The figures unspooled into wisps of smoke, hundreds of Gems swirling into clouds as they reshaped. When they settled, the crowd had disappeared and Mo was standing on the ground. Octidot and Semidot were with her, the former Gem pacing aggressively as Semidot stood stock still. Semidot was relaying information to Octidot. When she finished, Octidot whirled on her in an olive frenzy.

“What do you mean there weren’t any matches?”

Semidot quivered at the Octidot’s bark, too stunned to speak. Octidot turned away from her, approaching Mo with heavy stomps. “This doesn’t just happen! There has to be some kind of record about… THIS!” She took Mo by the shoulders, pulling her face so close that Mo’s pale complexion was reflected in the triangular Gem in Octidot’s cheek. “What in the stars are you?”

Recognition crashed in like a tidal wave. I’d seen this all before, only from a different perspective. Right now, I’m a bystander. Back then, back in that bizarre dream, I was seeing through someone else’s eyes. Mo’s eyes. I had seen her memories! And now, I’m about to watch the rest of the scene play out.

Mo just stared at Octidot, her face completely neutral. Octidot pushed her away, fiddling with a ring clamped around her wrist. A screen appeared in the air. Octidot snatched it and started tapping on the projection. When a bright red square popped up, she threw the screen on the ground, the projection dispersing. “There’s nothing! Not a single record of a Gem with her schematics! This Kindergarten was built for Quartz soldiers! You aren’t a Quartz! You shouldn’t exist!” She spat at Mo, who just tilted her head to one side. Octidot grunted and kicked at a pebble. “Now I have to deal with this mistake!”

“What mistake?”

Octidot froze. Semitdot seemed like she might poof on the spot. Mo didn’t react to the voice, only shifting her empty gaze to its source. I heard the sound of feet against stone, amplified tenfold. The smoke surged, racing up the surrounding cliffs. When it pulled back, the stone had been reshaped, passages sealed off and new ones appearing in their place. The entire terrain had changed in seconds, but the three of them didn’t seem to notice. The smoke settled on the ground, covering the frozen Gems’ legs within a shifting shroud. A new figure appeared from one of the newly formed passages, her form towering over the others and level with the cliffs on her sides. A coat with oversized shoulder pads filled my vision. I had to turn my entire head to see her whole form: crisp gloves, a bodysuit, a helmet-like hairstyle, and those high-heeled boots that should be almost impossible to walk in, much less run like I knew she’s capable of doing. All of those were similar shades of the same color that differed slightly.

Yellow.

So many thoughts raced through my head as Yellow Diamond covered the space separating her from the trio in three steps. She stared down at them as if they were mere insects that had managed to catch her eye. Octidot swiftly formed the Diamond salute, Semidot hastily copying her. Yellow made a disinterested sound in her throat. When her eyes swept over Mo, she leaned down, her shadow blanketing the three of them.

“What. Is. That?” Yellow drew out, her voice was tense as she enunciated each word.

Octidot, despite her terrible attitude, made an admirable show of gathering her courage and finding the nerve to reply. “That’s is what we are trying to ascertain, My Diamond.”

Yellow’s eyes narrowed as she stared at Mo. The smaller Gem didn’t look away with her expressionless gaze, seemingly unaware of the situation she’s in. “What happened here?”

Octidot swallowed but kept her steel. “One of the Injectors was damaged during transport. This Gem was formed using a sample of said Injector. We believe that is the main variant and possibly the source of the rest of the Off-Colors.”

“The rest?” Yellow’s mulled. Her voice sounded underwhelmed, but I know what she’s capable of unleashing with one a wave of her hand. “How many Off-Colors were created in this Kindergarten?”

Octidot realized her mistake. Had she not expected Yellow Diamond to find out, or is her appearance a complete surprise? Given the strict structure that Homeworld used to have, I had assumed that Yellow was expected. If her arrival was random, then I’m truly clueless. “Well, you see, My Diamond, that’s complicated-”

“Get on with it, Peridot.” Yellow’s patience was waning quickly.

Octidot was trapped, her fear about to be ripped open and exposed before the Diamond. “All of them, your Radiance.”

