23. Log Date 20-57-2
Morning
"Log Date: 20-57-2. This is Peridot, preparing subject Hybrid, a Class H-Alpha being, for initial interview and experiment." The green gem was taller than Steven, standing next to him as he sat strapped into an extremely threatening chair. Well, being strapped into just about anything against your will was probably threatening, but given the circumstances, he thought this qualified as extreme.
He had just been escorted from a grand white room, majestic and terrifying, to this room, a comparative microcosm. After White Diamond had bubbled him and sent him away, Steven opened his eyes to a shimmering, beautiful nightmare – he was floating in a huge room, at least as big as the dock that he had arrived on with Heliodor, everything aglow with a soft white light. The space was crowded with a million iridescent bubbles.
In every direction there were soft orbs much like his own, containing shattered, cracked, and full gems of every color, shape and size imaginable. He floated near the top of the massive space, having materialized around mostly undamaged gems, and he toyed with the idea of popping himself free. Ultimately, Steven decided against it, worried he might fall onto others and burst them, unsure of what might be within.
And he waited, and waited, and waited. It must have been hours. He tried to decode the cryptic messages White Diamond had left him with, but his stomach was aching with hunger and he was very cold, so it was challenging to focus on any one thing for long.
Harvesting, corruption, shattering, cracked gems…Forced fusion, artificial fusions? What did she mean I was the "key" – key to what? To healing gems? To harvesting them? To fixing their "re-animation" efforts? That thought made him shutter, hoping very much he could go the rest of his life without ever seeing an artificial fusion try to reform in front of him. He remembered Garnet's terrified face, the glowing, the pain, the screams...
Steven would try to push those thoughts away when they became overwhelming, but he didn't find much comfort in any of the other corners of his mind. It seemed every train of thought would send him into a spiral. Desperate to stay calm, Steven clutched himself like he had done once before when he had floated in space, trapped in a bubble. It was impossible not to think about the shattering, and Holly Blue Agate, and Blue Diamond and Opalite and the Pearls and Heliodor and Rose Quartz and White Diamond… All of it, it felt like his fault. His short time away from Earth had been disaster after disaster, and Steven felt responsible for every part of it.
Why did I have to go to Korea, Garnet had tried to warn me... If I had just listened, none of this would have happened – Dad, the Zoo, the earrings… I thought I needed answers. Well, you got them Steven, congratulations. And then I practically invited Homeworld to our front door when I un-bubbled those stupid things from the Zoo. I hid when Heliodor and Apatite showed up. Why didn't I portal away? Why didn't I try to fight, or do something else besides wait?
…Because, Steven, that's all your good for. If you wait, the Gems will save you, or maybe Connie will tell you she likes you first, or Dad will make you feel better. If you wait, Blue Diamond will make you a deal, Dani will tend to your wounds, White Diamond will tell you things about yourself you never knew. But when you try act, people get kidnapped, or cracked, or die.
He shuddered when he felt Holly Blue Agate's arm holding him close to her. Opalite, her, their terrifying mind, echoed quietly as he waited.
It's not so bad, you saved the day. Isn't that what you wanted? It only cost you your freedom, and eventually, your life.
"Ugh! Stop it! You're not real!" Steven shouted into the emptiness of white space, surrounded by the living and the dead, unsure which group he belonged to.
But the voice was there again, and he was with Heliodor, standing at the end of the long white hallway. If you walk through that door, you are going to die.
It was true, he was going to die. He had accepted that, even if he didn't want it. No, he wasn't afraid to die – it was every breath that came before. How many panics breaths would they force out of him, how many more deaths would he be responsible for, how much longer did he have to wait?
"Did you hear me? State your name, gemstone, and rank for the record." Peridot had lowered her face right in front of his own, bringing him back to the present.
Right, interrogation, experiments. Get it together.
"Uh, sorry. I'm Steven, I have a Rose Quartz gemstone, and I don't know my rank. Prisoner? Something like that?" Steven found the tiniest bit of amusement at the annoyance in her face. She reminded him so much of his Peridot back home, but this one was fully equipped with limb enhancers, her hair wasn't quite as giant or as pointed, and he didn't see her gemstone in any obvious places.
She rolled her eyes. "Let the record reflect that the Steven is ranked as a war criminal and is charged with the highest counts of treason. There is strong evidence to reflect that the Steven was responsible for the gem civil war five millennia ago."
Steven didn't find things funny anymore, forgetting how unpleasant Peridot had been before the day they played in the rain. He sighed, saying nothing as she flicked through her screen and studied the room around them with limited mobility.
Surrounded by screens of white and yellow, all angled towards him with an eerie reflection, Steven could see himself, his small body exaggerated by his oversized chair. Again, most everything here was white, but there was a yellow door opposite the white one and there were several yellow screens. Peridot was green, he was pale, but that was normal.
He was fastened to his chair, and had been for at least an hour while she prepared all sorts of things he didn't understand. Adjusting the screens in such a way that suggested they were cameras, the tint and focus of his reflection changing as she fiddled with them, typing into her own screen and to make all sorts of bizarre records along the way. Steven couldn't help but think the bonds keeping him here were unnecessary – he wasn't running anymore.
