A/N: This Rupphire origins story is my NaNo for this year! I'm going to use it to explore some of the more... unorthodox meta I've had bouncing around in my head since Guide To the Crystal Gems and the Barn Arc dropped, which means that longtime readers should leave 99% of the headcanons from United I Stand/Containment Unit 6 at the door. CaveDwellers is starting from scratch, baby, and this is gonna be big! I'm really excited to be working on this story!
Of course, that being said, this chapter was really hard to write for some reason. Eh, I'm sure it'll get better as the month goes on.
Fun fact: Goshenites are a type of beryl. They are 7.5-8 in Mohs, and they are colorless. They are also not considered very valuable.
Her message had been shaky and panicked. She called instead of submitting a request through the system because this is apparently an emergency.
If it were an actual emergency, Sapphire wouldn't be shuffling along the way she is, with large-limbed semiprecious gems flanking her either side like this is some kind of prison transfer, taking a single step for her every three. There is a quarter of a mile between the extraplanetary warp pad and their destination, but Sapphire's companions—both goshenites, durable but decidedly low-value guard-class gems—keep a leisurely pace. They seem at ease, for the moment. Sapphire can See that they will not hesitate to become violent the moment she tries to rush, and so she matches their speed more or less complacently. If this actually were urgent, Sapphire would have found a way to already be there.
Nevertheless, if it makes the sapphire overseeing gem-controlled planet 3123 in star system Gamma feel better to call this a dire situation, then power to her. It's not going to make the two lumbering beryls move any faster, and it certainly isn't going to make Sapphire herself break into a run.
Sapphire and the corundum just down the hall are of the same rank and class, identical in all but color. They are precious gems with a Mohs of 9; aside from the Diamonds, with their Mohs of 10, there is no position more coveted in this society. In theory, they should be treated the same, but this is not so in practice. Sapphire has never been told to act as an extension of Blue Diamond's authority and will, and she has never been given oversight on the research and development being conducted on a gem controlled planet. In all likelihood, she never will. The Diamond Authority doesn't condone asymmetry, after all. If corundums weren't so rare and difficult to manufacture, Sapphire probably would have been harvested a long time ago.
It's not prescience as much as watchful security cameras that cue Golden Sapphire to throw open the double doors to the 3123's Council chamber a scant fifteen seconds before their trio reaches it.
"What took you so long?" Gold demands, the rich yellow cushion-cut gem at her forehead gleaming in the gem-powered lights set into the domed ceiling above their heads. The goshenites secure the Diamond Authority embossed doors while Sapphire glances at the ruby and emerald who make up the rest of planet 3123's Council. Aside from the three Councilmember's pearls standing alert and glamorous in their pastels off to the side, they are the only souls in the room.
Sapphire knows that no one can see where she's looking from behind her bangs, but that doesn't quite explain how the other Councilmembers frown as if she can't see them. They obviously know who she is, but they act as if they have never seen any one or thing like her she weren't so used to this treatment, it might have been insulting.
To be fair, this is Sapphire's first time visiting 3123, but surely she isn't the first exponent to have been summoned here. Right?
There again, she thinks as she studies the emerald's projection, and then the ruby's. A gem's personal style is often an inadvertent showcase of her model, and these gems are fashionable, so it is very possible that they're all actually quite young. Sapphire knows that planet 3123 is a fairly recent acquisition by the Authority, and corundums and emeralds are not simple to manufacture. Perhaps she is the first exponent that this particular Council has seen after all.
"Why are you so concerned about the southern end of the continent?" asks Sapphire. It isn't actually her intent to ignore Gold's earlier remark (though, she must admit, the remark was utterly useless); she's simply already forgotten about it in favor of the task at hand. Jumping forward about a minute and a half into the conversation is a courtesy to everyone, really.
3123's Councilmembers exchange a glance, begrudgingly impressed, before Golden Sapphire speaks. She doesn't seem insulted by the subject change. Like most sapphires, she is strongly task oriented. "The injector drill damage in that area is uncommonly high, and we are also currently experiencing misbehavior from previously subdued locals in that sector. We want to know a) if the two issues are mutually exclusive, and b) if knowing how the situation will escalate could help us retroactively figure out the answer to A. The quickest and most efficient way to answer both of those questions would be to combine my knowledge of this planet with your ability."
