ColonyTale
by Nicolle

Disclaimer: Undertale belongs to Toby Fox. ColonyTale is my AU. Story copyright to me.

Chapter 3

"This is the most relaxed I've seen you in two hundred and thirty years." Undyne crossed her arms over her chest and leaned against the doorjamb. "I'm not exaggerating, Az. We have a major crisis going on and you look like nothing is bothering you at all."

Asriel looked up from his desk, the artificial morning light of New Home streaming through the window behind him. He shrugged.

Undyne stalked up to the desk. "Did you just shrug?"

Asriel looked to the side before looking up at her. "Yes?"

"Did you get laid last night?"

His jaw dropped. "I am not that irresponsible!"

Undyne gave him her biggest smile. "Oh man! I haven't seen that look on your face in years either! It's great!" She sat on the edge of the desk. "Seriously. The last time I saw you this relaxed was when we finally kicked your father's butt on the training floor. What's got you all happy?"

His brow furrowed. "I don't feel any different."

Undyne shrugged with a sigh, letting it drop. "As close to the vest as ever. How's the human doing?"

Asriel looked back to the paperwork on his desk. "My parents sent her a piece of pie last night."

"Really?"

"They found Frisk rather charming."

Undyne's smile grew as big as her face. "Frisk, huh?"

Asriel looked up. "You've met her. You know her name."

"Of course I do! Even if I hadn't met Osiris, I'd know her name because Papyrus has yet to shut up about her!" She leaned in to her sovereign. "So now she'll be up and moving around in whatever way passes for normal for her. How about I find out what kind of military training she had?"

Asriel frowned before signing the digital document in front of him. "Don't kill her."

Undyne's smile was impossibly big. "I'll take her over to the royal guards' training facility in case you're interested."

Asriel nodded and she sauntered out of her sovereign's office and down to the Niven Corridor. A tram ride dropped her at the Lab and she pulled out her data pad. "Doggo? Prep the training room."

"Yes, Ma'am!"

She shoved her data pad back into her pocket and headed into the Lab, stopping at the door to Frisk's room.

Frisk hopped twice, giggling with happiness, eyes a rainbow wash. "Alphys! Alphys! I can move again!"

Alphys nodded. "It is what the pie does."

"No! You don't understand. I can move."

Alphys frowned. "I don't get what you mean."

"I do," Undyne said from the door. "You feel as healthy as the day you went into stasis, right?" She smiled. "How about some exercise, Frisk?"

Frisk smiled, eye color shifting rapidly. "Yes!"

Sans was suddenly standing next to Undyne. "*exercise?" He eyed her, a hint of blue to his left eye. "*you sure?"

"She finished an entire slice of b'scotch pie and then had a full night's sleep. She's fine," Undyne said.

Sans looked at Alphys and received a nod from the lizard woman. "As far as I can tell, she's perfectly healthy."

Sans sighed. "*just don't over do it, okay?"

Frisk nodded, practically bouncing as she followed the captain of the royal guard.

"Well aren't you excited!"

Frisk could barely keep still on the tram. "I'm so happy I can't describe it! I didn't think I'd ever be able to walk under my own power again let alone be able to do the things I could before the cryo-sleep."

"If that's the case, how about you show me what a human with military training can do."

Frisk paused suddenly, face neutral, eyes brown red. "All right."

Undyne eyed her as they disembarked from the tram to the royal guards' headquarters in New Home. The facility was a tall glass skyscraper, reaching up into the artificial morning of the biome. Members of the royal guard and their staff filled the rooms and hallways, dodging around Undyne with hellos and good mornings. Until one of them noticed Frisk was with her.

"Is that a new recruit?"

"I've never seen a monster like that before."

"Wonder what species that one is."

"Must be from one of the upper biomes."

A few monsters detoured to follow them to the training floor, a crowd gathering at the observation windows.

"What did your training entail?" Undyne asked.

"Hand to hand, simple weapons, firearms."

