"I was a pretty stupid kid - always up for dares and whatnot - and that got me in quite a bit of trouble. The greatest being falling down a hole. I wasn't alone or anything - well, not completely. My friends and I were out exploring; it was summer, and we just wanted to have some fun, right? Well, shows how smart we are that we ended up breaking into a landfill.

"Now, I mean, we didn't go there for the landfill; we definitely did not want to smell that all day. But we heard rumors of a little waterfall cove that could be accessed from the back of the landfill. It used to be a big tourist spot, I guess, but then the trash started piling up and the old access route was blocked.

"So, we've just made it past the fence, and we see that there's probably like… I don't know, half a mile? Half a mile of stinking, sweltering trash to get through before we reach the other side. Now, of course, when I think about it, I wonder why we didn't just walk around to the side and climb the fence closer to the back, but, like I said: we were pretty stupid."

She paused to clear her throat and wet her lips, and Sans chuckled at how animated she was for someone who had practically been dead a few minutes ago. He wasn't exactly sure what the point of this part of the story was, but he was enjoying the show.

"So, we finally make it to the other side, and we see that the landfill just ends. There was this huge, like, wall or something - half brick and half whatever-rock-the-mountain-is. We were shocked. I mean, we had just walked for twenty minutes through literal trash, and we were all hot and sweaty and I don't even want to think about how we smelled. We were ready to turn around, but luckily, my friend… my friend, she, uh, she noticed this spot where the wall didn't quite fit right, and we discovered that there was this big opening hidden around a corner.

"Of course, we go through it, and we come out into this place that should be beautiful, and it is, for the most part, but there's still piles of trash everywhere, overflowing from the landfill. Anyway, it didn't matter to us; all we wanted was to get in the water. We go down the hill and into the little pool at the bottom - which is also full of trash, but it didn't really matter, at this point. So we're all messing around, and suddenly one of my friends dares everyone to climb the waterfall. It wasn't exactly a little stream waterfall, so almost everyone was really hesitant and just said no. But not me. I would never turn down a dare, so I set out climbing the rocks.

"It was pretty easy at first. The rocks were big and not very steep, but as I got up higher, the spray was everywhere and I definitely thought I was going to fall. But my friends were yelling at me to stop - that I'd proved my point and that I could come down now - and I just kept going. I was never the kind of person to do things halfway, and, besides, I wanted to see the top since it had been blocked by trash where we came in. It wasn't that far up, so I guess I just figured I'd be okay.

"And I climbed and climbed and eventually I just slipped. It's so crazy, right? How one little slip up - one little misstep can change your life? Before I knew it, I was underwater. I was panicking, yeah, but I think in the back of my mind I just figured, 'well, I have to hit the bottom at some point right? The water's pretty fast and deep - I should be fine, right?' Well, apparently not. If we had actually looked at the waterfall instead of just playing in it like stupid kids, maybe we'd have seen that the top of the waterfall had a lot more water flowing down it than the bottom third or whatever. Maybe we'd have noticed that some of the falling trash didn't make it into the pool. But I think the only time they noticed was that I fell into the waterfall and never came out. There's this, like, hole, or something - I don't know; I was sort of drowning - hidden in the waterfall.

"So I'm falling and falling and being pushed down by this strong current, when suddenly I hit something hard. Luckily it wasn't a sharp rock or anything - that wouldn't have been pretty - but it still hurt enough to really daze me. It dazed me so much that I didn't even realize my head was out of the water until I was falling down another waterfall. And at the bottom are more stinking piles of trash. At first, I think I must have finally hit the bottom - that my mind made the journey longer than it was or whatever - but then I realized things like: it was dark; there was no one around; I was cold, and wet, and scared; and that someone was coming. You."

Sans didn't give any indication that she should stop speaking, so she continued to tell her story as his mind wandered, memories flashing in the back of his mind.

Sans was not one for digging through the trash. Find this, find that, Sans, he mocked in his head. Get me more supplies, Sans. That's all your job is now, Sans. How was he supposed to become a scientist if all Gaster had him do was run errands? Why hadn't he sent Alphys? She hangs out here all the time - she probably wouldn't even mind. But no, it had to be him sifting through garbage with more than his usual vigor, because at least then he could get back just in time for Gaster to ask for something else.

