Mysterious Hierarchies ((Paddy))

[Paddy]

Amethyst paused, and turned toward Azurite as the gem climbed onto her blade. The soldier's brows floated upward; it was a certainly tempting offer, and there weren't going to be many opportunities for her to fly around on a sword. Despite how strung out she felt, it was enough to give her a flutter of giddiness. Even if the situation was stressful, it would make a good story to tell the next time she was in conditioning with other amethysts. So, she gave a solid nod and a brisk walk over to Glitterdance. She gave it a look over, appreciating the tech before she stepped onto it with one foot, stabilized herself, then climbed up fully, and oriented herself relative to the manner that Azurite did.


Padparadscha's lips fell open as Nephrite accused her of having something wrong with her,"Excuse me!" She exclaimed,"I'll take you to court for this! You'll face the Diamonds! You'll-- you'll..." she made her threat, then turned her attention to Chevron-- not completely lucid of the fact that falling from this height would certainly mean her doom. But, she seemed to calm down as the gem lifted her up and looked her in the eyes. "Hmmm," the gentle descent lulled the already tired sapphire, her lids felt heavy as she fluttered her eyes. Chevron's gaze was hypnotizing for her, she just stared back, blinking slowly, until her lids closed together. "Hm,"


"Diamonds," 6UE huffed, watching the other amethyst model circle downward. Though, she was as figuratively on the edge of a blade as she was literally. Any minute, things could go haywire again, and she had no idea how to deal with it. Was she expected to? The burly gem remembered quite clearly how small she'd felt when the sapphire told her that she had made far too many mistakes not too long ago. When would the last straw be? Would she be blamed for this too?


The sapphire's eyes snapped open, and she glanced down, her whole expression shocked as she saw the quickly approaching ground, and her legs began to reflexively swing around,"Uh! Huh!" Her eyes darted between all of the gem's she'd just tried to escape from, and realized she would now need a plan B, especially since Chevron seemed to side with Nephrite on this. But she wondered what it was she that she was really doing in the first place.

[Mad Azurite]

Azurite waited for the Amethyst, who as she stepped on the blade took a more comfortable position would have felt something like her foot becoming almost ‘fused,’ the blades’ surface, the mechanism used to help a gems’ feet remain planted on the blade since it could reach rather impressive speeds for its time. “Alright, hold on!” Azurite would warn 6UE and then leaned forward, the blade seemed to respond to the weight she distributed on the blade and possibly other tech that was unseen to the eyes, but with that the blade would take off—of course not as impressively fast as the gem who just displayed her powerful ability, the jet propulsion on this sword was nothing to laugh at. With a careful twist of her body they were pulling back and forth into careful rotations until they were able to pull a full nose-peak and fly straight for the sapphire and the new line of Amethyst. 

Nephrite on the other had seemed to visibly withdraw from the sapphire as she began to make some rather venomous accusations of her, the gem holding her becoming more concerned by the second. Nephrite pouted and gave the sapphire shoddy look, “Jerk.” She uttered.

Chevron herself however seemed rather preoccupied glancing into the eyes of this sapphire, where a deep pink met a violet purple. Her face would blush and she’d bite her lip looking away, unsure exactly of what to do with the situation. But she’d glance back of course, as it seemed a little eye contact was keeping the sapphire at least somewhat calm. The pupils of her eyes contracting and expanding as if though she was scanning into the sapphire’s soul for a moment, eventually a nervous though genuine smile would gently tip her lips and she, admittingly, had to resist giving the sapphire a rather loving hug. 

But that didn’t seem to last and for more reasons than one, as the sapphire seemed to snap out of whatever charm the chevron’s eyes had placed on her and panicked as the ground seemed to be closing in, Chevron’s eyes would shift to worry again and her smile leaving her as she tried to think of a way to calm the petite gem down, “I have you, ee’ts all going to be okay!” she tried to console her only to partially jump at the sight of two gems riding a massive sword only to pull a quick halt right beside her, the blade entering a sort of suspended hover mode as Azurite matched their descent speed. “Yo, you all alright or is this gonna be a problem?” Azurite questioned, with Nephrite descending just above them with a bored stare. 

The Chevron seemed to almost possessively bring the noble closer, smothering her almost, even her smaller wings at her chest wrapping at the gem whose cheek would have been firmly squashed against her clavicle and her head just below K000’s chin, though the action was far more of a protective matter as she’d stare the two gems down with a sudden intense look in her eyes, “I v’ill hand’elle z’is! None of you can be trust’eed!” she accused them, thinking honestly that the sapphire must have been treated wrongly in some way by the gems around them, Azurite gawked and an almost murderous glare took over those shark-like eyes of hers, “What! The hell you just say to me you little chicken-bird lookin’ whatever the hell you are!” she practically started growling the last part, “I told you, the sapphire’s lost her mind, this one too.” Azurite looked up to see Nephrite swoop down beside them, “No, she’s trippin off my glitter!” And as soon as she said that, her face shifted emotion’s immediately, “Trippin off my glitter, that’s ... that’s a new one.” She tried to resist some laughter in the situation thought he smile on her face betrayed her accidental comedy in the fact. 

[Paddy]

As her feet stuck into the blade, Amethyst's brows went up, but at Azurite's warning she braced herself for the forward rush. Despite tensing her musculature and leaning forward, the blade accelerated fast enough to yank her back with force,"Wuh!" she regained her balance quickly, unable to hide her grin as the two of them flew out to meet with Chevron, Nephrite, and Padparadscha. 

