DING
DING
DING
*Elevator doors open
*Elevator doors open
*Elevator doors open
A voice was broadcast from the loudspeakers of an old laboratory built underground, abandoned for years and hidden from view. A mechanical rumble shook the walls, then an elevator stopped on the floor below. The metal doors opened painfully into a dark, foggy, deserted alleyway; inside, a familiar figure emerged, looking like a pot-bellied skeleton.
To get here, he'd taken one of his "shortcuts", as he called them and which only he knew. One of them led to this part of the Underworld. Few people knew of its existence, apart from the former royal family, those who had built the infrastructure and himself.
As usual, Sans the Skeleton - for it was he - was dressed in a blue jacket, black shorts and pink slippers topped with white socks, giving him a tasteless style of dress that a certain robot and rising popular TV star would howl at as a fashion crime.
He kept his perpetual smile and whistled, cheerfully off-key, a catchy tune. He seemed oblivious to the gloomy atmosphere as he left the metal cabin. His feet, wrapped in pink slippers, echoed around him, proving that he was the only presence here.
well, it's been ages since I moved my lazy bones in here, he thought as he gazed wistfully at the dilapidated state of the place.
Over the years, all the grime, dust and dirt had accumulated in this once prestigious place. So many memories, both good and bad, that the visitor had held on to for decades. The individual continued to wander through the mist, through the long, dull corridors, now empty.
For several years, the laboratory had been disused and out of service, before being secretly reclaimed by the new royal scientist for her more or less... problematic experiments.
And not long ago, events with unexpected consequences turned the lives of everyone in the Underworld, from the castle of the New House to the remote Ruins. These involved a certain human child: one of only eight to have fallen here, whose altruistic actions had forever altered their sad existence.
Since then, the place had been definitively abandoned and no one had ever entered this deserted area.
Until now.
-oOo-
Eventually, the skeleton arrived in a large room. It was dark, too dark to make out anything. The skeleton withdrew a gloved hand from his pocket and flicked a switch not far from the entrance. An electrical noise was heard through the metal structure; the worn bulbs flickered, illuminating the room. The light was dim, but sufficient to reveal the enormous machine suspended above the void: The DT Extractor. It certainly wasn't a pleasant memory for Sans. Yet he couldn't help noticing that Alphys's, created from the former royal scientist's notes, diverged from the original: some elements were missing or had been modified. He remembered its initial appearance, larger and more complex.
Sans had not come here today on a whim. Slowly, he walked up to the assembly of metal, pipes and components that gave the structure the appearance of a crimson skull, then stopped at the edge of the dais.
"yo. it's been a while. i'll pretend you're here: here, i brought a little something for us. we've got a lot to talk about."
He didn't hurry and Sans took out two bottles of ketchup from his jacket: Tomato brand from Grillby's, his favorite brand. He'd need them to give him courage. The skeleton uncapped both, placed one on the floor beside him, and sat down facing the machine, keeping the other for himself. He took a sip, without opening his jaw, then continued in a calm tone:
"you probably wondering what I'm talking about, aren't you? hang on, buddy: the barrier's been broken. can you imagine? after so many years trapped underground, we've been able to see the sun again. and guess what? it's all thanks to a human brat: the eighth and last child to fall into the Underground. the little guy managed to get away with it, you know. with the whole kill every human who falls here and destroy humanity order."
Sans lost himself in contemplation of the extractor, smiling even more than before as a laugh escaped him.
"that's not all: just after we reached the Surface, that old goat Asgore - he's still going strong, the bugger - made the kid our ambassador to the humans. you can imagine their shock when the entire population of the monsters showed up on their doorstep. By the way, Papyrus got his skeleton out of a poor woman who was taking a walk on Mount Ebott... and her dog enjoyed biting her femur. he had good taste, i'd say. in short, apart from this slight hiccup, we're not doing too badly," he summarized before taking another gulp of his drink. "almost two years have passed since then. the kid puts all his Determination into his work, you'd think he'd done it most of his life, and he's pretty good at it. the population is integrating quite well into the new city. by the way, it's called Second House... i know, the name really sucks: I'll let you guess who named it. by the way, it's just down the mountain, not far from the East Gate since some monsters still live in the New Home and the other cities."
