Chapter Text
I slumped over my monitor, hands soaked by my own tears. I tried to slow them down, tried to stay strong, but I couldn’t. I wasn’t the strong one around here. No, that was Undyne’s thing. She was always the one who held firm in the face of chaos.
And now, she was dying right in front of my eyes. I could only sit there, watching the screen, as her body melted. It was like all my failures had compiled into a single mass.
She wouldn’t have been there if I had spread the word about that human, no, whatever it was, sooner. The way she deteriorated was a painful reminder of the Amalgamates, who’s predicament was all my fault. And now it was too late to confess how I felt. Maybe if she had that little extra incentive, something else to fight for, she might have won. Maybe she wouldn’t have gone out there at all, choosing to stand guard closer to home, where I could at least lend a hand.
“Alphys, what are you doing in… Darling, what is this?” Mettaton had some great timing. He came in just as that thing landed its last hit. Undyne, started to wobble, her body drooping across the floor. “Oh my God. Alphys, please, talk to me!” I put everything I had into answering him.
“Human, came out of Ruins, everyone they met they… they… so much dust…” I never said I had a lot. I choked on the words, my fumble allowing the sorrow to show itself even more. “Undyne…”
“Heh, you got me…” Her voice drew my attention back to the screen. “But guess what? I still win this time. We monsters, we never go it alone. Alphys, a pal of mine, was watching us the whole time.”
“You killing me was her cue to get everyone out of the way. Believe it when I say that if anyone can do it, it’s her.” She trusted me that much? But, I was a screw up! I couldn’t do anything right.
“Alphys, there’s something special about that one. Self esteem needs work, but she’s dependable. As we speak, Alphys is evacuating everyone. Hear that, freak!? You lose!” Her body faded away into dust. The creature was outraged, screaming madly as it stabbed the piece of ground she was standing on. Undyne, you really did believe in me. There wasn’t any mistaking that smile of hers. Okay, here goes nothing.
“Metta, get the word out. I’m activating the emergency force field, and we need everyone there.” I wiped my eyes with my sleeve, pulling myself out of the big, cushy chair. A hand gripped my shoulder, the icy sting of metal seeping through my lab coat.
“Are you okay, Alphys? I’m not sure seeing that was good for your mental health.”
“That doesn’t matter right now.” I pulled myself from his caring touch. I didn’t deserve it. “Undyne trusted that I would keep as many monsters as possible safe from that thing as I could, and I’d rather go through the DT treatment myself than let her down again.” He lost his voice at that.
I rushed for the front door, opening it to find Bun Bun, a shopkeeper from Snowdin, about to start pounding on it. She let out a breath she had been holding.
“Thank goodness, Alphys! Please, we need help, there’s a…”
“Yeah, I know. The human. Just follow me to the upper steam yard. I can set up the evac shelter when everyone’s rounded up.” I looked behind her, finding a mob of monsters from Snowdin. Each one was crestfallen, jittery, or somewhere in between. She seemed to be the only one still capable of rational speech.
“Okay. Everyone, double file up those stairs over there!” No one had it in them to argue, knowing they weren’t too far ahead of the reaper. My heart grew heavy at the sight of so many children. Chances were they were enjoying a day out in the snow before word of peril started spreading, flowing alongside dust in the breeze.
I followed them, making sure no one was left behind me as I pulled out a ring of keys. I picked up a large, nearby stone, revealing a small metal pad and a keyhole. With one turn of the wrist, a blue, translucent wall rose before me. No one would be getting in this way. As soon as Metta was back with the residents of Hotland, I would raise all the other force fields, too. For now, we just had to wait and hope that thing didn’t figure out where we were.
-
I was doing a headcount, deeper in the safe zone, when I realized someone else had arrived. The thing was that no one saw him come in, and everyone was just as surprised when they noticed. Well, I really shouldn’t have expected anything less. That was just the way Sans was.
“Hey, Sans, when did you get here?” He didn’t answer me. All he could do was look down at his hands. I followed his line of sight to a very reasonable explanation why. Draped over his arms was a torn, dirty, red scarf. Looking at it, I could still hear the chuckling of its owner, as well as his strangled last words. Of all the deaths I saw, his was among the most heart wrenching.
Monsters started crowding around Sans, whispering words of comfort to him. Even if he didn’t do all that much, he was still a beloved member of the community. Those skeletons were a little ray of sunshine in this dark place we called home.
