[Papyrus directs the assistant arm to help steady him as he leans a little forward, eyes focusing to zoom in on the light. So that's a thing Sans can do now, he concludes on some level, no point buying more lamps or glow-in-the-dark anything.]
E5WHAT ARE YOU&TESTING, AND WHY&ON MY SUPPLIES??
[Is this a test for trying to transform, to enlighten Papyrus in some way?? He knows he was implying about making everyone and everything into machinery, an idea that seemed a lot better before Mysterio's collapse but even now still seems good, but being some ghostly light...]
Figuring out my options. Doing that to myself's a little different from doing that to something else. [Though not as different as Sans thought it might be. Maybe because when you get down small enough, everything's made of the same things. It's just a matter of configuration.] You're right, we can't really fly out.
[Which may or may not sound ominous, depending on what conclusions Papyrus is coming to here. The metal is back to normal. In fact, Papyrus now has a dual memory of the scrap metal having turned to light and the scrap metal having never been touched by Sans at all. This is because Sans just used an earlier version of himself to decide not to do the experiment. He's got the information, Papyrus might want to use that metal later for non-lamp-related activities.]
[Ominous on some levels, certainly. Mostly baffling. Papyrus hasn't yet reached the point of coming to conclusions, here. He stares at the non-glowing metal scrap like he doesn't know what to make of it, mainly because he doesn't know what to make of it. It's the starkest, clearest example of deja vu he's ever had, and that with befriending the flower and encountering that dusty human.]
\E5I. 409.&MEMORY ERRORS./
[Wait, he didn't mean to say that. And he can't just delete it and pretend he sent nothing, with Sans watching the screen so badly. And he hesitates to ask whether the metal had been glowing, or if that was some weird glitching in his memory... Something tangential.]
For getting away, maybe. [Which is a little different from getting out, but seems like something that might be within Sans's reach. But rather than elaborating on that, he looks at Papyrus, no longer distant, just Papyrus's brother again.] Dunno yet. You okay? Relatively. [Because Sans did indeed see that memory error thing, and he doesn't think to connect it to how he put the scrap metal back. Anyway, Papyrus is the one in this room who is in pieces and being a little alarming, with the fire and the weird disgust for grass and bones. Sans is fine, except for the headache and having to feel how messed up everything is.]
[He considers lying, considers options for pushing his brother to take those wings and eyes and leave. But the eyes are part of the problem, Sans can probably see that he thought about lying on his face somehow. Truth, or at least some truth. It's not partial truth, it's just who has the time to be completely honest, even ignoring a robot's right to privacy?
Papyrus doesn't dwell on how his self-designation has, finally, shed nonsense like 'cyborg' or even the blatantly untrue 'skeleton'. He needs to redesign so he's not an imitation lifeform, but embracing his potential. So he's not recoiling from the sight of reflections. And if he changes his mind later, well, he'll leave the skull undamaged, and focus on all the rest of him first.]
\E5...NO. I NEED&REPAIRS, REDESIGN^1.&CAN'T STAND MY FEET./
[It is a little bit a pun, familiar lifeline of wordplay. A little bit volley for testing Sans's reaction, because he's only noticing how distant his brother's voice had gotten now that it's back to normal. They weren't even talking about space, he hadn't expected... And even though they're not on the roof, he can't easily leave if Sans decides to make him glow. (Can Sans make things glow? He did, but he didn't...? Memory error.)]
[When Sans thinks of redesigns, his mind goes to the time Papyrus decided to start carving up his skull before it goes to the various flame-and-muscle-themed limbs Papyrus is also working on. His expression tightens a little, but it's not really fair to jump to the worst option. Papyrus let him take the knife, which means he knew Sans might be concerned, which means he knew that whole incident wasn't exactly normal. (Plenty of other ways to do damage to a skull besides a knife, though. Sans can't confiscate the whole workshop. Wouldn't, with Papyrus rusting again.)
