On the far side of the massive Laboratory, which holds Patient quarters and research stations… The Skeleton Brothers—Sans and Papyrus—lie in beds at the Infirmary. Resting.

They’ve been resting here ever since the Failsafe Doomsday was activated. 10 Hours. You can only hear the beeping sounds of a Heart Monitor and the soft snoring coming from Papyrus.

Flowers from each side of the table, with letters that fill with positive vibes for them once they woke up. A faint footstep approaches the front door and opens—Alphys arrives.

She pauses at the doorway, first checking on the brothers, then scanning the room cautiously, still shaken by what happened at her office. Undyne just behind her senses something so she moved Alphys gently and walked first.

“I can sense it here too…” Undyne crosses her arms and closes her eyes as she focuses on trying to locate one of Gaster’s puppet minions.

“W-where could it be?” Alphys asks, twiddling her fingers.

“Shh… Give me a few minutes, let me focus.” Undyne shushes her and returns back to focusing when all of a sudden, she hears the faint scraping of mechanical limbs, like a spider weaving its trap.

“Found you.” She opens her eyes and raises her arms, a Spear summoned from the ground and aims at the far top corner of the room. It pierces the very core of the puppet and it disintegrates to ashes.

“It’s safe now.” Undyne says making way for Alphys to go inside.

Alphys walks slowly, still being careful that there might be one more hiding, but she continues to walk over Sans’ bed first. She looked over at him and noticed Sans isn’t moving a bit and felt that it might take longer for them to wake up.

But then suddenly Papyrus groaned and his eyes opened up.

“W-what happened…?” Papyrus asked as he placed his hands on his forehead. 

He looked around, but Alphys and Undyne blocked his view.

He sat up suddenly, panic flaring in his eyes.

“W-where’s my brother? Is he safe?” Papyrus asks as he panics and his voice raises a bit. “Where is he?!” He held onto Alphys’ arms gripping them tightly and it made her wince.

“C-calm down Papyrus! Your brother is safe just beside you!” Alphys tries to remove Papyrus’ grip from her arms as Undyne helps her.

Papyrus stops gripping her.

“I-I’m sorry… he protected me.. I couldn’t even help him at all…” Papyrus scans the room again, searching for his Brother, but fails as Alphys and Undyne are still blocking his view.

Alphys quickly catches on and steps asid, and Both she and Undnye gaze turns to Sans who’s resting at the opposite side.

For a few seconds, Papyrus stared at his Brother. Beeping sounds of the Heart Monitor could be heard and the wind of the Air Conditioner. A tear started rolling down his cheeks as he wiped it off.

“He’s safe and resting… You don’t need to worry that much. You both are safe—” Just as Alphys was about to finish what she’s about to say, Papyrus' voice panics.

“NO!” Papyrus shouted but snapped back and cleared his throat “I mean… no… I’m sorry… The Anomaly is still on the loose and… it’s my fault I let it slip…” He continues to blame himself and clenches his fist on his bedsheet.

“But what’s important is you are safe right now… Sans really let a blow on that Anomaly and it may take it some time to heal…” Alphys says comforting him. Gently placing her hands on his shoulder.

“What happened to my Brother?” Papyrus asked.

“We were about to ask you that…” Alphys and Undyne exchanged a glance.

“Take a look at this.” Alphys shows her tablet filled with information, specifically those that have wavelength data.

Alphys pointed to one—the specific wavelength of an Aetherial Beacon being used.

“We received this report not too long ago… And this is the same wavelength Asgore’s Aetherial Beacon possesses.” Alphys continues to explain.

“We believe that… your brother possesses the Aetherial Beacon.” Alphys takes the Tablet away “What DID happen in there that even led the Tree of Time’s dome getting damaged and exposed?”

Papyrus remembers and panics “The Tree of Time… W-what happened to it?! Last I remember it got broken during the fight and…” Just as Papyrus was about to reveal that Sans had caused the damage, he stopped mid-sentence and feigned confusion.

Alphys and Undyne groans in disappointment as Papyrus laughs it off nervously.

“Well we can’t do anything but wait for your brother now… huh…” Undyne sits down beside Alphys, crossing her arms.

“How long have we been knocked out?” Papyrus asks.

“More than long… between 9 and 10 hours.” Alphys filled him in.

“WHAT? That long?!” Papyrus shouts, and falls down the bed. “T-that's more than enough for the Anomaly to regenerate his body…”

“We know. That’s why we came here.” Alphys says “We have a plan. But we haven’t told Asgore yet nor Toriel, assuming she would want to hear about it.”

“Yeah… but what do you need my brother for?” Papyrus asks as he summons both of his friendly helper hands and creates a healing potion.

