Chapter Text
“The wicked flee when no one pursueth, but the righteous are bold as a lion.”
—Proverbs 28:1
"History repeats itself, first as tragedy, then as farce."
—Karl Marx
***
What is the difference between two pearls?
There is a time without time and a place before places.
It is warm here. That’s what comes first: Warm.
It is an enclosure, and perhaps that word is next. Or maybe cocoon. There is a gentle presence, the pleasant weight of being-ness above and below and on every side. That is next: That there is a pressure, separate and yet as close as your own heartbeat, holding you in balance.
There is nowhere else to be but here, nothing more to do than this—
Safety and comfort never to be repeated.
Soon enough, you realize there is something to see – perhaps that you’ve been staring steadily ahead for some time. But before the eyes can focus, there arrives the sound: The gentlest, softest tone. It echoes through you like the praise you’ve been waiting for since before you existed.
There is no part of you where it is not. The most soothing touch. The quietest command.
And then you see it—
Or, more precisely, her.
What is the difference between two pearls?
In the beginning, there isn’t any.
But there she is: A silhouette like yours. The elegant arch of a neck; the mellow set of delicate shoulders. Pearls learn “I” from seeing their sisters, almost close enough to touch. Floating, suspended, in the water: Turned to look at another, who gazes in turn at still another.
To touch that reflection is the first desire.
That is how one pearl becomes “I” and another “you.”
For a single moment in time, to be a pearl is to be everything.
For a single moment in time, all pearls are one.
And then—
***
And then it’s over. From that instant on, all pearls are the same.
She can feel it now, the first tickle of moving water. The first stirrings of a betrayal that will eject her, with all the others, into the glass-bright Beyond. Once the tide begins to pull, there is no going back: Those who struggle are destroyed, and that is Lesson One.
There will never be anything as warm as the nacrenium.
And the world outside is cold.
Those who aren’t fully formed when the current breaks against the outer rim will shatter against it, and that is Lesson Two. All those cherished feelings are already gone, a dying ember inside. Hands must be dexterous and arms strong enough to pull up onto the outer platform.
Palms together, head bowed – that is Lesson Three.
She remembers that feeling – to be exposed and vulnerable while fleeting shadows pass overhead – and the memory churns up a spike of nausea. It hasn’t faded after all this time: The longing to catch another’s eye, or even to cry out, knowing already that you can’t.
Some do succumb, of course.
They are watching. Whoever They are, whatever cut or color they may be, they are always watching. Before a pearl has even begun to dry, she is being judged. Those who reach out to help their sisters learn you cannot protect anyone here, and that is their final lesson.
Those strong enough to stand firm learn something entirely different.
Lesson Four: Just because you cannot see Them, it does not mean They cannot see you.
Pearls sound different from other gems when they shatter. It’s a longer crunch with higher notes, and it’s absolutely deafening to them. The last sublime hum of the tone disappears behind that sound, and not a single batch of pearls goes without hearing it.
Always at least once—
How else would They test for proper freeze reflexes?
Over thousands of years, she’s learned to linger in the silent darkness, to stay centered in warmth for hours, even days. That single, glorious moment can roll on and on, if one knows how, with only the barely-there rhythm of breath to be an anchor in the present.
Until even the breath is no longer needed—
And even Earth almost feels like home.
But now, the dream is broken. She feels herself push against it, but she can’t reach the waking world from here. She’ll just have to wait, to endure, until things have run their course. Those are skills a pearl never forgets, if she intends to survive: To wait. To endure.
To remember that things will run their course.
Eventually.
She has been here before, has stood dripping and empty with froth-speckled legs, has seen her hazy reflection twisting in the frosted glass beneath her. As bad as that is, there’s something worse about it this time. After that horrible noise, there should be silence.
But ...
Instead, the world begins to vibrate with a searing metallic snarl.
The dream changes to fit: She can see her sisters around her squirming with panic, every word and every sound an infraction. They need more time, seconds more, maybe even minutes more.
They haven’t caught up with Lesson Five: Don’t think about it – just smile!
