True to their word, Chara did their best to fit in with the monsters. Gaster, of course, could still see the awkwardness, the doubt, the second-guessing-but, then again, it wasn't all that long ago that he had been in Chara's shoes. Maybe Toriel was right.

Except...she wasn't.

Humans and monsters were fundamentally different. There was that...drive, that inclination toward conflict. But why? What gave them that? Was it a mere matter of being more solid than monsters? Was it simply a cultural development? Or was it something deeper, something that was more intrinsic to humanity as a whole?

The question rattled around in his skull for weeks, distracting him from his textbook. Half-baked theories were scattered around the lab, but he was still no closer to finding the answer to the question of what made humans...humans.

Of course...there was a way to experiment. After all, there was a viable candidate for study in very close proximity. And surely something like this would benefit monsters as a whole.

Yes, this was a good idea. He had no doubt that Asgore and Toriel would agree.

~

"Absolutely not!"

Gaster winced at the tandem dismissal. Really, he should have had some doubt going into this. He stood up straight and held up his hands.

"Please, hear me out," he said quickly, looking between the two frowning monarchs. "We have never had an opportunity for a study like this before. If we can study Chara, we may be able to find out what makes humans so different. So, when the Bar-"

"Chara is not different," Asgore said firmly.

Gaster couldn't help his irritated huff at that. But before he could argue, Toriel added, "And they are certainly not a...a lab rat for you to poke at. This is absolute nonsense, Gaster."

Gaster set his jaw, hands twitching out a few irritated words before he forced them down to his side. "As well-intentioned as you both are, Chara is a human. And this study will give us the opportunity to understand humans." Both Dreemurrs opened their mouths to argue, but he waved his hands quickly and blazed on, signing wildly. "And if we ever intend on getting out of this hole and getting back to the Surface, then we must know what we are up against, or else we will only be forced back into this tomb!"

His voice had grown steadily louder as he spoke, with the last few words being shouted out. He stopped to catch a breath, and Asgore and Toriel stared at him. They'd never heard their friend get so loud. Gaster flexed his hands and swallowed before drawing back into his usual collected pose before speaking again.

"So...so I believe that it would be in our best intentions if we-"

"I'll do it."

All three turned back to the throne room's door. It was slightly ajar, and a pair of dark, wide eyes stared out at them. Toriel sighed.

"Chara, what have I said about eaves-"

"I want to do it," Chara interrupted again, stepping into the room. They looked at their parents, their chin lifted. "If it can help us fight the humans, then I want to do it."

Asgore sighed. "We aren't going to fight anyone," he assured. "And besides, we..."

"See? This is just what Dr. Gaster said!" Chara exclaimed. They let out a little breath as they looked up at their parents. "Look...I know I'm different. I don't want to be, but I am. And...and if I can help monsters figure out how to get back on the Surface, then I wanna do whatever I can."

"So do I!" The door opened a bit more, and Asriel poked his white head in.

Toriel grimaced, then looked up at Asgore. He gave her an awkward little shrug, then walked up to Chara, kneeling down to meet them eye-to-eye.

"You're sure you want to do this?" he asked seriously.

Chara nodded resolutely.

Asgore sighed, then set his large paws on Chara's small shoulders before meeting their eyes again. "No matter what happens," he said quietly, "you are Toriel and my child. And we will always, always see you as just as much of a monster as Asriel. And we love you very, very much."

Chara wrinkled their nose. "I know, Dad. Jeez, you don't have to get so gushy."

Asgore gave a little laugh, then pulled Chara into a hug. He looked down at them. "If you're sure-really, really sure-then you can take part in the experiment," he said, then looked up. "And Asriel can, too."

Chara gave Asgore a bright grin, then ran back to Asriel's side to chatter about how they were going to defeat the humans. Gaster nearly felt as giddy as the children; imagine everything they were about to learn! His bright spirits were dampened slightly as Toriel walked up to him, eyes steely. She looked at him in silence for a long moment, mouth drawn in a hard line, then let out a breath before narrowing her eyes.

