No One is Happy with This (Undertale)

18 ~ Hope Rising

It's nearly a week before you see Sans again. Again, he looks tired and sad. He stays close to Papyrus, holding his brother's hand and avoiding looking at people.

For a moment, you debate about telling him that you're continuing with the project to build the machine. Then you decide not to, not yet, at least.

Doing that... well. You've already established that you don't want to hurt Sans. And he doesn't want you doing this. So you'll only hurt him more if you tell him.

And you can only imagine what his face will look like when you've rescued the Royal Scientist...

Because you are going to do it. You are determined to do it. You won't fail.

Over the next few days, there's a bit of debate between you and the rest of the monsters, about whether or not to tell Sans. You argue your case, and everyone agrees with you.

And then, a few more days, and Alphys says she's figured out the details. She says you'll have to build it in the Underground, and she'll get the CORE started again, and it should have enough power to run the machine, especially without any of the other buildings in the Underground vying for its power.

While you're looking at the blueprints, you have the strangest feeling that the shape of the machine is familiar to you, but you can't, for the life of you, place it.

And then, Alphys says you can start building in a few days.

And then Sans walks into the room. "build what?"

There's an awkward silence.

Sans looks at you. "... you're gonna build it, aren't you."

You hesitate, then nod.

Sans just looks at you for a long time. You expect him to get mad. To lash out at you. You've ignored his warnings twice now. The last time you did that...

... you are REALLY not gonna like what happens next...

So yes. You expect him to be mad.

To your surprise, he just sighs, his shoulders slumping. "there's nothing i can do to stop you, is there? no way to convince you otherwise?"

You shake your head, and you see everyone else doing the same.

Sans sighs again. "... follow me. all of you. there's something i need to show you."

He turns and walks out. You, Papyrus, Alphys, and Undyne all follow him, and you grab Flowey's flower pot on the way out.

To your surprise, after a brief moment of blackness, you are stepping out of the front door of the brothers' house.

"Huh?! What-?!" Undyne splutters as she stumbles out the door behind you.

"shortcut." Sans says simply. "this way."

You follow him, and are surprised to see him lead you around to the back of the house, and even more surprised when he walks right up to a door, a basement door, pulls a key out of his pocket, and unlocks it. Then he ushers you all in, hitting the light switch.

The place, you are astonished to see, is exactly the same as Sans' basement back in Snowdin. In fact, you wouldn't be surprised if it were the same basement, and Sans somehow just got it up here on the surface.

As everyone else is marveling at the fact that not only does Sans have a secret basement, but the fact that it isn't an utter mess (not a sock in sight, Papyrus exclaims!) you just watch as Sans walks over to the pink tarp covered thing in the corner.

For a long time, he just looks up at it. Then, he speaks up, catching everyone's attention. "if you guys are really serious about building this thing," he reaches out and tugs at the tarp, pulling it down, "then let's get to work."

You suck in a small breath. That's why the blueprints looked familiar! They're the same plans that sit on Sans' countertop, the same plans that were used for the half-built machine before you. Granted, the machine is covered in a layer of dust, dents, scorch marks, and ominous black stains, but it's there nonetheless.

Sans has tried, you realize. He tried to build the machine and he couldn't. And he must not have told anyone because he didn't want to risk them being erased.

Annoying Dog! You're beginning to understand that you can't even begin to comprehend what Sans has been through. That he's been through so much more than you ever realized, that he's endured so much more, that he's so much stronger than you ever thought.

You realize that he's probably been through a hell you can't even imagine.

But, as he looks over his shoulder at the group of you, you can see just a bit of hope in his eyes.

Just a bit of hope, winning out over all the pain and misery and hopelessness, just a bit of hope that maybe, maybe, this time, he could succeed.

The thought fills you with determination.

You will help him. You will make sure he does succeed.

You will take that spark of hope in his eyes, and you will grow it into a flame, a wildfire.

You grin at Sans. "Alright, then. What do we do first?"

And suddenly, you see a side of Sans that you've never seen before. You can practically see the gears turning in his skull as he thinks it over, as he plans it out.

And then, he looks at each of you. Squares his shoulders. Starts to talk. "alright. well, i've got the basic frame laid out already, but you can see it's taken a beating. so undyne, papyrus, i want you two checking things over, cleaning things up, and replacing damaged parts. make sure that anything you replace is the exact same part as the one you took out, and it's installed exactly the same as it was. our existence depends on it, so don't hesitate to ask me questions. alphys, the house is already directly wired to the core- don't ask me how, i'm not gonna explain- but all you need to do is get the core powered up. i'll go over it with you later to make sure it's at peak efficiency. and frisk, you're with me. we're gonna head over to the hardware store and pick some things up."

And when Sans looks at you, it's with yet another expression you've never seen on him before.

Determination.

§

A/N

I'M SO EXCITED FOR THE UPCOMING CHAPTERS THEY'RE GONNA BE SO GREAT AND I JUST CAN'T EVEN

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!