Mysterious Hierarchies ((Paddy))

[Mad Azurite]

Honestly, the Morganite was ready to disregard the noble and move on with her assessments, or at this point loggings. She made sure to leave the small mark noting that the Grey Onyx was still acting out, and that further retest should be rushed—she’s becoming a brash nuisance. That is until, something of brooding commanding voice bared weight on her ears and she stared down at with sapphire straight-face, slowly blinking. She thought for a moment, this gem looked like some kind of Pink Diamond officiate, she half assumed they were being either monitored today or evaluated, but the shaking, and the palpable emotion this gem gave off was speaking otherwise. Whatever, she’ll amuse her, she thought. “Do I? I am the Overseer of this portion of the facility, it’s my duty to know who this gem is.” She said as she pulled up her roster-records. “Grey Onyx Facet G56 X3, a covert-infield interrogator who has an uncanny trait, a … subverting persuasion method, if you will.” She would tap the glass with her index finger and it would lighten again, revealing the gem inside.

This Grey Onyx had tucked herself into a corner, sitting in something like a fetal position as the grey lurid hair of hers splattered against the floor like some kind of inkly substance. She wore typical Homeworld attire tinted to her specific gem, to which her gemstone was shaped into an obelisk-cut. She shot a glare from the corners of her eyes at the two—it appeared she had managed to bottle up her anger and was now silently brooding.

“Upon her testing, she failed to utilize her abilities to the standards necessary for a gem of her usage. Stealth operatives demand a much higher test rating, any deviation, even the smallest from the typical performance is a sign she either needs more training or could be defective,” the Morganite quieted herself, knowing that right now, the gem could hear both of them. “She’ll get another chance, though she is expected to perform far better than the last.” She then cast her apathetic eyes down on the sapphire, “Now, I was unsure if officials would be visiting—but in areas like this, it’s normal to have accompaniment as these quarters are a dangerous section of the facility, not that I care what you do, simply be careful—you don’t want to wander onto one of the training floors while a Snow Agate is practicing her flash freezing capabilities—it’s happened you know. Though I still think those two froze her for the fun of it.” Was she referring to the two snow agate’s they’ve already met? It would appear the two had froze a gem solid during their training.

Whether it was an accident is to say.

Thing is, the two in the room had vanished, not long after Cocoa had left to search for Padparadscha. Where ever they were, it was unknown now. But more pressing matters were happening, as it seemed most of the group was on the move indeed. Though Azurite now had a very large gem to stare uncomfortable at. Serendibite’s comment to her managed to rile her up—especially considering it had a deeper connection to some past events of this honor guard, she shot an angry look at Seren who had turned to continue to another portion of the ship. “Whatever.” Azurite growled and started to stomp after her, leaving Helio somewhat disappointed, the angry look in Azurite’s eyes managed to actually intimidate even the larger gem—it was Azurite’s features. Her angry face was certainly pronounced.

“Is she alright?” Helio would shift her attention to Clino, “I didn’t do something did I?” She asked a bit concerned.

Chevron was a little overwhelmed, so much was happening, she actually hopped a little as Amethyst referred to her along with her own little squeak, she tried to reply, “Ee’t v’ill be okay!” Chevron tried her hardest to cheer up the Amethyst, she could only imagine how she felt. Even she caught on that guard losing her objective could be a stressful situation indeed. “I’ee have full Confee’dance ee’n Cocoa’s abil’ettee’s, yes?” She perked up, “Z’o I v’under v’hy zeh madame has left us.” She wondered if it had something to do with the project they were working on.

[Paddy]

The sapphire became increasingly irrational as Morganite spoke, uttering the entirely wrong answer to her question. She gripped at the air, her eye gave a twitch, her clenched teeth bared in a grimace as the other gem's voice became an irritating drone in the back of her mind. The sense of urgency, as if she had to escape as quickly as possible, tore at every fiber of the small gem's being. Her eyes flickered to and fro, her foot slid backward again, and lips fell open as soon as the gem stopped speaking,"Excellent!" Her voice came out strained, her stress translating easily through any modicum of poise she attempted to carry before she clapped her hands, angling toward the tank containing the Grey Onyx,"I'll take this one as my accompaniment, get her out of there! I must make my departure soon so do hurry, Morganite,"

The small young deputy's nape tingled as Azurite seemed to be increasingly agitated by the situation-- the high discrepancy? Clinohumite wasn't sure what it was that ticked off the Honor Guardian. Her brows furrowed as she watched the gem storm off. When Helio addressed her, the small gem jumped a bit and swiveled to look wide-eyed at the huge gem, but relaxed a bit before she spoke,"Ah," She cleared her throat as she prepared to explain exactly what just happened from her perspective,"You see, Azurite has a high discrepancy issue. I am not entirely sure what she meant by that, but one must meet her height requirements before they are admitted permission to speak I presume," She gave an awkward grin and folded her harms behind her back. 

