"Garnet?"
"Yes?"
"Are we...bad for doing that? That whole thing with Aquamarine and Ruby? Was that a bad thing to do?"
"..."
"...Garnet? Are you-"
"It was necessary. And remember, it wasn't even real." The fusion deadpanned, turning away from Amethyst as if she was ashamed. The purple Gem paused for a moment, before sighing and continuing to eat the bag of chips she had in her hands, which was her fifth of the day. She turned back to the table they had set up and sat down at it, trying to avoid looking at everyone else who had gathered.
It was meeting time.
Between Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl, Bismuth, Lapis, Peridot, and the Diamonds on a holographic display, overlooking them all. Everyone had a look of seriousness, knowing full well that now was not the time for foolishness. They had all gathered to discuss several things. First, the information they gained from the interrogation of Aquamarine and Ruby. Second, discussing what Steven told Bismuth and then the rest of them about his third experience with Pink Steven as well as Mirror's takeover of the shelter's PA system.
It was not something any of them were looking forward to. Especially considering the location they all had to gather in for this to be possible. The meeting was still being held on Earth, but the usual meeting room, held in Little Homeworld, could not be used because of Aquamarine's claims that Mirror had thousands of tiny nanobots that could listen to every word they said. So they had to choose an alternative location. And this was what led them to the Forge. The original Forge. Safe, secure, and after Peridot had run about five hundred diagnostics tests on the inside of the structure, she confirmed that it was clear of nanobots. When the forge was sealed up thousands of years ago, the bots were unable to get into it, and thus it was safe from them.
But there was certainly an unpleasant mood in the air because of this. While Peridot, Bismuth, and Garnet thought the atmosphere was nothing short of peachy, everyone else, especially Lapis, felt like they were boiling alive after being in there for so long. Especially since it was being held in the deepest part of the forge, where the statues used for training once lay. And the Diamonds were displeased because of the "unceremonious" structure that they had chosen to gather at. They hadn't said it out loud, but anyone could read it on their faces.
But again, this was necessary. They couldn't risk anything at this point. If Mirror could take control of the speakers just like that, then they didn't want to figure out what else they could hack into. Bismuth had literally torn the system out of the wall and threw it in a dumpster when she found out what happened, nothing short of livid that even her shelter, one of her most impressive and biggest constructions, had been infiltrated by the enemy. Amethyst thought she nearly saw steam come out of the bulky Gem's ears when she got the news, and anyone with half a brain made sure to steer clear of her that day.
Of course, she had only shown this anger after making Steven those pancakes and leaving the house, showing impressive restraint considering how unhinged she got when her temper got thrown out of whack. Steven hadn't suspected a thing.
And speaking of Steven, he wasn't here, as usual nowadays. He was at home while Greg was watching him, under the guise of teaching him a few songs on his banjo. The hybrid saw right through it; he did anytime they came up with an excuse to go to a meeting without him, but he accepted this nonetheless. What was he going to do after all? Complain? Get angry? The second he started showing any signs of frustration, he knew the Gems would be just waiting by the switch that activated the blast doors. It was one of the reasons he had purposefully turned himself into an emotionless shell. If he showed any emotion other than disinterest in everything, Steven feared that the Gems would become even wearier of him.
Which was a situation he was hoping to avoid.
But enough about Steven for the moment. Back at the Forge, Garnet clapped her hands together with a clink, and everyone snapped to attention. Anyone who wasn't seated quickly did so, and all three of the Diamonds, on separate projectors, turned towards the fusion and respectfully waited for the meeting to begin.
For a moment, all was silent.
And then…
"Thank you all for coming," Garnet said, as if they had a choice in the matter. "I have gathered us all here again to discuss some new revelations that have recently been uncovered. One that threatens us all and our security of the entire Earth."
A faint murmur passed through all those present, knowing exactly what Garnet was talking about.
"Peridot." She said, turning to the Green Gem. "Would you please explain the situation to us, in case anyone is not fully informed?"
"Of course," Peridot mumbled, clearly not looking forward to it. "The nanobots. Approximately three hours ago, we discovered their existence. Trillions and trillions of microscopic machines spread across the entire Earth, recording everything auditory and presumably broadcasting it back to Mirror. Their presence was first claimed by Aquamarine, and backed up with several tests I took before this. I simply took a leaf from my greenhouse and inspected it more thoroughly than anything I ever had before."
She gulped and briefly got a look of nervousness before continuing. "The results were...disturbing, to say the least. These machines are more than microscopic. They operate at the atomic level, almost too small for any human or Gem microscope to detect. Almost." She iterated. "I haven't actually seen them for myself, but I was able to detect them by putting the leaf in a containment chamber and scanning it for any signs of metal. And after five minutes of scanning the leaf's surface, going smaller and smaller each time, I found them. There were over two million on the surface of that leaf alone."
"Two million?!" Amethyst exclaimed. "How-how small are these things?"
Peridot snorted. "Don't be so impressed. A regular leaf of that size contains approximately more atoms than there are stars in the galaxy. Those machines are quite diverse, all things considered." She sighed. "But since you asked, they are on the same level as quarks and gluons. And again, you shouldn't be so impressed by this. Even humans have created machines the size of a single atom. This is very advanced technology, but not so advanced that we can't come up with our own."
"Uhh...you seemed pretty impressed by it." Amethyst pointed out.
"I said disturbed, not impressed. Simply by the idea that these nanobots have listened in to every conversation we have ever had and relayed them to Mirror." Peridot explained. "Which unfortunately is-"
"I have a question." Yellow Diamond interjected, her voice sounding like thunder in the compact room. "Are these nanobots located on Homeworld as well, or just Earth? Become if it's the former, then it might be a threat to all Gemkind."
