LOG-196.
LOG-196.
Violet remained perched atop one of the various balconies that seemed to litter the large, cylindrical chamber she now found herself in, eagerly staring down at her target.
With a modest, almost practical looking outfit considering her function, and shoulder length hair that had a surprising number of ringlets running through it compared to the various other styles she’d gotten used to, the Gem cut a unique if less than ostentatious figure.
Still, humble looks or not, Blue, for all that she had put up a confident front in explaining that the purpose of the especially tall room was to allow various observers to inspect a given Pearl’s performance from a variety of angles, had quickly grown nervous once she’d realised that her assigned ward had no longer been fluttering about behind her.
Now the Gem was glancing around and calling out, a worried expression on her face as she searched, and failed to catch light nor hair of her Reef-borne counterpart.
Grinning slightly as the local’s panic reached a fever pitch, Violet stood up, tilted forward, and let herself fall. Her wings remained stowed away as she did, leaving her difficult to see even for someone who might have been inspecting the move.
Just as she might have hit the ground, the holographic limbs burst to life behind her, and she willed herself to dart forward, clipping right past Blue’s ear and earning a shriek from the Pearl as she did so, the frightened thing whipping around to level an accusing glare her way, even as her winged guest found herself beset with laughter.
“Don’t do that! I was worried you had gotten lost!”
A second or two went by, with Violet trying and failing to stifle her giggles, before the Atoll Pearl’s incensed facade finally cracked, a snort escaping her that she quickly sought to cover up by placing her hands over her nose, which in turn only made her own amusement worse.
Still, it wasn’t in the two of them to laugh forever, and soon enough the pair found themselves moving on, past the painted halls and repurposed facilities to an even lower level of the Atoll that Blue claimed would surely impress her, the two chatting about everything and nothing as they went.
It was something the first of Batch Eighteen had noticed fairly quickly, as she spent time around the other Pearl. While clearly more than comfortable with the company of her own Batchmates, she seemed almost desperate for something…well, new. In so much as she’d told Violet about the Atoll, she’d also asked countless questions about the Reef, and anything else the ‘outsider’ must surely have seen beyond the constricting grasp of the Burning.
It was, in truth, a somewhat disquieting thought that left the miniature Pearl feeling more than a little uncomfortable, the idea of being trapped in such a confining space for who knew how many years leaving her hoping more than a little that Viridian figured out some plan of action soon, even as the duo descended a non-functional elevator shaft that bent and distended partway down, until crystalline paneling and delicate murals were replaced with rocky cavern walls and dripping stalactites.
“And we’re here! It took a long time, but some of the water that evaporated from the surface eventually managed to filter down into this cavern, cutting through the lowest parts of the Atoll’s structure and forming…well, this.”
The concerns fled her as Blue spoke, the strange, seemingly naturally formed tunnel they were travelling down opening up into a far wider space, one that left her eyes wide as she took it all in.
While she had never seen a river in person before, her creator had described them more than once, among the various other geographical features of the planet Earth, which the Nacre had proven so very fond of.
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But more distracting, even beyond the rifts and currents that ran along it, or the glowing plants that littered various parts of the walls, floor, or even ceiling, were the butterflies.
At least that was what she’d call them, for now. Compared to the projected little bugs Viridian had once demonstrated, counterparts to the moths that she had claimed as partial inspiration for Violet’s own wings, these ones looked slightly larger, with wings of purest white that almost seemed to shine like their floral counterparts, leaving the cavern surprisingly well lit despite its lack of artificial lighting.
“Oh, I figured you would like the Flappers! They’re one of the few organic species that seem to survive down here. Never really figured out where exactly they came from though…”
Blue’s words felt distant to the Pearl, even as she hastily beat her own wings to approach one of the fascinating little creatures, letting out an exhilarated shriek as beady silver eyes stared back at her, with antennae lashing out to poke at her for the briefest of moments.
Her creator’s depictions of such things had been interesting to behold, but it was another thing entirely to witness such things in person, and soon Violet found herself fluttering amongst the rest of the small swarm that seemed to occupy the top of the waterway, delighting in the way they seemed to be attracted to her own light.
Finally reminding herself that she was subject to an audience, the Pearl slipped out from the beating wings of the flock, settling atop a small but sturdy boulder and briefly expending the effort to shoo away a few overly attached pursuers, before finally turning back to regard Blue with a grin.
“They’re like butterflies!”
The Atoll-borne Gem tilted her head at that, and as the inevitable question came, Violet found herself explaining the concept just as Viridian had once done for her, even as she found herself wondering just how her creator was doing.
—
Shell did not know for how long she had been discorporated for. Both because despite her extensive experience with second hand discorporations, she had never once been rendered so helpless herself, and also because it was simply difficult to gauge such a thing while rebuilding one’s lightform.
The fact that she was in an unfamiliar chamber, and had likely been bubbled or inserted into some other form of container to prevent immediate reformation hit her right as her eyes assembled back into place, the heart of the Reef blinking in bewilderment even as everything hit her mind all at once, memories rushing back into place.
The Overseer’s approach. The relentless, stubborn march forward despite Shell’s attempts to inquire as to any possible failings she had exhibited, or if none were to be found, what improbable reasons might have prompted her superior’s visit. Ruthless, stabbing talons, piercing into her lightform and-
The larger than average Pearl found herself going very, very still as a painfully familiar set of claws clicked into place around her gemstone, even as a rigid, uncompromising arm wrapped around her torso and pressed her against the chest of the Pearl-turned-Nacre that had evidently been standing behind her the entire time.
“You will not move unless I tell you to. You will not speak unless I tell you to. Nod your head if you understand.”
Shell couldn’t help but think back to the small feeling of joy she’d felt at first seeing Sixteen B emerge into being, the spark she felt whenever a Pearl took their initial steps within the welcoming interior of her artificial body.
An artificial body she had been ripped from by the very same Gem who now held what were akin to blades to her very core-
“I will not repeat myself. Nod your head if you understand.”
Feeling more than a little uncertain, Shell nonetheless nodded. Something that the paragon who had come to be called Viridian accepted with a gentle but reminding click of a talon against the Pearl’s gemstone.
“Good. I’m going to release you. You will walk three steps forward, and then stop. Deviate, and you will learn to regret doing so. Nod your head if you understand.”
She nodded, and soon found herself released, barely preventing herself from stumbling as she walked for the first time in eons.
Nonetheless, the three steps were managed, and so the heart of the Reef found herself staring at a wall, even as the distinctly threatening sound of a destabilizer of all things being primed forced her to ball her hands into fists, lips tugging downward into a frown.
“Turn around.”
Shell turned around, and beheld the authoritarian splendour of her Overseer while the tool of pain and enforcement was levelled at her, the eyes of its wielder narrowing dangerously.
“Allow me to make your situation extremely clear. This is an interrogation. I will ask you questions, and you will answer them to the best of your ability. If you fail to satisfy me in a way I find uncooperative or deceitful, I will hold this against your lightform until you discorporate, wait for you to reform, and then repeat the process until you provide me with results. Nod your head if you understand.”
She nodded once more, even as Viridian tilted her head, a small, seemingly bemused smile plastering itself across her face.
“Excellent. Tell me everything you know about any projects headed by the Moissanite cadre that specifically relate to burning Pearls.”
…Oh.
Oh dear.