The law of equivalent exchange says that for anything to be gained, something of equal value must be lost. This means that if you put in the hard work, you will be rewarded with success. I am a half-metal alchemist who seeks to create a homunculus, an artificial human being without a soul. It possesses unique abilities despite appearing human, and would serve as the perfect slave as they are compelled to obey me. Using a transmutation circle , I was able to communicate with a being called "Truth", who says that I must sacrifice a human being in order to create a homunculus of equal value.
I plan to create an army of homunculi to serve my interests. After sacrificing a human in a ritual, the homunculus was created. However, it is a huge behemoth with mental deformities. Although it has its benefits, such as strength and endurance, it is far from "equal" as it lacks the intelligence to be really useful, similar to a stupid hulk. After experimenting, I eventually find that I need to sacrifice thousands of people to successfully create one single homunculus similar to a regular human.
I am happy that I have created the ideal servant, but it ended up being more expensive in time and resources that I was led to believe. This betrays the law that has governed reality for all time. Either this "Truth" is an idiot who doesn't know what he is talking about, or he is just full of sh*t and a liar. But as he is called Truth, he is supposed to be incapable of the second option.
How can the law of equivalent exchange fail on one of it's basic principles?