Soul of a Broken [Rewriting]

1

Dr. Alphys walked down the dark green celeste hallway of the once occupied lab. The amalgamates were now reunited with their families somewhere on the surface since the barrier had been broken. Yet here she was; back in the Underground testing, researching, experimenting.

She ventured through the unsettling and foggy laboratory, making her way to the generator room. She knew the structure and room layout like the back of her scaly hand, but of course, since she was the one who built it in the first place. The tiled floor softly echoing her footsteps as she makes a sharp left turn in the entrance of the room, met with a steel locked door and a hand scanner on the right of it.

She shakily placed her hand on the scanner to identify herself for clearance. The door creaked and groaned as the locks inside unlatched and the door slowly rose. She scuttled inside, the door closing behind her with a loud bang and resonating of metal hitting metal. Another dim lit hallway, and she came into her bright testing facility. The plain white walls reflected the lights within and created a sterile looking environment.

Papers littered on top of the small desk that sat in the corner and stray Mew Mew Kissy Cutie posters were lazily thrown up onto the walls for decoration. Large test tubes hummed in the opposite corner and a large computer was situated on the adjacent wall. In front of said computer, was a small glowing vat. Even with the test tubes, the room was quite bare but the arrangement would have to do for now.

Glancing around the room, the small reptilian walked over to a red vat with acrylic encasing the middle and shakily placed her mustard clawed hand up onto the glass. The small grey soul suspended within floated and pulsed gently to her presence. This was the project she would use to prove to Asgore that she was a true Royal Scientist; though she concealed the project as a plan to allow the human officials to recognize her credentials. She was determined to create a soul on her own.

She typed a pin into the keyboard directly in front of the vat and the door opened slowly with a soft hiss. Reaching in and gently cupping the soul, she reached for her prepared syringe of liquid determination with her unoccupied hand. The syringe thrummed with energy as she held it firmly, mentally preparing herself. She knew what happened to monster souls if they received a high quantity of determination, and she couldn't afford a repeat of previous events.

With firm comprehension of her actions, she brought the syringe closer to the smoky soul and injected the syringe with a steady hand. She swiftly placed the soul into the vat and closed the glass door, effectively locking it inside. The soul pulsed erratically as Alphys quickly jotted down observations on a random piece of paper, her handwriting sloppy and crude.

*XX/XX/201X
Time: XX:XX

'Pulses inconsistently with higher dose of DT.
No outstanding changes to soul.'

She glanced at the soul for additional notes and instantly paled. She nearly dropped everything in her shock and roughly clutched the paper, crumpling it in the process of scribbling.

*XX/XX/201X
Time: XX:XX

'Pulses inconsistently with higher dose of DT.
No outstanding changes to soul.
Soul has obtained a murky rose color.
The structure is swelling and contracting rapidly.'

"O-oh my g-god.."

Sweat beaded on her rough forehead as she opened the vat and cautiously cupped the soul and allowed it to float freely within the experimenting room.

It convulsed violently and grew, practically tripling in size. The energy it gave off was much too powerful for a normal monster soul to contain.
Alphys backed up instantly and watched in horror as the soul began forming a peculiar form.

'This couldn't possibly be a simple monster soul. Have I made a mistake in the formula?'

Snapped from her shock, she raced over to one of the test tubes and flung open the door in haste. She pushed the shuddering experiment into the tube, quickly locking the door. The soul began to gradually thrash here and there as it took shape, though the reptile couldn't quite make out the form. As if answering her unspoken question, a light shined from the tube nearly blinding her as she raised an arm to shield her eyes. She slowly removed her arm and caught sight of the inside of the test tube. The wrinkled paper and pencil hit the tiled floor of the room, along with the doctor.

--

"________, could you run t-those tests for t-that greying soul in Vat #308 p-please? I don't think their c-condition is improving." The scientist asked while straightening up her glasses and nervously wringing her hands.

"Certainly, Dr. Alphys!" You chirped, grabbing the soul's documents on a clipboard, and swiftly walked down the hallway, your lab coat flying behind you like a cape.

The short reptile watched you take off down the hall and felt a small smile tugging at her lips. She walked back over to the computer to view the soul's average magic percentage and status. While doing so, her thoughts went back to you. Her lab assistant. Her very own creation. No... Her very own child-- Wait what?!

She stole a glance towards the hallway you disappeared down and was eternally grateful you couldn't see the shade of crimson she was currently flaunting. She did create you after all, however, she had never thought about it that way. Technically speaking, she was in fact your "mom", though she would never tell you. Or should she? Wouldn't you deserve to know?

"Er, Dr. Alphys? Is everything alright?" you questioned, directly behind her.

The scientist jumped, nearly dropping her glasses, while putting a hand up to her chest. She hadn't even heard you re-enter the room, much less heard you approach her. She turned around to face you with a sheepish smile. How long had you been standing there? How long had she been spacing out?

"A-ah, of c-course! Um, w-why do you a-ask?" Alphys readjusted her glasses for the millionth time this afternoon, peeking at the clock behind you before making eye contact again.

"Well, apart from the fact that you were staring at the wall for the past five minutes, you looked a little pale." Your furrowed your eyebrows and eyed the scientist curiously, to which she gave a nervous laugh and tensed.

"I-it's nothing. Just a b-busy day, r-right?" she sighed and slouched, dismissing the topic with a short wave of her hand. "H-how was the s-soul?"

"Oh yes! I diluted the concentration of liquid DT it was receiving. Apparently, the strong mixture was too high for the soul's current magic capacity to handle. I'll do a check-up on it in about a week to see how it goes." You scribbled something on the clipboard in your hand and looked back at the scientist with a smile.

Alphys nodded, thoroughly impressed by your quick thinking. Had you not come up with a solution..

"T-that's great, ________! I'll be l-looking forward to seeing that s-soul a healthy white." She said while collecting her things.

"You can count on it, doc." You gave her a thumbs up before noticing she was getting ready to go, the smile fading into a slight frown. "You're leaving already?"

"Yes.. Um, I-I have a d-date with m-my g-girlfriend this e-evening." She stuttered and flushed a dark pink. The sight of the flustered scientist brought a small smile back to your face.

"You mean Undyne, right?" The scientist nodded, looking completely enamored. You remembered Dr. Alphys always going on passionate rants about her girlfriend when you brought her up, but you had never gotten the chance to meet her. "When can I meet her?"

Alphys was effectively snapped out of her daydreams at the question and flicked her eyes everywhere else but your own. Suddenly the pale green walls were very interesting. "U-um.. I-I don't k-know? Soon? U-uh..." She grabbed her two sets of keys and shut down the huge computer. "S-see you t-tomorrow!" She shouted a bit too eagerly for her liking. You could feel the scorching heat from the properly named region as she scrambled out the door, dodging the topic once more.

"S-someday, _______. I p-promise." She ruefully whispered to herself as she tried to focus more on the date she had.