Alphys felt uncomfortable barging into the castle without any prior warning. Even though she was the Royal Scientist, it would still be rude to show up uninvited. She would have called ahead of time, but that was no longer an option. Thankfully, Asgore seemed to be a pretty understanding guy.

She headed directly to the throne room, but again, Asgore was nowhere to be found. Alphys called for him, waited, and then called again. There was no response. She crept to the room in the back and stopped, mesmerized by the Barrier. She shifted her feet as she pried her attention away from the magical wall and looked at the ground, knowing the six human souls were hidden in the floor. It would be so easy to snatch them up if she had malicious intent.

Alphys left the throne room, deciding to look for Asgore upstairs. The upper level resembled a simple, modest home with white walls and a pale wood floor. A number of glass vases containing the same golden flowers that grew in the garden were displayed around the house. Asgore must have liked those flowers a lot.

Propped in front of one of the vases was a small photo frame with an old family picture. Alphys picked it up to get a closer look. Asgore had his arm wrapped around his former wife, Toriel, pulling her in for an embrace. They were both smiling, and Asgore in particular was radiating warmth. Asgore had been cheerful and amiable when Alphys met with him, but there had been something strained and a little contrived about the way he presented himself, as though he was wearing a mask. Alphys had been able to sense his underlying desperation and fatigue. In the moment of time forever preserved in the photograph, however, Asgore was truly happy.

Standing in front of the king and queen were two smaller figures holding bouquets of flowers—their children. Asriel, their biological son, was smiling sweetly, while their adopted child—a human—was hiding their face. Their innocence warmed Alphys's heart, but she was filled with a different feeling when she remembered both of them had passed away. She imagined hearing their giggling voices and their little feet thudding on the floor as they ran down the hall, and it hit her just how lonely the castle had become. What was once home to a lively young family now only held memories, and a sad man trying to come to terms with his grief.

Although the photograph made Alphys's heart ache, she couldn't look away from the human child. She couldn't help but wonder if one of the souls Asgore had shown her had belonged to them. Then, she began to wonder about the identities of the other human souls. They had all been people just like her. They had led their own individual lives, and carried their own thoughts and beliefs and memories. They had their own friends and families, and they had probably been loved. Were they still remembered, or had they been lost to time and forgotten? Did they know what they were? Could they think? Could they feel? Alphys shivered. It seemed like hell.

Those were what she would be working with. They were not objects or materials, but the very embodiment of peoples' beings. When Alphys worked with machines, she could at least find comfort in knowing she only used inorganic parts. If she made a mistake, those parts could be replaced. Experimenting on souls or living monsters would be different. Not only were they utterly irreplaceable, but they belonged to people—and were the essence of who they were.

In order to succeed, Alphys would have to think of her subjects in the same way she thought of machines. In a way, that was essentially what they were. They were composed of different parts and circuits and mechanisms, but they happened to be made of magic rather than metal. Their emotions and attributes—all the things that made them "people"—were the result of their programming, not unlike the functions of machines. Even though she had been conditioned to feel empathy, deep inside she knew that to be the truth. She would have to teach herself to repress those feelings. There was no room for ethics in Alphys's research—or else no room for failure.

She set the picture down and resumed looking for Asgore, but it didn't appear he was home. Alphys would just have to wait. She seated herself at the dining room table, noticing that three of the chairs—two of which were small—had not been occupied in a long time. Sitting by herself in Asgore's chair reminded Alphys of how she too was lonely. She had cut herself off from most of her friends in order to become the Royal Scientist, and her few relationships that remained were on the ropes. But unlike Asgore, she had brought her isolation upon herself. She wasn't deserving of pity.

By choosing not to interact with others, Alphys was preparing herself for the demands of her work in more ways than one. With no friends to relate to and care about, it would be easier for her to see people in a different perspective. It felt wrong, though. Alphys became the Royal Scientist to gain recognition—but recognition was obtained by appealing to others. If Alphys saw people as something else, would their recognition of her hold the same weight? Alphys had turned the matter into something entirely about herself, and seemed to have forgotten what she had been striving for in the first place.

