A/N: A bit early this week since there wasn't a chapter last week.

This chapter refers to events that occurred in Shattered Memberries, my other SU story. It isn't a required read, and this also isn't the first time I've referenced the other story, but it's more overt in this chapter and some things might make a little more sense if you've read it.

The Puerto Rico bill, having made it through the Fused House, was moved to the Senate, which had not yet been subject to such a fusion.

Most of the votes had been tallied. Fifty votes Nay, forty-nine votes Yea. Only one vote remained, from Arkansas Senator John McCain, a Republican; many assumed he would vote "Yea", due to the conservative-leaning nature of Hispanic voters. Vice President Jenner would then have to make the tie-breaking final vote; she also was likely to vote in favor of the bill, which would then be sent to the President's desk for him to sign.

McCain approached the center of the room and held his hand out. The room watched with baited breath. Delmarva's senators, both Democrats, were prepared to admit defeat.

Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell spoke up. "Senator McCain?"

McCain thought about it for a moment. Shrugging, he then turned his hand over to display a thumbs-down gesture; "No," he said, before turning and walking back to his seat. The entire room gasped.

The Puerto Rico bill just died.

"The Johnson Amendment, drafted in secret in 1962 by then-Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson and several high-ranking members of the federal government, including but not limited to Secretary of State Dean Rusk, Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, National Security Adviser McGeorge Bundy, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, and even the President's own brother, Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, was an off-the-record Constitutional amendment created with one singular purpose: conspiracy."

Peridot sat at her desk and stared at Ronaldo Fryman skeptically as he pointed to documents and photographs he'd pinned to a corkboard. Ronaldo was one of her advisers, recommended to her by Steven because he "says a lot of confusing stuff that probably only politicians understand". He was her "Secretary of Alternative Facts". Also in the room were former Dewey advisers Stan and Jan Thompson, a brother-sister team who'd also served as his campaign managers; James Mathias, an older man who'd previously served in the Delmarva State Senate; Sadie, shift manager at the Big Donut and Peridot's PR manager during the campaign; John Davidson, a teacher at Beach City High; Sean Spicer, a former White House Press Secretary who quit his job under the President to join Peridot's communications team; Lapis Lazuli, her former barnmate/informant/prisoner; and Steven himself. All but Lapis now dressed in formal attire. Suits, ties… pantsuits… Sadie kind of looked like Hillary Clinton with her getup.

Ronaldo continued his spiel. "This amendment states, in part, that either the Vice President, Director of the FBI, or Director of the CIA can have the President of the United States of America—in this case, 35th President John Fitzgerald Kennedy—'removed' from office, should he or she present his or herself as a problem in achieving the administration's goals."

Peridot blinked. "That's not what I asked."

"Huh?"

"I asked what the 'John Kennedy Treatment' was," Peridot clarified. "I don't care about this 'Johnson Amendment'."

"I'm GETTING to that," Ronaldo sighed. He pointed to a picture of John F. Kennedy sitting in the back of a 1961 Lincoln Continental. "This photograph was taken on November 22nd, 1963, just moments before the John Kennedy Treatment was given."

"Okay, but what. Is. The John Kennedy Treatment."

Ronaldo nodded and turned the board around so that the blank side was visible. He then drew the curtains to a close and shut off the lights, leaving the room mostly dark. Finally, he brought out an old projector and turned it on, displaying an image on the board.

"Watch carefully, mayor," Ronaldo said.

Sadie raised an eyebrow. "Ronaldo, is this the Zapruder Film?"

Several in the room rolled their eyes, except for Peridot, Lapis, and Steven, who watched the film intently.

"Hey," Steven laughed, "you know, I didn't know they had color film back the- WHOA!" he shouted, leaning back in his seat and averting his eyes as the film came to an end. "Jeeeeeez!"

Lapis blinked. "I don't get it. Why doesn't he just retreat back into his gem?"

"That," Ronaldo concluded, "is the John Kennedy Treatment."

Peridot frowned and covered her gem with both hands, eyes wide.

