Arrays {Traverse Town - Complete}

[fullmetal_smile]

Ed was sulking. He wouldn't actually call it that because it was childish and Ed was definately not a child. Anyone who said otherwise would get beaten to a pulp. But he was sulking.

Why did he have to be left here like some little kid? Like he couldn't be trusted to keep his hormones under control? He was sixteen for fuck's sake. Most people his

Comments

[lithium_soldier]

Trips back to Traverse Town were few and far between. It wasn't that Integra had a particular issue with the place, but every time she visited it seemed to be overrun with people from different worlds. It felt like no matter how many worlds they saved and locked, Traverse would always be overrun. It should have been a good thing, all the people who had escaped the Heartless.

She nodded at the soldier who'd traveled with her, allowing him to take up the job of finding a proper mechanic since he refused to go home just yet. Her Gummi ship needed serious repairs from the last battle it had gone through anyway. Fresh from the front lines, she wasn't sure she should have bothered to stop at all with the way people were moving out of the way as she walked along the loading dock. She had an infamous ‘aura’ when she was in a ‘mood’.

But she wasn’t really angry, just understandably tired. Alucard followed behind her, sipping on a blood bag while he peered at people from behind tinted glasses. He often found Integra's temper amusing. She always found this irritating. And thus the vicious cycle mounted until sombody got shot or screamed at. Or both. Usually both.

She side, stepped the boy doodling furiously on the floor - who let their kids wonder around in a place like this? - and would have walked right past if Alucard hadn't stopped to peer at the diagrams. Integra followed his gaze, vaguely recognizing some of the symbols. That wasn't arbitrary sidewalk drawing.

"Alchemy." Alucard confirmed. She shot him a quizzical look but he only shrugged. He didn't know the array.

"Can I ask you why you're drawing arrays so close to the Gummi ships?" She asked the boy, arching an eyebrow. It was actually a little impressive; the kid was tiny. He couldn't be older than twelve.

[fullmetal_smile]

And then the seventh sector should link to the third sigil and that would...

No, that was stupid. It wouldn't work at all because the engery equation wouldn't balance.

Damn.

He looked up, startled out of his near trance when the woman spoke and he stared at her blankly for a moment. Arrays? She knew about arrays? Was she from home?

He shot a nervous glance at the man with her who was scrutinising his array. He was creepy. And dangerous. Obviously dangerous. But he seemed to defer to the woman.

"I'm working on something," he said warily, settling back on his haunches. "Here is as good a place to do it as anywhere else."

[lithium_soldier]

In Integra's world, arrays were used mostly for binding and releasing power, if at all. Most people didn't use alchemy casually. She would have liked to think he was just using arbitrary symbols but the array was too complex for that, and the drawing was too precise for an unpracticed hand. This kid really did know what he was doing.

She couldn't be sure if that made him more or less likely to blow up the port. Alucard was still studying the array, as if he couldn't get a proper reading on what it was meant to be for.

"And what happens if it works while you're sitting here?" She asked, her tone curious but warning. She couldn't help it, it was the General in her making sure she wasn't about to leave something dangerous behind.

[fullmetal_smile]

Ed snorted derisively. So much for finding a fellow alchemist. She obviously didn't know even the basics. "It won't activate unless I want it to. Arrays don't just work by themselves."

It was the very basic stuff. You couldn't activate an array without willing it and that took a deliberate choice.

Geesh, what did she think he was going to do? Blow up Traverse Town (again)?

"I'm not some amateur," he added as an afterthought.

[lithium_soldier]

Cocky, for a twelve-year-old. She may not have been in the best of moods but years with Alucard had taught her patience, among other things. The child had some thin ice to walk on, but it was there none the less.

"If I thought you were an amateur, I wouldn't have bothered to stop." She replied, apparently unruffled by his attitude. "And I'm not sure what your form of Alchemy is like, but some arrays from my world work passively after they've been drawn. You see why I would be concerned about you drawing one in a crowded hanger?"

Apparently, Alucard had decided that the array wasn't going to be any danger to him or his Master and he gave her a look that meant he was about ready to leave. Traverse town always made him lethargic.

[fullmetal_smile]

Ed sighed. Damn. Looked as though she wasn't from his own world. Alchemy just didn't work like that. What a disappointment. A sudden wave of homesickness hit him and he swallowed thickly.

He nodded at her question. "I guess if someone from your world drew an array like this that could activate itself, I'd be worried too." It wasn't the safest array. It could do... had done, very bad things in the past.

"What world are you from," he asked after a moment, curiosity colouring his voice. Another world with alchemy. Sounded intrigueing.

[lithium_soldier]

"Formally it's called The World Without Logos," She replied, meaning to leave with Alucard as long as she was sure there would be no monster summoning or exploding. But now she was sure the boy had some talent with Alchemy and she was curious as to if he'd be useful to the army. They weren't as desperate as a few years ago but they still needed the help.

"For a while it was an ocean of blood." Alucard filled in, his eyes now locked on the boy watching for his reaction.

"Before that it was nothing but freaks and bloodsuckers." Integra glanced over her shoulder at him, a pointedly cool retort.

Alucard grinned, "How fitting."

To her credit, Integra resisted the urge to roll her eyes and returned her attention to the boy.

