Chapter Text
If I didn’t know any better, I would think that Asgore is taking me to this place to experiment on me. This place… it’s scary. It's too clean, too industrial, too… different. Everywhere else had some kind of personality to it, this place is just sterile. At least the hot lands outside here has some personality, but this… lab..? is antithetical to the entirety of the underground. I just hope Asgore isn’t lying to me about me becoming one of his scientists.
“Is everything alright?” His imposing figure looms over me, his shadow cast over me as we traverse the halls of this seemingly abandoned facility.
“Yes, I’m alright…” I kept my head down so as to not work myself up anymore. I hope he doesn’t think that I am scared of him, its just that the atmosphere here is so incredibly dense, almost as if I choke on the very air surrounding me. The fact that every light in this place is dim to the point of almost not working at all did nothing to alleviate the tension.
“There is no need for fear, you will be okay.” His soft tone is juxtaposed to his stocky frame, I feel at ease ever so slightly, but I still feel the ache in my mind that I’m not being given the full picture.
After walking for what felt like eternity, the only sound being the noises of our feet and the echo of our words, Asgore made a stop at a double door. To him it appears to be proportionately equal, but to me it's nearly double my height. He knocks on the door and puts his ear to it. He must’ve heard something because he opened it and signaled to me that I should enter. After walking in, the doors shut behind me.
The room was what you would expect out of the word, lab. It's a simple room, no complex layout, just four equally sized walls with many lab counters filled with all sorts of equipment for any kind of research. Although I recognize many of them, there are still some that allude me. The lights, dimmer than the rest of this place, encased much of the room in shadow. I was hoping this room would answer my questions, but it merely left me with more.
“So this is the human you spoke of.” A voice, smooth and almost whispery, rang out from the opposite side of the entrance. They were wearing what looked to be a black coat that obscured their entire body, they appeared to be hunched over, as if looking into a microscope.
'Has Asgore been recruiting every human that fell down here?' It felt very odd knowing that I wasn't the only human, however, I still found myself slightly grinning at the thought of knowing I finally have someone to relate to.
“This is Y/N, I hope you two will get along.” He patted me on the back, almost shoving me forward to nudge me into introducing myself. I looked up, but he firmly maintained his gaze on them.
“H-hello, it is a pleasure to meet you…” My words didn’t make them budge, whatever they were doing was more important than a new lab partner.
“The pleasure is all mine, could you bring me that flask?” They lifted a finger to a counter behind them. It was 1000ml flask, with a liquid that was filled to about the 100ml mark. It appeared to be bioluminescent, shining a bright red. I hastily walked over to pick it up, setting the flask beside them.
Being this close, it is almost natural to observe my future partner as they work. They didn’t look up from the microscope, grabbing a needle, extracting some of the contents from the flask, and deposited a small drop into a glass frame then swapped it with the one currently inside the microscope. As I watched, something didn’t feel right. Their hands appeared to be incredibly thin and pale, appearing to be pure white. It was as if they were incredibly malnourished. They looked so underfed that their hands resembled that of a skeleton. But it wasn't the same. Each joint of the finger connected on top of the one below, their hand bore a hole in the center. Whatever happened to them while they were down here must have been related to whatever they are working on.
'What happened to them? Are these... Prosthetics? It would explain the weird hand anatomy, I hope something like that happened to me!' Shaking off their jarring appearance and continuing to watch so that I don't overthink anymore, I couldn’t help but admire their masterful precision all while not even moving an inch away from the microscope.
“You are diligent, I shall make use of your energy.” I looked behind me to see Asgore, arms crossed, appearing to be very frustrated,
“I brought them to you because they also proved themselves to be bright. If you needed an apprentice to do menial labor, I wouldn’t have brought them here." The softness in his voice was gone, replaced with an abrasive sternness that echoed across all of the walls of the room.
The sudden change shook me to my core. Before I knew it, my surroundings dimmed, encasing me in a void.
My hands are shaking. My heartbeat, pounding throughout my whole body. It's so loud.. it's up to my throat.. I can't hear anything.
