"The saddest aspect of life right now

is that science gathers knowledge

faster than society gathers wisdom."

- Isaac Asimov

Amelia groaned as she reached the end of the five-kilometer run, seeing the Armstrong family already starting on their weight training. She was a panting, miserable, sweaty mess as she looked at them. She watched as even Catherine was lifting weights as big as her brother's. She came over to sit down on one of the stone benches, sighing and letting her catch her breath. The family had taken to letting her just do the one lap around the courtyard since she wasn't up to their same level of physical fitness, but it was still fucking hard.

She looked up to see Diana and Delilah coming over with some water and a towel for her. "You always get so sweaty from the run." One of them said as Amelia took the towel to wipe at her forehead.

"Yeah, because it's a long fucking run." She snapped as she took the glass of water from the other and started gulping it down.

"And always so vulgar with her language." Said the other in a low voice that Amelia could hear perfectly well as she watched the other twin laugh.

"I'm right here." She watched the twins look back at her, then say nothing as they walked away to somewhere else. She glared at their backs as she stayed where she was, looking at the Armstrong family as they completed their morning reps. She didn't really care to do anything more than watch, she was already very tired from the run, and she never wanted to do anything like that again, though she knew she would end up doing it again tomorrow morning.

She watched as Philip Gargantuan or something Armstrong led the rest of his family in weightlifting. It was kind of funny to watch, considering he was shorter than Catherine, he was such a stocky man. She still didn't understand how a man like him could grow, and somehow keep, a full head of blonde locks. Even more strange was the fact that Catherine, who seemed such a tiny thing in comparison to the Major and his triplet sisters, was keeping up with them with the same weight. These people were all ridiculously strong, but somehow Catherine managed to remain the only lean one of the bunch. It was something of a physical marvel to her.

She tried to just relax for now, and that was where her phone came in. She was glad to have it back and working again, though there wasn't any signal for it to pick up. She couldn't do a lot of things, no access to the internet like she had hoped for, or access to any social media and even some of the games she had on there, but the music was there, and that was what was most important to her. She put in her headphones and she started playing some songs. She closed her eyes to the world, pretending that she was back at home, on a bench in a park somewhere, just taking a break from all of this stuff. For a little while, she could forget that Amestris even existed, and she could just have a normal life again and not worry about jail or alchemy.

It was nice to pretend, if only for a song or two.

Amelia woke up to meet the dark lighting of the room she had been given. She stared at the door as she wondered why she was awake, and then she heard why.

The phone was ringing, and it was in the hall outside her door. She groaned and pulled her pillow over her head, trying to block the sound, but it still came through. She sighed and got up, figuring she would probably be the only one to answer it at this time of the night. She got to the door, opening it up and trudging down to the phone, picking it up, "Do you have any idea what time it is?" She growled into the phone.

"Uh…" The voice on the other line seemed kind of surprised, "Is this the number for the Armstrong estate?"

"Yeah, who is this?" Amelia asked.

"This is Lieutenant Ross of the Investigations Department. We need the Major to come down to our location right away."

"Oh, hey." Amelia's voice softened from her irritated tone when she recognized the name, remembering the face of the lady Lieutenant she had spoken to the other day. "It's Amelia. You'll need to give me a minute, I don't think the guy's awake at… what time is it right now anyway? There's no clock here."

"A little past two in the morning." Amelia let out an exasperated sigh at the news, "I know it's late, but we do need him down here."

"I know, I know, hang on…" Amelia put the phone down and started making her way down the hall. She had learned whose room was whose while she was here, and she went up to the Major's room and started pounding on his bedroom door, "Wake up! There's a phone call for you!" She called through the doors, probably waking up everyone else that was nearby, but right now she just wanted him to take the stupid phone so she could go back to sleep.

The door opened to reveal Major Armstrong dressed in a set of striped pajamas, and a matching nightcap that all seemed perfectly straight and clean, though his mustache was not as curly as she remembered it being. "Amelia, it is very early, we do not need to start your training for another few hours." He said with a yawn.

"Phone." She said, pointing down the hall, "Asked for you. Take the stupid call so I can sleep again." She said, already starting to make her way back to her room with the Major behind her. She went back into her room as she heard the Major picking up the phone and speaking to Lieutenant Ross. She didn't know what it was about, and she didn't care. She flopped back on the bed and went back to sleep without another word.

