Chapter 4: Night in East City

Twilight smiled as he looked swept his hand over the counter. He raised his hand to his face, and rubbed his thumb and forefinger together, and smirked. 'No dust,' he thought, and he smiled as he turned back his head towards the door. Standing in it was a middle aged man with a paunch for a belly and wire frame glasses, smiling happily as a ring of keys were held out in towards Twilight.

"I told you," the man chuckled, the flab of his belly bouncing slightly, "these rooms have been cleaned every week."

"I shouldn't have doubted you," Twilight made a motion of shrugging his shoulders, before reaching down into his pocket, and pulling out a small notebook. He looked at the landlord, before asking, "If I'm correct, the two bedroom and one washroom are worth seven hundred per week?"

"Ah ah," the landlord waived his finger, "This is two bed room, one and a half washroom," he walked over to one of the doors in the hallway, opened it to reveal an extra seat and toilet, "750 per week."

"Of course," Twilight, rubbing the back of his head in fake embarrassment, laughed off, before writing it down within the checkbook. The older man snatched up the check, and placed it in his right pocket, before Twilight continued, "I will be here for about ten weeks or so until I have my new position in Central. My wife and child will meet me here soon, and we can go go there after these next few weeks."

"Oh, that would explain why you need such a large set of rooms," the landlord said absentmindedly. Twilight wrapped his arm around the older man, slowly guiding him towards the door to the apartment, keys to these new rooms in his hands. He smirked as he twirled the key in his hand, the landlord finally adding, "I had thought it strange that a single man had come asking for family lodgings."

"Why would you think that I am single?" Twilight said in the most hurt voice he could conjure.

"Well for one thing, you don't have a ring on your finger."

"Oh," Twilight laughed, "Yes that might lead you to a different conclusion," he patted the shoulder of the landlord as they exited the room into the stairway of the apartment complex, "It doesn't fit that well unfortunately, I had a bad habit of overeating slightly ahead of my wedding, and now that I have lost those pounds, I've also lost the ability to keep the ring on my hand. I still have it in my suitcase though."

"Oh, I know something about a few extra pounds!"

'I'm know that,' Twilight then laughed aloud, saying, "Don't we all," Twilight then smiled as he began to separate from the landlord, and reenter his room. He gripped the door handle, and brought the door close to a close, "If you'll excuse me, I will be starting my new position at the Military Hospital tomorrow. I need to get my things ready before I have to leave in the morning."

"Of course," the landlord said, waving him off, and beginning to walk down the stairs toward the lobby of the hotel. Twilight quickly closed the door, and let out a sigh. It hadn't been easy to make everything about his new life up so quickly but he had faith in the Crestan Intelligence Agency in setting up his new identity. It would have been better perhaps had they already had a wife and child for the mission to begin as swiftly as possible, but he could not look a gift horse in the mouth. A position as a Psyciatrist, a relatively new field, would allow him to mingle with many important figures in the military, and would take advantage of his already vast experience from his spy work. He looked down at the checkbook, and at the name he had been given for this new mission.

Lloyd Forger.

"Doctor Lloyd Forger," he said to himself, almost tasting it. The Forger last name was a bit too on the nose, but he supposed that actually meant that some people would look over the possibility of him being a spy. Besides Lloyd Forger had extensive records that showed his long history in Amestris. Born in 1888 in Grumand, he had been a normal boy who had seen his father and mother killed in a terrorist attack during the outbreak of the Ishvalan Civil War. That terrorist attack had conveniently destroyed the town's central hall, and all the records of Lloyd's existence. He had served in a militia during the war, though had never seen the front. He had spent a few years studying Psychology from a Doctor who had been serving in the frontier of the East, though unfortunately his master had died quite recently after that. He had passed the initial exam some two years ago, and had been serving as a Psychiatrist in Tun, a small town far off the beaten path, and had gotten good reviews. All that together had earned him the right to take the full test for his official government license, which he had passed only a few weeks ago, and then applied for the position here in East City, which he had approved to start tomorrow.

None of it was true, but there was enough subterfuge and faked documents that even most intelligence officers could tell it was faked. It would take weeks of investigation, and hopefully by then, he would already be in a position to have figured out what the plan was for the next Spring. Then, he would send that information out, escape, and...well, he'd figure that out later.

