You should be surprised, but you already know this place isn't real.

"heh. you're back. and things look like they sure warmed up fast."

She looks rather chagrined and embarrassed, but grateful.

"Thanks, Sans," she says sincerely. "I was trapped there for awhile. Sometimes that happens when I'm unconscious. Your story reminded me of some things, and got me out of the sad memory I was in."

"it's snow problem. i just saw you were in that stasis mode again, and there's no way i could get you out of it without a magic attack. not sure if i should resort to that either. it's kind of a desperate situation out there for both of us, you know."

She nods and distractedly picks up some sand and lets some grains filter through her fingers like an hourglass, seemingly partially lost in memories again.

"so. who were the suits?" you ask, trying to bring her back.

"Umm...just some business associates of my father's. He owned a company," she answers, but furtively looking away from you.

"she's lying, or leaving out something really important," you realize suddenly, feeling a rush of suspicion.

"ok...are you feeling better now?" you ask casually, keeping your own expression and voice neutral. "it's been hours in the real world, you know."

"Well. You did the right thing to come here. I got scared when you left me in the dark and I thought I'd just starve to death alone, so I figured I'd last longer this way. I can't make a proper shield, but I used the last of my reserves to go into a sort of coma to wait and hope for rescue from the ship. But once I was unconscious, I got trapped in that memory and I couldn't get out of it again without help."

You know it might be unfair to her, but you can't hold all of the stress and mistrust inside anymore. You say with bitterness,

"sorry. i've been stabbed in the back more times than i can count. when you had that guilty expression, i thought it meant you intentionally lured me here just to fuck with me."

She looks taken aback by your bluntness, but sighs, letting the sand drop to the beach again. "It's just that the truth is complicated. Maybe I'm not entirely innocent."

She meets your gaze head on.

"But I don't mean you any harm," she says. "I promise." You scan her expression carefully.

"protectiveness...determination...she's really mad about something, but not at me. for others?" You're not sure what to think.

"you're hiding something, though, aren't you?"

She freezes, with something indecipherable written on her face.

"embarrassment? sadness?"

"Yeah," she admits. "But hey, you know what happened the last time I tried to show you something. It really makes you angry when I talk about things like that. I'm not sure if you have any idea how much getting your guts torn apart hurts."

"ouch." Your self-hatred of your own violence is not something that you like to be reminded of. It's worn a path wide and ragged in your soul, ever since the first time you killed.

"not that i want to bring up anything pointy right now, but you've got one."

You're casual about it, but actually you're deeply hurt. Not by her, but by your own judgment. She just reminded you of it.

You know very well how much it hurts to get your guts torn apart, because you had to watch Frisk's expression every time you did it to them. That fact is one of the biggest cracks in your soul.

She glances at you, sadly, curiously.

You make a magic bone, and let it float in the air, because apparently you can do that here.

She flinches a little, but you're trying to say something.

"this doesn't have to be an attack, but it can. it can attack and hurt people. no matter what kind of attack you use, attacks can maim and kill. sometimes attacks can hurt people you didn't intend to, so you have to be really careful when you decide to fight someone."

"so, if you're not like the ones i want to fight, the ones who killed and tortured everyone i know, then i'm sorry. i didn't mean to hurt you at all, and i'll do whatever i can to make it up to you."

"but," your eye sockets go dark, "if you really do mean us harm, then i meant all of it."

You hold her gaze, and she shivers, but doesn't back down or look away. You know that's a sign that either she doesn't have a guilty conscience, or she doesn't have a conscience. You hope it's the former, a lack of guilt. Since her LV numbers got messed with before, you're still not relying on that method.

You let your bone attack disappear, and your eye lights return to their normal flickering white.

She folds her arms and contracts in on herself like a hermit crab going back in its shell. She seems to think for a long time.

"Sans," she finally says resolutely, "even if you keep attacking me, I'm not going to stop trying that easily."

