0-0-0-0-0

It was cold, Sans knew that much.

There was a cool, hollow sounding breeze ruffling through the golden corridor, and Sans pulled his jacket a little closer around him. Flecks of dust occasionally floated by on the wind, causing Sans to shiver again. He wondered who the poor unfortunate soul could have been this time. He leaned as casually as he could against one of the many stone pillars lining the hall to the king's abode, preparing himself. The waiting was probably the worst part. Knowing what was coming, knowing what could very well happen, and being forced to wait it out regardless. He couldn't stand it. Sans was no stranger to waiting, but times like these tended to make him very impatient.

Then, at long last, he heard the slow, deliberate echo of footsteps.

He took in a deep breath through his teeth, drawing up every ounce of reserved energy that he had before stepping around the corner-

"U-Uncle Sans?"

Sans blinked awake, shivering and shaking. He was standing on the edge on the rooftop balcony, the wind whipping his sparse clothes wildly. He blinked again when he felt for his jacket that wasn't there, revealing instead that he was only wearing a pair of boxer shorts and a white tee shirt. He stood directly on the edge of the balcony, and he promptly backed away a few steps with his hand over his left eye, his breathing heavy.

"Kid?" Sans blearily glanced down to Frisk, who was clutching her arms as close to her body as she could and shivering. "What are you doing on the roof?"

"Y-you were sl-sleep walking again," Frisk said with chattering teeth. "I-I thought y-you were gonna..."

"Nah, don't worry 'bout it, kiddo," he pulled her into a light hug. "Even when I'm asleep I gotta get some fresh air every once in a while, y'know? Come on, buddy. You don't have to cry, if you do that then I'm gonna start cryin'."

"S-sorry Uncle Sans," Frisk wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her arm. "I-I was just really worried..."

"Whaddya say we go get some breakfast before school, eh kiddo?" Sans forced a cheerful little smile, opening the balcony door for them. "You'll have to foot the bill though, so I hope you're prepared, because I am hungry."

Frisk let out a small laugh, and Sans felt the weight on his chest ease a little. He marched with a whistle down the stairs, stopping only to actually put on pants and grab his jacket. The last time he'd walked into Grillby's without pants the bartender had not necessarily appreciated his company.

It didn't take long to walk to Grillby's pub. Sans quietly mused to himself that one of these days he was actually going to get a car. It wasn't like he didn't have the money now; what with royalties from inventions he and Alphys had patented and funding from grants from the numerous prestigious colleges that he was asked to speak at, there was no shortage of cash to worry about. However, it still didn't really matter to Sans. He wasn't a materialistic sort of person, as money was merely a means to an end. Although, it did help with keeping his tabs paid, so he wasn't complaining.

"After you, kiddo," he held the door open for Frisk. She quietly thanked him and slipped into the pub, looking about at the empty bar.

"... It's empty," Frisk said aloud as she looked around.

"It's five in the morning," Sans pointed out as he followed her inside, letting the warmth of the establishment soak into his bones. "What were you expecting?"

"I don't know what I was expecting," Frisk shrugged as she clambered up into one of the bar stools. "Hi, Mister Grillby."

"Good morning, Frisk," Grillby greeted her as he cleaned a mug with an old white rag. "Hello to you too, Sans."

"Grillbz, don't you know what time it is?" Sans said with a small grin as he dropped into one of the seats beside Frisk. "What are you doing at work?"

"You know full well that I live here, Sans," Grillby said flatly. "My work is never ending."

"Wow," Sans shuddered despite the warmth. "That sounds terrible."

"I wouldn't have it any other way," Grillby shook his head slowly. "What can I get for you this fine morning, my friends?"

"Couple 'o hot chocolates," he responded, and Grillby nodded once before leaving through the fire exit.

"... A'ight," Sans said after a few moments, tilting his head slightly toward Frisk. "I got a question."

"Yeah, Uncle Sans?"

"A bit ago," he started, folding his hands over one another on the counter. "You said I was sleep walking."

"... Yeah...?"

"Again. As in, implying that I've been sleep walking before."

"Well... yeah," Frisk said as if it was obvious. "This is, like, the fifth time."

Sans blinked and stared at her, uncertain of how to respond. The news was unsettling to say the least. Then again, with everything else that was going on, he wasn't surprised if the amount of stress was causing him to sleepwalk. Hell, he was surprised he wasn't stressed to the point of hair falling out.

