You expected cool magic science, but this takes the cake. Circuitry sat in the middle of a glowing, complicated white magic star. So many hand glyphs. Trying to read them made your eyes spin.
How many points are there anyway…?
“Nine,” Sans answered you. “That’s the minimum in this case.”
Only nine?
Is this really the time to be lazy?
“Nah. When it comes to Arcanagrams, you wanna keep things as streamlined as possible. It’s all about minimizing risks. Errors can get explosive. You really don’t want that to happen.”
You glanced at Doctor Gaster’s facial scars. They're so deep that not even his goopy state could heal them.
Noted, Sans. Noted. So, what’s the plan?
“We’re going to turn that pile of electronics into a proxy Seer.”
Gasp. With ‘Fake Aspects’? Mom and Dad told you about it.
“Huh, so you’ve heard the story? Well that saves a paragraph of explanation. You can’t make a fake without a proper basis though. That’s what we’re missing.”
So, what are they?
“Our good ol’ Yellow Aspect and something to boost Doctor Gaster’s Cyan.”
He pointed at the black lump of goop sitting in a small triangle. “That’s a part of the doc. We’re gonna use that as another reagent.”
Then he shifted to the two empty squares. “Your fragment is gonna be next to Gaster’s. We need to push his Pure Cyan more than what it is now. An Amalgamate is still a monster in the end, thus it’s a bit diluted.”
“We’ll place Cenna’s fragment further away so that there’s no interference. Since she’s human, it comes packed with all the DT it needs. No extra boost required.”
What about the extra colours?
“Filtered out. That’s one reason why I had Gaster offer a piece of himself instead of using my SOUL. Think of him as a split flavoured Nice Cream: his entire left side is Cyan. Paps and I are swirly mixes.”
Doctor Gaster squinted at Sans for the imagery. To be honest, you thought it’s both funny and appropriate.
“After we imbue the right stuff into the machine, it’s time for testing. Ready for coolness to commence?”
Heck yeah!
You popped out your SOUL without a second thought. Should you pick out one of the partitions?
“Nah. That’s too much,” Sans replied. “I’ll leave the surgical procedures to Alphys.”
Your lizard friend cried out, “D-don’t say it like I’m going to cut them up! Even. If that’s technically true…”
She took out a small knife from her apron’s pockets.
Oh. You get it now. It’s the same method used to test your Aspects.
Alphys placed the fragments in the correct locations. Now, it’s time for the big implementation.
Doctor Gaster slid forth. “Children, please step back. For your safety.”
The rest of you huddled as close to the exit as possible. You’re confident that nothing will go wrong, but precaution is always a compulsory procedure.
The man from another world stood before the group in all his tall, classy glory.
You have to admit, there’s something grand and mysterious about his inky blackness. It’s the illusion of eternity. Never beginning, never ending.
What about white then? If white’s the opposite of black, would it be both the beginning and the end?
That’s getting a bit too meta there.
Doctor Gaster then commanded the Arcanagram with swift and fluid hand signs. The distorted tongue of the Seers resonated in the air: an eerie and grating chant to your human ears.
Your fragment jumped sideways to merge with the goop. Colour theory be damned, because the resulting mix of red and black somehow turned into a brilliant cyan.
At least Cenna’s fragment refinement made more sense. You spotted bits of purple and green float away, leaving behind a refined golden product.
Pure yellow and pure cyan filled the magic star, before collapsing into the machinery in a single go. The Aspects glowed for a short while before the rest of the magic seeped into the system.
“It’s ready for testing,” said Doctor Gaster. “Sans, would you do the honours? Your telekinesis is certainly much better than mine.”
Being true to his ‘lazy’ perception, Sans sighed in the most reluctant manner. You know he’s just tired from all the crazy studying.
But a job is still a job. He shifted the entire structure closer to the rest of the equipment.
The goopy doctor slid towards Papyrus. He held a visor-like device attached to a whole lot of wires. You noticed that Alphys connected the output ends to the enchanted machine.
Papyrus seemed to recognize it. “UNCLE GASTER, DIDN’T YOU WEAR THIS COOL GADGET WHEN YOU USED THE OTHER VISION MACHINE?”
