Part 2: The Core
"Dr. Gaster, should we bring the test tubes?"
"Obviously."
"Dr. Gaster, I've got this microscope, but it's kinda old…"
"We are bringing all of the science equipment!"
"Dr. Gaster, what about the couch?"
"Of cou—wait." Gaster had to stop at that one. He turned and frowned at the interns who were holding up the couch. "Why would we need the couch? We are moving to a lab, not a living room."
One of the interns shrugged, his wings flapping lightly at the motion. "Well, it's nicer to sleep on than the table."
The other one nodded as well, her ears swaying. "And we don't want you having back problems!"
Gaster rubbed his temple. "Fine, yes, we will take the couch." He checked his watch, fingers fluttering as he noticed the time. "But be quick!"
He gathered the last few notes and set them into a folder before looking at the swarm of interns running around the old Royal House. Ten. There were ten of them; he still couldn't believe it. Of course, rationally, it made sense. The University, while it had given him his doctorate, didn't have much in the way of hands-on post-grad work, so it had been heavily suggested that he open up his work on the Core to a few interns to get them acquainted with scientific work. And, hopefully, the Underground would get a few more scientists out of the deal.
Initially, he agreed to three. But then a fourth begged for a position, so…it became five. The sixth appealed to Asgore personally, and the seventh had a whole presentation on why she would be a great fit for an internship. So eight seemed like a good number. But his good will stopped at ten.
But…well, they were eager and ready to learn, and there was something refreshing in that.
He winced as he heard something shatter, and a very quiet "Oops."
The refreshment didn't negate the fact he was at his wit's end with them most of the time.
He pointedly did not look at where the crash came from, instead looking at his watch again. He needed to go. Now. But…god, would any of the equipment survive the move if he left now? He could stay a few more minutes.
So he did.
And, then, of course, he was very late.
After a moment of panic, he pulled over his most promising assistant, a young dragon-looking monster (the one who had given the presentation).
"Erie, I need to go," he hissed to her. "Please make sure everything makes it to the new lab with as little breakage as possible."
Erie gave him a thumb's up. "I'm on it, Doc, don't you worry."
Gaster gave her a small smile. "This is why you are my favorite. Er…do not tell the others I said that."
Erie mimed zipping her lips, and Gaster nodded before bolting to the door.
"Wait, Doc!"
He skidded to a halt, long limbs flailing to keep him balanced. "What?"
Erie pointed to a small, wrapped package on the table. "You told me to remind you about the present before you left."
Gaster blinked. "Er, yes, right. I did. Thank you, Erie." He grabbed the package and tucked it into his coat pocket, then gave the interns a wave before bolting out.
Hotland was teeming with monsters by the time he reached it. Somehow, he managed to slip through the crowd with little incident, and, breathless and exhausted, he stumbled into the Royal Tent. He leaned against a post, gasping in breaths as he tried to get himself together after running through the entire Underground.
"You're late."
Even with his sockets closed, Gaster recognized Asgore's rumbling baritone, and he waved his hand in reply. "Need…just a few minutes…"
"Gaster, Tori's been up there stalling for twenty minutes!"
Gaster sucked in a breath and let it out slowly. "You see…if you monsters did not need to make everything an occasion…we would not be in this situation."
"This is the official start of the Core, Gaster!" Asgore argued. He frowned. "How are you even out of breath? You don't have lungs."
"I still breathe, Asgore! You run from Home to here and see how you manage!" Gaster finally let out one last breath before standing up straight. He brushed off his black coat, then looked at Asgore. "There. I can breathe. Let us make a spectacle out of announcing the lab."
Asgore looked at Gaster for a moment, then gave him a little nudge with a smile. "I bet you secretly enjoy these."
"You are projecting on me," Gaster replied shortly. "Would I be late to something I enjoyed?"
"I just assumed you like making a scene."
"No. It is to punish you for making me do these things."
"Now that isn't true."
Gaster gave the king a shrug before he turned to the tent's opening. He pulled aside one of the flaps to peek out at the makeshift stage in front of the lab.
Even if she had been stalling for twenty minutes, there was no way of knowing with the way Toriel spoke. She was calm and cool, without a single stammer. If he didn't know better, Gaster would think that this was planned. He glanced back at Asgore with a smile.
"You know, this could have been worse."
