For a moment, all Gaster could do was stare in horror. A cold, sickly feeling travelled up his spine and into his throat. He barely registered inputting the cell's passcode, deactivating the lasers and allowing the two children to reach each other. Sans was at his brother's side within seconds, desperately trying to comfort him. Papyrus pulled the smaller skeleton into a death grip, as if he was scared that any moment his brother would turn to dust.
"sa... sans, i was so scared. i-i..." He couldn't even muster the strength to finish what he was saying before he broke into sobs.
"Shhh, it's okay." Sans rubbed his brother's back, trying to soothe him any way he could. "I'm here now. Nothing bad is going to happen to you. Everything's going to be fine." Their tones were so unfamiliar, almost like different people. Sans voice was always so casual, though there was always a bitter edge whenever he spoke to Gaster. He could hardly blame him for that. But now, there was a seriousness that he'd never heard before. Papyrus' voice was so small and tired, so lacking in the enthusiasm it usually had. He'd heard him sound like this before, once. It was a long time ago now. Papyrus had been barely an inch taller than his brother back then. The memory twisted inside him, making him feel sick. He'd found a human movie in the dump when he was younger, the disk had been scuffed up pretty bad and most of it was unwatchable. But one scene had always stuck with him. As far as he could gather, one of the characters was inside a prison and had disobeyed the guards. Instead of giving him some sort of physical punishment the guards simply put him in a plain windowless room with nothing but a white bed. The room's lights were kept on all the time, leaving the prisoner disorientated, and he remained in isolation the entire time he was there. From the little else he was able to watch of the movie, it seemed to be effective in making the prisoner obey orders. The movie called this punishment "solitary confinement", and from what he could tell it would be an incredibly efficient method to use on his own experiments when they got rowdy. Everything that made it effective on humans would also be effective on monsters; after all, humans were just as much social creatures as monsters were. And seeing how isolation affects a monster soul might aid the end goal of his research, it could even be the thread that ties it all together in the end. So he set up a room just like it in the lab, adding a small personal touch; the constant ticking of a clock. You should have done more research. If you had just looked for more information, instead of blindly copying a human film you only half watched, you could have avoided this. You're such an idiot. It was only the second time he had brought Papyrus to the operation room but he'd already begun to associate it with pain. He refused to go inside and eventually Gaster had to forcefully move him. It was only an examination, nothing painful, but of course Papyrus didn't know that. Because you didn't bother to tell him. You didn't even try to calm him down. You just took it as an opportunity to test out a new kind of torture on a child. You really are sick. Guilt crawled through his insides, oozing down his throat and into his chest. After he'd finished the examination he took the child to "solitary confinement". He told Papyrus he'd have to stay in the room until he learned to do as he was told and locked him inside. He left him in there for three days without so much as checking on him. The only reason he'd gone in there on the fourth day was to give him a nutrients pill so he wouldn't starve while he was in there. He'd been expecting hostility, fear, anything but what he was met with. The second he entered the room, Papyrus had latched onto the older skeleton, clinging to him as if it was the first time he'd seen anyone in years. He was startled at first, he had no idea how to react to something like this. Gaster removed the child from himself before handing him a pill. It was best not to say anything to him; it would go against the whole point of the punishment. He turned to leave but...
"don't go. please don't go. i'll be good. i promise. please let me out."
The child's voice was so small and tired. It was so unlike how he usually talked that he paused before leaving, glancing back at the young skeleton. That was when he saw them. Papyrus' skull was covered in tiny cracks and scratches that looked like they were... self-inflicted. Closer inspection revealed several similar scratches all over the child's trembling body. Had he really done all this to himself? He was only in there for three days, surely it wouldn't have such a profound effect on him. But there was no other way he'd gotten them, one might have been an accident but for him to have so many... It wasn't until long after that he learned more about "solitary confinement". He'd discovered an article in a human newspaper about a psychology experiment done by a man named Donald O. Hebb. What he found out was... unsettling, to say the least. What kind of scientist misses something so obvious? You should have realised what it would do to him. You should have looked into it more. You should have at least prevented him from hurting himself. And now he's hurt himself again, worse than last time, because you didn't prepare for the consequences. You can't even heal him like last time. Your LOVE won't allow that. How are you supposed to SAVE everyone when all you do is hurt people? He'd planned to leave Papyrus in there for a week or two but he hadn't accounted for something like that.
"i'll do what you want. just let me see my brother. please let me see him."
Tears ran from the child's eyes. God, his eyes. They were almost completely black except for tiny flickers of white and yellow so weak he barely noticed them. The buzz of energy inside the room told him just how bright those flickers had been just days before. For them to get so small after three days... Had they been glowing that whole time? He looked so tired. Had he even slept? He ended up allowing Papyrus to return to his cell that day. It must have been nearly a year ago now. Neither of the brothers had outright disobeyed Gaster since then. Even if they hesitated, they'd always do as they were told with minimal prodding. It was so easy to make them do whatever he wanted, just thinking about it made him sick. And now, because of that, he's hurt himself again. He knew it still affected them, he knew how long things like that can stay with someone, but Papyrus had never had an episode like that since it happened. What had triggered it? He'd been left alone for hours before without any issues. Why was this different? The cell was filled with a green light as Sans did his best to heal his brother's wounds. Gaster watched helplessly, bitterly aware of how useless he was in matters like this, his healing was much weaker than Sans' at this point and he could hardly comfort the child. This is all your fault. They never needed to suffer this much. You could have avoided this if you weren't so stupid. When Sans had done all he could to heal his brother most of the cracks had sealed up, including the ones from the operation the night before. Papyrus still looked horrible though, and he probably felt it too. While his burns were far less serious they were still second degree burns. The burns on his arms had hardly healed at all, the bone only beginning to seal up. There wasn't anything he could do about it though, not until he got some supplies at least. It had taken him a while to notice but the room wasn't in that good shape either. The walls were covered in scratch marks and even a few dents. All the bedding was torn or singed and thrown about the cell, some of it had even managed to get outside. The best thing he could do right now was get the two children new bedding and clothes. It was probably a good idea to move them to a new room entirely, with a proper door instead of lasers, but he wouldn't be able to move them for a few days at least. He reactivated the lasers somewhat reluctantly before addressing the two children.
"I'm going to get some fresh clothes and bedding." He said as calmly as he could manage. "I'll be back shortly." He wasn't sure if either of them had heard him, he left before he could find out. He just needed to be alone for a while.
