Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The 250820th Colony shone brightly in the vast, dark expanse of space. Towering crystal skyscrapers and grand palaces, surrounded by a faint halo, reflected the lights of the stars on their sparkling glass-like surfaces and bathed their surroundings with a shower of colorful lights.

Azurmalachite Facet 70U Cut K3 would never tire of this beautiful sight, no matter how many centuries went by. It was breathtaking to behold. Sure, he heard stories that Homeworld was even more beautiful. He briefly wondered if he'd ever see it for himself…

But for tonight, the cityscape would not be enough to calm the unrest in his gem. All he wanted now was to find somewhere quiet and isolated, away from prying eyes or ears and be alone.

While he was thankful he had no mission, the lack of chores left him with more time in his hands that he’d like. With nothing to keep his mind busy, his thoughts tended to wander off to memories he’d prefer not to dwell about.

Tonight it’s one of those times he’d rather not think , and yet he couldn’t help reminiscing. 

A few weeks since he’s been… Discharged from his latest assignment, the rest of his Azurmalachite kinfolks have taken to ghost him.

Sure… he and his kin didn’t have that much in common, despite all of them being literally the same gem type… but after the “ incident ”, they made it crystal clear he wasn’t welcome to join their circle anymore… (If he ever had been).

It also didn’t help that Cuprite was on an off-world mission. All he said before leaving was just vague ideas of when he’ll come back before upping and leaving with the rest of his Platoon.

Not that Cuprite being in the colony with him would have made much of a difference. Despite Azurmalachite’s best efforts to stay in touch, the larger gem just stopped answering his messages. And even if he did answer, Azurmalachite doubted the older gem would listen to anything he’d say.

He has been officially made an outcast.

The green gem sighed heavily in both sadness and frustration, running a hand through his tied-up blue hair. 

Everything felt so messed up. Was so messed up. And the thoughts were picking at his gem and mind, keeping him restless like a caged organic creature that he’s seen in the Gem Zoos.

He needed a break. Just a moment to be himself to get some steam out of his physical form and to clear his mind. 

And he’d do it in the only way he knew how.

The Azurmalachite soldier silently snuck his way down to the base of the crystal skyscrapers. Down where the foundations touched the withered, gray, lifeless soil of the once resourceful planet that housed the colony.  

If he stepped toward the cliff’s edge and faced down, he could see the long-dead, hollowed-out core, carved in by millions upon millions of emergence holes of the decaying Alpha kindergarten. 

It was a sad sight to see, but it was a perfect place for solace. Quiet. Isolated. Where no one would ever wander.

Just what he was looking for.

He sat down with his back resting against the building’s foundation. Making sure one last time he was all alone, Azurmalachite closed his eyes and focused.

The rectangle-cut green and blue-veined gem in his chest began to glow. Reaching to it, he summoned something a little different from the dual daggers he used in battle or in training.

Thinner, lighter, less sharp and less harmful (well, unless you bashed someone in with them, he figured). He closed his hands around the items and smiled to himself.

Drumsticks ! Or that’s how the Crystal Gardens’ Corals called them.

Taking a deep breath, he began by tapping the sticks together, producing a simple beat. The ticking of the sticks as they tapped together provided a simple rhythm before he picked up tempo and tapped his feet for added effect, feeling as the steady noise grew more complex in his mind.

He swung a drumstick down and felt it connect with a hard-light surface, producing a thumping, reverberating sound. 

He smiled, doing it again, and again, and yet again. Keeping the rhythm going while occasionally throwing in a few variants as he went on and just let his emotions take control.

Before he knew it, Azurmalachite was drumming away to his gem’s content.

Memories began to flow as he remembered, vividly, the first time he heard the Corals play. That day he was escorting an upper class gem, like soldiers would occasionally do when tasked to. It was a complete bore, but he stood by as the perfect little soldier he was… 

Then the orchestra began to play and everything changed. How ? He doesn’t know. It just did . It felt like... emerging for a second time. It felt as if he didn’t exist. And then he did . 

All thanks to music.

When he heard the beat, the usually calm, rational part of him was replaced by a wild rush of excitement. An unbridled glee coursing through him as if hit by a Lapis Lazuli’s tidal wave, and he couldn’t contain the feeling and let himself be swept away with the flow of the tide.

The thrill of the anticipation that comes with each note. The short yet intense sound spoke to him from within the depths of his gem. His very being. So unlike his programmed task. Create instead of destroying. And he just wanted to… be part of it. Make it. Create his own rhythm. 

And so, one day, he snuck away and just… tried. His first attempts at summoning and playing musical instruments were… of varied results... (he rather not think how the trumpet he summoned once all but exploded in his face). 

But after so many trials and errors, when his hand wrapped around the drumsticks, things just… flowed . 

Drums and cymbals resonated from within him. It spoke to him. And he’d never get enough of it!

Azurmalachite went on drumming for what could have been hours , just letting his music and emotions run free, unrestrained by any fear or limitation, of doubts and thoughts, away from prying eyes and judgment and promises of punishment.

Unrestrained. Wild. Free !

Slamming down on the cymbals, he struck his arms up to the sky, drumsticks crossed over his head and let the echo carry on down the core’s abyss.

And everything was quiet once again.

He lowered his arms and sighed to himself, willing the drumsticks away with a poof of light. The gem already missed them, but the units of his barrack would send someone to look for him if he didn’t return soon, and he’d rather not face more time in the cells than he’s already been.

As Azurmalachite thought about it, he let out an empty chuckle. An Azurmalachite musician? Oh! How scandalous! What would the other gems say?! Azurmalachites were for war. They’re made to be fast at hitting, quick at dodging, physically weaker than most of the warrior caste but they were created to be lightning-fast and good at playing defense.

They’re warriors . Not artists. That’s their purpose. That’s HIS purpose. 

In the gem caste system, all gems follow a specific order and gems stepping out their programming were nothing but defects that needed to be corrected.

Azurmalachite shuddered at the thought. He and Cuprite came to loathe the cells. Time seems never-ending when you’re stuck in a cold, dark room. Isolated from the rest of the universe, left to lose cognition of time and unable to leave or speak to anyone but yourself.

It was still a better alternative than being Shattered. He grimaced.

How he wished he’d been created a musician gem, like a Coral. He would tend to the Crystal gardens and provide music for the upper caste gems, playing in the orchestras with instruments of any shape, size and sound. He wouldn’t have to hide away.

Alas, fate wanted otherwise. Still, the fear of punishment didn’t deter him. If anything, it made him wise. First: do not trust any gem. Second: Never let anyone listen in. As long as he played it cool with the other gems and stayed hidden, he could manage to go on with these little breaks. 

He loves music. He couldn’t help it. And he wouldn’t stop anytime soon.

Sure… It would be great to have an accompanying instrument or even a lead he could provide background to… But he was a soldier. Not a musician. It’s a fact. Coded and engraved in his programming since injection in the planet’s crust, and he’d serve that one purpose and that alone, until the day he’ll be shattered.

That’s how the caste works. How their Order works. For the betterment of the Gem Empire.

Sighing, Azurmalachite turned his red-eyed gaze to the shining stars above him with a forlorn look. The stars are so beautiful and yet felt so far.

It would be nice, he thought, to find somewhere to be himself and just play music freely to his gem’s content. It would be nice to just… go somewhere else… somewhere … Go away from the colony. Start anew...

But go where ?

Azurmalachite shook his head in defeat. He had humored the thought of escaping so many times he’s lost count. Imagined himself somewhere far, far away. Pictured a life where he’d been free. He’d play drums and make music all day long. He’d create new tunes. He’d be happy… But then what ? 

What purpose would he have? Who would even listen to him? There would be no one but himself. It’d be no different from his current situation. It would be exchanging loneliness for another.

Besides, could he bring himself to just… leave everything behind and never look back? Leave the life he’s always known? Leave behind Cuprite just like that, without a word to be said? Not even a bye-bye?

Leave Sapphire behind without goodbye? 

…

No. He couldn’t. 

Coward . A snide thought whispered in the back of his mind and the gem angrily willed it away. No point in senseless, meaningless “ what if's ” and “ maybes ” and silly ideas of off-world lives and futures that would never exist. He’ll take what he can. And that’s it.

Speaking of, he’s been away for long enough. He should go back to the barracks, no doubt to drone around with the rest of his kind and wait for his next mission… 

But fate works in a funny way, for things would soon change. And they’d start when Azurmalachite didn't notice an orange blur round the corner at full speed before it hit him.

“Ow!” / “Ah!” 

Both gems fell back on their rear, groaning in pain as they hit the ground. Azurmalachite recovered first, quickly sitting up.

“Oh. I- I’m so, so sorry, I wasn’t looking where I-” He tried to apologize, only the newly arrived gem to slap a hand over his mouth.

“Sshhh!” The mysteryous gem shushed him “Be quiet! Don’t blow my cover.”

Azurmalachite blinked up in confusion. The new gem was a bright shade of orange. Long, bright yellow hair almost drowned under the hood of their cloak. Their eyes were a bright shade of pink-red, with a triangle-shaped white iris.

Wait! Hold on! What did they mean with “cover”?!

“That way! Quick! After her!” Someone shouted, followed by thundering footsteps.

The orange gem growled a curse under her breath, looking around for somewhere to hide until she settled at a spot by the abyss’ edge.

“You never saw me, ok?” She whispered at him before running to hide under the cliff, sneaking inside the closest emergence hole she could find.

Not longer after she did so, two burly elite Topazes Guard rounded the corner in a hurry. It was off-putting. Topazes were full-time guards for the high castes, why would they be even here?!

“Ehy! You !” The guard shouted at him.

Azurmalachite looked around and then pointed at himself, lost “Me?”

“Yes. You ! Have you seen a Zincite? Orange. Yellow hair.” The Topaz asked gruffly.

