Now, what kind of equation should he leave? Oh, he knew. Something that'd force them to need help. Break one of the machines, make a part only repairable by having a certain knowledge set. Seal it off in a similar fashion to the boarder entrapping Bill. So Sixer will have no choice but to come back.

Perfect.

Alphys sighed, pulling back from the machine. Toby Fox, it was unfixable. She didn't know what happened to it, but it was as if something just warped inside of the machine. Nothing worked anymore. The worst part was this machine was Mettaton's charging station, it took months to build. He would be out of commission in a day if it wasn't fixed.

"He won't die, right?" Mabel asked.

Alphys glanced over at the teenager, watching her bounce with anxiety. The machine's been broken since yesterday, and nothing seems to be helping. No amount of trial and error amounted to anything, the science was simply different than her field.

Mabel was a nice friend, easily becoming friends with many of the monsters. Alphys and her shared a passion for shows and girly things, so they became good friends. Mabel often came to her for romance trouble, since she and Undyne had a steady relationship, and Dipper often came to be her lab assistant. They came in today to check the situation on the machine, worried about the robot they've come to see as a friend.

"No, he won't," Alphys muttered, "It'll just trap him in his body, or he'll have to go back to being a ghost. But I can't figure out what's even wrong with it. I might have to build a whole new machine."

"I can help!" Dipper said.

"That'd be great, but still, it'll really delay Mettaton's show, and I know Pacifica was really excited to be on it..."

Alphys crossed her arms. It'd set back her own schedule as well. She wouldn't be able to help Papyrus with the restaurant, either. Well, shoot. She had to at least figure out why the machine broke.

"Should we call Grunkle Ford?" Dipper asked, picking at the large lab coat that dragged on the floor behind the boy.

"No, no, he's on his trip, I don't want to... to bother him," Alphys said, "I know someone else. He might be able to fix it."

"Someone else?" Mabel asked.

~~~~~~

"Heya."

Dipper peaked out from around Alphys, staring at the short skeleton monster before offering a wave. He knew Sans, he was Papyrus' older brother. A bit odd, considering their height, but it made sense. Sans once acted as Dippers guardian when Dipper couldn't play Dungeons, Dungeons, and more Dungeons without one at a convention, so he was pretty cool.

"Thanks for coming, Sans," Alphys breathed, pushing open the door.

"Sup," Sans said, winking at them.

"Sans? I didn't know you knew science!" Mabel said.

"Eh, used to be a scientist. Not really one anymore" Sans stepped inside, shutting the door behind him. "And tibia honest, I was just an assistant."

Alphys quickly ushered him to the machine the moment he finished. It was brought out into the middle of the room, lights occasionally glitching from the problem. Mabel held Waddles, twisting back and forth on her feet as she stared at the problem.

"I'm not sure what's wrong with it!" Alphys said nervously, starting to pace back and forth. "I mean, it worked fine, but suddenly the console is broken! It doesn't transfer the data, so it just charges the machine but it doesn't bring the power to Mettaton's battery! And -"

"Done."

The three people's jaws dropped as Sans stood back up, hitting the side of the machine. Finally did it spark to life, jolting with power.

"Really?" Alphys asked.

Sans nodded, pulling away and scratching the back of his neck. "Yeah. For some weird reason your console created a miniature... I guess barrier is the right word. It basically warps the power into it and kept it there, I dunno how you even managed to get that to happen, that's some quantum physics stuff right there. It was an easy fix."

"Oh thank Toby, I didn't want to - I mean - we almost -"

"Alph, it's fine, ya can always call me if this happens again. It's a real easy fix. Once you know the equation you just fill in the numbers for the situation. It's kinda... it's real similar to the one around the town, the one your Grunkes warned me about. Maybe Gravity Falls just has a habit of creating those."

Dipper winced at the reminder of last summer. He knew his Grunkles had a conversation with the King of monsters when they arrived, no doubt about the warnings put in place. Bill was gone, yes, but they still had to be careful, and make sure monsters knew about the weirdness force field, about their history. To never trust demons.

With a sigh, he pushed back his hat. "Maybe," Dipper muttered.

He ignored the bad feeling in his gut. Bill was dead. It'd be fine.