A Tale of Consequences

Reset?

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Chapter 9

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Be aware of silence where there should be sound.

The River Person's quip seemed especially poignant against the utter stillness of his sentry point. Sans turned the words over in his head, his back to the cold, smooth stone of the ruin's door. The still closed door. Considering he'd been knocked out for a good twelve hours recovering, he'd half expected to find it wide open when he arrived. The first time had been three days. Last time had been midafternoon on the second day.

The anomaly—the demon child—wasn't bound by any sort of script. He couldn't afford to waste time.

A particularly cutting breeze knifed through him, slipping through layers as if they were nothing. Sans shivered. He didn't even have skin.

Hot. Cold. Why the heck was he getting so sensitive to them?

Bzzt.

The pocket of his jacket buzzed.

A brief moment of confusion.

Bzzt.

Again. Sans gave up trying to rub warmth into his arms, fumbling a numb hand into the pocket of his jacket. Stiff fingerbones curled around plastic.

He hadn't had a phone in a long time. Not since...well, not since he worked in Hotland really. They'd been a big thing back then. Newly invented to run on the waves set out by the upgraded CORE. He even still had a prototype back in the workshop. Somewhere. An old dinosaur he wasn't sure would even work nowadays.

Alphys' gift buzzed at him again. Insistent. A green light flashing urgently as he pulled it free of fabric.

White text on a black window, the message popped up.

*Aren't you freezing?

Sans looked from the small piece of tech in his hand, and then over towards the camera hidden in the bush near the door. He couldn't see it nestled in the snow covered leaves, although he knew it was there.

...did it have audio capability? He wasn't sure. If so, he had to count himself lucky that Alph either hadn't seen his run ins with the demon child, or didn't remember them. "Whelp. Guess someone's been spying."

Really, he should have expected it. Get her attention and she got pretty...hooked. Always had.

The response was delayed by a few noticeable minutes. Probably just long enough for Alphys to untangle her thoughts and stop sputtering at being called out like that. The next message put any doubts to rest.

*I'm just checking up on you!

The next set of messages came immediately afterwards.

*I finished the DT scans we took this morning.

*I'm worried. They aren't snapping back to the levels we established yesterday.

First she got after him for being too determined. And now this? At least he could nearly see properly again, and his bad eye hadn't leaked in hours. Pap had complained at him for it flickering over breakfast, in between concerned glances and wondering if he was sick because he was up so early. At least the he had an excuse for that. Even someone as lazy as Sans would be off schedule if they'd slept twelve hours straight.

*Isn't that a good thing? He sent back, stiff fingerbones a little awkward as he moved to navigate the unfamiliar pad. He hadn't even wanted the thing, but Alphys had shoved it into his hands the moment she saw him this morning. Right before awkwardly scolding him for not letting her know he got home okay and then demanding yet another scan. *I'd like to avoid another overload, thanks.

*Normally yes, but I also see signs of increased strain that didn't exist yesterday as well. Are they hurting? Helping? We just don't have enough data. They are low for a human. Dangerously high for a monster. I've been trying to do some research to establish an optimal range, but your situation doesn't match anything we have about monsters taking a human soul.

Well, it wasn't like they had much to go on anyway. The possibility of a monster taking a human's soul was cited as the driving factor behind the war ages ago, but in practice it happened so rarely that all that was left were stories and legends. Transformation. Godlike power. Sans wasn't particularly sorry about missing those. The excess determination was giving him enough trouble, and he didn't want to imagine the bother it would be to get the hang of a new body. Getting used to having his vision halved unless he was actively using his magic was annoying as it was.

*I'm no boss monster. Sans texted back. *I'm not really made to handle unlimited cosmic power.

*There's only been one case of a boss taking a human soul. He liked to imagine her exasperated sigh right here, tapping her claw impatiently against the tablet. Probably with a lot more stuttering. *Prince Asriel's story is the most famous, yes, but before the war most of the recorded cases of soul theft were from normal monsters who happened to be at the right place at the right time.

*I didn't actually steal the soul, Alph. Sans felt oddly certain of that. Even in his initial plan, he'd never expected to kill them for good. Just to stall them until they gave up and reset again. If he managed it, in a timeline where the kid had chosen death, he would have dragged the human's dying body to the king and had him deal with it.

Sans had never wanted that sort of responsibility. Funny how he ended up stuck with it anyway.

*You believe they chose this?

I THINK THEY JUST DIDN'T WANT TO GO ALONE.

Small arms tightened around his neck amidst a field of flowers.

...don't leave…

Fragments of fragments. But Sans felt positive.

*Given the options...yeah. I do.

Alphys' response took a few moments.

*I'll take that under advisement. Coexistence rather than subservience would make more sense if it was willing. It may make the eventual extraction easier too.

...extraction.

