Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

    Defective.

    The first word that Ruby, Facet 4UDB, Cut 7XB ever heard.

    “Defective.”

    Ruby’s eyes were still trying to adjust to the light. She had just emerged from a reclaimated Era-I low-yield kindergarten, and was still getting the hang of existing. She squinted at the green blob before her.

    “I...I am?” she stammered.

    “Um...well...you tell me. How many touch stumps do you see?” the lime smudge queried. She sounded clinical, but, a touch concerned.

    “I...” the Ruby faltered, squinting and wiping her eyes, “...I...I can’t...”

    “5XT!” another green smear called out. “Hurry up with the early bloomer, we have real work to do!”

    The little Ruby sat down on the kindergarten floor. “But...why...”

    “I’m on my way!” the near blob called out to the far one. “Listen,” she said, kneeling down to Ruby’s face, “You emerged early. Your vision spheres are deformed, and can’t focus incoming light properly. You’ll need to be recycled and harvested.”

    The Ruby’s eyes watered, obliterating all form the world had. Greens and greys and blacks all smeared together.

    “Oh come on, you haven’t even been in this world that long, so it shouldn’t be a big deal! And look at it this way, your gem will be useful now. You might power a forge, or a heat pump, or even an entropy inductor! Don’t you think you’d like that?”

    Ruby sniffed, still sitting on the cold ground. “No.”

    The figure before her sighed, and spoke softly in a hidden whisper, “Yeah...me neither.” Ruby heard her adjusting something on her arm, and a soft green finger wiped the tear from her eye.

    When Ruby looked up, the figure was close enough to focus on, and she saw a green face with soft eyes hidden behind a hard visor.

    “I’m Peridot 5XT, and...” Peridot’s voice hitched as she saw her reflection in the Ruby’s eyes.

    “Hi,” the Ruby peeped, “I’m Ruby.” She concluded with a sniff.

    “Uuurrrggghhh...” Peridot sighed, already regretting her future actions. She stood back up, out of the way of the Ruby’s gaze of weaponized cuteness. She slid her arm enhancer back on, and called up a screen. With a few commands, along with some topographical data she got from scanning the Ruby, she conjured a blue crystalline visor.

    “Here,” she slid the visor onto Ruby’s head.

    Ruby’s eyes fluttered as they focused on the world around her. Crisp lines appeared, and details grew from shapes she couldn’t have imagined but just a moment ago. She studied the forms of the rock wall, the shades made by the shadows, the curves and edges, the contrast of forms. She followed the wall up, and gazed into the sky, filled with a galaxy of stars.

    “Whoa-” she breathed, her pupils swelling to take in every photon.

    “Yes, well,” Peridot interrupted, “use that visor to make sure you don’t get lost on the way to the harvesting chambers.”

    “WHAT?!” Ruby’s visor began to instantly fill with tears.

    “Listen!” cried Peridot. “Listen to me very carefully . I made you the visor so that you can find your way around. Go straight to the harvesting chambers. DO NOT go anywhere else. DO NOT go to the common rooms with the other Rubies. And especially DO NOT check in as a new recruit with your sargent. I don’t have time to write up a report for your defect, so if you were to do those things, you wouldn’t get harvested. And we wouldn’t want that, would we?” She winked.

    Tears kept leaking down Ruby’s face, but now she wore a wavering smile. She burst forth and instantly grappled Peridot’s leg enhancer in a weapy hug.

    “Yes, yes, alright.” Peridot patted her head. “Just make sure that if you get dissipated, um, on your way to get harvested that is, that you incorporate that visor into your base form when you regenerate.”

    Ruby’s face wiped up and down Peridot’s leg in a nod.

    “And,” Peridot whispered, “don’t get caught with a defect, or it’s both our heads on the line, got it?”

    The red gem with a leaking face gave her best impression of a stern look and a solemn nod.

    “Good, now get outa here you little Roob.”

    Peridot watched her meander through the canyon before surreptitiously ducking into the barracks. The kindergartener scratched the triangular gem at her hip, and felt a unique mix of pride and worry for the little soldier.

Chapter Text

    “Alright you pebbles, listen up!” the huge Amethyst at the head of the room barked.