Azurmalachite’s jaw almost dropped. A Zincite ?! As in… the Aristocracy ?! Was the orange gem a high caste ?! 

“Well? Answer!” The second Topaz barked.

“I-I…” Oh Stars… What should he do?! Should he say something? Tell them the truth? Lie?

“Stop wasting time and speak up!” The first Topaz growled.

Azurmalachite briefly glanced over at where the gem was hiding before turning back to the glaring Topazes.

“I… I did! ” Azurmalachite said and then pointed in a completely different direction “I saw her go toward the Crystal Gardens.” 

Which, of course, were on the other side of the city. 

The topazes ran past him without another word, leaving him in the dust- He waited for them to be far out of sight and earshot before cautiously approaching the edge of the abyss and looked below.

“Are… Are you still there?” He asked. “It’s ok. They’re gone now.”

“FINALLY!” The Zincite beamed loudly, startling Azurmalachite out of his gem. He fell flat back on his butt once again.

“Whoops. Sorry. Didn’t mean to spook ya.” The orange gem chuckled sheepishly. She skilfully hopped back onto the edge and held a hand out for him.

Dazed, he took her hand and she effortlessly pulled him back onto his feet. For an aristocrat, she was pretty strong. 

The orange gem playfully punched him in the arm and he yelped from the hit, rubbing the sore spot.

“The Crystal Gardens? You’re a genius! They’re gonna take hours to search the whole place! By the time they figure it out, ohoh, I’ll be far outta here!” she grinned. “Oh! By the way, thanks for not ratting me out. I owe you a huge one. If you ever need a favor, come to Earth and find me. K? K! C’ya!” 

The smirking gem winked playfully at him ( he could swear her iris was now a flower-like shape ) and without further ado, she sped off.

“Ehy, wait!” Azurmalachite shouted and ran after her “ Earth ?! What are you talking about? And what was that ?! Why were the elite guards looking for you?!”

The orange gem screeched to a stop, grabbed him by the arm and dragged him behind a wall, looking around to make sure they weren’t being followed or seen.

“Look... I thank you sooo much for helping me back there… But trust me when I say this. You don’t want to follow me.” She said “I’m in a mess. A big, huge cluster of troubles and I don’t want anyone to get dragged into it. Ok?”

Azurmalachite wracked his mind to make sense of it all. He thought back to the Elite Topaz guards. They were chasing a Zincite, right? But that didn’t make any sense! Zincites are rare, aristocratic gems. He saw a few of them from the times he was stationed at galas and balls. They lived a life free of battles and everything they would ever want, they got.

So why would one of them just... run away?

Then he remembers the topazes had the diamond-shaped bright yellow sigil. And Zincite’s cloak had also one as a clip. 

“You’re an aristocratic gem from Yellow diamond’s court, right?” He said suddenly. 

She grimaced as if the connotation physically wounded her. With a much lower voice than he’s heard from first meeting her, she sighed.

“Yeah… I was .” she muttered, and her tone was bitter and full of resentment.

“I...I don’t get it. Why are you running away? I thought Aristocats gems could do anything they wanted.” he asked.

“Not Zincites like me.” The orange gem growled “We’re not Pearls but we still serve higher gems.”

Oh, yeah, right... Now he remembers. Zincites are nobles, but acted more as companions for higher gems like Scapolites, Emeralds, and such. They couldn’t own pearls like others, but they enjoyed more freedom and would even have soldiers as their escorts out of their masters’ palace.

“Ok, I got it, but that doesn’t really answer my question. Why are you running away?” he asked again.

Her irises blinked to a white triangle as she scowled.

“I’m done with the caste system.” She stated. “I’m done with being told what to do at all hours, all day, all the frickin’ time! I’m done being someone’s property!” She almost shouted, and the frustration in her voice was visceral.

Azurmalachite could relate to that to a level. He was aware of his expendability and that sucked… But…But still! The Diamonds’ system was made for the greater good. For the best of the Gem Empire. It wasn’t ideal, but their race has thrived for millions of years and is still going. There had to be some credit.

Well, except for misusing resources. The cells, or… the shattering sentence…

But despite everything that was… unsatisfactory , there was no denial it worked. Besides... running away sounded more like an impulsive act than a rational decision.

“Don’t you think you’re… not thinking this through?” He cautioned “I mean, running away. It’s risky. Besides… despite everything, the caste system isn’t so bad. I mean, look how much our society thrived under their rule.”

She stared at him with wide eyes, shock etched on her face. The triangles turning into sharp slits.

After a moment, she scoffed and turned away from him. “Right. As if a soldier could understand...”

“No, wait! I do get what you mean! I-” He fretted to clear, but she didn’t listen and only walked further away.

He sighed “I understand more than you may think.”

She turned at him again, eyes blazing with anger. “Really?! Then how come you’re ok with that?! With this ?! Being ordered around like you’re nothing?! Like you have no worth?!” She berated.

He grimaced. Sure, that was a part of his purpose he hated, but still-

“How can you be ok with being always punished just for the slightest mistake?!”

Touché. But-!

“How can you always live in hiding?! Because things that make you happy aren’t in your programming?!”

Ouch! Ok. That’s a sore spot. But…

“B-But what about the gems you’re leaving behind?” He asked then “Haven’t you thought how would they react if you were gone without so much of a bye?”

He could never do that!

Ok, Maybe Cuprite didn’t talk to him anymore and he was still too shaken to confront Bicolor Sapphire after the… incident… 

But Zincite must have gems that cared about her, right? Could she really bring herself up to-

His thoughts were interrupted by loud cackling. Zincite laughed as if he had told her the best joke ever. 

He didn’t know who was the saddest between them now.

“The only thing I’m leaving behind is this horrible place.” Zincite replied, and then quietly added “Trust me… they made it clear for a long time...”

Azurmalachite frowned sadly. Ok… maybe this wasn’t much of a good argument to bring up.

But still … Still… 

The silence stretched between them as it grew clear this was a losing battle for them both, it was tense, filled only by the far noises of the city junctions above them.

Until the Zincite’s voice, now but an almost unintelligible whisper, said:

“All I want is to just be free to be myself.. .” 

He looked at her with genuine surprise. 

“All I want is… to be me. Not having to live in hiding and fear. Is it wrong? To be more than what others made you to be?”

She looked right at him in the eyes. Hers carried once again the fire of unrelenting determination, burning like a white hot flame.

“So tell me, Azurmalachite, tell me…” She continued “Don’t you ever want to be free for once? To just… be yourself for a moment? No one to tell you what to do, or what to think? No fear of punishments or-or cells, or Rejuvenators?  Don’t you just… want to be that? Free to be yourself ?”

The green gem stared ahead, both speechless and awed at this escapee aristocrat whose words felt more and more like his thoughts had come to life before him.

“That’s why I’m going to Earth.” She spoke, a burning undying determination in her eyes as her frown morphed back into a determined grin. “I want to be free. I want to know what it feels like. What freedom is like…”

“I want to know, for once, what being me feels like.”

And that was it. What little of Azurmalachite’s steadily crumbling arguments he could have said to dissuade her died, turning to stardust. 

This was a gem who knew what she wanted and she wasn’t afraid of any consequence upon herself to get it. 

He understood. Nothing and no one would stop this Zincite. She was going to Earth and she will get there, in one way or another. No matter what he said or did. Not even if the whole gem army or the Diamonds could stand in her way.

This kind of determination and bravery was something he saw in so many others, something he always admired but always lacked himself. 

Something  inside him ignited.

“You’re not going anywhere.. .” He stated, stepping forward to the Zincite. She glared up at him with incensed pink eyes.

Then he smirked “Not without me .”

It was her turn to gape and blink now “W-What?”

“Don’t get me wrong. I still think this plan of your is risky, crazy, incredibly stupid-“ he counted on his fingers.

“Ehy!” She pouted.

“But you’re right.” He spoke. “I’m tired of this. This isn’t the life I want. I don’t want to hide anymore. I don’t want to continue this cycle until I get shattered.”

He ran a hand through his hair’s ends, staring at the ground in shame “I… I guess I’ve always known of all the wrong things there are in the Caste System, but I never had the courage to admit it or to act on it.” 

Azurmalachite glanced up to meet her eyes and smiled “I want to go to Earth too.” 

Now in an almost comical inversion, it was Zincite who stammered “B-But you just said it’s dangerous! If you follow me, you’ll be-!”

“So? My arguments didn’t stop you, did they?” he smirked confidently. Got her.

She glared “I’m not gonna be responsible for your life!”

“I’m not asking you to. Besides… I should be the responsible one. I’m a soldier and I’m also fit to be a bodyguard. Remember?” He jested.

She frowned, uncertain “B-But-“

He set a hand on her shoulder, something he would never do if things were different; it was looked down upon by gems of such different castes to enter in confidence.

“I want to be free too.” He looked right into her eyes, mustering a determination and burning desire that laid dormant far too long in him “I want to be myself, the real myself, too.”

Again, silence stretched over… until Zincite’s shock slowly morphed into a radiant smile, that same fiery passion burning in her bright pink eyes once again as her irises bloomed into white flowers once again.

“Then let’s do this!” She beamed aloud, swinging a hand around his neck. The height difference between them had her drag him down, almost stumbling forward from her energy, but he smiled happily anyway and laughed along with her enthusiasm. 

“We’re getting off this planet! So long, dirt-ball! We’re bustin’ outta here!” She cheered.

“So… how were you planning to do it?” He then asked, “Last time I heard, Homeworld ordered all teleport platforms to Earth be destroyed.”

“Oh that’s easy.” She grinned. “We’re gonna sneak in the Colony’s hangar and steal a spaceship!”

The enthusiasm suddenly froze over as if a Lapis Lazuli dumped a wave of ice on him.

“You’re gonna steal a spaceship?!” he gawked.

