The recording is shaky, as it captures multiple figures in white hazmat suits from a distance, milling around. They have scanners in their hands, multiple off-road vehicles and make-shift stations set up around the area.

"I am at the site where two hikers, Brian O'Connel and Cassidy Grant, were said to have gone missing." A voice whispers from behind the camera. "The entrance to the hiking trail has been quarantined by a federal agency who refused to identify themselves. I have managed to sneak past the cordon."

The video zooms in to follow one person in a hazmat suit as they walk behind a truck. The camera zooms back out, still shaky as footsteps crunch leaves underneath the recorder's feet. It slowly moves from its position, and as it does so, something becomes visible in the air beyond the truck that was obscuring its vision. The recording distorts as it focuses on this something. It appears to be a large, bowling ball sized orb of darkness, bending the very air around it as it hovers in position about six feet off of the ground.

Whispers begin to fill the air, hundreds of alien voices murmuring in an incomprehensible language, and the camera hurriedly turns away to instead focus on a large white tent.

"Just before I started recording, there were gunshots. When I got into position, they had carried something away into that tent." The voice continues. The tent flap opens, another person in a hazmat suit walking out with dark blood staining their front. Just before the flap is closed, a black, alien form can be observed on a table, its chest split open and tentacles spilling out from its back.

"What the fuck is tha-"

The voice is interrupted as the figure who had exited the tent stops and points at the camera. "HEY! YOU CAN'T BE HERE, IT'S NOT SA-"

The recording cuts, resuming as trees hurriedly whips past the cameras view. The recorder's breath is ragged, running through the forest. The recording snaps around to focus on the recorder's face. "My name… is Richard Hues…" He pants. "If I… go missing… I was here, at the… Black Angel trail in New Hampshire." The recorder staggers as a gunshot sounds in the air, collapsing to the ground with a groan.

"I'm uploading… this now…" He grunts, then freezes. His eyes go completely black, his mouth opening in a silent scream as whispers begin to fill the air again. He drops the camera, and it falls away to focus on a tree. Off screen, hundreds of voices begin to laugh in unison as the recorder shrieks.

- End of Richard Hues' recording of Site Alpha

Waffles whines between my legs, as I warily gaze up at the female at the top of the stairs.

The predator says nothing, and for a few moments no one moves. Instinct screams at me to flee, to grab Waffles and escape. It is cowardice, but acceptable cowardice. I know that no matter what I do, I will not be able to kill this female.

I growl, my ears flattening. The female finally seems to notice both myself and Waffles, and I tense. We must flee! We must-

"Hey mom." Gaster says, smiling!? How can he smile at the predat-.

Confusion. The fear is gone now. The female no longer feels like a predator, now just another human. Hmm… the same thing happened before, with Star-Reader. Is it because the female is no longer hostile?

"Who is he?" She asks, gesturing towards me. I swallow. But I must be polite. Joey said so.

"My name is Joey Waffles, and I am very polite!" I introduce, and mom looks confused.

"Joey… Waffles?" She looks confused, glancing between me and Joey. He clears his throat, scratching the back of his head.

"Hey love. It's a uh… it's a long story." He says, before turning to Gaster. "Gasty, can yeh take Joey and the pup up to your room? Me and your mum have a lot to talk about. Also, uh… Joey's a little different, just so yeh know. He's been… isolated for a while."

Gaster nods. "Come on Joey. Okay, this is weird, you have the same name as my dad." He starts walking up the stairs, and I pick up Waffles to follow. When we pass mom, she presses her lips to Gaster's cheek.

"I ordered some pizzas. You can share it with your new friend, it should arrive outside of your window in just a few minutes. Just save me and your dad a couple of slices." She says, and I can hear the warmth in her tone. He nods, and mom glares back at Joey. "Living room. Now."

Joey nods, and she walks down the steps as we enter another room.