    On the floor around her, a semicircle of a few dozen Rubies were gathered. Many were sitting at attention, with legs criss-crossed in accordance with their military training. Some towards the back of the room, however, were a little less disciplined.

    Ruby 7XB sat with her back against the far wall, tracing lines on the floor before her. She used her red-hot finger to score black scorch lines onto the tile, making doodles in an ever-expanding radius.

    The guest speaker giving the Rubies their assignments chose to ignore the few wayward ones. It had been a long time since this Amethyst was a rank and file soldier, but she still remembered how to work with Rubies and recruits. If you stopped for every little infraction, you’d never get anywhere. Besides, the little red cubes tended worked best in groups, so the ones who paid attention would catch the others up.

    “It’s time to prepare for your first real mission, recruits,” she continued. “This kindergarten has been undergoing industrial conversions, and the terrain has been proving hazardous for the construction robonoids. Until we can get a better lay of the land, building these drill platforms will be slow going. So! We’re going to be sending out some geo-specialists to take a look, but that doesn’t mean we can stop building. If we have too many more accidents, we might even have to have a clairvoyant come in and tell us what’s wrong.”

    A few of the more alert Rubies murmured in concern.

    “That’s right,” the Amethyst said. “We may be having a Sapphire coming to this dump in a few months. That means you all need to be mission ready by the time she gets here.”

    Ruby 7XB detected the increased chatter, and looked up from her portraits to see if it was time to go back to the dwelling pit. Seeing that it wasn’t, she resumed trying to draw hands. It was hard because 3XD kept watching her attempts, which for some reason made the whole process impossible.

    “Now I’m sure you’ve all heard the stories about the Ruby who kidnapped a Sapphire back at the begining of the Era.” Amethyst lowered her voice to study the reactions of the group. Almost every Ruby sank a little lower at the mention of the oft-repeated story. Any time concerns over Ruby expenditure were brought up, this tale would invariably be used to illustrate just how expendable Rubies needed to be.

    “Rebel propoganda, all of it,” the Amethyst said. Her resolute attitude seemed to coax a few of the Rubies from their sullen states.

    “But,” she pressed on, “it does serve as an important reminder to stay focused, remember your role, and don’t distract the Seer.”

    7XB had ultimately decided to give up on trying to draw hands, and instead flattened her palm out onto the floor. She rotated her hand until her wrist met the edge of the arm she was trying to draw, and she applied heat. The resulting palm-print scorch elicited a little “Ooo...” of amazement from 3XD.

    “So to reiterate...” the Amethyst strode to the center of the room to gather as much attention as possible. “If we do host a Sapphire here in the coming months, and some of you lot are assigned to be her guard; DO NOT hinder her work. DO NOT speak unless spoken to. And don’t even LOOK at her unless you absolutely have to...7XB!” she called suddenly.

    The doodling Ruby froze, her eyes facing down at her work.

    “Did you hear any of what I just said?”

    Sweat began to pool at the top of her blue visor. She locked up. She couldn’t say anything, she couldn’t even look the Amethyst in the eye. She was about to open her mouth to stammer out an excuse when the Amethyst spoke first.

    “Exactly. Don’t look, don’t talk. Good listening, newbie.”

    7XB looked around for a moment, and saw 3XD offering a high-five.

    She accepted.

    Back in the dwelling pit, all of the Rubies from that facet were milling around while they were waiting for assignments. Many were sparring and wrestling, while others were boasting about recent missions.

    7XB was off to one side, scratching images onto the pit wall using bits of chalks and colored stones.

    “Ruby!” Ruby 3XD called out, running over to 7XB. “Ruby! I got you some more!”

    “3-D!” 7XD jumped up from her etchings. “Whadija find?”

    “I got send into some old drainage tunnels to help unclog ‘em, and I found you some weird lookn’ stalagmite bits that are kinda pink!” As the excitable gem ran to her friend, she stumbled on a broken bit of floor tile. She caught herself before she landed on her knee-gem, the bits of fossilized coral spilled from her hands and scattered about the pit.

    “Careful!” 7XB cried, helping her friend to her feet. “If you get sent to the repair vats again they’re gonna make you scrub ‘em.”

    “I’m fine, I’m fine.” The other Ruby dusted herself off, a pinkish angry blush creeping along her cheeks. She knelt to hide it, and began to help collect the chalky drawing rocks. “So,” she said, changing the subject from her clumsiness, “does this look like enough?”

