He'd observed it before, but he could now confirm the pattern. Shambler cities used extensive water in their construction. The mechanics of it were actually interesting in a way, compensating for the dampness had to be accounted for their construction. There was also a lot of a gel-like liquid that was slick and unpleasant to his sensibilities. It was used as a sort of locomotion aid.
Green Diamond probably would have loved to study their society in another time and place. Right now he was mostly just angry. The Shamblers had gotten away. Oh sure, they'd completely destroyed a significant part of their society doing that, but the diamonds had wanted them exterminated, not just crippled. The psionic shroud they'd used was insidiously effective. Anything that would give a clue about pursing the Shamblers was gone or obscured beyond interpretation, even to his eyes. It was more like a mental block than a physical obscurement and was a bit disturbing to deal with.
Thankfully it was very limited as well. It was only pursuing the enemy. Everything else was not effected. They were already going to hit the colonies they knew of, though that would likely be rather limited due to them also being evacuated. The diamonds as a whole would have to be content with just dealing as much damage as they could. It felt slightly petty, but the Gem race as a whole was feeling petty.
It would pass over time. Venting in rather harmless ways was rather healthy as a whole. As such, they were going to basically destroy the Shambler home world. White Diamond had decreed it, and it would be done. Green had a few ways to help with that, including some rather deadly ways of using teleportation. If you built teleporters just right, you could do some very very nasty things.
The only thing that would not be destroyed was this city. It would be a spiteful monument to the Shamblers. The Gems would remember regardless, but it felt right to keep this around. The bodies, the empty streets, the almost pristine buildings. All of it would be preserved and kept around as an almost trophy. Not only would the Gems remember, but anyone else could visit and know what these creatures had done to themselves.
"City has been swept and is stable enough. We may begin the preservation." Green said into their communication channel as he stepped into a safe zone. "I have verified that all our people are out."
"Do we have a full count?" Yellow asked back.
"There were two categories, those we know were captured and those we think were captured. Of the first, we found them all shattered. Of the second, we found most of them. Some might not have been captured at all and we'll have to check. We also still have battle casualties I believe." Green replied with a hint of rage still in his voice.
"We are chasing down Gems who's ships were destroyed. It will take a few hundred days to verify their recovery or destruction." An Emerald interjected.
"Very well. Initiate the preservation. When it's finished we'll begin the destruction." Yellow ordered.
Green Diamond watched as a field flowed over the city. It was a combination of shielding technology and a rather obscure temporal effect. The city would be preserved like it was stopped in time so long as power was supplied. Every brick, every drop of water, every body. It would be a monument.
Once the field was done, there was a rumble, and the city's foundation was lifted into the air. They'd transport the preserved item to a place around the home world probably. Green and the others hadn't made a decision yet. Where the monument was going to rest was honestly irrelevant.
Green spent a moment to verify again that no Gems were around the city and then stepped into the nearby teleporter. A few seconds later he was above the planet. For a moment he watched it. It was not a particularly pretty planet. It was best described as a mud-ball. It was a very damp planet that had a significant portion of swampy area.
"All Gems, you have free reign to destroy." Yellow Diamond gave the general command.
From Green's view, nothing happened at first. That was quite normal. Planets were big. Yet in this case the desire of the Gems was larger. Slowly at first, then with accelerating speed, the planet was rearranged. Oceans were moved, places were set on fire, things were annihilated. Every Gem involved in the attack and more besides vented their rage on the Shambler's home world.
Days passed as the destruction proceeded. Green watched it without comment or emotion. His rage had cooled, but there was a hate left behind. As much as he wanted to be guided by compassion sometimes, he would not forget or forgive this race. The diamond categorized it, acknowledged it, and set it aside.
Eventually he decided that the destruction was turning pointless and there was nothing more to actually ruin. He stared the general evacuation order and waited. Soon the planet was empty of Gem life as well as Shambler life. Then Green initated the destructive protocols.
Several thousand teleporters started. All of them had special configurations. The safety protocols had been removed, and the power draw increased. This created a functional infinite opening. It was an excessive and expensive thing do, but the result was spectacular. Thousands of holes opened up in the atmosphere and the air was drained out of the planet.
After this, the oceans were next. The planet became an airless and waterless wasteland. Yet even that was not enough for the diamonds. All of their orbital miners were then called in and they devoured the planet piece by piece.
It was a work of a year to completely destroy the planet. An excessive and expensive display, even for Gems. It belied the depths of their rage and hatred. There would be no more re-settling of this home world. There would be no history to recover. All of it was now gone. It was as thorough an erasure of the Shamblers the Gems could do.
Petty as it was, it felt like closure too. The diamonds washed their hands of the race. If they found them they'd kill them, but the Shamblers were now no longer a priority. The Gem race was finally at peace, and they were now going to focus on something that they wanted to do rather than what they had to do.
The next diamond was due to be born soon. Blue Diamond's star had formed, and was now going to be condensed. In a few years Gem society would change again in ways that none of them could predict. Like Quote ReplyReport Reactions:EzertTheLizart, Kingofbooks, call of dutty and 759 others
She came to consciousness in a gradual fashion. There was nothing but darkness. Then there was a tickle at the edge of her mind. The tactile input from her lightform registered to her mental framework and she examined it. She reached out mental fingers and connected to it. The sensation was almost overwhelming, but soon became almost normal. She luxuriated in the feeling of her new body and then realized she had more to explore. Sight came next as she opened her eyes to see for the first time. Then hearing as her lightform's ears registered sound.
"Looks like the booting sequence is working just fine." One deep voice said.
"Please don't use computer terminology for our new sibling." Another, higher pitched voice replied.
"Children, please." A third voice added.
"Oh, children now? Where did you pick that up?" The deep voice asked.
"When you started to act like an organic child." The third voice replied with an emotion she couldn't categorize.
She realized she knew almost nothing. She was Blue Diamond, that was it. She knew how to move, how to talk, what words meant. She was Gem. She was a Diamond. She was meant to lead. Yet how did one lead? Who were these people? The confusion started to rise and overwhelm her.
