If one would enter the Library of White Diamond, travel beyond the receptionist desk and through a certain arch beyond a certain door, one might find a special book, a one-of-a-kind book. This book would be different from all the rest contained in that room; a perspective hidden to Gemkind. That book tells a story, the story of the Parasites.
Years after Gem Genesis, the Matriarchs Four ruled over all of Gemkind. The Gems expanded at a slow pace-none of them saw a need for rushing. The universe could be explored at their leisure. The Genesis Gems handled other worlds they encountered with velvet gloves; they could afford to. New creatures were catalogued, and those new worlds explored up and down to the minutia. The Genesis Gems delighted in their existence. Knowledge piled up in Homeworld's Libraries, and artists preoccupied themselves with creating songs and art.
All of this wonder was possible because Genesis Gems had the great fortune to come into being in the Australia of their galaxy. That sector harbored no other life besides them, and all the heavenly bodies existed as stars, emitting light which the Genesis Gems could harness to sustain themselves.
This good fortune often did not extend to many of the millions of races throughout the universe. Another race, light-years away in a neighboring galaxy, came into being in the midst of already powerful alien races, snuggled away on a planet often overlooked by everyone. These, the Progenitors of the Parasites, stretched only 5 feet long, and stood barely a couple of feet tall. Many colorful streamers and fibers adorned their exteriors. The Progenitors scampered along on their planet on all fours; most possessed organs of flesh and metal interspersed, giving them the ability to insert new genes into their genome at will. Some among them possessed soft outer covers, giving them a fuzzy outer coat.
For a time, this race acted much like the Gems. However, as these starry compound-eyed aliens set out to explore the galaxy, they encountered their unfriendly neighbors. By the best of luck, their neighbors destroyed their ships without any thought. The Progenitors remained undetected.
And with this encounter, the progenitors of the Parasites realized their race paled in comparison to the others lurking out in their galaxy. They had been in an evolutionary arms race since their birth, against the rest of their galaxy, and they had already lost. The consequences of their loss were simply yet to be felt.
For a time, the entire race despaired, but their minds slowly overcame their fear. None of the other hostile alien races had realized their existence on this hidden planet. Before those Progenitors could be annihilated, they resolved to change their fate, to escape their galaxy and make a new life, far away.
Among the many conversations and arguments about what could be done emerged the idea their race would need to become more powerful to escape from their home galaxy. Around them, five different, hostile, alien races fought with each other for the last bits of free space in their galaxy. The war had been going on for so long, the only thing that mattered to their enemies was defeating the other four. Hopefully, the Progenitors could slip away, but if the enemy chanced to see them…the Progenitors needed to be able to fend off their enemies for long enough to escape. A set of traits their race would need to have was drawn up. Amongst these included the ability to metabolize anything that energy could be extracted from.
A very vague idea, which none of them could decide on how exactly to implement. The Progenitors' main energy source were sugars, which were abundant on their planet. Where else could energy come from? Carbohydrates such as galactose, maltose-the chemical reactions to break these down would emit a great deal of energy. Lipids-fats, oils, etc; provided a more minor source of energy. Combustion-burning material would release energy in the form of heat. This heat could drive machinery to produce electricity. As their starting place, enzymes to break down every kind of lipid and carbohydrate known to them were synthesized and inserted into their population. With the ability to break down many materials on their planet, the inhabitants began to eat their planet to become stronger. Eventually, the Progenitors accumulated enough enzymes to be able to synthesize their flesh from almost any source of energy, excepting photons and radiation.
Such enzymes and combustion chambers necessitated a change in their body structure, so the dangerous processes in their stomachs would not destroy them. Their soft exteriors were discarded; most of their organic flesh was swapped out for metal alloy scaffolding, capable of withstanding their powerful digestive enzymes. One effect that no one took any notice of was a larger appetite. The sight of something digestible set their thoughts in a tizzy.
