CHAPTER 3 OUTLINE: OUR NEW FAMILY MEMBER
Previously, on Delta Experiment...
Frisk overheard a conversation between Sans and Dr. Gaster. They and "Chris" resolved to investigate the skeletons.
Gaster brings Sans and Papyrus into his house, and lays down some very strict rules, keeping Sans and Papyrus at arms' length and making it very clear that he isn't taking them in out of kindness.
Papyrus reveals that he was expecting their new family member to be a little more... friendly. Sans assures him that he might be a bit of a stick in the mud, but he's still their family. Papyrus tries to cling to hope.
I actually started working on this sequence! Though it was still unfinished (and looking at old art is always painful), I might as well post it.
(Insert multicolored lights underneath the door)
Sans steps through the door, ending up in Gaster's workshop, where he's looking at a chart of the SOUL on his big screen.
Gaster explains his experiment to Sans off-screen.
Over the course of the chapter, Frisk, Asriel and "Chris" were going to befriend Papyrus (who was being bullied by Dess, whose class he was in).
Sans takes Frisk to Grillby's. Frisk is anxious, knowing that Sans is aware they were spying on him. Grillby notices that Frisk seems uncomfortable at first, and decides to start juggling glasses in order to make them feel better. The whole diner cheers.
Sans informs us that Grillby's daughter goes to the same school as Frisk. Grillby shows us a picture of his daughter, Fuku, that he keeps in his wallet. Frisk seems to think that they don't look much alike, as their flames are different colors.
Sans remarks that looks can be deceiving. He teaches Frisk a trick. By opening one eye, they can sense the colors radiating from people's SOULs. Each of these traits corresponds to a specific virtue.
This is a special ability that only people like Frisk and Sans can pull off. In fact, they've already exhibited this ability a few times in Chapter 3...
(Patience and integrity.)
From now on, Frisk will be able to sense these traits at will, which will allow them to read people more easily. Doing it for too long can be draining, however, so he advises them to use it sparingly and secretly.
Frisk notices that there are many distinct colors, though they don't see any red.
They also notice that some people's colors are brighter than others. Grillby's kind action for Frisk makes him glow a bright green for the moment -- in this way, he matches his daughter. Meanwhile, Mr. Drake is a sickly, pale yellow. They're not sure what this means.
Sans tells Frisk he's aware that they've been listening to their conversations. His brother likes them, so he makes them a deal -- Come to his house and hang out with his brother, and he'll give them some more answers.
Toriel comes in, upset at Frisk for sneaking off with some stranger. Sans remarks that this must be Frisk's wonderful mother... or maybe she's their Nanny(goat). Toriel, despite her anger, is unable to keep a straight face as she marches off with Frisk.
Sans comes to Toriel's house to set the record straight and set up the playdate properly. He brings flowers, which makes her uncomfortable at first, until she realizes they're only water-squirters. By the end of their conversation, they "befriend" one another.
The children head to Sans and Papyrus' house. Asriel and Papyrus start playing Dragon Blazers together, while "Chris" tries to get Frisk to sneak off. You have the option of either going to try and find Gaster's study, or to go and talk with Sans in the back of the house like you agreed. For the sake of this summary, I'll assume the latter was picked!
Frisk goes around to the back of the house to meet with Sans, who tells them the true nature of his and Gaster's relationship.
In summary, Gaster, Sans and Papyrus originally came from another world -- a world filled with skeletons, in a city named Helvetica.
In that world, when Sans was a child, he found a newspaper ad containing a strange survey with seemingly-nonsensical questions. He answered each question with the funniest response he could think of, and received a thank you card in the mail each time. These surveys eventually led him to W.D. Gaster, an eccentric scientist who was looking for a student.
Gaster was an unfortunate skeleton. His font was unreadable to most, essentially a speech impediment. However, he created a creation he called his "voice box" -- essentially a text-to-speech program -- to allow himself to communicate.
Their world was the world of the dead, but Gaster wanted to enter the world of the living. He believed that there was a way to do so by harnessing the power of the SOUL and its many colors. However, this process requires two participants -- hence the need for a pupil.
Sans became Gaster's pupil, and learned much about the SOUL. He learned a special trick -- by closing one eye and focusing, he could see the colors radiating from people's SOULs, allowing him to be unparalleled at reading people.