"Remember what I said, Wing Ding," she whispered. Her voice was barely audible, which made it all the more intimidating. "You harm one hair-one. hair.-on my child's head..."

"And my life is hell," Gaster finished dryly. When her expression didn't lighten, he sighed. "I swear, Toriel. Chara will be completely unharmed." He looked up at her for a moment, and he couldn't stop the bright grin that spread across his face. "And just think about the books they will write about this."

~

He took a few days to create a fully formed hypothesis, as well as develop the tests he wanted to do while he had the children. One physical examination, and then the rest would be exercises to test the way Chara solved problems differently than Asriel.

The physical examination was first, and much to Asriel and Chara's delight, he pulled them out of school for their visit to the university. However, their excitement quickly soured as Gaster gave them impromptu science lesson while they walked.

"Now, both of you are experiencing, first-hand, the scientific method," he said as they walked through New Home. "First, you start out with a question. In this case, why are humans different from monsters? When you have your question, you must form a hypothesis, which is a guess as to the answer of your question. My hypothesis for this experiment is that there is something mental that makes them different. Now we come to the fun part..."

"Sure," Chara muttered, rolling their eyes.

Gaster ignored them, clapping his hands together as they walked through the University's door. "...which is the experiment! The experiment, naturally, is testing to see if your hypothesis is correct." He turned around to look at the two, sockets bright as he walked backwards. "Now, Asriel, in our experiment, you are what is called the 'control'."

Asriel tilted his head. "The what?"

"The control. You are the, er...the baseline. That is..." He let out a breath and signed a couple words as a few students quickly stepped out of his way before he could run into them. "You see, we already know how monsters work. It is...it is familiar. But it is difficult to think of that while testing. So you will perform the same tests as Chara, and we can see how Chara's choices and actions differ."

Chara frowned. "But Asri-"

"Dr. Gaster, watch out!" Asriel interrupted. Gaster turned around and quickly dodged an obviously late student running to class. He gave a little smile.

"I suppose it would be best if I watch where we are going," he said, then looked at a few of the doors' numbers before walking again. "You were saying, Chara?"

"Asriel's a boss monster," Chara pointed out. "That's different."

Gaster nodded. "Yes, this is true. If you two were older, we would not be able to do this experiment. However, from what your parents have told me, there are very few differences between a child monster and a child boss monster. So, since you are both young, he is able to be used as the control." He stopped to examine another door number, then smiled at the two children. "Here we are. Follow me."

He opened the door and ushered the two in, then looked up. The room was large, and very sterile, with a few medical instruments on nearby tables. Most notably, though, was the large machine in the back of the room, humming quietly. A cat monster was fiddling with the large control panel next to it, and she looked up as she heard the door open.

"Dr. Gaster!" she said brightly as she walked over. "Oh, I am so glad to finally meet you!" She quickly took his hand to shake; Gaster grimaced slightly as he caught the quick glance to the hole in his hand. However, her attention was quickly diverted to the two children. "And these must be the Dreemurr kids! Pleased to meet you two as well. I'm Dr. Felis, head of the biology department here at the University."

"It looks like a hospital," Chara said bluntly as Asriel shook Dr. Felis' hand. She gave them a smile.

"Well, yes. You see, we study monsters' bodies, so it's necessary to have it be a little medical. Though it is a little too white in here for my taste."

Chara gave a little nod, and Asriel pointed to the machine in the back.

"What's that?"

"That is why we are here," Gaster said with a wide smile. Felis nodded.

"What we have here is the first of its kind," she said, guiding them over to the machine. "We call it a Soul Level Scanner, or the SLS. What this machine does is scan deep inside you so we can look at your Soul."

Chara frowned. "Why would you want to do that?"

