Steven and Co. meet a gem that could give them the answers they seek.
Anytime Steven had wandered into a Kindergarten, whether it was an accident or by someone guiding him, they always had this negative connotation with them. As what Pink Diamond had stated; they take life and leave nothing behind. It didn't feel different at first as Steven found out that it was just of the process of being made. While he was never given the specific details on how gems were made other than injectors going into the ground for gem formation, they were always seen as a bad thing on the Crystal Gems side, while everyone else was just okay with it.
Pearl's reaction to Amethyst bringing him to the Prime Kindergarten was one of disdain, under the pretense that he simply wasn't ready to see the wider scope of gem reality.
Sure, going to space and seeing how violent things could get opened up his eyes. However, it started a trail of deadly secrets that Steven had be lead to believe were out there, lost in the web of lies and silence. His father noted his age and inexperience could get him in trouble and it did. Steven could freely admit that. But nowadays, he'd still learn about gem culture in ways Connie described that of when she went to school.
He'd see kids like Onion and others like the teens and the cool kids leading regular, human lives. Occasionally he did envy that. Acceptance melted in as he progressed and noted how far deep he was in their little war. Steven, of course, loathed to hurt people but the power of his words made him more of what Connie called a diplomat. In that, it was better to communicate and be constructive, than to lose control and use ones powers to be destructive. In the end, what saved them, was a force of power Steven didn't anticipate and a rebuttal so simple.
Snow was like that. Or at least, she appeared to be. Her words meant everything to everyone and people just...listened. How magical must it be; for those to take you seriously.
For all her human knowledge, it came to him on how much she knew about humanity and how she learned on how they are. There was something so human-esque about her that he wanted to question, but wasn't sure on how to approach it.
The three had left the room and into another room with a long catwalk that sat above the abyss. In the middle was a crossroads that went forward, left and right. Snow wanted them to move forward, but a chill up Steven's spine prompted him to shiver.
"Man, does it have to be that cold down here?" Steven questioned.
Connie shivered too.
"Is there a freezer down here or something?"
Snow stopped in her tracks as they walked across the crossroads. She checked all directions, before she turned to them.
"The ventilation needs to travel far, although I suspect..." Said Snow, until her eyes snapped to attention to a series of creaks and gushing noises. Steven heard whispers that devolved into a high pitched noise that forced him to block his ears. He closed his eyes for the moment, until he heard scuffling noises, as someone was running towards them. The noises stopped as they could see someone in the distance. They took one look at them and bolted. Steven was fearful at first, but then came a thin being from the leftmost path, white skin with short, dark violet hair, a pointed nose underneath a purple visor and similarly coloured clothes. He then noticed the black gem on her chest.
"Oh...thank goodness I found you!" She cried. The gem looked distraught as she approached Snow.
"Calm down. What is your name?" Snow said, being the stable, if not, the only adult in the room.
"Black Pearl." She revealed as she bowed.
So this was a still functional facility. What was another Pearl doing here?
"I serve Milky Quartz. She's told me all about you Snow. Come on, I'll take you into the next room, you're trying to find the Security Room right?"
Black Pearl appeared paranoid. He wondered if this was a shared trait and if their Pearl knew of her. She lead them down the rightmost path, then on right again into another Sample Room. This one was...oddly enough, filled with human junk. A wheelbarrow, different sets of clothes... a tv...all sat on round platforms.
"What is going on here Pearl?" Said Snow.
The poor Pearl looked flabbergasted as she kept checking behind her, as she locked the doors behind them as if she felt like she was being followed. She then looked at Steven and Connie every few seconds.
"Where is Milky?"
She gritted her teeth, nervous about being grilled for answers, before she covered her face with her hands. Steven immediately recognized this behavior.
"You can talk to me." He said, before he pulled up his shirt to show his gem.
"Not sure if I have like a Diamond Override...will that work?"
Black Pearl immediately fell into the Diamond Salute, much to Stevens consternation over the gesture.
"I am so sorry, I knew that Pink Diamond was this planet. Please forgive me My Diamond! I didn't recognize you." She stammered.
As beleaguered as Steven felt over it, he needed her stable.
"It's okay. just...tell us what you can." Said Steven.
The gem cleared her throat.
"Yes...of course. Well, My Clarity was doing experiments with the Sealed Cores from the Lillim Planet and somehow...they got loose." She explained.
The look on Snow's face changed from stern to furious. He'd never seen her this angry before.
"Oh for goodness sake. Why in the Galaxies name would Milky meddle in that? She knows exactly how dangerous the Lillim are. What prompted her to run with the experiments?" The tall gem wondered, as she was unable to grasp a real reason.
Black Pearl rubbed her forehead. Then looked at Steven.
"A cure?" The dark gem squeaked out, then cleared her throat and tried to be confident in front of him. She stood up straight and put her hands behind her back.
"A cure. A Purification Purge was only one way to clear a gem of an infection without destroying a gem entirely...but it always had steep results."
Steven looked at Snow, wondering what Black Pearl meant. Snow crossed her arms and tapped her checked with an index finger.
"What's that?" Asked Steven.
Snow frowned. It didn't seem good by that expression alone.