"what?"

"trying to do what?" you wonder inside. "what is her real game with me?"

"You keep trying to scare me. I'm human. Exactly how many humans have you known? How many of them have hurt you? Maybe what you really is for me to just go away so there's no chance of me betraying you. Even if I'm sincere now, for all you know, I could change and decide it might be fun to kill you later. Just like so many other humans."

That...hurts. It goes places you don't like to feel in your own mind.

But she threw down a challenge, might as well answer it.

You glare back at her, angry now.

"am i wrong? are you saying you don't have something that literally controls my world's reality in your fucking office? you want me to just trust you after that?"

She gives a sad, ironic laugh. "So you were nice enough to heal me earlier, but you still didn't really trust me? You could have killed me, you know. You could kill me now. Why didn't you? You keep going back and forth between thinking I'm going to hurt you, and thinking I might be better than that. I just keep wondering when's the next time I'm going to look down and see a bone spear through my stomach."

You look away and grin in that blank, dark way that skeletons are best at. It's not the grin you use when you're being even casually friendly.

"like i said. if you're really my enemy, i won't hesitate to do that again."

She shudders, but stares back at you resolutely, a little angry now.

You pause.

"but if you're not..."

You think of him. "he always believes in people."

Your voice grows soft, and your expression returns to something more normal.

"maybe i haven't lost all hope. your shipmates were kind to me. maybe that means you're a good person too. or maybe it was all just an act, and you're a player who's just playing a bigger game than usual. i don't know."

You look back at her, your expression more open now. "to be totally honest, if you're a player, i think you have some idea of how many times i've killed and been killed by now. my nerves are way past shot to hell and back. so it wouldn't be a bad move on your part to not do things that make me think you're a psychopath, if it's not really true. so maybe try not to get possessed by chara or that cloud again. and also...don't shanghai me again. it's not nice to kidnap people."

She stares at you in alarm and then says slowly and evenly, "Ok. Deal. I will not take you anywhere against your will again, unless you're unconscious and dying or something."

You eye her, seeing just sincerity this time. But you're still on edge. "i need a way to know for sure if she really has a good heart, even if she's lying and hiding something, or has an agenda...and if she does have a good heart, i can't let this opportunity go to waste...i need to get her on our side...if she doesn't already, i need a way to get her to see us as people, not as things to be used like some humans, or as chess pieces for whatever plan she might have...wait." You have an idea.

Grimly, you resolve, "if she fails this test, and she really doesn't mean us well, i won't help her escape. i don't really matter anyway, so if i can't get out of here after she dies, then it's not anybody's loss except my papyrus's. maybe our timeline will stop without her in any case. it might be better if our timeline stops, instead of continuing to more killing runs. maybe that's the only mercy we can hope for."

You decide to play it cool, hoping she won't figure out your plan and put on an act for you.

"not that i don't want to see your computer if we get back there."

"Well, if you really want to see it, I'll show you. If we live through this, that is," she says, her expression lightening a little.

But she adds, "I'm keeping my shield up next time, though. If I ever get my shield back."

"can't really blame her."

"so what now? do we wait here? 's not a bad place, i sea why you like it better than that other cold memory," you say, gesturing at the ocean.

"We could do that..." she says slowly. "As long as we don't break our mental connection, we can stay here, and talk like this."

"don't worry. i left guards on duty. i'll know if anyone comes near us, and i left enough of my thoughts outside to be able to get back if i need to."

She looks a little surprised. "So you know what this place is, and you thought ahead that far?"

You shrug. "pretty much. this is your mind, right?"

She nods.

"although," you add, "if no one comes for us, this is going to be a long wait. your stasis can't last forever, right?"

"Right...I can probably keep this stasis shield up around my core for a few weeks, and it slows down my body's processes so I don't need as much food and water. But I think that's it."

She thinks for a minute. "The fact that you got here though...I didn't expect that."