It was as he was sifting through a pile of blue nametags - now out of style and replaced by pink nametags - that he heard a soft noise from another pile of trash. Normally, he would have left it alone, since it was probably just some monster having a hell of a lot more fun than he was. But something about the sound was different… more desperate, or frantic. It sounded like wheezing - like the sounds his mother and father used to make.

He made his way over, maybe a touch less lazily that usual, and discovered a shivering heap nestled amongst the trash, seemingly… sobbing? He wasn't sure. After all, it was impolite to assume, since, for all he knew, they could be a monster whose laugh sounded like that. He had learned his lesson about the diversity of laughter when he met an Astigmatism and nearly cried because he thought it was screaming at him.

So, instead of asking any of the instinctual questions ("Are you okay?" "What's wrong?"), he simply said, "Hey."

The sobbing - laughing - whatever - the noise stopped abruptly, the figure freezing in place. There was a tense moment of silence before the figure turned, revealing a soft face and wild eyes.

The eyes, really, were the most striking thing about them. Sans had not seen a human before, but he knew this must be one. No monster had eyes like that - so deep and complicated. He and Papyrus and Gaster had their pinpricks, Alphys had her simple black and white eyes, and other monsters were the same way. Like their souls, all monster eyes were simple, yet fascinating. There were those like Astigmatism, with their reflected glares and crescent moon slits, or those with the five pinched ovals of the greater spiders, or even those like him, with a simple two-color pattern of background and pupil.

But the human's eyes were intense. There were emotions he had never before seen conveyed, hidden just behind the glassy stare of streaky brown. The eyes looked at him, and they seemed to see him for more than what he was.

And then the human screamed. It was a loud, piercing sound, but it only lasted a short while before the voice became hoarse and the wheezing resumed. He wanted to offer them a candy - perhaps their soul could use a little healing - but he didn't have time to make the decision before they were gone, hidden away in one of the trash piles or caves. Sans stood for a little while, unsure of what to do. What would Gaster say if he brought back a human? He might get some respect for once, and, boy, did respect sound good. He dared to think that there might even be praise involved.

But if, for whatever reason, he couldn't find them, Gaster would be even angrier with him for wasting time. So, instead, he chose to grab a computer full of mostly-dry circuit boards and head back to the lab.

"I walked away," Sans said, interrupting whatever she had been saying.

She stopped, a curious look crossing her features. "Are you remembering? You remember meeting me?"

"I guess, yeah. But I left you at the garbage dump. You screamed and I walked away."

"The first time. You walked away the first time."

"I don't - I don't think I remember-"

"Yes, you do. Trust me, you'll remember. In the meantime, I can keep telling the story?"

"Uh, yeah, sure."

"So I was hiding in a little cave for… well, okay, I don't actually know how long because I'm really bad with time. Anyway, I was sitting in the cave, freaking out because my original plan was to scream for help, but then I realized that it would probably attract more skeletons - don't laugh, I didn't know there were different types of monsters - and that I was much further below ground than my voice would carry. So, yeah, I was freaking out. But then I heard a voice softly calling, 'Human?' and, at first, I panicked more. I mean, 'Oh my god,' I thought. 'They're coming back to kill me!' But, of course, you weren't, and you finally found the cave that I was in, and that's when… um… after that you offered to help me."

Sans had to admit, the scenario felt familiar, but it also seemed off, like something was missing from it. "Why'd you pause?"

"What?"

"What happened between me finding you and offering to help?"

"... nothing important."

"Nima," he warned. He was surprised at how natural the name felt to say - how familiar the tone in his voice was.

She looked shocked, too, at the use of her name, and finally caved. "Okay, I sort of… attacked you."

Sans froze. He wasn't exactly sure why, since it was, after all, in the past and he was, after all, still alive. "You attacked me?" he echoed.

"Well, I don't know if 'attack' is the right word. I think I might have attempted to attack you, but you stopped me, well, pretty easily. You sort of grabbed my wrists and pinned my legs down. Where did you learn that, by the way? It seemed like you had done it before."

