Opal Koboi lay comatose in her hospital bed, strapped up and facing even higher security than she had before.
"That was too close," Commander Root said, his face beet red. "Argon, unless you can clean up your act I'll have Koboi moved somewhere else. She is dangerous!"
"Yes, sir," Argon replied, biting his tongue. He still didn't know how Koboi had escaped, even after hours of pouring over security footage. "It won't happen again."
"Good," Root said. "Your neck is on the line, Argon."
Dr. Argon gulped. He waddled away, glad that Opal was back where she belonged.
Opal, however, was not the only of her kind in this sleep. Tunnels away in her secret laboratory, there was another Opal, not yet matured, sleeping in an incubator. Her blank eyes saw nothing through the murky water. She did not know she was beautiful, she did not know her name, she did not even know she existed.
These Opals slept. One plotted, dreaming of her revenge against all of mankind, starting with Artemis Fowl. She would become a queen, as beautiful and terrible as the sun, ready to blind any who dared to look upon her infinite glory. She was radiant. She was the star. She was the most spectacular of all beings to have ever grazed the earth with her being.
The other thought of nothing. She might have been spectacular in her own right, a miracle to even exist, to even be possible. But this Opal did not take pride in it, she would not have even if she could feel pride in her wet chrysalis, waiting to emerge. She was somebody's copy, a thing, not a person to the rest of the world. Vegetable. If she could think, however, she might have wondered who she was or what her life would contain.
She had humble beginnings, the Other Opal, regardless of the expensive technology and the bumbling fools outside. Nonetheless, her blank eyes would see the passing of glory, and that came within a breath of living.
Sebastian Trent punched the wall, his knuckles splitting on impact, red fury radiating from his eyes. They had come so close! So close, and he would have had weapons that couldn't be defeated by humans… yet. It burned him. His strike against Nero had failed.
It never would have worked anyway, he realized. Nero may be only a mortal man, but his school is his fortitude. As long as H.I.V.E. remains he will never die.
It became clear what he needed to do. Not only would he destroy Maximilian Nero, he would obliterate his very memory from the earth, starting with his precious students. His name would sink so low it would be erased from human memory, and his organization sent to the deepest depths of Tartarus to rot. Then, and only then, could Sebastian Trent call himself the victor.
The intercom on his desk beeped. "She is ready to see you now."
"Send her in," Trent replied.
His stint with Opal had not been so worthless, when it came down to it. Without a shower of blue sparks he had bought off the pixie princess, his next great asset might never have resurrected.
A woman clothed entirely in white entered, her smooth mask denying any feature an escape.
"Welcome back, my dear," Trent purred. "I hope you're ready to start training. We have work to do."
Ghost stood tall, images of purple swords mutilating her sister's body flashing behind her yes. Trent could not see the scarred smile behind her mask, or feel her passionate hatred and infinite desire to avenge Constance. All he could hear was the single, clear word that sent shivers down his spine.
"Begin."
Ω