Tears of Themis – Artem Episode 1 & 2

Artem’s character story can be read through the Visit section of the game and they are fully voiced like the main stories. Each scene is unlocked as you increase your affection level with him either through daily visits and interactions or by reading his card stories. As you can imagine visits are probably the surest way to increase his affection while cards are dependent on the luck of the pull. The game launched with episodes 1 and 2 available and you can unlock all available scenes once you achieve affection level 18 with him.

Artem’s story has a total of 18 story scenes and 9 debate battles (recommended power 2639 – 14178). You can only use Artem’s cards for these debate battles so you do need to level his cards up to a certain level whether you like him or not in order to read his story and gain the corresponding rewards like S-chips.

In episode 1, you join Artem on a visit to an orphanage to deliver some presents. During the visit you learn about the unfortunate circumstances around Sherry, an ex-employee and her bid to adopt one of the children, Lily. Artem reveals his struggle between his rationality of providing Lily with a good and well to do environment to grow up in and his emotional side which wants to believe that love can conquer all. In episode 2, you partner Artem on a domestic violence case and experience your first disagreement with him. Artem picks up love advice from a book as he grapples with his feelings for you.

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Celestine sends you to accompany Artem on an errand at a shopping mall and inadvertently both of you got misunderstood as a married couple shopping for toys for their child. After buying a bundle of toys, Artem explains that he is heading to an orphanage to pick up on a case that was left behind by his mentor, Professor Neil Hume, who had gone missing six months ago.

While Artem speaks privately to the orphanage director, you walk around the premises. Your attention was caught by the interaction between an older lady Sherry and one of the orphans named Lily. When Sherry told Lily that she still needed more time before she can bring Lily home, Lily runs off unhappily. You decided to follow after Lily to ensure that she’s okay.

Lily runs into the director’s office. When you follow after her, you witness Artem coddling Lily to stop crying. His sincere, gentle tone makes you think that Artem has the great making of a good father and husband. As both of you leave the office, the director entrusts Lily’s matter into Artem’s hands. You learnt that Sherry had once applied to adopt Lily and this was the last case that Neil had handled on behalf of the orphanage. In a rare moment of transparency, Artem shared how Neil had played a significant role in making Artem who he is today hence he was determined to locate Neil. 

Back at the office, Artem handed you the adoption case file. You read that after the orphanage came under a smear attack, the public doxxing of Sherry had caused her to suffer from a mental breakdown. This made her ineligible to adopt Lily. Artem opined that Lily deserved a better life as well due to Sherry’s current financial situation. A family with more financial resources would give her more opportunities for future growth. Artem seeks your views on how to proceed with the case as his partner. You shared that it is also important to listen to Lily’s thoughts rather than impose adult perspectives on the decision.

Artem agrees with your point of view and agrees to arrange a time to talk to Lily. You were surprised that he took in your opinion. He replied matter-of-factly that his purpose of enlisting you as his partner was to supplement his views and provide new insights. He just needed you to be yourself. As you look at his caring gaze, you accidentally blurted out what had been on your mind, that Artem would make a great father which caused him to blush. You rushed out of his office hurriedly.

Artem looks back on his desk at a book called Introduction to the Psychology of Love and Attraction and recalls how Celestine had pushed this book onto him at the behest of his mother. Artem had told Celestine to get off his case about marriage but she in turn teased him about his obvious fondness of you. Though Artem reserved a certain level of doubt over the book, he still decided to read it. The book encourages him to pursue the love interest if she supplements him.

That night back at your apartment you continue working on Sherry’s case trying to find ways that you can convince the judge that she is fit to be Lily’s foster parent. Artem calls you to remind you to prepare the case file and when you told him you’re working on it, he compliments you. You take the opportunity to ask about your career progress and he gives you positive feedback. You thank him for his continued guidance. After Artem hangs up, he reads the book again, this time it mentions that if he’s constantly thinking about his love interest when he’s spacing out, it’s time to take action.

You follow Artem to the orphanage the next day to speak to Lily. Enroute, he got you a cup of coffee and encourages you to take a nap while he drives, seeing that you were still sleepy after working till late at night. At the orphanage, you saw a well-to-do couple had applied to adopt Lily but she refused vehemently to follow them. Artem directs them to the director office to discuss the matter further. When Sherry hears that Lily refuses to go with the couple, she offered to speak to Lily to change her mind. Artem stops her and told everyone that it may be better to ask Lily what she wants. You were surprised that Artem had changed his original stance after hearing from you.

