Rachel let out a soft groan as she stared at the bright screen in front of her, covered in equations and complicated chemical names. She raised a hand to run it down over her face, a long sigh drawing from her lips. She had been staring at the computer for hours now, trying to figure out why her formula wasn't working.

She was tasked, along with the rest of her laboratory staff, to create a serum that would make the plants start to grow again. The country had just gone through its worst crisis in history, the plants wouldn't grow and produce any fruits, causing mass starvation. It seemed to happen overnight, and there was no seeming cause as to why everything stopped growing.

Rachel dropped her hands from her face and leaned back in her chair debating over a nice cup of coffee. After a short moment of deliberating, she decided a cup of coffee was exactly what she needed. Especially since the numbers in front of her were starting to swim around and turn into different shapes. She definitely needed a break.

She stands up from her desk, after locking her desktop, and she takes a moment to have a full-bodied stretch. She hums softly to herself as she walks away from her desk, making her way out of her office. She was lucky enough to have her own office, she supposed her seniority finally paid off for her. She no longer had to just have a cubicle in the main part of the lab, she had been promoted when project Grow the Plants started.

She scrunched her nose as she thought of the name, as good as their president was President Asgore was terrible at naming things. But she quickly shook off the thought and started to make her way down the hallway to the breakroom, almost salivating at the thought of a nice cuppa joe. She rounded the corner into the room, and she made her way straight to the coffee maker. There were a few people milling about, monster and human alike, drinking coffee and softly murmuring amongst each other. In the corner, sitting by himself as always; was Sans, one of the head researchers of the project.

The short skeleton sat hunched over his cup, his eye sockets dark as he seemed to be lost in thought. He wore his usual attire, a white sweater with black basketball shorts and a pair of bunny slippers. The only thing that made him look professional was the lab coat he wore over the outfit. He sat there unmoving; his phalanges wrapped around the handle of his coffee mug.

Rachel frowned softly as she saw him so alone and lost in thought. Although he always wore a smile, she could tell that his mood was dropping week by week; hell, even day by day. She felt something welling up in her chest as she looked at him, and she felt compelled to go sit with him. They had hardly ever spoken, Sans was mostly a loner – except when it came to Alphys, the other head researcher. He was never unfriendly, but he did spend most of his time in his office, with the door shut. She heard rumors going around the lab that his door was closed so often because he was sleeping. People claimed to hear snoring from outside the door, but Rachel wasn't sure if she could believe it or not. Some of these people were cutthroat and would tear anyone down for the chance of their own promotion.

She went about making her cup of coffee, grateful for their new coffee maker. It now made coffee cup by cup, so she could always have fresh coffee. She put the pod in and pressed the start button and waited for her coffee to start brewing. Once it was done, she went to the fridge and pulled out the creamer, poured some into her coffee then put it back. She took a sip of the hot liquid, hissing softly through her teeth after she swallowed.

She looked over at Sans again, who was still sat in the same position. She pursed her lips in thought for a moment, wondering if she should go over and break his train of thought. After a moment she made up her mind, and she wandered over to his table. She took a seat across from him, and she saw the scientists around her give her quick bewildered glance. Sans was mysterious, and his attitude and temper lately made him even more of an enigma to all of the employees.

Sans still sat there; sockets darkened, and hand wrapped around the coffee mug in front of him. He didn't acknowledge that she was there at all, not shifting his weight or gaze at all. Rachel pursed her lips again, debating on if this was a bad idea or not. But she was already here, so it was too little too late. She cleared her throat softly and spoke, "Uh, Sans? Are you okay?"

It took a moment, but the pinpricks returned to his eyes, and his gaze raised up to meet Rachel's. He jumped slightly after their eyes met, and he took a moment to look around and reorient himself. "Sorry," he started, "I think I zoned out there. Please tell me you weren't there for too long." He had the grace to look slightly embarrassed, although his smile never moved. In fact, even as he spoke his mouth didn't move.

Rachel grinned and shook her head, waving off the idea, "Nah, I just sat down. I don't know how long you've been sitting here before I got here... You looked totally gone in thought."