    “Lemme see...” 7XB picked up the stack. “Yeah, I think so, and I’ve got the lines all done, look!”

    3XD hadn’t noticed the changes to the mural until now, but on the left hand edge of the art space, there was a new black-soot outlined figure. A Ruby. Who had a gem...on her knee.

    “It’s me!” 3XD cried, her pinkish-red form glowing.

    “Of course it’s you! Without you, I wouldn’t have half the colors I do. And besides-” 7XB got interrupted by a forceful, warm hug. “Oomf...and besides, you’re my friend, 3-D. You deserve a spot on the wall.” The hug only grew tighter. “Ok, ok, lemme finish it, then you can poof me!” the artistic Ruby squeaked.

    It wasn’t long until the pair of Rubies were sitting back, admiring the piece together. 7XB was wiping the dusty fingerprints off of her visor, while 3XD was curled up alongside, with her chin on her knees.

    “Do you like it?” 7XB asked.

    “Yeah, do you?” 3XD replied.

    “Yeah.”

    “Then let’s sign it!”

    The two gems jumped up and pressed their hands into the wall beneath the drawing. With a crisp sizzle, their blackened handprints were seared onto the piece.

Chapter Text

    It had been a few years now.

    Every few months they came back and said to ‘be ready!’

    ‘A Sapphire could show up any time now, so you have to be prepared!’

    But no Sapphire came. Not yet, anyway. It was just one accident after another, and it seemed like the whole place was starting to fall apart.

    A lot of the old crew had been reassigned, but 7XB still sat at her mural, contemplating what to do next.

    A fair amount of it was smudged and scuffed, especially the older sections. The colors were faded, and much of the newer work had no color at all.

    A year or so ago, 3XD was transferred to another facet. 7XB had asked about her once or twice, but Rubies were interchangeable, so no one knew anything.

    The artist sat and pondered what to possibly draw next.

    She wasn’t worried about 3XD. The bubbly little lava puddle was always good at making new friends.

    7XB on the other hand...

    Before she could ruminate much more on her art and situation, she felt a large hand grab her head, and lift her up out of the pit.

    An Amethyst lifted her, and placed her under the soldier’s large purple arm. Tucked away like a bundle of cargo. Two more Rubies soon joined her, and the three of them were swiftly carried away, off towards the ready-room.

    “Must be a mission...” said one of the Rubies.

    “Oh really, you think so?” another Ruby muttered. Her scathing voice didn’t carry so far, since she was being held the other way around, facing backwards.

    “Excuse me...” 7XB began, speaking to the Amethyst carrying them. “What’s our mission, ma’am?”

    The quartz shrugged a bit, and hefted the three little gems up on her hip to get a better grip, carrying them like logs.

    When they got to the ready-room, the Amethyst dumped the Rubies onto the main table, and instructed them to wait.

    Before too long, the Amethyst returned with a familiar Peridot in tow.

    “Here’s your requested guard team, have them back within the day.” the soldier grumbled.

    The technician opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by a Ruby leaping from the table and grappling her chest in a four-point bear hug.

    “5XT!” 7XB cried.

    “Oof...yes indeed...it is I...”

    The Peridot peeled the Ruby barnacle off of her, and set her back down on the table. The other Rubies giggled at their comrade's enthusiasm.

    “I need the three of you,” the technician began, “to help with a geometric survey. We’re going into some very old and very dangerous parts of the facility. Think you can handle it?”

    The Rubies gave a diamond salute. “Yes ma’am!”

    “Excellent. Now, head to the service door, I’ll be right with you.”

    As the Rubies hopped down to scamper off to their mission, Peridot placed a hand on 7XB’s shoulder, stopping her at the edge of the table. Just after the other two Rubies sped out of the room, Peridot grabbed her in a deep embrace.

    “Have you...been well?” Peridot muttered into Ruby’s hair.

    “Yeah, I guess...” was the muffled reply.

    “Is your visor still functioning well? Have you incorporated it into your base form?”

    “Mhm.”

    “Good.” Peridot broke away, and held Ruby by the shoulders, giving the gem a once-over. “I have some things I need to discus with you...but we also do need to take the geometric reading. We’ll converse more once we reach the cave system.”

