The light of Alphys's desktop monitor flickered, for just a moment.
The footage replayed over and over as she tried her damndest to correct the corrupted code; to find out something, anything about what happened.
Her stomach curled with worry.
All her cameras had properly followed Undyne and Zero on their path through the Core and back toward Snowdin. Undyne had seemingly waited outside the Lab doors for Zero.
And though their interaction seemed... rather awkward —though it's not as if Alphys had any room to talk on that front— they reached, then entered, the elevators without issue.
Security footage from within the elevators showed that things had... malfunctioned somewhat; something not unusual for the old machinery, and yet Zero's magic had flared a disproportionate amount as the elevator shook rapidly.
The shockwave of pure magic caused the camera in the corner to short circuit.
She'd have to go out and replace it later.
None the less, they'd managed to leave the elevator on L2.
Only, that was where things got... Weird.
As soon as the two exited the elevator, the video interference began. At first, it seemed it was just regular static; but then the view began cutting away to different cameras, totally involuntarily.
And it wasn't an issue of signals getting crossed; there was no way so many wildly different cameras, from totally different areas, would have the same malfunction. It was just so highly improbable.
She examined the cameras it cut to; trying to determine something from the chaos she was being shown.
One view was positioned near the R1 elevators, running normally.
Another was near the L3 elevators, also running normally.
But perhaps, far odder, were the other two, which struck down any pattern of simply 'being near the elevators'...
They were in Waterfall.
One, at an empty dock... and another, in some seemingly nondescript, damp, grey looking hallway.
Odder still? It didn't seem like it was just normal footage being played back...
Though she had very little solid proof, at every location that the footage jumped to, something... something was there.
She couldn't always see it, but it... it was the kind of thing you just... feel.
Like when someone's staring at you from across a crowded room. Or when you hear static and, ever so faintly beneath it, it feels as though something is trying to speak up.
After that, the camera at the L2 elevator recovered. And yet, Zero and Undyne, had vanished.
No surrounding camera's portrayed any similar signs of malfunction; and there was no probable cause toward their fall.
The only other area with similar video and audio corruption was a single camera on the outskirts of waterfall, that watched over a small, icy late, almost at the border of Snowdin.
Because of it, the images were vauge; the camera's lens having been fogged over by frost and its circuits damaged by the moisture.
From there, it was a similar story, only, in reverse. The camera glitched out, though this one being far more similar to Zero's magical burst in the elevator than... whatever else had been at play in Hotland.
And then, from seemingly mid air, Undyne and Zero seemed to appear, Zero seeming to have curled in a protective shield around Undyne's unarmored form... only to be plunged into the depths.
For several agonizing moments, the water grew silent and still; both warriors trapped beneath the surface.
But in a few minutes, Undyne breached the surface, and as did Zero, being tugged along by the warrior woman until they found land.
But the questions still stood; how did they get there? And what happened while she had no cameras to keep an eye on it?
Alphys watched the two forms on the beach, replaying the moment as Zero was dragged out from the lake; coughing and spitting up icy water from his lungs.
They both looked... exhausted.
After that, there had been no similar such interruptions in the cameras.
She replayed the scenes again, trying to make sense of any of the distorted audio... but the audio from these cameras wasn't good at the best of times.
And these certainly were not the best of times.
Yet still... it all had to be connected.
Somehow.
But first... there was something she had to do.
Alphys grabbed her phone with purpose.
She had to call Papyrus and tell him where they were. Of course, the cameras were maybe a minute or two slower than real time, but it wasn't enough of a lag to make a major difference. She knew they'd been headed toward Snowdin so-
Alphys nearly jumped out of her skin as her phone began to ring.
The phone slipped out of her hands, but she quickly scrambled to pick it up and answer the call.
"Y-Yes?! Erm, I m-mean, h-hello??" Alphys exclaimed as she finally answered.
"HELLO THERE ALPHYS!" Papyrus's familiar voice exclaimed.
"I FIGURED THAT I SHOULD LET YOU KNOW THAT I HAVE FOUND UNDYNE AND ZERO," there was a rustling sound, as if Papyrus were sitting down, "AND WE ARE CURRENTLY RESTING AND DRINKING TEA AT MY HOME."
"W-What?! Oh-oh th-thank the stars!!!" Alphys exclaimed, a hand jumping up to cover her mouth.
"Are th-they a-alright?!"
"YES THEY SEEM... WELL, RATHER TIRED, AND DAMP, BUT OTHERWISE MAJORLY UNHARMED! NYEH HEH-"
There was a sound of struggle on the other side of the line.