He let out a soft chuckle and ran a bony hand over the back of his skull, looking embarrassed for a moment, "Yeah, I kinda was. Don't tell my brother or Alphys that I was slacking off again. I'll never hear the end of it, especially since we got that deadline." He froze and a bead of sweat formed on the side of his head, "I uh... Forget you heard that."

Rachel felt her eyes widen and she sat up ramrod straight. She looked around them, and once she saw everyone was sufficiently in their own conversations, she turned back to Sans. "What do you mean, a deadline?" she almost hissed out. She leaned in close so they couldn't be overheard, and Sans did the same.

He let out a long sigh and shook his head, not speaking for a long moment. Rachel was about to prompt him again when he did finally speak up, "Our investors are getting tired of not seeing results. We have to make a drastic change and fast, the money is drying up." Rachel shook her own head and folded her arms, "But we're so close! They can't just..."

"They don't see it that way, they just see their money going down the drain and no plant life to show for it. On top of that, people are tired of giving over their crops. What few things we can get to grow are being hoarded. And people are getting desperate. It's been two years, and we still can't even get a flower to bloom." He let out a long sigh and rubbed a hand tiredly over his face, "And I can't convince them anymore. They're all scared about not having any more food, and I can't blame them."

Rachel shook her head as she let the information sink in, they were going to be shut down if they couldn't get even a rose to open. She felt her mind reeling, trying to grasp any ideas that they hadn't tried yet. But nothing was coming up, everything she could think of she had already tried so many different ways. "What are we going to do?" she asked almost pathetically. This whole project had been her life for the last two years. Hell, she couldn't even remember the last time she had gone home and properly slept. She elected to sleep on the couch in her office most nights.

Sans sighs as he shakes his head, and he leaned back in his chair. "We've tried everything already Rachel, you know that as well as I do. We may just be shit outta luck." They sat there in silence for a long moment, and they just stared at each other. Sans looked over the human in front of him, her green eyes boring into his sockets, her auburn hair piled into a messy bun behind her head. Her pale skin seemed even paler when compared to the dark circles under her eyes, making her look almost unhealthy. Although to be fair, who in the lab looked healthy anymore? He could see the tightness in her shoulders, the way she sat ramrod straight, and knew she was still determined to find the cure. That was something he liked about Rachel, although he didn't really know her personally too well. But every time he saw her, she was buried in her work, even going as far as not going home. She had been wearing the same green blouse and black slacks for three days now. The only difference in her outfit was that she lost the lab coat at some point.

Seeing that determination in someone else almost gave him hope and a little bit of determination himself. But he found it quickly overshadowed by the looming disaster of the deadline, and what would happen if he couldn't come up with any results. Suddenly he remembered it, in the basement, and his face seemed to light up. Rachel noticed him straightening up, and she feels a smile tugging at her lips, "Did you just think of something?"

Sans took a look around, almost worriedly, before meeting Rachel's gaze again. He leaned in even closer, his eyes shifted side to side nervously, "We can't talk about it here, there's too many ears. But there is something you might be able to help me with." It was a big risk; nobody had toyed with the idea since the last world war... But they had to try something. It was a hail Mary pass, the last move he could make. Because this would be a giant money sink, and if it didn't work... The investors would pull out for sure.

Rachel simply nodded and started to stand up from the table, "Well what are we waiting for then?" Sans found himself taken aback for a moment, before he shook it off and stood up himself. "Follow me, then," he said simply before he led her out of the break room. Rachel followed behind him, both of their coffee mugs forgotten on the table.

Sans led Rachel down the hall, going towards the Maintenace stairway, and he spoke as they walked, "There's a forgotten part of the laboratory down in the basement... It was used back in the second World War. There's a machine there that can extract an essence, and I think that essence is the key to perfecting the cure."

Rachel followed along obediently, and she listened intently as he spoke. She nodded as the information sunk in, then her eyes widened, "Wait, back in the second World War? Wasn't that when we used DT to wipe out an entire country?"