"I have no idea. I've never had to - or I never did - restrain anyone. I don't know what…" he trailed off, remembering a dark room and a struggling Alphys, blinded by panic. "Oh," he said finally. "I learned it from… from an old friend. Panic attacks can be, uh, violent."

"Well, I'm glad you knew. I would have felt terrible if I'd hurt you."

Sans nodded in agreement, glancing at his own HP, which was slowly ticking its way back down to one. Out of curiosity, he tried to check hers, but was unable to. He frowned, but brushed it away, figuring that far stranger things were happening to the world lately. He'd ask about it later.

"What did I say, though?" he asked. "Why did I help you?"

"Not all monsters hate humans, Sans. You definitely don't."

He looked pointedly at Frisk, who, despite sticking their tongue out, looked guilty. "That's debatable."

"Sans, you don't hate humans. If you did, you wouldn't have helped me, and you wouldn't have helped Frisk."

"But why would I help you? I grew up under the impression that humans were evil and that taking their souls to break the barrier was a good thing."

"I can't answer that, Sans. You never told me why. I tried - I asked and asked - but you never would tell me why you chose to help me."

Sans sighed. "Okay, what happened next?"

"You took me to a lab. I wanted to explore, but you kept saying 'no'. I still wish I could have seen more of this place."

"Haven't you seen everything? That stuff I saw when I had your soul - what was that? It looked like everything that exists was somehow crammed into my vision."

"Yeah, it's like that at first. Or maybe at last? I'm not really sure. Can I even say that? How does sequence work outside of time?"

Sans shook his head, confused. "Woah, woah, woah. What are you talking about?"

"Nevermind. It wouldn't make sense to you. Just try and remember meeting me again. You, um, what did you do? You let me wear your jacket? I think you made fun of me at one point, but I can't remember what for. Um, let's see… we rode a weird boat with a creepy dude that liked to sing; we-"

And just like that, Sans was pulled into another memory.

"Please don't hurt me!"

"Woah, hey, no, no; calm down. I'm not gonna hurt you… I just wanted to talk to you."

The human's struggles slowed and eventually ceased, leaving the cave filled with heavy breaths. "To… talk… to me?"

"Yeah. I saw you earlier-"

"I know."

"Okay, so, uh, you're a human… right?"

"Um, yes?" they squeaked.

"Look, you don't have to be afraid of me."

"Can you let go of my hands, then?"

Sans started, jumping back a little as he released them. "Sorry."

"It's okay."

"I'm Sans."

Silence.

"What's your name?"

More silence.

"C'mon, I'm just trying to be friendly here…"

"Nima."

"Okay… Nima. How did you get here?"

"I fell."

"Well, that generally has to happen to get underground. Where did you fall from?"

"I don't know anymore. It was a long and bumpy ride down."

"Ride?"

"I came down the waterfall."

Well, that explains why they're all wet, he thought. "Oh, um, okay… then."

"Yeah."

Silence. Awkward silence.

"Do you… want to go home?"

"What?"

"Do you want to get back to the surface?"

"Yes! Do you know the way?"

"Um…"

"Please?"

"It's not that simple."

"I'm not afraid of challenges. I love challenges!"

"I mean that-"

"Pleeeeaaase."

"Okay."

"What?"

They had both asked this at the same time. The human - Nima - obviously in confirming his answer, and him in disbelief at his answer.

Still, this human was nothing like the stories. They weren't hurting him, or being violent or scary at all - they were scared of him, in fact. He hated when Gaster hurt innocent people with his experiments, so how could he hurt this innocent human?

"Yes. I will… help you. I'm going to get you out."

"Thank you! Oh my god, thank you!"

"Uh, yeah, of course. We should get going, though. I have somewhere to be."

"Yes!" they exclaimed, climbing to their feet. Sans was surprised; they had looked to be weak and tired - he had wondered if they would even be able to stand.

"Yeah, let's go," he said, exiting the cave and straightening up, stretching his spine against its cramped position. Seconds later, the human stood next to him, and he realized how much taller they were than him. He let out a harrumph, disappointed by yet another person to literally look up to. He supposed he could complain about it to Alphys later, if she wasn't busy again.

