Out of the Shadows (version 2.0)

A "Shadows of Destiny" Revamp Fic

(Shadows of Destiny is copyrighted to Konami)

By

Deborah Brown

      A slender blonde walked through the streets of Lebensbaum, his long green coat hanging around his slim body. Behind him a shadow lurked, small, childish but with malice in its heart. Something flew out at the man – aimed for his back.

      Eike steeled himself, expecting the blade in his back. He remembered… by god he remembered… had Homunculus agreed?

      When the ball hit him and flung him to his knees, he knew Homunculus had.

      Why was he allowing this? Those emerald eyes, that mind, born partly of his own will and partly of Wagner's destroyed Self, pleading for a chance, so certain the answer was in his grasp. It was a mistake, surely, to try again. He was afraid. Even though he knew nothing done in this time line would be permanent, even if it could be, if he didn't will it, he was still afraid. Those eyes… Why do I want to trust them?

      Eike sat up, glared at the boy whose ball had hit him. Hugo's 'twin' again, young, innocent eyed and a little scared at the way Eike was looking at him. "Aww, fer crying out loud, kid. Don't do that." He tossed the ball back and got to his feet while the boy scampered off. It seemed things were back to that first time when he'd thought things were fixed. But… Oh, hello… there was something in his pocket. Pulling it out he found he was holding the digipad again. No sign of the pentagram on it, but he'd have been a fool to expect that. Does this mean I won't have to die to get where I need to be?

      ::Don't disappoint me, Eike,:: a voice seemed to say in his head as the blonde gazed at the digipad. ::Put me in her grasp again and I'll make your next life a living hell.::

      "I… I need the stone… Where…" He wasn't sure, but hoped Homunculus was listening.

      ::You have it.:: Then silence. A waiting, watching, silence.

      Eike took a deep breath. Reached in his pocket. Something cylindrical and familiar met his fingers and he pulled it out. The ruby stone, warm to the touch, a faint pulsing within it. Homunculus' life force. He swallowed. There was only one answer that would satisfy everyone – that would leave Homunculus free in the end. He concentrated on the digipad. "Take me to the time before Helena died."

Gone into that pre-creation time again. What was he going to do there? Damned fool for trying again. Twice damned to trust him. Thrice damned to entrust him with the stone… It was a mistake, surely a mistake. He'd have to start over again, wouldn't he? Fool.

      The past again. Terribly familiar. With those irritating women making Margarete's life misery. Eike, though knowing he wasn't really Wagner in this incarnation, couldn't help but be annoyed at their behavior towards the girl who was – sort of – his daughter. He chased them off irately and turned to Margarete. "I need to talk to your father, Miss Wagner. Could you take me to him?"

      "Oh… Father? He's always down in the lab, though…"

      "I know. I have something for him to do." Eike followed the girl to the house as he had so many times before and waited in the vestibule as she went downstairs. Noting a blonde head staring at him from around the corner of the stairs, he smiled at its possessor, oddly unable to hold a grudge against the boy despite the number of times he'd been killed by him. After all, this Hugo had not – yet – gone so far around the bend as to commit those deeds. Given that this attempt worked, he never would. "Hi, Hugo. You really should stop eavesdropping, you know."

      Blue eyes widened. "You know my name? Did my sister…"

      "No. Wait a bit. Let me talk with your father, first."

      A few minutes later he was down in the laboratory. "Doctor Wagner? I have a bargain for you."

      The alchemist gave Eike a stern look. "I agreed to talk with you. If you're trying to offer me something… MY GOD… That's the…"

      Eike looked at the stone in his hand. "The philosopher's stone, yes." He examined Wagner, trying to see some trace of himself in those old features. Green eyes, yes, but a body stooped by age and thickened by time – a face too tired and filled with frustration and old sorrows. If Wagner was him in other paths it was hard to see it in his face. "Listen. I know you want this, that you want to make an elixir to cure your wife, but…"

      "I'm desperate," Wagner admitted. "I'll give you anything you want."

      "Then listen to my story. Then do what I tell you to do. I can't guarantee a resolution. This is the first time I've tried this, but…" At Wagner's slow, bemused, nod, the younger man began to speak.