6UE gave a sigh as she followed the group, but smiled warmly at Chevron to show her appreciation for what the gem was attempting to do for her. Though, she wondered if she'd be able to cheer up at all after this,"I've got an idea of what she might be doing," Amethyst answered with some exhaustion tinging her voice,"Over the past few months that I've gotten to know her, I gotta say, that gem is really hard to look out for. I just hope Cocoa knows what she's in for is all," The soldier's eyes flicked down and lowered her voice,"She's out there getting answers for whatever question is on her mind, I guess...she doesn't let anyone stop her, except--" 

Then Amethyst stopped, freezing in her tracks,"You know, it's been a while since we heard from the snow agates..." She swiveled, cold fear washed over her as she realized the malicious soldiers had disappeared as well as her sapphire. Looking a margin paler than she usually did as she began coming up with wild worst-case scenarios, 6UE glanced to Chevron, her voice taking on a twinge of desperation,"...y-you don't think those agates would hurt her do you? Would they listen to a pearl?" Her teeth clenched, she didn't wait for an answer before she cut over and began to speed-walk after the pearl, alarm bells ringing through her muscles prevented her from relaxing for even a moment.

[Mad Azurite]

The Morganite almost seemed to make a double take, and upon hearing what the sapphire said she straightened some, a scowl forming on her face as she was suddenly being given orders. But, the sapphire’s response didn’t elicit just a response from her, the tall lengthy grey onyx stood out of her corner, staring down the two as the conflict came into fruition—was this gem trying to release her, she took what small steps she could make in her little isolated room managing to get her to the window where she properly observe this strange newcomer. The Morganite seemed to be tossing something around in her head as she stared at the sapphire skeptically, “Excuse me?” She would stoop over, something of an aggravated dissonance in her eyes which seemed to elicit an easily discernible, condescending glower. “I don’t quite know who you are, but you have no authority to be commanding the release of that gem, or any gem in here for that matter.” She pulled back her shoulders as her expression relaxed with an unimpressed smirk riding across her lips, this gem, the audacity, it was actually laughable. “Come back with some clearance and then maybe we’ll talk about letting you select from our premium test templates. Until then, dally off! If you intend to tour, do so—just don’t touch anything.”


Disgruntled, Heliotrope, shifted her gaze back to the Azurite as she was stomping off after Beady, and then shifted her gaze back to Clino, “Well, that’s not right!” She frowned, standing impatiently and casting another glare at Azurite, “So I don’t meet your height requirements is it?!” her voice boomed enough that even Serendibite stopped dead in her tracks and looked back curiously, almost alarmed it seemed. Azurite, was so busy yelling in her own head, she barely seemed fazed as she turned with something of mix of emotional confusion and anxiety in her expression. “Wuh?” She managed to get out as the large stomped toward her and Azurite’s hand flew toward her sword in an instant, “Woah! Alright big-girl don’t just come stomping at us little folk like that—geesh, now I know how those humans felt in Godzilla!” She said as the towering gem stared down at her furiously. “Apparently I’m too strange for you?” Azurite’s face contorted with bewilderment, “Whhaaa? Well, if you took three looks at me, you’d see I have no right callin’ anyone strange.” She said as he hand finally left her blade, though the gem was still shaking, “Hmph!” Helio cast her nose up and turned away obviously feeling disrespected.

“Yo, wait, look it isn’t you alright! I just …” Azurite seemed to lock up, “Just some crap in my past, alright. Hard for me to be around big gems like you. It isn’t your fault.” She managed and Helio looked back confused, concerned even, “Wait, how? What happened?”

Azurite again grew quiet, and the look on her face said she definitely didn’t like talking about it, “Well,” she cast her eyes away and then they lifted her gaze to see Serendibite staring at her knowingly “Its someone’s fault, just not yours.” Serendibite managed to frown at this, “Well, I already told you it was an accident. Why you haven’t gotten over that is beyond me.” She said her face becoming stoically resound in her statement.

Azurite was about to say something when she caught a fast movement, seeing 6UE make a shake for the door, Chevron who seemed to take a double cast around the room as she too realized the Agates were gone and took after the solder to assist, what just happened? “H-hey! Yo, purps!” She’d shout and took off in a run as she too would make a sprint for the door to which Helio watched with confusion, casting her eyes around, “Didn’t you guys just say for them not to go off alone?” Serendibite’s eyes held something of expectant look as she shook her head despondently. “It would seem finding the sapphire is far more important at this moment.” She seemed to think of a moment, before lifting a hand one of the orbs that followed her would levitate from its usual spot and into her palms. She then raised a hand to her left eye covering it, apparently closing too—and suddenly and very eerily a massive eye would appear as if becoming flesh and blood from the skin of this orb. It shrunk in size and then suddenly dashed for the darkness of the room.

“Helio, we can continue your test—I’m very interested in knowing more about your gem-template and the experimentation of your creation. Why don’t you come with me? There is much to learn for both of us.” She’d recommend really, and then turn to walk away, Helio would look back and forth from the door the gems were rushing too and Serendibite, unsure of what to do. It seemed Azurite was making off after them, and ... she looked to Clino, “I think it’d be best if you went with them, I’m going to go learn about myself.”

Meanwhile, Chevron managed to keep up with 6UE, “Maitriser 6UE! Are you sure! V’e have no idea v’ere to go!” She wondered if the snow agates would truly pull such a rash action, attacking a noble?

[Paddy]

One of the deep frustrations a gem like Padparadscha could harbor was the fact that her words weren't enough. She always needed someone bigger and stronger to give weight to her words, whether it were a quartz or a Diamond. On top of the weariness from the day's accumulated stresses, she found herself unable to bring herself down from her heightened distress, especially as the Morganite simply denied her. Any gem could waltz in here and pretend to be important; the rational part of her knew that this proctor was simply doing her job.

