It feels like it takes several hours, but the two of you eventually make a tunnel through the wall about ten paces long.
At one point, you consider asking him if he can just make the wall disappear, but you sense that this is actually costing him a lot more mental effort than it looks, and this is probably as fast as he can go. It's as though each brick is him having an argument with himself over whether it's worth doing this.
But as he meets you in the middle of tunnel to hand you the last few bricks to haul out, you can see the blizzard on the other side. You take out the bricks, and crawl back in carefully, finally making your way out to the eastern side of Snowdin to join Sans there.
The hours and hours of moving bricks created a sort of working camaraderie between the two of you. At one point, you had started to pretend you were escaping from prison and digging a tunnel out. Now that you're finally out, for a few moments you're both content to stand in silence, just taking in the scene.
There's not immediately much difference between this part of the town and the western side. There's still the telltale signs of dust, at the ends of trails of footprints of a human. Occasionally there's signs of struggle, where evidently some of the more powerful monsters were able to fight back.
Sans calls you by your real name. "i don't think i can keep control over this after all. i can't stay myself. so, i'm gonna show you this, and then i want you to break our mental connection, so we don't have to stay here any longer than we have to. can you do that?"
You consider, then nod. "I'll break us out of here when it's over."
He looks at you with a flash of concern and it seems like he considers telling you something, or asking you something, but then he decides against it.
"alrite. here we go."
He disappears.
You're on your own. He must be a part of this past memory now, no longer retaining consciousness of the present. You understand, but you wish he'd been able to stay in control.
You don't like being here alone.
Nervously, you sneak through the town, putting one foot carefully in front of the other and trying to stay out of sight as much as possible behind the buildings.
You jump and almost scream when a pile of snow falls off a roof near you.
You take a quick look around you. Some buildings have lights, but most don't. Some light fixtures are broken and shattered on the road, and it tears at you to see the careless destruction.
There's signs of struggle in several places, where you notice piles of dust where monster snow tracks end, and your heart drops.
Your mind races as you try to puzzle out what's happening. You aren't sure, but you think they were supposed to have evacuated by now. At least, that's what it looked like in the videos you watched before of Genocide runs.
The player would kill everyone outside the town, and then by the time they got here, word had spread and everyone was gone, leaving the player free to plunder the shop for gold. Only Papyrus stays around to confront them. Not even Sans is there.
Strangely, Sans doesn't show up to save Papyrus - ever.
He's too observant to not be aware of what was happening. He's nearby when it happens, since he'll always be at the sentry station at Waterfall if the player decides not to kill Papyrus. So why does he never come?
You don't know.
As you keep walking, you can see from the evidence that this isn't a standard Genocide timeline. It looks like Frisk brutally chased down and killed the monsters in Snowdin.
They even kicked the doors down in some cases. You see their footprints in the snow, running up to houses and shops where you can see their bootprint on the snow and in the traces of ice and damage on some doors.
You hope that at least some monsters made it out of town. The stillness of death haunts everything here.
You're just waiting for red, glowing eyes to appear in the shadows between the buildings, before Frisk comes out with a knife and attacks and kills you both.
If that happens, you won't really die, of course, since this is a memory, but you know it could hurt very badly, if being hurt is part of the memory.
You decide the most logical thing to do is to follow the other human's footprints, grim as that is. After you think about it for a moment, somehow it feels wrong calling them "Frisk".
This isn't Frisk's fault. It's another, unnamed human's fault. So you'll just call them "the human" when you think about them, like the monsters do.
Something soft bounces off your legs. Or someone particularly short.
It's the Monster Kid who likes Undyne, on his back after he fell down from running into you, apparently not looking where he was going. His mouth is open and turned down in fear and his eyes are wide and scared. He looks particularly helpless since he's a monster with legs, but without arms.
"Please don't kill me! Please...please..." he whimpers.
You don't know what to say to make him feel better. You back away from him slowly, showing him your empty hands, hoping that will communicate your peaceful intentions.
But he's in no mood to make friends, or even to talk to you. As soon as you're far enough away from him to make him feel safe enough to try to escape, he turns around in a panic and rolls onto his front and lift himself up by curling up like a caterpillar. He eventually manages to get to his feet, and he runs like the wind away from you.
That was deeply disheartening, considering he's the first monster you've "met" in person other than Sans, but you decide to keep walking.
You only make it a few more feet before you almost jump out of your skin when you suddenly hear someone else behind you.
"hey."
He's behind you, but you know that voice by now. It's deep and casual, but you hear the danger signals in it.
This time you really do scream as you spin around.
It's Sans, and you can tell in the tautness of his wide grin and the sharpness of his glare that he's way past angry.
"having fun?"
"It's me!" you yell desperately. You tell him your real name, and he changes, his angry expression turning into one of distracted, intense worry.
Some part of his present self seems to have regained partial control.
He starts ignoring you and runs ahead, following the other human's footprints.
You trail him from behind, keeping him just close enough to not lose sight of him, but trying not to regain his focus again.
He shortcuts many times, gradually getting faster. He only stops to look at the footprints. You think you're going to be left behind, but you hear him again, in your mind this time.
