LOG-114.

  The interrogation had failed, and Hessonite had left the entire ordeal frustrated and grumbling at Red's continued silence, with me carefully placating her the whole while on our way back.

  Being honest, I'd barely had time to process my own thoughts on the matter of the Tourmaline (alongside the subtle back and forth I'd been having with Ardent regarding what to do with the Gem via datapad, considering Fawn apparently had known of her for a while now) before the office doors slid open with an obedient hiss, revealing the elegantly poised form of Fuchsia, her usual cheery smile locked in place.

  She walked with the standard practiced grace, every step measured and smooth, her hands folded neatly in front of her as she approached Hessonite's desk. My fingers twitched in tune with Glitter's own digits, the both of us greeting our fellow Pearl silently.

  "Your radiance." Fuchsia greeted with a perfectly executed bow, her voice light.

  "A report, directly from Star Sapphire herself. She has issued a directive regarding the off colour Tourmaline."

  That caught my attention, to say the very least. Star Sapphire had barely seemed ready to walk around, much less hand out orders. Besides, it was so absurd of a command that only blindly loyal Imperials would follow it, which meant that it would work, naturally.

  Was it interference from Fawn, maybe? Ardent had said they'd need me in place to inform Red that she wasn't necessarily alone. There'd also been something about getting into contact with another group, but I'd been too busy making a show of cleaning Hessonite's desk to really pour over it.

  "Go on."

  Heedless of my thoughts, Fuchsia unfolded the delicate glyph (a smaller datapad in truth, proving the servant was acting with her owner's authority) in her hand and held it out for the Garnet in the room to inspect.

  "She has foreseen that the secondary interrogation will yield more favorable results if conducted by your Pearl, Viridian, rather than yourself. As such…Viridian is to be given clearance to interrogate the prisoner alone."

  I kept my expression smooth, my stance deferential, and firmly ignored Glitter's worried stare turning to wash over me, even as the words nearly made me blink.

  Definitely a rebel. Unless she was actively being manoeuvred around, but…

  I tentatively mentally added Fuchsia to my list of favourable Pearls, repressing a smile.

  Hessonite, however, was less enthused. Her lips pressed together for a fraction of a second, and one gloved hand came to rest atop her desk, fingers drumming a slow, thoughtful rhythm.

  "Unusual." She finally said, not quite a refusal but not an agreement either. "And a curiously specific use of a Star Sapphire's abilities. What exactly does she foresee that Viridian will accomplish that I would not?"

  Fuchsia tilted her head ever so slightly. "She did not specify, only that your Pearl was uniquely suited to the task. And, as you are well aware, my Star Sapphire's foresight is rarely incorrect."

  A subtle invocation of rank. Fucking clever.

  Hessonite sighed, rubbing her temples before fixing me with a scrutinizing stare. "I…dislike this. But I dislike questioning a Seer more. You will follow protocol to the letter, Viridian. You will not engage in unnecessary conversation, and you will extract the information Star Sapphire expects you to."

  She exhaled sharply through her nose, then gestured for the doors. "Go. Before I change my mind."

  I bowed immediately, though I briefly worried that she'd seen the glint of something a little too satisfied in my eyes before I turned away, her frown deepening.

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  Regardless, Fuchsia and I walked side by side as we exited the office, our respective roles keeping us in a bubble of formal silence until we were well into the corridors leading toward the brig.

  "...I assume Ardent pulled some very impressive strings for this one." I murmured under my breath, just enough that only the pink Pearl could hear me.

  She smiled without looking at me, bubbly tone returning now that we were nominally alone.

  "You like, totally assume correctly. Be careful though, you're playing a super dangerous game here."

  "Probably worth playing, if we're putting this much effort in setting it up."

  We walked together for a while, our reflections shifting against the gleaming surfaces of the Confluence as we passed through a solitary Warp pad, until we finally reached the checkpoint before the holding area. Fuchsia stopped smoothly, turning toward me with a distinctly composed nod.

  "This is where I have to take my leave. I have other reports to deliver and uh, my owner's still a little out of it. Be sure to give our seer exactly what she expects, m'kay? Glitch will make sure nothing leaves that cell besides what we like, actually let out. Or whatever."

