Holly Short looked different. Then again, any four-footed, pointy-eared, and technologically-winged faerie looked different than most humans.
However, it was quite unusual for the People to have a pale complexion or an absolute lack of magic, and Captain Short possessed both qualities while standing across from Miriena Hallinan.
"Of course I've changed," Miri retorted. "Do you expect me to remain only slightly above your height and type HTML all day?"
Her voice, even in her own ears, sounded cold.
Holly searched Miri through her visor. She ignored the various pictures Foaly was sending into her helmet. Pictures of the Hallinan family and rooms, as well some programs Miri created.
"If that was the case, I would be content. At one point in life, I thought I welcomed change. Now, I honestly don't think so."
Miri put her pencil in her drawer, and pushed her hair away from her face. Things were moving sluggishly slow. The grandfather's clock downstairs struck six, but the sound moved with abnormal laziness. Mollie, unsure of what to do, came in gingerly, and Miri draped an arm around her little sister.
"Is that so?" The girl sarcastically mouthed. "Holly Short. Resorting to all this sentimental talk? Things must be very desperate underground, then. Just out of curiosity, were you even invited in my house?"
"About thirty minutes ago, your sister said something about wanting sprites coming in and playing Monopoly Junior with her. Faeries - sprites, close enough."
Miri glanced at Mollie. Her sister, however, was entranced at the appearance of the Captain. Mollie did not attempt to respond.
"I...see. Now...before we launch into a deep faerie discussion, what happened to your skin? Did Foaly invent an untanning parlor for the People to blend in with humans now?"
Holly was unable to speak for several moments. She allowed herself to sit on the edge of Miri's bed, looking at her fingers. One of the index digits looked mended.
"Tell her," Foaly urged in her ear. "We need her."
Holly looked up to see Miri scanning the periodic table, taped above the lamp. The girl wore an almost bored expression, but her face was covered with thoughts.
"Me recuerdas a Artemis Fowl," the Captain said gently. Her Spanish was accented, but Miri understood. She turned around to face the faerie.
"¿Verdad? Yo miré a él hoy, cuando trabajando en mi computadora. He's nothing like me."
Holly smiled sadly. "How is he? I presume he was working on his computer as well?"
"Why would I have any idea how he is? We only briefly relayed to each other over the internet. He is a highly amusing person."
"I wouldn't be surprised."
Miri motioned at the faerie. "Your skin...?"
The Captain clasped her hands together. "Before I explain about my skin - "
" - You want to make sure I can help. Or I will help, for that matter," Miri finished. "The People needs help from the Mud Men. Why else would a revered member go aboveground to seek out a girl, namely one who knows about the Haven?
And of course, you wouldn't explain if I refused. The less I know about the faeries, the better off they would be.
Why else would Holly Short, a sarcastic and rebellious faerie by nature, subdue her temper? I'm not blind. So, don't give me that wallowing despair trash. If you want help, say it directly. If you haven't noticed, I'll tell you now: I don't buy pity. I never sell it either."
Holly struggled to keep from grinning.
"You remind me all too much of Artemis," she said again.
"I'm nothing like him," Miri responded, clenching her teeth. She appeared to be bored again, and quickly wrote down the atomic number for radon. 86. Her eyes fastened on her homework. They didn't like to meet Holly's.
"We need Artemis too," the Captain added.
Miri stopped her pencil strokes and began to laugh.
"You need him too?" she said, between laughs. "How ironic. How ironic! You wiped his memory clean, and now you need him."
Miri paused and looked straight into Holly's eyes. She left her fears behind momentarily.
"Do you know, Holly," she said, much quieter, "do you know what I like best about you? You bring me the darkness of society right into the comfort of my house. You remind me what the world is like out there. If it wasn't for human nature, there wouldn't be distrust. If there was no distrust, there would be no need for mind-wiping.
I think I've been trapped in my illusions far too long. I retreated, into the world of commanding computers. The computers I own do not have a personality, nor do they have thought. We trust each other. But you, Holly Short, brought the cynical reality back into my life.
Do you think I forgot about the murder of my best friend?
So tell me, Holly, why didn't you wipe my mind? Did I look any more trustworthy to you? If I'm so like the great Artemis Fowl, why am I free to remember about the People?
Thank you, Holly. You can leave my house right now. You may excuse yourself and your silly LEP helmet outside my window. I don't need to see files about my life when I live my life. And Foaly, you can stop the Unix stuff. I don't think it means anything to Holly.
Please excuse me while I finish my Chem homework up and teach Mollie a bit about parabolas. I think I am currently pressed for time."
In Holly's earpiece, Foaly cracked up.
"That's my Miri," he said. "I know exactly what she's about to say after this. Stay right where you are, Holly. Look shocked and demoted, but don't leave. Watch."
To Captain Short, and Mollie, who was standing nearby, Miri seemed withdrawn and resentful, waiting for the faerie to leave the house.
But Miri knew her routine so well, even those who knew her couldn't be sure if her tantrums were for real.
Unfortunately, the pretended burst of cynicism stung her mind. Damn it, her voice mumbled. Dealings with Holly always result into actual submersion!
