It was nice to be back at work once more. Ever since Helvetica found out she was pregnant she was having terrible morning sickness that incapacitated her for a great portion of the day. It was no less a reason for her and Gaster to celebrate though. It's not very often that Skeletons are able to bear children of their own. As a result there weren't that many skeletons in the Underground, making up about one sixteenth of the total population. Due to the rarity many outside of their small family were also very excited to hear the news, King Asgore being one of the top among them.
While it's nice to see so many people excited for the couple it was a bit of a burden to have so many people interested in such a private affair as her birthing process. Every time someone new found out about her little passenger they needed to play 20 questions.
"No, you cannot see the baby if I remove my shirt Aaron. You should use more sense when talking about these things at work. If the wrong person heard you make that comment it could be considered sexual assault." Helvetica reprimanded her co-worker that she was playing this silly game with today.
"W-what? N-no I didn't mean it that way! Of c-course not. I was just curious if, well regularly baby growth happens in the, well you know where, and seeing as you don't exactly have one I was wondering if maybe you could actually see it." Aaron stammered obviously taken off guard about how his previous question came out. As the King's Royal Messenger he should have been more tactful about how he worded his questions.
"You know when this is all over and done with I think I'm going to write a book about how skeletons give birth. Obviously there is not enough knowledge on how this done." Helvetica sighed filling out some of the paperwork lying in her inbox. Thanks to her absences she had a lot of catching up to do with the various requests and reports on the research that her staff was doing. "To answer your question, technically no you can't see the baby. What happens is that the baby's soul is created near my own slowly forming in the span of a few weeks, months, or years, each child is a bit different, and then when it's ready me and Gaster will use our bone magic to create a body for the new soul to inhabit. If everything goes well, then we'll have a new baby skeleton."
"Wait this could take years?" Aaron asked a bit flabbergasted. To think about anyone being pregnant for years seemed a bit absurd.
"Yes, Aaron. Each baby is different. The fastest one has ever come out was a few week after they were created, but that's not exactly the best case scenario. Most of the time, if something like that happens it means that there is some sort of defect with the soul. It can result in various disabilities or mutations. Usually the slower the process is the greater the chance of having a stable soul." Helvetica was on her third report now, something about needing more nutritious bones for the dog staff. At the top she wrote, "See Nutritional Serves" and put it in her outbox, next.
"Maybe you should write a book. How much of this is common knowledge?" Aaron asked her.
"Well skeletons have the information passed from one generation to the next. My mother told me all I would need to know about the process, as I'm sure Gaster's did. Granted, it might be an interesting read for non-skeletons as well." Helvetica said, next paper something about the new patient that has come in complaining about seeing stripes on everything. Curious. "What are you doing here Aaron, besides getting me started on my book about skeleton birth." She asked without looking up from the report.
"Oh, right. King Asgore wanted to meet with you. Something about checking with you on a certain flower's mental status." Aaron said quietly. "He said when you have time he would love your presence."
Helvetica looked at Aaron questioningly."He wants to ask me about the flower monster he found? What's wrong with it?"
"I have no idea Ma'am, he just asked me to ask you to join him when you can. He knows you're busy after just arriving from your sick leave."
"Right. Well I'm going to finish some more of these papers." Helvetica looked at the clock noting that it was about 11 am before continuing. "Tell him I'll be around by about 1 pm. I have something to ask him regarding one of Gaster's experiments, if he doesn't mind talking to me about that as well it would be great."
"Ah how is your husband. Heard he was having some troubles on his latest attempt to take down the Barrier."
"He's doing much better, we think we've made some headway last night actually." Helvetica said smiling at Aaron. "Now, not that I don't love your company Aaron, but if that will be all I have a lot more work to get done before my meeting with the King."
"Oh of course Ma'am, I will tell the King of when you plan on making it to see him."
"Thank you Aaron." Helvetica dismissed as the Royal Messenger made his leave.
