Missing Peace: Chapter 26
Rose Quartz peered out of the large viewing port at the sea of stars that lay beyond, her face forming into a malicious grin. Somewhere out in that endless void was Earth; a planet teeming with those despicable organics. Soon, Facet 31's plan would be ready to set into motion, and then, those organics would pay for corrupting the minds of the Diamonds.
Her thoughts turned briefly to Pink Diamond, who just days ago had stood before her in the body of one such organic. Rose was almost disappointed that the Diamonds hadn't been able to locate Facet 31 yet. She had been hoping to see Pink one more time, and make sure that she watched as her precious humans paid for their crimes.
Her reverie was interrupted when her right-hand Rose Quartz walked through the door behind her, and stood to attention. Rose turned away from the window to speak to her.
"At ease, old friend. We aren't in a Diamond's court now." The other Rose's stance relaxed considerably. "Now, do you have something to report?"
"Yes boss" the other Rose spoke formally yet with some familiarity. "The technicians have refitted 80% of the required systems. We should be operational in just a few days."
"Excellent" replied Rose. "I'll go and convey my gratitude."
The other Rose nodded, and left the room to attend to her own duties. Rose waited a moment before leaving herself. She hadn't lied when she said she was going to congratulate the Peridots, but it had been a half truth. She had also wanted an excuse to watch as the instrument of her victory was finalised. And, of course, a chance to visit their 'guests' again.
As she walked down the brightly lit metallic corridors, she could hear the whirring and clanking of the work going on all around her. Just about very Peridot that Facet 31 had at their disposal was busy ripping out panels and rewiring what lay within. Some Quartzes, as well as some Ruby fusions, were doing the heavy lifting for them, but had wisely been excluded from anything too technical.
One of the Peridots looked enthusiastically up at her as she passed. "Rose! Rose! Just look at the progress we're making on these systems. We never got to work on anything like this back home!"
Rose smiled affectionately down at the small green technician. Though she'd only been leading Facet 31 for a few weeks, she had used that time to develop a friendly persona. It seemed like the most effective way to get the best out of her allies. Granted, it didn't always reflect what was under the surface; she'd had to mask her annoyance at how long winded the Peridots' reports could be more than once, but she made the effort to maintain it nonetheless.
"Excellent work Peridot. We couldn't be doing this without you and your team. Let me know if you need any more Quartzes to help."
The Peridot nodded absentmindedly at her, having already become absorbed in her work again. If there was one thing that Peridots could be counted on for, it was an almost fanatical dedication to their purpose.
Rose wandered on, exploring more of the new surroundings that Facet 31 had set up a temporary home in. After strolling for a little while, she came to a corridor that had already been completely modified. Cables snaked out of every panel, some running awkwardly across the corridor and plugging into the opposite wall. It wasn't exactly convenient, but all these modifications were vital if this place was going to be fit for their purposes.
As she carefully navigated her towering body between the cables, she was suddenly struck by the strange sensation that she was not alone. She looked around for a moment, and called out to ask if anyone was there. After a prolonged lack of reply, she shook off the feeling and moved to continue walking.
It was then that the sensation struck again. This time with an overwhelming intensity. It wasn't pain, or anything physical like that, but it could only be described as 'forceful'. It wasn't simply as though there was another presence with her. It was as though it was right on top of her; within her even. If it had been a noise rather than a feeling, it would have been deafening.
She clasped her hands to her ears, knowing that this would be futile, but feeling compelled to do so anyway. As she scrunched her eyes shut to resist it, she felt her body becoming numb. She fell to the corridor floor with a dull thud. The last image in her mind before she lost consciousness was a blinding flash of light.
Steven awoke in a daze at first. As his vision began to clear, he shook his head to get rid of the dizziness. As he did, long curls of pink hair flopped into his vision. Brushing it aside, he caught a glimpse of his huge hands, which were attached to chunky, muscular arms. He stood up, and regarded his reflection in one of the deactivated computer panels on the pink metal wall. The face that looked back was unmistakably Rose Quartz.
"It worked!" he exclaimed to himself, before nervously checking around to make sure no one had heard.
