"This is going to take forever…"

Out of any phrase that could perfectly symbolize what was going through Steven's and Spinel's mind at the moment, there was no better fit than that.

For over an hour, the two had scrolled through thousands and thousands of highly detailed images of Earth animals and humans on the same screen, each and every last one being more graphic than anything Steven had ever hoped to experience in his lifetime. Because only some of them were taken while they were alive. As for the rest...well, the results of the "experiments" conducted on them were plain to see on the bodies.

And there were just so many bodies.

But at least they were labeled. Sort of. Each one had been given a number corresponding to their species. For instance, Steven noticed that humans were given a starting number of "5" which was followed by a dash and another number, while specified things like bears, deer, and wolves were given numbers of 92, 355, and 419, respectively. Which showed just how many species there were to scroll through. Each species had at least a hundred individual photos, to the point where Steven wondered if this Lab truly had been made at the end of the war, or if it was just there since the beginning, given the enormous amount of time it would take to just catalog all this, never mind actually performing all those experiments.

Eventually, it got to the point where Steven simply refused to see any more of the gore-fest that the screen was displaying, so he turned away and just told Spinel to do it, and only alert him when she came across a human. And this part had been going on for a half-hour, due to Spinel taking much more time than he had inspecting the photos. She actually asked him once, "is this a human", and she was pointing at a naked mole-rat. Steven wasn't sure how she thought that thing was anything close to what he was looking for, but considering her obvious ignorance of Earth animals, he simply said, "no", and told her to keep looking. Which she did. Almost gleefully.

So now they were here. Steven was beginning to wonder if he should look for the other cubes that held information about the Lab in the meanwhile, before Spinel spoke up once again, still using the minorly enthusiastic voice she had been putting on, clearly secretly overjoyed to help Steven with this.

"Found another human!" She said. "Jeez, this one is a mess...I'm pretty sure only my legs are supposed to bend that way…and head...and arms...and whatever that thing is..."

Steven didn't even have to look at this one and gagged slightly at the mental image of what Spinel could be seeing. "No, no, that's not it, keep going."

"Are you sure, Steven?" Spinel asked. "Come on, you haven't even looked! I know you said this stuff makes you squeamish, but you're going to have to look eventually! Come on! Just look!" She then shoved the screen in his face, and Steven quickly shut his eyes and turned away as fast as he could before he got a glimpse of anything that would be stuck in his head for the next few nights.

"Spinel, please don't!" She said, pushing her away much more gently than he wanted to. "I'm just...I'm not going to be okay seeing that sort of stuff."

"But why?" Spinel asked. "You know, the last time you visited, about five months ago to see how I was doing, I asked you about things called "movies" when you mentioned them! And you said that you saw some pretty violent ones! So what's the big deal, Steven? Shouldn't cha be accustomed to this stuff?"

"That was all fake. Blood made by computers or other liquids." Steven said. "There's a...big difference between seeing fake violence and real violence, Spinel. Okay. Just imagine that...you're in love with me or something. That you care about me more than any person in the universe."

"Okay, I'm there." Spinel said quickly/happily.

"...Right," Steven replied, giving her an odd look before continuing. "Well, now imagine me being shattered. But not for real. In a movie. Someone shows you a video of me being shattered, but you are fully aware that it isn't real and that nothing is happening to me in real life. Imagine that."

Spinel paused and then closed her eyes, nervously shifting in place. A few moments later, she let out a low groaning sound, like someone having a bad dream.

"Ohhhh...I don't like that." She mumbled. "Even fake, it's not nice to watch."

"Yup," Steven said. "Now keep your eyes closed. But now, I want you to imagine seeing me shattered for real. My Gem is in a thousand pieces, and my body is in front of you. Unmoving and cold, just like the humans in those images. I'm dead, it's real, and there's nothing you can do to get me back."

Spinel frowned after this as her eyes fluttered but didn't open, and a second later she gasped and then burst into tears, pulling on her hair and holding her arms out in front of her.

