The two continued to stare each other, each one burning the other with their gaze, albeit very different burns. Sans knew what his stare was meant to do, but was unsure of whether Nima actually felt the hatred he was pouring into it. He didn't hate her - or, maybe he did. He couldn't exactly be sure who and what he hated at this point - but rather the situation. At some point in his life, it could have been said that Sans hated change; it could have been said that he liked to grow used to the monotony of daily life, and that anything that upset the balance upset him as well. At another point in his life, it probably could have been said that all he wanted was change; after all, living in a continuous cycle of monotony and being forced to do the exact same thing over and over didn't exactly lend itself to enjoyment.

At this point, however? Not even Sans knew what could be said. He had wanted change - he had wanted to break out of the kid's resetting frenzy - but this? This was entirely too much change… or, was it? Maybe this was what he had hoped for. Maybe he had hoped for a change so drastic that it could never be reset. But, then again, the opinions and hopes of depressed skeletons were rarely asked for.

He did not know that Nima did not feel hatred in his gaze. He did not know that instead of portraying anger and standoffish walls, he was broadcasting a call for help. His stare was not a burning hate, but instead the bubbling heat of a pot ready to boil over and ruin everything around him. It was from this stare that she drew the fear that shone in her body language. But, Sans didn't know that.

Despite her clear trembling, Sans was unnerved by her glare. It held something he could not comprehend, and the unknown had become a source of discomfort for him. As a scientist, he had always held a fascination with the unknown, always desperate to unravel its mysteries and figure it out. But as a judge? As a bystander of destruction? The unknown was too far out. The unknown was beyond his scope of interest when his world was collapsing around him. His own mind was unknown enough for him. The unknown was his past, and the unknown could be left to Alphys.

So, it was the knowledge behind her eyes, unknown to him, that disturbed his stony exterior. Distant footsteps alerted him to the fact that the rest of their group had left them behind, and he heard Asgore's deep voice ask quietly, "Are you sure we can leave them alone? They seem to have the potential to try to kill each other."

A funny feeling overtook Sans. He remembered a distant time, or distant timeline, to be more accurate, wherein he had not been proud of his abilities. There had been too much potential for harm gone uncontrolled, and he hadn't wanted to harm anyone. But then Frisk came along - and, apparently the flower before them - and he had begun to harm out of vengeance. And, at some point that he could not specifically identify, it had started to feel good . The rush of the battle, watching the light leave his enemy's eyes - it all felt so good . After a while, the part of him that had treated the kid like a friend had died, or, at the very least, retreated deep within him.

But, he didn't like to kill, did he? As soon as the kid had stopped being the threat - as soon as Gaster, the bigger unknown, the bigger threat, had appeared, he had directed all those things that felt so good at him. He had protected the kid, hadn't he? He was a good person, right? He was a bringer of justice - a good and proper judge - wasn't he?

So why did Nima - why did everyone - look at him as though he was the enemy?

"I could stand here forever, Sans," she said, her voice breaking through their stalemate.

"Don't you have your human needs to take care of?"

She laughed. It wasn't a true laugh, like she thought it was really funny or anything; it wasn't like Gaster's extended laughter at Sans' actions; it was a soft, short bark of laughter - a scoff, really, more than anything else.

"What's so funny?" he asked tightly, his glare remaining steady.

"Sans, you're a scientist. Do you really think this is my body? Do you really think that by some feat of magic, my body survived that?"

"Survived what?" he snapped, the anger at being kept in the dark returning.

Her posture - and by extension, her stare - softened a little. "Right. I - sorry, I keep forgetting that you… forgot."

"I don't need a prelude. Just talk."

"Okay, fine, jeez. That whole thing with Gaster - I'm assuming you saw me try to push him, right?"

"You did a little more than just try."

"If you want the story, you can't interrupt the story, okay? Look, I'm not going to try and justify my reasons for doing that. You've made it clear that you don't care and that I'm a terrible person, alright? I get it. So I'm not going to talk about that part anymore. I'm just giving you the facts here. It's a purely objective retelling of what happened, 'kay? Can you maybe handle that for five minutes?"

Sans didn't reply except for a little harrumph.

