i wake up.
what the hell did just happen?
everything is jumbled in my head.
i was... in a shop?
a monster dusted?
and then...
something took control of me?
and...
there was...
HELLO OTHER SANS!
i look up and see papyrus.
* other?
DON'T WORRY, I WAS TOLD THIS WON'T HURT AND WILL BE IMPORTANT.
his eyes start to glow.
i fall into my head.
Lou sits there in his NBC gear, staring into the far off distance, taking in the environment once again.
I'm still concerned about his health.
* Lou? You feeling okay?
He turns towards me, his eyes looking at me through the gas mask's visor, his voice muffled by the filters.
* As okay as I can be in this world...
* I know, but I meant, physically, are you okay?
* Yeah, the gear is keeping me okay.
I emerge from the shadows, approaching the red eyed, a limp squirrel on the ground.
* You got everything?
He turns to me, sweat on his forehead. Seems that it fatigued him a good bit.
* yes, everything he did in the last twelve hours.
I look down at Squirrel, he is knocked out good, and hopefully depowered.
* What about the machine?
With a sigh he shakes his head slowly.
* sorry, that was in his soul, can't burn that out easily, severed all conscious and subconscious memories.
Damn, but as long as he remains unable to access it...
* That is good enough, help me get him back to the bar in his time frame.
We both grab one arm each and start dragging him away from the source and Frisk.
* And thank you for keeping him at bay until we got here, Frisk!
It was the right decision to give them this job, I really think they want to repent for their sins.
* yeah kiddo, thanks!
We drag him for a few steps before Shadow turns to me.
* don't forget that i get three hours free movement in the bar, substitute.
He's very humble with that demand, before, he'd have demanded days.
Seems he's warming up to the new hierarchy.
* yeah, yeah.
i crawl through the small door in the hope of finding my brother on the other side.
this body is a lot leaner than my usual bodies and can fit comfortably through the purple glowing tube leading to the other door.
i open it and see a room similar to the one i came from.
a quick glance around shows me a few differences.
the windows aren't fogged over and show the dark outside.
and the painting shows a somewhat taller papyrus dressed in black.
something delicious hangs in the air.
my curiosity thoroughly piqued, i momentarily abandon my quest to follow this side-quest.
the smell emanates from the kitchen where something looking like papyrus is preparing a lavish feast that smells wonderful.
i slowly approach them.
* papyrus?
hello sans, i was just making a midnight snack.
he turns around buttons where his eyes are.
care to join-
he drops the bowl he was holding, which shatters and spreads over the floor.
still drained and overwhelmed by the whole experience i touch the golden, pointy tooth in my mouth and massage the bridge of my nose.
i miss my snowdin. it is warm in my snowdin. it is safe in my snowdin. there are no overly dominant papyri who want to shove glowing red bones inside me in my snowdin.
I rip apart the foundation of reality to make my way to the imbecile.
They turn what could be counted as their head towards me, starting to speak.
? ❄?￢ﾚﾐ ❄ ✋? ﾟﾒﾧ ✋ ? ﾟﾕﾆ?￢ﾘﾟ ✌ ?￢ﾘﾟ ❄ ❄✋?￢ﾘﾜ? ?￢ﾘﾟ✌❄ ✋✞ ? ?￢ﾘﾜ ❄ ?
Enraged I cut them off.
*Are you insane?! Oh, why am I even asking!? OF COURSE YOU ARE!
I/WE/ME-
* Shut up, because I AM TALKING!
* You have screwed up big this time! What were you thinking while making a fell-mind fireproof?!
NOTHING/INNOCENT/HELPFUL!
* BULLSHIT! You know I would find out and that I would trace it to you. Tampering with the memory charm on the Nexus? That would get you exiled at least.
I grab their souls and pin them to the void, unable to move, they just squirm.
* But since you are already in exile there is only one thing I could actually do.
I dive into their source, which is a mishmash of so many different styles, so many contradictory imperatives, I can see the fear light up while I am in here, so many different responses. I go to the magical interconnected system and start rewriting it.
* Any last words, Dings?
SORRY/APOLOGIES/REGRET/...
* As good as any, I guess.
I start meditating and initiate the full communication with my host.
We stand on a small, beautiful island in Waterfall.
I can see Sans sitting on the shore, feet dangling in the water.
* Greetings Sans, don't be afraid.
He doesn't even turn towards me and just continues splashing the water.
*WHY SHOULD I BE AFRAID? I MEAN WE-
He pauses for a moment, suddenly jumps up and turns towards me, stars in his eyes.
*OH MY GOOOOSH! THIS IS YOUR FIRST, ISN'T IT?
He starts running around me and inspects me, commenting on some strange nonsense.
*OH GOD YOU'RE STILL MY HEIGHT, I COULD SMOOCH YOU RIGHT IN YOUR FACE WITHOUT GOING ALL TIPTOE-Y.
This is weird, Kinda familiar to something, but I can't put my finger on it.
* Please don't.
