Author's note: Undyne curses. A lot. Can't help it. She just comes out that way to me and I like it. Funny, considering I don't even curse myself. Anywho, Toby Fox owns Undertale and I'm having fun writing about it. Enjoy!
"That arrogant, self-centered little prick," Undyne cursed, stomping the ground once in frustration, then running a hand down her face.
"I-I think this is for the b-best for now. He seemed to be under a l-lot of stress," Alphys piped up after Undyne finally composed herself.
"And I'm not? I don't even want to think of the report I'll have to file for Asgore."
"I've never seen him this upset since..." Papyrus said, his eyes staring blankly at the ground that Sans was sitting on just a minute ago.
"The hell are you talking about, bonehead?" Undyne crouched down to Papyrus' level on the ground and tugged on his scarf when he did not immediately respond.
"Oh, sorry. It's nothing, I am sure. We will find him later. For now we need to focus on the task at hand and figure out why doctor Alphys' cameras are not working." Papyrus then fixed his scarf and dusted down the light jacket he was wearing, standing up in the process.
"I'm pretty sure Sans knows what's going on here, but won't tell us," Undyne kicked a soft patch of grass.
"He needs time to think. No one can reason with him when he acts like this. I will find him later. In the meantime, I think we should try to solve this puzzle! Or, at least get a few of the pieces in the right places. As they say, do the edges first and the rest will come together quickly!" Undyne sighed, but nodded nonetheless.
"Fine. Let's see if there are any other monsters around here that might have seen something. And can one of you guys call Toriel for me? I don't feel like dealing with explaining things right now. Thanks." And with a note of finality, Undyne began to walk towards the other end of the cavern, hoping to find any monster within the vicinity to interrogate. And if not, she already had another monster in mind.
"Gerson!" Undyne announced her presence, and the monster being called smiled at his long time friend.
"I still don't understand why you don't leave this hellhole, old guy," Undyne went to the side of the damp cave Gerson's shop was set in and grabbed a chair, pulling it up to the counter.
"It's very nice to see you too, Undyne," Gerson answered, his smile never leaving as he watched the other get situated.
"Yeah, whatever. You know I can get you a nice place above ground."
"And you know I'd rather stay where I am. I'm old and stuck in my ways. No use in arguing about it anymore. You won't change my mind," Gerson laughed haughtily then leaned back in his chair. "So, what honor do I have to have you visiting me this time, hmm?"
"What if I just wanted to come say 'hi' or something? Does there have to be a reason?" Undyne asked, trying to keep the conversation light for a bit longer.
"Well, usually I wouldn't question it, but I know that look in your eye. You're on a mission, and you're not happy about it. Tell me everything and I'll see what I can do to help."
"Yeah, you're right. I need to know if you've seen or heard anything strange in the area?" Undyne started, grabbing up a crab apple and taking a bite while Gerson thought over the question.
"Why, yes, actually. Ever since the science guys in Hotland shut down that machine… the Core. There has been this strange buzzing." Undyne leaned forward, her interest now piqued. "Thought it was my imagination at first, but it kept changing direction. At first it came from Hotland, so I thought it was only the Core cooling off or something. But then it stopped for a bit. I heard it again not more than a few hours ago. Then it stopped again. You know anything about this?"
"Yeah, that's the exact reason I came, actually. So, you said you first heard it coming from Hotland, then it started again?"
"It was a lot louder and was coming from the other side of my shop now. Thought it was just my ears finally giving out on me after it wouldn't stop," Gerson laughed, then pushed himself from his leaned back position, looking at Undyne. "You know what it is?"
"No. Yes? There's… don't think I'm crazy or anything, because I don't understand it either."
"You're talking to me, girl. I'm as crazy as it gets," Gerson tipped his hat and Undyne huffed her amusement.
"Yeah. I don't know what it is, but I know it's causing serious trouble. Two monsters have gone missing and I have no idea where to start looking. And our only lead decided it was a great time to disappear." Undyne threw her half-eaten crab apple against the wall beside her and frowned when it simply hit and fell without causing much damage.
"Sounds like something bad is happeneing," Gerson started, then stopped and seemed to be lost in thought. Undyne watched him, her eyebrows coming together in confusion and impatience.
A few minutes passed before Undyne finally lost her patience. "What?! What the hell are you thinking about?"
"Hmm? Oh, sorry," Gerson mumbled, finally pulled from his thoughts. "This old head stores a lot of useful information. It's a bit rusty, though. I was just thinking that this is not the first time I had heard something like this. Back when the Core was still fresh, I remember hearing that same buzzing." Undyne perked up again, her anger dropping immediately.
"Do you know what it was from?"
"No. Be damn useful if I did, though. Those science guys back in the day never said anything about anything to anybody. If only I could remember who they were…" Gerson seemed to go back into his thoughts.