"W-WAIT, UNDYNE, I WAS JUST TELLING DR. ALPHYS-"
"U-UNDYNE!! GIVE THAT BACK-"
"Alphie!!" Undynes voice exclaimed across the line, her grip tight on the phone.
"U-Undyne!? Oh, I-I, g-g-gosh!! I was s-so worried!!!" Alphys nearly yelled into the phone.
"It's good to hear your voice," Undyne admitted.
"But how are you doing? Are you okay?" Her questions were rushed and sharp, and Alphys could never explain quite the relief of hearing her girlfriend's voice.
"I-I, oh g-gosh U-U-Undyne," Alphys exclaimed, gripping the phone tight in her claws, pressing it tight against her ear, as if letting go for even a moment would cause Undyne to... to fall again.
"I s-should b-be the one as-asking you tha-that!!!" She yelled, "wh-what h-happened?! I-I looked in-into the f-f-footage but..."
"I..." Undyne swallowed, "its sorta' a long story, hang on."
Alphys heard the telltale click of being put on speakerphone.
"I figure it's better to do this than to have to parrot everything back to the other two," Undyne explained cooly.
"Y-Yeah," Alphys swallowed, "ok-okay... Um... wh-who all is th-there?"
Undyne smiled. "It's just me, Pap, and Zero. Don't worry Alph," Undyne assured.
"Sup Doc," Zero noted, as if on cue.
"HELLO THERE!" Papyrus chimed.
"H-Hey guys," Alphys muttered.
There was a short pause, as slowly, the mood sunk to a more serious tone.
"So, uh, before we get into it," Zero muttered, interlacing his fingers and resting his chin on them.
"What did you find in the footage?" Zero asked flatly.
"...'Cause honestly," Zero swallowed, "I have no clue what happened."
Alphys swallowed. Only a select few people even knew she had cameras around the Underground. So how did he...
Undyne just sighed.
Squashing down that inkling of fear, Alphys took the next while to explain what little she'd been able to unscramble from the footage; including all that she'd determined it not to be.
They all listened carefully.
After she had finished, Undyne, though with a few notes from Zero, gave a mirroring explanation of what had happened from their perspective.
Papyrus listened and waited; doing his best to take it all in.
Alphys didn't mention how the malfunction from the cameras capturing their plunge in the lake seemed far more explainable than what had happened at L2.
Undyne didn't say anything about how Zero and curled around her, somehow protecting her from the fall.
Even if a part of her did want to ask; to split him apart with questions that she just didn't trust... she also knew she needed to have a working relationship with him.
And so she was quiet... for now.
She'd definitely be doing some more covert questioning soon.
"I-I'm sorry Undyne..." Alphys muttered shakily, her phone cradled between her shoulder and her ear as she poured over some of her more recent notes.
"I j-just, I really h-have no ex-explanations. N-Not without.. w-without further testing a-and evidence..."
"It's alright Alph," Undyne sighed, sounding ever so slightly defeated, "I just kinda hoped at least somebody would know what the hell is going on around here."
"I-I'm sorry..." Alphys muttered, standing up and moving to a dusty old filing cabinet. She leafed through them until she found what she'd been looking for; an old book on General Relativity.
"T-The closest t-theory I h-have wo-would be some s-sort of..." She flipped through the book. There were small notes written in the margins in some sort of symbol-like language.
It was something she'd seen around the lab a lot when she first took over, but something she'd never really been able to decode.
"Maybe s-some sort of... uh, time-space a-anomaly?" She flipped to the relevant page; at the bottom, written clear as day, were notes about how they may connect to...
"M-Maybe connected to the void...?" Alphys whispered.
Suddenly, the labs felt... far darker than they usually did.
She tucked the book back under her arm and moved back to her chair.
"A-Anyway. It might also b-be something more like... like a m-mini wormhole...?"
She continued to fiddle with the pages as she theorized.
"B-But thatwouldn't e-explain the i-incredibly convenient place it spat you out at," Alphys continued, her high voice the only sound, excluding the low hum of machinery around her.
"I mean... D-Due to the sh-sheer velocity of y-your, um, f-fall... from h-how you described it o-of course, a-and this is purely hypothetical..."
"Yeah?" Undyne urged her on.
"But if... if y-you'd b-been put above s-solid g-ground? Or e-even just shallower w-waters? Y-You p-probably wouldn't be w-walking... if y-you were, uh, lucky...." Alphys swallowed harshly, her throat growing dry and voice coarse.
"I-In fact... its a little sh-shocking that t-the surface tension o-of the water didn't cause... cause m-more damage... than.... uh..."
