Chapter Ten
Disclaimer: If you haven't figured it out by now, you're in trouble.
A/N: Not to ofend ny singel persin, butt howe com no on can speel anymorre? Jeze! Its not taht haard!
Fowl Manor
Artemis had gravely miscalculated. He had assumed that Eric would not be able to breach his security, but the American had done things with a computer that he had never seen before. Now he needed a way into the room. He would have to beat his own security to get in. Not that there were any complicated sensors or tripwires. There was no need. All the room needed was the solid steel door. Artemis seemed to have outmaneuvered himself. There was no way past the door.
Artemis felt a cool breeze waft over his face. Ordinarily, it would have held no interest to him, but today was not an ordinary day. His heart quickened. If that breeze was coming from what he thought it was...
Artemis smiled. He had his way in.
Eric was starting to become tense. Fifteen minutes had passed since he began. Eric had several very important rules when it came to hacking. One of them was called the Golden Ten Rule. This rule stated that any hacker under any circumstances should expect only ten minutes to be able to complete his task before being spotted by security and locked out of the system. Eric had already surpassed that. Granted, it was only by five minutes, but that was eternity compared to the time it took for computers to complete tasks.
He frowned. That word rung a bell. He backtracked into the database. It was as he expected. A file called 'Eternity' was among one of the recently published documents. He opened it, and was astonished. Artemis had created an Eternity Code. He had invented an entirely new language. This was a remarkable achievement. The fact that Artemis had not shouted it from the rooftops meant that he meant to exploit this code. Eric ran a search on all related documents. He came up with one in particular, named 'Cube.' Trembling with anticipation, he opened it.
Eric frowned. The file was completely blank. Wiped. Perhaps Artemis had a hard copy somewhere, but that wouldn't help him now. Another five minutes had passed. He was at double the time he normally allotted himself. He saved everything he had discovered so far to a disc, and printed it all. The printer began to whirr, and Eric quickly searched for any last bit of information that could make or break his future as a free man. He wondered where on earth Artemis was, and why he hadn't been removed from the room yet.
Artemis was, at the moment, exactly above Eric's head. Intelligent though he was, he had neglected to check for air vents that might provide access to the room. This particular vent opened right below the desk. That left only a ten-foot vertical shaft to traverse. Butler could have dropped that distance without a sound, but Artemis could not. Fortunately, at that moment the printer turned on. The whirring covered the sound of Artemis' shoes hitting the bottom of the shaft. He could see light filtering into the shaft, and the soles of Eric's Vans. He popped open the grate, crawled out, and stood up.
Eric was completely flabbergasted by Artemis' sudden appearance. In all fairness, he recovered rather quickly.
"So," he said. "It seems that the great Artemis Fowl's security is not infallible."
"Apparently, you've had a lot of experience," Artemis said. "You're certainly very skilled. This was intended to be a test."
"For me, or the system?" Eric asked levelly.
"Both, actually," Artemis admitted. "But you got much farther than I expected. After seeing you in action, I'm prepared to offer you a job."
"I only do on-site work," Eric said, but his eyes were smiling.
"Then we've got a deal. The details can wait for later," Artemis said. "Right now, we've got another trip to take."
Eric was surprised. He hadn't figured Artemis to be a jet setter, constantly traversing the globe. "Oh, really? Where to now?"
Artemis smiled, the sight of the perfectly white teeth unsettling. "Switzerland."
Disclaimer: If you haven't figured it out by now, you're in trouble.
A/N: Not to ofend ny singel persin, butt howe com no on can speel anymorre? Jeze! Its not taht haard!
Fowl Manor
Artemis had gravely miscalculated. He had assumed that Eric would not be able to breach his security, but the American had done things with a computer that he had never seen before. Now he needed a way into the room. He would have to beat his own security to get in. Not that there were any complicated sensors or tripwires. There was no need. All the room needed was the solid steel door. Artemis seemed to have outmaneuvered himself. There was no way past the door.
Artemis felt a cool breeze waft over his face. Ordinarily, it would have held no interest to him, but today was not an ordinary day. His heart quickened. If that breeze was coming from what he thought it was...
Artemis smiled. He had his way in.
Eric was starting to become tense. Fifteen minutes had passed since he began. Eric had several very important rules when it came to hacking. One of them was called the Golden Ten Rule. This rule stated that any hacker under any circumstances should expect only ten minutes to be able to complete his task before being spotted by security and locked out of the system. Eric had already surpassed that. Granted, it was only by five minutes, but that was eternity compared to the time it took for computers to complete tasks.
He frowned. That word rung a bell. He backtracked into the database. It was as he expected. A file called 'Eternity' was among one of the recently published documents. He opened it, and was astonished. Artemis had created an Eternity Code. He had invented an entirely new language. This was a remarkable achievement. The fact that Artemis had not shouted it from the rooftops meant that he meant to exploit this code. Eric ran a search on all related documents. He came up with one in particular, named 'Cube.' Trembling with anticipation, he opened it.
Eric frowned. The file was completely blank. Wiped. Perhaps Artemis had a hard copy somewhere, but that wouldn't help him now. Another five minutes had passed. He was at double the time he normally allotted himself. He saved everything he had discovered so far to a disc, and printed it all. The printer began to whirr, and Eric quickly searched for any last bit of information that could make or break his future as a free man. He wondered where on earth Artemis was, and why he hadn't been removed from the room yet.
Artemis was, at the moment, exactly above Eric's head. Intelligent though he was, he had neglected to check for air vents that might provide access to the room. This particular vent opened right below the desk. That left only a ten-foot vertical shaft to traverse. Butler could have dropped that distance without a sound, but Artemis could not. Fortunately, at that moment the printer turned on. The whirring covered the sound of Artemis' shoes hitting the bottom of the shaft. He could see light filtering into the shaft, and the soles of Eric's Vans. He popped open the grate, crawled out, and stood up.
Eric was completely flabbergasted by Artemis' sudden appearance. In all fairness, he recovered rather quickly.
"So," he said. "It seems that the great Artemis Fowl's security is not infallible."
"Apparently, you've had a lot of experience," Artemis said. "You're certainly very skilled. This was intended to be a test."
"For me, or the system?" Eric asked levelly.
"Both, actually," Artemis admitted. "But you got much farther than I expected. After seeing you in action, I'm prepared to offer you a job."
"I only do on-site work," Eric said, but his eyes were smiling.
"Then we've got a deal. The details can wait for later," Artemis said. "Right now, we've got another trip to take."
Eric was surprised. He hadn't figured Artemis to be a jet setter, constantly traversing the globe. "Oh, really? Where to now?"
Artemis smiled, the sight of the perfectly white teeth unsettling. "Switzerland."