01

[stickupherforehead]

Who: Pearl and YOU
Broadcast: Fleetwide
Action: Marsiva
When: 6/19 till shuffle

[sleeping Pearl kinda looks dead. If anything, it's probably because she's not moving at all. Or breathing, for that matter. And when she regains consciousness, it's all at once. No gradual waking up for her.

In fact, as soon as her eyes pop open, she's scrambling out of the bed, getting tangled in the bedsheets, and falling onto the floor right onto her face with a loud thud.

A hissing intake of breath, and then Pearl is turning around and staring in surprise at...the bed.]

Sleeping? But that's not...I've never -

[and then she finally sees the giant windows and more importantly, the fact that she's in space. Oh and also that she's probably been kidnapped or something like that.

..............]

GARNET! AMETHYST!!!

[and she's tearing off the bedsheets and scrambling to her feet. Don't hyperventilate. Stay calm. Don't freak out. This doesn't look like Gem based technology. Then again, she barely knows what modern Gem technology looks like. But, but it could also be some completely unknown alien species who had somehow kidnapped her and taken her hostage and of which she knows absolutely nothing about!!

.....] STEVEN!!

Comments

[stigmaofsuccess]

[Julian blinks, but shows no other sign of shock or distress at the question.]

Yes, I am. Full blood as far back as I'm aware. What are your people called?

[stickupherforehead]

[at that answer, Pearl frowns, looking even more contemplative than before.

Oh right. You asked a question.] We're the Gems. [though she doesn't seem to expect that to mean anything to you.

However...] You are surprisingly accepting, for a human. Most of the ones I've met seem to be in denial.

[it's like it's easier for them to just think that she's a weird looking human]

[stigmaofsuccess]

[He nods at her answer. No, it doesn't mean anything much, but he recognises that Pearl is not human.]

I've met a lot of different species. Do your people have caste, regional, gender or other linguistic pronouns you prefer to be used?

[stickupherforehead]

[yup, this just makes her even more curious about you.]

We're usually referred to as women, but I suppose you could also say that we're all women. [she just shrugs lightly.]

[stigmaofsuccess]

All right. [He gives her a hesitant smile and a nod.]

I try to avoid offending people. I'm not always good at it, but I do try. I always thought there'd be advantages to be a single sexed species. Culturally, I mean. Similar biological and hormonal processes.

[stickupherforehead]

I'm not too sure about the biological part, [given the overwhelmingly inorganic aspect of their existence] but that doesn't stop us from fighting amongst ourselves anyway. [ahahah. Ha.]

[stigmaofsuccess]

... you mentioned you were called Gems... do you have bio-organic silicates? [His gaze flicks to the pearl on her forehead.]

Well, no. It's the nature of most dominant species to fight, unfortunately.

[stickupherforehead]

[she just shakes her head] We're inorganic, in that we derive all the energy we need from our gems.

[even if she does look like she's made from flesh and blood. That seems to be the hardest point for most organics to swallow.]

[stigmaofsuccess]

... you are alive. By definition, anything alive is 'organic'. It's just a matter of what form that organic takes. Horta are completely silicate, made of stones and minerals.

[He's looking more and more interested though.]

Internal power generation, that's fascinating. Do you need to fuel the stone, or are you simply born with all the resources you internally need for your life span? What sort of energy is it?

[stickupherforehead]

[headtilt, chinhands. That's certainly one way to look at it. Difference in terminology, she's not about to complain about how she's being treated like a person rather than a thing.]

I suppose "magic" is as good a word as any. [even if they can turn their bodies into light and reform them at will.

That's the word that worked with humans back home, at any rate. Though she already has a higher opinion of you than of most humans she knows, which might be why she's continuing to speak.] We certainly require energy to be made, but after that, we're self sufficient.

[stigmaofsuccess]

[She's intelligent, therefore she's a person. That simple. He considers Data a person, despite being an AI and completely human made.]

Magic. All right. So you don't know the technicalities behind it, or your people have simply always called it that?

Made, not birthed?

[You are fascinating, Pearl, you are one fascinating person.]

[stickupherforehead]

[she seems to grumble a bit at that. Science and engineering are her things.] We reform light to meet our purposes. There are inherent limitations that vary within each individual, but I suppose all the glowing made it easier to simply refer to it as magic.

[we can either blame it on early Gems for the terminology or because it's easier for the average human or because it's a kid's show]

Made, formed. Either way, we're not derived from another Gem.

[stigmaofsuccess]

[The more she talks, the more enchanted Julian seems.]

Reform light... powered by the game... you're an intelligent crystalline matrix projecting and reshaping light to a physically interactive wavelength?

[stickupherforehead]

For the most part. [unless canon states otherwise in future episodes.

Pearl just shrugs, and then draws her spear from her suddenly glowing Gem. She offers it to Julian to examine.

It's a light (hah) spear, definitely cut to suit her height. Its elegance belies the keenness of the blade at the end.] Most humans are satisfied with the "magic" explanation.

[stigmaofsuccess]

Julian takes the weapon carefully, feeling along it, lifting it to actually listen to it as his fingers skim over it.

And then he gives a weak chuckle.] Yes, well, I've never been most people. Magic is simply science we're not technologically advanced enough to understand, and this is something I can give words to.

You, Pearl, are truly wondrous being.

[stickupherforehead]

[is that a light flush? Maybe.] There are plenty of Gems stronger than me.

[the spear seems almost ordinary. It's quiescent enough, in somebody else's hands.]

You've said you've met many species. [hence this odd open-mindedness] How is that possible? Well, unless you're speaking of animal species on Earth. Humans aren't a space traveling species, as far as I know.

[stigmaofsuccess]

[He presents it back to her like he would offer a Klingon weaponry. Haft of the spear towards her, resting on his palms so there's no mistake that he's trying to hold onto it.]

My people are. I'm... not from the same world as most people here. The same Earth. Or the same time. I'm from 2373. The Earth is part of a Federation of worlds and people who wish to peacefully coexist. I... can't really imagine growing up without multiple sentient species around.

[stickupherforehead]

[she takes it, spins it almost absent mindedly, and then it up and disappears, leaving behind little motes of light. A moment later, even those dissipate altogether.]

2373... [and different worlds. Multiple universes, and humans seem to play a part in each one.

Different time systems? It sounds like it could fit into the one she knows, however.] Humans always seem to move so quickly.

[stigmaofsuccess]

By the conventional dating system of Earth, where zero was a year designated to be the birth of a major religious figure and annual solar rotations were counted up from that point.

[stickupherforehead]

That sounds about right. I suppose some aspects of human culture are bound to pop up here and there.

[stigmaofsuccess]

I'd give you the stardate but I honestly don't know it. I'm not sure how long I've been away from the station. There's no day/night cycle in the camp.

You... live on Earth, then?

[stickupherforehead]

For quite a while. [heck, she practically watched humans invent agriculture.]

I suppose you could say it's my home now.

[stigmaofsuccess]

I haven't been back to Earth in quite a few years. I... don't think I really miss it.

[stickupherforehead]

It would be difficult, given how much there is to see in the galaxy. [and her gaze is drawn back to window.

So no, this wasn't how she'd imagine it would be to finally travel again.]

[stigmaofsuccess]

Maybe.

[He looks back out the window as she does, at unfamiliar stars and the strange, large ship, smaller craft moving around it.]