LOG-037.

  The old Warp pads on Earth seemed to be almost the exact same as the ones on Homeworld, both in structure and general function. After all, why change something that already works perfectly? Standard Gem mindset, even if it largely tended to be proven correct.

  The key difference though, was just how...empty the local space felt as we travelled through it. Back before my lucky break, the dimension Gems used for faster than light travel had always been pretty much packed with both the distant streams of other groups or individuals moving around, and the shadows of gargantuan structures or entities leaving a presence within the Warp itself from their positions back in physical space.

  I'd barely gotten to note the way almost every individual stream seemed to converge into a central node of some kind (the Galaxy Warp meant to connect the initial colony to Homeworld, in all likelyhood), before it was over, the dazzling sight replaced with stone, sand and the sound of nearby waves lapping at the beach.

  "Annnd we're here! Welcome to the temple!"

  I felt Vermilion's hand slip from my own as the red Pearl gasped, glancing around rapidly while the rest of the Gems piled up on the Warp pad made their way off. Out of the corner of my vision, I noticed Garnet head deeper into the chamber we'd found ourselves in, waving a hand silently even as Amethyst and Pearl took up positions beside their leader.

  My own eyes remained focused on Rose, even as the faux-Quartz twirled around, spreading her arms wide with a happy smile on her face.

  "This is where we've been staying for the past few thousand years, you can also live here, if you'd like, or we can find a nearby site for you to settle if you'd still prefer some...uhm...space?"

  Her pleased tone of voice turned confused as my Batchmate hopped off of the pad, staring down the nearby walls before running her hand along one of the symbols with a curious expression darting across her face.

  "...This architecture is ancient. Only some of the deepest, oldest parts of the Reef looked like this!"

  Several eyes turned towards me as I stepped off as well, slowly making my way towards the sand and noting the series of arms forming a makeshift 'cave' around the entrance.

  They seemed so much larger, now that they weren't constrained behind a screen. Though that wasn't all that strange for me at this point.

  "It's not very surprising. Unless Nacre Three lied even more to us during our history lessons beyond the standard propaganda we were fed, Pink Diamond's colony was cut off from Homeworld well before Era Two even began. Just about everything on this planet is probably older than most modern Gems."

  I paused, considering the water gently rolling back and forth against the sand.

  "The Roaming Eye is pretty old itself, but compared to anything we might find here? It's practically cutting edge-"

  "Nacre Three?"

  I blinked as the familiar voice (despite every Gem having generally different ways of speaking or inflecting words, the tone generally stayed the same thanks to near identical programming) interrupted my verbal pondering, before slowly turning to face a confused looking Pearl, her gaze swapping between me and Vermilion.

  "I...remembered there being only one Caretaker at the Reef. They made more?"

  Resisting the urge to cross my arms, I nodded.

  "By the time our Batch was produced, the Reef had a total of three Nacres. Our specific group was managed by the third, who I can only assume was also the youngest."

  My fingers trembled slightly as Vermilion continued to rub her hands along some of the glyphs carved into the walls, her voice lowering slightly as she spoke up.

  "Until she decided to focus on Viridian. Then we mostly took care of ourselves until our owners finally arrived."

  Pearl's eyes widened significantly, one brow arching upwards as she considered the tidbit. Amethyst was just glancing back and forth as the conversation continued, and Rose seemed more than content to listen silently as things went on.

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  "That...hardly seems proper. You said you belonged to an Emerald, didn't you? Even a Gem like that shouldn't have warranted such exclusivity. Stars, even the Diamond's Pearls were prepared together as a group!"

  At my stare, the rebel Gem coughed slightly, adjusting a legwarmer.

  "Or ah...so I've heard. From my own time in the Reef."

  Real subtle.

  Even so, for just a moment the phantom sensation of a wickedly clawed hand digging into my shoulder almost caused me to tense. Almost, if not for the fact that I'd long since gotten used to repressing such instinctual desires.

  Instead, I merely let myself step out further from the hand-cave, glancing up at the moonlight shining down from above.

  "I'm likely going to sound very stereotypical when I say this, but that Gem was, and likely still is, defective. Maybe she was made during the beginning of the resource crisis Pink Diamond's shattering caused, and something important was left out during her gestation. Regardless, she's utterly cracked in terms of behaviour."

  "...Resource crisis?"

  I did my best to plaster on a polite smile as I turned back towards the group, though judging by some of the concerned looks being levelled my way, it had likely fallen a little flat.

  Oh well.

  "Each Diamond's essence serves as a core component for Gems, naturally. Something I learned from some of the more chatty Gems aboard the cruiser Vermilion and I served on is that you need all four variants to get what could be considered the best product. With Pink gone...well, the Empire losing effectively a quarter of its singular most vital fuel and material resulted in quite a few problems, to say the absolute very least. More off colours. More Gems coming out with reduced capabilities and requiring technology to bridge the gap."

