I own no characters organizations, etc.
Chapter One
Artemis sat complacently on the warm leather of the Limo, he stared out the window watching the scenery go by. 'Might as well give them nothing to see if the bastards are going to look through my eyes, he thought to himself as the car drove past a cow. These were not the usual thoughts of a six year old, but then again Artemis Fowl II was no average Irish six year old. He had been bred for brilliance since he was still in diapers, by the age of three he had mastered Common, French, and Russian. Now at the age of six he had added Italian, German, and Hebrew to his dialects. His skin was a chalk white, bleached from hours spent indoors in front of a desk screen. His hair gave little more color to his face as he had recently taken to bleaching his dark hair in hopes that it would seem rebellious. Combined with his small black suit the only color on this small child was the piercing blue eyes that stared out his window.
Though his blue eyes looked through the glass of the window his mind was on the small box attached firmly to the back of his neck, he felt like he could feel the invisible hooks probing through his mind. To see if he wasgood enough, if he was smart enough to go into space, if the human race needed him or if he was just some more trash. After one unusually large bump in the road Artemis shouted at the driver to watch where he was going. "There is no need to get wound up sir, we are only going for a routine check-up" a Large Eurasian man spoke from the across the limo.
"I am not 'Wound up', Butler. Annoyed, exasperated, perturbed, or irked may describe my mood but definitely not 'Wound up'." Artemis stared at the bodyguard waiting for a response but Butler simply stared back blankly, so the young man started in again "No Butler what I am is Vexed, I have had this box on the back of my head for three years with them spying through my eyes. Who do they think they are to use Artemis Fowl II this way?"
"Well they are the I.F. Artemis"
"Oh yes the International Federation all floating around in space with their big ships like gods over us little bugs on earth." Artemis had intended his statement to be funny, in fact he had planned out the entire conversation beforehand just so he could make this joke. Butler however had no sense of humor and did not even crack a smile. Or perhaps it is I with no sense of Humor Artemis thought to himself. With a sigh Artemis turned back to the window, they were just entering Dublin and would soon be at their destination.
The I.F. Headquarters in Dublin left something to be desired from the governing force of the world. Not enough grandeur, just a simple office building. Artemis decided if he were running the place he would at the very least have a big sign out front, if not models of some of the spaceships in the comet field. The architecture also would be more menacing perhaps Chinese, mid 11th century. They knew how to make a castle look menacing back then. Now it was all Designer waterfalls and curved roofs.
Butler palmed their way into the building, Artemis himself tried to use identification as little as possible, a force of habit instilled in him at a young age by his father. Artemis could remember it perfectly; his father sitting in a high-backed easy chair, Artemis standing on his stone in front of the fireplace "Remember Artemis in this world people with our lifestyle only live as long as our conspicuousness." Artemis would nod to his father, his mother would walk into the room calling for Arty...
"We are ready to see you now" A nurse standing next to where Butler and Artemis were sitting interrupted Artemis' line of thought. He glanced over at her, she was middle-aged, possibly 27 he decided, Asian descent, she was wearing a blue uniform with the I.F. insignia stamped on her breast. Artemis nodded to her and stood along with Butler. "So Artemis, we'll be taking your monitor off today okay? We will just need to run a few test first."
"What sort of tests?" Artemis inquired keeping his eyes forward as they walked down the hallway.
"Some questions and a multiple choice questionnaire. Nothing to be frightened of cutie." she smiled at him and gave him a wink. Artemis did not return the smile, he despised adults who treated him like a child.
Within a few minutes Artemis was seated in front of an interviewer responding to seemingly random questions, some of them seemed to make sense and Artemis would begin to think he understood what they wanted to know about him, but then a seemingly random question would mess up his suspicions. Then one question caught Artemis completely off guard "Do you want to go to Battle School, Artemis?"
For a few moments Artemis was stunned to silence with the direct question, then he took a breath and collected his thoughts. "I... I am not sure..." The interviewer raised an eyebrow and motioned for Artemis to continue. Artemis frowned "I don't know okay?!" Artemis was angry, he had thought he was vexed before. He was wrong, this was anger. He had exposed himself in front of the opposition, in front of the enemy he had appeared weak, why? What about this question made him so distressed? Did he want to go? He honestly didn't know. Artemis looked back up at the interviewer to see him writing on his notepad, he felt ashamed, they were getting to him and he was helping them. He silently vowed that no one would ever see him so weak again, he would never be exposed again.
Artemis calmed himself by taking a few slow breaths, and waited for the interviewer to ask the next question. However, instead of talking the interviewer took out a piece of paper and a pencil, the test had begun. Of course they would give him the test after flustering him, they hoped to catch him off guard, to reveal the person he truly was. Artemis himself wasn't sure what kind of person he was, but he knew what kind of person they wanted him to be and if they wanted to play their games with him... he would not stand for it.
END CHAPTER