Anomalies

The Discovery of Determination

Sans started to settle into a new routine at the lab, his body slowly adjusting to the earlier wake-up. He would drop little Papyrus off, take the Riverperson to Hotland and to the lab, drop off something random to decorate his room with, and head to the Soul Studies Lab to observe the three souls. Sometimes, the good doctor would join him, and sometimes, Dr. Gaster had to work on something else. Most of the time, it was maintaining the C.O.R.E. Sans still wasn't allowed to see it yet, but that was fine with him. It let him become the head of the Soul Science Project with Gaster. Somedays, Gaster went home with Sans after work to check on his soul's condition after a long and taxing day and stick around to play with Papyrus until dinner, to which he'd leave after so the boy's could go to bed for another long day tomorrow. Gaster would never admit to how nice it felt... to be around his own species again. He didn't want to watch another skeleton die, so he would go back to the lab to run more tests until someone else came in the next day, or he passed out.

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That was how Gaster finally figured out what human souls had that monster souls didn't. "hey g... late night?" Sans asked as brought in all the paperwork from the most recent scans on the ever powerful human souls. "Sans! Sans, come here quickly!" Seeing Gaster this excited had Sans crossing the room as fast as his legs would carry him to see... a little vial, filled with a golden substance. "what... what is that, doc?" Sans had never seen anything like it before. "and, uh, where didja get it?" Gaster almost seemed to be vibrating with excitement at this point. He must've had too much coffee again. "I am so glad you asked! I was running a few tests on the souls- trying to see if they had mana lines or something of the sort that spread throughout the body like monsters do. Once I found one of these 'mana' lines, I decided to take a small risk and see if anything was still in there! Like, say... the very thing that makes the souls persist after death! The incision actually healed up very quickly, but this little vial! This may be what we need to fix you! Perhaps break the barrier! Who knows what all this could do!"

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Testing the golden substance began immediately. Only small quantities for now, considering just how little there was of it. The liquid was resilient. It didn't evaporate or boil when they put a little bit on the bunsen burner. It didn't freeze when placed in sub zero temperatures. It was always the same steady temperature. The liquid could absorb magic, but only to an extent before it started to change and melt. That was a major concern to Sans, considering Gaster thought this would be his 'cure'. They tried testing different chemicals on it, which only gave the same result- it was resilient. "it is dangerous." Sans pointed out as he finished reading Gaster's notes. "you saw what it did to the magic samples. we need to test with caution." Gaster sighed as he looked at the nearly empty vial. "No live trials. But. Even if it can't be used on mosters- which I am apologetic for- all is not last. With how powerful this liquid is... we may just have a shot at the barrier!" Sans grinned and nodded. At least there was one good thing.

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Sans went to take a nap. All that work with the newly dubbed determination had mentally drained him, especially knowing that it wouldn't be able to help him in the way Gaster had initially believed. It was disappointing, but he really didn't want to become a melted pile of determination and magic and dust. Dr. Vexta seemed to sympathize with Sans and gave him a pat on the head as he headed to his office and closed the door so he could sleep without disturbance. Dr. Felidae fidgeted as the two exchanged a look and went to check on Dr. Gaster and figure out what was happening. Whatever was bothering Sans, however, had Gaster deeper into the research, muttering in his native tongue as he examined something in a petri dish. By the end of it, Dr. Felidae was too nervous to try and ask and Dr. Vexta was mute... besides, Dr. Gaster was a force to be reckoned with when he was interrupted in the middle of a test. The two resolved to cheer the youngest scientist up when he woke from his nap and left the doctor be.

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Gaster hummed as he looked from his calculations to the remainder of the determination and back. He had... disappointed Sans. Given the boy false hope. But. But what if it wasn't false? Gaster had an idea. It was a risky idea, but if it worked, it would fix Sans soul problems. Perhaps raise his stats and seal the cracks so magic would stop escaping. Magic hands closed the room as Gaster made up his mind, and carefully filled a syringe with the remains of the determination. He wanted to know- needed to know- the affects of determination on the monster body. He needed to know how much he could take. How much Sans could take. He was the Royal Scientist. He needed to know the everything he could about this substance so he could save lives, break the humans with their own weapon, shatter the barrier and give the monsters the freedom they deserved. All that started with was one simple injection, straight into his mana lines. The determination made his bones feel uncomfortably warm and his soul felt like it was beating faster. Upon checking his soulbeat, he confirmed it was. The beginnings of a headache set in and he started to feel sick with the introduction of the determination into his soul. Perhaps... he should try to sleep it off? Yeah... sleep sounded good.