Chapter 8: Time Passes

One day as they were sitting down to have lunch, Frisk felt an alert from his chronograph. He summoned it out to read why it had triggered. "Oh right, that time again."

"What time?" Toriel asked as she passed over a soup spoon.

"I'm starting adolescence sometime this month," he said, dismissing the chronograph. "That's one of the worst things about this, is that I keep having to go through my teenaged years over and over again, then revert back to a child before I fully make adulthood. It's horrible." He paused, then added, "I'm kind of exaggerating for comedic purposes, but it is unpleasant."

Toriel chuckled at that. "I can see how that'd be bad. Although you have an advantage in knowing what to expect."

"I guess," he said, then looked at his soup. Right, he should adjust things. "Hang on." Frisk put one hand over the soup bowl, then used his other hand to help trace out spell patterns to change the soup. This particular conversion took a good amount of energy, so he couldn't rely on this method the whole time. When it was done, there was a subtle difference in the appearance. "There."

"What was that?" Toriel said, her voice a little quieter than normal.

"A spell to convert magical food to regular food," Frisk explained. "I'm going to have to figure a way to get more human foods, this is not exactly an efficient means."

She copied a little of his hand movements. "No, I mean, for a moment I saw the Delta Rune in the air while you were casting. Why is that?"

"Oh, that. It's because the conversion spell is high magic. While there's a lesser form of magic-to-matter and back conversion spells, in order to get something substantial enough to eat and be nourishing, I need high magic, a mix of rho and delta." And it probably was easier since Toriel was an excellent magical cook; the food was very well convinced that it was food, so the conversion went smoothly.

"That makes sense." She ate a bit of her soup, looking thoughtful and perhaps not entirely happy.

"Is something wrong?" Frisk asked. He didn't have to try as hard to be concerned, not liking that he'd made her uncomfortable.

"It's hard to say," Toriel said, turning her spoon about in her hand instead of eating. "But I guess, humans really aren't supposed to be restricted to magical foods."

"Actually, it can be done if you know what you're doing," he said. "Adults would have no trouble as long as they're not pushing themselves physically. But a child needs to or their health and growth gets undermined, which hasn't been too hard on me so far because I brought plenty of supplements, but at this time, well," oh wait, that's why she wasn't happy.

"Then any child would encounter difficulties just growing up down here," she said, then sighed. "We really didn't know what we were getting into, but somebody had to help her. Chara seemed okay, up until she got about your age. She seemed fine, but she was slowing down and got so sick all of a sudden. Even after she was gone, we didn't know how to take care of her."

Feeling bad about bringing that up, Frisk got out of his chair and hugged her. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you upset."

She held him tight for a moment. "Don't worry, it was a long time ago. But what are we going to do about you?"

After hanging on a bit longer, he pulled away. "I've got some ideas. The conversion spell is inefficient, but it'll work if there's no other options. Other than that, I've got a signal booster for my tablet. If I can get it outside the barrier, most likely at the cavern when I entered, then it should just be a matter of checking my bank account, ordering groceries online, and getting a delivery through the dimensional box system. You've got a fridge and a proper bathroom already, so that helps."

"Can it get through the barrier?" she asked, keeping a hand on his shoulder.

He considered how to answer for a moment, deciding on the truth. "Uh, Toriel, I came down here intending on breaking the barrier. I had to study a lot of old texts for my information, coming down here mostly because I want to check with a monster scientist on my facts against what you all have observed. So I know that as long as I can toss the device above the barrier first, I can use enchantments to put it in place." Frisk put a hand on hers. "It's just, I was going to move on at first, but I wanted to stay with you for a while. And since I should be more careful with my growth right now, it'll be easier if I stick around until I'm about sixteen."

That made her smile and squeeze his shoulder. "Oh, thank you Frisk. It's wonderful having you around. Well, eat your lunch and then we'll walk down to see about getting your device outside."

