Ch 6. Part 1
Disclaimer: As usual Gaster's viewpoint on humans should be taken with a grain of salt at best. He has been a bad influence on his sons in this way. Also, as usual if you want to write this AU just let me know so I can enjoy the results. The author notes alone...Sorry. You only need to read the short version if you got confused by the last chapter. The long version is basically a AU Psycho-Pass version concerning Sans's power of Karmic Retribution.
Notes about this AU:
Short version: Karmic Retribution will now affect both LV and EXP. KR will affect EXP a lot more than LV. LV is the thought/planning of the crime and EXP is doing the crime. This basically means Sans can see if you are going to commit mass murder (LV) and you have already committed mass murder (EXP). LV can be lowered if you no longer plan to commit those murders. This won't work on crimes of passion. This does apply to monsters as well as humans. This was explained previously in the but this is in case I'm bad at in-story exposition.
Long version: Read short version. For example, when the player does a genocide route they plan that ahead of time. You don't decide it halfway through, you decide before you reset. In this AU, your LV would be 20 right away since you plan to erase the world. Your EXP would be 0 since you didn't kill any monsters yet. The more you spare the more your LV goes down. If you accidently kill Toriel your first playthrough your LV will still be 0 since it was an accident but your EXP will go up since you killed her. So, Sans knows if you caused an accidental/negligent death. Also, a crime of passion where the person suddenly snaps won't affect your LV but it will affect your EXP. Gaster wasn't affected before because he was focused on never ever seeing another human again. It's hard to commit a crime against someone when you are actively trying to be as far away as possible from them. Asgore's was LV 19 before Gaster stopped the war, as the game showed us, he planned and would go through with killing kids and then wage war on humans. If a bomb terrorist planned to bomb a school and was caught his LV would be 19 and remain at 19 since he will keep trying to kill people. I made this part of my AU because the law also tries to prevent crime and I think the Judge should have this power. Think Psycho-Pass (which is a great anime) but Sans can literally tell that we killed every single monster (even in the ruins where there are no cameras and he only knows Toriel) so his powers are very accurate. This means that your EXP and LV number is much more accurate than your number in the show.
Sorry you guys had to go read all that, I'm so ashamed.
Meanwhile up on the surface. Nick was fuming as the news crew had started their live show and were ahead of them.
"Why can't the Professor walk faster?"
"Need I remind you, if we don't show him proof than you get suspended?"
Nick grumbled.
"Here we have where the first 'light barrier' was located. You can tell by the similar rock formation in the video. This 'light barrier doesn't seem to have left an indent in the rock, however the video also shows that it 'vanished' without a trace."
"They're using my video! Don't I have some kind of copyright claim on that? That's my property filmed using my equipment."
"I think the media has different laws applying to it especially if they…"
"This video that we are using as our guide was filmed by some local university students under the guidance of an expert with 20 years of experience in this field. Locally he has the nickname of 'The Professor'."
"Come on."
"They credited you so you can't sue."
"It's weird being on the other side."
"I'm sure all the people watching this live stream are gasping in shock at those words."
"Hey, it's different when YouTubers do it compared to a BIG MEDIA COMPANY WHO STEALS IT FROM STARVING COLLEGE STUDENTS!"
Meanwhile both parties had almost reached the shield that Gaster put up.
"Let's talk to our anchors back home, what do you think about this so far?"
"Glad you asked, I think it's disgraceful when college students, who should be studying, are coming up with these wild claims and finding the discover of the century when they should be…Oh. My. God." The anchor had seen the light and was lost for words.
"Now that's a barrier of light." The reporter muttered in shock.
"Told you people, hey Professor come and see this!" Nick shouted in relief, he was worried that it had disappeared like the first one.
The shield was reflecting more light back at the group because the lights were even brighter than yesterday. It even had more colors in it due to the different equipment.
"Hey, it's a different color than yesterday!"
"Can't your equipment use different kinds of light?" Sarah asked the cameraman.
"Uh sure, hold on a second."
They all waited as the camera guy turned on the light. As he began switching from light to light the shield began to glow different colors.
