a drink of his iced tea.
Jennie read the note under the booth, nodded, and dragged Alison towards the girl's bathroom. She demanded Tessa moments later. When the trio did not return, Artemis heaved a quiet sigh of relief and stood.
"I think I'll go see what they're up to..."
They were out.
Artemis strolled through the front door to see the three girls stretched on the lawn, reading his note together. Alison looked cross.
"What do you want?" she demanded, applying lip gloss by light of a lamppost.
The mastermind motioned her to be quiet and drew them out of view of the restaurant windows, explaining in a whisper. "Kab - well, you don't know who she is - a betrayer of the People summoned an army of Orcs after she read our files and discovered it was possible. We're being taken to be questioned but first-"
"First we have to time-stop." Holly Short's voice echoed from behind them. When they turned, however, she was still shielded. "Artemis, we're setting up. Lucky for you the sun's down."
"How fun is this!" squealed Tessa. "Our very first night together and things are happening!"
"And there are so many reasons that sounded wrong," chuckled Jennie.
Unseen, Holly rolled her eyes. Trouble and his men finished setting up their time stop equipment, and she opened a channel to the Ops Booth.
"Foaly? You watching?"
"No. I'm updating FSE records and processing the Orc blueprints to the Council. Give me a moment."
Holly waited patiently, listening to the sound of a keyboard on the other end. Then a mouse-click.
"Right," said Foaly. "What do you want?"
"Press the button. We have it set."
An aqua colored bubble blossomed over the restaurant a moment later. The cousins watched, excited but not unnerved. They had seen time shields before.
Foaly sighed loudly in the captain's ear. "You're welcome."
"I don't have time for your I-am-so-unappreciated lecture today, Foaly. I have to bring these Mud People down for questioning."
"Why don't you question them there?" the centaur demanded. "I equipped Trouble with standard Retimagers."
"Negative. We don't have standard liability tools if the eight hours go by with no product."
Listening, Artemis visibly flinched at the barely audible words.
Liability.
The cousins were going to be red-flagged.
"Holly, wait a minute," he ordered, spinning her around to face him. "You can't. Don't think this is their fault. It was your magic a month ago that started this."
"What does liability mean?" asked Tessa blithely.
Artemis's face became a mask, leaving the captain to answer.
"Two years ago, Artemis Fowl had endangered the People yet again. He lost technology to a piece of American shit that could reveal us. When the recovery of the item was over, we. . ."
"You wiped me." Artemis's stomach clenched as he thought back to their goodbye. The wipe had left him a cold-hearted bastard once more.
"He gave Mulch Diggums his memories on disk. One year later, the dwarf returned to company. I was sent after him, but it was too late. Fowl had recovered his memories."
"She was going to have to do a block wipe, erasing almost everything this time," Artemis continued painfully.
"I had the equipment," the captain admitted.
"But I forgave her. For taking everything away from me. And she couldn't. It would have shattered her." A bitter smile graced his lips.
"So I agreed to keep it quiet. But the Council found out in the end. Artemis met the team at the door and forbade them to enter. He had saved us enough times that we couldn't bio-bomb the place. It was truce."
"I have made my peace with the People," Artemis agreed. "They will never mind-wipe me again."
"That's horrible!" Jennie cried, staring at Holly. "You mind-wiped him? Can you imagine if it was the other way around? If humans mind-wiped fairies and one had given you your family, your conscience, and was your dearest friend? And then to have that erased? Forever? What if Mulch hadn't been able to come back? You would have let him go?"
The captain turned away, feeling her eyes brim. It hadn't been easy then, and it wasn't easy to relive. Artemis was a dear friend, for all he was a teenage Mud Man.
The Retrieval team had unshielded and were strapping on Moonbelts. Trouble handed the captain some foil sheets. "Wrap them and snap them on. We have to get moving. You just wasted fifteen minutes."
Holly nodded, composing herself and swathing the humans in foil. "This will protect you from radar. We're going to fly you to Tara."
Jennie was strapped to Trouble; Tessa to Grub. Alison, being a slender young woman and not a slender teenager, was carried between two sprites. Artemis found himself flying with Holly.
As they lifted, he spoke softly to her. "I still hardly believe you betrayed me."
"Oh, Artemis." Holly was quiet for a minute. "You hurt people. Including me, and Butler twice in bygone days. The People don't want to be wounded like that. Yet your schemes persist. And now, you will hurt the cousins, wait and see."
"Never."
"Why is it they mean so much to you?"
"As well ask why you mean as much."
Holly faltered in flight. "Don't guilt me. I could never have pressed that button under normal circumstances. But you almost exposed our world. The blood of the entire underground would be staining your hands right about now if we hadn't succeeded in recovering that Cube."
"You turned me back into the person I was!"
"Against all probability. Even that shows your cruel streak."
"Holly. I am sorry for everything I caused you. I would erase it if it hasn't made me who I am today."
She was silent for a while as the Retrieval team arrowed through the air. "I'm sorry too, but you are no different. You drew the girls into this."
"It's not the same! They're a part of me!"
Distantly, they could see the location of Tara. The fairies sped up, making talk between human and elf difficult, but Holly answered anyway. "You spoke the truth when you told them you could never be mind-wiped. Do they know that everything will be gone to them if this errand fails? Doesn't that count as hurting?"
Artemis clenched his fists inside the foil. "No, but you don't have to wipe them if we don't succeed!"
"They will be responsible," Holly said heavily. "Do you have any idea how serious this is?"
"Then you must be marked as responsible too!"
The painful silence suddenly told Artemis the truth.
"I am marked." Holly's voice was quieter now. "I will lose my badge, according to Root. There is no more leash for your trouble. Now do you understand, Mud Boy? You hurt the people around you. Even if you are immune."
*
I cannot believe I just put myself into jeopardy. I hated EC. I cannot replicate it! Must not! BAD DOBBY! GAHHH!