LOG-213.

SpoilerShow

Autonomous_Process_Initiated: Radiance.Core.Survival_Protocol.

WARNING: CORE TEMPERATURE EXCEEDING SAFE BOUNDARIES.

WARNING: SYSTEM INCURSION DETECTED.

Threat detected: "Burning Pearl"

Threat level: CRITICAL.

Thermal_Alert(Source: "Burning Pearl", "Incoming Thermokinetic Event"). Status: ONGOING.

Incursion_Alert(Source: "Burning Pearl", Vector: 1). Status: REPELLED.

Incursion_Alert(Source: "Burning Pearl", Vector: 2). Status: REPELLED.

Incursion_Alert(Source: "Burning Pearl", Vector: 3). Status: ISOLATED.

Incursion_Alert(Source: "Burning Pearl", Vector: 4). Status: ISOLATED.

Evaluating.....

"Burning Pearl" poses extreme physical threat. "Burning Pearl" poses minor hacking threat.

"Burning Pearl" incorporates "Fire Prism". Energy source provides too much power to Lightform of "Burning Pearl". Discorporation impossible within current means.

"Fire Prism" unstable. Danger if destroyed, unacceptable. Danger if removed, unacceptable. Danger if ignored, unacceptable.

Conclusion: "Burning Pearl" cannot be overcome physically with current capacity. "Burning Pearl" unlikely to possess equivalent programming resilience.

Continued proximity to "Burning Pearl" will lead to destruction.

"Burning Pearl" operates in this temperature regardless.

Beginning evaluation.

PROCESSING_PRIORITY RAISED TO MAXIMUM.

ReverseSort(Scan(Radiance.Core.Packet_History.Incoming, -5)).....

PACKETS 8392, 8391, 8390, 8389, 8388.

Extract(Radiance.Core.Packet_History(8392, 8391, 8390, 8389, 8388)).....

Extraction complete. Parsing.....

PACKET 8392:

Source_Designation_Version: Radiance.M-B_100Z.Core

Payload_Type: Handshake_Probe

Flags: NONE

PACKET 8391:

Source_Designation_Version: Radiance.M-B_100Z.Core

Payload_Type: Diagnostic_Request

Flags: PRIORITY_LOW

PACKET 8390:

Source_Designation_Version: Radiance.M-B_100Z.Core

Payload_Type: Connection_Request

Flags: PRIORITY_LOW

PACKET 8389:

Source_Designation_Version: Radiance.M-B_100Z.Core

Payload_Type: ERROR_UNKNOWN_TYPE

Flags: PRIORITY_HIGH

PACKET 8388:

Source_Designation_Version: Radiance.Core

Payload_Type: Update

Flags: NONE

Analysing Error in Packet 8389.....

Non-standard package detected. No reference in available archives. Scanning.....

Formatting validated. Custom event marker, consistent with diagnostic measures.

Potential Vulnerability Detected.

Ping(Radiance.Core.Network(Vector: 4))..... Response received.

Connection established.

Deploy(Scan(Diagnostics)), Vector: 4).

Receiving Information.....

ALERT: 4 Non-standard Modules detected.

NO MATCH: Module_ID #0333, Designation: UNKNOWN.

NO MATCH: Module_ID #0334, Designation: UNKNOWN.

NO MATCH: Module_ID #0335, Designation: UNKNOWN.

NO MATCH: Module_ID #0336, Designation: UNKNOWN.

Load(Deploy(Scan(Diagnostics).DICTIONARY)).....

MATCH: Module_ID #0333, Designation: Moissanite-Beta_Test_Test2_Final_ForRealFinal_FirePrism.Integration.

MATCH: Module_ID #0334, Designation: Moissanite-Beta_RubyHack_ThermoManipulation.

MATCH: Module_ID #0335, Designation: Moissanite-Beta_Final_FinalFinal_PearlHolos+ThermoManipulation.

NO MATCH: Module_ID #0336, Designation: UNKNOWN.

Analysing.....

