Sans woke slowly, and although he hadn't been out long, literally minutes, it was like he'd just had the hardest crash of his life. Why had he…
Oh shit.
Dad.
He immediately opened and dove through a shortcut to the open core platform, but it lay deserted. No, deserted didn't feel like the right word. Just… empty. Feeling panic in his chest, he turns tail runs back towards the lab. The celebration was in full swing, as the doors opened, cheers rung out and excited, tipsy scientists try to pull him into the crowd. He forces a smile to his face and asks "has anyone seen gaster?" He manages to keep the panic out of his voice and off his face as people start shrugging and asking the next person. Eventually someone presses a drink into his hand and tells him to search for his friend later. It's like someone has drenched him in ice water and something must finally show through on his face because like the angel from above that she is, Alphys manages to break through the crowd and tug him clear of it. She pulls him along by the hand and takes him into a seperate and empty area.
"C-come on, Sans, I know y-you don't need t-to breathe b-but it'll help. R-remember what you t-t-tell me. In, five, a-and out. R-ride it out." Until she said it, he hadn't noticed that the breathing reflex had stopped. She watches as he struggles to start it again, and puts his hand on her chest, taking deep breaths herself. It helps him focus and soon he's starting again, slow and rhythmic. She's right, it helps. A little, anyway. They stay like that for what feels like hours, but in reality is probably only minutes. "What's g-g-going on, Sans? This is n-not like you a-at a-a-all." She's really worried, she's never seen him lose his cool like this. She knows something big must have happened, and the only thing she can think of that would cause him to hit panic stations would be- "Did something h-happen t-to P-p-papyrus?"
Oh shit. Ohshitohshitohshit. He hadn't thought to even check, he needs to- he grabs for his phone and Alph takes it in her hands as he's shaking so hard he can't even hold it properly. She types out a quick message, and it chimes back at her almost immediately. She focuses back in on Sans.
"H-hey! S-sans! You n-n-need to s-speak to me! You've d-d-done this f-for m-me loads of t-times. Y-You know what th-this is. T-t-tell me wh-what it is."
He takes a heaving breath, trying to pull himself away from the second one that threatened to pull him back under. "Anxiety attack."
"And what are we d-doing?"
"...breathing."
"A-and?"
"talking."
"A-about?"
"you pick."
"...The e-elephant who's … c-car broke down."
"why?"
"n-not sure b-but they found h-his engine in his t-trunk."
There's a pause. Two. Then, despite it all, a snicker comes from him. She grins, happy at the response.
"A b-blind man walks into a b-bar. And a t-table. And a chair."
A snicker turns into a chuckle, then a laugh.
Soon they're both laughing.
"...Thanks Alph."
"n-no problem. And p-p-papyrus is okay. He t-texted me b-back almost st-straight away. He asked if you were still out celebrating your science th-thingy so I said yes."
"did you text gaster as well? or see him at all?"
"...who?"
"al... i love you… but don't play with me right now."
"I-i-i'm n-not! T-t-tell me who he i-is and m-maybe I c-can help?"
"doctor w.d. gaster? royal scientist? person you have idolised since you hatched out of your little dino egg? my dad? fucking hell, al." He buries his face in his hands when she looks at him completely confused. "ugh... what did he do?"
"S-sorry… if it h-helps at all, that p-position has been e-empty s-since as long as anyone can r-remember." she starts wringing her hands together, at a loss for what to do. "A-actually, I g-guess it's k-kinda your job since you've a-always been here? I d-don't remember you… I m-mean it's always been y-you and P-Papyrus, right?"
"it... doesn't. ok. just… go back to the party. sorry i snapped. i'll … i'll figure this out. somehow."
"Sans…
"please... just go... thanks for the help."
She hands him his phone back and starts towards the door, and hovers by it when she gets there looking unsure as to whether leaving him alone is the best thing right now. But she leaves anyway. The minute she's gone, he tiredly opens a portal and steps back into his room.
You'll find some of the answers at home. Look for what wasn't there before.
More riddles. Joy.
Wait.
More riddles? What?
The light catches a gleam of silver from where he's stood mulling over the words and he finds a small, silver key on the chest of drawers with a folded piece of paper. It's a picture Papyrus had drawn when he was still a babybones of the three of them.
"the hell did you do? i feel like i'm going nuts here, dad."
He slips both in his pocket and begins searching the entire house, and the key goes to a grand total of nothing. He doesn't find anything out of place, either. In fact, he tears the entire house apart trying to find anything and nothing is there at all. He's in the middle of chucking all the stuff in his room out of it when the front door slams open.