"That's unclear at the moment," Garnet replied. "Aquamarine only said that they were on Earth. She never told us if they were placed on any other planets. Although I suppose it wouldn't hurt to check."
"And how...do we check?" Blue Diamond asked, placing her hands together.
"That should be easy," Peridot said. "You can literally just grab a random object and scan it. As long as it's not in an isolated place like the Forge, and there are nanobots on Homeworld, then you should be able to detect them. If you want, I can wait there and let you borrow the scanner, although-"
"That won't be necessary." White Diamond said. "I think we are fully capable of doing this ourselves."
"If you insist," Peridot said, shrugging. "But back to what I was talking about. Based on that leaf, I think it is safe to say that these machines are located on almost every biome and landmass on Earth. And just to check, I warped to over twenty different locations and collected a natural piece of the environment from each one. A rock here, a stick there, the first thing I laid my eyes upon. And the results were all the same. Nanobots. Everywhere."
"By the stars…" Pearl whispered. "Do you know how long they've been on Earth? How many years have these things been recording our conversations?"
Peridot winced at this question and turned away. "I carbon-dated a large clump of them." She said. "They're approximately five thousand, three hundred, twenty-two years old. They've almost been here since the Rebellion. The fact that they've lasted this long...that's something that impressed me."
More murmuring after this, much louder this time. Amethyst looked like she was about to throw up, Pearl started sweating and wiped a few beads off her forehead, Garnet stood in stoic silver as always, although her fists were tightly clenched, Bismuth was running her hands through her hair like she had lice, and Lapis simply looked at the ground, thinking to herself. The Diamonds were mostly unaffected, only waiting for everyone to get it out of their systems and for the meeting to continue.
"Is...is there any possible way to destroy them?" Bismuth asked, twirling her hair around in her fingers. "Not for the whole Earth, just maybe Beach City and Little Homeworld. Is that...even possible?"
"Funny that you should mention that…" Peridot said, before she turned to her right and grabbed a nearby box that she had placed there earlier. She undid the latches in them and opened it, before pulling out an object and holding it high above her head for all to see.
"..."
"..."
"Wow, a rock," Amethyst said. "What's so special about this thing?"
"It's the nanobots on the rock that's what's important," Peridot said. "Specifically that there are none. You see, this rock is from the crater that Steven created a few weeks ago during his outburst. I had grabbed it a half-hour ago to do some more testing with objects, and found that it was vacant of any of Mirror's robots. I then conducted a similar test with over twenty samples from the crater, and they all had similar results: They were completely free of nanobots. There is not a single one located anywhere on its surface."
"What does that mean?" Lapis asked.
"It means that Steven destroyed them all," Garnet said. "He wiped the entire area in the crater and a few feet around it clean of any of these machines." She adjusted her visors and stepped forward, taking center stage. "I believe that Steven's abilities might hold the key to ridding Beach City, Little Homeworld, and possibly the rest of the Earth of the nanobots."
"How so?" Amethyst asked. "I mean, we obviously can't have him screaming everywhere. It might destroy those things, but at the cost of literally everything else!"
"Simple," Garnet said. "Do you remember what happened to you before the explosion? Why Lapis had to carry you off?"
"Yeah, Steven's pink aura or whatever screwed with the air and sucked the oxygen out of it," Amethyst said. "But what does that have to do with this?"
"A lot, actually," Garnet replied. "Early on, I believed that this oxygen-destroying ability of his was just him sucking in the air around him and destroying the oxygen molecules. But a few days ago Peridot and I conducted an experiment with the area that was hit with his aura. And we found out that he didn't destroy the molecules. He somehow altered their structure so that it was no longer feasible for any type of organic life to consume it. He didn't just make the air unbreathable. He bypassed the very laws of physics in order to do this. One could say he practically altered reality itself."
"And what's more…" Peridot said, stepping in front of Garnet. "Is that we still have no idea how he accomplished this. We know what he did, but exactly how is, again, a mystery. It's like Garnet said. Steven has shown some surprising powers before, like his incredibly powerful healing abilities as well as the...pink state, as it is apparently called, but this is on another level. This is complete molecular manipulation, an ability that I thought no living being could ever possess."
"Are you sure about that?" Amethyst asked. "I think we should back this up a bit. Hasn't this whole molecule manipulation-"
"Molecular." Peridot corrected.
"Yeah, whatever," Amethyst said, waving her off. "But is this that much of a surprise to anyone? I mean, look at his healing powers, which you mentioned just a second ago. He healed Greg's leg a few years ago. A broken bone mended in a second. He brought Lar's back to life. Grabbed his soul out of the ether or wherever and forced it back into his body. And it's not just living stuff either. He healed that teddy bear of his, and I'm sure he could repair basically anything else if he spits on it enough. Is all that...not molecule manipulation? Because for some of those things, he's making new materials to fill in the gaps out of thin air. Like his healing willed them into existence or something. That's...pretty powerful stuff, right?"
"...You are correct with that," Peridot said. But I've taken many, many, samples of his healing spit and tears, and I...I…"
"I…?"
"...I don't know," Peridot said, prompting a small gasp from all present, awestruck to hear that phrase from Peridot. "His healing spit defies science itself. You're right. When I healed a non-organic or Gem object with it, new atoms seem to sprout out of nowhere in order to form the material that will repair what I place the spit on. I've witnessed it thousands of times, and I've never gotten a clear answer." She sighed. "As for his resurrection of Lars...putting aside the fact that there is no real evidence that these "souls" you speak of exist, I have not been able to replicate that ability. The tears do not work on any deceased insects or small animals that I have found in the forest. I believe that after a certain period of time, the tears lose their effect, unlike the saliva."
