Undertale

Chapter 26: The True Lab

I went into Alphys's lab. I started to look for her. I went upstairs. Mettaton's limbless body sat on Alphys' work table, undergoing repairs. Beside it was that strange machine, which I now knew was filled with seaweed and somehow produced the pink ice cream. There was no sign of Alphys.

As I went back down to the lower level, the door that she said was the bathroom door slid open. In front of it was a note from Alphys. I picked it up. It was very hard to read because of her handwriting, but I tried my best... 'Hey. Thanks for your help back there. You guys... Your support really means a lot to me. But... as difficult as it is to say this... you guys alone can't magically make my own problems go away. I want to be a better person. I don't want to be afraid anymore. And for that to happen, I have to be able to face my own mistakes. I'm going to start doing that now. I want to be clear. This isn't anyone else's problem but mine. But if you don't ever hear from me again... if you want to know "the truth." Enter the door to the north of this note. You all at least deserve to know what I did.'

Oh... Alphys wasn't just a insecure, nerdy dork. She had made a really terrible mistake. Something that really took away all her self-confidence. Something that had been weighing heavily on her for a long time. I glanced at the dark doorway. Whatever it was, it clearly wasn't a bathroom.

For some reason, my eye fell on Alphys's trash can. There was a message crumpled up inside it. It was in a very strange kind of handwriting. It said... 'I KNOW WHAT YOU DID.' Full of anticipation (and determination), I walked through the doorway.

It definitely wasn't a bathroom. It was an elevator. I pressed the button, but then a light flashed. The elevator started shaking rapidly. 'WARNING! WARNING! ELEVATOR LOSING POWER! EM TETHER STABLITY LOST! ALTITUDE DROPPING!' CRASH.

I almost expected to land on golden flowers.

The elevator door opened. I walked out. I was in a dank room with teal walls and a dark teal tiled floor. It was dark. I began walking down a long hallway. There were several dark screens on the wall. As I walked passed them, they lit up, revealing glowing words. I read the first screen. 'ENTRY NUMBER 1: This is it... Time to do what the King has asked me to do. I will create the power to free us all. I will unleash the power of the SOUL.' The next screen read, 'ENTRY NUMBER 2: The barrier is locked by SOUL power. Unfortunately, this power cannot be recreated artificially. SOUL power can only be derived from what was once living. So, to create more, we will have to use what we have now... the SOULs of monsters.' The next screen read, 'ENTRY NUMBER 3: But extracting a SOUL from a living monster would require incredible power... besides being impractical, doing so would instantly destroy the SOUL's host. And, unlike the persistent SOULs of humans... the SOULs of most monsters disappear immediately upon death. If only I could make a monster's SOUL last...' This was obviously a scientist's digital log. At the end of the hallway, the fourth screen read, 'ENTRY NUMBER 5: I've done it. Using the blueprints, I've extracted it from the human SOULs. I believe this is what gives their SOULs the strength to persist after death. The will to keep living... the resolve to change fate. Let's call this power... "Determination".' So... the entries went 1, 2, 3, 5? Where was four? Did I miss something? No...

The hallway turned left. I kept walking. I was in a huge room. Its layout was reminiscent of the first room of the CORE. In front of me was a door with four colored lights on it. It was locked. On the wall beside it was another digital sign reading "POWER ROOM". On the other side was, oddly enough, a vending machine. I bought some Popato Chisps for 25 gold. I SAVEd.

There was a note on the ground. I couldn't make it all out because of Alphys' handwriting. 'elevator... lost power... enter the center door...' That was all I could read. But the center door was locked... Down the path to the right was another locked door with a red light on it. The left path turned into a hallway. There was another entry on the wall. 'ENTRY NUMBER 6: ASGORE asked everyone outside the city for monsters that had "fallen down". Their bodies came in today. They're still comatose... and soon, they'll all turn into dust. But what happens if I inject "determination" into them? If their SOULs persist after they perish, then... freedom might be closer than we all thought.' So... Alphys wasn't just a dorky nerd. At one point, she actually had been a real scientist. But something must have gone horribly wrong.