Chapter Text
"Ouch."
"I'm sorry!" Alphys fumbles with the empty test tube she's holding, quickly setting it down on the desk Asriel is sitting on and grabbing a different one filled with green liquid instead. She quickly pours the antidote onto the child's melting paw. She swears she can feel two searing holes on the back of her neck where the little demon is glaring daggers into her skin from across the room, watching her every move with unblinking eyes.
Asriel bites down on his lip as the fur drooping off the back of his hand crawls back up into his skin. It hurts. But he doesn't cry. Big kids don't cry.
In the corner of the lab, Chara presses air out through their teeth, the noise so low only Frisk, who's sitting next to them, is able to hear it. "I swear, if she hurts him ..."
"She's trying to help," Frisk whispers, awkwardly patting the other's tense shoulder.
"Yeah," Chara sneers, red stare still nailed to the scientist. "That's what I'm worried about."
Nine days ago, Chara was brought back to life. Eight days ago, Asriel was too. Four days ago, Asgore was forced to return to Newer Home and three days ago, Toriel was forced to return to school. Two days ago, the tests began, and since then they've gone on and on and on.
No, that's not true. There's a pause in the afternoon when Toriel comes home. There are breaks for lunch and walks around the neighborhood and crossword puzzles and junior jumbles, and for Papyrus trying to cheer the kids up with afternoon spaghetti and for curious neighbors knocking on their door asking about the new kids on the block and receiving no clear answer. There are breaks for Asriel and Chara to fight over whose turn it is to talk to their dad on the phone, there are breaks for Frisk to try to get Chara to stop being angry afterwards and for the both of them to console Asriel.
But it feels like the tests have gone on forever. Mostly because they're getting nowhere.
Hearing Chara's words despite her best efforts not to, Alphys pauses in the middle of gathering up another row of colorful test tubes and closes her eyes with a pained expression. Her brows nearly meet over the bridge of her glasses. Maybe she has heard this just one too many times. Just one too many snide remarks. One too many 'she'll mess this up's. For once, she wants to defend herself.
Before she can say anything she'll regret, she feels a warm paw against the scales on her cheek. Gently, Asriel tilts her head up, forcing her to look at him.
He's okay now. She did it. She saved him. He's right here.
Alphys manages to put on a smile for the little one, even if it's a bit strained. He does the same for her. At the other side of the room, Chara crosses their arms and slumps in their chair, finally moving their narrowed gaze to the floor instead.
Something comes thundering down the steps outside the lab.
"Hey, Alphys!" The door handle clicks and Undyne skids into the room, having entered with just a little too much momentum. "Babe, there's something gross on our couch and I'm gonna need your help removing it."
Alphys turns to face her with a puzzled look. "W-what? I thought his tour would last another month, at least!"
Frisk and Chara both sit up with exactly the same wide-eyed expression. "Tour?" they say in perfect unison. Then they look at each other. Chara cracks a cheeky smirk. Frisk holds a hand to their heart in shock, as if they've just betrayed the founding ideals of their motherland. It is weird not sharing the same body anymore. It makes their weird oddly-in-tune moments so much creepier. Yikes.
"O-oh uhm, yes, well," Alphys stammers, looking more than a bit embarrassed about instantly knowing what - or rather who - Undyne was talking about. "We've uh- maybe kind of been keeping track of Mettaton's exact? Location? For a while? Just in case?" She cringes preemptively.
"And now his 'exact location' is our living room," Undyne grumbles, putting her ring and middle fingers in the pockets of her jeans, face pulled into a disdainful grimace that shows off her crooked fangs.
Both of the human kids instantly bolt over to Undyne.
"Can we come visit?" Frisk asks, pulling on her arm. "Please?"
Undyne gives a little hesitant snort at her friend's enthusiasm. "Why? It's just Mettaton!" She lifts her arm with Frisk still hanging on to it. They laugh as the ground disappears under their feet.
"He's cool," Chara says, and clasps their hands behind their back, as if they're debating a very serious business proposal. "We need to spend time with him so that we, too, may become cool."
"Whaddaya need him for, when you got me!?" Undyne retorts, flashing a menacing grin at the little human as she flexes the muscles under Frisk's hand, the mass of it lifting them another inch up off the ground. Frisk squeals and kicks their legs at the empty air. "See? You think that glorified microwave can do THAT? Guy doesn't even have muscles! Or elbows!"