"Double order of hot chocolate," Grillby said as he returned, carefully sliding the pair of steaming mugs toward his customers.

"Thanks Grillbz," Sans grinned at him, passing one of the mugs to Frisk. They sat in silence for a while, simply sipping at their hot drinks while Grillby toiled ceaselessly behind the counter to ensure that everything was spotless and clean. A few customers here and there began to trickle in, and Grillby was swift to serve them, busying himself about the bar as more people and monsters arrived.

"... So," Sans said after a while of silence. "What d'you think about Chara?"

"They're... okay?" Frisk said uncertainly. "I mean, they don't seem to be a bad person. It's just kind of creepy that they look just like me. Why do you ask?"

"Just curious," Sans shrugged. "I'll take your opinion into consideration."

"What do you mean?"

"You seem to be a pretty good judge of character," Sans shrugged again.

"Uncle Sans? I'm a terrible judge of character. I'm eleven."

"You do make a fair point."

"Uncle Sans?"

"Hmm?" he asked as he took a long drought from his hot chocolate.

"Is there... something bad going on?"

Sans was careful not to choke on his drink, forcing himself to respond slowly and carefully.

"What do you mean, kiddo?"

"I mean..." Frisk fidgeted uncomfortably, pulling at her wrists. "I mean, you keep disappearing, and Alphys keeps leaving these weird messages on the phone that I can't tell whether they're warnings or not about something that she won't talk about, and you're sleepwalking again, and-and-"

"Whoa, whoa, k-kiddo," Sans forced a small laugh. "You're working yourself up over nothing here."

"I am?"

"Of course," he lied, feeling his sins crawling on his back. "Things are just kind of crazy right now. Things will be back to normal before you know it. Alright?"

"O-okay..." Frisk said after a moment, nodding and taking a slow sip of her hot chocolate. "If you say so, Uncle Sans."

Even though she agreed with him, Sans couldn't quite shake the feeling that somehow, against all logic, deep down she knew that he wasn't telling the truth, and it ate at him like a wild animal.

0-0-0-0-0

Sans wiped a bead of sweat from his brow as he worked, sketching down a few numbers on the schematics. He frowned as the numbers refused yet again to add up, and he tilted it a few inches to get a better look. Perhaps he'd simply been working for too long. Surely he hadn't made an error; then again, that was where Alphys's expertise had come in handy. He didn't need the phase distorter overloading again. Sans squinted his eyes at it to make sure, slowly turning to the unhelpful glass of scotch before shrugging and tossing back his drink, ice and all.

"... What am I supposed to do, Dad...?" Sans murmured into one hand, rubbing the back of his head with his other. "How am I supposed to do this by myself...?"

Sans ran a hand down the blueprints, his skeletal finger trailing over a long list of codes. Surely there was something there that he was missing, something that he was just failing to see, but whatever it was it refused to come to him. He let out a quiet sigh and rolled up the schematics, leaning on one elbow and staring at elusive victory. He had to fight off a sudden rising panic and held his hand to his chest, keeping his breathing steady to ward off the clenching pain.

The clock that he had installed on the wall ticked away, revealing that his time was running short. He quickly gathered his materials and tucked them away beneath his workbench, carefully hiding the phase distorter beneath a large blue tarp and trundled up the stairs. He made sure to padlock the basement door shut, and with that, left his work behind, though for what, he wasn't entirely certain anymore.

0-0-0-0-0

"Alphys," Sans banged on the door with one fist, the other in his pocket. "Alphys! Come on! Open up already, I know you're in there! Alphys? Alphys!"

"Oh my freakin' god!" Alphy's front door whipped open, revealing Undyne in a pair of shorts and a long white shirt. "Sans, what the hell is wrong with you?"

"Hi, can Alphys come out to play?" Sans asked innocently.

"It's two in the goddamned morning!"

"... So is that a yes?"

Undyne slammed the door in his face, darkly muttering foul curses under her breath. Sans stared for a moment before sticking his hand back into his pocket, whistling tunelessly for a minute before the door finally reopened.

"Sans?" Alphys rubbed one of her eyes with her claws, staring at him. She wore a long sleeveless nightgown with the word otaku in bold print on the front, and looked as if she had thrown it on in a hurry. "Do you have... any idea what time it is?"

