"Pull."
A silver cylinder arced into the sky, tumbling end over end. A needle thin bolt of lightning strikes it, bursting it like a firework as its contents jump from ice cold to boiling. The scattered remains clatter down into the growing drifts of similar shrapnel like a puddle of aluminum rain.
"Do you always do this to unwind?" Amber said, sipping one of the more fortunate cans.
"More or less." Holly shrugs, lowering her Neutrino. It was like a child's toy in her hands, but no less dangerous. "Not my first choice of firing range, though." Calling it a firing range was a bit generous. More accurately, it was a junkyard with an improvised range. There were crude targets of chains, metal and spray paint hanging near a wall of engine blocks for a backstop. Not that Holly was paying them any attention. They'd brought their own targets.
Artemis selected another can of cheap beer. "If it's anything like your taste in guns, we might as well have waited until morning," he teased.
Holly shook her head, suppressing a smile. "Just throw the can, mud-boy. Pull."
Another toss, another shot, another improvised firework. Artemis winced and rolled his slowly improving shoulder. Amber had insisted he do the throwing, to make sure his shoulder healed properly. It was doing the trick, though the first few throws had been less than dignified. He took another swig of his chalk flavored protein drink while Holly sipped a sports drink.
"Pardon my curiosity, Ms. Harvest," Artemis began. "Why are you still here? You must have spent at least a third of your pay on all this."
Amber shrugged, not quite genuinely. "I- you know, I- I had to make sure you were okay and... and..." She sighed. "Why am I trying to lie to a cop and a criminal?" Artemis and Holly looked at her expectantly. "The truth is... complicated. And potentially dangerous. There's something different about my aura. I didn't know if it would complicate unlocking yours."
"So if your eyes aren't silver," Holly began with a wry smile. "Does that make you a Maiden?" Amber's jaw dropped and she sputtered in confusion. Artemis raised an eyebrow clearly impressed. "So that's a yes," the former elf grinned.
"How?" Amber choked. "How could you possibly know that!?"
"I didn't," Holly chuckled. "You read a lot of children's books when you're just learning to read. I figured if the fairy tales back home were more than stories, it wouldn't be much of a stretch."
"If you have a secret to protect," Artemis smiled wryly. "You may want to learn how to lie. Or at least develop a poker face."
"I am too sober for this conversation," Amber sighed as she cracked open another beer, taking a deep swig.
"Then let's have a different one." Artemis offered. "Suppose nothing changes. What can I expect now that I've had my Aura unlocked?"
"Faster healing for one." Amber said, honestly surprised that he was letting it drop. "Double edged sword really. If you get hurt, you have to clean the wound immediately. You don't want anything to get into the wound. You'll want to take some antibiotics, make sure your shoulder doesn't get infected."
Artemis nodded. "I was told it could protect oneself, and enhance equipment."
"Yes and no," Amber replied. Holly pulled another can and tossed it herself, sniping it out of the air with ease. "That's something you have to learn, it's not automatic." Holly picked up another can.
"Hmm... is that something Signal would teach?" Artemis asked... seconds later the same can hit the ground without the retort from Holly's pistol. "Holly?"
She didn't answer. She stared at the dented can on the ground, mechanically holstering her pistol.
"Holly, are you alright?" Artemis asked with growing concern.
"We're not going home are we?" She asked, a slight crack to her voice.
"Holly, of course we're-" Artemis began, only to be cut off.
"Fowl, listen to yourself. You're thinking about a combat school. We don't have the time spell, Hybras dissolved, and the Ritual doesn't work. We've! Got! Nothing!" She punted the can across the junk yard in a spray of foam.
"Our lives would be easier if I learned how to fend for myself, Captain," Artemis defended. "You saw what happened!"
"D'arvit, mud-boy, we already have lives! But with each passing day in this world, it looks more and more like you don't even want to go home!"
"How dare you!" Artemis was appalled. "Did you forget what I was willing to do for my family? What I was willing to trade for their health and safety? I spent three years looking for my father when the world was sure he was dead! I spent three years buying, selling, cheating, and stealing with the worst humans to walk the earth so there wouldn't be a penny out of place when he came back! You have no idea the depths I've knelt to to protect my mother from her own shattered mind!" He spoke with cold fury, tears of his own escaping his eyes. "And you think that after all of that, after three years of giving everything to my family, that I'm ready to throw it all away after three damned months!?"
Holly forced her retort past sobs. "Then why aren't we doing anything about it? Why are we even wasting our time with fancy apartments and robbing casinos and-"
"And what was tonight!?" Artemis cut her off with venom in his voice. "A picnic perhaps!? Did the grimm descend upon us because we forgot the finger sandwiches?"
"You could barely stand exercise when your life was on the line, and now you're thinking about combat school!" The tears flooded down her face like twin rivers. "Because you know you'll never see Butler again. Just like we're never going to see Foaly or Vinyaya or Mulch or... or..."
"ENOUGH!" Amber roared, her voice cutting through the shouting match. "Enough. You're both sad, angry, and scared. Don't let it ruin your friendship. From what it sounds like, all that you have left is each other." There was a tense silence, broken only by sniffles and heavy breathing. Artemis laid a hand on Holly's shoulder, the faintest hint of support a balm against both their raw emotions.
