queen-of-stars-456

[queen-of-stars-456]

UnderIllness

Mini AU.

TW: Hospitals, Dire Illnesses, Life-Threatening conditions.

(In this story, Sans is the younger sibling.)

Lately, a fatal, life-threatening disease has been discovered in the underground, and it only affects monsters, humans can't have it. It's a random, non-infectuous disease that is present since birth.

It's called "Magic Failure". It causes the SOUL to not process or generate enough magic to keep the body alive and functional. Any kind of monster can have it, but the disease is specially agressive in skeleton monsters, since they rely 100% on their soul and magic, no organs whatsoever.

Without treatment, babies born with this condition are usually born sleeping, or they close their eyes forever after a few hours after birth. Even those babies who survive birth, they don't usually make it to their first year of life.

Sans was born with one of the most extreme cases of the disease. The doctors asked Gaster and Papyrus if they wanted to give Sans a quick and peaceful death, or use him to investigate the disease, potentially find a cure and keep him alive with the treatment only. They chose the latter.

And what's the treatment, then?

It's keeping Sans artificially alive by machines only. He's constantly under life support. There are tubes connected to his soul that pass to it the artificial magic and painkiller medicines. He also can't eat or do his needs by his own, he needs to do them always by tubes. Since the smallest wrong movement could easily kill him, he's perpetually confined in a hospital bed, or in a wheelchair. When he was born, he had a pacemaker connected to his soul, in case it fails and stops beating. If that happens, the pacemaker sends a strong electric shock to his body that leaves him physically weak (even weaker).

The disease is so strong, that if you just carefully hold or pat him, you already have some dust residue in your hands.

The side effect of the medicines are devastating. He's always with a weird, tired smile, even if he's not actually happy. He looks always tired and sleepy because he's always on drugs. Not to mention all the medicines left him with a short height and weight, and they also left him permanently stuck at the mental age of a 9 year old kid.

Even with all of those low quality life conditions, the life expectancy with these machines is still exceptionally low. The monster who lived the most in this conditions lived until his early 30's. This was an exceptional case, most cases live until their late teen years or until their early 20's at most, if not earlier. This is why most pregnant monsters with babies with the disease have the option of getting an abortion.

Papyrus gave up his dream of becoming a royal guard to help his brother in finding a cure to his fatal condition.

Sans loves his brother, and in general, loves having friends and talking to others (specially because he's most times completely alone in his hospital room in the ICU), but he also secretely kinda envies him, because Pap, unlike Sans, is healthy and can enjoy life properly.

Since he's mentally immature, he can't actually romatically love anyone. He just gets really attached to his loved ones easily.

He's touch starved. Though usually his medicines put him to sleep, he prefers falling asleep while hugging or cuddling someone, preferably with his head on the other person's chest, listening to their heartbeat/soulbeat. It's not only a soothing sound for him, it also lets him hear the life of the other person, and it's the closest thing he can experience of knowing what being healthy feels like.

In a human equivalent, Sans would have a disease that involves the following conditions:

- Kidney failure

- Low defenses

- Lack of iron in his blood

- Arrythmias (With a murmur), and eventually, heart failure

- Reflux

- Bronchospasms, or other respiratory track issues

---

Sans can't attack on his own. He can only float and move his own wheelchair and, at most, he can use his own machines to send electric shocks. But if he uses the latter, he gets exhausted easily.

Though he feels sometimes depressed about his condition, others he prefers being optimistic.

He's currently 21, but as I said before, he got permanently stuck at the mental age of a child. At age 21, he's currently one of the patients with magic failure that have lived the most.

He asked for being euthanized, but since he's like a child, his petition got denied multiple times.

If his frail health deteriorates even further, he'll be put in a coffin directly, disconnected from his machines, and let him say his final words. His dust would be spread in a place with flowers and plants.

---

You can:

Use Illness!Sans for fanarts and fanfiction, as long as you ask permission and give credit first

Use Illness!Sans for other media, with the same condition as the previous permission.

You can't:

Use this character for actual romantic shipping in any form. Friendship is ok, but heck, no romantic media involving him at all.

#undertale #undertale au #angst au #hospital #triggering themes