The time from when Aaron left till the point where Helvetica was getting ready to leave for her meeting with the King moved a lot faster than she would have hoped for. While her outbox did seem to have a lot more papers in it ready to be moved to their next destination, the inbox was still a mountain of information that she wasn't sure she would ever get through. Maybe she could get Gaster to come and help her before they left for home tonight. He was good for going through some of the papers that didn't need her direct signature, and it would give them something painful to do together. Helvetica smiled as she made her way out of her office, when they were first starting to date they used to help each other with paperwork all the time. As two workaholics it was hard to think about having dinner if there was work that needed to be done. Sitting in each other's offices sorting, signing, and processing paperwork, while incredibly boring, was in large part what connected them those first few months.
Before Helvetica knew it she was standing in the Entrance Hall waiting for the King's escort to bring her to the King for their meeting. The Entrance Hall never failed to impress, it was a long hall of gold and glass. The window were so large that they were able to allow for the light from the glowing stones to enter into the building in a white glow. Helvetica was never quite sure how it worked, as it always made it seem as if they were on the surface with how much light was let in, making the interior gleam. The architects of this hall must have had their work cut out for them when they started.
"He'll see you now Ma'am." A zombie monster came out of the side door to collect her.
"Hello, Evering. How are you today?" Helvetica asked smiling at the zombie.
He looked less than pleased. "Eh, ok I guess, Ma'am. Can't complain. Follow please." And Helvetica did. Evering was never one for much conversation so Helvetica left it alone, besides Evering never seemed to be doing much that he cared to share. "Here we are Ma'am, he's waiting for you inside. Have a good day."
"Thank you Evering, and to you too." Helvetica said opening the door to the throne room and entering. Inside was a large white room with a bed of flowers surrounding the King's Throne in the center of the room. The King himself was standing behind the Throne crouched while seemingly talking to something. "Your majesty, you called for me?" Helvetica asked still standing near the door. They might be friends but it was always good to keep some professionalism between them. That included not fully entering the throne room until invited in.
"Oh, Helvetica. Come here please, I have someone I wish you to meet." The King turned to her and motioned her over.
"Father, she's already met me." Helvetica heard a small voice she did not recognize on the other side of the King.
"Yes, yes, but not since you have remembered who you are my child." As Helvetica approached she noticed that the King was talking to a golden flower. So it was true. The King really did think that the talking flower monster was the reincarnation of his dead son. Oh, dear, this could be an interesting conversation. Maybe she should get the King to answer a few questions, or ask the flower some questions, and figure out which one thought that this flower was actually was Asriel and which one was being manipulated. It was hard to tell if the King was projecting his will for his child to have returned on the flower, or if the flower was tricking the broken hearted King.
"My King? I see the flower has moved. How exactly did he do that?" Helvetica asked as she looked towards the middle of the room where the flower was initially found.
"Ah yes, he just pops up where he needs to be, quite simple my dear." The King said, yet Helvetica didn't find that to be remotely a justifiable answer, it was too simple. "Anyways, Helvetica I would like you to meet my son, Asriel Dreemurr. Asriel, this is your new psychologist Helvetica Gaster, she'll make sure that you are adapting to your new form well." Shocked at the proclamation Helvetica looked from the flower to her King, noting that the flower seemed to have an unsettled expression as well.
"Uh, your highness -" Helvetica tentatively started.
"What do you mean a psychologist?" The flower asked looking bored but sounding as if he was on the verge of tears. "I thought we were getting along so well dad. Are you unhappy?"
"What? No, no my son I just felt it would be for your benefit to probably see a psychologist. Your change is so drastic, it will probably be for the best that you speak to someone about it. Dr. Helvetica is the greatest psychologist in the Kingdom, so if anything is ever troubling you just ask her and I am sure she will be able to help you with any problems you may be having." The King beamed at his 'son' while grasping one of Helvetica's shoulders. Helvetica tried to smile at the flower in a way that didn't come off as more concerned than confident.
The flower scoffed at her and turned on it's stem, "I don't need no stupid Doctor." It said before disappearing underground. This amazed Helvetica, which could be clearly shown on her face making King Asgore laugh.