Alphys kept thinking back to the shy human child in the picture. That human had lived in the castle. Other than the photograph, Alphys wondered if they had left anything behind—something demonstrative of the nature of humans, perhaps. No, Alphys scolded herself. It's bad enough that I'm here as is. I can't go looting through the belongings of Asgore's dead kid! Being investigative had helped Alphys find a lot of critical information earlier, but exploring her own property, even if it had once belonged to someone else, was much different from rummaging through another person's house without their permission.

Alphys's curiosity was keeping her drowsiness at bay. Slowly, she pushed her chair back and rose to her feet. "I'll be quick," she assured herself out loud. "I'll just look. I won't touch anything. Un… unless it's important to my research. But I won't make a mess! Asgore doesn't have to know… Asgore won't know..." She let out a nervous laugh as she tottered down the hall.

Alphys nearly jumped out of her skin when she saw something move in the distance. Realizing it was her reflection in a mirror on the wall, she relaxed. Alphys approached it just to be sure, and cringed when she got a better look at her reflection. She was a mess. Her scales were dull, there were bags under her eyes, and her clothes were stained with sweat and spatters of dirty water from the leaking pipes. Alphys had only been the Royal Scientist for a couple of days—and she had hardly done any work yet—but already the stress of the job was manifest in her appearance. I need a shower, Alphys thought, adjusting her crooked glasses, and some sleep. Lots of sleep.

Not wanting to waste more time, Alphys walked over to one of the doors and cautiously turned the doorknob. She tried to make as little noise as possible in case—as ridiculous as it would have been—someone was hiding inside. She poked her head in, scanned her surroundings, and slipped into the room when she was certain the coast was clear.

Judging by the king-sized bed, she had entered Asgore's room. Alphys shambled to his desk, where a journal lay. It was open to a page that was blank aside from three words scrawled in large print at the top: Nice day today! Using her hand to keep her place, Alphys flipped through the journal and found that all of the previous entries were equally concise. It didn't surprise her; Asgore hadn't struck her as a man of many words. She wished Asgore had recorded some information about the human, but he would not have had any reason to do so. Asgore was a father, not a scientist, and the human was not a specimen, but his child.

After looking through a couple of drawers and a wardrobe and finding nothing but clothing, Alphys returned to the hallway. The next door was locked and had a sign hanging over it that read "room under renovations". Alphys was able to enter the final room. Her expression drooped when she saw two twin beds lying across from each other and a box brimming with toys that had been played with for the last time long ago. It was depressing to look at, but Alphys knew that, if anywhere at all, this would be where she learned about the human.

She opted not to disturb the toy box, which was coated in a dusty film. In the back of the room was a set of shelves filled with children's books and more small toys. A stack of five VHS tapes had been shoved into the corner of one of the shelves. Alphys picked them up, finding they were all simply labeled "home movies". There's bound to be some footage of the human in these. Alphys doubted Asgore checked the children's room regularly, so he probably wouldn't notice if she borrowed them. She instinctively pulled out her phone to summon her Dimensional Box and groaned when she remembered it was dead. Alphys muttered, "Well, so much for tha—"

She went silent when she heard a door swing open on the other side of house, accompanied by humming and the rustling of plastic bags. Oh no. Alphys peered over her shoulder. She had left the door wide open. Nononononono. She stood frozen, her terror condensing into acceptance of her fate. She was doomed. Her position was going to be revoked after only two days. After everything she hadn't done, maybe it was for the best.

The humming and crinkling grew fainter, but Alphys's legs wouldn't move. Her hands were shaking and her claws were clicking against the VHS tapes. She could feel them slipping out of her grip. She wrestled them into her pockets instead of placing them back on the shelf, leaving a very conspicuous pair of rectangular bulges in her coat.

Alphys could no longer hear Asgore, but she sensed it still wasn't safe. She tiptoed across the minefield of creaky wooden floor panels and hovered by the door, debating whether she should close it and wait until she was positive Asgore was gone or risk sticking her head out and leaving if the king was not in sight. Alphys settled on the second option, not positive she would be able to hear Asgore's movements through a closed door.

