“Understood.” The gem suddenly was propelled from that machine and into the next, gliding through the tube without touching any of the sides. It almost looked like something you’d see in a marble maze.

The next station was more what Steven was used to in terms of Gem tech, with it being rounder than square and having a smoother finish to it. The display was one not attached to the machine at all, and Steven found it was actually tangible, and he could pick it up and walk around with it if he wanted to.

“Customize your pearl,” Shell’s voice suggested from the display, projecting a slight echo. “Currently displayed are default settings. You can reconfigure them as much as you like.”

Steven looked at the panel with uncertainty. Customizing a pearl… deciding who exactly she was going to be without her input… it just felt wrong. This whole thing felt wrong. But, he couldn’t back out. He had a plan. He had to follow through, for his friends. For his family. For everyone he had ever met or would meet down the line. He couldn’t disappoint them more than he already has.

Steven took the panel and sat on the pad in the center of the room, scrolling though the default settings. He wanted to interfere as little as possible, while at the same time, making sure to take away as much of this gem’s unconditional loyalty as possible, so she could decide for herself who she liked or didn’t like.

It was scary how much the settings emphasized that this gem would be loyal to her owner no matter what. Steven also noticed there were no settings for any type of personality, which was good? That would explain why pearls seemed to have their own freedom of thought despite being made specifically to serve and nothing else. The Diamonds didn’t even think to give any of them personalities, so they just created their own.

It was beautiful in a tragic, twisted way.

In the end, Steven decided on getting rid of almost all her loyalties, leaving only some in so he didn’t risk her going against literally everything he said (because Hollywood tended to make all kinda of movies about that happening with robots, and he did not want to experience that in real life, no siree).

Once he was satisfied, he clicked the proceed button at the bottom. More hard-to-decipher Gem Glyph popped up, and after a solid minute of staring at it, trying to decode it, Steven was able to put together that it was saying you couldn’t take those settings back once he accepted them.

Good, he thought. I don’t want anyone to be able to change her at any time.

He hit accept.

From there, the machines and displays became more about customizing the appearance rather than the mind. Steven selected all the defaults he could, in hopes that the gem would be able to choose her own look from the clothes display outside. It took five more panels (man, gems used to really care about what their servant looked like, huh), and once Steven was done, he pressed the final accept button.

The gem was shoved through one more machine, where it scanned for any imperfections, and filled in the in-betweens of Steven’s settings, which took about ten seconds total. Finding nothing, the custom Pearl that Steven created was dropped into a tray not unlike one you would see at a store, at a self-checkout, where the cents were dispensed. The gem rattled around for a second, before coming to a still.

Steven gulped, taking a step closer to it.

“Congratulations, Steven Universe,” Shell commented from above once again, “you have completed the customization of your own Pearl. Please wait while it begins to form.”

Oh, stars, what was he DOING??

He took a few more cautious steps closer, now standing over the tray. The soft purple tone of the pearl was beautiful to look at, and Steven found himself compelled to reach out and touch it. The only thing that stopped him was the memory of his own Pearl being rejuvenated, and only activating once again when his dad had picked up her gem. That was the moment Pearl had devoted herself to him, back when her memories had been wiped back to default.

Back when her programming had been wiped back to this very room.

The gem began to glow. It lifted out of the tray and floated to the center of the room, doing a careful maneuver around Steven’s head as it did so. A shell appeared around its exterior, symbolizing the first time this pearl in particular would be forming.

“Please identify yourself,” Shell’s voice came through the pearl now (at this rate, he’d be hearing her in his sleep).

Steven hesitated. He hadn’t touched the gem yet, so maybe this would be okay? But once he said his name, this gem would become loyal to him, right? What if his settings fix wasn’t enough? What if he missed something big? What if she did become his loyal pearl? What would the gems say? Ohhhh they were going to be furious with him when they saw her. What had he been thinking? What was he supposed to do now? He couldn’t just-!

“Please identify yourself,” the pearl asked again in the same tone.

He had no choice. If his plan was going to work, he needed a pearl. He would work out the kinks later. For now, he needed to get his powers under control. He took a deep breath, making sure to enunciate (he did NOT want this gem referring to him as “my uhh Steven” or something like that), and announced to the room, “Steven Universe.”

“Greetings, Steven Universe,” the pearl said overly sweetly. “Please state preferred customization options.”

Now that question was a bit ridiculous, when thinking about all the programming he’d just spent easily the past 20 minutes on, but alright. Pearls had a process, he supposed. “No custom settings necessary, other than the order that I am NOT her owner.” Steven almost didn’t mention the last part, but realized at the last second that none of the settings had been written with the intention of an ownerless pearl.

“Order not recognized. Please try again.”

Steven blinked in surprise. “I am not this pearl’s owner,” he announced again.

“Order not recognized. Please try again.”

Steven took a few steps back in surprise. “This pearl does not belong to anyone,” he tried one more time. Please let this work, Steven begged to himself.

“Order not recognized. Please try again.”

Sighing, the teen realized that old Homeworld ideals would continue to haunt him as long as old gem tech existed. He gave in, slumping over in defeat. “No orders given.”

“Default settings have been selected. Please stand by.” The gem then rose further into the air, the shell around it glowing brighter for a second, before it floated closer to the ground. The shell opened up, and from it, a brand new Pearl spun out. She rose upwards, posed elegantly. Her gem followed along once it was in its proper place, which was revealed to be her naval, just like Steven’s own and Volleyball. Was that on purpose or a coincidence? Steven wasn’t sure.

The gem stepped down, opening her eyes. Steven blinked a few times, taking in the new, friendly face in front of him.

