Edward sprinted all the way to headquarters, pushing people on the way and getting yelled at, but he just doesn't care because that damn music that was coming from no where won't stop.
Edward's a relatively nice guy, what did he do to deserve this? He hasn't pissed off that many people, he thinks.
Edward's frantic sprinting made him trip over his own two feet, making him fall flat on his face on the steps inside of headquarters. To think that he, the Fullmetal Alchemist, tripped going up some stairs in the one place he loathes the most.
There's some sort of string music playing softly and slowly now that he's inside the building. It sounds relaxing, which it isn't for Edward, whose arms are covering his head as people step around quietly, warily.
They know that's the Fullmetal Alchemist lying on the ground in a fetal position muttering nonsense, they could recognize that golden hair and obnoxiously bright red coat from anywhere. They also know not to disturb the Fullmetal Alcehmist because he's just such a weird kid.
Make it stop make it stop make it stop-!
Something dings, Edward stops. Then-
UniversalTruth said: Make what stop, Mr. Al-che-mist?
He's looking dead ahead at this, this, whatever the fuck that is in front of him. A blueish, green bright screen (?) with the words just spoken and the name Truth usually mocks him with. He heard that annoying voice in his head, too.
fullm3tal said: You.
Wait, what.
Edward blinks at the screen, seeing what he said out loud pop up onto the screen underneath the previous line.
What.
UniversalTruth said: Having fun yet, Edward Elric?
Fun? This bastard is asking if he's having fun?
fullm3tal said: NO, I'M NOT HAVING FUN! WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO TO ME?!
Ding!
UniversalTruth said: Having fun myself. You like the music? This is what other worlds use for the towns in their games.
Edward growls. A soldier turns tail and sprints out of the hallway seeing the Fullmetal Alchemist growling to himself on the ground, deciding that taking the longer route to his destination a safer option.
UniversalTruth said: I told you last night what this is.
fullm3tal said: What, you mean that momorgb crap?
UniversalTruth said: Close. MMORPG.
Edward wants to yell.
fullm3tal said: Close my ass I don't give a flying fuck. Just make this stop!
UniversalTruth said: I don't want to.
Edward sits up and takes a deep breath, ready to yell.
Ding!
UniversalTruth said: Before you start screaming at me and looking even more like a fool, I'll tell you what this is. Equivalent exchange, no?
Edward shuts his mouth.
UniversalTruth said: Technically speaking, this isn't an actual MMORPG since you're basically playing as yourself, and this is tweaked to my preference. But, to keep things simple for a simple minded human, just call it an MMORPG.
Edward glared at the solider who took a step into the hallway he was sitting cross-legged in. She turned away.
UniversalTruth: There's always a goal to a game, right? The goal for this game is to play along like a good little human, following the instructions, figuring out the puzzles and completing the quests to win. Each one is different, so you won't get a straight answer out of me as to what this will actually accomplish.
fullm3tal said: To accomplish your boredom, right?
UniversalTruth said: lol.
fullm3tal said: What the fuck does that mean?
UniversalTruth said: This is gamer talk; stands for "laugh out loud." I could say lawl instead.
fullm3tal said: No.
UniversalTruth said: Such a stick in the mud. I can see why your brother goes off to play chess with your superior officer when you two are in East City.
fullm3tal said: SHUT UP!
UniversalTruth said: lawl.
Edward's teeth grinded. That is the most ugly and annoying term ever created.
UniversalTruth said: Any questions before I log off?
He has no idea what 'log off' means, but Edward does have quite a few questions to ask this bastard.
fullm3tal said: So I can't just quit this game, can I?
UniversalTruth said: No. :)
fullm3tal said: What the hell is that.
UniversalTruth said: A smiley face. You wouldn't know what that is because you don't know how to smile. :)
Edward took in a deep breath. Don't yell, not yet. He should get as much of the basics out of Truth as he can before they decide to leave him to crawl about on his own in this shit game.
fullm3tal said: What are the numbers floating over people's heads? I'm assuming the words are people's names since it had Al's next to it. And why does every object have a designated task to it when I can just pick it up without help?