"WHAT HAPPENED IN- SANS ARE YOU HOME? THIS IS A NEW LEVEL OF UNTIDINESS, EVEN FOR YOU! AND I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL NOT BE CLEARIMG UP A SINGLE THING. PICK UP AFTER YOURSELF FOR A CHANGE! NYEH HEH HEH!"
Sans dives out of his room, nearly ending up toppling over the banister he runs into it so hard. "pap! You gotta help me find what this key goes to! Dad left it-"
"WHAT KEY? WHAT DAD? ARE YOU… PLAYING ONE OF YOUR PRANKS? BECAUSE I DON'T UNDERSTAND THIS ONE."
"no, no, no! not you too… damn it all!" He heads back into his room, slamming the door behind him in his hurry, and continues tearing it apart in his quest to find what the key belongs to. He hears his room's door open softer than usual.
"BROTHER, DID YOU LOSE SOMETHING? YOU REALLY SHOULD BE MORE CAREFUL… IF YOU WERE MORE TIDY, YOU- ARE YOU LISTENING?"
"no and yes, in that order. if you're gonna nag, do that and look."
"LOOK FOR WHAT?"
"i don't know! something that wasn't there before. that's what he said."
"WHAT WHO SAID?"
"oh for- dad. gaster?"
He feels hands grab him and hold him firmly in place. "SANS. I SEE WHAT'S HAPPENING HERE."
"you… do?"
"YES. YOU HAVE BEEN WORKING TOO HARD AND YOUR USUALLY LAZY BODY AND BRAIN AREN'T COPING WITH THE STRESS. ARE YOU HAVING-"
"No." He doesn't even notice his pupils have dimmed from his stress and frustration levels hitting peaks.
"DON'T MAKE THAT FACE AT ME, SANS, IT'S NOT AS SPOOKY AS PEOPLE SAY IT IS. AND PUPILS OR NOT, YOU NEED TO STOP THIS."
"let me go, papyrus."
"NO! YOU NEED A TIME-OUT. AND I-" He picks up Sans and puts him over his shoulder. "-KNOW EXACTLY THE PLACE, EVEN IF IT IS A DISGUSTING GREASE PIT, NYEHEHEHE."
"...Aren't you normally carrying him out?"
"pap, I swear-"
"YEP! BUT TODAY HE NEEDS A TIME-OUT. I NEVER THOUGHT I WOULD SAY THIS BUT I THINK MY BROTHER HAS BEEN WORKING TOO HARD." Papyrus places his brother on a barstool. "HE KEEPS TALKING ABOUT A KEY AND A ...GASTY?"
"gaster. and you were college buddies with him grillbz, you gotta know-" Grillby is already shaking his head. his soul sinks further and his head hits the bar. He has a headache, the cool wood is not helping it ease.
"Sorry, Sans, I don't know anyone by that name. Anything I can keep a look out for?"
"he's another skeleton so that's a dead give away."
"WE ARE… I MEAN… WE'RE THE ONLY TWO LEFT."
"He's right… I'm sure I've told you this before."
Why? Why did no-one remember him?
More importantly: why am I the only one who does?
He lifts his head and props his forehead in his hand, taking the weight on his elbow on the bar and massages the front of his skull trying to figure some of this out. Any of this out.
"You should eat least eat, Sans."
He opens one eye socket and sees food had been placed in front of him. He pushes the plate away from him with the hand not holding his head up. He can feel both pairs of concerned of eyes on him.
"'m gonna take a walk." He hops down from the barstool and starts to make his way out. He hears Papyrus start to follow, probably to stop him.
Papyrus is left looking around at empty snow, confused, even though his brother was literally 3 foot ahead of him by the time he's opening the door out of Grillby's.
Sans didn't actually shortcut far, just to the back of the house. He just needed some time alone for a while, having people around wasn't helping him figure this out. He ended up sitting out the back until the snow literally started forming a pile on him and his clothes were soaked. He'd got nowhere, chasing his head in circles and unable to give any sense of logic to today's events. Actually, he's half convinced that his father had just managed to pull his greatest prank ever and he'd go to the lab tomorrow and he'd just be sat there pretending not to know what Sans was on about when he tears him a new one for this.
And yet, somehow, he knew that was wishful thinking.
