Chapter ten:
Papyrus decides to head to check on how Frisk is doing now that he knows where Sans is. He's going to try to steer clear of Sans for now after finding out it's Swapfell currently. He wants to wait to see if he can find Sans again after the other has changed personas. He manages to reach where the human is finding that she is heading towards Muffets lair. He worries about how she will do there considering Muffets tendency to react in certain ways. He contemplates about intervening in some way. He takes a pause as he notices Frisk managing to buy something at the spider bake sale Muffet is putting on. He turns away as he is able to tell that Frisk will be fine since Muffet will be too grateful to attack. He just needs to find something to do while he waits for Sans to change personas. He heads into his and Sans's Snowdin home thinking about maybe cooking. He spots Undyne pacing so he decides to go check on her. "Hey. Is everything alright?" He inquires causing Undyne to stop pacing and turn to him.
"Papyrus! I made a mistake!" Undyne's slightly panicked words make Papyrus tilt his head.
"It can't be that bad."
"I gave Frisk something for Alphys and now I have to redo because I thought of something that will work! But Frisk already left it for Alphys!" Undyne goes back to pacing in her worry over this.
"I'm sure it will be fine." Papyrus places a hand on Undyne's shoulder which stops her pacing. He meets her eyes when she turns to him. "Alphys will love what you've done. You have been perfecting it for years. Just give what you've done a chance."
Undyne takes a breath then nods softly. "Okay. I'll wait and see."
Papyrus isn't fully sure he believes her though she's calmed down, for now at least, so he will accept it. "There we go."
"By the way where is Sans?" Undyne blinks at Papyrus who glances away with a 'I don't want to talk about it' look. She smirks a little at seeing this. "Swapfell? Well why don't we hang out until he switches personas?"
"That sounds like a great idea." Papyrus agrees going back to his usual grin. "What should we do?"
"Hmm." Undyne taps her chin in thought for a few moments. She gasps slightly as she gets an idea. "Oh! How about we stay inside and the two of us plan out a date with Alphys? I have a few ideas though I would like someone else's opinion on them."
"I would be more than happy to help." Papyrus agrees so they settle on the couch to talk.
...
Sans feels quite proud of himself. He has just finished checking on those under him.
All of them did not fight him and any of his orders, showing how afraid of him they are.
Sans mentally pats himself on the back for being so respectable that they stay in line. He always demands respect after all. He pauses as he begins to hear some whispers in his head. He gets a little confused as he doesn't see anyone around.
It all looks normal for Swapfell.
Sans tries to focus on the whispers to try to find out what they could be saying. He also hopes that by listening to them maybe he can figure out where they're coming from. He barely manages to catch a few words which just leaves him confused.
"The last... Why aren't we... This doesn't make..."
"It should have... Something must have... All is forgotten when... He doesn't... In here we..."
"Can we... If we... Will it be the wrong... We don't want to..."
Sans stops listening since it truly isn't making any sense. He blinks his eyes and sees the place where he usually changes personas. He then finds that it flickers away. He takes a step back shaking his head. He doesn't understand what is going on. He shuts his eyes tightly trying to just tell himself that it must be some weird hallucination. He takes a few breaths then opens his eyes. He finds himself changing personas and teleports home to switch to his next persona. When he comes around he finds himself to be in his Dream persona. "I don't have much time!" He gasps and rushes towards the lab in the basement of the house. He starts to search the lab. "Come on. Come on. I don't get control enough to waste this." He practically turns the lab upside down before leaning against a wall with a huff. "There has to be something. I swore that it was down here." He sighs before deciding to take a whole second look. "Surely someone didn't give it to Alphys when forgetting the truth while in control. I have to find it. I have to without telling anyone else about any of this." He keeps his search checking every nook and cranny he can find just in case.
Maybe this will aid in finding what is needed.
"Come on. Come on. I'm running out of time!" Dream is getting a bad feeling that he might not find it in time. He pauses as he manages to spot what he's looking for in a shelf under some heavy dust. He brushes off the dust from a leather journal like book. "It's actually still here." He sighs in relief at seeing this. He flips through notes and sketches of a few machines. He stops at the latest sketch of a machine. "I don't know what to do if this fails." He turns pulling off the sheet from the machine.
There stands a tube machine which has a glass door that slides for entry.
"Maybe I can get this guy running." Dream gets started on it. He doesn't question his sudden talent with machines and science. He just goes with it as surely it must be a part of their shared mind right? He keeps working on it for a good while. "Now then. I just need..." He forms a tongue to bite, not checking the magics color, as he puts the last part in place. He steps back letting the tongue vanish. "I did it." He breathes out with disbelief. He quickly writes down instructions only to find himself changing personas.
