Author's Note: This is my response as to what might have happened after "That Will Be All."
Disclaimer: All Rights to Steven Universe Belong to Rebecca Sugar
Holly-Blue blinked at the numbers. Strange. According to the data, the Humans in the Zoo had dropped from 1,000 to 725 in the past week alone. The number was even higher the previous week. This didn't make sense. Were the Amethysts failing to keep them in the containment area? Yes, it had to be the reason. Those incompetent gems were failing in their one job! This wasn't the first time it has been happening.
Ever since those...those...rebels infiltrated and stole those noisy Humans - she would deny ever understanding the short one's comment about her rear end - the Amethysts were being more disobedient. Why yesterday, she saw two of them slouching disgracefully and sought to rectify their behavior. Instead, she had the two of them threaten to tell Blue Diamond about the rebel when she began to adjust their statures. She was so shocked by this that she didn't even notice those ingrates walking off.
And then there were those off-colored Betas. Miserable excuses for Jaspers if she could call them that. They were talking loudly in the hall the next day after those rebels fled and Holly-Blue reprimanded them for it.
"NO YELLING IN THE HALL!" She had said in a reasonable tone. That was when those two freaks overreacted.
The taller one, the ones the Amethysts preferred to call Skinny, glared at her and said. "Take your own advice, Holly-Blue!"
Holly-Blue raised her hand to strike the disrespect out of that freak when its companion rammed into her beautiful head, knocking her to the ground. She looked up to see the short Beta equipped with her dark purple helmet.
"I'll report you to the Diamonds for this!" Holly-Blue snarled.
"Will you?" The tall Beta spoke. "Does that mean you'll bring up...the incident that happened under your watch?"
Holly-Blue gulped.
"We'll give you respect when you earn it!" The short Beta said.
And then there were those two guards who were stationed at the door. Another Sapphire not unlike the traitor had come in several months ago, after the-incident-that-none-of-the-Diamonds-must-know-about with a message for Holly-Blue herself. They had been giving Her Clarity a difficult time with their chatter, so Holly-Blue reprimanded them for it.
"You are to show Her Clarity her proper respect! I don't want you wasting her time."
"Forgive us." The Amethysts grumbled, their arms forming the mark of the Diamond insignia.
Holly-Blue whacked them. Hard.
The Amethyst on the left punched her back!
"What is with this disrespect?!"
"We asked for her forgiveness, why are you hitting us?!" The Amethyst snapped back.
"I don't want to hear another word from you or I will shatter you personally."
"You and what army?" The Amethyst on the right added its unnecessary commentary.
"Why, I-" Holly-Blue froze. What army? There were no other Agates aside from herself on this pathetic station. And she was surrounded by idiotic Amethysts – save for the two flawed Betas – who were turning on her on a moment's notice.
Seeing that they were not budging in their defiance, Holly-Blue formed the Diamond insignia and apologized in their place.
"Forgive these fools, Your Clarity."
"There is nothing to fear, Agate." The Sapphire explained. "I am only here to deliver a message regarding Blue Diamond."
Her Diamond!
"Of course, Your Clarity! I would be honored by this message!" Blue-Diamond grinned from ear-to-ear now.
"Within four moon's time, Blue Diamond will return to this station to check on the Zoo. You must be prepared for her coming within that time frame. She will be concerned for the Humans and their welfare, which is why it is important that you be prepared for what is coming." Her Clarity spoke calmly, her voice almost like music to Holly-Blue's ears. How long has it been since she listened to a Pearl sing?
"Thank you, Your Clarity." Holly-Blue bowed deeply, silently seeing when she saw the two Amethysts refusing to mimic the action. She rose and blushed. "You must forgive these guards. They know not of the proper respect to give to their superiors."
This last comment ended with Holly-Blue glaring at the Amethyst guards coldly.
"You have nothing to apologize for, Agate, I expected this outcome."
