Moving Error was difficult; Aesop's rope was still spreading across his skeleton, slowly taking over more and more of the skeleton. On one side, this would make it difficult for him to move about once the effects of Artie's Tesla gun wore off. On the other side, according to Artie, touching the rope would entangle whoever touched it as well. As such, Sans had to be careful as he carried his darker self to a place Artie referred to as 'the Bronze Sector'. The meaning of the name became clear; the room was half-filled with what appeared to be statues of humans and monsters made of bronze, their hands in the air as though they'd been held up by a gunman.
"Put him in the chamber." Artie said, already tapping at the console beside the massive chamber at the end of the room. "And make sure he's secure!"
"Got it." Sans said, releasing his hold of Error and using his telekinesis to carry Error into the chamber. The reason for the posture of the statues became clear when Sans spotted the metal shackles for restraining a person's hands.
Fuku apparently came to the same conclusion. "Oh my god … you mean all these bronze people-"
"Are extremely dangerous." Artie said. "Trust me; if they're in here, there's a good reason."
Sans secured the last shackle and quickly stepped out of the chamber. The door slid shut moments later, a loud klaxon sounding as the machine stirred to life.
"And … done." Artie said, tapping the console one final time. The small window that allowed someone to look into the chamber was soon clouded with white fog. When the fog faded, all that was visible was Sans's own bronze skull.
Breathing a sigh of relief, Artie said, "Well, that wasn't so bad, was it?"
"Will this hold him?" Sans asked, peering into the chamber.
"He is a statue, unless someone's stupid enough to unbronze him." Artie said as the chamber door slid open, revealing the rest of Error's frozen form. "Sans, would you …"
Nodding, Sans used his telekinesis to remove Error from the chamber and put him with the other frozen figures. As he set his other self down, he couldn't help but feel a little strange; covered in bronze, Error really did look just like Sans, aside from Aesop's rope.710Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbelzBA2tVd
"What about your artifact?" Fuku asked.
Artie shrugged. "Glen said this guy's destroyed realities. Normally I hate losing artifacts, but under the circumstances, I think you'll agree it's worth the cost."
"So … that's it?" Sans said, his eyes on the bronzed Error.
Chuckling, Artie said, "When you've been with the Elsewhere as long as I have, you long for the days when things work out this easily. Besides, we still need to find that stone of yours. Assuming that the void space Error jumps in and out of maintains a constant entryway and adding the Aesop aisle to the map along with your own arrival points … yes, it looks like the theory regarding the circular pattern of dispersal was correct."
"All right." Sans said, clapping his hands together. "So I guess we just walk the circle and keep our eyes out for a hunk of crystal the size of a fist."
"Sounds like a plan." Fuku agreed.
Artie nodded. "All right. We'll stay together, though; no offense, but you're still new to the Warehouse, and I wouldn't want to have to explain to Missus Dreemurr that you got yourself strangled our melted because I wasn't watching you."
"You'll get no argument from me." Sans said, taking Fuku's arm under his own. "Even a bone-head like me's seen enough not to go poking around a place like this."
"Let's just hope the crystal doesn't have any unfortunate reactions with the artifacts. The last thing we need is a bunch of dimensional rifts opening up around here." Artie sighed before motioning for them to follow him. They departed the bronze sector, which unfortunately meant they were out of earshot when the first bronze flakes covering Aesop's rope fell to the floor with light 'tink' sounds.710Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1l2cMS2vqH
The prius slowed to a hald just in front of the ramp leading down to the edge of the lake. Glen let out a whistle as she took in the magnificent view.710Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdfABHiZ2pQ
"Look at that." She said, holding up a hand to shield her eyes from the sun. "Tell me that ain't a view worthy of a post-card."
"It is quite a lovely sight indeed, Missus Glen." Papyrus said, his sockets staring out at the sight before them.
Cauldron Lake spread across the caldera, its shimmering waters surrounded by lofty peaks that seemed to stretch into the clouds. The water itself seemed unusually dark. This was due to mineral deposits from the mountains, according to the pamphlet Claudia snagged from the Oh Deer Diner. All in all, it was a perfect view of nature as yet unspoiled by the hands of humanity or monster … at least, it looked to be that way at first glance.