She inhaled, exhaled, and leaned forward, bringing her pointy snout past the door frame. Alphys swept her gaze up and down, left and right. The hallway was empty, and so was the room beyond. Alphys held back a sigh of relief. After stepping into the hall, Alphys turned to shut the door behind her. She hurriedly brought the door toward her, stopping before it met the frame. Then, she pulled in the latch and made sure not to take her hand off the knob until the door was fully closed. Alphys wiped the sweat off her forehead and spun around, planning to retreat to the front door and pretend she had just walked in.

That was what she would have done if Asgore wasn't staring her down from the doorway to the dining room. Alphys didn't know how long he had been watching her fiddle with the door, but it had certainly been long enough. Alphys avoided looking at the king's face, not wanting to see his soft features contorted in outrage.

The voice that rang out was surprisingly temperate. "Dr. Alphys…? I was… I was not expecting to see you here."

Alphys lifted her gaze slightly, still not making eye contact. She tried to explain herself, but the words got caught in her throat. "I-I..." Alphys croaked. "I was look… looking for you." Finally, her eyes reached Asgore's face. He was not angry, but upset—and not just upset, but hurt. He made no effort to conceal his misty eyes and quivering lips. Alphys squeaked out one more word: "S-sorry."

Asgore regarded her for a long moment, and then closed his eyes and heaved his shoulders. It seemed like there were many things he wanted to say, but all he managed to utter was, "I see." Sympathizing with the guilt that had overtaken Alphys, he forced himself to smile, but the pain was still visible in his eyes. "You would not have found me there."

The tapes in Alphys's pockets suddenly weighed a thousand pounds. There was no way Asgore could tell what they were just by their shape, but after seeing his response to her entering the room, she felt horrible for having the audacity to steal from it. She couldn't imagine how he would react if he found out.

The voice in Alphys's head tried to console her. But he hasn't found out, and he won't find out. There's no sense in worrying about something that will never happen. It was the same message that had presented itself in her mind several times before; a message that had not failed her yet. All she needed to do was free herself from the emotional burdens that came with it.

Again, empathy stood in the way of her success. Even when she was outside of the laboratory, she needed to see people as machines: machines that she could manipulate any which way; machines she could repurpose to suit her needs; machines that were predictable and easy to operate. Machines that could malfunction disastrously in the event that she made one minute miscalculation. There was absolutely no room for failure.

"What is it that you need?" Asgore asked, his voice firm. "Wait. First, let us have a seat. You look tired." Alphys couldn't tell if he was being considerate or if he wanted to get away from his children's room—probably a combination of both. Asgore led her into the dining room. He reached for Toriel's old chair, only to stop and pull out one of the smaller chairs for Alphys instead. Embarrassed, the diminutive monster sat down. The king seated himself in the chair Alphys had been sitting in earlier. The table was covered in bags of groceries Asgore had yet to put away, which made it difficult for Alphys to see him.

"Now," said Asgore.

Alphys stammered, "I… I, uh, c-came here to… to… ask about the human souls? You see, uh… human souls are a lot d-different from monster souls. They have different c-compositions, or at least I th-think so. S-so I wanted to ask if I could… if I could—"

Alphys saw Asgore dip his horns over the tops of the grocery bags. "I expected it would come to this. Yes, I am willing to allow you to study the human souls, if that will bring us closer to the surface." The king's desperation overpowered any misgivings he might have had about Alphys. To see him so eager to hand over what he had worked so hard to obtain to someone undeserving of his trust just because she claimed to know what to do with them was disconcerting. As a king, he was supposed to be adamant and strong-willed—and yet there he was, giving in to what little hope he had.

"Thank you," Alphys breathed, shaken by how simple the exchange had been.

"I will be the one thanking you once we destroy the Barrier," Asgore said. "Me, and the entire underground as well."

Stop that, Alphys groaned in her head. She got the impression that Asgore was trying to dissuade her by targeting her inhibitions, questioning if she truly thought she was worthy of such an undertaking. But that was just her paranoia. Asgore was always forward and sincere; he would never play mind games like that. He was promising her the recognition she thought she wanted so badly, but didn't actually want at all.