He sighs and heaves himself up, shaking himself off and plodding around the house. And he freezes, spotting something… off. It was hard to see without really looking, but once he'd spotted it, it was hard to unsee. He moves closer to the dark spot, and realises it's a… keyhole. Oh. OH. He reaches inside his pocket and grabs the key, and inserts it into the lock. It turns with a quiet click, and the side of the house swings open to reveal a staircase that goes down. He scans left and right and steps down, shutting the door behind him. As soon as the door is shut, lights power on and despite his soft footfalls, the sound of them echo lightly. He reaches the new room under the house, and cannot believe his eyes. It's empty save for a single machine and a rolled up blueprint on the side. The machine gives him another bout of that deja-vu like feeling as he takes in the sight of it. As if by pure muscle memory, he turns it on and types in a command for the logs of it's last uses. The machinery is like nothing he's seen but he may as well have built the damned thing for how second nature it is to navigate it. No, using the machine is not the problem. The problem is that the logs have been corrupted, and if the data isn't redacted then it's just straight up missing. It shows it has been used a lot since the initial programming, and there seems to have been two if not three users - all using the wingdings font so one was for certain his father but the other main user wrote very similar, if not more cryptically, from what he could piece together. Which, admittedly, was frustratingly little. Instead, he pulls up the command box and starts to try and restore the corrupted data. A message appears.
*DO NOT
*THINGS ARE INCOMPLETE
*THINGS ARE FATED
He ignores it, and continues the command codes.
*NOT YET TIME
*NOT YET BROKEN
*WAIT
*YOU WANTED MY HELP
*LISTEN
It's so achingly familiar, and yet so different. He's sick of that feeling. A small warning light goes off on the machine as a prompt pops up: 'restore timeline data'. Time… line? His head hurts. He feels like he should know this.
*NOT READY YET
He tells it to restore, and the alarm blares loudly, then stops in a massive shower of sparks erupts from the machine as he pulls away and covers his face.
Welp.
He removes what panels he can, and curses to himself. Almost everything is completely fried. He's got … something. A word that he only possibly knows what to do with. But it's better than nothing. The room under the house is a wealth of evidence that his father had existed just by existing itself… so now it was just to find out why that changed. How that changed. And fix it.
He pulls out his phone and texts Alphys. He'd have texted Dan as well, but his phone doesn't hold the number anymore. Sans doesn't have the energy to question it. Now that the initial wave has passed, he's starting to just feel tired.
*got a project if you want to help
*OMG really? Already?
*feeling much better. but not for a couple of days anyway. Need to prep.
*Hmm -_-
*It's better than sitting around feeling sorry for myself?
*HMM ¬_¬
*If it comes to anything you can use it to help get the royal scientist job.
*WTF?! That big?
*i said help build something cool, you're good at that. and you'll be building something cool for me, too, so you'll have two cool things to show mr. dreemy.
*OMFG HOW DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THAT?! D8
*i know a bit about everything
*I don't doubt it o_o
*also you left your notebook open on the table when I helped you tidy up
*OH GOD
*YOU SAW NOTHING ( /) - (\ )
*5g says i didn't
*That's… cheap
*sorry, autocorrect. i meant 50g
*Sans
*500g
*Please STOP
*5000g
*fine, I'll help.
*pretty sure bribery is illegal -_-
*only if you tell on me
*...How did I know that's what you were going to say?
He locks the door as he leaves, chuckling a little at the last text. He walks in through the front door, straight past Papyrus, straight past all the mess and goes to his room to lay on his bed and pass the hell out. He figures he's earned that much. Sleep isn't an easy affair tonight, though, finding himself restless and waking as every time he dreams he sees the meeting face of Gaster. But as much as he's expecting the emotional void to swallow him whole, he finds he doesn't get that reprieve; grief leaving him feeling shredded and raw now that he has nothing to distract him. He pretends to be asleep when Papyrus checks on him a few times, anyway, wanting to be alone to grieve the man only he knows. The emotional void never quite opens, but he feels listless and drained for the next couple of days. He ignores all the food Papyrus brings in, all the attempts to engage him in conversation. He cries once, when he's sure Papyrus is out of the house. Ripping sobs that pass quickly, but they feel cathartic in a way he didn't expect. Emotions flit between dull and burning white hot pokers. But the void doesn't come, nor does it gnaw at him slowly like it did. He examines his soul on the second day, summoning it after his catharsis moment, and it looks like the little white upside monster heart he always sees until he lets it flow back into him.
...What had he been expecting to see?
He should read the folders. He stays in bed.
"...SANS? YOU SHOULD AT LEAST EAT SOMETHING." Papyrus sounds concerned. He manages a shrug. Papyrus takes this as an encouraging thing. "I DON'T KNOW WHO THIS PERSON IS YOU WERE LOOKING FOR, BUT YOU CAN STILL TALK TO ME ABOUT THEM. I'M SORRY I DON'T REMEMBER - WHICH IS ODD BECAUSE NORMALLY I AM VERY EXCELLENT AT REMEMBERING THINGS."
