(WARNING: I indulged…. A lot… And I have literally ZERO regrets about anything. At this point I'm writing to make myself happy. Just thought I'd let you wonderful people know!)
Flashes happen often now. Sometimes they let him in to be surrounded, and sometimes they're like a TV screen. He wonders how much of this is even real…
Although he still can't get the human out of his mind. That time that they put their hand on Gaster's person, he FELT it. It was amazing. It was almost painful… Being deprived of such a simple sense for so long made him sensitive and hyper aware. But for one glorious second, he felt something…
Gaster thinks he may be going mad. Sometimes during the flashes, he'll laugh when something awful happens to someone. "HOW COULD THEY NOT SEE THAT COMING?" he'd say between cackles.
A happy flash finally presents itself to the decaying doctor. Sans and Papyrus are making snowmen in the forest. They're not his little boys anymore. They're grown men… Papyrus makes a very beautiful "Snow Papyrus" and "NYEHEHE!"s over it loudly and proudly. Sans on the other hand just makes a lump and writes his name in it with ketchup. Interesting… Sans used to love making snowmen.
It's miniscule, but Gaster has begun to notice things changing with Sans' personality. Before Gaster disappeared, Sans was lively and excitable. But slowly he's been wanting to do less and less. Putting less effort into just about everything. Gaster thought that maybe he wasn't feeling well. But if he puts the timeline together in his head correctly, Sans has been acting this way for several months now.
He wonders… This is just conjecture, but through these unusual loops and time bullshittery, the human has been underground many many times. And Sans didn't start acting this way until after the human showed up…
Is it actually possible that Sans is feeling the weight of time looping? Why would it only affect him…? Then again, he still doesn't know why only Sans remembers him. Could it be that because Sans was so close to the CORE without dying, its magic tampered with his?
"SANS, WHY WON'T YOU BUILD A PROPER SNOWMAN?" Papyrus says, stomping several times. Sans just chuckles and shrugs.
"Well obviously it's to make your snowman look way cooler than mine."
Papyrus beams and poses.
"SANS HOW NOBLE OF YOU! TRULY YOUR SACRIFICE WAS FOR THE GREATER GOOD OF SNOWMAN KIND." Pap looks over at his brother who sits on his short legs, staring at the snow. Or rather, to the spot in the middle of their snowmen. He also notices that Sans has a ketchup stain on his sleeve. Sigh.
"SANS? WHAT ARE YOU STARING AT?"
"Huh? Oh nothin'. Hey, so it's almost time for your shift. We should get outta here." Sans stands up and pats the snow off of himself. Then with a grin, he looks up at Papyrus.
"Race ya."
And of course Pap is right on that. He runs off up the slope and laughs.
"YOU'LL NEVER WIN SANS!"
And he was right. Sans doesn't even budge after Papyrus rushes off. He looks at the empty spot in the snow again.
With one hand, he raises a lot of snow up with his blue magic and slowly begins to build a snowman.
Gaster watches with growing wonder. Of course he's seen Sans fight the human, so he knows that his son is very good at controlling his magic. But he's ONLY seen him fight with his magic for a very very long time. So seeing his son use his magic on something as delicate as snow impresses him a bit… He also notices that the spot Sans is building on is where Gaster used to build his own snowman…
Sans finishes his creation. It's Gaster before he fell in the core. He's tall and has his arms and legs the way they used to look. The clothes are so detailed. Gaster wonders if that's what he really looked like before all of this. He looks at Sans who smiles for a second, proud at his work. But when he looks at Gaster's smiling snowman face, he frowns.
"Man… why do I do this crap to myself old man? Why can't I just let you go? All this stupid garbage is happening and… I know that you'd know what to do. You always did." He laughs a little and hugs himself, gripping his hoody tightly.
"I can't… fix it. I've tried so hard dad. I brought it to the CORE a bunch of times and I've tweaked it and I rewrote all the formulas and equations, but nothing I do can even make it create static… Isn't there some other way? Are you even ALIVE? Am I chasing this crazy dream that you're still out there?" Sans says, his grip slowly tightening…
Gaster stares with wide eyes…
"Dad… I'm so… scared that you're really dead. That I'm going crazy… I've been through so many loops and I'm still no closer to understanding anything."
"LOOPS…" So it's true. Sans IS aware of the time anomaly. And he's been living a similar life to Gaster. Seeing the same things for what feels like eternity… How did things get so messed up? Even without him there Sans is going through the same exact thing! He never wanted this… He never ever wanted this for his son…
Should he have saved him back then? Maybe if they both- NO. What a disgusting thought! Papyrus would have been alone not knowing anything…
And yet… Gaster can't stop thinking of all those possible outcomes. Papyrus alone at just nine years old with no family. But would he have memories or not?
"I'm scared, dad… Heh. I never thought I'd say that… I'm scared that I'll be stuck like this forever… What am I supposed to do old man?" Sans says, looking up at the snowman.
His father's smiling face gives Sans a shiver.
"Man, screw this. I gotta get outta here." He holds out his left hand and begins to deconstruct the sculpture. If he's going to keep up the charade of being normal, he can't let anyone see him making a snowman of a person that doesn't exist… So he takes it apart bit by bit. Until he gets to the head.
He remains quiet for several minutes.
"I'm not stopping. I'm gonna keep trying. Even if I am just goin' nuts and you're dead, I'm going to try. If you're out there, you'd better be waiting for me…" The snowman head crumbles and Sans walks away.
Gaster stares without blinking at this entire scene. He's not even sure what to think or say. He feels conflicted about that whole thing. Is he proud of Sans? Or is he sad that Sans can't get on with his own life because of him?... But the idea that Sans might be able to get him out of here… just the IDEA gets Gaster thinking. He has to find a way to communicate with his son. To tell him he's still here. Wherever "here" is exactly… But how can he do that?...
An incalculable amount of time passes in darkness and mostly silence for Gaster. A scene surrounds him finally. It's the lab that no one is allowed in anymore. Where this "Alphys" woman has created amalgamations of monsters with her experiments. She used the blueprints for his extraction machine and actually got enough of the red liquid that she named "DETERMINATION" to conduct monster experimentation. It seems the life of a royal scientist is ill fated.
Gaster goes down the halls and grimaces at the awful lighting. The cobwebs and grime growing in places grosses him out. And yet it's nice to be going down the familiar halls again. Along the walls are screens where the other scientists would make notes. They light up as Gaster passes like they normally would…
Now THAT is interesting. The screens ACTUALLY detect his presence?... He wonders why THAT is. But either way, it fills him with a little bit of hope.
He gets all the way to his office. Even the path there looks more abandoned than the other parts of the lab. His office looks like it's been ransacked. He wonders why. Why not just look through the files normally? Whatever…
Next to his desk is a screen. It lights up. He didn't write anything down on it normally so it pretty much was always blank.
He wonders.
Gaster goes to the machine and holds his hand out. A holographic keyboard appears. His one good eye widens with shock.
