Core Issues
by Nicolle
Disclaimer: Undertale is copyright to Toby Fox. Gaster!Sans (our lovely narrator) is the creation of Borurou. Underfell is a community creation. Fase is from Technotale. The story is copyright to me.
Special Disclaimer: Core!Frisk got a mention this episode. Core!Frisk belongs to Ivka/Doku.
1. This story is rated T for language, suggestive jokes/themes, and violence. Red makes an appearance in this episode so, yeah, language.
2. Here it is! The end! I will post, as a 13th chapter, a guide to the characters and the story, including some info on how the plot changed over time. I will then go back through the whole thing to re-edit and fix continuity errors before posting it on AO3.
3. As before, if you liked what you read, let me know! Send me a review! Even a simple, 'OMGosh I liked this!' is enough. Hated it? Say so! What didn't you like? Did you make some fan art? Tell me! I would love to see it! I'm seriously terrible at any kind of drawing so I love seeing everyone else's work (I kind of live on Picarto).
4. Derivative works notice: So you want to write something using this fic as a back drop or inspiration? Awesome! Here's the disclaimer you should post with your writing: "This is a fanwork inspired by Core Issues by Nicolle. It is not part of the original story but my own ideas and work."
Ep. 12 - Choices
To call it a building was underselling it.
"This place is a fortress," I huffed.
Red nodded.
Frisk frowned. "Fase? Why does this placement look odd?"
Fase projected as a hologram, a small child in a striped shirt walking around the table. "Because it's right over this world's Core." The hologram building grew, displaying the interior. The basement rooms were highlighted. "I'm sure you all recognize this."
"That's a Gaster lab and a very complex one too. Looks like a medical bay here." I pointed to one area on the hologram. "I don't recognize this set up."
"I do." Our human Papyrus crossed his arms over his chest. "That's a match for my mother's lab."
"So this Gaster was a botanist. Does that match your data, Fase?" Frisk asked.
"There is a significant amount of plant life in the lower levels. And it's growing without direct sunlight."
"How far does Gaster's influence extend?" I asked.
"Based on the movements of D's brother, he doesn't go passed the medical bay unless he's forced too."
D frowned and I patted him on the back. "It's okay, man."
He sighed and his yellow eye took on a deep resolve. "*I know. What's the plan?"
"*our lovely, lady ninja heads in to disable the interior defenses," Red said, winking at Ninja Sans with his left eye. "*when she finishes, she will activate the fire alarm."
Red's brother pointed to the front gate. "THE WEAKEST POINT IN THEIR OUTER DEFENSES IS THE MAIN GATE. D'S DRAGON FORM WILL BUST IT OPEN AT THAT POINT."
"You can do that?" Papyrus asked.
D nodded. "*Even if the gate is coated in my brother's magic, I can bust it completely open."
"ONCE OPEN, CHARA WILL RAIN A GALACTA BLAZING ON THE FIELD. THIS SHOULD TAKE CARE OF ANYONE EVACUATING FROM THE FIRE ALARM AND REDUCE THEIR NUMBERS."
"*once the door is open, we head in. remember, every one of these assholes are the cream of the chara-crop. fuckin' pros. they ain't goin' down easy. after entry, our job is to grab sugar plum's twin and d's little bro. whoever gets to them first will teleport back immediately. asriel and undyne will handle restraining the frisk while bone's little brother will restrain d's."
Everyone nodded.
"ARE WE READY?"
"*almost," Blue said. "*this mission is different from any we have done before and a hundred times more dangerous." He held out his hand and a save point sparkled in his phalanges. "*this is a very special save. while a save point will only work for its world and its frisk, this one will bring us all back here to this moment should things go south. but more importantly, should anyone of us die, frisk will be able to pull us back through this save." He held it out to my girl.
Frisk touched the save and it flared for a second. She looked at her hand after touching it. "That felt strange."
"*just gave you a whole lot of control, kiddo. don't go wastin' it."
She nodded, filled with Determination. "Let's go."
We teleported en mass to the fortress. Frisk knelt next to me in a dark blue turtleneck and black pants, having ditched her uniform for something less conspicuous. "C? Confirm the number of hostiles."
"Twenty-four, including Frisk and D's brother. And you were right. He's reserved all the good people for defending the home base."
"Anyone else? Any hostages?"
"Nope. It looks like they're holed up and waiting for us."
