Artemis Fowl: A Call for Help

Chapter 20

Lower Elements: Police Plaza
Opal sat in an interrogation room, handcuffed. And tied to the chair. She had regained consciousness soon after receiving medical treatment. Commander Root sat across the table, a smug grin on his face.
"Just can't help tryin' to take over the world can you?"
Opal glared at him. "I will do what I feel like doing."
"Alright, Opal, can you tell me about this?" Commander Root asked, pointing to a large screen on the wall opposite of Opal. No point in wasting time.
"I could, if I wanted to. However, I do not want to. So the answer is no." Opal replied.
Root rolled his eyes. "Fine. I'll have Foaly bring in his Retimager."
"Very well, then."
Foaly walked through the doors, carrying his gadget. He turned to Opal. "This baby can scan your retinas and read the scratches that were caused by photons hitting them. It transmitts the images to my computer, so I can match the image to another image."
"That's great, centaur, but it's not going to work this time." Opal said, her voice filled with contempt.
"We'll see." Foaly replied, unphased. "Stay still, or this might hurt."
Foaly put the things that closely resembled suction cups over Opal's eyes. He hooked the machine to his laptop. Opal slumped in the chair, the sedative in action. Foaly programmed the computer to match the images to a picture of the creature. If she had seen it, it could mean that she was responsible for creating it.
Image after image appeared on the screen, none a match to the creature. In fact, the only images had taken place when she had returned into conciousness. She must have scrubbed her retinas, Foaly thought. I should be able to see her whole life.
"Commander Root?" Foaly asked.
"What?" Root demanded.
"May I speak with you privately?"
"Sure, but it better be important." Root said.
"Oh, it is." Foaly replied, walking out the door.
Root followed shutting the door behind him. "What is it?" Root asked.
"It appears that she scrubbed her retinas, or something. The only things she has seen have taken place when the medics were taking care of her." Foaly said.
Root balled his hand into a fist. "Of course. It's never that easy, is it?"
"Apparently not." Foaly replied.
"How can you scrub you retinas? They're inside your head!" Root yelled.
"Well, there is one way to do it. It's really difficult, though. But since she has magic she could have used some sort of spell..." Foaly said.
"So there is a way to do it then?" Root asked.
"Yes. Especially with magic."
"Thank you. That's all I needed to know." Root snapped.
Root returned to the interrogation room. Opal was still unconcious. Foaly entered the room a second later.
"Can you do anything to see if she really did scrub her retinas?" Root asked.
"Yeah, if you want me to cut her eyes out." Foaly replied.
"We might have to." Root mumbled.
"We wouldn't be allowed to, the Book says that..."
Root cut him off. "I know what the book says!"
"Just making sure." Foaly said, grinning.
"Just shut up, would you?" Root asked. "No, wait. Can you go find Captain Short and bring her in here?"
"Sure, Julius. Anything for you." Foaly replied.
"It's Commander Root to you, civillan." Root growled.
"Fine." Foaly said, trotting out of the room.
A few minutes later, he returned with Holly.
"Sit." Root said, pointing to the seat next to him.
Holly did as she was told. "Yes?" she asked.
"Were you ever away from Opal after you captured her?" Root asked.
"Yes. We had to deal with the creature, so she was unattended for a while. She was unconcious the whole the time." Holly answered.
"I don't think she was." Root countered. "When subject to the Retimager, the information we received took place in the medical wing and here."
Holly's brow furrowed. "I don't know how that could have happened. We were only gone for about ten minutes."
"Ten minutes can make a huge difference. You need to understand that Holly." Root said softly.
"Yes, sir." Holly said, looking down at the floor.
"In the shuttle Trouble was watching her, right?"
"Yes. I was flying the shuttle, and he was in the passenger area with her." Holly replied. "He told me that she never woke up."
"Ok. Thank you, Holly. You may leave now."
"Wait, I left something out. Before Opal appeared, there was this other pixie that showed up. We chased him down and handcuffed him. When I got the call from Artemis, we dropped him and ran. He said his name was Merval."
"You used the newest handcuffs right?"
"Yes." Holly replied.
"Good. That might help us a lot. Thank you."
Holly left the room with a last contemptuous glance at Opal. She is going to pay for what she did to us, Holly swore.