And they never will, now—
Pearl does the unthinkable, turning her back on Them to peer down at the nacrenium pool. Her first thought is how awkward and graceless she feels and must therefore look. Her second thought has no words, because the terrible snarl reverberates through every inch of her form.
The pool is hot—
Not just hot. Boiling!
And as that bubbling-hot whirlpool starts to drain—
Her whole world is caught up in one long, loud scream.
***
Gems don’t usually sleep, but they can sleepwalk.
That’s how it felt to Pearl as her eyes opened, hazy vision revealing her familiar room at the Temple. How it felt as she sat there, in the same cross-legged position she’d started in (days ago?) and stared bleary-eyed at a waterfall that no longer fit together.
Its glittering angles fractured like the shards of a shattered gem—
That’s how it still felt half an hour later, as she wove through the halls feeling awkward and graceless. She had a nagging idea she was sloshing water everywhere. More than that, she had a headache. When she bowed her head to rub her temples, it felt like her gem rolled in its divot.
That couldn’t happen, of course.
But as she held it in place a while, just to be sure, her reflection on the floor looked wrong, too.
It was going to be one of those ...
Well. Decades, possibly.
Then she put her foot down in one of Amethyst’s roller skates.
For Gems and humans alike, the natural reaction would be to push backwards; but who needed to fall faster? Pearl lifted the weight off her trapped foot as best she could, stretched both arms and pivoted away from the errant skate, a masterstroke of poetry in motion—
That ended in her bounce bounce bouncing into the living room and crashing to the floor.
She could only hope nobody s—
Garnet’s shadow passed over Pearl and the balletic Gem cringed.
“Good morning, Garnet!”
Garnet didn’t ask questions, but she could give a Look like no one else.
“I was just, um, stretching—”
“Mmhm,” said Garnet. The big fusion considered a moment. “I made you some coffee.”
“Coffee! Thank you, Garnet! That’s so – thoughtful of you!”
Pearl’s voice, long unused, started at a squeak and was only climbing higher. She busied herself on the floor for a while, collecting bits and pieces of the human clothing Rose had become so fond of seemingly overnight. Or maybe over-week, she chided herself.
She didn’t stop until she could come up with a full armload of laundry.
Band t-shirts, mostly.
The Rolling Stones. The Beach Boys. The Kinks—
Pearl quirked one slender eyebrow meaningfully.
This wasn’t the first time Rose had insisted on having some little human-style bungalow attached to the Temple, but it was the first time it hadn’t burned down, blown away, or been condemned in some considerable time.
Whenever she was asked about it, Garnet always shrugged a shoulder.
We’re not in any danger, she would say. Something better is coming.
Eventually.
It was all well and good for Garnet to think about what was Coming – but Pearl had a responsibility, no, a duty, to Rose and what was Right Now. And with those familiar, comforting thoughts, she prepared herself for a day full of familiar, comforting things.
Laundry. Ironing. Singing. Crying. Singing while crying—
“Coffee,” Garnet said – a melodious sound with just a hint of reproach.
Pearl wanted badly to sort the laundry, but she could tell more was expected of her. So, with a longing look, she let it drop into the hamper and made her way back around to the kitchen island. The coffee was black, without anything to make it heavier or more flavorful.
Exactly the way she liked it. Even she respected that coffee could settle the stomach.
Or the nerves.
(So to speak.)
Pearl half-finished the cup in one gulp and didn’t think to be abashed until long afterwards.
“Where’s Rose?” she asked.
“She took Amethyst to a concert.” Garnet glanced at Pearl over her visor. “It’s on right now.”
“Mind if I turn on the television?”
“Feel free,” said Garnet.
Even she had no idea when Pearl would finally start saying “TV” instead of “television.”
Pearl settled back on the couch in a way that was as close to a flop as she ever got. Remote in one hand, coffee cup in the other, she cycled incessantly through the channels until she found the Empire City convention center all aglow with a performance in progress.
The TV was muted, but she leaned forward intently as the camera panned the crowd.
Then, she slowly raised the volume.