"That's so cool."
"IT'S LIKE A RAINBOW OF LIGHT."
For a few minutes, everyone could only think of casting new light onto the barrier to see how the colors would change. They probably could have stayed like that all day but then the Professor caught up.
He wasn't as impressed as the news crew was. He wanted to observe the white gunk part. He poked the light with a rock and was surprised to see it go right through.
"It only works on humans Professor."
This caused all the newbies in the group to begin poking the light shield. Where they made contact the shield again produced the white gunk. When they withdrew their limbs the shield turned back into light.
"It's soooo grossss!"
"It's not hot or cold."
"Does it really only work on humans?"
"It gets caught on our clothes so…"
One of the students took off her jacket and threw it at the shield, it went in partway. Grabbing it by the sleeve she managed to get it on the human side again. Putting it back on she touched it to the shield again, this time it got gooey.
"Fascinating."
"Any idea what it is Professor?"
"Well it refracts light, which a lot of transparent things do, so it probably absorbs some light too. That doesn't tell us what it's doing here, if it was created or it's a natural phenomenon."
"You think someone created this Professor?"
"Well I think we would have discovered something that turns into goo when it has contact with humans. Though we have only testing inanimate objects so far. Maybe that happens with any living organisms."
Just then a student poked the barrier with a stick and it went through. She rubbed her head sheepishly.
"Sorry about that."
"Or not, only humans have caused this reaction so far Nick?"
"Yep. The clothes do if we wear it though."
"Hhhmmmmm."
"You heard it here folks! The Professor has determined that this wall of light was put in place by something… it could be aliens or a foreign government's secret experiment! Whatever this is, it's clear that this shield was put in place to keep us out! Don't go away folks because we have a droid and after this commercial we are going to send it through and see what it's like on the other side! What will discover!"
With that the cameraman made a motion and the news lady stopped talking.
"WAIT! Hold everything! We can't go through yet, it's not time yet for Snowdrake to show up." Nick protested this turn of events.
The news lady looked at him and laughed.
"Kid look what you've got here. Our ratings are through the roof! Our viewers can't wait till lunchtime to get the scoop! Tell you what, you keep your droid nice and charged here and get that interview with the blue bird. Meanwhile our droid can scope out the area, how about that?"
"Nick, they do have another droid, plus they are professionals! Their equipment is probably better than ours!"
"Hey, don't talk that way about my baby."
"Nick."
"Fine, but only if they let me film where they are seeing firsthand."
"I'm glad we could reach an understanding. In fact, if you want a career in the news world? Call me, I'm pretty sure our network could use someone like you."
With that the news crew set up their droid and flew it through the shield.
"We are back! There you have it folks snowing and pine trees do happen underground the mysterious Mt. Ebott."
"This footage is amazing!" One of the anchors exclaimed.
"Hey, which way should we go?" The camera man asks.
"The rocks on the right suggest that the cave will soon end," The Professor puts in, "I recommend going to the left."
"Okay. I'm sticking to the wall so we don't get lost."
Due to sticking close to the wall the camera man misses the town entirely. It was a fast droid so soon it reached waterfall.
"We have entered a new area folks, and it is so pretty." The reporter was awestruck.
"Wow."
"Look at those glowing flowers, so beautiful!"
"Maybe moss is growing on them to make them glow?"
"It seems to be a marsh, don't get to close, the water could damage the droid."
"Good idea."
"The stones embedded in the ceiling seem to be glowing."
"Those are magnificent."
Nick elbowed Sarah.
"I think those glow-in-the-dark rocks are making the Professor cry tears of joy."
"Can we focus on this place? Where is your sense of wonder?"
"I think I can handle water and moss below a mountain better than snow and pine trees."
Due to some incredible luck the droid still didn't capture any monsters on film. Probably due to it's camera having a poor range of vision. Also the cameraman was so awestruck on the landscape he didn't move the camera or do any fancy filming. Eventually they got to Hotlands and the C.O.R.E.
"What. Is. That."
