Chapter Text
Another two days passed in the Underground. Two overall very normal days. Everything was a lot calmer than it has been for a while, either way. After his panic attack, Frisk was doing moderately alright. The survivor's guilt still crept up on him every now and then, but Kale and Papyrus were always there to pull him back on his feet. It got a lot easier. It was nice. It felt so relieving that he had friends who cared so much. Even if his presence in Snowdin was kept under wraps in fear of the Royal Guard. Frisk did not really feel like meeting Asgore and giving up his soul anymore, nor did he desire to take the King's life. So this was the only solution at hand, currently. It was unclear how long Frisk was going to stay. Or how long he can stay, without being discovered and captured by other guard members, namely the canine unit of Snowdin.
But it's not like he got out much. He was content watching Mettaton's wacky TV shows with Papyrus, doing the simplest activities with Kale like reading a book, or playing a round of cards. Even Gaster seemed to act a lot more tolerable around him. He still could not exactly say Gaster warmed up to him, but at least he did not seem to mind Frisk being around. Perhaps it had to do with his conversation with Chara, or perhaps it was the fact that he could keep his eye on Frisk at all times and Frisk has shown no intention of wanting to harm anyone in the house.
Overall he felt content. Even nostalgic, in a way. All these simple activities really reminded him of the time he used to spend with Ben. It was rather bittersweet, since he still missed his best friend and he still wished to make amends. Frisk almost forgot about the Player, even in regards of the relaxed atmosphere.
* I still recommend you do not let your guard down. For all you know, they could just be observing, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.
But even if Chara was right... it has been a whole week since the Player gave any sign of their presence. For a week, Frisk was free of manipulation, of someone trying to climb into his head and force him into doing terrible things. A whole week. The timeline where Frisk was forced to kill Undyne and massacre countless monsters in Waterfall. It felt so long ago. Perhaps the Player got bored. Perhaps they gave up. Frisk understood Chara's suspicion, but despite that, he did not really worry all that much. It really did not feel like the Player will make their presence known any time soon, considering how long it has been.
There was only one person among the skeletons and the humans who seemed to be troubled. Sans. In fact, for the past days, Sans has been strangely disappearing at unexpected times of the day when he was not doing work with Gaster. Which was understandably concerning for everyone. It was not like Sans to just disappear during random times of the day. Even when Gaster or Papyrus tried to call him, they only got through to his voicemail.
Today was just like that, too. Sans purposefully went to the lab at a very early hour. At an hour when he knew Mettaton would already be on charge, but Alphys would not yet arrive. At those moments, he had the lab all for himself. When Alphys was not working, or Mettaton was not currently prerecording a lot of episodes on his show for the week. Sans was now undisturbed, free dig around Gaster's old files on several kinds of research topics from years ago. But he was looking for something specific, so far with not much luck besides a few books.
Said books were stacked on Gaster's desk. 'Time, space and you', 'Time travel - Is it possible?', 'The time space continuum and everything we know' and other such titles. It already took quite a bit of digging for Sans to find these books, since Gaster did not keep these at home, but carefully put away down here in the lab. For some reason, Gaster had a very big intention of hiding anything he owns that covers this topic. Made Sans wonder why.
The problem with these books was that they only covered theories, speculations. Nothing literal. No records of real time travel or alteration in time and space. That is why Sans had to dig through Gaster's files today, to find out if Gaster made any studies on this field, and if he was successful.
"timelines, time and space, space time continuum... c'mon, there must be a reason gaster stockpiled these books. he must have made some studies on this. those files have to be here somewhere." Sans was standing on a chair, looking through the bookshelves. There were not many folders here, actually. Perhaps Gaster already put them away over time and relocated them somewhere else. Sans had a few guesses on where he could find some files. As he was searching through stacks of books, his hand bumped into a folder in the furthest corner of the bookshelf. Sans furrowed his brows, making out one word on the cover of the folder.