    Ruby nodded, and hopped off the table to join her fellows.

    At the maintenance hatch, the three Rubies and Peridot gathered.

    “Alright,” 5XT said, taking some preliminary scans, “crack the hatch.”

    A Ruby with a shoulder gem forced the hatch open, revealing the desolate landscape before them. Apart from the living quarters, training ground, and the old Facet 4 kindergarten, the entire dwarf planet was pretty much barren. It used to have a high mineral content and a few brine oceans, but all of its dense resources were expended long ago. Now, the only features this planetoid bore were the crisscrossing pipes and superstructures of decommissioned mines, and factories under construction.

    Peridot lead them out into one of the ancient drainage valleys that once poured billions of gallons of brinewater into the vapor pits of the old forges. The valley was now an arid chasm, with waves of grey, silver, beige, and ashen bands streaking through the canyon walls.

    Most of the light for their journey came from the trinary star system this satellite orbited around. The silver orbs were only about ten times as luminous as the other pinprick stars scattered along the galactic band.

    The group trudged in relative silence. 7XB dragged her feet now and then to make trailing lines in the dust. She liked the way that the surface level of sand and the lower levels had different colors. The little flecks she kicked up from the top were light and silvery, but the chips of metallic grit beneath were a darker beige.

    “It’s rust,” said Peridot, turning back to watch 7XB kick her way through the sands. “Each color is a different kind of oxidized metal. They have different densities, so they settle into layers.” She turned to scan a smoother section of stone wall with her gauntlet. “We’re here.”

    “Access 4U-2R-BX81.” The lime-colored glow of her arm scanner illuminated a set of rusted rungs stretching up the side of the cliff. About half way up there was another maintenance hatch, similar to the one back at base. This one was thoroughly covered in cakes of rust, however.

    “Alright, Rubies, let’s get our Peridot through that door!” shouted the Ruby with a chest gem.

    The trio scampered up the crusted ladder, and set about trying to work the door open.

    And very shortly thereafter, three Rubies fell back to ground with three puffs of dust.

    “Oomf...” was all 7XB could mutter, as one of the others tossed a broken metal handle aside.

    Peridot wore an incredulous expression, and powered up her arm blaster.

    The hatch detonated off its hinges, and all four gems clambered inside the maintenance pipe.

    “Alright, let’s see...” The technician stood, called up her seismic scanner screen, and plotted a few courses.

    “This should be a relatively easy task,” she continued, as they approached a crossroads juncture. “Each of you should take one of these to the designated area,” she offered one of her floating fingers to each of the Rubies. “You two split off left and right, while I follow 7XB straight ahead and take some crust samples. We’ll meet back up here as soon as the scans are complete.”

    The Rubies nodded. “Right!” “Yes ma’am!”

    The red glows of the other two gems faded, leaving only 5XT and 7XB trudging forward.

    7XB turned the green cylindrical finger in her hands, fidgeting. “Do you think they’re really going to send a Sapphire?” she finally asked.

    “Yes,” Peridot replied. “They’ll have to, by my estimation. They really should shut this whole place down, but, well, that’s another story.”

    “They’ll have to?” the red gem echoed, perplexed.

    “If my crust samples show what I think they will, yes. My current theory is that this planetoid has been harvested dry. All of the structurally significant metals have been mined, and the crust has been perforated with kindergartens.”

    “Perforated?” Ruby asked.

    “Drilled full of holes,” Peridot explained.

    “Oh, yeah,” Ruby nodded. “Plus there was already a kindergarten here when they decided to drill more holes.”

    “Exactly...which means the only way they are going to be able to set up these factories is with the help of a clairvoyant...a future-seer...to tell them where it’s safe to drill, and where the last pockets of metal are.”

    “I know what clairvoyant means!” 7XB stuck her tongue out, but then wore a thoughtful expression. For a moment the tip of her tongue hung out of her lips as she thought. “They tell Rubies about Sapphires a lot, actually,” she said.

    Peridot gave a solemn nod. “That old story about the vile Ruby who kidnapped the Sapphire makes for good propaganda.”

    “Yeah...I can’t believe rebels would make something up like that.” Ruby began to walk a little farther back, her head hung a bit.