"HOW CAN THIS BE? HOW IS IT DETECTING ME?... IS IT BECAUSE THIS IS MY OFFICE? IS THERE STILL SOME OF MY MAGIC HERE SOMEHOW? ENOUGH THAT THE MACHINE SEES THAT IT'S ME?"
He cannot waist time. He must think of something to write. If he can get something down on the screen and somehow lead Sans to the office, he'll see that he's NOT crazy! Oh this is amazing! God he hopes this is really happening! After much thinking, he types. Normally he'd write a very direct note. But instead he goes with a crazy riddle. He's not sure why he chose THIS to write, but he thinks it might be because he wants to challenge Sans. Why at a time like this? Even he doesn't know.
"DARK, DARKER, YET DARKER. THE DARKNESS KEEPS GROWING. THE SHADOWS CUTTING DEEPER. PHOTON READINGSS NEGATIVE. THIS NEXT EXPERIMENT SEEMS VERY VERY INTERESTING… WHAT DO YOU TWO THINK?" Gaster leans back from the holographic keyboard and confirms his entry.
He actually did something. Gaster actually made his mark on the world for the first time in who knows how long! This is amazing! Ah if only he could FEEL the keys of a normal keyboard on his fingers… Maybe with this note… he'll be able to get out of here.
Now all he has to do is wait for the proper time scene to appear and he can lead Sans to his note somehow! Hopefully he can interact with the environment just like this time. That would be so nice…
Ah… He's getting his hopes up… Should he?
"WHAT IF THIS IS ALL ONE GREAT BIG FOLLY?... OH PLEASE LET THIS WORK…" Gaster begs silently as the darkness takes him once more…
()
It feels like years go by… Gaster had hoped that after he typed that message, he'd find the correct scene to get his son's attention. But it doesn't come. One or two scenes appear the whole time. It's been an especially dark "black out" this time. Black out. That's what he's named the times where almost nothing happens. And this black out SUCKS…. Gaster wonders if this one is going to last forever. Just to spite him.
And yet finally FINALLY a glowing scene appears and embraces him. The sudden brightness hurts his eyes. He thinks….
Snowdin. Just in front of the house! Ah it's good to finally see something. What time is it… the correct time? Maybe?
"SANS! PICK UP YOUR SOCK!" Gaster hears from inside the house. Sans' response is too quiet to hear through the door. But obviously it was "okay". Because Papyrus shouts "RIGHT NOW SANS!"
Gosh his youngest is loud. How he misses it, compared to the silence of the void.
Sans teleports outside of the house and walks west. No doubt heading for Grillby's. Gaster can see that Sans has a familiar ketchup stain on his sleeve… Oh god. This IS the right time scene! This must be just a day or two after the snowman scene! This is it! THIS IS IT.
Gaster floats quickly ahead of Sans and prays to whatever Gods there may be that this works.
He dips his finger in the snow and draws an arrow to the east.
Sans sighs as he walks. Man Papyrus just will NOT let go of that damn sock will he? Hehe. Oh well. It's fun to bother him with it som-…..
When Sans looks down, an arrow appears to be being drawn by no one.
"What the hell?" He says quietly to himself. SANS SEES IT! HE SEES IT OH THANK HEAVENS THANK HEAVENS! Gaster goes to write something, but he can't. Only arrows. Did this scene only allow him to draw one thing? IT DOESN'T MATTER. He can draw arrows all damn day if he has to! And so he does. He draws another arrow closer to Sans. The short skeleton backs up a little and steps out of the way. Gaster draws another one.
"Uh…." Sans looks around. Nothing is out of the ordinary.
"Is it talking to me?..." Another arrow appears a bit further ahead. Sans takes a second look around.
"Wow. Guess it is. Uh… alright then. I guess I don't have anything else to do for a while. Lead the way, weird arrow things." He says to the ground.
Gaster almost lets out a squeal. This is unbelievable! THIS IS UNBELIEVABLE! IT'S REALLY HAPPENING! One step closer! To SOMETHING! SOMETHING! He draws arrows faster and Sans has to speed walk to catch up.
"Heh, jeez slow down there bud, I got short legs. Where are you taking me anyways, mystery arrow person?"
They get to the Snowdin/Waterfall border and there's no more snow to draw in. But there is dirt. Which—YES he can draw in that too! Thank god. He draws and draws and draws these arrows throughout Waterfall.
"Wow we're goin' pretty far. You playin' a game with me or somethin'? Cuz uh, even though I say I don't have anything to do, I kinda have to get to work eventually or Undyne's gonna get super mad at me."
No no no! Gaster draws the arrows harder, making them deeper and darker in the dirt. Sans raises his brows a bit.
"Huh. Alright alright jeez, I ain't leavin'." Finally through Waterfall, they go to Hotland. This part is a bit harder to guide Sans through, seeing as how the vents are… Well, not dirt.
But Sans keeps up splendidly. If there's really no dirt to draw in, Gaster will tap the pipes. Which is another insane thing, Gaster thinks. He can actually tap the surfaces of other things. It's almost like he's a ghost. Which honestly is a huge huge HUGE step up from not existing at all.
The lab appears. Sans looks up at the sign and back down at the last arrow, question in his eyes.
"You led me to the lab?"
"YES YOU SILLY BOY GO INSIDE! GO INSIDE!" Gaster draws several more arrows pointing at the door. Sans seems to get it.
"Inside the lab… Uh… Alright then. You're sorta weirding me out honestly." More arrows, deeper, thicker.
"Alright, you REALLY need me to go in the lab. Fine fine." Sans steps up to the doors and they slide open. It's weird to be back inside the lab. On rare occasions, he would visit Alphys and have a little chat about nothing in particular. He still remembers Alphys' face when he started writing down complicated math that was beyond even her. Heh… It was weird having someone realize you're not an aloof idiot all the time.
The giant screen glitches out, regaining Sans' attention. It's glitching really hard. Sans walks over to it… and can hear a faint garbled horrifying voice. It sounds like screaming and begging. He can't make out any of the words… because there are none really.
"SANS YES YES YOU'RE DOING SO WELL MY BOY! HURRY HURRY!" Gaster floats to the elevator and it opens. Sans watches the TV stop glitching the frig out and then is startled by the sound of the opening door….. Nobody knows what that elevator does anymore besides him and Alphys…. (Alphys doesn't KNOW he knows, but that's beside the point.)
The elevator that leads down into the true lab…
"How did you…." It suddenly starts to hit Sans in waves. Something he can't see lead him here. The TV screaming quietly at him and now the elevator that nobody knows about is open….. Sans' bones tingle violently. Could this… be?
"Dad?" Sans whispers to himself… He power walks to the elevator and steps inside. His stomach is in knots right now. If this is Gaster….
If this is Gaster then he….
Oh god please be him. Please please please please please PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE BE HIM!
Gaster watches Sans realize slowly and get nervous and he can't help but laugh aloud. Sans knows! Sans can feel that it's him!
As usual the elevator takes an eon and a half to go down. The second it stops and the doors open, Gaster zooms out and goes to the nearest screen, waving his hand by it and making it blink. Sans walks out and sees. He quickly starts to run after every screen that Gaster lights up along the way.