"The Johnson Amendment, since then, has only been successfully invoked one other time," Ronaldo commented, "in 1981 by then-Vice President George H. W. Bush."

Sadie glared at Ronaldo. "Successfully? Ronaldo, President Reagan served two full terms and lived to be 93 years old."

Ronaldo narrowed his eyes. "Did he, Sadie? This brings me to my next point; the government's secret cloning program."

Suddenly, the phone on Peridot's desk started ringing. Dropping her hands from her gem, she put the call on speaker so the whole room could listen. "You're through to the Office of the Mayor of Beach City, Delmarva."

"I think you mean Beach City, Maryland," the voice on the other end said. Peridot rolled her eyes.

"Governor Carney, not this again."

"That bill isn't dead yet, Peridot. John McCain can't keep it down forever. We NEED to take action now before Delmarva becomes redundant," Carney argued. Peridot leaned her face against her hand and used her other hand to mockingly mimic the opening and closing of the governor's mouth while he spoke. "I have a plan that can SAVE this state, but we NEED you onboard. Beach City is the state's financial powerhouse, and if you don't help us–"

"Say, Carney, aren't there a bunch of Walmarts in Wilmington?" Peridot said sarcastically. "Maybe you should call the CEO of Walmart and tell him to lobby some Senators."

Beat.

"That's a great idea, Peridot! You just might be onto something!" The governor hung up. Peridot glared at the phone in annoyed silence for several seconds before looking back up at her advisers.

"How's my job approval rating?"

Sadie looked down at a stack of papers she'd been holding. "Well, for somebody who just got elected…" she frowned and looked back up at Peridot, her eyebrows furrowed. "Not good. I mean, you're polling better locally than the Speaker of the House is nationally, at least, but…"

"And the President, right?"

Sadie didn't say anything.

"S-Sadie? I'm polling better than the President, right?"

"Well, the good news is, you have four years before you have to worry about getting re-elected! I-I'm sure we can get those numbers back up!"

Peridot frowned. "What gives? I was under the impression that we just had an election! Which I WON!"

"There was… a low voter turnout."

Peridot leaned back in her chair and sighed. "Alright. I'll bite. Why don't people adore me?"

Lapis hummed. "Hmm. You think it has something to do with that video?"

"...what video?"

Grinning sheepishly, Sadie placed a tablet in front of Peridot, propping it on its stand so she could view comfortably. The device was playing video from the Internet.

"We can dance if we want to," Peridot drunkenly sang and danced. "We've got all your life and mine. As long as we abuse it," she mumbled past the words she couldn't remember, "eeeeveerything will work out fine—"

Present Peridot shrank in her seat. "Somebody recorded that, huh?"

"Uh, a major news outlet captured it, ma'am."

Peridot grumbled to herself and crossed her arms. "Of course they did."

Lapis scratched her chin in thought. "I see. So we need to SILENCE the mainstream media. That's where we're going with this, right?"

Stan nodded. "Don't worry, Mayor, we'll get our people right on it!" He glanced at his sister, who also nodded.

"That's right, Mayor," Jan said in a really annoyingly peppy tone. "We'll shut those news organizations right up!"

Peridot glanced around the room. "You're kidding, right? Guys. Guys. We can't just SILENCE the media."

Stan blinked. "But. But they said mean things about you."

"So?" Peridot stood up and paced her desk. "I brought it on myself by getting drunk and acting like an IDIOT at a public event."

Jan shook her head. "No, no, see, you're confused. You are never at fault. Your CRITICS are. The media is the ENEMY of the American people!"

"Says who? The guy that the media doesn't like?" Peridot sighed and leaned against the wall. "Regardless of whether or not that story was politically motivated, the media has the right to do it. It's up to me, as the Mayor, to be the responsible one and not give them a reason to mess with me."

"But… but Fake News."