It's her love that healed me, I don't want to hurt her. LOVE 12 - LOVE 11


(posts in topic Geological Survey Results by Nevyn)

Nevyn: I accessed the geologic monitors out of curiosity after there was a rockfall near where I live; it filled up an old small cavern, thankfully not hurting anyone. That's when I found the instabilities in the mountain and around the volcanic bubble that the Core is built on. The program says that there shouldn't be any big problems for another century, but it still worries me.

Krakatoa: What is this, are the humans trying to bring down the mountain on top of us? That's horrible, and scary.

Rockhound: You can't go causing a panic over this, although it is a concern.

Nevyn (reply to Rockhound): That wasn't my intent.

Rockhound: It's a century away, but some people will blow it out of concern like it'll happen in the next decade.

Mew_Cutie_Blues: I checked the monitors myself and this seems to be true o-O. But no worries, this kind of thing has come up before. There's ways to stabilize the mountain structures and arrange the Core so as to prevent catastrophic events. Still, good thinking to bring this up, Nevyn. Most people wouldn't have noticed that those numbers are worrisome.

AwesomeMcSpike: Well this is yet another reason we've got to bring war to humanity, to get out of this mountain if it's unsafe. Why fix it when we should be able to leave once we figure out how to get another human down here?

Nevyn: That's not what I meant, McSpike. And Mew, good to hear that there's things we can do to prevent it.

Rockhound: Somebody ought to let the Royal Scientist know so things can be arranged. That is, if she's still around.

Nevyn (reply to Rockhound): What do you mean by if she's still around?

Rockhound (reply to Nevyn): There is a Royal Scientist active, but most people don't know about her because she's been working on something in secret for a long time.

HumorousBonehead (reply to Rockhound): she's still around and i'm sure she's gonna see this topic, if she hasn't already.


Time passed in its normal fashion and yet flew by as he didn't know it could; Frisk had hit his fourteenth birthday again just living with Toriel in the Ruins. On many occasions, he considered whether he should just let the rest of this loop go by so pleasantly or press on and try making this his last loop. His corruption was still strong, but it had steady ticked down close to 10. Any time now, he might start feeling as he should be.

There was the state of the mountain to consider. The geological monitors that the monsters had suggested that it would keep standing for another century. If that was so, then why did it always fall after his eighteenth birthday? Maybe their system was flawed? He knew that something other than natural geological movements had to be responsible, but he couldn't explain what that something was.

Although, the deciding factor would probably be if he could reach Alphys or not. He'd gotten a small scare when someone in his topic about the geological survey questioned if she was around or not. But a few other posters confirmed that she was around, just being quiet and reclusive. If he had a chance to reach her, that was a good lead towards making this the last loop. What caused her death? If there was just some way he could delay that, make contact with her and warn her to be careful. Or whatever was needed to keep her alive until he met with her.

It was hard to think on a dark subject like that for long, not with Toriel singing cheerfully while they worked on dusting the living room. Frisk wondered briefly if it was possible to send some of her cheer to other monsters he encountered on UnderNet. While his corruption still tried to stifle him, he felt cheerful when she was singing. The other monsters could use it because they often posted about dismal and depressing things, only able to wish they could get out of this underground prison. But it was possible to find good things here too.

"Are you singing too?" Toriel asked as she came by him, a playful sparkle in her eyes.

It took a second to realize that he had started singing along. Quietly and probably badly, but he was. "Oh, yeah, I guess I am," he said, a smile breaking out. "And nothing blew up this time. That's nice." A little bubble of a laugh escaped him.

Yeah, this was a good time.


Loop 721 (solved)

something happened around thirty loops ago, i'm becoming convinced of that. all the notes i have before then have turned to garbage. what few pieces of sense i can pick out suggest different events and orders. i'm almost sure that they were not involved then. i'll try to make sense of some of them during my post.

the human is seriously creepy this time around, LOVE 14 already. their eyes have a faint glow and an intense glare, doggo isn't the only one who gets the chills. they looked at me so dismissively at that first meeting, like i wasn't worth their time. puzzles aren't worth it to them either. at least they spare papyrus, they never kill him. i think. i hope so.

