En̵͖̍t̶͎͝ry̶̫̑ ̷̳̾Nụ̵̓m̶͂ͅb̶̳̒e̴̊ͅr̶̠͐ {C}
(This story was very heavily inspired by the comic Handplates. If you haven't already, then I highly suggest that you check it out.)
Ȩ̶̨̡̢̛̛̛̩̱̻̠̺̣̺̙̞̬̪͑͗͐̐̇̄͋̄͌́͌̈́̏͆͐̓̇͐̄̐̾̀̌̀̌̔̑̈́͒͆͋̑̊̔̀͂̃̂̾̅̾͗͗̉̔̋͂̅́́̐̈̀̿̈̍̊͛̑̈́͋͊̾͂̐͊̃́̏̉̋͒̌̐̓̒̓̋͑́͋̔̒͋̈́̋̀̀́͗́̀̃͗̀̓̀͒͐͒͊̿̇̐̑͊̅́̎̆̒̈́̾̈́̍̅̆̾̒́̀̀̽͊͒̒̏̅̅̍̈̎̈́͆̀̔͆͂̒͛̈̇͌͊̓̌͒͆̓̍̑̌͆͋͂͋̆͑̂͗̎̾̏̿̑̄̏̇̀͐̀͋̈́̋̄̿͛̽̔͑̾̽̾͑͘̚͘̚͘̚̕͘̚͜͜͜͝͝͠͠͝͝͝͝͠͝͝͝ͅ
̴̧̨̡̧̡̢̨̨̧̢̢̢̢̢̛̛̛̛̛̝̘̪̟̻̘͈̮̠͎̖̺̘̩͇͙̥̫͕͎̬͕͍̣̙̪͈̗͎͖͓͙̙̞̜̺̪̮͔̝͚͔̬̞̠̹͎̻̹̞̭͖̻͉̘̮̜̳͕̖̗̳͓̻͔̤̩̮͇͙̯̜͓̠͓͈̹̫̲̙̺̝̭̭̝̤͚̤͔͈͇͈̩̠̹͈̹̑̀̎͛̀̿̐͂̎͗̾̏͑̑̈́̏͌̀́͗͒͊̈́̃̉̒̇̿͑͒̓͋̅̎͊̅̒̌̇̉͛̅̽̓̑̌̈́̀͗͛̑́̓͋̒͐̿͑̌͑́̈́̐̍̓͛͑̈̎͛̉̇̍͗̍̀̔̈́́͑̽̉̄͋̈̆̑̒̾̃͆̈͛̒̿́͐̏̿͗̎͛͌̈́̋̈́́̏͛͌̈̃̊̊͐̍͛͆̈́̒̓͌͊̊͋̑͆͒͂̌̀̈́̓̅̒̌́̔̾͊̒̏̽̍̾͑̿̿̂̐̿̑̏͌̎͐͋̊̔͛̓̈͆́̃̎͐̀̕̕͘͘͘̚̚̕̚̕͘͘̚̚͜͜͜͜͜͝͝͝͝͝͠͝͠͝͝͝͠͠͝͠ͅͅͅͅ ̵̡̧̡̢̡̡̨̨̧̡̢̢̢̛̛̲̪̪̠̟̤̬̙͎͓̝͈̫̩͚͕͖̙̯̺̮̲̱̠͙̰͔̥̩̱̹̼̝̗͚̮̰̝̣̫̲̠̲͍̹̯͎̲̳̠̼͖̞͖̺̥̟͎͔͉̩̭̬͈̻͍̼̝̱̜̫͔̤̯̝̻̦̰̹͙̬̥̪̣̰̦̪͍͚̖̦̦̘̲̺̠͖̤͇̹̫͓͚̗͍̥̼̟̥͙͈͎̹̫͎̜̭̱͉̂̔̊̽̑̄̉́̄̔̀̈́̂̍͋͆̄̀̀̀̓̌͆̈͒͐́̋̑͂̈̃́̊̒͆̔́̄̏̆̑͆̽́͐̀͌̀̈̓̐̇̅̉́̄̾͗̈́̐͐́̀̄̈̈̇̈̃̉͛͋̒̊̈́̆̾̃̓́̊̐̀̂̓͊̄̅͊͛͐̓̏́̽́̐̔̇̈́̒̈́̈́̉̽̇̓̈́́͊͂͑̌̓͒̽͛̇̎̈́͊̋̐̆̑̉́͆̊̌͗̒̐̾̔̈́̽͋̉̂̾̍̓͐̓̈́͗͊̓́͆͐̐̊̐̈́͑̒̊̉̉̈́̋̌͑̅̃̅̉̀̊̒͗̀̉̒̄̈́̆͛̀̔͆̄̑̉̔̅͆͆̏̈́̈́̏̊̽͊̌͑̉̑͋̎͊̏͊̔̈͂̈͘͘̕̚͘̕̚̚̕͘̕̚̚̕̕͘̕͘̕͘̚̚͘͜͝͝͝͝͝͝͝͝͠͝͝͝͝͝͝͝͝͠͝͠ͅͅͅͅͅͅŖ̷̡̧̡̨̨̨̢̨̧̨̢̢̢̨̢̡̡̧̡̡̡̢̡̢̧̛̛̛̝͍̘̫̘̬̫̲̦̫̭̣̹̬̝̫̙̬̞̰̭̠̤̭̝̩̦͍͍̰̝̯̟̲͖̹̞̺̬͍̖̬̰̫̺̼̤͍̹̮̪̼̤̖̙̙̼̭̣̩̯̭̘̤̘̦͇͉̖̪̖̟̱̝̻͖̞͙̰̭̗̗̗̮͇͕̯̳̥̬̼̻̞̦̹̲̫̳̻͓͍̗̗̣̱̬̺͎͕̬̺͈̼̭̬̪̝̼̲̟̥̥̘̝͔͕̟͔̯͖̦̣͚̰̪͉̞̪̪͓̺͇̤̗͔͍͇̪̲̬̙͉̬͎̻̺̙̰̺̹͉̻͙̦̪̖̯͉͖͇̜̫͖̹͍̙͚̠͖͕͉͙̮̫̩͓̣̤͓͚̠̙̦̖̞̖̫̤͉͙͈͚̗̲̜̙̼̥̰͕̲̻͈̯̫̭̩̱̝̹̯͙̻̖͈̙̤̭͍͑̆́̇̈́̏̍̓́͂̊͆̍̿̑̅͗̈̽̃̇̈̌͂͂̔͛́̀̋̑̅͗̄̂̈́̓̑͐͆̇̈́́̈́̄̌̐̊̔͒͐̾̌͐̃͛̈́̌̒͐̒̓̃̂̔̎̍͊̾̊̋͛̍̂̎̀̉̑͗̊͂̃̂̈́̎̄̾̇͑̒̓̆͆̊̃̈́̇̇̓̈͛̓̒̓́̈͛̀̀̈́̂̋̒̆̓̂͌̌̆̊̿̃̓̋̈́̿͐͒̑̀̿̀̋̈́̈̅̍̾̑̆̽̃̐͊̾͐̒̇͊̓͆̾̀̽̋͆́͛͋̐̔̌͑̀̏͐̌̈́́͑̎͂̀̔̑̇̍̈́̍͊͑̉̉̅͑͋̐͘̚͘̕͘̚͘͘̕̕̚̚͘̚͜͜͜͠͝͝͝͝͝͝͠͝͝͝͠͝͠ͅͅͅͅͅͅͅͅͅͅ
̶̨̡̨̢̢̨̧̡̡̨̛̛̛̛̳͕̮̖̜͖͚̪͇̯̥̜͎̞̱̼̦̳̻̭̜̖̜̝͎̯̱̭̘͍̭͈͖̺̳̳̯̗̼͓͚̥͖͔̬͈̤̬̭̥̗̠̜͕͓̯̥͕̪̺̲̜̰̩̫̙̖̯̖̘̳̉̂̇͗̓͐̓̇͆̒͛̏͑̊̇͐̔͗́̄́̿̂̉̀̂́̓͒͆̀̈̿̿̍̊͆͒͒̇̇̀̇͆̽́͂͂͆̑͂̈́̒̏́̏͂̌̿͐͐̾̍̉̽͗̅̌͆͐̀͋̅́̏̉͂͛̀̿̒̏̔́̽͒̈́̎̓̒̀͒͋͆̆̽̈́̓͑̀̀͒̐͌͌͛̂̆̋́͆̃͐̃͌̄̀͊̍̒̉̍͆̔̐̓͋̏͊͊͊̈́́̈́̓̓̉̾͐͛͐͌͛͐͑͌̿́̅̅̐̐̆̐̅͊̽̏͌̑̀̿͂̎̿̊̓̈́̂͂̌̎͂̐̔͗̀̌̆̅͊̈́̽͂̆̕̚̚̚̕̚̚̚͘͘̕̕͘͘͘͘͘̕͘͘̕͜͜͜͝͠͠͝͠͠͝͝͝͠͝͠͠͝ͅ ̵̨̧̢̡̨̢̡̢̡̧̢̢̡̢̧̢̡̡̢̛̟̦̻͖͔͉̻̤̩̟̼̼̮̳̬̝̬̲̝̻̜̻͙͈̺̰̺̗̝̣̮̘̘̲̼̹̝̟̲̳͉̥͓͖̼͖͈͖͖͔̱̩̞̣̠̘͙̭̻̬̞̦̟̱̹͚̻̖̣̳̲̙͕̟̮̪͙͕̭̥͉̬͖̙̭̗͚̻̗͖̪̪̣̫͓͉̳̞͙̠̣̮̝̤̠͇̝̞̻͓͉͎͉͍͔͎͇̗̟̦̺̖͙̥̞̻͔̺̱͚͙̫͉̰͓̈̈́̄̃̍̄̋̃̓́̽͆̃̾̉̓͌͗̎̆͒̄͆̇͗͊̌̇̅̏̈́̑͆̈̾̃̓̆̓̈́̔̈́͗͛̒̂̿̈́̅̂͐̈́̈́̽̂́̆̈͊̋̾͌̐͂̅̓̏̔͂̒̐̒̃̿͊͆̊̐̌̇͗̋̂̀̎́̿̆̂͊̉͌̿͊̇̎̒̈́̽̋͛̃̑͗͂̿̒́͗͂͆͗͊̑̽̆̿͂̀̃̀̿̌̿̾̈̾̊̄̉͋́̏̃̆͋̂͒͆̇͒͘̕̚̚̚̕͘͜͝͠͠͝͠͠͝͠͝ͅͅͅͅͅͅ ̶̢̨̢̛̛̛̛̛̛̛̛̛̪̺̤̬͙̺̦͔̭̤̜̤͔̮͈͍̥͕̫̜̟̭̬͔̭̹̬̑̍͛̓̈̈́͋͑̓͂̎͌̾̀̏̐́̀͐͒͐͆͐̿͂̓͗̇̋͑̔̋̍͋͑̊͋͌̐̇̅͑͑̀̇̿̋̅̆̈́̈́́̎̍͑́̒̽̆͋̑̈͂̄̏̈͌͊̅͗̉̐̒̏̆͊̿̌́̾̈́̈́̄̏͛̾̃͑̔̀̍̓̂̎͛̒̍̆̆̀̂́͐͐̓̓̽́̐̈́̄̃̆̑͆̋̀̌̾͆̆̄̇͛́͂͗̄̓̈́͂̐̐́̋̍͌̉́͋̓̏̿͐́̀͒̉̌͐̊̈́̋͛̈̓̊̓̒̎̓̀͑̓̽̑̈́̀̋̽͊͌͛̍̈́͂̄̎͛̓͊͒̒̀͒̈́͑̈́͑̎̔͋̉̀͐̒̾̋͆͒̑̄̈̋́̀͌͆̑̾̀̍͋͐̀͐̊̃̽̇́̀̑̉̄́̍̅̌̕̕͘̕͘̕̚͘͘̚̕̕̚̕̚͘̚͘͜͝͝͠͝͠͝͝͠͝͠͠͝͠͝͠ͅͅͅR̷̨̧̡̡̢̡̧̧̧̛̛̛̛̛̫̞̠͉̖̰̤͙̥̝̯̳̳͉̦̹͚͈̗̳̮̲̼̫͙̩̘̜̲͔̭̲̦͕̻̗̤̰̙̝̟̲̺̖͉̹̼̳̻̻͈̦̟̙̺̻̥͈̫̫͔͉͙̳̠̤̠͖̦͕͚͕̼͕̤̲̲̬͙͎̩̣̰̭̍͒̒̔͌̉͐͆͑̀͒̍̎͆̃̀͗̓͌̌̒̇̃̄̇͑̑́̈́́̽̔̉̈̑̈́́̌̓͋͂̉́̿͒͌̆́͗̔̓̀͗͌̂̔̚̕͘̚͜͜͜͠͝͠͠͝͠͠͠͠͠ͅͅͅͅͅ
̶̢̧̨̡̢̨̨̢̡̢̢̡̧̢̢̢̡̢̡̡̡̢̡̢̡̛̛̛̛̛̣̥̫͓̣͎͚͖͔̺̩̖̗͎͈̣͇͉̪̼̰͈̯̠̗̖͎̳̺͉͉̻͓̬̗̩͚̥̼̦͙̹͎̥̬̹͉̗͈̯̪̬͓̗̙͙̞̻̜͙͓̙̬͎͇̜̙̰̫̟̮͉̰̥̝̫͕͇̳̼̱̤͙͚̲̰̜̼̰̰̺̻̗̻͚̻̣͓̫̼͖̗̘̻̣̠͚̥͔͙͉͎͙͓̗̪̠̙̙̭̲̻̗͓͕̯͙͓̣͈̤̬̤͉͕̗̱͉̹̼̞̟̠̻̳͚̘̤̰͕̱̼͇͍̫̱̘̗̱̲̲͓̭̩͈̜̺̳̬̩̞͕̣̲̜̖̮̦͓͍̮̬̗̦͉̲̖̣͈̦͙̯̺̤͔̯͖͇̖͔͕̭͇̲̰̦̻͚̟̮͇̳̟̳͉̻͙͓̣̘̱̝̭̼̱͎͙̼͇͔̤̙͙̭̻̺̥͓̪̯̥̮͈̯̗͖̫͕̠̖͓̝̳̗̯̎̈͌̔̑̿͋̏́͊̍͗̀͛̄͋̒̉̂́́̍͊̿̎͊͊̉͌͆̈͌̇͛̆͛͊̅̊̏̒̍̍͆̊̉̎̾̊̇̽̅̊̌͌́̓͆͌̆͗͊̉̔̈̅͗̑͐̇̒̄́̈́̋̿͗̈́̈́͑͌͋̾̊̐͑̋̐͗͛͂̔̀̈̀͒̌̽̀̋͛̎͆͂͒͂̉̍̌̆̓̋̌͛͑̋̔̈́͛̾̔̈́͊̈́̈́̓̊̆̀͌̑̅͐͆͒̽͛̿͊́̍̈̉͛̀̕̕͘͘̕̚͜͜͜͜͜͜͜͜͝͝͝͝͠͝͠͝͝͠͝͝͝͠ͅͅͅͅͅͅͅͅͅͅͅ ̴̢̢̢̧̡̡̡̧̨̨̡̢̢̡̧̛̛̛̙̬͇̜͉͍̺̰̬͚̰̻͎̝̝̭̗̲̬̭̙̠̗̱̠̪̳͔̠̤̼̗͎̼̲̰͉̲̖͈͇̯̻̙͓̻̰̰̠̜͔͕̱̹̳̤̤̣̗͕̯̫̩̠̳͙̠͚̲̭̺̰̹̹̩̥̣̖̻̘̘̙̙̦̫̙̹̮͚̘͎̭͈̪͕͉͚̼̣̩͉̬̩̥͓̲̳͉̫̣̰͇̰͖̞͍͕̖̪͇̪̺̖̣̟̖̘̞͎̣̥̞̭͕̖̼̯͎̜̹̯̼͓̱͙̠̬̺̪̦̭͇̮͇͓̟͍̰̜͎͙̩̦͓̦̠̟̹̈́͒́̏̍̌͂̃̎́̓͌̅͊͋͑̾̅̋̅̔̀̂̅͗̏́͑̒̇̌͛̾͊̃̀̐̀̓́̿́̊̑̎́͗̀͆͊͛̿́̾͊̀̐͊͆͋̈́͐̈͒͒̍͑̎͒̈́̀͑͂̅͑̀̾͂͆̿̔̇̇͂͒̀̐̓̃͛̇̂̎̈́̂͑͛̉̾̌̽̏̈̂͐̋̀͐̋̑͆́̂̆͐̄̇̉̚͘̚̕͘͘̕̕̕̚͘̕̚͘͘͜͜͜͜͝͝͠͝͠͝͝ͅͅͅͅ ̴̧̢̡̧̧̡̧̨̛̛̛̛̛̺̤͎͔̖̟̬̺̲̯̝͍͔͔͙̪̝̼̖̲͖̺̤͚͖̮͎̩̺̪͚̦̥̮̖̭͈̻̟̠̘̫͚͔͚̱̪͎̙̱̫͍̘̗̰͉̝͇̼̼̪͉̗͚̱̹͍̖̲̜͖̻͚̤̠̺̼͓̞̣̳̞̣̬͍̜̺͍̙̣͊̽̈́̒̿̊͆̾́͆͆̆̒̈́̈̊̓̑͂͌̈́͑̍̈̒̒̃̉̉̈́͂̿͂̈́̽̾̌̐͆͗̽̑̅͐̋̍̿̿̍̅̍̀̏̑̀̋̓̇̍̀͗̉̀̀͊̿̄̑̾̓̅̂̉̒͒̍́̐͊͌͗̃́͑̌̏͛̓̂͒͆͒̇͊̿͋́̑̅̿͒̾̇̏͊̆͑̋͋̉̍̌̌̆̄͛̉̔͆̅̌͐͒͑́̑̑̆̎̑̇̿̋̾̔̔̂͌̽͛̀̈̈́͑̆̈́̀͒̌̐͐͒͗̔̎̈́̐̈́̔̈͊̌͌̀̍̋̅͗͊́͋̒̓̏́͊̑́̿́̾̔͆̄̈̌́͌̃̌̇͗̇̎̓̊͊̃͂̃̾͒̍̐̉͊͑́̈́͒̉͂͗̉́̓̑̂̏̓̽̔͑̓̒͒̂̄͘̕̕̚͘͘̕̚̕͘̚̕̕̕̚̕͜͜͠͝͝͝͝͝͠͝͠͠͠͝͝͝͠͝͝͠͝ͅƠ̶̢̧̨̡̡̢̢̧̨̧̢̡̡̧̨̨̛̛̛̛̛̘̺͎̲̥̪̭̠̲̠͙̯͙̝̱̻̯̪͔̘̻̟̣̘̘͓̱͍̱̖̲̗͍͎̻̩̭̥̻̞͕̲͖̩̺̮̹̩͕̫̱͓͙̗͖͖̤̦̦͎̘̯͍͇̝̻̤̦̝̻̙̞̹̙̻̙̺̪̥͓͚̪͔̥̫̠͈͇̮̹̠̹̭͍̗͔̮͓̻͙͍̮͍̤̹̖̙̩̟̰̻̠̮̤̹̳͍̥͓͇̻̟̮̖̘̣̝̬͇̼̮̜̠̝̪̗̤̳̱̪̝͈̳͚̮͎̟͍͖͖̯̺͍̺̜̯̪͇̙̥̣̰̰͓̰̰͙͚͎̮͎̗͈͖̰͍̺̞͎͎̘͇̖͓̼̋̉̈́̎̿̊̈́̀̉̆͛̈́͆̏̆͋̀̃̃̒̄͆̒̽͊̄̿̉̐̏̂̐͗̊͗̈́̂̎̇͛̉͐̐̔͊̀̓̿̔̌̽͛̓͑̓̉̀̒̄̓̈̄́̀̂̍̉͋̐̂̀̆̽̓͛̆̆́̅̾̉͐̿̐̉̆̾̿͛̓̽̄̓͊̄̌͐̍͊̄̒̉͗͋̄́̓̒̽͒̒͌́͒̈̈͗́̃̽͆̆͂̈́̔̋̅́̈́̈́̑̽̾̈́͑͛͑̐͆͌̓͌̈́̐̑͑̈́̃̅̒́̃͛̇͑̃̉̓̓͛͒͐̾̉̿́̊̔̈́̈́͋̽͒͛͐̄͐͐̈́͑̐̌͑̂̎͌̇̄̈͛̇̏̈́͑̑̈́̿͛̏͊̆͂͗̇̚͘͘̕̚͘̕̕̚̕̚̕̕̚͘̕͜͜͜͜͜͜͠͝͠͠͝͠͝͝͝͠͠͠͝͝͠͠͠͠͝͠ͅͅͅͅͅ
̵̧̨̡̨̨̡̧̧̧̧̨̧̧̡̧̢̨̧̧̨̢̧̨̛̛̛̛̺̣̞̘̼̘͈͚̰̫͔̖͓̣͍̭̺̹̭̞̮̣̱͓̣̺͉̗̤̻̪̲̜̻̣̟̞̼̘̬̜̱̻̠̜͖̳̗̗̬̹̬̻̹͇̲͉̟̩̬̞͈̜̪̝͍̦͇̗̹̻̩̱̣̫͕̻̦͓̥̟͇͍̯̣̘̬̮̼͍̟̤̜̠̬̺͉̞̦͈̫̖̫̠̝̥̭̬͇̟̯̜͇̜̬̝̻̲̯̠̻̞̘͚͇̱̣̬̮̘̰̲̩͇͇̦͔͉̦̻͈̙͇̝͕̼͉̳͔͎̥̭͇̙̜̲͎̱͙̱̣̙͖͔͈̹̻͇̺̬̥̬̦͕̜̲̠̹̣̳̠̜̙͍̰̙͎̟̥̟͇̖̻̗̗̖̣̮̖̰̻̖̳̐́̊́͐̊̎̃̿̄́̒͐́̆͋͂̽̿͛͌͌͆̒͂͆͆̂̌̿̔̽̄̀̈́̔͗͋̀̍̈̊́́̓̎̀̈̿̔̋̀̅́̒̇͊̊̃́͌͋̇̌͒͋̐̈́̇́̆͒͌́͋͋͋̑̓̈͗̉́̂́̽̊͌͊́͊̄̓̀̀̋́͆̊̂̍̈́͆͒̎͆̉̆̋͌͋̋̑́̍̒͆̀̐̈́̂̔̊̀͐͒̆̏̓͋͑̒͗̐́̓̃̃͒̒̅̅̎͊̈̾͋̋̀͛͗͋̅̊͐̈́̇̽̈͊̀̓̑̊̈́͊̏̀͛̔͑͐͂̍͛̓̆́͌̓̉̃͗̉͌̅̐̔̍͛̉̾͂̋͗̎̑̆̍̑̃̓͐̓̿̾̍̈̈́͒̈́̽͐̀͌̿̍̒̀̈̾̿̅̄̓̈͛̐͛̑̆͌͆͒̉̊̆̔̈́̑͐͋͂̇̋͆̿̃̚̚̕̚̕͘̚͘̚̕̚̚̚̚̚͜͜͜͜͜͜͜͝͝͝͠͝͝͝͝͝͝͝͝͝͝͠͝͠͠͠͠͝͠ͅͅͅͅͅͅͅ ̶̨̧̢̨̡̡̢̢̧̛̛̜̗͍̞͕̥͇̲̺̩̘̖̖̘̖͚͚͖̺̞͖̮̳̺̼̞̗̮̮͇̗̦͎̲̝̫̘̼͖͔̮̟̻̝̺͈͎̪͈̫̙̰̬̘̠͎̲̹̦̥͙̼͍̖̦̳͉̻͕̬̖̝͇̻͇͇̬̟̲̟̫̤͔̖͎̟͖̤͉̪̰͈͒̑̐̈́̔́̃͑͌͆͛̔̒̈́͒̊̋͊̈́͒̆̎̃͐̋̉̽̇͛̌̓͗̑͌́͒̐͐̈́̀͂̔͊́̎̀̀̄͑̆̇̌̌͛̐̾̀͊̀́̅́̈́̌͆̀̎̊̀̾̋̿́̎̌̃̆̀̊̃́̾̏̀̈̌͆̍̀̑͊́̃͋̑͐͋̑̑͊̈̅̓͋̾̎̏̐̈́̈́̂̽̓͛̋̓̓̍̏̕̚͘͘̚̚̚̚͘͜͜͜͜͠͝͠͝͝͝͠͝͝͝ͅͅͅ ̷̢̢̧̨̧̢̢̧̛̛̛̛̫̤̹͔̖̟͕̻͍̭̲͖̯͍̗̯̟̲̖̳̯̰͈̯͓̗̣͚̭͈̩͓͈̘̱̟͍͚̤͎̖̭̥̟̤̙̝̹͖̖͇̭͕̙̟̩͈͈̪͇̦̝̮̟̣̭̪̤̩̭̣̤̭͕̯̻̫͙͍̼̘̖͖̩͍̘̼̻̹̱̤͔͉̝͚̪̠̼̦̮̫̈́́̇̾͊̀͋̈́͋̀͆̆̄͗͑̆̎̎͆͐͑̓̇̈̄́̾̈́̅̈́̔̊͑̑̿̎̉͆̌̌̀̎̉́̈́̿̎͂̀̂̎̓̉̓̋̇͋̍͂̀͐̐͗͗͊̈͑͗́̇̀̓̑̉̎͌̋̀̍̅̆̇̿̈́̐̉̊̅̓̇́͗̔̅̒̌͗͌̂̉̾́̾̒͐̏̓͂͐̓͌̾͆̏͗̑͊̌̐͗̓͌̍̀̌͒͆͋̋̇̎̑̉̒̈͂̔͑̐̽͒̑͛́̔͗̊̔̾̎́̅̕̕͘̚̕̕̕̕͘͘͘͘̕͘̕̚͘͜͜͝͠͝͝͠͠͝͝͝͝͠͝͝͝͝͝͠͝͠͠͝͝͠͠R
Entry number one.
I've done it. Extracting the residue from my own soul, I've done it. It cost me my palms, I knew I should have left the safety belt on the drill, but I've done it. The two life forms are being sustained this minute in the resistance tubes. They are skeletons like myself, fresh and ready to influence. Surely, this will lead to the breakthrough we need to escape the underground. Subject WDG 1S hasn't moved yet, though he seems aware of his existence. Perhaps he is too lazy, maybe he likes the cold liquid of the tube. Subject WDG 2P is looking around, confused and interested. He is not trying to escape, he merely seems puzzled. I'm going to speed up the growing process, I don't want them to look like children when the procedures take place.
Entry number two.
They're still in the tubes, I'm going to take them out tomorrow. Subject 2P cannot see me through the glass, obviously, but subject 1S seems to sense my presence. I'm intrigued.
Entry number three.
I've taken them out of the resistance tubes. They are still adjusting to their cells, 2P is exploring it for every nook and cranny, I had to staple a strip of aluminium foil in front of the force field to stop him from crawling into it. Subject 1S is sitting still. I think he's sleeping.
Entry number four.
2P has lost interest in the room. He- ah, he's screaming now. What is it? I'm walking over. His eyes are big and streaming with tears. He screams more. His hand lies on the floor in front of him.