"Firearms?"

Frisk looked thoughtful for a moment as she pulled her hair into a messy bun. "I suppose you wouldn't have those at all. They would cause significant damage to the Delta. They're a type of projectile weapon made for maximum stopping power using a small bullet. In my time, they were the go to weapon for the military."

Undyne nodded. "Do you want one?"

Frisk frowned. "No."

"Let's start with hand to hand and see how well you do from there." Undyne fell into stance.

Frisk nodded, mirroring the captain. There was a general murmur as Sans and Asriel came up behind the crowd, watching quietly.

Undyne moved first, rushing at Frisk with a quick punch, only to have Frisk easily dodge to the side, letting the fish woman's fist slide past her. Undyne threw another punch and Frisk pushed the arm aside, using the momentum turn the force away. The third punch connected with Frisk's jaw and she stumbled back. She shook herself out and returned to stance.

Frisk caught Undyne's next punch with both hands, holding the fish woman's arm up at an odd angle. Undyne hopped in toward Frisk with a kick. Frisk leaned back on her heels, bending in half to keep it from connecting. Falling backwards, she pulled Undyne with her, bringing a foot up to flip the fish woman over on her back. Jumping to her feet, Frisk turned quickly, falling back into stance.

Undyne kipped up. "Not bad. So how about you try coming at me?"

Frisk blinked. "Gravity back home was heavier than it is here and I went into stasis just after discharge. I'm going to be packing quite a punch."

Undyne's smile grew sly. "But that's what I want to see."

Frisk shrugged and threw a punch that caught Undyne's sternum and knocked her back. She pressed with a kick to the fish woman's chest, bending Undyne in half. Frisk caught Undyne's arm, spinning her around to build enough momentum to pull the captain off her feet. Frisk let go and spun with a kick that sent Undyne into the padded wall.

"*holy shit!"

The sentiment was carried by the sympathetic, pained hisses and hoots of the crowd.

Asriel's eyebrows raised. "Do you know of other Frisks that can do this?"

"*uh yeah. a few in particular."

"And do they show violent tendencies?"

Sans blinked. "*no." He smiled softly. "*they're all very peaceful people. very proud of their prowess, but also very aware of the harm they could do."

Undyne brushed herself off as she stood. "I keep forgetting how well the pie works." Her smile took up her face. "You aren't half bad! Why don't you try dodging my specialty?"

The floor around Frisk glowed and several glowing blue spears came out of the floor around her.

"Woah." Frisk hopped twice and looked at Undyne. "Okay."

The floor glowed again and Frisk dodged to the right, over balancing and rolling across the floor to avoid the spears. She found her feet during a momentary pause and ran for Undyne, letting the spears follow her. Just as she was about to slide around Undyne and trap her in her own attack, a rain of spears came from the ceiling. Several of them catching her and sending her to the floor.

The crowd pressed against the window, breaths held. Sans eye burst to life and Asriel put his hand on the skeleton's shoulder.

"Wait."

Frisk found her feet and caught a spear mid air, eyes completely red. Using the spear to block the projectiles coming for her, she ran for Undyne cracking her across the shoulder. The loss of concentration caused the spears dropping from the ceiling to disappear. Frisk swept Undyne's feet before putting the blunt end of the spear to her throat.

Time froze while Undyne gasped, trying to get air after having it knocked out of her lungs. Frisk dropped the spear and offered a hand.

Undyne took it with a smile. "That was awesome!" She clapped Frisk on the back. "Just tell me that other humans can't do that."

"Human?"

"That's the human?!"

"Woah!"

Frisk smiled. "I had very specialized training, so no. Humans, in general, can't do that."

Undyne put an arm around her, leading her off the floor. "So what do I have to do to get you to join the royal guard?"

"My training wasn't meant for that sort of work. And I'd rather put my other skills to use." She smiled softly. "I wouldn't mind training with you though."

The fish woman's smile grew. "I wouldn't mind having a partner who can beat me so soundly!"

