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[ribticklers]

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[ribticklers]

[No family name, then. That doesn't seem necessarily that odd, except Sayori clearly expects that she should have one. Sans watches her.] D'you know anyone from back home who has a family name?

[hxppythxughts]

[chr = "monika"

print(chr.find("surname"))
print(chr.index("surname"))

C:\██████████████
-1
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "██████████████", line ██ in ███████████
print(chr.index("surname"))
ValueError: substring not found

chr = "yuri"

print(chr.find("surname"))
print(chr.index("surname"))

C:\██████████████
-1
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "██████████████", line ██ in ███████████
print(chr.index("surname"))
ValueError: substring not found

chr = "natsuki"

print(chr.find("surname"))
print(chr.index("surname"))

C:\██████████████
-1
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "██████████████", line ██ in ███████████
print(chr.index("surname"))
ValueError: substring not found

She presses her lips together and shakes her head slowly.] ...if they do, I can't remember any of them.

[ribticklers]

Then I guess the question is why you think it's strange you don't have one. [Sans is working through possibilities, but he doesn't know if an answer will actually be helpful here.]

[hxppythxughts]

[Maybe compared to her friends, it's not weird, but--as a whole, there's something missing.

She takes a wrapped candy off of the bed to fidget with.] Because... I come from a normal world. We don't have monsters, or magic, or, um, big bases on the moon like this. I just...go to school and the Literature Club with my friends. What did I write on my tests if I don't have a last name? How--how'd I even enroll in school?

[Plus, it seems like most of her memories of her actual classes were in question too. The clearest memories were all of the Literature Club.]

[ribticklers]

[The implication there is that Sayori can't remember what she wrote on her tests.]

You'd think, if everybody you know from home only has one name, you'd be more surprised any of us have them than that you don't. [It's a weird thought to hold in your head, which probably means it's relevant to the situation.]

My guess is you've never had a last name.

[hxppythxughts]

[Again, it's hard to admit. It's like she has to force it out--her voice is small and strained] ...that's what I thought too.

[That's what Miss Zarves implied.

But if that's the case, then...

She falls quiet and doesn't speak of the dozens of other fuzzy memories they saw. The plastic wrapper of the candy crinkles as her grip on it tenses.]

[ribticklers]

Have some more candy, kiddo, you'll feel better. [That probably doesn't work on everybody. Sans is still thinking, though.]

[hxppythxughts]

[Well, it can't really make things worse. (It could if it was one of the weird candies but she made sure it wasn't.)

She nods and twists open the wrapper to pop the candy in her mouth. The plastic remains between her fingers for further fidgeting. Her speech does admittedly lose some gravitas when she has to talk around the candy.] ...I just don't understand why I thought I remembered all that stuff if I didn't.

[ribticklers]

[There are things Sans could think to do to test the extent of her memory. Questions he could ask. Maybe more, depending on if he decided to look in the library or just keep going right now.]

You don't have to think about this stuff. Not if you don't want. You're gettin' along okay here. [Well, as much as someone like Sayori could be expected to. But what he's asking, without actually asking, is "do you actually want to dig into all this?"]

[hxppythxughts]

Mm. [She looks down at her bracer again, still open to show the screen.] Miss Zarves said something like that too.

[Considering her circumstances, Sayori's done pretty well with not thinking about it around other people. But when she's alone, thinking about the remains of her world in the Hunger's insatiable belly, and how unqualified she is to be doing something so serious, it's like a stuffy nose--impossible to ignore when all you want to do is sleep.

She looks up from the wrapper to meet Sans's gaze, unusually serious.] ...you have people from home that you care about, right? People you love?

If you realized one day that you couldn't remember the name of the person you love most... Wouldn't you want to know why?

[ribticklers]

[Sans suspected it would be an answer sort of like that. Not in the specifics, but one that means they'll be going down this particular rabbit hole.]

Then I guess we're starting with you tellin' me about your world. Not specifics. What kind of places do people live in? Who do they live with? What do kids do? How 'bout adults?

[hxppythxughts]

[Despite the heavy tone of the conversation, Sayori cracks a bit of a smile.] Geez, I didn't know there was gonna be a quiz.

