Chapter 2
The soldiers and citizens of Amestris went about their day like it was a normal one. Chit-chatting with their closest neighbors, checking in on their grandkids, writing letters, and all mundane matters. Blue skies painted Central City, very few clouds covered up the city.
Everyone was just feeling a sense of bliss, even with all of the soldiers being stationed all over the city, they felt a sense of security. Central City was in the hands of the military, a force that would be able to stop almost anything.
However, underneath the city was something most foul, most disgusting; a core filled with rot, decay, and no human sensation.
/
Multitudes of prisoners and convicts scattered the unknown jail cells. Guards watched them with stern looks on their faces. Some of these criminals committed petty offenses, others were guilty of the Ishvallan Civil War crimes. Some of these prisoners were filled with despair, disgust, and anger.
In with the guards were a few doctors overlooked at their "subjects" with detailed notes.
One of them, who was quite known for his golden tooth, tinkered with a vial filled with a liquid-like object.
"Hmm, how does man become so obsessed with this tiny stone?"
A red, glossy rock shined against the harsh, overbearing lightbulb in a small laboratory. Vials upon vials were stacked in a row, labels showed names and times of when the subjects died. Every once in a while, when something caused the shelf the shake, the contents within those vials tried to reconnect themselves. As if something was coming back to life, the structure to a brand-new lifeform, again and again.
Lust was unsure with what the doctor was trying to create, but Sloth just stood there in a dopey state unaware what was really going on at all. Heavy breaths escaped the beast, he was ready to go whenever a command was delivered. Gluttony tried to reach over to them, but would be reprimanded by Lust like a child.
After a couple of moments, the subject rejected the stone and blood was splattered everywhere.
"Morfran, I have to ask, with all of these experiments with Philosopher's Stones, why not just experiment on us? Our bodies were created by the stone, therefore compatible for any experimentation for them." Lust asked coyly.
"Why lady, I want to see if I can make more bodies that can become stronger when coming back to life with a stone. Bradley was a testament to that fact, a man nearly pushed to the brink of death was somehow able to grip onto whatever string of life that was there."
His ugly tooth glistened against the harsh lights of the dingy hospital room. "Everything will work out in the end; I assure you and your Father will be most pleased. Besides, wouldn't an army of Homunculi like yourselves along with soldiers not like any normal human, strike fear into the heart of an entire world? Humans will have no choice in the end, they can either die or attempt to become part of something greater. Evolution can help weed out the weak and create something that was meant to be."
/
Roy Mustang stood proudly in front of his desk. The job as Colonel was not just given to him on a whim. He proved it by being the Flame Alchemist, by being the soldier willing to do things most others weren't willing to do. While he could've felt the guilt and regret every day from the war, he chose not to. He wanted to fuel his fire for bringing justice to everyone.
His day was like a usual one; pushed papers and eventually procrastinated on them right by their deadline. Legal document after legal document almost made him go blind. All in the while, his special unit of soldiers chuckled at his anguish.
"You know Roy, if you got your work done on time you wouldn't get this pissy." a sarcastic Jean Havoc commented.
Kain Fuery and Heymans Breda tried to bite their tongue from not laughing out-loud, but the heavyset soldier couldn't help it. Vato Falman had a bit of cheeky grin on his face seeing Roy trying to act all boisterously staying on top of his work.
"Yeah, maybe without your nanny Hawkeye having to constantly remind you. Man, even during junior high I was never that bad with my homework." Vato jokingly retorted, although there were a few piles of paperwork on his desk.
Roy didn't know how to respond; he was totally caught off guard. He sighed heavily, rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I don't know if I should laugh or cry. Ugh, these papers feel like death papers. You know, with everything that's going on in Amestris, death is becoming too apparent for everyone."
Kain was just freaked out with the whole ordeal. Normally he'd be able to keep himself calm in stressful situations, but something about this was just spine tingly. "My folks needed to move to another city temporarily until this 'virus' gets contained. I've been hearing people say that somehow Central is responsible for it. You can't just blame one city, something else has to be going on."
The whole office fell silent, the only sound of pens tapping, and paper being tussled were heard. Usually, Heymans tried to use his brand of humor to lighten the situation, but it wasn't exactly the most appropriate time.
A sudden knock was at the door.
"Come on in." Roy boomed.
It was the Second Lieutenant. She looked as calm as she could when she went to sit down. The other guys looked at each other and were wondering if someone was home. Her eyes had that glaze.
