PLD Chapter 1

"CHAPTER 1: The Lost Dreemurr"

Sub-Entry 1: "The anomaly":
I had landed on this timeline only seconds ago. My curiosity is peaked. This is the first chance I will have to see the genesis of a tragic tale in the making. I always felt dread when I'd discover a new doomed timeline. I had called these the [GENOCIDE] timelines and with good reason; the only tales to be told were by mounds of dust, a sudden total darkness swallowing everything followed by an endless sea of red number 9's...and the laughter. And for a brief moment the distorted, twisted semblance of a child's face. (Music Link)

They all had the same thing in common; rocks fall (metaphorically), everyone perishes, and somehow there's a thread leading back from a destroyed world through the [RESET] that returns everything and everyone to the same point in time with the same inaccessible backstory. To find one that would let me see what happened to lead up to everything going so wrong might yield a better solution in the long run.

I had noticed that this timeline's stability was...off. Almost like this was a game running on a PC, experiencing...hiccups in the load. Little...hesitations in the rendering. Like reality itself was having a hard time breathing and its pulse was erractic. And yet to make that comparison wasn't too far off. Flowey himself had said this was "all a game". Worlds like this one...ones that were so meta and self-aware were a rarity. No...meta was the wrong word...if anything it was more like...stress-testing the fourth wall to see how much could be gotten away with before it was full-on-Deadpool territory

And this world had never...truly broken the fourth wall...just...bent it a lot at times; a certain skeleton was responsible for most of these things. Plus there was the fact that everyone tossed around words like [SAVE FILE] and [CONTINUE], and [RESET] so casually. But I'm getting off track again. The glitches just never really seemed to emerge like other unstable timelines...but I could see the spots in reality where the micro-glitches were buzzing......I probably should have given more thought into it. But if I had...maybe I would have intervened at the wrong moment and caused something...worse to happen.

I walked to the place to the moment of fate, intangible to the world around me. The king and queen would never know I was here, nor would the poor souls whose lives were about to come to a bad end, separated by only a short period of time. Let's not sugarcoat this. I'm talking about the exact moment Prince Asriel Dreemurr absorbed the soul of his adopted sibling--the child that bore the "True Name"....Chara. I had never watched it happen before so...I was prepared for my heart to drop into my stomach. I had seen so many bad things happen in this world. I'd seen so many have a "bad time". To see the first instance...I wasn't looking forward to it.

As I watched I could see the heart-shaped entity rise from the departed child. I heard the young goat-like boy utter "I've got to keep my promise...for Chara..."

I held my breath, while my gaze sharpened toward the gap between his hand and the soul, I counted the seconds...the milliseconds...the microseconds...and then...

...and then something unexpected happened.

The floor underneath him suddenly...caved inward but not like a sinkhole...it was more like a hole in reality itself. Like a singularity. And in moments the poor boy was slipping and falling, his fingers only a hair's distance away from making contact with the heart-shaped sum of all of Chara's remaining being. His cry was swallowed up in the darkness as the power he would have gained had been denied.

By sheer impulse my instinct was to take off running and dive toward the portal but then I heard the voices approaching. King Asgore and Queen Toriel were about to enter. For me to enter the portal would mean having to yank the circuit card from my bracer, turn tangible and dive into it--thus rendering me part of the timeline. Thus solidifying my place in this world's history. It would be another world I'd have intervened in.

I made a judgement call that I didn't want to give up this resource too early. So...I left the area, skipping ahead to another point in the time before Frisk's arrival, knowing that these events of the Timeline had been compromised. At least this one wasn't my fault or Dr. Adonis'. But it really was not much of a softening of the blow when the result was up in the air. I got comfortable and found a stable spot to wait out the fallout. The dimensional area was too unstable to risk watching how the new events would play out. I'd get myself up to speed once I reemerged in a later part of this timeline...

Sub-Entry 2: "A throw-away character":
I've emerged in a later point in the timeline. To be quite frank...the joke's on me. It seems even with the Prince removed from time and space, events occurred pretty much the same way the did in EVERY time line. Asgore still wound up believing he had lost two children to death that day. And he blamed the humans for the latter case. Same end result: the Queen outraged by his horrible actions left her King and imposed self-exile to the ruins. The barrier remained intact. Hope around the underground is slowly eroding, it's like watching a massive train wreck in slow motion.

It never gets any easier; when the only thing you can do is watch from the invisible wall that separates you from their reality. To stand there and do nothing. This is the part of being an agent of S.T.C. that makes it the worst job in the universe. This is those moments you understand exactly why Dr. Alphys considered herself trash; non-action just makes you feel the same way. As the timeline kept advancing more and more victims fell into the Underground. And the number of souls that Asgore had acquired incremented. How much time in the human world was passing? I got vague clues based on how each of them were dressed and what they carried.

Things like an apron, ballet shoes, an empty revolver. I had memorized the other timelines and knew the significance of each but I never really got an idea of how far apart they were spread out. I had picked up on things like the identity of the cloaked person minding the ferry between towns; that place that made you feel like you were traveling the River Styxx. Nuances like that never felt like they were crucial...but always seemed like they fit into the bigger picture. There were deeper philosophical meanings here but pondering them was not my job.

Something's been gnawing at the back of my mind. Asriel had fallen into that void some time ago. I felt so incredibly bad for him. But I felt disgusted by something else...the world went on without him. He didn't finish playing his part in it and the timeline just graced over it like normal. His parents never experienced the shock and horror of him stumbling to the patch of flowers holding onto Chara's body...evolved by absorbing Chara's soul.

In every timeline...somehow...I don't know how...I knew there was an instance of the weak, scared sob of Asriel Dreemurr's last words "Mom...Dad...I can't feel anything." before turning to dust. Every time that vision came into my head, I cringe and lost a little sleep. But still. Was the life of one child so superficial that not a single event was out of place? There should have been loose ends. There should have been complications. I mean...what happened to Chara's soul if Asriel never absorbed it? Furthermore why didn't Asgore have possession of it? He was alive somewhere but this world...his family had written him off so quickly. Was it just because of the absence of determination? People just...gave up so quickly? And that made me grind my werewolf teeth in following up that thought with "Did monsters give up on each other this quickly?"

I was getting worked up over something that was well beyond my control. Besides. I had to double back from the tangent I had just gone off on. I had started off on a valid point. And there was certainly not enough evidence, in my experience as a scientist, to conclude Asriel had "fallen" despite the fact that he had in fact fallen. Huh...I almost confused myself by what I just said to myself. Nevertheless, I didn't have any evidence to prove he was alive and I sure wasn't coming up with ways to find out.

I never went back to see where the hole in time and space lead to...and then it hit me. I had overlooked the obvious! Volt Arcade, I can't believe you're such an IDIOT! My next action was clear. There was no time to lament the state of the world. It was about to get worse. The day was approaching. The day the final child would fall down the barrier of Mount Ebott; the dawn of this world's Judgement Day. But if there was a chance... I had to take it. I had to know if my gut feeling was right. There was only one person who could help me now. I had to see...that person..

The Man That Spoke in Hands.

Sub-Entry 3: "Lost and Found/The Two Things That Were Broken That Day...":
This was embarrassing to admit. I had trouble finding that place. That place between places. Everywhere and nowhere. The void. The Core. Whatever you wanted to call it. That...anti-realm where things disappeared from reality. Where things were erased from existence. The place where I'd find the Man That Spoke in Hands. Wing Ding Gaster. W.D. Gaster for short. The former Royal Scientist. If anyone had answers, it would be him. You'd think as many, many times as I'd explored the...enumerable timeline instances of this fractured world, it would be a piece of cake tracking him down.

It's humbling to remember you have your limits. It's an eye-opener to remind yourself every now and then that even immortality doesn't equal to perfection in all things. Despite my optimistic, semi-naive drive to try to bring about more perfect resolutions to my mission...my desire for not just a happy ending but an ultimate happy ending--one without sacrifice without cruel, undeserved punishment to those who've already been forgiven...I still felt the reality always wind up weighing me down, time and time again.

I know the reason why true perfection is just a fantasy. I have high standards. It's hard for me to settle for anything less than the best of all possible worlds at times. Heh. I guess that's one more of my weaknesses. Anyone in my ranks would tell you my capacity for worry is the other. And boy...I had a lot of potential worries in the making if I couldn't find Gaster. Fragile ego aside...that was second to the real big problem: time was running out.

There's just no getting around it. You either numb yourself to what's going on around you...or you let it eat you alive. The mounds of dust steadily increased as the demon child...the worst possible version of the core trigger of this world continued the [GENOCIDE RUN]. I wonder how close to the Capital you were, you little sicko. If there were theme music around I figured it probably would be very ominous by that point. But again I was alluding to Flowey's fairly meta statement. I decided to take my chances with the latter and bottle it up for later. Lot of worry and regret I'd have to vent. Deal with it on your own time, Volt.

I'd just about exhausted my ideas. I'd tried many of Sans' "shortcuts" to no avail. I tried vertical descent from the huge cliff outside of Snowdin village. I'd tried the doors that wouldn't open under normal circumstances. Even behind closed doors of a room with a lot of socks and a perpetual garbage tornado. (Yeah...if you don't know what that's about, you shouldn't be reading any further...you were warned to have the appropriate study material on hand.)

The temptation to give up was weighing heavily. But as a lycan I wasn't that different from a human. I was still capable of immeasurable determination. As much as I burned to put my own determination to the test against the kid's determination...that wasn't in the stars. That was a no-no. This dimension was already unstable. What I considered was nothing short of a premature end to this universe. I had to use every moment it had left.

Wait...every moment it had left...I said that to myself like I had some kind of plan. What was I going to do if I found what I was looking for? A thought...or rather an idea occurred to me. A crazy idea. I'm sure it was an idea against rules and regulations. But what choice did I have if this world was about to end? All things in time, Volt. First things first. Find-- Huh? Hello, what have we here?

It seemed as I had finally stumbled upon what I was looking for. I had found new resolve. The same kind of resolve I had in an earlier part of my own existence--before I had opened the Genie's Lamp and Pandora's Box as we in S.T.C. refer to that which should not be explained to how we become immortal time-walkers. I had an echo resonating in my memories of a time when I lead the Ultra Crew Institute Action Team in that place I called my second home--Miranda City. But that's a tale for another day. This research log is starting to get a little too personal. And a little too unprofessional.