"I mentioned the purging process earlier. The Purification Purge is similar. It requires mass quantities of light poured in to root out the infection however, it can also...purge the gem from within." She said with lethargy.
"Technically kills the very personality, the very persona of a gem, but their power remains."
Steven gulped as he grasped his gem from above his shirt. It...sounded like.
"Just like how mom created me." He said.
The Black Pearl seemed stunned, but perplexed by that revelation, but didn't say much else about it.
"What about the Kindergartens?" Snow continued.
Black Pearl scratched her left cheek. Her eyes were drawn to the floor.
"I'm sure Homeworld didn't authorize this."
The idea stuck in Steven's head for the longest time, somehow with seeing himself come out of his own gem erased doubts as to his identity. But the thought of his mother that did this willingly this to create him...was she infected maybe?
"Yes it was." BP said in just. "It was a project that our Diamond gave My Clarity."
Homeworld must have really hated the Earth if Yellow Diamond had the means to destroy it through the Cluster, while White Diamond had a more devious way to do it.
It was then Snow lost her patience as she grabbed Black Pearl by the neck and slammed her against the wall. Steven could then feel...a darkness nearby that cause his fear to increase immensely.
"White Diamond sent me here to observe the humans and the planet! That order should have been rescinded the moment the war against the Earth had ceased! How long ago did the Outbreak start? Tell me Pearl!" Snow roared. Steven and Connie stood back in fear of Snow's wrath.
"I...we didn't know!" Said Black Pearl as she strained against Snow's strength.
Whispers filled the room as Steven looked around for the source. This time he heard growling noises alongside them. He ran up to Snow and grabbed a hold of her leg.
"Please...stop...they're nearby!" He called out, almost in tears.
Snow's eyes widened, as she looked around as well. She dropped Black Pearl, who became paranoid with a sweat drop on her face. Snow turned to grab the two children and coddled them under her cloak and hid behind the nearby console. She slid her back down and sat, then drew the pair closer and rested their heads on her chest before she pulled the cloak over them. Steven felt his heart beating a million times a minute as he clung onto both Connie and Snow. It hurt his head as the growls grew closer to their location. He tried so hard to be quiet, if he hadn't been shaking so hard from the fear. He opened one eye to see Connie doing the same as she held on so tightly. He took out his right hand and grabbed her just as sweaty palm. He held it tight.
He almost gasped as they heard the door open. The room's temperature dropped immensely. Thump...thump...thump. Footsteps. Heavy footsteps. The faded light conjured a shadow on the wall, revealing a monstrous figure before them. Bulky and musclebound; surrounded in a thick black smoke. The growls almost deafened him as he felt the bellows from underneath as the ground vibrated. It looked around the room as the footsteps sounds went up and down in volume.
Pink...Diamond...
A voice whispered out to him. It knew he was there. He wanted to panic, but he felt a squeeze from Connie's hand to bring him back to reality.
But reality shifted as quickly as it returned. Within a blink of an eye, Connie stood right in front of him, wearing a turquoise dress.
Steven... she whispered, but her voice held several inflections and echoes.
The world became a smoky violet and blue as he remained still, as he stared at his feet.
"Connie...what...what's wrong with you?" He muttered, still terrified out of his mind as he didn't want to look. He lifted his head to see that her eyes went jet black that shot a spear of fright through his chest.
She disappeared in a cloud of black fog, but not before she gave off widest and the disturbed grin she'd ever given.
"CONNIE!"
The static and the high pitched ping noise returned at an increasing volume as Steven felt like he had lost it entirely. A flash of light lead him back to Snow cuddling him still as he tried to claw his breath back. Tears fell from his face. He did not want to see that again, for as long as he lived. Connie appeared just as terrified, but still clung on to Steven's hand as she had begun to cry as well. The temperature soon returned to normal as the whispers faded entirely. It was gone.
"I'm sorry Steven...Connie." Said Snow. She had a pained expression.
"This is what I feared. I never should have dragged you two in here."
No. They had to fight back. They survived this encounter. They could do so. He was afraid of Connie being here, but she would object to being split up like that. It wasn't that he didn't believe in her, but he didn't want anything to happen to her if he could help it, even if it included her having black eyes and everything, he needed to stand by her side. He wiped away his tears and stood up.
"No...it'll be okay." Steven assured her. He picked Connie off the ground as he gave her a glance to reaffirm their stance. She returned the courage in her heart, to give him conviction like he had given her. They checked on Snow who was on the verge of bawling her eyes out. Her hands were scrunched on the ground. But the pair of them lent out their hands. She was astonished by their kind gesture. They picked her off the ground and back onto her feet.
"Your resolve is inspiring. Thank you." She said as wiped the tears off her face.
Steven was adamant to get to the bottom of this. He knew this was the Lillims doing and that what he saw wasn't real. Just..it was too painful.
"You guys alright?" Said Black Pearl as she ran over.
He'd almost forgotten about her.
They plotted their next move in the little time they had. Snow apologized to Black Pearl for roughhousing her, who didn't take it personally. She was happy to explain the situation, after all.
"That was the same Lillim Gem that I was fleeing from." BP confirmed.
Snow went back into interrogation mode.
"Just take it from the top Black, so we get a better understanding." She asked.