Chapter Twenty Eight: Picture This
The room was far more spacious then he'd been expecting, and quite well-lit. He supposed it made sense, given that this was the anomaly's laboratory. As it was, things hadn't made sense in a while, and his surprise persisted as he crept across the dull grey floor. It was a mess; miscellaneous tools laid strewn about, pieces of scrap metal were piled up in a corner along with empty ketchup bottles, and each desktop was littered with complex-looking notes. A self-sustaining tornado of garbage existed next to a desk full of computers.
He set down the plate of food, staring at the chair which stood ominously at the center of it all. He strode over to the thing and plopped down on the filthy seat, then rolled to a folding table. Loose pages littered the surface. Some portrayed electronic devices of various uses while others appeared to be diagrams of elaborate pranks. He picked up a notebook to give its contents a quick review. Flipping through the pages, he saw nothing of particular use. He tossed it and chose a different location to search.
After finding much of the same at a battered desk, he shoved the papers aside and opened a drawer. Bolts, a puzzle cube, ketchup packets, and two more useless notebooks. The second drawer revealed similar findings. Third time's the charm, right? He pulled it open to see a small stack of books. He removed them, dropping them on the faintly sticky desktop.
A quantum physics textbook opened to a joke book hidden within. He opened the joke book and found another title claiming to hold scientific knowledge. Within that, another book of jokes. This process repeated several times until…. Another packet of ketchup fell from the final compartment. He blinked, glaring at the "limited edition" condiment. What was it with this being and ketchup? Sans looked around, before opening the packet and squirting its contents into his mouth.
Not bad, but barbecue sauce's still better.
He threw the packet at the tornado and continued his mission.
After a quick look around, he decided the filing cabinet was as well a place as any to look. A quiet growling as the chair rolled, then a piercing squeak as he pulled the top drawer open. He stood up to reach what rested within. He dumped the miscellaneous items on the chair.
There were a couple of electronic devices which showed no sign of functionality, no matter the buttons he pressed. He briefly examined a worn out video game cartridge before tossing it aside. Surprise surprise, a few ketchup packets. With a sigh, he picked up a notebook to skim through its pages, finding nothing useful. He scanned the second one with identical results and threw it across the room with a groan.
He glared down at the final book, tempted to leave it be. But what if he missed something? It was a possibility his nerves refused to ignore. His dark eye sockets glared at the meaningless drawings blinking in and out of his vision. Something caught his attention just before the back cover escaped his fingers. Finding the picture was fairly easy, though no less confusing than anything that had lead up to this point.
It was an extremely detailed portrayal of a flower. Thorny vines guarded its flexible stem, and invaded the image from every angle. At the center of it all was a face which seemed to look into the depths of his soul. Sans stared back, momentarily convinced that it would leap from the page and bury its fangs into his skull. The writing scrawled onto the other page was perhaps even more unsettling. Far from the relaxed words of previous notes, this was clearly written by a frantic hand:
What is this and why does it keep showing up in my dreams?
He closed the book, dropped it back into the drawer, and slammed it shut.
"Okay," he said slowly.
He cleared off the chair and sat down. Whatever this flower was, it must be terrible to have such an effect on the other Sans.
He caught himself. No, no, this was an anomaly, a creature! It wasn't him by any stretch of the imagination, and it certainly didn't feel fear.
His stomach growled in an overly-aggressive manner. He reluctantly rolled the chair over to the plate of food. He tossed the tinfoil into the tornado and took a bite of pie. With his free hand, he booted up one of the many computers. As it started up, he took a moment to stare at the unexpectedly delicious dessert. No pie tasted so lovely after sitting for a while. This was clearly a part of this world's mind control powers. Perhaps further research was in order, he thought with another bite.
Welcome, Skelepun
Password:
Muttering expletives, he typed, "password" into the box and hit the enter key.
nope.
He stared dumbfounded at the singular word. The screen went black moments later, leaving him to stare at his reflection. That smiley trash bag of an anomaly… Now there were two creatures he wanted to punch in the face, the Undyne knock-off of course being the other.
He shoved the last bit of crust into his mouth, glaring at the screen. His "eye" twitched slightly as he grabbed a roll from the plate. He noticed in the midst of his ireful meal, a tiny white corner poking out from beneath a mouse pad. He quickly finished eating, refusing to acknowledge the food's delightful taste. He wiped his fingers on his shirt and retrieved the object of interest.
*It's a picture of the other you, with a bunch of anomalies you've never seen before.
*It looks happy.
On the back were written two simple words in what looked to be the sans serif font: Don't forget.
These were not people; they were anomalous entities. They were plotting the destruction of his world, or a takeover at the least. Why did he feel something for this picture? Why did he take care to put it back where he'd found it, hiding it in the spot the creature had wanted it to be?
He stared at the mouse pad, battling the mind control, trying his best to break its hold. Panting, he searched every drawer for something he could use. He pulled the broken device from a mess of beakers and pencils. Just as he hoped, sparks flew from the exposed wires when touched together. Unsure of how long the thing would remain active in its condition, he retrieved the picture and set fire to the vile hold this world had on his mind.
He dropped it, and watched it burn until there was nothing left but ash.
"Ya ain't gonna win," he told this world of freaks. "I won't let ya."