'SUBJECTS'
No. He will ignore that. As much as he had a sudden urge to tear that folder and all it's contents into shreds. As much as he questioned internally, why Gaster even still had this folder here. Sans just tore his eyes away from the it, only to notice something shiny in that same corner of the shelf. Carefully avoiding looking at that accursed folder once more, Sans reached for the shiny thing. When he drew his hand back from the dark corner of the shelf, he found he was grasping a small, silver key.
Tiny wingdings imprinting on it said; 'workroom'.
Sans raised a brow. "workroom? okay gaster, that's pretty vague considering this lab is full of rooms." Sans pocketed the key. "maybe i could subtly ask him about it without revealing what i am up to. i know i can't stay here much longer, alphys might arrive soon and i don't know if i can come up with a good lie."
Sans turned his eyes to the pile of books on Gaster's desk. How could he take these books home, without Gaster, Papyrus, Kale or Frisk noticing? His hoodie was big, oversized, sure. But it was highly doubtful he could fit a stack of books in his inner pockets, especially without it being glaringly obvious. In the end, Sans slipped the stack back on the shelf. He will have to come back later tonight and take these books home. He already knew how to hide things from Gaster, anyway.
At least he found a key for... whatever workroom it was for.
Unfortunately, Sans did not make it home as quick as he hoped. Riverboat was not really an option this early in the morning. They needed a break too, every now and then. It was only fair. Sans only hoped he could sneak up to the bedroom, unnoticed and pretend like he was sleeping up there all along.
"So uh... how have you been feeling, Frisk?" Kale asked during breakfast. Normally, they would not be so swift in changing the topic when Gaster and Papyrus were rightfully worried about Sans, but they just tried to stay positive. They were also doing a rather good job of getting adjusted to their new trait in the past two days. Even though it seemed like they no longer could do any magic at all.
"Oh, I uh..." Frisk looked at Kale for a moment, before he stared into his plate of scrambled eggs and bacon. There was a small smile. "It's... I've been a lot better. You and Papyrus are to thank for that." He looked at Kale, his smile growing a little wider. That got Papyrus to smile as well.
"OF COURSE, HUMAN FRISK!!" He exclaimed brightly. "I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, SEE IT AS AN IMPORTANT DAILY DUTY TO MAKE EVERYONE SMILE AND LAUGH! NYEH HEH HEH HEH!!!"
"Heh, yeah. You are doing a damn good job of that then!" Frisk grinned wider. As they continued to eat, the sound of a door opening broke the semi-calm atmosphere. Everyone turned their eyes to the kitchen doorway and they saw... "SANS!!" Papyrus even forgot about his breakfast, he rushed out into the living room, grabbing his brother by a baggy sleeve. "WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN, YOU LAZYBONES!! YOU HAD US REALLY WORRIED!!"
"uhhh... sleepwalking?" Sans nervously grinned. "i dunno, i find myself in weird places a lot lately. i can't even remember how i wandered off each time."
"Well, it does happen awfully often lately." Gaster raised a brow, lowering his fork and entering the living room. He gave Sans a look that told him, he saw past his obvious look. But Gaster did not say anything. Neither did Sans, he looked away, staring intently at a coffee stain on the carpet. Kale and Frisk entered the living room as well.
"Seriously, are you okay lately, Sans?" Kale tried asking. "You keep disappearing, you look exhausted all the time. More so than usual." They stepped closer to him, gently placing a hand on his shoulder. "You know we are open to listen. You don't have to bottle it up, if something is hurting you."
"Yes, it is as I mentioned before." Gaster nodded. "You do not have to talk about it, if you do not want to. But we are always here to listen."
Sans shooed Kale away, burrying his hands in his pockets. His fingers found the silver key in his left pocket. "c'mon guys, it's..." But the offer did make Sans contemplate. Should he tell them? Perhaps it would be easier to find what he is looking for, if he told Gaster at the very least. If this situation really is as bad as he assumes, then would it not be better for them to know? Or would they be better off not knowing at all...?
"Sans?" Kale snapped him out of his trance. Sans blinked, looking at Kale before continuing to stare at the carpet. "it's fine. i'm okay."
"Are you sure?" Gaster tilted his head. "'Sleepwalking' is not really-"
"if i say i'm okay, then i'm okay." Sans responded, a little more impatient than he wanted.
Frisk furrowed his brows. He wondered if this behavior from Sans had anything to do with...?
"SANS..."
Sans forced on the usual, untroubled grin that he always had. Only it was very obvious this smile was fake. "anyway, i'm tired and hungry, so what's for breakfast?"
Gaster gave Sans a look that said, 'We are not done with this discussion' but Sans just tried to ignore it. They finished their breakfast, Kale whisked Frisk and Papyrus away to play with action figures and Sans sneaked up to the bedroom before Gaster could approach him to further press on the topic of whether he was fine or not.
He sat down on his bed and stared at the silver key. He wondered how he could ask Gaster about the key, without revealing it to the Royal Scientist, that he has been digging around the lab for the past few days, in search of entries about timelines, time and space, alteration in the time space continuum or dejavu dream memories.
But Sans did not get a lot of alone time. He could already hear Gaster approaching and when he buried the key in his pocket again, the door already opened. "Sans..." Gaster approached him. "I can tell something is wrong. Will you tell me?"
"nothing's wrong, gaster." Sans looked away, a little irritated. Gaster would not let up. "Can you at least stop disappearing? You leave overnight without us even noticing, you don't return by the morning. You could-"
"i could what?" Sans shot his gaze at the older skeleton. "both humans are in our house, gaster. what could possibly happen to me?"
Gaster looked away, folding his arms. "Still, you could get in trouble if you are not careful..." Gaster said quietly. Sans let out an exasperated groan. "you don't have to coddle me, gaster. i can take care of myself."
"I'm not-!" Gaster let out an inaudible sigh, trying to calm his tone. "I am just worried about you. So is Papyrus. I don't understand what you are doing, Sans."
Sans closed his eyes. For a few minutes, he did not really know how to respond. He did not want to say too much, but it seemed like Gaster was not going to leave him alone until he can squeeze something out of him. Sans sighed, turning to look at Gaster. "look, i've just been having weird dreams. that's all." Not a lie, but the complete truth, either. While Sans sneaking out was indeed because he wanted to find out more about his dreams, that was not all there is. It was not just about the dreams at this point. All those dreams felt so familiar. Like it all happened before. It filled Sans with a sense of dread, whenever he thought about them.
Despite not really telling Gaster that much with that statement, the scientist still looked a lot more suspicious than Sans would have liked. "I have been getting strange dreams, as well."
Gaster sat on Sans's bed. "However, I do not think much of them anymore. It is not unusual I have strange dreams. I do not think there is much more to them than that. Just dreams."
Sans nodded. He could probably use this to his own advantege. Then Gaster would not get any more ideas. He was just not ready to tell them about this yet. "yeah. agreed. it's just weird dreams... nothing more." Sans looked away with dark eyes, before staring up at the ceiling. He glanced at Gaster for a moment, then continued staring at the ceiling. Seemed Gaster was not going to pry any longer, so Sans saw an opening to ask. "also, i am curious... do you know anything about a workroom? around the house, maybe?"
Sans immediately regretted this question when he saw how much it puzzled Gaster. He could not quite read his expression, but he still did not like it. But thankfully, no questions came from Gaster, just a simple answer. "There is a workroom around the house somewhere. But I lost the key ages ago." Sans gripped the silver key in his pocket. Gaster shot an apprehensive look at him. Sans had to try his best to remain calm. "Why do you ask?"
"meh. no reason." He shrugged. "was just wondering." He stood up from his bed, on his way to the door. "Sans..." Gaster spoke up before Sans could leave. He looked back at him. "yeah?"
For a few seconds, they were just staring at each other. But then Gaster closed his eye, sighing. Seems he decided not to press the topic any further. A great relief for Sans.
"Nothing... nevermind. I should... get started on our paperwork."
Oh right. They had paperwork today. Sans forgot all about it, in spite of the sleep deprivation and secret timeline research. "oh yeah. i'll come help you with it in a bit."
