You don't hear back from Sans for a few hours and even then it's just a quick note in the original document to say that something's come up and they would get back to you in 19 hours. That was oddly specific but at least meant you could plan your day and not have to worry about trying to sync times.
19 hours of normal.
You could do that.
Maybe catch up with friends, watch some shows. There are loads of things to do…
-
Nope, this isn't going to work. You just can't focus on anything else. That said, if they were going to be away for 19 hours, you could risk giving your PC a bit of a clean, or at least remove anything that would raise some really unneeded questions, like AU artwork. You do keep hold of some Underswap and Outertale images. Mostly group shots you had kept because it gave a great overview of the characters. They would be safe examples of what an AU was as it was bound to come up. With that sorted you decide to put your internet back on, after turning off your PC of course. Might as well save some of your Phone's data while the coast is clear and get some work done on the list.
You start off good, mostly writing out how each of the runs go so that you don't have to keep going back to reference them later. You save some screenshots for reference as well. After all, the underground can't be as empty as the game shows it, can it? That's when productivity went downhill. It started with screenshots, then location drawings, then fan art. Some you still remember back when you would jump to look at any new art, others must be after you drifted away from the fandom as you would have certainly remembered them. There were even more Alternate Universes now. So many stories from such a small game. Talk about an impact.
Eventually you give up on any sort of progress. It was getting late anyway and you would have a fresh start in the morning to fill any gaps you had. Turning off the router before heading to bed you double check the PC was off. Better safe than sorry after all, and you didn't need Sans spying on you now they had access to the camera. What a great idea that had turned out to be.
Sleep eventually comes and the morning arrives far sooner than you would have liked. When you are finally able to drag yourself out of bed you still have about eight hours before you need to meet up. Deciding to be a bit more productive then you'd been the night before you head out and grab some bits and pieces for the next few days. It's weird. Being out and about and doing just normal everyday things, it gives you a chance for your mind to wander.
What else were you oblivious to? Were monsters real in your own world? Ghosts? Gods? This could all still all just be a simulation for all you know.
Nope. One existential problem at a time. Maybe you should ask Sans how he handles it all. That causes a chuckle. Therapy advice from Sans, not happening.
You are actually glad to get back home. You might be going a little crazy but at least you could keep the crazy within these four walls. You need a distraction and eventually settle on a book. That would work. It's been ages since you just cuddled up with a good book and got lost within the pages. Turning your PC on and checking for any new messages, of which there were none, you pick out one of your favourite series and settle down snuggled up in a big blanket on your chair.
"you there?" Sans' voice makes you jump. You had been reading for a few hours straight and it took a moment for your eyes to adjust from looking down at the pages.
"I'm here, you get everything sorted?" As much as you wanted to, you shouldn't pry into what took him so long, though he was about an hour early, unless you had miss calculated. He was just as entitled to his free time as you were, more so even.
"you know me, had to get some naps in or I would be too tired to sleep." You had a feeling it might have been Papyrus who had dragged him away to take care of himself, or maybe he had met up with the rest of the gang. You so badly wanted to ask him, you really did, but you had shoved yourself into his life way too much already. If he wanted to tell you, that would be his choice.
"Nothing quite like a good nap." That you can very much agree on. He does sound a bit brighter today. "So, I've been doing some research and have a list put together."
"really? welp, i'd in-list alphys but she's currently busy. should be around in a few hours though. so, what ya got for me?" Okay, just you and Sans for now, that could work for some of the more sensitive information.
******
-Dimensions? every game a world? 1 million copies, likely more.
-Need to find ways to check/contact others that might have done the same. Get code word
-Twitch plays?
-Show the other runs? LP maybe
-Can Flowey still reset?
******
Opening up the word document you also make sure to get the files you had on your phone ready for extra references.
"not much here." He sounds disappointed.
"It's mostly just bullet points so I can stay focused on what I thought was important to talk about." Okay, you think you had all of the files within easy reach now.
"you err, missing anything from the list?"
"Probably a lot, but if I wrote everything down I think I would be here all week. We can always add more when we find what we need to focus on." It's not like you even knew what to look for. These were mostly topics to cover in the hopes that Sans or Alphys would notice something helpful.
"so, toby aint that important then?" Well that wasn't what you were expecting.
"Wait, what?" You check back at the list, maybe it hadn't saved and you had left his name there?
"only you had them underlined and everything, something about contacting them?" Or Sans had been snooping on your PC while you were using it last night, great.
"you still there?" You sigh.
"Yes, I'm still here. Okay, sure. Toby Fox is the guy who created Undertale, that's the name of the game, your game, whatever." Might as well be completely open about it. He wasn't on the list because of any problem he could cause Sans, just because of other complications.
"sounds like a pretty important guy not to have made the list. any reason for that?"
"He is, but that's the problem. Trying to get in contact with him would be impossible. I'd just be one crazy fan trying to reach out. Which is why I took him off the list."
"still sounds like he'd have most of the answers."