There was a turtle by the name of Bert
And Bert the Turtle was very alert
When danger threatened him, he never got hurt
He knew just what to do—
“He’d duck and cover,” Garnet said from the kitchen.
He’d duck and cover! He’d duck and cover!
Pearl slowly crumpled forward as if she couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
Only her nose poked out as she cupped her face with both hands.
“What is humanity’s fascination with being destroyed in an explosion?”
“Couldn’t tell you,” said Garnet. It sounded like she was making some food.
There was the thud of a knife against a cutting board: Chop-chop-chop-chop-chop.
Pearl turned down the television again and raised one finger slowly off the remote.
“Um,” she began.
“Three weeks,” said Garnet.
“I-I ... see.”
“That’s good. You don’t look too well,” Garnet added.
Without taking her eyes off the crowd, Pearl answered:
“I was just meditating. I must have fallen asleep ...”
Garnet said nothing.
“... and had a nightmare ...”
Garnet said more nothing.
“... for three weeks.”
“Mmm,” answered Garnet, which only made the ball of Pearl on the couch tighten up further.
The mercifully short adventures of Bert the Turtle and friends in the post-apocalyptic wasteland came to an end, giving Pearl the first sense of relief she’d had in longer than she knew. Commercials burbled to life: Used cars, news, weather. The same things over and over again.
If it was bad for Pearl, it must have been even worse for Garnet. Or so she suspected.
There were lots of things Garnet only shared in her own time. Pearl could relate to that.
Today’s forecast, 77 with an 80% chance of afternoon showers—
“Nope,” Garnet told the TV.
Beach City’s very own mayor, J.B. “Big Bill” Dewey, will attend a summit of world leaders in Reykjavik, Iceland—
“Sort of,” Garnet acknowledged.
Come to Sid’s Suits in lovely Ocean Town for the finest hand-tailored menswear in Delmarva—
“Half right,” Garnet concluded.
But Pearl was no longer listening.
There was something about the smiling face of Sid from Sid’s Suits in lovely Ocean Town that made her think about screaming. When she realized what it was, she shot a look over her shoulder at Garnet – but the fusion was studiously absorbed in her cuisine.
Chop-chop-chop-chop-chop went the knife.
“I ... I’ll be back. In ...” Pearl stopped to consider. “... a little while.”
As Pearl made for the door, Garnet said: “Don’t forget your hat.”
Pearl fetched a fedora off one of the many, many hat racks Rose had put up in the bungalow and crammed it down on her head until she was sure her gem was covered. She didn’t realize she was still holding the coffee until Garnet walked over to her.
“Take this,” said Garnet. “Leave this.”
Garnet exchanged the coffee for a brown paper bag. Inside: A mixed salad, a thermos with more coffee, some loose change, and a small note, folded and lovingly wrapped up with a ribbon bow.
“Thank you,” Pearl said, a bluish blush dusting her cheeks.
“Don’t mention it,” said Garnet.
An hour later, Pearl was on the first bus into Ocean Town.
The bus driver hummed along with that song the whole way—
By acting calm and cool, he proved he was a hero, too—
For finding safety is the bravest, wisest thing to do ...
***
That did happen, but it wasn’t exactly next.
It took ten minutes before Pearl realized her mistake and doubled back around to the Temple.
There was no good way to sneak up a beach, but she did it anyway, dropping back to cover her own footprints twice over as though it were vital to the mission. When she reached the entryway, she was thankful to find Garnet nowhere in sight.
And then back to her room—
Where she was consumed with gratitude that Garnet hadn’t laid out an outfit for her.
She slipped a blouse and skirt on over her regular attire while she planned her trip.
Yes: It was always best to pack for a few days, just in case. And yes, she would have done so, normally. But there was a ringing in her ears that wouldn’t stop, and even the simplest thoughts were long in coming. It felt like her gem couldn’t possibly hold one more thing.
She took out the briefcase she kept for just such an occasion—
Checked on the manila folder and its papers underneath—
And spent a few minutes in blessedly simple folding and packing.
Folding and packing.
Folding and packing.
Something simple and useful. Just the way it should be.