Small fists banging helplessly against metal.

Terror. Panic that wasn't his own. Sans screwed his eyes shut.

Suffocating. Their soul was stretching. They felt it being pulled away. Ripping. Tearing. Bits and pieces missing, flaking away as the other tried desperately to hold on.

Breaking. Cracking under the strain. But something forced the fragments back together. Healing the wounds. Only there was no way to heal when the wounds were gaping holes where hate and despair had been stripped away.

They were broken. Floating in nothing. Terrified. Alone.

Sans hung his head in his hands. He half expected the pressure to be pounding against his skull. But nothing. Just silence and despair and echoes of the past. That was almost worse. No physical pain, but a yawning pit of melancholy opening beneath his feet.

He couldn't even hug the kid. Damn this was frustrating.

If he didn't do something, they'd both end up drowning.

Bzzt.

Bzzt.

Bzzt.

The buzzing was insistent. It took more willpower than it should to get him to open his eyes and comprehend the white letters.

*What happened?

*Sans?

*Are you okay?

It was hard to think to form words, but he fumbled the best he could.

*ok

Bzzt.

Bzzt.

*Ok? Okay what?

*If you don't respond properly I'm going to call your brother!

His brother.

A blanket. A sweater. A pair of socks.

A sweater he was wearing right now, beneath his jacket. Fuzzy and warm, with a single grey stripe. A sweater Pap had brought to them, wrapped around three containers.

You think of half-frozen spaghetti. Hand made and nearly inedible.

The emptiness shrank back before memories of his brother's kindness. Settling back to a dull ache of misery.

Breath rattled in his ribcage as he took a deep gulp of air, the icy grip of despair loosening around his soul. He didn't necessarily need it, but the repetitive motion made him feel a little better.

*I'm ok. Kid's having problems, but I'm ok.

He was starting to miss the pounding headache. At least that meant the kid was determined. Not this...whatever it was.

*Problems?

*What kind of problems?

She expected him to know?

*Remember your graphs? I think we just hit a trough.

Extracted human souls were stable. Living souls...well. They apparently could have crises of hope just like any other monster.

*I need to get you a mobile monitor.

Oh please no. As scientifically interesting as it would be to see their mental state mapped out every second of every day, that was one can of worms he wasn't sure he wanted to show the world.

*This is what I meant. This isn't healthy, having something else affecting your soul to this extreme. We should try and remove it.

The response was immediate. Sans was prepared for it this time. He caught the rising panic and held it instead, bombarding it with the strong warm memories of his brother. Of watching him steam under too many puns. Motherhenning them during healing sessions. Half-frozen spaghetti and a nice warm blanket. Half listening to the resigned grumblings as Papyrus let them nap on his lap.

Slowly it faded.

Sans let out a breath he hadn't meant to be holding.

*Alph. His hands were shaking as he typed out the message. *Do me a favor and never suggest that again. Ok?

She didn't answer. Sans slid the phone back into his pocket, letting the silence of the snow-covered wilderness fill the void.

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"SANS! BROTHER!"

Right on schedule, his brother's shouts echoed down the path. Sans had been steeling himself for Papyrus' lunch-time check in. He wasn't sure he wanted to face his brother with the kid's melancholy still rattling around in their soul…

But then again, Pap almost always put a real smile on his face. Decided, Sans pushed himself off the ground, shaking himself to rid himself of the snow that had slowly accumulated on his shoulders. He knew where he was, and exactly where he wanted to go.

A single step, and Sans was leaning back in the chair of his sentry station. His brother's shadow was turned away, probably peering down the path toward the bridge.

"S'up bro?"

Papyrus whirled around instantly. "DON'T YOU S'UP ME, BROTHER! WHY AREN'T YOU EVER AT YOUR STATION? YOU WERE EVEN SO EAGER TO COME BACK TO WORK TODAY, AND NOW I FIND YOU BOONDOGGLING?"

"Just went for a walk, bro. Union regulated breaks and all that." Papyrus never did seem surprised by Sans' willingness to ignore time and space. Sans had a feeling he'd long since destroyed any sense of normalcy Pap had ever had when it came to that. "After all that sleep my joints are a little stiff."

"YOU SLEEP MORE THAN THAT ON A NORMAL DAY! AND WE DON'T EVEN HAVE A UNION!"

"Maybe I made one?" Sans grinned, "Sleepy Skeleton Sentries United. Wanna join, bro? You're qualified. Except maybe for the sleepy bit."

"OF COURSE I CAN'T JOIN, YOU BONEHEAD. I'M THE ONE WHO ASSIGNS YOUR SHIFT. YOU CAN'T ORGANIZE AGAINST YOURSELF."

"That's too bad. The initiation is rather fun. I was looking forward to teaching you some great knock knock jokes."

