Sans was used to weird.
He lived underground.
He was a skeleton who wore a hoodie.
His brother had once believed puzzles were a perfectly reasonable way to stop a human.
So, really, Sans considered himself difficult to surprise.
Then he opened his eyes and found himself face-down on a sheet of cold metal beneath a purple-black sky.
For several seconds, he didn't move.
Wind scraped across mountains of rusted machinery around him.
Loose wires dangled from broken machines like vines. Half-destroyed robots lay buried beneath twisted plates of steel. Somewhere nearby, electricity crackled inside something that probably should have stopped working years ago.
Sans remained on the ground.
"..."
A tiny red light blinked beside his skull.
BEEP.
Sans turned his head.
A severed robotic arm twitched once.
Then died.
"...huh."
He pushed himself upright.
"usually when i wake up somewhere strange, there's at least a couch involved."
Nothing answered.
Sans looked around.
The place was enormous.
Not a room.
Not a cave.
Not anywhere in the Underground.
Mountains of machinery stretched farther than he could see. Some of the scrap was recognizable—wheels, weapons, engines, shattered screens—but other pieces looked completely alien.
One machine resembled half of a motorcycle fused with an oversized cannon.
Another was large enough to be a house.
Far beyond the junkyard, lights stretched across the horizon.
A city.
A ridiculously huge city.
Towers rose hundreds of meters into the night, their surfaces glowing with advertisements, holograms, traffic lanes, and moving lights.
Ships—or maybe cars—moved through the air between buildings.
Sans stared.
Then he slowly shoved both hands into his hoodie pockets.
"well."
His grin didn't change.
"guess i took a wrong turn."
Something was wrong, though.
Not with the city.
With him.
Sans closed his eyes.
He could still feel his magic.
Good.
Bones.
Still there.
Gravity magic.
Still there.
Shortcuts—
Sans disappeared.
POP.
He reappeared three meters away.
Sans stared at where he had previously been standing.
"...okay."
Shortcut worked.
But it had felt strange.
Not weaker.
Not exactly.
More like the world had noticed.
Back home, magic was simply part of reality.
Here, using it felt like forcing a piece from one puzzle into another.
Possible.
But not natural.
Sans raised one hand.
A white bone formed above his palm.
Stable.
He dismissed it.
"so i'm still me."
That was something.
DING!
Sans stopped.
A transparent blue rectangle appeared directly in front of his face.
He leaned backward.
"...and apparently i've got pop-up ads now."
Words began appearing.
[UNKNOWN ENTITY DETECTED][WORLD SYSTEM SYNCHRONIZATION...]
10%
36%
71%
ERROR
Sans' eye sockets narrowed slightly.
The screen flickered.
[HOST BIOLOGY DOES NOT MATCH STANDARD DATABASE][RECALCULATING...][RACE IDENTIFIED: UNKNOWN / ENERGY-BASED SKELETAL LIFEFORM][INTELLIGENT ENTITY CONFIRMED][INTERFACE ACCESS GRANTED]
Another window opened.
CHARACTER INFORMATION
Name: Sans
Race: Unknown Skeleton Lifeform
Model: NPC — Special Entity
Level: 1
Experience: 0
Main Class: Mechanic (Novice) Lv.1
Grade: F
Energy System: ERROR — Multiple Energy Types Detected
Attributes
Strength: 2
Dexterity: 11
Endurance: 1
Intelligence: 10
Mystery: 15
Charm: 3
Luck: ???
Sans stared at the last statistic.
"...sounds about right."
The interface continued.
Existing Abilities
[Unknown Spatial Movement]
[Unknown Bone-Based Energy Construction]
[Unknown Gravitational Manipulation]
[Unknown Soul Interaction]
[Data insufficient.]
Mechanic Class Skills
[Mechanic (Novice) Affinity Lv.1]
Increases understanding and control of machinery.
[Basic Maintenance Lv.1]
Allows basic diagnosis, maintenance, and repair of simple machinery.
[Basic Enhancement Lv.1]
Allows limited improvement of basic machinery depending on materials, knowledge, and craftsmanship.
Potential Points: 1Machinery Knowledge
Armed Branch: Basic Assembly
Energy Branch: Locked
Control Branch: Locked
Sans read everything again.
Then once more.
He hadn't become human.
Good.
He hadn't lost his magic.
Better.
But somehow this world had looked at him, attempted to categorize what he was, seemingly given up halfway through, and then assigned him a profession.
Mechanic.
Sans scratched the back of his skull.