A door. Why wouldn't it be a door? Well. If I was going to do this...I guess I had run out of time. Shoving up the sleeve on both my lab coat and my karate gi jacket, I located the bracer on my wrist and the yellow-and-black striped Hazard Card--the circuit plate that kept me from integrating into a timeline's history--on the side. Once removed, there was no going back. But it was the only way to interact physically with this universe. (Music Link)

So I got a good grip. Counted to three. Took a deep breath and yanked hard with a spray of sparks and a backlash of energy as I felt the timeline wrap around me. I was now in as much mortal danger as anyone still left alive in this world. And hard to believe...I felt good about it. I was finally taking action and not watching and ignoring. This was the best part of the job.

I opened the door and stepped inside...and fell outside the time-space continuum again. This time not from my tech but from leaving the boundaries of "the game" as the flower had called it. I felt compelled to address Flowey and  address Asriel as though they weren't one and the same person. But I knew otherwise. Actually...in this timeline's case that was actually true. Flowey didn't exist. And if my risky gambit paid off...he never would in this world. I guess that would be the only way he could be shown [MERCY], now? The demise of this world was inevitable. I just hope it would last just a little bit longer...

It was dark. Completely dark. Yet I could see myself. There was no ground under me but I was standing as if gravity itself was binding me to a floor I couldn't see. It looked to be an infinite abyss in all directions, though. I couldn't...feel any life around me...no...substance. And yet I could feel something watching. I looked in all direction. Nothingness. I felt as though I had given my hopes up, that I'd walk in and the kid would just be in front of me. But...maybe it wasn't meant to--

That was when I heard it. The language that defied description. I turned and looked above to see vaguely skeleton-esque, very twisted form of a chalk white face...resembled one of those theater white masks that denoted comedy and tragedy. A crack running down the skull to the top of the right eye socket--a socket bent into an open grin shape. A crack almost like a clean slice running down the bottom of the blotch left eye socket to the top of the mouth. But the hands...a gaping hole through each palm. So this is what became of the man who no one remembered...who no longer existed. Former Royal Scientist, Dr. Wing Ding Gaster. (Music Link)

''"Mind the problem at hand, Volt." ''was my first thought.

Communication was...going to be a hindrance unless I solved this dilemma. Fortunately I kept holo tablets collapsed in storage so a simple unfold and access to a word processor with a good number of font options and I had soon devised a cipher.

It was a meaningful conversation.

I turned out to "not be the person he was expecting". And even if I had been it was..."sooner than expected". He offhandedly said that he wasn't meant to be seen as it would "ruin the plan" but I guess he decided there was a matter of greater importance I was bringing to the table. I explained, using the holo-tablet as a translator the predicament. It seemed he already knew much of what I had to say. He was...quite the casual observer from outside time and space. I guess he and I had a lot in common.

But of course...I couldn't hold my tongue for much longer so I asked about-- er...yeah. I guess he was way ahead of me there. He pointed to he very "corner"...?...of the...room? I shrugged and walked...and kept walking until I heard the unmistakable sobbing. I looked down. And there he was. Alive. Soul intact. Completely unchanged from all the time that had gone outside of this null space. Asriel Dreemurr. What was lost was finally found. (Music Link)

My feeling of pride and triumph was short lived as the humanitarian in me immediately saw how unresponsive he was. Hugging his knees to his chest. Crying endlessly. Eyes sullen; completely devoid of the will to live but unable to...unable to...no, I didn't want to think about that. All took in the moment, thinking to myself...he had the softest cry I'd ever heard from a child. It was gentle...but the trauma behind it threatened to slash my heart to pieces. I was so close to crying with him.

I felt Gaster's form looming behind me. Another conversation and I soon had a few more pieces of the puzzle. As my gut feeling theorized, Asriel had tumbled into to this place. Apparently Gaster had...remembered this young child from...a far earlier time before his own tragic...falling in. I asked how long he had been here. Gaster replied that information was not relevant. O-kaaaay. I was being kinda reminded of Dr. Nikita Lynx back in my old life in Miranda City.

His coldness and lack of emotion cut like a knife. There was another image that made me shudder as I knew what it entailed. The threat going on outside. I wanted to ask W.D. Gaster why he didn't take action but...I was pretty sure I had the answer. IN fact I was sure I had more than one answer and they were both correct. Honestly...did Gaster seriously ignore this crying child? And for how long?

So I had found him. The fallen prince. The Lost Dreemurr. But...now was time for the question I had dodged. What do I do now that he was here? Taking him outside of this space ran the extreme danger of giving him a death sentence. The dullness of his eyes was a dead giveaway that he probably wouldn't stop it from happening. I knew what this meant. This was the lifeless expression of a person who was broken inside. He lost his best friend in the whole world. He lost his mother and would soon lose his father. He lost everything. But that wasn't the worst of it...at least from his point of view. He broke his promise to Chara. Asriel knew...he just knew there was no way to keep it now.

While these tragic realizations were weighing me down, they were counterbalanced by other realizations. I realized at least three things and a possible fourth and it was spelled in bolder letters than the SAVE/CONTINUE screens that...I stilllll hadn't quite come up with an explanation for. (Darn all the meta and near-meta.) I needed to keep in mind these things while looking on a boy who in spite of losing everything suddenly had more potential to gain untold good fortune if...if......if........ Slow down, Volt. This is beginning to sound like you're trying to create another Bruce Wayne. I'd have to thwap a certain red-haired, ruby-eyed, white-furred Edoropian rabbit princess later for that thought...

* ahem* What I assessed was this:

1) This was the ONLY Asriel Dreemurr in every single time-space continuum I encountered that NEVER ABSORBED CHARA'S SOUL.

2) This was the ONLY Asriel Dreemurr in every single time-space continuum I encountered that NEVER CROSSED THE BARRIER INTO THE HUMAN WORLD

3) This was the ONLY Asriel Dreemurr in every single time-space continuum I encountered who NEVER DIED. Obviously being revived or reborn didn't count.

And a potential 4) ...this COULD BE potentially...the ONLY Asriel Dreamer I've encountered that...just might be able to survive a [GENOCIDE] Timeline...

The scientist in me was onto something big, the decent person in me was onto something even bigger. But unfortunately I didn't have any time to think it through further. W.D Gaster interrupted my thoughts with--

"Oh dear. This is unfortunate."

"What a waste. The plan it seems can no longer move forward. This timeline is about to come to an end."

He continued without any real sign that he felt anything or truly lamented anything. It was apathy in its truest form. I wonder if this lost soul cared about anything anymore. Even his own-- Whoops...almost started down another tangent. There would be time to ponder that some other day. The time to act was now once again.

I turned to Gaster. There was this unsaid conversation that seemed to argue but not really argue about the dangers of going out that door to what awaited outside. But I guess I...won him over. For on cue the door seemed to reappear. I don't believed he had any belief that we'd survive once we were through and yet I don't believe he'd stop us no matter what we did. His form turned gray and a familiar sound seemed to emanate from it as he was seemingly dragged out of existence by some unknown force. There was no mistaking it. He was sparing us both. Huh...well...[MERCY] it was.

Now came the other hard part. Getting the poor boy to respond.

"Asriel. Please. It's not safe here."

I tried to look him in the eyes in spite of him just hanging his head...staring at the ground. I felt myself a little distracted by those incredibly floppy ears of his. But distractions were the last thing I needed.

"Asriel. We have to go. Please. Please, I'm begging. I need to you trust me. I need you to prom--"

I cut myself off sharply. I didn't want to use THAT word. So I doubled back in my thoughts and instead finished with...

"Asriel...do you trust me? I'll let you decide. We won't move an inch from here if you don't want."

"..."

No response.

Time was running out and I could sense forces threatening to explode...implode...maybe both at the same time?

* silence*

I saw his gaze move upward toward me. That's it. That's it, look me in the eyes. Look me in the eyes, Asriel." He was still not moving though.

I swallowed hard.

Slowly...he got to his feet, his eyes hidden by the shadow of the mess that was his head fur...hair...whatever. That very anime-ish moment when you could imagine the dark cloud of emotion hanging over him...but you couldn't predict where this would go.

"If you trust me...take my hand."

I reached out to him. It seemed like the space between us was infinite even though that was farthest from the truth. I reached out farther. I was getting worried. Very worried. I didn't want it to end like this. I didn't want to lie to him to give him false hope. I couldn't promise I could fix this timeline. I couldn't promise I could bring his family back. I couldn't promise anything. It was looking like I couldn't save him after all--

I felt his furry hand wrap around my own furry hand...and then I felt the gentle squeeze. He barely looked up...just enough to see where he was going. With that I hurried toward the door. He kept pace...barely. I swung it open and skidded to a stop to a much worse sight than I had anticipated. Random...slashes of red piecing total blackness, trading off with a pour of blood red number 9's in strings raining down all accompanied by demonic laughter...before it all suddenly froze up. (Music Link)

Then the micro-glitches started emerging and swarming everything. What was left of the world was folding in on itself and in moments we'd be consumed as well. We were out of time. I tried to access one of the other timelines. No good. Somehow this timeline had de-stable-ized so much it had become disconnected from the other timelines. It had gotten so out of hand even the [RESET] was being torn to pieces and fractal code like some kind of computer program before my eyes. That was it. This was a death trap. I'd failed..............no. There was another way.

I shoved up my sleeve, using my werewolf teeth to do it, without letting go of Asriel. Then I switched hands with him, stepping around him and used my now free hand first to pull out a beacon band from my labcoat pocket and auto-fit it around Asriel's wrist. He didn't try to resist. Then I used my free hand to access the bracer and pry its access hatch open and yank the screen and upper motherboard out of the way, revealing the square shutters with the yellow and black diagonal stripes underneath. I had to admit it looked like on of another of my mentors' Ecto muon confinement "ghost traps" but now was not the time for nostalgia. I pressed on the lone switch and the panels swung open revealing the big red switch underneath. With only a moment of hesitation to take in the full gravity of what I was about to do I pushed the plunger down hard with a spray of sparks as the voice warning rang out:

"EMERGENCY RECALL ENGAGED. STAND BY TO RETURN TO TIME-SPACE-CONTINUUM BEACON."

