Thought it would be a good idea to switch up setting for this chapter, focusing on Alphys and Asgore this time round. Just wanted to expand the story is all, don't panic! Anyhoo, enough talk, more read. Enjoy!
Chapter four:
Close Encounters of the Nerd Kind
Alphys quickly emptied the contents of the dog food bag into several bowls and set them all in the center of the room. She hurried out the door, and locked it behind her. She then joined a very nervous Asgore at an observation window and waited. After a few moments, white goo started to drip down from the ceiling and ran down the walls. Another cluster of it seeped through the floor tiles and rose upward. From these creatures, Asgore could just about make out a face, no, faces, that he seemed to recognise. As they came to a halt in front of the bowls, one of the heads seemed to detach itself and land in the bowl, absorbing all the food in a matter of seconds. Afterwards, the lone head reattached with its host, before turning to face the window. Both Alphys and Asgore shifted uncomfortably, but the amalgamation simply nodded it heads before cracking a wide grin - far too wide for Alphys' liking - and disappeared into the floor. After a few moments, she took a handkerchief from one of her coat pockets and proceeded to wipe her brow clean of sweat. She looked at the King, who seemed to have difficulty adjusting to this uncomfortable situation.
"Haha… S-sorry ab-out that… They, uh, get kind of c-cranky when they're n-n-not fed." She did her best to smile, but her own nerves just wouldn't allow it. Asgore shakily raised a hand.
"It's okay, Alphys, I just… Wasn't sure what to expect when you told me there were strange beings down here." Asgore's own smile seemed to calm Alphys down considerable, enough to remember their original purpose for coming down here. "Sh-shall we continue, S-Sir?"
He nodded his large head. "Please." He motioned for Alphys to continue leading him deeper into the lab.
"A-alright then." With that, Alphys unlocked the door again and, after double-checking for any amalgamations, lead Asgore through a door labeled "DT RESEARCH". At the door, Alphys typed in her four-digit passcode, which gave with with a quick hisssssss. Once they were both inside, the door shut behind them. Even though Alphys had been working down here for years, the sudden noise still got her by surprise. Shaking it off, she walked over to a group of cabinets that were able to slide outwards. She skimmed a few handles with her fingers, before finding the one she was looking for.
"Here it is." She murmured to herself. Her hand closed around one of the metal handles and pulled. The cabinet slid back, emitting an awful screeching sound, causing Asgore's big paws to rush to his ears. Once the dust from the sudden movement had cleared, both Asgore and his royal scientist peered inside. Inside the drawer was a long, cylinder jar, and inside that was a bright orange liquid. Its glow was so intense it illuminated at least half the room, so Alphys and Asgore had to shield their eyes slightly. However, when they adjusted, Asgore's eyes widened in wonder.
"So." He began, still a little shaky from the previous encounter. "This is it?"
Alphys hoisted the jar out from its holder, nodding. "Yep. This is… Well this is pure DETERMINATION." Handling it with some difficulty, Asgore moved towards her.
"Would you care for a hand?" He asked, seeing that Alphys wasn't accustomed to lifting such a heavy object. Still, she shook her.
"No thank you Sir." She grunted. "I've… just about… got it." Finally, she set the jar down on the counter, and flicked on the overhead spotlight. "Okay… First off…" Alphys didn't get to tell Asgore her plan as she was interrupted by a rather loud sound. Something like the smashing of glass combined with the groaning of bending tubes. Asgore looked ready to panic again, but Alphys just let out a heavy sigh. "Please uh, stay here Sir. I know what it is." Knowing he could confide his trust in his scientist, he nodded.
"Very well, I shall remain here then." He took a lab chair and sat down, which creaked under his wait. "But please don't take too long." He added, sweat already starting to form on his head. Alphys give him a small thumbs-up before heading out the door, and made her way down the corridor.
She knew exactly what it was, and to be honest, she was starting to tire of it. Yes, she had grown accustomed to this environment and its… inhabitants, but that didn't mean she liked it. She turned a corner and came to a dark room. She was about to reach for the nearby light switch when she stopped. Her ears picked up a sound she had never wanted to hear again. And before she could brush it off as paranoia, her eyes sadly confirmed it for her. Despite the gloom of the room before her, she could just about make out a large shape in the center. She didn't need to study it for long before knowing what it was.
Loud, deep, and heavy breathing filled the room, along with the hissing of machinery. As Alphys' eyes started to adjust, she could make out more and more of her worst nightmare. She found a millisecond of spare time in her brain to curse herself for ever creating such a monster, even if it was just a… flower. Now she could make out all of it. The snapping of the jaws, the bulging of the pipes, and the breathing. He had finally come back to kill her. Fighting back the tears that threatened to spill, and feeling as though she should face her worst fear head-on, she flicked on the lights, and braced herself.
The DT extraction machine came into view.
