Snow leads the Crystal Gems to Milky's outpost and warns them of the danger they may face.
The weather finally looked peaceful for the first time in several days. It was time they went to go find Milky.
They pooled all their resources into nailing down her location. It may not have been exact, but they organised a trip to somewhere just outside of Beach City. Snow lead them in the front as she rode Dori, with Steven and Connie riding on Lion not too far behind her. Amethyst trailed behind as he had shapeshifted in a wolf herself. The remainder took refuge with Gregs' van, with Pearl who sat on the passengers side and Garnet whom had been sitting on top of it. Meanwhile Peridot and Lapis hung out the back.
These were the Crystal Gems, ones she had so much about on Homeworld. Opinions and theories varied on the overall conflict and she was just as perplexed as everyone as events spiralled so quickly into an inevitable end. Or a new beginning as policies shifted and changed before their very eyes as Era 3 was announced.
Gem societal perfection had been drilled into them since their very creation...and seeing these...ragtag group of rebels being to alter the perceptions of their strong and powerful leaders by virtue of words alone, thanks to one of their own, it perturbed Snow to no end as to how they could do it. It was when White Diamond had personally asked her to observe them was when Snow began to feel honored to even have the opportunity to do so.
Being here with such a supportive team made Snow curious as to how they worked so well together. Pink Diamond moreso, now that she was...something else entirely. An evolution of species intermingling in such an unforeseen way. Then meeting Greg, Steven's father, helped put some of the more bizarre pieces together, that the Steven form was not a facsimile, but going through the conventional human reproductive cycle. Even when questioning it made Greg feel a bit on edge and reluctant to reveal certain details. No matter, Snow would find out eventually.
Snow's ultimate to desire to root out the truth often required to pull out words that were never spoken or heard before. Realities that would make more sense on the hinge of explanations and keywords to analyze and coalesce into printed studies.
For now Snow was contented to see the blue skies once more, pulling themselves into the countryside to scan for Milky's hidden lab. She felt the winds dance with her hair, the auras of the world flourishing around her. Such is life in bloom beyond the dead chills. But her paranoia drove her thoughts into overdrive, wanting to protect those around her, the precious gems that had begun to their way into the crux of her heart.
They went off the main road as Snow scanned around for any indication to the entrance of Milky's lab. It'd been too long since she'd come here she couldn't even remember where it was. Time passed, warping the land and reshaping it. Dori sniffed around for any trace of Milky's aura. It was then they came upon a large mountain, as Dori skidded to a halt and nudged her nose towards the mountain itself. Calling every one to stop as she raised her hand and forming it into a fist, Snow then checked their perimeters as they set up camp nearby. Greg parked his van into open area near a forest of trees, while Dori and her went to find the entrance. It took them a while until they founded a gem marking on the rock wall that Snow recognized. She placed her hand against it, revealing an opening into the side of the mountain itself. She retreated back to the camp to let them know that they had found it.
"We need to have a plan once we're inside." Garnet suggested.
Snow couldn't agree more. They all stood in a circle, plotting their next move.
"Snow, can tell us a bit about what we're gonna see in there?"
It'd been forever since she had. A tiny set up, if anything else.
"I can recall the general scape of it. Snow Quartzes do have several minor outposts scattered, but this would be considered her Outpost Major where from the information we would gather we would send back to Homeworld, but we would also do our own research. They may spend several hundred, if not a few thousand, years here until the world could no longer be utilized for processing more gems." Snow answered.
Peridot was left scratching her head.
"This place was placed off limits ever since the Cluster project started." She said.
"Why would she have stayed here after everyone else was recalled?"
Milky wasn't one to absolutely disobey orders. They both returned to Homeworld and then the Lillim Wars occurred. After that, Snow never saw her again.
"She could have preferred it here as part of retirement?" Steven suggested.
"Do Gems even retire?" Greg wondered.
Gem were either relocated or they were given another purpose in the grand scheme of things. Homeworld lost track of her. Snow lost track of her.
"Did the Diamonds suspect she may have returned? That's possible." Pearl said.
Could be. If it were true, the Diamonds told her nothing about it.
"There wasn't a ceremony when we returned. Without Pink Diamond they kinda stopped celebrating achievements. Milky loved attending the balls." Snow continued, almost envious of her superiors favor with the Diamonds themselves.
"She used to talk about getting her own Pearl as well. She fought the hardest out of all of us and she used to joke about what she would do with her Pearl. Nothing overly horrible mind you."
A lot of gems desired their own custom Pearl so they could brag about it to others.
"Being a Snow Quartz sounds like a lonely job. Maybe she wanted the company?" Steven theorized. Part of that was true in a way. But they had their Labradorites for that.
