The Human Condition {A Self Insert Underswap Fanfic}

=Chapter 4=

Thia couldn't figure out what was happening. There was no way he had spotted her.. It must be a technical problem. Maybe his mic had lost power or something.

"Except, I have a very special guest," Napstabot started as a spot light went off above the general area where Thia was. "Monsters of the underground, please give a warm welcome to our newest human friend!" he exclaimed, pointing towards Thia, who was beyond terrified. The crowd turned to her, and without a moment of hesitation, cheered excitedly. "Why don't you come up here and you can watch me perform?" Napstabot offered while the crowd slowly moved so Thia could go to the stage. She didn't move.

The room was almost completely silent. Soon, the monsters spoke up, encouraging her to go up and meet him. Thia felt horrified. God, she was going to be publicly humiliated in front of hundreds of monsters! A lot of the monsters sounded jealous yet excited. What they wouldn't give to be on the same stage as THE Napstabot!

"Aww, come on, I don't bite, and neither do the others," Napstabot said as she slowly approached. His tone had changed to something more gentle and caring, even a bit flirtatious. Thia climbed onto the stage, looking up at him nervously. He was a lot bigger than her but not at all intimidating.. Well, kinda, but not for the reasons you'd expect.

He held out his hand and she anxiously shook it, feeling embarrassed and even more nervous than before. "Here, you can watch from backstage. I really want to talk to you afterwards," he said quietly while holding his mic away from his face. Thia looked surprised. "We don't know each other, but it is very important," he muttered, before putting on a smile and guiding her to the backstage area.

Thia sat down as he walked back onstage and made a big show to get the attention off of her. She felt a little more at ease and watched him officially start his show.

The show lasted about 2 hours and everyone was absolutely hyped. Thia even found herself enjoying the music and rush of the crowd, even though she was backstage now. Napstabot's music was a cute mix of poppy and dubstep, like some early 2000's artists. After he did his bows and said his goodbyes, the curtains closes and Napstabot came trotting back to Thia.

"You did great!" she said enthusiastically, to which he smiled and laughed. "Hey um.. What's your name?" he asked as she stood up. "Oh, uh, my name is Thia," she responded while he hung up his mic and head set. "Cute name," he said while leading her further backstage to his dressing room.

"Do you have a phone?" he asked as he sat down in a luxurious blue chair that resembled a throne. He pointed at another chair and Thia went to sit in it. "Uh, yeah, I got it from the guy in the ruins," she responded while pulling out a cutesy pink phone. "I have no clue where he got it.. And I'm surprised you guys have service down here," she commented. Napstabot nodded and immediately jotted down something. "You're gonna need this. It's my number, my agent's number, and one of my good friend's numbers," he said while handing her the paper.

"Save those. Your safety is very, very important. We cannot let the queen know about you," he explained. "If you suspect you are in danger, call one of those numbers, ok?" Thia looked at him, confused. "Why are you.." "Why am I doing this? Because you, as a human, are at risk of being killed and used as a weapon of war. The history of the underground is complicated and scary. I may be a famous snob but I have sworn to protect humans at all costs. It gives us monsters a bad name and humans a bad rep if all of their souls are used as weapons," he rambled.

Thia simply sat in silence, listening to him explain. "So.. I can't leave?" she asked quietly. Napstabot sighed. "Getting to the surface is incredibly difficult. Almost every human that's fallen down here has died in the process of trying to leave.. You see, there's a magical barrier keeping us monsters trapped in the mountain. Monster souls aren't powerful enough to go through it, but human souls are. So our queen has devised a plan to gather seven human souls to break the barrier forever.. She already has six.. The seventh escaped.. You're the eighth," he explained, his tone grim and totally different from how it was before.

Thia felt her heart clench and she looked down at her shaky hands. "Oh god.. I'm gonna die down here.." she whispered, putting her hands to her face. Napstabot shook his head. "No, you'll be fine," he said while offering a smile. "But you televised it!" she shouted while standing up. "No, no, I didn't! You see, I have a thing called "intruder protocol". As soon as I saw you, I had my crew shut off the cameras," he said calmly while Thia paced around. "But what about the audience?" she asked. He snickered. "When you buy a ticket for a live show, you have to sign a contract that you won't talk about the recording to anyone. So, you're in the clear there."

"So.. What do I do now?" she asked while sitting back down, feeling calmer knowing that nobody would know she was at an event. Napstabot shrugged. "I dunno. I guess you can stay in the resort for tonight then go back to Snowdin and study up on some underground history.." he said quietly while tilting his head. "Yeah. You'll do that. Then, I'll have you visit one of my friends. If you're that desperate to leave, she can give you some pointers and help you out. She's the royal scientist, so she can guide you through getting past the queen."

Thia nodded and stood up. Napstabot stared at her. Something about her was off.. He couldn't pinpoint what it was.. "Huh.. Anyway, here, I'll take you to an executive suite and you can rest up there," he offered while zipping up his jacket. "Then I have to do some meet and greets.. You just stay calm and get some rest. You'll be fine."

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It was 1 AM and Sans was laying in his bed, staring at the ceiling, contemplating the things that had happened at the concert. He saw Thia go on stage.. And then she disappeared. He waited outside of the venue for a while, hoping she'd come back out but she never did.. Gosh, he hoped she was ok. All he wanted was to hang out with her again..

He sighed and closed his eyes again, hoping that exhaustion would finally take over and he could sleep. All of this worrying made him feel sick. He soon found himself falling asleep, hoping and praying that his new friend was somewhere safe..

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Thia woke up the next morning and took advantage of the executive suite that Naptsabot had graciously allowed her to use. She took a nice long shower and cleaned herself up, fixed her hair, and took one of the bags and jackets that had been hanging in the closest. The jacket was a very nice varsity jacket that had Napstabot's logo on the back. It was white and blue and seemed to glow slightly when in the dark. It was a bit big, but was nice and warm and made her feel safe.

As she went downstairs, she heard excited chatter coming from the lobby. She could vaguely understand the conversations, but she did pick up the word 'human' repeated multiple times. She cringed and decided to go through the back to avoid a possible crowd. "Alright.. Let's get back to Snowdin.." she muttered to herself as she adjusted the strap of her bag.

Thia decided to go back to town and get something to eat. Now that she knew leaving was going to be a rough endeavor, she needed to come up with a solid plan. But.. Did she even want to leave? Life on the surface was not all it was cracked up to be.. Maybe living in the underground would be better. Sure, it would take some getting used to but at least it would be better than all of the garbage happening in the real world.

"Oh, hello dearie," Muffet said as she walked into the cafe. "I love your stylish jacket! Did you get it from Napstabot?" she asked. Thia nodded. "In a way, yes. I hope he doesn't get mad," she responded with an awkward shrug. "If you don't mind me asking, where were you last night?" Muffet asked quietly, leaning in slightly when Thia sat down. "Sans was in here last night and he was very worried about you.. He asked if I had seen you.. Unfortunately, I had not. He was heartbroken.."

Thia looked guilty and sighed, taking off her glasses for a moment. "Something happened.. Naptasbot had to step in and help.." she muttered. "He told me not to leave the hotel, so I could get some rest and so the monsters wouldn't overwhelm me. Some stuff had happened at the concert," she explained quietly, putting her glasses back on. She frowned. "Why was Sans looking for me anyway? We aren't really that close."

Muffet laughed quietly. "He knows something the rest of us don't.. And maybe that includes you," she said before turning to grab Thia something to eat.