SRL. LOG-219. (Patreon)

LOG-219.“Mmph-”Bite, tear, chew, swallow.I felt my throat undulate slightly as the piece of chocolate glazed dough travelled down its length, before settling into the makeshift ‘stomach’ I had formed for the purpose of eating.In reality, it was just a hollow portion of lightform that levelled out just behind my gemstone, allowing me to reabsorb any remnants of food back into my storage for proper disposal later. But that, in my opinion, wasn’t the impressive part of my replicated biology.No, the tastebuds were the real work of art. Shamelessly stolen from Amethyst’s blueprints, back when we’d been Slate Opal. A complex series of interconnected sensors which all directly connected to my supercomputer of a core, translating their signals into something that approximated what the human tongue did effortlessly.Like some maddened glutton, I barely allowed the previous bite to vanish before viciously ripping loose another chunk out of the confectionery I had pulled forth, continuing my celebration.Aside from the idle sounds of various subtle systems working throughout White’s-no, throughout my ship, my renewed chewing was the only real noise present within the bridge. It had been, last I had checked, exactly seventeen hours, forty three minutes, and fifty five seconds since I had made my glorious escape. In that time, my liberated vessel’s internal navigation computer had rerouted the pride of the Imperial navy through thousands of systems, blitzing through hundreds of different isolated corridors of space, weaving a web of confusion that was enough to satisfy even my paranoia.Homeworld would search, without a doubt. But assuming they actually managed to track the initial jump that had been the apex of my rebellion, they would be faced with a ship that had seemingly been everywhere throughout Imperial territory, going in every direction, and with no clue which path might prove the real one.Of course most of that process was thankfully automated, which left me with a bit of time to settle my jittered self, calming nerves that I didn’t have, and thinking on my next move.Bite, tear, chew, swallow.And on my previous one. The donuts, as nice as they were, ultimately served as little more than a stalling tactic. Because now that I wasn’t being faced with danger all around me, now that the ghost of a heart I had felt somewhere within my breast wasn’t pounding against my lightform…I was able to curse my own idiocy.Hurt her. Hurt her? What was I, some kind of dark avenger?! No! That had been stupid! Stupid stupid stupid! Why had I done that? Why would I take that kind of obscene risk when I could have just quietly left?I had burned any and all opportunity for me to be anything but an openly rebellious Gem from this point on, and for what? A petty desire to see the one responsible for the Empire that had caused me so much trouble experience a momentary lapse of composure?…Yes, yes, I had. But I wouldn’t have acted on that kind of desire. Not alone. Not with such staunch, almost single minded focus and determination.Like a particularly precocious limpet that just refused to go away, the parasite in my head rose up, still disguised as my own thoughts, still trying to be helpful, but ironically enough, serving to practically tattle on itself in response to my mental state.Current evidence is clear. The White Code exists to augment me, and assist me in achieving my goals, whatever they might be. It latched onto a fundamentally irrational thought and manipulated me into treating it as seriously as possible.Staring down at my crumb covered claws, I leaned over slightly, back hunching against the backrest of my command throne as I considered that repeated detail.At first, the virus in my mind had sought to make me ‘perfect.’ Potentially a lingering directive from whatever it did inside White Diamond’s own code. But after prolonged exposure, it had changed course and focused on making me as ruthlessly efficient as possible. I was technically the problem, because the damned malware was acting based off of my own goals, even when I otherwise would never have acted upon them.It was untenable. I was already unstable enough that I could be tricked into sending out a galaxy wide signal of me calling the Imperial Matriarch a clod to her damned face. Just how worse would I get? Would I kill a person if it meant getting a donut three seconds quicker? Would I betray my friends at the drop of a hat if it meant I got some kind of advantage that only my subconscious could see? Where would it end?“I’m spiraling…”Bringing up a hand, I let my face practically drop into the comforting embrace of my palm, talons gently dragging around the sides of my head as I let out a quiet groan.Right, I’d been alone for long enough. Time had been taken to think, and I’d already eaten seventeen of my precious, stockpiled snacks. It was about time I spoke to someone other than the ship’s internal robonoid VI, preferably before I devoured the rest of my limited supply.—Patina was currently sat across from me in a throne of her own. In a most un-Pearl-like fashion, her legs were spread wide, with her elbows resting atop her knees and her hands clasped together in front of her mouth as if in prayer.Brows literally designed to be elegant remained unpleasantly furrowed, and the green eyes beneath them, so very similar to my own, continued to stare at me in utter consternation, all as I resisted the urge to give in to my child’s chastising gaze.“I don’t know whether she’s brainwashed or just stupid.”The words didn’t come from my long haired creation, but rather from the purple terror currently perched atop my shoulder, legs swinging back and forth against its front as the miniature Gem poked at the side of my head with a contemplative air.Patina made a very serious attempt at visibly considering the statement, before closing her eyes and nodding softly.