“No, my boy. As similar as it looks, this serves a completely different function. Instead of feeding information to you, you’ll instead feed information into it.”
Both you and Papyrus uttered a big ‘oooh’.
“Gaster-sensei, please don’t forget this,” Alphys rushed up to her new teacher with a gamepad. Once she completed her delivery, she went back to the wire works.
“Oh, right. Thank you very much,” he said, “Sans was very kind to program a user-friendly interface to manage the external Yellow and Cyan Aspects.”
Sans added, “Press the tiny triangle for the options menu, bro. All the button instructions are there too.”
That’s the ‘Start’ button.
“LE GASP, IT’S JUST LIKE A REAL VIDEO GAME! I CAN’T WAIT TO TRY IT OUT.”
You asked the doc if you could see this menu too.
“Yes, Child of Mercy. They’ll be displayed together with the vision to provide the fullest context.”
That means you can help Papyrus whenever? Awesome.
Alphys turned on the power. Fans whirred, electricity coursed. Items once discarded as broken breathed a second life in their new purpose. Who knows how long they’ll last before they surrender?
The screen lit up. It’s a simple black and white menu written in the font called Comic Sans.
Gaster facepalmed. “Sans, won’t you provide a more professional font? We’re going to pry into some of history’s best kept secrets and I can’t take it seriously with that… casual comedian thing.”
“But you can accept Alphys calling you Gaster-sensei,” Sans commented.
“Of course. I’m aware of the stigma, but that is truly a genuine title its land of origin. Now, could you please fix the interface?”
“Maaaybe.” He snickered. “If only Tori’s here. This is definitely the best time for a tu-Toriel.”
Groan. Cringe. Chuckle. Cenna actually had to turn around and bury her face into her hat. That’s a new reaction.
Papyrus screamed, “SAAAAAAAAANS!”
“Remember the little triangle button I talked about, bro?”
At first he tried to press it, but the mittens got in the way. In the end he had to take them off to use the controller properly.
When he pressed the button, the options screen popped up. Currently the font was set to ‘Comic Sans’. One tap to the left and the whole thing changed into ‘Helvetica’.
Dang, that’s so cool. He began cycling through the list. There’s ‘Papyrus’ too. As much as Papyrus wanted to use that, it’s not the easiest to read.
In the end, everyone settled for ‘8bitOperator JVE’.
“Now,” said Doctor Gaster. “We’ll need a situation where we can test the accuracy of our construct. Does anyone here have a suggestion?”
Cenna raised her hand, “I got one, doc. I was told that it’s the perfect test.”
She faced the new ‘Chronographer’ of the team. “Hey, Cinnamon Roll. Ya remember the ‘not-nice’ scenario? The one where I tried to shoot your brother?”
Papyrus voiced out his displeasure without hesitation. “WE SHALL NOT TALK ABOUT THAT HORRIBLE INCIDENT AGAIN!”
“Sorry, but you gotta. The vision you witnessed was my second attempt. In order to test our machine, you have to show everyone the first round too.”
Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.
You spoke up. Was it the one that involved a bone cage?
“Yup, Frisky.”
For some reason, you can’t quite recall what happened back then. Something about a couple claiming to be your real parents. Then Sans, he--
Hesitation clogged your throat.
Sans then said it in the most frank and nonchalant manner possible, “I kidnapped Frisk. At least twice.”
Everyone gasped in utter horror.
“You did WHAT?!” Gaster looked like he’s ready to give someone a terrible time.
You hurried to explain that Sans tried to get you out of a bad situation. Humans kept harassing Mom to hand you over.
B-besides it can’t be called a kidnapping if you’re in cahoots. More like, you, uh, tried to escape with him.
Please don’t blame Sans.
Insert awkward moment here. You shifted the conversation back to your spotty memory. As a Living Victory, shouldn’t you have awesome recollection or so?
Cenna patted you on the shoulder. “You’re still human, Frisky. Ya think I can remember every bit of my childhood? That happened real early in your time-loops.”
In other words, your older memories can fade in time. Gotta be careful about that.
“Besides, I spiked Sans’ ketchup with sedatives back then. If he shared it with ya, then you got drugged too. That’s definitely going to affect your memory.”
