No One is Happy with This (Undertale)

17 ~ A Moment of Misery

Just like Alphys said, this project is a lot harder than just "Let's go build a thing!" First she needs to get permission from Asgore to build it, which means explaining all the story you've learned, which, in turn means explaining the potential consequences of failure.

It takes a long time to convince Asgore, but eventually you manage to the same way you convinced Alphys: if anything goes wrong, you can just reset, and load from your last SAVE.

Then there's all the planning. Alphys says that there are a number of blueprints on the True Lab computer that weren't lost or deleted, but not only does she say the thing will be huge and require an even huger power source, but she doesn't know if these blueprints contain the faults that caused the last Royal Scientist to be erased. So she'll probably have to go over those for a week or two. Or longer. She says it's quantum physics, and she doesn't understand quantum physics too well.

On the other hand, you've gone from being Super-Detective Frisk to the Royal Scientist's assistant Frisk. Granted, you don't know that much about science, so your job mostly consists of carrying things for Alphys and keeping her encouraged. Still, though, she assures you that you're a very big help.

And then there's one more thing you want to do.

You want to tell Sans what you're working on.

So, two days after the incident with the door, you get Undyne to drive you up the mountain to the brothers' house.

You knock on the door. It takes a moment, but you hear Papyrus's voice through the door: "Coming!" Sure enough, a moment later, the tall skeleton opens the door.

"Oh! Hello, Frisk!"

Something seems off, though. For one thing, Papyrus doesn't immediately invite you inside. For another, the smile he gives you doesn't seem so wide and happy as usual.

But you can think about that in a minute. Right now, you have news for Sans. "Hi, Papyrus! Is Sans home?"

Papyrus glances away from you. "...Yes..."

You frown a little. This behavior is most un-Papyrus-like, and it's making you worried. "Can I... talk to him?"

Papyrus looks away again and rubs the back of his skull. "I-... I don't know that that's a good idea, Frisk. Sans is... he's not doing too well right now."

You're hit by a wave of guilt. "What-... what's wrong?"

"... He's just... very, very sad. Everything that happened a few days ago reminded him of... well, of the Royal Scientist, I guess. And-... well... he hasn't been this bad in a really long time."

You're silent for a long moment. Then, "Is there anything I can do to help?"

Papyrus shakes his head a little. "No. He just needs time. Give it a few days, and he'll be back to cracking puns like usual!" Papyrus grins a little, just a bit of his normal bravado crossing his face. It quickly slips away, though. "But there's not a lot you can do."

"Okay." You nod and start to leave. Then you stop. "Oh, Papyrus?"

"Yeah?"

"Will you tell Sans for me that-... that, when he's ready, I have some news that might cheer him up a little?"

Papyrus smiles at you and nods.

On the way back to Alphys's lab, you realize you've gotten an answer to another one of your questions. Papyrus is so good at handling people's emotions because he's used to helping Sans.

Poor, poor Sans, who's lost family and friends, and doesn't even have the relief of forgetting.

It only makes you all the more determined to build the machine and rescue the Royal Scientist.

For Sans.

But it's another three days before you see Sans again. And he looks... very tired.

You tell him about how you're going to build a machine.

His response isn't what you expect. It's not joy, not hope. Not even appreciation.

It's misery. Panic.

"no! you can't! someone could get hurt- or erased!"

"No, it's okay!" You assure him. "If anything goes wrong, I can just res-"

"but you can't! you can't reset, frisk! that won't fix it! don't you understand? i warned you about this!"

You frown, just a touch of dread working its way into your Soul. "What...?"

"resetting can't bring everything back, frisk! i told you, it can't! i know because i've tried!"

"Sans..."

"i had that power, frisk! before flowey, i was the one with the most determination! i thought i could go back and fix any mistake that i made, any mistake we made with the project. but i couldn't, frisk. resetting can't bring everything back! it can't bring back what doesn't exist! if something goes wrong with this, and someone gets erased, then that's it! they're gone, they never even existed, forever. understand?"

You realize you're blinking back tears. Sans could reset, and now you realize that he knows, even better than you, that resetting can't wipe away all the consequences. So you nod. "I-... I understand."

Sans just nods, and slips away from you.

... You understand, but that doesn't mean you're finished. Because Sans needs you to keep going. He's broken and hurt, and needs help. Doing this, saving the Royal Scientist, you think, is one of the best ways to do that.

And everyone agrees with you. You explain to them, you make sure they understand the consequences. That any of them, that all of them, could be lost.

Monsters, you realize, are far too nice for their own good. They all want to help Sans so badly that they're all willing to risk their own existence to do so.

And you too. You want to help Sans. You're going to help Sans.

You're determined to help Sans.

§

A/N

Gotta say, I was hesitant to write this chapter, but I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out.

Anyway, thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it! Comments and votes are my Favorite Things, and every notification I get makes my day!