The human child's footsteps echoed as they traversed the final corridor of the CORE, towards the elevator which would allow them to finally leave Hotland and enter the king's castle, whereupon they would cross the barrier and leave the Underground. Somehow. Frisk hadn't exactly worked out all of the details yet, but just kind of winging it had worked wonders for them thus far, so they were sure they would find a way. They had to. The thought of approaching the king, and asking him nicely to just let them through, as Papyrus suggested at the beginning of their journey, filled them with DETERMINATION.

Really, their biggest concern was Sans. At the end of their last run, Sans had… Not been helpful. What should have been their easiest challenge wound up being the challenge that cost them a full RESET. It's not like Frisk didn't feel BAD about the things they did. But at the time, they felt like they had to do it. The first one was an accident. They didn't know their own strength, and Toriel paid for it… Dearly.

Then there was that nagging voice in the back of their head. A voice that sounded like their own, yet somehow much, much colder. And older, as old as a child's voice could sound. It told them that, so long as Frisk did what the voice said, they would be fine. Frisk was told that Papyrus would betray them, so, they did what they had to do. After all, in this world, it's kill or be killed, right? After that, things got easier. It became easier to kill once they weren't as emotionally attached.

After the RESET—as Frisk discovered, their newfound time traveling ability required them to adhere to strict rules such as where and when he could and couldn't travel to—Frisk found that their actions had no consequences. So, they thought, let's just ignore that little voice in my head from now on. After all, what was the worst that could happen? If things went wrong, they could just RESET again.

Once they learned that, yes, Toriel could be saved, no, Papyrus was not a threat to them, and no, Monster Kid was not free EXP, Frisk honestly felt a little stupid. They let the voice in their head control them. They hated themself for it.

Well, more so than they already did. But Frisk didn't like to think about what led them to Mt. Ebott in the first place.

So, yes, they were slightly apprehensive at meeting Sans in the Judgement Hall again. They remembered all too well the feeling of bone tearing flesh, blaster searing muscle. And that was when they were LV 19. As Frisk had not killed anybody this time, they never gained any EXP, they never gained LOVE, and their HP remained at twenty, where it was at the start of their adventure. They, truthfully, had NO idea how they were going to deal with Sans. But they'd find a way. They'd have to.

Still, though, they hoped that, if they were destined to fight Sans, he'd go a bit easier on them this time. Maybe they can spare him since he knows they haven't killed anyone… In this timeline, at least.

Man, was Frisk glad that Sans couldn't remember the previous timelines. When they left the Ruins, they slipped up and greeted Sans before he told them to turn around and even called him by name before his formal introduction. He didn't seem to think much of it, but Frisk knew better than to take chances with the pun-loving skeleton. They've been very careful ever since.

Despite that, they were receptive to the idea that, perhaps Sans was destined to end their journey right here. At least, if they were going to die, they died knowing they hadn't let themself be lied to again. Their entire second journey through the Underground, Frisk didn't harm a SOUL. Never again will Frisk allow theirself to be fooled by the likes of a tiny, whining voice.

It was at this point that Alphys, the Underground's Royal Scientist who'd been helping them through Hotland, decided to speak up. Alphys followed them through the remainder of the CORE after Mettaton's batteries ran out and hadn't spoken up until this point.

"S-so," she began with her usual stutter, "you're about to meet ASGORE h-huh?" Frisk simply nodded in response. "You must be…" She seemed like she was holding onto something she didn't want to say. Frisk stopped and turned to face her. "Y-you must be…" Frisk tilted their head, confused. "Pr… Pretty excited about all that, huh? You'll f-f-finally… You'll finally get to go home!" Alphys was avoiding eye contact. Frisk thought that was weird, but they just chalked it up to Alphys being Alphys. No biggie. They kept walking. Alphys stopped again after a few feet, but Frisk didn't notice. "W-wait!" Frisk turned around again, startled.

"Is something wrong, Alphys? Are you okay?" Frisk asked, genuine concern for their new friend beginning to show.

"F-fine, I just…" She looked away. "I mean, um… I… I was just going to, um… Say goodbye, and…" Alphy's eyelids lowered. She still refused to make eye contact with Frisk.

