Chapter Fourteen: Take Two

"Doomkitty! I'm back!"

The still-unfamiliar voice awoke him from a light sleep. He checked the phone whilst Doomkitty ran to greet Papyrus. Hardly ten minutes since he'd laid down for a nap. He sat up with a yawn, resuming his attempts to make sense of his unusual predicament. He heard happy meowing following her footsteps, which came to an abrupt halt. By the feeling of her gaze burning into his skull, he guessed he wasn't meant to be back yet. She chose not to pursue the matter. She continued with her routine without comment, which he was thankful for. Sans was in no mood to defend himself anymore than he already had today.

Nor was he feeling up for anything but rest. His bones were sore, now suffering the effects of his sudden exertion. They were nearly as unaccustomed to the day's activities as his mind was to sleep deprivation. Papyrus had always possessed the foul habit of keeping him awake late into the night. So true it was, that he'd forced his own wakefulness for video games or interesting projects. He'd always found the time to catch up soon afterwards. While he was no stranger to the fogginess within his head, he wasn't well-acquainted with the presence either. In this instance however, it came with a gift.

Something like that should work for his personal stuff…. But the computers where he works…. Those are gonna be tricky.

Regardless, a plan began to take shape thanks to the extra freedom his thoughts had been granted. It wasn't a pleasant sensation however; he entered the kitchen for another soda. The caffeine would substitute proper rest for now. It had to.

"What's fer dinner?"

His attention turned to her as she ambled to the fridge. As he stepped away from it, she took a bottle of water and closed it just he noticed another shadowy hand. He pushed the image from his mind, attributing the sight to his weary senses, and struggled for an answer. He wasn't completely helpless. There were a number of dishes he could prepare well enough. Keeping himself upright was a chore, and there was a more valuable use of that time, though.

"Pizza. Where do you guys order pizza from?"

"Heckin' YES!"

"That the name of the place or-"

"Can't even tell you how much I need pizza after today."

Sitting down at the small kitchen table, he asked, "something happen?"

"Jus' th' usual sh- crap. People bein' butts."

Clicking as the doorknob was turned, a quick squeak, then a thud.

"I'm back y'all!"

Undyne.

He followed Papyrus through the disused dining room and stood just inside the living room. She greeted the fish monster with a hug. He found little difference in this world's version of the person he knew. Her appearance was the same over all, save for the scars dangerously close to her eye. They resembled claw marks, which in of itself didn't catch his attention nearly as much as their existence. The pair of pale blue lines couldn't have been more than a flesh wound. A deep one certainly, but nothing that magic wouldn't have been able to completely heal. No trace of such an injury should remain, which meant healing magic wasn't functional either. She had recovered naturally.

"Heeeyy, you're home early! Well, don't jus' stand there!" Before he had the chance to move, she hurried across the room and pulled him into a crushing embrace. He nearly spilled his soda. "How y'all been? Been bored without me?"

"Not exactly," he muttered as she released him.

Papyrus gave him a meaningful look, followed by: "So Undyne, our neighbor that we've known fer years, did ya have a fun time in Hawaii with yer veterinarian stuff?"

"You know I did! It was AWESOME!" She took on a familiar stance. "I rescued SO MANY animals from th' jaws of DEATH! An' when th' stupid volcano puked up s'more o' that lava, I saved MORE of 'em! 'CAUSE THAT LAVA AIN'T NO MATCH FOR ME! An' a bunch o' strays found homes when everything was settled down!"

"That's great-"

"An' I got my arm stuck in the back end of a camel."

With that image in mind, the drink spewed from his mouth. He instinctively covered his teeth with his free hand as he struggled against laughter.

Papyrus blinked at her. "What'sa camel doin' in Hawaii?"

"I dunno," said Undyne with a shrug.

OoOoO

Within the echo of his consciousness, he realized that something was wrong. The fractions of thought soon left him, however. Oblivion consumed his mind.

OoOoO

Alphys' hands hovered over the keyboard, shaking. Her glasses reflected the vile contents of the screen. The pale blue text didn't lie. She knew what each number meant, the words behind each acronym. Every singular piece of data pointed her to a conclusion that she understood, yet found herself unable to truly grasp. She'd checked everything time and time again. She'd commanded the system to reconnect, to no avail. The stone had been so thoroughly imbued with magic; how in the multiverse could this have come to pass? How, she asked herself again and again, could something so magically charged lose its hold?

"We might have to let everyone know. His brother, at least."

She jumped at Ivy's voice, then replied: "I-I know. It-it's-I…. I'm just…. Not r-ready to yet. I don't…. I-I don't know how." She turned to the human. "We…. Didn't really prepare for this."

"We've got a few days to see if we can figure something out," said Ivy, handing her a cup of tea. "But we have to prepare. For…. Well, you know. In case we can't. Yet," her new friend hastily added.

"Yeah. I-I know. What…. What are we gonna do if-if it takes a little while? W-we can't just leave o-other Sans like that. Not-not for a long stretch of t-time." The sweet scent of the tea didn't calm her frayed nerves.

Ivy shrugged. "If it comes to that, we'll just have to wake him up and go from there."

OoOoO

Wrong, wrong, wrong. Something was wrong!

Something….

Something…. Was….

OoOoO

Sans had found himself without proper supplies for the task. This house's basement held no laboratory, and scarce were the useful objects he had come across. He'd scavenged what he could without arousing suspicion. He'd gathered every tool he would need, and begun his work at the stroke of midnight.

The garbage bin filled with aluminum, the empty cans eventually littering the floor beside it. The lamp served as his only illumination, sending forth a beam of light upon his attempt at invention. His movements were weighed by exhaustion. So often his hand would slip and send tiny parts flying. His eye sockets itched, and the dull blanket of pain plaguing his bones only worsened as the clock ticked on. He fumbled with a collection of wires. He reached for another can of soda. His hand found nothing more than a dampened spot on the carpet.

Exploration revealed no extra cases of the beverage. Glaring at the coffee maker, he stumbled his way over to the appliance. He got it working after trial and error. He set an alarm, laid his head on the table, and closed his eye sockets.

"Wake up or I'll kill you!"

The smell filled his lack of a nose. He dragged himself to the coffee, poured himself a cup, and took a sip. Just as disgusting as he recalled, and the liquid seared his magic-made throat. He waited for it to cool whilst mixing in some sugar and creamer. The taste having grown bearable, Sans downed the beverage and prepared himself another cup.

His soul pulsed strangely and suddenly as the fuel coursed through him. He took a few deep breaths. Wakefulness having returned in full swing, he returned to his mission.

The night brought with it a kind of stillness he didn't recognize until chirping shattered the quiet. The few nocturnal insect calls he'd heard had vanished. He barely had the chance to adjust to the change before Other Sans' morning alarm sounded. He leaned back with a sigh to gaze disapprovingly at the device he had constructed. It was perhaps, the sloppiest-looking machine he'd ever cobbled together.

The laptop was off completely, which shouldn't be an issue. He plugged his invention into the PC, pressed a few re-purposed buttons on the ancient calculator, and waited.

Across the tiny sliver of a screen appeared: j8OOo0kL9

A try confirmed that it was indeed, the password to the laptop.

His eye sockets were aglow with pride. It didn't even bother him that it was the dawn of a new, hectic day.