“Sans, I’m so, so sorry for your lost. I-is there anything I can do to…” I put a hand on his shoulder, triggering a very not Sans response. His bones jerked, body going rigid on the boulder he was seated at. It was only for a moment, but I knew I saw a hint of blue lick at the corners of his left eye.
I found my position in the room changed, blinking several feet away. Everyone scrambled to make a circle around him of about that radius, not sure how to handle the sudden mood swing. All they knew was to not touch him. Suddenly, that touchy demeanor was gone, and he looked at us with that smile we had come to know him for.
“sorry ‘bout that, alph. been a bit rattled today, that’s all.” He carefully stuffed the scarf into the pocket on the front right of his jacket. Aside from those lines under his sockets, he looked like he always did again. He couldn’t fool me, though. Before I could try pulling him into a hug, get him to spill all that pent up rage, Mettaton came rolling into the safe zone with another batch of survivors.
“I think that should be everyone in Hotland, Doctor.”
“Good, then we can seal this place off.” I rushed over to the last lock, about ready to secure the perimeter, but was stopped by someone yelling in the middle of the crowd.
“Lansot! Lansot, where are you?” When I looked back, I found his father was running around the place. Not even his constant tripping slowed him down, curling into a roll instead of landing face first. The rings around his eyes had grown darker than usual, a sure sign of distress. “Excuse me, Doctor, have you seen him around here anywhere?”
“He isn’t with you?” He shook his head quickly.
“No, we haven’t seen him since this morning. Is it possible he…”
“No, that shouldn’t be the case. He ran off in this direction when Undyne started her duel with the human. I figured he would have caught up with us by now.” I rolled up my left sleeve, pushing some buttons on my digital wristwatch. “Here, I’ll see if I can find him on any of my cameras.”
The screen flashed through a few different locations. Muffet’s territory, no. The Core’s main control center, no. Inside my lab… Wait, why is the True Lab door open? I pressed a few buttons, entering the password for my more secure video channels.
MEW MEW TWO STINKS…
The screen was much darker, telling me that I was in the right neighborhood. The True Lab had to be kept in low light, the Amalgamates being much more active in bright lights. I couldn’t afford them getting too wound up and escaping, hence the preventative measures.
Sure enough, Lansot was down there. I wasn’t sure how he got there, but my best guess was that he tried to duck into the ‘bathroom’ to hide. His being there was surprising enough. What really got me was how well he was getting along with Endogeny, rubbing the top of its head with his tail.
“That’s it, you’re a good doggy, aren’t you? Man, how could I be scared of you guys, anyway?” His father, however, was unconvinced.
“What is that thing!?” He was starting to breath funny, eyeing the last open hallway like he was planning to bolt.
“Relax, sir. Please, calm down. Endogeny wouldn’t hurt a fly, let alone your son.” That seemed to calm his nerves a bit, but only enough to think rationally.
“Okay, I think I’m alright. Is he safe there?” I started running calculations in my head.
“Well, normally, yes. That portion of the lab is locked up tight, hidden behind as many security features as I could jam in. The thing is…” I turned the screen back to the main room of the building, the door to the elevator shaft hanging wide open. “…the door has to be closed for them to work.” Monsters were already gathering close, trying to calm Lansot’s father down preemptively. I was too busy trying to figure out how to retrieve him.
A horrible realization came to me. At the human’s normal rate of movement, factoring in the approximate time it would take to circumvent the blocked off routes as well as their last known location, that would mean it would be… Another camera came to life, showing me the stretch of Hotland right outside my front door. Out in the distance, I saw it shuffling that way.
“Oh no…” That meant it would only be about two minutes before it entered the lab and discovered the usually blocked off chamber. At that point, it would only be a matter of time until it found Lansot, too. Now I was the one hyperventilating. What do I do, what do I do?
“I’ll go.” Mettaton had been staring over my shoulder the whole time, the lights on his screen blinking randomly. I guess he was using his onboard situation analyzer, with added time calculation. He insisted something like that would increase efficiency on set. Well, it seemed to be paying off big time.
“Metta, are you sure?” He nodded.
“Of course I’m sure. What kind of super star lets a fan fall prey to such a predator? Besides, I’m only a robot. If I were to be destroyed, you could always build another me, right?” He rolled away, knowing his words wouldn’t soothe me. Everyone else, maybe, but I knew the truth. I could build another robotic shell, but not the Soul inside it.
“You all stay here, darlings. I will be back with the young man before you can say ‘Action!’” And just like that, he was gone, braving the perils that human presented without a second thought. He was much more brave than I could ever be. All I could do was stand there, monitoring his progress over the surveillance system.