Alphys frowned, clutching the small vial of DETERMINATION in her trembling claws. Undyne and Papyrus were anxious pacing about, glancing over at the screen Toriel kept a keen eye on. The air was thick with tension. Anxiety. It was hard to breathe.

Alphys bit down on her lip, took a deep breathe, and stepped towards them. Her eyes darted over to Toriel. A sudden little error in her plan. She just couldn't know.

She tapped on the wall, gaining Undyne's attention and Papyrus's soon after. Before either of them could make a sound, the scientist put a finger to her lips. The fish warrior nodded, repeated the motion to Papyrus.

Quiet.

The three of them fled to the other room where they can talk without being overheard.

"O-okay." Alphys stammered quietly, turning the corner to make sure Toriel didn't notice their retreat. She turned back to her audience, taking another deep breathe. "S-so….H-here's the plan…." She held out the vial "W-we give this to Sans-"

"BUT-" Papyrus began to shout, quickly caught himself, and lowered his voice "Alphys, Sans is dead." He winced as if the statement pained him.

Alphys nodded "I know. His body is. His SOUL isn't." She looked between them, nibbling on her lip, the continued "L-listen. This is why we can't tell Toriel about this. T-the plan involves…er…." She fidgeted. Ducking her head, she was suddenly afraid to meet either of their eyes. When she spoke, her voice was just barely audible "k-killing Asriel."

"What?" Papyrus gasped "B-but that's her son! Miss Toriel will feel so bad-"

"Shut up, Papyrus." Undyne hissed, lightly smacking him. Her uncovered eye glared into Alphys's heart. "What after?"

Alphys nodded her gratitude. "A-after Asriel is dead, we inject Sans's SOUL with the DETERMINATION, giving it some control of the timeline. In theory."

Undyne nodded "Okay, I gotcha."

Papyrus fidgeted "B-but then what-"

"Sans RESETs." Undyne said bluntly. Papyrus stared, flabbergasted.

"B-but how can we help him with all this, then? We won't remember!" he gasped.

"But Sans will be alive." Undyne said "And we won't have two demon-kids running around dusting everyone!"

Papyrus looked away, still uncomfortable with the plan. Alphys, shaking, rose her voice a notch. She forced it to be sharp and curt "Papyrus. We NEED you for this to work." She rose a hand to place on his shaking shoulder. The authority in her tone wavered "Please."

Papyrus took a deep breathe, closing his eye sockets. They opened quickly and abruptly, a spark of orange flickering off into the dim light.

"We'll just have to count on Sans to tell us again." He said. Clearly he was struggling to be calm."Okay, Doctor Alphys. What do you need me to do?"

"To be Papyrus." Alphys nodded. "Papyrus, Sans's SOUL won't let Asriel hurt you. From what you told me about him earlier, that much is clear. All you need to do is hold his and Chara's attention." Papyrus nodded, forcing his eagerness to partake in the plan. Alphys addressed Undyne next "Then, while Papyrus has their attention, Undyne…"

"I stab 'em." She finished for her. Alphys nodded.

"Yeah. S-stab em. Asriel, anyway." She turned to each of them and once again displayed the DETERMINATION "Then, before Sans's SOUL breaks or reforms Asriel, I jam this into it. Sans hopefully sees what we're trying to get him to do, and does it."

"A RESET." Papyrus nodded his understanding.

"Yeah." Undyne said, grinding her fangs in a frown.

"Yep." Alphys said. She fidgeted again, staring at the almost eerie glow of the red in her claws.

One RESET. That's all they needed. That's everything they didn't want.