As Amethyst and Steven ran to Connie, she stumbled back, her hands over her mouth.
"Connie! What's wrong?!"
Amethyst suddenly saw what was beyond the door. Thinking quickly, she grabbed Steven and tossed him towards the outer door, picking Connie up and turning her away from the sight. Reaching out, she slapped her hand against the pad, closing the door, before she rushed the girl out of the room. "Steven, take her for a moment." she ordered, turning back into the room to collect the two water bottles.
"Connie?" Steven asked nervously, his voice small as he reached out to the shaking girl.
Amethyst came back out, closing the door behind her. "Holy sh- smokes. Holy smokes." She leaned against the door. "That's fu- messed up."
"Amethyst, what's going on?"
Connie gave a shudder. "That was horrible..." she whispered, her voice small.
Amethyst nodded and gave her a hug. "Yeah, pretty freaking messed up. When Pearl snaps outta it, I'm asking her about this crazy place."
As they neared the door, Steven paused. "Guys, what happened down there?"
Amethyst and Connie looked at each other. "Um... There was a room, with jars of frozen... things. It looked like... human... organs..." Amethyst trailed off with a shudder. "And... something that... might have been someone..."
Steven's eyes widened. "But... Why would Pearl come here? Does she know about this?"
As they entered the room, he froze, staring at the pink diamond emblazoned on the wall. "Did- did mum know about this place?!"
Amethyst shrugged. "No idea. But, if this place is this filthy right after the Corruption, it must have been abandoned a long time ago. Maybe... Maybe this place is from before they decided to protect the Earth?"
Connie glanced down at Pearl. "Well, she's not gonna tell us anytime soon. Has she even blinked since we got here?"
Amethyst knelt down and pressed Pearl's eyelids close. Lifting her fingers, they stayed down. "Huh. Well, maybe she's asleep? With her eyes open? I dunno, Pearl's kinda weird sometimes..." Giving a shrug, she looked around. "Hang on guys."
Shapeshifting, she turned into a broom and started moving around, pushing the thick carpet of dust away towards the far wall. Finally, she changed back with a sigh. "Okay, that should make it a bit more bearable."
Steven shook his head. "Man, Pearl's lying in dust, Amethyst is cleaning... This is all backwards..."
As Steven and Connie started to get settled, they each took a spot on the floor, yawning.
Leaning against the wall, Amethyst reach out and carefully took Pearl's hand.
Connie glanced over, and raised an eyebrow, curious, but stayed silent.
Suddenly, Steven got on his knees and crawled over, lying down in front of Pearl. Reaching back, he pulled her arms around him and closed his eyes. "Goodnight, Pearl." he whispered.
Amethyst sighed. Releasing Pearl's other hand, she stepped over Pearl before lying behind her and slipping an arm beneath her so that Steven's head was resting on it as a makeshift pillow. "Goodnight, weirdos." she grinned, nuzzling her face into the back of Pearl's neck.
Connie watched as Steven's breathing slowed down, his chest rising and falling slowly. Figuring him to be asleep, she nervously crawled over in front of him.
Amethyst cracked her eyes open as Connie lay down in front of Steven, pulling his arm over her with a blush. Amethyst smiled faintly. 'Too cute for words...'
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The next morning, Amethyst woke first. Yawning a little, she carefully shapeshifted in order to free her arm and stretched. Glancing down, she smiled.
Pearl's arm was draped over Steven, who had both arms wrapped around Connie. Her left hand was interlocked with his right.
Amethyst gave the quietest chuckle she could manage. Stepping over the trio, she knelt down and gently brushed the hair from Connie's face. "Hey, Connie... Wake up..."
Connie moaned slightly, her eyes squeezing shut. "No school today, mother..."
Amethyst rolled her eyes. "School is cancelled for the next... five thousand years. Come on, or I'll tease you about this that entire time."
Connie sleepily opened one eye. "Tease 'bout wha?" she whispered.
Amethyst pointed behind her, and Connie turned her head slightly.
"Oh." her eyes snapped opened as her face flushed.
Carefully, Amethyst helped Connie free herself from Steven's bear hug. Sighing, she stepped back, her face dark. "Geez... Please don't tell my parents..."
"What? That you were spooning with Steven? Nah." Amethyst grinned as Connie buried her face in her hands.
"Amethyst..." she groaned softly.
