She held the forceps between her thumb and forefinger. This piece needed to be in exactly the right spot or her device wouldn't work. She had been developing it for quite a few months now. It was designed to drastically improve the existing, subpar tracking technology. If this machine worked, she would not only be recognized as an inventor, but they might even let her on the ship during the device's pilot run. She'd love for her work to be recognized, but she'd love it even more if she could be on her device's initial flight, experiencing the cosmos for the first time.
Her work had to be precise. If one piece of the device was out of place, she would have to spend hours figuring out what was incorrect. It had taken her long enough just to figure out where the piece she held should go. With her fingers trembling ever so slightly in her concentration, she lowered the piece toward the device.
The bell suddenly sounded, startling her. In her surprise, she drove the forceps into the device, shattering some of the pieces. A choked cry escaped her throat. The damage would take days, if not weeks, to fix. She didn't have any time to even consider where to begin.
Reluctantly, she left her work and exited her room. She joined the line of other pearls that were headed for the hangar. The bell (which was still ringing) announced the arrival of a ship in need of repairs. When it rang, each and every pearl was expected to respond. It was an efficient system that cut back on repair time. The line of pearls entered a corridor connecting to the hangar. Shelves lined the walls and held a toolbox for each of the pearls. She grabbed one towards the end of the corridor and continued into the hangar.
A huge ship had landed in the hangar. Smoke was billowing from one of its wings. She rushed to the wing with the other pearls and began searching for the source of the damage. In a matter of minutes, they had located the source of the smoke and had extinguished it. Some of the pearls drifted away to other parts of the ship while the rest began repairing the wing. Once the main repairs had been made, she left with most of the others to inspect the rest of the ship.
It was another twenty minutes before the ship was ready to take off again. She stood in line with the other pearls and watched the craft fly out of the hangar. A voice over the loudspeaker dismissed the pearls. It also reminded them of their routinely inspection the following day.
They filed out of the hangar and down the corridor. Not one pearl said anything to the others. They'd be able to talk later during their recreational hour. They all still had to be silent and professional before then. However, she was having a difficult time in doing so. She had forgotten all about the inspections and hadn't prepared for anything. She needed to practice, to prepare herself for whatever she'd be tested on the following day. If she could she'd skip rec hour, but doing so was out of the question. She needed all the time she could find. Maybe she'd be able to find a few pearls that were willing to spar with her. That way, the hour wouldn't be a waste.
Once she was back in her room, she scrambled to her desk and rifled through the drawers. She pulled out copies of schematics and blueprints to study, scattering them all over her desk. The disorganization bothered her immediately and she set to putting everything in some kind of order before panicking about wasting even more time. She grabbed the nearest blueprint and started studying it. After a few seconds, she threw it to the side and picked up another one. She spent even less time looking over this blueprint. As she reached for a third, she thought that she hadn't looked over everything from the first blueprint and grabbed it again. Without even glancing at it, she put it back down and grabbed the third one again. She let out a low whine as she looked from one schematic to the other. There was no way she'd be able to learn everything she might need to know for the inspection. Panic settled onto her chest. Maybe a hands-on practice would help.
She gathered up some of her devices from around the room. These were ones she had created herself, so investigating them in depth should help her prepare for the next day. Or at least she hoped it would. The machine she was working on earlier had been pushed to the corner of her desk. She glared at it, remembering the horrible moment where she accidentally drove the forceps into the device. The machine now mocked her; she had worked on it for so long, forgetting that the inspections were looming closer, and now it would take at least a few more weeks to get it working. She hid the device in a desk drawer.
The hours ticked by as she dismantled the machines and reassembled them, investigating each part as she went. She had been correct in assuming that the handiwork would be better for her. After she had studied each device, she went back to studying her blueprints. With her mind calm, she was able to devote enough time to each one.
When she had thoroughly looked over each schematic, she decided that she would practice her sword fighting. She pushed the furniture as close to the walls as she could knowing that she wouldn't have nearly enough room to get in any real practice. She could practice her precision, though. Her gem created a holographic version of herself as well as two swords to spar with. She spoke to the hologram, setting its difficulty and mode of attack. Just as she readied herself to begin, there was a knock on the door. She waved away the hologram before checking to see who it was.
Coral was at her door. She demanded to know why Pearl had missed rec hour the night before. Coral had a nature that was nearly robotic. Pearl found her monotonous demand more terrifying than if Coral had yelled at her. Pearl stumbled over her words in an attempt to explain that she had lost track of the time. She hadn't even realized it was morning until Coral knocked on her door. Coral questioned Pearl about her activities and Pearl told her that she had been preparing for inspections. The red gem pushed into the room and observed the blueprints and devices neatly ordered on the desk. She seemed to accept Pearl's story and confirmed this by informing Pearl that it was her turn for inspections. She would lead Pearl to the hangar.