"I mean besides the cute dog gems. But you said they don't speak."
Potentially. That's if, coming to the conclusion that she still was here. But going from what little evidence they could muster, it was the only place she could really think of. That if they could at least know if she is here, then they can talk about fighting off the oncoming Lillim invasion and if not? They would fight it alone. Snow prayed, despite the circumstances and uncertainty swimming in circles, that she was somewhere. Somewhere safe. She wondered if her real mission was to find Milky on the dilemma that she never reported back and that they seek answers, especially when it comes to their line being rogue.
"I'm not sure on what we'll face or how large the facility really is. If...in the..." Snow said, before her trauma kicked in.
"In the...in the unlikelihood that we encounter Lillim in there I would to explain how to avoid them and...if in the unfortunate scenario that you find yourself fighting them..."
One: If you see Lillim in the area, hide until they are gone. Refrain from moving if possible and withhold using any light sources so they can't see you. They're scanning for anything with a gem or an active aura. So keep your emotional state as stable as it can.
Two: If the Lillim sees you, remain still and calm. Chances are they could ignore you and think you're nothing more than still furniture. Wait until they have left the area until you can move again.
Three: If you engage in combat for self-defensive reasons...you can temporarily blind or push they back if you shine light on them. Too much light for them makes them vulnerable. You can, if you hold a Sealed Core, seal them in them inside. Flee at the first opportunity you get otherwise.
Four: If a Lillim infects you and your gem, you do have a chance to purge them. They can hold onto you to absorb your light like a leech, but won't begin to infect until they've touched your gem. You may need to destroy your body and retreat into your gem to give yourself time to fight it from within. Outsider forces can help push it out with the help of a gems light to give them an edge. The Lillim in this can be destroyed this way...however.
Five: If you fail to purge it and you get infected and succumb to it fully, you become a Lillim Gem, and become part if its hivemind. By this stage, only shattering the gem, will destroy it in its entirety.
She hoped it would never get that far, but they were the ground rules that were set by Milky herself on the Lillim's original planet. It took a few sisters in sacrifice but if it meant that gem kind would be safer with these rules then so be it. Greg of course, was both confused and terrified and resolved himself to keep out of their way and stay at the van. It was fine, they needed someone on the outside just in case it went south. She then turned her attention to Steven who had raised his hand.
"Question." He said.
"Connie isn't a gem. Lion isn't one either. What would happen to them if...well, it wouldn't because we won't let it, but..."
Oh...of course. Connie had an aura but no gem to show for it. Her developments were unknown, but she would still urge the same caution in either case. Lion? Lion was large enough.
"We'd rather not find out, so my advice will still stand." Snow explained to him. She could see both Steven and Connie exchange slight glances.
"If you're too scared you don't have to come. Anyone who doesn't want to join me can remain here with Greg. I will have Dori keep her telepathic range on. Don't worry she's not going to purposefully read all your minds. She will let us know who's in danger the most and will sort out an escape route if it gets worse."
Steven went to Lion and looked at him sternly.
"Lion, we need you stay here with my Dad. He can come after us as back up." He suggested.
Brilliant, then they would have all their bases covered. Lion didn't seem bothered one way or the other as he scratched himself.
"Thank you Steven and thank you Lion." Snow said.
It was imperative that they do this and do this right. If they were considerably lucky, nothing bad will happen at all. But Snow piled it up all in her head, lost in the debate of logic and instinct. Yes Milky had vested interest in the Lillim as whole, but why were they on Earth now? How did they get on Earth? The static, the random patches of darkness. She wanted Milky to be in there and for her to explain everything to them. A storm rose up in the face of doubt, unable to avoid getting hurt.
She lead them inside. She wasn't their leader, but her being able to caution them like this was just doing it right. The entrance was a long hall way, dark, grey and filled with potted plants and ferns along the walls. It was Milky's preferred aesthetic to decorate with the local flora, though some of them she did recognize from the Lillims planet.
"Some Snow Quartz mark their individuality with subtle reflections like these plants. The more kinds of plants indicated the worlds you already had been to." Snow explained.
"Did you ever get to do this?" Steven queried.
Snow grinned.
"Plenty of times. Collecting seeds or samples for our research allows us to reproduce them on any climate." She said.
That perplexed Pearl.
"In what way would that be useful? We don't need plants, while some were indeed beautiful and worthy of preserving, I don't imagine Homeworld ordering any of this." She called out.
No. They didn't. At least, three out of four didn't.
