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Sans knows his name.
But a name is only ever a label.
Sans knows that the guy was the royal scientist before Alphys, and was responsible for the creation of the core.
Sans knows that he was around when Sans was still a scientist himself, acting as a monumental figurehead of the underground science community, and whose very existence inspired him to get a degree in physics.
But, even so, Sans can’t quite remember what the guy was like. Who was he, really?
Was he a serious scientist who took no jokes from anyone, and expected everyone to do their job properly; or was he extremely relaxed and allowing of a few breaks now and then in order to release the tension of designing the core? Or, instead, did he allow for a few breaks, but if you slacked off too much loomed over your shoulder like a serial killer and scared you back to your work station? (Sans laughed way harder than he should have at that idea.)
Did the ex-royal scientist care much for morals, respecting them as he would the laws of the underground, finding ways to work around them and spending lots of time doing so but nonetheless getting good results, or was he one to shortcut things despite the implications, but still achieve the same?
Would he have laughed as hard as the lady behind the door at Sans’ puns, given him a small chuckle as means of appreciation, or thrown Sans straight out of the lab in annoyance akin to his own brother?
(His brother didn’t have a lab to eject him out of, though. The lab at the back of their house didn’t count.)
Did he do other things beside science, like go places within the underground? If so where, and what did he do? Was he one to go to large gatherings, boasting of the achievements his team had made within the last few months to high ranking and rich monsters with a tall glass of bubbling champagne in hand; or was he the type to instead stick in the shadows of a small pub (like Grillby’s) with a laptop sitting on his lap, busy scrolling through his feed on UnderNet while an untouched bottle of beer sat on the table beside him?
Or, did he even drink alcohol at all?
Maybe he preferred water, or soda. Or was weird, like one of his team members, and drink a bottle of ketchup? (Wink wink)
(Nah. He didn’t seem the type.)
Maybe one of his own assistants had invited him places- maybe even to their own house. Sans vaguely wondered if he himself had indeed invited the guy around. If so, how had he handled the event? Did he stutter like a socially awkward idiot at the fact that his boss was sitting at their own dining table along with him; or was he cool, calm and collected, as he often was while doing a standup routine at MTT resort, and able to hold down a proper conversation with the guy?
In the back of his mind, Sans wondered if he had had a love interest.
(Sans wondered if he had noticed his own large crush on him. He didn’t know.)
A great guy, lost to a fatal fall off the edge of his own creation during an emergency, causing him to be ripped from the memories of everyone still alive. (The irony of it all- the creator dying at the hand of their own creation.)
But yet, Sans still knows his name.
G̞̠͖͇̲͚͍̹̤͞͡Á̶͘҉̪͎̟͕̜̤S̵̕͏̨̗̫̗̳̗̬T̙͓̬̗̣̬͚͍̪̲͞Ȩ͕̞̩̭̹̞̲Ŕ̷̛̛̻̻͕̺̫̘͎͕̟̪͡
But a name is only ever a label.