So, think you have a better idea now?
I can guarantee that you still don't comprehend the half of it. No matter how many stories I tell you, you will never be able to grasp it all. Not unless you were to live through it all yourself.
But there is still one story I'd still like to tell you. It's a rather interesting one, if you ask me.
It's the story of how we got to here: the last reset. Shall we?
After time unimaginable, I grew bored of the countless loops. How could I not? Yes, the infinite can never be truly explored, but I've learned well enough that so many of the different paths simply lead to the same outcomes. And this world is small, limited; reducing the number of possibilities even more. There was so much more that called to me. But what else could I possibly do? I wondered. Despite my power, I'm still just as trapped as everyone else down here. There was no way to escape, and I had already done everything fun to do down here, so what else was there for me to even try?
I began to grow into what I guess was a state of melancholy. At least, that was probably what it looked like to an outsider. There was no emotion behind my state of mind, just the realization that there might not be anything left for me in this world, and the contemplation that it may be time to end everything for good.
I had long since realized that achieving my true goal was impossible, and so at that point there was nothing left for me to do.
That was when I realized something: there was one thing I had yet to try. It was so simple that I had just glossed right over it.
I had yet to do nothing.
Each and every time I reset, I always interfered with something, some aspect of the world or someone's life. I had yet to just observe, let the world go on around me, see what they all did on their own.
At first I dismissed the notion. How could that possibly be any less boring than everything else, and what could it really change? But, as always, my curiosity won out in the end.
So I decided to give it one last go, to stand aside and see what would happen. One last playthrough of this silly game, and if I found nothing of it intriguing, then I would end it, once and for all.
I waited, and waited. A week, two weeks, a month. The days ticked by and I kept telling myself that each would be my last, but curiosity still burned within me, fiercer than ever.
And then, one day, against all possibility, against all sense, a human came.
It shouldn't have been possible. I had lived through that same day billions of times before, and never had a human come. And yet, this time, all on its own…
I didn't know what to make of it…
They fell, just as you did, and just as he did, through the same hole to the sky. But, they weren't as lucky.
They died in the fall. I found them in a moment of remembrance, on accident, really. The shock of finding the light of their soul in that cave… Oh, it was wonderful! In my wildest imagination, I had never expected something like this to happen.
My head swam with possibilities. The power… and even the possibility of rebirth flashed through my mind. The outcome mattered little, though.
In my greed and lust for something new, I took the soul; absorbed it, and forced it to my will. I used its power to have all sorts of fun that I had never even thought of before. The power opened many new doors But, inevitably, I hit another wall, and there was nothing else I could do down that line. So I reset once more, only to find the power of the soul was no longer mine. No matter, I thought, it would come again. And so I waited for that day, waited for the human to fall and to try something different.
But when that day came… nothing happened.
No human fell, no soul hovered in the cave.
I waited another day, thinking I must have simply remembered a detail wrong during my fun, but still nothing.
Another day, nothing.
Another week, nothing.
I begin to panic. Could I really have been that far off? No, I must have missed it; it must already be in the hands of another.
I searched every nook and cranny of the Underground, but there was nothing. My mind slipped into a hysteria I no longer thought myself capable of. What had I done? Had I somehow exhausted the soul? Had I somehow caused the human to not fall down? Why was it different when I had changed nothing?
I went into a rage, killing everyone before resetting and trying again.
Nothing.
I reset again.
Still nothing.
Then I started to despair. I no longer cared if the soul came or not, I was already convinced that I missed my opportunity. I was furious at myself for my impatience.
I then went back to doing nothing. It was all I had left.
Time passed, I don't know how much. I had buried myself deep, away from the world so that none of it could touch me. A long time later, I finally decide to take a peek, to satiate the curiosity that refused to stay smothered inside of me. And that time I was resolute, if everything was still as mundane as it always was, then that was it.
And, lo and behind, what do I find when I look out? A new soul, in the hands of the lab and its "Royal Scientist." And it wasn't the one from before.
Interesting, don't you think?
That made three in her possession. The two used to help make me, and this new addition. The first two were useless to me at the time. After all, who wants to play with a broken toy? But with this new addition…
Once more my mind raced. It had been so long since anything interesting happened again, and the memories of what I was able to do with one soul were still fresh. Imagine what I could do with three. But I held back; I had enough of my rationality left at that point to know that I couldn't risk losing these as well, not when the possibility for something greater lay on the horizon.
It was a funny thing really, having to worry about consequences. It was a thrill in its own right, after so long. For the first time in forever, I was in a position where I may not have the possibility to erase my mistakes. I had to be careful this time.