"You're emotionally broadcasting." The deep voice said and a figure came into sight. "That feels a lot like a psionic attack, knock it off." He was a bit intimidating and she felt a frisson of fear. A green block-like shaped Gem with angles and glasses on his face.
"Not now Green." The third voice came into view. "Hello Blue Diamond. I am White Diamond. This is Green Diamond, and over there is Yellow Diamond. You look absolutely perfect, it's a pleasure to see you." White Diamond was white, with a spikey hair shaped like a star. Blue knew for certainty that White was important with just a glance, not like Green.
"Happy Birthday." The green Gem said with a small drawl and a warm smile.
"I-" Blue Diamond felt another flash of panic and Green winced. Something connected mentally and she realized he was responding to something she was doing. "Am I hurting you?"
"No." Green said immediately. "Your special talent appears to be either psionics or simple emotional broadcasting, and I'm quite unused to it."
"He's being sensitive." Yellow said as she stepped up into view. She was yellow, and had an almost stern demeaner despite how gentle she was in her actions. "Let's get you up."
"Yes lets." White said with a small glare at Green.
"I'll step out." Green offered with his hands upraised in a defensive position. "We should notify people anyway. I'm sure the Klingon delegation has far too many questions, and for once they're entitled to them."
"Be sure to emphasize our beauty and perfection." White replied absentmindedly as she helped Blue get up and step for the first time. "I did check your motor functions beforehand, but the first steps are always tricky for newborn Gems." She muttered to Blue.
"Yes, how often did I stumble?" Yellow asked back as she held Blue's other hand.
"Often, and in retrospect we both could have handled your first days better." White said back without heat and a meaningful expression that Blue couldn't parse yet.
The newborn diamond listened to the two talk about the past as she tried to sort what was happening. It took a lot of time. It took no time. That in itself was disorientating. That she could think and feel everything in seconds.
A sensation made her stop thinking and she saw White looking into her eyes while holding her chin. "You're a thinker aren't you? So similar and so different than your older sibling."
"You've changed White." Yellow commented at the action before smiling at her and Blue. "I don't think I greeted you either. Welcome Blue Diamond."
"Green was a very bad influence, but not an unwelcome one. Now you, my darling Blue Diamond, my beloved perfect Gem, you have much to think on, but remember not to get lost in those thoughts." White said with both firmness and kindness in her gaze.
Blue nodded slowly. She didn't understand, but that seemed to be ok in this case. She was led out of the room and into another one. Tiny beings met her and the others there. These were Gems too, but lesser, her instincts said. She acknowledged them and focused on her sibling and parent? That was the proper address perhaps. White was her superior, she knew that. The exact designation was harder to say.
There was a lot of cheering and talking as she was introduced to more Gems. They seemed happy, and she felt happy too, which made them happier. Blue Diamond watched the emotions of the Gems and felt that she perhaps understood a bit on how to lead. The way her peers acted helped. She watched and categorized things that were good and bad. She liked the music and dancing the most. The Spinels seemed very energetic with some of the louder pieces.
After some time Green Diamond stepped back into her view, and Blue couldn't help but flinch slightly at his appearance. The flinch was repeated across all the other Gems around her, and then she felt guilt. She barely noticed the fact that all the other Gems were starting to look sad as well. She scolded herself. This was her sibling.
"All right enough of that." The diamond declared and held up an object in his hand. "Here, you can clip it to your hair like this." He moved slowly as he did as he described as he clipped the thing to her hair.
"I do not understand." Blue said as she touched the hair-clip. "I thought you disliked me."
"You are my sibling, and I can safely say that I love you just as much as I love Yellow or White." Green flashed her a smile. "It's just that your emotional broadcasting has unpleasant associations with something else. I can tell you about it later. The hairclip will keep it from happening for now. You can turn it off and on with this button here, and later we can work through what you can do!" He looked and sounded enthusiastic about that.
"That sounds good?" Blue Diamond responded with a bit of confusion and focused on her gift. She felt unreasonably happy about it, which even she knew was a bit silly. Around her the Gems also seemed both happy at her emotions and a trace confused as to what had happened to them.
"I would hope so. There's obviously going to be more associated with your personal talent than just sending out emotions. Everyone's talent is like that. We can work on it later though. Right now we have one more ceremony for you to do, and then you'll be shadowing each of us for a few years." Green explained with that smile still on his face.
"Shadowing?" She didn't get the context with that word.
The question made Green wince slightly and she worried she'd hurt him again. "Following around but in the context of learning what we do." He said. "I'm sorry, I will sometimes use words in ways you won't understand. Feel free to ask."
Privately Blue immediately decided to try to avoid that. The context was obvious when she thought of it. She could tell that was another sensitive subject for some reason. She wanted her siblings to be happy, not flinching at her. She touched her hair-clip again and focused on the feeling it had given her.
"So, if you don't have any more questions, you will." Green gave a small laugh as he continued. "The next ceremony is going to be with another race we know called Klingons. They're smaller than us in many ways, but they've been good friends, so we don't mind indulging them in this. They're giving you a custom built ceremonial weapon. Just hold it when they give it to you and we'll put it in storage later... Or put it on display somewhere if you like it, you can make that decision later."
Blue Diamond nodded and firmed up her stance, mimicking White Diamond's body language. She could already figure out the context here. It was giving the Klingon's some respect, and also reaffirming their place with the Gems. That was good for relations. She would pick up more information later. Right now she would do her job!
Later she was very glad she'd decided to mimic White. Otherwise she would have been laughing. The Klingons had built her a weapon scaled to her, which meant that presenting it to her required three of them to carry the thing. It was rather amusing to her eyes, though she was very careful not to say anything. She found herself doubly thankful for the hair-clip then. It felt more than a little disrespectful to broadcast that she found the entire thing hilarious rather than serious. The organics had tried very hard at least!