"So I've been thinkin'," Sans started.

"Sans, it's a little past two, it's snowing, and you smell like malt liquor. This had better be damned good."

"I know, I know," he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, looking away. "Just... just hear me out."

Alphys sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose and readjusting her glasses.

"What is it, Sans."

"Okay, so," he began to pace on the doorstep, folding his hands behind his back. "I get the feeling that, one way or another, resests are comin'. So I've been thinkin', and I really put some cranium juice into this one. We brought other me outta the void, right?"

"Where are you going with this...?" Alphys asked.

"Hang on a second and I'll explain."

"Explain faster, I'm losing feeling in my toes."

"Man, you are sassy when you're mad."

"Sans!"

"Sorry, sorry," he shook his head fiercely, hiccuping. "Right. So, we brought him out of the void. Where Gaster supposedly is."

"... And?"

"So instead of tryin' to pull Gaster out," he stopped suddenly, grinning at her. "Why don't we just send someone else in?"

"... Sans that is," Alphys slowly took off her glasses. "... One of the stupidest things that you have ever said, and I've known you almost your whole life."

"It's not that bad!" Sans threw up his hands. "I mean, it's-it's worth a shot, right?"

"Sans, I seriously think you need to stop working on the phase distorter for a little while," Alphys said uncomfortably. "It's-it's starting to affect you. Not to be rude or anything, but... a lot. It's affecting you a lot. I'm really starting to worry about you, Sans."

"What have we got to lose?" Sans slurred.

"Reality as we know it?"

"I mean, aside from reality as we know it."

"Listen, Sans-" Alphys started before staring at him for a moment and letting out a quiet sigh. "Just... just come in out of the cold for a little while. I'm not so cruel as to make you stand outside until you sober up a bit."

"You're the best, Al," Sans patted her on the shoulder with a grin. "You-you really are. You're just swell. I never tell you that, but-but you are. You're a smart feller."

"Sans you are literally so drunk that I'm getting contact-drunk from your breath."

"... Does this mean I can crash on your couch for a little bit?"

"That depends," Alphys closed the door behind them. "Did Toriel lock you out of the house again?"

"Not yet," he muttered darkly.

Alphys sighed again and pinched the bridge of her nose, pointing to the living room without looking up at him.

"Thanks, Al. Remind me to bring up the plan again in the morning."

"I'm not discussing anything until you're at least half way sober."

"Al, I'm always at least half way sober."

0-0-0-0-0

Sans retched into the porcelain throne yet again, trembling as he clutched the sides.

"See, this is what happens when you get drunk," Alphys patted him on the back. "I hate to be an 'I told you so', but... well. You do this every time, Sans. You get stupid drunk, show up at my house, and vomit all over the place," she sighed. "What am I going to do with you?"

"Thanks for holding my hair back, Al."

"Sans, you don't – never mind," she shook her head, passing him a small towel to wash his face with.

"Oh, god..." Sans clutched his head in one hand as he struggled to stand up straight. "What happened last night? And why does my face hurt so much?"

"Well, you started banging on our front door at two in the morning drunk off your ass, for one."

"That's why my face hurts?"

"No, your face probably hurts because you tried making out with Undyne last night."

"Oh god," he moaned into his hands. "Oh god. Please god no."

"And then you barfed into my slippers," Alphys added, crossing her arms. "So, uh, thanks for that."

"I swear," Sans covered his eyes miserably. "I'm never drinking again-"

"That would be wise-"

"-Until next week."

"Sans, you are absolutely incorrigible."

"Is he done hugging the toilet yet?" Undyne poked her head around the corner, flipping her red hair from her face. She had a look of mixed exasperation and irritation on her face, and Sans couldn't quite meet her gaze.

"Undyne," Sans said uncomfortably. "L-listen, I-"

"Save it, short stack," Undyne said flatly. "Just clean yourself up and get done what you need to get done. I don't care what you do then. Just don't cause any more trouble than you already have."

She left with that, hair whipping behind her she turned so quickly. Sans stared after her for a moment, groaning into his palms again.

"Whelp," he said after a long, quiet sigh. "I'm sure that things aren't going to be horribly awkward between us now. This is even worse than that time I tried to hire her on at my hotdog stand."

"You mean the illegal one?"