But at any rate, the first transformations were complete, and the Progenitors believed themselves capable of wrassling with their powerful neighbors. The necessary ships were constructed quickly, and soon all of their race set out to escape their galaxy. 100 light years from the galaxy's outer reaches, they were spotted.
These aliens, Sun-Eaters, mainly derived their energy from light, and combustion of organic material. Concerning weapons, their specialty was incredibly hot blue and white fire. Immediately upon sighting the new race fleeing the galaxy, the Sun-Eaters engaged them. The first few wars, the Sun-Eaters roasted them with blue and white sunfire, destroying countless Progenitors. Those who survived scavenged the best traits from those they bested, and added those they could to themselves.
Over the course of this process, the Progenitors became Parasites-patchwork creatures, for whom survival was paramount. Finally, the effects of this excessive, reckless modification made themselves known. An irresistible hunger grew among them, from being resistible to thought-consuming. At the sight of something digestible, the Progenitors could not resist destroying and eating it. The many traits they stole from all the other races demanded energy for their upkeep. This energy came from destroying other races, from whom they would plunder.
Instead of fleeing the galaxy as originally planned, those Parasites who became berserk with hunger shot further into the galaxy, towards the Sun-Eaters' home world. After one alien race fell, all four collapsed, with varying difficulty. The last race of this galaxy struggled valiantly, but soon they too were absorbed into the hive mind of the Parasites. So crippled were the Parasites from endless battles and plunder, it took many years for their population to rebound.
A race like the Parasites' knew no bounds. Soon their galaxy was devoid of any materials that could be used to feed their hungry bellies, and the hungriest among them tore into their fellow Parasites, scavenging them for materials. Those who could still reason, in a fashion, decided to migrate to the next galaxy. Within this new galaxy, the Gems' galaxy, the first races to meet the Parasites fell easily.
Upon the first meeting of the Gems and the Parasites, the Gems seemed to be an ideal prey race. Their forms, made of light, were choice energy sources for a race perpetually running on fumes. The forms of these first unfortunate Gems were slurped up, their Gem intact. Under the guidance of those who could reason, the Parasites captured all Gems they met. Whenever those unfortunates regenerated, their forms would be slurped up instantly. Other Gems were assimilated, so their ability to synthesize light could be used for the Parasites.
However, the Gems proved to be more tricksy than they could have predicted. This hostile race first came to the attention of Blue Diamond, who correctly foresaw diplomacy would fail. Not only did the Parasites have no interest in sparing the Gems, most of the Parasites had no reasoning faculties left.
Blue Diamond alerted the rest of the Diamonds, and steps were taken to combat the threat. Shields and domes were fashioned of unstable heavy metals. These heavy metals yielded no energy when broken down, only radiation. If the Parasites managed to split the atom in two in an attempt to digest it, a massive explosion would result, destroying all Parasites near that one. Magnetic force fields were erected around population centers. The Parasites could not digest magnetism, and a powerful enough field attracted the metal parts, rendering the metal from the flesh, destroying the Parasite.
The war dragged on. The Gems were forced to escalate the war, eventually destroying their colonies to most efficiently use whatever materials were there. Of the four Diamonds, Pink and White fought on the battlefield directly. Yellow provided reinforcements and bombardment of the enemy with light cannons. Blue Diamond ruled Homeworld alone, watching as Yellow and Pink Diamond collaborated to destroy their enemies.
The Parasites took heavy losses, becoming deprived of any efficient food source. Desperate, finally they coagulated together into a giant mass, to take the Gems' Homeworld in an all-out attack. On that plain before Homeworld, White Diamond pierced the monstrosity's hide with numerous metal weapons, weakening the creature and pinning it a distance away from Homeworld. Yellow Diamond reduced its defenses further via bombardment with metal chunks, radiation cannons and light beams.
