Chapter 8: The Teleporter

Groaning in frustration, I fell onto my back on the couch, looking up at the ceiling, "I just can't make anything of these symbols. What am I going to do, Chara? I can't just go up to Sans and be like, 'Oh hey, I know I told you that I'd figure things out and answer your questions, but I can't figure out these symbols. So whoops, guess I can't help after all.'"

Chara only grumbled at my groaning, "Well maybe if you were productive, it wouldn't have taken you a week to realize that we need to go back to the lab."

Taking a deep breath, I calmed my rising frustration, "Okay, you're right. But now that it's taken so long, Alphys has locked herself in her lab, working on some sort of project. We also barely have any time to look at this stuff since Sans and Papyrus come home throughout the day. So, what do we do?"

Biting my lip, I looked over the papers I had grabbed, once again. Sans might know... but I couldn't ask him. It seemed too personal and like it was too much to ask him for something he had asked me to help with.

As I continued to stare at the symbols, I gasped, "Wait, Chara, I—I've seen these symbols before!"

Chara snickered, "Um, yeah, when we got the papers. You okay Frisk? You're going kinda crazy."

Glaring at the papers, I responded to Chara, "Hardy-har, that was hilarious. I'm serious, Chara! I've seen these before we even went into the lab. I think it was from the last timeline."

Looking over them, Chara began to talk excitedly, "Yeah, those were in one of your memories. Now we actually have a sort of lead! But, uh, you might wanna put the papers away; Sans and Papyrus are almost home."

Shoving all of my papers in my inventory, I hopped onto the couch, turning on the TV and pretending to watch Mettaton perform.

The door opening and closing quickly, Sans plopped down on the couch, already beginning to drift off to sleep. On the other hand though, Papyrus immediately went to the kitchen, ready to prepare dinner.

Looking at Sans momentarily, I smiled as he was already deep in sleep.

Grabbing my blanket, I covered Sans up so he didn't get cold, and then joined Papyrus in the kitchen.

Giving the skeleton a quick hug before he got to work, I asked him a question, "Welcome home Papyrus! Before you get to work on dinner, can I ask you something?" Getting an affirmative from the skeleton, I continued, "I was just wondering if we had like, a basement or attic or something. Do you know if we do?"

Papyrus slowed his movements as he began cooking, before picking back up the pace again, "I do believe so; the door should be to the left of the house. Why do you ask, Human?"

Shrugging, I stole a pepperoni from Papyrus' platter, "Just curious I guess. Well, I gotta go Paps, I'll be back real soon though. Bye!"

As I ran out of the house, Papyrus raised a fist in mock anger, "Human! You stole my beef and pork sausage seasoned with pepper! I was going to use that for the pasta! How could you commit such horrible acts?!"

Laughing, I quickly stuck my tongue out at Papyrus, before closing the door and walking around to the other side of the house.

Quickly losing my smile, I walked around the house, finding the door that was supposed to lead to the basement.

Biting my lip, I hesitantly reached for the doorknob, "If it's locked, we're going to have to find another way to get in, Chara."

My hand grasping the cold metal knob, I began to turn it clockwise, releasing a breath that I didn't know I had been holding as the door opened.

Quickly stepping inside, I flipped a light switch before closing the door behind me.

Looking around, the basement wasn't all that big. It had a counter with cabinets, a desk, and a sheet draped over something in the corner.

Crossing over to the counter, I wiped a streak of dust away, before grabbing some papers and shaking the dust off of them.

The papers had the same symbols on them that I had been trying to figure out, but also just regular old writing. Scanning the writing, I didn't understand much, since it was mostly formulas and theories and such, but I got an inkling of what was happening. Biting my lip, I crouched down, opening some cabinets, only to find more stacks of papers.

Sighing, I sat down on the floor, "Well Chara, it looks like we night be here for a little while. Wanna help me out here?"

As Chara began speaking, a figure flickered right next to me, before fully appearing, "Yeah, I can get started on this section of the cabinet, while you start on that one. " Turning to me, Chara gave me a small smile, "Sound good Frisk?"

Eyes wide, I looked at Chara's spectral form, "Um, yeah that sounds good... How are you doing that?"

Raising an eyebrow, Chara turned away, not noticing that I was looking directly at her, "Doing what, Frisk? Talking?"

Turning my body towards her, I shook my head, "No, Chara, how are you making yourself appear? Have you been able to do this this entire time?"

