Sans had a dream.
It’s not the ‘dream’ of ambition or whatnot. Rather, it’s from the bizarre realm of slumber.
Sleep…
A place of rest?
Death simulator?
A stroll in the mindscape?
Who knows?
Who cares?
It’s compulsory anyway.
In this cycle, Sans watched himself in third person. Perched on his head was a little sapphire bird with a white face. Purple highlights around the eyes.
Sans’ expression reflected the groaning in the back of his mind. He knew right away this bird represented Lucidia. Though they had only met once, it’s enough to make her haunt him.
The little bird chirped. She then yelled: “You are not trash, Sans!”
“Ok.” Sans replied.
image [http://orig04.deviantart.net/ba9f/f/2017/002/9/4/lucybirbanonvermin_by_sophtopus-datxcbd.png]
The bird pecked the bones of his cranium. Again and again, without cease.
“YOU.”
“ARE.”
“SPECIAL.”
“SANS!”
“Ok.”
“SPECIAL.”
“Ya, ya, enough already.”
Incoming headache?
Incoming headache.
[You are indeed special, Sans Serif. A masterful piece of work.]
Sans snapped wide awake when he heard his mentor’s voice. Gentlemanly with an undertone of poison… that’s Gaster in a nutshell.
He wiped off the sweat with the back of his palm.
That’s just a dream, right?
He’s out of the picture for good.
Then that voice spoke to him again. This time in the language of Seers.
[Alas, I am not a mere figment of imagination. Perhaps you would have preferred it that way. Mind you, I can hear your every thought.]
Sans groaned. “Wendell Dominic Gaster. You are fucking persistent. So, you decided to stoop down to the level of a DEMON parasite?”
Gaster’s disembodied voice replied: [Hmph, pot calling the kettle black. Are you not the same in this scenario? Strapped on your right arm is Judge Mezil Thyme’s power. Emphasis on his name. That makes you a parasite as well.]
Sans knew exactly when this man of space and time latched unto his being. When Frisk opened the grey door, they released a gust of cold wind. It was then that Gaster’s lingering essence took the opportunity to hitch a ride.
“I prefer the term ‘hijacker’, thanks.” the short skeleton replied. “I don’t intend to overstay my welcome. Unlike you.”
The elder burst out into a mocking laugh. [Playing on semantics again? One day, your words will bite you in the coccyx.]
Though Sans knew those words rang true, he brushed them aside. “Whatever.”
[By the by, Sans. Why didn’t you even bother changing Judge Thyme’s default choice of tiles? They’re too refined for you.]
Upon further inspection, Gaster was right: this place had all the hallmarks of a vampire’s hideout.
Fancy white marble floor? Checked.
Elegant dark wallpaper befitting the home of fanciness? Checked.
A built-in ceiling lamp set to the rich warm hues of flame? Thank goodness it’s not chandeliers. They’re a hazard with the current low-set walls. Praise technology.
“At least it’s functional,” he commented. “I’m not gonna bother changing all of that. It’s not to my taste, but my time is better spent elsewhere.”
“That reminds me, I need to check up on Frisk.”
He got up from the beanbag and looked into their transparent prison. The kid was fast asleep in bed. They ate their food. Judging from the used paper cup, they had their drink too.
“Heh. They’re taking after me more than I thought.”
[Not by choice, mind you. Their battle was fierce and draining. Your shenanigans certainly did not help.]
Sans checked Frisk’s status with his Eye. They’re in REM sleep and not expected to wake up in the next half hour.
“Good. I can concentrate on more important things… like spying on everyone else.”
He plunked himself back on the beanbag and made himself comfortable. It’s time to check his harvest of Determination.
SERAPH SYSTEM
ACTIVE: C / Y / P
INACTIVE : O / B / G
DT: >100%
Progress: 30%
“Heh. Not too bad. Wish it could be faster, but I won’t put a dent in that.”
With a wave of his hand, Sans turned the ceiling transparent.
The fireflies of memories floated amongst the branching roads of time. Each path charted a possibility that could happen within the limitations of that reality.
“Can you see what I see?” asked Sans.
[Only when I borrow your sight.] Gaster replied. [There is a reason why you are special, Sans Serif. It appears that you are the only living person in this era with the ability to perceive The Void.]
[I had wandered in this realm for over a decade, and yet all I could comprehend were disjointed bits of data. Envious ability, you have.]
“That makes sense,” said Sans. “I noticed something was off when Frisk kept insisting that it’s pure ‘nothingness’. They’re just blind to its mechanisms.”