"Hm..." Gaster nodded. Sans left the bedroom and quickly went outside before Gaster could catch him sneaking out again. A workroom somewhere around the house. It had to be the one. What else could that key be for? Sans went to the shed, but that was open. Obviously, not in here. This was Papyrus's place. Made Sans wonder what this shed will be used for, now that Papyrus quit sentry duties. Sans looked carefully around the house. Where could a workroom even fit? Do they have a basement behind the house, maybe?
Not a basement, but Sans discovered a locked door to a small place behind the house. It had to be this one. But perhaps fore he went in here, he should at least tell Gaster he'll go to a walk or something. Just so he won't go looking for him and accidentally discover what he is up to.
"uh hey g?" Sans popped his head in the front door. "i'll be back in a bit. just gonna drop down to grillby's."
Gaster still did not look fully convinced. But it seemed like he no longer wanted to pry, since Sans was not going to tell him much more, anyway. "Just try not to get too much ketchup again. I would prefer not having to carry you back home." Gaster said, his eyes pinned on the papers. Sans grinned. "sure, got it." He backed out and took in a silent breath. Even if Gaster probably did not seem to buy his lie, at least it doesn't seem like he will investigate what he is doing. For now. Sans hoped it will stay that way. He went back to the back of the house and fetched the key from his pocket. For a few seconds he just stared at it. Then, he tried the key in the lock.
Click
It worked. The key fit. Not that Sans doubted that, but still this was very unexpected. He found a random key that just so happened to open a door to a room in their house that he did not even know about, for ten years. Then again it could just be an empty workroom with nothing that could aid Sans in his search. If he ends up hitting another wall, then he was not sure what to do next. Perhaps he can find Gaster's timeline entries somewhere else in the lab. Regardless, all that was left is to turn the doorknob and see for himself, what is in there.
The room was surprisingly a lot smaller than he expected. The walls and floors were dusty. It was obvious nobody was in here for years. Maybe even decades. There was really not a lot inside the room, safe for a few drawers and... something big, under a dark blueish cloth. This was the most suspicious thing in here. Sans walked over to it, pulling the cloth down to discover... some kind of machine.
It looked like a computer, but not quite. It had a screen, a few buttons on the side. It did not have a keyboard, like a usual computer does. But instead it had buttons labeled 'Next room', 'Previous room', 'Skip forward', 'Skip backwards'...
Sans felt his soul skip a beat. These buttons... skip forward and backwards. Was this machine really what he thought it was? Could it be? Well, the only way he will find that out, is by turning it on. Sans found the on button and pressed it. At first, there was nothing. He started wondering if the machine even worked. Gaster probably did not touch it in several years. It could be broken.
But just as that thought passed his mind, the machine's screen flickered in blue. Some wingdings text appeared on it's screen. 'PASSWORD'.
"shoot right, password... password... hmm... what could make a password? would gaster even write it down?" Regardless, this seemed like an opportune moment to dig through the drawers. The first drawer was empty. The second had nothing but dusty tools, screwdrivers, pilers, a pair of gloves, some machinery parts. Perhaps they could come in handy if he ever had trouble with this thing. The third drawer had...
Sans did a double take. In the third drawer was a poorly drawn picture of three skeletons. He recognized this drawing. Papyrus made this back in the lab, back when they were babybones. So long ago. Gaster kept this? He kept this in here for all these years? Sans stared at the old drawing for a few more minutes before closing it and moving on to the last drawer. This drawer's contents were the most interesting.
There were some blueprints, which Sans laid down to examine. However it did not take a lot of observation to realize this was the blueprints for this machine in here. There was something else that caught Sans's eye however. That being a folder. Finally, he may have found what he was looking for, earlier this morning. If there was a machine here, with blueprints and tools for it and if there was a folder too, that could only mean one thing. Sans hoped that he was correct. He pulled out the first page from the folder.
