It had been a couple weeks since the Monsters were all forced further underground into The Burrow. The monsters worked together to make it their new home, most working on digging out the new areas, while the monsters who didn't really need to breathe focused on going back up to the Underground for recon and collections. Chrystal, though she did need to breathe, wasn't immediately affected by the toxin… So she stayed up there longer than the others, just trying to make sure everyone got down to The Burrow safely.
Today, Chrystal was supposed to be meeting Gaster at the new lab that had been made for.. research. He had a bad habit of not really talking much about his projects, and given his work in the past… She was a bit worried about what he had planned. She knew he was doing research on the toxin, but.. that was it. Maybe he'd found out what it was? Maybe even a cure?
"How… that's not right, how is this..? Damn.. Why.. Why isn't this working..? This.. mixed with the.. no, it's.. but.. how..? I don't.. why can't I understand this.. what.. what isn't working..? Why is this.. happening.."
When Chrys got to the lab, she hesitated a second before stepping in and calling out "Gaster! I'm here!" There was no response until she'd walked down the hall towards his main work area, where she saw him standing at a table with papers and small vials scattered across it, hunched over and holding his head. "Uh.. Gaster..?" He immediately stood straight up and turned, looking at Chrys over his small circular glasses.
"Ah… Chrystal, welcome. My apologies, I didn't hear you come in.. Come, sit down" Gaster moved over to a large glass cylinder, looking almost like a giant test tube, and motioned to a chair and desk that sat beside it.
Chrystal sat down, looking over at the test tube in confusion for a moment before looking up at Gaster "So… What were you needing me to do today? Did you figure out more about the gas?"
Gaster nodded slowly "I have.. I've found that the main component is a flower from the surface.. Lilies. I borrowed a few books about surface flora from Doctor Alphys, and I found that Lilies are extremely toxic towards normal animals. I believe that's why it was used… They were trying to kill us." His hands balled into fists as he looked down at the papers scattered across the desk, his pupils glowing purple in their sockets.
"You really think so…? So.. Do you think that's why it doesn't really affect me?" Chrystals ears perked up as she listened to him "I mean.. I guess I had a couple coughing fits these past few days while being up there.."
Gaster seemed intrigued by this, using his magic to grab one of the many notebooks and pens that were scattered across his lab. The floating hands zipped across the room, almost as if looking for a notebook that wasn't already completely filled with notes, and after a few seconds they came back and floated in-front of him, with one hand holding the notebook and the other holding a pen. "Oh, is that so? That was.. actually why I asked you to come here today. I managed to contain a large amount of the toxin, both so I could research it… And test it. I have this chamber wired directly to the container with the gas, and I was wanting you to step inside so we could see if you really are immune"
Chrys tensed at his request "But.. We already know I'm immune, right? I can go up there and still breathe.. I dunno, what if something happens?" Her ears flattened against her head as she held her tail, petting it softly as she looked up at him… Her fur had started to bristle from anxiousness.
Another one of Gasters floating hands zipped over and opened up the test chamber as he spoke "I assure you, nothing will go wrong.. And in the unlikely chance that it does, I will turn off the machine and remove you from it. And.. I'm aware that as of right now, it seems you're immune… However, I want to see why. While you are in the chamber, your soul will be pulled out of you… And as we've done a few times before, I'll be pulling apart your human and monster souls to see if the gas targets either of them"
Chrys hesitated, looking down as she thought about it… Would this really be safe? Maybe.. if they found that she was really just completely immune, she could help actually make a cure for the toxin.. she.. she could bring Toriel back.. She had to try.. She nodded gently to herself as she stood up "Alright.. I just have to stand in there, right?"
Gaster stepped back so that he wasn't between Chrys and the chamber, nodding "Yes, that's all. It shouldn't take too long either.. And I'll need you to tell me if you feel anything. A cough, a headache, stomach upset.. anything"
"Alright.. " She nodded gently as she walked over to the chamber, taking a deep breath before stepping in, still holding her tail and petting it softly to try and calm her nerves
Gaster closed the chamber, which locked with a quiet whirring sound, before stepping back and watching Chrys through the glass. "Alright Chrystal, I'm going to pull your soul out now. I'll pour the gas in in small amounts as to not overwhelm your system"
She just stood there, still holding her tail as she watched her soul slowly being pulled out, floating in-front of her. It glowed light purple, though as Gaster worked to pull it apart, the separate colors could be seen.. Chrys shuddered as the feeling of her soul being tugged gave her chills, her fur bristling as she just focused on keeping her breathing slow and steady. After a few seconds, she could begin to smell the sweet scent of the gas.. it was faint for a moment, before quickly becoming overpowering. She covered her nose and mouth with her hand, coughing as she watched her soul slowly getting covered by the black dust of the toxin. "G-Gaster!"
Gaster stood still, just watching her as the gas was filtered into the chamber. "Stay calm, Chrystal. Working yourself up will make it harder to breathe.." He wrote as he watched her soul and her reactions, glancing up at the gauge at the top of the chamber that showed how much gas had been let in.. It didn't look like it was stopping
She tried to calm down and take a deep breath.. that was not the best idea. As she inhaled, she was immediately cut off by a coughing fit, her whole body shaking as she hunched over, holding her chest "C-Cant.. b.. b-breathe.." She could barely get the words out between coughs..
As she hunched over, Gaster sighed before going to open the chamber… But it wouldn't open. It looked like the lock was jammed, it wasn't supposed to open unless the gas had been filtered back out of the chamber… and the mechanism for that didn't look to be working correctly. It wasn't pulling the gas back out..
"G… Gas… ter…" She gasped for air as she leaned forward against the glass, slowly sliding down until she was sitting on her knees, still coughing while holding her chest.. Tears welled in her eyes as she looked down at the ground. Black inky gunk was being spattered across the floor as she coughed.. she could see faint tints of red mixed in with some of the globs. She slowly slumped over, her head hitting the glass of the chamber as she went unconscious
"What have I done.."