Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Skinny ran through the jungle as fast as she could, her legs straining. The last ships off Earth were due to leave any minute, and she had reserved a spot on one. Unfortunately, the warp pad and the launch platform the ship was docked at were quite far apart.

“211B…319L…873C… There it is!”

She jumped onto the ship’s boarding ramp as it began to retract.

“Stop the ramp!” the Amethyst guard on duty shouted over her shoulder, “Identification?”

Skinny sighed with relief, making a quick Diamond symbol and reciting her identification number.

“Facet-9, Cut-3XH,” she said as she looked around anxiously.

The Amethyst checked the ship’s manifest and looked up.

“So you’re a Beta, aren’t ya?”

“Yes! Yes!” Skinny said hurriedly, “I booked a spot on this ship earlier!”

“I’m sorry, there must have been a mistake,” the Amethyst said, lying through her teeth, “Now go back to the hole you crawled out of. Ramp!”

With the touch of a hand, the entry door swiftly slammed shut and the boarding ramp began to retract again.

“Nononononononononononononononononononononono!” Skinny frantically pleaded before falling to the ground.

To her surprise, the door opened again, but her brief smile left when the guard through a small red Gem back at her.

“And take your Carnelian friend with ya!”

Carnelian landed on top of Skinny, her body collapsing to the ground.

“Get off me!” she barked, throwing Carnelian off of her.

“Hey, it’s not my fault! A dumb Quartz ratted me out! No offense...”

Skinny got back on her feet.

“We gotta get out of here.”

“There’s always the galaxy warp!” Carnelian said before taking off. Skinny ran after her.

“I don’t do good in warp streams,” she hollered as she chased Carnelian, “And that place is gonna be chaos! Are you sure there aren’t any no-shows on these ships?”

“I checked. Aside from a Nephrite ship waiting for their Captain, they’re all filled up!”

They made it back to the warp pad in what seemed to be record time.

Skinny forced herself on. She didn’t know why she hated warp streams, but she just couldn’t stand them. The blue light, the fast motion, the usually crowded space… It always made her feel pain deep within her core. That’s why she always took the dropship assignments during the fight against the Rebellion.

This time she was able to hold on just long enough to make it to the Galaxy Warp. When they got there, Gems were rushing left and right to get to onto an off-planet warp.

Skinny and Carnelian ran for an opening, leaping onto the pad at the last second.

It was a pad full of Amethysts.

Skinny grimaced. “This is gonna be a long day,” she thought.

Chapter Text

When they arrived on Homeworld, Gems were scattered all over the Warp Complex. A Peridot was speaking over the intercom.

“...Facet-5 Cuts 1-4X to White Diamond...Facet-5 Cuts 5-9X to Blue Diamond…this can’t be right…Fine, if you say so...Facet-9 Cuts 1-9X, also to Blue Diamond.”

“That’s us!” Carnelian said as she grabbed Skinny and ran to the designated Blue Diamond area.

Over a hundred Gems were gathered. Skinny thought she recognized some Jaspers from Beta in the bunch. An Agate was on a platform in front of them.

“7X!” she shouted, “You’re going to be stationed at the weapons depot on Bronze System Planet 4B.”

About a dozen of them broke away from the crowd, heading for a warp pad.

They looked disappointed, Skinny thought.

“8X! You’re going to be stationed at the Human Observation Outpost in Sector 93Z.”

The same Amethysts they arrived with began to make their way to the nearest hangar bay.

“Next… Oh they’ve got to be joking…” the Agate murmured.

“Facet-9, Cuts 1-3X?”

Some of the Beta Gems in the crowd looked up at the Agate.

“You’re also going to the outpost in Sector 93Z,” she said quickly before continuing.

Carnelian and Skinny looked at each other before going off to join the other Betas that got stationed there.

“A Human what?” Skinny asked.

“I remember someone calling it a ‘Zoo.’ Used to belong to Pink Diamond.”

“It did?”

As they walked out of the Warp Complex, Skinny looked up and saw some Quartzes taking down a mural of Pink Diamond. She wasn’t around that long while Pink Diamond was intact, but she did know instinctively to take pride in the pink symbol on her uniform.

When it happened, it seemed like all the Earth itself stood still. They all wanted to push forward in her memory, but the remaining Diamonds apparently decided that the Earth was too far gone without its leader.

Lost in thought, Skinny bumped into an Amethyst with a ringlet in her hair.

“Oh I’m sorry!”

The Amethyst turned around. But instead of a look of anger, they were surprised to see a curious smile.

“Hey, Betas! I saw some of you at the Battle for the Ziggurat.”

Skinny and Carnelian nervously stood in silence. An Amethyst behind them interrupted the silence.

“Yo traitor! Keep the line moving!”

The Ringlet Amethyst began walking and the two Betas followed.

“What was that all about?” Carnelian asked.

“I joined the Rebellion for a short while during the war,” the Amethyst explained in a low whisper, “I changed back just before Pink Diamond was shattered.”

She sighed, “Nobody will ever let me forget it.”

“I’m 8XJ, by the way.”

“1XG,” Carnelian said.

“Well it looks like you’re the only Carnelian here, so I’ll just call you that.”

Carnelian looked at her, confused.

“Whoops, must be a little bit of rebel left in me,” 8XJ chuckled, “They used nicknames, not identification numbers. It’s stupid, I know. Never had one myself.”

Skinny spoke up. “I- I’m 3XH!”

An Amethyst in another line called out to them.

“Hey, look at Skinny over there! Go back to Beta!”

“What’s the point of this line anyway?” Skinny asked, trying to distract herself.

“Uniform replacement.”

“You mean they’re gonna-?”

“It’s a new process, I think. Supposed to be painless.”

Before they knew it, the three found themselves at a large metallic chamber. A Peridot stood next to it, looking at a computer holo-screen.

“Three at a time.”

They stepped in, the door shut, and a flood of yellow energy and noise eroded away at their forms.

“This is supposed to be painless,” Skinny thought as she spasmed in agony.

“Painless, my butt.”

Chapter Text

When Skinny reformed, she found herself on a troop transport ship, surrounded by the two-dozen or so others that were also being sent to the Human Zoo, as it was informally called. Their uniforms, along with Skinny’s, were changed from Pink to Blue. Carnelian was standing across from her.

“Took ya long enough,” Carnelian said with a smirk.

“Where are we?” Skinny asked her.

“Almost at our destination,” 8XJ replied, standing behind her.

Skinny turned around and saw a pink space station approaching them outside the window.

When the ship docked in the hangar bay, the ship’s entry door shot open, letting harsh, white-pink light in.

A large figure stepped out of the light. Her shrill, annoyed voice bellowed in their ears.

“Alright you Earthlings! I want you lined up and standing straight RIGHT NOW!”

All the Gems on the ship poured out into the hangar, lining up in rows in front of the blue Agate.

“I am Holly Blue Agate, and as of now, I own all of you! You are only here because my Diamond, who is now your Diamond too, for reasons that UTTERLY ESCAPE ME, decided to keep you worthless heaps of rock around and not have you SHATTERED for your incompetence! And I’M only here because I’m due to be promoted to a PROPER Quartz squadron soon, and I figured I might as well volunteer to temporarily oversee this BLASTED outfit! You’ll find your position schedules in the Cubby Room. NOW GET TO IT!”

The Quartzes looked at her in stunned silence.

“ARE DEAF OR ARE YOU JUST DENSE?!” Holly Blue bellowed.

She pulled an electric whip out from the back of her head.

“MOVE IT!” she ordered, cracking the whip.

“Yes, Holly Blue Agate!” the crowd recited in unison before scattered towards the door.

“Oh Stars,” 8XL, another Amethyst, began, “I’ve served under some ruthless Agates in my time, but this one…”

“She’s all talk,” 8XJ interjected as they walked into the Cubby Room, “Like she said, she’ll be outta here in a few weeks, tops.”

Another Amethyst, a reddish one with a chipped tooth (who 8XJ subconsciously nicknamed “Chip”), called out, “Hey look! It’s 8XJ the Rebel Clod!”

8XJ turned and looked at her in the eyes.

“I AM NOT A REBEL!”

Skinny and Carnelian were trying their best to stay out of this. Well, Skinny was. Carnelian was straight-up entertained.

“Well ain’t it just a nifty coincidence that you changed sides RIGHT BEFORE PINK DIAMOND-”

Fed up with all this, 8XJ spin-dashed right into Chip, smacking her into a wall.

The Amethysts and Jaspers crowded around to watch the fight, some of them cheering.

“Lemme see!” Carnelian shouted as she tried to jump above the taller Quartzes.

She then climbed up the cubbies to get a better view.

“Woo! Go 8XJ!” she called out.

This distracted 8XJ just long enough for Chip to punch her in the jaw, right as Holly Blue entered the room.

“I thought I was put in charge of QUARTZ SOLDIERS NOT MISSHAPEN RUBIES!” she screamed, “All of you! Five hundred hours janitorial duty each!”

She pointed at 8XJ and Chip. “You two first! NOW GET TO YOUR STATIONS!”

8XJ and Chip looked at each other. 8XJ was a little embarrassed. Chip was a bit grumpy.

Carnelian was laughing her butt off at this turn of events.

Chapter Text

Chip and 8XJ reported swiftly to the janitorial supply closet. Usually this was work for other, less brute-ish Gems that were specifically designed for it, but they had their orders.

They both begrudgingly picked up a laser-scrubber and began ridding the floors and walls of grime.