As Glen, Claudia, Jinks, and UNDRPapyrus reached the bottom of the criss-crossing dirt ramp that led to the edge of the lake, they came across the frayed ends of some rope and a few termite-ridden planks.
"Huh." Jinks said. "What do you make of this?"
"I dunno." Glen said, squatting beside the remains. "A bridge maybe?"
"Bridge to where?" Claudia peered out over the water. "I don't see anything."
"Hmm." Glen pulled her glasses case from her pocket. "One sec."
She slid the glasses over her eyes, upon which the objects in the distance became just a bit sharper, as is normal for any pair of properly prescribed glasses for a near-sighted man or woman. However, most glasses do not glow briefly when the bridge is tapped, altering the view to see different visual spectrums. Unfortunately, these did not help either; heat sensors were no good, as the cold water of the lake made it impossible to detect any heat beneath. Echolocation provided some rough images as well, but without any color or an idea of what she was looking for, it was all a bunch of lumps to her.
Glen pulled off her glasses and chewed one of the earpieces thoughtfully for a few moments. It was then she felt it; something tingly in the air that was distantly familiar.
"Any luck, Gizmoduck?" Claudia asked Glen.
Glen shook her head. "Water's blocking everything. I can see some kind of structure, but I can't make it out."
Claudia held out her hand. "Gimmie."
Glen hesitated a moment before handing over her glasses. Claudia slipped them on and stared into the water a moment, her fingers tapping along the frames before finding the trigger spot on the bridge. She tapped it a few times, her grin widening.
"Definitely something down there all right." Claudia lowered the glasses and turned to Glen. "I've got an idea. You mind if I play with this for a sec?"
"Just as long as I get them back." Glen said.
"Sure thing. Maybe not in one piece, but hey, nothing a little glue won't fix."
Glen glowered at Claudia as she crouched beside the wooden boards to dig in the depths of her backpack. Shaking her head, Glen again found her attention focusing on the strange feeling in the air. She slowly approached the edge of the lake herself, trying to put a finger on where she'd felt it before. It was so distracting that she barely noticed Agent Sans walking up beside her.
"Heya." He said, giving her a little wave. "You okay, Missus Glen?"
"Yeah." She said, still staring out over the lake. "I just … can you feel that?"
To her surprise, he nodded. With a sidelong glance at Jinks and Papyrus, who were commenting on the scenery, Agent Sans said in a low voice, "Somethin's changed around here. Something big. Massive reality alteration."
"You sure?" Glen glanced at Agent Sans, who gave her what could only be described as a look. "Right. You know your reality shifts."
After a momentary pause, Glen asked, "Did it happen a lot here? With Frisk, I mean?"
"A few times, yes." Agent Sans said. "Nothing like what happened to your Sans; Frisk told me she was attempting to find a way to save Asriel. Never worked; Flowey's in stasis over in the Warehouse's Green wing. Still, I can't blame her for trying."
"No, I suppose not." Glen sighed and stared out into the water of the lake. "It's connected with Rose."
"The waitress? You said she was infected by the ichor."
"Yes, she was … past-tense. If she had any ichor in her system, I would've drawn it out of her; it was more like a memory or a dream of ichor somehow buried in her mind." Glen shook her head. "If the ichor infection still manifests psychologically after a reality shift … damn. Just what the hell is this stuff?"
"Got it." Claudia said, a small jeweler's tarnished eyepiece now attached to the right lens of Glen's glasses, another artifact no doubt. "It's a house."
"A house? You mean like someone's living there?"
"Not unless they can breathe underwater." Claudia said, handing the combined glasses back to Glen. "Besides, place is a wreck."
Glen looked through the glasses. To her surprise, she could see through the water as though the lake had been completely drained. Sure enough, there was a small cottage on the lake bed, partially deteriorated from long-term submersion.
"Looks like it was built on an outcropping that partially covered the caldera." Glen commented, "Probably a small island that collapsed later."
