Chương 213: LOG-204.

I'd wasted time working on the mech, and after a while I'd settled on the whole effort just proving... pointless. As much as I'd been able to finagle certain systems back into place (it was almost like working on a starfighter, honestly), I didn't know what the control interface was even supposed to be, let alone how to install it. The end result was me giving up on the prospect of a big stompy robot, and focusing on what really mattered.

"A-And you're absolutely certain this isn't…you know, hurting them?" Integration is complete. Attached updates are maintaining overall cohesion. Further data can only be acquired through practical testing. With several distinct clicks, my talons pulled away from where they had been pressed against the rough, overgrown material set in front of me, my other hand pulling forward a hologram, one generated from my own gemstone.

"Pain isn't something they will feel, no." I could hear Khaki mumble some vaguely appreciative words as my eyes roved over rapidly evolving glyphs and symbols that would have given me a migraine, had I still been shackled to a mere meat brain. Instead, the visual representation of the adjustments I was making to Head's programming served in keeping me apprised of any issues, ones that might stem from the prism I had painstakingly merged with her core.

"Ah, t-that's good then!" That had been a process in and of itself, one that had likely caused the very disaster I was now being forced to confront. But whereas the Moissanites had been working with an experimental prototype that could apparently output enough energy to flood the entire sky with flaming holographic ghosts, my own project was more… reasonable, in scope.

Further interrogation of Shell (though even calling it that was a bit of a misnomer, considering how cooperative the large Pearl was) had concluded with the safe assumption that whoever was generating the burning clones was in fact, a singular individual. One likely located within an adjacent facility that was actually relatively close to where we were.

From everything I'd since learned, chances were that I wasn't dealing with some kind of eldritch monster, nor some out of control, rampant plague like I had tricked the Empire into believing existed on Earth. Instead, I was dealing with a Gem. An insane Gem, but still just a Gem. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"Uhm, I… I know I've asked already but, is… shaving off entire pieces of them strictly necessary?" My countermeasures were technically complex, but objectively simple in the face of that. The 'song' Atoll constantly emitted had been difficult to pinpoint, but after the person-turned-facility had realised what I was after, I'd been given the correct 'notes' through flickering terminals and malfunctioning machines. That was the first countermeasure.

I would replicate the signal within myself, keeping the majority of the swarm at bay by using my own voice as a method of broadcasting the subconscious orders keeping them away from where their mistress had been born. In effect, I would be Atoll in and of myself, at least in their minds.

"Yes." The second and final defence would be the trio of larger than average gemstones in front of me. While everyone else had been hesitant upon being informed of my plan, Head, Eyes and Horn hadn't so much as hesitated in accepting the procedure, beyond confirming that their smaller brethren would be freed of their confinement, once our mutual enemy was eliminated.

"Oh." Good Pearls, all three of them, even if actually poofing them had been an utter trial, given their almost Tourmaline level durability. So much work, all just to give us a snowball's chance in hell of actually reaching the source of the Burning. Still, they would be fine. In so much as I was abusing their nature in order to weaponise them, I would still ensure that they could live perfectly normal lives after everything was said and done. Just…

with significantly more energy to draw upon for their telekinesis than before, I supposed. Shaking my head at the thought, I raised a hand, snapping my fingers in just the right way to draw Khaki's attention back to me, her eyes flitting away from her inert Batchmates to lock with my own. Squinting slightly at her uneasy expression, I turned back towards the three sleeping giants, holding back a sigh as I did so.

"The shaving won't hurt them, Khaki. They're overgrown, absolutely covered in extraneous layers to the point that I was picking up hundreds of redundant lines within their mental architecture. Honestly, it's a miracle that they're even functional." The Pearl nodded hesitantly, stepping closer to me with one hand wringing the other as she looked at the significantly more symmetrical gemstones sitting next to each other, only slightly straining the table I had set them upon.

"O-Of course, I understand that much. It's just…I suppose I never really saw the way they were as a problem." I was slow about it, partly due to my own hesitance and the knives my fingers were cosplaying as, but soon enough I'd settled a gentle hand atop my shorter counterpart's shoulder, causing her to stiffen up slightly. For just an instant, I thought about my own Caretaker. My creator, all things considered. Then I set that thought aside and focused on the present.

"They'll still be themselves. Despite their… uniqueness, their personalities aren't something I would consider an issue. They'll just be stronger, able to think more clearly. Healthier, in a word." The flash of light I had been waiting for finally engulfed my makeshift lab space, as Head rose up into the air, followed by her sisters, the table beneath them sliding away from the unrestrained force pouring out from their cores.

And as three giant Pearls settled into being, their gemstones beautifully carved into the typical egg-like shape (save for the obvious prisms embedded into the center of each one) and their uncovered eyes staring down at me in blatant curiosity, I found myself feeling… pleased. Never in my life, human or Gem, had I thought that I would take on the role of a scientist, of a sort anyway.

Never had I thought that the code White Diamond had jammed into my head would flow so well with my own thoughts (those I could truly confirm to be mine, at least), making something that should have been impossible an almost trivial task. Part of me still felt wary. I was changing, my mind evolving, even without the additional power granted to me by the glorified generator now sitting embedded within Head's… well, head. But at the same time… was it really the worst thing?

Was being smarter, being more capable, truly such a downside, even if I hadn't consented to the procedure that had started the process? I was practically doing the same thing to others, after all. Just in a more cooperative way. … Time would tell, I supposed. But for now, I had a group of Pearls to prepare, and then a planetary pyromancer to hunt down. Everything else could wait until after the work was done.