Mysterious Hierarchies ((Paddy))

[Paddy]

The sapphire's gaze trailed after the data, and she made mental note to get an archive of it so that she could go over it at a later date. Her eyes slowly widened as the list grew, and began to calculate how long it might take for her to go through all of this. It was something like having the ability of the Blue Court sapphires, predictive foresight into the future; something Padparadscha had always admired and wished she had for herself, perhaps she'd even been envious of their ability at times.

But it was time to think on the abilities that her creation would have, keeping in mind what Cocoa had said. "We shall see then," She muttered somberly, the pit in her stomach growing with the list on the screen; waiting to see what would happen, with a huge swath of variables left unknown, was not how she wanted to proceed into this experiment. She had built this gem to be able to make up for any short comings she may have been programmed with, but the sapphire couldn't be sure that she wouldn't create something wholly unable to function in an effective manner,"and I suppose it's time to move on," She huffed, flicking back to the menu using the controls she had observed the pearl using,"I can only assume that her shape and abilities will be mutually integral," 

6UE grinned at the new nickname for the two purple gems, and she spent a moment coming up with some more puns in her head as Azurite helped Chevron hash out her emotional qualm. Though, as the honor guard continued, the amethyst became more attentive to what was being said; her experience of jealousy was different, to say the least, and perhaps that had been why she was so unable to interpret the younger gem's qualm. 6UE's interpretation of that emotion was different too, but Azzy's definition made her think for a moment, especially where it came to her bitterness aimed toward the quartz who had gotten her fired, and the patron who had sealed the deal.

When Azurite turned gaze to the bodyguard, both of her brows went up, and she stood awkwardly quiet for a moment as she tried to put together the right words,"Er, well, Chev asked me to do something, and I really didn't know what to do so...I tried to give her a hand, like this," 6UE stuck her hand out, much in the fashion that she had for Chevron, then let her hand fall and shifted her weight as her eyes flicked to the shorter amethyst,"I guess that wasn't quite what you were looking for, eh?" 

[Mad Azurite]

“Indeed,” she motioned toward the other complex set of controls to the left of the personality core section. “However, they are not necessarily ‘linked,’ the abilities a gem possess do not particular affect her appearance unless intended to do so." she'd explain as she would walk around the gem to start the other step of the process. “The interface of this section is quite simple, the ruby’s form is used as a base, but templates for other existing gems also remain in the protocols.” She would began to scroll through the massive list, “If none of these gem forms fit your taste, you may also use the base figure and use the customizable parameter modules to create your own new form.” She would point to a vast array of dials labels with various proportions and areas located on the gems.


Meanwhile, Azurite lifted a brow at Ame as she spoke of her actions, azurite made a sort of dumbfounded look, and even as Ame lifted her hand, Chevron seemed to go shy again, staring at it nervously. She might have jumped a little being referred too next by the solder, which Chevron, seemingly not wanting to offend the other gem, shook her head and looked away shamefully. Azurite gave another stumped look and then scratched her nape as she tried to think of a way to put what she wanted to say, but before she could, she laughed as she couldn’t believe what was happening, “Alright, slow down there!” she tried to hold back laughter, “You’re moving kind of fast here, guys.”

“Embracing takes like, bonding, yo. At least thirty minutes … most of the movies I watched did that at least that, maybe an hour for the good stuff.” She’d say with a know it all look on her face, she was apparently proud of her movie-acquired knowledge, “Ame, you got to put it to the girl, uh ... I mean to Chevron, you gotta make her feel special!” She’d say, “First you need some good pick-up lines,” which she’d walk over to her, and get on her toes to whisper, “First thing you gotta say is, hey girl, you must be a broom, cuz’ you swept me off my feet! Then, be like, “do you have a name or can I call you mine!?” She say and then back off to add, “Be sauve, with confidence, make her understand you’re here to show her some lovin,’ you get what I’m saying?”

Chevron seemed to shift her gaze back and forth from the two and then something caught her attention, when she looked up to see Seren's eyes casting down her and the group of solders here with interest, albeit from the corner of her eyes as she seemed to be trying to concentration two things at once.

[Paddy]

"Ah, that makes sense to me. Excuse me for a moment," The sapphire took this time to ruminate. She had an idea of what she wanted this gem to look like; they would of course be regal enough for her to bring into court, and around aristocratic jubilees, but the gem would also need to be sturdy-- much sturdier than she was. It was quite easy for the sapphire to lose her form, she wasn't built for combat, and any combat experience or prowess she may have developed had been more or less an accident of circumstance rather than a Diamond-given design. Because of the accidental circumstances of her whole being, it was made easy for her to accept that this gem would be able to grow and act outside of (or perhaps because of the emergent properties of) their programming, and use their abilities and shape in ways that she may not have considered. Shape was something that could change on demand for most gems, but she knew how much of an energy drain that it could be. 

Her hands went to the controls, she flicked through every shape possible. Would it be better for this gem to fit in by imitating the shape of an existing model? Something about that didn't sit well with her, despite her sensibilities. Many conventions of society had always irritated her despite appearances, especially this notion of gems needing to blend in with the crowd; was it not a show of rarity to stand out? Perhaps she felt that way because she always had stood out, and she decided this gem would be rare enough to stand out and shine on their own as well. 


