#offcode

“So... Do you have any ideas?” - Yan asked...

The two friends and Sans were sit down in a circle, in K's living room' floor. Yan told everything that happened to K, and now he was waiting for an answer.  He was confident that his friend would have an idea, even if it would take more than one try...

“Ok, let me see if I understood everything... So Sans were teleported to the real world when your laptop emitted a green glare... Did you try to turn it back on?” - K said

“... actually no... Wait... Why don't we try that now?” - Yan said, standing up and running to his grandma's house to grab his bag, leaving Sans and K alone.

“... so... how long do you know Yan?” - Sans asked, looking to K.

“I know him since I was born... He's kinda like a big cousin to me... We hang out together a lot, playing videogames or board games... I like him!!”- K said, smiling. - “And it's because of him I know your world!!!”

“oh, really?” - Sans said.

“Yeah!! Last month he told me he was super excited because he had bought your game and wanted to play it non-stop!!! After that, we played together for one full pacifist run and then we searched about information on other kinds of playthroughs...” - K said. Sans seemed confused.

“wait... what did you mean with “pacifist run”? or with “other kinds of playthroughs”?” - Sans asked.

“Oh, sorry... I think you refer to them as “timelines”, right? Since you are from... inside the game, and all...” - K corrected himself.

“well, i have researched a bit about the different timelines... but some of them are...”  - Sans sighed - “really unconfortable to talk about...”

“You don't need to talk about them... Just remember one thing...”- K said to Sans. - “Yan may be what you would call 'the anomaly'... And act strangely sometimes, because he is 'the player'... But he has a nice SOUL and would NEVER hurt you or your friends... We saw together, on our search, what are the consequences for that, and he promised to himself he would NEVER do that stuff with your world. So, you can trust him, just like I do!!!”- K said, giving Sans a big smile.

* The smile on K's face filled Sans with CONFIDENCE.

“heh... you two are really alike, huh... your actions... the way you two speak... the determination you two have... i just can't help but be amazed by it...” - Sans closed his eyes in relief...

Yan soon returned with his yellow bag in his back.

“Ok, let's see what we can find...” - Yan said.

Yan opened the bigger zipper and pulled out his laptop along with the power brick. He connected everything, opened the lid and pressed the power button. K and Sans were behind him, looking at the screen as the desktop appeared.

“Nothing seems to be off here, Yan... Try opening Steam...”- K said.

“Ok, but this will take a while...” - Yan said.

The screen went blue and a girder appeared on the center of the screen, indicating that the client was opened in big picture mode. Yan quickly went to the Undertale page and after a deep breath, he opened the game.

…

Long ago,  two races ruled over Earth: HUMANS and MONSTERS.

One day, war broke out between the two races.

After a long battle, the humans were victorious.

They sealed the monsters underground with a magic spell.

Many years later. . .

MT. EBOTT – 201X

Legends say that those who climb the mountain never return.

...

“Hmm... nothing different in the opening...” - Yan said. K was unsettled.

“Odd... Didn't you finish a pacifist run yesterday?”- K asked.

“Yes, I did... Why the question?” - Yan asked back.

“Usually when you finish a pacifist run, Flowey appears on the screen to warn you about not resetting, right? Where is he?”- K said.

“... yeah... odd...” - Yan said, unsettled.

The player brought his save file, saved after the fight with Asriel, but before the ending. When he entered the world,  everything was normal. All the monsters were there, except Sans.

“Heh... Well Sans, you are seeing your world through the perspective of a player now. Of course you aren't there, because you are here...” - Yan said, looking at Sans.

“that's so weird...” - Sans said, smiling. -“but... that's so good... they are all... fine... i was... worried...” - He started to cry in relief...

He looked happy...

“Don't worry, we will return you to them! I promised you this!!!” - Yan said, smiling. - “Now let's look around here...”

The player went to the barrier room. Strangely, in the center of the room was... Flowey...

“Weird... why is he here?”- K said.

The player tried talking with Flowey.

...

* Howdy! Hmm... I know what you're thinking...

* Why Flowey the Flower is here... Well...

* I saw what happened last time you were here...

* Yan...

...

The three friends stared in shock to the screen. Flowey was actually aware of the fact that there were someone controlling Frisk. More than that, he was aware of the weird incident with Sans.