    “Yes...rebels...” Peridot noticed the sullen expression. “Well, something interesting about Rubies and Sapphires you might like to know...”

    7XB caught back up. “What?”

    The pair of them ducked under an old fallen pipe as they moved farther to the back of the maintenance line. “This is actually classified information, so don’t just go around telling people this...”

    Ruby slapped one hand over her mouth, and gave a thumbs up with the other.

     “As a certified kindergartener, I’m privy to all kinds of knowledge about gemetic makeup, so you can trust me when I tell you this...but...Rubies and Sapphires...are actually the same, compositionally speaking.

    “What!? Really?” Ruby cried.

    “Shhshhhtshh!” Peridot motioned a bit frantically.

    “Oh right, secrets.”

    “No, well yes, but I also don’t want to cause a cave-in here.”

    The pair stopped to listen to the faint groaning of the metal walls.

    “But yes...” Peridot continued, “It’s true. The exact same components go into making Rubies and Sapphires. True, the growth process for Sapphires is more...particular...but it’s all the same principles. Even your abilities! Two sides of the same coin.”

    Ruby thought for a moment. “Hot-making and future-seeing?”

    “Entropy manipulation.”

    “Oh,” the red gem responded, as though her question were really answered.

    Peridot decided to explain further, just in case. “Controlling the input or output of thermal energy is just one means of influencing entropy, or ‘disorder,’ if you like. Another way to influence entropy is to ‘sense’ its change over time. I’ll admit, I don’t quite know how that part works, but Sapphires can both ends of the entropy equation...they can see the effects from causes before they happen.”

    “Hrm,” was all Ruby offered.

    “Anyway, I thought you might like that. You and those precious Sapphires might not be so different after all, right?”

    “Maybe...” the Ruby stopped at a collapsed section of tunnel.

    “Well, this will have to do,” muttered Peridot, as she began to set up a telemetry network.

    While the technician was at work, Ruby sat against one of the tunnel walls. The metal of the tunnel’s shell was a rusted red, and felt cool to the touch. She pressed her finger to the wall to try to scorch a line, but the wall seemed to resist the heat. She focused a little more, using the point of her finger, and carved a little trough in the metal. The line she left behind glowed softly in the dark of the tunnel. She examined the bead of molten wall on the end of her finger, before flicking it into the dirt.

    “Can you hold that augmented interface stump up for a moment? I have to try to get a clear reading from the others...” Peridot requested, typing away at her screen. It was a little slower going, as she had 3 fewer fingers to work with.

    Ruby held the green finger aloft, while it radiated a faint green glow.

    After a few moments, the tech had collecter her readings, and sent the return signal to the other two Rubies. She tracked them on the screen just to make sure they weren’t wandering off.

    7XB was fruitlessly trying to see if the little green cylinder would draw on the wall.

    Peridot took notice of her artistic efforts. “Here,” she offered, editing a few of the finger’s properties in her settings configuration.

    Suddenly, the tiny rod was producing glowing lime lines.

    “Whaaaaaat!” Ruby grinned. She colored little swirls and jagged patterns on the tunnel’s bulkhead.

    The tech couldn’t help but smile. “It’s normily for emergency situations, creating nav markers and things. But I figured it would work just as well as a drawing implement.”

    Ruby adjusted her visor. “You have the coolest stuff.”

    “Heh, I’m glad you see it that way.” Ruby tried to hand the finger back over to her, but she interrupted. “No, no, keep it.”

    “REALLY!?”

    The tunnel walls echoed with joy for a few moments.

    “Yes,” said Peridot, wincing at the outburst, “really. They’ll be issuing me a gear update at my next posting anyway so-”

    “Your next posting?”

    The green gem’s wince intensified. “Yes...I’m being...reassigned.”

    Ruby moved in close, and brought the finger back into docking range of the limb enhancer, so that she was holding Peridot’s hand. “Where?”

    “Far away.”

    “Why?” Rubie’s voice wasn’t quite as steady.

    “Punishment, I think.”

    Ruby’s hands shot to her visor, and she let out a tear-filled gasp. “Because of me? ”

    “No! No, nothing so...logical. The word is, a Peridot from my facet...messed up. Big time. And so, a lot of the Peridots are being...re-evaluated.”

