"Okay, I believe that's everything... Steven, Connie... You can have a quick meal before we head off to the warp pad. But I implore you to eat only a small amount. There are no toilets on Homeworld, and we'll likely be there for at least a few hours. And there is no way either of you are doing that inside my gem." she glared at them briefly before she shuddered with disgust. "I also hope I don't have to warn you against drinking this time."
Steven and Connie blushed. "Yeah, I'm... never drinking again. The headache wasn't worth it."
"Or that weird taste when I woke up..." Connie added, sticking her tongue out in a grimace.
Pearl nodded. "Whilst you're eating, I'll finalised the design of that detector. There are only a few small details to work out... I should have it all figured out by the time I get access to the materials."
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"There's the warp pad!" Steven called, running ahead.
Pearl nodded as they caught up with him. "Okay, Amethyst, you need to shapeshift now, so I can adjust my form to match."
Amethyst nodded, and after a brief glow of white light, a sapphire stood before them.
Pearl looked her over briefly and closed her eyes. Her form sparkled, and she phased on new clothes, creating a matching purple dress. "Oh! That's wrong..." Pearl tapped the pink diamond on her chest, and it changed to a bright yellow. "Ugh, that just feels wrong... but I can live with it for now." Reaching one hand up to her hair, they watched in awe as her hair seemed to rapidly grow out to waist-length, with long bangs that covered the top of her face, her gem poking out from a small gap in the middle. She quickly looked herself over and gave a quick spin. "So, how do I look?"
Steven's eyes sparkled. "That. Was. Awesome!" he exclaimed, rushing forwards to give her a hug.
"Man..." Connie sighed. "I wish I could do that. It'd save so much time getting ready in the morning..."
Amethyst stared, amazed. "Was that... shapeshifting? Or did you just phase your hair out?"
Pearl shrugged. "A bit of both. I can hold this form for as long as necessary. Believe me; infiltration was part of my speciality during the rebellion. I know all about blending in, getting the job done, and getting out without being caught. Okay, I got caught once... but that didn't stop me from completing my mission." she shrugged. "So, if everyone's ready..." she held out a hand.
Steven nodded and grabbed it.
Amethyst and Connie watched as Steven was lifted up and swiftly disappeared into Pearls' gem.
"Connie, your turn." Pearl held her hand out with a smile.
Connie nodded, and felt herself being lifted up with a flash of light.
Steven and Connie's POV:
"Connie! Meet the Pearl inside Pearl's pearl!" Steven exclaimed happily.
Connie opened her eyes to see Pearl was standing before her, with a vast white space around them. "Oh, uh... hi ma'am."
Pearl gave a small bow with a smile. "Surface Pearl will be just fine. Hello Connie. I'm quite familiar with you. I do know everything that Pearl knows. Just as all of the... others... do." she added with a frown, before brightening. "We are all quite pleased with your progress during training. And I'll admit, we were all cheering madly for you when you tried to take on Blue Diamond."
Connie blushed. "Sorry I got Rose's sword broken though. I know it was important to you."
Surface Pearl shrugged. "To be honest, it did bring back a lot of memories... not all of them good ones..." she sighed sadly.
Steven glanced around. "Hey, can we see what you've got stored in here? Seeing as we probably have a lot of time to burn..."
Surface Pearl smiled. "Oh, certainly! Well, some things are off limits of course, and the vast majority are actually just rather boring knickknacks I've picked up over the past few millennia... But I'm sure we can find something interesting to look at."
"Like your shotgun?" Steven smirked at her.
Connie gaped at her. "Wait... you have a shotgun?!"
Surface Pearl blushed. "I grabbed it off some man who was attempting to shoot me with it. It was essentially self-defence!" she huffed.
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"And this is a unit that soldiers, usually quartzes, played various type of games on. It was originally developed in an attempt to teach them some sort of strategy, but they mostly used it to gamble." she rolled her eyes as she pointed to the square box-like device halfway along the middle row.
Steven's eyes lit up. "Games?! Gem games?! I wanna play one!" he bounced up and down with excitement.
Surface Pearl glanced down at him. "Oh? Well, they are mostly simple games, very quick and easy to learn... Okay." Reaching up, she grabbed the item, and walked a short distance away before sitting down.
Steven and Connie quickly joined her.
"Okay, uh..." Surface Pearl turned the device on and starting flipping through screens. "Let's see now... Hmm... This one." she tapped a screen, and gridlines appeared on the board. A small drawer popped out, and she started to remove the small coloured pieces, placing them onto the board in sequence. "Okay, this is a strategy game that generally quick and easy to learn. Most of these games can actually take several days to finish playing, but this one's easily played within maybe... an hour?"
"Days?!" Connie gasped. "Gems play these for days?"