“Heh... I don't know why I'm surprised with that... He was always aware of the resets and all the timelines...” - Yan said.

“That doesn't change the fact that it's still unsettling...” - K said, sweating.

“you... you stupid weed...” - Sans said. His teeths were rattling, and he closed his fist in anger.

...

* Don't even waste your words, Smiley' Trashbag!!! I wasn't the responsible for that!!!

...

“Great... He can hear us too...” - Yan said, in sarcasm. He started to sweat...

...

* It was... HIM...

...

“Yeah, I figured that out by now... It was Gaster right?” - Yan said, waving his arms. Both K and Sans looked at him, in shock.

“what?? how do you know about him?” - Sans asked.

“Internet.” - Yan said, waving his arms and winking.

“.... okay... and how do you know it was him?” 

“Simple. Those symbols that appeared yesterday on the screen when this whole incident happened were written in Wingdings... just like Entry Number 17, the one written by Gaster...” - Yan said.

“OH, I KNOW THAT ENTRY!!! IT'S SO CREEPY...” - K said out loud.

“... and how do you know about that lost entry?”

“Internet.” - Yan and K said at the same time.

“oh... ok...”

“So, Flowey, since you know about everything I suppose you will help us?” - Yan asked, with a little sarcasm in the tone of his voice.

...

* What? Do you want me to help you?

* You really are an idiot... Why would I help someone like you?

...

“I was expecting that...” - Yan said, annoyed.

...

* Good luck trying to fix this... I'll be watching you...

* It'll be soooo interesting...

Flowey disappeared...

...

“Gee, thanks for the help... ya dingus...” - Yan said, joking.

Yan looked at Sans to see how he was reacting to all of that. For the most part, he looked surprised and confused with all of the sudden information received.

“Huh?” - Yan noticed something strange in Sans's jacket.

“HEY SANS!! LOOK AT YOUR LEFT POCKET!!! IT'S BACK TO BLUE!!!” - Yan stood up, screaming loudly in a moment of excitement. Sans stared at his pocket, that had returned to the normal blue that it used to have.

“what?! what does that mean?”

“Maybe you are returning to normal? Try using your magic!!!”

Sans thought about what to do, and after a moment, he snapped his fingers. A small bone appeared in his hand. Yan started to jump in joy.

“YES!!! I don't know what we've done, but your magic returned!!!”

Sans wasn't convinced about that. He snapped his fingers again.

Nothing happened.

“Oh... Nothing...” - Yan calmed down, saddened.

“Hey Sans, what did you try to do now?” - K asked.

“teleport...” - Sans said, saddened as well. - “well... at least we now know that the color in my jacket is a indicator to see if my powers have returned...” - He tried to be optimistic about everything.

“Maybe something in the game made your powers come back? You seemed very happy when you saw your friends...” - Yan said to Sans.

“yeah... it was the same feeling that i had when i listened you play those songs... earlier...” - Sans said, winking.

“... wait... DID YOU LIKE MY REHEARSAL?” - Yan asked, loudly.

“yeah... you did great, pal!!!” - Sans said, giving a thumbs up to Yan.

“Oh... THANK YOU!!!” - Yan said, louder than before.

“Hey you two!”- K said louder than Yan. Sans and Yan looked in his direction. - “If that feeling was the same as before, why don't Yan try playing all the songs that he know about Undertale?”

“But... I can't play everything!!!” - Yan said, crossing his arms in denial.

“You don't need to do everything exactly as the original songs! If that will help Sans, even in the first notes, we will know! We should test this anyway!”  - K said, smiling.

“... okay... Let's try th--” - A door opened, making Yan flinch in his dialogue.

“GOSH, CAN YOU TWO STOP SCREAMING??? I am in the middle of a big battle!!!” - Another boy came out of the room, enraged.

“Okay, Py... Sorry for that...” - Yan said, sarcastically.

“What are you two even doing?” - Py asked.

“Trying to help Sans!!!” - K answered.

“Who? That skeleton from Undertale? HAHA... You two really like to roleplay a lot huh...” - Py said, with irony in his speech.

“psst... K... i think he can't see him...” - Yan whispered to K.