"Oh my god, oh my god oh my god oh my god!" Sans chants to himself. IS THIS REAL RIGHT NOW? He knows this path. It's the one that Gaster walked very specifically to get to his office faster. Sans doesn't even need Gaster to light the screens up now.
"YES YES YES! HE KNOWS!" Gaster laughs with excitement. Sans bolts as fast as his short boney legs will allow and he slides to a stop in his slippers in front of a door. It's across the hall from a very old daycare room…
This is Gaster's office… Inside the room, the screen blinks.
"Holy shit holy shit holy shit!" Sans grabs the handle and tries to open it but it's locked.
"Get the HELL OUTTA THE WAY." He says through gritted teeth. Blue magic encases the door handle and vibrates it violently until it unlocks. Sans steps inside and looks around.
He's so sick. With excitement and adrenaline! Every bone in his body burns. He walks up to the monitor and opens up the entry.
It's all in Wingdings and Sans can read it perfectly…
"'What do you two think?'…. Oh my god… Dad… Dad it's…" Sans shakes and his voice cracks. Gaster just stands next to him and watches. He wants to scream he's so happy!
"Dad, you lead me here? Oh my god you—you really actually…. Where are you? No-No no, this is enough. Just THIS is enough to let me know… You're somewhere! Ha! Haha! You jerk, you wrote in your stupid riddle tone and everything! You couldn't go 'Hey Sans' or something? Ah man… ah man!" Sans grabs his head and just stares with wide eyed wonder and awe.
Gaster agrees. But either way Sans got the idea. Maybe he can alter the text while he's still here? He reaches forward and the keyboard appears in front of Sans. The short skeleton gasps! He knows HE didn't do that!
"Dad?"
Gaster backspaces and deletes everything and then types…
"HEY SANS OR SOMETHING."
Sans gasps again… and then lets out the breath with laughter.
"I can't believe this…. You're really here. You're here somewhere! You probably don't have long right?... Where are you? What is 'dark darker yet darker' supposed to mean?"
"I AM IN DARKNESS. EVERYWHERE AND NOWHERE. ALL THE TIME."
Sans can't even believe this right now. His dad is talking to him through the screen. He's REALLY TALKING TO HIM… This is mind blowing and Sans almost can't take it. But he knows he has to talk quickly just in case something happens where he can't speak to his father anymore…
"What? So… you're in a dark place?"
"NO… JUST DARKNESS. THE VOID. I DON'T EXIST."
Sans grimaces. He doesn't exist? That would make sense. No one knew who he was before. So to them he didn't exist….
"Dad, I mean… what can I do? Can I help you at ALL?"
Gaster pauses a second…. He hadn't thought that far ahead. He just wanted to get Sans' attention. And boy has he gotten it! He's not sure how much time he has left so even though he wants to stay here forever, he should probably make this snappy.
"I'M NOT SURE." Gaster types quickly. "I HEARD WHAT YOU SAID ABOUT THE MACHINE NOT WORKING. THAT'S UNFORTUNATE. TRY SOMETHING ELSE. SOMETHING HERE IN THE LAB MAYBE. SANS LISTEN TO ME—" He runs out of room. DANGIT. Gaster backspaces when Sans is done reading and continues.
"I LOVE YOU AND PAPYRUS SO MUCH. YOU TWO MEAN EVERYTHING TO ME. I'VE WATCHED YOU TWO GROW UP THROUGH VISIONS. I'VE SEEN HOW THE HUMAN CHILD CAN LOOP TIME. YOU'RE NOT ALONE. I'M ALWAYS THERE WATCHING."
Sans can't contain his giant smile. He thinks he's going to cry to be honest.
"Dad… you've always been here then… You actually know about the kid? I can't believe it…" As Sans talks, Gaster backspaces and types more.
"I KNOW EVERYTHING. I'VE SEEN ALMOST EVERYTHING THERE IS TO OFFER FROM THE UNDERGROUND… I JUST THOUGHT OF SOMETHING."
"Something?"
"A VERY VERY LONG TIME AGO FOR ME, I WENT INTO A GRAY ROOM. THE CHILD CAME IN. BEHIND THEM I COULD SEE WATERFALL. THEY CAME UP TO ME AND TOUCHED ME."
Gaster watches the expression on Sans' face shift.
"They WHAT?"
"THEY SAW ME. AND THEY FELT ME. I WAS THERE. I HAD PHASED INTO EXISTANCE FOR A SINGLE MOMENT. I DON'T KNOW IF IT'S THE HUMAN OR WHAT. THAT DOOR WAS NEVER IN WATERFALL BEFORE."
"Like… like space time had a weird blip… That kid must have had SOMETHING to do with it…. Right? Do you have any magic at all in the void?"
"I CAN'T REMEMBER. I THINK MAYBE? IF I DO IT DOESN'T WORK. EITHER WAY SANS, I HAD TO LET YOU KNOW THAT YOU WEREN'T CRAZY. I'M ALWAYS HERE… I KNOW THIS IS SELFISH OF ME…. BUT SANS PLEASE DON'T GIVE UP."
"Dad… No way. After this? There's no damn way I'm giving up after actually… seeing this! You're actually here…" Sans touches the monitor softly. He still can't believe this is real… His dad who only HE knew existed all this time is talking to him… Sans can tell that Gaster's changed a lot because of being in that "void" place. He's being more curt and straight forward. But he knows that he can't blame him. Looping through time like Sans has been… He knows at least some of what Gaster feels.
Gaster sighs with relief. He thinks he feels just a small bit normal…
And of course just as he gets that feeling, behind him the darkness starts to close in slowly.
"OH GOD NO… NO NOT YET!" Gaster shouts at the darkness. He types furiously.
"SANS, IT'S CLOSING. THE DARKNESS IS COMING BACK. I HAD TO TELL YOU THAT YOU WERE RIGHT. AND THAT I LOVE YOU AND PAPYRUS MORE THAN YOU COULD EVER KNOW."
Sans is knocked out of his happy place as he reads.
"What? It's closing? No no dad please don't leave yet!" His eyes are wide, feeling the same terrified feeling he did as he and Gaster were falling into the CORE.
"PLEASE SANS PLEASE BRING ME HOME! I'M BEGGING YOU PLEASE FIND SOMETHING TO GET ME BACK!"
Gaster is BEGGING…. Sans doesn't know if his 1HP soul can take this for much longer. He puts his hands on either side of the screen and shouts.
"Dad I PROMISE I'll get you back somehow! I SWEAR!"
"PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLE"
Gaster's hands can't make the keyboard work anymore. The Darkness is crawling up his body and over his hands. Sans chokes up at his poor fathers pleading text. He can tell that Gaster's gone now...
Through the small window of light that's left, Gaster watches Sans hold himself tightly and hold back tears.
"I swear… I swear dad I'll keep trying. I'll get you home somehow…. Do you trust me?" Something Gaster would say often…
The old scientist can only give a small chuckle.