Asgore raised an eyebrow. "I'd like to know how."
"You could have been the one stalling."
He knew Asgore was fighting a smile, even as the King shook his head.
"I'd like to remind you who funded the Lab you're getting," Asgore shot back, though there was no bite in the statement. Gaster waved a hand.
"I know, I know. I am enormously grateful." Asgore raised an eyebrow at him. "I am! I am only good for blueprints and experiments, not getting actual structures built." He glanced out at the stage again. "And besides, there is something even worse than you stalling."
"Oh?"
Gaster grinned. "I could have been the one stalling." He nodded toward the stage. "Regardless, we should help her, I think. Let us go."
The opening ceremony was the same as all the other monster celebrations. Asgore gave a rousing speech while Gaster stood to the side, looking important and not saying a word. Toriel stood with him, switching between watching her husband adoringly and whispering silly things to Gaster to try and make him break his stoic façade.
And then, of course, once the ribbon was cut, there were festivities. Not in the lab, thank god, but just outside of it. Monsters milled about, trying to talk to Asgore about this thing or that. Gaster shook a lot of hands—he didn't know why, he'd met all the same monsters at the last event. There was food and music and dancing and all the other things that monsters enjoyed, but Gaster didn't.
He knew it was all fun, but there was just…too much. Too much noise, too much crowd, too much everything.
Skeletons liked quiet.
So after what had to have been his hundredth handshake, Gaster took the chance to slip into his lab. He shut the door behind him as quietly as possible, leaning against it with a sigh.
Moment of truth now.
He felt his way around the wall before landing on a switch. He sucked in a breath and moved his free hand to form one word.
Please, please, please…
He flipped the switch up, sockets widening as the lights flickered on. A triumphant laugh bubbled out of him.
It worked!
He walked into the lab, looking around breathlessly at the clean white walls and gleaming metal tables. Of course, he'd designed the building and figured out how to use the magma to power the lab, but…well, everything up to this point had been experiments. There hadn't been any real, operational structures, not until right now.
He leaned against one of the tables, staring up at the light bulb overhead. He'd powered one building. Now he had to power the whole Underground.
And he was starting to think that he could do it.
He looked up in alarm as he heard the lab's door open. "I am sorry, but civilians are not…" he trailed off as Toriel poked her head in with a smile, then returned it. "Well, I suppose the Queen does not need any kind of clearance."
"You are absolutely right about that, my friend," Toriel said with a wink as she shut the door behind her. Gaster's browbone rose.
"You are running away from the party? I thought monsters loved parties," he teased as he walked over. Toriel shook her head as she set her little silk purse on one of the tables.
"Believe it or not, some of us get tired of crowds on occasion," she said, then looked around the lab with a smile. "And I had to get a look at what all of our hard work has given us. This is…amazing."
"I know!" Gaster gushed. "Look at how much light we have! It is nearly like being above ground again!" He waved at the lightbulb overhead. "Soon enough, every house Underground will have light like this! We will fit New Home first, and then I think Waterfall—it gets very dark there. Hotland can wait awhile, so Snowdin will—" He stopped as Toriel giggled.
"Gaster, my friend, we need a Core first."
"Well, obviously. But we need to think of the, er, big picture, is the phrase?"
Toriel nodded, still smiling. "Yes, I suppose we do."
Gaster returned her smile, fingers fluttering slightly. "You, er…your speech was very good, considering I was late. You are very good at, er…improvising."
"Well, not that good."
"Do not be modest."
"I really am not." She smiled and opened her bag. "Here, look, I will show you my secret weapon."
Gaster's browbone furrowed, and he stepped forward. Toriel held up a stack of notecards and separated them into two piles. She gestured for him to look, which he did. One stack said "Laboratory Speech"; the second said "If Gaster Is Late."
"You knew I would be late?"
"You have been late to everything since you have started working on the Core," she said with a smile as she tucked her notes away.
Gaster shrugged as he leaned against the table. "Well, I do think giving us power might be a bit more important than standing on a stage..."
"Ah, no, you cannot say that. We made no secret that being Royal Scientist would include engagements. One day, you might even have to give a speech."
"Toriel, you are a cruel monarch."
Toriel smirked. "I am a just one. The public deserves to hear from their public servants, scientists included." She looked up at him, then frowned curiously. "Wait a moment." She reached forward and lightly touched Gaster's sleeve. "Is this…a black lab coat?"