He paused for a moment. “It feels like I’m looking at the cosmos. Instead of stars and planets, it’s time and realities.”
[An apt description. Love for the vast unknown has always been a common denominator in your vested interests.]
Sans hadn’t felt this fascinated in a long while. Didn’t have the time to gaze the stars ever since Papyrus got zapped by his own electric maze.
But fun can wait. Peer as he might, Sans realised that he couldn’t pry into the internals of the datastream with his current combination of colours. Statistics was all he could read, and he couldn’t be damned to sort through all of that text.
…I need to make this more efficient. CGP might work best in this case. Focus, reconstruction, persistence of memories--
[May I have a word as a more experienced man and not just some old coot rambling nonsense? I CAN hear your thoughts, you know.]
Sans groaned. No escape from this nagging teacher. “Go ahead.”
[Remember Sans, any Chronographer worth their salt must have Blue. Integrity. More so in The Void. Since we are removed from our specific timeline, lacking Blue will just give us a mess of endless possibilities.]
[For a long, long while, I saw both everything and nothing at the same time. It took much practice to focus my Cyan just enough to make some sense in this massive cluster.]
Hmm. If that’s the case, I’m locked down with B by default. Maybe this should do it…
So he switched the Seraph System to his new combination.
ACTIVE: C / B / P
INACTIVE : O / Y / G
Cyan to focus.
Blue to trace the path with Wendell Dominic Gaster’s name on it. Only his reality and nothing more.
Purple to preserve his links to the experiences of the past. Who knows, he might get new clues that require this wealth of knowledge.
Sans’ visions led him to the rock-solid remnants of that man. His pieces were piled up inside a cardboard box.
“Huh. Here I thought Mettaton won’t make a trip back to Ebott Town until Monday. Something prompted a surprise visit. Must be Paps’ recordings.”
If Mettaton didn’t return to his bedroom, the victim would never have been found on time. The Royal Guard would have spent all their manpower searching near Gaster’s last known location.
The elder responded with a proud huff. [Fortune smiles on me, my wayward one. It appears that your perfectly calculated plans were thrown off by the whims of others.]
“…”
Alphys answered a call.
She seemed fine at first, but her expression soon changed to horror.
Now, Sans realised that he had a problem: he couldn’t hear a thing. All he had were visuals. No audio.
“Dammit. I need to hear that conversation.”
The Seraph System didn’t have the luxury of a testrun, so any hiccups have to be troubleshooted on the spot.
He tried to adjust the magic-DT ratio. The visions clarified, but he still had no sound.
If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
Alphys ended the call, then carefully picked through Gaster’s petrified remains. Took out a small pebble about the size of a penny.
She grabbed a hammer to smash it. Sprinkled the resulting sand on a glass sheet for microscopic examination.
The poor lizard scientist showed clear signs of distress: hyperventilation, shaky hands, and furious writing. It all pointed to major bad news.
“She’s… researching you.” Sans commented. “Why?”
After loading a scanning machine with another sample, she ran off. Returned with a small pail filled with water.
Gaster’s SOUL got lowered into the liquid. It floated like a piece of cork as her face lit up in both wonder and hope.
[It appears that a petrified Amalgamate SOUL is buoyant. Though I have no context as to why this finding is so important to her.]
The vision froze, signifying the end of a relevant playback. But…
Sans was not ready to leave yet.
“I think I have an idea.”
If changing colours isn’t an option, the next step is to add a new one.
[Are you sure it’s safe?] asked Gaster.
“Of course. Who do you take me for? I was your student after all.”
ACTIVE: C / B / P / G
INACTIVE : O / Y
Green’s reconstructing factor might rebuild the missing sounds. Yellow relies on direct optical feeds and is therefore unsuited to fix the flaw.
“Hopefully that’s enough.” Sans took a deep breath. “Here goes nothing.”
Despite the intensity of processing four colours, Sans noticed that the induced headache was not as strong as before. He had a feeling that he’s getting used to the system. It’s an interesting finding in itself.
“Who’s on the other end of the call, I wonder?”
Target, locked.
The scenery changed from Alphys’ lab to Undyne.
She’s in a dark place with plenty of piping.
“Got that, Al?” she said, “Think of this as a head-start. I’m sure you’ll get a lot more help once this anime moment is over. Don’t panic, okay? …Yeah. See you later.”
Footsteps echoed overhead. Paramedics. Undyne beckoned and led the team to a toilet area full of unconscious hostages. One by one, the victims were hauled back up to safety.
