The Human Zoo

Holly Blue Agate had always worked with the utmost diligence in her solemn duty. She was put in charge of preserving the zoo, and to be put in charge of the zoo was to be put in charge of preserving a legacy, to be preserving the legacy - that of Pink diamond.

For nearly six whole millennia she has held her vigil with the utmost dedication and reverence, and while not the same could be said for the barely adequate Earth-born quartzes of the zoo that were under her command, she had done her best to work around these obstacles to fulfil her station as best as she could.

And so she was practically baffled as she read and re-read the set of reports sent directly to her by some lowly upstart of a Peridot - the staggering claims they made almost felt like stabbing accusations of her being derelict during duty. Supposedly there was an organic, perhaps even a human, somewhere in the lowest reaches on Homeworld itself. In truth Holly Blue was tempted to laugh when she first saw the title of the report, but as she combed through the evidence she could not help but be wracked with doubt and confusion.

By the second read she had thought that it was perhaps a ploy, some act by a rival who wanted to take her prestigious position as the overseer of the zoo. Holly Blue had some modicum of pride in the fact that she had never been the type to care much for the intricacies of court politics. As such she had little to fear in the way of genuine enemies, though it was a fact of life that jealous rivals would always be present no matter what.

Then again, members of the yellow court had their ambitions placed elsewhere, caring more for the grittier fields of work such as the sciences, soldiering or industry. Even after taking that in account, intrigue was rarely in their nature, instead they favoured to work with an eternal plain and stiff pragmatism to acquire their promotions.

After the third and fourth re-read she had calmed enough to care for the actual details of the report. By now realising that it was too ridiculous for anyone half competent in politics to have tried to have fabricated and even attempt to pass off as true, leaving the only other reason it had been sent being was that it was no joke, but a genuine report. Though after following that line of reasoning all which was left for her was the confusing as stars prospect of trying to track down a human roaming around the parts of homeworld most difficult to navigate and most hostile to organic life.

She sighed as her re-read of the report had reached the secondary information compiled by the Peridot. This human had supposedly been taken in by some off colours, including one of the most abhorrent fusions she had ever seen- six, six whole different gems in one form! As censored as the information around such topics were, her status allowed her to be more privy to such things and she knew that she would certainly need quite the strength to back her up in order to 'pacify' them and the other off colours spotted harbouring the human.

Holly Blue rubbed her forehead as she momentarily entertained the prospect of simply letting the human expire, after all it was just one and making more of them was easier said than done with how quick they seemed to reproduce when left unchecked. But what then? What of the oddly durable bones they left behind? She mulled over the odds, they may have been small but give it a hundred, or a million cycles and eventually they could be found to be used as evidence against her in a trial.

No doubt it would leave a disastrous dark mark on her otherwise flawless career and Holly Blue knew that such an eventuality would mean rapid demotion for her at best... or being recycled at worst. She shuddered at the second possibility, to be crushed into shards and turned into nothing more than resources that would be put into creating another gem, likely meant to take her place.

It was a fate she was eager to avoid, and the realisation struck that there was no other possible course of action. Organics were fragile, as the overseer of the human zoo she knew that fact better than nearly any gem and so she understood there was little time, she had to act on this information now or never.

But if there was one thing that was truly sure about all of this, it was that she couldn't afford any risks. Holly Blue knew she could not bring that raucous rabble of rubble which were the quartzes under her command at the zoo. No, if she wanted this mission to succeed, then she needed to bring real quartzes to be with her for this mission.

Seeing as how she was already thinking of using her status to pull some help from the Yellow court in the form of that Peridot's robonoids as guides she thought it would not be amiss to recruit her - the quartz all other quartzes, and indeed any other soldier gem, aspired to be.

While it would take a significant amount of pulling to recruit someone such as them, it was just only a simple pick up job she was going to take them to - one that her entire career rested on, yes, but at least it meant that Holly Blue wouldn't have to borrow her for too long. Their daunting presence alone would be a great boon to the rest of the quartzes and a great demoraliser to those off colours should serious combat be met.

'After all' She mentally spat. 'Those deviants tend to get ideas…'

#####

Homeworld kindergartens, some time later

Bolt stayed some distance behind the group, his gaze was lowered to the ground and his steps were slow and unmeasured as his mind was currently occupied elsewhere. From time to time he would look up from his shame and do a half hearted jog to keep up with the off colours if he fell too far behind.