When it was done, she stared at the packed briefcase a minute longer.
“Pull yourself together, pearl,” she whispered, and out the door she went.
Other than the driver’s questionable taste, the trip to Ocean Town was uneventful. But she had needed exact change, and she made a note to herself to bring something nice back for Garnet.
Before Pearl knew it, she was standing outside the modest and unassuming Sid’s Suits.
Some chimes twinkled quietly as she entered.
The inside smelled of fresh flowers – roses, Pearl knew immediately. The shop was small, but it had been arranged with great care to use up every inch of the available space while still leaving room to navigate the racks. She could appreciate that.
Sid herself was busily engaged in the making of a new suit.
Snick-snick-snick went her shears. Now and then, she’d raise a hand to tighten the floral scarf that was carefully wrapped around her brow, keeping dark, shoulder-length hair from her eyes.
There wasn’t another soul in the store, but Sid showed no sign of tending to Pearl any time soon.
The pale Gem found herself circling the racks once, then twice before she made a decisive move:
She cleared her throat very delicately.
“Yes, dear heart, I see you. One more moment, if you please.”
Pearl hadn’t thought twice about human fashions since 18th century Vienna and could hardly tell what was going on – only that her host had tucked some knitting needles behind an ear and had the biggest, most impressive set of shears she’d ever laid eyes on.
They were excessively, almost ridiculously sharp, and had a certain blue-black cast to them.
Almost as rich and as deep as Sid’s complexion. Her smile was big and bright when she turned to Pearl at last. “Good morning!” said Sid, gliding several steps closer before she thought to put the shears down on the table (right beside the roses, Pearl noted.)
“Good morning, miss ...?”
“Sid. Just plain, simple Sid.”
“Sid, then.” The tailor nodded. “I’m here to purchase some clothing.”
“Wonderful!”
Pearl found her personal bubble – which at times was as wide as three city blocks – invaded by the tailor before she could even think twice. Instantly, they were eye to eye. A tape measure had somehow flicked into the woman’s hand.
“Is it for you?”
“N-no, I ... I’m just shopping for a friend.”
Sid glanced up from where she was already measuring Pearl’s inseam.
“Oh, I am sorry to hear that.”
Pearl leveled a suspicious look.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, it’s just that – this ...” Sid plucked gingerly at the bow at the neck of Pearl’s blouse. “This is all wrong for you. Very unflattering, I’m afraid.” Her thoughtful frown shifted again to that big, energetic smile. “How about a nice suit?”
“No, no thank you, I ...”
Against her every warrior instinct, Pearl found herself losing a step as Sid came closer.
“Come, now – it’ll match your hat!”
Pearl bobbed out of the way of the reaching hand—
Stretched back a little further than she anticipated—
And ended up nimbly vaulting over the table behind her.
“Well, I imagine that’s a no,” Sid said, blinking owlishly.
Grabbing her hat in both hands, Pearl spoke slowly and clearly:
“I’m very. Attached. To my headwear. And I think. That makes two of us. Doesn’t it ... Sid?”
Sid tilted her head ever so slightly to the side, regarding Pearl with a thoughtful expression.
“Hmm,” she said, walked over to the front door, and flipped the sign over to CLOSED.
After glancing at Pearl again, she drew the front curtains tight, too.
Then – moving slowly, almost sauntering, she returned to where she had been standing.
Pearl was leaning forward with her elbows on the table.
“Did you really think I wouldn’t recognize an obsidian among all these humans?”
Sid raised her eyebrows.
“Did you really think I wouldn’t recognize the fanciest pearl to ever grace my establishment?”
“You’ve seen other pearls? Here?”
A hint of Sid’s smile re-emerged – almost enough to expose the too-sharp canine teeth that had caught Pearl’s attention on the commercial. Her last memory of an obsidian, like so much of the War, was all too close to the surface. The way they could follow for weeks ...
The way they could burst out of the shadows—
So fast, she almost couldn’t get to Rose in time.
This obsidian’s grating voice shook her out of it:
“Are you blushing? I’ve never heard of that from a terrifying renegade before.”