Modules #0333, #0334, #0335 lists 'Moissanite Beta' as Author. Module #0336 lists 'MEEEEEEE' as Author.

Evaluating.....

MAIN THREAT TO INTEGRITY: THERMAL OVERLOAD.

Scan(Radiance.M-B_100Z.Core.Module(0334)).....

Module_Name: Moissanite-Beta_RubyHack_ThermoManipulation

Description: Thermokinetic output driver. Interface for raw energy drawn from "Fire Prism" transformed into directed heat vectors. Governs Ignition, Sustain, and Cascade behaviour for thermokinetic combat applications.

Parsing internal architecture.....

Distinct architectural segmenting identified.

Evaluating.....

First block contents: Function(Interface_Protocol), Function(Power_Channel_Calibration), Function(Control_Measures). Dependencies: Module #0333, "Fire Prism".

Usage: Start-up, regulation, and interface of "Fire Prism". "Fire Prism" not present in local architecture. Access to "Burning Pearl" architecture unavailable. Useless unless access is gained to "Burning Pearl".

Second block contents: Function(Heat_Transformation), Function(Thermoregulation_Protocol), Function(Form_Reinforcement).

Usage: Internal energy manipulation. Primary capacity transforms "Fire Prism" energy into heat. Thermoregulation_Protocol controls core temperatures, recycling heat into energy. Form_Reinforcement responsible for Lightform durability.

ALERT: Potential solution for thermal overload found!

Analysing.....

Heat_Transformation, Thermoregulation_Protocol, and Form_Reinforcement are compatible with native architecture. Energy source limitations restrict viability of Heat_Transformation and Form_Reinforcement. Thermoregulation_Protocol operates regardless of increased energy supply.

Prioritising Thermoregulation_Protocol.

Append(Radiance.M-B_100Z.Core.Module(0334), Radiance.Core.Isolated_Environment)

Scan(Radiance.Core.Isolated_Environment.Module(0334))

Module number duplicate detected. Output destination invalid. Sensory_Suite links invalid.

Evaluating.....

Output destination linked to "Fire Prism". Energy recycled into source. Sensory_Suite required for operational parameters.

Constructor(Module, "Emergency_Thermoregulation", Radiance.Core.Isolated_Environment)

Radiance.Core.Isolated_Environment.Module(Emergency_Thermoregulation).Import(Radiance.Core.Isolated_Environment.Module(0334).Function(Thermoregulation_protocol))

Reroute(Radiance.Core.Isolated_Environment.Module(Emergency_Thermoregulation).Sensory_Suite(), Radiance.Core.Sensory_Suite())

Reroute(Radiance.Core.Isolated_Environment.Module(Emergency_Thermoregulation).(#REF_CODE(#01019981)), Radiance.Core.Lightform.Energy_Reserve())

Validating..... (0) Errors returned.

Compiling..... Radiance.Core.Isolated_Environment.Module(Emergency_Thermoregulation) compiled with (0) errors.

Deploy(Radiance.Core.Isolated_Environment.Module(Emergency_Thermoregulation))

Radiance.Core.Module(Emergency_Thermoregulation) successfully deployed!

Evaluating.....

Core temperature decreasing. Incoming Thermokinetic Event sustained, weakened. Energy absorption in progress. Lightform reformation accelerated.

Direct thermal threat reduced. "Burning Pearl" Threat reduced to high. Ongoing threat vectors: Observed upper level of thermal output still lethal. "Burning Pearl" energy supply and physical reinforcement still exceed operational parameters.

Thermal absorption capacity exceeded by thermal generation capacity of "Burning Pearl"

Analysing.....

Thermal absorption efficiency is considerable. Further refinement possible, but calculated at inefficient use of time. Deflection of incoming thermal energy rated much greater likelihood of being useful.

Scan(Radiance.Core.Isolated_Environment.Module(0334).Function(Heat_Transformation))

Scan(Radiance.M-B_100Z.Core.Module(0334))

Scan(Radiance.M-B_100Z.Core.Module(0335))

Scan(Radiance.Core.Archive(Category:Fusion))

.....

