Lincoln took a deep breath and paced back and forth across his room, trying to think what he was going to say at the next multiverse lunch. The entire session was about his effort to muster up the courage to approach Connie. What was he going to talk about, other than that?

I guess I could talk about what I learned in school that day, Lincoln thought. Then again, that's kinda boring. Plus, half the time I wasn't even listening to the teacher because I was too busy reading Dogcopter.

Wait, that's it! Dogcopter!

The answer was staring him right in the face the whole time. Strictly speaking, he didn't have to mention Connie at all; he could just say that he was introduced to a new book, and leave it at that. Crisis averted.

...for now, at least. In the back of his mind, he knew that it would get harder to leave Connie out of their discussions as time went on. What if Alt-Lincoln invited her over to his house, or what if she asked him to the Sadie Hawkins dance? Regardless, he just assured himself that he'd cross that bridge when he came to it.

At lunch the following day, Lincoln strode up to Ronnie Anne's table with nary a trace of anxiety. Prior to the meeting, he had mapped out what he was going to say and rehearsed it several times over.

"So, what's been going on in your timeline?" she asked.

"Nothing, really," Lincoln said without a hint of wavering in his voice. "Except I get hooked on this new book series called Dogcopter."

Ronnie Anne raised an eyebrow at him. "'Dogcopter'?"

"Yeah! It's actually pretty cool. It's about this robot dog-helicopter who flies around fighting evil."

His description of the plot prompted a snicker from Ronnie Anne, which in retrospect, he should have expected.

"And this is a book?" she asked. "Not, you know, a cartoon? Or a drawing by a seven-year-old?"

"W-w-ell, uh..." Lincoln stuttered, eyes darting back and forth. "I mean, it sounds kinda silly, but it's really well written."

"If you say so," Ronnie Anne said with a roll of her eyes.

"No, it is!" said Lincoln. "Like, the dog gets engaged in a war against a robot army, and then he gets all conflicted about whether his loyalties should lie with his human creators or with his robot-"

"Keep talking like that and you'll get bumped down to 'geek' status."

Lincoln chortled a little, in spite of himself. "Okay, okay, I'll stop."

With that, he reached into his backpack, pulled out the goggles, and shoved them across the table towards her. "Besides, it's your turn."

Ronnie Anne nodded, snapped up the goggles and dropped them into her backpack.

"Can't wait to learn more about this Steven kid!" said Lincoln. "You've gotta tell me all about him tomorrow."

Ronnie Anne let out an awkward, stilted chuckle. "Um, yeah. You bet."

That afternoon, Ronnie Anne's session with the goggles started a good deal later than her previous one did. This time, she made sure to clean her room and get all her homework done beforehand, partially to avoid another lecture from mom, and partially because she was a little apprehensive about going back to Beach City. There were several details about her last session that just seemed... off to her, from Steven's absurd levels of forgiveness to the way he referred to his home as "the temple" to the fact that Pearl lead him away to send him on some vaguely defined "mission". And now that she thought about it, Pearl looked awfully pale for someone who lived by the beach.

Quite frankly, she didn't know if today's session would answer her questions or leave her with even more.

Regardless, she knew Lincoln would be expecting some juicy details from her tomorrow, so she didn't exactly have a choice. Once she finished her last math problem, she plopped herself down on her bed, strapped on the goggles and waited for them to boot up...


2:00 p.m.

July 22

Beach City

"It's just an afternoon hangout session. It's just an afternoon hangout session."

Ronnie Anne had chosen a rather unwieldy mantra to repeat to herself as she ambled onto the beach. In her defense, she didn't want to call it a "date", and she really didn't want to call it a "playdate", so this was really the best she could come up with. Still, the mantra seemed to serve its intended purpose: namely, alleviating the anxiety-induced cramps in her tummy as she drew closer and closer.

Not helping was the fact that she had gotten lunch at Fish Stew Pizza just a half hour earlier, and unwisely decided to order the spicy tuna calzone, which wasn't exactly sitting well with her. She dreaded the thought of annihilating Steven's toilet on their first outing together. But then again, Pearl had promised her tea, and she was pretty sure she heard somewhere that tea was good for your stomach.

"Hi, Ronnie Anne!" called a familiar voice from off in the distance.

