genessia | [File 1: Arrival]

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[File 1: Arrival]

[Within the bay, yet another pod opens to reveal a stout man who...lacked skin. A skeleton. He was fast asleep with a perpetual grin plastered on his boney face. After several more minutes of napping, he awoke and he was suddenly...

Near the entrance to the bay with the gift box already in hand? It was only a wonder how or why he did that. Maybe to avoid getting his shoes wet?

In any case, Sans the Skeleton flipped open the box, thinking it was a gift from Papyrus, his brother. Maybe even a prank gift. Nah. He did find all of the interesting items in the box, from brochures to the money, communicator and necklace.

Sans looked out into the bright, sunny world with curiosity, and he moved himself by the stand with the Schnee Company welcoming hologram. It was a beautiful day outside. Birds were singing. Flowers were blooming. Its days like these that skeletons like Sans...should be walking on sunshine.

But he wasn't. Behind his perpetual grin was a sad skeleton. Not because of the realization that something was very weird and wrong, but by the fact that no one would shake his hand. Yep, none of his reports spoke of Genessia, as the hologram explained their situation, but by the fact that no one would shake his hand, which had a tiny whoopie cushion in his palm.

Stuffing his hands in his blue jacket pockets, Sans pulled out the communication device and fiddled with it, managing to get it turned on to a public broadcast to all others like him for his very important question...]

[VIDEO]

[A white skeleton face with little points in his eye sockets appeared on the public video feed, greeting everyone who sees him with a large grin.]

"Heyya. I'm Sans, the skeleton. Anyone know where I can find a Grillby's?"

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"Er... What's a Grillby's? Is that like, a chain restaurant of some sort, or something...?" Maria blinks at the skeleton, as she stares blankly at the odd picture on her screen.

[Neat, another human.]

"Yep, it is. Well, just the one I know of. They have great food. Goes right through me, though."

Oh yes, indeed; and isn't it especially neat how this fully-fleshed human looks considerably less healthy than YOU, Sans? "Oh, I see... Well. I don't know if there is a Grillby's here, honestly... Though you know, I do think that there may be a-- ahem-- reason for the whole "food going straight through you" business... y' know...?"

And what a beautiful day it was indeed. In fact, it seemed a couple others were taking advantage of the good weather. A strange little monster, barely visible, was hovering cross legged under the shade of a tree. She was watching what looked like a human practacing with a sword. The creature seemed to have the good sense to keep her distance...

"Mister Spades!" She cupped her hands over her mouth to shout. "Don't throw over-commit or you'll throw yourself off balance. Use your weight but keep yourself square. And use your wrist more!"

"Easier said than done. How on earth do you know about swordsmanship anyway? Not a man, for one. And your limbs look too...short, for another. Don't tell me you use your other appendages." That sounded gross.

Strangely this all matched up, more or less, with what Ike, his current master, taught him. It was more fun practicing against an actual person though, rather than beating the air. At least this way he wouldn’t spend the next day sore.

Koishi told him that she liked to spend her time near The Bay in case it birthed anymore strangers. Being unemployed at the moment, Ted couldn’t claim to have more pressing matters to attend to. He accepted her invitation, confident that whoever came next wouldn’t be a genocidal supervillain, cranky at being yanked across the multiverse.

“Now that Satsuki’s position has…changed, is this how you keep yourself busy, Koishi? I can’t imagine Fayren’s grown any calmer. Seems like your sister might need you.”

"I learned it by watching warriors practice and reading their minds. Satori don't use swords though. It's too easy to accidentally cut an artery or tentacle. It's not fatal for us but its certainly painful."

As for Satsuki... "Sometimes." She stretched her arms up before setting them back down in her lap. "I'm still helping Miss White out a lot. But today it's all light through leaves and rippling rocks with cattails. I slept too so Sis gets to sleep tonight and I'll go around looking for The Hands of Decay. I'll bring Garchomp and Goodra with me too. They're good at fighting."

"Now shift your grip. Two hands and then shift to your off hand and do it again."

She paused, glancing over to where Sans was, her third eye drifting up a little bit. She tilted her head. "Oh... A new mind! Hello there!" She called, waving to the skeleton.

