They were being insane, but they were totally willing to do it.

But, aside from that, they still had spent a while figuring out how to take the machine off the basement. Gaster's invention was too heavy to be carried by their own hands. In the middle of the junk in the basement, however, Frisk had found a red garden cart (which seemed to have never been used before) big enough for the portal machine. But the real issue was the stairs. Thankfully, Frisk had a trick - a magic trick. Since humans and monsters studied together in the same school, they could learn how to use magic. Frisk was a beginner, but their magic had been good enough to lift Gaster's machine and the garden cart while going upstairs.

The human child made their way to Alphys's house. She was the only one who could help, as she had a laboratory in her house, even though she didn't spend the whole day doing experiments. Besides, she was a great scientist; maybe she could upgrade the machine and reactivate it. Frisk couldn't help feeling a bit insecure, though. They didn't know if Alphys would believe in them.

In any case, Alphys's house was a bit far away from their house, but, with the help of Frisk's magic powers, they were able to run faster, even if they were carrying a garden cart containing a big portal machine. They started feeling tired after a while, but they refused to stop. Thinking that everything would work and that Gaster might be saved from the eternal darkness filled Frisk with determination.

"O-Oh, hey Frisk! W-What are you doing here?"

Alphys didn't want to sound rude, but Frisk has just arrived at her house without even warning. She was ready for the date she had planned with Undyne. The two of them were going to see an anime movie, but Frisk just showed up. They looked exhausted... It seemed like they had run all the way from their house to hers, it even shocked her. Behind them was a red garden cart, with... wait, was that a machine?

"W-What is that?" Alphys asked, utterly confused.

"I-It's a portal machine. Look, I don't have much time to explain, but... y-you need to fix it for me, okay?"

"Hold on, I-I can't just fix a machine without k-knowing the reason! I mean... why should I... fix it? Who built it?"

"It was built by a scientist... the Royal Scientist before you."

Alphys looked at Frisk with confusion, but then she immediately froze when she had a memory of a man working as a scientist for the King decades ago.

"W-What...?" Alphys said.

"I think y-you've heard of him before? His name is W. D. Gaster."

W. D. Gaster.

Alphys had admired that man so much as a child. She didn't know he had died when Asgore revealed to her after hiring her as the newest Royal Scientist. According to the former King of Monsters, Gaster had suffered a grave accident and had been asborbed by his own creation, resulting in his death.

Why was Frisk with his invention? Who had kept it for such a long time? Alphys could see that it was broken and defective, by noticing the wires coming out from it and the crack in the monitor.

"H-How... How did you get it?" Alphys asked.

"It was in the basement of my house. Sans apparently kept it."

"Why would Sans keep it...?"

"Didn't you know that... he's W. D. Gaster's son...?"

Alphys gasped. Was it true? She hadn't heard much about W. D. Gaster's personal life except that he had been married and had had two children. Were Sans and Papyrus really... related to him? Well, it made sense, considering that Sans's and Papyrus's names were based on fonts, just like the scientist's. It was strange, though, that none of the skeletons had ever mentioned him before.

"W-Wait, why... why do you want m-me to fix it?" Alphys asked.

"Well, i-it turns out that Gaster is alive. He survived the accident with his experiment."

"S-Survived?! But how?"

"He's stuck in another dimension called the Void. I know this because... I have spoken to him, we started being friends, but... long story short, I-I... I need to save him."

Alphys remained silent. That was too much for her. First of all, the scientist W. D. Gaster, according to Frisk, had survived the accident, when it clearly was impossible. Secondly, the Void wasn't even a... concrete thing. That dimension had never been proved to be real, it was only part of several theories made by the scientists, such as W. D. Gaster himself. None of the scientists had the courage of studying the Void in depth after what had happened to the Royal Scientist. Portals were too risky, considering how grave the accident had been. It had damaged the Underground's laboratory so badly that it had been reformed.

Alphys would always help her friends, but... should she... try to fix that machine? Like, what if the same tragedy happened again? What if someone... died?

"F-Frisk, I... I c-can't do this." Alphys said. "I-I don't even know how he is a-alive in another dimension that no one is sure that it even exists..."

"Please... Gaster is alive and he's trapped in that horrible, dark and empty place. He's my f-friend, I can't let him suffer like that anymore."

Alphys gasped when she noticed how sad Frisk sounded. They seemed like they were about to cry. They... they were being serious. Alphys knew they weren't lying, but she had a bad feeling that everything would go wrong if she attempted to fix the machine.

"B-But it's too dangerous!" Alphys said in her defense. "What if the same thing happens? I-I don't want to cause any more disasters!"

Frisk looked down, quiet. Alphys would say something else, but she has just noticed that the human was holding some blueprints.

"B-But... you can upgrade the machine, can't you?" Frisk said, facing Alphys with a sad, but somehow hopeful face. "I mean, you could lower the risks with some new additions, right? L-Like what you did with my cell phone. It... it was really helpful to me. Besides, I think you are a great scientist, I believe you can reactivate it."

