Bad Endings #2 [Lost in the CORE]

[Frisk gets lost in the CORE]

"I s-should have gone with you. A-are you sure you're going t-to be alright?"

Frisk broke into a smile, hearing Alphys' worried tone over the newly-upgraded phone. The monster was probably the most worrywart they have met until now, far surpassing even Toriel. Sure, things hadn't turned out exactly like she described them so far, up to and including basic directions, the presence of monsters and laser colors, but their advice and guidance were still almost indispensable. Crossing caverns and snowy landscapes was straightforward, but this place was far beyond that scope.

The CORE was indeed imposing, a giant machine-complex unlike anything the human has ever seen before. The walls were adorned with metal panels, lights, displays and many bits of oddly exposed wiring. Frisk had no idea what purpose this peculiar construction style served, but the area did seem strangely old and new at the same time.

Beautifully shiny at first glance, yet at some points it almost seemed like it was bursting at the seams.

Alphys sighed on the other end, somewhat relieved by Frisk's reassuring hum. The child hardly spoke, which just fueled the aura of cuteness around them. While they haven’t seen Mettaton ever since their last encounter, the increasing number of unexpected elements were disconcerting, to say the least. Even on the other end, Frisk could clearly hear her voice quivering with a mix of worry, fear and something else they couldn't quite identify.

"Alright." she said, followed by an audible swallow. "C-continue on this path and you'll soon r-reach the central hub."

"Mmhm." they nodded, making sure to remember every last detail.

"From there, you just have to take a... um... r-right? Right? Right!" Alphys stuttered, Frisk once again having to cover their mouth to stifle an improper giggle. The lizard monster's awkwardness was very endearing. "A-after that, just keep to---"

Frisk winced and pulled the phone from their ears immediately. Alphys' kind voice distorted into loud static, loud enough to resound from the walls. The result was a dreadful, echoing noise that involuntarily made them shiver a bit. With the press of a button, they disconnected the call and tried again, looking up Alphys' number from the Recent Calls list.

Sure enough, the dial tone was working just as intended. It sounded like the monster had picked up the phone, too. Rather than the usual timid 'hello', however, Frisk could only hear a low buzz. The phenomenon was oddly curious, as even with Toriel, there was simply no answer. Instead of hanging up, they listened closer for a more familiar noise. The buzzing remained, slowly gaining in volume every few seconds. Frisk could almost make it some other noise beyond the buzzing itself, but it just sounded like a garbled static, like someone talking from behind a fan and a closed elevator.

The child sighed and hung up, assuming that the CORE just naturally had some funky effect on phone calls. After all, Alphys did say it powered the entire Underground and that it was a marvelous blend of technology and magic. Frisk had seen less weird places do odd things before, so they thought it best not to stress on it too much. Sooner or later, the reception would improve and they made a mental note to periodically try again.

For now, they still had a flamboyant Box-Bot to find.

-     -     -

The CORE really was as labyrinthine as both Alphys and monsters in the MTT-Emporium had described it. Frisk frowned, a little bit of frustration mixing into the determined button-presses. The phone reception was still dead and gone, meaning they were on their own. Wandering all on their lonesome turned out to be exactly as monotonous and unnerving as they expected it would be. Alphys' rapid calls were very much missed by now.

They have already passed the central hub a while ago, heading right as their monster guide last recommended. It sounded like the way should have been clear from there, but there was simply no sign of any other significant landmark they could relate to. Eventually they simple had to take more turns as they found the end of the corridor, resulting in this current predicament.

Frisk had to keep going, but with clear no idea in which direction, or where they were.

The human sighed and slumped down against a wall. Reaching for the phone again, they pressed a couple of buttons and were quickly rewarded by a Glamburger popping out of the dimensional space, finally making them smile a bit. While calling, texting and accessing the UnderNet remained impossible due to whatever interference the CORE emanated, at least the box still worked. All this walking around made Frisk rather famished.

They hungrily bit into the Glamburger, ignoring the weird, almost glittery aftertaste. Part of that taste they identified as a shred of wrapping paper, which they bit off in the enthusiasm. Monster food came in pretty much the strangest varieties the child has ever seen, but at least one thing was consistent: they filled their little bellies quite nicely. Frisk leaned against the wall as they munched on the overly colorful meal, closing their eyes and just letting the flavors melt on their tongue.

A faint noise from behind them quickly brought their senses back to reality. Frisk frowned, turning just a bit to the side to get a better listen. Behind the metal panels, somewhere close yet far away, a very familiar noise kept echoing. They leaned even closer, scrambling through their mind to find where they've heard this peculiar sound before.