"could've been worse."
A pause.
"could've made me work retail."
The screen disappeared.
Another replaced it.
[BEGINNER MISSION GENERATED]Where Am I?
You have entered an unknown region with no registered identity, currency, equipment, faction, or location data.
Objectives:
Determine your current location.
Obtain information about the surrounding civilization.
Survive.
Optional Objective:
Use your Mechanic class to create or repair one functional machine.
Reward:
Unknown.
Sans stared at the word survive.
His grin remained.
But something behind it changed.
That word wasn't funny.
He knew a thing or two about surviving.
He also knew that worlds tended to become much less friendly once people started dying.
Sans looked toward the city again.
No idea where he was.
No idea how he'd arrived.
No idea whether Papyrus was okay.
That last thought lingered.
Sans' hands tightened slightly inside his pockets.
Then loosened.
Panicking wouldn't help.
Information first.
Everything else later.
"guess we're doing this the boring way."
He looked around.
"research."
Sans wandered through the junkyard for roughly fifteen minutes.
It was awful.
Not dangerous.
Just awful.
Walking was involved.
Lots of it.
"terrible world."
He stepped over a broken engine.
"absolutely barbaric."
His eye caught something.
A small machine lay beneath several pieces of twisted metal.
Sans stopped.
It was roughly the size of a basketball.
Circular central body.
Four damaged propulsion arms.
Camera mounted on the front.
Drone.
Probably.
Sans crouched.
The moment his fingers touched the machine—
DING!
[DAMAGED RECONNAISSANCE DRONE]
Quality: White — Common
Condition: 17%
Status: Nonfunctional
Damage Detected
Power regulator destroyed.
Propulsion unit #2 disconnected.
Optical sensor misaligned.
Internal wiring damaged.
Control processor operational.
Repair Difficulty:
Easy
Estimated Success Rate:
26%
Sans tilted his skull.
"twenty-six percent?"
He tapped the drone.
"buddy, i've passed tests with worse odds."
Nothing happened.
"...not many, though."
Sans opened the damaged casing.
Immediately—
Information flooded his mind.
Not complete knowledge.
The class wasn't magically handing him the answer.
Instead, things that would previously have looked meaningless suddenly had context.
That copper line carried power.
That component regulated voltage.
The burned section interrupted the circuit.
That motor still worked.
The processor hadn't been destroyed.
Sans stared at the interior.
Interesting.
The Mechanic class didn't simply make his hands smarter.
It changed how he understood what he was seeing.
Sans pulled several nearby scraps toward himself.
A wire.
No.
Too badly corroded.
A small capacitor.
Wrong specification.
A half-broken power module.
Maybe.
He searched.
A minute later he found another ruined machine and removed two intact components.
His interface updated.
Estimated Repair Success Rate: 43%
"getting warmer."
He continued.
Unscrewed the regulator.
Replaced damaged wiring.
Adjusted the optical sensor.
Then Sans reached the ruined propulsion arm.
He stared at it.
No replacement.
"Hm."
His eye glowed faintly blue.
The broken metal lifted.
Several tiny components floated with it.
Sans manipulated them in midair with gravity magic.
A screw rotated.
A plate moved.
Two wires aligned.
The interface froze.
[UNKNOWN ENERGY INTERFERENCE DETECTED][Mechanical operation continuing...][NEW METHOD RECORDED]
Sans' grin widened.
"oh."
Now that was interesting.
Mechanic abilities understood machines.
His magic manipulated matter.
The two systems weren't originally designed to work together.
Which meant—
Sans tightened a screw without touching it.
His repair speed increased.
"...heh."
Maybe this class wasn't so bad.
A few minutes later, he closed the drone's casing.
Pressed the power switch.
Nothing.
Sans stared.
"..."
He pressed it again.
Nothing.
"c'mon."
Nothing.
Sans leaned closer.
"don't make me look bad in front of the imaginary audience."
BZZZT!
The drone jolted violently.
Sans leaned backward.
Its propellers spun.
One sputtered.
Then stabilized.
The machine slowly lifted into the air.
Ten centimeters.
Twenty.
Half a meter.
The optical sensor illuminated blue.
[REPAIR SUCCESSFUL]Completion Rating: 71%You gained 180 EXP.[Basic Maintenance] proficiency increased.[Basic Assembly] proficiency increased.Bonus discovered:
Magic-assisted mechanical manipulation
This method is currently unclassified.
Continued experimentation may produce a unique mechanic technique.
Sans stared at the final message.