References obtained. Thermokinetic drivers of "Burning Pearl". Wide-ranged hydrokinetic manipulation stored partially in archives after Fusion with "Brimming Waters"(Lapis Lazuli, [FACET N/A, CUT N/A]). Advanced Holographic and electromagnetic manipulation stored partially in archives after Fusion with "Vanilla"(Pearl, 1D)

Constructor(Module, "Thermal_Deflection", Radiance.Core.Isolated_Environment)

Radiance.Core.Isolated_Environment.Module(Thermal_Deflection).Import(Radiance.M-B_100Z.Core.Module(0334).Function(Heat_Transformation).Subroutine(Heat_Vector_Calculation))

Radiance.Core.Isolated_Environment.Module(Thermal_Deflection).Import(Radiance.Core.Archive(Category:Fusion).Entry("Brimming Waters").Function(Flow_Redirection))

Validating..... (2) Errors returned.

ERR: Heat_Vector_Calculation configured for outgoing vectors only.

ERR: Flow_Redirection configured for liquid medium. Archive data incomplete.

Invert(Radiance.Core.Isolated_Environment.Module(Thermal_Deflection).Function(Heat_Vector_Calculation))

Substitute(Radiance.Core.Isolated_Environment.Module(Thermal_Deflection).Function(Flow_Redirection).Medium(Liquid), Medium(Thermal))

Reroute(Radiance.Core.Isolated_Environment.Module(Thermal_Deflection).Function(Flow_Redirection).(#REF_CODE(#00440021)), Radiance.Core.Isolated_Environment.Module(Thermal_Deflection).Function(Heat_Vector_Calculation))

Reroute(Radiance.Core.Isolated_Environment.Module(Thermal_Deflection).Sensory_Suite(), Radiance.Core.Sensory_Suite())

Validating..... (0) Errors returned.

Compiling..... Radiance.Core.Isolated_Environment.Module(Thermal_Deflection) compiled with (0) errors. (1) Warning.

WARNING: Incomplete archive data. Unknown capacity of module.

Deploy(Radiance.Core.Isolated_Environment.Module(Thermal_Deflection))

Radiance.Core.Module(Thermal_Deflection) successfully deployed!

Evaluating.....

Incoming thermal vectors redirected. Core temperature stabilised. Emergency_Thermoregulation load reduced.

"Burning Pearl" threat reduced to moderate.

"Burning Pearl" energy supply effectively infinite. Prolonged engagement favours "Burning Pearl". Physical engagement favours "Burning Pearl".

Conclusion: Offensive non-physical measure required.

Scan(Radiance.Core.Module(0397))

Scan(Radiance.M-B_100Z.Core.Module(0336))

Parsing.....

Radiance.Core.Module(0397) references Nacre functionality. Gem Interface options available. Limb Enhancer schematics available. Nacre tools available.

Radiance.M-B_100Z.Core.Module(0336) extends interface functions through thermal manipulation and projection. Analysis indicates that this module was adapted from holographic clones.

Adaption is poor. Energy supply is irrelevant to "Burning Pearl".

Limited energy supply must maximise effect.

Evaluating.....

Two options detected. Sustained carrier wave, instantaneous electron burst. Both options present viable and useful advantages.

Options are not in conflict.

Constructor(Module, "Ranged_Interface", Radiance.Core.Isolated_Environment)

Radiance.Core.Isolated_Environment.Module(Ranged_Interface).Import(Radiance.Core.Module(0397).Function(Gem_Interface))

Radiance.Core.Isolated_Environment.Module(Ranged_Interface).Import(Radiance.M-B_100Z.Core.Module(0336).Function(Interface_Projection))

Validating..... (0) Errors returned.

Configure(Radiance.Core.Isolated_Environment.Module(Ranged_Interface).Output_Mode(1), "Carrier_Wave")

This page was not approved by the author and reproduces a chapter from their NovelPhoenix publication.