UniversalTruth said: Those numbers are points, or levels. You saw your brothers this morning; Level 8. The levels vary for each person, like how there are different levels of officers in your military. In total, there are 70 levels. And you are correct; the names correspond to the participant. Each object has a designated task because that's how actual MMORPG's are played. A task for the player to choose since the games are set in a virtual world and it can't just be used normally.
UniversalTruth said: I added it just to annoy you because it's not necessary for your game, lawl.
fullm3tal said: YOU ANNOYING PIEC-
"Fullmetal."
Edward stopped shaking his raised fist and looked to the voice that came from above him. Colonel Roy Mustang towered over him, looking bemused and slightly weirded out.
Ding!
UniversalTruth said: Nobody else but you can see this by the way, or hear this chat. Have fun, noob.
[Chat with UniversalTruth has ended]
"I swear on all things good I'm going to tear that bastard a new-"
"Fullmetal."
"WHAT?!"
Edward was now standing tiptoe, chest-to-chest with his superior officer. The top of his head didn't even reach Roy's collarbone, so it couldn't really be considered chest-to-chest.
"Come with me, now."
Edward grabbed his bangs in frustration and let out a strangled yell. Roy simply turned on his heel and walked down the hall, a belligerent older Elric following him.
Edward is muttering behind the Colonel and waving his arms in annoyance.
"Noob, what does that even mean? And why do I have to play this stupid game why can't they just-"
Roy's looking back at him now, face blank and Edward shuts his mouth not at the look he's receiving, but at what's floating over his superior's head.
Level 25, Flame Alchemist Colonel Roy Mustang
What.
Edward falters when they walk into the outer sanctum of the office, ignoring the greetings from Mustang's subordinates.
"In my office, now."
Edward doesn't even hear the whistle from Jean Havoc and the sound of Riza Hawkeye slapping his head with a file. He's too focused on what's over Mustang's head. The door closes and Roy walks to his desk and sits down.
"Fullmetal, sit down. " Edward does, his eyes not straying from the title.
How is he a level 25? What the hell is he actually that powerful?
"Could you tell me-"
"So you really aren't so useless?"
Roy's mouth hangs open. "What?"
Edward is scowling with arms folded over his chest and his legs crossed. He's in deep thought. "I just, how are you not actually useless?"
Roy sighs, not giving into the temptation of arguing back- He blinks. "What do you mean 'not actually useless'?"
Edward waves his arms in the air. "You're the Colonel Mustang!"
"You just figure that out, pipsqueak?"
"You're supposed to be the Useless Alchemist! The Bastard Colonel! The-"
Edward pauses, finger lifting in realization. "This game is rigged."
Roy raises an eyebrow, feeling a pang of worry for his subordinate's behavior. "Fullmetal, what are you talking about? Why did I have 2 officers come and report to me about you yelling on the ground?"
Edward jumps to his feet. "This game is rigged!" Edward spins and looks to the ceiling. "You think you can fool me huh, bastard?! I'm Edward Elric, and I may be playing this stupid MEEMOR, but I won't fall for tricks like this!" Edward points an accusatory finger to Roy.
Roy warily glances at his finger then to the ceiling.
Edward puts his hands on his hips. "How do I get that blue thingy to come back?" He mutters. "A command word? What did I say before to get that to open?"
Roy stands and sidesteps his way to the door, watching Edward but trying to hastily retreat and grab Riza. She can handle this instead.
Edward clasps his hands together in remembrance, "Ah, I screamed when I fell down. Is that the way to opening it?"
Roy has gratefully made it out of the office, shutting the door close just in time too, apparently, because Edward has started screaming his lungs out.
Ding!
UniversalTruth said: LAWL.
fullm3tal said: Aha! There you are you bastard! So that was the command to opening this up!
UniversalTruth said: No, it wasn't. All you had to do was say "Open Chat" and it opens right in front of you.
Edward's smile fell from his face.
UniversalTruth said: And no, this game isn't rigged. It's as accurate to an MMORPG as possible. So you just screamed in your Colonel's office for nothing.