"Nothing to worry about," I sigh.
I walk into the room and pick it up.
"Give me your arm," he holds it out to me. "Look," I attach the hand back to the arm with a simple click. "Quick and completely painless." He looks up and his whimpering stops. "Certainly nothing to make such a racket about."
I leave the room, glaring at his tiny figure. 1S is crawling around, he's looking for an escape.
Entry number five.
1S still hasn't made a noise. I wonder if they're coherent, they seem lucid, though they may be unaware. All the better, I don't want them to be aware when the procedures take place. 1S's silence isn't anything to complain about, it makes a difference from 2P's constant crying and whining.
Entry number six.
I'm going to step inside 1S's cell. I'm disabling the forcefield, he sees me. 2P never had a problem with my presence, so I didn't need to worry about him escaping, 1S however, he seems to be eager to get out of here. He's rattling his bones at me. I step closer. He rattles more. Closer. Fear overcomes him and he presses his back against the wall. Closer. His eyes are full of fear, his breathing frantic. I worry if I come any closer he'll become hysterical. Oh well. I step back.
Entry number seven.
2P is in the room with me, I wanted to see what would happened if I changed his scenery. I'm just tinkering with the controls to a machine. I believe it will give them the ability to heal. My eye is unstable. It always has been. I'm losing the ability to heal, I believe that I could regain it, or find a substitution, through 1S and 2P. 2P is tapping the wall. Odd, that's the wall separating this room from 1S's cell. 2P is making screeching noises. The faint sound of 1S echoing the screech runs along the wall. They screech and babble to each other for ages. I recognise snippets of things I've said to them in their wordless speech. It's annoying. I didn't want them to sound like children! I specifically grew them. Oh well, I suppose this confirms- they're coherent. Perhaps I can teach them how to speak, that would make things easier.
Entry number eight.
Today I introduce them to each other. Let's see, I'm bringing 1S into 2P's cell. He doesn't want to touch me. 2P is constantly whinging for attention, 1S's only speech so far was when he was babbling to 2P. I'm opening the forcefield. 1S enters. There's barely any hesitation before they're close to each other and teaching their experiences to the other. 2P is showing 1S how to remove and attach his arms. Interesting. They're learning more from each other than they have from me. Of course there are pros and cons to their teamwork, they'll learn from each other and maybe they'll even heal each other when I am unable to, but of course emotional connection is dangerous- putting another person in front of yourself. I'll let them stay. I switch on the forcefield and walk away for a smoke break.
Entry number nine.
Asgore visited me today. Nothing special, just the usual 'you're working yourself to death, take a break.' I assured him that I'm near to a breakthrough. I think I am, I have to be. I taught 1S and 2P some more speech, they're learning very quickly. I don't care about their fonts, but I can see that inmate 2P is an uppercase like myself, a voice that needs to be heard and demands attention. 1S is more casual, with a tendency to shorten words and mumble. A lowercase. It's confirmed then, they're sentient. It doesn't matter.
