No One is Happy with This (Undertale)

88 ~ Still Not a Physician!

The month of May passes in a blur, and suddenly, you realize that you're thirteen. More than that, it's almost June, and not only nearly time for the annual monster-human convention, but also almost Elise's due date for the baby. You're pretty excited for that. Admittedly, not as excited as the couple are themselves, but still. You're excited.

In fact, you think the only one who isn't excited would be Gaster. You've overheard him mumbling irritably about how oh, Annoying Dog, this means there's going to be another idiotic little human running around the town, doesn't it? ...Though, you've decided to remain blissfully ignorant of whom the first idiotic little child might be.

Similarly, Gaster would seem to be the only one who isn't excited about the monster-human convention, though, that's hardly a surprise. He really wasn't excited for it last year; you would have been quite astonished if he had changed his opinion on it. Still, the convention day comes, it seems Toriel has once again dragged Gaster into running a display there. He's obviously unhappy about it.

This year, it looks like instead of a bunch of different CORE prototype designs, he's got a 3-D printed scale model of what the new CORE is going to be. It looks like some sort of massive bridge spanning the Ebbot River, the one that's fed from springs on Mt. Ebbot. There are lots of tall spires, too, and large hexagonal platforms that extend out over the water. It looks astounding, and Matt assures you that the interior is going to be even more amazing.

Because it is, in fact, Matt who is doing all the presenting at the booth. Gaster is actually kind of just sulking in a shadowy corner, looking annoyed, and yelling at people who have done something to annoy him. When you ask him about this, he just gives you a look, and says something to the effect of "Matt has no qualms against repeatedly explaining the same basic concepts to people who are too stupid to grasp them anyway, so why not let him do the explaining? Besides, he's been working on the CORE. He knows enough about it to function here."

"Sooo..." You respond. "Why are you even here?"

His expression sours at that. "Because Toriel told me to be."

You snort a little at that. "And someone else telling you to do something suddenly means you have to do it?"

"The Royal Scientist I may be, but Toriel is still my queen. If she orders me to do something, I am obligated to do it."

You just let out a soft "hmmm..."

Gaster gives you yet another Look. "If Toriel orders me to do something, not if Toriel relays a message from you ordering me to do something. And besides, I think Toriel has considerably better judgment than you, and wouldn't abuse her power for cheap tricks."

That deflates you a bit.

The rest of the day progresses pretty smoothly. You give another speech about how monsters and humans have been collaborating so well in the last few years, and you even manage to not slip up at all. It seems like everyone else with the exception of Gaster is having a good time, too.

Towards the end of the day, your entire party ends up gathered around Gaster's display. Sans and Papyrus, Alphys and Undyne, Toriel and Asgore (astonishingly, holding hands), Gaster, Matt, and you. Even Mettaton stops by briefly, and Toriel makes Gaster promise to let Mettaton interview him and do a full news story on the CORE 2.0, once it's built. When you ask him if he still thinks Toriel's judgment is so good now, he chokes out through gritted teeth a response that, without all the presumable swearing in Hands, more or less comes to "it'll be good for monster PR."

So you all except Gaster are having a good time, laughing and joking.

And then Matt's phone chimes with a text message, and when he pulls it out of his pocket, his eyes seem to get as wide as Snowdin snowpoffs. For a moment, he seems incapable of response. Then he looks up, eyes still wide. "Elise--" he stammers. "She's-- she's already--" and finally, "--the baby!!"

Now everyone, yourself included, has wide eyes. Except maybe Gaster, who kind of has a you-have-got-to-be-kidding-me look on his face.

Matt, meanwhile, has apparently gone into some sort of panic mode. He's gesturing wildly, but definitely not in Hands, it's more like frantic, confused movements as he's unsure what to do. And his eyes are still wide. And you can barely make out what he's saying.

Eventually, Gaster, muttering a few words in Hands that you don't even want to guess at, reaches out and grabs Matt by the collar of his lab coat, and then they're just gone, Gaster presumably having teleported them to Elise.

For a few minutes, everyone is silent, letting the shock of it all sink in. But eventually, you all decide that, if Gaster is there, everything will be fine. And besides, there's still a monster-human convention going on, and you all have got to stay there to help run it! Especially since now you're down one Royal Scientist and one assistant!

Still, though there's an excitement in the air now that wasn't there before.

But what with cleaning up from the convention and everything, it's not until a day and a half later that you have the opportunity to go visit.

When you get to Matt and Elise's house, you're surprised to see Gaster there, too. "For the last time, Matt," he's saying, "It is entirely natural for infants to sleep extraordinary amounts, even up to twenty hours a day. And, as is implied, it is completely okay that she isn't staying awake for more than an hour or so at a time. Your daughter is perfectly healthy. So please, please stop calling me back here, I haven't gotten any work on the CORE done."

"You know about babies?" You ask, completely foregoing any greeting.

Gaster barely acknowledges you with a glance. "Of course I do. Despite having a dedicated pediatrician, Toriel and Asgore rarely brought Asriel to anyone other than me when he was little." He pauses a moment, seemingly lost in thought. Then he shakes his head with a small shrug. "Admittedly, I've never actually assisted in a delivery before, but Matt was far too helpless to be of any use to his wife."

"Hey!" Matt protests.

Gaster just rolls his eyes. "Anyhow, I should be going. There's a CORE that has been sorely neglected in the past few days, and I'm the only one who can take care of that!" And with that, he strides to the door, pushes it open, and is gone, likely teleported back to the lab.

Matt just sighs a little and shakes his head. Then he turns to you. "Well, that's that, I guess. You came to see Elise, right, Frisk? She's still in bed. Come on, this way."

You follow Matt down the hall.

§

A/N

I'm going to finish this story.

I am going to finish this story.

I am.

I promise.