I thought I had save us at that point so when the next vocal message came up, I was starting to panic.

"ERROR. UNKNOWN SYSTEM MALFUNCTION IN GATEWAY."

The dimensional collapse was now surrounding us and I stopped counting the moments and started counting the cubic inches remaining.

"Oh for Isaac H. Newton's sake..."

The dimensional collapse was now surrounding us and I stopped counting the moments and started counting the cubic inches remaining.

What did I have left to try? There had to be something--

"Authorization code 10: Command - Alternate Destination select. Reroute to coordinate set M-C-S-001. Code Word: Foxtrot, Orange, Umbrella, November, Tango, Alpha, Icarus, November."

"Command acknowledged. Transporting now..." And in that moment upon inevitable dimensional crushing, the world went white...

Sub-Entry 4: "Back to the past--my past"
"Success! I've rerouted to the proper coordinates and we're home free! I can--"

A sudden realization set in as I realized I was most certainly not on solid ground. If anything I missed the mark by several hundred feet...straight up.

"For Petri's sake...! WHYYYYYYYYYY?!?"

There's something to be said against descent at an acceleration of 9.8 meters per second squared. And most of it would have to be censored of this document.

A look straight down and I soon realized that directly under me was the city square's fountain. It was big and deep enough that I wouldn't be licking my wounds after splashdown. Plus its unique magic properties gave the water healing power so I was good one way or another. So I let gravity take its course made quite a splash.

With a sputter and a few coughs followed by shaking the excess water out of my fur, relief set in as it was finally over.

"We're here, Asriel. We can--"

Stupid question time. Why did I only remember hearing one splash? Oh f---

I looked up and there he was in a free-fall. the top of his head pointed straight at the ground and his arms being pushed up to his sides. Like a falling rag doll...no, the way he was falling was more like a bomb being dropped from a WWII plane. I couldn't even tell if he was conscious.

"No no no nonononononoNONONOOOOO!!"

I ignored the fact that I was quoting Alphys upon learning the disaster of injecting fallen monsters with liquid determination and watching them melt and fuse together into the Amalgamates. I put myself in mortal danger and worked too hard and seen too much to let it all be for nothing. If this boy died I swore I'd spent eternity biting Madam Fate in the ass.

I crouched down then put everything I had into my legs and made the jump of a lifetime. It had to be the single greatest werewolf leap of all time. My terrain master would smirk at me pulling this off without Overdrive Grand Prix overtech and bioware. Using my electric and magnetic powers for a boost (I am an elemental lycan after all), I went up and up...and overshot.

I grumbled as I bent the electric path into a U-turn and shot straight down, drawing my arms in and locking onto whatever underground metal--pipes or otherwise I can find and tractor beaming myself to catch up to the goat-like boy. I grit my teeth, lips curled in a determined grimmace. With one last ditch effort I caught up to him in mid air, wrapped my arms around him and pulled him close, steered myself as best I could and braced for impact with yet another splash.

I think I changed my mind. The worst part of the job was that I couldn't omit this embarassing faux pas from my report...

I emerged, pushing Asriel to the surface first before I worried about my own safety. Sputter. Cough. Wrinsed and repeated. Wellllp. This sure earned a stop at Rock-Afire Pizza or Hestia's. Just my luck. Neither was open this late at night. Guess we're boned, Azzy.

Helping him out of the fountain and helping him get seated on the edge, I plopped down next to him. He was still silent and catatonic. Still completely broken.

I tried to put on a happy face. No response.

I tried making one of Sans' puns.

Again no response.

I said with a cheesey shrug. After that attempt I sighed and stopped trying to get a reaction.

"Yeah...I wouldn't laugh at my jokes either. Some rescuer I turned out to be--"

"Why...?"

I wasn't sure if my ears were playing tricks on me.

"Why, Mister...?"

The voice was weak...barely a whisper. There wasn't any emotion behind it. It was so soft and gentle. Even with my sensitive werewolf ears...I had trouble hearing it.

Asriel hugged his knees to his chest and looked down at the ground.

"Well I wouldn't be much of a hero If I--"

"Why didn't you let me die?"

That really put a damper on the mood. It was setting in, Volt, wasn't it? That feeling. You couldn't understand that feeling.

"It's my fault isn't it? I couldn't do what Chara asked me to."

"Asriel, no. It's--"

"Mom and Dad are dead because of me. The barrier's never going to be broken because of me. Everything's gone because of me. Please don't waste your time on me. I'm a bad kid. Bad kids don't deserve to be happy. Bad kids don't deserve mercy. I did a bad thing. I let Chara down. She'll hate me. She won't want me to be her family anymore."

I felt myself tearing up.

"I'm not her best friend...not anymore. I'm the worst friend ever. Monsters like me...we should turn to dust."

My gasp could have stunned an elephant. This wasn't right! This wasn't right!

The birds were sleeping. The flowers were hibernating. On cold nights like this...kids like him....had no reason to be burning in Hell.

How does a...a child say this with such a lack of emotion...such a lack of life...so quietly...so plainly? And yet there's no doubt they mean every word of it.

I pulled him into a hug and felt my eyes well up in tears. This was stabbing me through the heart. Curse you, timeline. Curse you, Madam Fate.

"''Curse you, Chara. You dirty brother-killer..." ''I almost said aloud. If I let Asriel hear me say such a thing...I'd lose any trust he had in me.

I was thinking in metaphor and not in a good frame of mind. She hadn't killed his body or soul...but her reckless plan killed his heart and shattered his mind. Asriel was alive but as he was now...how was this any different from if she had taken that knife and plunged it into his chest herself? And that gave me an even more horrifying image of how a Chara-manipulated Frisk slashed Flowey to pieces, the echo of "I knew you had it in you..." ringing in my memories.

My moment of emotional chaos was interrupted by Asriel sneezing and then shivering. Oh crap...I had to get him warm and dry before he caught the death of cold. I felt like I was about to have a panic attack. Too many worries to list and not enough good things to keep them at bay. I was at a loss and needed guidance. I needed another responsible adult in on this. I had a chance to finally take in where we were.

Yes. This was Miranda City. The date and time, while I had to keep it classified, was definitely after my years as UCIAT team commander but before the official founding of the S.T.C. organization; squarely in the era I was working with another of my mentors at the Institute for Future Technology......Great Scott, had it been so long?

Things hadn't changed that much around here. Rock-Afire Pizza was still there. So was Walrus Bros. Plumbing Service & Supply. There was Computer Valhalla. Ultra Crew Institute Action Team Headquarters...the old HQ never looked better. And of course...

"Rabbotou Dojo."

Just as there had been only one man who could help me get out of Dodge...there was only one woman I could turn to at this time of night that I could trust with my life or anyone else's.

Sub-Entry 5: "Through Fire, Enlightment Walks"
I lifted Asriel into my arms, reenforcing my strength with magnetism and carried him through the giant red Jangese gate leading to the temple-mansion of Rabbotou Dojo. A magnificent architecture of the orient, the was the home, martial arts dojo, and much more of my former Second in Command.

After ascending the staircase and reaching the doors I didn't even have time to react as they swung open; as if we were expected. This was normal when it came to this dojo's master. I was greeted by its human cartaker, Megami Akane Kobayashi. There was no mistaking her fair white maiden skin, jet black hair tied with a white ribbon in a straight, lengthy ponytail, her piercing blue eyes, and her white and red shrine priestess attire. Megami gestured to enter, staying silent; she wasn't fluent in Common so she refrained from speaking to us in her native Jangese tongue.

It seemed my former Second-In-Command's powers of perception were as sharp as ever as she had prepared for our rival without any prior knowledge of me returning to this place. I nodded, carrying Asriel...awake but barely responsive.

After making our way across the bamboo floor of the training area and through the various other sections and rooms we made our way outside again to the Feng Shui Jangese Garden out back. We passed by the garden's occupants--three conspicious sleeping fluffballs; a white, a black, and a green. It was good to see the rabite trio again.

We made our way to the epicenter to the "Go Genso no Mon"--the Five Elemental Gates, I paused to take everything in. Five red gates similar to the entrance to this temple mansion complex. And each one bore one of the five Jangese characters denoting its respective element. It had been some time but I recalled each symbol and its meaning. Hi: fire, Kaze: wind, Mizu: water, Moku: wood, and Kin(zoku): metal. I decided to enter the path of the fire gate. It wasn't long until I came to the cordoned off area. And low and behold there was Megami, scripting on the ground in ancient Jangese writing, using four color of oriental ink--black, red, yellow, and cyan.

With the final inlaid symbol, the characters lit up as the young woman stood back and from each sprung forth the 1000 soul flames of the kitsune. Each fox-fire ball gathered in the center and erupted into a mighty tower of flame. Flame that cycled through the colors of the rainbow. My keen werewolf nose sensed someone coming. And low and behond the flames parted and I saw her silhouette in the shadow of the night. At last. The person of interest. My second in command.

Grand Master Bunnie Meiru Rabbotou

In silence she stood, her white karate gi fluttering from the air currents. the lavish haori kimono over top the jacket, opened up. Her pink sandals were unmistakable even in the contrast of light and dark. Her blond hair tied into a trailing ponytail the likes I had only seen on the Maverick Hunter, Zero (Another time, another case file.) Her rabbit ears could easily be made out. I could tell her eyes were closed. She was drawing upon her other sense; her Hybrid Ability known as Sixth Sense--an intensely telepathic/clairvoyant psychic ability. It had grown more powerful since the incident dealing with the Colossus and Nalaar. It seemed that she had the ability to gaze into a person's very soul and not just their mind.

"How can a face so young wear so many burdens...?"

Always perceptive, Bunnie.

Bunnie calmly walked through the parted flames until she was a foot or two away from where I stood.

"Hello, Major. It's been a long time."