"So the buzzing you think might be related to the Core?" Undyne said, snapping the old turtle from his musings.
"Might be, might not be. Wouldn't hurt to see," he hummed to himself for a minute. "What about that girlfriend of yours? You say she's the royal scientist?"
"Well, was, when the Underground was still a thing. But yeah, she keeps track of that kinda stuff. Her cameras have been going haywire ever since she shut it down. Maybe her Core notifications are messed up too. Papyrus and her are working that out now. Wonder how the conversation with Toriel went…?"
"Ah, Papyrus. Haven't heard from him or his brother in a while. How are the whippersnappers?"
"Papyrus is great. Sans is annoying as hell. As usual," Undyne grunted, then nodded at Gerson.
"If that's all the info you got, then I should head back to see what the others have found. Thanks for your help, Gerson." Undyne stood to leave.
"Anytime. Remember to come visit this old man again soon."
"Yeah, of course. Can't leave you down here to rot by yourself," Undyne said, then walked out of the shop, heading towards the labs where she knew Papyrus and Alphys had gone.
With any luck, they would have found something useful.
"Have we found anything useful yet, Alphys?" Papyrus called from one end of the lab. He was digging through recent files for the Core and pulling out any that might be deemed to have helpful information.
"Actually, yes," Alphys called back. Papyrus grabbed the papers he had selected and jogged back over to Alphys, who was typing in a few codes into her main computer.
"It doesn't help that the computer's were overloaded when the Core was shut down, but I found out some critical information regarding the state of the Core itself." Alphys adjusted her glasses and typed in a few lines of the same coding into her phone.
"I would never have thought to use a phone as a main computer!" Papyrus beamed. He was learning something new every day, and that pleased him to no end.
"Y-yes, of course. I can't use the computers, so the phone will have to do. The only problem is my phone does not have the processing power to keep up with the multiple programs I want to keep running. I will have to do one at a time until I can find a better solution." Alphys squinted down at her phone screen as it went dark for a moment, then brought up a status screen. "It worked!"
"Of course it worked, doctor Alphys. You are a genius after all. So, what would you like the great Papyrus to do with all of these papers?" Papyrus shuffled through a few pages as Alphys recovered from her immense blush and stuttering.
"I-I w-would like you t-to, um, to look over them and u-understand the general pattern of the Core. Those a-are the most recent ones I have, besides the ones from last night w-when we shut it down. I-I want to know if there was anything that seems suspicious, like someone tampering with it. I h-have a feeling that we might have to l-look for sabotage, from what my computer is able to tell me at the moment."
"Understood! The great Papyrus will do his best to- I mean I will do my best to fulfill the duties I have been given!" Papyrus beamed, then stumbled when he almost dropped the papers he had loosened his clutch on during his heroic pose.
"Thanks Papyrus. Also, h-how's Toriel and Frisk? Did they take the n-news well?"
"Oh, she did not answer so I left a voicemail. I should probably call them back soon," Papyrus mumbled the last part to himself as he began to walk towards a nearby table.
"Thank you. I-I am not th-the best… speaker," Alphys stuttered out, her focus going back to the machines before her.
"Do not worry, I will take care of all the talking that needs to be done. For I, the wonderful and fabulous Papyrus, am very good at speaking!"
"I can see that," Alphys muttered under her breath, then went quiet as her attention became focused on the project in front of her.
Some time passed in relative silence, the sounds of papers being rustled and claws against a keyboard breaking up the calm.
"Papyrus, have you-"
"I believe I have found something!" Papyrus yelled, holding out a sheet of paper and waving it around. He stopped and stared at it again, then nodded and ran over to Alphys, who was trying to calm down her thudding heart.
"W-w-what did you f-find?" She stammered out, her pulse finally slowing to a more normal pace.
"Here and here!" Papyrus set the paper over her keyboard and pointed to a few lines. Alphys moved her glasses closer and read over them herself. After analysing it, she sat back and nodded.
"Those are abnormalities, but what exactly are they referring to? They do not seem to be centralized, but mentioning several different areas almost at once. Unless…" Alphys turned back to her phone, shrinking down a few windows she had up and bringing out a new program. She typed away and, after a few minutes, sucked in a breath, an inkling of understanding beginning to crawl over her.
"The Core was sabotaged!" She nearly yelled, and Papyrus jumped back at the sudden volume.
"Who would do such a thing?" Papyrus asked, his mind not able to accept wrongdoing as the answer.
"I suppose if someone wanted to cause havoc, or did not want anyone else to leave the Underground, they would do this. This explains why I haven't received any recent notifications from the Core. That was the first thing they destroyed... " Alphys sat back in the chair and sighed, rubbing a clawed hand down her face and feeling the cricks in her back already.
"Is there anything I can do to help?" Papyrus piped up after a minute.
"Yeah. Can you call Toriel and Undyne? We need to update them o-on what we found."