'The Barrier requires human souls to break. Seven of them. We have three so far. Who knows how long it will take, before more humans fall and even then, I want to free Asgore of this burden. We already lost the Queen and the Prince. We cannot lose him too. The Kingdom needs its crown. Asgore does not deserve to make this sacrifice. I have a future project in mind, that will involve studying the human souls and their nature, seeing if that power could be replicated within monster souls. But it will involve risks. Terrible risks. It will not be right. That project will require sacrifices, costs. Once I go down that path, there will be no more turning back. So for now, I am putting it on hold. Instead, I will study a different field of science that could aid us in freedom. Interdimensional travel.'
Sans whistled. "you were desperate, huh gaster? interdimensional travel... guess it did not work out, cause he still made us." He looked away, sockets dark. "eh, whatever." He set the page back into the folder, pulling out the next one.
'Timeline theory is a dangerous field of science. All the books I own on the subject only go into theories, speculations. Nothing literal. There are no records of real time travel or real interdimensional travel. I suppose I will be the first one. But to even be able to do such a thing, further study is required on what the concept of time and space is as we know it. I will have to study those books more thoroughly and note down as much as I can, if I am serious about this.'
'After further study and research, I discovered... it is possible. There are weakpoints in our know reality that can be exploited. Exploiting these weakpoints could potentially allow alteration in time and space, or travel between dimensions. It is possible. If I can make a machine that will allow us to gain insight into timelines, I can do this. I can study the different weakpoints of different periods of time and space. I could transport us into an alternate timeline where monsters already made it to the surface. That way, no casualities will be needed. No more sacrifices. No more loss. I can do this.'
"okay, clearly you were dangerously desperate G, even before doing all those things to me and papyrus later." Sans slipped the other two pages back in the folder, pulling out what seemed to be the last one. "but something went wrong... so what was it? i should at least be aware of the risks before i potentially tamper with other timelines."
'I successfully built a machine that allows us to view other timelines in our world. However, it can only go so far. Only the current year's timelines can be viewed, otherwise the machine crashes as I discovered. I went through a lot of trouble fixing that. Only the current year's previous timelines can be viewed. I am not yet sure if this will make things more difficult or not. It remains to be seen. While the machine in Snowdin gains insight into recent timelines, the values cannot be edited or modified. Nothing about it can be changed. That machine is enough to view timelines, but not enough to commence real interdimensional travel, or alteration in time. So I had to make a different machine in my lab, for that purpose. Stronger, better, bigger, with different principles. It displays all important data in the current and previous timelines recorded. I am yet to find out how exactly it will help us with interdimensional travel, but it is a big step forward. The values can be altered with the bigger machine, however that takes imminent risk. I will not yet experiment with changing even the most insignificant values in our current timeline. Not until I can see this through to the end. Not until I made sure that I can transport us to other worlds, without casualities.'
"so this thing... it can actually view timelines. the current one... and previous ones." Sans put away the folder and walked back to the machine. The word 'password' still displayed on the blue screen. "still did not find any passwords, but..." Sans looked around the room. There was not really anything that could even give him a hint about what made a password for Gaster's machine. However... "i wonder..."
PASSWORD
201X_
LOADING CURRENT TIMELINE...
"wait it worked?? was that really the password?" Sans rubbed his skull. "guess i just gotta... wait and see what thing thing loads up now." It was loading. It sure was loading something, whatever it was. While it was loading, Sans tried to process the fact that he was actually using Gaster's discarded time machine that he abandoned at least twenty years ago, if not more. For a while, the screen remained blue, but then the screen changed with a blink.
What it showed, made Sans do a double take.
There was the exact same work room. With the exact same machine. The exact same looking skeleton staring at it. The view was a top down view at the room. The skeleton in the screen carefully tapped the machine's screen. A few seconds later, Sans did the same thing.
The other Sans looked up around the ceiling. The present Sans did the same thing, moments later.
The other Sans rubbed his skull.
"this is so beyond weird..." Sans mumbled, rubbing his skull a few seconds later. He was starting to realize what was going on. Somehow, this machine showed everything that will happen in the future, in roughly about five seconds time. How in the world did Gaster manage to make something like this?