Her whole color scheme was a soft purple color. Her hair was more vibrant, with strands coming down along the side of her face, then coming to a point in the back, similar to his own Pearl’s hair, but rounder and closer to her head. She had the same point nose and round eyes, round face, and slender form. For clothes, she currently was dressed in what appeared to be a swimsuit, with a pair of flats on her feet similar to Steven’s sandals.

She blinked at Steven, then looked around the room. She spun a bit in place, trying to see all of it, and wound up doing a 360, ending back on Steven.

The teen cleared his throat as they made eye contact again. “Uhhh, hello,”he greeted shakily, still not fully comprehending what he’d just done. He gave a small wave, brows creased and features tensed.

The pearl took in his actions curiously. She looked at her own hand, then gave a small wave back at Steven, trying to mimic him. “Um, hello,” she greeted back.

C’mon, get it together, Steven, he scolded himself. You’re here for a reason, remember?

“Um, I’m Steven, a-and I, um, just made you. N-not that you belong to me or anything!” Steven held his hands up in front of himself, taking a subconscious step backwards. “You’re allowed to do whatever you want now! Um, I just need you to do one favor for me, and then you’re off the hook. Forever. What do you say?”

The pearl blinked at him, watching his movements carefully. “Oh, I suppose I could do one thing for you,” she replied carefully. She gave him a small, encouraging smile. “What is it?”

Steven looked down, not meeting her eyes. “I need you to stand still.”

She was standing on the pad already. She was in position.

“Shell, I need you to-“

“Oh Steeeeee-veeeeeen! Guess who finally picked out the best outfit in the Ree-eeeeef?” Spinel’s voice cut through from beyond the door. “I’m all ready to head on out, whenever you’re ready!”

“Uhh! Just a moment!”

“Steven, who is that?” The pearl pointed towards the door, looking at him curiously. “She sounds nice!”

“Steven? Who is that?!” Spinel’s voice spoke from the other side. “What’s goin’ on?”

“Just a minute Spinel!” Steven’s hands flew up to his head, the pink glow threatening to reveal itself at any second.

“Awaiting orders, Steven Universe,” Shell announced dutifully.

This was too much. Everything was too much. Why did Spinel pick now to come visit him?! Any other time would have been GREAT!

“Shell, I need you to rejuvenate this pearl!” Steven practically yelled out.

“WHAT?!” Spinel’s shout of shock cut through the door. “Steven, lemme in, what are ya doin’-?“

“Understood.” Two clam shells suddenly stretched up from the floor. “Rejuvenation sequence activated.”

“W-wait? What’s going on?” The pearl was now terrified, watching the walls appear around her. She took a more sturdy stance, her hands raising up in self-defense that would do nothing for her.

“STEVEN!” Spinel’s voice sounded mad now.

Just before the two clam shells began to clamp together, Steven allowed himself to glow pink one final time. The world slowed down around him, and he was able to run onto the pad. He gently grasped the terrified new pearl and ran her out of the way, before turning around and ducking back in himself. He took a deep breath, giving himself one last moment of calm before the pain he knew would follow rejuvenation. Then, he released the glow.

The walls clamped down. The pearl screeched in fear and surprise. A loud banging began to sound on the Reef’s door. Spinel’s voice, angry, scared, and confused, was screaming his name. The pearl was screaming his name.

Because all entities were still in the room, the Reef didn’t stop to question what had just transpired. Shell had been given an order, and by all logical means, nothing had changed over the past literal second.

The inner walls lit up slightly, just before the electric waves began to rake Steven’s body from the ground up.

At first, he bit down on his scream. This was what he’d wanted, right? He’d been hit with a rejuvenator before, the little hand-held version, but this… this felt different. This felt worse. The pain was constant instead of being sudden. The hard light that ran through his body, parallel to his veins, went ridged, sending him into the gem equivalent of shock. His body went stock still, spasms shaking out his arms and legs every now and then.

After a few seconds, he couldn’t hold it in. He screamed. It hurt, oh it hurt, and it seemed never-ending.

Was Shell waiting for him to poof?! He couldn’t poof! Did that mean she was going to KILL him?!

Steven fell against a wall, then collapsed onto his knees as his legs buckled from underneath him. His gem was beginning to burn from the constant flow of electricity.

The pain was so great, Steven almost didn’t hear the banging sounds on the outside of the shell he was trapped in. But, as they kept getting louder and louder, the walls began to shake in time with the banging. A voice- two voices?- screamed from the other side, but he had no hope in figuring out what they were saying.

Suddenly, with one last, loud, BANG!, the walls of the shell cracked open. A pair of enlarged, pink fists shot through the new opening, following through on the momentum needed to break the walls in the first place. At once, the pain began to stop. Steven knew he would be sore for a long while, though, but he was just relieved that the majority was gone now. However, the soreness was brought to the front of his mind when the pair of gloves grabbed him kinda tightly and yanked him out of his enclosure and right into Spinel’s angry, tear-streaked face.

“STEVEN UNIVERSE, I DON’T CARE IF YOU HAVE THE BEST EXCUSE IN THE WORLD, DON’T YOU EVER DO THAT AGAIN, YA HEAR ME!?” She shook him, hard enough that he gasped in pain, gripping his shoulders tighter. “Rejuvenation? What in the cosmos is WRONG with you??”

Steven was exhausted. His eyelids drooped, his eyes were surely bloodshot, he felt drained and empty. He was almost sure that one more squeeze and he’d wither into dust and blow away. Pain gripped every part of his body, but was especially concentrated in places Spinel was currently grabbing pretty harshly. Despite this, he managed a small smile that was so close to being genuine, and looked into Spinel’’s eyes. “Nothing,” he croaked out. “Not anymore.”

And with that, he passed out.