Core Issues: Season 5
By Nicolle

Episode 5: Ordinary Girl, Ordinary Day
(Star is our narrator!)

A maze. A maze of traps meant to maim. To kill. A Frisk, a fierce one, desperately trying to remember the safe path through the continual exhaustion that loading the same save over and over after death caused. There was someone else there; watching the progress, a pair of brown eyes counting on the traps to do their horrible work. Frisk stepped the wrong way and I reached out, trying to grab the back of her sweater. My hand caught nothing but air, the girl's short lived scream echoing off the walls.

I sat up with a jolt, gulping air. Counting down from ten, I let the early morning calm slide over me and wash the nightmare away. Well, it wasn't really a nightmare, was it? I'd been watching this child die over and over in my dreams for a while now, and it wasn't doing much for my over all mood. I wanted to find her, to pull her out of that hell, and I couldn't. Cross had assured me that, despite what I was seeing, the girl could handle it. Frisks were built to take whatever their timeline threw at them. That didn't make it easier, especially since I knew that no matter what I was dreaming, Cross' nightmares were worse. A lot worse.

I yawned, stretched, and tried to roll onto my side. Tried being the operative word because the brothers Tarsus were on either side of me. I sighed and reached over Asriel to grab my phone off the nightstand. No messages; always a good sign. Seven in the morning; also a good sign. It meant I had plenty of time to get ready. I sat up and crawled out over the covers to hop off the bottom edge of the bed.

The boys were looking much better about their brother's situation now that we were a bit into it. Even so, they'd taken to sleeping over with me rather than in their bunk in my parent's apartment. They haven't given me any problems about going to bed at a decent hour so it wasn't any problem to have them over. Today, Chara Tarsus would be out of quarantine and the brothers would head home.

Hopefully. Things were getting weird with void travel. A strange sensation would come over me suddenly and I would instinctively reach for the void, only calming down when I felt it fill me.

I still want my sisters back. I don't care that this isn't their world. This is their home and I don't care how selfish I'm being about that.

They'll be here tomorrow.

I inhaled deeply and let it out slowly, savoring the thought.

It's been a long couple weeks.

I grabbed a set of purple scrubs out of the closet and pulled them on. I really wanted to wear one of my printed sets, but with new patients, and one needing serious psych care, Snoopy was going to have to wait. Red's father had given me the set when I finished medical school. I'd thought it strange that he'd thought to give me something since I didn't know him so well, but he was genuinely pleased to hear me gush over them. Apparently it's a thing?

I came out of the bedroom to find someone on my couch. Since Frisk Boneweaver had taken my guest room, my couch was the only other available space in my apartment. Well, it was either going to be my partner or my fiance. And since my partner stayed downstairs to help Prince Chara acclimate, it would be my fiance. No one else would just camp out in my apartment without saying something to me.

I leaned over the back of the couch and found Chara Seth Dreemurr, Seraph Agent 01, snoozing away. Since he lived in an apartment hidden behind his office at Site Alpha, crashing here was a way for him to be completely away from work for a little bit. And it was always, very specifically, the couch he'd sleep on, and not the bed in the spare room. We'd realized, oh so quickly, that a bed was just a little too much temptation. Scratch that, being completely alone was too much temptation. We haven't gone too far, but it was always there, hanging between us like the most delicious of fruits waiting to be plucked.

Yeah. If I hit forty and haven't given birth to at least six kids, I will be extremely surprised.

Umbra, my pokemon partner -Oh My God! You have no idea how much I just love saying that phrase!- was sleeping on Chara's stomach, his hand resting on her back. I will NEVER forget the day Blue had taken my partner and I to a legit pokemon timeline to capture our first pokemon and train a team. Umbra had been an Eevee and she'd jumped me from the grass, choosing me before a pokeball had even been thrown. All the other agents with us had asked me what I would evolve her into. And I couldn't even think of a proper name let alone an evolution. I was too busy being excited about having a pokemon. When it was time to head home, she'd refused a pokeball, which was just fine with me since I just wanted to hold her.

She evolved into an Umbreon in the darkness of the void, she'd been that enormously happy.

I knelt next to the couch and leaned in to kiss Chara's cheek. He stirred a little and sighed happily, red eyes opening just a bit to look at me.

"That time already?"

I shrugged. "It's a little after seven. Want some breakfast?"

A slow and very lascivious smile curled his lips. "I thought it was my job to make breakfast."

I swatted at him and he caught my hand, turning it to kiss my fingertips, my fingers, the back of my hand, the inside of my wrist. I shivered as he sat up just enough to pull me close and press his lips to mine. He lingered for moment, before letting go, his hand gently pushing my hair back behind my ear.

He smiled at me. "I'll make breakfast." He sat up and gently moved Umbra off of him and onto the floor. "What do you think the Tarsus brothers will want?"

I stood, stretching a little. "Pancakes, for sure." I smiled brightly. "Chocolate chips are on-"

"The second shelf behind the spices. Oh, I know." Chara scratched Umbra behind the ear.

My teapot whistled and clicked off automatically. I leaned over to have a look in the kitchen and found Crow, looking like your very standard Dr. Gaster, making himself and Frisk Boneweaver tea. Not that he needed to eat or drink. He just found the act soothing. The nightmare had likely woken him too. I walked into the kitchen and gave him a hug, offering my best smile for the best exemplar in the multiverse.

He is the best exemplar. Anyone who argues otherwise can fight me.

Crow smiled and gently pet my hair before moving aside for Chara and I to take over the kitchen and get breakfast going.

I tapped Chara. "Make a double batch. I have a guest in the spare room."

He nodded and gave me a curious glance. "Who?"

I pointed to the cleric sitting at the table. "Frisk Boneweaver."

He turned to face her, clearly shocked. "Your father let you leave the timeline?"

She nodded and sipped her tea. And then frowned. "You know me?"

Chara shook his head. "I've met your father."