"Oh…of course." Holly-Blue blushed. How could she forget Her Clarity's foresight?! She had just met one the previous week! Of course, the Sapphire must have been forced to fuse with a Ruby of all Gems! She must have not foreseen that outcome somehow. Yes, she was being used by those traitors, no doubt! Her Clarity was being used and could not foresee anything like it, like those incompetent Amethysts, for instance!
And now back to her present state of mind, Holly-Blue looked at the data, her mouth dropping when the number 725 decreased to 600! What was going on?!
"Amethyst!" She roared. Holly-Blue pressed a button on the console in front of her. She spoke again. "Amethyst 274, report to the console room immediately!"
Two minutes, twenty-five seconds, and a fourth of a millisecond later, 274 had come barging in. And that was still too slow!
"WHAT DID I SAY ABOUT RUNNING!?" Holly-Blue calmly asked.
"What did you say about shouting?" 274 had the gall to say. "Is that all you called me in for?"
Holly-Blue bit back the first remark, which was to reprimand the Amethyst for talking back. So instead, she chose for the more appropriate, mature response.
Summon her electrified whip from her gem and give 274 a good lashing.
Shockingly, 274 summoned her own whip, which cut through Holly-Blue's weapon, making it vanish into dust. Holly-Blue gasped. She was supposed to be stronger than these Amethysts, not weaker!
And then she saw that there were several other Amethysts behind 274, their whips out.
"What is the meaning of this behavior?!" Holly-Blue gasped. "Do you Amethysts know nothing about respect?"
"What do you want from us?" 274 grumbled.
"Fine, let's focus on what I summoned you for anyways – and not the rest of you disposable Gems!" Holly-Blue snarled the last bit at the intruders.
They didn't budge.
"Leave. Now." Holly-Blue said coldly.
They still didn't move.
274 shrugged. "They're with me."
"Fine." Holly-Blue huffed. "But I will be discussing your behavior later. 274, you oversee Human care within the Zoo, yes?'
"Yes."
"Then tell me something: WHY ARE THE NUMBERS DROPPING?! WHY ARE YOU LETTING THE HUMANS ESCAPE THE CONTAINMENT AREA?!"
274 looked at her oddly. "I thought you knew."
"Knew what?"
"The Humans are all accounted for. They're just not moving as much. There are even Humans that haven't moved in a long time and smell really bad now. Some are making these weird noises like-"
274 opened her mouth and began making this grating sound with her throat.
"What?"
"Yeah!" 274 was getting excited now. "And some of the weird-looking ones are getting worse. They look uglier now."
"What do you mean uglier?" Holly-Blue blinked. The Humans looked strange when they were brought to the station, but how could they get any uglier?
"When the older Humans release smaller ones from their stomachs, they look different from the older Human they came out of."
"Hold on a moment." Holly-Blue gazed at the screen, the number was at 550 now. But 274 said that none had escape – save for those two from a few months back – yet none were moving. What was going on? "Bring me the archive on Human Life. Now!"
274 hurried off, returning a few minutes later with the data chip. It looked dusty. It made sense, the archive wasn't used in years since the station had mastered understanding the basic needs to provide the Humans with.
Holly-Blue inserted the data chip into the console, screening through the information scrolling across the screen in front of her. Each minute passed and there was still no information regarding the symptoms the Humans were showing. Holly-Blue's brow furrowed with worry. Why couldn't she find anything on this stupid. Data. Chip!
"Which of you Amethysts were messing with this data chip?!" Holly-Blue confronted the crowd that had formed now, determined to flush the fool out for making a mockery of all the hard work that she, Holly-Blue, was putting into preserving the Humans.
None of them spoke up.
"274! Explain this NOW!"
274 shrugged. "Don't look at me, I didn't do anything!"
"A likely story." Holly-Blue growled.
"It's true-"
Holly-Blue raised her hand to silence the liar. "I will deal with you later."
"You know Blue Diamond's coming soon, right?"
Holly-Blue felt her innards turn to ice. What would she say about this?
"My Diamond-"
"Save it, Agate." Blue Diamond spoke coldly. "I did not come here to listen to your groveling! It has come to my attention that the numbers of Humans in the Zoo are dwindling. What have you been doing to Pink Diamond's legacy?!"