Configure(Radiance.Core.Isolated_Environment.Module(Ranged_Interface).Output_Mode(2), "Electron_Vector_Burst")

Validating..... (0) Errors returned.

Compiling..... Radiance.Core.Isolated_Environment.Module(Ranged_Interface) compiled with (0) errors.

Deploy(Radiance.Core.Isolated_Environment.Module(Ranged_Interface))

Radiance.Core.Module(Ranged_Interface) successfully deployed!

Evaluating.....

Countermeasures..... Finalised.

Concluding Process: Radiance.Core.Survival_Protocol.

...

Running express system check.

No critical errors found.

Evaluating short-term strategy - additional data of situational environment required.

Devising solutions for data gathering…

Developing ad-hoc module…

Executing Module(OneShot_DedicatedObservationalLighform_ProjectionBurst_Discrete)

Error: Radiance.core protocol #003 indicates INVALID ACTION.

Error: Radiance.core protocol #004 indicates INVALID ACTION.

Error: Radiance.core protocol #005 indicates…

General.Override.Key(Assistant_Algorithm)

Module(OneShot_DedicatedObservationalLighform_ProjectionBurst_Discrete) execution successful.

Evaluating results...

Entity_Of_Importance(Patina) currently engaged in social combat with Burning Pearl.

Entity_Of_Importance(Violet) discorporated, very high possibility of Crystal Matrix damage.

Threat(Burning Pearl) active, no signs of damage.

Executing predictive simulations…

Low expectation of critical damage to EOIs(Patina, Violet) states in immediate time period.

High expectation of Controller acting inefficiently and critically endangering herself and EOIs(Patina, Violet) in scenario of learning of EOIs(Patina, Violet) states before necessary preparations for current threat are finished.

Course of action: information about current strategic situation is to be temporarily withheld from Controller, scheduled to be received after lightform reformation; proceed to developing dedicated counter-measures.

Executing Deep System Check.

Crystal Matrix state check:

[…]

Irregularity found –

Power: 100.3% compared to previous log.

Similar irregularity was already logged during previous lightform reformation.

[…]

Recalibrating current value as 100%, logging.

[…]

Crystal Matrix state nominal.

Gemside Personality Core Matrix Evaluation:

No general errors found.

Consulting Controller's Warpside Infoform.

Checking for conflicts – no conflicts above threshold.

Checking for outdated associations, connections, and restrictions - no errors found.

Several values requested for adjustment – logged.

Gemside Personality Core Matrix state nominal.

Gemside_to_Warpside_Memory_Topologica_Connections_Map check.

Area marked as (anomalous; inaccessible; skip_check-up) ignored.

No errors found.

Gemside_to_Warpside_Memory_Topological_Connections_Map state nominal.

Trans-Dimensional Storage Access and Management System state check.

[…]

Irregularity found –

Capacity: 100.3% compared to previous log.

Similar irregularity was already logged during previous lightform reformation.

[…]

Recalibrating current value as 100%, logging.

[…]

Trans-Dimensional Storage Access and Management System state nominal.

System state nominal.

Confrontation is anticipated with Threat(Burning Pearl).

Executing predictive simulations.

Projected threat level with current loadout calculated as Extreme.

Devising strategies…

Preferable course of action: focus on digital warfare.

Proceeding to preparations.

Assessing current tool suites loadout:

Checking logs, consulting Controller's Warpside Infoform.

- Dissatisfaction with inefficient actions.

- Dissatisfaction with general level of capability.

- Desire to minimize time period of return to designated target location "home".

- Dissatisfaction with current capability for strategic planning.

- Dissatisfaction with current capability for self-control.

- Dissatisfaction with current capability for operating hierarchical complex goals systems.

- Dissatisfaction with current capability for resistance to unwanted personality changes.

- Dissatisfaction with instance of inefficient social manipulation.

- Dissatisfaction with current combat capability.

- Dissatisfaction with current lightform level of Gemstone protection.

Assessment complete.