The next morning, she woke up without the unwanted wake-up call from Delilah, Diana, and Bernice. It was nice to sleep in and see the sun already high in the sky. She got up and dressed herself before she left the room and went to the dining hall. The room was empty of the Armstrong family, and she wondered if she had missed breakfast so she went to the kitchen. She found Bernice in there, along with a couple of other servants that were just working on cleaning dishes.

"Uh… hey." She said, getting their attention.

"Well, well! Look who finally found her way out of bed." Bernice said, Amelia frowned at the woman, but she only grinned at the sight of the teenager's displeasure, "What are you doing here?"

"Did I miss breakfast?" She asked.

"Technically, yes. We had pancakes." Bernice said, "But I imagine you're hungry since you just woke up. Feel free to help yourself to what's already made." She pointed Amelia towards the pantry and she went over to find something to eat. She grabbed an apple and managed to find a cheese wheel and an unsliced loaf of bread. It was weird to see since she was so used to just cheese slices and normal white bread, but she grabbed them anyway and made a cold cheese sandwich to munch on. She went over to the icebox (as they insisted she call it instead of a refrigerator for some reason) and found they had some milk so she made herself a glass. She ate in the kitchen, seeing the servants move about with washing dishes for a while.

She looked over at Bernice, "Where is everyone? How come nobody woke me up?"

"Well, since your teacher isn't here, we didn't think it was appropriate to wake you up for your morning training," Bernice said. "The Lady Armstrong agreed, and thought it would be good for you to have a day off to build some more muscle for your physique." Amelia was surprised they would let her have a day off, they always seemed to so disciplined, she didn't think the rest of the family would let her keep a day to herself.

"So where is he?" She asked before biting into her apple.

"He's at work, apparently something terrible happened the night before," Bernice said, shaking her head a bit in sympathy. "He wouldn't give us details, but he advised the family to stay indoors."

"What? Why?"

"I just said he wouldn't give details," Bernice replied dryly. Amelia scowled at her response.

"Okay, but he told you what happened, right?" She asked, "He wouldn't just say 'stay inside' without saying why?"

"He said a murderer had found his way into Central." Bernice said, "He didn't want to have his family at risk, so he said for everyone to stay inside." Amelia's eyes widened at the news.

"Jesus Christ. Does that mean someone died last night?" Bernice shrugged in response as she dried one of the dishes.

"It's a possibility, but if someone died, he didn't say who it was." Amelia didn't like this news. She remembered the soldiers from yesterday who had talked about a murderer.

"I bet it was that alchemist killer I heard about." She said, and Bernice froze in her work. "I remember they talked about him at the Major's work. They were afraid he would come to Central because someone said they saw him getting on a train. He must have killed one of the military's alchemists." Bernice put the plate that she had been drying down on the counter.

"Then he doesn't want his family to become potential hostages." Bernice said, putting the plate away before starting on the next one, "You better stay inside, too, Miss Seymour. A learning alchemist could still be in danger."

"Yeah, I guess." She said, and she took another bite out of her apple, "Well, I'm gonna go find someone else to talk to. See you." She turned to head for the kitchen door.

"Ah-ah! Hold it right there." Amelia stopped at the sound of Bernice's call, looking back to see the older woman gesture to one of the other servants, "Here, Marietta. Make sure that Miss Seymour here doesn't go anywhere she's not supposed to."

"Oh, come on, really?" She looked down at the shorter, older woman as she came up to take her hand. "Please let go of me, I'm not a child." Marietta did as she asked, but she still stayed by Amelia's side as she left the kitchen. She should have known better that the people in this place wouldn't let her just wander on her own time.

She eventually found Strongine who took her away from Marietta, though she was quickly put on piano training since the Major wasn't around to make her focus on alchemy. She worked with her, letting her hands move over the piano keys as Strongine placed music in front of her. "It's good to see that you can read music." She told her as she practiced, "You really have had formal training, haven't you?"

"Yeah." Amelia was focused on playing, so she was just able to give one-word answers while she played. Strongine didn't speak as she turned the pages for her, knowing the song by heart as she played it already. It was a song Amelia had never heard before, but Strongine had gone on a long-winded speech about it that she had honestly forgotten most of, so it was probably part of the Armstrong Legacy. She simply played it, and when she reached the end, Strongine applauded her with a bright smile.

"You play so beautifully, Amelia." She praised her, "It's clear to see you have years of training under your belt."