The rest of the royal guard clamored around them as they came off the floor.

"Phenomenal! Simply phenomenal!"

"You're joining the guard right?"

"If not, at least say you'll train with us!"

"You can all move along to your duties," Asriel said.

There was a quick silence as guard members turned to their sovereign, bowed, and went about their work.

Undyne smiled big for her prince. "Not bad, huh?" She looked down at Frisk. "How about a quick shower and a change of clothes before you head back to the Lab?"

Asriel straightened, putting his hands on his hips. "Instead of the Lab, would you mind assisting me today?"

Undyne looked sharply between her prince and Sans. The skeleton shrugged.

Frisk nodded. "Sure. We'll just be a couple minutes." She followed Undyne to the locker room down the hall.

"*i know that, traditionally speaking, this is where i should beg you not to throw her out an air lock. but i'm pretty sure she could stop you if you tried."

"Again, Sans, I am not inclined to throw her out an air lock."

Sans smiled. "*i figured not."

"Care to elaborate on that?"

"*nope."

They waited in silence until Undyne and Frisk reappeared. Asriel offered the human his arm and she took it, fingers gently running over his white fur. He lead her off to the tram.

Undyne frowned. "Can we trust her to be alone with him?"

"*uh, are we talking about frisk?"

Undyne threw her hands up. "I'm talking about the human who just made me look like a punk!"

Sans winked at her. "*welp. said punk is blushing like a kid with a crush right now, so i'm going with yeah. they're fine."

Undyne's eyebrows lifted. "Talk about barking up the wrong tree! Az's never been interested in anyone."

Sans shrugged.

On the tram, Frisk watched the star filled sky through the tram tube's windows. "Do you mind if we put off looking at the pictures for a bit? I don't think I'm ready to look at them again."

Asriel nodded, running a hand through his long hair. "There's no rush, Frisk."

She turned and smiled. "So what did you want me to help you with?"

Asriel scooted closer as he pulled out his data pad and unlocked the screen. "There's a persistent leak in the coolant tubes around the Core." He handed her the data pad. "Every time I think I figure out what's causing it, it pops up again."

Frisk looked at the schematic. "What coolant are you using?"

"Gas."

She frowned. "Is this the original system?"

Asriel sighed. "It's the original design. The entire system has been replaced multiple times over the years."

Frisk pulled her hair out of it's bun and pushed a stray lock behind her ear. "It's brilliant, which is why it's lasted so long. But if you want to stop the leaks for good, it needs a solid state refrigeration system."

The pair disembarked at the Core, an ominous looking building in red and black, glowing from the pulsing lights of the generators. Engineers and technical staff roamed the entire facility, each bowing as they passed. A few looking twice to get a better look at Frisk. Two of the techs, a cat monster and a chimera type, left their stations to follow the pair.

Frisk looked around and located an A.I. terminal. "Hey Delta! Can the gas coolant system be flushed with dyed liquid to identify the leak or leaks?"

"You named it?"

Frisk turned to Asriel. "Yes." She blinked and turned to look him in the eyes. "You're the certain engineer?"

"Yes and yes," Delta answered. "Shall I flush the system, Your Majesty?"

Asriel stood tall with his hands on his hips. "Do so."

Frisk eyed the goat prince with a smile. "Are you testing me, Asriel?"

A gasp came from the technicians as a smile tugged at his lips, eyebrows raised. "Maybe."

A beeping from the terminal caught their attention. The read out indicated multiple leaks all over the system.

Frisk gasped. "No wonder it keeps leaking. The whole system needs to be replaced! Please tell me I'm looking at a back up system or a system with a full back up."

Asriel tilted his head slightly. "You are looking at the back up system."

Frisk sighed with relief. "Show me the actual coolant system, please." A schematic of the Core appeared in front of her with the coolant system highlighted. "The interior is a solid state refrigerator."

Asriel smiled. "So how do we fix the back up system until it can be replaced?"