*OH, YOU'RE STILL ALL SHY! HOW CUTE!
He pulls me into a bear hug.
* Not really, but if you really know me, you know that time loops are serious business.
He drops me and gives me a more serious look.
*RIGHT RIGHT, THAT REMINDS ME. I saw what you did last time, don't do that again.
i turn towards the little human and as- lou.
* come with me you two, there is one thing we have to do.
i open a shortcut to the end of the ruins, the door leading towards snowdin.
* if you step through this door, i am honour-bound by ancient promise to protect you.
the human opens the door and on the other side i see... sans?
he falls onto his knees and folds his hands.
* i prayed so long... thank you for finally answering me.
We walk into the bar, luckily or rather as expected nobody pays us a lot of attention.
I can see him standing behind the counter and I think Hol does so as well, as we both start walking the same moment.
* greetings and welcome to...
Seems that seeing us made him speechless.
* Nice to see you again, last time I was cut a bit short.
* what? wait... that was you?
* Yes, but that's not really the reason we're here. We've got some plans and want your help.
Hol reaches his hand out.
* hello, call me hol, to keep confusion to a minimum. we'd like to ask, if you'd be interested in helping us build a space bridging city.
He spreads the plans on some free space on the counter.
* we call it "Haven"
* what is it?
* A sanctuary for those who would otherwise be swallowed by the maelstrom.
asriel exits sans' room, wearing no shirt and stretches.
* busy night?
he flinches as soon as he hears my voice.
* HOLY SH- err... how long have you been there?
i switch to the next channel.
* about two hours, give or take.
temmie follows him out through the door, wearing his striped shirt.
* hOi sans!
* heya, temmie.
as long as he's okay with it.
and it's not jerry.
I arrive at the bar, everything is chaos. Shadow is free and probably going to escape.
What kind of idiot sets that maniac free?
I hear a thump behind me and check it out.
It's Mossy, badly hurt going by looks, having no time to lose I shortcut to him.
* wha- you? i thought- (cough cough)
* Don't overexert yourself, just stay calm.
I check his source.
His body is barely holding together, soul is fragmented and parts of him are overwritten with low level control interfaces.
By the looks he tried to acquire source control powers in a pinch, and even managed to survive the strain.
Having a closer look I notice some sheolfire traces.
Shadow must have given him some kind of protective charm.
That I witness the day he actually protects someone...
I focus back on the higher levels of reality, where he barely holding on to his life, almost dusting.
* Oh no, you won't die on my watch.
I summon a syringe filled with Saac and plunge it through his sternum into his soul.
He whelps at the shock to his body, but it works as intended.
His soul, while not stable, is not falling apart any more.
Looks like I bought him enough time.
* Let's get you inside and fixed.
I look through the old royal edicts, looking for a blank template.
I've got a great idea for a new dress code here in the Underg-
I sense something standing behind me, a quick check with my host tells me that's probably Chara, who apparently is guardian of Snowdin.
I turn towards them and see them on their knee, bowing.
That isn't normal.
* why are you bending your knee to me? you never bowed to your king before.
Chara raises his head and looks me squarely in the eyes.
* And I never will bend my knee for a mere king, my lord.
I stand at the crossroad, hearing footsteps approaching.
Just when I decided to take a vacation from myself, a genocidal human falls down, great.
But, well, doing this is vacation as well, just a bit playing with the tiny human.
Now, better start with my monologue, the human is just around the corner.
* you know... i thought it was obvious...
* but very few actually get the idea.
I face the corner trying to look as nonchalant as possible.
* i promised to protect any human that-
I open my eyes and see... skeletons?
* uh...
* Wait...
* What the?
* 'lo- o
* well looky, another me
i start feeling like a lone stem of papyrus in the grass
* 'sup, jester?
* I was expecting a human not three dingi.
Wait, three? No, they're four, I forgot to count Pans... why did I do that? Hope nobody notices that blunder.
i'm getting the hang of it, the long haired now walks with a slight skip in their step. this is fun.
then suddenly someone jumps out of the bushes and attacks.
my instincts take over.
* you pull your legs towards you, and let yourself fall.
they narrowly dodge the projectile.
now that i got the human out of immediate danger, i check the assailant, which seems like they are... sans?
okay, stay cool.
for now i've got to keep the human alive if i want to see this world.
the what the fuck has time for later.
my mind speeds up.
sans will attack with bone field since the human just dropped half to the ground.
i think we can dodge this
* you cover you head with your arms and roll forward.
where the human just knelt is a bone attack.
* you use the inertia from the roll to jump up and turn towards the skeleton, assuming a standard defensive... feet parallel your dominant leg behind the other, holding your arms in front of your torso, fists balled, showing him your shoulder and your legs wound up but not tense.
sans, who has not smiled, now has a very slight smirk on his face and starts talking.
* That was interesting, it has been some time since I met a human that showed so much guts and grace. Care to tell me where you learned these techniques?
well, mcshootypants, i think i know what can send you running.