The sapphire was too preoccupied with her fear of the height to acknowledge Nephrite, but soon she found herself crushed up against Chevron with enough force to squeeze a huff out of her. Now she could hardly move despite her efforts, and couldn't very well get a look at the ground from where she was, which the sapphire was content with. After a moment of fruitlessly squirming around, she decided to stop, and think more carefully about this situation. She really had no idea what was going on, she only remembered shadows and glitter at this point, and wondered if she even knew this gem's name. Who was she, and where was she taking her? Chevron's reassurance was calming, as was the notion that she wouldn't be plummeting through the air-- if she could trust this gem's word. Though, she found herself feeling that she couldn't trust this gem, even if she wanted to, given the fact that she couldn't really eject herself from the situation just yet.

6UE braced herself more ridgedly as the blade glided up into the air to meet with the other amethyst. She glanced between them all, then gave a small sneer at Chevron,"We're not trustworthy? You're the one who up n' stole an incapacitated aristocrat," Having no knowledge of Padparadscha's paranoid escape attempt, Amethyst wasn't having any of it. She was tempted to tell Chevron to hand the sapphire over, but from this height, there could be dire consequences if someone had a slippery grip. 

"Hmph! Impudence! Nothing you say makes any sense!" Padparadscha was hearing all of this lucidly, despite her inability to wrap her head around whatever it was that was going on,"I'm clearly not tripping over anything! There's nothing to trip over! My mind hasn't been lost, its right here," She tapped the long gemstone on her neck with one dainty finger that she'd managed to wriggle up out of Chevron's grasp, and pursed her lips. She swiveled her head to narrow her eyes between the sigma gems, and even 6UE. Her impatience flaring, the aristocrat's frustration rose with her temperature,"None of you know the truth! But I do, and by the Diamonds I'm going to do something about it!" How she was going to do something about it was a conundrum, especially from up here. Escape plan B was already formulated, though making it work would be another matter. 



 

[Mad Azurite]

Serendibite, who had been watching carefully, seemed to motion to one of her black orbs, and quite eerily a mouth would appear instead of eye, and she’d speak something to—and it would quite eerily speak back. She’d look back at the group with a thoughtful gaze, it seemed they were getting lower and lower by the second and the black orb in question would race off into the darkness of the machining portion of the facility. Her eyes locked particularly on Chevron and there was a certain intensity in her gaze as she recalled something important about this gem, something she’d have to note for later.

Chevron would look over at the sapphire in her grasp with something of concern as she seemed to retort her own innocence in the situation. She would shift her stare then at the gems with a huff and an angry skeptical pout on her lips as the sapphire spoke out, agreeing that—indeed there was nothing to be tripped on, especially considering they were in the air, and that her mind was obviously—well, in her gem, at her neck. Which was obviously so! “Z’ee Nobe’elle has request’eed I save her from you! I has stole nuh’ting!” she‘d shout at the Amethyst with a sudden viper in her voice, and with that, she had just adjusted herself for the landing when suddenly … her chest started to feel uncannily warm. And not just warm but, hot—she looked at the sapphire with a gasp as she’d almost went to drop the gem, but as soon as her feet rolled onto her heels to soften her landing, she’d set the sapphire down in a split and shake the heat from her hands.

Nephrite floated down, looked over at Beady, then the gems around her and crossed her legs with an unsympathetic stare. This was just a little too much for her. 

However Azurite had managed to lower the blade enough that the sealing system would release and the gems feet would be ready to unplant themselves, freed of the van der waals-esque technology that allowed them to remain adhered to the blades’ surface. She stepped off, “I meant that you’re like, hallucinating!” She managed to say and waved her arms angrily as she tried to clarify what was going on. “Man, did my glitter mess her up this bad?” she’d ask this aloud, not really looking for an awnser, “Z’ee, z’eh blue one poisoned you!” The violet gem would point her lightly tinged finger both of the gems, “You have obviously caused madam much dee’scomfort!”

“Look wing-broad, you don’t get it. She’s got like, my particles or something flowing through her like … body? Damn, this is really hard to put into words without sounding really weird.” Azurite scratched her head and thought only to look up to have the chevron staring at her with disgust, “V’at barbaree’c z’ing dee’d you do to z’is poor v’ittle gem!?” she stomped up to the two, “Monst’erre’s ze’h both of you!”

If anyone was truly paying attention, there was a low chuckle and another more alto-y one as both Seren and Nephrite, who had flown over and sat on the large gem’s shoulder, seemed to be well entertained by all the confusion in this situation.

[Paddy]

Amethyst reeled a bit at Chevron's retort, and her mouth worked as she tried to give some kind of comeback. Her eyes darted between the sapphire, the other amethyst, and Azurite,"Wha?" She finally managed, her brows furrowing,"If anything you're the suspicious gem here," She pointed a finger in accusation toward Chevron. Her eyes widened as it look like the sapphire's angst was flaring up, panic cut through her as she realized Padpara could be intolerable to hold at this point, let alone be near. Fortunately for everyone involved, the ground was a lot closer than she realized.

When her feet popped off of the blade, she lost a bit of her balance and wobbled as she stepped off. The bulky gem swayed to get a feel for solid ground again; it was a bit disorienting. She glanced along the weapon's edge, and smirked. Now, it would only be a matter of actually convincing other amethysts that she'd gotten to ride around on a sword. Perhaps if she had more practice with it she'd be less unwieldy, but she figured there weren't going to be any more chances for something like that. It had been fun, but she imagined it would be more so without preoccupations. 


As soon as Chevron had glided to a gentle halt, and set down the steaming sapphire, Padparadscha straightened out her skirt. She clasped her hands innocently in front of her, lips pursed while her eyes took inventory of the situation. Mentally, her plan B churned-- the plan was simple, but she hoped it would be more effective than her last. Once she found a quiet place to think, she'd be able to better figure out what in the name of the Diamonds was going on. Even with lucidity rising, it was difficult to interpret what was happening. 