"Nothing, my Diamond." Holly-Blue held her hands in submission. "None have escaped. Simply an error within the numbers-"
"You know that our numbers are never flawed, Agate. The Humans have not escaped, yes, but they are dying! What cruelty have to you been inflicting on those poor creatures?" At this, Blue Diamond's eyes welled up with tears.
"They are still there."
"And yet, they are dead shorter than is expected of the Human life expectancy. Could you care to explain this before I shatter you for your incompetence."
Holly-Blue wasn't hearing her Diamond any longer, all she could think about were those rebels that had arrived four months ago. Everything began falling apart once they appeared. They corrupted the Amethysts. They stole a precious Sapphire. They were probably behind the dwindling Humans in the Zoo as well!
Wait.
The Sapphire that had arrived shortly after they left had told her of Blue Diamond's arrival. At the time, Holly-Blue could only feel excitement at meeting such a Gem as her a second time so shortly after the first meeting. But now, her words were haunting her:
Within four moon's time, Blue Diamond will return to this station to check on the Zoo. You must be prepared for her coming within that time frame. She will be concerned for the Humans and their welfare…
Holly-Blue interpreted it as a sign that Blue Diamond would simply be checking up on the hard work that she was putting into the station for the Gem's sake. What if it wasn't meant to be a blessing?
What if it was a warning?!
She couldn't continue thinking further than that, however, as Blue Diamond had taken a hold of her head and crushed it. There was the initial poof. Now she would have to wait a period of time before reforming-
And then her Gem was scattered all over the floor.
Steven Universe was strumming his ukulele, plucking the chords at random, smiling at the tune he was making. Next to him was Connie Maheswaran, his best friend and partner-in-crime. It was a perfect day; the sun was shining, the wind was nice and cool, the grass as soft as a pillow, and the temperature was just right. Perfect for just lying down and doing nothing.
"Hey, Steven?"
Steven looked up from his ukulele. "Yeah, Connie."
"I was just thinking…about that rescue mission you and the Gems went on four months ago. Do you remember how many humans were in there?"
"I dunno, like hundreds?" Steven shrugged.
"But your dad said that they were the descendants of humans brought to the station thousands of years ago, before the war your mom started?"
Steven felt his heart ache at the mention of his mom. It was difficult to think of her with everything he had learned recently. Would he ever have to make the same choices she did?
"I…guess…" Steven mumbled quietly. "What's your point?"
"Statistically speaking, there should have been more humans back then from the numbers you described. Did any of them look…different?"
Steven shuddered at the memory. "Yeah, but I wasn't really paying attention to them. I was just trying to get my dad out of there."
"Do you think the Homeworld Gems knew anything about birth defects?" Connie whispered, like the possibility frightened her. "Do you think they knew that much about human biology aside from what humans could eat?"
Steven looked at her. "I dunno." His eyes widened with horror.
"Wait a minute! Then that means-"
"That the humans you and your dad must have seen were closely related to one another." Connie said in a haunted voice. "If they were there for that long, then their bodies could only survive in that environment alone. And then you and your dad came in and-"
She stopped speaking, like expressing the thought in her mind would bring about the end of the world as they both knew it faster than the Homeworld Gems thought.
"And what?!" Steven couldn't bear the suspense.
Connie shook her head. "I-I don't want to talk about it anymore, Steven. Forget I ever brought it up."
"But I want to know. What happened when my dad and I entered the Zoo?"
When Connie spoke, there was nothing but horror in her voice.
"Do you think the Homeworld Gems ever knew about germs?"
Author's Notes: I was thinking about the episode where Steven meets the captive humans. Recalling how Native Americans suffered from smallpox shortly after making contact with Europeans, I could see nothing good coming for the humans in the Zoo after that. Steven and Greg were the "Europeans", the humans were the "Native Americans." Nothing short of a tragedy could be expected after that. Not to mention the horrifying possibility that the humans were inbreeding and that Homeworld remained oblivious to this until it was too late.
What do you guys think of my idea for what happened after this episode? Please let me know in the comments.