---
AN: We're gonna be following Blue around for roughly 10 chapters or so. This is more a review of the nation and showing her taking charge some too! Like Quote ReplyReport Reactions:VVartech, Neat-O, EzertTheLizart and 895 others
Blue had a lot to learn. This was fairly obvious to state, but still something of a revelation to someone just born. The amount of things she had to learn and understand was absolutely overwhelming to a blank slate like her, and she understood it. Fortunately she was going to given time to learn and wasn't expected to take over immediately. The nation could let her grow and take over at her own pace. Though she understood it was a luxury based on context clues.
"Yellow was my first, and she spent perhaps a few days learning before taking control. Green spent perhaps thirty days or so." White explained as she gestured to the facility they were in. "We had far less then. That helped and hindered in different ways."
"I'm expected to take more time then." Blue Diamond concluded.
"You could start now if you like, but Green suggested that we have you follow us each and see how we work and what we do. I found the suggestion had merit, so here we are. I am the first Gem, and as such I am responsible for everything in the Authority. It's literally impossible for me to manage it all, so I delegate most of it. My primary focus is making new Gems, which I do here."
Here being a facility so large that it looked more like a mountain than a building. The number of Gems inside was dizzying, and they only glanced at White and Blue briefly before moving on. Blue noted that they all seemed quite busy, and many of them had a white marking that looked very much like White's gem. The lack of awed attention was surprising. She'd already noted that a significant amount of Gems would stop and acknowledge a diamond elsewhere. She wasn't sure if she liked or disliked the difference. Admittedly seeing how busy all of the gems were made her inclined to like it somewhat.
"We can speak more on all my work later. For now I have a significant backlog of things that require my attention. Most of them will involve staring at a screen and pressing one button for hours on end." White did not look anything less than confident, but Blue could see many tells that signified that whatever she had to do was going to be unpleasant. "Since that would not help your education, my Pearl will aid you. Consider this an introduction to other Gems as well. As Diamonds we're seldom able to work together."
A small Gem stepped up, and Blue found herself instantly enchanted by her appearance and demeaner. She had a very interesting design, different than almost all of the others. A little skirt, and long braided hair. The hair in particular drew her eyes. It was very elaborately woven. Her demeaner was also absolutely adorably controlled.
"I am White's Pearl." The gem in question gave a picture perfect curtsy. "It will be a pleasure to aid you your luminescence."
Blue leaned down to look at the pearl. "You look different." She said with the question of why obvious in her voice.
"Green Diamond had a personal hand in designing our appearance. He has a unique style." White Pearl noted with a pleasant smile. "It's a bit of a tradition for him to design Diamond pearls, and has indicated he can do so again if you like."
White paused in her departure and gave some advice. "You are free to do as you will there, but I would heavily suggest you wait until you know what duties you wish to take over. My Pearl is invaluable, but she was also customized specifically to work with me and what I do. All pearls are. It was a feature that has proven their worth many times over."
"Indeed. It would be something to think on and look forward to though." Pearl continued without a twitch.
"Indeed." White repeated with a small smile of her own before shaking her head and leaving.
Blue felt a bit stunned at the exchange. Something that the pearl picked up on as she began to lead them towards a destination. She gave Blue a small nod.
"I am a Diamond's Pearl. I behave exactly as she desires." The pearl spoke up after a few steps. "Your pearl will do the same. Do not worry overmuch about it though, focus on yourself first."
Blue Diamond nodded slowly. "You are different in mind too." She observed. The other gems had been more fanatic in their declarations and had not picked up everything about her. This one did and was.
"Pearls are best described as a social Gem. We come in two variants, a Diamond and a Regular variant. Diamond Pearls have increased durability and some additional mental power to allow us to handle the typical Diamond schedule. There are three social Gem lines currently." Pearl explained.
"I would guess one other would be Spinels." Blue noted. "What is the third?"
"Zircons. They handle law and investigation." White Pearl led them into a larger room with a one way glass. "I have a list of our current Gem types and their variants that I can present you later. Right now, we are at one of the most important areas here."
Blue turned her attention to the field that was presented outside the window. There she could see several areas neatly segmented into zones. Each of them made little sense to her at first. One was a field with Gems running and jumping. Another had tubes. Still another had those tubes moving through the air.
"Gems are formed from several things. Crudely put, they're made of dirt and Diamond essence. Less crudely, and more technical, they're a specialized condensed carbon lattice that uses psionic energy to store what's need to make a Gem inside our core." The pearl gestured to her own gem.
"You're saying the crude part for a reason." Blue responded as she watched the process.
White's Pearl beamed at the diamond. "Correct! Can you guess why?"
Blue Diamond looked at the tubes in the air. The process for that part seemed to have the tubes moved to an area where material was pumped into it, and then shifted to a storage area. She had to assume that there was monitoring based off how many screens and gems were moving around the place. There was a very dedicated and serious air to the work. Every Gem there was utterly serious.
This was a distinct contrast to the Gems running around in the field. Those Gems were happy. They were entertained. Her vocabulary supplied a word there. They were playing a game.
"I lack the context." Blue Diamond said eventually, feeling disappointed with herself.
"That is fine. I use dirt because that's actually the best description of what we need." The pearl replied with a small chuckle as she made a pad appear in her hand. "If we just needed matter we could supply easily and wouldn't need elaborate steps. To make a Gem we once had to plant the diamond essence with a few components into the ground of an untouched planet. Now we use those tubes, called pressure cookers. We could not do that before we realized we needed actual dirt. As in silicon, carbon, air, water, and most importantly organic life. Higher level life worked better."
Blues face furrowed as she tried to understand that. Her mind flashed back to the amusing Klingons. "Are we going to use the Klingons too?"
Had they been organics, that question might have been a bit impolite or caused shock. Pearl just shook her head with a bit of amusement. "No, the thought has never come up. It may have at one point had Green not set us on the path to those cookers. We have a series of farming planets we use now. There's several breeds of plants we grow, and once they're at a certain point we just harvest the fruits they produce, mix that with a soil composition and use that as a base for more Gems. I could show you it if you like, but most Gems find it dirty."
