Light Blue Pearl
No matter where in the galaxies Pearl goes, the factories are all the same.
Details differ. The size, the materials, the product. But otherwise, they're all the identical. Same layout. Same low ceilings. Same huge announcement screens. Same background machine drone. Same background smell of ozone. Same strict gaze from the supervisors. Same assembly lines. Same dull expressions on the workers' faces. Same same same same.
Labradorite, her Master, is an assessor. She travels from factory to factory, assessing and evaluating their efficiency.
Pearl is her assistant.
Labradorite is grateful for her help— as grateful as a Master ever is for her pearl. Her job is a busy one, filled with endless series of quality testing, interviews, and spreadsheets. She needs someone to keep track of it all.
Whenever Labradorite arrives at a new factory and takes stock of the product, Pearl is behind her, double checking the numbers.
Whenever Labradorite seizes stock to test their performance, Pearl's the one who actually runs the tests.
Whenever Labradorite finds non-functional product, Pearl is the one who disposes of it.
Whenever Labradorite writes official reports— records of efficiency, suggestions for improvements, notes on which workers have been underperforming and should be replaced— Pearl is the one who looks over the reports, edits them, and submits them.
"It's disgraceful," Labradorite rants one Cycle, as the pair boards yet another planetary shuttle. "The state some of these places are in… No quality control, mismanagement everywhere, look as though they haven't been upgraded since Era One… If it wasn't for us Labradorites, they'd have fallen to pieces ages ago."
"Yes, my Master," Pearl agrees placidly.
"Bring up the numbers for our next assignment. It's a two-Cycle flight, we might as well get started."
"Yes, my Master," Pearl says, bringing up a projection.
Perhaps there's a reason production rates have been falling.
Perhaps there's a reason defective products are becoming more common.
Perhaps there's a reason incompetence is so rife.
Perhaps occasionally Labradorite should bother to look over the reports herself.
Perhaps she should wonder how, exactly, her Pearl disposes of all the broken technology they test.
Perhaps there's a reason that Pearl has a pocket-dimension in her gem filled with 'non-functional' products.
And perhaps there's a cause out there looking for a steady supply of communication ear-pieces, limb-enhancers, destabilisers, escape pods and light canons.
oOoOo
Author's Note: i'm officially beginning to run low on colours. i just hope i never accidentally give a pearl with the same 'name' as another.