Disclaimer: Ain't got no nothing to do to with nothing about no Artemis
Fowl. Ha, ha. A linguist's nightmare, eh? But seriously, you know what that
means.
The gang's now in Police Plaza, after a quick ride on a hotshot, and the human passengers wobbled out on shaking knees. At Root's orders, Foaly was to meet them there immediately with vehicles for quick transport. There was no use alarming the populace on the Mud Men's presence. As soon as they caught sight of Foaly, Root took out his Neutrino and yelled, "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't start blasting you right now!" "Er, because you'll have cramps?" Root, not in the mood to argue, muttered away as they prepared to drive to H.Q.
Back at the makeshift debriefing room (Root is still apprehensive when it comes to showing Fowl the LEP's prowess), Foaly announced. "Well, Herr Furrer, I have some good news and some bad news." Mulch smiled at the good news and fell back to Earth at the bad news. "Good news is, we've found the disc, or at least its contents. The very bad news is, it's on the Internet." Holly almost dropped from her seat, while Root's cigar became noticeably shorter and shorter. "Since when?" "Just yesterday. But, the thing is," Foaly began to chuckle uncontrollably, "the thing is, those Mud Men think its like a dime novel or something! They've posted in on the Internet, waiting for some Mark DeGaume to claim the novel!" Foaly was really letting it out now, pointing at Mulch then at the plasma screen where the info was shown while laughing with abandon. "You, right a novel? Give me a break!" A quick cough from Holly straightened him up right quick.
Artemis wasn't quite listening to the hubbub. "Butler, It appears I've been acting rather, rash lately. First of all, I haven't made any plans on bringing back the Fowl wealth. It's as if something in my brain has been whispering to me all the while that it was absolutely important to decipher the mystery of the lenses first. Then, along came these, these pixies and suddenly my pursuit has been diverted to whatever we've been dragged into." Butler laid a hand on his young master's shoulder and replied, "Artemis, I'm as confused as you by this unexpected turn of events. But, if its any consolation they seem to know something about you that seems as mysterious as those two contact lenses. I feel like the lenses and these new acquaintances are somehow related."
Artemis, frustrated with himself on trying to find some explanation for his recent behavior (and the Arty we know would never go with laser-firing strangers at a whim), put his hands inside his pockets and felts something hard inside. He took it out and saw that it was the vial where he put the lens in. "Well then, I guess we'll be able to find that out."
Foaly explained again, "We've, well, I've traced the source back to a computer workshop in Jamaica. And since people there aren't expecting an invasion by technologically superior pygmies, obviously there's not much that'll prevent even one Retrieval officer to get back the disc. And we can send a virus from here to that particular website that'll disappear within 24 hours, along with the information. All the Mud Men will see afterwards is, well, a site cleaner than a clean slate. But, there seems to be something peculiar about the file. The minute I accessed the site, I couldn't enter because of a special way it was encrypted. It cannot be accessed by other computers except the one where the disc was inserted." "Then let's go to Jamaica and be done with it!" Root snapped, especially ill tempered. Holly said, "Putting this matter aside, what do we do with the two at the back?" she asked, pointing to the two humans. "Another mind wipe, then," Root said matter-of-factly. Holly, depressed yet again, sighed and said, "I better tell them, then."
She walked over to where the two were and stood directly in front of Artemis. Artemis, meanwhile, saw an opportunity to ask about the lens, so he held up the vial and began, "Ms. Holly, about these-" he stopped short, freezing where he was.
Suddenly, the image of the blurred girl and the hazel contact lenses flashed before his eyes again, but this time, the words were repeated over and over again, each time the girl's appearance began to clear up. Finally, he stopped hearing the words and the memory stopped, as if someone hit a pause button in his head. "Holly? Holly, Holly Short!" he muttered. Then, as if the pause button suddenly turned to fast forward, memories from the first time he met the People up till his mind wipe flashed in his brain. His brain focused only on the incoming memories; Artemis fell to the floor.
Butler instinctively stood up and tried to wake him from his trance. "What's happening to him?" he asked, looking at Holly. She, too, was shocked as she replied, "Memories, two years worth of memories, flooding back to him in a space of two minutes. It's occupying every space in his brain, causing it to ignore anything else, except involuntary actions. Oh gods!"
Finally, Artemis opened his eyes. Before when he entered the room, it was as unfamiliar as the underground terrain he was taken to. But now, with freshly re-acquired memories, it's as if he had just entered it again after a long time. "Debriefing room," he breathed, and a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. A smile Holly has never seen from him before, a smile of fond recognition. Holly looked at Foaly and Root, as they muttered under their breath, "Total recall."