Then, 6UE's attention was drawn back around to Azurite as the gem spoke up-- it was hard to keep a straight face while the gem tried to find the words, but managed to keep her lips wrangled into a neutral expression. It seemed the blue gem's explanation was only making things worse in Chevron's eyes. When the young winged gem began to berate the two of them, 6UE put up her hands,"Hey hey now, I appreciate your concern about her clarity's well being, but I'm literally her bodyguard-- if anything bad happens to this gem, it's on me," Her arms crossed as she shifted her weight back onto one hip,"I'm not going to be working against my own interests any time soon-- but I would like to know why you think my sapphire needed to be saved," 

Azurite and 6UE's attempt to clear things up, and Chevron's attempts to defend her went into motion; all the other gems seemed to be preoccupied with their argument-- perfect, the sapphire smirked to herself, and minimized herself by hunching up her shoulders a bit, and began to slink away with long, slow strides. She continued forward, her steps getting quicker with each passing moment, until she was speed walking away from the other gems, in the opposite direction from Serendibite's work desk. Her plan now went into full throttle, as the small gem broke into a run, her feet tapping against the floor and echoing up the walls. 

[Mad Azurite]

Chevron only managed to raise her brow suspiciously at the two, the words passed her and for a moment the gem seemed to be rethinking the past situation. Eventually her strangely shadowed eyes would switch back to the two and she’d scan them, her expression lightening up as recalled she had made a good number of assumptions up until this point. In some ways, she was still skeptical, but many of the dots in her head simply weren’t drawing lines; she’d need to be more careful. If it wasn’t for the wild sensation of being ‘here,’ running through her—she felt she could think more clearly. But the world was suddenly a stimuli and she was uncertain how to react.

“I z’ee …” she managed to say, as she again went silent and into thought, “And v’at of you blue one? V’at ee’s your alibi?” She’d cross her arms, leaning toward Azurite, who frowned, still not in the best of moods thanks to this silly wing-having chick speaking to her like some crazy from one of the human movies she’d watch. She didn’t like especially, that she was being interrogated. “Honor guard, and protecting gems of that status is my job. That simple.” As she mentioned ‘gems of that status,’ she had thrown her hand back gesturing a finger at what had been the location of the sapphire, only to hear something like a metallic clanking—“What the hell!?” she’d shout as she whirled around and watched the sapphire take off like a spooked fox. Chevron, who was preoccupied with her interrogation of the gems, managed to snap out of her moody glare to stare curiously over the shoulder of the azurite.

“By the diamonds! How do you babysit this gem!?” she’d shout as she’d spin around, and run toward after the gem waving her hands over her head, “We have longer legs than you, do you really think you’re gonna get far?” She stopped, not because she had given up—but something had actually distracted her, the large standing shadow of the gem behind them—Serendibite who had managed to stand a full attention to the matter.

“What a shame, it seems my guest is leaving, or well, making a run for something.” She’d think for a moment, only to make Azurite rather angry at her indecisiveness, “So you’re just gonna stand there? Do something!” Azurite would shout and the gem would peer causally to the side off into the distance, “Actually, there is a matter I must attend to, unfortunately I had much to show the sapphire—but it will be up to her to pursue this and further. A machination if you will, a great design of mine that … needed testing. She seemed like a fine candidate.” Azurite would narrow her eyes at the lapidary and consider asking her what she meant, but before she could the artist spoke up again, “If you can catch up to her—ask her if she’d like the chance to design a gem of her own.” She then looked away to a hall down the right of her, “I have a Pink Diamond I must message. Ask the jet’s to lead you to me or the hangers if you get lost, of course. Ta-ta~” she’d say as she marched off into the shadows.

Azurite wanted to say something, but now precious seconds between catching up with sapphire and company was more important. She’d scoff and dash after the noble, using the sounds of her little feet as guidance. Chevron seemed indecisive, but her wings would wrap around her much like a monks’ sash and she too would take after them, possibly due to both a combination of curiosity and concern.

Nephrite however, peered absentmindedly between the group—but her eyes shifted into the direction of which Beady went, and she followed after her instead—a deep curiosity in her eyes.

[Paddy]

As Azurite pointed out the escaping sapphire, 6UE gave a start, her brows went up and she shuffled around, unsure what to make of this situation. "You don't, you just try to keep up and hope for the best," She answered, her exasperated tone giving away her dwindling energy. Now that she really thought about it, even when the sapphire wasn't inebriated in some fashion, she was a hard gem to keep track of, always diving off after her own goals, hiding her motives, acting in strange manners. It was hard to explain why the sapphire acted the way she did, sometimes. 

Amethyst broke into a light jog, aiming to catch up to the short legged gem, and Azurite who had raced ahead, "Uh, your clarity? Do you have some orders, maybe?" She called out to the noble. As the Honor Guard came to a halt, Serendibite's words carried somewhat, she listened, but concentrated on keeping the sapphire in her sights. She glanced over her shoulder in time to see the mysterious designer fade away, into the dark backdrop of the laboratory. The soldier didn't dwell too much on what she'd heard just then; she was concerned about what she'd heard from Cocoa earlier, that getting lost in here would be more trouble than it was worth.
Her attention snapped back over as she kept her pace forward. 

Padparadscha heard Azurite loud and clear, but kept running as fast as her slender legs could go anyway. 6UE was gaining on her already, jogging at a leisurely, nonthreatening pace, but suddenly the small gem realized the truth of what the Honor Guard had said. Plan B was a bust, so she moved onto Plan C.