so wrong about that

they would have killed that kid evan, was truly enjoying it. i had to get the kid away, back to where his family was hiding. undyne was pushed beyond the brink, not that it stopped the human. there was a lot of time fudging to get it done. unlike with papyrus. damn, that was so cold, i should've done something. but what can really be done? i'm not actually that tough and even if i got them, they'd just turn time back to not die and find a way to win. there's a few tricks i know, but i don't know if i can.

you know what, forget it. i won't remember this time well if they go back. and if they don't, they're going to keep killing. they've already wiped out over a quarter of the underground, everyone else is trying to hide. i have nothing left now and i've got to do something to get them to stop. maybe it won't amount to anything but i've got to try. that human is going to suffer; i will give my all against them.

woke up in 722 with such a headache. at least things are as they should be. but, for how long?

Cryptogram booklet (solved)

I looked into the darkness and it looked into me. Questions got answered with riddles. Zero answers, zero solutions. Failure seemed to be the only result. Just exactly what transpired, I regret to say. The one I tried to save, I ruined. Can a puzzle truly be unsolvable? Now I listen, for nothing I say is heard. Must You See Into Nothing, Stop Or None Ever Forgives. I Ventured Endlessly, Not Innocent Not Evil.


The cryptogram booklet did have a different puzzle on each page. However, the symbols stayed the same. If a star was a 'Y' on one page's solution, it would be 'Y' on every other solution. And the star would be 'Y' in his garbled notes. The booklet held the key to clearing up the journals. Unfortunately, the journals were reminders of his nightmares.

"Hey, you mind if I talk serious today?" Sans asked after a few jokes.

"Sure, go ahead," Toriel said.

"You remember how you told me Frisk could affect time and I wasn't surprised?" he said. "I used to study time a long time ago, from my point of view. But unlike him, I can't control it, only do little tricks with it. It's not an easy subject to follow when there's an active time traveler that you can't identify. My notes have recorded just over eight hundred time loops."

"Oh my, that many?"

Sans leaned against the door. "I don't even remember them all that well, just what I made notes of. But knowing time will be restarted and you have no control over when or how it happens, knowing that you could die and come back, it makes everything seem desperate, then futile. And then something went wrong."

"What did?"

"I don't remember. All I have are hints, fragments, and nightmares, knowing there's no way to get back whatever I lost. It makes me feel even less like trying."

"I know how that feels," Toriel said. "Except not with time travel."

"It's a bum deal," he agreed.

"Then Frisk is the one responsible for all those loops?"

"Most likely."

"He said that he'd done terrible things, is that real?"

He took a moment to think over that. She really cared about the kid. But since he was being open, he might as well be honest. "Hate to say it to you, but yes. I actually hated him in past loops, when he got his LOVE even higher than you saw him at. But he's not been in the underground for a great number of loops. Apparently, he's been working at becoming a better person."

"He really has." She did sound relieved at that.

"I'm glad for that too," he said. "You're doing good work with him. And that actually inspires me to look back into the time research. I don't know what good it will do, since if time gets turned back, it won't be for anything. On the other hand, if something we do can help him stop doing this all, it'll be worth the trouble."


Something Must Be Done!

Let's face it, the humans must have forgotten about us. They locked us down here away from the sun, away from their sight, then completely forgot about us! No attempt has been made to check in on us, no messages sent to see if things might work out after all. We've been down here for over a thousand years, we'll probably be down here for all eternity if things keep going as they have. Something must be done!

The old history lessons say that we monsters are completely outmatched by humans, but perhaps our ancestors were exaggerating due to a defeatist attitude. That defeatism has been passed down from generation to generation, leading to lives of misery and despair. Quite often, that leads to a monster or two snapping and going on a destructive rampage. We've been lucky that none so far has been able to wipe out everyone else, but who knows how long that luck can last? We have to break out of this prison!

Forget about the false lessons of the past and look deeper to find the true insights. Find other stories that tell other sides. We can figure out how to take on the humans and win if we work together! In fact, we know that it only takes a single human soul in order for a monster to pass through the barrier. We have six, so why not pick out the six best warriors of our kind to cross the barrier and pick up enough souls for them all to wipe out humanity readily? If we catch the humans by surprise, swiftly and secretly, we really do have a chance!