Peridot sat back in her seat. "Sure, if a news outlet prints outright lies about me, that's a problem. It's not a problem that I can really DO anything about, because again, they're free to do whatever, but that's irrelevant because that video wasn't fabricated. It wasn't even EDITED. That's raw footage. I ACTUALLY did that." She laughed dryly. "I-I mean, I'm the MAYOR. Do you really think I have TIME to be worried about what the news is saying about me? We all know they print sensationalist stories for ratings, and I HATE it, but I can't stoop to that level. What kind of an example would I be setting if I dropped everything I was doing to attack a news organization because they hurt my feelings? The way I see it, if the story's fake, then the story's fake and I shouldn't give them the satisfaction. If the story's real, then I only have myself to blame."

Stan and Jan looked disappointed. "Oh, well, okay," Stan muttered. "Are you sure we can't just threaten the news companies a LITTLE?"

Suddenly, a faint "woosh"ing noise could be heard from outside, and the room shook slightly as the noise was followed by a loud "boom".

"Were those fireworks?" Peridot questioned.

"That didn't sound like it," Steven responded. He and Peridot got up and ran to the window and re-opened the curtains.

In the distance, a streak of fire and smoke shot across the sky. Peridot realized it was something that had just entered the atmosphere, and the noise they heard was a sonic boom.

The object continued until it eventually passed the horizon. A distant crash could be heard as smoke erupted from the landing site.

"Thaaaat's never good," Steven said, worried.

"Why? What was the last thing to enter the atmosphere so dramatically?" Peridot asked.

"You were."

Steven started to run towards the door as Peridot realized exactly what he meant by that.

"Oh, shoot."

She hopped over her desk and, with Lapis, followed Steven out the door.

Using Greg's van, Pearl, escorted by four county police vehicles, a S.W.A.T. van, and an ambulance, drove Steven, Lapis, and Peridot to the crash site.

"I really hope that isn't what I think it is…" Peridot muttered. "It BETTER not be what I think it is. If they're here for me—!"

Pearl rolled her eyes. "Please. Peridot. Homeworld doesn't CARE about Earth politics, nor do they care that you got involved. It's probably just a satellite, or a weather balloon, something."

"Satellites and weather balloons don't force entry into the atmosphere, Pearl."

"Wow, okay, I really don't like the way you said Pearl, there."

"Here. HERE. Pull up right here!"

Pearl brought the van to a stop. Before it could come to a complete stop, however, Peridot kicked the door open and hopped out, sprinting towards the crash site. Steven and Lapis followed as soon as the car was fully halted, and a rather bored Pearl slowly meandered behind them.

"You know, Pearl," Peridot yelled behind her, "you'd THINK you'd be more concerned about this, since you've had to deal with this exact scenario at LEAST twice before."

"It's a Wednesday, Peridot," Pearl responded. "If something bad happens, it's always on a Thursday. Or across an entire work week, starting on Monday and ending on Friday. Or sometimes on a Friday or Saturday, and once on Memorial Day. But never on a Wednesday by itself."

Peridot stopped in her tracks and stared at the scene in front of her, eyes wide with fear. "Then explain this," she muttered, pointing to the horrifying mess.

In front of the group was an escape pod from a Homeworld ship, sitting in the middle of a crater in the otherwise open field. Dark smoke billowed from the pod; it appeared to have taken a lot of damage while entering the atmosphere, or perhaps upon its landing.

Pearl stopped as well once she caught up to Peridot and summoned her spear. "Oh, no."

Peridot slowly approached the escape pod as several cops surrounded the area. Not that their weak projectile weapons would do any good, but still. It helped to look intimidating. Steven summoned his shield and placed himself at Peridot's side, ready to jump to her defense should the occupant attack. Lapis stood to Peridot's other side. She'd… figure something out. There wasn't a whole lot of water nearby.

"Okay, you two," Peridot whispered. "Let's take it slow."

Pearl looked annoyed. "I'm here, too," she whispered back.

"Oh, are you, Pearl? I'm sorry, I thought I was being paranoid!" Peridot said in a snarky, hushed tone.

"Guys, this isn't the time for that," Steven whispered. "You can argue about how Pearl was wrong AFTER this."

