Zircon had one hour.
She knew from experience (four thousand years of it) that a good zircon never got a vacation. She also never got to pick her schedule. The schedule went as so: be notified of a case via monocle screen, take a shuttle to a courtroom, complete the case, take a shuttle back to cubby, indulge in exactly one hour of rest, check screen for next assignment, repeat. Every zircon was the same.
To simplify the shuttle system, every zircon in Facet One lived in the same cubby complex, so Zircon knew for a fact where Yellow Zircon would go. Once she did, Zircon would have an hour to isolate her, force her to spill what she knew, and convince her not to tell a soul. As she hiked from the power plant into the outskirts of Facet One, using her pole as a walking stick, she tried to plan. She got nothing.
There inevitably came a time in her journey when she hit civilization, and it came sooner than she would have liked. At least she was able to soften the blow. Instead of taking to the upper-crust walkways, which she was accustomed to, she avoided all lifts and shuttles and stuck to the ground. To the underworld.
In general, Homeworld worked as so: the further from the ground, the nicer the structure. At the ground, the buildings were basically falling apart. Streets wove and tangled as nonsensically as the Harvester corridors. The only lights were low-power plasma bulbs, electric panels of old advertisements, and what leaked from the windows of buildings. The underworld was desolate — but by no means deserted.
Zircon felt the eyes on her, even when she didn't see anyone around. When she did see gems, she tried not to look at them too long, but it was easier said than done. They were dark, emaciated things; they slouched in doorways and loitered a little too far from the artificial lights. It had been a long time since she had seen gems like them. Petty criminals, borderline-defectives, veterans unable to serve again — in her first seven hundred years of service, she had grown very familiar with underworld dwellers. Teetering on the edge of useless to the Diamonds, everyone in the underworld lived despite their status, left alone simply because the Diamonds couldn't afford to exterminate them all. And because of zircons like herself. She'd always had an aptitude for weaseling her clients away from shatter row, and had gotten all her experience from gems like these.
Her first fear was that her presence and appearance might turn her from public defender to easy target, but it didn't take long to realize it was the opposite. No one touched her. She passed a heavily-weathered onyx on the walkway and the other gem shrank back to make room.
"Well, I know I look awful, but I can't possibly look THAT bad," she thought, just to lighten her own mood, but then a minute later she passed a flickering public screen with her face on it.
WANTED, BROKEN OR WHOLE: Zircon, Facet 1D7B, Cut 7EA (Starlite Blue variety). Guilty of high treason against the Diamond Authority and the shattering of seventeen innocent gems.
Inadvertently, she stepped back, her hand over her mouth.
Seventeen innocent gems.
If there was ever a time when she doubted her pursuit of truth, this was it. She hurried along, then sank down on a crumbling stone bench far from the sign.
"Who am I joking?" she whispered. She was crazy. She knew it. Innocent gems had died because she wouldn't stop poking around in things she had no business with. Who knew what would happen if she kept going, what she'd find herself doing. At this rate she'd have a diamond shattered by sundown.
For the first time since reforming, the adrenaline receded and Zircon was scared. Not just anxious, or panicked — rather, paralyzed. If she was smart, she would stay where she was. She should disappear into the shadows of the underworld, land a job as a janitor or back-room typist or whatever services were needed down here, and never show her face to anyone with a diamond badge on their body again. No more gems would die. Maybe she might even have an off-chance of surviving.
But she knew better than anyone — living with questions unanswered was hardly a life at all.
Much too long later (maybe several hours, maybe a day, time passed differently where the sun couldn't reach), Zircon stepped off an underground transport in Sector 7 — her neighborhood. It was more dangerous here, even in the underworld levels. Before she could leave the deserted transport station, a robonoid droned around a corner and Zircon had to hide in a waste receptacle.
Covert operations were a lot of hiding.
At last she made it. Several lifts and one crazed chase with an alarmed ruby guard later, Zircon had reached the upper crust of Facet One, and squeezed down a maintenance alley between a wall and some pipes. The pipes ran up from a shiny, flat box, which showed a very nice reflection of the adjacent walkway. Zircon could see every gem coming towards her from the nearest shuttle stop. It was the route she had taken back to the cubby complex after every trial, and it was the route that Yellow Zircon took as well — they'd often taken the shuttle home together, if their schedules lined up. Like most zircons did, they often made small talk to distract themselves from how stressed they were.
As she waited in the alley, Zircon reflected on the fact that a trial could take anywhere between two minutes and ten years.
She was lucky. Seven hours later, Zircon saw her target in the reflection — yellow, her gem set at the base of her throat, a little lankier than most. One of the few on the walkway, besides a kyanite staring at her screen. Just as Yellow was about to pass the alley, Zircon reached into her gem and pulled out a ten-credit piece. She'd been surprised to find that her emergency money was still in her gem; surely the Harvester protocol would have removed it before crushing her. But she had gotten lucky again. Yellow was as greedy as a yellow gem could get; she wouldn't ignore ten credits…
Zircon dropped it just outside the alley, and it clinked loudly. In the reflection, she saw Yellow's eyes go wide, she walked towards the piece to pick it up — and Zircon's hand shot out and latched around her wrist.
A second later the only sign that Yellow Zircon had been there was a ten-credit piece clattering on the ground.
Clumsily, but effectively, Zircon pulled Yellow down the alley, around a corner into a dead end. In the scuffle, Yellow's head knocked against the wall, and she barely resisted as Zircon her against the wall and pushed the pole up to her neck, her hands on each end. If Zircon leaned her weight into the pole, it would virtually decapitate Yellow. Both of them knew it.
