Smiling, Dream held out his hand to me.
"My name is Dream." Slowly, hesitantly, I shook it. Dream smiled wider and continued. "I am the embodiment of all good emotions and happiness. With Ink, who is creator and protector of the AUs, I watch over the welfare of worlds similar to yours."
"what is an 'au'?" I asked carefully, "and why do you keep calling me 'serif'?" Dream shot a disapproving glance at Ink.
"Ink, did you explain anything to him?" Dream asked.
"I was getting there…" Ink murmured, then turned to me. "'AU' stands for 'Alternate Universe,'" he explained. "There are hundreds of variations of your world, each existing simultaneously yet separate from one another. And, Serif is your name. Well, you're name in the Multiverse—"
"Which is what we call all the AUs together," Dream added.
"Anyway," Ink continued, "in each AU, there is a version of, well, you. You are a Sans, just like Dream and I. While in our respective worlds, we are known as such. But outside of them, we are known by our real names. Yours is Serif." My mind swirled.
"then… why did the human know my name?" I asked. I was starting to feel sick. Dream shook his head.
"Since they were a hacker, they probably saw your name in the code. They can access almost anything in there."
"what exactly is code? gaster mentioned it in his research, and… i think that's what I destroyed to get here," I admitted, absentmindedly rubbing the back of my aching skull. Ink perked up.
"Code is like the canvas a picture is painted on. It is the base of our very existence. Some monsters, such as Dream and I, are no longer bound to it." He paused, scrutinizing me. "It seems you broke free, too."
"i'm… free from the script?" I asked, shakier than I meant to. Dream nodded.
"Yes. Your actions are no longer controlled."
"does that mean, when i go home, that others could be freed? could papyrus?" There was a strange hesitation. The two skeletons shared a glance. I noticed. "i am going home… right?"
"We're working on it," Dream admitted. "I don't know how long it will take, but, we—"
I stumbled back. Inexpressible pain thrummed in my head and shoulders. Things were getting blurry. One moment I was standing, the next I was on my knees. no… not again… Dream and Ink hurried towards me, their images blurring. Right as they reached me, I crumpled to my side.
"What's happening to him? What's going on?!" Dream exclaimed, almost fearfully, as he rolled me face-up. help…
"I don't know!" Ink replied.
Catatonic, I stared up at them, not quite seeing. Ink waved his hand in front of me. Involuntarily, I flinched, and my eye suddenly exploded with a star-storm of magic.
"Shattered?!" Dream gasped. Ink replied, but I couldn't hear what he said. Noise sounded far away, as if I was underwater. Numbly, I sensed my HP slowly creeping down. 0.9… 0.8… 0.7…
Frantic chatter. Things were going dark. 0.6. One of them pinged my soul. 0.5. Distantly, I felt someone flip me over, suspending me an inch above the ground. 0.4. A rustling sound. 0.3. Then, a wet slap sound and pain… and my HP stopped, flickering weakly at an alarming 0.2.
Slowly, carefully, I was placed back on the ground and my soul was released. The pain subsided. Gradually, my HP began to increase as Wigglers clouded me. My eyes drifted shut… but I was still listening.
Furious and frightened banter ensued between the two skeletons, much of which I couldn't catch. Then, I managed to pick out a few threads of conversation.
"… too close for comfort… stress of the information must have been too much."
"The patch doesn't last for long… the wound isn't healing. I don't know why… Every time it falters, his HP goes down…"
"… not safe… can't go back, damage could activate… can't go with Core Frisk… has to stay..."
Then, after this, there was what seemed to be a long debate about… a color? Or, a piece of fruit? No, I think they were discussing blue-berries. It made no sense. Eventually, deciding I wasn't going to hear anything more useful, I let myself drift off to sleep.