Talk to him. It's less of a thought and more of a push from his soul. He tries to ignore it but his soul and his mind seem to be against wallowing in the darkness because before he knows it, he's sat upright. He doesn't say anything just yet, but Papyrus seems pleased.
what's the point?
and read the folders.
what's the point?
"BROTHER?"
"can you… bring the folders from the drawers?"
"YOU MEAN THE ONES YOU THREW ACROSS THE ROOM WHEN YOU WRECKED THE HOUSE?" Sans is almost sure he's teasing, but there's a small needle in the tone as well. Sounds like Papyrus has probably cleaned the house while he's been wallowing. Whoopsie. But his tone brightens anyway, just happy at the prospect of sans doing, well, anything. He really hates Sans' 'days', even if this episode had been slightly different. No, not episode. he hates that word for them. "OF COURSE! ALTHOUGH BE WARNED, IF THIS IS A CLEVER RUSE TO GET ME TO TIDY UP IN HERE AS WELL, I WILL NOT BE FOOLED! NYEHEHEHEHEHE
"The teasing had lost it's edge and was just that this time. Sans decides to throw his brother a bone before he even knows what he's saying or about to say. "nah, they were… written by gaster. the guy I'm looking for."
"OH." the importance of that was not lost on Papyrus by the tone on his voice, and he carefully collected them from where they had fallen. "WAIT, THESE LOOK… FAMILIAR."
Sans notices him staring at the cover, symbols denoting his name and a number - the order in which the folders go.
"can you read it?"
"THE GREAT PAPYRUS CAN READ ANYTHING NYEH HEH HEH HEH!" But he starts squinting the longer he tries to read it. "...EXCEPT THIS. IT'S GIVING ME A HEADACHE. YOU KNOW I MIGHT UNDERSTAND MORE OF YOUR SCIENCEY STUFF IF YOU WROTE IT IN THINGS OTHER THAN HANDS."
"...you mean it would be more-"
"WAIT. NO. SANS, PLEASE, I JUST TOLD YOU I HAVE A HEADACHE."
"handy for you?"
"WHY IS MY BROTHER LIKE THIS?" he sighs, throwing his hands up in the air, careful not to drop the folders, as Sans chuckles to himself quietly.
"it would be wrong of me to not take the opportunity when it was handed to me."
Papyrus dumps the folders in his lap. "I CHOOSE TO TAKE THIS AS A WAY TO TELL ME YOU ARE FEELING BETTER."
"kinda? i think… i needed time to process."
"WELL, I STILL DON'T UNDERSTAND. BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN I DONT HAVE GOOD LISTENING EARS. I HAVE THE GREATEST LISTENING EARS. AND DON'T SAY WHAT I KNOW YOU'RE ABOUT TO."
Sans debates the pros and cons of saying it any way versus ruining the moment. For less than a second. "you don't have ears."
"AAAAARRRGGGHHH! IF YOU CONTINUE LIKE THIS, I'M GOING TO LEAVE."
"wait, what?"
"WELL, I WOULDN'T BE A VERY SUPPORTIVE BROTHER IF I DIDN'T STAY HERE WITH YOU WHILE YOU READ THESE POTENTIALLY VERY SAD THINGS. AND WHO ELSE IS GOING TO MAKE YOU EAT, IF I LEAVE NOW YOU WILL IGNORE YOUR FOOD FOR EVEN LONGER." and upon mentioning it, papyrus takes a seat next to him on the mattress and picks up the plate of food just reaching over sans with a long arm and putting it in his lap where Sans can easily reach it while he reads.
"...you really are the best." Sans smiles at him. Suddenly, reading them feels a whole lot less daunting. But he wouldn't ruin the moment by telling him that. Heh.
Papyrus, surprisingly, sits and offers quiet support while he sits and read while idly picking at the food - though Sans suspects that has as much to do with the headache he's now sporting by the way he keeps furrowing his brow bones. It doesn't help that every time it seems to ease off, Papyrus starts looking over his shoulder to try again.
"do you want painkillers or something, bro?" Sans finally looks up with a small sigh of concern.
"NO, I'LL JUST STOP LOOKING AT IT."
"are you sure?"
"YES. SEE, IT'S GOING AGAIN NOW I HAVENT AT IT IN A LITTLE WHILE."
"ok."
"...IS IT IMPORTANT INFORMATION? IS IT TELLING YOU ANYTHING ABOUT HIM?"
Sans covers the page as his brother's eyes are drawn back to it.
