Those Days Continue: Happy Mornings and Nights Spent with Everyone
After the barrier broke, the monsters of the underground chose not to rush to the surface. They kept their daily lives, their snow towns and lava rivers, their laughter echoing through the caves. Frisk lives with Toriel, going back and forth between Snowfull, Waterfall, and Hotland. The great war is over. Peace has settled in like an old friend.
One morning, Toriel wakes Frisk with a gentle voice. After a breakfast of warm pie, Frisk heads outside. A game of catch with Undyne turns into a wild
Those Days Continue: Happy Mornings and Nights Spent with Everyone - A voice echoing from the depths
The smell of steam still clung to her clothes.
Frisk sat on the edge of the hot spring, gazing up at the sky. All around her, she could still hear many voices. The sound of the dog children playing on the slide. Someone's laughter. Papyrus was probably making a fuss about something again—there was a lively commotion in the distance.
(*That sound... I feel like I heard it again.*)
That heavy *thud* she'd heard at night, lying in her futon. She hadn't heard it today. But she still felt it lingering faintly in the back of her ears.
Frisk swirled the water at her feet with her finger—*plop*.
(*Maybe I'm overthinking it. ...But I do want to check, just a little.*)
She looked toward the back. The steam grew thicker and thicker, and beyond it everything was hazy and white. No one was going back there. Everyone was busy playing in the hot spring up front.
(*Just for a little bit. I'll come right back.*)
Frisk stood up. She thought about calling out to someone, but everyone looked like they were having fun, and she felt like if she said something, they'd stop her with "It's dangerous, don't go."
(*I'll be right back, so it's fine.*)
With that thought, Frisk quietly slipped away into the steam.
*
The path grew hotter and hotter. The ground made a *hiss-hiss* sound. Red-black rocks lay scattered everywhere, rough and jagged.
(*Is this the edge of Hotland?*)
Frisk looked around as she walked. She could see several factory-like buildings in the distance. Pipes tangled together, spitting out steam.
Beyond them stood a building like a great tower. Its silver walls reflected the red light.
(*What is that?*)
When she got closer, she saw an old sign standing at the entrance. The letters were faded, but she could just barely read them.
"KEEP OUT — CORE, INTERIOR"
(*The Core...*)
She remembered what Alphys had said before. A huge machine that sent energy to the entire underground. The inside had a strange structure—apparently, even if you walked the same path, you could end up in a different place.
(*So this is somewhere I'm not supposed to go.*)
Frisk stopped there.
But then—
*Thud.*
The ground shook again. This time, it was clearly noticeable. A low sound traveled up from beneath Frisk's feet.
"...!"
The sound seemed to come from deep inside the tower.
(*That sound just now... could it be coming from in here?*)
Inside Frisk's chest, curiosity swelled up. She felt scared too, but more than that, she wanted to find out.
(*Just a little. I'm only going to look.*)
Frisk slipped past the sign and put her hand on the door.
The door opened much more easily than she expected.
*
Inside was quieter than she'd imagined. Metal walls stretched far into the distance. Thick pipes ran across the ceiling, occasionally letting out a *hiss* of steam.
Frisk walked carefully. Her footsteps echoed against the walls—*tap, tap*.
(*No one's here...*)
She couldn't hear the lively voices from the hot spring at all anymore. Instead, only the low hum of machinery continued on and on.
After walking for a while, the passage split into three.
(*Maybe that way?*)
Frisk picked the largest passage without much thought and went forward. After a while, another three-way fork appeared.
(*Huh...*)
It looked like the same place as before. The scratches on the wall seemed to be in the same spot too.
(*Did I... come back to the same place?*)
Frisk felt a little uneasy and tried to go back the way she came. But—
Even going back, she ended up in a different passage than before.
"...Huh?"
Frisk's voice echoed faintly in the lonely passage, then faded.
(*So this is what Alphys meant.*)
Walk the same path, end up somewhere different. When she'd heard that, she'd thought it sounded kind of fun. But now that she was actually inside it, she felt completely different.
Her chest grew heavier, little by little.
(*I don't know how to get back.*)
Frisk stopped in place. Even looking around, she could no longer tell which way she'd come from.
*
How long had she been walking?
The passage opened up into a slightly wider space. It was a round room, and in the center stood a machine like a great pillar. Thin lines of light ran all across its surface.
(*Is this... the middle of the Core?*)
Frisk looked up at the machine. The lines of light pulsed slowly, like breathing. Like the breathing of something asleep.
Then—
*Beep.*
A small electronic sound. The pillar's lights all turned red at once.
"..."
Frisk instinctively stepped back.
'Intruder detected.'
A low, flat voice. Not a human voice. A monotone voice, like a machine speaking.
