Maybe you can make an array with light! Or gasses! The cosmology book said nebulas are mostly reeeeaaaaaaaally spread out gas and dust...

Moving it around could be tricky. Diffuse is harder than compact.

Yeah. They'll need a really good industrial base first, and some technological advances... Like spaceships!!!

They are definitely going to need spaceships.

They're gonna need to learn so much engineering!!! And physics!!! And making things explode!!!

It's going to be a lot of fun.

Heeeeee, yes.

Bellona flops back onto bed with a huge smile.

All in all, a successful first day.

The following days are just as successful. They're started on learning Xingian - what many of Akira's texts are in - and on physical fitness and martial arts. Bellona takes to both like fire to dry kindling. The lessons are thorough, tough - but never anything they can't keep up with, and they're given plenty of time for their own investigations and experiments. Philosophy turns out to be mostly Akira posing different scenarios to them, and working them through arguments for which of several actions are more 'correct' to take, either morally, socially, or personally, as well as an introduction to theories about how the world fundamentally works. She has several long discussions with Bellona about when killing people or overriding someone else's right to freedom and consent is acceptable; Akira doesn't seem to actually take a strong position, instead mostly focusing on asking Bellona questions, to lead her into poking holes in her own logic. History and politics are tied together, the way Akira teaches; Amestris's history is immensely bloody, and Akira makes no effort to hide her distaste for the military, though she seems to consider the reasons for her distaste private so far.

And, a week after Akira's started leaving them to more solo work in their lessons (so she can return to her own investigations), Akira informs them her teacher, Dante, wants to meet with them.

Is Akira coming to the meeting with them?

Yes. They'll be walking and then spending at least the night; Akira lacks a car, those being expensive, and deliveries to Dante's are few and far between.

She describes her teacher as they walk through the woods. Friendly. Kindly. Likely to be very interested in their studies and experiments. A bit odd, at times, but someone who took Akira in when she was having a hard time. Akira has a few differences with her - she feels that Dante has encouraged her to poor ends in the past - but it hasn't been enough to cut off the relationship.

What sort of poor ends?

She sighs.

"I performed human transmutation. That - is not a path I would recommend, nor a field of study I would encourage."

"Human transmutation?"

"Any transmutation involving human souls."

El shares a glance with her sister.

"I thought souls weren't real."

"And yet they must be accounted for."

"Haven't ever read anything about it."

"Many alchemists still believe some information should be passed only to well trusted apprentices, and human transmutation is both very illegal and historically a rather esoteric and obscure field."

"I guess that explains why."

"It's dangerous, is why I wouldn't recommend it - though that's hardly stopped many alchemists."

"Lots of things are dangerous."

"If you fail to account correctly for the soul, the array will consider you part of the ingredients, and no one's figured out the equivalency for exchanges involving souls yet."

"Oh."