solnet | EMERGENCY BROADCAST (text)

(All active cellphones sound an alarm briefly during the delivery of this message.)

To: All Users
From: sans.
Subject: (SUBJECT HERE)
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URGENT ANNOUNCEMENT: The following is an automated message.

Nature of Emergency: cagey queen left us hanging

PRESS 1 if outside the vicinity of: home If it is safe to do so, follow the prompts to take and send an image of your surroundings to the administrator.

Users in the vicinity of: home are requested to congregate in the: mess hall immediately for: probably a good idea to come save us

Additional Notes:

* sup.
* not much, not much, just hangin' with about 3 new and old friends in this cage dangling precariously above the water.
* can't say i like the conditions either, but the cold and damp doesn't get under my skin. i think i see other cages, tho and, uh, i can't say much for them yet.
* six other occupied cages, with about three in each. hey, it's like those math problems you used to get in school.
* startin' to get a real sinking feeling so if there's anybody out there who ain't locked up, it'd mean a lot to me and over 20 other people if you bailed us out.
* see ya. sans.

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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

* might just do that. i'm gettin' pretty fond of the view.

* you two be careful, ok?
* can't exactly keep my promise cooped up in here, huh?

[No, they guess he can't. ... and neither can they. Which is precisely why they keep the tone of their texts inappropriately light; a habit they picked up, maybe. It's not funny - but it's something.]

Does this mean we're un-grounded?

* good question. lemme ask you something else first.
* you two still haven't changed your minds, huh?

There's no point if

[Ringing...]

...Hey, kid.

[ Of course, the voice that answers is once they recognize. The usual apathetic fatigue softened a little by a note of something that's grown over the course of ten months.

A kernel of affection.

He sounds... resigned. ]

What, your thumbs get tired? Mine too.

Hi, Sans.

[Hey, kid; Hi, Sans. Spot the difference in tone. There's a low backdrop of rumbling chatter on the line, suggesting that Frisk and their Partner have decided to play it a little smarter - it eases away as Frisk drifts to a more private corner of the room, their hand coming up to cup the mouthpiece of their phone.]

[Their next words are mumbled just above whisper level, and that's where they sound a little more like themself. Determination. Hard and steel-edged, but there's room for their warmth, the little light that makes it distinctly them. They haven't given up; never have, for a single moment. It comes in all forms.]

Have you heard the one about the effects of procrastination?

[ Frisk's with people. Not goin' it alone, well, as alone as a duo can be. That's... a relief, weird to say. ]

I gotta feelin' you're about to tell me.

[ Let's hear it, kiddo. ]

[There's a long pause. For effect, or for something else; it's anyone's guess. But Frisk's breath wobbles in quiet laughter, and they shake their head even knowing Sans can't see them. He'll like the punchline to this one:]

Nah. I'll tell you later.

[Wherever you are.]

OK?

[ He supposes that answers his question in not answering it. ]

Heh heh. Good one.

[ And he does appreciate that, good, trusty punchline for that one.

His bones feel like they've been filling up with lead for days. Weeks, even. Probably just the accumulated garbage of a day that's been tough on all of them. ]

All right. I'm hanging in there for 'later'.

[They suppose this could have been done over text, too.]

[But it's a little funny. He uh, wouldn't remember it, they guess... but for Frisk, it's a hard phone call to forget. so... it's been a while.]

[Give up, or do not. They aren't down here.]

[It feels wrong to be on the reflected end of the parallel, but hey, it's one way of passing it forward. Frisk is quiet for a while longer; biting their tongue to distract from the way their hand grips the phone so hard their fingers tremble. They're... a little afraid to let go. A little afraid of goodbye.]

[But they have no choice. And as much as they wish they could make him remember, well... they're used to it.]

...

Be seeing you.

[ Funny enough, it's not that he doubts he'll see the two kids again.

It's--

Well, no point in ruminating over what can't be helped. ]

...See ya around, Frisk.

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