While the sapphire's fingers glided over the controls, shaping a gem not much taller than her, perhaps a bit bulkier, her bodyguard stared wide-eyed at Azurite, cheeks flushed as she tried to stifle her shock. 6UE had no idea what to make of the information the honorguard was giving her, but her curiosity to see movies jumped tenfold. What in the universe was this gem talking about?

A moment of awkward silence drew on as the quartz racked her mind over the riddles that her fellow soldier had offered her, "Uh-- not really, sorry Azzy," Amethyst finally spoke up, taking on a blunt tone. It was frustrating to a degree, and though she had enough patience for years of hallway custody, what was being asked of her just didn't sit well. Love was something she'd overheard the pearl and the sapphire discussing, and she had before been introduced to this idea from the rambling of the sapphire during brief moments of time that she'd spent working on her personal projects, but Amethyst was not altogether familiar enough. 

She took a small step back to look more wholly at the two other soldiers,"Look, uh, I'm here for busting rebels, guarding halls, and clearing out kindergartens, not...being suave. All this stuff about embracing or loving or pick up lines...I just don't get it," She shrugged and shook her head, then glanced toward Chevron,"I think I'm just not the right gem for this," Her eyes slid to Azurite,"But you seem to know what to do, right?" 

[Mad Azurite]

The pearl was starting to see why her mistress chose this sapphire for her testing of the device, though it was far darker than she originally conceived. She knew her master had looked deep into the history of this gem the moment she realized this padparadscha had discovered her existence, it was rare enough for any outsider to truly know of who Seren was and where her frigate was located amongst the darkness of space. But here was a gem whose purpose seemed to be refined and recreated on either their own or other’s commands, in her lies some kind of artistic countenance wait and yet it couldn’t quite express itself unless through some kind of prodding. Her master chose very well, a gem who represented all the things she was looking for, creative freedom—and the inherit consequences of it. The pearl maintained her standby watching as the gem looked over the commands, but her glance shifted slightly as she eyed the sapphire carefully.

The amount of detail enough was quite impressive.

Chevron had barely shifted her gaze back from her creator to see 6UE starring at Azurite with widened eyes, making her all the more curious to what had been whispered, but the gems retort was enough to keep her quite, and she listened with intent to learn instead prodding into it. But at the mentioning of whether Azurite would know what to do, Azurite first seemed to cross her arms and look 6UE up and down rather questionably, and then shifted her gaze to Chevron doing the same for her, “Eh? I mean, I know what to do—but she ain’t my type, really.” She’d say throwing her arms up as if she was stumped by her own declaration, “My types about six-three, long wild light-blue hair, lacks a butt without question, but got’s ‘dat squad-fighter figure if catch my drift.” She’d say where Chevron’s imagination instantly went wild with the thought of what this gem would look like—and for some reason couldn’t picture a gem that didn’t look almost exactly like Azurite herself.

“Maybe that’s the issue though, I mean love and hugging and stuff, I don’t think it’s something you really gotta learn, just gotta be driven enough to do so; when you love something you wanna take care of it, and keep it with you no matter where you go—well in a way, at least know you can go back to it.” Her eyes shifted to the shards of her comrades floating around in her chest for a moment and she seemed to make a pained smile for a moment, but lightened up as she looked back up at the Amethyst, “Maybe that’s it though, might just be she’s not your type. She’s not putting that fire in your heart, or however they put it in the movies.” Azurite would say as she motioned toward Chevron, “And Chevy, that’s no disrespect to you, just Ame probably just isn’t feelin’ it. That or she’s like me and is too busy thinking about other things instead romancin’, nothing wrong with that of course.”

Chevron, listening possibly too intently to what was said had something of a maelstrom of thoughts running through her head, immediately she assumed something was inadequate about her—her inability to put this fire an 6UE’s heart was enough to make her heart drop for a second, but noted this may be something of circumstance and may not be her fault. The look in the gems’ eyes though spoke of her shame really. “So,” she said, feeling like her conundrum still hadn’t been fixed, “v’at shall I do?” she’d ask, “How ... does v’one find z’ese love, you speak of?” she’d ask curiously, a very determined look in her eyes as she seemed very intent on doing so, Azurite scratched her head for a moment, “Iunno, the movies never really explain that—it just, happens. Like, it’s not something you can really find—just gotta get lucky? I guess.” She’d laugh nervously at that point.

[Paddy]

As she put the finishing touches onto her design, she worried over the controls, making slight tweaks to all facets of the gem who would soon come into existence. When she could do no more, and the gem on the screen appeared to be as finished as she could be, the sapphire simply stared at the screen for a moment. This was it, she would be responsible for this gem's existence. In her pause she again wondered if this was a good idea.

With a flash of red, orange, and yellow light, the machine condensed an inconceivable amount of energy into a brilliant, formless mass, treated against heat and cold, blasted with various rays, compressed and chiseled with precision beams. Padparadscha watched with increasing anxiety as the gem was battered into shape within the chamber. After mere moments, a brightly hued red-orange gem faceted into a princess cut was suspended in the vacuum of the chamber, spinning with the final momentum it had been given.

As the machine prompted for her to release the gem, she did so without hesitating, wanting to be the one who would allow the gem to be free. The chamber hissed as it pressurized, and opened to allow the gemstone to lower to the platform beneath. She stood, watching it like a hawk, waiting for the gem to emerge. For a moment, there was nothing. 

