Gems don't need to sleep; however, it is recommended that they take regular breaks from strenuous activity so that their energy has time to recharge. For Garnet and the other Crystal Gems, this rest period had come to correspond with Earth's nighttime cycle, synchronizing with that of the diurnal child under their care.
"So," Joy S said cheerfully, "what's on the schedule for today?"
"Who knows?" Anger R said with a shrug. "Going on a mission, locating corrupted Gems, just hanging out—there's not much we need to do at the moment."
"Hold on," said Fright R. "There's something happening on our future vision."
Indeed, the small part of the screen dedicated to that power inherited from Sapphire showed Steven tripping down the stairs and injuring himself.
"Well, we'd better stop that," Joy S said.
And so they did; Garnet caught Steven right as he fell.
"Good morning to you, Steven," Garnet said.
"Boy, I sure am lucky you showed up when you did," said Steven.
Joy R smirked. "Luck's got nothing to do with it."
"Wait," said Steven. "What do you mean by that?"
Disgust R dismissed this. "Eh, he shouldn't worry about it."
"I don't know," said Sadness S. "He seems pretty insistent."
"Maybe," said Fear R, "but I don't think he can handle knowing that information."
"Well, we should find out," said Joy R. "Let's use our future vision to see if we should tell Steven about future vision!"
Fear S shuffled through various scenarios. "Looks like there's a strong possibility that Steven will become paranoid over all the possible harm that could befall him, resign himself to fate, and, in a horrible misjudgment, climb up onto the roof during a storm and get struck by lightning."
"That… would not be good," Sadness R commented.
"But look!" Joy R added. "There's a chance that that won't happen and Garnet and Steven will become closer!"
"And that would be good," Joy S said.
"And I guess we'd be able to
"So…" said Disgust S. "Are we doing this?"
The emotions all nodded.
"Well," Said Garnet, "I guess you could say that I have a sort of future vision. I'm able to see possible outcomes to most situations, which comes in handy since you seem to attract a lot of danger."
Steven smirked. "Well, Danger is my middle name."
"That's a lie," Garnet said. "Your middle name is Cutie Pie."
"Hey, Joy," Anger S said crossly. "Ask before reaching across and using our controls."
"Sorry," Joy R said with a grin. "But I saw the opportunity and I just had to take it."
Garnet joined Steven on the beach for radio exercises. Though her body was an illusion, and thus couldn't grow in either strength or flexibility, the rhythmic movements helped sharpen her focus and reflexes, helping ensure the two halves of her fusion-self stayed in sync.
Plus, as Joy S noted, it was a nice way to hang out with Steven.
After a healthy workout, Garnet smashed the stereo with her gauntlet.
"Er, did we really have to do that?" Sadness S said. "We could have just turned it off and used it later."
Anger S shrugged. "Hey, we needed it to stop playing. That was the easiest way to do it."
"Garnet, what are my breakfast possibilities?" Steven asked.
Disgust R rolled her eyes. "This is how it's gonna be, isn't it? Steven asking us to use future vision for the most mundane, inconsequential decisions."
"Well, we don't even need future vision for this," said Disgust S. "Since he's already outside, he'll probably go to the Big Donut."
Steven was impressed by the prediction nonetheless. "Um…" he said, "do you see any possible futures where you… um… come with me and have a great time?"
"Well, we don't really need to eat," Disgust S noted.
"Maybe," said Joy R, "But how could we say 'No' to that face?"
"I could," Anger R said. Disgust S slapped her on the back of the head. "Hey, I didn't say I would, I said I could."
"So," said Steven as they entered the Big Donut, "what would happen if I said 'Hi' to Sadie?"
Joy R shuffled through various scenarios with the future vision. "Looks like almost every one of these has her saying 'Hi' back. Some have her saying 'Hello', but it's mostly just 'Hi'."
Garnet informed Steven of this, and so he went ahead and say 'Hi', and as the future vision predicted, Sadie responded in turn. "That was an easy one," Steven said. "What would happen if I said 'Hi' to my BFF Lars?" He pointed at the teenager who was filling up a coffee pot.
"Ooh!" said Joy R. "An outcome where Lars gives Steven a high-five! He would love that."