"Why didn't you just ask him yourself to bring them back?" Lapis asked. "If his tears only work if they're...fresh, then couldn't you bring them to him to heal?"
"I honestly didn't want to," Peridot said. "I feared that if I showed up carrying a dead animal, then he might freak out and start crying. And...um...I just didn't want to bother him."
"That's not like you," Pearl said. "I've seen you do things that would be considered suicide for humans and most Gems all in the pursuit of results for your experiments. Is that really why you didn't ask him?"
"Um...moving on!" Peridot announced, suspiciously casting her gaze to the side. Pearl opened her mouth to speak again, but before she could the tiny green Gem beat her to the punch, seeming to be quite determined not to let anyone speak. "The point is that Steven likely had abilities that we aren't even aware of at the moment. And I don't think he is aware of them either. According to what he said, he wasn't even aware of the aura he was putting out, so I believed it was happening subconsciously." She looked over at Garnet. "You told me that the first time he activated his floating powers, it was by accident, yes?"
"That's correct," Garnet replied.
"I think this is the same thing," Peridot announced. "His powers are still growing, and he's discovering new ones by the day that he didn't know he had before. And...they're activated by themselves."
"Or not," Amethyst said. "What if that aura thing was the work of the two little voices in his head? His Gem half and the...Side thing? I don't remember what it was called…"
"The Other Side." Garnet iterated. "Apparently, the manifestation of the pink state that he created subconsciously so he'd have an excuse later on as to why he had all those outbursts."
"Quite." Peridot agreed. "But I don't think it was the work of the entity he claimed to encounter. I think it was all him. His human half, I mean. I have no proof for this, but considering what he's told us and how…Pink Steven didn't flat out say that the Other Side was behind it, I think it's safe to assume. So that's that. Steven's powers are likely growing to unprecedented levels, and we should keep an eye out in the future in case something like the oxygen-destroying effect happens again."
There was a momentary silence after this, as if everyone was wondering where to go next. Finally, Lapis turned to the Diamonds, who had been silently observing the whole conversation without a single change in expression.
"Hey. You three." She said. "Did Pink Diamond ever display stuff like this? Did you ever see her turn pink or get outbursts or...manipulate molecules?"
The three Diamonds glanced at each other, before White cleared her throat and spoke up, sounding slightly heartbroken.
"No, Starlight never displayed anything like this." She said. "She has her tantrums at times, but usually it was in private. Although I do remember that she managed to damage her first Pearl. And then I had to take it away from her. For some reason, she couldn't bear to be around her any longer with that damaged eye."
"Volleyball…" Pearl muttered. "So...it was her then. Pink-mean, Rose did that to Volleyball?"
"If by Volleyball, you mean her first Pearl, then yes," Yellow said. "I remember how it was. Pink came to us carrying her Gem, saying that she did something "bad", although she refuses to tell exactly what it was. When the Pearl reformed, she had that crack. Pink ran off and refused to see her again, so White took her and…" She glanced to the side and frowned. "...Anyway, that's what happened. We never did find out how she accomplished that."
"It seems we're going to have to find out if we have any chance at making heads or tails of this power Steven has," Amethyst said, before sighing. "Peridot, do you-"
"Actually…" Garnet interjected. "I think it would be best if we moved on to the next topic before we continue with Steven's new powers. They were not even meant to be an actual part of this meeting, but they became one anyway."
"My fault, sorry," Peridot said. "I just like to ramble about stuff like that. I just wanted to make everyone understood the severity of the situation."
"And I'm not condemning you for that," Garnet replied. "But as I said, I think we should move on. To a topic that should be dealt with before we run any tests with Steven's supposed molecular powers. Agreed?"
No one spoke up, and Garnet took this as a "yes".
"Good." She said. "Now, on to the information we gained from Aquamarine and Ruby. We have a decent idea of where Mirror is in the universe thanks to this. The ship that they are currently located on is orbiting a strange star that is extremely far away from Earth, and in fact any other Gem-inhabited planet. They use it to power the ship, and thus we can assume that they cannot leave its vicinity. Or if they can, but they have to find another one quickly to refuel themselves. Any questions so far?"
"...Yeah, I got one. What the heck is a strange star?" Bismuth asked, a question that was shared by many around her, if the nods were anything to go by.
Peridot sighed. "It's also known as a quark star." She explained. "They're...you know what, I'm not going to give out another physics lesson about these things. It was hard enough the first time, even for me. But what you need to know is that it is a special type of star that is very scarce. So scarce that Gemkind has only ever detected five of them across the entire universe."
"Five?!" Bismuth exclaimed. "Across the entire…?"
"Yes," Garnet said. "But this makes it all the more easier. This means that there are only five places they can be. And even if they're not, and Mirror is near a strange star that we haven't found, it still means there are only so many places they can be. Peridot estimated that based on the data from the five stars collected thousands of years ago, that no more than twenty should exist if their...pattern of existence is still following itself."
"Only twenty places they could be…" Bismuth mumbled. "Well, that certainly makes this a whole lot easier."
"Agreed." Yellow Diamond said, before turning away from her screen. "Then I'm putting out the call right now. I'm going to have several of my former Gems pull out every available armed ship and weapon from deep storage, the few that weren't destroyed at least, to form an armada to capture this Mirror. We shouldn't wait a single second. It may be extreme, and Steven may not like it once he hears of it, but we can't-"
"Hold on," Garnet said. "Disregarding the fact that you have armed ships and weapons in deep storage that you never told us about before now, we shouldn't just blindly rush in. What was your plan if you managed to locate Mirror?"
"Simple," Yellow said, turning back and crossing her arms. "Whatever ship they have, we overpower it with sheer numbers. All of the armed ships I mentioned have tractor beams that we can use to freeze their ship and prevent it from retaliating. From there we can tow it back to Homeworld and safely break it open to detain anyone who is inside."