"I TRUST YOU WITH MY LIFE YOU SILLY BOY…"
Sans seems to have heard him… with some difficulty, but he swears he could hear the words. He has to do it. He HAS to get Gaster back. Now that he knows he's alive for real, there is NOTHING that's going to get in the way of saving his dad…
()
()
Sans decides that he'll follow the human around more. Gaster said the human went into a gray door somewhere in Waterfall and saw him and TOUCHED him even. So maybe if he follows them around more he'll catch them using the door. Luckily in the past he's already teleported his Snowdin sentry station to there and also Hotland so he can keep an eye on the kid, so they won't be suspicious of Sans' presence.
He goes through about five resets when something feels off. Sans has been following the kid more of course. They just talked to him and then walked further west to progress. He follows them silently.
Something is off about this section. There's an extra fifty or so feet of rock wall that wasn't there before. And in the middle of the wall is… that gray door! "Wow" He thinks. "I didn't expect to see the thing so soon."
Sans watches carefully as the kid goes up to the door. They go inside. Sans teleports forward and hides behind the door, slowly peaking in.
It takes his breath away.
Inside is an empty gray room. The kid is walking forward and in front of them is…
In front of them is the most terrifying looking black glob… It looks like it's melting. Like tar. In front of it float two hands with holes… Sans squints a little and he recognizes them. Gaster's hands had holes in the palms… Is this thing… his dad? Sans looks up a bit more and he sees… Oh god.
Gaster's face is melted almost completely on one side, covering up most of his right eye. The once thin cracks on his face have widened significantly. There is no torso or legs or anything. Gaster's clothes have melted together and the only distinguishing feature is his white turtle neck.
Sans can feel his heart breaking slowly. This is what falling into the CORE and void did to him. This is what Gaster gets for saving Sans. He can't believe this. His poor poor dad didn't deserve this. This life is NOT what he was supposed to live. Melted into a goopy globy shell of his former self… Sans feels sick…
The human walks up to the goopy scientist and they seem to say something. Gaster says something back, but his words don't come out normally. They sound distorted and garbled like he's choking on liquid. Sans thinks he recognizes it as his native language of "Wingdings" for which he's named after. But he can't pick up any words being said. It's too messed up. The human obviously is confused as well, tilting their head.
Gaster realizes that the kid probably doesn't understand him and his face slumps sadly. Has he forgotten how to speak in Aster? The human reaches out and touches him. Gaster gasps and seems to lean back quickly from shock, and slowly disappears. Back into the void Sans assumes.
He leans away from the door and stares at the ground in stunned silence. That thing was his dad… This is so messed up… He feels so awful and terrible for all of this. But at least now he knows more about the door…
()
()
Several resets later, the door appears again and Sans is on that crap so fast he almost teleports and smashes his face into the door. Which wouldn't have been good for his 1 HP and all. But he peeks into the open door again where the child is back inside. Gaster is there again too.
Sans watches the kid intently. But he also finds himself staring at Gaster. He hasn't seen his dad in years… and finally after all this time here he is. He's really standing there, even if he is goopy… It fills Sans with joy. He really is standing there.
This time the kid leaves the room without scaring Gaster off. They exit the door and Sans hides. Once they walk to the west, Sans teleports to the door and grabs the handle and swings the door open.
But behind it is just the rock wall. Sans gasps and then looks at his hand. The doorknob is gone. The door is gone.
Just like that.
He didn't even blink… Dammit. He was so close… He's getting closer though! Sans wonders what would happen if he went inside of the room before the door closes. Would HE disappear? Or would he be an anchor and keep the room there? Would risking it be worth it? He does still have Papyrus to worry about after all… So many damn questions.
Gaster mentioned that Sans should try to work with something at the lab, since their little elevator teleportation machine refuses to work now. So… he guesses he should go to the lab and look around some more.
()
Sans makes it to the lab and teleports down into the true lab. He's careful to avoid Alphys if she passes, and is super careful to avoid the amalgamates too. They're freaking everywhere. The poor miserable creatures…
The determination extraction machine pops out to Sans. Would this thing even work? He doubts it… Gaster made it JUST for extraction from human souls. Alright what else is here that Alphys maybe hasn't messed with?
Sans recalls that as he and Gaster were falling, Gaster mentioned that he already knew that the teleportation machine could transport larger objects than they had theorized. Gaster already knew so much, but he wanted to entertain Sans' enthusiasm… He wanted to allow Sans to think for himself and figure stuff out alone. Sans can't help but chuckle at himself for being a damn fool. Of course his dad already knew… He knew everything…
Then he thinks "Dad specifically told me to look somewhere in the lab for something else… Did he know then too? That maybe something would go wrong with the machine and he'd have to counteract whatever it was? Why would he say that though instead of being direct? Curse Gaster for speaking in riddles! But Sans is determined to find something… Maybe in the office itself.
He makes his way to the office and opens the now unlocked door and goes inside. He looks around, opening file cabinets and looking through every single file. While he doesn't find anything helpful, Sans DOES find something interesting. Sad, but interesting anyway.
Inside the folder are pictures that the family took over the years. Some of them are from Sans when he was just a baby bones. He took pictures of Papyrus walking and climbing on things dangerously. You know, instead of helping him and making sure he didn't crack his tiny baby skull open.
Some of the pictures are just the two of them smiling at the camera and Sans pointing to something in the background. He begins to find a pattern… The pictures with random empty spots… Those are the places Gaster used to be pictured. He's just gone now. Like he was never there.
Sans puts the pictures back in the folder sadly. Why did things turn out so messed up? Either way, he continues looking through the files.
And finally, after an hour of searching he finds a single folder labeled "magic". It's weirdly thick. Like there's a bulge or something.
"What do you mean just 'magic' old man? You never name a file something like that…" Normally the files have things like "prjct 29- AaB11" or some other mumbo jumbo as the title.
Sans goes to Gaster's desk and chair and plops down. The cushion is flat from the old man sitting in it for so long.
He opens up the folder and inside is a small vial and a single letter, thankfully written in Aster. Some parts are crossed out. But they're still just barely legible. It reads:
"I HAVE THIS SNEAKING SUSPICION THAT SOMETHING MAY HAPPEN TO ME SOME DAY. AFTER ALL I AM A SCIENTIST WHO WORKS WITH VERY STRANGE THINGS AND DOES STRANGE EXPERIMENTS. I DON'T KNOW EXACTLY WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN OR WHEN, BUT… MY SONS NEED ME AND I NEED THEM. I CAN'T LEAVE THEM ALONE WITHOUT SOMETHING. SOMETHING TO HELP THEM. I HAVE TO GIVE MYSELF A BIT OF INSURANCE I SUPPOSE. I'M NOT EVEN SURE IF THIS WILL DO ANYONE ANY GOOD, BUT IT JUST MAY. INCLUDED IN THIS FOLDER IS A VIAL OF MY MAGIC. IN THE SMALL MANILLA PACKAGE IS A PIECE OF MY HAND. THE HOLES IN MY PALMS CHIP AWAY OCCASIONALLY. I WONDER IF THEY'LL GROW SO LARGE I WON'T HAVE HANDS ANYMORE. INTERESTING THOUGHT. AND MOST IMPORTANTLY IF I HAVE ALREADY GONE AND SOMEONE FINDS THIS, PLEASE I BEG YOU, TAKE CARE OF MY CHILDREN. THEY MEAN MORE TO ME THAN ANYONE WOULD EVER UNDERSTAND. THEY ARE MY WORLD. GIVE MY DUST TO THEM. BECAUSE THEY ARE THE ONLY THING I TRULY CARE ABOUT IN THIS WRETCHED MOUNTAIN. THEY'VE TAUGHT ME SO MUCH AND GIVEN ME SO MUCH HOPE.