"That's only one result out of many," Sadness R noted.
"And there are two other, separate scenarios where Steven winds up with third-degree burns all over his body," Fear S added.
Of course, Steven only paid attention to the more optimistic option and went to greet Lars, who became startled and sent the coffee pot, and its contents, flying in Steven's direction.
"I know it technically wasn't inevitable," said Sadness R, "but, you know… Murphy's Law."
"Forget that!" said Anger R. "Steven's in trouble!"
So Garnet rushed in between Steven and the coffee, taking the brunt of the scalding liquid in his stead.
"Are you okay?" Lars asked. "That coffee was really hot!"
"Ha!" Anger R exclaimed. "Garnet drinks coffee for breakfast!"
"That boast doesn't work for several reasons," Disgust R said.
"Quiet."
After the Big Donut, they headed to the fry stand. "You know exactly what I want," Steven said to Peedee. He turned to Garnet. "Any possible futures where I'm hurt by this?"
Fear R glanced through the endless scenarios on the screen. "Looks likes there's tons," she remarked.
"But those all depend on a set of very unlikely circumstances and extremely poor decisions on his part," said Joy S.
"Right," said Sadness R. "Shouldn't we make sure he understands that future vision can never be completely accurate, so these things might not happen?"
"But he didn't ask what would happen, he asked what could possibly happen," Anger S said. "He could choke to death, or get so distracted he falls down a manhole, or get food poisoning, or be bullied by wasps…"
"I don't see any of that," said Fear R.
"Oh, I wasn't using the future vision. I was just listing a bunch of ways he could get hurt by this. Which is what he asked for—no future vision required."
"What if I stand perfectly still?" Steven asked nervously.
"He'd probably get a really bad sunburn," Disgust S said.
"Yeah, that sounds about right," Joy S said, nodding.
By lunchtime, they were back at the beach house. Steven was at the counter, making a sandwich. He was also wearing a helmet.
"Steven," Garnet said, approaching. Steven gave a yelp of surprise.
"He's in pretty bad shape," Sadness S commented. "He's gotten pretty paranoid. He's wearing a helmet to make a sandwich."
"But we shouldn't confront him about that directly," said Sadness R. "We have to use tact."
"Nice helmet," Garnet noted.
"Yeah," Steven said, chuckling nervously. "You never know when you're gonna ride a bike."
"And you're making a sandwich."
"Yeah," said Steven. "Just got to pick up the knife and spread the mayonnaise."
But, even though it was merely plastic, he couldn't bring himself to touch the instrument, worried about the unforeseen harm that the blade could cause.
"Wow, he's a wreck," said Sadness S.
"Right—forget tact," Fear R said. "We've got to address this head-on."
"Wait, wait!" Steven cried. "I've got it!"
He picked up the jar and turned it over his sandwich, sending its entire contents spilling out over the bread.
"That will kill him faster," Disgust R said with a smirk. Both Joys giggled at this remark.
"Not funny!" Steven said.
"Tactfully or directly, we still have to be sympathetic," said Sadness S.
"Right," said Sadness R. "So… how should we approach this?"
Before any of Garnet's emotions could think of something, her conversation was interrupted by Amethyst. "Nice noggin, Steven!" she said as she traipsed across the room to the warp pad, where Pearl was standing.
"We're ready, Garnet!" Pearl called out.
"Wait, you're going on a mission?" Steven asked. He clung to Garnet's arm. "Hold on! Don't leave me! At least tell me what happens with my lunch! Do I choke on a pickle?"
Disgust S scrolled through the scenarios. "Hmm… well, he doesn't choke on any pickles…"
"That means something else happens with the pickle!"
"Oh, come on," said Anger R. "Garnet can't be with Steven all the time. This mission alone will take a few hours at least."
"And we've left him on his own before plenty of times, and he was fine," Anger S added.
"Maybe," said Sadness S, "but now he's become paranoid about his safety."
"And he's on a fast track to getting struck by lightning," said Fear S, glancing at the future vision.
"We have to reassure him that he's in control," said Sadness R.
"Oh, and make sure he doesn't go on the roof," said Anger S. "No matter what."