Sans looked down at the buttons of the machine 'Next room', 'Previous room', 'Skip forward', 'Skip backwards'. Curious, he pressed the 'Previous room' button. The monitor changed to a different screen. Sans's eyes widened with surprise. The new screen now showed Gaster, Kale and Frisk in the living room. Gaster was still doing his paperwork, meanwhile Kale and Frisk were sitting on the couch, watching one of Mettaton's episodes on the TV. Moments later, the front door opened with the other Sans peeking in.
The other Gaster looked at the other Sans. The other Sans shook his head. Then, the other Gaster looked back to his papers and the other Sans left. When Sans went on to go back in the house, it felt like his legs were moving on their own accord. He opened the front door and looked around.
Gaster was sitting at the living room table, sorting through papers. Kale and Frisk were sitting on the couch, watching a rerun of Mettaton's show. Papyrus was over in the kitchen, making lunch. Gaster noticed Sans in the door and looked at him, raising a brow. "Do you need something, Sans?"
"ah- no i'm good... just... it's nothing." Sans shook his head. He had to try, to the best of his ability to remain calm. It was all exactly the same! "Hm... very well, if you are sure." Gaster said. "You know you can talk to us if there is anything you wish to say." From the tone alone, Sans could tell Gaster was still thinking about the conversation earlier this morning. He wondered how long it would take for Gaster to just drop it.
"sure, G..." Sans said quietly, slowly backing out and returning to the work room. He started pacing as he was trying to put two and two together. It seemed like Gaster managed to build a machine that did in fact provide insight into the current timeline... and previous ones. He could look into previous timelines. He could uncover the truth. He could see if his dreams were really just dreams all along... or if they were reality.
This... frightened Sans. So suddenly, so unexpectedly, but the thought frightened him. It could just be dreams. Nothing more, nothing less, just bad dreams. But what if they are not? What if he digs further on this machine and discover his dreams were reality all along? He would learn that all those times he saw himself with Gaster, fighting Frisk in Asgore's hall... all those times he dreamed about Frisk, trying to kill him and Papyrus... it was all real.
Sans backed away, turning off the machine. He was not ready yet. Perhaps he was just stressed, or confused, or both. Perhaps he was not thinking straight. A dream is just a dream, right? What else would it be? They were just dreams... nothing more, nothing less.
Yet despite that, as much as he told himself, he could not truly convince himself. He felt himself shaking. Sans leaned to a wall, taking deep breaths. His left eye glowed cyan. There had to be something they were missing. Frisk would never do that. Frisk would never try to kill them, Frisk was their friend. He was a nice kid, they would never have to...
"c'mon... pull yourself together, sans." He sighed. "it's... gonna be fine. you're gonna look at the freaky machine, you're gonna see your dreams were just dreams and nothing else, and everything will be okay." Sans stared at the floor with dark eyes, hands buried in his pockets. "but maybe... i should check out gaster's other weird timeline machine thing. back in the lab." Sans blinked, his pupils turning normal. He stared at the machine for a little while, before draping the cloth over it again. "but that will wait until night time. i can sneak off when they're all sleeping. for now... i should help gaster with that paperwork."
It must have been at least 11 PM, by the time Sans set out for the lab once more. He was very tired and he would have rather got some sleep than do this, but it was easier to sneak off during the evening, take a look at that big computer Gaster's notes mentioned and get home, all without anyone noticing his absence. After this morning's incident, he'd rather not risk sneaking off early in the morning anymore. Sure, there was still Mettaton to watch out for, but he managed to sneak past him while looking for the big computer.
Despite the darkness, it did not take him long to find the right room. At least, he assumed this was the one. Then again, Alphys and Gaster probably did not keep a suspiciously giant computer in every other room. The room was very big. At least it would have seemed big, if it wasn't for the enourmous monitor taking up most of the space. Sans just stared at it. Down in the bottom was the control panel for the machine and there was a smaller screen, supposedly for easier navigation.
