damned_institute | Day 69: Breakfast

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Day 69: Breakfast

Scar scowled, both relieved and angry that he had woken up once again in his own bed. That lanky man who had become his new roommate on the night of his death was sound asleep one bed over.

This was coming to be the new "normal." It was infuriating.

As always, he begrudgingly followed his nurse into the cafeteria and took a seat. He preferred to file in with the majority of the patients in order to avoid sticking out, but no such luck this morning.

Scar stared at his food rather than starting in on it, despite the newly found appetite that had been lost thanks to that blasted sickness. He had a lot to think about. He hadn't managed to find Frank last night. The damn intercom had beaten him to it. And judging by Tsubaki's reaction to him, he had been out for at least a day's time. How many had noticed? Cared? It couldn't have been many.

But it was the few who did whose detection Scar was desperate to avoid.

[Eddyyyy!]

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"He must have been behind it. Lust and her pet and one other homunculus were there. Which means that the military should have known about it from the start..." This was giving Scar a headache. "Goddammit." He slammed his fist against the table again.

"Everything was a goddamn hoax. All for the..." Scar stopped, his heart skipping a beat. Homunculi were after the Stone, were they not? So was that the goal the entire time? To arrange a perfect opportunity for the Stone?

"All they ever wanted was the Philosopher's Stone," he finally murmured.

"Yes," Ed confirmed with a nod. "At least Lust was told that use of it could make her human. But she was lied to. If it was possible, she and the others would have been in the first place. Yes, the body can be recreated, but the soul can't, because there's nothing that could be paid that's worth one."

Ed started to run his right hand through his hair, remembered just in time about no gloves and switched to his left. "I don't know who was behind them or what it was really intended for."

"I know how that works," he said shortly. But this place's affects did raise the question of what, exactly, was a homunculus. Lust could not heal as she could, before. Though she still had some semblance of her weapons intact.

"What's behind their memories, then?" It was an honest question, one almost painful to ask, and one that had plagued him since Lust had mentioned their existence several days ago. It threw a wrench in everything. Memories cannot simply be created and tied to a creature, could they? And Scar knew that his brother had never attempted to create a replica, so why would he have attached fake memories to Lust's being?

It bothered him far more than he let on.

And that did leave the question: why have pawns create a Stone to begin with? What use could a person have for it? A person who was somehow more important than the Fuhrer of Amestris?

"I don't know," Ed admitted. "I think I'm going to be asking Lust stuff sometime during the next few days to help try to figure shit out. Maybe it's because when made, the only thing missing is the soul and that they otherwise would have been the same if it wasn't for whoever getting their hands on them. After all, they were made to be the person the alchemist making them wanted back."

Meaning, if it weren't for Dante, Scar and his brother would have had the woman Lust originally was back.

Scar's eyes narrowed. He wasn't exactly certain of what Edward was getting on about, but...

"You mean brain washing?"

Ed nodded grimly. "I think so. One of the things Sloth said was something to the effect that she hated me because she couldn't hate me and maybe getting rid of me would help stop whatever conflict was going on in her head."

That touch of pity had returned to Scar's gaze. His own brother's sin had become one of the first people in a very long time to actually care about him.

He wasn't sure which outcome was worse.

"So does that mean that emotions are left over as well?"

Ed nodded again, trying to ignore the pity so he wouldn't become snappish. "I think so."

Scar went back to staring at his plate.

"Then what makes a homunculus different from a human?" A soul was the source of emotions and memory. It was what made humans human, as far as Scar was concerned.

Yet he was desperate to find some discrepancy. He wasn't asking for the sake of devil's advocate, or defending homunculi. No, he was trying to find the flaw.

Ed sighed. "Honestly, it would probably be best to pick Lust's brain on this. I would guess it's the lack of soul."

If Ed could read Scar's mind he'd pick out the flaws in his thinking.

Scar grumbled at that.

"I already have enough to take up with her."

There was too much going on at once. He was worried about Frank, and by effect many others. And Edward had just told him about the Fuhrer, which opened doors and closed them and drew connections Scar never could have made on his own. And he still had to deal with the fact that he had somehow survived, as well as others finding out that he had somehow survived.

Ed scratched at the back of his neck. "Did I overload you with too much information?"

Scar contemplated for a moment.

"Yes, but I'm glad you did."

Ed blinked and looked bemused. "First time someone's said thanks for throwing too much at them."

Scar shook his head.

"I've been kept in the dark long enough." His race and record had preceded him at home. And he hadn't been able to get much out of Lust, either. But he wanted to know. Needed to know. He wasn't the pigheaded moron many made him out to be. Scar knew that he was involved in something deeper. What that was, though, he didn't know.

Ed blinked again as he remembered something he meant to tell Scar that he got distracted from. "Before I forget again, Al's a few inches shorter than you, has darker blond hair and darker eyes."

"I'm sure I would be able to pick him out," Scar said quietly. Despite his lack of social skills, he had always been able to have a good grasp for people. And Alphonse was a particularly special person.

Ed gave Scar a sunny smile, mood noticeably brightened by talking about his brother being in his rightful body. "I know. But having a description helps."

Scar only nodded, lifting his head once again to check around the room.

"There," he muttered. It was obviously him. Scar could tell simply from the way he carried himself. A calm demeanor, and of course the physical description matched. He looked like Edward, just taller and leaner. Scar's eyes narrowed.

"Is he injured?"

Ed winced as he looked over to his brother. "He'll be alright. We both got traumatized by last night, but he'll be okay."

"The monsters here are more than monsters. They know how to get to us. Each of us. Personally. Don't forget that."

Ed shuddered. "Great. Just what I wanted to hear. I'd like to pass on another reminder of that night tonight."

"Maybe. If you're lucky." And careful. Scar needed to decide on what he would be doing, tonight. He had focused all of his efforts on Frank in recent nights, and dying had without a doubt thrown him off kilter. Perhaps...

"What were you two planning for tonight, anyway?"

"I have no idea," Ed admitted. "We may try for the kitchen and then the greenhouse again like we did last night. The three of us only made it as far as the Sun Room, when we ran into Murphy and then got to wake up in our rooms, however that happened."

Ed shook his head, still not sure how it occurred.

"Murphy?" Scar perked up at the mention of the name. So he was still around. Good. "He's a good man."

"What is there to look for in the kitchen? Or the greenhouses for that matter?"

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