Fullmetal Alchemist Fan Fiction ❯ 1986 ❯ The Office of the Beast ( Chapter 3 )

Here's the third Chapter in the 1986 series, I hope you have enjoyed it so far. I recently found my lost copy of 1984, so now I can let some of the darkness from Mr. Orwell's masterpiece flow into this chapter and the following chapters too. I would appreciate any comments you have, positive or negative, so please take the time to do so. Without further adieu…

 

1986

Chapter 3

 

 

Drums were beating and a band was playing some kind of canned monotonous march. A parade had begun.

 

"What's happening?" Ed asked as the parade went down the street.

 

"One of the regiments of troops came home, they were victorious." Winston said watching them as they passed.

 

The troops marched in a perfect block, looking completely uniform in every manner, even their faces looked similar.

 

This is wrong Ed thought, there should be some wounded, there's always wounded or dead.

 

The parade continued down the street and people came to watch and cheer. Although the music was dull, Ed couldn't help getting swept up in the beat of things, he too joined in the cheering for a moment. The parade came by and Ed couldn't see a band, just a stern military vehicle with a speaker tower mounted to it. The vehicle was rather nondescript, its color: primer Grey, it gave off a bureaucratic authority. As the Vehicles and soldiers passed, the people went on with their business, Ed and Winston followed suit.

 

"Where are we headed?" Ed asked (Winston had not told him when they left the Victory Mansion)

 

"Miniluv" Winston said with out thinking.

 

"Say what?" Ed said giving him a funny look.

 

Winston had to remind himself that Ed wasn't from this world. Ed had started to become accustomed to this world but Winston forgot, or was it double think? Winston shook himself from his thoughts and concentrated at the task at hand. "The Ministry on Love. When someone disappears, this is most likely where that person will end up. It's a reeducation center of sorts. They bring you in, break your spirit and reshape it in whatever form they want."

 

"Why are we headed into the Lion's den?" Ed asked, Winston stopped and looked at him, confused. Ed realized Winston had no idea what that meant and explained "It means into the enemy stronghold."

 

Resuming his path towards Miniluv, Winston said "Because there is a book in there you need to read." He passed a dilapidated store selling stale bread.

 

"What book?"

 

"One written by the greatest national criminal: Emmanuel Goldstein. It explains the party's philosophy and ideals; it will help you understand this world better than anyone else." Winston said this very softly as mentioning Goldstein usually caught the attention of all the people in a twenty foot radius.

 

"And where do they keep this book?" Ed asked, also lowering his voice, but not quite understanding why.

 

Winston stopped; Ed asked the simplest, deadliest question. Where? He knew it was there, but now he had to figure out where. Thinking back to before he was dragged into the ministry of love, he remembered receiving the book. "O'Brien." He said starting to move in the direction of Miniluv once again.

 

"Wha...?" Ed said confused, following Winston, he had been expecting a location of some sort, not a person, or at least…his name.

 

"O'Brien's office should have a copy." Winston said clarifying, sure of him self. "He's the one who gave it to me. Unfortunately, I can't get into his home without alerting his servant."

 

"Wait, someone in the ministry gave you the book?!" Ed asked, surprised by such an intelligent betrayal.

 

"Yes."

 

"So how are we going to get in there?"

 

"I don't know, unless you have any tricks up your sleeve, we are probably going to die in the process of retrieving it." Winston said bluntly.

 

Ed laughed in a cocky manner, "Yeah I some tricks up my sleeve, but you better take me to the right place, or else we might be backed into a corner." He thought of the various ways he could clear a path to their destination, but before his imagination could get away from him, Winston said spoke.

 

"Good," Winston said as they entered the plaza in front of Miniluv "from now on speak only when you need too and do it quietly."

 

"The walls have ears."

 

Winston thought on it for a moment, "Yes they do and eyes too.” He stopped and spoke quietly as to not be overheard. “These guards are merciless, if they get the chance they will shoot to kill." He said “take no chances, if they take aim at you, hide.”

 

"I'm liking this more and more" Ed said sarcastically, putting on a fatalistic grin. “If you're ready, then lead the way” He said straightening out his shabby outfit.

