Hey Everyone!

Interference in bold, puns and memories in italics, magic is underlined.

-text- indicates either texts, or mental "talking".

All Undertale stuff owned by Toby Fox, else me, or a reference.

This chapter wraps up this first Gaster interlude. I'm going to be skipping around for a while, so suggestions are welcome. Don't worry, the plot will be resolved *frantic scribbling*.

Toriel offers you a handknit sweater as recompense for the stolen pie. It is striped, with your favorite colors, and extremely soft and warm. You are slightly more okay with recent events.

Toriel

I wake up on the uncomfortable green couch that Sans and Papyrus insisted on dragging up here from Snowdin. I do not understand how it can manage to be both lumpy and soft at the same time. It is not magical...is it not? I do not know.

I peer into their kitchen...it continues to confuse me why Papyrus refuses to lower the height of their sink. It is impractical, is it not? Even he is not tall enough to reach the faucet without a stool, and his brother cannot do so at all. Despite this...idiocracy, their kitchen is quite nice. Surely preparing a simple breakfast will not be too difficult, will it not?

Alphys

She was worried when she arrived at Sans' and Papyrus' house to see Toriel chasing the famous Annoying Dog out the front door. She had heard Papyrus complaining multiple times to her girlfriend about it, and knew it could be quite annoying. She hastily shuffled over to the green door and peered inside, searching for impending disasters...there weren't any. She let out her breath.

She hadn't seen their house in a while, so the new decor wasn't a huge surprise...when was the last time again? Oh no, surely she hadn't forgotten! They'd ask her what she thought of the changes, and she wouldn't be able to remember, and...she tried not to hyperventilate. It would be fine, everything would be fine, this was fine...okay. Breathe. BREATHE. Better.

She looked around for somewhere to set the equipment she'd brought. Didn't they used to have a table over there? She couldn't remember, but...oh. It was hidden behind the door. Oh. Yeah. She set the plastic case containing the old model interface unit on the worn surface, and headed back to the car for the vinyl. She'd have to ask Toriel or Papyrus to carry in the lab maze, since the only model she'd been able to borrow that day was bigger around than her arms could reach.

Ten minutes later, she'd lugged in the albums and set them next to the high-tech entertainment system she and Undyne had given the skeleton brothers last Gyftmas. It hadn't been as expensive as she'd thought it would be, but, then again, her girlfriend had been the one to negotiate with the salesperson...she decided not to think too much about that. At least it tucked nicely into the small cabinet they'd already had. With the doors slid shut, you almost wouldn't think it was there.

She heard a creak, and her head snapped up...it was only Papyrus trying to descend the stairs quietly. She waved nervously, and he returned the gesture with vigor. How did he have so much energy? She'd heard her girlfriend and him discussing 'the art of naps' before, and from what she'd understood, he hardly slept at all! But Sans had convinced her it was totally normal for Papyrus, nothing to be worried about, completely fine...she focused on her breathing for a minute.

Today wasn't turning out to be a good day for her. Almost from the moment she'd grabbed that old interface, it felt like she was on the edge of remembering something bad, something terrible...but she was fine, wasn't she? She'd double checked the locks on her way out, and she'd made sure all the taps were shut and...she felt a pair of gloved hands grab her shoulders.

She opened her eyes, squeezed shut with the effort of trying to remember whatever it was that was niggling at her thoughts. Two sockets stared back at her, glowing faintly orange, pulsing. She felt herself being sucked into that pulse - one two three four five IN one two three four five OUT one two three four five IN…

"ARE YOU FEELING BETTER NOW, DOCTOR ALPHYS?" A voice intruded into her calm, and she almost lost the rhythm, but...no, the glow was still there, catching her back up in the exercise. After a while, she was stable enough to remember the question. She nodded, and the gloved hands released her shoulders. She had heard how...soothing Papyrus could be, when he needed to...several psychologist colleagues of hers had asked if she knew him, how he did it...she'd never been on the receiving end, though, and so the sheer...enormity of what he could do hadn't impressed her. She could feel her SOUL absorbing the calm from an external source, working it into those areas of her psyche that had been worn down, bolstering them...it was incredible.