"Thanks." She smiled back at her as she reached up to look over the composition, reading the name at the front, Jeremy Louis Armstrong - yep, she guessed right. "It's kind of nice to play the piano again. I haven't really had the chance with all the craziness in the alchemy training and escaped prisoners and a bunch of other weird shi- I mean, stuff." Strongine had made a point of asking her not to curse while she was playing piano, saying she thought it wasn't ladylike and also that she thought it was vulgar. Out of respect for the first person to try to befriend her since she had gotten there, she didn't mind indulging her.

"Yes, poor Alex must be overloaded with work at the office." Strongine said, "But our house certainly enjoys the sound of your piano playing. We consider it an elegant instrument." She put her hand on a few of the keys, playing out a tune that she knew very well. "You know, this piano was made by hand by my great grandfather? He sawed the wood, polished it, and tuned the strings himself."

"Really? That's kind of cool." Amelia commented as she looked at the old piano, "It's in really good condition for being made so long ago."

"This piano is older than I am, it's part of the family." Strongine said as the simple tune kept playing, "We make sure to get it tuned once every year, and polish it twice a year. It's dusted and cleaned every day."

"How old is the piano?" She asked curiously.

"It's 85 years old," Strongine answered.

"So how old are you?" Strongine stopped playing and looked over at Amelia, who had something of a grin on her face.

"A lady never reveals her age, it takes away the mystery of it." She answered her.

"So you're older than thirty." Amelia watched with satisfaction as Strongine's cheeks flushed red, "If you were younger than that, you wouldn't think anything of your age."

"That's because youth is valued more when you're a woman." Strongine replied, going back to playing, "At my age, being unmarried… it makes things… difficult for mother and father."

"How can it make things difficult?" Amelia was confused, "You're like the richest family in town with connections almost everywhere possible."

"My parents want me to be happy, and taken care of after they're gone." She said, focusing on the piano keys as she played. "I am the first Armstrong they expect to marry off and continue our legacy with grandchildren. I can't do that by myself." She smiled wistfully, "And truth be told, I would like that, too."

"So, why don't you have kids?" Amelia asked, "You can have children without being married."

"Technically, yes, but it's not exactly considered proper." Strongine said with a chuckle, "And I meant more the idea of having someone to make grandchildren with, not so much the actual children part."

"Oh." Amelia hummed, "So… you don't have any potential suitors?"

"There are a few." She said, "But they're more after the Armstrong estate than my heart." She still had that wistful smile on her face, "Most of them don't even contact me, they contact mother and father with proposals. Mother says the men are good, but I have final say on who I marry, so long as I marry. But… I suppose I'm something of a hopeless romantic, wanting to find a man who will look at me and think I'm the most beautiful woman in the world and how lucky they are to have married me."

"I think I understand." Amelia said, and Strongine's fingers paused as she put her attention on the young woman, "I mean, the part about wanting to find someone who you know won't take advantage of you. Who you know isn't after you for some greedy reason."

"Yes, exactly." Strongine said, "It's hard to find that when you're in a position like we are." She said, and she let out a humorless laugh as she said, "And it's even harder for a woman like me to find a man who is genuinely attracted to me."

Amelia didn't want to say that she was right, but she probably was. Strongine wouldn't exactly be considered 'feminine' like her sister Catherine. And her mother was… well, she wasn't exactly the bombshell that her youngest daughter was, but there was still a sort of elegance to her, in her massive height. She could see how easy it was for someone to be intimidated or put off by her appearance. Amelia certainly was when they first met.

"After all, not many men can stand to look at the sheer beauty of an Armstrong woman." She said with a haughty and hardy laugh, and Amelia laughed with her. She wasn't sure if she was kidding or if she was serious since the Armstrongs told their kids that everything they did was amazing and perfect. "I'll just need to find a man that won't think himself inferior when he stands next to me in our wedding pictures."

She smiled, "Well, they say confidence is the sexiest thing a woman can wear. I'm sure you'll find someone eventually." She said.

"And what about you? Do you think you'll ever have kids some day?" Amelia's eyes went wide and she shook her head.

"No. I don't want kids." She said, looking down at the piano, starting to play another tune, just something that would distract her from that thought.

"Oh? Can I ask why?"

Her hands stalled at her question, "I just… don't want kids, okay?" She wanted to leave it at that, and Strongine seemed to tell it was a sensitive subject for her, so she let it drop.

"Well, if nothing else, you are convincing my brother how much he wants to have children some day," Strongine said. Amelia snorted in laughter.