But, um, okay... We live in houses? Most of them have two stories. I could probably jump from my house to the house next to mine if I were better at jumping.

People... ["Who do they live with" is a difficult question considering what she talked about with Mista. The shift in her expression as she turns over the question is obvious.] ...people...live with their families. [And then, something she can say with certainty:] I know Natsuki lives with her dad. Kids are raised by their parents...they go to school and stuff. They're kinda supposed to do extracurriculars so they learn how to socialize and don't turn into NEETs. And...adults have jobs and boring stuff.

[ribticklers]

[Sounds basically like what Sans knows of humans from his world. Good, Sans can work with that. He picks up on the way Sayori's expression shifts as she talks about families and starts there.] What's your family like?

[hxppythxughts]

[Her shoulders slump as she averts her eyes.] I can't remember. Mista was wondering where they all were.

The only person I can remember from growing up is my best friend.

[ribticklers]

[Sans slots together the logic, which is simple enough.] If it's like your name, it's because you don't have one.

[Is it cruel to just say it? Is it worse not to? Sans doesn't know, but the mathematics is so basic that the path of least resistance is to fill in the best answer.]

[hxppythxughts]

[She thinks back to the memories that Mista saw. He was wondering where they were because he never saw them. And no matter how much Sayori tries to remember, she never saw them, either.

The candy transitions from sweet to sour on her tongue.

Her parents. Her teachers. Her classmates...

She wraps her arms around herself with another small crinkle of plastic.] Then all those other people...

[ribticklers]

[Another question, before he can think too much about the look on her face:] How many people back home did you meet, ever?

[hxppythxughts]

[That's a difficult question even for a normal person--who can keep track of everyone they've ever met? Especially someone as friendly as Sayori?

But her disposition being what it is, it's even stranger that she tries and tries, and...] There's... there's Monika, Yuri, Natsuki...

[A heavy pause.] ...my best friend...

[She trails off. She can't think of any other names.]

[ribticklers]

[Simplest conclusion: that's all the people who exist. It's also absolutely bizarre. Sans continues, relentless.] Who's your best friend?

[hxppythxughts]

[She shakes her head, closing her eyes.] His name's gone too. But I remember him. I've known him as long as I can think of. He--we took care of each other when we were kids. We'd play outside, and I'd do something dumb and get hurt and he'd tell me to be more careful, and...he cooked for me and helped me clean when I--

[She winces a little, still finding it reflex to avoid speaking candidly about her mental health.] Um, when I was tired. He joined the Literature Club because I asked him to.

[ribticklers]

[So he exists, but without a name? Why doesn't he have a name? Potentially dangerous question--when you start asking why, you might start thinking about something that slots neatly into cause and effect the way a human or a monster thinks of it, instead of the random chaos of the universe.]

It's as if your world only partially exists. [A more serious tone than Sans takes under almost every circumstance.] Have you ever gone to another place? Another town, besides where you live?

[hxppythxughts]

[When he says it like that, though the idea is repulsive, it does make sense. But why would her world be like that?

Again, she shakes her head in the negative.] Nowhere besides here.

[ribticklers]

[Of course, that's a fun philosophical game, isn't it--if you haven't seen it, can you guarantee it exists at all? Without a way to look into Sayori's world, which if you trust Lucretia is in the stomach of something that might not even be alive in the way they understand it, Sans remains trapped within the small reality Sayori has seen. A reality with chunks missing.

Maybe if Sans hadn't been doing so much research into his own world, drowning in timelines and endless loops, he wouldn't have a suggestion at all. But he does.]

A simulated world.

[hxppythxughts]

[It's such a ridiculous suggestion that for a moment, Sayori forgets to feel afraid. She looks back to Sans and furrows her eyebrows, her head tilted just slightly in question.] A...simulated world?

Do you mean like the Arena? Or, uh, what Miss Zarves did to the arcade? [Does Sans even know about that...he's been in the infirmary...]

[ribticklers]

A world entirely simulated on a computer. [So, sort of, but generally without the ability to interact with the real world.]