Tall red rooftops and buildings painted ivory and darker from pollution adorned Munich. The city breathed of electricity, a direct homage to great scientists of the 19th century. Citizens here would enjoy all the luxuries of life available at the time, that is, if a minor social/political decadence wasn't brought about by inflation and frequent political turnovers. Edward returns to his first dwelling this side of the portal, at Hohenheim's place. While unpacking, Hohenheim returns, taking off his cloak.

"Did the vampires drive you out?"

"Very funny, dad"

"Alphonse lost all his memories."

Ed looked at him. "I had a suspicion. Wait. How did you know?"

"Come visit the Thule society sometime and I'll show you."

Ed drew away. "Nevermind. Hey, have some cherries."

"There are cherries in Transylavia?"

Puzzled, Ed replied "Hmm. I have no clue". Taking out a few dusty books, Ed asked "So where's this Munich University?"

Mouth full of cherries, Hohenheim splattered "Oh, it's three blocks to the south, but the main library is a bit further. If you have free time, I can show you this secret passageway so you can dodge the fee, that, as a non-student…" but as he turned his head, Ed was already nowhere to be seen.

Munich University was constructed out of the essence of seriousness. Composed of well-delineated square blocks of neatly-trimmed grass, ordered stone blocks, and highly decorated lamp-posts, there seemed to be no place for nonsense. After asking about, Ed found the College of Physics. Strolling about pristine and new lecture halls, he spotted Oberth immediately, a serious-looking man in his early thirties, porting a thick mustache and curly dark-brown hair. He was in a seminar, where Ed's intrusion would become an obvious interruption, so he decided to wait outside, where, lined up on the walls were placed articles about Gauss and Hertz and other scientists, all of which were bursting with pride. Soon, the seminar ended and people shuffled out. Except for Oberth. Ed went inside to find Oberth looking less serious, sleeping.

"Hey, Oberth, what are you doing?"

Oberth peeps through an eye. "I'm learning".

"Letting the greatness of this University diffuse through you by osmosis?"

"No, quite the opposite. Learning to pay less attention to class." Oberth got up. "Come on, we have work to do".

"Aren't you going to ask who I am?"

"We both know very well who you are, Edward. Have fun in Transylvania?"

"You knew? Why didn't you tell me you were in Germany?"

"I heard from Thom. They enjoyed your company"

"I didn't ask that. I asked.."

"It's for the best, I promise you. Good heavens, are you bleeding at your mouth?"

"Want some cherries? I got them from Transylvania"

"There are cherries in Transylvania?"

"Yes, there are cherries in Transylvania."

They arrived at a nondescript building with no windows. Oberth opened large storage room that stank of grease and metal. Oberth unveiled a metal platform, supporting a bullet-shaped piece of metal two meters long.

"Here's the latest rocket I've been working on. If you check the physics, it can go well beyond ten miles. Here. Help me fix it."

When some candles were lit, Ed could see that the fuselage was broken and some part of the tip, which consisted of glass, completely shattered.

"Why do you use glass to make your rockets? It's completely impractical."

"I'll show you after you fix it." Oberth checks his pocketwatch. "Okay, I have to be somewhere right now. See you in a few hours."

"Wait", Ed shouted, but Oberth was out already. Ed quickly ran out, but Oberth was nowhere in sight. Distraught, he went back, to find the door was locked. "Why am I here again?" Ed thought. "Hmm, dad mentioned something about a secret passage to the library. Now would be a good time to ask, I think." Ed started to walk home.

A small girl in overalls bumped into him, looking downwards. "scuse me", she muttered. A moment, after, a door behind Edward opened. He wheeled around to see the storage building door close. He ran towards it. door closes

"Excuse me", Ed knocked. "How did you get in? Let me in." Silence came the reply. After knocking for another minute, Ed added "Oberth needs me to do something." The door opened and a solitary eye poked through.

"So you're the Edward, aren't you?" The door closed again.

"Let me in!", Ed tried again, knocking louder this time. Then he stopped and thought "Good time to do some research in the library, although I don't really enjoy confronting my dad."

The door opened again. "Come in and do learn to be patient."

Edward looked down at her. "You should learn to follow the advice of older people."

"Hmmpth."

"So who are you anyways? And how did come you can get in?"

A loud thrum drowned out his voice when she was cranking something. "Here, you'll need these" she said, throwing to him a pair of dark goggles. "So, do you know how this thing works?" She threw him a welder.

Edward was reminded of Winry working with those. "Yes, of course. So who are you anyways? And how come you can get in?" He turned it on the torch threw a blinding stream of sparks.

"Oh, I'm Refinry. Used to be I just watched Oberth work, but he's been busy ever since he started studying to become a doctor, so I do his small tasks for him here every now and then. Are you alright?"

Edward was stumbling towards the work area, still seeing stars. "Pass me a hammer and I'll be fine."

"I told you you'd need the goggles."

"These things were far less bright where I came from", Edward said, welding the fuselage into place.

"Wow, the armor on your arm is really cool. Can I touch it?"

Ed shrugged and tried to align the rocket back on the platform. "grunt This is real heavy. What is this made of?"

"The schematics are on that desk over there"

Ed took a look and gathered some nearby protractors and straightedges. It wasn't long before he started to scribble on the blueprint itself. Refinry hopped over and admired his arm of metal.

"Can I take it apart?"

"Leave me alone."

This went on for a few hours, after which, Oberth returned, looking tired.

"You kids had better go home. I. I'm not myself today."

Refinry spoke. "Hey, I don't like that attitude from.."

"I said you two had better go home."

Edward left quietly, not wanting to risk his reputation, or lack thereof, with Oberth, who perhaps held the key to crossing the other side of the portal. He reached home, where a note laid on a counter. It read "Hey, Edward. I'm leaving for some undetermined amount of time. Keep the refrigerator and pantry well-stocked. -Hohenheim"

"Refrigerator?" Ed pondered. Taking a look, there was a large, white, oblong box emitting a humming noise. Stamped with the words Kelvinator on the side in cursive, Ed was hesitant to open it up. Tickling the edges, Ed figured that if he could deal with the homunculi, a household appliance should bear no comparable challenge. He held a long protrusion that looks like it was meant to be grasped and gave it a push, thinking it was some kind of button. It didn't yield. Looking right and left to see if he missed anything, he summoned the courage to pull it, wincing as he did so. A wall of cold hit him and he stumbled back. The door closed with a dull thud but no apparent harm was done. He tried again, but this time, he held it open. Peering inside, he found a jug of some kind of orange juice and some bread. A cold mist oozed out at the bottom. The low hum from before restarted. Ed thought "Zeppelins and refrigerators, this world is insane." After having some juice, which was refreshingly cold and tasted not unlike oranges, Ed thought he had enough adventure for a day and proceeded towards his new bed, which had a slant to it. He fell asleep before his head even touched the floor. When it did touch, or rather, hit the floor, he didn't immediately wake up either.