"SAAAAAAANS!"
The shorter of two skeletons lazily opened his eyes, looking up at his taller brother, who marched into the living room, after having stormed downstairs. Papyrus looked puzzled as he stared at an old, torn, somewhat crumpled paper in his skeletal hands. "yeah bro?" Sans asked casually, blinking dolefully.
"I FOUND THIS PICTURE ON YOUR BED, SANS. WHOEVER DREW THIS MUST BE VERY TALENTED, SO I KNOW IT WASN'T YOU. I JUST WANTED TO ASK WHO THIS PERSON BETWEEN US IS." Papyrus practically shoved the dirty old image in Sans' face, whose demeanor shifted at a moment's notice, his eyes widening in slight shock.
"uh…"
The image in question was something Sans easily recognized. He was probably the only person who could recognize it. As Papyrus had pointed out, both he and Sans were on the image, drawn crudely in crayon. A third, very tall figure stood between them, hands resting on either of their shoulders, his face a twisted, broken grin.
Funnily enough, the drawing used to show what the middle man's face used to be, but after he'd 'died', well… this had happened.
"OH, I DIDN'T NOTICE THIS," Papyrus mentioned, now staring at the back of the image. "IT SAYS 'DON'T FORGET' ON THE BACK. FORGET WHAT? IS THIS A PRANK? AM I BEING PRANKED?"
"yeah," Sans replied, still staring at the face of the middle monster, before the picture was pulled away and Papyrus let out a sigh.
"I SHOULD HAVE FIGURED. FINALLY, I THOUGHT THERE WOULD BE A COOL MYSTERY TO SOLVE OR SOMETHING. OH WELL, BACK TO MY PASTA!"
Papyrus tossed the drawing aside as he stormed into the kitchen. Sans caught the picture, folding it carefully into a smaller square, and stuffing it into the pocket of his moth-eaten blue hoodie. He peered over the back of the couch at Papyrus, who was shaking his hips as he hummed, currently stirring a pot of dry noodles in cold water. He was still rather early in his cooking lessons with Undyne.
"hey bro?" Sans called.
Papyrus didn't look up from his work, but responded anyway; "YES, BROTHER?"
"what uh… were you doin' in my room?"
"OH, RIGHT. I WAS IN THE MIDDLE OF RINSING THE NOODLES, BUT BEFORE I COULD CLEAN THEM WITH A WASHCLOTH, SOMEBODY TOLD ME THAT THERE WAS SOMETHING FOR ME IN YOUR ROOM. I THOUGHT IT WAS YOU TALKING, BUT IT MAY HAVE BEEN MY IMAGINATION. UNDYNE'S BEEN TRAINING ME REALLY HARD, AFTER ALL! I SHOULD PROBABLY CATCH UP ON MY BEAUTY SLEEP!"
Papyrus began to stir a lot faster, as he tended to do anything faster when he was recounting a brief story. He got over-excited way too easily.
Sans didn't reply as he leaned back against the couch, staring down at his lap for a moment. Somebody had told Papyrus to go up there, and… well, this drawing had been in his workshop since they'd moved in. Not on his bed.
Was it Him? Trying to communicate?
Possibly.
…
…
… hopefully.
"Project Lazarus, Entry Number 95. Subject 13 has been showing signs of improvement. After the incident, I thought for certain he would perish- but it was the Determination. He prevailed, where others could not, despite his shattered SOUL fragment. I interviewed him this morning, recording in the attached document. His magical affinity, unfortunately, has weakened severely. His combat capabilities are nigh useless, leaving him to be, unfortunately, a failure to Project Lazarus. I… would normally dispose of such things, but I have developed a personal attachment. Despite his combat prowess being reduced to pathetic numbers, astronomically small, his mind is just as sharp as my own. Asgore continues to press me for an assistant, so… perhaps Subject 13 is my ticket to getting the old king off my back for a while. He'll be wanting an update on Project Troy soon, so I should probably consider leaving Project Lazarus and Project Nexus on hiatus- for now. End log."
The tall skeleton monster leaned away from the computer monitor, beginning to rapidly type into the keyboard before it for several moments, watched by a much shorter figure wearing a white gown, akin to a hospital gown. The shorter skeleton appeared rather uncomfortable, shifting on his bare, skeletal feet, rubbing his right forearm as though it hurt.