Frisk scratched the back of their neck. First Toriel, now Alphys… Was leaving the Underground really such a good idea? It seemed they were just hurting the same people they'd wanted to protect by leaving. When they left the Ruins, Frisk simply chalked up Toriel's apprehension to the fact that she very probably thought they'd be killed once they left, as so many other human children before them had. They didn't think for a moment that she actually just didn't want them to leave her behind. They weren't used to being cared about. Now here they were, with Alphys, who seemed equally saddened by the prospect of Frisk leaving the Underground.

Frisk approached Alphys, who simply stared at her own feet. "Hey, you know, I, uh, still have this cell phone. I've been calling a couple of other friends with it for a while now. If you'd like to, once I'm out on the surface, you can call me all you want. It'll be like I never left!"

Alphys didn't look comforted. "Yeah… Once you're on the surface."

"Listen, Alphys, I know that it feels like I'm just up and leaving you. But, like, I can't stay here forever," Frisk reasoned.

"O-oh, of course not!" Alphys quickly responded. "After all, you probably have family up there, and… Stuff."

Now it was Frisk's turn to avoid eye contact. "Yeah… Family…"

"B-but… That's not why I'm acting so… Funny."

"Oh?"

"...human. I… I can't take this anymore." Alphys swallowed hard. Whatever she was about to tell them, Frisk could tell it was heavy. "I… I lied to you."

Frisk closed their eyes. "Alphys, if this is about your role in the obstacles I've encountered thus far, I promise I'm not mad. If I'm being honest, Mettaton's antics were actually kind of fun and I'm glad you were able to make yourself feel like a star! You're my friend, and-"

"N-no," she interrupted. "It's… It's not that either. It's… It's about the barrier." Her voice began to break. "I told you that, with your powerful SOUL, you could cross the barrier. I wasn't being entirely truthful. A human soul isn't strong enough to cross the barrier alone."

Frisk's studied her intently. Their face was unchanging. "So you're saying we've gotta find another way across, right?"

Alphys sighed. "It takes at LEAST a human soul."

"Which I have."

"A human soul, and…" she swallowed again. "And… And a monster soul." She looked back up at Frisk, whose DETERMINATION levels dropped significantly upon hearing that. "If you want to go home…"

"No..."

"You'll have to take his soul. You'll have to kill ASGORE. ...I'm sorry." With that, Alphys turned to leave.

Angry at nobody in particular, Frisk let out a groan and punched the wall, swearing under their breath once the pain shot through their arm. Startled, Alphys turned and looked at them again.

"A-are you okay-?"

"I thought-!"

Alphys looked like she could cry. "I know, I should have told you sooner, I just-!"

Frisk fell to the floor, completely undetermined. "I thought I had done everything right this time."

Alphys tilted her head, confused. "This time…?"

Frisk brought their knees up to their body, resting their chin on them. Tears flowed freely from their eyes. "I don't want to kill again…"

Alphys' eyes widened. "A-again?" She had no idea she'd been leading a murderer through Hotland. She could have sworn she saw them spare every monster in their way. Not that she was really watching at all times, but… Then she realized. The one fight she hadn't been watching. "Undyne…"

This child in front of her… Had killed Undyne. The horrifying realization finally set in. "You… Killed Undyne?"

Frisk's eyes widened. They looked up at the reptilian above them. "No! No, I didn't. Undyne is fine. She's with her friend, Papyrus, in Snowdin right now. I haven't harmed anyone."

Alphys sighed in relief, although she definitely would call Undyne after this to make sure Frisk was telling the truth—but she felt like she could trust them, for some reason. "So, why then, did you say you…?"

Frisk, realizing their slip up, stood up. "Nothing. I mean, I didn't. What I meant to say was I don't want to kill Asgore. I'm going to go up that elevator, march through New Home, walk past the judgement hall, and-"

Alphys interrupted. "Okay, now, hold on, there's a new bit of information. How do you know the layout of Asgore's castle? You've never been in there." This was as confused as Alphys has ever been. She knew for a fact this was the human's first time passing through Hotland. So how, then, did they seem to know what was coming? "Come to think of it," she added, "you seemed to know EXACTLY where you were going after you came into the CORE. You knew what rooms to avoid, which path to take… You ignored my instructions like you knew the layout had changed."

She's adding two and two together, said the voice in Frisk's head. You know what to do. Indeed, Frisk knew what to do. They stood up, sighing. Alphys came clean with them. It was time they came clean with her. That's… Not what I meant, the voice said, slightly disappointed. Frisk chuckled internally. In response, the voice blew imaginary raspberries. Alphys was a scientist. If anybody needed to know about this strange ability, it was her. They just hoped she wouldn't think they were totally crazy.

