[No, but he is the type to murder them and start wars. But that aspect of monstrosity isn't what he's talking about right now. His response takes a minute longer than it should.]
I'm what's called a homunculus, an artificial human. In my world, alchemy is a real science, and sometimes people try to use it to bring back the dead.
A human transmutation like that can't work. Alchemy relies on equal exchange, and there's no exchange for a life or a soul. The alchemist will usually get a body part taken from them as payment for something that's part human and part a creature from the alchemic source. The person they wanted doesn't come back, they just get one of us looking like mangled flesh and bone instead. But we're alive, and if we have enough time and help, we can put ourselves together. We'll have the same body and face as the dead person, more or less, and some of their memories, but we're not them and we're incomplete. We don't get hungry or tired or cold, and we're stronger and faster than a human. Each of us has a special ability too, like how I can shapeshift.
We're not supposed to have souls or feelings or be people at all. I don't think that's true now, but I did for a long time.
[Henry tries to think of a response. He's not bothered by what Envy has told him--he just feels sad for him. His friend was Frankenstein's monster. He didn't ask to be made.]
[And he's glad that Envy has already decided that he's a person. Henry doesn't know if he believes in souls but the person thing is important.
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yeah
they probably were, if they looked like that
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but I haven't seen anybody else acting like that.
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good
i guess its kind of a dumb thought
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I mean, there might not be any two headed babies with man hands here, but I know there's monsters.
back in my world, that's what people would have called something like me.
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I don't think you're a monster.
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did I ever actually tell you just what I am?
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no you didn't
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A human transmutation like that can't work. Alchemy relies on equal exchange, and there's no exchange for a life or a soul. The alchemist will usually get a body part taken from them as payment for something that's part human and part a creature from the alchemic source. The person they wanted doesn't come back, they just get one of us looking like mangled flesh and bone instead. But we're alive, and if we have enough time and help, we can put ourselves together. We'll have the same body and face as the dead person, more or less, and some of their memories, but we're not them and we're incomplete. We don't get hungry or tired or cold, and we're stronger and faster than a human. Each of us has a special ability too, like how I can shapeshift.
We're not supposed to have souls or feelings or be people at all. I don't think that's true now, but I did for a long time.
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[And he's glad that Envy has already decided that he's a person. Henry doesn't know if he believes in souls but the person thing is important.
You're not a monster.
You're Envy.
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Thanks, Henry.
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Sorry if I made you feel weird man.
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besides, I've been calling myself a monster for so long that it doesn't really bother me.
[It only bothers him when he's being called that as though it makes him not a person.]
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so do you have a birthday
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hang on, there's one registered on my gear id
[He doesn't give much thought to his birthday, clearly. A homunculus' birth hadn't ever been something to celebrate.]
it says november 5th
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you better think of something you'd want
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...wait is this like christmas presents
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except they're all for you
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if you're going to bother about mine then I'm going to have to do the same for you
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I have no idea what I'd want though
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