“ Steal is a big word. We’re just gonna... borrow one for an indefinite amount of time!” She shrugged nonchalantly. “Now let’s go! Our new life’s waiting!”

Zincite sauntered away with a happy skip, leaving him standing there dumbfounded, watching her go. 

Groaning, he brought a hand to his face. Oh, Stars. What did he get himself into?

Regardless of it all, he followed.

Chapter Text

All Gem colonies possess at least one spaceship hangar for each sector. 

Each hangar is heavily guarded by soldiers like Jaspers, Amethysts and so on. It wasn’t unusual to find troops of Rubies too.

It wouldn’t be easy to sneak in and steal a ship.

“So… Do you have a plan to get in?” Azurmalachite asks his companion.

Zincite grins, her flowery eyes almost like dancing in excitement “Yeah! We could smash our way in with this !” 

She reaches to her gem, which began to glow brightly, and out of thin air materializes what looked like a violin from the orchestras… 

Except that it was sharper, almost jagged looking and so unlike the usual smooth curves, and it also has a different structure.

Azurnalachite wows in amazement and curiosity.

“What’s that?”

“Eheh, just something I came up with.” Zincite grins. “Like like a viola but it isn’t. And listen to this!”

She adjusts her grip on the instrument and brushes her fingers over the strings. 

The sound produced wasn’t as pitched like the violas or low as the bassos. The sound is so unlike any other instrument Azurmalachite has ever heard but it’s beautiful all the same. 

Lower, reverberating. It stretches into space like a wave until it blends into silence.

“Whoa…”

“Pretty cool uh? And now try this !”

She started strumming the mystery instrument, but unlike the first time, the sound is intense and energetic, almost like wildfire or electricity coursing through the air.

He also notices her hands were sparking… embers ?! There were embers forming in her hands?!

“You have fire powers?!”

“Yup! Pretty cool, uh?” She chuckles. “I found out the first time I played this thing. I don’t know what to call it yet but I love the sound it makes. It’s so new.” 

Azurmalachite finds himself agreeing, and in a way he could also relate. The way he learned to play drums was also different from the ones he’s heard in the Corals’ Orchestras.

“And also…” Zincite stops, switches the grip do she’s holding the tool like an axe by the handle and then smashes the instrument into a nearby rock. 

The stone shatters under her strength, blowing debris and dust everywhere.

“See? We can easily burst our way in with this!”

Azurmalachite would have agreed if he want busy rolling his eyes. He should have known.  

“Riiight… Look, if we’re gonna pull this off, we need a plan. We can’t just… smash our way in! There’s guards stationed in every corner of the hangar, and there’s only two of us. We need a real plan.”

“Do you have a better idea then, genius ? ‘Cuz if you do, I’ll be happy to hear it.” She rebukes.

Azurmalachite set a hand to his chin in thought. 

As he said, guards would be everywhere . Guards and soldiers alike. Fighting was out of question. Sneaking in is gonna be next to impossible. The chances of getting spotted and caught were too many.

So the best way to get in… would be to look as if we aren’t sneaking in!

“I have an idea. But once we put the plan in motion we have to be very fast. Can you do that?” He asked.

She nodded “You can count on me. So what’s the plan?” 

“We’ll pretend to be a Zincite noble and her Azurmalachite escort.” He explained “We’ll say you’ve been sent by your superior to view starships for their personal transport and sent you to check the stock, with me as your guard.”

Zincite grimaced at the mention of her master (or, well… soon to be former master) “Does that mean I have to act all… noble and stuff? Ugh!” she groans in disgust.

“Just long enough to fool the guards. We only have one shot at this.” Azurmalachite explains.

She mulls it over, but after some thoughts she relented with a groan “Ugh. Fine… What do we need?”

“The Outer Rim is very far away, almost at the edge of the Gem Empire. We’ll need a small spaceship. Something fast that can travel long distances. Possibly with Light Speed Jump.” Azurmalachite explains “A Roaming eye could do. But once we’ve located the ship, we have to be very fast to steal it. Our deception wont last for long.” 

It’s risky but it was their best bet and they’ll have to be careful. If they failed…

“Still sure you want to carry this to the very end?” He asks one last time.

This was the turning point. Once they took the step in, there’s no turning back.

All or nothing.

Zincite narrows her eyes in determination, flower eyes turning into triangles. “Let's do this.”

…

Swiftly mindling with the passing crowd in the streets, as if they were just strolling down the lane without any other purpose but the one they were sent for, the two gems make their way to the Hangar’s entrance.

Zincite, clad in her cloak, walks ahead with her head held up high and carrying herself as composed and poised as an aristocratic gem would. Azurmalachite diligently marches right behind her at protocol distance.

Soon, they’re standing at the Hangar’s main gate. And just as Zuke predicted, there are Two Jaspers guarding the doors.

“Halt! State your purpose!” One of the guards commands.

Azurmalachite halts and stands to attention, arms crossed to form the Diamond salute.

Zincite instead removes her cloak to reveal herself. Her dress is  a dark shade of orange, almost red, with golden trims and a yellow diamond crest. The dress was a two-pieces set, leaving her midriff exposed where a teardrop-shaped orange gem is encrusted in her solar plexus.

The aristocrat gem bristles and cooly replies “I’m Zincite cut M4Y facet D41. This is my Azurmalachite guard. I’m here on behalf of my Gem superior. My purpose is to fetch a ship for personal transport.”

The guards narrow their eyes down at the two short gems “Who is your superior?”

Zincite’s eyes go from downcast triangles to upward ones. She glances over at Azurmalachite, and the soldier nods briefly  to encourage her to continue.

You can do it.

She suppressed a frown, and continues.

“It’s…( eugh… ) Her clarity Scapolite .”

The two Jaspers instantly dropped any hostility and stood to attention, saluting back with reverence. Azurmalachite arches an eyebrow. 

Scapolite… Scapolites are commander gems usually on par or in competition with Emeralds and similar ranking high gems. 

He knows that one resides in the Colony, but  he’s never seen them nor has he ever served under them.

The reaction from the Topazes is… kinda odd .

“Please! Forgive us, your clarity!” the guards quickly apologize “W-We weren’t expecting any visits from the nobility.”

Zincite waved her hand to ease the guards “It’s ok- er... It’s alright . My… superior sent me last minute. They asked me to peruse the Colony’s hangar in search of a ship for their personal transportation. May I talk with your manager?”

“Oh! Sure! Right away!” One if the jaspers said and quickly ran off to call for their superior. 

Within a few minutes, a yellow Agate walks up to them donning the greatest, sweetest smile and clasps her hands in delight.

“Salutations! We’re so honored to have one of Scapolite’s chosen at our humble hangar. Please, do come in. I’ll take you to see our collection of ships. I’m sure you’ll be impressed.”

“I do not doubt that. Besides, you can only expect perfection from Agates in command.” Zincite replied sweetly.

The flattery worked as intended and the Agate all but drank in the praise and began a long tirade of the hangar’s prized ships.

While she was busy fawning and gushing over the choices for the high caste gem, Azurmalachite took advantage of the distraction to approach Zincite and whisper trasingly: “Wow, you have a way with fancy words.”

“If you ever bring this up again I’ll kick your butt. You’ll never hear me speak like this again.” she half-threatens through her smile’s clenched teeth, still following after the Agate.

“The 250820th Colony’s hangar flaunts a vast selection of ships for any kind of use. Is there a model in particular you’d like to see?” the manager asked.

“Yes, well… My superior was looking for certain specifics.” she glances over at Azurmalachite, who again nods encouragingly. “Something small, fast…. that can travel long distances.”

“Ah, a scouting ship of the like? Sure! We have just the things!”

Agate presses down a button. The doors open before the gems and lo and behold. A whole, ginormous hangar full of many different kinds of spaceships that lined the place in orderly rows. From the small Roaming eyes to the Hand dropships.

Zincite’s eyes sparkle with excitement. Freedom is so close she could almost taste it!

“Usually, we reserve the small Roaming Eye ships to squads of Ruby soldiers, but Aquamarines and simil-noble gems often prefer the Disk model. It’s medium-sized, but very easy to pilot and is equipped with interstellar travel engines. Would her Clarity Scapolite be interested in that?”

Zincite wants to yell that YES! She’d love to! but she forces herself to keep her facade and just nods politely, donning her best, innocent looking smile. “Very! And, may I ask to see the ships myself?”

“Absolutely, your clarity! Right this way. This sector is entirely dedicated to Disk and similar ships. They also come in different colors. We have scarlet ruby red, violet amethyst purple, light topaz yellow, pale spinel pink-”

As the agate rambles on, Zincite and Azurmalachite quietly back away and hide behind several crates.

“Ok, we’re in. Now let’s take a ship and go.” Zincite said “If I have to act like a noble a second more I’ll-!”

“Relax. You’re doing great. We’ve got this far.” Azurmalachite calms her. “Disks will do just fine, but we have to be fast. Follow me.”

The two quietly snuck around the hangar, slipping between crates and ships, narrowly escaping occasional passing soldiers, Peridot engineers, maybe a Galaxite or two coming back from a mission, and so on.

Unfortunately, most ships door were shut or too close to soldiers. It’s getting harder to hide and that Agate won’t take long to notice they’re gone.

“Ehy! Ehy! What about that one?” Zincite points at the ship in question.

A dark colored Disk ship… and an open one too. There are only two Peridots standing by, just making idle chatter and too engrossed in their own conversation and gossip to notice anything going on behind them.

“Perfect! Let’s board it before-!” Azurmalachite says, before a loud ring cut him short.

“Attention to all gems of the hangar!” The weaker commands “We’ve received news of an escaped Zincite.”

“Before something like that. .” he sighs “Let’s go.”

