Chapter Text
W.D. Gaster hadn't always enjoyed journaling.
The habit was King Asgore's idea. "It'll help you to express your emotions!" He had said several years ago. At that time, Gaster was still a young adult, still recovering from the war. Asgore had offered him a notebook to try writing in, and Gaster had accepted, if only to please his friend.
To his own surprise, Gaster filled out the entire journal. Afterwards, he went out and bought a new one. Over the years, he had filled out multiple notebooks, which he still kept tucked away in the safety of his own home.
After Gaster took on his position in True Lab, he continued to keep a record of everything that happened, but it was no longer on paper. Instead, he typed away at the lab's old computer, recording both personal stories and professional experiments. Including... the experiments.
The computer had several entries from when Gaster was still learning what a homunculus was. It recorded his thoughts on how those artificial beings could be used to benefit monsterkind, and his realization of how the hypothetical creatures could be brought into existence.
Later on, it recorded the process of developing such creatures; the procedure of taking biomass from Gaster's own body, the precautions he took to preserve the artificial souls, and finally, records of the experiments themselves.
As Gaster removed the experiments from cryosleep, he recorded everything. Physical descriptions of the creatures, his first interactions with 1-S and 2-P, the meeting of the two. All of it carefully transcribed, along with Gaster's personal notes. All of it saved to his files, where he made sure no one else could ever access it.
Now Gaster sat at his computer again, filling out the results of the latest test.
2-P had done poorly again, as he usually did on the intelligence tests. Gaster was frustrated, but he had learned that scolding 2-P only made things worse. Maybe the subject would respond better to positive reinforcement, but then again-
"What are you doing?"
Gaster jumped at the loud voice. He spun around, only to see 2-P staring up at him.
"2-P! Don't sneak up on people like that." Gaster said.
"Sorry."
Gaster just sighed. "What do you want?""
"I'm boreddd." 2-P whined.
"And I already told you, go play with your br- 1-S."
"Brother's sleeping again!" 2-P cried, stamping his feet. "He never wants to play with me!"
"Stop whining!" Gaster snapped. "You can entertain yourself for a few hours."
2-P just stared at Gaster with the most pathetic expression. Like a wounded animal.
"I'm sorry," he muttered, all frustration gone from his face.
Gaster just scoffed. God, this one was needy. 1-S could be annoying too, but at least he was independent and mostly quiet. 2-P, on the other hand, did nothing except whine and cry and demand attention. It was intolerable.
...Gaster didn't like the way 2-P was looking at him. Like Gaster had done something to the creature.
Slowly, he turned back to his computer, hoping that 2-P would take the hint and retreat back to wherever he had been beforehand. Unfortunately, 2-P had never been the best at interpreting subtext.
"What are you doing?" 2-P asked. His voice was uncharacteristically quiet.
"..."
"Are you working on math stuff again? Uh- maybe I could help! I- I finished with the problems you gave me. I don't know if they're all right but-"
"I'm not working on an equation right now, 2-P."
"Oh."
2-P continued to stand beside Gaster's desk, shifting his weight from one foot to another. After about thirty seconds, Gaster gave in.
"If I tell you what I'm working on, will you go find something else to do?"
2-P immediately perked up, and Gaster couldn't even find it within himself to be irritated. At least the experiments weren't dismantling his printer again.
"I'm recording the results of today's test." Gaster explained.
"What does recording mean?" 2-P asked.
"It means that I'm saving all of your results on this computer."
"Oh."
Gaster watched Subject 2 think for a moment, before the creature asked his next question: "Do you do that with all the tests?"
"Of course. I record everything."
Gaster regretted that statement the instant he saw curiosity spread across 2-P's face. "Everything?" the experiment echoed.
"Mhm."
"Like what?"
"Well," Gaster started, "Whenever you two do something of interest, I record it for future reference."
"Why?"
"Because I might need to use the information later."
"Oh." Subject 2 muttered. "Can I see?"
"Absolutely not."
"Please?" 2-P begged. making his best attempt at puppy-dog eyes.
"...Subject 2. Don't you have something else to be doing right now?" Gaster asked.
"I don't-"
"I answered your question. Now, go away and let me work. Or do I have to shut you in your room again?"
For a moment, 2-P glared at him, and Gaster was worried that the experiment would try arguing. But then, Subject 2 stomped off, probably to go wake up 1-S.
Gaster sighed. He knew that the experiments grew bored easily, and True Lab wasn't the most entertaining place for them. But god, he couldn't deal with their constant interruptions while simultaneously trying to work. Whether it was questions, or complaining, or "games" which left one or both of them crying; Gaster couldn't get five minutes of peace in this godforsaken lab.
At one point, Gaster had briefly considered getting some toys for the creatures, but he knew that wasn't an option. If he gave the experiments children's toys, he could start seeing them as children. Far too many similarities with monster children, far too much risk of attachment.
Unfortunately, that meant he had to deal with the creatures when they were bored. Mainly Subject 2, but Subject 1 could also be plenty irritating. Gaster had considered shutting them up in their cell all day, but that would only upset them. He could certainly do that later on, but at this newer stage, he would prefer if they had some trust in him. Which left him with...
Gaster stared at his computer screen, scanning through multiple lines of text. Slowly, an idea crept into his mind.
He couldn't give them toys, but that didn't mean he couldn't find another way to keep them entertained. They already knew how to read and write, so if he just gave them a few things...