"I saw how Gaster treated you. It was terrible, Sans, it was… disgusting! You were supposed to be family and - sorry, objective, right. Okay. Um, you and Alphys went to do some experiments somewhere in the lab while Gaster was going to go check the readings and progress of something called the Core. I chose to go after him. I didn't have a plan, but I decided to think of one on the way, and followed him after he left. I stole a cloak from your closet - still dunno why you had that - and covered myself to avoid other monsters seeing me. I used the computer in your room to access the map of the underground and try to see where this 'Core' thing was. After I found it, I followed him through this place - Hotland? - and through this old apartment complex. I lost him after that, because monsters in the apartments stopped to ask who I was. I think I gave some sort of vague reply and ran off through the doors I had seen Gaster go through. It was this really… weird place. All pipes and tubing and these hissing noises coming from below, and it was so hot in there - really, it was sweltering, so I took off the cloak and hoped I wouldn't run into anyone.

"This place was - I mean it was practically a maze. I tried to follow the distant sound of Gaster's footsteps, but it was like they were everywhere, and I was so tired and weak, so it was even harder for me to focus on anything. Finally, I found this big ladder, and figured there was nowhere else to go but up, right? So I climb the whole thing - by the way, metal ladder in searing hot place? Not a good idea - ugh, so many blisters. At the top was this little observatory sort of area. There were all these windows overlooking this place, and it was actually quite beautiful from the top. There was also a door. A closed door. So, of course, I put the cloak back on and opened it.

"Gaster was already looking at me before I had the door all the way open. He asked who I was, how I got here, etc, and I just stared at him. I had caught glimpses of him before through your door, but this was something entirely different. He was just so… I don't know… I guess it doesn't matter. Just the facts, Nima. Anyway, when I didn't answer, he came closer, trying to see under the cloak, and I sort of scurried away and asked why he treated you the way he did. It, um, didn't make him happy to hear that question, and he became pretty angry. He sent something - some sort of magic thingy - at me, I jumped out of the way, and we continued like this for a while. He kept asking who I was, I kept asking him about you, and, at this point, you must have already noticed I was gone and started on your way here. So, we kept sort of… fighting? I don't know if you could call it fighting. He mostly was trying to get my hood off and see who I was, or maybe hold me in place for a while, but was having no luck so far.

Then, he did manage that first one, as the hood came off during one of my dodges, and we both just froze. It was the earlier situation, but reversed, 'cause he was staring at me with this expression - oh it was so weird - it was like he was scared, but also kind of fascinated. And then, when he recovered from the shock before I did, sent this sort of black tendril thing that wrapped around my legs and held me in place.

"And then you showed up. You practically skidded into the doorway - I don't know how you managed that, considering you had to come up a ladder, but, anyway - you skidded in and the look on your face… I don't think I'll ever forget that look, Sans. You just looked so… I don't know. It wasn't scared, but it wasn't calm either; it was sort of betrayed, but not quite. You know, for a skeleton, you're quite expressive," she laughed, but the laugh turned into a nervous chuckle as Sans held his stony stare. "Okay," she muttered. "You, um, you told Gaster to let me go, I think. And he said something like, um, something about a project? Or something like that, anyway. Maybe an experiment. I don't know; I was sort of terrified and in the middle of being traumatized, so… y'know."

Sans could feel his expression shift and relax as the memory started flowing back. He readied himself to lose reality, but soon realized that it was weird - really weird. The memory looked broken, all its pieces fracturing and separating, their cracks filled in with darkness beyond belief. And in the darkness, other memories began to take shape, memories of a typical day with Papyrus: playing and laughing, wrangling the small skeleton in to keep him from getting hurt, everything that Sans remembered from before they moved to Snowdin. But, he was still in the Core, wasn't he? Nima and Gaster were still standing in front of him, weren't they?

The answer was both yes and no. Both memories were in front of him, overlapping noises and images sending pounding aches through his skull. It was similar to what he had seen with Nima's soul in his, but not nearly to such a degree.

"What-" he gasped out, both in the memory and in reality. Eyes turned toward him, filled with anger or fear or hope.