"*they're waiting for sugar blossom," Red growled.
"Ninja Sans is in, disabling the interior defenses," White said. "All we have to do is wait."
"Again, why has no one told me that we had a Sans that was an actual ninja? She would have been so useful to have around," C grumbled.
Frisk smiled.
Red elbowed her. "*no matter what, stay with bones." He looked at me. "*put a fuckin' leash on her if you have to, just don't let her out of your sight."
"The only person who wears a leash around here is you, Sans," Frisk said. He gave her a wolfish grin.
Ninja Sans soft voice came over the comm. "*Things are about to get loud." An alarm went off inside the building.
"D! Break the wall!"
Several glowing, mystical circles of yellow appeared in the sky. A massive bone dragon came shooting through them, coating itself in magic, and slammed into gate, shattering it. The gate completely came down as he flew away and dived into the tree line. Chara held the heart locket around his neck, and the image of his late brother appeared over him. A Galacta Blazing rained down on the people evacuating the main building.
D appeared next to us in his skeletal form. We rushed the front doors. A shot went over my head and we ducked behind a column.
"Sniper! Over the doors!" Frisk yelled. "Give me a shield!"
I threw a barrier in front of her and knelt to give her covering fire while she ran for the shattered doors. Frisk got up underneath the sniper and fired upwards, hitting the her square in the chest with the foam core. D caught the sniper before she hit the ground and knocked her out. The doors of the main building were barred.
"Behind me!" Frisk ducked behind my legs. I summoned a massive bone strike and the door splintered. We ran through.
To the right, I could see Red, his brother, and Papyrus engaging several people. D, Frisk and I went inside, Chara watching our backs.
"Hostile count?" Frisk asked.
"Twenty remain."
The ground suddenly shook from a massive GB blast.
"Scratch that. Nineteen remain."
Ninja Sans dropped down next to us. "This way."
We followed her as she snuck us through the halls. I took a quick look back and saw Blue and White hit the stairs.
Red came running up behind us with both Papyrus-es, drawing fire from two people behind them.
Ninja Sans looked annoyed. "*Who are they?"
"*just some people we met at the party."
Frisk ducked against the wall. "They seem nice."
Chara turned, gun in hand, and fired twice, taking out knees. Papyrus the Greater speared both with bone strikes through the head before grabbing their badges. He was being more brutal than he had to be with both eyes glowing red. Hopefully he and Red worked out their anger by the time the mission was over.
We continued to a three way junction in the hall.
"C? Give me a map." Frisk blinked twice, seeing something we couldn't. "The right hallway leads to Utilities and Mechanical. The middle leads to the medical bay. The left leads to living quarters."
"*hostile count?"
"We are down to ten. Four to the right. They appear to be trying to get the interior defenses back on. Four to the middle. They appear to be arguing. Two to the left. They appear to be grabbing things to leave. I can't tell who's who. I'm only working on thermals. Blue and White have already cleared the upper floors and are coming back down now."
"*paps, papyrus, and i will take the right. sans and his majesty..."
Chara rolled his eyes at the fake obeisance.
"*can take the living quarters. sugar blossom, bones, and d take the middle. stick to the plan. grab and extract. avoid full confrontation." He looked at Frisk. "*don't go after your double. let bones handle him. take care of anyone around him."
Frisk nodded.
"*break!"
Frisk took the lead down the hall.
D's brother was running towards us, tears in his eyes, mumbling under his breath. He froze, blinking rapidly when he saw us. "SANS? IS IT REALLY YOU?"
D nodded. "*It's me."
Papyrus threw his arms around his brother, lifting him off the floor to hug him. "HOW? HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE?"
"*I can explain later. Where is Frisk?"
"THE MEDICAL BAY." He pointed.
Frisk and I turned.
"WAIT!" Papyrus pulled a syringe filled with a green liquid from his coat. "THIS IS THE SAME SUBSTANCE HE TRIED TO USE ON YOU BEFORE. INJECT THIS IN HIS NECK. IT WILL KNOCK HIM OUT AND DISABLE THE A.I." He looked at Frisk. "THE A.I. WANTS YOU. I'M SURE YOU'VE FIGURED OUT WHY."
Frisk nodded and stowed the syringe in her jacket.
C burst to life on her shoulder. "Yeah. I'm not giving up my Frisk to some douche bag."
"Why did you leave the bay?" Frisk asked.