Chara purses their lips, considering her words for a moment. "That is true," they say. "Buuut ... you probably wouldn't be able to carry both of us all the way upstairs. I bet he could."
Undyne looks over at Alphys and Asriel, who're watching with increasing worry.
"They're joking, right?" she asks, cocking a haughty brow. "That's gotta be a joke."
The others shrug, less than keen on getting involved.
"Listen up, punk," she growls and crouches down to Chara's level. Frisk still clings to her arm, ready for next lift-off. "You see this?" She flexes her other arm, her left arm, so hard her scales stand on end. "This knocked your dad on his butt before I could legally drink. Fun fact: I ain't left-handed."
"Welllllll ..." Chara cocks their head to the side. "Bet you can't lift us all the way across the street, then."
"Oh, it is on!"
Undyne reaches her arm out to Chara, who clamps onto it like a bear trap. When she stands up, she's got a kid hanging off her on both sides.
"COME ON, ALPHYS, I NEED TO TEACH THIS BRAT A LESSON!!" Undyne roars over her shoulder, as she leaves the lab and heads for the stairs.
Alphys' gaze flicks between the door and Asriel. "W-we should probably-"
"We probably should."
By the time her and Asriel make their way to the ground floor, Undyne is already out the door and Sans is watching from the couch with a grin that should be framed and hung on a wall with the words 'example of internal screaming' engraved on a little metal label underneath.
"whaaat the hell," he says in a much-too-light, sing-song-y voice.
"I-I-I'll g-go with them, d-don't worry!" Alphys says as she grabs her coat and hurries out the door, Asriel right behind her.
Undyne, Frisk and Chara wait for them by the front door across the street. The humans are looking at her expectantly. She hesitates. Then she looks up at Undyne. They might as well. What harm could there be in it?
Alphys leads the way inside.
"M-Mettaton?"
She's greeted by a loud, drawn-out groan from the couch facing toward the tv at the far wall. "ALPHYS? IS THAT YOU ..?" A trembling gloved hand slowly rises from behind the couch's backrest. "IT'S SO GOOD TO HEAR YOUR VOICE ..."
"Mettaton, what- what happened to you?!" she stammers, running over to check on her old friend.
On the pillows, planted flat on his square face, lies the one-wheeled robot, black oil oozing into the couch from some indeterminable area at the top of his front side. "IT'S ALL GOING DARK ... I THINK ..." He sobs. "I THINK THIS IS THE END FOR ME ..."
Napstablook fades into existence in the beanbag chair next to the tv. "... he caught a virus from some bad downtown equipment ................." they whisper. "he says he can see anime cat faces and kanji on the inside of his screen ..................................................."
Shyren peeks out from behind the beanbag. "I don't think he's really dying," she adds.
"ALPHYS, THIS IS HUMILIATING," Mettaton whines and flops his arm around blindly until he finds Alphys' hand, smacking her in the face a few times in the process. "I DON'T WANT TO BE A WEEB LIKE YOU."
All sympathy immediately drains out of Alphys' expression. She slowly turns to look at the kids as if to say 'are you sure this is who you wanna be when you grow up?' Then she turns back to Mettaton and pats his hand with just a bit too much force. "Yeah, gee, what a tragic fate."
"CAN YOU FIX IT?"
"Do I have a choice," she mumbles, before letting go of him and leaving the room to find her laptop.
Mettaton rocks a bit from side to side, trying to get comfortable. Not an easy task when all your sides are perfectly flat. "UGH, WHY DOES THIS ALWAYS-" He groans, then gives up, opens a panel near the switch on his back and pulls out the cord hidden behind it. "SHYREN, DARLING, WOULD YOU MIND FINDING ME AN OUTLET? THIS FORM MAY APPEAR TO BE FLAWLESS, BUT I CAN INFORM YOU THAT I'M QUITE LITERALLY DROWNING IN MY OWN SNOT."
"Oh no, you don't!" Undyne says, hopping onto the back of the couch like an angry house cat. "How much cash do you think we have!? It's hard enough scraping stupid human money together without you stealing our electricity!"
"UNDYNE, DARLING, I'M RICH, I CAN DO WHAT I WANT. PLUG ME IN AND I'LL PAY YOUR ELECTRICITY BILL FOR A YEAR. HECK, I'LL THROW IN YOUR RENT, TOO."
Undyne taps her nails against the top of his metal hide in a sharp rhythm. "We normal people don't pay rent, remember? We bought these houses in exchange for magic."
