Ch 13: The Halloween Gambit part 2

He laughed it off and said, "Yes, that's fair. I just haven't been in the right mind as of late."

"Who can blame you? A lot has happened as of late."

"Yes, thats one way to say it." He gets a melancholic smile on his face, remembering all that has happened. Then suddenly, it brightens up. "But that's not what we are here for, yes? Let's continue. Pawn to f6."

I smile. 'I need his bishop out of the way.' "Queen to f5."

"Light square bishop takes queen on f5. Did you blunder on purpose to make me feel better?" He laughed.

"Rook takes bishop on f5." I smile at his little comment. Asgore actually is quite enjoyable to talk to! What a surprise!

"Rook to e1, check! I have to say, Victor, I originally suggested playing chess to test you, but now I have to say, I am enjoying this!"

I smile in return. A slight groan rings throughout my head as I grow exhausted from smiling. "As you should! A game is meant to be enjoyed. King to h2."

"I suppose so, I guess I lost that way of thinking through time. Rook to a1."

I smile. He got the rook out of the way by himself! "Bishop to e6."

He seemed confused for a moment, as that move looked like it did little. Then, he realized. "Rook to e1!"

"Pawn to c7, check!" I smile. It's over.

He sighs, as he realizes there isn't anything else he can do. "King to e8."

"Pawn to c8, promote to queen, checkmate."

He sighs. Then, he stood up. "Well, then Victor, although this is hardly the correct procedure to hire a Royal Scientist, a deal is a deal. You get the job."

"Thank you, your majesty." I say, genuinely this time.

He looked surprised. "Why suddenly the respect?"

"Two reasons. One, you held your promise. You are a man who is able to respect both himself and his peers to the point where you won't lie just to get what you want. Is that not respectable?

"Two, are you not my boss now? I am a Royal Scientist after all."

He looks stunned. "W-well yes, but I didn't expect it judging from your personality."

"As you will grow to learn, my personality is to do what I deem fit. If that must mean I have to disrespect someone, then so be it."

He smiled. "I guess in that case, we are far more alike than I originally thought."

I smiled in return. "Why don't we get down to business? First things first, I need to live, so I need a salary. Second, we need to get this lab back up in working order for any work to be done. Finally, I need a bed. Can't just sleep on the broken ceramic that is the tiled floor, right?"

He sighed yet again. He must be going through a tough time, huh?

"Well, since you aren't doing any experiments for the time being, I can't pay you the pay of a Royal Scientist without facing backlash from the citizens. For now, I will only be able to give you 35G a day. That will likely double when you can actually start work. As for your bed, I will send one down along with a working clock by the end of the day.

"Most importantly, you will be given a computer along with a work only budget. This budget is only to be used for things such as repairs, experiments, and the like. You are allowed to use your own pay to add onto that budget. You will be fired if you use it for other things."

'It's quite reasonable.' I think to myself. 'More than enough to live.' "That should be fine. Thank you, Your Majesty." I bowed.

A smile grew on his face as he turned to leave. "Of course, Victor. I place my hope in you."

And he simply walked away, his guards following closely behind.

"I… am exhausted."

I just played chess with the most politically powerful monster in the underground and got a job out of it.

I immediately entered the lab, taking the table and two chairs with me, hoping to find a place to sit down without anyone seeing me.

…

I look around once more, at the barren and abandoned place.

"I guess… This is my home now. Where I work now."

I sigh in relief. "Finally, I am here. how long has it been since I fell? I'd guess two days, right? That time in Snowdin and ruins took quite a while and the little accident between Snowdin and Waterfall definitely took a while."

'I can sleep in a bed tonight!' A tear reaches my eye.

…

I chuckle a little. "I should probably start clearing out an area upstairs for the bed, huh?"

I start walking up the broken escalator on the right side. "Honestly, I should get rid of this. Just having a quick and easy way to where I will sleep just feels like an easy way to die in my sleep."

As I reach the top and look around again for a second time, I realize that there is actually a single wooden bookshelf that remained intact. Other than that, though, everything is broken.

I start to collect the broken boards of wood just hanging around up here and throw them over and down to the bottom floor, leaving the bookshelf behind and the broken tiles, shards of glass from the lights above, and a dead rat or two.

"Is there a broom around here?" I start to look around. I went downstairs to continue my search, as there obviously was not one upstairs. Surprisingly, there was one in the elevator to true lab. Unsurprisingly, there was a key hole inside the elevator, effectively telling me I could not enter without the key.

"Doesn't matter, I'm sure Asgore has it." I reassure myself as I grab the broom.

…

Soon, Hotland seemed darker, which was slightly strange, as it was full of constantly flowing lava. At that time, however, the top room of the lab was clean. Definitely not fixed, with the broken bulbs and tiles, but it was clean.

It's a start!

A knock came from the back door as I was bringing the last of the debris downstairs. I set down the broomstick and answered the door, with a hand of course, had to be careful.

"Delivery for Victor Glyph?"

"Yes, that's me." I reply.

He gives me a clipboard to sign and leaves as soon as I give the clipboard back.

Left for me in his place, however, were three things. An incredibly large box, which I can only assume is my bed, a incredibly small box, which I don't know what it is, and a letter.

I drag in the three boxes and open the letter. Inside were two keys, two cards, and of course, a letter.

——-

Victor,

One of these keys are the keys to the lab as a whole. You can use them at any time in the far left of the upstairs area to lock up or unlock the lab doors. The second key is to the underground lab. That is where you will be doing most of your work. The red card is your salary card. The blue card is your budget card. When your computer comes in the mail soon, you will be able to imput both of these cards into the computer and withdraw G out of it. I can tell that you enjoy convenience. The other two boxes are the things I told you I would send you.

Have a lovely day!

Asgore Dreemurr

——-

My face turned blank.

"How am I going to get this bed upstairs?"

———

Name: Victor

Alias: Glyph

EXP: 7

LOVE: 39

Useable G: 11

Total G: 46

"Having to wait to sleep fills you with Patience."

💙 Continue. Give up.

———

Words 1321

Loved writing these two chapters but now I'm exhausted as fuck, so I am going to bed. Goodnight yall.