Chapter 5: The Static Bridge
The Ruins ā The Overlap
The air felt wrong.
Not wind. Not warmth.
A thin, sharp pressureālike breathing through broken glass.
Each step echoed softly.
Crunch.
Grey dust coated the floor.
Gaster walked forward, his boots pressing into the fine powder.
Monster dust.
The Ruins were silent.
No Froggits.
No Whimsuns.
No movement.
Even the puzzlesā
once carefully designedā
were shattered.
Broken apart.
Solved by force.
The Fear
Frisk drifted behind him, flickering slightly.
FRISK: Gaster? ā¦Heyā¦ Gasterā¦ Gasterā¦ GASTER!!
GASTER: Cease your vocalization. My auditory receptors are functioning within optimal parameters.
Frisk looked around, uneasy.
FRISK: ā¦Iām just a little scared. It feels like the walls are watching us.
GASTER: You lack a nervous system. Fear is not applicable.
(pause)
ā¦Explain how you know my name.
FRISK: I donāt knowā¦ I just know it.
GASTER (Internal): Hypothesis: Memory leak from fusion event. Human accessed identity data.
Inconsistency: I cannot access theirs.
Conclusion: Their past isā¦ blocked.
The Broken Bridge
They reached the gap.
The bridge was gone.
Not broken.
Not collapsed.
Deleted.
Only a jagged edge remained.
FRISK: ā¦Thatās not normalā¦
GASTER: We are overlapping with another timeline.
(pause)
A graveyard.
Frisk went quiet.
GASTER: The responsible entity may still be present.
Humanā¦ your cooperation is required.
If you restrict my output, we both cease to exist.
FRISK: ā¦Okay. I wonāt stop you.
(pause)
ā¦but please donāt kill anyone.
GASTER: I do not make promises.
The House of Ash
Torielās house stood ahead.
Dark.
Still.
Unfamiliar.
Like a memory that had been damaged.
GASTER: You will scout.
FRISK: ā¦Say please.
GASTER: No.
FRISK: Wow.
Frisk phased inside.
Time passed.
Too long.
When they returnedā
their form flickered more than before.
FRISK: ā¦itās darkā¦ I couldnāt see muchā¦
(pause)
ā¦but someone is inside.
Gaster didnāt wait.
The Break
The door opened.
Darkness filled the room.
Gaster forced energy into the systemā
CLICK.
The light flickered on.
Toriel
She was collapsed.
Injured.
Dust slipping from her form.
FRISK: MOM!!
Gaster froze.
GASTER (quiet): ā¦My Queen.
Torielās eyes opened slowly.
Fear filled them.
TORIEL: ā¦You came backā¦ to finish itā¦?
Silence.
TORIEL (weak): My childā¦ why do you hate meā¦?
Frisk stepped back, shaking.
FRISK: ā¦I didnātā¦
Toriel blinked.
TORIEL: ā¦Ohā¦
(pause)
ā¦Youāre not himā¦ SYSTEM ERROR
The world cracked.
Sound distorted.
Light broke apart.
Everything collapsedā
The Snap Back
Warm air.
Soft light.
The smell of cinnamon and butterscotch filled the room.
Toriel stood there, unharmed, holding a pie.
TORIEL: Oh! There you are, my child! You look tired. Why not rest?
Gaster stood completely still.
His breathing uneven.
GASTER (Internal): Impossible.
No transition.
No trigger.
Frisk moved closer.
FRISK (whisper): Gasterā¦ act normalā¦
Toriel stepped closer, concerned.
The Detail
Gaster looked at the table.
Then the plate.
Thenā
the fork.
GASTER (low): Frisk.
FRISK: ā¦What?
GASTER: The fork is on the left.
The napkin is angled.
(pause)
She did not do that.
Frisk froze.
FRISK: ā¦What do you meanā¦?
Gasterās voice dropped.
Final Line
GASTER: He was here.
(pause)
In this room.
FRISK: ā¦In my roomā¦?
GASTER: He did not replace us.
(pause)
He studied us.
new style
