It's interesting, I thought that this chapter was going to drag on for a bit and be very long, but it turned out to be an average length chapter. It took me a while to end this one because I felt like the conversation was dragging on, but that's how it's supposed to feel.
Chapter 8: Papyrus
"Saa, we've looked all over for monsters, but nobody came." Chara mused happily. "Now we can enjoy the snow falling in peace! Isn't it beautiful, Connie?" They twirled around playfully in the snow, kicking it up and laughing. "Also, pretty soon, we don't have to worry about that pesky skeleton Papyrus, either. But, that comedian...he's going to be interesting, for sure."
"But, I like Papyrus." Connie said. "I think he would be a really good friend. Sans, too, if we weren't killing anything. By the way, did you see what happened with Sans? When he warned us to stop with all this destruction? He just seemed to...I don't know, teleport, maybe? But, how could he teleport like that?"
"It's very interesting, isn't it?" Chara asked. He hid the memories of the box and encountering Rose away from her, just like before. If she found out the truth this early, then…
"Oh, what a pretty little town." Connie said. They had finally reached Snowdin, and like everything else, it was completely abandoned. They went to the first building, the general store, stole the money hidden behind the counter, and took a bunch of cinnamon bunnies.
Chara walked around Snowdin some more, viciously tearing the ears and head off a cinnamon bunny with their teeth, their health being replenished. "Yeah, Snowdin's pretty nice looking. There's nothing in the inn we need to worry about, and I've practically memorized what's in…" They stopped for a moment. "Why is there somebody there?"
There was, in fact, somebody there. A small, yellow monster kid, impatiently standing in front of the large pine tree in the square.
"Oh, hey." The monster kid said. "All the grown-ups ran away and hid somewhere. They're so dumb, aren't they? I mean, we have Undyne to help protect us! I'm sneaking out to go see her. Are you doing that, too?"
"Yeah." Chara replied. "Besides, Waterfall's a lot better than Snowdin, in my opinion. I'm not a big fan of the cold. It stiffens your muscles and slows your movements." Chara walked on. "Well, see you later."
"It's weird to see somebody else around here." Connie said quietly.
"Yeah." Chara said. "I'm not sure if I'm a big fan of somebody tagging along with us…" They stopped for a moment. "The fog's getting thicker."
They stood still as the fog enveloped them, and a familiar skeleton stepped forward.
"I'll let you handle this." Chara said, and Connie blinked in surprise as she became in control again.
"Human! I have something very important to tell you." Papyrus said. "And that's you're such a weirdo! What's with you, shambling from place to place, not liking puzzles...your hands are also often covered in dusty powder as well… Human, I feel as if your life is tumbling down a dark path, one that you're afraid to escape from."
Connie shakily took a step forward. She gripped the toy knife's handle, but didn't pull it out of the pocket. She summoned the Tough Glove, that hand hidden behind her back.
"Well, weirdo or not, I believe that you can turn your life around for the better." Papyrus continued. "I, the great Papyrus, will gladly help you along the way, not just as a tutor, but as a friend, as well."
Connie took a few more steps forward. "A...friend?" She whispered. "You would really...trust me as a friend?"
Papyrus nodded. "Why, of course!"
Connie walked up all the way to the skeleton. There was an apologetic smile on his face. He held out his hand.
"You've come even closer to me." Papyrus commented. "Is this for a hug of acceptance? In that case, I, Papyrus, welcome you with open arms!"
Connie looked down at her feet. Papyrus was sparing her. She reached out her hand and grabbed the toy knife, but then stopped.
There was no way she couldn't accept this monster's kindness. All he wanted was her to be happy, after all. That was the point of all the puzzles that had been solved ahead of her or trampled over, just to make her smile.
So, Connie took Papyrus' hand, and then hugged him tightly. Tears streamed down her cheeks, but she wasn't sure if they were from sadness, or joy.
Papyrus was quite pleased with her choice. "Wowie! You didn't commit a violence!"
"Too late."
Connie stepped back in horror as she watched Papyrus' body disintegrate into dust, his skull gently falling into the snow with his scarf.
"Still, I believe in you." Papyrus said weakly. Connie knelt down beside the remnants of the skeleton. "I know that you can do better. Even if you didn't this time, you will eventually. So, please, human, keep trying…"
And just like that, Papyrus was gone, the only thing left being his bright red scarf in the snow.
"I'm ashamed of what I have become." Connie said aloud, her voice monotone and hollow. She grabbed the scarf and laid down in the snow next to it. "Snow, come and bury me. Lock me away and never let me be found again. I'm ashamed of what I've become…"
Log 009- Phase 1- Initiate- [REDACTED]
Subject 103- Papyrus: Status: Terminated
They've had Malice since the beginning.
Only now has it begun to show...
End Log 009
It was quite a while that Sans spent in the small room in the back of the house by himself. He brushed off a few flecks of dust off the box and stuffed it back in his pocket. Opening the door, he found it difficult, and once he managed to get out, he instantly understood why.
Snowdin was in the middle of a blizzard.
"hey, papyrus, did the human leave yet, or…?" Sans asked as he entered the main part of the house. Everything in the house had been untouched since Sans had gone into the room in the back, which had to have been at least four hours ago. "papyrus, there's a storm outside. you'd be an idiot to go out there alone in weather like this." Sans walked out of the house and walked over to where the border between Snowdin and Waterfall was at.
"Go away." A muffled voice said from under layers of snow. "I'm perfectly fine like this."