A heavy silence fell.
Alphys shook her head sharply, dragging a hand down her face.
"P-Papyrus? C-Could you actually grab y-your brother and p-put him on the l-line?" Alphys asked, "t-this seems li-like s-something right, erm, more u-up his alley..."
"N-NYEH! THAT SEEMS LIKE QUITE A GOOD IDEA!" Papyrus exclaimed, "OF COURSE ALPHYS!! I SHALL RETURN SHORTLY!!"
Undyne looked up from where she sat as Papyrus ventured up the stairs, yelling his brother's name.
There was no answer.
(but nobody came....)
"You really think that lazy bones is gonna be able to help with this?" Undyne asked, the words felt slightly harsh but her tone was... shockingly soft, clement and tender.
On the other end of the line, Alphys hummed for a moment.
"U-Undyne... S-Sans is smarter t-than he likes to h-have people think," Alphys confirmed quietly.
"If a-anyone could find out what's going on, i-it'd be him."
Undyne looked over to Zero, trying to see what he thought about all this; but his expression was totally unreadable.
"Uh... Zero, you good?" Undyne asked.
It had become increasingly clear over their interactions that Zero was not exactly the talkative sort; he seemed to prefer to get to the heart of the matter, or to ignore it entirely.
Zero shrugged, choosing not to say anything, instead fiddling with the now stiff, but mostly dry cloth of his armor.
They were right; if anyone could figure out what was happening, it should be Sans.
And yet...
Zero's fists clenched.
He was the only one with the ability to have all the pieces... and yet, he was still as lost as anyone else.
"Hey, bud," Undyne spoke softly, "it's alright. I get it; not knowing can be... frustrating. And scary, to not know."
"But it'll be okay; we'll figure it out eventually."
Zero said nothing, only slowly nodding.
It was... kinda creepy.
"Yeah, but for now," Zero shrugged, "best to let sleeping dogs lie, right?"
Before she had a retort, Papyrus fluttered down the stairs.
"UM... I MUST APOLOGIZE, IT SEEMS THAT MY BROTHER IS NOT AROUND AT THE MOMENT," Papyrus spoke loudly, but no one could miss that familiar tang of worry at the edge of his voice.
"I bet he's just at Grillby's or something," Undyne said in gentle comfort.
"Uh.... T-Thats' okay Papyrus!!!" Alphys assured quickly, "I-I, uh.... w-we can just c-call him!! T-Then.. um, W-We can all chat t-together?"
"A MARVELOUS IDEA DR. ALPHYS!!" Papyrus exclaimed, though not totally able to camouflage his worry, "PERHAPS WE CAN FIND HIM THROUGH THESE MEANS AS WELL!!! THAT LAZY BONES..."
Papyrus tapped his foot and huffed; but his anxiety was on full display.
Undyne looked over at Zero.
Part of her wasn't sure she wanted to see the two interact; it seemed like Zero and Sans wouldn't like each other much.
Suddenly, within the room, a phone began to ring.
Eyes searched the room, until landing on the source.
Zero.
Zero paled, and stood up.
"W-What..." Zero muttered.
Undyne's eyes were piercing as she reached over, hand sharp and steady-
She pulled the phone from between the couch cousins where it was lodged.
"Huh, looks like Sans forgot it at here," Undyne shrugged.
"ZERO? ARE YOU ALRIGHT? YOU SUDDENLY SEEM QUITE STARTLED!"
All eyes were on Zero as he stood, rigid as ice.
"I'm... fine. Wasn't expecting that I guess."
Undyne wondered if he was on edge because of their earlier experience... or something more incriminating.
"YES... ME NEITHER," Papyrus admitted, "IT IS PECULIAR; SANS DOES NOT USUALLY LEAVE HOME WITHOUT HIS PHONE!" Papyrus exclaimed stiffening with worry with every moment that passed.
There was silence for a moment.
"Hey Pap," Undyne muttered, "how about we go to Grillby's and bring him his phone then? I'm sure that's where he's gone off to."
Papyrus looked up, then nodded sharply.
"THAT SOUNDS PERFECT!" He exclaimed, "THOUGH, WITH MY LUCK, HE'LL APPEAR AT HOME JUST AFTER WE LEAVE," Papyrus said with a frown, anxiously tapping his foot.
"Alph, you good if we do that?" Undyne asked her girlfriend, "Oh! And is there anything else we should know about this... whatever it was?"
"E-Erm... Y-Yeah! Uh, just try, um, try to n-not do whatever y-you had been doing, uh, j-just before t-the occurance. S-So, er, ju-just in case it t-triggers it a-again..." Alphys spoke quickly.
