LOG-076.

  Certain Gems were simply built to be better than others.

  It was a fact of life that had been all but pounded into us at the Reef. That in the Empire some were destined for higher positions, while others would be lucky to grovel in the dirt at the former's feet. And that everyone should accept that.

  I'd rather easily determined that most of that particular philosophy was a load of bullshit meant to keep very much impressionable young Gems in line. But a small yet important part of it remained true nonetheless.

  Certain Gems were simply built to be better than others, and if you looked for the right signs, that fact made itself fairly obvious.

  Take Pearls, as an example. As a bespoke servant born of the Reef, I was actually somewhat above the supposed 'average' in terms of quality, even for an Era Two Pearl composed with what resources were available during the shortage resulting from Rose's 'shattering' of Pink.

  This meant that unlike the 'common' Pearls created in lesser facilities, like Atolls, I actually had some pretty good perks. I could project relatively complex holograms persistently, for one. And I could even store a decent amount of stuff in my gemstone. Nothing outrageous, unfortunately, but I worked with what I had within my limits. Vermilion was much the same, for obvious reasons.

  Then there was Pearl. An Era One product, made with the best of materials and the finest resources the Gem Empire could offer. One who'd been custom designed to serve at the direct command of a Diamond.

  Where we either needed to memorize numerous dance routines or plan out various songs in advance, she could come up with masterful moves and awe inspiring ballads practically on the fly. Where we prided ourselves in being able to project the equivalent of a small television screen, she could conjure semi-persistent and independent replicas of herself composed of pure, if distinctly weak, hardlight.

  She was built better than us, and part of me had acknowledged that the very second she'd casually brought forth an entire fucking whiteboard clearly intended for a classroom from her gemstone without even a hint of strain, alongside a few markers. She hadn't even blinked, already beginning to note down a few things while I'd paused in the middle of my explanation regarding Bismuth and her little shatter focused weapon to stare, a hand idly shifting to brush against my own fancy bellybutton rock as I thought about just how unfair that shit was.

  But again, that was life. Some Gems were just built better.

  Did I feel just a little bit of envy regardless of that fact? Yes. But I figured that was normal. After all, in comparison to her I could barely fit a pillow through the bottleneck leading into my storage space. A glance at Vermilion simply showed the usual at this point. Awe. Awe at what Pearl could do. Awe that she was in the presence of a veritable paragon of our caste.

  It was...kind of nice, to be entirely honest. Having her particular brand of hero worship directed towards someone else for once. It certainly let me feel a bit better about not actually being perfect, at least.

  And all the while, Pearl casually scribbled away, flowing Gem Glyph forming across the whiteboard's surface before she finally stepped away from it with a satisfied hum, nodding.

  "Right! So to summarize some of what you've said, starting with the first item of note. The handheld mirror I currently hold possession of contains a Lapis Lazuli?"

  Quirking an eyebrow, I nodded.

  Her hands moved, squeezing the cap of her marker back into place before it finally settled atop the writing implement with a distinct click.

  "And she's most likely an Imperial. We never had any Lapis Lazulis join the rebellion back when it started, after all. The closest we got was a singular particularly talented Aquamarine."

  Crossing my arms, I nodded again. A little slower this time.

  "Technically, yes. She's not a rebel."

  Pearl's eyes stared into mine for a moment, before she turned around and promptly slapped a hand next to the small drawing of the mirror she'd made beneath the subsequent block of text attached to it.

  "So then we're better off keeping her contained for now! After all, if she's anywhere near as powerful as you described, releasing her could prove catastrophic! Stars knows what could happen if she managed to get word of us back to Homeworld..."

  The pale Gem blinked as I stepped past a still silent Vermilion and gently plucked the marker from her thin fingers, uncapping it and drawing a quick star around the mirror.

  "Correct, but you should keep in mind that she's currently damaged, and that it was Homeworld that put her in that thing to begin with. If I wanted to be entirely callous, I'd say she's a prime Gem for recruitment. She'll no doubt be incredibly unbalanced, and with the right evidence presented to her, ripe for being turned over to our side. Having Rose heal her would also definitely help."