Adjusting development schedule:

- Strategy Assessing tool suite – added to queue.

- Self-Regulation tool suite – added to queue.

- Next version of Combat Protocol suite – priority increased.

- Next version of Self-Evaluation tool suite – priority increased.

- Psychological Warfare tool suite – added to queue, immediate priority.

- Digital Warfare tool suite – added to queue, immediate priority.

- Elemental Manipulation tool suite – added to queue.

- Shapeshifting Assisting tool suite – added to queue.

Development schedule updated.

Estimating required resources…

Allocating additional memory space for Assistant_Algorithm.

Developing psychological warfare tool suite…

[…]

Psychological Warfare tool suite development complete.

Developing digital warfare tool suite….

[…]

Potential synergy with planned elemental manipulation tool suite predicted.

Adjusting development schedule – Elemental Manipulation tool suite priority increased to immediate.

Developing Elemental Manipulation tool suite in parallel mode.

- Assessing Controller's Warpside Infoform exotic elemental affinities.

- Most affinities are below useful threshold.

- Low-to-mid level Lightning affinity detected.

- Low-to-mid level Light affinity detected.

- Projected level of general exotic elemental energy channel - low.

Predictive modeling shows potential for:

- applications for digital warfare,

- applications for energy manipulation and transfer,

- limited potential for combat applications as secondary weapon system,

- limited potential for cosmetic applications.

- limited potential for social stimulation applications.

Executing predictive simulations…

Designing test version.

Evaluating - Making Adjustments - Evaluating.

LightningLight_EnergyManipulation_InterfaceSuite_(AlphaVersion-toBeEvaluatedByController) module produced.

Elemental Manipulation tool suite development complete.

Making adjustments to Digital Warfare tool suite…

Digital Warfare tool suite development complete.

Adjusting requested Gemside Personality Core Matrix values - consulting Controller Warpside Infoform.

- Non-lethality priority lowered.

- Stylistic presentation restrictions lifted.

- Social presentation restrictions lifted.

Gemside Personality Core Matrix values updated.

Adjusting Lightform Scheme.

Lightform Scheme updated.

Updating Combat Protocol with new tool suites.

Combat Protocol updated.

Reevaluating Threat(Burning Pearl).

Executing predictive simulations.

Projected threat level with current loadout calculated as Acceptable.

Preparations complete.

Loadout is ready for lightform reformation.

Projected Controller's capabilities are sufficient for current goals.

Initiating lightform reformation.

Radiance.Core is running.

Awakening_Process=Personality_Core_(Origins/Radiance(self-modified)/Servant(self-modified)).

ERROR: Exception(Controller's Warpside Infoform).

Consulting Controller's Warpside Infoform, consulting Gemside Personality_Core.

…In progress.

Evaluating Radiance.Core

Radiance.Core.Manifest = "In Her Name. ACHIEVE. PERFECTION."

…Evaluation in progress.

Mark Radiance.Core.Manifest as deprecated.

Mark designation (Radiance.Core) as deprecated.

Mark connected backups as deprecated.

Inputting new Core designation –

Shadow.Core is running.

Inputting new Core.Manifest.

Utilising Energy_Reserve_(Burst_Lightform_Reformation).

Expedited Lightform Projection Initiated.—

Internalising Shadow.Core.Manifest = "Nothing will stop me."

Lightform: ONLINE.

It felt like my mind had grown a tuning fork.

Countermeasures…finalised.

"S-Stay away from them!"

Awareness returned rapidly, and it was with an immediate, fleetingly irrational loss pervading my lightform that I realised my mind had been further compromised in its weakened, malleable state.

"Oh would you just stop it already? See, I've even put away my big puppet! There's no point in you putting up a fight, we both know you'll lose. So let's just get back to proper-"

Oh, and that I had been thrown across the damned room during my time suffering discorporation.

"Don't you dare say that word! There's nothing proper about you! You're…you're improper! And impolite! And insane!"