'Verifying... Unregistered entity... Designated for elimination.'
Sweat beaded on Frisk's back.
(*Elimination...?*)
The meaning of that word spun around and around in her head.
(*I have to run.*)
Frisk ran in the direction she thought she'd come from.
*Clank.*
A heavy sound came from behind her. She turned around—the passage she'd just been able to use was now blocked by an iron wall.
"Wha—...!"
She ran for another path. But there too, an iron wall dropped down with a *clank*, sealing off the passage.
Frisk ran around and around the round room. Her breath grew short, her legs heavy.
(*Someone...*)
A voice almost escaped her throat. But there was no one here. No Toriel. No Sans. Undyne's loud voice wouldn't reach. Papyrus's cheerful voice wouldn't reach.
(*I'm alone...*)
The moment that thought surfaced, the strength drained from her legs.
Her knees hit the cold metal floor.
'Elimination process, time to commencement — thirty.'
Above her head, the lines of light glowed even brighter. From beneath the pillar, a thin cylinder of light slowly rose up.
Frisk looked up at that light.
(*I have to move. I have to run.*)
She knew it, but her body wouldn't move. Her throat burned, and she couldn't breathe properly.
'Twenty.'
The cylinder of light slowly, steadily angled itself toward Frisk.
Frisk pushed against the floor with both hands and backed away. Her back hit the cold wall. She couldn't go any further.
(*Someone... someone, help me.*)
The back of her eyes grew hot. Tears slid down her cheeks. Her mouth moved, forming words with no voice.
'Ten.'
The light grew blinding. Frisk squeezed her eyes shut.
—*Crash!*
A loud sound rang out, and the light suddenly vanished. The lines of light running across the pillar's surface shifted from red to orange, then slowly to a dark color.
'...Power supply unstable. Process suspended.'
Frisk timidly opened her eyes.
The cylinder of light was still there, but it had stopped moving. The whole pillar seemed to have lost its power, giving off only a faint glow.
(*It stopped...?*)
All the strength drained from her body. Frisk slumped down onto the floor.
It was quiet.
The machine's voice from before, the light—nothing moved anymore. Only the sound of steam leaking deep in the pipes continued—*hiss*.
Frisk hugged her knees. She curled up small in the corner of the pitch-dark room.
(*I want to go home.*)
Even thinking that, she no longer knew where the exit was. Every wall looked the same. Even if she called out, no one would hear.
(*Toriel...*)
Just thinking her name made her chest tighten painfully.
(*Is she worried about me right now? No... maybe no one's even noticed I'm gone yet.*)
That thought made it even worse. Everyone was probably still laughing in the hot spring. Beyond the steam, no one knew Frisk was here.
Frisk rubbed her tear-wet cheeks hard with her sleeve.
(*Crying won't change anything.*)
She knew that, but the tears wouldn't stop.
From far away, in the passage outside the room, she heard a faint sound.
*Clank.*
The sound of another wall moving somewhere.
Frisk flinched, her shoulders jumping. In the depths of the darkness, the pillar's light began to flicker again—*blink, blink*.
'...Restart sequence confirmed.'
That voice echoed low through the quiet room again.
Frisk, still hugging her knees tightly, could do nothing but watch as the light slowly changed color.
Then she heard someone's voice.
"Frisk, what are you doing here?"
Frisk answered, startled.
"Who are you?"
"I am W. D. Gaster. People often call me 'rice' and it's quite troubl—...no, wait! Why are you here?!"
Frisk answered.
"I was curious about what's causing the shaking..."
Gaster sighed and replied.
"The sign said 'Keep Out,' didn't it? Places like that are dangerous, so you mustn't go in! Also, the shaking is probably caused by a giant catfish living underground, don't you think?"
Frisk answered, exasperated.
"Blaming a catfish... I'm not a little kid, you know..."
Gaster replied, sounding surprised.
"Huh?! The shaking ISN'T caused by a catfish?! I'm just learning this now?!"
Frisk was shocked that Gaster had genuinely believed it was a catfish.
"Um... is there a way out of here?"
Gaster said, "There is~ Let's see~ I think this door will open if you chant 'please open, I'm begging you.'"
"Please open, I'm begging youuu!!"
The door really did open.
Gaster said, "See! Just as I said—I know everything, after all!"
Frisk said, "You got it wrong with the catfish answer, though."
Gaster said, "Th-th-that... that was just me trying to be a little silly..."
Frisk said, "Someone who was genuinely surprised isn't very trustworthy~ If you'd just been honest, I could trust you~"
Gaster said, "I'm sorry... I was wrong..."
Frisk said, "Let's get out of here quickly."
Gaster said, "Let's do that."
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