Anomalies

The Basement Laboratory

Sans was home the next few days after that. Why? Because Gaster and the perseverance soul disappeared. He wasn't in the lab. At least, not anywhere that he or the others knew about. So, they took this vacation, and Sans was with Papyrus, working on a photo album. Dr. Vexta let him have photos that the sensors took as well as some personal ones that had been taken through the years. One of these times, he wanted to get one in of himself and the other assistants, the doc too, when he was done obsessing over the star. Sure, he was curious, too, but Sans had lived through enough blasts to confidently say he wasn't interested in exploring it. The zap and the first time seeing the star was way more than enough for him. "SANS?" Sans hummed as he tucked away a picture in the plastic sleeves. "yeah, bro?" Papyrus looked up from the picture he was drawing. "DO... YOU THINK THE DOCTOR WILL COME BACK?" Sans blinked and looked down at Papyrus. "dr. gaster? i, uh, couldn't tell you, bud. the doc is pretty busy, even for me and my coworkers. why?" Papyrus gave a nervous shrug. "IT WAS NICE TO HAVE YOUR FRIEND AROUND, IS ALL."

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With a heavy sigh, the next day, Sans started for the lab to find Gaster... or try to, anyway. He doubted he'd be very successful. It wasn't his first time trying, but if Papyrus wanted to see the doctor, he had to put in just a little more effort. What took him by surprise was nearly colliding into him in the fog. Sans pivoted on his foot before they could touch, reaching his hand out to catch what he assumed was a jar with the perseverance soul in it before it could shatter on the ground. "Sans." The teen stared through the fog, about where he heard Gaster's voice. "doc?" He asked uncertainly. "Oh, perfect! I need your assistance with something, but the soul can not stay in this cold - do you have an empty space I could use?" This felt a little too convenient for his liking. He was getting an odd sense of deja vu. "i, uh... have a basement?" He asked slowly. How did he know where the soul was about to fall? He couldn't see through this thick fog. "Please, do lead the way!"

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Sans did, reluctantly. He looked back at Gaster as he followed with the jar tight in his grip. He was wearing this giddy smile that unsettled Sans as he unlocked the basement and flicked on the lights, letting Gaster go down first. "so, uh, any particular reason you brought that all the way here?" He asked as he closed the door up and followed the Royal Scientist down to the empty tiled space of his basement. It had a built-in desk, meant for construction and all that, but Sans didn't really care about that stuff, so he never really came down. "Because I trust you the most with my discovery, Sans, and I want your help. In fact, I know you will help." He set the jar on the bench and looked giddy as he waited for Sans to process. "how is that? i don't even know that it is, doc?" Sans replied. "Because we had this conversation before. You want an explanation, it all has to do with an experiment we do tomorrow, in this very room. I convince you to help me get into the Save File, and we reset the day on accident." Gaster answered in confidence. "And now I need your help building a machine to do it again and break the barrier."

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It was insane, absolutely and completely. Sans knew it. Gaster knew it. But Gaster also knew how much Sans loved science fiction and if it was possible... well, he was going to try it. Resetting back a day really was an accident on Gaster's part, but one he welcomed. He learned a lot from it. Certain events I the day that he could and couldn't control. Like running into Sans. The first time, the jar had dropped, and the seal had come undone. Luckily, he was able to locate it through their shared determination before any damage was done. It also showed that Sans had at least some awareness. Not enough to realize what had happened, but enough to be able to avoid getting knocked down and to catch the soul this time. Gaster knew that without the soul, there would be no more save file and that he couldn't trick it a third time. But if they could build a machine to access it... well, that was why he was here. Nobody else could know about the DT in them, nor the save. Nobody but the one who owed him his life.

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Sans could hardly believe they were doing this. Gaster had really reset time? That was what the Save File did? He trusted Sans of all his assistants to help him in the research and testing phase. Sans didn't know if it was all real or not. It sounded like it was coming straight from a novel. Maybe that's why he felt so excited about it. Parts were being brought down to make the space more like a lab, their temporary lab, and Gaster was already working on blueprints for this reset machine. Not for the first time, Sans realized the design Gaster was trying to go for, and he could easily say it wouldn't work for a third time. "as much as you seem to love the animal skull theme, couldn't it maybe be something... simpler? a box or something?" Gaster scoffed as he looked from his blueprints to Sans and back again. "You have no taste for dramatic flair. "i'm just saying this is only a prototype, doc. i'd rather spend more time seeing what we can do with it, rather than making it look dramatic." Sans defended. Gaster sighed and shook his head before giving in. "Fine, have it your way.