And then eyes turned to mouths, making noises that could not be translated by his head into words. Finally came to hands - the awful signs flashing in front of his eyes and making him feel sick.

Quite the interesting personal project, this is. I know you won't mind if I perform a few experiments with this one, as well.

The sounds began to take form into noises, and the glimpses of the other memory began to close, fading into the background.

"Let her go."

"Why? It's quite valuable - haven't I taught you not to throw out samples until there's nothing more you can get from them? I'm sure this one has plenty more to give."

She, however, still did not speak. It was strange to see her full of fear - true fear. When they had met, she had been afraid, but that wasn't truly fear, was it? The look in her eyes then was nothing compared to the look in her eyes now.

"Nima, are you-"

"It has a name? How precious. I should hope it's a useful name - what does NIMA stand for? Natural Investigation of Matter Allocation? Nurtured Individual Merit Aptitude? New-"

"It's just her name. Now let her go, Gaster, please."

"Nonsense! We are scientists, Sans. We cannot waste an opportunity like this. I bet Alphys will be delighted to see that your shared project worked out so well."

"Leave Alphys out of this - she didn't know."

Despite his curiosity and yearning to see the end of the memory, his old words sparked an even older memory - one he hadn't even caught glimpses of until now.

"Why can't Alphys do it?"

"Alphys is not a part of this. It was our experiment, Sans. Just ours. And it was such a success."

"That wasn't a success! I didn't want to do that to them! They weren't even hurting anyone!"

"Sans, sacrifices are often made in the name of discovery. This will help us immensely. Another subject always reveals new things in the tests."

"But Alphys said-"

"Is this Alphys' lab, Sans? Hm? I didn't think so. I have heard her research proposals many times over, and while some hold merit, most are wastes of our time and resources. Now, go do what I asked."

"But why can't Alphys be a part of this?"

"She is too young for this sort of thing."

"Alphys is older than I am!"

"She is not like you, Sans. You are special. You understand. Now, for the last time: go."

He returned, the objects hanging limply from his hand seeming to weigh more by the second. He didn't want to look at them, for fear of the images rushing back. The images seemed not to care, and flashed through his mind anyway.

A rustle within the forests of tall grass caught his attention. He almost wanted to turn away - go back and say he couldn't find them - but Gaster wouldn't be satisfied with that. He would come out and find them anyway. Sans had to get to them first. It would be the least painful, he figured, if he was the one who did it.

He spotted them after two more minutes of looking. They were huddled on the ground, bent over a notebook and scribbling away. They were… small, he realized. He had grown so used to Nima and her height that he had forgotten how small humans could be - how young they could look. Taking a moment to steel himself for what he had to do, he carefully pulled their soul toward him, hoping to be able to sever the connection, like Gaster had said he would.

Instead, the human sat up instantly at the tug of their soul, and whipped around to face him. Glasses perched on their nose went slightly askew, and were fogging up with the warm, humid Waterfall climate. They scooted back, scrambling to pick up their things and run, but the slippery ground betrayed them and sent them falling back down. Sans paid no mind to their frantic attempts at escape, continuing only to try and tug their soul free of its bond to them. He wondered, briefly, if Gaster was wrong about it. After all, it was just a trial, wasn't it? More specifically, it was the first trial, so Gaster could only guess what the treatments would allow Sans to do.

Apparently, Gaster was wrong. The human, now having halted its panicked frenzy, was pulling its soul back toward them, fighting against the gravitation of Sans' magic. He pulled back, harder and harder, hoping the human would grow tired and let it snap to him like the end of a rubber band. Instead, they tried harder as well. The two struggled, locked in a stalemate over the violet heart. Sans wasn't trying his hardest, though. He wondered if he really should - after all, he'd be a whole new brand of hypocrite if he protected Nima, but killed this one. Had this one even done anything? Gaster hadn't given him any sort of formal briefing or report on the subject - only told Sans to go and get it.

To go and get it... the thought echoed through Sans' mind, and a new idea formed. He could just take the human in alive. He wouldn't be responsible for killing them - maybe Gaster wouldn't even kill it! Gaster was always talking about needing a different perspective on the subject, so maybe he wouldn't even hurt the human! There was certainly a better chance of that than them trying to live on their own in the Underground, right?