"Like this?" He held the blade this way and that, basking in how inarguably cool it made him look. His reaction to Koishi's alert was delayed; Ted's own reaction was surprised. A portly skeleton in a jacket. At least he was dressed appropriately. "Oh! Hello there." He noticed the permanent grin. "You must be having a really good day."

[Hey, he's healthy for a skeleton. Oh, but poor human. The joke went right through her.]

"Well, yeah. 'cuz I'm a skeleton. Anyway, have you seen my brother, Papyrus?"

[Sans glanced over at the pair, quite an interesting sight. He smiled at them.]

"Hey there. Good to see a world where monsters and humans live together in harmony. Put 'er there, friends."

[Sans pulled his left hand from his jacket pocket and holds it out to the pair, keeping his palm out of view.]

"I'm Sans."

[Whoever dares shake his hand would be met with a high pitched farting noise, hense the shifty hand.]

Aww, indeed, it IS rather sad, isn't it? "Oh! You mean-- you know you're a bloody Skeleton!? I mean-- sorry. But. I thought maybe you were a misplaced ghost, who hadn't realised that A) he was dead, and B) he had been skinned and possibly eaten, too, by a cannibal or something...?" Maria blinks some more, of course, at this self-aware Skeleton, who is at least more self-aware than she is herself, right about now.

"Ah...wait a minute, which one of us is which?" He found it odd he could tell which was the monster so easily. There's a prank in there somewhere.

He eagerly takes his hand, pep coming back to him. And then the raspberry.

His more or less neutral expression crinkled into a grin. His laughter was slight not for want of energy, but for just how hard he was trying to hold it in. A fart joke. It had been...a year? More? So good. "Heh...heh ha heh..."

Koishi was a little tense at first, glancing from one, to the other, and back again. She wasn't entirely sure how Ted would act all things considered, but it all seemed fine. There was even a handshake and-

Handshakes weren't supposed to sound like that.

The little youkai smiled, giggling quietly to herself. Crude humor. Ah so charming and childish.

"It's nice to meet you Mister." Koishi tipped her hat. "My name is Koishi Komeiji. I'm a satori youkai. You don't have to be scared though. I can't read minds anymore."

[Yes! Just what Sans wanted, someone to fall right into his pranks, and he was chuckling right along with them. Papyrus, though, often did but he was expecting them by now. As for how the skeleton can tell who is a monster, well he has his ways. And Koishi's third eye gave it away.]

"Nice to meet ya, Koishi. But why would I be scared? Nothing can get under my skin~"

[Bad-dum, tish.]

"And who's your friend?"

Wow, he could tell they were friends too. Just what kind of psychic powers is this guy rockin'? Watching you...

"Her friend's Theodore--I mean Ted. Pleasure to meet you; so far it's been a gas." Oh, stop it.

"Interesting to hear skeleton puns from...well, you. For the life of me I can't think of any human jokes. How did you gain that sort of perspective?"

Actually he's seeing if this guy used to be human. Cause if he has, that could lead to some other dark conclusions.

"Well I'm sure there are some human jokes out there Ted. But if you ever hear a satori joke I'd love to hear it. Then I'm sure we'd properly see eye to eye." See? Koishi could wordplay too!

Still, it was refreshing to see Ted at least get along right off the bat with someone so obviously non-human. She was still on her guard... Just in case... Especially since the way Ted's mind was shifting was making her a bit tense again.

"Oh. Mister Spades. Do you want your water bottle?" It was literally sitting right there, but hopefully it would be a good distraction? Maybe?

[Sans's perpetual grin could very well be hiding something interesting. But he wasn't going to reveal that. After all, it was "normal." But as he listened to the human pun, he could not control himself any further.]

"Nice one, bud. You can totally... pass it with effort."

[Oh, Sans, you kill yourself. He didn't really feel up to explaining why a skeleton can make skeleton puns. He didn't think it was quite a believable time to say he just can. He would stand aside though to let the two talk, all while considering if he should ask some serious questions. But at the same time, he was having fun.]

Edited 2016-01-22 03:52 (UTC)

[Well, Sans had no idea what to say to this human. She reminded him of a lot of Papyrus, actually.]

"Well, kid... I did introduce myself as 'Sans, the skeleton."

More fart jokes. He could hardly take it. His voice held tremors. "Ha-yes, I could use a drink. I'll just let you two clear the air." Okay that's his last one promise.