"Of course! I will check on Frisk and Toriel. Captain Undyne said she will be here after talking to an old friend, so I will give her time to finish." And with a final nod, Papyrus took out his phone and speed-dialed Toriel.
Papyrus wandered away from Alphys, who had gone back to work on her computer, and waited for an answer from the phone.
"Hello?" The calm voice of Toriel drifted through the phone's speaker.
"Toriel, I am glad you answered this time!" Papyrus nearly yelled in his excitement, then stopped when he heard laughing at the other end of the phone.
"Yes, sorry about that! I was wrist deep in blueberries and butterscotch when you called. I forgot to call back. The pastries I made are going to turn out wonderful, however," Toriel hummed on the other end of the line. Papyrus could practically smell the pastries now.
"That sounds wonderful! Then I will assume you have not heard my message?" After an affirmation from Toriel, Papyrus continued. "Well, I have called to update you on the current events." Papyrus then went on to explain everything that had happened in the time since they had last seen each other.
"That sounds awful! Is your brother okay?" Papyrus paused at this question, his teeth pressing tightly together before he remembered he needed to speak.
"Well, I am not sure. I have not heard from him since he had left and I am quite worried… actually," Papyrus became quiet once more, the silence tense and awkward.
"I am sorry, dear," Toriel broke the silence after a bit, "but we will find him. He did not come back here, and with how it sounds, he might be too tired to leave the Underground. Have you tried your house?"
"No. He does not have his phone, and the house no longer has a landline. I am needed at the moment to help Alphys in the labs. Although, I wish I knew he was alright…" Papyrus became quiet once more, before perking up at a thought.
"How is Frisk?"
"I left them in the living room. I think they covered themselves in pillows and went to sleep. I'll go check on them now," Toriel added the last part as her voice changed from her changing locations.
"Frisk?" Toriel had pulled the phone away from her as she checked on the child. A minute passed, then a gasped could be heard on the other end of the line.
"Queen? Is everything alright?" Papyrus nearly yelled into the phone, his panic mimicking hers.
"Frisk! Dear, please come out!" Papyrus waited impatiently as Toriel seemed to be searching the whole house for the child in question. Finally, Papyrus heard the front door squeak open and wind muted the speaker for a moment.
"I cannot find Frisk, Papyrus. I need to call them. I will call back later. I am sorry." The line then went dead and Papyrus could feel his own want to call the child immediately, but left it well enough alone. He opted instead to call Undyne.
"What? Any news on the cameras?" Undyne commanded through the phone.
"Yes. Were you able to get information from the other monsters?" Papyrus decided to leave Frisk out of the conversation until he heard back from Toriel.
"Yeah. The old geezer had a lot of useful stuff to say. I'll relay it all when I get there. Give me ten minutes. This lava is harsh on my scales and I gotta rehydrate all the time," Undyne huffed. "Anything I need to know right now? Or can it wait?"
"I suppose-" Papyrus was cut off by his phone ringing. "I apologize, but I must go." Papyrus then hung up and answered Toriel.
"Frisk is not answering their phone. I think it ran out of battery. Can you have Alphys track the phone's location?"
"Of course. Can you hold on one moment?" Papyrus then went over to Alphys and relayed all of the information he had recently gathered. Alphys nodded and brought up a tracking app on her phone. After a minute, a gps location came up. Papyrus read off the numbers, but could not make sense of them.
"They seem to be… in Snowdin! B-but what a-are they doing there?" Alphys zeroed in on the exact location and pulled out a digital map of the Underground. She studied both for a moment as Papyrus updated Toriel on the news.
"What would they be doing there? Could you put me on speaker, please?" Papyrus complied then set the phone down on the desk.
"Actually," Alphys looked up from the map and pointed at it, "they are at your house, Papyrus. D-do you think they might have f-found Sans?"
"If they did, then they are safe for now. I would like to find my brother as soon as possible. He did not look well when we saw him last and now that I know that Frisk is with him I would like them to be within my sight."
"I will head to Snowdin right away. Papyrus, will you be meeting me?" Toriel asked over the speaker.
"I would li-"
"The hell is going on in here, losers?!" Undyne announced her presence as she stomped her way over to the other monsters in the room.
"Undyne! Perfect! You can now help Alphys while I go look for my brother," Papyrus said, then grabbed his phone and turned around to walk out the door.
"Woah, hey, I need at least an update or something," Undyne yelled at Papyrus, who did not even turn around.
"Doctor Alphys can tell you everything. I will be back in no time at all. Oh, and I will meet you at my house, your highness!"
"Thank you. I should be able to get there in forty minutes. I am sure you will be there in less time."
"Yes. I will wait for you. Goodbye for now." Papyrus then hung up and made his way over to the river that ran throughout the Underground. The ferry was there waiting for him, like it always is.