"Fine," both gems said simultaneously. Pearl blinked, realizing too late what she'd just agreed to. "Wait-"

Peridot slid down the side of the crater and approached the escape pod. Steven, Lapis, and Pearl followed. She felt along the sides of the pod, which was hot to the touch. Obviously. She'd like to believe that whoever was in there died on impact, but it wasn't like this was a Martian ship. The Martians practiced rather shoddy craftsmanship and, like humans, were fleshy and vulnerable. This was a Homeworld ship. Not only was the occupant probably invulnerable to most forms of blunt-force trauma, she probably didn't even feel the impact of hitting the ground. That's how well-designed Homeworld's escape pods were.

Haha. Just kidding. Can you imagine? Peridot recognized this as a Roswell Rover, the most basic escape pod deployed by Homeworld ships usually reserved for the lower-ranking gems. Imagine a Ford Pinto, but even more explosive. The only reason this hunk of junk was in one piece was because the overshield—which has a 45% failure rate—happened to activate on impact. But hey, at least they GOT escape pods. If this gem had been just a little bit lower on that career ladder...

Despite holding out during the impact, the shield had failed shortly afterwards. Homeworld craftsmanship at its finest.

Sighing, Peridot took a step back. "Well, it won't open from the outside. The occupant must have activated the isomorphic lock."

Steven nodded. "Isomorphic. Just like the old SimCity games."

"So what are we going to do?" Lapis asked. If they couldn't get in, then the only thing to do was to wait for the occupant to leave, which could take literally forever.

Peridot picked up a nearby rock. "We're going to chuck rocks at it until the windshield breaks." She then chucked the rock at the glass. Pearl rolled her eyes as Peridot kept throwing rocks.

"Peridot, PLEASE. Surely YOU of all people would know that a Homeworld escape pod meant for space travel would have a front windscreen suited to withstand—" The glass cracked. Pearl didn't seem amused at all. "Okay. Sure. Throw rocks at it."

Peridot and her friends spent the next five minutes throwing rocks at a goddamn spaceship.

Meanwhile, back in town, Peridot's advising team was busy trying to make sure the citizens didn't freak out over what was potentially ANOTHER alien invasion. A crowd comprised of just about every citizen of Beach City sat in front of City Hall and rabbled relentlessly and fearfully. Sadie wiped a sweat drop from her forehead and approached the podium.

"Uh, h-hi, everyone!" she said, nervously. "I know you're all, uh, really worried about what's going on, but don't be!"

"Why not?" Vidalia asked from within the crowd. "Last time something like this happened, we all had to evacuate!"

Sadie tried to put on a smile. "I- uh, well, last time this happened, Peridot came! And, uh, now she's the mayor, and she has it under control!"

Sean Spicer approached the podium. "Don't worry, Sadie. I've got this."

"You're sure?"

"I'm an expert at this sort of thing. Believe me."

Sadie shrugged and let Spicer take the stand. He straightened his tie and cleared his throat, ready to reassure the citizens of Beach City. "Under no circumstances are you all to believe that we need to evacuate," Spicer commanded. "If it truly is an alien invasion, there is literally nowhere we can hide and we're all dead and to suggest otherwise is giving in to the Fake News agenda. Mayor Peridot has everything under control. She has to, because if she doesn't, every single one of you will be vaporized by an alien death ray."

Sadie's eyes widened with panic. "Sean, what are you doing?!"

"Furthermore, there's no evidence to even suggest that outer space even exists," Spicer continued. "So if outer space doesn't exist, tell me this; where did the aliens come from?"

Sadie laughed nervously and stepped back up to the podium. "Uh, h-he's just kidding, everyone."

"I wouldn't joke about something like this," Spicer corrected. "The fact of the matter is that space travel hasn't been invented yet. Therefore, an alien invasion cannot take place, and you all have nothing to fear but fear itself. And zombies. Definitely zombies.

"Regardless, you all need to trust that our Mayor is doing everything in her power to keep Beach City safe," Spicer continued. "Over fifty TRILLION people voted for Peridot, so I think we all know she's capable of dealing with whatever's going on right now."