I'd always called her Major as it was the rank that she had been given long ago by one of the founding members of Ultra Crew Action Team Institute. Violet would joke that I was equating Bunnie to Major Motoko Kusanagi of Section 9 from the time we we collaborated on the Stand Alone Complex cases (though there WERE uncanny similarities between the two and not merely their levels of cyberization). Despite how important it sounded, around here it was superficial. By now Bunnie had probably been promoted again so...the title was mere formality. Nothing more.

"Volt-san."

She opened her eyes. Those emerald green eyes. She always looked like she had stepped out of an anime. One of the serious-toned, elegant art-styled ones. Everything about her was stoic. Everything about her was profound. And everything about her was wise beyond her years. She had matured a lot faster than any genetic Hybrid should.

Despite the resemblance, this Bunnie wasn't the same as the one that existed in a different universe on a different world known as "Mobius". Shorter in stature, left arm and both legs permanently roboticized, and that cute Southern Drawl. If anything...her Mobius counterpart reminded my Bunnie of her mother.

Yet that was a case file I had been involved in that would have both of them meeting each other by chance. One of the first of many "Alternate Universe" (AU) versions of people from completely different, completely unrelated worlds that I had grown up with...not knowing the truth about them until my S.T.C. fieldwork began. Suffice to say I had...questions for the Council that they refused to justify.

She looked upon the boy.

It was hard to tell if she was referring to his mind or his promise to Chara. Or both. I felt inclined to set Asriel down. I was relieved that he was willing to stand on his own. The mystic heat from the flames was quickly drying us off and warming us at an unnatural speed. I wasn't complaining. I liked it hot. With the area lit up I could finally get a good look at him.

His fur was silky and white. It seemed almost too pure white to be real. His head fur was still kind of a mess from the fountain. There were no signs of horns like those of his parents--Asgore and Toriel. He was probably too young for them to come in, just yet.

Of course there were those floppy goat ears; I bet if someone grasped them gently and held them up, Asriel would be doing his best impression of a bunny. His eyes were open and through the glazed expression I could see their red color. They weren't glowing red like a demons, but more natural as you'd see in some types of fauna. In fact his eyes kinda reminded me of Violet Tokugawa's...only with white instead of pinkish sclera.

He was wearing a long-sleeved green shirt with yellow-green stripes. Violet would probably joke it looked like reverse Freddy Krueger sweater. And then I'd have to hit her for being insensitive. And lastly he was wearing brown pants with a hole in the back for his little goat like tail. And lastly he was completely barefoot, his three-toed feet reminding me more of hybrid rabbit or cat feet. I honestly expected them to be cloven hooves.

"Where does this child come from?"

I paused then replied.

I wasn't just trying to sound as mysterious as her. In spite of my cryptic reply, Bunnie immediately knew that Asriel had been found outside of time and space. On a world, in a timeline that was doomed.

"You have doubts over what you've done."

There was no keeping anything from her. Her ability to see right through me and know that I was keeping another secret was unnerving. Bunnie's perception let her see what was hidden. Yet Bunnie instinctively knew when the question had to be asked...or when to leave well enough alone.

I squeezed my eyes shut and turned away, defensively.

"What I did, I did without choice, in the name of peace and sanity."

"Would you come to to this place seeking my approval?"

"..."

"You already have your answer."

I nodded, knowing what she was getting at.

"Why?"

The same question Asriel asked.

I knew I was going to get disapproval for borrowing a quote as Violet would do on a whim...but it seemed an appropriate response. I looked over my shoulder back at Bunnie.

I said with a spike of anger and derision toward the situation.

A brief smirk. Seems I caught her off guard with that one. Despite my lack of originality, It was definitely an answer she liked.

"Truer words were never spoken. But next time use your own, Commander."

Ex-Commander. I wanted to correct her but I wasn't about to nitpick old titles. Honestly. Did no one acknowledge Commander Miles T. Prowler since he came to us from the Alphabet Soup think tank in Corinth; having worked along side Dr. K until he was 21? He'd had quite the growth spurt since the days of Ecotropia...but that was another story.

Bunnie looked up at the starry sky, putting her hands behind her back as she turned away.

"It's a lovely night. Somewhere there are worlds out there where the sky is burning, the sea is asleep, and the rivers dream. People made of smoke and cities made of song. Somewhere there is danger, somewhere there is injustice..."

Bunnie turned back to me, cocking her head slightly with a big closed-eyes, anime smile.

One stolen quote deserved another, so it would seem. As if on cue Megami reappeared with a tea tray and three servings of tea.

I accepted one and she took one. Asriel remained unresponsive. I motioned for Bunnie to hold off. Asriel was from a race that was made of mostly magic. Food in the Underground had different properties. It didn't spoil, it was always the right temperature--never burning the tongue and never giving brain freeze. It was broken down instantly into magic--which explained why it restored Frisk's hit points instantly......darn that meta game lingo rearing its head.

The realization made me realize what the next step was. I needed more answers so it was time to turn to magical, medical, and scientific professional opinions. I was going to have to wake some people at this hour.

Sub-Entry 6: "A doctor, a magician, and a scientist enter a dojo..."
It was the next logical step. I had to be sure Asriel could survive on this world. I had to know everything from whether he could injest food that was more matter than magic. I had to know if he'd suffer some kind of deficiencies while on this world. I had to know if he had allergies of any kind. I had to know his magic mantra (not that I really understood magic, nor did most of my UCIAT personnel.) And I had to know other science data before anything else.

I called upon my most trusted in the field. I would have to call in a favor from outside my organization. It was time to turn to Miranda's Mage Academy. It was time to get Sarina on the horn. I would also need a scientist to get a second opinion and of course to log Asriel's species into the xenomorphology database and construct a personal file for him. My best bet was UCIAT's own Dr. Nikita Katherine Lynx, PhD. And lastly I'd need a medical doctor to give him a checkup and physical. I could think of no better person for the job than my eldest daughter, Elektra.

The calls were made. The professionals came. Tests were done. And results were compiled.

In the mean time Bunnie had desided to get Asriel a change of clothes. I was skeptical about Bunnie providing from her own wardrobe but I was relieved that Bunnie's own clothes from when she was a child was unisex. Bunnie had said to me before she was a tomboy growing up. I guess this worked out when you had plenty of t-shirts, shorts, and pants and whatnot. And sure enough she had the right stuff in Azzy's size as well as a pair of sandals just so he had some foot protection. I could tell he was more comfortable but he didn't feel better per se. He emotionally shut down again so getting him to speak was probably not going to happen. At least not tonight.

When they finished, Sarina pulled me to the side and gave her findings. I could see the concern in her eyes. Then Nikita's opinion. Completely professional, concise, and all the emotion of Mr. Spock. A lot of numbers to take in, a lot of theories, and more long-winded breakdown of everything science had a measurement for. And finally my daughter wrapped up her medical tests. I didn't have to worry here.

Well. That was taken care of. So now what? It was late and Asriel needed his sleep. Bunnie offered to let him stay at Rabbotou Dojo in at guest room. I on the other hand went back to my old workshop and collapsed on the cot in back. There would be time tomorrow to figure out the next steps. I knew at some point...it would have to come down to adoption procedures. So...which of us in UCIAT was responsible and qualified enough to care for Asriel Dreemurr?

Sub-Entry 7: "Monster Parents adopt a Human Child flipped to Human Parents Adopt a Monster Child":
Yeah. Cumbersome name. Real original, too. Don't judge me. It's perfectly straightforward and it tells it like it is.

Legal affairs. You know I hate em. So much bureaucracy and red tape to throw a monkey wrench into something that should be simple like welcoming a lost orphan from a doomed world into a new home. Rules...there ought to be a law against them. At least that's what a certain Ghost With the Most used to say from yet another of my old case files. The Deetzes were in for more than they bargained for when their daughter set him free...but enough about that. As old black-stripes would say..."It's showtime."

So. You'd probably jump to the conclusion that I should be the one to do the honors and the Major would be the other. Well...you'd be wrong. As a member of S.T.C. This was one rule and regulation that I couldn't bend or break on my best day. As for the Major? I had no doubts regarding her ability to potentially be a parent. I had no anxieties that she could handle it. What I did doubt was that she'd agree to it.

Bunnie had long sworn a vow of celibacy and decided there would be no children as she would be unable to bear them given the...other unique thing about her besides being Jangese and a grand master of the martial arts and the heir of the Rabbotou Technique of martial science; a practice of destructive, binding, and summoning arts that rivaled magic itself.

Her cybernetic nature. When she was a prisoner of the illegal military lab, Vortex during a time of war she was infused with Cybermorphic Nanoplasm strain 13--it had fused completely with her organic form and now allowed her to shift herself from living flesh, blood, bone, organs, vessels, nerves, and fur to sentient machinery with a soul. This very thing gave her too many unknowns and way too many doubts to try to bring a child into the world from her own womb without...complications. It was very possible that her nanites could go out of control trying to incorporated in a new life and could possibly tear her and the fetus to shreds from the inside out. There was always the danger that even if she did have a child, it would be a cybernetic life without being given a say or choice in its very nature entering this world. While this was one very good reason it was unlikely the only reason.

As much as motherhood appealed to Bunnie...she wouldn't be tempted. This was her choice and it was a choice made of her own volition for reasons that maybe even I didn't see. Besides...she had the rabite trio--Bancha, Kukuicha, and Houjicha. They were plenty of responsibility for her to be an owner and guardian to. So let's review the rest of the candidates:

Violet : An AU version of the spoiled rabbit princess from Samurai Pizza Cats. To put it in one phrase? Hell, no. In Asriel's fragile state of mind that last thing I wanted to expose him to was Princess Violet Usako Tokugawa's crass, chaotic, otaku, meme-obsessed, wise-cracking, mischief having, overly-lavish, and otherwise completely self-indulgent and otherwise completely annoying lifestyle. Besides the fact that she'd lead him right into the life of a fanboy otaku gamer, she'd never keep her mind out of the gutter. One part of Beebop's own Francois "Radical Edward" Appledheri (sp?), one part Sans, one part Nintendo Power's Nester, equal parts of Sanji, Franky, and Brook from One Piece, and all genius, philanthropist, DNA-memorizing, super-hacker, trouble-making, politically-incorrect rabbit princess. I had no time to waste on shielding Asriel from Violet constantly keeping herself amused with her pranks and shenanigans. To reiterate...Hell, no. I knew I'd have to introduce Asriel to her eventually but I was going to prolong it as much as possible.

