When I woke up, I was greeted pleasantly by the smiling blue-dusted face of my favorite monster. "Heya stranger." I teased, making eye contact as he grinned.

"Heya Sleeping Beauty. Did ya have a nice nap?" Sans asked, allowing me to stand up and stretch my joints as I spoke.

"Great nap." I reported. "Good conversation too. For an immature brat, I'd say-"

'Hey! I'm not immature!' Chara interupted, making me jump.

"I wasn't talking about you Chara, I was talking about Jace." I smiled, the purple-haired boy whipping towards me with a sour look.

It had only been a few minutes, but in the few moments I'd been asleep Sans did twice the work I could do in a day. I walked to Gaster's side as he studied the blueprints with a troubled expression. "Hey doc, I'm back in action. What's the deal?" I asked.

"There seems to be a delay about the separation chamber."

Mentally I thanked him for not giving the parts odd names. "What about it?" I pushed.

"It will not seal properly, but the exterior panels are lined correctly. There must be an internal component to adjust, but the opening..."

"I got this." I chirped, not bothering to let him finish. "I'm a small fry so I should be able to get in and fix it without dismantling the rest of the machine."

Gaster's expression seemed to falter as he shook his head. "I'm not sure that is a wise idea Cherry. It would be easiest to let Sans teleport in case we require a quick exit."

"Gaster I'm bright but I'm no genius. Sans is more useful helping you lot out while I do manual labor. Besides, I can take a shock. You and I both know I take a hit just as well, and escape just as easily."

"Yes but your magic is less trained than his. And it may not be just a 'shock' if something goes wrong."

"It's alright Gaster. I've been training with it. And Jace can warn me if there's danger." I smiled reassuringly, and Gaster sighed. Stepping aside slightly, he let me look at the glowing blueprints and the location of conflict. Studying it quickly, I nodded and headed toward the machine.

"Be careful, other wise we'll have to send Sans in." Jace quipped almost immediately, not bothering to look up from typing something out on his phone.

"Texting your girlfriend again?" I shot back, itching to irritate the grape-headed child. His face flushed red but he didn't grant me the satisfaction of a reaction. I smirked, happy enough with his silence to continue on with my life.

My sole magic eye lit up with magic, the white heart filling with bright red and sending plumes of excess magic particles from it. I took another look at the blueprints once again, then grabbed a few small tools, jammed them in my pocket and teleported with ease.

Once within the confined space of the machines interior chamber, I quickly located the source of the issue and went to work. Not surprisingly, it also played part in why the interior was such a small place. "The interior plating just fell loose and knocked some of the wiring out of place." I shouted from within the machine. Jace yelled something from the other side, but it was a tad too muffled to make out.

"I'm going to replace the wires and re-secure the interior panels. Sealing should be fixed after that and you'll be able to open it safely."

Once again Jace yelled in response, but all I got from it was his irritated tone. "I can't hear you guys from in here so Imma just do my job and get out." I announced, already halfway through fixing the wiring within the door.

I secured a wire into it's place and spliced two ends together and the interior chamber lit up with soft blue light, slightly more green than the magic Sans used. I tried to adjust the fallen panels with magic, but they didn't even fidget with my command. I huffed, lifting it manually and pinning it in place with my knee as I screwed it back into it's proper slot.

After the panels were secure again, the chamber was about doubled in space. Time really had done a bit of damage on the old equipment. "Alright guys! Lemme out! My magic is being annoying!" I shouted.

This time when Jace shouted, it was loud and very, very clear. "You idiot! How could you not hear me yelling?!" He lectured. "God dammit Cherry I told you to stop doing what you were doing!"

"Wow there bro! Calm your tits! What's got your panties in a wad?" I snapped, looking through the foggy glass window on the newly repaired chamber to give him a sour look.

"The machine activated because of whatever you did in there!" Jace growled. "As of right now, You are stuck in a machine that cancels out magic and dissects souls. Congratulations!"

The light intensified slowly, consuming my vision as I struggled to keep a gaze on the figures beyond the glass. My heartquicker, pounding on my ribs as I well with panic.  "...............shit..." I meekly stated.

The chamber began to buzz, the magic becoming brighter around me. "Okay, Gaster, funny how you're pretending not to know how to shut this down!! Haha now turn it off!!!" I snapped.

"I'm sorry Cherry, but this machine is already in disarray! You must give me a moment to bypass the systems without triggering a likely fatal mishap." Gaster explained.

"Well maybe a moment could be a little-" I choked on my words as pain ripped through me. My soul erupted through my flesh like an apparition, except the area around me didn't drain of color as it usually had. It felt as though someone had ripped through my chest and yanked it out. A blood-curdling scream wretched from my throat.