The chair was way too big for him, more appropriate for a typical Quartz soldier, so he scooted back against the back of the it with his legs fully pushed out. His feet didn't even dangle over the edge. As soon as he settled in, the chair morphed to hold him, half-circles emerging from the gem tech on the surface of the chair, one across his neck, another around his torso, one across his pelvis, and two for each arm and each leg. It was very uncomfortable, but he didn't complain.
"Do you know why you are here?" She was seated across from him now somewhat casually, not bound to her chair.
"Sort of? Not really. I was told by Pearl – er, the Pearl of White Diamond – that I was needed for an experiment, then I was brought here by her, and that's all."
"Subject does understand his participation in research project coded WX90001. Subject does not understand the purpose or nature of his participation in WX90001. Preparing to begin Trial 1."
Steven badly felt the urge to ask her what exactly WX90001 was, but he hesitated. Even if she wasn't nearly as frightening as White Diamond, he was keenly aware of the lenses pointed at him from many directions, wondering who might be watching on the other side.
After another moment of poking into her screen, Peridot got up and used her fingers to undo a latch, a cylinder rising from the ground and expelling white bubbles into the room – much like the one he had been surrounded by in only an hour or so ago. There was no specific type or color of gems inside as far as he could see, and none of them were notably damaged. He stared at the sight, almost lovely, the frozen lives of at least a dozen gems floating in his vision, completely defenseless.
Please, please… No more shattering. Let this be anything but that…
/
"Log date: 20 – hey! You said you wanted to help – get, stop it. Okay, let's try again." Peridot hit the record button on her tablet's microphone app and cleared her throat.
"Log date 20 – "
Amethyst chimed in. "57!"
Then Garnet. "2."
"Yes! That was perfect. We, the Crystal Gems, are about to leave Earth for a rescue mission to Homeworld. We're comin' for you, you clods!"
At that, Peridot and Amethyst roared with laughter, gripping each other for support while they stood in the early morning mist. Garnet smirked at them, but behind her shades she was very anxious. They only had one chance, they couldn't mess this up. It had to work.
"Well… Is there anything else? I think we're ready." It was Lapis, who had just flown down from her silo, saying her goodbyes to Earth as she returned to Homeworld. The blue gem was trying to process a lot of confusing feelings, but she was at least certain that she wanted to help Steven, so her path was clear no matter how her heart felt.
Garnet responded flatly. "Yes, it's time. Connie is almost ready."
Pearl and the human were inside of the barn, the only ones not at the threshold of the Ruby Ship. They had rolled up her sleeping bag along with some other extra camping items and stowed them carefully away in the barn, and now Pearl was kneeling in front of her. Connie held up a small hand, badly calloused, as Pearl diligently wrapped it for her. It was much easier than trying to do it herself, and Pearl's nimble fingers were much better than when Steven would try to do it.
Neither of them were speaking, but they both wanted to. It had been an emotional night, mostly happy tears, but plenty of sad ones, too. Had they prepared enough? Was this going to be the last time they were alone, teacher and student, should one of them die? What if they both died? What if neither of them died, but Steven did, and they failed the mission?
Once Pearl had stalled long enough, she sighed and lowered her hands as Connie brought both of her own down to her side.
"And you're sure this is what you want?"
"Yes, ma'am." Connie looked at her fiercely, with a devotion that was all too familiar to Pearl.
She exhaled and smiled. "Then we best go. Remember, Connie. Everything you have, everything you are…"
Connie finished the line for her, harmonizing with Pearl's gentle voice. "I've got to give on the battlefield."
The girl had that confident smile on her face that Pearl loved, the one she wore after a successful training session. Pearl knew she was worrying for nothing.
"Well, you are my student after all." The two smiled at each other, exchanged a nervous hug and went outside.
Before they had fully made it out the door, Garnet was standing there, blocking the way. All of the others had moved inside the Ruby Ship, but she stopped them by holding up a hand.
"And you both have Peridot's armor?" Connie nodded, knocking her fist against her stomach as a suggestion of her protective gear. Without much adjustment, Peridot was able to re-engineer the structure of Connie's training clothes to make them tear, fire, and projectile resistant. It sort of reminded her of the cut-proof gloves her mom had in the kitchen, a little bulky but otherwise, they felt normal. She could hear Peridot's voice in her head, proud but serious: Mind you, it's resistant, not impenetrable.
Pearl also gave Garnet a sharp nod. "Yes, obviously." She pointed towards the discolored spots on her forehead – those reminded Connie of her mom, too, but because they resembled electrodes she would sometimes use at the hospital – it was Peridot's gem mod for Pearl, the most discreet she could manage.
"Right then. Let's go." Garnet stood to the side, letting the others lead her in. The fusion swept her gaze over the countryside a final time, noting the damaged grass and dirt from Ruby's fight with Amethyst. She smiled, though, knowing that was also the night she came back together.
With a heavy exhale, she turned and entered the ship, the door closing behind her.
Peridot and Pearl were manning the helm, green checking the settings and making final adjustments, white preparing the steering. Connie, Amethyst and Lapis stood around a bit awkwardly, not really able to help, so Garnet ushered them to sit down next to her. It was sort of funny – there were several seats along the half-circle that were available, but Garnet preferred to sit on the ground. It was familiar; this is where she, Steven and Pearl had sat when Amethyst led them to the moon base with the Rubies.