"Dragoon seriously injured their Asriel and their Undyne sent all three here. When Asriel wakes up this morning, I'll be making him do the horrible walk of horrible pain. If he does well over the next couple days, we might be able to move him into the suite with his brother by the end of the week." I ran a thumb across my stomach. "He was doing his best impression of me."

Chara caught my hand, stilling me for a moment. "Don't. It's no big deal to you, but it really upsets your partner. Even if he doesn't say anything about it."

I poked him in the chest. "And it upsets you. It's okay to say that. You're allowed to be scared shitless that I might not come back from a mission. I'm the same way about you when I hear that something's happening at Site Alpha."

He leaned in, kissing my forehead. "I honestly don't know how Church and Bones do it."

I hugged him, taking a moment to feel the strength in his arms. "We'll figure it out."

I quick checked my phone for the day's schedule. Discharge Chara Tarsus from quarantine. Woot! Get Asriel up and walking around post operation. Gonna suck for him. Check Cross' arm. In the name of all that's holy, please don't let it be bad. Training floor with the Boss Man. Woo hoo! Lunch. Yum! Afternoon of therapy for Frisk Tamanna. Oh boy.

Two years of grad school hell in psychology better not fail me now.

I pulled a few of my psych reference books from the bookshelf just inside the kitchen door. Sitting at the table, I cracked them open while Chara poured out the first round of pancakes. Going to grad school hadn't been about getting letters after my name. I'd gone so I could be certified as a field psychologist. I guess I learned from myself how badly Seraph needed one.

Social isolation was the subject I wanted to do my thesis on, but my advisor didn't feel that it was important enough. That it wasn't the major issue it so clearly is. To be fair, my advisor wouldn't have known better. He was the kind of guy who spent his days surrounded by friends and colleagues. He had a strong network and deep connections.

He never understood that those classes were filled with people and every one of them felt like they were completely alone. That's why the classes were full. Each student was hoping to find the answer to their own problems. And not a single one of them thought to introduce themselves to the person next to them. To make the life saving connection.

Even the slightest possibility of rejection was too much of a risk.

I grabbed Frisk Tamanna's file, which was sitting on the table next to me. I don't know how. I kind of stopped asking how C managed stuff like this. Frisk Adelay, Seraph's mental health guru, was working on Tamanna's cognitive behavioral therapy, and leaving social integration to me. Charlotte was a huge help there, being an almost constant companion. But it also meant that Tamanna was not interacting with her hallucinations. She was aware that the people she saw weren't real and refused to talk to them in front of others. That made it difficult to assess what was imaginary friend versus full blown hallucination.

Chara plated the first of the pancakes. "Whose file is that?"

"Frisk Tamanna. Colony ship timeline. She's the last surviving human on the Starship Epiphany. Well, demihuman. She's like Chara Tarsus; half mermonster. She was nearly killed by a prion that invaded the ship."

"Is she here for recovery?"

The brothers Tarsus slouched into the kitchen, both sitting at the table sleepily. Frisk and Frisk leaned on each other for a morning hug.

"She's here for therapy because she was forcibly isolated from the rest of the ship."

He handed Asriel plates for the table before setting down a stack of pancakes. "And where the hell was her Sans during all of this?"

"He doesn't exist."

Chara's eyebrows shot up and he hummed thoughtfully. "Her Chara?"

"Is the ship AI. I am not sure how similar it is to Delta. Chara Provost has been involved in maintaining it while Frisk is here. Asriel said that the AI was powered by a human soul that disconnected itself to fix something and ended up stuck. Now that it's back in place, it's asked for a system core similar to C's so it can talk to Frisk and rebuild the relationship."

Chara nodded as he poured another batch of pancakes. "I'd say Delta is singular, but she isn't the first AI sustained by a human soul."

C's hologram appeared on the table. "Talking about me?"

"No. You are a very singular instance. Delta isn't the original Dr. Gaster. She's just powered by the persistent soul. You are bonded both with your Frisk and with the AI. It's why, if something happens to you off timeline, you immediately return to Church."

Frisk froze mid bite, looking at my fiance. "Hey. You aren't Fell Chara." He looked at me. "Am I missing something?"

"Oh! I completely neglected introductions." I giggled a little. "Frisk, Frisk, and Asriel, this is Chara Seth Dreemurr. Often referred to as 01, he is the head of the Seraph Foundation." I smiled at Chara. "And my fiance."

Frisk frowned. "I'm sorry! Az and I didn't mean to kick you out of bed!"

Chara waved it off as he plated the second round of pancakes. "Star and I won't share a bed until after the wedding."

Frisk looked at me. "Why not? I mean, you sleep with your partner."

C laughed. "Friends sleeping over is totally different from lovers sharing a bed."

Chara turned off the stove and sat down next to me. "I've waited hundreds of years for her to walk into my life. I can wait a few more months."

Frisk giggled. "Translation: you don't want to face her father after such an action."

Chara's head tilted back, looking at her in the amused manner I noticed all Chara's who made it to adulthood used. "Translation: it is the man who often dictates the tone of a relationship. And that makes it my responsibility to vouchsafe her trust. I will never take from her anything that I cannot give back in a better condition then when I first held it. And that means that I will not enter her bed until the day that we give ourselves as gifts to each other."

Frisk elbowed me. "Oooh… He's a keeper!"

Chara chuckled. "That said, I like my future father in law. And I've fought enough Sanses that I don't need to add that one to my list." He reached over and gently patted Asriel's shoulder. "Are you okay?"

Asriel blinked at him slowly, bleary eyed. "Yeah."

Frisk shook his head. "Don't mind him. Az is a slow starter in the morning." He pointed his fork at C. "So how does it work with you being in Frisk's head and her being married to Bones?"

C shrugged. "I can be other places when they're having alone time."

Frisk thought about it for a minute. "Does that mean you get to see her naked?"

"Dude. Don't make it weird." C disappeared.

I snorted and covered my mouth while I laughed.

Chara finished his bite of pancake before talking. "So recovery, then therapy, and then reintegration into society?"