On that plain, Pink Diamond rushed out to meet the enemy in hand-to-hand combat. The fight lasted for a while, until Pink Diamond froze and tore into her enemy, ripping out chunks of flesh, slashing huge gashes into the creature's hide, and tearing the individual creatures apart. Pink Diamond killed most of the enemy in a frenzy, stepping on them and crushing them, until she collapsed in a pile. The Parasite host had not eaten in too long, and its scattered parts began to die. Blue Diamond led the foot soldiers, capturing whatever enemies still lived and rescuing the Gems whom the Parasites had taken prisoner.
Blue Zircon poked her nose inquisitively past the arch that sectioned off "The First Great Gem War". She could only assume whomever placed the blue letters on the arch meant the Parasite War. Blue Zircon entered the room slowly, peering at all the books lined up neatly on the shelves. Béhierite sat at the table still, poring over her book. Zircon walked over to a shelf that had half its books removed. She read the titles out, under her breath: "'Lack of Genetic Diversity Among the Parasite Race and How This Worked in the Gem Race's Favor', 'Composition of Parasite Enzymes'…"
From behind her, something dry slid across something rough, producing a gentle scraping noise. Someone breathed behind her; Blue Zircon twisted her head around. Béhierite crooked her head over her shoulder and watched her with a calm expression.
"Bored?"
"…er, what?" stammered Blue Zircon, wondering why the older Gem was here.
"You don't seem to be searching for anything in particular. I don't believe I've ever seen you here, either." Béhierite said, swiveling her body around in the chair, to a more comfortable position.
Blue Zircon did not relish an encounter, especially with a Gem who had previously shown interest in her job. She asked cautiously, "Do…you come here often?"
"Indeed I do," confirmed Béhierite. "Is there anything in particular that you seek?"
"Er...Yes, I am searching for a particular book." Blue Zircon paused, then straightened her posture. "I am not allowed to discuss the matter with anyone else, though. It's classified." She waved her right hand up and down, punctuating her words for emphasis.
"I see. Well, I didn't ask for any files of the case…" Béhierite lifted herself from her chair, placing one hand on the desk, and another on the chair seat. With a huff, she righted herself into a standing position. "If you are not allowed to talk, then allow me to guess. You're obviously searching for some material on the First War. Perhaps…is My Diamond having you defend one of them?"
"Of course not! I-" Blue Zircon began, but Béhierite advanced on her excitedly.
"If that's the case, I can help-" she began.
"No!" burst out Blue Zircon, stopping Béhierite's advance with her hands. Zircon held her at an arm's length, preventing her from coming any closer. The excitement hovering around Béhierite's face was unexpected from the usually mellow Gem; furthermore, Blue Zircon wanted to find some reference books as quickly as possible, to confirm whether her avenues of thought had any outlet, or were just a dead end.
Béhierite made circling motions with her hands, and broke Blue Zircon's hold on her shoulders. Calmer now, she backed away. "Apologies. I can get very excited whenever I get the chance to aid My Diamond."
"I can see that!" snapped Blue Zircon, still alert.
Catching her biting tone, Béhierite withdrew further. "I think…I'll just…be over here." She gestured at the opposite bookshelf.
"And just what are you going to do over there?" asked Blue Zircon, still indignant.
"Research for a case," murmured Béhierite, turning her back to Zircon, running the tip of her first finger over the spines.
Blue Zircon watched suspiciously from a distance, and decided to hazard a question. "Do Parasites still exist even now? I would think that without a steady energy source, they'd all die out within a few years of their defeat."
Béhierite hummed, rubbing her lips against each other. Bending, she scanned the spines of the books. "A few have been kept alive for the past several thousand years. They are provided with enough sustenance to keep them alive, but permanently weak." Catching Zircon's face as she turned around, she added: "Don't look so surprised. If these Parasites were set loose into the galaxy, they would inevitably come to power again, and destroy the galaxy in their perpetual quest to fill their stomachs."
Rising, Béhierite cradled a massive book in her arms. Its title was embellished with gold, and glittered against the forest green cover: "On the Lives of the Parasites, by Furred Exoskeleton with Red Horns"
"What kind of a name is that?" scowled Blue Zircon, craning her head at the book.
