The brush with fame seemed to have distracted Papyrus for a moment, but tiny little sparks of deja vu wouldn't stop plaguing Sans.
For the life of him, he still couldn't summon a clear memory of any changed timelines, but there was a sense of which things were 'correct'. Heh… he'd probably just gotten to close to it all. To have found a way to keep any notes about the timelines ending, he'd almost have to have been affected, one way or another.
So there were some possibilities to consider; first off, he could continue to evaluate everything purely at face value. Odds were strongly in favor of that, and the kid had pretty much confessed anyway. That would mean that they were dealing with something akin to split personalities, but more complicated than that.
Papyrus was suspicious, he could tell. But how much did he suspect? That there was a chance that this kid had already learned how to be good from him? That the kid might not have been bad to begin with? Absolute power, and all that. Because even after watching Papyrus tear up as he recounted finding all that dust, even after all the nightmares involving dust, and finding red scarves in the snow, he couldn't shake the feeling of having a happier bond with the kid. Trust, friendship… misplaced as that was.
His 'gut' instinct was in that direction, but he had to keep other possibilities in mind. It was still possible that he was just picking up on the kid's potential for goodness. He hoped so, for Papyrus's sake. But that just didn't click as well.
And again, he might still just be going crazy, and dragging his brother down with him. Goodness knows he'd felt that way more than once. Timelines? Anomalies? Outside of sci-fi? For real? Add 'resets' to all that, and it sounded bonkers enough to give anyone nightmares. Papyrus had been forced to deal with all that. The kid looking similar could be their own minds latching onto the first human they'd ever seen. Really, a slow decent into insanity sounded like the best option.
He rubbed his skull, thoughts drifting back to those weird letters on Alphy's desk. Something nagged at him about that, but it had more to do with how strange the royal scientist had been acting than any weird feelings that could be residue from past timelines. He wasn't sure what he should be the most worried about. Because… if the kid had killed them after befriending them a bunch of times, if it was curiosity, or boredom, or just a power rush, then… did any of their choices here actually matter?
He had too much evidence to support the timeline theory to abandon it now, no matter how much of a relief that would be. Because those if it was those resets that led them all here, then this 'Chara'cter's plan to erase the world wasn't the only danger they faced; they were in danger as long as resets themselves existed. Oh sure, the kid was happy enough to work with them now that there were consequences, but statistically, the more times an act is repeated, the more hardened to it you become. So ultimately… what they'd done to drive Chara to erase everything would be repeated. And eventually, after being looped over, and over, never getting anywhere, living the same period of time over, and over again… it could very well all end up being for nothing. As long as the resets existed, then whoever could bend them to their will would be able to keep them trapped like this. Puppets, for their amusement.
"Sans?"
"SHHH… MY BROTHER IS HAVING ONE OF HIS 'PENSIVE' MOODS. IT'S BEST TO LET HIM WORK THROUGH THEM, EVEN THOUGH IT TIRES HIM OUT."
*heh, 's alright. sup, kiddo?
"I just wanted to know if you were okay. You look like you have a headache or something."
Heh, no matter what was going on, that one word pretty much wrapped it up. *yeah, that sounds about right.
"Are you okay? Can we get you something? Do you need a break?"
He smiled at the kid, and reached over to rub the messy head of hair. *i'll survive.
"INDEED. BUT I MUST SAY THAT YOU'RE DOING REMARKABLY WELL FOR YOU, SANS."
He choked on the laugh. *thanks, pap.
"BESIDES! THERE IS BUT ONE WAY TO CHEER UP A PENSIVE SANS!"
Two familiar arms wrapped around him from behind, and lifted him into a tight hug. *papyrus! pffft!
"YOU SEE, FRISK? IT IS BOTH SIMPLE AND EFFECTIVE!" He set him back on his feet, giving his head two pats to conclude the demonstration.
He shoved his hands back into his pockets. *works every time. And it did, too, like all Great Papyrus remedies. Even the spaghetti could cheer him out of a depressing science slump, no matter how inedible it might actually be.
Frisk's smile faded to something akin to dark remembrance. Yeah… if he was going insane, the kid was shoving him along that path; time traveling abilities or not.
Instead of dwelling on it, he turned to grin up at his brother, but Frisk was ready to talk.
"I know I did it, but… I still can't believe I let it get so far. How could I kill you guys?"
So killing in general wasn't hard to think about anymore, just killing them. Nice to know.
"PLEASE DON'T KEEP THINKING ABOUT IT, FRISK. YOU CANNOT ERASE YOUR PAST DECISIONS, BUT YOU CAN LOOK TO THE FUTURE."
"But… I'm not the only one that remembers it. How do you keep from thinking about it? About trying to spare me only to be… and you must've seen what I did to everyone when you came back. To Undyne… Mettaton…" the voice dropped, more guilty, quieter, "… to Sans."