"I cannot stress enough how precious those souls are. Surely you of all people are already well aware. I trust that you will handle them with utmost care. I do not want anything bad to happen to the souls, or you."

"I understand," said Alphys. Again, Asgore's wording made her anxious. She prayed her outward appearance wasn't mirroring the way she felt inside.

Asgore rose to his feet. "I will gather them for you. But first, let me put away these groceries. I do not want the ice cream to melt." Alphys waited as the king brought the bags into the kitchen and resumed his humming. A few moments later, he peered into the dining room and called, "Do you want anything, Dr. Alphys? I can fix you a snack if you would like."

He might have been stalling or trying to be polite, but it was more likely that he was just lonely. Alphys got the feeling that he didn't get visitors very often, so even someone who showed up uninvited would be treated like a welcome guest. Alphys wasn't sure why he and Toriel had split up, but she figured he would be better off with her around for company. But now that they weren't together anymore, Asgore was single. Was the reason he was being so nice to Alphys because he liked her? Alphys wasn't much to look at, but she was smart. Maybe Asgore valued intelligence in his women. Still, the gorgeous, handsome, muscular king was way out of her league…

Alphys quickly looked away when she realized she had been staring. "Uh! No thanks, Mr. Dreamy—" Alphys nearly cursed out loud. "Ack! Dreemurr! Mr. Dreemurr!" She could feel sweat rolling down the back of her neck.

Asgore froze, blushing under his shaggy white fur. "O… okay," he said, retreating back into the kitchen. He didn't hum as he finished putting his groceries away. The silence was suffocating.

After several long minutes, Asgore stepped out of the kitchen. "There. I am done." He walked past the table and instructed, "Wait here," even though Alphys had been doing just that. He disappeared down the stairs and returned with the human souls, three cylinders in each arm. He set them on the table in front of Alphys.

Alphys examined the souls in disbelief. "You're g-giving me… all of them? W-wouldn't one be enough…?"

Asgore hesitated, as if he hadn't thought that through. "They may have traits that make them different from one another. I thought it would be helpful if you worked with a large sample size. I do not mind letting you borrow them all."

"Oh, right. That makes sense. Thank you, Mr. Dreemurr." Alphys made sure not to misspeak this time.

Asgore glanced from Alphys to the souls. "Will you be able to carry them to the laboratory all right? Maybe it would be best if I gave you just one."

"Well, I'd be able to put them in my Dimensional Box, but my phone is, uh. Dead." Letting her phone run out of battery was continuing to trouble Alphys in unexpected ways.

"Oh. I have some outlets you can use if you have your charger with you," Asgore offered, pointing them out to her.

"I might have it. Let me see..." Alphys stuck her hands in her pockets, only to remember what she was hiding inside. With Asgore watching her every move, she tactfully slid her fingers past the tapes and felt out her phone and the thin cord of her charger. She pulled them out, almost dragging one of the tapes along with them. "Here we are." She held up the phone and charger to distract Asgore as she stuffed the VHS back in.

Alphys plugged her phone into the outlet Asgore had shown her. "It'll, uh, take a few hours to fully charge. I don't have to fully charge it, though. Halfway should be fine."

"Take as much time as you need," said Asgore. "If you need me, I will be in the kitchen."

"Mhm," Alphys mumbled, returning to her seat at the table. Her eyelids drooped as she watched the colorful souls bob up and down in their containers, pulsating like the hearts they took the shape of. They really did seem alive. There was something soothing about their rhythmic motions, and Alphys could feel her exhaustion catching up to her. She folded her arms on the table and set her head down, basking in the light of the human souls as she drifted to sleep.

...

Alphys woke to find that a blanket had been placed over her. She relished the act of kindness as she recovered from her sleepy haze, but when she registered where she was, she threw the blanket off and rushed to check her pockets. The five tapes were still there, untouched. Asgore would never rifle through someone's things when they were most vulnerable—that was something only Alphys would do.

She got up and squinted at her phone. It was fully charged. How long had she been sleeping? Alphys unplugged her phone and opened her Dimensional Box. Making sure Asgore wasn't in sight, she unloaded her pockets into the Box. Oh yeah! Remembering she had wanted to show them to Asgore, Alphys reached in and withdrew the blueprints.