The sapphire skidded to a halt and whirled to face the impending unit of soldiers, her form glimmering as it caught the light at different angles. She raised her arms in an orchestrated manner, as if she were about to reveal something enormous,"Aha!" She called,"You've fallen into my trap!" the declaration was strong in tone, though in reality she was thinking on her feet-- hoping to keep all three of them at bay with her bluff. Could she fend off three soldier class gems if it didn't work? Why was she doing so, again? Sparks of light began to form around her as she summoned the blazing hot ethereal substance she conducted-- except, no amorphous masses of plasma manifested. Instead, glittering sparks sputtered into existence in the place of what would've been plasma, shooting off around her like small, innocuous fireworks,"Wuh!" realizing she'd lost the use of her ability, she darted off into another direction, but her bodyguard had already caught up.

"Ugh," 6UE groaned, easily keeping pace with the flighty gem,"Your clarity? Are we going back? What about the 1080? Are we at a 1090 now?" She figured the other gems were far enough back not to hear the codes, though she wasn't really checking-- but even if they did hear the codes, she hoped they wouldn't know what it meant. "The Madam of this facility said she had something for you, I think--" 

"What?!" the sapphire halted again, and pierced the soldier with a venomous look in her eyes, then her eyes darted toward the gems who were catching up to the two of them. "Yes! A 1090! Anything this gem has for me is surely a trap," She whirled again, going to run into another direction, but realized she had no idea where she was, and paused. It was hard for 6UE to take the 1090 seriously, knowing Padparadscha was off kilter in some way. 

[Mad Azurite]

Azurite grabbed her hair as they ran and tugged it furiously, “Why’s my job suddenly so hard!?” she’d shout as she chased after the two—and much like the amethyst, she was catching up without any real effort, in fact she couldn’t get the image of the three running full-sprint and accidentally trampling the poor sapphire out of her head and by the time they had reached the first of the sudden stops this crazy was making, she had a strange combination of a giddy smile and uncertainty on her face. She heard footsteps behind her, to see the Chevron had actually followed as well, she almost wanted to tell the newly formed amethyst to return to her own affairs, but she remembered this gem was currently acting on her own directives.

When the noble spun around, Azurite tried her hardest to stay behind the amethyst, hoping that it’d keep her from getting too riled up. But it already seemed the sapphire was ready to explode—the gem throwing her arms up in some crazed manner and declaring they had fallen for her ploy. Chevron marched up—the look in her eyes detailing that she was finally understanding that something was wrong with sapphire in more ways than one. She had just activated her peripheral senses to zoom in and inspect the sapphire from the good meters she had stopped away, being so inclined to even pass Azurite and Amethyst before she was hit with a flash of light. “Bonjour! My eyes!” she’d cry out as Chevron’s increased perception was momentarily used against her!

The flash of glitter was small in the eyes of Azurite—but that didn’t seem to get to her much like the chevron seemed to be suffering for it. She would shift her head at the sapphire’s direction. However, she did back away out of fear the sapphire was really about to unleash her plasmatic powers on them—something that actually reeled in a sense of urgency in the matter. It would seem her powers were far more dangerous than she had originally thought. “Alright, maybe this glitter stuff is more dangerous than I gave it credit for.”

As soon as she had turned back, the amethyst and the sapphire had taken off again, and Chevron had cupped her vision with her hands out of instinct, opening them only slowly to show her pupils seemed to have temporarily expanded to their fullest giving her a weird blackened gaze. Azurite placed hand on the gem’s shoulder who seemed to shudder as she battled with the ringing sensation in her head. “You alright? That flash didn’t look that bright, kid? What’s up?” She wondered first if it was the gloomy nature of the ship—it was rather dim in the manufacturing and construction section of facility.

“No … My eyes, z’eh can sz’ee fartherr’e z’an most.” She managed to say with a certain amount of pain in her voice, as she fought with the dashing lights and migraine like sensation in her skull. “Ah, makes sense. Stimuli’s more intense for you sense the magnification means you’re drawing in more light.” She crossed her arms, “Just saw what I saw at times-one-hundred, ey?” She asked as her more caring side kicked in, she’d straighten out Chevron with her arms, and hold her face for a moment, “Show me your eyes.” She’d say, and chevron would open them weakly, “More like four-times your vee’sion.” The chevron would correct her, as her vision multiplier’s reach well into tens. “Uh-huh, yeah your eyes look all foggy and I can barely see any color.”

She’d take the chevron by the hand, “Come’on, they couldn’t have gotten far." And she’d she escort the gem in a job to follow her, being sure to avoid walls and machinery around her and give the chevron some clearance so that she would hit anything.

It certainly didn’t take long as the sapphire, didn’t get far, and her rising voice honestly revealed her before anything. Azurite pulled the scorner and scoffed, “Look I get you’re trippin’ n’ all, but you just blinded her.” She said and then motioned to Chevron who was trying to shake off the feeling quite literally. “Say sorry at least, you little jerk—you’re starting to piss me off, and that’s hard enough to do, so you earned yourself something there.” She said the last part rather frankly, and chevron, who seemed to hear, “Please mademoiselle, v’e mean you no harm!” she’d get out as innocently as possible.



But then, right when matters couldn’t get more strange—a bubbly, joyful voice could be heard ringing around until suddenly, a familiar pearl would turn the corner—Cocoa. She was still glowing that strange purple aura—a sign that the affects of her ability were still kicking in, however, she would appear behind both the sapphire and the amethyst—or the way they were coming at least. There was a certain look in her eyes, she had a panel in front of her and she was delegating them to different zones around her, her fingers patiently prodding at the various outlook of gems. She’d stop and look up from her, seem uninterested, but then do a double take. “Oh my!~” she managed a gasp.

“What in the world are you doing here, with no guide? This facility is a labyrinth, love. Built this way quite intentionally.” Her giddiness was unnerving, which managed to break Azurite’s expression rather quickly. She had only ever seen Cocoa use her ability a few times, one time however really irked her—it was odd, she only ever made gem’s happy or … well, the only other way she could describe the level of joy or .. .whatever she did to them was by comparison of some very weird human films she had stumbled upon. The memories of such made her cringe—and in response she often cringed at the sight of this pearl—terrified she’d do the same to her.