This was the longest he'd ever been back in that time. What was he doing there? What kind of plotting was he doing against his fate? Against me… Please, Eike… Not her again. I can't bear that. Not again. He really would have to do something unpleasant to the boy if he betrayed him to that… that thing… Three times in her grip was quite enough. He paced within his tiny realm, the only place where he could move and act without the constricts of Reality working on a body not built to deal with a place so very hard and sharp. Paced and feared. Paced and hoped.

      It took almost an hour of talking, but Eike had finally reached the end. "So," he said. "Here I am with the stone. But you can't use it to cure Helena. You have to distill it and create Homunculus, then ask him to do it."

      "From what you say, Eike," Wagner said consideringly, "this Homunculus is not likely to be cooperative. What good will that do?"

      Eike sighed. This was where he'd been screwing up, those other attempts to get around Homunculus' tangled web. An assumption so deep and far-reaching that it had simply twisted himself deeper. The assumption that this game could be won without Homunculus' total cooperation. And why should he cooperate, given that doing so destroyed him?

      "Doctor Wagner. Imagine yourself being born for only one purpose. Imagine being created to fix a problem in a past you cannot reach and being forced to rely on people who only want you for one thing – to fix their problems. Problems that, once resolved, cause them not to create you. Imagine discovering that every time you try, you just find yourself being wiped out by a time paradox, then created again when the paradox clears, because those people don't know what happened and won't believe you when you tell them. Imagine remembering each and every previous attempt."

      Wagner frowned. "Are you saying…"

      "What's the purpose of alchemy?" Eike remembered the book he'd read in other lives, knew what it said, but wanted Wagner to answer the question.

      "To create the elixir. To create the stone. To create life…" Wagner paused. "Perfect life. But this Homunculus doesn't sound perfect."

      "I don't know all the details and I don't think he'd tell you – or me – but…. Would you create a perfect life simply to make your life happy? To change your past?"

      "It'd be foolish. A corruption of the… Oh… I see." Wagner shook his head. "I can see that, yes. Hugo is already troubled by his mother's illness – I'm not good with him, she's always been the one he turned to for help. If he were to create this Homunculus towards such an end… No wonder. What an unhappy creature the result must be." The older man's eyes turned desperately sad. "My fault. I've let my need for a cure make me forget my own son. No wonder he hates me. No wonder this Homunculus hates us all."

      That had been the thoughts that had run through Eike's mind in those last moments before the paradox had wiped out that other time. He was just glad he was able to make this man who both was and was not himself understand. Five years from now, after Helena's death, it would have been a doubtful proposition, but then the best solution lay in this time no matter what. "Will you do as I ask, then? We can't prevent his creation. We can't change the fact that we're doing this for ourselves but…" He paused. "I think we might be able to rely on an enlightened self-interest on his part."

      "Yes. At least he won't be given a reason to do worse. Yes, I agree." Wagner held out his hand and Eike dropped the stone into it, careful to avoid touching the other man's hand. He wasn't sure what would happen if a copy touched its original this way, but he wasn't going to risk destruction to find out. "Let us find out if this works. If it does, if he agrees and heals Helena the way you hope, then we will have to discuss our next move."

      Days now – or the nearest equivalent to it in this place. Days and days and days of waiting for something. Surely Eike didn't think he could stay there forever? Without a death event to pull him back, of course, perhaps the boy could. Did he hope to break the chain that way? And why do I trust that isn't his plan?

      The decanter filled and prepared, the philosopher's stone dropped in to stew slowly in the fire's heat. It had taken days of waiting but at last a humanoid figure had formed in those ruby tinted waters. Heat and fire and Wagner's blood – the last taken in careful increments to feed the reforming life. "He's almost ready," Wagner murmured as he peered into the decanter. "I see some movement."

      Eike nodded and wondered if it would be wise to have everyone else removed from the house. No. I think all that destruction was the result of something Homunculus did, not the experiment itself. Hugo certainly didn't cause an explosion when he created Homunculus in that other time. "All right. I'm going to get out of sight, just in case. Remember what we discussed."

      The alchemist was obviously concentrating on the decanter, but he took a quick moment to glance up at Eike and smile. "Yes. Of course." He looked back at the awakening Homunculus, "I'm going to help him out. He might hurt himself trying to break free." Carefully, Wagner removed the lid and waited for the body within the decanter to move. As it did, he reached in and – with infinite care – slid his hands under the creature's arms and lifted it upwards. "Easy…" he murmured as the body in his hands rose out of the water and came to startled life. Fear crossed the pale face and Homunculus struggled to pull free, then stared in bewildered shock at his new 'creator'.

