Chapter Text
Chapter 1
Light & Darkness
Bright…yet brighter…the light kept gathering inside, draining his soul and consuming his thoughts…energy readings intensifying…
This would be the greatest experiment of his life.
Dr. W.D. Gaster was the royal scientist, a title of great importance in the underground yet whose true qualifications and exploits were largely unknown. King Asgore entrusted him with research that most monsters could neither understand nor stomach. Desperate and eager experiments, precise calculations, and figurative skeletons in this literal skeleton's closet.
Soul research was not for the faint of heart. Humans drained of DT, monsters forced to become the very thing they accused their enemies of being, and peering into the literal and figurative darkness of alternate dimensions, time, and space itself. There were few vectors Dr. Gaster didn't dabble in, including the study of levels of violence and the effects killing someone had on a monster's soul.
Today, however, he was finally experimenting with something positive.
The Human War had taken much from The Monster Kingdom. Their freedom, their land, the very sun itself. All gone, potentially forever. There were also several species of monsters that were hunted to extinction by the dust-lustful humans. Skeletons were almost among them.
Dr. Gaster had been given a second chance at life. He used it…dubiously.
When the king's own son had been killed by humans, the final casualty of the bygone war, Asgore vowed he would do anything to free the monsters and take revenge on the horrible creatures that imprisoned them in this glorified hole in the ground. Dr. Gaster agreed with the king's methods, and kept many secrets for his majesty while they planned their people's escape.
It had been several years now, and much knowledge had been collected from the souls extracted thus far. They had three, each one taken from a foolish human that dared to invade their domain and challenge the king. Dr. Gaster's calculations revealed that the DT of seven human souls would be enough to give Asgore, and only Asgore, enough power to shatter the barrier and free them all. He was, after all, the last boss monster in existence.
The methods were cruel, but effective. A few barely conscious human souls undergoing dangerous experiments was a small price to pay for such knowledge. Monsters had hope. King Asgore would be their hero, and Dr. Gaster would be the silent shadow behind his majesty that made everything possible. Their garden of vendettas had been painstakingly cultivated, and soon the blossom would flourish. King Asgore would be terrifying, and wonderful.
In the meantime however, Dr. Gaster began to think beyond his own little corner of the underground.
Most monsters that met him considered him aloof and obsessed with his work. He didn't really make friends, though he did his best to respect his colleagues. It wasn't that he didn't care, but he just didn't feel good about himself unless he was useful.
He lived in the lab on the west side of Hotland. There were two upper floors, bright and inviting. This served as the living quarters. Dr. Gaster, however, spent most of his time in the catacombs below; the true lab beneath what the public could see. The rooms were dark and decorated sparsely. The tile floors were an impersonal grey, and the walls were a sort of bluish green, not that it was easy to tell. DT was light sensitive, so Dr. Gaster and his team were always careful to keep the area poorly lit and sterile.
Today however, he was on the second floor, lying in his bed; his soul aglow with new life.
He focused on his breathing. He focused on the power.
Take as much as you need… Dr. Gaster thought resolutely. May our people live again…
He was the very last skeleton, and as he grew older this fact began to depress him. He tried to think logically about his work. He tried not to let his mortality bother him, but it did. His species didn't deserve to die out just because he was dragging his feet on a solution, so…he found one.
Most monsters couldn't reproduce asexually, and skeletons were no exception. Most monsters needed a partner in order to share the responsibilities of giving the child their life force. Monster children took life force from both their parents, and in turn the parents grew old and died. Most monsters didn't have the power reserves to make a child on their own.
To make a pure skeleton monster however, Dr. Gaster could rely on no one else, so to compensate he did something selfish.
Determination…DT. The substance that made human souls such powerful conduits of raw strength and durability. Monster souls, while perfectly balanced, were also very weak. It wasn't inherent, at least not according to the data collected thus far. Monster souls just had more responsibility, so to speak.
A monster's soul formed their body, thus making monsters little more than exposed souls. Human souls, however, had a detached relationship to the collection of living cellular organisms that made up their bodies. It was like human souls were piloting fleshy mech suits, and thus could save all the power for themselves. Determination made things a lot easier for humans.
So, Dr. Gaster made a selfish decision. He stole a vial, just one small vial, of DT for himself. He would infuse it with his own energy, and make a new skeleton. He would be the first skeleton to ever reproduce without a partner.
This was going to be the greatest experiment of his life.
King Asgore looked over his day planner as he sipped on some golden flower tea in front of the window. He could see sunlight, true sunlight, through these stained glass windows. In a world of darkness, light was the height of luxury.