Yet, that fact skated over the sapphire's head in her current lapse. Not only had the Morganite given the incorrect response to her initial question, but for a second time she gave the wrong answer; it showed Padparadscha everything she needed to know to make the comparison between this gem, and one unfondly remembered from her own past. "Of course you don't know who I am," Padparadscha answered, her voice a low hiss before climbing in volume,"Because if you did, you'd know not to speak to me in such a manner." Her tone was grave, and pinched the bridge of her nose as her eyes shut tight. Her hand fell away, revealing a wounded expression on the sapphire as she tapped her bracelet and her holoscreen appeared,"Clearance! She wants clearance! Oh, by the Diamond's she's going to have it!" The sapphire muttered quietly to herself as she flicked through her holopanel system, and brought up her Pink Court investigations unit profile, stating her level of clearance alongside her titles and accolades. 




Clinohumite became increasingly uncomfortable as the confrontation between Helio and Azurite broke open. She grimaced, suddenly realizing the error she'd made as she recalled the Honor Guard's earlier insistence. However, both of them began to say interesting things; for instance, Clino opted to literally take three separate looks at Azurite, though she didn't deduce much she hadn't already known. The Honor Guard was a hard to understand gem, but she had also given Clino recognition; the young gem felt conflicted about what to do. Her eyes flickered between Azurite and Serendibite, and something clicked for the deputy investigator. When Heliotrope looked to her again, Clino decided the gem was correct, and gave her a solid nod in response, before turning on her heels and marching after the group of soldiers who had formed a make-shift rescue team.

6UE hardly realized the other gems were after her as she took quick strides, sweating bullets, glancing for signs of her sapphire, Cocoa, the agates, anything as she rushed through the corridor. But she wasn't a tracker, she didn't know much about this frigate-- she was just a quartz, and it was infuriating for her to be so powerless when any number of things could be going wrong as she walked. As Chevron's words hit her ears, Amethyst came to a sudden halt and swiveled to face the other amethyst, her expression set into an austere determination. Then, she spotted Azurite and Clino, and gave the gems a nod,"Even if we don't know where to go, we've got speed on our side right?" She eyed Chevron's wings, and Azurite's sword, then spoke with a heft to her voice as an aspect she rarely took on emerged from her desperation,"I don't know those gems, I don't know what they're doing, but I know their type. I don't really know any of you...but we need to find her before she gets hurt. Lets get into teams, and split up," 6UE brought up a simple holotech system and began sending coded messages to Padparadscha, hoping the gem would answer, and motioned to offer her coordinates to any other holotech wielding gems in the area. 

[Mad Azurite]

The Morganite waited, her patience waning as well as she remembered she had maybe two-hundred or so more rooms to get through before she could withdraw to her quarters and separate herself from the rest of the fray. Eventually her holo-apparatus sprung to life and not before shooting the sapphire a suspicious stare she opened it, stepping away as she began to look through the contents of this dossier. Her expression seemed to crack for second and the look in her eyes seemed contain a fuming anger, why was it that she wasn’t informed a aristocrat of all things would be here? Usually that pearl was so on-top of things here she swore she knew every footstep on the ship, and here for the first time in almost centuries was an anomaly in that record. She shifted her attention to the gem once more, “Excuse me … madam,” she said the last part as if though it hurt, “Allow me to make contact with my supervisor, this gem is a test-subject, very unpredictable, we could be held liable if anything happens without our full test-results—as such you’ll most likely be taking full responsibility of her—and her actions.” Her warning gaze was set on the sapphire but shift as she brought up her communicator.

“Hello, yes ... There’s a sapphire here representative of my Diamond requesting to take one of our unprocessed creations … Yes, Grey Onyx Facet G56 X3 … Yes, that one … I have absolutely no idea.” She shot a gaze at the gem stuck in her cell, “Quite, but she seems insistent ... Mhmm … Mhm. Of course.” She immediately ended the call shifting her gaze to Padparadscha once more, “This test subject is completely unpredictable, as such—you will have to comply with a digital waiver, you must also agree to giving us proper updates on her status and affectivity. This is of course all in order to protect the livelihood of this gem and the name this facility has made for itself.” She then shot gaze at the gem in her cell who was shocked, was this really happening, was she about to go free? She stood silent, too shocked to say anything.


Azurite and Chevron shot a gaze at each other at the mention of speed, they did have air support, they could get around if necessary. “Alright, everyone turn on your spaz radars, it the only way we’ll find this one!” Azurite would joke as she drew her weapon, the blade extracting itself to its normal length before she let go and it hovered to the ground in its idle state—a soft whirring noise coming from it. Chevron extended her wings, much to azurite’s surprise—she wasn’t sure if she was going to ever be able to get over that. “So whose going with who?” Azurite asked, and Chevron seemed to want to inquire something as well, “Ee’t ees z’strange z’ee sapph’erre could van’eesh away so suddenly, no?” She asked, “she couldn’t be too far.” Her gaze went behind her, smiling at Clino but then realized Helio wasn’t following. “Z’eh Helio ee’s not coming?” She asked Clino.

[Paddy]

As she listened, the sapphire was on the edge. She wasn't sure what she was doing, but what she had just witnessed had been too eerie for her to simply leave. The feeling of being trapped continued to close in around her, the surface of her skin tingling as her hands gripped into fists. The sapphire tried to center herself by focusing on the present, the Morganite's words.

