LOG-002.

  "Did you see Sixteen A stumble during the last routine? She's bound for harvesting if she keeps that up."

  After an unknown amount of time (I wanted to say a few weeks or so, but there was no real way to tell just how long I'd been in this damned facility) I now finally knew why the Nacres that managed the place encouraged us Pearls to interact with one another during the rare times we were granted breaks within our quarters.

  "T-that's not true! There was a divot in the floor, it wasn't my fault!"

  It fostered competition.

  "Yes it is!"

  Yeah.

  "No it isn't!"

  Pearls loved to fucking gossip about just about anything, including each other. Even when the source of said gossip was in the same bloody room as them. Any hint of organisation that could have occurred constantly fell through since the entirety of Batch Sixteen were too busy playing their own weird version of highschool politics.

  "As if Nacre Three would stand a flaw existing in her slice of the Reef. You're just faulty. Right, Viridian?"

  Viridian. I had somehow become the only named Pearl in our batch (and possibly even this entire section of the Reef), after our Caretaker had idly referred to me as such while in casual conversation with another Nacre.

  She'd been merely boastful of the fact, but my 'unique' identifier (as unique as being named after the colour of my damned lightform could even be) had largely been accepted thanks to my seeming 'perfection.' There'd been concerns raised by some of Nacre Three's colleagues that the name would go to my head, that it would drastically inflate my ego, which obviously was something unbefitting of a mere Pearl.

  My overseer had been so painfully fucking smug when I hadn't changed in my routine whatsoever, doing my level best to ignore the entire debacle. Seriously, I was starting to suspect more and more that her Gem type was just some fucked up variant of my own. The Caretakers all engaged in enough petty power plays while their various batches were sharing areas that there had to be some sort of connection there.

  Regardless of my various theories, the biggest benefit and subsequent drawback of my 'special treatment', was that I had somehow become the effective queen bee of our entire twenty six Pearl batch. I was the cool girl, since I hadn't gotten the stuffing beaten out of me yet. Joy.

  "She's wrong! Tell her Viridian!"

  Rolling my eyes and gracefully (always gracefully, since I still wasn't sure whether our Caretaker had some kind of surveillance system set up to observe us when not under direct supervision) standing up off the outcropping I'd been lazing about on, I meandered my way past the gaggle of slim bodies in front of me, reaching for one of the ribbon wands stored in the built in containers of our glorified cage (the Nacres loved it when we practiced various 'Pearl related skills' in our own time), even as I waved a hand at the two arguing Gems.

  My voice came out in a semi-annoyed drawl, just as my thin fingers firmly wrapped themselves around the wand's handle.

  "Sixteen D, stop bullying Sixteen A."

  The mocha coloured figure was already backing away with very specifically interlaced fingers, an apology on her lips and in the gesture she was making. Pearl 'sign' language was something that we weren't actively taught, but yet still just kind of developed on its own. We needed a way to communicate with each other when standing around silently and looking pretty for our mistresses, after all.

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  It was kinda neat, if one ignored how horrific such a necessity was.

  Heedless of my internal thoughts, D's crimson counterpart grinned, now sure of her victory since I'd apparently chosen to back her up.

  "And Sixteen A, stop tripping all the damn time. Otherwise Nacre Three's gonna do way worse than anything D will say to you."

  That unsubtle warning and reminder ensured silence from the both of them, even as the rest of the Pearls in the quarter whispered and chattered from their own corners and cliques. Including 'my' group.

  Which included Sixteen D, C, V and the Rejuvenated J.

  There wasn't any choice in the matter on my end when it came to picking 'friends', unfortunately. They'd just been the quickest ones to cozy up to the 'perfect Pearl.' Ever curious about my thoughts and opinions on things, and ever eager to copy my fucking dancing techniques. Their one saving grace was that our occasional interactions kept me from going bugfuck insane from sheer social isolation, even if I was going to jam my shitty wand straight into J's gemstone the next time she tried to convince me to get Nacre Three to give us more time for singing rehearsals.

  I didn't have a deathwish, for Stars' sake.