Something about that phrasing tickled at Blue's thoughts and she felt connections form. "That's why you used the crude form of description."
"One reason yes, but yes. It is a matter of perspective. We also struggled to get the composition just right, so more than a few gems will curse it at some point. It's an ongoing process that I have personally seen White curse out once or twice, but that is a secret." White Pearl admitted with a small chuckle and a small wink. "But that is just one part of the process. You can see the games there can you not?"
"Yes, should they not be working?" Blue Diamond asked as she peered at the gems in question. "Also, I see several types doing the same thing... Including a pearl? They were not made for that."
"This requires a bit of history." The pearl said as she moved to the glass and gestured at the facility. "First, Gems were planted in the earth and a series of instructions were embedded into them, they would pop out knowing a job, and they were just put into work immediately. They often only had what they knew from birth to go off of. Can you imagine you popping out and being told to start leading?"
"I would have to make decisions immediately, and most of them would be incorrect." Blue Diamond immediately responded. "I would not have context." And she was coming to understand she needed a lot of that.
"That happened a lot." Pearl responded before pausing slightly and correcting herself. "Well the mistakes part wasn't that common, but there were frequent issues with behavior and decisions. Green Diamond likened it to Gems behaving like programmed computers than sentients. Gems will break out of that pattern in time, but it takes outside input and stressors. Now we try to keep the information built in at a minimum and have the Gems socialize while learning their role. It results in fewer problems in the future in exchange for less speed."
"The socialization is important I would guess." Blue Diamond felt that was very true. She could already feel it. What would her life had been like without even this pearl to talk with?
"Yes, social cohesion is extremely important and we often have to be reminded of that. White does not speak of it much, but she's learned through painful trial and error that for us to function as a species we require significant social instincts." For the first time Pearl looked a bit uncomfortable as she continued. "You can speak with her about that if you like. We can already tell your specialty might be related to social matters based on your behavior."
Blue Diamond heard the statement, understood it, and decided to think on it later. Right now she turned her attention to the play and how the newborn gems socialized. Right now it was time to educate herself. She was mildly amused to realize that she had no desire to do what they were doing, but the way they were interacting was absolutely fascinating. She could already see rivals and friendships! Like Quote Reply
The tour lasted for more than a few hours. Most of the rest was less notable to Blue. She did like the Bloodstone design, but their work with medical and biological studies was not particularly interesting to her. She acknowledged the importance. She understood that fixing damaged or undercooked gems was also useful. She just couldn't find it in herself to do more than understand it. The implications mattered more to her than the process. That gems could come out malformed and that it was good to fix it were both very big facts. She did make a note to pick up the psychological studies, but that was study material, not tour material.
Pearl naturally picked up on this. "Definitely socially focused. I will try to customize lessons for you if you like." She smiled up at Blue.
"I would like that." The diamond confirmed.
"Then I shall do so your eminence. While I work on that, White is ready for you." The gem's voice lowered as she continued. "Unfortunately a lot of what you'll deal with next is going to be very boring. It is necessary, but boring."
So warned, Blue gave her hairclip a quick brush and steeled her mind. White greeted her warmly in front of what looked to be over a hundred screens, then immediately began to explain what was happening. It was overwhelming, but in a banal sort of way. A lot of numbers and approvals that really all went over her head. What did it mean that the gems needed approval to mine the planet in sector five? Why were they adding agricultural planet nine in sector three? They had so many units of iron in storage, and they needed to distribute it in such and such fashion? Why?
White looked contemplative as the questions piled up before she closed the screens and got to her feet. "You are missing so much. Or rather you don't have it yet." She gave a small laugh. "Oh that reminds me of so much. New plan then. Let us show you the glory of our people." She gestured for Blue to follow, and they made their way to the teleporter.
A few minutes later they were on a ship. White swept past several saluting Gems to a window and gestured for Blue to look out. The diamond did so and was rather confused. It was a planet. A very drab one at that.
"This the planet that I just approved to mine." White said and pointed. "Now you can see the glory of our people."
Off in the distance there was just a barely visible beam. The diamond's smile widened as she watched it. Blue couldn't see the exact reason for it at first.
"Ahh, very good timing." The elder diamond murmured.
The planet beneath them cracked and fire started to erupt from the surface. It took a moment for the young diamond to get it. White had signed a form, and this had happened. This planet was being destroyed in her name due to one button click.
"I believe you get it somewhat." White Diamond watched the destruction as she spoke. "It is very boring, but at the same time my little gems do this with a little bit of encouragement." She spread her arms to indicate the station they were on. "If you remember anything, remember this is what we can accomplish."
"This is..." Blue had no words as she watched the destruction.
"Rather ruinous. We do build wonders as well, but that's not nearly as spectacular." White's voice lowered as she continued. "Truthfully this particular display is rather wasteful in many respects. I do like the spectacle, and part of the process of ruling is deciding where you can tolerate waste and deviation."
Blue Diamond nodded slowly. The destruction was slowing as she watched. Oh it was still bad, but it wasn't spreading around the entire planet. She got the idea behind the display though. It was a very vivid depiction of power.
"This is ultimately just mining done on a massive scale. It barely needed my approval, but it is best to be informed. I find the processes of making gems far more pleasant. However to do that we need what we mine. You are smart enough to get how this works. It all turns into a cycle. I make gems, need resources, and assign gems to do so. We have an army of gems just doing logistics. The approval of how gems are transferred is the worst. The pearls try their best to smooth things over, but transfers and trading assignments can only do so much."
Blue tilted her head and looked from the destruction to her superior. "That statement makes me think you are worried about something." She observed.
"In a way. Your creation was not an accident." White tapped on the window a moment as she stared into planet's horizon. "I'll have my Pearl add history to your lesson plans. It will help, and really I hate reviewing the past, even if I could use the reminders." The diamond laughed at herself.