Cover thrown, they make a beeline for the ship. Passing soldiers spot them and gave chase, ordering the two escapees to stop and summoned their weapons.

“Zincite? This might be a good time for-“

“Say no more!” She grins. “Watch this!”

She summons her weapon once again and stops before e the soldiers, holding the instrument like an axe.

The soldiers stop briefly and one of th erupt laughs “A viola? Ah! What are you gonna do with that? Play us ‘till we poof?”

“Nah. I rather do this!” She grins and throws her weapon. 

The thing flies out her grip, spinning fast in the air and crashes against the Ruby and their cohorts.

The soldier barely has time to react in shock as the weapon hits them in the head hard enough it flies right through their light projection, poofing them and the fellow soldiers in a hit.

The instrument arches in the air, flying back right into Zincite’s open hand.

Azirmalachite’s jaw hits the floor.

“How-?!“

“I have practice. Now go!”

Oh! Right! They were running.

Findibg the control room isn’t hard in small ships. Azurmalachite sits at the main panel and shoved his hands inside the computer. The ship lights up.

“You know how to pilot this thing?” Zincite asked.

“I’m programmed to, remember?” like all soldiers anyway. “Now hold on. This is gonna be a bumpy ride!”

He commands the ship to ascend and just in time, for new gem soldiers swarm toward them, trying to stop the takeoff, only to be blown away as the engines burst to life.

“Yeah! Let’s get out of here!” Zincite hollered.

“Don’t stand there you fools! Stop them!” An angry Agate commands and the soldiers quickly run for the Roaming Eyes. The small ships took off and chased after the Disk. 

Azurmalachite maneuvers the ship to run in circles, chased after by the smaller ones. Gems aren’t crazy enough to shoot inside a hangar. Not unless they were skilled sharpshooters… or would rather not explain to their superiors why half of their precious ships had gone up in flames.

Unfortunately for the soldiers, Zincite is crazy enough to do just that.

“Let me handle them.” She grins and rushes to the weapon panel. 

Disks were fast but models so small didn’t come with heavy weaponry and shields. 

Still, they do have weak, smaller laser cannons, and Zincite knows how she’ll use them.

“Eat some lasers!”

As expected, the ships were not prepared. The laser hit right on spot, causing one of the roaming eyes to swerve in a panic and crash into a nearby chasing ship. They went down spinning and hit the floor, out cold.

Laughing in pure glee, Zincite start to fire wildly, plunging the whole hangar into chaos between the chasing ships trying to avoid the lasers and hangar gems trying to fix the parked ones that got randomly hit.

Pure. Mayhem .

Azurmalachite whistles, impressed. “Not bad. Have you ever done this before?”

“Nah. That’s all me.” She grins. “Now let’s get outta here before- LOOK OUT!”

He turns back to the main hub in alarm and gasps. 

Several Roaming eyes had widened up and formed a wall of ships mid-air, blocking the Disk’s path.

But their barrier didn’t cover underneath. 

“Ehy! Can you drop?” Zincite asked then.

“What?”

“ Drop ! Just do it!”

It’s a risky move but it’s not like they have any other choice.

Gathering courage, Azurmalachite  commands the ship to speed up. The wall hold on, unfaltering in the face of the approaching Disk, but just before it could hit the barrier, the Disk nosedives. 

And the pursuers behind them hadn’t seen the wall in time and crashed into the barrier, tumbling everyone down like fallen crystal leaves.

The Disk regains altitude and speeds away just before the ships crashed down on them and Zibcite hollers 

“Whooo! That’s the stuff! You’re good!” 

“Thanks. But it’s not over yet!” Azurmalachite reminds her.

The furious Agate shouts “You incompetent fools! Stop chasing them and close the hangar! Now!”

Alarms blare as the hangar’s exit doors begin to slide close.

“No!” Zincite cried out, eyes turning from flowers to triangles again.

“I’m on it!” Azurmalachite calls. 

He accelerates the ship toward the closing doors. The space got smaller and smaller until it’s but a slit of light left in the darkening hangar.

“Hold on!!” Azurmalachite shouts, swerving violently to a side.

The  Disk, flying sideways veryicalky, slips through the open crack right as the hangar closes behind then.

Just in time.

Steering the ship horizontally once again,  Azurmalachite sags in the seat, sighing in relief as Zincite’s expression turned from shock to a gleeful grin m.

“That… was… AWESOME!!” she laughs near hysterically and hugs her companion “You madgem! You did it! You did it!”

Azurmalachite grins knowingly “Not half bad for ‘ just a soldier’ , uh?”

She chuckles sheepishly. “Yeah. Sorry about that.”

“It’s good.” He says and starts to program the course for the edge of the known galaxy. If they reached the outer rim, they could find the way into the unexplored side of the galaxy and,  hopefully, find a place so far away the gem empire would never find them.

“I’m setting the course. Hyperspace Jump will take a bit to charge but once it’s done we should be good to g-AGH!”

The ship rocks violently, almost throwing the two off their feet.

“What the-?!” Zincite gasps.

“WARNING!” The computer alerts “WE ARE UNDER ATTACK!“

The screen turned on to show, much to the two gems’ horror, a bunch of scouting ships chasing after them. 

“Looks like they sent in scouts.” He groaned.

Roaming Eyes are once again after them,  and they’re alone this time. Hands, arms and other big ships started to close in on them, firing their lasers.

The Disks ships are fast but small ones aren’t built for combat and defense. 

If they keep taking damage-!

“Can’t we just shake them off?” Zincite asks.

“There’s too many. The hyper jump is our only chance. Try to distract them while I finish setting the course.” 

“On it!” She nods.

Azurmalachite set to work. The shields would hold on for a little bit. He must be fast!

Which isn’t easy, with the ship rattling and rocking under the laser fire.

Zincite tries her best, firing the laser in hopes to slow down the ships or steer them off course like she did before. But this is not a closed hangar full of ships. This is open space and nothing to defend, so the ships easily maneuvered out of the way and answered in kind to the attack. 

Even worse, the Disk’s weak laser is no match for the shields of the big ships.

A laser blast and a screeching noise later, Zincite watched from the cameras as their weapon got cleaved off the ship.

“There goes our only weapon…” she bemoans “Buddy? You might wanna hurry !”

“Comeoncomeoncomeone…” he stresses “Input the coordinate and-!”

At last, the computer pinged “Analysis completed. Course set. Hyperspace activated.” 

“Yes!” He cheers.

Triumph is short lived as his happiness quickly turn to fear.

A Hand Ship blocks their path.

And it fires.

In a panic, he pilots the ship to dodge but in doing so the laser grazes the ship’s back.

Hitting the back thrusters.

“WARNING!” The computer alerts “ERROR IN THE SYSTEM! Damage to the reactors! ERROR! Calibration: Deactivated!”

“Uh… That is bad, right?” Zincite asks.

An sudden, invisible force tugs at their gems and force the two to the ground, their physical forms all but squashed flat on the floor.

“What’s happening?!” 

“The light calibration!” The blue-green gem rasps “Our light forms are affected by it!”

Without anyone at the controls, the ship continues its wayward course, the tipping upward and gravity forcing the two gems to slam against the opposite end of the control room.

“Ow…” they groaned.

“Warning: course offset! Light Speed Jump: Initiating.”

“Zincite! We must get to the control panel!” Azurmalachite calls.

“Hyperspace Jump in 10…”

Struggling, Zincite summons her weapon once again and reached it toward Azurmalachite.

“Grab on! I’ll throw you at the controls!” She says.

“9… 8… 7…”

He reaches for the weapon, grabbing its end. 

“6… 5…”

With a shout, she swings and Azurmalachite is thrown at the control panel.

“4… 3…”

Gravity weighing him down, he reaches for the controls and his fingers barely brush at the panel…

When another laser jostles the ship. Grip slipping, he falls and slams on the opposite end of the wall yet again with a pained grunt.

“2...1…”

“Oh no…” he whimpered.

Zincite winced “This is gonna stink, right?”

Before they can process what’s happening, the spaceship hyper-jumps…

With the two gems' physical forms lagging behind it.

The scouting ships stopp as the Disk disappeared into a twinkle in the depths of space. 

Trying to go after an off-course, unstable Light Speed Jump is as crazy as well as pointless, lest they end up who-knows-where in the galaxy.

Dejected and angry, one of the ship’s captains barks at the resident Peridot “Turn the ships back around to the colony and call for Ammolite. Tell him we have a rogue situation and be discreet about it. We can’t let this leak out!”

The Peridot salutes and rubs off to obey as the captain sighs  and bemoans.

“Her clarity Kimberlite must be informed of this. She won’t be happy…”

Chapter Text

Vinyl City. What a town.

Famous everywhere as the Music Capital of the world, for being the home and starting point to many talented musical artists.

It’s such a wonderful place to live! So colourful, full of lively and diverse people. You could enjoy the beautiful sunrises and sunsets in the horizon, where the ocean meets the sky, or enjoy the city’s bustling nightlife, when the city lit up with all the colors of the rainbow under the inky night sky.

Sure… if you don’t account for the many blackouts (well, a city so big tends to weigh on the power grid) and for… er… some other unfortunate situations… things aren’t so bad here!

Aunty sure wouldn’t trade this life for anything in the world.

It has been hard to leave her old little rural family home behind to open her very own restaurant in the big city, and while her ‘Hungry Hideout” may not be the hottest spot in town, and the neighborhood it’s located in is poor and rundown, nothing of that matters to her.

All in all, life in Vinyl City is simple and nice, and the little community of her neighborhood is as close knit as it can get, where everyone knows everyone and where they help each other out in time of need.

What makes life interesting in their little community is: eccentricities aren’t scarce! And Aunty has gotten to know each and every one of them:

There’s Zam, the self-proclaimed pirate radio conductor. An ambitious man, some would say, but there’s no denying he has a good heart deep inside. Zam would also occasionally help Aunty out in the kitchen with delicious baked goods in his off-time (and that usually after he got evicted from his latest pirate studio).