Eyes widening, Chara turned her head back to me, a smile playing on her lips, "Wait, wait, what? You— You can see me? " When I nodded, Chara laughed as she ran a hand through her hair, "Oh, oh that is incredible! You can see me, without having to be in the void! You can—" Clearing her throat, Chara looked at the papers in the cabinet, "Okay, excitement aside, what are we looking for?"

Smiling, I nodded, before turning back to my section of the cabinet, "We should look for something that can help us decipher the symbols. Now, if Sans can understand these symbols, does that mean that he had to learn them and has some sort of key for when he started learning? Or did he already know these symbols and their meanings?"

Shrugging, Chara shuffled through some of the papers, "I don't know. You know the comedian better than me, so you should know if he's as organized as that or if he knew them already."

Rolling my eyes, I set the papers in my hands down, getting up and crossing over to whatever was hidden behind the sheet in the corner. Pulling the sheet off, I revealed the machine sitting under it, looking unfinished.

Looking over to the curious ghost behind me, I bit my lip, "This machine is what's supposed to bring Gaster back, I think. But it seems like Sans just... gave up, after a while. When I was reading those papers on the counter, there was a lot of sciency stuff, but I got the idea that to get Gaster back, a powerful soul was needed. And when Sans realized that he couldn't find a powerful enough soul, he gave up on the idea of saving Gaster. "

After a moment of silently assessing the machine, Chara came up beside me, "Well, you should get back inside the house. supper's probably almost done. "

Raising an eyebrow, I looked at the ghost, "What about you? Aren't you coming with?"

Shaking her head, Chara glided back over to the stack of papers we were gonna be going through, "Nah, I think I'll stay down here and look through these papers. Give us a sort of a head start, yeah? Anyways, you go enjoy being alive, I'll just be down here. " After a moment, Chara gave me a smile, "I'll give a yell for you if I find anything. Okay?"

Returning Chara's smile, I nodded, "Okay. And I'll give you a holler if I realize anything. I'll see ya in a bit Chara."

Quickly exiting the basement, I made my way back inside the house, relishing the warmth of it.

Slipping my shoes off, I made my way to the kitchen, where Papyrus was setting plates out.

Sitting down, a smile made it's way onto my face.

Seeing my smile, Papyrus smiled as well, "Ah, Human, you're back! What makes you smile like that?"

Shrugging I took a sip of the water Papyrus had given me, "I'm just happy, I guess. Oh hey, do you need help with anything else before dinner is served?"

Shaking his head, Papyrus happily gave me my serving of pasta salad, before scooping some onto his and Sans' plates, "No Human, you are our guest in this house! You don't need to help out; we can tend to things here!"

Biting my lip, I grabbed my fork and stabbed some of my salad, "But I can help too! Just because I'm a guest doesn't mean I can't help out!"

Adamant, Papyrus shook his head again, before sitting down, "No Human, I insist! You are young, and should not be helping out when you can be doing other things!"

Taking a small bite of the pasta salad, I shrugged, "I don't know Papyrus, there's not much I can do down here. But, if you insist, then I guess I'll comply."

Yeah, no, I'm definitely helping out without them knowing.

Taking another bite of pasta, I almost choked when a hand clamped down on my shoulder, scaring the life out of me. Turning my head to look over my shoulder, I found Sans standing there, a grin on his face.

With a forced laugh, the skeleton's grin got a bit tighter, "heya kiddo, i need to have a word with you quick."

Confused, I fully turned my body towards Sans, "What do you mean?"

Sans took a deep breath, before grabbing my hand and leading me to the living room, leaving a confused Papyrus in the kitchen.

The hint of a blush that was on my cheeks—due to Sans holding my hand—faded once I saw how serious Sans seemed to be.

Digging my nails into my thumb, I broke the silence, "Did— Did I do something wrong?"

A dry laugh escaping from him, Sans turned on me, his glare deadly, "yes, frisk, you did do something wrong. just—just tell me something. when i trust you, when i have a vulnerable moment with you, why do you decide to go sneaking around behind my back?"

My eyebrows furrowing, I crossed my arms, "Sans, what are you talking about? When have I gone sneaking behind your back?"

Sans took another deep breath, remaining calm, "oh, i dunno kid, how about when you snuck into the doc's lab to grab this? huh?"

Throwing a folder at me, I winced when I saw that it was his file from the lab, describing the DT experiments.

