Chapter eight:
The robot, Mettaton, turns to Frisk as Alphys slightly cowers behind this robot. "Hello there human!" He greets sounding a bit too cheerful. "Welcome as my honorary guest! We're going to be starting with a quiz show! Now, the rules of this quiz show are quite simple. You need to simply answer the questions correct. Answer any of them wrong and you will get an electric zap. Also you have thirty seconds to answer each question." His words make Frisk start to dread this. "Understood?" He doesn't wait for her to actually respond. "Great! Then let us begin!" He keeps his attention on Frisk. "Our first question will be a simple one. What is your prize for answering these questions correct?"
A small projection of a box shows the answers.
A) Money
B) Mercy
C) New Car
D) More Questions
Frisk looks over them before glancing up as Alphys waves for her attention.
Alphys makes a shape with her hands which Frisk realizes must be the answer.
Frisk follows Alphys answer. "D." She sees the answer projection disappear. She looks at Mettaton who pauses then displays a circle with a dinging sound.
"Correct! Get ready! These questions won't be so easy!" Mettaton face returns to normal. "Next question! What's the kings full name?" He projects the answers again.
A) Lord Fluffybuns
B) Fuzzy Pushover
C) Asgore Dreemurr
D) Mr. Friendship
Frisk feels like this one is obvious. Though she still tries to hide a glance to Alphys to make sure. She focuses on Mettaton again when she is confirmed to be right. "C."
Mettaton indicates that the answer is right. "Wow! You are on a roll human! Viewers! Do you think she can keep this up? Keep watching to find out!" He gets the next question ready. "Alright human! What are robots made of?" He displays the answers.
A) Hopes and Dreams
B) Metal and Magic
C) Snips and Snails
D) Sugar and Spice
Frisk thinks she might know it. She still does a check with Alphys as she doesn't want to be shocked. "B." She waits for a moment then feels some relief as Mettaton indicates that she is correct.
"Can your winning streak not be stopped human? I'm sure my viewers are just as impressed as me!" Mettaton switches to the next question. "Two trains, Train A, and Train B, simultaneously depart Station A and Station B. Station A, and Station B are 252.5 miles apart from each other. Train A is moving at 124.7 mph towards Station B, and Train B is moving at 253.5 mph towards Station A. If both trains departed at 10:00 AM and it is now 10:08, how much longer until both trains pass each other?" He shows Frisk her options.
A) 31.054 minutes
B) 16.232 minutes
C) 32.049 minutes
D) 32.058 minutes
Frisk has absolutely no clue. She feels a bead of sweat drip down the back of her neck. Her body slightly tensing as she mentally prepares for a shock. Her eyes go to Alphys who is her only hope on this one. "C." She remains tense still quite worried about being shocked.
Mettaton pauses before showing that she is correct making the tension leave Frisks body. "When we get to the surface I simply must find what school you go to! Such a smart human!" He mentions and Frisk takes it more as a TV show host doing this for his audience, rather than a jab at her as Mettaton thinking she'd be dumb. "Our next one will be interesting. Will you handle it just as well as the rest?" He inquires and Frisk sure hopes so. He holds up a jar of flies flying all around. "How many flies are in this jar?" He projects the answers.
A) 54
B) 53
C) 55
D) 52
Frisk attempts to count the flies in the jar as quick as she can. She does glance to Alphys finding Alphys giving a different answer. She decides to give Alphys her trust. She just hopes that she doesn't regret it. "A." Her body once more tense in case she gets a shock.
Mettaton shows that she is correct causing her to relax. "My my human! Simply amazing! No ones been able to get all of those correct before! But don't think we're done yet! Far from it!" His words do make Frisk nervous about how long this can go on for. He holds up a picture of a monster. "What monster is this?" He lets her see her answers.
A) Froggit
B) Whimsun
C) Moldsmal
D) Mettaton
Frisk looks at the picture and almost wants to groan as she has a feeling what the answer will be. She still checks in with Alphys. "D." She waits and gets the correct sound.
"Clever! You got past the trick question!" Mettaton tells her though Frisk doesn't feel like it was much of a trick question. "Alright! Then let us continue! We'll see if you can get this one right!" He announces still sounding cheerful. His lack of frustration does worry Frisk a little. "Would you smooch a ghost?" His projected answers make Frisk look at him to see if he's serious.