  With that, she stepped away, leaving me alone before the security station.

  —

  Golden Agate was already watching me when I approached, her keen eyes assessing me as they had before. The moment I withdrew the datapad bearing Star Sapphire's unmistakable mark, her lips pressed into a thin line. The previous uncompromising rigidness in her stance remained, but now tinged with curiosity mirrored in the stares of the surrounding Quartz soldiers.

  "An unusual directive." She noted as she examined the glyph, the gemstone in place of her eye glowing briefly as she looked it over and took in the commands embedded into it. "Hessonite is allowing you to conduct the questioning alone?"

  "Star Sapphire's orders." I replied smoothly, offering a polite smile that very much reached my eyes, judging by the way her own gaze softened ever so slightly.

  "You know how they are." It was a trick I was rather proud of developing back on the Retaliator, considering it still was of use even now.

  Regardless, the Agate exhaled, handing the glyph back with a sharp nod before stepping aside. "I do. And I know better than to argue with someone who sees the future. The barrier will be lowered for you. If she so much as looks at you wrong, you yell for help and I'll shatter her myself while the Quartzes hold her down, got it?"

  I gave the increasingly protective officer a grateful nod in turn, before stepping forward and passing a staring pair of soldiers as the destabilization field deactivated, the dull hum of its energy ceasing for a brief, fragile moment.

  Making my way into the cell, I glanced at the hulking figure seated opposite me, her sharp eyes turning to glare at my lightform as the barrier rose back up the second I was fully inside.

  A moment passed in silence while I waited to see whether the elite enforcer was going to try and beat me to death with her restraints or something. Thankfully, beyond more silent staring, nothing really happened.

  "Schist, finally."

  Besides a quiet blink as I moved away from the barrier, she didn't react much as one datapad sank into my gemstone to be exchanged for another.

  "Listen up, we probably don't have a lot of time so I'm going to have to be a little blunt about this. Do you understand what Harvesting entails?"

  Her helmet dipped slightly, the plume of hair rising out the top and back shifting with it as she regarded me, the cell, and the 'door' before slowly shrugging her shoulders, pauldrons rising with the motion.

  "...Recycling."

  Stars if her voice didn't fit her frame. Didn't sound very concerned now that Hessonite was gone either. Guess she didn't feel very defensive with just a little old Pearl present to annoy her.

  "Yes. Painful recycling. Your lightform will be used as a vector to drain essence from your gemstone, until they've sucked out every last scrap of value from you. You'll be conscious the whole time, right up until you no longer have a consciousness, are you following?"

  The Tourmaline grunted, eyes narrowing slightly.

  "I'm not afraid."

  She blinked again at my frustrated growl, a free hand used to wave at her in reproach.

  "You should be you over-armoured Quartz, it's not a good way to go out, and it's my job to make sure it's not the way you go out. Now we don't have a plan yet, or at least not one I'm privy to, but it'll probably-"

  I paused at the sudden intensity of her staring, her posture slightly straighter.

  "...Defective. You're defective?"

  Holding back a groan, I gave the massive Gem a deadpan look instead.

  "No, I'm just planning to break you out against the Empire's directives. Really fashionable as of late, we call it rebelling."

  Red visibly considered that for a moment, before sitting back a little.

  "They called me that when I didn't let the other Tourmalines discorporate my form. A rebel. That is what I am?"

  I paused for a second, fingers thumbing over the datapad as additional messages from Ardent began to pop up.

  The device was set down at my side for a moment as I smiled at my significantly larger counterpart, tilting my head a little.

  "Only if you want to be. I don't like the Empire and how they do things, so I work against them. They betrayed you for being off colour and fighting back when attacked, so that's a pretty good reason to betray them in turn I think, but that's just my opinion on things."

  Her helmet dipped again as she presumably mulled over that, before she glanced back up at me.

  "...I do not want to be harvested. How do you intend to free me without endangering us both?"

  My smile widened slightly as I brought up the datapad, glancing over Ardent's instructions.

  "Well first of all, I'm going to need to talk to some potential allies who are very interested in meeting you. All you need to do for now is wait, and be ready when the time comes to break loose, got it?"

  The warrior blinked once more, before nodding.

  "Affirmative."