"It was completely legal!" Sans harrumphed. "Mostly – that's beside the point."
"So, tell me," Alphys stood up straight, giving him a level look. "What was the point, then?"

"I... I'm too hungover to remember."

"Sans..." she started, gazing out the bathroom door for a moment before sighing and staring back at him. "Listen, is-is everything okay?"

"Okay?" he balked at her. "Okay? Okay? Alphys, we are on the brink of erasure of everything that we've worked so hard to accumulate, for everything that we've tried to prevent, and now, now everything might come crashing down around our ears, and you want to know if I'm okay?! No, I am most definitely not okay!"

"Alright, alright, you don't have to shout at me..." Alphys rubbed her bare arms awkwardly, looking away.

Sans took a shaky breath, uneasily taking in the sight. It was the first that he noticed that she was still in her nightshirt. Her claws were shaking, she was disheveled, and the bags beneath her eyes were deeper than ever. A quick cursory glance in the mirror revealed that he looked just as bad, if not worse, than she did. His clothes were a mess and hadn't been changed in days, his jacket and shirt were stained badly by oil, and the lines on his skull felt as deep as they looked. He wondered for a brief moment if he had been in the exact state as when he'd shown up on Alphys's doorstep.

"... I'm sorry, Al," he rubbed his eyes tiredly. "I'm just... I'm trying," Sans held out his palms, pleadingly. "I'm trying my damnedest not to freak out. I'm trying to get the phase distorter up and running again before the whole world ends, I can't sleep at the house because I can't rest easy next to Tori knowing that I'm lying to her about working in the basement again, my magic has failed me completely, did I mention the severe anxiety attacks are back-?"

"Stars and stones, Sans..." Alphys let out a quiet breath. "I-I knew you were going through a rough patch, but... fuck."

Sans blanched, unused to Alphys swearing.

"Sans. Sans," she put her hands on his shoulders. "Just... things are gonna be fine. Okay? Just take things one step at a time-"

"I know, I know..." he shrugged her off gently, meeting her worried gaze. "I... I'm sorry, Al."

"Don't be," she shook her head slowly. "I know things are kind of crazy right now, but-but everything will work out. Everything will be back to normal before you know it."

"... Heh," Sans gave a small grin. "You know, that's the same thing I tell the kids when they get worried."

"And that works?"

"God no. They're about as stressed out as I am," he said with a slight frown. "You know, I think I forgot to mention, F- I mean, Asriel seems to be havin' the same difficulty with magic that I am."

Alphys gave him a long, silent stare before slowly shaking her head.

"Wash up, Sans. Come on downstairs and have some coffee with us when you're done," Alphys said eventually. "And we'll talk. Alright?"

"You realize coffee helping hangovers is just a myth, right?"

"I know. It's not for you."

"Cut me to the quick, Al. Cut me to the quick."

0-0-0-0-0

They sat in the living room, each holding their own steaming mugs. The deathly silence that reigned over the room seemed to permeate every corner, seeping from the walls and into the air itself. Undyne sat watchfully on the love seat decorated with little white doilies beside the scientist, who had her legs crossed up underneath her as she rifled silently through armfuls of notes and hurried sketches written in chicken scratch.

"It sounds to me..." Alphys said after a long time of staring into her drink. "... As if splitting off part of yourself to develop Asriel's artificial soul might have had longer lasting consequences than we anticipated."

"I figured that much out myself," Sans shrugged in the armchair across from her.

"And the chest pain you've been experiencing...?"

"Same spot where we surgically removed the rib."

"I figured as much," she mused quietly, readjusting her glasses. "What about Asriel?"

"He's had chest pain in the exact same place, weirdly enough. The first time I shrugged it off as, you know, anxiety or something, but..."

"Potentially a low level psychic connection caused from the implementation of another organically developed soul in his artificial body..." Alphys carefully placed her notes on the coffee table with one hand. "How is he holding up with the stabilization gel, by the way?"

"A lot better than he was before," Sans answered. "He can't stand the stuff. Understandable, smells awful. Probably tastes even worse."

"Well, I've got some bad news for you then," she frowned. "Because I'm working on a new batch for Toriel, and I want you to start taking it every morning for the next two weeks."

"Aw, seriously?"

"Yes, seriously. Two weeks."

"If we even live that long," he added.

"One thing at a time..." Alphys said tersely. "If your condition worsens, or god forbid you turn to dust and I knew that I could have done something to prevent it? I'd never forgive myself. Just... take it every morning and let me know the results. Alright?"