"Really? I can't really see him as a good family man, crushing everyone with his hugs." She said.

"Well, Alex is very different with young children." She said, "He's always been very sensitive to them. I think if he ever came across a child, he wouldn't put all of his strength into it."

"Really? With all those muscles and that crazy discipline, I find it hard to believe." She said, "I mean, he's a military man, he's all about doing things by the letter, following orders, right?"

Strongine was quiet for a moment before saying, "Not really. He was almost court-martialed for failing to follow orders. His standing as an alchemist gave him some persuasion, so he was simply dismissed from the battlefield."

Amelia looked up at Strongine, surprised to hear this news about her teacher, "Seriously? What happened?"

"I shouldn't really say." Strongine said dismissively, "This is more Alex's story than mine, but…" She looked over at her, "Well, it was during the Ishvalan extermination campaign. Alex was sent out as one of the military's most powerful weapons. He never gave us details about what happened, but there was plenty of tears as he spoke of how he was given orders to kill women and children, innocent ones that had no combat experience or reason to fight. Even ones that supported Amestrians in their decision to fight against the rebellion were killed. Apparently, he made a case to his superior officer in tears, and they ordered him to return home." Amelia looked up at Strongine with wide eyes, "Of course, there was much more to it than that. But I wouldn't bring it up with Alex unless it was very important, it's a very sensitive subject for him." Amelia nodded.

"Yeah, sounds like it." She said quietly. She had forgotten that he was a soldier on top of everything. He was always sensitive to her, always crying, hugging, sharing joy and sadness and what have you. The idea of someone like him going to war, to help kill people, kill women and children… She couldn't picture it at first, but when she did, she could only imagine his face twisted in agony.

"But I think, when the time comes, he'll make an excellent father." Strongine said in a cheerier voice, "If only he were married to a woman and not his job, he could do just that. He's starting to get on in age, you know. He should think of marrying soon." Amelia nodded, not really sure what else to say in response to that. "As for you…" She paused as she thought of something, "Well, perhaps you can become a piano teacher some day. You're still quite good at it."

"Maybe." She said, "I like the idea of playing piano and getting paid for it." She said as she played a little more, changing it to a happier tune.

"You seem to enjoy piano playing a great deal." Strongine said, "I don't blame you, it is a beautiful instrument."

"Yeah, but… it's more than that." Amelia said, "I get to decide how to play it, and what song is played… It's really nice to be able to make that kind of music your way, isn't it?"

Strongine nodded silently, and Amelia continued to play, "I like the idea of making music like this since no one can play the same song the exact same way I can."

"That's true, your music is all your own." Strongine agreed. She reached for another composition and put it in front of her, "Give this one a try when you're ready." Amelia looked up at the piece and started to play, keeping her eyes on the paper as her fingers moved over the keys and played out the sweet tune that had been composed for her to play.

She had gotten half-way through the first page when the door to the room opened and she saw the Major on the other side, "Oh, hey." She greeted him casually, though when she saw the serious expression on his face, she quieted, wondering what was wrong.

"Alex, what is it?" Strongine asked.

"Our case has been moved over to East City." He looked over at Amelia, "We are going to be traveling immediately. Pack enough clothes for a week."

"Wait, what?" Amelia swung her legs over the piano bench to face him completely, "Why?"

"Because I cannot have you be alone and without your alchemy lessons while I am investigating." He said as he came in, putting his hand on her shoulder to push her out, "Now hurry and pack! We do not have much time, our train leaves in forty-five minutes!" She felt her feet dragging and stumbling along the carpet as he pushed her out and she went out as he demanded that she pack her clothes.

Soon enough, she had grabbed enough clothes to last a week into a suitcase, with Delilah and Diana helping out to put in everything she forgot as well. And once she was ready, the Major pretty much grabbed her and ran out the door, she wasn't sure her feet touched the ground as he ran her to the car and rushed to the train station. She ended up getting a first-class booth with the Major… and another familiar face. He didn't look exactly pleased to see her.

"You had to bring your student with you on this trip?" Hughes asked Armstrong as he sat across from the alchemist and his student in their booth as they traveled off to East City.

"She is my responsibility, Lieutenant Colonel Hughes. I could not leave her to be without alchemy teaching at home when I am responsible for her, I could not ask one of my family to see to her education."

