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Inside his house in central, Edward sat in a chair next to the firehouse reading a book. After a few minutes, he finished the book, put it aside, and took the drink next to him to sip.
"How is it, master?"
"Well, the automail is quite interesting. Although the Empire can regrow limbs, it's not much use in the medical field. However, for the study of cybernetic enhancement, it should be useful."
In the Empire, there is a small group of people who study how to turn ordinary people into Cyborgs by replacing some body parts with cybernetic enhancement, turning them into living weapons.
Because of magic and genetic engineering, this field is not that popular, however, Edward has been funding these people so that they can create a biochip that can be implemented in a wizard's brain, thus granting the computing power of a supercomputer.
Although he already has Morgana--and she has been bound to his soul--and does not need it, his family members along with other wizards in the Empire will benefit greatly from this technology.
"So, how is the progress of reverse-engineering the dimension inside Gluttony?" asked Edward as he took another sip of his drink.
"The process should take a few more days," replied little Morgana with frustration on her face.
"There is no need to blame yourself. After all, you're not at full capacity," reassured Edward. Then, he became quiet as if he was in deep thought.
"Morgana, do you think I should contact my family?"
The little elf frowned after hearing this. She knew that her master could contact the people in the Empire through the Gate of Truth and Soul Space since he left a piece of his soul there.
As long as one person in the Empire used a spell to enter his Soul Space through the little piece of soul he left there, they could contact one another.
As for how to make them use the spell, Morgana just has to connect to her main server and send a message through Skynet since she is Skynet herself. Even if it's possible to send a few words, this method has a high probability of working.
However, there is a major problem facing them: Truth. That's an essentially omnipotent existence. Although they have currently theorized that this omnipotence comes from this world only, and as soon as he leaves this world, he should be weakened drastically.
Nevertheless, this is just a theory; there is no proof or sufficient data to back up this theory.
So, Morgana knew that her master was worried that if he sent a message to his family, Truth might intercept the message, and even use it to discover their world.
Morgana knows very well how paranoid her master can be; she guessed that he might even be worrying about whether Truth has read his mind and knew everything that he was thinking.
So, after thinking about it for a while, she said: "Master, it may be useless, but I think it's best to be prudent."
Edward then nodded his head, "You're probably right...Hmm, it seems that we have visitors."
Meanwhile, Ed and Al--who followed the address on the card--entered the house with a weird look on their faces. After seeing Edward waiting for them, Ed immediately yelled out loud: "What was that? Why is it that only Al and I can see your house? Why can't Lieutenant Hawkeye enter the house even after standing right in front of it?"
Edward looked at the brothers and said: "Boy, know how to behave when in someone else's home."
"Sorry!" said both Al and Ed who immediately felt like they were facing their teacher and her cruel training.
"As for the answer to your question, that's because I place a little magic on my house so that uninvited guests do not interrupt my peaceful life. The reason you two could come in was because of the card I gave you."
"Magic? There is no such thing," replied Ed. "Alchemy is based on scientific principles and the laws of physique that govern our world."
"You're too closed-minded. In some places in this world, an alchemist would be considered a God because of their abilities. Why is that?"
"That's because of ignorance," replied Ed.
"Exactly. The same can apply to you right now. Because you have never heard of magic or seen it, you're ignorant of its working and intricacies."
Ed frowned after hearing this, then Al asked: "Sir, in that case, what is magic?"
"Magic is not so different from Alchemy. The biggest difference is the fact that Alchemists use earthen energy from the movement of technic plates to control the laws of physics and achieve extraordinary things, but magic uses a different kind of energy called mana.
"Alright, there is no need to mention this; I doubt any of you will ever encounter mana in this world."
Edward then invited them to sit down in the living room while serving tea. The Elric Brothers--knowing that Edward did not want to mention the topic of mana again--did not ask any more questions.
"So, what brought you two to visit this old man?" asked Edward.
Both Al and Ed were a little speechless as they looked at Edward who looked like someone in his early 20's. Ed then chose to ignore this before asking: "We are here to ask you a question."
"Oh, go ahead."
"We want to know why you're such a powerful Alchemist. Why could you save Nina so easily and we could not do anything about it? What differentiate you and us?"
Ed stared at Edward waiting for his answer. He did not think that the answer had anything to do with magic since when Edward saved Nina, he only used Alchemy.
Edward paused for a brief moment as he was surprised by this question. Then, he answered: "The answer to your question is quite simple: humanity."
"Humanity? What does this have to do with anything?" said Ed with gritted teeth.
"Brother, calm down and let him continue."
"Fine," said Ed as he stared at Edward. The latter smiled like an old man appreciating youth's vitality and exuberance. Then, his smile faded.
"I did not lie to you. The truth of the matter is that you two have slowly accepted the fact that you're human and have limitations. I guess that after failing in human transmutation, failing to save Nina, and discovering the key ingredient in making the Philosopher's Stone, you have realized the consequences when Alchemists try to play God: loss of their humanity.
"So, you guys have slowly decided to keep that humanity, to keep your moral compass; you have accepted your limitation.
"But I'm different from you. In my path of pursuing knowledge, I have slowly let go of humanity and have done many horrible things. As a result, or as a price, as equivalent exchange, I have acquired power beyond the limit of humans.
"This is the reason that I can save Nina and you cannot."
In many ways, Edward and Father are the same kinds of people. The main difference is that Father refused to acknowledge his human origins and see it as a weakness.
However, Edward never let go of human origin and saw it as an anchor to keep him from going over the edge.
"Sir, do you ever regret your choice?" asked Al.
"No, since when I made the choice, I perfectly knew what path I was taking. However, there are still times I regret being forced into situations when I have to do things I regret."
After chatting with Edward for a while, the Elric brothers left his manor with a desolate look on their faces.
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Next Chapter Title: Failed Species