Surface Pearl shrugged. "Well, we don't need to eat, drink, or sleep. And soldier gems can have years between battles, or orders. They need to occupy themselves somehow, or they tend to get destructive. These machines were actually outlawed a long time ago, on the grounds of being distracting, inciting gambling which led to pointless fights and of course the fact that they have nothing to do with anyone's actual purposes... But after some quartzes went on a boredom-induced rampage around Homeworld, the Diamonds decided to allow the games to be played. Of course, Rose encourage the Crystal Gems to play these to keep up morale. Which usually led to someone challenging me to a game. And getting the pants beaten off of them." she smirked. "Never gamble against me, you'll lose everything. Especially when it comes to strategy. Challenge Ruby; she never wins." she added with a giggle.
Surface Pearl pointed at two square patches on the side of the unit. "Now, these panels slide open to accept the bets from each player. There's also sensor units here... and here..." she pointed at two other spots. "These prevent either player from getting up before the game is over. If they do, they forfeit. This particular game doesn't require any bets, and can just be played for fun. Leaving the board is still considered a forfeit though. Now, let me explain the rules..."
Amethyst & Pearl's POV :
Amethyst bit back a gasp. 'Oh crap... I wasn't expecting this many Gems...' she thought, nervous to see two large gems assigned to each warp pad. 'Keep cool...'
She walked slowly to the largest warp pad and paused at the bottom of the steps, her hands clasped in front of her to prevent them from trembling.
Pearl darted forwards. "My Sapphire urgently needs to return to Homeworld, to discuss an important matter with our Lustrous Diamond." she saluted, her arms bent in front of her into a diamond shape.
The Topaz grunted. "Proceed." she nodded back at the large Carnelian at the top.
Amethyst and Pearl walked up the steps and stood on the warp pad. In a flash, Pearl activated the warp, and they lifted up.
Amethyst sighed. "Geez, I didn't know there'd be that many guards in that one place..."
Pearl glanced at her. "Yes. There used to only be two guards for the entire Galaxy Warp... But because of the rebellion, they increased the numbers to prevent us from causing havoc on Homeworld, or spreading dissent. That didn't stop us, of course..." she smirked. "It just made us sneakier about it."
Amethyst nodded and looked up towards their destination. "Wow, this is the longest warp I've ever been in..."
Pearl shrugged. "Well, we are going to another galaxy. It will take another minute or so to reach the main warp pad on Homeworld. There will be hundreds of Gems, including many other amethysts. Try not to get overwhelmed, or drawn into a conversation. If anyone tries to talk to you, don't answer. I'll try to deter them with our cover-story, of needing to speak with Yellow Diamond. Hopefully, they won't decide to brown-nose you by escorting us there personally..." she sighed and glanced up, checking their progress. "If that happens, the first chance we get, I'll dissipate their form, and we slip away."
"So, where exactly are we going anyway? To get these parts? Some sort of electronics store, or something?" Amethyst glanced up at Pearl, just barely able to see her eyes under her bangs.
Pearl shook her head. "No. Our species never actually developed any monetary system, unless you count the small sparkly pebbles, shells and bits of metal that soldiers use to gamble with... We'll need to find a storage warehouse with parts, and dig through as many crates as necessary to find what I need. Unless..." she paused.
"Unless..." Amethyst prompted.
Pearl glanced down at her, then up at the approaching end of the warp. "...We ask for help. Just follow me. I have an idea."
The blue light faded away, and the shapeshifted Amethyst followed Pearl off the warp pad, trying not to gape at all of the Gems walking swiftly around them. Many Gems swerved and went around her, several of them greeting her with the diamond salute. "Greetings, your Clarity." "Welcome back, Grand Clarity."
They turned into a large wide boulevard, with hundreds of Gems teeming around them. Pearl led the way, her eyes darting cautiously around behind her bangs. Amethyst followed her into a narrow alleyway, trying her best to stay calm.
The scenery changed slowly, the buildings getting smaller and more worn down. The hundreds of Gems trickled away, and there was now only a few dozen Gems wandering around, saluting her from across the narrow street. Pearl slowed down and allowed Amethyst to catch up. "This is the... well, I'd call it the warehouse and factory district. Supplies for colonies are built and stored until it's time for them to be transported to a new planet. As you can see, it's... not the best part of the capital..." she eyed a large pile of rubble to their left, a gaping hole in the dilapidated building above.
Amethyst gave a quick nod. "'Kay. How much longer 'til we get to... wherever we're going?"