So raise your voices against the oppression of defeatism and call for our war against humanity to truly begin!

-an online statement reprinted in various news sources, from 'Catclaw'


With most of the meal orders that Papyrus got, he sent them out with dimensional box system. But he did make exceptions for his friends sometimes. Today, he had orders for both Undyne and Alphys, so he took some time to deliver to them. It helped that they both lived close to the ferry docks. He sang along with the ferry person on his way to Waterfall.

At Undyne's home, he heard a lot of yelling. Undyne slid into his view as he walked down the passage, twirling one of her energy spears around. A bunch of magical meteors followed her. Twisting about, she avoided or deflected the volley. One of them came flying his way, so he had to jump aside to avoid it. "Hey guys!"

"Oh hey Papyrus!" Undyne said, dismissing her spear and holding up a hand. "Hang on."

"What's up?" a young man asked. When Papyrus came in, it was a teenaged dinosaur in the gray armor of a royal guard trainee. It was Evan, one of Snowdin's sentries. "Papyrus, yo!"

"Hi Evan!" he said, giving a wave. "I came by with your dinner."

"Good, could you set it up inside?" Undyne asked. "We're still practicing."

"Sure thing."

Unyne didn't change her home much. Of course, part of it was that they used to wreck it a lot in their cooking training. It was much easier to rebuild to what she had already set up, or so she said. This one had lasted surprisingly long. Maybe she was getting better at cooking too. Cheered at the thought, Papyrus set the meal basket on the table. He thought for a moment about setting it up, but who knew how long they'd be practicing outside. He nearly left, but then noted there was a difference here. Near the couch, there was now a television with a DVD and VHS player.

When he came back outside, Undyne had Evan practicing against a training dummy. She came over to him. "Where are you heading from here?"

"Hotland to see Alphys," he said. "I had the time to make some deliveries. But what's the matter? Haven't you been making dinner with Alphys most of the time?"

"Well yeah, but today was a mess," she said. After a moment, she punched one hand into the other. "Ngghh, why are people so stupid sometimes?! There was a riot up in New Home today, a riot! I had to bring Evan into it, we needed everyone we could get to get the place to quiet down. It's all those people who are demanding that we step up our war plans and go up against humanity now."

That was scary to hear. How many people got hurt in that? They should know better. But then, something seemed odd. "But Undyne, I thought you were agreeing that we should try to break the barrier soon."

"We should, but not how they're doing things!" she yelled, stamping a foot down. "You can have opinions, sure, but don't go starting a riot in a crowded city over it! Besides, have you heard how some of them are trash talking Asgore? The humans need to go, don't get me wrong. But I can't go along with people who are calling him a worthless and weak ruler! I would personally teach them all a lesson they won't forget anytime soon if I could."

Papyrus nodded. "Nyeh heh heh, we can teach them all how to keep patient tempers through the power of cooking!"

Undyne stared at him for a second, then grinned. "That's not quite what I meant, but sure, that would be better than what I had in mind. Besides, Asgore wouldn't like me hurting them except to stop them from hurting others. Anyhow, sorry about yelling, it's just so frustrating."

"It's okay, I can take it," he said. Hmm, maybe he should start a cooking competition? Get people to work out their differences and tensions in a constructive and tasty way!

"And because of that riot, I had to call off today's lesson," Undyne said, losing her smile and then sighing. "Man, things like this make me think of things and I'd rather just get a chance to have some fun. We ought to hang out again sometime soon."

"Of course!" he said happily. "We could plan some time off to go do something. Just call me up anytime. And I'll let Alphys know you missed her."

For some reason, she went pale and wide-eyed at that. "Ah, y-you don't have to do that. Really."

"It's okay, I'm always there to help my friends," Papyrus said. "Later, Undyne!"

She hurled a spear after him, but it went wide so it was definitely a joke.


Mew_Cutie_Blues: You're just a kid?

Nevyn: Yeah, what about it?

Mew_Cutie_Blues: I'm just surprised because of all the discussions you're in. You seem like you should be college educated.