Felis gave them a bright grin. "Well, if we can peek into someone's Soul, then we can get a read of how strong they are, how healthy they are, and what condition their Soul is in." She grabbed a black and white sheet off of a nearby table, holding it up. "Here, this is the reading from one of our students." She pointed at the white heart in the middle of the sheet. "This is what his Soul looks like. And here..." She pointed to the numbers on the side of the sheet. "...are his 'stats'. You see, his health is at 40, and his strength and defense are both at 12."

Chara pointed at the 1 at the bottom of the sheet. "What's that fourth number?"

"Why, that's something we call 'Level of Violence'. We...still haven't quite figured out how to measure that, but that refers to the state of the Soul. Souls can change if you get too violent, and we're figuring out how to measure that change."

Gaster nodded, hands moving impatiently. "Yes, yes. Now, I have brought you both out here so we can scan your Souls, just in case there is any difference between them."

Both Chara and Asriel looked apprehensive, and Asriel took Chara's handbefore he looked up at Felis.

"Will it...will it hurt?" he asked in a very small voice. Felis shook her head with a smile.

"It won't hurt a bit."

"That's what grown-ups say when something's gonna hurt," Chara muttered with a frown.

Gaster tapped his fingers together anxiously as both children looked increasingly distrustful. No, no, no. If they weren't scanned, he'd miss the physical aspect of his study, which was immensely important. But, if he made them do something that scared them, the Dreemurrs would shut down the study immediately. If he wanted to go forward, he had to...he had to reassure them. He had to convince them that this would be fine.

He took a breath and, as easily as he could, suggested, "Well, I could go first." As both kids looked up at him, he smiled. "If the machine hurts me, then obviously you two would not go near it. But if it does not, then it is safe for you to go. That sounds fair, does it not?"

Chara frowned. "But you don't have skin."

"That is an excellent observation, Chara. But I do have a Soul. And, if this machine works the way Felis says, then only my Soul will be scanned. Is that correct?" Gaster asked, looking up at Felis. She nodded.

"Yes. And all of our volunteers-most of which had skin, by the way-have said that there was no pain at all," she assured.

"You see? They conducted an experiment, just like we are. That way we know it is safe." Gaster watched the two children anxiously, his fingers twitching out his thoughts.

Please say yes. Please, please say yes.

Chara looked to Asriel. Asriel looked to Chara. He gave a little smile before nodding. Chara squeezed their brother's hand, then looked up at Gaster and Felis.

"Okay. We'll do it."

~

The SLS was...cramped. Even though Gaster was very thin, he still felt a little claustrophobic in the metal tube. However-even with Felis taking quite a few minutes talking to him about what an inspiration he was and would he please consider coming back for another talk at the University?-the scan was over quickly, without the least bit of pain. So, with a clear conscience, he told the children that the scan didn't hurt.

Asriel was first. He came out not long after talking about how it tickled a little bit. Chara was apprehensive before their turn, but with some encouragement from Asriel, they went into the scanner next. And just like that, they were done.

"Looks like everything went just fine," Dr. Felis said, smiling as Chara practically ran back to Asriel's side. She looked up at Gaster. "Everything should have been picked up, but I'll call if we need to do a re-scan. If I don't call back, then you can pick up the prints at the end of the week."

Gaster gave her a nod. "Excellent, thank you. And..." He glanced up at the clock. "...it would appear that we have plenty of time to get you two back to school to finish the day."

Asriel and Chara looked at each other.

"Gee, Dr. Gaster, I dunno..." Asriel started.

"We're awfully wiped from that scan," Chara finished.

Gaster raised a browbone at the two of them. "Do you two really think that the Royal Scientist would allow you to miss out on your education?" Before they could answer, he answered, "No. We are going back to school. Besides, your mother would never let me hear the end of it." He gestured to Felis. "Now, say goodbye to Dr. Felis."

Both children grumbled out a goodbye, and Felis gave them a bright smile.