 

They started to climb the steps, Winston made sure they were hidden in the thick of the crowd, they moved deliberately towards the front door of the giant menacing building. In a city of decay and poverty, only three buildings stood out among the cracking and eroding stone, The Ministry of Love, The Ministry of Peace, and The Ministry of Plenty. They entered the main hall of Miniluv and Ed fought the urge to look in wonder at the giant, cathedral sized room. Instead he looked about with out moving his head for any motion that might hint of an attack. Winston eased himself from the crowd and over near a wall where a small, unimportant looking door was hiding between two enormous stone pillars. He opened the door and entered, like he had business, not stopping and not hesitating. Ed followed.

 

They were in a long white marble hallway, every ten feet was a door. Each door was slightly different that the others, but in the middle of each was a small plackard with a number on it. Winston and Ed proceeded down the hall until they came across an elevator. Winston pulled the memory of O'Brien's office long enough to remember what floor it was on, then quickly repressed it.

 

Ed suddenly realized that this O'Brien person might be in his office right now, he tried to think of a way to ask Winston about this without the walls becoming suspicious, but nothing came, so all he did was stand in place and silently panic.

 

Winston, noticed what Ed was doing and looked, the moment their eyes met he knew what was bothering Ed.

 

(Flashback)

 

As Winston and Ed climbed over the last of the many hundreds of steps, Winston caught a glimmer out of the corner of his eyes. A pair of spectacles reflected some of the dreary sunlight, Winston recognized the spectacles and the head they sat on, it was O'Brien. O'Brien was heading in the opposite direction, reading the front page of the news paper.

 

(End Flashback)

 

Winston caught Ed's eyes again and shook his head slightly. No he's not in Winston thought to Ed. Ed somehow understood that it was going to be alright and O'Brien was not in. Winston turned the handle, opened the door to the office, and entered. It had not changed since that day he received the book from O'Brien and again the feeling of defeat crept over, he couldn't win. Big brother was too powerful to stop, but as he saw Ed out of the corner of his eye he felt a piece of hope. This boy is the one, he can stop Big Brother as long as I can keep him alive. Winston moved out of the tele-screen's line of sight quickly, going along the wall towards the switch. O'Brien's screen was one of the select few that could be turned off and Winston relished in the moment when he reached the switch. "I turned the screen off." Winston said, turning to Ed "We don't have long before they become suspicious, so we need to hurry." He moved to the desk and looked at the drawers 'should be in here' he thought to him self pulling the top one open...nothing...confused, he opened the second one...nothing...

 

"Did you find it there?" Ed asked, looking thought the bookcase against the wall, unsure of what he was looking for.

 

"Not here" Winston said, losing hope. He grabbed the bottom drawer and opened it, it was filled to the top with papers and photographs. Winston would have stopped to look through the files, but time was not on his side. He dug to the bottom and felt something large and heavy, something smooth. He pulled it out, replaced all the papers careful and closed the drawer. He turned his prize over to look at it, he looked over the front cover and saw a name: Emanuel Goldstein. "Found it!" Winston said triumphantly to Ed, closing the drawer.

 

Ed walked to Winston quickly and looked at the book "Alright," he said "let's get out of here.” He picked up the book and tucked it into his clothes as he stood. "Hurry," he said in a loud whisper as Winston "we need to get out of here!" but Winston didn't move. He stood with his eyes transfixed on the door, what little color that was in his face had left. Ed looked at Winston, confused until an unfamiliar voice spoke.

 

"Did you find what you were looking for?" Ed froze, the voice was calm, but cold, relaxed, yet commanding. Ed turned to find the source of the voice. He saw a man with glasses is that tucker?! No... it can't be..., the man was rather unremarkable, but his glasses were what got to Ed, steely, bright, crystal clear. Like the one wearing them could see into another's soul. He took them off and cleaned the lenses "I imagine," he said replacing the lenses on his face "you were after the Goldstein book." He said moving towards the wall switch "Trying to teach the newcomer what he needs to start a revolution Winston? Hoping he will succeed where you failed?" He flipped the switch and the screen re-activated. "Plese remember to return my Dictionary soon, have a nice day." He said, changing gears so fast that Ed had no idea what just happened, as he was about to say something, Winston butted in.