"I should probably begin to scout out the city," 'Lloyd' said to himself, "See if I can't figure out anything in particular before I start at the hospital tomorrow."

Lloyd had spent the last several hours surveying East City. It was a very large place, but not like the tight planned district he had seen in Central or the carefully arranged streets of the Capital of Cresta. East City was a great sprawling mass, coming somewhat from it's status as a boomtown. Before the Ishvalan conflict, East City had only been the capital of the Eastern quarter of Amestris by default, while the largest city had been the more economically developed and more advantageously located city of New Optain to it's north.

The Ishvalan conflict had sent tens of thousands of soldiers down towards the South-Eastern area of the country, and the two years of consistent troop movements had been enough to introduce many from across the country to the beautiful landscapes of that area. The excess of land, some from before the war, and some from the damage caused because of it, had caused the Military to offer plots to distinguished retiring soldiers. And with more soldiers, came their families. And that influx of people, had meant business had boomed, causing East City, which served this area, to boom itself, with streets now stretching a mile outside the old city limits. Lloyd had been taking in and comparing the outer buildings, like his rooms, to the more formal and older structures of the inner city. It was honestly kind of inspiring.

Lloyd would always like new buildings being built up over old buildings being blown down.

"I heard he drowned in Lake Shireem."

Lloyd looked over, and saw a short stocky man sitting at an small little steel table. It was outside, and it was getting dark, though the light from inside the restaurant illuminated this table and all the others, though no one else was quite out there yet. He saw a man with a large black mane of hair curling upward in a near round shape. He had boxy glasses, and a small stubble along his chin. He wore a basic white shirt, though Lloyd could only make out the most of it while seeing he was reading a large copy of the Central City Gazette.

"Was he swimming on his own?" Lloyd said off handedly, taking time to look over at the menu.

"No, fishing," The man flipped a page in his paper.

"I suppose he was looking for Trout?"

"Bass."

Lloyd smiled. He knocked on the front door of the restaurant, and almost immediately he saw a young woman begin to pick herself up from the main counter in the store. Twilight pointed at a table next to the frizzy haired man, and the waitress inside nodded, before fumbling around beneatht he counter for what was likely a menu. Twilight walked over to the table, pulled out his seat, and sat down. A second later, the waitress came out, carrying the menu.

"I'll take a Medium Roast," he said to the girl who had come out. Lloyed noticed the slight pink above her nose, and smiled at her, causing it to deepen, "I'll have an idea of the food in a moment."

"Yes sir," she squeaked, before running back inside. He heard a slight groan next to him, and looked over at the man at the other table. The frizzy haired man was just shaking his head at Lloyd, massaging his left temple with his fingers.

"Of course, they always go for the pretty ones," he snapped himself out of it, before looking again at Lloyd, "So, I'm Franky Franklin. And yes, that is my real name."

"Doe-"

"Yes, everyone asks that," Franky deadpanned, pulling up a cigarette, and pulling in a puff of the tobacco, "I have a store a down where Ninth meets South street. A lot of people come by during the day, but by this time it usually get's really slow, so I come here sometimes when no one looks like they'll come by."

Twilight's mind took in the information as quickly as it came to him. This Franky was obviously his informant, the Tobacco shop was where they would meet for intelligence briefings, and the best time of the day to come get the information. This was probably as far as they could go discussing business in public, but this would be enough for setting up a future partnership over the next few months, at least until he was able to move to Central. They could discuss plans later, hopefully tomorrow, after he introduced himself at his job, and hopefully he would be able to get some leads on finding a child to adopt to move forward Operation Stryx.

"Oh my word," Twilight turned around, and suddenly saw two new customers arrive at the front of the cafe. One of them was in a formal military uniform, obviously a high ranking officer. The man had dark black hair, and a well put together face. Next to him was a woman in a long sundress, with long red hair and a wide pair of sunglasses. She laughed from between deeply red lips, "I haven't ever been to this place," she smiled, and rubbed her gloved hand on the man's face, "You spoil me so much Roy."