She looked up to see Steven about fifty feet away, beaming and waving. That gleaming grin seemed to take up his entire face, and even at that distance it was plainly visible.

Ronnie Anne kept her hands at her sides and her gaze pointed downward, refusing to make eye contact with the boy until it was absolutely necessary. Even then, the mere knowledge that they were getting closer was enough to give her butterflies.

As she walked, she felt the crunch of sand grinding up against her heel. In her carelessness, she had let her feet sink into the floor of the beach, causing sand to leak into her sneakers. She idly wondered if Steven's house had a "no-shoes" policy; at the very least, she'd probably have to empty them out before coming inside. Given all the oddities she'd encountered so far, who knew? She wouldn't be surprised if he made her wash her feet in a water basin before walking through the front door.

"Hi, Steven," she said upon closing the distance between them. She forced herself to make eye contact with the boy, out of the interest of averting rudeness.

"Glad you could make it!" he said. "I can't wait for you to meet the other gems!"

Ronnie Anne began to step back towards the city, until she noticed that Steven was trying to lead her in the opposite direction.

"Um, Steven? The city's that way."

Steven chuckled. "Yeah, but the temple's that way!" he said, pointing down the beach. Looking ahead, Ronnie Anne could see a long stretch of sand leading around the perimeter of the massive cliff overlooking the city.

"We can hang out in the city later," said Steven. "First, I want you to come see my house. Come on!"

Ronnie Anne gulped. She didn't know there even was anyone who lived that far outside the city's boundaries. Was that even legal? What was his address? Who would deliver his mail?

As they were walking, Ronnie Anne's eye was hit with a sharp tinge of light, and she looked down to see where it was coming from. What she found was that Steven's shirt was riding up his belly, revealing a luminous pink jewel where his navel should be.

"What's that?" she asked. "Some kind of piercing?"

Steven shook his head. "It's not a piercing; I was born with it. It's my gem!"

Ronnie Anne squinted at him. "Your 'gem'?"

"Yeah, my gem. I use it to summon my shield. I haven't really gotten the hang of it yet, though."

At this point, Ronnie Anne's jaw was hanging half-open in disbelief. Gems? Shields? What on Earth was this kid babbling about?

Steven chuckled upon seeing her reaction. "Oh, that's right, you're not from around here," he said, scratching the back of his head. "I'll let Pearl explain once we get to the temple. She knows more about this kind of thing than I do."

Ronnie Anne started to feel a twinge of unease. The fact that he casually called his home the "temple" - again - made her suspect that she was being inducted into some weird magical cult. Her discomfort worsened when a cursory glance over her shoulder revealed that the urban square of Beach City was now little more than a speck off in the distance.

"So where are you from?" asked Steven.

"Chicago," said Ronnie Anne. "My mom got transfered, so we had to move. This city's pretty nice, though."

For the next quarter mile of sand, Steven continued to ask her about various different aspects of her home life. She had a dozen questions she wanted to ask him, but she couldn't quite muster up the courage to do so. Besides, she figured that everything would be explained to her in due time.

Eventually, they made it around the edge of the cliff and arrived at the house. The house itself didn't look like anything special: just an average white beach house with a big wooden porch out front.

It was what was behind the house that gave Ronnie Anne pause.

Towering over the house was a hundred foot tall carving of a stone-faced woman, with billowing curly hair, a second face resting atop her forehead, and four arms, all but one of which had missing hands. Ronnie Anne could tell, from the large growths of moss and algae covering its shoulders and midsection, that it was carved quite a long time ago. It looked bizarre enough on its own, but even more so with that quaint little beach house embedded in its stomach. Those two pieces of scenery just didn't go together.

"Pretty cool, huh?" asked Steven, noticing that the girl was left speechless. "And it's even cooler on the inside. Come on!"

As Steven lead her up the porch stairs, all she could do was look up and gawk at the giant statue. It was so large, so majestic, so imposing, that Ronnie Anne couldn't help but feel like it was silently judging her for daring to appear in its presence. The fact that Steven seemed completely unperturbed by it did nothing to help the situation.

Once they made it to the front door, Steven gave it a couple of knocks and let himself in.

"Hey, guys, I'm home!"

