Undertale
Witness The Influence
Then there was Doubt
Frisk, Chara, and Asriel all make it to the end of the Core, and travel along the border of New Home. There, Asriel breaks from the group and moves ahead.
"Guys, I'll go and talk with my parents real quick... get them warmed up to the idea of humans existing underground, yeah? Be right back." Asriel says, moving forward, leaving Frisk and Chara behind. While they are alone, Chara turns over to look at Frisk. Frisk looks over at Chara too.
"You..." Chara says to Frisk.
*"Me?" You ask.
"Stop... stop doing that!" Chara barks out!
"Don't think I don't know what you are, what right do you have to come in and control Frisk like this?!"
*You explain that you have no idea what Chara is talking about.
"You bastard... you won't even admit it!"
*...
Frisk and Chara look at each other for a moment.
*You let Chara know that it's very strange to have a videogame character recognize them for who they are, and that you commend her.
"I don't care. Frisk sacrificed everything to create this world, and you're going to destroy it, I know it!" Chara says, drawing a small red knife, looking at Frisk with intense eyes.
"You're only LV 1 right now... and you haven't saved since the world was reset... if I kill you now, everything goes back to the way it was before Frisk reset the world."
*You ask Chara if that's what she really wants.
"You... I know your type. To come into a world and exact dominance over it, then discard it when you're bored! To kill people just to see what happens, to disregard responsibility because in your sick mind, these people aren't REAL!" Chara says, gripping the knife hard in her hand.
*You tell Chara that all you've wanted was a happy ending, and you will not destroy this world.
"What a bold faced lie. I'm only talking to you to understand why you're doing these things! Make no mistake, CHARA... the instant we're done talking, this knife is going in your heart. That's a promise. So tell me everything I want to know." As Chara says that, Frisk looks over to New Home.
*You tell Chara, "For a Happy Ending." As they say that, Chara's face twists.
"Lies. LIES! You killed everyone for fun!"
*You explain that you killed everyone to see what happened, to explore all possible endings of this world. You then explain that you were unsatisfied that there wasn't a happy ending anywhere.
Chara's face scrunches up, but she puts away the knife for now.
"The Worldsoul was corrupted by you... why?"
*You explain that this "Worldsoul" they keep referring to is barely more than a combination of lines of code, and that the world, for all intents and purposes, is nothing but data. "Corrupting it" as they say, was merely editing a few files around to change how some events played out.
Chara diverts her eyes. Deep in her heart, she remembers what they are talking about. A long time ago, Chara used to be a player too, but that has long since changed.
"What happened to me? You... you named me Chara... why?"
*You say "Because it was the true name."
"The true name... I once understood what that meant... but things have gotten so hazy ever since Frisk started his journey. Why? Why did you let go of Frisk, only to latch on again?"
*You explain that you had grown frustrated, no amount of control would provide the desired result. The game would keep entering a "Fail state" and crash, time and again. A happy ending was impossible, so you came up with an idea... to change the game into something else, if only for a while.
"Something else? Like what?" Chara asks.
*You tell Chara that she doesn't need to worry about it, and tell her that you're back in control.
Chara growls.
"You... despicable... you used Frisk to achieve your goals, then took him over again! What right do you have?! He sacrificed everything for this world, and you're going to turn it into your own personal plaything!" Chara seethes, getting in Frisk's face!
*You explain to Chara that she has no power over you, and you will continue to do as you please, but that you did not lie; you have no intentions to destroy this world. Why work so hard for a happy ending only to take it away?
"Because that's what humans do! If they have the ability to do something, they do it! You will take away everyone's happy ending just to satiate your diabolical curiosity, I've seen it time and time again! Tell me, Chara... or should I call you the Unseen Influence; if you were to die... what would happen? You haven't saved your game yet. Would the world end? Would it reset? Would Frisk have control again?"
*You admit that you do not know, only that you do not wish to find out.
Amidst their arguing, Asriel enters the courtyard outside of New Home with Asgore and Toriel in tow.
"See? I told you! Humans! Human kids!"
"I... I didn't want to believe it...!" Asgore lets out, with a shocked expression. Toriel steps forward towards Chara.
"My child... what is your name?" Toriel asks Chara. Chara sneers and breaks her gaze of Frisk for a moment.
"My name... is Chara..." She says, Toriel then turns to Frisk.
"And you?"
*You tell Toriel your name
"Chara...? Your names... are both... Chara? Well, what lovely names. Please, come in, you must all be so tired from your fall from the surface! Come rest inside!" Toriel says, with a nodding Asgore following her inside of New Home. Asriel cocks his head, looking at Frisk.
"Chara? Why did you call yourself Chara, Frisk? Eh, it doesn't matter. Come on! They have a surprise for you guys!" Asriel says, beckoning them inside.
Chara looks over at the Unseen Influence.
"I'm watching you..."
*You tell Chara that it's not required, then give her a mock smile.
Seeing Frisk's face being forced to smile makes Chara feel nervous, and angry.