"I know, I know. Maybe we can use a code word or something. I was thinking about that anyway to try and get in contact with other people on my side that also might have done - whatever this is."
A window pops up on your PC, Sans must have opened the video camera. You wave and roll your eyes. He seriously needed to get off your back over every little thing. You could understand him not trusting you, and being paranoid, but you had been going out of your way to help.
"a code word sure, what were you thinking?"
"That's just it, it's got to be something from you. Something outside of our…experiences of your world but something that would act as a way to spot other people who had actually been talking directly to you." You hear a 'hmm' back but nothing more. "Look, I don't know if this is a one time thing or if there are others that have done this or-" your voice starts to get a little panicked as the dam starts to break. So many worries and fears you were having to keep bottled up, and there was no one you could talk to. "or if your world is linked to all the games, or if there is a world attached to each game or-or anything. Maybe it's none of that. Or some of that. Hell, maybe it's aliens or dimensional beings."
"whoa, calm down kid, it's okay. it's a lot to take in. no need to swallow it all at once." You can't see him, but you know he is on the other end. Right now Sans and Alphys are the only people you could talk to and not be sent into a padded room. You look directly at the camera.
"How do you do it? You've been doing this longer than I have, you're dealing with ten times more shit then all of this, and you're still going." There's a pause then-
"'cause i have to. i'm not doing it for me. if it were just me, well. but paps? undyne and alphys, even the kid frisk. they deserve to be happy. so if that means waking up in the morning and sorting things out, heh, ain't a bad life." You hear his chair creak and a scraping sound "'look, if something's too big, just focus on the little things, some good food, some bad laughs, some nice friends. thats what really matters after all."
"I know, it's just, so much. And even after all this is sorted, after hopefully you get to live in your world without any more resets or interference, it's not going to go away. I will still know what I've done, and maybe you will see that as some sort of penance, but it's not just that. What else don't I know? Can I ever risk playing a game again? Is this proof of the Multiverse theory? Time travel? Lizard people running the government."
"wait, you have them to?"
"What?" Your brain stalled.
"the lizard monsters. they were one of the big factors that helped the monsters when we reached the surface. that and atlantis reconnecting with the world. Anyway, back to the list"
"No no no. You don't get to drop those bombshells on me and just move on. Are you serious?"
"nope, i'm sans, i thought we went over this already." You could hear him smiling, you could honestly hear it.
"Very funny," You really should have seen that coming "but the lizard and atlantis thing, that really happened in your world?"
"shore did. tipped the scales in our direction to. turns out humans didn't managed to get all the monsters, so they either hid or adapted."
"Wow. thats- wow. So lizard Politicians?"
"a few minor ones, mostly lawyers and film stars if i remember right." You hear Sans tapping on the keys. How can he just be going over this information like he was talking about the weather?
"Inhuman, cold blooded and likely a distaste of humanity, yeah I can see it" Why did it have to make so much sense.
"heh it was a surprise for everyone." You can only imagine what it must have been like for humanity to realise that monsters were not only real but already living among them.
"How's it going? On the surface I mean, with all the humans?" You had wanted to ask for so long.
"its...not bad, could be better. the human's are trying at least…in more ways than one heh. we got a cosy little town set up, felt like a zoo at first but its nice and no one is forced to stay. most monsters do…just safer. atlantis surfaced two months ago, I think, so that's another safe zone. got a few teams looking for other hidden populations." You hear some more shifting and moving in the background.
"oh that's where that went." He sounds a little distant.
"If you're busy with something I can come back later." Maybe that was why he was an hour early, might have had some things to sort out first, but wow, it sounds like their world was really coming together.
"almost got it…" There is a quiet moment and then you hear a chair move.
"you say something?"
"I said I can come back if you're busy with something."
"just doing the bare bones to get stuff set up." More typing.
"What are you - Oh" Before you could even answer the question a new screen opened up on your PC. You were looking at a skeletal face.
"hey" He gives a half hearted wave.
"Oh, okay. Hi." With your camera also displayed on your screen you can see first hand the whirlwind of emotions flashing across your face. Surprise mostly, also shock, fascination and a mild bit of unnerve.
You had seen a wealth of artistic depictions of Sans, but you were not looking at a cartoon. He quite literally was a skeleton, in a t-shirt, but the proportions were all wrong, at least for a human, and the bones shifted in ways bones shouldn't. It was creepy, no other word for it really, but you are not sure what you were expecting. He is a monster after all.
"i know, i know, take a good look. i'm practically the bona lisa, it's the smile isn't it?" His mouth didn't move as he spoke. It just stayed in that fixed wide grin.
"Er, sorry, just came as a bit of a shock." Thats to put it lightly
"really? thought we were old friends."
"The game dosn't really show you in as much detail." That's putting it lightly. How his eyes could look like endless voids of darkness while also having the smallest pinprick of light in their depths was doing something to your brain.
"It's very nice to meet you face to face Sans" You shouldn't judge, you really shouldn't. He was just like any other person, or monster, even if he was making all of the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end.
"how bout we see what the game's been showing you then buddy."
