Chương 149: LOG-141.

Awareness…

"Ah, the replacement. Poor thing, forced into a role you were never designed for. Cruel of my Sunshine, to keep you here…and another indication of how she's lost sight of what is proper for a Diamond to do." Awareness was returned, just as quickly as it had been taken from me.

"Don't worry, I'll be sure to take good care of you." And with that awareness… came violation. I could feel it even as my gemstone (wrong, wrong, wrong) rose into the air, spiraling energy coalescing as a marionette of light was formed. For the first time ever, at least as far as I was aware, I had been discorporated. Poofed. And I hadn't even been cognizant enough to comprehend it. The marionette gained features. Eyes. Hair. Clothing. I could feel it all. Bits of myself.

Traits that quickly began to give the silhouette of light a resemblance to… well, to me. And that's where things… were strange. Some part of me, whether it be code or something else, knew that I was supposed to have a choice. The chance to make changes of my own. There was no choice. That had apparently been made for me. As my eyes opened, I could see my arms. Long. Longer than they should be.

As I landed on a sparkling white floor, the only thing that kept me upright was my natural sense of balance, and even that briefly struggled in the face of feeling significantly taller than I was. Or had been, apparently. And oh… my gemstone. Wrong. Wrong. Right. What? No. Focus, Viridian. My… gemstone. Yes. It was bigger now. The one physical part of myself that truly represented everything that was me, was different than I remembered it being. I was different than I remembered being…

"Ah, you've finally reformed. Excellent." My head didn't snap around. Nor did it twist to glance at the source of the noise in a painfully slow manner. Instead, I turned to glance to my side in a perfectly normal fashion, expression carefully placid. I was in an unknown environment.

I had been under the effects of mind control, with an unknown amount of time having passed, judging by the (ultimately merciful, if still horrifying) fact that I had been utterly unaware of myself or anything around me during that period. And most importantly… I was currently stuck staring at the spitting image of White Diamond herself, clad in what looked to be a labcoat of all things, and with a gemstone that didn't shine enough to be the genuine article.

Nevermind the fact that she was apparently closer to my own size, rather than towering above me like that monster did. The part of me that wanted to shut down loudly protested that I wasn't allowing a keening wail to escape my throat right now. The rest of me politely ignored it as the unknown Gem dipped her head slightly, as if in acknowledgement of my silence.

"Ah, of course. Introductions. I am Moissanite Alpha. Chief scientific director of crystalline lifeform studies, and acting assistant to White Diamond, at least during the extent of your operation." This time, I couldn't help myself. My mouth moved to do something, anything, and so before I could let out a scream, I strangled the raw noise into a word, ensuring it remained perfect. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

"Operation?" Alpha nodded, eyes lighting up in a way that would almost feel endearing, if not for her horribly familiar appearance.

"Indeed! It was quite extensive, and dare I say it, novel procedure! Very experimental of course, but I suppose that's just a consequence of never having attempted to upgrade a Gem before-" I allowed my head to tilt imperceptibly, stuffing down the rising urge to lunge at the Moissanite and rip her gemstone out of her lightform with my claws, even as she began to bustle along a wall covered in machines that I quite honestly couldn't make heads or tails of.

"What was done to me?" Pausing, the white Gem glanced at me out of the corner of her eye, a holographic screen being projected from…somewhere, hovering just in front of her and displaying data at a pace that should have been unreadable.

"You were improved, dear. Our Diamond brought you home, and sought to correct your lack of purpose. She was rather impressed with you, don't you know?" Alpha smiled kindly at me, eyes lidding slightly.

"Be proud, it is not an achievement many have accomplished. Ah, but regardless of your excellent impression, you were a Pearl without a proper owner! An incredibly talented one, especially considering your original Era Two makeup, but again, ultimately purposeless." I stared as the Moissanite turned back to her little screen, carelessly swiping at it with a seemingly gloved finger. For just a second, my hands trembled, before I forcibly stilled them.

"Our Diamond felt it a waste to simply hand you off to another Gem. But alas, she already has a…Pearl of her own. So you have been given a new purpose! One befitting your newly elevated gemstone! And believe me, convincing our illustrious creator to make use of some of the remaining Pink essence reserve to…well, complete you, was a task and a half." Glancing back down at my overly long arm, I stared at the limb for a long moment, even as Alpha hummed to herself.

"I am…pale." The miniature White nodded happily in response, now handling a pair of vials filled with…something, that she quickly poured into what I could only describe as a hypertech bucket.

"An intentional modification for the sake of Court based aesthetics. While certainly not as vibrant as your previous viridian green, it serves to distinguish you as a White Court Gem. Like me!" I didn't breathe. Because I wasn't sure whether I was supposed to be breathing or not right now.

"You haven't properly answered my question. What have you done to me?" Alpha blinked in surprise at my calm but persistent query, before shaking her head ruefully.

"Well I certainly didn't… well no, I suppose I helped, but the bulk of the work was done by our perfect Diamond. It seems expecting the code additions to fill you in was too much to ask for. Maybe they'll take later-ah, apologies, I'm distracting myself. Congratulations are in order!" Staring as a miniature explosion erupted from the bucket, one which was rapidly sucked up into another machine's weird…

portal-vent looking thing, I silently noted the annoyingly chaotic nature of the strange science experiment, before focusing back on the Moissanite now gesturing towards me.

"It is my great pleasure to be the first to confirm your promotion from Viridian Pearl order Sixteen B, to Nacre Four. Newly designated Overseer of the Reef facility, currently located on White One!" … What?