alive again.
damn that hurt.
grabbing paps' phone by instinct.
* Bahp-deep-bahp-click
* Hello?
* is me.
he just sighs with relief.
* we should meet in person.
* Where?
* my lab.
i shortcut to the lab and power up this sans' diagnostics equipment.
the projected magical interface glows into existence shortly before flowey grows out of the ground and turns into asriel.
he stands and eyes me concerned while i hum to myself and type in the console.
* how did things go?
* After you dusted things went out of control pretty fast.
* Papyrus was pretty much lost, Undyne had lost most of her fighting spirit, Mettaton didn't show up at all.
i sigh.
this went badly.
* and how did you manage a reset?
* Nope, my turn, why did you dust?
* fair question.
i darken the projection and turn to him.
* alphys died of broken heart so i died of that too.
asriel sits there for a second, stunned.
* Wow... so you really...
* yes, but not because i felt bad.
* Come again?
* well not me, but this body did.
* Huh?
okay, this needs a lecture to prince fluffybutt.
i power up the projector again and feed an improvised slideshow into it.
the first slide is a picture of me.
ugh, it looks all pixel-y, but this has to do.
increasing the resolution would consume more of my magical reserves.
* as you know i can't exactly train my body between universes.
* that is because all progress gets reset.
* soul back to the original condition.
next slide is a picture of the human and their soul, again pixel-y.
* and if you look at the human it also looks that way.
* they lose all exp and LV when they go back.
* while the exp would be understandable, after all the death is undone, the LV impact on the soul isn't really obvious, after all that is more a mental thing.
* i waved it off as the reset and save loading also putting our souls back to zero.
* but only the painful death by broken heart made me re-evaluate that.
* because if it is true, there is one unanswered question.
* did you ever ask yourself, if the souls reset, why don't our memories reset?
* Because of determination, duh.
* no, that is wrong.
* look at me, i am a regular monster with a soul, determination might be par with undyne, but then she should loop too.
* Yeah, you're right. So what is it then?

* well, i had two main theories, but no evidence.
* but now i have.
* one, probably wrong, theory was that separate savestates exist for soul and mind.
* but that would be counter intuitive.
* after all the mind influences the shape of the soul, so why would it.
* but the more likely theory is based on observation i did on you, the human and now me.
i project all three of us in the air.
asriel is transfixed by my lecture, as usual.
* you know that before we reach the surface the human always says their name is frisk.
* they usually have a kind predisposition.
* but the fragments of the soul we get from an abandoned timeline are...
* well, yours was from someone quitting in the ruins, and theirs was almost completely empty.
* only a bit of mindless blood lust in them.
* the others who quit are similar.
* and we also know that there is something else that is behind the human.
* hell-
* Language.
* ...heck, we even refer to them as 'the human' instead of 'frisk' because of that.
* there is something that changes their mind but leaves their soul alone.
* and that soul is only pure determination, no personality.
* ... okay technically it is so generic that it-
* You're starting to rant.
* oh yeah, sorry.
* now you, or rather the old you.
* other floweys don't have a soul.
* or rather they have a... pseudo soul.
* anyway, they're mostly fragments of their old bodies sticking together through determination.
* more of a husk.
* because of that they have no real soul that resets.
* that would explain their ability to recall events from a reset.
* because, there is in fact no savestate for our minds.
* What?
* if we had that, then nobody would remember anything.
* there would be no mental overlapping from timelines being reset.
* no cause for dejavus in others.
* another thing is, you have a soul now.
a slide of azzy and a soul.
* So what?
* if we did reset, why would you retain your soul?
* Because... reasons?
* no, because your soul is bound to your mind, i saw to that.
* building that thing and anchoring it so that it loops with you were about two years of work.
* I knooooow, I was there.
* and that is the point, i manipulated the frigging multiverse so that your soul stays with your mind.
* it was a lot of work and only works at all because the fragment to make it is able to be sent to the start of timelines.
* and with last time's events i finally have evidence.
* i am just a mind unstuck from the universe.
* let me finish.
asriel looks like he wants to interrupt.
* so are you.
* and so is the human.
* i didn't feel worse than when i let papyrus be killed.
* and i still died.
* so that means there is something that caused it.
* and it's right here.
i pull up my shirt and point to the exposed soul.
being a skeleton sucks.
* this is the sans of this universe.
* i take his body over while i'm here.
* he is still in there somewhere.
* listening, maybe even trying to oh...
* What?
* i got a giant headache when i broke up with alphys.
* that was probably him trying to tell me to not do that.
* Huh...
we are quiet for a moment.
he just sits there.
* Okay.
am struck by how easily he shakes this off.
* you take this well.
he just leans back and start counting on his fingers
* I helped your suicide, botched our chance at freeing the monsters, died, came back as a flower, did everything from peacemaking to genocide to the populace, met you again, travel now among the universes with a soul and you think that the technicality of how reality works would rattle me?
i laugh. that fuzzball is like papyrus in that way.
technicalities don't bother him, only reality.
and knowing how it works doesn't change the omniverse.
* At least we now know that the Sans of this universe doesn't get overwritten.
* or blindsided by what happens while i'm in charge.
* Exactly.
* but we still need to fix this mess.
* that reminds me, how did you cause this reset?
* I went down to the true lab and raided Alphys' whole stash of canned determination that she still has flying around.
* that was enough to get control over the save system?
* Heck no, I injected enough to start falling apart, and then got to the garden where we died.
* Dad came running and was shocked to see me there.
* I told him that you died and I needed the souls to bring you back and so he gave them to me.
* good thinking, i'm proud of you.
* Thanks.
* okay, this timeline shot already?
* Don't know, let me check.
asriel turns into flowey and shrinks back into the ground.
* Bahp-deep-bah-(click)
* and?
* They just started moving, no kills yet, you got an hour till they get to Snowdin.