I frowned. "I don't know. Monsters on her timeline don't want humans on the ship. I don't know how they would react to a legitimate hybrid." I sighed. "Her Asriel said he had a plan for when she came back, but we don't know what that is. Well, at least I don't. If he's told the Boss Man, you know how famously tight lipped he can be."

Frisk Boneweaver tugged on my sleeve. "How do you cure social isolation?"

I sighed. "Lots of cognitive behavioral therapy and lots of forced social integration." I took her hand. "Charlotte's been really helpful on that front. She's really fascinated with you so that will help draw her out." I tapped my chin. "Did you sleep well?"

She smiled sheepishly. "As best I could. I woke up with a pain in my side." She dug in a pocket hidden in her white robes and pulled out a long, thin, gift box. "I was sleeping on this." She opened the box to reveal a delicate gold bracelet with little gold hearts.

"That's really pretty! Did Chara give it to you?"

Frisk shook her head. "It's a gift from Gaster to congratulate me on my engagement."

Oh yeah. She had one of the bad ones. "Yikes! So what will you do with it?"

"It's not magic in anyway, so I'll keep it. It's never good to anger someone as powerful as he is. And it's not the first time he's given me a gift." She made a face. "Birthday presents and presents celebrating my elevation to cleric happen every year. I think he does it to annoy my father." She closed the box and shoved it back in her pocket.

I finished my plate just in time for my alarm to go off. Time to get to work. Crow disappeared, nestling into the part of my Determination that gave him a physical body while I put my dishes in the sink. I paused and turned to the boys.

"Frisk and Asriel, you're on breakfast clean up this morning. You're brother is coming out of quarantine after I get down stairs, so be ready."

Frisk looked up sullenly. "Do we have to leave?"

I shrugged. "Not really. If you want to hang at Epsilon longer, that's up to Chara." I turned to the other Frisk. "When you're done eating, you'll want to head over to suite fourteen."

"You don't want help with Asriel?"

I shook my head. "The morning nurse and I will be handling him. I need you to get your Chara so the two of you can keep Astelle calm when we get Asriel up and around. When I say it won't be pretty, I mean that."

She nodded. I leaned over to kiss my love's cheek and he turned, catching my lips with his.

He winked at my blush. "I'll see you tomorrow."

I nodded, my face burning as I turned from the kitchen. Taking a deep breath, it came out as a sigh, and I pulled my shoes on before heading out the door. The hallway was quiet, but all the doors were open. I snuck a peek inside the Boss Man's door and found him drinking a cup of tea while reading something on his tablet. Likely the morning intelligence report. C sat on his shoulder, a red glow against the white hair.

Hopping down the stairs, I dodged Undyne as she came up, giving her a wave and a smile before sticking the landing at the bottom, and making a left. The light coming in the big, picture windows was cool, a little dim from cloud cover, and made the world feel a little more like autumn. I stopped for a moment and stared out the windows at the red and gold trees lining the already full parking lot. It made me want to paint, though I had no real skill to do so. The lines my skate blades made on ice was my art, the ice my medium.

I sighed. And wasn't sure why I did.

Clapping my hands once to wake myself, I stood up straight, and marched into the lab. Alphys was already working with Charlotte on physical therapy while Frisk Tamanna watched, occasionally adding a timid word of encouragement. Holding onto the bars to keep herself upright, Charlotte walked, step by step, from one end to the other, turning, and going back the way she came. Her recovery was going really well and I expect she'll be walking with a cane in a week. Thankfully, she hasn't been having the nightmares Black reported.

I pulled Chara Tarsus' file from the holder on the wall and popped it open. All of his samples had come back completely clean for the last three days. Asriel's release approval was signed at the bottom of the last check. I flipped to the discharge paperwork, going through it, and signing off as necessary before pulling the quarantine tape from the med bay door. Tarsus looked up from his book with a smile and hopped off the bed. Having been cooped up for two weeks, he didn't look the worse for wear. But then, he was a Sans analog and my dad could go months without moving from his chair in the living room.

He's a total homebody. Drives mom nuts sometimes.

I opened the door with a big smile. "Welcome back to the land of the living!"

Tarsus raised an eyebrow. "Now get to work?"

I pointed at him, winking. "Exactly!" I handed him his discharge papers. "You are free to go. You don't have any special instructions post quarantine. Your brother's are, hopefully, finishing up breakfast in my apartment. Frisk doesn't seem inclined to leave all that soon, so prepare for an earful about wanting to stay."

Tarsus chuckled. "It has been a while since we've had a proper vacation. The Boss Man upstairs?"

I nodded. "Probably in the middle of a security briefing, so give it a few minutes."

"Gotcha." He gave me a hug before heading out of the lab. "Oh sweet freedom!"

Walking the long way around so as not to disturb Charlotte, I filed Tarsus' paperwork just in time to hear a soft moan. The kind that was pained. That would be Prince Asriel waking up. I pulled on a pair of gloves before hopping over to the room. Adrea, a rabbit monster nurse who typically worked in Lab Four, was already getting Asriel's vitals.

Queen Toriel, her long brown hair something of a mess, rose from the chair-bed, taking her son's hand in hers. The other chair, the one Astelle had refused to budge from the night before, was empty. I wonder if my partner or her brother had managed to convince her to sleep in the suite down the hall.

This Asriel was human, but he was as pale as any Asriel I've ever seen with white-blonde hair and red eyes, which Chara mentioned came from their father. Apparently, all Dreemurr children had those eyes, which was something unusual for their timeline. Asriel, Astelle, and the youngest two sisters all had their father's coloring. Chara, and the youngest two brothers had Toriel's brown hair and warmer skin tones.

Grabbing the big, red, overly firm, heart shaped pillow from the end of the bed, I gave him a warm smile. "Good morning, Your Highness. I'd ask how you feel, but I'm pretty sure the answer is terrible."

A wan smile touched his lips.