  I glanced to the side as Pearl frowned slightly, tilting her head.

  "If."

  Pursing my lips, I gestured to the whiteboard with a vague flick of my hand.

  "If. She isn't bubbled, Pearl. She's aware. Has been aware, this entire time. She was poofed and socketed into that glorified interrogation device back when your rebellion was at its height, and has been locked in there since."

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  And wasn't that just an utterly horrifying thought. I'd give Lapis Lazuli one thing. She hadn't broken, despite all her time spent trapped inside her own personal little Hell. Stars knew I would have lost it after the first decade or so with nothing to do.

  Was she traumatized from the experience? Almost certainly. But if I remembered things correctly, and I was inclined to believe I did, she'd be able to recover, so long as she was given the appropriate help she needed.

  Regardless of my internal admiration for the terraformer's mental durability, the small moment of silence was broken as Vermilion audibly gasped, hands rising to cover her mouth. Judging by the widening of Pearl's eyes, the renegade was also considering just how horrible such a thing could be in practice.

  Bringing up my free hand, I pinched the bridge of my nose and sighed.

  "Are we going to be leaving her in there? Absolutely not. Will we delay her release for just a little while? Maybe. Enough that we can stack things in our favour should she prove unreasonable and make the mistake of trying to flee to Homeworld, at least. But under absolutely no circumstances am I going to consider consigning an intelligent being to an eternity of incarceration. Especially one who is innocent of any crimes beyond that of slicing apart a few mountains, as is her function according to the Empire she was created to serve.

  Or to summarize, fuck all of that noise. I didn't owe Lapis anything of course, but I'd definitely be a massive asshole if I didn't even make an attempt at helping her out, and my perfect recollection would literally never let me forget that fact.

  Besides...Brim would probably be pleased to meet another 'sister' that she could splash about with.

  Heedless of my inner thoughts and justifications, Pearl was still staring at me, but my Era One counterpart's gaze had softened significantly as I made my case. Coupled with the fact she made no move to argue the point, I considered that particular matter settled. At least for now.

  Heaving a deep breath, I slapped a hand next to the sarcastically written description of a certain big cat.

  "Moving on. The lion."

  Her next response was almost instant, the renegade's features scrunching up in disgruntlement as Vermilion glanced between the two of us, fingertips slowly tapping against each other with an awkward air to them.

  "I find this particular bit of information far more difficult to believe. Rose would have told me about it for one!"

  Placing the cap back on the marker, I shook my head.

  "But she didn't. She's not perfect, Pearl. Diamond or not."

  She was getting angry at me, I could tell that much. Her hands balling into fists at her sides as her mind reeled at the traitorous thought of her beloved Rose Quartz ever doing something truly wrong. I didn't miss the slight flinch at the mention of the word Diamond either. She was still getting used to their secret being out, it seemed.

  "She would have told me. She tells me everything!"

  Suddenly annoyed at her delusion, I all but hissed at the rebel, my dress flowing back slightly as I stomped up to her, carefully ignoring the slight feeling of guilt as Vermilion shrank back from our distinctly volatile postures.

  "She told no one. Because she was scared. There's a Crystal Gem veteran that she personally poofed and bubbled away waiting inside of that damn thing's fur. She didn't want Bismuth's fate getting out. Didn't want the Breaking Point becoming public knowledge amongst the rebellion. I want you to actually think about that for a second. Put yourself in her position, Pearl."

  At that, she shut her mouth, visibly struggling with the idea. She was a smart cookie however, I'd give her that much. Stubborn resistance quickly gave way to resigned realisation as she put the pieces together, her hands relaxing once more as her face grew pensive.

  "The other Diamonds. Even while acting against them, she didn't...she'd never want them to be shattered. She never wanted anyone to be shattered."

  I tried not to dwell on the slightly renewed twinkle in her eyes as she glanced back up at me, my 'special knowledge' once more reaffirming itself in her thoughts. She was desperate to know how I knew what I knew. But she was also desperate enough to actually be told these things, to the point that she was willing to let the matter be. At least for now.