Entry number ten.
My head hurts. I've been working on the machine all night. It's complete, if I've done it right, it should give them the ability to heal each other as I fear I will not in the future. I don't like to say this, but- no. I'm not too fond of them to put them through this! This was one of their sole purposes of existence! Tomorrow, I'll do it tomorrow. I just need to rest my head.
Entry number eleven.
Failure. I strapped inmate 1S to the chair and activated the machine to alter his skull for the healing ability to come through properly. It was quite the light show. His skull cracked and his eye socket caught on fire. I had to put him back in the stability tube. He'll have the ability to heal, that part worked, except- it damaged his maximum HP. He'll never be able to have more than one, the same goes to his attacks. I edited the machine and set 2P up for it. He was terrified, wouldn't stop whining and crying. It made it easier to put him through it. The process worked but he hit his neck on the straps. The scar doesn't look like it will heal, though it will do him no harm. 1S is still in the tube. I think he'll be fine, but his condition will prove an inconvenience. He's so delicate, I worry that it will affect his growth. I should take him out of the tube now.
Entry number twelve.
Subject 2P won't stop asking about 1S. He doesn't hold a grudge against me for what I did to them. Where does he get this forgiving nature from? Certainly not me. I'm walking over to the tubes, something tells me that 1S will not forgive me for reducing his maximum HP. He's awake. I'm taking him out now. He stumbles, not used to standing up again. I explain to him about his HP, it's almost humiliating. He doesn't speak. I don't blame him. Walking is proving difficult to him, I don't lift him with magic. He needs to get used to it on his own. No complaining. It's much more sufferable than 2P's whinging. I put him back in the cell. They're hugging each other like it's the end of the world. I'll record them while I put away the machine.
Entry number thirteen.
I've been testing them and, well, I suppose you could say that I'm getting to know them. 1S is extremely smart and never ceases to torment me about breaking his HP whenever he sees the right moment. He'd be hopeless in battle so I started teaching him how to dodge. 2P's attacks are actually quite advanced, doing at least four damage already. The only problem is, well, he's an idiot. He isn't nearly as clever as his brother and he fails to understand even the simplest of things. He does not pass many of the tests and activities I set him but he sure wants to. He tries so hard to. 1S still hasn't forgiven me, as I predicted, but 2P still shows that unthinking kindness which he possesses. He refuses to kill anything at all, not even the snake I was using when it escaped and crawled up his leg. It took an hour to untangle it from his ribs. 2P asked me about their creation. I mistakenly referred to them as brothers, now they won't drop the phrase. It's all 'brother this' and 'brother that,' it's getting on my nerves.
"Excuse me," subject 2P asks me.
I look up from my notes and watch as he tears his eyes away from the jigsaw I gave him.
"What is the creature in this image?"
"That's a snowman," I tell him.
"What's a snow?"
"Snow is," I ponder. "Well, why do you need to know?"
"I was just curious," he stares at the half finished snowman jigsaw which he's been working on for two weeks. "It's the same colour as us, and what is it wearing?"
"What do you mean," I step over.
"The red thing around it's neck."
"That's a scarf, it keeps you warm."
"Why does the snowman need to stay warm?" His face lights up with a breakthrough. "Is snow cold? I bet snow's cold!"
"Indeed," I frown at him. "But the snowman is not alive and can not feel anything."
"What do you mean it's not alive?" He asks. "Of course it's alive!"
"There are three types of things in existence," I sit back down. "Those who are alive, things which are not and have never been and those that are dead. Give me examples of each of those things."
"Well," he ponders for five minutes. "I'm alive aren't I?"
"Correct."
"And you said the snowman isn't alive."
"Indeed," I point to the table. "The snowman is like the very objects in this room- inanimate."
"Right," 2P pauses. "What's dead?"
"It means you turn to dust and never come back," I say simply.
"That's awful!" He cries. "I never want to die!"
"Then you will have to bring yourself to kill others," I bring the topic of his disability to harm the training items I provide him into play.
"No!" He shrieks. "I won't!"
"It's kill or be killed," I glare. "If a human came down here, you would die! The human would stop at nothing to leave you dead! A pile of dust on the floor!"
"No!" He cries.
"Yes!" I yell.
"No one deserves to die!"
"That won't stop a human!"
"I don't care!"
"I think," I breathe. "That this session is over. You will come back to your puzzle tomorrow."
He stands up sniffing and I lead him back to his cell. The forcefield is gone and so is 1S. I think back. Did I forget to close the forcefield? Oh, damn I dropped my pen didn't I. 1S was making some reference to my clumsiness with the machine and I left quickly. I grab 2P's wrist and turn around. To my extreme fortune, 1S is in the distance having trouble with a doorknob. I turn his soul blue and bring him back.
"No!" He exclaims. "I was- so close!"
"And now you'll keep your mouth shut if you know what's best for you!" I roar.
He stays silent.
"I need to do something," I glare. "Don't think you're getting away."
I thrust them both back in their cell and switch the forcefield on. I storm off to work on a machine. I need tracking devices. What's the best way to do it? I glance down at my hand, gaping holes letting light spill through the palms. An idea dances through my mind and I set to work.
Entry number fourteen.
"Could you please let me out?" Subject 2P looks up from the chair that I strapped him down to. "I- I'm scared."
"Good..." I mumble.
"Sorry?" He asks. "What did you say?"
"Good!" I exclaim. "You should be scared of me!"
I lower the drill onto his hand.
"What are you-" he cuts off and screams.
His yells and pleas echo around the room. They don't stop for another half hour, even after I've finished the procedure and the plate is attached to his hand. He cries and whimpers as I take him back to the room.
"Oh my- brother!" 1S grabs him and holds him tight. He looks up at me and glares. "What the hell did you do to him?"
"He's overreacting," I say, taking 1S by blue magic. "He'll be fine."
I turn on the forcefield. "Maybe you should think twice before you try to escape."
I take him to the room and strap him down.
"So what are we doing now?" He stares me in the eyes, those white pin-pricks gazing into my soul. "You already broke my HP, oh! Why don't we blow up my skull!"
"Save your remarks," I sigh. "And keep still."
"I am keeping still," he peers up at me.
"Oh," I glance down. "So you are."
He lies there, still and uncaring.
"Ready?" I ask.
"What if I'm not?"
"It doesn't matter," I take the handle and lower the drill down.
He screws his eyes shut and braces himself. The drill begins to pierce his hand and he cries out in pain. He's trying as hard as he can to contain his agony, but the pain appears to be unbearable. When the drill stops and the plate is secure, he pants and gasps. I unbind him from the chair and lead him back to the cell. They embrace each other and try to calm down for hours after I walk away. The procedure was successful, now I have two trackable, labelled subjects.
WDG 1S and WDG 2P. I sit in my office with my notes and switch on the sound from their cell. They're still discussing the hand plates. 2P is expressing his hatred for them while 1S seems to just be mad at me. His dialogue is full of 'I knew it's and 'we should have's. I'll check on them tomorrow.
Entry number fifteen.
They're still clinging onto each other like glue. I don't think 1S will ever forgive me, even if I free them. 2P will find some way to forgive me. I still have no clue where the hell he gets it from. They're awake and talking about dreams. The initial shock of the experiment seems to have died down. I walk down to the cell. They back against a wall and somehow manage to tighten their grip on each other.
"You want to finish the puzzle don't you?" I ask.
"Oh-" 2P looks at 1S. "Please brother, I promise I'll be careful!"
"Are you kidding me?" 1S asks him. "We can't trust him!"
"I really want to finish the puzzle!" 2P begs. "Please brother."
1S sighs and releases 2P. He walks with me out of the cell and I switch the forcefield on behind us. He doesn't speak as we walk and instead fidgets with his hand plate.
"What's WDG?" He asks finally.
"Those are my initials."
"Why are your initials on my hand?"
"Because you are like property to me," I state.
"What about 2P?"
"Those are your initials."
"Really?" He gets excited. "You gave me a name? What is it?"
"I did not give you a name," I glare. "You are the second of two experiments, hence the 2, and P is for your font."
"What's a font?"
"You wouldn't understand."
"Please tell me!" He whines. "I am smart! I promise! I've almost completed that puzzle you gave me!"
"It took your brother seven minutes to complete," his face falls as I tell him.
"Oh."
We walk the rest of the way in silence. When we finally arrive at the room, he sits down in front of his puzzle and stares at it like he's trying to move it with his mind. His face lights up and he finds the space for a corner puzzle piece. I jot down notes. He manages to find a space for a couple more pieces. One of his better days then. I stand up to roll up the puzzle but he puts a hand on it. I look at him questioningly.
"Oh-" he looks down nervously. "I was wondering if, um, we could- stay a bit longer?"
"Don't you want to see your brother?"
"I do! It's just-" his lip trembles. "I'm really close to finishing the puzzle!"
I sigh.
"We cannot stay here, but if you wish, you can take the puzzle with you."
"Can I?" His face glows. "Yes please! I promise I'll take care of it!"
I show him how to roll up and unroll the jigsaw mat and pass it to him.
"Come on."
We walk to the cell together and I open the forcefield for 2P. He rushes inside and presents the puzzle wrapped up in the mat to 1S
"Look brother!"
I watch as 2P unrolls the puzzle, showcasing his work off to 1S. He sets to work at finishing the jigsaw and I indicate for 1S to come with me. I take him to the gym room and he sits down opposite me.
"What even are these?" He glares holding up his hand plate.
"You wouldn't understand," I say simply.
"You say that about everything."
"I needed to do it," I lower my eyebrows.
There's a small silence.
"Why did you do that to him?" His rage grows. "What did he ever do to you?"
"You tried to escape."
"Then leave him out of it!"
"If I only punished you," I remind him. "You'd be dead. You only have one HP."
"That's not my fault!" He punches the wall. "If I were stronger, I could take some of the pain for him! I wouldn't have to just sit there and watch you hurt him!"
"Of course," I say unenthusiastically. "It's a tragedy. Now, if you know what's best for you, you'll shut your mouth and dodge the equipment."