Just to be safe, Ronnie Anne took off her sneakers, emptied them out and slipped them back on before following Steven inside. When she walked in the door, she was greeted with an aroma she knew quite well: the musky odor of an old, but well-kept, wooden house. It reminded her a bit of her Uncle Carlos's cabin up in Spitler Woods. To her right was a porcelain-tiled kitchen; to her left was a rickety wooden stairwell that lead up to a bedroom (presumably Steven's); and right in the middle was was a pretty typical-looking den, with a futon wrapped around a coffee table piled with a random assortment of books and boxes, and a wooden floor covered by a shag carpet.

However, just like the exterior of the house, the interior was one half normal and one half what am I even looking at. Just beyond the den was a room with a lustrous, reflective mauve floor, cave-like crystalline walls lined with diamonds, and a glassy cyan-colored platform right in the middle. Now she was beginning to understand why Steven kept calling it "the temple," though to her it looked more like a cross between a throne room and a diamond mine.

In the kitchen, Ronnie Anne saw Pearl bent over a stove, minding a bubbling teapot. By her side was a statuesque dark-skinned woman, with black sunglasses and a bushy cubic afro that looked thick enough to function as a helmet.

"Oh, hello, Steven!" Pearl called back. "Ronnie Anne, your tea will be ready in just a few moments."

The dark-skinned woman walked toward the door to greet the two children, with the effortless, impeccable posture of a trained soldier. "I've heard a lot about you, Ronnie Anne," she said in a British-accented contralto. "My name is Garnet."

Ronnie Anne swallowed hard. Did Steven tell her about how badly she mistreated him? Was this all some elaborate punishment for her?

She looked up to see Garnet smiling down at her, which did little to quell her worry. True, smiles could signify warmth and hospitality, but they could also signify menace and mischief. It didn't help that Garnet wasn't easy to read, given her stoic tone of voice and the fact that her shades made it impossible to see her eyes.

"Hey, what's up, Steven?" called a raspy, tomboyish voice from the second floor. Ronnie Anne looked up towards the top of the stairs to see a short, chubby girl with a deep violet skin tone - which Ronnie Anne assumed, or at least hoped, was just body paint - and thick, long silvery hair that brushed the back of her calves. The girl clomped down the stairs to greet them, showing none of the grace and poise exhibited by Pearl or Garnet.

"Is this the girl you were telling us about yesterday?" asked the chubby girl. Steven nodded.

The girl puffed out her plump cheeks and started ruffling Steven's jewfro. "Aw, does widdle Steven have a girlfriend now?" she cooed, eliciting blushes from both of the children. "Who's my widdle wadykiller?"

Without a word, Garnet raised up her hand, curled it into a fist, and brought it crashing down onto the girl's head.

"That's quite enough, Amethyst," she said.

Amethyst just groaned and lumbered away, clutching her head in pain.

"Sorry about that," Steven said with a sheepish chuckle. "Amethyst's a bit of a teaser. Anyway, let me give you the grand tour!"

He draped his thick, pudgy arm around Ronnie Anne's shoulder, causing her to shudder.

"So this right here is the den," he said, leading her to the center of the room. "Not much to say about it, really. It's just a big open space for us to lounge around in. Or, you know, play board games, or do jigsaw puzzles. Pearl loves those."

After letting her look around for a bit, Steven guided her towards the stairs. "And on the second floor, you'll see my room," he said, hopping up the flight. "Be careful climbing the stairs, though; they're a little rickety."

As Ronnie Anne ascended the steps, she could feel each of them creak and quiver, as if they were buckling under her weight. As she neared the top, Steven looked down and offered her his hand, to which she responded by looking down and shoving both of her hands into her pockets. Steven just shrugged, withdrew his hand and waited for her.

Ronnie Anne had to squint upon reaching the last stair. The entire room was bathed in harsh rays from the summer sun, thanks to two enormous windows on the far end that took up the entire wall. Once her eyes got adjusted to the light, she saw a pretty typical setup for a preteen boy's room: a bed draped with a big, poofy comforter, a TV and a game system set up in the center, and a few stray magazines, books and articles of clothing lining the floor.

"Not bad," she said.

"Yeah, it's nothing special, but I call it home," Steven said with a smile. "The really cool stuff is on the other side of the temple." With that, he started walking down the stairs, beckoning her to follow.