"just come with me." It's a much nicer sounding tone.
Now you can see things from his perspective. Apparently he was able to keep in control enough to do this much for you. It's sort of like being a disembodied spirit, watching everything that happens.
When you see what's on the other side after his last shortcut, you're confronted by a terrifying scene.
The first one you see is Grillby, but he's under attack.
The human has just taken a wide swipe of their knife across Grillby's chest, parting his flames behind his ripped tidy vest. Behind him is a small group of monster children and a few adults, whom he's obviously protecting. They look both terrified and hopeful, their eyes on him.
Grillby has laid down a barrier of flames between them and the human, blocking the human's path. He's not down yet, even though for a flame monster he looks badly hurt. Through Sans's perspective somehow you can visibly see the state of his soul, and how low his HP is, almost as though Sans has some kind of other sense besides normal sight.
But Grillby is not giving in, clearly determined to fight to the last with all he has.
"You can do it!" one of the monster children yells, cheering him on. The others take up the shout, trying to build him up and give him the will to win.
Standing up in a dignified way, Grillby extends a hand forward and ignites the air into a series of spiraling flame attacks.
The human expertly dodges through them, but they can't avoid them all. They get a little singed as their clothes and hair catch on fire, and they roll on the snow to put out the flames.
They recover, dash forward, and are about to slash at Grillby again, but by this time Sans has had enough and has decided to act.
Sans' hand moves so fast you could barely realize what's happening before you see his blue gravity throw the human off of Grillby.
You hear rapidly approaching footsteps and the clatter of armor.
"SANS! GRILLBY! MONSTER KID! MISS FLUFFY! AND...AND...EVERYONE ELSE!" A loud voice precedes its owner, who rapidly comes into view, running frantically.
Papyrus runs right in front of the small group Grillby was protecting, and leans over panting hard, before drawing himself up proudly. "I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS SHALL PROTECT YOU! HAVE NO FEAR!"
Blue eye flaming, Sans is still intently focused on the human, who is struggling to regain their feet after searching for and finding their knife in the snow.
"had enough,kid?" Sans questions, narrowing his eye sockets at them.
You see something like a snarl on the human's face, but they don't answer as they get up. Sans tenses for a fight.
"grillbz, can ya get everyone outta here?" he calls behind him. "me and papyrus will watch your backs."
Grillby looks like he can still walk, but barely. He nods gravely, bowing slightly at the same time, and staggers off slowly, dripping embers from his wound, and the others follow close behind.
"blue, pap."
"GOT IT!"
The human runs towards Sans and Papyrus, knife extended.
In response, the brothers gather their magic and release a flurry of blue bones from each side, catching the human in a perfect crossfire.
The human struggles, but loses health quickly, until they're down to almost nothing. They glare angrily at the two skeleton brothers.
"you're not going anywhere," Sans informs them.
Shortly thereafter, the human is imprisoned in the little shed you recognize from your own Pacifist run. You'd been feeling particularly uncoordinated that day and you were unable to dodge Papyrus's attacks. Like then, the bars are still too wide to hold anyone.
Papyrus gives the human a stern talking to - for him, anyway.
"IT WAS WRONG WHAT YOU DID! BUT MAYBE YOU DID NOT KNOW HOW MUCH KNIVES HURT! MAYBE YOU DID NOT KNOW WE FEEL PAIN LIKE YOU! MAYBE YOU DID NOT KNOW WE HAVE FAMILIES THAT CRY WHEN WE LEAVE THEM! BUT NOW THAT YOU UNDERSTAND, I KNOW YOU CAN DO BETTER IF YOU TRY! PLEASE TRY, HUMAN!"
He turns to Sans.
"I AM GETTING UNDYNE! SHE WILL TAKE THEM TO ASGORE. AND THEN ASGORE WILL TALK TO THEM AND HELP THEM UNDERSTAND THAT THEY SHOULD BE NICE, RIGHT!?"
Sans sighs heavily.
"...yeah...sure."
Papyrus leaves in a rush on his mission. You wonder if Papyrus believes his own words.
You notice the human giving a quick glance to the wooden bars, so far apart they are laughably easy to escape.
Sans notices, too.
"he can't even stand to imprison someone for real. does that tell you anything?" he asks the human inside the makeshift cell, his tone bitter.
No answer.
"guess not. guess someone like you wouldn't understand."
Sans examines the human for a moment.
"i thought maybe you were scared to be down here and you were killing in self-defense. but here in town, you chased down and killed every single person you could find. it didn't matter to you how young or old they were. that wasn't self-defense. you just like killing."
They stare each other down, hate in the human's eyes. The human doesn't answer again.
Sans looks unsurprised but a little sad when he sees there's really nothing but coldness in them.
"i was hoping you'd tell me i was wrong - that this was all a big misunderstanding or something. you know, kid, you're not the first human who's come down here. six humans have come here before you. they each had a different soul color. i didn't meet them personally, but i know they all had some kindness in them. they didn't kill everyone they met."
"i never changed these bars before. but in your case..."