He sighs through his teeth and I pick up a dodge ball with blue magic.
"Remember to duck this time," I remind him.
He shakes, trying to repress his anger and I send the first few obstacles towards him. He dives out of the way, quite impressively actually, and pants silently. I send more his way. He dodges them, one clips his elbow, prompting an ignored lecture from me. He's definitely a lower case. He doesn't show any of this determination outside of these tests. He's too lazy to put in effort unless he absolutely has to. I wonder what he's like at his full potential. We finish the session off when I have enough notes and we're both tired.
"You see," I put the equipment away. "You can do really impressive things if you put some effort into it."
"I'll remember that next time you decide to drill a hole in my hand," he rolls his eyes. "Did you want us to be matching?"
"What do my hands have to do with this?" I sigh.
"How did you even get those holes?" He ignores me. "Were they cool back in your days?"
"I got them while creating you two!" I yell. "Unless you want your brother to suffer tomorrow, you will come with me back to your cell!"
I stomp out of the room with him and he wanders tiredly along with me to the cell. He's excitedly greeted by his brother, who showcases off the new puzzle piece he's put down, and settles down quickly. Good. I'm done with them for the day. I just need to come back later to feed them, in the meantime, I think the Core needs some adjustments to make up for the denting it receives as rocks from above fall down.
Entry number sixteen.
I couldn't sleep last night. I was stressing over our escape again. Asgore found a fifth human soul last night. He says it didn't even want to fight him. I'm close to finding a way out! I know it! He shouldn't have to keep killing these children like this! I know he doesn't want to. I'll find a way out of here some way that doesn't involve him absorbing the human souls. He's done so much for me, I can at least return some of the favour. I walk down restlessly to the subjects' cell and realise that I forgot to feed them last night.
"Look!" 2P beams. "I completed the puzzle! I told you I'm good at puzzles! Look!"
I look down at the completed jigsaw of a snowman he's presenting me with.
"Good," I nod. "You are very perseverant.
"How come we didn't get any food?" 1S glares. "Did you forget?"
"King Asgore found another human soul," I sigh.
"What does that mean?" 2P asks.
I thought this day would come. I need to teach them about the danger of humans. I switch off the forcefield.
"Come with me."
I take them to the puzzle room and pull out a whiteboard.
"Sit down."
They do as they're told, 1S too intrigued to argue with me, and I pull the cap off of the pen.
"The world is split into two categories: humans and monsters. Many years ago, we lived in peace with each other. But humans soon became anxious. A human soul is so powerful that it would take almost every monster soul in the underground to match it. Boss monsters' souls in particular can be absorbed by humans, while human souls can be absorbed by monsters," I sketch an over-powered monster onto the board. "Imagine that, a terrible beast with unfathomable power. Humans grew worried that their souls would be taken and war broke out. In the end, it could hardly have been considered a war. Countless monsters were turned to dust and we were sealed underground by a magic barrier. King Asgore and his wife ruled over the underground, giving hope and inspiration to all of us. They soon had a child- Asriel Dreemur- and he was the embodiment of innocence and goodness. Eventually, a human child fell down here, Asgore and the Queen adopted them as their own and the underground was even more delightful. They never seemed to notice," I pull a face, trying to remember. "But I could see that the human was no good. They were constantly playing rough, starting fights and had a notoriously dark mind. The King and the Queen passed that off as a broken childhood, but I knew it was more. Everything was fine until one day, the human child and Asriel made a plan. The child would commit suicide so that Asriel could absorb their soul and pass through the barrier," I scribble images onto the board. "Their plan went as they wished. The human died of buttercup consumption and Asriel absorbed their soul. They passed through the barrier together, but they had separate plans. Asriel only wanted to free the monsters, but the human child was seeking destruction. Asriel managed to take control and stop the child from harming anyone. However, as Asriel walked to the human town to lay down the child's body, the humans screamed. They thought he had killed the child. They attacked him ruthlessly with blow after blow. Asriel did not fight back. He stumbled home in the dark, his dust spread across the garden."
2P's eyes are big and watery. 1S's expression is stiff.
"The kingdom was devastated: they'd lost two children in one night. Asgore made an announcement, he declared that all humans who fall down here will be destroyed until he has gathered seven human souls, then he will shatter the barrier and free us all. His wife became disgusted with his actions and left him, never to be seen again, and Asgore has stayed in calm isolation to this day. He has gathered five human souls thus far, only two away from freedom. Humans are bloodthirsty and will not hesitate to attack you. They will fight until your dust covers their hands and will then proceed on to the next target. It is unlikely, but if you ever come across a human, kill it."
"But I could never kill anything!" 2P exclaims.
I sigh. No matter how many hypotheticals and animals I give him, he refuses to harm any of them.
"Then you will die."
"No!" Tears fill his eyes. "There has to be some good in humans! They can't all be bad!"
"They are," I glare. "And if you don't believe it, your ignorance will get you killed."
"But-" 2P cuts off and tears roll down his cheeks.
"Come on brother," 1S puts an arm around him. "Are you going to give us food or what?"
I stand up, rub off the whiteboard and turn their souls blue.
"This way."
We walk back to the cell, my blue magic pushing 1S forward as he's deliberately lagging behind, and when they're safely inside, I pick up the jigsaw. The two inmates chat as I walk away. I fetch two portions of bread and set back off. Then I stop. I walk over to the cupboard and put 2P's jigsaw away. I reach in the depths of it for a cube made of checked colours which twist in their rows. The subjects look up at me as I hand them their bread.
"2P," I'm almost humiliated- doing something... nice for 2P in front of 1S. "I have something for you to practise with, seeing as you've finished the jigsaw."
I pass him the colour cube and his eyes light up.
"Really? For me? I told you!" He beams at 1S. "I told you he was good! I knew it! What did I tell you? Thank you!"
I walk away and the sound of them chatting grows more and more silent. Using the new machine on them tomorrow is going to be hard.
Entry number s̵͙͙̆͆ ︎❖︎ ︎■︎⧫︎ ︎ ︎ń̷͇̟̫̝͈͗̎͒͛̃̐̈̎̓̾̅̒̐̊̆̾̈̍̊̃̄̾̚̚͝͠
̵̖̟̬͓͎̺͕͋̃̅͋̊͂̌́̔̐̀͛̍͑̓͘͠͝͝ͅ
̶̧̝̩̘̰̘̱̮͕͉̲̘̘̻̙̰̪̼̭̱̪̰͎͊̈̅͛̄͒́͂̎̓́̉̋͘̕͜ͅ ̵̡̞̦͚̮͕̯̉̿̀̀
̷̢͕̮̒.
Entry number eighteen.
I take a sip of my coffee and un-switch the forcefield. The two look up at me and I take 2P with blue magic. 1S exclaims out I ignore him and turn the security on behind me. The colour cube is arranged in a simple pattern. 2P must have been working all night.
"W-where are we going?" He asks.
I ignore him.
"Please- I'm scared-"
I open the door to the machine room and he gasps.
"No! Please! I'll do anything! Don't!"
I strap him down to the chair and he screams his heart out.
"Stop! Don't! Please!" He sobs.
I secure the last strap and position the machine to his eyes. He wails and cries but I ignore him. I switch on the machine and it rumbles. There's a flash of light and 2P screams. He screams and screams and screams until his voice loses its meaning, like when you repeat a word over and over. I finally take the machine away and inspect him. Odd. It didn't work. Not at all. This was supposed to open his mind- make him aware of the timelines and let him bend the laws of physics- but I suppose the only explanation is that he is too simple minded to take that amount of knowledge.
"What did you do to me?" He whimpers.
Strange... his text no longer starts with an asterisk. Perhaps I damaged that part of his mind. Oh well, I'm sure 1S is capable of carrying out the experiment.
"I wanted you to see," I tell him. "But it doesn't appear to have worked."
"So you did that for nothing?" He shivers. "Did you want to hurt me? I'm sure you didn't want to-"
"I will do what I have to do!" I yell. "And if that means hurting you, then so be it!"
He shuts his mouth and I unstrap him. I take him back to the cell and return with 1S.
"What is it now?"
"Shut up," I say simply.
"You want to break something else this time?"
"I said shut up."
"Don't try that," he glares. "I saw how terrified he was. What did you do to him?"
"The same thing I am about to do to you."
"What did he ever do to you?" He roars. "YOU KNOW FULL WELL THAT HE DOESN'T DESERVE ANYTHING YOU THROW AT HIM!"
I am about to yell back but I spot a glimmer of blue flame in his left eye, like when I broke his HP and his eye set on fire.
"Did you feel that?" I ask.
"Feel what?"
"Your eye went blue."
"Oh," he says sarcastically. "What a big deal."
I finish strapping him to the chair and lower the machine to him.
"Hold tight," I say.
I switch on the machine and he cries out in agony. His eye flickers blue and yellow. I watch in excitement, he yells as the blazing white heat from the machine crawls into his eyes and his skull cracks. The blaze of the machine starts to die down, but he manages to teleport out of his bounds. He lies on the floor, almost dead, and I yell out in joy. Success! Glorious success! I turn off the machine and run to fetch 2P.
"Come quickly."
"Why?" He asks stubbornly.
"Your brother is dying."
We sprint back to the room and 2P gasps, grabbing his brother's hand.
"What have you done?!"
"Heal him," I order him.
"I don't know how!"
"Just do it."
"What if I can't?!"
"Then he will die."
2P cries out and cradles his brother in his arms. He's a natural. The cracks on 1S's skull shrink until they aren't even there anymore and he opens his eyes.
"Brother?"
"Brother!" 2P shouts. "You scared me!"
I pull them both to their feet and take them to the cell. I put 2P back inside but bring 1S into a separate room. I inspect his body, looking at his changes.
"Make your eye glow," I command him.
"What?" He asks. "Like this?"
His eye glows blue.
"Correct. You teleported in the room, but that was only a result of the machine. Make an attack."
He conjures up a bone attack, too tired and confused to argue, and I touch it. To my delight, there are no invincibility frames and he seems to poison me, draining my HP over time.
"Wonderful," I continue to look around him. "I just need to get you using blue soul magic, maybe I'll teach you that blaster attack, yes yes."
