The next couple weeks, Sans threw himself into his research. He read on the job, he spent his nights writing formula after formula—every research meet-up, he brought armfuls of papers with new theories and findings. While they had taken great strides in their research before, now they were moving at lightning speed; they had come up with concrete theories of how humans were able to reset (Humans, everyone knew, are solid, yet comprised mostly of water. This meant they reacted with the magic of the Underground in the same way water did, which allowed them to move fluidly through timelines.) and potential ideas of how a monster would be able to reset. Their main theory was this: with a great deal of effort, a monster could possibly force his own magic and dust to float to a different timeline; it would not be wise, though, because there was a strong possibility that some of their being could be left behind. This also had the problem of not being sure where they would end up; without the solidity of humans, monsters weren't able to go back to a specific time—they had to work with the Underground's magic rather than against it. In all, it was not a very viable option for monsters.

And that was that. The group had achieved their purpose; they understood resets, they figured out that it was possible that a monster was behind the resets they had all felt before the experiment. The last research group dispersed with vague plans to have a party to celebrate their findings, and, like so many times over the past few months, Gaster and Sans were left alone in the lab again.

"I do not think I have ever had such a successful study with so few injuries," Gaster said brightly as he gathered their papers. "I will publish our findings tomorrow, and our mystery will officially be solved." He grinned up at the shorter skeleton, though his expression fell as he saw Sans hunched over a table, scribbling furiously. "Sans?"

Sans didn't reply, instead chewing on his pencil. No, no...no, that method wouldn't work. He grunted as he crumpled up the paper and threw it aside before starting a new formula entirely. He jumped as the ball of paper appeared in front of his sockets.

"May I ask what you are working on?" Gaster asked softly. Sans quickly took the paper from Gaster's hand.

"Nothing," he signed back with a weak smile. Gaster frowned and peered over his shoulder.

"It's not often I see a risk ratio for 'nothing,'" he signed, then let out a sigh. "Sans, I appreciate your willingness, but please do not put yourself in harm's way." He sat down beside Sans. "The study is over. We have done what we set out to do."

"Have we?" Sans asked, looking up at the scientist. "I mean, we just...we've opened up all these possibilities! And it seems like...it seems like we're not doing our jobs if we don't keep going."

Gaster gave him a wry smile. "Ah." He looked down at his hands and gave a small, wheezy chuckle. "It would appear that I have made youtoo much of a scientist."

"Is that bad?" Sans asked, signing sharply to accentuate his point. "Just one reset, and we'll have so much more information!" He glanced down as a fluttering hand landed on his shoulder.

"Or we could have you dissolve," Gaster said quietly. "And then where does that leave us?"

"I did the math! The odds of me dissolving are really slim if I do this right," Sans argued. "Sure, there may be a few side effects, but I don't think that would really hurt. And the pros really outweigh the cons!"

Gaster sighed. "You are very, er, determined," he said. "And that is not a bad thing. You think you can do something, therefore you needto do it." He looked at Sans for a long moment. "But that is not always wise, Sans. And I would expect someone tasked with judgement to be more...more prudent."

Sans frowned hard, glaring at the paper in front of him. Gaster tapped his fingers together, then set his hand once again on Sans' shoulder.

"Perhaps you could aid my assistant and I in our research," he said softly, then smiled a bit. "And there is still quite a bit of vocabulary I have not taught you."

Sans didn't reply; instead, he tapped his pencil hard against the table. Gaster sighed, then drew back and stood up.

"Obviously I cannot dictate what you can and cannot do," he said, gathering the notes again. He looked at Sans with a pained expression. "But please. Do be careful, Sans. Delving into places you should not is how you end up looking like me, and that is in the best case scenario." He turned. "I will leave the lights on for you. Turn them off before you leave."

Sans listened as Gaster's footsteps faded away, and he let out a breath. This was worth it. It had to be. And...and the risk wasn't as big as it could be. He glanced back behind him; the lab was empty. He jumped down from the stool and looked at his notes. He just...needed to focus. It wouldn't be hard. It shouldn't hurt. He just needed to let his magic float to another timeline. It really couldn't be that hard, right?

He gasped in a breath; suddenly his chest was too tight. Was that a side effect? Had he done it wrong? What if he managed to reset and his ribcage had shrunk? Was that a thing that happened? He peeked down his shirt, just to check. Everything seemed in order...he shook his head, ignoring the sheen of sweat over his bones. No, he hadn't reset at all, just freaked himself out. He let out a shaky breath. He could do this. He just had to focus.

Just had to close his eyes...

Hope for the best...

And go.

~

"Sans."

Grunt. Oh, god, he felt so sick...had he drunk too much ketchup? No...

"Sans."

"Guhhh..." His head was throbbing. Could skeletons get migraines?

"Sans, this is important!"

Sans slowly opened up a socket; white and red swam into his vision, which didn't help his nausea at all. Eventually, the swirls of color formed themselves into his brother's eager face filling his entire area of vision. He sighed.

"Papyrus, we've talked about this. I need to sleep on Sundays; they're my day off." He hoped it was Sunday, anyway. He needed to sleep off whatever this was.

"I know, I know, but this is important!"

Wait. He had woken up like this before. Ignoring how awful he felt, he sat straight up.

"Pap, are you gonna ask me to help with your special attack?" he asked quickly. Papyrus blinked, then narrowed his eyes.

"Have you been eavesdropping on my phone calls with Undyne?" he asked suspiciously. Sans stared at Papyrus for a moment, then grinned.

He did it.