"..."
"..."
"Okay, even I know that's a bad idea." Amethyst quipped. "Assuming the entire first half of that plan goes correctly, I doubt that the Gems inside that ship are pushovers. The same goes for Mirror, considering what they've already shown themselves to be capable of from...what, billions of light-years away? If you want to break into that ship and arrest everyone, you should probably have a small army at the ready."
"We will," Yellow said. "It will be the first time we have mobilized any sort of military group since the dismantling of the Empire. Again, Steven won't be happy, but it is absolutely necessary this time. We don't know what Mirror is fully capable of, and that's why I'd rather not take any chances."
"Actually, that's why we need a new plan altogether," Garnet said. "Yellow, your plan is simple. However, Mirror is not. Based on what I've seen and heard from Steven, I'm sure they have a hundred contingency plans in place the second another ship, especially an entire armada like you'd bring, enters the system they're located in. And even if they don't, there's something else we have to consider. According to Eyeball, they've been trouncing about Gem space for thousands of years undetected. The ship that brought her and Aquamarine here is of, at the moment, invisible. We moved it to a storage space in Little Homeworld, but at the current moment, we do not know how to open it or turn off its cloaking device. If I showed you a picture, there wouldn't be anything to see."
She sighed and stepped forward, taking a pause after such a long dialogue. She wasn't accustomed to speaking for such long periods of time, so Garnet needed a moment to collect herself before continuing.
"...So we can assume that their main ship, which is called The Betrayal, has that same technology."
Yellow scoffed. "Invisible doesn't mean anything." She said. "Plenty of ships in the past have had those abilities. Granted, usually only newer models and the ones made specifically for the comfort of the elite class…" She coughed. "...but this is nothing new. A simple scan should reveal the ship."
"Eh...well, here's the thing about that," Peridot said. "We stuck the ship inside a chamber that could perform every type of scan you could possibly think of. And...it didn't register. It was undetectable to everything. The only reason we know it exists is because we literally ran into it. Other than that…" She shook her head. "Long story short, we won't be able to find Mirror that easily."
"Wait." Blue Diamond said. "The Aquamarine...you did say she mentioned that their ship is using the star as fuel, correct?"
"Yes. Why?"
"Well…" Blue said, shifting back and forth. "They must be pulling energy from it using some kind of beam. It is possible you could link the scanner up to the energy outputted by the star and somehow use that to find The Betrayal? After all, if it's a beam, then the energy should appear as a thin line cutting through space, and wherever it ends...will be the location of The Betrayal."
"That…" Peridot started. "...Is not a bad idea. I suppose we could use that. However, we'd have to be extremely quick. If Mirror starts attacking us before we've located them, we stand no chance. Considering the cloaking technology they have, I don't even want to imagine what sort of weapons they might carry."
"Agreed," White said, before turning to Yellow. "So, Yellow, I think we need to...Yellow?" She hummed, now speaking with a certain tone of confusion. Everyone in the room turned towards Yellow Diamond, who looked frozen in place with an expression of shock on her face. It was like someone had snapped her mind.
"Yellow?" Blue tried. "Are you alright? Did something we say startle you?"
Yellow remained silent, only continuing to stare into the middle distance.
"Well, we broke her," Amethyst said, before turning towards Pearl. "Now you owe me five dollars. You said that Blue would be the one to snap first during this whole crisis, but since it was Yellow like I said, you-"
"That little…" Yellow interjected, her face slowly twisting into one of fury, a face that hadn't been seen in years. "Mirror...they…"
"They what?" White asked. "Yellow, is there something you know that we are not aware of?"
"Yes…" Yellow hissed, before straightening herself as her features shook, clearly showing that she was attempting to contain her rage. "You should remember this, White. Thousands of years ago, I ordered my scientists to create a ship that was capable of bypassing any deep scan. A ship that I intended to convert into my own personal flagship. They created it, and it was magnificent. We ran hundreds of test runs, and each time it passed them all perfectly. But a little too perfectly, as it seemed, because you…" She stuck an accusing finger at White. "...Ordered for it to be destroyed upon hearing about it. You claimed that it could fall into the wrong hands and pose a great threat to the empire."
White stood still for a moment before a lightbulb lit above her head, causing her natural shine to light up the entire forge. "Ah, yes! I do remember now. But I had my reasons, Yellow. If it was captured-"
"Not if," Yellow said. "It was. By Mirror. That ship I designed is the one they are using. When you ordered for everything about the project and the ship to be erased from existence, I did as you were told. Deleted the files. Threw the prototype parts into a star. Even shattered all the design staff and builders, who only ever did their job! But the ship itself…" She clenched her fists and looked away. "...It went missing. On the day that we were to start the process of melting it down, the entire ship simply vanished from the holding bay. No one saw it being boarding, leaving, and no sensors that indicated the bay door was being opened ever appeared. For all purposes, it was like that ship had ceased to exist."
"..."
"..."
"Yellow…" White began. "Why didn't you tell me about this?"
"Because I believed it had already been destroyed. There was no evidence that it had ever taken off, so I came to the conclusion that one of the Gems working there destroyed it without my orders. No one ever admitted to it, but it didn't really matter, as I was going to order it to be dismantled anyway."
"Hold on, I'm a bit confused," Amethyst said. "So the ship went missing before you sent the order out that called for its destruction, and you assumed someone got rid of it, but you didn't care because it was going to be trashed anyway?"
Yellow nodded.
"Okay, but why would anyone do that before you sent the order out?" Amethyst asked.