Miri had dug up old wounds that were almost healed. The half-formed scars bit into her like a parasite. Her eyes, which were extremely dry seconds before, became moist and threatened to overflow.
She swiveled around, one arm around Mollie, and faced the Captain.
"Did you really think I meant that, Captain Short?" Miri managed a bitter smile. "After being with you for so long, especially in the shuttles?"
The girl walked over, shuffling her blue slippers inaudibly over the smooth wood. She laid a hand on Holly's shoulder, still holding that melancholic smile.
"I hope I've made my point clear. I am in no way like Artemis Fowl. True, he may be smarter than I am, but I certainly have a different way of handling things."
Holly was enticed. Foaly, on the other hand, laughed.
"See what I mean?" the earpiece sounded. "Clever girl, isn't she? Reactions are the best teachers. Probably her motto."
From the centaur's words, the faerie became relieved.
"I'm not too sure about that remark regarding his unwavering intelligence," she smiled at Miri. "He may have met his match at last."
The girl took out a hair tie and casually bundled her hair up. She was pondering over something, but was reluctant to reply. "I also hope you didn't believe I really had a best friend that had been murdered."
But her eyes told the truth.
"If you did, you are a strong girl, even by Recon standards."
Mollie stayed where her sister sat before. She approached the Captain shyly, her own green slippers treading the floor. The symbols, Mollie mumbled in her head, maybe Holly knows about the symbols.
Miri extended her arm to Mollie, and looked slightly bemused. "Oh really? Care if I joined the LEP someday?"
"Never. Root might like a girl like you." Holly winked, and from the Operations Booth, Foaly chortled. "That's possible? For Root to like anyone?"
Upon ignoring the centaur's comment, the faerie sighed, and looked at her fingers again. After half a minute, her earpiece talked again.
"Did Julius send you this far aboveground just to mope and chat about Recon standards with a Mud Girl? I hope you still remember our mission."
Holly heard the tapping of a keyboard.
"No," she mouthed. And then, "Will you help us, Miri?"
Miri looked at the LEP Captain. "Of course. Anything within my ability."
"Which is a lot," the centaur added complacently. "She was born with true talent. Under my care, she flourished."
The faerie took a deep breath, endured the yearning to crush her earpiece, and faltered.
"The story behind my skin is exceedingly long."
Miri glanced at her watch. "Three minutes. Spill."
"For the second time in the Haven's history, we had a Lockdown. The water levels remained at the set standards, so this can only mean two things thing: quarantine, and discovery.
You can probably see why, throughout the years, the People have never worried about disease. After all, all of us have magic, and when it runs out, we complete the Ritual. We have our own strength, the help of warlocks, and the latest technology.
And since our latest ping, which came from Artemis Fowl, no Mud Man has disturbed us. Our securities have tightened considerably since the C Cube. It was the quiet life for us after the mind-wiping incident. At least, we thought it was, until Koboi escaped."
"Opal Koboi?" Miri searched through the folds of her mind. "That ingenious pixie in Howler's Peak?"
The earpiece was unable to resist another laugh. "Ingenious? Hah! Ingenious…that Miri amuses me more than any other creature…"
"Yes. Opal Koboi managed to escape, and it surprised me that no one ever expected her to. She had obtained the greatest security measures in her corporations, so obviously, she could crack those security measures as well. We never really worried about her. She seemed of minor importance in our daily lives. Honestly, we're beginning to trust our own technology too much. Howler's Peak isn't exactly foolproof.
Unfortunately, this isn't the worst news. Carla Frazetti, Spatz Antonelli's goddaughter, has managed to team up with Koboi. Although Opal isn't exactly our kin, she knows everything about the Haven to be of guaranteed threat to us.
Carla currently knows of our existence and has threatened to reveal this information to general public if we do not hand ourselves over to their rule. Obviously, we are not under any unwanted reign, as I am able to freely venture aboveground, and communications have not been cut.
However, the Antonellis are not the only Mud People who know about us. Carla has notified Dr. Fredrick Descarev, a man who specializes in biological weaponry and nanotechnology, regarding the faerie business and his potential contribution. Of course, abundant money was involved in the affair.
To ensure that we have no other choice but surrender, Fredrick was ordered to mutate a dangerous viral strain that usually affects only humans and monkeys."
Holly drew a breath.
"Do you know what...Ebola Zaire is?"
Miri turned pale. Ebola Zaire was a strain of filovirus that causes severe hemorrhaging, or internal bleeding, in both humans and monkeys. It has been known to jump species without effort, and originated in the depths of central Africa. Not only does one crash and bleed out, the progressions to death are filled with suffering and impediment. A patient would experience high fever, deadened skin, brain damage, slow deterioration of the mind, paralysis, and severe pain before he reaches death. The fatality rate was nine out of ten.
"Yes."
"Good. Now you have something to compare to. Everyone in the Haven has been infected with a virus that attacks only those of the faerie race. The infection behaves like a mix between Ebola Zaire and HIV. The most frustrating thing is that there is a definite cure. The antidote, however, lies in the hands of Dr. Descarev."
The girl did not respond for several moments. Suddenly, it wasn't about the unlocked disks anymore. The greatest challenge has just been thrown to her mind.