Work Text:
Alone on the Earth, a single island rests among endless blue waves. It’s unimpressive, flat, with little variety in plant life. Not the kind of place humans could live, what would they eat? Yet civilized people live here, and have been for millenia: these are the lustrous, a small tribe of crystals who must make do.
Resources and Labor
Red Beryl, one thousand seven hundred and twelve years old. With a sewing needle and a spool of linen, they patch a tear in another lustrous’s skirt. Red Beryl is in charge of such things as the creation and maintenance of clothing - it’s something they’ve done for several hundred years. However, the spool Beryl has used for many seasons is on its last layer of thread. Once the skirt is properly repaired, the leader lustrous are informed of the shortage.
Each day, pairs of lustrous roam the island wielding swords of obsidian. Although the lustrous are the sole occupants of their island, they struggle against outside forces and must remain wary at all times. The roaming pairs are tasked with acquiring resources needed for sewing and other industry.
Neptunite, six hundred and eighty-one years old. They grasp a flax stalk at its base, and with firm and even pressure they pull, uprooting it entirely. Crackling, the pod containing the plants’ seeds breaks open, and Neptunite scatters the seeds to the wind. The uprooted plant is then placed in a wooden bowl, continuing the geometric pattern of its relatives.
Benitoite, six hundred and ninety-nine years old, stands beside the gatherer Neptunite and keeps vigil. Flickering sunset through branches of a far-off oak catches their eye. “It’s time to head back,” Benitoite says. The gatherer lustrous rises and the pair returns to their home, a hollowed quartz pluton in the center of the island.
Flax is piled in rows along the back of the pluton. There, it dries so that it may be workable in a few month’s time. It grows thin and browned, and once a batch is ready to be processed it’s brought inside to a storage chamber designed for production.
Phosphophyllite, one hundred and thirty years old, scoops a tuft of dusty flax from the bale and places it in the wooden breaking device. With their free hand, they grab the device’s lever and bring it up and down upon the tuft, crushing the woody interior of the stalks so that only the fibers remain. It’s a strenuous and repetitive job, which irritates Phosphophyllite. Once the tuft has been broken completely into wavy fibers, they must spend an equally long amount of time combing out any debris, and separating the long strands from the short.
At this point the fibers have the texture of worn hair. Then, a lustrous with centuries of experience breaking and combing performs the more delicate final steps.
Bortz, nine hundred and two years old, lays a pad of flaxen hairs evenly and parallel on a special table. Built into the table is a set of ridged gears, which can be cranked to compress the matted hair, resulting in much silkier fibers after a few repetitions. Bortz is always impressed with the device’s efficiency. Then Bortz brings a bowl of water inside, steamy from sitting in the summer sun, and runs the smooth fibers through it before they’re spun onto a spool. Tomorrow, once they are dry, Bortz will unwind the linen and dye it black.
Three weeks after their request, Red Beryl is satisfied to see a fresh spool of fine black thread ready in their workshop.
Such is the web of duty in the lustrous society: workers, gatherers, craftsgems and leaders. As the island’s population shrinks or grows, these roles are managed accordingly. The transition from worker to gatherer, and from gatherer to specialized roles are comings of age for lustrous. Early on, lustrous are taught to work because carpentry, textiles, glue, masonry, and other industry all take exceptional amounts of labor. Once a young gem demonstrates maturity in their work and fighting technique, they graduate to assigned patrols outside the safety of home. Patrolling and gathering (the core duties of outdoor work) are less strenuous and are often preferred by lustrous, even though patrolling is most dangerous, but all gems must still partake in some labor. Distinguished gems who have become wise and served time in the fields eventually earn the honor of pursuing more specialized jobs they see fit.
Currently there are three young lustrous, twelve patrol gems, and twelve gems in other occupations.
Patterns in the Relationships of the Lustrous
Phosphophyllite watches Peridot pour pulp into rectangular sheet molds. How dull. Young Phosphophyllite respects Peridot as they should, for Peridot is wise and experienced, but they can’t understand why someone so capable would live for something so menial.
“And then we let it dry indoors for two days. Can you help me pour the next sheets?” Peridot says.
What was the point? Peridot can do it much better themselves. They’ll never need Phos’s help, nor does the older gem care for company.
Lustrous tend to form their most significant connections early on. This is due to the partnership system that governs outdoor work; lustrous who patrol in pairs often stay with the same partner until one of them is broken, besides their initial training period with elders. Usually young lustrous are partnered with each other, but in the case when a lone youngster is ready for action, they may pair with an unoccupied older gem.
Heliodor, three hundred years old, traces the shape western patrol route they’ve memorized onto the bench beside them. After sharpening a dozen swords, Heliodor has time to watch Zircon, one hundred and eighty-four years old, spar with Elder Yellow using one of those blades. Zircon is a silly and laid-back gem, so their improvement is slow, but Heliodor can’t wait for the day they begin patrolling together.
The outdoor lustrous meet every morning and evening. In the mornings the leaders assign patrol routes and announce work-relevant details such as weather conditions or materials to gather. In the evenings the patrol teams return, report any occurrences, and receive medical attention if need be. These meetings, although short, create a community within the patrol gems as they stand beside and show concern for each other.
Ten lustrous in uniform gather around a map of the land. Jade, one thousand three hundred and twelve years old, a leader, stands across from the rest.
“Good morning,” Jade begins, “it seems we’re all accounted for. Is your hand better, Benito?”
“Just like new,” the blue gem assents, demonstrating its capability.
“Glad to hear that. Today we’ll be gathering resin to prepare for winter, so three teams have been assigned to the Northern Forest. The lunarians are most likely to appear on the eastern coast, so Diamond and Bortz will be stationed there, and Morganite and Goshenite will take the Keen Wetlands to the west.”
The moment a lustrous’ partner is broken is the divide between the first and second halves of the surviving gem’s life. A period of mourning follows, where work is excused if desired. At this point, some veteran lustrous choose to retire from outdoor work, while others take solace in a new partnership. This is how most lustrous move into the distinguished positions of the crafts and leadership - a gem with both time in the field and strength to overcome loss is well-respected. There is a sense of community between the older lustrous; shared experience of the past and empathy of losing one’s dearest friend.
“Wakey wakey, Lexi.” Yellow Diamond, three thousand four hundred and twenty-seven years old, leans against a stack of papers in the scholar’s room. The two of them had never been the closest, but who else can relive two thousand years with you?
Alexandrite, two thousand five hundred and twenty years old, rolls onto their back. Sunlight stirs their eyelids awake. “...Morning already?” they say.
“Just checking up,” Yellow Diamond smiles.
While the deepest connections between lustrous are formed through occupation, there is still time for them to bond besides work: nightly games, group outings, mid-day downtime. Some lustrous use it for play, while others use it to relax. Light socializing is important for the lustrous tribe.
Amethyst thirty-three, one thousand four hundred and eighty-five years old, fans out their cards facedown for Zircon. “Will you choose the right one?” they jibe.
After long deliberation, Zircon snags one slightly left from the center. “I haven’t walked under any ladders recently, let’s see if the luck pays off.”
Relationships between lustrous can also be drawn from factors such as similar hardness or personality, but are much less definitive than occupation and age.
Conclusions
A well-functioning society, considering the shit the earth went through. Who’d have thought that humanity would carry on?