Al was picking the icicles with ease, while Manami managed to get a few of the lower ones. Ed, meanwhile, was struggling to reach any of them…
"Can't… reach…"
"You're better off sitting on Al's shoulders or… something!" Manami managed to knock down another icicle.
"That's embarrassing!" Ed snapped at her. "It's your fault that you keep getting the low ones before I can!"
"I'm getting what I can reach as fast as I can, so we can be done quicker!" Manami snapped back. "I'm freezing!"
"Grr…" Ed growled in response as he gave up and pulled his ice pick down to the ground so he could lean on it. He watched her for a moment, and then his eyes narrowed.
"... I can't believe you had that picture of all of us this whole time."
Manami instinctively flinched and accidentally dropped her ice pick over her head, and it fell behind her with a loud SNAP!
"..." She sighed and went to pick it up, feeling both Ed and Al's eyes on her.
"I never meant for that journal, or anything inside it, to be brought up." She said quietly.
"Why not?" Ed asked, as Al scraped off another icicle that fell and shattered on the ground. "I mean, I get the diary part, but…"
"Did you bring any pictures with you when you burned your house down?" Manami looked back at him with no real expression.
"..." Ed shrunk a little nonetheless. "No…"
"Because it would only remind you of the past you left behind, right?" Manami sighed softly, then went to lean the ice pick against a nearby wall before crossing her arms and looking out to the dark mountains in the distance.
"In the beginning, those pictures were more of a punishment than a pleasant memory." She said quietly. "It was a reminder of what I lost and— at the time— what I thought I would never have again. My family. My friends. My home."
"..." Ed and Al were silent for a brief moment before Ed let out a sigh.
"... geez, Manami..." Ed mumbled. "You're so dramatic."
"Brother…" Al attempted to interject as Manami snapped her head to frown back at Ed.
"I think you can relate to the idea of carrying something that reminds you how you can't turn back."
Ed's eyes went wide, and then quickly narrowed. He knew that Al didn't understand the underlying truth at that statement, but... the way she looked at him… and that tone… it all told him that she knew about his pocket watch.
But... how could she?
"So, they're pictures of us and your family?" Al asked, before he could notice Ed's expression.
"The third one is a newer one— of me with the Hughes family." Manami answered, forcing a small smile before looking out once again.
"I didn't want to be in the picture, but Maes insisted." She recalled. "He refused to let the photographer take the picture until I got in with them. Now... I'm glad he was so persistent."
"..." Ed and Al looked down to their feet. Even Al lowered his ice pick now.
"… I'm glad I have these pictures now, at least." Manami broke the silence, now trying to lighten the mood. "They now serve their intended purpose. I miss those days, but I can at least reminiscence in them now."
She then looked back up to the icicles. "So, would you guys judge me if I used a little bit of alchemy to—"
"Is that really you?" She stopped when they suddenly heard a familiar voice. The three of them turned to look back and saw someone approaching them. He was holding an ice pick like theirs. Manami was the first to realize…
"Officer Falman?" She blinked.
"Manami? And the Elric brothers?" Falman was also blinking in surprise. "What are you guys doing here?"
"Us? What about you?" Ed asked, his eyes wide with surprise.
"We thought you were sent to North City…" Al added.
"Yeah… I was for a little bit, but…" Falman went to rub the back of his head. "But then they bumped me up here to the Fort."
"Ah, you got promoted!" Al noticed a star on the shoulder of Falman's uniform. A symbol of a milestone of ranks within the military.
"Yeah, I did!" Falman's smile grew a little with pride.
"Congratulations!" Manami grinned, but then it quickly faded when she saw his ice pick. "But, why do they have you scraping icicles?"
"Unless…" Al whispered.
"They took him off the career track…" Ed finished.
"NO! DON'T SAY IT!" Falman went to turn away, his arm covering his teary eyes.
"... to hell with this." Manami said flatly, reaching in her pockets and pull out her fans.
"Manami, you shouldn't—"
"I'm too cold to argue." She cut Al off as she went to take a few steps back, and then waved both fans so that all the remaining icicles broke off under her gusts and flew out over the edge.
