W. D. Gaster - An Undertale Story

Chapter Five

   "Determination". It seemed more like a feeling or act to Gaster than a substance. Gaster looked confusedly at Jecklyn. "Excuse me, but what exactly is determination?", he asked Jecklyn. "Will you explain it to me?" Jecklyn nodded.
   "Well...", Jecklyn started, "Raven found out about determination when she went to school on the Surface. Determination is both a substance and a kind of soul for humans. Humans with a soul of determination are rare, and much different than a human with any other kind of soul. Most of them only have two choices of how to live their lives. Either they were a nice human with a pure, merciful life. Or they were a violent human that destroyed anything around them. Any humans with a soul of determination that could live a normal, neutral life, were a special human."
   Gaster nodded at Jecklyn's words, fascinated by "determination" and what it was. Currently, he knew about someone with a soul of determination, but he didn't know what it was. Gaster waved his hands in a circular motion, intrigued by the story.
   Jecklyn looked up at Gaster. "Raven was interested in determination and what it was. So she decided to try and find out. There were two humans with souls of determination in the town where we lived, a boy and a girl. Raven became good friends with them and hung out with them. She wanted to find out what determination was from two humans with it. Raven had kept telling Marco and I that she almost knew what determination was, that she was so close to finding out what it was that she could almost taste it. But when she almost found out what it was, we moved to the Underground. Monsters had said it was a great place, so we moved there. Raven never found out what determination in itself was. Just that it was both a substance and a kind of soul."
   Jecklyn grabbed Gaster's right hand and gripped it tightly. "But maybe you can find out what determination is.", she said, a hopeful twinkle in her eyes.
   Gaster's eyesockets widened. "M-me?", Gaster stuttered. "Y-you think I can find out what determination is?" Gaster's breathing slightly became more rapid, suddenly feeling weighed down by the pressure of Jecklyn's words.
   Jecklyn nodded and grabbed Gaster's other hand. "Look, I know that this will take a long time. It's not as if I'm expecting you to find out what it is in a day, or month, or even a year! I know this will take a long time, so take as much time as you need.", she explained. Gaster smiled, relieved that he wasn't under as much pressure as it had seemed.
   "Jecklyn.", Marco said, tapping his wife on the shoulder. "We should be going. Fire is expecting to see us at his restaurant soon." Jecklyn nodded. Gaster recognized the name. Fire was a creature made of fire, with only eyes. He had a son named Grillby, who looked very similar to him.
   Jecklyn pulled her hands away from Gaster's and walked beside her husband. "Have a good day, Dr. W. D. Gaster!", she called out as her and Marco left through the black crystal doors. Asgore looked at Gaster and smiled.
   "Thank you for coming here, Gaster.", Asgore thanked. He walked past Gaster then came to a stop at the doors. He turned his body to look at the skeleton. "Do you know your way back without having Alphys to guide you?", he asked. Gaster nodded.
   "Thank you, King Asgore.", Gaster said. Asgore waved it off, just as he had when Gaster had bowed earlier. Asgore left through the doors.
   Gaster wanted to leave the room. But as he did, he did slowly, only one thing on his mind. Determination, he thought, what is determination? The question set in Gaster's mind as he went back down the blue elevator out of floor "Malice" and back onto floor "1".  Alphys was waiting outside the blue elevator.
   Determination. The word repeated in Gaster's head as the elevator doors had opened. He was deep in thought until...
   "Dr. Gaster!", Alphys shouted, trying to catch his attention. Gaster suddenly noticed Alphys, caught off-guard by her shout. He yelped loudly and a few of the other monsters chuckled, including Alphys. She laughed the longest though. Gaster sighed, disappointed in himself for having yet another embarrassing moment with the yellow lizard creature.
   Alphys finally stopped laughing and handed a stack of blank paper to Gaster. Gaster held the papers, curious of what they were for. "What's this for, if I may ask?", Gaster asked, looking at Alphys. Alphys looked back at him.
   "Oh, the papers are for you to design your scientific ideas and notes on!", Alphys explained. Gaster looked at the stack of papers. "So, you remember how to get to your lab, correct?", Alphys asked. Gaster nodded his head and waved "goodbye" to Alphys.
   He walked to the normal elevator that led to the dark maze of rooms that would eventually lead to his lab room. The elevator jolted slightly harder than it had the day before. Is there something wrong with this elevator?, he thought to himself, hoping that this would be a safe elevator ride.
   Ding! The elevator had once again arrived to the dark turquoise floor with television screens and hundreds of doors. Gaster stepped out of the elevator and made his way to his room slowly, as to not drop any of his blank papers. Then he finally arrived to the familiar door labeled "Royal Scientist". Gaster summoned one of his magical hands to grab the keys out of his pocket and unlock the door. The hand pushed the door open then disappeared. Gaster walked through the door, turned on the light, and set the papers on the white counter where Dr. Raven's papers were.
   Gaster sat down in the brown wooden chair in front of the white counter. He looked down into the cabinets in the bottom part of the counter. Opening one, he found a pencil. He smiled and grabbed the pencil immediately, ready to design. He looked at the papers and began to draw.
   Lines began to cover the paper, showing a rough sketch of a machine. There were now other papers that showed up-close pieces of what seemed to be the same machine. Gaster had begun to design what Raven Malice was never able to create.

The CORE.