"Pearl, stay outside."
Alone? Did Yellow Diamond of the Great Diamond Authority, ask to enter somewhere without her pearl? It had been at least a hundred years since that had happened, but Yellow Pearl knew that her diamond had complicated feelings to process.
After all, the two of them were using Yellow Diamond's hand ship to transport them to the human zoo. Yellow DIamond seemed to see no point in Blue Diamond's obsessive grieving, yet Yellow Pearl thought personally that maybe her merciless diamond had been feeling sadness too. Maybe, Pearl figured, nobody really had accepted the untimely shattering of Pink Diamond.
Nonetheless, her diamond requested solitude, and so Pearl responded in the appropriate way.
"Yes, my diamond, but -"
"No, Pearl, I do not require anything."
The diamond then quickly entered her personal chamber, thoughts on entirely different subjects then on whether the new Peridot piloting the ship would accidentally kill them all. Unlike Yellow Pearl.
But, with Yellow Diamond not needing her, and the Peridot desperately attempting not to fail, Pearl was by herself. Nobody, except the Peridot too busy to view surveillance, could see her.
Pearl laughed a little, immature giggle. Laughing meant a lot to Pearl, however. Anyone could assume a laughing pearl was gawking at their owner. Yes, laughter was very dangerous. Many things were for pearls.
For Yellow Pearl, at least right now, she could laugh as loud as she wanted. She smirked, knowing what she wanted to achieve first with her temporary freedom. Her smirk then transformed into a disappointed grimace as she stared down at her leotard and the translucent fabric hovering above her shoulders.
"Hmph."
The form required of her was insulting. Secretly, Pearl thought it made her look weak or too pretty, like a fragile doll. She was graceful, but not delicate. Yellow Pearl wished she could be snarky and tough, not shallow and simply attractive. For the time given to her though, she'd be able to look un-pearl-like at least.
Immediately, Pearl shapeshifted. Her "uniform" became a short yellow jacket and a fighting suit ideal for outfitting quartzes, without the diamond crest. The useless ballet flats on her feet were now boots, and her beehive hair was now a short pixie cut. Almost, thought Pearl, she looked like Rose Quartz's infamous companion.
Yellow Pearl didn't want to be a Crystal Gem, she loved her home, but...
"Whatever," she concluded, looking around at the shimmering metal walls of the vessel. She pondered what to do, now that she had shapeshifted to a more appealing form. Panels studded some of the walls, and she grinned again.
Daring to access files for elites only? Dangerous, but Yellow Pearl had a feeling in her soul that she could be dangerous, too. Good thing she had been forced to memorize Yellow Diamond's passwords.
Pearl strolled over to one of the screens, entering the password, and feeling gratified as the device projected the documents it stored. Curious and slightly bored, she tapped on the icon presenting itself as a record library. Everything in gem history was there; sapphire predictions, peridot logs, battles, buildings, outposts and even gem records. Even all that was known about the Renegade Pearl.
Yellow Pearl's chest tightened as she scrolled to the Renegade's entire biography. A hologram of the Renegade even projected right out of the screen, the same size as Yellow Pearl. At first, Yellow Pearl scowled, allegiant to homeworld as ever, but for a forbidden moment she imagined the freedoms of being a Crystal Gem.
The Renegade stood without words as Yellow Pearl thought, a sword in one hand and blue spear in the other. Freedom.
It wasn't like Yellow Pearl had exactly been a perfect servant, though. Too eager to impress, too angry, too... independent. Yes, she'd heard the Beryl's gossip; aquamarines and morganites alike felt pity that their flawless matriarch was assigned an imperfect Pearl. She was loyal, technically, but good pearls were like Blue Pearl. Obedient and submissive. The truth was, Yellow Pearl did take pride in being Yellow Diamond's, but not because of the usual reasons.
It gave her a little hope, that even if she was a pearl, she had to be worth something. She was made for a diamond; didn't that make her special? Her bouts of anger, demonstrations of fear and boastfulness, all of it was resistance. To show, in small ways, that she felt. When she felt prideful of her leader, it wasn't because she loved Yellow Diamond. It was because if her diamond did something good, she could at least have the worth of being associated with the "best" diamond.
What Pearl wanted most, though, wasn't this. She just wanted to be Yellow Pearl. Yellow Pearl was angry and bragged a little too much. Yellow Pearl was defiant, and she loved to write. She loved to sing.
And still, the holographic renegade stood without motion. Too often, Yellow Pearl wasn't humble enough to ask for advice when allowed, but not now. Nobody was listening, so she spoke to the hologram.
"Do you think, maybe, I'd be a good rebel?"
Unexpectedly, the hologram really replied.