Well, she's not wrong. Sapphire hardly thinks Gold's use of the emergency alert was appropriate, but Sapphire is already here. Might as well make the trip worthwhile.
It's not like she actually has a choice, anyway.
"Alright." Sapphire holds out her gem free hand.
There is an uncomfortable pause. The emerald Councilmember clears her throat. "Uh, right now?"
"Why wait?" asks Sapphire. Her fingers, blue and gloveless, flex slightly. "Don't you want answers?"
"She's got a point," the ruby says. She immediately shuts her mouth with a sharp click of her projection's teeth. It's clear she doesn't understand where the urge to agree with an exponent came from.
Gold flashes her fellow Councilmember a somewhat withering look, but by then she has taken a hold of Sapphire's fingers.
Gold is a full head taller than her, at least, and her hand is nearly twice as big, but Sapphire is used to taking the lead. She pulls Gold in and around in a circle, waltzing chastely. Gems can combine with their own sister-gems, but it is not a common practice. She is used to being another sapphire's first exponentiation, and she's found that waltz' are quick to learn and quite efficient at synchronizing the resonance of their gemstones.
"Relax your shoulders," Sapphire instructs, her voice uncompromising but not unkind. "Focus on the wavelength coming from my gem. Envision your own falling into place with it. They are very similar; this should be easy. Remember, our bodies are only illusions. It's like shapeshifting."
Once Gold's gem has begun to glow, Sapphire levitates to make twirling and dipping her fellow corundum easier. They are consumed by a brief flash of white light, and in the next moment they are still standing there, only bigger. They are also now a green sapphire, due to the interaction of Sapphire's blue and Gold's yellow.
Gold shies away from Sapphire's prescience after she notices it—and how can she not? They exist side by side within the same body now. This, of course, translates to their combined projection physically shying away from what looks to be nothing at all. Sapphire quickly reestablishes control over the form and makes it stand still. Gold can still take over the controls, so to speak, but Sapphire doesn't think she will due to inexperience and a flustered demeanor. She can't peer into the other corundum's mind—they are still themselves, after all; they've just combined their power for this projection—but Sapphire's done this enough to recognize the signs when she sees them.
"So that's exponentiation," mutters the emerald Councilmember. She's gazing at them with big, bright green eyes, torn between wonder and revulsion.
"Well?" asks the ruby expectantly. "Can you See the answers?"
"Oh, right," Gold says through their combined mouth. Their three eyes blink, and then Sapphire closes the third and starts to look.
Golden Sapphire was only half right when she said that looking into the future with her knowledge of local people and customs would be what they had to gain from this. They're much, much stronger when their projections are combined—there is a reason the technique is called exponentiation and not addition. Sapphire's future vision is no exception. She can see farther down the path of fate than usual, and she can concentrate for longer.
There is, in fact, some guerrilla warfare going on. When Yellow Diamond's military squadrons swept through the planet exterminating any and all possible threats to the Kindergarten that would soon be installed, they missed a spot. Small wonder why, as this particular race is subterranean. They typically exist deep, deep within the planet's crust, only venturing to the surface when they feel particularly threatened.
Apparently, injecting gems into the ground to incubate is threat enough.
Unfortunately, Gold didn't even know these people existed, much less enough to provide a lens with which to see them through. Sapphire can feel her demeanor turning sour as she registers her own uselessness in this situation.
"The guerrilla warfare will continue, and escalate over time," Sapphire tells the rest of the council through her shared mouth. "I see a subterranean race initiating a full-blown revolt against gemkind. I see them destroying the Kindergarten and incubating gems. I see them discovering that the only real way to harm gemkind is to damage the hardware in our gems, and I see their people becoming quite good at it. I see this escalating until even Yellow Diamond herself is challenged by their tactics. They are quite a resourceful people, particularly when spurned."
"Oh, my stars," whispers the emerald, covering her lips with her fingers.
"Well, now that we know about it, we'll also know how to crush them before any of that can start," says the ruby. Rubies are direct representatives of Yellow Diamond's military branch of the Authority, so this is a fairly standard response. "What are their weaknesses?"