Skinny came running through, frantically looking for her station.

Chip stuck her leg out, tripping the malformed Jasper. Skinny quickly got back up and ran away.

“Hey!” 8XJ said, “Don’t do that!”

“Why? Is it something Rose Quartz taught you? Is that why you styled a piece of your hair after hers?”

“I don’t have to take this. You’re not worth arguing with,” 8XJ said, “But I’ll tell ya if you’re so curious. I didn’t get my decency towards Betas from Rose Quartz. Shocking, I know. I got it from me. I saw Betas in battle, firsthand. They can handle themselves just as well as us Primes, and you know it.”

Chip grumbled.

“And yeah, I liked Rose Quartz’s hair, so I made some of my own match it. And that’s it.”

8XJ went back to scrubbing. Chip stood there, thinking.

She just happened to choose the worst possible time to not work, because Holly Blue came walking around the corner, making her rounds.

“You weren’t made to stand around like a common Pearl! Make that floor shine!”

“Yes, yes of course...” Chip quietly said.

“Speak up when you’re talking to me!”

“Yes Holly Blue Agate!” she said as she quickly got on her knees, cleaning with the wrong end of the laser-scrubber.

As Holly walked off, Chip could do nothing but think.

“You weren’t made to think,” Holly would probably say.

But she still thought, nevertheless.

Meanwhile, Skinny ran through the halls as fast as she did when she was trying to reach her ship.

In both cases, she was late.

She burst into the control room, her breath heaving.

“Is… Is this the Human Containment Control Room?”

A Pinkish Amethyst turned around in her seat.

“Yeah- Whoa...oh...welcome?”

Skinny sighed as she figured her luck with nice Amethysts had run out.

“According to the roster I’m stationed here today. Do you know what we’re even supposed to do here?”

“Observe the Humans, and keep their routine on schedule… It’s pretty boring, actually.”

“Wait, how do you know-?”

“Us pink Amethysts were stationed here since the beginning of the war on Earth, after the Rose Quartzes were decommissioned.”

“Right…”

Skinny had never considered the possibility that there were once many Rose Quartzes. She only knew there being one, a “traitor” and a “menace.”

Skinny thought about what 8XJ had said about nicknames. It was weird, but then she remembered: “Facet-9.” Her physique may have shouted “BETA” on sight, but her identification number basically confirmed it. She was sick and tired of being associated with that dumb Kindergarten. Then she thought of the name that Amethyst called her back in the Uniform Replacement Bay. In hindsight, it sounded kinda good.

“They call me Skinny, by the way.”

“Okay…” the Amethyst said, sounding a little confused but nonetheless accepting.

Skinny looked through what she presumed was some sort of one-way glass.

She saw humans in a tropical, Earth-like environment. They seemed happy.

Maybe she could be happy, too.

Chapter Text

Carnelian had always been good at hiding.

During the war, she had “missed out” on many battles because she had found a good hiding place and it was the only place she had the time and freedom to really think about things.

Nobody made the effort to look for her because, while Homeworld needed every bit of Gem-power they could muster, the attitude towards Betas by the individual soldiers at the time was basically, “Oh well, I guess we have to fight alongside these guys.”

Now it was, “Ugh, do we really have to be stuck with them now?”

And it was getting harder and harder for her to hide.

First, she was found out by a Quartz soldier on one of the Colonization Ships, and begged her to not tell the guards. The soldier grabbed Carnelian by her uniform and tossed her into an Amethyst’s hands, and a few moments later she found herself face-planted on top of Skinny in the jungle mud.

While they were warping back to Homeworld, she considered hiding, but since all she knew during her life was Earth and random transport vessels, she figured she could wait until she was either at her next assignment or enroute to her next assignment. She would have a better chance at hiding there than at the Homeworld Warp Complex, she figured.

She tried to hide on the transport ship once she reformed, but the place was so crowded she couldn’t find any secluded spots.

Now, she was trying to hide in the Zoo. There wouldn’t be anymore Humans arriving at the Zoo anytime soon, she figured, so the Assimilation Bay would make a good spot.

Carnelian pried open the small pink doors and crawled in.

She didn’t try to sleep (she didn’t even know sleeping was even possible). Instead, she just...sat there. She sat there, staring at the darkened pink walls, thinking about things.

“Why was I made?” she asked herself silently.

“Well, to fight the Crystal Gems of course!” she subconscious replied back.

“But were we fighting them?”

“Because they shattered Pink Diamond!”

“But what about before that?”

“Because we were told to.”

“And why did we listen?”

“Because we had to.”

She looked down at her stubby little body.

"Why did I have to be short?" she asked out loud. This time her subconscious didn't have an answer.

It wasn’t until an Amethyst with purple irises, who Carnelian later nicknamed “Iris,” came along on janitorial duty that she was found.

“What in the Stars are you doing here?!” Iris demanded, although her voice was sorely lacking in intimidation.

Carnelian was startled by the suddenness of it all and ran farther into the Assimilation Bay.

“Wait, no! Come back!” Iris called out.

Iris got on her knees and awkwardly scurried through the chamber.

The automatic systems began to turn on. Iris batted away the soon-to-be-archaic probing systems as she chased Carnelian through the tube.

Finally, they caught up to each other right before the Clothing Dispenser and Liquid Cleansing section, with Iris pulling Carnelian back away at the last second before the walls came down.

"Stars, you're fast!" she said, trying to catch her breath.

"Let's get out of here."

As they slowly began walking back, Iris asked, “Why did you run?”

“Cause you scared me...”

“I did?!” she said with a tinge of excitement in her voice, “What was the scariest part?”

“Well your voice certainly wasn’t it.”

“What’s wrong with my voice?!”

“You sound ridiculous! I’ve heard Quartzes with far more intimidating voices than yours. Ya gotta deepen it, and make it sound more gravelly. That’ll frighten intruders!”

Carnelian chuckled as she realized exactly whose voice she was describing, and that Iris was probably going to severely botch it.

“Like this?” she asked in her best “intimidation voice” as they stepped out of the Assimilation Bay.

“Right...Sure.”

Carnelian stopped for a second before walking off.

“Say, do you know where the…” She paused as she tried to remember where she was originally supposed to be stationed. “...Where the communications room is?”

“In the central structure, top level, I think.”

“Thanks.”

Carnelian decided that she would try NOT hiding, for once.

Chapter Text

8XL ran through the halls, frantically looking for Holly Blue Agate.

“Holly Blue Agate! Holly Blue Agate!”

She was stationed at the communications room that day, and had just received an urgent message: Blue Diamond was coming to the outpost.

When she finally found Holly, she got an expected response.

“NO RUNNING OR SHOUTING!”

“My apologies-”

“Get to the point!”

“Blue Diamond is coming!”

Holly Blue gasped in surprise and joy.

“She is?! Return to your post at once!”

Holly ran off to prep for her Diamond’s arrival.

“Attention!” she said into the intercom, “My Diamond, yes BLUE DIAMOND, is on her way here at this very moment! I want everything in perfect order!”

This was the first time Blue Diamond was visiting the station since Pink Diamond’s shattering, and it was about the time Holly Blue was due for her reassignment.

After her ship entered orbit around the station, Blue Diamond’s palanquin entered the Hangar Bay. Holly Blue smiled with amazement as Blue Diamond stepped out, her Pearl trailing behind.

“My Diamond, welcome to the Human Zoo!”

“How is the Zoo?” Blue Diamond asked, hiding underneath her cloak.

“Oh things are running quite smoothly.”

“I will be in Pink’s room.” Blue Diamond announced quietly before swiftly marching through the Diamond-sized access doors. Holly Blue followed behind her, silent.

Blue Diamond’s Pearl opened the door and the two walked in. Holly Blue waited outside. She thought she heard crying, but she dismissed it. “Diamonds are much stronger willed than that,” she thought.

After a short while, the door opened, and Blue Diamond spoke.

“Holly Blue Agate… You may enter.”

“Yes my Diamond!”

Holly Blue quickly walked in, where she saw Her Diamond standing in front of where Pink Diamond used to sit. The entire room was filled with bubbled Rose Quartzes.

“This place...was one of Pink Diamond’s most treasured achievements. She wanted the humans here to be preserved long into the future… And I want it to continue on in her legacy.”

Blue Diamond turned around and looked down at Holly.

“As you no doubt know, I have entrusted you, Agate, with that task...but I will also personally oversee your progress myself. A new era may have begun, but Pink Diamond’s memory must be properly honored.”

“Yes, yes of course my Diamond!”

“That will be all.” Blue Diamond lightly clapped her hands twice before turned back around.

“Tell my ship to prepare for departure,” she said as Holly walked out in silence.

“Yes, my Diamond,” Holly said with a slight twitch of her mouth.

The door shut, and Holly Blue just stood there, her mind both blank and racing at the same time.

To be personally overseen by Blue Diamond was an honor, to continue the work of another Diamond doubly so, but...this was not what she was made for.

She was destined for greatness, not being in charge of a bunch of incompetent defects.

Blue Diamond was so much more generous and giving than herself, she thought, to take in these ungrateful Quartzes when any other Gem would’ve had them harvested...or worse.

But they still weren’t what she truly deserved in life.

Something must have gone wrong, she thought.

There was no way Blue Diamond could have forgotten about the proud future that usually awaited all Agates, she told herself.

Holly Blue Agate would get what she deserved, she decided.