"Replace the tubing with lightweight thermal insulated tubing."

He shook his head. "We don't have a lightweight thermal insulation."

"Do you still have the space suit I was in when the Delta found my pod?"

"Yes."

Frisk smiled, leaning into her heels. "The material is a lightweight thermal insulation. It's very thin and very strong. It's the reason I didn't have dermal tissue damage from the stasis. You have material printers on board, right? Toss the suit into an analyzer and you'll have your insulation." She smiled. "You can also use it to replace those super out dated bulky suits your Exploration teams use."

Asriel sighed, head dropping for a moment before he looked at her again. "You're rather cheeky."

Frisk settled back on her heels, arms crossed over her chest, hip popped out. "We're engineers. We're all cheeky."

The goat prince pulled out his data pad, tapping in a long string of instructions to various people through out the ship. "Now that you're on your feet, I'm moving Alphys off of caring for you and back onto the microbe situation. We've found it in another biome and I need more scientists working on figuring out how to stop it."

"How is it traveling?"

"Since it's managed to breach multiple quarantines, it can only be in the air. But the filters should be stopping it."

Frisk blinked, eyes lighting up a bright yellow orange. "What if it's in the plates? With the great forests?"

The chimera technician behind them spoke up. "We could easily disconnect the plates."

Asriel's eyes squeezed shut, head dropping back. "Along with our oxygen and mineral supplies!" He looked at the technicians. "We absolutely need the natural places on the ship. They are the one thing standing between us and a long, slow death in space." He pointed behind them at their empty terminals. "And both of you need to be back at work."

Both squeaked and bowed as quickly as they could before running back to their stations.

Asriel sighed. "We haven't detected it in the plates at all." He looked at Frisk. "Lunch?"

She nodded. "I could use a bite."

He tilted his head again and put a hand on the small of her back, guiding her out of the Core. Both technicians watched as they departed for the tram station.

"What did your military service entail?"

Frisk paused for a moment and started laughing.

Asriel watched her. "What?"

"I almost said 'It's classified.' Like that would matter after a millennium." She took a seat in the empty tram car, the goat prince sitting next to her. "My home country was very small. Everyone went through military training as part of schooling. Everyone was expected to be able to serve. We went to war as I finished my degree. A neighboring country dealing with population issues tried to annex us as part of their country."

She frowned and watched the stars speed by. "My prowess in basic landed me in a very special operation. It was called Project Viper and only existed during times of war. The members of the project were all trained to handle morally questionable acts of war." Frisk looked at Asriel. "My engineering background was put to use in a variety of ways, but most specifically in support of the other team members. When a mission needed an engineer, I would slip behind enemy lines and assist."

Frisk sighed, hands in her lap. "Please don't ask about the missions. I try not to remember them."

Asriel took her hands in his. "I won't. We all have things we'd rather forget. Is that why you left Earth on the Osiris? To forget?"

She nodded. And her face fell. "And Chara followed me." She covered her face with her hands.

He pulled her close. "Let's stop by the Lab for your memories."

Frisk shook her head.

Asriel caught her chin in his hand, lifting her face up. "You're pushing your memories away, but that won't stop the heartache. It's better to remember." He pulled her from the tram at the Lab stop.

She followed him into the Lab only to stop at the door to her room. "I don't want to share my memories publicly."

Asriel carefully packed her camera and old tablet into the case. "I understand." He lifted the case. "I had a place other than a restaurant in mind for lunch." He held out a hand and she took it, letting him lead her out of the Lab and to an elevator hidden behind the main shaft.

A very young dog monster in a striped shirt with the royal insignia on the sleeve, stood next to the elevator door with a bag on his shoulder. He handed the bag to Asriel. "Here you are, Sir!"

"Thank you, Cody."

The boy smiled brightly around his sharp teeth, tail wagging. "Sure thing, Your Majesty!" He hurried off, looking very pleased with himself.

"The children work?"

