Fullmetal Alchemist Fan Fiction ❯ Committee's Findings ❯ IV ( Chapter 4 )

There were two more stations between Leipzig and Central, the railway curved up and west from Leipzig to Halle, from there it went almost straight with a slight curve back east to Dassau and from there east by north-east to Central: the capital, located at about 13 degrees 48 minutes North latitude , 51 degrees 54 minutes East longitude. Below ground, in the old city that had been forgotten when its inhabitants were consumed for energy to supply the philosopherÕs stone, there was a church with a dusty, rotting wooden door and on it a rotting wooden slab and engraved numerals numbering just five short of one hundred. If one came from the other direction, from Berlin, they passed Brandenburg and Magdeburg in another arch going westward and back into the FlŠming area where Central was located. Though Central was the capital both Berlin and Leipzig had institutes that helped manage the rest of the empire, as far south as Istanbul and Mediterranean Africa, as far north as BerlevŒg and the Kola peninsula. Each village microcosm in each provincial district in each general region and all, all of them, reported back to Leipzig, Central and Berlin. It was a massive empire, that was true, but it was not near the glory that the British Raj had been, and parliament- when there still had been a parliament- was terribly conscious of this. Perhaps that was why, after having power returned to them and the military government dissolved they handed power right back to the new military leader, Roy Mustang. Perhaps. Maybe they were frightened of the enormity of the task of keeping the country stable and calm. Or maybe they just didnÕt feel like working the rough hours. Or maybe- ÒHeÕs there, near that turnstile.Ó ÒHuh? Who is?Ó Ed couldnÕt distinguish which of the hundreds of men outside Elysia was talking about.             ÒThat physicist I was talking to earlier.Ó ÒWhat physicist?Ó Winry had stepped into the car while Elysia spoke and her eyes narrowed in instinctive concern for the child, she shouldnÕt be talking to strangers.           &nbs p; ÒThe one reading the paper on wavefunction collapse.Ó ÒWhat?Ó  Winry was not familiar with wavefunction collapse.             ; ÒWell a common tenet of modern physics is wave-particle duality, and that on the atomic level particles can be superpositions of-Ó             ; ÒNo, what physicist? I didnÕt see one in the car over there.Ó ÒHe was sitting in this seat here,Ó Elysia patted the seat next to her. WinryÕs concern grew, though she hid it as best she could.             ÒWhat did you talk about?Ó ÒWave function collapse, transmutations and entropy. That sort of thing.Ó           &n bsp; ÒTransmutations and entropy? What is there to talk about? ItÕs not a closed system, so nothing really matters in terms of the requirement that the amount of disorder.Ó  Winry glared daggers at Ed. ShouldnÕt he be a bit more concerned? She was terrified! Ed cocked an eyebrow.             ÒWhat?Ó  Winry made something between an exasperated sigh and a growl and took EdÕs hand, dragging him to the end of the car.             ÒDonÕt you think that she shouldnÕt at her age be starting conversations and sitting next to perfect stranger? I mean, itÕs dangerous, and you sit there asking her questions about what this physicist said about entropy! ArenÕt you worried?Ó              ÒNot that muchÉI did the same when I was her age. Why are you worried this time?Ó           &nb sp; ÒThis time?Ó  WinryÕs voice grew quiet ÒIÕve always worried about you traveling.Ó Ed, took her hand in his and lightly pulled her close to him. Winry turned as he pulled her and, for a moment, it appeared as if it came routine to them, a step in a waltz or part of an acrobatic performance. Then, with the smooth subtlety that comes naturally to an inebriated rhinoceros, the two tripped over one another. Winry reflexively reached for Ed to catch her balance and Ed on instinct moved to catch Winry, with a loud thump they found themselves on the floor in eachotherÕs arms.             It wasnÕt a well designed scene, comic more than touching, but the two were content and lay there, in the middle of the train aisle, dazed by one anotherÕs company and, most likely, by hitting their heads against the ground. The pair smiled, they were happy. Well, for a moment.             Elysia and Riza, who had remained quiet the entire trip, rocked with unrestrained laughter. Ed growled and placed his hand on the floor, an electric blue light spread over the carÕs ceiling and a shower of cold water descended upon the two onlookers.           &nbs p; ÒHey!Ó ÒServes you right, you- youÉ Crap!Ó Elysia had transmuted a banana cream pie out of her lunch and Riza, with perfect aim had thrown it at Ed, only for him to duck and the pie to hit Winry. With a terrifying roar Winry threw one of her many wrenches at Hawkeye who merely caught it and transformed it into a large lump of coal, useless. But not to Ed.             Riza had transmuted the metal into a large lump of carbon and carbon was far from useless, concentrating as hard as he could Ed worked to blend the carbon with the other elements in the car. Oxygen, nitrogen, a tiny bit of sulphur from the smoke of the train. In a few seconds Ed had, while Riza Winry and Elysia stared on in confusion, transmuted the coal into a squirrel that quickly perched itself on RizaÕs head and began to chatter wildly.             Fifteen minutes before the train was to arrive at Central a conductor had, on request of the passengers a few cars over, moved to ask the occupants of the state business car to quiet it down. Upon opening the door, however, the conductor was faced with a Bengal tiger of medium stature and short temper and a small menagerie of other, slightly less frightening and much more comfortably distanced, animals. He closed the door quickly and hurried off. The message about quieting down never did quite manage to get to the passengers.           &nb sp; When the train finally lurched to a halt the tiger bounded out of the car and dashed into the bar room, Ed, Winry, et alia in tow. After some commotion Ed transmuted the tiger into a generous number of bottles of champagne and the panic was resolved. Elysia stared in awe for a moment Elysia forgot about the death of her mother. For a moment. Then she remembered and grew somber. The rail wished to charge the group for the damage they had done to the car, but Ed pointed out that it was rather expensive champagne and when a professional wine-taster put the price of the champagne to be about the same as the damage estimate, give or take twenty marcs, they decided to call it even. They had arrived.