Day 4 is here! This one takes place probably somewhere between chapter 2 and 3. Timelines are hard, there's math involved.
Some language warning here. And I guess a "automail nerd" warning applies as well.
In 1915, it had been a pipe dream. Even a decade ago, it had all been just theoretical designs and testing. But now… Now it was entirely possible.
Winry would be lying if she said she wasn't nervous. She had been working on this for decades, starting out with just sketches and theories when she'd been twelve. But over the years she, with Ed's help, had been testing new alloys, new wiring and conduits, reworking the exterior plating structure. As far as all their studies had gone, this should work.
Ed should be able to feel temperature with his automail.
It was a far cry from full-on sensation, but it was a huge step in that direction. As of now, automail would conduct extreme temperatures, the way a hot pipe would if you touched it. There was no true replacement for lost nerves, just heat traveling on the exterior plating till it reached skin.
Garfiel ducked into the storage room. "Winry dear, you almost ready?" Her old mentor had gone gray and had taken a back seat to his own shop, but he had been more than willing to help out with her first round of testing. He was practically giddy with excitement and she couldn't blame him. If they got any positive results out of this, no matter how small, then they were on their way to a breakthrough.
Winry looked up from the tray she was preparing. "Ed's ready to go?" she asked, adding a scrub brush and a small bucket of ice cubes to the tray. They'd installed the new automail that morning and Ed had been sleeping it off while she and Garfiel prepared.
He hummed in agreement. "Addy's here too, ready to take notes. She reminds me of someone else I know," he added with a wink.
Winry snorted. Addison had latched onto automail the second she'd been tall enough to snatch tools off the tables. Now that she was twelve, she'd wanted to get involved in as much as the shop as she could. So Winry and Ed had gotten her involved with their tests, mostly having her transcribe and take notes, check formulas, and help with prep and cleanup.
With the last items added, Winry flipped a metal basin upside down to cover the tray. "Let's get this show on the road."
Garfiel held the door to the storeroom open for her as she pushed the cart through and into the main shop area.
"And do you remember why to refer to items by number and not name?" Ed asked from where he was lounging on the exam table. He was slowly flexing the new leg, working out the post-attachment stiffness.
Addison was perched at the desk next to the table, her notebook spread out in front of her. She chewed on the back of her pencil, brows furrowed in concentration. "So you don't know what it is and react accidentally?"
"Right. That's why I'm going to have my eyes covered, too. It has to be blind so I don't mess up the results."
They both looked up as Winry rolled the cart to the foot of the table. "Let's get this show on the road, shall we?"
Ed leaned back and covered his eyes as Winry stuck a foam wedge under his left leg to elevate it. Gloves went on and Addison scrambled to get her papers back within reach.
Winry lifted the makeshift lid and grabbed the first item- a small pumice stone. "Item 1," she said and Addison dutifully took notes as Winry pressed it up against the bottom of Ed's foot. Ten seconds passed, and nothing. As much as she'd been expecting that, Winry couldn't fight back the pang of disappointment. She put the stone back and grabbed the second item (a piece of brick they'd left outside all day). Same result. Slowly, she worked through the pile with Addison dutifully taking notes as they went.
Nothing. No reaction to the textures had been expected, but, Winry had hoped that the ice would get some sort of reaction from Ed. He hadn't even twitched so far. She turned and held out her hand to Garfiel.
Garfiel handed her the poker that he'd been slowly heating up during the test. The end glowed bright white and would burn skin in a moment. Normally, it would take close to a minute for the heat to transfer from the bottom of Ed's foot to his port. But if the sensors were working, then he'd feel it in seconds.
Winry glanced at Garfiel. He gave her an encouraging nod. Moment of truth. She straightened her shoulders and pressed the tip of the brand against the arch of Ed's automail foot. To her left, Addison was watching with rapt attention, her notebook forgotten.
The poker was the extreme test- if Ed couldn't feel it, then the sensors weren't working at all, and it was back to the drawing board.
Three seconds. Winry glanced over at Ed, trying to figure out if he'd dozed off under the towel. Five seconds, and Garfiel let out a quiet hum. I'll go ten seconds, she decided. If he hadn't felt it by then, it was a wash.
At eight and a half seconds, Ed shrieked and jerked his leg back so far he kneed himself in the nose. "Ow, shit, what the fuck- That's HOT!" he bellowed, rubbing one hand at his face as he pulled the towel off his head.
"You felt this?!" Winry demanded, waving the still-blazing-hot poker probably a little too close to her husband's face.
Ed cracked an eye open to stare at the poker. "You used that?"
"Yes, you felt it?"
"Yes!"
"Yes!"
"Shit Win, you did it!"
The resulting celebration was enough to bring Sarah downstairs, hair mussed from being woken up from her nap. Garfiel pulled all of them – Addison included – into a hug. For once in his life, Ed didn't protest at the contact.
Winry hugged back, pressing her cheek against Ed's shoulder. Even now, decades later, she could feel the ridges of the old scar tissue. "We did it."
Endings continue to be hard, more at 11.
This chapter leans heavily on my own personal headcanon that Ed gets really involved in automail post-series. He and Winry are both giant science nerds, automail's had a huge impact on both of their lives, and they want to spend time together. It's showed up here and there in sdome of my other fics and this is a scene I've been itching to do for a while. And it's finally here!