As they waded through the water, he noticed a flicker of movement in his peripheral vision every so often, and eventually stopped, stepping in front of the human's path. They stopped just short of running him over.

"What?" they asked at his quizzical stare.

"Don't you wanna take that… thing off? It's all wet… and you look cold." He asked, gesturing lazily to the brown fabric wrapped around their head.

They reached up, gently touching a hand to the fabric, as though they had forgotten it was there. "Oh, no, I almost always wear it. My parents call it a symbol of faith or modesty or something, and I just grew up with it, so I just feel comfortable with it."

Sans chuckled a little, eager for the chance to tease someone other than Papyrus because, frankly, he felt kind of bad doing it to Paps. "I feel like that modesty is undermined by the tank top and short-shorts."

They responded with a glare. "Shut up. It's my choice, and I don't even know you."

He held up his hands in surrender, a softer note coming into his voice. "Look, I don't know a ton about humans, but I do know they get sick really easily. I think being cold had something to do with it, so you should probably take that off."

"If you want me to take off my clothes, a simple 'please' would suffice."

Sans' next words died in his mouth as he sputtered.

They smiled, laughter breaking through their stare. "I'm only kidding."

"Yeah… of course. So, uh, we can keep, y'know, going… now."

The two began to walk again, and Sans nearly tripped over his own feet when he heard a quiet, "It would at least take a 'pretty please'."

He stopped, shrugging his jacket off and handing to to them. "Here. At least until we get to Hotland?"

"I don't know what that means," they said, taking the jacket. "But… thanks, I guess."

Seeing their gratitude and more open demeanor, Sans could only imagine how confused they were when he shoved them into a trash pile.

"What did you remember?"

"Agreeing to help you. Asking about that scarf you wore. Um, shoving you into a trash pile. Sorry about that, I guess."

"No, that was to hide me. There were other monsters coming. Don't worry - you apologized afterwards… you apologized to me a lot… you always thought everything was your fault. I wish you wouldn't."

"Don't you mean 'wished'?"

Her expression softened, and she shook her head. "Sans, I know more than you think. I know that you still blame yourself for every little thing that happens and I just… I mean I know why, but… I still wish you wouldn't."

"I don't-"

"You do."

"I-"

"Don't argue. You're talking to a practically all-knowing being with powers beyond compare."

"Am I?"

"Okay, maybe not. I'm not really sure what I am… or how I'm here. But, still, can you just not argue? It's annoying."

"Well your ego is annoying." It was out of his mouth before he even knew it, and Sans certainly had no idea where it came from. "Sorry."

"You don't have to be sorry, Sans! Why do you apologize for everything? We were friends - we made stupid comments like that all the time! Even if you don't remember, I still don't see why you can't just let things happen, you know? Just let things happen and if you regret them, then too bad! They already happened! I lived outside of time - everything is in the past for me!"

"Did you really?"

"What?"

"Live outside of time - what does that even mean?"

"That's a long story, Sans."

"Apparently everything is."

"It's complicated, and I don't know what importance it could really have. I mean, we already know that the timelines are all breaking down and converging and just generally getting fucked up, so we're dealing with-"

"Hang on. Go back. The timelines are doing what?"

"Well, you saw your friends, right? The ones that, um, you shouldn't… see? In this timeline?"

"Well, yes, but I was dying, so I kind of figured it had something to do with that."

"Not you - time. Timelines are breaking apart and running into each other. What you saw were like… imprints, I guess? They're parts of other timelines that collided with this one."

"How do you-"

"Did you know that there's only one Frisk?"

Sans looked between Frisk and her, staring at each of them. Frisk only shrugged, a bewildered look on their face. "Of course there's only one Frisk," he said at last.

"No, I mean across the timelines. When they 'reset', they jump to the new timeline. Even with all these timelines colliding, there's only one of them."

"So, what? Everyone else doesn't? We're going to run into hundreds of versions of my dead friends? I'm going to meet myself over and over?"

