Ruins

When not giving short explanations on the workings and history of the Underground as Courier Six set to work on the first puzzles of the Ruins, Chara pondered their situation.

Who knew how long they had been rotting in that patch of golden flowers? Decades, at a minimum. Maybe centuries. So much time spent drifting in and out of consciousness as a- what? A ghost? They almost snorted at the thought, then remembered they lost the ability to do that long ago. The Underground had a few ghosts, and Chara wasn't like any of them. If they were, they would have a form that was visible to everyone, could fly anywhere, and didn't have to spend so much time tethered to their corpse. This 'afterlife', if it could even be called that, had consisted of bouts of awareness whenever a child fell into the Underground mixed with brooding in a dream-state where all they could feel was a dull sense of anger over the betrayal at the hands of their own damn brother-

No. Focus on the facts and the present, they stated calmly. Six children had fallen into the Underground over an unknown length of time. None of them could interact with Chara, regardless of how much the spirit screamed, pleaded, or prayed. They hadn't even been able to follow the children for long, presumably because the new arrivals didn't possess enough determination to sustain themselves plus a half-dead spirit.

But Courier Six did.

Chara frowned as the human in question walked into the next room, paused at the sight of a stream, then tore off that menacing red and gray helmet to take a long drink. The children before had been exactly that, children. This on the other hand was definitely an adult, clad head to toe in some kind of heavily armored longcoat, who had, amongst other things, several deadly weapons, a soul that radiated more power than all the previous children combined, and the apparent ability to shrug off the pain of breaking both legs in an instant.

They thought that was odd up until they had seen their companion's LOVE.

Fifty. Chara had shuddered at the number, if only briefly. It didn't take a genius to make a rough guess at how much death something like that took. Someone would need to kill… thousands, probably tens of thousands of humans and monsters just to get a fraction of the way there. And a level of violence like that should have belonged to something more akin to a demon than a human.

Yet there Six stood, seemingly just as normal and irritable as any other human they had once dealt with before the Underground. Their personal misgivings aside, there was no denying the sheer amount of determination and capacity for violence their companion wielded, even if they didn't outwardly show it.

Someone like that would be perfect for finishing a job that had been left half-done for far too long-

"Hey! Kid. What the hell am I looking at, here?" Six interrupted.

Chara looked.

Short, white, and ribbiting all the while was the first monster the spirit had seen in a long time, and probably Six's first encounter with a monster at all. They refused to count Flowey, whatever the hell he was.

"It's a froggit," they said, then added, "A type of monster that lives in the Underground."

"Is it friendly?"

The monster croaked then jumped towards Six, who easily sidestepped out of the way. "Froggit hopped close," they observed.

"Alright. New question, should I kill it?"

Yes. Take its EXP and-

Wait, no. Not yet. This was the perfect way to find out what kind of person they'd been stuck with. A test of sorts. One they hadn't put their sibling through, a decision that ended up costing much more than a simple fight with a monster. This was the perfect way to find out who they were truly dealing with.

"You don't have to kill it," they settled on. "You could, though."

Courier Six nodded, turning to face the froggit. Chara watched intently, eagerly trying to anticipate their companion's next move. The froggit stared blankly, as if unsure whether to fight or flee at the sight of those glowing red eyes. Six took a step forward, Chara leaned in closer as a smile crept up their face. And then…

"Hey there. That sure is one… sexy ribbit you've got going on."

Chara paused and stared, completely nonplussed. The Courier shrugged. "Hey, it was worth a try."

Before they could say anything the froggit turned scarlet, ribbited, then bounded off just in time for the ghost to process the situation. "Froggit didn't understand what you said, but was flattered anyway. Froggit also decided to flee."

"Mm." Six nodded and kept moving, passing a training dummy after giving it a sidelong glance. The child stared where the froggit once stood, then floated hurriedly to keep up. That… hadn't been the response they were expecting, but it had certainly worked. "Odd solution," they said at last, hoping for a response.