"Goodbye! Maybe I'll see you two in a few years," she said with a wink, then gave Gaster a smile. "And good luck on your experiment, Dr. Gaster."

Gaster gave her a nod, then ushered the two Dreemurr children out. Now. Time for the fun part.

~

"I thought you said experimenting was the fun part!" Chara complained, scrunching their nose at the textbook in front of them.

"It is," Gaster assured, writing out his preliminary notes. "This is where we find out if we are right or wrong."

"But this is just school!"

"It is not. We are in the Lab."

"They mean that it feels like school," Asriel said. "And, um...it kinda does, Dr. Gaster. I-I mean, I like school but..." He went quiet as Gaster held up his hand.

"I promise, this is not school," he said. "All I am asking is for you two to find one passage in this book..."

"That's school!"

"Hush, Chara. Please allow me to finish. I want to know who can find it faster."

Chara let out a puff of annoyance. Asriel, meanwhile, sat up. Gaster took notes on each.

"Now," he said, "here is the passage I want you to find: 'And so, seven-hundred years before the Barrier, King Cabral came to the throne, and Monsterkind flourished in his kingdom.'" He pulled out a stopwatch, clicking it. "Start now."

Both books opened, and Gaster watched the children intently. Humans liked the satisfaction of being better, so he assumed Chara would try to find the passage first for their own satisfaction. Though, admittedly, Asriel wasn't the best to test against; the boy had a curious nature, and he'd inherited his mother's desire to learn things just for knowledge's sake. But surely that drive would outdo even the most curious monster in something like this, right?

No. He was wrong. While Asriel's attention wandered-he would take a few moments to read passages that interested him as he searched-Chara was completely disinterested. They would flip to a few pages and idly scan them, but for the most part they merely sent annoyed looks at Gaster. Clearly, that human drive was not in play at the moment. Gaster made a note of that.

"Found it!" Asriel finally announced, pointing to the passage with a clawed finger. Gaster stopped the watch and walked over to look.

"Yes, that is the right one," he said with a nod, patting the boy's shoulder. "You won this round, Asriel."

Chara looked up at the word "won," frowning. "He didn't win. You can't win if it's not a contest; you just told us to look stuff up."

Gaster blinked, then gave a small smile. Ah. An incentive might be what he needed to get that drive out. He made a quick little note before walking back to the other side of the desk. "I...do suppose you are right, Chara. Let us...er, I believe the term I have heard is 'up the ante.'" He went to the Lab's refrigerator and pulled out a little box. "What I have here is one piece of cinnamon-butterscotch pie. Whoever finds the next passage first wins it."

Both children's jaws dropped; after all, Toriel only made cinnamon-butterscotch pie for special occasions. They both sat up, hands on their books. Gaster looked between the two with a smile, then picked up the stopwatch again.

"The passage you are looking for this time is, 'And in the year 1528, Queen Cornetta established a Royal Guard.'" He clicked the watch. "Start now."

This time, both children were a flurry of turning pages. Asriel's reading was more focused, but Chara...their face was sharp, eyes darting over pages for less than a second before turning to the next. Soon enough, they slammed their hand down onto the book.

"Found it!"

Asriel looked up, and Gaster was quickly at their side to make sure it was the right passage. He nodded, jotting down notes as quick as he could.

"It would appear that this round goes to Chara." He slid the box over to them, along with a little plastic fork. "Congratulations."

Chara grinned, then took a big, victorious bite of the pie. Asriel gave a puff and crossed his arms. Gaster tilted his head.

"Are you upset that you did not win?" he asked. Asriel shook his head.

"No," he said, pouting slightly. "It's just...Chara always gets like this in games. They always have to win."

Chara's victorious look faded as Asriel mentioned this, and they swallowed their bite of pie before looking up at Asriel sheepishly. He nudged the pie over. "Here, Azzy. We can share it."

Asriel glanced up at them, then gave a little nod before taking a bite. Gaster took down a few more quick notes, then sat down across from them.

