"Hup! I think I got another one!" Greg exclaimed, his fishing line convulsing on the water. He quickly tried to reel it up, revealing a little sardine, shaking its tail from side-to-side. Greg smiled and laughed, amazed that he had actually succeeded. He turned to look at Connie, who had fallen asleep at the other end of the boat, her back to him. An unusual sight, to be sure, yet nonetheless a disappointing one. Greg's smile weakened, yet his pride did not. He plucked the fish off, placing it in a blue, plastic pail that they had brought with them. It continued to squirm around a bit, so he kept an eye on it until it stopped. They had been out there for what must have been an hour or so, and had caught three sardines (including the one they just caught) and the back end of a Japanese Seabass. Not much on this side of the city, it seemed. He nudged Connie with his foot, causing her to slowly wake up.

"What…?" She asked groggily, turning around to look at him.

"Whatcha dreamin' about?" Greg asked, the look of a disappointed parent across his face. Connie rubbed her eyes, then looked back with confusion.

"Is everything okay?"

"Yeah. I mean, things would have been better if someone would cast the net every so often." Connie looked at her hands, seeing that she was still clutching the net. Her heart sank, but she tried to hold her ground.

"Well, it's been kind of a long day, Greg. The rocking of the boat is pretty soothing, y'know." Greg had to admit it was getting pretty late. The sun had started setting a few minutes ago and they couldn't stay out for much longer. But they had been out there for an hour and she still didn't do anything. Maybe there was something wrong?

"Are you okay, Connie?" Connie tensed up a bit, looking away from him.

"I'm fine, yeah." Greg didn't buy it. Something was very off. But confronting her would probably do more harm than good. Maybe? Greg sighed in frustration. Connie hugged her knees to her chest. The air was tough to breathe, and the tension could have been cut with a knife. Greg picked up the paddle and started moving back to shore, remaining silent. She'd tell him when she's ready. Right?

It was only a few minutes before they reached the dock, greeted only by Smiley, Ronaldo, and the Pizza family. The rest had gone back to the camp, set up by the boardwalk on the south side of the city. It would be a lengthy walk. The two of them were helped out of the boat while Kofi took the pail.

"Took ya long enough," Smiley quipped at Greg. Greg glanced at Connie, still annoyed.

"Yeah," Greg replied, "sorry about that." Kofi looked at the haul in the pail.

"Good God, man!" he said, "this will barely fill half of us!"

"It's fine," Greg said, "we can make it work. We'll just have to try to ration it out tonight and try again tomorrow."

"Let's hope they're compliant, Greg," Smiley added. "They're pretty hungry."

"I know. So are we." He thought for a moment. "But I can go without food for tonight."
"Agreed," Ronaldo stated. Greg nodded, and the group began to move out towards the other end of the city. Connie was clearly still distraught about something, lagging behind the rest of them. Greg noticed this, unsure of what to do. Smiley also took a glance back and saw Connie, then walked up next to Greg.

"What's with her?" Smiley inquired. Greg shook his head and shrugged. They both looked at the ground as they walked, before Smiley turned to look at Connie. "Y'know, uh, Connie," she looked up at him with big, sorrowful eyes, "PeeDee made a drawing earlier."

"Oh yeah?" she responded. "What'd he draw?"

Ruby remained in her study. The day was unusual and a significant change of pace. Especially for her. She wasn't sure how to feel at this point. She had begun...questioning herself. Not pity-it couldn't be pity. Just doubt. She shook her clouded mind. Trying to focus on her work. She had gutted the energy core down to just the power cords and the cosmic emitter. This might be good for vehicles. It's a large planet, after all. There was a knock at the door. Ruby's heart sank. Of course she was back. She got up, her chest still feeling empty, and opened the door, greeted by Sapphire. Sapphire kept her gaze on the floor.

"Yes?" Ruby greeted.

"There's a...note. On the door. From those people, I believe," Sapphire reported.