Sans cringed slightly as she put it so bluntly, and he nodded slowly, "Well I'm glad you remember your history lessons. That makes this all a lot easier."

He continued to lead her down the staircase once they made it, going down to the basement, then past it. Rachel frowned as she saw the giant painted "B3" on the wall, and she voiced her concern, "I didn't know the basement went this deep."

"Like I said, this part of the lab is forgotten about. Everyone wanted to just sweep it under the rug. I only know about it because I stumbled across the old blueprints."

Rachel nodded slowly as he explained, and she bit her bottom lip nervously for a moment. After a moment she asked, "So what is this essence that we're extracting?"

Sans let out a soft sigh and stayed quiet for a moment, the bead of sweat appeared on the side of his head again. He debated on if he should tell her, it could be dangerous for her, but she deserved to know because of that right? "We're gonna be... Uh... Extracting your Determination."

Rachel's brows furrowed into a frown, and she stopped walking for a moment. She crossed her arms and shook her head, "Wait a minute, what? What do you mean my Determination? Are you talking about like... The emotion?" Sans let out a heavy sigh and stopped walking himself, and he turned to face the human. "Well, humans have something called Determination," he starts. "It's what makes the difference between us monsters and humans. It's why you bleed and can handle damage a lot better than us monsters. We used DT, or Determination, your... Emotion if that's what you wanna call it... To make that bomb back in the day. But I think we could use it in the serum for the plant life."

"Wait, what? You want to use DT for the serum? Isn't that just going to make it explode or something?"

Sans shook his head and raised his hands in surrender, "Wait a minute, just hear me out. The DT only made the bomb because we mixed it to explode. Humans used their determination against the enemy to make it a weapon. But we wouldn't be making it into a weapon. You're the most determined human I know in this lab Rachel. I know out of anyone; you would be the most likely to make it work."

Of course, he was talking out of his ass. He barely knew her, but he did constantly see her around the office. But maybe this would be the push she needed to go along with his plan. He felt almost scummy for going in this underhanded way... Almost. But he needed to do whatever it took to keep the project from failing. He could make this work; he knew he could.

Rachel stood there, pursing her lips in thought. This seemed dangerous, and like a pipe dream. The only other time they knew of this being used literally wiped a country off of the map. It was almost crazy to dredge that up again. But, despite not knowing the skeleton, she trusted him. He kept the lights on, and it seemed to be affecting him just as much as it all affected her. After a few tense and silent moments, she straightened her back and nodded, "Alright. Alright I'll help you."

If his grin could widen, it would've. He nodded eagerly and turned around to lead her down the last flight of stairs, "Good! Good I'm glad you'll help me. You're really... Determined to get the serum working." She could almost hear a rim shot in the distance, and she smiled and rolled her eyes, "That wasn't even one of your good ones."

He held up a hand to his chest in mock pain, "Oh Rachel, you wound me! I'll find another way to tickle your funny bone."

Rachel let out a peel of laughter as she followed him down the stairs, and then into a long corridor. He led her to a boarded-up door, and he wiped the sign of dust next to it. The sign read, "DT Extractor. Authorized Personnel ONLY." Sans grabbed a nearby metal rod, perhaps an old pipe, and started to pry the boards off of the door.

Rachel stood back, watching the skeleton as he worked, and she shielded her face from the flying splinters. Sans let out soft grunts as he worked, until all of the boards were pried off. Sans opened the door, exposing the dark room in front of them. Rachel gulped softly and felt panic start to rise up in her throat. Sans looked back at her, before he waved a hand to guide her to follow him, then he disappeared into the darkness before them. Rachel let out a soft whimper to herself, and she tiptoed up to the doorway. She peered into the inky blackness; another whimper threatened to leave her lips. But she held it back and took a step forward, letting herself be engulfed by the darkness.

Sans' voice called out from further in the room, "We just gotta find the light switch. There should still be power down here."

She nodded, remembered he couldn't see it, then forced herself to croak out, "G-Got it! I'll try and find it over here!" She made her way over to the wall next to the door and rested her hand flat against it. She groped around for a moment, before she started slowly walking along the wall. Time seemed to go to a crawl for the human, as she fought off the rising fear.

