Fullmetal Alchemist Fan Fiction ❯ Committee's Findings ❯ I ( Chapter 1 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

The train ride was hell- every ten minutes a conductor would stop by and ask Elysia where her parents were. The first few times Elysia told them of her circumstances but after the fourth instance she took to transmuting their belt buckles to elemental sodium…the screaming from the burns it inflicted when the sodium oxidized were some consolation.

Hawkeye sat across on the other side of the aisle- fast asleep, she didn't so much as blink when people began the screaming, maybe she was familiar with it. Fields streamed by on the left windows of the train, a red brick building with a steeple interrupted the green. Elysia saw a sign for the First Calvinist Church, below it someone had carved “Mass cancelled due to general opinion it wouldn't make much difference.” in the woodwork. Behind it was a cemetery and then fields again. Elysia had brought with her a paper published by a man from Bern who claimed that he had managed to create a stable human transmutation but that the product never survived more than a few days- sometimes it was malnutrition, other times blood-poisoning, on occasion asphyxiation. Some terrible difficulty happened that did not allow any of the organs to actually work, they just sat there and did nothing, in all cases cells did not manage to go through mitotic division and even if some day he were to find what caused the organs to go wrong the body would only last a month or so before decaying into a cluster of dead cells and mush, a giant water balloon.

The train hit a bump and Hawkeye fell over, splayed out on her seat in what an observer just entering the car might have mistaken for a position with rather lewd implications. Elysia got up and crossed the aisle; she pushed Riza back up to a sitting position and sat down next to her, hopefully to stop her from falling over again. The publication from the man in Bern was growing boring- he had stated his results and had now moved on to a hopeless attempt to fill space, analyzing what could have gone wrong with the human to cause it to decay- the answer was patently obvious, no one knew how to support mitotic division because they didn't know how precisely proteins coded for genetic information- microbiologists hadn't found what the source of chromosomes and alleles were and until they did the chances of human alchemy were exceedingly low. This last thought hit Elysia with the force of a charging rhinoceros. Why it had not occurred to her- or any other alchemist considering the transmutation of humans- she did not know. She did know, however that her realization meant that it would be a long time before human alchemy was even worth trying. Elysia grew irritable at the prospect of her not living to see the day when she could consider trying to regain her arm and threw the book from the window.

The train jolted again and again Hawkeye fell over- pinning Elysia underneath. Try as she might Elysia could not get Riza back up this time and finally resigned herself to taking a nap.

Riza woke to the sound of water pouring and steam being released. She looked out the window to see the train had stopped at the station and was now being serviced with a new load of coal and water before proceeding. Hawkeye hailed a conductor passing by and asked the name of the station. The conductor returned a look as if Hawkeye were a mud-encrusted pig farmer who had told him that ice was really frozen water.

“This route only has one stop.”

Riza did not comment, she simply shook Elysia awake and told her that they were there. The other people in the carriage tried not to stare as she walked by carrying some ten feet of tubing and an IV bag around her arm, Elysia tried not to set their belongings on fire in response- both failed. Hawkeye glared at Elysia but did not say anything. The pair hopped off the car ladder and onto the station platform. The train had refilled its boilers and in a few moments it was off again.

“Well then...” Hawkeye said awkwardly.

“Well…” Elysia had equally little to say.

“I suppose, suppose that we ought visit their residence.”

“They live together?”

“Wha-? Oh no, no- they're neighbors though.”

“Ah.”

Silence.

“So…erm…” Elysia tried to speak but gave up, instead taking the initiative to begin walking.

“You're going in the wrong direction!” Hawkeye shouted to the small figure disappearing into the crowd of people waiting for the next train. Elysia turned around and began walking in the opposite direction back toward Hawkeye.

“Sorry.” She said embarrassed. Hawkeye did not comment. It was an hour's difficult walk to the house Riza had spoken of. Elysia, who had lived all her life in Central, was stunned at the simplicity of the house, which was no more complex than the product of a preschooler who had put a triangle on top of a square and penciled a door and window in.

The lights in the house and the house next to it, which Hawkeye had informed her was the residence of the mechanic, were both out and the door was- of course- locked. Hawkeye sat down and told Elysia without the slightest hint of disappointment or frustration that it might be a few hours wait. Elysia muttered a profanity and Hawkeye glared.

“If you can't be polite don't say a damn thing.”

“You just swore, too.”

“Hmm. I suppose I did, didn't I?”

“Damn right.” At this Hawkeye groaned and muttered something about kids being `smartasses.'

“So are we waiting now?” Elysia asked- anxious to find a comfortable place to sit after the long walk- her IV bag was also beginning to be a bother.

“Yes. Of course we're waiting, what else do you think we're doing here.”

“Sorry, Riza.” Hawkeye was too tired to argue back or correct her for using her first name. The two sat watching the sun go down behind the hills. Some time passed before either spoke.

“Riza?”

“Yes?” Hawkeye prepared for the worst- a long boring discussion about some kind of `growing up' issue, confronting fear of the dark probably, Elysia was too old for bed wetting and too young to wonder about boys.

“Do you have the key to your office in Central?”

“Yes.” Said Hawkeye taking it out of her blue coat “why do you- hey give that back!”

Elysia had grabbed the key and was now forcing it slowly into the lock of the Rockbell house.

“Elysia what the hell do you think you're doing? I need that key to-”

Hawkeye was interrupted again by a soft click and the door to the house swung open revealing a warm sitting room with a fireplace and sofa on opposite sides of a coffee table.

“You used alchemy to change the lock?” Hawkeye looked at Elysia with a mix of annoyance and a feeling that could best be called awe. The young girl shook her head.

“No, I used alchemy on the key- I was transmuting it into a square plate and while it was taking shape I jammed it in the look and it fit to it kinda like a mold or…” she trailed off and shrugged. Hawkeye was still impressed- and still annoyed now that she had learned she'd need another office key.

Elysia looked at the stonework in the fireplace, ornate designs of lizards and dragonflies had been carved into the beautifully polished granite. She ran a hand over the artwork and saw that there wasn't a single nick seam or crack in the carving.

“It's all one piece.”

“I expect it's been transmuted, probably how Ed- Mr. Elric to you I suppose he'll be called- pays his bills for the automail services.”

The conversation died and the two sat down, waiting for Mr. Elric's Arrival.