"This is Adrea. She'll be your nurse this morning and most of the afternoon. I'm Frisk Ossein, though most people just call me Star. I'll be the person making you do lots of things you'd rather not be doing, but I guarantee will speed your recovery."

Queen Toriel turned sharply at that. "What do you mean?"

I looked up at her. She was human, so she wasn't as tall as the shining beacon of a Toriel I looked to as my own. But she was still taller than me, which was pretty impressive. "It means I'm going to make him get up and walk around."

I'm not sure how a woman who was already so pale from worry managed to become even paler. "But his wound?!"

I held up the pillow. "That's what this is for." I set the pillow down on the bed for a moment and took her hands in mine. "I swear to you, Your Majesty, this is absolutely necessary. It's going to be very painful to watch, so please take this moment to go to the cafeteria and get some breakfast. I promise that you'll come back after eating and find him resting comfortably."

Her fingers moved nervously in mine before nodding to herself. "I will stay."

I nodded and gestured to the chair. "Please be seated."

When I turned to the bed, Asriel reached up for me slowly, touching my arm. I gave him a smile and carefully placed the pillow against his abdomen.

"Heavy."

Taking both of his hands, I laid them on the pillow. "Oh yeah. It's heavy. Press it to your stomach as tightly as you can. I'm going to swing your legs toward me while Adrea helps you sit up. After that, we'll help you stand and you will walk out into the next room all the way to the window, turn around and walk back. Don't worry about falling. Adrea and I are way stronger than we look, we'll keep you upright."

He inhaled sharply, and then nodded.

I looked to Adrea and found she had already moved the IVs into place and stood ready for me. I took hold of Asriel's legs and nodded to her. She helped him sit up while I swung his legs in a smooth movement over the edge of the bed. He whimpered, eyes squeezed shut, fighting not to cry out. I helped him hold the pillow in place and stay upright while Adrea came around with the IV pole.

I adjusted my grip on him. "On the count of three, you are going to stand."

He nodded, jaw clenched.

"One. Two. Three." I half lifted him to his feet, pressing the pillow hard against his stomach. His feet touched the floor and after a moment, he let out a held breath. He looked at me and nodded and we walked him, step by painful step, out of the room and all the way to the window. Frisk Boneweaver and Prince Chara stood in the doorway, both holding onto Astelle to keep her from rushing in. She gripped their hands tightly, face a mask of horror. Asriel made it to the window, grimacing with every step. He stopped for a moment, looking outside at the unfamiliar landscape, before squeezing his eyes shut. Helping him turn, he made the slow trek back to the med bay and his bed.

Adrea helped him get comfortable and he blinked up at her sleepily. "I don't have to do that again today, do I?"

She shook her head, long ears wiggling with it. "Not until tomorrow morning."

I put the pillow at the bottom of the bed and elevated his legs. "For the rest of the day, you'll be relaxing. If you feel up to it, we will walk you again in the evening. Otherwise, not until tomorrow morning. It will be a little better each time."

"Where's Chara?"

I looked over my shoulder and saw him in the door. "Right there." I moved aside so his siblings and Frisk could get to him. "Do you need me for anything else, Adrea?"

The rabbit thought about it. "Grab me a cola from the fridge?"

"Absolutely!" After procuring the requested soda for Adrea, I ran right into my partner and a warm hug. I loved Chara's hugs. He hugged with all of his being. The same way Sunshine did. I wonder if he learned it from her or if she learned it from him.

"Nice job on the walk."

I shrugged. "He wasn't fighting. That makes it easier. I need to check on Cross next. He'll be down here soon."

I felt a tap on my shoulder and looked to that side to see no one. Instead, the shoulder of my scrubs was glitching. First purple, then green, and back again. I looked to my other side and found E.C., with his completely red eyes - as in, he didn't have pupils, irises, or sclera. It was all just glowing red - staring at me as he floated vaguely beside me. Parts of his body occasionally glitched out, disappearing and reappearing suddenly.

He looked between Chara and I, Chara giving him that annoyed frown he gave any Chara he felt was getting a little too chummy with me, fiance accepted. "Got a minute?"

I looked at my phone to check the time. "Yes."

"Good." He gestured to nothing in particular, which was his way of asking us to step into the void. He was always careful about touching someone, hence the tap on my shoulder. He didn't want to hurt someone unintentionally. In the void, which was his place as much as it was mine, he could touch and interact with whatever he wanted without cause for alarm. That said, he couldn't actually hurt me. He could glitch out my clothing or anything I might have on me, but not me.

When I'd first met him at Site Alpha, he'd touched me immediately, without even thinking about it. He'd put his hands on either side of my face, looking at me like a man who'd just crawled through the desert to discover that the oasis hadn't been a mirage. He'd been completely overwhelmed by the essence of the void in me; a Frisk that was like him. There was a moment when everyone around me froze, unsure what to do. Until King Chara yelled at him to stop freaking everyone out.

I opened a rift into the void and stepped in, knowing he'd float in after me. "What did you want to show me, E.C..."

I trailed off, staring at the huge, tunnel like structure that just hung in the void.

Chara exhaled, "What is that? It's like one of the void prisons."

"These things are everywhere. I don't know what they are, or where they came from. It's like pieces of the void detaching and turning back in on itself. I've never seen anything even remotely like it."

I frowned. "Have you reported it to 01?"

E.C. nodded. "He said to show you and Bones, but I didn't see the big bone anywhere. Probably on mission. This one is right near Epsilon, so it'll be easy to show him when he gets back. I need to hit up Fell before going to Site Gamma. I'll see you both later."

I nodded as he disappeared, becoming one with the void. Chara and I stepped back to home, right outside the lab.

I mused over what I saw. "Can you go tell Frisk?"

Without asking which one, he nodded, and knocked on her office door before heading inside.

My phone rang and I fished it out of a pocket. "Hello?"

"Star? It's Chara Provost. You're working with Frisk Tamanna, right?"

I nodded, remembered that she couldn't see it, me being on the other end of a phone and all, and answered, "Yeah."