      Those hands were so… gentle. No one had ever lifted him from the decanter before. No one had ever treated him with such tender concern. It shook him to the core. It frightened him, but something else frightened him more. His awareness of other possibilities in this time was gone. What had they done to him? No other patterns to read, to pick and choose… just this… gentleness. He could take the cruelty, the abuse. This kindness he could not bear… Didn't even dare a look forward, to see what might come of this.

      Set on a nearby desk, Homunculus' slender body was trembling. His voice, small, frightened, broke the silence as Wagner gazed at him. "This… isn't…" Then he straightened. "So, you must be my new master. How many centuries has it been? What do you want? Gold? Women? Power?" He was, Eike realized, falling back on the old familiar ways because he didn't know what else to do.

      "What I want," Wagner murmured almost ruefully, "Is a cure for my wife…" He paused as a sharp, bitter, laugh escaped Homunculus' lips. "Yes?"

      "I can't do it. I cannot reach her…" There was a pause and Eike decided it was time to step forward, to make sure the slender man knew this wasn't the time he expected at all. "You… you're… who are…"

      "Think about it. If you think really hard you should be able to see who I am and why I'm here." Eike kept his tone light, not daring to offend or frighten his creator – and I've accepted that, haven't I? he realized almost serenely – not to frighten him further than necessary. This was new, untried. If it was to succeed, it absolutely required Homunculus to cooperate. "As well as when we are."

      The ruby eyes widened and Homunculus sagged. "I see… So… now you'll force me to destroy myself curing her…"

      All right, so it might be possible for once. Might even be the solution. Still, so many years – no centuries – of fighting kept him from relaxing into this pattern, to accept it as it was. He knew these people. Knew what they would do to him in so many other times and places. How dare he trust? Besides, he wasn't even sure what was wrong with the woman. If it was beyond his capacity to heal then what was the point of trying? Changing reality took strength of more than will and his fragile body had only just been reborn in this time. The strain might kill him.

      Eike paused, startled. "Will it? You've got all that power… I'm your creation. In other timelines I'm Doctor Wagner, turned young. If you can do all that…"

      There was silence and Homunculus looked from one man to the other and sagged even further. "Those things take all my strength. They nearly kill me. Why should I risk myself to this new possibility when – for all their pain – those other loops at least grant me a few centuries of peace?"

      Eike didn't know how to answer that. Homunculus was so used to the trap that – like a wild animal too used to the cage – he was fighting possible freedom out of fear of the unknown. Fortunately, if Eike had no answer, Wagner seemed to. "Homunculus, Eike has told me much. Told me of your creation. Of the many loops you've created in order to escape me… my son… my wife. I know you must be struggling desperately to survive."

      "Hmph. And do you expect me to be grateful for your pity? So grateful I'll cheerfully do your bidding? Oh yes, quite humorous." Homunculus turned away, crossing his arms and looking stubbornly away from the two men.

      He's as bad as the rest of us. Present him with a solution that could leave us all satisfied and he still fights. Eike shook his head. "Homunculus…" he started to say, but Wagner stopped him.

      "He's afraid," the alchemist said at Eike's raised brow. "I can't blame him." Turning to the slender man who was studiously ignoring them, he continued, "No. I don't expect your gratitude. You have no reason to be grateful. None of us have given you a reason. So – I'll leave it up to you. Choose between taking this chance and resolving our problem in a way that helps us all, or go back to your endless looping."  Despite the sternness of the words, there was gentleness in his tone.

      Eike reached out for the thin man's hand, felt him start at the rare touch. "Listen to me, Homunculus. I don't know if you remember – or know, rather – what happened to bring us to this point, but think of this as a last ditch chance. If you die of curing her it just means the pattern goes back to what it was. What have you got to lose?"

      What have I got to lose? He wondered about that. Nothing really, except this one last hope. That was his real fear. As long as he didn't attempt it he wouldn't have to see this final hope fail. The fear of trying and failing was almost more than he could bear.

      Slowly those eyes closed and the expression on that pale face was agonized. "Oh… very well. Take me to her. Just don't expect me to cure her sight along with everything else."