The instructions should help then maybe it won't have to wait.
Sans opens his eyes finding himself in Undertale. He starts to head to the lab when pausing as Papyrus is hurrying out after finding some rope. "Papyrus?" He notices the other turn to him in relief though he doesn't understand why.
"Ah. Sans. It's just you. I was worried you were someone else. You're fine though. I like you."
"Who else would I be?" Sans questions getting a devious idea. He smirks slightly as Papyrus gives a 'don't you dare' look. "Never thought you'd have the nerve to tell your own brother how you didn't want it to be someone else." He doesn't understand who else Papyrus was expecting. He mentally shrugs guessing that it could have been Undyne.
Papyrus groans rolling his eyes and shaking his head. "Okay Sans. Look. I don't have time for all of your games."
"Why not?" Sans inquires spotting the deep worry in Papyrus's face.
"Alphys went deep in her lab to kill herself. Frisk went to save her after texting us. But the elevator broke. There isn't any other way down."
Sans's eye lights widen then he quickly teleports away getting into the True Lab. He looks around hoping that he isn't too late to save a good friend. He spots Frisk surrounded by the amalgamates that he secretly has helped keep under wraps. He was part of the whole failed thing even if no one really knew he was involved. He hides behind some boxes to listen in on their conversation.
"Well it'll be good for them to get home." Frisk mentions before seeming to think of something. "Say. Before heading out to do that. Could we maybe discuss more about Sans's condition?"
Sans leans a little closer as he wonders what she means by condition.
"I-I told you w-what I thought a-about this." Alphys responds shifting nervously.
"I know. But I was thinking about that if his magic really is the issue then why not drain some of it?"
"N-No." Alphys quickly shakes her head to this. "We c-can drain it. B-But it won't h-help. It w-would only be a-a temporary thing. U-Us as monsters r-replenish the magic w-we lose by u-using it. H-His magic levels w-would just work on r-replenishing themselves. I-I have looked at p-putting a cap on his m-magic levels. H-However that is very dangerous. E-Especially with his c-condition. It m-might try to change l-like normal. Then be u-unable to w-which could send h-his system into a b-bad shock. H-His HP is t-too low to risk s-seeing if he could r-recover from it."
Change? What are they talking about?
"But surely there has to be a way. He needs treatment."
"I-I know." Alphys sighs softly. "H-However things aren't a-as easy as either of us w-would want it t-to be. N-No other monster h-has ever had m-multiple personality d-disorder before."
Sans recoils at this.
Multiple personality disorder?!
Sans doesn't understand because he is Sans. He teleports away to his lab to try to figure this out. He blinks as he realizes that he has holes in his memory. He would just suddenly lose who knows how long in his memories. He doesn't understand how he didn't even notice that before! He is about to pace when he notices a book open. He looks at it and there is writing on it. He swears that it is his own yet he doesn't remember writing it. He reads it in his head to himself.
To whoever finds this,
Hi. I'm Dream. One of those that lives in your head. You may not remember right now about that but that's okay. I just need you to trust me. There might be a way to be able to fix us all. Maybe put everything to rest once and for all. The large machine over there is all set up and ready to go. Just switch it on and get in. It'll work. Just please trust me. For the sake of all Sans versions. I wish I had enough time to explain why you need to trust me. Hopefully you will just give me your trust.
Sans feels his thoughts whirling in his head as he tries to figure out if this is really real.
No one but Papyrus knows about this secret lab, not even Alphys or Frisk, and there's no way that Papyrus wrote it.
Sans remembers Frisk and Alphys talking about him having multiple personality disorder. He looks over the message again and is starting to think that maybe he really does. He turns to the machine that last he remembers was covered by a sheet. He approaches it and sees a button on a control panel just outside of a pod. He can read the clear ON that is written on it. He takes a breath.
If this really will help fix him then it's worth a shot.
Sans pushes the button before stepping into the pod. He watches door with a window in the middle slide shut. He slightly holds his breath as the machine whirls to life. He glances up spotting sparking blue lights. He sees that it must be getting powered by the machine. He lowers his head waiting to see if this will do what was said on that note. He is starting to wonder if he made a mistake trusting that note. He opens his mouth to try to make a sound of shock as it feels like sudden electricity in his body. He however finds that he can't get a sound out. All he can hear is the crackle of the electricity as if it's all around him yet not visible to him. He also finds his vision gaining a blue tint that turns to a more blue light. He is blinded by the blue light then everything fades into silent darkness.