The burger bite suddenly turned very bitter in their mouth.

Frisk swallowed, the previously delicious meal transforming into a block of ice as it slid down into their stomach. They wrapped the food up again, putting it aside for now. By the time they reached for the phone though, their hands were shaking and could barely find the right buttons. Without even really looking at the name, they just called the first number they had. The trembling increased exponentially as they raised it to their ear, while just about squeezing the other against the wall panel.

Dial tone, so far nothing out of the ordinary. Frisk swallowed again, counting down till someone picked it up.

There was the buzzing again, also as usual. It was slightly louder than before, but nowhere near as ear-piercing as the static had been, when their call with Alphys broke up. Frisk stifled their quickening breath, listening intently.

The garbled noise was there again.

In both ears.

The loud noise of the phone clacking repeatedly against the floor echoed across the empty CORE corridor. Frisk launched from the wall and crawled in the middle, breathing so quickly they almost lapsed into hyperventilation.

None of this was funny now. None of this was even halfway amusing.

Sheer terror gripped their frail heart, so much so that their SOUL answered the call and manifested. The bright red, determined glow always helped Frisk calm down before, during and after fights. This was different. There was no enemy to face here, no attacks to evade. It was just them and the CORE, and whatever was blocking their call. It was silly to assume such, but Frisk had no better way to explain it.

The phone continued buzzing, volume rising with every second.

Frisk curled up and sunk their head between their knees, trying to block out the noises just until they could get their breathing back to normal. This adventure had quickly twisted from a perilous chase to a nightmarish trek. If Mettaton suddenly burst out from behind one of the walls, they would have jumped to give him a Hug worth reporting to the entire Underground about.

The buzzing got louder and louder. Soon, even the noise became audible.

Their SOUL vibrated from the intense fear, flashing in bright red. Frisk raised their head again, only to wish they hadn't. The CORE was absolutely littered with all kinds of lights, unresponsive monitors and weird little flickering things Frisk couldn't even really identify. Normally, all of these appliances blinked in every color imaginable, responding to whatever function they served in the CORE.

They were all red now.

All of them blinking in unison with their pulsing SOUL.

The buzzing echoed across the corridor now. The noise sounded like someone whispering, groaning, moaning and shouting through a thick, static-y filter.

Louder.

Louder.

And yet louder.

Frisk whimpered and reached for the phone, pressing the button to disconnect the call with such force they thought the little appliance was going to break in half. Ignoring everything; the echoing buzz, the flashing lights and the sound of static, they ran in the direction they came from. The trip back would take at least another hour or two, but anything was better than having to spend another minute in this place.

The buzz was replaced by the loud clacking of shoes on metal as the human fled, leaving behind a faint red trail of light.

-     -     -

The way back should not have taken so long.

Frisk faintly realized this once they stopped to catch their breath again. They long abandoned running, but still tried to keep a reasonably fast pace, never staying in one spot for more than a minute or two. The walls were the same, the wires were the same and even the lights seemed to be the same. Or they could have been just patterns repeating. Frisk was certainly hoping for the latter.

They stopped, purposely staying in the middle of the corridor. A moment of realization came at least an hour ago, that ever since the phone started acting up, they have not come across a single monster. Knight Knight and Madjick, the two they remembered the most, had not made their presence known since their first encounter. They hadn't seen or talked to anybody, since the buzzing began.

Groaning, they reached down to rub their legs, every muscle turned to lead by now. The cost could be damned, the moment they got out of here, they would book a room in the MTT-Emporium, slip under those comfy blankets again and sleep for a week. The management could skimp on the mints again for all the human cared right now. Then, they would go back to Alphys, take her hand and let the monster guide them through instead. It would be safer, and they might even learn something from the scientist.

The thought brought a long-forgotten smile back to their faces.

Rather than wait, Frisk stepped forward once again. They pulled out the phone once again, though their hand trembled just a little from touching it. It was silly, since the phone itself definitely wasn't the cause of all this, but the noises were still most prominent from this device. Ignoring the call feature, they tried texting Alphys and logging into the UnderNet. Both attempts failed rather predictably, but not for the lack of trying.

Instead, Frisk examined their inventory. The Cowboy Hat and Empty Gun; their most recently acquired arsenal rested comfortably in the dimensional box, along with every other weaponry and armor they have collected so far. While they were somewhat weaker without them, the gun was surprisingly heavy and the hat over-sized for their little child head. Those armaments were better off in the box for now, allowing for minimal encumbrance.

The only types of items sorely missing were food, ironically enough.