"Well, no. I don't think so. I think the timelines are still stable enough… we might see more imprints, at the most. And, um, about you…"

"Me?"

"Yeah. Um, remember how you were, well, dying?"

"Like it was only yesterday."

"Ha ha, very funny. So, yeah; you were dying and then you… weren't… um, so that's because I sort of… combined all of you?"

"I have no idea what that means."

"Okay, so, when I came out of the - void? No, that wasn't the void - the place outside of time, I still had a sort of… connection, I guess, to the timelines, and I sort of... madeyouabsorballtheotherversionsofyourself?"

"Okay, I'm having a hard time believing you know a word that long, so, do ya wanna try again?"

"I made you absorb all the other versions of yourself."

"You can do that?"

"Apparently so."

"Huh."

There was a pause, and then, "'Huh'? I tell you that you are the only you that exists in the universe, and I get back a 'huh'?."

"Yep."

"Don't you dare."

"Don't I dare what?"

"Shut down on me! You did this all the time! I'd say something and then you'd just be all 'Uh-huh,' and 'yep', and you wouldn't talk to me! Why?

"I dunno."

"Sans."

"I really don't know. I don't remember, remember?"

She sighed, or maybe it was a groan. Sans didn't really care, because he was only partially doing what she had said. He felt himself shutting down a little, but mostly he liked to see her annoyed. He had felt lonely for so long, being the only one who knew about timelines and resets, but now he was the clueless one; now he got to watch someone else squirm instead of being the one under suspicion and worry.

"God, I thought you might at least be interested in this! I thought maybe someone would want to take the world back from a child and a flower!"

Both Sans and Frisk perk up at this, Frisk looking slightly worried and Sans looking wholly confused.

"A flower? What's a flower got to do with this?"

"You don't remember?"

"Why do you keep asking me that? I clearly don't."

"Okay, um, so Frisk can reset, yeah? But it's not a power unique to them. Time bends to the individual with a great amount of determination because… well, I don't exactly know why, but it does. But Frisk wasn't always in the Underground, so they couldn't have always been the person with the most determination - and before them, there was this flower-"

"That's me!"

The trio all turned around, facing the far end of the corridor, where a small flower sat, all too large roots bursting from cracks in the floor.

"Howdy! I'm Flowey! Flowey the flower!" Its voice reverberated through the hall, shrill yet threatening. "I've been waiting for ever for Chara to show up - which one of you dummies ruined the world? That's their job!"

No one spoke. Their silence was all for very different reasons - Frisk probably felt guilty for never mentioning Flowey, Nima simply wasn't sure what to say, though this was probably due to Sans' open-mouthed gaping at the flower, and Sans, well, Sans was gaping - but the endpoint was the same: awkward, prolonged silence.

"What? Have you all got dust in your brains? Which one of you messed up my world?!"

"Uhh," Sans started, but Frisk was already up and rushing over to the flower, their little legs carrying them as fast as they could.

To Sans' surprise, the flower began to shriek, its voice growing louder and, somehow, more shrill.

"No! No, stay back! Please don't kill me!"

At this, Sans stood up, ready to pull Frisk through a shortcut, but it wasn't necessary. The child ignored the flower's cries, even after it pulled their soul from their chest, firing haywire attacks at it. They dodged effortlessly, and scooped the flower up into a hug - well, as much as one can hug a flower.

"What are you doing, you idiot? You're supposed to be killing everyone!"

Frisk released their hold, signing some intelligible thing, and the flower's face grew disgusted. It retracted its roots from the floors and walls, allowing Frisk to carry it back to their group. Sans simply stared, confused, and Nima not-so-subtly moved to stand behind him, placing as much distance between her and the flower as she could.

"Eugh. You're teaming up with the smiley trashbag?"

Sans glanced at Frisk, gesturing slightly to himself, and they nodded, shrugging a shoulder.

"He's no good; you can't trust him. He'll just kill you and kill you until there's no determination left in your rotten little soul and your saves won't matter anymore. What good is a power like this if you can't even explore all the possibilities?!"

Frisk rolled their eyes at the flower, and Sans turned to Nima, whose fearful gaze was unhelpfully trained on the flower, before finally blurting out, "Does anyone want to tell me what is going on?"