The core is one of the monster's greatest accomplishments. Covering most of the lava, it was the size of a skyscraper. Pipes were everywhere, smoke was coming from all the cracks. It was made out of solid metal. The metal was tarnished and glowing red at some places due to the lava. It seemed impossible for the giant base to remain afloat on top of the molten core. It actually wasn't. When the machine was build the monsters that could withstand lava had built the core up to the surface of the lava lake. Bridges and elevators connected the paths from Waterfall to this giant machine. The core was built in the middle of Mt. Ebott and wouldn't have fit anywhere else. Though they couldn't see it, the Monster Capital was on the other side and took up the other half of the underground. It had actually been expanded to make more power over the years. It originally took over a decade to first create. Considered Dr. Gaster's greatest accomplishment, the core is responsible for the lifestyle of all monsterkind.
"That looks more advantage than what we could do."
"Not possible."
"It's literally floating on the lava!"
"I knew that aliens were here!"
"Can we go in it?"
They might have flown the droid closer but suddenly something attacked the droid. A zap of electricity hit it and brought it down. The last thing they saw was a clawed yellow hand that reached out and…
Crzzzzzz…..
"Well we lost the droid."
"What. was. That."
"That hand looked like a lizard's claw. It was much bigger than any lizard I know, except maybe an alligator. Alligator's aren't yellow thought."
"I don't think we reached the end."
"What?"
"Lava usually is in the middle of a volcano. There is probably just as much space behind that huge machine."
"What do you think it is doing?"
"Something with the lava."
"Duh."
"Now what do we do?"
"Wait for that meeting?"
"That bird might not show up for hours! It might not show up at all!"
"I don't want to lose my droid. I spent forever saving for it!"
"We can't just wait here all day!"
"Do you have another droid?" Nick asks the reporter.
"No, we thought it was a hoax at first, we almost didn't even bring the droid in the first place."
"I want to see if I can force my way through."
"Stop, that isn't a good idea!"
The student ignored Nick's wise words and ran forward. When he got within an arm's length the shield, within a few feet radius, turned into the white stuff. He tried to stop but it was too late. The poor hapless student ran into the shield and was stuck, the white stuff began to fall on top of him.
"He's stuck!"
"Oh no!
"Get him out!"
"He could drown!"
It was too late! The stuff was like glue and no one and bought any tools to help them. No rope, no nothing. Some students rushed forward to help but that just turned more of the light shield into the defensive gunk.
"HELP! SOMEONE HELP ME!
"DOES ANYONE NEED HELP HERE!"
Suddenly the group heard a new voice from the other side of the light barrier.
"HELLO GOOP PERSON! I THOUGHT I HEARD A CALL FOR HELP. DO YOU NEED ANY ASSITANCE?"
"Yes! I'm stuck and I can't get out!"
"NOT TO WORRY! MY BROTHER HAS TAUGHT ME WHAT TO DO IN THIS EXACT SITUATION!"
Suddenly the students saw a bright beam of orange light surrounding the trapped student. Where the light hit the barrier it dissolved making a hole. The foolish student fell into the underground.
"Thank you so muucchhhhhhh…."
"Skeleton's exist?"
"Maybe it's a zombie! It might go for our brains!"
"Why did it have to be dragons?" Someone moaned.
"Well they're only heads."
"Yeah that's really comforting."
Papyrus had summoned his gaster blasters to make a hole in the shield. The blasters shoot magic energy so they temporary made a hole in it.
"THESE ARE NOT DRAGONS! THIS IS MY SPECIAL ATTACK! NOW I'M NOT ATTACKING YOU SO THEY ARE JUST SPECIAL HOLE-OPENERS!"
The rest of the group were still gaping at him in shock.
"YOU SEEM TO BE PUT OFF BY MY GREATNESS! IT'S NOT EVERYDAY THAT YOU GET SAVED BY THE GREAT PAPYRUS! I'M GLAD TO HAVE SAVED SOME, WHATEVER TYPE OF MONSTERS YOU ARE!"
"We are…."
"Friends of Snowdrake." Sarah quickly put in, "do you know where he is?"
"What's the big deal?" Nick whispered to her.