If Papyrus had skin, he'd be nearly turning red. Complete with steam roiling from his ears. A strangled sigh escaping from his clenched jaw. Sans was pleased with his handiwork. One of life's simple pleasures. So pleased that the heavy grip around his soul loosened. Messing with Pap always helped him stop thinking about the deja vu.

Sometimes ya just had to lighten up and appreciate some good ol' fashioned ribbing.

Oh that was a good one. Too bad it was only in his head.

"I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THIS ANYWAY. HAVE YOU SEEN ANYONE COME THIS WAY TODAY?"

"Nope."

"DRAT."

What? Nothing about puzzles and re-calibrating and humans? The lines weren't always the same, because Sans had stopped bothering with the script. But some things didn't change very much "Is something wrong bro?"

"YOU KNOW THE HOODLUMS WHO LIKE TO SKULK AROUND OUTSIDE TOWN? PRANKING EVERYONE WITH THEIR BULLETS?"

"Yea. What about 'em? They don't really come this far out."

"I KNOW, BUT—WELL—JERRY'S MOTHER CAME TO ME THIS MORNING, SAYING HER SON HADN'T COME HOME LAST NIGHT. I ASKED IF SHE'D ASKED HIS FRIENDS, BUT THEY SAID THEY DITCHED HIM SO NO LEADS THERE. DOGAMY AND DOGRESSA ARE TRYING TO TRACK HIM BY SCENT CLOSER TO TOWN, BUT I DIDN'T WANT ANYONE SAYING THE GREAT PAPYRUS WASN'T THOROUGH WITH HIS INVESTIGATION! I FIGURED I'D START HERE AND WORK BACKWARDS IN CASE THEY WERE PLAYING A BAD PRANK AND HIDING OUT TO WORRY PEOPLE. CAN YOU IMAGINE THAT? PURPOSEFULLY MAKING OTHER PEOPLE WORRY ABOUT YOU? IT'S TERRIBLE!"

"Yeah. Terrible." Sans wanted to frown. Shooting a glance back down the path. Be aware of the silence. "I can keep an eyesocket out, bro, but it's always pretty quiet out here."

"TELL ME ABOUT IT. NONE OF THE OTHER SENTRIES REMEMBER SEEING HIM, BUT I WOULDN'T TRUST THEIR MEMORIES AS FAR AS I CAN THROW THEM. THEY BARELY THINK ABOUT ANYTHING OTHER THAN TREATS AND PETS! EVEN THE GREATEST OF INVESTIGATORS LIKE MYSELF NEED LEADS!"

Fried snow.

Sans blinked.

"I've been thinking about selling treats too. Wanna buy some fried snow?"

He...that sounded like his voice. He'd...been considering a prank involving fried snow ever since the Nice Cream Vendor set up shop, but hadn't found the right vic—time for it. He'd almost forgotten about it. It had been...before he started tracking the resets. That felt like such a long time ago, even if the rest of the world only knew it as a few days.

Nothing. Sans turned the memory fragment over as Papyrus continued to rant about the injustice. If he had run into a half decent human, it would have been the perfect opportunity but…

I don't remember everything kid. Sans thought, Especially the happy things.

An ink stained photograph, slowly blotting out the smiling faces.

A faint pressure. Insistent. It burned distantly, shrouded. But present.

selling treats too.

The light bulb clicked.

"Hey, bro?" He waved to catch his brother's attention, "Did ya check with the Nice Cream guy? He might have had a nice view."

"NYEH?" Papyrus froze mid-flourish. One red glove went to his chin, brow furrowed in thought, "I HADN'T CONSIDERED THAT! SUCH A LOCATION WOULD BE PERFECT TO SPOT OUR WAYWARD TEEN IF HE'D TRAVERSED TO THIS SIDE OF THE BRIDGE! STAY VIGILANT BROTHER! THE GREAT PAPYRUS IS ON THE CASE ONCE MORE! NYEH HEH HEH!"

Sans watched the clouds of snow kicked up by his brother as he zoomed off, running full tilt back toward the path to Snowdin.

Silence where there should be sound.

The river person's words haunted him—his gaze was drawn back toward the bridge and Pap's too wide fence. And beyond that to the door. He sat up, slippers crunching in the packed snow. And then stepped.

Heavy stone rose above him. Stray bits of snow were lodged in the carving that decorated the door. The Delta Rune. The symbol of the kingdom.

He...had to check.

His magic flared as the world brightened, the edge of stone wreathed in a faint cyan aura.

The remaining pressure behind his eye strengthened hesitantly, the familiar trickle of red magic rolling down his cheek. Oh now the kid wanted to be determined. Ah well. He could use this. He braced himself, making sure he had a tether on every edge of carved stone.

Then pulled.

They didn't so much as budge. Locked from within. All of Snowdin knew that. So why…?