"So you know how we thought that she didn't have a Sans?"

I blinked. "She has one?!"

"Well, here's the funny thing. I found an old drawing tablet. The kind you use for digital art. And when I asked about it, CHARA looked around and found a whole bunch of stuff hidden in Frisk's personal file… Including several pieces of digital art of a guy who looks a whole hell of a lot like White."

The sound of super fast typing hit my ears. "CHARA's agreed to let you see the file under the condition that you don't share it with others."

I gripped the phone tightly. "Absolutely!"

"I've also finished a core that will allow CHARA to spend time with Frisk. I told it that it would have to work with you first. I'll have it to you in about an hour, your time. You'll be able to just pin it to your shirt, same as C's."

I juggled the phone to the other hand as it dinged with an incoming attachment. "Anything I need to know?"

"The human soul that inhabits the AI has been attention starved from having been out of contact. It's been trying not to harass C, but besides myself, it doesn't have much in the way of connections. It's been distracting itself with fixing the ship, but that's slow going, and AI like it perceive time at a way slower rate than we do."

I turned that over in my head. "I can work with that. Thanks for the info. I'll call if I need more."

The super fast typing hit my ears again. "I'll keep an ear out for you. As a heads up, Dramatic Facial Scar Asriel is having some management issues on the Epiphany courtesy of his version of Undyne. She's not the Captain of the guard here, but rather the Captain of the ship, and she's the one who's been keeping what is essentially a flying junk pile functioning. I'll talk to your boss about it in a minute, but you may have incoming to the lab just from one of them slugging the other."

"Thanks, Chara."

"You're welcome."

I disconnected and opened the attachment. Continually sliding to the left, I stared at image after image in the file: a human Sans; a human Alphys; a human Muffet. All of them looked stunningly real on the screen, but not a single one of the three existed on the Starship Epiphany. There were also some drawings of other merpeople, these appeared to be family portraits rather than imaginary people. One resembled a very young Undyne. Or, at least, I assumed it was based on photos I've seen of my Undyne as a child.

Cross coughed politely and I looked up, blinking for a minute. And a light bulb went on in my head. I flipped the phone over and laid it face down on the counter before grabbing my kit and changing gloves. He took a seat at the metal table in middle of the lab and laid his arm down on it. He wasn't in uniform, opting for corduroy pants and a graphic tee of a cartoonish yeti chasing a mountaineer while a bunch of Sherpa cheered like it was a sporting event. I carefully removed the bandages on his arm to have a look. The stitches were small and even, the wound looking good for only being a day old.

I worked on his hand, testing the mobility. "Do you do Sophia and Brandon's art lessons?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Yes. Are you interested? Your art has always been dancing."

I looked up at him for a moment and then back down at his hand, running through a routine I've done with him since a needle filled tentacle had made a pin cushion of his arm. "I'm thinking of mixing art therapy with social interaction for Frisk Tamanna."

"Bring her over this afternoon. I'll have supplies ready." His mouth quirked for a half second when I pinched one finger. "I can't feel it when you do that."

I pursed my lips and sighed. "Well, fuck."

His eyebrows went up. "I don't think I've ever heard you curse before."

I looked him dead in the eyes. "This is bad." I growled. "We've got an idiot Sans running amok. Frisk is out on maternity leave. Losing you because you may very possibly need surgery at the same time is not optimal. We don't have any other field agent Frisks with your prowess."

Cross raised an eyebrow. "We have you."

I froze solid for a moment, blinking down at his hand, before looking up at him. "I'm not-"

"Yes. You are. I know the woman Church and I have been training since she was eighteen and said she wanted to be an agent."

I groaned, shoulders sinking. "I'm not a Viper."

"And thank God for that." Cross reached out, hand resting on my shoulder. "Epsilon doesn't need Vipers. It needs good agents. You are among the best."

"I don't have half of your skills," I grumbled.

"Those were skills honed in war." His hand moved from my shoulder to tap his head. "And come with a significant amount of baggage. You have a set of skills that I don't have and could never have. Being valuable in a different way doesn't make you less. No matter how Church and I act half the time, being an agent is not a competition." He smiled down at the wound on his arm. "Sending me to Lab Four again?"

I nodded and gave him my best apologetic look. "You're going to need a full work up."

He patted me on the shoulder as he stood. "Don't look so glum about it. It's not my dominant hand and so not the one I draw with."

I looked up at him. "Perspective, huh?"

"It's always about perspective. I'll see you this afternoon."

I handed him his medical file. "Thank you."

He frowned in that frumpy way people did when they were confused. "For what?"

"A lot of things. But I'll go with the art therapy help and the vote of confidence."

Cross winked at me and headed out of the lab with a wave.

Chara poked his head in. "Church wants to see you."

I sighed, nodding as I stood, and trudged out of the lab, tossing my gloves in the trash as I went. I paused just outside the door and looked back. Asriel hadn't come down yet. I shook it off and went into the office. Frisk wasn't in uniform today, wearing another of her lacy, layered dresses, though they were starting to take on more autumn colors: reds, greens, and browns. Baby Marigold slept peacefully in the sling wrapped around Frisk's chest.

Even though I've worked with her for years, it was still sort of surreal. She was the first Frisk I'd met and that shine had never really worn off. On bad days, when my partner wasn't around, I would sit next to her on the couch and fall over so my head was on her lap, and she'd pet my hair for a few minutes while I just stared into space and emptied my head.

I sat down and noticed that it was just me in here. Chara hadn't followed me in. Was I in trouble? I'm pretty sure I hadn't done anything worth getting yelled at over unless last night counted… Oh man.

Frisk was writing on a notepad in front of her. "Tell me what you see when you dream of the older Frisk. The one with the infant."

Oh. Okay. Not in trouble. Whew! "She's working on something that looks like the equations we use for void travel." I shrugged. "I can't say for sure, but, that's what it feels like."

Frisk nodded. "I think she's the one who's been interfering with void travel. That the folded up pieces of void were wrought by her."