Sans pressed the on button near the smaller screen. The giant monitor also flashed on, with quite a loud noise as well. Sans wondered how Gaster pulled all this off. Giant machine displaying timelines, machine that is essentially a window into other timelines. Gaster made quite a lot of brilliant inventions during his time, but it was a different kind of experience to see one of them for yourself. The fact that Gaster was really this close to discovering time travel... but something held him back. Driving him to create Sans and Papyrus.
The machine asked for password again.
"another password, huh?" He stared up at the massive screen. "well..." Sans input the same password like the other machine. 201X.
INCORRECT PASSWORD
"no? ah crap... then what else could it be?" He rubbed his jaw. What else could Gaster set as a password for his private underground time machine? Well... there was one thing coming to mind. "... maybe it's..."
1s2p_
LOADING...
As soon as the machine loaded, there were a lot of things appearing on the screen, lot of it Sans did not even understand. He expected this machine to just display the timelines like the other one, not to be filled with... whatever all this stuff meant.
TML READINGS
ENTRIES
IDF LOGS
"okay, i guess there is a lot more stored on this thing than i thought..." Sans scrolled through the folders and programs. "i could snoop around but i'm already gonna get in trouble if gaster finds out what i'm doing. probably. i should just..."
TIMELINE DATA
"there we go." He clicked on it. The machine blinked to another screen. There were a lot of numbers, lot of lines, lot of colored hearts that looked like souls. The screen was filled with all sorts of mess. Sans furrowed his brows, trying to make sense of it all. "what the hell is all this? what's with all the lines?" He tilted his head, rubbing his jaw. "i guess this shows... the whole underground. i dunno what all the numbers are about. or the lines." Sans heaved a sigh. "i guess i gotta figure it out on my own. i don't really wanna get gaster involved in this. or anyone. i'm on my own." Sans turned his gaze back on the big screen. "i guess... this shows the current timeline. lemme see if i can view the other timelines."
ACCESS DENIED
ADMINISTRATOR PASSWORD REQUIRED
"administrator password? oh great, another password... uhhh..."
1s2p_
INCORRECT PASSWORD
"yeah, that would have been too obvious." Sans tapped a finger on the desk. "c'mon if i was gaster, what would be my... top secret, giant timeline machine thingy password?"
wdg_
INCORRECT PASSWORD
wingdingsgaster_
INCORRECT PASSWORD
"come on! hmm..."
royalscientist_
INCORRECT PASSWORD
gasterisabignerd_
INCORRECT PASSWORD
"yeah, okay, this won't cut it... i'll have to find out gaster's password later. maybe one of his entries can give me a clue." Sans just ended up staring at the giant screen for a few minutes. Numbers, lines, souls, codes... All these probably showed the statistics of every creature Underground. That was Sans's best guess. Maybe he can find out more about this machine, if he can find more entries from Gaster. But regardless, there was not much else he could do right now, until he found out what that administrator password is.
Sans turned off the giant machine and was on his way out, before Mettaton discovered him. But then he remembered the books that he wanted to take home. So before leaving, he went to Gaster and Alphys's office, remembering where he left the stacks of books earlier this morning. As he lifted them with blue magic and was on his way out, a voice called out.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING DOWN HERE AT SUCH AN HOUR, SANS?"
Shoot. He could not escape it after all. He was not quick enough. "uhh... hey mettaton." He rubbed his neck, trying to remain casual. "y'know, not much. just catching up on remaining work that i forgot about."
"AT MIDNIGHT?" The rectangle's screen flashed between yellow and red as he talked. "SURELY YOU COULD HAVE HAD TIME BEFORE, NO?"
Sans's shoulders dropped as he set the stacks of books down on the floor. "yeah, okay i guess that was pretty transparent." He walked closer to the robot, hands in his hoodie pockets as usual.
"I CAN'T DENY, I HEARD SOME NOISES. THAT IS WHAT GOT ME TO INVESTIGATE."
"uhhh yeah, i may have mingled with... some..." Sans paused, staring at the floor. Was there even a point to be so secretive? It was just Mettaton. But at the same time, he felt like it would be better if he kept this little project all to himself. However, the robot did not let up.