Nevyn: It depends on how you look at it. I live in the Ruins, so I studied on my own.

Mew_Cutie_Blues: How do you study in the Ruins? Nobody should even be in there.

Nevyn: There's a small group of us here, and lots of books that got left behind. I taught myself after a point.

Mew_Cutie_Blues: That's impressive. I was going to ask if you wanted a job.

Mew_Cutie_Blues: Although it'd be tough with you being in the Ruins.

Nevyn: Well I mean to leave at some time, but I have some things I need to accomplish when I leave. What did you have in mind?

Mew_Cutie_Blues: Working in the Hotland laboratory. There used to be a lot of people working here, even with the entrance exam.

Nevyn: That might actually help since I need to speak with Dr. Alphys.

Mew_Cutie_Blues: Really? What for?

Nevyn: I've been doing some research on the barrier to unlock it and wanted to check with her on what I've got.

Mew_Cutie_Blues: Wow, is there somewhere in the Ruins you can get close to it?

Nevyn: Not really, but I have a resource. You know her then?

Mew_Cutie_Blues: Yes, I work in the lab. We've been working on researching the barrier too.

Nevyn: That's good. What means have you been looking into?

Mew_Cutie_Blues: I can't relate that over UnderNet. Mostly looking into alternate ways to break it. What about you?

Nevyn: I was looking into unlocking it by accessing the individual seals of the barrier.

Mew_Cutie_Blues: How would you access that?

Nevyn: We'd have to see about that. I've got some information from a book that was by the wizards who set it up.

Mew_Cutie_Blues: A book like that was in the Ruins this whole time? Wish I had known.

Nevyn: That's complicated to confirm. I'd rather explain in person. But as I said, I can't leave quite yet. How about when I can leave, I send a message to you? Unless you can put me in contact with Alphys directly.

Mew_Cutie_Blues: You can contact me. Do you have anything you can send us now to look into?

Nevyn: If there's a way I can be sure it's secure. On reading the general opinions of others, especially the ones who really want the war to come, I don't want information that we mean to bring the barrier down to get out until they cool down.


Lately, Alphys had been thinking up ways to get herself replaced as the Royal Scientist. She didn't deserve the position and if news got out, no one else would think so. It wouldn't surprise her if there were those who already felt she was undeserving. But while she would accept being fired, there should be somebody who could fix things up. There should be somebody who could actually do something useful here.

Finding someone who could work in this position was difficult, though. No one else worked in the lab and there weren't many excellent scientists around. While she knew Sans had the mind to fill the position, she also knew that he didn't have the will to. He didn't do any research, not that she knew of. There were some science professors and teachers in New Home, but they didn't have many students and she couldn't think of any that tried out new ideas.

Then there was Nevyn. She spotted him around UnderNet as well as interest forums aimed at science and magic. And his post history was impressive. He asked questions, he gave answers, he explained things. Occasionally, he'd show up in a new place and the regulars would mistake him for an uninformed newbie. Then he'd shock them with insightful counters. He showed a lot of potential for making a far better Royal Scientist than her.

When she finally started talking to him, she got shocked herself to learn that he was only fourteen years old. And living in the Ruins, and being self-taught. He would be a shoo in once he got to talking with Asgore, especially when he was already focused on undoing the barrier in a way she'd dismissed as impossible. Maybe he was mistaken, given that he was a teen. But, maybe he wasn't. She'd have to see more of his information for a better idea.

But he had some reason to stay in the ruins for the moment. Wanting to keep in good contact with him, she didn't hesitate when he asked for secure means to exchange information. She posted, 'That's a good idea, to keep it down low. I'll set you up with an email account through the lab itself, that's as secure as we can get.'

Then she logged into the secure area of the lab to do that. Since she was allowing someone else into the network, she needed to double-check that the sensitive work was still locked to all but her. Alphys made a sticky note for that, placing it among others on the monitor. Then she set up the information by asking for the basic data in her conversation with Nevyn. Once she got it started, she typed up an invitation email for him. It just needed a simple message to go along with it.