powering the projector back on i see the result of my calculations.
one problem with my old timeline research was that it only considered one universe.
since then i gained a lot of knowledge.
but aside from my memory i can't take anything with me.
so i have to memorise a lot of formulas.
stretched over the omniverse, the picture gets different.
what i thought were timeliness ending left and right back then were actually simple save state reloads.
the bigger problem is that it doesn't help me with what happened last reset.
i did a few pan-timeline scans before we reached the surface.
using the core as a processor sped things up.
nobody was using it anyway.
after... uh, i think an hour or so?
must have been that long at least.
i got it about a minute before we reached the surface and i got kicked to the next universe.
anyway, i powered up the timeline scan and this time tried to throw the net across the whole omniverse.
it unravelled the last six hours from all timelines i could reach.
gave me location of all underground dwellers and timestamps.
after ignoring exact times and just using chains of events i saw it.
all universes within the reach of that one were identical on a superficial level.
of course i already knew that.
also of course i ran that test multiple times.
all had the same result.
and i started thinking that this is it.
a simple repeat of the same hours over and over again.
but now i am outside of there.
uncharted waters.
i should run the scan again.
but that will have to wait until i'm at the end.
so, the big question of how i get there is the hardest.
my script is out of the window.
i need a way to shatter the barrier.
what now?

i smile.
it feels so good to be discovering again.
okay, then let's approach this like a puzzle.
first off, what is different?
well, alphys and me being together for one thing.
probably even more.
okay, let's think of cascading effects.
the most obvious effect is that undyne and her won't end up together.
and...
okay, drawing a blank.
there are too many other factors in here that i just don't know.
and if i learned one thing in my long time looping, it's never make the same mistake twice.
i just shot a universe, painfully so, because i thought i had all the answers.
so i have to adapt.
i take a deep breath and let my gaze wander.
something in here has to help me fix this mess..
the old machine...
nope, too broke.
the blueprints...
unlikely.
the ring...
nah, unless it has some memory spell on it.
which doesn't exist.
yet.
the scrapbook...
ah yes, the scrapbook, but that won't really help.
that is more for specifics than for the broad picture.
i need a way to get information...
and learn the new rules of the universe...
and doing that while not blowing the loop...
in the next six hours...
this will be fun.