/THENTHEREWASDOUBT
/BUTTHINGSGOTWORSE
Gaster, Roman, and Alphys have various files splayed over a number of tables. Small devices, large devices, both equally scatter across the room. They all saw the conversation between Chara and... "Frisk."
"What do you two make of this?" Gaster asks Roman and Alphys. Roman speaks up first with a worried face.
"If this Chara girl is telling the truth, which I think she is... then this "Frisk" kid is probably the sole danger we were talking about... and that our suspicions were correct... these kids ARE from the future..." Roman confirms, Gaster nods, then looks to Alphys, who takes her turn.
"In all my years of studying the soul... we've only heard of theories of the power to change fate that humans have... to see it is such a degree... Roman thinks this is simply Time Travel, but me? I think this is the human power to change fate put to an extreme." Roman raises a bonebrow.
"How do you figure?"
"W-Well... do you remember what happened so long ago, with Monsters being Driven Underground? Not even a single human was killed, but we lost thousands of our kind... do you think it would be possible for Monsters, as strong as we are, to never succeed in killing even a single human? No, I think that this kind of power was used once before... to change fate to such a degree, we could be witnessing a second resurgence of the ancient story..." Alphys says, looking over the various papers on her table about the nature of the soul before continuing.
"We've never had a human soul to study... so I can't say for certain... but if there was a single human out there with the power to turn back time and change fate off of nothing but their willpower, or something else... then we are in... v-very big trouble." Alphys states with finality. Gaster nods and follows up.
"Indeed... if this... "Unseen Influence" were to realize we were here, then they could just turn back time and kill us all. The mere fact that we exist now should be evidence that they do not know we are here yet... so we must plan..." Gaster says, causing Roman to eye him inquisitively.
"Plan... for what?"
"What else? Killing the Unseen Influence for good."
Chara and "Frisk" walk into New Home to be met with the smell of Butterscotch Cinnamon pie. Asriel excitedly runs around Frisk and Chara.
"Guys... I think that things are finally gonna be good for us!" He says, hugging them both in with his arms. Chara smiles a bit out of reflex, but the revultion of this situation keeps her from maintaining the mood.
"Y-Yeah that's great and all... but can you let go? I can't breathe."
*You wheeze.
"Oh, haha, sorry guys." Asriel says with a small blush. They walk into the dining room on the left to see that Asgore has set the table for the pie that Toriel made.
"Ah, humans... since this is our first time meeting... if you're not too tired, I would love to talk with you two. Do you want something to drink? Milk? Some tea perhaps?"
"I'm okay..." Chara says.
*You ask for some tea.
"Ah, coming right up, what was your name again? ... Chara? You both have the same name? ... That's neato!" Asgore says with a goofy smile. Asgore disappears into the kitchen as Toriel sits down at the end of the table, next to Asriel.
"You humans... fell from the world above? Tell me... do humans remember monsters?" Toriel asks. Chara looks over, and shakes her head. Toriel looks over to "Frisk."
*You shrug.
"I see... I suppose that is for the best. The Barrier that keeps us down here... it will keep you children down here as well... It would take... a great amount of... work... to help get you both to the surface again. In the meantime... would you two like to... stay here? In our home?" Toriel asks. Upon hearing that, Chara can't help but smile a little bit.
"That... would be nice, Toriel..." She says. Toriel smiles back, then looks at Frisk.
"And you?"
*You explain that nothing would make you happier.
"Ahahaha... you are strange children indeed, falling from the world above, and settling in so nicely... maybe one day you can tell us stories about your world?" Toriel asks, as Asgore comes out holding a tray of drinks. He slides a drink over to Frisk, who takes it.
*You drink the tea, remembering that it's probably very hot. It tastes good.
"You have a good taste in drinks, Chara. Golden Flower tea, made from the flowers that fell from the surface long ago. It's hard to grow them down here, we didn't have many seeds to work with, but I've been working on them as best I can." Asgore explains, sipping the tea on his own. Asriel sips the milk Asgore brought and looks over the table.
Toriel leans over and whispers to Asgore, Frisk and Chara can make out that they were whispering that Humans have forgotten monsters, and that they both don't mind staying here for a while. Asgore smiles.
"I will prepare a surprise for you two in a few hours. Why don't you head into the throne room garden and play?" Asgore suggests. Asriel and Chara look to Frisk.
*You smile and nod.
"Why did you set up all these cameras, Alphys?" Gaster asks, causing her to blush.
"W-Well, we were hired on to keep the underground safe, to keep an eye on things... m-maybe I was a bit overzealous, but it's helping... i-isn't it?" She asks. Gaster chuckles.
"Yes, yes it is. This bit of forethought from you may be the singular key to keeping us one step ahead of that "Frisk" kid... even though he insists on calling himself Chara for some reason. I wonder the significance of that name..." Gaster wonders, beckoning a response from Roman.
"The other Chara kid said something about it being a "True Name." What do you make of that?"
"I am unsure. Maybe it's important... maybe it's not. We have no choice but to keep watching.
Author's Note: I'm rehosting the Unseen Influence Trilogy on account of my patron vanishing. This story will be deleted if he ever returns. Until then, enjoy yourself.