Yellow straightened, once more returning to her staggering height. “I see. So one of our colonies, one of White Diamonds colonies, has bared nothing but Off-Colors. And not only that, but an Injector carrying essence extracted from White Diamond herself was used despite sustaining damage.”

“That’s correct, My Diamond.”

Yellow raised her hand, her aura surging from her glove like a bolt of lightning. The energy surged, racing across the sky and shocking Semidot. Yellow circuits surged across her body until she poofed, her Gem landing with an ear-shattering clank against the stone, lost amongst the cloud of smoke.

Octidot stared at the spot her subordinate had been standing seconds ago. Her angry bravado had vanished, fear etched into every line of her face.

“I’ve never seen such incompetence in all of my existence!” Yellow’s voice barely raised, but it sounded like she had been attached to an amplifier. It’s that controlled anger she uses, keeping her emotions in check even while she’s furious. “You’ve managed to squander the most important resource at our disposal, creating a batch of useless Gems in the process! The efforts and time placed into this Kindergarten have gone to waste! You will scrounge up every scrap and prevent this damage from spreading any further!”

Octidot bowed deeply, her arms never disentangling from her salute. “Immediately, My Diamond! What shall I do about… them?”

Yellow’s eyes seemed to glow as another pulse of aura coursed over her body. “This is a mistake. Destroy it!” Yellow’s hand shot out again, a beam of aura crashing into Mo.y

Mo’s back arched, her limbs going rigid as circuits sprouted on her body as well. The smoke swelled, momentarily washing over the lower half of my body. It was all I could do to keep from screaming.

Amethyst doubled over, clutching at her gemstone. I pressed against my naval, trying to stop the horrible feeling that was radiating from my gem. It felt like I was being pulled apart, my body trying to tear itself to pieces. I was scattering, the very fiber of my being coming apart at the seams! I was falling apart!

When the sensation became unbearable, Mo screamed. It was the first thing I heard from her mouth since she emerged. The sound was so mangled that I couldn’t tell if it was from the pain or the fear or something else, each sensation being thrown onto us alongside Mo. The smoke withdrew, taking the unraveling with it. My body came crashing back together. The smoke swirled around Mo as her shriek grew louder. Her gemstone glowed and the smoke leaped. More fumes poured my Mo’s body and cloaked her. It shouldn’t be possible, but the spreading of the circuits ceased. Mo gritted her teeth as she brought her hands to her chest. The smoke surrounding her whipped into a funnel, pressing against the discharge tearing at Mo’s form.

Mo’s repealing Yellow attack!

Yellow gasped, a sound so rare from her that it may have been thousands of years since she was taken off guard. “What is this?”

Mo threw her arms out in front of herself, the smoke responding in turn by spinning even faster and wider. In a burst of wisps and sparks, the electricity fizzled out as the smoke funnel unwound. Mo fell to her knees, her hair ragged and her arms trembling. She drew her hands to her shoulders, the smoke mimicking her action by wrapping itself around her in a massive funnel cloud. It spun faster and faster, dissolving into a blur that made me dizzy just watching. The smoke started to glow, distorting the shadows of the Kindergarten. The cloud erupted, a massive plume charging straight at Yellow. It struck, the impact was so intense that the entire scene rippled. Yellow was forced to take a step back, her heel gouging a groove into the ground. The cloud wrapped itself around Yellow until she was encased inside a quivering cacoon.

Mo was panting, the effort of using so much of her power bringing tears to her eyes. The circuits still lingered on her skin, bright yellow against her pale complexion. A bright spot in the cloud appeared, glowing brighter and larger by the second. The spot exploded, a surge of electricity vaporizing the cloud and freeing Yellow. She was absolutely furious, her expression almost identical to the one she made when I first tried to tell her I had Pink Diamond’s gem. Mo was desperately trying to hold herself up, her full weight supported by her shaking arms and knees. Yellow took two steps forward, the toe of her heels less than a foot away from Mo’s head. As Mo looked up at the enormous Gem above her, Yellow lifted her hand which surged with her aura. Despite her massive size, Yellow moved swiftly, crouching as she dropped her hand. Mo couldn’t move as Yellow’s palm crushed her.