"Now I've just gotta figure out where I am" he said, still thinking out loud, but much more quietly.
He walked through the corridors for some time, hoping to find a console that was still active; though he wasn't sure he'd know how to operate it if he did. He knew he could try to milk information out of a Facet 31 member, but that carried the risk of giving himself away. Still, if he didn't find something useful soon, he'd have to risk it.
He could tell just by looking around him that the structure he was in had belonged to Pink Diamond; there was pretty much no other colour on anything. It was clear though that whatever this place was; Facet 31 was doing something very strange to it. Entire sections had had the walls ripped out, or the wiring rearranged, or the parts cannibalised entirely. If this place was being used as their base, why change it so much?
After a while he stopped to fiddle with one of the many deactivated screens, on the off chance that he could get it working and get shown some external view of the place. He was so lost in his efforts that he didn't even hear the soft footsteps of the Gem approaching behind him.
He nearly jumped out of his skin when he felt a small hand tap his leg. He spun round, and looked down to see a Ruby staring up at him. It was one of the group that he'd seen attend the Facet 31 meeting last time he was on Homeworld. She was beaming up at him in admiration.
"Hey Rose! Wow, fancy me just bumping into ya' like this. I figured you'd have super important stuff to do or something. It's an honour."
Steven did his best to reply as he thought Rose would, based on what he'd seen of her speeches. "Oh, hello there Ruby. Yes, I'm…quite busy. Lots of…important revolution stuff to do."
"You havin' trouble with that panel?" asked the Ruby, possibly trying to be helpful, possibly just trying to keep the conversation going. "Do ya' need me to get a Peridot?"
"No! Um… I mean… no, that's fine thank you. Say, what do you guys do for fun around here when we're not all busy? Y'know, stuff we can only do here." If he'd been talking to any other Gem, Steven would have worried that his line of questioning was too obvious, but he thought he could probably sneak it past a Ruby.
"Oh, that's an easy one" replied the Ruby. "I just go to the cells and glare at the prisoners rrrreeeaaalll hard. Y'know, to put 'em in their place!"
"Prisoners?" Steven thought to himself. "Did they capture some Gems during the battle at Homeworld?"
He knelt down to the Ruby's height. "Oh, that sounds like fun" he said with as much charm as possible. "Can we go and do that now?"
"But… I thought you said you were super busy" replied the Ruby, looking slightly confused.
"It can wait" Steven replied hastily, patting the top of the Ruby's head with his large Quartz hand. "I'd like to hang out with you right now."
The Ruby's face lit up like that of a kid in a candy store. "Oh boy! C'mon, I'll take you there now!"
Steven followed after the Ruby, who despite her tiny legs was somehow running so fast that he struggled to keep up. After a couple of minutes, the two came to a door with a small viewing port set into it. The Ruby politely stepped to the side and gestured to the port. "I'll let you go first. Give 'em some real angry eyes."
Steven stepped up to the door, and peered through the viewing port. What he saw sent a chill down his spine. The room was dark, with the light from the corridor only penetrating into the first couple of metres, but he could still make out the figures within.
They were huddled together in fear, and clad in revealing blue and white outfits that Steven remembered all too well. Their faces, which were once the epitome of happiness, now wore looks of pure fear. It was the residents of Pink's human zoo.
Shocked into silence, Steven stumbled back from the door. Humans. They had human prisoners. And he and the others had just been waiting around while these people had been suffering.
The Ruby looked up at him, concerned. "You OK Rose? Ya' look like they gave ya' a fright there. Don't worry, they're just a bunch of organics. They're harmless. And if they try to hurt ya', I'll beat 'em up!"
Steven tried to reply, but he couldn't form the words. Somehow, just like when he'd watched Rose kill that Russian agent, he was overcome by a wave of dread.
He felt his control of Rose's mind slipping. That was ok, he knew that she wouldn't remember anything that had happened while he'd been in control. At least this way he could get back and tell the Crystal Gems what he'd seen. As he felt the last of his mental grip release from Rose's mind, he gave into it. Rose's body slumped to the floor, and Steven was hurled across the ghost space towards the blinding white light of home.