The Time Before (Undertale)

20 ~ The Second Subject

Sans awoke to warmth.

This was how he had been woken after each of Gaster's experiments in the last two months, whether they be routine injections, or something else entirely.

Because Gaster had started doing other things. Painful things. Sans had honestly stopped paying too much attention to what was being done to him. He knew it was something that was supposed to make him "stronger," and it always hurt, no matter what it was.

It wasn't that Gaster was cruel, exactly. He was just cold. He had no anger against Sans, Sans was just his test subject. If Sans really did need more time to rest, then he was given time to rest. And if he really couldn't handle the upcoming experiment, then it wasn't done.

There was simply none of the former warmth, none of the love that Gaster used to have.

But there was Jeff.

Always, Jeff was there when he woke up. He always was rubbing healing Magic into Sans' body, always trying to ease the soreness from Gaster's latest experiment. Sometimes he brought food, too. Little morsels of whatever he could fit in his pocket. Because Gaster had switched back to giving Sans the food solution, and, while Sans displayed a now well-practiced apathy towards it, same as everything, it still didn't taste good.

Sometimes Jeff could only stay until Sans woke up. He said he had to make sure he at least was a bit productive, so Gaster didn't just get fed up with him and fire him.

But, other times, he stayed with Sans for hours.

Sometimes they would talk a bit, and Jeff would tell Sans what was going on. About how the CORE was almost finished, nearly one thousand, six hundred feet tall. About how everyone had been curious as to where Sans had gone, and Gaster had refused to tell anyone beyond, "he's gone." About how people had mostly stopped asking.

Sometimes, though, they just sat in companionable silence, Sans silently happy for Jeff's presence, and Jeff silently mourning the plight of the small skeleton.

Eventually, the bandage around Sans' skull came off. He learned Blue Magic quickly after that, his left eye glowing blue with the focus. During his training sessions now, Gaster always kept a grip on his Soul with Blue Magic, just in case Sans tried something with his new power. He never did, never would; some part of him still thought of Gaster as his friend, his father. Hurting him would be unthinkable.

Gaster still took precautions.

Months passed like this. Sans became even more depressed as time went on, obeying Gaster without complaint or joy or any emotion at all, just blankly doing as told. The best part of his day was when Jeff was there.

One day, as Sans had woken up, he had looked up at Jeff.

"... hey, jeff...?"

Jeff looked down at him, same small, slightly mournful smile as usual. "Yeah?"

"... what would happen if... if i just... stopped...?"

Jeff paused. "What... what do you mean?"

Sans closed his eyes, sighing. "if... if i didn't do it anymore. just... didn't get up when gaster called me. didn't do what he told me to, didn't use my magic when he wanted me to... what do you think would happen? if i just... laid here, forever?"

"... Are you saying, what if you gave up?"

"... i think so. yeah."

Jeff hesitated. "... Sans. You can't give up. If... if you gave up... if you lost hope... you would die."