"Huh! Unpredictable," The sapphire echoed the Morganite's words, and swiveled to face the glass. Her eyes flicked over the Grey Onyx as she began to assess the facial cues and body language of the gem. She was confident in her ability to read lies and social indicators, though there were some gems who were far harder to read than average. "Tell me who you are, give me an introduction," Her command came with some urgency, she gestured for Grey Onyx to hurry. This would offer her a glimpse into the gem's own self concept, her idiosyncrasies, and ultimately assess what sort of liar she had the potential to be."I'll not be signing any waivers until I get an answer," Her brow quirked, she shifted to peer over her shoulder at the Morganite. The overseer's disdain was one that Padparadscha had met with before. It was a familiar frustration in the gem's voice and composure, it was nothing she couldn't work with. 


Clinohumite pressed her lips together as Chevron addressed her, but stuck her hand up as she prepared to give her spiel in response,"Ah, well, Heliotrope has opted to accompany Serendibite on an investigation of herself-- of Heliotrope that is. She sent me away believing that I would be more fit to serve in this capacity," She let her hand fall, and her eyes wandered over to Azurite, before darting away to focus elsewhere. She felt a strange discomfort in her midriff, something she wasn't familiar with at all. 

6UE suddenly wasn't sure about what she was doing, as Clino spoke it gave her a minute to run over things in her head more thoroughly, and it was beginning to seem like a bigger and bigger risk. As her eyes flicked between all the present gems, she became increasingly impatient and irritated with her own indecisiveness. Chevron's words had been unsettling for 6UE; the sapphire had disappeared suddenly, quietly, and without a trace, much as the snow agates had. Though, they weren't Amethyst's only concern, there were other things afoot on this vessel. The pressure climbed, until she just allowed it to come to her,"Clino you're with Chev, Azzy and I will head down this way while you guys check out the rest-- if that sounds good? Stay in contact," Amethyst gestured in the direction's she referred to, and glanced down to her holoscreen, seeing that Padparadscha still hadn't answered her. 

[Mad Azurite]

Listening closely, the grey gem in her cell almost flinched as this unfamiliar aristocrat dug her eyes into her, she shot a gaze here and there—did she want her to introduce herself in here? She looked around very nervously actually, becoming more and more fidgety by the second. It just didn’t feel right introducing herself from behind a hard-light panel. “Uhhh, just a second!” She said, as she seemed to be ruminating something. Until that is she suddenly vanished. In what amounted to a seconds’ worth of moments, the gem exploded into a blue-grey cloud which evaporated like light smoke into the air, and within not even a millisecond later, “Grey Onyx Facet G56 X3 prototype stealth operative and infield interrogator, ma’am!” Appearing right next to the sapphire in an explosion of colored smog was this gem, with a mighty fine diamond salute to boot, her inky black hair seemed to almost defy gravity as it drifted to a settled state. Immediately there was a shriek as the Morganite fell backwards and on her bottom, stuttering before she could yell, “B-by the stars!” She shouted, “N-no no! This is absolutely unacceptable! That containment field should disrupt any form of instant travel in or out of it!” The Morganite pushed herself away in fear—this gem’s abilities were beyond terrifying to her—not just her ability to planes-walk, no it was that horrible pheromone she could secrete, she’d never experienced anything as horrifyingly subtle as this gems’ persuasion toxin.

“Stand back, ten-feet, now!” The Morganite yelled as a command to the onyx as the other gems in their cells began to get curious and stare through the panels at the scene, the onyx nervously following the orders as she backed away from the two. “This gem is beyond unpredictable—why you want her is beyond me! If you start smelling something like sweet lilac, sweet enough to taste in the air—it’s too late! That horrible gas she secretes causes a stupor of the mind and before you know it you’ll be following every command she throws out at you!” The Morganite continued to push herself back, she had gotten to see firsthand how terrifying this pheromone was. The Onyx immediately grew hysterical, “No! I can control it, I swear I figured out how to stop it!” She immediately recoiled as if though she had just done something wrong, “I just gotta focus, see? No smells right? Right?”

The Morganite withdrew even further, when suddenly she took a whiff of the air, maybe it was just her imagination—but for an inkling of a second she smelt that sickeningly sweet odor and her eyes flashed with horror as she went for her communicator, this could go horribly wrong, and the paranoid Morganite was more than willing to hit the containment breach protocol switch if needed.


Chevron seemed a little confused by Clino Response, “I’ee see…” She seemed to be considering something but then her gaze shifted back to 6UE who took a more commanding tone with three, or at least a solder’s tone. It was impressive to say the least. Even Azurite seemed to respect the solder’s tone, stepping on her blade and activating its sealing systems. “Ight, hop on yo!” She’d say, waiting for the Amethyst to step on before lifting off into the air.

Chevron looked over at Clino, Funny, it seemed the two shared much in height, so it was easy for her to walk over, which to Clino might have been quite awkward as the gem went to practically hold her, “Oh! Madame Clino, You are quite heav’ee no?” She’d ask surprised really, she realized the gem was a little ... denser than she gave her credit for, but at the moment it didn’t seem to bother her, the gem’s generous smile continued.

As Azurite and 6UE would make it airborne, she immediately caught movement within the odd labyrinthian paths. It was Cocoa, and she was ... running towards somewhere? “Hey, I think I just saw Cocoa-bean, and she was running towards the containment area!” She looked back at 6UE, “You think she found her?”