"WHO CARES, JUST PUT ME OUT OF MY MISERY, PLEASE. AND- NO, NOT WITH A SPEAR, I CAN HEAR YOU SUMMONING THAT THING, YOU BARBARIAN!"
In the meantime, Shyren hovers over and takes the cord from him. She looks up at Undyne with big, dark pleading eyes. The warrior's sour demeanor immediately softens, and she flashes a bright smile at the smaller fish and nods. As long as Mettaton pays, she's not actually bothered by it. She just enjoys seeing him suffer. Who doesn't? Shyren hops off to the nearest electricity outlet.
By the door, all three kids stretch to look over the back of the couch, as the robot turns himself inside out. The lava lamp on the shelf over the tv flickers. Mettaton moans in relief as his humanoid body shapes itself around the pillows instead of the other way around, and cracks his back before rolling onto his side, hugging the oil-spotted pillow to his face. Then he jerks back, cringing at the feeling of the soggy fabric on his artificial nerve endings. He pushes the pillow to the floor in disgust and wipes his face with his wrist, then holds his hand to his nose to stop the running liquid. "GOD, THIS IS DISGUSTING. TRULY A REALISTIC IMITATION OF HUMAN ANATOMY."
Finally, Frisk is unable to contain themself. A little muffled giggle worms its way out of their mouth, betraying their presence.
Mettaton freezes, then tips his head in the direction of the sound. A slow smile makes its way across his platinum face. "OH MY. PERHAPS DOCTOR ALPHYS MAY STILL HAVE OVERLOOKED A FEW OF THOSE KILLER ROBOT FEATURES. I DO BELIEVE I SENSE A HUMAN NEARBY."
Undyne can't help but smile too, as Frisk runs across the room and appears at Mettaton's side, jumping up to sit next to him on the couch and give him a hug. He laughs and gives them a one-armed hug, leaning his forehead against the kid's in greeting, while still holding his free hand over the bottom of his face to keep the oil inside.
"HELLO, SWEETHEART," he says, a warmth in his voice that other people rarely get to hear. "IT'S BEEN A WHILE. SORRY I'M ... DISGUSTING." He laughs again before briefly looking at his soiled glove. The sight makes him tear up a little. "OHH, THIS WAS MY BEST PAIR ..."
Frisk buries into their jeans' pockets and finds a small, extremely compact ball of kleenex. They find the original wrapping inconvenient, you can transport so many more if you just roll 'em together a bit. They offer the emergency kleenex to their suffering friend.
"OH GOODNESS. THANK YOU, DARLING." He accepts the generous gift and weakly tries to make his gross face a bit more presentable. "AT LEAST SOMEONE'S TENDING TO THEIR SUFFERING FRIEND!" He raises his voice, glaring at the door Alphys disappeared through. Frisk gives him a gentle slap on the forehead. He gives them his most innocent look, though that doesn't say much coming from him. "WHAT? FRISK, HONEY, I'M LAWFUL EVIL, I CAN'T TREAT EVERYONE LIKE THEY'RE TINY ROYALTY, THAT WOULD SULLY MY REPUTATION." He tucks a few stray locks of hair behind Frisk's ear. They give him a cross look. But it's so very difficult to stay mad. They've missed him.
By the door, Chara and Asriel exchange a knowing look. Frisk tries way too hard to make their less-moral friends behave. It's like they're the one raising their whole little extended family and not the other way around. Chara thinks it's adorable. Asriel is just a tad worried that Frisk is fighting for a lost cause with Mettaton.
Napstablook sees the kids by the door and though the ghost is very much curious, they decide not to speak up about it. Not right now. What if the kids don't want to be noticed?
Undyne pokes Mettaton again. "Patience, tin can. I've got a spear with your name on it."
Finally, Alphys returns, still clicking away on the keyboard of the laptop balanced against her chest. "I'm here, I'm here." She clicks a claw against his knee. "Scoot." Mettaton draws his legs up to make room for her and she sits down, adjusting her glasses as she finalizes whatever she's doing on the screen. "USB." She reaches out a hand without looking at him. He opens a panel on his chest and hands her the cord. She plugs it into her computer and presses enter. "And there you go."
Mettaton's eyes flash an alarming bright pink for a second and he blinks a few times. "OH THANK GOD." He looks around at the living room, eyes rolling in his metal cranium. "THE CATS ARE GONE. THANK YOU, ALPHYS."