I take him back to his cell by the arm and his brother hugs him tightly. 1S makes his eye glow for 2P and they talk for hours after I leave. Great. That experiment was fifty percent successful. To be honest, I wasn't really expecting it to work on 2P anyway. I bring them their food after a while and go to my lab for some rest.
Entry number nineteen.
"Hello Gaster," Asgore steps into my lab. "Having some rest I take it?"
"Yes," I nod.
"When was the last time you ate?"
"I had some instant noodles yesterday," I shrug, rubbing my eyes.
"Hm," he frowns. "I could bring you down some bread rolls if you would like, I know you have trouble picking them up."
He glances at my hands.
"It's ok," I stand up. "I'll grab something soon."
"Ok," he smiles. "Don't work yourself too hard."
And with that, he leaves back to the throne room. He's to kind for his own good, like subject 2P. I should go run some tests on the subjects.
Entry number twenty.
Tested them. Hurt them. Injected them. Yelled at them. Punished them. Tortured them. I've done it all. I'm making progress, this is what I have to do, I know it. 2P forgives me, 1S would kill me if he could. They heal each other every day, they have to. Their skulls are always so cracked after a run through of some machine. I have to keep going. I don't feel anything, it's scary really- how little I care when I put them through this. It's my Level Of Violence, I can't go back. Asgore found a sixth human soul, just one more to go. I walk down to the skeletons' cell and they cower against the back wall.
"2P come with me," I flick off the force field and beckon him over. "It's just an analytical."
He quivers and steps out.
"Good," I lock the cell and we walk down the corridor.
We sit down at an empty table and I gather my notes.
"You're in a large hall," I tell him. "Your brother is injured, a human is about to kill him with a knife, you're the only one who can stop them from killing him. What do you do?"
"I'd run in between them both and-"
"The human would kill you."
"Er," he thinks. "I would tell my brother to run and-"
"He can't run," I sigh.
"Hm," he frowns.
"Killing the human is the only way to save him."
"There's always another way!" He glares. "I'd find another way!"
I breathe and decide that arguing with him over this isn't worth it.
"That's enough hypothetical for now," I walk over to the cupboard and pull out a test containing basic riddles. Subject 1S is already on the advanced riddles extension while 2P only just got past the practise ones. I hand it to him and make notes on his intense expression for an hour. I collect in his paper and glance down.
His answer of a hot glowy thing was closest to being correct, the question was 'I move and I flicker, there's light in my face and you need to feed me when I'm hungry, what am I?' And the answer was obviously fire. I suppose it's better than usual still. I take him back to the cell and pause in front of it. Should I do anything with subject 1S? I told him to practise using blue magic on 2P after my demonstration on what would happen to his brother is he ever tried using it on me. There is something nagging at the back of my brain, something which I've been putting off doing for a long time. It's about time I gave him the talk.
"Come with me 1S," I sigh.
"Setting my other eye on fire?" He asks sarcastically.
"No physicals."
He comes with me to the room with the whiteboard and I take a deep breath.
"I'm going to teach you about reproduction," I wince.
"Isn't that one of those awkward topics that normal monsters don't like to talk about?"
I nod.
"You must understand human reproduction before you can understand monster reproduction."
I spend the majority of the afternoon teaching 1S about sexual intercourse, the human anatomies and how they use them- legally and illegally, all that jazz. He seems to enjoy how uncomfortable I am, but after a while, he begins to flush.
"Monster reproduction is similar," I explain. "Two monsters come together to join their magic and create newborns. Only, most monsters don't have anatomies like humans do. All it requires to combine magic is that one part of a monster has to be inside the other, often monsters have to cut holes in themselves and such in order to achieve this. Skeletons are quite lucky. We have the ability to summon and create body parts out of magic, whether it be a tongue or a... anyway, it's also the reason we can blush. In short- monsters reproduce by magic."
He blinks twice.
"So I can have a $! # if I want one?"
"I told you not to talk so openly about that!" I glare.
"Why?" He grins. "Because it makes you uncomfortable?"
I scowl and spend the rest of the lesson showing him crude images to get some passive aggressive revenge and I finish by showing him how to willingly create features from magic. His cheekbones are blushing a magically produced blue colour as we walk out.
"You're going to be the one to explain it to 2P when it's his turn," I glare.
He shudders and I grab two Cinnabunnys from the cupboard. I put 1S back in the cell, giving them the food, and walk out. I have a new machine in mind for them.
Entry number twenty one.
"Stop!" Wails subject 2P. "Please! Make it stop!"
I ignore him and continue to edit the hand plate, allowing it to expand with his growth. It's just a minor detail, but it's still agonisingly painful. I could have taken their hands off to work separately with them, but that would have made the subjects untraceable. I know 1S will escape if he got the chance. I finish the procedure and unchain 2P. His brother screamed a lot less, no surprise of course. That's checking on the subjects done for the day, even if I'm using a machine on them, it allows me to keep tabs on how they're doing and so. They're back in their cell, turning each others' souls blue and playing with the coloured cube. I sit down at my desk with some blueprints for the core. Dr Alphys added in some safety rails here and there, but apart from that, it's exactly how it was when I first built it. I smoke a lonely cigarette and lean back in my chair. The subjects are talking about healing, I suppose they healed each other as always. I get hungry and grab a box of Temmie Flakes from the cupboard. They taste like cardboard, but with enough sugar they're somewhat edible.
Entry number twenty two.
Breakthrough.
Absolute breakthrough.
I have a new subject.
I was walking through the ruins to add a clue for a puzzle, when a human fell from the surface. At first I was going to take it to Asgore, when I noticed its soul. It's broken, a fractured soul. Absorbing it would be a waste. The girl has a weak human soul but a strong monster one. It appears that the torture of her fractured soul drove her to commit suicide, but she lived. I can fill the tears of her soul in with monster soul, then maybe I'll be able to create a monster powerful enough to shatter the barrier. I carried her to the lab. Humans are so small compared to monsters, she's even smaller than subject 1S, but compared to other human children she's tall and skinny. I think she was starving herself. There are scars up her wrists and her fingernails are crusty with blood. Perhaps she killed someone, that's to be expected of humans. I locked her in a cell and hatched a plan. I'll inject her every day until her soul is half human and half monster, then I'll train her. I hope humans are even trainable.
Entry number twenty three.
I've named the girl subject 3E due to her name on the label of her coat. I changed her into a jumpsuit while she slept, but I kept the coat on because, I don't know, it just seemed right. The coat is a yellow and brown striped poncho with a tail and four spikes on the hood. I suppose it's ironic. She's waking up now. She's looking around warily, her eyes dart around the room, she stands up and looks at the forcefield. She knows it means danger. I should introduce myself.
"Hello," I step over.
She freezes and her eyes lock onto my face.
"You are safe, though I can't promise not to hurt you. You are an experiment now, I don't know if you're aware," I go on. "But your soul is fractured. I plan to fill it in. Don't bother trying to escape, I have magic and you don't. I will ask you a series of questions which you must answer honestly now. Do you have any parents?"
She shakes her head.
"Friends?"
She shakes her head.
"Family?"
She shakes her head.
"How high is your LOVE?"
She looks confused.
"How many people have you killed?"
She shakes her head.
"You haven't killed anyone?"
She nods.
"How old are you?"
She puts up all her fingers and then seven more. Almost as old as subject 1S.
"Who gave you those cuts?"
She points to herself and covers her face in her hair. I scribble down notes and stand up.
"Time to get started."
I take her to the hand plate machine. She isn't a skeleton and so I can't drill into her hand, but instead I chain her down with a better idea. Unlike the other inmates, who screamed and cried out, her eye only twitches as she lies there. When I free her, she has a metal band reading WDG 3E around her neck.
"Don't ever try to defy me," I tell her.
Her eyes dart fearfully up at me.
"Or else you will find yourself neck deep in blood."
I use my magic to make the band around her neck burn and sting. She winces, apparently having better things to do than feeling pain, and follows me back to her cell. I bring subjects 1S and 2P their food.
"What were you doing all day?" 1S asks.
"Work," I shrug. "No one asked you anyway."
I walk back to my office and lean my chair against the wall, thinking of theories as to what happened to 3E. My favourite so far is that her parents tortured her for being different, so she ran away and lived in the wild until she couldn't take it anymore and jumped to her supposed death. I just have to get her talking.
Entry number twenty four.
I've developed a serum which contains the dust of monster souls, I will inject it into her daily and eventually, her magic might be powerful enough to overcome the barrier.
Entry number twenty five.
It is two years later. I have to keep subject 3E under control, quite frankly- she terrifies me. She has this black, cutting, dark magic and she can't seem to overpower it. I've never heard her speak, only scream. When she is angry or frightened, her magic lashes out and she has no say over it. It opposes my blazing hot magic. I let her keep the yellow and brown monster poncho on, aside from experiments that is. I didn't need to teach her anything- she knows it all, apart from the history of monsters. All I do is hurt her. I inject her and torture her, her skin is practically the same colour as her bones and her eyes are grey, however, about fifty percent of her wounds are self inflicted. She cannot heal them and neither can I. It's getting troublesome, her injuries prevent her from completing daily tasks. Her soul is almost half monster, she's killed the animals I provide her with. When she kills with her magic, she's mostly out of control; her grey eyes turn red and she gets this red, sort of drawn-on looking smile. She sends rough, scribbly slashes of black magic towards her opponent. No chance of defeat. One of the only things keeping her under control is my blue soul magic. She can not overcome that. She scares not only me but herself. I haven't really been any nicer to the skeletons, they're as frightened of me as ever. The burn-out is unreal. Dealing with two different experiments at once. 3E is sleeping currently. Her tall, bone thin frame small compared to myself. She has a burnish looking white scar down her back which travels in streaks, like veins down her skin. I think she was struck by lightning on the surface. I have nightmares about her uncontrollable form- the unforgivingness, the creepy face. That creepy face. Two red eyes and a red smile. It haunts me. She looks much different in her conscious form, her black hair in a long plait down her shoulder, her eyes always big and frightened, her monster hoodie making her appear almost cute. But then you take it off and you see the gallery of scars up her wrists and across her body, bright bruises, burns, all standing out underneath her jumpsuit and metal band. If it weren't for that metal band, she'd have escaped. She's dead silent and smart too. I've never seen her speak, but I reckon she'd be neither upper nor lower case- grammatically correct. She's so shy and pain hardly unhinges her anymore.