I immediately jumped on that, dander up as I launched from the chair to lean over the desk. "It's not her fault! She's obviously imprisoned!"

Frisk smiled softly. "I didn't say she was doing it willingly."

I sighed, kicking myself a little as I sat back down. "What makes you think it's her?"

She sat back, rocking Marigold gently in the chair. "The reports I've been receiving from all over weren't matching what I was seeing in my dreams. Everyone indicated a family of six: Frisk, Chara, and their four children, one of whom is a teenaged Asriel."

She lifted her sketchbook and my jaw dropped. Oh. My. GOD. She was actually going to show me something in it! She flipped to a bookmarked page and held it out to me. There were eight people in the drawing. Frisk, Chara, Asriel, and six children; the fifth one being a female Frisk of about twelve years and the sixth being a teen Chara.

"She's been taken to another timeline!"

Frisk tapped the picture of the child Frisk. "I don't dream about her except as a member of this family. That's not a good sign." She turned the sketchbook around, looking down at her own drawing with a sorrowful expression. "I have a very bad feeling that when everything is said and done, her timeline will cease to exist."

I frowned. "Do you think Dragoon will destroy it?"

"Maybe. That said, it is not impossible for a Frisk to implode their own timeline. To will it completely out of existence."

My jaw dropped as a terrible thought occured to me. "You've seen a Frisk do it before."

She nodded, mouth set like a thin line. Which meant that details would not be forthcoming, no matter how much I asked.

C appeared on my shoulder. "Hey. Sorry to interrupt, but you're off the training floor with Asriel."

I deflated. "Really?" I perked up. "Would that be because of management issues on the Epiphany?"

"Provost talked to you, huh? The plot is actually way thicker than just management issues. Head up stairs. She's on the horn with Azzy right now and you totally need to hear this."

I stood, eyes on Frisk. "Need anything else from me?"

She shook her head. "Hurry upstairs. Az is waiting for you."

I turned and went out the door, plowing into Chara. He hit the floor, arms out to catch me against his chest. A few of the day staff stopped to applaud, including Larry.

"Nice one, guys."

Chara huffed at me. "Slow down, Star!"

"Can't! I need to get up stairs!" I found my feet and pulled him up at the same time. "Come on!"

He followed me up the stairs, careful to hang back so when I stopped outside of the Boss Man's closed door, he didn't run into me. Taking a moment to catch my breath and smooth out my scrubs, I knocked on the door.

Asriel's voice sounded a little softer than usual. "Come in."

I opened the door and found Asriel sitting with Frisk Adelay and Papyrus in the living room. Chara Provost was on Asriel's laptop, and appeared to be looking at something while waiting. I sat down in the open seat next to Asriel. The one meant for me if his sister wasn't here. I wasn't sure when it happened that this spot became mine in her absence. I'm not sure it was intentional. I certainly didn't have Frisk's authority. Chara stood behind me, leaning over the back of the couch.

Provost looked up. "Good! Everyone's here. Let's talk about the management issues first. Captain Undyne has been repeatedly in Commander Asriel's face about Frisk's 'suicide.' It appears that Frisk was adopted into Undyne's family, and the family has been actively looking for Frisk since she disappeared. Undyne has been using her power as Captain to find Frisk, while the CHARA AI was hiding her. The family finding out that Frisk committed suicide via a press conference was less than ideal."

Provost traced a line across her face with her thumb. "Asriel's dramatic facial scar came courtesy of Undyne."

"And he didn't jettison her into space?" Chara asked.

I looked up at him. "Good point."

Asriel's eyebrow quirked. "He feels he deserves it. It's why he has a scar."

Provost continued. "CHARA says Asriel's come close to revealing Frisk is still alive on multiple occasions, so it's only a matter of time until he actually does, and Undyne demands to see her sister."

I looked to Adelay. "That wouldn't exactly be a bad thing. She needs real interaction with others from her timeline."

Adelay nodded. "Agreed. It would go a long way to making her more comfortable about going home if she felt there was a home and family there."

"Hold up, girls. I'm not done yet." Provost smiled widely. "Here's where the plot thickens! I asked Black for Tamanna's genetic work up, hoping I could run it against the medical records on the Epiphany for a match. And I found one."

"She and Undyne are half sisters," Chara and I said at the same time.

"Bingo!" Provost's fingers flew over her keyboard. "It seems dear old dad had a penchant for flings with humans and Frisk is the result of one of them. That Frisk was paired with her biological family for adoption is total luck, and Dad doesn't appear to suspect a thing since human monster hybrids don't happen."

Adelay sighed. "Wow. Just wow."

Asriel placed a small box in my hands. "This is the core for the CHARA AI."

"Awesome." I opened the box, pulled out the core, and pinned it to my collar. I tapped it once. "Hey, CHARA."

A hologram of a blue skinned female with blue-purple hair and pale yellow eyes appeared on my shoulder. Glowing yellow circuits appeared here and there on the body, glowing briefly before subsiding. "Hello, Miss Star."

"Just Star is fine. You'll stay with me for a while. Once I'm sure you and Frisk are ready for it, I'll transfer the core to her."

The hologram nodded once. "Understood."

Asriel gave me an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry to bail on our floor time. Today's been-"

"Normal." I shrugged. "It's been normal." I turned to Adelay. "I'm adding art therapy to my social integration plan for Frisk Tamanna."

She nodded. "Let me know how it develops."

"Will do."

Asriel put a hand on my shoulder. "Go get some lunch."

Translation: Asriel needs to make some decisions I should not be around to hear about. I nodded and stood, the CHARA AI disappearing from my shoulder and my partner following me out the door. I gave the souls in their vessels a wave as I walked by, making sure to shut the door behind me. I sighed, deflating. Chara put his arm around my shoulders, walking me down the stairs, and straight to the cafeteria.

