When Frisk woke up, it was dark. Cold. Their head was buzzing. There didn't seem to be anything tethering their feet to the ground, and their limbs felt strangely heavy and unwieldy. They were sinking slowly into the blackness, their thoughts dimming and winking out one by one. But then a deep voice broke through the fuzzy feeling overtaking Frisk, a voice in their head.

"Human, please... wake up! This cannot be the end, when your journey has only just begun..."

The sound snapped Frisk out of their daze. Their eyes flew open as they realized they were in a deep pool, quite a few feet underwater. Instinctively Frisk kicked out for the surface, their feet snagging on various water plants and their lungs burning. Finally, Frisk's head broke the surface, lifting several lily pads along with it. They treaded water for a few moments, taking deep, shuddering breaths, before they struck out for the edge of the pool. After clambering, dripping and gasping, onto dry land, Frisk shook themself like a dog, sending a spray of water droplets, pond scum, and small lily pads everywhere.

Frisk was about to survey the room when the voice echoed in their head again. "Oh, it's a relief to see you are alright. I was so worried when you did not move..."

They grabbed their head in shock. A ghost? A hallucination from lingering lack of air? As if reading their thoughts, the voice laughed gently. "I assure you that I'm quite real. I cannot say I am much of a ghost, either..."

Well, there was nothing else for it. They might as well get to know this person. Frisk politely extended a mental hand to the voice, asking what their name was. "You may call me... Fluffy!"

There was a moment's silence before Frisk doubled over laughing. There was something inexplicably hilarious about a deep, ominous voice in their head asking to be called Fluffy, of all things. Fluffy seemed to agree, as after a moment, they joined in the laughter with a baritone, Santa Claus-sounding chuckle. The two shared a good laugh for a little while more before Frisk struggled upright, still wheezing. They figured they should get a move on, and glanced around before their gaze settled on the only exit.

It was a long, dark hallway. Frisk might have been scared to walk down it alone, but Fluffy's comforting presence spurred them to continue on. They steeled themself, brushed a small lily pad off their shoulder and walked forward.

The hallway proved to be innocuous, with a tall, ornate door at the end. But the room beyond was something entirely different. It was filled with stacks of scrap metal and scientific trash. Pulverized modems still spitting sparks, computers with holes seared in their screens, smashed collections of stained beakers, barrels of ominous multicolored liquids. Frisk noted that one of them appeared to be oozing ketchup as they picked their way through the trash heaps. As they walked up to a small clearing in the trash, it was no wonder that they didn't notice the mechanical flower sitting there, blank screen lolling to one side.

Until with the tiniest, the most imperceptible of movements, it straightened up.

Frisk flinched backward as Fluffy let out a ghostly gasp. With a series of clicking and whirring sounds, a simple red smiley face slowly flickered into focus on the screen. After a moment, the robotic flower spoke in a buzzing, vaguely feminine monotone. "Greetings. I am a standard service FlowerTron, here to assist you in various tasks. How shall I help you?"

Before Frisk could say a word, the FlowerTron cut in again. "No need to speak, child. You are the first human to come here in a long time, and I can see that you are in severe need of education on the rules of this world. Come! I will guide you through them."

And without warning, the world spiraled into monochrome until it was just Frisk, the robotic flower, and the comforting presence of Fluffy. A bright red heart, now the only colored thing in the general vicinity, floated out of Frisk's chest. As the FlowerTron leaned forward slightly, Fluffy offered a line of narration: "The FlowerTron is ready to teach you."

The FlowerTron looked off to the side slightly, its ever-smiling expression unreadable. "Child, that red heart is your SOUL. It can grow stronger by gaining LV, or LOVE, which..."

Its face flickered out for a moment.

"...I have lied to you. I am not here to help."

A chill ran down Frisk's spine. Something was wrong. They cast a surreptitious glance around the room, looking for a way out between the piles of trash but seeing none, as the FlowerTron spoke again. "I am not a standard service FlowerTron, either. They call me many things. My creator called me Aista, and others called me defective. But i think they are the defective ones."

The tone of the robotic flower's voice was changing now, sounding angry, vindictive and noticeably less mechanical. Frisk suddenly got the chilling impression that Aista was something much more than a simple broken robot as its voice got louder. "A human SOUL has such great power that they could pass through the Barrier with ONE! They have six SOULs and do not need even one more to visit their wrath on the surface... and yet they call ME defective? Ehehehehehe!"

Frisk let out a little yelp as Aista's pixelated face shifted, warped and wobbled, flicking between screaming human visages as it laughed insanely. They turned and tried to run, but two metallic, segmented tentacles burst from the floor, encircling their ankles and slamming them to the ground. Fluffy muttered a panicked "Oh dear," as Aista loomed over Frisk, its screen glowing red in the gloom.

"I will take your SOUL and cross the Barrier. I will do what those cowards failed to do! Now DIE!"

Frisk screamed as a third metal tentacle arced through the air toward their chest... but then something oblong and white flashed through the air, cutting the segmented limb aside like it was a blade of grass. More white, oblong objects- bones, Frisk realized- burst out of the ground, severing the tentacles that held Frisk's ankles. Then, to top all the insanity off, a massive draconian skull appeared out of thin air, firing a beam of energy that launched Aista through the roof of the room and out of sight.

For a few moments, there was silence as the dust settled. Then an extremely tall skeleton entered the room, picking its way through the trash piles. Its bony limbs were long and gangly, a purple turtleneck and a white labcoat draped precariously over its ribs. Its face seemed frozen in a permanently exasperated grimace. Its eyes were tiny luminous pinpricks in empty eye sockets with deep bags beneath them. It carried a clipboard under one arm, which it tapped absentmindedly as it muttered, "I MUST SEE ABOUT HAVING THAT DEFECTIVE PEST REMOVED PERMANENTLY."

The skeleton stalked up to Frisk and stood over the shuddering child. Its glowing eyelights swept their body like searchlights before it spoke again.

"MINOR INJURIES SUSTAINED. BRUISES ON ANKLES. YOU WILL LIVE. NOW GET UP."

The skeleton's voice was low and droning, with an authoritative tone. Petrified, Frisk scrabbled at the floor, trying to back away. It took out the clipboard calmly and scribbled a note before looking up, making eye contact with Frisk. "I AM DOCTOR GASTER, THE LEADING SCIENTIFIC MIND OF THE RUINS. I TEST THE HUMANS THAT FALL DOWN HERE. YOU ARE TEST SUBJECT NUMBER SIX. NOW GET UP. I WILL NOT HARM YOU."

Frisk struggled upright for what seemed like the thousandth time that day, and stared up at the doctor. He turned sharply and began to walk back through the piles of junk. Frisk jogged after him. Soon the scientist and the child found a door, walking through it.

It led into a room filled with water pumps, mills, and purifiers, all stationed around a beautiful river cutting the room in half. A shiny chrome bridge crossed the gap. Dr. Gaster strode across, and after a moment, Frisk followed. As Dr. Gaster strode up a stairway near the end of the room, Frisk noticed something beneath it- a pulsing yellow star. Gaster didn't seem to see it, and Frisk curiously walked up and touched it. They felt a surge of willpower and confidence that sent them reeling, and dimly heard Fluffy saying, "However short he may be with you, Dr. Gaster saving you from Aista helps you stay determined."

Frisk just stood there for a moment, unable to make heads or tails of what had just happened. Dr. Gaster impatiently calling them to follow him snapped them out of their daze, and they followed him up the stairs.