"No, I'm in agreement with this guy," Amelia said, "I could have had like a week off my training, it was really nice to not have to wake up at 5 AM every morning." Hughes quirked a curious brow, wondering why she was up so early in the morning, but didn't ask. It was probably better not to know what went on in the Armstrong estate if the Major's family was eccentric as he was.

"You have less than a year to work towards your alchemy exam. I do not believe you have the luxury of taking time off." Armstrong pointed out, and Amelia had to agree, though she didn't want to.

"Well, whatever, so what happened in East City that we had to go right now?" She asked. "Did that guy strike again?"

Hughes' face turned grim at the mention. "We're actually on our way there for something unrelated, though we will be looking for the alchemist hunter."

"What is it?" She asked, wanting details.

The two of them were silent in response, and Amelia started to grow a little nervous, "Do I… want to know why we're heading over there?"

"It's not a good reason. We're going to make an official arrest, and we're bringing him with us back to Central to be tried for his crimes." Hughes explained.

"Did he… kill someone?" She asked unsurely.

"No, he did something that can be considered much worse." Armstrong explained, "The alchemist we're arresting is Shou Tucker, his official name is the Sewing Life Alchemist. He specializes in bio-alchemy, and he was certified as an alchemist about two years ago."

Hughes nodded. "He was the first alchemist to make a chimera that could understand human speech. I remember the story was big when he first got his certification."

"What's a chimera?" Amelia asked, "I remember that being mentioned in one of the first chapters of my book, but…"

"A chimera is an alchemical creation, most often it's made with two different species of animal to create something new." Armstrong said, "It's a relatively new field, and highly experimental."

She grimaced at the description, "Jeez, is it safe for the animals to do that kind of stuff?"

"If everything has been done properly, some chimeras can live for a decade or so." Armstrong said, "Theoretically, at least. The oldest one we have recorded lived to be about six years of age."

"That doesn't really sound safe…" Amelia frowned, growing concerned.

"On paper, it's fine." Hughes brushed it off, "You could use chimeras to make bigger, powerful guard animals, or just good housepets for certain kids, or create a new species altogether." He shrugged, "There have been some people voicing animal-rights concerns, but nothing's concrete and the government has no reason to stop alchemists who create chimeras."

"I see…" She said softly in response. It didn't really sound right, but if there were no arrests being made for it, it probably wasn't that bad. "So… this guy made a chimera that could understand speech? Like, it could take orders really well?"

"It could talk," Hughes said. Amelia's eyes went wide, "The certification board found it incredible that he was able to make a chimera with a brain complex enough that it could understand and communicate with people."

"That sounds amazing." She said, genuinely surprised that the alchemical sciences could do that, "Did you ever see it?"

"No, I never got the chance. You see, while the chimera could talk, it only said one thing," He held up one finger to emphasize his point, "It said, 'I want to die.' and then it wouldn't eat until it did." Amelia grimaced.

"Christ, that sounds horrible…" Hughes nodded in agreement.

"Apparently, he's made another one." Hughes said, "Which is why we're going to arrest him."

"I don't understand, if the first chimera got him his certification, then what's wrong with this one? Does it say 'fuck you' or something?" She was confused.

"It turns out the first talking chimera he made used a human in the process." Hughes said grimly, "The first chimera used his wife. This one used his own child, she wasn't even four years old yet…" His voice broke a moment and he had to stop speaking. Amelia was surprised at how broken up he was getting as he stopped himself, but when she looked closer, she actually only saw pure rage in his eyes. She remembered that he had a young daughter, he hadn't stopped shoving pictures of her in her face the last time they met. She must be around the same age as this girl… As a new father, she figured he must be imagining his own daughter in this girl's place.

"What would make him do that to his own kid?" Amelia asked, a little horrified that someone would actually use their own family like that.

"He created a new chimera for his annual assessment," Armstrong said as Hughes wasn't in the best condition to answer. "He was at risk of losing his certification, we understand it was a desperate act to keep it."

"How can a certification be worth more than the life of your own kid?!" Hughes almost shouted, his fist coming down on the padded seat of their car, digging into the carpeting there, "How can this man claim he was a father when he would throw her away like that?! And his wife, too! The woman who loved him and swore to love him until death, and he decides it's better to turn her into a chimera than be a husband?!"

"Lieutenant Colonel Hughes, please calm yourself." Armstrong said clearly, and Hughes relaxed his shoulders a bit, "I know that this is difficult for you, but I'm sure the judge will accept your report. I have no doubt that Tucker will be severely punished with or without it."

