Frisk tiptoed through the field of snow poffs, her feet barely leaving impressions in the snow as she walked. She stopped beside one of the poffs, staring at it a moment before taking her stick and poking it with her stick.
Frowning, she continued through the field. As she passed one of many visually identical snow-poffs, it shifted ever so slightly. Frisk spun about and poked the poff with her stick. She was still poking when Jake leapt out of the snow-poff behind her and let out a bark.
Frisk shrieked as Jake’s display bumped her just hard enough to knock her into the snow poff. She leapt out a moment later, covered in snow and giggling as she hugged Jake’s monitor.
Sans emerged from another of the nearby snow poffs, chuckling himself.
“Wow. Your buddy here’s a real pupsicle.” Sans said as Frisk smashed a handful of snow on Jake’s head.
Jake spun his monitor, making Frisk giggle all the louder.
Jake let out another bark before Frisk waved her hand in front of his display. She pointed at him, signaling that it was his turn.
Letting out an affirmative bark, Jake turned and buried his monitor in the side of one of the snow poffs, shutting off his audio sensors as Frisk ran off giggling. After thirty seconds, he set his audio sensors to half power and walked through the snow field slowly.
Normally, finding the small human or the skeleton would be simple; he did have thermal sensors, as well as the new thaumatic sensors Glen installed that would make a magical being like Sans light up like a flare. Still, Frisk seemed to enjoy the hiding game more when he seemed to have trouble; as a good KEI-9 unit, he gave himself a handicap.
This time, however, he made a full circuit through the field with no luck. Letting out a confused whine, he started to make another round when he heard a giggle from above.
Jake turned his gaze up to find Sans and Frisk sitting up in the branches of a nearby tree. Jake barked at them, wagging his tail.
“Sorry, Jake.” Sans said with his usual grin. “Thought we’d branch out from the usual spots. Didn’t mean to leaf you hanging.”’
Jake barked again, front paws on the trunk of the tree.
“Hey, Frisk; how’s a tree’s bark like a dog’s bark?” Sans asked. When Frisk shrugged, Sans said, “They’re both ruff!”
Frisk giggled and shook her head at the skeleton. Sans grinned all the wider, but before he could say anything else, a loud, “SANS!” rang through the clearing.
Papyrus marched through the snowfield, an annoyed look on his skull. Jake wagged his tail as the tall skeleton approached, apparently not seeing his brother and Frisk through the snow.
“Oh. Hello, metal dog friend.” Papyrus said, patting the top of Jake’s monitor. “Have you seen little Frisk or that lazy brother of mine?”
Jake barked, but before he could indicate the tree, two snowballs hit the side of Papyrus’s head. He glared up at the branches of the tree and said, “Sans! What are you doing up there?”
“Just breaking the root-ine.”
“Oh my god, Sans!” Papyrus said as Frisk dissolved into giggles again. “I should’ve expected a corny line like that from you!”
“Acorny?”
“Yes, I ... THAT’S NOT WHAT I SAID!”
“I dunno, bro, it sounded like that to me. Frisk?”
Frisk nodded along with Sans, a big grin on her small face.
Papyrus sighed and rubbed the top of his skull. “Would you please get out of that tree before you fall out and I have to carry you home?”
“Sure thing, bro.” Sans said. He gestured to Frisk, who floated into the air and slowly fell into Papyrus’s waiting hands.
He started to lower her to the ground, but she quickly climbed out of his grasp and sat on the back of his neck, her legs draped over his chest as she hugged his skull.
Sighing, Papyrus said, “Let’s go home. I’ve got dinner already cooking.”
Frisk pointed the opposite way, to the path that would eventually lead to the ruins.
“It’s already past your bedtime, Frisk.” Papyrus said. “We’ll check the door again tomorrow morning, like we always do.”
Frisk frowned and crossed her small arms.
“It’s no good giving me that look.” Papyrus told her. “You’ve been out quite long enough already.”
“Don’t worry about it, kid.” Sans said, “Me and Jake’ll go check it out. Right, boy?”
Jake let out an affirmative bark. Frisk didn’t look completely happy with the decision, but she nodded and waved as Papyrus carried her toward Snowden.
“Sweet kid.” Sans commented as he and Jake took the opposite path just long enough to get out of sight and shortcut to the entrance to the Ruins.
He gave his usual knock and when that failed to provoke a response, he told a few jokes only to again hear no response.