Holding the file loosely in my hands, I turned to Sans, who had his back to me, my voice quiet, "I was going to tell you about that. I swear, I was going to tell you Sans. I just—"

Losing his composure, Sans whirled around on me, "you were going to tell me? really, frisk? that's your excuse?" Ripping his file out of my hands, Sans began heading back to the kitchen, "do me a favor next time frisk. don't mess with things that a child like you could never understand. got it?"

Tears welling up in my eyes as I tried not to flinch at his anger and sudden movements, I nodded as Sans was walking towards the kitchen, not seeing my break in composure.

Biting my lip, I quickly slipped my shoes on, before slipping out of the house.

Running, I made it to the Ruins in record time, my lungs burning with the winter air of Snowdin.

Banging on the Ruins door, more tears slipped from my eyes, slowing down as they froze on my cheeks.

When the door to the Ruins ended up opening, a small sob escaped from my lips as I threw my arms around Toriel, burying my face in her fur.

Arms immediately going around me, Toriel slowly backed us into the Ruins, closing the door behind us.

Her voice soft and gentle, Toriel rubbed soothing circles into my back, "My child, please, calm down, tell me what's wrong. Are you okay? What happened?"

Taking a shaky breath, I pulled away from Toriel slightly, looking up at her through the blur of tears, "Can I... stay here tonight? Maybe for a little while after tonight too?"

Giving me a gentle smile, Toriel took my hand in hers, leading me up to the house, "Of course, my child. You can stay for however long you would like."

It had been about two weeks since I had left Sans and Papyrus' house in Snowdin to be with Toriel.

I missed being with the skelebros, but I just didn't feel like I could face Sans yet.

In fact, that's what Chara had been discussing with me lately.

"I just don't see why you had to run to Mom about it. It's a small fight, Frisk. You should have dealt with it on your own instead of being such a crybaby."

Looking over at Chara, who was laying upside down on the other bed in the room, I frowned.

Going back to my writing, I spoke quietly, "Maybe... It's just— All of my life, when trying to deal with my problems, it always turned back on me in the end. I have never been able to speak back to someone and explain my side of the story, without getting hurt."

Drifting over to sit with me, Chara was quiet for a moment before speaking, "Yeah, I guess that's understandable. But you know that unless we go back to Snowdin and deal with it, we won't make any progress with getting Gaster back."

Throwing my notebook across the room, I brought my knees up to my chest, "He said he didn't want me snooping in his business anymore. So why should I bring his dad back for him? It's just... whatever."

After a moment, Chara put a hesitantly comforting hand on my shoulder, her voice soft, "Hey, what's wrong?" Seeing my hesitance, Chara gave me a small smile, "C'mon Frisk, just tell me. I'm a ghost, so no one's gonna here anything from me."

Sighing, I pulled my knees even closer to me, "Sans said something about how I shouldn't mess with things that I 'could never understand'... Except I do understand." My eyes burning, I rubbed them hard, "I understand way too well what he thinks I don't understand."

Eyebrows furrowing, Chara looked me over, "But Sans was talking about the experiments that were—No." Eyes widening, Chara clenched her hands into fists by her side, "No, Frisk, don't say it, please."

Running a hand through the freaky-fast growing hair of mine, I laughed a little bit, "Yeah, well, let's just say that Sans got off a lot easier than I did." After a few moments of tense silence, I blew some air out from between my lips, "Well, we should probably get back to work soon."

Biting her lip, Chara was about to ask me something else, before deciding otherwise, "Okay. Are we going to head back to Snowdin then? Make up with Sans?"

Shaking my head, I pulled my shoes on, grabbing my notebook and pencil, "No. I don't want to see Sans until I get his dad back here. We'll go to Mettaton's."

Trailing behind me as I made my way to Toriel, Chara voiced her hesitance, "But what if Sans doesn't want Gaster to come back after what he did?"

Biting my lip, I shrugged, "Sans went into that experiment willingly. Whatever negative effects have resulted because of those experiments, he has dealt with. Maybe he's angry at himself for getting into that experiment. Maybe he's mad at Gaster. We'll just have to wait and see."

Heading to the kitchen, I found Toriel, humming as she baked a butterscotch and cinnamon pie.

Hesitantly, I pulled on her sleeve, "Hey Toriel?" Getting a 'hmm?' from Toriel, I continued, "I need to go back to Hotland. I have a friend who needs some help, and he's expecting me to be there soon."