"No! Steven!" She sobbed. "Get up! Get upppppppp! I can't...GET UP GET UP GET UP GET UP GET UP GET UP!" She then started shaking something Steven couldn't see, although by the way she was doing it it was clearly his body as he instructed her to imagine, and Steven began to wonder if maybe this hadn't been the best idea.

"Please…" She moaned, her tears dripping onto the floor. "Please get up...I don't want to...I'm sorry...I'm sorrrrreeeyyyyyy! I-"

"Okay, that's enough! This nightmare is over!" Steven said, and not wanting to traumatize Spinel even further, he grabbed her and shook her around in a desperate attempt to snap her out of it. And like clockwork, she gasped again and her eyes shot open, and they widened with joy upon seeing him.

"Steven…?" She said. "Are you a ghost?" She grabbed his cheeks and tilted his head to the left and right, as if checking to see if he was transparent or not. "You told me about something called ghosts and how they were spirits of dead people...are you dead? Speak, apparition! Speak to me! Are you still-"

"...Spinel, I'm not dead." Steven sighed, grabbing her wrists and pulling her hand away. "Everything you just saw was imagined, remember? I told you to imagine it?"

"It...it was?" Spinel asked. "But it felt so real! I was there! You were there! Well, you were dead, but you were still there and...wait a minute...where are we right now?"

"Where are-what do you mean where are we?!" Steven exclaimed. "Spinel, I just had you close your eyes! Did you somehow fall asleep in the ten seconds from after you did that to the point where you started talking?!"

"What's sleep?"

"...I'll take that as a no." Steven groaned. "But seriously, just...okay." He stopped where he was and took a deep breath, seeing from the look on Spinel's face that she was truly confused and not just playing a joke. Whatever had been going on in her head in those ten seconds, it was real enough that she seemed to forget why they were even in the archives at all. Which just confused him even more… "Okay, okay, okay. Spinel. What's the last thing you remember?"

"Your body in front of-"

"No, before that," Steven said. "Do you remember me telling you to imagine anything? To close your eyes?"

"I...I think I recall hearing a voice. It might have been yours…" Spinel mumbled, before clutching her head and moaning. "AHHHHHH! I can't remember!" She screamed out of pure frustration. "And now whenever I close my eyes I see you dead again! Did these weird cubes do something to me?"

"No, Spinel, I don't think the cubes-" Steven started, before realizing he could use this. "Wait, Spinel, keep hold of that train of thought. The cubes. What do you remember about the cubes? What do you think they're used for?"

"How should I know?" Spinel asked. "They just looked suspicious and so I immediately assumed the worst! They're all weird and pink and glowing...like you!"

"Some of them are actually...wait, what?" Steven asked. "Pink and glowing like…" He then looked down, and made a noise that could best be described as a mix between a cat screeching and a pig squealing as the hybrid saw that his skin was once again glowing a bright pink, something that he had completely failed to notice.

"Oh my god! Oh my god!" He said, like he was about to spontaneously combust, which was totally appropriate. "How...how long has this been going on?"

"Ever since I stopped seeing...that." Spinel shuddered. "You were already pink when I woke up. Is this some weird human body function, Steven? Are you...wait! You're not actually going to die, are you? Please say no! I can't handle it three times in one day!"

"I...I don't know-wait, three times?!" Steven said. "When the heck was the second time? Did you see me die twice in that dream?"

"No, that was the second time!" Spinel said. "The first time was earlier when you told me that you don't plan on living forever! That you plan to die in less than a hundred years! It was almost as bad as hearing that you were going to die tomorrow! I can't take any more mentions of your death!"

"What? How do you remember that but not what we were doing-oh, forget it." Steven said. "And forget that other thing as well. No, I'm not going to die, Spinel. I'm honestly more worried about you right now. If this is because of something Mirror's or someone else's doing, then…"

"Then what?" Spinel asked.