“What better way to trap intruders than to trap them in the facility, haha~” she said in a melodic, bright voice.

[Paddy]

Padparadscha's eyes continued to follow the sigma gems like laser sights. Her eyes fluttered and she looked around, her shoulders felt as if something enormous had been placed on them, and now threatened to pull her down to the floor. She felt as if she had been using her ability for hours straight, no breaks or time to recharge. The gem's whole form fluttered and shook, she felt an uncomfortable light-headedness, almost as if her mind were floating away from the rest of her. "Diamonds," she huffed, letting her arms fall loosely at her sides before bringing a palm up to her forehead. Were she about to poof from exhaustion?

Now that she thought about it, she didn't really know why she felt this way. She remembered jumbles of surreal events, which had been strangely enjoyable at first, but increasingly stress inducing as she went on. Before she knew it, Azurite was standing there accusing her of making this gem blind. Her eyes widened, but for a moment she was simply too exhausted to let any sort of utterance pass her lips. Vaguely she knew that she was inside of Kindergarten Sigma, and that she'd spoken with the mysterious Serendibite, who now seemed to be gone.

Amethyst, knowing this was now a 1090 situation (but wondered at the validity of it), stood at attention, facing the "threat" of the other soldiers, but made no overt aggressive move. She frowned, her brows floating up as she realized a moment of misjudgment on the sapphire's part might have permanently damaged a gem who just emerged into existence. It felt like a kick in the gut to even consider, but it would be worse for Chevron, who might have to live with it if the damage wasn't healed. 

The sapphire's nearly emptied eyes scanned between Chevron and Azurite, and drew over to Amethyst. She glanced around, without giving an answer to anyone or any sort of acknowledgement as she tried to put together what she was doing or why. Then, Cocoa's voice hit the air. Padparadscha would've jumped if she had the energy, but instead she stood very still, and slowly turned her head to look in the pearl's direction. It seemed she was under the influence of whatever strange thing Serendibite had asked her to do earlier-- lucidly, the sapphire took note of the fact that she remembered that event, among others, but putting them into a chronological order was difficult. 

"Honor Guardian," The sapphire managed in a languid tone,"What are you talking about? Also I'd expect one such as yourself to have more tact in speaking with members of the higher courts," She turned to Cocoa,"I should hope you're not trying to trap us here," She grumbled, still feeling very much like she should be trying to escape this situation. Then she gave a long sigh, out of exertion, and slumped down to her knees so slowly she hardly realized it until she was sitting on the floor, but she didn't really feel like getting up. Speaking had taken so much out of her that she just curled up on the floor for a moment and closed her eyes. 

6UE just glanced down with surprise. She'd seen Padparadscha do and say a lot of things she'd never expect from a noble, but this was certainly strange. Tentatively, the soldier scooted up to the sapphire,"Uh...your clarity, we need to try to get out of here, right?" The aristocrat gave a half hearted sort of nod. 6UE hesitated, reaching down to pick up the sapphire, but stopping short before looking up at the other gems as if lost without someone to give her next orders. 

[Mad Azurite]

Azurite wanted to stay angry, but as she watched the noble carefully, the sudden change in energy and exuberant manners only seemed to worry her even more about her ability—it was possibly far more dangerous than she had originally thought indeed. The sapphire practically crumpled, as if coming down form a sugar rush only to crash—but at an exceptionally worse state than before. She could tell when the almost glassy empty eyes of her seemed to scan them like she had never seen them before.

Azurite would look at the Amethyst as the sapphire spoke, and then suddenly the gem seemed to fall back, the blue gem almost wanting to reach out to help her—was she about to poof? Was the effects of her new found knack that exhausting? The effects seemed rather nice at first, but now it seemed the gem was practically out of energy. Azurite held an actual concerned look in her eyes.

Then she would look at the Amethyst with a slight look of understanding, she could understand why the sapphire suddenly wanted to get out—she wondered if she should even tell the gem what Serendibite had said, and what she was apparently doing at the moment. She too would kneel down and sit down on the floor, as well as Chevron who seemed to be finally shaking off the effects, some of the color in her irises seemed to return, and so was her vision.

“Sorry, madam. Guess this is my fault.” She admitted it was the doing of this odd trait she possessed. “You apparently absorbed some of the particle effects from me, not sure how it works—other than that my old friend, Spazzy,” as she said this, she opened the panel viewing into her chest, the orb in the center housing her rupee-shaped gemstone and the remains of the two other gems spiraling around them as plasma arches seemed to keep them from spanning off into the space around it.

“That’s Spazzy. She’s cute, huh?” she pointed to the remains of the blue gem fragments bespeckled with several orange highlights—Bluebird Azurite as they called it. Azurite seemed to think for a moment, “When she got all emotional, I guess. I can’t really remember to be honest,” she cleared her throat, she had forgotten a lot about her and sisters before she had been put through the procedures for this, “She’d let off this really pretty glitter, and well it’s nice to look at but if you touched it—you kind lose your mind. She never did it intentionally—in fact I didn’t know I could do it either until today so, the more you know!” she’d say with sudden bit of nervous laughter.

... Is someone saying my name? What in the Diamonds name are you talking about?!

“Such a shame what happened to Spazzy,” Cocoa would say, unable to express the real sorrow she felt for that gem, “Though she seems to be doing well.” Cocoa had also become very concerned for the sapphire—though hearing of what happened, she couldn’t blame her—the effects of Spazzy’s abilities were something of a boon and bane really, some gems reacted rather positively, other’s not so much—though a wish-washy of the effects seemed to be the most prominent. “And of course not! You are my mistress’ beloved guest here today, esteemed sapphire, though I would advise you stay in sight of our assistants and ourselves, we’ve had gems get lost here for weeks, love … years, even.” She said the last part as she would kneel to her knees. “May I.” Cocoa would say and then reached for the gemstone at the center of her chest—a hammer-space portal seemed to open and she’d pull from it …

A Ghirardelli Intense Dark Cabernet Matinee bar. 