The purple gem threw an arm around the girl's shoulder. "Relax. That can be our little secret. That I'll tease you about once you two are married."
Connie moved her hands only to glare. "If I had Rose's sword right now..."
Amethyst grinned. "Killing the only witness won't save you. I'll just regenerate, and tell them in revenge. Now, chill, 'kay? I won't tell anybody. Like I said: our little secret." she held out a hand, and Connie took it with a shake.
"Thanks..."
Steven moaned slightly and shifted. "Mor-morning..." he yawned, half sitting up. Pearl's arm flopped beside her, and Steven reached over and stretched it out beside the other one.
Amethyst winked at Connie. "Morning. You two need to go downstairs?"
Steven glanced down. "Yes. Yes, I do."
"Come on then."
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Six days later...
As they played tic-tac-toe in the dust, they heard a small noise, and turned to look.
Groaning, Pearl sat up. "Okay, that was a ride..."
"Pearl!" Steven half-ran, half-crawled over, wrapping his arms around her with a sob. "You're back!"
Pearl glanced down at him, her blue eyes filled with confusion. "Was I gone?"
Amethyst joined the hug. "You weren't here, that's for damned sure..."
Pearl glanced up as Connie approached. "What are they..."
"You were pretty much catatonic. I guess living through the Corruption a second time was too much for anybody to handle..."
Pearl's eyes widened. "Oh. That happened. Again..." she trailed off. As they looked at her, concerned, she shook her head suddenly. "I've shoved those memories deep down inside where they belong. I'm fine now."
Connie raised an eyebrow as she leaned against the wall. "Pearl. That's not healthy. You do know that, right?"
Pearl shrugged, her arms going around Steven and Amethyst. "Yes, I'm aware. But, it works for me. It's how pearls usually deal with intense trauma, anyway. Besides..." she rolled her eyes. "I doubt there's anyone on the planet qualified to deal with the sheer amount of traumatic memories I'm carrying." she frowned sadly. "I've had an incredibly long and very terrible life, kid."
Amethyst moved slightly. "Pearl?"
She glanced over with a blush. "Yes, Amethyst?"
"What the hell is this freaky-ass place?!"
Pearl looked around. "Err..." As her eyes took in the diamond on the wall and the dust coated desk, it clicked. "Oh! This was a biological research station. It was abandoned at the same time as the war started." she hummed.
"Biological research?" Connie asked. "So, Gems experimented on humans here?"
Pearl glanced at her. "Well, no, not in horrible ways, anyway. It was mostly trying to figure out how to keep humans alive for longer than a week. The knowledge gained here went towards the human Zoo."
Steven sighed. "So, mum did know about this place..."
Pearl looked at him. "Steven, people weren't hurt here. Actually, they were helped. There were many life-saving surgeries performed downstairs, and she healed heaps of broken bones. And what was learned is still keeping the humans at the Zoo alive today."
Connie looked down at the group. "So, the room of frozen organs downstairs..."
Pearl blushed slightly. "Faulty. Removed to save their owner. Well, mostly. Some were of course collected via autopsies, mainly to determine what went wrong, or what a healthy organ looked like... Research." she shrugged.
"And you were involved in this?" Amethyst looked at her.
Pearl shrugged as she shook her head. "Pink didn't really trust anyone else to do it. Another Gem would have violently destroyed entire settlements to grab just a couple of humans, brought them here against their will and experimented on them. She knew that I'd at least only bring volunteers, and return them to their group when the study was completed. I was most definitely the lesser of the two evils."
"Why are there lasers outside? They almost toasted you!" Amethyst murmured.
Pearl groaned. "Ah. Right. The security system. I turned it on when we abandoned this place, so Homeworld couldn't get a hold of anything and use it to hurt humans. I'm... going to assume that Steven's shield was involved in my still being here. Thank you." She gave him a light squeeze.
"Connie helped. We were Stevonnie."
Pearl smiled up at Connie. "Thank you too."
"We still have questions about this place." Connie asked.
Pearl shrugged. "Well, sit down, and I'll try to explain."
Connie sat cross-legged, leaning against the nearby wall. "Okay, why does that room look like it's for autopsies?"
Pearl sighed. "Well, that is what it was designed for. Well, that and dissections. But it was most used for operations. Removing tumours and such."
"Why are there prison cells in the basement, if humans volunteered to come here?" Amethyst asked.