She would make these Quartzes into nothing less than the pinnacle of Gem perfection.

She had been trying to do that before out of sheer habit, but now her resolve had been solidified.

No matter how long it took, no matter how much they suffered...

Maybe then she would get what she deserved.

Chapter Text

Chip was stationed in Human Observation that day. She found that she kind of liked it. Humans were simple, but they were certainly the most interesting thing on the outpost, she figured.

Skinny was also stationed there that day. She never got any patrol or guard duty anymore, mostly because Holly Blue suddenly decided to remove all Betas from sight on the off-chance that a visiting diplomat would see them.

Skinny sat in her chair, glumly looking out at the containment area.

“Too deformed for guard duty, she said…” Skinny thought.

“Hey, isn’t it time for the Choosening?” Chip asked.

“Oh! Right, right…”

Skinny pressed some buttons and all the earrings on the humans down below lit up and spoke a pre-recorded voice.

“It looks nice down there…” Chip began, trying her best at being “decent.”

“Yeah, I guess so. Probably too tropical for me.”

“Oh, then what’s a Beta’s idea of paradise?”

Skinny shot her a look.

“I, uh-”

“It’s fine… If you’re wondering, though, my paradise would have to be space. No worries; Just floating. A place where there’s only me.”

“Right.”

An announcement came over the intercom from Holly Blue.

“ATTENTION! As of now, all shifts will last no more than two hours! Updated schedules will be posted in the Cubby Room.”

“She’s got to be kidding!” Chip exclaimed.

Quartzes weren’t built for quick changes in the type of work they did. Heck, they weren’t built for most of the type of work Holly had them doing anyway. Two hours was not enough time to adjust.

8XL had a similar sentiment to Chip.

“This has got to be some sort of punishment.”

She was returning from guard duty with 8XG.

“I’m startin’ to think her gem has a few…inside-imperfections, if you know what I mean.”

8XG chuckled.

They walked into the Cubby Room, where Carnelian was hanging upside down in one.

“Hey!” 8XL said, “Get out of my cubby!”

“Eh, nope.”

“I said, OUT!”

“Make me!”

8XL went to grab her, but Carnelian jumped out of the cubby and into another one.

“You’ll have to do better than that!”

Carnelian, having stopped hiding, had begun antagonizing other Gems in recent times. She liked seeing them get all “riled up.”

Carnelian teasingly wagged her behind at 8XL before jumping on top of her, causing both of them to fall to the floor.

By the time 8XL got back up, Carnelian was standing by the door, sticking her tongue out.

“That’s it!”

8XL chased Carnelian around the room, eventually cornering her in, well, a corner.

Carnelian used her arms to push herself off the wall, kicking 8XL in the chest.

The ensuing fight was brutal, made worse by the crowd of Betas and Primes it generated.

It was cut short by the door opening and the threatening crack of an electrified whip.

“What is the meaning of this?!”

They all stood in silence.

“TWO-THOUSAND DAYS JANITORIAL DUTY! ALL OF YOU! Now get to your stations!”

She stormed out in a huff.

“Things around here aren’t going to get any easier anytime soon…” they all thought.

Chapter Text

Two-thousand days isn’t long when compared to Gems’ usual nigh-immortal status.

But at the Human Observation Outpost in Sector 93Z, it was almost an eternity.

It may seem odd for warrior-class Gems to be brought down by a scheduling change and tedious duties, but if someone forced, say, a Peridot to fight and defend herself for days on end, you could bet she would slowly lose her mind and just want to get back to standard technician work.

The same could be said for the Gems working under Holly Blue, except in their case things seemed to be getting worse at an exponential rate.

First came the two hour shift-limits. Aside from guard and patrol duty, every job on the station were things the Quartzes had no idea what to do, and the limit meant that as soon as they adjusted to their new station, they would have to move to another one and start the process all over again. It might not seem like much, but it frustrated them all to no end, and only contributed to the growing climate of animosity.

Next came the two-thousand days of janitorial duty. Of course, due to the shift limits, Gems could only work on this for so long before having to go to another station. Theoretically, this should have made it go by faster for everyone, since otherwise they would all have to do their two-thousand days one at a time (which would take almost 200 years), but individually it just made them all feel more degraded and bitter.

Some said that Holly Blue was doing this in an attempt to “build character.”

Others said that Holly was doing this on purpose, as punishment for their failures.

And even more others said that it was a little bit of both.

No matter what, though, as much as they didn’t admit it, they could all agree that it was awful.

What they couldn’t agree on was the mere idea of working with each other. Sure, they all realized the necessity of it, and there were some Primes and Betas that got along, but that didn’t mean the majority of them were HAPPY about it.

Even the more normal Jaspers couldn’t catch a break with each other.

8XJ got the worst of it. Not only was she a “stuck-up” Prime to most of the Betas, but she was also a former Rebel to most of the Primes.

But even between the normal Primes, there was a general dislike brewing.

Of course, under the eye of Holly Blue the most anyone could do to anyone was “accidental” injuries and passive-aggressive “sarcasm.”

Nobody was sure how long it would go on like this, but it was clear that a boiling-over point was approaching.

Blue Diamond had just made one of her semi-regular visits to the outpost, and Holly Blue was in her normal state after one: A strange mixture of delighted, disappointed, and anger.

Carnelian and Skinny were paired together for this round of janitorial shifts.

“They’re all crazy,” Carnelian said.

Skinny nodded silently.

“Even the ones that are friendly to us seem to get REALLY grumpy around the others.”

She sighed.

Carnelian thought about the humans in the zoo. They never had anything to worry about. No superiors, no insecurities…no deformities...Just a general calmness and naivete all around (not to mention consistent schedules). Even the ones that were different got along with each other.

Skinny just wanted all of it to be over. Not just the endless tedium, not just the uncalled-for disapproval, not even just the atmosphere of hate.

It was a feeling she had felt ever since she emerged on that scalding hot day in the Beta Kindergarten.

Ever since the first sounds she heard were a Peridot sighing and then bitterly typing something in her logs while grumbling about “idiot Kindergarten planners.”

Ever since her first battle, when Gems on her side assumed she was with the Rebels, because “no Certified Kindergartener would dare let THAT pass inspection.”

Carnelian was a little worried about her. Not too much, mind you, because “we’re Quartz Soldiers, and Quartz Soldiers don’t feel like that!”

Well, at least, that’s what she’d been telling HERSELF for a good long while, to try and focus more on her duties.

With the sounding of an electronic bell, their shift was over, and it was time for a break. They rarely got breaks at all, but Holly Blue had read some sort of report on “The Efficiency of Working Class Gems Based On Time Management and Task Scheduling” and relented a little bit. After all, those cubbies had to be used for SOMETHING.

Breaks only lasted 5-10 minutes, though, depending on Holly’s mood.

When Skinny and Carnelian walked back into the Cubby Room, they saw some familiar faces. 8XJ was there, Iris (Carnelian never bothered to learn her identification number) was there, Chip was there, 8XL and 8XG were there, and some of the Pinkies (that’s what she called the pink Amethysts that had worked at the Zoo during the war) were there, as well as a good number of Jaspers and other Amethysts.

Skinny sat down in a lower cubby. Carnelian climbed into one near the top.

“Hey watch it.” she heard a Jasper say.

“You watch it.” an Amethyst said.

8XJ spoke up. “Shut up, both of you.”

“Oh blow it out your butt.” the Jasper said.

“Hey!” Chip said.

Another Jasper jumped down from a cubby. Carnelian stuck her head out to look.

“Hey yourself!”

They started shoving each other. Just shoving, back and forth. Eventually, more Gems joined in.

Skinny tried to leave her cubby but on her way out a Jasper that was shoved a little too hard fell on top of her.

Iris climbed down from her cubby and tried to calm everyone down.

“Look, can we please-”

Suddenly, someone kicked her in the back of the head. Nobody was sure whether it was a Jasper or an Amethyst, but from that moment it was an all-out riot.

Not only were Primes and Betas fighting, but Jaspers were fighting other Jaspers, and Amethysts were fighting other Amethysts.

Carnelian saw Skinny crawling on the floor, trying to get to the door, but at that very moment 8XL was thrown across the room by 8XJ and hit Skinny. When Skinny got up, 8XL, in a confused daze, tried to attack her.

“Hey!” Carnelian shouted. She went to the back of her cubby and ran out as fast as she could, jumping into the crowd and hopping on everyone’s heads.

Unfortunately, one of the Quartzes she jumped on was kicked to the ground just as Carnelian landed on her head, causing them both to fall.

Then suddenly there was a scream.

A very loud scream that overshadowed all the fighting and made them all stop.

It was Skinny.

“I CAN’T TAKE IT ANYMORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!” she cried out before opening the door and running.

Carnelian and all the other Quartzes looked on in shock, some of their mouths agape, as the doors slammed shut.

They heard some footsteps, Skinny’s, backtracking and then the sound of the security lock being turned on so they wouldn’t go after her.

The Quartzes of the Human Zoo would have do something about everything, and fast.

Chapter Text

Carnelian banged on the door rapidly before collapsing in exhaustion.

The other Quartzes were right back to arguing. Carnelian, fed up, climbed into a higher cubby and screamed “SHUT YOUR MOUTHS!” with all her might.

The Quartzes quieted down.

“This place stinks! Holly Blue stinks! And you know what? We kinda stink too! Cause we’ve been beating ourselves up and hating each other for stupid, STUPID reasons!