Her breath started to come faster and faster, and she could feel her hands start to tremble against the wall. Shadows started to dart in the corners of her vision, and she could feel her face red hot from the fear. "Found it!"

The lights suddenly clicked on, and blinded Rachel for a moment. But her vision adjusted quickly, and she could see the large lab they found themselves in. There was a large machine in the middle, that looked similar to a canine skull, with a seat in the mouth. Sans turned his attention to the human, his grin seeming to widen as he does, "Well, here it is."

Rachel nodded and looked up at it almost in awe, before she turned her attention back to the skeleton with her, "And you know how to operate it?"

Sans nodded and waved off her question with a bony hand, "I found some blueprints and instructions that detailed how the machine worked. I have a pretty good idea how to use it."

But Rachel didn't feel like that answer was really comforting, in fact it only made her more nervous. But it was too late to back out now. She was already down here, and if it was their only shot... Well, she'd never forgive herself if she never took the chance. She simply nodded in response and watched as he started tinkering with the machine, turning different dials and seemingly getting it ready for them.

She made her way over the machine herself, her steps leading her up to the chair in the machine. She examined the chair closely, and it seemed to be just a regular office chair. Definitely worn from its time down here, but no straps or chains to keep someone tied down. So, they didn't expect it to be painful enough to have to keep someone tethered, that did make her feel better at least.

Sans stood just outside the machine, at a terminal that he kept typing into. His face was set in concentration, at least... What she imagined his concentration face looked like, his smile was still plastered to his face, unmoving as always.

After a few moments, Sans poked his head around to where Rachel was, "I'm ready on my end..."

Rachel took a deep breath in, and closed her eyes for a moment, she needed to prepare herself and psyche herself up for this. She was going to be okay, she kept trying to convince herself, nothing was going to happen.

She let out the deep breath she had been holding, and she took her seat in the machine. Sans nodded once and his deep voice comforted her as he spoke softly, "Now, if anything happens and it's too much you just tell me, okay? I'll be watching you closely on this side, but I need you to let me know if it hurts."

Rachel nodded and closed her eyes for a moment, getting herself ready for... For whatever was about to happen. She opened her eyes again, and met Sans' while she nods, "Okay... Okay, I think I'm ready. And don't worry, I'm pretty sure my screams will let ya know how I am." She smiled slightly as she made her macabre joke. Sans himself let out a soft chuckle and shook his head. He disappeared around the side of the machine again, and he said, "Alright... Turning it on in three... Two... One..."

He flipped the switch, and they heard the hum of the machine as it turned on. Rachel could hear the soft crackling of electricity, and the hair stood up on the back of her neck. She gripped onto the arms of the chair, her teeth grit as she felt the fear spike in her chest again.

Suddenly there was a loud thud, and the lights turned out. Rachel gasped and her nails dug into the peeling leather under her hands. Her panic shot up into her throat again, choking her with fear as she stared wide eyed out into the darkness. And then it got darker... And darker... And darker still...

She fought back the urge to scream as she's left, seemingly floating in the inkiness. Her breath started to come in fast, harsh pants as she felt her face heat up. Her fear gripped at her throat and chest like a vice, and it only got tighter as a red light started to flash around her. It wasn't enough to fully illuminate the room, but it did show a figure at the door on the other side. Her breath caught in her throat, and she let out a fearful whimper. She started to pull her legs up onto the seat of the chair, curling into herself and trying to make herself as small as possible.

With each flash of the red light, the figure appeared closer to the machine, and her inside of it. As it got closer, she could make out its features. Its face appeared like it was melted, with a long crack above its right eye, and a crack below its left. It grinned at her; its head tilted to the side as it stared at her. It seemed to loom above her, like even if she were standing, she would have to crane her neck to look up at this creature.

She let out a long scream as it flashed right in front of the machine, appearing to lean into the machine and towards her. She closed her eyes tightly, another scream tearing from her throat. Then there was a large blast of wind, and a final bright flash of white light.