“And she was okay last you saw her?” Sans asked Jake, who barked and nodded his monitor.
“Hmm.” Sans said, scratching his jaw. “Well, maybe she’s been busy lately. I mean, it’s been a month since we’ve traded jokes, but it wouldn’t be the first time she didn’t show up for awhile. Probably nothing to worry about.”
Despite his words, Sans sounded worried. Jake would’ve agreed that the situations seemed suspicious had he been able to speak, especially seeing as his thermal sensors had on several occasions detected remnant warmth on the door. He’d even spied her footprints in the snow a few times, though by the time Sans or Papyrus arrived, any remaining footprints were long gone. Toriel seemed to genuinely care for Frisk; so why wouldn’t she walk more than a few steps from the ruins?
It had been nearly a month since Jake and Frisk were locked out of the Ruins after the confrontation with Error!Sans. Poor little Frisk fell into a panic when they ran into the normal Sans, but the cheery skeleton had quickly won over the kind-hearted little girl. She in turn had quickly befriended both Sans and his brother, despite the fact the latter was charged with her capture. Papyrus seemed to get around this by considering her under his supervision, and thus technically his prisoner.
Sans tapped Jake’s back. “Well, come on; we’ll check again tomorrow. twenty-eighth time’s the charm, right?”
Jake followed Sans through the Snowdin fields. Sans often took long walks during what passed as the Underground’s ‘night’. He claimed it helped him clear his thoughts. Jake often accompanied him on these walks, though not because of any actually physical need; Sans just liked an audience.
“Always wondered how they got those rocks to sparkle like that.” Sans commented, staring up at the cavern ceiling where distant gems twinkled like stars. “I mean, someone had to go up there, right? Someone had to hollow all this out. Alphys says they did it as they went, but I just know someone’s got a huge ladder tucked away somewhere.”
Sans often rambled about things like that. Jake listened, though he understood little of it. He simply walked along and gave the occasional bark when it was expected. He scanned his surroundings out of what could be called boredom, though he’d already mapped the path between Snowdin and the Ruins so many times that he could likely walk it without visual aid.
Only this time, there was something different; as they passed the site of Papyrus’s sliding switch puzzle, Jake caught a nearby power spike; it wasn’t much, but given that the area was normally nothing but snow and stone, it was curious enough for Jake to veer away from Sans and follow the signal as Sans continued on, oblivious to the loss of his audience.
He walked down a long slope and through a narrow pass between two snow-covered cliffs before his sensors locked in on the object. It was lying on the snow, oddly enough.
Jake stopped; despite every sensor but his visuals indicating nothing was there, he could see a small shadowy figure sitting right where the power spike was located. Her features were hard to make out, but it seemed to be a little girl not far from Frisk’s age. She was only there a moment, however, before vanishing without a trace.
Jake scanned the area a moment longer before slowly approaching the location of the power abnormality. It didn’t register any heat; only energy in an extremely condensed form.
Only a few feet away, Jake stopped again, finding himself standing in a news studio where a bear in a suit was straightening his tie.
“Greetings, Underground! This is Jacob Bosley, bringing you the Underground Report. Big news today, as several refugees from another dimension were discovered on the set of Papyrus’s Pasta Paradise. Not much is know, other than they were narrowly wiped out and barely managed to escape here.”
“Director Mettaton has welcomed the newcomers with open arms. She was quoted as saying, “Well, it’s our duty now, isn’t it darling? They are us, and they’ve clearly been through a horrendous ordeal. You should see the other me ... what little of him is still left. Not to worry, though; our dear Alphys is already working on a new body for the poor fellow, and he’ll be up and dancing in no time!”
“Special commendation is being given to Papyrus, master chef and current contestant on the highly rated ‘Royal Knights’ program hosted by Captain Undyne, for assisting with the evacuation efforts. When asked about his heroic assistance, he simply stated, ‘It was the right thing to do, and I’m sure any civic-minded member of UNDR would have done the same’. Good job, Papyrus, and good luck in next week’s trials.”
Jake was suddenly back in the snow fields, a few feet from the remaining shard. Confused as to what had just happened, he slowly took a few more steps toward the power source. His visual sensors could make out that the object was glowing.
He was less than a foot away when he found himself again transported somewhere else; this time, he seemed to be on the surface, where Toriel and a man wearing an orange exosuit and a well-dressed woman with tan skin and short hair were shaking hands amidst a crowd of humans and monsters.
