The Beginning

Chapter One

"Dr. Gaster!" a voice broke into my thoughts, distracting me. I looked up and saw the figure of my successor in training, Alphys. "Asgore is here," she told me. She fidgeted with her claws, but refused to let her voice quaver. An important lesson I was forced to teach her once she started studying under me, and I'm glad to say that she had, somewhat, outgrown her habit.

I stood up from my desk and closed the folder I had been examining. "Thank you for informing me, Alphys." I quickly made my way out of the room, clutching the folder in one hand. Asgore was standing awkwardly in the entrance to my lab. His eyes lit up upon seeing me.

"Ah!" he said, deep voice full of relief. "Dr. Gaster! There are some things we need to discuss. Might we talk over a cup of tea?"

Humming, I mulled over the thought of pulling myself away from my work to make time for the king's request. I sighed. "I suppose I could spare a half hour or so," I said reluctantly. Asgore, used to me normally refusing his requests of sharing a cup of tea, looked delighted. He came inside and sat down at the table. I summoned some magic hands and had them prepare tea as I sat down across the table from Asgore. "So, Asgore, what is the matters we need to discuss?"

Asgore looked down, avoiding my eye. "Asriel found something..." he mumbled. I waited for him to continue impatiently. "He found a... human." I leaned forward, suddenly interested.

"You mean to tell me that there is a human in the Underground?" I asked sharply.

The king looked down. "Tori and I, uh, we kind of adopted them."

I stood up, knocking my chair over. "Them?"

"There's only one, but they don't really have a gender..."

I slowly sat back down, magic hands picking up my chair. "Ok... Yes, I understand. I must see the human. They must have a powerful soul. My research will go through the roof! I will be able to get us out of here!"

Asgore let out a nasty growl. I looked up at him, shocked. He never growled, ever. That was normally my job. "The child is not going to become an experiment," he snarled. "They have been through enough trauma, with falling into the mountain and not being able to go back to their family and friends. You will not add to the child's pain, or I swear to god Gaster, I will shut down your lab faster than you can blink."

Silence fell between us. Tea was poured into teacups that had been placed in front of us, both done by the magic hands I had summoned. They vanished immediately after. I cleared my throat. "FIne, then. I will wait until we know that the human is fine to study them, and only if they are ok with it. Either way, I still have to finish my current experiment." I took a slow sip out of my tea. "Do we have any other matter to discuss?"

"How is your experiment going?" Asgore asked, his voice returning to its normal, friendly tone.

"I am nearly ready to make the vessels," I told him. "All I have left to do is obtain bone samples and analyze the different magic components that make them up."

Asgore nodded gravely. "I'm still not sure I'm comfortable with this," he admitted. "I mean, you're cutting holes in both of your hands, and we don't even know if these... 'vessels' will work or hold your SOUL. Which is another thing... You're literally splitting your SOUL into three parts. That can't be safe-"

"I will be fine," I interrupted. "You seem to be forgetting that I am like you. I'm a 'boss monster.' My SOUL persists. Alphys will be able to harness my SOUL and restore it to my body if anything goes wrong."

Once again, we fell into silence. Asgore sipped anxiously at his tea. I quickly drained mine and set it down. "Ah, I'm sorry, my friend, but I do have to get back to work. You know how busy I am these days." I clapped him on the shoulder. "Feel free to finish your tea before leaving. Come back sometime soon, in at least three weeks." With that, I turned on my heel and made my way back into the heart of my lab. My lab coat billowed like a cape behind me.

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I threw another bin to the side of the room. "Where is it?!?" I yelled out in frustration. Alphys poked her head into my office.

"S...sir?" she squeaked. "Are you ok?"

"No, Alphys!" I snapped. "I can't find my research. That file I was looking at this morning. Where did I put it?"

Alphys nervously rubbed her claws together. "Didn't you take them to your meeting with Asgore?" she asked.

"Damnit! You're right. Asgore had better not have taken them." I stalked out of my office and to the main entrance of the lab that doubled as a kitchen/dining room area. There on the table sat my folder. A large tea stain covered the majority of it. I rushed over and flipped through the contents. Neat purple lettering was marked in the margins in random places. The handwriting was easily recognizable as Asgore's.

"Gaster, you splitting her SOUL was inhumane! Even though it worked, it was still incredibly dangerous. Consult me before you make these decisions."

"Why do these experiments if someone is guaranteed to die?"

"Take care of yourself, Gaster! Sleep once in awhile!"

The notes went on and on. Some criticized me, others chastised me for not taking care of myself. I was somewhat surprised. Not many people could read my handwriting. This of course was not due to any flaw of my own, but because I could only write in Wing Dings. That's the way that skeletons have always worked. We can only write in our namesake. Dr. Wing Ding Gaster, myself, never had to worry about others stealing his work as nobody could read his work aside from his successor, Alphys, and apparently King Asgore.

Thankfully, none of the tea had gotten on the precious information. It was only on the edges of the paper. I gently took the folder, which was now dry, and carried it back to my office. I opened it to where I had left off and continued to pour over my studies once again in preparation for was was to come.

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Author's note: Sorry I wasn't updating for so long. I was creatively burnt out for a really long time, so here we are now! I'm going to aim for at least 1000 words per chapter from now on. I promise things will start to pick up soon. If you like Deltarune and/or Suselle, then check out my other story, The Closet. I'm really proud of what I have so far, and would love for it to succeed. Happy new year!

Word count: 1064