Béhierite tilted the cover up to get a better look, then answered: "Yes, well, this 'Furred Exoskeleton with Red Horns' describes the author. You see, Parasites have lost whatever methods once existed of picking one Parasite apart from the other. They are all of a connected mind; it's why all five Parasites still in existence are kept separate from each other at all times." Béhierite sighed. "I represent this particular Parasite. We are bargaining with Yellow Diamond to see if she will allow my client more than five minutes outside of her prison."
"Good luck with that," Blue Zircon scoffed.
Béhierite raised her eyebrows without the associated emotion. "You'd be surprised by how reasonable Yellow Diamond is."
"I certainly would be," muttered Blue Zircon, remembering the Trial.
"Anyhow, if you'd like a different view of the First Gem War, I would highly recommend reading this book. You see,"-she trailed her finger in the air, in a circle-"all these books are written by Gems. This is the only one written by a Parasite. Apparently, my client has regained the finer functions of the mind after so long on a…shall I say…leaner…diet."
Béhierite placed the book down on the desk with a muffled thud. After a moment of fiddling with the buttons on the cuffs on her ribboned sleeves, she took in a quick breath and said, in a rush of words: "C-could you tell My Diamond something, from me, when you next see her?"
"That depends on what you want me to say," said Blue Zircon, rubbing out the dampness from under her monocle. She bent her head down a little, trying to catch a better look at the elder Gem's face, currently turned away from her. As Zircon did so, Béhierite shielded her face from view with a sleeve.
"I-I know a good-a great deal about the Parasites, a-and the First Gem War a-and, if Blue Diamond should ever need help, I just want My Diamond to know I would be honored to lend my assistance." Béhierite stopped abruptly, lowering her arm and twisting the cuffs of her sleeves.
It took a moment for Blue Zircon to gather some words for this strange request. "I suppose it wouldn't be much for me to do that-"
Béhierite spun around and bowed. "Thank you very much! I cannot emphasize how much I want My Diamond to know that I-"
Blue Zircon hoisted the older Gem up from underneath her arms, forcing her to straighten up. As she did so, she insisted loudly: "I appreciate your help and I will certainly convey your words to Blue Diamond, so, if you'll leave now, that would be really nice."
Taking the hint, Béhierite scampered out from underneath Blue Zircon's hook grab, and stumbled backwards, out of the room. Blue Zircon sighed, then started as Béhierite craned her head back around the doorway.
"Er…there's one more thing I forgot to tell you…" she said rather meekly.
"What is that?" asked Blue Zircon, forcing her annoyance down.
"Do make sure you replace the book when you finish your research. It's good manners after all…" Béhierite shrugged her shoulders as she spoke, then muttered a last goodbye, and departed the library. Blue Zircon stood still for a moment, then groaned and half-ran back to the book. She had already spent at least two hours wandering around inside White Diamond. Despite having Blue Diamond's reassurance that her presence was allowed inside the library, Blue Zircon felt it would be best to conclude her business as fast as possible. She did not desire a confrontation with or questioning of any kind from any Gem, especially not the librarians. Inside this Restricted section of the library, the librarians or guards would be certain to ask questions. Blue Zircon did not have satisfactory answers; she had leaped into her mission of gathering knowledge without concocting any alibi. Hopefully, she could conclude her business quietly, and be gone without any Gem the wiser.
In the interest of this goal, Blue Zircon cracked open the book and began to study the thick metal pages, learning of the Parasites and their war with Gemkind.
As Blue Zircon chewed through her dense read, White Diamond reclined on her throne in her office. Her throne had been custom built, and was not a hologram that could be summoned on demand as the other Diamonds' were. Instead, the throne base clung to the floor of her office; it could not be moved. Her throne served not only as a chair, but as a communications hub, wherein she could connect her consciousness to the building, far more effectively than without the throne.