She saw the skeleton's jaw move, and it took her a moment to come out of her fever of scientific speculation enough to understand he was speaking to her. She tilted her head, and he repeated patiently, "HAVE YOU SEEN HER MAJESTY THIS MORNING?" She nodded, and pointed out the door. She knew she would stutter horribly if she tried to speak just now; it was better not to bother. He reached over and squeezed her claws, then moved behind her and, presumably, out the door.

She heard a familiar chuckle drift down, and turned her head to see Sans peering over the railing of their upper floor. He was barely tall enough to see over it, she noticed smugly, forgetting for the moment that she was a mere two inches taller than him. After all the science pranks he'd pulled on her since he'd gotten his honorary doctorate from the humans, she felt entitled to a bit of smugness...and it was gone, vanished the moment he simply teleported over and dropped down onto the couch. She hated when he did that. So much.

"hey there, glad you could drop by. anything weighing on your mind you want to load off onto me? happy to throw you a bone," she rolled her eyes. Sans was...still Sans, apparently. She pointed to the table where she'd left the interface unit, and his eye sockets lit up, "hey, thanks! this'll come in real handy. mind giving me a hand setting it up?"

The snort behind her explained his incredible pun output. She smacked one clawed hand to her forehead. Of course. Anytime Toriel and Sans were in the same room, there was no stopping the puns short of a full-blown Papyrus meltdown. She stalked out the front door, hoping to find the taller skeleton and get that maze into the house so she could leave as quickly as possible. She couldn't handle the puns on top of...well, everything else about this day.

She realised her ear-flaps were extended...she was upset…? Sans' puns were horrible, but...not THAT bad. Somewhere deep in her SOUL, she felt an echo of fear and frustration radiate out. Well then, that was...she remembered why Sans had called her over in the first place. Something about memory recovery through object association, wasn't it?

Sans

Well, that was...something. He couldn't recall seeing Alphys that...edgy. Her normal behavior was a combination of anxiety, fangirling, and geeking out that was fairly easy to predict, but this? He felt an uncomfortable grin spread across his skull, the sort he used to wear all the time. The sort that was just a mask. He hoped Tori wouldn't notice. He could have guessed it would be in vain.

"Sans, you are aware that you do not need to hide your feelings like that around us anymore, are you not?" Busted. He let his smile...well, he settled into a less mask-like expression, anyway. He was sorta stuck with the smile at this point. Maybe Alphys...no, he wouldn't think about it. That was...he was used to it, now. He turned to Tori and sighed.

"yeah, i know, old habits die hard. i think she's catching an edge of...whatever this is. didn't think i'd be starting a memory party here, not that…" he heard the bitterness creeping into his voice, "sorry."

She looked at him, an odd mix of sympathy and motherly annoyance in her eyes, "It is alright, Sans. Perhaps you should explain how you intend to get your brother out of the house while you completely explain things to us?" He flinched a little at her tone. Yeah, he was on thin ice here. Heh.

He knocked his bare knucklebones against his skull, "this old numbskull has a few ideas floating around in it," He winced at the dizziness that spread through his cranial cavity. Right, he'd just hit the tail end of this cold. Hooray. Toriel handed him a glass, and he stared at the liquid inside. Some kind of juice, by the look of it. He sighed, and threw it back.

"SANS! WHERE DID YOU WANT THIS LABORATORY MAZE THAT DOCTOR ALPHYS HAS BROUGHT FOR YOU?" He peered around Toriel, and saw…

"table, bro," he squeaked, worried the day his brother finally injured himself coming through their front door had finally arrived. He knew he should have gotten a bigger door, it would be all his fault- oh. His brother safely set the large maze onto the table. He got up, still a little unsteady on his feet, and wobbled over to the table. It was...almost the exact same setup as the one he remembered Gaster…

-Now would be an excellent time begin your explanation, skeleton.-

He flipped a mental finger at the intruder. He would NOT react where the others could see, nope, nuh uh. Nimaron's voice snickered in his head, "that's great, bro," he paused, as if this were only now occurring to him, "hey, do you think you could do me a favor? would you drive over and pick up the kid?" The sounds of Papyrus' boots echoed down the path to their garage as Sans turned his grin on Alphys' stare. Heh, another point for the bonehead. He felt Toriel's glare through the fabric of his hoodie. Yeah.