“but... he knows Undertale!!! how can't he see him?”- K whispered back.

Suddenly, Py flinched as he was staring at Sans's direction... He started to sweat and shake.

“Uhhh... Py... What are you doing...?” - Yan asked.

“th-there's a... g-ghost t-there...” - Py was shaking even more.

“Hmm... Maybe he can't see Sans at its fullest... Is it because he don't know the game very well?” - Yan thought to himself.

“AA-ANYWAY... I... uhh... am g-going b-back to my b-battle... o-ok??” - Py said, in fear. After that, he ran back to the room he left, locking the door as he closed it.

“Uhh... okay... i guess???” - Yan said, confused.

“...who is he?” - Sans asked.

“He's my older brother...” - K said, sighing.

“... ANYWAY... Let's go to my grandma's house pick up the keyboard...” - Yan said.

“... good idea Yan...” - K said, agreeing to Yan.

“uhh... you lead the way... i guess?” - Sans said, agreeing to the other two.

Yan quickly suspended the computer, closing his lid. He picked the power brick and packed all back to his bag, and then the trio left K's house.

* The awkwardness...

'What can I do? What did those words mean?' Yan was wandering through the snow-covered trees in Snowdin, paying attention to his surroundings. He was trying to decypher the meaning behind the incident. As he walked through the forest, he noticed that some trees were twitching in a strange way, sometimes glowing with a green-colored glare, and the wind was starting to freeze his skin... It was painful...

… … green glare... ...green jacket... ... green symbols... …

… … …

“and i once thought i was the lazy dude...”

Yan opened his eyes in shock... He woke up...

He looked to his side, only to see Sans, looking at him impatiently.

“Um... Good morning...???”

“it's almost 11'o clock...” - Sans said, perplexed with how much the player had sleep.

“Sorry... When did you wake up?”

“about one hour ago... your mother came to call you for breakfast... and if i'm not wrong, she's still waiting you...”

“Her name is May... wait... Did she see you?” - Yan asked, worried...

“doesn't look like... and i was right at the middle of the room...” - Sans said, waving his arms.

“Maybe no one else can see you... That's good... Well... I think I should go have my breakfast... I'll get something for you too...”

“thanks bud...”

Yan stood up and went to the kitchen. His mother was waiting, rearranging her schedule on the phone.

“Good morning...”

“Good morning... Did you sleep well?”

“Yes, and you... well... I think i don't have to ask...” - She said, winking her eye... Yan blushed a bit, embarassed by how he overslept.

The player sat down besides his mother, and Sans sat down besides him. While Yan was eating, Sans started to notice how his host was happily joking with his mother. Both were eating together, and laughing at puns and jokes their family were sharing online...

He looked happy.

After breakfast, Yan went to the front room, where he grabbed a chair an sat down. There was a music keyboard, alongside a small couch. Sans sat in the couch as the player turned the keyboard on and selected an instrument.

“Everyday after breakfast, I like to play some music here... I hope you don't mind hearing me mess up a lot...” - Yan said, giggling.

“why would you mess up? go ahead, i'm all 'ears...” - Sans replied.

Yan started to play a song. His fingers were sliding through the keys, almost as if they were dancing along with the calm music, that felt strangely familiar to Sans. The melody was soothing, almost as if it was starting to tell a story to a child... Once upon a time...

While he was playing, May was at the kitchen, humming with the song she heard everyday. That melody strangely always brought her internal peace and harmony. When she looked at her son, she paused for a moment. She thought that besides him there was a very faint figure, with it's eyes closed, hearing the song.

“Maybe It's just my imagination...” - She said to herself. But Yan heard. He stopped playing and looked at her.

The figure disappeared.

“What did you say, mom?” - Yan asked her.

“Nothing, I thought I saw something at your side...” - Yan stopped. Did she saw Sans?

“Um... but... t-there is... n-nothing here...” - Yan was sweating.

“Maybe someone was hearing you play, since... well... that music is beautiful... Where is it from?”

“Its from a game...” - Sans's smile disappeared when he heard that.

“Why do you always play these songs from games? I know they're good, but there's so much more that you can play...” - May said, annoyed.

“I like them... that's why I play them... And I know there are a lot more songs to play, but I like to start with these...”

