there is some old-school anime punning here. if you know it, shout it out.
"Okay, you got the plan, right?" Maes asked as they stopped in front of the gate to the facility.
"Yep. We're both to praise this guy's work and then ask some questions but not too in depth as to make him suspicious of us. Do you think we should just come right out and say that we were here on behalf of the Colonel?"
"Well since he was bitten and he didn't seem to react favorably to the experiment, I don't think pushing those types of buttons is a good thing."
"I was thinking that we could say something along the lines of praise right off the bat."
"Hmm… I'll see what I can come up with."
They drove through the gate and was met by a young officer at the gate.
"May I help you?"
"Yes, I'm Lieutenant Colonel Hughes and this is… Warrant Officer Gundam."
Alphonse looked at him as the officer made a face.
"What are you here for?"
"We were sent here to talk to the operator of this experiment. We have some good news for him."
"Good news?"
"Yes, it seems after all this time, the Fuhrer has finally decided that maybe there is something to this experiment. He sent us down to take a closer look and verify that what has been presented to him is what is being done."
The officer seemed to mellow out and smiled.
"That's great! Professor Hasch will be so pleased! Come in, come in!"
The officer motioned for him to move along and Maes rolled up the window.
"Warrant Officer Gundam?"
"I thought I'd give you a fake name."
"Wouldn't it have been more advantageous for you? You can get bitten, I can't."
"Yes but everyone knows that your brother has a suit of armor that goes around with him. If I said who you really were, they'd be on to us. Acting like you're a warrant officer who is trying out a new suit design based off of the amazing Alphonse Elric seems like a better story."
"I guess… I hope you know what you're doing…"
"I've been in the military for a while now, kid, I think I know how to maneuver a plan."
They stopped the car and got out. As they started across the yard of the facility, the door opened with a bang and a man came rushing out as he threw a lab coat on. Upon seeing Alphonse though, he stopped.
"Aren't you-"
"I'm Warrant Officer Gundam." Alphonse said, holding out his hand. "It's nice to finally meet you."
Hasch shook his hand and made a face at him.
"*Finally* meet me? You've been waiting?"
"He's excited to try this new armor out as well as his first mission with me. Lieutenant Colonel Hughes…" Maes said, holding out his hand as well.
Hasch shook it. "I didn't know that there were two people in armor at Central. I was under the impression that only the Fullmetal Alchemist's brother was in armor."
"I'm the first to try out the prototype that they have been working on. Even though I know it sounds a little degrading, they said they wanted someone of a lower ranking to try it out in case anything went wrong and I volunteered. I was so excited! The Lt. Colonel let me wear it out to see how it maneuvered in cars and different things and then I can report back to Central any issues I may come across."
Hasch smiled, but Maes could tell he was suspicious.
"Is that so? That's so interesting, Warrant Officer… Gundam? Was it?"
"Yes sir! Euripides Charles Alexander Gundam III." He said, saluting overdramatically.
Maes had to hand it to the kid, he was pretty impressive.
"I see… Tell me, what exactly is this suit supposed to be for?"
"They want to use it in case of any future wars. What they want to do is put alchemists into his thing and then they can bend the suit to their needs and produce whatever melee weapon they want while also being protected by the metal."
"And are you an alchemist?"
"Oh no! Not at all. They just wanted to test it out first and see how it does with a human inside."
"Isn't all the armor quite heavy?"
"Oh yeah! But the Gundams are blood kin to the Armstrongs so I have the strength they need. I'll be able to tell them what will need to be adapted for regular people though, like the metal they used. Definitely something more manageable like what they use in the North."
Maes really had no idea what was happening but Alphonse seemed to be pretty on point and could answer every question the man was throwing at him. With his quick thinking, Hasch seemed convinced and then turned back to Maes.
"I'm under the assumption that the Fuhrer has taken interest in my work?"
"Yes, after looking further into the reports you've sent to him and the success you seem to have had with your wolves, the Fuhrer has agreed to take a dive into your theory. He just needed one last confirmation of the development of your wolves and then he would send word."
Hasch smiled and clapped his hands together.
"Excellent! I'm so glad that the Fuhrer is finally paying attention to my requests. Yes, please, come and take a look at our development. I think he will be very pleased."
Roy massaged his arm and grabbed hold of the bandages that were covering the incision. He pulled at it and exposed his arm to the air, the itching sensation seeming to never end. Upon seeing his arm though, he realized that what Edward said may definitely be true. His arm looked as if nothing had been done with it, save the bite mark that was still there. All other incisions were gone, the skin completely smooth and not even a scar. The bite mark still looked infected and he scratched at the reddened skin, his foot kicking at each satisfactory scratch.
The door opened and Riza walked in with another folder in hand. She looked over at him and made a face. He seemed satisfied with his itching and looked up at her.
"What?"
"I'm not going to ask… Anyway, I got another file in regards to the case. Did you know that this was going on for a lot longer than we thought?"
"The turning people into wolves thing?"