“How would you feel if you came from a crummy, clod-job of a Kindergarten? How would you feel if you were looked at as ‘wrong’ all your life? How would you feel if you were forgotten all your life, if you hid from everyone all your life? And whenever you were noticed you were treated like dirt, even by Gems going through the same thing?

“Yeah, I’m looking at all of you! Holly Blue’s been a pain in our butts since the beginning! The only reason she treats Primes SLIGHTLY better is because she thinks you clods look presentable! Well behind closed doors, she treats us all the same! She doesn’t care whether we’re from Prime or from Beta! She doesn’t care what side we were on in the past!”

Carnelian looked over at 8XJ. She smiled a little.

“All she cares about is that we’re from Earth! And she hates us for that! Well, we don’t have to!

"I know she’s terrifying, even for an Agate! I know you’re all scared of her! I’m scared too! Why can't we be scared TOGETHER?!”

All the Quartzes stood in silence.

Chip spoke up. “She’s right! H-how would you feel if you had a chipped tooth permanently in your form?”

Iris spoke. “Or if your voice could never be taken seriously?”

Another Amethyst, with their gem placed where an eye should have been, spoke. “Or if you had only one eye?”

More Gems spoke up.

“Or if you could never summon a weapon?”

“Or if you had a fear of space transports?”

“Or if your Gem had the wrong cut?”

“Or if you were the wrong shade of purple?”

"Or if you were the wrong color altogether?"

“Or if you came out upside down?”

8XJ stepped forward. “Or if the universe wouldn’t let you forget?”

Some Amethysts looked down at their feet at that one.

Carnelian resumed speechifying. “We have a Gem in need. I don’t know what ol’ Skinny’s going to do, but we need to get out of here and find her.”

“Where would she even be?” Iris asked.

“It’s a small station,” a Jasper said, “There’s only so many places she could go.”

Carnelian climbed down from the cubbies.

“Where would you go around here if you needed to get away from everyone?” 8XJ earnestly asked Carnelian.

“Well for me I’d go to the Assimilation Bay,” Carnelian began, “I’ve actually done that before. It’s not in use and it’s a place where there’s only me.”

At that last line, something sparked inside Chip’s mind. Something from the past. By all accounts, she shouldn’t have had any memory of it at all.

But clearly it stuck with her.

“...my paradise would have to be space,” Skinny had said during one shift in the Human Observation Room, “No worries; Just floating. A place where there’s only me.”

“A place where there’s only me…” Chip repeated.

“What?”

“I know where she is!” Chip blurted out.

And, odd enough as it was, Chip was right.

Skinny was in the hangar bay, trying to get to the only place in the universe where nobody would bother her.

The shift-change bell rang after Chip quickly explained.

“Okay,” 8XJ said, climbing into a higher cubby, “Pinkies and 1X’s: Cover our shifts!

“8XA-F and 2XA-M: Stay here and act lazy and incompetent!

“Carnelian, 2XN-Z, and 8XG-P: You’re with me!

A random Quartz interjected, "What about me?"

“3X’s and 8XQ-Z: Stall Holly. Stall her any way you can! Under no circumstances is she allowed into the hangar bay!”

The doors were unlocked and opened as Gems from the previous shift returned back. They were pushed out of the way by the horde of Quartzes leaving to help find Skinny.

8XJ called out to one of the Amethysts staying behind.

“Tell ‘em what Carnelian said!”

Carnelian couldn't help but smirk.

Chapter Text

Holly Blue marched swiftly through the halls, making her rounds.

She was about to enter the exterior ring of the station, when two Amethysts, Iris and Chip, ran up to her.

“Holly Blue Agate!”

“Last I checked, we DID NOT SHOUT OR RUN AROUND IN THESE HALLS!”

“Oh of course!” said Iris, doing her best to stall for time, “We are terribly, horribly, awfully sorry Holly Blue Agate!”

Chip also tried to lengthen the conversation. “Yes, yes, our most exhu- exhub- exhuber- greatest apologies o’ grand Holly Blue-”

“Will you stop babbling and GET TO THE POINT?!”

“There’s a...leak in the central reactor Holly Blue Agate!”

“MY STARS!” she gasped, “Why didn’t you sound the alarm?!”

“Oh, we, uh…”

“Ugh, I DON’T HAVE TIME FOR THIS!”

And with that, Holly stormed off quickly back the way she came, grumbling about “incompetence.”

Iris and Chip sighed with relief.

Meanwhile, 8XJ, Carnelian, and some other Quartzes were running quickly through the halls, making their way to the hangar bay.

As they opened up one of the compartment doors leading up to it, they heard two of the Amethysts that were supposed to be on guard duty running towards them.

“What’s going on?” Carnelian asked as the rest of her team ran ahead.

“We didn’t notice her until she was already at the controls! She doesn’t know how the forcefields work! She’s gonna-!”

She was cut off by the sudden jolt of rapid decompression. The two guards were on the other side of the compartment doors, which instantly slammed shut, leaving Carnelian to get sucked down the corridor.

The rest of the rescue team didn’t fare well either.

As they were pulled off their feet by the force of escaping air, their bodies bumped haphazardly all over the walls.

In the chaos, however, they managed to grab each other’s hands and form a “Gem chain,” if you will.

8XJ ended up being the last one in the chain, and grabbed onto the doorway leading into the hangar at the last second.

Carnelian came flying by shortly afterwards, grabbed by 8XL, at the other end of the chain.

“Don’t mention it!” 8XL shouted over the escaping air.

They looked over at the hangar doors and saw one of the station’s spare spaceships lodged sideways into the frame.

“She never was that good a pilot!” Carnelian chuckled.

The ship shifted slightly, now angled so that the entry door was pointing out into space. The door was also open, and Skinny came tumbling out.

She instinctively grabbed onto the door’s frame and looked up at Carnelian, who was reaching out her hand.

“Carnelian?!”

“Grab my hand!”

Skinny looked out into the blackness of space.

“Skinny, grab my hand! I know this place sucks! I know it does! We all do! That’s why we’re here! Because at least we all have that in common!”

Skinny looked back at her.

“We’re both one of a kind! We’ve both gone our entire lives being different from everybody else! Well now we don’t have to be! Skinny, grab my hand!”

Skinny paused for a moment, and then forced herself up the side of the ship, towards Carnelian.

As the two Betas grabbed hands, 8XJ couldn’t hold on any longer and the Gem chain was flung horizontally into the side of the ship, nudging it out into space.

At that very moment, Holly Blue, still under the impression that there was a reactor issue, did a complete system reset, which put all the station’s equipment back into their default modes.

Which meant that the hangar bay forcefield turned back on.

And just before it turned back on, 8XJ was flung out onto the other side.

Into space.

The other Gems in the chain hit the forcefield and fell to the floor, their forms stinging from the impact.

They quickly got up and looked out the door.

They saw 8XJ, and the spare station ship, floating away into the void.

Meanwhile, Holly Blue was heading for her office.

“That wasn’t a reactor leak at all, those idiots…”

She sighed as she walked in. “I guess I still have to file a blasted report…”

As the door shut behind her, the security lock was activated by two Jaspers, who ran away snickering.

“Hey, wait! Wait! What is the meaning of this??? I order this door to be opened this instant! As your Agate I command you! LET ME OUT!!!!!”

Down in the hangar bay, 8XL had taken control of the situation and reformed the group into a chain. Carnelian, at one end, had her hand firmly on the hangar entry door frame. 8XL, at the other end, stood by the control panel.

“Ready?”

“Ready!”

With the touch of her hand, the forcefield deactivated, and the Gem chain was pivoted out into space by the force of the escaping air.

Luckily, 8XJ hadn’t floated that far, and she was just within range.

Carnelian swung the chain over in her direction, and 8XL attempted to grab 8XJ’s hand

Unfortunately, the ship that had been sucked out was hit by some space rocks, causing it to head straight for them.

Carnelian, using up all the strength she could gather, swung the chain out of the way of the ship, and then back again once it had passed.

8XL tried to reach out to 8XJ, but now she had drifted too far.

Suddenly, the runaway ship crashed into the outer ring of the station, causing it to shake violently, resulting in Carnelian losing her grip.

But then, out of nowhere, a chain of Quartzes, stretching all the way back to the first compartment door in the hallway, extended out and grabbed Carnelian’s arm.

“You thought we were just gonna wait around in those cubbies while you guys got to save the day?” the Amethyst at the end said, smiling.

“Now!” she shouted.

The Jasper at the beginning of the chain let go, and then grabbed onto the doorframe separating the hangar and the hallway. This significantly extended the chain, but 8XJ had floated just outside of their grasp.

“It’s not long enough!” one of them shouted.

Suddenly, they felt the station vibrate. Orbital thrusters, which hadn’t been used since Pink Diamond’s reign, fired to life and the station began to move towards 8XJ.

Up in the communications room, a computer terminal that controlled the thrusters was being operated by one of the Pinkies that were covering the other Quartzes’ shifts.

A Jasper had seen what was going on via a security screen, and the pink Amethyst remembered that there was a way she could help.

Finally, 8XL and 8XJ latched onto each other and 8XL shouted, “PULL!”

The Jasper at the beginning of the chain began pulling herself up the corridor, and the other Quartzes followed suit, until they were all safely inside.

When the pressure equalized, they all fell hard onto the floor. 8XL slapped her hand on the control panel, reactivating the forcefield. Air began to fill the compartment again (they usually had the station filled with air to make interactions with the Human Containment Area easier).