Edward holds his head and falls to his knees. He's never embarrassed himself this badly before in his entire life. In front of Mustang of all people, too.
UniversalTruth said: Just play the game, Edward Elric. You'll have surprises coming soon. Don't screw this up.
[Chat with UniversalTruth has ended]
"That was weirdly serious," Edward notes. He sighs, too embarrassed and annoyed to think about it. He can feel his face burning up. He's probably as red as a tomato now. Or as red as his coat.
"Okay, just play the game." Edward opens his case and dumps his report on Roy's desk and runs out of the office. He does not want to fully report to the Colonel now after that little show.
"Uh, hey, Chief."
Edward pauses mid step, looking at Team Mustang who is gathered in a group. It looks like Jean has been pushed in front of them to be the counselor of the group. Falman's eyebrows are creased with worry and Fuery is nervously wringing his jacket. Breda has his arms crossed and a concerned frown donning his features. Riza looks blank as ever but the slight twitch of her brow shows she's worried as well. Roy has taken to Riza's side, still warily keeping watch on his subordinate.
"Hi."
Jean clears his throat. "So, uh, Chief, is there something you want to talk to us about?"
Edward drops his arm and leg he had raised in walk. "No."
Breda clears his throat next. "Is everything alright, Edward? We heard you screaming just a moment ago."
"I fell."
"Over what?"
"My suitcase."
Roy whispers harshly in Riza's ear who nods. "Edward," she speaks clearly, "What's this talk about a game?"
Edward sheepishly rubs his head. They really do not need to know what's going on because it doesn't concern them, and he'd sound crazy if he told them that an omnipresent being is playing games with him.
"Al-Al and I just started playing this game. It's between us two only so, uh, it'd sound weird if I tried explaining it to you."
Riza's eyes narrow a fraction.
"We have our own rules."
Her eyes narrow more.
"You wouldn't understand and ah! I hear Al calling me! Bye everybody, have a great day! I left my report on your desk, bastard!" Edward finishes his statement quickly and sprints out the door before anybody can stop him.
He's flying through the halls of headquarters now, putting as much distance between himself and Mustang and his crew. If he can get this stupid game over with soon, then he can get back to focusing on finding the Philosopher's stone for his brother. Just why does he have such bad luck?
Edward is squatting outside the gates of East Headquarters rubbing his head in frustration. "Why me, why me?"
"Brother!"
How is he going to explain this to Al?
Clanking metal stops in front of him and Edward doesn't want to look up, he really doesn't.
"Brother, what's wrong? Why did you run off like that?! I was seriously worried!"
There it is. He can hear the worry in his little brother's voice, can feel it coming off in waves. Alphonse is able to express so much despite being stuck in that damn suit of armor.
"Brother?" Alphonse is reaching for his shoulder but Edward jumps to feet, easily evading the hand.
"I'm alright, Al! I just wanted to drop off the report and get the hell out of there as fast as possible!" Edward laughs rubbing the back of his head.
Alphonse, of course, doesn't believe him entirely, "I know you don't like reporting to Colonel Mustang, but I seriously doubt that's what the case is. You also were really jumpy walking out of the room. Is something wrong?"
Damn, Alphonse is way too perceptive sometimes. One side of Edward's older brother self is proud of his younger brother, the other is frustrated at it, too. But the pride in his chest quells down that frustration.
"Ah, well, I had a nightmare last night so I was just, freaked out a bit still, you know?"
"I thought you said it was nothing?"
Edward sighs, "Yeah, well I was wrong. I'm sorry, Al."
Alphonse shakes his head and waves his hands in reassurance. "It's okay, brother. You can't control the nightmares or how it affects you. I'm just glad I found you after you ran off. I was worried you might hurt yourself."
Edward laughs sheepishly, "Oh well, uh, I actually fell up some stairs in headquarters. Pretty embarrassing."
Edward is pretty sure he heard Alphonse quietly snort at the statement and shoots a glare at him. "It's not that funny!"
Alphonse shakes his head, "I-I wasn't laughing at you! I was just-" There it is, a quiet giggle. Alphonse turns to hide his face.
Edward throws his hands in the air. Why him?