"Alright, we're about to depart." It was Peridot, and she sounded confident. With her hands busy at the screen of familiar Homeworld tech, it was obvious the little gem was in her element. This is, in many ways, what she was made for. Garnet frowned at that, and walked behind her as she started to take them off the ground. Pearl looked towards their leader nervously, hoping that it both was and wasn't a vision.
Garnet rested a gentle hand on the back of the green gem's chair, her voice gentle. "Peridot. Thank you. We wouldn't be able to go without you, and it's because of you we'll get him back." The others were silent, listening. Peridot wasn't looking at her, focused on the sky as she took them higher into the atmosphere, but her face had gone flush.
"But remember, we're going back to a place where you, and you," she nodded towards Pearl "And me, and all of us… aren't respected. To them, we are only as valuable as our ability to serve them, to obey them. You're a wonderful pilot, and an even better engineer, Peridot. But don't forget, you're more than that. To us." She gestured around at them, the group returning a show of smiles as Garnet finished her unexpected pep-talk. The green gem kept her eyes forward, but a small tear formed under her visor, and she simply nodded.
"We are leaving Earth's atmosphere." It was an announcement, not a reply. She couldn't think of anything to say back to the fusion.
After another thirty minutes of propelling safely away from Earth, their home all but gone from sight, Amethyst had gotten up and stood to look out a window. She had been to space before, but never Homeworld. This was new and scary – the closest she came was the Human Zoo, and that was just a pit stop compared to what was ahead.
Everything that had happened recently, especially with Jasper, had shaken her confidence. After Smokey Quartz, Amethyst had found some slightly better footing, but she still knew much of what Jasper had told her was true. To everyone here, she was just Amethyst, funny and goofy. But to Homeworld, she would be seen as pathetic and weak. A mistake. It was hard not to feel like one sometimes, often disappointed with her own temper.
Watching the galaxy spread out before her, Amethyst heard Peridot chime in lightly. "We are about to change to the gravity engine. I would suggest sitting in case of turbulence, but after a moment to stabilize, we should be good to go. I would guess we'll be at the Zoo in no longer than two hours.
Sighing, the purple gem took a seat in front of one of the control monitors designed for the Ruby guards. She didn't necessarily intend to distance herself from the others, but they were just as thoughtful and tense as she was right now, all of them concerned with the mission in their own way.
For Amethyst, it wasn't just confidence that preoccupied her, but her purpose, too. She was a Quartz soldier, like Rose, Jasper, and the rest of the Famethyst, but she had never seen the true horrors of war. When she would fuse with Garnet or Pearl, she could get a sense of it from their memories, and it oddly made her feel… good? Superior, even? The thought made her feel weird and squishy inside, but Amethyst couldn't deny that it was a good feeling.
It was like… the day she popped out of her hole, in the Kindergarten, she knew what she wanted to do, but without a context to apply her militarized existence, she just wasted the energy smashing rocks until Rose found her. She was made, literally, to fight. Being created on Earth, her specific purpose had been to act as extra muscle against the rebellion, and her life could not have gone more backwards. For Amethyst, her every instinct was supposed be mindless obedience and fighting until she died. When she had her whip in her hand and an enemy before her, she felt like she was meeting that potential, that she was everything Rose told her she could be. Except, the feeling wasn't there when she faced Jasper. Coming to head with another Quartz soldiers was different… unnatural, even. They were all made to fight for Homeworld, not each other.
Everything Amethyst felt like she was and wanted to be was in conflict with what she was made to do, a deep nerve tugging between her heart and her mind. To the Crystal Gems, to Steven, she was a friend, a partner, a teammate who deserved to be loved. To Homeworld, she was an extension of the will of a Diamond, disposable if she failed her objective.
And now she was more conflicted than ever. Her objective was to leave Earth, take on Homeworld, and fight other soldiers who were just as predisposed to fighting as she was. They just came out of the ground a few hundred years earlier, and yet, she would have to kill them if they got in her way.
"Ugh…" Amethyst tried to hide her sadness by sounding bored and frustrated, and thankfully nobody questioned her. For once, she really wasn't in the mood to talk.
/
Log Date: 20-57-2. My Diamond has summoned a meeting with the esteemed Blue and White Diamonds. No other attendants were permitted access, and, in addition to myself, only Blue Diamond's Pearl is here. We wait outside for our Diamonds to conclude their conversation, the subject of their meeting focused on the Hybrid.
Pearl was standing at the door, next to her fellow Pearl, typing in her screen. She could hear yelling from beyond the bound door, but she said nothing, and decided to omit those details from her daily log. There wasn't much to record without Yellow Diamond present, so she simply recorded the where and when, hoping to clarify her records at a later time.
Since they were alone, Pearl turned to her poised but downcast counterpart, a sneer on her face. "Your Diamond was late for the meeting. I do hope it was for a good reason. My Diamond does not like to be kept waiting."
Beyond the door, a large yellow fist slammed on the table. "No, White, this is unacceptable. You cannot be serious." She was furious, meeting the intimidating stare of her opposite.
