Disclaimer: I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist.

Chapter 10

"Yeah, that's pretty much it."

He leaned his arm against the window and side glanced at Alec. The brunette had both eyes on the road but was shaking his head in disbelief.

"So my father tried to use ancient alchemy to bring back my sister…" he reiterated, his voice just above a whisper.

"He might have been successful," Alphonse reminded him.

Earlier that day Al had realized what was so unnerving about the girl in the pictures in Alec's home. He had explained about how that same girl had magically appeared in some town far from here, and had tagged along with him and his brother to Gottingen.

Alec had simply nodded and let him tell the story without interruptions.

"She said she was looking for you. But we haven't seen her since April of last year. I'm so sorry."

Alec shook his head, "It's not your fault. Besides just hearing she's alive and in the area, well that's more than enough." He grinned brilliantly and Al was reminded of Ed. He decided it was unnecessary to tell the man about what became of people who were brought back to life.

"Besides wherever Janah is she's a lot safer than your brother is right now. We need to…" he trailed off when his eyes caught something in side view mirror. "Does that blonde look familiar to you?"

OoOoOoOo

She hadn't expected it to actually work, and she wanted to say something to him to see if he was aware of his actions. She decided against it however; no reason to jinx it.

Lydia leaned against the window watching the shadows of trees over and under the hood of the automobile.

She side glanced at the old man in the driver's seat who was glaring at the road. He had been silent for almost the whole ride but now he spoke, "Those two in the car in front of us look sort of like…

Her head snapped out of her hand as she caught sight of the car in front of them. "It's Alec and Alphonse!"

"Hey!" Al was almost kneeling on the seat and almost hanging out the car as he waved at them to stop.

"Now you be careful you don't fall out, boy. Sit back down!" Patrick yelled out as he sped up.

She smiled and sat back patiently as they caught up to them.

"What are you doing here?" Al asked when they were all pulled over on the side of the road.

"I should be asking you that," Patirck growled. "You all have the weirdest timing."

"We're going to Central," Al said.

"What, you too?" Lydia asked.

"The Thule Society took Brother. I heard one of them say they were headed to Central."

Alejandro nodded. "And I'm not about to let him go alone."

Wait a minute, what did he they mean, took Edward? "Why on earth would they take Ed?"

Al lowered his eyes. "It's really complicated."

Alejandro caught her eye, his grey ones shone with concern. 'Why are you going there? You know it's dangerous."

She set her chin stubbornly. "I'm going after my father. Apparently something is going on because they told him to report immediately."

Alejandro could worry his handsome head all he wanted but she had to know what her father was up to. If it was anything bad she would stop him once and for all.

"I was lucky enough to be chosen as her chauffer," Patrick sighed. "Well now that we know what's going on, let's get this mission out of the way. I think we agree rescuing that hardheaded brother of yours is top priority."

Lydia followed him into the car.

"Right," Al nodded. "Let's go."

OoOoOoOoOo

It was all happening too fast.

The lights were spears to his eyes, the metallic smell of his own blood filled his nostrils, which only made it more real. He had been hoping they'd go for his automail arm but wasn't so lucky.

Still he wasn't going to give these idiots the satisfaction of screaming. Poor Jadeh had already done that.

"What are you doing?" Jadeh shuddered as one guard sliced into her shoulder, I thought you needed us alive!"

"Oh yes we do need you alive, but blood is necessary for the ritual. The portal won't open without a price to be paid."

Edward glared at the man. "And we're the price to be paid. Isn't that right?"

"Sharp as I was told you would be," the man put down his hood and smiled. "You see Janah, your father had a theory about that gate he discovered. He believed that in order to open a portal their must be a toll that would be paid. It is thanks to his research that we were able to make it this far." He gestured to the transmutation circle.

"He would never approve of this," Jadeh spat.

The man laughed. A chilling sound. "Oh no? My dear it was he who introduced the plan in the first place. And for a very selfish reason at that. As his subordinate I Doctor Lucas Knight am only following in his footsteps to improve life for the German people. I promise you, my dear goddess that today will be a great day for the Thules and Germany alike. The day we open the great door!"

Despite his situation Ed felt the urge to roll his eyes. "Don't tell me you're still stuck on that Shamballa crap?"