Papyrus looked away. "THE A.I. MADE A DEAL WITH THIS WORLD'S REMNANT OF MY FATHER TO TRANSFER HIMSELF TO YOU. I REFUSE TO DO THIS. HE IS TOO BUSY ARGUING WITH THE OTHERS TO HAVE NOTICED THAT I AM GONE."
D put his hand on his brother's shoulder. "*This will end today."
The sound of feet pounding the ground came down the hallway. D's Frisk, two Chara's flanking him, came to a stop just ahead of us.
"What are you waiting for?! Grab her!"
Papyrus stood tall and straight. "I REFUSE."
"What?" One of his eyes turned red.
"I REFUSE."
Both eyes turned red and the A.I.'s voice fell from his lips. "Oh what a laugh! Do you really think that stopping now will earn you forgiveness for the sins crawling on your back? Put your head back on straight and grab the bitch!"
"NO. I AM DOING WHAT I SHOULD HAVE DONE IN THE BEGINNING. I HAD HOPED I COULD HELP FRISK BY PROVIDING HIM WITH THE MEANS TO RELIEF. BUT ALL I DID WAS HELP YOU."
"D? Take your brother back to Asriel. Bones and I have this," my girl said.
D took his brother's hand and they both disappeared.
The red eyes glowed with delight. "Oh what a laugh! Three on two? You have absolutely no chance."
My girl actually stopped dead and looked at him. "You're kidding, right?"
"Get her, you two. I've got the smiley trash bag."
Both Chara's rushed Frisk. She punched the one that got to her first in the face, stunning him for a moment. Ducking under the arm of the second, she grabbed him by the shirt and threw him into the first.
The A.I. rushed me with a knife. Odd choice considering what he had to be armed with. I short cut behind him and kicked him in the butt, sending him sprawling to the floor.
He rolled over, angry.
"If you're going to be a boring fight, you might as well stop now," I said. "You have absolutely no idea what you're doing. My girl's right. You squander your Frisk's abilities and training."
He growled and launched at me. I stepped to the side, letting him crash into one of the Chara's on Frisk.
The floor underneath us shook, like something underneath it was trying to punch it's way through. One of the Chara's grabbed my girl's arm, trying to steady himself. The floor cracked and completely caved in. All five of us fell as plant life rushed around us.
xxx
I stood and brushed off my jeans. Jeans? Since when did my current body own anything in denim? I looked around and caught a glimpse of myself in a broken piece of glass. Shorter. Face rounder. A different body altogether.
I liked the bomber jacket. Very nice.
My botanical pets seemed to have taken over this section of my laboratory. It was so difficult to continue one's studies when you needed someone else's body to work. Doubly so without assistants. Especially to trim and feed. One of my pets munched away on a young human male in a dark corner. Another was attacking an older human male who was doing well defending himself. A tendril of green reached out toward me and I gave it a loving tug, smiling a little.
A feminine groan caught my attention. A human female pushed herself to a sitting position next to me. She appeared to be a female version of the male who'd been making reckless deals with me for the past few years. At least the souls he'd provided for experimenting with the void had been an interesting aside.
Her clothing was ripped from falling through the hole in the ceiling. She pulled a tattered sleeve from her right arm, revealing a line of sunflowers tattooed from the inside of her elbow down to her wrist.
I was distinctly pleased to see this mark. Like it had been made for me.
She looked up at me with a rather lovely pair of blue eyes. Unlike her counterpart, they were unclouded. "Are you all right?"
What a fascinating voice! I raised a brow bone. She was worried about me? So she knew who this body belonged too.
"Oh."
My expression must have given away my 'residence' as it were. She stood and looked around. She seemed concerned about the possession, but also concerned about her surroundings. She shooed aside a green tendril reaching for her. She caught sight of the man being eaten and stepped backward.
I moved so that she stepped back against my rib cage and wrapped my phalanges around the tattooed wrist. She looked up at my skull. There wasn't any fear in her eyes. Her heartbeat remained steady under my grip. How very intriguing.
Another green tendril reached out to me and I tugged it softly. She watched the action carefully.
"What a mess! Can't you keep your 'pets' under control?"
Ah. Frisk had arrived. His eyes were red. So the A.I. had taken control of him. I was not fond of the thing. It seemed to think it was important.
He walked passed his comrades without concern for them, the older one finally being bested, and bitten in half. He caught sight of the female and suddenly looked excited.
