Undertale AUpril Day 4 - Hall
Writing challenge by @kittycatpaw11; @undertale-aupril
AU - Underfell, Post-Emergence; Monster OC - Cosine; Character Study. (UF version of Sinnabon. See bottom for details. Works for Nightmare after being found Feral on the surface, no memories of her past) Tried first person for once!
It’s been about a decade since I’ve been down here… my Underground.
The rest of the True Lab stands as it always has, lit with that sickly halogen light that highlights the thick layer of dust that coats its many surfaces. Who could say if any of it was still leftover from the massive collapse of the far wing; if any of it was the essence of the scientists who’d died here. As I walk, the glint of a bulb catches the pearlescent sheen of it. Heh. Must’ve sucked to be them.
Nightmare had asked me to come down here in his stead, to check if there was ‘anything of interest’ they could use. He’d looked at me with a certain weight, as he said it, but I’m not really sure why. I’ve only been down here a handful of times myself, delivering messages to that mental royal scientist of theirs from her jacked up datemate. I think. It’s all kind of fuzzy. But I’m sure I’ve never been past the main entryway.
Well… at least that I know of.
I brush off the dark void of nothingness that sits insufferably beyond my reach— the majority of the memories of my first eighteen years of life—and get on with the mission. It doesn’t matter who I was before.
What I am now is powerful. Capable.
No one needs to know that I hesitated before continuing on into the dark hallway in front of me. Here, even the interactive screens set into the wall are dormant. Nothing cuts on as I walk past (i̵s̴ ̵s̴o̸m̴e̴t̸h̸i̶n̷g̷ ̴s̷u̴p̵p̷o̵s̶e̵d̵ ̶t̴o̵?̶) and the only movement is the eddies of dust that swirl around my feet. Something, something—it’s bad luck to disturb the dead.
The further I walk, the more fucked things get. Wires lie like sleeping snakes across my path, and the ceiling looks like a checkerboard, it’s missing so many of its drop tiles. Eventually, even the walls lose their rigidity, buckling steel turning the even geometric shape into something more organic. Fuck… how long does this hallway even go?
(A̴ ̵l̴o̵n̷g̷,̸ ̷l̴o̵n̶g̵ ̸w̵a̶y̵.̴)
It feels like I’m being swallowed, and true to the feeling, I end up in the belly of the beast, blocked by a buckled door that falls off its hinges at the slightest touch.
(H̴̛͎͍̫̯̬͆́͆͐͝͝i̴͖͙̥̗̦̫͚̮̻̞͈̬͎͈͐̍̋̌͂̄͊̐̄̂̑̽͠ș̵̙̠͍̙͉̠̪̪̭̋̅ p̷r̴i̵v̴a̵t̵e̷ ̷l̷a̶b̷)
I confidently take the first door to the right, sidestepping fallen structural beams and overturned tables. Glass shards litter the floor like the crystals of Waterfall. The accident at the Core must have caused one hell of an earthquake, to reach all the way here. If only it weren’t also dormant, now. That would’ve been something to bring back to the boss.
Barely thinking about it, I make my way through the pitch-black labyrinth of these back rooms. My eye-lights light the way in a harsh reddish-pink glow, pausing on scraps of cloth… belongings that after all this time, persisted.
(I̴ ̵g̶u̶e̸s̷s̴ ̷t̶h̵i̴s̵ ̵j̴a̷c̴k̵e̴t̶ ̵w̵a̶s̸ ̴j̴u̴s̸t̵ ̶a̶s̵ ̸d̶e̶t̶e̴r̷m̶i̷n̴e̷d̷ ̵a̵s̷ ̶I̸ ̴w̷a̸s̵.̴)
Goddamn, being in here was giving me a migraine. Monsters aren’t made to breathe in so much dust… or Dust.
(Y̴o̶u̷ ̶a̶r̵e̴n̷'̷t̶ ̶a̵ ̷m̸o̸n̵s̴t̸e̶r̵.̵)
Finally, I reach my destination. This door, too, resembles a scrap of aluminum foil more closely than solid steel, and ignoring the loud groan of structural agony from the ruins around me, I toss it aside.
(M̸̟̭̤̹̋͗̂y̶̢̟͝ ̵͎̘͕̥̂̏̅R̸͕͓͂͋o̸̮͝ơ̶̲͛͘͝m̶̟̻͊.̷̨͇̭͍̇̓̏͝)
It’s a bedroom. Sort of. There’s a bed, anyway—the thin mattress a mere husk as the years reclaimed it. The remnants of leather straps dangle from several spots on the frame, their fasteners dotting the floor in flecks of captured light. The long steel table lining the opposite wall makes me shudder.
I run a clawtip over the golden stud embedded into my mandible, unsure why now of all time they’d decided to act up again. A dull tugging pain. A spark of panic deep in my soul. Then it’s gone.
This is stupid. I expel a bit of the nervous magic gathering in my ribcage through my nasal cavity, disturbing a few blank papers carpeting the tile. There’s nothing of use here, and the longer I stand here, the longer it’ll take to get back to my lavish bedroom with my silk sheets.