'Damned shortsighted idiot, what did you think was going to happen?!' He mentally kicked himself. Now that he had been given time to think, he realised that he had practically dragged the off colours to have a staring contest with death at his own behest. What else did he expect to be greeted with afterwards? To be congratulated with a parade and be given his own pearl on a crystal podium?

He let out an ever so silent hollow chuckle as he mulled over how ridiculous that all sounded - he'd been a fool, a well meaning one, but a fool nonetheless. His thoughts drifted back to events prior, even as he prepared to laud the off colours on their victory he could remember how he still felt his heart sink at how close Padparadscha had gotten to being shattered, at how close she had gotten to being shattered because of him. While his innate healing factors soon sealed the wound dealt by the energy beam, the ugly scar it had left on his left temple would serve as a haunting reminder of his folly for the rest of his days.

Bolt didn't want to think of it, but that damned scar constantly reminded him that if he had only been a moment too late then perhaps all that would have been left of Padparadscha would be a small pile of glittering orange shards clattering in his hands as he mourned her passing. He felt another pang of guilt claw at his chest as another thought wormed its way into his mind - what would have the other off colours thought of him if that was what had come to pass?

As if only to guilt him further his mind raced to another recent memory, what if some of the debris from when the shattering robonoids caused the rock wall to fall had hit one of the off colours' gemstones? Even if they were only cracked and not totally shattered there would have been little any of them could do.

Sure, he had heard those few stories of the rebellion on Earth that the off colours told him and eachother to keep their spirits up. Supposedly their leader had somehow found a way to heal cracked gems and that was how they managed to fight a protracted guerrilla war for so long despite being outnumbered by the Empire stars knows how many to one. But even if that was the case, they were still a whole galaxy away from Homeworld, and though he didn't exactly know what a galaxy was, it certainly sounded far.

For but a moment he thought about what it must be like to live on that planet, 'Earth', the stories described it as a wonderful place. Despite not knowing much about exact details, with the rebels victorious the off colours had envisioned it as a place where gems of all kinds who were liberated by the rebels roamed free and lived in harmony with the native organics.

It was thought that some of them were possibly even capable of complex emotions and intelligence, much like how gems and he are - 'humans' they were apparently called. He had also heard of how the sky shone brilliantly with a calming blue light for a time before giving way to the twinkling twilight of open space in a regular cycle. It must have been great, to be on the surface of such a beautiful world and, most of all, to be free to actually enjoy it.

The idea almost brought a ghost of a smile back on his face before he dragged himself crashing back down to reality. There was no way he or the off colours could ever get off Homeworld, not without at least one of them being killed or captured in the process. No, the only lands he would ever know are the desolate crags and pockmarked walls of the kindergartens, the only sights he would see are their lightless halls… but if there was one thing only Homeworld could provide that he truly wished he could see, it was the twinkling shards of the diamonds in his own hands.

Bolt scrunched his face and shook his head as he instantly cut that line of thought, for he quickly realised it was borne of the same unfettered idealism that had nearly fuelled him to inadvertently offer up the off colours to the robonoids to die. They couldn't possibly tear down the diamonds to take their freedom on their own, but what could they do besides running? He could not see a way forward that didn't involve any harm befalling those he cared so dearly for.

Escape? There was little hope of them getting to a starport or warp hub without instantly being picked out from the crowds of prim and proper gems above. Hide? He already knew the answer to that, the only question was how long could they last. Ask? Now that was the most hopeless option he had thought of, why would the diamonds of all gems even parley with a motley band of off colours and an organic, besides as a way of humouring them before ordering their arrest, likely followed by recycling the off colours and an execution for him.

He sighed hard before sinking deeper and deeper into lamentation. He lost focus on all else that was around him, his steps marched to an increasingly inconstant rhythm. His breathing became tightened and his eyes remained aimed on the dusty floor, they stayed barely open, almost as if his eyelids were sagging from the burden of his thoughts. But in his stupor Bolt had forgotten all about the off colours even though they were just a short ways ahead.

The off colours, shaken as they were by his actions, held no true grudge against Bolt. In fact they had made sure to keep track of their sullen little sibling, each individually turning their head backwards just to make sure he didn't fall too far behind the group or had gotten lost.

