Chapter Text
As you peer into the world with the suspects, here is what you see:
"No way out—nothing!" Killer kicked a rock in the garden. "This sucks!"
"It's not even a real universe; it's just a shoddy excerpt meant to trap us." Error grumbled, leaning against the outside wall of the house. "They really want to crack us, I guess."
"Can't they read minds?" Cross crossed his arms. "Why bother with all this?"
"If they could, we wouldn't be here right now." Nightmare reasoned. "So, clearly, they can't."
Nightmare and his group had assembled in the garden, likely just wanting to get away from the Star Sanses; there was no truce or peace agreement of any kind in their multiverse, after all. Tensions were high, and the fact that the two sides were now stuck here changed nothing; why would it? To have undeniable proof that one simply existed because someone else willed them to, and to believe that all their troubles and worries existed simply to entertain those creators?
It was far easier to reject that entirely and pretend their petty squabbles still meant something.
"I don't like having people in my head." Dust sighed from his spot on a bench. "I hate this."
"Me, neither.." Horror had to agree; being probed like this wasn't pleasant, by any means.
"Is this what you go through on the regular?" Killer asked, glancing over at the glitch.
"No, they typically don't interrogate—just scream and yell." Error replied. "I might have liked the screaming and yelling better.."
"Well, it can only get worse." Dust pointed out. "They've put us here, so clearly, they're intending to ramp things up.."
"I just hope they don't fight.."
"..What's a creator fight like?" Horror wondered.
"It's..not pleasant. Not for us, anyway. For them, it'll probably be a simple exchange with a few harsh words; for us, it..well, one of them could be trying to torture you while another materializes blankets and plushies to try to comfort you. They never make up their minds.."
"Ah..that sounds horrible, actually.." Cross's expression was covered in concern.
"Whatever happens, we have to keep our wits about us." Nightmare reminded. "The less they can get out of us, the better."
"Is there even a way out of this to matter?" Dust shook his skull. "We're stuck here—presumably until they get what they want. What are our options? Do we have any?"
"..That remains to be seen. But, at least..if anyone cracks, it had better be them. We're far more capable of handling situations like this than the Stars are, and if it comes down to it, we're going to last longer."
"Made of spite, made of spite!" Killer started chanting, but no one joined him.
"Yeah..I guess." Error glared at the ground. "I don't really count on any of us breaking, though."
"It's a miracle Ink hasn't already told them everything, with how he goes on and on about them." Horror scoffed. "He makes me sick."
"They're all sickening." Nightmare informed. "At least we're not stuck in a room with them."
"That's one good thing." Cross supposed. "What do we do now, then?"
"I suppose we can split up..in pairs. Keep eachother accountable. Let's see how inescapable this place really is."
"Sounds good, boss!" Killer finally stopped chanting; that had been getting annoying.
"I'm sticking with you." Error looked to Nightmare. "You're the most sane one here."
"Hey!" Cross glared. "I'm not insane!"
"Wow, way to throw the rest of us under the bus." Dust deadpanned. "Not that you're wrong, but.."
"Come on, Crossy! Let's see if there's anything in this forest, or whatever." Killer grabbed Cross's wrist, dragging the poor soul away.
"Wait, I'm not ready- Killer!" Cross was dragged away against his will.
"Guess that leaves us." Horror patted Dust's back. "Let's see if there's any food in this place."
"Sounds good." Dust agreed. "When should we meet back up?"
"Whenever fate decides." Nightmare replied, glancing back at the forest. "If this place has a form of time, I'd prefer around dinnertime."
"Good enough for me." Error accepted that. "I think I saw a basement; if anything important's here, it's probably there."
"Ah? Then lead the way."
With that, the two groups split up, with Dust and Horror heading to the kitchen and Error and Nightmare making their ways to the basement.
Meanwhile, in the dining room of the house, the Star Sanses and Core Frisk were gathered. Core, Dream, and Blue were seated at the table, while Ink had his face pressed up against the window.