"Alphys," Frisk began, "I haven't been entirely truthful with you either." They explained the power to her, leaving out most of the murder-y details. What it does. What they can do with it. Its limitations. Alphys' eyes were wide the entire time. When they'd finished explaining it, she looked like they'd grown two or three heads right in front of her.

"T-time travel?" She asked for clarification. Frisk nodded. "That's… That's…" Alphys' dorky grin from earlier returned in full force. "That's amazing! It's just like this anime I watch, about this girl who's stuck in a time loop, and they keep reliving the same day, and she has to find a way to stop an alien invasion beforetheendofthedayandthere'sthisguyshelikesandsheusesthelooptolearnlotsabouthimandalsoshe'sinabandbutbecauseofthisalieninvasionshenevergetsanythingdonebeforetheearthexplodesbutonedayshefindsoneoftheiragentsandwhoopsIalmostspoiledthebigtwistwhereherloveinterestisworkingwiththe-"

"Alphys," Frisk snapped her out of it. "Focus."

Alphys blushed slightly. "Uh, right. So, um… Y-you've… Killed Asgore before?"

Frisk shook their head. "I didn't get to his throne room the first time."

Alphys frowned. "So then who…?" Frisk's face grew sad. I guess she has to learn about the other thing, too, they thought. It wasn't a matter of who did Frisk kill. It was a matter of who DIDN'T they kill. Before they could answer, however, Alphys shook her head. "I guess it doesn't matter. Whoever it was, you clearly felt bad enough about it to… Do things over?" Frisk nodded.

"So… You're sure there's no other way to get past the barrier?"

Alphys shook her head. "No. A being can only cross the barrier if they possess both a human and a monster soul. The barrier can be broken with the use of seven human souls, but…"

"...I would have to die."

"Exactly."

The corridor was silent for a bit. Finally, Frisk spoke up. "So… Why haven't you killed me, then?"

Alphys' eyes widened. "What are you-?"

"I mean… If you killed me, you could bring my soul to Asgore, he becomes a god and breaks the barrier, and the surface is taken back from humanity. All of your problems are very easily solved with my death."

Alphys searched for the right answer. "I don't know," she admitted, finally. It was true. Frisk's continued existence was an obstacle that kept the monsters underground. And yet, she couldn't bring herself to think of them like that. Frisk was their friend, not a hurdle to be jumped over.

More silence. Frisk knew what to do. Deep down, they knew it was the right thing to do. If Sans was going to kill them in the next room anyway, then…

Frisk looked back up at Alphys. "I won't fight Asgore."

Alphys breathed a sigh of relief. "K-kid, you have no idea how happy I am to hear you say that. I know it's not your home, but… The Underground isn't so bad, once you get used to it. I-if you'd like, I mean, you can stay at my lab, if you don't have any other place to stay, although-"

"I'm not staying here, either."

"...what?"

What? the voice asked. Frisk definitely knew what they had to do. They had to do the right thing. They had to do what was best for everyone around them, even if it wasn't in their own best interests. "I'm going to let Asgore take my soul." They looked Alphys in the eyes. "You're going to be free." With that, Frisk entered the elevator.

As the doors were closing, Alphys wedged her foot in them, preventing the elevator from leaving. "H-hang on! You can't be serious!" she exclaimed. "You can't- Y-you can't just tell me what you just told me and expect me to just forget about it and go back to my lab like I didn't hear anything!"

"Well, that's awkward, because that's exactly what I'm expecting you to do," replied Frisk. Alphys rolled her eyes. Clearly this human had been hanging out with Sans. Alphys briefly wondered what he was doing these days before snapping out of it and turning her attention back to the human in front of her.

"I can't let you go up there." Alphys had made up her mind. She was going to take the human back to her lab, by force if necessary, then call Undyne and figure out what to do about this situation.

"Assertive!" replied Frisk in a somewhat colder voice. "You really think you can keep me here?" Alphys took a step back, careful to leave her right foot wedged in the door. She could have sworn she saw a red glint in the human's normally green eyes, but as soon as she blinked, the human shook their head and seemed to have returned to normal. "Uh, sorry. That was rude of me," the child responded. Child? Alphys wasn't sure. They looked to be about twelve or thirteen, but the tone they took up just now sounded like someone who was much older and much, much more tired. In any case, mental age aside, they were physically too young to be going on a suicide mission.