Frisk Tamanna sat with Charlotte on the mezzanine lining the top of the cafeteria, and I wouldn't have spotted them had Charlotte not waved. After grabbing some chow, we joined them, watching everyone on staff come and go with the lunch hour. Charlotte had managed to hide the red streak in her hair pretty well today. When I first brought it up to her, asking if it was bothering her, she laughed. She honestly loved the streak, but it was not appropriate for a woman to have such a thing back home.

She poked me with a finger. "What are you thinking about?"

"You."

Chara put an arm around me. "You have no guile."

I shrugged, pushing my food around my plate. "I don't have a reason to lie. If I'm eating with someone, I'm typically thinking about them."

Charlotte chuckled. "Are you on this afternoon?"

Frisk stiffened, before hunching down a little.

"With Frisk, though she doesn't seem to be up to it."

She poked at her food listlessly, still huddled. "I don't like the social therapy."

I set my fork down to give her my full attention. "We're going to do something different today. Cross will give you a drawing lesson this afternoon."

Frisk immediately perked up, but her eyes moved rapidly back and forth, thinking through what the change might mean. Well, I assumed that's what she was doing. According to grad school hell and my own trip down that road, that's what was happening.

"We won't be imposing, right?"

I shook my head. "Not at all."

Frisk looked down at her plate for a moment before looking back up at me. "Do you draw?"

"Nope! I'm rubbish at that. I dance."

Charlotte and Frisk were both suddenly very interested and leaning toward me. Chara smiled 'that' smile. Oh. 'His Royal Highness' has decided to be a royal pain, huh?

He speared a cherry tomato off his plate. "How about a demonstration?" He popped it in his mouth, and sat back to chew, waiting for me to get up and potentially embarrass myself.

I don't know why he thinks I'm not wise to his tactics. "We're ice skating later. Skating jumps are way cooler."

"Ice skating?" Frisk looked at us, confused. "How does that work?"

Charlotte answered. "You wear a special boot with a blade on the bottom. The blade allows you to glide across the ice. It takes a bit to get used to, but it's a lot of fun. And the best at it do tricks on the ice." She whipped around to me. "So you can jump? Are you competitive?"

"Papyrus and I compete with ice dancing during the season." Time to make Chara regret his life choices. "You're both welcome to come along! Even if you aren't up to skating, you can watch from the grandstand."

Chara glared at me. He really didn't like sharing our time, but if he's going to be a pain, I'm going to make it hurt!

He stood with a huff. "Hand me your trays and I'll take them down."

When he'd left, Charlotte let out a laugh. "You are really good at shutting him down. He does look dismal though."

I shrugged. "He doesn't like sharing bro date time." I smiled. "But if he's going to embarrass me, I'm going to make him regret it!"

Charlotte smiled softly. "His lesson appears to be learned, so we'll give it a miss."

I stood. "Come on. It's art time."

A real smile lit up Frisk's face, making the scaly patches glow. She took my hand and let me draw her away. Charlotte followed behind, taking the kind of hidden door on the mezzanine that let you out on the second floor down the hall from my apartment. The door of the empty apartment next to mine stood open. Umbra sat outside the door, tail swaying back and forth slowly, watching what sounded like the Tarsus brothers getting comfortable inside.

"Is that an actual pokemon?!" Charlotte attempted to stand and reach for Umbra, only to over balance and hit the floor. "Dammit!"

Umbra leapt to the side to avoid being crushed. Charlotte groaned, looking miserable for a moment, before Umbra padded over and leaned down to lick Charlotte's face. She gave my poke-partner a bemused smile.

Chara- When did he get here?- knelt next to Charlotte, helping her sit up. "Are you all right?"

"All right? This is phenomenal! A real pokemon! Does that mean there are pokemon timelines?" She leaned into his face as Umbra jumped into her lap for pets. "Is this Star's pokemon? As an Umbreon, it must be! Do you have one? How about a team? Do you have a team?" She petted Umbra absently, scratching behind the ears.

Chara chuckled. "Slow down! This is Umbra, Star's poke-partner. Mine is a Luxray named Tesla. We train small teams for when we need to go to pokemon timelines."

Chara Tarsus stuck his head out the door. "What's with the-" His eyes hit Frisk and he blinked. He stood upright, and gave her a warm smile. "Greetings!"

"Um… Hello… Uh…" She looked at me, trembling a little.

I put an arm around her. "Frisk, this is Chara Tarsus. Remember? You asked about him when during your intake. He's from a 'Shift' timeline, where people shift places in the story." I took a risk. "He'd be analogous to your Sans." She looked at me sharply, but I kept going. "He's a half mer-monster like you, though he looks more like his human mother. Chara, this is Frisk Tamanna. She's from a colony ship timeline."

He stepped forward and she stepped into me, grasping tightly at my scrubs.

I put a hand in her hair, petting her head to sooth her. "It's okay."

Her eyes slid to the left, looking at something that wasn't there.

Tarsus caught the strange look, but I don't know how he interpreted it. "Would you like to meet my Frisk? He's my little brother. Still in his stripes."

I gripped Frisk's arm. "Yes. She would."

I marched her into the apartment, even as she tried to pull back. But as soon as she caught sight of Frisk Tarsus sitting on the couch, she mellowed; that fascination we all had with each other kicking in and relaxing her.

Asriel, the goat prince looking much more awake now, gave her a big smile. "WELCOME, FRIEND! I am Prince Asriel Dreemurr and this is my brother, Frisk!"

She smiled in spite of herself. "Frisk Tamanna. I'm from the Starship Epiphany."

Frisk Tarsus smiled brightly at her. "A sci-fi timeline? Wicked cool! I visited the Delta once. Is your ship like that?"

She shook her head, red curls swaying. "I don't know." She pulled at the sleeve of her silver shirt. "My clothes are from the Delta, but I've not seen it."

He ran a finger along her sleeve. "It looks like the super thin insulation they use for being in outer space." He frowned. "Aren't you really warm in it?"

Frisk shook her head, smiling a little. "I always feel cold and wearing this is the first time I've felt warm in a long time."