      Eike watched the thin form touching Helena's hand. Homunculus was seated on the bed, his incredibly light weight not even denting the blankets. The ruby eyes were closed and a look of concentration filled his face. "They'll call it cancer in the future," he murmured. "So deep. I don't know…" Eike kept his silence, letting Homunculus make his own decisions, not rushing the created being. "So many cells… What spirit… to fight so long…"

      Helena's face was a study of confusion. "Who… who is this, Wolfgang?" Her free hand moved, trying to reach out and touch her husband. Wagner moved forward quickly, took her other hand. "It hurts…"

      "I can't help that," Homunculus gasped with a touch of asperity. "Your body is riddled with the cancer. I have to… to…"

      "No," she whispered. "It's hurting you. I can feel it…"

      Eike had a feeling that if Homunculus had been human his body would have been soaked with sweat. "Be quiet, woman," the tiny man responded. "Don't distract me." He was trembling with effort, eyes closed against distraction. As Helena moved to protest he repeated the order. "Quiet!"

      She was strong. So very strong. The problem was, that strength was a constant reminder of her other self, that future undead thing that awaited him should he fail here. The fear of that 'memory' was terrible. He struggled against it, even as he fought to deal with the tiny cells that had turned against her body. Even with someone he'd had no history of fearing he'd have been hard put to deal with this illness. And I have to get every cell. Change the genes to prevent them from repeating this. Regenerate the healthy cells to replace what is destroyed. He trembled with the effort and felt his lifeforce fading.

      He's not strong enough, Eike realized, seeing failure staring them in the face. Maybe fate really wasn't changeable. Maybe… "Wait… Homunculus, if you created my body you can use my strength, can't you?"

      Ruby eyes opened and gave him a startled look. Then a slow nod and one thin hand reached back – shaking horribly – to accept Eike's. The draw was immediate and agonizing. Is this even half of what he's experiencing? Eike wondered, clenching his teeth against the pain and determinedly holding on.

      "Yes… That's it. Set the cells against themselves instead of the rest of the body… Now… regenerate the healthy ones… It can be done… It must…" A final gasp and Homunculus slid face forward onto the bed, lying sprawled against Helena's body. Eike fell to his knees, one hand still clutching Homunculus'.

      Clutching the coverlets, face buried against them, sweat soaking his body the way it hadn't Homunculus', Eike listened. Silence, as if the world had stopped momentarily. Then, peculiar, agonized, gasping breaths. "Oh…"

      "Helena? HELENA!" Sound of someone leaping forward, vibration of the bed. Voice sobbing relief and happiness. "Oh Helena!"

      "Wolfgang? Beloved?"

      Eike felt a surge of relief at that voice. Relief rapidly dropping to fear as he realized that Homunculus wasn't moving. He forced himself upright, leaned over the thin body collapsed half across Helena's legs. He barely glanced at the man and woman clinging to each other.

      "Oh god… is he all right?" Helena's voice sounded so rich, so strong. "Wolfgang? Help him!" The voice's tone echoed through Eike, awakening a memory of another life, a life not his own. Wagner's life, he reminded himself. He'd have to find his own way, in the future, if this plan had really worked, but right now the most important piece of that plan lay limp and motionless and no. not dead. PLEASE not dead. Homunculus was required in order to finish the loop, to make it work. More, Eike simply didn't want him dead. All the anger over past mistreatment had been wiped away. He gave me this chance. Took the chance himself – knowing the risk. Don't let it fail either of us… Don't die!

      "If you keep shaking me like that I will die," Homunculus managed to whisper. "Are you trying to break me, Eike? Have you forgotten how easily you could?" His eyes were still closed and he looked more like a doll than ever, a doll left sprawled on its owner's bed and forgotten. Though no real doll would chide its owner in such sardonic tones.

      "Sorry… I'm sorry…" Eike babbled. He slid his hands – ever so gently – under the thin body and lifted it up, cradling the created being against him lightly. "Doctor… Is there a place he can lay down?"

      There was a long silence in the room. Homunculus because – as he'd put it when Eike had lain him on Hugo's bed – he was ready to fall apart any minute if he didn't get some rest, Eike because he didn't dare interrupt that recovery. Once Wagner had looked in on them, once Margarete and about three times Hugo, who seemed to find a strange fascination in the being he would – one day – create. Though he doesn't know it yet.

      Sitting on the single chair in the room, Eike watched Homunculus silently. The first time he'd seen Homunculus he'd thought the man looked like a piece of Dresden china. The comparison was all the more certain right now, in the cool features and unmoving form. Too thin. Too delicate. Too fragile. How does he manage to move at all? Why such a fragile body?