"Do you think that Bolt…" "might have been right?" The Rutile twins addressed the others with a measure of uncertainty, being the first to break the weighted silence that had been crushing the group since the incident. Though they were careful not to say too much, just enough to hopefully prompt a conversation.

Rhodonite was the first to react in any way, she looked at them for a moment before turning back to face forwards. Her features were distant and wearied, the choking shroud of death she felt as the robonoid's scanner fell on her still fresh in her mind. Yet with enough scrutiny one could tell from a subtle change in her expression that she heard the Rutiles and had at least begun to contemplate her feelings on the subject of Bolt's actions. His words replayed over and over in her head, she knew he was right- half of her was just a Pearl, a meek servant meant to do nothing more than to lick the boots of whichever upper crust they had been gifted to.

"But what of the other half?" The quote drifted through her mind. "Yeah… but what of the other half?" She quietly mouthed off to herself, she looked down and felt the Ruby gemstone embedded in her belly with her hand. Hot-headed as they could - literally - be sometimes, rubies were still manufactured to be steadfast and loyal guards. Willing to lay their life down for those they had been assigned to protect.

'Where had that inner fire gone?' Rhodonite thought as she looked back in near shame at her whole time as a fugitive. Despite that, a small spark of pride beaconed from within, she looked back to the recent incident, she had managed to stand her ground and protect those who genuinely cared for her existence rather than some 'haughty highborn' as Bolt had so bluntly put it.

Despite her moment of pride, Rhodonite couldn't help but let out a pessimistic sigh. Even if she could somehow find a way to become powerful enough to battle entire armies alone, what was it all against the near endless legions of Homeworld's unfeeling hordes of soldiers and machinery?

Fluorite, though speaking in a slow perpetual drawl, had always been one known to quickly speak her mind. But even she was currently conflicted and lost for what to say, she briefly looked back to Bolt before turning forwards again. She hearkened back to his speech, specifically honing in on his words about her. In her and her components' long lives they had all been called many things by others: abomination, defective, aberrant.

Though never 'strong', strong was something meant to refer to quartzes, topazes, the diamonds - not some hodgepodge fusion. But as her doubts began to resurface she could remember clear as glass the sheer conviction that Bolt had seared into his words. She felt oddly assured that what he told her was something that could not be faked. At that, she was sure that he truly did mean what he said.

"Yes, yes I think- no I'm sure he is." Padparadscha, surprisingly, answered first with confidence.

One by one the other off colours turned to the smallest member of their ragtag group, each surprised by the hard certainty she had put in her words and curious as to where she would go next.

"What? As grand as his speech was, It's not as if he actually wanted us to immediately take up arms and do something like charge the diamond palace alone. What he wants from us is simple, and I've seen it in his mind. He cares about us, alot, and he is tired of always seeing us being so- so afraid, so ashamed, so hopeless..." She teetered off.

"But Pad, what can we do? Even if we do fight back against the robonoids, what does it really accomplish? They're just machines and there are still thousands more that can be thrown at us and the rest of the Empire wouldn't even think to bat an eye" Rhodonite mumbled.

"I don't think that's what Bolt meant, when we fight we don't have to win-" Rightile started "We can fight to… prove a point. That we aren't weak, or afraid." Leftile finished after finding the right words to say.

"I think we're already proving a point to the Empire as it is. Just look at all of us, two inter-gem fusions, two anomalies and an organic yet here we are. For all the might Homeworld has we're still alive after defying their laws, I think that's winning enough. " Fluorite said before cracking an encouraging smile.

"Fluorite is right. Forget what I said about dying in a blaze of glory, forget about what homeworld thinks about people like us- but remember one thing; no matter how crushing the darkness may become we will still always have eachother to light the way." Bolt decided to pitch in after walking a bit closer to the group, finally confident that the off-colours held no strong grudge against him. His posture seemed better too, appearing as if he had some life injected back into him.

"You know, the way you always seem to talk makes me think that if you were made as one, then you'd make for a great upper crust. Just add in some fancy over the top appearance modifiers and then you're good to go." Rhodonite commented with jesting sarcasm.