You quickly rush off to find Lily to explain the situation to her. Lily tells you that she knows she won’t be able to get nice toys or pretty clothes living with Sherry but all these are not important compared to living with someone she loved and who cared for her. You encourage Lily to share her thoughts with the adults. Upon hearing Lily’s desires, the couple gives up on adopting her and were happy instead to provide Lily with financial support. Artem also assured Sherry that she would be able to win the adoption case based on the research and arguments put forth by your combined effort.

After wrapping up Sherry’s case, you were working late one night. Artem who was just knocking off offered to give you a lift home since it was too late and unsafe for you to go home alone at this hour. You took him up on the offer. After dropping you off at your place, Artem awkwardly asked you what type of flowers you liked. The next morning in office, you saw a vase of your favourite flowers on your desk much to the delight of all your colleagues who assumed they were from a secret admirer. As garden cosmos represented secret love and affection, you were worried if Artem might have misunderstood you. Celestine later teases Artem over his gift and he grumpily ignored her.

Back in his office, he flips through the book and sighed at the advice about giving the girl a bouquet of her favourite flowers. He contemplated throwing the useless book away until he received a message from you thanking him for the flowers. It brought an uncontrollable smile to his face so he decided that he would hang on to the book for awhile longer.   

It was another day at work. Following the advice of the book, Artem steels his nerves to ask you out on a movie date. However Kiki beats him to you as you stepped into office. Artem quickly steers into the pantry to hide from your view. As Kiki discusses the possibility of office romance with you, the eavesdropping Artem was disappointed to learn that you will not condone office romance as you feared it would interfere with your professionalism. As Artem reminded Kiki of the protagonist of a recent drama she is watching, she asked you what kind of woman would Artem likely date. You shared that she must be a high achiever and a strong woman who can be Artem’s pillar of support.

Artem slips back to his office without you noticing him. He sighs despondently, defeated even before he had the chance to go on the offensive. He flips open the book again and it advised him to show a different side of him to his love interest so that she can gain a better understanding of him. Artem recalls how Celestine had teased him over how enamored you were with him over his interaction with children. Artem decides to refund the movie tickets and try a different approach.

That night, he decided to watch the drama that Kiki mentioned earlier in the day and took notes and references on how the male lead worked his way into the heart of the female lead. The next day Artem tries the different tactics employed by the male lead but each failed miserably even with the help of Celestine. As Artem contemplates his next move, he receives a call from Darius on a case that just came up. As you make your way to the police station, Artem briefs you that it’s a domestic violence case but the victim refused to file for divorce or protection hence Darius has sought your help to find out what are her concerns.

After learning more from the police officer in charge of the case, you were horrified to learn about the physical abuse that had been meted on Sharon, the victim. However as she had married her husband against the will of her parents who had hence severed ties with her, she was adamant about not getting a divorce order. She refused to speak or look at your despite your persuasion.

That evening back in the office, Artem shares that such cases are common. Reasons such as financial and mental dependency, fear of retribution or shame could lead the victim into taking a defeatist stance. You discuss next steps with Artem which includes getting her mentally assessed for trauma, finding employment, restraining order and also alternative accommodation away from her husband. Artem gives you pointers to improve your odds of gaining her confidence and offers to accompany you the next day.   

The next day both of you met Sharon at the vicinity of her apartment with the hope of getting her to engage your services. Sharon was accosted by her neighbours and mother-in-law who tried to convince her to drop the case against her husband. When you approached Sharon to encourage her to stand for her rights, her MIL had nothing good to say to you and even tried to push you away. You would have lost your balance if Artem hadn’t stepped behind you to support you up. He introduced himself to Sharon and shared with her matter-of-factly what would happen to the property that her parents had bought for her should she die as a result of physical abuse. He deftly used the legal options available to her and applied reverse psychology to egg her into filing for a divorce.

Back at the office, you worked with Artem to wrap up the case and provide Sharon all the support she would need to get her life back together. Artem asked you how you would advise her regarding the lawsuit and you quickly replied that there would be no settlement outside of court as you felt that Sharon’s husband deserved to be punished by the law as minimum recompense for the damage he had inflicted on her. Artem told you to prepare to also settle outside of court as the final choice vests with the client, but you vehemently refused and stood your ground on what you felt was the right course of action. When Artem realised that you would not budge, he said he would work on the settlement amount and that both of you would break up the tasks instead and work separately. You were surprised by the turn of events, agreed and left the room. Artem sighed and wondered if it was really possible not to let personal feelings be affected by disagreements at work.  