"So Missus Wake's story was true." Jinks said, "There really was a cabin here."
"I dunno." Glen said. "I'm seein' a lot of algae growth. This cabin looks to have been down there for quite some time."
She handed the glasses to Jinks, who nodded after a few moments. "I'd say years, at least."
"Perhaps the woman in the mourning veil has something to do with it." Papyrus suggested.
Everyone slowly turned to Papyrus, who held up the folder containing all the information Claudia had gleaned from the local police records. "According to the report of Missus Wake, her husband spoke of a woman in a mourning veil who gave him the cabin key and directions to this location. Even more interesting is the fact that the cabin the Wakes actually rented belonged to a Mister Stucky, who reported that Mister Wake and his wife departed the Oh Deer Diner before he could give them the key."
"Well, well, well." Claudia said, raising an eyebrow. "Sounds like this lady in the mourning veil set them up."
"But what about the cabin?" Jinks asked. "It's at the bottom of the lake."
"According to Missus Wake, there was a cabin here when she and Mister Wake arrived." Papyrus said, opening the dossier. "After they settled in, there was a bit of a fight, after which Mister Wake apparently left the cabin in a huff. The last thing Missus Wake remembers is making her way downstairs only for something to grab her and pull her out of the house and into the lake. My word; what an ordeal! I do hope she was not traumatized by it all."
Glen didn't respond; her eyes were on the lake. Without the glasses, it suddenly looked a lot less friendly and a lot more ichor-ey.
"I need a closer look." She murmured. "Agent Jinks? I need to get my gear."
Sans and Fuku walked through the shelves of the warehouse with Artie a few yards ahead of them, presumably tracing the circular pattern indicated by their arrival. Sans examined the aisles with interest for a time before realizing that Fuku appeared lost in thought.
"Hey." He said, bumping lightly against her side. "You okay, Fuku?"
"What? Oh, Sans … did you say something."
"I asked if you're okay." He said. "You look like you're a million miles away."
Her cheeks burned brighter. "Oh. I'm sorry; I just … I was thinking of Toriel and Dad back in the UNDR-Ground."
"They're okay." Sans told her. "They were uninjured when we left, remember?"
"I know, but with us disappearing like that, I'm worried that they're worried, you know?" Sighing, she said, "Dad's always so worried about me. Miss Toriel too, I suppose, and Frisk and Asriel as well. I … I miss them, Sans."
She looked at him, fear in her bright eyes. "What if we can't get back? What if we can never go home again?"
"Easy there, sweet flame." He said, rubbing her cheek. "We'll get back, I'm sure of it. Glen will find her rune and bring us home. Then we can start preparing for the wedding."
"Wedding?" She asked, eyes widening.
"For Grillby and Toriel." Sans said quickly. "Y'know, if he managed to propose."
"Right." She said with a nervous chuckle.
Sans found himself watching at her as they walked, her eyes on the floor and her cheeks still bright. Slipping his hand into hers, he kissed her on the cheek and said, "Thanks, Fu."
"For what?" She asked.
"For bein' so understanding. With me, with my jokes and my goofy nature, and with all this crazy stuff that keeps happening. We should be at the movies or having dinner back in the UNDR-Ground, yet here we are in a top-secret warehouse filled with artifacts that are weird even by monster standards."
"It's not your fault." She said, squeezing his hand. "It's just … it just hit me, you know? How small we are in the grand scheme of things. All these other dimensions, all these other versions of you and me … the sheer number of possibilities, it's just … overwhelming. UNDR-Ground wasn't really so different, you know? Same faces, just with a bunch of cameras. I guess I always thought other realities would be like that … mostly the same, with some small differences, not … this."
She gestured up at Dreemurr Palace in the distance, still every bit as impressive even surrounded by tall shelves.
"It's different, yeah." Sans said, "Me, I was kinda hopin' for a spaceship. Y'know, some reality where we're all soaring the cosmos. I'd look good in spandex, yeah?"
Fuku looked at him for a moment before bursting into giggles. "I think that would be a bit of a stretch."
Chuckling, Sans said, "Nice."