In this way, White Diamond could monitor the structural integrity of the building, assist with any accidents happening, aid any Gems in need of it, perform diagnostics and all-around upkeep of her precious building. Surprisingly, there had been no accidents at the centrifugal stations in the feet. White Diamond had drawn a maintenance schedule from the records of every accident that had happened in the building from the moment of its creation. She had seen a pattern with the centrifuges of the feet; once every two weeks, one would begin to leak lubrication fluid. A minor mishap that did not require personal intervention from a Diamond, but it would have taken her but a minute to do. Now, however, White Diamond had a minute right before the upcoming meeting in which she had nothing to do.
White Diamond disconnected from her throne. Tendrils of white fluid snaked from her Gem, eyes, feet, and other sensory organs to retreat into the throne's interior. She sat up then, and drew one leg underneath her chin, letting her right hand swing loose. A few seconds passed. White Diamond got up, and paced around her office, halting as a brilliant blue light announced the arrival of Blue Diamond.
"You are 45 seconds early," remarked White Diamond, a tiny smile tugging at her lips. This was simply a game Blue and White liked to play, but it relied a good deal on knee-jerk reactions. So soon after the Trial, White Diamond would like a glimpse into how Blue was feeling.
Blue Diamond seemed sluggish to respond. She sat done at the throne prepared for her, smiling strangely. After a moment, her eyes lifted their gaze from the ground to the expectant White Diamond. "Hmm? O-oh! Er…" She seemed unable to form a response, preoccupied as she was with another matter. White Diamond was certain she knew what this matter was.
White sat back down in her throne, crossing her legs. She leaned forwards, supporting her weight with her left fist, perched upon her leg. "'You shouldn't be obsessed with the time, White Diamond!'" she affected a deeper, smoother voice, like Blue Diamond's.
This did not have the expected effect, either. "…Right."
Without prompting, Blue Diamond said, "I was thinking about Pink Diamond."
"Mmm," grunted White Diamond. Predictable, like always. White Diamond supposed Blue would start to mourn Pink Diamond again, with many Blue Floods and tears.
Blue Diamond lifted up her hand to her mouth, and pressed a thumb against her lips, frowning. After a moment, she turned back to White Diamond. "Do you remember how Pink Diamond made you that spear, White? The simple one, with the engravings?"
White Diamond straightened her back, a little surprised. "Do you mean that one?" She gestured at a thin, relatively simple spear, tipped with unstable heavy metals. On its handle, in a line of sloppy, ragged, archaic Gem Runes, a small dedication read: "From the Diamond whose Gem Strength is Parallel to None to the squishy squashy White Diamond".
"I remember you needed a great deal of tutoring to use the weapon properly. You kept throwing it instead of impaling with it…" Blue Diamond chuckled, then her face sobered up. She closed her eyes, then asked White Diamond, "What will we be discussing today?"
White Diamond was simultaneously thrilled to change the topic, and slightly disturbed at Blue's behavior. "I am surprised you want to know. Surprised, but pleased," White shrugged, then brought out a hologram. One the side seemed to be a long, long scrolling bar. Blue Diamond's eyes fluttered.
White Diamond curled the fingers of her outstretched hand. One step at a time, then. It wouldn't do to have Blue lose interest in anything but managing Pink's affairs again. "Er…how about a short summary of today's meeting?" suggested White Diamond quickly.
"Of course. That would be excellent," said Blue, perking up.
As White explained the agenda, a thought popped into White Diamond's Gem. Yellow Diamond had not arrived, and the meeting was a few minutes after the start. White Diamond trailed off, looking curiously around the room. White had not heard Yellow warp in, so…?
Blue looked up from White's hologram, slightly amused. "Have you lost interest, White?"
White's head shot back down to Blue. "No. The meeting is due to start, and Yellow has not arrived."
Blue Diamond said, "Oh."