"Work's done— let's get inside where it's warm, please!"
Falman had taken the trio inside on a tour, and had brought them down to the lower areas of the fort.
"This is the development center." He said, gesturing to the huge room as they walked inside. There was a bunch of machinery, as well as a tank that was surrounded by people working together to cover it with a tarp.
"General Armstrong came up with the idea to form a team that would gather the country's leading technologies to develop into weapons." Falman explained as they watched the people down below working diligently.
"Does that include combat automail?" Ed asked, pulling his gaze away to look at Falman.
"Absolutely." He nodded. "Come on, I'll show you."
He led them down a staircase, and Ed and Manami noticed immediately that this room was warmer than the rest of the fort, making Manami sigh in relief. They looked up to see giant metal pipes along the walls, along with a structure that had a bunch of giant fans spinning.
"This is the lowest floor in the fort." Falman said.
"Sure is warm…" Ed commented.
"Can we sleep in here?" Manami asked with a sheepish grin.
Falman grinned as well as they continued to look around in awe. "All the fort's lifelines are in this room. Even if we're attacked up above, this part doesn't feel a thing."
"Move out of the way!" A gruff voice yelled from behind them and Manami and Ed were shoved aside by a man holding a giant pipe.
"Not the best place to stand!"
"S-Sorry!" The trio all said in unison, though Manami frowned a little.
"'Excuse me' would've worked too…" She muttered under her breath.
"Bobby, it's over here!" Another man from across the room yelled, and the man who shoved them approached him and put his ear against the giant pipe they all stood in front of.
"Do you hear it?"
"Yeah…" The man known as Bobby moved to his hands and knees and pressed his ear against the floor.
"?" Manami blinked at the sight of him.
"It's coming… from underground." He muttered.
"What is?"
"I don't know… but it sounds like it's digging through the rock."
"Are they spies from Drachma?!"
"They're getting close!"
Right as Bobby said that, Manami and Ed felt tremors coming from under their feet.
"?!"
BOOM! There was suddenly an explosion, causing the men to run away. The trio were frozen in shock, watching as the smoke started to dissipate, a giant rose from the hole in the ground.
Their eyes widened in horror when they noticed a familiar mark on his arm… the Ourosboros tattoo!
"Oh no!" Manami gasped.
"A Homunculus?! Here?!" Ed gritted his teeth.
Still frozen in shock, the three of them stared at the giant… until they noticed that his head sunk low on his shoulders.
"... wait…" Manami raised an eyebrow.
The giant let out a snore.
"Is he…"
"Sleeping?!" They all yelled out, which seemed to wake him up.
"Huh?" He groaned. "What's this?"
"..?" Manami and Ed exchanged confused glances.
"Did…" Ed started. "That guy you call Father, from Central, tell you we were here?"
"We're just trying to find a way to get our bodies back!" Al added.
"Why should I care… about you?" The giant tilted his head, much to their confusion.
"... because… well…" Manami stammered, unable to find the right words.
"Dig a hole." The giant looked around. "How annoying. What a pain."
"... I'm starting to think…" Manami's shoulders loosened a little. "This guy's on his own agenda…"
"So, he hasn't heard about us from Father or Furher Bradley…" Al nodded in agreement.
BANG! The three jumped a foot high when they suddenly heard a gunshot, and they whipped around to see Buccaneer pointing a gun at them. If Ed hadn't jumped, he would have been shot in the foot.
"Aha! You really are Drachman spies!" He yelled at them, and they quickly raised their arms.
"We're not!" They yelled back at him.
"You were talking to the intruder like you knew him!"
"We weren't!" Ed yelled with a growl.
As they continued to bicker, Manami turned her head to see the giant roaming around and approaching a huge pipe on the ground, which he began to pick up with ease.
"Uh, guys..?"
"We're not lying, we never met that—"
"LOOK OUT!" Manami yelled as soon as the giant threw the pipe, quickly reaching for her fans the moment she saw the pipe coming right for them.