The young Sans continued to watch Dr. W.D. Gaster work, the scientist moving away from the monitor to stick his eye socket against a microscope on a nearby table, muttering a few words to himself before pulling away and whipping out a clipboard that he proceeded to write on, his letters being a series of strange hand symbols, among other things. Not many could read the written language, invented by Gaster himself. Sans, however, could, having been taught since his 'birth', or as Gaster put it, his 'creation'.
This process continued for a while, the doctor moving about the lab, distracted by different samples, recording different results, or his own thoughts, before he glanced from his clipboard toward Sans, peering beneath the pair of half-moon spectacles he wore.
Sans gazed back, still appearing as uncomfortable as before.
"What is your status, Subject 13?" Gaster asked, flipping up the paper on the clipboard and getting a pencil ready.
"my arm is sore."
"Left or right?"
"left."
"Which part exactly? Radius? Ulna? Humerus?"
"humorous?" Sans grinned awkwardly. "tibia honest, i didn't realize you had a funny bone."
Gaster didn't respond at first, simply writing a few things down before peering over at Sans, his expression stern. "Which. Bone."
"radius," Sans replied, his gaze falling as his smile slowly faded. Gaster gave a nod, jotting this down.
"I see. How about internally. Any more cracks?"
Sans paused, before he held his right arm out in front of him, a small white shard appearing above his hand, floating there. It almost looked like a small, broken shard of glass, marble white in color.
There were indeed cracks in it, seven to be exact, stretching along the tiny fragment that Sans held. Gaster stared at it for a moment, before mumbling something to himself and writing something else down. "Thank you, Subject 13."
Finally, Gaster set the clipboard down, and offered his own hand to Sans, who took it, holding onto it tightly. "Thank you for your cooperation today, Sans," he finally smiled, gazing down upon Sans, who felt as though a curtain had been lifted, and he suddenly didn't appear as uncomfortable.
This is how it went most days. There were always different Gasters, each one acting so much different from the others. Three, as far as Sans could tell. The cold one, who put his work on the forefront of his mind. He was the one who called Sans "Subject 13". He was serious, and professional, so Sans called him "The Doctor". Then there was this Gaster. Sans referred to him as "Dadster". He was kind, comforting, and loving, and called him by name, as well as "son", despite both of them knowing Sans was not.
Then there was the darker one. The one full of rage, destroying his equipment, hurting those around him… yet he always had a wicked grin on his face every time this happened, which thankfully wasn't often. The personalities simply snapped into play so suddenly and unnoticeably, it was impossible to tell if he was about to shift into another one or not, only until after it had happened. Sans had no name for Gaster's third personality, as he didn't like it very much and tried not to think of it.
Gaster led Sans out of the small room, into a much larger one with several other monsters milling about, seated at tables, conversing and eating. They were employees of Dr. Gaster, but they often referred to themselves as the 'G Followers'. They had a nearly cult-like mentality, which Gaster himself had adopted, leaving the whole lot of them to become disconnected with their fellow monsters underground.
They were a family, through and through, and they didn't much care about those above their lab. Not even the king, who they answered directly to. Gaster was the only person who ever left the lab anymore, usually only to speak to Asgore from time to time, give him updates, or the likes.
Gaster took Sans to an empty seat, before the doctor flicked his wrist, and a tray of food appeared in front of Sans.
Being magical beings, monsters didn't necessarily need food to survive, it was instead viewed as a social activity. Eating with friends. No monster ate alone, that was just unheard of. So as Sans began to eat some mashed vegetables, Gaster took a seat across from him, his own tray appearing before him as he folded his glasses, and tucked them into a pocket on his white lab coat.
And the day went on like normal. Everyone talked, everyone laughed, it was family.
And the family grew, as only a few years later, Sans found the newest addition to the family when entering Gaster's lab.
The doctor was standing in front of a tube of glass, much like the one Sans could remember floating around in during his creation. Sans approached his father, peering around him curiously, and seeing a small skeletal figure within the tube, probably only the size of Sans' head. His face lit up when he saw the baby, and he looked up at Gaster, who rested a hand against Sans' back, smiling down at him.
"Good morning, Sans," he greeted. "Meet Papyrus. Your brother. I've decided to continue Project Lazarus again, this time I'm experimenting with artificial skeletal growth. I believe it may help the process of development more."
