Three Weeks Later...

All the Crystal Gems had to get up early to work on the drill again. The only people complaining were Steven and Rhodonite, not because they didn't want to help, but because they had to leave the peaceful slumber they were encased in. Rhodonite was actually having a good dream, or memory, of Sodalite and Howlite. Steven was just plain tired.

By this time, it was sunrise, and the six of them had spent three hours working on it already. Peridot and Pearl had already gotten through two arguments, Garnet had received three negative comments about how her being fused made Peridot uncomfortable (All comments from Peridot), and Amethyst, Steven, and Peridot would crack jokes while working. Rhodonite had remembered her mechanic aptitude from her past life as Sodalite, so she was working on fixing some of the controls in the cockpit, while Pearl worked on the engine with some help from Peridot, Garnet was doing the heavy lifting, and Amethyst and Steven were working on Lord knows what, Rhodonite was too focused on what she was doing to know that part.

In an hour's time, Rhodonite was finished with the controls, and she really had nothing to do. At least, not until Peridot noticed that they had run out of parts.

"Hey, weird...fusion thing! Do you mind going to the Kindergarten and getting some more parts, yeah, that'd be great." Peridot said to Rhodonite as she was walking by.

"Oh, must you poke fun at everyone?" Pearl shouted in annoyance.

"Oh whatever, she'll walk it off." Peridot scoffed, she looked at Rhodonite, who was still standing there watching. "Well, get on it! You know where it is!" Peridot shouted, waving her hand, shooing her away. After Rhodonite left to go to the Kindergarten, Pearl gave Peridot a death glare, and then they kept trying to work with the lack of parts. For the most part, they were sitting ducks while Rhodonite was gone.

Rhodonite had to walk all the way to the Kindergarten, which wasn't too hard since she was already in the countryside, meaning that she wouldn't have to cross any humans. She had a little bit of spring in her step, for some reason, working on the drill with the other Gems made her feel happier. It could've been the contact with other Gems, or the acceptance that she was receiving from the Gems (For the most part, Peridot needed a little more time.). She kind of hummed while walking, she looked around at the beautiful country, and could feel the ring necklace she was wearing bounce off her chest with every step.

Rhodonite finally reached the Kindergarten, and it was its same old dark dreary self. She was able to navigate the Kindergarten well now, and it brought back plenty of powerful memories, from Operation Orosu to when she first emerged in agony. She had a decent idea of what parts to look for, so she started to wander the Kindergarten, looking for an injector or some sort of machine that still had parts intact.

While she was doing this, she was being watched by a small camera in the cliff wall. This camera was installed shortly after the war to ensure that all Crystal Gems were dead and that all Kindergarten Gems were found. However, the camera had been dormant for thousands of years...until some technicians on Homeworld fixed the transmission a few days ago.

"There, now I just have to sit and wait." A pale green and dark purple Gem said as the feedback became clear on her screen.

There were several Gems similar to that one in a small room full of computers and other technology. They all looked the same, really tall and thin, hourglass shapes, wearing skin tight bodysuits that matched their color palettes, which were extremely diverse, they wore high heels that clicked and clacked on the glassy floors with every step. They had short, straight A-line cuts and inverted triangle face shapes that had an overabundance of colorful eye makeup and lipstick to match their color palette. All of their Gems were located on their shoulders. These Gems were called Fluorites, and they worked on communications, security, and they were also technicians and software engineers along with chemists.

The Fluorite working on the Kindergarten camera had pale green skin, purple hair with an even green stripe about halfway down the length of her locks. Her body suit was dark purple with hints of light green and pale lavender, along with her heels. Her dark purple, glittery eye shadow and lipstick contrasted her skin, and her eyes were a bright, mauve.

The camera feed was boring at first, and the Fluorite almost fell asleep watching it, before seeing Rhodonite come into view on the screen.

The Fluorite almost spat out her drink, a mix of caffeine, and many other weird chemicals that the Gem chemists downstairs had created for pleasure. The Fluorite watched the screen intently, watching Rhodonite pick up parts from a nearby injector, oblivious to the camera. The Fluorite flicked a switch, causing the camera to zoom in on Rhodonite and try to identify what kind of Gem she was. The computer showing the feedback let out a loud error noise, ERGH! The computer didn't recognize what Rhodonite was, it didn't match any of the Gems recorded in the Homeworld database. Fluorite decided to zoom in further, particularly to the Gem of Rhodonite, where she noticed the detail of the shards stuck together.

Panicked, she transferred the feed to a holographic screen that levitated from a sleeve on her arm, then speed-walked to the Diamond Throne Room. This kind of discovery was meant to be known at the highest level of authority. Her heels clopping on the hall floors echoed through the corridors, she walked with outstanding posture, neck and back straight, shoulders back, using her full stride in every step. She stopped at the door to the throne room and got scanned at the door, a procedure for all unexpected visitors. She pushed the doors open to reveal the grand, circular throne room, where three pedestals with three thrones towered in the middle. The back wall was one big window, with a view of the night sky and an outlook on the city below the palace. It was the kind of window people could look out, but people could not look in. The Diamonds sat on their thrones, waiting for the Fluorite to say something. Yellow Diamond stared down coldly at Fluorite, tapping her long fingernails on the armrest of her throne.

"Your Majesties?" Fluorite asked, kneeling down and looking up at the three Diamonds.

"Yes, speak," Yellow said loudly, but bitterly.

"We have a situation...involving our forced fusion experiments," Fluorite said, pulling up the Kindergarten feed on her arm, revealing Rhodonite picking up Kindergarten parts whilst humming cheerfully.

Yellow Diamond's eyes widened. "Get her, and bring her here at once," She ordered.

"Yes, my lords." The Fluorite bowed and exited the room quickly...

Oooooh...spoopy...

Part of me feels like I'm hurrying this, but I don't really have a lot of exposition to get through at this point so I'm thinking, how about I add the spice while the chicken is cooking! I mean, that's what I do when I cook...

The holidays are inching closer...aaaand it still hasn't snowed where I live.

Way to get in the spirit Mother Nature.

Well, by the next chapter, we'll be whisked off to Homeworld, who's excited? I sure am!