For the first time in a long time, you've been left in a room that isn't barred and locked. Although, if Alphys's words were any indication, she will be returning shortly. Gaster gave Sans a time limit before you get dragged back to that machine, and at best you have one day left.
You unwrap the blanket around your shoulders, letting it fall in a crumpled heap next to the ketchup-infused coffee. There could be something in this room that might help you escape. You open all the lockers, not bothering to close them again. Just clothes. Then you check the drawers near the coffee machine. There's an assortment of pens, papers, tape, and food packages that don't seem to be organized any way in particular. A package of ramen won't do you much good. You still have the bottle of ketchup that Sans left you for useless condiments.
Then you find the silverware drawer. Forks, spoons, and knives. Even the knives are just butter knives, not really anything that could be considered a weapon. But there is one exception – a kitchen knife of steel, most likely meant for cutting vegetables. The blade is a bit dull, but could do some serious damage if you were determined enough. Monsters have much weaker bodies than yours. They feel the world through magic and innate senses, rather than blood and nerves. So a strong intention to kill can transform mundane objects into powerful weapons.
Hey, why are you closing the drawer? You never grabbed the knife. If you want to get out of here, you'll likely encounter resistance. Weapons can provide some serious motivation to people who wouldn't otherwise listen.
"Words," you mumble. If you were talking to anyone except yourself, no one would have heard you. "...Help."
Words? Words help? You've been spoiled by those two. The skeleton and lizard may have listened to you when you spoke... when you told them you didn't like being called 'it'... but words don't always work. Real people don't always do whatever they're told.
Is that what this is about? You think that ignoring me makes you somehow more of a real person? Don't kid yourself. You'd be completely empty on the inside if not for me. Just a container for a soul. Hey, it's not like I consider myself to be a person anymore, either. But I've accepted it. I'm dead. In this case, two halves do not make a whole. The soul of a dead person can't make an empty doll come to life.
Yet still, you won't take the knife. You honestly think that they'll listen to you if you say something. But you're wrong; that's not how the world works. When you get dragged off and hurt again, you'll have no one but yourself to blame.
The drawer closes, knife still inside. At least you agree on one thing. This is an opportunity. To escape, or explore; either one is to your benefit. You leave the break room even though Alphys told you not to.
You've come so far in just a few days. Honestly, you could probably pass as a normal human child, at least until you open your mouth to say something. But you don't drag your feet while you walk. Out of habit, your hand trails the wall, but you don't need it for support. Wandering. Looking. There's so many doors. You want to know what it's like 'outside.' I don't want to be stuck in a lab forever. I don't want to be stuck in you forever. There has to be some puzzle piece we're missing.
You open each door and peak inside with one eye. There's a lab, with microscopes, vials, and... tables with straps that look suspiciously like they're meant to contain people. You close that door. And open another. Another door. There's some kind of strange machine inside. It's half-hidden behind a curtain, but you still see it. It's like something straight up out of a sci-fi movie. Metal panels, steel, a gigantic clock-like dial. You spot a pair of sneakers and a form beneath it, like how a mechanic would tune up a car – fixing whatever's beneath that thing.
Can't have that skeleton finding you yet. You close the door; he doesn't seem to notice, because there's not footsteps pounding after you. You turn around and nearly slam into the figure beneath you.
Noir skeleton.
How did you fail to hear him approach?
His mouth is etched in a thin pencil-line. He doesn't look surprised to find you wandering the hall. "Where were you?" Gaster asks.
Oh. He was looking for you. That's definitely not good.
Your tongue catches in your mouth. Immediately your mind flashes to my memories of the last time you and Gaster spent quality time together. Your legs, which had been so impressively strong and stable just moments before, tremble like a leaf.
"Come," he says. Grabbing your hand without your consent, starting to drag you away. Just like before.
You lean your weight back. The heels of your rubber sneakers squeak loudly against the floor, your hand recoiling as you resist – weakly.
He gives you a weird look. It's indiscernible. Annoyed? Surprised? Angry? Apathetic? Probably not apathetic.
"No," you utter pathetically, quieter than your shrieking shoes.
He stops pulling. Watching you with that same weird expression.
"No," you insist, louder this time. Just a little. Your intonation is oddly deadpan despite the tightening in your chest.
"It wasn't a question." The moment he was considering you has already vanished. He pulls – actually pulls, this time. You're so much weaker. You trip immediately, and you're being dragged, again. Your little act can hardly even be considered resistance. Pitiful.
You really should have brought that knife.
He hauls you to a door, flinging it open.
You remember it. You'd have a hard time not remembering it. The same machine, with the same table meant to hold you, white-washed tiles and pain. This room only has pain. This time, you try to resist. Your hands reach up to Noir skeleton's hand, and you try to pry his fingers away from his wrist. Instead he just takes your other hand, lifting you by your wrists, even as you squirm like a dying animal. He claps the restraints on your wrists and you're trapped, already.
"D-doctor Gaster?" You hear the familiar nervous voice. Barely, you can see the head of the yellow lizard. You even dare to hope that she's here to help you. "A-are you s-sure about this? If S-sans is right, th-th-then..."
"It's dangerous, Alphys," Gaster's voice flickers with emotion for the first time, as he finishes securing your ankles. "It may have found a way to rewind time and we wouldn't even know it. Its determination must be checked. Now go ahead and I'll meet you in the observatory room momentarily."
She leaves instantly.
Just like that.
The person you thought cared about you...
She doesn't really care, at all.
Alphys cared when it was convenient. As soon as the tiniest bump appears, she abandons you to pain. You're not a 'person.' If she really believed that you were, why would she just abandon you? All that crap about taking responsibility, about how you shouldn't suffer and so on. A convenient lie. She's left you to a madman's devices. Even if you were about to die, she wouldn't step in. She's unwilling to suffer even a paper-cut on your behalf.
And the other skeleton would fail you too, even if it's not the same way.
Gaster approaches you with a syringe.
It won't work. My memories might as well make you conscious for this ordeal.
He sticks you with the needle.
It's not right.
Your consciousness fades.
Today was supposed to be different.
What went wrong? Why is it the same?
You might as well be living the same day over and over again.
He called us dangerous.
They're scared of you. And me, too. You haven't even done anything yet.
I'm tired of your fear.
Give them a reason to be scared of us.
You feel the warmth of a blanket wrapped around your body.
When you open your eyes, you're crouched down by the mouse hole. The ketchup-infused coffee lays lazily at the entrance like a peace offering. Steam rises from the mug. Somewhere on the wall, a mechanical clock tick tick ticks. You're alone. Everything is set up like before you explored, and then stumbled into Gaster. Like time just unwinded itself. You shiver, and not because you're cold.
What just happened? Was it a dream of the future?
Or the future itself?
You don't know either.
...But this time, you're going to grab that knife.
Notes:
You can't be a person. But. You can bring them down to your level.
^ Just a personal note I wrote for myself about the next chapter, been sitting lonely at the bottom of the page for a while now, thought I'd leave it in as a preview for ch7 of sorts.