    “Oh...” Ruby sniffed.

    “There was a chance that if my findings here were good news, I would have been able to stay. The Diamonds do like to reward good news.”

    “It’s not, is it?”

    “No.”

    Ruby pondered. “Could we just...tell them it is?” she whispered.

    “I could falsify the data...” Peridot scratched the gem at her hip. “But that would just mean that more gems would get hurt. We’ve already lost two Peridots and a handful of Rubies to these survey missions.”

    The pair began watching their step a little more on the way back.

    “I tried looking into what all this was for, after the last far-survey mission got lost,” Peridot continued.

    “These are factories, right? These places getting built?” Ruby walked beneath a low-hanging conduit, as Peridot ducked down next to her.

    “That’s right, factories. Factories for producing what, though? Answer: construction equipment.” Peridot struggled against a strained, dry laugh. “Construction equipment...when we’re so low on resources...the Diamonds are having us build - brand new - construction equipment. And look at what we’re doing now!” her voice rose. “A half-built robonoid could do this! But no. We have to keep building. We have to keep mining. We have to keep making machines for our mechanics, computers for our technicians, wars for our soldiers, and kindergartens for our kindergarteners. Every gem has to have a role, a ‘purpose.’ Without a ‘purpose,’ what’s the difference between a Rutile and a Peridot? An Amethyst and a Topaz?”

    “A Ruby and a Sapphire?” the little soldier offered.

    Peridot nodded, and knelt down, her voice dropping low, just above silence.

    “A Pearl...

    ...and a Diamond?”

    The quiet between them was nearly deafening, but above the low hum of the empty hall, they heard it.

    A distant rumble.

    Peridot opened a channel to the other Rubies. “Evacuate, now!”

    The alarms on her seismic scanners lit up, as Ruby and Peridot sprinted down the tunnel.

    As they rounded the bend, to being just in sight of the central juncture, a crack split along the ceiling.

    “Get down!” Peridot cried, as she raised her arm above them.

    Ruby hit the deck, and the entire corridor was bathed in green light. A hardlight field leapt from Peridot’s gauntlet, and caught the roof of the tunnel above them. Around the pair, however, the collapse continued, until there was only a small pocket trapping the pair of them inside.

    “Are you alright!?” Peridot cried.

    “Yeah...I’ve had worse...” Ruby coughed out, forcing the heavy dust out of her throat.

    “Good, now I just have to...um...if I can...uh-oh”

    Ruby looked up to see Peridot holding the roof above them with her hardlight shield, but she lacked many fingers on the other arm. Studying the room they were now in, Ruby realized...they were trapped.

    “No armcannon, huh,” muttered Ruby.

    “Afraid not,” Peridot responded, clicking her two remaining fingers together on her left hand.

    The red gem paced out the edge of their little room, then studied the far wall.

    “This way to the exit, right?” asked the Ruby, trying to remember.

    “Yes...but...the wall in the way is 10 centimeters of hardened, heat-shielded material, followed by who knows how much rock and debris. If you even could get hot enough to melt it, you’d melt me too. No offense, but Rubies aren’t known for their ability to focus their energy.”

    7XB pressed a hand against the red-rusted wall. “Let me guess, focus is more of a Sapphire thing?” she mused with a wry smile, then plunged her hand into the instantly molten bulkhead.

    With the hole started, 7XB began to trace a doorway with her finger, drawing white-hot lines into the wall, criss-crossing it and carving it to pieces.

    Peridot 5XT could only watch with a strange mixture of amusement, amazement, relief, and pride as the little Ruby cut a swath back to the juncture.

    Halfway there, the pair of them met the other two Rubies, who were tunneling their way in using some scavenged tools made of scrap, haphazardly welded together.

    The survey team shared a quick reunion, with all the Rubies getting rather caught up in the moment of triumph, before Peridot reminded them that they were still in danger of a full tunnel collapse.

    The full team leapt from the tunnel in the cliffside, plunging into the dusty sands below.

    “How did you manage that!?” one Ruby cried.

    “Yeah, you cheated! We couldn’t melt through that wall for nothin’!” exclaimed the other.

    “Well...” 7XB began, “I’ve had a lot of time to practice drawing...”

    The others two seemed confused.

    “It helps me focus!”