When it comes to wordplay and "I can't stand my feet", Sans barely stops himself from replying "can't, or don't want to?" Why start a fight? It'd lead to the same conclusion--Papyrus will need to make himself something else to stand on regardless. And it's Papyrus's decision.
Sans sends a version of him from a later time to gather up Papyrus's extra, more skeleton-shaped limbs. From the future because he needs to pick a time when Papyrus isn't in the workshop, and if he picks a time in the past Papyrus will probably complain about them suddenly vanishing and assume Sans did something.]
So instead of a hand, you need a foot. [Or... Whatever.] You already got the supplies?
[He's not sure if Papyrus gathered up everything and deliberately took his legs off or if it was a matter of the rust making them unworkable before he could get things together.]
[Future Sans will get to gather up two skeleton-shaped legs (one with a particularly rusted ankle decoration), a few versions of the more muscular skeleton-shaped arms, and at least one skeleton-shaped hand. They'll all feature signs of rusting on and inside them, the hand most of all.
In the present, Papyrus rolls his eyes at Sans's pun volleying, and makes a face at the misunderstanding displayed by asking it.]
\E3NO FEET AT ALL,&I'M UPGRADING TO WHEELS&BEFORE MY LICENSE./
[As to supplies, that's a harder answer to offer. The metal in the pile on the floor isn't only his partly-disassembled leg and its partner, but a collection of spare parts gathered from dump runs and other disassembled machinery. Wheels of varying sizes, including some small enough to be parts of roller blades. There are, in fact, a couple roller blades on the floor. But it's more the kind of pile of whatever he had on hand, rather than something he's gone into with a particular blueprint in mind.]
[Future Sans will try to hit these various limbs with some WD-40.
Wheels as feet... Sans's first thought is permanent Heelys, of course, but Papyrus doesn't even seem to like feet being used as shorthand, so he'll have to save that for later.]
No laws about cruisin' around if the wheels are attached, huh? [It's an Air Bud situation.] If you need extra parts, I can grab 'em. [He has plenty of limbs to do it with.]
[Whatever part of Sans's room the WD-40 gets used in will gain a fresh coating of rust dust. Not the same as bone dust, but probably still not great as a visual for monsters to look at. Papyrus hasn't been enjoying the sight, not with how it leaves him in a state of perpetually reliving his death.]
\E2LEGALLY A SCOOTER,&OR MAYBE A&COOL MOTORCYCLE./
[Okay, maybe not a motorcycle, as those need a driving license too. But self-driving and sentient motor vehicles probably don't need licenses to get around. It's some kind of Air Bud situation for sure.]
E4I'LL NEED LOTS./NO TIME LIKE THE&PRESENT FOR&FULL BODY TUNEUPS./
[Sans does not like this rust dust but that will not stop him from WD-40ing these limbs. If he doesn't think about it it's fine.
Now, Sans could, like a normal person might, ask Papyrus which parts he needs for this right now. Or, and this is much more efficient which is kind of what Papyrus is going for right now, he could reference a future self who already knows what Papyrus needs for this and then send some past selves to get it and drop it off outside while they're having this conversation.]
Okay, don't go anywhere. [And Sans teleports off without apparently asking Papyrus anything (but there's a double memory, happening right now, where he did) before reappearing a moment later with stuff in--well, not hand. Stuff in pile on floor.]
[Again, he remembers Sans doing something, but then there's no record of Sans having actually done it. He stares at the non-glowing metal lump some more like it has answers, before shifting the stare to the new floor pile.]
\E5UHH^1.&MEMORY ERROR?/
[Is he just hallucinating? Has Sans learned some long-distance mind projecting&reading power where, instead of making Papyrus feel intense emotions, he simulates a conversation about the size and shape of replacement parts...? Because on one level he sees the pile of stuff, but on another he hears Sans continuing to ask questions. Papyrus's face furrows with suspicion and fear before he realizes it, then switches to a more general frown.]
Doing what? Memory errors? [That's the second time Papyrus has mentioned one. But, finally--mostly because his other self is still in the process of getting the information about what Papyrus needs--Sans catches on.]
