Hell is Empty And All The Devils Are Here

Artemis was perplexed as he was in a situation where he was forced to do something he didn't like, and quite unusually, he was unable to get himself out of it. The laptop in front of him showed a black screen, the icon of a meeting prompt flashing in the centre. It continued to count down the minutes until his Skype conference with his 'team'. They needed to organise who would be presenting each section of the group task and ensure all elements were deconflicted – the lecture they would usually meet in to discuss such things had been cancelled, and Artemis would be absent next week for a business meeting in England. His grade relied on this task being completed to as high a standard as his single projects; hence, Skype.

With a degree of reluctance, he joined the meeting. Unsurprisingly, some of the team had already signed in.

Kat's face flashed in one corner. She was wearing a white hoody and had her hair tied in a messy bun. Next to her icon was Connor in some sort of running attire, behind him the expanse of a garden as the sun shone from above. There was also Emma, her long brown hair down as always and what appeared to be an electronic keyboard on a stand behind her. They were, of course, waiting on Lizzy. Artemis had expected no less. He considered himself a reasonably good judge of character and even though he knew Lizzy very little, she seemed to be very transparent – everything about her was immediately legible from a glance.

"Good morning, Artemis," Connor said as Artemis' figure flashed up on the screen.

"Good morning," he replied, a little grudgingly.

"What's with the suit, Artemis?" Emma smiled and Artemis could tell her heart was not behind the smile. It was a surface-level attempt to be pleasant after the recent incident with Lizzy.

"I've got a meeting after this," he remained deliberately vague.

"On a Saturday? Amazing," she cooed, and he tried not to roll his eyes - this was all so superficial. He couldn't wait to end this call and get away from the small talk.

"Good morning, Katherina," Artemis switched the conversation to the woman scribbling away in the top corner of his screen. She glanced up and mumbled 'morning' back. Artemis was saved from any more pointless chatter with the appearance of Lizzy. She had yet more silver streaks in her bright pink hair and now the addition of a nose ring. Her smile was cheery and bright.

"Hey guys!"

"Hey, Liz, how's it going?"

"Not bad~, I nearly totally forgot about all this. It's a good job you text me."

"I figured you'd forget," Emma laughed, lightly. Artemis was not laughing. She'd already wasted two minutes of his time more than he wanted to spend on her.

"Hey, Connor! Hey, Kat! You look cute today." Her smile was still broad and friendly. Kat flushed and hid under her fringe. "Morning, Arty!" Artemis winced and he was 100% sure she'd done that on purpose. "Do you sleep in those?"

"In my suit? No, don't be ridiculous."

"It's 9am, what are you doing dressed like that?"

"I have a meeting."

"No need to dress up for us, silly," she giggled. Artemis clicked his tongue in irritation. "Let's get this show on the road then!"

He was thankful for the change in topic. Now, this he could do – he could talk science and facts all day. He'd only recently developed Artemis-Banter-Mode and it had just two settings, Holly and Foaly. The Butler banter was in progress. His younger brothers were speeding along the path of socialisation skills at a much faster rate. Even Myles made jokes occasionally, though usually at his elder brother's expense.

He tried to keep in the background of the conversations. A part of him knew that if he began nit-picking, there'd be no end to this chat. Even though the child in him was raising a hand in the theatre of his mind, expression smug, dying to say something clever, Artemis made very few remarks and kept what he did say clean and cold.

"Your points lack analysis," he said to Connor. "You're making good points, but not explaining them."

"What do you mean?" Connor asked, and Artemis examined his face carefully for clues – had he upset him? He'd only spoken the truth. If anything, his advice could help improve his grade. Was it the way he'd said it? There was no way he could help that. He had always been like this.

"If I asked you to explain how the earth is warm enough to sustain life, your current answer is - because the sun exists. You then go on to describe the sun, telling me that it is bright yellow in the sky and is called a star. However, you have yet to tell me why the earth is warm. What you need to go on to explain is what properties the sun has that can make the earth warm."

"That … sort of makes sense," Connor muttered, making a note on the scrap of paper in his lap. "Kind of."

"You need to go back to the question and analyse it better," Kat piped up. She hadn't said much yet either. In fact, the majority of the conversation so far had been carried by Emma and Lizzy, with Connor making slight interjections as they got carried away. "I can send you over a document that shows you how to properly break down a question. Once you've done that, you will have a list of things you need to answer. Like Artemis mentioned, you're describing things related to the topic but not exactly answering the key part."