    The others found that to be an unsatisfactory explanation, and decided to pelt 7XB with globs of semi-molten metal dust. The soldier quickly returned fire, sending white-hot sparks showering down with every impact.

    Peridot picked her head up out of the sand to find the most hazardous approximation of a snowball fight possible, and decided to let them have their fun while she transmitted the data.

    It wasn’t long before the group was back at the base. 7XB tried to take her time in the mission debrief, but she knew what was coming. As the Amethyst dismissed the Rubies back to the dwelling pit, Peridot 5XT stopped them. She strode right in front of the Amethyst, knelt down, and picked 7XB up into an earnest, tearful embrace.

    “Promise me you’ll stay safe...”

    “I can’t...” Ruby mumbled, “But I can promise I’ll make you proud.”

    They parted, and Ruby tried not to cry. When she dropped back down into the dwelling pit, it didn’t quite feel like home anymore...just a place she was. She made a few more friends among the Rubies, as tales of her heroics filtered among them. Quite a few more stopped off by the edge of the pit to look at her mural, and pretty much all of them made sure to keep the wrestling away from it, so no more would get damaged. It was several more days though, until 7XB decided to make another addition to it. The word had just come through that a Sapphire was on her way, so 7XB didn’t have as much time as she would have liked. The other Rubies kept her encouraged, though, so it wasn’t long until her next piece took shape.

    With the glowing green stick, she drew her best work yet. A tall, angular portrait, of a Peridot with a gem at her hip.

Chapter Text

    “Now see here, you bits of gravel,” the Agate began. “An Elite of the Blue Court has found within her gem a greater sense of charity than I could ever possibly imagine. A Sapphire has dained to come here , to this wretched place.”

    As she spoke, her words resounded throughout the hangar, punctuated by the footfalls of her boots.

    “She is set to arrive any moment, so get in formation!”

    The commanding Agate strode along the Ruby line, surveying them out of the corner of her eye. Her lip was curled in disgust. As the last of the small soldiers filed into place, Agate directed them with a sharp flick of her baton. It buzzed with an angry energy that made the Rubies in the front row take a half-step back.

    Ruby 7XB lined up with the others, taking a strategic position a little left of center, two rows back from the front. She was well practiced at making herself invisible. Once she found the perfect place to stand in obscurity, she swiped the visor off of her face, and dissipated it with a tiny shimmer of blue sparkles. The world was now a sea of shades and fuzz without any definition, but as long as she kept her eyes straight ahead, and mimicked the posture of the Ruby in front of her, no one would notice.

    The little soldier’s plan seemed to be working, as the Agate’s eyes passed right over her, searching for any gem out of place. Just as the commander got to the end of the formation, a low rumbling shudder filled the hangar.

    7XB couldn’t see it, but she felt the air pressure change as the seal on the doors hissed open. With a burst of wind, they rushed open to greet the gleaming pearlescent ship descending to the surface.

    The craft was a brilliant crescent, an Inevitable Iris transport ship.

    All the little visorless Ruby could discern was the sudden wave of shining white light reflecting from the approaching ship. She didn’t see its doors open, but she did hear a stern, but airy voice announce to the assembled gems.

    “Presenting Sapphire, Facet 3K9J, Cut 9XK, Blue Diamond’s liaison to the High Court, Oracle of the Vein of Inquiry.”

    The belly of the ship opened, and a Pearl in a pale silken garb strode out. Behind her, a blue gem glided down the ramp. 7XB could only just make out the azure aura, but she gasped all the same. The figure...the Sapphire...she was small. Just like a Ruby.

    Sapphire joined her Pearl, and the Agate rose from her knee.

    “My Grand Clarity, thank you so much for extending your gracious efforts to our wretched, crumbling -”

    “ Echhem ...” Pearl cleared her throat.

    The sound of the interrupting Pearl instantly silenced the room. Only the far-off machines continued their rhythmic drums, unaware of the social laws being shattered deep beneath them.

    Agate drew in a hissing breath between clenched teeth, but before she could use it, she was interrupted again.

    “Thank you, Pearl,” Sapphire spoke in a soft, kind tone.

    Pearl gave a short bow, that was more of a nod, and strode back into the Iris .