A few days later while you were out shopping with Sharon for her upcoming job interview, you realised that she was missing her two front teeth. She told you that they had been knocked out when her husband had slapped her real hard. When you pressed her for more details, you learnt that his physical abuse can already be regarded as criminal. Not wanting to let such a person scot-free, you asked if Sharon had any such evidence of him beating her. She thought hard and recalled there may be such a recording on her phone which was left back at her home. Noting that she was fearful of going back, you offered to retrieve it for her.

Meanwhile Artem is fretting in his office. Since the disagreement a few days ago, you have sent him much fewer texts than usual and he was feeling uncomfortable about it. Not wanting to take a backseat in this, he called you to check on your progress. When you told him you were going to collect some evidence, he offered to come with you but your phone died before you could reply. Artem was shocked that you had hung up on him, wondering if you were really that upset and sighed even more about drawing a line between personal and professional life.

As luck would have it, you bumped into Sharon’s husband just as you were leaving the apartment and he turned hostile on you. You tried to lead him towards the CCTV to capture his actions in case you were attacked. Thankfully the police arrived in time thus he accused you of burglary. Without proof that Sharon had authorised you to retrieve her items from the apartment, you were arrested. You regretted your rash actions and wondered how you were going to get out of this situation. You called Artem for help and he told you he was already on his way. He arrived not too long after with Sharon’s authorisation thus you were released on bail.

Outside the police station, Artem turned towards you and reprimanded you firmly for your thoughtless actions that not only put your career and client in jeopardy, you could also have been grievously hurt. When he asked you why you hadn’t updated him on what you were doing, you lashed at Artem that this was because he had suggested working separately and suddenly all the emotional turmoil you had been wrestling came out in tears. Artem was stunned speechless at your outburst and tried to console you in the middle of the street under the weird looks of passers-by. He apologised for being too harsh and offered to buy you dinner. Given your current state of meltdown, you willingly get led by him to a nearby restaurant.

By the time you recovered, you were filled with embarrassment over your immaturity. You solemnly told him that you were not professional enough for this job and that it would be better for you to resign. Artem said he wouldn’t accept your resignation. While you still had room for improvement with regards to your professionalism, you have the right heart and attitude towards this line of work which was really more important to him. He praised you for your quick thinking when you lured Sharon’s husband towards the CCTV and how you made Sharon overcome her fears when she realised you were in danger. You also complimented Artem on how he managed to get Sharon to see the light using the law.

After gathering sufficient evidence, you presented both options to Sharon. Sharon decided to settle on negotiating a compensation amount because she felt that was the best punishment for her husband who treasured money more than anything. She hoped you wouldn’t think her a coward for not choosing to go to trial. You told her to think nothing about it and she was already very brave standing up for herself. Thereafter you asked Artem to let you lead the negotiations as you couldn’t let him play the bad guy all the time. This brought back his memories when he was a young attorney and how Neil had played the bad guy role in order to guide his client into making the right decisions.

Sharon finally got her settlement amount and with that she felt it was good enough for her to return back to parents with her head held high and them not needing to find out that she was abused. Sharon gifted you with a eyebrow liner for supporting her throughout and you wished her all the best. With the case wrapped up, you apologised to Artem again for letting your emotions get to you. Artem accepted the apology but reiterated that he was perfectly fine to have disagreements and trusted that both of you would be able to tide through them professionally. Then unanimously both of you invited each other to watch a movie together. Basking under the glow of the drive in movie, the sweet smell of popcorn, you felt a tingling sensation welling within.

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This wraps up the character story of Artem which I personally felt was the best written and most relatable among the four character stories. As Artem had never been in a relationship before, he is literally taking guidance from a book and tips from a drama to win your heart. It is very endearing to see his conscientious but failed attempts at employing every technique in the book. The fact that he displays fatherly attributes of care and nurture scores him extra brownie points as the most eligible among the four love interests.

I feel he also has the most balanced interaction with you, as he regards you as an equal whom he can trade views with, accepting yet not too patronising and knowing when to guide, reprimand, compliment and apologise. He is really great boss material though it is to be seen whether things can still remain professional should the relationship develop further. We also know he doesn’t have a good relationship with his parents and is beholden to Neil who pretty much coached him from young. With Neil missing under mysterious circumstances, Artem’s rationality will certainly be put to the test as the truth unveils.