"No, the experiment in general." She opened the file and threw it into his lap. "Dr. Mendaval Cyprus. In 1732 he had a similar idea involving domestic dogs. He said he wanted to use the experiment more for civilians than for the military but it would work both ways. He thought they could be used as a sort of telecommunication between trenches and sections of the military or sort of like homing pigeons. It says there that he wanted to 'heighten the intelligence of normal dogs and be able to give them detailed instructions to pass messages from trench to trench or battalion to battalion'."
Roy flipped through the folder.
"Why did it flop?"
"The dogs were too easy to spot since they carried small tubes for the letters and although they seemed to understand more than normal dogs, they were distracted quite easily."
"I see… Whatever happened to Dr. Cyprus?"
"It doesn't say… the experiment was shut down and he was never heard of again."
Roy flipped through the pages for a second and then came across some handwritten notes. He read over them and made a face.
"Hawkeye, how does this sound to you? 'I think I may have found a way to get this done but with half the time and better resources. I think that I've been starting from the wrong source material. Making a dog as intelligent as a human is most likely impossible but, as unorthodox as it is, maybe it could work in the opposite mental flow…'"
"That sounds a lot like what Hasch is doing with the soldiers… Do you think he and Dr. Cyprus are related?"
"Either that or Prof. Hasch got a hold of these files and actually tested out this theory…"
Riza grabbed the file again and rummaged through it, pulling out a sheet of paper.
"Actually, I don't think Dr. Cyprus stopped himself."
Roy looked at the paper and saw that it was titled 'MIA officers'.
"So he did try…"
"If those four names are any indication…"
Roy motioned for her to give him back the folder and looked through the handwritten notes again. He started reading a page when his eyes widened and he swallowed.
"Hey um… remember when I told you about Shiro Kiba?"
"The white wolf that bit you? Yeah… why?"
"These entries here… I think… I think I know what's going on now…"
Riza took the page.
April 14, 1735
I'm beginning to feel the effects of the serum on me. Sure, it wasn't the best of things to do, but I was running out of time and running out of soldiers. Everyone is abandoning my project and my work. I think I've worked out all of the kinks in this batch.
It's been weeks now but I can slowly feel my senses heightening and there are attributes that I'm beginning to display. My teeth are getting sharper, I crave meat (but raw), I believe I am… quite in tune with female scents, and I am quite territorial. My assistant has been keeping watch over me, making sure that I don't go too far into a transformation before he gives me the counter-serum.
April 27, 1735
The counter-serum didn't work! I've been feverishly trying to find a way to cure myself before I lose all of my mental faculties as a man. There are more physical attributes now that I cannot even try to hide. My spine has elongated and has produced a tail of sorts and I am covered in fur. My ears, although in the same place, have elongated and are pointed. Every day I feel them inch towards the top of my head. I can feel my face is mutating into that of a muzzle, my nasal muscles pushing forward as well as my mouth. Eating is painful. My fingers are shortening and makes it quite hard to write as well as the feel of the paw-pads developing on my palms. My feet are getting longer, making it impossible to wear shoes and I know that I have shrunk a foot at least. My assistant has been kind enough to try and help me with this transformation, working as hard as I am to try and reverse it.
May 10, 1735
Dr. Cyprus is not longer human. He can understand when I speak to him, but his appearance as a human is gone. Even though his mental faculties are the same, I can tell that his humanity is slipping. He's starting to sniff around some female wolves that come around the facility. Eventually, I have no doubts that his newfound instinct will take over and he will mate with one of them. I am trying not to imagine that sort of outcome, but it is inevitable.
Riza looked at Roy, who looked very disturbed.
"So Dr. Cyprus got caught up in his own experiment and was turned into a dog. But what does this have to do with Shiro Kiba?"
"I think that she is a descendant of Dr. Cyprus and carries some sort of mutation gene within her…"
Riza stared at her superior for a moment.
"You really believe that you're turning into a wolf?"
"Not just a wolf, dammit! A werewolf… the gene has mutated since Dr. Cyprus got caught in his experiment but the blood will still be there."
"I'm sure after a time the human blood that was in him was diluted to nothing."
"Not if Prof. Hasch got a hold of one of his descendants in a twist of ironic fate. He would think his experiment as a success due to the bioalchemy he started infusing into the wolves but all it probably did was awaken the dormant gene of Dr. Cyprus within the wolf. Shiro Kiba knows far too much and understands way too much for this feeble experiment to work. I mean, he resorted to the exact same thing Dr. Cyprus did after he couldn't get any other wolves to be like Shiro Kiba."
"So you don't think he's read these files?"
"I'm sure he's heard about them but I don't think he did anything extensive about it. He may have sifted through the papers but there's no way he could have located the exact descendant of Dr. Cyprus' dog form."
"Unless he's related to the assistant."
The two of them looked at each other quickly in revelation. Riza flipped through the pages to find the name of the assistant and pointed.
"There, Stephen Franzk. I'll go and ask if anyone knows anything about him."
"Hawkeye…" She turned from the door. "I'm turning… There's nothing that can stop it."
"I know, sir… just call me if you feel it beginning. I'll be here with you."
Roy nodded as she left.
1) alphonse is a good actor haha
2) oh no, looks like things are starting to connect... maybe...
3) i'm sorry to tease you like this about roy... it will happen though... it will *rubs hands together evilly*