Chapter Text
It started with little things, things that Artemis scarcely noticed at first.
Like the screensaver on his Powerbook. It was a default slideshow of photos he'd taken over the years, most of them scientific in nature, with the occasional family shot. Yet lately he felt like, more often than not, he'd glance at the screen to find that it was showing a photo of Holly Short.
It would dissolve into a photo of Martian rocks from his trip or scribblings of energy equations within seconds, but still, he could've sworn there weren't many pictures of Holly on his hard drive. It wasn't like they were snapping pics of each other on a daily basis. They barely saw each other. Most of the photos of her on his computer were from professional records or fairy news stories. So why did it feel like every time he went to his computer, Holly was the current screensaver slide?
Bias, he decided. It only seems disproportionate because I'm more likely to notice her than I am a rock.
There was also the way Holly kept coming up in conversation around the house. He'd be in Villa Éco's kitchen preparing drinks, for example, when he'd hear Father in the sitting room mention to Mother that he'd spoken to the good commodore about security recently. Or Myles would remark to Beckett that he'd devised a new way to help Lazuli Heitz stay off the grid and evade the commodore's search.
Nothing to it.
Artemis was able to similarly justify the way in which he kept hearing music that he knew Holly liked. Artemis would be in the living room, and Beckett would tell NANNI to shuffle his playlist while he hung from exercise equipment in the gym. For whatever reason, it really felt like the AI would always start playing one of Holly's favorites, like a hit from the elfin F-pop star Merry Sparx, or something classical that Artemis had turned her on to, like Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony.
Surely a bias in perception. I am not actually hearing Holly's favorite music more often than is natural. It's simply the phenomenon of hearing your name called in a crowd, he reasoned. Random.
But this theory didn't hold up so well when he asked NANNI for a randomized book recommendation for light reading and she suggested Beren and Lúthien.
"NANNI," prompted Artemis cautiously, speaking to his primary computer terminal in Villa Éco's library, "Do you have anything you'd like to share?"
The artificial superintelligence known as NANNI (Nano Artificial Neural Network Intelligence) controlled most of Villa Éco's systems, and was an invaluable assistant to the various Fowls in their daily lives, as she was integrated into much of their tech. Artemis had initially designed her as a protector for his brothers while he was off-world. She had been fairly basic at first. Through the years of Myles' tinkering and the Regrettables going on adventures, though, she had evolved from ingenuous to ingenious. She was now more articulate and sentient than much of the biological population of Earth, and both twins readily called her a friend.
NANNI was a friend that followed the Fowls' orders, though. It wasn't lost on Artemis that Domovoi Butler, though he was now happily retired, once filled the same role. Artemis often wondered if it was entirely healthy for the twins to have such a presence in their lives. And now, like Butler, perhaps NANNI was trying to cut through her role as protector and offer some unsolicited personal opinions.
The AI kept her voice down, as they were, after all, in a library. "Share? What do you mean?"
"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were engaging in some subliminal messaging lately."
"Good thing you know better, then, Master."
Artemis frowned. "I'm smart enough to know when I'm being placated, Madam. Tell me what's going on."
"Sorry, Artemis," said NANNI. "I just thought you might like to think of Holly from time to time, that's all. You've told me how you feel about her. And you hear her voice every day, after all."
Artemis knew the AI was referring to its own voice, a synthesis of Holly's, but he briefly wondered if NANNI also knew that he actually did hear Holly's voice every day. Her presence in his thoughts was less all-consuming than it had been before his Mars mission (so, mission accomplished), but he still imagined her chiding him whenever he would slip up. Or he'd picture what her harsh opinion about whatever film he was currently being forced to watch for family movie night would be.
Holly never really visited these days, as she took on more and more responsibility in the Lower Elements. Artemis' return from his five-year mission to Mars a year ago had been heralded by the human and fairy governments alike, so she'd been there when Artemis had touched down. But before they could even begin to catch up, a troll nest crisis in populated South America had whisked her away. She'd been back only one time since then, and that was a very serious visit.
Lazuli Heitz was still in the wind, but had been spotted in Dublin recently, and so Commodore Short had therefore spent a good four hours trying to get Myles and/or Beckett to spill the beans about why that was. Needless to say, no beans were spilled, and Holly wasn't in the mood for chit-chat with Artemis at that point.
Phone calls were also infrequent. Artemis had long since resolved that all of this was for the best. She would forever be a part of his identity, but Holly had better things to do than hang around some eccentric Irishman and add fuel to his childish notions of them having a future together. In her position as a commodore, she was keeping the world safe on a daily basis. Artemis decided to do the same, picking up where he'd left off years prior with his climate work.
"No, NANNI," sighed Artemis. "We've talked about my relationship with Holly, and I don't need you reminding me of her like this. I have work to do."
"You might wanna change my voice, then, dude."