White Diamond said nothing, studying Yellow Diamond's face with a lethal expression on her own. Blue Diamond had pulled her hood up and her head was bowed, obviously uncomfortable with Yellow Diamond's fury. She did have reason to be angry, White going behind their backs, but…
"First, you take him to a restricted area, my Kindergarten, without notifying us, and you go alone? He may be small, but he is the one who shattered Pink, what if something happened to you?" She stood from their triangular table, turning away from them, too livid to stand to look at either of them. Blue was not backing her up, and White was characteristically silent, judgmental, condescending.
"Now you're saying we can't shatter him? Wasn't that the point of all of this – to lure out the Crystal Gems, break their spirit," she gestured towards Blue, her idea to use him against them letting things get this far. "And then shatter them all? This is beyond irresponsible, White. We should just shatter him now, offer our people peace, let them move on from Pink. Or have you both forgotten – that's what this was about. It was always supposed to be about her, and now you've both made it about you."
Yellow had enough of being the only one to contribute, so she whipped around and held her ground, arms crossed, face set in a mask of rage. Someone was going to have to say something eventually, and she wasn't leaving until they agreed with her. How could they pretend to be equals if the others refused to see reason?
The trio was frozen there for some time, uneasy silence filling the room. Well, uneasy for Yellow and Blue perhaps, but White Diamond didn't care about their petty quarrels. Her mind was half a planet away, in the Research & Development district, wondering how his process was going. They must have completed several trials by now, and it was a waste of her attention to be here. Her Pearl was there, monitoring the situation, but it was not the same.
Eventually, Blue spoke, lifting her pretty face to gaze at her counterparts. "Yellow… I think White may be right. Think about it," she raised a gentle hand before her furious sister could interrupt. "Even if it turns out to be a lost cause, we can always shatter him later. Right now, we don't understand him enough to justify killing him. I think we should at least consider what White is saying, and if it fails, then we can go on with the original plan."
Frustrated, Yellow was standing behind her chair, arms gripping the back as she stared down at the table. Even Blue has been fooled by this traitor? White was always distracted, preoccupied, so from her she would have expected it – but Blue? This is exactly how Rose Quartz got close enough to deceive Pink, what started all of this. She teases you with potential, only to turn the blade on you when you least expect it.
After another stretch of silence, Blue spoke again, changing the subject.
"For now, we should focus our energy on dealing with the Crystal Gems. The reason I was late for today's meeting, my apologies once again," she bowed her head respectfully towards them both, "was because my Sapphires had informed me that the rebels are coming. They should be here by this time tomorrow."
At this, Yellow's head flew up, livid once again. "Why did you not say something sooner, Blue? This is far more important, we should be strategizing. If they are still arriving the same manner as before, the most obvious first steps would be to notify the – " but she was cut short when White stood. Her face was vacant, but her voice was sharp.
"No. Let them come to him. Notify no one, and – " but this time she was cut off by Yellow.
"No, White! You're being ridiculous; you can't make unilateral decisions for our authority – for our entire race! We work together, we are supposed to be equals. If we leave our people without warning, the traitors may…"
White slammed both her hands against the table, no longer expressionless. Her eyes were shining, anger seeping off of her so vehemently that Blue's brow furrowed in displeasure. "Enough! Silence. You are out of line, Yellow. You are both to do nothing, inform no one, and let the rebels come to him. Do I make myself clear?"
Yellow clenched a fist furiously, surprising herself when angry tears appeared in her eyes. She turned so the others would not see, although Blue would be able to sense it. At least White would not know.
And, according to White's command, there was silence. A deafening silence in fact, so intense that it seemed as if time itself had stopped. Without another word, White turned to leave, leaving Blue and Yellow alone with their admonishment.
/
Afternoon
"Log Date: 20-57-2, continued. Preparing to begin Trial 9. Subject remains noncompliant, but concedes after extreme measures. Beginning Trial 9."
"Wait! Wait…can't we… at least… take a break? This is… a lot…" Steven's lungs were rising and falling as he heaved, covered in sweat, on his hands and knees. He was a mess, coughing painfully in the middle of the room, both chairs gone and Peridot off to one side.
These trials were not trials, but full on assaults from gems of every kind. When he was first released from his chair, the entire room became empty. It was like all of the metal fixtures melted into the floor, sucked downwards and flattening seamlessly. The only things remaining were the bubbles, Peridot, and himself.
The green gem popped one of delicate orbs and let the gem reform in front of her. As soon as it recognized her, Peridot pointed at him. Without hesitation, it turned into a full-on attack.
The first time, the gem had been one only a bit taller than him, a stocky yellow fighter with claw-like weapons. Her taunts and aggression reminded him of Jasper as she smashed again and again against his bubble until it popped, sending them both flying. Steven tried everything – his bubble, again, his shield, running and dodging – all the while attempting to reason with her, that they didn't have to fight. But that was just it – they did have to fight.
After maybe twenty minutes of Steven endlessly avoiding her, Peridot commanded her to stop. She complied, but Steven did not lower his shield, already feeling weak from the fight.
Through his labored breathing, the hybrid managed to exhale a few words. "W-what now?" The yellow gem had dematerialized her weapons and turned to face Peridot.