What?!?!
…Come to think of it, you did ask for his ketchup to flavour your food. It had become a habit for you, and thus you didn’t think twice about it.
Everything’s starting to make sense.
You tell Papyrus that he’ll have to compare both of the bad times. You want to know the truth behind the circumstances too. That’s the whole point of this project.
He frowned his brows in worry at you. “ARE YOU SURE? PROMISE ME THAT YOU WON’T THINK BAD ABOUT MISS AUNT OR MY BROTHER. THOSE EVENTS TECHNICALLY DON’T EXIST.”
You promised.
Just like that, he’s back to his gusto self. “OKAY, I WILL DO MY BEST!”
Papyrus put on the visors and began channeling his power into the system.
The images started to take shape. Blue lines built a framework mesh, orange filled in the models, and green squares planted the correct textures to recreate a lost timeline.
Wow, this is crazy cool.
Sans asked, “Bro, can you rebuild two images at once and put them side by side? Like a split screen.”
“HMM, LET’S TRY THAT.”
Sans’ interface was a lot more flexible than expected, and Papyrus had enough skill to execute the suggestion. Now you’re looking at two screens displaying the same area. The left screen is ‘1’, the right ‘2’.
“Nice job, bro,” said Sans. “You’re awesome.”
Your attention shifted to Doctor Gaster. He’s smiling in awe. You bet the parents were just as amazed at their sons’ united capabilities.
“Damn, I can’t believe you guys built this out of junk!” Said Cenna. “Our Artificers really oughta learn this art from you Ebott folk.”
You presented the brilliant Doctor Alphys! When it comes to salvage-work, she’s the woman to look for.
As expected, Alphys turned red from the praise. “I-i-it wouldn’t be possible without Sans and Gaster-sensei.”
Before you could continue the teasing, Papyrus exclaimed: “I SEE LOTS OF MINI METTATONS FLYING AROUND!”
Screen 1 had an MTT-brand live broadcast, while in Screen 2 the night sky remained dark and silent.
You heard the typical Mettaton hot-story coverage. Harped about the kidnapping of monsterkind’s ambassador.
The vision’s attention shifted to a masked person in a trenchcoat and familiar hat. You noted that the hairstyles were different: one had a ponytail, while the other had a shoulder-cut.
Who’s that?
“MISS AUNT,” Papyrus answered. “MISTER MAGUS HAD HER CHANGE HER HAIRDO SO OTHERS DON’T GET THIS DEJAVU FEELING THINGAMABOB.”
Just how far back had the Magi targeted you?!
Cenna shrugged. “Since the first loop, according to Mez. We ain’t alone on this. Ah, you’ll see why.”
You watched the two versions of your cool sister stalk the icy woods. In the timeline where Mettaton got involved, she’s trying to hide from the spotlights.
Somehow it led her to a couple who’s also trying to traverse the forest. When the two crossed paths, they asked if she’s a law-enforcer on the case. If not, they’ll call the real police and report her.
The masked Cenna had no choice but to show her Vanquisher badge. The couple latched unto her the moment she did so.
“Those two claim to be your real parents,” she said, “Bollocks! I know the truth. But I can’t call out their foul and stuff because of…”
Mettaton’s spotlight shone over her and the couple.
“ …That. Any violence on the broadcast brings a bad name to both the police and the Magi. So I had to play along and ‘help’ them. I planned to expose their crap later at the station.”
What about the quiet timeline? You asked Papyrus if there’s a way to pause or rewind.
The screen stopped for a moment when he paused the vision, but he couldn’t do anything more than that. Buttons clicked away as he randomly pressed the gamepad.
Nothing happened. “HMM, I GUESS I CAN ONLY PAUSE.”
Gaster noted, “It seems that Papyrus doesn't have much fluid control. But that’s fine. He’s registering clues at a subconscious level. Once he finishes his vision, we can jump to any point relevant to our question.”
Relevant?
“Yes, Papyrus works on ‘Relevance’ and ‘Possibilities’. He’s like a living search engine. ”
Papyrus let the visions flow. The same couple appeared on Screen 2, asking for help from the masked detective. Instead of listening to their pleas, the Magus summoned her drones and tied them up!