FOR THE FUTURE OF THE UNDERGROUND.
WINGDINGS GASTER."
Sans stands there gripping the paper tightly. Gaster cared about him and Papyrus so much he even did something like this… He gulps and takes a deep breath and looks past the paper into the folder. Indeed, tapped to the folder is the vial of purple magic. Sans is amazed that it's still there in the first place. He sets that aside on the desk and then grabs the manila package and opens it. The bone fragment is not there. Did it disintegrate over the years? Or did it just cease to be just like Gaster when he fell into the CORE?...
Either way, Sans actually has some of Gaster's magic. What can he do with this magic that might help him?
Out of nowhere, a thought slams into Sans like a bulldozer.
The crooked screw that they fixed on the elevator teleportation machine…
Why would such a thought impact him so much?... He just has this feeling. Gaster said years ago that in order to make something teleport in the machine, he put a point B in their house. With his magic.
What if Sans uses Gaster's magic on the machine? Could he repower it and… Hm… Point A is the machine itself. Point B is the back room.
Sans decides he needs to make a point C. Gaster and his magic will be two point C's.
"That's it… that's it!" Sans stands up and almost knocks the rolling chair on its back. He grips the vial and teleports all the way back home in just one go and rushes to the back of the house.
"SANS?" Sans stops in his snowy tracks, hearing his brother.
"Yeah Pap, what's up?" He says as calmly as possible. Papyrus walks around the house and sees Sans stuffing something in his pockets.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING BACK HERE? YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE AT WORK! AND WHAT HAVE YOU GOT IN YOUR POCKET?" Papyrus squints and points at the suspicious hoody pocket. Sans just shrugs.
"Don't you worry about it bro. Don't you have to go see Undyne or something?"
Papyrus leans back, seeming offended. He gives Sans a determined look and takes several steps towards him.
"SANS, YOU MAY THINK I DON'T NOTICE THINGS, BUT I DO. AND I HAVE BEEN NOTICING THAT FOR SEVERAL MONTHS YOU'VE BEEN ACTING STRANGELY. IT'S… IT'S BEGINNING TO SCARE ME SANS. WON'T YOU PLEASE TALK TO ME?" Pap fiddles with his gloves and watches Sans' expression darken…
Sans has tried explaining things to Papyrus three times. The first several RESETS, Sans would explain everything that happened to Papyrus, but the younger brother simply wouldn't listen or didn't believe him. So Sans gave up trying to convince his brother that anything was wrong. Why bother if it's just going to be reset?
Still, seeing Papyrus worry over him makes him a little sad. Inner sigh. He's not going to remember anyway, so he might as well have a talk with his brother. For no other reason than maybe talking it through will give Sans a better idea of what he's getting into.
"Sure. We'll have a talk." Sans says quietly. Papyrus' eyes light up and he smiles widely.
"PERFECT! I SHALL CANCEL MY PLANS WITH UNDYNE!"
"What?" Sans looks up at Papyrus with some shock. Papyrus is actually going to CANCEL PLANS WITH UNDYNE to have a talk with him?...
"WHAT WHAT?"
"Uh… I mean… isn't Undyne gonna be mad or something?"
"HM… I THINK SHE'LL UNDERSTAND! LET ME MAKE THE CALL. PLEASE GO SIT INSIDE!"
"No."
"NO?" Papyrus says as if he's been slapped. Sans doesn't budge and his eyes go completely black.
"We're gonna talk in here." He thumbs backwards towards the door that leads into the hidden room. Papyrus' eyes go wide. He FINALLY gets to go inside? Sans has NEVER let him go inside before. Sans HIMSELF doesn't go in there very often. At least that Papyrus sees anyway.
"OH UHM… ALRIGHT." Pap turns around and takes out his phone, dialing Undyne and blabbing for a quick second. He turns to Sans and nods, putting his hands on his own hips.
"ALRIGHT! I AM READY FOR THE FAMILY TALK! BUT BROTHER, WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO DO IT IN THIS… PLACE HERE?" Papyrus asks, pointing to the door.
"Well bro, because it has pretty much everything to do with what I'm gonna talk to you about."
Sans walks to the door and takes a silver key out of his shorts pocket and unlocks it. Papyrus walks up close, and when Sans opens the door, he's amazed to see stairs leading down. A basement? A secret BASEMENT? It's almost like those horror comic books Papyrus has read!
Sans leads the way down twelve steps. Papyrus follows and when they finally enter the secret room, he's amazed to see that it looks nothing like the interior of their house. The floor is tiled and the paint on the walls are a periwinkle color. To the left are four pull out metal drawers and what seems to be a counter with some blueprints on it. But the more interesting part of the room is the giant rectangle in the other corner of the room covered up by a purple blanket.
"WOWIE! THIS PLACE IS… NOT WHAT I WAS EXPECTING! WHAT EXACTLY IS THIS?"
"Well Pap, feel free to take a look around." He wants to see if his younger brother can recall anything. Anything at all… Sans fiddles with the vial in his pocket. While he wants to get on with writing down some new formulas for that point C he thought of earlier, he does want to see what his brother can recall if anything.
Papyrus hums to himself and he starts to look in the drawers. He wants to save the giant covered thing for last! So he opens up the first one and inside is a picture of… Sans. With many people that Papyrus doesn't recognize. He looks happy.
"WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE SANS? WHERE ARE YOU IN THIS?" Papyrus looks at Sans, but his big brother doesn't respond. He takes the hint and just goes to the next drawer. There's a badge. Pap takes it out and reads it. It's got a picture of Sans in the corner making a silly face and on the other side of the badge are a bunch of facts about Sans. His height, weight, species, and an emergency contact number. The top is labeled "RS Assistant".
"WHAT?... THE ROYAL SCIENTISTS' ASSISTANT? THAT'S WHAT YOU DID AT THE LAB FOR WORK? BUT ALPHYS IS YOUNGER THAN YOU, SHE COULDN'T- SO WHO WAS THE SCIENTIST BEFORE HER I WONDER?" Papyrus is mostly talking to himself, but he silently hopes Sans might actually say something. He doesn't.
The third drawer contain blueprints. They're written in symbols that Papyrus can't read. Who on earth wrote in such a language? How strange. It goes right over his head and he puts the blueprints back quickly. More blueprints in the fourth drawer. The picture drawn in white ink looks like the inside of an elevator.
"SANS I DON'T UNDERSTAND." He looks to his brother who walks to the first drawer and digs deeper.