i stand at the gauntlet of terror.
this seemed much mure fun three hours ago.
i learned not much.
about two hours of reading anything i could get my hands on.
scrapbook was not really enlightening.
mostly pictures of this sans, papyrus and their friends.
birthdays, celebrations and such.
notes here and there, but they are just statements without context.
now that i know this sans and alphys are together i can actually see that.
they stand close together in most shots and even have their arms around each other or goof around.
with my old context i would've put it down as a good friendship.
that was actually the most common background for other sans and alphys.
now am standing here with nothing.
or at least with nothing that can give me context.
papyrus is fidgeting around.
maybe i can get some information out of him via smalltalk.
* so paps...
YES BROTHER?
oh right, i suck at smalltalk...
* how are things with undyne?
I AM THIS CLOSE. ONCE I CAUGHT THE HUMAN AND JOINED THE ROYAL GUARD I AM FINALLY A TOUGH GUY, JUST LIKE THE KIND SHE LIKES.
did he just...
* what is that about undyne?
he looks caught
NOTHING OF IMPORTANCE, WE HAVE TO CAPTURE THE HUMAN, SO I CAN FINALLY BE POPULAR!
i keep watching into the distance, apparently this news even for this sans.
lets see if i got that right.
* with the ladies, i assume.
SOME OF MY NEW FRIENDS WILL SURELY BE FEMALE BUT THAT IS OF LITTLE IMPORTANCE!
* i take your word for it, but it sounds fishy.
OH MY GOD SANS! THAT IS EXACTLY WHY I DIDN'T TELL YOU!
yeah, definitely not a standard universe.
* sorry bro, will stop with the puns.
oh i can't resist.
* i'll sea to that.
THANK YOU VERY- SAAAAAAAAAAAANS!
* all right all right, so, you like her?
OF COURSE I DO, SHE IS STRONG INTELLIGENT, SPONTANEOUS AND I REALLY LIKE HER HAIR. I AM JUST AFRAID SHE'D HATE ME IF I ASKED HER OUT. SHE SAID SHE LIKES TOUGH GUYS SO I TRIED TO BECOME ONE. BUT I WAS NEVER GOOD AT BEING TOUGH LIKE HER. SO I TRIED TO GET HER TO TRAIN ME, BUT INSTEAD OF COMBAT WE JUST COOK, ALWAYS SAYING SHE WILL TRAIN ME FOR COMBAT WHEN I BECOME A ROYAL GUARDSMAN. I DON'T MIND SPENDING TIME WITH HER, EVEN THOUGH I'M A HORRIBLE STUDENT, BUT I CAN'T GET TOUGHER BY COOKING.
he looks a bit depressed.
now it's time to be a good brother.
* don't worry bro, you can catch that human and then you're a royal guard.
* and we all know that only the toughest get to be in there.
YOU'RE RIGHT! AND I DID GET BETTER AT RUNNING FROM EXPLOSIONS AND DODGING SHRAPNEL! SO ONCE I AM IN THE ROYAL GUARD I ASK HER OUT!
oh that is just adorable.

the human doesn't go to grillby's with me, can't blame them.
so the next leg of my journey is through waterfall.
playing pranks on the human trying a bit of smalltalk with the other monsters.
nothing much comes out of it, didn't expect it anyway.
the mystery of the new world has lost its shine and now am bored.
but that is because I need time to actually talk with the big ones's this time.
the chat with paps was more information about the divergence than two hours of reading.
so, i do my thing, not antagonising the human too much and wait...
i lie with my head on the counter of my sentry station.
i man it at different places but it is always the same one.
was interesting to build this.
imagine a computer cloud-
* GET BACK HERE YOU...
oh, undyne's here, gotta get my zees on.
* zzz
* (thud thud thud)
* Sans...
i open my eyes.
* yes ma'am?
* Are you sleeping on the job punk?
* no way ma'am, was just about to report a human running past here.
* OH DAMN! I will be right back!
i walk to the front of the sentry station and wait a minute until undyne comes walking back.
* how did the human hunt go?
* I don't want to talk about it.
* okay, mind if i tag along?
* Huh, why?
* just, it feels like we haven't talked in a while.
she crosses her arms and sighs.
* Yeah, with me being promoted we rarely have time to talk anymore.
we trot along out of hotland.
i can see her relieve when we enter waterfall and it's getting cooler.
the armour is mostly for show.
looks impressive.
but against the human might as well be wet tissues.
* That punk is a feisty one, cooled me with a glass of water. If they weren't so nice I would have crushed them.
* yeah, nice.

its hollow eyes stare at me, not comprehending why i stand in its way.
and that makes it afraid, even the hollow can be scared of the unknown.
it lunges at me, only the dust covered stick in its hand.
i dodge out of the way and hammer a bone through its skull.
game over.

