Here, take this with you.
There are ways of handing this to me that are a bit more poignant, you know.
Congrats! You too are now officially a dog of the military.
Lt. Havoc, take him home.
Nina...
Man cannot obtain anything without first sacrificing something.
In order to obtain anything, something of equal value is required.
That is alchemy's Law of Equivalent Exchange.
At the time, we believed that to be the true way of the world.
Hey Chief, don't make that face.
The Lt. Colonel is wrapped up in something of a tough case right now.
A case?
A serial killer, who only goes after women.
That's a job for the police, isn't it?
If the military lets it go for too long in their own backyard,
it becomes a matter of honor, see?
He's after another promotion, huh?
It is true that the Lt. Colonel is a man who won't hesitate to use any means necessary to get promoted.
But if that's all he ever did, we wouldn't follow him.
What do you mean by that?
You'll find out soon enough.
Ta-daa!
Brother, is that...?
Hey, you! Hold it! Hold it, I tell you! Give that back! Give it back!
Fooling around again...
Give it back! Please, give it back!
Everyone is talking about him.
Whoever would have thought that a twelve-year old could pass the certification exam?
Prodigies. They do exist.
Well, to celebrate Edward passing his test, we're going to have a big feast today!
Terrific!
You mean it!?
Uh-huh. Would you like to join us?
Well, I still have work to do.
Is that so?
Ah, Tucker, I have a message from the Lt. Colonel for you.
"Assessment day will be here soon. I'm looking forward to it."
Yes, I know.
This assessment thing, is it for State Alchemists?
Mm-hmm. If I don't report the findings of my research and get evaluated once every year,
my certification as a State Alchemist will be taken from me.
That's rough.
Last year, I didn't receive a good evaluation,
so I have to do better this year.
Let 'em have it, Papa!
Will you go with a Chimera that can understand human speech?
Once you complete it, please show us, okay?
Sure, I promise. Once it's complete, I'll be sure to let you two have a look at it.
A letter? Who are you writing to?
I-it doesn't matter who it's to!
Ah, Brother, it's to Winry, right?
I-it's just a simple report!
"I\fscx100}just succeeded in becoming a State Alchemist! Take that!"
That sort of thing!
Is Winry Big Brother's girlfriend?
As a matter of fact-
No! She's not! She's not! She's not! She's not! She's not!
I'm going to write my mom a letter, too!
Say, your mom is far away, right?
Mm-hmm. She said Dad was a good-for-nothing,
and she couldn't put up with him any more, so she went back to her parent's home.
I hope Mom sends me a reply.
Here.
My wife couldn't stand being poor, and left us. That was
If my certification is taken from me, we'll fall back to the way things were then.
If I'm going to keep this lifestyle,
I have to pass this assessment no matter what.
Papa, good luck studying...!
I get it, you want to go for a walk, right?
Not this simple stuff!
I want to find out about a Chimera that a man named Tucker created two years ago!
Hey, Sheska, do you know about this?
Shou Tucker's reports are restricted reading.
Would you check on it, please? I'm not any ordinary person, here!
That's not what I meant.
Unless you have permission from Brigadier General Basque Grand-
Brig. General Grand...?
Don't you know the Iron Blood Alchemist?
He's the foremost authority on redirecting alchemy to military tactics.
If you need his permission, that must mean it's a military secret.
Military... secret...?
You can't go in! Please stop! This first branch is only for State Alchemist use.
No one without permission from the military can enter.
But I was told that this is the only place where I would find out!
N-now hold on...!
What!?
Well, sorry, but those seem to be the rules.
Hey, hold it!
Brother, I don't understand. Why would you place this...
...this despicable alchemy brand upon me?
Look, Elicia, it's your big brother Ed!
Honey, pay attention to what Ed is saying.
Go ahead, take your time.
Let's see, Tucker's Chimera, right?
Uh-huh. Major, you're in the Investigations Department, right?
I thought you might know something.
You could just ask him yourself, couldn't you?
Yeah, but he's so busy now, just before his assessment, and all.
I don't know all that much myself.
They say that Tucker is the first person in history to create a Chimera...
...that could speak and understand human language.
You're sure about that?
I hear that the Chimera definitely said one thing: "I want to die."
Apparently, after that, it didn't eat anything, and died.
I wonder why Tucker would create such a thing.
Who knows?
But there was someone in the military that at least thought there was some value in utilizing it.
What about Tucker's wife?
Ah, you mean the one who died before they came to Central?
Am I mistaken?
Yes, this is Hughes.
That serial killer!?
Mama! Mama!
This makes the fifth one, huh?
Hasn't Investigations found anything yet?
Don't take it out on us.
Mama!!
Hey, what's the matter!?
Sounds like you saw something awful, huh?
I'm fine now.