Then, light enveloped the brand new gem, and she took form; Her skin was translucent, a high-clarity in the same colors of the gemstone that was set into her solar plexus. In shadow she appeared darker reds and oranges, but where blips of light shone through, she was more a sunny yellow. Her hair was neat, swept into a twist around the crown of her head, and for now she wore a simple homeworld uniform. The gem was considerably more muscular than the sapphire, but retained a nimbleness about her movements as she looked around at her surroundings.

"At attention," Padparadscha clipped, straightening her back and clasping her hands behind her back,"State your designation and title,"

The gem, not much taller than Padparadscha herself, swiveled on her heals and landed in attention, giving a fully formed diamond salute to the gem she now served. "Deputy Detective Clinohumite facet 01 cut 01," The gem's high pitched but crystal clear timbre called over the room. She remained at attention, as she hadn't been ordered out of it.

"What is your function statement, Deputy?" Padparadscha tilted her head slightly, pleased so far with Clinohumite's
performance, but she had hardly stepped from the machine; there was still much to test about this template. 

"Madam, my function is currently to serve as an adjunct detective of the Pink Court investigations unit. When my primary phase is completed, I will undergo the secondary phase at an unspecified date in the future when you are no longer able to serve on the investigations unit yourself," Clinohumite dictated, remaining at attention with her focus on Padparadscha. But, the gem's neon orange eyes flicked over the whole room, onto Cocoa, the snow agates, the quartz soldiers, and finally Serendibite. "Permission to begin investigation, your clarity?"

The sapphire's brow raised, and she smiled,"Permission granted,"



Amethyst pressed her lips together as she listened to Azurite. It was still hard for her to understand,"Well...I care about everyone. Would it be right to say everyone gives me some kind of...drive to help, maybe?" She looked around, glancing toward every individual before bringing her eyes back to the soldier's she spoke to, "Every gem has something about them, you know? Something that makes them special. I don't care how many Amethysts there are, every one that I've met is their own gem, we just have the same job is all," She gave a light smile to Chevron; she could see that look in her eyes, and wanted to make her feel uplifted even if she didn't know how this love stuff worked,"Chev, I just saw you get created not too long ago and you've already done so many amazing things, you're really something special. Don't feel bad over something I did, I've just been stuck guarding halls my whole life so I never get to watch these movie things," She chuckled and glanced to Azurite,"Well, you'll have to show me a movie someday for sure," Her mouth was open to continue, but then she heard a voice she'd never heard before project over the
room. She turned, and her eyes widened as her gaze settled onto Clinohumite. 

[Mad Azurite]

Serendibite had just flicked her eyes back when she saw the sapphire input the final commands, her assistant looking at her knowingly. As the machine came to life, its whirring components going to work as the necessary materials condensed into the cutting facility, Seren watched with increasing curiosity. The snow agates immediately marched toward the door, Nephrite behind them, their bodies cloaked in some kind layered cloak that hardened by the second, into something that looked like sheen-glass, the cold about them beginning to take visible form as a low hissing smoke, it seemed these gems had some innate ability connected to intense cold. As the door opened and the sapphire stepped in front of them to be the first address her creation, Cocoa would marvel over the detail put into this gem, partially impressed with her master as well, for seeing the creative soul beating in their first, and possibly hopefully advocate operator.

Seren’s eyes would meet with the gem as she had formed, and walked into the light to observe everyone, and then eventually herself. Listening to it declare its functions, the look on the lapidary’s face was a comingling of interest, and stoic knowing. She had no idea what kind of gem this was, but an investigator unit gem-facet was intriguing though to her indeed. She would look to Cocoa, and without even truly communicating with words, motioned towards her—which the pearl would straighten up, looking back at Seren knowingly, the pearl would then head towards the machine controls, imputing something in and watching as the second portion of the machine seemed to be computing date and then a holographic data module would appear in small compartment to its right, taking it in her hands, she made lengthy strides back to the sapphire, holding the strange device for her too see. “Here is the template for your new gem form, congratulations, you’ve created the beginnings of a facet-line of gem species.” She wave the chip a little, “This holodata contains the template for this gem, connecting it to any gem-forming machine, would allow you to mass produce this gem-line, we believe you should have it.”

Cocoa would then look over the newly formed Clinohumite, and marveled a bit at the gem’s collectiveness, she had to admit that her master seemed to keep away from making gems like this. “Greetings, dear Clinohumite.” Cocoa would introduce herself to the gem, and nod appropriately, “No one here will withhold you from your … investigations, deputy, but please be responsible and respect others on this ship. They have their rights, and not divulging any information to your … investigations, is one of them.” She’d remind the two of their places on this ship and of course, the rules in place. The Snow Agates casted looks at each other and the strange armored appearance around their bodies relaxed into a cloth-like substance, they started to back away from the gem and its creator, but kept their eyes on her—expecting anything at this point.

Azurite would smile at the Amethyst reply, she had to agree really, every gem had something that made them standout—some knew it, some didn’t, but it was there. That quirk that made them all different, that couldn’t be stomped out despite it feeling like Homeworld really wanting too. Chev seemed to blush and brighten up at what the gem said, today had been filled with so much stimulus that honestly she was unsure of how to act to everything, but it was right when she wanted to reply—along with Azurite, that the machine whirred to life, and the odd gem walked out and cast her eyes around Azurite herself seemed to look it up and down disparaging, and then looked over at Ame with a frown, “Here I thought I wouldn’t see anyone as prissy and stuck-up as your boss, and then here she goes making it.” She’d say in low voice. Chevron beamed at the gem though, her curiosity on fire now, wanting more than anything to know who she is.

