Artemis Fowl: The Olympian Case

IIb: A Jump Gone Wrong

"So, why alternate Earth's?"

Holly asked as she tightened her gloves. Her ears had been hidden by a concealing balm, and her standardized wings were traded for concealed ones of Artemis' design-built to be more of the stealth-like approach and perfectly fit in a bag that can function also as a storage compartment. The suit was of black and dark-green design, functioned to slim fit to the owner's body size and shape.

"I'm glad you asked," Artemis answered, replacing his tinted-shades with his usual LEP goggles of his design, "It's just more convenient; since we are dealing with alternate Earth's, the possibility of finding the raw materials I need is higher if we are dealing with the same composition as our current planet with minor differences; whereas dealing with other planets is like finding a needle in a haystack, tedious and inefficient. Besides, getting the right tools and equipment to scale or even travel to other planetary satellites costs an unimaginable amount, not to mention a constant outflow of oxygen, worry of food, and uncertainty of various factors-shall I continue?"

"No, I get it" Holly sighed, "We are basically jumping to another Earth, one we have thorough info and safety of its knowledge being a life planet...convenient is really the right word to sum it up"

"And to top it off, bending of quantum physics right now is a realistic work, with the help of magic! We are still way off in terms of space travel, and I don't intend to wait until then...even if it is a safer choice"

"Pardon?"

"It behaves like a wormhole" Minerva interjects as she emerged in full attire, "You could control its direction and leave it open for a short amount of time, but a fatal mistake could propel you off-course, maybe even splitting you into bits in the process, molecule by molecule. And even if you survive that dilemma somehow, who knows where you'd end up in the entire fabric of space"

"So...that bad, huh?" Holly chirped. She had travelled through time, how could this be any different? Minerva was caught aback by the casual reaction of Holly.

"She is one of them, Minerva" Artemis called out, stuffing his business attire in the suitcase along with other needed equipment, "She'll be our bodyguard in this attempt, so acknowledge her properly"

Minerva immediately caught on, the 'them' as reference to the people who shared Artemis the secret of magic, one of which she was now bound to keep. And she will; although she is slightly disheartened that she can't  harness this knowledge to improve the livelihood of man, she recognizes the problems that would arise if this was ever leaked into the public...utter chaos. In this case, the risks outweigh the rewards, and thus was able to accept the secrecy of the art, even if it would have accelerated the human race tenfold. She was not a little girl no more; granted, she still was emotional and temperamental, but are simply things she had learned to cope and control, a product of puberty and mental growth.

"All right, we all set?" Artemis tapped into the computer, activating the device. He then faced Holly and Minerva, all geared and ready, "So, here's what we know: this is going to be a test run. I've locked into an alternate Earth, E-38, which is almost an exact replica of ours, if not for the presence of various magical entities; best not to linger else we risk alerting them of our presence. The portal will stay open for a good two hours, if all things run smoothly we won't even take up five minutes. This is simply a drill, strictly a get in-check around-get out maneuver. Just to assure you Holly, we have tried live subjects and all had come back safely, this is the first human subject run though. All numbers and calculations aside, we should be theoretically safe to pass and come back with most if not all our body parts, so it's a go operation."