Artemis shook his head. "The twins like it, and more importantly, they trust it. And try as they might to claim otherwise, they're not all grown up yet. They still require oversight."
"Mm-hm."
"So, are you going to stop with these 'random' attempts to get me to think about Commodore Short?"
"Sure thing, boss."
With that matter now settled, Artemis selected a fairy-authored whodunit off the shelf, "Murder on the Stick," and settled into an armchair to read.
As it happened, the very next week, Artemis found himself in the Irish countryside on a social call to see Holly Short. Speak of the goddess, and she doth appear.
Beneath the ancient oak whose roots were as solid as the memories of it were in Artemis' mind, the young Irishman checked his watch for the tenth time. He felt awkward. What if she didn't come? What if some other fairy showed up to do the Ritual and shot him on sight?
Holly had never let him down before-- So there's no reason to assume this'll be any different, he finally reasoned. So she was a few minutes late. Big deal.
The text message had been vague. Marked green to indicate a social purpose, it had simply said Hey Artemis, I want to talk to you about something. Can we meet under the oak tree at eight? You know the one I mean.
Artemis' schedule was conveniently clear for that evening. So, after sending off a confirmation message, Artemis spent the following hours in advance of the meet-up finishing his business for the day, eating a light dinner with his mother, putting a black suit on, and mentally preparing himself. It had been months since he'd seen Holly, and that visit hadn't been very social. He'd had to toe the line between defending his brothers and staying on the LEP's good side (which was where he always desired to be, because that was also usually where Holly's good side was). It was unfortunate that Holly had been assigned to question her friend's brothers, but Artemis knew it was better that it'd been her than someone unfamiliar to the twins, like Trouble Kelp.
Artemis had been intrigued but not surprised at Holly's choice of meeting site. She probably needed to complete the Ritual, and was taking the opportunity to say hi. Artemis, for his part, was enjoying the opportunity to breath the mainland air he'd grown up with, and see how the fateful Ritual Site 57 looked these days. The site where Offense Zero, as the LEP called it, had occurred. The place where it had all began.
That's not technically accurate, he reminded himself. It really began when I was ten and was mind-wiped by N°1 in the future. But that's not as poetic.
He'd taken the trip from Dalkey Island to southeastern Ireland in a stealthy electric aircraft of his own design, one that was intended to outclass the Myishi Skyblade (it succeeded). It also was less flashy and more efficient than the Fowl Tachyon, the family jet whose multiple iterations the twins had succeeded in finding new ways to blow up over the years. The downside was that his craft only seated two people; the Fowl Tachyon was much more commodious. Then again, Artemis didn't entertain many parties.
Artemis could've let NANNI fly, as she was the integrated onboard autopilot, but he preferred to fly manually. It kept him focused. He arrived several minutes early, setting down his fancy flier a couple hundred meters from the tree, not wanting to disturb the earth at the ritual site itself. It was a pleasant evening, so Artemis did not mind the comparatively short walk to the tree after he'd shut down the aircraft. It was quite pleasing to not have to galumph through a stile, a bog, and three fields on foot this time.
The riverbank by the tree sounded lightly with frogs and the faint murmur of water accelerating around the bend. The sun was set, relinquishing its dominion over the sky to a full moon. The entire site looked exactly as Artemis remembered.
At six past eight o'clock (and after six past eight checks of the watch), Holly Short alighted on the thick layer of leaves that spread out in all directions from the ancient oak. Artemis heard the crunch of the landing and the folding up of her DoubleDex wings before he could see Holly proper, as she waited to unshield until she'd had a look around with her helmet's various filters, always on the look-out for threats. And there wasn't even a shimmering haze anymore when a fairy was shielded, thanks to ongoing suit improvements by Foaly. She could've landed completely silently, he knew, but he supposed she'd let herself make noise for his benefit.
Holly completed her scan of the area. Tonight, the two souls appeared to be alone. Satisfied, she quietly unshielded, the Opti-sequins of her suit twinkling in the moonlight, and removed her helmet with a hiss of sealed air escaping.
A few years ago, Holly's unshielding would have produced a harsh shrieking sound, but she'd finally gotten her shield harmonics tuned after a particularly bad shriek shattered an expensive LEP plasma screen and given Grub Kelp a cut on his poor little pinky finger. If she hadn't dealt with it, he might've sued.
Artemis was always happy to see Holly. After years of coming to terms with the fact that nothing was going to happen between them beyond being friends (and nor should it), the sight of her no longer even caused him miserable regret, like it had for a time before he left the planet. Artemis could not help smiling as Holly shook out her short hair after hours of it being stuffed inside a helmet. He would never not be grateful to call her a friend. Nothing was needed beyond that. Right?
"Good evening," he greeted her in flawless Gnommish.
Holly smiled back, and threw a quick hug around Artemis' waist after setting her helmet on the ground. "Good evening yourself," she replied in perfect English. "It's nice to see you when there isn't world-ending crap going on," she noted. "Or drama about missing officers."