"Then nothing," Steven replied. "Because I don't want you freaking out until I'm absolutely certain that that's what's happening."

"Too late for that!" Spinel said, before glancing down at the screen she was holding. And like she only just realized that she had it in her hands, Spinel screamed again and dropped it, forcing Steven to practically dive to the ground before it smashed against it like the one before. "AH, NO! That human on the screen looked like you! You're-"

"Okay, enough!" Steven said, causing Spinel to immediately hush up. The two stood silently for a moment, Steven breathing heavily as he temporality shoved the cube in his pocket, and then grabbed Spinel by the shoulders. "No more freaking out on me, okay? I know that's almost one of your character traits at this point, please try to calm down so we can figure out what's going on. Just...backtrack for me. What did you see when you closed your eyes?"

"You already know this." Spinel said. "I was in this place. I couldn't tell where. The floor looked metallic...I think I saw some kind of weirdly shaped chair in the distance? And one of the walls was just a giant window that opened into space! I could see all the stars in the distance! Other than that, the room was entirely black...I don't know why I was there."

"That's an...odd environment," Steven commented. "But then what did you see?"

"Y-you." Spinel said, her voice now trembling. "You were on the ground, looking the same as you do now. But your Gem was shattered into pieces, lying next to you. But you weren't poofed. Your body was still there, and it had a giant hole in the middle of it like someone had stabbed it with a sword!" She described, making a thrusting motion with her arm. "And you were moving...and when I saw that weird red liquid draining out of that hole, the same one I saw come out of your nose back when I punched you, I thought that that had to be bad, so I ran over and tried to wake you but you weren't moving!" She then took a moment to pause after her ramble, during which Steven let go of her and had a solitary moment of thought.

'Huh. That fits everything I told her to imagine, minus the environment.' He thought. 'So then why…?'

"And then you started pleading with me to get up, saying you're sorry and all that?" Steven guessed, remembering her earlier breakdown very well.

Spinel nodded in response and looked at the ground. "I thought I was going to lose you and the Diamonds were going to blame me…and then I'd be shattered, or worse, sent back to that Garden."

"Why would you think the Diamonds would blame you for that?" Steven asked. "They know how much you care about me, I'm sure. Being one of your...best friends and all…" He said carefully, like it was a struggle to get the words out of his mouth. "Heck, did you even tell them about how you almost destroyed Earth? Did they ever ask why you were there?"

"No, actually." Spinel said. "But I thought they would because I was the only one there! So who else could have killed you?! I wanted you to get up so badly but you didn't and then-"

"Okay, okay, calm down," Steven said. "I know. I understand. And Spinel, unless it actually was you, I don't think the Diamonds would believe that you did it even if you were the only one there. I was stabbed after all! If you wanted to kill me, you'd probably squeeze me to death or strangle me and...I don't why I'm talking about this topic." He lamented. "But long story short, skipping over all the details, no. No, Spinel, the Diamonds would believe you if you told them that you didn't do it."

"Really?" Spinel sniffed. "You think so?"

"Yeah. Now on to new topics. I got what I needed from that description." Steven said, who was unclear as to why he was still wasting time on this. He then looked down at himself, his body still glowing pink. It wasn't as bright as it was before, but it definitely hadn't faded either. Truth be told, Steven hasn't glowed since the "incident" two weeks ago, due to how careful he was in making sure to stay as calm as possible at all times.

'Okay. I think I may have an idea of what's going on.' He thought. 'Although I really don't like it. I started glowing without noticing. Due to what Spinel claimed, it's likely been going on for a while without me noticing, possibly even before I did the whole "close your eyes" thing. And one of my main powers is mental connections, and since this thing boosts my powers in a way...did I somehow enter her mind subconsciously when I told her to imagine things? Did I actually force her to enter an unfamiliar area like Pink Steven and the Other Side did to me with that illusion, making her see what I wanted her to see? Pink me did say that time moves differently in the mind...an entire year can take place over the course of a day. She could have been in there for a while without me noticing. Which means…'

Steven then frowned and looked back at Spinel, who was glancing from him to the vacant screen on the ground and then back again, clearly wondering why they were here.

