Chapter Three: Terrorism Down Under, Part One
Edward
Saturday, August 15th, 1917, 12:27pm
I never thought having an apprentice would be this tough. Two days since I met Carson Pickett and she's already bombarding me with questions. She thought she didn't have the talent for alchemy when actually she was going about it the wrong way. She was only fucusing on transmutation circles and had no knowledge of the periodic table. She can't perform yet, but she's improving. Luckily I'm teaching her martial arts too. I've been bored lately. We've only been in Creta about a day and a half, but I've been busy teaching Carson. I hope something interesting happens soon or I'll go crazy.
End of entry
"Hm." Edward sat at the table by the window in his and Carson's two-bed room at hotel in the city of Argana. He turned the journal Carson had gave him over in his hands. While Carson was in the shower, Edward decided to write in it. It is relaxing, I guess. He Set the journal on the table, leaned back in his chair, and looked out the window at the street below.
Carson came out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her hair. " So what're we going over today?" she asked flopping down cross-legged on her bed.
"I was thinking we'd find a library actually." Edward said.
Carson's eyes lit up at the word "library". "Well what are we waiting for?! Let's go!" she shouted ripping the towel off her head.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Edward and Carson walked down 36th Street. Carson was still beaming ear to ear.
"So is going to take a while to get there?" she asked.
"Seems like it." Edward answered glancing at the map the man at the desk back at the hotel drew him. "In the mean time, recite as much of the periodic table as you can."
"Awww! Can't I do it when we get to the library?"
"Don't worry. We'll be going over it again when we get there."
"Fine...Hydrogen, Helium, Lithium,...Beryllium, Boron, Carbon, Nitrogen, Oxygen, Fluorine, Neon, Sodium,...uh...Magnesium, Alu-"
"Wait." Edward stopped her.
"What? Did I mess up?"
"No. Look." He pointed to a group of men in white uniforms surrounding a sewer pipe. Some of the passerby had stopped to look. "Let's go."
"Uh, I don't think we should get involved." Carson warned.
"We're not. We're just finding out what's going on." Edward and Carson wove through the crowd of people where they overheard the men in the white uniforms talking.
"So what do we do?" one asked. "The station's clear across town and they'll be done before our backup gets here."
"And we're not prepared to deal with people like them." added another.
"Maybe so, but we have to do something or else they'll cause serious damage."
"Excuse me," Edward called for their attention. "Would you mind telling me what's going on."
"Some terrorists are executing an attack on the city." said the first.
"We tried to catch them but they escaped into the sewers."
"What are they planning exactly?"
"There are four floodgates; each in a different part of the city. One in the north, south, east and west. There's a reservoir in the middle of the city. When a floodgate is opened the water not only runs through the entire sewer system, it eventually fills up the reservoir as well. They plan to open all four gates and flood the city." The uniformed man rose an eyebrow. "Why are you so interested anyway?
"Because I'm going to stop them." Edward said stepping forward. As he did the surrounding people began murmuring and wispering and Carson gasped.
"But wait! I thought you said we weren't getting involved!?" Carson shrieked grabbing Edward's coat.
"Please. I never listen to anything anyone else tells me. What makes you think I'll listen to what I say?" he said pulling away from Carson and jumping down the sewer pipe.
"That didn't even make sense!" whined Carson, going down after Edward and leaving the three military men looking confused and dumbstruck.
Then one snapped out of it and yelled down the pipe. "Hey kid!" Edward looked back up at the man. "They're going to open the gates simultaneously at exactly 6:20!"
Edward pulled out his pocket watch and looked at the time. "12:40," He glanced up at Carson. "We've got exactly six hours to stop them."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"If there's four gates," Carson thought out loud. "Then we can't take any longer than an hour and a half to beat the terrorists at each gate."
"Then we have to be fast enough to get there in time, but slow enough to make sure the enemy doesn't know we're here."
They came to a hall that lead to the next part of the sewers. They were about to round the corner when they heard voices.
"Man. Why do we have to wait until six to open the gates? Why can't we just do it now?"
"'Cause the boss thinks it'll be more fun if we give the military a chance to fight back."
"I still say faster is better."
When the footsteps of the terrorists grew faint Edward peeked around the corner. There were two men. The furthest one away had a gun and the closest one didn't have anything. Edward examined the man closer and realized he had a transmutation circle on the back of his hand.
Edward turned to Carson. "These guys are alchemists."
"What did you get us into?!" she hissed.
"I don't know, but we'll beat them none the less."
"How?!"
An idea entered his mind. "Like this." He reached into his coat and pulled out a pen. "Give me your hands."
Carson put her hands out and Edward drew a transmutation circle on each of her palms. "Are you crazy?!! I can't do alchemy!"
"With my help you can." he nodded, putting the pen away. "Now listen carefully. For this to work you have to do exactly what I say. To activate the transmutation circle you clap your hands together. Do that whenever I tell you to transmute. When I do, I'll tell you what you need to transmute and how to do it. Which means you'll have to pay attention and focus. Okay?"
"Okay, but what do I do when I'm not transmuting?"
"Use whatever martial arts I taught you unless I say otherwise."
Carson gulped nervously.
