Disclaimer: I still don't own Artemis Fowl or the characters, except Ana and Dr. Marshall, but I do own the story. -Linwe
Artemis Fowl paced his dormitory, contemplating. He'd recently gotten a call from Mulch with not-so-promising news about the I.S.F.B's tight security. He couldn't seem to figure out why there was so much security, he thought it was just a large fairy bank with lots of money. Nothing that special, there weren't many banks underground, so they were all very large. He'd studied its background: when it was built, why it was built, and if it contained anything extremely valuable… nothing. He suddenly heard three knocks on his floorboards. To his great surprise, Ana emerged from under his bed.
"Hello."
"Uh… hello. Why are you here and not Mulch?"
"He's a bit preoccupied at the moment."
"Are the authorities after him?" Artemis asked anxiously.
"No. But remember your call that was being monitored?"
"Yes. Oh! I had almost forgotten. Has he found the source?"
"Not yet, but he thinks he's on to something." She replied.
"Why can't I try to track it?" Artemis asked. "I'm sure I could find something."
"We told you, Mud Boy, the LEP are probably constantly monitoring you. Just in case. Believe me, I know their usual ways." She paused a moment. "Plus, if you were to attempt to hack into something unusual, you would be detected by your campus authorities. I found out that they monitor all computers on campus."
"Then we are at a disadvantage, my friend. How do we know it wasn't the LEP?"
"I saw the encryption pattern, it wasn't Foley's."
"Are you sure?"
"Positive."
"So why exactly are you here, again? Did Mulch tell you to come?"
"No. I don't take orders from Mulch; we're all working together, Artemis. I'm here because a while ago I invented something that could help this operation." Ana pulled out a rolled up blueprint from her bag. She was dressed in human clothes, jeans and a black hoodie. She looked surprisingly like a short human teenager except for her pointy ears.
"This looks like a… teleporting device of some sort… I don't even fully understand…." Artemis was fascinated. Someone had finally stumped the great Artemis Fowl. He never could've thought of this. The design was so complex, he would've thought it impossible for any human to imagine it… but then Ana was no human.
"This, Mr. Fowl, was how I planted our web cam at the I.S.F.B, and how I got to the surface without the LEP on my back." Artemis gave her a curious glance, because he didn't know exactly what she meant. He wondered if she had escaped the LEP, not quit. But, he figured that could wait until later. "So, what do you think of it?"
"The design is ingenious… this could confuse Foley!" he paused. "Do you mean to tell me, Ms. O'Claire, that you teleported through the earth's mantle with this device…twice?" She nodded. "How were you unscathed after your molecules passing through the mantle?"
"It's all part of the design, Artemis. Take a minute or two to look over it." And he did. He sat there for approximately 3 minutes and 30 seconds, eyes completely glued to the blueprint until he finally raised his head. He looked over at Ana who was sitting on his bed.
"Where is it?"
"Well… see, that's the problem. It was destroyed after I used it for the second time--"
"And you want me to help you reconstruct it?"
"Yes. Will you?"
"Of course, Ms. O'Claire, this is crucial to the success of our mission. If we use this, we won't need to bother with the shoots."
"Exactly."
"These materials won't be cheap, though." Artemis said, studying the paper."
"I know. I'll call Mulch."
Five minutes later Ana was still on the bed with the phone and Artemis was monitoring the call to make sure it was secure, while he was scanning the blueprint into his computer. He absently noticed a small insect on the floor, and Ana's shoe crush it. He heard a curious crunching noise, but shook his head and though nothing of it while watching the call on the screen.
"Hello?" Mulch answered.
"Mulch, it's Ana, I've got to make this quick because our call could be tapped into at any moment."
"Understood."
"Any progress?" she asked.
"No, unfortunately, but I'll find out who was monitoring you, never fear." He said in a mock hero voice.
"Thanks, Mulch," she said sarcastically. "Ok, so here's the deal, we need these materials…"
She slowly went down the list of things needed to construct her device while Mulch wrote them down. All the while, she noticed Artemis watching her intently, as if studying her like a mystery that needed solving. When she finished telling Mulch the materials, he hung up the phone.
"That was a clean line, right?"
"Yes, I would've detected any tampering." He looked around awkwardly. "So, what do you propose we do now, Ms. O'Claire?" he asked.
"We wait, Mr. Fowl."
"How long do you think it will take for him to acquire the materials?"
"As long as it takes."
"How long do you estimate that to be?"
"Like I said, as long as it takes, I don't know how long it will take Mulch to acquire those things." She said.
"Do we have any materials that we could use to get started?"
"As a matter of fact, yes, but I may need your help transporting them."
"Alright, let's get started."