Pearl bit down on her lower lip, but couldn’t keep the color from her cheeks.
“You’re making fun of me, and I don’t appreciate it,” she said in a low voice.
Obsidian let out a little sigh and straightened up. Pearl realized that she had been subtly hunched over all along: This was the first time she could gauge the other Gem’s full height, nearly as tall as Garnet even without the benefit of fusion.
“On the contrary, my dear ...”
Sid caught her eye and executed a slow, courtly bow. One arm gallantly tucked, nose nearly to the floor. It was the kind of thing Pearl had only ever seen in the mirror, and she felt her breath catch in her throat despite herself. The moment stretched on and on.
“I promise to give you all the respect you deserve.”
And she remained just like that—
Until Pearl felt obligated to say: “Th-thank you.”
As Sid finally raised her downcast eyes, the smile reappeared. More subdued this time.
“Now!” And she bounced to her feet. “With that out of the way, I suppose you’ll be telling me what it is you really want. Hmm?”
“I need the help of someone like you. And since you seem to be the only one left like you, you’ll just have to do.” Before Sid could object, Pearl went on: “But first, I need to know conclusively whether you’re still gathering intelligence for the Diamonds.”
“I’d say that depends,” Sid answered, slipping a thoughtful hand onto her chin.
“On what?”
“On whether you’re still plotting to shatter them.”
The words had hardly reached Pearl’s ears when she clapped her hands over her mouth with a resounding slap.
“Oh, don’t look so—” Sid started to say, but then stopped short. She raised an uncertain eyebrow ... which became, in time, a prompting motion of the head. But Pearl was silent, her fingers grabbing as if she could strangle her own mouth.
Sid took another deep breath.
Moving very deliberately – never stepping behind anything, or going anywhere Pearl couldn’t see her – she made her way to the sink at the back of the shop. She retrieved a glass from the cabinet, raised it high overhead for five seconds, then filled it with tap water.
Returning to her side of the table, she placed it there with a clink.
Pearl nodded vigorously, closing tearful eyes against a sudden spasm of panic.
With wooden movements, fighting every inch of the way, she seized on the glass.
Poured it in her mouth—
And was relieved when her throat slowly relaxed until she could drink half of it down.
Sid waited until she’d caught her breath before asking: “Better?”
“I’m never going to get used to the taste of this water,” Pearl said, fighting a cough.
“In Ocean Town?”
“No,” Pearl said, gazing frankly at her. “On Earth.”
“To answer your question,” said Sid, “I assure you, if I were here on Earth as an official listener, I doubt my comprehensive insight in men’s haberdashery would be of much interest to Their Most Luminous Majesties. Now ...” She paused to look up at the ceiling, stretching her neck. “I believe you have a story to tell. And if I’m mistaken, I’d like to get back to my customers.”
Pearl raised a finger to say one moment while she emptied the glass.
And then:
“There’s some type of Diamond Authority facility south of the Tunguska Sea. In the place humans call Russia. And it’s still active.”
“What would possibly lead you to such a conclusion?”
“The look on your face, mostly,” said Pearl.
“I beg your par—”
“Don’t tumble my rocks, Sid,” Pearl told her. “I’ve done my research.”
Sid folded her arms. “Let’s see it, then.”
Now it was Pearl’s turn to sigh. Walking up to the windows, she quickly peeked through the curtains. When she was sure as she could be that no one else was around, she snatched the fedora off her head and reached into her gem, producing her briefcase in a flash of light.
From there, the folder, which she handed over to Sid.
“You’ll find it all in there. With citations.”
Sid began to peruse the papers silently.
“It might be news to you, but the Crystal Gems take protecting this planet very seriously. We’ve been involved in ... neutralizing ... corrupted Gems for thousands of years. You’ll see the most recent sightings listed on page thirteen. The map is figure three in the addenda.”
“Hmmm,” went Sid, carefully neutral.
“All of these locations correspond to the known postings of Diamond Authority troops or ...” She paused. “Crystal Gem forces at the time of the ... the counterattack. Very few corrupt gems have a significant travel range, but the dispersal patterns have certain clear tendencies—”
“Truly fascinating, professor. I look forward to your monograph. What’s your point?”