'Somehow, I infiltrated her mind and shoved her into an illusion world that was composed of what I told her to imagine, all the while subconsciously altering time and making the experience seem a lot longer than it was for me.' He surmised. 'But...shouldn't I have noticed that? How easy is it to do something like that? It took Pink Steven a decent amount of time to create his world, and while that was the entirety of Beach City, Little Homeworld, and the woods, I'm still a total newbie at this. I didn't even know I could do it! It is really...that easy? I can just think it and it appears?'

"So, Steven…" Spinel started. "Do you know what this means? I'm still kind of confused as to what's happening, or where we are, or why we're looking at pictures of that." She said, pointing down towards the cube.

'Oh, that's right.' Steven thought. 'She doesn't remember why we're here. She was able to recall the earlier conversation about me not wanting to live forever though, so again, somehow in altering her mind I also made her forget maybe the past hour or so of searching. Maybe everything from the moment we entered the archives. But why? Is that the curse of my inexperience? If I mess around too much, things can get damaged or go missing? I'm inside her head making her believe whatever I want her to believe. Who knows what kind of things I could accidentally break if I screw something up…'

"That's going to take a while to explain," Steven said. "Uh, so, I think I may be to blame for all that. We've been looking for information about Mirror and the Traitor in the Homeworld archives, and have been doing so for much longer than it should have taken us. Does any of that sound familiar?"

"Nope!" Spinel said. "But this is the Homeworld archives? It's so big! And black! And boring! Why are there so many cubes? And wasn't Yellow with us, I think? Where did she-"

"One question at a time," Steven said. "Yellow's somewhere around here, Spinel. Don't worry about her. And there are so many cubes because there's so much information. And...and…" He then stopped short, the words on his tongue unable to leave it. "I...I'm not doing this right now. The Gems are probably on a manhunt for me at this very moment, so I can't deal with this. I have to find what I'm looking for and get as fast as possible."

"Oh yeah, I think you mentioned something about your friends...and how they were keeping you in your house against your will!" Spinel spat.

'Of course she remembers that much.' Steven thought. "Yeah, that's true, but we're not focusing on that right now." He then turned around and cupped both his hands over his mouth, taking a moment to make sure that his pink glow had faded fully beforehand. "YELLOW! I NEED YOU TO COME OVER HERE! I NEED YOUR HELP!" His call echoed across the room, and Steven heard two more consecutive times before it faded away into the darkness.

"Steven?" Spinel asked. "What are you doing?"

"Solving a problem that I don't have time to," Steven said. "A portion of your memories are gone because of me, long story short. It was completely unintentional, but it happened anyway. I told you to imagine something, and somehow I subconsciously shoved you into a fake world where that "something" seemed entirely real. It also slowed down time."

"..."

"..."

"...What?" Spinel asked, who got lost at some point after "unintentional".

Steven sighed again. "Part of your memories are gone. My fault. Powers went haywire. Didn't mean to do it. Imagination became real to you. And now I'm getting Yellow so she can take you out of here so you can get help from some of the other Diamonds. I'm not sure if Blue can help with this...but maybe White can. And it'll also provide me some time alone. As much as it pains me to say it, Spinel, I can't have you here constantly asking questions about what's been going on while I'm trying to find a way to take down the person who nearly killed several of my friends." He paused and took a few breaths before speaking again. "Do you get it?"

"Wait, Steven." Spinel said, and the hybrid flinched. He had heard that tone before. "You're saying you don't need me?! That you don't want me here?!"

