Chapter 10

Answer The Call

Amber awoke feeling like her head was trying to split apart and her back was in knots. She tried to remember where she was last, when she recalled drinking at Grillby's with Sans.

"Crud…is this what being hungover feels like?" Amber rasped, her mouth dry.

She then realized her muscles ached, but as she tried to stretch her arms she was restrained by something. She looked down at her torso, and several things registered at once…

One, there was rope. Two, this meant she was tied up. Three, her clothes were still on her body, which she was relieved to see. Four, wait, where was her sheet? Five, she didn't recognize this room.

She was next to a large…thing, that was shrouded by a white tarp. The room had purple tile floors and faded azure painted walls. There were blueprints with strange symbols taped to the wall, and not much else of note. This looked like some sort of work room or lab, but Amber didn't know where in the underground this was.

Her hands were tied behind her back, which was immediately concerning. Someone had abducted her while she was passed out drunk, and whoever it was, they knew she was human. This was likely someone trying to steal her soul, and Amber's first instinct was to scream and panic. She managed not to scream however, and instead focused on how to untie herself.

She forced one of her hands to her back pocket, and pulled out…a stick? Had she really been keeping a large stick in her tiny pants pocket this entire time? That shouldn't be physically possible, but Amber didn't feel like questioning it now. She needed to figure out how a stick could be useful to her.

She found a small gap in the rope tying her hands, and started maneuvering the stick to try to free herself. If she could just escape this room, she might be able to locate another bedsheet and start over. That was, assuming whoever took her didn't know her personally.

As she continued working with the stick, she glanced up for a second. She froze when she saw that there was a security camera on the ceiling, and started making smaller moves toward freeing herself. The camera couldn't see behind her back, but she was sure it could track movement. She had to be very careful if she was going to escape.

Part of her wondered what time it was. If she'd been passed out for very long, then she might've been late for her shift at work, or even missed work altogether. She couldn't afford that. She really needed the gold.

After several minutes of twisting and sawing with the stick her ropes gave way, and she could feel her wrists being relieved of their bonds. She didn't celebrate however, as with the camera trained on her she couldn't afford to look like she was truly free. Not yet.

Amber sat on the cold floor and tried to think of a way to disable the camera. She needed time in order to find the exit, and if whoever took her saw her moving around the room she would probably be killed for her efforts.

She didn't have time to dwell on it however, as suddenly she saw a certain skeleton pop into existence right in the middle of the room!

"Aaahh!" Amber screamed, unable to hold it back anymore.

Sure enough, Sans teleported into the room, holding something that looked like a cross between a cellphone and a block of plastic cheese. His expression was as placid and approachable as ever, which in this context somehow made him look more terrifying. Part of Amber was hoping he had come to save her, but the more logical side of her knew that wasn't true. The truth was so much more obvious, and so much more painful…

"Why did you do this to me?" Amber asked, her voice hoarse, "Why am I here? Is it because I'm human?"

Sans didn't answer her right away, instead going over to the work desk below the blueprints and tinkering with the gadget he brought with him.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you," Amber tried again, "Please don't turn me in. I, uh…I still owe you a lot of money from those times you paid my restaurant tab. I will pay you back too! Just, just give me a little more t-time. Okay?"

Amber tried to smile, tried to look pitiable and kind, but it came across more like a wince of pain. Sans still paid her no attention however, and Amber wondered what he actually had planned for her. After all, he was the final boss of the game. Amber realized that in most games the final boss was someone evil, so she probably should have suspected Sans was evil too. He just seemed so nice though, so relatable. Like someone she'd known all her life.

"Sans, please," Amber begged, "Please don't hurt me. Whatever it is I did to offend you, I'm sorry. Just tell me what I did wrong so I'll never do it again. Please, just say something! Please…just tell me why I'm here."

Sans finally stopped what he was doing, braced himself, and turned around. His smile remained on his face, likely the only expression his mouth could make, but there was a panged expression in his eyes.

"Don't worry, Amber. I'm not going to hurt you," Sans assured her, "I know you're fit to be tied, so to speak, but just sit tight for a moment."

Sans then closed up his strange yellow device and gave Amber his full attention.

"Now, here's what's gonna happen," Sans said seriously, "I'm gonna make contact with the anomaly. James, right?"

Amber nodded, even though she wasn't sure what Sans meant by "anomaly". She was just willing to say whatever he wanted to hear to avoid punishment.

"When he answers, I'm gonna start by letting him ask questions about you, questions only you would know, so that he sees I actually have you here. You'll need to answer these questions honestly, capiche?"

Amber nodded compliantly.

"Good. After he's convinced that you're actually here and you're safe, we're gonna figure out how to get you back to your universe and bring the anomaly here. I think an increased frequency on my communicator should do the trick. If all goes well, you'll be back home in your own universe in no time."

"R-Really? You're…you're helping me go home?" Amber asked hopefully, "Oh, Sans! Thank you! Thank you so much!"

"Don't mention it," Sans waved away, but then more soberly, "Seriously, don't mention it. I don't want any other mysterious forces learning about me or my home, if you catch my drift."