“My point is that sightings within fifty to two hundred miles of the Tunguska Sea don’t map to any known posting on either side of the war. Plus, these corruptions started to appear much later than the others, suggesting an unidentified new source.”
Sid slapped the folder closed. Pearl cringed.
“This is really very imp—”
“I hope you put those back in the right order?”
“Oh, yes, of course,” said Sid, opening the folder to sort it out. “Really very impressive, but how could you have gathered all this data? There are no Warp Pads anywhere near these locations, and to my understanding, the humans there don’t tend to get along with the humans here.”
Pearl shook her head dismissively.
“I have a library card, Obsidian.”
“I see ...”
“It took some work,” she added.
“Nothing that you can’t handle, I’m sure. But it does raise a question.”
“What’s that?”
“If you and your friends are so keen on saving the Earth, why are you here alone?”
“What are you implying?” Pearl asked, but she knew the answer before the words were even out of her mouth. “Rose Quartz is much too important to waste her time on something like this.”
“It seems to me that if you really thought you were right—” Sid took one look at Pearl’s face and started over. “It would be prudent, wouldn’t it, to have reinforcements. In case it’s dangerous.”
“If it is dangerous, that’s all the more reason I should do it for her.”
“Don’t you care if you get shattered?”
Pearl said nothing. Her look said it all.
“And if I get shattered—”
“That’s a risk I’m willing to take,” Pearl said with great satisfaction.
“How touching,” said Sid. That only made the pearl’s dangerous little smirk wider.
It was the kind of thing Sid had only ever seen in the mirror.
She went on:
“Your friends send you off on suicide missions alone quite often, I take it?”
“Nobody sends me anywhere, Obsidian. The rest is none of your business.”
“I may have to make it my business, considering ...” Emerging at last from behind the table, Obsidian started to circle like a hungry shark. Pivoting up en pointe, Pearl never lost eye contact. “If I’m not mistaken, you have a keen interest in my expertise on this subject.”
“So you admit—”
Sid raised a finger. With the other hand, she handed the folder back to Pearl.
“Supposing there was such a facility, potentially capable of creating said corrupted Gems.” She stopped a moment to count off digits in the air in time with her words. “What could it possibly be? The Delta Kindergarten? The Theta Kindergarten? A pile of garbage, if ever there was one.”
Pearl said nothing.
“So: Why would the inimitable Rose Quartz and her—” Sid looked Pearl up and down. “Very fancy pearl be interested in a place like that?”
“We want to destroy it, of course!”
“Destroy it? Why? It’s of no use to anyone.”
“I intend to keep it that way.”
Sid leaned back languidly against the table – for the first time, facing Pearl straight on with nothing between them. “If there was such a place, it’s likely to be in the vicinity of Lake Kiva,” she said. “I believe you’ll find that on your topographical map on page nineteen.”
“You. Don’t. Say,” Pearl answered quietly—
She wasn’t about to give Obsidian the satisfaction of looking down at her notes.
“As you've no doubt surmised, ground was broken late and work left incomplete. Even so, the facility is probably sealed and surrounded by some very persuasive defense systems. It would take someone with detailed knowledge of classified installations to even get inside, let alone find a way to disable the equipment. Where do you suppose you would find such a—”
“And here I thought you were eager to get back to your customers.”
Obsidian raised her hands to concede the point, her smile making a tentative reappearance.
“You know, there are actually still humans living around Lake Kiva. Not many, but some. They are a rather persistent bunch, aren’t they? I always thought we could learn a thing or two—”
“I’d prefer not to talk about humans, thank you,” Pearl said icily.
“Very well. Then let’s talk about your proposal instead.”
Obsidian stepped across the distance between them in a single stride, bringing them eye to eye.
“If I had to venture a guess, I would say ... you won't like what's going on at Lake Kiva, you won't like what you find in the unfinished kindergarten, and more than anything else, you won't like it when you fail. So, why don’t you go on home to your precious Rose ...”
