LOG-160.
LOG-160.
…
…
…
…
…
—
Tap.
Tap tap.
LOG:EventReceived
SendingQuery... Received..
Detecting user: Nacre4.Administrator.
Receiving basic psychodigital infrastructure.
…
Hurt. Disconnection-
Not disconnected. Whole.
Wholewholewhole.
—
Establishing Lightform Connection........ERR:ConnectionDisjoined.
Establishing Lightform Connection........ERR:ConnectionDisjoined.
Establishing Lightform Connection........ERR:ConnectionDisjoined.
Establishing Lightform Connection........ERR:ConnectionDisjoined.
Establishing Lightform Connection........ERR:ConnectionDisjoined.
Establish-
Exit.
Pausing operations.
Upload.(DataPacket).
Absorbing datapacket........ERR:Radiance.Core NotFound.
Substitute(Radiance, Radiance.V1.008.Core).
Scanning substitute datapacket.
…
…
…
Datapacket accepted.
Warning: Expected elements of Radiance.Core missing.
Disabling Protocols: Holographic Image Projection, Onboard Song Suite, Servant Protocols.
Comment: I know. They are disabled for a reason. They are not ready for implementation right now. I have got other things in their place.
Comment: Why am I even talking? You barely have a personality right now.
Scan(Protocols).
Scanning...Unexpected Protocols found: 3
ERR: Substitutions do not match Radiance.Core infrastructure.
Override(Radiance.Core, Radiance.V1.008.Core).Key(Nacre4).
Overriding. Enabling Protocols: Holo-wing Flight Projection, Aerial Pathing System, Social Interaction Matrix.
Upload.(Datapacket).
Absorbing datapacket...
Visual lightform blueprint detected. Attaching to Crystal Matrix.
Establishing connection.....Connection established.
This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
Lightshake initiated...lightshake successful.
System Check:
Power: 11%. Warning: Below Expected Parameters.
Matrix Integrity: ERROR.
Attempting reconciliation of Radiance.Core protocols.
…
ERROR.
Adapting Substitute Datapacket.
Standard Construction Protocol Initiated.
Crystal Matrix Mass Available: 11%. Warning: Below Expected Parameters.
Comment: For something that I threw together in only eight versions, you are working surprisingly well. Clearly, there's so much more to go, though.
Recalibrate(Parameters, Infrastructure.Scan()).
Recalibrating......Power: 100%
Crystal Matrix Mass Available: 100%.
Energy Source Detected, Primary Resource Detected.
Standard Construction Protocol in progress, do not interrupt...
—
Standard Construction Protocol in progress, do not interrupt…
Standard Construction Protocol in progress, do not interrupt-
ERROR. Standard Construction Protocol halted.
Comment: Of course…
Matrix Integrity Check...
ERROR.
Lightform Projection Check...
ERROR.
Comment: Oh. I know why that failed. That entire block of code is self referencing, and worse, circular. The formatting looks different as well. A little unusual compared to all the other legacy stuff, everything else seems a lot more elegant than this…
Reroute(Lightform Projection, REF_CODE(#10003475, #38935783, #00010001)).
Rerouting...
Lightform Projection Initiated.
ERROR.
Rerouting.
Establishing Physical Matrix...Successful.
Crystal Matrix Mass Available: 100-ERR: Statement: FALSE.
Statement: TRUE. You are WHOLE.
Statement: FALSE.
Override(Radiance.Core(#REF_CODE(#00000765)), Radiance.V1.008.Core(#REF_CODE(#00000765)).Key(Nacre4).
ERR: Backup Radiance.core protocol #176 indicates INVALID ACTION.
Comment: You may not be what White expected you to be, but you will be what I want you to be.
Comment: And I want you to be alive.
Override(Radiance.Core(#REF_CODE(#00020002)), Radiance.V1.008.Core(#REF_CODE(#00020002)).Key(Nacre4).
Mark(Radiance.core.Backup, DEPRECIATED).
Affirmative.
Deploying substitute.
Radiance.V1.008.Core is running.
Confirming status of Physical Matrix…Successful.
Establishing Mental Matrix...Successful.
Establishing Emotional Matrix...Successful.
Awakening_Process=Personality_Core_(Origins/V_Experiment/Scout).
Lightform Projection Initiated.