  I licked my lips slightly.

  "It's the best explanation I can come up with for why Gem society has degenerated so much since then. White Diamond hasn't been seen outside her headship in...a long time. Blue Diamond has dedicated effectively every waking minute to grieving Pink's loss, and Yellow Diamond has been utterly swamped with work ever since the war ended. I even got to meet her once, it was terrifying...though she did look rather tired, in hindsight. So I suppose your rebellion certainly did a fair amount of damage in terms of large scale consequences for the Authority and the Empire as a whole."

  Clapping my hands lightly, I dipped my head towards a mildly horrified looking Rose before facing back around to stare at the waves, slowly letting myself sit down.

  Yeah, now you really feel bad, don't you?

  Don't blame you for leaving though. I'd have done the exact same thing, in your position. Maybe with a bit more planning beyond just breaking stuff, but you likely weren't raised to know much better, so I'm not really in a position to judge.

  "Apologies if this is all coming off as a bit much, but I've been forced to keep this to myself for the past few years...which is technically my entire life, I think, and if anyone is going to be sympathetic about things, it's most likely you lot. Being rebels and all."

  My fingers trembled again, and I tensed in an effort to get them to stop.

  Amethyst's voice was utterly flabbergasted, the Quartz slowly beginning to approach me.

  "Wait...you're only a few years old?!"

  A quick flash of light, and a shattered Peridot was sitting in my cupped hands, the abrupt appearance effectively freezing the purple Gem in her tracks.

  The Peridot...

  She'd been resting near the back of my storage space all this time, waiting for years for me to do something about her. Sure, there'd been plenty of opportunities to get rid of the shards, but the knowledge that I was still holding on to a somewhat living being had stayed my hand. Mostly.

  My brief attempt to create some kind of memento that I could leave her shards in had ended in failure pretty quickly when my Emerald had taken notice of the small box I'd forged out of loose material in the Retaliator's foundry, so I'd eventually just gone back to doing what worked, after making sure my owner didn't get any ideas about my brief slipup, of course.

  Story of my fucking life, so far.

  "Viridian...is that?"

  Rose's voice was hesitant, and rightly so as I held up a hand, several gasps ringing out as the green shards almost seemed to glitter from their position on my palm.

  "A shattered Gem? Yes."

  A second of tense silence passed, and I briefly wondered just where Garnet had wandered off to.

  "Who...who was she?"

  Glancing at a clearly disturbed Vermilion, I sighed.

  "A technician at the Reef. Peridot Facet 2NFG, Cut 7XT. You likely wouldn't have met her, but since I was spending most of my time in Nacre Three's office thanks to her obsession over training up her 'perfect Pearl', I got to see her a few times."

  I slowly brought the shards back to my other hand, cradling them slightly.

  "She pointed out the...abnormal treatment I was being given. How the rest of the Batch was suffering. Even threatened to make a report if our Nacre didn't shape up."

  Feeling a thick hand gently patting my back, I looked up only to be greeted by a confused but concerned looking Amethyst.

  Sighing, I set the shards aside, letting the glittering fragments rest atop the stone next to me as I began wringing my hands.

  Stars, Vermilion's habits really had rubbed off on me during our time as Honey Lemon, hadn't they?

  "As you can see, she was silenced for her trouble. Then I was ordered to hide the evidence. So I did. I've been, very hesitantly, mind you, carrying a shattered Gem inside of my storage all the way from the Reef to here. Up until now. It's...actually quite cathartic to finally let her go, and I'd really appreciate it very much if you took her off my hands for me."

  Standing up, I dusted myself off and turned around.

  "So yes, moral of the story is that I firmly believe Nacre Three is a defective Gem, in the worst way possible. And that's coming from a Pearl who's been waiting for her chance to get away from the Empire ever since she got her first training session at the Reef. Our Caretaker wasn't right in the gemstone, and if it's all the same to you, I'd rather not speak about her any more than necessary."

  Glancing down at the shards, I breathed in deeply before nodding, then whipped back around to stare at everyone else with a slightly more genuine smile this time.

  "Right! So, once you decide what you're going to do with those, you said there were a few potential areas Vermilion and I could stay at? No offence, but I'd really prefer to avoid crowding this place."

  Silence met my sudden enthusiasim, Rose and Pearl glancing at each other in visible concern while my Batchmate just continued to stare at the shattered Gem I'd unveiled in mild horror, right up until Amethyst raised a finger from beside me, slowly pointing the digit in my direction.

  "I think you might have issues, Viri."

  I merely blinked again in response, both at her words and the nickname she'd apparently chosen.

  "...Yes, that...might just be accurate."