Artemis Fowl: The War Divided

Chapter 2: Butterflies vs. Dominoes

Haven City

As a fairy police officer, Holly had been trained not only for physical combat, but for psychological fortitude as well. It's dangerous to allow any foe to mess with one's mind. Throughout the challenging years, she had been able to stay steadfast and logical no matter the situation. Today, however, has proven to put a damper on that record. Artemis, someone whom she had begun to consider a true friend, had attacked her with malicious intent. Not only that, but the words he had said also shook her body to the bones. She sat in silence outside of the LEP interrogation room with Butler at her side. Although she was struggling with trying to understand the situation in its' entirety, she also knew that it must be equally, if not more, challenging for Butler as well. He had struck his charge, his friend, and brought him to one of the most secure prisons underground.
After waiting nearly an hour in silence, the interrogation room door opened.
"Well, he's secured, stripped, and wired. Gotta be honest though, a part of me really thought I would enjoy this moment. But I can't shake this uneasy feeling." Foaly stepped out to the waiting pair, "He had these crudely designed mechanical limb enhancers attached to his arms and legs. It appears he modified stolen Moon Belts to alter its' effects at will.Effectively, he can either carry an insane amount of weight or hit like a troll at will."
Holly stood, "That would explain how he knocked me through a wall. Has he woken up yet?"
Foaly shook his head, "If he doesn't wake up soon, a quick, tiny jolt through the helmet would do the trick. Take this too." He handed her a small earpiece radio, "So that I can talk to you from the other room."
Butler cleared his throat, "I think you should go in there alone first, Captain. See what information you can get from the direct approach. I'll watch from the other room to gather anything you might miss in there."
Holly nodded in agreement and waited for Butler and Foaly to go into the adjacent room before entering the interrogation room. Artemis was at the end of a long table still unconscious. Wrapped around his hands were metal bindings, secured in such a way that even his fingers were not visible and were also chained to the table. Around his head was a helmet-like device that was also connected to a large computer screen to the side of the room. On the table itself were the mechanical devices that Foaly had described prior and a single pocketknife.
Holly sighed as she slowly approached Artemis' sleeping body. In this docile state, she could see more clearly the weathered look on his face. As if his features have never known an expression that wasn't a furrowed brow. She looked to the side towards the obvious two-sided mirror and gave a nod. Not a moment sooner, Artemis jolted awake with a quick gasp and quickly darted his eyes around the room.
"Easy Artemis. It's ok, you're safe," Holly said with her hands slightly stretched out towards him.
With a slow, deep inhale, Artemis made eye contact, "I must apologize. It appears we may have gotten off on the wrong foot. My fault entirely. You are not the Holly Short I know."
Holly sat down on the opposite end of the table, "I'm glad we'll be able to have a civil conversation. Why don't we start with who you are and what you're doing here?"
Artemis smirked, "It's quite obvious that you know who I am. As for what I'm doing here in the LEP interrogation room, you're the one who brought me here with Foaly and Butler watching in the other room." He looked towards the mirror and gave a slight nod. "If you want my opinion, it really is quite foolish to bring a potential enemy deep within the heart of your own operations."Holly held an unamused expression, "I know your game, Artemis. You're talking to buy yourself time to formulate a plan instead of answering my questions genuinely."
He shrugged nonchalantly, "As observant as you are beautiful."
She slammed a fist on the table, "Stop it, Artemis! This isn't you. You aren't some common delinquent in the principals' office. Believe it or not, I am trying to help you. But to help you, I need to understand what's happened."
"If you want answers that badly, why not just force them out of me? It would take little to no effort for you, I would imagine."
"I'd rather avoid that option, Artemis. I don't use the mesmer on my friends."
Artemis scoffed, "Friends. I've forgotten the meaning of the word."
Holly paused to the sound of Foaly's voice through the earpiece, "Holly. Butler says it wouldn't be a bad idea to mesmerize him to get the answers. He's fairly certain that this Artemis isn't the Artemis we know. His mannerisms and demeanor aren't right. If he has any answers that could lead to the recovery of the Artemis that belongs here, Butler has no qualms of how to get the information."
She sighed and took a moment to summon her natural fairy power, "Please, Artemis. I need your full cooperation." With her voice layered with the mesmer ability, Artemis should fall into a lucid state where Holly can influence orders or suggestions. To her surprise, Artemis merely smirked and cricked his neck as a response. Holly felt a sudden sharp pain in her head and nearly collapsed on the table with her breath becoming more sporadic.
"Oh, did I forget to mention? I have a cybernetic implant in my brain that not only protects me from your fairy magic, but also returns a rather painful reaction."
Artemis paused as the door to the room slammed open with Foaly rushing to Holly's side, "Ah. Foaly, how nice of you to finally join us."
"You shut it, mud boy. I'll deal with you in just a minute," Foaly said as he tried to check Holly. "Are you alright? I've never heard of a mesmer backfiring like this."
"I'm... fine. I'm fine." Holly took a deep breath and leaned her head in her hands.  Foaly stood upright and pointed a small remote towards Artemis. He tilted his head curiously at the centaur, "How comical. Are you going to switch me off? Maybe put me on mute. Or perhaps put me on a different channel?"Foaly reacted with a smirk of his own, "Yes, yes, and yes." With the click of a button, Artemis was jolted again with another jolt of electricty, rendering him unconscious once again. With another click, the screen on the wall turned on, "I'm not taking any chances now. We're going to see what makes this kid tick."
Holly reached up and put a hand on Foaly's arm, "Wait. Are you sure about this? This is Artemis we're talking about."