"You," Yellow squeaked, her eyes wide and slightly unfocused. "Let me go, right now, or — "
Her voice got a little loud at the end so Zircon pushed harder on the pole. The threat petered out into a choked squeak. "Oh, well, now that you put it like that, of course I'll let you go," she snapped, the sarcasm practically dripping from the words. "I have questions. And I need you to answer them."
She let up on the pressure so Yellow wouldn't poof, but Yellow still glared daggers. "Or — or what? You'll incinerate me, like those peridots at the Harvester? Oh, don't think I don't know. All of Homeworld knows what you did to them."
Zircon gritted her teeth. "They weren't meant to be casualties."
"I'm sure that's what Rose Quartz said too, after she shattered Pink Diamond. Necessity clause, of course. But a thousand zircons before you have struck it down. It has been ruled before, and it was going to be ruled again, once and for all. And then YOU had the nerve to stand before our grieving Diamonds and tell them that you don't care for such a loss? You can't tell me that all of Homeworld doesn't hate you."
"You don't care about Pink Diamond. You weren't even made yet."
"I don't have to care," Yellow sniffed. "That's the Diamonds' job. And, pardon me, but I think they cared quite a bit when you accused them of shattering her."
She had a point. "I understand. I may have gotten carried away with that. But you have to understand — something isn't right. Something about the original investigation was manipulated."
"We were at WAR, Blue. There was no investigation."
"There — " Zircon did a double take. "There was no formal investigation?"
"Of course not; there were witnesses, and Rose Quartz had already pledged to bring down the Diamonds, what more evidence do you need? There's more evidence of Rose Quartz's crime than there is to you existing at all — "
"Yellow, listen. When was the last time you saw a gem shapeshift? Or project a hologram of another gem?"
Yellow hesitated. "The coloration would be wrong — "
"Would it now? Look at your hand. Do think your skin is yellow? Well, in this lighting, it could be argued that it looks green. Not long ago, I escaped a Harvester by shapeshifting into the form of a peridot, and trusting that the green tint of the workers' visors would do the rest. You only see what you want to see, Yellow. These factors are ALWAYS considered before invoking capital punishment. We need to treat this crime like there were no reliable witnesses, and the identity of the perpetrator was unknown. Rose Quartz had the motive. It is unknown if she had the means. She did NOT have an opportunity."
Yellow's mouth opened, then closed. The fight drained out of her eyes.
"The fact that there was no formal investigation only supports this," Zircon told her. "For your sake, I won't say that Yellow or Blue Diamond committed the crime. But Rose Quartz is not as guilty as we think she is. I need to speak with her."
Again, Yellow was silent. Then she raised one eyebrow. "Are you suggesting that I have a direct communication link with Rose Quartz?"
"Yes! I mean — no, you obviously wouldn't. You know what I mean! After I was poofed, I lost contact with her. My Libra account was deactivated. Do you know what the Diamonds did with her or not?"
"I don't. Quit spitting in my face." Yellow grimaced, and she resisted Zircon's pole so she could very pointedly wipe her cheek. "I swear to quasars, it's even more vile than your sweat."
Zircon ignored the commentary. "You don't know where Rose Quartz is?"
"Of course not; Yellow Diamond poofed me right after you. I wouldn't be surprised if that traitor met the same fate. For all we know she's in shards at the Harvester."
"No, I know she's not, and I am confident in that because a freshly-baked, overdramatic agate wouldn't shut up about it."
"Then I can't help you." Yellow Zircon straightened her back, as much as one could while locked at the neck. She still managed to look professional. "I don't know much more than you do. And if I'm honest, the only thing that's kept me alive is that I can shut my mouth about it."
"You can't help me at all?"
"Still not convinced that helping you is wise."
"Consider this, then." Yellow was very purposefully staring off into the middle distance avoiding Zircon's gaze, so Zircon grabbed her chin and turned her to face her. "I don't want to think the Diamonds are responsible any more than you do. But our purpose as zircons isn't to sweep evidence into the gutter and move along. We are here to bring justice — you know this — it's written in your gem. I understand it's unfathomable. You live for Yellow Diamond; I live for Blue Diamond. And it's breaking me to think that they could purposefully hurt Homeworld. But it would break me even more to let this injustice rest, regardless of who really did it. With every second she lives unconvicted, she benefits from a mistrial. It's unfair."
Yellow's eyes darted at the U-word. She looked like she wanted to run, to forget this confrontation and move on with her life. But that was a luxury Blue Zircon didn't have.
Finally, Yellow sighed. "Fine," she told Zircon. "I know one thing. But if you expect me to get involved, you're full of silt."
Zircon's shoulders relaxed. "I wasn't expecting you to. What do you know?"
"You can't keep running and hiding forever."
"I can try."
"You can't." Yellow put her hand between her throat and Zircon's pole and slowly pushed it down. Warily, Zircon relented, and Yellow adjusted her monocle. "You might be wanted, but you have one last chance. I reformed in Blue Diamond's recovery bay, and Blue Diamond and her pearl were just down the hall. I believe they thought they were alone. Blue Diamond said she didn't want you to be shattered — she has questions, and you had answers. Or at the very least, hypotheses."
"You're suggesting…"
"Turn yourself in. Find an officer of Blue Diamond, tell them you plead guilty and seek asylum from your Diamond. They're obligated to stay silent in cases of asylum, so my Diamond won't know."
Zircon bit her lip. Asylum. Right. As if nothing could go wrong with that. Hiding her reluctance, she thanked Yellow, and let her go on her way.
Once she was alone, she slumped to the ground and hugged her knees. She didn't want to confront Blue Diamond any more than she wanted to shave off pieces of her own gem.
But it wasn't like she had a choice.
my heart is racing at. like. 3000 bpm because i drank a whole liter of crystal light pomegranate shitjuice and im on the toilet, probably peeing blood right now so idk how coherent this a/n will be
which is good because i hav eno idea what to say in this a/n
review please