"No, no, nothing like that!" Steven said. "It's just...you're very confused right now, and you'd be in better hands with the Diamonds instead of me. I totally want you here, cracking jokes and trying to make conversation. But it's for your own benefit if you leave. I just want what's best for my friend."

"..."

"That friend is you, Spinel."

"Oh! Well, okay!" Spinel said, thankfully accepting his hastily thought-up explanation. "If this is what's best for me, then I guess it's okay! And being with the Diamonds isn't so bad! But there's something I don't get. If you went all cuckoo with my memories, then shouldn't you be the one to try and fix them? Why leave it to White?"

'That was actually a much better question than what I was expecting.' Steven thought, before clearing his throat. "Because I'm not even sure how I did that to your memories. And if I tried to fix them, I might only damage them more. But White's powers seem to be fixed on stuff relating to the mind...I think, so it would be best left to her."

"Alright, fine." Spinel said, clearly disappointed like a pouting child. "But when I'm better, you better come visit me, Steven. You rarely visit us anymore!"

"Yes, I know. You've said that already." Steven reminded her. "Multiple times."

"Yeah, Steven? Then I think-"

"It needed to be said again?" Steven said dryly. "Yeah. I've been hearing that a lot too. But yes. I promise that I will visit you when you get your memories back. And after I'm done being grounded by the Gems for leaving the house, and after I cure Connie and stop Mirror, who knows. Maybe we can hang out as friends or something. Not for any special reason, just for...fun."

"Really? I'd love that." Spinel said, leaning in much too close for Steven's comfort. "There are so many things to do on Homeworld! We can check out all the news plant, hang out in the palace, go for a swim together in Blue's giant bath-"

"Let's cross the line at "hang out in the palace"," Steven said. "But sure. We can do all of those things. Now...where is Yellow? I know she said that sound travels differently, but I thought she'd be here by now."

"Maybe she's invested in whatever these things are." Spinel said. "Memories, you called them? Hold on, are we inside someone's head right now? Are we inside yours? Can we go look at your memories and feelings of me?! Check them out and maybe twist a few things around?!"

'Why is she...oh no.' Steven thought, realization dawning on him. 'I just told her these were the Homeworld archives. She knows what they are. And while I wouldn't put it past her to normal forget something like that, considering that she probably processes things at a hundred thoughts a minute…' He gulped and looked her up and down, causing Spinel's face to flush as she did the same to him. '...Did I somehow damage her memory in ways I don't know about? Like, alter how she recalls new memories? Or maybe-'

"Hey!" Steven suddenly shouted, causing Spinel to jump. His thought process of what he had done to her was cut short by another one as he processed the end part of what she had said. "Why do you want to go to my memories of you, if this was the inside of my head, which it isn't? And what do you mean by twisting things around? What did you mean by that?"

"Um, nothing!" Spinel said. "I was just interested in knowing how you thought of me!"

"You already know that," Steven said. "And the twisting around part?"

"I…" Spinel said, fumbling with her words. "Huh! Do you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"Footsteps! Big footsteps!" Spinel explained. "I think Yellow's coming this way! Ah well, we can't finish your conversation, guess we'll have to do that never, okay, let's go, bye!" She panted in a rush, and one second later Spinel ran off in a random direction, one that Steven could hear no footsteps from. He stared after her for a moment, his mouth hanging open like a dead fish, before his brain came to an unfortunate conclusion.

"If that's why she's acting this way around me, then I swear…" He mumbled, before taking a seat. He knew that she would probably come back eventually once she realized that he wasn't following her, and that would be the end of it.

Unfortunately, Yellow got there first, as this time he actually did hear giant footsteps in the distance rapidly approaching him. Steven suddenly had a realization that Yellow had been running towards him this entire time, and he instinctively looked around, coming to realize that this place was much bigger than it seemed. Yellow said it was even smaller than the one upstairs...how did that building look so small from the outside?

A question for later, perhaps, as before long Steven saw a giant shape moving him, which quickly turned into a silhouette, and then color flashed in his eyes as Yellow came into view and looked over him, an expression of great concern on her face.