He reached up, scratching the back of his skull idly. He knew where to begin, just...where to begin? Yeah, "so, alphys, ever heard the name gaster?"

Alphys

That name...where had she heard that name before? It was...no, she hadn't heard it, she'd seen it written down. Handwriting...blurry? Why would it be...she hadn't had her new glasses. It was blurry like when she used to try and read through the distance-only pair she'd had...she hadn't had those since...since...she'd been an intern under the previous Royal Scientist…?

No, not an intern, exactly. She felt emotions in the memory...fear? Caution. She shouldn't have been looking at...whatever paper she'd been looking at. But it did belong to the previous Royal Scientist, the one no one seemed to know much about. Obviously there had been a previous Royal Scientist, she wasn't that old, but no one could remember his...their name. No, his. Suddenly, she was certain about that. Definitely his.

What had the paper said? She snatched up her notebook and tried to reproduce the message she recalled reading. She could barely make out the words, they'd been scrawled out quickly rather than legibly, by her as well as by...whoever…

'Gaster was i'- something beginning with an 'i'. Issued? Insulted? Improved?...Injured. 'when'...a name, some kind of a name…'attempted to'...something…'Sans. The elder brother's ins'...instinct, probably…'was to protect the'...tr? br? fr…'frailer. Further'...hmn. Probably experiments…'are in order. Bottom 3 ribs'...

She stared at the message, brain suddenly interpreting much faster. A list of injuries. Bad injuries. She looked up at Toriel's worried frown. Someone had asked her a question, hadn't they, and she'd forgotten and now it would be awkward to ask and- "well, guess that answers the question. remember this somewhere, did you? where?" She felt her sins crawling up her back.

"I...I wasn't supposed to, I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm-"

"woah there, nothing to get so upset about," A skeletal hand waved in front of her eyes, "you there, alphys? i know it's a cloudy day and all, but sticking your head up there's not the smartest plan."

She scowled, "S-s-sans, that was terrible."

He shrugged, "i know. it worked, though, didn't it?" She caught Toriel's glare out of her excellent peripheral vision, "sorry. can you remember why you weren't supposed to see it?"

His voice was calm, the usual tone she associated with 'lazybones Sans'. Nonthreatening. So why was her SOUL squeezing so tightly? "I…" She nudged her glasses back into place. This was important, she wasn't the panicky teenager she'd been when- oh, "I snuck into the R-r-royal Scientist's L-l-lab...a long time ago? He'd just announced the c-c-construction of the CORE, and I w-w-wanted to see what the wiring l-l-looked like. I was looking f-f-for his office, and I took a wrong turning? Yeah, and I…"

"There was a room, kinda like a medical office? Only...darker. Whitewash and t-t-tile...I think it was down in...in the True Lab? And there were s-s-some strange machines…" She looked over at the magic-neural interface she'd brought, and shuddered, "I don't think anyone c-c-cleaned the emanations down there very often...and there were some p-p-papers, on the desk? This w-w-was on top," She handed her scrawled copy over to the Queen, "I was just t-t-trying to see if they were the b-b-blueprints, so I didn't st-t-t-tay long."

She looked up. Toriel was...she scrabbled in her pocket for the packet of tissues she kept there. When she located it, she dragged one out, then offered it to the weeping Queen. She looked over at Sans, but he shook his skull, nodding to Toriel in a clear message to wait.

Toriel

I want, very much, to find this..this...certain in whatever limbo he has been trapped, drag him from his prison and rend him limb from limb, one mote of dust at a time, so he can truly understand how...not acceptable it is to use children in this manner!

I want, very much, to find my godchild and rescue him, wrap him in the warmest, softest sweater I can knit, and feed him endless rounds of home cooked pie.

I want, very much, to order Sans to rebuild the time machine he dismantled four years ago so that I might prevent this...this...this…this...

"knock knock," My ears perk up at the familiar sound.

"Who is there?" My voice is typically firm, is it not?

"annie," I cannot tell where he is going with this, but the familiarity is welcome.

"annie who?"

"annie you to tell me what's wrong," I start, head up, and see his concerned sockets inches from my snout. I blush, ashamed to have become so...lost...in my thoughts, that I might worry him so.

I breathe in, "This...should not have happened, Sans," I try to fill my words with all the emotion I feel at this.