A) Heck Yeah
B) Heck Yeah
C) Heck Yeah
D) Heck Yeah
Even Alphys is giving Mettaton the same look.
"A." Frisk wants this question to be done with.
"You heard it here folks!" Mettaton shows that Frisk was correct making her roll her eyes a little. "Can she keep up this lucky winning streak!?" He asks his viewers, though Frisk doesn't know where the camera is. "This next one is easy. Just a small break from the harder ones. Let's see if you're just lucky or if you're truly smart."
Frisk almost wants to feel insulted by that.
"How many letters in the name Mettaton?" Mettaton shows her the answers.
A) 11
B) 6
C) 8
D) 10
Frisk quickly counts the letters in her head deciding to not use Alphys's answers. She figures this one is too easy. "C." She does notice a thumbs up from Alphys.
"Correct! I would have been ashamed for you if you got that one wrong!" Mettaton announces and Frisk lightly shakes her head at this. "Alright! This one might be a bit tricky for you." his words make Frisk brace herself even though she'll look to Alphys for the answer. "In the dating simulation video game 'Mew Mew Kissy Cutie' what is Mew Mew's favorite food?" He doesn't even get the chance to display the answers.
Alphys perks up and slightly bounces her body in place. "OH! OH! I KNOW THIS ONE! IT'S SNAIL ICE CREAM! IN THE FOURTH CHAPTER EVERYONE GOES TO THE BEACH! AND SHE BUYS ICE CREAM FOR ALL OF HER FRIENDS! BUT IT'S SNAIL FLAVOR AND SHE'S THE ONLY ONE WHO WANTS IT! IT'S ONE OF MY FAVORITE PARTS OF THE GAME BECAUSE IT'S ACTUALLY A VERY POWERFUL message about friendship and..." Her excitement slows down as Mettaton turns to her with an air of disappointment. Her head even drops down in worried embarrassment at this.
"Alphys, Alphys, Alphys." Mettaton would be shaking his head if he had one. "You aren't helping our contestant, are you?" He can't seem to get Alphys to even look at him. He turns to Frisk. "Ooooooh! You should have told me." He insists and Frisk doesn't even get a chance to defend herself before he continues. "I'll ask you a question..." He glances to Alphys who shrinks back some more as if knowing that she won't like this. "You'll be sure to know the answer to!" He almost seems like he's challenging Alphys. He looks to Frisk not seeming to let go of this challenge as if it is towards them both. "Who does Dr. Alphys have a crush on?" He displays the answers.
A) Undyne
B) Asgore
C) The human
D) Don't know
Alphys covers her face in blushing embarrassment at this question.
Frisk can tell that the scientist won't be helpful in answering this one. She takes a look at her options weighing them in her mind. She doesn't think that it makes sense for Alphys to have a crush on her. So she has one answer off the table. She doesn't feel like Asgore makes any sense too. She just remembers the question regarding Asgore where Alphys seemed indifferent to the mention of him. So she's stuck between saying that she doesn't know or saying Undyne. She kind of doesn't want to embarrass Alphys however she really doesn't want a shock. So she'll have to go with process of elimination. "A." She really hopes that she's not making a huge mistake.
Mettaton seems happy about Frisks response. "See, Alphys? I told you it was obvious." He looks to an even more embarrassed Alphys. "Even the human figured it out." He turns back to Frisk once more. "Yes, she scrawled her name in the margins of her notes. She names programming variables after her. She even writes stories of them together... Sharing a domestic life. Probability of a crush is 101 percent. Margin of error is one percent."
Alphys can only make an embarrassed sound.
Frisk feels a bit bad for getting that right.
"Well with Alphys helping you this section of our show has certainly lost its suspense. The next section will definitely be harder for the human here to cheat at. Toodles!" Metatton hurries off with that.
Frisk looks to Alphys. She is glad to be alive and unharmed though feels bad for embarrassing the poor shy monster.
"I-I k-know." Alphys stammers out. "Y-You d-did what y-you h-had t-to. I-It's o-okay. I-I'll help y-you a-ahead." She peeks out of her fingers. "D-Do y-you have a-a p-phone?"
Frisk holds out her cellphone from Toriel.