The aura faded. Sluggishly.

Relief battled with worry. He was right. It hadn't been opened. They couldn't have left. Something nagged at him.

Something had changed. It had to.

But how? It should be a ripple effect. The only people who could change should be the demon, and him. The doors were locked. That meant the demon-child should still be contained within the ruins for now. He'd gone to Alphys, but she never left the lab. Her influence would be minimal.

But, it could be helpful.

He turned to the camera, and reached for the phone. He had no idea how long she kept the security footage from the various cameras but it was worth a shot—

"Whoooo is theeeeeere~?"

The sing-song voice drifted through stone, freezing him mid-message.

A step, and he was down the path, away from the door, magic flaring and pulling bone-shaped constructs out of thin air in preparation.

The demon's mocking laughter followed him.

But the doors remained closed and the laughter faded away.

They were Acting again.

Why?

*Keep an eye out for my bro, ok? He debated the text. Alphys hadn't texted him back since...earlier. But he ended up sending it anyway. She had cameras everywhere.

Last time they Acted because they knew Pap would make him flinch.

A thorny vine coiled around his—their—soul.

A nightmarish face.

The demon was accounted for, and it's not like the flower could get out of the ruins either.

Right?

X-x-x

Alphys flipped through the windows, each one showing nearly identical looking snowy landscapes. She wasn't exactly sure what she was looking for.

Keep an eye out for my bro, ok?

Keep an eye out for what? Sans had refused to answer any of her questions after that. Even when she'd threatened to text papyrus. He'd called her bluff. Of course she was too timid to outright do that, especially as she watched the excitable skeleton dart back and forth across Snowdin's icy outskirts, flicking from camera to camera. Looking for something? He'd met up with nearly every member of the canine unit at one point or another during the day.

It was weird. The guard was mobilizing. She'd thought they were sentries. Had something happened?

Undyne would know. Alphys glanced at her phone, deflating at the lack of notifications. Undyne must have left her cellphone at home again. Or didn't hear it. Or it'd been crushed under the weight of her armor. Or accidently rattled free when she suplexed a training dummy. Alphys knew all the reasons. They'd all happened at one point or another.

A set of keystrokes, and she flicked the camera back to 01 — the site of the doorway to Old Home. He was still there, a dark silhouette waiting behind one of the trees off to the edge of the path. She squinted at the patch of slightly off color darkness. At the trickle of determination casting an eerie shadow against his skull.

Asgore help her, she trusted him. Despite the impossibility of everything, she believed him.

That didn't mean all this secrecy was an easy pill to swallow.

What was he waiting for?

Why Old Home?

That was where—they fell wasn't it? The human? Historically, they always fell in the ruins. The king had long since gotten some flying monsters to map the cavern ceiling. The only fissure large enough was in the ruins. They always would come through that door. Or theoretically through the barrier itself. But none ever came that way.

But Sans had their soul. The—nightmare—was never going to happen now. It couldn't. The red soul in his—as worrying as its presence was—was proof of that.

Right?

Don't ever steal from me again

She shivered, hunching into the safety of her labcoat.

Just a draft.

Sans must have jumped the human as soon as they fell. It was the only explanation for him to have the soul.

So why was he still watching Old Home?

Keep an eye out for my bro, ok?

She wished he would tell her why.

Reluctantly she switched cameras. The sleepy town of Snowdin unfolded before her. The windows glowed against the darkness of night. She fiddled with the zoom, pointing the tiny camera at the house on the far edge of town.

Lights still on. No fresh footprints in the snow. Hopefully Papyrus would stay put for the night now so she could finally get some work done.

She'd just finished setting up her remote alert system when she heard something. Something soft. A fwip sound.

She frowned.

The door?

She turned.

Nothing.

Nothing out of place.

You are just being paranoid, Alphys. She told herself, berating the immediately cautious thought. No one came to visit her. Not since she'd barricaded herself inside. Hiding from the questions. The letters. The guilt—

Breathe.

She did.

There was no reason to be worried. The Nightmare was just that. A nightmare.

She had DT models to run. Scenarios to simulate. Numbers to crunch.

Brrrrrrrt.

A mechanical whirring. Alphys paused again.

She had to be hearing things. There's no way that was the elevator running.

...Maybe she should check on it. Just in case.

She grabbed her phone, shuffling across the lab, passed her desk and the refrigerator, to the opaque glass door that hid the entrance to the underground elevator…

Fwip.

The door slid open at her approach.

Her voice caught in her throat.

Red thorned vines were impaled in the control panel, snaking up and around to completely block the door.

...maybe it hadn't been her imagination at all. Claws quivering, she hit the call button.

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A/N: Another chapter! Hope you enjoyed~ I'd be happy to try and clarify if there are any questions!

Reviews and comments are always appreciated!