After all this time of tearing apart the cabin to find the key to the study... Manami was now terrified to go inside. She had first tried to sleep, since it was already late into the night by the time she found the key. She managed to doze off a little, but it was on and off.
Her eyes cracked open when the sunlight, despite being behind clouds, peeked inside the windows and woke her up. She checked her pocket watch to see that it was seven in the morning, and decided that this was the best sleep she was going to get.
She couldn't wait on this anymore.
Manami approached the door, holding the key tightly in one hand, and a lantern in the other.
She was about to find out the dark secrets of Tyberious.
She slowly entered the key and turned it. She felt the lock clicked open, and she slowly turned the knob and opened the door to reveal a room that was pitch black, until she lifted up the lantern as she stepped inside. Despite that the rest of the house was usually cluttered with books and papers while she stayed with Tyberious, this room was pristine. Not a single book or paper loose.
There was a single desk and chair, and a bookshelf that stretched along the entirety of a single wall. Its shelves were stuffed full of books and folders.
"Holy..." Manami set down the lamp on the desk and approached the bookshelf, pulling out the first folder she could reach, and opening it up to scan.
"Daily logs... of all the experiments..." She mumbled to herself, as she flipped open the folder and looked through the pages.
It was so matter of fact. The logs contained information on the people performing the transmutation: their name, height and weight, even blood work... it also included the name of the person they were trying to bring back. On the bottoms of each page were the results... all of which read "FAIL" in big, bold letters.
It was even documented... what these people had paid as toll. Limbs, organs, entire bodies. Some people were left blind or deaf. One even lost his memories.
Manami quickly closed the folder, taking a deep breath through her nose in an attempt to stifle the nausea.
This was too much...
She sifted through everything on the top shelf, finding more logs of experiments for Human Transmutation. They were dated back as far back as 1886, and seemed to stop at 1898. All of these logs simply stated the occurrences of experiments, who did what… but there was no "why" this research was even taking place.
Twelve whole years of this process... before she was even born.
Manami found herself only pulling out certain folders that caught her eye, instead of going through all of them like she did on the top shelf. It was getting harder and harder for her to stomach the truth that was being revealed to her. She considered taking a break, but knew that she had to see this through.
Instead, she sat on the cold wooden floor and continued reading. She made her way to the lower shelves, where the logs were different. They all had the stamp of the Amestrian military logo. These logs were more vague than the others, containing measurements of scientific elements.
Manami had trouble making sense of all of it.
"Where's the conclusion to all this..?" She groaned as she shut the last folder. At this point, she had been reading through these logs for hours, and not one of them contained the information she wanted.
She went to stand up and hold her hands against her tailbone as she straightened her back, and she glanced over to the desk. There sat a quill pen and a bottle of ink, next to….
"A journal?"
Manami quickly reached for the small book and opened it up to see Tyberious's handwriting.
It was indeed a journal. The first page was dated January 25th, 1886.
"Today marks the beginning of my funded research of Human Transmutation."
She stopped reading to flip to the last page, where there were only three sentences written under the date September 1, 1898.
"The military has found us out. I hear the gunshots and the screams of my friends and coworkers below me. I'm next."
But he was spared… why?
Manami stopped to think for a moment. Twelve years of working at this private institution, run by a doctor with a gold tooth, who had actually worked for the military…
Tim Marcoh… that was the man who wrote the notes that she helped Ed and Al decode. If he were still alive, maybe she could ask him more questions...
For now, her last chance to find out any beneficial information was in this journal… but, she was scared to find out.
Beforehand, she learned of the things Tyberious did. But this... this would reveal, through his very handwriting, what kind of person Tyberious— or rather, Jared Keller— really was.
Manami swallowed thickly, staring down at the journal in her hands. She felt like she should be with Ed or Al to share this information… but, did she want them to know that this was the man who took her in and taught her alchemy?
Her face twisted at the harsh fact... that she didn't have a clue that this was who he really was... this whole time.
Manami took a deep breath before turning a few pages back, stopping to see a lot written on a page dated August 25, 1898:
"I believe that I've reached the conclusion of the initial purpose of my research.
No matter who it is trying to revive someone, or what they paid as toll, it is always the same result: A being with black hair (even if the original person didn't have such) with bone structures that are drastically different than the person they were trying to revive. Sometimes it's even the opposite sex. In extreme cases, where usually the performer and/or their partners have disappeared, their results have been creatures with multiple heads or limbs. It's possible that they got infused with their own transmutation."
Manami felt her stomach churn, but she read on.
"Not one of our experiments were successful. Instead, these alchemists have managed to create an entirely new body, that usually rejects the soul inside of it. Our longest lasting result was #28, where the performer's partner perished, but the result lived for 43 seconds— not nearly enough time for us to determine if they managed to bind the original person's soul inside of it.
I think that it is safe to say that it is impossible bring a dead person back to life— for their minds have been lost, severing the connection between the soul and body. However, we have proven the possibility of bringing back a soul whose mind is not yet lost. The determining factor of whether a soul can be reunited with its body is if the mind is still existent to bring the two together, like a magnetic force. Without it, they are truly dead.