The Courier didn't say anything, and Chara tried not to grind their teeth in irritation. Instead, they eyed the next challenge, a bridge of spikes flanked on both sides with water, a puzzle that Chara recognized. "Some of the spikes retract once you get near them. You can find the path just by walki-"

They stopped when their companion dipped a foot into the water surrounding the spikes, then stepped in and waded across.

"Or you could just do that."

"I sure can," The Courier responded, then thought, You know, somehow, I get the feeling that whoever designed these 'puzzles' didn't intend to stop anyone smarter or larger than a child.

Well, that wasn't entirely inaccurate. Chara often wondered the same thing.

Kind of surprised at how clean all this water is, though. Not a trace of rads whatsoever.

Chara huffed. Where exactly did Six come from? Chernobyl? They thought about asking, then switched questions once the human dipped one arm into the water.

"What are you doing?"

The Courier drew a hand back, tapping at a screen mounted on the back of their forearm while briskly moving forward. Checking to see if this thing is busted. I'd hate to find out the Geiger counter got screwed up in the fall.

"The what?" Chara looked at the little device. It was such a bulky metal thing they'd mistaken it for the rest of their companion's armor, but they quickly recognized it as a computer screen for some kind of device that had to be several decades older than them, judging by the chipped paint and round metal casing. "What is that?"

Pip-Boy 3000. It's… a tool meant to help people who live underground. Monitors the health of its user. It's also used to detect gamma radiation.

The child crossed their arms and stared at the dubious device. "Seriously?"

I'm not kidding. Anyways, since you're so knowledgeable, you think you can tell me where the exit to this place is? I don't feel like- ooh! Candy!

And once again Chara was left behind as the latest visitor to the Underground dashed ahead and immediately started consuming an entire bowl full of candy left on a small pillar.

Oh that was right, Six did say something about almost starving to death. They forgot about that.

Man, it's been forever since I've had any candy. Also, why do my legs feel less broken?

"That's just how it works down here. Monster food has magical healing properties," Chara explained, stopping when they heard a chuckle.

Right. So, just to recap, we're in an underground kingdom of monsters.

"Yeah."

And they're stuck here because humanity made a magic barrier that can only be broken with the power of at least seven human souls after a big war.

"Yes." Well, so the story went. With someone who had as much determination and LOVE as The Courier, who knew what was possible?

And… their food heals people.

"Correct."

Thanks. Just making sure I'm not missing anything.

"No, you got all the important parts." Chara paused, then added, "And since you asked, the exit is up ahead. There should be a small house past all these puzzles. I can help you with them, if you need it."

The Courier didn't, and it wasn't hard to see why. The Ruins had held little challenge even for them, back in those halcyon days when they walked the earth. An adult like Six didn't need any help to get past simple switch and button puzzles, and they didn't so much as flinch when one rock began to talk back before being persuaded to stay on a button. Or when they encountered a web of spiders running a bake sale, only pausing to ask them what a spider was.

"You're pretty thorough, aren't you?" Chara asked once Six finished climbing out of a hole they had purposefully fallen in.

Hey, if we got loot out of it, it wasn't a waste of time, their companion thought back while stuffing a faded ribbon into a pocket. Besides, old habits die hard.

Chara sighed, but there was no venom in it. Truth be told, even if they had seen every inch of the place before and their companion wasn't the most agreeable person in the world, they infinitely preferred following someone like Courier Six as opposed to rotting in the ground indefinitely.