“Huh,” Sans muttered. “I think I’m at the tail end of the conversation. Weird. What if I try to rewind to the beginning?”
Sans attempted to mentally reverse the playback. But he encountered yet another problem: control. Scenes flipped by like a reel of mixed-up film shots: his device still a long way from perfection.
His sights stumbled upon Papyrus. He accompanied a human boy. They both stood by the waters of a koi fish lake, watching the half-burnt Spire. Aerial firefighters rushed in to quench the last remaining embers.
For a moment, Sans stopped breathing. The presence of his brother being well and healthy stunned him for whole seconds that seemed to last for hours.
“Oh my god.” He muttered. “Papyrus is okay. He’s okay!”
The elder brother laughed in joy.
[So you do care about your little brother after all.] Gaster remarked in a bitter tone. [Here I thought you intend to forget about him.]
“What’s with the killjoy remark?”
[Look at Papyrus again and tell me if he’s the same poor sheltered soul you once knew.]
Sans gazed at his brother.
Yes, Gaster’s right. From posture to expression, it’s all different.
He noted the first big change when the Magi tried to exorcise Chara. Now, his brother took one more leap further to greatness. Papyrus had grown from an awkward fledging to a fine adult almost overnight.
The elder brother couldn’t be happier. “Yeah… he’s not. All the more why I think he’s the coolest. Always knew he’ll end up better than me.”
Sans rewound further back and focused on the Spire. “Fire is vanishing floor by floor. Not your usual extinguishing pattern. Don’t we know someone who fits the bill? Let’s hop over there for a moment.”
He cranked up the Seraph System one step further. There were two things that Sans wanted to know: the limits of his invention, and the people behind the attack.
ACTIVE: C / B / P / O / G
INACTIVE : Y
Five colours. It’s starting to feel like a hangover after a night of binge drinking.
Gaster wasn’t pleased by the excessive strain; [Egads, Sans! Isn’t it enough to use Papyrus’ colours alone?]
“Nah. He can’t see everything. You know that. That’s why we made proxies, remember?”
The Spire’s heroic battle played from the beginning. Sans listened to Lucidia’s confession, Grillby’s resolve, and Aiden’s speech…
Nothing new. Nothing special. It confirmed many suspicions he had about the Surface.
At the very least, Grillby initiated a spectacular finish. The condensed pillar of plasma shot past the airwell and wrecked the Spire’s pointed tip.
The pillar continued to fly into the sky.
By the time it dissipated, it’s well past the stratosphere.
“Welp,” Sans shrugged. “Reason is staring right at us. C’mon Gaster. You shoved this into my thick skull a long time ago. Humans and peace never go hand in hand.”
“Maybe they’ll be fine for a few decades, or maybe a hundred years… then one day a madman takes the lead. Next thing you know, they’re warring over the same old deal: resources, power, riches, ideology, whatever. Too determined to have their own way.”
[My goodness gracious, did you not notice that?] There was a spike of anxiety in Gaster’s words.
“Mind pointing out which detail?” He had a hunch. Just wanted Gaster to admit it.
[Ugh, you--] He knew that too well. [The abomination under the ocean, Sans! I bet they’re talking about a colossal Amalgamate! I have no idea what’s the exact scale, but I can imagine it to be absolutely dangerous.]
“Which explains why Doctor Alphys is so furiously studying your body. We could have been that thing if I didn’t drop you into The Core. No regrets.”
Another jab into the old man’s mistakes. Never grows tiring.
[I don’t mean to brag, but I am certain that I would have had enough willpower to steer our results. But I digress! What concerns me is not the ‘what’, nor the ‘why’, but the ‘who’.]
Sans raised a brow. “You’re manipulating me into checking out the deep end, aren’t you?”
[That’s the most logical step. We need to find out who exactly is controlling that massive collective of a doomsday weapon!]
“…Probably unnecessary. The Magi are keeping a tight lid on it. Whatever happens, it’s in their hands.”
[Sans, have you not considered the worst case scenario?!]
“Maybe. Maybe not.”
Gaster refused to give in. He’s always the one more forward in his stubbornness. [I’ll be damned if I let you give up now. Jump back to your brother this instant! At the very least I want to see how HE settles this situation.]
The old man did bring up a valid point. Sans wanted to see the full extent of his brother’s changes. Did events make him jaded? Cynical? Or the total opposite?
Sans refocused his vision back on Papyrus. Aiden, the Gungnir leader, had detoured from the rest of the fleeing army. Brought along two of his best men to guard his life.