[Paddy]

Padparadscha's brows shot up as Grey Onyx disappeared, she glanced around and her eyes caught the target,"Wuh!" She jumped as she saw the gem had some how appeared next to her. Her attention split between the Morganite and the Grey Onyx, both who had seemed to quickly dissolve into hysterics. Padparadscha was so shocked and alarmed by the two gems behavior that it seemed to yank her out of her increasingly irrational status; though it wasn't just the hysterics of them, but something seemed awfully suspect about this situation.

Instead, she narrowed her eyes between both of them. "What? What is the meaning of this? You could leave your containment at any time?" She swiveled toward Grey Onyx, a look of incredulity on her face, then she glanced back to the morganite,"If this gem had intentions to desert, she would've done it a long time ago, quite frankly. I'm not sure of the truthfulness of her statement, because she doesn't seem sure herself,"

The sapphire avoided taking many breaths, though some were necessary in order to form the resonance needed to speak. She gave a huff, a glower at the morganite, then turned her attention back to the Grey Onyx. Her lips pressed together, it was only now that it began to dawn on her what a mistake she'd made in initiating this fiasco-- yet, as irrational as the choice had seemed, she wondered if this field interrogator were one who could be of use to some of her more pressing investigations. The current of urgency continued to push her, and as much as she wondered if this was a good idea, she raised her eyes to meet Grey Onyx's,"Do you think you could handle doing fieldwork for one of Pink Diamond's foremost investigation units? Your abilities certainly sound useful to me," She raised a brow. It was hard to trust a gem whose ability was to control others, but perhaps her own ability would mitigate that,"Of course, I would need you to pledge your allegiance to the Pink Court,"


Amethyst gave a nod to Azurite and hopped on without hesitation; though she was worried about Padparadscha, she was also still just as excited about flying swords as she had been earlier. As the two took off, Clino watched them go for a moment before she noticed Chevron making her approach. The gem wasn't alarmed or put off by her approach, she simply went along with it. At mention of her denseness, the deputy thought for a moment,"Yes, typically I am quite heavy," Her head tilted slightly to get a better look at Chevron,"However, if my weight becomes an obstacle to this endeavor, I can simply adjust the concentration of density," As she spoke she did so, becoming much lighter in a puff of stardust. 

As the two soldier's zipped through the air, Amethyst kept an eye out for anything of interest, but briefly peered to her holoscreen in hopes of seeing something from Padparadscha. The sapphire always had her holotech system on her, so the fact that she wasn't answering gave 6UE's nerves a fiery kick. She glanced up as Azurite spoke up over the quickly moving air,"Maybe, but if she's runnin' it sounds like there might be trouble, we gotta check it out," Her teeth clenched as she finished speaking.

[Mad Azurite]

The Grey Onyx seemed to make a double-take at the sapphire, “Y-yes ma’am! But seeing as my ability to teleport can only reach a certain distance—escaping my cell would have been futile.” She was aware that even if she escaped, with the amount of time it took to teleport and the fact it cost energy to do so, she’d be stuck and mostly stuck facing those Agate twins on the ship—and they were the last thing anyone would want to run into on this ship, especially with a detain-on-sight order thrown in. The Morganite listened to the sapphire, was she insane? Did she not understand how dangerous this gem was? “Fieldwork?” The Onyx asked, continuing her salute, “Of course ma’am, anything for the empire!” her eyes seemed to cast a bit of worry, “I’ll do anything to be away from this place.” She added, she seemed very genuine—it seemed more than anything that the gem desired freedom from her boxed enclosure.

The Morganite herself shook her head at the sapphire, “You are insane, that gem dangerous and completely unpredictable—you could have honestly chosen something far safer and more effective, hell you could have taken one of those failed hematoid quartz abominations in the west-wing over this, much more appropriate infiltrators and at least disposable if anything. But this is insanity at its finest!” The Morganite mentioned as she stood to her feet, brushing herself off.

Meanwhile, Azurite would make a nod toward her companion as the sword made a dip and they descended, Cocoa seemed to be terrified, there was a look on her eyes that shone a strong unsettling fear upon her facade, “I can’t believe this, she went straight to the barracks and containment facility! This has to be preemptive, and she’s asking that gem—by the stars if she sees all those failed abominations in the west-wing, there could be upheaval with Blue Court, no not even just the Blue Court, even the Pink and Yellow Diamond Courts will have something to say about this!” She snagged her hair in her fingers only to slide to a stop in sheer fright as the two solder-class gems pulled across parallel to her. “Yo Cocoa, where’s the sapphire!?” she shouted, and Cocoa, actually having to catch her breath before speaking up, “Your patron took off to the Containment facility!” She shot a glare at the Amethyst, “You!” She shouted as she stomped toward 6UE. “What were your real motives for coming here? I can see she is trying to undo us; but trying to take one of our most dangerous gem creations for her own was completely unsuspected! First chance she gets and she runs off to the containment center and is asking for a prototype gem too dangerous to even rely upon.”

“Cocoa, calm it!” Azurite would yell and the pearl withdrew as she shifted her gaze, “What gem is she asking for, what’s going on?” Cocoa seemed to grow more flustered by the second, “A prototype infantry gem my mistress accidently designed while perfecting the Onyx facet X3 model, for some reason the Onyx, under stress and anxiety, would release a pheromone from her body, the pheromone is extremely dangerous, it causes the senses to lose alertness-causing gems to enter a stupefied state! It’s like a truth serum, but far worse—not only can she extract the truth from the gem, but she can even suggest them to perform actions for her—extreme actions if he gem in question is weak will enough!” Cocoa, raced past the two as yelled back, “That gem is extremely dangerous! Both if misused and if let loose without proper containment procedures!”