Jon : My son-in-law, Jonathan Talbain--an AU version of Capcom's werewolf from the Darkstalkers series--had married my eldest daughter, Elektra. I had no beef with them taking on the responsibility but...let's face it. The thought of being a father would terrify Jon even more than anything from his Darkstalker past that he spent every effort to isolate himself from. I summed Jon up as one part Vash the Stampede and one part Kenshin with a bit of Son Goku to explain his impossibly ridiculous appetite. A seemingly timid werewolf who jumped at his own shadow when it came to certain things only to hide the darkness of his past that I could tell he was definitely not proud of. I jokingly say Jon would probably make it difficult for Azzy to get his three square meals a day. Assuming he could be on a normal diet. I needed someone who wouldn't be afraid of commitment. Someone who wasn't afraid of taking care of kids. Definitely someone who wasn't hiding from his past.

Pit: Our AU version of the archangel of the Kid Icarus series. Let me be frank. Pit would make a great friend to Asriel but not a caretaker or guardian. He shouldn't even be on this list let alone an option. Granted as an archangel he's actually by far the eldest of us...this gets quickly offset and overturned by the fact that he's barely fourteen in appearance and more naive than Asriel before he met Chara. As a child (or apparent child himself) it was just absurd to even joke about a celestial who was trying to understand mortals himself, this is the kind of thing you suggest just to get a really good laugh...followed by an "Umm. No. Can you be serious?" Put simply...he's just not an adult. Not a REAL adult.

Gadget: She's an AU version of the inventor/detective of Chip & Dale's Rescue Rangers. See above reason. My adopted little sister isn't even close to being old enough to even think about parenthood. Heck, I wasn't ready to let her try her hand at babysitting yet. Overprotective of my early-teen sibling as I may be, I wasn't about to even think about weighing her down with a responsibility like this. On a side note, I could easily see the parallel between Gadget and myself with Chara and Asriel when it came to families of intermixed species. Having said that...Gadget was infinitely and I mean INFINITELY better a person than Chara. My spritely little, scatterbrained, super-genius sis, who saw the world through rose-tinted glasses and her staggering capacity for makeshifting machines and gear out of throwaway recyclables on the fly.

Mitzi : Few people remember the animatronic band, the Rock-AFire Explosion. But you bring up "Chuck E. Cheese" and everyone knows who he is. Mitzi Mozzarella is our flesh, blood and fur version of the animatronic character once owned by Showbiz Pizza Place. A good choice but a bad setup. Despite the fact that she looked like she was a senior in high school, possibly a junior in college, Mitzi was old enough to be MY mother. Hybrids were lucky that they retained their youthful appearance up until the last few years of their lifespan. Though I often wondered how this didn't lead to misunderstandings and ambiguities over age. But that wasn't the issue. Mitzi still had the echoes of a bad breakup from many, many years ago and botht he personal and professional fallout managed to reverberate even now. As a single business-owner with no other family nor any love interests to assist her, plus her commitment to her pizzaria, it would be a lot to juggle. Good mother figure but anyone who she shared the responsibility with, she'd only feel like it was a matter of necessity. I wanted Asriel to have two parents who weren't going to be together begrudgingly like the scenario I foresaw of a separated Asgore and Toriel feeling like they needed to be together for Asriel's sake instead of wanting to be together.

Sally : I've already dropped Bunnie's name. Anyone who knows the Sonic SatAM/Archie Comics princess in the blue vest knows who she is. Our AU version is...different in personality and lifestyle. A great role-model and she'd be a good teacher, but there were a couple of things working against her. For starters I wasn't sure she had the maternal instincts to take care of Asriel. If anything I described Sally's personality as one part Peppermint Patty, one part Undyne, and a generous portion of a certain Blue Blur needlemouse who horded gold rings. The other issue was her equally tom-boyish lifestyle and her celebrity status. In Technopolis, Kaeleron, Sally was a huge rising star in the Overdrive Grand Prix powered race circuit and the Pro Circuit's grand champion for several years straight. Even with her racing partners shouldering some of the media attention, I wasn't confident Asriel's life wouldn't become a media spectacle with a moment of peace to himself. Even during the off season, Sally would be spinning the turntables in her gig as D.J. Aelita in discotechs and dance halls and more than likely less-reputable locations that were no place for a kid to be. She valued her freedom too much too much to be tied down to motherly duties. Toriel she was not.

Lupe :  You'll find a large core of my former Ultra Crew Institute Action Team is made up of Ecotropian refugees and orphans--the AU counterparts of the Freedom Fighters of Mobius. Lupe Lycans is our AU version of the Wolf Pack Freedom Fighter's princess and leader. She would be my best choice except for one thing. While her soft-spoken, tender, loving, demure nature made her the obvious choice, and she was an experienced druid as well as my science officer in charge of all things flora, fauna, and geology...despite the fact her nature preserve was probably the closest to matching parts of the Underground... It was too much risk of being a trigger for traumatic memories. Especially now that the garden section had a special new plot for Lupe's award-winning buttercups. Yeah...as if I was going to let Asriel near the very flowers that Chara poisoned herself with. And especially with my own anxieties that made me DESPERATE to prevent the return of Flowey in any shape of form. Sorry, Lupe. This was one I really wanted to work out. And like the others...she didn't have anyone she was remotely interested in to share the responsibility with. She had the motherly instincts an the potential to be a great mother figure. But I wasn't going to remind Asriel of his almost-bad-choice. He had to move on.

Rotor : Yet another AU counterpart of the Mobius Freedom Fighters. Our AU walrus in question had all of his counterpart's technical skills. I didn't really have a problem with Rotor being a parental guardian, in fact I supported it. Especially since he had a younger brother of his own to care after. This could work. But...as his family was in the plumbing business...I thought Asriel could do better than a life of unclogging stopped up toilets and getting covered in doody-water. And yes...another bachelor with no love interests. Huh...I'm seeing a pattern here.

Antoine : Surely you joke.

Nikita : When Sally crossed the boarder into Neo Arcadia to escape Vorostov, she brought Nikita Lynx with her. An AU counterpart of the artificial construct, Nicole but lacking the personality and sense of humor.I'd be better off leaving Asriel with W.D. Gaster. Too robotic a personality to be a mother.

That ultimately narrowed my choices down to UCIAT's own Dr. Callista Penelope Brighton--a brilliant and potently-psychic neurologist-neurosurgeon and Colonel Scott Angus O'Conner, our super soldier with a pretty jaw dropping alter-ego, having been experimented on. The the of them were this close to being engaged and the two of them shared adequate resources and living quarters even before I stepped down as Commander. I think we had a winner.

And so with my decision made, I'd wait until we could get Asriel in a better frame of mind before we integrated him into our lives, officially. That out of the way...

Sub-Entry 8: "Legacy of my Mentors Over the Years":
Asriel had a place to stay for a while and I trusted Bunnie would be able to tend to his needs and...wants if any. I didn't really see the other being a likelyhood. The thing he wanted most was the thing I couldn't give him; his parents and his sister back. Back from the dead. Back in an instance of the world that no longer existed. Sure I could consider other timelines to insert him into...but that would cause huge complications.

Having Asriel and Flowey in the same place during the same events...it just felt like something would go wrong almost instantly. And there was of course the issue that I couldn't bring him to his parents with him in his broken state...and Asgore and Toriel in theirs. A family this broken couldn't just be reassembled. And really...I don't think he'd ready to be put into the Happy End of a [TRUE PACIFIST] timeline.

I guess if I had to have a master plan...it would be for him to recover...grow, mature...have a surrogate life before I ever considered bringing him to an instance of the world he left behind.

But let's face facts. This was my ultimate goal. A happy ending which he and Frisk would finally meet. And then I'd find a way to bring back Chara without mucking the timeline or getting the one that was a knife-wielding psychopath who'd manipulate her own brother. Somehow there was a way of this all working out without sacrifice, reincarnation, or whatever. I guess I just needed to find orphaned instances in unstable timelines and bring them together at the end of a [PACIFIST] timeline. Heh. Some plan, eh? Couldn't be simpler. Yeah....what could be simpler...

...I was in impending trouble wasn't I?

But as it turned out with Asriel's sleep arrangements squared away...I overestimated my ability to sleep. I think this was right about the time the nightmares began. All of them involved Chara and Asriel. Sometimes Frisk would be there. Many of them would be fashioned from the memories of the timelines. Many repeating over and over and over. Either way...it chipped away at me and made things increasingly harder to endure.

''Why? Why am I being tortured for doing the right thing?''

Of all of them...seeing Asriel's powered form...that dark body, beaten and bleeding and covered in fatal wounds...shaking, staggering, and barely able to carry Chara's corpse...hearing him cry and utter in that distorted voice...calling to his mother and father and saying he couldn't feel anything...and then an invisible breeze just broke him into a scatter of dust that coated the bed of yellow flowers he was standing on, Chara's body dropping onto them. And the horror and devastation Asgore and Toriel were expressing.

That vision...that horrid vision. It would pierce me over and over and over at night. This was the nightmare that drew me to an undeniable truth: Lady Destiny, you failed to protect them and you let me down...you let us all down. Where was your mercy, now? As for your sister? Madam Fate, you are a B-(Insert Flowey laugh sound effect)!

After a few days of trying to let things settle until we could bring more responsible parties in and before we could stop keeping Asriel a secret...I decided I needed peace of mind. I needed guidence from the source. It occured to me we still were lost with the boy. I needed to know more. And for that...that meant I had to return to Mount Ebott and return to the ruins. Yeah. I had millions if not billions of logged timelines--both ones I'd integrated into and ones I'd been nothing more than a casual observer in. Obviously, I wanted to rule out [GENOCIDE] timelines.

The question was...how could I access more of the "backstory" parts of the timeline. Every time I tried to enter at a point before Frisk's arrival, it bounced me back through the time stream to the wrong place at the wrong time. It was as if the Barrier blocked time itself from having two ends stretching to infinity; thus making a time ray or time line-segment rather than a time line.