"Is this true, Chara?"

Chara squirmed uncomfortably. "I'm, uh...well, Mom says I'm competitive."

Asriel snorted, nearly choking on his bite of pie. "It's way more than that. If you don't win, you always demand we try again until you do."

Chara's cheeks went red. "Shut up, Asriel!"

"No, no! This is very interesting," Gaster said, writing down everything. "This sounds like what we are looking for. That...that drive to keep going, keep winning. Tell me, Chara, does this same thing happen with other activities?"

Chara scrunched their nose before shrugging. "I dunno. I never thought about it."

Gaster looked up at them, sockets wide as new questions and theories filled his skull. He smiled. "Well. That is what this study is for."

~

With this new knowledge, Gaster was able to tailor the tests to make sure Chara used their drive to win as much as possible. For the most part, it was as easy as saying "Whoever does X first wins." More often than not, Chara won those tests. When they didn't, though, they would insist on a do-over. On the rare occasions where they could not do what was asked, they quit the test in a huff.

However, this drive wasn't only used in interpersonal competitions. During the rare times Asriel wasn't there, Gaster gave them a few timed tests and puzzles; each time, Chara would ask for another go so they could improve their time. There was this strange...determination to be better, to progress for the sake of progression.

This Determination-for lack of a better term, that's what Gaster was calling it-did bring some reason into Chara's actions. Of course they would try their hardest to be a monster; they wanted to blend in, and were unaware that, ironically, this obsession with being more monsterlike only made them more human.

Now, of course, came the difficult question. How would this affect humans in battle? Did Determination make them want to kill for the sake of killing? Was it to prove they were stronger or smarter than their opponents? Or was it just progress for them?

Of course, this sort of test would require a different sort of environment. It was also imperative that Toriel and Asgore did not know what this test entailed. To them, Chara was a symbol of peace.

To Gaster, they were a key in how to win the war.

Luckily enough, there was a lower level to the lab. There were a few, actually; most were designed for storage, but the bottom one...the bottom one he had designed for any sort of...confidential work. Things that the Underground as a whole didn't need to know, perhaps even things that Asgore and Toriel didn't need to know.

Of course, he hadn't needed to use it just yet, so it was rather empty right now. Making it the perfect place for battle practice.

Today, he'd asked that Chara come alone, and he was surprised at how readily the child agreed. He'd noted that the tests had made Chara more confident; perhaps utilizing so much Determination was bringing Chara out of their shell. They had never been a demure child, of course, but lately it seemed that they were leading Asriel now, rather than the other way around. They arrived, rosy-cheeked and smiling, and Gaster wasted no time in ushering them into the elevator.

"So what's the test today, Dr. Gaster?" they asked during the long ride down. "Why couldn't I bring Asriel?"

Gaster glanced down at them. "Well...this is our last test. And I thought it best if I see the way you react in the situation I am about to present."

"I'd react either way," Chara said with a frown. Gaster shook his head.

"Asriel tempers you. He...softens your reactions. For this experiment, I want to see you behave as just Chara, not Chara Dreemurr." He tapped his fingers together. "And you must not tell your parents or Asriel about what this test entails."

Chara's dark eyes went wide. "Are we doing something illegal?"

"No, no, of course not. But...I get the feeling your parents would not approve."

The elevator came to a stop, and Gaster held the door open as Chara stepped out. They frowned at the dummy in the middle of the room, then looked up at Gaster.

"So...what are we doing?"

Gaster looked down at them, then clasped his hands together. "Today, we are seeing what you do in battle."

Chara's expression darkened. "I can't do that."

"Well, this isn't..."

"No, I mean I really can't. I..." They looked down, hands curled into fists. "I can't do magic. I keep trying-I try really, really hard!-but I just...I can't."

Gaster tapped his fingers together. He knew that, of course. But perhaps this attitude would make them a reluctant fighter? That could be interesting.

