W. D. Gaster - An Undertale Story

Chapter Ten

   Gaster stared at the papers laid out in front of him. The designs and all of the possible names. He glanced at the half-developed soul of Determination in the clear jar. He looked back at the papers. He thought of what it would do. Extract the Determination, turn it into a substance for Gaster to study. Extract the Determination. Extract. Determination. Then it came to him.
   A Determination Extractor.
   Gaster wrote the name down quickly on the paper which had the designs. The Determination Extractor looked like the Gaster Blaster figure and was connected to many pipes. It would be placed above a small space where he could examine the Determination. Then he might be able to figure out why monsters don't have it.
   Gaster walked out into the hall outside of the Royal Scientist lab room. He came to another hall and noticed that it looked like a perfect space for him to create the Determination Extractor. Gaster put his bony hands together and popped all of his fingers, pulled his hands apart, then wiggled them slightly in front of him.
   "Time to test my magic.", Gaster said to himself. He squeezed his eyesockets shut and pushed his hands forth in front of him. He felt the magic begin to emit from his hands. A magical blue and purple fog began to weave around each of his fingers and began to move forward to where Gaster wanted the machine to be. The magical fog began to grow and grow, until it started to become physical pieces of the Determination Extractor. Once all of the pieces were formed, the began to click together like puzzle pieces. Once everything was connected, they clicked into the wall and the small space. A black area opened under the machine, which would soon serve as a place for Gaster to examine Determination. Gaster placed the extractor perfectly above the space. He smiled, satisfied with his work.
   He stepped back and examined it, just to be sure nothing was wrong.
   It was perfect.
   Gaster glanced once again to the soul in the clear jar. Then he looked back to the Determination Extractor. "Well, time to see if it will work.", Gaster said to himself. He picked up the jar and pulled the lid off of it carefully. The soul radiated with it's dim light in the dark area, as if it was still a living being. Gaster almost hesitated to touch the soul, still seeing it as Chara herself. He breathed deeply and wrapped his bony hand around the soul. He carefully lifted the soul, not wanting to damage it, it being half-developed. He glanced back to the Determination Extractor.
   "You can do this, Gaster. The human is dead, she can't feel anything. This is for science. I need to do this.", Gaster told himself with a motivational tone. "I can do this." He lifted the red soul to, what looked like, the mouth of the machine. It began to float in the wide, dark gap. Suddenly, the machine started to buzz and gears began to click as the Determination Extractor turned on.
   Determination began to flow out of the red soul, turning into a substance as it floated and got sucked into the pipes of the extractor. It was almost, and possibly, magic. Gaster was so close to finding out what Raven Malice couldn't. What Determination was. So many theories and ideas swirled in Gaster's mind.
   Was it a magical substance? Was it more like a feeling? Was it a guide? Or... was it a weapon?
   The questions filled his mind as he saw the last bit of Determination get pulled from the miniature soul. The soul was now more of a grey, close to black. It appeared to Gaster that if a soul of Determination lost its Determination, it might become colorless. Like a void of darkness.
   Gaster glanced down to the empty space below the extractor. There was a desk and a small box on the desk in the space. Gaster jumped into the space, landing on his feet beside the desk. He looked at the desk and heard the pipes drain the last of the Determination from the soul into the black box on the desk.
   Gaster sat down in a grey metal chair in front of the desk. He glanced to the black box, which was currently holding every drop of Determination from Chara's soul. He pulled out glass vials and small glass pipes from under the desk. He summoned two floating hands and placed the pieces of glass together with all four of his hands, careful not to break or shatter the glass.
   He attached the glass arrangement to the black box, his two summoned hands disappearing. He glanced at a dark red button on the side of the box. Gaster held the box down with his left hand and pressed the button lightly. The gears inside of the box began to click and the red Determination substance began to flow through the glass pipes. It slid into the medium-sized vial at the end of the arrangement.
   Gaster smiled, pleased that he had succeeded. He grabbed a pair of goggles that way he could examine the substance safely. He pulled the piece of machine that held the vial closer to him. He pulled the wooden cork out of the top of the vial. All of a sudden, Gaster could smell the substance. It smelled like vanilla, or like a vanilla-scented candle. He loved the smell, then began to wonder why it smelled that way. He opened a drawer in the desk, grabbed a piece of paper and a pencil, set them on the desk, then closed the drawer.
   Gaster picked up the pencil and wrote quickly, "Determination" then underneath it, "smells like vanilla". He set the pencil down the looked back to the Determination substance. It was red, of course, and there were bubbles popping and fizzing, like soda, or boiling water. Gaster decided to write that qualiy down, too. He examined it a little more. Even though the soul had become a substance, some shreds of the soul were scattered throughout the liquid. Gaster couldn't be sure if it was a soul reaction or if it was just a side effect of the Determination Extractor.
   Pat! Pat! Pat! Pat!
   A pair of light footsteps could be heard throughout the dark floor of the Lab. "Dr. Gaster!", Alphys called out. "Dr. Gaster! Where are you?" Gaster was caught by Alphys's sudden urgent voice. The footsteps became closer.
   Pat! Pat! Pat!
   "Dr. Gaster!", Alphys called out once more. The footsteps became louder, then slowed. Gaster began to stand up in his metal chair, reaching for the area where he had jumped in earlier. All of a sudden he heard Alphys.
   "Woah..." Alphys said in awe. Gaster guessed that she had seen the Determination Extractor. Alphys was silent. Her footsteps came closer to the Determination Extractor slowly. "This is amazing.", she said. "Although, I don't even know what it is.", she muttered to herself. Gaster laughed, amused by her personality. Alphys made a sound of surprise, not expecting to hear Gaster.
   "Dr. Gaster? Where are you?", Alphys said, her voice slightly shaking. Gaster chuckled again.
   "Alphys, you see that area under the red machine?", Gaster asked. He heard Alphys make a sound of confirmation. "Well, I'm under there. Can you give me a hand so I can get out of here?" Alphys walked over to the Determination Extractor then looked down to find Gaster reaching his hand out to her.
   "Why in the world are you down there, sir?", Alphys asked confusedly. Gaster chuckled and reached his hand out further.
   "I'll explain later. Can you just get me out of here?", Gaster replied. Alphys nodded. She got on her knees beside the open space. She grabbed Gaster's hand and she pulled him up with all of her might. She was straining to help him up. Gaster tried to help her by grabbing the side of the open space and pushing himself up. They finally managed to get Gaster out of the space. Alphys laid on the ground to rest for a second while Gaster laughed at her silliness. "Thanks.", he said. Alphys nodded.
   "So, you probably have a few questions.", Gaster said.
   "Oh, ya think?", Alphys said sarcastically. Gaster chuckled.
   After explaining the Determination Extractor, what it did, and why he was in the small space under it, he and Alphys decided to leave the floor. As they stepped into the elevator, a question popped into Gaster's mind. "So, why were you looking for me, Alphys?", he asked. Alphys's eyes widened.
   "Oh yeah! Thank you for reminding me! Um, Sans called the Lab asking for you. He said that he had another nightmare or something.", Alphys answered. Gaster gasped.
   "Oh no...", he said quietly to himself.
   "What's wrong?", Alphys asked.
   "It's a long story.", Gaster replied.
   As the elevator doors opened, Gaster ran outside of the Lab, hoping that Sans still had at least 1 HP.