“Okay... That was just a suggestion...” - May said, sadly...

* The player felt his guilt weighning on his neck...

“... sorry... … … I love you...” - Yan was regretting his previous ACTion...

“That's ok, I love you too...” - May said, with a smile on her face forgiving her son. “You can continue playing... I was enjoying it... And I think your 'guest' was, too...”

Sans didn't understand. Why was she acting like that was normal? An invisible guest... Wouldn't she be worried about it, or even for her son?

“hey... why did she act like that? wouldn't she be worried about you?”

“No... We believe that there are souls that need  help in the world, and some of them just wanders around, in search for peace. And she knows that I'm fine...” - Yan said, winking...

Yan started to play another tune. This one was familiar to Sans, he actually knew the composer... Napstablook. He remembered that it had spent weeks trying to get the melody and harmony done. It was released while the human was travelling the Underground, and the first one that downloaded it was Muffet... Sans remembered that she called that song... Spider Dance...

“Hey Yan, don't forget that today you'll sleep in your grandma's house! It's saturday after all...” - May said.

“Ok mom...” - Yan replied.

His grandma'... … wait...

* The player had an idea.

* The player knew who he'd ask help.

* The player was filled with DETERMINATION...

…

Later that day, Yan and Sans were outside the other house. Sans didn't know why they were there, though... The sunlight, while beautiful for Sans, was extremely hot... He was feeling his bones hurt, almost as if they were boiling...

But that's impossible...

“um... pal... why are we here?” - Sans asked, sweating...

“I think I know another person that may be able to see you... and... let me say... He's very creative...” - Yan replied, winking.

“so... is he a doctor? or a scientist?” - Sans asked with confidence...

“No... Actually very far from that... You see, earlier my mom was able to see a hint of you, while she was hearing those songs... They are from your soundtrack, actually...” - Yan smiled.

“so they are from my... …. … (ugh....) game.... that explains why they felt so familiar to me...”

“I didn't play your theme because it is too complicated... But my friend... He is extremely obsessed with your world... Almost more than myself actually...”

“where is he?”

“He's as lazy as me... I already called him over... oh... wait, he's coming... Please stay here for now...”

“ok.”

Yan entered his friend's house, as he heard the door opening and closing... Sans could hear the conversation between the two...

“Hi Yan, how are you today?”

“I'm fine, actually... but I need to show you someone... and I think you'll go crazy when you see it...”

“Why?”

“Well... He's someone we both know... and he's not from... 'here'....

“Wow... Where is he???”

“HEY, COME OVER HERE...”

Sans entered the yard of the boy's house, sweating...

“K... this is Sans... Sans, this is K...” - K was shocked...

“... um... hi... nice to meet ya...”

“Yan... is he really...”

“Yes... he is 'THE' Sans...”

“... ...OMG... H-HI SANS... THIS IS AN HONOR... HOW DID YOU BECAME REAL??????” - K was extremely excited and talking loudly... Sans twitched at the last sentence...

“sorry, this whole 'i am not real' talk is really making me feel veeery unconfortable... i don't get why should anyone be honored to meet me, but... thanks kid...”

“Something weird happened yesterday, and I need your help to find out what was that... We need to help Sans go back to the game... can I count on you?”

“But... How? I'm just 11!!!”

“You have time... and you know almost everything about Undertale... Two heads think better than one...”

“... When do we start?”

* The alliance between two friends to help another one...

First drawing I ever made...

**NOTE FROM THE CREATOR - I made this in Office, and there you can choose different fonts... Since that didn’t copy to here... here is a note: ANYTHING THAT IS WRITTEN LIKE THIS is actually written in Wingdings... Okay, now the story can begin...

“Aaand... there! Done!”

As the text editor in the laptop closed down, Yan laid back in his chair, stretching his arms and legs. After a extremely tirying hour, the college essay he needed to do was done and he could finally relax.

“Well, since now I don't have anything else to do, maybe I can finish it now...” - he thought to himself, while double-clicking the heart icon in the desktop. He was ready to face the final boss on yet another Undertale pacifist run. It was his third one, and he loved each one of them...