He sat down on a near by bench, facing them halfway. He turned over his suspicions in his mind. The dodged question was one thing. And the fart jokes, epitome of hilarity though they were, were stranger still. Skeletons can't do that. How did he even know what passing gas was?

And yet he was the strangest skeleton he ever saw. For one he could've sworn he saw him contort his own skull into something like an expression. Ted was pretty sure bone wasn't quite that malleable. And then there's the shape. Ted must've stood at least two feet taller than him. Was he a dwarf skeleton? He rummaged in his bag for a reference picture. He sneaked a few peeks while they conversed, trying to compare.

Something was off. Human heads weren't that round, were they? Ted was pretty bad at physical comparisons like this, but the thing didn't look quite human. Like a caricature of one. If he's a skeleton, what on earth is he a skeleton of?

Ted said he could use a drink... and then he goes and forgets to pick up his water bottle? For shame! Oh well. Koishi would just have to grab it for you.

"Well, Mister. It's been a long long time since I saw a skeleton. And never one that talked as well as you. Actually, the last one I saw was in castlevania, but it wasn't a real REAL skeleton. More like a clever puppet made of human bones." Honestly, that's the ONLY type of skeleton Koishi had ever seen. Sans was a bit of a mystery to her. And she was curious.

She drifted over and picked up the water bottle. "Where do you come from? I've never heard of a place with such wonderful skeletons before."

Much to Ted's dismay, she drifted over to him, offering him the water before waving Sans over. Clearly it was time to sit and chat like proper friends.

[Sans watched Ted head over to a bench to rest, and kept watching in a friendly sort of way that still seemed creepy because of that grin of his. He turned to Koishi and nodded at the little monster as she talked her past experiences with skeletons. The way he grins as he hears it was made of human bones made him incredibly creepy, when in fact, he simply doesn't care what it's made of.]

"I'm from Snowdin, a tiny town full of monsters living. My brother, Papyrus, and I are the only skeletons."

[He glanced over at Ted for a moment.] "He and I make a living as human hunters. I'm not really into that, but my brother is fanatical about it."

Well Koishi, prepare to get nervous cause his mind is shifting like crazy.

That wasn't funny. Is this Candid Camera? Is he getting Punk'd? Didn't this guy just get here? How is it even possible to set up situational comedy like this that fast?

He'd hurriedly stuffed the skeleton pictures back into the bag once they came to sit down, stowing the water bottle along with it. He'd give this guy the benefit of the doubt, largely because he was in a good mood and didn't want to lose it in the space of minutes. He shouldn't be surprised that skeletons are into dark humor; excuse him for not enjoying that line of work. Hopefully facetiously given.

A few awkward moments later. "Okay, I'm waiting for the punchline."

Koishi only spared Ted a glance, ignoring him for the most part. Actually ignoring him!

"I've never heard of Snowdin. I'm from Chireiden in the Great Underground just above the Hell of Blazing Fires. It's a nice place. Lots of snow though. Sis lives there too. You can meet her sometime. She's a big grump though it's all an act... mostly... She's nervous around new people."

One more glance at Ted, her eyes dimming a little. Her third eye was swaying nervously. "Human hunting, huh? I haven't hunted humans in well over a century. It really brings out the worst in me and I want to be better than that. Besides, I like humans." She did acknowledge Ted this time, ruffling and messing his hair quite a bit.

"Why would you hunt humans anyway? You're a skeleton so I can't imagine its for food. And if you live in a city of monsters then you can't possibly be threatened by these humans, can you?"

[Sans noticed Ted's change in attitude. It seems a little bit of his background didn't strike the chord he was looking for. Since Koishi asked, he would follow up.]

"It's a grudge from an bygone era. Humans and monsters used to live in harmony, but they went to war, and monsters were driven underground. Humans never come to our neck of the woods, so human hunting is completely pointless. And that's why I don't hunt humans."

[Sans might actually find a lot of effort to be pointless, given what he secretly knows.]

That's a relief. Kind of. If race war was the order of the day, then Sans was practically a soldier, albeit a regrettable one. Much nobler than whatever Koishi referenced, which discomforted him a tad. It also explained Ted's first question; being one of a kind of monster would lay the foundation for jest nicely.

The other explanation is that he's a traitor; one once human who defected. Then he'd be destined for the coldest, deepest circle of hell where the treacherous are tormented.