Chevron listened carefully, this was a first, but she knew it wouldn’t be so hard for her powerful wings to carry the gem even as she was now, “Eet tee’s fine madame! Please hang ou’n tightly and do not let go!” she was about to take off when she immediately questioned if she was holding anything at all, she looked at Clino with confusion for a moment, she was as light as a feather, maybe even more so. “Z’at Tee’s incredi’belle!” She smiled, “Hang on!” And with that, chevron took for the skies, the gem’s intense speeds kicking in as a loud sonic thud could be heard echoing across the ship.

[Paddy]

Padparadscha nodded to Grey Onyx, and to Morganite as well. She knew from hearing the abilities and record of this gem that she was indeed dangerous, a gem who could affect the minds of other gems, and teleport, would be one difficult to control through traditional gemmic means. Typically the sapphire might even agree that a gem like this should be carefully watched, her momentary lapse in judgment had lead to her making quite the precarious decision, but it was done. Taking away the freedom she had just dished out to this prototype could only lead to an even more problematic future for all three of the gems embroiled in this confrontation. The best thing would be for everyone to remain calm, especially if this prototype's abilities were activated with a loss of focus. 

However, Grey Onyx would make an excellent witness during trial, as would any of the gems kept in containment here-- dangling such an opportunity for this gem to take might be her ticket to a smooth collaboration with the Onyx. For now Padparadscha had another goal in mind.

"The west wing you say? Hematoid quartz? I hear those are quite effective gems indeed. I must say you have captured my interest Morganite, I'd like to see this west wing for myself. Do be so kind as to show us the way," Her head tilted slightly as she gave a sweet smile, then she glanced toward the onyx she had chosen for her accompaniment, and motioned for the gem to follow,"and do stay close X3. I'd like to get to know you a bit as we tour the west wing," The sapphire's smile held for a moment, then evaporated, her expression settled into an austere, focused aspect.


Even Amethyst jumped a bit as Azurite called for order in the room, but the quartz narrowed her eyes slightly at the pearl when her chance to speak came,"Not my fault you got on her bad side. Stars, I'm on her bad side too. I don't worry about her job, I worry about mine," and truthfully even if she had wanted to share information with this gem, she had no clue what Padparadscha was actually up to. 6UE wondered if she were going to follow through on her prior threats toward Kindergarten sigma, and from the way Cocoa was talking, it seemed the pearl might have been worried about that as well. Amethyst took a moment to update the other team on where Padparadscha was. 

Clino opened her mouth to reply, but before she had compiled her thoughts into an intelligible sentence, Chevron launched them both through the air-- her hair and limbs flapped back as everything she was going to say mashed together,"Gwaaah!" She held onto Chevron with a vice grip as the two blasted off in search of the sapphire. Soon after she tried to acclimate herself to the speed, she got a mental blip-- her built-in holotech capabilities were pinged,"Her Clarity is now in the containment center! Do we know where that is??" Clino called over the moving air. 

[Mad Azurite]

The Morganite, who looked like she just wanted to leave, went stone-faced when asked to lead her to the westwing. She hated looking at the abominations and even less unsettling was the thought of being around this grey onyx for another good thirty-minutes. She didn’t return the smile, but showed she was instead fearful—maybe even ready to bolt. She passed by the sapphire, making sure to stay as far away from the Grey Onyx as possible as she rounded a corner and gestured for them to follow. Suddenly, her communicator lit up, checking to see that Cocoa was requesting their position and next location. She jotted in a quick few statements and their next location. "Yes ma'am," grey onyx would say, and then followed closely after the sapphire.

It didn’t take long, especially since certain floors would speed their way across the facility, these gravity chambers, seemed to pull the floor itself across acting as a kind of automated transport that aided in reaching parts of the facility just a little faster.

Before they knew it, the blue coloration of the panels seemed to shift. They were now grey and colorless, and before the party were various chambers, the Morganite stepped off the platform to walk towards a series of control panels, to which she began to enter a few nervous commands, and slowly the fields seemed to shift to show the contents of these larger containment fields. And what would be seen was not three or four, five—ten even… there were a lot of them. And by them, these strange gems, familiar to anyone who had met Hematite and yet they all sported their own unique traits—coloration, height, number of eyes. But they all had their little familiar antennae which stood up at the sound of the panels shift in opacity.

Almost six dozen eerie eyed fusions shifted their heads immediately, staring at the observers on the other-side of the panel, their eyes locked on sapphire and her entourage as if though they were prey keying in on them, “Here’s your grotesque abominations,” she mentioned. Some of them stood to get a better look at the sapphire, while other’s seemed to be paired up in an odd form of community grooming as if they were keeping each other company.