"I concur," nodded Artemis, switching back to English so that he might more easily converse, before innocently inquiring, "Is that officer still in fact missing?"
Holly scowled. "Yes, and my government is itching to mind-wipe the lot of you Fowls. They're dying for one of you to be responsible for her going AWOL."
"Mm," remarked a neutral Artemis. "I'd hate to forget you again. I hope you know that."
A smile again appeared on the elf in question. She had to reach to punch his shoulder. "Same here. I'm really sorry about that questioning session with your brothers. My hands were tied, but don't worry, I'm advocating for you guys as much as I can manage down below. That is, in between doing paperwork and supervising fleet exercises and keeping tabs on all the human ventures that're of a digging nature, which is quite a lot."
"Squeezing in a Ritual while you can, then, eh?"
"Nope. I'm still pretty full on magic. Funny how it lasts longer when we aren't out in the field bleeding to death every other week. And we have moon tubes now anyways."
"Ah yes, another one of N°1's achievements, pioneered in my absence."
"Yep. So really, you're the only reason I'm out here. Not that I mind the fresh air."
Artemis raised an eyebrow. "You mean you weren't too busy to fly out here for a purely social call?"
Holly chuckled. "I'm as surprised as you are. My schedule was miraculously clear this evening, and I was in the area after an op this afternoon. If you'd asked on any other day, it would've been a no."
Artemis froze. "You mean, if you'd asked on any other day?"
"No, you asked." Holly frowned. "You said to meet you here. And so now here we are. Gosh, I know you people age quicker than us, but don't tell me you've gone senile already."
Artemis remained frozen for a beat, then began frantically scanning around the area for hostiles. Simultaneously, Holly's eyes widened as she came to the same conclusion, and she drew her Neutrino 4000.
Green-energy Oxalis pistols were standard-issue these days, but being in senior command allowed Holly her pick of the armory, and she still had a fondness for frying threats with good old-fashioned nuclear rays. They hardly ever leaked and fried their owners these days either, which was nice. So what if the techies called her a Luddite? She had it on good authority that Artemis Fowl still used a Powerbook, albeit an unrecognizably customized and upgraded one.
Holly slipped her helmet back on and pointed her blaster in various directions as the two allies backed toward the oak tree for cover against possible assailants. "Know anyone who'd want to get us out in the open like this?" she asked tensely.
Artemis pulled a pair of smart glasses from his suit jacket's inside pocket and slid them on. "There's a few who'd be after me, but none that would also know about you. This has to be one of yours. Someone who could fake a correspondence in Haven's computer systems to set us up."
Holly sealed her helmet, electronically scanning the dark horizon for threats. "Not possible. All of my perps with a grudge are accounted for."
"We've thought that before," muttered Artemis. Then, louder, he spoke to his glasses: "NANNI, get the C-Plane back up in the air. The two of us might need an evac. Start flying a defensive patrol pattern around the tree, and scan the vicinity for life signs or threats."
"On it," confirmed NANNI. Artemis watched the plane take off and begin circling. Without the filters in his glasses, it would've been impossible to spot.
"C-Plane?" inquired Holly tersely, who could also see the craft thanks to her helmet's Optix.
"It sees all," explained Artemis, scanning the area with various filters just as Holly was. "The plane has top-of-the-line surveillance tech. You know, like that cube from that one time. So, I kept the naming scheme. Oh, and it's a seaplane."
"This plane better not have LEP tech in it," groaned Holly. "You know, like that cube from that one time."
Artemis scoffed. "As if! No, my tech is much better than the LEP's now. You can tell Foaly I don't need to pirate his fancy circuits anymore."
"He literally just told me yesterday that you'd been illicitly accessing his schematics again."
"Yes, but that was for fun. What I'm saying is that I don't need to anymore."
Holly lifted her visor just to roll her eyes at Artemis. It was a tactical risk, but worth it. "Oh, well in that case, carry on."
NANNI's voice vibrated along the arm of Artemis' smart glasses, inaudible to anyone but him. "The two of you are alone, Artemis. The C-Plane confirms it. I can't detect any other technology or sentient life in the area. Or sentient technology, for that matter."
"We're alone," relayed Artemis.
Holly lowered her blaster, just slightly, and tried to raise Police Plaza on her helmet's display. "Foaly? Foaly, come in."
NANNI's voice quietly reverberated through the glasses on Artemis' face again. "Your sensor network is detecting magma flares in E1. Go get her, boss."
Holly shook her head, severing her call. "No use. There's magma flares in E1. I can't get through."
"Interesting," mused Artemis. "NANNI, land the C-Plane again, but keep the engines idling just in case." To Holly, he said, "I think I know who's brought us here."
Holly tightened her grip on her blaster as NANNI landed the plane in the distance. "Who?"
Artemis slipped off his glasses, and gazed at them with some disdain. "NANNI."