Frowning at first, Toriel turned her frown into a small smile as she wiped her hands on her apron, "Okay my child, I'll send you off in a moment. Now, let's get this pie ready for your journey." Delicately wrapping the b-scotch pie in a cloth and then setting it in a basket, Toriel presented the pie to me, "There, my child, now you're all set."

Taking the pie, I smiled, before giving Toriel a big hug, "Thanks, Mom."

A wobbly smile on her face as I pulled away, the monster wiped at her eyes, "You called me mother? If that is what you wish my child, then I won't stop you. Now go, go help your friend. Just be sure to visit, okay?"

Nodding, I began to head back to the rest of the Underground,"I promise, Mom."

"Darling, you can't just hide out from that little skeleton. You'll need to make up with him sometime."

Pouring over the papers Chara had somehow retrieved from Sans' basement, I waved a dismissive hand to Mettaton, "I will, but this is more important."

Crossing over to me, Mettaton grabbed a paper out of my hands before I could even react, "Wing Dings? Darling, how have you even learned to read this?"

Straightening up, I raised an eyebrow at Mettaton, "Wait a minute, you can read this?" When Mettaton nodded, I looked down at the papers I had been reading, before looking back at him, "How?"

Mettaton pulled a chair up, sitting next to me, "Well Darling, this body that Alphys built is also like a computer. If she programmed it, I can read or understand it." Glancing down at the paper again, Mettaton then gave it back to me, "Does this have to do with your argument with that skeleton?"

Biting my lip, I nodded slowly, "Yeah. ... Excuse me for asking, but why are you so interested in this?"

Mettaton gave me a small smile, "I understand how important family is. I know that those skeletons consider you family by now. So, Darling, I will help you figure out this dilemma of yours. Now, where should we start?"

I smiled slightly, before giving a shake of my head and frowning, "I want to trust you Mettaton, so how can I know that I can?"

Mettaton sighed, holding out his pinky finger, "Darling, I promise that I won't tell another being about this little project of yours. And if I do, then you can break this pinky here."

Unable to stop the smile this time, I hooked my pinky with Mettaton's, "Okay, I guess this'll do. Now, I can give you the gist of this, or I can go into painful detail. Which would you prefer?"

Putting on a pair of reading glasses, Mettaton grabbed some papers, looking over them, "You can go into as much detail as you want darling, but chances are that I'll be able to comprehend all of this information faster than you. Remember, with this body, my brain is like a supercomputer."

Rolling my eyes, I picked up another paper, ready to study it, "Okay, Mr. Know-it-all, I just thought you might like some background information."

Setting down his papers, Mettaton moved on to four more, quickly reading through them, "No need Darling, I already know what was trying to be done here. This is like a teleporter of some sort. Whoever made this, clearly wants to teleport something, or maybe even someone. But it's not quite the dematerialisation and reconstruction of science fiction. This machine is more like a printer that relies on destructive scanning and 3D printing. Darling, I do hope that this is a rough draft of sorts, and that this machine isn't already built."

Biting my lip, I scooted closer to Mettaton, looking at the papers he had, "Why? What's wrong?"

Mettaton 'tsked', before setting the papers down and looking at me over his glasses, "Because with the way this is set up, it would mill an object down layer by layer, creating a scan per layer, and it would then replicate the original object layer by layer, 'teleporting' it from one place to another. This would make a copy of the original object. So, this teleporter can be used on objects, but if it were to be used on another living being? Darling, we might as well just start over if this thing is already built."

Leaning back in my chair, I ran a hand through my already shoulder length hair, "So I'm pretty much screwed. God, I never should've gotten involved in stuff like this."

Mettaton put a comforting hand on my shoulder, "Frisk, Darling, don't get so worked up. We can make a working teleporter, okay? Yes, it may take some time, and it will be difficult, but we can do this. This is all for that little skeleton, right?"

Taking a deep breath, I nodded, "Right. I just— I never thought Sans would create something with the knowledge that it couldn't possibly work on a living person."

Mettaton shrugged, "Well Darling, your reaction when I told you it can't be used on a living being already tells me that he wants to bring someone to him. Who is it that he wants to desperately to be a part of his life again?"

