(Untitled)

[in_the_cracks]

It’s been a while since Telrim’s had time for anything but business. But there must have been a lull back home, because once again there’s a Controller in the Nexus, quietly watching the people around her. As always the Yeerk is privately sizing them up - hosts, threats, interesting specimens - but her eyes follow the human-looking ones in

Comments

[haganenomore]

"Hmm." Ed thinks about that for a moment. "Depends on the rumor. If it sounds plausible, I might be inclined to think there's something to it. And back when I was a teenager, I chased every rumor I could find on something. They never panned out though."

[haganenomore]

Ed nods. "Yeah. And the rotten parts of the military have been pretty well cleared out as a result."

[in_the_cracks]

She raises her eyebrows, something wistful behind her expression. "Sounds like impressive work. Not a firestorm I'd want to be at the centre of... but impressive."

[haganenomore]

"There were a lot of people involved in cleaning that up. There's no way that just a handful of people could have handled it."

[in_the_cracks]

"Rooting out rot that deep is bound to stir up the lake-bed, so to speak. That's why an investigation like that needs proper support."

She pauses. "Out of curiosity, what happened to the soldiers found to be corrupt?"

[haganenomore]

"Well, some of the generals had Major General Armstrong happen to them. She, um, doesn't react well to people trying to fuck over the country she's trying to defend. I'm not sure what happened to the other generals. I imagine the ones that survived the whole thing went to trial."

[in_the_cracks]

"The ones that survived..." She stifles the ghost of a smile. "Maybe they'll set an example to others in the future."

[haganenomore]

"Probably. Although I don't think that what exactly they were up to has been released to the public. No point giving any psychopaths any ideas. I have no idea how some of what was done to set things up was dealt with. Maybe I should ask Ed if I should deal with some of it since it'll be fairly easy for me to do, traveling to different areas aside."

[in_the_cracks]

"You really want to be sure it's ended, don't you?" As much as she has on her mind - or because of it: distractions are sometimes a relief - Telrim's curiosity is piqued. "What were they doing that was so bad?"

[haganenomore]

Ed looks down and an outline of Amestris appears. "This is the country."

Another circle appears just inside the border and dots at the relevant points. "This is the transmutation circle that was created. It's to create the Philosopher's Stone in worlds like the one this took place in. Mine's different and the array is more complicated. Anyway, there's about fifty million people in the country. That makes a rather big stone. You see the problem, don't you?"

[in_the_cracks]

She blinks at the instant cartography, then glances at Ed and files it away under 'Nexus'. Her attention turns to the overlapping outlines and what she remembers about his world.

"They would have transmuted the entire population? That does explain things." ...Well. "Almost."

[haganenomore]

"I take it, it's the 'why' that you're wondering about?" Ed asks drily. "Someone convinced them that it would help them live forever."

He snorts. "Sure they would have. As ingredients for the Stone. The one doing it was... unpleasant. He also had about as much regard for humans that humans have for ants. He was just using them."

[in_the_cracks]

"It's remarkable what humans will do to survive." Telrim's eyes linger on the map for a moment or two - there, perhaps, is the answer to another question. One she wouldn't ask openly.

She looks up at Ed quickly, her gaze sharp again. "I assume you're talking about another homunculus."

[haganenomore]

Ed nods. "Yeah. And he made the others in his world. Whom are all assholes except for Greed who's decent. Or rather, were. They're all gone."

[in_the_cracks]

"Wiped out? Or did they just pick the wrong battles?"

[haganenomore]

"A little of column a and a little of column b. They were on the losing end of several fights and had to be killed before they killed everybody else. Except for Greed, who was on Ed's side more or less."