"Excellent! You already have my new host in hand."
I looked down at her. From her expression, this news did not surprise her, but neither was she about to let it happen. I pushed the braid of her hair aside and found a connecting chip for an A.I. already in place. I had the distinct feeling that removing it would not remove the A.I. currently in her head. She hadn't tried to stop me when I moved her hair. I tapped the chip lightly.
"Please don't touch the implant, Dings," she whispered.
Dings? How incredibly... intimate.
A green tendril touched her hand and rather than shy away from it, she very gently brushed the ends before giving it a soft tug. It pulled back. Interesting. She was following my lead. She would make a wonderful assistant.
My favorite test subject.
Fascinating.
The A.I. stopped in front of us, looking the female over like she was an object for sale. "All the training and skills of my Frisk without the baggage! You'll make an excellent host!" He smiled at me. "It's not the body you've been using, but it's a good replacement. A permanent body for you. A new Frisk for me! Shall we finish the deal?"
No.
I raised a brow bone at him. "The deal is off."
The A.I. planted its fists on its hips. "And why is that exactly?"
Mine.
My grip tightened on the female. She did not resist or pull away. Even the tenor of her body did not change. She merely waited.
"I don't need to make a deal with you in order to keep this body. I only need to remain here in my lab. Did you really think that I would keep a promise knowing that in order to fulfill my end I would have to leave my own area of influence? I am not naive." I ran the phalanges of my other hand down the side of the female's face and over her shoulder. "She is a fine specimen." My boney fingers trailed down her back. "And I intend to make good use of my favorite test subject."
He growled. "Why are you acting so differently?"
"You idiot," the female said. "He's acting differently because he's a different person. Just because this world's Gaster has a strong influence does not mean that it completely overrides the will of another. They blend together, the dominating traits of both melding into a whole. The doctor you made a deal with doesn't exist outside of your Papyrus."
The A.I. launched at her. She pulled her arm from me and punched him hard enough that he hit the floor, skidding backwards.
"Come on, Coward! Are you going to let a piece of programming control you? He's not even the real deal!" she yelled.
He crawled to his feet and stood, eyes still red.
"Look at you! What a joke! Your plan was half-cocked to begin with and now that it's falling apart you're going to let poorly programmed code have control? And you call yourself a Viper?"
Frisk's eyes turned blue. "No. No! I am not a coward! You have no idea what I've been through!" He grabbed the front of her turtleneck and pulled her face close to his. I stiffened.
"What you've been through? You made the choices! You chose the easy way! You painted the world red! You made that decision! How dare you act like you didn't have a choice! For once in your life, own up to your mistakes!"
Frisk back handed her ans she hit the floor. She spit the blood from her mouth and glared at him, eyes like ice.
That was more than enough. I motioned for my pets to collect her. The vines wrapped around her, pulling her toward the mass of green against the wall.
"Hey!"
"I apologize for the inconvenience, but I cannot allow such a valuable specimen to be damaged."
A syringe filled with a familiar green liquid fell from her jacket and rolled to my feet. I pointed and multiple green vines shot from my pets, seizing him. He struggled against their grip. I tapped the syringe to release any hidden air bubbles and then grabbed Frisk by his hair.
"Do stop struggling."
I plunged the needle into his neck near the A.I.'s implants. He went limp, head lolling forward. I held up the empty syringe and a tendril reached to grab it, taking it away. I went back to my specimen. She'd stopped struggling against my pets. They held her gently, but securely. I stood in front of her with my hands clasped behind my back.
She looked at Frisk. "Please don't hurt him."
I cocked my head to one side. "You're concerned about him? He struck you rather hard."
She looked at me. "Please."
I sighed. "Very well. I have little use for a broken specimen." I motioned for my pets to lift him out of the room and they dumped him in the hallway above us. I turned back to her, pondering which experiment to start first.
Mine.
I blinked. That hadn't been my thought.
Do NOT harm her.
I huffed, annoyed. This is my body now, thank you. Do be quiet.
My Frisk.
She wasn't looking at me anymore, her eyes were on the floor. She appeared to be far beyond exhausted and was using the moment to rest. I gently touched her face.
Mine!
A tremor went through me and my hands moved of their own accord, pulling her right hand from the vines and trailing over the sunflowers on her arm. An incredible force of will slammed against me. I stumbled backwards, letting go of my specimen. It hit me again and I felt... dislodged? It hit me a third time and...