Beginning to put all of the papers into a folder, I was quiet, "It's his father. But— Oh boy, this might be a lot to explain." Mettaton gave me a look, telling me to go on, "Well, his father was the last Royal Scientist, Dr. Gaster. The thing is though, whatever incident happened in that lab, royally screwed things up. You see, something ended up happening to Gaster, and he got stuck in this sort of... Void, is what I call it. And in the Void, you're existing, but you're also... not, at the same time. For example, Gaster can see everything going on in this world, and maybe even others, but he can't interfere or interact with anyone. He can only sit and watch, in the darkness."

Mettaton was silent for a moment, before getting out some papers and pencils, "Okay Darling, so the goal is to get this person back into existence, and have everyone be happy, right? Well, the teleporter's computer is going to need to be able to pinpoint and analyze all of the atoms and magic and such that make up a monster's body. This machine would then need to send the information to our location, where another teleporter would reconstruct Gaster's body with exact precision. And since this will require two teleporters, we'll need to find a way to get one to Gaster's location."

Taking a paper and pencil, I began sketching out a basic blueprint of the teleporter, "Well I can do that. I can access the Void, and I can begin construction there, while you work here."

Nodding in agreement, Mettaton also took some paper to begin a list of materials, "Yes Darling, that is fantastic. Now, this teleporter will be similar to the last one, and it would work more like a fax machine— a duplicate of Gaster would be at the receiving end, but that would mean that with this machine, we'd be committing an act of murder yet creation at the same time, since we can't just use magic to teleport the Doctor."

A smile forming on my face, I turned to Mettaton excitedly, "But what if we could?" Getting a questioning look from Mettaton, I continued on hurriedly, "We— I mean, I've been to the true lab at Alphys' a few times, and one of those times we found a machine that required a human's soul to fully function. What if I could somehow use some of my Determination, or any magic that I have, and incorporate it into this teleporter?"

Smiling slightly, Mettaton jotted my idea down, "Yes, Darling, while that is a brilliant idea, we also have to be sure that no nasty side effects come with that idea. Otherwise, I would be all for it. But moving on; For the construction of the teleporter, we could take apart and use old parts from the previous teleporter, and then work from there."

Listing down our ideas, I also jotted down some things that I could research, "Thank you so much Mettaton, I really appreciate. Now, we just need to get everything and get to work."

As I got up to head to my room in the MTT Resort, Mettaton's hand fell onto my shoulder, "Frisk, Darling, I know you want to dive into this, but we can't just yet."

Confused, I sat back down, "Why not? We already have a pretty good start."

Mettaton raised an eyebrow, "Do I really have to spell it out for you? You have to make up with that little skeleton of yours before we do anything else."

Eyes widening, I shook my head, "I can't, Sans hates me!"

Frowning, Mettaton crossed his arms, "Darling, you haven't seen him in over a month now. You hid with your mother for two weeks, and you've been with me for an additional three. You don't know how he feels right now. Yes, there is a big possibility that he is quite upset with you. But, Darling, there is also the possibility that those skeletons miss you dearly."

Biting my lip, I began braiding a piece of my hair, "But... You know what, you're right. I guess I'm just— I get scared very easily. And getting scared easily makes me a big baby, but it's true. When someone's angry, or I think they're angry, I'm just scared that they'll— that they'll hurt me."

His frown deepening, Mettaton set a gentle hand on my knee, "Darling, Sans and Papyrus, they won't hurt you. And I know that those words may be hollow or useless, but it's true. No one down here is going to hurt you. Especially now, when you've begun to capture our hearts."

Straightening out my hair, I gave Mettaton a weak smile, "I know. I'm not trying to be so troublesome, but it's just... hard, I guess. I'm not used to any of this, and I don't know how people down here will lash out when they're angry. Will someone just yell at me, or will they hit me? Am I actually safe here, or is this some sort of illusion?"

Mettaton gave me an understanding look, before looking back at the papers in front of him, "Darling, you can stay for another week, maximum. We can figure some things out, make a better plan, and maybe even get to work. But, after that last week, you are going to go back to Snowdin, and you are going to make up with Sans. Okay?"

Feeling slightly relieved, I nodded, "Okay. So now, we get to work on that teleporter."

Hello all of my lovely readers, yes, I know.

This chapter is late, and instead of being posted on Sunday, it's now being posted today.

Sorry about this sort of wacky update, but it's my spring break, and I'm going to Arkansas to be with some family!

Because of my spring break though, I will not be posting this Sunday, but instead next Sunday, which is the main reason why I'm posting on a Wednesday in the middle of the week.

I hope you guys can be patient until my spring break is over for some more chapters!

Until Next Time~