"Possibly out of fear," Yellow said. "All the Gems working there knew what they were creating, and once or twice I saw them make...faces that showed that they were unhappy with their creation. Not because it was imperfect, but because of what it could do. What it meant. A ship like that could tear across an entire star system and destroy fleets of other ships with ease. It could raze planets and cause moons to collapse in on themselves. It was the most dangerous weapon ever created by Gemkind until I implanted the Cluster in the Earth a few thousand years back, and they knew it."
"So you think someone betrayed you then?" Bismuth asked. "Tipped off White about it, knowing she would shut it down and then got rid of the problem themselves anyways?"
"Yes," Yellow said. "I still don't know who it was, but as I mentioned, it didn't matter in the end. Those scientists are all long gone, their shards scattered throughout space."
"...So the takeaway I'm getting from all this…" Pearl started. "Is that you built an experimental ship thousands of years ago, White ordered for it to be destroyed, Mirror somehow stole it before you could do that, and had kept it up and running ever since along with their...crew of Gems that they picked up from abandoned colonies?"
"Most of that you deduced for yourself, but yes. That seems to be the end result of that project." Yellow agreed.
"If I may make a comment…" Blue said. "I think I may have a theory. I think it's obvious who Mirror is at this point, isn't it? One of the scientists that worked on this ship, who stole it and assumed the "Mirror" alias. Yellow, I know you said you destroyed all the files, but if you have any trace of the ones that contained who worked on that project, then we might-"
"Umm…" Bismuth hummed/interjected, causing Blue to stop short. "Sorry, but that theory is incorrect. We already know where Mirror came from. And it isn't that."
"Really? Where?" Blue asked.
Bismuth sucked in her breath and then slowly let it out, as if pumping herself up. "Blue...Diamond, do you remember a Lab that you created thousands of years ago during the Rebellion? One that experimented specifically with...organic life?"
Blue was clearly taken aback by this, and she turned away from the screen, seeming to think about it. A moment later, still tapping her finger against her chin, she looked back at them, an expression of confusion/remembrance on her face.
"I believe so." She said. "I greatly regret it now, but I was just trying to find out ways to make Pink's little pets…ah, I mean, humans immortal so she could have some playmates that were...more fit to her lifespan. But I don't see what this Lab has to do with-"
Blue then froze up again, as if she just realized something. Her previously confused expression contorted into a rather embarrassed one, and she facepalmed slightly as she finally caught on as to what Bismuth was trying to say.
"Oh. I see." She whispered, a dark glare cast over her eyes, one that looked almost anime-esque. "One of the test subjects from the lab...is Mirror, aren't they?"
Bismuth nodded slowly. "According to Steven, at least."
Blue sighed dramatically. "Well, at least that means the scientists I sent there achieved their original goal: Making an immortal organic."
"Actually, I gotta question about that," Amethyst said. "Sorry to interrupt, but after what you just told us, I feel like you were kinda...oblivious to what was really going on there."
"What do you mean?" Blue asked.
"...Do you know anything about someone named The Traitor?" Amethyst asked. "The nickname for a human that was altered at that lab?"
"I don't believe I do," Blue said. "I got frequent updates on their progress, but they said that they had to destroy everything right before the end of the war, when we…" She paused and glanced downwards. "...Launched our final attack. But I very rarely learned the names of any specific test subjects. I told the scientists what to do, and that's all. I never visited the place myself. I fully believed that those scientists were doing what I had sent them there to do. There was a reason I picked them for such a top-secret project after all."
For a moment, everyone was silent, but then Lapis leaned back in her chair and chuckled. "Everything you sent them there to do and more." She said. "I believe when I heard my friends describing this place, the word, "slaughterhouse" came up quite a few times. That place wasn't just a lab. It was a death trap."
"...Could one of you explain this to me in more detail?" Blue requested, who had that odd dark glare again. "Did things take place there that I wasn't aware of?"
"Yes. Very. Many." Pearl said, standing up. "Although I'm not sure why the scientists kept it a secret from you, considering I don't think you'd care back then, but to make a long story short, that Lab was more akin to, as Lapis mentioned, a slaughterhouse. Rose and I infiltrated it after the war was over. It was…" She shuddered and quickly sat back down like her legs were about to fail her. "...Even for the war, even for Gemkind, who had no empathy towards organic beings back then, it was shocking. According to the records, an average of two thousand animals were killed there every day, for no purpose other than the scientists wanting to see how long it took for Earth's life to die. They were drained of blood, prodded at, kept in cages, starved...and so many other words that I don't think I feel comfortable with explaining here."
"Animals?" Blue said softly. "I didn't order them to capture any non-sentient beings. Humans only. They shouldn't have-"
"They did," Pearl interjected. "And speaking of humans, that part is just a complete mess. Steven told us that Mirror told him that hundreds were killed before any successful experiments, and those were only the ones he knew about. It could very well have been in the thousands. There's no way to tell unless we get an eyewitness testimony from anyone who worked at that lab. And considering that all means Rose found there besides smashed equipment and thousands of notes was a literal carpet of Gems shards…" She muttered. "...I don't think anyone is left."
"By the stars…" Blue whispered.
"My thoughts exactly," Peridot mumbled, before she turned to Pearl. "Although I have a question for you. A few weeks ago you mentioned all the notes you and Rose found, which were subsequently burned after you read over them. Shouldn't those have contained this information? About the hundreds of humans? Because Steven said you told him that the Traitor was the only ever human test subject. Yet this hundreds of humans thing doesn't seem to surprise you at all. If you knew...why didn't you speak up earlier about it?"
"It was for his sake," Pearl said. "If I had told him that hundreds of humans had been kidnapped, tortured for weeks on end, and murdered in that lab, then he...would not have reacted well."
"I suppose that's fair...but you still should have mentioned something to us, at least," Peridot said. "But let me guess. It slipped your mind?"
