Boned

[Kagami]

"Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Look, just spill the darn details already." she replied before continuing, "You're not going to be able to escape as long as I have you like this and I have the control of the situation. This means I get to decide to let you go or not so take it as is."

She added, "If you play stupid with me, you know the consequences of what will happen so cooperate if you know what's good for you."

She really doesn't want to hurt Sans but she demands answers however, it would only be a matter of time before her emotions would try to make things more complicated so she has to pretend that she doesn't care to keep focus.

"Tick tock Sans."

 

[Sans]

* i actually don't know the consequences. you haven't really told me them.

Even now, held down to the floor by intense, Beanish magic, he couldn't resist being a bit of a wiseass. What could he say? It was a hit with the kids. Except this kid. This kid didn't like that. Damn.

* in any case, uh... this is about that rumor, right? that you were looking into? about people disappearing? just wanna clarify.

 

[Kagami]

"Yeah and? What? What are you getting at here?" she asked with a knitted brow, cautious of what the skeleton has to say but that's not with her suspicion being involved, it could be a trick to mislead her. "I mean, there is that mysterious strange entity with the entire Tall Man ordeal back in Waterfall and that."

Of course, she was still thinking about yesterday's events somewhat.

"If there's something as significant as that, I just have to look into it and see where it goes."

 

[Sans]

* ah, yeah, him. there's that whole 'place between places' thing he was talking about. don't know much about it.

It wasn't really a lie. The Code Dimension was still basically unstudied. They only knew so much about it, and what they did know was borderline theoretical by the time they did their experiment. The whole point of the experiment was to actually get some solid data on the whole matter and prove some of the theories correct. In a way, they got everything they wanted, or at least he hoped they did.

 

[Kagami]

"Well, like I said before, I'm just as involved in this as you are so I should have a right to know about it. I told you multiple times that it's going to spill out one way or another, I mean, would you want me to learn the hard way and be uninformed only to end up in a situation that you could had prevented?" she asked. "Think of it as putting out a warning sign to tell people that there's say, a slippery floor, or something like that because what happens if there's a wet floor and some schmuck fell because there was no sign there? What do you think would happen next? An accident followed by a compliant and worse off, they're gonna the law involved if it's really bad enough."

She continued, "Yeah, I know I'm just a person you just met and that but it doesn't matter. For me to earn something from you just because you don't trust me really makes it more frustrating and in a way, you're making it that more risky by leaving me out in the dark. Now, would it be risky for me to be in the know? Yeah but not as bad because I'll know what's going on to get a better scope of things and the thing is that I am not alone."

She wondered for a bit about from what she was thinking about from yesterday's events.

"You really have trust issues, don't you? Is that why you don't want to tell me anything even though what I'm trying to tell you is something of a warning in a way?"

 

[Sans]

Sans stayed quiet for a few moments, if only so he could process the immense metaphor that Kagami constructed that proceeded to spiral beyond the point of the discussion. He'll have to save that one for later.

* i mean, i don't wanna tell you because it's a secret. it's kinda the whole point of secrets, you know? you don't just tell people about them just because they asked.

He shrugged, or at least shrugged about as much as he could given that he was being telekinetically restrained. * and hey, i've been doing a good job, it seems. none of what you said could happen has happened, so... i don't see the problem here.

He shut his eyes for a moment. * truth be told, it seems you just don't know when to quit. you're DETERMINED in all manner of ways. you think that just because there's something down here that interests you, you deserve to know about it, and when i don't give you what you want, you say it's my fault for not just handing it to you on a silver platter.

He chuckled, but this laugh was incredibly mirthless.

* kid, trust me. if i thought you needed to know, i'd have told you. but you don't, so i won't. you'll have to try your luck next time.

He always hated doing judgements like these. Perhaps if Gaster was here, he could be better at judging her on this level, maybe even let her in on some of those little secrets he kept so close to his chest. Knowing him, though, he wasn't going to just let some little upstart bully her way into it.

 

[Kagami]

Her aura intensified at the mere mention of this and she added more psychic pressure onto Sans, which would practically weigh him down.

"Just because it HASN'T happened doesn't mean it WON'T happen!" she exclaimed angrily. "You CAN'T argue with that because someway or another, SOMETHING is going to happen to the point that by you not telling me this is going to BACKFIRE and honestly, I hope you'll love that GUILT in the end."

She added, "Maybe I should start looking for that mysterious door, hmm? I'm sure nothing will happen then and then we can leave this mountain when all is said and done at the end of the day."

 

[Sans]

He grit his teeth. He could tell her, but she seemed so awfully insistent on him telling her that she forgot that the whole thing could be avoided if she simply didn't search for it at all. She didn't even conceive of that as an option when it was so, so obvious to Sans that it was.

* you say this like i'm forcing you to do this. am i? do you have to figure this all out?

At this point, it was becoming increasingly clear to Sans that the only way out of this was to teleport out. He just needed to wait for the right opportunity to. Perhaps he could get past her by going through the doors...

 

[Kagami]

"Hey, be lucky that you're not being treated like a ragdoll and besides, you brought this all on yourself." she countered. "Besides, if you continue to resist, you might cause me to break something and that's a mess of a situation we clearly do not want."