They yelled angry curses with all the usual threats of siccing the cops. Your cool sister from another time just shrugged everything off. She hung a signal beacon on a branch and then slipped away.
Cenna laughed at the outcome. “Tooootally what I’d do if nobody’s watching. Take that you fakes!”
Eventually, both scenes met at a common point. Alternate Sans realised that there’s something wrong. He’s struggling to walk, let alone teleport. The past you started to get wobbly too. For your safety, he encased you in a cage of bone.
“Yup, all within expectations,” he commented about his own actions. “Since I got drugged, I couldn’t escape or maintain a hundred percent awareness of my surroundings. It’ll be too easy for someone to swipe the kid away while I’m on the defensive.”
On Screen 2, you noticed that Sans took out his phone and tried to contact someone. That’s absent in Screen 1.
A small, triple-dot bubble popped over Sans’ head.
“ …I know what’s going on now. Papyrus, see that bubble? Press ‘A’ to read my mind there.”
“OKAY.”
When Papyrus did so, a dialogue text-box appeared. It read the following:
‘Shit, this is not good. I’m found out. I have to tell Mettaton to destroy the fodder phone and leave the meeting point. He can’t get caught together with me.’
You, Papyrus and Alphys dropped your jaws.
Alphys shrieked, “Sans! You roped Mettaton in to abscond Frisk?!”
“Ahuh,” he nodded. “That’s what I would have done. Logical, too. See, our celeb thought he had a hot story the first time around. The best way to catch a criminal is to expose them on public TV, right? I’m sure he had no idea that I was the main suspect. If he did, he wouldn’t have pulled that stunt.”
“I must have gotten a bad feeling about keeping him the dark. So, I made Mettaton my accomplice. With a little surveying from his celebrity inner-circle, he got us a safe hiding home. Probably on some far off island somewhere.”
Hence the silence on Screen 2.
If word got out that a monster was the true kidnapper of the ambassador, the controversy will ruin their brittle diplomatic relationship with the humans!
“Guess what killed our reputation in the first timeline?”
The masked Cenna and Sans met face to face. In the first screen, the fake parents tried to convince you to accept them.
Sans being Sans, he took no crap. He summoned his notorious Gasterblasters and initiated his strongest attack. The masked Magus managed to yank them out of the way with her strings before the beams came into contact.
Despite the drastic measures, you’re no longer shocked by his choices.
Sans and Cenna duelled in both timelines. The patterns, timing, and sequence differed but the end was more or less the same.
It’s a close shave of victory for Sans: his aim remained true despite his compromised condition.
Then, the accident happened. The medication finally kicked in and he fell asleep at the worst possible time.
What happened after was a forgone conclusion. You died the first round, followed by Papyrus in the second loop.
The playback ended there. The menu interface popped up with a few options. The top said ‘Replay’, presumably from the beginning. The one after that said, ‘Select’.
Choosing the ‘Select’ option highlighted the people or objects that caught Papyrus’ attention. Subconsciously or otherwise. In this case, it’s the fake parents.
They did kinda come out of nowhere.
Papyrus nodded. “I WOULD HAVE BELIEVED THEM IF I DIDN’T WITNESS THE CORE INCIDENT.”
In other words, he had the proper info to raise a flag of suspicion. You asked him if he could focus on any detail that’s not listed on the screen.
“YES! YOU NEED TO INSTRUCT ME THOUGH. LIKE WHAT SANS DID.”
You asked the group if they noticed any other discrepancies.
No one else had anything to add.
Papyrus refocused his vision on the couple…
They met a man by the roadside who informed them of monsterkind’s ambassador having been kidnapped by a blue skeleton.
“Hey,” Cenna spoke up, “That informant looks familiar. I think I saw his face in the HQ before. Let’s see… after I delivered the cinnamon bunnies to my good friend, she started reviewing profiles. Didn’t wanna tell me why though.”
Ding! The informant now appeared on the selection list. Now Papyrus had the option to peer into that person’s relevant past, present, or future at any time.
Oooh, so that’s how it works.