But even with The Courier's insistence on checking every nook and cranny, the Ruins were a small place. It wasn't long before they found themselves floating at Six's side, in front of a familiar house that seemed every bit as cute and tidy as the day they'd last-

There was nothing but the gentle sound of the crackling fireplace and the clicka-clicka-click of knitting needles. The clock chimed again and Chara rubbed sleep from their eyes as they focused on the pink sweater in front of them. It had been easy enough to make with just a few dozen attempts and several days of practicing, it was just the letters that weren't quite right. They were crooked and uneven. Imperfect, like everything they made. The child sighed in resignation and set the needles aside, maybe they could finish it tomorrow…

Chara pushed the memories away, refusing to let them surface. That memory was so long ago it was more like remembering a dream than a previous life. They cleared their mind and tried to focus. "That's the place. The way to the rest of the Underground is through there."

Six nodded, twisting the doorknob only for the door to remain shut.

Locked.

"Great," the child bit back a curse. "Well, try one of the windows. We're not getting through the door, that's for sure."

That's where you're wrong, kiddo.

They eyed the bobby pin and screwdriver their companion held up, and had just enough time to get halfway through asking what the plan was when the door clicked and swung open to reveal-

Oh no.

There was no mistaking the pair of floppy white ears and maroon-colored eyes. The all-too-familiar purple robes. If it wasn't for the sudden flash of shock in her otherwise gentle expression, Chara could have sworn there was no difference between their mo- the queen from who the hell knew how long ago and the monster standing in front of them.

"Oh! I'm sorry, it's been a while since I've seen a human of your age. I am Toriel, Caretaker of the Ruins. How did you get here?"

I'll be honest, after all the shit I've been there, a talking vaguely-human cow monster seemed pretty tame. Actually, that's wrong. The cow part, I mean. The features weren't quite like that, it was more like this thing I'd seen in a holotape, once. This monster looked more like a goat. About as tall as me, with red eyes (why does everyone here have those?), folding its hands over a swanky purple robe that instantly made me envious. And it had asked me a question.

Well, it would be rude not to answer. Especially if this was its house.

"I got lost, tripped, and fell down," I answered, which was the truth. It's just that I wasn't sure what I had been doing up until that point.

It, she smiled, and something about the gesture seemed so comforting, so genuinely kind and warm that I almost kept my hand off my holster when she spoke. "You poor chil- dear. Surely you must be weary from traveling so far. Please, won't you stay a while and rest?"

It was as if the word 'rest' was a talisman because while the pain from breaking my legs had been muted to a dull throb, a perk of a lot of cybernetics, what must have been several days' worth of fatigue took its toll on me the instant Toriel offered me a furred hand or maybe it was a paw? and began to guide me through her house. I barely took notice of the pristine, if aged features of the house until we were suddenly in a different room. Hell, I didn't even stop to think that maybe this was a trap and I was about to get eaten. I was just too tired to care, and the bed in the corner that I just spotted looked way more inviting than it should have.

"Oh, dear. I hadn't realized the bed might be a bit small for you, perhaps-"

I didn't know what she was going to say, but I did know it couldn't possibly be more important than sleep. I let go of her hand and collapsed onto the bed without a second's hesitation. Even with my legs dangling over the edge and the distant sound of Toriel saying something, I passed out immediately.

(*You dreamed of a luxurious hotel suite built underground, beneath a casino. You dreamed of laughing and relaxing with your most trusted companions. The peaceful dreams and rest…

it gives you determination.)

My eyes fluttered once, which was exactly long enough to rip the Ranger Sequoia from its holster and keep it trained on the door before I had time to blink.

Some things you just can't unlearn.

Paranoia aside, for a few fleeting seconds I couldn't piece together where I was with how I got there. Then I remembered I had fallen into a hole for no discernible reason and was trying to escape with the help of a hallucination/ghost of a child but got sidetracked as soon as I picked the lock to a goat monster's house, and it all came together like pieces of one of those absurdist puzzle sets you might find in a pre-war game room.

But to be honest, I learned a long time ago that it made less sense to question the situation than it did to evaluate it. So instead of pointlessly freaking out, I returned the revolver to my armor and took stock of my surroundings and inventory.