Entry number twenty six.
"Ready?" I ask, hand on the lever, not waiting for a response.
I give it a tug and white, blazing magic courses through her body before disappearing.
"Now try to control it."
I watch her from the safety outside the padded room as she falls to her knees, trying to stop the magic. Her eyes go red and she stands up. I can see her body shaking underneath the jumpsuit, her hoodie is on the back of my chair. She sends a slash of magic in my direction and it bounces off the window. I scribble down notes. She stops tearing black rips in the air around her and reaches into her pocket.
She pulls out a knife.
What?! No! How did she get a knife in there?! I barely ever take knives down to her room! She must have stolen it. I slam my fist on the emergency stop button again and again but before the magic which triggered her psychotic rage can stop, she lashes the knife up and down her body. Blood everywhere. The magic finally knocks her out and I rush into the room. I pick her up and sprint out of the room. What do I do? I can't heal her! She'll die! There's only one thing I can do. I run to the skeletons' cell, grab subject 1S and throw them both into the spare cell.
"1S," I command. "Heal her. Now!"
"Who-" he looks down at the girl who is bleeding to death on his legs. "Wha-"
"NOW!" I yell. "DO IT NOW!"
"Isn't it a human?" He asks.
"HEAL HER!"
I'm completely at his mercy. He could let her die if he wants. Just to annoy me. Her eyes open and they meet each other's gaze. 1S realises that it's time to act and he holds her closer, shutting his eyes to focus. Blood stops flowing from her chest and soon, most of the scars are gone. He finishes up the last couple of wounds before opening his eyes. He looks closer at her, using a plated hand to brush the hair out of her eyes.
"Why did you make me heal a human?" His voice is cold.
"She's only half human," I sigh. "She's my third experiment. I needed to heal her. She stabbed herself."
"What did you do to her?" He asks furiously. "Why is she so hurt?"
"You know my method of testing people," I shrug.
His glare deepens and his eyes go black.
"How could you?"
3E wakes properly and freezes up at 1S's physical contact.
"Be careful!" I warn him, taking 3E with soul magic.
"What do you mean?"
"She's dangerous," I wince. "She could kill King Asgore in a single blow if she wanted to."
"She is right here and you're talking about her like her back is turned," he glares.
"She's more of an it than a person."
"Don't say that!" 1S tries to take her back with soul magic but I'm stronger.
"DON'T YOU DARE TRY TO OVERPOWER ME!"
I send an attack towards him without thinking.
"My HP!" He reminds me.
But the attack is already soaring towards him. 3E jumps in front of it and doesn't wince. She goes to attack me back but I reinforce my grip on her. I stand up and take 1S by the collarbone back to his cell.
"What happened brother?" 2P asks.
I leave with 3E and put her back in her cell. I don't feed anyone that night. Not even myself.
Entry number twenty seven.
I've decided to let subjects 1S and 3E see each other once a week. It works as sort of therapy for 3E. I watch them approach each other.
"Oh," 1S recognises her from the other day. "Hello."
She nods and stays standing in her striped hoodie. He sits down cross legged and she sits opposite him.
"What are we supposed to talk about?"
She shrugs, pauses, then points to him.
"You want to know about me?"
She nods.
He tells her exactly what happened up to this point, making a good job to express his hatred for me, and finally shuts his mouth. There's a small silence, I'm getting more and more bored until suddenly-
"I jumped down the mountain," 3E's voice is rough, but warm.
It's edgy in a way, but with an intelligent undertone. Like a mixture of leather and velvet.
"I used to be just some school kid until-"
She trails off and stares at the floor. 1S tries to reassure her and persuades her to keep going.
"There was a shooting," her eyes water. "My friends- my Mum..."
She takes a breath and carries on.
"My Dad beat me, I jumped down the mountain when I found out that he was behind the shooting... he shot Mum."
Tears run slowly down her cheeks and 1S holds her empathetically. I've never seen this side to him, how he acts around friends, his brother has always been that- a brother- I feel like 3E could be his friend.
"I didn't die," she breathes. "Now I'm here."
"That scientist is evil," 1S glares. "It's ok," he pats 3E on the shoulder. "He's not here. I can heal you every week."
She collects herself and they spend the rest of the session chatting vaguely. When I take them back to their cells, 3E won't look at me and 1S is being embraced by his worried brother. I give both experiments food and lie down in my office to sleep.
Entry number twenty eight.
Time for 1S and 3E's weekly therapy. I take them into the spare cell and before they've said a word, 1S starts to heal 3E. She thanks him and they lie back to chat. 1S talks about 2P, 3E listens. 1S talks about their hand plates, 3E listens. 1S talks about me, 3E stays silent. 1S glows his eye blue and grins. 3E blinks.
"I can do something like that," she mutters. "But I can't control it."
"Well eye guess you could say I had to endure a skeleton of pain for this eye to glow," he winks.
She pauses, than starts to laugh at his pun. He laughs too. I scribble down notes. 1S's laugh is a sort of smirk with noise. 3E's laugh is mostly breathing. Her chest vibrates with the emotion and 1S's smile widens.
"That was bad," she grins.
"I thought it was humerus," 1S sniggers.
3E raises her eyebrows and they chat some more. All the tension that weighs her down seems to have been lifted and she relaxes for the first time in many years.
Entry number twenty nine.
Their sessions are definitely helping them, 3E only talks during them and 1S brings optimism back to 2P, who duplicates it. The happiness usually wares off after an experiment or two. I need 1S to heal her every time, she performs much better in tests without the stab wounds.
Entry number thirty.
Seven months have passed. 2P has completed two more puzzles and 1S won in a fight against a raccoon. 3E has discovered that using a knife as a weapon gives her a little bit of control over her monstrous rages. It gives her something to grip onto instead of just watching herself tear black lashes through the room. I'm taking 1S to his session with her, he isn't making any smart remarks to me. He walks into the room and waves at her. She looks up and in routine, she turns her back to him as he puts his hands against it- healing her wounds. The scar from where she was struck by lightning never fades. 1S doesn't ever get her to lift her jumpsuit or hoodie up, for respect of her privacy. They finish the healing procedure and lie back down. They aren't as talkative as usual, maybe they're feeling a bit depressed. They stare up at the ceiling and tiredly make the odd comment to each other. Silent conversations like these haunt me. These are the kind of conversations the human child used to have with Asriel. It's like a friendship which needs no words, it's beautiful really. The cold air seems to be getting to them because they lie closer and closer to each other, shivering. Without realising it, 3E ends up small and shuddering in his arms. They embrace for warmth underneath 3E's hoodie. I spot a faint blue light on 1S's cheekbones. My pen stops in mid air. Could they really- do they-
I never could have foreseen a romantic relationship between the two, they always seemed more like caring friends, but it intrigues me. What would a forbidden relationship like this result in? I watch them intensely, eager to see what would happen, and jot down notes. They're lying down now, 3E's hoodie as a blanket. She falls asleep eventually, I forgot about the one hour limit on this visit- I suppose this one will just have to be longer than usual, and 1S strokes her hair curiously. I am definitely correct about his feelings for her, I'm just not sure if she returns them. It's midnight and I'm almost asleep myself. I jolt to life when I hear 1S whispering.
"E? E? Are you awake?"
He pauses for a response and when he receives none, he brushes the hair out of 3E's face and presses his mouth to her lips. So he was practising the skill of summoning body parts, like a tongue, I taught him about. Maybe he planned this- to kiss her in her sleep. He doesn't stay for long, only a few seconds, and he lifts his head away.
"I'm an insomniac," she whispers, opening her eyes.
He blushes a bright blue colour, wide-eyed, and flushes at the realisation that she was fully conscious throughout that. The corners of her lips lift upwards slightly and she pulls him closer. They lay in a caring embrace for the rest of the night: cuddling in each other's arms. I leave to go to my office and I pass 2P.
"Is my brother ok?" He asks.
2P usually sleeps quickly, but it seems that he stayed up fidgeting with the colour cube for hours with worry about his brother.
"1S is fine," I tell him. "Go to sleep."
I reach my office and collapse in my chair with tired eyes.
Entry number thirty one.
I took 1S back to his cell this morning, 3E is even more reclusive than before. 2P is extremely mad at 1S for leaving him alone so long. I suppose 1S hasn't told his brother about her, I understand; sometimes people just need secrets. Dr Alphys spoke to me today, I was going to take a closer look at the barrier when I bumped into her. She told me to take it easy and recommended some cartoon. Mew Mew what's its face or something. All I do to 3E today is a cut around her neck in attempt to reinforce the plate around it. I do some hypotheticals with 2P and quiz 1S about the timelines. He finishes the quiz in record time and I collect it in.
"You seem much more awake today," I observe.
He shrugs.
"Could it be the result of a memorable night with a certain human-monster mutation?" I ask, sort of teasing him.
"Shut up!" He glares. "It's none of your business!"
"I created you," I remind him. "I think it's my business."
He scowls and doesn't speak until he reaches his brother back in the cell. They talk and I go to visit 3E. She's sitting in her cell, facing away from me, with her head between her legs. She's breathing rapidly.
"3E?" I ask. "3E, look at me."
She doesn't turn around.
"3E-"
She whips her head around. Her eyes are red and so is her smile. I jump back and she digs her fingernails into her wrist. She's trying to control it. She scratches herself again and again until her hands are shaking too much to continue. She looks terrified of herself. She approaches the doorway and collapses. She's screaming and I sprint into the next room, grabbing a syringe. I disable the forcefield and she lashes towards me. I stab the syringe into her neck and plunge down the trigger. She falls- unconscious. I realise that she was screaming 'kill me.' I breathe out, releasing a sea of adrenaline and nerves. I lock her back up and refill the syringe. I should keep it on me.
Entry number thirty two.