Pearl made a guilty face.
"...Thought so. Okay, as fascinating as talking about that horror Lab is, think we've wasted enough time on this." Peridot said. "We should be going back to what we were originally talking about. Finding out how to capture Mirror once we figure out where they are."
"Agreed," Garnet said, who, like everyone else, was beginning to grow tired (and physically sick) of all the lab talk. She turned towards Yellow. "Yellow. Are you absolutely sure that all the files from the project are erased? There's nothing we can use?"
"Positive, unfortunately," Yellow replied. "The idea of it being stolen was ludicrous at the time, so we didn't think it would be necessary to keep any in the event that we have to defend ourselves from another Gem using it against us."
"And the scientists are all gone? There's no way we can replicate the process?" Garnet asked.
"Again, yes," Yellow said sadly. "It was like Blue with her scientists at the lab. I left most of the more complicated things to them, and I was only to receive updates on how things went in construction.
And while I have discovered a new ability to bring back shattered Gems by putting all their shards together…"
"Wait, wha-"
"...It would be impossible to find them now. We'd have to scour hundreds of light-years of empty space to find even one shard. And even then, it's unlikely." Yellow sighed. "So yes, Garnet. We can not replicate the ship. At least not in time. Even if I did order the project to be replicated from scratch with new engineers, it would still take decades, maybe centuries, until they were finished."
"Well, that's just great," Amethyst said sarcastically. "Who are we going to do this then? Go in, guns blazing, hitting every single imaginable space around the strange star so Mirror has no chance to escape?"
"We're not trying to kill them," Garnet said. "Again, capture. I suspect that The Betrayal has a way to deactivate all of their nanobots onboard. If anything, we should at least do that before scuttling it."
"Okay, but...should we scuttle it?" Amethyst asked, causing all eyes to fall on her in suspicion. "I mean, this ship is made with stealth technology that can get past any scan, right? What if some enemy from outside Gem territory, another space-faring empire, decides that they don't like us and attack? We need to be ready, and that ship-"
"You just want to take a giant invisible and indestructible ship for a joyride, don't you?" Pearl asked.
"..."
"..."
"..."
"I thought so." Pearl sighed. "And while your point of another empire attacking us is...interesting, we would still destroy it. It's too dangerous. The whole reason this is happening in the first place is because Mirror got their hands on it. If we don't scuttle it, then we'll just be repeating the same mistakes those scientists made."
"I mean, they didn't make any mistakes." Amethyst pointed out. "They were going to blow it up, Mirror just got it before they did."
"Duly noted," Garnet said, metaphorically stepping between them both. "But as we were just talking about, we need a proper plan. One that has no chance of failure."
"I have one," Lapis said. "We've all come up with different plans. Yellow, you wanted a full-frontal assault to capture them. Amethyst, you suggested that we just flood the area they're in with weapons fire until we hit something. So...I suggest I do something that's a bit of both."
"How so?" Pearl asked.
"Easy," Lapis asked. "Approximately 12 billion light-years from Earth, there's a quasar. Surrounding this quasar is immense amounts of water vapor. Human scientists have estimated that the water there is over 120 trillions times the water that is currently present in Earth's ocean. So...I could fly there, pick it up, flood the area that Mirror is in with, and then freeze it. I can detect where they are because of the hole The Betrayal will make, and then we can chip our way through the ice until we get to them."
"..."
"...170 trillion times the size of Earth's ocean?" Bismuth gawked. "I heard stories about how you lifted the entire ocean, even with your Gem cracked, but isn't that…a bit much? Especially carrying it all the way through space?"
"I won't need all of it," Lapis said. "In fact, I don't think I properly explained what I'm going to do. I should have worded that differently. I'm going to take a few oceans' worth and create an extremely thin wall of water...maybe a hundred million miles tall. I'll spread it throughout the area the star is in, and when it hits something, Mirror's ship, I'll move all the water to surround it and then freeze it in place." She took a deep breath. "So...there you go. That's my plan."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"...Well, it's a much better plan than I thought it would be. No offense, Lazuli." Peridot said, finally breaking the awkward silence that had formed. "But...even so, are you capable of moving all that water that far? I know this collection of water vapor you're talking about. And the nearest strange star, by my estimates, is still billions of light-years away. Are you sure you're capable of handling this by yourself?"
"And won't see you approaching?" Yellow asked. "The scanners on that ship are incredibly advanced. They would pick up that mass of water moving towards them an entire light-year away. By the time you reach them, it'll be too late."
"Well…" Lapis said sheepishly. "Do you have any ships that can hold all that water?"
"For a few Earth oceans worth?" White said. "I don't think so, no. We would have to use every ship in the galaxy, and even then it might not be enough. I'm sorry, but carrying all of it like that is simply impossible."
"Oh…" Lapis said softly, looking dejected. "Sorry, I thought-"
"No, it's okay," Garnet said. "Frankly, that was one of the better plans that I predict we will come up with in the coming minutes. And, Amethyst, your plan to somehow blow up the star won't work. I'm not even going to list the reasons why, but it won't."
Amethyst crossed her arms and sunk into her chair after this, mumbling to herself like Garnet had just insulted her.
"Then who does come up with a good plan?" Peridot asked. "I've got a few ideas, and I'm sure the rest of us do as well, but can you tell us who exactly so we don't have to waste time going through them all and pointing out their flaws?"
Garnet remained quiet for a moment, before sighing and shrugging. "None of them." She said.
"What?!"
"None of them." She repeated. "As of right now, I predict that no plan we come up with won't have a significant number of flaws that could easily lead to it failing, most times before it even properly begins. We haven't had the time necessary to think of something that'd work. We need...to think about this a little longer."