Gaster closes the door, sighing as he looks around. "Um… you can sit anywhere, if you want. The bed's open, or my chair." He mumbles, gesturing to two different structures. He exhibits uncomfortableness, shifting from one foot to the other. Hmm…

"Gaster, do you not want me in your room?" I ask, setting down Waffles who yips and hops onto a soft looking structure, which Gaster called a bed. He looks panicked, hurriedly shaking his head.

"Oh, no! I mean, it's okay." He assures me. "I'm just not used to having people over, usually it's just Sariel." I tilt my head.

"Is Sariel your mate?" I ask, and Gaster walks over to the bed and sits down. Waffles hops onto his lap, which causes Gaster to smile again.

"She's a good mate of mine, yeah." He confirms, and I nod, observing the room. There are humans and nuans frozen in time on the wall, smiling as they look out. Some of them wear armor, while some wear strange, brightly colored clothing. Gaster notices me looking, and he shifts uncomfortably.

"Gaster, how did you freeze those humans on your wall?" I ask. "Did the preda- did mom do that?" It would be an interesting Core ability!

Gaster's brows crease. "Uh… you mean the posters?" He asks, shrugging. "My mom got them for me, yeah."

Amazing! I am glad I did not attempt to fight mom. "A wonderful display of foes defeated. Even if it is a waste of biomass" I nod approvingly, and Gaster makes the amused sound.

"Well, most of them haven't lost yet." He says, then pauses. "Wait, you don't think they're actually there, do you?"

I pause. I had said something odd. "No…" I lie, but lying is cowardice. "Yes."

Gaster makes the amused sound once more, shaking his head. "You're a pretty weird dude." I frown. Being weird is bad. "How do you not know what a poster is? Dad mentioned you were isolated for a while, but still. Have you been living in the wilderness or something?"

I nod, while Waffles yips. "Yes! How did you know?" I exclaim.

"Wait, really?" He asks hesitantly, and I nod once more.

"Really." I affirm. Gaster looks… sorry.

"Oh."

We say nothing for a few moments, Gaster grooming waffles with an uncomfortable expression. But I am still curious. "So if these are not foes defeated, how are the… posters created?" I ask, and Gaster shrugs.

"Well, through visual effects mostly. They take a picture of them, add some cool effects to it, and there you go."

"Picture?" I ask, and Gaster nods. He taps on his circlet.

"Yup, like this. Here, I'll show you. Look at me?"

I look, and see a blue light on his circlet glow. He taps his circlet again, and I see myself frozen in time hovering in the air.

My eyes go wide, and I touch my frozen self. My hand goes right through it, and Gaster makes the amused sound. "Can… can all circlets do this?" I ask, and he smiles.

"Yup! Just need -" He stops as there is a knock outside the window. Waffles yips and growls, and I see a structure hovering outside of it, holding two boxes that look like a larger, flatter version of the go-boxes Joey got at food buildings sometimes.

"Oh, pizza's here." He opens the window, taking the boxes and setting them down on the bed beside him. He opens one of them, and…

It smells delicious!

"Ham and chewbek, nice!" He exclaims, lifting up a piece and taking a bite. He holds up the box to me, while Waffles whines on his lap. "Here, get yourself one. Have you had pizza before?"

I shake my head, taking two pieces of the pizza and shoving it into my mouth.

SO! GOOD!

Wiggle!

Gaster makes the amused sound, and I have had enough. "What is that called?" I ask, pointing at him, and Gaster looks behind him, then points at himself.

"What?"

"The sound you make. What is it called?" I clarify, and he looks at me strangely.

"Uh… are you talking about laughter?" He asks, and I nod. Laughter is a good sound.

Waffles attempts to steal some pizza, but I growl. Waffles' ears press against his head in submission, looking at me guiltily. Gaster shakes his head, grooming him.

"It's okay, we have like two more whole pizzas." He assures me, grabbing a slice. Then he pauses. "Unless you don't want your dog to eat people food, in which case I get it."

"Waffles is not a dog!" I correct him. Dogs are the hound structure, and they are utterly inferior designs. "Waffles is a wolf, the superior form of canine!"