Alphys just stared. She felt like slumping back against the wall and holding her head in her hands. This time she really did cry. Drops of tears moistened the sleeves of her lab coat as she wiped her eyes with her arms. Other monsters had always said that at the final moments of your life, you see it flash before your eyes. Alphys had always been skeptical of this, but now she could say that she was among them. After a few minutes, she forced herself to get to her feet and, still sniffing a little, proceeded to where the noise had come from. She knew exactly where she was headed, as it was the same place every time. She walked into the showers and stopped in the centre of the room. She was greeted with the sight of shattered glass from the lights, and over that was one of the air conditioning pipes, snapped clean in half, with a thin trail of slime leaking down from it. Alphys reached into her right coat pocket and produced a single biscuit in the shape of a bone, and held it above her head.
"Here boy!" She called out as she shook the treat above her head. Soon enough, the entire room seemed to resonate, and Alphys prepared herself. Seemingly out of nowhere, Endogeny suddenly sprouted from the walls and bounded towards Alphys. However it stopped once it saw the treat in Alphys' hand. It sat its amorphous body on the floor and waited.
"You want this boy?" Alphys asked, knowing full well what the answer would be. Endogeny responded by creating an orifice somewhere on its body and allowing a single tendril to roll out, producing that infamous orange liquid from the tip of its tongue. Naturally, Alphys was disgusted, but she didn't budge. Instead, she turned to one of the shower cubicles, pulling back her arm and aiming. "Then go get it!" Alphys, with all her might, threw her arm forward and released the biscuit. As soon as she did, the amalgamation rose and chased after it. The treat landed in a shower and disappeared into the drain. Endogeny wasn't far behind. With one great motion, he lept into the shower and shoved his head into the drain. Within seconds, almost all of its body was down the drain, save for its giant tail, which eventually disappeared with something that sounded like a muffled woofing. Satisfied that they wouldn't be disturbed again for another few days, Alphys puffed her chest out proudly and exited it room. She locked the door behind her and started to trek back to the research room, ready to work on a way to end the monsters' entrapment once and for all.
A few minutes later, Alphys walked through the lab door, where Asgore was waiting patiently. His expression brightened when he saw Alphys again.
"Ah, Alphys, you've returned." He said thankfully. "Truthfully, I was starting to get a little nervous. I am quite unfamiliar with these surroundings." Alphys nodded understandingly.
"Yeah, t-this place gives me th-the chills too." Her eyes widened a little. "Sir." She added. Asgore gave a cheery smile before signalling to the glowing jar.
"Shall we?" He asked. Alphys needed no other encouragement to start working. "So." Asgore began. "Where do we start?"
"W-well, DETERMINATION is the product of human souls. It's w-what they use in order to achieve something. Monsters have it too, but it's nowhere near as powerful as a human's." She said with a tone of sadness. Alphys always thought humans were fascinating, and she wanted to be as strong-willed as one. But how could she do that when she couldn't even be as strong as another monster? Before Asgore noticed her mood, she continued. "So, I've been trying to rewrite the DNA of human DETERMINATION to make it more compatible with monster DNA. Injecting pure DETERMINATION into a monster straight off the bat is the height of foolishness. I'd know because I even tried it on a few subjects." Although he wasn't as intelligent as Alphys in that respect, Asgore did his best to follow along.
"These subjects, where are they? What happened to them?" Alphys' head dropped a little.
"Well, y-you met some of them al-already…" She said, unsure of how the King would react. he did, but not in the way she expected. He dropped down on one knee so he was just about Alphys' height, and rested a paw on her shoulder.
"You needn't worry about my reaction Alphys. You were just doing your job, as you should. What happened to those monsters is quite unfortunate, yes. But do not blame yourself for something you couldn't have predicted." She allowed a few tears to escape before shaking her head.
"C-come on, this barrier isn't going to destroy itself." She said as she walked over to the jar. She grabbed a syringe from one of the table drawers and unscrewed the lid of the jar. Alphys slid the point of the syringe into the liquid and extracted a small amount. Once that was done, she replaced the lid and deposited the DETERMINATION into a small tube. Taking that in one hand, she proceeded to roll up her sleeve in order to obtain the DNA of a monster, when she felt a large paw stop her. She turned to see Asgore smiling down at her.
"Alphys, you have but yourself through enough trauma for one day. Take mine instead." With that, Asgore undid the leather straps of his armour covering one of his forearms, and held it out to Alphys. She looked a little taken aback, but saw no point in arguing. Instead, she took out a strap and placed it near Asgore's bicep and tightened it. He winced a little, but didn't tell her to stop, so she assumed he wanted her to continue. As Alphys positioned the needle, she looked up at Asgore.
"This, uh…m-may sting a little." Asgore nodded understandingly. Alphys gave a small breath, and inserted the needle. They both winced. Alphys because she was never good with blood, despite her being a scientist, and Asgore because, well, he was the one getting prodded with a needle after all. Alphys had to hold back a gag as the crimson liquid was sucked into the syringe. She pulled it out, and quickly handed Asgore a cloth to wipe his arm with, before ejecting his blood into another vial. Alphys placed a drop of both Asgore's blood and the DETERMINATION onto separate glass slides and set them under her microscope. She pulled a small remote out of her pocket and turned to a monitor. She clicked the remote in its direction, which caused it to instantly come to life.
