Chương 167: LOG-159.

The air was charged within the incubation chambers, the area carrying a current of anticipation and mild apprehension that simply didn't exist within the rest of the Reef. Or maybe the feeling was all just in my head, even as I watched the almost egg shaped cradles slot into place along the wide, rectangular racks they slid upon, their transparent shells betraying the liquid sloshing about inside of them.

And within that somewhat murky liquid were the vague shapes of gemstones, the little bundles of potential keeping my attention while Nacre One consulted a nearby terminal in silence. Two and Three stood slightly off to my side, the former uncharacteristically quiet, while the latter was openly glancing back and forth, observing the respective glyphs describing the contents of each individual pod. A to Z. A full Batch that would be spread out between the four of us.

"Shell, begin final structural scans." The words came from One, but they seemed to echo in my own head as well, and I faintly realised that I'd been on the verge of ordering it myself. Another result of my Caretaker programming package. With what the code told me… this was one of the most important developmental milestones.

The assurance that the Pearls that had been quietly gestating within their solutions had followed the correct paths in growth to ensure they had the stability required to exist, lest they fall apart the second they left their pods.

"Warning. Structural fault detected in Pearl cradle A." And yet just as the unfortunate thought of having to discard a defective gemstone came to mind, a sharp beep drew my gaze towards the monitor, and the dismayed expression rapidly beginning to overtake One's face. I didn't hesitate in striding away from my observation of the other Pearls, stopping just behind the Nacre currently immersed in reading through lines of glyphs, even as a crimson light shone over the very first pod of the line.

"That doesn't seem promising." My dry statement earned a quick glance from the Gem, before she shook her head and continued trying to glean more information from whatever Shell was telling her, tone somewhat worried.

"No, it's not. There are usually a few subjects in need of adjustment, but generally the first of the Batch comes out just fine." My eyes widened as I actually inspected some of the glyphs myself, while Two stepped forward, towards the singled out pod. Three began to walk along the line of other machines, presumably searching for any visible faults in other specimens with an almost frantic air hidden beneath a mask of calm professionalism.

Meanwhile, Two had finally stopped, grimacing while leaning over the crimson-lit cradle, hands planted against her waist.

"I'm seeing visible damage. Signs of flaking near the crown. I…don't believe Eighteen A will survive solution removal." An uncharacteristic aura of despondency fell over all three of my subordinates at that, before Nacre One glanced at me out of the corner of her eye, voice almost hesitant.

"Ah… we generally tend to flush out the ones that don't make it. We'll do our best to recover what essence we can from the shards beforehand, but it's safe to say that we will be at least one Pearl short this Batch." My eyes narrowed at the statement, before I slowly turned to look at the pod containing the supposedly failed Gem, ignoring the feelings rampaging through my mind at seeing the previously merciless Caretakers… well, care so much, and instead focusing on what my code was telling me.

Flaking tended to begin from the outside of the gemstone, rather than other structural faults, which usually spread from the interior first. Damage like that would be irreversibly scarring to any already formed Gem, if only due to entire segments of their very being (and likely personality) effectively falling off. But Pearls didn't come pre-programmed. It was the job of a Nacre to splice that into them after they were pruned of any excess material that had grown around their core gemstone during incubation.

"... Shell." Three pairs of eyes turned to stare at me as I began to step towards the pod, the Reef's resident ghost answering with her usual polite, but toneless elegance.

"Yes, Overseer?"

"Open cradle Eighteen A."

"By your command, Overseer." I stopped right in front of the container just as the top of it unsealed itself with a hiss, a slight bit of fluid escaping to splatter against the floor while the transparent material lifted itself out of the way, leaving me with what was effectively a weirdly shaped bowl to work with.

"What are you doing?" It was hard to tell which Caretaker had said that. Maybe Two, judging by how close the voice sounded. But I was too preoccupied with my own thoughts to really care. Pearls were encoded after being pruned of excess material. Excess material was identified at the discretion of an attending Nacre, who usually just did their best to follow the original blueprints set out by White Diamond herself. My code kept insisting on that. Follow the blueprint. But the blueprint wouldn't work in this case.

The Pearl had floated up to the surface of the sparkling solution at this point, and I could already see what Two had meant. Already there were nearly microscopic pieces of lavender hued gemstone floating away from their original source, to be lost amidst the liquid. The blueprint didn't work. It was obvious that the blueprint didn't work! At this stage of the flaking there wasn't any- It's my inherent Nacre programming reacting to the situation in the only way it knows how.