"Steven!" She said. "I heard you call for me. Is everything alright? What is...where is Spinel?"

"She ran off somewhere." Steven said, before mumbling something that had the word "crush" in it. "I'm sorry. I couldn't stop...well, I could of, but I didn't. I don't know where she is now. Probably still roaming around somewhere. Hopefully, she doesn't make too much of a mess."

"...Hm. Well, I will deal with that in a moment," Yellow said, sounding only the tiniest bit annoyed. "But what is the problem? What do you require assistance with?"

"Um, Spinel, actually," Steven said sheepishly, stretching his legs before getting up. "Something happened to her. We were talking and eventually, it came to the point where I told her to imagine something, but…" He gulped and tried to find the right words for this next part. "...it went wrong. I don't know how, but I used my powers to infiltrate her mind and forced her to see what I told her to imagine. And when she snapped out of it, part of her memories were gone. Just like Connie-" Steven then stopped short, his eyes widening and his voice dying in his throat as he recalled Connie's amnesia. He then spoke in a low tone next, a phrase entirely to himself. "Oh god, please don't tell me that those two things are somehow connected."

"What was that?"

"Nothing." Steven gasped. "But yeah. She lost part of her memories, I think everything from when we first entered the archives, and she's just confused about it all. I called you over because I wanted you to take her to White or someone else who can help, because I need to keep trying to find information, and if she stays here then she might be a...bother." He winced at his own words. "I hope that doesn't sound too harsh."

"No, I understand," Yellow said. "But lost her memories, you say…? Interesting. I was not aware Pink even had that ability. This is not my department, however. White has more experience with this kind of thing than me. Although, Steven, if you did this to her in the first place, even accidentally, then why don't you try to fix it?"

Steven actually laughed after this, putting on his first smile since the moment he entered the archives. "Spinel asked the exact same thing. And it's because I'm worried that I might damage her mind even more. It was an accident, like you mentioned. I didn't know what I was doing. I don't even know how it happened. But it did. And I'm worried that if I try...then things might go even more wrong."

"...That is a good point," Yellow said. "But are you sure you will be comfortable staying down here by yourself, Steven? If I take Spinel to White, it may be a while before I return."

"It's okay. I'm not scared of the dark." Steven chuckled.

"It's not the dark I'm concerned about," Yellow said.

"What do you mean?"

"How do I put this…" Yellow pondered. "Steven, this room is one of the most sacred and secure in all of Homeworld. But every now and then...things manage to get in. We don't know how, but they do."

"Wait, what?" Steven said, taking an involuntary step backwards as he checked his surroundings. "Are you saying that this place is haunted or something? That there are a bunch of monsters or rogue Gems lurking around in here at times?!"

"I wouldn't call them monsters, just...copies," Yellow said. "I've seen a few already. On the edge of my vision. Watching. Waiting for something that never arrives. They resemble Gems I've met before, but...different. Monochrome."

"Copies? Watching? Monochrome?" Steven echoed. "Like what White does with that eye beam?"

"No. No, not like that." Yellow shuddered. "But more...featureless. Colorless. Like the life had been drained out of them. I always turn to take a good look at them, but they always disappear just in time." She sighed. "And there is nothing we can do about them. They haven't done anything yet besides watching us, so we didn't see any reason to waste resources on trying to capture them. So again...I want to be sure that you're okay staying in here by yourself. You may catch a glimpse of a few of them, and they are truly unnerving when first seen."

"So you're saying it's haunted. This place is haunted." Steven said. "Because if what you're describing doesn't qualify as ghosts, then I don't know what does." He ran a hand over his head and looked down at the cube, still displaying the shocking images. "But to leave now means I might not be able to come back for months. And you might not let them in here, although this is really just stupidity and a lack of foresight on my part...ergh!" He exclaimed. "Alright. Okay. If all they do is watch you and act creepy, then whatever. I'll stay. I'm having trouble believing this anyway, and honestly, I'm starting to think this is all a dream considering how this is all getting more nonsensical with every passing moment, but again, whatever. I've already gone too far in here to give up because of some rumors."