"I know." He said, sighing and leaning back. "I just can't help but picture this monster for what he is. I couldn't even imagine doing that to my own Elicia…" The Major was quiet. He knew how important Hughes' daughter was to him and thinking it was best to just let him calm down on his own.

"So… I'm supposed to help you guys arrest him or something?" Amelia asked, a little concerned as to what exactly she should be doing. The Major reached into a small bag and pulled out her alchemy text book.

"Start reading chapter seven. It's a little ahead of your lessons, but it's about bio-alchemy and its benefits." He said as Amelia opened it up, "When we arrive, you will see the rather dark side of this science, but you need to know the good that bio-alchemical research can provide to the people." Amelia opened up the chapter and started to read, figuring it would be a long train ride to East City, so it couldn't hurt to read a little between now and then.

The rain in East City was incredibly annoying as Amelia bundled herself up more. She had spent the train ride reading about bio-alchemy, different medical stepping stones that had been passed because of the work of medical alchemists for the last hundred years, the book praising different names for their progression. She had lost interest and had tried to distract herself, but the second that she tried to do that, Hughes decided to take advantage and show pictures of his little girl to gush about her. She managed to hide behind the book and read a little more before she got overwhelmed completely.

Now she had been caught in a muggy rain that swept over the city after their train had stopped. She walked with the two military officers as she kept the alchemy textbook pressed to her chest and under her jacket. She looked around at how the streets were sparse of people except for those working in little restaurants or stores as they passed. It seemed rainy days weren't much reason for people to come outside. She would agree with that notion if she had an umbrella, but the most the Major and the Lieutenant Colonel could offer her was a trench coat that she tried to keep over her head as she walked, it was an awkward position, walking with a book to her chest under an oversized trench coat that had been tailor-fit for the Major, but she managed. She could already see a few soldiers outside when they arrived, seeing a pair of body bags being wheeled into a massive truck. She looked at the area that had been taped off, seeing tape outlines of a pair of bodies, both the size of adults.

The soldiers present saluted the Major and Lieutenant Colonel as they approached, "What is the meaning of this? Who are those two?" The Major asked, wondering what was going on.

"Sir, that is officers John Basset and Andrew Cunningham." The soldier answered, "The crime scene was being contaminated by the rain, so we are moving them to the East City morgue for examination."

"What happened?" Hughes asked.

"Sir, they were found dead this morning, as well as the alchemist and his experiment inside." The soldier answered, still standing at attention as he spoke to his superiors.

"Do we have any suspects?" The Major asked, and the soldier paused before speaking again.

"We do not have any known suspects at this time, sir." He answered, "They both seem to have suffered an internal trauma… Like their brains were blown out from the inside." His voice shook a little as he described it, and his hands shook as well. Amelia watched as this grown man got tears in his eyes and quickly went to wipe them, "I apologize for my current state, sir."

"Did you know them?" The Major asked, his voice surprisingly gentle, and the soldier nodded.

"Drew was a good man, sir. I fought with him on the Creta border during a skirmish. He was an excellent soldier." The Major nodded and put his hand on the soldier's shoulder.

"Take your time to collect yourself, the Lieutenant Colonel and I will see to the crime scene inside." He said, and he looked back at Hughes who nodded, the two of them heading inside with Amelia trailing behind. No one seemed to notice her as she stepped inside the rather large house. It was nice looking, though still a bit dirty. She walked into the front room which had a clear view of the kitchen, where dirty dishes were piled up in the sink, and there were boxes everywhere she looked. It was like someone was still trying to get used to this place after moving in. There were a few soldiers in different rooms, but most of them were headed upstairs or down into what looked like the entrance to a basement.

She thought it was odd how none of the soldiers questioned her presence, but since she came in with a Major and a Lieutenant Colonel, she guessed it might not have been that odd to see. She wondered if everyone knew the Major had an alchemy apprentice by now, she didn't know how fast gossip traveled among soldiers, but she knew it could travel quickly enough.

Among the soldiers was a familiar face that Amelia recognized right away and blurted out, "Explosion dude!"

Roy Mustang looked over at the exclamation with a quirked brow and confused frown, "Excuse me?" Amelia's face flushed in embarrassment when she realized she had said that out loud.

"Amelia, you remember Colonel Mustang," Armstrong said, reminding her of his name, "He assisted us in Central when Isaac McDougal was loose in the city."