"Get out of my body and stay out!" I shuddered and rubbed my frontal bone. "Fuck that hurt!"
"Bones?"
"Yeah." I took her hand and tugged at her, the vines letting her go. "You all right, Babe?"
"Very tired."
I smiled and put an arm around her. "Then let's get out of here before these things decide to snack on us." I looked around. "Where's Frisk?"
"I convinced Gaster not to kill him." She indicated the broken ceiling with her head. "He's up there and out cold."
I short cut us to the hallway and found Frisk laying in a heap. I picked him up and threw him over my shoulder. "Ready?"
Frisk nodded and tapped her comm. "Threat neutralized. Everyone pull out."
I put my arm around her again and solved to take us home. We landed next to the lab and Asriel hurried out followed by Undyne. He reached to take the sack of potatoes from me and stopped when he saw his sister. He took her face in his hands, looking at her eyes.
"Status, C."
"Frisk is tired, but otherwise fine."
She waved him off with a smile. "Get to work, Goat."
Undyne took the Frisk on my shoulder and laid him down on the table prepped for him in the lab. Asriel and Frisk followed.
Asriel began washing and sterilizing. "Get cleaned up and get to bed. Doctor's orders."
Frisk held up her hands in mock surrender. "Going." She and I stepped outside and lab. She froze when she looked at the assembled and grabbed my hand tightly. Her eyes darted from face to skull, panicked. "Where's Red?"
Papyrus the Greater patted her on the shoulder. "HAVE NO FEAR. MY BROTHER IS SIMPLY ENGAGING IN A BIT OF WANTON DESTRUCTION."
Frisk's sudden relief took everything out of her and I put an arm around her so she would remain standing.
"*you did good, kid," Blue said. "*go get some well earned sleep."
She nodded and I walked her toward her apartment. The door was ajar. I pushed it open and found Paps, D, and his brother sitting in the living room, having tea. Well, the Papyrus-es were having tea. D probably had a cup of White Sauce.
Frisk smiled at my brother. "Taking over my apartment, Papyrus?"
He blushed. "I APOLOGIZE. I DID NOT THINK THAT YOU WOULD MIND. THERE IS NO WHERE ELSE IN THE FACILITY AS COMFORTABLE."
"I don't mind. I'm just not in any condition to play hostess." She looked at D and his brother. "Your Frisk is in surgery now."
The brothers stood and rushed to the door. Paps stood and smoothed out his pants. "I WILL RETURN TO CLEAN UP."
Frisk nodded and shooed him out the door. When the door clicked shut, she looked at me. "Will you help me?"
"What would you like me to do?"
"Talk to me so I don't fall asleep in the shower and crack my head open."
"Sure." I dropped my jacket on the back of a chair and walked her into the bathroom. She undressed while I got the water running. I tried not to flinch at the scars from the sniper rounds on her back and failed miserably. Once under the water, her head fell back, letting the water hit her face. I leaned back against the wall.
"Is it over then?"
I shrugged. "Seems to be."
Frisk was quiet for a minute while she washed her hair, tossing the band that held her braid onto the shelf next to the sink. "You fought off the influence this time."
"I..." I took a deep breath. "I saw what he had in mind for you and wasn't going to wait for someone else to help. Please don't ask what he was going to do. I'm going to be spending some time repressing that memory."
I could see her stiffen under the water. "Does that mean you remember the other times you were Gaster?"
I shook my head. "No. I'm pretty sure this was a unique instance. But I am going to be more proactive about taking myself back in the future."
She turned off the water. I grabbed her towel and slowed for a moment when I noticed two others hanging on the back of the bathroom door.
I wrapped the towel around her. "Feel a little more human?"
Frisk nodded and turned her back to dry off, before pulling on a nightgown and combing her hair. She took a step and stumbled. I caught her, put an arm under her knees, and lifted her. I carried her into the bedroom... and found out why two more towels were hanging in the bathroom. Red's Frisk and the small boy Frisk were curled up in her bed, fast asleep. Flowey had wrapped himself around a bedpost, petals drooping in sleep.
Frisk covered her mouth to keep her laugh from waking them.
I raised an eyebrow at her. "Shall I put you in my bed then?"
"Would I get any sleep?"
I thought about that for a minute. "Eventually."
She smiled and sat up enough to kiss me. "I'd be asleep the moment my head hit the pillow."