The inertial dampeners fired up, moving the station back to a stand-still.

Iris, Chip, and the other Quartzes that were on “Stall Holly” duty came running through the hallway.

“What happened?!” they asked.

“Well,” 8XJ began, “I don’t know about you guys, but aside from me almost being lost forever in the void of space, I consider this a success.”

Chip walked up to Skinny and said, "Hey... Uh... On behalf of all the Primes... Sorry."

Skinny pondered for a moment, and then smiled. "Same to you. But I think someone else needs that even more."

She pointed over at 8XJ. Chip look at her, then at the other Amethysts. They nodded.

"8XJ? We just wanna say sorry for all that 'Rebel' and 'Traitor' crud we kept giving ya."

8XJ smiled and punched her in the shoulder.

"It's about time."

Carnelian went and gave Skinny a hug, something she had seen once on Earth.

“Wait,” Skinny said, ruining the moment, “Where’s Holly Blue?”

“Oh don’t worry,” Chip began, “she’s safely-”

And at that exact moment, the Diamond-sized doors next to them opened up, revealing a very angry Holly Blue Agate.

“-right in our midsts.”

As it turned out, when the ship crashed into the outer ring, it triggered several malfunctions, one of them being the security locks becoming temporarily inactive, letting Holly Blue out (though she didn’t realize they had been unlocked until several moments later).

All the Quartzes in the station stood in rows in the hangar bay, much like they did when they first arrived, as Holly Blue essentially read them the Riot Act (to use a future Earth expression).

“Unsanctioned fighting, not reporting to your posts, misuse of security locks, unauthorized activation of Diamond Authority property, damage to Diamond Authority property, deactivation of containment shields, abandoning your posts, inaccurate reporting, unauthorized exiting of the station, unauthorized firing of the Orbital Thrusters, unauthorized gathering... Over three dozen counts of gross incompetence. WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY FOR YOURSELVES?!!!”

None of them said anything. They knew she wouldn’t listen or care.

“Well, they say desperate times call for desperate measures,” she said, pulling her electric whip out from the back of her head, “So I suppose violent idiocy calls for violent punishment.”

Holly Blue saw them as being all the same, and she despised them for it. If one was guilty, she figured, the others surely deserved the same fate.

The Quartzes up until that day saw each other as different, and until that day despised each other for it. But now, they realized that they WERE the same in a way, because they were all from Earth. And, standing there before Holly and her electric whip, they began to embrace that. If one was going to take the fall, they would all follow.

After all, they were all in this together.

Chapter Text

5,000 years is a long time, even for Gems.

Especially if it was only half of the *ten-thousand years* of janitorial duty Holly Blue had assigned to everyone once their...initial punishment was over.

But at least now they realized that they couldn’t take it out on each other, which left them in an odd position. Until now, they had an outlet for their frustration. It was an unhealthy outlet, but was still an outlet nevertheless. They could have taken it out on Holly Blue, but everyone was still scared of her.

With the recent events in mind, they all decided to stop fighting each other out of malice, but they would fight each other for fun in secret (after all, they were literally made to fight).

Several of the older Amethysts had spent time prior to the war battling other Quartzes for sport in arenas, and were glad to get that feeling again.

The Betas also enjoyed it. Having been created out of necessity during a war made them much more inclined to battle, and they actually pulled some surprising victories (Carnelian ended up having a 74-battle win streak).

The fights brought together many of the pre-existing groups aboard the station. The Prime Amethysts for example, coalesced into their own clique, making jokes about who emerged first/last and who had the best weapon and whatnot. Their identification numbers went on to serve as a constant reminder that they belonged somewhere; That they were not alone.

The Betas, on the other hand, unintentionally taking a page out of the Crystal Gem Book of Individuality, began using nicknames. Skinny and Carnelian had already been using theirs, but the others came up with ones that fit their appearance or personalities.

A Jasper with an inordinate number of red stripes went as “Stripes,” one with their gem on their cheek went as “Cheeky,” one who was younger than the most of the others but just as ambitious went as “Hotshot,” and so on.

Skinny, with help from Carnelian, mellowed out significantly over time, developing a love of teasing the Amethysts for certain tendencies of theirs. They understood it was all in good fun, of course.

Things never got any easier with Holly, though. Still as ruthless as ever, she smacked them when they slouched, shouted when they mumbled, and shoved them when they just stood there.

Also, Blue Diamond came less and less to the station over the years. Eventually her visits were so infrequent that it seemed she never came at all. This made the ever-seeking-validation-and-possibly-a-rather-nice-promotion-to-go-along-with-it Holly Blue even more bitter towards the Amethysts, and even more of a suck-up any time anyone even remotely superior to her stopped by (which in and of itself became rare).

Every time one of them showed up, the Quartzes *really* wanted to embarrass Holly, but they knew that she would blame it on them, and she would actually be right this time (and it would cost her any chance of promotion, which meant she would be in command of them FOREVER).

So they towed the line. They never went directly against her, but they would “misunderstand” orders or make “accidental” errors. They probably would have made those errors anyway, genuinely by accident, so Holly never thought twice about it. The Quartzes got endless satisfaction from that.

4,000 years after their punishment had began, 8XJ was walking to her daily shift of laser-scrubbing when a Pinkie came up and whispered something into her ear.

“Skinny and Stripes versus 8XG and 8XL, during next break. How much you wanna bet?”

“Ooh, a twofer,” 8XJ whispered back, “One hundred shifts on Skinny, fifty on Stripes.”

“You’re a bigger gambler than Carnelian, and that’s saying something.”

The fights were usually held in an abandoned storage room, down the hall from the Assimilation Bay.

It had been hidden around 1,000 years earlier, when a team of Peridots were ordered to do renovations on the outpost and had new walls put in many of the corridors, identical to the old ones, which covered up the entrance. The Peridots also completely refitted the station with new technology, including the probing devices in the Assimilation Bay, as well as replacing the older spaceships in the hangar with brand new Roaming Eyes.

Some of the Quartzes thought that the reason they covered up the storage room with the new walls was because they were just so excited about installing the new technology that they made a mistake.

Some said that it was because they were Peridots, and Peridots may have been very smart, but weren’t very bright.

And some said it was both.

No matter what the reason, it was the one place Holly Blue had no access to. They didn’t even enter through the original door; An old access duct behind one of the higher-up cubbies that had been added in preparation for their arrival shortly after the war was their entry way.

The second 8XJ’s next shift ended, she fast-walked as fast as she could to the Cubby Room, climbed into the highest cubby, and crawled into the duct.

She emerged into a makeshift arena of sorts, with old crates stacked up into seats arranged around a center ring. Some Pinkies were lighting up their Gems to use as spotlights (their lights were the brightest, after all).

She sat down next to Carnelian.

“Who are you betting on?” 8XJ asked.

“I got 30 shifts riding on 8XL and 20 on 8XG,”

“What makes you think they’ll win?”

“Duh, 8XL and 8XG practically ruled the battlefield during the Siege on the Sea Spire.”

“You do realize they LOST that battle right? The only reason they survived was because they got orders to retreat. You weren’t even around for that!”

Carnelian shifted nervously in her seat.

8XJ smiled. “You got all your information on that battle from 8XL herself, didn’t you?”

Carnelian shrugged with a smile that screamed “Ya got me!”

“You’re better than that. Only an idiot would trust 8XL with giving accurate battle accounts.”

Suddenly, Chip, who was sitting above them, shouted, “GO 8XL! Ruler of the Battlefield!”

8XJ leaned in and whispered to Carnelian, “How much did she bet?”

“Too much.”

The Pinkies flashed their lights to signal that the fight was starting.

Skinny and Stripes walked out of one darkened corner of the storage room. Some of the Betas cheered.

“You ready for a beatdown?” Stripes bellowed (Luckily, the room had been soundproofed beforehand)

“Oh you’re such a showoff.” Skinny said with a smug smile.

8XL and 8XG walked out of another corner.

“Who wants to see VICTORY?” 8XL called out.

Most of the Amethysts in the crowd started cheering.

“Oh those Amethysts…” Skinny thought as she walked into the center of the ring.

“1, 2, 3… Go!” Iris said, acting as referee (though there weren’t really any rules in these fights).

Skinny ran forward and slid under 8XL’s legs.

Stripes pile-drived 8XG into the floor, punching her in the face repeatedly.

8XL turned around and spin-dashed towards Skinny, who jumped into the air, did some flips just for the heck of it, and then landed behind her as 8XL crashed into a bunch of barrels.

“Ruler of the Battlefield, huh?”

8XL looked up and saw Chip, frantically pleading with the Amethyst acting as bet-keeper.

“Oh it’s on now!”

“It wasn’t before?”

8XL jumped into the air…and hit the ceiling.

And then she fell on top of 8XG, who was just about to get the upper hand against Stripes.

Iris gestured to the Pinkies, who flashed their lights.

“I think we have ourselves some winners!”

Stripes stumbled backwards and fell to the floor.

“Okay, one winner, and a tie!”

Skinny smiled and waved to the crowd.

Carnelian placed her hands on her face. She was gonna have a lot of janitorial shifts to do.

Not as much as Chip, though.

Chapter Text

8XJ relaxed in her cubby.

“One hundred free-shifts…” she thought to herself with a smile.

Her musings were interrupted by 8XL, climbing into the cubby next to her.

“Hey 8XJ, you got a free minute?”