Yan was focused on the screen at that moment. He already had dinner and was back from the college about two hours ago. He studied at night, in a college near the exit of the city. It wasn't far away from his home, so he used to have dinner after 10PM. Yan lived with his parents, and didn't work, but was always trying to help everyone in every way he could. His dad worked at the city hall, and his mom was a music teacher. Yan himself was studying to become a teacher, and dreamed about one day having his own school.

The screen went white. The player defeated the final boss and destroyed the barrier once again.

That filled him with DETERMINATION...

Yan learned about Undertale a year ago, but he only got the game two months before. He was amazed that even after a year of spoilers, the game still managed to surprise him and make him laugh. Playing games on the computer wasn't on his list of “favorite things to do”. He preferred to play games on his console and on his phone, but Undertale changed that. Ever since he bought it, he went crazy about it and everything related to it. So he knew all about the different timelines and possibilities that the game offered. He told himself he'd NEVER do a genocide run, since he knew that doing that would corrupt his game, and he didn't want that.

All the characters were facing towards the sun. They were free.

“Ok, done. I should go sleep now, it's late...” - Yan said to himself. The player hold down the ESC key, ready to close the game and turn off the computer.

BUT IT REFUSED...

“Huh...? Why is it taking this long to close? Did it crash?”

The player tried again...

BUT IT REFUSED AGAIN...

“Ok, that's enough...”

The player hit CTRL+ALT+DEL, bringing the task manager up, and tried to force close the game...

But it failed...

As the player closed the task manager and attempted to hit the RESTART button, the screen suddenly turned white...

THIS NEXT EXPERIMENT

SEEMS

VERY

VERY

INTERESTING

...

A bright green light warped through the power cord of the computer and when it reached the power brick, it went through its blue LED, emitting a glaring flash for a few seconds.

When it faded, Yan almost screamed out loud (he held up because of the time). Laid down on the floor, unconciously, was...

sans...

“WHAT? Am I dreaming? It must be... this is just on my head... right? There's no way he is re... … al... ...”

He stopped when he looked at his computer screen. It was back to normal, but the game window was black and had something written on it...

WHAT DO YOU TWO THINK

“... no... it's true... sans is here...” - the thought terrified Yan. How could this even be possible?

Sans was still unconcious, so that gave time for the player to analyze him. For the most part, he was the same, but strangely his jacket wasn't blue as usual. Instead, it resembled the color of the glare that ran through the power cord. A light-green, almost as the leaves in a tree. It reminded Yan about the text in the old computers he usually sees in videos...

… the color of code …

“ugh... where am i...?” - said Sans with a lazy voice... He woke up...

At first, Sans was confused. It seems like he didn't know what happened. He looked to the sides, analyzing the room trying to identify it. He failed.

“um... Are you okay?” - the player asked.

“yeah... i am... thanks for aski...” - he stopped when he looked at Yan, in shock...

“HEEYY!!! who are you??? where are the others???” - Sans screamed, running away on his back, accidentally hitting the wall. He was panicking.

“Oh, right... My name is Yan, and you are in my room. So... I think your name is Sans, right?”

“how do you know my name? where are the others? what did you do to them?” - Sans was talking out loud and harsh. He looked mad.

“Let's just say that... I know a lot about you... and you know me too... well... not personally...” Yan was sweating... How would he explain to Sans that he lived in a world that didn't exist? And all of his friends were inside a computer? How would he react when he discovered that himself was not real?

“hey, you didn't answer my last question... i'll give you another chance... answer me or you'll regret it”

* Yan - the sweating intensifies

“... … um... … how can i put this in words... …”

* The player tried to think of something to say...

* He failed.

“that's it. bud, you're gonna have a b... ...” - Sans stopped. He started to sweat, his face was perplexed. - “... wh-what... what happened to... my... powers...? i can't use them...”

Sans looked at Yan... worried...

“wh-what have y-you... done to me? what are you?”

Yan felt his sins crawling on his back... It was the time to answer Sans... *Why do I have to do this now? Please, he still needs to believe me after that...* - the player thought to himself... - *Well, here goes nothing...*

“I haven't done anything to you... You appeared here suddenly... I don't know how this was even possible... You couldn't... You aren't supposed to... You shouldn't...”

“Y O U    S H O U L D N ' T    B E    R E A L . . .”