"I know you don't, Paps." Sans pulls out a thin photo album and hands it to Papyrus. The younger brother takes it and sees a piece of paper sticking out of the top. He pulls it out and stares. It's a terribly drawn picture of three monsters smiling. Clearly the people are Sans Papyrus and a third monster.
"WHO'S THIS PERSON HERE? SANS, WE CAN'T HAVE A FAMILY TALK IF YOU DON'T ACTUALLY TALK YOU KNOW! PLEASE EXPLAIN, YOU'RE STARTING TO SCARE ME."
Sans lets out a sigh.
"Well bro, remember that time a really long time ago where I came to your school and was acting weird?"
"HOW COULD I FORGET? IT WAS VERY UNUSUAL AND UNLIKE YOU… WHAT ABOUT IT?"
"It was that day that… you and I lost someone very important to us. That's who the third person is."
Papyrus' eyes widen a little. How could he forget losing someone important to them? Papyrus NEVER forgets a face! He looks back at the paper and squints. In the corner of the paper are some words clearly written by Sans. "don't forget."
"And I've been trying to get him back. Our… Our dad. He's out there Papyrus. And I think I know how to get him back."
"OUR DAD? THIS PERSON HERE IS OUR DAD THEN?... IF THIS IS ALL TRUE THEN WHY CAN'T I REMEMBER HIM?"
"I've thought about that a lot. But I think it's because you weren't there. Thank god."
Papyrus stares at his brother and is slowly staring to wonder if maybe Sans is just going insane. That something is seriously wrong with him! Maybe after quitting his job at the lab he's gone crazy… And maybe he created this "dad" person to cope or something?
"SANS HOW LONG HAS THIS BEEN GOING ON?... DO YOU… NEED TO SEE A DOCTOR?"
Pap faces his brother straight on and stares down at him with worry. He watches Sans' face go blank.
"Pap, I love you bro, but this is why we don't have 'family talks'. You never ever believe me. And that's fine."
"SANS…"
"Because I know what's real. I know so many things that you couldn't even begin to comprehend."
Papyrus gulps. It's incredibly rare that Sans will speak in a scolding tone towards him… Could Sans be telling the truth about this "dad" figure? Is it actually possible that Papyrus just doesn't remember?
"MAYBE… IF THIS PERSON REALLY IS OUR… 'DAD' THEN WHAT IS HIS NAME? WHERE IS HE? WHAT HAPPENED TO HIM?"
"His name is Wingdings Gaster. We were working on that thing at the lab when the entire floor gave out. Dad fell into the CORE and saved me with that." Sans looks at the covered up machine and Papyrus follows his gaze. The taller brother walks over to the machine and grabs the blanket… He looks at Sans to make sure it was alright to uncover it and gets a nod of approval. Papyrus yanks the blanket away and there stands a broken elevator.
"I was the only one who survived the fall because of dad… I quit my job at the lab because it gets really hard to work at a place where your own father died you know? So after dad fell I… I didn't want to give up on making the machine work. Make it work like a time machine instead of a teleportation machine. So that maybe I could jump back in time and save everyone."
"SANS… IF HE FELL INTO THE CORE THEN HE'S DEAD. AND THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS TIME TRAVEL. RIGHT?"
Sans outright laughs at that and it startles Papyrus.
"Oh Pap. I'd explain it all to you again, but you won't remember anyway. Also, dad's ALIVE."
"THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE."
"It isn't though. He talked to me. He led me all the way to the lab and to his office and we actually talked. Well, I talked and he typed. Dad's in something called the 'void' and it pretty much means he doesn't exist in this world. Or that he's spread throughout all of space and time. Complicated stuff that even I'm not 100% on. I'm working on it though. Because while I was in dad's office, I found some of his magic. And a note. Wanna read it for proof?"
Sans pulls out his hands from his pockets. One hand with the vial of purple swirling magic and the other hand with the note Gaster wrote. Papyrus stares at the objects in complete shock. Sans was telling the truth. He reaches and takes the note and reads it.
"TAKE CARE OF MY CHILDREN THEY MEAN MORE TO ME THAN ANYONE WOULD EVER UNDERSTAND. THEY ARE MY WORLD. GIVE MY DUST TO THEM. BECAUSE THEY ARE THE ONLY THING I TRULY CARE ABOUT IN THIS WRETCHED MOUNTAIN. THEY'VE TAUGHT ME SO MUCH AND GIVEN ME SO MUCH HOPE? Wingdings Gaster?" Papyrus says out loud. His hands begin to shake a little and he re-reads the note several times before looking up at Sans. His expression has softened and Papyrus can tell that this is real.
"THEN WHY… WHY CAN'T I REMEMBER? HOW COULD I NOT REMEMBER? SANS PLEASE HELP ME UNDERSTAND! IF THIS MAN LOVED US SO MUCH THEN WHY CAN'T I RECALL A SINGLE THING ABOUT HIM?"
"Don't feel bad Pap. Everyone forgot who he was. Everyone all at once but me. I'm the only one who remembers anything."
"HOW CAN THIS BE?! I CAN'T REMEMBER HIS FACE. AND THIS DRAWING IS TERRIBLE! I CAN'T TELL AT ALL WHAT HE LOOKS LIKE!" Papyrus flings his hands in the air and Sans thinks for a second…
"I got it. I'll show you."
"WHAT?"
Sans puts the vial in his pocket, not daring to set it down in this room and part with it. He holds out his free hand and smiles. Papyrus looks at it… then reaches forward and takes it. Everything becomes cold and the two find themselves at their old snowman making spot.
"WHAT?" Papyrus repeats. Oh! Sans teleported them… This is probably even rarer than Sans working and not falling asleep on the job!
"WOWIE. I CAN'T REMEMBER THE LAST TIME YOU DID THAT WITH ME."
"I can. It was a long time ago. But watch closely. This is what our dad used to look like."
The past tense is not lost on Papyrus… He watches Sans work the snow gently with his blue magic and he forms it rather quickly. A tall slim figure with broad shoulders and a happy smile. Papyrus can't put his finger on exactly what emotion he's feeling right now… but he thinks it's fondness.
"Does he look familiar to you at all Pap?"
"NO… BUT… I CAN FEEL IT IN MY SOUL THAT THIS PERSON WAS AT LEAST INVOLVED IN MY LIFE SOMEHOW. I FEEL SAD. SAD THAT I CAN'T REMEMBER HIM, AND SAD THAT HE'S GONE. I'M SAD THAT YOU'RE ABLE TO CREATE THIS SNOWDAD FOR US IN SUCH DETAIL BUT I STILL CAN'T REMEMBER ANYTHING SPECIFIC ABOUT HIM. I JUST FEEL AWFUL…" He pauses for several moments, thinking about something.