Of course, it had to be the flower that replied. "Oh, yeah, it speaks. I forgot," it drawled. "So how many times have you tortured the poor kid like you did me? How many times have you killed out of frustration?"

Sans didn't particularly think of it as frustration - it was more of a vigilante type thing, except… lazier. The lazy part was important, or he might as well have been another Undyne.

"What? You let the kid get the better of you? Did you feel guilty? Shameful? Was it your sick way of making up for killing me? Does letting them live over and over again negate the things you did to me? I was the one with all the power, and I never stood a chance against you. Is it because they're a kid? Does their cutesy little face make them innocent?"

"Yeah," Sans interrupted. "Funny thing is: I've never met you. Unless I forgot the dozens-"

"Hundreds."

"Okay, sure, hundreds of timelines where we met - and apparently fought - then I don't know you."

"Oh, so you're so sure you haven't forgotten?! You forgot almost everything about me. What makes the kid so different?"

"Y'know, you three all have more in common than you think," Sans stated, his voice flat.

A "Wha-?", an "I'm not like them!", and a contemplative-turned-conceding shrug responded to his remark.

"Yeah, you really are - none of you will ever give me a straight answer. What. The Hell. Is Going. On?"

Now, Sans expected that after such a demanding outburst like that, he might finally have asserted dominance and would get what he asked for. Unfortunately, he was wrong. Instead, they ignored him - oh, how he was used to being ignored - but, he had to admit, they made a pretty good point.

"Um," Nima spoke up, her voice more timid than before, "Should we be worried… about… Gaster, like, wandering the Underground?"

" Shit."

It was, all things considered, a pretty appropriate response.

"Shit. Shit. Shit. Why didn't we follow him?" Sans asks, taking a few steps back, inching closer to the doorway.

Nima shrugs. "You wanted me to tell you what was going on."

"Do any of you understand what priorities are?"

"I haven't had to have priorities for… well, you know… the whole timeless thing… it's um… yeaahh."

"Okay. Here's how this is going to go: we're going to go to Alphys' lab - all the…" he trails his words, carefully selecting his next word with a glance at Frisk, "remaining… monsters should be there, so Gaster is there or he's not bothering anyone. And, uh, yeah - it's a lab, and Alphys is smart, so we'll, y'know, figure this out and fix this." Before anyone can protest, he adds, "And since there's too many of us for a shortcut, you're going to be telling me everything I need to know on the way."

They obliged, following him like a little pack of baby animals, but not without their attempts at protests. When Sans chose to ignore each one, Frisk finally stepped in - literally stepping in front of him and forcing him to stop. They made a little wave and he nodded, even though he was really only half paying attention.

Sans? I know you're upset-

"Upset? Kid, when do I get upset? You know me - I get bored, tired, hungry, occasionally a little angry, but when have I ever gotten upset?"

They did not seem convinced or amused. Sans, we're forgetting-

"You want to talk to me about forgetting? You remember everything, and everyone else is keeping things from me, so go ahead: spill, why don't you? If you don't want me to be upset, then tell me what in the hell is going on."

"Sans." This time, his name was spoken aloud, and as he turned to face Nima, she flinched back slightly. "Couldn't you at least let them talk? I know you feel-"

"Why is everyone so sure they know how I feel?" he grumbled. "No one knows how I feel. Everyone else either has no clue what's going on or knows everything. I am the single, lone person who has to scrape by with just enough knowledge to make everything more confusing!"

It was strange, for him to raise his voice. All his intimidation had been done through low drawls and empty eyesockets - never before had he yelled to make a point. But, then again, never before had he been faced with such a frustrating situation.

Nima pointed him back at Frisk, who began to sign without regard to whether Sans was really looking or not. Luckily for Frisk, and unfortunately for Sans' brooding, he was always drawn to the sight of sign language, and so read their message, whether or not he wanted to aside.

Sans, shouldn't we go get Asgore?

Oh. Right. Damn.

In his capacity as Asgore's trusty judge, Sans was pretty sure he had a a lot of explaining to do.