Gray Diamond scanned the group of gems eyeing over him as if he was some disgusting creature. He wasn't wanted here and he knew it. Yet the woman standing next to him beamed, oblivious to their surroundings.
He'd heard rumors of a group of rebels, brave fighters looking to take down the empire. Once he was within sight of the Homeworld's inhabitants, the whispers hushed nearly immediately. When he asked, the only answer he got was "You don't find them. They find you." before the gem ran off.
And so that's exactly what had happened. A spy had tracked him down and led him here, said her name was Hawk Eye. She never mentioned where they were going or why him, but he followed. Something about the blue haired woman told him he should listen to the gem.
Here he was, standing in a room of gems, most of them artificial, feeling terrified. If looks could kill, the glares of many of these gems were sure to have taken his life long ago. The ones that didn't look angry were scared, or just continued their work pretending he wasn't there, though they were the slightest bit uncomfortable with his presence.
"Gray Diamond, right?" The blue haired gem asked before turning a deeper shade of blue. "Well, yeah, what am I talking about? Of course you're Gray Diamond, who else would you be? I did research before taking you here, I mean—" She took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, that sounds creepy. I'm not obsessed with you, I promise, research is part of my job." She finished with a nervous laugh.
Gray Diamond placed a hand on her shoulder to try and calm her down, but immediately pulled back once he felt her tense. "Gray Diamond." He stated, not able to look the gem in the eye. "I'm making you uncomfortable, aren't I?" He looked around the room, searching for an exit. None in sight. Figures, this is a secret society, after all.
"No!" She exclaimed, a lot louder than intended. Her blush deepened when a few heads turned to look her way. "No." She repeated, at a much lower volume. "No, no, you're not making me uncomfortable." She rubbed her palm against her arm awkwardly, looking up at the gem in front of her. "I'm just bad at intros and stuff..." She trailed off at the last word, mumbling a couple other things Gray Diamond couldn't understand. Once again, she took a deep breath. "Welcome to our research branch. Here we track down threats like monsters and gems looking to take us down. They're safe, we don't harm them, we're not evil, I swear on the crystal heart." She cleared her throat, moving on to a less sinister sounding topic. "Here we also look for new members, like you. There's other branches, too, if you're interested."
"Like what?" He asked, feeling significantly safer as he noticed the gems staring at him before had gone back to their work.
"Like spies, warriors, guards, scientists, strategists, and subs." She replied, listing each branch off by counting on her fingers. She began to walk down a long hallway, gesturing for Gray Diamond to follow.
"Subs?" Gray Diamond questioned, furrowing his brows in confusion.
"Subs are gems that take the places of other gems while they're off on longer missions as to not raise suspicion." She could see the other's perplexed expression and knew exactly what he was going to ask. "One of the scientists' experiments is a powder able to transform any gem into the physical form of another, color scheme, voice and all except for personality. It takes a cool and collected gem who can improvise their act based on the charge they're acting as and the situation, so you can probably imagine why I'm not one." She laughed awkwardly at the joke she made at her own expense.
Before anything else could be said, someone rammed into Gray Diamond, knocking both him and the stranger to the ground. The gem rubbed the side of her head where she hit a wall as they fell.
"Miss? Are you okay?" Gray Diamond stood up and offered to help her up, but she refused and got up on her own.
"Sorry about that, wasn't looking, kind of in a hurry, bye!" She spoke so quickly, most of her words slurred together, making it difficult to understand. She walked around the two before breaking into a sprint again.
"Don't knock over any more innocent bystanders, Ser!" Hawk Eye teased the girl who continued running.
She turned her head but kept going. "I'll try!" She responded, looking back in front of her, long bright green hair trailing behind her as she made it past the hall and disappeared into a room Gray Diamond wasn't sure was there before. He shook his head. He probably just wasn't paying attention.
"Who was that?" Gray Diamond asked, looking over at his guide.
"Serpentine. She worked in the sub branch before being chosen to train with our leader." They walked into another hall, continuing on their path. "Sweet girl, really, but she works too hard. Honestly, I don't think there's ever a time she's not working."
"Workaholic, huh?" He shifted the shoulder of his cape to the left before it started to slip off his back. "It wouldn't kill her to take a break, would it?"
Hawk Eye laughed for the third time since they got here, though this laugh sounded less forced and more genuine. "Try telling her that. Even the leader tells her to take a break, but she doesn't listen. It's never enough for her." She opened a door and the two walked in. "Alright, Gray Diamond," She sat at a white office chair, propping her feet up on the desk and taking out what looked to be a microchip. "This is yours." She slid the small object to the other side of the desk where he stood.
"Is that all?" He asked, walking back into the doorway.
"One more thing." She lowered her legs to the ground and sat up straight, with the slightest hint of a smile. "Welcome to the Synthetic Society."