Outwit
Any Master will tell you that pearls are not very clever. In fact, they're so stupid, that they don't even realise how stupid they truly are.
The problem is that they are too obedient.
And, of course, obedience is all well and good! Any Master will be quick to add that, with a little laugh. Obedience is what society is built upon. If Gems could not follow the rules and orders of their superiors, where would they be? But the fact of the is that pearls are so simple that they cannot do anything but follow their orders perfectly, to the letter, without using any logic of their own. No individual initiative, no common sense.
Tell them to take care while washing, and next thing you know, they'll work so slowly and methodically that they'll take an entire Cycle to clean a single hallway.
Tell them that you would like them to bring you some pictures of a particular planet, and they'll vanish until they've procured a copy of every single satellite photograph ever taken of it.
Tell them to keep close as you walk, and they'll stay so close behind you that you'll keep almost tripping over them.
Tell them to speak softly, and they'll talk so quietly that they have to repeat a message five times for you to even hear it.
They're not doing anything wrong, of course. They're following your orders perfectly. They just can't help their own simplicity. It's their natures.
Any pearl will tell you that Masters are overly arrogant. In fact, they're so foolish, that they don't even realise when they're being outwitted.
oOo
Author's Note: So, this week I really sat down and focused on my planning for this series, and I've come to some conclusions.
- My current estimate for the total number of chapters is 54. This will be one for each of the listed pearl colours I have, plus some various others focusing on the Pearl community as a whole. This number might vary a little bit, depending on how the writing goes, but that's the ballpark.
- I've upgraded the rating of this story from 'general audiences' to 'teen and up'. This is because some of the upcoming chapters will be dealing with darker and more serious themes. I will put a warning on any individual chapters which I think warrant one.