Holly schooled her breathing, forced herself to calm as she drew her pistol. She nodded at her friend. "Pull."
A silver cylinder arced into the sky, tumbling end over end.
~o~o~
Several days later, a man walked into an office building uncomfortably close to the bad part of town. His hair was dark blue and crudely styled, and he wore a cotton three piece suit that didn't quite manage to look expensive. The unmistakable uniform of the sudden job interview. He stepped around crews of movers that were hauling in office furniture, computers, all manner of scientific equipment. He approved. The only space that looked complete was a secretarial desk, though nobody was sitting in it at the time.
"Mr. Fontaine?" A voice said from behind him.
"Doctor Fontaine," he started as he turned. He couldn't stop his eyes from bulging at the sight of the woman who greeted him. Porcelain skin, obsidian hair, and a blood red dress cut just low enough to be interesting. "Am I to be meeting with you Ms...?"
"Malachite," Militia said. "Follow me." It wasn't a request. She guided him to the elevator and took him up a few floors to a small conference room. She rolled her eyes as he sat across from her, crossing his legs conspicuously. "Now, Dr. Fontaine-"
"Please, call me Beck." He offered in what he clearly thought was a suave tone. Militia fixed him with an icy glare.
"Whatever, Doctor Fontaine," She growled, a slight crack in her professional demeanor. "We've contacted you because of your research background. You've been trying to get a research grant for 'Dustless technology' correct?"
The scientist couldn't believe his ears. "Yes, that's correct. I've long believed that we're over-reliant on Dust-" he sputtered a moment. "N-not that there's anything wrong with it of course. Merely that we don't really have alternatives in the event of a shortage. Less than twelve percent of homes are equipped with wood stoves, and ninety percent of those are located outside the main cities. In fact the extraterritorial villages are better equipped to endure the absence of dust directly because of the vulnerabilities in the supply line. In fact, I-"
"Please try to keep it brief, Doctor." Militia said, holding a groan. She was going to make damned sure 'King Midas' hired someone else to play secretary. She could swear the corporate drone getup was beginning to itch. "We're prepared to make you an offer."
"I'm listening," The doctor nodded. It was refreshing to discuss his work with someone who didn't laugh at him.
"You aren't the first to look into Dust free alternatives," Militia said, carefully remembering her lines. "My employer has come across documentation for a number of such inventions, usually through... legally ambiguous means. Technologies that companies like SDC would prefer never see the light of day."
"Well if you've already got them, what do you need me for?" Fontaine asked.
"Your reputation," she said. "You're the only scientist with an interest in the topic that isn't currently affiliated with a Dust distributor or a university. With your research background and known interests heading the project, we would be able to refute any claims of corporate espionage."
"I see... and what about my own research?" he asked, clearly interested. "You'd fund that as well, correct? I wouldn't just be a figurehead?"
"Of course," Militia faked a smile, sliding a sheaf of papers across the table. "It's all in here. You'd oversee an entire floor of this building. Lab space, staff, and grad students will be at your disposal. The information we already have will allow us to spin up quickly, but we will need you to maintain that momentum. Can you do that Doctor Fontaine?"
The good doctor couldn't suppress a smile as he scanned the contract. Surely a little dirty dealing was forgivable here, right? This was just sound science that the Dust companies had tried to bury. This was justice... or at least that's what he told himself as he signed the dotted line. "You've got yourself a deal. I look forward to working with you."
"You won't be," Militia says, standing up and smoothing down her dress. "I run another of our employer's business ventures. You'll be reporting to him directly starting Monday."
"To who?" Fontaine asked.
"Artemis Fowl," she said. "Now then, I believe that will be all." Perhaps a little too forcefully, she led him back downstairs, showing him to the door. "Your security badge will arrive by mail." The doctor turned around, a wide smile on his face. He took her hand in his sweaty, clammy grip, and shook it enthusiastically. It took heroic restraint to stop herself from crushing the man's hand.
"I just want to thank you for this opportunity." He grinned. "Perhaps I could buy you a coffee?"
"No." Militia forced through the clenched teeth of a hollow smile. She sighed with relief as he shrugged and walked away.
"And the award for best actress goes to-" a mirror in white smirked from behind the secretary desk.
"Ugh, like, not now Mel." Militia visibly shuddered. "I feel, like, soul-grody."
Melanie nodded sagely, opened a drawer and pulled out a bottle of bubblegum vodka. Her sister snatched it out of her hands, ripped the cap off, and took a long pull.
"I'll take the next one," Melanie smiled. "Like, take five girl.."
"Thanks bitch." Militia smiled.