Ah. So Papyrus would grow to be around Gaster's height, then. Sans, meanwhile, was stuck being short forever. Full-grown when he'd been created. He didn't bother thinking much about that, instead staring at the baby skeleton with a wide grin.
But this happy family would be cut short one fateful day. Sans had become more involved with Gaster's work, accepted in full as an assistant. He even wore the same lab gear as his father, albeit in a much smaller size. Papyrus had long since left the tube, now in his toddler years as he bounded around the lab, an absolute delight to the G Followers, though when work was a priority, he was left to 'guard the lab' by being left to simply watch the security cams, the best source of entertainment that could be given to the young skeleton.
Today, the lab was buzzing excitedly. Something that had been in the works for centuries was now finally coming to life. Started by Gaster some time after the fourth human fell underground, this project was now done and ready to begin testing. Project Nexus.
To put it simply, Gaster planned to open a gateway into the multiverse in an effort to reverse the actions of the Great War that had sealed monsters underground, and if that was unachievable, the next best thing on the agenda was the extermination of humanity.
Needless to say, the entire lab was excited at the prospect. To get to the surface, and rule it as their own? It was a dream turned reality at their fingertips.
So as everybody headed into the deeper parts of the lab, to a connecting tunnel that led to the CORE's heart, Sans stayed back for a moment as he sat Papyrus down on a chair in the security room. "DYNE!" Papyrus immediately cheered, pointing at a particular screen where a young fish monster- possibly one of the Dhelaron children -was in the middle of a sparring session with old General Gerson.
"yeah, bro. 'dyne' will keep ya busy," Sans grinned, and offered a sippy cup to his brother, then a blanket. "i gotta go now, boring adult stuff, not that cool. if anything happens, you remember how to call me?"
"HUG MY SOUL!" Papyrus replied excitedly, his own SOUL appearing in front of him. Like Sans, it was a fragment, broken off of Gaster's own SOUL, though Papyrus' was much larger, and free of any cracks. The small skeleton proceeded to hug the SOUL, and Sans could feel a warmth enveloping his own SOUL, making his grin widen as he rubbed the top of Papyrus' head. "that's my bro. i'll be back soon. love ya."
"LOVE TOO!"
Sans was on his way, appearing several moments later beside Gaster as he strode down a lengthy hallway. He glanced down at Sans, and shook his head. "You shouldn't waste your magic like that," he said, "you risk cracking it further."
"aw c'mon, it was just a little shortcut is all. no harm, no foul."
Gaster didn't reply to this as they soon entered through an elevator, and out into a massive room, where an equally massive sphere hovered before them, tubes sticking out of it at nearly every angle, its body split into hundreds of hexagonal shapes, a large door in front of it, a single walkway leading to said door.
The rest of the scientists were in here already, each one at a different console, monitor, or other device, taking readings, going over diagnostics, and the likes. "Photon readings positive," one stated.
"Chronosphere eligibility confirmed," another said.
"Green lights across the board," a third confirmed.
Gaster paced around the room, staring over everyone's shoulders, before making a full revolution and stopping at the front of the catwalk. Beneath them was a dark, empty abyss. This was directly beneath the CORE, the sphere as the CORE's heart. It gave off such intense and powerful energy, that it was the only thing Gaster could use for such an experiment. Nothing else could offer the required amount of power, granted by the earth's geothermal vent.
"Sans, seal that door."
The skeleton did as instructed, pressing a large red button that closed the door they'd just walked through with a hiss. Gaster gazed about the room, everyone's eyes falling on him. There was a great silence, only accompanied by the CORE's heart pulsing and humming.
"Today is the beginning of a new age," Gaster stated. "With the IDT, we will force humanity to endure the suffering they've forced us through. We will see the sun, the sky, and the stars once more. We will be free. None of this would be possible without all of you," the doctor smiled brightly. "Now let's begin. Initiate Project Nexus, test a dash zero zero one."
The scientists got to work, typing away at various devices, pulling levers, turning knobs, as Gaster himself crossed over the railway, coming to a stop at the door into the CORE's heart, before he pressed a button on the side, and it slid open. The doctor disappeared inside, the door closing behind him.
Sans watched with bated breath, feeling a great anxiety washing over him. He had the strangest feeling that this was going to go horribly wrong.