Both Alphys and Undyne looks at it.

“Heh… Handy as always huh? Are you going to use it on your Brother?” Alphys asks.

“I might… you said we don’t have enough time right? Better to be ready for what’s coming.” Papyrus says as his floating hands grab different ingredients from an infinity storage space.

He sits down at the hospital bed while sipping on tea as one of the hands serves both Alphys and Undyne a tea in a server plate.

Both of them thanked the hand and thanked Papyrus.

“The Potion will be ready in a few minutes. Want to talk while we wait?” Papyrus says, now calmed sipping tea.

“Umm… yeah, about that.” Alphys gently sips “We will need Gaster’s assistance.”

Papyrus almost chokes on his tea, slamming the cup down as his eyes narrowed.

“What did you… just say?” Both Papyrus’ hands stopped midway and he froze still.

“Yes. I’m sure I said the correct name.” Alphys calmly takes another sip.

“Umm… Love? I’ll go outside for a bit, okay? Call me if you need something.” Undyne gave the teacup to one of the floating hands and it was kept away in his infinite storage. She then proceeds to stand up and bows a bit before turning her back from them and closing the door.

“As I was saying…” Alphys returns to Papyrus.

“Gaster?! That’s suicide, Alphys!.” Papyrus shouts and he spills a few drops of his tea from the rising tension that can be seen from his hands.

“We know… but he’s needed as what’s stated in his files for the doomsday protocol.” Alphys continues to talk and sighs deeply. “As much as my team really hates the idea of it, we were left with no choice but to meet with him.”

“But we can't even enter his Dark Prison… Only Asgore can… Sans—” Papyrus gasps, looks at his brother as he cuts himself off while talking and both of them say Sans’ name at the same time.

“Yes, he has the Key to enter the Dark Prison.” Alphys said.

“But… will he work with us?” Papyrus questions Alphys’ actions and choices.

“I know… and we don’t even know if he’ll work with us because… he’s found a way to continuously spy on us with his little puppets. Undyne already killed two of them—one in my office and one here.” Alphys points at the area where Undyne damaged a wall with her spear.

“That’s going to be tough… Not knowing if He’ll help us or Betray us…” Papyrus twiddles his thumbs slowly, feeling a bit anxious of their conversation.

“But we will never know until we come and get him at his prison.” Alphys raises a finger as if she’s proving a point.

“Have you talked this out with Asgore?” He grabs his eyeglasses and wears them.

Of course, Alphys didn't forget about asking permission from Asgore, but she feels that he’ll decline either way so she’s ready to Risk the chances of more people in the winning team.

“But what if he rejected the idea…?” Papyrus' voice became serious. He also knows the risks and tension between choices that have to be made on the spot.

Alphys becomes silent for a bit. Having a thought with herself for a few minutes as you could only hear the rustling sound of papers hanging on to the airways of the Ceiling Air Conditioner.

“I have a plan.” Alphys snaps back from brainstorming “We will proceed even if it means Asgore Rejected our proposal. We must do everything we can to save every Reality that exists. I’ll go and ask Undyne if she can directly speak with Asgore, if she gets rejected, I’ll be the next one to come up to him.”

“Wouldn’t it be better if you went directly to him? I don’t think it's a bad idea to let Undyne approach him first, but I think… if he declines on the first request, he’ll get mad at the second one coming…” Papyrus had his thoughts. Asgore isn’t approachable to the citizens, let alone those who do not have any social status.

“You know how he has been… Ever since his son died. And to top it all off, Gaster’s Exile is the breaking point to it.” Papyrus continues to speak.

“Yeah I know… I’ll handle Asgore. For now, please if Sans wakes up, tell him that we’ll need him.” Alphys walks away from Papyrus’ Bed. “He’ll be our Key to starting our plans, and if he disagrees with it… we might not last long.”

Papyrus had a goosebump. He felt a bit scared with what she said. The Tree of Time… Is just so dangerous. Why would the Anomaly want anything with it? I’m afraid of my Brother’s Sake… It’s best that I keep it to myself who broke the Dome for a while… Thoughts keep running through his head nonstop and it keeps him so anxious and worried, but on the outside he puts up a calm face.

Outside the Infirmary, Undyne saw Alphys in a hurry in a different direction. She thought she might need the bathroom but why the opposite way? And then it struck her. Oh no… She quickly runs inside the Infirmary and asks Papyrus.

“Where is Alphys heading??” She pants a bit while carrying coffee, almost spilling.

“Oh? I thought you’d know by now assuming you guys are the first to have a thought to the plan.” Papyrus flips the page of a book he’s reading.

“Well she never tells me anything… yet. Can you please tell me?” Undyne placed the Hot Coffee on the side table.

