[Throwing Chara under the bus for the sake of pretending that everything's okay isn't a viable option either. They're not willing to pretend even to themselves that they can pin all the bad on Chara, that the Frisk they present to the world is always perfect and never regressed due to their own curiosity. That would be a lie.]
...it wouldn't work, anyway. She saw me cut her down. That doesn't just go away. You know that.
[For the same reason Sans had to ask before giving them a hug. The same reason they shudder at the memories of Papyrus's head leaving his body, or Undyne's eye flashing with a silvery spear-shaped light.]
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[Throwing Chara under the bus for the sake of pretending that everything's okay isn't a viable option either. They're not willing to pretend even to themselves that they can pin all the bad on Chara, that the Frisk they present to the world is always perfect and never regressed due to their own curiosity. That would be a lie.]
...it wouldn't work, anyway. She saw me cut her down. That doesn't just go away. You know that.
[For the same reason Sans had to ask before giving them a hug. The same reason they shudder at the memories of Papyrus's head leaving his body, or Undyne's eye flashing with a silvery spear-shaped light.]