Someone, probably Toriel, had taken my helmet while I was out. That was obvious, considering the lack of a red tint on my vision and that I could feel the pillow my head was resting on. A quick glance around the room revealed it was sitting on top of the dresser. One mystery solved. But I felt a little lighter on my left side, and a quick pat-down revealed that Blood-Nap, my trusty bowie knife companion that had seen me through the worst of The Divide and cut down men and deathclaw alike was gone. And unlike the helmet, it was nowhere in sight.

Not very cool of you, Toriel.

Grand theft knife aside, the room was just like the rest of the house. The parts that I'd seen, anyways. The floor and carpet looked a little old, but apart from age it was otherwise spotless, missing all the dust and little tears that tended to pile up on anything in the Mojave.

I got up, wincing at the soreness in my ankles that had been resting on the footboard all night, turned on the Pip-Boy light, and noted all the amenities the bedroom came with. A full-length dresser filled with clothes identical to Chara's, two small storage chests, a drawing of a yellow flower tacked to the wall, some lamps, stuffed animals, and a photograph atop a set of shelves. All of it, other than being slightly weathered from age, looked like they hadn't been used at all.

Even the orange and red wallpaper looked almost new.

Looking through both chests revealed the one by the bed contained a bunch of… small figurines, toy cars, and something called a 'coloring book'. The other contained an odd number of shoes that were half my size at most. It all painted the picture of some kind of pre-war children's bedroom, and in a bizarre way, it was so peaceful I couldn't have felt more out of place.

So naturally I slipped on the riot gear's helmet and set out to find my knife. And find out whether or not Toriel was planning to murder me in my sleep.

As I walked down the brightly-lit wooden hallway and went through the first door on the left, I wondered why she only confiscated the knife and not the gun. And wouldn't you know it, as soon as I walked in I saw Blood-Nap's sheath sticking out of a bookshelf.

"About time," I muttered and clipped it back to my belt before examining the rest of the room. Unlike the previous room the bed here was a queen size, a potted cactus was tucked into the corner, and a book lay atop a desk in the corner.

I agonized over whether or not to read it for a moment, then gave in to curiosity.

'Why wasn't the skeleton afraid of the rain? Because he would always stay bone-dry.'

…

…what the fuck. I turned to the start of the book-

'What does a skeleton get if they stay out in the snow for too long and get sick? A femur.'

I flipped through the pages, only to find the exact same thing. Every entry was just another pun, some of which were circled in red, and they almost always had to do with skeletons, or bones. There weren't even dates or locations, just more puns. It wasn't long before I had seen enough and shut the journal, trying to keep my breathing level. On one hand, Toriel was almost certainly not the crazy axe-murderer type I thought she might be.

On the other, she was a massive dork.

"You're not wrong."

Oh hey, I was wondering where the kid had gone off to. They were here now, drumming their fingers on the desk as I set the book back to the page I'd found it on. "I was… around. Look, we should go. Are you ready to get moving or not?"

Always.

"Good, I think she's distracted for now. If you make a break for it you can get to the exit."

Hang on, I want to see what's in the room at the end of the hall. The one that says, "under renovations."

Chara sighed impatiently, making it none-too-subtle they wanted to leave immediately. "Why? There's nothing there and it's locked anyways."

Not for long it isn't, I thought, bringing up a screwdriver and bobby pin.

The door clicked and swung open. The kid sighed again. "I don't know why I'm surprised anymore."

Me neither. It's a lot easier than it looks, people put way too much faith in locks.

This room didn't have any lights of its own, and nothing useful as far as I could tell. A large and empty bedframe in one corner, a dresser and wardrobe with all the drawers missing, and a thin veneer of dust coated the desk by the door. It mirrored what must have been Toriel's bedroom, except this one was more unkempt and, oddly, a lot colder than the rest of the house.

Nothing held my interest, and the kid kept bugging me, so I opened the door, leaving me face to face with the owner of the house for the second time in a row. Chara disappeared, apparently too shy to show up, leaving it up to me to carry the conversation.