Alphys couldn't help but blush. Frisk was being honest; they really did believe in Alphys. Even though her self-image had improved a lot, she still had some insecurity over her own experiments. She didn't see them, or herself, as brilliant. But Frisk did.

"Please, Alphys..." Frisk begged. "I don't want him stuck in the Void for the rest of his life."

Alphys sighed deeply. I'm going to do something stupid again...

Frisk trusted her. And Alphys had to say the same for the human. Frisk wouldn't lie about a serious topic, and they were almost crying over W. D. Gaster's supposed imprisionment in the Void. She couldn't say no to them.

"C-Could you hand me these blueprints?" Alphys asked.

Frisk nodded, looking a bit shocked. They offered her the blueprints. She analysed it for a while, specially the drawings of the machine. Although most of the writing was in Wingdings, she was able to translate it.

"I... I-I'll do the best I can." Alphys assured them.

"HELLO, LADY TORIEL? I-IT'S ME, THE GREAT... PAPYRUS... O-OKAY, I... I-I WANTED TO LET YOU KNOW THAT... F-FRISK IS GONE, AND... I-IF WE ARE NOT HERE WHEN YOU ARRIVE, THEN SANS AND I WILL BE LOOKING FOR THEM, ALRIGHT? WE WILL CALL YOU IF WE FIND THEM OR... O-OR IF WE NEED ANY HELP! P-PLEASE, CALL ME AS SOON AS YOU CAN! G-GOODBYE!"

Toriel didn't answer Papyrus's ten calls. The parent-teacher conference probably didn't end yet, and she might have been too busy to answer her phone. Papyrus ended up just sending her a voice mail. Meanwhile, Sans stared at Frisk's drawing while walking in circles. He had a terrible feeling in his gut. Why... why would Frisk steal Gaster's machine and blueprints? Sans really didn't have a nice thought about it.

t-tell me they... t-they didn't try to... reactivate it...

While it was impossible for the machine to be fixed after that accident, Sans still wondered: what if it could? That would be terrible. After giving up on the research that would bring his father back, the other scientists had spoken to him and warned him that portals were very dangerous, which was why Gaster's experiment had gone wrong.

If it was fixed... then it could lead to a tragedy.

Frisk could...

nonononononononononono- p-please, don't... d-don't do this to me, kid, don't you even dare.

Sans panicked as he thought about it. He started sweating even more, his body was at full speed. The feeling in his gut worsened and he lost his breath. He felt like he would die out of fear if something had happened to Frisk. His vision suddenly darkened a little.

god, n-no! this- this can't be happening again!

"SANS? SANS!"

His brother fell on his knees. His left eye was blue and a bright blue flame came out of it. He was panting and sweating, and shaking, and almost crying. Papyrus had never seen Sans in that state before. He ran to him, standing in front of him.

"SANS!" Papyrus yelled, shaking his brother a little to bring him back to reality.

Sans didn't even notice him. Papyrus put his hands on his face, looking deep inside his eyes.

"C-CAN YOU HEAR ME?!" Papyrus asked. "COME ON, S-SAY SOMETHING! SANS!"

Sans gasped and looked scared. Papyrus gazed at him with concern. He looked so terrified. Was... was it because of Frisk? While Papyrus was deeply worried about the child, Sans was freaking out.

"S-SANS, DON'T BE SCARED... IT'S OKAY, EVERYTHING WILL BE JUST FINE." Papyrus assured him, even though he wasn't sure if Frisk was okay at all. "YOU WILL SEE, F-FRISK IS ALRIGHT AND-"

"n-nothing is fine! frisk is gone, and it's all my fault!"

"SANS, DON'T SAY THAT! C-CALM DOWN!"

Papyrus hugged him tightly . Sans was attempting to breathe right, while sobbing uncontrollaby. He sniffled and said:

"g-god, what if... w-what if something bad happened to them, pap? i-i mean... what if they're trying to... r-reactivate dad's machine?"

Papyrus's eyes widened. It made sense. Well, why on earth would Frisk steal a machine and its blueprints? To fix it, of course! But... how would they fix it? Papyrus knew how smart Frisk was, but he was sure that they wouldn't be able to fix a portal machine. Then... they would probably search for help, wouldn't they?

But who would help them? Well, someone who clearly would be interested in science experiments. A scientist, perhaps.

Papyrus gasped.

"OH GOD! WHY DIDN'T I THINK OF THIS?!" He yelled, mentally facepalming himself. It made so much sense, why was he so stupid?

Sans faced Papyrus again, still looking terrified, but confused after what his brother said.

"w-what?" Sans said.

"THEY MIGHT HAVE RUN AWAY TO GET HELP TO FIX THE MACHINE!"

"b-but- pap, who would-?"

Sans immediately froze when he realized and his eyes widened. The two brothers said, in unisone:

"ALPHYS!"