      Too weak to block out the feelings and thoughts his creation was sending at him. Too tired to deal with the emotions. Eike, you're worse than a mother hen. Maybe he would do better not to create such a tight link. Though – perhaps – it was a good thing he had. The energy Eike had provided had been an absolute requirement to his survival. Now if I can just get him to stop worrying about me. That worry left him strangely content, though. He'd never had anyone care about him before. Still, it needed to go away, to allow him to focus on time and 'feed' on its passing.

      "The power of time… would destroy mere human flesh… This shell is the only thing that can contain my essence without being destroyed by it." Homunculus answered Eike's question without having to hear it. "Why don't you stop staring at me and go get something for your all too human body?" He didn't open his eyes or move anything but his lips, but if he had Eike knew his expression would have held much of the old sardonic sneer that – he was beginning to realize – was a cover for vulnerability. "And it is not."

      "Sure it isn't," Eike replied, oddly enough not finding Homunculus' awareness of what he was thinking strange. Though I ought to. Is this because he created me?

      "Of course it is…" Homunculus looked at him, letting his head fall sideways just enough, looking like a... "And I am not a doll." A thin exhausted sigh escaped the small man's lips. "Eike, go downstairs. You're tired. You're projecting and I need rest."

      "But…" Eike was worried about the man, what if he needed help?

      Another thin sigh. "Eike, I will be creating you someday in the future. That makes me your… ah… parent of sorts. So – as your parent I'm telling you – go downstairs. Eat. Drink. Rest. Do whatever it is you humans do to recover from stress. Leave me alone for a while to recover in my way. The only thing I need right now is time and no distractions."

      Eike blinked, then sighed in turn. He did seem to be bothering Homunculus more than helping him. A faint smile of approval crossed the little man's face. "All right. I'm going. Just don't expect any father's day cards." He got to his feet and stumbled, wearily, to the door.

      "Mother's day might be more apropos," Homunculus grumbled. "But I don't want any of those, either."

      He could still feel Eike's presence, but it was no longer an insistent, niggling, worried flow of thoughts in his mind. The linkage was stronger now, whether because Eike was too tired not to project or because of his use of the boy's lifeforce. It didn't matter, though. Rest mattered. It would take a while, years probably, before he was strong enough to do any more manipulation of reality. Strength to manipulate this awkward shell of a body wouldn't take nearly so long, thankfully.

      "Hugo and Margarete are with Helena. I think we can talk now."

      Eike went to the door to the sitting room and looked out into the hall, then checked the other door in the kitchen, aware of the bemused looks Wagner was giving him. "Hugo eavesdrops. I don't want him to hear any of this yet. Let him get older, better able to deal with it. I think he'll still have to create Homunculus in the future if this timeline's to stay solid."

      Wagner raised a brow. "So he does," he agreed wryly. "He's curious. As curious as I was as a boy. And not polite enough to realize he shouldn't. I'm afraid I wasn't either." He considered the matter. "Let's go for a walk. If we stand in the town square we should have a decent chance of not being overheard, even if he does try to follow us."

      A few minutes later the two men walked side by side, putting themselves as far from the buildings as possible and avoiding the punishment cage where a young woman was still displayed for her daring dress. "That's going to be a beautiful tree," Eike commented once they were sure they were safe from prying ears or eyes. He gestured at the tiny sprig of leaves that stood in the center of the square, only just placed by the Squire's gardener.

      "Is it?" Wagner glanced the tree over. "I half wish I could see it."

      "In some timelines you do, remember? The only reason I'm not you is that you didn't ask for immortality last time through. Or is it this time?" Eike shook his head. "I've gone through this so many times and I still don't understand half of what I've experienced."

      Wagner nodded. "Your explanation is clear enough though, to tell me that we have a lot to be thankful for right now. Given, of course, that we can figure out a way to keep paradox from wiping us out, yes?"

      "Yes." Eike nodded. "I think everything I've done so far will have to remain the same. To the point of my not remembering this conversation. I have to convince you to cooperate and that may require my desperation in order to do so."

      Wagner watched the skies above for a silent moment. "I believe it had an effect. You are a man of integrity, of great honesty and you feel the need for this solution very much. That need made you eloquent – no, passionate. If someone had simply told me that story without that passion I might well have ignored it. I have long been desperate to save my wife. If I thought you were mistaken, I might have broken my word and risked the elixir instead."