Wrapped in a painted gold fleece, though it was obviously manufactured in some other way than their own, and the logo displaying its wondrous luscious cocoa taste, lush with combination of blackberries and concord grapes. The pearl would begin a very meticulous though obviously practiced method of opening this package without in any way damaging its contents or the wrapping itself. She’d then, with as even a pressure she could muster, break off one of the sectioned pieces carefully, and near-perfectly. Handling it as if it was some expensive treasure--and it was to this gem and many others, “This wonderful delight is a wonder-drug unlike anything we’ve concocted on Homeworld, it blends both synthetic and organic flavors into a medicinal edible—capable of lifting one’s spirit with ease, with a flavor astute for such a noble as yourself—hehe~” she extend the piece to the sapphire, “Don’t worry, it isn’t as uncouth as devouring human food like some gross Azurites I know. This is for refined pallets” As she said this azurite glared at her “Top Ramen is the shish, bro, you don’t even know.”

Cocoa waved a hand to dismiss her and then waved the chocolate bar aptly, “It is more of a confection, dear. Much like tea—though with an added stimulating benefit.” Chevron, had just seemed to regain enough sight to look over carefully at the chocolate in the gem’s hand and felt this itching desire to consume it. She started salivating much to her alarm, what was happening? “Z’at strange piece of dark matter, it looks very …” she couldn’t put a word to it, appetizing? Cocoa would shift her to the other gem, and her eyes became incredulous, she was more than curious now of this odd gem she had never in her life of living in this facility had seen before. “… yes, my master consumes it on the daily ... Though we of course have to make bars that better fit her size.” She’d say, the skeptical bemusement in her voice obvious as she stared at this unfamiliar gem.

[Paddy]

As everyone gathered around on the floor, Amethyst glanced around, feeling a bit awkward, then plopped down cross-legged. Her eyes popped up to Chevron; the gem seemed to be able to see well enough, but she wasn't sure from this distance whether the gem was still seeing stars. Naturally she worried for others, but Chevron being new to the universe gave the purple quartz's vigilent instincts a bit of a kick. 

Then, as Azurite began to speak, the sapphire's eyes fluttered open, and she turned her head slightly to show she was listening, but couldn't muster the strength to entirely face the gem as she used her small hands like a pillow to prop up her head. Her brows knit together as the Honor Guard's words reminded her of a disembodied warning, something to do with particles, absorption and hallucinatory affects. Her eyes were drawn to the cavity in the gem's chest as it was revealed. 6UE's eyes widened as she began to put together more of the story behind this combat prototype; she was an amalgam of gems who came before her, the thought struck both pink court gems for different reasons. Padparadscha could easily read the discomfort in the Honor Guard's words and mannerisms, while Amethyst's empathetic imagination started to impact her mind-state just thinking about it.  

"I see..." The sapphire managed softly from where she laid, eyes focused onto the gem in the panel. Her mind still foggy, she had a bit of a whimsical urge to reach for it, but thanks to her exhaustion she found herself giving in to the path of least resistance, and simply stared for a moment. Then, her attention was captured by this more bubbly version of Cocoa. Her eyes slid over and lips pursed, incredulous about the pearl's claims thanks to the strange series of events she'd been subjected to, and her still unclear idea of how she'd even gotten to this point.

One brow quirked, she watched the cautious unveiling of this secret technology the pearl described, an Earthling rarity of some kind. Then, both brows floated up as it was revealed. As Cocoa snapped a piece from the bar, it became easier to sense the unique scent wafting through the thin air,"Hmm, hmm," She squinted at the dark cube, analyzing it's sleek planes and definite edges. The piece itself seemed utterly flawless, and despite her suspicions, Cocoa seemed to be telling the truth about it uses. 6UE noted Chevron's ability to actually see the thing, and began to relax and feel less guilty about it all, though she couldn't take back the fact that it had happened anyway. The quartz showed some curiosity herself, she'd never even seen a confection before. Curiosity was a stronger force for the aristocrat than conventional restraint, so she gave it a real consideration. 

After a quiet moment of scanning the pearl and her strange, dark, jewel-like sweet, one of the sapphire's dainty hands rose to pluck it from the pearl's hand. She looked at it more closely, and as she did, the natural heat her body emitted began to melt her fingers into it. She wasn't quite sure what to do-- she'd seen gems eat before, and had been curious about it, but how did one accomplish the task? "Like tea?" She wasn't sure what tea was either, vaguely the gem was aware of it being some kind of consumable liquid, but she didn't want to seem as if she didn't have knowledge. She popped the square into her mouth, and let it sit there, rolled it around with her tongue, not just to inspect the taste, but because she wasn't actually sure what else to do. Like the sticky chocolate left on her thumb and forefinger, the rest of the chewy confection melted in her mouth, a harmony of strange sensations and tastes gracing her perception. "Hmm!" She nodded as she appreciated the taste, and began to realize there might be something to this eating business. It was simply natural to swallow it, as it had melted,"How strange!" She uttered, pushing herself up into a sitting position and swiveling to face Cocoa,"Where did you acquired this...confection?"  