Back to the solders, watching as Cocoa took off, Azurite frowned shaking her head, “Look that skinny legged noodle go,” she shook her head, activating the thruster on the sword in the process, “Hang on,” she said almost bored a she took off and as she passed by the pearl who had just saw her communicator light up, reach out and snatched her like wolf stealing prey, Cocoa practically screaming at this point as she was thrown over Azurite’s shoulder. “Put me down you mad brute!” she shouted and then started pounding her fist into Azurite’s back who didn’t even flinch. She looked up embarrassingly at 6UE about ready to plead for her freedom, when she remembered her message, she managed to tap the open,’ sequence, and her eyes went grim, “No …” Her eyes went grim, she found the abominations already?

“Azurite! To the westwing, immediately!” Azurite nodded her head, and the blade cocked upwards and thrust into the air, she remembered the containment facility all too well, she had to spend a few days herself here when she was but young gem fresh out pot.

After pulling an Immelman turn and spiraling about the center, she thought for a moment until she realized she had no idea where the gem was headed, she seemed to realize a huge hole in their plan, "Ah, for’geeve me madame, but I’ee do not know v’ere z’ese facility ee’se, Je suis désolé.” She would add. But the scenic flight was a least rather nice.

[Paddy]

The uncanny feeling that'd bothered the sapphire upon seeing the treatment of Grey Onyx was still there, creeping down her nape and prickling her skin, but it now mingled with a new concern-- that the gem herself was a source of danger. By the Morganite's words she was unpredictable. So far, Padparadscha felt she had a good enough read on the gem, at least for preliminary truth-telling. She stewed over questions to ask as the group made their way to the west wing, but she used this lull to check her holopanel. Her brows shot up as she realized 6UE had sent her a flurry of messages, most incoherent as the amethyst had never quite paid enough attention to thoroughly learn the code system, but she gathered the gist of what her bodyguard was telling her. She tapped in a reply, then looked up as Morganite directed them further into the facility.


Upon arriving, she instantly recognized these hematoid quartz fusions. The corners of her lips pulled sharply down as she came to her own conclusions about the place, and wondered if Hematite had spent time in such an enclosure before making her escape. Remembering what the gem had said back in the underground research center they had been trapped in some time ago, Padparadscha was gaining a better understanding of what exactly Kindergarten Sigma and it's mistress really were.
As much as she regretted the data breach, she didn't need to use her holopanel to gather data on this place; she had an idea, and one that would take down two birds with one stone.

"Excellent. X3, what do you think?" She managed to modulate her tone despite the discomfort wracking her body. The sapphire could feel every eye that was on the group, her teeth clenched for a moment as she tried to keep her composure,"It seems your mistress as been busy designing these... interesting models. Is this a continuous line Morganite?"


Amethyst's frown deepened to keep herself from laughing at Azurite's comment, and the fact that Cocoa seemed to be missing the opportunity a flying sword would present to the goal of quickly reaching Padparadscha. However, Azurite for certain didn't miss it, and soon the three of them zipped through the air at Cocoa's words. It was still the most speed she'd ever experienced without the protective enclosure of a ship's hull, and even the thin atmosphere of Kindergarten Sigma was enough resistance to cause some discomfort. A blip on her holotech pulled her out of her zone of thought, and she lit up as a message from her patron hit the screen,"She says she has the situation under control," 6UE muttered, it was unclear whether the other gems would hear her over the rush of air.

Clino frowned as her hair whipped around her face. Typically she might trace the message sent, but the message that had been sent was encrypted in such a manner that would make it difficult for her to do so. It would take longer to crack then would be practical for their goal. "Maybe...we should approach someone who has a statistically significant chance of knowing the proper direction?" The young gem suggested, though she kept her vice grip on Chevron as the gem glided.  

[Mad Azurite]

X3 stared into the casing with a telltale sign she had no idea what she was staring at, it was really beyond her comprehension, “I …” She stared and watched as one of the hematites, a rather tall willowy one stood from her perch—the signs that the Black Onyx gems were emanate on her face—she carried less whites, reds, and greys than the rest of her cousins, but then—it was odd … for the various gems captured here, it seemed that Moonstone and Onyx were the more dominating portion of the three-way fusion, with the spinel portions being severely reserved. In fact, it would be easy to see that the red-grey complexion of Hema, was a perfect representation of a gem-psyche perfectly fusing the three psyche’s with a strong influence of Red Spinel. “I can’t make ant real opinion about this ma’am, they are strange looking gems, that’ for sure.” She managed to say and then shifted her head to the Morganite as she waited for a response.

“No, far from a continuous line. These abominations were all failed attempts at a delicate project you will never understand.” She crossed her arms, and backed away from the sapphire, “To create consciousness poisoned enough to destroy the rebels from the inside out.” She looked toward the viewport, “There was only ever one, apparently the mistress asked her three simple questions—all of these failed to answer those questions right, except her.”

"And the questions were quite simple … "

A voice would be heard; but, no this wasn’t a voice, and it wasn’t something that could be heard. Group Telepathy? A black orb rolled from the shadows floating into the air, and exposing an eye that would stare down the three. “Oh! Mistress!” The Morganite would bow to the orb.

“The questions were; do you trust me? Do you trust gemkind? Do you trust yourself?” Serendibite’s discombobulated second body would send to the minds of the individuals around would say, she peered into the cage and grew reminiscent, “They all answered yes, to every question.” She would say, “And as you can see, that wasn’t what I was looking for—no, only she answered them right—straight from her making she said no to every question.” Serendibite shifted her gaze to the Grey Onyx for a moment then to Padpara, “And then, I made sure to instill and culture that mistrust of all gemkind, Rebels, Diamonds, all of us. I had sewn those seeds by throwing her into the war, where she saw the cruelty of both sides. All of course, under the Authority of the Diamonds.” She peered back.
“It was meant to be a plan to spawn over great time—but something happened, possibly the location she was dropped in allowed her time to find vigilance in the humans below.”