"They're splitting up!" Ink announced, excitedly. "Just like a horror movie! Except not exactly, since they've got a buddy system, but whatever!"
"Might not hurt to do that ourselves." Core Frisk admitted. "The only places here we've really seen are our rooms and here."
The second floor of the house was non-euclidean. It fit bedrooms for everyone, and upon being brought here, everyone had "spawned" in their own room. The rooms were clearly designed by creators who hadn't made them; they were nothing like their rooms in their multiverse, and they had weird items that fit only stereotypical views of them. For example, Core Frisk's room was monochrome. Anyone who knew Core Frisk knew that they hated monochrome. Fortunately, Dream had been kind enough to agree to swap rooms with the omnipresent (not so omnipresent anymore, unfortunately) child, not minding the overabundance of gray.
"Looks like they're out there, so where else is left?" Blue asked. "Here and the living room?"
"There's no way out of here." Ink shrugged. "We should just relax; the creators will be here soon, and we won't have any chances to escape with them watching."
"Ink, we can't just give up." Dream shook his skull. "I'm not going to wait here for them to come and interrogate us! If we have a chance to get out of here, it's here and now!"
"But how?" Core Frisk wondered. "We don't have our abilities, magic or otherwise; what can we do?"
"I don't know." Dream admitted. "But we can't just give up; there has to be a way out of this, somehow!"
"I don't like being here, either, Dream." Blue sighed, a slight staticky sound accompanying it. "But.."
"I get it." Dream gently put a hand over one of Blue's, slowly enough that it didn't trigger more than a few glitches. "How are you holding up?"
"..Could be better."
"We'll get through this, Blue." Core Frisk assured. "All of us will get through this."
Blue looked down, before nodding. "Y-yeah..we will.."
He didn't sound convinced. It made sense, with what the current situation really was. If the wrong person was accused of committing the act (or even if the creators did catch the real culprit), bad things would happen. The only way they were getting out of this unscathed would be if they either found a way to escape this place or if the creators let them all go for some reason.
That second option wasn't going to happen.
"Well, maybe it would do us some good to split up, too." Ink decided. "It would make for a more compelling story."
"Ink, this is not a story!" Dream glared. "There are lives on the line—your own being one of them!"
"And it's exciting! I wonder how this will go; there are so many unanswered questions!"
Blue frowned, looking at Core Frisk and Dream. "Maybe we can explore this floor together, and Ink can..go see if there's an attic?"
"Ooh, good idea!" Ink beamed. "I hope there is; maybe we'll be able to see the edge of the world from up there, or access the roof!"
"..Yeah." Core Frisk said.
"Well, you go do that, then, and we'll look around here." Dream made a shooing gesture with his free hand.
"All right!" Ink agreed, heading upstairs. "See you later!"
"See you.." Blue sighed as the artist left. "He's crazy."
"He's always been crazy." Dream admitted. "But..he means well. I think. If he was going to betray us, he would have done it already, so..I think it's fine to let him go alone."
"I'll never understand how he sees everyone as characters in a story." Core Frisk frowned. "Then again, I'm really feeling like one right now.."
"It's..hard not to." Blue agreed. "I mean, I knew the creators were real, in the back of my head, but now..it's harder to ignore something that's breathing down your neck.."
"And threatening our lives." Dream added, leaning back in his chair. Then, suddenly, he paused. "Hey.."
"Yeah?" Blue looked over to his friend. "Is something wrong?"
"..Are either of you feeling..watched?"
~~~characters open for interrogation~~~
¤ Nightmare and Error: basement.
¤ Cross and Killer: forest.
¤ Dust and Horror: kitchen.
¤ Ink: attic (there is in fact an attic).
¤ Dream, Blue, and Core Frisk: dining room.
Characters in a group will hear messages to their partners, unless a message is explicitly stated to be private. Please only message one group at a time per creator. Multiple creators may message the same group. The hivemind script {next update} will provide you with the compiled investigations across all groups.
Begin your questioning.