[Paddy]

Padparadscha's giddiness caught up to her as she stood, staring at Clinohumite. Her head was so light it felt as if it were floating away from her, and she felt she needed to sit down. But, there was something that kept her standing, a strong will to put on a face for the gem she had just created. The sapphire had created many things throughout her life, and she had sat in judgment of other gem's very lives in the legal courtroom, but there was something distinctly different about creating something sentient, something that would have its own path in life, something that would take over for her when she was no longer able to commit herself to this secondary purpose Pink Diamond had employed her with.  

Her bubble of mental fog wasn't popped as Cocoa strode up to her with the chip. Padparadscha's delicate hand stretched to receive it, and she nodded somewhat absently as her eyes trailed down to focus on the holochip. There contained everything that was Clinohumite; the chip was small, weightless, but the sapphire felt as if Cocoa had just placed a ten-ton stone into her palm. It was surreal to think that an entire line of gems could come from this, and that she had control over it. This seemed to be what Serendibite was getting toward; not only presiding over, but designing, and having responsibility for the path of an entire line of gem lives was a burden to carry, and Padparadscha had no doubt that the Diamonds carried that weight. But now, she could empathize, having carried the weight of it herself, right in the center of her small hand. 

Before Padparadscha could say anything, her creation had already gone into action. Clinohumite's eyes snapped onto Cocoa like a honing laser. The gem's weight clicked against the floor, the tink of her feet against the metal made her sound a bit heavier than she looked. She swept into a circle around the pearl, looking her over,"Analysis completed, statement in progress," She announced as she came to a stop in front of Cocoa, and paused for a moment to think as her eyes continued to flick up and down her subject,"You are a custom pearl. I deduce that you must have a master, whom you are speaking for," She swiveled on her heels,"Phase two of plan 01A commences,"

The gem froze for a moment, then allowed her eyes to scan over every gem in the room before her gaze zeroed in onto Serendibite. She then cut across, away from Padparadscha, Cocoa, and the Snow Agates, making a bee line for the tall gem. Clinohumite repeated the action, walking in a circle around Serendibite, until coming to a halt to peer up at the large gem,"I have determined that you are extremely tall, possibly taking on a leadership role," She had a curt manner of speech, as if she were on a very important mission at the moment,"But your gem species has not been specified in my database. Is this or is this not your pearl?" Clinohumite made a sharp open palmed gesture toward Cocoa, almost as if accusing her of something.   

Amethyst had to kep herself from laughing out loud at Azurite's comment,"I think she made herself...but, more buff?" 6UE spoke quietly, and scratched the back of her neck. Maybe there were other nuances that Amethyst couldn't yet see, but for the time being it really did seem like that was what the sapphire had done. She had a feeling that Padparadscha might make herself a deputy, as it was something the sapphire had been wanting for some time. "At least she's not trying to shatter everyone," 6UE gave a nervous chuckle, maybe it was too soon to make that determination. 

[Mad Azurite]

The pearl immediately shot a rather heated glare at the Clinohumate, “Ah! How absolutely rude of you! Here I am trying my darnest to be a fine host and you can’t even greet me properly, such disrespect!?” But it would seem before she could throw out the rest of her insult, the gem turned away from her and shifted eyes to her mistress, who seemed to be deep in thought, and not long after Serendibite would seem to exhale almost in stress of a hidden manner and look down at the gem addressing her with something of a mix of confusion and boredom, “Leadership? The only command I hold, is of the various gems that live upon this ship. My height was simply a distinct abnormality, maybe in the creation of my gemstone, by whatever Diamond created me.” She would say, where a distinct and odd intrigue came from her voice, Serendibite, was unsure which diamond actually created her, or at least was the one behind her conception in the end.

“And yes, that is my pearl.” She’d say matter-of-factly, “And she is trying her … darnest, as she put it, to be hospitable to you, my dear.” She seemed to be quite genuine in the fact that she felt the gem simply didn’t understand what was happening at the moment. Cocoa started to almost shake with fury at the words of the deputy investigator, but then watched as the two Snow Agates followed in line with the gem in question, marching just off to the right of her, ready for anything of course. Cocoa had only ever seen the ability these gems wield put to use once, though the sapphire’s abilities terrified her due to the incredible versatility of it, she was sure if she knew what these gems could do—it might raise a few brows of their own with those who wielded something as dangerous as plasma.

The snow agates, following what seemed to be a theme of Beady’s warrior class gems as being thinner, more muscular and agile warriors than various gems to date, were a facet that had never truly been released publicly, due to the expensiveness of the gem-facet in question and that they were rather dangerous in anything more than a simple pairing. Cocoa recalled that the gems made use of what she remembered her master calling the ‘magnetocaloric effect,’ and thermoelectric cooling, just at obscene levels, the cool energy that displaced from the gems was a sign of a powerful electromagnetic field constantly emanating from the very existence of their forms. In fact if the sapphire were to come in range with her own, it would feel like two forces trying their hardest to stay away from each other. The tall, silver-haired gems sported square chiseled faces, draped in long cloaks that covered most of their bodies, the cloaks seemed to also be an extension of themselves, almost as if fused with their very hair. The two were nearly identical, except the gemstones on the back of their palms, shaped strangely, like a double-helix sliced directly in half, mirroring each other as if they were twins of the same cut. The look on their faces, white eyes, backed on silver sclera stared with a piercing threatening intensity. They almost looked like albino’s really, with a the lack of any distinct color even against their eyebrows, but the fierce whites in generous tones seemed to say enough.