Fortunately, Toriel spoke before I could.

"Oh thank goodness, I was so worried when you weren't in your room! What are you doing in here? I know I healed you rather thoroughly but your injuries were extensive and you should stay in bed!"

It wasn't the response I was expecting. And healing? I didn't see any bandages on me, though I didn't feel any pain from moving anymore.

"How did you open the door?" she continued, not leaving enough time for me to respond before she closed it shut. "Ah, perhaps I left it unlocked one day and forgot to relock it."

"…Right," I agreed. Seemed strange, the way she asked questions and either forgot about them or answered them herself, but maybe monsters were just weird like that.

She smiled again, that same expression that spoke of a kindness I had seen maybe two or three times in my lifetime. "Well at any rate, I suppose it is a good thing you are awake. You are up rather early, but I think-"

Toriel stopped to catch herself, and I felt my wariness return. She was hiding something.

"Well, I do not think I can hide it any longer, and it must be ready by now. Come!"

I made sure my longcoat covered Blood-Nap's sheath before following her. This time, to the opposite end of the house. Compared to the rest of the house, it was somewhat sparsely furnished. A dining table with three chairs. Fire pokers that, on closer inspection, had been filed down. A bookcase, and an overstuffed chair sitting by a fireplace that crackled merrily.

I was about to follow her through the other door when I smelled something sweet and realized that I had almost died from starvation and all I had to stave that off was a few magic candies from before I slept.

"Surprise! I have baked a pie, to celebrate your arrival," Toriel announced, gripping a gray pie tin in her furred hands as steam curled off of it. The analytical part of me wondered how heat resistant her fur had to be if that pie just got finished, but the hungry part of me just wanted a piece. So I asked.

"Can I have some?"

"Of course!" she produced a plastic butter knife and started to divvy up slices on a plate almost as big as the pie tin itself. She patted her robe for a few seconds, then frowned. "Forgive me, I was certain I brought a fork from the kitchen. Excuse me for a moment."

She was maybe halfway through that sentence by the time I'd torn my helmet off and had thoroughly demolished the slice.

"No need," is what I tried to say, but it ended up sounding like 'rho mead' on account of the pie I'd just shoveled into my mouth because holy shit, I don't think I've ever had anything that tasted so rich, so fresh… or so flaky. It was unlike anything the wasteland could produce, and it was utterly fucking delicious.

Somehow, I managed to get it down my throat and sighed in relief as the roaring in my stomach settled down. "Can I have another?"

Some of the water I'd bottled and the rest of the pie later, ("It's quite alright, dear. I have already eaten. Feel free to have as much as you like!") and I was finally satisfied, content that I was no longer in any immediate danger of keeling over from starvation. Instead, I was more occupied with trying to act like I wasn't going to throw up an entire cinnamon-butterscotch pie. Giving your stomach nothing for several days then suddenly a lot of rich food is not a great idea.

This led to me sitting at the table while Toriel sat in her chair and talked at length about anything and everything.

"It is so good to have you here, the ruins do not often get many visitors, and there is so much I would like to show you," she was saying as I tried to distract myself from the nausea by fiddling with the broken lenses of my helmet. Good thing the damage wasn't half as bad as it looked, just one quick fix with a little jury rigging, and the red glass shined with light. If Toriel was bothered that I wasn't obviously paying attention to her, she either chose not to show it, or was too happy to notice.

She kind of struck me as someone who didn't often get a chance to talk very much and was trying to make up for it while she could.

"…Um, I was thinking if you were feeling well, I could take you on a proper tour of the ruins. It is a small place, I know, but there are many interesting places to see. I've also begun to prepare some educational material for you."

I glanced up at her, helmet on. Maybe I was reading into it too much, but it almost seemed like her smile turned wistful at that last part. "Well, I must admit I do not know the extent of whatever schooling an adult like you must have had, but it would be good to review, don't you think? We can decide what you know and what to teach after the first lessons. After all…"

I'm not sure where this is going.

