Gaster: First Entrance

[darkeryetdarker]

The first thing Gaster sees is light.

The void is darkness, and silence, and he can't remember how long he's been wandering through it.

When his eyes do adjust, he finds himself in a bar of some kind - he can't help being reminded a bit of Grillby's back home - filled with mostly humans.

Well. Wherever this is, it's certainly not the Underground.

He looks at his hands. They're still transparent, as is he. You might not be able to see him, but some might sense him, and any electronic devices might start acting a little weird while he's here.

Gaster glides towards an empty table, a bit uneasy, and sits down.

At least, it's something different.

(OOC: New to RPing. If your character can perceive him, feel free to interact!)

Comments

[mogget_cat]

(ooc: Welcome! Welcome!)

There is something shaped like a small white cat which is not a small white cat, lounging comfortably on a nearby tabletop. It has very green eyes, which watch Gaster cross the floor to an empty table and sit down.

"You're new." Though the sibilant words aren't a question, they nevertheless hold a certain measure of curiosity.

[darkeryetdarker]

(What?! The cat talking is no surprise; he comes from a world with talking dogs.

But the cat can see him?!

Gaster opens his mouth to reply, but only garbled static comes out.

Oh dear.)

[darkeryetdarker]

(he gives the cat an apologetic, but grateful look, hoping it can understand.)

[mogget_cat]

The cat's green eyes narrow at the sound of the crackling static. "That may present some difficulty. Were Dyrim manifest here, or a wielder of the bells, there might be some help to be had. Alas, it is not so. Suffice to say, yes, I can see you."

"Understanding you, that may be another story," mwrrs the cat-shaped thing. "But what are you? Some unfamiliar Dead spirit, sent wandering to the end of the universe? Are you your own master?"

1/2

[darkeryetdarker]

(Gaster makes an unsure gesture. Even now, he's not quite sure how the fall affected him, or whether he can be called dead or alive.

He thinks hard. He's a scientist, he can solve problems. And he's not about to let the first chance at interaction in so long go to waste.)

2/2

[darkeryetdarker]

(The light in the room catches on some dust on the table. Yes, that will do.

He dips a skeletal finger onto the table's surface. When he sees that it leaves a mark, he traces letters into the table. Wingdings is his primary font, but even most monsters couldn't understand that, so he sticks to simple letters.

In the dust is written,)

W D GASTER

Re: 2/2

[mogget_cat]

From this angle, the cat cannot see what is drawn in the dust. It stretches, flexing claws the color of old ivory and yawning widely, then gets to its paws. Dropping down to the floor, it slinks across the space between their tables at its own pace, before using a nearby empty chair as a springboard to leap up onto the unusual entity's table.

Green eyes take in the faint lettering.

"Well, that is a start," it remarks, dry but not unfriendly. "Then welcome to Milliways, W. D. Gaster. You have found the bar at the end of the universe."

[deadeye_shot]

Hawkeye sits at the bar, doing paperwork. Her bearing screams military, from the uncompromising gaze to the straight-backed posture to the navy blue uniform with grey trim. She looks up, and though the motion is sudden, it's by no means jerky; she's graceful even when moving quickly.

Strange. She can't see anything there. But the shiver down her spine doesn't lie.

[darkeryetdarker]

Gaster has experienced...gaps...in spacetime, where he could see others in the underground - without being seen himself, of course. Still, on occasion, monsters would get the feeling that something was there.

Beyond that, though, there's not much else he can do but watch.

She's a human, after all. Better to be wary, and observe.

[deadeye_shot]

Hawkeye tries to return to her paperwork, but something is making her skin crawl and her arm hair stand on end.

She knows better than to ignore a gut feeling like that, so she glances around again. Seeing nothing, she frowns slightly. "Hello?" she tries, experimentally.

[darkeryetdarker]

(Looks like she's curious about him as well.

Hawkeye might hear a bit of garbled static coming from Gaster's table, in his attempt to respond to her. Even if he's free of the Void, he's still not quite free.)

[deadeye_shot]

Nothing. Hawkeye feels a little silly talking to herself, and hopes no one overheard. Still, there's a certain feeling of unease that she can't quite shake off.

She decides to return to her own world with her paperwork and see if the feeling persists there. Decision made, she stands, collects her papers, and heads off to her door, glancing over her shoulder as she leaves.

{ooc: Thank you for the thread! Sorry it was so short. And welcome to the bar!}

[darkeryetdarker]

Yep. That's how it usually goes. A fleet moment of unease, and then brushing it off.