There’s Azma, the neighborhood’s lazy but friendly policeman, whose dull and boring nightly shifts around the neighbour were spent between cups of coffee and idle chats about his bland love life.

There’s Zed, a lanky an usually quiet guy that really, really dislikes noise… Pretty ironic for him to live in such a big and loud city.

There’s also that young, wide-eyed dreamer of Yiruk, whose alleged lifelong dreams changed day from day just like the weather. Yesterday he stated he’ll become a famous biker, only for today to proclaim his dream to get into Buildering and climb his way to the top of the City’s tallest skyscraper.

Aunty doesn’t forget good ol’ Timmy, the happy-go-lucky and affable electrician. Quite a peppy guy for his age, never staying put and always keeps himself busy going from district to district with his trusty ladder to fix any light that had gone out. No broken lightbulb escapes his keen eye.

There’s also Retdex, a dancer some would call well past his prime, but still ready to drop to the beat (Aunty believes him, even if she’s never seen him try to prove it).

And there’s that complainer of Joey, the musical critic who always has something to complain about over the latest hits.

And last, but not least, there’s Gigi who is… well… Gigi . The chillest guy of Vinyl City. Always hanging out and about in all his calm, chillaxing self.

Aunty smiles thinking about her friends. She finishes setting the last few chairs away for the night just as Azma finishes his last cup of coffee for the night and, with a content sigh, he gets up from the table and politely tips his hat to her.

“Well, my shift’s over for tonight... See you tomorrow, Aunty.”

She smiles back and waves him ‘bye as he leaves “Good night to you too, Az. Safe travel.”

Now that the very last customer of the night is gone, the Hungry Hideout is now deserted.

It’s a rare first of May night of calm in the neighborhood. Most have already turned in for the night or simply decided to chill at home, with only the sounds of the city providing Aunty with some background noise.

Just like every night, the elderly lady does a little bit of clean up and sweeping the floors before calling it a day and turning in for a good sleep. It’s just yet another average night in Vinyl City…

Or so she thought.

The streetlight flickers on and off with a loud buzzing noise, and then they all die out, plunging the neighborhood into darkness.

Aunty can only sigh dejectedly, shaking her head. Another blackout.

The usual groans of exasperation and protests rise from the surrounding buildings, where someone is still awake at this hour.

Then again, it’s nothing out of the ordinary. Unfortunately pretty common.

Especially for who’s living in the poorest side of Vinyl City .

Aunty sighs again, wishing it would be different…

But! If there’s something she’s learned in her life, is that no matter what, there’s still a silver lining to any situation.

Including this one.

She turns to the night sky and gives a small smile. A starry canopy that shines oh-so-brightly in the dark greets her.

Now freed from the light pollution, the sky is like an endless black canvas, constellated by millions of tiny little sparkling lights. It’s like a dark cave with countless crystals shining all across the dark surface.

Aunty breathes in the fresh air and relaxes, watching the star field above. If there’s one good thing she could say about the blackouts, it is the chance to behold this spectacle. The stars shine and twinkle like millions and billions of sparkling gemstones, some burning brighter than others.

Speaking of burning brightly, it’s one particular star that sudden,y catches her eye.

The star shines so much brighter than the others and Aunty beams in delight.

“Oh! A wishing star.” She exclaims, surprised and enthusiastic. Wishing stars are so rare to see lately. Legend has it that if you make a wish upon it, it will soon come true! Oh. Hopefully, if the neighborhood kids were still awake, they would see the star and make a wish to it. And aunty hoped that it would come true too.

As if sensing her thoughts, the wishing star glows brighter.

And grows bigger …

And it grows even bigger , and then more and more and- Wait...

Aunty squints at it… and it finally hits her.

ITS COMING AT HER!!!

The lady cries out in fright, dropping the broom, and quickly runs back inside her restaurant, diving behind the counter and curling up with her hands over her head, bracing herself.

The metal sheeting of the neighbourhood roofs tremble when the star soars above them, roaring as it flies over the homes and past the city’s walls.

What follows is a thunderous, booming crash and an earthquake that rattles the district from the very foundations, knocking loose bricks and roof sheeting, the metal screeching and clunking as they hit the ground. Somewhere in the city, car alarms wail and dogs begin to howl in the night. It’s chaos!

Once the tremors finally died down, the trembling woman slowly peeks from behind the counters, shaking. “Oh dear… W-What was that?!”

“Ehy, Aunts! Are you ok?!” A voice calls in the dark. And Aunty spots a flashlight running toward her. A man with a blue beard and bright yellow skin, a simple shirt and headphones on his head runs toward her, face scrunched up with worry. Zam!

The radio conductor screeches to a halt before the counter “Are you ok, ‘Aunts? Did ya hear that?!”

“Heard that? I saw that!” She cries, shaken still, but finds the courage to come out of her hiding spot.

“Yo! Everyone ok, dudes?” Another voice asks.

Zam turns his flashlights at the newcomer, and there comes a young man with purple skin, clad in a hoodie, a beanie and a pair of thick dark sunglasses despite being in the middle of the night. Gigi!

“Man, that was intense!“ the chill dude whistles, looking up at the top of the city wall where the star soared over “What was that thing?!”

“A-a shooting star, I think…” Aunty answers. “Or a meteorite... It flew right over the buildings and crashed out of the city! I hope nobody got hurt.”

“Wait! Rewind that… you saw a meteor?! That’s awesome!” Zam exclaims “This is my chance to have an exclusive hot-news! We oughta go check it out!”

Gigi arches an hypothetical eyebrow at him. It’s hard to see with his sunglasses, but his chill tone betrays a note of deadpan to it as he asks, “For your radio? Really, man? Right now, man?”

“This could be great chance for my new radio channel! I gotta get this scoop, Gi! Come on, we’ve gotta go and see it first!” Zam insists, pulling out his trusty handheld camera from who-knows-where and a portable microphone. “Besides… how cool would that be to see a meteor up close?”

Gigi muses at the thought, and then nods with a smile “Fair point, dude. That would be so rad. Count me in.”

“Now, wait a second-!” Aunty tries to intervene… Unfortunately for her, the radio conductor doesn’t listen to her meek protest.

“Great! Let’s go!” He exclaims, triumphantly, and all but rushes toward the closest exit with Gigi in tow… much to Aunty’s distress.

“Wait! What if it’s dangerous?” she yells worriedly after them. She knows, more than anyone, how Zam, for all his resourcefulness, could be somewhat reckless. Especially is he smelled an opportunity to launch his Radio channel.

“It’s all-right, Aunty! We’re just gonna take a look, maybe snap a couple hundred pics, and we’ll be back before you can say Roti canai!” Zam answers, completely oblivious to her panic.

Somehow, that does not reassure her in the slightest … But Aunty would never forgive herself if something happened to them.

Groaning, exasperated, she follows after. If anything, she’d make sure they wouldn’t get in too much trouble.

Little did she know how things for their little, tight-knight community would soon change forever.

🍮🎧🕶️

Since ancient times, Vinyl City’s walls have always stood tall in defense of it’s denizens.

This barricade, taller than most buildings before the modern skyscrapers surpassed them, fenced in the city for protection. To be honest, not many even remember why they were built im the first place… but by these times, the walls still maintained their duty of protecting the city and became a tourist attraction.

Exiting this barricade isn’t hard. It’s as simple as walking out the main gates. And the outside is mostly composed of farmlands, especially rice paddies, and lush forests.

And judging by the column of dark smoke, and the huge trench carved into the soft earth spanning from the rice fields and toward the nearby forest, the meteor has traveled quite the distance, leaving a big crater behind and pieces of flaming debris that luckily has not spread to the nearby trees, also thanks to the tall slopes of the crater that kept the fire boxed in, like a giant fire pit.

A slope that three humans are working hard to climb.

“Come on, guys! We’re almost there.” Zam encourages, pushing forward.

“Uff... I’m too old for this…” Aunty pants, struggling to keep up with her two younger companions. The slope is steep and her old bones cannot keep the pace as easily as Gigi and Zam.

“It’s chill, guys. Besides… it’s not the end of the journey that counts. It’s the journey that matters.” Gigi offers his friends a pearl of wisdom.

After some more puffing and gasping, they finally reach the top. While Zam helps the struggling Auntie up the edge, Gigi takes the chance to peek below to the bottom of the crater and whistles.

“Yo, dudes! I think I see something from here!”

“Did you find the meteor? What’s it like?” Zam asks, trying to pull Aunty up.

“Uh, yeah… about that… are meteors like… made of metal?” Gigi asks.

“Well, they do contain space ores.” Zam replies.

“Are they also flat and round like a pancake?”

“A… Pancake? Gi, what are you even seeing?!”

As Zam finally hauls Aunty over the edge, Gigi shrugs nonchalantly.

“Then I don’t think that’s a meteor, brosky…”

Zam and Auntie quickly join their friend by the edge and look down below… Their jaw hits the floor and their eyes go wide as saucers in compete, utter disbelief.

Pieces of molten metal and crystals lay scattered all over the scorched ground, and at the very bottom of the crater, the source of the smoke column lies in a heap of bent and twisted metal sheets and glass.

That ’ s no meteor. That ’s-

“A SPACESHIP!” Zam cries out.

“Dude! It’s like… We’re about to see Aliens?! Too cool, bros...” Gigi nods cooly.

“Can you believe this, guys?! Aliens! As in… Real life aliens! Extraterrestrial life forms! Do you know what that means?!” Zam grins, eyes sparkling with an almost manic glee.

“Getting possessed and having baby aliens explode out of our chests?” Gigi asks.

Aunty double takes at that “WHAT?!”