"Okay?" Ruby pressed. "Anything else?" Sapphire was stiff for a few moments, before weakly shaking her head. Ruby nodded, moving aside for Sapphire to enter. She moved slowly, the tension between them making the air as thick as cement. She stopped at the foot of the stairs as Ruby went back to her desk.

"Is there anything that you want to talk about...Commander?" Ruby, almost instinctively dismissing her question, halted for a moment to think. Was there? She didn't want to seem weak. But would it mean anything to Sapphire? Would Sapphire even understand? The thought of risking it made Ruby's torso ache.

"I don't know," Ruby said. Sapphire, a bit surprised, turned to look at her. Ruby crossed her arms, directing her gaze at the desk.

"Commander, if you need to talk about anything-"

"I know." Now Ruby met Sapphire's gaze. "I know." Sapphire nodded. Ruby sat down at her desk again, Sapphire unsure of what to do.

"Those humans seemed...nice," Sapphire admired.

"They seemed primitive."
"Well, they are. Compared to us, at the very least. But their home was destroyed, so I suppose it makes sense." A pause. "Do you think they got any use out of that box plastic?"

"They seem to make use out of everything, so probably."
"What do you mean?"

"They were living in that tunnel that got split in half. Seemingly surviving off of waste and old nutrients supplies."

"How...remarkable." Ruby couldn't help but smirk, but hid it from Sapphire.

"Or pathetic."
"Well, isn't that what we're doing? Just in a different structure?"

"Sure. But the difference is that we at least smell better." Sapphire saw a hint of Ruby's smirk.

"Was that a...joke, Commander?" Sapphire asked, a dainty smile crossing her lips. At this, Ruby seemed to snap back into herself, her eyes wide with her face blank. What was she doing? She had to remain in control. She couldn't sacrifice her authority for small talk and...jokes.

"No," Ruby stated firmly. "It was an insult to them." Ruby quickly focused on her work yet again, giving Sapphire the signal to leave, her smile now gone as well.

"Apologies for the misunderstanding," Sapphire mumbled, looking down, before heading back up the stairs. Ruby leaned back in her chair, and beads of sweat began forming across her face. She was cracking. She knew she would. But it was happening already. She tried closing her eyes and taking a few deep, calming breaths. Centering herself. She needed air. She got up again, heading for the door. Once she was outside, she closed it and saw the note Sapphire had mentioned, taped to the outside of the door. Her train of thought now derailed, she observed the note. It was a drawing. It was crude, juvenile, and difficult to understand what was even going on, but a drawing nevertheless. It was a picture of her, it seemed, with only two dots and a "U" for a face. Was her nose really that big and wide? And so low on her face? There was also Sapphire, Pearl, and Amethyst next to her, yet their heights and clothes were completely wrong. Pearl seemed to have two noses, too. Her normal nose, and the same "U" nose right underneath. Scribbled on the top left of the paper were what seemed to be words, as well as the bottom. She wasn't as familiar with Earth languages, however. She preferred to utilize her time on more important things. She saw Bismuth coming up the hill carrying pieces of the Peridot's ship and remembered that she had read some of the surviving books on this planet.

"Bismuth," Ruby said, taking the drawing down from the door. Bismuth looked at her, clearly disinterested. "What do these words say?" Ruby turned the paper so that Bismuth could see it, and Bismuth inspected it closely.

"'Go to...hell...Invader scum,'" Bismuth read. Ruby was shocked at this, but Bismuth soon looked at her and smiled. "Nah, just kidding. It says 'To Gems, from humans,' and then at the bottom, it says 'thank you!'" Ruby, her mind racing with different thoughts and feelings, looked at the paper, now understanding the writing better. "Why the hell did the humans give us that crappy drawing?"

"I don't know," Ruby stated, still lost in the note. Then she broke her stare, looking up at Bismuth, who returned her gaze with a casual shrug, before carrying on inside the lighthouse. Ruby again looked at the drawing, her mouth slightly opened. She didn't know how to describe the way this drawing made her feel, but the closest word she could think of was "uncomfortable." She turned back to the door, pausing, before following Bismuth in.