[Mad Azurite]

Cocoa herself seemed to light up as the gem seemed to agree to at least try the strange substance they had, Azurite was even a little surprised by this considering how distrusting the sapphire was in the current situation. She couldn’t help but swallow some of her desire to try it—she’d only been given chocolate once by Seren who seemed to love to hand it out when asked, it was a different flavor, she remembered the wrapping being different, something about raspberry filling. It was damn good that’s for sure, but this one was darker and more well, sleek. But even to this day, they had nothing on the incredibleness that is noodles, the most amazing, quick to make, tasty bit of madness that these humans had come up with, she could eat those all day. Though she had to buckle down, once she ate about five of them in a three minute span and learned of the great nightmare called salt-bloat and sodium induced migraines. Worse week of her life. 

The excitement on Cocoa’s face lit up even more as the sapphire showed her interest in this alien substance, she wasn’t aware, but most of the health benefits connected to chocolate is mostly by placebo—with exclusion that dark chocolate stimulates serotonin release, which often led to lifted moods, of course if it wasn’t too extreme. 

“Wonderful, isn’t it?” she’d start, “My mistress is something of lover of confections, this in particular her current favorite.” She'd set the chocolate in front of the group manifesting a small platform for it using her hard-light technology, gesturing to it and them, “Please, take more if you like.” She’d actually, and just as  break off a piece for herself and savor the smell for she took a small bite, chewed and took it down. “Well, the process is a little difficult to explain—we noticed humans were taking the organic life around them and refining it—oddly much like we do, however we only do such things to sustain our synthetic life. But apparently there are other intricacies and delights that can come from them.”

She motioned to the chocolate, “This in particular comes from a strange plant, through a complicated extraction measure and a little botany, we’ve learned to replicate this process at its finest. We’ve dedicate a small part of the ship to crafting this ‘chocolate.’ Mostly in secrecy of course.” She didn’t want to admit that their botany section was struggling to reproduce the cocoa plants necessary for such refinement, especially the bars for Beady, they were barely managing to be honest.

Azurite would reach over and snap a piece for herself, she didn’t manage to do it so perfectly, which elicited a slightly annoyed look from Cocoa, the vibrant purple around her seemed to increase and the gem immediately brightened up. “Azurite, please treat these delicacies with respect.” Azurite, looked up, unsure of what she did, “Wha? It’s cool, I’ll eat it like a proper noble,” she’d try to play that silly elevated tone that many nobles spoke with as she plopped onto her tongue and went at it. “Woah, dude this is awesome!” she’d shout. Chevron immediately became far more curious, reached over to tried and break off a piece that better suited her, though Azurite had ruined that particular piece herself. She also give it a try and the chevron, whose violet eyes would brighten, she too experiencing a symphony of sensations that made the gem blush even, “Z’at ee’s .. z’e most amazee’ng z’ing I have ever …” she realized instantly that this was in fact the firs thing she’s ever eaten, “Or, z’at ee’s just so good, how does somez’ing so delightful exee’st!”

Again Cocoa would peer over at this gem who she was very suspicious of, her eyes showing it. “Mmmm.” She’d hum aloud as she examined Chevron.

[Paddy]

Padparadscha nodded in agreement, it was wonderful, and strange, difficult to interpret thanks to the fact that she'd never eaten before. She had tried drinking before but that had been a very different experience. As Cocoa provided the context for her acquisition of this product of Earth, she listened carefully, tilting her head slightly as she regarded the pearl. More lucid than she had been in a handful of hectic minutes, it struck her as very strange that this gem who so vehemently seemed to hate her would speak so candidly with her now. Though she recalled the sudden change in demeanor she'd witnessed earlier, it was still somewhat off-putting, but she wasn't going to complain. The situation wasn't ideal, but her truth sense allowed her some peace of mind. 

"Chocolate?" She echoed once the pearl was finished speaking,"Like...chocolate pearl?" She gave a small smile, her implied question hanging in the air. It seemed Serendibite found inspiration in unlikely places, but the sapphire found this information just as valuable as any other data. Hoarding information was a good practice, especially as an investigator who studied the motives behind gems who would choose a simple Earthling life over a productive existence in their proper place.

Though, she still wasn't sure how to feel about eating in general. It was a thing she'd never even been given etiquette about back on Homeworld, it just wasn't a known activity. Not until she came to Earth did she realize she had missed something about how to treat this action that Serendibite seemed to turn into a full fledged hobby. As far as the sapphire went, her curiosity had been sated for the moment, but her sense for the truth wondered at some of the words Cocoa offered; there seemed to be something she wasn't saying, it made Padparadscha want to pry deeper,"Oh, I couldn't deprive you of any more of your delicacy. It sounds as if your supply of this rarity is purposed for your mistress's entertainment..." But she might have to find her own supply of the substance in the future. She eyed Azurite as the gem seemed to mock nobility, and pursed her lips. Seeing other gems enjoying the chocolate gave her the urge to get another piece herself, but she resisted the temptation, and her eyes flicked to her own quartz bodyguard. 

6UE glanced between everyone as they broke off pieces of the chocolate bar. The quartz wasn't even sure she wanted to try it at first, but the exclamations from the gems, especially the other soldiers, made it harder to resist her own curiosity about it. She glanced toward the gem who was in charge of her and their eyes met for a moment-- in many ways the bodyguard was an extension of her mistress, if the sapphire had already declared that they would take no more, then they would take no more. But, the sapphire's brow raised, and she gave a motion toward the bar. The implications were easy enough for the quartz to register, her expression lit up and she didn't hesitate to break a piece off herself. It seemed strange to put something like that in her mouth, she looked it over for a moment, then dropped it into the hatch and chewed as she'd noticed the others doing. "Whoa!" She said as its texture seemed to change,"That is weird!"  