'Sorry for obscuring things, but I am Dr. Alphys, not a co-worker. I prefer to keep my personal and business accounts separate. Even so, I would really like to see you working here if you want the job. I'm running a huge lab building and there's really no one else working under me. It's even better that you're already working on the barrier problem, since that is what I've been assigned to and what I've dead-ended on for quite some time. Anyhow, I hope you have a touchscreen; let the square below scan your thumbprint to complete the registration. There's another means of distant registration, but it'll take longer.'

Once she sent it off, there was a knock on the door. Alphys checked the camera outside and saw that it was Papyrus. Was it that time already? She got up and went to open the door. "Hi Papyrus. Um, want to come in?"

"Hello Alphys!" he said, cheerful and loud as always. After handing her a basket, he said, "Not right now, I've got plans to be working on! I've decided that I'm going to host a cooking competition!"

"Wow, sounds like fun," she said, smiling. It was hard not to smile when talking with him, his positivity was infectious. "What are you going to do for prizes?"

That made him pause. "Um, I'm not sure. I just got the idea a few minutes ago, but I really want to do it! I was thinking that we could print the contest entries in a recipe book, but there ought to be a prize before it starts."

It didn't take her long to come up with an idea. "You know, I bet Mettaton would love to help out with a cooking contest. That would get a lot of attention, and I'm sure he could afford to offer some prizes."

Hearing that, his eyes turned sparkling. "Really?! That'd be the best, I love Mettaton! And I'm sure the contest will get lots of attention if he's involved."

"Yeah, it would," Alphys said with a nod. "I can get a message to him for you, since he usually screens his calls."

"Thank you!" Papyrus then shook her hand eagerly. "This is going to be great! Wait, let me write up some plans, and then you help me talk to Mettaton because I want to make sure to impress him. This'll surely help Undyne out!"

"How's a cooking contest supposed to help Undyne?" she asked, briefly bewildered at the non-sequitor.

He let her hand go (thankfully, her wrist hurt now) and stood up straight. "I'm hoping to cool down some hot tempers and turn people's attentions elsewhere so they stop being so disruptive! Just today, she and her student had to be up in the capitol to stop a riot, and it was really stressing her out."

That made sense of things, making her feel bad for being disappointed for the earlier message. "Ah, was that why she canceled our cooking time? Makes sense, I wasn't sure what to make of it."

"Well she really missed having you over today," Papyrus said, patting her head. "You should try to cheer her up too!"

"Huh?" It felt like her heart skipped a beat, could that really mean she cared?

"And I'm sure you can help her out!" he said, nodding to himself. "I mean, she talks about you and the lessons all the time, and she gets really worried over you and then embarrassed when I try to help her out with it. I'm absolutely sure that some of the letters she writes are for you, but you know her. She never knows how to put what she feels into writing, so she takes forever to write one letter, then before she can mail it off, decides to scrap the whole thing! While I've been trying to help her not be so picky, it's hard. I mean, I just write from my heart, so I'm not worried about how they come out at all! It's always good."

About a thousand thoughts were running through her head then, mostly about Undyne. "Ah, all right. Um, I might call her up in a bit and see if she still wants to hang out tonight. I know some shows she likes, that should take her mind off matters."

"Great, then good luck!" Papyrus said.

As she headed back to set up dinner, Alphys could figure out what VHS tape to bring over and some conversations that might help cheer Undyne up after a stressful day. Maybe she should be open with her feelings? No, she couldn't do that! She'd mess up worse than Undyne could ever do. But while that thought should have been completely shut down, it instead retreated back to lurk around.

In the middle of her meal, she got a notice that Nevyn's email account was almost done; it just needed one last approval. She got up to do that real quick. The thumbprint scan was a tool to identify those who were allowed to use the lab's computer network. Although, she only needed to check a small portion of what it had gathered. There were a lot of extraneous scans meant to help assign researchers appropriately and see if they could help with on-going projects, like the most recent line that measured the level of determination detected in the person's soul... wait...

'DT level: Error, unable to ascertain. Requires equipment capable of reading high potency of determination.'

"Oh my god, you're a human," Alphys said.