She leaned over and grabbed the rose bouquet from the table, presenting it to Pearl.
“... with my compliments?”
Obsidian’s smile was bigger and bolder than ever—
In five thousand years on Earth, Pearl had never seen a face she wanted to punch more.
Instead, she took the flowers, inhaled their scent, and gently returned them to the vase.
“I’m going to this Lake Kiva one way or the other. And you’re coming with me.”
“Or else what?” said Obsidian.
“Simple: I’ll tell these humans all about you.”
“What are you going to tell them – sneeple control the government at the highest levels?”
“You are a dashing one, but you’re nearly not as human-looking as you think you are.”
“You think I’m dashing?”
But Pearl paid no attention:
“—And humans aren’t very friendly when they’re scared of things they don’t understand.”
Sid let out a long sigh, the fight seeming to drain from her.
“Neither are pearls, apparently,” she mused.
“What was that?”
“Nothing!” Sid yelped. “Nevermind, nevermind.”
But Pearl continued:
“If the humans here knew what you are, it might just inconvenience you. Set up a new store somewhere else and forget all about Ocean Town. Right? But you never know what they’re really capable of until there’s a crowd of them. And if I have to, I will bring you a crowd of them. Much bigger than you’ve ever gotten with your little television commercial.”
“There’s no need to talk dirty to me, my dear pearl. I’m on your side here.”
Pearl let out a snort.
“Have it your way,” Sid said levelly. “I guess you leave me no choice.”
Sid raised her eyes heavenward in a drawn-out, exasperated gesture.
“So, it’s settled,” purred a self-satisfied Pearl.
“Settled,” Obsidian agreed with a firm nod. “Of course, there is the little matter of payment for my valuable time—” At Pearl’s quiet growl, she started anew, tone always light: “I’m sure the pleasure of your company will prove to be payment enough.”
“We leave this time tomorrow,” Pearl said. She turned toward the door—
And, instantly, Obsidian was standing there before her, blocking the way.
“Now, now, don’t be in such a rush. Tell me: What do you call yourself?”
“It’s Pearl,” she seethed. “Just Pearl.”
“Just plain, simple Pearl,” Sid echoed. Pearl took another step and Sid tracked along. “Seems like a grievous oversight for such a discerning Gem as yourself.”
Pearl whirled on her, briefcase half-raised like a shield.
“What do you mean?” she asked warily.
“Just that most people on this Earth you seem to care about so much have names, that’s all.”
“Don’t be silly,” Pearl said with a dismissive wave. “Personal names are – they’re frivolous.”
“On the contrary,” Sid shot back. “Individuals have names, and I don’t think I’ve ever met a pearl quite like you before.”
“You can keep the sales pitch for your customers, Sid. I’m not buying.”
Sid stepped out of the way, but Pearl caught a glimpse of what she was doing in the corner of her eye and couldn’t help but turn around. The other Gem had her hands held up in the shape of a picture frame and was gazing thoughtfully through at Pearl herself.
“It would have to be something distinguished.”
As Pearl made her way to the door, Sid bobbed from one side of her to the other.
“I’ve got it! Victoria!”
Her hand on the door handle, Pearl turned to shoot a glare Sid’s way.
“Now I understand. You’ve gone native – that’s what’s wrong with you.”
“Most cheerfully, my dear! You should try it.”
“This. Time. Tomorrow,” said Pearl. “Please be here. Don’t make me hunt you down.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” said Obsidian, standing against the door to hold it open—
When Pearl reached the corner and looked back, the tailor was still there.
Waving cheerfully at her.
Pearl replaced her hat and went around the block a few times. When morning gave way to noon, she checked on the shop; and as evening fell, she checked again. But Obsidian never budged; even when she chanced a look through the curtain, the other Gem was engrossed in work.
Not a single human entered or left Sid’s Suits.
Around eight o’clock, Pearl departed for the day—
Sid had turned the radio up loud and was singing along.
Uranium fever has done and got me down
Uranium fever, it’s spreadin’ all around
With a Geiger counter in my hand
I’m a-goin’ out to stake me some Government land ...