"Yes, well, I anticipated something like this," he said, turning to a nearby table. He picked up a little leather case, then held it out to Chara. "I expect this will help you much more than magic."

Chara looked up at him dubiously, but took the case and opened it up. Their eyes went wide, and they pulled out the knife inside. They studied it intently.

"Is this...are you giving this to me?" they finally asked, looking up at Gaster with wide eyes.

"Only for the sake of this experiment," he replied firmly. "Once it is over, you leave it here."

"But...but what if humans attack? What if we need to defend ourselves? What if-" They stopped as Gaster held up a hand.

"We have other ways of managing that. For now, let us focus on the present. We have a test to do." He led the way over to the dummy, gesturing to it. "Here is your opponent."

Chara frowned. "That's not much of an opponent."

"I know, but I am not willing to fight you and potentially die from a lucky blow," Gaster said breezily. "So you will have to use your imagination."

Chara fiddled with the knife uneasily. "But...I mean, I don't really wanna just stab something because I imagined it's a...a bear or something."

Gaster tilted his head. He wasn't expecting that; he thought humans enjoyed fighting itself. Perhaps he was wrong. "Well, what do you want to fight?"

"Humans." This came with no hesitation.

"Then this dummy is a human." Gaster took several long steps back as Chara's expression changed. "It is the human you hate the most. I know you have at least one human you hate; you would not have come down here otherwise. So that person is now standing in front of you."

Chara took a deep breath, though they didn't make a move to fight. Gaster let out a breath. This could be a dud. But all this work for nothing? No. Chara wasn't that well-acclimated. He could force them to fight. He just had to push the right buttons.

"Did the human hurt you?" he asked loudly from the sidelines. Chara didn't answer. "Now is the time to take your revenge, then! Hurt them! Make them pay for what they did!"

Chara grimaced, adjusting their knife in their hand. Gaster was getting impatient. He let out a huff before shouting, "Hurt them! Fight them!"

"I-I..."

"Asgore and Toriel are wrong!" Gaster shouted from the side. "You know they are! You know you want to hurt those that hurt you! So do it, Chara!"

"Shut up!" Chara shouted back at him.

"Are you afraid? Are you scared of them? You have the power now! Make them pay! Make them hurt! Do it, Chara!"

Chara gritted their teeth, and with a scream of rage, they charged forward. The knife plunged into the dummy. Then it plunged in again.

In all, that wasn't very noteworthy. Even a monster would snap after that much provocation.

What was startling was that Chara kept going.

They stabbed the dummy over and over. Stuffing leaked out onto the floor, but Chara kept stabbing, kept ripping at the fabric. The knife plunged into the head, the body; it clanged against the metal bar holding it.

Gaster was dumbstruck at the sight. This, of course, was the reaction he was looking for. That drive to keep going and fight harder.

But it was hard to watch. Especially since, even after all these years, he remembered doing the same thing to a human's corpse on the surface.

Finally, enough was enough. He had to snap Chara out of it.

"Chara. Chara. The test is over, Chara, you can stop!"

They didn't stop. Tears leaked from their eyes and ran down over their red cheeks as they kept stabbing.

"Chara, this is overkill. It is over, there is no human here!"

Chara didn't stop.

Gaster hesitated, then walked over quickly. "Chara, it is time to stop. It is over." He huffed as they didn't listen. He reached over to pull the dummy away.

"Don't get in my way!"

Before he could move any closer, the knife plunged into his middle.

Both he and Chara stared at the knife's hilt, buried deep in his sweater. Chara's expression turned to one of horror.

"O-oh...oh no..."

Gaster blinked, pulled out of his shock as the knife clattered to the ground. Chara drew away, eyes wide.

"No, no...n-no, Dr...Dr. Gaster, I-I..."

Gaster blinked again, then looked up at Chara as they sank down to the ground and dragged their hands down their face.