Maybe Lady Destiny could sense my derision and utter need to diss her her sister she felt inclined to throw me a bone without Fate catching on. A timeline with questionable stability not much different than the fated [GENOCIDE] run. Either way it was a way to check out another timeline. I designated this one UTPR-3224. The number had personal value to a previous mission so I considered it lucky when diving into new timelines. I just had one condition to add. I was going there on my own terms...

The Emergency Reroute did not sit well with me and it sure didn't instill confidence in the system. If the Council insisted on me remembering my place and doing my job, the least they could do was keep me well informed and well equipped. And of course make sure our systems were working... *ahem* This is what happens when Council puts their trust in tech support made up of undergrads who work for peanuts WITHOUT having me properly train them. As the werewolf who FOUNDED this darn operation, they could at least entrust me with our chrono-spatial-dimensional science.

So... if I was going back down there...I was doing this my way. I was traveling there by an alternative method. Yeah. Yeah! Oh, yeah! It was time for my underground Command to dust off the relics. It was time to open my secret stash of mentors' legacies. Sometimes it was good to have your own resources off the record and loyal people you could trust working behind closed doors away from the prying eyes of your bosses.

The secret call was made and that place was opened up in the space within the hanger of on of my longest, most on-going and equally personal assignments--which I was currently diverted from by order of the Council...yeah, no surprise there

No telling how long I can keep this instance of this universe in existence since it was shattered by the aftermath of the second Super Genesis Wave. This was the old universe. Barely holding together. Completely abandoned of all the souls that once called this home.

The new universe was reborn or rebooted or something...and quite literally in pieces. And torn between Dark Gaia and Light Gaia. But I'd worry about that later. This was the place.

I made my way into the former nano-machine city of New Mobotropolis to Tails' hanger. Inside the hanger, I brushed past the Tornado biplane and opened up the secret sections which housed my little shrine of legacy from the various mentors and friends I had...or eventually would meet leading up to my current S.T.C. days. Past and present vehicles for future use.

This was how I got the nickname "King of Crossovers" among my S.T.C. peers.

Speaking of future, I knew what I needed was within my reach; the prototype of my mentor at the Institute for Future Technology in fact. My teacher had made a good point when it came to time machines; if you're going to build one into a car, why not do it with style.

I went past the bevy of other vehicles, machines and equipment, I passed by a lab table with some of the quantum/nuclear tech another of my mentors had invented after...*ahem*...after being wrongfully dismissed from his professorship in the now-terminated parapsychology department at the university he conducted the majority of his research. And my gaze was drawn to two of his old scanning devices. I doubt I would need either unless I wanted to know where Napstablook was at any given time.

I looked them over. "Venkman Industries." Couldn't resist putting your name on the trademark, could you, Peter? Oh well. Better to be prepared. I pocketed both of the meters and proceeded on until I found the tarp over the vehicle in question.

I yanked it off and smiled upon seeing the heavily modified, stainless steel and aluminum shell of the gull-wing door sports car in question. Still a full tank of gas. Still air in the tires. Still had the wind-up clock on the dashboard next to the electronic speedometer. A flashlight revealed the glass-windowed box with the crackling glass Y-tube. This was what made time travel possible: the Flux Capacitor. Yeah...good times. Good times.

I opened up the trashbag I brought along and dumped its mostly organic contents into the trademarked home energy conversion system installed in place of the old plutonium reactor. And I couldn't help but grin and reflect on the concept of using a time-machine...THIS time machine in fact to warp to a world that was all about a chrono-structure that allowed for traveling back in time through the [RESET]. But I was doing it with technology. I could circumvent certain rules and bend others as well as enjoy other advantages. Such as having some storage space and extra gear in case something unexpected happened, something went wrong, or I needed a fast way out of there.

I entered the Delorean and fiddled with the Dimensional Axis rig I had added so that I could land in the right place in the right dimension. Then I used the modified touch-button phone keypad to enter my destination year. Sorry, everyone. No peeking.

I raised the trail leading to the runway and raised the hydraulics on the ramp while I charged up the catapult behind the time vehicle. After revving the engine I got ready to hit the road...heh. Road. Where I was going, I wouldn't need...roads. (Gods, I'm terrible. I'm sure someone out there is probably face-palming as they read this.) A slam down on the gas pedal, the launch button pounded down, and peel of rubber...

The car barreled down the track, accelerating rapidly. The fake palmtrees lining the runway tilted outward, giving plenty of wing room for my non-existent aircraft. With a launch off the track and into the air, the hover-conversion did the rest as the acceleration boost kicked in. The speedometer climbed until it reached the trigger velocity: the iconic 88 MPH. With a discharge of the wormhole emitter I left New Mobotropolis and the planet itself... Next stop: Snowdin.

Sub-Entry 9: "Goat Mom":
Well. I couldn't have made a more blatent and revealing title to this. I was headed to the ruins to meet Toriel Dreemurr. Though...I wondered if she had a maiden name and gone back to it after leaving Asgore. Forget ole' Fluffy-buns. I was more interested what Asriel's mother had to say. But...I couldn't just ask outright. No...I was going to have to converse under false pretenses. I was going to have to choose my words. And it was not an option to give ANY indication that her son...well...another timeline's instance of her son was alive.

"Well...here I am.  Once again."

Anyway. The Deloreon flew overhead the unmistakable perpetual winter that was Snowdin. I had the vehicle outside of time and space like I had done with my other tech. I didn't want to risk it being seen, discovered, or even borrowed for a joyride while I was conducting my business. I searched until I found a cavern that didn't show up on the map. I parked, grabbed what equipment I thought I'd need and set out on foot. I immediately regretted it.

"Too...darn...cold." I said with a shiver.

One fact about myself that was universally known: I hated snow and I hated ice. And above all...I hated being cold. Despite having a built-in-fur coat it never did me as much good as I hoped it would. Let the record reflect that trudging through snow in a karate uniform, button-up shirt and tie, lab coat, and sandals was a very poor decision. At least I wouldn't have to do much acting providing Toriel was in.

Thing was...I was going in from the other end. This was where Frisk was destined to leave the ruins and continue their journey. No matter how many times you saw it...it was heartbreaking for Frisk to bid goodbye to "goat mom". And I was about to put the poor woman on an emotional roller coaster. But...*sigh*...it was for both of our own good.

The gate. That heavy door. I was relatively sure I had manage to circumvent the time stream to a point before Sans started using the door to practice knock-knock jokes. I was in the clear. And yet...that was small comfort to the fact I was about to B & E.

Well...this was what I had magnetism for. So I duplicated the function of Bunnie's Magnet Press D-Chip to form a pair of magnetic plates I could slip under and around the door. I was sure I could open it without breaking it down.

And sure enough I did. I stepped through, shaking the snow off. I proceeded into the darkness past the first gate, past the empty green patch where Flowey had made his taunts whether Frisk spared Toriel...or left her as a pile of dust. *sigh* At least I wasn't going near the traps and puzzles. No. I was just going up through a woman's cellar and into her house, uninvited. I trudged down the length hallway. It got darker as it went on. And there lay the second door. Another gate and another magnetic assist. I stepped through and closed it, taking a moment to look upon the emblem. Wings extended from a circle hovering over three triangles. It gave me memories of something...else I had seen on another world. I shrugged it off. I believe they called it the Delta Rune from my previous observations of other timelines.

"We meet again, Delta Rune." I thought to myself.

I did however note that I'd come across this icon several times in several instances while exploring the timelines in my various trips to this world. Toriel herself wore that same emblem on her robes. I thought for a second...trying to imagine Asriel in similar. And the resemblance I was coming up with was uncanny. And that made me recall the Absolute God of Hyperdeath. I shivered...probably from the cold. It wasn't much warmer in this area. I continued down the hallway. There was barely any light. It looked like the walls were purple in color. Purple. The color of royalty. Maybe I was reading too much into it.

A thought crossed my mind, completely unrelated to the situation. I never did quite figure out how I managed to stumble upon a door that led into into where Gaster had been all this time--that void within the Core that resided in Hotland. Furthermore...how did Asriel end up inside it? A lot of things about that malfunctioning timeline didn't make sense.

It was a miracle that the goat kid hadn't been in there long enough to be permanently confined there as Gaster had been. In fact...it almost paralleled the Zone of Silence back on Mobius. Maximillian Acorn and the wizard, Ixxus Naugus had been trapped in there so long, venturing outside of the zone caused them to start to crystallize. That was another case file I'd probably have to peruse over at this rate.

Well...there was the end of the path and the staircase leading to the cellar door. I looked at it longingly before climbing up. I took a deep breath...and knocked. Then waited. I worried that maybe she was out; probably somewhere carrying an arm full of groceries...which begged the question where she got her food and supplies from and how she came and went from the ruins. There had to be a way in and out he hadn't thought of. One entrance was the mouth of Mount Ebott itself. The other...well, you just came through, Volt.

There was this feeling of guilt festering in the core of my being. You were going to look this woman at the eyes at some point and withhold the fact that you had kidnapped a living incarnation of her son. Was it fair to use the "timeline was dying" as an excuse to feel better about your own actions. Whoah, Volt. Slow down. You're worrying yourself sick again. Just accept that you did the right thing, already. Even when things got this deeply personal; as an agent of S.T.C. it's still all part of the job.

Fear got the best of me and I slowly turned on my heel to walk back the way I came."This was a bad idea--" I sighed, suddenly feeling like a coward.

"Oh my...is somewhere there? I was not expecting anyone. However did you enter this place? However did you get through gate?"

"..."

I hesitated at first...then worked up my courage.

"Brave. Adjective. A state in which action in the face of being scared is taken. Contrary to belief it does not mean absence of fear. Only the absence of reciprocation from an otherwise intimidating situation." I thought to myself. Bite the bullet, Arcade.

"Umm. Yes. Hello. I apologize for the intrusion. I was travelling through Snowdin and I really needed a place to stop and rest. I know it was probably wrong but...I used a magic spell (Well...magnetism could...kinda be considered magic on this world to anyone who wasn't a scientist.) to open that gate doors. I didn't know it lead to someone's house."

Okay THAT was a lie. Even if it was for the greater good. Only the truth from here, Volt. Just as long as you word it properly.