"We might not have that much time," Peridot said. "Aquamarine and Eyeball are captured. Mirror knows this for sure. How long do you think it's going to be before they stage another attack, another warning, another message that says, "don't mess with me"?"
"I…" Garnet started, lightly gritting her teeth. "I'm not…"
"And what if this time they go for more than a good portion of Little Homeworld?" Peridot continued. "What if Steven is unable to hold them back at all? What if…" She hesitated to speak, like the words refused to leave her mouth. "...What if they don't even go for him, and just come here personally? With that ship...they could take us all out whenever they wanted. We wouldn't see it coming. Literally."
"They're not going to do that," Garnet said confidently, starting to get annoyed at Peridot's uncharacteristic frantic questioning. "Mirror isn't going to do anything unnecessary like that. They know they can take us out at any time. They can, as you said. But they haven't. I think there's a reason for that."
"They want to stay discrete." Bismuth chimed in. "Right? Eyeball told us that they were only sent there to kill ten of us, not the whole town, because they didn't want to make themselves known. Heck, the whole reason they were sent here in the first place, why we were their targets, was because we're the only ones who know about the Traitor! They want to keep themselves secret. Attacking like that, even with an invisible ship, would achieve the exact opposite of what they're trying to accomplish."
"Hold on," Pearl said, putting her hands together. "This is starting to make less and less sense. Why would Mirror want to kill us for knowing about the Traitor? Steven claimed they said multiple times that they're not the Traitor, just a...mirror image. Why does it matter if we know about the Traitor? If Mirror had never interfered, they'd still be a mystery to us. And what's more…" She moved her right hand up to her chin and stuck her up her forehead, a telltale sign that she was thinking hard. "...Killing all ten of us would only bring more attention to themselves. Even if they somehow made the bodies and Gems disappear after the murders, that many of us vanishing in such a short time with no warning would raise dozens of alarms. Hundreds of investigations. And eventually, that would lead them back to the journal and the Traitor, and then only more Gems would know about them by the time everything was said and done."
"That makes...more sense than it should," Peridot said. "But-"
"There's still one more thing," Pearl said. "One of their main targets was Steven. If Aquamarine and Eyeball had actually managed to eliminate him, then you…" She pointed around the Diamonds. "...Would tear your way across the galaxy in a blind rage, trying to find The Betrayal, correct?"
"That-" White started.
"Yes." Yellow finished. "I do think that is what we would do. Steven showed us to take better care of ourselves and our Gems, and without him…" She sighed. "...I don't think many people would be able to talk us out of what we'd do next."
"My point proven," Pearl said. "So why kill Steven? They had to know that all of this would be an outcome. Nobody would know they existed, until they actually killed everyone that heard of them, which would only lead to more...ah, I'm only repeating myself at this point." She groaned. "But I'm sure you all understand? Was that all part of some bigger plan Mirror had, or are they not as intelligent as we thought?"
"Umm…" Amethyst hummed. "Am I the only person who remembers what Mirror told Steven about Eyeball and Aquamarine? The dude literally said that they never expected them to succeed in their mission. That they only sent them to Earth to get rid of them! This isn't some bigger plan. They knew those two would fail from the very beginning. This was all just an elaborate way of doing it last."
An awkward silence followed, confirming that yes, Amethyst had been the only one to remember that in the middle of it all, until Lapis huffed and smiled slyly.
"We're getting nowhere with this." She said. "We still don't have a plan to deal with Mirror. All we've been doing is forgetting things and arguing amongst each other. As well as sharing information that all of us should know at this point. Is there any reason as to why we're still in this room, instead of already out there, putting our hypothetical plans to work?"
"Yes." Bismuth said. "Steven isn't here, keeping us all on track. When we had these meetings before, trying to find out what was best for Little Homeworld and the remnants of the Gem empire, he always made them interesting, I guess. He made it so that we didn't fall apart every five minutes. But without him here, we're just switching from one topic to another, and I think we're only realizing it just now."
Amethyst groaned. "Are we sure we can't bring Steven here? Look around you! Even if he screams in here, nobody but us will get hurt, which is what we planned on! This Forge is made out of some of the toughest materials on Earth, and even if that pink wave gets through it, we're in a volcanic area with no human settlements for dozens of miles. The odds that anything bad is going to happen to anyone besides us is...really low."
"I don't know about that." Bismuth said. "You're right about the Forge being secure and far away from anyone else, but I'm more worried about what might happen to him if he screams. If that happens, then the force could cause the ceiling to collapse in and he might be crushed under tons of solid rock and lava. Not a good outcome."
"I'm pretty sure he could punch a mountain in half when he turns pink, considering that he told us he thrashed Jasper around like a rag doll anytime he did so when they fought." Amethyst pointed out. "I think it's going to take more than a ceiling to hurt him."
"Even so, he could suffocate down here," Pearl said. "Or die of dehydration. The heat is-"
"Magic bubble. He survived the vacuum of space with that thing for hours." Amethyst said. "And if the cold of space didn't get through that, then the heat from this place isn't either."
"...Okay, I think this has gone on long enough," Garnet said, taking center stage. "We're not bringing Steven down here, and we're moving on to the next topic. And this time, nobody talk about anything but that topic. We're all burning alive in here and irritated with the Mirror problem. The last thing we need is more fighting amongst ourselves. The last meeting proves that that gets us nowhere."
Everyone in the room suddenly shrunk down at this reminder, remembering full well the events of the last meeting. Things had turned hostile pretty quickly after Pearl suddenly broke down crying, and they eventually got in a giant argument over who's fault it was. It kind of hit its peak when Bismuth was accidentally shoved into one of the nearby lava pools, causing everybody to stop what they were doing and freeze like statues.