Sans took a step back, terrified. What did he mean with “You shouldn't be real”?

“You seem a little unsettled about what I said... Maybe you felt a chill run down your spine? Heh...” - The player was looking at Sans with a mischievous smile on his face...

Sans was unsettled. Did Yan make a joke with him? Or was it a threat? Either way, it wasn't the right moment.

Yan stopped.

“Sorry if I startled you, that wasn't the intention... I thought that since you like puns, you'd laugh... That would make this whole situation a little lighter...” - Yan said, with a sad smile in his face. He was being sincere.

“um... don't sweat about that, pal... i'm just trying to understand what's happening, i'm totally lost... how do you know i like puns? do we know each other?”

“Yeah, I know you... We've met before, but not face-to-face like that... Actually, we've met like that... but you may know me by another name... since, well... 'i am the legendary fartmaster', heh heh heh...” - Yan started to laugh... Sans halted...

“wait... did you just said my secret codework? no one knows about it, except....... …. the kid..... ….”

Sans stopped again... He started to understand what was happening. And he didn't like what he was thinking...

“are... are you... Frisk?”

“No... I'm not Frisk... and yet... at the same time... I am... As I said before... My name is Yan... I   A M   T H E   P L A Y E R . . .”

Yan was talking in a calm, serious and cold tone... Sans's thoughts started to become a reality...

“so it's you... the anomaly is you... you're the one responsible for the resets in the timeline...”

“Don't call me that, I'm not an anomaly... As i said, I am the player... Come on Sans, I know that you're a smart guy... You already understood...” - Sans flinched.

“I heard that code because you told it to me... I know about the lab behind your house in Snowdin because I went in there... I know about how you gave up on trying to go home because you said that in our dinner... And I know all that because I am the player... I bought it... I played it... Sans... It's hard for me to say that... but... YOU LIVE IN A GAME... YOU SHOULDN'T BE REAL BECAUSE YOU'RE PART OF A GAME... A GAME I PLAYED...”

Sans's expression was empty. He felt like someone had taken his SOUL and smashed it with a sledgehammer. Everything he knew, everyone he met and lived with, all of that... Nothing was real... That explained the resets, the fear of constantly going back in time... reliving those same 6 hours... It was just a few times, but that still hurts...

“... a... game...? so... everything i lived thus far... wasn't real? all of the people i know... toriel... undyne... alphys... asgore...” - Sans took a deep and depressing breath - “... my brother... me… all of us are nothing more than pieces in a game?”

“Technically yes... sorry, I didn't want to cause this on you... After all of that, you may think that I don't care about you or your friends... but... Observing your lifes really helped me understand myself... So... I want to help you.”

“why even bother... it's all just a game... it's not real... it doesn't matter...”

Yan couldn't believe on what he just heard... Sans was once again, giving up on going back to his home because, in his vision, it didn't matter...

“DON'T SAY THAT!!! Sans, you should never give up... Because there are a lot of people that really care about you... being real or not!!! And don't even try to argue with me!!! We will find out why you lost your powers and I will return you home! That's a promise!!!”

Sans looked into Yan's eyes... Those deep brown eyes staring at him, with a sparkle he would never forget about it... That was definitely the kid he knew and liked to prank with. The same kid that made his brother love the humans, the same one that saved the life of Undyne and helped Mettaton reach his dream viewer milestone, the same one that helped Alphys with his secret... the same one that destroyed the barrier and freed the monsters from the Underground...

Those sparkly eyes never ceased to amaze him... And even now, in front of the anomaly he was searching for, he still felt the same about it... That feeling was comforting...

“hey kid... you know how i am with promises... so don't even think about breaking this 'bone'... i... … i believe you...”

The player was happy. It is still a mystery what happened... But both Sans and Yan are willing to uncover this as soon as possible... but... it was late...

“WHOA, look at the time!!! It's too late!!! We should go sleep... Please Sans, stay here in my room until tomorrow... I think you shouldn't go far from me since... well... you are a skeleton... and everyone else here is a human...”

“don't sweat about that, bud... you're not going to get rid of me anytime soon... g'night...”

* You turned off the computer and the light, and laid down on your bed...

* The promise to help an old friend to go home...