"I CAN KEEP A SECRET, IF IT IS SERIOUS. I CAN ALREADY TELL YOU ARE HIDING SOMETHING, BASED ON THE FACT THAT YOU SNEAKED DOWN HERE AT THIS HOUR. ON YOUR OWN." That tone... was it sarcasm, or Mettaton was actually disapproving of what Sans was up to? Well, he could not blame him if he was. It was not like him to do secret projects in the covet of the night. Then again, it was impossible to tell with Mettaton, his voice always sounded exaggerated.
"look i..." Sans began, looking at the rectangle screen. "i've just been getting some real weird dreams. that's what i've been trying to find out." Sans looked away, his hands still kept in his hoodie pockets. "they feel ... kinda familiar sometimes. it's worrying. so i've just been... trying to convince myself it was just dreams and nothing serious."
"WHAT KIND OF DREAMS ARE THEY?" Mettaton inquired. Sans's eyes darkened. "bad. let that be enough." His eyes went back to normal as he sighed. "i just feel like... there is something going on that we are not noticing."
"LIKE WHAT?"
"i dunno... i'm not really sure what i am looking for but... i feel like something's not right." He glanced at Mettaton for a moment, but it did not seem like he was gonna say anything else. So Sans picked up the books again and turned to leave. "anyway, it's late. i shouldn't linger."
"BE CAREFUL, SANS." Mettaton called after him. "YOU ARE TREADING QUITE A DANGEROUS PATH. WHATEVER IT IS YOU ARE LOOKING FOR, IT MAY NOT BE WORTH IT."
Sans stopped for a moment, but in the end he did not turn around.
It seemed to be going smoothly. Nobody was awake. Everyone was still sleeping. Sans could get back to Snowdin with those books without anyone noticing him lurking around in the middle of the night. Safe for a few dogs or drakes. The house was quiet. Sans almost thought the escapade was successful and that he would be free from questioning by the morning.
But as soon as he entered the bedroom, he already saw Gaster was awake. Probably expected him. "I figured you would sneak out again." Yep, that gave it all away. "ugh come on gaster, can you just get off my back..." Sans set the books down on his bed. "it's nothing you gotta worry about."
"Sans..." Gaster walked closer to him in the darkness. "Whatever it is you are doing, you keep sneak out during the nights so we wouldn't notice. Forgive me for assuming there is something serious you are not telling us."
"maybe you're better off not knowing okay."
Gaster tilted his head, his expression softening up. "Sans. I am worried. So is Papyrus."
"don't worry, i'm fine." He looked at Gaster. He tried to stay calm. But he knew, it was not okay. He was this close to find out whether Gaster was actually right about Frisk all along, or whether there is something else going on that they are not realizing.
"What are these books you've brought..." Gaster picked up a book from Sans's bed before he could stop him. Sans hoped that it had been long enough for Gaster to forget that these books have been lying, hidden and discarded around his lab. But as he read the title, he furrowed his brows. At first he looked puzzled. Then concerned. Seeing the other books, recollection seemed to flash in his eyes. "Where did you get these books?"
"uhhh somewhere... hidden deep in on your shelves in the lab." Sans gave a crooked, nervous grin. He wouldn't look at Gaster. "found em a... couple days ago. i just thought they'd be interesting." He shrugged.
"What are you up to, Sans?" Gaster turned to him, setting the books down. Sans did not look into his eyes, he just kept staring at his pink slippers. What could he say? If he told Gaster what he is doing, he would have to go into detail about his dreams. How he feels like those dreams could be reality. How Frisk continously tries to kill them in his dreams. It felt so familiar. Like it all happened. But if he told Gaster this, he would not hesitate to give Frisk up to Asgore at best case, kill him at worst.
But the piercing gaze that Gaster gave him now. Mixed with suspicion and slight worry. No matter how he tried to twist it, Sans could not come up with a good enough lie that would save his skeletal hide in this moment. He sighed, looking into Gaster's eyes. "okay. fine. you want the truth. just know gaster, you're probably not gonna like what you will hear."