The mission, as envisioned, was a bit lengthy, but fighting corrupted Gems like these ones was second nature to Garnet at this point. Along with the help of Pearl and Amethyst, this made the battle trivially simple for her. This allowed her to reflect upon the day's events and Steven's behavior.
"Maybe telling Steven about future vision was a bad idea," said Sadness S. "I mean, we knew there was a risk that this might happen, but we did it anyway."
"Because it might make him closer to Garnet," said Joy R. "But I guess it's driving a wedge between them."
"Bitter irony, that," said Disgust R.
"Also ironic," said Disgust S, "is how we've always used future vision to protect Steven, but now it's harming him."
"Except this isn't the first time that happened," said Sadness R. "Remember?"
She pulled up a series of memories from the time Steven took the Gems to the arcade. He introduced her to Meat Beat Mania, a game which, thanks to her future vision, she excelled at. It preoccupied her for hours; the emotions had been enraptured by the thrill of shaking the meat in rhythm with the beat, shutting out the sensations of everything else. It was only when Steven destroyed the machine that they realized that the drill-like Gem creatures that they had neglected to finish off earlier had begun attacking Beach City.
Sadness S sighed. "Sometimes, it seems like future vision is too much trouble. Maybe it would be better if we didn't have that insight, having to face the future blindly like everyone else."
"Hey, don't be like that," Anger R said. "Future vision's come in handy plenty of times! You can't write it off completely just because of a few incidents. We just have to use these setbacks to learn how to use the abilities we have at our disposal better—just like everyone else has to learn how to use their own abilities. Besides, it's not like we can just get rid of it. It's part of Garnet."
"Yeah," Sadness S said, smiling. "I guess you're right."
"Um, guys?" Fear R said, directing the emotions' attention to the future vision screen. "There's, like, a hundred-percent chance that Steven's going to get struck by lightning unless we go back intervene almost immediately."
"What?" said Anger S. "We told him to stay off the roof!"
"And apparently, telling him that is what made him go on the roof in the first place," said Disgust R.
"Yeah, but he should have listened to us anyway!"
And so Garnet found herself standing just outside the beach house in the rain, yelling at Steven to get off the roof. "Get off the roof!" she yelled.
"Get off the roof!" Anger S yelled at the viewscreen. But she and her Ruby counterpart weren't the only ones taking control of the console; the Sadnesses and Fears were also exerting their influence, concerned about what Steven's fate might be. The two Joys watched on with apprehension, while the Disgusts looked at each other, silently noting, with guilt, that all of them shared some responsibility for this situation.
"Everything I do shoves me violently towards the end!" Steven yelled back. "The more I know, the more I know that I don't know! I can't live like this! Why did you tell me about future vision? What's going to happen to me on the roof?"
The emotions glanced at each other, and the bulk of them retreated, leaving Sadness S and Sadness R at the helm.
"This," Garnet said.
"We took a risk at his expense," Sadness S said. "We knew he might do this, but we told him about our vision anyway."
"We can see so many things that can hurt him," Sadness R said. "We should have never let one of them be us."
"There are millions of possibilities for the future," Garnet said, "but it's up to you to choose which becomes reality."
The Sadnesses, plus the rest of the emotions, watched the screen intently. "Please understand," Sadness S whispered.
"I guess I can't really see a future for myself up here," Steven said. He climbed off the roof and hugged Garnet.
"See?" said Joy R. "Telling him about future vision brought us closer together!"
"Whatever," said Disgust R. "Just don't forget to divert the lightning strike."
Minutes later, Garnet and Steven were back inside and drying off.
"So," said Joy R, "now that Steven knows about Garnet's future… maybe we should tell him about her other secret?"
"What other secret?" Joy S asked, confused.
Joy R frowned. "You know, that she's made up of Ruby and Sapphire?"
Joy S laughed, embarrassed. "Oh, right. That. It's just that we've been like this for so long, I've stopped thinking of myself as Sapphire's Joy but instead just one of Garnet's Joys."
"That's understandable," Joy R said, smiling. "But seriously; should we tell Steven?"
"Not now, I don't think," Sadness S said. "We need time for him to settle down before we give him any more surprises."
"And it should be a special occasion," Disgust R said. "How about his birthday?"
Joy R nodded. "Sounds good. We'll tell him on his birthday."