"Initiating countdown," one scientist informed. "Three… Two… One…"
A final lever was pulled, and the entire heart lit up like a beacon, the light practically blinding everyone within the room as the entire world around them began to violently shake, the CORE's heart whirring to life, letting out a roar that never ended. The scientists had to shout over each other to be heard. The noise only got louder, the shaking only got more violent, the light only got brighter, before Sans could make out several more shouted sentences.
"PHOTON READINGS NEGATIVE!"
"CHRONOSPHERE UNSTABLE!"
"SYSTEMS FAILING!"
"SHUTDOWN! SHUT IT DOWN! PULL HIM OUT!"
Almost through instinct, Sans raised his arm, and a wall of cyan-colored bones erupted in front of him, acting as a defense. He wasn't sure why he'd done that, it was almost as though a voice in his ear had advised it…
And just in time too. The whole world rocked as an explosion sounded, and a brilliant crimson light flashed. Screams echoed, Sans pressed against the wall, sweating profusely, eyes shut tight in utter terror.
His body seemed to pulse from his defended position. His body seemed to shift, almost. Different clothing, different faces, different expressions, all flashing over him as his body was momentarily merged across the multiversal plane, his body temporarily combining with other Sans' across all time and space- before it all stopped.
Slowly, he opened his eyes, and found his wall of cyan bones still standing, unphased. They vanished a second later, and his eyes widened at the sight before him. The CORE's heart was cracked in half, letting off great sparks and flashes as it powered down, its light growing dim and flickering. The catwalk was gone entirely, and… so was everyone else. Gaster, the G Followers…
Sans was completely alone.
He felt his SOUL grow heavy, and a sense of warmth overcame him. Papyrus was calling him. He was torn between going to his brother, and looking for everyone. Looking for Gaster. His father.
"gaster!?"
His voice echoed down into the blank abyss. No response returned. He felt the warmth return once again. "dad!" He tried again, but only got the same results. What the hell had happened…?
Seconds later, the door opened, and Sans stumbled in to see Papyrus huddled in the corner of the room, his blanket covering him, his bones rattling as he shook beneath it. Slowly, he lowered the blanket from his head, and saw the skeleton. "SANS!" he cried, immediately rushing into his brother's arms, Sans catching him, and holding him tightly.
"...we… need to go," Sans said after several moments. Papyrus didn't respond, and it took the older skeleton a moment to realize that his little brother had somehow fallen immediately asleep against his chest.
Holding back any tears, Sans slowly opened the door, and walked out, carrying Papyrus, and leaving the lab.
It wasn't until sometime later that Sans had learned the horrible truth. Nobody could remember Gaster, or his G Followers. Everyone knew that there used to be a royal scientist, but nobody could say who. Nobody could say when he stopped being the royal scientist.
Not even Papyrus remembered them. Their whole family lost because of one ambitious project, and a group of eager scientists. Sans would have joined them and left Papyrus all alone if not for that mysterious voice. A voice Papyrus had now heard, all these years later.
… was it Him? Was it Gaster?
Sans knew they weren't dead. The experiment, everything about it, and the way he could sometimes see his father out of the corner of his eye… the IDT had displaced them through space and time, he was certain of it. And so, he made his slow work of rebuilding a miniature IDT in his workshop behind the house… even if he knew it would never work, it always wound up making him feel a little better.
Slowly, Sans rose from the couch, glancing back at Papyrus for a moment, a sad smile stretching on the shorter skeleton's face, before he wandered outside, and back into his workshop, setting the paper down on the counter before looking over at the IDT, cloaked beneath a large white sheet. He hadn't worked on it in ages… maybe he could make some progress tonight.
Hell, maybe it could actually wind up working and Sans could fix all the damage done. Hopeful dreaming, yeah, but what harm was it?
Sans pulled the white sheet away, yanking a roll of schematics out from a drawer, and set to work.
It wasn't until the early morning when Papyrus wandered in to find Sans fast asleep, standing up as he leaned against the great machine that was the IDT. Wordlessly, the younger brother picked Sans up, and carried him back inside, laying him down on his bed in his room, and tucking him in.
He was about to leave, when Sans spoke.
"hey, paps?"
"YES?"
"love you bro."
"I LOVE YOU TOO, SANS."
Papyrus grinned at Sans, before leaving the room, shutting the door behind him.