Pearl stood in disbelief as she glanced around the incredibly empty surface space. She simply could NOT believe that she had caved in to that...HOOLIGAN'S demands!
On the other hand, there was not much she could do about it NOW...
Pearl sighed, before wandering around the emptiness...attempting to get her bearings. One wall had a massive computer with a HUGE "ERROR!" sign displayed on its surface. Another wall would have been where items from the outside were stored, however, almost everything had been tossed from the gemstone at this point. The only remaining objects were the table, chairs, and tea set that the duo had used for their conversation. Pearl seemed frustrated that there was nothing to clean the teacups with. A sink would be nice...not sure how she would store water or pipes in a place like this though...
She decided on focusing on fixing the computer. The Gem instinctively dipped her arms into the device in hopes of doing a diagnostic test. Her eyes went static as she checked the machine...
Apparently, the device had been overwhelmed with commands. Some of them were obvious- like the override of materials to make 25 Holo-Pearls...ALL AT THE SAME TIME!
...the majority of commands, however, Pearl recognized as her own. Commands from weeks and weeks ago- obviously ignored- gumming up the system. Pearl took her arms out of the device, before looking around to see if there was a remote...a switch...a plug...something? She attempted some verbal commands:
"Computer! Eject trash files!"
...
"Computer! Clear history!"
...
"Erm...control, alt, delete?"
...
No change. Pearl looked around the screen again, before finding a tiny switch on the back of the device.
She switched it.
There was immediate response! The computer turned off, but all the lights in the surface space turned off too! Pearl found herself completely encased in darkness! The Gem blinked in surprise! She figured she had touched something she shouldn't have...
Meanwhile, the Surface Pearl was having her very FIRST REAL dinner with her REAL family! She chatted enthusiastically about this new enjoyable food experience- spaghetti they called it!
Steven piped up: "You have to twirl it on your fork...like THIS!"
The Pearl seemed frustrated as she attempted to mimic. "This...is a LOT of work for just one bite of food...it seems so...inconvenient." The spaghetti fell off her fork again.
"Sometimes it helps if you use a spoon..."
"HOW!? The spoon seems even more useless!"
"You twirl the noodles into the spoon...like a bowl!" The boy attempted to explain.
While the Pearl tried to use the new technique, Amethyst and Garnet glared at their new visitor. Both Gems were much less trusting toward the Surface Pearl than Steven. She HAD been throwing dangerous stuff at them from inside Pearl's gemstone for quite some time after all...and many of the random items had nearly caused major injuries. It was also...STRANGE seeing a nearly identical Pearl both willing AND attempting to eat food...
The Surface Pearl suddenly jolted in shock! Her eyes dilated, and she immediately passed out! Her head landed in the plate of spaghetti- face first. In a massive panic, Steven's family rushed quickly to help the Gem! Steven wiped the tomato sauce off of her face. Garnet quickly carried the Pearl to the couch, and attempted to hold her head in a way that would encourage the Pearl to come out of her unconscious state...
"Woopsy daisy! I think I just cut off all the power entirely...let's just flick this back on here..."
Pearl flicked the switch of the gemstone's computer back on quickly! If nothing else, it seemed that her little mistake had rebooted the computer...
The Surface Pearl woke up with another jolt! She gasped with shock as she witnessed the entire group of Crystal Gems looking down at her with concerned stares! The Pearl began to hyperventilate! That...that was SCARY! What had just happened?!
Amethyst sighed with relief! "You're awake! Don't scare us like that!"
Garnet nodded "You passed out."
"Passed out?" The Surface Pearl looked dazed and confused! She wasn't sure what "passing out" was, but she was glad that it was over!
The gemstone's computer chimed in with a pleasant note, as the system rebooted! It seemed that the switch idea was reckless, but worked fairly well to unfreeze the computer!
"Good! Good! Right than! Let's see what this machine can do!" Pearl nodded to herself, before digging her arms into the screen again...
Several minutes went by. The Gem was so distracted with the computer, that she failed to notice the floor opening up. A red alarm sat on a massive podium, as it lifted from the floor...
"BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BE-"
Pearl jumped in surprise as the unexpected alarm flashed red, and blasted noise in aggravation!
"STARS!" Pearl yanked her arms out of the screen, and held her ears quickly with pain!" "WHAT?! WHAT DO YOU WANT YOU...YOU...STUPID BRAIN?!"
As if on cue, the alarm explained itself:
"WARNING! WARNING! NO WEAPONS AVAILABLE IN STORAGE AREA! RESTOCK NEEDED IMMEDIATELY!"
As the alarm blared, more supplies were lifted from the floor...specifically, different colored metals, various molds, and an oven used specifically for welding. Pearl sweated in stress. Apparently, the computer wanted Pearl to produce spears...from SCRATCH!
"Really?! REALLY?!" Pearl huffed in aggravation! She knew how to USE weapons...not MAKE them...
...still...
"BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP-" It seemed the alarm would not stop until the task had been fixed.
...
Several hours (and four very sad, lumpy spears later), the alarm finally stopped and retreated back into the floor.
"MERCY. Thank goodness THAT'S over..." Pearl huffed in frustration. The alarm had caused an incredible headache! The Gem seemed disappointed that her homemade spears looked so sad and misshaped. She figured this skill would take practice before perfected. Exhausted, The Gem begged for no other odd surprises...
The Surface Pearl was attempting to tuck Steven in for bed. As it turned out, this event was MUCH more of a chore than previously perceived. Steven was becoming rebellious in his teenage years. He was insistent on staying up late, playing more video games, and attempted to explain that he was too old to be "tucked in". He wasn't a kid anymore...after all...
Surface Pearl seemed incredibly disheartened at these comments. Almost every memory she had seen previously, featured a younger Steven crawling into bed and enthusiastically asking for a bedtime story!
The Gem supposed she had missed this particular evolution in Steven's life. The boy looked at the Surface Pearl from his bed in guilt, as he declined a "bedtime story". The Pearl just looked...so...heartbroken...
"Y-You can read me a bedtime story...if you REALLY want to..."
The Gem perked up immediately, stars in her eyes!
Steven rolled his eyes, but smiled as the Surface Pearl read him a book called "The Cute Kitten" in the most enthusiastic manner possible!