"No. This is not the same Artemis we know. He made that clear as well." Foaly paused as the screen flickered, "Here we go. With the helmet on, I can access the neurons that heavily influence powerful memories. Maybe we'll get a few answers."
Although she personally objected to this turn of events, she couldn't deny that answers are exactly what they needed. She held back her objections and turned her attention to the screen, "This... looks familiar. It's... Murmansk."
The screen was displaying the image of a large ship in the distance. Butler's voice echoed off screen, "Artemis. Are you sure? This is risky." There were only a few seconds of silence before the sound of a gunshot exploded from the side."
Holly pointed at the screen, "This was our rescue mission for Artemis Senior."
The screen flickered and the image changed to Holly dragging a large body out of the water towards the viewer. With sadness in her voice, the virtual Holly spoke, "I'm sorry. I'm so... so sorry Artemis. I couldn't save him. I did all I could but... it wasn't enough."
The physical Holly watching the screen shook her head, "No, that's not right. We saved him. Yeah, it took a hot minute, but he's up and healthy. I saw him just a few hours ago."
The scenery on screen had changed to Artemis' perspective exiting a large vehicle to be met by a creature holding a platinum firearm towards him.
"Don't shoot, "said Artemis. "I am unarmed. And I need your help. Do not be alarmed, I am a friend to the People. I helped defeat the B'wa Kell. My name is..."
Foaly interrupted the visual aid, "This was when Artemis had you heal Butler from being shot. The odds were definitely against us, but thanks to his quick thinking and our teamwork, we were successful." He turned briefly towards the mirror and gave a thumbs up to Butler who was still watching from the other side."Focus Foaly," Holly said as she smacked his side. "I have a feeling I know why this memory was brought up."
For the most part, the events played out accurately to Holly's recollection. It was near the end that the audience waited with bated breath.
"Well?" demanded Artemis. "Is he alive?"
After a long pause, Holly shook her head and looked down, "We were too late." She slowly approached Artemis and pulled him into a gentle embrace, "I'm truly sorry, Artemis. He was gone before I arrived."
The image became blurry. It took a moment to realize that it wasn't the equipment that was malfunctioning, but that it was Artemis shedding tears.
"I... failed again. It's my fault," he whispered before the screen went blank.
The next scene that appeared was the event of Artemis' previous mind wipe. This time, however, he seemed to be much more welcoming to the memory erasure. No witty remarks, no smug banter. Just acceptance.
"I get it now," said Holly. She turned to look at the disheveled Artemis handcuffed to the table, "This is what happens to him without his loved ones." She frowned and stroked his hair back lightly, "Oh, Artemis."
The following memory displayed the events of what seemed like a normal day. Artemis was eating breakfast in silence with his mother. It appears he had kept to a more secluded lifestyle since his wipe. The scene skipped to him leaving the Manor with a schoolbag in hand when he suddenly fell hard against the ground. He turned back to see a bright blue light engulf his home.
"A... biobomb? He gasped, "Mother! No!"
Artemis got up and quickly tried to run back to the Manor only to be stopped by an invisible force. Phasing into visibility, Holly was holding him back, "Artemis! You're alive! Please, you have to come with me now. I'm Holly and I'm a friend."
"My mother was in that blast! I have to... She can't be..."
Holly layered her voice with her mesmer ability, "I need you to listen to me. We aren't safe. We are being hunted by Opal Koboi and we need to leave now!"
Both Foaly and Holly couldn't help but feel immense guilt and sorrow for their friend. To think that the Artemis they knew was on the edge of losing it all if the slightest details were altered. Even Holly couldn't help but stifle a few tears from falling. She frowned and shook her head, "These things happened. Even if they didn't happen here to us, these events are real, and they happened to him."The screen flickered once more. Artemis was observing a bright Spring evening with orange-colored leaves falling to the ground. From his perspective, it looked like he was hiding inside some shrubbery. In the distance, there was a large Oak tree overlooking a riverbend.
"That looks familiar," said Holly. "I think the memory may have backtracked to when we first met."
Sure enough, a slightly shimmering figure landed underneath the tree. After a few seconds, the figure became visible.
"Artemis? Artemis, I'm here. You said you wanted to meet and talk?"
The Holly watching herself on screen tilted her head, "This isn't the day he kidnapped me."
On screen, the image of a gun slowly raised and aimed at Holly. A quiet pop emitted from the barrel followed by the elf collapsing. Artemis stood and approached her on the ground who was breathing sporadically.
"Greetings, Holly. I'm glad you were able to make it up to meet me," Artemis said. "I hope you'll forgive the tranquilizer but believe me when I say it was neccessary." He leaned down, slipped the helmet off of her head, and positioned it against the tree.
"I've had a long time to think about some things that have been bothering me. The deaths of my parents and Butler. I truly believed I was to blame, but that wasn't quite accurate."
He pulled out what looked like a legitimate firearm and loaded it slowly as he spoke, "What I realized is that my plans were flawless." He looked down at Holly whose eyes were full of plea, "What I realized is that you were the one who failed me. You are the reason they're dead."
He leveled his gun down towards her, "I forgive you though, Holly Short. I truly do. You did your best and I appreciate all you've done. What I can't forgive is that you continued to pretend to be my friend this entire time. If I had your power and abilities, I would have been able to save them all. But because of you..." He took a deep breath, "I now have nothing. Yet you still have the gall to smile in my face and call yourself my friend." Disgust filled his eyes as her magic kicked in to try and heal the anesthetic out of her system.
Holly strained herself to reach out towards him with tears in her eyes and managed to whisper out, "Artemis... I'm..." 

With absolute resolve, he pulled the trigger. He stood there for a few minutes after Holly's body fell limp. With a deep breath, he turned towards the helmet on the ground, "You can consider this as a declaration of war. Rest assured; the humans will be knocking on your doorstep soon."