"Riza, are you okay?" Kain asked, his tone filled with concern.
"Yeah, I'll be fine. I just didn't sleep well last night, but that shouldn't hinder my ability to perform for the Colonel."
Even the youngest solider knew that a lack of sleep does affect anyone's performance. "Look, Riza, I'd be more than willing to help you if it means you can go home early to get some sleep." Kain pleaded. Riza's eyes looked a bit darker than usual, the circles underneath shown that she was a bit wore down.
Vato wanted to make sure that even his female colleague would feel a sense of cooperation. "Look, whatever work you need done, I can do it for you. You deserve a day off."
Roy agreed with Kain's and Vato's comments. "Just, please go home. Don't stress yourself out."
She didn't know what to say, something as if she'd like to tell him privately. "Colonel, are you okay with me doing this?"
Roy was about to look at his Second Lietuenant, but something on the back of his neck didn't feel quite right. He looked out at his window, focusing on the street right by him. Something didn't look quite right.
"Sir?" Vato asked.
Suddenly, a young woman collapsed right on the street. Like lightning, Roy bolted. He quickly slipped his gloves on just in case.
Jean was just perplexed. "What the? Roy just doesn't run out like that." However, when the cigarette-smelling man walked right by the window, he was just horrified to see that woman too. "Oh god, someone call the paramedics. Breda, now! Riza, go after Roy, who knows what he might be getting himself into."
Why is that innocent people have to be brought into things that they're not even a part of? Roy's mind was racing with that thought, but his legs carried him all the way.
What he sensed was horrible, a perfectly fine woman just suddenly collapsing.
"Miss, are you okay? Have you been feeling sick recently?"
Nothing, not even a headshake or a bodily reaction was emitted.
He quickly checked her pulse, while there was one it was a faint, erratic one. Blonde hair grazed the ground, green eyes glossed over, she looked to be incredibly sick.
She appears to be in her twenties, relatively good shape, that's just beyond abnormal.
Sirens blared in the distance; Roy wanted to make sure she would be fine from the ambulance to the hospital. "Everything's going to be alright, I will personally make sure you get there safely."
Somehow the woman managed to grab his wrist, maybe a bit too tightly.
"Miss, what's the matter? Please speak to me."
Her breathing intensified, a slight growl was growing. She bared her teeth and immediately gut punched Roy. Black hair swished back. "What the fuck?!" As much as he wanted to use his flames, his thought reasoned that maybe her body was reacting in a negative matter to his presence.
"Everything's going to be fine; I just need you to calm down." He had his hand open in a friendly gesture to try to calm her down and the other one primed for a blind fire snap.
The woman's head tilted to the side almost look like her neck was ready to snap off. "Do you have any idea what power humans can have if they shed their bodies?" she finally spoke, but the words she spoke sounded detached.
Something clearly changed within the woman's body and mind, but Roy wanted to try and keep the peace. Except, the blaring sirens came closer and she wasn't exactly too thrilled.
"Do you want more dead bodies on your hand Flame Alchemist? You incinerated the Ishvalans like it was nothing, but what about me?" her voice trailed, like nails that dug into every guilty action he committed.
Now with both hands primed, he was ready, but he heard more feet stomping. His unit was not too far behind him.
"Predictable, one person can't handle me? So, you have to call the firing squad to deal with a woman." More and more her body mutated into something Roy couldn't believe. Paper thin skin shed revealing pure white, chunks of it fell off, visible red streaks ran from the shoulders down. A foreign object slowly formed on her forehead, but she suddenly burst into flames.
Screeches filled the streets and Riza was right beside him. "Sir, are you hurt?" she asked sternly, Riza had her gun ready to fire.
"I might not be able to write for a while, but other than that I'm fine." He still felt the tight grip around his wrist. "Miss, make it easy for yourself and surrender. It's clear that you're not well, but we have the best scientists and doctors that can probably treat whatever you're afflicted with."
More of the flames continued to swallow the semi-human creature, she remained perfectly still. Except, Riza noticed more red lightning-like streaks encasing the fire.
With a tremendous force, the woman lurched forward. "Roy get down, NOW!"
Bullet after bullet whipped through Riza's gun, every recoil forced the casing to fall to the ground. A few precise shots took out the woman's legs, but the same red lightning streaks repaired the holes Riza made.
Her eyes widened in horror, but Roy wanted to make sure no one else in the city would be harmed by that monster.
