Snowdin: Skeletons household
Mecha sat up, his systems humming back to life. His internal Hud flickered briefly before shutting off, confirming that he'd at least somewhat recovered. He got up, rubbing his head as he got out of the room he was in.
Exiting He saw Papyrus nearby
Papyrus was standing in the hallway outside of sans room, arms crossed, his expression shifted from annoyance at sans laziness to concern, and determination. "AH! MECHA YOU'RE AWAKE! EXCELLENT! THEN YOU ARE READY TO JUDGE MY PASTA WITH A CLEAR MIND!"
Mecha blinked. Oh right… the spaghettification incident.
He sighed and walked towards the stairs, stretching his joints with a few metallic clicks and whirs. "Look, Paps," he said, rolling his shoulders, "I'll come back later and give you a full review. Right now, I gotta get back to work."
Papyrus gasped. "BUT YOU JUST DIED FROM THE SHEER FLAVOR OF MY COOKING! SHOULDN'T YOU BE RECOVERING?"
Mecha shook his head. "I didn't die, Paps. Just… shut down for a bit." He gave him a tired thumbs-up. "I'll be fine."
Papyrus put his hands on his hips. "HMM… WELL, IF YOU INSIST! BUT YOU BETTER COME BACK! I REQUIRE A FULL, DETAILED REPORT ON HOW MY CULINARY MASTERPIECE CHANGED YOUR LIFE!"
Mecha screen smirked and gave a lazy salute. "Yeah, yeah, I promise."
Just as he turned to leave, a voice suddenly spoke from directly behind him.
"leavin' so soon, buddy?"
Mecha froze. He knew that voice.
before he could even turn around, he heard papyrus warning sans, "SANS, DONT YOU DARE. HE JUST WOKE UP HE DOESNT NEED TO HEAR YOUR TERRIBLE JOKES."
"Oh, i gotta do this Paps," Sans replied, grinning as he leaned casually against the doorframe. "you sure you're good to go? 'cause from the looks of it, you're still runnin' on pasta fumes."
Mecha groaned. "I knew you were gonna make a pun on one of those, didn't expect for you to do both."
Sans chuckled. "heh. what can i say? it's a spaghett-about-it kinda situation."
Papyrus, meanwhile, dramatically threw his hands into the air. "SANS! STOP MOCKING THE FINE ART OF PASTA!"
Mecha just sighed and walked down the stairs, waving lazily as he headed out the door. "You guys have fun. I've got a day's worth of repairs to catch up on."
Mecha stretched his arms as he stepped onto the snowy path outside Sans and Papyrus's home, the cold air biting at his metal frame. His systems had mostly stabilized, though his energy reserves were still running on fumes. Not that it mattered. He had work to do.
Just as he took his first step forward, Sans appeared beside him in a flash of blue light, hands in his hoodie pockets.
"you sure you should be headin' out already?" Sans asked, tilting his head. "ya just woke up from a pasta-induced coma. maybe take it easy for a bit?"
Mecha scoffed, shaking his head. "Me? Take a break? Yeah right." He rolled his shoulders, his servos whining slightly. "Tell you what, I'll take a break the day you stop being lazy."
Sans chuckled. "welp, guess that means never, huh?"
Mecha grinned. "Exactly."
With that, he gave Sans a lazy wave and started walking down the path, his heavy footsteps crunching against the snow. He had a long day ahead of him—his schedule was packed with repairs, and he wasn't about to let a little exhaustion slow him down.
Sans watched him go, his grin fading just slightly.
"… just don't break yourself before you get a chance to fix yourself, tin man," he yelled before disappearing in a flash of blue, before Mecha could say something.
"Dramatic asshole." Mecha muttered, a comeback dying before it could even leave his screen.
Mecha trudged through Snowdin's outskirts, the snow falling from the distant cavern ceiling. He had barely gotten any real rest, but that wasn't anything new. A repairman's work was never done.
His first stop for the day: Martlet's bridge puzzle.
She had called him last night, her voice buzzing with frustration clearly heard from the receiver in his left arm. Apparently, her latest puzzle—one involving retractable bridges—had stopped functioning properly. Mecha wasn't surprised. Martlet was brilliant when it came to designing traps and contraptions, but actual structural integrity? Not so much.
As he approached the river where her puzzle was set up, he spotted her standing by a control panel, tapping her foot impatiently. Her wings(Arms?) were crossed, her signature blue bandana draped over her shoulders. She turned at the sound of his approach, her frown instantly shifting into relief.
"Finally! You have no idea how much of a headache this thing has been!" she groaned, waving her wings around.
Mecha rolled his eyes lights. "Sorry, just mentally preparing myself for whatever disaster you've cooked up this time."
Marlet scoffed but quickly gestured toward what was supposed to be a bridge. The sight nearly made Mecha's internal systems freeze up.
What remained of the bridge was a collection of splintered planks, tangled ropes, and twisted gears. The whole thing looked like it had been held together with sheer optimism. The mechanical system designed to raise and lower it had completely fallen apart, and the wooden support beams had snapped clean through.
Mecha let out a long sigh, placing a hand on his faceplate. "… Marlet. This isn't a puzzle. This is a safety hazard."
She folded her arms(wings). "It's supposed to be difficult! But yeah, okay, maybe it's a tiny bit unstable."
Mecha turned to look at her. "Tiny? Marlet, this thing is one strong gust of wind away from completely collapsing."
As if to prove his point, he pressed a button on the control panel. The gears groaned, the mechanisms rattled, and then—with a violent crack—the remaining planks gave way and the entire bridge plunged into the river below, disappearing into the rushing waters with a loud splash.
Marlet winced. "Okay, yeah. So… it might need a little work."
Mecha exhaled slowly. "I'm gonna have to rebuild this whole thing."
Marlet frowned. "Wait, all of it? Isn't that overkill?"
He gestured toward the river, now completely void of any bridge. "Overkill would've been someone trying to cross this thing and falling in."
Marlet groaned, rubbing her face. "Alright, fine! But I'm Royal Guard. I can't let you do this all on your own."
Of course. Mecha muttered something under his breath and cracked his knuckles, stepping forward. "Figures. Alright, let's get this over with."
He pulled out his toolkit, already mapping out the reconstruction process in his head. This was going to take a while.
He knelt beside the control panel, prying open the metal casing to inspect the wiring inside. Sparks flickered as he adjusted a few loose connections. Then he glanced toward the bridge—or what was left of it. Some of the pulleys had somehow rusted in time he was talking, the wooden planks weren't properly reinforced, and the counterweight system was completely misaligned.
"… I'm going to have to rebuild the control panel in its entirety as well," he muttered.
Marlet blinked. "Wait, what? Isn't that a bit dramatic?"
Mecha gave her a deadpan look. "Marlet. This bridge just fell apart by pressing a single button."
She pursed her beak(?). "... Fair point."
Mecha sighed, rolling up his jacket sleeves. "Alright, let's get to work. You're gonna paying for the supplies by the way."
A surprisingly none-bird like screech was his answer.
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