Alphys sets the laptop on the table next to the couch. "Don't mention it," she says dryly. "This might take a while to finish. And don't think I'm not holding you to that promise." She looks over at Undyne and continues, still completely deadpan: "We're going to marathon the entirety of Mew Mew Kissy Cutie every day for the next year on every single screen in the house."
Undyne covers her mouth in awe. "You're a genius," she whispers. Then she grins down at Mettaton. "See? You can be useful when you really try! Good on you, bolt brain!"
Mettaton sniffles and daps his nose with the kleenex ball Frisk gave him. Finally, the oil flow seems to dry up. Frisk watches, a bit envious, as the ill robot appears to recover within seconds what a human being would need at least a few days to deal with. Couldn't Alphys make an anti-virus program for humans, too? She probably could.
"AH. MUCH BETTER." Mettaton sits up and stretches his jointless arms until each segment pops with a sharp clack-clack-clack noise.
Napstablook gives him a tiny little smile. Shyren hops onto the beanbag chair next to the ghost and wiggles her fins happily.
Their lead singer stands up with all his usual flair and grace, and turns towards Alphys, apparently about to speak again - but then he notices something out of the corner of his eye. Alphys looks confused about his pausing for a second. Then she follows his gaze to the door.
She'd already forgotten the kids were there.
Slowly, Mettaton brushes his bangs away from the hidden side of his face and his eyes - both the magenta one and its black, glass-like, hollow twin - narrow to concentrated slits. "NO ..." he says lowly. "THAT CAN'T BE ..." The corners of his mouth lift, but calling the movement a 'smile' would probably be a bit of a stretch. Not taking his eyes off the kids, he moves around the couch in long, slow, deliberate strides.
Asriel moves to stand behind Chara. Chara adjusts their stance so they're standing squarely between their brother and the robot.
Finally, Mettaton tears his eyes from them and with a toss of his head, his bangs fall back in place over the exposed panels on the right side of his face. He glances back at Alphys. "IS IT REALLY THEM?"
"Wh-what d-do you mean?"
He looks at her for a moment, biting his lower lip at an angle, as if he's trying to keep himself from spilling a secret she's not in on. Then he looks back to the kids. After a moment of thought, he decides on a question: "DID ALPHYS DO THIS TO YOU?"
Asriel and Chara look to each other for answers, but neither of them know how he knows.
"Yes," Chara admits.
Finally, the smile brightens and grows warmer, realer, though he does his best to keep it from doing so. He lets out an amused breath and shakes his head. He approaches the two, folding his hands in front of himself as he crouches before them to get a closer look. "SHE TRULY IS A MIRACLE WORKER, ISN'T SHE?" His tone is dark with a sort of awestruck, fascinated-yet-disturbed wonder. He looks at Chara, then at Asriel. "OUR HOPES AND DREAMS ..."
Chara reaches back to hold onto Asriel's sleeve, making him stay behind them. "How do you know who we are?" they ask sharply.
"OH, I REMEMBER YOU," Mettaton says wistfully. "EVERYONE REMEMBERS YOU." He sighs. "I WAS JUST A LITTLE BABY GHOSTIE WHEN YOU PASSED AWAY. HOW WE GRIEVED FOR YOU. ALL OF US."
Frisk cautiously approaches the group by the door. "You were alive 100 years ago?"
"GHOSTS ARE IMMORTAL, DARLING," he replies, reaching out a hand to invite them closer. Frisk takes it without a moment's hesitation and lets him loop an arm around them as they lean against him. "OH, I CANNOT FATHOM WHAT THE OTHER MONSTERS ARE GOING TO THINK WHEN THEY SEE THEIR CROWN PRINCES AGAIN. THOSE OF US WHO WERE AROUND BACK THEN ... I DON'T THINK WE EVER QUITE MOVED ON. YOU WERE MISSED, LITTLE DARLINGS."
Shyren hovers around the couch and Napstablook phases through it, both of them curious about the little ones. Nervously, Chara's eyes flick between the robot, the fish, the ghost and the human cornering them against the door. Were they and Asriel really missed after all this time? The citizens of New Home remembered them and their story, but ...
Shyren hovers closer and bows her head to the kids. "Welcome home, your highnesses."
Chara's hand slips from Asriel's sleeve and they involuntarily flinch away from the little monster. "I ... I-"
Asriel steps forward in their stead and smiles warmly at Shyren. "Thank you," he says to her. When she hovers closer, he opens his arms and cradles her to his chest. He doesn't notice the way Chara's lips press together in frustration or the way they pointedly look away.