She faced the kitchen. "Mr. Dreemurr?" She was answered by footsteps from down the hall. Asgore ambled into the dining room, rubbing his eyes. "Good morning, Dr. Alphys. Did you sleep well?"

Alphys had already planned out what she wanted to say in her head, and she didn't let Asgore's question distract her. She unfolded the blueprints and held them up for him to see. "I found these blueprints in the basement of the laboratory. I think the former Royal Scientist left them behind. Do you recognize them at all?"

Asgore examined the schemes. For a moment, it looked like something was coming back to him. Then, his stare hardened and fixed itself to the soul shape in the center of the diagram. He shook his head. "No. I have never seen these before. Do you know what they are for?"

His response made Alphys wish she had claimed to have drafted the blueprints herself. That certainly would have impressed Asgore. Then again, she hadn't figured out what the machine did yet, and she didn't want to risk lying about its specific purpose. "I think it does something with souls." She tapped the diagram with her claw, even though she knew Asgore was already looking at it. "I'm interested in… comparing our findings. I might be able to build off of the old scientist's research."

"Excellent," Asgore said. He shifted his gaze to the canisters on the table, which Alphys took as a cue to begin depositing them inside her Dimensional Box. She used both hands to pick up the containers, handling them with the same amount of care one would use while holding an infant.

Asgore was pleased by that. "I understand you are eager to get to work, but I could prepare you some breakfast before you go. Some toast, perhaps? Oh, and I just bought a fresh carton of eggs..."

"No thanks." Alphys was starting to feel bad about rejecting his hospitality, but after so many close calls, she couldn't bear to stay for one more stressful, awkward minute. "B-but I really appreciate y-your offer."

The king nodded without saying anything. He stood by the door and waved as she left. "I wish you luck. Take care."

"You too," Alphys murmured in a voice too quiet for him to hear. She set off on her way, confident enough in her battery life and her ability to find her way back to take the shortcut through the true laboratory. As she took the elevator to the upper level of her lab, she anticipated the relief of finally returning home—but the place still didn't feel like home. Even after walking by the confetti Mettaton had spilled all over the ground and the computer she'd used to watch anime and play video games, Alphys couldn't think of the building as anything other than her workplace. There was no escape from the duties of a Royal Scientist.

Alphys cracked open a can of soda and settled into her chair, mentally sorting all the tasks she would have to complete. She would have to clean out the basement in order to take full advantage of the facility, and perhaps she would uncover some more materials along the way. She needed to look over the blueprints and construct the machine, which would likely allow her to study the human souls. Both of those things would require a lot of time and resources, and Alphys didn't know if she was ready to commit to something like that quite yet. She still had some things to organize around the house, and she had yet to look through the old scientist's computer. Lastly, there were the family videos Alphys had so carefully stolen from under Asgore's nose. Alphys naturally went with the option that required the smallest amount of effort.

She popped the first tape into her computer's built-in VCR. The video was dark and fuzzy, but the audio was crystal clear. It was only a few minutes long and consisted entirely of Toriel making cheesy mom puns and Asgore sounding tired. Alphys sighed and put in the next tape.

Again, the video was black. The voice of a little boy sounded. "Okay, Chara, are you ready? Do your creepy face!" It must have been Asriel, which made Chara the human child.

Asriel let out a scream, which was followed by giggling. Then, something smacked against the camera. "Oh! Wait! I had the lens cap on..." grumbled Asriel. "What!? You're not gonna do it again…? Come on, quit tricking me!"

As Alphys inserted the next tape, she wondered why she had wanted to see them so badly. They were just home movies—if one could even call them "movies"—and watching them made Alphys feel as though she was intruding upon Asgore's personal life. She felt even worse for taking them.

Alphys was not surprised to find that, yet again, there was no video. Asriel spoke again. "Howdy, Chara! Smile for the camera!" There was a pause, and then laughter. "Ha, this time I got YOU! I left the cap on… ON PURPOSE! Now you're smiling for nooooo reason! Hee hee hee!"