The gems, were quite literally, the antithesis to the nobles abilities, where one would smite there enemies by washing deadly superheated plasma over them, the Snow Agates, did much the same, but instead stealing all warmth from everything they touched, even the air itself, or any gas really, compressing it into a liquid form able to flash freeze in an instant if one were smothered by it. Instead of destroying targets, they excelled at capturing them, as most gem forms, after a few hours of thawing would eventually return to normal. But they could also harden and create very sturdy and deadly shapes with this energy in question.

Chevron, hearing the two talking about the odd gem, only smiled more at her, she wanted very much to introduce herself to the gem, but her shyness was holding her back—she found it odd though, that the gem was so quick to start questioning her creator, but the actions only made her more curious as to what was going on, a Curiosity that grabbed Azzy as well, “Hm, yeah, she kinda does look like her, just well, as you put, buffer.” She looked at the fellow solder as the deputy started throwing her questions, “Yeah, she might throw us in jail, or worse, walk us to death.” She’d say, lifting a brow at the gem, then her eyes shifted to the snow agates, she could tell, it was like cats ready to pounce.

[Paddy]

Clino swiveled to look at pearl with a bewildered look of shock on her face. Her eyes fluttered, but her attention flicked back to Serendibite as the large gem spoke. Without answering either gem, her attention again shifted, now to the threatening agates that had shouldered around her. The comparatively small gem tensed; trying to figure out what was happening was quite difficult, especially considering she only had her databases to go off of for the time being. Her eyes then snapped back onto Padparadscha, looking for some semblance of reassurance, but the sapphire was still staring into her own palm as if she had been sucked into some kind of trance. 

The bright orange gem would have to figure this out on her own it seemed. "We are aboard your facility, evidence noted," Clino uttered through her climbing intimidation, and her eyes traveled back to Cocoa,"--and it appears that I have not been adequately reacting to your hospitable behavior. Analysis commences," She then simply stood in thought, trying to mull over everything that happened. Her brows furrowed, and she turned to take a step toward Cocoa,"Does the subject not mean-- hostile? Finding definition for-- hospitable-- pleasant or favorable, welcoming, friendly," She pointed upward as she made her explanation,"Upon analysis I found that I did not feel pleasant, favorable, welcomed, or that the subject is friendly. Evidence--" She gestured toward her own slightly shaking hand, but frowned, as she didn't find the evidence to be adequate. She then paused, trying to find a way to make her emotions into evidence that could be used to make her case.

Padparadscha finally looked up, her brows floating upward as well, as she realized her creation was being descended up on by agates, as well as Cocoa. Her brows then furrowed, and she rounded onto the pearl,"Excuse me? I realize you're the caretaker of this facility, pearl, but the Deputy has no obligation to you," She scoffed, and scurried across the room to get to Clinohumite, who reeled a bit at the sapphire's quick approach. Though, the small aristocratic gem found herself buffered by some invisible force; one she quickly realized was electromagnetic energy,"Stand down, all of you," She shooed the agates with her gestures, attempting to push through the dense field of polar ions,"There is no need for this, stop it!" Her voice became more strained as she continued to try to get to the gem she'd just granted sentience to. 

Amethyst frowned at what she saw going on. Technically she could throw gems in jail too,"Well you know, I'm a part of the investigations unit too, for the time being anyway," She muttered, giving a sort of regretful look to the two others. In a way it felt like the three of them were on separate teams; she had to align herself with the sapphire, while Chevron and Azurite must have had a stronger will to align themselves with Serendibite. "Maybe I should get out there, my patron seems to be having some trouble," She gave a small shrug, and took slow strides toward the scene, raising her voice a bit,"Do you need help, your clarity?" She stopped and gave a Diamond salute, keeping an eye on the snow agates. She wondered if she could keep up with gems like them if things were to go downhill.

[Mad Azurite]

Serendibite took a second to study the newly formed gem and her speech patterns, this wasn’t too unfamiliar to the ancient’s wisdom, it would seem the gem was designed to investigate indeed, but was in fact using the very nature of instigating as her way of learning, it wasn’t eerie to say, but an odd concept she’d honestly not expect from her first operator. But she narrowed her gaze as the sapphire seemed to snap into action, protective of her creation as any creator should be, Cocoa scoffed and immediately whirled around at the sapphire words, “Excuse me? Sapphire,” she’d taunt as she pointed an angry finger at the gem shooting daggers with her eyes, “But I would imagine a gem with such upstanding position such as yourself would find such a lack of manners absolutely appalling, unless you enjoy such shoddy behavior!” She barked angrily, only to stop for a moment as her hair stood up, and looked up almost intuitively at her mistress who stared down at her with a knowing lack of interest in her eyes.