"Pink Diamond suggested it. Or her Rose Quartzes did. I bonded with a few of them before the War. They weren't too dissimilar but like our Diamond co-creator, they encouraged it. When...well, when IT happened, a lot of the surviving RQs were bubbled by Blue Diamond. I was glad Milky made the case where none of us had any hand in the rebellion...but I had a vague suspicion Milky could have persuaded her to preserve them as a reminded of Pinks legacy. While we were made by all four Diamonds, Rose Quartzes were entirely in Pink Diamonds domain." Snow explained.
"Blue Diamond was always sensitive about the topic." Said Garnet.
So the reports said.
"Oh that reminds me." Peridot called out.
"You should see our crops then! Lapis and I are expert farmers!"
The thought amused Snow. Lapis Lazuli gems were terraformers, extractors of moisture yet Peridots were technicians than full on fighters. She looked at the excited green gem behind and smiled.
"Maybe when this is all over, I'd love to take a look!"
A pair of hexagonal sliding doors met them at the end of the hall way. The next room they found themselves was pretty open, but with plenty of tables and plenty of platforms, liquid filled tubes and interactive computers were everywhere. The amount of studies Milky must have been doing were numerous. There were enclosed environments behind windows and even aquariums with earth fish. Peridot was practically foaming at the mouth.
"This place feels like a zoo enclosure." Connie stated.
"Only without the lizards." Steven added.
Snow felt right at home. It looked like a standard Snow Quartz preferred style. Despite the word Snow in the title, they weren't all frosty. Sure, some of them could have ice like powers, but they all had interests. She approached a console nearby, tapping away at the keyboard to look into any intel she could find. Lots of files and reports did come up, mostly research, but she then found files on Beach City. Including a list of its inhabitants...those who lived and died there in alphabetical order. But that was the only list she could find that stood out to her and the reports look like they were updated a few months ago. She could see the names, the genders...the species, even the Crystal Gems were listed.
What was she doing?
"Find anything good?" Steven asked her.
"Looks like Milky has been here...over the last few hundred years." Snow revealed.
"This database was updated about six months ago and a lot of the files look like they were updated on a daily basis. I would assume Milky would go out in the day, run through her observations then come back for data entry updates."
Peridot came around, requesting to see if she could have a check too. She shuffled through the names, seeing hers there as well.
"How in the...I do not recall shoving anyone off a roof!" She roared.
"That was Greg." Garnet reminded her.
Peridot remained silent, then she was even more angry.
"Okay maybe...maybe I did. But still...it doesn't explain how she saw me. I would know if anyone was spying on me!" She claimed.
Milky had her ways.
"Was she using any of this data for any reason?" Pearl wondered.
Snow crossed her arms. It seemed like regular processed data to her when you look at the bigger picture. They would document populations of various species and perhaps mark some of them for observation. This was the whole city however including gems.
"Sending it to Homeworld I'd say." Snow told her.
She heard Garnet grunt in frustration.
"I can't believe this. They knew the whole time...were they just toying with is? What were they hoping to achieve?" She said.
Snow felt bad. They weren't meant to observe like this. Unless Homeworld kept an eye on them.
"I only came to Earth to check on the Clusters progress on Yellow Diamonds behalf and I heard nothing about this. Say, didn't you say Milky worked for White Diamond?" Peridot pointed out.
Yes, but they could be commanded by any Diamond. Unless...
"She did...we all generally used to have all our commands from White Diamond personally, but either Blue or Yellow have normally dished out orders since the incident. We barely had contact with White Diamond at all." Snow explained.
"May have sent her on this super secret mission to Earth...I'll bet my next burrito on it." Amethyst said, bringing a new idea to the table.
One Snow had considered, but didn't want to believe it. The evidence was there in front of them. This console would only be a list of the data she collected. She suspected Milky would have a more personal, disconnected terminal elsewhere in the complex. She brought up a map, only to see that it was much bigger than she realized. It stretched up and down, down in the Earth as the model projected its enormous size, almost labyrinth in construct. Though a part of it caught Peridots eye.
"That...does that say Omega Kindergarten?" She questioned with shock, pointing towards the bottom half of the facility.
"Then you have the Alpha Kindergarten. Was Milky making gems?" Pearl wondered, looking at the top half.
Amethyst voiced her enthusiasm...or lack thereof with a small, sarcastic woohoo and sarcastically voicing a fake approval for more gem warriors like her.
"Amethyst be serious." Pearl chastised, obviously not detecting her sarcasm.
The private chambers were on the lower levels. These unknown Kindergartens were unusual, being smaller in size so they weren't there for mass production of gems. The files here don't give her any indication of which gems were created. Being the observation area, this would prove strategic and easy for Milky to file her work for the day then go to elsewhere, maybe to check on the Kindergartens terminals. There wasn't any other console that had the collective data of the whole premise.
But...
What really churned Snow with that knowledge was that why did Milky have private kindergartens? It made no sense! No Snow Quartz should even be involved in the development of gems at all besides giving information, not creating it. Pearl looked distressed at the very thought of it.