He grabbed Papyrus' bony shoulders. "Tell you what, I need to go, but I will be right back here at seven sharp, and then we will make sure you have the most kickass special attack that'll leave Undyne begging you to join the Royal Guard."

Papyrus' suspicion immediately turned into starry-eyed excitement. "Wowie! Really, Sans? You mean it this time?"

With a bit of difficulty, Sans got up out of bed and started walking Papyrus to the door. "I absolutely mean it." He grinned. "While I'm gone, make sure your normal attacks are as good as possible, all right?"

"Of course! The Great Papyrus will have the best normal attacks!"

Sans stopped. "The Great Papyrus?"

Papyrus looked over his shoulder at Sans. "I...um...I thought that sounded cool," he said sheepishly. Sans blinked, then his face split into a wide grin.

"It is cool. It's so cool," he assured. Had Papyrus been calling himself this for months? How had he not known? "I think you should keep it."

Papyrus beamed. "I will! I mean, I, the Great Papyrus, will!" Without any more prompting, he darted out of Sans' room with a bright "NYEH-HEH-HEH."

Sans smiled after him. God, just five extra minutes and he knew more about his brother than he had in months. He let out a breath and shut his door. He had to get to the lab; even without all the research, Gaster had to know what had happened. He shut his eyes and let out a breath with a whoosh. He had to be calm about this. This was massive, and it needed to be handled delicately.

"Sans?"

Sans's sockets flew open. Gaster stared back at him, looking as confused as he felt. Sans looked around. The lab? But how? And...oh, god, he was still in his pajamas.

The silence seemed to stretch for hours before Gaster finally cleared his throat and held up his mug.

"Shall I make another cup of tea?"

Sans felt his legs wobble, and Gaster was almost immediately on his feet to grab him before he fell.

"How...how did I get here?" He finally was able to get his voice out as Gaster guided him to a chair. "I...I mean, that's not possible, right?"

The scientist shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine, Sans."

Sans pressed a hand to his skull. "It must...it must have something to do with the reset..." His sockets widened. "That's why I'm here! I did it, Gaster, I reset!"

The scientist stared down at Sans curiously, then shook his head. "Whatever caused you to appear must...must, er..." His hands moved vaguely. Sans sat up.

"Confused! That's the sign for confused!" He waved his right hand while the left pointed to it.

Gaster stared at him, his own sockets wide. "How could you know that? It is a dead language."

"No, no! See, you've been teaching me your language for the past couple months." He smiled as he signed, "You see? It true."

Gaster's sockets brightened, but he shook his head and pressed a hand to his skull. "But...monsters can't..."

"No! They can! The research group we're putting together, it works! We all researched for months and figured that monsters can do it! And I just proved it!"

Gaster shook his head again. "This is...hard to, er..." He signed with a grimace. Sans frowned and imitated the sign a few times.

"Digest. That's the word."

Gaster sighed. "Thank you." He looked over at Sans for a long moment, his face caught between disapproval and curiosity. He sighed again and covered his eyes. "Were you at home before you appeared?"

Sans half-smiled and gestured to his clothes. "Pretty obvious, I think."

Gaster shut his eyes and paced, his hands whirring too fast for Sans to translate. "And that was where you reset to?"

"Yeah. I was in the lab, and then I woke up in bed."

"So clearly there is no other Sans to worry about," Gaster muttered. "I can only imagine your, er, teleportation is a side effect of the reset. Obviously, I won't be able to tell you more until I know more about resets, but perhaps you could look into why that may have happened." His brow bone creased. "You put yourself in a very tricky position."

Sans half-smiled. "What, because of the teleporting?"

The other skeleton shook his head. "No. You already know several months-worth of research, while I—and our research group—know next to nothing about it. You will either tell us what you know and confuse usor you will have to endure months of keeping quiet." He shrugged. "As a scientist, I cannot take your word at face value; I must have the research to, er, to support it."

"Oh." Sans shook his head. "No, it's fine. I can stay quiet..." He smiled a bit. "I think that's worth the opportunity to make things better."

Gaster didn't look nearly as assured, but he sighed and sat down. "I suppose there is no choice but to move forward, then." He looked at Sans for a long moment, his brain clearly working as hard as it could to rationalize what had happened. Finally, he lifted his bony shoulders in another shrug. "Well. I suppose doing more research would be pointless on your end. I will put together some diagrams with what we have." He gave Sans a wry smile. "No use spending the day here if you do not--"

"No!" Sans interjected. "I can...I can bolster what you have!"

"It will be quick work."

"Then, uh, then maybe I can help with something else? At least until seven?"

A curious look flashed over Gaster's face, and his smile softened. "Perhaps I can teach you more of my language." His hands added, "Your grammar is atrocious."

Sans grinned, then glanced down at his clothes. "Should I go, y'know, get into normal clothes?"

"If you would like, though I find I do my best thinking in my robe and a pair of warm slippers," Gaster chuckled. "Regardless, I will get another cup for you." He got to his feet, then looked down, his hands fluttering. "Sans?"

"Yeah?"

"If you are able to reset, then...I fear we are treading into far more dangerous territory than we anticipated." He looked up at Sans. "Please, Sans, do be careful. I do not know the implications of what you have done." His brow bone creased into a slightly pained expression. "I cannot help you with this."

Sans swallowed a few times as his stomach twisted, though this time not from nausea. "I...I should go change. I'll be back." He quickly got up and exited the lab as fast as he could. His chest tightened as he ran. Was he right in thinking that had been a side effect of the reset?

Or was he just realizing what a bad decision this had been?