Then Koishi disturbed his goldilocks, giving his noggin the perfect excuse to forget about something so dark. One question still remained. You ain't slick!

"Huh. But if humans never came, how were you paid for the task? Did they simply value vigilance?"

Edited 2016-01-22 20:32 (UTC)

"Ahh. I see. That does make sense. A lot of youkai have that mindset too. To hunt humans to trespass I mean, though its been a very very long time since we had a straight up war with humans. And even then, the wars we have had were between smaller youkai factions and humanity rather than as a whole."

She did perk up a little at the mention of the underground. "Ah! A lot of youkai and all of the oni were driven underground where I come from too. Sis and I followed because the yama offered us a home there. It's far from the oni, but that's fine. Even the outcasts don't seem to like us..."

A pause, the little youkai looking thoughtful. "It's the mind reading. That's why I got rid of mine. If you read a youkai's mind and getting into their head it's just a few steps away from possession. Since a youkai is a spirit creature we don't have a separate soul. Possessing us is exceptionally horrible. Usually for both parties involved."

Edited 2016-01-22 21:54 (UTC)

[Sans first listened to Ted's question about he and his brother's livelihood. Before he could give an answer, he was caught by more of Koishi's talkativeness.]

"I can see why they would be scared. You could really see right through them. You never thought to use it for justice?"

[He might not be that great at giving helpful advice. He was really good at just trying to make people smile. With that said, he had a little more attention left for Ted as he hid a yawn, ready to answer his question now.]

"To bring in a little extra money, I sometimes run a stand selling hotdogs and hotcats."

Oh, Ted figured. He didn't really make much money. But then why...agh, no point trying to pin this lil' guy. Like nailing jello to the wall. He prayed Sans wasn't one of those flippant comics. That'd be the worst. Then again, talking about the past may not have been his favorite subject. Ted could empathize with that. He snickered at the non-sequitur.

"A whole other species of franks. Why hasn't anyone else thought of that? Guess they just couldn't cut the mustard." Somebody get the extinguisher, this guy's on fire.

Ted decided on a more profitable avenue than evasions: making fun of satori youkai.

"Great minds think alike; I made a similar inquiry. I'm sure humanity and youkai would've gotten along much better had they applied themselves as altruistic polygraphs. Seems they more interested in pointing out the motes in others' eyes."

Koishi was smiling at the jokes, though her expression gradually fell as the subject turned to a more personal nature. Sans wouldn't understand the plights of a mind reader but Ted? Well... Ted was ted. She'd let it slide but the subject did stir something very unpleasant in her closed heart.

"We tried. Sis and I. To use our power to help people. To live among people even. But all it takes is one person in power to commit a crime. From collecting too much money to having someone killed to taking advantage of the village girls to... anything really. We see it. And they know we see it. And they drive us away because they don't want us to tell anyone."

Koishi shook her head. "It's not like any one person's sins are special. But everyone thinks we'll shout secrets from rooftops because we rob them of their mental sanctuary. And it's not like we can turn it off. That's why I ripped my power out."

"It will be awhile before other food services ketchup with me."

[Not really. He would just go to Grillby's every other time.
He would say nothing about the fear generated by a satori's power, but he couldn't help but relate to some degree. He was "aware," and yet he couldn't do anything about it.]

"Whatever power you or you sister have, or even Ted here, as long as you aren't hurting anyone, you're good people to me."

A stupid grin played out. "Goodness. Whatever doubts I had about your person are long gone. You're truly a monster." Ted had still studied rhetoric even after the time for it had passed. Sans' use of it was masterful.

The High Ground Maneuver, it's called. Ted had, as usual, bumbled their talk into a more depressing avenue. Sans had elevated the discourse through a general truth that swept aside specific woes. Few would be insolent enough to argue back to detail; they'd look small-minded. It was well-done; Ted was even feeling obvious enough to say so, but for one problem. It was a half-truth.

There was something to it. It echoed Isaiah 65:25. "The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent's meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the LORD." It's a lovely ideal, which made its impossibility all the more tragic.

Ted still had a lingering love for Everglade. But it was no holy mountain. It's failure to be a holy anything meant that its help would hurt. Ted wanted Everglade to have a painless salvation; but salvation is never so easy, as the cross made clear. Ted could see no future of theirs without bloodshed. For without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins. This was all the more poignant for the fact that Sans would likely live there. Would he get caught in the crossfire?