The guard holding him tightened his grip on his right arm, and he smirked. "You do realize that even if you could open it, the portal is unstable? All you would do is end up being ripped apart. If it didn't work when Eckart did it, what makes you think it will work this time?"

"Ah yes, we are aware of the catastrophic side effects of opening the great door. But after several years of experimenting we have found the answer."

Ed wrestled with the guard who was holding him back from painting a pretty picture with Lucas's face.

"So you admit you've successfully opened it before and you no doubt sacrificed many people to do it. You sick bastard. All those scientists died for the cause."

"That is not entirely correct. Most of them died in the resulting explosion anyway along with my esteemed collegue the great Dr. Cerezo."

Ed grit his teeth. "Abram Cerezo hung himself after failing to save his sick daughter."

"That is the story. And that was definitely a drawback. You have no idea how hard it was to decode your father's theories Janah. Thanks to extensive decoding by Krausskoff and Weinberg we have now know how to stabilize the gate. It is clear blood is needed to open it, but there is something missing. A catalyst to stabilize the reaction."

He waved his hands about as if human transmutation was an everyday topic. "Though an interesting conclusion, the success of the portal your father opened for us proved that the blood of someone from beyond the gate is the best catalyst. Even more so if an alchemist is used."

Ed narrowed his eyes in fury at the thought of his father's sacrifice. How could his dad have gotten involved with such people? And how could he just stand there and watch him die for him?

"Son of a bitch…you damn bastard!"

Before he could jump on the guy, a pair of strong arms grabbed hold of him and wrestled him to the ground.

"My father would never conduct such research!" Jadeh spat.

"He would and he did. The man sold his soul to accomplish the forbidden. The finished product stands right before us. A perfect being brought forth at the expense of chaos. You my dear are more than a recreation of your father's broken wish. You are the key to opening that great door. Our Jana."

Jadeh fell silent.

Lucas pulled his hood over his head again. "As for you alchemist, I was hoping to use your brother as well, but I guess you'll do."

Even with his face pressed to the cold floor he managed to shout out, "You leave my brother alone!"

"Edward!" He couldn't fully turn so glanced over to the side to see Jadeh being forced down the stairs in the hall.

Ed couldn't help her as he watched them lay her on the ground, a light shone and suddenly another transmutation circle appeared onto the ground under her.

"She's the genuine article, the goddess of doorways in human form." He heard one of the hooded men say.

Ed mentally shook his head. She could use alchemy, unconsciously. For some strange unknown reason she could make it work on this side of the gate, but she couldn't control it. Which he supposed explained her ability to move things without touching them.

Even so, she was helpless against the many hooded figures that held her down, and soon they had carved an array of symbols into her arms and legs. Her screams were drowned out by the pain he felt as the same was done to him.

The lights suddenly went out and lanterns were lit in all directions. The hooded freaks started chanting again, but he was too busy trying not to scream.

OoOoOoOoOo

"This is it?" Al said in disbelief.

Lydia sighed. "Are you sure we're at the right place, Patrick?"

The place was enclosed by a seven foot wall but even looking over it the lot looked completely demolished except for a normal looking white building in the distance. There was rubble everywhere and a good amount of broken windows on the building. The place looked more like an abandoned city than anything.

A big rickety sign was dangling at on odd angle at the entrance wall.

Central Research Laboratory since 1914. In Latin a smaller inscription "Man has only to move forward,"

The old man scratched his white head. "It's the same location. Sure looks different though."

"Looks like a hurricane ripped through the place," Alec commented. "That or a bomb went off…"

"No, Brother!" Al yelled and started running up the gravel covered walkway.

Lydia put a hand to her mouth. "Don't tell me we're too late…"

Patrick shook his head. "No most of this debris is crumbling into the ground and there's no sign of a fire. Whatever happened here, it happened a while ago. I'd say more than a couple of years."

So this was Central.

Lydia looked around at the expanse of debris that seemed to grow under the pale gray sky. It seemed to go on forever, and formed a sort of labyrinth of broken sidewalks and holes surrounding the one building that still remained standing. No doubt in her mind that's where her father had been called to.

And that's where Edward was.

Lydia raked a hand through her hair, still wet from running in the rain to the Black Willow. In her head she designed a sort of rugged path through the debris to the clear area that surrounded the building in the center.

It's not easy but a simple plan might work best.