"Where-" Helvetica started to ask motioning towards the ground where the flower stood just moments before.
"Ah yes, he does that," the King explained, "like I said he goes where he wants to be."
"So what, he can be anywhere in the Underground?" Helvetica asked, feeling a bit uneasy by the notion.
"Oh no he stays within the walls of the castle," the King said easily.
"How do you know?"
"He told me," the King smiled as he said this, as if he had all the confidence in the world that what he said was true. This made Helvetica even more uneasy than she was previously. "So will you do it?" The King asked grabbing her by the shoulders.
"Excuse me, Sire?"
"Will you be Asriel's psychologist? I'm concerned for his mental health. Being a goat monster one moment, having your best friend die, being killed yourself, and then being reborn into a flower must be hard on the young one. It would mean the world to me if you would be there for his stability." Helvetica looked upon her King's smiling face and while she had some trepidations over the whole notion she could never say no.
"Of course my King. I would be honored to make sure that your young one is in the best health mentally as I possible can." Helvetica was not surprised by the hug that the King gave her after her proclamation, he was a very tactile person when he was around friends.
"Thank you my friend. Now what was it that you wished to speak to me about?" Asgore asked as he let go of Helvetica and made his way to his throne.
"Ah, yes. Sire, Gaster has a new plan to take down the Barrier and he would like your permission to move forward with the idea." Helvetica said in her business voice.
"Seeing as he sent you and didn't come himself I will assume that he does not think I will approve of this idea." Asgore said sitting heavily in his throne. Helvetica smirked.
"You gotta admit that he does know how to delegate when controversial subjects rear their ugly head."
"Yes, well what is it," the King asked looking less than pleased.
"As you know, your majesty, the prophecy says to take down the barrier one needs seven human and one monster soul."
"Correct."
"Well, Gaster has calculated based on the amount of energy output that his previous experiments have shown, about one megawatt is enough to make the barrier wobble. This is great because it proves that it is very possible that we can take down the Barrier through pure force alone. Unfortunately that just so happens to be the same input as there is output from the CORE, thus why when Gaster fired the cannon a few months ago the whole CORE went down."
"Yes, I remember." The King said hoping to get to the point.
"Well, based on that Gaster is summising that if we could potentially get seven canons all firing at the same time towards the Barrier that the likeness of success is very high. We could -"
"So Gaster wants to build seven different COREs?" Asgore interrupted looking skeptical. Helvetica laughed, this was why she went to the King and not Gaster. While the King was great in many respects, he was not a scientist and Gaster hated dealing with nonsensical questions.
"No Sire, not only do we not have the resources for such a thing, we also don't have enough places to effectively place another CORE. The CORE was placed on the largest reserve we have. There is no real way that it would be feasible to make another, never mind seven. What we were thinking of instead was something more complex, in which we would be able to use magic as well."
"Ok, explain?"
"So the idea is to collect souls to be placed in a source that will be able to use concentrated magic in a blast to aim at the Barrier. This energy output from the magic would be equal to the output of seven cannons firing at the same time." Helvetica explained quickly.
"Souls what souls? Humans have not come down here, since …" Understanding the King's hesitance Helvetica continued.
"Not human souls, monster souls."
"What? Are you two crazy?"
"I know it's not exactly the most ethical of ideas, your majesty. Yet, if we can gather seven hundred and fifty souls-"
"Wait a seven hundred? Where exactly are you expecting to get these souls?"
"Well, I was thinking the inmates could-"
"Wait, wait. You expect me to agree to a plan that includes a seven hundred inmate monster souls?"
"Not right away, of course not. I'm here to convince you." Helvetica said with a disarming smile.
Asgore was not amused. "Continue, I would love to see how you are going to convince me."
"Thank you sire. Gaster has calculated that about seven hundred and fifty monster souls should equal the same amount of energy seven human souls would be able to give off when encountering the Barrier. He believes that the magic energy that will be produced from the soul would be enhanced by the CORE energy output and together the amount of energy that is being discharged should be able to take down the Barrier for good." Helvetica said excitedly.