Yes. Yes, that was a good idea. Now all he needed was to find the notebooks.
-
"I'm kinda bored."
"Than come play with me already!"
2-P looked at Brother, thinking that maybe he would want to play a game today. But Brother just flopped backwards onto the ground.
"Nope," Said Brother. " 'm tired."
2-P gasped. "Brother!" He cried. "You're so lazy!"
"Wuzzat mean?"
"It means you just sleep all the time and you never want to do anything!"
Brother stretched his neck to look up at 2-P. "Where'd ya learn that word?"
"HE taught it to me," 2-P said, proudly.
"Hm," Brother grunted. Then he rolled over to face the wall.
"Brother, are you going to sleep again?"
No response.
2-P grumbled. Brother was always sleeping, even when the lights were on. HE said that it was because of Brother's HP. HE said that Brother had "low magic levels", or something like that.
Suddenly, 2-P heard footsteps going click-clack on the hard floor. He gasped.
"Brother!" He whisper-shouted, giving his brother a nudge. "HE'S coming!"
Brother looked up, and 2-P stared through the glowing bars of their room. The footsteps got louder.
Finally, HE walked out in front of them. Without pausing, HE went over to the hand-scanner-thingy, and the bars of their cell disappeared.
Brother sat up and looked at HIM. "Is it time for food already?" He asked. "I thought it was later."
Brother was right, 2-P thought. They had just gotten back from tests. Usually, HE took them for tests or let them play outside of the room, then HE left them in the cell for a little bit. HE came back to bring them food only after a while, right before the lights went off. It was too early for food now.
"It's not food." HE said. "I have something for you two."
"Ooh!" 2-P gasped. "What is it?" Even Brother looked a bit interested.
"Here," HE said. Walking over, he handed 2-P a little book, smaller than the ones they had during lessons.
While HE handed a similar looking book to Brother, 2-P flipped open the first page. Inside was a sheet of lined paper, like the kind they sometimes used for writing. 2-P fluttered through the pages, but there was nothing written down, and no pictures either. Just sheets and sheets of plain lined paper.
"Um, I don't know if you noticed, but these books don't have words in them," Brother said, flipping through his own book.
"They're notebooks," HE said. "You write in them."
"Ohhh," Brother sighed. "I get it. We're doing another test."
"It's not-"
"This is a weirrrd test," 2-P said, looking through the pages to see if he had missed anything.
"It's not a test, Subject 2."
"Than what is it?" 2-P asked.
"It's a sort of activity," HE said. "It might help with your writing skills, but you're not required to do it."
"So, it's like a game?"
"No."
"Well," Brother asked, "What are we supposed to do with 'em?"
"Enunciate your words," HE said. "And like I said, these are for you to write in. It's for entertainment."
"What do we write?" Asked 2-P.
"Anything." HE said. "Write about what you are. Write about anything that happens to you."
"That's boring," Brother said. "Nothing ever happens down here."
HE just shrugged. "Make up stories if you want, or draw something. You're not required to use them if you don't want to. Rip them apart for all I care."
"I think they're nice!" 2-P said, a bit too loud.
HE looked at 2-P. "... Right," HE said. "Well, I need to go. I'll be back with food in a little while. Just don't make too much noise or I'll have to separate you again."
2-P frowned, remembering how HE had gotten mad at them a few days ago. 2-P and Brother had just been playing, but HE said they were shouting too loud, and HE made Brother go sleep in the other cell! 2-P had to stay in his cell, alone.
The next day, HE had gotten even more mad at 2-P for sleeping by the cell bars- "dangerous", HE said. But the electric bars glowed in the night time, and 2-P...
2-P didn't like sleeping in the darkness by himself.
A weird, gross feeling pooled up in 2-P's chest, where his SOUL must've been. The same kind of feeling 2-P got when Brother ignored him for too long, or when HE did weird tests that made 2-P feel kinda scared. 2-P tried to ignore the feeling, but it stuck, the weird feeling behind his ribs.
HE turned to leave, and for a moment, 2-P felt almost sad. For a moment, 2-P wanted HIM to stay, to talk with them or teach them a new lesson or- something.
2-P and Brother watched as HE walked away, turning the bars back on behind HIM.
"Welp," Brother said, as soon as HE was gone. "That was less exciting than I thought."
2-P looked down at his new book. "Are you gonna write in yours?" He asked Brother.
"Maybe if I come up with something," Brother mumbled. "But there's nothing to write about down here."
"Yeah," 2-P said. "But if we ever go outside, I bet there's gonna be a bunch of stuff to write about!"
That made Brother look more happy, like he always did when they talked about The Outside. "Yeah," he huffed. "Yeah that sounds nice..."
Brother laid back down, leaving his book on the floor. 2-P knew that Brother probably wouldn't write much in his book at all. 2-P also knew that Brother was probably gonna sleep for the rest of the day. Brother was always so tired, all the time.
And for some reason, that weird feeling got even stronger.
2-P blinked his eyes real fast. It was ok. It was ok, right?
HE would be back soon with food, and then 2-P could talk with Brother before they both went to sleep. Right now, 2-P just had to "entertain himself," like HE always told him to do. And now, 2-P knew just how to do it!
2-P looked around the cell until he spotted them- a couple of crayons lying in the corner. He scooched over, and grabbed the crayon which looked the least used up. Then, 2-P flipped open the first page of his book, and started to write.