The way the piles of debris rose up and formed small walls that wound around the place, A few fallen pillars formed dead ends and some intertwined to make narrow paths. Apparently these broken paths wound around for miles, if one took the wrong one they could end up perpetually lost.

She was suddenly reminded of her visits to her cousin Rachel's mansion in Winchester. That woman had been obsessed with decorative gardening and had a giant labyrinth in her backyard.

That's what this ruined city was. A giant labyrinth.

"It's like a maze," she thought a loud. "We have to find a way through."

"Sure it sounds easy when you say it," the old man grumbled.

"I'll go first. The rest of you stay here."

She ignored their expected protests.

"We all can't go and get lost. We have to think things out strategically."

Lydia had always been good with puzzles, especially when it involved mazes. She stared out into the ridiculous expanse of ruined buildings that stood between her and what was left of Central.

She knew rock and paper were not the same. Still someone had to lead the way and figure this out. Patrick was too old, Alejandro would obviously go on ahead but he couldn't do anything to stop her father. Al was too frantic to think logically she didn't want to lose him. She was quick and small enough to trudge through the chaotic mess, and she could slip by any trouble without drawing too much attention.

"I'll go too, "Al was running ahead when Alejandro held him back. "My brother is in there!"

"Ed will kill me if something happens to you. I'll go in first. I'm inconspicuous enough. I'm the daughter of a higher up. Maybe I can get them to tell me what is going on. Maybe I can negotiate with them to let Edward go. If anything I can find a quicker way and then allow you all inside."

"This isn't England, missy!" Patrick suddenly spat. "They won't be willing to negotiate things over a cup of tea!"

Lydia felt her heart thump faster. Of course she knew how dangerous this idea was. Assuming she did find a way through the oversized maze.

I'm ready, she told herself.

"That's quite all right."

She pulled out the pistol she had taken from her father's study and clicked the clip into place. She had kept it in her pocket all these weeks, just in case.

"I already had my afternoon tea." She ignored the shocked look on the old man's face and started walking towards a hole in a wire fence.

"Wait! You can't just expect me to stand out here doing nothing," Al struggled against Alec's hold.

Lydia tightened the clip holding back her hair. "I'm not expecting you to do nothing. I'm telling you to stay put until I figure out exactly what is going on."

She started forward when Alejandro's hand caught hers.

"If you want to come along that's fine but don't you dare stop me," she said before she could think.

"Well of course. You'd think I'd just let you get lost in there," Alec smiled. "You need someone who knows their way around after all."

She almost blushed at how protective he was being. But this was no time to be blushing.

Lydia turned to Patrick and Alphonse. It's not that far from here to that building. Once we're across I'll wave this red handkersheif."

Wait for my signal and then stay put for at least twenty minutes. If you don't see us emerge from the building, drive to town and get help. Negotiation is plan A, but we'll need some sort of backup if things don't work."

Hopefully there was no need for a plan B. Hopefully she could convince her father to stop this nonsense.

Patrick sighed. "I've got no choice but to accept."

"I'll look after her," Alejandro told Patrick.

"I'm sure you will." Lydia felt a smile curl her lips. "Let's go."

When she had first found out that her father worked in Central she had imagined a large building with many windows, surrounding by other smaller buildings.

But as she walked through the chalk colored ruins with Alejandro as her guide, Lydia realized that what once had stood as Central was simply something she couldn't begin to comprehend. The biggest secrets of the science once lay here, and as dire as the situation was it was rather exciting to think about.

Clouds of dust white like flour, rose up around them and clung to her skirt and skin. The atmosphere reminded the horror stories her roommate in London would read late at night.

The only difference was instead of a dark shadowy town full of ghosts and scary noises, everything was white, empty and silent.

Somehow that made it worse.

Crossing through the debris covered streets was more irritating than hard. She and Alec had to climb over piles of debris, dodging falling pieces of concrete, all the while moving as quickly yet carefully as they could to avoid upsetting the shifting and crumbling structures that rose around them.

Alejandro's sense of direction combined with her expertise on mazes (whom she had her crazy cousin to thank for) helped them persevere.

She waved her handkerchief like it was a flag of victory as they both stood on the stairs staring out at the front gates.

Al and Patrick looked like small dolls in the distance.

Their moment of triumph was cut short by the sound of weird chanting drifting through the great white doors of the building.