"Brother, what mission did the Colonel assign you this time?"
Shit.
"Um, he didn't have any leads for the Philosopher's stone this time or any missions, so he's giving us a break for a bit."
Alphonse claps his hands. "That gives us plenty of time to study in Central Library!"
Edward numbly notes the flute music playing again, watching a dog with their owner in the corner of his eye with the words Steal Dog hovering above the animal. Punch Owner is above the dog owner.
He wishes he could go and study in Central Library with Alphonse, but he has the nagging sensation he'll get another interruption by Truth if he doesn't start actually playing soon. He still needs to figure out what exactly is the purpose of this game as a whole. The only way to find out is to actually play.
"Um, yeah about that Alphonse, why don't we just, take a break this time for real? We have been travelling a lot lately and it's actually pretty nice that bastard gave us a break for once."
Alphonse tilts his head. "Are you sure? You usually would take any chance to keep researching."
Edward shrugs, walking down the sidewalk back to their room, "Yeah, but my joints have been killing me lately and I just want to take a long nap."
Alphonse nods walking beside his brother, "Ah yeah, you should take it easy then."
A comfortable silence falls over them while they walk. Edward jots down in his mental journal everything that's changed since the start of the game.
It can be concluded that everybody has a level to their name, and they all seem to be low level, besides certain folks who reach to a level 5 at most. But even then, it's nothing compared to the soldiers he saw in headquarters where most reached a 10. He just doesn't understand how the Colonel Bastard has a 25. Wait, what did the rest of Team Mustang have?
Edward recounts back to just a bit ago, looking back to each person. Jean stepping forward, he had Level 20. Fuery: Level 16, Breda: Level 22, Falman: Level 18. So they're pretty high up there, even though this game supposedly reaches level 70.
Edward looks back over Riza Hawkeye's count. Level 29.
Edward covers up his laugh with a cough to not draw attention from his brother. It seems that Roy needs to step it up.
Shuffling metal reaches his ears and Edward glances to Alphonse who's wringing his hands together nervously. He wants to ask something, Edward can tell, but doesn't want to speak up.
"Al, what's up?"
Alphonse pauses but continues his hand wringing, "Ah well, since you want to take a break to rest, I was just, um, wondering, if while you rest-"
"You could go back to Resembool to visit Winry and Granny, right?"
Alphonse nods. "Yeah, but that's only if you're okay-!"
Edward waves a hand in nonchalance. "Of course I'm okay with it. It's been a while so they'll be happy to see you, too."
Which is true, since they haven't seen them in months. Alphonse misses Resembool a lot so this will be good for his brother. And perfect timing, too, so he can start this stupid game.
Alphonse grabs Edward's hands, shaking them. "Thank you, brother! I wish you could come since you miss Winry and Granny too, but you need to rest first!"
Edward can feel his face burning up. "I'll just call instead, okay? That's what phones are for anyways!"
Alphonse sighs and drops their hands, "Oh, brother."
Edward lightly punches Alphonse's chest plate. "Shut up! Just get out of here and get on the next train. The sooner you leave, the sooner you'll be back in Resembool, right?"
Alphonse shakes his head in glee. He gives Edward an awkward hug before running off. "Don't do anything stupid while I'm gone!"
"When do I ever do anything stupid?!"
"All the time!"
Edward sighs, a smile on his features. Only his brother can say that to him without Edward getting angry.
Well, let's get this game started.
Edward stretches his flesh limbs and jogs down the nearest alley. Best way to get involved with something is to go the sketchy areas of a city, right?
Well, he thinks. He's not too sure how these MEEMERPS games are played. So really, he just has to take a stick and jab it in the dark. What sort of puzzles will he have to solve? Not to boast or anything, but Edward is pretty good at puzzles and enjoys them a lot.
Wait.
'MMORPG's are open platform games for a multitude of people. Playing with multiple people on a platform in virtual worlds at the same time'
Edward rubs his chin in thought. He still hasn't got the slightest idea what a virtual world is but he doesn't think that'll really affect him in any way so he throws that thought out the window. But… Does that mean there will be other people playing too?