Pearl rolled her eyes. "Because, this place was built to Homeworld's usual plan for a biological research station. Usually, all subjects are unwilling ones. I assure you, those cells were only used to shelter any humans temporarily. They were never locked inside. Well, except in that one case, where a few individuals needed to be quarantined. Smallpox." she added by way of explanation. "Most of them died, but the rest of the tribe survived because of the forced separation."
Connie quickly jumped in again. "Why are these warp pads a different colour than the others? And how come they still work when the others, like the one outside, stopped working and turned grey?"
"Oh, they're on a different frequency to the main warp system. They allow travel between floors, and even different buildings within the same compound. So, for example, getting into one building with say... green warps, can give you access to all green warps on that particular colony. Which, the last time I checked, were generally the higher-level buildings, but not quite high enough to be reporting directly to any of the Diamonds." she shrugged. "This one is pink, so the occupants of this building only had to answer to Pink Diamond herself."
Steven was next. "Pearl... why did you lead us here?"
Pearl stared at him. "Oh. Uh... Well, for starters, it's the nearest familiar place for me. And as the warp system was temporarily disrupted by the Corruption, there weren't many other places to go..." she sighed sadly. "Plus, despite my obvious mental distress, I was coherent enough to remember that we need to be here. This is actually the location of the next ripple."
As they stared incredulously at her, Pearl flushed.
"Seriously?!" Amethyst groaned.
"Well, yes. Ah... I need to ask, mainly because I have no idea, but... How long was I out for?"
Connie thought for a moment. "Um... I think, maybe... twelve days? Including today, and the day of the Corruption."
Pearl nodded. "Okay, good, we haven't missed it. We still have a few days before the ripple. Four, maybe five?" Looking at them, she finally took in their ragged appearance. "Uhh... When was the last time you two ate?"
"I got them some fruit on the way here... But that was..." Amethyst paused to count on her fingers. "... maybe ten days ago?"
Pearl's eyes widened. "Oh my stars... I am so sorry." Pushing Steven and Amethyst away, she quickly rose and stood in the room proper. Summoning a small folding table, she set it up and began pulling items out of her head in a blur. Their mouths started watering at the sight of the loaf of bread, the roll of chicken luncheon meat, the packet of cheese and the tomatoes, which were swiftly and deftly sliced.
Amazed, they watched as she quickly assembled a pile of sandwiches, separating them equally onto two plates.
Finally, she put the butter knife down and tossed the empty bread bag and various wrappers to Amethyst, who gulped it down. "Okay." Pearl nodded. Summoning two small chairs, she set them down beside the table. "Dig in." she ordered, returning the leftover items to her gem.
Steven and Connie jumped into the chairs and started gulping the food down.
"What about water? Have you drunk anything?" Pearl asked, hovering nearby anxiously.
Amethyst nodded. "Yeah. I filled two water bottles at the tap downstairs in the murder room. And I've popped in to refill them whenever these two needed to use the toilets in the cells."
Pearl glanced at her. "No-one was ever killed there, Amethyst." she huffed. "But... Thank you. That really is the only reliable water source around here. And those are honestly the closet things to toilets as well. I'm glad that you looked after them while I was... incapacitated." she reached out and pulled the smaller gem into a hug.
Amethyst tensed slightly, then melted into it, wrapping her arms around Pearl with a blush. "I'm glad you're back..." she whispered.
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Five days later...
As they waited on the roof, enjoying the light breeze, the detector beeped. "Okay, here it goes." Pearl muttered, standing and looking around as the hologram formed. "There." she pointed at the shimmering spot just behind the stairwell. "Let's get out of here." she muttered as they started running towards it.
South America, unknown time:
As they fell out of the ripple, they brushed themselves off and stared around. "Uh... did we even go anywhere?"
Pearl nodded. "Yes. We're just here in a different time. My other self didn't actually know what time period exactly, only that it was sometime after the war. She suspected it was maybe a thousand years later... However, the next ripple is in less than half an hour, so we really won't be here long enough to find out."
Quickly warping down through the building, they took cover under Steven's shield as they crossed the courtyard. Reaching the warp pad they had passed two weeks previously, they noted its familiar blue glow before they warped.
Almost as quickly as they had arrived, the detector beeped again, and they quickly looked in all directions for the ripple, running for it as soon it was sighted.