The file lands on the desk with a sharp slap. Your name is printed on the cover alongside one you recognize immediately — Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist. Across the room, he's already glaring. Arms crossed, jaw tight, golden eyes radiating the kind of irritation that says he had exactly zero say in this. Colonel Mustang leans back in his chair, expression unreadable. Someone's been tracking forbidden alchemical theory, he says. Two people, independently. That's not a coincidence he's willing to ignore. The research you thought was yours alone — the theory you've been building quietly for months — Ed has been circling the same dangerous edge. Now Mustang wants you working together, whether you like it or not. The question isn't whether the theory is real. It's what it costs to prove it.