He shrugs, his sockets skirting away from my gaze. I move to meet his eye lights, but he turns further and further away. I am annoyed. Behind him, I hear Alphys' chuckle, and I raise an eyebrow at her. She stifles her amusement, and Sans sighs, "none of it should have."

He stands, and I sense that he is trying to gather his thoughts and emotions in hand, so that none may escape or overwhelm him. I follow as he leads us to the couch, where he gestures Alphys and I to take a seat. I oblige, as does the scientist. He settles in the chair to our right, posture suddenly filled with...determination?

"well, uh, not really sure how to begin this," his eyelights dart to the doorway, then back, "beginning'd be favorite, right? yeah. so, me'n paps grew up in snowdin, way back when. not many people remembered us cause...well, tori heard yesterday, but, uh, let's just say my brother got so lost in time hardly any memories of him could survive the paradox shift. i've got a paper on it, somewhere. i'll look it up for you sometime, alphys."

He drummed his knuckle bones on the hardwood of the chair, "yeah. so, our parents, right? skeletons, like us. don't remember much, really. mom would sing a lot, and she wrote music. wrote the memorial song. pretty neat, huh? dad and tori were friends, mom and her too. dad died just before...y'know. mom and tori kept in touch...you said you invited us to live in the ruins?" I nod, slightly confused as to where he intended this ramble to lead, "the day she went to check it out, a rapid bear got through. dusted her and doggo's dad...gaster took us to find her, and...yeah. gaster was...is...our older brother. lost through time and...time, i guess? yeah. little shorter than pap's is now, last i...yeah."

I hear Alphys shift, clearly desiring a more coherent explanation, but she remains silent, "...uh, so, we stayed in the house for a while. same house, big thing, can't miss it. three kids in stripy shirts...don't think anyone realised we'd lost both our parents for a while...not 'till...alphys, d'you remember when fluffybuns made the big tour?" I can see her confused glance, and catch the edge of his signing to her...something about blue? She looks over at me, then nods vigorously, "yeah, well, everyone in snowdin had to turn out for the parade, and...well, one of the big-wigs noticed us standing all alone. paps was pretty short then...he snuck off to the front of the crowd for a while, trying to get a glimpse of the captain of the royal guard, must have been then…" His voice falters, then resumes.

"a couple of skelton kids in stripy shirts, no tall skeletons to be seen? bound to be orphans, right? yeah. next day, i hear this knocking at the front door, only i'm too tired to get up, and," he blushes, "i can be...i mean, i used to...paps couldn't get up if i didn't," he clears his throat. I smile. Somehow, it does not surprise me to learn that Sans is one of those monsters who will latch onto another in their sleep. My son is much the same, "anyway, gaster must have gotten the door, cause after a while, he came up to our room," Sans' sockets suddenly lose their lights, and I shiver, "he was terrified down to his SOUL. he made us swear not to leave the house until he came back, then grabbed his jacket off of the dresser and left."

Sans closes his sockets, and when they open, the lights are back, "uh, yeah. he came back, pretty tired. made us promise to hide every morning when the knock came, not to come out until we were sure the scientist was gone. it was the royal scientist...paps thought it was a game, so we went along with that. couple of days went by. i could see the pain, though. gaster was...he wasn't doing too well. it scared me...a lot."

"tried hiding in the basement a couple of times...the scientist was pretty good at hide and seek, though. he, uh, found me, one day. didn't find paps, thank the gods...i kinda fought back? wasn't very good, though. just made him mad. think it made it...easier, for him, what all he did to me. what all came next."

He sighs, and I cannot help but feel the echoed terror rolling off him. Despite everything, he continues, and I blink at the apparent change of subject, "tori, you remember when frisk fell down, right?" I nod, confused. He continues, "you remember the wounds they had?" Suddenly, I understand what he is trying to say, and I shudder. No child should have to go through that...it is no wonder he has been so defensive of Frisk, of Silver. He knows what they have lived through, "yeah. lot of the same stuff, only bones don't take scars so well as skin, see?"

Alphys looks just as ill as I feel, "got a couple, though," he lifts the edge of his shirt, "this was one of the first. wanted to see what skeletons were made of, so they cut off a rib. grew back eventually," he bares his scapula, revealing a large...discoloration. The bone seems almost burnt, "testing the limits of fire magic. got a matching one on the other side, said they botched the first test. not much difference i could see. there's one-"

"Stop, Sans. Please, just...stop?" he looks at me, and I can tell he realises I can bear no more.