Stan and Jan stepped forward as well. "Yeah!" Stan yelled. "All of the news organizations who keep saying aliens are a threat to us are LIARS!"

Ronaldo glared at the others on his team. "This is OBVIOUSLY a cover-up for something much bigger!"

"Ronaldo, you're supposed to be on OUR side."

"Was Kennedy's administration on HIS side?" Ronaldo questioned.

Sadie buried her face in her hands. This office was a mess and it was now becoming apparent that Peridot had no idea how to pick out a staff. Nobody could agree on anything and in-fighting was going to destroy City Hall. Sadie was even beginning to question the wiseness of her own appointment.

If things didn't change soon, Beach City was in trouble.

Peridot, Pearl, Lapis, and Steven continued to throw rocks at the escape pod. Several police officers had even joined in, and the paramedics that came in the ambulance we're looking for their own rocks to chuck. Suddenly, the top of the escape pod began to open.

Steven pointed this out. "Look, it's opening!" A police officer—one Peridot and Steven recognized from their little excursion two weeks ago—drew his weapon. Both Steven and Peridot stepped back.

"Put that down!" Peridot yelled.

"Yeah, seriously!" Steven agreed.

"You're too trigger happy, jeez!"

Pearl shot the two a confused glance. "Well, jeez, you only had to tell him once."

The capsule finished opening, dark smoke dramatically leaving the entrance and obscuring the occupant from our heroes. Curious, Peridot leaned in—and was attacked!

Something jumped out of the capsule and pinned Peridot down. "By order of the Great Diamond Authority, I demand you leave my vessel at once so that I may repair it and escape from this pathetic rock!" The cops all raised their weapons as the newcomer placed a finger to her chin in thought. "Hmm, actually, I'm not sure where I landed. The natives might not even speak Universal Basic." The gem glared back down at Peridot and began shouting again. "¡Por orden de la Gran Autoridad del Diamante, le pido que deje mi barco inmediatamente para que pueda repararlo y escapar de esta patética roca!"

Steven stared in amazement. "Wow. I didn't know Gems spoke French!"

Pearl blinked. "We don't," she said, slightly surprised.

The intruder continued to shout commands at Peridot. "Idaina daiyamondo ōsoriti no meirei de, sugu ni watashi no fune o dete, shūri shite kono awarena iwa kara nogareru koto o negaimasu!" Suddenly, she stopped, and raised an eyebrow. She eyed Peridot's hair, gem, and clothing. "Holy crap. It's–"

"Another Peridot!" both Peridots shouted simultaneously. Indeed, as if trapped in a Disney Channel movie starring Lindsay Lohan, Peridot presently found herself being awkwardly straddled by… herself.

Or, someone who looked like her, anyway. That's not to say all Peridots look the same. That's racist. But they looked similar, with a few key differences. This new Peridot was definitely a few inches taller than ours. Her jumpsuit also extended to her wrists, and her hair…

Well, the hair was the same. Our Peridot's hair seems a bit more frayed at the ends nowadays, compared to when she first arrived on Earth with much neater hair. The newcomer's hair was, similarly, much straighter.

Peridot grinned up at the new Peridot. "Well he-lloo good looking," she said suggestively, her blatant narcissism unnerving her friends ever so slightly.

New Peridot stepped off of Mayor Peridot and reached out a hand, smirking as she pulled the Mayor up. "Thank the heavens, you're one of the good guys," she said. "I must admit, I feared I'd be alone in dealing with the native population. I assume they're absolutely BARBARIC. No clean way to deal with them, I'm afraid, but with the two of us, we can outsmart them long enough for me to finish my ship."

Mayor Peridot glanced at New Peridot's ship. "Yeah. No way. That thing's busted."

"Oh, don't be so pessimistic, comrade. Sure, it seems that way, but…" New Peridot trailed off as her ship bursted into flames. "Ah. Figures. No matter! You and I can build a new one!" she turned around and pointed at Steven. "You there! Native!" She then spoke incredibly slowly, loudly, and simplistically as if Steven had a learning disability. "Me need. Spaceship parts! You get. I pay, big big shiny! Understand? You get. I pay. Very shiny! Muchos pesos! Comprende amigo?"