"If you don't mind." Artie said, not turning to look at them. "I get enough of the bad jokes from our Sans."
"Are you saying I should shelve the puns?" Sans asked with a grin.
Artie stopped and turned, a surly expression on his face that quickly changed as his eyes darted upwards. He pointed and said, "There!"
Sans and Fuku looked where he pointed; there, on top of one of the shelf stacks, next to what appeared to be an antique water dispenser and an old rotary phone, the side of a crystal could just be seen.
"Nice eye." Sans commented. "I'll just take that."
He raised his hand, fully intending to use his telekinesis to grab the crystal, only for a puff of pink smoke to hit him full in the face. He felt his magical power weaken as he fell to his knees, coughing."
"Crap!" Artie said, helping Fuku pull him away. "Jaquamo's Cape; Jaquamo was a tenth century jester who constantly vied for the attentions of King Erdrick the Third. His main competitor was the court magician, the Magnificent Heraldo; legend has it Jaquamo used the cape to sabotage Heraldo's magic so that the jester could win the king's favor."
"Yeah." Sans said, still coughing, "I got that. What's the downside?"
Artie glanced at the display of the green and red cape. "Uh … when the dampening effect wore off, Heraldo's powers came back, but they were unstable; Jaquamo was killed when one of Heraldo's tricks exploded."
"Cute. So I have to be extra careful with my magic." Sans said, finally catching his breath.
"So how are we going to get it down?" Fuku asked, eyeing the shelf of artifacts uncertainly. "I could climb up-"
"Bad idea." Artie said, "If Sans's magic triggered the cape, there's no telling what a fire elemental's resonant magical energy might do, not to mention how badly some of the artifacts might react to being burned. Unfortunately, that means there's only one thing to do."
With a sigh, the rabbit-man began to climb. Sans and Fuku could only watch as he slowly and carefully made his way up to the top of the shelf.
"Almost … there." Artie breathed, his fingers brushing against the side of the crystal.
Without warning, blue threads shot from behind the shelf and grabbed Artie's hand, lifting him clear from the shelf with a yelp. Error appeared a moment later, rising into view with a big grin, bits of bronze still on his shoes, and Aesop's rope still wrapped around his hand.
"Hello there." Error said to a terrified Artie. "Nice of you to hang around."
Artie's hand went for his tesla, only for another blue thread to wrap around his wrist and pull his arm back.
"Oh, no." Error said, "Now it's time for me to shock you."
A burst of fire made Error vanish and reappear a few feet to the side, his eyes now on Sans and Fuku.
"Ah, if it isn't my other self and his hot-headed harlot. Good. This means I can wrap up everything at …'
Error stopped suddenly. Sans felt something clench in the area where non-skeletal humans had a stomach when he realized Error was looking at the crystal.
"Now what is this?" Error asked, picking up the stone. "If it isn't the imprint from our little experiment. Whatever is this doing here?"
"Being an extremely ineffectual paperweight." Sans said, glancing at the nearby artifacts in hopes of spotting something he could use. Most of it seemed to be appliances of some sort, from a toaster that shot toast at fifty miles an hour, a blender that could merge ingredients at the molecular level, and a television set that ate the user's memories of other shows to produce new episodes of their favorite series. Then he saw it, right beside the television. Sans grabbed it and pointed it at Error. "Let him go!"
Error's grin widened. "Not to make light of your situation, but do you really expect me to be frightened of that?"
"You should be." Sans said with a grin. "After all, now I'm playing with power."
He pulled the trigger of the gray Nintendo blaster. A blast of light rocketed from the light gun and came within inches of hitting the glitching skeleton floating above.
"What the …" Error's eyes narrowed. "Just what the hell was that?"
"Bad news … for you." He fired again, this shot blasting through one of the threads binding Artie. Artie plummeted, hands out to protect his face, but he never touched the ground; Error's threads caught him by his legs and pulled him up as a shield as Error backed away, unaware that the crystal in his hands was now glowing, the imprint most of all.
Realizing what was about to happen, Sans shouted, "Wait! Error! STOP!"