"We know that asking the average civilian of the Underground to sacrifice their life for this will not be looked on favorably. So we concluded that our best bet would be to use seven hundred and fifty of the thousand inmates that have no life beyond their cell walls. Their sacrifice would be to help the whole of the Underground." Helvetica exclaimed positively.
"You talk of those monsters as if there were nothing more than material to be used." The King groaned.
"Sire, no offence, but you know as well as I that those poor souls have no life outside of the dungeon that they have been placed in. I understand the desire to make sure that they are not being manipulated or being placed in situations that they do not want to be in, but that line has long been crossed. They do not ask to be used in experimentations of behavior control, but that is not going to stop us. We need to understand them and to help prevent others from being put in their place. In the long run we have been very successful, there hasn't been a new inmate in tens of years.
"With the advancements that we have learned in rehabilitation and prevention has been a great benefit for the whole of the Underground. I'm not saying we are going to force seven hundred and fifty monsters to be randomly picked from the dungeons and experimented on, I'm suggesting that we give them the option to help the Underground once more. They will be given the choice to have their soul harvested for this experiment to hopefully free all of the monsters within the Underground." Helvetica proclaimed, willing for the King to understand that what she says is not only true but their best option not only for Gaster, but potentially for the inmates as well.
"If you were in their place majesty, would you rather rot in a prison cell for the rest of your existence, never being allowed to leave no matter how long you wait. Or would you rather help the rest of the Underground with the promise of your conscious release. Neither option is the one you might want, but you can take the option that is the best of both evils." Helvetica ended her speech watching her King to see what he would say.
The King gave a long sigh and rubbed his brow. 'Shoot I lost,' Helvetica thought sadly.
"Helvetica, I don't think -"
"She has a point you know." A voice from behind Helvetica exclaimed surprising them both. Looking behind her Helvetica was surprised to see the Asriel flower. "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you two. I just figured I should come to talk to you father after I stormed off, and caught Mrs. Helvetica's argument to take down the Barrier."
"No, of course, you are more than welcome Asriel. As the Prince of course you are allowed to listen in." Helvetica had to suppress the grimace at the King's words. She didn't know if it was right to trust this small flower so openly.
"Thank you father." Asriel said gratefully. He then disappeared and popped up once more next to Helvetica. "As I was saying, Helvetica is right. You should at least give the inmates the choice. They should be the ones to say whether or not they want to give their lives to the Underground, rather than live the rest of their lives in imprisonment. I say you should support the good Dr. Gaster, he's trying to help the whole Underground." Asriel was joyful during his speech, bouncing on his little stem. The sight made Helvetica smile. Maybe she was wrong about the small flower maybe he wasn't being manipulative.
The King looked at his son and slowly nodded. "One last question, how sure is Dr. Gaster that this will be a success?" He asked Helvetica.
She smiled disarmingly. "Every experiment has an element of being unsuccessful, it's all based on theories and hypothesis. That being said, you know Gaster would never have even suggested such an experiment if he was not highly positive that this will work." Helvetica stated with confidence.
The King pause for a moment thinking over Helvetica's argument and his son's support. Finally, he sighed in defeat. "Ok, you can go through with this. But I want every prisoner to sign their consent if they agree to give their soul. And I do not want a single person to feel pressured when asked to give consent. Do you understand Helvetica? If there is even a question on whether or not that they are giving their consent, you are not to use them for your husband's experiment. Even if you just need one more soul you will not use them."
"Of course, I understand your highness." Helvetica agreed with a bow.
"Good. Now I would like to talk to my son. If you wouldn't mind being here tomorrow for his first official meeting?" The King said expectantly.
"Of course, I will see you tomorrow morning. Does 8 am work for you Asriel?" Helvetica asked the small flower. He nodded.
"Sounds great, see you then." Asriel agreed. Helvetica nodded and left the two royal monsters in the Throne Room.