"sorry…" he looks down, "...uh, yeah. no more scars...most of what they did didn't scar, anyway. y'know your DETERMINATION experiments, alphys?" She winces, "yeah, well...you weren't the first. they wanted to know what a healthy monster could take, though. it's...weird. not something i would recommend. not a whole lot of use, really. 's not like blue magic. DETERMINATION...it bends time. put enough of it in one body, and time...works less? something like that. 's why i'm so short. haven't grown since then."

"they played around a lot with our shifting…" I sit up, startled. There are not many monsters capable of shifting forms. It is both genetic and power-based, and it is incredibly dangerous for growing monsters to do. Sans looks up at me, then lets a tired grin fall across his face, "yeah...we didn't really know what we were doing...found a couple of books about it, later, for pap...don't think he's ever tried, after reading that. can't say i blame him. hurt, even on good days...when we were hurting, with the DETERMINATION? it was...bad," his hand reaches up, skeletal fingers rubbing his cheek, "used to have a skull like pap's, movable jawbone and all. i can, uh, still remember what it felt like…yeah."

"not everything they did to us was for science, though," He is staring at Alphys...I believe he is trying to convince her she could never have done this, "a lot of it was...cruel? for fun? yeah...one of the underlings got, uh, angry? frustrated? something. decided it would be fun to see how much magic could be shoved through a skeleton's eye socket," he tapped his skull. One eye light...flickers out. I notice for the first time that the other is...whiter, "ever wonder why i don't drive?" I cringe, "oh, uh, 's alright. doesn't hurt anymore, see?" he sticks a finger through his empty socket, wiggling it around. I feel faint, "sorry...that was just before the pie you baked us, tori. good pie," his other eye dims, "think that's why it never really hurts. thanks, by the way."

I nod, shoulders shaking. If I had known, I could have- "tori, seriously, it's fine. gaster'd already used up a lot of his magic trying to heal it, anyway. it's fine," he added more quietly, almost to himself, "nothing you could do," his voice picked up again, "anyway, yeah. did a lot of stuff to gaster, too. he had these holes in his hands, pretty neat, and these two lines on his skull, lips even. cool stuff, " I...Frisk had told me of his pain, of his instinct to hide it behind the cheerful grin...I had not realised how long he had been hiding, "anyway, that's pretty much where we catch up with what i told you and papyrus last night. scientist comes early, paps in kitchen, scary gaster, teleport to CORE, fight, gaster drags scientist into CORE void generator ring with him."

He breathes in, "timelines implode, no more gaster memories, no more scientist, everyone scrambles for memories. asgore meets me and paps in last corridor, job, snowdin, you know the rest...oh, and there's some kid named aster who might be the half-reincarnation of my brother, and i wanted to test it, and accidentally started reawakening everyone's memories right and left," he pauses, seeming to realise how...confusing he has been, "sorry, guess i got a little...sorry," I hear the front door open.

Sans (later)

Well, that could have gone...better. Seems like everyone BUT the kid got some new memories out of his little remodel. He sighed, dragging the blankets over his head. He felt…

-Embarrased?-

He snarled, "no, cheery as a lark. what do you want?"

-I only wished to console you about the-

"save the sarcasm, what do you want, you bloody trickster?"

-Looked me up then, have you?- Nimaron seemed overly cheery. -Find anything good?-

He growled, "NO," He hadn't, actually. Not anything, although he hadn't gotten very deep into the search yet.

Nimaron hummed into his mind. -Too bad. Haven't had a good legend in AGES. Oh well.- Then, as if just remarking on a passing thought - which he highly doubted - she added, -You know, the concept of SOUL cohabitation is one my brother is particularly proud of. Quite a complex mechanism, really.- Her voice dropped out of it's singsong cheeriness. -Tread carefully, skeleton. Time is a dangerous addiction. Too much of it kills you...too little will leave you dry. And do say hello to the First Child for me, will you? I do miss our little chats. Ta ta~-

He was left alone in his mind to pace empty circles, muttering at the walls which chuckled back.