“No! Well… Maybe… But most importantly: it means an exclusive interview of the third kind!” Zam exclaims, feeling like a child on Christmas morning. “We must go and get the scoop ASAP!”

“No! Zam! Wait! You don’t know what-“ Aunty reaches out to stop him… But he’s already hopping over, sliding down the slope and Gigi just shrugs and steps over the edge, sliding down.

“Guys, no! Wait! It’s dangerous!” Aunty shrieks, alarmed. If the burning ship isn’t concerning enough, the idea of parasitic aliens sure is! And now they were going to walk right in?!

“Come on! This is the chance of a lifetime!” Zam calls over, excited. “It’ll be Zam FM’s big breakthrough!”

Aunty whimpers, scared, but she gathers up the courage to follow after the two stragglers. No way she’s gonna leave them all alone in this.

There’s not much left of the spaceship when they reach it. The thing seems like it has been mostly destroyed in the impact. Still, what’s left of it looks so… off in design, like something you’d see out of a cartoon or a videogame!

Carefully, the three humans thread into the gaping hole in what they guess used to be the ship’s hull. The crash had punched a hole right into it.

If the mangled outsides of the ship were already impressive, they weren’t ready for what they found inside. Many of the rooms are destroyed, with debris, glass and crystalline shards laying scattered everywhere, but everything are built with a crystal substance that coats every surface. As if the ship was made out of crystal.

“Woah, whoever made this has some cool aesthetics.” Gigi nods appreciatively. “These aliens gotta give me the number of their interior designer. I would add some ‘80’s feelings tho. Something to compliment the aesthetics.”

For a part, Aunty had to agree. The crystal looks so colorful and pretty, but she really would have preferred to admire the otherworldly architecture when the thing wasn’t rumbling menacingly and on fire!

Zam keeps himself busy taking as many photos, videos and selfies as he can, recording with his camera and excitedly talking into the microphone, blabbing about things like amazing discoveries and rambling how his radio would become a huge success after this.

A foreboding metal screech almost has Aunty jump out of her skin and quickly turns to her companions and frets, “Ok, we’ve seen enough. Can we please go home?!”

“Mh… Yeah. I think we got just enough material with this.” Zam nods and chuckles “Oh oh oh! This is gonna be so awesome! The Cast Tech guys will be so jealous when I- oi…Aunty?… Where’s Gigi?”

Aunty blinks “He was here just a moment ago!”

Their panic is short-lived thankfully, for their friend’s voice calls from somewhere not too far down the crystal hallways,

“Guys! Come here! You’ve gotta see this!”

Aunty and Zam rush to their friend and find the ever-chill guy standing on a platform looking down in what could be a large room (probably the control room). The place looks gutted and also burning, smoke slowly filling the room.

“You can’t just ‘stealth-bye!’ on us like that, Gi! What if the aliens got to you?!” Zam scolds.

“Sorry, dude. I got curious. But then I saw this cool place and then… well … I found them.” Gigi shrugs.

“We’ll, next time try to tell us where you’re- Wait… Them?!” Zam gawks.

Gigi points down at something lying among the rubble, and Aunty and Zam follow the direction with their gaze. Aunty gasps, bringing her hands up to her mouth in shock.

Lying on the floor, amidst the debris, are a young man and a young woman.

And they would just look like any other normal person in Vinyl City, if not for the odd clothes that are so anything they’ve seen before (and the city made a lot of fashion ads!)… Or for the gems that are jutting out of their bodies!!!

“Holy…

The two aliens look beaten up from the crash. Their eerily still bodies covered in grime and cuts and ashes, but no blood gushing out their wounds or any sign of broken bones.

“A-Are they…?” Aunty stutters, worried.

Zam swallows drily and carefully approaches the two bodies. Kneeling by them, he takes the man’s wrist in his hands and checks for a pulse. But after a few moments of tense stillness, he looks back up at his two companions and solemnly shakes his head.

Tears gather in Aunty’s eyes as she tries to choke on sobs, and a saddened Gigi pulls his beanie off, bringing it to his chest in solemn respect…

Until the ‘ dead ’ man suddenly groans in pain, making Zam yelp in fear and scoot back like a startled cat.

“W-What?! How?! He doesn’t have a pulse!” He yelps.

“Whoa! Maybe they’re like… space zombies?” Gigi wonders “Intense, man.”

The stranger with the blue hair tries to push himself up with his arms, barely conscious. He spots the orange alien lying beside him and struggles to reach out for them… only to collapse right after.

The three humans exchange glances, unsure of what to do…

“WARNING!” An electronic voice rings “Overheating of the main Core. Severe damage to the reactors. Failed Fuel Leaks Containment.”

“Uhh… I don’t know you, guys, but I’ve watched enough sci-fi to know this place’s ain’t gonna last much longer. We better scram. Pronto!” Gigi urges.

“Right! Let’s go! Quick!” Zam hurries for the exit, with Gigi after him….

Aunty, however, hesitantly stands there, looking at the two aliens on the ground.

“Aunty, we gotta go or we’ll be blow up sky-high!” Zam calls.

“… No.” she states. “No, we can’t just leave them like this! We need to get them out of here!”

“Are you crazy, ‘Aunts?! They’re like… space zombies with gems sprouting from their body!” Zam tries to reason. “They might start the apocalypse!”

The older lady, however, is inmovable and declares, “I don’t know where they’re from, how or why they’re here, but they’re hurt and in danger. And I’m not leaving them like this!”

Gigi shrugs “Idk, man. She’s got a point there.”

“Are you guys serious?!“ Zam protests, but Aunty’s stern mom™ face is enough to shush any more complaints. Zam can only groan, “Ugh! Fine! But if they start craving for brains, I’ll say I told you so!”

The two young men work together to carry off the unconscious green alien, while Aunty easily carries the orange one in her arms.

“Warning! System failure! Evacuate the ship in 60 seconds.”

“Let’s hurry!” Zam urges.

The three race down the flaming hallways and past falling crystal and debris as the ship rumbles and shakes around them, metal screaming from the heat and glass exploding. The three finally make it to the eviscerated hull and scramble up the crater’s slope as fast as they can, carrying the two unconscious aliens and the ship ticks its final countdown.

Running up the steep slope is even harder to do while carrying two more people with them.

“Hurry up!” Zam urges. The ground easily crumbles and slides under their steps, but they push forward as fast as they can.

“Almost there, bros!” Gigi calls, struggling to reach the edge of the crater.

Zam and Gigi make it to the top, but Aunty is left struggling yet again, the slope too steep for her joints.

“Aunty, come on! You’re almost there!” Zam shouts.

“Uff-! I can’t!”

“Yes you can! You gotta believe in it!” Gigi exclaims.

“10… 9… 8…” the ship counts down ominously.

“Almost there!”

“7… 6…5…”

“Take my hand!” Zam calls, extending his arm out for her to take.

“4… 3… 2…”

They barely haul aunty and the orange alien over the edge when the ship began to beep, like a flatlining heartbeat,

Zam can only shout “Duck!” As the ship hits the last second.

“1… 0.”

The explosion that follow goes up in a huge fireball, the shockwave sending debris and smoke flying into a skyward black cloud.

Not too long after, the authorities arrive at the scene, only to find nothing left but molten metal and crystal shards.

Nobody notices the shadows running through the forest as far away as they can, going toward Vinyl City.

Chapter Text

🎸🥁

“Alright… sooo…” Gigi begins, musingly, as he helps himself to some of Aunty’s delicious homemade cookies. Sitting across the small dining table in the little kitchen, Zam is leaning on his chair, keeping an eye out while Aunty tends carefully to their two “guests” wounds.

Aunty’s apartment is just like many of the others in their neighborhood, pretty small and old. There are more than just a few cracks in the walls, and patches of worn paint are starting to peel off in several spots. There are a few blots of mold here and there as well… 

But despite all the defects, Aunty made it feel homely and cozy enough. Also, it is conveniently located on the ground floor, next to her restaurant.

“The " meteor " turns out to be a spaceship…” Gigi continues between munches, “And inside the spaceships were two human-looking aliens with gems jutting out of their bodies… “Another munch, “And now… we have those aliens here, crashing on Aunty’s sofa, right? Am I not imagining it?”

Zam sighs and nods, “ Nnnope . You’re not. This is very real. We just rescued two aliens, and now they’re crashing on Aunty’s sofa…Mh… It’d be a great headline for Zam FM if only it wasn’t so long.”

The older lady rolls her eyes at the radio buccaneer’s skewed priorities, but chooses to say nothing, instead resuming on caring for their two unconscious guests currently slumped on her ratty sofa.

Gigi helps himself to a drink and some more homemade snacks while Zam ruminates over this whole out-of-this-world situation ( pun not intended! ) as Aunty finishes tending to the two passed-out aliens’ scrapes.

Their guests are truly bizarre. They lack a pulse and she can’t feel a single heartbeat… And yet their skin is warm to the touch, just like a living human’s. Their chests do not rise and fall either, as if they’re not breathing, yet they occasionally twitch and mumble in their sleep.

Who - or better yet - What are these two?

“So, what now, fellas?” Gigi brings up through another mouthful of cookies, “Are we gonna pull an E.T . and keep them hidden in Aunty’s home?”

“At least until they recover, and ask them a few things.” she nods, “Who knows, maybe they’re friendly.”

“How do you know that?” Zam asks, eyeing the unconscious aliens warily, “For all we know they might want to invade us... Or enslave us! Or- GASPS ! They could suck our brains out with a straw! Like SLUSHIES !!!”

Aunty curls a brow at him, “And how do you know they’re evil brain-eating invaders?”

“Mm… Touché.” Zam concedes.

“Both of you got a point, dudes. I mean… there are plenty of movies with some pretty nasty bad aliens, but there are also good ones too.” Gigi pipes in. “I say we chill and see what goes down. We might be lucky and not get, ya know, possessed or eaten or something.”

