C0deta1e an Undertale AU

He Who Never Dreams

-Error's PoV-

The others all looked at me expectantly, waiting for me to continue. Seriously? Are they blind, they should have figured it out by now. I thought to myself, letting out a glitchy sigh.

"LoOk, fEaRs aNd pHoBiAs dOn'T cOmE oUt oF nOwHeRe.... uSuAlLy tHeY dEvElOp aS a rEsPoNsE tO a TrAuMaTiC eVeNt rElAtEd tO wHaT tHe pErSoN fEaRs." I explained as best I could. I only knew this because of a book about phobias I had stolen from Science Sans a long time ago.

Dream and Outer both seemed to think on that for a bit, and Ink, well I couldn't tell what was going through squids skull.

After a bit Dream seemed to get frustrated, it was pretty amusing seeing the smaller skeleton groaning in annoyance, running his hand over his face and then thumping a fist onto the table.

"Augh this, this is so FRUSTRATING!" Dream shouted, "if we could just know more about this guy then we could help him! But I can't even see his dreams!" The small god of positivity losing his normal cheerfulness for a frustrated and angry mood.

"CaReFuL DrEaM, yOu'Re StArTiNg tO sOuNd LiKe NiGhTmArE." I teased, and Dream crossed his arms, huffing and making a pouty face that made me snort in laughter.

"Wait, Dream you can't see any dreams from C0de?" Outer asked, a little shocked.

"No, the only reason I know about him is because Ink told me" Dream said.

"ThE sAmE gOeS fOr NiGhTmArE.... cAn'T sEe AnYtHiNg EiThEr..." I added on.

The biggest question was how we could learn more about this guy, to either help him or stop him so that he can't mess with the balance.

"YoU sUrE wE cAn'T jUsT tRaP HiM aNd mAkE HiM tElL uS wHaT wE wAnT tO kNoW?" I asked now, and the other three glared at me. What? I didn't do anything wrong! Why do they look like I punched their puppy? I thought to myself, holding up my hands in mock surrender, glitching out a little more.

"Error we can't do that!" Ink exclaimed.

"WhY nOt?" I asked, tilting my head now.

"Because that's kidnapping, and we aren't going to act like my brother or his lot.... and as long as we're working together you are not a part of his crew, got it?" Dream said, staring at me and trying to look all serious, not that I could ever take something that only came up to like the bottom of my ribs that seriously, he was just so small.

"YoU rEaLiSe I nEvEr wAs pArT oF HiS gAnG RiGhT?" I said now.

"Well you sure act like them enough" Ink replied.

"AcTuAlLy nOt rEaLlY..... tHeY aRe mOrE LiKe a bUnCh oF KiDs...." I said with a smirk, remembering all the pranks Dust, Killer and Horror liked to play, usually involving dead bodies, ah the good times. I chuckled fondly at the memories, though something told me that the other three I was now sitting with would probably stare at me in shock and disgust if they knew what was making me smile.

"Back onto the topic.... anyone else have any ideas that don't involve kidnapping?" Ink asked.

I raised my hand.

"Or torture, and or drugs..." Ink added.

I put my hand down again.

-Ink's PoV-

We were all quiet for a while now, thinking of what to do.

"Um... I have an idea.... but I don't know if it's even possible" Outer said after a moment.

"Any idea will help, no harm in telling us, if it's not possible then we may get new ideas from it still" I said, encouraging Outer to tell us. Though I knew Error rolled his eyelights at this, glitching in annoyance.

"Okay, it's only a theory but... Dream, you have the ability to give people dreams as well as seeing what they are already dreaming of right?" Outer asked, to which Dream nodded. "Well, what if you gave him a dream?" Outer continued after a moment.

Dream thought for a second, "but what would I make him dream of?" He asked now, still confused at where Outer was going with this.

"You don't have to control it, if you just started the ball rolling for him to dream then his subconscious will fill in everything else with memories!" I supplied, now starting to understand what Outer was getting at.

"But to do that I'd have to be near him when he's sleeping..." Dream admitted.

"He doesn't seem to sleep much when others are around. But, I have seen him napping in Outertale a few times... maybe that would be our best bet?" Outer suggested.

I nodded now, liking the idea, so we all discussed a plan of action. Outer would be our eyes, the moment he saw C0de sleeping he was to contact Dream, who would then plant the seeds to start in him a dream, from there Outer and Dream would then meet up with myself and Error in Dreamtale and Dream would be able to show us what C0de is dreaming.

-Outer's PoV-

I was sure this plan would work, if not, the worst that could happen is C0de waking up and seeing Dream, no harm really. Still I felt a little bad for going back on what I had told C0de, but he needed help, and no one could help him if no one knows the source of the problem. If C0de wouldn't tell anyone, then we would just have to find out ourselves.

With that in mind I returned home, the curiosity of what we might learn making me almost giddy with anticipation. Finally we might have the chance to actually learn this guys past.

I wondered what his AU had been like. If he ever had to deal with resets. Had monsters been banished or trapped in his AU, or maybe the war never happened.

But at the same time, remembering all the scars that littered the skeletons body, and that haunting look in his eyes, I wondered if we really wanted to know his past. Were we ready to know what happened to him to make him so broken?

1026 words!

I'm going to be updating again soon, I have an idea on the next two or so chapters, more characters will be introduced and we will finally learn what C0des AU was like before the human came along.

-Equanox 💙🐉