One day, one of Gaster's experiments goes wrong, and all of the color gets sucked out of his SOUL as a result. From that day onward, Gaster changes, becoming seemingly cold and unfeeling. He loses his sense of bravery, justice, kindness, patience, integrity, and perseverance... Earlier in the chapter, when he said he wasn't taking in the brothers out of kindness, he meant that he was physically incapable of it.
Believing he's reached a dead-end, and cannot maintain any close relationships in his "broken" state, he creates a machine to take him to another world.
Gaster disappears, and (not wanting to leave his little brother with his abusive Grandpa, Semi) Sans brings Papyrus with him into the next world. Gaster was the only person who showed him kindness, and Sans still believes there must still be good in him somewhere -- if he can only find him, he'll show him.
Sans and Papyrus traveled through many worlds looking for Gaster. In every world, they found that he had created some great machine and then disappeared, becoming an urban legend and leaving some piece of himself behind (such as his missing finger). And, in every world, there was some kind of other world he was trying to reach -- the Surface, the world of the living, outer space... a different form, but the same story. Gaster, undeterred by his many failures and determined to succeed no matter how many times it took, kept continuing his plans in each new world.
Papyrus never stayed in one world long enough to make friends. Every photo in Sans' album -- the ones with "various people you don't recognize"-- came from a different universe. Sans would show Frisk some of these photos as he tells the story.
(* It's raining memories.)
Frisk asks why he's telling them all this, and Sans says Frisk should know why. Frisk doesn't answer at this.
Sans implores Frisk (and us) to let this information sate their curiosity for the time being. Looking too deeply into things will only bring despair, and he promises that whatever happens, it will all turn out for the best in the end. They just need to be patient.
There's more to the story that Sans doesn't tell Frisk. Specifically:
The Undertale world was seemingly the last world on Gaster's trail. In that world, something especially catastrophic occurred, and Gaster was well and truly shattered for good. The Sans of that timeline fell into a depression -- the machine was broken, and the trail ran cold. He couldn't go home, and he couldn't find Gaster. They were stuck.
However, something extraordinary happened. Somehow, a new world was created-- one in which the monsters were on the surface-- and everyone was placed into it, including Gaster. No one knows how this is possible, but Gaster believes it has something to do with the SOUL.
In a meta sense, he believes it was the many combined hopes and dreams of the people who played Undertale, their wishes for a happy ending, that was able to create this new world. Gaster's plan is to recreate whatever process led to this being possible.
Sans was going to discover the existence of the Undertale world because Alphys was receiving some strange phone calls from what appeared to be Sans himself. As it turns out, the Undertale Sans was able to contact the Deltarune world. The FUN events in Undertale (including the fridge and pizza delivery prank calls from Sans and Alphys) were going to be tests that the Deltarune versions of them were making. It also would have explained Alphys' "research" on other universes, and Sans' remark about "the other sans-es". The badge in Sans' drawer was a prototype of the same kinds of badges the Gaster Followers wear -- something Sans kept from their days in Helvetica.
Deltarune Sans would have met Alphys in the grocery store, and recognize that his voice sounded familiar. Sans helps her track down the signal, and after coming to grips with the existence of alternate universes, they would decide to have a little "Fun" with it. Alphys says she couldn't possibly mess with the timeline like that, but with a little pushing from two Sanses...
Back at the hangout, Asriel and Papyrus bond over their frustrations with their new family members. Asriel is upset at the fact Frisk seems to be spending more time with "Chris," who is rude and scary. Papyrus is upset at Gaster's lack of humor and strict demeanor.
However, through their conversation, both come to the conclusion that they should try their best to be patient, in hopes of one day becoming a real family.
Asriel decides to be patient whenever "Chris" acts up...
Papyrus decides he'll wait as long as it takes for Gaster to come around...
and Frisk decides they'll enjoy the life they're living, without worrying too much about the experiment... for the time being.
Frisk meets up with "Chris", who says they couldn't break into the study. However, their face is looking paler than usual... They tell Frisk that they need to stop trying to find out things about the skeletons, and instead have to stay away from them as much as possible. It's clear the experience has spooked them in a way nothing has thus far.
The group all heads home, with "Chris" trying to provoke Asriel again, but this time, he lets it roll off his back, determined to be patient.
Deep in the night, "Chris" emerges from their slumber.
Head hanging low, they walk out of the room, and down the stairs... drooling from the mouth.