She was doing this because he was giving her no other choice. Even if she is now mad, she was starting to feel regret in a sense and she needed Sans as she was especially growing tired of this, but at the same time, she couldn't stop. She wants to know more and she wasn't going to rest until she got answers.

Obsession would be the word to this sort of corrupted determination.

"Another thing, I'm not leaving without you nor the answers for this. You know this!"

 

[Sans]

* ... would you really hurt me just to get an answer out of me, kid? are you willing to go that far?

He stared at her, his eyeholes completely black and dark. The question was sincere and serious.

 

[Kagami]

"Why would that be important to this?" she answered. "I mean, if I let you free or anything like that, you'll only just leave me behind so I have to make you talk one way or another!"

Her tone was shifting, almost if there was something else involved and that was being desperate. She could feel it coming in just as regret started to come in first overtime and while she was stubborn to admit it, the presence was there, even if she tried to hide it.

The fact was that her grip of the situation was starting to waver just a bit as her determination was being challenged.

 

[Sans]

There it was again. "Leave me behind." A very choice phrase. This whole thing really was more about something else than just scientific curiosity.

* what... makes you think i'm gonna leave you behind, kid?

Whatever edge that was in his tone was gone, instead replaced with a curiosity and softness of its own.

 

[Kagami]

Kagami was silent after Sans asked her that question as creeping memories of her attacking other kids in the orphanage would start to come in. She was always a bully because she was the outcast, the weird kid or whatever nickname they dropped on her, before she became the troublemaker she was now.

They made her so mad but at the same time, she's done some things that were morally questionable and she wasn't perfect even though she would hide that about her.

Additionally, there was the account that she had been alone for so long, how she pushed everyone away from her and everything, including Booker.

"You were looking all around, looking for a way out, that's why I said that." she replied calmly. "You can tell a lot by how people express themselves."

 

[Sans]

* no kidding. sorry, kid. i just wanted to make sure i had a way out. you know, if you decided to start throwing me around.

He sighed once again. * kid, i don't want to fight you. i don't want you to fight me. you want answers, but i don't want to give them to you. so... look, let's compromise on this. figure this out. gotta be a way, yeah?

 

[Kagami]

She narrowed her eyes for a bit but she is curious as she knitted her brow. She really wants to know, she deserved it especially but part of her don't want to fight as well.

This is going to be tough and in fact, she didn't want to let go completely even if it seems like she's backing down and she doesn't want to loose this chance either.

"You know I'm willing to listen but as you are, you're standing on really thin ice. As in the type that looks like it's going to give in at any moment, so if you want this to go without issue, I hope you're good at negotiating because the number one rule with me is that I'm not running a charity so whatever you have in store for me better be something worth it in the end." she sighed. "Anyways, whatcha got? What's the details of this, hm?"

 

[Sans]

* well, truth is, i only know so much. but i know someone who knows a lot. i've already said his name: w.d gaster.

He attempted, and failed, to shrug his shoulders. * he's my mentor. he's, like, the head honcho in terms of science. met him in arcadia after i moved out of the underground. became his assistant. was fun.

* the point is, though, is that if you REALLY think you should have this info, then that guy is the guy you wanna see. if we go together, i'm sure he'll be willing to share something with you.

 

[Kagami]

Guess it really was inevitable huh? Well, if it's an only lead, she'll take it and work with along with it, however, if she's going have to get to the bottom of this, she would have to adjust to the fact that she would have accept it even though she was fighting this.

"Nothing comes easy even for as much as I chase for answers." she sighed before continuing. "Well, if it's the ONLY lead, I suppose I have no choice in this and if nothing is done, I'll just keep chasing something in circles with no exit to which is a special format of insanity in itself."

She closed her eyes before her psychic grip on Sans would eventually subside in time, freeing him, however she was silent for a bit before she reopened her eyes as she looked down while she felt guilty about the ordeal even moreso than ever.

* [ After much consideration on the terms, Kagami has decided to spare Sans. ]

 

[Sans]

Sans slowly stood up, feeling the psychic energy fading around him as Kagami... let go. He relaxed.

* hey, kid...

He stuffed his hands into his pockets, looking as if he hadn't been restrained at all, as if nothing had happened to him at all. He gazed at Kagami, seeing the guilt in her eyes.

* that was a good choice you made. i respect it. you feeling alright?

 

[Kagami]

"I'm..fine." she spoke softly though she felt like..crying?

Well, regardless of that, she was already tearing up even though she tried to fight it before but the thing was, she had to let it go, and it was evident in her eyes as she would look up to Sans.

"...I'm..sorry but this could had been avoided if I just listened better. I was just..well..I don't know anymore!"

Despite of things, she was afraid to approach him as she had lowered her arms and put them down to her sides, fisted up. She really could had harmed Sans as she wouldn't be able to forgive herself if she didn't back down, but, anger does a lot of things that can cloud someone's judgement. In fact, for as much as she had been through a lot of turmoil in the past, she would remember the guilt following afterwards.

It always comes back.

"..what even am I supposed to do? Y'know?"

 

[Sans]

* hey, it's alright kid.

He walked towards her and settled a bony hand on her shoulder, squeezing it, giving her some amount of comfort that a skeleton could provide a beanish.

* i'm sure you got your reasons. but you've got heart too, kid. don't ignore it.

His smile, for a moment, seemed quite genuine rather than plastered upon his face.

* your buddy sans' got your back. that's a promise, ain't it?