Frisk sighed, shaking their head to how thoughtless they had been. Sure enough, after a nice meal in the Emporium, they embarked with just a single Glamburger, fully confident they would find Mettaton within the hour. Stomach grumbling confirmed that food items were indeed dearly missed. Their mental list was quickly amended with a full-course meal, though whether Burgerpants would be happy or annoyed by the large order, they couldn't really predict. The over-dramatic cat monster wasn't the easiest person to read.

A loud crumpling made them stop dead in their tracks.

Even without looking, Frisk felt a sense of dread crawling up their backs again. Perhaps it was just foresight from everything that happened until now, but they were sure they wouldn't like what happened next. A deep breath and a bit of leftover courage was all they could muster as they raised a foot to check.

It was a colorful, crumpled-up sheet of paper absolutely littered with the brand name, having once served as wrapping for a Glamburger.

The child took a step back, followed by another two. Every speck of fear they've managed to shake off returned hundredfold. The paper just lay on the floor, contents and a corner missing. There was no mistake, this was the wrapper they've left behind when the CORE went berserk. This was the corridor they had fled from.

They had not progressed an inch in several hours.

Frisk grabbed their head, thoughts racing back and forth at the speed of light. There was no conceivable way they could have been back here. Even since the incident, they took to a mostly straight line, with only one or two turns. But every time, they made extra sure it wouldn't just loop around; there was no way they could have circled all the way back here.

And then they remembered.

A brief little conversation they had with a kind mole monster, who claimed they worked here.

The CORE was like a maze. The CORE’s interior could be shifted at will.

This couldn't have been Mettaton's plan. There was no way the robot would have resisted hearing their voice in just about every dramatic scenario possible and they never would have skipped a chance to rush in on a moment of intense happiness or despair, just to steal the spotlight. If this were his doing, Frisk would have known all about it by now. However, the only possible other explanation, was much more alarming.

The CORE didn't want them to leave.

Suddenly, Frisk felt very small, like a speck of dust in a giant arena. All around him were nothing but clear walls, metal panels, wires and lights. They were all just part of a giant machine, a construct that was designed to supply power, not trap little children!

The lights were its eyes.

Frisk wasn't sure whether to scream or cry. The phone was a dead end, the way forward was apparently a dead end, but as the lights around them began to flash wildly, they realized that the luxury of choice has long eluded them.

Forward or backward, it mattered little.

They had to run.

-     -     -

Every now and again, they kept trying the phone. The garbled whispers were always there, sometimes overpowering the buzzing now.

Frisk pointed the Empty Gun at even the faintest shadow, ignoring the decreased sight from the Cowboy Hat. They had the means to protect themselves, but still no enemy to aim at.

The walls all looked the same now. The patterns repeated endlessly.

They ran.

-     -     -

Frisk panted, fingers occasionally touching the walls as they pressed on. There was still no sign of an exit and fatigue was rapidly taking over their senses.

All the lights kept blinking.

Inviting them closer.

Frisk sniffled, their sleeves alternating between dry and wet with fresh tears.

The wrapper was still there.

-     -     -

Colorful shreds of paper waited for them on the floor after every few minutes.

The air was heavy with the smell of burnt plastic.

Frisk shuffled by the wall, sweat dripping from their forehead. Eyes red and struggling to find focus; the whole corridor seemed to melt into a mishmash of vibrant shades.

The noise echoed even with the phone turned off.

-     -     -

Wires and circuits and sparks.

Blinking indicators and flashing neon lights from above.

Buzzing; constant, loud, maddening buzzing.

Screens showed Alphys's lab, the house of the skeleton brothers, a fireplace and a chair with Toriel waiting to hug and tell more snail facts.

Butterscotch was better, but cinnamon was fine, too.

A kiss on the forehead to chase the nightmares away.

The whispers are now growls and hisses.

So tired.

-     -     -

Friction.

Friction was the first palpable feeling.

Frisk slowly opened their eyes, sight blurry and unfocused. Their mind more or less knew they were still in a forgotten corridor, still looking at the cold, metal interior of the CORE, but it took some time before they could actually see it. The child groaned, head pounding from either a heavy landing, or a lack of sleep. It was hard to tell, their sense of time had long evaporated.

The phone was lying on the floor before them, a faint buzzing echoing from it once again. They groaned louder, hoping some feeling would return to their body soon enough. However much they slept, it was nowhere near enough to replenish even a shred of their lost energy.

With the world halfway still spinning around, Frisk reached out for the phone to silence the static once again.

"Frisk? Frisk, is that you?!"

Alphys.