"Wa- wait! I'll try harder, just, don't send me back there. You can't, I did it, you can't keep me in there!" Her voice was scared, all of her aggression gone, Steven just looking back and forth during their exchange.
"It is not my decision. Just, don't move; it will be easier this way." Peridot did not sound sympathetic. She just turned a dial on a small white device in her hands, not looking at either of them.
Then, in a sudden flash of pain, it was happening again – his arm pulling him, taking his own shield away from him. Steven yelled as he was pulled forward unexpectedly, his arm flaring bright white, glowing in response to Peridot's dial.
"No! Run, get away!" Steven tried to resist like last time, but it felt like his arm was going to be ripped from his shoulder. When he raised his voice in warning, the yellow gem turned back to him in surprise and held up a defensive hand as he smashed into her with his shield. Unfortunately for her, her gem was embedded in her palm, so the defensive reflex only put her in harm's way.
"I'm – I'm sorry!" It was all he could manage before Peridot jabbed her with a destabilizer. His arm stopped, his shield dissolved, and the yellow gemstone fell delicately to the ground.
It continued like this, again and again, all the gems fierce in their desire to hurt him. Once Peridot determined that they had gone long enough, or his opponent had gotten close enough to shatter him, she would command them to stop.
After the fourth round, his entire body was sore and his ability to resist the ghostly control of his arm was getting weaker every time Peridot would turn the dial. The fifth gem was red and huge like Bismuth, and she had him easily pinned to the ground by the throat.
"Stop."
The red gem let up the pressure, standing up and looking towards Peridot. Then, his pain, his phantom arm, his stolen shield started all over again. Naturally defensive and easily overpowering him, the large gem glared at Peridot while she held Steven aloft from his good arm, the other one flailing and dragging, but otherwise, failing to reach her. Anger flaring in her voice, she directed her biting words at Peridot, seething with venom.
"No! I know what this is! You said we would be freed if we didn't ask questions, just did as we were told, that we would be pardoned. I can see what's happening, what you – "
Then, her face glazed over blankly, yellow pinpoints spreading over her face, and she poofed. Peridot destabilized her before she could finish, bubbling her and sending her away instead of gathering her gemstones with the others.
They're…prisoners?
And so, Steven went on and on for several more rounds, trying to warn the reformed gems what was happening, but that plan had backfired completely. Too desperate for freedom, blinded by their desire to escape this hell, all of them used his pleading as a sign of weakness – an opening – and he was battered and bruised a handful of times. Peridot never let it get out of control, however, always stopping them before things got bloody.
Well, until now. He was coughing so hard that he spit up blood again, the last gem knocking him backwards with a painful blow directly to his chest. Amazed it hadn't broken his ribs, Steven rubbed his fresh bruise – or maybe it had broken his bones, and he just couldn't feel it anymore. Everything hurt.
"Please. I don't… know what you want… But I can't… I need to… rest…" Steven broke off when he started coughing again, his throat raw from the painful wheezing and relentless attacks.
She said nothing, at first, but she eventually agreed. "Trial 9 on pause. Subject will recuperate briefly before resuming trials."
With a massive sigh of relief, Steven flopped over onto his back and closed his eyes, trying not to think about the soreness in his whole body, trying not to look at his arm. It was turning more horribly discolored and scarred each "trial," on top of what had already happened with White Diamond.
Her metal-heavy footsteps approaching, Peridot paused when she was hovering over him. Steven's eyes fluttered open, looking up at her, and stuck out his tongue. In another life, Steven would have thought it was funny, but neither of them laughed.
A floating metal digit flew down, brazed his tongue, and then zoomed away into a wall. They had done this each time he finished, and he preferred to offer his tongue rather than for her to wrench open his mouth like she had the first two times.
All in all, this was pretty bad… but he wasn't being made to shatter any of them, so it could have been worse. He tried to ask her questions earlier, why, why, why they would want him to do this, what was the point, but she never answered. This time, since she allowed him a break (whatever that meant, he didn't care), he saved his energy, closed his eyes again, and let the air fill his lungs.
Unfortunately, while his body slowed down, his mind sped up. He knew this wasn't as bad as killing gems, but he was still hurting them, and worse yet, it was the realization in their eyes before Peridot would poof them… Every time, in some capacity, they realized they were being lied to, being used. There was no escaping from whatever wrongs they had done in the eyes of Homeworld, a common thread connecting him to each of them. It really was like a prison – each gem an inmate, tempted with release, only for Steven to have to beat them while Peridot threw them back into solitary confinement. Peridot was the guard, and Steven her truncheon, and White Diamond, out of sight, their vindictive warden.
Then there was his arm – he hated it, vehemently, a badge of what he had become. It was glowing from the activity, the yellow still present but his blood looked like it had run cold under his skin, beyond pale, turning snowy white. It could have been pretty in a way, a delicate pallor with rivers of yellows running up and down through his fingers, but it represented something sinister and it ached from abuse and misuse.
Steven eventually sat up and opened his eyes, Peridot with her back to him as she typed at an enlarged screen. There were numbers and symbols on it, and he didn't understand it, but he watched her anyways. Honestly, it felt like he didn't understand anything anymore.
"Actually, that should be enough for now." Her voice was matter-of-fact, as if she hadn't just been submitting him to fight like an animal.