'Roy,' Twilight considered the pair as they moved forward to another one of the tables near by, 'Colonel Mustang?' He looked over at Franky, who saw his attention. The shorter man was grinding his teeth together, but he nodded, clearly sensing the question that Twilight was about to ask him. So this was the infamous Flame Alchemist. He had heard that the upstart officer had been something of a flake for women, but...

"Well I only give the finest things for my dates," he laughed aloud...and for some reason Twilight just had a desire to strangle him, "You know that Elizabeth."

"Oh your dates," Elizabeth seemed to be quite flighty, "I thought you said I was the only one you were interested in?"

"Of course, I was only talking about past dates," Mustang waved his hand off, "You know you are the only woman in my eyes."

Twilight had to place a hand on Franky's shoulder to keep him from getting up and causing a scene. If this was how Mustang acted...well this assignment had just added another problem to his pile.

Anya slide her head outside the cart she had spent the day in, and tried her hardest to listen for thoughts of anyone who might be trouble. When all she heard was quiet, she nodded to herself, and inched her way down the steps of the car. It took her only a few seconds, and soon, she was back on solid ground. It had been fun to be on a train, but it was definitely nice to be on real ground again. She jumped up and down, giggling slightly as she felt her feet land on the dirt beneath her.

She looked around the yard, and then listened again with her mind. She could determine that no one was around, and thus, she had a chance to get out of there without anyone noticing. She quickly headed towards the lights she saw coming from outside the yard, all the while continuing to make sure she didn't hear anybody that might notice her being where she wasn't supposed to. It only took a couple of minutes, but it had been pretty far, and she was tired when she had made it to the exit to the yard.

Once she had made it to the yard, she noticed that things looked different. The lights on the lamps were a bit yellower here than around the old place, and as she moved about the streets, she noticed that there were fewer cracks in the road and street. She wondered why that was, but she also saw that there was more light around her in general.

Still, she had to be careful. She knew that if the dark people ever found her again, it would be bad, so she needed to find a way to make sure they could never specifically guess she had been at the place. She had already gotten away from there, so that should help...

'I just need to keep far away from that place,' She thought as she marched by glowing windows. She slipped down the streets, there were some people, but most didn't seem to pay her too much mind.

'Oh, I hope that little girl's mother is nearby,' One man shook his head, his big belly moving back and forth as he did so. He looked older, but ultimately seemed to be nice.

'Hmmm,' one was a thing woman, hiding behind big glasses, 'that girl's too thin...too long an investment.'

'I wonder if that girl would like to play jax,' a boy sitting at his window stared down at her. She almost shouted she didn't know what jax were, but she'd like to, but remembered that most people really don't like to be told that their thoughts had just been read. She pushed herself forward, street after street.

All the while, her stomach was growling. She hadn't eaten anything since she had escaped, and she was really hungry now. She hadn't liked eating too much at the place, they mostly gave her "porridge" a white slop that filled her up, but never tasted too good. Though sometimes they would add white powder called "sugar" to it, and made it a whole bunch better. She tried to listen to any voice that might say if they could give her food, but she couldn't hear anything that sounded like they would.

She then stopped, and sniffed the air.

'That smells good,' she thought to herself. She sniffed in the air again, and began to follow where the smell was the strongest. After a bit, she found herself outside a place that had a bunch of chairs and tables. For a minute she saw four people sitting around three tables. Two men sitting on their own, and one man and woman sitting together.

'I missed this so much,' the man with the woman thought, his thoughts were thinking of a woman with blonde hair though, but Anya could tell almost immediately from the same thought that his was the same woman, 'I don't deserve this, but I missed it. Just being here with her...I...no, I wouldn't be the one Riza loves if I really suggested we just run away.'

'Roy is relaxing,' Riza, Anya guessed, was looking at the man across from her, stirring something in her that seemed to calm her, 'I'm glad he's doing better,' A small little evil appeared though, 'though hopefully this teaches him about being so fast and loose as a ladies man.'

'Stupid handsome man who-' she stopped almost immeadiatly, not liking the angry thoughts from the guy with fuzzy hair.

'This might be fortuitus,' the last one thought.