Something hits Edward's head then hits the ground. He looks down at the object. A shoe.
"What the hell…"
"Ah, um, could you get that for me?"
Edward picks up the shoe and is about to casually return it to the owner, but stops midway.
"What the hell?!"
A girl is hanging from a window ledge 5 feet about Edward, missing one shoe. The one he's holding just so happens to match the one on her left foot.
"Hey, could you just toss that up here for me?" She asks. Edward can only see her from behind. Her hair dark hair is pulled into a messy bun and she's wearing dark pants and a light jacket. She sounds pretty relaxed and calm, but her shaking arms and grip on the ledge betray her calm.
"How the hell did you get up there?!"
She shrugs her shoulders a little. "Just jumped from that trash bin behind you to over here. So like, are you going to give me back my shoe or...?"
Edward claps his hands and touches the ground beneath the girl. Blue lightning cackles and a pillar erects, reaching to just an inch beneath the girl's feet.
"Whoa."
"Just get down from there!"
She let's go and Edward claps again, slowly pulling the pillar back into the ground. The girl stares with dark eyes at the ground then at Edward. "That was so cool, what the hell."
Edward notes the Level 9, Lilian Amrose over her head before he tosses the shoe to her. She raises her hands, but it hits her square in the chest instead, but she catches it after. "Uh, thanks. It's alchemy."
"Oh, I see, I see. I've never seen alchemy like that before," she mentions as she ties her shoe on. "But hey, thanks for helping bring me down!" Lilian smiles.
"What were you even doing up there?"
"Oh, just, playing a little game is all," she laughs, rubbing her head. "It's a weird game where I have to run around and get stuff!"
"What sort of game makes you jump to window ledges in back alleys?"
She shrugs. "I dunno. I'm just following the instructions."
Edward squints at her. "What are the instructions exactly?"
Lilian raises her hands. "Find pieces of metal. I don't know what it's for but hey, I might get something cool in the end, you know?"
"Sure?" Edward takes a few steps away from her, "Well, you're not in danger now so good luck on your quest, I guess."
Lilian nods then waves, "Tha-!"
A loud deafening BOOM resounds overhead, making both Edward and Lilian jump. Lilian is covering her ears and her brows are furrowed. "Damn, those drums are so annoying!"
Edward looks up at her, as she is a few inches taller than him. "Wait, you heard that too?!"
Lilian locks eyes with him, her mouth dropping agape. "Yeah, I did. So, I'm not the only one hearing that weird flute music? And seeing the floating numbers and words?!"
Edward shakes his head and Lilian jumps in excitement. "Oh thank god, I thought I was just going crazy when I woke up this morning! Then I thought, what the hell, it'll give me something to do since it's summer break, so here I am!"
Edward feels so relieved that he isn't the alone. Is this what Truth meant when they said surprises were coming?
"Yeah, same. I had a bit of a moment in my boss' office and they definitely think there's something wrong with me now," he states, making sure to keep his status as State Alchemist quiet. Lilian seems nice, but even she could feel uncomfortable being in the presence of a military person. "But I guess there isn't any choice but to play, huh?"
Lilian claps her hands. "Yeah! Do you want to play this together? I'm struggling by myself so if we play together, we should have better chances, right?"
Edward nods. "Better to struggle together than by ourselves." Lilian snorts.
"True. And I guess I should properly introduce myself, even though you already know who I am." She points to the name over her head.
Lilian sticks her right hand out. "Lilian Amrose, 15. I'm actually from the South but I'm visiting family for summer break."
Edward gently grabs her hand, hoping the glove cushions the metal of his automail. "Edward Elric. Same age and I'm-."
Another BOOM interrupts them. Lilian curses, "I know that's not going to stop, but it's really annoying."
Edward glances down the alley both ways. Since this morning, it's been the calming music of the flute but now, at about 11:30, those loud drum beats have begun.
"We should go and check it out," Edward speaks up. "It could help with your quest and continuing the game."
"Oh, yeah, true. Good idea."
Lilian walks behind him two paces. Edward may be stuck in this shitty game, but at least someone else is, too.