"Yeah, I remember." She said, coming up to him, holding out her hand for him to shake, "Sorry about before, that's kind of what I've been calling you in my head…" She felt a little ashamed now that she was saying it to his face, but she did need to give some kind of excuse for the name.

"Well, I suppose we've never formally met so you wouldn't have known." The Colonel sounded a little irritated, but he seemed willing to put it aside as he shook her hand, "I'm Colonel Roy Mustang, the Flame Alchemist."

"It's nice to meet you," Amelia said, pulling her hand away.

"It's good to see you, Roy." Hughes said as he came up behind Amelia, "Though I wish it was under better circumstances, I'd rather be sharing a drink."

"Believe me, we can get one after this day is over." Roy said, "It's not exactly good to look at upstairs."

"So what happened?" Hughes asked.

"We're not sure, but it looks like something blew them up from inside." Roy said, "It's like nothing we've ever seen before." Hughes looked up at Armstrong, sharing a knowing gaze, the two of them already had an idea of who it was, especially considering that their alchemist killer was spotted getting on a train in Central Station. "I've already called some of my men to come over, the lieutenant should be here any minute now."

"Can you give us a bit more detail about what happened?" The Major asked, "Did anyone see anything? Or hear anything? Any witnesses to speak of?"

Amelia started to tune out at this point, growing bored with the conversation as Hughes and Armstrong tried to get some more answers out of Roy about what happened that killed Shou Tucker and his daughter after they came all this way to arrest him.

As the three soldiers spoke to each other, getting filled in on the specifics, she noticed that in the other room, there were some cages. She was a little curious about them since they were so small looking, about the size of a globe, all stacked on top of one another. She came closer to one, not really seeing anything in the shadow of the dimly lit room, only to see something glaring at her in the dark shadow. A pair of heads jumped out, small claws grabbed at the bars as the creature inside snarled and growled, one head biting at the bars, the other snapping at her between them. She jumped at first when the creature tried to bite her, but let out a shriek when she realized the heads were attached to the same body. It looked almost like a kind of weird puppy that sat like a frog. The beady eyes glared at her ferociously and she was horrified and afraid of it despite being five times its size. It was disgusting to look at, but also saddening in that she knew this thing wasn't natural, someone went out of their way to make this thing. She looked in the other cages to see other monstrosities the likes of which she had never imagined. Some had scales and teeth that were too big for their mouths, others were furry with four or six legs, she even saw one that looked like a giant cockroach with teeth. She reeled back until she hit a piece of furniture and almost fell back if it hadn't been for someone grabbing her by the shoulders from behind and righting herself.

She looked up to see the Major standing behind her and was the one that caught her, "Are you alright? We heard you scream." She looked over to the side to see the Lieutenant Colonel and Colonel Mustang were looking at her as well.

She pointed at the cage, "What the hell is that thing?!" She asked, "It's got two heads! Normal animals don't have two heads!"

"It's a chimera." Roy answered, "Shou Tucker was the Sewing Life Alchemist, he specialized in chimeras like these."

"These are chimeras?!" She couldn't believe it, though she had been given a very brief and vague description of chimeras on the train and from the alchemy textbook, this wasn't what she had in mind, "This is what you alchemists do to animals?! That's sick!" She pointed at the creature still gnawing on its cage bars, "Look at that thing! That's not right! Animals don't have two heads and they sure as hell don't look like that!"

"Amelia, please calm yourself." Armstrong said, "They're simple chimeras, that's-"

"Simple?!" She glared up at him, "You look at those things and tell me that's simple?! That's not simple, it's unnatural and it's not right! Is this what alchemists do with animals?! That's disgusting! It's sick and it's so fucking wrong!"

"Amelia, you're becoming hysterical." Armstrong said, trying to soothe her.

"Maybe your student should wait outside." Roy said, "If she sees what's upstairs, this might be worse."

"What's upstairs?" She demanded, glaring at him, "What the fuck happened upstairs?" When the colonel didn't answer her immediately, she immediately started to run that way, wanting to know what else alchemists had done.

"Amelia stop!" The Major called after her.

"You can't go up there, civilians aren't allowed!" Hughes called, but she wasn't listening as her feet pounded up the wooden stairs, all three men following after her as she ran to the first room she could find, seeing a couple of soldiers with cameras and tarps to preserve the two bodies on the floor, taking pictures so they could analyze them later. One was a man, and she could see the inside of his head, a hole large enough to fit her fist inside exposed his brain with blood staining the floor around him. Next to him was something that almost looked like a dog with long brown hair that was almost like a mane down its back, it had the same thing as the man done to it, a large hole in its head exposing everything inside its skull.