“Thank you, President Freeman.” Toriel said, bowing her head first to the woman then to the man before glancing around at the assembly. “I knew one day we would return to the surface, but I always feared that it would be amidst the bloodshed of a new war. That humanity and its allies have welcomed us so readily shows how wrong I was. May this day be remembered as the first of a long and prosperous union between our peoples!”
The crowd erupted into cheering, be they human, monster, or beings that Jake didn’t recognize. He did spot someone he did recognize, however; beside a young bossun man and a tall lizard man with no arms stood Glen Adams Soleil, clapping the metal hands of Headache and letting out a loud shout.
Jake took a step toward her, only to find himself back in the Snowdin fields. Now thoroughly perplexed, he walked toward the source of the light and energy. He could almost make out the shape amid the falling snow as he reached out to touch it with a metal paw ...
... only to find himself standing in a field of what appeared to be grass, but registered to his sensors as gold. He barely had time to register this before he heard a loud and vaguely feminine voice say, “I’ll make sure Skyway HQ gets your request. I tell ya, when people hear ‘bout dis place, de’ll be comin’ in droves.”
Jake turned in time to see a massive stone woman walking beside two metal men, one short and the other tall. The tall one nodded and said, “Excellent. When they see how fantastic the Precious Meadows are, they’ll surely be overwhelmed by the urge to stay.”
“Not to mention that we’ll be able to trade for goods with Nowhere.” Said the shorter metal man. “Maybe even get to visit one day.”
“Now, Beget.” Said the tall man, putting a hand on the shorter man’s shoulder. “We have plenty of work to do. Leaving Serenity Spire is one thing, but I’d like to make doubly sure that the Precious Meadows won’t fall apart while we’re gone.”
Sighing, Beget said, “Yeah, you’re right. At least we can step out every now and then, eh?”
Further conversation was interrupted as the metal and stone people were joined by two others; a bossun boy similar to the one from the previous anomaly and a young dark-furred feline girl with what appeared to be a three-eyed cat on her shoulder.
“Ready to go?” The bossun boy asked.
“Yeah, I guess it’s ‘bout that time.” Golemite shook Archie’s and Beget’s hands. “Thanks again for fixin’ me up.”
“Hey, it was the gentlemanly thing to do.” Beget said, his grin widening as though he’d said a joke.
“Beget.” Archie said, rubbing his eyes.
Beget chuckled before turning his attention to the bossun boy. The boy offered his hand, but Beget hugged him instead.
“Thank you.” Beget said.
“Anytime.” The boy said back.
As they pulled away, Jake saw something glimmering on the boy’s chest. Everything else faded back to snow, but the glimmer remained, coalescing into the glowing outline of a five-pointed star.
Jake slowly reached out and touched it, curious as to what it was that could create such illusions. The effect was instantaneous; light erupted from the star and coursed through Jake’s frame like a an electrical surge. His entire body trembled, every sensor overloading as power coursed through his system, bringing with them a flood of images ... no, not images, memories. Finn Cresste, J-27, the Academy, the treasure of the League of One, Kyra’Shor vas Shepard, the Ulasomorf, the Sun-Cruncher, and the final memory before what he was had faded and EDI was reborn.
The next clear memory Jake had was waking up in Sans and Papyrus’s house, the two skeletons and Frisk standing over him.
“Look, brother,” Papyrus said, “I think his screen just flickered a little.”
Frisk’s small hands rested on Jake’s side, tears of happiness in her eyes as he reloaded his normal face and slowly rose to his feet.
“There!” Papyrus said, “I told you Jake would be all right, didn’t I?”
“You sure did, Pap.” Sans said, but there was definite relief in the skeleton’s eyes as he looked at Jake. “You okay, buddy?”
Jake stared at him, then at Papyrus, then at Frisk for a few moments.
“He might still be rebotting.” Papyrus said with a frown.
“Robotting.” Sans corrected with a grin, only for Frisk to smack him in the arm. “Kidding; rebooting. Yeah, makes sense, I guess. It’ll probably take him a little time to-”
Jake laughed. The skeletons and the little girl stared at him in amazement as he let out a long mirthful guffaw, their shock turning to smiles as he continued.
“Jake?” Papyrus asked, clearly not sure what to make of this.
“Yup.” Jake said, his face moving with his words. “I’m back, baby!”713Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYRFjcxo8kq
