Underearth/Book 1/Chapter 23

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The inside of the laboratory was dark. The only light that Frisk could see was from a massive monitor screen that appeared to be displaying... him? Frisk continued further inside, hoping to find the exit before something found him. Clinging to the right wall, he crept further and further into the lab. A bit further in, he heard a door open, causing him to freeze in place. A second later and the lights turned on. Right in front of him was a large yellow lizard, about Frisk's size. It wore a white lab-coat, a bra, panties, and glasses. After turning on the lights, they went to observing whatever was on a clipboard in their left hand before looking up and spotting Frisk.

"Oh. My god." she said, dropping the clipboard on the ground. "I didn't expect you to show up so soon! I haven't showered, I'm barely dressed, it's all messy, and..." she turned around and stayed silent for a moment before turning her head back to face Frisk. "Ummm... H-h-hiya!" she turned around fully, the lab-coat now fully buttoned up. "I'm Dr. Alphys. I'm Asgore's Royal Scientist! B-b-but, ahhhh, I'm not one of the 'bad guys'!" She stuttered as she spoke, tripping over words all awkwardly. "Actually, since you stepped out of the Citadel, I've, um... been 'observing' your journey through my console. Your fights... Your friendships... Everything!"

Frisk looked back at the large monitor he saw as he walked in, still displaying a live image of him.

"I was originally going to stop you, but... Watching someone on a screen really makes you root for them. S-so, ahhh, now I want to help you! Using my knowledge, I can easily guide you through the Hotlands! I know a way right to Asgore's palace, no problem!"

She stopped for a moment, crouching down a bit to pick up the clipboard.

"Well, actually, umm, there's just a tiny issue."

"What is it?" Frisk responded.

"A long time ago, I made a robot named Mettaton. Originally, I built them to be an entertainment robot. Uh, you know, like a robotic TV star or something. Anyway, recently I decided to make them more useful. You know, just some small practical adjustments. Like, um..."

She began tripping over her words again.

"Like what?" Frisk questioned, a bit annoyed.

"Anti... anti-Human combat features?"

Frisk couldn't believe it. *It's as though everything down here has a side purpose of slaughtering Humans. And that self-rightious 'Undyne' called me a murderer.*

"Of c-course, when I saw you coming, I immediately decided... I have to remove those features! Unfortunately, I may have made a teensy mistake while doing so, and, um... Now he's an unstoppable killing machine with a thirst for Human blood?" She then gave out an awkward laugh before getting back on track. "But, ummm, hopefully we won't run into him!"

Just as she finished saying that, there was a loud banging sound.

"D-did you hear something?"

Another banging sound.

*I swear, if that's this 'Mettaton', I'm gonna be pissed.*

Another few banging sounds.

"Oh no." Alphys said before a large explosion happened and all the lights went out.

"OHHHH YES!" Frisk heard a new, unfamiliar voice. "WELCOME, BEAUTIES..." A spotlight turned on to reveal a rectangular metal box on a singular wheel, four dials on the bottom, an array of massive pixels on the top-mid, and two arms sprouting out the sides. "TO TODAY'S QUIZ SHOW!!!"

Music began playing as lesser spotlights came down, covering the lab in colored lights.

"OH BOY! I CAN ALREADY TELL IT'S GONNA BE A GREAT SHOW! EVERYBODY GIVE A BIG HAND FOR OUR WONDERFUL CONTESTANT!"

As Mettaton began clapping, confetti fell from the ceiling onto Frisk.

"NEVER PLAYED BEFORE, GORGEOUS? NO PROBLEM! IT'S SIMPLE! THERE'S ONLY ONE RULE. ANSWER CORRECTLY... OR YOU DIE!!!"

While Frisk had never been on a game show before, he wasn't particularly in the mood at the current time.

"LET'S START WITH AN EASY ONE!!" Mettaton began.

**#1: What's the prize for answering correctly?**
**A: Money**
**B: Mercy**
**C: New car**
**D: More questions**

It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that D was the blatantly correct choice.

"D" Frisk said confidently.

"RIGHT! SOUNDS LIKE YOU GET IT! HERE'S YOUR TERRIFIC PRIZE!"

**#2: What's the king's full name?**
**A: Lord Fluffybuns**
**B: Fuzzy Pushover**
**C: Asgore Dreemurr**
**D: Dr. Friendship**

Frisk remembered that Undyne called him Asgore Dreemurr, which sounded like the most correct out of all the options anyway.

"C"

"CORRECT! WHAT A TERRIFIC ANSWER! NOW, ENOUGH ABOUT YOU. LET'S TALK ABOUT ME!"

**#3: What are robots made of?**
**A: Hopes & Dreams**
**B: Metal & Magic**
**C: Snips & Snails**
**D: Sugar & Spice**

He knew that Metal was involved, but he wasn't sure if Humans used magic in their robotic creations.