You've been calling for your mother the whole time. And apologizing, too.
I've had my suspicions ever since I saw your bodies.
Your mother, huh? That must have been tough.
What you did was forbidden from the outset.
However, I understand how you must have felt.
Who are you people!?
I don't know what Mustang told you,
but matters concerning Shou Tucker fall under the jurisdiction of me, Basque Grand!
Basque Grand? That's you?
The Sewing Life Alchemist's research is one of the military's most secret matters.
It is not an area upon which others may tread frivolously.
Big Brothers, where are you going?
We'll be back in a little while to play with you.
Really?
Mm-hmm!
Yeah.
Make sure you do!
It's not aggravating to you?
I hear that when that kid showed off his transmutation abilities without using a transmuting circle,
the Fuhrer bestowed words of praise upon him.
Thanks to him, that upstart Mustang was able to score some more points.
I'm sorry to have worried you.
I managed to smooth things over last year, but if you don't show any results this year too,
then I will be put in an awkward position for having supported you.
But...!
Or would you rather yield the title of Sewing Life Alchemist to that kid and go back to your former lifestyle?
A life of wandering from town to town on an empty stomach?
This is the end of the line. Your assessment will be held the day after tomorrow.
Papa?
Do you hurt somewhere?
I'm at the end of the line here, Nina.
Papa...
What if by doing this, the certification you worked so hard to get is taken away?
If there's nothing here, it'll be fine with me...
Over here!
Come on in.
Have a look.
It's a finished version of a Chimera that can understand human words.
Listen, that person is Edward.
Ed...ward...
That's right! Nicely done.
Nicely...done...
Unbelievable! It really is talking!
Somehow, I managed to make it in time for the assessment.
Now I can get by without having to worry about research funding.
Ed...ward...
It's okay...
Big...Brother...Ed...
Brother...?
Tucker...
Something the matter?
When was the first time you transmuted a Chimera that could understand human language?
I told you, didn't I?
Two years ago.
And when did your wife leave?
Two years ago.
Do your letters still reach your wife...?
What are you trying to say?
Where have Nina and Alexander gone!?
I hate perceptive kids like you.
Brother!
Yeah, that's right!
Your own wife...!?
And now, this time, he used his own daughter and dog to transmute a Chimera!
It's easy when you use people, huh?
Yeah!?
What are you so upset about?
As is typical of medical science,
the advancement of mankind comes as the result of countless animal experiments, doesn't it?
- Stop messing around!
- Since you, too, are a scientist
Do you think you can get away with something like this!?
With toying around with people's lives like this!?
People's lives?
Right, people's lives, indeed!
Your arm and leg. Your brother's body.
Aren't they the results of toying around with people's lives, too?
Why, Tucker?
Didn't you need to pass your assessment so that you could continue your life with Nina?
I had no reason to create the Chimera.
The possibility was there before my eyes, so I tried it.
A Chimera that could understand human words. I just wanted to see if I could make one.
You've got to be kidding me...
I knew that it was anathema, but I couldn't help myself from trying out a human transmutation.
You are the same as I am.
I am not!!
As a scientist! No, as a person,
there's no bounds to your desire to put your own knowledge into practice.
You want to test out what kind of power has been given to you,
by learning all of the secrets that are hidden in this world.
That is the essence of alchemy.
We're not... alchemy isn't... this sort of thing...
I'm not like that!! I'm not...! I'm not...! I'm not...! I'm not...!
Brother! He'll die!
Big...Brother...
Nina, this might hurt a little, but bear with me.
Brother! Are you planning to re-transmute her!? That's something that we can't do...
My Chimera has been perfectly transmuted! Nobody can return it to the way it was!
Be careful! Make sure you don't do to her what you did to your mother!
Let's play... Let's...play...
Nina...
What's going on here, Edward Elric!?
He... used his own daughter...
The Chimera and Tucker will be dealt with in conjunction with a court martial.
You will not speak of what you saw here to anyone else.
Hold on! You guys knew what Tucker had done, didn't you!?
You're just getting rid of the evide-
Let's go!
Damn it! I'm not about to let you whisk them away!
Nina!
Brother!
You are composed of both man and beast, are you?
Why would I know such a thing?
How regrettable...
O God, that great God who hast created us and all other things...
Please receive this woeful spirit into thy bosom.
Brother!
Nina...!
God, I now understand.
The reason why my brother gave me this accursed arm...
It was so that I would take those alchemists,
who have departed from the path of God, and with their same devilish works, destroy them.
It's... as though she was decomposed by an alchemist... but who?
But then, even if we were to do something...
I'm sorry... Nina, I'm sorry...
Brother...
Fullmetal Alchemist!
Episode 8: "The Philosopher's Stone"
We're only children. We can't do anything.
Even so, we can still...