AN: Hi, it's us again! Here's chapter 11, where you find out who's the hacker, why the hacker's there, and what Artemis is hiding on his computer.
ASN: Sure, just give away the entire plot while you're at it.
AN: *Sticks tongue out*
DISCLAIMER: No matter how much we wish, or beg, or plead or pray, Artemis is not ours, nor will he ever be ours. There, I said it, now read the story.
Chapter 11: The Hacker's Been Hacked
("Oh, I know exactly where it's coming from.")
Simone leaned back in her chair, a smirk appearing on her face. Apparently, even the great Artemis Fowl couldn't stop an Interpol hacking program from getting the better of him. As soon as it finished downloading the teen's hard drive, she could sort through all of his hidden information at her leisure. Then she and her father could convict 'Arty' at their leisure as well.
A screen suddenly came up on her computer.
! Download canceled. Connection lost. !
Before she could react, another screen appeared.
! Download deleted. !
Simone's eyes widened. Deleted?!
The entire monitor went black, and then three white words appeared.
ANSWER THE DOOR.
"Huh?"
BAM! BAM! BAM! Simone jumped as three very firm knocks echoed off her door. Her brow furrowed.
"Oops. Not as subtle as I thought."
"Open. The. Door." Artemis's voice came from the hallway. Even from Simone's limited interaction with the teen, she knew he was not pleased. She walked over to the door and calmly opened it.
Artemis was leaning against the doorjamb, arms folded. His entire posture screamed 'annoyed' and his eyes were very unamused.
"You know, hacking is illegal." he said as an opening. Simone flipped her hair out of her face.
"I'm quite certain most of the things you are involved in are illegal as well." she answered coolly.
"At least HE doesn't get caught." a shielded Holly whispered from her usual point over Artemis's left shoulder.
A little too loudly.
"What?" Simone asked, all nonchalance gone from her face. She looked around for the source of the voice, thus missing the glare of annoyance Artemis gave to the air above his shoulder. "What was that?" she said.
"Oops." Holly whispered, quieter than before.
"Don't try to change the subject." Artemis interjected before Holly could dig herself any deeper.
"The honest truth?" Simone said, turning back, "Dad gave me a new hacker program to try. Since your computer is definitely more protected than any of the computers of the lesser criminals we have to deal with every day, I thought I might as well try it out on yours." Artemis's eyes narrowed.
"It is not extraordinarily wise to get on my bad side this early into your stay, especially since you're going to be here all semester. Life could become…unpleasant."
Simone's eyes widened with a combination of amusement and maliciousness. "Why Arty," she said girlishly, "Are you threatening me?"
Artemis gave her his patented blank stare. "Mademoiselle, take it however you desire. If you wish to view it as a threat, then by all means, view it as a threat." He turned and strode down the hall. Simone watched him go, and then closed her door. And locked it.
**********
Artemis Sr. sat at his large desk in the study, calmly going over the papers for his new enterprise. It had nothing to do with Russia, or cola for that matter. The door swung open and Artemis Jr. walked in. His father looked at the teen closely. Was it his imagination, or was the barely restrained fury in his son's eyes causing a slight heat haze to hover around his head?
"Yes, Son?" he asked pleasantly, putting his gold pen down. He had been expecting this conversation for the past two days. Maybe Artemis and Simone had been getting along better than he had thought they would.
"Father, what possessed you to invite such a…inquisitive girl into our home? She is, after all, the daughter of an Interpol inspector. And not just any Interpol inspector, but the one who has made it his personal quest to see the Fowls put in prison?" Artemis asked very, very calmly.
Artemis Sr. sighed. Okay, so maybe they weren't getting along.
"What happened?" he asked.
"She hacked into my hard drive, trying to find incriminating documents about any criminal activities."
"All right. Did she find anything?"
"I certainly hope not." Artemis took a deep breath. "Father, why this girl?"
"It's very simple. I want to prove to everyone, especially Badeau, that the Fowls are now perfectly legitimate. I have nothing to hide." Artemis Sr. studied his son. "Do you?"
Artemis Jr. rewarded the question with a bland stare. Artemis Sr. sighed.
"In that case, I would recommend wrapping it up. Quickly."
His son nodded once, an impassive look on his face, and turned and walked out the door. Artemis Sr. turned back to his papers.
**********
Holly had to speed up in order to keep up with the obviously unhappy teenager. "Yo, Arty, slow down!" she hissed. He didn't even break his stride.
Artemis walked into his room and went directly to his computer. He pulled out a blank CD-R disk and slid it into his drive. Holly turned off her wings and unshielded.
"Now what are you doing?" she asked. Artemis said nothing. "Besides ignoring me, I mean."
"Don't you have something else you could be doing?" Artemis asked tiredly. "Anything else?"
"Nope." she chirped. "You have my undivided attention."
"A pleasure." he muttered. "If you must know, I'm moving all irreplaceable files onto disk, and then I'm reformatting my hard drive to make sure I am rid of any sensitive documents."
Holly leaned back in a chair, expertly leaned it back on the back two legs, and rested her boots on the edge of Artemis's desk. He ignored this. Disappointed, Holly said, "So, what's so important that you don't want Simone to see? Surely you don't keep records of your criminal activities."
He continued to ignore her.
"Come on, Arty. What are you hiding? Your diary?" At that, the teen slowly turned to glare at the elf.
"Actually," he said, "I was more worried about her finding the copy of the Booke I had saved."
Holly jerked in her chair, disturbing the elaborate balance she had created and almost falling flat on her face. "What?!" Even in her shock, she couldn't miss the smirk that appeared on Artemis's face at her reaction.
"Is something wrong, Captain?" he asked smoothly.
"Fowl, you idiot! You mean you left a copy of the Booke where anyone could find it?"
"Well, not everyone." Artemis stated. "It would take a hacker of amazing talent. Perhaps Foaly."
"I don't know; Simone appeared to be doing well." Holly shot back.
"With all due respect, Captain, you have no idea what you're talking about." Holly seemed to swell with rage in a striking resemblance to Commander Root.
"Why you…stupid…!" she snarled.
Artemis raised an eyebrow. "I've been called many things, but 'stupid' has never been one of them."
"Well then, it's overdue!" she snapped. "You risked having Simone find out about the People! Besides, you must have more copies in safer places; why did you have to have one on your computer?!"
"I did have other copies in safer places." Artemis said, a little testily. "Foaly either dug up or destroyed them all."
"Oh." Holly ceased her tirade, the wind taken momentarily out of her sails. "Any other little surprises you have hidden?"
He folded his arms and scowled at her. For once, he looked truly aggravated. "How am I supposed to know?" he snapped. "After all, I don't quite remember."
Holly glared right back. "Technically, if you didn't remember, we wouldn't be having this conversation."
"Take it up with Foaly whenever you go back." Artemis said dismissively, turning back to the computer. "Now if you want me to keep Simone from learning anything, let me get back to work."
It was all Holly could do to keep her hands from circling the Mud Boy's neck. She could have sworn she was supposed to annoy him. Wasn't that why she was here?
She would have to simply have to try harder.
ASN: Hope you enjoyed the new chapter. That scene between Arty and Simone was a ball to write.
AN: Thank you, thank you. I tried. Please, no flowers, just send money.
ASN: Uh, excuse you. Who wrote this scene??
AN: Anyway, thanks for all the comments, and we'll see when the next chapter's up. I start school tomorrow (AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!), so it might be a bit.