"What do you exactly want? What's your name?"
Riza was infuriated with Roy's intention to further negotiate with the unnamed woman. "Colonel, what are you thinking?! It's clear that she wants us dead."
"Just give me a moment Lieutenant. I might be onto something with her."
The white monster remained silent; her violent tendencies came to a grinding halt. Its hands weren't clenched together, and she didn't tilt her head down. Glossy eyes tried to focus on the blue uniformed soldiers.
"Help me." There was sense of helplessness in her tone, a plea was felt.
"Just tell me your name, we can start somewhere."
"My name is Adrianna-" Her words were cut off, as she attempted to speak her last name, the item on her forehead shattered and the flames came back once again, except more intense.
Jean, Heymans, Vato, and Kain came barreling in with their guns ready to fire, but Riza put her arm up. "It won't be of use; her body will be turned into ash."
Ashes were kicked up by the breeze; all that remained were a few brittle bones and what looked like a human skull.
Finally, the ambulance arrived but the EMTs were shocked to see the state of the body. Except, he was a bit confused to see one of the members of the Senior Staff, Brigadier General Edison. He placed his hand delicately along his scraggly beard, adjusted his glasses.
Roy was a bit perplexed by his presence. Why is he here? How did he know about this? Was he not too far from the skirmish?
"Roy Mustang, Riza Hawkeye, Vato Falman, Kain Fuery, Jean Havoc, and Heymans Breda, we will need a report from all of you what you witnessed. Roy, did you at any time used flame alchemy at her? From the scratches on the ground, it looked like there was a tussle."
With a very firm tone Roy responded, "No. And, Sir, I am not so sure why she attacked me, she may have been sick, but something caused her to go up in flames. Maybe it was the infection that's been going around, but as far as I know the infection usually puts it victims in a lethargic state. She was absolutely nowhere near lethargic, but the main point here is what happened was not normal by far. However, I have a question for you Brigadier General."
"What is it Mustang?" the old man replied with, his words stinging with sarcasm. Edison would be the kind of man to inform the Furher at the drop of a hat, he wasn't too afraid to bury someone into the ground. He was the top advisor for the Furher and that was how he kept his title.
"How did you witness the fight between the woman and I? You say there were scorch marks on the ground, yes there were but they were not of my own doing. Are you trying to suggest I would attack an unarmed civilian?" he slightly smirked at Edison, Roy knew he might be able to trip up the old man.
"I don't think I should be the one to remind you that you were dubbed the Flame Alchemist for burning all of those Ishvalans. Innocent civilians or not, they were the enemy. I managed to see it all from my office and quickly informed the proper parties about this incident. The Furher is fully aware of who was involved and the following consequences. I can assure that you and your men will not suffer any particular consequences, for now."
"What do you mean 'for now?'" The colonel had to question. Edison never had the best reputation as a people person. Anger coursed through Roy's fists; it was the guilt of being a soldier he hated the most. He wanted to make a change for the better but being part of a war wasn't in his vision for change.
A few quick scribbles were jotted down, and a slip was given to the slightly battered soldier. "People are scared; we're doing everything we can to make sure everyone is safe and healthy as best as we can. You do your job to keep the peace between other warring countries and we save peoples' lives. With this incident, we will be keeping it disclosed from the public and if people do ask, it was a skirmish that resulted in an explosion."
"What kind of bullshit excuse is that?" his words filled with anger, he could barely save a woman and to hear that was infuriating.
"You may or may not be surprised, but this was the order I received from the Furher himself and the Senior Council. The last thing people need to hear is that the city has monsters running about. Just know that even the Senior Council is aware of this and will do everything in its power to keep the peace. In the meantime, all of you are on a gag order about this and if we hear something around the military base," he paused, readjusted his glasses, his wrinkly skin showed just how old he was, "-there will be severe consequences."
Just unfucking real, alright, if these bastards want to play this way. I might have to get dirty myself. Roy wanted more than anything to clock where that man stood, but it wouldn't have made his position any better. If a soldier wanted to get to the top, sometimes rules would have to be broken to create other possible paths.
"Fine, understood. If that is what the Furher desires, then I can't argue with him." His words felt serious, but Roy was more than willing to get some dirty work done. After a couple of awkward moments, both men disbanded and went their ways.
Jean was shocked to see the Colonel in place like that. "Colonel, you're just gonna let him talk to you like that?"