Pearl returned both swords to her gem. She never meant to lose track of time. There was so much more that she had wanted to do to prepare, but now she was being led down the long hallway with a sinking feeling in her stomach. She hadn't done enough to practice. She was certain she'd fail her inspection.
The other gem was silent as they walked. Coral was a gem that had been created as a second-in-command. Her job was to keep every gem in line so Cuprite wouldn't have to step in. Coral's robotic tone and movements made most, if not all, of the pearls uneasy. Her tone was the same whether she was praising or berating. Pearl watched her carefully as they walked. She wouldn't recover from the fear Coral's questioning struck into her.
Before entering the hangar, Pearl pulled a toolbox from one of the shelves and carried it with her. She'd most likely need it for whatever task she was assigned. The hangar was strangely empty when she and Coral entered. With no ship taking up the space, the place seemed huge. Two gems stood across from the entrance. Pearl recognized one as Cuprite, a red gem in authority who always oversaw the pearls' inspections. She did not recognize the other gem, but she was mesmerized by the giant pink curls that framed her face.
Cuprite's voice was loud and deep. She presented Pearl with several descriptions of spaceship failures. Pearl had to describe the ships' problems and offer solutions that she would take to fix them. Cuprite showed no signs of approval or disapproval after each scenario. She simply moved on to the next one after Pearl had offered her solution.
At some point, Pearl lost count of the ships she mentally repaired. Finally, Cuprite informed Pearl that she would now move on to the physical combat portion of the inspection. Pearl clenched her fist, worried that her lack of practice would affect her skill. At Cuprite's demand, she summoned a hologram and adjusted the battle settings to fit Cuprite's instructions.
The fighting turned out to be what Pearl was used to. She almost always used the highest difficulty for her sparring, only lowering it if she wanted to try new techniques. She made quick work of the hologram each time Cuprite demanded a new fight.
The next task was to construct a simple alarm system from the materials provided. Pearl sat cross-legged near the materials and set to work. She remembered looking over a blueprint for an alarm. She even had one in her room and had dismantled it during her studying. The device she had to construct was supposed to go off if someone or something entered within a certain radius of it. She spent quite a bit of time organizing the materials into such a way that they would perform the task Cuprite asked. When she was sure everything was organized, she set to constructing the device and testing it several times. Cuprite never took her eyes off Pearl, but often chatted with the gem by her side. Pearl had been through enough inspections to keep her cool under Cuprite's criticizing gaze.
Pearl held up the device when she was finished. Cuprite approached her to inspect it and then told Pearl to place the device on the ground to test it. Pearl did as she was instructed and pressed a few buttons to turn on the alarm.
She stood by her machine and Cuprite walked towards it. The red gem got closer and closer. With each step, Pearl found it harder to breathe. The alarm should have gone off by now. Maybe she was misjudging the distance? Cuprite was awfully close now; surely the alarm would go off. Pearl bit her lip when Cuprite took a final step. They were both standing directly next to the alarm, staring at it.
Assuring Cuprite that she had just forgotten to press a button, Pearl crouched down and reached for the alarm. Cuprite firmly planted her foot on the device and smashed it. The red gem turned a cold glare to the still crouching pale gem. She removed the sword from her uniform's belt. Pressing a button on the hilt sent an electrical current coursing through the metal. Pearl cringed at the sight of the weapon but knew that running would land her in more trouble. Cuprite raised the sword over Pearl's head. Pearl gritted her teeth and kept her eyes shut.
"Wait!"
The yell came from the pink-haired gem. Pearl listened to her approach, refusing to open her eyes to see the crackling sword inches from her head.
Cuprite and the pink gem discussed Pearl's fate in agitated tones. Cuprite claimed that this pearl was defective and needed to go through extensive correction procedures before she'd even be considered useful again. The pink gem insisted otherwise, stating that she would gladly take this pearl into her service. Through clenched teeth, Cuprite insisted that Pearl did not come close to matching the quality of gem that the pink gem deserved. It was useless on Cuprite's part, though. The pink gem had made up her mind. Cuprite left the hangar, murmuring that the Authority needed to know about the pink gem's decision.
Pearl felt a hand on her back. She looked up into the pink gem's smiling face. The pink gem took Pearl's trembling hand and helped her off the ground. She wiped tears from Pearl's face and shook her hand. "My name is Rose."
I got into Steven Universe a few weeks ago and have been obsessed ever since. I want to explore Pearl and Rose's relationship. If anything, it will give me something to do during this hiatus. I hope you enjoyed the first scene, and thanks for reading!