Unique technique.
Now that sounded useful.
The little drone rotated toward him.
BEEP.
Sans raised a hand.
"heya."
BEEP.
"you're not gonna explode, right?"
BEEP.
Sans nodded.
"good talk."
He stood.
The drone followed.
Sans took three steps.
It followed again.
"welp."
He looked toward the city.
"guess i've got a sidekick."
The drone bumped directly into the back of his skull.
BONK.
Sans slowly turned around.
"...we're gonna work on personal space."
A metallic scrape echoed somewhere behind him.
Sans stopped.
The drone stopped.
Another sound.
SCRAAAAAPE.
Then another.
Something heavy moved behind one of the scrap piles.
Sans' posture remained relaxed.
But his attention sharpened.
Five red lights appeared inside the darkness.
The interface flashed.
[HOSTILE MACHINES DETECTED]
Scrap Reclamation Units ×5
Level: 3–4
Condition: Damaged
Directive: Salvage unauthorized machinery and eliminate interference.
Sans looked at his drone.
Then at the machines emerging from the darkness.
So that explained what counted as unauthorized machinery.
The first machine crawled forward on six metal limbs.
Its frame was bulky and industrial, designed more for tearing apart scrap than fighting.
Unfortunately, a hydraulic claw capable of splitting an engine didn't particularly care about job descriptions.
A second unit emerged.
Then a third.
Five total.
Sans sighed.
"y'know..."
One machine charged.
"...i just fixed that."
The claw descended.
Sans vanished.
CRASH!
Metal struck empty ground.
Sans reappeared behind it.
His hand remained inside his pocket.
The machine rotated.
Too slow.
A bone shot upward through its central chassis.
BANG!
The machine flew backward.
Its health bar appeared.
-82 HP
Sans blinked.
Not destroyed.
Interesting.
Back home, things didn't come with helpful floating numbers.
The machine rose again.
Its armor was dented but functional.
"tough crowd."
Two more attacked from opposite directions.
Sans' left eye flashed blue.
Both machines stopped in midair.
Metal shrieked.
Sans lifted one hand.
The machines slammed together.
CRASH!
[You dealt 121 damage.][You dealt 117 damage.]
Still moving.
Sans frowned slightly.
The world wasn't weakening his magic.
But the interface was translating what he did into its own system.
Or trying to.
A fourth machine opened its chassis.
Sans saw a barrel.
His grin vanished.
"ah."
The barrel flashed.
Sans shortcut sideways.
BOOM!
The projectile tore through a scrap pile where he'd stood.
Pieces of steel rained across the ground.
That could have hurt.
A lot.
Sans had never exactly been known for taking hits.
Some things apparently remained universal.
"okay."
His blue eye ignited.
"my turn."
Bones erupted around the machines.
Not randomly.
Sans aimed at joints.
Motors.
Sensors.
Power housings.
He'd spent the last fifteen minutes examining machinery.
Now he knew where machines hated being hit.
One bone shattered a leg joint.
Another pierced an optical sensor.
A third jammed a rotating motor.
The reclamation units stumbled.
His repaired drone suddenly darted forward.
BZZZT!
A tiny electrical discharge struck the damaged sensor of one unit.
The machine spasmed.
Sans stared.
"...huh."
The drone beeped proudly.
"look at you."
The remaining reclamation unit charged.
Sans snapped his fingers.
A bone erupted directly beneath it.
The machine flipped onto its back.
Sans walked closer.
Its legs thrashed.
The interface displayed exposed components automatically.
Power supply.
Processor.
Servo system.
Sans looked at the machine.
Then at the wreckage of the others.
His grin widened.
Not because he was about to destroy it.
Because he had just realized something.
"why break perfectly good parts?"
The machine's claw swung.
Sans leaned half an inch backward.
It missed.
"rude."
His eye flashed.
The claw tore itself from the machine.
CRUNCH!
The reclamation unit shut down.
[COMBAT COMPLETE]Enemies Defeated: 5EXP Gained: 460Mechanic Analysis Bonus: +90 EXPSalvage available.
Sans looked around.
Five destroyed machines.
Motors.
Armor.
Power units.
Sensors.
Processors.
Weapons.
His repaired drone hovered beside him.
Sans was silent for several seconds.
Then he looked toward the distant city.
Then back at the machines.
Then city.
Machines.
"...nah."
He sat down.
The drone beeped questioningly.
"city can wait."
Sans picked up a damaged power core.
"free stuff."
Nearly an hour passed.