"You're brave enough to change forms and access panels. That's rebellious. But you need a weapon."
Of course, it must have been the AI simulations given to important historical figures. This seemed a little odd, though. It probably shouldn't have encouraged Pearl to remove her weapon from her gem.
In fact, Yellow Pearl never even used her weapon. She didn't know what it was, or how to remove it. Despite this, she reached into her gemstone as it glowed. Pearl didn't know how gem weapons were stored, but she looked and saw a shimmering yellow spear in her hand. It looked, save for color, just like the Renegade's.
"My spear?"
The Renegade grinned warmly at her. "Perfect. In fact, why don't I teach you some skills?"
Yellow Pearl gulped. The real Renegade probably wasn't this kind, and the program was probably glitching. Pearl felt she should cancel this function, but she wanted to know this. She imagined being free, she imagined being who she wanted, and if she fought... what she dreamed of could be reality.
"Alright."
"Now, the first thing is stance. You've got to stand low, and make sure your feet are away from each other. And hold your weapon towards your opponent."
Pearl was used to standing for a while, but still, it strained her legs to keep the position. The Renegade seemed to have mastered it.
That was only the first thing the Renegade taught. Yellow Pearl was experienced in dancing, and the more the Renegade taught, she felt like she was doing a different kind of dancing. Pearl was twirling and spinning, but she was powerful too. Dangerous and graceful, deadly and beautiful. Yes, Yellow Pearl fell, but then she'd get up and wield her spear again. Each bruise and mistake didn't matter, not with the adrenaline (or whatever made gems feel like they had it) inside her.
Of course, the Renegade was experienced, but sparring with an expert pushed Yellow Pearl to keep trying to fight. It motivated Pearl to want to be as good as the holographic Renegade. For a while, Pearl was smiling not to brag, but because she was having fun. She loved this so much, this waltz between two fighters, the power and confidence she had begun to know.
When she fell down, she fell down laughing, and her new holographic friend laughed with her as she helped Yellow Pearl up again.
Yellow Pearl didn't know how long it had been, but she knew it had to end when the Renegade started glitching.
"I'm sorry. I can't do this for long, you know. Processing power goes to running me and the rest of the computer. But, I can keep teaching you."
"Yellow Diamond doesn't usually leave me be..."
"I know. If there's ever time, though, I can help you."
"Yes. I think, if nobody knows, I'll start your program again. By the way..."
"What?"
"Do you... really think?"
"A little. I mean, I'm not myself."
"Not yourself?"
"Lift up the panel screen."
Yellow Pearl lifted the screen, and she saw the computer's power source. Gem shards were connected to the device, glowing as they gave their energy to the electronics. When Yellow Pearl analyzed them, she realized something even more awful. They were pearl shards. This gem used to be just like her... before...
"All I am," reminisced the hologram, "Is really just a fusion of whatever's left in these shards and the AI. I don't remember who the pearl was. I-I think she was an Aquamarine's, looking at records. Shattered for fighting. She already had a history of singing when she wasn't commanded to."
Yellow Pearl didn't know how to comfort the Renegade. This was too awful.
"She's half of me now." Tears ran down the Renegade's eyes.
"I'll try to resist," said Yellow Pearl. "I'll tell them about your Pearl. I have to still be allegiant to Yellow Diamond, but, I'll keep you in mind. Maybe I'll come back to fight with you."
The Renegade didn't respond with words, but with hugging Yellow Pearl. Pearl was at first disgusted by physical contact, but felt comfort in embracing her friend. Then, the holographic body of the Renegade went back into the computer, as Yellow Pearl heard somebody strolling down the hallways.
The Peridot.
Quickly, Pearl put her weapon back inside her gem and shapeshifted back to her uniform as the Peridot strolled up to her. Yellow Pearl stood straight, eyes closed, hoping the Peridot would believe the excuse she'd come up with. A very dumb excuse.
"Yellow Pearl, I thought I saw you fighting, with... a computer malfunction?" Peridot seemed unsure of herself, anxiously scratching the back of her square hair.
Pearl scoffed at the clearly ridiculous accusation. "Malfunction? I've been simply standing here waiting for my diamond!"
"The security-"
"You're a new Peridot. You could've simply accidentally altered the camera feed."
"I didn't touch the camera feed... I think..."
"Go back to the control room and then I won't report your mistake to Yellow Diamond."
"I mean, maybe it was a glitch..."
"Ahem!"
"But you might be right."
Peridot nervously walked back to the control room, as Yellow Pearl sighed. She didn't know how she would fight back, knowing that she'd behave perfectly at the Zoo to avoid her friend's fate.
Contemplating rebellion, Yellow Pearl apologized to the empty, golden walls.
"I'm sorry."