Chapter 6
"Have you always thought of Major General Mustang as a fair boss?"
"Why, of course I have, Miss Douglas – or if you want, Miss Karen," said First Lieutenant Jean Havoc, smiling as much as anyone with a cigarette in their mouth could. "Well, generally he's fair, but he can get tough if you ask for it. Basically, he's nice if you're nice. Enough about Mustang…when are you free this week?"
"I'm sorry, Lieutenant Havoc, but I'm fully booked. You know…about this whole Fuhrer thing. We'll see."
Karen Douglas walked away too fast to see Havoc's smile turn upside-down and hear him mutter, "Shoot, there goes another one. And this time, Mustang won't even think of stealing my girlfriends…"
---
"You say Mr. Mustang likes dogs. Is it true that he respects animals as well as people?"
Kain Fuery looked up from where he was feeding a couple of kittens with some scraps he had saved from his lunch. "Oh, he really loves dogs," said the warrant officer, chuckling. "But I've never seen him get mad at an animal before…he saw me pick these poor creatures up from the street and all he told me was to make sure they were potty-trained and kept away from Black Hayate, you know, the major's dog. I'm working on it!"
Karen nodded, kneeling down and watching one of the kittens reach up and try to bat the pen out of her hand. Even after interviewing Fuery, she lingered for a few moments just to play with his little charges.
---
"In your opinion, if Mr. Mustang had been Fuhrer instead of Bradley, would Amestris turn out to be a better country? Check."
Heymans Breda frowned thoughtfully as Karen moved her white rook two spaces forward, putting his black king in jeopardy. "Hmm, maybe the Ishbal rebellion wouldn't have happened. If he were in charge, he would definitely make sure that never happened. And Lior would probably still be standing today. Frankly, a lot of really crazy things have happened while Bradley was Fuhrer. Checkmate, Miss Douglas. You shouldn't have kept on chasing me like that with your rook."
"Guess I didn't see that one coming," she replied with a slightly embarrassed grin. "I should've used it to block your queen, right?"
"Learn from your mistakes, Miss Douglas," said Breda with a nod. "And maybe we can have another game the next time we see each other. I never knew you played chess."
---
"If we gave you the chance to vote for your next Fuhrer, Mr. Falman, would you vote for General Mustang – no strings attached?"
"Of course I would!" said Vato Falman, closing the book he had been poring over. "That man's got a lot that would make him a great leader. I've been under him for a while, seen him in action…he deserves my vote, that is, if I were Parliament. Oh, by the way, Miss Douglas, did you know that there was a Parliament in the past that was only comprised of five people?"
Karen giggled. "My grandmother told me about that," she answered after taking a deep breath and calming herself. "Her own grandmother was a little girl back then, and everyone complained about how they ran the country – giving too little, taking too much. My great-great-grandmother probably listened to her parents and grandparents a lot whenever they talked about politics."
"But in a way, politics can be quite an interesting, if sometimes messy, topic to debate about," said Falman, patting the cover of his book. "Is that all you wanted to ask me, Miss Douglas?"
"Why, yes…thank you very much, Warrant Officer Falman. I hear you might become a Second Lieutenant soon?"
He cleared his throat and felt his face burn. "Yes…I guess you could say that's another reason why Mustang deserves my vote, if I were Parliament."
---
"So, Lieutenant Colonel Elric, you're the famous Fullmetal Alchemist, right? And General Roy Mustang was responsible for recruiting you into the military, despite being only twelve years old. Do you consider him as a father, or a brother, or both?"
Edward snorted. "A brother? Mustang's nothing like Al. But if you mean the annoying, bigheaded kind of brother, then yes, I definitely consider Mustang one." He looked up at Central Headquarters and adjusted the collar of his military uniform.
"Brother!" Ed's younger sibling by a year, Alphonse, reacted indignantly. "You shouldn't be saying things like that about the Major General! After all, we owe him a lot, right?"
Karen listened intently as Ed finally admitted, "He was a better father than our real father, that's for sure. Even though he did get on our – my, actually – nerves, especially with me being under him and all, he's not bad at all. Sometimes it just sucks being under the state and everything, but then again, so is he, and he knows how to deal with it." She didn't hear Ed whisper out of the corner of his mouth, "Good enough for you, Al?"
After Karen thanked them and went on her way, Al gave his older brother the thumbs-up sign. "Good enough, but try to be nicer next time."
"Tell that to General Flame," sighed Ed. "Do you still want to be a State Alchemist?"
"Of course I do," said Al, feeling the breeze ruffle his light brown hair. "So that someone can share the burden you carry, besides the General."
The Fullmetal Alchemist smiled. "Thanks, Al. And you can really see that side of Mustang you always claim to be so innocently blind to."
"Come on, we might be late for dinner at Winry's. And you get to see him again, don't you, Ed? I know you're just itching to head over to her house, and not just for the food."
Ed's cheeks turned a furious red that rivaled that of his and Al's overcoats. "What are you talking about?"
His younger brother grinned impishly. "Someone's in denial."
"Stop it, Al!"
---
"So, you've been getting mostly positive remarks and constructive criticism for our man Mustang, eh Karen?"
Karen Douglas nodded, leafing through her clipboard as her and Devon Quier's footsteps echoed throughout the Parliament's marble walls. The two of them were headed for the meeting room once again to discuss the next phase in Operation: Next Fuhrer, or at least that was what Karen and Devon called it.
"Indeed," she replied. "So I've interviewed his subordinates…what else is next? Do you think we'll start making questions for the official Parliament interview? I bet the General's waiting on tenterhooks…he might be excited."
"Did you tell him he was the only candidate?" asked Devon anxiously. "He could get too overconfident if he finds out he's the only one willing to take over the job."
"I assure you, I didn't say anything about that," said Karen, patting his shoulder reassuringly. "How many weeks do you think it'll take us to prepare for the interview portion?"
"Weeks? You know, the process could take months! I mean, assuming that we're working at this same pace. And do you think we should also ask for opinions from random people down the street besides those who have actually worked hands-on with the guy? Then for the interview, each of us would have to have at least one question to ask Mr. Mustang. Then we would have to get the room ready – that room we use to ask wannabe State Alchemists – "
"And make sure nobody ruins everything," Karen muttered. "I never knew choosing the next Fuhrer would be such hard work."
Devon shrugged. "Being Fuhrer is hard work."
"You know, maybe I should've asked if I could become Fuhrer. Maybe it's a lot easier than picking one."
He gasped and grabbed Karen's shoulders, shaking her so vigorously that she nearly dropped her notes. "Are you nuts? Be careful what you wish for! Do you want to end up like Bradley – disappearing without a trace? Do you want to deal with crazy Homunculi and State Alchemist assassins and disappearing cities and flying machines and suits of armor popping out of the sky and – "
Shuddering, she gently plucked Devon off herself. "You do realize that if I had wanted to become Fuhrer, I would've said so earlier. I was just trying to lighten the mood. Apparently everyone in the Parliament's getting even more and more uptight, just like you and me. Especially that oldie Snapfuse. I'm still keeping an eye on him even though I know he's not exactly the kind of guy to send assassins after the next Fuhrer. Neither are his ancient cronies."
Karen paused for a moment. "Now what?"
"We try to get this over with. Then we could probably give all our extra work to Mustang when he becomes Fuhrer."
"When he becomes Fuhrer and you try to give him work, chances are he's going to use his power to give it all back to you."
"Damn…"