    “There is much to be done, and I don’t have time for your formalities,” Sapphire continued, now curt and professional. “Your entire operation is in jeopardy. The mineral-leaching from the contamination sites has already compromised the stability of previously secure facilities, such as this one.”

    The Agate’s mouth opened in shock, trying to formulate some kind of excuse.

    “To answer the question it will take you another minute to formulate, no, we are not safe here. Follow my instructions to the letter however, and not a single gem will be dissipated. Firstly, begin by-”

    The Sapphire’s words trailed off in 7XB’s mind. She couldn’t stop looking at the blue figure. So sure and confident. Resolute and commanding. But Sapphire didn’t seem to be cruel or angry. Ruby remembered what 5XT had told her.

    “Rubies and Sapphires...are actually the same...”

    Ruby 7XB didn’t feel confident, or commanding, or resolute. But...maybe she could be...

    As she wondered at the Sapphire, he hand drifted to her face. She knew she shouldn’t...she knew she should keep her head down, and stay invisible, but she couldn’t help it. Ruby had to know what this Sapphire looked like.

    Her hand moved to the side of her head, and she summoned her visor. The world was suddenly clear, and Ruby saw her. She expected someone functional. Simple, plain, but effective. When she saw the Sapphire’s dress, overflowing with elegance and grace, she let out a little gasp.

    The Oracle, standing above her on the landing platform, turned to her, brushing her silver hair away from her eye.

    Ruby was captive in her stare. Instantly frozen. Her knees felt weak, and she shook as though the ground were shaking around her. A haze blocked out the rest of the world as though dust clouds were rising the floor. She heard the universe calling her name as though her Agate was yelling at her to...wait...

    “RUBY 7XB! MOVE! NOW!”

    Ruby had just enough time to glance around and notice her entire formation was gone. She took one last look into the wide eye of the Sapphire above, and then a 30 ton support pilon landed on her head.

     Red.

     All she saw was red, at first.

     Being formless made it hard to think, but easy to feel.

     7XB had picked up sleeping from an Amethyst transfer who had come in from an old Era-1 station, so she knew how much being formless was like dreaming.

     The next thing she noticed, was that she was spinning.

     Not fast, just...turning in place. Striding in a tight circle, one foot over the other. Or, rather, that’s what it felt like, since she had no feet.

     She began to spin, to waltz, to dance. Her mind fixated on a far away silhouette. That Sapphire with her hair and her dress. So regal. So elegant. So...sharp.

     Around her waist as she spun, she felt the seams of lace unfurl. Her turning slowed, as she could almost see her form taking shape. A beautiful blossoming dress. The little Ruby’s heart swelled as she opened her eyes.

     She flipped forward as she fell to the ground. The hard floor of the Reformation Chamber came to quickly greet her.

     She lay for a moment, face stuck to the tile, trying not to hear the pair of laughing Rubies. When they could be ignored no longer, she peeled herself off the floor.

     “Wow, 7XB, nice addition to the uniform!” one jeered.

     “Yeah, going to a fancy dance soon?” called the other.

     7XB felt a boiling hot fear rise in her throat. What had she done to her form?

     She picked herself up, and looked herself over. A small frill clung to the waist of her jumpsuit.

     That was it. Not even a skirt, really.

     The fear didn’t relent. Her uniform was still out of spec, and she’d be poofed again if she was lucky. If not...

     Still, a part of her felt ashamed. She didn’t even get her dress.

     Something was wrong.

     The Rudies weren't laughing.

     And there was a pair of blue boots standing in front of her.

     7XB’s gaze followed the boots up and up, until she saw the sneering face of her Agate.

     “Are you sure this is the one?”

     7XB felt the chill of terror freeze the burn of shame.

     “And why would I be unsure, Agate?”

     That voice. The blistering embarrassment flared up again. It was her .

     “Of course you would never be, my Clarity,” the Agate said, stepping aside. “I was simply ensuring that I had not made an error.” Her tone was eerily sincere, especially when her glare was focused squarely on 7XB, and her sneer did not match her pleasant tone in the slightest.

     The Sapphire gilded forward. 7XB felt her throat hitch.

     The blue gem came to a stop, and brushed her hair away from her gleaming eye. “Fear not, Agate,” she said, then turned to look the little Ruby right in the eyes. “You made no error. She’s perfect.”