"Very few," says Sapphire. She is calm. This is not the first time she's witnessed potential destruction of this magnitude. "They exist close to the molten core of this planet, and have tough, thick exoskeletons to protect themselves from the heat. They are accustomed to working with very little space and breathable air, and while they are tireless to begin with they are even more invigorated by the environment on the surface, though they do dislike wide open spaces as a general rule." She pauses, and hums. On the other side of their shared body, Golden Sapphire makes a small noise of apprehension. Sapphire lets her do what she wants, as long as she doesn't withdraw her energy contribution. She couldn't know details as intricate and faraway as this on her own. "They have no defenses against ice; the cold is unlike anything they've ever encountered. Calling upon such elementals as sapphires and aquamarines for a preemptive military strike might scare them back into the earth."
" 'Might'?" The ruby slams her fist on the Council's table interface, and every pearl except for her own startles. "That's not good enough! What else could happen?"
"They could also fight back," says Sapphire. "From here, one outcome just as likely as the other."
"So what is our best option?"
"Obviously, stopping the sabotage is the first priority. Not allowing them to find out that poofing isn't truly death for our kind is next. They don't like the cold, and they don't like open spaces. What you do with that information is not under my jurisdiction. I am not a military advisor."
"Is there anything else you can tell us?" asks the emerald anxiously. "Anything at all?"
Sapphire considers, gazing towards fate's metaphorical horizon and feeling nothing about any of the outcomes she sees, and then finally says, "Move quickly and decisively. They are a people who take advantage of hesitation."
At Sapphire's behest, Gold is only too eager to leave the exponentiation. She stumbles when she is deposited back onto her own two feet, and then pats at her projection as if to reassure herself that it is still the way she likes it. Sapphire floats neatly to the cobbled stone floor, unbothered by the sudden compactness of her form in the way that only professional exponents can be.
"If that is all you require," she says, inclining her head because it's polite and required of her.
"Wait," says the emerald, blinking in confusion. "You aren't going to stay to help?"
Sapphire clasps her hands together until she can acutely feel the rhythmic pulsing of her gem pressing against her left palm. Her voice remains slow and deep, does not waver. "Why would I? You already have a sapphire on your planetary Council."
"She's right, we do," exclaims the ruby, pounding her fist on the table-interface once more. "We can handle this ourselves! This is what we were made for, isn't it?"
And just like that, Sapphire is shut out of the conversation. The Precious Council of planet 3123 is already deep in their plans for retaliation and war. Sapphire doesn't mind showing herself out. The goshenites wordlessly fall into step on either side of her as the metal doors slam shut. Were she anyone else, this would be a show of protectiveness instead of watchfulness. Sapphire can feel their tension and discomfort.
After they have warped back to planet 1001 in star system Alpha—Homeworld proper—and Sapphire has been deposited into her quarters, she sits at her table-interface and submits her report to Blue Diamond. After describing the situation and her own actions in crisp, emotionless sentences, she concludes, The gross oversight from Yellow Diamond's troops now reaps tremendous consequences. The Kindergarten on planet 3123 will fail, and the Precious Council along with their labor force and all of the incubating gems they preside over will be cracked, shattered, or otherwise summarily destroyed. I have Seen their fates with the help of the exponentiation, and fate is unavoidable.
Fortunately, this race will be contented with reclaiming their own planet, and will venture no further into star system Gamma. Further contact with this race will prove similarly disastrous for gemkind. Recommendation: immediately extract all valuable data from the Kindergarten and abandon planet 3123. Doing so will ultimately save gems and labor.
Sapphire sits back in her stool after sending the report, distracted by an upcoming event. Another exponent request is going to reach her interface within the next twenty seconds. It will be a much bigger assignment, one that will take up most of her time and energy. There is no time to grieve for planet 3123 and its inhabitants.
It's just as well, Sapphire thinks; she never Saw any rewarding research coming from that planet, anyway.
A/N: Special thanks to Spatial and Rhinocio for allowing me to send them inhumanly long emails of meta! Seriously, that was a lot to go through; you are both total rockstars :D