Artemis Fowl: Wreaking Havoc

10. Some Explanation

I’ve been calling ‘Police Plaza’ ‘LEP Headquarters’. Oh well!

Artemis began to speak until he realised he was still holding Holly’s wrist. He let go instantly and sat back on his bed. Holly thought he turned red, but he looked away before she could make sure.

“Well,” he said. He looked around - he was pretty certain that he had gotten rid of all the bugs in his room, but Teteph was a devious creature. And he wouldn't put it past her to have somehow slipped some more in ten minutes ago when she visited. He shrugged to himself - it couldn't really be helped at the moment either way. He was about to lose one of his closest friends.
  “Teteph,” he began, trying not to look Holly too long in the eye – it stopped his concentration, “came to me some time ago wishing to, as I assume you overheard, integrate the People with humans. Her Rebel Group - rebelling against the ways of the People to keep silent from humans – had heard of me, I assume. The human mastermind who had managed to learn everything about the People and kidnapped one of the LEP's finest officers. One of the members, Teteph, approached me to ask for my help in integrating. It had to be me, of course, because I am, if you will, the bridge between two worlds, thus I am the one who may be able to safely merge humans and fairies. Of course, it also helps that I'm a genius.”
  Holly wondered if he was actually showing off at this crucial moment.
  “So, let me guess,” she said. “You've hatched some nefarious plot where you're only pretending to help, because, of course, you would never give us away. I think.”
  Artemis looked pained. “Why must you have so little trust in me? Of course I would never give my friends away.”
  Holly's shoulders visibly relaxed, but her eyes remained sharp and alert. “And then?”

  Artemis sighed. “And then I agreed. I knew, of course, that it was the safest option. The Rebel Group could possibly find someone else, but they probably wouldn't be as smart as me. Which is dangerous in such a thin-iced area. Metaphorically speaking, of course.”

  “The mesmer should be sufficient, shouldn't it?” said Holly. Artemis shrugged, a casual gesture he had found himself indulging in recently.

  “Perhaps,” he said, “but as I said, it would be best to have someone in control of their own thoughts for something as fragile as this, and preferably a genius. Not being too picky. As well as this, the group may well have lost their magic, either in defiance or for repeatedly defying the People's laws. Teteph has no magic. Of course, in the worst case scenario the Rebel Group will attempt to integrate without the – essential, might I add – help of a human such as myself. Which would, I assure you, lead to extremely bad results. They don't know the first thing about humans; it's caviar, a fish roe delicacy from the Caspian Sea, not some foul rotting fish.”

  Holly couldn't help but smile at this, but immediately became sober as she remembered something.

  “You still haven't told me what any of this has to do with gold.”

  At this, Artemis had the grace to look embarrassed.

  “That, Holly, is...to renovate the manor. It's becoming awfully drab, even if Mother and Father don't say anything.”

  “Speaking of which,” said Holly. “Where is your family? Surely they didn't leave you here alone?”

  “Father has a conference in Singapore, and decided to take the entire family for a nice holiday. I wished to stay behind to work on the painful matter of TecH, which has absolutely no place on the market. Obviously I came up with a different excuse to my parents. But now I cannot even turn my mind to it because of all the events thus far.”

  “I thought you were past leeching gold off fairies,” said Holly. “The group can't have had a lot of gold to begin with. What if you're stripping them of all their gold?”