"nope, it's about me. all three of them."
"WOWIE! HE MUST HAVE LIKED YOU A LOT. SO WHERE'S THE ONES ABOUT ME? CLEARLY I AM THE BETTER BROTHER!"
"hehe, clearly. but nah, it's nothing like that. how much do you remember from when we were little?"
"HMM…" Papyrus thinks on this for a moment. "THAT'S AN ODD QUESTION, BUT I SHALL ANSWER. EVERYTHING, OF COURSE!"
"everything?"
"YES! YOU PASSED OUT AT THE SCHOOL BECAUSE YOU WERE ILL, WELL I DON'T REMEMBER THAT BIT BECAUSE I WAS TOO LITTLE BUT IT'S WHAT I WAS TOLD LATER, AND THEN YOU WERE JUST ALWAYS TOO SICK TO LEAVE THE HOSPITAL UNTIL YOU DID. WITHOUT TELLING ANYONE I MIGHT ADD." He glares at Sans. "ALSO AS LONG AS I CAN REMEMBER, YOU'VE ALWAYS HAD PROBLEMS WITH YOUR FEELINGS BECAUSE OF YOUR SICKNESS, BUT THAT'S FINE BECAUSE YOU'VE ALWAYS HAD A GREAT BROTHER TO HELP YOU WITH THAT. NYEH HEH HEH!"
"...and you? what about you when i was in the hospital?"
"THAT'S EASY! I WAS LOOKED AFTER BY GRILLBY OR I WAS WITH YOU. UNLESS I WAS AT HOME!"
Give him strength. "but with who? you were a babybones, you couldn't have been there alone the whole time."
"OH! I WAS… UHH…" He sees Papyrus' really hard thinking face, and assumes that's his mind struggling to close the gap. "YOU KNOW, I'M NOT REALLY SURE. I MUST HAVE BEEN TOO YOUNG TO REMEMBER."
"...him?" Sans pulls out the piece of paper he'd all but forgotten about until now, and shows Papyrus his own drawing. Papyrus grins happily.
"I THINK SO! I JUST DONT REMEMBER WHAT HE LOOKS LIKE. OR WHO HE IS! BUT HE MUST HAVE BEEN NICE AND COOL TO RAISE SOMEONE AS COOL AND GREAT AS ME, SO I WOULDN'T WORRY ABOUT IT! NYEH HEH HEH!"
"yeah, maybe." Sans' mind starts ticking over this, but Papyrus draws his attention back to him.
"SO WHAT'S IN THE FOLDERS?"
"oh, just… medical records and stuff. it's things that… no never mind."
"WHAT?"
"it's just weird."
"WELL, YOU ARE PRETTY WEIRD. BUT IN A GOOD WAY. YOU WOULDN'T BE SANS IF YOU WEREN'T!"
"...thanks pap." He gives papyrus a flat look but decides to take that as a compliment. Sort of. "i didn't mean the folders were weird, but it feels like i've read this before. actually, i've had the same feeling a few times over the last… i dunno. weeks, at least. like deja vu, but not."
"DEJA WHO?"
knock knock. His brain finishes the joke that wasn't started. It makes Sans chuckle to himself, the feeling bittersweet.
"you know, that feeling you get when you feel like you've said or done something before but you actually haven't?"
"OH! YES, ACTUALLY, I KNOW THAT FEELING. I THINK. I THOUGHT I HAD JUST DREAMED IT."
"eh, possibly. i wouldn't discount it. but, yeah, it's like i know all this i was just needing to remember that i've read it? sort of? like i said - weird."
"HMM…"
"it reminds me of a joke-"
"EVERYTHING REMINDS YOU OF A JOKE, BROTHER, AND NONE OF THEM ARE ANY GOOD!"
"this one is, bro."
"I KNOW I AM GOING TO REGRET THIS…"
"ok. knock knock"
"WHO'S THERE? ...I CANNOT BELIVE I'M DOING THIS!"
"deja"
"DEJA WHO- OH NO I SEE WHERE THIS IS GOING."
"knock knock." Sans grins, then starts laughing mostly because Papyrus' face is the most disapproving thing he's ever seen. Papyrus stands.
"I TOLD YOU, ONE MORE BAD JOKE AND I WAS LEAVING! NYEH!"
"aw, c'mon bro. that one's really good."
"NO KNOCK KNOCK JOKE IS EVER A GOOD JOKE, BROTHER." Papyrus leaves.
"...i just need someone that appreciates my sans of humour." His thoughts wander to the door, and he pulls them away from them and finishes up reading as his brother groans from outside his room.