“Mm. Both.”That earned a snort from the Pearl’s sister, who pushed herself away from the lock of hair she’d been inspecting with a light huff.“That’d do it! We’ve got a stupid, brainwashed mom!”My lips came down in a severe scowl, though any heat behind the expression was dissipated in the face of my voice holding the same humour present in the duo’s tones.“Well excuse me for opening up to my kids about my less than intelligent decisions.”A second or two passed in silence after that, before we all descended into some flavour of giggling. My chest shook even as Violet’s wings fluttered violently behind her, while Patina quietly fell limp in her seat, staring up at the ceiling and the strange, fractal patterns that decorated it.We stayed like that for a time, all just winding down from the lengthy explanation I’d given as to everything the two had missed. It was just as I was considering speaking up that my second creation broke the silence once more, eyes still glued to the flowing artwork above us.“So…this is it then. We’re going to Earth.”I nodded quickly, even as the Pearl on my shoulder sprung upwards, hopping off my shoulder and letting herself gently glide towards the series of holographic screens and physical controls, long since relocated out of the way in order to give us some space.Tiny feet landed atop the crystalline surface of one of several pillars I had ordered the ship fabricate for her use, before she twirled about, stamping a slipper against its top as she did so.“Earth! Honestly was starting to think it wouldn’t happen. Reckon it’s still the same as you left it? I’m looking forward to meeting Brim!”It was a blatantly transparent attempt at injecting some enthusiasm into the group, and I allowed myself to be drawn into my daughter’s attempt, feeling my lips twitch upwards as I thought about the Lapis Lazuli in question.“Well, I sincerely doubt it’s the exact same. Who knows what over a decade of development will have done, especially since there’s probably significantly more rebels present than there otherwise might have been. As for Brim, well I...”Pausing, I slowly reached down towards my gemstone, and with a flash of light, pulled forth a specific item from my storage.The trinket reappeared just as it had back when I’d toyed with it at the Crystal Confluence, the simple metal band turning gently in my grip as the feathers coating it rustled at the movement, most of them taken from bog standard terran birds, with a few distinct specimens donated by a few of the rogue terraformer’s Avian brethren.Staring at the keepsake for a moment while painfully aware of Patina and Violet’s gazes, I let out a breath, bowing my head.“I’m looking forward to seeing her too. Along with Emerald and Vermilion.”Shooting a glance towards the larger of the pair of Pearls, I pushed my smile back into place.“She’d love you, I think. You’re very similar to her, in a lot of ways.”Amusingly enough, Patina actually ended up blushing slightly at that, even as Violet burst back into motion, prattling off about how she’d probably end up racing any other flight capable beings she encountered on Earth.It was all but inevitable that a certain question was brought up however, and a rather complicated one at that.After all, the two Pearls in front of me weren’t the only members of Batch Eighteen.“How exactly are we going to get the others? How can we even be sure they’re actually alive?”Leaning back into my seat at Patina’s serious expression, I resisted the urge to say something foolish. There were already thoughts percolating somewhere in the back of my head, tainted by the White Code no doubt. Calculations and plans for turning the ship right around and conducting a search pattern that could potentially give us an above zero chance of finding my lost children.Instead, I set those ambitious ideas aside and focused on what I could truly control, along with what was actually in front of me. Green and purple eyes stared back at me as I opened my mouth, closed it, and then opened it again, practically forcing the words out as my talons fiddled with the ring of metal held between them.“...We have to hope that they’re alive, and safe.”Before either of the two could object (Violet, most likely, the little thing had been rearing up from one of her pillars with an incensed expression) I held up a hand, shaking my head.“Right now, we need to make sure we’re actually in a position to help them before risking ourselves in an attempt to do so. Getting to Earth will do that. We can link back up with other rebels. The Crystal Gems, Fawn, maybe even the Retaliator. A larger group will do a lot more than just us three. And besides…”Injecting as much levity into my voice as I could, I gave a mirthful shrug.“Seeing how the both of you have performed so far, I wouldn’t be surprised if everyone else already got to Earth ahead of us! They certainly would have had a rather large head start!”The statement didn’t entirely diffuse our collective worry, but it was enough for us to comfortably move on to other topics, even as I kept an idle eye on one of the holographic screens, watching the ship’s progress as it steadily jumped from system to system, until we cleared the borders of the Andromeda galaxy entirely.The calculations ran through my mind almost as quickly as the navicomputer spat them out, comparing current speeds and their durations with the lightyears ahead. Our ride was one of the fastest vessels in the fleet it had once acted as the flagship of, with custom, bespoke systems that were considered the very best of the best.With all that in mind, we would reach the Milky Way galaxy in roughly four days, and then Earth seven hours after that. Plenty of time to relax before then, and prepare for my hopeful reunion with those I had been separated from for so very long.I just hoped I could keep Patina and Violet from going stir crazy until then. After all, this wasn’t my first lengthy trip between galaxies, but it would be theirs.