It didn't matter, Ted supposed. He knew he wasn't a good person anyway. But if he couldn't be a good person, maybe he could say good things.

"Apologies, that was a flippant jest." He looked towards Koishi. "In truth the Satori Youkai I've known have done well in living up to present ideals which the past made untenable. I'm blessed enough to have been on the receiving end of such." He smiled faintly, turning back towards Sans.

"It's easy, justly easy, to hate this world for robbing us of our home; our context. Some spend the entirety of their new lives seeking the old. But I hope you'll find it in your heart to love it anyway. A fresh start like this affords opportunity for repentance. For that reason alone, Genessia can be relished".

[The appearance of a talking skeleton on the video feed does make Dairine pause, though she doesn't look too rattled. She's seen some strange stuff in her young life.]

Uh, can't say I know any restaurants or stores with that name around here.

Or are you looking for a person?

[A smaller human like the one Papyrus can't catch. He really must be above ground. Neat.]

"No, I just haven't eaten in a while. You can see how I'm all bones."

[Maybe he should ask while it's relevant.]

"Though, have you seen a tall skeleton running around? He's my brother, Papyrus."

[Okay, what. Yeah, that definitely was a skeleton grinning at the video feed.]

Uh...hey.

[Well now, this was different. Izanami looked human for now, but she was pleasantly surprised to see someone...well, someone undead showing themselves so openly like this.]

Nice to meet you, Sans. Not heard of Grillby's before, but I'll try and point you toward something similar if you like?

"Hey!"

[Nice hair.]

"What's the matter? You look like you just saw something that shouldn't be possible."

[You never know, if it was a little redder, it could give Undyne a run for her money.]

Well, yeah. Where I'm from, skeletons don't exactly go walking around, you know?

[Skeletons don't walk, eh? What is Temple of Darkness~?]

"Yeah, that's a pretty normal thing in human lands, isn't it? So, how are ya, bud?"

[Hey, big difference between fighting some random animated skeletons and sitting having a friendly chat with one. Besides, he'd spent enough time trying to pretend most of what happened in his homeworld had never happened.

At the question though, he couldn't help but laugh in disbelief. Well, this day just got weirder.]

Yeaah, not so bad. You? You seem to be taking this whole 'waking up in a new world' thing pretty calmly.

[A change of pace, a human who offered to help with something.]

"I'll take you up on that, thanks. If it helps, I like pork well enough, but I really like foods made with uppdogg."

[Sans shrugs slightly at his question.]

"Was I supposed to panic and run around asking for help getting out of here? It's not like anything can be done about it, right? It's better to just live the moment while you have it."

[Oh boy. Seems like we've got a joker here. Dairine gives him a rather dry but friendly enough laugh.]

Ha. Well, there's a couple of cafes around the city, so you can probably find something you'll like.

Can't say I've seen any other skeletons around here. You just arrive?

[He appreciates the thought, at least.]

"Yep. Not too long ago, even. A strange thing to wake up to, but at least it was a nice nap."

[Uppdogg, huh...not a delicacy she was familiar with. Either way, she'll be getting out her own map to start giving him directions.]

Let's see... You should've found a small map with you, so that'll help you work your way around. As for places to eat, if you don't mind fast food, the Bright Sky Diner in Genessia City's supposed to be pretty good. That's between Ulmos and 9th. Geraldi's Pizzeria - on Nettle and 12th - is pretty good, too. If neither of them take your fancy, the Hamete Strip Mall's got quite a collection of restaurants.

[That was disappointing. Sans wanted the human to ask about the uppdogg.]

"The Bright Sky Diner sounds pretty good. Diners usually carry bottles of ketchup. I'll go there the next time I'm on break."

[Which is soon. He is always on break.]

That's one way to look at it.

In that case, there's still a chance that your brother will show up. Though there's no way to know for sure.

[Last time Dairine was stuck in a place like this, it took two years before her older sister arrived.]

The ketchup? I thought most people would go along for the burgers, personally.

[Now, for all this guy's weirdness, that logic was definitely something he could get on board with.]

Heh, I like your thinking. Whatever will be, will be, and all that. Might as well just relax whilst you're here.

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