 

“Thank you, I'm sure records will be double happy to get the definitive eleventh edition” Winston said moving towards the door and pulling Ed with him.

 

They moved to the elevator quickly, not saying a word. When they were outside in the cold wind again, Ed was the first to speak "Who the hell was that?!"

 

"That was O'Brien" Winston said "He's a re-educator at Miniluv"

 

"Re-educator?" Ed asked, confused at the older man's words and slightly panicky.

 

"When members of the party stray from the teachings of big brother, we are brought to Miniluv and re-educated in what our beliefs should be."

 

"I see, what are they?" Ed asked, feeling like he was starting to understand the world he had been forced into.

 

"There are none." Winston said with a kind of doomsday finality to it. "It's a place where they break you down into nothing then rebuild you in the image they see fit. They are in the business of destroying souls and remodeling the human shell that's left behind."

 

"What do you mean?" Ed said, unable to believe that a government would do that to its own people. "why would they do such a thing?"

 

"Yes, it's a horrible thing to do, an immense fear of that building ins in every party member, but consider this; we have had absolutely no revolution since the party took power. Not one person speaks out, not one resistance group has been formed."

 

The brilliance of it had hit the Alchemist like a sack of bricks, by keeping the weak in a constant state of fear and breaking the wills of the strong, there could be no revolution. With out the weak to follow, a leader is nothing and without a strong willed individual to lead, the weak eaisly succumb to the will of the oppressor. As the realization finished sinking in, Ed felt a new fire burn bright within him, the fire of change, the fire of revolution.

 

"You see," Winston continued "its quite brilliant really, they have degraded us almost to the point of being animals, yet we take it and think its gold. Humans are very pliable creatures."

 

"Damn it" Ed said staring down a poster of Big Brother "Damn you Bradley, you've destroyed this world!"

 

"Quiet!" Winston whispers shushing Ed as passerby glanced in their direction. "Don't worry, Big Brother is hot on the traitor's tail and will catch him soon." He said loudly so the ones who glanced would hear "And Big Brother will show him the penalty for helping Goldstien."

 

With that said, the passer by became sympathetic and moved on, believing the young boy was furious that a traitor was on the run and not in the hands of their leader.

 

Winston pulled Ed with him to get them away from that area as soon as possible.

 

Ed stopped as he came to another realization "wait, he said to Winston and Winston turned to look at him "you said there hasn't ever been nay resistance, but you mentioned the traitors why?"

 

Winston looked about him and motioned for Ed to go so they could walk and talk. "Although everyone will say otherwise, this is what happened; Many years ago, at the start of the party, there was a small group of individuals who were at the top of the party. Emanuel Goldstein was one of them. "Winston said the last phrase in a low whisper as to not be heard by anyone. "He was at equal level and power to big brother, but one day Big Brother turned on him, claimed he was trying to start a resistance group. With that, Goldstein lost all his credibility and disappeared. It was said that he escaped and now runs an underground resistance, his spies are captured all the time. That story is true up to his escape, he never escaped and he never started a resistance group."

 

"How do you know that's true?" The Alchemist asked.

 

"Because I remember it, truly remember it. While the other party members use double think and take everything the party tells them as fact, even if the previous truth is contradictory to it, I have been lucky and retain a little bit of memory from before the revolution and the party. Goldstein is not running any resistance, the party uses it as a way to unite the people with the party. to further quash rebellion, combine that with our constant state of war and they have the perfect diversion for the empty mind. Think about it, what unites a country more than a nation wide man hunt for the person who is trying to destroy our way of life?"

 

"Plus the unity generated from the wartime efforts, not too many people are going to stray from their source of protection." Ed said knowingly. "Brilliant"

 

They continued to follow the sidewalk, as they went Ed noticed people in the alleyways. They were different from the 'Party Members' they were dressed differently and acted differently. "Who are they?" Ed asked, motioning to them.

 

"Prolees." Winston said "they aren't part of the party, and are allowed to what ever they want. They're the bottom class, on permanent welfare from the party."