Though I've been having other thoughts. While we as humans already have the capability to create life, it seems that we are also capable of building a body using alchemy. It's just a speculation, but is it possible to bind a mind and soul to a stronger, more resilient body made with alchemy?
Is this humanity's next evolution? I now have a new purpose for my research."
Manami took in a sharp breath and threw the journal on the floor, her shaky hands curling into fists.
The man who taught her everything she knew about alchemy… this was who he used to be?! How many lives did he use for these experiments?! How many lives did he and Tim Marcoh use to make Philosopher Stones?!
She had found some of the answers she was looking for, but... was it worth it?
Manami had been sick to her stomach, but now it was unbearable
"I gotta get the hell out of here."
She went to pick up the journal and lantern before quickly exiting the room, locking the door with the key behind her. She looked to the window and noticed that that sun had already set.
She hadn't eaten all day, but she was so nauseous that she didn't think she could eat if she wanted to.
The next morning, Manami left Tyberious's cabin, being sure that the front door was locked, and that the key was hidden. She still couldn't bring herself to eat, dismissing it to where she'd figure it out when she got to Central.
It really sunk in on this train ride, how weird it felt to be on a train by herself… not with Ed and Al, or Winry… it reminded her of when she took this same train to Central, alone, to apply to be a State Alchemist.
That was almost three years ago already.
When she arrived, Manami went right to the inn. She hoped that Ed would be back by now, but she considered that he may still be getting his arm fixed.
Still, she had to at least tell Al what was going on.
"Oh, Miss Kami!" The man at the front counter recognized her when she stepped into the lobby.
"Hello…" Manami blinked as she approached him.
"I'm sorry to put this on you, but Mr. Elric hasn't returned yet... and he's two nights overdue on the payments for your two rooms. We will have to evict your rooms if it's not paid by five today."
"Ugh," Manami groaned, reaching into her pocket for her wallet. "Why was he even paying on a nightly basis…" She muttered.
"What's the damage?"
"The nights stays, plus meal costs, plus the late fee for three days unpaid, comes to three hundred thousand Cens, ma'am."
"T-T-Three hundred thousand..?!" Manami sputtered, looking into her wallet.
She only had one hundred thousand on hand…
"Uh... " She began to sweat. "S-So, you said I can pay this by five, right? Here's one thousand for now, I have to run to the bank to get the rest…"
"Of course, ma'am."
"Manami?"
Manami looked over as she handed the man every bill in her wallet, seeing Al coming down the steps. She smiled, but only for a brief moment, because her face twisted into pure shock when she noticed that he only had one arm, and the jaw of his helmet was covered in a cloth.
"Al?! Wh-What happened to you?!" She shrieked.
"Uh… it's a lot to explain…" The suit of armor rubbed the back of his neck, nervously.
"Is brother with you?"
"I wish he was..." Manami sighed. "Now I'm stuck with his bill. Again."
"Sorry…" Al apologized, but Manami waved her hand dismissively.
"I got a lot to explain too, but I got to run to the bank first. Come on."
"I see… so, you're not obligated to be brother's partner anymore…" Al said quietly, as he and Manami walked down the streets of Central towards the bank.
Manami glanced up to him, noticing how he got quiet. She stuffed her hands in her pockets and looked ahead.
"I mean… I asked Ed if I could keep traveling with you guys." She said quietly, hearing Al turn his helmet to look at her.
"He made the point that, as long as I'm being called one of these sacrifices like you guys are, then it's probably best that I stick around. If I went anywhere else, I'd just be isolating myself and endangering anyone around me."
"Speaking of isolating yourself, why wasn't he with you?" Al asked, and Manami's eyes narrowed.
"He... went home to get his arm fixed…" She said quietly, avoiding his gaze.
"Oh… I see." Al nodded.
"But," Manami shrugged. "I went to New Optain, where my alchemy teacher lived."
"Oh, were they happy to see you?" Al asked, a smile in his tone.
Manami chuckled bitterly. "He's dead... but, I learned a hell of a lot about him… things I can't quite say out here in public." She said, her eyes shifting around to make sure no one nearby was watching them or listening to them.
"I prefer to tell you about it when Ed's back, because despite that I'm still trying to process it all emotionally... it's still pretty useful information for you guys."
"There must be a lot to process..." Al said quietly. "You look like you haven't gotten a lot of sleep." He pointed out.
"Ah, is it that obvious?" Manami went to touch her face, feeling the bags under her eyes, then sighed. "Yeah, it's been a stressful couple of days…"
"You could say that again..." Al chuckled weakly.
"I take it you can't tell me about that in public either?" She gestured to him. "Mister 'I'm-beat-to-hell?'"
"Hey, I held my own pretty well, thank you!" Al huffed, making Manami chuckle, to which he joined her.
"Still... I'm glad you're alright." Manami said quietly, looking up to give him a small smile.
"... mmm, I'm glad you are, too." Al replied, making Manami's cheeks burn a little and she turned her head.
"Ah, as alright as I can be. Anyway..." She went to change the subject. "I guess we'll have a fun game of catch-up when Ed gets back. After I get my own round of beat-up on him." Manami muttered as they approached the entrance to the bank.
"Like... I might actually kill him."
"Please don't..." Al chuckled weakly.