"What?"
She turned fully to face him, her face serious. She raised a smaller screen and pushed her fingers against it.
"Log Date: 25-57-2, continued. Let the record reflect that the subject may suffer from impaired hearing." Steven couldn't help but roll his eyes at that.
"Upon completion of Trial 8, samples collected from Steven have demonstrated heightened epidermal growth factor, noting ErbB-1 ligand receptors reaching peak reactions after Trial 6. Records should reflect most robust distribution of human hormone testosterone reached after approximate 4 hours of activity. At this time, subject will begin plasmapheresis. WX0001 will proceed with secondary level trials at another time."
Mostly to himself, Steven blurted out, "What does that even mean?"
As expected, she did not answer him, but she did look away from her screen. Automatically, her fingers flew away and began to buzz around the room pressing buttons and writing things down. A second later, Steven yelped when they grabbed him and dragged him to stand, his chair rising from the metal floor beneath his feet, and the little appendages pushed him back into a sitting position.
Once again, Steven found himself bound, and once again, he found it totally unnecessary. Peridot kept saying in her logs that he was being noncompliant, be he felt pretty darn compliant at this point.
/
"Almost there. Are you all ready? We'll be docking in ten minutes." It was Peridot, and she was visibly nervous now that they had almost made it to the Human Zoo. Instinctively, they all turned to Garnet, who did not appear at all worried. Whether or not she was doing it for their benefit was unclear, but it did help to steady the group's shaking hands.
Given her reputation, Lapis was surprisingly calm. She had never been to the Human Zoo specifically, but she knew it was an older era base. Honestly, it was probably pretty contemporary for her, built right around the time she had been trapped in the mirror; it was likely on par with her expectations for what gem tech used to be like.
Arms crossed, she looked out the window as a glittering pink vessel started to come into view, taking shape at the end of her vision like a predator catching sight of her prey. If there was one thing Lapis understood, it was revenge. She had made a vow the day she had ran into Connie at the Temple that she would have her dues for what they did to Steven, and she was eager to see it through. She was dealing with a lot of emotions, and the prospect of taking it out on someone actually excited her.
Thinking about that day, the blue gem turned to look at the human girl whose face was focused in concentration. Lapis had to admit, she was pretty impressive for a human – Steven was half-gem, so he didn't count. She was strong, poised, mature for her age, and she obviously cared for Steven, so Lapis had developed an appreciation for her company.
Lapis turned her gaze from her to Peridot when she realized the green gem was trying to grab for her hand. She was standing next to her at the front of the Ruby Ship while they were coming closer; she wanted the best possible view of the base as they approached. With a shy smile, Lapis accepted the small shaking hand in her steady blue one, her grip tighter than she meant it to be. Of course she was nervous like the others, but her worries were easily overshadowed by her anger, and that was her primary focus right now.
The door to the base opened easily, just as it had last time with the registered Homeworld vessel – it likely would have more difficult if they had tried to rig something themselves. They had worried that this might be where the trouble started, their ship using a covert illusionary field to decrease their visibility; it would be suspicious for the entrance of the ship to just open unannounced.
All of them were tense as they entered, but it melted away once the door sealed behind them. There was… nobody here?
"Aw, what! I was looking forward to some Famethyst action." The purple gem had shapeshifted to her "preferred" height by Homeworld's standards, but she returned to normal stature in her disappointment.
Garnet had to try very hard not to scowl, keeping her face steeled from emotion. "Let's go."
It was all the command they needed for her to indicate that they were safe here, at least for now.
After examining the room for a long moment, Pearl gently peaked around the doorframe that led deeper into the ship – but there was no one.
She stood up, confused. "What's going on, Garnet? Where is everyone?" Her voice suddenly became terrified. "Are we… too late?"
Now everyone was looking at her, which only served to make her more frustrated. She had expected soldiers to be lining the halls… something changed, something she couldn't see. That vexing static returned to her vision, flashes of Homeworld with no clarity.
"I…don't know. They were supposed to be waiting for us." Garnet admitted slowly. The others still didn't know what happened to the Amethysts and Jaspers, and they didn't need to know right now. Even without the usual guard, there was still supposed to a defensive force and she had already plotted out the appropriate moments to hide and the moments to fight. It didn't reflect what was happening, and she couldn't see much further into the grainy future, whited out by an unknown force.
Several of the Crystal Gems were looking at each other anxiously, so Garnet tried her best to put on a confident face. They needed a leader, and she wasn't Rose, but she still had to try.
"Alright, just, stay alert. Something strange is happening with future vision, so we will go without it for now. But," Pearl and Connie exchanged a nervous glance. "But, we don't need it. Just stick together."
And so that's what they did, Garnet leading the way. She still had a sense of where the cargo vessel they intended to stow away on was located, even if it was just in her memory. For ten minutes, they all walked slowly, alert as Garnet had instructed, weapons drawn and ears straining to detect any sign of activity. They stopped when they reached a door that several of them recognized – behind it, in their memory, was Blue and Yellow Diamond, Steven and Greg, and a hundred Rose Quartzes, all bubbled away.
Pearl let out a slow exhale. "Okay. Be ready." They all faced forward, half wondering if the Diamonds were still behind the door. She tinkered with the screen since was already familiar with these panels and the door glided open.
