Broken Souls

Chapter 17 - She's a Human!

Early next morning, as the sun just started to rise, Papyrus was out of bed and standing on the balcony. He didn't bother waking Sans up, or Gaster, or even the tall human girl. He was content with letting his family sleep some more whilst he watched the sunrise. They needed it after all; Gaster's Soul had only just been repaired and Sans was exhausted from the emotional strain of the last few days. Papyrus smiled to himself at the thought of his family all together, this time for real with no threats of sudden Soul splintering. He kept gazing out at pink and gold sky, entirely at ease and not noticing the person standing behind him.

"It's quite nice out here."

Papyrus jumped, not expecting the soft voice to speak so suddenly from behind him. He whirled around,

"Tall-ish human! What are you doing here?" He asked. C smiled, joining the youngest skeleton,

"I haven't really had the chance to talk to you. And you seem the nicest out of your family, no offence to the others." C said. Papyrus laughed softly,

"Sans can have that impression on people he doesn't trust. But don't worry, they're both great people!"

C let out a contented sigh. She settled herself on the balcony rail and half closed her eyes. Papyrus poked her indignantly,

"You can't sleep now! Its the morning!"

"Yes I can. I was up all night doing work for Gaster."

"You've been asleep for three days!" Papyrus insisted. C gaped at him, silent words forming on her lips.

"Three days!" she admonished. Papyrus nodded, jumping backwards slightly as C straightened up and turned to leave.

"Wait! Tall human! Where are you going?" he asked, C paused.

"Do you know... where my bag is?"

"You mean the one you dropped in my room?"

"Yeah."

"It's in the living room, behind the couch." Papyrus told her, "I'll take you there just in case Dad wakes up."

"Thanks."

Papyrus lead C downstairs to where Gaster was fast asleep, looking a lot less frightening than he did awake. C approached him curiously, noticing how his right eye socket was still in it's half-opened crescent shape. She guessed that it had been entirely paralyzed like that, so he couldn't even close it to sleep. C backed away from him, accepting her backpack from Papyrus. She sat down on the floor in front of the couch and opened her bag, looking inside. Papyrus sat down next to her and peered over her shoulder.

"Oh!" He gasped, "Is that a robot?"

C smiled to herself, reaching a hand into the bag and pulling out a floppy mass of metal. She gently shook it out so it fell into a less confusing shape. It was indeed a robot, with a foot long metal body, eight spindly legs and two large pincer arms. A long, jointed tail hung down, tipped with a heart-shaped stinger. The two shiny black cameras that must have served as it's eyes were blank, although Papyrus could see the little red dots of LED's behind the glass. C carefully took hold of the robot with both hands and flipped it upside down. From there, she deftly opened a sliding panel on it's underbelly and flipped a few switches.

Instantly, the robot sprung to life, struggling in C's grip. She set it down on the floor and let it roam between her and Papyrus.

"Papyrus, meet Eev3e, my little robot friend." C said, grinning, "I was worried that being deactivated for three days might affect her, but I think she's okay."

The scorpion-like robot scuttled up to Papyrus and curled her tail around his arm to pull herself onto his lap, letting out small clicks and chirrups.