“I have about twelve thousand free minutes as of now. Whatcha need?”

“It’s nothing, and I don’t care either way, and I’m over it, but I want to know: Did you know that Pink Diamond was going to be shattered?”

8XJ let out a big sigh.

“Yes. And that’s why I defected back.”

“Did you tell anyone?”

“Yeah, but they thought I was setting them up for some sort of trap!”

“And Holly Blue thinks WE’RE morons.”

8XJ chuckled. She looked down at the Blue Diamond on her uniform.

“Do ever wonder what happened to Earth Quartzes assigned to the other Diamonds?” she asked.

“Sometimes.”

Over 4,000 years, they had realized that they had been essentially thrown to the waysides by the Diamonds. It didn’t matter what grand battles they won, it just mattered that they were from Earth, and that they didn’t deserve to be even thought about. No honors, no rewards… Just a crummy dead-end job in the middle of nowhere.

“Holly Blue once said that we were lucky to have such a generous Diamond.” 8XL said.

“That doesn’t sound like Holly.”

“Well she shouted it in a fit of condescending anger.”

“Now that sounds like Holly. Wait, you don’t think-”

“That the other Diamonds forced all Earth Gems out of service? I can believe that, but probably not all. They may have kept some of the more…‘perfect’ ones.” (8XL put “perfect” in air-quotes)

“That doesn’t mean they’re happy about it, though.”

“Yeah…”

The two Amethysts sat in silence for a few moments.

“Hey,” 8XJ began, “You and some of the other 8X’s were stationed at the Prime Kindergarten near the end of the war, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Did 8XM ever emerge?”

“No, no I don’t think so, sadly."

“Do you think she was a dud, or do you think she came out after the evac?”

“I’d like to think she’s out there somewhere.” 8XL said with a wistful smile.

“Last Gem on Earth…” 8XJ chuckled.

8XL thought a lot about the Amethyst that was supposed to emerge underneath her. She wondered about what would have happened if she had come out of her hole like everyone else.

Maybe she would have been disliking of Betas like they were at first.

Maybe she would have fought with 8XJ over her supposed disloyalties.

Maybe she wouldn’t have cared about 8XJ’s past and defended her from the other Primes.

Maybe she would have rallied support during Carnelian’s speech.

Maybe she would have helped save Skinny.

Maybe she would have liked fighting just as the rest of them did.

Maybe she would have been just as glad to belong somewhere as they were.

Just maybe.

Chapter Text

The Earth, prior to the Rebellion, was merely the Gem-equivalent of a forest being bulldozed for a housing development.

Humans on Earth, prior to the Rebellion, were just the wild animals living in that forest.

And the Human Zoo was just that; A Zoo for humans.

The Quartzes stationed there after the war saw them at first with indifference, then with fascination, and then finally, they began to care for them a little bit.

They could never enter the containment area (the service door into the Zoo had been only once, in the far past) but viewing the humans through the screens of the Observation Center made them appreciate how unique they were. They never got to, say, Rose Quartz-levels of it, but they liked humans nonetheless.

They saw humans have fun. They saw them get Choosened by the station computer based on their individual genetic properties. They saw them have little humans of their own, who were then sent to a special habitat for conditioning purposes. They watched those little humans grow into bigger humans, at which time they were allowed into central habitat. They watched the previous human generation become weaker, at which time they were placed into another habitat for humans of their age. And they watched those humans die, at which time they were then placed in the Human Disposal Chute. The Quartzes didn’t know what exactly “death” was, or where they went after they were put in the chute, but something told them that they didn’t want to know.

They still felt something whenever that happened, though. They tried not to make attachments with the humans, but sometimes they couldn’t help it. A human that had a charming laugh, a human that had nice hair, a human that was good at swimming… Eventually every Quartz found a human whose existence they were almost captivated by, only for it to go by in what seemed like a flash.

It was about 5,000 years since the end of the war when they received a special message from Blue Diamond. She hadn’t visited the station in over a millennium, but now she was coming to make a special delivery: A new human for the Zoo.

Carnelian couldn’t believe it. She was on communications duty that day (which was usually the most boring job in the universe since nobody ever called the station anymore) and the second she got the message, she ran off to find Holly Blue. If Blue Diamond was coming and Holly didn’t know about it, she would surely give them all a worse run through the wringer than usual.

“Holly Blue Agate! Holly Blue Agate!” she called out as she ran through the halls, forgetting Holly’s number one rule.

“WE DO NOT-”

“Run or shout in these hallways, I know, but we just got a special message saying that Blue Diamond is coming to the Zoo with a human delivery!”

Holly Blue let out a big, delighted gasp, before excitedly giving orders.

“Back to your post! Wait, no! Get a laser-scrubber and START CLEANING! Put out an announcement to the others! Wait, no! I’LL announce it, you get scrubbing! NOW MOVE!”

Carnelian stood awkwardly as she spoke before running off to the nearest supply closet.

Holly got on the intercom and made it as loud as she possibly could.

“ATTENTION YOU QUARTZES! BLUE DIAMOND IS COMING! THAT’S RIGHT, THE DIAMOND THAT MERCIFULLY KEPT YOU CLODS AROUND IS ON HER WAY HERE! I WANT EVERY QUARTZ NOT ALREADY ON ESSENTIAL DUTY TO CLEAN EVERY MOLECULE OF THIS STATION SO IT SHINES! RIGHT NOW!”

Quartzes poured out of the Cubby Room, grabbing every spare laser-scrubber and beginning to clean the entire station. Holly Blue got on the intercom again.

“I DON’T SEE ANYONE CLEANING THE ASSIMILATION BAY! I WANT THAT PLACE SPOTLESS AND IN FLAWLESS WORKING ORDER FOR WHEN BLUE DIAMOND’S NEW HUMAN SPECIMEN IS PLACED INTO THE SYSTEM!”

Chip and 8XJ climbed into the Assimilation Bay tunnel, armed with laser scrubbers. Also, as part of the diagnostics test, the automatic conveyor systems started up.

“Wait, wait!” Chip shouted, trying to get it to stop.

“Relax,” 8XJ said, “We can clean here after we’re done testing it.”

Holly Blue worriedly paced back and forth in her office, a live video feed of Chip and 8XJ in the tunnel playing on her screens.

“Looks like- Hey, hey!” Chip shouted as the probing devices poked and prodded her.

“Probing devices seem to be in working order,” 8XJ said.

The devices (which greatly resembled the same tech used by Era 2 Peridots) began trying to take off Chip’s uniform.

“AAAHHHHHH!!!” Chip screamed, pushing them all away, “Why are they only getting me and not you?!”

8XJ shrugged.

“Relax...” Holly Blue told herself, turning away from the video feed, “You don’t want to be angry when your Diamond arrives.”

“What’s that?!” Chip shouted as they approached a giant square that seemed to be pounding into the conveyor belt.

“That’s just a Clothing Dispenser.”

“WELL I DON’T WANT TO HAVE CLOTHING DISPENSED ON ME!”

Holly Blue shut off the video feed and put her hands on her face. This day was either going to be very fortunate, or very unfortunate.

When Blue Diamond arrived, she stepped out of her Palanquin into the hangar bay, Pearl at her side, with a male human in her hand.

The two Amethyst guards on duty cringed a little at the sight of him. He was extremely chubby around the waist, had a profound lack of hair on his scalp, and his skin seemed to be covered in an unnatural shade of red. He did have a good mane of hair flowing out of the back of his head, which was something any Quartz could respect.

“My Diamond! It is truly a wondrous, magnificent honor to have you in our presence!” Holly Blue said in her best suck-up voice.

“Here is the human specimen I have brought to be preserved in the Zoo,” Blue Diamond said, placing the human down in front of the Amethysts.

“Take this human to the Assimilation Bay!” Holly Blue ordered, clapping her hands twice for emphasis.

“THE WHAT?” the human shouted, trying to escape.

The two guards grabbed him as he tried to squirm free and took him down the hall.

“I will be in Pink’s room.” Blue Diamond said as she walked away from Holly, “Pearl, open the door.”

As Blue Diamond’s Pearl silently opened the doors into the Diamond Corridor and Blue stepped through, Holly Blue quickly tried to follow behind her.

“I will be at your service if you require anything further, my illustrious, magnificent, excellent Diamond!”

“That will be all,” Blue Diamond said before lightly clapping her hands as she walked away, “Close the door, Pearl.”

Blue Diamond’s Pearl closed the doors, which slid shut right in Holly Blue’s face.

“Yes, my Diamond!” Holly enthusiastically called out, hoping to be heard beyond the door.

She wasn’t.

Meanwhile, the Amethyst guards dragged the new human down the halls to the Assimilation Bay.

“Let me go! Please!” the human shouted as he thrashed about.

“Aw, don’t worry,” one of them said in reassurance, “You’ll love the Zoo! Much better than being in the wild on Earth!”

“I LIKED EARTH!”

“Well you’ll like it here too!”

At their destination, they lifted the human into the tunnel and closed the doors.

“Enjoy!” they called out.

The other humans in the Zoo were going to love this one, they thought.

Chapter Text

It was not long after Blue Diamond left that the Roaming Eye appeared on their screens, dropping out of Faster-Than-Light speed and approaching the station.

The ship’s identification code checked out well enough, though the station's records were incomplete and possibly out-of-date. Nevertheless, they let the ship in through the forcefield.

Iris was on guard duty that day, along with another Amethyst.