“Stand-down.” She’d simply say, and Cocoa would immediately withdraw, turning away from them with a furious look in her eyes, “It would seem the noble has created an anomaly, this strange gem template learns quite literally through the deduction of her experiences. By crafting, as she would put it, evidence, which acts as the basis for her growing intelligence. An interesting concept, I must say. I apologize, Clinohumite, I imagine this moment may be uncomfortable for you, considering stimuli is quite new for you.” She motioned to the snow agates, who looked up at the gem almost simultaneous and like mirrors to each other, backed away, just as the amethyst had put herself between them. But they didn’t seem at ease in anyway, Azurite read their stance, the gems were still ready to attack at any moment, it was in how they held their heads.

In fact, she remembered these two, out of all the gems she often recollected about here in Beady’s facility, they always managed to get on her shit-list. There was something about them, off wasn’t even the first word she’d use. They were obsessed with protecting their creator, something she thought she’d only see in Cocoa, but they weren’t obsessed because they were infatuated like Cocoa was. It was because in these small moments of being kept here on the ship, they got unleash their sadistic fury on something. Cold, just like their power, these gems were vicious, heartless creatures, who only seemed to show affection toward themselves from what she remembered. When her fellow solder walked away after saying what she did, Azzy frowned a bit, she couldn't say what she wanted—to be honest, she worked for no one’s interest here, not the sapphire, not Serendibite. She is a honor-guard and that meant her loyalty was with the diamonds … whatever that meant, she wanted to say that.

She’d also walk towards the group, Chevron following, she’d stop between the Snow Agates and she’d give them a callous look. They’d return it almost instantly with their own. “Well, look who it is, sister.” They both shared the same, low callous voice, the other twin to the right narrowed her gaze smugly, and said “The so-called Azurean Honorguard has graced us with her presence once again.” They both would smile, sharp vicious teeth lining their lips as they’d speak in unison the next part, “To bad we never got a chance to crush you in the training grounds.” Azurite seemed to cant her neck, something of loud pop ringing in her bones as the gem looked the two up and down proudly, “Pfft, run it then, why wait for the grounds?” She’d threaten, shooting a glare at the two, and they'd immediately lose their smiles; the idea obviously running through their heads. Chevron could feel the tension as she shot nervous glances at the two gems, before anxiously looking over at the other gems standing around.

[Paddy]

"Tch," She glared at Cocoa and pursed her lips. As far as she was concerned, a good mannered pearl silently did their work and stayed out of the way. The audacity of this pearl seemed to come from an endless well, but she actually admired the boldness of Cocoa to so openly challenge someone like Pink Diamond's personally selected investigations and interrogations sapphire; a gem who could very well think of any reason to put someone like a pearl into the custody of Pink Diamond's court. Of course, she had her own strong idea of justice in her head, and it didn't involve falsely accusing pearls who frequently seemed to snap from their own role in the caste. The gem had rebellious tendencies, but had so far not professed to any sort of rebel ideology. 

As the agates stepped off, Padparadscha stumbled through the air where the electromagnetic field had once kept her at bay, straight into Clinohumite. The red-gold gem seemed barely fazed by the light sapphire's fumble, not budging a centimeter with all the force that had been behind the fall. Padpara jumped back to her feet,"Oh! Apologies, Deputy," She mustered through her embarrassment, and she glanced toward the quartz who had addressed her, before putting up a hand-signal that meant, stay on guard. 

"I apologize, madam clarity, for being in your way," The gem answered in a stately manner, then swiveled toward Cocoa as her brows pulled together, and glanced back up to Serendibite,"Tall unidentified gem, there is no need to apologize for my inability to understand," It was most difficult to understand these gems' behavior going off of what was in her database, but she was getting a better idea of what was going on,"I am very confused, perhaps cross analysis is in order?" She looked around, until her eyes settled onto the myriad of multicolored soldiers standing around,"We're on the large gem's vessel, with multiple custom soldier models..." Her eyes went to the machine that she had been crafted within. She stepped closer to it,"This must be..." She frowned, and paused for a long quiet moment,"Analysis...failed? I do not know what this is," The Deputy looked with some hesitation toward Padparadscha, and Serendibite,"Could it's use be demonstrated?"

6UE let herself fall out of an attention stance, and her focus swung around the room. There was a lot going on, she was glad she wasn't a gem who had just been created at this point; she could hardly put it together herself. All she knew for sure is that her new team member wasn't getting things, the pearl was mad, and there was a clash of wills between the agates and Azurite that she didn't know much about. She glanced toward Chevron, then toward the Honor Guard, and finally the agates. She racked her brain for some way to stave off a bad situation from unfolding, though without orders from anyone, it was difficult to think of the right thing to do. "Er-- you know, we're all here with a job to do," She reminded the other soldiers,"I don't think either of our patron's would like it if a brawl broke out next to this expensive tech," After the words left her lips, something told her that her involvement would just make things worse, but sometimes she couldn't help herself. 

[Mad Azurite]

The agates who had locked their eyes on the azurite with a telltale glare of bloodlust in their eyes shifted their sharp deadly gaze in an instant to the Amethyst as she reminded them of consequences of the actions they were seriously thinking about going through, Azurite didn’t care however, none of the so called ‘patrons,’ here represented her, she could make an excuse for chopping through a few so-called elite warriors and whatever damage might happen in the process. Though they were seemingly identical, it seemed the two had a very minute difference despite the sliced gemstones on their hands that differentiated from each other, a strange snowflake-like tribal scarring on their cheeks scarring on their cheeks which was slightly different than the other. K16x and K16y seemed to go into thought almost instantly, the second sister would look the other in the face after getting what some would call uncomfortably close and looked her dead in the eyes as she spoke, “Sister, this … worthless trash doesn’t seem to know her place.” The other would immediately shift her head to her twin and stroke her cheek with protective glare in her eyes, “Don’t mind her, fool speaks some truth—though,” She’d shift a glare to the two, “we’ll get are chance, maybe in the arenas, maybe elsewhere. We’ll see.”