And so he made up his mind. He tried to lose focus, to let go of the human's soul and grab their entirety, but the energy felt wrong. The magic wasn't stopping or weakening - it was growing stronger. He tried refocusing it, attempting to lift their notebook or move some blades of grass, but nothing worked. He grunted with the magic flowing out of him against his will, and he could see the human's face scrunching with the same effort.

And then a pulse, loud and powerful, to shatter the tranquility of the field.

And then silence, and darkness.

And then a scene unfolding before his eyes, horrifying in its image. The grass around them, flattened and shriveled; the human, lying motionless, red leaching from their cheeks and into the soft soil through their shredded body; their soul, pulsing rapidly in the air, hanging over the scene of destruction; and himself, knocked back, unharmed, but exhausted.

It was exactly what he had not wanted. He had agreed only because Gaster had threatened to do it himself. And he had known that death by Gaster's hand would be infinitely more agonizing than by his. Or, at least, he had thought he knew.

"Eh, what's this? Hold up… wahaha! Where'd you get this?"

"Just take it. Give it to Asgore or whatever. Get it away from me."

"Alright, alright kid. Just let me get a jar or somethin'. I ain't got your fancy magics. Hoo, hoo! Ol' Fluffybuns will be mighty pleased! Where's the body? The king gives 'em proper burials - he'll be wanting it."

"He'll get it."

"What took you so long, Sans?"

"G, it was-"

"Gaster."

"Gaster, it was terrible!"

"Did it attack you?"

"No."

"Then what is the problem?"

"I killed it, Gaster!"

"That was your job, if I recall correctly."

"No, no, you said to bring it in. I didn't want to kill it! I thought a live subject could help!"

"An intriguing thought, but unimportant. You did well, Sans."

"But... I hurt it."

"It was destined to end up hurt. Did your abilities work?"

"I couldn't sever the connection. All my magic went out of my control. I couldn't stop it, and everything just blew up in my face - literally!"

"Interesting. I'll have you log your results in more depth later. For now, where is it?"

"It's - it's in there. That suitcase. I couldn't… it's destroyed, Gaster! I destroyed it!"

"Science makes something out of anything. Go put it in the examination room."

"No! You do it! You wanted the stupid thing! You made me kill it!"

"Sans, do as you're told. You're far too old to be throwing tantrums."

"Why can't Alphys do it?"

"I -" he gasped out. "What - did you know? Is that why…"

"Sans? Did I know what?"

"I killed a kid - another human that fell down. I… I destroyed them."

"Oh. Yeah, Sans, I knew. It's… well, it's not okay, but you didn't mean to, so… it is okay? Maybe?"

"How can you even look at me? Aren't you scared of me? I killed a human; how did you know I wouldn't kill you, too?"

"Because you didn't kill that human. I mean, you did, physically, but Gaster made you kill it. He deceived you. He turned you into an experiment. Aren't you angry?"

He was. He was angry, but more with himself than Gaster. "I still carried out the deed."

"No, you didn't. Gaster did. And you know what? If you're going to make things right, you have to find him, and make him make things right, yeah? So what are we doing standing around here? C'mon! You've got to find Gaster, don't you?"

He knew what she was doing. She was distracting him - refocusing him on a new task to keep them moving. But, even if he was aware of her plan, did that mean she wasn't right? Did that mean he shouldn't fall for it? He figured the answer was no. After all, the original plan was to get to Alphys' lab, and their current progression wasn't exactly getting them any closer - to Alphys' lab or anywhere else. And if they ran into Gaster, well, Sans could think of that as a bonus.

"Fine," he said through gritted teeth. "But you have to actually continue talking to me this time. No more cutting off your stories."

"I was hardly the person to cut them off in the first place, Mister Memory."

Sans moved to retort, but she was quicker.

"Kidding, kidding… mostly. Whatever, fine. Just start walking."

So they did. And as they did, she kept talking. She told him about her decision as he and Gaster stood there - how she knew she had ruined everything and how she had to finish what she had gone there to do. How she hadn't actually known what she had planned to do until that moment, and how she did it.