Gaster rubbed his chin. “Hmm, what if we go back a bit further? What does the couple and this informant have in common?”
“I AGREE!” Papyrus selected the option without a single hesitation.
The screen shifted into a… news broadcasting station? Reporters?
Everyone working in that shift received news that a lady goat-monster had barged into a police station, begging everyone to look for her child.
That’s Mom!
The field reporters rushed out into the night to catch the latest news, the informant included. While he’s in the car, he made a call…
He said: “They’re taking action. We need to get the kid before they do. I think we’re dealing with two separate parties in this case. The monsters don’t trust the Magi.”
“The kid doesn’t seem to know anything about the quake incident either. If you can convince them that you’re their parents, we’ll have a huge advantage.”
“So far, there are no signs of Mezil Thyme. I bet he’ll send out an agent. He always does.”
Mezil Thyme?
Why did his name appear?
You gasped as you remembered what the man once said:
‘Imagine what would happen if someone who adhered to the Gungnir ideology adopted you?’
You flailed your arms around as you tried to tell everyone the big link between the cases, but you couldn’t piece together a comprehensive statement.
Sans understood your jumbling and translated: “There’s a high chance that the reporter and the couple are members of Gungnir. Paps, remember Mettaton’s vandalism case? Let’s see if he’s there.”
The screen skipped to the current timeline. You saw the same man in the front lines, pointing out Gungnir’s emblem to Mettaton.
Mezil interrupted the explanation like the boss he is.
After the Magi escorted Mettaton into the studio, the reporter became disgruntled. He excused himself to the side and made a call.
“The Magi boss arrived. Dissed us as usual, that bastard. There’s nothing else I can do there.”
Oh. Em. Gee. Deep cover agents infiltrating as regular upright citizens into key positions. That’s freaky!
Papyrus took off the visors and squeezed his eyes shut, showing clear signs of fatigue from his magic. His family attended to him.
You don’t blame him: he’s been running nonstop for days.
Cenna slammed the side of her fist against the nearest wall. “Damn those lightning-heads! Even after all these years, we still can’t break their network!”
Weren’t they leaderless?
“Yeah, they are. Ain’t gonna stop the smarter folk from banding together though. There’re guys who’re still alive from their more organized times.”
So, they’re more like disjointed cell groups now. Gotcha.
You pondered about the next course of action. Perhaps it’s time to look into Gungnir’s origins. Trace their roots, then follow the outcome.
Sans agreed with you, “I’m going with the kid’s idea. But, can we have a break first?”
That kind of fatigue weighing down on Papyrus… you’ve never seen it before.
“NNGH,” he grunted. “THE GREAT PAPYRUS IS FINE.”
No, Papyrus. This isn’t normal. Drink some water. Lie down. Take a break for once.
Everyone will have to wait for the day shift to end anyway. Mom, Dad, and Undyne wanted to check out the new invention. That’s in about three or so hours.
“DID THEY REALLY SAY THAT?!”
You nod.
“IF THAT’S THE CASE, I SHALL PUT ALL MY EFFORT INTO BEING SANS SO I’LL HAVE THE STRENGTH TO SERVE!”
The tall guy pushed himself off the ground. You noticed a worrying wobble in the way he walked. Somehow, he managed to climb the stairs and retreat to his old room.
“I’ll prepare some refreshments,” said Gaster. He’s trying to avoid direct eye contact with Sans as he slipped into the kitchen.
Your friend gave you a nod of gratitude. “Thanks for giving Paps a reason to slow down. Deep inside, he wants to see the truth more than anyone else.”
No problem. Friends look out for each other. Besides, Papyrus would have attempted the same maybe-reverse psychology shenanigans if you switched positions.
“Heh, nice one. So. What are you gonna do in the meantime?”
You reached out for your sister’s hand. Told Sans that it’s long overdue for a tour around Snowdin and the Ruins. Maybe add Waterfall to the agenda if you have time.
“Sounds good. Go have fun. We’ll meet up later, ‘kay?”
Okay. You wasted no time to drag Cenna out of the door.
She laughed. “Getting frisky aren’t ya, Frisky? Mama’s naming scheme hit right on point!”
Well, you have to make it up to your stoic face somehow.