"…I want you to have a nice time living here. So please, if there is anything you need, do not hesitate to ask."

I tensed, and it wasn't out of nausea. Suddenly the reasons for Chara's insistence that I leave make a bit more sense.

"Ask her to make some tea."

That one confused me. There was no mistaking the sound of Chara's voice, even if I couldn't see them. It's the request that seemed really non-sequitur.

"You need to escape, right? Tell her to make some tea, it always takes her a while."

Alright. Not gonna ask how you know that, but alright. I turned to Toriel's expectant face and made a small show of coughing into my mask before speaking. "That sounds nice. Sorry, I'm still a little thirsty. Do you have any tea, or something?"

Her flash flashed again in that same pensive expression for only a moment before crystallizing back into the kind smile she loved. "I do, yes. Would you like me to make some?"

I nodded, and watched her leave into the only room of the house I hadn't been in before a shadowy presence appeared on my right.

"Now you see why I said we should leave immediately?"

I did. Toriel was a hell of a lot nicer than most people, but the whole 'stay with me forever' deal reminded me far too much of Caesar and Elijah, and I was nobody's pet. I had to get the fuck outta here.

They grinned in agreement, then jerked their head towards the other door. "Exit's down the stairs, like I said. And hurry, she won't be occupied forever."

Don't need to tell me twice. I hefted myself over the banister and landed at the bottom of the staircase before continuing through a dark tunnel. Low-light optics switched on, and I took a brief look around before moving. Kind of a shame we had to trick her back there, I thought. Maybe I could have flirted my way out, like with the froggit thing.

That remark earned me a disgusted look from Chara. "What are you, a furry?"

Relax, I was kidding. And what the hell is that?

They shivered. "The icon of sin. Don't worry about it, we're almost at the end."

Whatever you say.

There wasn't much more to the tunnel. One left turn and suddenly I was staring at a big stone archway emblazoned with the same symbol on Toriel's robes. I looked at the door, and ran my fingers over it. Solid stone, Maybe half a foot thick. I did have some C-4 on me if I had to force it open, but whether or not it would cause a cave-in was an entirely different matter-

I paused. There was a sound just now, almost like paws on stone, and Chara's eyes grew wide before they shrank back into the shadow of the doorway. I sighed, turning around to face Toriel.

She didn't look very pleased with me, to say the least.

"Why..?" she began, faltering, then taking a step forward and trying again. "I had a feeling something was wrong when you asked for tea, and when I came to check on you…"

She took a deep breath.

"Do you realize where that leads?"

I have a pretty good idea, yeah.

"That is the entrance to the rest of the Underground. I have kept it sealed all these years. If you go through that door, you will find the rest of Monsterkind. And they… Asgore will-"

"-Kill me?" I doubted it. Call me arrogant, especially since I didn't know who 'Asgore' was, but I'm really good at killing. Somehow, I got the feeling he wouldn't be a problem.

"No," Toriel said forcefully, and this time her face changed to a glare. "You will kill him, and the Underground will descend into chaos. You think I cannot see the violence within you? I was trying to keep you safe here, as well as keep the Underground safe from you."

I stared.

"I knew it was a foolish hope, to think it would work, but I had to try. Please, I never wanted this to happen." She was still glaring, but her tone turned pleading. "Just… just go back upstairs. Please."

Chara, wherever they were, seemed intent on not offering advice. Whatever happened next was up to me, and all I knew was that I didn't want to stay trapped in an underground cage that barely took half an hour to walk through, end-to-end.

"I'm not staying," I said evenly, revolver in one hand, knife in the other. Toriel's voice dropped, and I almost missed her next words.

"I can see the violence and hatred you carry. I know it is hopeless to stop you, but I must try."

The room caught fire. Flames appeared at my back, in front of me, to the sides, boxing me in with Toriel as I dumbly put two and two together.