 

'Placating the mindless masses...they did their homework.' Ed thought to him self "I need somewhere to read the book" He said to Winston.

 

"We're on the way" he said to Ed, with a fatal smile on his face. "They caught me the last time, but not again." He felt the fire of revolution burn within him. "I know somewhere that you will be left in peace, but you must hurry. It's only a matter of time before O'Brien has enough information to get you and break you. Here's where you have the advantage though, they watch us for years to learn about us, what we love what we hate, and most importantly what we fear. With out fear, O'Brien can not completely break you."

 

"Ha" Ed said softly "there's nothing in this world I fear, they're all back in my home country."

 

"That won't last forever though," Winston said warningly "eventually they will figure out a way to get at you. We need to act quickly." He stepped off the sidewalk and into a train station, the walls were fading and slowly crumbling. The trains looked likes they might not survive a trip to the next town. There were pillars, supporting the tall ceiling, each one covered with posters, sporting the slogan "Big Brother is watching".

 

They boarded a small train headed to a neighboring village, it was a relatively short trip, lasting only 20 minutes. Upon arriving at their destination, they disembarked and entered a small tows mostly populated with Prolees, along with the great numbers of the undesirables was an equal number of Big Brother posters. They walked through the village, passing by the homes or what one could assume were homes. The houses were naught but simple one or two room shacks with four decaying walls and a ceiling filled with holes. They were desolate, but the Prolees didn't seem to mind, in fact, they thought they were on top of the world. They had homes, families, just enough food and shelter although clothes were sometimes a precious commodity.

 

Ed and Winston saw some children playing in an old building that looked like it was about to fall apart, it had been abandoned years ago. "Those kids shouldn't be playing in there." Ed said getting annoyed at the parent's lack of compassion for the children's safety. He turned and headed for the dilapidated house to lecture them.

 

"What are you doing?" Winston said getting nervous. "Get back here!"

 

"This'll only take a minute." Ed said smirking, but the smirk disappeared as he heard wood and sheetrock splinter and break, the house was collapsing. The children were too small to make it out in time, so Ed had to think fast. He brought his hands together and put them to the ground causing the floor around the children to change shape into a dome, protecting them from the debris. After the building had finished collapsing he walked up to it and looked at it. With the exception of the parents, no one had noticed what happed.

 

The parents gathered around lamenting the loss of their children, but Ed did not. He promptly put his hands together and placed them on the wreckage, the house rebuilt itself, but this time it looked stronger. From with in the new house the children walked out, amazed they were still alive, and quickly ran to their parents.

 

"When was the last time" Ed said loudly so the parents and others near by could hear. "That Big Brother saved you, your children? He provides home like this that can collapse and kill you at a moment's notice, but what if you could have a home that's safe for your children. Books to let them learn and make something of them selves. To make the world a safer place." With this a crowd had started gathering, they seemed not to terribly interested in what he had to say, but more in what he just did (as told by the parents).

 

"You say that" one of them piped up "but can we learn to protect our selves as you protected the children?"

 

Ed looked him square in the eye and replied "Yes, but not as well as the children could learn, that takes years of study, but with time, you can protect yourself, even from bombs and guns." His directness had stunned the crowd, not in many years had such a question been answered so simply. "I have to leave, but I want you all to think about that." He said. When I return, I will show the ones who are willing to protect them selves."

 

"What will Big Brother think?" one woman asked nervously.

 

"My guess is," Ed said bluntly, "that he'll want you dead. So act as if I have never been here, live your normal lives. If you want to risk it all to live in true peace and happiness then you can follow me when I return." With that he moved back in the direction of Winston. Winston, not wanting anyone to see his face, started walking away in the direction they were initially headed.

 

"That's a brave move" Winston said "You think they can do this?"

 

"Not by them selves." Ed said thinking hard, they passed the outskirts of the town and entered the country side "but if there's enough of them, then Big Brother can't stop them."

 

 

Fin…

 

Ed has sewn the first seeds of rebellion, with it he could raise an army to overcome this alternate version of King Bradley, could one of his Generals be here? Is he even going to have a rebellion?

 

Stay tuned for the next chapter as Ed starts to muster the forces necessary to overthrow Big Borther.