After a few moments, a Sapphire, a Pearl, a Ruby, a little human male, and an uncomfortable-looking Amethyst stepped out of the Roaming Eye.

Iris had seen the strange behavior of the previous new human inside the Zoo, and decided to have a little fun.

She put on her best scary Intimidation Voice, and said, “State your purpose.”

After Holly Blue departed with the Sapphire and her entourage, the two guards were left with the Sapphire's Amethyst, who looked VERY awkward and nervous. Iris and the other Amethyst glared at her. Something was odd about this one, but they couldn't place it.

"Hey..." she started, already working up a sweat.

"You alright?"

"Fine, I'm fine! Just standing here guarding like us guards do! Heh-heh!"

"Okay..."

They went back to standing guard in front of the door. After a short while had passed, the Amethyst began to REALLY sweat and tense up, an awkward smile stretching across her face.

"Hey, are you-?"

"I'M FINE!"

Her eye began to twitch, her breaths becoming more rapid.

Suddenly, she let out an anguished squeal and, in a flash of light, shrank down to less than half her size, collapsing flat on her back.

"Whoa!" Iris exclaimed, her and the other guard rushing to the little Amethyst's side, "Were you shapeshifting?!"

They had heard of shapeshifting long before, but none of them had never tried it.

The Amethyst tried to get up quickly, saying, "No! No, I was- I was- I was…"

Failing to come up with a response, the Amethyst fell silent. Iris and the other guard looked at each other.

"So," Iris began, "What's your ID?"

"What?"

The two guards looked at each other again.

"Ya know," the other guard said, "Facet, Cut, all that."

The Amethyst looked like she was trying to think quickly. She murmured something like, "Peridot said..." but they couldn't quite catch it.

"F-facet 5?" she blurted out.

The two Amethysts quickly looked at each other with intense curiosity.

“You mean Earth? The *Prime Kindergarten* on Earth?”

“I… Uh… Yeah?”

“When,” Iris asked, “did you emerge?”

The Amethyst closed her eyes, desperately trying to remember something.

“500 years after...everyone else?”

The two Amethyst guards stood in silence, quickly putting it all together. Iris smiled, reaching out her hand.

“I think there are some Gems who would like to meet you.”

The Amethyst didn’t say anything, but took her hand anyway.

“C’mon, let’s get you to the Cubby Room. 8XY, cover me.”

The doors of the Cubby Room slid open and Iris led the little Amethyst in. Many of the Quartzes looked out of their cubbies and became extremely curious.

“Everyone,” Iris began, “This is an Amethyst from Earth. From the Prime Kindergarten.”

More Quartzes stuck their heads out and became interested.

“She emerged about 500 years late.”

8XL, 8XJ, and some other Amethysts climbed down from their cubbies.

After a period of silence, 8XL stepped forward and spoke.

“8XM?”

Without waiting for an answer, 8XL ran forward and embraced the little Amethyst, now identified as 8XM.

“It’s you! Ha ha! It’s really you!” 8XL cried out.

“Wait, what?”

She set 8XM down.

“You’re the Amethyst that was supposed to emerge underneath me!”

The Amethysts knelt down in front of her.

“We waited, but you never came out,” 8XG said.

“We thought we’d never get to see you,” 8XJ told her.

A slow smile crept across 8XM’s face as she leapt forward and gave them a big hug.

After the laughter was all out, 8XM asked, “So what’s my name again?”

“Facet-5, Cut-8XM.”

8XM looked over at Skinny with a look of curiosity.

“Are you a Jasper?”

“Yeah.”

“And you’re from Earth?”

“Yeah.”

“Well you haven't tried to kill me, so that’s enough! Dogpile!”

8XM ran forward and pounced on Skinny, both of them collapsing to the ground.

“You’re alright, 8XM,” Skinny said, “You’re alright. I’m Skinny.”

“Yeah, you are!” 8XM said with a laugh.

At that moment, the shift-change bell rang.

“Hey,” Skinny asked 8XJ, “is Carnelian on duty at Human Observation this shift?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

“Cause I’m stationed there next too, and I want her to meet Shortstop, here.”

“Wait,” 8XM said, “Human Observation? My friend is in the Zoo!”

“Then let’s go!” Skinny said, before she and 8XM rushed out the door and down the hall.

In the Human Observation Center, Carnelian sat down at a computer terminal and began to check the system.

“How’s that new human doing?” she asked one of the Pinkies.

“Which one?”

“There’s more than one?”

“They say a Sapphire just delivered another human. It’s the smaller one with the black hair.”

“Ah, I see.”

“He’s acting weirder than the bigger one from earlier.”

The door opened, and Carnelian saw Skinny out of the corner of her eye.

“Hey, Skinny. These new humans sure are weird.”

8XM ran up to the screen in a frantic blur.

“Greg?! Steven???”

“Carnelian, Pinkies,” Skinny said, “Meet Amethyst, Facet 5, Cut-8XM. You remember 8XL telling the story, right?”

The Pinkies on duty waved nervously to 8XM. Carnelian sat there in awe. All her life she had been the short one, but now there was someone who was almost just like her. She tried to play it cool for now.

“So you know those humans?”

“Yeah, the big one is Greg, the little one is Steven. We gotta- Wait, what are they doing?”

“The Choosening. It’s a thing where the ship’s computer chooses a mate for each human.”

“And Greg is one of them?!”

“Well-”

Carnelian stopped when she saw what was going on down there. All the humans were surrounding the human known as “Greg.”

“Hold on- It looks like they all chose him!”

Carnelian reached for the control panel, but 8XM stopped her, clearly holding back giggles.

“Wait, I wanna see how this plays out.”

The humans surrounding “Greg” began to cry out in anguish, following him and “Steven” as they ran off.

8XM burst into laughter.

“That’s Greg,” she said, “Breaker of a million hearts!”

“We got a Code 4!” one of the Pinkies said.

“What’s that mean?” 8XM asked.

“We gotta go in there and calm them down. We actually haven't had to do it before.”

“Wait, when you do, grab the little human and the fat human and take them to the Cubby Room. Tell ‘em they’re in big trouble and act all menacing. I got an idea.”

The Pinkie shrugged and went off with the rest of them. 8XM grabbed Skinny and Carnelian.

“You guys come with me. You won’t wanna miss this!”

Chapter Text

8XM ran into the Cubby Room with Skinny and Carnelian in tow.

“Back so soon?” 8XL asked.

“Okay guys, I got an idea. Trust me, it’ll be hilarious. Hey, I don’t think I got your names yet.”

There was a quick round of introductions by some of the nearest Amethysts.

“Okay, what’s your idea?”

“I need ya to all stand there all intimidatingly when Steven and Greg get here.” 8XM told the Quartzes in the Cubby Room.

“Steven and Greg?”

“Steven’s the human I came with and Greg’s the one we came to rescue.”

“They’re in the zoo?”

“Yeah, and I doubt Greg wants to stay seeing as how he Friendzoned them and all.”

“Wait-” 8XJ asked, “Who’s ‘we’?”

“The…Crystal Gems.”

“They’re still alive?”

“Well just barely. There’s only me, Pearl, Steven, Garnet, Peridot...Maybe Connie and Lapis, but I don’t think they’re official yet."

“No Rose Quartz…” 8XJ thought.

The Quartzes, after a short period of thinking, began to smile a little at the mention of the Crystal Gems. 5,000 years under Holly Blue had softened them to the ideals of Rebellion (or at the very least, eaten away at their loyalty to the Diamonds).

8XJ let out a little chuckle. “They’re still alive…”

They heard footsteps outside.

“Okay everyone,” 8XM began, “Act mean and scary!”

She pointed to one of the Amethysts.

“You! Hold me like you’re just a big jerk. This is gonna be PRICELESS.”

They all shrugged and went along with it.

8XM was alright in their books.

Chapter Text

“That will be all!” the Pearl smugly said before “Steven” clapped his hands twice, in a direct imitation of Holly Blue and the Diamonds.

The Quartzes all cheered and waved goodbye as the Roaming Eye departed.

“You know,” Carnelian said to Holly Blue, who was still tied up with her own whip, “I think this is what’s known as ‘leverage.’”

Holly just groaned.

“Okay, okay,” one of the Amethysts said, quieting everyone down, “Let’s quiet down. After all, ‘it’s the least we can do for the Diamond that kept our worthless sorry Gems in service.’”

“You-!” Holly began to shout.

Skinny covered Holly’s mouth.

“Ah ah ah,” Skinny said, “You wouldn’t want to jeopardize that promotion you’ve been wanting so bad.”

“Yeah,” Carnelian told her, “You heard the Pearl. You wouldn’t want us going around telling folks about this...”

“Which means,” 8XJ said, stepping into the hangar bay, “Things are gonna change around here.”

Holly Blue tried to scream underneath Skinny’s palm, but it came out muffled.

“First, no more shift limits. Second, no more forced station changing. Third, no more corporal punishments. And fourth, NO MORE JANITORIAL DUTY.”

Holly Blue collapsed in defeat.

“Oh, and from now on you’ll be ‘busy’ in your office most of the time, unless a superior stops by. In that case, we’ll let you out, but you’ll have to be on your ‘best behavior.’ Or else.”

Holly turned her head and saw the Quartzes in the room summon their weapons from their gems.

“Let’s go!” Skinny declared, the Amethysts dragging Holly up the steps.

“Wait,” Carnelian said, “the Diamonds might get suspicious if their FAVORITE Agate doesn’t see them off.”