"I gotcha," he said resignedly. "Doesn't mean that I'm gonna like it, though."

"I didn't ask you to like it, I just asked you to drink it."

"So what did you come up with for Chara?"

Alphys clicked her talons together and stood abruptly, nearly spilling her drink.

"Oh my god, I almost forgot! It's still in the lab, I'll be right back!"

Sans was left alone with Undyne after that. The weighty silence soon resumed, and Sans uncomfortably glanced after Alphys in the hopes that she would soon return. The look that Undyne was giving him was making him feel as if he might soon burst into flame from the sheer intensity. A small, niggling part of him was a little afraid that he might, as he felt a bit of a rising heat in his face.

"... Listen, Undyne," he started.

"Not right now, Sans," Undyne said without meeting his gaze, instead boring a hole through him.

"Undyne, seriously. I-I want to apologize-"

"I don't need your apologies," her eyes narrowed as she finally stared directly at him. "I just want you to remember exactly how many ways there are to split someone's skull in half with a spear."

"Uh..."

"Because if you ever try to pull that again," Undyne said dangerously, giving him a slow grin. "I just might temporarily forget that we're on the same team. Got that?"

"R-right," he swallowed. "Completely understand."

"So long as we're crystal clear."

"Transparently."

"Okay!" Alphys burst back into the room excitedly, out of breath. "Got it!"

"Great!" Sans clapped his hands together, glad to have something, anything distract him from the horrid awkwardness. He looked her up and down for a clue, uncertain. "... Got what?"

"This," she presented a small, frail looking black ring in her claws, beaming proudly.

"Neat-o," Sans blinked. "I think you're proposing to the wrong person, though, but I'm flattered."

"W-what?" Alphys stared at him.

"Kidding, kidding," he pulled at the collar of his shirt from the absolutely sweltering glower that Undyne was giving him. "Uh. What is it, though?"

"It's a ring. Duh."

"Wha-?"

"See? I have a sense of humor," she frowned slightly. However the look soon left her face and the excitement returned, and she presented the black ring yet again. "It's-it's still a work in progress, so it might be a little, um, glitchy in certain areas, but I think this can really help!"

"That's great and all," Sans rubbed the back of his head. "But I could really use an explanation."

"I know," she said, grinning. "I was waiting for you to ask."

Surprisingly to both of them, Undyne snorted.

"This, my friend," Alphys held up the ring carefully in her talons. "Is what I've been developing in the lab. A brand new, state of the art, magically and technologically infused obsidian consciousness inhibitor ring!"

Sans let out a quiet whistle through his teeth, thinking.

"How'd you even make that thing...?"

"Reverse engineering the remains of the cognitive transition device we used for Asriel," she replied proudly. "After, um. You know. Void Sans blew it up."

"That's... that's actually really damned impressive, Al," Sans said with a wide grin, leaning back. "I mean, wow. I wasn't expecting you to have something so quickly. Have I ever mentioned that you're absolutely brilliant?"

"L-like I said, it's still in the early stages," Alphys explained, blushing slightly. "I've never developed anything quite like this before. There is, um, j-just one itsy bitsy, tiny little problem."

"What's that?" Undyne asked, leaning forward to better gaze at the shining ring. "It'll suppress the kid's crazy half and all, right?"

"W-well," Alphys shifted from foot to foot uncomfortably. "That's... sort of up in the air."

"So, does it work, or not?" Sans blinked.

"It-it should," Alphys said uncertainly. "It's just that, w-well... I'm not exactly certain which personality of Chara's that it will actually inhibit. It-it hasn't really been, um, tested yet."

"Oh," Sans said. "... Oh."

"Yeah," Alphys rubbed her neck with her spare claw. "So, I was thinking that, you know, what with Chara being the only case I've ever actually encountered of dual bodily possession..."

"Alphys, I do not like where this is going."

"I didn't figure you would."

0-0-0-0-0

A/N

Hey all! Merry Christmas update to everybody, I'm so glad you've stuck with me for so long. I really hope you've enjoyed the story thus far. Next chapter is going to be even bigger than this one. Special thanks to those of you who have sent me messages pertaining to theories and ideas lately! If you liked it (or didn't whatever) please let me know how I'm doing in the comments! :D