Gaster shrugs.

(ooc: Not at all! Thank you!)

[configuration_birdwatcher]

Bastion is at this point used to glitches and errors popping up as a routine part of their thought processes; doubly so in Milliways, where they're more profoundly out of range of built-in online services such as wayfinding and system clock synchronization than their manufacturer could ever have anticipated. However, experiencing a disorienting and uneasy cluster of errors twice when walking through the same area of the bar makes them suspicious, and the third occurrence can't be coincidental. There must be something near this aisle or this empty table giving off interference.

So now there's a large, apprehensive-looking robot shuffling back and forth in the aisle by Gaster's table, turning their head to see how (or if) changing the angle alters the character or intensity of the glitches, and making quiet discomfited whirrs to themself. They're trying to triangulate the source of the interference, because they won't be comfortable until they know where and what it is.

[darkeryetdarker]

A robot? Maybe he can use this.

Maybe...if they have a radio, or recording device built into their hardware, it might pick up...

He tells it "Hello", though it only sounds like static to the ear.

[configuration_birdwatcher]

Gaster won't have to look far for a wireless transceiver, since that's the main component of their conversations with other robots. Bastion startles at the unexpected message that just appeared in their comm channel with a corrupted header obscuring the sender, but this does tell them that the cloud of interference is coming from something that's trying to communicate and can detect their presence. That makes it less of a terrifying unknown.

At least, they think it knows they're there. Maybe it's just that their antenna happened to pass through exactly the right spot to catch an intelligible signal from something far away. The only thing they can really do to find out is try to answer it, and hope the source is in range and equipped to receive a return transmission. (They still can't see Gaster, so they're looking vaguely in the direction of the Window, over his head and those of the other patrons past his table.)

"Doo-woo?" // Hello?

[darkeryetdarker]

Gaster's face lights up. He calls out to the robot again.

"Hello. Can you hear me? I'm sitting at the third table from the window."

[configuration_birdwatcher]

The disembodied, anonymous voice is still unnerving, but less so the second time. Bastion looks down from the Window at the glitch-shrouded, seemingly empty table, taking a moment to stare in complete bafflement, and reaches out their manipulator arm to poke at whoever is invisibly seated in the chair.

It doesn't work as well as they hoped, because their hand goes numb and staticky when it gets within a few centimeters of Gaster. They slowly and apprehensively pull it back, leaning their torso further away from the presence at the table. The immediate return of sensation is a relief, but they don't think they'll try to touch the mysterious patron again.

// I read you, they say, playing a high-pitched single note like a sonar ping simultaneously with the transmission. // I'm not getting any distinct audio though. You're invisible to my sensors, but your EM interference trail isn't.

[darkeryetdarker]

Gaster is relieved to find someone who can understand him, even if they can't see him.

"My name is Dr. W.D. Gaster. I've only just found this place. I apologize for the interference. My presence can tend to affect machinery in a rather...negative light."

He takes a good look at Bastion. He's never seen a working robot before, at least not in his own timeline. How interesting!

[thewidewideworld]

Sinric lounges by the fire, stretched out on one of the couches.

He looks up, head cocked at the sense of motion. The odd disturbance in the air. Seeing nothing, he looks again. And looks.

His dark brown eyes turn gold as he sweeps the room. There's someone there, someone he can't see without magic. Looking straight at the newcomer, Sinric smiles. "Welcome, friend."


{ooc: and welcome, friend.}

[darkeryetdarker]

(ooc: :) )

A human? No...if they can see him, maybe he's a bit more than that.

After staring at Sinric a bit, he smiles and gives a hesitant wave.

[thewidewideworld]

Sinric gestures the newcomer to join him with a welcoming smile.

{ooc: sorry for the slowtime, I'm in Australia and working crazy hours.}

[darkeryetdarker]

(ooc: Not a problem!)

Gaster will float over and sit beside him. He's still wondering just how Sinric can see him...

Then a thought occurs to him.

Maybe, if he can see him...he can understand him, too?

"Can you understand what I am saying?" Gaster says, hoping very much that it doesn't sound like static.

[thewidewideworld]

Sinric has to focus, tilting his head to hear Gaster's words. "I do understand you. Though your voice is... a little garbled." He offers Gaster a soft smile. "Do people not usually understand you?"

[darkeryetdarker]

"Usually they can't see or hear me. Nor I them, except for a few scant glances into different timelines."

Speaking of which, Gaster's still adjusting to time flowing normally around him. He gestures to himself.

"My form is rather...inconsistent, as you can most likely see."