"B"

"TOO EASY FOR YOU, HUH?????????? WELL, HERE'S ANOTHER EASY ONE FOR YOU!"

**#4: Two trains, Train A and Train B, simultaneously depart Station A and Station B. Station A and Station B are 252.5 miles apart from each other. Train A is moving at 124.7mph towards Station B, and Train B is moving at 253.5mph towards Station A. If both trains departed at 10:00AM and it is now 10:08, how much longer until both trains pass each other?**
**A: 31.054 minutes**
**B: 16.232 minutes**
**C: 32.049 minutes**
**D: 32.058 minutes**

*Easy? You call this easy? I can't even remember half of what was said!!*

"HURRY, DARLING, TIME IS RUNNING OUT!"

*Oh yeah, like 30 seconds is enough time to figure out a physics question!*

"TIME'S UP!" Mettaton shouted as a bolt of lightning extended from their finger and hit Frisk straight in the chest, sending him flying into the wall behind him.

Frisk fell to the ground, coughing up blood and, in another second, vomiting onto the floor. His chest burned, but, like all forms of attacks he'd encountered so far, not a single mark was found.

"HURRY, GET UP, DARLING! WE'RE NOT DONE YET!"

Frisk looked up at Mettaton, his vision all blurry.

"HMM, WELL I GUESS IT'S TIME TO BREAK OUT THE BIG GUNS!!"

**#9: In the dating simulation video game 'Mew Mew Kissy Cutie', what is Mew Mew's favorite food?**

Before Mettaton could finish reading the question, Alphys interupted them and started shouting the answer. After a minute, Mettaton stepped back in and began scolding her.

"ALPHYS, ALPHYS, ALPHYS. YOU AREN'T HELPING OUR CONTESTANT, ARE YOU? OOOOOOH!!! YOU SHOULD HAVE TOLD ME. I'LL ASK A QUESTION YOU'LL BE SURE TO KNOW THE ANSWER TO!

**#?: Who does Dr. Alphys have a crush on?**
**A: Undyne**
**B: Asgore**
**C: You, the Human**
**D: You don't know**

Frisk, fighting through the headache that now plagued him, thought back. Undyne spoke of Alphys, though this could simply be idle speculation, and perhaps just one-sided if that were the case. Asgore was an unknown variable. He himself was out of the question for him. The most correct answer would be D. But, whatever it may be, perhaps curiosity, Frisk chose a different answer.

"A"

As soon as Frisk had said that, Alphys turned as red as a lobster while Mettaton spoke down to her.

"SEE, ALPHYS? I TOLD YOU IT WAS OBVIOUS. EVEN THE HUMAN FIGURED IT OUT."

*I did?*

"YES, SHE SCRAWLS HER NAME IN THE MARGINS OF HER NOTES. SHE NAMES PROGRAMMING VARIABLES AFTER HER. SHE EVEN WRITES STORIES OF THEM TOGETHER... SHARING A DOMESTIC LIFE. PROBABILITY OF CRUSH: 101 PERCENT. MARGIN OF ERROR, ONE PERCENT."

Mettaton rolled back away from Alphys towards Frisk.

"WELL WELL WELL. WITH DR. ALPHYS HELPING YOU... THE SHOW HAS NO DRAMATIC TENSION! WE CAN'T GO ON LIKE THIS!! BUT. BUT!! THIS WAS JUST THE PILOT EPISODE!! NEXT UP, MORE DRAMA! MORE ROMANCE!!! MORE BLOODSHED!!! UNTIL NEXT TIME, DARLINGS...!!!"

And with that, Mettaton blasted off through the roof of the lab, heading further into the mountain, no doubt.

A silence rung over the lab for a few minutes before Alphys finally spoke up.

"Well that was certainly something."

Frisk began walking towards the exit of the lab.

"Wait, wait!" Alphys called out to Frisk. "Let me give you my ph-phone number! Th-then... m-maybe... If you need help, I could..."

As she spoke, Frisk pulled out his phone. When Alphys saw it, she was shocked.

"Wh... where'd you get that phone!? It's *ANCIENT*! It doesn't even have texting. W-wait a second, please!"

She then grabbed the phone out of his hand and ran off up a conveyer belt. He then heard a load of mechanical sounds coming from the floor above before Alphys finally came back.

"Here," She said, handing Frisk back his phone "I upgraded it for you! It can do texting, items, it's got a key chain... I even signed you up for the Underground's #1 social network! Now we're officially friends!"

*Great, just what I've always wanted. To be friends with \*those\* kinds of people.*

Alphys then gave out a very awkward laugh before going silent for about a minute before saying something about a bathroom and running off.

With Alphys finally out of the way, Frisk continued out of the lab.