"You wanted to show me something, doctor?"

"Yes! Yes! You tasked me with two projects, right? Well, I may have succeeded in completing one of them. Or at least the prototype."

"Oh my... Is that.."

"Yes! It has an artificial soul I created! It's not exactly conscious yet but.. I'm sure it'll come to soon enough."

"Is it alive?"

"Well, that has yet to be properly determined along what defines alive. It has a soul, yes, but if it will actually become sentient is yet to be seen. If by having a soul alone you can classify it as alive then yes, it is in fact alive."

"When will it awake, if ever? And how will you extract the soul from it to see if it has the same power as a human's?"

"I don't have a definitive answer for either of your questions, your majesty, but I assure you that when it does awake and my tests are run we will have a perfect substitute for a human soul."

"Alright.. I have faith in you.."

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Sans woke up to find his brother's skull laying on top of his own, fast asleep. The colored bars that usually showed were displayed on the screen along with the beep that came along with them and gave the living room a small glow. The two, before falling asleep, had watched the Mettaton special. (Which is basically like every episode, nothing was actually special about it.) He didn't mean to fall asleep for so long, just for long enough until Papyrus had. He would be angry if he didn't show up soon to work on the machine but he didn't mind. He sunk into his blue hoodie, letting the fuzzy ring around the hood tickle his cheeks. Or cheek bones really, he was a skeleton and afterall. His brother made his normal "Neyheheheh.." that he did when he slept, reassuring Sans that he was actually asleep. That mixed with the beep of the TV mixed to form an almost humming sound that made his eyelids feel heavy. Maybe he could just skip tonight and have a normal night's rest for once. He was sure He wouldn't mind...

Or maybe not.

Just as he had begun to slip into darkness once again Sans felt a hard tug on his right arm that jerked him forward off the couch, making him release a small yelp of surprise. He tumbled on the floor, nearly hitting the table the TV was perched up on. When he had stopped spinning he had lost all sight in his right eye and his left eye emitted a magical aura and heat, covering his vision with a colorless filter. He let out a frustrated sigh as he sat himself up, pulling the hood that covered the top of his head back so it fell back. He grumbled some curses as he got up and scanned the area, oddly enough finding no one around for once. He let out another sigh before planting a hand to the side of his head in an attempt to calm himself down enough to stop the eye from glowing. It took a few seconds but the magic vanished and sight in both eyes returned to Sans' satisfaction. He begun his way towards the door, placing a hand on the doorknob before he heard a tired Papyrus mutter:

"Sans?"

A bit of panic shot through him. There wasn't an easy way to explain this and no way he could sneak away unnoticed if his brother woke up fully. He quickly shuffled over to him, leaning across the couch to place a hand on his shoulder and gently pushing him down into a more comfortable position on the couch then how he was left when Sans was pulled away.

"Sans, what are you doing up?" Papyrus asked tiredly.

"It's nothing, bro, just a small nightmare. Nothing to worry about. I'm just gonna go for a small walk to get some fresh air. You just head back to sleep." He tried to be as soothing as he could to lull Papyrus to sleep easier. It must have worked as his brother's eye sockets closed again and he seemed to fall asleep again.

Sans gave him one last gentle look before pulling away from the couch and leaving through the door. The small blast of cold air didn't bother him much, as his slipper covered feet crunched through the snow and made their way to back behind the wooden house. He pulled out the silver key from his pocket and slid it into the keyhole, giving it a turn to hear the usual click before returning it. He had gotten it from his room before they settled down so he wouldn't need to go upstairs and risk waking his brother. He was lazy but he still thought out ahead. As he walked into the hidden shed, he closed the door behind him and made sure to lock it before he walked over to the counter that was built into the wall. He let out a small sigh as he unrolled a set of blueprints and looked them over.

"Get ready for another long night, Sans."