"We don't know how they will react to humans."
"MY FRIEND SNOWDRAKE HAS INFORMED ME THAT HE HAS TO GO TO THE CAPITAL FOR SOME REASON WITH HIS FAMILY SO HE ASKED ME TO MEET YOU GUYS. IT'S A GOOD THING I HAD THE IDEA TO COME EARLY! WHERE ARE YOU FROM ANYWAY? I HAVE NEVER SEEN YOU GUYS BEFORE IN SNOWDON."
"We actually came from the capital to, to see this new rock-clearing project."
"ARE YOU THINKING OF MOVING INTO THE NEW SPACE! GREAT! THAT WILL MAKE US NEIGHBORS! I MUST INVITE YOU OVER!"
"We don't want to impose or anything."
"NONSENSE! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS AM A TERRIFIC HOST! A GREAT HOST MUST WELCOME EVERYONE NEW IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD!"
The humans looked at each other. They huddled in a group to discuss it. Papyrus patiently watched.
"Well he saved me."
"I want to look around more."
"He seems harmless."
"Did you miss those dragon heads that shoot laser beams? I say no."
"Than you don't have to come."
"This will make history."
"We are agreed right? We are going."
"Fine, but I think it's a bad idea."
"Alright viewers don't change the channel! We have found proof that skeletons exist and now we are going into the unknown!"
"Let's go Payprus!"
"NYEH NYEH NYEH! FOLLOW ME VISITORS, I SHALL GIVE YOU THE GRAND TOUR!"
So Papyrus leads the group straight into town. The people who were watching the news story and Nick's live stream were going crazy. Papyrus was telling the reporter all the tidbits of the town with the students falling behind to see the sights more. The locals seemed puzzled but didn't stop them, they seemed used to Papyrus's crazy antics.
"THIS IS SNOWDIN TOWN!"
"There seems to be a lot of types of these creatures."
"Is that a christmas tree? Wait, are they religious?"
"Christmas trees became mainstream awhile ago."
"Why is the spelling off on the library?"
"Maybe they spell it a little different? Like english vs. american english vs. australia english?"
"Maybe."
"You saw that huge machine they made on top of that lava, I don't think they are stupid and misspelled it."
"Good point."
"That's not important."
"Well what is important Professor?"
"They have a written language that is ours or very similar to ours. No matter the debate about how smart animals are due to them communicating and using tools, no other animal understands the concept of a written language."
"That means…."
"By any knowledge test these creatures are as smart as humans, maybe smarter."
The students glanced at the skeletons leading them.
"Smarter than us huh."
"Just because he's loud doesn't mean he's dumb."
"He did know how to open up that goo shield thing."
"Maybe, you're right."
Just then Papyrus began to addresses the tv camera.
"Or I could be right."
"Or he could think it was a robot with a ghost in it like yesterday!"
Just then an Icecap ran up to the group.
"Hey Papyrus! Are these some of those capital monsters that are going to be moving in?"
"We just came to look around and see that rock-clearing project." The reporter quickly put in. "It's really interesting and we wanted a firsthand look."
"I know! I'm so lucky to know someone who's related to Dr. Gaster and Sans! My parents say that Dr. Gaster is the reason the Underground is such a great place to live! They also say that Sans is really like his father and he will become the head royal scientist after Gaster retires!"
"Wow Papyrus, you must be really proud of them!" The reporter gushes, "are you going to be a scientist someday?"
Papyrus's face fell but he quickly put his smile back on before Icecap noticed. By this time they had gotten through Snowdin and where close to the Gaster house.
"WELL OF COURSE i'M PROUD OF THEM! I'M SORRY ICECAP BUT MY HOUSE IS UP AHEAD! I MUST SHOW MY COOL NEW FRIENDS INSIDE AND LET THEM TASTE MY FINE COOKING! DO YOU WANT TO JOIN!"
Icecap also made a slight face. "I'm good, tell Dr. Gaster and Sans keep up the good work if you see them tonight. Bye Papyrus!"
With that Icecap wandered off. Papyrus opened up the door to his house and assured the group inside.