She was fine, of course, but the incident brought an unofficial end to the meeting, one that was preceded by fifteen minutes of them all standing around in silence and taking a look at themselves, which followed right after Bismuth climbed out of the pool. After all, if it had been anyone else, minus Garnet, then things could have ended badly. Tensions were already growing high, and someone dying with no hope of being brought back would only escalate their problems.
"What happened at the last meeting?" All three of the Diamonds asked, who had been absent.
"Not your concern," Garnet said. "But can we all stop now? I don't want a repeat. And trust me, if we keep going in like this, we will have one. And I can't say for certain whether it'll be a lava-proof Gem or not."
"..."
"..."
"...We need Steven's opinion on all this," Pearl said. "We're never going to get anywhere. It's like Bismuth mentioned. Without him keeping us together, we can't hope to accomplish anything like this."
"Yeah. Or Connie." Amethyst chimed in. "Sucks that she can't come here anymore. Even with Steven gone, it's her she'd find a way to calm us all down. She had a way with words sometimes." She glanced over towards Garnet. "And speaking of which, will her mother ever let her come back? Or even see us again, for that matter."
"I'm not too sure about that," Garnet said. "See us again, most likely. But letting her come back to these meetings, as well as anything ahem related that could be dangerous for her...I have to wait and see what her reaction to us is when she sees us. I can't see too far ahead when it comes to that at the moment."
"Fantastic," Amethyst said, before getting up. "Okay, you know what, I'm going to Steven to get his advice on this. We shouldn't be squabbling over this kind of stuff. We may not be able to have him here physically, but I'm going to do what we should have done from the very beginning: Buy a laptop so he can use his to allow him to be in on these meetings. He can do a video-call thing like the Diamonds are doing. I have no idea why we haven't done this before."
"Because he's banned from using any electronics." Garnet reminded her, hardly able to believe that she had to remind Amethyst of this again. "We can't take any risks. Not one. The incident with the speaker system proved once and for all that Mirror could take them over and-"
"Fine." Amethyst seethed, clearly getting fed up with that rule. "Then I'm just going to get his advice on what he thinks we should do to capture Mirror. I'll be back in a bit. And please no one try to stop me. This is the best idea anyone had come up with at this meeting, and so I'm going to do it."
With all that said, Amethyst jumped straight in the air and flew through the hole in the ceiling that led to the upper Forge, disappearing into it. Several footsteps were heard coming from above, until they faded as the purple Gem left the vicinity.
"Well." Bismuth said, putting her hands together.
"Well?" Peridot echoed.
"Well."
"...We really need Steven back." Lapis sighed. "I know I've said that every meeting, just like Garnet has had to remind Amethyst of the no electronics rule every meeting, but this time I really mean it."
"You say that every meeting too." Bismuth mumbled.
"True, but this time…" Lapis started, before groaning. "This has just been a disaster from start to finish. We've accomplished nothing in the...what, half-hour we've all been sitting here? We talked about Mirror a bit, a few words about those nanobots, some suggestions to fix our problems which were quickly shut down, a conversation about that Lab which went on for far too long, and now Amethyst has left to ask Steven a question I'm sure even he doesn't have the answer to."
"Yes, we know. We were here." Peridot said, taking a chair and flopping herself in it.
"That's not what I meant." Lapis sighed. "I feel like our general mood has deteriorated more and more each time we come here. Except for yours, somehow." She said, pointing towards the Diamonds. "You haven't changed much. I feel like you'd be more concerned about all this instead of constantly wearing those blank faces and using those monotone voices, considering that Steven is the only thing you seem to care about nowadays."
"That is far from true," White said defensively. "We don't just care about Steven. We care about all our Gems now. When they come to us with a problem, we help them with whatever it is. It's our…" She paused and looked towards her fellow Diamonds for assistance. "What would Steven call it?"
"Our thing?" Yellow suggested.
"Ah, yes, there it is," White said. "It is our "thing" now. We may be worried about Steven, but we haven't forgotten about everyone else."
"I never said you did," Lapis replied. "I only…only…" She then frowned and waved White off. "You know what, nevermind. It's painful enough having you three at these things. I'm not in the mood to have a full conversation."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Yellow asked.
"You know exactly what it means," Lapis said, resting her chin on her wrists.
"Why…" Yellow started. "If Steven were here, I'm sure he would comment on how-"
"Can we not start this again?" Bismuth pleaded. "Please? The last time this happened it almost turned into a full-on screaming match. Steven may not be here to help us prevent that from happening, but can you all not be at each other's throats for maybe five seconds."
"I do not wish to cause any hostilities between us," Yellow stated. "Steven would not approve of it."
Garnet, sensing that Lapis was about to make another off-handed comment, quickly stepped in and spoke up.
"I think what Lapis is trying to say is that we need to be better." She announced. "And not just for Steven, Yellow. For all of us. The Gems of Little Homeworld are looking up to us to help them at the moment. There's a reason we were all chosen to be the main governing force behind it, after all. If they saw us right now, arguing like this, taking place in this absolute mess of a meeting that would be hell if we had a stenographer, what do you think they would say?"
"...Well…" Peridot started. "I think-"
"Hey!" A sudden voice said, and they all looked upwards to see Amethyst standing at the top of the opening, overlooking them all. She remained there for a moment before jumping down, almost landing on top of Pearl in the process.
"Good, you're back," Lapis said, almost in an enthusiastic manner. "Maybe we can finally get something accomplished. This meeting is taking so much out of me that I'm starting to talk out-of-character."
"You're speaking for all of us there…" Garnet noted. "But, Amethyst, what did Steven say?"
"...Uhh...there's a bit of a problem with that," Amethyst replied, after some hesitation.
"What is it?"
"It's Steven." The purple Gem said. "He's gone."