"S-senpi… I never knew you felt that way…" Came the vioce of a teenage girl on the screen, cat-like ears coming out of the top of her head. Alphys was sweating buckets in seconds.
"U-uh… T-this isn't… this isn't…" She may have been mumbling, but on the inside she was screaming. Her shaky fingers finally managed to press down on the button to change the channel, and in an instant the girl was replaced by a much more formal-looking screen, instead displaying magnified images of both specimens. Asgore's blood was displayed on the left side of the screen, while the DETERMINATION was displayed to the right. Both looked surprisingly similar, almost unsettlingly so.
"So, um… this is it." She didn't dare chance a look at Asgore, she had already been through enough embarrassment to last a lifetime. Instead, she continued. "Like I said, I've uh, been working on ways to modify DETERMINATION so that a monster can wield it and not lose its structural form." Asgore was truly understanding this time.
"Right… And was had this got to do with the barrier?" He questioned. Alphys was more than happy to answer.
"Well, passing through the barrier requires a monster soul and a human soul. If we get this right, the a monster will be able to wield a soul just as powerful as both, if not even more powerful." She drew in a deep breath, before resuming her explanation. "I've almost got it, but it only just about works on…" Alphys suddenly realised where she was going with this, but the words had already slipped through. "...boss monsters…" She trailed off. Alphys tried to find the words to explain. "B-but I would n-never ask y-you to…" Again, she was cut off.
"Alphys. When I took up the role of King, I swore an oath that I would do anything and everything I could to ensure my people's happiness. If that means taking a risk as big as this, then so be it." He looked over at the jar of bright orange liquid. "Besides, I must redeem myself for the atrocities I have committed." They both knew what he was talking about. After all, they didn't just come across six human souls. As a result, Asgore's LV had risen to 5. "Now please." Alphys could make out thin lines of tears starting to form at the edge of his eyes. "Let us be done with this." Without saying a word, Asgore walked over to a nearby bed and lay himself down on it. He then looked to Alphys and waited for her to proceed.
Alphys wanted to refuse. She really did. But she knew that this may be the best chance at freedom that the monsters have. So, begrudgingly, Alphys walked over to the bed and began hooking him up to wires that would monitor his condition. The screen on the wall switched to one that displayed all of Asgore's vitals. His HP, his ATK, DF, and his soul colour. Once that was all in place, she turned and looked at the syringe full of a glowing orange colour. She picked up the syringe containing the DETERMINATION and walked over to when Asgore lay. Truthfully, she didn't want to hurt the King, but she also wanted to get it over and done with as soon as possible. Alphys could feel her hand trembling. Even as she raised the needle to his neck, her mind was racing with possibilities. What if he didn't survive? What if he became just another amalgamation? Her train of thought screeched to a halt when Asgore placed a paw on her trembling hand. He said nothing to her, but instead guided her hand over to his jugular and smiled at her. He gave her a final nod before closing his eyes, and waited.
Alphys closed her eyes too, but only for a moment. She took a quick breath, made peace with whichever god was listening, and inserted the needle. Alphys then pressed her thumb against the pump and pushed, injecting the DETERMINATION into Asgore's bloodstream. For a few painful seconds, nothing happened. She waited a few more moment, still nothing. She noticed Asgore's eyes were still closed, so she decided to check on him to see if he was okay. Before she could even think about moving her arm, Asgore's eyes shot open, a loud yell erupting from him. Alphys cover her ears. She had never heard the King in this way before, and it was terrifying. He tossed and turned violently on the table, knocking over a few instruments in the process. The sound of loud static caused Alphys to tear her gaze away from the King to look at the screen. All of Asgore's readings were shooting up and down rapidly, and his soul was changing colour faster than she could process. The entire room felt like it was shaking, and it probably was. Alphys turned back to Asgore, who was arching his back up from the bed. She was so distracted by this sight, and so filled with worry that she failed to see the light that had dislodged from the ceiling directly above her. It raced towards her head at speed.
And then everything went black.
Soon afterwards, Alphys opened her eyes again, slowly. As she opened them, she noticed the room had finally stopped shaking. She was pleased for a few seconds until her eyes fell upon the bed on which Asgore was. But he wasn't led down, he wasn't ever arching over in pain. He was sat upright on the edge of the bed, gently rubbing his chest. Suddenly remembering the whole point of this procedure, Alphys' eyes rushed to look over at the screen. Unfortunately, it had fallen to the floor and smashed, making the readings unreadable. She quickly picked herself up and rushed to Asgore's side. She probably would have asked how he was if she weren't absolutely ecstatic to see the result. Instead, she lightly punched Asgore on the shoulder, hoping it would trigger his body's defence mechanism. To her relief, it did. His soul popped out of his chest, ready to do battle. Alphys stopped. Asgore stopped. Both of them stared in wonder at the King's soul. It wasn't his ordinary snow-colour soul, no.
Asgore's soul, was now a healthy shade of Gold.
Told you it was gonna heat up, didn't I? ;) I hope I delivered, and that you guys are satisfied for now. Again, thank you all for your continued support, and I'll be back soon! Seeya!