“Yeah,” an Amethyst said, “Say goodbye, tell them how great they are; You know the drill!”

Holly only grimaced.

After a short while, the two Diamonds made their way back to the hangar. Holly Blue nervously stood in front of the group of Quartzes.

“M-my Diamonds…”

A mace was poked against her back by one of the guards, reminding her of her...situation.

“It has been truly an honor having you both aboard this station!”

Blue and Yellow left without giving a response.

“Now Gems,” Skinny declared after the two Arm Ships went to Faster-Than-Light, “Take her away!”

Carnelian got on the intercom.

“Attention! Carnelian here. I am happy to report that Holly Blue is being locked in her office until further notice, and that from now on, it appears that we are in charge. All Gems should report to the Cubby Room for...debriefing? Is that the right word? I think that’s the right word.”

Sometime later, all the Gems in the station filled into the Cubby Room, the computer systems temporarily set to automatic.

“Okay,” Skinny began, standing in a slightly-higher-up cubby, “If you weren’t aware, earlier today the remaining Crystal Gems, including the long-lost Amethyst Facet 5, Cut-8XM, came to the station to retrieve a human of theirs.”

One of the Amethysts that was there spoke. “Holly Blue didn’t find out about this until the last second, but the Crystal Gems defeated her. Sort of. They tied her up and told her, as well as us, that she couldn’t report the incident because it would reflect badly on her.”

“Which gives us significant leverage,” Carnelian interjected.

“She’s currently in her locked office, and it seems that WE control the station now,” 8XJ said, “The question is how, exactly.”

Chip raised her hand. “I think we can agree on nixing Holly’s rules.”

A series of nods made its way through the crowd at that remark.

“Okay, good, we can all agree on that.”

“Who’ll be in charge?”

“Do we need anyone in charge?”

“Well someone has to file Holly’s reports.”

Some Quartzes laughed out loud at that.

“We could all make decisions together,” Carnelian suggested.

“There are too many of us for that.”

“We could decide on one Gem to lead,” Chip said.

“That could just be Holly all over again!”

“We could have a Gem represent each group and have each of them decide. Someone for the 8X’s, someone for the Pinkies, and someone for Betas,” 8XJ said.

“But then Amethysts get two deciders.”

“The Pinkies and the 8X’s are more different than you’d think.”

“I guess…”

Skinny spoke up. “We’ll put it up to a… What’s the word? Vote? Yeah, that. Raise your hand if you want Chip’s plan.”

Some Quartzes raised their hands.

“Carnelian’s plan?”

A good amount Quartzes raised their hands.

“8XJ’s plan?”

A similar amount as before raised their hands, but this time slightly more.

“And," Skinny said as she counted, "8XJ wins!”

There was some applause in the crowd, and some quiet shrugging.

Carnelian went over to 8XJ and excitedly slapped her in the shoulder.

“Congratulations, Jay!”

8XJ laughed, and looked over at Chip, who was lost in thought. Chip looked up and gave a smile.

“What she said!” Chip called out.

8XJ chuckled a little.

“Okay, okay,” Skinny said, “We need to choosen, sorry, CHOOSE our leaders. Anyone for the 8X’s?”

“How about Iris?” Carnelian said.

Iris ran her hands through her hair nervously.

“Yeah, I like that!” 8XL said.

Several “yeahs” rippled through the crowd.

Iris shrugged and said, “Aw, alright.”

“All opposed?” Skinny asked the crowd, “No one? Then it’s official.”

A round of handshakes went out to Iris.

“Anyone for the Pinkies?”

A Pinkie raised her hand.

“How about me?”

“Okay, all opposed?”

A few hands went up.

“Any counter-candidates?”

No hands went up.

“Then she still wins. Now, anyone for the Betas?”

They all looked up at Skinny.

“Well,” a Jasper began, “How about you?”

“Oh I- I- I- I couldn’t, I-” Skinny stammered.

Carnelian placed a hand on Skinny's thigh.

“You’ll do great.”

Skinny blushed. “A-all opposed?”

No response.

Carnelian jumped into the air with joy.

“Then it’s unanimous!” she shouted.

The crowd cheered.

“Okay! Okay!” the elected Pinkie said, bringing down the volume, “Let’s get to work.”

Iris spoke. “As our first act I think everyone at essential positions should get back to their stations while we three figure the rest out from here.”

Skinny said, “It isn’t gonna be perfect, though. If you want to have any input, we’ll always be open. Dismissed!”

Gems began to clear out of the room.

In the days that followed, the trio of leaders, jokingly referred to as “The Great Quartz Authority,” decided on a job postings for everyone, set up a system of rules and plans for certain scenarios, and figured out how to write Agate Reports.

They also ran drills for unexpected visits, much to the chagrin of Holly, who had to be shoved around and forced to memorize lines, with the occasional reminder of what was at stake for her.

She would rather leave for a promotion as “Holly Blue: The Agate With a Perfect Service Record” than leave for a swift decommissioning as “Holly Blue: The Incompetent Agate Who Couldn’t Even Keep Earth Gems in Line.”

She hated every second of it, but her own (probably delusional) interests took priority.

Guards were stationed outside and inside her office at all times. They had even found a Gem Destabilizer in one of her storage cabinets, and kept it at the ready in case she tried something.

The culture the Quartzes had developed in secrecy blossomed under the new leadership, but it also had a new addition: An admiration of the Crystal Gems who gave them the opportunity.

There was the Pearl, who some had recognized as the “terrifying renegade Pearl” from the war, who had risen from silent servitude to the point where SHE was the one issuing the verbal smackdown, to an Agate no less.

There was also 8XM, the long-lost Amethyst who turned out to be just as rambunctious as they were. 5,000 years ago, they might not have been as welcoming to someone of her size, but now they accepted her as one of their own. Some of them wondered if she liked fighting as much as they did.

And then there was the Ruby/Sapphire fusion that one of the humans had called “Garnet.” Same-Gem fusions were common during the war, but had been thoroughly banned aboard the station during Holly Blue’s reign. Different-Gem fusions were a whole other story. Some remembered the Crystal Gems having Hetero-Fusions during the war, and recall Homeworld shoving it down their throats that it was the most awful tactic in the Universe.

But seeing “Garnet” save the two Earth humans, and defeat Holly Blue in the most embarrassing manner possible made them finally reconsider that viewpoint. Nobody tried doing it yet, but a sizable amount of them, Amethysts and Betas alike, were amazed by it (Skinny kept watching the security footage of the fusion over and over again, Carnelian thought she was pretty cool, and 8XL desired to meet her in person if they ever crossed paths again).

The Quartz Leaders soon realized that, despite their precautions, life on the station as it was wouldn’t last forever. Something would happen, whether it was Holly snapping and ratting them out, a suspicious superior ordering an investigation, or Blue Diamond’s “generosity” running out and deciding to get rid of them once and for all.

They thought about the Earth. Rumors had circulated among the lower Gem ranks about a geoweapon that would soon destroy the planet, but if that were the case, they figured, the two humans with the Crystal Gems wouldn’t have wanted to go back so much.

Unless they didn’t know about it, that is.

Carnelian had managed to decode most of the Gem Communication Channels, and it appeared that a Jasper, a Peridot, and a Lapis had been sent to check on said geoweapon, The Cluster, but never returned. A Ruby Platoon had been sent to retrieve the Jasper (whose identification number many of the Betas recognized and immediately cringed at), and they too had not returned. And Yellow Diamond didn’t seem to be sending anyone else to go find them.

There were some rumors of her sending Gems to Earth for another reason, but they couldn’t confirm what it was.

They also thought about the fate of the humans in the Zoo. After seeing the ones from Earth, some wondered if they should bring them back to Earth with them if they ever went.

Some said that it would be too traumatizing, since many of the Pinkies had been on Emotional Support Alert after the “Greg” incident and it still wasn’t going well in there.

Others argued that the damage was already done, and that they deserved to seek more out of life.

A compromise was proposed: If they did indeed go to Earth, they could bring the immediate descendants of the humans and let them grow up there, while the current generation stayed in the Zoo if they so wished.

They decided to put that issue on the backburner for the time being.

But it still didn’t do anything to confirm the Earth’ status.

Eventually it was decided that they would wait and see.

Carnelian sat down at her new, more-permanent position in the Communications Room.

“Attention!” she heard 8XJ say over the intercom, “Today’s fight will be a three-way battle between the three Quartz Leaders. Be there!”

Nowadays, they fought not for release, but for the sheer fun they had doing it. There wasn’t anything to bet with anymore since the cessation of their 10,000-year punishment, but most of the Quartzes who weren’t on duty (because they still had to have breaks even if their jobs were more consistent) showed up to watch anyway.

Carnelian checked the computer to see if it had detected any important information on the Communication Channels.

Nothing.

She also checked another, now-defunct, Communication Channel.

It had been used on Earth during the Rebellion to send reports back to Homeworld, and Carnelian figured that if there was still Gem technology on Earth that could theoretically send messages, they would still use that channel.

Ol’ 8XM was back on Earth by now. Homeworld undoubtedly had a present-day interest in the Earth, though what it was exactly was unclear. But if there was one thing Carnelian knew for sure, it was that if Homeworld had an interest in something, they would stop at nothing to satisfy that interest.

The Gem War was evidence of this, and of how lethal the resulting conflicts could get.

If the Crystal Gems ever needed any help, 8XM would know just who to call.