Oh. Huh, I guess I didn't think about how that'd work with your memory. [Didn't think about it at all, really; spreading himself out like this feels natural. Safer than sticking to one place.] There was a future--present now--where I asked you what you needed, so I just grabbed the info from there and skipped out on asking this time. It's faster.
[Reasonable. Normal. Sans definitely won't be horrified later.]
another instance for the 'fuck magic' pile of robot thoughts
[The explanation happening simultaneously with the questioning, to Papyrus's perspective, does not do very much explaining. Just listening, it opens far more questions than it closes, error reports multiplying. He focuses harder. Sans... pulled information... from a side instance of events? Time travel, it almost sounds like, which is maybe more alarming than mind manipulation, given it's Sans saying it and Papyrus still experiencing it.
But in the questioning he seems unaware of the answer, and when Papyrus shifts to the side, the dueling inputs expand from Sans's words to encompass his view of the room and everything. It helps to separate them, to track the separate conversations happening in each instance. Is that what it is? A virtual machine with closed input, from which Sans grabbed information? Something... finite?]
\E5WHEN WILL IT&STOP?/
[He can't focus enough to start using the parts from the pile, like this. It's not just a conversation, but everything he's perceiving doubled and then some. His fans kick on, louder than usual.]
[Okay, so Papyrus really isn't having a good time with that perspective. He probably should have realized earlier. He can't undo it--that would just give Papyrus a triple memory.]
Once you finish telling me what you need, the wave function'll collapse. [It's all just quantum physics. He's just holding these two states in a superposition. But he'll have to remember not to do it in front of Papyrus again.] You feeling okay?
[It's a little bit of an understatement, but not that much so - he's not incapacitated, it's just taking a adjustment to accommodate this much ongoing information feed. So far instance-Papyrus has explained the approximate sizes and shapes of most of what he'll need, and is suggesting getting some miscellaneous sheets for filler in case any of those are wrong - or anything goes wrong in the welding and bolting, and the replacements need replacements. Papyrus continues staring at the parts pile, which sure enough has all the things he's not-texting Sans. Whole-Papyrus will be able to start work the moment instance-Papyrus finishes explaining what he needs.]
E5BUT I DON'T DENY,&THIS IS FASTER./
[Undeniably convenient, if one is braced for it and has the processing power to spare. Might be worth experimenting with again sometime. Not now. Not soon. And since when has Sans been able to do stuff like this?]
You've got a fan, though. [And Sans can hear it spinning. He doesn't want to eat up his brother's processing power with superpositions.] I've been tryin' not to do it in front of people much anyway. [Much like how at home he usually kept his shortcuts to himself so as not to freak people out by blacking out the world when they weren't expecting it. Papyrus had always been an exception with that, so Sans had acted similarly with this.]
[Sans turns the comment back on him in an almost-pun, Sans nods agreement as Papyrus finishes explaining the utility of extra spare parts. Papyrus rolls his eyes as his comments about fans, Papyrus smiles weakly as his brother nods and teleports out of sight. Suddenly everything merges in a tectonic way, one version of reality sliding over the other with the memories of it bubbling up into ridges. His main fan is, indeed, pretty audible. And Sans is talking like he's not quite apologizing, in that way where he can't say it because he doesn't think he deserves the opportunity to be forgiven.]
\E5MAYBE A WARNING&THE NEXT TIME./
[He doesn't doubt there'll be a next time, not with Sans being ambiguous about when this started, and implying he's got a habitual way of using it. Especially with Sans getting weird and maybe doing things like making lamps with particularly non-lampy metals.]
If I've gotta do it in front of you, sure. [But now he will try not to have to do it in front of Papyrus. He can just go outside or into the rest of the house and bring things in that way. Still, he can't just say he won't ever have to pop in in front of Papyrus--even with this particular new skill, he still can't predict the future.] You good to fix stuff up now? [Sans knows the superposition has ended, but he's not sure how long the errors linger with Papyrus.]