Asriel smile head cocked toward Frisk. "When children are just about ready to enter adulthood, they all intern in a few different places. It let's them try out the different kinds of work they're interested in at the base level so they have a better understanding of whether or not they want to pursue it." He stepped up to the elevator door and it opened immediately. "I like Cody. He's excitable, but also very discreet and dependable." He pulled Frisk into the elevator. "Top Plate, please."

The door sealed shut and moved up.

"Did you intern?"

He nodded. "With Gerson. And for almost ten years. That old turtle knows just about everything there is to know about the Delta." Asriel smiled. "He never claims to be old enough to have been around at the launch, but even the oldest monsters on the ship don't remember Gerson being young. I once got him so drunk he started talking about the ship's designer, Dr. W.D. Gaster."

Frisk frowned. "As in, talking about him like he knew him?"

Asriel nodded.

"That would make Gerson over two thousand years old! Did you follow up when he wasn't drunk?"

"Yeah, and got the run around. Turtle monsters can live for a very long time, but two thousand is still pushing it." The elevator stopped and the door opened onto a walkway over a vast forest.

Frisk stepped up to the railing and looked down into a valley with a massive lake cutting through the middle.

Asriel pushed a button on the railing and it moved aside as a platform came up level to the walkway. They stepped on it and the platform sank to the forest floor. "This is the forest in the top most plate. The ship's A.I. has full control over whether or not any individual has access to it and that includes me."

"Delta must like you then."

He chuckled low. "I like to come here when I want to be alone. The records show a time when monsters lived in the plate, but somewhere along the way, we forgot exactly why it was important that it stayed wild no matter who lived here. One of my ancestors wanted the whole thing deforested and completely terra formed. And Delta kicked everyone out and locked it down. There are still buildings here and it's fascinating to watch the land reclaim them."

Asriel stepped off the platform and offered Frisk his hand. She took it and he led her down a trail to the lake and an old dock with splitting wood. They sat on the dock with a lunch of sandwiches, the tablet between them.

Frisk hesitated before turning on the tablet. She looked at Asriel. "Before I turn the tablet on and go through the contents, I want to hear something from you for each thing you hear of me."

He eyed her suspiciously. "I don't know that I trust you yet."

Frisk snorted. "You're sitting in a very private place, alone, with the human you just watched take down the captain of the royal guard." She looked at him. "You trust me."

"Or maybe I believe I could handle you in a fight."

Frisk crossed her arms over her chest, head cocked to the side.

Asriel smiled. "I'm a very private person, Frisk. Even separate from being a sovereign."

She waited, smiling patiently.

He sighed rubbing the back of his neck. "All right."

Frisk switched on the tablet, sorting through the files to the pictures.

"You have quite a few things on here."

"Oh yeah. Music, recipes, books, films, favorite pieces of art, photographs I've taken." She opened the file of family photos, pausing for a moment on the picture of her and Chara, before turning to one a big wolfhound. "This is our pet dog Veruni. He's an Irish Wolfhound. He was very loyal and sweet tempered." She looked at him. "Your turn."

"I like your hair that color."

Frisk blinked, cheeks reddening. "Doesn't count!"

He shrugged. "By the look on your face, I'd say it does."

Frisk looked away, lips pursed. "I'm asking you questions from here on out."

Asriel's smile was rather smug. "As you wish."

She slid the next picture forward and two little girls swam in a lake. "Mom and Dad would take Chara and I out to the cabin all the time. Unless it was actually cold out, we'd spend all day swimming in the lake." She looked at him. "If you could have anyone in the universe, living or dead, as a dinner guest, who would you pick?"

Asriel blinked, a little lost for words. He looked out over the lake. "Dr. Gaster." His shoulders drooped. "There is so much about this ship that I don't know. Decisions in design that I don't understand but guard faithfully. How long did he expect us to be searching for a new home? Sometimes I look at the ship and think that it was never intended for us to settle somewhere. That we would always and forever travel the stars."