Azurite threw her head back and scoffed at the two, “You two remind me of these two twins in this movie, thought they were all impervious and crap cause they had some OP ghost power, then end up getting blown up at the end—in an SUV of all things.” She turned her back on them, not before small snarl, “keep talking crap and I’ll make sure you’ll end up like them.” The two shot her a glare, and just as she had went to walk away, one made a small movement with her hand, a wicked glare coveting her expression as the laminated steel flooring under Azurite’s falling foot went glossy with slick ice and she almost lost her footing, nothing more than a quiet sharp squeak as her she quickly caught her balance, barely noticing the ice before the gems eyes turned pure black—like shark catching a whiff of blood, and her head jerked into their direction almost instantly. Her hand almost flew to her blade, but the words of the amethyst throbbing through her now furious psyche. She would scoff again as she would walk to the other side of the amethyst with arms crossed as the twins chuckled under their breath.

Cocoa seemed to withdraw even more from the situation as the moments went on, it infuriated her to know she couldn’t do a thing about such arrogant misbehavior on her ship, how could this so-called noble make a gem who didn’t understand basic manners! Was it so hard to program a few rudimentary skills necessary for proper communication? It was like sapphire didn’t want to! The pearl managed to grab her school, she was practically seething so much she was heaving as she tried to calm herself, never had she wanted to turn around and smack the limitless universe out of a gem like how she did right now. Watch that sapphire practically tumble like stack of books. If she wasn’t so weak she toss her out an airlock, let fume her way in the vacuums of space that arrogant little … Cocoa was fuming so badly at this point the gem was shaking stomping her foot. Serendibite didn’t seem to notice however and continued to examine the gem before her, and interesting creation on the sapphires part, though the question she ended which prompted a few thoughts in her.

“Its fine, Clinohumite.” And she smiled warmly, “And you may add my classification, Serendibite, to your databases.” She went into thought, thinking of how to ask this, “And yes, its uses can be demonstrated, I had another favor to ask. But the one’s I wish to ask of are …” She turned to face Chevron, Azurite and Amethyst. “You three.” her eyes darting between the gems in question, a child-like look in her eyes as her lighthearted side started to show, “I would like to ask of you, to make a gem template please?”

[Paddy]

Amethyst's lip curled into a sneer as her brows came together. She'd dealt with gems like these two before; confrontational, always looking to do things the hard way, because it was the only way they knew, because they honestly preferred it that way. As much as she didn't want trouble with them, she never took kindly to gems who thought they were better than everyone else. Her arms crossed as she shifted her mass, and more fully faced the two snow agates. A huff of air left her nostrils as she rolled her eyes. Before she spoke, Azurite did, and it looked like the Honor Guard wasn't above some pregame taunting either; the clearly hostile intentions of both the agates and Azurite had 6UE racking her mind for some way to defuse things, but it was difficult-- Ame had a mind to let the comebacks she'd whipped up in her head loose, but no good could come from provoking gems like these in an arena like this one.

Before her irritation could get to her, Serendibite addressed the three soldiers who had been hanging out over the course of the mission. The soldier's expression relaxed, and she shrugged as she looked at Azurite,"Looks like we've got more important things to worry about now," She grumbled, attempting to help the Honor Guard cool down. She flipped to face her patron for confirmation about whether or not she could participate in the use of this machine. 

Padparadscha was completely caught off-guard by the request. What good could come of allowing these soldiers to use such a device? If anyone was going to create a monstrosity, it would be them surely. Her brows shot up as she looked around, trying to decide if this was some sort of joke, but it was clear to the Pink Court sleuth that Serendibite was being genuine. The sapphire's eyes slid to Clinohumite, who gazed between Serendibite and the other gems she'd addressed with an authentic curiosity; one that Padparadscha didn't want to squander, especially considering she had created the gem. "In the spirit of helping to acclimate the deputy to her task, I think it should do to show her how it works...if you really think this is the best way to do so, designer," One of her slender brows raised at the tall gem, then she glanced down at the chip in her own hand. Was it responsible of the lapidary to gift her this template? All the things she could do with a hundred Clinohumites had passed through her mind already, but the sapphire had some curiosity bubbling up of what 6UE, the Honor Guard, and the new Chevron Amethyst could create together; what use could be made of the gem they would create?

The investigator's attention was momentarily caught by Cocoa's fuming, but the sapphire elected to let the pearl sort out her own emotions. Clino, thoroughly put off by the pearl, instead intentionally ignored her in an attempt to ignore what she couldn't understand (for the time being, anyway; one investigation at a time) and let her full attention go to the trio of soldiers.   

With the go ahead to do so, Ame swallowed, and glanced toward the other soldiers who had been recruited for the task. She'd not actually thought too hard about the machine or what it's implications were, or what the theme of Serendibite's experiment was, because she didn't think it had much to do with a regular quartz like herself. "Erm, well, where should we start?" She took long strides up to the machine. If she had been paying attention at all, she'd probably know how to use it, but as it stood she was at a loss looking at the control panel. 