"N-no. I-I am all right. Just...er...really, I am fine. Er..." He lifted the sweater, showing the empty space in front of his spine. "You see? Nothing there. It is fine. I am fine."

He looked down at Chara, then let out a breath and sat down across from them. His browbone furrowed as they held their head, drawing into themself, and he sighed. "I...I think I pushed too hard. I am sorry. I-"

"It was so easy," Chara whispered, so faintly that Gaster could hardly hear it. So quietly he probably heard it wrong.

"Er...what?"

Chara shook their head, still keeping it against their knees. "It was so easy," they whispered again. "I didn't even think. I just...did it." They looked up at him, dark eyes wide. "I could do that to anyone."

Gaster stayed silent for a moment. They weren't wrong, of course. If they could get into that sort of frenzy, of course they could kill anyone. He let out a breath.

"Chara." They looked up at him. "You were put under duress. I doubt that you could kill someone on a whim."

"But I have Determination!" they argued. "Asriel would never do what I just did! Asriel wouldn't kill someone just because! I almost did! Only a human would do that!"

"Only a human with an intention to harm," Gaster said evenly. "You wanted to hurt the dummy. I got caught in the cross-fire. In this sense, yes, Determination is dangerous. But..."

"No. I wanted to hurt you."

Gaster blinked. "What?"

Chara swallowed. "When...while I was fighting the dummy, I wanted to completely destroy it. I-I couldn't stop until it was completely gone. And since you...since you interrupted, I wanted to hurt you, too. Because you were stopping me."

Gaster stared at them silently, brain working. So. Determination was greater than seeking progress or wanting to win. Determination was about seeing something through to the end. Chara wanted to destroy the dummy; the human armies wanted to eradicate the monsters. Each were only deterred by something insurmountable-a mountain, a conscience-getting in the way. But do away with those barriers, and...

Well. Better not to think about that.

But...imagine if a monster's magical power was combined with that drive to see things through. That drive to progress and fight and win. Why, they could...

"Dr. Gaster?"

Gaster was broken out of his reverie by the quiet voice. He looked down at Chara, who watched him with big, dark eyes.

"Am I as bad as the humans up on the Surface? For...for what I did?"

Gaster tapped his fingers together. They were certainly just as dangerous. One bad turn, one bad day, and...

"No. No, you are not bad."

They stared at him a moment longer, their brow furrowed. Finally, they nodded and let out a breath.

"Okay. You don't like me enough to lie." They swallowed. "But...but please don't tell Asriel what happened."

"Of course not. This stays between us." Gaster watched Chara for a moment longer, then got to his feet. "Well. I think that is the end of our experiments. I...I have learned quite a lot." He hesitated, then held out a hand to help Chara up. "Come. You will be just fine after a hug from your parents and some rest."

Chara got up, letting go of Gaster's hand once they were on their feet, then trudged their way to the elevator. They looked like they had fought a real battle. In a way, Gaster supposed they had.

He stood beside them as they went up, skull buzzing excitedly. He had so much information from this. He couldn't wait to write it all down. Now all that was left was to wait for the prints, and he could start formulating his theory of Determination.

~

The prints came later that afternoon. The intern handing them over asked about the hole in his sweater; he casually blamed it on snagging on a piece of equipment and left before any further discussions could take place. It was all he could do to stop himself from running to the Lab.

Once in the lab, he pulled out the three prints and laid them out on one of the tables. The first, which had the highest stats, was obviously his. He frowned at a gray spot on the white Soul-someone had clearly gotten careless and smudged it. Well, no matter. He pushed it aside and turned his attention to the other two.

The stats were practically identical. But, while one Soul was pure white, the other was dark through and through.

Well.

It seemed there was a fundamental difference between humans and monsters. Determination came from the Soul.

A bright grin spread across his face, ideas bouncing around his skull so fast it threatened to explode. There was no time to waste with writing things out. He had to get to Asgore and tell him his discovery.

Perhaps freedom was closer than they thought.