Undyne nodded and hummed.
"Alright, cool!" Undyne nodded, "we still on for tomorrow?"
"O-Oh!! Yes, absolutely! I-I'll be s-sure to se-set up the s-snacks," Alphys spoke excitedly.
"Sweet! See you then. Love you!"
Alphys muttered a squeaky 'love you too', before Undyne ended the call.
"Alright, ready to head out?"
"ABSOLUTELY UNDYNE! OHHH!!! ZERO CAN COME WITH US AND MEET SANS AS WELL!!" Papyrus exclaimed with glee.
"HE MAY NOT BE AS COOL AS THE GREAT PAPYRUS," Papyrus struck a pose, "BUT HE IS A WONDERFUL BROTHER NONETHELESS!! NYEH HEH HEH!!" Papyrus exclaimed.
"AND AFTERWARDS WE CAN EVEN HAVE A SLEEPOVER!!"
Zero was immediately struck - he had to get out of here. They couldn't find out who he really was, what he really was. Not so soon!!
"N-Nah, uh, I'm actually good," Zero stumbled over his words. Stiff as a board.
"I-I shouldn't've stayed this long anyway," Zero said with a hand wave, internally scolding himself.
His cheeks flushed; why must he always be so stupid. He shouldn't be getting this close!
"I didn't mean to intrude," he moved toward the door, only for his shoulder to be grabbed by Papyrus.
Zero turned.
"WHAT? WHY WOULD YOU BE INTRUDING?" Papyrus looked... so genuinely baffled at the questions.
Undyne also seemed a little perplexed.
"Well, 'cause you all are like... friends?" Zero muttered.
"OH. I THOUGHT..." Papyrus removed his hand from Zero's shoulder, the armor feeling somehow... colder.
"I THOUGHT THAT WE WERE FRIENDS...?"
God damn that fucking kicked puppy look!
Zero jumped back, shaking his hands wildly.
"No! No!! I-I! We, uh, we totally are!!! I just, um... I just-!!"
There was really no good way out of this, was there.
Once Papyrus had his sights set on someone; they were as good as... well, as his friend.
"I just... I gotta get home, ya know? Er- we can hang out, uh, some other time?" Zero offered.
Almost instantly, Papyrus perked up.
Undyne and Papyrus shared a look.
Zero felt defeated already.
"Well we do have sparring practice tomorrow," Undyne offered, "if you're up to the challenge!" She let out a triumphant laugh.
Zero, still stiff, only nodded.
"OH GOODIE!!!" Papyrus exclaimed, sweeping Zero up and spinning him around in a hug.
"I AM SO GLAD, NEW FRIEND ZERO" Papyrus beamed, squeezing Zero tight enough to pop some vertebrae, before finally letting him down.
"I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL BE HAPPY TO HAVE YOU AS A SPARRING PARTNER!! THIS SHALL BE SO EXCITING!!!"
Zero smiled and let out a nervous chuckle.
"Y-Yeah, sounds like it! Heh heh," he backed toward the door.
"Training starts at Seven o'clock sharp at my house; in waterfall," Undyne explained, tapping a summoned spear against her palm.
"It'll be the one with all the explosions coming from it!! FU HU HAHAHA!!" Undyne exclaimed maniacally, her grin wide and sharp.
"I'll be there," Zero said quickly.
"ALRIGHT!! SEE YOU THEN, NEW FRIEND ZERO!!"
Once finally outside of the house, Zero walked a couple steps, then simply warped up to his room, stumbling a bit at the strain.
Alright, so no more shortcuts... Sans sighed, stripping away the armor, piece by piece, locking it away. Shedding it like a disguise and placing it back on the stand, locking it away deep in the hidden compartment in his wall.
Sans dragged a hand down his face, before quickly scrawling out a note.
"hey pap,
sorry to worry ya', I didn't mean to leave my phone at home.
Didn't mean to leave ya feeling all... a-bone.
Heh heh
Anyway, I didn't know when you'd be getting back, so I wrote you this,
to let you know that i'm here safe.
Love ya bro,
Sans"
He heard the sounds of Papyrus and Undyne making their way out, and paused, a hand wrapped tight around the knob. He waited a moment more to be sure, before moving quickly down the stairs and tossing the note, the pencil he'd written with, and an empty grillby's bag onto the table.
After that, Sans grabbed his phone from the couch, before shuffling up to his room, and proceeding to fall face first onto his bed; quite tempted to scream into his pillow.
This had been such a stupid idea...
What the hell had he gotten himself into?