[Well, the part about the Elrics throwing a wrench into her plans certainly did make sense - those two were incredibly gifted, and likely something that wasn't planned for.

Hughes nods again.]

Man, it's a little ridiculous how much was actually going on without our knowing. I mean, I was head of Investigations and a lot of this is news to me.

[He rubs the back of his neck. Sure, he became aware at the last of it that there was some kind of corruption or infiltration in the government, but to that extent? That was completely beyond his wildest imaginings.]

...They can survive out of the water?