"Pale white and black with false, citrine, imperfect white and red. The peacock's feathers in bright colors, the rainbow in the sky above. The spotted panther the green lion, the crow's beak blue as lead…"

As strange as it was, it only spurred her curiosity and caused her to pull open the doors to a dark oval hall.

These shall appear before you in perfect white, and with many others. After the perfect white follows the false citrine also will appear a substance invariable…"

She drowned them out. Despite the fact they were chanting in German, she did not understand a word of what was said.

Staircases on either side of where she and Alejandro stood lead to a lower level, which was where, all the commotion was going on.

Lydia's eyes widened. She had to admit the scene wasn't something she expected at all.

Hundreds of figures in black cloaks were marching around the room in a circle formation reciting the weird chant, each holding a dimly glowing lantern. By the glow of their lamps she could see the floor was painted with strange symbols.

Two black circles with figures floating around them entwined at the middle. In the vertex of each of these circles lay two corpses surrounded by blood.

She stood frozen to the spot before she was pulled behind a pillar.

"What is…this?" she breathed as Alec shook her by the arms. "What the bloody hell is going on?"

Alejandro shook his head. "It looks like an ancient ritual."

"Is my father behind one of those cloaks?" she squeaked disbelieving. "He can't be."

"Calm down," Alejandro's hand squeezed hers and she let out a deep breath into his shoulder.

Her father was many things, but she had never imagined he would participate with something like this.

She wanted to scream. She wanted to cry. She needed to get out of here.

It was a mistake coming here.

Lydia swallowed back the lump in her throat. No, Edward was here somewhere she needed to find him and get him out safely. For now she should just focus on that mission.

She was about to get up and start moving again when the great doors swung open again and someone in white burst through the doors.

The chanting stopped and so did the marching. One of the cloaked figures removed his hood "Ah Elias so you finally made it. The chant is almost complete."

Lydia held her breath as Alejandro held on to her. His grip on her hand tightened considerably.

She gasped.

Her father was only a few feet away from their hiding place and she was sure he could hear her. However the man's eyes were wide and his mouth gaped open, too transfixed by the sight in the hall under him to notice much of anything else.

"Dietrich!" he roared. "What is the meaning of this?"

She was quite familiar with the tone of voice but she had never heard it quiver with such intensity before.

"There will be time for explanations later, German," another man drawled. "For now let us go on with the ritual. In the meantime you can think about the reason you will give us for not being here when we asked you to."

Her father shook his head. "I did as I was told. The theories and circles were all decoded, the preparations were completed as planned. However it is I who demand to know why my apprentice is lying in the middle of that circle!"

A hearty laugh. "Sacrifices had to be made you know that more than anybody, Doctor. Besides he is more than an apprentice. He is the alchemist we have been searching for all his time. That he ended up here of all places… It is the will of the gods."

Alejandro's hand to her mouth as she let out a silent scream. She hadn't wanted to admit to herself that the blond corpse in the circle had been Edward.

"Have you no shame Lucas?!" The older man was loosing his ground. "He was just a boy," he sputtered. "I never agreed to this! This is not what Central laboratory was trying to accomplish. Helping the German people by opening a door to a Utopia, yes. But not murdering innocents in the process!"

"Central Laboratory is the past. A new age is upon us now!" A deep voice boomed. "Do not let your sentiments get in the way of that now! The portal will be open!"

As if nothing had interrupted them the chant continued.

"Join the circle Elias Wienberg! It is not wise to linger on trivial matters in the face of the great changes that are in store now! We have the alchemist! We have the goddess! The doorway to the great Shamballa awaits!"

The chanting grew louder and louder.

Out of the corner of her eye Lydia saw the group disperse former a wider ring She froze as the other corpse came into plain sight.

She opened her mouth to shriek but It was Alejandro who yelled out. Before she could stop him he ran from behind the pillar.

The chanting broke again followed by surprised gasps and murmurs. The sound of a fist hitting a guy in the face and more murmurs.

"Who the blazes are you?"

Lydia peeked from behind the pillar to see a very angry Alejandro standing before the crowd of hooded men. Her father stood off to one side with a surprised look on his face. Lydia was relieved to see he hadn't joined the circle.

"I am Alejandro Francisco Cerezo. Son of Abram and Maria, and that's my sister you have bound to the floor you sick freaks."

A deep laugh chilled the air. "Ah yes, Alec you always did have that fiery spark about you. I remember when you burned down your father's lab at only fifteen. He wasn't too happy about it at first, but we both agreed it was something he might have done."