"Of course! Your secret's safe with me," Amber promised, but then, "Um, actually, wait a minute. I just realized something. You said transfer. What exactly are you transferring from my universe?"

"The anomaly," Sans repeated.

"But…you called James the anomaly," Amber pieced together, "Why would you want James here instead of me? What difference does it make who's here and who's back home?"

"The anomaly is very dangerous to my world," Sans explained gravely, "Your James has killed nearly everyone in the underground over and over again. They were trying to commit omnicide against everything in our universe. It started with a genocide against monsters, and would have moved on to The Absolute if I didn't stop them. Over and over again the timelines reset, stopping and starting, distorting everything, until…well, trust me, it's not pretty. The anomaly is the most dangerous thing I've ever encountered in all my years of quantum physics research. They cannot be allowed to survive."

"You…you want to kill my brother?" Amber asked in disbelief.

"Technically I have killed him. 137 times to be exact," Sans told her point blank, "I don't want 138 to just be another glimmer of false hope, however. The deal is simply this: I send you back home, and in exchange the anomaly tells me how to kill them permanently. A life for a life, and if they refuse, well…I'm sorry Amber, but you're the only leverage I have. If they doom the universe, I will see to it that you die first. The anomaly can't be allowed to win this time."

"But if he's here…then its for real," Amber realized, "You could just torture him until he allows death to happen. You could…"

Amber started to feel tears form in her eyes. Those 137 deaths were just video game deaths. How could James have known that Sans really felt those, that he felt the heartbreak of watching his people suffer and die? James wasn't evil. He would never purposefully do that to someone.

"You don't have to kill him," Amber tried to bargain, "I can make sure he leaves your universe alone. James isn't evil, I promise you he's not!"

"I know he's not," Sans said, surprising Amber, "Good, evil, right, wrong…these concepts don't matter to a creature that never faces consequences for their actions. He'll just consume every timeline he can until there's nothing left. His boredom and morbid curiosity will drag everything down to dust."

Sans then got close to Amber, who held her hands tightly together so he wouldn't see she was free of the ropes.

"Understand one thing, human," Sans hissed, his eye sockets now little more than blank voids, "The only reason I'm letting you live is because I need to kill the anomaly. Impede that in any way, and you're stuck here, with me, forever. Trust me, you do not want that."

Amber found herself glaring at Sans, hating him for threatening her family, and yet she knew she had no real power in this situation.

"Fine," Amber said through gritted teeth, "Play your game. See what happens. I won't stop you. I can't stop you."

"Well then, at least we understand each other," Sans nodded curtly, "Hold on for a sec. I gotta tie up the line for a minute…"

Sans then adjusted the frequency on his communicator until it was just right to contact the anomaly. He was nervous, his skull sweating as he thought about all the possible ways this could go. Sure, he secured the anomaly's sister, but what if the anomaly was lying about keeping its word? In fact, what if it was lying about having any sort of attachment to Amber at all? It could just want her dead, or it could go back on its promise and kill Sans as soon as it had what it needed.

Well, this was it. If he was going to save the underground, then he had to present his hostage to a cosmic entity that had every reason to want to hurt him…

IRL

James was laying on his bed atop some shirts and pants he should've washed weeks ago. He stared up at the ceiling, not really thinking about anything except the cracks he could see forming in the drywall.

All of the worry, all of the speculation, it wasn't leading to anything, and James was sure he would never see Amber alive again. Now he just wanted to feel nothing, just wanted the world to swallow him whole.

His grim reverie was interrupted when he heard noise coming from his computer. It was the sound made by Sans's voice clips, which meant he likely had a message from Amber's abductor. He slowly got off the bed and went over to see how that psycho planned on tormenting him now…

[heya. guess who i got?]

James couldn't quite understand what he was looking at. He saw Sans in the time machine room from the pacifist route of the game, and next to Sans was Frisk. The sprite was sitting down and it seemed like something was wrapped around them. Was this another sick joke? If so, James was getting tired of these.

[first things first: what's your name?]

[I don't know why you care, but it's James.]

James waited for an agonizing amount of time before the next message came through. If the killer didn't know his name though, then it kind of ruled out a personal vendetta motive. That should've been a relief, but the idea that this crime was random somehow made James feel worse.

[ok, here's the deal. ask me anything, something only your sister will know the answer to. that way, you know i ain't lying, and you know she's really here. so, go on. ask away.]

James gulped, afraid to allow hope to grow within himself. He wanted Amber to be alive so badly, but this could be another trick. He was scared, but he had to think fast so the killer didn't lose interest.

[What major is she studying in college?]

Snowdin

"What major are you studying in college?" Sans asked.

"Business," Amber quickly replied.

IRL

James saw a third text box appear on screen above his and Sans. It showed Frisk in the picture profile, something James hadn't seen outside of fan games.

[Business.]

James was surprised the Frisk portrait answered, considering the kidnapper was playing the role of Sans. Was Frisk supposed to be his sister? Was this a text to speech tool or something?

[next question.]

[What's Amber's favorite cocktail?]