Steven shrugged. "Uh, we can take you to a Home Depot, I guess."

Mayor Peridot grabbed New Peridot's shoulders and started to lead her back to the van. "Why don't I take you to my office? We can talk a little bit more about what you're doing here when we get there."

"You've established a headquarters on Earth?" New Peridot asked.

Peridot chuckled condescendingly. "Who do you think their Mayor is?" she asked, patting herself on the back a little too hard.

New Peridot was astounded. "You've ascended to a leadership position among the natives?"

"Of course I have!" Peridot said. "After all…"

"Nobody is more qualified to lead than a Peridot!" both Peridots said simultaneously. New Peridot laughed.

"Wow, wait until Our Diamond hears about THIS!" she said.

Peridot hushed her. "Ooh, yeah, no, let's try and keep that on the DL for right now, comprende amigo?"

"Pardon?" New Peridot questioned. "For what purpose?"

Peridot sighed. "I'll explain when we get back to my office." Pearl grabbed her and pulled her aside.

"Peridot, what are you THINKING?" she whispered. "We can't trust HER! She's with Homeworld!"

"Hey, cool it, Pearl, I've got this under control!" Peridot barked back. "Her ship is destroyed, so she's not going anywhere. Might as well keep an eye on her. Besides…" she trailed off, glancing back at New Peridot. "Maybe… we can bring her over to our side."

It was at this point that New Peridot finally noticed the other two gems in the vicinity. "You even have your own PEARL?!" New Peridot exclaimed excitedly. "How did you manage THAT?!"

Pearl glared at New Peridot. "Yeah, I don't like her."

Peridot groaned. "Just be nice, for like, two seconds! I know. That's hard for you. You hate new people for some reason. Greg told me all about it, but right now is NOT the time! Okay?"

Pearl glared at New Peridot again. "Fine," she conceded. "But I'm not pretending to be your slave just so you can impress someone who's going to try and kill us later anyway."

"Pearl. I respect you. I would NEVER treat you like a slave," Peridot said compassionately. "Now drive us back home," she commanded.

Pearl rolled her eyes and went on ahead to the van.

"So, what was your mission here?" New Peridot asked Mayor Peridot.

"Well, let me tell you, I get around!"

"You sure do," Lapis said, slightly disparagingly.

"My primary mission here was to oversee the emergence of the Cluster," Peridot continued.

"How did that go?" New Peridot asked, looking around and now seeming slightly nervous. "Is it… close?"

"Oh, no, no, no," Peridot assured her. "Steven and I traveled to the center of the planet and prevented it from taking form!"

New Peridot looked incredibly confused. "Why?"

Peridot realized she may have screwed up by telling the newcomer that and waved it off. "Oh, that's… it's a long story. What about you? Why are YOU here?"

New Peridot chuckled. "Heh. That's ALSO a long story."

"It's a half-hour drive back into town," Peridot replied. "Might as well tell it."

New Peridot shrugged as the group approached the van. "Might as well."

My full designation is Peridot, Era III, Cut 7. Full stop. My designation, as I've been made aware, is different from others, due in part to the circumstances of my creation. I emerged from the Kindergarten one Homeworld Year ago—that's eleven Earth months, in case any of the natives were wondering. For the sake of clarity, and because you evidently have been on Earth for so long, I'll refer to things in Earth Time, though I'm not happy about it.

As I'm sure you know, resources on Homeworld are scarce. I was one of only twelve; consequently, we were given more development priority than the last batch, which has led to us being given the designation "Era III".

I have no assigned Facet number because each Era III was grown in a specialized location, usually separate from the others. As such, you are the first Peridot I have properly spoken to outside of myself. I've seen others, but… well, I'll get to that.

We were each given a specialized mission by Our Diamond, who so graciously allowed us to report to her directly, instead of an underling. My mission involved Earth matters directly.