The sun was just beginning to dip beneath the edges of the mountain as the metal ball broke the surface of Cauldron Lake and sank like a stone until finally coming to rest on the floor of the lake. At that point, the ball shifted, certain segments twisting and moving until it formed a small bug-like machine with six legs and a short scorpion-like tail. Its camera-like eye flared to life, shining brightly through the darkness of the lake water.
Above the surface, at the lake's edge, Glen said, "All right, Bubba's online."
"Bubba?" Claudia asked with a smirk on her face. "You named your robot 'Bubba'?"
"No, that's the name he had when he asked to assist me." Glen said, a touch defensively. "And he's not a robot; he's a skriever."
Claudia raised her hands, rolling her eyes as she said, "Okay, didn't mean to offend."
A few chitters came from the speaker of Headache's display. Grinning, Glen said, "He accepts your apology."
"That's our Claudia." Jinks said. "Always making new friends."
Claudia made a face at Jinks as Glen turned her attention back to Headache's display, now showing the view of Bubba the skriever. The view through the little Glyche-designed automaton's camera wasn't quite as good as Glen's artifact-enhanced glasses, but was impressively clear in its own right. She watched as the skriever skittered across the lake bed like a metal ant, climbing over rocks and debris until he reached the ruined steps of the porch.
"Huh." Glen said as Bubba reached the front door. "Doesn't look so bad, aside from being beneath the lake. Kinda reminds me of an old friend of mine; built a water-tight enclosure beneath a lake to keep away all but the most determined thieves."
"That's quite cunning!" Papyrus said, "Did it work?"
"Yes," Glen said, "Up until the damn fool nearly drowned himself while trying to dig the key to the outer access hatch out of his pocket. I told him to carry a respirator."
Shaking her head. Glen turned her attention back to the screen. The skriever was in the cabin now, making his way across the wooden planks of the floor. He approached something beneath a desk near a kitchen. It was a book entitled, 'Dreams of the Midnight Sea', written by one 'Thomas Zane'. The book looked to have fallen out of a box that itself fell from the desk above it. Upon examination, the box was filled with more books, each also written by Thomas Zane.
"Hmm." Glen said as Bubba scanned the books. "Someone was a fan. This might be worth a look."
"I'm on it." Claudia said, hurrying to her laptop, currently on the hood of the car. After a few moments of tapping, she shook her head and said, "That's weird."
"What is it?" Jinks asked.
"I'm not finding anything." She said.
"Hang on. Bubba, can you open the first book to the copyright page?"
Bubba complied, using his front pincers to carefully flip the cover and pages of the water-logged book. Claudia quickly read the copyright information and resumed her search, only to shake her head again.
"Okay," She said, "This is crazy; I can't find any record of the book or the publisher."
"What about Zane?" Jinks asked. "Anything on him?"
After a few more moments search, Claudia said, "Not finding any authors named Thomas Zane."
"Forget the book thing." Glen suggested. "Just see if you can find someone who might fit the location and the date."
"Right." Claudia said. A few moments more, and she said, "Thomas Zane, citizen of Bright Falls. Married to a Miss Barbara Jagger. Missing since …" Her eyes met Glen's. "… since their cabin on Cauldron Lake collapsed due to a mysterious earthquake."
Glen nodded before turning back to her screen. "All right; I saw some stairs. Can you check the second floor, Bubba? Hurry, if you can; sun's almost down out here, and I wouldn't want you to get stuck down there."
Bubba moved immediately, approaching the aforementioned stairwell as fast as his legs could carry him. There were only two doors at the top landing. One was a bedroom, a suitcase still lying at the foot of the bed. The second was closed, making entry difficult, if not impossible.
"Right." Glen said, "See if you can get the luggage."
Getting the luggage out of the house turned out to be quite simple, probably due to the water making it easier for the skriever to manipulate. Soon it was scooting the suitcase out of the front door and along the porch.
"And there goes the sun." Jinks commented. Sure enough, the bright orb was all but gone, leaving shadows that quickly spread across the lake as the light slid behind the mountains.