[Mad Azurite]

Cocoa’s attention seemed almost forced as she double take to the sapphire and Chevron, though she’d pear at her a few times with a building intrigue. At the sapphires first words, she smiled and blushed some, “Yes, apparently, where my dearest mistress found her inspiration for myself—she calls me her sweetie every here and now.” Her eyes showed a vibrant warmth as her adoring nature for her master seemed to rush forth like a water spring. Though it shifted to a sudden worrisome appeal as the sapphire dismissed enjoying the delicious treat she had displayed to them, “No, please, I do insist.” She’d say as she motioned to the bar again, “I do say, it is a rarity but only because our botany section has been underproductive in recreating these plants necessary—we have plenty here stored on the ship, though in retrospect of releasing such a substance to the entirety of Homeworld—that would be much more difficult.” It was more a rarity outside of the ship is what she seemed to explained.

Azurite listened and wondered if possibly that idea she threw out for those strange gems who enjoy the sensations of taste and the things associated to enjoy could come to a cultural gathering to taste test various dishes and such—one day she will get everyone hooked on noodles.

Chevron couldn’t resist taking another piece, in which Cocoa, seeing the strange gems elegantly designed hands reach for the chocolate made another curious look surge through her features as she peered at the gem, “Excuse me, I don’t want to sound … rude.” Chevron immediately withdrew her hands, “Oh! Forgive me, eet’s just so good.” She’d say as she peered at the confection and go slightly wide eye’d, “No, no please enjoy it. I’d just like to know who exactly you are, love.” Chevron would pear over a little estranged, she’d never truly introduced herself—yet she felt this strange rush of knowledge consume her as she remember herself. “Chevron Amethys-!” Before she could even finish, pearl jumped to her feet shouting with excitement, “By the diamonds! You’re done!?” She’d shout striding over to the gem the vigor in her voice combination of sheer questioning and obvious exhilaration, “Stand! Stand, love!” Not really commanding the gem, but her eagerness to see one of her master’s magnum opuses belied her impatience. Chevron seemed too nervously stand, the look on her face screaming that she felt she had done something wrong.

“Oh you’re just so gorgeous! Just so beautiful, these design qualities! How could I not see my master’s creative genius practically melting through your features!” she was excited and shocked beyond words. Chevron speechless as the gem sat there, “She’s finally complete! Our gift to Pink Diamond! Spread your wings love, show me!”

Chevron looked away with a shy gaze, and the wings that wrapped around her like a waist robe spread and Cocoa almost seemed to tear up at the violet glow they spread around them, reflecting light from them with their crystalline structure. “Beautiful, absolutely stunning!” She’d place her hands on the gems cheek, the gems v-shaped face, her gorgeous figure—something just as nice to look at as it was useful. 

Azurite watched Chevron begin to blush, as the pearl was putting her hands on her, “Whoa, Cocoa, c’mon, give her some space, woman.” She’d say as she stood, though some of what she said wanted her to question something, but she felt bad for Chevron as the pearl was being quite invasive—and Cocoa, who looked over astutely, “I’m inspecting an incredibly important gift right now, this is my profession!” She’d remind the sapphire, as she’d take the violet amethyst by the hips and spin her around, taking hold of her wings and testing their flexibility, her arms, legs—the entire time a subtle embarrassed look on Chevron’s face belied how violated she felt in the moment.

[Paddy]

She gave a smirk as Cocoa confirmed the connection-- and by extension, provided more valuable information about the important gem who ruled this facility. Serendibite had made her exit; rather, the sapphire seemed to have made her own, and ended up in some odd corner of the frigate. She wondered if the designer had gotten what she wanted out of this exchange, and remembered what her bodyguard had told her some moments ago.

Her eyes tracked down to the bar as the pearl went on to reveal something that Padpara was a bit surprised to hear; she hadn't pinned Cocoa as the type to be so open about the shortcomings of the facility she helped to manage, but perhaps the fact that the pearl was in a substantially better mood now had something to do with it. As her eyes lingered on the delicacy, she wondered if such a thing ever would be widely accepted by the empire. Would gems back on Homeworld one day enjoy such confections, without realizing their Earthling origin? It was a strange thought to have, eating seemed to be such an unproductive endeavor, but then again much of the aristocratic pomp was as such.

By now she was absolutely sure there was nothing suspect about the chocolate, everyone had taken a piece including its bearer. Not wanting to deny the pearl's insistence and appear uncouth, she decided to take another piece gently between her fingers, then did as she'd done before, and gave a small smile at the strange sensation.

It wasn't until Cocoa asked for the gem's name that Padparadscha realized that she didn't know her name either. She turned her attention to Chevron, and took note of the pearl's enthusiasm for her being. The sapphire recalled being rather enthused herself, for the chance to make an impression on such a gem-- but, of course, that chance had flown right over her, and now she wondered if the gem would ever think of her of being a proper noble. 

6UE felt embarrassed for the other amethyst, knowing well she wouldn't react well to her own space being invaded like that. But the air force trooper seemed to be putting up with it. She scratched her neck, and looked to the sapphire, who was looking much more lively now. The spark in her eyes returned, and her movements were more refined. She had absorbed enough free particles to feel more put together, and sitting around in conversation with others, as well as the sharing of this strange thing called chocolate, had giving her some energy to spend. She sighed and pushed herself up to her feet, and 6UE followed. 

"So," She said as she eyed the inspection that Chevron underwent. Hands clasped behind her back, she observed,"A gift for the pink court?" The gem's eyes glinted as she thought about the rebellion, and it's growing influence. Her eyes settled onto Chevron as she tried to recall the moment's she'd spent hurling through the air with the flying quartz's help,"This gem performs impressively, quite fast and maneuverable. Certainly she'll be a useful asset during the coming tensions. When will you be releasing her to Pink Diamond's custody?" Then, her eyes shifted between all of the sigma gems, and her amethyst guard as she spoke,"Oh, and, speaking of gifts, I've heard tell that your mistress might have something for me. Was the chocolate what she meant to share?" Her tone made it seem as if it had been an after thought, but it was a pointed, intentional question.