"Gaster! Shut it off!!!" Sans yelled, but it seemed like a whisper in comparison to my cry. I was blinded as the magic got even brighter. I could feel it as my soul began to split, shards of it falling apart.

I couldn't tell if I was still screaming or not but I knew my throat felt as I'd swallowed a cheese grater then chugged a gallon of lemonade. It wasn't just my panic either. I could feel Chara desperately clinging to me, trying hard not to be flung to a fate beyond the void. I couldn't blame her.

"Cherry! What's happening?!" Chara cried.

I grit my teeth together and tried to think. Being blinded by magic, practically deaf by your own screams, mute to the same reason, and burning with the pain of being ripped apart, taste was my only sense in tact. It wouldn't help in the slightest. I tried to speak, but I could only gasp through in labored breaths. "Chara... hold on... hold on to me..." I grunted.

"Cherry! I'm scared! Where are you?!" She responded.

I reached out, trying to grab anything. Maybe a soul, maybe someone else, I just needed to feel something that wasn't my own acidic pain. My hands flexed outwards, craving the sensation of touch. I swallowed my screams and squeezed my eyes shut. For the first time, in a long time, I prayed. "Please, dear god, make this stop..." I pled.

In an instant, everything went numb. I couldn't see anything. I couldn't hear or taste or feel. It was like a blank slate. "Wow, god works faster than I thought."

Something clamped around my hand and I sucked in a short breath. I took a hold with both hands and pulled it against me. "Cherry?" They hummed.

"Don't worry." I joked. "I prayed on it."

As soon as the numbness took me, it fled and feeling washed back over me. I gasped a deep, cleansing breath as my eyes shot open. It was pitch black, but it was stark and cold like the void. In fact, it was hellishly hot. I could feel that there was someone pressed close, but I couldn't see who it was. My body felt as though it was buzzing, but the pain had vanished beyond that. Most of all though, my head swam in a mess of jumbled thought.

The door of the chamber swung open at last and I fell without a word. I knew I didn't hit the ground, but I did register a loud gasp as a second body fell out with me.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I woke up with a start, almost instantly triggering about three other people springing to their feet. My breath came out in huffs but at least it was better than what had happened before I passed out. I blinked a few times, the bog clearing from my vision as I cradled my head.

"Jesus Christ, at this point I should just have a room here for the weekends." I uttered. My throat was raw and quiet.

As soon as I turned my head, I saw Sans and Jace, Alphys jotting down something on a clipboard at the end of my bed. Sans had moved towards my bed, now gripping my arm but Jace remained leaning against the wall. "What happened?" I croaked. "It's all so fuzzy to me."

Sans laughed in a sad way, pressing his face against my palm with a shaky breath rattling from him. "You gave us a heart attack." Sans said, though it was sarcastic.

"Hardy har. Seriously, what happened though? I can't remember anything." I pressed, looking at Jace.

He looked at me without hesitation, having processed it all already and being functional for the time being. No doubt at some point he'll have a breakdown stemming from what happened.

"When you fixed the sealing issue in the chamber," Jace explained, "it booted up the automatic systems and started cycling the experiment. Gaster tried to halt the process but couldn't navigate the systems quickly enough. Not to mention he couldn't physically do it himself."

"I went through the experiment then?" I observed. "Was I at least a good test dummy?"

Jace rolled his eyes, seeming unamused. He seemed on edge, his gaze a mixture of concern and annoyance.  "Get serious Cherry, you almost died."

"That happens a lot." I pouted, trying to laugh to ease the tension. "Besides, clearly it turned out okay. See! I'm just fine! Nothing's changed."

He scoffed, shaking his head slowly. "You really don't remember anything, do you?"

I raised a brow, feeling confused. "What do you mean?"

This time Sans stepped in, sharing a look with Jace, before vanishing without a word. I said nothing until he returned, this time, with someone new. I looked down at the small figure and the color drained from my face. Maybe even my entire being.

The child was young, with pale skin but rosy pink cheeks and a freckled nose. Her hair was a warm auburn and she wore an old, oversized blue sweater. Her eyes, once crimson, were now chocolate brown. She seemed elated as she looked up at me.

Gently she crawled up on the bed and looked at me. Her grin was wide and genuine. "Look at me! I'm the lucky 6%..." She said gently, seeming almost wrong compared to the malicious things I'd seen her hiss in the past.

"5.75%" I corrected, wrapping my arms around her with a wide grin.

"There's nothing wrong with a little rolunding, right?" She quickly retorted.