Pearl gave a quick smile. "Very soon. Another few minutes. Just stay close, okay? This part of Homeworld, pearls get... stolen, easily." she glanced nervously at a passing Tourmaline. "It only takes a brief moment, just a quick glance away, and then the next thing I'll know, I'm some glorified sex-toy for a bunch of soldiers in some far-flung part of the Empire. So stay close, never take your eye off me, and if I say run, don't ask why. Got it?"
Amethyst gulped and nodded. "Yeah, I got it, Pearl..."
After a short while, the two walked through a narrow alleyway into a large open area. Ahead was a large built pipes and steam vents scattered across the roof. A large wall blocked most of Amethyst's view, and a metal gate was set into the wall.
Pearl sighed and looked up at it with a smile. "We're here."
"'Kay. Where's here though?" Amethyst glanced behind them down the alleyway, keeping Pearl in her line of sight at the same time.
Pearl nodded at the building. "Amethyst, this is the Factory. It's... It's where pearls are made. Where I was made." she blushed.
Amethyst stared at her. "Whoa, waitwaitwait... whaaattt?!" she looked back and forwards between Pearl and the Factory. "You... were made in there?"
Pearl nodded, her eyes roaming over what little of the building could be seen beyond the wall.
"This is like... a pearl... Kindergarten?"
Pearl glanced down at her. "Uh... I suppose that would be as good a description as any. Yes."
Amethyst grinned. "I gotta check this out!"
"Amethyst, no!" Pearl called out as Amethyst ran forward. "There's a-"
Amethyst suddenly slammed to a halt and fell back moaning and crackling with electricity. "Holy shi-"
Pearl sighed as Amethyst's form gave out, and she calmly walked over and collected the purple gem. "-force-shield that blocks anyone who isn't a pearl, you bloody daft quartz..." she muttered. Reaching up, she stored the gem away and calmly walked over to the door.
Steven and Connie's POV:
"Haha! I win!" Connie cheered.
Steven pretended to be upset, crossing his arms, but quickly grinned. "Good game, Connie!"
Surface Pearl smiled. "Well, you two seemed to have picked it up now." Suddenly, she looked around and stood up, walking swiftly over to the collection of property. Holding out her hands, Amethyst's gem suddenly dropped down, and was easily caught.
"Amethyst?!" Steven called out.
Surface Pearl sighed and flicked her free hand across the storage wall, settling on a small ornately decorated box. Removing it, she walked back and sat down next to the two. "Amethyst ran head-first into a force-shield and was dissipated." she explained as she opened the box and removed a few items.
"Oh." Steven nodded.
Connie looked at the gem in the pearl's hands. "Will she be okay?"
Steven grinned. "Yeah. Amethyst gets poofed a lot. She'll be back in a moment."
Surface Pearl shook her head and placed the gem on her left knee as she unscrewed a small jar. "Actually, no. I'm the only gem that can regenerate in here. In fact, you two can't fuse, Steven can't shapeshift or use any of his powers, and Amethyst can't regenerate. It's like... a safety feature. It prevents my information being... well, corrupted, by that of another gem." she shrugged and began applying a thin layer of goo onto Amethyst's gem. "So, how about you two play a few more rounds, and I'll take this rare opportunity to give Amethyst a proper clean and polishing?"
Pearl's POV:
Pearl nodded at the orange pearl in the guard-post as she went through the gate. Crossing the small courtyard, she paused to phase her usual clothes back on before continuing to a door with a smaller guard-box in front which contained a pale green pearl with her gem in her sternum.
"State your business." the pearl said in a bored voice without glancing away from her screen.
"Pink Diamond's Pearl. I'm here to personally report on an urgent matter."
The pearl jumped slightly and stared at her. "Oh my stars..." Quickly, she typed something into the screen. "Processing... Understood. You may enter immediately. She's been expecting you." she pressed a button inside the compartment and the door slid open.
Pearl nodded and entered the building, the pearl leaning to stare at her as she passed. Pearl sighed with relief as the door slid closed behind her.
Pausing at a large silvery door, Pearl took a few deep calming breaths. After a moment, she gently tapped on the door.
"Enter."
Pearl gulped nervously and pushed the door open, walking through into a large room. Dozens of pearls paused and stared at her as she passed, turning to whisper at each other creating a low background sound similar to that of wind rushing through trees. Pearl kept walking until she reached a low platform surround by columns. On top of the platform, seated serenely on a white alabaster chair, was a large thin Gem with short lightly curled light grey hair. Her appearance was similar to that of the pearls around them, but she was twice as tall, with a bright white glowing round pearl set into the top of her left shoulder. Her simple pale grey dress flowed elegantly across her legs, ending just short of her ankles, revealing simple flat shoes. Every slight movement caused colours to briefly flash and dance across her form.
Pearl bowed gracefully, touching one hand to her own gem. "Pearl 7-25042-1, reporting, my Creator."