Seven months ago, I was told that Our Diamond had managed to install a puppet at the head of Earth's government. Why, I never asked, because it wasn't my place to question, but personally, I believe our efforts would have been better placed elsewhere. Regardless, the Great Diamond Authority had, for the first time in many millennia, established some semblance of a colony on Earth.

Our Diamond regularly spoke to a native known as "Steve." Steve had, evidently, just pushed a rather idiotic and easy to control human to the forefront of this planet's politics. I had the… ugh… privilege of witnessing one of these conversations.

I am forever devoted to Our Diamond. Her graciousness and generosity is unparalleled, and I'd sooner see myself shattered than betray her trust. But this human she spoke to… he was something else. I didn't like him.

I was to report to Yellow Diamond upon completion of some mundane paperwork I was given. At the time, I must admit, I was a little disappointed. It seemed like the other Era IIIs were doing much more important things. Regardless, I completed the job as I was instructed and reported to her chamber. There, I walked in on a conversation she was having with Steve.

Her Pearl was standing in front of a communicator. The holographic display showed several humans, one of whom I'd guessed was Steve.

"This is the Yellow Diamond control room," Pearl greeted. "Who authorized you to make this call?"

"Stuff it, Pearl," Steve scowled. "Stick your pointy nose up the blue one's ass, I have important things to discuss with IMPORTANT people."

Pearl looked slightly offended. "I… My Diamond, the President of the United States wishes to speak with you."

One other man in the image raised an eyebrow. "I'm the President."

Steve blinked. "Yeah. Sure you are."

Our Diamond maneuvered the communicator to focus on her. "Greetings. It's a pleasure to speak with you again."

"The pleasure is all mine, My Diamond," Steve rasped, saluting Yellow.

Realizing that maybe the conversation wasn't something I should be eavesdropping on, I took my leave. Evidently, she saw me.

I walked around the corner a few times so that, when she eventually finished the call, it would appear as if I'd just arrived. She wasn't fooled, however, as after the call was finished, Her Pearl exited the room and waited for me to round the corner one more time.

"Her Excellency wishes to discuss what you just saw," Pearl said. I must admit, I was nervous. I thought my gem was on the line, for sure. Despite this, I entered the room, where I became increasingly aware that the Pearl had not followed me. I was all alone with Yellow Diamond.

Her Excellency sat with her back to the door. "Do you know what happens to Gems who get curious?" she said, without turning to face me. I swallowed, terrified.

"I- I- please, forgive me, My Diamond," I managed to choke out, saluting her but keeping my eyes shut. "I meant no disrespect, I- I- I just happened to walk in, a-and-"

"Answer my question," she commanded, her tone devoid of all emotion.

"I… truth be told, My Diamond, I- I don't know what happens to Gems who get curious," I admitted. "I- I finished that paperwork you needed! I- I'm not sure why you needed me to write a report on talking berries, b- but-"

Our Diamond clenched a fist, but still wouldn't face me. "When Gems get curious," she interrupted, "they betray me." Finally, she turned her head and glared at me. "Are you going to betray me, Peridot?"

My eyes widened with fear. "N-no! No, no, no, My Diamond, please, I would never even DREAM of—!"

She chuckled, and turned her head away from me again. "At ease, Peridot. I am simply teasing."

My eyes remained wide as I wiped tears from my eyes. "Oh. Y-yes, of course, My Diamond. Hah. Haha. That is… it's very funny." I swallowed again. "Um, so about that paperwork—"

"Something very special is about to happen," Our Diamond said. "You've read the classified, forbidden files on the rebellion, haven't you?"

"I- I'm sorry. I was curious."

"Then you'll know that the Crystal Gems remain on Earth."

"Yes, My Diamond."

Yellow Diamond sighed. "They won't for much longer," she said, chuckling again. "I'm sure you read the file on the Corrupting Light?"

Our Diamond spent the next ten minutes explaining to me the deal she'd made with the human, which involved launching a new version of the Corrupting Light. In return, she helped ensure that human maintained his position in Earth's government—somehow. I wasn't sure on the specifics, it seemed pretty convoluted to me, but REGARDLESS, she assured me that all of Homeworld's problems would be dealt with once and for all.