"I… I REMEMBER THAT DAY AT SCHOOL WHEN YOU ASKED WHO RAISED ME. AND OF COURSE THE ANSWER WAS YOU. YOU WERE ALWAYS THE ONE WHO WAS THERE FOR ME. THERE WAS NEVER ANYONE ELSE. BUT AFTER THAT I REMEMBER LOOKING AT THINGS IN THE HOUSE THAT SEEMED OUT OF PLACE FOR YOU. THERE WERE BOOKS AND PAPERS AND CLOTHES IN YOUR ROOM THAT I KNEW WEREN'T YOURS. BUT I JUST THOUGHT YOU WENT AND DID A DUMP RUN WITHOUT ME AND FOUND SOME THINGS TO TRY ON…"
Sans watches Papyrus think.
"I saw him you know."
"YOU… WHAT?" Pap looks at Sans quickly with widening eyes. Sans just smiles and nods.
"Yep. Behind a gray door. He doesn't look like that now." He says looking at the snowman.
"Falling into the core and being in the void for so long really messed him up. What sucks is that I think you'd find him scary. When compared to his normal form anyway." Sans raises his hand and begins to construct what he saw in that gray room. A lump of melting goop and a melting face. Papyrus covers his mouth when Sans is finished. He knows for sure now that Sans didn't go crazy. This is what he actually saw!...
"WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME ABOUT ANY OF THIS SOONER?"
"Literally three minutes ago you asked if I needed to see a doctor Pap. You thought I was insane."
That stings a little. Sans is right though. He certainly did say that and think that.
"YOU SAID… YOU THINK YOU CAN GET HIM BACK WITH THAT VIAL RIGHT?"
"Yep. I was running home to write some stuff down before you caught me. And now the more I think about how I'm going to make this work, the more I know I can do it. It's all coming together in this thick skull of mine bro." Sans smiles at Papyrus, and it really hits the younger brother that Sans was the Royal Scientists assistant. He did all the stuff that Papyrus couldn't dream about doing. It hits him that Sans is SO SMART… But he's been holding it back for years now. And he can't help but feel at least partially responsible for how Sans has changed.
No… Sans didn't change at all.
"YOU'VE BEEN GOING THROUGH THIS ALONE. THIS SECRET KNOWLEDGE… THE SUFFERING YOU HAD TO DO ALONE BECAUSE I COULDN'T REMEMBER. I DIDN'T UNDERSTAND… SANS, I AM SO SORRY."
Sans shakes his head.
"It's… alright. I'm almost glad you didn't have to suffer through that. You were too young. I wonder sometimes if it would have broken you… Then I remember what a cool and strong skeleton dude you are." He winks, but Papyrus doesn't feel better. There it is. Sans didn't change. He had to hide away a huge part of himself so that he could put up with Papyrus' crap and encourage him…
"THAT'S ENOUGH." He says quietly. Sans looks confused…
"THAT'S ENOUGH. YOU'VE DONE NOTHING BUT GOOD FOR ME ALL THIS TIME AND I WAS TOO IGNORANT TO SEE THAT SOMETHING WAS WRONG!... YOU'VE DONE EVERYTHING. YOU STILL /DO/ EVERYTHING AND I'VE BEEN SO BLINDED BY MY QUEST TO JOIN THE ROYAL GUARD THAT… I LEFT YOU BEHIND AND DIDN'T EVEN LOOK BACK. I'VE BEEN A TERRIBLE BROTHER TO YOU SANS."
"Pap, no that's not—"
"SO LET ME HELP YOU. FOR ONCE LET ME /REALLY/ HELP YOU WITH SOMETHING."
Sans stares wide-eyed at Papyrus… He's looped so many times. He's gotten used to Papyrus just being his childish self for so long that he nearly forgot he is really just a big sweet heart. Sans has just been living a few days over and over.
The shorter skeleton looks down… then up at the snow Gaster's. He nods.
"Yeah. You can help. We're gonna get our dad back Pap. What do you think about that huh?" Sans looks up and smiles widely at Papyrus. It's been a long time since the younger has seen such a genuinely happy grin. Papyrus can only smile widely back and nod.
"I'M EXCITED TO RE-MEET THE MAN WHO WAS ABLE TO CREATE TWO VERY COOL SKELETONS!"
And so the two brothers get back to their house and into the basement. Papyrus watches Sans write down insane math problems that he is sure school didn't teach him.
"SANS, WHAT WAS HE LIKE? DID HE TEACH YOU ALL OF THIS MATH?"
"Not all of it, but he taught me a whole lot. Dad was really cool. It runs in the family obviously. Audible wink! There was a time where he was so busy that he didn't have time for us. And then crazy stuff happened and I guess he realized that life really is fleeting and that he needed to be with us more. I could only protect us both so much. My magic wasn't as strong as it is now."
Papyrus still can't believe—er… is still processing all of this new and weird information. All of this has been going on like a double life for Sans…
"WHAT KIND OF CRAZY STUFF? WHAT WAS HE WORKING ON THAT HE DIDN'T HAVE TIME TO SPEND WITH US?"
"Well… I think that's a story for another time. The crazy stuff I mean. As for what he was working on… Well the reason we have the CORE in the first place, the thing that gives us heat and light and refrigerators and all that is because of dad. Dad designed the CORE and everything that has to do with it. How ironic that the thing he made ended up killing him." Sans can't stop a wry smile from coming up.
"WOWIE… SO OUR DAD MADE ALL OF THIS POSSIBLE? WE'RE RELATED TO SOMEONE SERIOUSLY AWESOME! I WISH I KNEW EARLIER SO I COULD BRAG ABOUT HIM MORE!"
"Heh! You bragged about him a lot at school."
Papyrus stares at sand hard with raised brows.
"I DID?... WHAT WAS… I LIKE BEFORE I FORGOT EVERYTHING? HAVE I CHANGED?" He asks with sudden worry. But Sans just snerks and shakes his head.
"Nah. You haven't changed a single bit your whole life Papyrus. Always excitable and determined to get what you wanted. You've always worked hard and… well you've always made me happy Papyrus." He smiles up at his taller brother… and then goes back to the math. Pap can't stop the quivering of his soul. He can't stop the feeling that he's only been a burden to Sans…
"I SAW THE SNOWMAN BUT… DO YOU THINK I LOOK LIKE HIM?"
"Funny you ask. I actually asked him a lot of questions on the day we fell about how we're related. Because I didn't know who our mom was. I never got answers for who SHE was, but dad said you get his height and long face from him. You're both a lot alike in your work ethic that's for damn sure."
"WOW. WE REALLY DID HAVE PARENTS DIDN'T WE? IT NEVER REALLY OCCURRED TO ME BEFORE. BECAUSE IT'S ALWAYS EVER BEEN JUST US… TO ME AT LEAST. SO IF I LOOK LIKE DAD THEN YOU LOOK LIKE MOM? WHAT WAS /SHE/ LIKE? AND WHAT HAPPENED TO HER?"
Sans taps the pencil to his teeth and hums in thought…
"Ironically, I told dad that we would talk about mom later because I wanted you to be there to hear anything dad told us. But all I got out of him was that I look more like her. And that she was pretty great. Dad loved her a lot." He nods and erases something on the paper and corrects it.
