No One is Happy with This (Undertale)

67 ~ Anomaly Acceptance

Toriel does, in fact, blame Gaster for your burnt hands. But whatever Gaster put on your hands not only works to soothe the pains of your burns, but also Toriel's anger. It's only two days before Gaster takes off the bandages, and while your hands are still a bit raw, the new skin on your palms red and fragile, they've more or less healed.

Gaster does, however, foot the blame for the staff exploding in the first place. "You see, Frisk," he tells you, "I've never made a staff for a Magic-wielding human. On top of that, the way you use Magic is something new and entirely unusual. I have nearly no idea how it works, and that makes complications when trying to make a device to help it."

"So what you're saying," you reply, "is that you made a mistake."

He just gestures dismissively. "It's part of the natural learning process. I know what happened and what caused it, and I know how to avoid it next time."

"So let me get this straight. You, Dr. Gaster, Mr. I'm-the-Royal-Scientist-and-I'm-Always-Right, made a mistake, and was wrong."

Gaster gives you a Look. "I never said I was always right. I just say I'm more right than everyone else, because I'm smarter than everyone else. I still make mistakes sometimes." He pauses, frowning absentmindedly. "... If I never made mistakes, then there wouldn't be any explosions in the lab. Not even ones caused by idiot interns, because I would never make the mistake of hiring them in the first place."

"Gee," you reply, "how considerate of you, taking responsibility for your mistakes like that."

Gaster looks over his shoulder at you. "Do you want this staff or not?"

"Not if it explodes again!"

"I already said I know what caused that, and I'm going to fix it!"

You smile innocently. "Then yes, I would like it!"

"Then get out of my lab and let me work!" Gaster scoffs. "Kids these days, I swear..."

You just laugh and head out.

As you're stepping out the door, though, you bump into Matt, who's got an armful of papers. He almost drops them, but somehow, through much arm flailing, manages to avoid creating a paper explosion.

Once you've both thoroughly recovered, you smile up at him. The stubble across his jaw is a bit more unkept than usual, and there are slight bags beneath his eyes. But he looks excited.

"What are you doing here?" You ask, returning his smile.

"Dr. Gaster asked to see me! Well... it was more of a demand than an ask, but still!"

You frown just a bit, concerned. Why would Gaster want to see Matt?

You make up your mind. "Can I come with you to see what he wants?"

Matt nods excitedly. "Of course!"

The pair of you head back into the lab, eventually coming across Gaster, who's seated at a desk.

"D-Dr. Gaster, sir!" Matt calls. "I'm here!"

Gaster swivels the chair around, leaning back and crossing one leg over the other, and his expression startled you a little. Less than five minutes ago when you saw him, he was wearing his usual generally good natured, if slightly arrogant expression. Now, though, he's all cold calculations, without a drop of humor in his gaze.

"Hi again, Gaster!" You greet, putting on your own mask of cheery innocence. "Just out of curiosity, why did you ask Matt to come here?"

Tapping his fingers a bit, Gaster blinks slowly, letting out a long breath. When he speaks, his tone matches his countenance. He addresses Matt, barely even acknowledging you with a glance. "... I have accepted that Frisk is an anomaly among humans, and through much... persuasion, I am willing to accept that perhaps, they are not the only anomaly."

You heart begins to beat faster as you start to realize what he's saying.

"From what experience I have in dealing with you," Gaster continues, still speaking to Matt, "you seem to posses the most inhuman trait of love. I've yet to see you or your wife act in any way derogatory towards monsters. And while I'm not yet going to say you are a good person... I suppose I'm willing to give it a trial run." Gaster leans forward in his seat, grinning just a little. With his hands folded like that and his shoulders hunched, he looks positively villainous. "So then, Matt, I guess you could call this an interview of sorts."

This time, Matt does drop the papers he was carrying. His jaw just about hits the floor, too. Then he scrambles through the papers he dropped, fishing one out and eagerly thrusting it in Gaster's direction. "H-here's my résumé-"

Gaster cuts him off by grabbing the paper, crumpling it into a ball, and tossing it to the side, where a puddle of black ooze forms and swallows it up before disappearing completely. "Yes," Gaster says, "I've already got four copies of that, thank you very much. You're here so I can ask you some questions, not read it again."

"O-oh! Um, of course! I- I'll answer as best I can!"

Gaster lets out a vaguely amused noise. Then he leans back again in his seat. "Very well, then. When you brought me Frisk's staff, you said you thought the Magic overflow was similar to the CORE prototype explosion. Explain."

"W-well!" Matt begins on a high note. "Well," he says again, a little more steadily, "I remember the feeling from the CORE explosion. It was sort of warm, and fuzzy, like... I dunno, being hit by a wave of fluffy warm water? And when the staff exploded, it felt very similar. But it felt a lot faster and harder, and the light was a lot brighter than the CORE explosion, and red, too!"

"Hmm. What do you know of how the original CORE works?"

"Well-... Dr. Alphys told me that..."

And from there, it's all more sciencey babble you don't understand. Something about geothermal energy and heat and steam and runes. You listen for a while, but when it's clear it's not going to make any more sense to you, you excuse yourself.

You walk out of the lab with a smile.

§

A/N

LOOK WHO FINALLY WROTE A CHAPTER

YEAH, THAT'S RIGHT, ME

RIGHT HERE, THIS MOUSE

WROTE A CHAPTER

UH HUH, I TOTALLY DID, OH YEAH

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