Equivalent Exchange: Episode 3--Crimson Eternal

[Rystil Arden]

A wave of relief washes over Alphonse as he hears the news and he visibly relaxes, and stops looking nervously around the room. "Oh, that's great! Does that mean she's free now? I think I might have found out just what happened to her, and maybe I can help her get some of her memory back... well, maybe. I need to talk to her."

"Fullmetal...what do you know of the Crimson Elixir mission reports? It is a restricted file, but you and I both helped author them years ago, as did your brother," Hawkeye replies cryptically before moving on to Miller, "As for Lieutenant Miller, sometimes being miraculously alive like that is less of a blessing than it might seem. She was declared dead years ago and all her belongings were already bequeathed upon her loved ones. She no longer has a boyfriend waiting for her at home, he took his own life when he heard the news of her death. What's more, Kate Miller is remember as a hero, a brave martyr. But with our new policy of reconciliation with the Ishbalans, if we knew that she was still alive, she would have to be tried for war crimes, maybe even executed in humiliation."

"No, Fullmetal, it was best that Kate Miller find a new name and start a new life. No one would guess it was she anyway after all these years--she should have been much older now. She is...was almost ten years older than me. She said that she felt horrible for what had happened to the Ishbalans, what she helped to start, and so she has headed out under a new name to help them rebuild their new home."

 

[Dire Lemming]

Once again, Alphonse silently stares at Hawkeye, this time for far longer than the last. Completely dumbstruck, he fails to notice that his mouth hangs slightly ajar. After several long moments he is able to mutter, "B- but... I... Why... Why didn't you tell me? I could've... I..." He trails off as he realizes that he really has no idea what he could have done, but he could have done something.

 

[Rystil Arden]

"The fewer people who knew, the better for Kate. But since you obviously weren't going to drop it, I decided that it was better to tell you than to have you inevstigating and possibly making it worse for her. It would be best for her if you do not reveal her 'resurrection' to the general public. There are those who would seek to bring her in for a court-marshal."

 

[Dire Lemming]

Alphonse lowers his face as he thinks the matter over. Hawkeye's words did little to make him feel any better about it all. He still felt as if something had been ripped out of his hands without any choice in the matter. It gave him a feeling of helplessness that he despised. "Well, would you like to know what my research turned up?" he asks hesitantly.

 

[Rystil Arden]

"Certainly. If you would like to submit a report on the matter, we can take it under advisement. What did you have to add?"

 

[Dire Lemming]

Al thinks back to what he had read back in the Library yesterday. "Well, this seemed to have something to do with an alchemist named Shou Tucker who... Well, he made a chimera from a human. The guy who brought Miller back, the soulmeld, he said something about Tucker before he died. So I looked him up and that's what I found. Now what if... What if Miller never died, but instead Tucker... or someone, transmuted her into that Chimera that was at the scene where Miller was found? We know that the reason that Miller is so young is because he somehow made a body for her before hand that was the age she was when she supposedly died. Both the soulmeld and the chimera disappeared in the transmutation that brought Miller back. I think they were sacrificed to transfer Miller's soul into her new body..." Alphonse pauses expectantly to see what Hawkeye has to say about that. He can't help but feel a bit proud of himself.

 

[Rystil Arden]

"Well, you figured all that out on your own? The Fullmetal Alchemist indeed," Hawkeye looks impressed, "But...Shao Tucker himself was certain that once he made a perfect blending, it could not be separated, just as with his daughter Nina. The process would have been fatal. That is where there might have been a connection to the Crimson Elixir reports. In any event, it seems that this case is closed. Good work, Fullmetal. If you have no more to say, then you are dismissed."

 

[Dire Lemming]

"What are the Crimson Elixer reports? You said that they had something to do with my brother and me."

 

[Rystil Arden]

"They are in the library, but they are highly classified," Hawkeye explains, "It was good to see you again, Fullmetal," she sighs, "Now, I must return to this stack of paperwork. You are dismissed."

 

[Dire Lemming]

"What are they about?" Alphonse repeats insistantly. "If it had something to do with my brother and me then I should know!"