Heat
The world began heating up, in a multitude of ways. The war, of course, broke those fragile bonds between nations, releasing all of the stored potential energy in a rush.
The war heated the world in a more literal sense as well. Partly because of the less than environmentally friendly weaponry that was now being used worldwide, and the decaying bodies adding to the carbon dioxide content of the atmosphere, but mostly because of the decades of previous mistreatment of the atmosphere, greenhouse gases were accumulating and the temperature was creeping slowly higher.
Our war was not the cause of global warming. It was merely what sent the world over the brink of a safe heat budget. Glaciers and ice began to melt – but no one cared about a bit of water. No one cared that the fresh water now being added to the oceans was lowering the salinity, and therefore the density, of the oceans. No one realized that this lighter water would not sink where it ought; no one realized that the ocean's conveyor belt of currents would then come to a halt. Not a single human, besides myself, knew that once these currents balked, the heat would not be properly distributed and another ice age would come.
Not a single human… but all of the fairies.
Yes, they exist. Please listen: I assure you I am not mad.
They had lived underground, hidden beneath the land, they said, in an attempt to avoid conflict with humans. Mud People they called us. I wonder if the fairies intentionally used the Ku Klux Klan's derogatory name for African-Americans, or if prejudice is simply the same everywhere.
They came, partly because we were destroying ourselves, but mostly because we were destroying the planet. Their first course of action was to disarm the humans, stopping both the new source of carbon dioxide and the violence. They used superior weapons that were nonetheless non-lethal. Their powerful lasers merely stunned. After one experienced a few stuns, however, ill-side effects occurred. Extensive paralysis, and often death, naturally followed the repeated loss of sensation that their lasers induced.
Their next course of action, to remedy the global warming that was already beginning to have an effect on the worldwide climate. Simultaneously, they saved and enslaved us.
And what were we to think of the benign beings who so hostilely took over the world?
Well, there were those who exalted them: the ones who had been wishing for peace, the ones who had been wishing for a cleaner environment. There were those who hated them: the nationalists, the ones who valued freedom over safety.
And there were those who never could form an opinion about the fairies: the majority of humans, the ones who had never seen true evil or true goodness and especially not a disconcerting combination of the two.
I, of course, knew that they were both good and bad, and therefore neither. I appreciated their help, but knew they should not be allowed to conquer us so easily. Similar freedom fighters were also of this opinion, and many sought to regain humanity's reign of the planet.
But everyone knows about the difference between a freedom fighter and a terrorist.
Disclaimer: I do not own Artemis Fowl. Do you?
A/N: The Orion Awards love you. So go to the Orion Awards website (see my profile for links) and love them back.
This very fic was nominated in the Orion Awards for Best Speculative Fiction. I was so proud of it that I finally wrote another (rather short) chapter.
I believe there will be only one more chapter, and probably alittle epilogue.At one point, this fic was going to involve a whole array of OCs, but I've decided I'm not dedicated enough to this ficto do that (plus I can'thave dialoguein the middlea fic chock full of no!dialogue).