"Ahh, I see," he nodded, though his furrowed brow said different. "Thanks Kat."

"If we're criticising each other, Artemis you've used too many case examples outside of what we've learned in class." Lizzy said, jabbing her pencil at the camera.

"… And?"

"This is a group presentation. We need to discuss things we've learned in class, otherwise there's no point."

"What's the point of a lecture if not to learn?" Artemis countered, his left eye twitching in irritation.

"It's a consolidation lesson. We're not supposed to be throwing in new content."

"The examples I utilised are quite sufficient to explain the points we're making, and we have enough time in each section to briefly explain the case."

"The examples the teacher used are quite sufficient to explain the thing-ys we're … discussing," Lizzy mocked his haughty accent as best she could, trailing off at the end. "There's no need to show off."

"There's actually several flaws to-,"

"Stop it," sighed Kat, slamming down her notebook so that the noise buzzed through the speaker, "I don't have time for this." She muttered under her breath. Artemis jolted slightly, noticing at last the dark patches under her eyes. She looked tired. Must have had a bad day, he thought. "Artemis, take out the two top-down cases. The examples we were given will be sufficient for the point you're trying to make. I understand what you're saying about the drawbacks of China's involvement, but from what I can tell, you took that section out anyway. Keep the bottom-up and community points. They're good."

He tried to argue, but his mouth couldn't form the words. Lizzy seemed equally astounded. This woman was certainly more interesting than he had thought. Whilst Lizzy was quite transparent in her personality, it seemed Kat had some depth yet to explore. At least, he hadn't put her down as the snappy type.

"Nice, Kat," Connor beamed. "Let's move on."

It wasn't long before Lizzy's engines were revved up again to her usual buzz, and she was chattering like nothing had happened. Artemis resigned himself not to speak again if at all possible, and it seemed Kat had calmed herself. She was back to burying herself in her notepad. The jaded expression still scorned her face.

"Aaaaaand that's a wrap, guys!~" Lizzy grinned, whipping her arms out wide and taking an exaggerated bow from her seat. "I feel like we've covered everything. Nice."

"I'll see some of you around campus," Connor nodded. "Artemis, enjoy your trip."

"Hmm," he replied, attempting a smile but only managing a grimace.

"Kat~" the pink-haired bubble of energy hopped in the screen. "Make sure you get a good night's sleep tonight! You look tired. Too much studying! Less work, more plaaaay!"

"I'll try," Kat lifted one side of her face and waved. "See ya."

"Laterz!"

"Bye everyone!"

One by one, the faces flickered to black and Artemis was left alone again, the silence pleasing to his ears and the ringing his head had been doing slowly fading away. He caught himself tapping his finger rhythmically on the desk and stopped himself.

"Just a habit," he shook his head, closing the lid of his laptop. Now, to business.

…

"You got your notes?" Butler asked as Artemis pulled himself from the car and brushed down his suit.

"Notes? What notes?" He allowed himself a small chuckle, tapping his head meaningfully.

"Of course," Butler rolled his eyes.

"All up here." Artemis shrugged. "Now, let's go win ourselves a manufacturing plant and a contract for 1500 workers."

"That and a few more enemies for the list. That's how these things usually go. You always manage to piss off as many people as you please."

"That hurts, old friend." They began crunching the gravel on the way to the front entrance, leaving the Bentley directly outside the front door. There were five pillars framing the glass doorway – Artemis smiled. The doors slid by to open the way to the reception area, a vast space in a circular shape. Directly opposite was the desk, curved mahogany with a tablet inbuilt to the surface. The overhead lights were simple halogen strip lights with a pattern of spirals casting intricate shadows onto the wooden flooring. The receptionist raised his head as they arrived. He smiled, broadly, teeth a bright white against his Middle-Eastern complexion and dark turban. He wore a white shirt, unbuttoned at the collar and rolled up at the sleeves.

"Good morning, sirs, how can I help you?"

"Good morning," Artemis responded curtly, tweaking his tie one last time. "I'm here for the meeting in room 48." He tapped his wrist subconsciously.

"Right this way," the man stood and revealed a card from his breast pocket, slotting it into one of the doors until the light glowed green. He removed it and allowed the two visitors to pass him.

"Key cards?" Artemis sniffed. "How quaint. I didn't realise it was 2010."

"If you follow the corridor to the end and turn right, you'll find room number 48. At the end of that corridor is the refreshments room, the toilets, changing rooms et cetera. This is your key for room 49 – your own private space. Please drop this in the box on your way out today."

