(the)

sans: "first off, W.D wasn't his birth name. just a nickname we gave him after he vowed to only speak in hands. it was...frustrating to deal with, but he insisted. and when W.D insisted, you listened. even so, W.D was a bone-fide genius. probably because he was so boney and-"

Frisk: "I get it, it's a pun."

sans: "...this is all to say that working with W.D was both the most extraordinary and boring days of my life. W.D had...a talent for creating contradictions like that. and was just as good at spotting them. add that all to the fact he had plenty of maggots in his skull and well I guess it ain't that surprising he was the first to see the writing on the wall."

Chara: "Sounds like it make a good book."

sans: "Heh, i ain't no writer kid. though W.D did have a bit of a knack for...."

Chara: "For?"

sans: "What? is it odd for me not to want to talk more than I have to with my brother's killer?"

Chara: "...But I'll fix it. I promise! I can-"

sans: "W.D did the same thing, promises he could never keep. Like seeing the sun. No matter how much of a pain in the ass he was no one could doubt that he was determined to succeed."

Chara: "I heard about that, he was really hopeful in his interviews about escape. Past that cold exterior, he must have really wanted to save everyone."

sans: "W.D? No way to know for sure...but i know him better than most, and i don't buy it. he just wanted new experiments, new thrills, new things to discover. for him, the barrier was just that, a barrier. something in the way of further progress. and if there was one thing W.D found vile, it was stagnation."

Chara: "I didn't get that impression at all, he sounded strict. Sure. But I could tell he wanted the best for everyone."

sans: "Heh, what, you a fan?"

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

*I feel my cheeks heat.

Chara: "No! but you sound like a lap dog, one not even worth throwing a bone towards. And so, you remain in the dark."

sans: "sure, it's not like it matters, he's dead after all."

Chara: "...right. A lot's changed."

sans: "hmm. now, where were we? right, promises. never liked them, more trouble than their worth. but W.D had made one to the entire underground that they'd be free by the end of the decade. Uh-"

*Sans pulls out a bottle of ketchup from his pockets. Gulping it down the same way a divorced man may chug down his beer.

sans: "sorry, just thinking about it gives me a headache. the point is, we were tired. Desperate. even W.D was hitting his limit. the core had been made, and we'd done every project we could think of. And then W.D started going off the rails. Again, always a bit looney. But at this point, he was being more cryptic than straightforward, yet no less strict. It was worse on Alphys. I was like you said, a lapdog. Did the dirty work and stayed the extra hours. But Alphys? I think W.D saw her as his protege, so...he was extra harsh on any of her reports or theories. Alphys..."

*Sans takes another swig of his bottle, but even that isn't enough to get him to talk. He looks around, hoping beyond reason that someone else could tell his own story. But Snowdin was silent. And so he sighed, took another swig, and spoke

sans: "Alphys had a panic attack. She was always nervous, but W.D made her scared to even talk... think what you want about W.D, but you don't do that to your co-works so they can be more 'effective'. "

Chara: "..."

sans: "I tried to convince her to speak up about it to the king. But she was adamant about staying silent. Made me...promise to be quiet about it...heh, another promise I couldn't keep. Just my luck."

sans: "But just because Alphys didn't want me to speak for her didn't mean I wouldn't speak for myself. I was gonna quit, and I was gonna do it while making that bonehead regret every little bad thing he'd done to us...woah. Young me sure was stupid, good thing I grew out of it and became dead inside instead, heheheh..."

sans: "When I met him, he was doing some sort of test. High energy and higher output. Got no clue what it was for, but he kept rambling about how it was the key to true freedom. To escaping the light, to going darker and yet darker down till nothing could bind us...i tried to tell him i was going to quit, but he didn't seem to care. Just kept rambling about the light and darkness." (feelings)

sans: "Eventually I broke and asked him what the hell he was on about. And what he did next...well...it shook my whole world. Changed how I saw everything...."

Frisk: "...Are you going to tell me or just keep acting like I can see your flashback."

sans: "It's called suspense kid, you need it to drum up tension. But fine, I'll tell you. He asked a question. One that unraveled the truth of this world... why had Asgore not used the Souls to escape?"