we walk past elder puzzler.
* g'day elder.
* Hello Elder Puzzler.
* Yes, yes, hello too.
we continue our conversation.
* I just can't help myself, seems I'm a sucker for the big weenies with even bigger hearts.
...really?
* oh, i thought you liked tough guys?
* NGAAAHHHH! I WAS THIRTEEN! HOW LONG ARE YOU GOING TO HOLD ONTO THAT?!
we reached echo flower valley.
* as long as i have to.
* Yeah, yeah, I know. But it's hard... you know, I never asked how you did it? * as long as i have to.
* did what? * Yeah, yeah, I know. But it's hard... you know, I never asked how you did it?
* Ask Alphys to go out with you, because I certainly can't imagine her taking the first step.* did what?
think fast.
* alphys never told you? * Ask Alphys to go out with you, because I certainly can't imagine her taking the first step.
* Well, she said it was because of one of your role playing things. Never went into details.* alphys never told you?
can work with that
* sorry gonna respect her decision on that.
* Oh come on, please?
we've reached the lantern room by now.
undyne and i walk the path through it from memory.
she sighs.
* I joined a role-playing group in hopes it works out but, nope! I tried being myself, just like you told me, but that doesn't help. Whenever we talk I just get nervous and assault him via suplex, noogie or something. The cooking lessons are fun, i like spending some alone time with him, even though I'm a horrible teacher, but i just can't tell him.
... this can't be coincidence, can it?
* then just write papyrus a letter.
* Oh yeah, great idea "Dear Papyrus, I love you, wanna snog behind the shed?"
* wanna snog
* Papyrus I love you
* wanna snog Papyrus
just in time for the echo flower room.
she blushes furiously.
i whistle a song to overwrite undyne's outburst.
she composes herself again as we walk towards her house.
Thanks * (whistling)
* snog?
* Shut up.
* from all the words to chose from you go with snog?
* Be quiet.
we approach her house and papyrus is standing in front of the house.
she walks to him while i stay back and let them chat.
i have no idea if this actually gets us anywhere but if nothing else, i do love shipping.

Well, here is another sequence I apologise that it is pretty exposition heavy, I promise to make the next sequence a more of a mindblower to compensate for the information dump here.
The usual commentaries will follow, but before that:
I refuse to objectively elaborate on the "player" nature in Deeptale at this point.

A lot of stuff happened after sans died the he'll never have the full picture about, but here is the cliffnotes (no idea how it is written) version

Lots of his dust got on Asriel who freaked out for about an hour before calming down to do anything aside from running in circles, mostly because it was unexpected and not the usual risk.

By that time Papyrus was already done with the human, reported to Undyne and went searching for Sans

When Papyrus reports to Undyne he tells her about Alphys not answering which makes her call Mettaton, who tells her the whole story.

This broke her spirit since Alphys is something of a big sister and advisor in this universe.

The whole Hotlands and Core are more like the genocide versions of the levels, all elevators are unlocked from the beginning since Mettaton wasn't in the mood for that.

That includes R3 being accessible from the beginning, meaning the human doesn't necessarily encounter Muffet.

In this run the human explored as much of Hotland es they could before Asriel caused a forced reset.

As Asriel said, he raided Alphys' lab for a few determination reserves for the tick to work.

Which she should have in my opinion, after all, first extract all the determination you want, can it in some way what is in the fridges? and give the souls back but have a small stash in case of new ideas

Sans can do impressive things if given enough time

the whole giving Asriel a soul business was extremely risky and might have corrupted the whole universe if he did it wrong.

Or the whole deal with taking Flowey with him at all.

In my opinion there are three levels of tech in the underground:

The stuff the common people have, computers cellphones and such.

Alphys robotics and other next gen tech

Sans private stash of technology so far advanced that only Alphys has enough brains to reverse engineer part of it, and even then not completely

I have enough theories and ideas about different technologies they could be using that it could fill several books, so I wait until i can introduce them organically.

like the other fics I'm writing

the Holo projector is nothing more than a link between a computer and his soul that uses his magic to project the desktop or terminal using his magic.

The pixel-y pictures on the slides are, as you can guess, the sprites from the game.

While Sans is the baddest bad ass that lives in the underground, even he makes mistakes, especially when plunging in the depths of the omniverse.

The whole timeline mess for starters, he just didn't know better

Always asked myself why papyrus wants to join the royal guard, but there are so many possible reasons, so maybe one is true for each minor AU

Serious question, who actually guessed the thing with Undyne and Papyrus? I tried to leave hints here and there, hopefully it worked.