"Hmm." Bolt mulled over the words for a moment. "Though I had no idea that the upper crusts could have the capacity to care for any of their underlings." He jokingly shot back. "Not that any of you are my underlings."

The two's jabs at the elite soon had the rest of the group in hushed guffaws. But at the thought of upper crust attitude towards those under them Rhodonite was briefly met with the bitter memories about her components' former employer, Morganite, and how quickly she had tried to have them captured and put on trial once they were found fused merely to save her own shards. She quickly waved the errant thoughts off and joined in with the others, not wanting to sour the rare lightened mood with the ghosts of the past.

VWOOOM

The jovial atmosphere around the group was soon blown away as the dreaded hum of robonoids was once more heard echoing across the cavernous halls of the kindergartens, causing them all to immediately stop dead in their tracks just before crossing a rock bridge. Much to Bolt's surprise and relief he didn't hear footsteps rapidly growing quieter as the off colours ran in the other direction, but more worryingly he instead heard footsteps growing louder and louder from the tunnel in front of them.

Bolt's keen eyes honed in on the tunnel. He saw the floating form of three objects - likely robonoids, but of a kind he had never seen before, though to be fair he had only ever seen one type in his short time alive. Despite the familiar threat of robonoids, what worried him more were the rapidly approaching figures whose forms became more and more clear as they drew closer and closer to the group. As he squinted he could make out one blue, one orange and five purple shapes running out from the dark tunnel on the other side of the bridge.

The robonoids flew out first giving Bolt a clearer view of his trackers, they were square in shape and made of a green tinted metal while their 'eye' glowed with an analytical yellow rather than the harsh red of the conical robonoids he had grown so used to meeting. Finally, when the other figures had come out of the darkened tunnel and into the relative light at the other end of the bridge his deepest fears were confirmed - other gems had been sent after them. An Agate, a Jasper and five amethysts if his foundational knowledge on gem types was correct.

It was a squad of soldiers, with a sergeant to lead them.

"Finally, there it is." He heard the Agate call out with barely contained impatience to no one in particular.

The Agate straightened her posture and cleared her throat before directing a disgusted glare at the group. "Attention off colour scum! You are all under arrest for numerous charges, including: The destruction of state property, illicit inter-gem fusion, harbouring defective individuals from the judgement, and most heinous of all:" The Agate paused for a moment, as if to summon all the venom in her voice that she could muster.

"The unlawful possession of a Diamond's - the late Pink Diamond, might I add - property in the form of that human. Submit now, and your sentence shall be swift and painless. Refusal shall be met with immediate shatteri…"

At the same time that the Agate sputtered off from her tirade at the off-colours Bolt saw a temporary, but bright glow from his peripheral vision. The Agate stared at the space behind him with momentary shock before snapping back into a disciplined hatred. Meanwhile, as stoic as they were before, the enormous specimen of a warrior that was the Jasper beside her began staring at the same area with what could only be described as a barely contained feral snarl.

"Over my broken shards." Bolt heard an unfamiliar voice call out from behind him, he turned around and saw an enormous teal coloured individual...s?

"Who are you?" Though his curiosity was piqued he still spoke in a neutral greeting tone.

The right head of the large fusion looked down at him while the other head remained squarely affixed on the group's pursuers. The right head's anger dissipated before they chuckled a small bit as they placed their bottom right arm over his shoulder.

"You can call me Hydrazine, but I think you've already met us before." This 'Hydrazine's' right head answered as she gestured to the myriad of glistening gemstones embedded in her form with her upper right arm.

After that it didn't take long for Bolt's mind to click. As soon as it did, despite his current situation, he couldn't help but let out a giddy smile while staring glassy-eyed at the fusion. They were fighting back.

They were fighting back.

A/N:

Sorry for not having updated for so long, all my schoolwork has left me with little time, and the time that I have gotten I've spent writing chapter 5 instead of working on this chapter. There is a fight scene in it, so finally some genuine action at last, though it will be the first fight scene I've ever written so it may be lacking in some ways but hopefully it'll still be a good read.

Hydrazine was a leftover Idea from when I still intended to use Alpharius and Omegon, but I felt that they fit too well just to chuck away totally. Though hydrazine is normally a liquid, crystals can be formed from it, those crystals are somewhat teal coloured, the Rutile twins have multiple heads and the crystals literally have 'hydra' in their name.