[He's not feeling up to snuff for making something truly impressive for his new body, if he's being honest with himself, and not just because of the superimposition. (Though the strain from that didn't help.) If he announces it's a low expectations first draft, maybe Sans won't act all concerned when his hand slightly shakes as he gathers tools, or spends a few seconds pondering things rather than immediately building on his internal blueprint. A state where a counter-distraction can only help.]
\E3HOW LONG HAVE&YOU BEEN ABLE&TO DO THAT, AGAIN?/
Since after the last earthquake. [So at least Sans hasn't been keeping this from Papyrus for very long! Having been able to get in the habit so quickly is really a matter of how rapidly time is starting to have less meaning to Sans.] Can't go earlier than that. [He did try, when he was first figuring it out.] Easier to work backward than forward, too.
[He sends the message before he thinks better of it, and it's only thanks to having preset plans of careful movement that he doesn't go still at it. (He doesn't think about how that's a new thing, setting trajectories of movement and letting them auto-run). Maybe using sound fragments for conversation would be better, if only because it takes more time and effort, more time in which to catch too-sharp things. No sirree, they're not talking about Sans getting caught up in the past here. But on that topic...]
A day before the earthquake's the earliest I tried. [He'd been focused on trying to stop the wrongness, so it made sense to focus on that.] Tried closer, too, but even Planck time didn't work.
[He's not sure whether that's reassuring. Something shifted, and now they're all trapped - doubly trapped - within this smell and persistent awareness of death, and even time travel apparently can't do anything about it. And maybe their impending secondary - final? - deaths to come, judging by the video Mysterio posted before crumbling. Starting to watch it again, he still can't see any visual glitching that implies it was a fake broadcast. He keeps looking for hints like that.]
Yeah. It makes sense. Can't go back before I knew how to go back. [Makes sense, but it's frustrating.] An earthquake set off the whole transforming thing to begin with, too. It's always been down there. [That thing that's whispering.]
[Papyrus nods along slowly at first, still rewatching the video and starting work on his new wheeled locomotion setup. He stiffens at the mention of the earthquake, pausing the video to stare up at his brother.]
\E5WAIT, YOU'RE RIGHT^1.AND WE DREAMED&ABOUT ONE FIRST./
[It had been an earthquake, right? He most vividly remembers that there was a cave, and being unable to move as rocks fell from above, and fragments of dreams about his body changing. But it's all analog memory, harder to just pull up and replay fragments of.]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
spaghettimonster) wrote2021-07-31 02:32 am
no subject
[Papyrus directs the assistant arm to help steady him as he leans a little forward, eyes focusing to zoom in on the light. So that's a thing Sans can do now, he concludes on some level, no point buying more lamps or glow-in-the-dark anything.]
E5WHAT ARE YOU&TESTING, AND WHY&ON MY SUPPLIES??
[Is this a test for trying to transform, to enlighten Papyrus in some way?? He knows he was implying about making everyone and everything into machinery, an idea that seemed a lot better before Mysterio's collapse but even now still seems good, but being some ghostly light...]
no subject
[Which may or may not sound ominous, depending on what conclusions Papyrus is coming to here. The metal is back to normal. In fact, Papyrus now has a dual memory of the scrap metal having turned to light and the scrap metal having never been touched by Sans at all. This is because Sans just used an earlier version of himself to decide not to do the experiment. He's got the information, Papyrus might want to use that metal later for non-lamp-related activities.]
no subject
\E5I. 409.&MEMORY ERRORS./
[Wait, he didn't mean to say that. And he can't just delete it and pretend he sent nothing, with Sans watching the screen so badly. And he hesitates to ask whether the metal had been glowing, or if that was some weird glitching in his memory... Something tangential.]