“Well, dress code and rocks jutting out of their body aside… They do look like humans. I mean, just look at them! If they were to walk in the streets in broad daylight, nobody would figure them out.” Zam muses and then adds. 

Gigi shrugs, “We should ask them once they wake up.”

Then he crosses his arms over his chest, shaking his head somberly, “Riiight. If they wake up. I don’t think after tanking a crash-land like that, they’ll be up any-”

The orange alien snorts in her sleep, stirring.

The three humans startle and Aunty quickly steps away from the wakening Orange alien, who groans in pain and brings a hand up to their head, blearily blinking their magenta eyes with white spirals for irises open.  

“Ooow… My head… Man, what a ride…” the alien mutters.

“Well. Looks like you’re gonna ask them yourself sooner than you thought, bro.” Gigi says, slightly elbowing Zam.

The green and blue alien is next to rouse out of unconsciousness, struggling to also sit up on the cramped sofa. “Ugh, that smarts… Zin-? Zincite?... Are you ok? W-Where-?”

As the two aliens come to their senses, they notice the sudden change in scenery. The crystal walls of their spaceship are gone, replaced by opaque walls and furniture that sure doesn’t look like it belongs to any colony of the Gem empire… Or any other society they’ve known.

Aaand also takes notice of the three fleshy creatures gaping at them.

The two aliens blink. The fleshy creatures blink back. Awkward silence befalls the room and stretches on, until the purple-skinned creature with glasses grins at them and waves.

“Yo! Wassup, spacedudes?” he greets coolly…

Maaaybe not the greatest way to start an encounter of the third kind.

The orange one jolts, backing against the sofa’s backrest with an unholy shriek, the spirals of her eyes turning to triangles. The green alien fully wakes with a start, flailing his arms wildly in a panic, tripping on his own feet and falling off the sofa, face-planting on the floor. 

“ Ow… ”

“WHO ARE YOU?!” The orange alien shrieks, pointing at the humans. “ WHAT ARE YOU?!”

“Right back at you!” Zam exclaims, arms raised up. “We’re not the invaders!”

Aunty quickly raises her hands in a calming gesture, “Oh, nonono! It’s ok, dear. It’s alright.” She soothes, warm and gentle, trying to calm her down. “It’s ok, y-you’re both safe here. I promise.”

The orange alien glares warily at the three humans while she moves to help the green one up from the floor. “Who… who are you? Where are we?” she asks cautiously.

“Oh, right. We should introduce ourselves first.” Aunty begins cordially, smiling kindly as she places a hand over her own chest and introduces herself, “We’re humans, dear. You can call me Aunty, and this is my home.” She then gestures at her two men, “And these are my friends, Zam and Gigi.”

“‘Sup, shooting stars?” the sunglasses-wearing human greets with a smile and finger-gunning.

“Hello, aliens!” Zam exclaims all of a sudden, his arms raised. “Welcome to our humble planet and, uh , we come in peace!... I hope you also come in peace! Just so that you know: Our brains. Aren’t . Tasty! Comprende?”

“ Really? Dude...” Gigi deadpans. “How about you bring in some fanfare with that as well?”

Aunty sighs, rolling her eyes, before smiling at their two guests from beyond the stars. “I apologize for that. We’re not used to… uhm… Guests from so far away. We’re a little nervous, that’s all. But I promise we mean well… And what are your names, dears?”

The two aliens exchange glances before the orange one speaks first.

“Oh. Well… I’m Zincite. And this is my friend, Azurmalachite.” She introduces the two, with the green and blue alien smiling shyly.

“Nice to meet you, Zincite and Azurmalachite. I’m so relieved that you’re both wide awake.” Aunty smiles, looking slightly worried. “Are you both alright? You were in pretty rough shape when we found you both knocked out cold after your ship crashed.”

Azurnalachite’s red eyes go wide at that, “Wait. Crashed ? As in-?!“ 

“As in “ Caught fire and went Ka-boom ” type of crashed.” Zam explains, and Gigi nods.

“Yeah. Sorry about your car, spacedudes. Hope ya got insurance.”

“Eugh, boy...” Zincite winces. “And I liked that one too…”

Azurmalachite nods in agreement to that, but he sets his hand on his chin thoughtfully as he adds: “Mh, looks like we’re pretty much stuck here… But on the bright side, the scouting ships won’t be able to track us down now.”

“ Track you?” Zam arches his brow, “Uh, did you guys like… run away or something? Wait! Don’t tell me! Are you two some kind of space criminals?!”

“Well, you could say that , in a way…” Azurmalachite admits, only to quickly correct himself. “B-but not in a bad way! It was for good reasons, we swear!”

“Good reasons? Like what?” Gigi asks. “Space creditors? Crazy exes?”

“We had to!” Zincite exclaims, all cautiousness thrown out the window as her voice raises several angry pitches and her initially flower-shaped white pupils turn into sharp triangles, “They were crushing us! You can’t go anywhere or do anything but what someone programmed you to do until you break !”

Azurmalachite sets a comforting hand on her shoulder. The gesture seems enough for Zincite to calm down, but her frown remains as she angrily stares at the ground with her fists clenched tight.

“It’s… hard to explains…” the green and blue-speckled gem muttered.

The three humans exchange glances ranging from worried to uncomfortable to suspicious. 

“Sheesh… sounds kinda familiar, ain’t it? I dunno what you spacedudes went through, but it sounds like a real nasty situation.” Gigi whistles.

But then grins with ease, relaxing in the chair and spreading his arms out wide. “But ya don’t have to worry ‘bout that any more, dudes! You’re totes safe now! This is Aunty’s crib and nothing can get ya here.”

“Speaking of… I’m not familiar with any… “Planet Aunty’s crib”. Which sector is that?” Azurmalachite asks, only for the elderly lady to chuckle.

“Oh no, dear, you’re in Vinyl City.”

“Vinyl City?” Zincite asks, confused.

“Yup. You’re in the Music capital of the world, shooting stars.” Gigi adds, “On the one and only Planet Earth.”

“Wait… Earth ?! Did you just say: Earth ?!” Zincite gawks, eyes widening in disbelief.

When the three humans nod collectively at that, Zincite’s previously little dot-shaped irises blow wide and turn into stars as her initial shock morphs into a huge grin that reaches from ear to ear. Her ax vanishes and, with an excited squeal, she throws her arms around Azurmalachite, lifting him off the floor and spinning around the room between hollers of unbridled joy.

“WE DID IT! WE DID IT! WE DID IT! WE’RE FREE! WE’RE FINALLY FREE!!!”

The blue and green alien can’t help but laugh just as merrily at her enthusiasm and joy, “Yes! We did it! We made it to Earth!”

The two aliens dance joyfully around the room, laughing to their hearts’ content and bouncing off the walls like rubber balls ( or, more like, Zincite is ). 

Watching the two aliens as happy as children on Christmas morning, Gigi eyes Zam with a smug grin. “Still thinking these ‘big bad aliens’ guys are gonna suck our brains out with a straw , dude?” 

The radio conductor rolls his eyes and crosses his arms. “Ok, maybe that’s not likely to happen… for now … But I’m keeping an eye on those two!”

Aunty can’t help but chuckle at the exuberant energy of their two guests. She wonders where they got all that! Oh! Speaking of -

“Silly me! You two must be starving after all that!” Aunty gasps and quickly rushes to the fridge to rummage for something edible. “Ta-dah! These will fill you up!”

They look like… soft, flat things layered one over the other and crumpled into a flaky object with no precise shape. It’s unlike anything both gems have ever seen before. 

Curiosity ultimately wins over and Zincite drops Azurmalachite when Aunty presents them with a plateful of the odd yet good-smelling substance. 

“Uhh… What is this ?”

“Roti Canai. I made them myself. It’s a family recipe.” Aunty says, puffing up proudly. “The best in all the Island, if I can say so myself.”

Zincite tilts her head, “Toti…Canoli?”

“Roti Canai. It’s food.” Aunty corrects her gently, “You don’t like it?”

“It’s not that. Thing is… We don’t need to consume matter like most organics do.” Azurnalachite explains. “Our bodies are different.”

“Ooh, that explains a lot!” Zam muses. Well, at least about the lack of a pulse or breathing…

“So, does that mean you guys don’t have a stomach? And do you… you know… eject too?” Gigi asks curiously, gesturing at the aliens, only for Zam to dope-slap him in the back of the head.

“Dude! Seriously?! Don’t go asking THAT !”

“Well, technically speaking, we can eat. We just don’t need to. Also, because there’s no such thing as… “food” in the Colony.” Azurmalachite adds.

“It sure smells nice, though…” Zincite says as she picks up a Roti Canai from the platter. After analyzing it, she dives and gives the thing a big bite, munching on it critically. 

Her flower-shaped eyes blink to star-shaped ones, and she all but wolves down the rest of the food. “Azurmalachite! You have to try this! It’s delicious!”

The taller alien follows her example, and his eyes widen, elated. “Woah! You’re right! It’s great!”

“Glad to hear that.” Aunty nods proudly.

“We can say Aunty’s food is… outta this world ! Ah! Get it?! ‘Cuz they’re aliens , dude!” Gigi grins, and Zam rolls his eyes.

“So… Now that we’ve got introductions and predictable puns over… hopefully… What do you two plan to do now?” The radio buccaneer asks then.

Zincite swallows a whole Roti Canai before mulling it over. “Well… now that we’re away from Colony and that we can’t go to space anymore because our ship’s gone… I guess we can do whatever we want!”

“Ok… and that is?”

“And that is!... Uh… Well… we could…” Azurmalachite trails off,only for Zincite to exclaim happily.

“We can play music without our superiors bothering us!” 

“No way! You guys are musicians ?!” Gigi grins. “Su- eet , Shooting stars! You two couldn’t have picked a better city to land in!”