Unlike the Persona, Sans sensed genuine care from this man. Found it comically ironic that a good man like Aiden ended up as the leader of a terrorist cult.
Now that Sans was not distracted by his brother’s glory, he realised that he had seen this teenager before. A strong sense of dejavu emitted from the boy’s presence.
He tapped into his Purple to make a link. “Gaster, I know this kid. He was in the ‘Alphys harassment party’. In the past timeline, Undyne stabbed him right through his SOUL. Murder case on a Gungnir kid. Never good for diplomacy there.”
“I didn’t see him at all when I stepped in. Strange. It’s as though his boss dad here knew that joining the riff-raff was too dangerous.”
“Hmm… if only I have my Yellow, I could identify Aiden’s SOUL. I’m certain he’s not a Red Major, though. Mezil would have clamped him down. A Red Minor, perhaps? According to Lucidia’s notes, those can make educated guesses based on dejavus.”
Sans pulled more links together. He’s seeing a playback of bits, pieces, and their implications… it all led to the massacre that forced the previous timeline to reset.
“The oath of destruction… A father’s love can be a dangerous thing, huh? ”
The war of words began.
“What do you want with my son, Coloured One?” Aiden questioned: his bodyguards ready to fight should the situation go south.
“I -- THE GREAT PAPYRUS -- WILL RETURN YOUR BOY UNDER ONE CONDITION.”
“Very well. What is you desire? Riches? Power? Influence? Maybe a prisoner exchange? Tell me and I will deliver.”
“NONE.” With the most sparkling, confident, and toothy smile he could pull off, Papyrus said: “BE MY FRIEND!”
“…”
“YES! JOIN MY EVER-GROWING FRIENDCOUNT! NYEH HEH HEH!”
Aiden wasn’t sure if he should be confused or insulted.
Sans laughed so hard, he almost fell off his beanbag. Some things just don’t change.
“Is this some sort of a ploy?” the father asked. “Trickery? I’m not so moronic to fall into your honey trap!”
“AS YOU CLAIM, I AM A CUNNING MASTER OF JAPES, RIDDLES, AND PUZZLES! PERHAPS YOU ARE RIGHT THAT I AM LAYING OUT A WONDROUS TRAP MADE TO BEDONGGLE YOUR MIND.”
“BUT STAY YOUR HAND, HUMAN! I MEAN NO HARM. I GENUINELY ABSOLUTELY CERTAINLY WANT TO BE YOUR FRIEND. NOT ONLY TO YOU, BUT ALSO TO YOUR WIFE, YOUR FIRST SON, YOUR SECOND SON, YOUR DAUGHTER, AND ONE MORE LITTLE ONE COMING SOON! NYEH HEH HEH!”
Jaw, dropped. Aiden frowned at his son and said: “Dayton, did you tell him any of this?!”
“Nope,” Dayton replied. Tried to shy away from the loud skeleton, all awkward and weirded out. “He’s an oracle. Used his magic to check on our family back home.”
The Gungnir drew their blades. Papyrus had just seen their leader’s family. Such a person must be silenced… or so they thought.
Aiden held them back. It’s clear that he feared for his son’s life. “What if I refuse to be your friend? Will you summon the police on us? Will you kill my son? My family? ”
Papyrus huffed in annoyance. “WHY WOULD I DO SUCH A VIOLENCE? THE GREAT PAPYRUS WOULD NOT BE GREAT IF HE RESORTED TO A MESSY METHOD!”
“I WILL STILL GIVE YOUR SON BACK, OF COURSE! BUT I SHALL WAIT IN FRONT OF YOUR DOORSTEP EVERY DAY UNTIL YOU AGREE TO LET ME IN FOR THE DELICIOUS MEAL OF THE HOUR!”
Aiden couldn’t believe his ears. “So you will be a stalker. …Of friendship.”
“IT WORKED WITH UNDYNE, SO I’M SURE IT WILL WORK FOR YOU TOO.” Every word of his radiated straightforward sincerity.
“No police?”
“NO POLICE. NO MAGIC PEOPLE. NO ROYAL GUARDS OF BOTH FLESHY AND UNFLESHY KIND. JUST ME, THE GREAT PAPYRUS! I CERTAINLY HOPE THAT YOU WILL OPEN YOUR HEART TO MY FRIENDS, BUT I UNDERSTAND IF YOU’RE NOT READY. WE’LL DO THIS FRIENDSHIP THING ONE STEP AT A TIME!”