His smile faded slightly after saying all this, and the sparkle in his eyes became less brilliant. All lightness seemed to leave him momentarily, as he continued:
"this timeline is pretty much like the old one, and all the others before it: the kid frees us, we get out of the ground after a millennium, pap gets his fancy new red car, alph and undyne go to the beach together, tori's school opens soon and asgore continues to lead our people while he continues his gardening - and tries to patch things up with his wife, by the way; emphasis on "tries"... then we start all over again. the Loop routine," sighed Sans, rubbing his neck. "how many times is that now? i admit i've lost count a bit since... all that. welp, i know i shouldn't complain too much. our kid is a pretty nice guy: so we've avoided the worst possible roads. it could have been so much worse. although, before him, things weren't much better."
Images of carnage and desolation involuntarily invaded his mind; one in particular impacted him the most, where another skeleton taller than him in knight's garb, a costume Sans had built for him and which he always kept on him, flinched after his head had been detached from his shoulders.
A sympathetic-looking golden flower, happily addressing and helping people, before its vines or petals turned them to dust, while the plant watched with unhealthy relish as its prey passed from life to death.
Sans did his best to ignore them. Lost in thought, he gazed absently at his half-empty bottle, swirling the red sauce in the container. This world too, among all the others linked to the Loop, had experienced its fair share of temporal reversion, and one over which the eighth child had complete control thanks to his DT.
Despite the fact that this gave him a power greater than that of any monster or human, he had never sought to do evil: for that, Sans knew they had all been extremely lucky.
And now that story was over.
The future looked bright, full of promise and hope.
"in fact, one thing is different from all the other attempts," admitted the little skeleton. that's what i wanted to talk to you about. gosh... this kid's been through a lot to get this result; i can't imagine how many fights and LOAD he had to go through before he knew how to succeed. the kid's really got a strong mind to have lasted this long. or he's just too stubborn to give up, i confess i'm not sure either. anyway, now that everything's settled, he told me that this TRUE RESET thing should stop. myself, i think he's achieved what, in the past, i'd tried to accomplish before giving up. frisk... he has a real gift for making the impossible possible."
Sans left the end of his cryptic sentence hanging: after a long breath, he relaxed his expression and regained a more enthusiastic smile, then finally finished his bottle. At that moment, the ringing of his telephone, playing one of MTT Studios' trendy hits, vibrated in his pocket. Sans took the call - it was Papyrus. The hour of the evening was rather late - 10:30 p.m. (Surface time) - the skeleton noticed, and when he picked up, his brother's beloved but exasperated voice rang out:
"SANS ! WHERE ARE YOU STILL?!" insurgently from the other side of the handset the ex-novice of the now disbanded former Royal Guard. "I'VE BEEN WAITING FOREVER FOR THE EVENING STORY! I NEED TO KNOW IF THE KNIGHT-HUMAN WAS ABLE TO BREAK THE SPELL ON THE COUNTRY!"
"relaxxx, buddy. i was just taking a walk. don't get too craned about it."
"DON'T START, SANS!"
"all right, all right. i'm coming. no need to make a bone out of this story.
"SANS..."
"come on, buddy. you win. i'm coming and i'm going to dig myself out."
"I'VE HAD ENOUGH! DAMN IT, JUST HURRY UP!"
His brother picked up the phone, and Sans nimbly got to his feet without the slightest difficulty. He retrieved his own empty bottle, leaving only the unopened one.
"well, time to go. you know pap gets cranky without his evening story. anyway, i was glad to talk to you again... wherever you are, bud. see ya"
The skeleton left without looking back, leaving the machine behind. When he cut the electric power, misty darkness concealed everything. There was a flash of light, where Sans had been standing a fraction of a second before, and he disappeared.