Ed, Al, and Manami were taken inside the massive wall of Fort Briggs to be brought to their infirmary. The man known as Buccaneer who attacked them was also in there, with someone working to sever Al's helmet from his automail— in a room separated only by a thin curtain.
Apparently, Ed was on the brink of frostbite. He sat on a stool, stripped down to his undershirt and boxers, with wet and warm cloths resting on his shoulder and knee, right where the automail limbs met with the flesh. The closer the skin was to the automail, the more frozen it got.
The solution to that was having different automail than what Ed had.
"That would explain why Ed's transmutation didn't work on that guy's automail…" Manami hummed, leaning back on a nearby counter with her arms crossed.
"There was no iron to deconstruct." Ed nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, after a bunch of trial and error, we produced automail that's more flexible, lightweight, and resistant against the cold." One of the doctors told them. She had spiky blonde hair held by a white bandana on her forehead.
"It's a combination of duralumin, carbon fiber, nickel, and copper." She said, adjusting her round glasses.
"Hey doc," Buccaneer pushed the curtain aside and stepped in. "You planning to tell these punks all our secrets?"
"Why wouldn't I? They're on our side." The doctor answered, as like matter of fact.
"Pheh." Buccaneer scoffed with a twitch of his head.
"They're state alchemists." As the doctor said it, both Ed and Manami yanked their silver pocket watches out to show.
Buccaneer could only scowl. "These kids… are the rank of Major?" He thought to himself.
"Anyway, you can get dressed now." The doctor changed the subject, and Ed nodded and went to do so, as she went across the room to start handling a pot of coffee.
"If you plan to be here any longer, you need to switch your automail."
Manami and Ed exchanged frowns as he finished buttoning his overshirt.
"Do you have a mechanic?" The doctor asked, now pouring the coffee into a cup.
"Uh… yeah…" Ed looked back to her as he put on his red coat. "In Rush Valley…"
"And she let you come up here without explaining any of this to you?"
"Well. not exactly…" Ed nervously as the doctor approached him with the mug. "We didn't tell her we were coming…"
"We were in sort of a rush." Manami added.
"Well, I'd rush to get her here." The doctor said. "That is, if you want to stay alive."
Ed scowled, and then went to sip his coffee. "Fine…"
"That'll be 100 Cens please."
Ed spit his drink back into the cup after the doctor said that. He glared back at her to see her hand held out, meaning that she was serious about the fee.
Ed dug in his pocket and flipped her a 100 Cens coin.
"Really… not even that good a cup of coffee…"
"I'll take one too, on his tab." Manami pointed to Ed, almost making him drop his mug.
"Are you serious?!"
"You still owe me 145,050 Cens." Manami sneered as the nurse happily brought her her own mug. "Or would you like me to start adding interest..?"
"Wha..?!" Ed was rendered speechless. "Wh-Why you..!"
Suddenly, the door to the infirmary slammed open to reveal Olivier Armstrong herself.
"Hello, little red runt." She said, and Ed almost fell to the floor.
"Wh—... little…"
"I've come to discuss things with you three—"
"WAAAH!" Al's screech drowned out Olivier's words as the other doctor came into the room with his helmet. He held out shaky hands as he saw the string on top cut significantly shorter, so roughly that the ends were frayed at different lengths.
"My… my hair..!" He whined as he took the helmet and approached a mirror to see himself put it on his shoulders.
"..." He could only slump before the mirror. "It… it looks terrible…"
"Ed can fix it, can't he—"
"I believe I was speaking first!" Olivier shouted over Manami, making her stand straight up and almost fling her coffee on herself.
"S-Sorry ma'am!"
They watched nervously as Olivier crossed the room and went to sit at one of the desks and cross her legs. On the desk was Manami's knapsack, which she grabbed and opened and reached inside.
"..!" Manami's eyes widened as Olivier pulled out her journal. She must've made a noise, because Olivier stopped to look up and eye the three of them suspiciously before speaking.
"So, you three know my brother Alex…" She started, opening the journal to flip through the pages. Manami's throat grew thick as she watched her, not daring to say a word.
"How is he?" Olivier asked as she then pulled out the three photos and went to look at each of them, much longer than she looked at the pages of the journal.
"U-Uh…" Manami stammered, distracted by her hands flipping through the pictures.
"He's great!" Ed and Al finished for her, but Olivier only scoffed.
"So, you three are childhood friends?" Olivier looked up and flipped the photo in her hand to show the three of them. It was the photo of all of them as kids, with Winry and Shiori.
Ed and Al's eyes widened and they both looked back to Manami, who avoided their glances to look down at her feet.