The thought that consumed me from then on was what would happen when there were seven? If that power was mine…
I have never given it much consideration. A human had never fallen down before during any of my other runs, so why would I have given it a thought? But now two had, and on different timelines. That made four altogether since my death, if you care enough to keep track.
If so many humans have fallen down already, then all I needed to do was wait until enough fell, enough to destroy the barrier and leave this prison behind. To enter a new world as a God in truth.
And so, I waited, hungry, until at last the next human fell. But, this one did not die in the fall; they survived. That wouldn't do. Their soul was no good to me while they were still alive. Killing them was easier than I had imagined, they hardly put up a fight.
And as their soul lay before me, that old temptation of power came once more, and oh, was it tantalizing. But I resisted, and I made sure that the soul was found by the right monsters and brought to my father.
That was when I first saw the changes in him. The sorrow, the guilt, eating away at him as he looked down at the tiny light.
That gave me a new idea. I found I could still have some fun even without risking another reset.
Another human came, as I was sure it would, and like the last it lived. This time, I made sure of it. Then I whispered in their mind tales of monsters and nightmares, sowing the seeds that would ensure they never trusted a single soul down here. They then ran through the maze of the catacombs, trying to find escape from the fear I had imparted onto them.
My mother found them in time, wandering through the tunnels in panic, malnourished, exhausted, and hanging on to life by a thread.
She nursed the human back to health, relieved that she had managed to save one this time, and that once more she had someone to care over. But the fear I had planted in the human's mind made them flee into the forest, where they were eventually found by the Royal Guard and killed by Undyne herself in self-defense as the human attacked them out of desperation. She seemed unaffected by it, but my father was devastated, and I nearly wept with laughter at the whole thing.
When the next came, I tried something else. Instead of my father, it was the human I filled with guilt. A tale of woe, of how humans trapped the peaceful monsters underground for all eternity to suffer in misery. For no other reason than humanity's threatened arrogance. But as my mother found that one, she began to denounce all of the things I had said and for a moment I thought I had made a mistake. But it seemed the human did not believe my mother entirely. They left as well, and were found by one of the forest sentries, set up after the previous incident. The human was brought to the king, alive and in secret, and I followed to see what would happen.
In the castle, I watched with glee as my father recited the stories I had told the human almost to the letter, and I watched the human's guilt fester.
They were brought before the barrier, shown the now five other souls. "Once we have seven," my father told them, "the barrier can be destroyed and we can go free. So far, it is the only way we've found."
Then the human said something absolutely delightful: "Then I will give you mine as well."
The words of submission seemed to shock my father. "What?" he breathed.
"I understand," the human said. "And if my soul can help make up for the wrongdoing done to you by my kind, then I am more than willing to give it up."
The human had it in its hand in a flash. They brought it to their head and BANG.
A flash of light, a cloud of red, and the deafening noise as the human slumped to the ground. My father ran to the corpse, I could tell by his face that he didn't understand what had happened yet. They cried out to the human, to anyone. But there was no one there.
He was all alone.
And then there were six, only one remained. I could practically taste my goal. And that's where you come in. I must say, you took a long time to get here. I almost gave up hope again. With you, I could hardly wait. I had planned to take your soul when we first met and then go to the castle and take the rest. But then that bitch decided to show up early and ruin everything!
She took you away, filled you with kindness; gave you a home. But that wouldn't do.
I had no time to plant anything in your head, but I wasn't out of options yet, and there was still all the time in the world. You were never alone, so I had to try the indirect approach and manipulate your friend into blabbing your little secret. But even that backfired. You must think yourself so lucky.
I had more tricks ready, but then out of nowhere, you leave on your own. Color me surprised that I didn't even have to lift a finger in the end. I could have killed you then and there, like I said, but the fact that you left on your own made me curious. And so I watched, and waited. Then I discovered that you somehow knew who I was, and then I became even more curious. How could you know such a thing? I had one guess. And I thought it perfect.
What could be a better end to this than with someone who had the same power me? It would make for a fun game indeed.
But yet you hesitated. For what purpose? I thought. What could you have to fear with the ability to undo everything? Were you afraid of the power itself?
So I stirred you along when you needed it, making sure you got to the end.
And then I found out your goal. At first I didn't understand. Save me? What's there to save?
Yet somehow that thought sparked a glimmer of hope within me. Hope that I crushed beneath rage. How dare you make me think there's a way back from this, after all that I've done?
I wouldn't give you the chance, I decided. I had given you enough freedom, it was time for me to achieve my goal, curiosity be damned.
But then that… man… decided to intervene and I let myself be distracted by old fantasies. But they're gone now. It's just you and me.
And now you know everything, and hopefully now you realize how stupid and fruitless you goal was.
And if not, well, there's still plenty I could do to convince you.
I think you're ready now.
What do you say?
Want to have some fun?