~o~o~
Artemis had kept a busy schedule for the last few days. Unfortunately, today found him staring at his scroll with nothing else to do. His new tech firm, Aurum Technologies, was fully equipped and hiring for research and development. He'd spent a day or so reproducing his old romance novels more or less from memory, and sent them out to a few publishers. Holly had been red in the face with laughter when she found out, a welcome change from the argument's lingering tension. Though she stopped laughing abruptly when he confessed his nomme de plume. As it turns out, there were a few 'Violet Tsirblu' novels on her shelves back on Earth. They were easier to reproduce, and more importantly, to sell than any of the psychiatric works he'd penned under 'F. Roy Dean Schlpp.' The nightclub, re-christened 'Lower Elements' was repaired, redecorated, and pulling Lien in faster than he could spend it. Eventually though, everything was done, all his ducks were in a row, he simply had no tasks remaining... save the one he'd been putting off the whole time. With a heavy sigh, he finally dialed.
"ARTEMIIIIIIS!" Ruby shouted from the other side of the line. "How's crime?"
"I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about Ms. Rose," he stammered, slightly off guard. "I could have sworn I dialed your father."
"You did! He told me to answer it," Artemis could hear her smile. "He's under the sink right now." There was a loud thunk, and a long string of curses from the background. "Do you know a good plumber?"
"The best I can tell you is who to avoid, I'm afraid," Artemis chuckled. "Would you put me on speaker please? I really must have a word with him."
There was a fumbling from the other side of the line, then a beep.
"Kay Artemis, you're on the air!" She said.
Artemis cleared his throat. "Mr. Xiao Long, I've given what you told me some serious thought. I'd like to ask you about enrolling at Signal Academy." He wisely held the device at arms length until Ruby's ear splitting glee subsided.
"Okay Rubes, reign it in a bit," Taiyang chuckled. "What changed your mind?"
"I'm not at liberty to discuss it," Artemis deflected. "The long and short of it is that I had my aura unlocked to prevent a regrettable-"
"You nearly got killed, huh?" cut Taiyang , blunt as a dwarf attorney.
Artemis sighed. "...Yes. I assure you, the huntress ensured the injury healed properly."
"You get your protein?" He said, professionally curious.
"Three liters of convenience store protein shake," Artemis confirmed. "Standard procedure?"
"Pretty much. You should see what my girls go through." Taiyang grinned. "You're going to want to set more aside for groceries."
"I'll make a note of that," Artemis said. He wasn't concerned about money, not that he would explain that to his future instructor. "Now, for enrollment. Is there a tuition fee I need to worry about?"
"Nah, it's a public school." Taiyang said over the clatter of tools. "City covers the cost. You just have to show up and do your homework."
The thought of public school was mildly unsettling. Ordinarily he'd default to a private school like St. Bartleby's back in Ireland... but he needed what few connections he'd managed to make.
"Hey, who's on the line?" Yang had evidently wandered into the room.
"It's Artemis! He's coming to Signal!" Ruby blurted.
"What? No way." Yang scoffed.
"I assure you it's true, Ms. Xiao Long." Artemis sighed.
"No way... are you okay?" Yang asked.
"He nearly got killed," Ruby said, sagely.
"Ooooooooh, yeah, that'll do it." Yang said, understanding completely.
"You are remarkably blasė about that," Artemis growled, slightly irritated.
"Sorry kid," said Yang. "That's just kind of a common reason. 'Oh I had to hide under my table while a Nevermore pecked at my house. A boarbatusk chased me up a tree. I got mugged in the park...' You hear it a lot."
"Noted." Artemis said. "So who do I need to query about enrollment?"
"Don't sweat it kid, I'll have the Dean send you the forms." Taiyang grinned. "Classes start in about three weeks. Make sure you've got your school supplies, and an apple for the teacher."
"Dad you're the teacher," Ruby snarked.
"And I like apples!" Taiyang jokes, sending his daughters giggling. There was another sound just behind that though. More subtle, like straining metal.
"I'll leave you to your repairs then... but Taiyang, do consider hiring a proper plumber. If you've left the scroll on the counter I think you have, you might not have turned off the-" There was a metallic ping, followed by a hissing noise and a startled gasp. "Water pressure."
"Gotta go! Bye Artemis!" Ruby yelped, and the call clicked off.
Artemis stared at the scroll for a few minutes more. "What have I gotten myself into?"
"Staying alive?" Holly quipped, leaning casually against the doorway. Artemis rolled his eyes in response. "Send me those forms too, by the way."
"What do you need with combat school?" Artemis asked.
"Aura control. Amber said that it'd be better for me to do a full course on it." Holly explained. She had asked Amber to unlock her Aura the morning after the Ritual. It wasn't fairy magic, but at least she could heal after a fight. "I pinned her every time, but I couldn't hold an aura shield while we were sparring. Kept trying to do it the old fashioned way."
"Did that actually do anything?" Artemis was genuinely curious. The fairy shield was something of a misnomer. It allowed them to vibrate so quickly that they couldn't be seen. Effectively invisible, especially with the newer uniforms solving the heat haze problem.
"Wasted a lot of aura, very fast," she said sadly. She flared her aura in demonstration, a rich emerald green. "It's strange. It feels like I'm running hot, but nothing works the way it's supposed to. Amber said it was like I'd learned the wrong way to do things."
"We've made it this far together, haven't we?," Artemis smiled endearingly. "What's one more adventure?"