He was supposed to meet with the tax allocation office to see about grants for new research into wireless technology. According to what little intel could be gathered from the dump, humans were starting to communicate with each other using new technology that didn't require underground cables. Monsters would surely want to keep up with their enemies.
After that he was going to cut the ribbon for a new apartment complex in Hotland. There really wasn't much of anything in Hotland except the lab and the core, but monsters needed new places to live now that New Home was getting so crowded. He was just pleased to be invited to such a joyous occasion.
Just as he turned to read the paper, a Pyrope ran into the throne room and stopped right in front of Asgore's little tea drinking table. He looked worried, which caused Asgore to feel concerned even before he knew what the news could be.
"Sire!" The Pyrope shouted, "Dr. Gaster wanted me to come here and ask if he could have the day off!"
"Day off?" Asgore asked, confused, "Is that all?"
"Is that all!?" The Pyrope shouted heatedly, "When was the last time Dr. Gaster asked for time off!? I'm telling you, something's wrong!"
Asgore heaved a deep sigh and said "I will be with you shortly."
In truth, Asgore didn't really want to bother Dr. Gaster. He was doing great work for the underground, and if he needed a little time to himself, then so much the better. Still, Asgore couldn't just ignore his subjects' concerns. After all, what if something was actually wrong and he ignored it? He would never forgive himself for allowing harm to befall someone who worked so hard for him.
When Asgore arrived at the lab he knocked politely. The door was automatic, so it was programmed to open for the king as soon as he made his presence known. Dr. Gaster only made this exception for Asgore. Everyone else had to be buzzed in or else left to stand out in the heat.
As it turned out, it was a very good thing Asgore was allowed inside.
Alarms were blaring, heavy footfalls and clanking noises could be heard on the second floor, and there were red and blue flashing Wingdings symbols on every monitor on the wall!
Asgore was stunned.
"NO, NO, NO!" Gaster's voice could be heard screaming upstairs, followed by more wires falling to the ground, "Don't you dare give up on me now!"
Asgore rushed upstairs to see what the commotion was, but nothing could have prepared him for what he saw…
A baby. An unconscious skeleton baby, with the largest head he'd ever seen on such a child. There was red liquid leaking and dust flaking from nearly every joint. The poor newborn already looked dead, and Gaster was frantically racing around the room to connect monitors and sterilize the environment.
"Dr. Gaster?" Asgore spoke up, causing Gaster to jump in surprise, "What is…?"
"Heal him!" Gaster demanded before Asgore could even finish speaking, "I need to get the containment vessel ready and he needs more HP! Heal him!"
Asgore didn't delay, and ran to where the prone form was lying motionless. The baby skeleton didn't even react as Asgore's giant white paw rested on his rib cage. Green energy poured gently yet steadily from Asgore into the new life, who drank the energy in greedily. Asgore spared a moment to check the infant. HP: 0.25. Defense: 0. This child was almost gone already.
No matter how much power Asgore gave the child, the HP bar didn't go up. If he even stopped for a moment however, the HP would go down. By the time Gaster returned, the baby's HP was a mere 0.14 and dropping.
"Your majesty," Dr. Gaster's breath was shaking as he spoke, "I'm…I'm going to lift him up. I n-need you to keep healing him until he's inside this incubator."
Asgore gave a firm nod, ready to follow Gaster's lead.
Gaster turned the baby's soul blue, and levitated him off the table gently. Asgore kept his paw close, kept healing him even as he was moved. The baby was placed in a glass box with a large vacuum tube on top and many monitoring wires in the back. Gaster closed the front of the box as soon as the baby was inside, and together they waited to see if the sterile environment would make a difference.
HP: 0.14…HP: 0.25…HP: 0.30…
HP: 0.30. It wouldn't go above that. Not yet.
Gaster breathed a sigh of relief. At least this would be enough to keep the child alive until he could figure something else out.
"Dr. Gaster, what is going on?" Asgore asked once they could relax, "Who is this child and why is he so sick?"
"This is…this is my son," Dr. Gaster replied, sitting down heavily on his bed, "I have just completed the first solo skeleton live birth in recorded history. With this newfound knowledge, I can keep my species from going extinct, and nurture a positive legacy for…"
Dr. Gaster didn't even finish his sentence before his eye sockets were drawn to the incubator. The child wasn't moving, but the large eye sockets were open. The child was awake. The child was alive…
Barely.