Except they weren't.

One month later, I was called back to meet with Our Diamond; only, this time, she wasn't very happy.

She was furious.

Evidently, her deal fell through. Steve had been killed, betrayed by his own President. The Corrupting Light? Deactivated. Her plan? Ruined. I wasn't the only Peridot in the room, however. Hundreds of others, mostly Era IIs, were there as well.

I stood at Yellow Diamond's side. The others stood in front of her. I would find out why in a moment.

"You're likely wondering why I've called you from your respective missions," Our Diamond began. "It's quite simple, really. For the last few months, I've been working to move our empire forward, and finally squash a group of pests we'd been dealing with for quite some time.

"Unfortunately, my plans have been ruined for the time being. A major blow has been dealt to us by one single individual."

She explained what happened. Somebody on Earth had destroyed her operation from the inside out, and turned the President to the side of the Crystal Gems. Everything was ruined.

"The perpetrator?" Our Diamond concluded. "A Peridot."

The Peridots in the room all gasped. Who could do such a thing? I stared up at Our Diamond in horror.

"As was the case with Rose Quartz," Yellow said dramatically, "if one of you is a traitor…" She glared down at the crowd. "You're all traitors."

I watched as Our Diamond, in a fit of uncontrollable rage, destroyed and shattered the Peridots. Every. Single. Peridot. Slaughtered. I watched her kill them all. Every Era II. Gone. Finally, only I was left standing. She turned her attention to me. I thought I was a goner, until…

"They were a bad bunch. Defective," Our Diamond said, calming down. "You? You came from a good bunch. Don't let me down, Peridot. Don't be like your worthless predecessors."

Mayor Peridot sat in the van, listening, horrified. She was… she was the last Era II Peridot. Everyone else who was like her was… dead. Shattered. Yellow Diamond killed them all.

"It was then that she revealed to me my true purpose," the Era III continued. "With that, I was sent to orbit Earth in a small spacecraft, where I've spent the last few months, simply observing the natives through satellite imagery.

"Hours ago, my ship malfunctioned due to a small EMP blast let out by a rocket launched by a group of humans on what they call the Korean Peninsula, which later landed in the Sea of Japan." The Era III leaned back in her seat and sighed. "My escape pod crashed here, and… that's where you met me."

Peridot blinked, slowly, trying to comprehend what she'd been told. "The… the others are really all… dead?"

The other Peridot nodded sadly. "I'm assuming you're an Era II? You're one of the only ones left. I guess you got lucky, being here on Earth when the whole thing went down."

Peridot shuddered. That was… terrible. And it happened because of her. SHE was the one who destroyed Steve Bannon's operation all those months ago. SHE was the one who ruined Yellow Diamond's plans.

SHE was the one who got those other Peridots killed.

...wait. One of. New Peridot said our Peridot was "one of" the only Era IIs left. ...who was the other?

"Say, uh, Peridot," Mayor Peridot said, slowly. "...what's your mission, again?"

New Peridot perked up. "Oh, I totally forgot why I was telling that story!" she said, laughing. "Alright, I'm focused again. So. My true mission. I was sent to observe Earth… because Yellow Diamond wanted me to find the Peridot who betrayed her."

Peridot's eyes widened as New Peridot continued. Suddenly, she felt far less safe.

"She wanted me to find that Peridot…" New Peridot clenched her fist and summoned a weapon; something Era IIIs could evidently do. The weapon in question was a hand-mounted drill, which looked to be the perfect size for shattering. "...and kill her."

Peridot, Lapis, and Steven, who all sat in the back with their guest, stared fearfully at New Peridot. Pearl, who was driving with the window down, didn't hear what she'd said over the wind.

New Peridot smiled cheerfully and dismissed her weapon, then put her arm around our Peridot. "But hey! With the two of us doing the heavy lifting, we'll be able to find that traitor in no time, eh, pal? So! Where should we start looking?"

Mayor Peridot didn't know how to answer.