"I will make you proud and learn quickly then." Blue Diamond said softly.
"I know you will, but enough here. This is just one aspect of what I ordered." White waved at the window and paused as she thought. "We really should show you something else to be sure you have more context. Maybe a farming planet? That's mostly just plants and quite boring. Oh, I know! One of Green's projects. You'll hear that a lot. My imperfect one has a habit of going everywhere and making things before moving on. This tends to result in Yellow or I taking it up to continue it if we find it usable."
The younger diamond blinked several times as she processed that statement. "Imperfect sounds like an insult." She finally said rather neutrally, unsure what to think.
"In a way it is, but the frustrating gem ordered his subordinates not to compliment him at all. They make a bit of a game of it now, and he will remind me repeatedly that he is not perfect. So my Imperfect one." White nodded decisively as she finished her statement with a hint of a frown. "You'll understand once you learn from him." There was genuine frustration and love in her voice.
Blue thought on that as they moved to the teleporter again. This time they shifted to a planet of some sort. It felt quiet in a way that no other place she'd visited had been. There were houses made of brick and straw here and there, and as she walked off the pad she could see organic beings walking around. One stared at her and waved with a slightly vacant look on his face. She waved back tentatively when it became apparent that White was just amused. She saw no gems.
"These are Ogryn." The diamond explained as she gestured around the area. "Our... Well never really gave them a designation aside from being Ogryn and under our control. We had a use for them as troops in the war before you were born. That meant Yellow Diamond handled most of the interaction. She still wants them around, but we are not at war anymore, so I have decided to pick up so that she can focus on other duties."
They didn't seem that suitable as troops to her untrained eye, but Blue could not say she knew military. What she could say was that the buildings and terrain looked very different than the gem cities. The word she was looking for took a moment to find. It was primitive.
"Ogryn are durable organics with a psionic ability to enhance their strength. They were going to eventually breed themselves to extinction until Green found a use for them and decided to directly handle that. We have Bloodstones handling the breeding lines very subtly now. I believe you'd find the information we have on them and our actions very informative. Intelligence tends to follow patterns if you know where to look."
The management did seem interesting. Blue Diamond already wanted to look into that. She did have one pressing question though. "Why is it all so primitive?"
White chuckled. "That was on Green. He wanted them to be able to maintain themselves. In retrospect it is a good idea. Gems and organics are extremely different in their needs. They farm for themselves, they build their own houses, they handle their own needs. We provide overview and keep them progressing. I actually have a few of them helping with farming on other planets. They free up gems for other areas."
She didn't quite get it, but Blue Diamond was willing to take the other gem's word on it. She did spend a few hours looking around the village though. It was surprisingly peaceful. The Ogryn called her the big shiny, but didn't do anything else, content to do their own work and ignore her. The few other gems there were also very calm and patient.
Going over the history later told her that was a deliberate action. The gems had essentially gathered up agreeable Ogryn and taught them how to form and supply a 'city' of sorts. The disagreeable Ogryn were either forced out, or killed. This had decimated the local population, but resulted in a very controllable group that had already replaced all of their losses. Long term projections were very promising. Like Quote ReplyReport Reactions:Neat-O, warlock7, King Gojira and 767 others
An:Accidentally posted the first draft first. It's fine now.
---
Time passed. Blue learned as much as she could in that time. It felt like both too much and not enough. White focused on two things. One was the large picture. She was nominally responsible for the entire nation and how it was run. (She delegated a significant portion of that to a cadre of gems.) Two was her teaching Blue how gems were made. They didn't quite get down in the dirt, but White did specifically show what the proper composition looked like and look over the extensive variables they had to deal with. The dirt itself was surprisingly pleasant to her senses. She'd expect rot, or the scent of organic feces. Instead it had a slightly damp scent that registered as nice to her nose.
Not all of the lessons were with White though. In fact a significant portion were with her pearl. The elder gem was frequently busy with work that frankly wasn't necessary for her to learn. Her pearl also had a lot of work, but she could be spared for personal guidance. It was both pleasant and irritating, mostly because some lessons were not enjoyable at all.
History in particular was a large mix to Blue. Not because it was hard per-say, but because she was learning about things that were needed but weren't always interesting. It was all related though, so she had to learn it all. She had little interests in the battles for instance. She was more interested in how the gems saw and acted about them.
Likewise, learning what the other diamonds had done was both interesting and frustrating. Though in that case it was in a different fashion. Green's contributions were uniquely annoying.
"It's like he took one of those markers the new-gems use in the games and scrawled over everyone's lightforms. He bounces around like the Spinels do when they're getting really into the music!" Blue eventually complained to White's Pearl after one lesson.
"Ah yes." Looking slightly uncomfortable the other gem seemed compelled to nod and agree. "That's one way of saying it, and accurate enough I can't dispute it. Green Diamond has been good for the Diamond Authority, but he tends to find something, change it, and move on."
"I can't even fault him for it. His focus is discovery. It is just that... Why do we have FOUR separate courts, three Peridot judges, and an entire section of law dedicated to... Carnal relationships with organics?!" Blue exploded as she read off the worst offenders.
"The last one is relatively new and something none of the diamonds wanted to touch." Pearl explained slowly as she scrolled through the sections of the briefing in question as she subtly ignored the last part of the statement. "The Peridot judges came from the fact that we have had several technical crimes actually. I recall the one that had that happen. Green ended up reviewing a case where another technician sabotaged was a single line of code in a thousand line program. He was so frustrated that he had a peridot trained specifically for cases like that. We ended up needing three after that. The four courts just came about because each Diamond eventually organized their own groups, and it felt easiest."
"We don't need four separate courts. Even having a military court isn't needed. The judgements and laws are mostly the same. It's bad for unity." Blue muttered.
"If that is your order your radiance, we can get that done." Pearl replied with an incline of her head and a solemn expression.
"No, no, not yet." Blue switched tablets in a small panic. "I want to finish the shadowing for everyone first. It's important to get a feel for my siblings and that's a big enough change that I want to know how to present it."