Not like there wasn’t much choice, with the ship having gone haywire. Azurmalachite muses, but doesn’t say a word. Maybe, just maybe, luck is starting to smile upon them.

“Tunes right outta space?! Dudes, you’re gonna rock this city!”

“Ah, no! No one's gonna rock anything just yet!” Zam quickly interjects, “ First , we gotta teach you how to be human. And get you used to the town too, before you start too… Well, I don’t know. Like, grow tentacles in the middle of the plaza or something…”

“Well, not sure we can do that specifically , but I guess it’s… when on Earth, do like the organics.” Azurmalachite agrees.

“I’d love to get started right away, but we'll have time to do that and plan your tour around the block after we get some shut-eye. I'm cooked .” Gigi groans. Who knows that escaping a flaming spaceship and meeting aliens would be so tiring?

“I have a guest room for when my nephews come to visit in town from time to time… You can have it for the time being.” Aunty offers.

Zam gawks, “W-wait! You keeping them here?”

“Do you have a better idea? Besides, I call dibs on the couch!” Gigi happily bounds over to claim his spot, much to Zam’s protests.

While the two young men bicker over who’s right to the couch and who slept on it last, Aunty leads her two guests to their new room. The guests’ room is pretty small, and a bit like the rest of the house, but has enough space for a bunk bed with a small wardrobe on one side and a small table with a chair. 

“I’m not sure if you guys sleep too, but please, stay as long as you like.” she invites them.

Zincite happily rushes forth and clambers up into the top bunk, while Azurmalachite settles in the lower one. Gems may not need sleep, but occasionally they would lay down to rest or chill out between missions. He pats the mattress and is surprised by how soft and pliant it feels compared to the crystal cots of the gem soldiers’ barracks. 

“Wow. Feels so… squishy .”

“If you need anything, don’t hesitate to call me or the guys. Zam may seem a bit wary, but he’s got an heart of gold.” Aunty smiles, with a small chuckle, “See you tomorrow! Have a good night.”

With that, the kind lady leaves, leaving the two guests to their own.

Zincite lays upside-down from the top bunk, grinning. “Sooo? Was it or wasn’t it a great idea?!”

“Well, near-shatter experiences aside, I never thought it’d be so… different. Like… we can eat and sleep even if we don’t need to. That’s pretty cool.” Azurnalachite said.

The orange gem hops down the top bed, springing back up. “I know, right?!” she agrees, amazed. “And it’s just the beginning! Imagine all the cool things to see here on Earth!”

She goes to the window and quickly clambers out, despite Azurmalachite’s attempts to stop her before their superior reprimands them… before remembering that they’re not in the barracks anymore, and he follows her.

“Wait! Zincite! Where are you going?” he whisper-yells, following after her.

They soon reach the top of the building, and they’re greeted by an amazing sight.

Before them, beyond the rows of old and darkened buildings, lies a skyline of bright lights and skyscrapers. They’re not as tall as the ones back in the colony, nor are they the same near-identical and orderly shape… 

Instead, even from afar, they can see Vinyl City is varied and diverse, full of different shapes and colors and neon lights unlike anything they’ve seen in centuries, if not millennia, on Colony. A visual cacophony of colorful chaos, faint faraway music, and noises unlike anything they’ve seen before.

“It’s so… beautiful .” Azurmalachite gasped, awed, at the city before them. So close yet so far and so splendid he couldn’t help but be amazed.

Zincite smiles, uncharacteristically softly,as she sets her hand on his shoulder, proudly looking out at the city before them.

“This is just the beginning of our new lives...” she begins, “Free from the colony and their stinkin’ rules. Here, we can be whoever we want to be! I can feel… no, I can taste it now, Azurmalachite!”

She looks back to him, “Starting tomorrow, with the help of our new friends, we’ll be… what was that word again? Oh! We’ll be Rocking this place in no time!”

He gives a light laughter, “It’s gonna take some getting used to… but you’re right. We’ll be rocking!”

“That’s the spirit!”

After a few moments of silence, just looking out toward the city, Azurmalachite murmurs, “You… think they’d be mad at us?”

Zincite scoffs, “Oh, for sure! I bet they’re fuming with rage. I say let them, bud. Besides…” she shrugs, “It’s not like two runaways are gonna be THAT big of a deal, right?”

— Meanwhile… —

A tiny Aquamarine fluttered nervously down the imponent halls of the palace, passing hurriedly by the richly decorated mosaics of grey shades and black stone lining the walls, trying not to wring her hands and twisting her fingers into knots. She landed in front of a massive door of pure black stone with light gray veins running across it, the surface smooth and polished to pristine perfection, highlighting the massive white diamond shape in the center of it.

The doors creaked open ominously, and the Aquamarine swallowed nervously, trembling fearfully, as a taller gem walked out.

Orange-red hair and beard, lighter orange skin, with an iridescence of yellow and greens running down his forearms until they ended in a deep shade of blue at his hands. He wore a flowy, translucent light gray wrap over an all-black bodysuit suit, with a white diamond-shaped keyhole neckline, with two gray stripes running from the bottom angles.

He stood tall and proud with his head held up high, regarding the tiny one as if it was but a speck of dust on his way: “Well?”

“G-greetings, y-you clarity.” the gem stuttered, “I-I-I come b-bearing news.”

The orange gem rolled his eyes, “I hope you have a very good reason to disturb the schedule of the leader. Don’t you know her clarity is a very busy gem?! What could be so important to require the attention of the lustrous-?!”

“R-rogues, sir!” the Aquamarine yelped, cowering.

The tall gem fell silent, for once lowering his head to look into the shivering tiny gem.

“Say that again…”

“T-Two gems have been r-reported to have e-e-escaped the Colony, your clarity…” she said meekly, summoning a holo-pad and holding it out for her superior. He snatched the pad from her hands, running through the alien characters with an increasing frown of displeasure, much to the Acquamarine’s mounting fear.

At last, he huffed annoyedly. “You may leave, and make sure to never speak about this again. Lustrous’ orders.”

The Aquamarine quickly bowed, “T-Thank you, your clarity! My lips are sealed! Thank you!”

He watches the little thing scamper off as fast as she could, shaking his head with an eye roll, and turned back inside the massive room.

The pavement, polished and dark as a void, passing rows of columns and even more decorated mosaics that depicted their beloved leaders at the top of a diamond-shaped array, and their seconds in command ranked just below, followed by each and every caste that followed, all neatly arranged into orderly, precise rows... As it should be.

Precise and orderly.

For nothing in gem society is worth more than Order . 

And their leaders know it well, from the top down.

But, sometimes, it happens that there are few… Imperfections. 

He stops short before a massive desk of carved dark stone, the just as massive chair turned back to him, its occupant looking into the enormous artwork of white, yellow and blue looming over.

There used to be pink once too, before the supreme leaders sent orders for the artisan gems to… rectify all art pieces in light of Gem society’s greatest tragedy.

He bowed respectfully, “Your clarity, I loathe to be bearer of bad omens… But there is a matter that I must report with utmost urgency, as per order.”

“What is it, Hammolite?” the gem asked, her deep voice echoing in the massive room that made her studio.

“It seems we are facing a… troublesome situation.” He summoned his own holo-pad, now updated with the Acquamarine’s data. “We are facing a most likely case of… rogue gems, your clarity.”

An eerie silence fell heavy in the room, and Hammolite could feel the surrounding heating up slightly.

“Rogues?” the gem repeated, voice a mix of surprise and… displeasure.

Little impurities in their otherwise pristine and flawless system.

Clearing his throat, trying not to mind the small burst of heat, Hammolite continued: “The offending parties were identified as: Azurmalachite Facet 70U Cut K3 , a simple foot soldier of the Colony’s gem army, and Zincite cut M4Y facet D41, high-rank servant gem belonging to one of our esteemed commanders.” he informed, “They’ve been reported to have deceived their way into Sector 7’s hangar and stolen a Disk model spaceship. Their destination is unknown, though we have reasons to believe their intended destination based on… former happenings .”

The leader fell quiet, pondering, before speaking up: “They are nothing but a civilian gem and a foot soldier, but we cannot allow any leniency on the matter... I presume you already sent the order to investigate the trail.”

“Indeed, your clarity. One of our best Galaxites is working on it as we speak. Despite their boldness, these two rogues clearly had little to no idea of what they were doing, and foolish to not consider the energy trail left by interstellar jumps.”

“ Good . I expect the situation to be handled with utmost care and, most importantly, as discreetly as possible. We cannot allow word of it to leak to anyone outside of our Colony, let alone allow this to reach other gems to… “ influence ” them…”

The voice reverberated deeply across the room, the temperature spiking yet again, enough for Hammolite to feel sweat trickle down his brow.

“I will not have a repeat of Rose Quartz’s pathetic little rebellion, understood?”

And, just like any mistake , any imperfection…

Swallowing, the orange gem agreed, “I understand perfectly, your clarity, and I assure you that I’ll personally handle the matter and select the most loyal gems to ensure the capture and retrieval of the rogues as quickly as possible… In fact, I am compiling a list of candidates for the task.”

“Excellent. I know I can always count on you, Hammolite.”

“I am but a humble servant on his duty for the greatness of our Empire, your clarity.”

“As it should… Order is what keeps our Empire thriving. Order leads the Gems to progress and greatness. And it must be respected.”

The massive chair slowly turned around, showing a statuesque ash-colored figure with white and red-tipped hair. 

The gem wore a long black dress, with a white long-sleeved longline vest decorated by intricate white diamond patterns. A white diamond symbol emblazoned on her neckline, another one formed the decorative buckle of her belt.

Her crimson eyes, hidden behind a sharp black visor, bore down on the small gem with a smile.

“... And enforced if need be.”

…Will be corrected…