"WELL THEN, WHEN HE GETS BACK HE'LL HAVE TO TELL US ALL ABOUT HER!" Papyrus says loudly, folding his arms. "ANYWAY, WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO WHILE YOU WRITE DOWN ALL THAT STUFF? WHAT EXACTLY ARE YOU PLANNING?" Pap leans in and squints at the numbers and symbols. Sans sighs and rolls from his stomach to his back.
"Well… It's mostly going to center around my magic and his. I'm gonna tweak the machine to react to our magic together and I'm hoping that I can maybe reach in and… find him that way. I dunno… As for what you'll be doing, I'm thinking that you'll have to be my anchor. So I don't fall into the void too."
Papyrus gasps. "THAT CAN HAPPEN? YOU THINK YOU MIGHT JUST FALL RIGHT IN, JUST LIKE THAT?"
"Dad did."
"I… SUPPOSE YOU'RE RIGHT. SO I'LL BE THE TETHER THAT KEEPS YOU CONNECTED TO THIS WORLD EH? WELL THEN BROTHER I SHALL DO MY BEST! I ONLY WISH I COULD HELP YOU WITH MORE. YOU'RE DOING ALL THE WORK… I WISH I WERE BETTER AT ALL OF THIS MATH JUNK. IT WAS NEVER MY THING."
"Don't worry about it bro. Honestly just you bein' here and knowing what's going on makes me feel a hundred times better. I don't remember the last time that things were like this…. Well I do, but it's been so long…. ANYWAY." Sans sits up finally and sits crisscross in front of his work. Papyrus sits up straight and listens closely.
"Here's what I'm thinking EXACTLY. When dad and I fixed the machine we noticed that there was a screw loose. And we talked about what would happen if it DIDN'T get fixed. We theorized that maybe it'd blow up or something. But I think that it's gonna help us out. Mostly because jack shit happened when it was perfectly in place. So I'm gonna mess that up, and then I'm gonna use my magic to create a…. portal I guess. Then I'm gonna put half of dad's magic from the vial into the portal. So it can attach to him in the void if he doesn't have any. And then with the other half, I'm gonna put it on my hand and I'm gonna reach in."
Papyrus scrunches up his nose a little and looks at his brother.
"NORMALLY I'D SAY THAT'S A GOOD IDEA. BUT HOW SURE ARE YOU THAT THIS WILL WORK? DON'T WE ONLY HAVE ONE SHOT AT THIS?"
Sans chuckles darkly under his breath.
"That's a completely different story… I'll tell you some day. But just trust me on this. If it doesn't work this time, then I'll make it work the second time when I have all of the occurrences down."
"I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU'RE GETTING AT… BUT I'LL TRUST YOU."
()
()
It takes two days for the human to come back through the ruins. Sans meets them and finds no dust on their hands. They smile and laugh at his jokes and hid behind the lamp when Papyrus comes by.
Sans has finished the formula and is confident that everything will work out… Once the human fights and spares Papyrus, they come to hang out with him and then leave into waterfall after he gives them his phone number. In the meantime, the brothers work on screwing with the machine. During that time, Sans tells Papyrus everything he knows about Gaster. Anything he can remember. How they were as a family. It makes Papyrus happy to here. But it also makes him incredibly sad. All of this stuff happened and when Gaster fell, all of those memories were replaced. Fabricated even. It's disturbing… But he hopes that they can fix this. Maybe when Gaster comes back, Papyrus will get his memories back! He thinks that would be nice…
The human calls Papyrus many times on their trip through the underground. Undyne eventually comes by when she and the kid burn her house down. She asks where he's been. Papyrus isn't sure he should tell anyone about what they're doing… so he just says that he's been giving himself a little training space.
Eventually though she goes inside the house to rest and Papyrus goes into the basement quickly.
"There you are Pap. The kid off to Hotland?"
"INDEED. ARE… ARE WE ALMOST READY TO ACTIVATE THIS THING?"
"Just about bro. But uh… I gotta talk to you about something."
Papyrus nods and walks to Sans' side by the machine. "OF COURSE. WHAT IS IT BROTHER?"
"So uh… Remember how I said I know a lot about things that I'd explain later? This is a little part of that talk. I guess."
Pap can clearly see that Sans is uncomfortable talking about this, so he waits quietly while his brother thinks through what he wants to say.
"Ah jeez it's sorta hard to explain… I'll just water it down. We're gonna get outta the underground."
"WELL YES, SOME DAY OF COURSE—"
"Nah nah pap. Like, tomorrow. The kids gonna break the barrier and we're all gonna get to see the surface."
Sans stays quiet this time so Papyrus can process this.
"HOW COULD YOU POSSIBLY KNOW THAT SANS? YOU TALK ABOUT THE BARRIER BREAKING LIKE IT'S BREAKFAST!"
"I've been through a lot and seen a lot Papyrus…. Do you trust me?"
Out of nowhere, Papyrus snaps his head to the side to stare at Sans in shock. Something about the way Sans said that sparked something in Papyrus' memory. He can't put his finger on it… but… "Do you trust me?"…. Why does that sound familiar?...
"I DO… BUT YOU /WILL/ EXPLAIN EVERYTHING TO ME WHEN WE DO GET OUT." His phone rings.
"OH? ONE SECOND, IT'S THE HUMAN!" The kid says something on the other line.
"THE CORE… YOU'RE GETTING CLOSE HUH?..." He hangs up and stares at his phone. It's still hard to think about. The CORE. He can only picture what it was like falling inside of that thing. His dad that he can't remember being scared… His own brother almost died. What if he didn't remember him either?
"Papyrus." Sans says firmly. Pap snaps out of it and looks back to Sans.
"Hey, don't be sad. We're fixing everything, remember? And the kid's gonna fix everything too. They're gonna get us outta here."
"YOU'VE SAID. CAN'T YOU TELL ME ANY MORE ABOUT… ANYTHING? BEING IN THE DARK IS SCARY. I LIKE ADVENTURE AS MUCH AS THE NEXT GUY BUT… YOU CLEARLY KNOW SO MUCH MORE THAN YOU'RE LETTING ON…"
Sans glances up at his brother and finds Papyrus fiddling with his gloves and scarf. He thinks and puts one hand in his hoody pocket and rubs his chin with the other.
"Hmmm… Well, don't be scared I guess. A lot of weird stuff is gonna go down, but don't be scared. Because I'll be there with you, okay?"
"T-THE GREAT PAPYRUS IS NEVER SCARED!" The taller skeleton says. But when he looks down at Sans, he can clearly see 100% truth in his eyes… With a gulp he looks at the machine and sighs…
"ALRIGHT… IF YOU'RE SURE."
"I'm a gazillion percent sure. And that ain't even a real number. We're gonna be fine… And uh… when we do get outta here, ironically we gotta come back down and finish this."
Papyrus just shakes his head and sighs. This is all too much for him….
"I'M GOING TO GO TAKE A WALK."
"Sure thing. Sorry about all of this bro. Things will be better soon."
"DON'T BE SORRY ANYMORE."
The two nod to each other and Papyrus leaves the basement.
Along his walk in the Snowdin forest, a tiny yellow flower speaks to him…