WHOOSH! She barely managed to transmute a gust of wind to stop the pipe from falling on them, instead directing it to land next to them and not on them.
"Would you two shut up and pay attention?!" She shrieked.
"What is this place? It's big." The giant began to move again. "Can I stop digging… since I'm here?"
"FIRE!" Gunshots filled the room, with the bullets only aimed at the giant, but he seemed to be totally unaffected.
"The bullets don't work at all!" Buccaneer yelled as they all watched the giant walk over a loading dock, his oversized hand accidentally hitting the switch next to him. Unfortunately, that was the switch that began lifting the dock.
"No, no, no..!" Manami muttered anxiously, noticing that Ed began to run.
"We gotta do something!" He yelled, and Al and Manami were quick to follow him up the stairway they came from.
BOOM! An explosion big enough to shake the walls stopped them for a moment.
"What was that?!" Manami yelled out.
"We got to keep moving!" Ed went to run again, not stopping even when they heard multiple loud BOOMS this time. When they reached the upper landing, they saw three tanks in front of the giant.
"That would explain the explosions…"
But suddenly, the giant lifted his arm to bat at some crates and lockers, and the lockers went straight for a group of workers.
Without a second thought, Ed ran forward while clapping his hands. He then smacked them on the ground to transmute a giant hand that deflected the lockers from landing on the workers.
"Phew…" Manami sighed heavily in relief. That was too close…
She looked over to see Olivier eyeing them, and she swallowed nervously.
"General, it won't work!" Ed yelled to her.
"It can't die!" Manami added.
"Why not?!" Olivier barked, and the three of them froze.
What could they say?
"How do you kids know something like that?!" Buccaneer added, and they continued to struggle thinking of an answer.
They couldn't tell the truth…
"You will answer all of my questions here and now!" Olivier demanded. "First off, are you Drachman spies?!"
"We're not!" Ed and Manami answered in unison.
"Is that thing a spy?" Olivier pointed the sheath of her sword at the giant.
"P-Pretty sure he's not!" Ed answered.
"Does that thing know you?!" Olivier asked.
"No, he doesn't!" Manami answered.
"What is it?!" Olivier asked, and Manami and Ed could only grit their teeth.
"We… can't answer!" Ed finally spoke.
"Who does it work for?!" Olivier looked to Manami like she expected her to answer.
"We can't answer!" Manami felt a bead of sweat run down the side of her head.
"Why can't you answer me?" Olivier's eyes narrowed at the both of them.
"... we can't answer..." Ed's eyes narrowed as well.
After a brief moment of silence, Olivier spoke again. "One final question. Are you on our side?"
"Yes!" Manami spoke up. "We want him out of here and no longer endangering anyone as soon as possible!"
"Then tell me…" Olivier finally looked away to watch the giant. "What is that thing made of?"
"His... body structure and composition is probably the same as a human's." Ed tried his best to explain.
"... I see." Olivier thought for a moment. "Buccaneer, bring me tank fuel!" She demanded.
"That won't work!" Al said.
"Burning it won't make it die!" Ed said.
"Are you an idiot?" Olivier glared back at them for a moment but then looked to the giant. "I understand that we can't kill it… so we're going to do the next best thing: stop it from functioning."
And then they saw her lips curl into a small smirk. "Now you're gonna see the Briggs way, kids."
"The Briggs way?" Ed asked, as the trio stared at her rare smile.
"You bet," Buccaneer's big hands suddenly landed on top of Ed and Manami's shoulders, and he gripped them so that he could turn them to face him. "Come give me a hand, alchemists."
And with that, he quickly wrapped his arms around both their sides and lifted them both under each arm.
"Huh?!"
"You too, Tin Man!"
"You don't have to carry us!" Manami shrieked.
"Would you rather be led at gunpoint?!" Buccaneer sneered, making her shrink.
"N-No…"
"Then shut your hole. We're going!" Buccaneer stopped to notice Falman nearby.
"Who's this?"
"A good friend of ours." Ed smirked to himself.
"Okay, you help too." Buccaneer huffed before he began walking.
"HUH?!" Falman started to shake as he and Al went to follow after them.