      Eike whistled. "Oh man. I'm glad you didn't." He shrugged. "Then I definitely can't afford to remember – even if it had worked. I wonder – has it already and I'm just going through the path assigned to me?"

      ::No. It is the first time.::

      Blinking, startled at the thought placed in his head, Eike glanced around, half expecting to find Homunculus there and saw no one. Oh, yes, he can talk in my head if he wants. "Uh… would you tell me the truth if it wasn't? And why are you talking to me when you need to rest?" At Wagner's confused expression he smiled ruefully and tapped his head. "Homunculus. Just a moment."

      ::You're far enough away not to be so much of a disturbance, Eike. And… probably not. Still, are you not better off regarding this as the first time no matter what? Over-confidence now would be a mistake.:: There was a faint, rueful, tone in Homunculus' 'voice'. ::It was over-confidence that caused me to speak in a way that made Wagner wish for something other than immortality and forced… would have forced…  me to create you. While we are fortunate that that mistake has led us here, further errors could ruin everything.::

      Eike nodded. "Okay. I get your point." He looked at Wagner. "He agrees with me about not knowing if this is the first time, so that's not a problem."

      "Then our next problem is seeing to it that Hugo creates him." Wagner sighed. "The difficulty is, Hugo has been disinterested in the Art. I'd had such high hopes for him when he was younger, but in the last few years, since Helena got sick… Oh… of course."

      Eike could see the alchemist's thoughts clearing. "It's alchemy that saves her – in essence – and I bet if he knows that it's up to him to fix things then the entire world could stand in his way and he wouldn't give up." He grinned, almost laughed. "No, I don't need to bet on a sure thing. He's not going to be trying to kill me in the future, but he wouldn't have been able to do the things he did in those other timelines if he weren't capable of concentrating his energies into the effort. Turn that strength of will onto this problem and there's no way we can fail."

      Wagner's eyes held the same bright pleasure Eike knew his own were. "Hugo is not stupid. If anything, he's smarter than I am. With Helena's help, I'm certain I'll be able to teach him the basics. After that… I believe – no, I am certain – he'll manage the rest."

      He lay and listened to the two men thru his link with the physical and psychic copy of the other bemusedly, with a growing feeling of… Fondness? Intriguing development, that… He was past fighting the flow now, could feel the changes up ahead. It was far from certain, would be no matter how deep this pattern engraved itself into time. A mistake could still ruin everything.

      He'd have to think, long and hard, about exactly what Hugo would need in order to create him, what paths would bring the boy to that point without souring the spirit that – in other times – had turned dark and willfully cruel. Not because I care about him, of course. But it is in my interests, after all. There couldn't be too many changes, of course. The reasons, the feelings, might differ, but the young man's path would have to remain much the same if he was to succeed. He'd help. He'd have to, though carefully, in ways that didn't create paradoxes.

      After a long, comfortably silent walk with the man he was copied from, the two men returned to the Wagner house with a joint sense of determination. Eike wasn't sure what he was going to do next, but he was certain that things were going to work out right for a change. "What's next for you, then, Eike?" Wagner asked as they entered the building.

      "I… I'm not sure." The blonde frowned puzzledly as he gazed around the neat foyer, a feeling of quiet contentment coming over him. This place felt so much like home. A home he had never had. An ache started in his chest. He would like to stay. Would like to and dared not.

      ::You won't be harmed by doing so,:: Homunculus' voice touched his mind, tone carefully neutral. ::These people would take you in, and gladly.::

      He looked up in the direction of Hugo's room, grinned and thought back, ::Get thee behind me, Satan.::

      For a moment there was no response. ::Oh really. In this… Hmmm. In this day and age I suppose the accusation would be apropos. If I were a demon, that is…:: There was a faint edge of pure humor in the mental tone. ::It probably isn't a good idea for you to stay, though. I'm not sure what effect your presence in this part of the time line would have if you did.::

      Eike sighed and nodded. "I'll be going back to my time. I'm not sure what I'll do there, but I think I'll figure something out." He looked at the man he was copied from. "Say my goodbyes, please? Take care of Homunculus, would you?"

      As the alchemist nodded, Eike reached into his pocket for the digipad and pressed the buttons.