"What can I do Havoc? He's the Furher's advisor, the Senior Council has the power to put us in order like that."
A few more paramedics and coroners came on by to pick up any other remains the woman left behind.
Roy couldn't just let that image sit there. He needed to do something before any other people turned into that freak of nature. The way Adrianna moved, her breathing, it was almost primal instinct, but not the kind he's seen at zoos. Slowly, but surely, they made it back to their office thinking over everything that has transpired. A soldier was prepared to deal with conflict caused by other man, not monsters formed like that.
"Falman, I'm going to need you to go the Central City hospital and try to find anything you can about that woman Adrianna. No common cold causes people to go up in flames; something else is causing these people to get sick. In fact, I highly suspect someone or some group is intentionally making people sick. Also, I think we might need some muscle power so to speak; this is going to take a lot more men."
"Colonel, what do you mean? Don't you want to wait a little before you do anything? From the way Edison made it sound like, anything we do will get us in trouble. Also, who else are you wanting to drag in this?"
Very calmly he responded, "I think this illness is being artificially created so that when people do get sick, they're getting something injected into them. I mean come on, the way her skin turned completely white and the red veins weren't normal at all. Whatever is causing this 'disease' needs to be stopped before other people in Amestris get infected. We have a duty to protect the people not just from physical conflicts, but medical ones too. We'll have to do this out of uniform for this one. We're gonna be on our own. Plus, I'm not so sure who we can trust, but I know Armstrong is loyal to whoever he follows and knows me very well. I don't sugarcoat bullshit around him."
A few newspaper clippings showed just how many people in some of the lesser countries were dying by the dozens. Their bodies rotted with holes where organs used to be; the looks on their faces was utter despair, as if no solace were within reach.
Roy just wanted to jump on the chance to make the Senior Council look bad; to show the old men a few new tricks that even the dogs of the military could show them. Dark eyes scattered like a mad man, he wanted to jump on the chance to get the work started. However, Riza's soft delicate hands intervened.
"Mustang, I know that look you get sometimes. Before you start acting crazy, I think it would be best if we formed a plan somewhere else. Even if we're careful in the office, Edison, or someone else can come in here. I think we need to call for some other help, this is going to take a lot of convincing on our end. I know it can't be done overnight, but, we've got to be patient." Her words had that logical touch of reality, as much as she wanted to do the right thing right away, it would have to take time. "I don't want something to happen to our team, we are strong in numbers. I'll make sure to drop something to him, even for a lunk of a musclehead he knows when to act."
Heymans was in the process of filing his own report just to please Edison, but even then, he felt no true obligation to do it. "Hawkeye's right sir, look even this bullshit report Edison wants us to do? Fuck that, if the military wants to protect its precious council, then what would a group like us do to them?"
While Jean would've lit another cigarette in a situation like this, he closed his lighter. "This is just absurd; we see a woman die right in front of our eyes and they want to dub her death from an explosion?"
Vato sat at his desk, staring at the dreaded "report" Edison was forcing them to do.
Kain just sat there at his desk utterly confused, almost heartbroken. He hated to feel useless in a situation like that, not running out there to help people in need. "I can't believe this is what the military is willing to cover their ass about. I know sometimes they have to put a blanket to fan out something, but this is just wrong." Tears almost formed but felt some comfort by Riza.
"I know you're the youngest out of all of us, but rest assured we will bring justice to that woman and everyone else who may have suffered." Even when Riza has her firm moments, she knew how to help people in distress.
Except, the future for Roy's team was not future clear, what was clear for them is their goal to help people who can't even defend themselves. They were ready to bear arms so to speak.
/
Blood-curdling screams filled the hallways.
Limbs contorted in unseen ways while a bunch of doctors just stood from the side writing down their notes.
"These tiny stones are going to change the face of the earth as we know it." his golden tooth gleamed with pride, these were the results this doctor liked to see.
"Don't forget, these stones were made by me, so in reality I am the one who will become the world's rightful ruler," Father spoke coldly, more and more corpses laid around his feet.
The other Homunculi stood there, waiting for their orders. Misery and chaos were the games they played so well; humans could easily cower in fear of their presence.
The stones within their core are what all men seek for, but Dr. Morfran held a fraction of it in his wrinkly palm. "I'm super curious to see how all of humanity will react to this. I think our numbers are a little small, maybe we can round more people up. I'll make a couple more visits. Besides, I think it's time to move onto the next phase soon; Father, your path is almost set."