Chapter Text
Absentmindedly thumbing the key in his pocket, Sans couldn't help but ponder what had happened only a couple minutes ago. Asgore's always been incredibly selfless and happy to deliver unreasonable requests, but even this seemed too much for him. His skull still buzzed with all the arguments he was going to present, yet he didn't even get to start it. He wasn't sure if Asgore did this to everyone, or if it was only for him. If he was always like this, the lost skeleton didn't know how he still had such a stable job as a sentry or a nice house. He almost wanted to ask him why, but it was better to not give him enough time to change his mind.
Sans glanced around him, making sure he wasn't followed by his canine 'friend' or the human. When he was sure he was clear, he opened the door, locking it behind him just in case. Turning on the light, he scanned around instead of immediately going to the machine like before. Unlike his own, there weren't any blueprints that he could read. The handwriting was rushed and in a hurry, not to mention shaky and squashed together to the point he couldn't tell when one word ended and another began.
The images, luckily, weren't handmade and he could tell what was what. Still, though, it was much more complicated with more moving parts than his, with multiple prototypes (Which, he begrudgingly noted, looked similar on the outside and weren't properly labeled.)
Grabbing a few papers that looked the closest to the current machine, he folded them and shoved them in his pocket, walking over to the machine. On closer inspection, it did look different from his own. His was a broken mess, but was somewhat modern; Asgore's looked as if it wasn't destroyed per se, just... abandoned.
The general structure and parts were thankfully types he knew. He rarely built anything using it back in his lab days. However, he did have his fair share of tweaking them when they broke.
There was a keyboard of some sorts unlike his own, which mainly was controlled by selecting, buttons and simulating possible timelines by random. (In hindsight, modifying a device originally designed to track other worlds and possible futures to reset wasn't the smartest move.) He pressed a key, and the blank screen hummed to life and turned to light blue. Disappointingly, it did little more, even when he tested the rest.
'Well, at least it's online.' Sans thought to himself as he went back to looking around. Other than a few unimportant details, there wasn't anything else useful externally. Taking out a blueprint from his pocket and grabbing a screwdriver from a drawer, he unscrewed a panel on the side, revealing a spaghetti mess of wires, which he reached into with intentions of organizing them to see what was what, his phalanx touching an exposed wire, giving the skeleton a harmless, but mildly infuriating shock.
Withdrawing his hand and shaking it, he muttered to himself, unhappy. He honestly should've expected it with him prodding around in a random broken machine.
Reaching in again, carefully this time. The mess of wires made it hard to be sure at a glance, but from what he could tell, it had numerous burnt-out and sparking wires. Grumbling to himself as he put the panel back on, he realized unless he got new parts, the chances of him getting home was slim without getting replacements.
If he had to, he'd go to Alphys (er- the royal scientist, he guessed) but, if possible he'd rather stay with the human trash. Teleporting outside, he held the key in his hands, debating if to unlock it or not. After all, if this world was anything like his, there weren't any spares lying around, and Asgore might not be too happy with being unable to go in his property.
After a bit of thought, he slid the key under the door, knocked, and left before he could answer. He could always teleport, after all.
Strolling into Waterfall, he looked around. Waterfall was one of his favorite places in the underground, specifically the star roof area.
"Howdy!" Sans almost jumped out of his skin, eyelights locking onto a small, fuzzy pomeranian with a large smile, which seemed out of character.
Especially with where they left off.
"Hi?" He responded cautiously, not wishing to set him off again. The dog walked with him, speeding up with Sans as the skeleton tried to escape the situation.
Acting as if he hadn't noticed Sans' attitude towards him, the smaller's tone was unsettlingly chirpy.
"So, I got to thinking, and we shouldn't let such small things get in the way! We still have a plan, after all. You're keeping your side, right?" Doggo didn't let Sans respond.
"I shouldn't bother you. After all, you're probably busy!" Doggo zipped out, again before Sans could react. As he dashed into his tunnel, his mask immediately fell, a sour and upset expression. He navigated the winding tunnels, before popping out in a secluded area of the woods. A goat monster with fur as white as snow was humming to herself, before noticing her friend.
"Doggo! How are you doing?"
"Hey, Tori!" He chirped. "Can I ask a favor?"
"Of course, anything for you!"