E5IS THAT SOMEHOW&AN OPTION FOR&NOT FLYING OUT?/
no subject
no subject
Papyrus doesn't dwell on how his self-designation has, finally, shed nonsense like 'cyborg' or even the blatantly untrue 'skeleton'. He needs to redesign so he's not an imitation lifeform, but embracing his potential. So he's not recoiling from the sight of reflections. And if he changes his mind later, well, he'll leave the skull undamaged, and focus on all the rest of him first.]
\E5...NO. I NEED&REPAIRS, REDESIGN^1.&CAN'T STAND MY FEET./
[It is a little bit a pun, familiar lifeline of wordplay. A little bit volley for testing Sans's reaction, because he's only noticing how distant his brother's voice had gotten now that it's back to normal. They weren't even talking about space, he hadn't expected... And even though they're not on the roof, he can't easily leave if Sans decides to make him glow. (Can Sans make things glow? He did, but he didn't...? Memory error.)]
no subject
When it comes to wordplay and "I can't stand my feet", Sans barely stops himself from replying "can't, or don't want to?" Why start a fight? It'd lead to the same conclusion--Papyrus will need to make himself something else to stand on regardless. And it's Papyrus's decision.
Sans sends a version of him from a later time to gather up Papyrus's extra, more skeleton-shaped limbs. From the future because he needs to pick a time when Papyrus isn't in the workshop, and if he picks a time in the past Papyrus will probably complain about them suddenly vanishing and assume Sans did something.]
So instead of a hand, you need a foot. [Or... Whatever.] You already got the supplies?
[He's not sure if Papyrus gathered up everything and deliberately took his legs off or if it was a matter of the rust making them unworkable before he could get things together.]
no subject
In the present, Papyrus rolls his eyes at Sans's pun volleying, and makes a face at the misunderstanding displayed by asking it.]
\E3NO FEET AT ALL,&I'M UPGRADING TO WHEELS&BEFORE MY LICENSE./
[As to supplies, that's a harder answer to offer. The metal in the pile on the floor isn't only his partly-disassembled leg and its partner, but a collection of spare parts gathered from dump runs and other disassembled machinery. Wheels of varying sizes, including some small enough to be parts of roller blades. There are, in fact, a couple roller blades on the floor. But it's more the kind of pile of whatever he had on hand, rather than something he's gone into with a particular blueprint in mind.]
no subject
Wheels as feet... Sans's first thought is permanent Heelys, of course, but Papyrus doesn't even seem to like feet being used as shorthand, so he'll have to save that for later.]
No laws about cruisin' around if the wheels are attached, huh? [It's an Air Bud situation.] If you need extra parts, I can grab 'em. [He has plenty of limbs to do it with.]
no subject
\E2LEGALLY A SCOOTER,&OR MAYBE A&COOL MOTORCYCLE./
[Okay, maybe not a motorcycle, as those need a driving license too. But self-driving and sentient motor vehicles probably don't need licenses to get around. It's some kind of Air Bud situation for sure.]
E4I'LL NEED LOTS./NO TIME LIKE THE&PRESENT FOR&FULL BODY TUNEUPS./
no subject
Now, Sans could, like a normal person might, ask Papyrus which parts he needs for this right now. Or, and this is much more efficient which is kind of what Papyrus is going for right now, he could reference a future self who already knows what Papyrus needs for this and then send some past selves to get it and drop it off outside while they're having this conversation.]
Okay, don't go anywhere. [And Sans teleports off without apparently asking Papyrus anything (but there's a double memory, happening right now, where he did) before reappearing a moment later with stuff in--well, not hand. Stuff in pile on floor.]
no subject
\E5UHH^1.&MEMORY ERROR?/
[Is he just hallucinating? Has Sans learned some long-distance mind projecting&reading power where, instead of making Papyrus feel intense emotions, he simulates a conversation about the size and shape of replacement parts...? Because on one level he sees the pile of stuff, but on another he hears Sans continuing to ask questions. Papyrus's face furrows with suspicion and fear before he realizes it, then switches to a more general frown.]