I nuzzled her cheek. "And I'd pass out with a book on my chest a couple minutes later."
"I'll be fine with the kids for now."
I set Frisk on the bed and pulled the covers over her. The boy turned in his sleep, cuddling up. She smiled, putting an arm around him. I touched the side of her face gently and she turned her head to kiss my phalanges.
I went into the living room, closing the bedroom door quietly behind me. The tea cups were gone from the living room and I could hear water running in the kitchen. I went in expecting to see Paps and found Red washing dishes.
I leaned against the door jamb. "You could have left those. My brother would have gotten them."
"*sugar plum doesn't like to leave her teacups out like that and it gives me something to do."
"Where's your brother?"
Red shrugged. "*showing way more restraint than i can muster right now down in the lab. it'll be too soon if i never see that asshole again. i feel real bad for his sans and papyrus, but not enough to keep from rending the bastard limb from fucking limb if i see him." He yanked the drying towel off it's hook and worked on the cups. "*sorry to we had to interrupt you earlier."
I rubbed the back of my skull sheepishly. "Not the best choice of timing on my part."
"*nah. i understand. sugar plum scared the hell outta ya. scared the hell outta all of us." Red put the tea cups away and hung the towel back on it's hook. He turned and leaned against the sink looking out the window at the night. "*the kiddo sleeping all right in there?"
I nodded. "Any idea where the little boy comes from?"
"*yeah. he's ninja sans' frisk. it's why she was here so fast to help."
My phone vibrated in my pocket and I looked at it. "Looks like the operation was successful and he's awake." I shoved my phone back in my pocket.
"*headin' down then?"
"Yeah."
Red followed me into the living room. He kicked off his high tops and plopped down into the chair facing away from Frisk's sewing desk. He opened a rift and pulled a bag through from his living room. He sat back with his crochet project and started working away on a blanket I was sure was for his Frisk. Specifically crochet. If you called it knitting, he'd yell at you followed by my girl and Papyrus the Greater getting on your case as well. I recognized the socks on Red's feet as having been on his brother's knitting needles not too long ago.
I grabbed my jacket and short cut down to outside the lab. White leaned against the wall, nursing a mug of nacho cheese. Our human Papyrus stood next to him with a bottle of banana mustard.
"Where's his majesty?" I asked.
"Went home after I finished letting the Frisks out of the last of the badges," White answered. He looked over his shoulder into the lab. "Blue's in there talking to him."
"Any idea what Blue's going to do with him?"
White shrugged. "He was talking to the Prime Frisk. So, I guess it's up to them."
"All the missing timelines are back in place and the normal amount of anomalies are occurring according to Fase," Papyrus said. He looked at me. "Is it just me or does Fase really creep you out too?"
I let out a long, shaky breath. "All of us. Fase creeps out all of us." I thought about it for a minute. "Scratch that. Fase creeps everyone but other Frisks out."
He eyed me for a moment. "That's not a good sign."
"Yeah. You haven't met Core Frisk yet. If you ever meet her, every Frisk thinking Fase is normal makes complete sense," White grumbled.
I went into the lab.
Frisk was sitting up on the table staring at his hands. D and Papyrus stood next to him. Blue stood in front of them, talking in a low tone.
"*show me your reset, bud."
A glowing gold reset appeared in front of Frisk. Blue touched it and it turned red.
"What is that?"
"*the reset you so desperately want. this will take you back to your birth. it will also guarantee two things: a childhood injury that disqualifies you for any military service and a fall into the underground as a child."
D and Papyrus looked at each other. "*How did you do that?"
Blue shrugged. "*i didn't. my frisk did. whether or not you use it or choose to live with what you've done is up to you. take some time to think about it. you've been blessed with two of the strongest and most thoughtful skele-bros out there. they've sacrificed a lot of themselves for you. so before you do anything, spend some time apologizing to them." Blue put his hands in his pockets. "*whatever you decide, you'll want to avoid red. he's never going to forgive you for going after his kiddo." He turned and walked out of the lab, giving me a wink with his left eye as he disappeared.
Frisk stared at the reset for a moment. He dismissed it and brought it back. It reappeared, continuing to glow red. He dismissed it again and looked anywhere that didn't involve looking at Asriel.
D put his boney hand on Frisk's shoulder. "*Come on. Some sleep will help." He coaxed Frisk from the table and led him out the door.
