"so.

... it's been a while. since you left...", Papa started, trailing off as he stared out the window. I sat next to him, eyes shut but still plenty awake.  

"things have gotten really strange. overnight, a bunch of people mysteriously disappeared. as well as the human souls.

people were heartbroken. everyone they looked up to...everything they were relying on, in one night, disappeared.

everyone clamored to elect a new ruler as fast as possible.", he explained, keeping his voice low. I remembered when the human left this time. Couldn't leave home, nor did I want to.  

"so. uh...by process of elimination... papyrus became the ruler?", the skeleton explained briefly with an airy chuckle. We were all surprised by the decision, but at this point, it was already made. It was a leader, and we needed a leader right now. 

The said ruler excitedly bound towards us, though keeping quiet. Sans' eyes lit up slightly as he was relieved from the awkward one-sidedness of the conversation.  "why doesn't he talk to you about this..."

"HELLO!!!", Uncle Papy greeted, bound full of energy. 

"HUMAN!!! IT'S STRANGE. ASGORE,  ALPHYS, METTATON, AND UNDYNE WENT AWAY. SANS SAYS THEY WENT ON VACATION.", he said, although tense. He didn't believe what Sans said. I didn't either. 

"I HOPE THEY'RE HAVING FUN!!! 

OH YEAH. I'M THE RULER OF THE UNDERGROUND NOW!!!

EVERYTHING IS IMPROVING A LOT HERE. PRODUCTIVITY IS UP! BECAUSE I TELL EVERYONE TO KEEP WORKING. AND, NO ONE GOES HUNGRY!!! BECAUSE I COOK EVERYONE SPAGHETTI.

MEANWHILE, MY BROTHER HANDLES THE PAPERWORK. STRANGELY... HE SEEMS TO BE WORKING HARD?

 THIS SOUNDS MESSED UP... BUT... I'M PROUD... OF HIM???

OH NO!!!!" I giggled into Papa's jacket, unable to contain myself. Even though I'm feeling really cruddy, Papy always knows how to make me laugh a little. 

"AS FOR OUR HUMAN POLICY... WE'VE DECIDED, UM. SANS, WHAT WAS IT?"

"we can't judge humans to be all good or all bad.", Papa said into the phone, running a hand through my hair gently. I was deemed one of the good ones, and since then, everyone's been really nice to me. It was nice.

"RIGHT! SO IT'S CASE-BY-CASE! IF THEY'RE EVIL... WE GIVE THEM PUZZLES! IF THEY'RE GOOD... WE ALSO GIVE THEM PUZZLES!

THAT SEEMS TO BE THE BEST WAY!", Papy explained, before frowning slightly and walking away. Papa had seemed drowsy himself, already nodding off. I could still hear Uncle Papy, and with a little effort, I could make out the rest of the message.

"IS SANS GONE?

YOU KNOW...

DON'T TELL MY BROTHER, BUT...

DESPITE THE IMPROVEMENTS WE'VE MADE...

SOMETIMES THIS JOB IS KIND OF HARD.

SINCE THE KING WENT AWAY...

LOTS OF PEOPLE JUST WANT TO GIVE UP.

SOMETIMES, EVEN MY BEST ENCOURAGEMENT...

DOESN'T WORK.

AND, AND, I MISS UNDYNE, TOO.

SHE NEVER ANSWERS MY PHONE CALLS...

SHE MUST BE HAVING A LOT OF FUN ON VACATION.

I JUST WISH SHE'D SEND A POSTCARD.

BUT HEY!!!

I WON'T GIVE UP! I CAN'T GIVE UP!

I HAVE TO MAKE EVERYONE GIVE UP GIVING UP!

WE'LL GET OUT OF HERE, SLOWLY!!!

THEN WE CAN ALL HANG OUT AGAIN!!!

NYEH HEH HEH!!!"

(Click...)

I sighed, trying to get rid of the headache that came with the straining. It was getting worse. It was worse than last time. I could actually see the red in my soul now. I don't know what it means, but...I don't like it. 

And I miss home. This place wasn't home. It wasn't the same. And I don't like it. 

I shut my eyes and try to let the pain subside, trying to ignore everything going to black.