Missing Peace: Chapter 8
Steven stared aghast at the figure on the screen. He knew he shouldn't have been surprised at the sight of a Rose Quartz; after all, he'd seen hundreds of them bubbled in Pink's human zoo. After the corrupted Gems were healed, one of the first things the Diamonds did once they were back in Gem space was to free these Rose Quartzes, at Steven's request.
But still, actually seeing one was more difficult than he had anticipated. And a quick glance around him revealed that the others felt the same way. Pearl had her hands clasped over her mouth, this time as an automatic reaction to shock, rather than as a result of her vow of secrecy to her Rose. All the other Gems were just staring wide-eyed and open-mouthed. Steven allowed his gaze to flick back to the screen, and the unknown yet familiar Quartz that was projected on it.
Her face was slightly different than his mother's, and her gem was on her chest rather than her stomach, but she still looked so familiar. Her curled hair was like something straight out of the painting on his wall, and her big dark eyes were practically the same ones Steven saw in the mirror every morning.
After what felt like an eternity, but couldn't have been more than a couple of seconds, this other 'Rose Quartz' spoke again:
"By now you've all heard that Homeworld has opened diplomatic relations with a crystal system colony known as 'Earth'. The Diamonds would have you believe that Earth's people are our friends; that they mean us no harm. However, I emerged on Earth; saw the humans first-hand, and I know this to be a lie. They are a rebellious, corrupting influence that led Pink Diamond astray. And today, my fellow Gems, I present you with proof:"
The camera panned outward slightly, revealing a human, bound and on his knees next to her. He was a man in his thirties, dressed in a formal suit, and his face was somewhat bruised and bloodied.
Steven's heart was in his throat. What was a Human doing on Homeworld unannounced? Were the humans trying to do something behinds the Gems' backs? And how were the Gems going to react? The Diamonds hadn't tried to contact him; did they even know about this?
Looking down at the bound man, Rose Quartz began to speak again.
"This human was found infiltrating a secure facility, attempting to steal our technology to use it against us!"
She pulled open one side of his jacket to reveal several bags containing various Gem tools and components.
Reaching up to her gem, she pulled out a large sword; similar in design to the one Steven's mother had used. Bismuth must have based the design on an existing Quartz weapon. Pointing the weapon into her prisoner's back, Rose spoke directly to him.
"Mr Rozhenko, would you kindly like to tell us why you took these objects?" The man, 'Rozhenko' glared at her silently.
"Who do you work for?" she continued. "How much more of our technology do they have?" Again steely silence from Rozhenko. If he was working for someone, his face wasn't giving it away, though Steven doubted that he could have acted alone.
"Not feeling talkative?" Rose said dismissively. "Such a shame." Sensing what was about to happen, Garnet reached forwards and covered Steven's eyes. With one swift lunge, Rose drove the sword through Rozhenko's back. For a brief instant, his previously stoic face shifted to a look of pure shock as he looked down at the blade tip emerging from his chest. Then the light faded from his eyes as he slumped face-down onto the crystalline floor.
While he was glad Garnet's hand had stopped him seeing it, Steven still had a pretty good idea what had just happened. He felt his stomach turn over as the sound filled his mind. He heard a couple of the Gems whimpering behind him.
The footage on the screen panned back up to Rose, and Garnet finally took her hands away from Steven's eyes. Trembling, he looked back at the screen as Rose continued, now with a malicious scowl on her face.
"This is the fate that will befall any human who tries to move against us! The Diamonds have grown soft; welcomed these… creatures into our homes, offered them our secrets! But fear not fellow Gems; we will not allow ourselves to become weak like they have! There are still those on Homeworld who wish to make our empire perfect again! We are 'Facet 31'. We will not allow Earth to cause a second disaster in our planet's history. We will prevent it."
The screen cut to static as the transmission ended. As the dull electronic sound played across the room, no-one even bothered to switch the machine off. They all just sat in stunned silence at what they'd just witnessed.
After an instant that seemed like an eternity, Steven turned to look up at Garnet. He opened his mouth to speak, but found he had no idea what to actually say. She pulled him into a hug as he whimpered softly.
Steven couldn't even understand why he felt so overpowered by this feeling. It almost felt the same as when Blue projected her sadness onto him; an inexplicable wave of emotion inside him that seemed to emerge without warning. This time though, the sadness was entirely his own. He'd thought that after seeing things like the fusion experiments, not much could shock him anymore, but somehow, it felt different when it was a human, rather than a Gem, that was exposed to cruelty. He felt guilty for even making that distinction.
Before anyone had a chance to say anything, every communication device in the house began ringing; all the phones, the Diamond Line communicator, even the wailing stone. As Pearl answered her mobile, and various Gems scrambled for the other devices, Steven did his best to steal himself and got up to take the call on the Diamond Line. Garnet stepped after him as he did.
"Steven, if you need a minute, I can take the call" she said sympathetically.
"No." Replied Steven. "I'll be fine." He was partially lying, but he knew he had a job to do. It was likely that every Government on Earth had received that transmission, as well as most of Homeworld.
They'd all be panicking, and he needed to calm them down before things got even worse…
Author's notes: So, 'Facet 31' have made themselves known to our heroes. What affect will this have on their plans for peace? Btw, before anyone asks, "make our empire perfect again" was not supposed to be a reference to a certain IRL president. It's referencing a line from Star Trek. That said, I'll see you all in the next chapter!