Milky what were you doing? Snow would give anything to find out what she was really up to. She heard Steven in pain as she turned around as he'd fallen to the floor, writhing in agony.
"Steven what's wrong?" Connie asked as he knelt down by his side.
"I don't know...it's just that...make it stop!" He cried out.
The other gems went by his side to comfort him as he had teared up from the pain. Snow looked at Dori who approached him, sniffing out his gem first, before relaying back to Snow.
"We need to get him out, now!" Pearl roared.
Snow sighed. Yes...unfortunately. Maybe fortunate, since he'd be better out there.
"I recognize this!" Peridot proclaimed.
"It was just like what happened with the Cluster!"
Snow knelt down before Dori and rested her hand on the gem on her chest as Dori transferred her thoughts to Snow, giving her visions. All she heard was darkness and static again, but a vision of Steven being grabbed by the hands of the shadows and swallowing him whole. The visions were fractured, but from what she could see were lots of hands reaching out to grab hold of anything in their path. Her eyes went back to Steven, who then began to calm down and almost pass out.
Taking a break, Snow decided to tell them what she saw. Steven leaned against Connie as Amethyst was by his other side. He was left panting and confused about what just happened.
"They're here. They're definitely here."
"You need to get out, I'll take it from here."
Her eyes locked with Stevens, who was recovering slowly. He shook his head.
"No. You can't do this alone." He said, his voice weak.
Garnet then took Snow aside, as Pearl and herself needed to explain a few things in private.
"Thing is...Steven has strong empathetic powers." Garnet told her.
"What ever is down there is enough to cause him pain." Pearl continued.
They too agreed to leave him out, although his protest says otherwise. They hadn't even seen a single Lillim yet their psychic projections were incredibly wide and powerful on their own. A wave or a pulse, that attempted to reach out to potential victims. She looked back Steven whom was being lifted on his feet thanks to Connie and Amethyst.
"I can talk to them...but they won't listen." Steven breathed out.
Seeing him in this state did little to ease anyone's minds. She refused to let any of them fall to the madness succumbed like those before her. Milky definitely had a lot to answer if she had any part in this. From experience, Lillim cannot be negotiated with. Period. Lillim Gems were even harder when they weren't themselves. Snow had to find out how to approach this.
"They're are several sections we can try and access. I mean, we can go straight to her private chambers...if that's where she might be." Peridot suggested.
Upon that suggestion, Snow scurried over to the elevator at the back of the room. She tapped the keypad to check on access, but much to her dismay, it was locked. Think Snow, think...what could you do?
"We can try accessing the Security Room." Snow suggested.
"There should be an override that allows us to unlock any door in the facility without needing Milky's authorization..."
It was located at the far side of the mountain complex. There were a few paths that lead them right through it. But for now, they had only had the paths that lead them to the Security Room and both Kindergartens.
"I say we should split up into three groups. Just in case." Garnet said.
Snow was a bit overwrought with the idea. She wanted them to be together, but if they needed to be quiet, splitting up would attract less attention, with hopefully her warnings stuck in her minds. With the Lillim in the facility, they could be anywhere, waiting to strike. But how to split the group up efficiently. But first she needed to get Steven and Connie out, but he wasn't having a bar of it.
"I want to help! I'll be fine...just..." Steven said as he got his breath back.
Pearl told Snow he was a really strong kid, but she would always worry when he got hurt. With the multiple routes they needed to cover, she would have to pick the safest one for him. All the rooms were connected in one way or another, either through stairs, more elevators or vents. The shortest route was from here to the room directly, however, if she knew Milky well enough, she would have interesting ways to secure the facility, especially if she was indeed growing gems here as well.
"Hmm...I'm going to agree with Garnet. One group heads to the Security Room, two groups go through the Kindergartens that will lead through to the alternate entrances. Garnet, you know your Gems specialties, I nominate you to decide who goes with who." Snow stated.
Garnet would have to understand the capabilities of the Gems. Which one worked in sync with whom.
"I understand. Steven and Connie will go the direct route. Peridot and Lapis can take the Omega Kindergarten. Pearl, Amethyst and I can go to the Alpha Kindergarten." The fusion ordered.
Sounded logical to Snow.
"Noted. I will guide Steven and Connie, while Dori can go with Peridot and Lapis. Are you okay with that?" Snow asked.
The Labradorite went to the green and blue gems and sat with them, as Lapis patted her back. She would be able to get any messages from Dori no matter how far they were apart. As for the other three gems, she would have faith in their abilities to achieve what was necessary.
"Sounds good." Said Garnet. "Anyone have any objections? Otherwise lets move it!"