'What's fortuitus mean,' Anya thought, massaging her temples from all the listening in. She could tell none of them had noticed her, and she continued to inch forward, hoping to grab one of what she could tell was good smelling food from one of the tables before they noticed her. As she inched over, she heard the last man continue to think, 'I can use this opportunity to spy on Mustang's date after they leave. Mustang will probably have guards, but finding out the details of his relationships might be useful.'

'Wait,' Anya thought, 'Spy...'

She remembered. Lots of the scientists were always worried about spies. She didn't know what a spy was, but she knew they were against the doctors and that likely meant he was against the dark people too. She needed to talk to him. But how...

'This will give me something to do, but I will have to go hurry to get ready for tomorrow,' the man continued, 'I've got to go to the hospital to take up my new profession. Then I'll have to go pick a kid to adopt from an orphanage...'

'Adopt...'

Anya did not know the specifics, but she could piece together what this all meant. This Spy wanted to pick up a kid without a parent, then become the parent of the kid. This meant, all she had to do was to get a spy to take her and protect her from the dark people, was go to the Orphanage, and then make sure he chose her. She felt the edges of her mouth begin to widen out a bit. And then they widened quite a bit more than that.

'Heh,' she laughed inwardly. She looked up, reached up quickly from and snatched up the sandwich on the curly guy's table, since he was the most distracted, and burst out of there. She didn't stop running until she was around the corner. She then pushed the sandwich into her mouth, and almost collapsed.

'Food so good!' she declared inside her head. Certainly better than the porridge she had before. She stopped for a second, taking in everything that had just happened. Then she pushed herself upward, and smiled.

'Now, just to find the Orphanage, so I can get adopted,' she smiled.

"HEY, WHO ATE MY SANDWICH!"

Anya quickly began her search.

Riza groaned a bit as she walked down twelfth street. The very nice evening she had been having had been disrupted by the missing sandwich. It had probably been for the best, as any longer might have lead to undesired questions, but it had been the first time in years she and Roy had gone on anything approaching a date.

'Might be the last time we ever do too.'

That was the guilt coming through again. Both of them were aware the fates that were likely coming their way because of Roy's plan. Either they failed, and they were put to death as traitors, or they succeeded, and then they might meet the hangman's noose as mere war criminals.

It was a sad fate, but she was walking with the only man she'd ever want to share hers with. She couldn't say she was happy, but she could take the term fulfilled without a hint of discontent. They had first come together as teenagers while dealing with her deteriorating father, they had parted after that man had finally gone off the deep end, and they reunited as monsters in the blasted deserts of Ishbal. If they were to go to hell, at least it would be together.

"Wish it didn't require a wig though," she knew why it was important, both to keep their relationship at least somewhat under wraps, and also to help assuage some of Roy's wounded ego. The man had been raised by prostitutes, you'd think he was better prepared for minor questions of sexuality, but for some reason it had struck a nerve, 'Though maybe he thought it was insinuating he wasn't interested in me,' she added, a small smile growing on her lips again.

And then she stopped.

It wasn't a sound, or a sight that caused this...no just a feeling. Like she was being watched. She stopped for a moment, and looked behind her. No one in clear vision, but...well, she couldn't be too careful. She took a left turn at the nearest alley, and then took off in a full sprint, making sure to place her hand on her head, all to keep the wig from flying off. She then took another turn, and then another, twisting and turning all the way through a dozen blocks. All the while she could tell that the presence was following her, always making sure to never give her a good view of it, but also close enough to keep an eye on her.

Finally, she came to a door, and pulled out a key. She entered the key, opened the door, and slid her way inside, before locking the door behind her. She sighed.

This was one of the apartment complexes that were around the city that she and other officers had keys for. They weren't exactly safe houses, but rather diversions. If they were being followed while in disguise, they were to sneak in, hide, and then come out a bit later. These were large tenant apartments, so it would be easy to have their tail think they had discovered their home, and then be misled when that disguise never actually could be found.

Riza pulled down her wig, snuck into one of the rooms they knew wasn't currently being used, and planned her next move. It would be a few hours, but she would be home soon. And the next morning, she would have to meet with Roy, to discuss what to do with this new factor they hadn't been planning on.