D's brother watched them go. "THOUGH I KNOW THE LONG NIGHTMARE IS OVER, I AM UNSURE ABOUT WHAT HAPPENS NEXT." He turned to me. "THE CHILDREN? ARE THEY ALL RIGHT? I DID MY BEST TO SHIELD THEM, BUT FLOWEY TOOK THE WORST OF IT."
I nodded. "They're fine and sleeping. You should get some sleep too."
He nodded and left. I held out my hand to Asriel. The goat prince dropped the A.I. chip onto my phalanges. I dropped it on the floor and crushed it under the heel of my boot.
"Done."
"Done," he repeated.
"He really didn't want to look at you, did he?"
Asriel shook his head. "Alphys read him as being completely out during the removal of the chip and the implants, but he kept mumbling the entire time. Begging me, or rather his Asriel, not to put the chip in. That I would die if I did."
"So the A.I. murdered it's creator every reset."
"Seems that way. Take out the only person who could do anything about him."
"You took everything out of his head?"
Asriel nodded. "For the first time in a very long time, he will be alone in his own mind. A Frisk completely free of a Chara's influence." He shrugged. "Well, as free as he can be. I can't take away his memories." He elbowed me in the side. "It's been a very long 72 hours. Hit the hay."
"Yes, Sir." I short cut back to the suite I shared with Paps, showered, and fell into bed. In the morning, I found Red getting the back of his rib cage rubbed by his kiddo while he lay on Frisk's couch.
The boy Frisk was stuffing his face with pancakes at the dining table while my girl put a plate of pancakes in front of Papyrus the Greater. He had a book in one boney hand and his reading glasses on his face. Ninja Sans napped quietly in a chair.
Frisk smiled at me when I sat down. "Did I miss anything interesting last night?"
I poured myself a cup of coffee from the carafe on the table. "Blue gave him a reset that would not only take him back to birth, it would alter his life story entirely."
Frisk crossed her arms over her chest. "So Blue offered him what he wanted? Did he take it?"
My girl and Red's Frisk both looked at me while the little boy scarfed down the pancakes in front of him. Red and Papyrus looked as if they could not care less. "He's thinking about it."
The kiddo pushed her blue and purple hair back and looked at Frisk. "Would you take it? If Blue gave it to you? I mean, you've done some terrible things in your past."
Both brothers were suddenly all ears. Well, all inner ears at least.
"We all do things we regret, sweetheart. But learning from our mistakes and working to make up for them are part of being an adult."
"You didn't answer the question," she pointed out.
My girl smiled at Red, his eyes just popping over the back of the couch. "No. I wouldn't."
D stuck his head in the door, followed by his brother. "*We don't mean to barge in, but our Frisk is missing."
Red laid back down and snorted. "*of course he is."
Frisk swatted him with a dish towel. "How long has he been gone?"
"AN HOUR."
Frisk put her hand on Papyrus the Greater's shoulder. "Will you clean up when everyone is done, please?"
He nodded.
Frisk looked at the D. "Follow me. I know where to find him." She kicked off her slippers at the door and put on her sneakers, forgoing the flats I knew she'd bought just for the dress she was wearing. We went down the hallway to the second garage. She stopped in front of the empty space where her car should have been, though she didn't look put out.
"Your jeep is gone," I said.
"When you said Frisk was gone, I figured the jeep would be gone too," she said. "Would you mind taking us in the Chevelle?"
I shook my head. "Do I ever? Where too?"
Following her directions, I drove the Chevelle deep into the forest outside St. Canard City. Frisk directed me to slow down about twenty miles in along a road that seemed to never end, and turn onto a well hidden drive way. The driveway went partially up the side of a hill and I saw her jeep parked at the end. I parked next to the jeep and looked around at endless trees. There was a smile on Frisk's face, like she was returning in her head to some dearly held memory.
We followed her along a trail to the top of the hill and the tree line cut away to reveal a beautiful log cabin.
C burst to life on her shoulder. "This is it! This is the place in your head!" He turned to Frisk. "It's real?"
She smiled at his enthusiasm. "Of course it is. This is my father's cabin."
The view from the hill was amazing. Trees in every direction and a lake at the bottom of the hill.
Frisk tried the door to the cabin and found it unlocked.