"I will put that in a note for your future review then." The other gem nodded. "I see we're switching topics?" She asked dryly.
"Music is quite entertaining to learn about. I'm a bit sad I can't play any instruments at my size, but I will learn how to sing properly." The diamond said with determination as a topic she liked came into focus. "The theory here is intriguing."
"That was an interesting year as I recall. We had some frantic Spinels almost cracking themselves trying to learn their job. They've..." Here Pearl look pained. "I want to say they've calmed down, but they haven't really. They just directed it elsewhere. It's better than their attempts at acting." She looked as if she was recalling a distant horror as she said that.
"Acting? Why would they learn how to act? Music doesn't need acting. Weren't they just music gems?" It was also fairly brief, if dense, but that was probably due to how new it was comparatively.
"Ah, one second." Pearl tapped at a tablet nearby her and Blue found some more things added to the history she was looking at.
"Oooooh." Blue breathed out with a bit of wonder in her voice that turned into pain as she watched the video. "Ooooh. This is painful. Entertainment gems, I see."
It wasn't even acting. It was gems reciting lines and doing poses. They just did music because that was all Green had been able to get across to them properly. It did explain why some of them got really energetic and bouncy. The acrobatic routines were quite interesting, but they had sometimes felt a bit strange.
"As part of creating music Green wanted to do something he called movies. It did not go well. His pearl has the notes of what he wanted to do if you'd like, but the general conclusion was that it would take more attention than what he had to implement the concept." White tapped at her tablet. "The Klingons have something they call Opera which is similar to what he wanted."
Blue Diamond watched as the opera was depicted was played. "I think I get the idea. He lacked the time for this?"
"Oh, pearl just sent me the notes." White Pearl sent the files with a small smile. "She's annotated them as well. He must have been very annoyed at the entire process. She only does that when he's given up out of frustration."
That was amusingly cute in Blues opinion. White's Pearl was a picture of absolute control, with a hint of suppressed backtalk that made White twitch sometimes. She didn't know Green, or his pearl, but she could already tell hints of him.
Her notes were delightfully entertaining too. Better than Green's at least. The rambling and jumping details made her wonder how he got anything done. It showed off some very interesting concepts, but the connected thoughts were disjointed. The more coherent notes were like looking at two separate and incomplete paintings. His pearl's notes were concise, witty, and often had side comments that were hilarious.
"Costumes, music, videos. I see the general concept. I assume it hit a block because he couldn't be bothered to teach the gems how to act." Blue enjoyed the slightly scandalized look she got from the remark, which Pearl immediately picked up on and visibly twitched. "I do love the styles. It seems almost shameful that we... Actually. We can change lightforms correct?"
"There has been some research on it. Yellow has actually provided a possible breakthrough actually. We will be able to fix those who pop with abberant lightforms soon hopefully." White answered slowly.
"We can do costumes then! In fact, as my first order as a diamond, I want a way of doing it!" Blue ordered with great enthusiasm.
White Diamond, upon hearing the request reportedly laughed for several minutes before giving full approval.Last edited: Thursday at 2:46 PM Like Quote ReplyReport Reactions:Neat-O, AWatcherSan, EzertTheLizart and 792 others
Blue, to her immense disappointment, could not get new costumes immediately. Sadly, at least for her, it would take some time to get the technology properly made and tested. It was on the way at least. She could be patient. She was two years old, she could be very patient! (She wanted it noooooow.)
She could also deal with the fact that she had to move on to the other diamonds. White had not ultimately been able to personally mentor her as much as they both had wanted, but Blue couldn't bring herself to resent her creator for it. The elder diamond really did a lot to be sure that the empire's foundation was stable and growing. Also, as Blue found out later, she had a massive backlog due to focusing on Blue's birth. Her next diamond to follow as going to be Yellow Diamond.
Her mentorship was far different almost immediately as well. Blue was directed to a teleportation area and found herself in something that organics would call hell. It was a place of fire, explosions, and screaming. The overwhelming riotous sensory input caused her to freeze up for a moment before combat instincts she didn't know she had made her clench a hand and reach up to her hairband. Every part of her was screaming in different ways and she felt her emotions starting to overwhelm her.
All of that building rage fizzled once she realized that all she was hearing and seeing was being done outside the bubble she was in. She seemed to be perfectly safe, and the one her new mentor was standing right next to her. Yellow was right in view, hands folded in front of her, surveying the area. Blue Diamond could detect no tension in her stance, so Blue felt something inside her unclench inside her. She steeled herself and stepped forward as surely as she could.
"Sorry for the loud introduction." Yellow Diamond began once Blue approached. "As the diamond responsible for war, and I believed it would be best to show you something close to it right at the start." She gestured to the battle occurring down below.
On first look, it looked a lot like the more rambunctious games that the gems would play under White. None of those games had been so violent though. Weapons were out, energy attacks were being spread across the field, massive balls of water were being thrown, and great gouges of the earth had been cut out and were still being cut out. Fire was everywhere, even with the water being used. As Blue watched a Ruby-fusion screamed and caused one of the large water balls to explode into steam. It was a chaotic and destructive mess that had no rhyme or reason it it aside from battle.
"This is..." Blue had no words for it.
Yellow shrugged. "It is a wargame." She had no trouble making herself heard. "On my war-planet. This is mostly the gems expressing a lot of aggression due to the war ending relatively recently. That's why it's so disordered. It's mostly a brawl. Admittedly you never get true order in war, so it's a good example as well."
"I see several gems poofing." Blue observed.
"We have many precautions to assure that poofing is all that happens. It is actually extremely hard to damage a gem's core, so we can do some very realistic training as a result." Yellow Diamond sounded very proud to explain that feature. "Oh, you will have to see this though."
"See-? Those are Ogryn." Blue Diamond breathed out in surprise and felt her eyes widen as she saw the group.
"You know them? Good. We have to take special precautions for them, but having them participate is both fun and educational." The other diamond's pride seemed higher if anything.