The human's eyes sprung wide open again, vision clearing in mere seconds this time around. They lost so much hope over the past hours, that even as Alphys started outright shouting into the phone for even a single-syllable response, they couldn't help, but grin as wide as their face allowed. If anyone could help them get out of this nightmarish maze, it would be Alphys. Close to tearing up once again, they reached out for the phone.

And were pulled several inches away from it.

Realization struck with the force of a boulder. Frisk pulled, only to find their ankles in the unrelenting hold of some unseen force behind them. They turned as much as possible, only to start screaming without halt, once they caught even a faint glimpse of what held them prisoner.

Wires.

A bunch of wires had them caught by the ankles, slowly pulling them into a decidedly uneven, jagged hole in the wall.

Frisk spun around, reaching out for the phone again. Alphys was still shouting, her voice quickly turning hoarse amidst the sobbing pleads she was making for the human to reply. They cried out for the lizard monster, but whatever force kept them from contacting each other was now content with locking only Frisk out of the conversation. They struggled and pulled against the binds, far too short to grasp even the very edge of the phone.

Another almost impatient pull brought them dangerously close to the wall. Frisk's SOUL emerged within an instant, but lacking any weapons, could do little more than fill the corridor with a bright, red light. It illuminated what lurked beyond the edge of the hole, only making the human scream louder.

More wires, capacitors, circuits, pipes and all manner of mechanical supports lurked inside. However, not a single one seemed to be stationary, every little part moving on its own accord, like the whole thing was alive. Alive and merely waiting for the right moment, the right prey to corner.

Frisk struggled with all their might, pulling on their ankles and clawing into the metal floor with an animalistic fervor, till it felt like their nails would pop off at any second. Sparks burst from under the floor panels, even the slightest touch making the human reel back in pain and get closer to the hole.

"Frisk, please just say something!" Alphys screamed, her panicked voice getting drowned out by the returning static. The garbled noises were now more like the groans of some ancient creature, filtered through machinery.

Another bunch of wires burst from the hole, one curling around Frisk's waist, while the other caught onto their wrist. The human screamed and begged for release, crying loudly when the unfeeling automaton nearly dislocated their shoulder with another pull. Tears scattered about, making the spark burn brighten with every contact. The wires pulled in haphazard motion alternating between slamming the human back into the floor, and trying to jerk them into the air to hasten the process.

Frisk felt like a puppet being tossed around.

The smell of burning plastic increased, along with the intensity of their screams from the heated wires. The binds now descended with reckless abandon, grabbing onto just about any area they could. Some caught their other wrist, while others grabbed onto their knees, elbows, chest and shoulders. Frisk found themselves back on their feet, passing the maw of the wall. They trashed and tried fighting with whatever they had left, succeeding in breaking a wire or two, but ultimately accomplishing nothing.

One last scream left their throat, before the walls closed up, swallowing the human inside.

The pain that awaited them was indescribable.

It was like every little inch of their body had been lit on fire at the same time. More wires caught them by the throat to silence their screams. The buzzing returned again, overpowering any other noise in the area. Their SOUL continued to burn,  fading quickly from the onset of despair. Various lights, capacitors, fuses, metal parts, lights and wires covered up their body, increasing the pain by magnitudes with every second. For every area covered with these parts, Frisk could no longer see their own skin, fusing and melting into the mechanisms of this hellscape.

Eventually, they could scream no longer, either due to a lack of air, or lack of lungs still belonging to them.

Raw information flooded their mind; numbers, charts, results, predictions, pushing aside such unimportant details like the taste of butterscotch, the difficulty of word jumbles, the basics of cooking and the sweetness of a warm hug. One by one, these memories crystallized and were stored for possible later use, shoved far behind the endless rows machine data. These were the CORE's analyses, the CORE's priorities, the CORE's prime concerns.

These were Frisk's thoughts and memories now.

The bright red glow slowly faded, giving place to little more than bright sheen dancing across the surface of a cool, gray heart-shaped object. Wires reached out and pulled it to Frisk's chest, letting it at least feel their SOUL close by. It could do little but whimper at this point, one last set of tears dripping down the metallic cheeks, immediately reducing its productive capabilities by at least ten percent. Unfamiliar names were uttered by the unit, bearing no resemblance to any system current in use, or in development. The name 'Alphys' did exist in the databanks, but entries such as Papyrus, Undyne, Sans and Toriel had no records and therefore held no value in terms for further operations.

One last wave of static silenced the still-active phone on Corridor D-32, although due to the ongoing heavy interference, some of the unit's vocal data was likely to have slipped through. Firewalls would be put in effect to prevent further information leak. Aside from that, no significant issues were found.

The CORE was working at optimal performance.