Papyrus sighed. "IT WOULD BE HARDER TO IGNORE IF THEY WERE NOT ALL ALIVE AND WELL. AND WHILE I CAN'T UNDERSTAND HOW YOU COULD DO WHAT YOU DID…" the gloved hand closed over his shoulder, and he reached up to put his hand on top of it, "I CAN FORGIVE YOU."
Leave it to Paps… heh… which is what they were literally doing. That part of it wasn't a bad plan at all. He couldn't imagine feeling safer than if the future of all monster-kind actually rested on the kindness in Papyrus's soul.
Why couldn't he ignore the catch? That human…
"WAIT… ARE THOSE… CONVEYOR BELTS?! WHY ARE THERE SO MANY?!"
He shrugged. *so that nobody has to walk?
"THAT'S SO LAZY! SANS! WAS THIS YOUR IDEA?!"
He shook his head, grinning sideways at his brother, and trying to remember which of them had started the 'Sans is so lazy' game. True as it was, it had always amused him to keep in mind that, compared to his never tiring, excitable bro, anyone would come out looking lazy.
Paps strove to put as much effort as he could into everything, while he preferred the path of least resistance himself. It was just how they'd always been. It didn't mean that he never gave 100%, and even Papyrus had to sleep occasionally.
Like in Snowdin and Waterfall, a few monsters were glancing their way as the human passed, but nobody tried anything after giving the sentries half a glance. A few of them waved at him, and he returned a lazy nod when he noticed.
Papyrus was noticing, and getting frustrated that, no matter where they went, people recognized him. That made about as much sense as the human, really. He supposed he was a likable enough sort of guy; he made sure to always have a whoopee cushion up his sleeve after all. But his brother had always been the special one. The guy with the style, who could, at any time of day, put maximum effort into anything, except hurting anyone. Paps could stop an attack instantly if it was going to take it's target a fraction of a point below 1 hp. It had been a necessary, skill for him, acquired from their early days of brotherly roughhousing… emphasis off the 'rough'. He'd never had the best defense in the underground. But being gentle had been second nature to Papyrus.
He froze as Frisk hugged him from behind, shocking him back to the task at hand.
Papyrus covered his face, shaking his head. "THAT WAS A GOOD EFFORT, HUMAN, AND I'M GLAD THAT YOU WERE LISTENING. HOWEVER, A THOUGHTFUL SANS IS NOT NECESSARILY A PENSIVE SANS, AND HE DOESN'T ALWAYS REQUIRE BEING BROUGHT OUT OF IT. THOSE WERE HAPPIER THOUGHTS. IT CAN BE HARD TO TELL THE DIFFERENCE, WITH HIM GRINNING AWAY ALL THE TIME, BUT I CAN TELL."
*right again, pap.
The kid considered that for a moment, then nodded. "You were thinking about how cool Papyrus is, weren't you?"
Did the kid really know him that well? Or was the human only saying that for Papyrus's sake? *am i wearing a shirt under my hoodie?
"YES, SANS. WHY WOULD YOU EVEN ASK SUCH A QUESTION."
He winked. *cause you guys are both seeing right through me.
"WELL IT'S ONLY NATURAL FOR YOU TO BE THINKING ABOUT… SANS! MUST YOU?"
He chuckled. *sorry, bro. you're the one who always says i should be more 'pun'ctual.
"SANS!" His brother's voice raised as he stomped his foot. That was an over reaction for a follow up pun. Either Paps was still trying to cheer him up, or he was just in a better mood after that rescue hug, too.
There were a bunch of conveyor belts, a nice view of the core… nothing he hadn't seen before. Course, Papyrus wasn't wrong. Lately, if he didn't just shortcut to his stations, he took the elevator. But the kid had gone this way so he figured there was a reason for that.
"Sans?" Frisk was taking advantage of Papyrus's distraction with the view. "I can tell you what I know, and… that way, you can decide what to tell Papyrus."
Tempting. Get confirmation of his suspicions, and at the same time, pick and chose what his too-big-hearted little brother had to hear. Very tempting. *naw.
Frisk blinked in surprise. "What?"
*look i don't know how many times we've done this, and i don't care. you picked papyrus for this, and i'm not going to go behind his back. he needs to know what he's reallytrying to fix.
"But, Sans…"
*nope. we're done here. you know you're gonna have to tell him eventually.
"It's going to crush him."
He didn't like the implication that the kid was suddenly more concerned over Papyrus's well being than he was.
"I know, I know… but… I wish… I…"
*wishing ain't gonna change anything. and that's what you want to do, right?
"Yes."
*then it's time for some change. i'm guessing this isn't something you've ever discussed with him before. can't say that i blame ya. but you gave him your determination, something that's extremely dangerous to monsters, i might add. look, i'm more than willing to let bygones be bygones. too lazy to hold a grudge over something i can't even remember. but the fact is, we're only here because you proved how much LOVE you really have for us, so pretend for pap all you want, but keep in mind…
He closed his eyes, and made sure the light was drained out of them before he opened them again.
*... He's a heckofa lot smarter than you give him credit for.