LOG-104.

  I had expected to be put to work organising things. Cleaning, maybe. Perhaps even a song or dance here and there for my de facto new owner. Typical Pearl things.

  "Darling, now and then~"

  But Hessonite already had a Pearl to do those typical things, and neither of us seemed willing to bully Glitter out of her usual routine. So, I was given an altogether different, yet oddly familiar role. Just on a distinctly…wider…scale than what I'd usually done on the Retaliator.

  "I think about me now and who I could have been~"

  "And then I picture all the perfect that we lived~"

  "'Til I rewrite the fate I've been given, oh whoa~"

  "My mind's got a m-m-mind of its own right now~"

  "And it makes me hate me~"

  "I'll explode like a wildfire if I can't decide, darling~"

  Pacing back and forth, I brought the repurposed communicator carefully held in my grip closer to my mouth, the small device's connection patched to the announcement system making up the wide confines of freight and dock zone sixty three.

  "My head and my heart are torturing me, yeah~"

  "Lost my mind, in your arms, I go to extremes, yeah~"

  "When Diamonds tell me run, and monsters call it love, oh~"

  "My head and my heart are caught in-between, yeah~"

  A fun fact about Gems. Heart actually meant something in Gemish. It was more of an equivalent to 'core' than anything resembling an organ, though. Stepping back at the thought, I lowered my makeshift microphone to cheers from the assembled crowd, even as a pair of Pearls whose owners had presumably roped them into joining me stepped forward, carefully following the instructions I'd given them.

  "La-la-la-la-la~"

  "La-la-la-la-la-la-la~"

  "La-la-la-la-la~"

  "La-la-la-la-la-la-la~"

  "La-la-la-la-la~"

  "La-la-la-la-la-la-la~"

  "La-la-la-la-la~"

  "La-la-la-la-la-la-la~"

  Not that they were very complicated or anything, but still, the small reprieve let me note that some parts of our audience had left, likely to return to their assigned tasks. One could only put off work for so long in the Empire, after all. And yet as my backup singers bowed and retreated behind me and I raised the communicator once more, I noticed more Gems filtering in to replace those that had left.

  "Tell me yes or no~"

  "Asking the Stars, 'Should I stay or should I go?'~"

  "You held my hand when I had nothing left to hold~"

  "And now I'm on a roll, oh~"

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  "Oh whoa~"

  It was all very…yeah. When I'd been planning what I could potentially do around my routine, I'd expected to have to be under far more direct supervision. But Hessonite was significantly more hands off than I'd expected. Not that the freedom that resulted from her approach to ownership wasn't very much appreciated.

  "My mind's got a m-m-mind of its own right now~"

  "And it makes me hate me~"

  "I'll explode like a wildfire if I can't decide, darling~"

  Rhythmic movements brought me closer to the edge of the makeshift stage a particularly enterprising Bismuth had set up, and I did my best to ignore the small gaggle of Pearls at the front of the crowd, eagerly taking notes in carefully grasped datapads as what I could only assume were their owners watched on from behind them.

  "My head and my heart are torturing me, yeah~"

  "Lost my mind, in your arms, I go to extremes, yeah~"

  "When Diamonds tell me run, and monsters call it love, oh~"

  "My head and my heart are caught in-between, yeah~"

  This was my life now, apparently. A glorified fucking popstar for what few Gems could afford to escape from their jobs long enough to listen to my stolen (not that anyone here knew that, of course) performances. Though the exclusivity was at least a little mitigated by the fact that I was allowed to choose where I went.

  "La-la-la-la-la~"

  And well, surely productivity would go down a little if all the dock workers kept wasting time stealing glances at me in favour of actually doing their jobs, right? Just another way to hurt the Empire, in my own little fucked up way.

  —

  "Stars that was like, amazing! How are you able to come up with songs like that so quickly? I thought only Era One Pearls could do that?"

  Lowering my not-a-microphone, I turned to regard Fuchsia with a small smile, even as Cerulean presumably shook off whatever post-song jitters she'd picked up over the course of our little concert.

  "I sit in a room and I think about things."

  Actually, I plotted endlessly, and just stole and repurposed lyrics I'd heard in another life. But she didn't necessarily need to know that, now did she?

  "Ah, there you are!"

  Whatever the pink Pearl might have been about to say, it was interrupted by a tall, visibly confident Gem stepping up the small stairway leading to the stage, the cloak-like light based fabric draped over her shoulders fluttering slightly as she approached.

  "Viridian. Just the Gem I wanted to speak to. You're difficult to track down, you know? Though I suppose that makes sense, since you've been performing all around this section of the Confluence…"

  I noted the prominent Blue Diamond displayed on her chest while she muttered to herself, hand rising to gently tap at the gemstone attached to her forehead.

  Azurite. Well, a different Azurite, anyway. Cerulean's owner was of a lower rank, from what I understood of things.

  "Ah, but enough of that. I don't suppose I could convince you to reconsider my offer? Blue Nine would be more than accommodating of a Pearl of your skill and glimmer. Why, perhaps one of your songs might even cheer up our gracious Diamond!"

  I afforded the colony representative with a patient expression, hands spreading out to the side as I bowed my head slightly.

  "The thought of bringing some measure of happiness to Blue Diamond is most certainly a lovely one, your grace, but if I'm not mistaken in my assumption, is she still not in a state of grieving over the loss of Pink Diamond, and thus not available?"

  I could see her expression tightening a little at the mention of Rose's 'demise.' Azurite, for all her wiles and desire in playing around, was still a devout loyalist, and got just as stressed out at the thought of Pink's shattering as any veteran soldier.

  "Alas, she still sheds tears-validated ones, of course, over the terrible death of her fellow Diamond. But such is life, I'm sure in a few more centuries, she'll feel well enough to visit her holdings and review the state of her colonies."

  There was a level of desperation in the statement. The Blue Court was an inherently domestic one. They managed art, culture, fuck, even religion whenever they felt like exploring it. With the absence of their Diamond and the more militaristic Yellow Court rising to prominence, all of the subjects under their purview had suffered.

  It was hard to build glorious palaces when all Yellow Diamond wanted was bunkers and factories, after all.

  "Well, until such a wonderful time comes, I'm afraid I must decline. Hessonite still has need of me, and it is my duty and pleasure to provide her with my service until our situation otherwise changes."

  At the reminder that she was trying to poach a Pearl from a distinctly higher ranked Gem than herself, Azurite finally relented. In her own way, at least.

  "Ah…but of course. Nonetheless, should you ever feel entrapped or misused, Viridian, know that there is a place for you at my side. You would be treated well, and I'm sure my own Pearl would just adore the chance to speak with you."

  Bowing graciously, I met the blue Gem's smile with my own, even as I failed to spot any such Pearl. Left behind to wait on whatever transport her owner had arrived from, in all likelihood.

  "Naturally."

  Then I saw the line of other Gems beginning to form behind her, and had to hold back a sigh.