Subject 2P is getting too attached to me. For once, the focus isn't on him and he looks to me for attention. I should run a machine on him: scare him off. 1S hasn't spoken to him about 3E, but I reckon she's on his mind. They're even closer in their meetings now, they embrace and shiver under the blanket and talk softly. 3E hasn't spoken a word outside of that room, I've tried everything to force it out of her but she won't budge. She's slipping further out of control over herself and there's nothing I can do to stop it. She's terrified. Panic attacks occur daily and only 1S seems to calm her down. I don't like bringing him to her outside of their sessions, I always tend to be extra cruel to them afterwards to make up for it. 3E is so frightened of hurting 1S, due to his fragile HP, but he dismisses it and holds her through the night anyway. 3E won't eat any food, I've had to put the correct nutrients in the syringes and she's deathly thin. Her yellow and brown striped monster poncho hangs even looser around her body. 1S is obviously worried about her skinniness, I can see it in his face every time he goes to heal her, though he's only mentioned it a couple of times. Watching them hold each other close right now makes me really feel how lonely I am. They pull each other tighter underneath 3E's poncho- I always forget to give them a blanket- and she clings onto his ribs while he wraps his bony arms around her. The hollow feeling in my chest grows deeper and a bitter part of me unlocks the cell, deciding to end their session early. They stand up and 3E puts her poncho on over her jumpsuit. They follow me to their cells without a word and I go to my slightly comfier cell.
Entry number thirty three.
"DO IT!" I roar at 1S. "USE THE STABILITY PIPES!"
"I-" he pants and gasps for breath. "I can't-"
"DO IT NOW!" I scream.
Tears run down his cheeks and he turns 3E's soul blue, slams her against the ground and brings up the shards of the stability pipes from the ground. She cries out in pain, but it turns into psychotic laughter. She jumps at 1S, swinging with her knife, and he sends her back against the wall.
"COME ON 2P!" I yell.
"I'm sorry!" 2P sobs.
His hands fumble at the two ends of the cable, trying to fix it. 3E slices at 1S but he dodges. Black magic flickers upwards from her palms and I only have a second to dive onto 1S, push him to 2P and create a blaze of protection around us. 3E pounds her fists against it, laughing hysterically at the agonising burning it causes her, and stabs at it with her knife. 2P cries uncontrollably and 1S stares sobbingly at 3E. I have to use both my hands to keep the magic up and 1S could die if the cable explodes.
"Shut your eyes," I command 2P. "Hold the cable, think of your brother and how much you love him."
2P tries to concentrate. 1S's eyes are screwed shut and hot tears run down his face. He clutches 3E's poncho. She fires magic at the forcefield and I groan under the strain of it.
"Come on..." I mutter under my breath, not wanting to worry 2P.
Suddenly, she slams a whirlwind of magic against the forcefield and I cry out. It bursts and I think we're done for until 2P manages to fix the cable. 3E screams and falls to the ground unconscious. The silence is deafening. My ears ring. I sprint out of the room and create a barrier barricading us in.
"Dr Gaster!" Alphys shouts from behind it.
"WingDings!" Asgore yells. "WingDings are you ok?"
I rush back to the room. 3E is lying in 1S's arms, breathing slowly, and 1S is whimpering. 2P is silent, apparently still getting over the initial shock. I never should have done this. I tried a new serum with 3E, it was supposed to help her control it. It didn't. Now I know. Now I know that I can never put her through the pain of breaking the barrier. I take the empty syringe in my pocket and extract the residue from my eye- the only known antidote to half the chemicals I was using in her formula- and stab it into her neck. She wakes up slowly and looks tiredly up at me. 1S cradles her head in his arms.
"2P," I say to them. "You're the smartest monster I know, 1S, you're the strongest. Maybe not physically, but that can't stop you. 3E, your bravery and determination will be the key to your survival." They stare at me in confusion. "I'm sorry. Goodbye WDG 2 Papyrus, WDG 1 Sans and goodbye WDG 3 Ember. I love you all."
I run out of the room. I run to the core. I jump off the edge. I smile for one last time.
Entry number thirty four.
Hello! I'm sorry, you see, I've never really been very good at writing. My brother is though! Did you know he reads all these books? He can read really fast! Mr Asgore found this, he gave it to me, my brother and my friend! My brother says that the not so nice scientist (who, I think it's worth noting, turned out to be good in the end) used to write in this. So I thought I'd have a go! Mr Asgore let us stay with them when he and Miss Alphys found us. He's a lot nicer! He taught us all these wonderful things! I've made lots of new friends, a strong fish lady named Undyne taught me to make spaghetti! Everyone loves it and it's very good. I have another friend called Ember, she was with my brother and I when we were in that dark place! She doesn't talk much, but she talks a lot to my brother! She has these moments, when she goes all dark and scary, but we're always there to help her. I live in my own house with my brother Sans and Ember. It was sad when we moved away from Mr Asgore, but we still visit. Undyne says that if I capture a human, I'll be able to join the royal guard! I do lots of training! I've set up loads and loads of really good puzzles to trap them with! Ember says she used to be a human, but some bad people hurt her and her friends. She always gets sad when she talks about humans, but getting to the surface would be incredible wouldn't it? Of course it would! My brother always tells these awful puns and plagues my life with incidental music, but I love him! He has lots of nightmares, Ember comes to calm him down when he does. He's always so peaceful when they're sleeping next to each other. When I've recalibrated all my puzzles, made spaghetti, given my daily report to Undyne, trained for the royal guard and I have nothing to do, I like to watch the television! There's this robot named Mettaton who I really like. He's super cool! I bet he has loads of friends! Unfortunately, an annoying, white dog likes to sleep on the antenna of the house, he always messes the broadcast up to have an image of him with silly music playing. Sans calls it an error dog. He helped me to pick a new outfit instead of my old one, but I still have that awful metal thing on the back of my hand. I don't like looking at it so I wear gloves. Sans says he'll get Miss Alphys to remove them one day, but of course he's too lazy to do it now. I'm not sure what else to say so I'll give this book to my brother now, I'm sorry if he fills it in with bad puns and ketchup stains.
Entry number thirty six.
Hey. I'm Sans, Sans the skeleton. I would shake your hand, but that's impossible. Paps explained our situation pretty well, so luckily for me I don't have to do much. Asgore's the complete opposite to him; he's nice and warm and always laughs. I remember the first time my brother laughed. Ah, 'twas ancient ancient history at the time of that alpha 'nyeh heh heh.' I love Ember's smile. She lights up the whole room without knowing it. She's nervous about smiling because of the creepy red smile he gave her. She gets these relapses where she falls back in and out of that form. Whatever it was he injected her with, it worked well. Her relapses are usually short and rare. She has to hold onto a chair in a dark room while the smile and eyes wash over her face. Paps and I are there to support her. I have nightmares about him a lot. Ember always comes to sleep with me when I wake up from one. Sometimes I only pretend, just for an excuse to see her. The timelines and the thought that everything could be reset in an instant depresses me beyond description, Papyrus and Em always brighten my world though. My one HP is annoying, I have to be careful when teleporting and it means that everyone treats me like I'm a man in a baby's body. Just one friendly punch could end my life. I pranked Paps with a bottle of ketchup and a plastic water bottle on April Fools day to make him think that he killed me. He got me back the next year by leaving his scarf in the snow. Em always leaves me grinning more than I already do- hiding depression is tough- and I can't help but feel hyped and excited every time I see her face. She's so adorable, so smart and SO SMOL. I love every bit of her. The plate around her neck always gives her trauma and sometimes sets off one of her relapsing episodes. I'm going to get Alphys to remove our plates. Em still wears her yellow and brown striped poncho, it makes her fit in more with the monsters, and we nicknamed her 'Monster Kid.' Maybe I'll propose to her one day. Papy still has that unthinking kindness which he always showed to him. I dunno, maybe he was right all along, he killed himself for us and reading through some of these entries, he could have had good intentions. I still don't forgive him, he's the reason for all of Ember's relapses and I could never forgive anyone who put her through that much pain. Anyway, I live with her and Papyrus in a house in Snowdin, it's pretty cool. Get it? Cool? Welp, can't blame a bone for trying. See you.
Entry number thirty seven.
Hi. I'm Ember, as far as I know, there's no way of telling who you are, so I'll just pretend I already know. Sans can bend the laws of time and space but he can't go that far. I live with the skelebros, Papyrus is so innocent and nice- he always naively tries to help me when I have a panic attack- Sans is all I could have asked for. He's stayed loyal to me from the first time we met in that hellish experiment prison. Our relationship is like a flame in a dark, chaotic world. He teases me and tells bad puns, but somehow that only makes him more likeable. Whenever I have a panic attack, when that uncontrollable fiery beast starts to rage in my stomach and my face changes, he stays with me and calms me down. In return, I stay with him through his nightmares. Gaster messed us pretty badly, but after all the pain he put us through, he sacrificed himself for us and let us free. My fractured soul never hurts me as it's filled in with monster remnant. I consider myself more monster than I am human, why would anyone chose to be human anyway? I lost all hope that humans could be good after the shooting my Dad started killed all my friends... and Mum. I can't say I don't miss them, but I'm much happier down here with Sans, Papyrus, Undyne, Alphys, Asgore- basically everyone has my back. It's more than I could ever ask for. I can still remember that day when I almost killed the others. Gaster injected me with something which set off the beast and wouldn't let it stop. I still have burns from the neck plate knocking me out. Undyne is really interested in the lightning shaped burns on my back, all scars seem to fascinate her. She lost her eye years ago, she acts like it was heroic, but she told me that it was really just the result of a failed hair flip when she was a bit younger. Illnesses like depression and anxiety have been creeping into mine and Sans's life. I'm self-harming and anorexic while he's practically suicidal. He tells me that he won't eat if I don't eat, so I told him that I'd kill myself if he killed himself. Neither of us have put the other through that yet. Sans always cares for me in a way that even the generous Papyrus doesn't. He flirts with me, teasing me a bit, but bellow that is a layer of loving kindness which he wraps around me every time I have a panic attack. My bravery and determination is keeping me alive, but not alone. If you ask me, the biggest factor keeping me alive is my friends.
-End-
(Again, this story was obviously inspired- probably more like BASED off of- the comic Handplates. Please check it out if you haven't already.)