Choking. Lungs, filled with sludge. Trying to find breath.
A buildup of pressure behind my eyes, can't ruin this. Push it down.. Darker. It's getting darker.
Am I swaying? Where is everyone? Am I dying? Try to breathe.
I can't.. Please. Stop. Can't... Drowning..
Suddenly, everything stops... I felt a sense of clarity washing over me, looking to my left, I see a hand on my shoulder. The person finally stopped what they were doing and rose from the microscope. They must have gained an extra foot in height, they appeared to be almost as tall as Asgore, if not slightly shorter. It was as if they felt that the energy had shifted. They looked down at me, sensing my discomfort and bore a soft smile. I looked up and stared...
My heart sank as our eyes met, their face… isn’t.. right. They lacked all the features a human typically would have. Cheeks, jawline, ears, eyeballs, etc. Their face is too smooth to be considered skin. I tried to rationalize over and over again that they looked this way because something happened to them that gave them this appearance, but the longer I looked the quicker the reality set in that I was wasting my time. They were too human to be a monster, but too monster to be a human. Their mere glance set off all the alarms in my head that I needed to fight, but I bit my tongue. Their face appeared to be a simple mask, with two black holes in the spot where eyes would typically be, with a black line dripping upwards on the left eye, and down into their mouth on the left eye. Their gaze seemed to be in a lowered state of softness, they then turned to Asgore.
“My king, that kind of tone is not needed in this facility. You have disturbed them. I can’t rely on people who have been clutched by their emotions. It makes their work unreliable as it has been poisoned by bias.” They spoke with a sort of analytical coldness that would be fitting for a scientist, let alone a lead one. Asgore sighed then dropped his arms.
“I… Apologize, but I implore you to use Y/N’s intelligence to our advantage. Show them around, and lead them to their quarters.” Asgore made a swift turn and left.
“Apologies for him, he can get very… Tense at times.” Their smile creeped higher, but I sensed no malice, it felt like a playful coyness. I met their hand with mine and we shook. It was neither hot or cold, it simply existed.
“It’s… okay, this place just… gives me the heebie jeebies.” They lightly sighed, then spoke softer than before, leaning down to the point of us being face to face.
“Come, let me show you the facility.”
'They are. Um. Very close.' I nodded my head and we walked to the door. If there wasn’t the clacking of their shoes, I would have assumed they floated. Their coat drooped down just enough to obfuscate their entire body so I couldn’t see their feet, and they didn’t appear to move up and down after each step. Despite the fact that everything about their appearance perturbed me, I felt at ease with how they handled their interactions with me.
Leaving the lab, there were three hallways we could go down. One directly in front of the door that I remember led to the entrance of the lab, and one each to the left and right of us. We took a right after we walked out, and I was escorted down the hallway. It was quite a short walk, but at the end, they pointed to the right, showing a simple grey door.
“This is my quarters, if you can’t find me in the lab, I shall be here.” We turned around and went down the other hall, taking a left turn and walking up. At the corner of the hallway, there was an open room directly in front of us.
“This is the break-room, any food we make is prepared here.” I looked inside and it was incredibly bare bones. There were a few counters and cabinets oddly spaced out, signaling that there normally would be appliances filling the empty space. There wasn’t even a table to sit down at. The only appliance was a very dull grey microwave.
The only turn we could take was to the left of the break room. This hall was longer than any of the others, and as we walked I couldn’t help but notice something odd. Throughout every hallway, we passed by several doors that were closed. They didn’t stop to show me what was in them, so I didn’t assume they were important. It made me feel like this was just another day for them, it would make the most sense to show me every single door, but all they did was show me the parts of the lab that would matter to me the most.
At the end of the hallway was a tan wooden door, “This is your quarters, anything you need or request shall be given to you, all you need to do is write it down then deposit it into a little slip at the entrance of this laboratory.” Inside, the room was spacious enough to fit all of the essential furniture, but not enough to really make a home out of. It felt like a dorm rather than a proper bedroom.