I heard the door unlock and then I saw it open slowly. And there she was. A feminine, fully-grown adult mirror image of Asriel wearing the ceremonial robes I had described earlier. Same eyes, same fur, same long floppy ears. And she had curved horns but they were small and understated. I tried calming my nervousness by thinking to myself that it wasn't that much of a stretch to mistake her for a cow from a distance. Maybe some strange breed of dog?

"My good sir, you should come in and warm up. It's not safe to go travel alone in the world outside."

"I couldn't impose. I don't want to be a burden."

"Nonsense. I cannot deny a weary stranger even the smallest act of mercy in such a cruel environment. Come in. I insist." She beamed with a smile. She showed the way in and I followed.

Up the staircase past the railing to the first floor. Hardwood floor. There was a small bookcase, a few hanging portraits, a stand with a vase of flowers. Everything was bathed in old-timey, light sepia tones...like a living...faded black and white photo. The room lead to three paths; one to the east, one to the west and one to the south. At least that's what it felt like. I didn't have a compass at the time...not that it mattered. (Music Link)

I almost turned to the east, subconsciously following Frisk's path. No. This was the way to the children's rooms. You were not observing Frisk. And you didn't have to see Asriel's and Chara's old rooms or Toriel's. You'd already done so in various other timelines you logged. Westward it was into the family/living room.

The fireplace was a welcome sight. A rack of fireplace tools. A massive book case filed completely with books. There was a single comfy recliner by the fireplace. A pair of reading glasses and a book entitled 72 Uses for Snail rested on the arm. The table. Four chairs...four places for......everyone...

Toriel offered me the arm chair. I hesitated a bit but then accepted the hospitality when the expression assured me it was okay. Wow, I was really on my best behavior. She went to the kitchen and returned with a serving of tea and a plate of pie. *sniff sniff* Huh. Butterscotch-Cinnamon. Odd coincidence...or...?

"I usually bake snail pie but...something compelled me to make butterscotch-cinnamon this time. I hope you like it."

Something. Heh. I had a feeling...that she intended butterscotch-cinnamon all along. Oh, Toriel. How long have you been waiting for the next one to fall into your life? I knew that in Chara's old room there were six pairs of six pairs of shoes which gave a clue.

"That's very generous of you. Thank you."

I took a bite. Words, man. Words. It was as delicious as I expected it to be. Holy schnikees this was so good. But I ate daintily, compelled to show some manner. I think she could see I was trying to hard. A closed eyes smile with a suppressed chuckle. You're a peach, Toriel. Just looking at me she could tell I fell in love with it and probably couldn't get enough if given the chance. I knew the offer of seconds was on the table.

Toriel pulled up one of the wooden chairs from the dinning table and had a seat across from me while I tried the tea and absorbed the warmth of the fire.

"What brings you out to Snowdin?"

"Research. I'm an explorer and a man of science. The lab coat, shirt and necktie are probably dead giveaways. Sandals? Not so much."

"Oh! An educated man. How nice! What is your field?"

I knew that technology existed in the Underground. They had TV and internet, cell phones, and the like but...not nearly in the obsessive concentration it was on 21st century Earth. It was a nice balance around these parts when you didn't have to worry about people walking and texting everywhere or playing Angry Birds on a tablet. So I was honest.

"Electronics. I engineer new devices and such but I really only the time in between other responsibilities for TV repair. Not as impressive as someone working on the electrical systems for an orbital plasma accelerator--"

Oi. Shouldn't have let that slip out. I knew the tech level around here wasn't that high. Not even in Alphys' lab. At least I didn't think it was. I was still trying to learn all her secrets in the other timelines.

Toriel said with an anime sweatdrop practically forming on her temple. She was scholarly but quantum electronics and plasma technology was waaay outside her education

"But today I'm exploring and documenting the ecosystems of Snowdin, Waterfall, and Hotland for one of my collegues."

Well...it was true that back in Miranda, my chief eco-science officer and trained druid would want to know a lot about this place if I could let her sneak a peak at my journal entries without getting the stink eye from the Council. It was bad enough when Violet INSISTED on accessing my data behind my back to learn my little secrets. You're just a dirty little hacker...aren't you, Princess Violet Tokugawa?

"This is really good tea. I think I have a new favorite drink."

"It is merely Golden Flower Tea. It is nothing fancy."

I could almost see a rose tint in her cheeks. Having a face covered in fur made it difficult to tell when a person was blushing but...I was pretty sure she was doing just that. She looked a little off on a cloud like she was remembering something.

There it was. An "in". I knew where this was going.

"Hmm?"

"There was someone in my life once. Golden Flower Tea was his favorite."

Okay. You got her thinking about Asgore. Now if you can keep this conversation going and have her NOT think about Asgore...well...Asgore of the present. Ease into it.

"Were you close?"

"He was my king and I was his queen...I mean in the sense that--"

I jumped at the softening of the memory.

"That was a life time ago...we are all so happy then."

I decided to gloss over the missus. There'd be time to talk about her another day. As tempting as it was, I didn't want to stray too far.

"A girlfriend?"

Flattering that she presumed an age younger than I apparently seemed.

This was true. But it wasn't in the stars for my family to follow me down the path of S.T.C. Immortality didn't suit any of them. I could still go back to them endlessly as long as Fontraile existed outside of the Council's influence.

There was a slight hesitation but the question was asked.

"Have you any children?

"Yes. Three daughters. One grown up and out of the house with a medicinal career. She's a great healer. And much younger twins. They're with their mother. It wouldn't be fair to them to pull them into the kind of life I have to live for my research. Besides...I don't want them turning into workaholics like their dad."

"You must be very proud."

"Immeasurably."

I sighed.

I started.

She looked down, easing back into the chair.

There was a lengthy pause. She could tell I was perceptive so she came clean.

"I did have children once. My...precious son, Asriel. And...our child, Chara...she was...adopted."

She looked off to the side. I knew she was starring off in the direction of the calendar. The one that existed not in this home but rather in the "New Home" within the castle in the Capital--the carbon copy of this place with...differences. That calender with the circled date...the day Chara arrived.

I watched her face fall. Her gaze get a little dull and misty. The feels, man. The FEELS.

"And they're...no longer here?"

"Tch...!"

She held back the gasp. "Sorry. A bit of a hiccup there..." That wasn't true. Watch it, Volt. You're in the proverbal cat in a room full of rocking chairs. That was quite a landmine to step on. That one made me feel really bad. I wasn't doing this for sinister reasons, I wasn't trying to emotionally toy with this woman. I honestly needed a better understanding of her psyche. I needed some insight in how to handle Asriel.

She composed herself instantly.

"No. They are--" She couldn't bring herself to lie. "They have passed on. Long before their time." Here come the tears.

"Oh no...I'm so sorry. Please... I can tell I'm upsetting you. I shouldn't pry." I chickened out.

"Do not mind me, sir. It is good that I am able to talk about such tragedy in good company. I cannot cower behind my own grief. I would...actually prefer it if you know my tale. Our children were inseparable despite being from two different races. Our daughter, Chara...she fell very ill one day. It devastated poor Asriel. He would not leave her bedside. Asgore assured me that the boy needed his space. We gave him as much as he needed."

She took a moment to compose herself for but a brief instance.

"I...suspected that he and Chara were...keeping something from me but I pushed it to the back of my mind. I do not know for how much time we left them alone but...it was the gravest mistake of my life. I had...heard the noise in the throne room and I insisted Asgore come with. We were greeted with a... *sob*...truly horrific sight...my son...my baby...my pride and joy...what had he done? He was...twisted...I knew he had absorbed a soul...no...NO...he absorbed Chara's soul! His own sister! What possessed him to do such a thing?"

Toriel was starting to shake and despite being white-furred, I could somehow sense that she was blanching a deathly pale as the memories started to attack her without mercy.

Toriel was starting to break down. She was shaking and clutching her heart. She choked, cringed, squeezed her eyes shut.

Something didn't feel quite right about the mention of the blood...but I couldn't put my finger on what it was. Like a crucial detail I was missing. But I wasn't thinking about that. This was piercing my heart.

It was at that point I was about ready to lose it. I could feel the tears forcing their way out. If this continued I was going to drop the cup and soil her clean floor...what a frivolous thing to worry about. I knew. Word for Word. What she was going to say.

She scrunched her face up...then buried her face in her hands. Now you've done it.

I started to get up to console her but she must have sensed my intention and motioned with one hand for me to remain seated, returning it quickly to cover her tears. She then pulled her hands away. She looked up, forcing the least-convincing smile I had seen.

Without thinking I countered with my own sob story. It wasn't as horrific or tragic but it was a point in my life I screwed up big.

My gaze fell and a tear rolled down my muzzle.

Silence from both of us. It was a lengthy one, if you didn't count the sniffling and sobbing on both sides.

"How rude of me...hah...ha...in the length of this conversation I was so discourteous that I would not ask the name of the kindred spirit I share this time with. Would you do me the honor of gracing me with your name, sir?"

"Arcade. Dr. Volt Alessandro Arcade." I replied.

"It is...very nice to meet your acquaintance, Dr. Arcade. I am Toriel.......j-just Toriel.

"Hello, Toriel. It is okay if you want to call me Volt. We're all friends here. It's...awkward being so formal."

"Yes. Yes, of course...Volt. Hah...your name is the unit of measurement for electricity?  Like you see on flashlight batteries?"

Wow. Someone studied science in school.

"Yeah. It kinda is. You know...you seem like you'd be a good teacher and...your name isn't that far off from "tutorial".

She held her hand over her mouth and uttered a soft giggle.

The conversation resumed and we discussed many things for a while. But eventually I had to leave. I...needed to get back to Asriel. I really hated hiding that from her.

"...one of my many legal guardians tried to get me to take piano lessons. But it didn't suit me. Another of them inspired me to take up the saxophone. So I did and I loved it."

"I would enjoy hearing you play some time."

Ease it back, trigger. This was just a meeting between parents. Don't start dropping pickup lines or you're going to invite someone to rain Hell upon you. Besides. Happily married, remember? Oh the shipping jokes Violet would make.

"Goodness the time! I have kept you from your journey! How absentminded of me!"

"Oh...oh dear yes...my co-workers will worry."