White's eyes flickered to Blue, then White uncrossed her legs and stood from her chair. As she did so, the doors to her office slid open, to reveal Yellow Diamond standing right behind them. Her fists were clenched, and her face was heavily lined. "If you're finished gossiping, let's start the meeting."
Yellow crossed the berth, and sat down in her chair, hard. She leaned forward, back hunched and fingers clawed. "I would have expected that a Diamond who prides herself on her constant vigilance would have noticed sooner that I was not present." Yellow lifted her chin. "But you-"
White Diamond interrupted her. "AND I would have expected that a Diamond who prides herself on her logic would not have poofed a Gem at the slightest provocation." She shrugged her shoulders, splaying out her arms and leering at Yellow.
Yellow Diamond's face twisted into an ugly shape, nostrils flaring and eyes widening.
White Diamond started as Blue Diamond slammed her fists onto her throne's armrests, producing a weighty THUD. "That is enough from the both of you. We are exhausted from the events of the Trial, and none of us are thinking logically. We insist that this pointless squabbling stops, at once."
For a bit, White Diamond and Yellow Diamond sat motionlessly in their throne, stunned by Blue's outburst. For White Diamond, it certainly brought back memories. Blue Diamond's fists uncurled and her face relaxed. She added more meekly, "…and Pink Diamond wouldn't want us to fight. We have better topics to discuss, right, White Diamond?"
White Diamond nodded.
The tension seemed to flow from Yellow Diamond as she pressed her back against the chair. "…at least something came of this whole debacle."
"What would that be?" asked Blue Diamond.
White Diamond chuckled and smiled. "Bringing back the Royal Voice, are we? And here I believed that Blue Diamond had vanished."
Blue Diamond fidgeted a little in her chair. "I could not stand by and watch you fight." White Diamond shrugged, deciding not to mention that Blue normally raised softer objections to their quarrels than commanding them to stop.
This was actually a bit refreshing…White Diamond allowed herself to fantasize about giving Blue Diamond a few, more challenging administrative tasks.
After a moment of painting castles in the sky, White Diamond wondered if she should apologize to Yellow for needling her so soon after that Zircon's accusation. The thought made her physical form churn. She was never the flexible one; after a fresh bout of verbal jousting, Yellow and White normally would ignore each other until circumstances forced them to reconcile. And Yellow Diamond had, technically, started it…
However, it didn't seem right not to honor Blue Diamond's actions with a similar odd action of her own. After a moment of undoing and untwisting her pride long enough to stomach her next words, White Diamond decided to go for it the way she did in the old days, when Pink was there to energize them all: WITH MAXIMUM EFFORT!
Casting aside all of her carefully built up dignity, White Diamond put her fierce plan of action in motion. She pierced Yellow Diamond with a fierce glare.
Yellow met her glare with eyes narrowed, and her mouth stretched into a slight sneer. Before she could speak, White shut her eyes in her most courageous manner and bellowed in her loudest voice, "I APOLOGIZE FOR NEEDLING AND INSULTING YOU, YELLOW DIAMOND!" As she did so, her hair inflated, becoming rigid and bushy.
…After a moment, White Diamond opened her eyes, feeling a wave of shame and embarrassment. The guards cracked open the doors and peeked inside. Yellow Diamond stared at her, cheeks raised and eyebrows furrowed only a bit. Blue Diamond just stared.
A cascade of fluid flowed into White Diamond's cheeks. She glared at the both of them, and turned away. Temporarily banishing the memories of her latest humiliating decision from her mind, White Diamond relaxed in her chair, getting cozy and trying to return to normal. She smacked her hands together. "All right. We have burned away at least seven minutes here."
Yellow Diamond made a soft noise.
White Diamond crumpled her mouth at Yellow. "I wasn't counting the exact seconds. But now, we can proceed!" She thrust her hands down into her throne, grasping something within the throne's fluid interior. In response, the doors slid open fully, making the guards stumble forward. "Why don't you come in, Rhedicax, and deliver your report?"