She froze when she saw the bodies and barely had time to comprehend them before the Major grabbed her and pulled her away from it, quickly pulling her out the door and out of the room. "Amelia, you must not go in there. You shouldn't see something like that."

"What the fuck was that?" She asked, her focus more on the man than the bigger creature that was dead next to him, "His head was…"

"We know." Roy spoke up, "What you saw was Shou Tucker and the remains of his chimera made from his daughter."

"That thing was a person?!" She almost screamed, "That's fucking- That's sick! That's sick, who does that?! It didn't even look human!"

"Amelia!" The Major's voice shook her down to her core and he got down on her eye level to make her focus on him, his hands on her shoulders to hold her still, "You should not be here. And we cannot investigate if you are being hysterical like this." He stood up, towering over her, "As your teacher I am ordering you to wait outside until we have finished and you have calmed down."

"But-!"

"We will discuss this later." He said in a firm tone that succinctly ended their conversation. Amelia said nothing, and she felt the Major putting his arms on her shoulder, "Just wait outside, this investigation will not be more than a few minutes. Perhaps the rain will help you cool down." He said, and he turned into the room, asking one of the soldiers there to escort his student outside where she wouldn't interfere with the investigation, and one did so. He walked with her until she was outside, and she pulled the trench coat up over her head again, looking back as the soldier closed the doors and she was left alone in the front yard of the house.

She sighed as she fumed over what she had seen. She couldn't imagine that someone would willingly take two animals and try to mush them together like that. What she saw wasn't animals, they were abominations, and she couldn't think of how they were put together like they were and still live. Did that mean those animals were transmuted alive and aware of what was happening? Did they cry out as their bodies were deconstructed to be remade into something else? Did Shou Tucker's daughter cry out for her father when he transmuted her? She shook her head and she let out a groan as she knew these thoughts were only making matters worse. Yes, this was disgusting, but what could she do? She didn't know if it was even possible to undo that kind of transmutation. Theoretically, she knew that in alchemy if you broke something down to its core elements you could rebuild it into anything you wanted with the right amount of energy input from the alchemist, but when it was something alive? When you mixed up their bodies to where they were still somehow alive as they were deconstructed? And when they continued to live could you risk pulling those bodies apart without killing the things that were transmuted?

She didn't like the answers she was coming up with and she moved the trench coat down from her head with a sigh. She felt the rain on her face, letting her mind go blank for a moment as she took a couple of deep breaths. She stopped thinking about it, and for a moment she actually did feel better, more calm. She looked ahead of her, looking around the front yard seeing it was pretty empty, not a lot of toys or gardens, not even a dog house. If she didn't know any better, she would say there was no way a child or a dog lived here, save for the little piles of poop she could see in the corner along the walls of the property. She looked at the opening gate for the walls, and she could see one soldier posted there, and no one else.

Only one soldier outside? She looked back behind her and saw that there was no one else outside, either. In the windows she could see the silhouettes of the investigators, but no one was actually looking outside, their focus was on the bodies.

Her heart started to race as she realized this was an opportunity to escape.

There was no one watching save for that one soldier, and if she didn't act like she was running… Could she?

She took a deep breath in and out, thinking it was at least worth a shot as she started to walk to the gates, not run. If she ran, she looked guilty, she knew that much, she still held the alchemy textbook under her massive coat as she pulled it up over her head again. She could feel her heart pounding in her ears as she came closer to the guard that stood at the gate. He was standing at attention, looking straight ahead across the street, but she knew better than to think he wasn't looking everywhere else, too. Her grip tightened on her textbook as she mentally told herself to relax or she might give herself away.

She came up to the gate next to him, and he looked at her. She simply cleared her throat with a nod and said, "Afternoon."

He nodded in turn and she turned away from him, walking down the sidewalk. Her heart kept pounding in her chest as she got further and further away from the gates of the Tucker house, and as she turned a corner at the end of the block, she looked back and noticed no one was following her. She had… She had actually done it? Just like that?

She almost couldn't believe it, but she wasn't about to let this opportunity pass to where she might find a way back home and get out of this weird country, and she took off running down the sidewalk in the direction of the train station she had come from.