He took a breath and let it out slowly. Reaching over, he slid his finger across the tablet screen to reveal the next picture: Frisk in a black and silver dress uniform. A patch with a green snake, fangs bared and ready to strike, was affixed to the left sleeve.

"This was my dress uniform during the war. I think I wore it all of three times. Once the war was over, I hid it away."

"Why?"

Frisk stared at the picture. "Because things like that had political uses and I just wanted to walk away. I'd done my job and I wanted to leave it behind. I left the military and got on the Osiris." She closed her eyes. "What in your life do you feel the most grateful for?"

Asriel thought about that for a moment. "My parents. Even under the daily stress of managing the Delta, they always had time for me. They did everything in their power to give me a normal childhood."

"Then what made you so hard?"

He blinked. "It's your turn, not mine."

"Is it the heavy weight of being responsible for thousands of lives? Of not feeling like you have a life of your own or even the freedom to pursue one?"

Asriel leaned back, regarding her with a new attentiveness. "I have no one with whom to share this burden and I am not my parents."

"True. You don't have your father's compassion or your mother's tact. You are a man of direct action and your decisions reflect very little thought for the everyday lives of your people. You concentrate on everyone's survival overall." She leaned in. "So what makes me different? You've watched me nearly everyday for a year. You're physical with me and lots of people think it's entirely out of character for you. What is it?"

He sighed, smiling softly. "When I saw you sleeping in the pod, I thought that, for the first time, I had something besides the Delta. Something besides the endless monotony of management to think about. To concentrate on. Something that was completely beyond my control. So I spent the last year watching you. Watching you struggle through therapy with a smile. Watching you make friends out of even the toughest monsters to crack. Watching you and realizing that you made up for in spades everything that I lack."

Frisk ducked her head, running a hand through her hair. "I'm not sure you want the only human in what is very likely existence to be your PR rep."

Asriel laughed. "I don't need a PR rep!" He took her hand. "You've spent every available moment to yourself studying the ship. Delta talks confidently of your comprehension of the workings of the ship, that having memories of what the Earth was truly like has already allowed it to adjust the environments in beneficial ways. I need someone who understands the complexities of the Delta, has the empathy to understand my people, and the ability to combine those things to offer me real advice."

Frisk smiled. "Does that mean I get to have lunch with you here on occasion?"

"Yes."

"Deal."

Asriel's data pad beeped. He looked at it and grimaced. "Dammit!" He stood. "Another biome has gone under quarantine."

Frisk put her things away in the case and took his offered hand to stand. "Which one?"

"Snowdin."

Her hand gripped the case tightly. "Sans? Papyrus?"

"Are both quarantined in the Lab right now. Alphys is checking them for infection."

Her voice trembled. "The school children? The dog guards? Grillby?"

Asriel put his hands on her shoulders. "All we can do is wait."

Frisk's shoulders dropped, head hanging. He pulled her close, rocking her gently in time with the lake water lapping at the dock.

"I"m sorry."

His hand gently petted her hair. "Why?"

"It must seem silly for me to be sad over people I don't know very well."

Asriel gripped her chin between his thumb and forefinger, and lifted her face toward his. "After the conversation we just had, this is the exact thing I find so desirable." He stepped away and bent to gather up the remains of their lunch. "From the elevator, you can get on the tram to the Lab. Will you be all right to head back to the Lab by yourself?"

Frisk sighed, somewhat relieved. "You trust me to wander around alone?"

He shrugged. "I was more concerned that someone would attack you more than any trouble you might get yourself in. Now I just worry that you won't ask the ship for directions if you get lost."

Frisk smiled. "I promise to ask Delta for directions if I get lost." She gently touched a bulge on the back of his black pants. "You know you have a bump in the back of your pants, right?"

He blushed suddenly and stood up straight. "That's my tail."

Frisk leaned around to look at his face. "You have a tail?"

His eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Yes."

"Can I see it?"

He thought about it for a moment before smiling. "No."