Inside, military awards and honors hung on the walls next to portraits. Each of the three walls around the fireplace in the living room was dedicated to a different person: one to Frisk, one to her mother, and one to her father. The fireplace wall and mantle were covered in pictures of the family. I spotted several recent ones one: Frisk and I with Verdana at her wedding. C sitting on Asriel's shoulder during Asgore's birthday party. Grace and I at a car show. Ravie and Paps out fishing. Frisk and I dancing at the township block party.
D stared up at Frisk's wall. "Your father was very proud of you."
She nodded. "He died during the war. His base was under attack and rather than evac he stayed to pull his aids out of the rubble." She pulled a photo of her and her father from the mantle to look at it. "Ended up taking a lot of shrapnel after a hit to the weapons depot."
"I'm sorry."
Frisk smiled, touching the picture. "I got see him before he died. I was stationed at the base he was shipped to for surgery. I miss him a lot."
"OUR FRISK DOES NOT APPEAR TO BE HERE."
Frisk put the photo back on the shelf. "He's probably down at the lake. Follow me." She led us down a trail to the lake. D's Frisk was sitting at the end of a pier, staring at the water. My girl sat down next to him and pulled her shoes off to dangle her feet in the water.
C looked around. "This isn't a lake in your head. It's an ocean."
"That's because everything seems bigger when you're a child," both Frisks said.
He looked at her for a moment and then back at the water. "Sorry."
"For what?"
He frowned. "Everything, I guess. But I meant for backhanding you." He leaned back, resting on his elbows. "How do you do it? How do you live with you?"
Frisk gently swung her legs against the water around her feet. "Since the door was unlocked, I'm sure you saw the inside of the cabin. All I ever wanted growing up was to make my father proud of me. He was a three star general. And though he wasn't involved with any part of Project Viper, he did see my name on the roster. He visited me at the Project's HQ after my initial training."
"He told me that, as a Viper, I'd be asked to do some very terrible things but that I had the choice in how I went about my missions. And how I chose to act, whether I took the easy path or the hard one, whether I painted the world red or covered myself in grime, was the difference between being a murderer and a Viper. So whenever I had the choice, I chose to dirty myself rather than swim in blood. Though that isn't to say I always had a choice. I just kept holding on to dad's words."
They sat in silence for a while, watching the water.
"Have you decided?"
He frowned. "No. Taking it means Papyrus won't remember what I put him through. Sans' memories will still be there, but not as sharp. And some not at all. Choosing to live with myself means making them live with it too. But now that I have the ability to change it, I'm not sure I want to be someone else." He sighed. "I don't really know what I want, do I?"
Frisk pulled her feet out of the water. "You want peace. It's only been a few hours that you've had your head all to yourself in a very long time. So take a while to think on it. You can stay here as long as you like, but no wild parties. Mom would kill you."
He snorted. "I don't know magic so there's no way I could get a keg up here anyway." He looked at her. "Will you come by?"
"Sure."
"Then I'll take you up on the offer."
Frisk smiled and pulled her shoes back on, uncaring that her feet were still wet. She stood and headed back to us. "You'll need to stock the fridge, but otherwise, everything you need is in the house." She smiled at D. "And the piano in the den was tuned not too long ago."
D smiled brightly.
"I'll stop by to check on you three every once in a while or whenever you call me to stop by."
"THANK YOU."
Frisk nodded and took my hand. She looked back at her double for a moment before leading me back up the trail. She went into the cabin and stared at the photos on the walls.
I noticed an old Polaroid camera sitting on the mantle above the fireplace and smiled. I took it from the shelf.
"Come here, Sunflower."
I put an arm around Frisk, pulling her close, and snapped a picture of the two of us while she giggled. The Polaroid frame slid out.
"*Hey, Frisk! Have a minute?" D asked.
She kissed the side of my skull and hurried outside to see what he wanted.
I put the camera back on the mantle while I waited for the picture to develop. As the image came to life from nothing, I pulled the one hidden in my pocket out and compared them. Perfect. I looked around for the time machine and didn't see it. I waited and did not wait long. A sound I'd only heard once before and would never forget rang in my ears. There it was. I placed the new photo inside.
"Good luck, buddy."
The machine disappeared. I stared down at the old photo for a minute and put it back in my pocket.
Frisk came back in. "Did it turn out?"
I shook my head.
"Oh well." She smiled. "The film in it was really old."
I took her hand. "You gotta feel bad for the camera though. It never get's to be in any of the pictures."
She punched me in the arm.