"Yeah… we are." She answered.
"I see. But then the armor is empty?" Olivier asked, and they flinched.
"We… don't like to talk about it to a lot of people…" Ed mumbled, his glance moving back to the spectacled doctor.
"We all got something to hide." The doctor said simply, not seeming to care.
"Well… this is something we hide because… well, it could get us court martialed…" Ed continued on.
"Even I have secrets like that." Olivier spat. "Tell me everything. No hiding anything."
To Manami's relief, she put the photos back together and lifted the cover of the journal to stuff them inside before shoving it back in the knapsack altogether, without mention of the journal's contents.
The trio explained as much as they could without mentioning the Homunculi, Father, or King Bradley. That was more for everyone else's sake. They did, however, tell Olivier everything about their pasts, including committing the taboo of Human Transmutation.
With that, the story led to how they were trying to find...
"The girl with the black and white cat." Olivier mumbled, examining the drawing of the animal, before placing it on the desk next to Manami's knapsack.
"I understand now."
"So, you'll help us—"
"I'm not finished." Olivier cut Ed off. "What I understand is this: you three are a couple of reckless morons who cause trouble at every turn."
Manami's eyes widened. She felt a twinge of guilt, only meaning that she somewhat agreed with her.
"How can the people of Central let brats like you run loose?" Olivier spat. "You are literally the last thing I want in my fort. Get out, now!"
The trio flinched, not knowing what to say in response, and the room was deafeningly silent for a few moments.
"... that's what I want to say, but you have me intrigued at this 'alkahestry.'" Olivier finally said, closing her blue eyes, and the trio glanced amongst each other in surprise.
"You three know this girl?"
"In a way…" Al answered Olivier.
"She has a skill that our country does not." Olivier's eyes opened, but were still narrow with determination.
"I want it."
Manami resisted the urge to swallow the thickness in her throat. She had a bad feeling about alkahestry going into the wrong hands, and she knew that the military's hands weren't the cleanest…
"You can never know too much." Olivier continued. "In the north, on the border to a country like Drachma, we need something like alkahestry to overpower them."
"B-But," Manami croaked, but managed to find her voice after she spoke. "Alkahestry is… it's not meant to be a weapon."
"It's supposed to be used for medical purposes!" Al added, clearly on the same page Manami was.
"I didn't ask for your opinion!" Olivier shouted over the both of them. "You lap dogs can yelp all you want from the safety of the inner country! That peaceful life is maintained thanks to those of us who are brave enough to defend the border. I will make use of any knowledge that I obtain."
The trio stared back at her, once again speechless. They still didn't agree with how she wanted to use alkahestry, but she had a point too… before they could respond, Olivier went to stand and walk to the door.
"In the meantime… Major Miles?"
Manami looked over to the man who replied with a firm, "Yes sir!" and she noticed that it was the man who came into the room with her. He had darker skin and glasses over his eyes, which she thought was odd. It wasn't necessarily sunny here, after all.
"Put these maggots to work." Olivier commanded.
"Huh?" Ed and Manami blinked.
"But…"
"If you don't work, you don't eat." Olivier snapped her head to look back at them.
"..." Ed and Manami swallowed thickly. "Y-You're right…"
Al didn't need to eat, but was too scared to even object.
Olivier walked out the room, and Manami stepped forward to grab the straps of her knapsack and pull them over her shoulders.
"This way." The dark-skinned man known as Miles went to open the door and lead the trio out. They walked down a long hallway lined with metal pipes in silence for what felt like forever.
"So," Ed finally decided to break it. "What kind of job are you going to have us do?"
But Miles didn't respond.
Manami exchanged glances with Al, and then looked back to Ed as he spoke up again.
"One of the doctors mentioned that everyone here has something to hide. So, what's yours?"
Manami's eyes widened in surprise, but once again Miles said nothing.
"Grr…" Ed growled. "It's no fair when you get to ask all the questions but never answer any…"
The three of them jumped in surprise when Miles suddenly stopped walking.
"..?"
"You really want to know?" Miles asked, and Manami saw him reach for his glasses. She started to understand once he began to pull them off, but it was when he turned to look back at them with eyes of crimson that it hit all three of them.
He was an Ishvalan..!
"I don't understand…" Ed said breathlessly. "Weren't all of the Ishvalan soldiers purged before the extermination..?"
"You're correct, but I am not from Ishval." Miles said quietly. "The blood runs through my veins, but my grandmother, father, and wife are of a different race. These eyes and skin come from my grandfather."