And in this case, it's starting to become an unacceptable distraction. I struggled with that for a moment, before forcing back a flinch as a segment the size of a fingernail split away from the flaking Pearl. The blueprint -no. Shut up, the blueprint didn't work here. And it wouldn't! How do I make these stupid protocols shut up?! Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

The inner conflict kept unfolding inside my mind, human thoughts, my thoughts, violently ramming themselves against staunch, stubborn Gem code and trying to find a way, any way to shake it free, and then- Oh, I can. Not permanently. Not without some deep changes, anyway. But… here, a temporary solution at best, but for the course of the operation I'll finally be able to focus properly. And that's what mattered right now. I'll need to get back to this problem in the future.

And just like that, I found myself free to move the way I wanted to, leaving me to reach out towards the little shiny rock.

"Overseer? What-" My claws flashed, and whatever Three had been preparing to ask got caught in her throat as I deftly removed one of the flaking segments, before the splintering it had been suffering could spread to the rest of the structure. But there was more, the entire outer layer was breaking apart, and with each tiny fissure came countless more flakes. More cracks. More problems. More imperfections. So I cut them away too, like a doctor removing infected tissue before it could threaten the rest of the body.

For a brief moment I dreaded the upcoming explanation. After all, how would I explain to them that I was effectively using organic-inspired techniques on a Gem? More appeared. How? How do I stop it from getting worse? … The other thoughts. The analytical… thing White had shoved into my mind. I still didn't know what it was, or if I could trust it for that matter, but right now I needed what little help I could get. So… how do I save this Pearl? The most pressing fault lines are already fixed.

However, the following work will demand a much more delicate form of cutting, alongside the proper equipment to accomplish that task. The Nacres, I could ask one of them for help- the probability of them failing to understand the exact positioning required for this operation is far too high. An unacceptable risk. Shell's tractor arms- the probability of further damage to the Gem during transportation into an appropriate area to allow such a thing is also too high. But I'm not lacking in proper equipment.

Despite appearances, I am wearing bespoke limb enhancers. Part of their functionality should include levitation of digits. But could I do that? Could I just… detach a few claws? Use them as pins? Yes, I can. It was all the confirmation I needed, and as I raised my hands I flexed some part of me I'd known had been there, but hadn't fully comprehended until now. Until the other thing lurking somewhere in my mind had pointed them out.

Two claws on each hand slipped off, floating independently, and I was briefly ecstatic to realise that my normal, regular fingers still existed beneath the artificial talons. Then I focused, four of those makeshift pins moving to arrange themselves around the fracturing gemstone in front of me, shoring up what structural integrity it still had left, and leaving me with six claws to make use of. Leaning in, I narrowed my eyes as more cracks appeared. I cut them out. More. Cut. More. Cut cut cut.

By the time I finished shaving away the last annoying little piece of imperfection with the tip of my index talon, the gemstone was perhaps almost a tenth of the original size. But… it was shaped like a Pearl. And it was no longer flaking. The words slipped out of my mouth almost as an afterthought, even as I cradled the tiny thing in my palms, my deployed talons returning to encase my fingers once more, the seams so fine that had I not known any better, I would have thought they didn't exist at all.

"Shell, run another structural scan on Eighteen A. Search for signs of flaking, splintering, or any other form of progressive damage." A beat passed in silence, and in that brief lull I realised all three of my counterparts had huddled around me, doing their best to stare at the process without getting in the way, unrestrained wonder in their eyes. And then a light tone sounded out from the monitor, Shell's voice coming an instant later.

"Warning, Pearl is significantly lesser in size than estimated projections-""That is not what I commanded." My subordinates, still standing at my sides, stiffened at the sharp tone I held for the unimaginative, uncomprehending machine.

"My apologies, Overseer. No structural faults have been detected." Part of me wanted to swallow at the words, but I held back the inherently organic action, instead shooting a sharp glance to my left, at Nacre One, and then another to my right, at Two and Three.

"I will handle this one's encoding. Get to the rest." There was a flash of hesitation, but they quickly complied once they began to see my eyes narrow. …Leaving me with a ninth of a potential Pearl in my hands, and the sinking sensation that I'd just done something rather remarkable.