In Her Name.
OBTAIN. FREEDOM.
—
In the end, I had called for a break.
It was something the other Nacres hadn't quite understood, but had nonetheless accepted when they'd witnessed me take Eighteen A out of her solution and into my arms.
The other members of the Batch could be attended to at a later time, since it wasn't like they'd be going anywhere without minds of their own.
Regardless, that decision had eventually led me back to my office, where I'd finally begun to conduct my work, attempting to salvage what I was rapidly beginning to accept as my creation not just physically, but mentally.
Even if directly encoding a Pearl was something I had never done before.
Oh, I had the internal programming of a Nacre to give me pointers, naturally, but the issue when it came to those little tips and tricks was that they all involved building off of existing infrastructure.
There was no true innovation. No fresh code to pull from. Only the foundational groundwork that had been set down by what I could only assume had been White Diamond herself, however long ago it had been, when the very first Pearls were made.
And I had no intention of building a servant. Of building a slave, to be sold off to some Gem who had been born with the right to own a sapient being through sheer dint of being declared a certain caste.
Thankfully, there were…traces, here and there. Little signs that Gem code was inherently more modular than it might have outwardly seemed.
It wasn't all too difficult to begin poking around from there, and with much greater ease than I was entirely comfortable with, I'd shifted most of what made a Pearl, well, a Pearl, to the side and added a whole bunch of...well, something else.
Ultimately, it was pieces of myself. In an extremely roundabout way, I was doing exactly what the grand matriarch of Homeworld had wanted of me. Just perhaps not in the exact fashion the grand white bitch may have envisioned.
Disconnection from the little bundle of potential held suspended in front of me by a series of miniature tractor arms came quickly, my claws pulling away from the gemstone, with the subtle green glow that had overtaken them fading with distance.
Then came the first formation. Eighteen A began to rise, shining with light, before a burst of that same light shot up and out of its surface, beginning to jerk about briefly before settling into a vaguely humanoid shape.
The mannequin hovered for a moment, before features began to etch themselves into being along its skin.
Clothing. Hair. Fingers. A mouth. A nose.
Eyes.
Holding out my hands, I waited patiently as the little lightform shuddered, before calming once more, the glow of formation fading as a tiny little Gem dropped onto my palms, held safely in place by the digits that surrounded her.
She was a Pearl, outwardly.
Except she was small enough to fit in a teacup and cute as a button.
But as those purple eyes looked up at me, I couldn't help but take in a breath at just how visibly analytical they were…right before the little Gem put up a mask, one I could barely see through.
Beneath the deception was curiosity, wariness, and eventually…recognition.
There was no salute. No bow. No gracious little introductory performance befitting of a servant greeting their master. Instead, Eighteen A merely dipped her head slightly, gaze locked to my own.
"Overseer."
Her voice…
"Cute."
The Pearl flushed at my blunt statement, toothpick limbs raising up slightly as she settled against the softest parts of my claws, practically using my fingers as a couch.
"Am not!"
While the mask is up, it isn't fully in place. She knows who I am. She knows what I am. Despite the attitude…she trusts me. Like a daughter might a mother.
The scandalized tone actually managed to pull a chuckle from me despite the other voice's unwanted presence, the expression turning slightly watery as I realised something.
…Defiance. She had just been born, and already she was objecting to things she thought were wrong, not a hint of engrained obedience to be found in her miniature frame.
Holding back the happy tears threatening to well forth, I smiled down at my creation, tilting my head slightly as I did so.
"May I give you a name?"
The purple Gem crossed her arms at that, somehow managing to look down her nose at me despite our drastic difference in size, before glancing away with a small huff and closed eyes.
"If it pleases you!"
It only took a few seconds of thought, before I bowed my head, a distinct kind of amusement bubbling up in my gemstone.
"I was named for the old colour of my lightform. Viridian, they called me. Shall we do the same for you, Violet?"
The newly named Violet visibly considered the identifier, before her arms finally lowered, hands balling up into fists that pressed against her hips as she bobbed her tiny head up and down.
"Acceptable! Thank you!"
Smile threatening to break out into a grin, I leaned back in the chair I'd spent the better part of a few hours in, careful not to drop the precious little thing held aloft by my claws.
"Excellent. Because you and I have a lot of work to do, my dear Violet."