(T̸̳̥̈́h̴̰̿͊e̵̡̳̟̍͋̓ ̸̹͈̘͒ȩ̵͖̗̂x̷̲͆̓̀ț̸͚̥͊r̶̢̠̤̿ạ̸̡͊̅c̷̗͓͂̾t̸͓͉͋̏̈́ͅs̸͍̰͉͑ ̶̧̡͗̄ẉ̸̙͉̎̍͗ó̷̩̗̿͜͠ṵ̶͊͝l̶͓̦̉͠d̶̛̻͉̽n̸̝̝͠'̵̦̺͎́͑̃t̴̯̞̗͊ ̵͉́̀̚ḩ̵̮̫̎á̸͈̠̩́͑v̶̳̞̊͑̓e̸̢̎̍̕ ̶̳̻͕̑͋̎s̶̞̮̍͌͐ȕ̷̪͓́ͅr̸̺̓ͅv̸̫̻̥̕i̵̪͉̾̍v̷̞͋̽͠e̶̪̽͌̄d̴̲̎̆͜͜ ̸̨̥̣́͒t̷̙͚̲̿̄̈ẖ̸̯̟͛̾̃ȋ̸̼̠̔̈́s̸̮͚̈́͝ ̸̨̤̳̄͋͝l̵̳̑̂o̵͇̿n̵̜͛̈́ġ̷͍̅̕ ̷̳͖̙̈̕á̵͙n̸̮̹̓y̴̱̍w̴̼̯̥͋å̷͔̙͆y̷̞͎͊̀̈́ͅ.̸̧͎̦͌)
Fruitlessly, I search the rest of the wing, finding nothing more than metal and the tatters of hundreds of file folders, all stuffed full of more blank notes. Damn, were they studying disappearing ink in here or something? Nightmare is not gonna be happy if I come home empty handed. It took him a lot of magic to send me back to my original AU.
Just as I’m about to give up, I see it. A glow that doesn’t come from my lights, partially concealed under a pile of files on a desk in the back. The color sends a buzz through my bones, some strange mix of unpleasant and addictive. My claws twitch unbidden.
Keep it together! Maybe some part of me is claustrophobic—I can’t remember any other time a mission’s bothered me this much. Grimacing, I force myself to approach it. A syringe, impossibly unbroken, casts its shape through the layers of paper in a scarlet glow. In my fingers, it sloshes thickly in its cylindrical prison. It’s not blood… something much more viscous and concentrated. Besides, no blood I’ve felt on my bones looked anything like this.
(C̸̹͒̾o̵̦͚̍s̷̛̤̊̀ĩ̷͖͚̌n̷̲͆̃ẽ̴̢̨.̵͚̃͛̕.̴͚͎̓.̶̿ͅ ̸̨̊̌͝ͅt̴̗͍̿̌ȃ̵̱͝k̸̢̋ë̶͎̤́͒ ̶̧̣͋͒͆ő̶͇u̶͉̚t̵̥͍̐̈́ ̷͉̰̭͒͑ẙ̶͇͌o̴̫͌͝ṳ̵̋͋͘ṟ̶͙̯̂ ̷̡͔̫͛S̸̻̬͒ȏ̷̦͌͒u̵̢̱̙͆͝l̷̖̄.̷̛̪̘̗̈́ ̷̧̻̙͐̿T̶͐͜ḩ̷̛͉̩̅͝i̴̯͂̇̉s̴̻̐̌̀ ̵͙̑́̔w̸̰͚͕̍̈́i̵͇̦̊̿̚l̴̨̦̈̅̿l̸̪̟͝ ̴͔̥͖̎͗ö̵̡̰́̈́͐ṉ̷͎̀̈́ļ̸̺̻̊y̴̫͖̯͒̉͘ ̸̨̬͈͝h̷̫͘͝u̵͍͉̅̄ͅr̷̮̋̌t̸̀͜ ̴̛̫̝̈́ͅḟ̷̗͙̠o̴̢̫̽̇͝r̴͕̖͗̊̈ ̴̢̂ą̶͓͚͝ ̶̝̜͂m̷̟͕̺̆o̴̦͐́̾m̵̼̈e̷̪̩͐͝ͅn̴̮̲̪̓̍t̷͔͂̀̄.̸̳͇̀̈́͑͜)
Whatever it was, it’s much more interesting than anything else in this dusty old disaster zone, so I pocket it and make with haste to the pick up point. It’s not like there’s anyone down here anymore to catch me breaking my way into the Lab, but all the same I want to leave. This place gives me the fucking creeps.
“Alright Boss. Bring me home. I got something you might want to see.”
(You don't NEED to know the messed up words to understand this, but in order they read... "Useful." ; "Is something supposed to?" ; "A long, long way." ; "His private lab" ; "I guess this jacket was just as determined as I was" ; "You aren't a monster." ; "My Room." ; "The extracts wouldn't have survived this long anyway." ; "Cosine... Take out your Soul. This will only hurt for a moment." )
