Okay! First Undertale story! Wish me luck! Though I will say this, I am using each character's respective font and speaking style (if they speak in all caps like Papyrus then it's in all caps, no caps = no caps, Gaster speaks in caps wingdings, ect.) though I know fonts won't show up.

Alphys held the orb carefully, though shakily. Just beyond her, her mentor watched intently. No one understood him but her and a few friends.

"CALM DOWN, YOU'LL DROP IT AT THIS RATE," Gaster called to her.

She took a deep breath and steadied her grip. Gaster nodded approvingly. She was in awe of the royal scientist, as she had seen his biggest successful experiment. He had managed to create souls for two skeletons, who now lived as Papyrus and Sans, and now she wanted to be just like him. What the orb was, she had no clue, but he was testing her on how well she could handle important experiments.

"OKAY, THAT'S ENOUGH," he told her, and she placed the orb down again on its pedestal, sighing in relief. He smiled. "YOU'LL GAIN CONFIDENCE AS YOU GET MORE KNOWLEDGEABLE IN SCIENCE."

"Can I be dismissed today, Professor Gaster?"

"YOU KNOW YOU DON'T HAVE TO CALL ME THAT," HE SIGHED. "BUT YES, YOU MAY."

She nodded, grabbed her pile of notebooks, and hurried out of the door, nearly dropping her books on the way out. As soon as it closed behind her, she let them fall and smiled in victory of not making a total fool of herself where others could see her.

"Um... do you know the way to the nearest Nice Cream stand?" Someone asked her tentatively.

She jumped, silently cursing herself for thinking she was safe too quickly. "Um... I-I'm sorry, I don't tend to go far." Alphys turned to see a ghost floating quietly next to her. Her eyes were bright but one had what look like a bit of hair hanging over it.

"Oh, okay, thanks though." Something about her seemed... sad almost.

"Wait a second," she said before she could fly away. "Are you okay? What's your name?"

She looked down. "My cousins call me 'Hap', but most everyone else calls me, 'Hapstablook'. And two of my cousins left to go be dummies." She sighed. "We all want bodies, but they were so desperate."

A faint idea sparked in her mind. "Hey... you want a body?"

"Yeah," she murmured.

"I- I'm a scientist." Barely... "I could help you. I- I could build you a body."

Her eyes brightened again. "R-really? You could do that?"

Maybe... "I- I could try."

She gave an excited twirl, then attempted to nudge Alphys with her head. "You're... you're so awesome... uh-"

"Alphys," she smiled.

She nodded. "Alphys. Should I talk to you again? When?" Suddenly the seemingly quiet ghost was full of energy, babbling out questions faster then Alphys could answer them. She rested her hand and the ghost's head.

"Look, I'll come to you if I need anything. How about we meet tomorrow at your house? Where do you live?"

"Near the Blook family farm," she answered. "Do you know where Undyne lives?"

"Who's-"

"Oh, you don't know Undyne. She's a bit... hotheaded. She's training with King Asgore," she added with a touch of pride. "She can be nice... but, we usually just stay away."

"Okay, how about this: I'll meet you at the farm tomorrow after my lessons, then we can talk about the design."

"Okay, see you later, Alphys!" Hap did another excited twirl in the air and rushed off and out of Hotland. Alphys smiled slightly. Hopefully I don't ruin her life. I think I could grow to like her.

The next day, Gaster knew something was up. "YOU SEEMED DISTRACTED, ALPHYS," he said seriously. "IF YOUR GONNA BE THE NEXT ROYAL SCIENTIST, YOU NEED TO PAY MORE ATTENTION."

"Sorry. I was just thinking of something I saw yesterday." She wasn't letting Gaster know about the ghost's request in case she failed.

He watched her for a few more minutes before sighing and going back to doing whatever he does. She felt a prick of guilt for not telling her mentor about her latest project, but he didn't press the issue. After her lessons, she ran her stuff to Snowdin to the room she was renting until she got a room of her own, then to the famous Blook Family Snail Farm.

She had just stepped into the area when Hap rushed up. "I'm so sorry I was late. My cou-" She saw she just got there, and sighed in relief. "Oh good, I wasn't late. So, what do you have in mind?"

"Well... I was kinda thinking..." she pulled out a few blueprints. Hap's eyes grew.

"You'd... you'd really do this for me?" She asked after she showed the blueprints off.

"Sure. Of course."

"But... I barely know you! You would really do all of this?" Her voice dropped. "This'll be a debt I can't repay, you know that, right Alphys?"

"You don't have to. We'll get this all sorted out, don't you worry."

"It's finally finished!" Alphys cried, looking over the machine. It had taken many long nights of reading up on robotics and many tired evening classes with Gaster, but the body for Hapstablook was finally done. It certainly was feminine, with the hair-like piece over one eye, but was much more humanoid and one arm ended in a gun. It was completed with large wings.

She turned to look at the ghost, who's eyes glimmered with excitement. "Oh, thank you so much, Alphys!" She grinned at it for a moment before flying into it and disappearing. The machine blinked and slowly moved its head side to side, before testing each arm and leg in turn and each wing. Her excitement was endless now. "It works!" She gasped. "Does the machine have a specific name?"

"Yeah..." Alphys murmured.

"Well, what is it? I gotta show Blooky!"

She took a deep breath, then let it out and met the newly created robot's gaze. "Mettaton."