Fire magic. Of course.

As for the monster herself, Toriel almost seemed a little taller, wreathed in fire, and wearing a clinical, detached expression that belonged more on someone who wasn't paying any attention to the situation rather than a pyromaniac. She seemed intensely focused on nothing in particular But when I looked at her…

"There's nothing I can say to convince you otherwise, is there?" I asked, because I knew what she was thinking. Slightly crazy from isolation and a little unhealthily-obsessed with puns or not, Toriel had this look in her eyes, the same kind I'd seen in people like Ulysses and Joshua Graham. She was pretty far from either of them, personality-wise, but there was no mistaking the steely look of determination in her gaze. The kind that refused to be dissuaded.

I still asked anyway, though.

"Is this really what you want?"

Her paws lit up with fire. I sighed, but through the filters of the mask it sounded more like a groan.

"Alright then."

Two shots rang out, and two fist-sized holes appeared in the center of her robes. The firelight dimmed at once, and Toriel dropped to her hands as shock played out on her face. She wasn't bleeding, but there were a pair of black spots on her now, these craters that just looked like staring into a black screen filled with television static, and even without really understanding how Monster biology worked I could tell how grievous it was. Slowly, ever so slowly, she took a shaky breath, and looked up.

I stared into her rust-red eyes, she stared into the glowing crimson of my helmet. And…

And…

…

You know, I never wanted to do this. Did I ever mention that?

I never asked to get shot in the head and buried in a shallow grave for the package I carried. Didn't want to get turned into a cyborg, abducted at the Sierra Madre, get involved in a tribal war, or traverse the atomic wreckage of The Divide. Hell, when all this started, I wasn't even concerned with the fight for control of Hoover Dam, and if I'm being totally honest, I never wanted to execute a deluded old woman living in an underground house.

But those weren't the sort of feelings that could be processed in the moment, and I'm pretty sure she would have died anyways from when I already shot her.

So maybe I felt a flash of something before I pulled the trigger again. It might have been something in response to her expression, this odd mix of disappointment, resignation, and sorrow that always comes to those who know they're staring at death and there's no way out. It might have even been regret, that things didn't have to come to this, that maybe there was some other way out. If I'd tried harder, if I broke through the door a little bit faster, none of this would have happened.

But that was 'if', not 'now'. I said a prayer for the both of us, but it seemed kind of hollow.

One more bang, deafening in the small tunnel, and Toriel was no more.

Her body just kind of disintegrated, becoming a gray-white pile on the floor. Another heart, this one a solid white seemed to rest just above it—before it shattered and fell into the pile. I stared at it, holstered my gear, then walked away. The door was unlocked now, and I didn't know what to make of that. On the other side was Chara, who looked at me as if to speak up, before falling silent and floating after me.

We didn't say anything for a while.

"You okay?" I eventually asked.

They just kept their eyes on the floor as we walked and refused to speak.

(*Neither of you had anything to say.)

You gained 150 EXP

EXP to LV 51: 186,350 / 193,750

A/N: You can calculate XP required for the next level using the formula 25*(3 * n + 2) * (n - 1), where n is the level you're calculating for. And aside from the little flavor text at the end of chapters, game mechanics will not come into play in any serious way.

I didn't say this before, so a few caveats that we ought to get out of the way, just to establish what it is you're reading.

This story is primarily focused on Undertale and how the characters interact with an outside element (The Courier) to explore different sides of characters that are already established. If you're expecting a lot of shit from Fallout to appear in this beyond the Courier (and a few other things I don't want to mention right now), or a replication of the base game itself but with the Courier, then you're going to be disappointed, because that's not happening. Tldr; This is going to be more than just a novelization of the game with the Courier as the protagonist, but less than having everything from Fallout appear in the story.

On a side note, the first chapter has had parts rewritten to be less terrible, but still of the shitty quality of writing that I've been known to produce.