Alphys crossed her arms. "You're coming back to my lab." Normally, Alphys would've backed down ages ago, but she couldn't afford to this time. A child's life was on the line. The king had killed six. Alphys was going to save one, and any others that came after them. The scientist was only twenty-three years old and already she'd ruined enough lives to last a lifetime. She was going to make up for that, starting now.

Frisk shook their head. "This is something I have to do. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few."

Alphys was annoyed, now. "If you go up there and hand your soul to Asgore, we're going to war. Do you understand that? It's not just your life on the line, here." Their life was her primary concern, but she wasn't about to tell them that. "If you die here, you'll be the first of millions." The human looked surprised. They hadn't thought of that. Good. She was swaying them. "Tell me, human, where's the closest city once you leave the mountain?"

"That'd be Denver."

"And how many people live in Denver?"

The human looked like they had to think about it. "I dunno. Half a million? It's not a very big city."

Alphys' eyes widened. "Whoa, wait, half a million isn't 'big'? Just how many humans are up there? And what's a 'big' city like?"

"There are around seven billion people on Earth, about five million live in Colorado—the state where Mt. Ebott is located—three million live in the metropolitan area immediately surrounding Denver, and a big city like New York has around eight million people," the human explained.

Seven. Billion. Humans?! Alphys' mind was racing. She truthfully had no the planet could even hold that many people, and the Underground only had a few thousand monsters. "W-well if you give Asgore your soul, you can consider Denver's entire population obliterated in a day. Colorado in a week. The world in mere months. That's how powerful he would become."

"I can't say we don't have it coming," Frisk replied dryly. "But… You're right. It certainly would be a shame if my death were the first of billions."

Satisfied, Alphys nodded. "I'm glad you see it my way, human!" Suddenly, the human pushed Alphys out of the elevator, and the doors began to close.

"Which is why I'm going to talk things out with the king. THEN I'll give him my soul. Nice chatting with you, Alphys!" Before she could react, the doors slid shut and the elevator moved upwards.

"No, no, no no no NO!" Alphys frantically tried calling the elevator down, to no avail. It was too late. The human was well on their way to New Home.

Alphys was all alone.

Alphys failed once again.

The human was going to face Asgore and only one will leave the throne room. And she never got to ask them more about time travel.

"Please, human," the reptilian said to nobody in particular, "come to your senses." She started down the hallway. "Please come back." She dragged Mettaton's lifeless body—only in need of recharging, thank god—across the floor. "Please stay in the Underground, with me and Undyne and Mettaton and those skeletons in Snowdin." She entered the elevator, which took her to the CORE's entrance. "And if you don't…" She left the MTT resort, still dragging its owner. "If you must fight Asgore…" Alphys walked into her lab, and pulled out a pair of AA batteries, which provided a surprising amount of energy to the robot. Efficiency at its finest. "Kill him. It's better than the alternative."

Somehow, though, Alphys knew the human wouldn't be doing any killing.

Not again.

It was only then that she realized she was back at the entrance to her lab, tugging Mettaton.

What? I could have sworn I was just up… Stairs…

Alphys knew what this meant. The human was messing with time again. They had died, likely in the battle with Asgore, and for some reason decided to live for just a little longer. They knew something she didn't. Perhaps it was something she did know until just a few seconds ago. She wasn't sure how severely her memories were being affected by the reset.

Alphys walked into her lab. She grinned. In a few moments, she might not remember grinning—hell, she might not even remember that the human can time travel—but in this moment, she knew the human had a plan. Somehow, she knew that nobody was dying today.

Alphys walked into her lab for what felt like the fifth or sixth time. She couldn't remember what she was so happy about just now, but she had hope that it was for a good reason. She changed Mettaton's batteries and sat down at her computer.

Alphys walked into her lab. Her memory was hazy, but she tried her best to hold on. Something about.. The human could time travel, she remembered that much. That must be what's happening.

Alphys walked into her lab. Déjà vu, she thought as she changed Mettaton's batteries. Was I just here? She couldn't trust her memories lately.

Alphys walked into her lab. The human hates me. I'm sure of it.

Alphys walked into her lab. She said nothing as she changed Mettaton's batteries before heading to her computer and sitting down in front of it. After what must have been an hour, there was a knock at her door, and a letter slid underneath.

Alphys hated letters.