The gang's now in Police Plaza, after a quick ride on a hotshot, and the human passengers wobbled out on shaking knees. At Root's orders, Foaly was to meet them there immediately with vehicles for quick transport. There was no use alarming the populace on the Mud Men's presence. As soon as they caught sight of Foaly, Root took out his Neutrino and yelled, "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't start blasting you right now!" "Er, because you'll have cramps?" Root, not in the mood to argue, muttered away as they prepared to drive to H.Q.
Back at the makeshift debriefing room (Root is still apprehensive when it comes to showing Fowl the LEP's prowess), Foaly announced. "Well, Herr Furrer, I have some good news and some bad news." Mulch smiled at the good news and fell back to Earth at the bad news. "Good news is, we've found the disc, or at least its contents. The very bad news is, it's on the Internet." Holly almost dropped from her seat, while Root's cigar became noticeably shorter and shorter. "Since when?" "Just yesterday. But, the thing is," Foaly began to chuckle uncontrollably, "the thing is, those Mud Men think its like a dime novel or something! They've posted in on the Internet, waiting for some Mark DeGaume to claim the novel!" Foaly was really letting it out now, pointing at Mulch then at the plasma screen where the info was shown while laughing with abandon. "You, right a novel? Give me a break!" A quick cough from Holly straightened him up right quick.
Artemis wasn't quite listening to the hubbub. "Butler, It appears I've been acting rather, rash lately. First of all, I haven't made any plans on bringing back the Fowl wealth. It's as if something in my brain has been whispering to me all the while that it was absolutely important to decipher the mystery of the lenses first. Then, along came these, these pixies and suddenly my pursuit has been diverted to whatever we've been dragged into." Butler laid a hand on his young master's shoulder and replied, "Artemis, I'm as confused as you by this unexpected turn of events. But, if its any consolation they seem to know something about you that seems as mysterious as those two contact lenses. I feel like the lenses and these new acquaintances are somehow related."
Artemis, frustrated with himself on trying to find some explanation for his recent behavior (and the Arty we know would never go with laser-firing strangers at a whim), put his hands inside his pockets and felts something hard inside. He took it out and saw that it was the vial where he put the lens in. "Well then, I guess we'll be able to find that out."
Foaly explained again, "We've, well, I've traced the source back to a computer workshop in Jamaica. And since people there aren't expecting an invasion by technologically superior pygmies, obviously there's not much that'll prevent even one Retrieval officer to get back the disc. And we can send a virus from here to that particular website that'll disappear within 24 hours, along with the information. All the Mud Men will see afterwards is, well, a site cleaner than a clean slate. But, there seems to be something peculiar about the file. The minute I accessed the site, I couldn't enter because of a special way it was encrypted. It cannot be accessed by other computers except the one where the disc was inserted." "Then let's go to Jamaica and be done with it!" Root snapped, especially ill tempered. Holly said, "Putting this matter aside, what do we do with the two at the back?" she asked, pointing to the two humans. "Another mind wipe, then," Root said matter-of-factly. Holly, depressed yet again, sighed and said, "I better tell them, then."
She walked over to where the two were and stood directly in front of Artemis. Artemis, meanwhile, saw an opportunity to ask about the lens, so he held up the vial and began, "Ms. Holly, about these-" he stopped short, freezing where he was.
Suddenly, the image of the blurred girl and the hazel contact lenses flashed before his eyes again, but this time, the words were repeated over and over again, each time the girl's appearance began to clear up. Finally, he stopped hearing the words and the memory stopped, as if someone hit a pause button in his head. "Holly? Holly, Holly Short!" he muttered. Then, as if the pause button suddenly turned to fast forward, memories from the first time he met the People up till his mind wipe flashed in his brain. His brain focused only on the incoming memories; Artemis fell to the floor.
Butler instinctively stood up and tried to wake him from his trance. "What's happening to him?" he asked, looking at Holly. She, too, was shocked as she replied, "Memories, two years worth of memories, flooding back to him in a space of two minutes. It's occupying every space in his brain, causing it to ignore anything else, except involuntary actions. Oh gods!"
Finally, Artemis opened his eyes. Before when he entered the room, it was as unfamiliar as the underground terrain he was taken to. But now, with freshly re-acquired memories, it's as if he had just entered it again after a long time. "Debriefing room," he breathed, and a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. A smile Holly has never seen from him before, a smile of fond recognition. Holly looked at Foaly and Root, as they muttered under their breath, "Total recall."