LOG-102.

  It wouldn't be a lie to say that I was…surprised, by the reception our little away party received upon exiting the Sun Incinerator into an almost behemoth sized hangar.

  Word had apparently gotten out that Emerald was returning from her mission, and before I'd even taken a few steps forward to follow the admiral in question, what felt like thousands of Gems began cheering, an almost physical wave of sound hitting me as I awkwardly tried to keep myself from hiding behind my temporary guardian.

  "Good to hear, isn't it? Most of them must have worked harder than usual to get away from their duties to be here."

  I glanced upwards slightly, favouring the officer with a small smile.

  "They must surely be glad to see you back from your assignment, your radiance."

  Whatever I'd said, it apparently was enough to cause the green Gem to blink, her expression contorting in amusement as a snicker of all things escaped her.

  "Me? Well, I'd sure love to think so. But no, I suppose you wouldn't be aware of the ah…reputation, you developed during your absence."

  Blinking right back at her, I couldn't help but tilt my head curiously, a sinking feeling creeping up my gemstone as I noted parts of the crowd seemingly growing even louder upon the admiral stepping out of the way to expose me entirely.

  "...Reputation?"

  —

  Apparently, I had become a celebrity throughout certain parts of the Empire.

  Somehow.

  Which was…utterly fucking horrendous, considering the plain and simple fact that I was a Pearl actively planning to flee from said Empire, but at the same time…

  Well, I could think of more than a few ways to leverage my newfound fame to use, so long as I was careful about it.

  But regardless of whatever options had just presented themselves to me, I didn't have much time to ponder them, focused as I was on looking impeccably pleased at being back in 'friendly' territory while keeping up with my escort.

  Our journey through the Confluence mostly consisted of a winding series of internal pathways alongside a singular jump through what I recognised as a Warp junction similar to the one I'd witnessed back on Homeworld, which in turn allowed our group (that being Emerald, myself, the Tourmaline and a few Quartz guards) to dodge most of my…fans.

  Yeah, that was still weird to think about. Enough that part of me was still caught up with it even as we passed through yet another automated door, finally emerging into what I idly identified as a meeting room of sorts.

  I got as far as noting the large, almost map-like table dominating the center of the chamber before I abruptly locked eyes with a lithe figure that had been standing near the door, and promptly froze.

  "...Viridian?"

  My name was uttered by two voices, and yet for all that the Hessonite practically demanded attention, I couldn't help but continue to stare at the almost painfully familiar form of one of my old Batchmates.

  This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

  "Sixteen J."

  I wanted to say more, but practicality won out over sentimentality in this case. Rather than ask questions, I merely gave my fellow Pearl a polite nod, and quickly turned to follow Emerald, stopping just at the edge of the table and instead locking eyes with the Hessonite, who spared me a surprised glance before warily regarding both Emerald and the armoured tank pretending to be a Gem behind her.

  "I-It's ah, it's Glitter now! Actually."

  I noted the change in designation down mentally, but kept quiet as both of the high ranking Gems in the room turned to glance at the self named Glitter, the sound of her mouth clacking shut practically deafening in the ensuing silence.

  Then Emerald was turning back towards Hessonite, casually tilting her head back towards the door.

  "Apologies for the abrupt visit, but…perhaps your Pearl could occupy Viridian while we talk? She's just been retrieved from a rather unfortunate situation, which is part of why I'm here actually. Could probably do with a similar caste to interact with for a while."

  The golden-red Garnet glanced at me with a curious expression for a second, before slowly nodding.

  "I…concur. Glitter, take your fellow Pearl out for a walk. Don't stray too far. I'll call for your return when I finish speaking to the good admiral here."

  The yellow servant Gem didn't hesitate, immediately lurching forward and grabbing my wrist with an "at once, your radiance!" and pulling me out of the room.

  —

  "You're back! I can't believe it!"

  Staring back at my significantly cheerier counterpart while she tapped away at some kind of tablet carefully grasped in her hands, I thought about how to respond, even as we idly made our way down a winding hallway leading to…wherever she was leading us.

  "Neither can I, if I'm being honest. It was an…experience, getting here."

  A shitty one. I wanted to go home. But that wasn't possible just yet. And likely wouldn't be for a while.

  Still, regardless of what I might have thought about the situation, my old Batchmate thankfully couldn't read minds, and so instead just began gesticulating at the air as she spoke, whatever she'd been typing up on what I now realised was a communicator of some kind presumably complete as it was quickly returned to the safety of her gemstone.

  "It's just-everyone heard the news, right? There was a huge mess a while back, when we got word that you'd been stolen from your owner by organics of all things!"

  I nodded along, plastering on a faintly grossed out expression.

  "Terrible things. Covered in feathers and squawking all the time. Can't say I miss them."

  I missed them.

  "Oh it must have been horrible! But a lot of Gems volunteered to help get you back, you know? You…you've gotten really popular because of it all. Especially here in the Confluence!"

  The golden Gem brought up her hands, awkwardly rubbing them together.

  "I…I'm sorry it took so long for you to get rescued. Please don't tell anyone but-" She leaned forward, voice lowering to a whisper as she glanced around worriedly. "-I did my best to help speed things along. Spread a few rumours here and there. Well, mostly I just told Fuchsia-oh but you wouldn't know her yet and-"

  She went silent as I raised a hand, her eyes locking on to it before moving to stare at my own as we slowed to a stop in front of yet another door, this one failing to open automatically for whatever reason.

  "Thank you for helping, Glitter. I appreciate it."

  I tried my best not to think back to my time in the Reef as the Pearl blushed, cheeks turning a shade brighter as she mumbled something that might have been an affirmative.

  Fuck, it was like we hadn't even left.

  Instead of commenting on it, I just crossed my arms and glanced at the barrier blocking our path forward, looking it up and down.

  "So…where do we go now? This looks locked."

  Still mumbling, my fellow servant merely stepped forward, bringing up a hand and rapping her knuckles against the shining metal in a distinct pattern for a few seconds.

  Another moment passed, and right as I was about to question whether something was supposed to actually happen, the door slid open, yet another Pearl warily glancing at us from behind it, only for her blue eyes to widen as she presumably realised what she was looking at.

  "C-come in!"

  Quirking an eyebrow, I glanced at Glitter, only to see my Batchmate already moving forward, stepping past our long haired counterpart and waving me along.

  Taking a breath, I gave the uncertain looking Gem a quick nod, which only seemed to make her even more jittery, before following Glitter inside, the sound of the door shutting behind us causing me to tense just a little, before relaxing.

  Suffice to say, whatever I might have been expecting as we strode further in, it wasn't what seemed to be a small storage room with at least a dozen other Pearls all sitting along shelves or standing around whispering to each other.

  And as all those bright eyes turned towards me and the whispers ever so abruptly stopped, I could do little more than repress a groan as I realised I'd just walked into the equivalent of a Stars damned pit of snakes.

  "Is that her!?"

  Then a ditzy looking pink Pearl with one of her eyes taken up by a gemstone was pointing at me, the entire room being filled with the usual noise of a gaggle of Pearls getting excited shortly afterwards.

  Ugh. Gossip city, so good to be back…just what exactly had gotten me so popular around here anyway?

  Yet another thing to look into once I got the chance, I supposed.