"They are certainly not rumors, Steven," Yellow said. "We have multiple eyewitness accounts from me, Blue, and even White. And by the way, what is a ghost?"

"The things you're describing. Just call them that from now on." Steven instructed. "But, Yellow, why is this only coming up now? Why didn't you tell me earlier? Were you worried that I was going to leave? Or refuse to leave until I see one for myself?"

"No, it was because you had Spinel with you and I thought it wasn't necessary," Yellow replied. "They only appear to Gems who are alone. I figured that since there were two of you, you wouldn't need to worry about it anyway." She crossed her arms and looked around again. "Although I see that I likely should have told you. Spinel does have a tendency to run off."

"No kidding. Although I don't think this time it was for the reasons you'd expect." Steven said. "But long story short, I'm okay being in here with whatever those things are. If I see her at the edge of my vision, I'll just look at them directly and get them to vanish. Problem solved."

"Still, be wary," Yellow said. "As I mentioned, they can be quite the surprise. They tend to show up at rather inopportune moments."

"So they have a sense of humor. Fantastic." Steven said. "But there is something else I need to ask you, Yellow. Did you find anything on the Gems who study organic life? Anything that could be helpful for Connie?"

"Oh! I'm glad you brought that up." Yellow said. "I did indeed. I researched and cataloged over twenty Gems across the galaxy whose job is or was to research how organics work." Her Gem flowers and she pulled something out of it, resulting in a small moment of surprise from Steven, who had only ever seen the object-storing ability from Pearl. The light from her chest materialized into a small cube, to no one's surprise, and Yellow plucked it out of the air with her fingers and bent down to hand it to Steven.

"Here you go." She said. "I also translated it into modern Gem language, when I overheard that you were having trouble reading the ancient version."

"Oh! Thanks. That's actually really helpful." Steven said, taking the cube. He opened it and read a few lines, a surge of happiness shooting through him when he realized that yes, Yellow had converted it to the language that Pearl had taught him. There were a few words that he was having difficulty understanding, but other than that it was perfect. "Wow, Yellow. How did you do that?"

"Oh, all the cubes have a setting on them that allows them to either be in the ancient or modern text," Yellow explained. "You could have changed it at any time, really. Although I admit, this is likely another thing I should have informed you about beforehand…"

"Yeah. You shoulda." Steven said, his happy mood gone entirely. "Forget for now. I don't have the will to be annoyed. But this is everything I need? All the Gems who have studied organics?"

"Correct," Yellow said. "It provides their cut, history, and current location in the universe. Also what planets they have visited and what species they have studied. Anything you can think about their profession is there."

"Wow…" Steven repeated, now wishing that he had done this instead of looking for the Traitor. Considering how swiftly Yellow whipped it up, and considering the different subject matters of what they were looking for, he had a feeling that this was much easier to find than what he was searching for.

Although that may have only been because he had no idea what he was doing. And because Spinel had a breakdown or two.

But either way, he had what he needed. If this didn't help him cure Connie, then nothing would. And while he had considered the idea of trying to enter her mind and restoring her memories like he had done with Spinel while waiting for Yellow, a tiny voice in the back of his head reminded him why he wasn't trying to get Spinel's back either. And besides, doing that apparently required going into his pink state, and he didn't want to risk anything with Connie around. If he injured her a second time because of that form, then the Gems might ground him for life. Again.

"Is it satisfactory?" Yellow asked. "I hope it is. I had to do quite a bit of looking around to get this, so I hope that-"

"It's perfect, Yellow," Steven said. "If this doesn't help Connie, then nothing can. Hopefully." He shifted in place and then placed the cube in his back pocket. "But I do have another question. Are any of the Gems who were on that list ones who were present in the Lab thousands of years ago? Because as horrified as I am by what they did…" He mumbled, glancing down at the screen yet again. "...They'd honestly be the best place to start, being the ones that studied humans and all that."