"Congratulations, Dr. Gaster," Asgore smiled warmly, "Children are truly a blessing and a light in our dark world. Are you sure you can handle this though? This child will require a lot of your life force, and…um…"
"You're worried it won't live anyway?" Dr. Gaster finished for him.
"Well now, um…that's a little…" Asgore fumbled.
"He'll live," Dr. Gaster said resolutely, "I won't give up on him. This is just a rough start for what will surely be a great life for my progeny. I will do whatever it takes to give him everything he needs to thrive."
"I am sure you will do just fine," Asgore encouraged him, "For now though, you should rest. Take the week off, gather your bearings. I am certain one of your assistants can maintain your experiments until you return."
"Of course," Dr. Gaster nodded weakly, "Thank you, your majesty. For everything. I am sure if he could, my son would thank you as well."
Asgore was touched by the sentiment, and he couldn't help but look over at the incubator. The baby's head was turned toward them, watching them, as if he were trying to determine who they were and where he was. Dr. Gaster gazed back in his son's eye sockets, and faintly smiled. There was intelligence behind those black holes. This child would be someone special, he was sure. With the right environment and the necessary operations to stabilize him, he could be anything. Perhaps even the next generation's royal scientist.
Dr. Gaster had turned his own life upside down when he gave life to his son. His attention couldn't afford to be split, and yet it was. He spent so much of his time monitoring his son and making sure he was physically and intellectually enriched. He played educational video tapes for him, infused energy into the incubator since the child couldn't eat yet, and talked to him every chance he got. He wanted his son to talk as soon as possible. He wanted to see the young skeleton's font.
Usually a skeleton child could be named right away. When they cried their font was seen, and that font was generally also the child's name. It was a proud skeleton tradition, and Gaster wanted to keep those traditions alive in his son. The problem was this child didn't cry. Gaster wasn't even sure if he could make sounds at all, or even if he could hear or read.
He was supposed to work on some new puzzles for the core, but he just couldn't force himself to care. His official scientific work was slipping, but he was too distracted by caring for and studying his child.
His son's condition was still a mystery, though Dr. Gaster was starting to figure a few things out.
Apparently, infusing a monster with DT didn't merely make a more determined monster. No, it made something…else.
His son's bones bled. A lot. Monsters didn't bleed. Blood was physical, visceral, cellular. Monsters weren't physical beings, at least not on that level. His son had several human traits that made treating his illness more difficult. Merely healing his HP didn't actually fix his HP, at least not completely. Something physical was draining his body. Something was inside him that didn't belong.
Late nights of research were starting to wear him down. He just wanted his son to be okay, to have a normal childhood, to be his one positive contribution to a life he filled with needless suffering, morbid curiosity, and cold pitiless testing.
As he scribbled down more notes, the room dark and filled with the sound of the radio, Gaster was at a loss for how to cure his son.
"And the clue is, a 9 letter word for lettered law!" The radio intoned.
"crossword."
"And the answer is…Crossword!"
Gaster perked up. He…didn't say that. He turned around, and his son was sitting up in his incubator, staring at the wall even though there was nothing interesting to see. Did Gaster imagine that, or…?
"Next question for our lovely contestants! What is a chicken's favorite color?"
"yellow."
"And the answer is…yellow!"
Gaster couldn't believe it. His son..spoke. He didn't actually speak to Gaster, but that was irrelevant. His son was only a month old, and he could already talk! He didn't even babble! He was a genius, just as Gaster assumed he would be.
The font, however, was odd. He couldn't quite tell if it was sans serif or comic sans. He had an uncle Serif whose font looked similar to that, but there was a playfulness to his son's font that didn't quite match his uncle's. Well, there was an easy answer to all this.
"Sans," Gaster said fondly, "Son, your name is Sans. How does that sound?"
The baby looked at him, no emotion behind his eye sockets, but it was clear he knew he was being spoken to. Gaster placed his hand on the glass, and Sans reached out to barely brush the glass with his fingertips.
Connection. This was even better than Gaster could have hoped for! His son was developing both intellectually and emotionally at a rate far faster than his peers. Dr. Gaster was so proud!
"Don't worry, Sans," Gaster whispered, "I will solve this conundrum. I will find a way to heal you, and you will live a good life. Perhaps, someday, you might even live long enough to see the surface. I promise you, I'll do everything I can for you. Just don't give up son, please."
Sans clearly didn't understand the emotional weight of what his father said to him, but he smiled up at him regardless. Their hands stayed on either side of the glass, and Gaster wished desperately that Sans was strong enough to withstand a hug or even a touch. One look at the blood caked in his elbow joints made the picture clear however. He couldn't even hold his own son until he found a cure.