As it turns out, coming up with names is easier said than done. The soul was human through and through, so despite their body being half skeleton monster, it just didn't feel right giving them a font name. That meant he had to think out side the box. After several scrapped ideas, the Royal scientist developed a new found sympathy for the king of monsters and his nonexistent ability to name things.

Despite all that had come up in the past few months, from a third child to a human falling, he still had the job of discovering a way to free monster kind. That meant he was often mulling over the data collected from the barrier, and what they knew about the nature of souls, specifically human souls. He knew pathetic little about both subjects. What he did know about the nature of souls seemed to be shared between both humans and monsters, but with several key differences.

"I just don't have enough data on human souls to do anything." He sighed.

The only human souls in the underground where the fallen humans and the one he'd created artificially. His synthetic soul was very small, and hadn't even existed for half a year. Nor did it even have a body yet. Chara's, on the other hand, was larger, and had resided in a body for as long as they had been alive. And even if he were to get their permission as well as the permission of the Dreemurr's to examine their soul, would that allow him to learn anything substantial? Human souls tended to be ferry different from one another, more so than monsters' souls.

Tapping a falanga softly against his cranium, the moment he began to drift off into thought, his free hand gravitated to above his midriff just above that womb barrier. When he noticed the very maternal action, a smile tinged onto his lips. This wasn't the first time he'd done this, so it no longer surprised him when it happened. He'd seen many an expectant mother on both sides do this, though usually the mother in question had a visible bump. It had never occurred to him then that he would one day be in the same position.

In a month or two I should expect one of my own to start popping up. He thought warmly.

Then paused. He hadn't taken into consideration the fact he'd actually be showing in the future. That was going to be a problem. Once the bump was large enough, there was no way he'd be able to just hide it, nor would people just write it off. Edna would ask questions, Asgore would ask questions, and god forbid he mention it to lady Toriel. She'd know right away what was up- anyone who'd been a mother would. And even if he managed to get through this with everyone none the wiser, he had a small child and toddler at home already. How would he be able to care for this child's need in secret while balancing his elder sons' needs at the same time? He was a single parent.

Dear God, and I'm only just now realizing this? He though slightly panicked.

The soul became aware of his distress. It did the only thing it could do.

'Mama?'

It was curious and confused. Why was it's parent so upset?

The soul's presence helped to calm him down and ground him back into reality, but there was still a very real concern that lingered. They were just an artificially created soul, it was easy for someone else to use that to form the illusion that this was a better alternative simply because it was a 'fake'. Or his data could be used to replicate the experiment and a soul, maybe even several, would be created solely for the purpose of breaking the barrier. The mere thought of either one made him shudder.

Monster souls might be made of love and kindness, but fear and desperation were powerful, overwhelming emotions that could make even the kindest of souls act in unpredictable ways.

We live in dark times indeed, my child. He thought grimly.

He bit back tears and curled tighter into a ball, head pressed into his chest and covered by his arms. His tunic did little to soften the impact of his assailant's boots and fists as they beat into him with a sadistic glee. A semicircle of human youths had formed to watch as his tormenter, a human as well, beat into his shrunken form, chanting and shouting encouragement with each blow. A swift kick to his spine yanked a yelp from past his gritted teeth and jaw. The humans around him giggled with each display of pain.

"Hey rat face!" A prepubescent voice shouted. "Fight someone's who's actually willing to hit back!"

Another person groaned. "Naui, seriously? We should just go and get an adult instead of you picking fights with every meat brain you see!"

"Bite your tongue fish eyes! Go back to hiding behind you're mommy's skirt and leave us big kids alone!" His bully retorted.

The challenger scoffed. "Big kid? Isn't that my line? Only little brats with too much time on their hands and too little guts pick on others like that."

He peeped open an eye just in time to see his assailant turn red and fuming. Several meters away a human and their companion stood. The person he assumed was her savior stood tall and proud, a loppy grin on their face. Their friend looked as distance with the situation as could be, something you wouldn't expect to see on a child's face.

The bully charged at the kid. He was taller and bulkier, with wider shoulders and meatier hands. The kid continued to grin with confidence. The bully drew back a fist and slammed it into the kid's direction. They ducked quick and easy, the countered by driving their elbow into his gut. He winced as the bully stumbled back, bent over and holding his stomach in both hands. The older kid looked up at his new target, eyes smoldering with anger. He charged forward in an attempt to tackle the kid. They simply stepped sideways, them going left and their friend right, letting the bully crash into the dirt.

At that moment, the kid's friend became disinterest with the fight and walked over to him. Their black hair was longer than most human boys had it, bangs fluttering against his face like leaves. It was a stark contrast to their friend's shorter, shaggier, golden brown locks.

"Those cracks look painfull, anything seriously hurting?" They asked in a soft voice. Their indigo eyes dusted with concerned.

He shook his head.

"Good," They sighed. "I'm Aruin, the idiotic hero who's fighting in Naui."

As though they heard their friend, the kid shouted: "I am not an idiot hero!" Aruin snorted.

Offering a hand, they helped him up to his feet.

"The monster Kid's fine, I'm taking him away from here! Catch up to us when you're finished.!" Aruin shouted.

"Just give me a moment and I'll be done!" Naui shouted back.

As if to prove they'd make good on that statement, Naui waltzed up to the bully and kicked him in the ribs- hard. Harer than he thought possible for a smaller, lither body to do on someone who had to have been twice their weight. The older boy crumpled to the grown like parchment in a fire, gasping his rib like someone had placed a hot poker to bare victorious kid then waltzed over and joined them with a smirk.

"Okay, let's go."

Gaster woke with a start, hands shooting up to his mouth as a wave of nausea crashed over him. A cold swear perpetrated on his bones as he focused on the ceiling, trying to will the unpleasant feeling away. After several seconds, the nausea subsided.

That… was far from a pleasant way to wake up. He mentally groaned.

Down the hall, the tell tale sounds of Papyrus waking up wanting something bounced on over. With a weary yet amused sigh, he got up and quietly made his way over to the boys' room to appease his fussy , unsurprisingly, was sound asleep in his bed. It would take more than papyrus at medium volume to wake him up. The toddler stopped crying the moment he was lifted into his father's arms, and with a happy coo fell back asleep.

You are far fussier than your brother ever was, but at least you aren't wreaking havoc to get my attention. He thought.

He turned to head back to his room, Papyrus in arm, when a pale blue glow lit up the room. He shifted a sleeping papyrus onto one arm and strode over to acquire his eldest. Hefting Sans, he exited the room and returned to his own. Now, if Sans' powers starting really acting up, or Papyrus became fussy again, they were withing arms reach.