"NOW," Mettaton says, standing up and turning back to Alphys, Frisk still under his arm, leaned on his hip. "DO TELL. FOR WHAT GRAVE PURPOSE DID YOU BRING THESE LITTLE ONES BACK? YOU MUST HAVE HAD A GOOD REASON, AM I RIGHT? OF COURSE I AM." He smiles at Frisk and boops them on the nose. The little human squeaks and rubs their face.
"I-it's k-k-kind of a l-long story!" Alphys stammers, drops of sweat appearing on her forehead. They've been through this. She knows what the official story is. But she hates lying. She stopped lying a long time ago.
"Oh, it's a long story alright," Chara mumbles with a snarl, fists clenched. They raise their cold gaze from the floor and back to Mettaton. "Our existences became useful again, that's what happened."
Frisk sends them a look. Chara ignores them.
Mettaton laughs, but there's a softness to it, a kind of gentle, overbearing sympathy. "I REALIZE, DARLING. NO ONE BRINGS BACK THE DEAD WITHOUT A PURPOSE. THAT'S ONE FINAL MYSTERY EVEN SCIENCE WOULD DO WELL TO LEAVE ALONE, IN MY PRIVATE OPINION."
Chara's pinprick pupils slide from Mettaton to Alphys and back again, malice sparking in their depths.
"Oh yeah?" Their chipper songbird-voice drops to a seething growl. "Far as I remember, that hasn't stopped anyone yet."
Alphys' attention immediately snaps to Chara, disbelief clear on her face. Undyne mirrors her expression. Sensing the others' anger, Napstablook turns transparent and then disappears completely.
Shyren tenses up in Asriel's arms and he holds her away from his sibling, shielding her with his body. "Cha-ra ..." he hisses through gritted teeth.
Frisk looks like they're about to speak up when Mettaton breaks the silence with a nearly breathless laugh, startling them.
"MY GOODNESS, AREN'T YOU JUST THE MOST PRECIOUS LITTLE CREATURE?" he coos, shoulders lifted like he can barely stand to witness the angry little human's existence. He adjusts Frisk's position on his hip, wrapping both arms around them. "AND SUCH A FLAIR FOR DRAMA! WOULDN'T YOU SAY SO, FRISK?"
Frisk shakes their head, bewildered. What is he doing? Before they know it, the ground is coming closer again as Mettaton crouches in order to be level with Chara.
"YOU TRULY ARE SOMETHING ELSE, LOVE."
Chara squirms under his unreadable gaze.
"PERSONALLY, HOWEVER, I'D ADVISE YOU TO MAYYYBE TONE IT DOWN A BIT IN PRIVATE, IF YOU CAN." His smile stretches into a brilliant grin. "I HEAR ONE MORE BAD THING ABOUT DOCTOR ALPHYS OUT OF YOU AND I'LL PUT YOU BACK IN THE GROUND MYSELF. CAPICHE?"
That makes the kid stop squirming. Their eyes widen and they look up at Frisk as if asking them to do something, the killer robot is their friend, reel him in!
"THAT'S A GOOD LITTLE WHATEVER-YOU-ARE." Before Frisk can do anything, he stands up again and in the same motion, he reaches out to ruffle Chara's hair. They barely manage to dodge out of the way. "I HOPE YOU'RE NOT PLANNING ON KEEPING THESE TWO TO YOURSELF FOREVER," he says to Alphys, not sparing Chara another glance. "I KNOW QUITE A LOT OF MONSTERS WHO WOULD BE VERY HAPPY TO SEE THEM AGAIN."
"I-I'm not," Alphys replies, though her thoughts seem to be elsewhere. She wipes the sweat from her brow with the backs of her claws, wary gaze jumping back and forth between her friend and the kid by the door who's ever-so-slowly edging backwards until they're standing behind their brother. They're trying to make it look casual. And failing. Then Alphys tears her attention away from the human and back to the question Mettaton asked her. "K-keeping them forever, I mean. Toriel and A-Asgore know about them. And Sans. And Papyrus. And- and also? The, uh, neighbors have seen them, I guess? Once or twice? A-anyway, they've only been here for a few days, so. We're uh ... just kind of waiting for the right moment to introduce them to everyone else, I guess."
Mettaton gasps. He quickly places Frisk back on the ground and approaches Alphys. "OH, YOU SHOULD'VE JUST SAID SO, DARLING! AN EVENT OF THAT MAGNITUDE NEEDS A SPECIAL KIND OF PRESENTATION! WHY DON'T YOU LET MOI HANDLE ALL THAT STRESSFUL PEOPLE-PLEASING?"