Sans lifts his left hand upward swiftly and white bones extend from the floor and pierce the ceiling, with a spacing between them too small to get through. Then he puts his hand back in his pocket and grins chillingly.
"i won't let you kill any more monsters on your way to asgore. you're going straight to him. if you can defeat him, you can escape from the underground. if you can't..."
He grins more sarcastically.
"i don't think anyone's gonna miss ya."
Calmly Sans turns his back on the human and walks out of the shed, standing guard outside.
For a long time, nothing happens. Sans looks almost asleep to you, but some other emotions are peeking out from his expression too. He seems troubled, conflicted.
"Sans." An annoyed female voice interrupts his 'dozing.'
You see him barely crack open his eyelids.
"Are you actually doing your job, or are you asleep."
Sans opens his eyes completely and glances at Undyne standing in front of him and the shed, then glances around, clearly looking for Papyrus.
"I sent him away to look after Grillby and the kids," she says. "He shouldn't have to see this."
Sans tenses. "thanks."
There's an awkward silence, which Sans finally breaks.
"so...are you planning to go in there and kill the human?"
She shrugs. "Might as well," she says, but her tone feels empty and dead somehow.
"Not really much of a challenge this way," she says, almost under her breath.
"i promised them we'd take them to asgore."
That gets her attention. "You...actually promised them?" she asks slowly. Her eye flicks over his stance. He's deceptively relaxed in posture, leaning against the wall, but with her keen sense of battle she can see he's tensed for a fight.
She sighs in frustration. "You know Asgore will give them a fighting chance, and he won't let us help. Humans are strong. Maybe they'll win, after they've killed half the monsters in this area. How much red do you think they got out of those kills? Do you really want to risk Asgore's life?"
For just a moment, you can hear Sans's font change.
"He's killed before," he rumbles, and your soul shivers.
Unconsciously she backs away a quarter of a step before catching herself.
"And I'm guessing you don't like that! No, I don't have to guess. I know you don't like that."
Sans shrugs in an exaggerated gesture.
"hey, i just figure...they deserve each other, you know? two murderers, facing each other off."
"Asgore is not a murderer!" Undyne snaps at him.
"really," he drawls. "killing children isn't murder? what the heck do you think those coffins in his basement are from? or the souls in those jars?"
"They're casualties of war! We're at war for our freedom after the humans trapped us down here!"
"tell that to the kids he killed. i don't think they were old enough to have been part of making that barrier magic, unless humans live a lot longer than they used to."
He softens a little.
"undyne. i know you're angry for his sake, and everyone else's. but the king's son being murdered by humans doesn't give us the right to kill all of them."
"I know I'm angry! I just don't get why YOU aren't!" she yells, frustrated, her ear fins flared.
"They've killed dozens today! Now you want me to let them kill Asgore! Come on, Sans, we only need one more soul! Would you rather I kill an innocent human for it? Because that's what's probably going to happen if this one escapes!"
He waits for her pants and heaving chest to subside from her burst of emotion before replying.
"i know our losses have been terrible. we're never really going to recover from this. but papyrus wouldn't like me to just hand them over to you, if he knew the truth about what was going to happen to them. can you really say you're not bothered by it, while you're thinking about what he'd say about it? why did you make him go away, if you're not? do you really want to coat the inside of our shed with blood?"
She's silenced by his words. He presses his advantage.
"here, i'll make you a deal. go in there and kill them in cold blood if you want. but you have to tell papyrus what you did. tell me you can do that, and i'll let you pass." He nods towards the shed door.
She pauses. "I can't and you know it," she says, surprisingly quietly.
She paces in front of the shed, clearly agitated. She stops and tries to reason with him from another angle.
"Look, Sans, I know you still feel bad, about what Ga-"
"don't," he says, and for a few moments, most of his vision, and therefore your vision, goes away. You wonder if this is what it looks like to Sans when he lets his pupils fade, because you think he still has his eye sockets open. You can still see faint outlines of the world around you when you focus, like white pencil tracings of the world on black paper. On the other hand, Undyne's upside-down heart soul is extremely clear and bright, like a painted target. It's overwhelming for you, this sense that's more than sight that you didn't know he had, and your mind doesn't seem to know how to properly interpret this kind of information.
You feel how upset Sans is, not only then, but the real Sans behind you, watching you watch his memories, and you wonder why. Whatever Undyne brought up must involve something deeply personal.
She seems to realize she crossed a line, and quickly drops what she was going to say, stopping mid-sentence and looking away. You feel Sans relax slightly when he sees she's not going to push him on it, and his normal vision returns.
Undyne stands in the snow and puts her hand against her scaly brow, deep in thought for awhile.
"It's not totally honorable to kill an opponent who's imprisoned," she finally agrees.
She exhales loudly, rattling her armor as she drives the butt end of her ice-blue spear into the ground in resignation.
"All right, Sans! We'll take them to Asgore together. I promise that if they die, it will be in battle."
She snarls and her yellow eye is on fire with righteous anger.
"They'd better die after what they did today."
She gives him a sideways, annoyed huff.
"And you are shortcutting us there. I'm not carrying them the whole way through the underground."