* you tell him that you studied in the halls of the green eyed.
his smile doesn't fade.
* Oh, is that so, then I wish to test how good that old geezer taught you.
he prepares an impressive onslaught of magic, blasters, bone fields, blue shifts.
oh boy, this will be hard.
I foam while I continue to assemble the interface to this worlds ugh "Core".
* Are you SERIOUS? Tying the concept of "Life" to an entity that is alive?
The Sans of this world looks perplexed, still switching between staring at his hand and at me.
* Life itself is ill defined to boot! If it were, dunno, Souls, I could get behind that, like a big soul repository, but "Life"?
I wish this wasn't such a backward one. No computers, no mobiles, only magic.
* And then there is "War"! Does that mean she causes war or is the best at war or what? Would all strife stop if I just stabbed her to dust?
Or rather magical artefacts since they're apparently all imbeciles. Forging this much raw magic into mirrors instead of using LPD Monitors? What a waste of magic! You don't just squander those resources and sit on your ass because using magic is easier. The ambient magic is a finite source! And if you have this much? Don't use it for such mundane things as talking over a distance!
* So, tell me, why is there no god of "Magic" while we're at it? Is that too much a stretch even for you?
I double check the blueprints while welding the needle to the arm.
* And now, tell me, why don't you use technology? Doesn't electricity work in your lahdeedah fancy world of ill defined concepts bound to people.
I wish I had access to a better lab, not this alchemists laboratory. I have copper, iron and other base materials, but no chance to build a projector with only that.
But that is step two thousand at least, for now, I'll just start small.
* Here, since speakers are a bit more complex, these are portable Morse tickers, they are crude, barely functional but you can talk over distances with them.
The Sans looks at me utterly confused.
* who are you?
* If we go by your naming scheme, I'd be the god of technology.
curious about what the inscription means, i open the door with stealth written over it.
a spotlight closes in on me, so i try to shortcut away, but it doesn't work.
the spotlight shines on me and i'm perforated by bullets.
And finally, here is the maximum security subject.
Through the window I see a huge room, covered in elder runes, more complex than anything I've ever seen.
And in the middle, where all the runes converge is a single skeleton, currently writing something while singing.
* hollowed halls beneath the fells. he's the master of the evil in the deep. he's the dungeon master
* Brother! Someone heavily injured just fell on our steps.
I get outside and see a heavily distorted Sans lying on the floor.
* What is with him?
* I don't know Lou, but this doesn't look like regular wounds.
I stand on the precipice, gazing upon it.
It is a monstrous thing, of a size that no language could convey without it losing its meaning. Its body an ever shifting mass of uncountable variation of alien limbs, on occasion a humongous maw surfaces, some lined with teeth as tall as mountains, others void of anything but just as greedy, a net of strings that spans its whole nest and goes far in to the void beyond, lost in eternity but connected to reality. Every single part of it is twisted in angles, going through its own torso, pushing it in and out of reality so that its intersection with the planes visible to me are always changing form and colour.
And in its centre which I am unable to find in space but still am capable of observing, is one human, caged, bound, suffering. Parts of them are ripped out over and over just to satisfy the lust of its merciless captor.
The lust to play.
i wake up in papyrus' lap, my head hurting.
MORNING SANS! HOW ARE YOU FEELING?
* i'm okay paps, what are you doing here?
he gives me a cuddle.
YOU HAD A BAD DREAM AND I TRIED TO MAKE IT GO AWAY, DID IT WORK?
i scratch my head.
did i just have a bad dream?
was all of this just a bad dream?
the loops?
the visions?
the madness?
yeah, maybe i did just have a dream.
and now i can life why is my hand so heavy?
i pull the glove off.
there is some kind of identification tag screwed to my hand.
i can't remember how i got that.
oh god...
* bahp-deep-click
papyrus answers his phone.
HELLO FRIEND! WHAT CAN I DO FOR YOU? ... OF COURSE, BUT ARE YOU SURE? OKAY OKAY.
paps holds the mobile in front of me.
FOR YOU, BROTHER.
i take it and hold it at my ear.
* Err... Howdy... I know this might sound insane, but, are we two brothers?
* yeah we are, where are you?
* Oh, thank god, first fall.
* be right there,
i hang up and hand the phone to paps.
* sorry bro, i've got something to do.
papyrus just smiles at me.
OKAY SANS, BUT DON'T BE TOO LATE FOR DINNER IF IT TAKES LONG.
i arrive at first fall and find asriel in his goat form.
* you alright?
he looks at me with uncertain and confused eyes.
* I, maybe. What about you?
i sit down next to him.
* i have honestly no idea, i just woke up with a jumble of really strange pictures in my head. like a really bad trip.
asriel leans onto me.
* Same here, last thing I am sure I can remember is that strange world where you wore a buttoned shirt, but even that is kinda vague.
* yeah, same here, i can't really recall anything.
i put my arm around him.
* but i do know that you're my brother and you always will be.