\E3SANS. BE HONEST^1.ARE YOU DOING&THAT?/
no subject
Oh. Huh, I guess I didn't think about how that'd work with your memory. [Didn't think about it at all, really; spreading himself out like this feels natural. Safer than sticking to one place.] There was a future--present now--where I asked you what you needed, so I just grabbed the info from there and skipped out on asking this time. It's faster.
[Reasonable. Normal. Sans definitely won't be horrified later.]
another instance for the 'fuck magic' pile of robot thoughts
But in the questioning he seems unaware of the answer, and when Papyrus shifts to the side, the dueling inputs expand from Sans's words to encompass his view of the room and everything. It helps to separate them, to track the separate conversations happening in each instance. Is that what it is? A virtual machine with closed input, from which Sans grabbed information? Something... finite?]
\E5WHEN WILL IT&STOP?/
[He can't focus enough to start using the parts from the pile, like this. It's not just a conversation, but everything he's perceiving doubled and then some. His fans kick on, louder than usual.]
whoops
Once you finish telling me what you need, the wave function'll collapse. [It's all just quantum physics. He's just holding these two states in a superposition. But he'll have to remember not to do it in front of Papyrus again.] You feeling okay?
no subject
[It's a little bit of an understatement, but not that much so - he's not incapacitated, it's just taking a adjustment to accommodate this much ongoing information feed. So far instance-Papyrus has explained the approximate sizes and shapes of most of what he'll need, and is suggesting getting some miscellaneous sheets for filler in case any of those are wrong - or anything goes wrong in the welding and bolting, and the replacements need replacements. Papyrus continues staring at the parts pile, which sure enough has all the things he's not-texting Sans. Whole-Papyrus will be able to start work the moment instance-Papyrus finishes explaining what he needs.]
E5BUT I DON'T DENY,&THIS IS FASTER./
[Undeniably convenient, if one is braced for it and has the processing power to spare. Might be worth experimenting with again sometime. Not now. Not soon. And since when has Sans been able to do stuff like this?]
no subject
no subject
\E5MAYBE A WARNING&THE NEXT TIME./
[He doesn't doubt there'll be a next time, not with Sans being ambiguous about when this started, and implying he's got a habitual way of using it. Especially with Sans getting weird and maybe doing things like making lamps with particularly non-lampy metals.]
no subject
no subject
[He's not feeling up to snuff for making something truly impressive for his new body, if he's being honest with himself, and not just because of the superimposition. (Though the strain from that didn't help.) If he announces it's a low expectations first draft, maybe Sans won't act all concerned when his hand slightly shakes as he gathers tools, or spends a few seconds pondering things rather than immediately building on his internal blueprint. A state where a counter-distraction can only help.]
\E3HOW LONG HAVE&YOU BEEN ABLE&TO DO THAT, AGAIN?/
no subject
no subject
[He sends the message before he thinks better of it, and it's only thanks to having preset plans of careful movement that he doesn't go still at it. (He doesn't think about how that's a new thing, setting trajectories of movement and letting them auto-run). Maybe using sound fragments for conversation would be better, if only because it takes more time and effort, more time in which to catch too-sharp things. No sirree, they're not talking about Sans getting caught up in the past here. But on that topic...]
\E5HOW FAR BACK&DID YOU TRY&GOING?/
no subject
no subject
[He's not sure whether that's reassuring. Something shifted, and now they're all trapped - doubly trapped - within this smell and persistent awareness of death, and even time travel apparently can't do anything about it. And maybe their impending secondary - final? - deaths to come, judging by the video Mysterio posted before crumbling. Starting to watch it again, he still can't see any visual glitching that implies it was a fake broadcast. He keeps looking for hints like that.]
no subject
no subject
\E5WAIT, YOU'RE RIGHT^1.AND WE DREAMED&ABOUT ONE FIRST./
[It had been an earthquake, right? He most vividly remembers that there was a cave, and being unable to move as rocks fell from above, and fragments of dreams about his body changing. But it's all analog memory, harder to just pull up and replay fragments of.]
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)