“Thank you.” The only pieces of furniture were a bed with a steel frame that was clearly taken from a medical bay with its headboard in the center of the left wall, and a tan wooden desk flush with the center of the wall opposite of the door for all of my recreational efforts.
“We shall start your employment tomorrow. If you have any questions, I shall be in the lab where we met.” They turned around and began walking. I felt so lost about everything that had just transpired, who were they? What are we researching? I didn’t understand anything that was going on. I didn’t even know who they were. I had to do something before they disappeared out of my sight. If nothing got answered, I wouldn't be able to rest easy if at all.
“W-wait! I have a question!” They had their hands behind their back, their posture slightly hunched over, they perked up after hearing me and turned to me with a slight tilt in their head.
“What's.. What's your name?” They looked as embarrassed as possible for someone who is always composed.
“Ah, apologies, I cannot believe that I let something as simple as that cross my mind… I am W.D. Gaster. Royal Scientist for the King of the Underground, Asgore Dreemur.” That is a very particular name, however, I still knew nothing about them outside of that. I felt as if I had to ask for more info.
“Are you human?” They must have felt the twinge of yearning in my voice as they slightly chuckled, bringing a balled-up hand to their mouth as an attempt to stifle their laughter. I felt my blood rush to my face in embarrassment at the fact that they were laughing at me!
“Oh… I find that frivolities such as my identity aren’t important in a place like this. All you need to concern yourself with is your studies.” their grin lowered to a slight uptilt as they turned and walked away. That… Well, it was a lot… Nothing incredibly important happened. All that happened was an introduction to this place. However, with everything that transpired I felt drained of all my mental stamina. I went into my room and closed the door behind me.
My bed, neatly tucked in and waiting for someone to sleep in it, had a folded white coat on the foot of it. I picked it up and wondered why Gaster got the cool black coat but I got this basic white one. Nevertheless, I folded it up again and set it to the left of my desk. Something on the desk caught my eye as I set down the coat. There was a small letter in the center of it. It simply had “Asgore Dreemur” written in neat cursive on the front. I turned the letter around to open it, there being a wax stamp with a weird symbol that appeared to be some simple geometry with wings on each side. I opened the letter and began to read its contents.
“Dear Y/N, I hope Gaster was able to introduce you properly to the facilities, however, knowing him he probably gave you the bare minimum of info needed. If you are properly informed, you may discard this letter, if not however please read the rest of its contents.
You have been recruited as a royal scientist to oversee research of liquidated determination. Humans and monsters went to war many years ago, and we were all imprisoned here in the underground. The barrier containing us is inherently magical, however, it appears to falter when determination is applied. If you and Gaster can discover a method to break through the barrier, you too will finally be able to escape back to the world you fell from. Any questions you have can be answered by Gaster, but if not, you may use the letters in the top left drawer of your desk. I collect them and go through each letter as this is a very classified project.
I wish you the best of luck in all of your future pursuits. Sincerely, Asgore Dreemur, King of All Monsters.”
I looked down to my left, the desk contained four drawers, two on each side. I opened each to see if there was anything inside of it other than what Asgore mentioned.. In the top left drawer was a stack of papers and envelopes each lying next to each other, the envelopes had the words “REQUESTS” printed on it. The top right drawer contained two small journals each one had different words printed on it. The top journal had the word “PERSONAL”, and the bottom one had, “RESEARCH” printed onto it. Next to the journals was a small box of pens for whatever I needed to write down.
The bottom left and right drawers didn’t have anything in them, mildly disappointing me. After marinating in all of the information given to me today and looking around my room, I opened the left drawer and filled out a request letter. I wanted a closet with about a week's supply of clothes, along with supplying the break room with the things necessary for a simple kitchen/dining room.
Bringing the letter to the location Gaster said, I deposited it into the tiny slip then dragged myself back to my room. Feeling exhausted I collapsed onto my bed, it is neither comfortable nor uncomfortable, it's just a place to rest. I really should have asked for a more comfortable place to lie down..
'Maybe I will do that next time?' I wondered, but for now, it felt like all of my thoughts faded into a quiet rest.