Blue Diamond saw why in a moment. The charging Ogryn had arranged themselves in a wide line with very large shields in front of them. They had almost no trouble running over smaller gems, and larger ones were simply popped with a few swings of the clubs. It took several fused Quartzes to intercept and stop them, and even that just caused a large brawl in the center of the battlefield. Nothing the other gems did seemed to stop the fight at all. To think she hadn't believed they'd be useful in a fight.
"There's always a few questions as to why we still allow the organics on the battlefield. We've learned from painful experience that we need variables in war. One weapon, one armor, one being, it means they just have to develop one counter. These brutes also show that organics can be dangerous too. Sometimes that lesson needs to be hammered in to stick." Yellow explained before she uncrossed her arms. "Questions?"
"None at the moment." Blue muttered quickly.
"Don't worry, a lot of our time won't be like this. I just needed to make an impression." Yellow gestured to the battlefield to emphasize it. "But we will do have a few games planned. You can even command a side later!" She sounded almost eager for that. "We'll also have some self defense included."
"Is that necessary?" The other diamond asked in a tone so quiet it was almost impossible to hear.
Yellow's smile dropped and she gave Blue a flat stare. "Yes. You will also be given a few bodyguards. If you find them acceptable, they'll be part of your court. If not, then you can find your own, but neither option is open to negotiation. This is my authority, as declared by White."
A trifle overwhelmed at the exact order she just barely managed to squeak out a response. "Yes! I understand!"
Her reaction seemed to pain Yellow and she turned away. "This is for your own safety." She said softly. "Your history did go over Green being attacked right? I will not allow it to happen again."
She remembered that in the lessons. What it had done to the gems had been very interesting from a historical perspective. From a personal and immediate perspective she was starting to realize that it was a lot more complicated. She made a mental note to remember that.
"Perhaps a small demonstration? Shungite, tap her head." Yellow ordered.
"Wha-" Blue cut herself off as she felt something poke at the top of her head. She glanced over to see a gem standing on her shoulder. "Oh my stars you are so adorable!" She squeaked out and grabbed the suddenly confused gem into a hug. "You're another Green inspired gem aren't you? Stealth focused? That was absolutely stellar!"
Yellow's control faltered slightly and she turned away and coughed suspiciously before speaking up. "We'll be assigning you a few as guards. I'll add some more."
"Oh, would you? That would be very pleasing." Blue responded eagerly. "These can change their shape as well right? I'm going to have such a wonderful time playing with outfits."
"I'll be sure they're prepared. Now, if you could, drop her please?" Yellow asked, still turned away.
Blue did so and was mildly disappointed to see the gem immediately disappear. She pouted briefly before comforted herself that she'd get a few assigned to her soon. She already knew what she wanted.
A few moments later Yellow turned around with a stern face. "Moving on. Your hairband, are you comfortable with turning it off?"
Her hand moved up to the item in question. "I am, but are you sure?" She hadn't turned it off since she'd gotten it actually.
"All the gems down there are familiar with Shambler attacks. I'll broadcast a warning, and you will do so. White and Green both believed you should get comfortable with your power under controlled conditions." Yellow smiled slightly. "If there's one place where we can test weapons safely, it's in a place where we want destruction."
Blue Diamond nodded slowly and then followed Yellows instructions. From her point of view the only thing that happened was a small click from her hairband as she turned off the suppressor. The battlefield below did not change in obvious ways, but the tenor of it seemed to adjust.
"Hmmm." Yellow Diamond hummed out as she watched. "Our normal hotheads are acting very calm now. Your mood is being reflected I assume. Can you feel out how to change it?"
"I can't even tell it's on at the moment." Blue replied with a headshake. She closed her eyes and focused. "I don't know what to feel for, and I don't have instructions in my mind."
"That's not uncommon. Green can't turn his off, and I was recently made aware of the fact that my power has other facets as well. Diamond talents are extensive and seem to be almost intentionally hard to explore." The other diamond gave a sigh. "It seems to be associated with your emotion. I know it's hard to ask, but can you change what you're feeling?"
Blue stepped forward and screwed her face up as she tried to figure out something. A budding frustration built up as she tried, which helped in that it was a different emotion, but just got her more frustrated.
"Well, that's one way." Yellow muttered. "We'll have to work on it. We can't consider this an effective weapon at the moment. Even intense emotions can be worked through, and I believe our Lightform Reinforcers can protect some against this."
The other diamond almost said that she didn't want her talent to be a weapon before she swallowed the response. That seemed a bit insensitive since Yellow's was still considered a pure weapon at the moment. Blue hoped she could figure out more. Right now it seemed particularly useless compared to the others, and also rather annoying. She didn't want to blast what she was feeling to everyone. Like Quote ReplyReport Reactions:Neat-O, warlock7, Rez and 738 others
Yesterday at 3:03 PMNewAdd bookmark#4,264In sharp contrast to White, Yellow had time to spare for Blue. Admittedly a significant part of that was because Yellow's duties had reduced in scope. They had just gotten off a war, and while there was a lot of work that had to be done, it was like comparing a mountain to a small hill. This meant that the diamond had plenty of time to personally speak with her and walk her through a few tasks, as well as instruct her in other things.
Blue really, really wished that sparring and self defense wasn't one of those things, but it was. She took comfort that close combat wasn't a very common thing. Her current instruction in that area was basically feeling out her limits, measuring the strength of her talent, and an extensive review of their psionic records. Most of the rest of her time with Yellow was moving around and inspecting or speaking with other gems. They had a lot to review apparently.
"Ships have a cost to keep running. Resource wise, we have an excessive amount in certain areas, and a restrictive amount in other areas." Yellow explained as they toured one of the Diamond-hands. "Determining what ships to place into storage and recycle has therefore been a priority. We want a force we can easily escalate, but not enough to cause a problem to maintain for what could be centuries."
"What about the gems?" Blue asked as she watched a few gems in question moving down the hallways around them.
