W. D. Gaster - An Undertale Story

Chapter Eighteen

   Gaster had yet to do anything with Determination. He had extracted it from Chara's half-developed soul. He had studied it a bit. In fact, when he originally extracted it, he had even smelled it. But he never tested it on anything. But he wanted to. Because, without testing it on anything, anything at all, he wouldn't know what it was. But his curiosity ate at him. He needed to know what Determination was.
   So Gaster thought about it. He wondered what he could test it on. He debated whether or not he wanted to test it on an inanimate object. But that wouldn't work. There would be no point. He could not be told by the subject what its effects were. Then he debated testing Determination on an animal. But when he thought about it, he didn't want to hurt a poor, innocent animal. Then he came to the possibility that he could test it on a fellow monster. But he immediately erased the thought from his mind. He couldn't bear the thought of one of his friends being harmed by results of an experiment. Then he came to one more thought.
   What if he tested Determination on himself?
   But if he did, he would need to be as cautious as possible. If anything happened to Gaster, his sons would have no parent. No guardian. And Gaster couldn't -no, wouldn't- think about him being dead. About Sans and Papyrus being alone. So he really didn't want to test Determination on himself.
    But if he ruled all four of the ideas out, he could never know the effects of Determination.
    Gaster sat in his Lab for hours, trying to decide what to do. He didn't want to fail Dr. Raven, even if she was dead. He especially didn't want to fail Raven's parents, who were alive and counting on Gaster. And he didn't want to fail himself. He needed to know the effects of Determination. He needed to know what it was. But still, after hours of locking himself in his office and thinking, he still didn't know what to do. So he decided to leave, go to the castle, and talk to King Asgore about the project.
  

   "Hello.", Gaster said as he entered the "Judgement Hall", as Asgore called it. The place had windows, light gleaming through them. There were large pillars. The entire room was light and dark gold. It was a large, long hallway. Each of the windows had the symbol of "delta rune" on them. The entire room was elegant and bright.
   Gaster walked down the hall, up to the Judge of Creatures. The Judge of Creatures opened his eyes, the eyes gleaming a bright red color. He was examining Gaster's LV and EXP. Once the Judge was done, he closed his eyes and stepped out of Gaster's path, allowing Gaster to pass through.
   "Thank you.", Gaster said. The Judge of Creatures nodded his head.
   "Of course.", the Judge said.
   Gaster walked to the end of the Hall, arriving at the door. He placed his bony hand on the knob, turning it as he became more and more nervous. He opened the door.
   Behind that door was the Throne Room, where Asgore sat on his throne. The place had a dim lighting. There were flowers everywhere, flowers which Asgore had grown. There were also a majority of leaves and vines. The walls were the same golden color as the Judgement Hall. In the center of the room was the dark purple throne, which Asgore was sitting in. Asgore perked his head up at the sight of Gaster.
   "Oh! Hello, there!", Asgore said with a tone of surprise in his voice. He had not been expecting a visit from Gaster, so of course he was surprised. Asgore smiled, tapping one of his feet lightly.
   "Hello, King Asgore.", Gaster greeted in response. He almost bowed, but he then remembered that Asgore wouldn't want him to do so. Gaster instead just nodded his head, as a replacement for bowing.
   "Why are you here today, Royal Scientist?", Asgore wondered as he tapped his furry fingers repeatedly on the arm of his chair. Gaster took in a deep breath. He looked around to see if there was a spare chair anywhere in the room, but of course, there wasn't. So Gaster only stood. He looked back to Asgore.
   "Well,", Gaster started. "I have a question about an experiment." Asgore nodded, gesturing for Gaster to continue. "Okay, so you were there when Jecklyn and Marco told me about Determination, correct?"
   "Of course.", Asgore answered.
   "Alright.", Gaster said with a smile. "So you know about the Determination. I... I want to find out what it is."
   Asgore wore a confused look. "I gave you Chara's soul, didn't I?", he asked. Gaster nodded. He didn't want to think about the prince's death, so he wanted to get past the subject of Chara's soul quickly.
   "Yes. And I extracted the Determination from her soul as well.", Gaster said in a rush. "But all I can do is study it. Even though I have, I still don't know what Determination is or what it does. I need to test it on something. And I was thinking of what to test it on. This is why I came to you." Asgore still seemed a bit confused.
   Gaster took in a sharp breath. He exhaled slowly. Then he explained the reasons he didn't want to test on an inanimate object, an animal, a monster, or himself. Asgore thought for a minute.
   "Well, I would say you should test it on monsters, but that would make me go against my duty to keep all monsters safe.", Asgore explained. Gaster nodded in agreement. "And I would say maybe an animal, but we already have such a shortage on animals as it is." Gaster nodded in agreement once more.
   "And I completely agree with you on your opinion of the inanimate objects.", Asgore said, making simple hand gestures as he spoke. "So I suppose the only other factor would be you." Gaster perked his head up, a worried feeling creeping onto him.
   "Sir, I thought about that, but-", Gaster started, but was cut off.
   "I know. You don't want anything to happen to you because you want to keep your sons safe.", Asgore said. Gaster nodded, thankful that Asgore understood.
   "So...?", Gaster trailed off.
   "Other than testing Determination on yourself, I don't think you have any options.", Asgore said with a bit of a shrug. Gaster placed his hand on his bony neck, letting out a small "hm" in response. Gaster turned for the door he had entered.
   "I'm sorry if I couldn't help.", Asgore said. Gaster waved it off.
   "You're fine. In fact, you may have helped.", Gaster said, smiling. Asgore seemed a bit confused by the comment, but Gaster seemed motivated, so he didn't give a remark.
   Gaster walked back to his warm home in the Hotlands, where Sans and Papyrus were. He was prepared to begin his work. His tests with Determination.

   The tests on himself.

A/N : Sorry if this chapter is a bit short! I hope you liked it!