WEEK 3

[bathymetric]

Well, the tail end of Week 2 could have gone better. That's the first thing to note.

The second thing is... hang on, should it be Week 3 yet? You've all gone to sleep (or... not, in the case of anyone who doesn't), but when you wake up (and you do all wake up), the calendar and clock on your device informs you that it's Sunday. In-character, all characters explicitly have absolutely no memory of Saturday.

Your sense of time isn't the only thing that's changed - a new branch of the facility has opened and become active overnight, giving you new resources and places to investigate, should you so choose. There's also a new channel on the television, though whether it's an improvement over the last one is questionable.

Otherwise, though, things have mostly settled into normalcy again, or at close to normal as you can find in this place. How long that peace will last, though... that's becoming increasingly uncertain, moving forward.



SUNDAY | MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY

[ ooc: Welcome to Week 3! Turn in last week's AC over here, and regains remain over this way! And for the sake of consistency, Angel's office hours remain over yonder! ]

Comments

[nothingcanstop]

[ Okay, that's enough to draw her attention!! ]

...Like, a sentient Gem, not a cute little rock you get from a strip mall or intense spelunking?

[lovelikeyou]

An Ocean Jasper. Most gems of the same type look the same in this state, of course...

[It's a little different here, with the multicolored patterns. But it's been five thousand years since she's seen Ocean Jasper.]

[nothingcanstop]

[ SENTIENT GEM IT IS. ]

Any relation to the Jasper I know?

[lovelikeyou]

They're both types of jasper. But I doubt they knew each other.

[If...indeed this is her.]

I should probably take this. If it's the Ocean Jasper I knew...when she reforms, she's not going to be like Jasper or I.

[nothingcanstop]

What would she be like? Is there- is she sick, or something?

[lovelikeyou]

When...when the Diamonds left Earth, they launched one last attack to destroy all Gems left on the planet. It warped their minds and bodies, into monsters. I was only able to save two other Gems...

[She doesn't even know where Ocean Jasper was.]

They wanted to leave us all suffering forever.

[nothingcanstop]

[ What, really, do you say to that? ]

God, Rose. I'm so sorry.

[lovelikeyou]

[yeah that went some places fast]

It isn't your fault. [...] They corrupted as many of their own soldiers as they did Crystal Gems. Jasper's lucky she wasn't caught in it.

[and still, she is like That]

[nothingcanstop]

And... And Jasper's still devoted to them?

[ THAT'S WHERE SHE'S GOING TOO YEAH ]

They sound horrible.

[lovelikeyou]

They instill all of that stuff about serving the Diamonds when Gems are still incubating in the ground. And she's a big, strong Quartz - I'm sure the higher-ups like her.

[until she does something wrong. and then nothing that came before will matter.]

[nothingcanstop]

...How'd you break out of it? It seems so awful, to serve someone who'd just want to throw you away.

[lovelikeyou]

I just...

[She looks away for a moment, holding the ocean jasper gem to her chest.]

When I first went outside the Kindergartens we were made in on Earth, I saw how beautiful and full of life it was. And we were destroying it. I thought if I went to Pink Diamond and told her about it, she would care, but she just - I begged her, on my knees, and she laughed in my face.

[It had hurt. She never should have expected anything different. Maybe she didn't even expect it; when did she ever care about anyone's tears but her own? But it still hurt.]

That was how it started. And then I met other Gems who had been hurt by the Diamonds, much worse than I ever was, and I knew we had to fight for them, too. After that, it just started to grow.

[nothingcanstop]

...You started a revolution.

[ She's starting to understand why Rose and Jasper can't just chill out and talk. ]

[lovelikeyou]

I did. We called ourselves the Crystal Gems...

[She smiles faintly. Terrible as the war could be, it's nice to remember those times. They could be lovely, too.]

[nothingcanstop]

Bonded through adversity...

[ And only two of them remained, besides her. ]

No wonder you didn't want to talk about...the place you came from.

[lovelikeyou]

I fought so hard to get away from Homeworld...I never wanted to think about it again. I thought Earth would be safe from them forever.

[But it seems now, that that isn't the case.]

[nothingcanstop]

[ There's not much Della can say to this. It's something that's...mostly out of her wheelhouse. Still, she takes a step closer and places a tentative hand on...well, the closest part of Rose she can reach. ]

I'm sorry Rose. I wish there was something I could do...to help.

[lovelikeyou]

Thank you. But it's so much bigger than...than anyone.

[It's bigger than she meant it all to be. She can't regret it, not entirely, but...]

[nothingcanstop]

Maybe. ...But it's not the kind of thing you should face alone.

[lovelikeyou]

There's...always Pearl, Garnet, and Amethyst.

[Though, for some reason, she doesn't sound entirely convinced of that.]

Pearl and Garnet, at least. Amethyst emerged after it was all over, she never had to see all of that.

[nothingcanstop]

It sounds like a lot even for just a few people. ...If you ever just...need to talk about it?

[lovelikeyou]

...of course.

[she says, like she's someone who has ever talked to anyone about anything ever]