Yellow's frown wasn't directed at anyone, just in general. "We were coming close to having staffing issues. Green in his early years once mentioned how our race lacked population. I didn't believe his words until we started our war. If our people were any less durable, we would have had enough casualties that we couldn't have maintained our lines and would very likely have lost. We could half our fleet and still have room for the gems in my court. Our ground forces will likely stay here and drill for the most part."
"White's Pearl didn't cover that in history." Blue said after the shock of hearing that ran its course.
"The simulations we were running weren't shared in general. Three percent or more casualties than what we had would have caused trouble. The Shamblers to the end were mostly limited by time. Had we given them more of it there was a chance of loss." Yellow did not sound happy to admit that. "Had that Star Eater of theirs managed more, we would also have lost."
"That I remember! How was it being Gold?" The younger diamond had to ask immediately.
Yellow Diamond looked bemused at the question. "Fusion is an useful tool with a wide variety of applications. Green footed most of the mental load with some help from the harmonizors. I did not find it pleasant, though it was not objectionable either. It was simply something useful, doubly so in that it allowed me to expand my talent."
As disappointed as the answer made her, Blue wasn't going to press. She allowed the topic change instead. "You spoke of that. I was told that it's a destructive lightning?"
"We all thought it was. Gold was able to analyze and use it in other ways. The technical term is molecular rearrangement. It's just that distruction is easier. I've found that I can adjust other gem's lightforms but not much else at the moment." Yellow Diamond didn't seem to find the ability particularly noteworthy.
Blue found it impressive at least. Further conversation was stopped by the corridor ending and them getting into the innards of the ship they were in. This particular tour was both a way of familiarizing her with the ships and inspecting those that might need to be decommissioned. It was a harsh reminder that they were still processing things after a war. It was easy to say that ships torn in two were going to be recycled, it was another to say how much battle damage made it unsalvageable. Or how many other factors.
Several of the ships slated to be recycled were fully intact. Yellow had even seemed hesitant to take Blue along on those until she'd insisted. They were the worst, but this was important. These were the ships that had lost all crew due to psionic weaponry, or been so washed in blood that they would never be clean. One ship still had pieces of rotting flesh stuck in the corners. That one had just been destroyed out of convenience.
The entire train of thought led Blue to introduce herself to funeral customs. The Gems had very, very little at the moment. She was a bit surprised they'd ever been invented at all. The consideration had never come up in her lessons, and she'd had to hear from a few lesser gems about the practice. She'd decided on the spot to visit the wall in question once she learned of it. She'd expected something small and unsightly. Say what you will about Green and Yellow, but their buildings were decidedly utilitarian.
Something hit her once she stepped off the teleporter though. It was as if one of her Topaz instructors had slammed both hands into her stomach and then kicked her in the head. It wasn't quite physical, but it hurt. Tears dripped down her face without her input and she almost wailed without knowing why. Only her lessons with psionic abilities let her isolate the feeling and identify what was happening.
"Your radiance?!" The Topaz assigned to her looked very alarmed.
"I'm fine." Blue replied and brushed off a tear. "I am just feeling grief." Why was she feeling it? The only thing that had changed was her arrival. "I think... Well, I might be feeling the emotions here."
A small part of her was actually thrilled. It was a lead on her own power. She could finally feel a lever so to speak.
The Topaz frowned and looked off into the distance. "Ah, that would do it. Do you wish for me to sweep out the mourners again?"
"No, wait again. Does that happen often?" The diamond inquired with a frown as she mentally isolated the emotion she was feeling and where it was coming from.
"We make a point to do it every few days. It's not uncommon for gems to just stand there and cry for hours on end and not actually register the time. Giving them a good shake or poof tends to snap them out of it." The Topaz paused. "We also do it to be sure the Klingons didn't leave unapproved items."
"The Klingons visit this place?" Blue frowned as she moved towards the monument.
"It's complicated, but yes your radiance. Several had their names carved on the wall, and more than a few gifted weapons to a nearby gem in their last moments." The Topaz gestured to one of the walls.
Now that she was close enough, Blue could see two of them. They stretched for an uncomfortable length. Names upon names etched on one side, with a veritable wall of weaponry on the other. Several of the weapons looked almost gem-made.
"More than a few Klingon ships were destroyed to a man with no one to morn them." The topaz explained without prompting.
"Ah." Blue examined the area and slowly but surely closed off the mental switch that seemed to allow her to register the feeling in the area.
It was better than she expected and worse than she feared. A wall of names had a certain sense of solemn poignancy that felt right for their people. Someone had obviously made an effort to pretty up the wall itself and extend it as well. Once she was aware of that Blue had a feeling that one Morganite had spent quite a bit of time making the place feel like a cross between ruins and... What was the word? A cemetery.
Why did she have that word in her internal lexicon?
Blue set that questin aside. Instead she turned her attention to the gems kneeling in front of the wall. Some part of her wanted to reach out her special power and make them stop mourning. She wanted to pick them up and tell them something. Spending days in front of a wall like this was not productive!
"Gems have a propensity to get stuck in circular thoughts." Blue said to herself softly. "These aren't doing that though are they?" She asked her escort.
The topaz shifted uneasily. "There's a reason we do regular sweeps. There are two types that come here. One type is a Repeater, which do that circular thing and we have to sweep them out. The other type comes by for an hour or two and leaves. You can tell if you see them repeating words, though sometimes you gotta listen a long time."
"What is healthy, and what is not?" The diamond asked before shaking her head. "I don't expect an answer to that. Let's head out."
She had gotten answers. She now had more questions though. This felt almost like something she should address, but at the same time she didn't know how. The bloodstones at White's had studied some mental health had they not? Blue added it to her list of things to look into.
Blue Diamond was starting to realize why her fellows were all so busy. She had not even started and her list of things to do was already long. It was only going to get longer too. Like Quote ReplyReport Reactions:Memory Dump, megamiaouh, Natelord28 and 713 others