One Step Forward

"Dad… a human fell" a bright light, golden flowers. The beginning of an era

"Monster! There's a monster!" A dark fade, flowers turning red. The end of an era.

Like, clockwork. This is the universe.

"Sir, what are you trying to say" questioned A woman's voice, coming from the darkness

"Multiverse theory is complicated. But for every choice we make we literally create another universe. Our choice splits time into two universes. One universe where we made the choice, a second where we didn't. That's the secret. Billions of beings, making billions of choices, making infinite universes. Some will be almost exactly the same as our own, where you could spend thousands of years trying to find a difference, while the next, could be a complete and total opposite. It makes you wonder, was there any free will to begin with?" Explained a second voice, belonging to a man

"What does this mean?" She asked

"If I were a cynic I'd say it proves free will is an illusion. Which, may be true, yes. However, with science, we can turn the illusion, into a reality. Breach past the barriers of fate, of the universes design. Deny these set points in time" He said, his pacing footsteps heard clearly in the darkness

"So there's all these different universes, but in all of them, the royal children are guaranteed to die?"

"Yes, they are pivotal to the existence of the universe, and of course, any alternate universes as well. Take this one as an example. In this universe, everyone we know and love aren't the same, instead they are vicious killers. All of them. I call this the fell universe. This one, everyone has far too much libido. I call this the Lust universe. As you can tell these universes are almost total opposites. One of lust and depravity, the other of violence and bloodshed. Yet both share an extreme similarity, the death of Asriel and Chara"

"We must tell Da-... the King!"

"No! We must not, he won't believe us, we will be ostracized, laughed at. We must prevent this on our own!"

"You've found a way to prevent it?"

"I believe so, it's just a theory however. I can't guarantee it. We must also begin work on a fail safe. If things go wrong… this could doom us"

"I shall begin preparations, Dr Roman"

"Thank you Samas. We must proceed with haste"

"Our understanding of the multiverse has helped greatly with this project, but, Dr Roman, what of your research into the souls?"

"Those are imperative to our research moving forward… especially… that of Chara. Samas speak with the king at once. I assume you'll put in a good word for me, won't you?"

"Of course, my father is a kind man, but he's a king first and foremost. I'm sure he will understand."

Finally, after all his pacing, Dr Roman had found the lights and switched them on. Somewhere in the basement of the lab, two scientists were hard at work. A skeleton, and a goat. "AH! finally, Dr. Gaster is too thorough when powering down the lab, it's always impossible to find the light" The skeleton laughed, his coat hanging from his shoulders loosely.

Meanwhile, the small goat girl seemed very formal, her coat neat and unwrinkled, resting up on her shoulders. "His work on the core takes a lot of energy, he doesn't want to blow out the lab"

"Yes… yes. The core. I still don't see the point in creating such a device. Our research is far more invaluable to the timeline! Now make haste Samas, retrieve your brother and Chara, bring them to me! The experiments start now!"

"Yes doctor!" And with that, the young goat girl ran off, leaving Dr Roman alone.

The Dr stared in the direction she ran, a looming sense of dread filling him as he clutched his chest. Whispers and symbols filling his mind and vision, causing him to clutch his chest in pain and fall to the ground.

"Just a bit longer…"

A golden flame began to burn from his eye, high into the lab as he regains his footing. He quickly clutched his eye and held it as the flames burst forth

"I just need to hang on a bit longer. I'm almost there"