He lifted her hands, looking at the webbing between them, that, now that she wasn't half starved and dried out, came up to her first knuckles. "You've got a lot more webbing between your fingers than Chara. Do you like to swim? There's a pool in the new building. We could go sometime. Tomorrow?"

She nodded and paused looking at me. "Is that okay?"

I smiled. "Absolutely!" I nodded toward the door. "Art time."

"Oh!" She smiled at Frisk. "See you tomorrow!"

I drew Frisk out the door and back into the hall. Good. That was a nice, strong interaction. I looked back and noticed Tarsus looking after us. Or more specifically, Frisk. I hadn't taken him for the kind of guy who'd be interested in a mate, but then, hybrids like him were hard to come by. I shook off the thought. It was a bridge I could cross when and if I came to it.

My partner had Charlotte righted in her wheelchair, Umbra sitting in her lap, enjoying all the pets. Chara leaned against the wall, relaxed as he spoke.

"All Epsilon agents have a pokemon team. It's pretty cool seeing what kind of pokemon each of the agents pick. Some picks make complete sense, like Bones and his houndoom, Max; or Church and her lucario, Anubis. And then some just make no sense, like Cross and his alteria, Marshmallow, or Agent Tahoma and her metagross, HAL."

Frisk leaned over, looking at Umbra. "So, this is something unusual for here?"

I nodded. "Pocket Monsters aren't native to this timeline."

She reached out, gently touching Umbra's head with the tips of her fingers before letting her hand slide through the black fur. "So soft." She smiled again, eyes closed.

Heading down the hall, we found Cross' door open. The art lesson was already underway for the Gaster children. Brandon was currently wearing his skin, looking very much like Bones did with skin on, working on a pencil drawing. Sophia sat next to him, working on a painting. Charlotte waved a quick goodbye before heading into the library with Chara. Frisk leaned over to watch Sophia, eyes shining a little as she concentrated on the color slipping through the water.

"I've never seen anything like this." She blinked at Sophia. "What is this?"

Sophia pushed the chair next to hers out with her foot. "It's watercolor. Have a seat."

Cross came out of the hall leading back to the bedrooms in the apartment with an armful of materials. He paused when he saw Frisk watching Sophia, shrugged, disappeared down the hall, and came back with a different armful of materials. Sitting across from Frisk, he placed a pad of paper with glued edges, a brush, a cup of water, a paper towel, and a pan of watercolors in front of her.

He handed Frisk the brush. "We'll start with exploring the colors. Dip the bristles of the brush in the water and then rub the bristles gently against the color to activate it. When you have some color on the brush, apply it to the paper. The intensity of the color will depend on how much water you use. Rinse the paint away in the water between colors to avoid messing up the paint."

She nodded, dipping the brush as instructed before choosing the bright yellow that came first on the palette. The paint dripped from the brush, spreading across the paper. She watched it for a few moments before putting the brush to the paper, spreading a smooth arc of yellow. She rinsed the brush and went for the blue next, swiping the new color in an arc next to the yellow. Where the colors touched, they mixed, creating a bright green, swirling on the paper.

Cross smiled. "You have to be careful with watercolor. It has a mind of its own."

Her eyes never left the paper. "I like it. It just goes wherever it wants too." She touched the blue paint to the red, and purple swirled to life under the brush. "It's free."

Frisk continued with the rest of the paints in the palette, watching each one ebb and flow as she added and subtracted water. She watched it dry with just as much fascination. It wasn't long before she found a pen on the table and started drawing over the dried paint, adding her own illustration over the color. If Cross had a lesson planned, he'd obviously dropped it at this point. Instead, he gave Frisk pointers and suggestions, letting her explore without constraint.

Undyne's voice echoed down the hall. "I SWEAR to you, Commander, if you're lying to me, I don't care that you're a Dreemurr. I'll end you faster than you can blink."

That's not my Undyne. Cross and I jumped into position between the doorway and the children. Frisk dropped the brush in her hand, looking at the door fearfully.

Frisk Church answered. "Calm down, Captain. There's no need to offer violence to your commanding officer."

I heard a scramble behind me, the sound of things being knocked over, and turned just enough to look at Frisk. She was terrified and Sophia was holding her hands, trying to calm her. Cross came around the table, taking my position so I could handle Frisk.

I put my arms around her, gently petting her hair. "You are afraid and that's okay. There is nothing here that we can't handle together. Just breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth."

She shook in my arms, her eyes squeezed shut, trying to huddle in on herself. There was nothing in the record that showed anything other than her adopted family loving her. What had her so scared?

"Frisk?"

I looked over my shoulder at an Undyne who was on the short side, only a little taller than me. She had the same pale green, iridescent scaling and bright red hair as Frisk. And both eyes, which was unusual for any version of Undyne. She wore an indigo blue uniform with gold trim and a line of golden insignia down both sleeves. Church and Commander Asriel stood behind her, both looking less than happy. Frisk Adelay stood behind them, looking bemused. Undyne entered cautiously, and waited patiently for Cross to move aside before kneeling next to Frisk and I.

"Frisk?" Undyne reached out, oh so gently, the fully webbed hand stroking Frisk's hair. "It's okay. You don't have to be scared. I won't hurt you. Haven't I always looked after you?"

Frisk, still trembling, sniffed and turned her head, glistening eyes peeking through her hair. She whispered so softly, I almost didn't hear her, "I'm sorry."

Undyne smiled patiently. "Why?"

"I was supposed to disappear."

Undyne's smile fell. "No." She pulled Frisk away from me and into her own arms, cradling her. "No. Mom, Dad, Cliff, Aqua, and I spent so long looking for you. We don't want you to ever disappear." She pulled back a little, giving Frisk a soft smile. Turning slightly, she looked back at Church. "May I stay? If not for all of Frisk's recovery, at least for a little bit? I won't be underfoot."

Church glanced at Adelay, who nodded once.

"I'll arrange a room for you."

Undyne bowed her head. "You have my deepest thanks." She turned back to Frisk, hugging her sister tightly.