I realized I hadn't even taken off my lab coat I had been through two servings of pie and three cups of tea. I was going to pay for this later...maybe? Oh right. Monster food. Maybe not. I got up and started to show myself out, giving a bow and a thank-you for the hospitality. I paused a bit just to give a wave good-bye. Toriel however decided to accompany me out, walking me to the outer gate.

I had started to think about Elektra back home...my daughter could take care of herself but...I worry. It should be a mother's job to worry not a father's. I was as unique as they came. I didn't realize that I was hunming a song to myself. It was something I heard from one of the Earth realms...a state song of some kind about sunshine, making the singer happy...when skies were gray? Something like that. Something...you didn't want taken away.

"What is that song? It is very lovely."

"Just...a lullaby I guess. Elektra...my eldest was fond of it. I learned it from one of my legal guardians...she was very motherly. Much like you."

"Oh...how precious."

We arrived at the outside gate.

"I suppose this is farewell."

"So it would seem."

"May we meet again in the future, Volt Arcade."

* sigh* Or the past...

I stepped forth about to cross through the doorway to the outside.

"..."

Without looking back, and maybe without thinking it through first...I asked a question that I should probably have known was a little too close to a landmine.

"Toriel. I had told you that I was orphaned at a young age. My...memories of my birth family are...faded. But still there."

"Doctor?"

"...hypothetically speaking........when most precious thing in the world to you has been taken from you without explanation without a reason that made sense...when it's shattered your entire world...if you go on with your life and it turns out to be...still a very nice life in spite of not having much....if one day...life decided to return to you what was lost. You convinced yourself that this was impossible...but by some miracle the world showed you overdue mercy...what.........what would you do?"

There was no answer. Silence. I turned on the chance that maybe she didn't hear me--

Her eyes were hidden by a mysterious shadow but there wasn't enough head fur to cast a shadow.

"That is not the kind of question you should ask if you do not wish to provide false hope."

I felt like there was a spark of anger behind it. I had inadvertently implied I could give her son back to her. This was very selfish of you, Volt.

I looked down at my feet.

"Oh. I see. Well then...I'm...not sure I have an answer for you, Volt. Hope is such a...precious and delicate resource. So fragile and frail. Even though they lead to dreams...dreams are meant to be broken. I would certainly wish that such a miracle could pass but......when does it stop being a wish and start being a delusion? I just don't know what to believe."

Oh boy, Volt. Do you know what you were doing here? I bet you do.

Toriel lifted her head and I could see her eyes again. It wasn't an angry look.

She comforted.

I smiled, trying to force back the emotions. Just keep it together for a few more moments.

"Well then. I'll be off."

I stepped out and the door closed behind me. I heard a sniffle...followed by the gentle hum of the very "sunshine" tune I had walked down the hallway humming. At the last part of the song I heard a sob choked up...followed by weeping. I fell back against the door and slid down into a sit...and buried my eyes into the back of my wrist. I hope you're proud of yourself. You made goat mom cry. (Video link.  Tissues recommended.)

Sub-Entry 10: "The Legendary Fartmaster":
My sincerest apologies for the title. I usually avoid low-brow of any kind in my logs. But if you knew the significance of this super secret SECRET password, well...it would make sense. Do I even NEED to tell you who this was about?

After I managed to pick myself up I followed the path down the cold, spooky woods. The trees were all devoid of foliage. I stepped over the heavy branch in the road as if rehearsed. My mind was a cyclone of thoughts and my heart was a tornado of emotion. I guess I really should have been reminding myself what--

* SNAP*

I doubled back and saw the branch was crushed like it was nothing. But there was no one there. Oh gods...I knew what this was. I knew but it was escaping my mind. I turned and retraced my steps...picking up the pace.

I got a further distance ahead and then I hear the snow pack crunch. A look and still no one.

I kept moving. I should have been familiar with this situation as I had both seen and experienced it a hundred thousand million times over...but...why did each time feel like the first time. I really had to get back to the Deloreon.

"..." I heard...or felt...or sensed......something eerie in the air. I slowed my pace and reached into the lab coat pocket and pulled out the P.K.E. meter and switched it on. Not so much as a crackle or a blip. The meter arms were unlit and completely down. Nothing paranormal out there, Volt. You're jumping at shadows. Well...what about the Giga Meter? A switch of the gauges and still nothing. The indicators in the glass dome were stopped and unlit. The displays shows zero valence. Spengs, your advice would help right about now.

I pocketed both and kept moving until I got to the wooden "barrier" gate. I heard it behind me and whirled, without thinking. In the brief moment as the world panned around me, I saw an eerie ghostly blue glow in the darkness...an eye? Once I completed the 180 turn I saw the silhouette before me. Hands in his pockets. What looked like the outline of a parka or hoodie.

"That face..." I heard the voice of the figure before me say. "That looks like the face of someone who's died a thousand deaths...and lived a thousand lives."

I felt as if I imagined it. It had to be imagination, plus the wind was howling at the time. But the words...they were so true. And yet...the number wasn't a thousand...it was much greater in both cases. In fact...I'd say it was as vast as the stars in the sky...except the stars above were fake. Maybe...magic illusion.

"Don't you know how to greet a new pal?"

I tried to start a conversation...but I couldn't think of anything to say

"Reach out and shake my hand." saw the gesture. I reached out and--

FRRRRRRRRRRRRRRT!!!

"...wh....what?" My eyes bugged out. I didn't notice that I opened my jaws and was seconds away from laughing myself stupid.

Hello, Sans. (Music link)

"Yeah...yeah. You might say...it's a real gasser." I grinned the cheesiest and most forced of all grins.

A chuckle. "Good one. Anyway. Can't say I've seen you around here. New in town?"

"Er...yeah. Stranger in Snowdin." I felt like I was making a reference to a Michael Jackson song somehow.

"Well, stranger it doesn't get too strange around these parts. Name's Sans. Sans the Skeleton. I'm a sentry around here--"

"Right, right! Keeping on the lookout for humans. You're not with the Royal Guard are you?"

"Nah. That job sounds like too much work. Come to think of it this one's really boring. Now my brother, PAPYRUS, now there's a guy who wants to be in the Royal Guard. He's a human-hunting fanatic."

"That uh...that's great. Good for him!"

"Anyway. Noticed you were coming from the direction of that big door over that. I've been meaning to check it out sometime. Looks like a great place to practice knock-knock jokes. Say...you don't live behind that door, do you?"

"Oh, no no no no! I just came to a dead-end and doubled back."

"No kidding..." Sans said, keeping one eye socket winked shut... I felt on edge by that. But I guess the truth went past him.

"Look, I don't mean to be impolite but I really gotta hurry on. People are kinda waiting on me and I don't want to hold them up."

"Yeah. I know how it is."

"Yeah. It was nice meeting you, Sans!"

"Right back atcha', bud. Though...I don't think I got your name."

"Yeah. That's because I didn't give it."

"Touche."

"It's Arcade. Dr. Arcade. Not-so-local scientist."

"Huh. Brainiac, eh? I think we got one of those in Hotland. Never met em'. Y'know. Y'hear things. Not sure why the King needs a royal scientist, but I'm pretty sure he's got a good reason."

"Yeah....well...um...anway......I'll be going."

"See ya 'round'."

I turned.

"You know for someone who doubled back from that doorway...not a big thing or anything...but can't help but notice your tracks stop where you are. There doesn't seem to be a set coming this way from across the gate.  Now I wasn't awake or anything when you came this way past my sentry post but...I'm pretty sure I would have seen some kind of tracks across the way."

Oh crap... I didn't come from Snowdin village. I had come from around the mountain and cut through the trees. Hell...if that had been true and I had come from the village, I probably would have passed by the other sentry stations...I would have been detected by Doggo, I would have seen the snowman, I would have navigated the puzzles... Plus there was the simple matter that Sans despite his goofiness was one of the most super-aware in this world. He...knew things....like the number of times that Frisk had...died in a run.

Seriously. He pulled a Columbo on me and I walked face first into it.

"Well...there's a perfectly logical and rational explanation for that..."

"And that would be...?"

Think fast, Volt. Very fast.

"Well umm..." I charged up with electromagnetism and used super-conduction to lift off the ground and hover. I rose up a few feet into the air then came back down and hovered a few inches off the ground. "I kinda do this."

"Oh. Neat trick.  Didn't peg you for a flier.  The things people do with magic these days, am I right?  Well.  Apologies then, pal. Guess the boredom's setting in. Anyway. Better get back before Papyrus--"

"SANS!"

"Uh-oh."

"You'd better not be boondoggling over there, you lazybones!"

"Your brother?""

"That's him. He's the coolest."

"Umm...you want me to smooth things over so you don't get in trouble?"

"Nah, that's okay. I'll just wow him with some of my best puns."

"He likes puns?" I was asking a question that I already knew the answer to. I think I was good at weaving in and out of these encounters without letting on how many times I'd experienced them. I wonder if this is what it was like for Frisk?

"Not in the least!"'

"Eheheheh...yeah. Siblings right?" I sure wasn't speaking from experience. I never once got into a disagreement or argument with Gadget. My adoptive little sister was always good as good and I was always a good brother to her.

"You know it."

"Well...gotta fly. You sure you good?"

"Well I don't know what I'm gonna say to him yet...but I'm sure it'll be...humerus!" A sudden turn to the 4th wall and a shrug with a wink.

"Hahah...hilarious."

With that I did my impression of Marceline the Vampire Queen, discretely circling around back through the maze of trees, and hovered off toward the Deloreon. At first I thought the encounter was just...completely out of left field but...as I closed the gull-wing door and clicked my seatbelt I realized...this was just what I needed to take the edge off.

"Thanks, Sans." I knew what I had gained from this experience. It was time to return to Asriel and nurse that shattered mind back to sane.

"Hold on, Toriel. I WILL return what is most precious to you...some day. I just have a very long road ahead of me...and well...that's quite a feat for someone at this moment...doesn't need...roads." I smirked a cocky grin as I lowered the futuristic shades that were once my mentor's and the creator of this fine machine. "Be patient, Asriel. When I'm this far away from you, I've got to double back again, my friend!"Chapter 2

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