"Shut up Lucas," Alec spat. He killed himself and I avenged him."

"That is what he wanted you to believe when in reality he was pursuing his goals without the burden of society telling him what he could and couldn't do."

"You mean trying to bring Janah back. My father was desperate, how dare you lead him to do something so reckless!"

"Desperate or not he brought us the gate, and the key. You should be proud of your father! In giving up his foolish fantasy he gained something much greater! And I'm sure he'd think of it as fair trade!"

Alejandro balled his fists. "My father…my mother…my sister… and Edward were all taken for that damned gate of yours. How is that fair trade?" He rushed at Lucas and Lydia watched the world stop as the sound of a fired gun went off. Alejandro hit the floor before the sound could echo off the walls.

"No…"

Before she could blink she was on her feet. The blood pounded in her ears as she ran across the hall.

Lydia ignored the cloaks, the men, their talking sounded like faint buzzing. "Alejandro! Alejandro!"

"Lydia!" the voice was her father's and she looked up at his eyes before flickering them back to the paling face of the man who had been talking and breathing a second ago.

Alec's eyes were still open wide in anger, his face was covered in the blood that was seeping from the hole in his forehead.

"Lydia what are you doing here?"

Edward and Alejandro.

Alphonse and Patrick were waiting outside for all of them to come out. What would she tell them? How did this happen? No! No this wasn't happening. She buried her face in his pink stained shirt.

"Get her out of here,"

"Don't touch my daughter!"

She looked up at the man she had been trained to call father since she was eleven. His grey eyes looked down at her, a look of pity mingled with concern.

"Why?" her voice croaked. "Why are you with these people, Father? Why?"

"Lydia, please understand. I thought I was doing the right thing."

She almost laughed bitterly. "The right thing?"

"I did not know it would come to this. But I had no choice. You had your studies in London. When Central was destroyed I thought I had lost hope. The Thule Society wanted me to work for them. They promised my family would be safe. And you were until you came here."

He sounded disappointed in her and that made her smirk cynically. "I was going to bring you down great father, but it seems you brought yourself down low enough."

"Enough of this!" Lucas shouted. "We cannot have anymore interruptions,"

A group of men stepped forward to grab her and she took out the pistol. "Don't you dare touch me," she hissed as she pointed the gun at Lucas.

"Lydia, you foolish girl! Get out of here while you can!" her father begged.

She backed away from Alejandro's dead body slowly. "Only if you come with me."

She glanced at the circle under Edward and felt the tears sting her eyes shining green.

"Lydia put down the gun."

She shook her head. "They killed Alec. They killed him!"

"Sir! The circle."

Suddenly all eyes shifted to the center of the hall where Alex's blood had spread like red paint. The blood shifted and molded into the lines of the circle like a red pen going over a black outline. The room shone white.

Astonished gasps from the cloaked freaks.

"The gate! The reaction is working!"

Lydia found she had to squint as the light grew brighter and the air grew thin as the silence was swallowed up by a roar of wind.

"They…killed…brother?" Lydia gasped at how clearly the feminine voice rang above the chaotic roar.

She backed away from the hall towards the pillar when she saw that the white light was spreading to cover the room.

"Why? Did he… do something wrong?"

The wind went from a breeze to the force of a fierce gale and Lydia screamed as her skin bruised from the sheer energy.

"Run away!" Lucas shouted. "Even with the catalyst it's not stable!"

"Lydia!" her father's voice rang. "Get out of here!"

"I'm not very happy right now. I'm very angry. How dare they kill him? HOW DARE THEY?"

It was all too much, and happening too much and too fast. The white light was everywhere on her skin in her clothes in her ears. It burned angrily and she was afraid she'd gone blind.

She reached for her father's hand and felt it for one second before it literally melted away into cold air.

"You wanted a goddess I will be your goddess! You want your gate! You pay the price. For all. For everything!"

The cold feeling of impeding doom shook her being and froze her at the same time. Lydia opened her eyes even if it hurt her. She had to see where she was going she had to run.

Her eyes adjusted as she ran up the stairs, the balcony wasn't white and now she could clearly see the designs in the floor had spread to cover the walls. She couldn't make out anything except the walls. All the men, her father Edward, and Alec were lost beneath the white that was growing larger.