  Aside from that, they were also largely in part the reason I'd stuck to Homeworld's set naming system for all of us, rather than trying to develop nicknames for those I actually somewhat liked.

  Our environment and upbringing fostered Gems utterly subservient to their future owners, even as it kept us divided from one another via pointless power plays (just like our damned Nacre Caretakers) and politicking.

  The other, and more important reason I tried to avoid any kind of real attachments was relatively simple.

  "Pearl Sixteen B to management station three. Pearl Sixteen B to management station three."

  My chances of ever seeing any of them again once we were assigned to our respective owners were slim to none, considering the sheer vastness of the Gem Empire. According to the history lectures, at least.

  Getting up and ignoring the excited whispering from the rest of my batch at my latest 'private audience', I packed my ribbon wand away and strode towards the exit to our quarters with a carefully measured, yet outwardly casual gait.

  ---

  "That wretched clod. She knows the candidates are coming soon, so she's trying to one up me with the latest batch success numbers!"

  Nacre Three's office was meticulously clean, and coloured a pure, eye searing white. The only splashes of colour came from the grey holographic screens she'd occasionally bring up, alongside the Peridot she'd called in for this or that reason.

  The green technician Gem (she almost resembled the little dorito gremlin I remembered from the show. But her hair was assembled in more of a curving knife of a shape than anything else, with her gemstone sitting somewhere on her shoulder. Her limb enhancers were noticeably thinner as well.) would occasionally sneak curious glances my way, even as I resolutely stared forward, a placid and gentle expression plastered across my face.

  We'd both been standing here for a few minutes, even as the tall Nacre continued to metaphorically tear through whatever she was reading, angrily ranting all the while.

  A forcibly suppressed shiver went down my entire lightform as the Caretaker stared at me with a gleam in her pale looking eyes and a shine upon the gemstone embedded in her forehead, a wide smile slowly coming to her thin lips, right before she turned towards the Peridot who didn't suppress the worried look of someone who's boss was eyeing them up for extra illegal overtime.

  "But you'll solve that for me, won't you? I know you have access to the visitation details. You could tell me just what kind of Gem I must personally prepare my dearest Viridian to serve. Then we could have her custom training schedule set up long before they arrive!"

  Oh boy.

  The Peridot gulped, raising a wobbly, detached finger. Nacre Three's eyes narrowed dangerously. I sobbed internally at the newcomer's sheer stupidity.

  "T-that would be against p-protocol-"

  The room got colder, even as the Caretaker seemed to loom over the minor technician all the more. A quiet, disturbingly calm sense of menace in her voice.

  "You are Peridot Facet 2NFG, Cut 7XT. You were transferred to the Reef Pearl Creation Center thanks to a failure to perform in an experimental laboratory sponsored by White Diamond herself. You should have been shattered, but your status as an experienced technician and our recent expansion necessitated your arrival, placement and subsequent position here."

  The green Gem was visibly shivering now, even as the Nacre leaned further forward, clawed hands almost taking gouges out of the colourful material of her desk.

  "You shouldn't be here, and the only reason you haven't been harvested and replaced with a more useful Gem is because I ensure such an occurrence does not occur. Solely because I consider you useful."

  She tilted her head slightly, eyes boring into 7XT.

  "Allow me to make things simple enough for you to understand. Do you wish to be shattered, Peridot?"

  The Peridot was already rapidly shaking her head with a terrified look, even as she began to bring up a series of yellow screens of her own using the limb enhancers connected to her arms.

  "N-no! I'll get everything you need, right away my Nacre! At once! R-right now!"

  And just like that, the Caretaker was back to some semblance of 'normal', hands clapping together and a tight smile upon her face, even as she turned to face me.

  I held perfectly still, smiling right back with wide, shining eyes even as some small part of me screamed and raged the second one of her creepy ass hands extended and began to gently pat my hair.

  "Do you hear that, Viridian? We'll get to know just who your owner is ahead of time! Isn't that wonderful?"

  I took that panicking part of my mind out back and shot it in the name of survival, forcing my perfect smile to widen further, even as I leaned into the touch like an eager fucking dog that was utterly desperate for my Caretaker's approval.

  "Yes, my Nacre!"