[trick question. even i know this one. she doesn't drink. well, at least she can't hold her liquor. Heh heh…]

[Did you spike her drink? Is that how you kidnapped her?]

[hey, don't blame me for this. you wanted her, and i got her. so i had to bend a few rules. all's well that ends well, right? do you have any other questions for the lady, or do we get to the good part?]

[Yeah, I have a question for Amber. I don't want to ask you though. I want to ask her directly. Can you have her call me?]

Snowdin

Sans was a little confused by that request. Weren't they already speaking directly? He probably just wanted Sans to put the communicator close to Amber so she could speak, but the anomaly had a weird way of asking for things.

"He wants to talk to you," Sans informed her, "Just speak clearly into the device. Once you convince him it's you, then you can go home."

"Okay."

Amber sounded calm, but inside her heart was pounding. The device clutched in that bony hand wasn't just a communicator. It was also how Sans planned on teleporting her brother to his own demise.

She couldn't let her baby brother die for her. He had so much to live for, and he was honestly one of the few people in her life she truly cared about, even if they did get on each other's nerves most of the time. If she wanted to save James, even if she couldn't save herself, then she had to act quickly.

Instead of talking to James like she was supposed to, Amber instead swung the stick at Sans!

Sans, seeing the danger, teleported a few feet away to save himself, but not before Amber knocked the communicator out of his hand! She quickly scooped it up, and knew she had to make this count.

"I LOVE YOU JAMES!" Amber screamed into the receiver.

She then threw the communicator on the ground as hard as she could and stomped on it repeatedly with her boot even as Sans ran toward her. By the time he got there, the device was smashed to bits, and Amber was hunched over; free of her bonds and breathing heavily.

"I'm stuck here with you, huh?" Amber taunted Sans as she stood up straighter, "Nuh-uh! You're stuck here with me! Now nobody gets in, and nobody gets out!"

"Except the anomaly," Sans bitterly replied, "That was our chance…our last chance to save ourselves from absolute destruction. You really must be an unfeeling sick freak, to condemn us all to death for the life of a maniac."

"Oh, you think he's a maniac?" Amber wildly gesticulated to the ceiling, "You haven't seen anything yet! Do you have any idea what you've unleashed? Huh? Now I know who my enemy is, and that means I don't have to kill everybody likes James did. No, I only need a few bodies for my mission to be complete."

"What…what are you talking about?" Sans faltered, Gaster Blasters appearing over his head.

"Let's see…Papyrus is an obvious one," Amber smirked evilly, eyes sparkling at Sans, "I don't have to kill him right away. I could just…take a few pieces at a time. He is a skeleton, after all. How many pieces of himself can he afford to lose, huh? Maybe I'll just take his legs, or maybe just his arms. Maybe I'll tie him up and pull out his teeth, one by one…"

Amber could see Sans was sweating profusely, and the blasters above him were shaking. He was being pressed, and soon he would snap. She just had to keep his attention on her for a few more moments…

"Or maybe some other Snowdin residents would like to play my game," Amber lilted, "I could just kill the kid from the Snowed Inn. That would be fitting, wouldn't it? After all, that place is so special to us, Sans. Oh wait, I got it! I'll just pour a bucket of water on the jerk at Grillby's. In fact, I might kill everyone that tries to work there, until the whole place shuts down! Understand, Sansy boy? I'm gonna mess with everyone who's ever so much as smiled at you on the street! You're gonna beg me to just let you die! Hahahahaha!"

"I should've known," Sans growled, "You're just as evil as the anomaly. Well, my research has shown me one thing…"

Sans then surrounded Amber with bones, and blasters appeared over her head.

"…Determination is finite. Only one entity can control the timeline, and if you're not the anomaly, then…"

Amber braced herself as the blasters and bones hit her all at once, the pain searing through her like a hot knife! She felt herself burning, melting, being beaten to a pulp, and then…

Amber's shift at the sentry station just ended, and she needed to get back to her home behind the waterfall. The lights in the houses were starting to turn off, and the street lights were starting to dim.

Her plan had worked! She made Sans angry enough to kill her, which caused her to reset. Now she could avoid Sans in front of Grillby's, not get drunk, and not get exposed and captured. If Sans never caught her, never knew her secret, then James was safe. Plus she could relive that lost day, which meant she wouldn't miss work. That last part wasn't as important, but it was a nice perk.

As Amber walked to the north east end of town, knowing she'd have to walk behind the shops to avoid Sans, something else started to nag at her.

Sans had a communication device that could take her home. She could find it and try to figure out how to get out of here for good. Then she would finally be free, and her brother-

Would get captured anyway. Amber sighed sharply, realizing that as long as Sans had the device in his possession he could try as many times as he wanted until he caught the right person. Amber being here was a mistake. Clearly James was the target, and Amber now knew that dying to Sans would be incredibly painful and merciless. Over and over again, James would die again and again, unable to escape this place of eternal punishment, until he finally gave up and accepted his true and final death.

No, she couldn't allow that to happen to James. She would find a way to save him. She was, for lack of a better word in this situation, determined.