"This cursed place, it will be as if it never existed."

The voice was in the white, in the walls, in her head. It chilled her from the inside out and she didn't stop running until she ran into Alphonse who wore the same terrorized expression she did.

"Lydia! What's going on?"

"Run!" she screamed. "Run before we all die!"

His "What about brother?" was drowned out by the white roar of everything colliding at once. It was as if space and time had crashed into each other and were shattering around them.

What was once Central disappeared into nothingness seconds later as if it had never been. And no matter how silent it was afterward the bright voice burned in her ears and her heart. Even if she closed her eyes she could see the electric white. Al's hand on her arm still burned like it.

She would never forget it.

OoOoOoOoOo

Alphonse Elric tried his best not to react as the blonde woman told her story. It was his turn to listen and be comforting as she looked like she had shattered along with all the glass and debris that he and Pat had silently watched dissolve into nothing.

He held his tongue when she went into detail about how his brother had been splayed covered in blood in the center of a transmutation circle. How he had been a sacrifice to whatever had emerged from that sea of white.

Lydia cried the whole time and he couldn't help but cry silently with her. Patrick didn't react or say anything he just listened.

"This whole time…my father, your brother, Alejandro his sister…they were playing into the hands of the Thule Society. Whether they knew it or not, they all paid the price."

He patted her hand knowing he couldn't possibly offer her the comfort she desperately needed. But he would try.

"And now" she sobbed. "What did they gain? Can someone tell me? Opening that damn gate for what cause!" Lydia shook harder against him. "I wasn't included in the bargain. I couldn't do anything about it. I'm so sorry Alphonse!"

It broke his heart to hear her say it, it sounded too much like something Edward would say. "It's not your fault," he told her. "You didn't ask for it. No one wanted this to happen…"

"Brother…wouldn't want you to cry, you know. He'd probably blame himself. So please…"

Lydia was blaming herself for trying to fix things, Ed blamed himself for not being able to fix things, he was never allowed to fix things…

It was so stupid. What did they accomplish in the end? It's the way of the world. Things either fix themselves or break sometimes beyond your control. And now he was feeling like he had just watched a crystal shatter to floor. Nothing could be done.

It was so stupid and yet…

He broke down and was ashamed to find it was Lydia who was hugging him now.

"I should have done more."Ed would kill if he knew he was blaming himself.

"We did what we could." Lydia whispered. "And even so…it's not up to us. I know that much."

A sudden realization that she was right took him over and he found himself shaking harder. Ed's words from the past burned to life in his minds.

"We're not gods. We're humans. Tiny insignificant humans who couldn't even save a little girl."

Realizing how little control humans actually have. He finally understood what that felt like, and he wondered how his brother could live with it. Perhaps that was why he would throw himself into fixing things so much, whether it was fixable or not.

Finally he understood Edward and he didn't think he had enough tears in his eyes. His brother was gone. Again, and this time there was no stone, there was no turning back.

This is what Edward had been so worried about.

The old man watching the horizon cleared his throat. "You're right it's not up to us."

Al raised his eyes up to the sad face of the usually stern man. "I'm an old man, I've seen many people die over the years. When I was young I blamed God, the weather, bad luck. When my wife got sick I had no one to blame," he shook his head. "So I blamed myself. I remember she just smiled at me and said my chances are up. It's just that simple."

The old man turned away and his voice shivered. "She was the wisest woman I'd ever met. You two are still alive. It's just another chance to keep on living."

Al's eyes widened when Patrick grinned all of the sudden. "Well I'll be a drunken sailor…"

Lydia almost knocked him over as she bolted upright.

"Ed-Edward?"

Al froze. He didn't want to turn around and see she was wrong. Because he had seen how the gate had swallowed everything. His brother had used up almost all his chances.

Still something made him turn around and lock eyes with the figure stumbling in the grass in the distance. And something made him scream Ed's name out as he ran across to confirm this phantom's existence.

Lydia got there first right after Ed fell to his knees.

"He's still alive. We need to get him to a doctor." she said something else but he didn't register it. It wasn't important.

A/N: If anyone was wondering. The Thules were chanting the same thing that Ekcart chants in the movie. It's Ripley's alchemic principle of multiplication and triplication. If you watch carefully you see this text in episode 8 and during the ending credits of Motherland. sweat drops Yea...now you know...

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