Ronnie Anne sighed with relief. The far end of the temple, with its sparkling marble floor, mysterious platform and oddly marked door, was the one part of the scenery she had the most questions about. Finally, he'd stop beating around the bush and start explaining all the oddities.

She looked over towards the other end of the temple while she descended the stairs. The longer she looked at it, the more out of place it seemed. Why was this alien throne room sharing a space with a rustic wooden lodge?

Unfortunately, she was so enraptured by the spectacle that she forgot to watch her step. She stepped forward, felt naught but air beneath her foot, and before she could reorient herself, she lost her balance and fell...

...right into Steven's waiting arms.

Steven, showing remarkably quick reflexes, caught her right before she hit the floor. The next thing she knew, she was suspended a meter in the air, looking up into Steven's wide, vibrant eyes.

"That's why I told you to be careful," said Steven. "Those stairs take some getting used to."

The butterflies in Ronnie Anne's stomach started swarming again, undoubtedly set off by the sight of that boyish face staring down at her. That, and the sensation of being held and cradled in those arms, with near-frightening ease. Steven showed no signs of strain or effort, carrying her as if she were a paper doll.

Ronnie Anne hopped out of his arms and swung away from him, trying to hide her burgeoning blush. "T-thanks," she muttered.

As soon as her butterflies settled and her heart resumed its natural pace, she let Steven lead her over to the other side of the temple. It looked even more fantastical up close, with its reflective floor that looked sterile enough to eat off of and its cave-like crystalline walls. Ronnie Anne also noticed an enigmatic door on the far end with no visible knobs or hinges, marked by a star insignia.

"This is the warp pad," said Steven. "It lets us teleport to other parts of the world. The Gems use it to take me on missions!"

Ronnie Anne could hardly believe what she was hearing. Was this some kind of elaborate sci-fi stage show?

"Okay, time out, time out," she said, backing away. "Missions? A teleporter? You're... you're pulling my leg, aren't you? Is this some kind of prank?"

"No, it's not!" cried Steven. "I swear, none of this is made up!"

"I assure you, this is no 'prank'," said Pearl, as she left the kitchen and walked up to the two children. "Everything Steven has told you thus far is true."

"Yeah, why would we pull your leg when we could just pull our own?" asked Amethyst. She held her left leg out in front of her, balancing on her right. Before Ronnie Anne could even ask her what she was trying to do, Amethyst's left leg began to grow like a weed, stretching out several feet in front of her. But it didn't just grow straight out; it twisted and turned as it grew, forming a grotesque looking tangle.

"Amethyst, stop scaring the guest!" scolded Pearl. Amethyst just reared back and cackled in response.

But that was it for Ronnie Anne. She was already struggling to process everything that was happening today, and that stunt pushed her past her limit. The sound of Pearl and Amethyst's bickering grew fainter and fainter as she collapsed onto her back and lost consciousness.


"Hey, Nie-Nie? Dinner's ready!"

Ronnie Anne took off the goggles to see Bobby poking his head through the door.

"We're having caldo de pollo tonight. Your favorite!"

On any other night, this would be her cue to barrel past Bobby and start sprinting down the stairs like a track runner. But after that session with the goggles, all she could do was stare slack-jawed at the pair of goggles on her lap.

"Um... cool," she said in a robotic monotone. "I'll be down in just a minute."

Bobby cast her a wary glance. "You feelin' okay, Nie-Nie?"

"Yeah!...yeah, I'm peachy. I'll be right down."

Bobby shrugged and closed the door behind him, leaving her alone to ponder the fantastical scene she just witnessed. There had to be some kind of logical explanation. There was no way that her alternate self was taking part in some bizarre sci-fi fantasy epic.

...was there?

Lisa did say that the multiverse was made up of near-infinite possibilities. It wasn't impossible that at least one of them had the earth colonized by aliens or space robots or whatever Pearl and Amethyst wanted to call themselves. But even then, what were the odds that she of all people would find herself at the center of it?

"Ronnie Anne! Come down to dinner, sweetie!"

...but all of that would have to wait until after dinner.

As she hopped off her bed and shuffled towards the door, Ronnie Anne cast one last glance at the miraculous tool lying atop her comforter. As soon as she finished her supper and cleared her place, those goggles were going right back on.