"Where were you trying to go?" She asked conversationally, nodding at the Gummi ships around them. If he was telling the truth, his choice of location was curious.

[fullmetal_smile]

Ed's eyes widened with horror for a second at the mention of the ocean of blood. It sounded too close, like Winry's grandmother when she talked about Ishbal. Like... the fifth laboratory. The tanks of the stone had shattered and the substance... human lives had spilled at his feet, across the floor. Ugh. The thought made him feel sick.

He dragged his attention back to the present and faced the woman again. "I don't know. Somewhere other than this pit," he said. "Try and find people from my world. Even the bastard Colonel would be appreciated at this point."

[lithium_soldier]

If Integra saw the look that crossed the boy's face, she didn't let on.

The mention of 'that bastard Colonel' caught her interest. A boy that age should be looking for family, not army men he wasn't too fond of. (Not that, she was really one to talk.) It looked like they would have a few things to discuss after all.

"I might be able to help you with that." She replied, thinking things over. "How long have you been stranded here?"

[fullmetal_smile]

Ed shrugged. "I don't know. It's difficult to tell here." With it's eternal night, all time merged together making it impossible to know, even with a watch. It could be the middle of the night for all he knew, or the afternoon.

"A week or two, at least," he said finally. It could be longer. Who knew if it was even the same time period as when he had left. He didn't think that the Gate had the same concept of time as humans did.

[lithium_soldier]

"You could check the SOLDIER records on Hollow Bastion for your Colonel. Many people join the army after they've seen their world destroyed."

For revenge, mostly. Along the way they learned other things. But even after years of operation on Hollow Bastion, it was impossible to make sure newcomers knew there was a military. It was usually hard enough getting them adjusted.

She tried to shrug some of the tension out of her shoulders, gave up, and slid a cigar and lighter from her pocket. Apparently, she was never weary enough to stop thinking about work.

"Did you have some connection to the military on your world?" She asked him, curious, the lit cigar hanging between her lips. Perhaps his father was a soldier..?

[fullmetal_smile]

"They have that kind of thing?" Ed frowned slightly, thinking it over. "I don't even know that my world is destroyed," he said, half to himself. "I just ended up here because of the Gate."

That was something to think on. Find out if it was definate.

He smirked at Integra's next question. "You could say that." He tugged the watch from his pocket. He'd given up on finding anyone who recognised it, but it was an ingrained reaction. "I'm a Sate Alchemist. In normal military terms, I rank as a Major."

[lithium_soldier]

Integra grinned slightly. It took a lot to impress her but this kid wasn't doing so bad for himself. She supposed she should have been more surprised but, in the old days, kids that young could get into Hollow Bastion's military so long as they proved themselves.

She nodded at his question, filing away his comment about a 'Gate'. He probably meant something about the way the way people were dropped into Traverse.

"Interesting." She replied, deciding to go along with it for now. Her eyes flicked to the watch, though the recognition they showed was of the alchemic symbols etched there.

"My name is Sir Integral Hellsing, and this is Alucard." Alucard turned around from where he'd taken to ignoring the conversation, glanced at the watch a second, snorted, and went back to being bored.

She waited for the boy's introduction before she continued.

"There has been a military effort established on Hollow Bastion for a few years now but the war has been going on longer than that." She replied, easily talking around the cigar in her mouth. "If you're searching for information on other worlds, it would be the best place to start."

Her tone was final, as if she intended to leave unless she'd caught his interest and Edward had something more to say. She carried herself like a general but she didn't go around advertising it. She found the title was much more effective when there was something to back it up.

[fullmetal_smile]

"Edward Elric," Ed replied in greeting. "The Fullmetal Alchemist."

He nodded at her information. "That does sound like a good place. Gives us a destination to think about, anyway." He'd have to tell K and Claudia when they returned. It would depend on what the girls wanted to do, but it was a thought.

He looked back up at the women. "Thanks for the information. Should I take it you live there? As part of the military?" She had the bearing of a military woman. Highly ranked too, from what he could tell.

[lithium_soldier]

Integra had turned to leave but when he spoke again she stopped and allowed herself a lingering grin. There were a lot of ways to leave an impression.

"You're perceptive, Elric." That much should tell him he was right. She considered leaving it at that - from what she'd said it wasn't so hard to figure out she was a military woman - but the kid deserved a decent answer.

Her motives for talking to him were less than pure anyway. If he noticed what she was doing, she figured someone so smug would see the humor in it. Or get angry at her for nudging him in the direction of the military. Whichever one he chose, she was still in a slightly malicious mood.

She turned to face him properly while she spoke. "I'm head of the military there; General Hellsing."

[fullmetal_smile]

Ed smirked slightly. He'd been right. There was something about a person that just screamed soldier after a while. He could just feel it from them. And this woman radiated command. He wondered if it would be as obvious to anyone who wasn't part of the military.

His eyes widened slightly at her exact rank. He'd been talking to the leader of an antire army?! THen again, he had talked quite casually to the Fuhrer and only realised later.

Well, her talking to him made some kind of sense now. He knew that he was useful from a military standpoint. He smiled slightly wryly. "Seems I can't get away from it," he commented. "I'm a military alchemist. On my own world, I do research and investigations and stuff."

He nodded towards her. "Maybe I will make it to Hollow Bastion. I need to wait for some people and I don't know where we're going, but it seems as good a place as any."