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Artemis paused, to let it sink in
Spiro’s eyes grew huge behind his spectacles
“You mean, this box”
“Will render all other technology obsolete Your computer plants will be worthless”
The American took several deep breaths
“But howhow?”
Arteently on the back
“This is the secret An o you ask it to And if the source is prograyback on any satellite you choose”
Spiro wagged a finger “But that’s illegal, isn’t it?”
“No, no” Arte like this And there won’t be for at least two years after it co it took to shut down Napster”
The American rested his face in his hands It was too much
“I don’t understand This is years, no decades, ahead of anything we have now You’re nothing but a thirteen-year-old kid How did you do it?”
Arte to say? That sixteen o Butler had taken on a Lower Elements Police Retrieval Squad and confiscated their fairy technology? Then he had taken the components and built this wonderful box? Hardly
“Let’s just say I’m a very smart boy, Mr Spiro”
Spiro’s eyes narrowed “Maybe not as smart as you’d like us to think I want a demonstration”
“Fair enough” Artemis nodded “Do you have a mobile phone?”
“Naturally” Spiro placed his cell phone on the table It was the latest Fission Chips model
“Secure, I take it?”
Spiro nodded arrogantly “Five-hundred-bit encryption Best in its class You’re not getting into the Fission 400 without a code”
“We shall see”
Artemis pointed the sensor at the handset The screen instantly displayed an is
“Download?” inquired a metallic voice from the speaker
“Confirm”
In less than a second, the job was done
“Download coness
Spiro was aghast “I don’t believe it That system cost twenty million dollars”
“Worthless,” said Arte him the screen “Would you like to call home? Or maybe move some funds around? You really shouldn’t keep your bank account numbers on a SIM card”
The Aht for several moments
“It’s a trick,” he pronounced finally “You ot access to it earlier”
“That is logical,” admitted Artemis “It’s what I would suspect Name your test”
Spiro cast his eyes around the restaurant, fingers dru the tabletop
“Over there,” he said finally, pointing to a video shelf above the bar “Play one of those tapes”
“That’s it?”
“It’ll do, for a start”
Arno Blunt h the tapes, eventually selecting one without a label He slapped it down on the table, bouncing the engraved silver cutlery half an inch into the air
Arte the blue box directly onto the tape’s surface
An ie of the cassette’s innards appeared on the tiny plasma screen
“Download?” asked the box
Artemis nodded “Download, compensate, and play”
Again the operation was colish soap crackled into life
“DVD quality,” coardless of the input The C Cube will compensate”
“The what?”
“C Cube,” repeated Arteiven my little box A tad obvious, I ad”
Spiro snatched the videocassette
“Check it,” he ordered, tossing the tape to Arno Blunt
The bleached-blond bodyguard activated the bar’s TV, sliding the video into its slot Coronation Street flickered across the screen The same shohere near the same uality
“Convinced?” asked Artemis
The American tinkered with one of histhat the govern me Could you check it out?”
Arteht for a moment, then held the omnisensor close to his mouth “Cube Do you read any surveillance bea?”
The machine whirred for a moment
“The strongest ion bea frois
tered to the Central Intelligence Agency Estiht minutes There are also several LEP probes connected to”
Artemis hit the mute button before the cube could continue Obviously the computer’s fairy coy too He would have to re hands that infor to fairy security
“What’s theWho are the LEP?”
Arteed “No pay, no play, as you Ah The CIA, no less”
“The CIA,” breathed Spiro “They suspectmilitary secrets They’ve pulled one of their birds out of orbit, just to track me”
“Or perhaps me,” noted Artemis
“Perhaps you,” agreed Spiro “You’re looking erous by the second”
Arno Blunt chuckled derisively Butler ignored it One of them had to be professional
Spiro cracked his knuckles, a habit Artemis detested
“We’ve got eight ritty, kid How much for the box?”
Arte attention, distracted by the LEP information that the Cube had almost revealed In a careless moment, he had nearly exposed his subterranean friends to exactly the kind of man ould exploit them
“I’m sorry, what did you say?”
“I said how much for the box?”
“First, it’s a cube,” corrected Artemis “And second, it’s not for sale”
Jon Spiro took a deep shuddering breath “Not for sale? You broughtto sellon here?”
Butler wrapped his fingers around the handle of a pistol in his waistband Arno Blunt’s hand disappeared behind his back The tension cranked up another notch
Arteers “Mr Spiro Jon I am not a complete idiot I realize the value of h money in the world to pay for this particular iteive me, the Cube would be worth a thousand percent more in a week”
“So what’s the deal, Fowl?” asked Spiro through gritted teeth “What are you offering?”