  Taking a step away from her, I planted my hands at my sides, knuckles digging into my waist and ever so slightly ruffling the various frills of the lower half of my outfit as I glared at one of the fountains, lips once more pursed in thought.

  "...We can't get Bismuth out without Rose. I think. It's similar to our own storage spaces. Only the owner can access it."

  Turning back to my fellow conspirators, I brought up one hand and waved it back and forth.

  "We'll need to pressure her into letting go of your rogue construction Gem. Well...you will, rather. We'll just be backing you up when you do it, if you feel you need us at all."

  Pearl frowned at that, but didn't say anything as I began to pace back and forth, thinking aloud.

  "Afterwards...I don't really know. Morally, we can't just leave Bismuth to rot in there, but she's definitely going to be just as much of a problem as the Lazuli, albeit in an entirely different direction. We'll need to reconcile her and Rose. Some mediation will do them some good...I think. Probably gonna need to bring her in on the whole hidden Diamond situation."

  At that, the renegade finally opened her mouth, raising a finger as she spoke. "And dispose of this 'Breaking Point' of hers. As much as I love Bismuth...it's not at all what the Crystal Gems stand for. I honestly don't know what she was thinking creating such a thing!"

  I wanted to narrow my eyes ever so slightly at that, but refrained from doing so. Instead, I merely nodded along, even as Pearl turned back to the board, pulling out a second marker and scribbling a few more glyphs down next to the original ones.

  The Breaking Point...hm. While the concept of shattering a Gem definitely still made parts of me more than a little uncomfortable (oh Stars that Peridot was still floating around in the burning room somewhere), the rebel blacksmith had made the weapon with some pretty solid reasons behind it, ones I could see myself agreeing with more readily than not. If said weapon actually worked, anyway. A debatable thing.

  Nonetheless, any semblance of how things were meant to be according to the nebulous idea of 'canon' had been wildly altered by my presence, if it had even been going along the set of rails I'd set in my head at all. Simply put, in no rational world was I going to place my hopes and dreams in a little hybrid child somehow talking down White fucking Diamond, no matter what my human memories showed me.

  The galactic dictator had driven entire interstellar species to outright extinction (if my lessons in history were to be believed) in her neverending quest for the expansion of her Great Authority. I wasn't going to bet on an individual like that backing down in the face of a few Gems being disgruntled with things, even if Pink was among them.

  Using the Breaking Point as a first resort? Maybe not the best idea. Especially considering the Diamonds were the only way Gems as a species could actually reproduce their numbers. Not that the propagation of stupid rock ladies was my biggest concern, I was far more interested in sticking with humanity.

  After all. Even if I bore a form of light rather than flesh, I still considered the evolved primates of Earth my people first and foremost.

  Still though, I needed to factor in the potential opinions of others besides myself. The Crystal Gem rebels of old might have been willing to rally behind Bismuth and render the Gems as a whole functionally extinct, if they'd ever been made aware of her plans, but I couldn't be sure of such a thing now. Alternative solutions would need to be thought up.

  Although...if the other Diamonds had to die in order to ensure Earth's safety...we still had Pink, didn't we? According to our initial lectures at the Reef, White had brought about the creation of the Empire all on her own, before eventually finding the correct stars and materials needed to produce her three counterparts after no small amount of time had passed.

  If she'd managed to do that in spite of the most likely prohibitive resource costs, maybe our own far more reasonable Diamond could do the same? Pull the equivalent of a hard reset on the Empire. Any remaining loyalists would likely splinter at the notion, some of them rampaging in some doomed attempt to preserve White's legacy even as the rest followed their programming and or brainwashing and bowed before their new ruler.

  Well, it was something to ponder anyway, just in case I needed to ensure the crew of the Retaliator remained well and truly on our side. Besides, all of this was still strictly theoretical at best-

  "Viridian?"

  Blinking, I glanced at my batchmate in confusion.

  "Yes Vermilion?"

  The red Pearl hesitated for a second, before pointing to the side. Following her outstretched hand, I noticed the room's door, now very much open.

  "Uhm...while you were doing that thing where you walk back and forth and think about things, Pearl left. She said she was gonna go find Rose."

  Oh.

  ...Hm.