"WELCOME TO MY HOUSE! THERE IS THE KITCHEN! AS YOU CAN SEE I KEEP IT CLEAN (unlike my brother or dad) AND THE ROOM UP THERE IS WHERE MY BROTHER AND DAD SLEEP! THERE IS EVEN A LAB BEHIND THE HOUSE AND IN THE GARAGE!"
The humans looked around. It seemed to be clean and lived in but no one was home.
"So, this is your home, it's a very nice home."
"THANK YOU! IT'S OUR HOME AWAY FROM OUR NEW HOME!"
"You have a second house?"
"We have a home in the capital. Due to new projects and my sentry station here my dad decided to buy a second home here since the capital is very crowded."
"Guess, being a royal scientist pays pretty well."
"YES! MUCH MORE THAN MY SENTRY STATION JOB! I'M STILL IN TRAINING THOUGH."
"Ah."
Papyrus cheered himself up.
"HOW RUDE OF ME, I STILL HAVEN'T MADE YOU ANY OF MY SPAGHETTI!"
The group followed him into the kitchen and watched with awa as he began to make the dish. They decided to whisper to each other under the noise.
"We need to get more answers from him."
"I think he thinks we are just new monsters from this capital."
"Bring it up in a roundabout way than."
"Hey, Papyrus?"
"YES FRIEND?"
"Have you ever been to the surface?"
"OF COURSE NOT FRIEND, NO MONSTER HAS BEEN DUE TO THE BARRIER!"
"Didn't you just make a hole in it though?"
"FRIEND THAT IS THE SHIELD, THE BARRIER DON'T LET US MONSTERS CROSS AND THE SHIELD DOESN'T LET HUMANS CROSS."
"Humans, what do you think of humans?"
"WELL I HAVE A FLAG WITH A SKULL AND CROSSBONES ON IT. I THINK THAT MEANS THAT HUMANS ARE ACTUALLY RELATED TO US SKELETONS, WHICH MEANS WE ARE ALL FAMILY!"
'Awww, that's so sweet!"
"MY DAD THINKS WE SHOULD AVOID HUMANS, HE SAYS THEY ARE DANGEROUS AND COULD ATTACK YOU IF YOU AREN'T CAREFUL."
"What?"
"YEAH, MY FRIENDS IF YOU SEE A HUMAN MY DAD RECOMMENDS ALL MONSTERS TO HIDE FROM THEIR SIGHT."
Papyrus sees the expressions on their faces and changes his tune.
"FEAR NOT MY FRIENDS, HUMANS HAVE THE WHOLE SURFACE SO THEY SHOULDN'T CARE ABOUT THIS ONE SPOT UNDERGROUND."
Just then Sans teleported into the center of the living room. All the humans jump away from the skeleton.
"SANS STOP BEING LAZY BY BENDING TIME AND SPACE!"
"Sorry bro, who are you new friends?"
"I SAVED THEM FROM THE SHIELD BROTHER, I HAVE NEVER SAW IT LIKE THAT BEFORE! THEY ARE VISITORS SO I'M MAKING THEM MY FAMOUS PASTA!"
"Really…"
The humans got a bad feeling.
"Why don't you finish cooking while I cook up some jokes."
Papyrus sensed more puns coming and went off to the kitchen. Sans turned back to the group.
"So you affected the shield huh, that makes you human. What are humans doing underground? I think we need to have a talk."
They gulped.
Dum...Dum...DUM…
Sans is now on the scene, what will happen next! I can guarantee long notes ahead.
I was right!
Note: Think Asriel fight/before Asgore fight and you have a pretty could idea of what the shield looks like in white light and rainbow light.
Note: The shield activates when determination gets too close. Since you are wearing your clothes I figure it's close enough to the soul to activate the shield. It's not human flesh that triggers it, it's the human soul. I wanted it to have a radius around the human soul. Basically, this means the shield doesn't go all white if a human is within 20 ft. of it or a human can stick their arm though but then gets stuck when their torso touches the light. This means a dead human body could get through since the soul has left it.