"Thank you very much," Artemis took the offered card and immediately handed it over to Butler.

"If you need anything, please do ask."

They arrived at their room and Artemis poured himself a glass of water to sip. He still had time before the meeting began. Despite the Grecian-style entrance with white columns, the remainder of the hotel had a modern, deep blue and black theme. Everything was top of the range (or at least by normal standards). Butler pulled a book from his bag, the item shrinking as it was engulfed by his mammoth hands. He knew Artemis would now spend the next half-hour meditating, going over his presentation in his mind, rehearsing each section and timing it. He'd plan each laugh, each ooh and ahh, every single reaction he wanted his audience to make. In the beginning, Butler recalled the awkward silences young Artemis was forced to endure in an otherwise perfect pitch – he was impeccable in every aspect except humour. Even though young Artemis knew where the punchlines should go, his comedic sense was missing. The boy would pout slightly at the empty response. Every time.

Butler allowed himself a rare sigh. His charge had grown now. The boy sat cross-legged on the armchair, eyes closed, was no longer the boy he'd been. The two of them were completely different people. He had no doubt that today, Artemis would deliver an incredible performance.

Artemis was woken from his trance by the buzz of his mobile.

"At least that has reminded me to turn it off," he muttered, blinking out of his reverie. He flicked open the screen, only to frown. Frowning Artemis made Butler nervous.

"… What?" Butler asked, hands twitching for his pistol.

"Oh, nothing to worry yourself about. I got a text."

Artemis read the text, confusion knitting his brow. It was from Kat.

I know you're busy today, but do you think we can clear the air? I'm sorry for snapping.

He cautiously tapped a response.

What do you mean, clear the air? I'm not busy at the minute.

His phone buzzed again as a call came in and he fumbled not to drop it in surprise.

"Hello?"

"Are you busy? I know you said you're not, but …"

"I've got time. What is it?" Across the room, Butler was staring at him, curiosity on his features.

"It was just, with the argument you and Lizzy had, the whole Twitter thing and then me snapping at you earlier … I don't know, I just feel like we need to clear the air."

"You didn't snap, you made a valid point and because of it, we got the work done. And with the," Artemis words stumped in his mouth. "… Twitter?"

"… The photo?"

"What … photo?"

"Oh, God," she moaned, "you didn't even know. Where do I begin?"

Artemis was already on his phone as the call continued, searching through the algorithms for his name. About two hundred hits were made. "Someone snapped a photo of us the other day stood by your car with your dad and there's an article out about … you know, if we're dating. It's only a really small online news site, hardly any credible reporting on the whole thing but … you know." A crackle down the line suggested she was groaning, softly.

"I see," he said. He flicked through the article. Nothing of interest, really. Just speculative reporting. Hardly any reach. It did explain the increased attention he'd had over the last couple of days, though. The number of hits on the article had been so minute, his home systems hadn't picked it up. There had been worse articles about him before now. "Please don't worry yourself with this." He closed the article and put his phone by his ear again. A thought struck him. "Has anyone said anything to you?"

"Ah, yeah, kind of." She replied, her tone subdued.

"Has it given you any trouble? If so, I can have this website removed immediately."

"The whole website, not just the article?"

"If it is bothering you, Katherina." He replied, seriously. Kat laughed, the sound just a breath of air.

"No, the article doesn't bother me. I've just had a number of strangers sending me friend requests, and lots of missed calls … If anything, the whole thing has reminded me to check my privacy settings."

"I'm sorry you've been troubled by this."

"No, it's nothing, honestly. Although," she laughed again, "I was troubled by the fact you didn't mention it. Trust me to get all worked up about something on my own."

"There are hundreds of articles about me every day. My algorithms must not have noticed something so insignificant. And I uh," he looked down at his lap, twisting his mouth into a grimace. He'd rather Butler weren't here to hear this, but it needed to be said. "I apologise as well. I've been … snappy, too."

"Shall we start afresh?" Kat offered and Artemis found himself relieved.

"I'd like to."

"Me, too. Anyway, I'm glad we cleared that up. I'll see you when you're back. Good luck with the meeting today."

"Thank you. I will see you when I return."

"Bye!"

He ended the call and wondered how long he could go without explaining all that to Butler. The intrigued look on his manservant's face said – not long at all.

"A female voice?" Butler crooned. "And not a business call? I must be dreaming."

"Then wake yourself up, old friend. I've got a small job for you."