Alphys comes out more from behind her hands with her surprise replacing her embarrassment. "W-Where did y-you get t-this thing?!" She gently takes it. "I-It's ancient!" She turns around before Frisk can say even a single word. "S-Stay here." She hurries off making Frisk just waits needing to trust Alphys. She returns after some sounds of something going on. She hands Frisk the phone which looks newer with new buttons and features. "H-Here you g-go. All u-updated and I-I even s-signed you up f-for our s-social media. W-We're f-friends there n-now. I-I'll message you o-or call you t-to help you w-with what might c-come." She hurries off into a room closing the door behind herself.
Frisk lets out a breath then heads further in. She takes out Undyne's package for Alphys. "Here. Undyne asked me to drop this off." She places the package outside of the door that she notices has a bathroom sign on it. "I'll hear from you up ahead." She is about to continue when she thinks of something. "Say. Have you ever tried to figure out Sans's illness? I want to be able to help him." She waits a few moments without an answer. She is about to leave when Alphys finally speaks up.
"J-Just some t-theories." Alphys admits so Frisk stays to listen to what she has to say. "S-Sans sees the world d-differently in e-each persona. E-Even calling others b-by the w-wrong name. A-As if h-he is seeing something r-reversed f-from our reality. I-I've been thinking a-about what if these a-aren't just other p-personalities? What if S-Sans is actually s-seeing other w-worlds? His m-mind put into t-the body of h-him in that world. H-Hence he c-changes his clothes i-instinctually. I-I could be wrong. H-However when I-I did get a chance t-to examine h-him I did notice s-something odd. H-He has higher m-magic levels compared t-to other monsters. H-He might even be more p-powerful in m-magic than Asgore. I-I had never seen such m-magic levels before. Plus s-skeleton magic is e-extra special and e-especially sensitive. M-Making them be a-able to p-pick up things o-others can't. T-There's even a-an old theory t-that skeletons c-can see things o-other monsters can't. L-Like spirits of t-the dead, and I-I don't mean g-ghost monsters. T-Though Papyrus doesn't h-have the same high m-magic levels as Sans, h-his magic is d-definitely high in h-his magic levels just n-nothing like Sans. P-Perhaps his magic l-levels and t-the sensitive s-skeleton magic allow him to t-tap into o-other worlds i-in the multiverse. I-It might be c-crazy however it is s-something I haven't b-been able to e-either prove or d-disprove."
Frisk actually finds that it doesn't sound crazy to her. She figures that since monsters have magic then it could be possible. She wonders if Papyrus knows or suspects this.
Could this be why Papyrus is so hesitant to try to find a way to cure Sans?
Frisk thinks that this might be worth thinking about more. "Thank you." She tells Alphys glad to have the scientists input. "It is something that might need a look into. I don't think it sounds crazy." She lets out a breath not fully sure what she'll face up ahead with Mettaton. "I'll talk to you up ahead." She continues forth rolling Alphys's information over in her head.
If skeletons really do have such sensitive magic where they can see things others can't, then Sans seeing other worlds with his mind making the worlds into other personalities might not be so far fetched.
Plus Alphys even thought of why Papyrus might not see what Sans sees. Since she points out that Sans's magic levels are even higher than Papyrus. So her thoughts that it all mixing together to allow him to be able to see into the multiverse sounds reasonable.
Frisk almost feels like she's in a fairytale that is actually real. She knows that before she would have never believed such a thought. She now however thinks that it is true if monsters with magic can be alive in a mountain. She wonders if Sans can be helped if he is truly seeing other worlds. She doubts humans could do anything.
If Sans has been attempted treated here where magic is more well understood do humans stand a chance? Has he had any attempted helping with his condition?
Did Papyrus let them try to help Sans before she ever came to the underground? Surely he must have if Alphys studied Sans enough to know his magic levels. He must just be hesitant about allowing humans to help Sans, worrying what might happen if they can't help him. He could also know something about Sans's condition that he might not be sharing with Frisk. His possible hidden information might prove that there is no way to help Sans after all.
Then that means that it really could be wrong to think outsiders can help Sans.
Frisk feels herself falter in her confidence if humans could truly help Sans. She supposes that she might just have to see. She really hopes that Sans doesn't become just some test subject when humans get their hands on him. She shakes herself knowing that the monsters wouldn't let that happen. She continues onwards keeping her confidence in her mission. She feels ready to face whatever is to come next.