Someone else spoke, but it was too muffled and quiet for Alphys to hear. She cranked up the volume and leaned in, but she still couldn't make out what they were saying. Alphys knocked her soda over and scrambled to turn down the volume when Asriel's voice blared on the speakers. "What? Oh, yeah, I remember. When we tried to make butterscotch pie for Dad, right? The recipe asked for cups of butter… But we accidentally put in buttercups instead."

He continued, "Yeah! Those flowers got him really sick. I felt so bad. We made Mom really upset. I should have laughed it off, like you did..." At this point, Asriel sounded very uncomfortable. "Um, anyway, where are you going with this?" Thud. "Huh? Turn off the camera? Okay."

Alphys shared Asriel's discomfort. It was an awfully strange story to recall for no apparent reason, especially considering Asriel's reluctance to talk about it and the way he described Chara's reaction compared to his own. Even though they couldn't be seen or heard, the human child gave off sinister vibes.

The next tape started with Asriel sounding even more uneasy. "I… I don't like this idea, Chara." There was a short pause. "Wh.. what? N-no, I'm not..." Asriel stifled a sob. "… Big kids don't cry. Yeah, you're right." Pause. "No! I'd never doubt you, Chara! … Never!" Another pause. "Y-yeah! We'll be strong! We'll free everyone. I'll go get the flowers."

When the tape ended, Alphys mouthed the words, "Oh my god." She dwelt on Asriel's last few words, thinking back to the previous tape. "Are they… the flowers that made Asgore sick… there's no way..." She wanted to believe she was jumping to conclusions, but the final tape confirmed her suspicions.

It was Toriel who spoke first. "Chara… Can you hear me? We want you to wake up..."

Asgore's voice was wrought with urgency. "Chara! You have to stay determined! You can't give up… You are the future of humans and monsters..."

There were some shuffling noises, and then Asriel whispered, "Psst… Chara… Please… wake up…" He sniffled. "I don't like this plan anymore. I… I…" Asriel took a deep breath. "… No, I said… I said I'd never doubt you. Six, right? We just have to get six… And we'll do it together, right?"

Alphys was shaking. Asriel had been killed when he crossed the Barrier after absorbing the soul of the human child, who had passed away after falling ill. The tapes implied that Chara had deliberately become sick. Seven human souls would be needed to shatter the Barrier. With Chara's soul, they would need six. Chara had wanted Asriel to use the power of their soul to enter the surface and harvest the remaining six human souls. They had been planning to destroy the Barrier and free the monsters—the same thing Asgore had hired Alphys to accomplish.

Chara's idea had been destined for failure. Humans were immensely more powerful than monsters, so it would be foolish for a monster—even one who had absorbed a human soul—to set foot in their world. But Asriel and Chara had only been children; they hadn't known better. It still greatly disturbed Alphys that Chara had been willing to sacrifice their own life in order to follow through with their own ill-conceived plan.

Now Alphys knew why Asgore was so desperate to break through the Barrier: he wanted to avenge his children by finishing what they had died trying to achieve. But judging by the tapes, Asgore wasn't aware of their intentions; it had been a secret between Chara and Asriel. It was more likely that eliminating the Barrier had always been Asgore's goal, and the children had wanted to help him.

I can't let Asgore see these, Alphys thought as she piled the tapes up. It would be too much for him to take. She decided she would hide them somewhere no one would ever find them, but first, she recorded an entry.

ENTRY NUMBER 4
I've been researching humans to see if I can find any info about their SOULs.
I ended up snooping around the castle… And found these weird tapes.
I don't feel like ASGORE's watched them…
I don't think he should.

Alphys didn't intend on sharing her entries with anyone. They would be kept secret from everyone but herself, like the truths behind the lies she was trying to uphold—and the real reason Chara and Asriel had died. Now that the human souls were in Alphys's possession, she had everything she needed to begin her research. Filled with newly found resolve, Alphys declared, "I'll do it. Against all odds, I'll destroy the Barrier. For Asgore… for Asriel and Chara… for all the monsters in the underground. I will find a way."

But most of all, she was doing it for herself.