The Papyrus logic was so far removed from their worldview, the Gungnir had no idea how to handle it.
In the end, Aiden lost yet another battle. He decided that his family’s privacy was more important than his personal pride. “What… would you accept as an agreement to your terms?”
Papyrus showed his phone. “WE SHALL EXCHANGE NUMBERS FOR LONG-DISTANCE CONTACT! THAT WAY, I DO NOT NEED TO CAMP IN FRONT OF YOUR HOUSE! ISN’T TECHNOLOGY BRILLIANT???”
“Only if you don’t share this with anyone else. That includes everything you’ve learned today.”
“THE GREAT PAPYRUS PROMISES THE PRESERVATION OF YOUR SECRET CONFIDENTIALITIES. NYEH HEH HEH HEH HEH!!!”
So they exchanged and confirmed their contact numbers. Keeping to his word, Papyrus gave the boy back to his father. He watched the last remaining Gungnir vanish into the concrete jungle beyond.
Sans then disengaged the vision dive to rest. While looking at the map of possibilities above his head, he breathed a long, pleasant sigh. So glad, so relieved… yet so worried at the same time.
[Open your eyes, for heaven’s sake!] Gaster exclaimed, [A historic moment had transpired right before us. By fate and fortune, your brother is paving the way toward peace unheard of since the founding of these two organizations!]
“He will get himself killed.”
[Can you put aside that nihilistic fatalism for once?]
“You drilled that into me.”
[FINE!] The old man tossed his invisible arms to the air. [I admit to my follies through and through! But can you please be the better monster and see the possible bright future ahead of us??]
“…James Pashowar. What do you know about him?” said Sans.
[It’s an unfamiliar name.]
“That’s the Supreme Judge before Mezil. Before the War of the Red Victory. Great man. Big heart. Pushed for integration of science and magic, founded schools, and did many heroic things. He’s the type of person Papyrus could become under the right circumstance.”
“Magic is kinda public knowledge today thanks to that fellow. You’d think that he’ll have lots of friends… right? Welp. Apparently not. He died from betrayal.”
“One of the brightest Magus of that era was a manipulative psycho. All he needed to do was to look for other like-minded people, pull some strings, and then trap the ol’ Judge with his own goodwill.”
Sans shrugged. “There’s a reason why Mister Butterfly is as tough as nails. Maybe too tough. Sure, he’s alert at all times, but he antagonizes a lot of the wrong crowd. That’s a ticking time-bomb right there.”
“There are just too many factors crossing over each other. The Surface… is as complex as the materials we had recovered. I don’t want Papyrus to live in such an uncertain, dangerous world. Tori too.”
[…Do you even realise what you’re talking about? By far, this is the only timeline where Papyrus bloomed into his true greatness! Is it really worth discarding all of that for some semblance of tranquility?!]
“So…” His sockets darkened. “You caught on.”
[I understood your intentions from the moment you petrified my body. Egads, Sans! Have you forgotten about the Child of Mercy?]
His gaze turned towards Frisk. They had just turned around in bed. Grumbled something in their sleep.
“What about them?”
[They’re on your side! I daresay they look up to you and your brother more than anyone else. I’m sure the future will be bright as long they have trusted friends watching their backs!]
“Gaster.” Sans uttered that name in such a low manner, it’s almost a growl.
He pointed straight at the bed. “That is a prepubescent child, and yet we’re going to make them shoulder the entire world? Have we not learned anything from Asriel and Chara? Don’t you know what caused The End?…”
“That’s about far as you can get in the ‘despair event horizon’. Are we really prepared to risk everything by putting them through that pain all over again?”
“Frisk needs the childhood that I’ve never experienced.”
A long, uncomfortable silence hung between them.
[I had hoped that the string of positive events might change your mind. Apparently I’m a bigger fool than I’ve ever realised.] Sans imagined Gaster pacing around, exasperated and fed up. He sounded like it.
“Sorry old man, I can’t turn back now. Made sure I had no reason to do so.”
He burned his clothes.
His belongings.
His connections.
[Very well. What will you do if fate continues to conspire against you?]
“I will change that fate.” The skeleton stared down on the screen of the Seraph System. “I still have one last trump card. But, if I use that… heh. We’re all gonna have a really bad time. I might turn into a literal angel.”
Breathe in, breathe out.
Sans told the system to conjure a glass of milk. Chugged that down in one go. He then disintegrated the empty remains with a pulse of magic.
“Papyrus… what will you do from here on?”