The room was empty – no Diamonds, no humans, and even no Rose Quartz gemstones. It felt like the entire base had been abandoned.
Silently, weapons lowered by degrees, they all moved forward into the room and looked around at the massive pillars. Connie's stomach twisted uncomfortably, but she kept her eyes and ears focused. This wasn't at all how she had pictured things would be – how was everything going so smoothly? Suspicion rose and grabbed her pumping heart, but she bit her tongue, following the others.
Garnet directed them up the ramp and out a side-door that she recalled from her vision, confident that this was the way they would have gone. It opened to reveal a narrow, pink hallway with a single door on the other side. She motioned for the others to follow, quiet as they filed in two at a time. Then, suddenly, Garnet went stiff, an uninterrupted vision finally making its way through the haze.
"Something's happening." Everyone froze, waiting, and Garnet suddenly flung herself forward at the door. The others followed frantically, and Garnet pushed the two halves of the exit apart, grunting with effort.
"It's… going to lock us in. Hurry. Go!" She extended her arms and pushed with one leg, forcing the door apart as the others crawled awkwardly around her. Connie, Lapis, Peridot and Pearl all made it through first, Amethyst stopping to help Garnet keep the door open. Then, with a quick nod of the head, the two flew outwards towards the others simultaneously as the door smashed together behind them.
They spilled onto the floor of a half-circle room, many doors lining the curvature of the circle with signs written in gem. One read Infirmary, another Communications, Resources – Human, Resources – Gem, and so on. There must at least be a dozen doors, each expanding outward into the base.
Amethyst shot up immediately, but Garnet lingered on her hands and knees, halfway standing when she adjusted her visor.
"Someone's coming… there." She pointed towards an open frame to their left, and before the others could react, a gem entered.
Her eyes went wide behind her visor as she studied the strange scene before her. A human, a Quartz, an unknown, massive gem, a Pearl, a Peridot and a Lapis Lazuli were huddled tensely in front of a closed door that lead into the main corridor of the ship.
Instantly recognizing her gem type, Peridot hissed towards the others. "Should be easy. Danburite. Maintenance class. Era 2." Almost immediately, the rest of them drew their weapons threateningly, daring her to try something.
Danburite was easily outnumbered by the hostile intruders, and her mind was racing. Why hadn't her Diamond warned her, sent troops? That was the plan if they were to come – and yet, here they are. She could not fight alone, and there were only a handful of guards remaining, quarantined to one part of the base.
Raising her hands, she went with the diplomatic approach. "You… You are here for the half-human, aren't you?"
Garnet stood up fully now, raising a hand to still the others. They looked confused but complied, lowering their weapons and eyeing the Homeworld gem warily.
In response, Danburite pushed a hand underneath her visor and covered her eyes, laughing. The others had not expected this, most of their suspicion giving way to confusion.
She slowed her laughing after a moment and regained her composure. She started walking towards them and removed her visor – her eyes were a beautiful, pure blue. "I'm sorry. I am Danburite. Well, I am, but the half-human child called me Dani. You," she pointed at Peridot, who flinched. "You must be Peri. He explained the origin of your name when he started calling me that."
That softened them, finally letting their weapons fall. The Crystal Gems knew only Steven was earnest enough to try to make friends with Homeworld gems, giving them nicknames and inspiring laughter in their otherwise vacant hearts. She knew him.
Pearl stood next to Garnet nervously. "What do we do now?" Each white gem was eyeing the other with a strange expression on their faces.
The fusion was paused while she studied the Homeworld gem. Something was off. How had she not seen this coming?
Danburite froze up suddenly, her muscles tensing as she realized what this meant. She returned her visor to hide her eyes. "I am afraid he is not here. I… rather, he was very certain you wouldn't be coming. I – we – all communication with him was forbidden… but he wouldn't stop talking."
She was looking at her hands, her voice genuinely sad. "He didn't want you to come."
/
That was the last she could stand of White's unwarranted, nefarious supremacy over her. She, Yellow Diamond, just as much a part of Homeworld's leadership as White, had tried to be rational. She had tried to be patient, understanding, and tolerant of White's secrets, her dismissive attitude, the way she treated Blue and herself like children. White may have been the first, but they had agreed to a mutual, fair delegation of authority. This was neither mutual nor fair, and Yellow Diamond had had enough.
After a day had passed, letting the dust settle, Yellow marched forcefully towards her personal warp pad; she knew exactly what she wanted to do and exactly where she wanted to go.
It only took her a few moments to reach her destination, and in a flash, she was in White's military sector, where they had agreed on keeping him.
Where is he? I'm taking care of this. This will be a victory for Homeworld, even if I have to force White's hand for her to see it.
Her Pearl would be reaching the Communications Hub any moment now, sending an alert to gems all across Homeworld, and then White wouldn't be able to stop her. For all her sister's misgivings, they all agreed on a few core principles: the lower classes must not see any instability from the top. Losing Pink had been devastating authoritatively and emotionally – her loss demanding a reorganizing of each district to accommodate just the three of them again, but this time with a mass exodus of gems that had belonged to Pink needing repositioned and re-acclimated to new loyalties, leadership, and way of life.