"Oh no, you don't!!" Undyne cuts in, stepping in between Mettaton and Alphys. "You're not gonna turn this into another one of your weird tv shows! This is Asgore's kids we're talking about!"
"WHY, WHATEVER DO YOU MEAN, UNDYNE?"
While the adults argue about the ethics of turning long-dead children's rebirth into a tv special, Frisk edges closer to their siblings.
"You okay?" they ask Chara.
The other human just shrugs with one shoulder, watching Mettaton with a mix of nervousness and ... is it worry? They don't look angry, not even scared. Just a bit shaken up. And thoughtful.
"You shouldn't have said that thing about Alphys," Asriel says. He strokes a gentle paw over Shyren's back. The smaller monster snuggles into his sweater. "She's done so much to help us and you're just being mean to her."
"She keeps putting you through those stupid experiments," Chara mutters without really paying attention. Whatever they're seeing on the back of Mettaton's head, the others aren't following.
"'Cause she's trying to make sure I don't fall down again! You used to be really good at pretending to be nice, so maybe try to do that again before you make her really mad."
That snaps Chara's attention back to their brother. "I can be nice ..!"
They look so sincere and so hurt that even Frisk wonders if they're joking or if they're really upset.
Asriel hugs Shyren close to his chest and finally spins around to look Chara in the eyes. "Then act like it!"
Mettaton's voice cuts off whatever they were about to say in reply. If anything.
"FINE, FINE, I CAN TELL WHEN MY SERVICES AREN'T WANTED. BUT REALLY, ALPHYS, YOU SHOULDN'T BE KEEPING THEM LOCKED UP HERE IN THIS BORING OLD NEIGHBORHOOD. NOT WHEN THE WORLD IS FINALLY WIDE OPEN FOR THEM TO EXPLORE." He puts his hands on his hips, frowning at Alphys.
"I know," she sighs. "I g-guess w-we can't keep putting it off, right?" She looks up at Undyne, who's standing with her arms crossed, still looking at Mettaton somewhat skeptically.
"Hmm. Nah, I guess not." Undyne grinds her fangs together in thought. "Is it safe for Asriel to go all the way to the capital, though?"
Alphys isn't sure, she says. He hasn't had a single episode since that first night and it's been over a week since then. But the capital is far from his chamber if anything happens. Maybe she could build a portable version of the machine? One capable of stabilizing his magic levels without all the other features? She'll have to look into it. Mettaton is right. The kids can't stay here forever.
She tells Undyne and the kids that it'll probably be a while before she's done purging the viruses from Mettaton's system, and asks Undyne to walk Frisk, Asriel and Chara home. Shyren reluctantly removes herself from Asriel's embrace. Frisk waves their arms around until they find a cold patch of air and they put a little goodbye-kiss on the ghost's invisible cheek. A violet disembodied blush appears in front of their face, seemingly hovering in mid-air. Undyne leads the way outside, Asriel and Frisk right behind her, but before Chara can follow the others-
"YOU KNOW ..." Mettaton looks over his shoulder at the human. "I WAS BEING SERIOUS. YOU USED TO BE A FANTASTIC ACTOR, CHARA. GIVE THE PEOPLE WHAT THEY WANT." It's not an order. There's an unspoken 'please' in there somewhere. "WE MISSED YOU MORE THAN YOU CAN IMAGINE."
Chara isn't sure they believe him. But for once, he looks completely serious. He remembers what they used to be like. He remembers how much hope they and Asriel brought to the Underground, how that hope was torn away in a single day.
Chara isn't sure they want to remember. They could never be themself with the monsters, no, that would have hurt them. Chara needed their people to trust them. Kindness, politeness, sweetness, those were easy enough to fake, god knows they had enough experience blending in and pretending to be a real child, a happy child. Do they even want to be that person again? Just some doll in their new parents' cobbled-together play-pretend family?
"Chara, are you coming?" Frisk calls from outside.
"Y-yeah."
They don't have much choice, do they? They owe them. If they want this, if they want to come back, if they want to be Toriel and Asgore's child, if they want to be Frisk and Asriel's sibling, they need to act like it. Even if the mere thought of it is enough to exhaust them.
With one last look at Mettaton and Alphys, they leave to join the group heading out. They suppose they can start counting the days until their big comeback.