Gaster looked down at her hand, then half-smiled. "Er, yes, actually."
"But…Lab coats are white, are they not?"
"Well, mostly yes. I have had to have it custom-made, thanks to your husband."
Toriel frowned. "What did Asgore do?"
"He knitted this for me a few months ago." Gaster lightly touched the collar of his white sweater. "And I am very fond of it, but…well, with my, er, complexion…" He gestured to his skull. "And the white sweater, and the white lab coat…why, I disappeared when I visited Snowdin!"
Toriel snorted, and a braying laugh escaped her before she could stop it. Gaster grinned. It wasn't often anyone could get her to laugh that hard, so it always felt like an accomplishment.
After she composed herself, she gave him a nod. "Well, it suits you."
He blinked in surprise. "Really?"
"Yes, Dr. Gaster. Black makes a scientist look very…" She grinned. "Smart."
"Oh, god." He shook his head with a laugh as she giggled. "Threatening me with public speaking and assailing me with puns. You are a tyrant." He stood up straight, glancing down as something jostled in his pocket. Ah, right. "Oh, I nearly forgot." He pulled out the little gift and held it out to her. "For you."
Toriel looked down in surprise. "Oh?" Her brow furrowed. "I do not understand. Why are you giving me a gift?"
"Well, if memory serves me right, it was around this time seventy-odd years ago that you taught me how to speak." He smiled as he took her hand and set the gift in it. "I figured this was the least I could do to thank you."
Toriel stared down at the gift, clearly torn between wanting to open it and politely saying she couldn't accept. Eventually, she very carefully slipped a claw under the paper and opened it.
Beneath the wrapping paper was a small, handsomely bound book. A title was engraved in strange characters—Gaster's alphabet—with "SKELETON STORIES" written in Monster underneath.
Toriel looked the book over curiously. Gaster's hands fluttered as he tried to gauge her reaction, suddenly having second thoughts.
"I thought…well, these are…erm, I think your term for them would be fairy tales?" He looked down at the book. "They were, er, stories I was told when I was very young." He shrugged. "I may have taken a few liberties on parts I could not remember, but…but I thought you might find them interesting, so I…translated them."
Toriel remained silent, still looking at the book. Gaster swallowed, hands half-forming the anxious words in his skull. He cleared his throat.
"I…I mean, if, if you do not like it, you can donate it to the library. I-I am sure so—"
He was cut off as he was pulled into a squeezing hug.
"My friend, it is perfect," Toriel said. She let out a soft laugh as she let him go. "I have not gotten such a thoughtful gift in a long time."
Gaster blinked, and a wide smile started to spread across his face. "Really?"
Toriel nodded, already flipping through the book. She looked up at him with bright eyes. "I will start reading it immediately."
Gaster took a step closer, peering over her shoulder as she turned to the first page. "I would actually recommend reading the third story first."
"Oh? Why is that?" Toriel glanced back to look at him curiously.
"Well, I have organized them in…a sort of rational order. But…" He gave her a slightly sheepish smile. "'The Femurs' March' was always my favorite as a child."
Toriel smiled warmly at him as she nodded. "Then I will be sure to read that one first." She returned her gaze to the book. "I am already thinking of questions for when we next meet."
"Well…I see nothing stopping you from asking a few now."
Toriel glanced back at him again, already opening her mouth to ask a question. Her eyes dimmed a bit, and she merely let out a sigh instead.
"The party. I need to go back," she said as she closed the book and tucked it into her bag. "I am sure my absence has been noticed gone by now." She glanced up at him. "You ought to come back out as well."
She patted down her ears as she walked back to the door. His shoulders slumped ever so slightly as she drew away, a little disappointed at the end of their…moment?
But duty called. For both of them.
She opened the door, then glanced back at him. "Gaster? Are you coming?"
He straightened his spine and gave a small cough before he gestured at the space behind him. "In a few minutes. I need a bit more time with my lab."
Toriel smiled. "Of course. I will leave you two alone," she said with a wink, then made her way out the door.
Gaster watched her go, that disappointment still gnawing at his center. But he pushed it down as he stared up at the light overhead. There were more important things to focus on. The first step to powering the Underground was a success, but there were still were still so many to go.
It was time to get to work.