A muffled creak caught Glen's ear. "Watch it, Bubba.' She warned. "Sounds like that place is a second away from-"
Her sentence was interrupted by a much louder creak, followed by one of the porch posts collapsing. Bubba pushed the luggage as far as he could before quickly darting away only seconds before the roof of the porch came crashing down.
"Bubba?" Glen asked, her screen obscured by flying debris. "Bubba, you okay?"
After a few tense moments, a chirp sounded from Headache's speaker.
"Oh, goodness." Papyrus said, a hand on his ribs. "Thank heavens your little friend is unharmed."
Glen nodded. "That still leaves the luggage, though."
"Maybe the collapse knocked it out." Jinks said. "Look around and see if it made it out, er … Bubba."
After another affirmative chirp, Bubba scanned the area around the collapsed porch. When the debris settled, Glen spotted the tarnished metal of the handle right at the edge of the porch, held down by a heavy beam.
"Damn." Claudia said. "So close."
"Close enough." Glen said, taking aim with Headache. After glancing at the monitor of her other Headache unit, she made a small adjustment to her aim and fired her grappler into the lake.
"Aaaaaaand …' She murmured as the grapple shot through the water, eventually catching the handle perfectly. "Bam! Got 'er in one."
"Nice!" Claudia said. "
She tugged at the cable. For a moment, it felt as though the luggage shifted her way, yet even as she smiled, something seemed to tug back.
"Damn." She said, still pulling back. "It's caught on something. Don't worry; I got it."
She pulled again, this time using Headache's inbuilt strength enhancement. The luggage didn't move at all this time; it was as though she'd latched onto the lake bottom itself.
Before she could respond, she felt a strong tug at the grapple.
"What the …" She glanced at the screen again and immediately froze; she'd expected to see the luggage still trapped under the beam. She did not, however, expect to see the black oily tendrils of ichor sliding from beneath the ruined porch, wrapping around the luggage and the grapple.
"Uh-oh. Bubba, get back here on the double!" Tossing aside all subtlety, she linked the Headache units together, set the strength enhancement on full, and pulled with everything she had.
For a moment, she was certain she'd won. She felt the luggage come free and pull away from the ichor. The victory was short-lived, however, as the tendrils quickly sped through the water and wrapped again around the luggage and the grapple.
Glen struggled as much as she was able, but couldn't stop herself from slowly being pulled toward the edge of the lake. Claudia, Jinks and Papyrus latched on to her arms and pulled as well, slowing her movement toward the lakeside, but not stopping it altogether. Even Sans showed unusual energy as he quickly latched a cable onto one of Headache's support rings and tied the other to the front bumper of the car. A brief squeal of tired soon saw the group moving away from the lake again, albeit slowly.
"Something definitely does not want us getting that luggage." Jinks said as the group continued to struggle.
"Or maybe it just wants us." Claudia said, a hint of panick in her voice.
Glen didn't respond; the ichor was getting stronger. Indeed, as the last rays of light slipped toward the horizon, even the car ceased being enough to stop them from sliding back toward the lake. Despite her struggle, Glen couldn't help but feel a bit of horror at the idea of an entire lake of ichor.
"Glen!" Claudia said, full panic now in her voice. "Might be time to let go!"
"I can't!" Glen said, "Headache won't disengage while in use, and the remote grapple release isn't working!"
"They're grabbing the grapple wire itself!" Jinks said. "Can you cut it?"
"Yes, but if I stop pulling with my other Headache, we're all gonna go flying."
Fortunately, it didn't come to that. Bubba slipped out of the water moments before the sun was finally gone. The skriever quickly leapt onto the grapple cord, the tip of his scorpion-like tail glowing brightly as it started to cut through the cable.
"Ha!" Claudia said with a wide grin. "Bubba for the win!"
Glen smiled as well despite the continuing struggle, knowing that a skriever would cut through the cable in no time, and that although the luggage was gone, at least the team would be okay. The thought was comforting … at least until she felt both her runes pulse in response to a sudden surge of power..
"What the …" was all she had time to say before the world fell apart around them.