“I still believe those seeds are ready to spawn. She just needs a little push.” Serendibite grew quite after this, only because a strange humming could be heard, suddenly Azurite, with 6UE and Cocoa in tow, would round the corner and she hovered just a few feet away before she stepped off the blade, she scanned over the group, her eyes narrowing on the Grey Onyx who returned the gaze herself, as she set Cocoa down who looked very woozy all the sudden, “I… don’t feel all to well.” She mentioned, she looked she was going hurl at any second.

Eventually Azurite’s harsh expression landed on the sapphire, she crossed her arms, and something was certainly broiling beneath her emotionally stripped face.

Meanwhile, Chevron would simply nod as she made some of sharp descent, her wings quickly propping them forward like small paraglider as she slowed her fall just enough to land before a group of jet’s who peered over curious, “V’e are searching for ‘z’eh containment zon’ne!” she would ask, and one of the small jets began to bounce on her toes excitedly before running toward direction. She’d stop looking back, continuing to bob—the Jet had no mouth, it seemed she was coaxing them to follow.

[Paddy]

Her eyes swept over the containment cells, and the gems within, as she listened to Grey Onyx. As the gem finished speaking, the sapphire made some deductions about the temperament of this prototype, but her mind dwelt more heavily on the hematoid quartz fusions she was looking at. At Morganite's words, her brows furrowed; more pieces of the mystery were coming together for her, as well as her own determinations about what the true nature of this experiment was. There were many thoughts brewing beneath her articulated poise, and she began to bite at her cheek as she assessed what her next course of action would be.

Before she could make that determination, the voice of Serendibite cascaded over the room. Padpara's eyebrows shot up and she glanced upward, expecting to see the enormous gem emerge from the shadows. Instead, it was one of her eyes. The disembodied voice gave her chills, especially in combination with her mounting distress and uncertainty facing this strange situation, but she turned to more fully face Serendibite's orb as it spoke to the gems in the room. 

While the gem continued to speak, it became more difficult for the sapphire to contain her reactions to what was being said. It gave her a renewed sympathy for the enemy she had made not so long ago, but it also gave her another angle to come toward Kindergarten Sigma with in the future. "A little push?" The sapphire inquired, giving a dismissive wave to the gems she heard jostling around behind her. Padparadscha glanced over her shoulder to see which ones they were, and her lips pursed as she realized the ornery pearl was here, and the Honor Guard was in a clearly soured mood. For what reason she couldn't yet say. 

Amethyst hopped down from Glitterdance and rushed over to Padparadscha's side, before straightening up and throwing a salute for her,"Apologies ma'am, I never intended to leave post, but I didn't see you leave." The sapphire gave a bit of an exasperated sigh when she settled her eyes on 6UE. No doubt that gem had lead Cocoa and Azurite here, who were her ideological opponents in this investigative operation.

"I don't consider you to have left your post, 6UE," The sapphire said rather patiently despite the irritation that had managed to slip from her guise, then she turned again to face Serendibite's orb. 

As the two new gems glided up to the group of jets, Clino analyzed them with narrowed eyes. This was the first of this sort of gem she'd seen, and she was a bit incredulous about them. As one of the servants perked up and began to show them the way, the deputy's expression lit up, and waggled her legs a bit to drop herself from Chevron's grip. In another puff of stardust, Clino reassumed the weight she was most comfortable with, and began her heavy-footed march after the jet guide. "Very good, we shall get to the bottom of this after all!" Her tone was more excited than usual.

[Mad Azurite]

Azurite simply casted her gaze away as the sapphire met her own, dialing her eyes back on 6UE for a moment before she turned away from the group, however, a bit of movement from the cells across her shifted her attention, and she stared now at some of the weirdest gems she’s ever seen in her, “The hell are those?” she thought aloud and then walked up to the panel, one of the hematites shifted a glance at her as she combed her fingers through shorter one in front of her, “The hell are these?” she said as she sized it up, then her canted toward Serendibite, “Man, Beady you’ve made some weird shit, but this is up there.” She said aloud. Cocoa seemed to still be reeling from the flight, it seemed travel-by-air wasn’t one of her strong points.

Seren was honestly somewhat surprised that the sapphire chose to inquire about what she meant, she wasn’t honestly sure how to explain the next part, “Yes, whether what is needed will come will be up to chance.” Serendibite closed her eye, “Now, I have experiments to do. Noble, I’ll say it now as a declarative condition to taking Grey Onyx.” Whom her gaze fell on, “If she leaves this facility with you, you’re accepting all responsibilities and the agreement of our waiver in question. Note this facility has monitors and recording equipment strewn everywhere. I will deny all liability of her actions or whatever actions you coerce this gem into performing and will use it as my evidence to show our standard for her release. especially since you intend to take her without allowing our facility to properly test this anomaly.” She then looked over at the sapphire.

Chevron was rather impressed by these jets, the little sprite was small but for such a tiny gem it managed to keep ahead of them despite her marching at a speed that matched Clino. Eventually the small gem would lead them into a strange facility with various tower-like centers, panels showing various gems were hidden inside them. “z’ese must be z’e containment facility!”