The others may think she is an unfeeling tyrant – an image she does like to maintain for the sake of discipline – but this has been just as hard on her as it has been on them. She wants to move on, to focus on something new and exciting. Pink would never have wanted this, the most compassionate of all of them, dirtying their hands in torturous affairs. It's not that he, or Rose Quartz, didn't deserve to suffer, but… the time for that had come and gone in the thousands of years. Yellow desired closure, not revenge, and White and Blue were too preoccupied to see the extent of the resources they were wasting.
She had almost reached the maximum security ward of White's purgatory, two of her few Quartz soldiers standing at attention at the door.
"M-My Diamond! How unexpected, and wonderful it is, to see you." They both quivered beneath her, flanking the door.
"Yes, yes – open it, now. I need to see him."
The two exchanged a glance and shrank away from her. "I- I don't think that's a good idea, my Diamond. He is…"
"I don't care what he is, or who he is, or why he is. All I care about is where he is and in a moment that is going to be – " and she stopped short once she had opened the door herself. He was gone. There was a tense pause, the guards saying nothing as they looked at her in fear.
Her voice fell to a whisper, eyes narrowed as she stepped back to look at both of them.
"Where?"
"R-r-reseach and deve-development, m-my Diamond." They were visibly shaking under her gaze.
Pitiful – how does White tolerate such cowards? She raised a hand and an electrical current flew from her fingertips, destabilizing them both, gemstones clattering to the ground. She did not bother to bubble them, already having wasted her time. The message would be going out within the hour.
/
Danburite and Peridot spoke very nonchalantly as the elegant gem led the others through Pink Diamond's base. She seemed trustworthy enough, and even if she tried to turn on them, they easily outnumbered her.
"The technology here lags behind the other bases, especially since this is considered a leisure hub; the military grade vessels always get the newest technology first." Danburite nodded her head towards a panel in the wall as she unlocked a door.
"Oh, I know all about that. You have no idea – the gem tech back on Earth is horrendous. Pre-war tech, practically dirt – fitting for the planet so aptly named!" Danburite seemed aghast at the green gems brash, but giggled despite herself.
Towards the back of their group, Garnet and Pearl walked, expressionless and disapproving respectively.
In a whisper, Pearl leaned to Garnet. "And you're sure we can trust her?"
Garnet released a small sigh at that, but set her mouth to a line. "No. But I'm not sure we can't, either. It's… strange that I couldn't see her in my vision. Now she is helping us? It's…" but she didn't finish the thought, and she didn't need to. Pearl could fill in the blank: suspicious, confusing, strange, mysterious.
Connie was also wary, but she knew Steven had a good read on others so if he trusted her, she thought it was at least getting off to the right start. She caught up with Peridot at her side and spoke.
"So, Danburite, where are we going?"
She lowered her head sadly at that, but replied. "I wanted to, um, give you… something. It feels important. We are nearly there." She walked in front of a wide, gray door after leading them through a maze of hallways. After swiftly grazing her fingers across the screens, the door slowly retracted to reveal, well…a lot of junk, actually.
Amethyst, naturally, was the first to jump in. "Whoa, what is all this stuff? Some of it's like, ancient."
Danburite smiled at that. "Well, you could say some of it is. Pre-war, post-war. Anything belonging to the humans before their proselytization. Here," She opened one of the top containers, a pretty white and blue storage box. The others peered around it and gasped.
Inside the chest was Steven's things: a perfect pink star shirt, and a barely-there tattered one, two pairs of jeans, flip flops. Connie also recognized his cellphone, badly damaged and would likely have to be replaced. And then, to their surprise, was also some things that must have been Greg's from his time here – a bright red shirt like the one Steven had brought home from Korea and larger flip-flops to match Steven's small ones.
"I…" Danburite had extracted herself from them, looking downcast, but it was hard to tell behind her glasses.
"I wanted to… Rather, the half-human, he… I wanted to help him, but I would have been shattered. I thought it was just me; I work with humans here at the Zoo, so I thought I was overly sympathetic." She removed her glasses, but covered her eyes with her hands in an expression of shame. The others looked at her, shocked.
"Take these things, and go. I can take you back to your ship. He, just… it was painful, the way he spoke about you. He wanted more than anything for you to… stay away." After a sad, longing look at them, she put her visor back on and backed away. The others had a wordless exchange, some sad, some determined, but eventually it was Pearl who spoke up.
"I… thank you, for returning this to us. But we won't go. We are going to get him back."
She looked flustered, confused at how they were smiling at her. "But – it's a death wish, you must know that. Do you really want to die? He wanted you all to live."
Garnet grimaced and suddenly threw her hand up. "Wait!"
"I'm sorry."
She really did sound sorry.
In a rush of motion, the door slammed shut and the neutral light that filled the small room began flashing red, a maddening alarm blaring loudly. Garnet flew forward to the door, banging a fist on it, yelling.
"Danburite! You don't know what you're doing!"
But it was too late, she had sealed them away. She didn't want anyone else to get hurt, and she knew the boy did not want that either. She typed the coordinates for Earth into the closed pod and after a loud shudder of metal on metal, the door in front of her was replaced by pink metal while the others were sent away from the ship, off into space.