Gaster looks surprised, and he nods slowly. "Right… wait, you said you lived in the wild. Is that where you got him?" He asks, while Waffles tries to sneakily steal a slice of pizza. Impudence! But… Gaster said it is okay. If he is willing to share his biomass, then I will allow it.

"Yes. His pack was…" I trail off, hesitating. The uncomfortable feeling is rising in my chest again, and I frown. "He is all that is left of the pack."

Gaster looks uncomfortable again. "That's sad." He says quietly, grooming Waffles who happily swallows down a slice of pizza. I sense that I have made the conversation bad. Hmm… talking to people other than Joey is hard. But I sensed that Gaster liked talking about the posters. Maybe that will help.

"Do you know any of them?" I ask, pointing to one of the posters while taking another slice of pizza. Gaster's expression becomes happy again.

"Yes, actually! My mom works for the BA - oh, you probably don't know what that is. The Rift Bounty Agency, basically they take private contracts to hunt down Rift Entities. You have to have a Core to be a member of it." Woah! Gaster's energy has increased! As expected, this is a good topic of conversation. "Anyways, she's really good mates with a lot of 'em. I met Crimson Flash before, she's like, super cool!"

I nod, not understanding but happy that Gaster is excited. "Crimson Flash is cool." I repeat, and Gaster nods emphatically.

"Yup, that's her right there." He points at a poster with a nuan female wearing red clothing. It is tight, and I see red dots floating off of her form. Behind her, countless defeated foes make a mountain. "Her newest Sim Game is supposed to come out later this year."

I tilt my head. "Sim game?" I ask, and he stands up.

"Yup! Here." He walks over to a table and grabs a strange device, handing it to me, then pauses. "Oh wait, you've probably never played one before right? You don't have a circlet…"

I shake my head, and he shrugs. "It's okay, you don't need one to play it, I can project the screen and you can use that controller. You just won't get the full experience. But uh… do you want to?" He seems hesitant, shy once again.

I hurriedly nod. Joey said expressing interest in other people is a good way to make friends. "I will learn how to play this… sim game." I declare. My superior design will allow me to learn how to do anything!

Gaster smiles brightly, tapping a button on his circlet and then tapping a button on the controller. Another image floats in the air, and he sits down on the floor. I do so as well, watching the image in fascination. It is moving!

"Alright, this is called Agency Heroes III." Gaster explains, moving sticks on his controller. The image changes, and I see pictures of different humans, nuans, and that other structure that looks similar to them but slightly different.

Oh, I recognize Crimson Flash!

"It's a fighting game, with different Agency members you can select to battle it out. Since you're new, I suggest choosing either Novastorm, Looper, or…" He trails off, smiling sheepishly as I look down at the controller in confusion. "Right, I should explain that first. Okay, so the left stick is how you select what character you want to play, and X is how you confirm it."

He points to a button and the stick. I nod, pursing my lips as I move over to the characters. Wait, I recognize this one…

"Mom?" I ask, pointing at the person who shows up on the screen when I hover over them, and Gaster looks a little uncomfortable.

"Yeah, that's my mom." He says, shifting. "She got added to the game as DLC a couple of months ago. She's pretty good, but uh… could you please not pick her?"

Hmm… "Gaster, you seem to be embarrassed about this." I say, and his face goes red.

"Well… yeah." He admits. "She's really flirty in the game, and it's kind of awkward."

Well, if it will make Gaster uncomfortable, I will not do so. I choose another person, a male with very short hair. "Oh, that's Indigo. He's a little hard to learn, but his moveset is really good."

I nod, before confirming the choice. He chooses Crimson Flash, and I tilt my head as I hear pleasant sounds in the air. They form a regular pattern, and accelerate my heartbeat very slightly. Interesting, this must be how humans force their hormone production system to be ready for battle.

"Start!" A voice says, and I jump a little bit, accidentally hitting another button.