But then his eyes narrowed as he turned to face them completely. "Amestrians… it was your people who destroyed his land."
The trio flinched, but Manami noticed that Ed took a deep breath, like he was trying to calm himself.
"... Ishvalan, your people… destroyed our countryside." He said quietly, looking back up at Miles. "And one of you is responsible for murdering our friend's parents."
"Ed…"
"Brother..!" Manami and Al both went to interject. They were preparing to de-escalate this conversation, but...
Miles began to laugh.
"..?" Manami raised her eyebrows, watching as he stifled his laughter and held up a hand of dismissal.
"I'm sorry." He said with a grin. "That's the first time anyone's given me that kind of answer."
"Well, you only met the most hard-headed person on the planet…" Manami rolled her eyes.
"Shut up," Ed scoffed. "So, that was all just a test?"
"I know, it was rude of me." Miles nodded. "But since the war, Amestrians always looked at me with guilt and pity. Frankly, it's gotten old. But you're different."
"Well, Major…" Ed went to explain. "I've had an Ishvalan kidnap me, try to kill me, and fight alongside me. We've fought against and beside Xingese people, too."
"I've got Easten Islander blood in me." Manami gestured to herself.
"So, we don't particularly see race as something very important." Ed said. "We just treat each other as equals. I think humankind is better off that way."
"..." Manami could swear she saw the smile on Miles's face grow a little as he went to put his glasses back on.
"Let's be on our way, then." He gestured ahead of them and they went to walk once more.
"Were you on active duty, Major Miles?" Ed asked as they approached an elevator. "You know, during the war?"
"I was." Miles answered as he pressed the button next to the door. "I've been under the command of General Armstrong since then. The war began right after being posted here. Many relatives, including my grandfather, were killed in the East. I was spared, since I didn't meet the requirements for the purge."
Manami frowned a little. "And you don't… hate the military?"
"You kids are pretty direct…" Miles grinned down at her.
"Sorry if I offended you..!" She quickly apologized. "I just…"
"We're pretty ignorant, huh…" Ed chuckled after Manami trailed off.
"Ignorant State Alchemists, huh?" Miles scoffed. "Interesting."
It wasn't until they got into the elevator when Miles spoke again.
"I did hate the military's actions." He admitted. "I also had doubts as to why General Armstrong kept me as a staff officer."
"She didn't seem to be someone who'd care much about race, either." Manami thought aloud.
"No, it wasn't her I was worried about." Miles shook his head. "It was the other soldiers stationed here. It would've been easier for her to get rid of me than to deal with all of their discord. One day, I just came out and asked her."
"What did she say?" Al blinked.
"That my blood had a diverse sense of value. That I can see this country for different points of view."
"Sounds about right…" Manami chuckled weakly. Olivier was very into the idea of having the biggest variety of weaponry at her disposal, it wasn't surprising that she saw a variety of races and perspectives as useful to her, too.
"Her words made sense." Miles nodded in agreement. "I even asked her, what if the Ishvalan blood could not forgive the military? Guess what she said…"
"What's that?" Ed inquired.
Miles smiled weakly. "'Come at me. I accept a challenge on behalf of the military anytime.' Her eyes were even saying that she was ready to cut me down all by herself."
"I'd believe it…" Manami whined as the elevator doors open, letting in a sharp gust of wind that chilled her to the bone. She wrapped her coat tighter around herself as they stepped out onto a small landing where they could see the dark shadows of the mountains in the distance.
"You guys know the law of the land here?" Miles asked, and Manami could see his breath misting and dissipating as he walked ahead.
"Survival of the fittest." Ed answered.
"Exactly." Miles replied. "The weak die, the strong live. It's a truth that stays the same 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. It doesn't favor race, nationality, or gender…"
"Whoa!" Ed suddenly tripped his foot on an uneven section of the floor and went to fall forward, but Manami jumped back as an icicle fell from above, shattering right in front of her.
"Ed!" She snapped, watching as he froze in place with both arms outstretched and his left leg up in the air behind him.
"That," Miles pointed to the shattered icicle at their feet. "Was survival of the fittest. Luck was on your side."
"Well, I'd be even luckier if you watch your step from here on out, Ed…" Manami muttered with a heavy sigh of misty breath.
"I'm sorry, okay..?!"
"So, these icicles need to be scraped off, so that doesn't happen to someone else who has bad luck." Miles said, going to look over at the trio to see them looking up at all the icicles above.
"That will be your job for the evening."
He then pointed to a small door. "The ice picks are in that closet. When you're done, one of my men will show you to your quarters."
And with that, Miles walked away and the trio went to get started.