   

[Mad Azurite]

Serendibite managed to clear her throat, her gaze shifting to Cocoa who was still brooding over her mistreatment by what she could only described as absolute fools, but again without really any words or clear way of communication, the pearl would raise her head, turn and look her mistresses in the eyes before looking over at the machine and the Amethyst who went to march towards it. She fumed, growling as she stomped past the noble and Clinohumite, while Azurite, whose eyes glistened back to normal would stare back at Serendibite with surprise and then look to Chevron who had receded at the sight of violence getting ready to occur, “Us?” she’d say right after the noble had made her own remarks, “Dude, what!? Really?” She’d shout happily, her mood completely flipping, and she’d make for the control panel, Chevron having a cheesy grin behind her as she rush to follow, “We can make our own?” She’d look at the Amethyst with a wide smile as Cocoa had just made their way to assistant them. Cocoa would frown at the three, hoping she could get this over so she could get these buffoon off this damn ship so she could relax in peace.

“It’ll be fine, I am curious to see what you three create.” Serendibite would say, something of a sly but again youthful smile on her face. “Allow Cocoa to guide you when necessary, I advise you three take a portion of the creation for yourselves to make this a little easier—and less time consuming of course.” She say, gesturing her hand to her obvious exhausted pearl who would look at the three with a narrowed vicious gaze, frowning as Azurite played with the interface, “So, who wants what, dude can I make her figure!? I’d love that yo,” Chevron immediately made a face and looked at Azurite incredulously, “I’ee must prot’esste , v’ou v’ill make ‘zeh gem v’ith no butt’e!” she frown and azurite would look over with innocent look, “I would never do such a thing, seriously Chevy, what’s the problem with having no butt? Why do you keep bringing butts up anyway?” her tone would shift to something of a weird curiosity, which the chevron seemingly confused as to her own actions would go deep into thought, “I’ee … do not know. Az’ee you say’ee farr’e too much.” She scold.

Azurite went thinking outloud, “Yeah I guess I do. Oh’well,” she’d throw her hands up, “So Ame, you wanna handle that side and I do this one? And then give Chevy the rest, if there is anything?” She’d say, honestly she had no idea what she was doing and neither did chevron who would walk between the two and smile awaiting her moment. Cocoa would look at the three and frown again before taking a deep exhale and explaining the current modules, how the system worked at a basis, her tone had deadly sharp fury to it. The snow agates watch with uninterested face, more annoyed that they couldn’t get a chance to crush obvious prey prickling at their pride.

[Paddy]

Clino trailed after the pearl as she made her way up to the controls, and leered around the control panel trying to get a better look at it herself. She avoided looking at the pearl, still confused about her response, if not a little afraid of the gem; but that wouldn't keep her from trying to figure out more about this diabolical looking machine, with all of its lasers and shaping technology. Everything was still hard for her to conceptualize, but Padparadscha's words had given her some reassurance. 

The sapphire herself pursed her lips, and took a moment to be thankful that her own Pink Pearl had a more passive temperament. On top of that, she had a growing pit in her midriff about this. From the response of the trio, she wasn't sure they were taking it as seriously as she would've liked them too-- even Serendibite seemed to be having fun with this situation. Padparadscha reassessed what she had thought the point of this experiment had been; it seemed she had jumped to conclusions, or that she hadn't quite wrapped her head around the psyche of this Yellow Court lapidary. The investigator watched Serendibite closely, attempting to pick apart her expression for clues about what laid underneath, what true motives were hidden just out of her reach. 

Amethyst grew in excitement along with the other soldiers, but she was confounded by all of the data coming to her from pearl's laconic explanation, and some part of her awareness was still pinned to the snow agates. From her orientation on the machine, it looked as if personality was going to be her responsibility for this part of the experiment. The quartz had never even contemplated what sort of gem she would make if she had the chance, and part of her just wanted to see what would happen if she put all of the most wild personality traits (from her own perspective) together, but then again she knew this would be a real gem, who would have to live with whatever she ended up with. 6UE was suddenly unsure of this, especially as she scrolled through the pre-made temperaments, and customization lists of individual traits; she would've rather done something less complex, but she didn't want to stick Chevron with something so heavy, and it sounded like Azurite was already excited about what kind of butt this gem would end up with. 

"Hmm..." Amethyst began turning the dials and interacting with the menu, pulling together different aspects of both pre-made and custom traits. She paused to itch under her chin, then crossed her arms as she thought. "I guess we should think of what kind of job this gem is gonna be doing," She mused aloud. It was natural to assume they would be some sort of soldier, but what kind? Close combat, like she was? Midranged and dexterous, or long ranged and scout-like? She couldn't conceptualize anything outside of the brackets that had been stamped into her programming, but it was interesting to think of what might come about if she just winged it,"Or...I mean, does the gem have to have a job at all?" She thought a bit quieter, it was unclear whether she was thinking to herself or with the other soldiers. 

Padparadscha's brow quirked at hearing this; of course the gem needed a primary task of some kind, it was the hallmark of gemkind to have such a thing upon inception. She dearly hoped Amethyst wouldn't create a gem who would be contrary to this conception of what her species was; contrary to what the sapphire wanted for herself.