"Oh, you just hit pause. That's okay, I was going to explain how to play anyways." Gaster says, pointing at more buttons. "So if you press that, that's your light attack…"

-

I snarl, leaning forward as my fingers travel over the controller at high speeds. Light attack, heavy attack, jumping light into down heavy. But no matter what I do, the coward Gaster blocks them all, then does one grab attack to kill my character.

"You're way too aggressive with your playstyle." Gaster laughs, and I huff. "You don't block, like at all."

"I do not wish to continue playing this game." I grunt, turning away, and I can hear the smile in Gaster's voice as he speaks next.

"It's alright, you're still learning. You've only been playing for what, an hour? I have more time sunk into it than I want to admit." His tone is consoling, which only makes me more angry. The pup walks up to me, licking my face, and I turn away from it too. "It's alright, don't pout. Here, I can teach you about hit confirms next."

"I am not pouting!" I protest, but Gaster says he will teach me. So I grab the controller, and turn back to Gaster. "I will best you at this game. Even if…" Reluctant. "Even if you are superior at it now, I will win!"

Gaster laughs again, reaching over to grab another slice of pizza. He pushes over the box to me, and I also grab another slice. I decide to forgive Gaster, even if I can sense his smugness about beating me.

"So, how did you meet my dad anyways?" He asks, chewing, and I shrug.

"Joey hit me with his truck." I answer, and Gaster starts coughing, looking at me wildly.

"HE WHA-"

There's a knock at the door, and both me and Gaster turn. I push out my mind, sensing mom's mind from outside of the room. "Gaster?" She calls. I pause. There's something in her tone that reminds me of how Joey talked after I told him about my home. "Can I come in?"

"Yeah, all good mom!" Gaster replies, glancing at me out of the corner of my eye.

The door opens and mom walks through it into the room. She has her arms wrapped around her stomach, and I see the corners of her eyes are red. A strange expression, but one I've seen Joey make before.

"Hey hun." She says, looking at Gaster. "I don't want to kick you out of your room, but do you think I could talk to… Joey, for a few moments?"

Gaster nods, grunting as he stands up. Waffles whimpers, tail low as he curls up next to me. It is okay Waffles, mom may be a predator, but I think she won't harm us! I think.

"Did dad tell you he hit Joey with his truck?" He asks, and I can hear concern in his voice. Mom bites her lip.

"He did, and… he told me a little bit more than that." She whispers. Gaster scratches his cheek, then walks past her, closing the door behind him.

Mom looks hesitant about something, but she sits down on the bed and pats the seat next to her. "Joey, could you come sit down for a little bit?"

I scratch Waffles around his ears. Though I think she won't hurt us, I still remember the fear she had instilled in us. But Joey is a nice human, so I think he would also mate with someone who is nice. I stand up and walk over, sitting on the bed next to her.

She doesn't say anything for a little bit, just bites her lip. Then her mouth opens. "Joey - er, not you Joey, my husband Joey, told me about where you came from." She says, and I nod.

"Ah, you are talking about home?" I ask, and she shakes her head, her face turning angry.

"That is not a home." She snaps, and I flinch, reflexively bringing out my tentacles. She looks at them, but her expression isn't wary. Just… sad.

"Sorry, I must have startled you. You can put your tentacles away, I'm not going to hurt you. I promise." She says, and I nod. Breaking your promises would be cowardice, and a predator cannot be a coward. I store my tentacles back into the gland I'd developed. "Joey told me that where you were kept before, they would hurt you?"

I remember the pain. The cycles and cycles of pain, and nod again. Her lips tremble, and she wraps her arms around me. I bristle, NO TOU-

But I stop. Confusion. I hate touch, but this is… pleasant.

I feel warmth inside of me. It must be a reaction of the human anatomy.

"You can stay here as long as you like." Mom whispers, grooming my hair with her hand. "This is a home, Joey. A home you can feel safe in. We aren't going to hurt you, ever."

I close my eyes. The grooming feels nice.

"Okay."