For Sans, this counted as a truly unforgivable amount of labor.
But he couldn't stop.
Every machine contained something new.
Different alloys.
Different wiring.
Different power designs.
Different processing systems.
He dismantled the least damaged reclamation unit carefully.
Notifications appeared constantly.
[You dismantled Scrap Reclamation Unit.]Basic Assembly proficiency increased.You obtained:
Micro Servo ×7
Reinforced Alloy Plate ×4
Damaged Optical Sensor ×1
Standard Processor ×1
Compact Power Cell ×1
Hydraulic Claw ×1
Sans held the compact power cell.
The Mechanic interface displayed its internal structure.
Complex.
Far beyond anything in the Underground.
But not impossible.
That distinction mattered.
Impossible meant stop.
Complex meant nap first.
Then figure it out.
Maybe two naps.
Sans stored the best components inside a crude carrier made from scrap.
Another notification appeared.
[Mechanic (Novice) has reached sufficient EXP for advancement.]Spend 200 EXP to increase Mechanic (Novice) to Lv.2?
Sans stared.
Experience.
Levels.
Skills.
Blueprints.
Potential points.
A whole system built around becoming stronger through knowledge and machinery.
Back home, Sans had understood how dangerous numbers could become.
LV.
EXP.
Stats.
He knew exactly what happened when someone became obsessed with making numbers rise.
His expression didn't change.
But he didn't press Yes.
Not yet.
"heh."
The drone beeped.
Sans looked at it.
"nothing."
He dismissed the notification.
"just remembering something."
The drone couldn't understand.
Probably.
Sans stood.
Then a new message appeared.
Not from his interface.
From the dead machine.
A tiny red transmitter began blinking.
BEEP.
Sans looked down.
BEEP.
His Mechanic interface automatically analyzed it.
[EMERGENCY SIGNAL TRANSMITTER]Status: ACTIVEDistress transmission sent successfully.Destination: Municipal Reclamation NetworkResponse unit dispatched.Estimated arrival:
09:58
09:57
09:56
Sans stared.
"..."
The drone beeped.
Sans looked toward the city.
Then toward the countdown.
Then at the pile of stolen machine parts.
"...okay."
He grabbed his scrap carrier.
"now the city can't wait."
The drone followed as Sans began walking.
After three steps—
he stopped.
Walking.
Right.
Sans looked toward the city several kilometers away.
Then looked at the drone.
His eye glowed.
Space bent.
POP.
Sans vanished.
The drone dropped out of the air.
CLANG!
Three seconds later Sans reappeared.
He stared at it.
"...forgot about you."
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
"yeah, yeah."
Sans picked it up.
He tucked the protesting machine beneath one arm.
"don't worry."
His grin widened.
"i know a shortcut."
Space folded again.
Behind him, the junkyard remained silent.
For approximately nine more minutes.
Then dozens of lights descended from the sky.
Armed machines landed among the wreckage.
Scanners swept across the battlefield.
One machine stopped beside the hole where Sans had vanished.
Its sensor flashed.
[UNKNOWN ENERGY RESIDUE DETECTED.][NO DATABASE MATCH.][TARGET CLASSIFICATION UPDATED.]UNKNOWN SUPER.POSSIBLE MECHANIC.THREAT LEVEL: UNDETERMINED.
Far away—
Sans appeared on a hill overlooking the enormous city.
Lights reflected inside his empty eye sockets.
Ships crossed the sky.
Thousands—maybe millions—of unfamiliar people moved below.
An entirely new world.
New rules.
New technology.
And somewhere inside all of it was an answer to the only question Sans actually cared about.
How did he get here?
His interface appeared one final time.
[BEGINNER MISSION UPDATED]Where Am I?
Optional Objective Complete: Repair a functional machine.
New Objective: Enter the city and acquire local information.
Hidden Condition Triggered:
You have combined foreign supernatural abilities with Mechanic techniques.
New Personal Quest:MAGIC AND MACHINERY
Develop your first original machine incorporating both systems.
Reward:
Unique Blueprint Generation unlocked.
Sans' grin sharpened.
Now that was interesting.
A bone appeared above one hand.
The damaged drone floated above the other.
Magic.
Technology.
Two systems that had never been meant to meet.
Sans looked down at the city.
"welp."
The blue light in his left eye flickered.
"let's see what happens when we put 'em together."
And for the first time since arriving in Galaxy—
Sans was actually interested enough to work.
Which, depending on who you asked—
might have been the most terrifying development of all.
END OF CHAPTER 1