Chương 203: LOG-194.

"O-Oh! And this is where we practice what dance routines I was able to scrounge up from the remaining data banks from upstairs! Ah, before those stopped working too." When Viridian had first enamoured her with the thought of escaping the Reef, Patina had quickly grown enamoured with the descriptions of the various places she would eventually be able to see and explore.

"Fascinating. You mentioned that you all have managed to figure out how to ensure basic maintenance of the power core beneath the facility. Did these data banks tell you how to do that too?" An academic curiosity at best. I would prefer to remain at my creator's side when possible, regardless of location. Shush, silly analysis suite. She knew.

Anyway, aside from her own affection towards the thought of things like trees and mountains and donut shops (which she still needed to research more, honestly), Patina had figured that her first experiences beyond the facility she had been made in would at the very least prove slightly different to everything she had known throughout the extent of her relatively short life.

"Partly, yes. Blue is actually the most proficient with them, I was just the first to wake up, so I taught her everything I managed to figure out, and then she took things from there!" The irony of the Atoll's various interiors being almost identical to those of the Reef thus didn't elude her, so much so that she had begun distinctly suspecting that the place's schematics had surely been inspired by the Reef's own construction, if not outright copied from the older facility.

The thoughts pervaded even as the beige figure ahead of her continued to ramble on about just about anything she could seem to think up, the two of them walking down a hallway that supposedly led into the local Batch's training area. Several minutes away from the area that led back up into the upper level. Far enough that she was actually kind of isolated, now that she thought about it. …

Perhaps having separated from Viridian and Violet wasn't the smartest move, but when the entirety of Atoll Batch Two had been gathered (save for a Gem named Head, who she was now moving to meet), she'd exchanged a glance with her creator that had told her just about everything she'd needed to know, their respective analysis suites having apparently concurred on one thing.

Namely that the Lost Batch were all practically no better than freshly emerged Pearls, despite her suspicion that they were older than many, many other Gems. This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. A matter of experience. An effectively immortal lifespan is of no true benefit when the extent of that same long lived life consists of hiding in an overgrown basement.

Pursing her lips at the thought, Patina reached over and tapped her counterpart on the shoulder, prompting a surprised flinch from the beige Gem before she seemingly remembered just who she had been speaking to, a hand rising to rub at the section of lightform even as she tilted her head.

"Ah, I was rambling. Did…did you have another question?" Slowing to a stop as she regarded the tall figure standing in the corner of the enlarged chamber, Patina kept a wary eye on who she was rapidly beginning to suspect was the missing 'Head' while crossing her arms, injecting a curious note into her tone.

"Back when you and Eyes first ran into us, you seemed surprised that we were from the Reef. But your education reportedly consists entirely of information salvaged from failing data repositories within your own facility. Did you learn about it from that as well?" A probing question.

Either the Pearl would tell the truth, which was extremely unlikely, considering how equally unlikely so much viable information being contained within an abandoned facility was, or she would lie, and Patina's analysis suite would pick the local's fabrication apart and help her figure out the real story.

"Well…no. It's…kind of a long story. I can tell you after we say hello to Head?" Telling the truth. Quirking a brow, Patina filed the knowledge away for later. Viridian would no doubt be pleased to hear of everything the Pearl could gather, busy as the Nacre was interrogating the rest of Batch Two on the capabilities of their home.

"She's just staring at a wall. Can't she hear us from over there?" Shows no indication of having noticed us. Not even via subconscious movement. Either possesses incredible control of her lightform, or is genuinely unaware of our presence. Her words earned a wince from Khaki, even as the both of them passed the breadth of the training hall with a few quick strides, leaving them both standing behind the large figure that seemed to be the shortest out of the trio of Big Pearls that existed amongst the Lost Batch.

"Head is…very smart, compared to Eyes and Horn. She's the only one who can really talk in a way that matters, with her hands. But she tends to be lost in her own thoughts a lot more often as a consequence of that, so it takes a bit to get her attention." The other Gem hesitated, a pleading look being shot Patina's way that she couldn't help but acknowledge with a softening of her own features.

"Just… give me a moment. I'm sure you'll like speaking to her, she's really quite clever once she gets going!" Tilting her head as her counterpart stepped over and began tugging on one of the unresponsive giant's greyish brown fingers, Patina settled for waiting in place, idly entertaining herself with thoughts of what the rest of her own Batch might be doing. … Assuming they had escaped intact. The entirety of Batch Eighteen remain a well trained, well motivated, and well coordinated force.

One trained in various fields, from social subterfuge and manipulation scenarios to direct and violent combat tactics. While the odds of anyone escaping the chaos that the Reef was engulfed by is statistically low, my own departure with Viridian and Violet indicates that it is more than possible that everyone else found their own way out as well. It doesn't really make me feel better though. Ugh, now she was feeling melancholic about things as well, just great.

Hopefully her creator and Batchmate were having a better time of things. With any luck, Viridian was either concocting some kind of plan to get them out of here, or was still interrogating the other Pearls. And Violet was… Probably messing with someone, knowing the winged menace of a Gem. Hmph.