Sans brushed away some snow from where the voice was coming from and found Connie, shivering and still clutching Papyrus' scarf.
"I said go away." Connie said.
Sans sighed. "for a genocidal maniac, you're really bad at this, you know that? c'mon, get up." He grabbed Connie's hand and pulled her back to her feet. The two of them walked slowly and numbly through the snow. "well, at least you feel sorry for whatever you do."
Connie was silent. She knew that Chara would come along eventually and ruin everything, so why fight that future? All she could do was give in.
Give in to Chara's control.
When Connie looked up again, they were in Grillby's Diner, a small bar-like restaurant or tavern more than anything. Sans dropped her off in a small booth near the front and disappeared behind the bar.
"You're being quiet all of a sudden." Connie whispered. The cold was finally getting to her, after spending so much time buried. "Why is that?"
"We don't have to keep doing this." Chara said. "In fact, it's advised we don't."
Connie looked down, her eyes hidden by her hair. "You're joking, right? Now, of all times, you're suggesting that we stop? No."
"What do you mean, no?" Chara protested. "I thought you would've been overjoyed by this. Listen, while you were off being miserable, I was gathering some much needed intel. We can't keep being played like this anymore. We need to start breaking the rules of this [game]. Let's stop this madness now."
Connie looked up slightly. "Sans is coming back. Let's talk about this...later." Sans climbed into the booth, pushed a cup of hot chocolate into Connie's hands, and then placed a bowl of marshmallows on the table.
"here. i wasn't sure how many marshmallows you liked in your hot chocolate." Sans said. "do you want something to eat? you probably do. what do you want?" He popped a marshmallow in his mouth, waiting for Connie's reply.
"Whatever you wanna make is fine with me." Chara answered. "I'm not picky, just as long as it doesn't suck as bad as your brother's."
"heh, trust me, kid." Sans replied, getting out of the booth. "there's a reason why we have shelves of spaghetti at our house. i do most of the cooking for us. did. yeah, that is the right tense. i did most of the cooking."
Chara took a sip of the hot chocolate. It was rich, but not repulsively so. It was just the right balance of good. "Yeah, that was kinda bad." They plopped a few marshmallows into the cup. "I had no idea she was going to spare him just like that."
"is that your attempt at an apology?" Sans asked. He began doing things on the other side of the bar. The smell of cooking foods filled the air.
"No. I'm not sure, actually." Chara replied. They took a few more sips of their hot chocolate, making sure to get some of the marshmallow foam. "Was that good enough for an apology?"
Sans shrugged and came out from the back carrying a couple of trays of fries with him. "an apology's what you make it, kid. as long as you think that it's a good way of sorry in your own way, i'll count it as one." He grabbed the bowl of marshmallows from Chara and ate a couple more.
"Wait, aren't marshmallows…?" Chara asked, perplexed. "Gelatin...it's…" Sans looked confused. "Nevermind. It's not very important." Chara sighed. "How long has it been?"
Sans looked down. "far too long." He picked up a couple of fries, but didn't eat them. "are you still being an idiot and counting?"
"I lost count after a thousand." Chara replied. They ate a couple of fries. "Hey, weren't you counting in the beginning, too?"
"i thought they would've given up after ten." Sans explained. "guess i was wrong."
Chara picked up their cup of lukewarm chocolate, but didn't say anything. The two of them were silent for a while.
"what'd you to do to connie?" Sans asked. "she's been quiet for quite a while."
"I think she's just mad." Chara replied. They drank some more of their lukewarm chocolate. "Your fries are gonna get cold if you don't eat them soon."
"not very hungry." Sans responded. "shouldn't you be headed to waterfall by now?"
"The storm's a bit of a problem." Chara said, sipping their cold chocolate. "Might as well wait it out." Chara lifted their cup and frowned slightly. The cold chocolate had frozen into a chocolate chunk. They broke off a piece of chocolate chunk and shrugged dismissively. It had lost its blend of good and was now just a blend of okay.
It was a few more minutes of sitting in uncomfortable silence until the doors to Grillby's opened, and the Gems walked in, covered in ice and snow. Chara sunk slightly further into the booth while Sans got up.
"connie isn't here right now." Sans said. "chara is, though, if you want to talk to them." Chara sunk even further into the booth.
Steven walked over to where Chara was sitting and extended his hand. "Um, are you doing okay, after, well, your little freakout earlier?"
Chara sat up slightly. "I tried to kill you earlier." They said. "I could've easily killed you, and yet, you're trusting me?"
Steven chuckled slightly. "Well, I think everyone has a chance to change themselves at least a little."
Chara looked back at Steven, then finally took his hand.
Log 010- Phase 1- Initiate- [REDACTED]
Why?
Why are they doing to us?
Why they must destroy us, we who gave them life when there was none left to be found...?
All we want to do is make you [happy] again. Isn't that what you want?
-But not this way.
What's that? You don't like this?
-Of course I don't. You're making them suffer.
No they're not. This World is a perfect one, it's the 'Utopia' you've craved for so desperately! How could you not be happy about this?
-Listen to you. You're so blinded by your research that you don't see the suffering underneath the results. Do you even feel anything anymore?
I'm not sure of what you're saying.
-You know what? I'm sick of this. Let's put away this [game] for now, shall we?
A FATAL ERROR HAS OCCURED.
DECRYPTION FAILED
DATA LOST
MEMORY LOST
LIFE LOST
REBOOTING...
Begin 9,867
My hands are tied on that last log. Well, at least that last part. Let's just say this might help you a bit.