It shouldn't have been possible, technically speaking, for her to break free of Gaster's magic hold, but Sans apparently proved as enough of a distraction. According to her story, her initial plan had been to run, taking Sans with her, but that backfired the second she stepped out of the magic restraints, as Gaster immediately noticed.

What surprised Sans the most was not her amazingly stupid plan, but that, in the end, it was really all a big accident, or, at the very least, she could believably claim it was one. She hadn't meant to go over the edge, and she certainly hadn't wanted to, but Sans still had some doubts on whether or not she meant to take Gaster with her.

It had been a short struggle. She had said, not quietly, but not loudly, "I'm sorry". She had tried to run to Sans, Gaster snatched her back, and the sudden offset of balance had sent her tumbling back over the edge, but not before her hand snagged Gaster's leg.

Neither of them really knew the specifics of what happened directly after they fell. Sans had absolutely no memory of it, and Nima said it was a volatile part of the timeline, and was virtually inaccessible to her. From what she could tell, though, Sans ran. Or, rather, teleported, in her words. The next time she caught a glimpse of him, he was dashing out of the Core, and the time after that, he was in a new timeline.

It was the old timeline - Nima's timeline - that most intrigued him. It wasn't, as she had described the other timelines, a trunk for other timelines to branch off of. It wasn't, as she had described the other timelines, a place anyone could jump back to and reset. And it wasn't, as she had described the other timelines, a place where another version of him existed. In her theory, it was all about proximity to the Core. Sans was the closest, since Gaster hadn't allowed anyone else to work in the Core besides himself; Asgore and Alphys were about the same distance away, and were supposedly the next closest. When Sans mentioned that there was an apartment complex full of monsters between the core and the lab, she shushed him and, irritated, reminded him that it was just a theory - what was she, an expert?

She had slapped him again when he said, "Well, you should be."

He had considered slapping her back, but figured the sting from hitting hardened bone was enough to make her pay.

Just then, his cell phone rang. He had almost forgotten that he even had it sitting in his pocket, but there it was, the screen all lit up with a contact name.

ALPHYS

"Oh, shit," he said, staring at the phone. "I was supposed to call her to give her the all-clear."

Nima looked at him warily. "And I'm guessing no news in this case is bad news?"

"Yeah, if I didn't call, it meant…"

"Well, answer it!"

He obeyed, despite nearly dropping the phone at her sudden and shrill outburst.

"Alphys," he said immediately, ready to explain, but his sentence was cut short by her own shrill outburst.

"Sans the Skeleton! Do you know how long it's been? You were supposed to call! Do you know what we've all been thinking? Do you realize how afraid we all were?"

He stayed silent partially because he expected the lecture was not over, but mostly because it might have been the first sentence - or sentences - he had heard her say without a single stutter in a long time.

"W- we were worried… about y- you."

There it was - the Alphys he knew.

"Look, Alphys, I'm sorry. Things got… crazy, and, well, is your lab still good to go? The kid didn't mess it up or anything, right?"

"Um, n- no? All the, um, equipment st- still works, i- if that's what you mean."

"Good. We've got some things to test. We're almost there - see you soon."

"W- wait! We? Who- who's 'we'?"

Sans paused, unsure of whether she would just worry more if he told her over the phone, or if showing up on her doorstep with a murderer and an unfamiliar human would turn out worse.

"Me and Asgore," he lied.

"Sans, I j- just saw Asgore on one of my- my cameras. He's in Hotland. Wh- where are you?"

"Sorry, Alph, tell you when I get there," he said, hanging up and turning to Nima.

"What are you looking at me like that for?"

"I forgot that she has cameras everywhere. As soon as we step into the first monitored zone in Hotland, she'll see you, if she doesn't see Frisk with Asgore first. I'm going to get so many calls about this."

"Well, there's not exactly another way to the lab, is there? I mean, if she's going to monitor anything, might as well monitor everything, right?"

Sans considered for a moment, weighing the possible consequences against the constant annoyance of Alphys' anger and lectures. After not-so-careful consideration, he made up his mind.

"How do you feel about taking a shortcut?"