"I think there were one or two," Yellow said. "But they are going to be the hardest ones to convince to help you."

"What? Really?" Steven asked. "But doesn't everyone except you guys see me as a Diamond, despite how much I would rather they not? I know the Authority isn't in charge anymore, but shouldn't they still be happy to help me out with something? Unless…" He winced and bit the edge of his lip. "...Are these guys part of that anti-Steven thing I've been hearing about? With the protesters right outside the palace and stuff?"

"Oh, so you've heard. Yes, they are a bit of a bother. Like you mentioned, right outside the palace. We try to send someone to capture them, but they always slip away. It's getting rather tiresome." Yellow said with disdain, quickly reminding Steven of her past self. "But no, I don't believe any of those researchers are part of that little protest group. It's simply because they are loners. Introverts, I believe your human friends call them. After the war ended, they requested jobs that allowed them to be alone, and they've stayed that way ever since. I actually sent out a group of Quartzes once to see what they were doing, after one failed to turn into a report, and I found her in a...unfortunate state." She muttered. "Let's just say that the Quartz's came back looking like they had been bubbled for the past few hundred thousand years, only they remembered every second of it."

"Shell-shock?" Steven guessed. "Did they have this faraway look in their eyes that wasn't focused on anything, they were just staring straight ahead like the life had left their body?"

"Is that what it's called?" Yellow asked. "Because yes, that's exactly how they looked. And after seeing that, I didn't bother asking what was going on. I just immediately cut ties with the researcher and abandoned them on the planet. Thousands of years later, I had to reopen the warp pad." She sighed and looked away. "And I doubt they had even noticed that they had been cut off from Homeworld."

"So you never knew what the Quartzes found? How do you even know this researcher is still alive and not dead, killed by some wild fauna?" Steven asked.

"I actually don't. And I don't want to find out." Yellow said. "But this is what the record says, and where they probably are now. But still, be careful, Steven. I don't want you to end up like those Quartzes."

'Yeesh.' Steven thought. 'First Yellow drops a bunch of things that she should have told me earlier, then she goes on about how there are what sounds exactly like ghosts in the archives, and now one of these researchers is on a planet that a bunch of trained Quartz soldiers came back shell-shocked from! What horrible thing is going to or not going to come out of her mouth next?! It feels like it's one after another!'

"Yeah, I don't want to end up like them either," Steven said. "Alright. I'll be careful. When you go take Spinel and leave her with White, I'd like you to come back down here to get me. Hopefully, I'll have everything I need by then…"

"Understood, Steven," Yellow said. "And good luck. I'll be back down here as fast as possible."

And with that, Yellow stomped off, leaving Steven all by his lonesome. He watched her disappear into the darkness until the sound of her footsteps had faded, and he paused and looked around.

With another sigh, he picked up the fallen cube and started scrolling through the screen again, flinching anytime he came across a particularly brutal image. (Which was all of them.) It was a few minutes before he looked up and saw the lift they had arrived in floating back into the sky, indicating that Yellow had found Spinel and was taking her back. He watched it leave, the light being emitted from the floor above growling dimmer and dimmer, until it vanished entirely. The only light not was from the cubes, and Steven suddenly felt more alone than he had in weeks.

"If worst comes to worst, I can just jump up there and punch through the platform…" He surmised, smacking his now unpleasantly dry mouth. He then looked to his left and right, Yellow's words about seeing visions dancing through his head.

"Yeah, right." He scoffed. "If those existed, I would have seen them already."

But there was a small part of Steven that doubted that.

Especially when he started catching glimpses of things on the edges of his visions.

Things that clearly represented the same humans he was looking at in the picture.