“She’s on her way to Asgore.” Papyrus ominously looked at Undyne’s eyes. Without a hitch, he’s telling the truth.

“Oh no no… what if Asgore declines the idea?!” Undyne starts to panic and paces back and forth in front of Papyrus’ Bed.

“Instead of getting overly anxious about it, why not catch up to her?” Papyrus sighs, flips the page, and continues to read.

“You’re right… I-I’ll go now. See you later.” Undyne dashes out of the infirmary without even closing the door behind her.

“Geez, those two love birds. Just can’t be separated huh? Oh? A Coffee?” Papyrus keeps the book down, and grabs the coffee on the side table and sips.

He was relaxed by the hot coffee he drank, and calmed himself as the person beside him, Sans’ finger twitched signaling he could be awake sooner. Papyrus did not notice this and continued to read his book while leaning on the soft pillows.

Sooner, Sans woke up, his eyes flew open, and started gasping for air.

The fluorescent lights blurred into white streaks.

The beeping of machines pulsed like gunfire in his ears. His breath caught—not from pain, but from memory.

This startled Papyrus and immediately stood up and rang the nurse emergency to help them.

“B-Brother! You’re awake! Calm down Sans, Calm down…” Papyrus holds onto his brother’s arms and tries to stop him from moving frantically. Just as he tried to hold his brother, a sudden flashback of the fight they had. He felt so much fear that he was unable to help his brother and felt useless at the time.

What would his brother think of him, being an Alchemist that failed to protect his brother through the end?

“Let me go!! Let me go!!!” Sans shouts as he wakes up, this is not what Papyrus expected. Sans’ getting anxious and continues to gasp for air too fast.

“I have to catch up to The Anomaly!” He continues to try to break free from Papyrus’ strong hold to him.

“You have to Calm down first!!” Papyrus shouts at him. Fear, Trauma, Worry—a tear falls from his eyes.

A few seconds passed by, Nurses and a Doctor rushed in.

“We came as fast as we could… What happened, Papyrus?” Dr. Hiro asks.

“Please… help me calm my brother!!” Papyrus shouts for the Doctor and Nurses to help him out.

“We’ll help you out. Nurses, please help Dr. Papyrus and hold Sans off.” Dr. Hiro commands the nurses around.

“Well… I was just reading my book like the usual on my bed and suddenly after Alphys and Undyne left, he started waking up. But he was really being paranoid…” Papyrus told him. He looked at his brother with eyes full of worry.

“Argh! You guys don’t understand!!” Sans tries to break free from getting handed down. “He’s… He’s not done! Let me go! I have to catch up to him… He’s going to get us—” A sharp prick on his arm. The words faded before they left his mouth and darkness crept back in him.

“You can relax now. Just give him a few Minutes to hours, and he’ll calm down. Talk to him that things are okay now, he doesn’t need to worry for a bit.” Dr. Hiro signals the nurses to leave as he follows and closes the door behind him.

Sans calmed down and his eyes closed and he fell into a deep sleep.

Darkness surrounds him.

A few seconds passed by, and he slowly opened his eyes.

He gasped the water around him and immediately covered his mouth.

What is happening? Sans had a thought with himself: Why am I sinking? Wait… I’m supposed to look for the Anomaly!

He tried to swim up and reach for the imaginary light but it was no use. He wasn’t even moving from his position.

Just a few more and I’ll reach it! He raises his hands, grabbing the light. But he failed.

I can’t give up… I have to save everyone!

With all his determination to swim, he eventually felt tired and slowly let his body rest floating in the unknown.

This isn’t right… What is happening with me? Am I asleep? I just woke up earlier… He had a thoughtful conversation with himself.

Papyrus… That’s right! He held my arms… and… The doctor put a sedative on me.

Just as he was having a conversation with himself, a light figure appeared in front of him. It was bright, two separate balls, mimicking a person’s pupils. He observed it.

What is that…? He squinted his eyes and tried to move closer when all of a sudden, another pair of illuminating balls appeared behind it. They are much larger than the previous one.

WOAH! He moved back a bit and kept on observing. What is that? As he was about to close in again to check, He finally saw the figure. A familiar one. It looked like Gaster.

It was creepy, he was smiling at Sans as the glow on his eyes faded away to the darkness. When it did, a huge skeleton appeared. Mouth open, about to feast on Sans.

Sans felt scared. He tried to swim away as fast as he could, but it catched up to him. It bit him, he shouted. But it didn’t hurt him.

W-What was that?! His eyes widened and his pupil shrinked.

After calming for a bit, he suddenly noticed from his peripheral vision a red glow. It’s anger is intoxicating that Sans felt it everywhere in his body.