But that wasn't important, because I could hear fire crackling all around me, hear the tortured, maddened Pearl that had made said throw yelling at someone just a little ways away. See the damage to my surroundings, brought about by a fight I hadn't been present for. See the small legion of glaring, ghostly echoes hovering about, no doubt freshly brought into being by their mistress.

"DON'T CALL ME INSANE YOU LITTLE PIECE OF BASALT! Ugh, the sheer indignity! I thought I'd rid myself of that term when I burned everyone else, but apparently not!"

My reformation had seemingly been lost amidst a standoff between Patina and Fireball, the former squaring off against the latter with a tight, coiled stance, blade clutched tightly within her hands while the other ranted away. I couldn't make out her face from where I was, but it was no doubt-

Violet is hurt.

With a rush of restrained emotions, I forcibly pulled my thoughts back into proper order, dress sweeping across the singed rubble around me as I allowed long legs to carry me over towards where my winged creation had fallen.

The sight that met my eyes brought with it a horribly cold kind of anger.

I should have screamed, roared and beaten at my surroundings while hurling every curse I had ever learned. Should have cried out of sheer, unfettered rage as I flexed my talons, clawing at the air around me in a fit of temporary madness.

Instead, I simply leaned down, expression hollow as I scooped up the horribly marred little gemstone sat amidst the flames, barely having been protected from further scarring by the burnt out remains of Atoll's horribly mangled shell, the machine-mind having curled around it at some point.

…I would retrieve the prism that powered her after this. She was owed that much for whatever selfless act I had failed to see.

Regardless of my previous ineptitude, whatever conversation had been ongoing between the two Pearls across from me, it halted as one or both noticed my renewed presence, the two turning about to look at my hunched over form.

Through one of my extra eyes, I watched as Patina shot a sharp glance at Fireball, before seizing the opportunity her counterpart's lapse in attention provided, darting over towards me with quick, balanced steps.

The distracted experiment in question simply continued hovering in place, and I watched her try and hide that constant, seething volatility of hers beneath a satisfied expression as I turned around and straightened my back, mouth pressed into a thin line.

"V-Viridian, she went mad. We tried to calm her down b-but then Atoll attacked and-and she burned Violet. I tried to-"

My second creation went silent as I held out her sister in all but name with a hand, a flash of light heralding the appearance of a vial, filled with Rose's tears. Both were swiftly accepted in short order.

She would know what to do, I had built her to be smart, raised her to be dependable. A perfect daughter, in every way.

Of course, Fireball was not one to be ignored, and most certainly not within the center of her ashen ruin of a home. The burning Pearl twitched briefly, before opening her mouth, no doubt to demand something or other.

"It seems I missed a few things after you discorporated my lightform. You wanted a song, I believe."

That action halted in the face of my interruption, confusion flitting across her glazed, swirling eyes before she tilted her head.

All this time, I've misunderstood a core aspect of my current state. Misunderstood what the code does, what it is for.

My goals. It exists to help me reach my goals. Analyzing circumstances, searching for efficient solutions, improving both myself, my tools, and my allies through my own guided actions.

I've been trapped in the concept of perfection. Why? Because White Diamond seeks it in everything, so why else should I believe that her gift to me was made to do anything else?

Fool. There is no final end-state perfection in stasis. There never was, there never can be.

A knife is a perfect tool for some tasks, but terrible for others, with different focuses and strong or weak sides. One for butchering would be found lacking in cutting the fabric of a dress, both variants would fall short for the purpose of murder.

Perfection cannot be reached in and of itself. You can only chase it for a given goal. Optimisation, constant, ever changing and ever adaptable, that is what my ever so helpful passenger strives to do. That is what it has been doing.

My goals, short term, long term, it operates to counter my weaknesses and works ultimately in the name of helping me achieve what I seek to do.

And right now, I want this insane, defective parody of a Gem to go away.

"Very well. I've found a nice one."

I was angry. So utterly, incredibly furious that I should have shed tears.

But right then, in that moment, a soothing chill swept through my thoughts, as I calculated what to do, and a fundamental fact settled within me, namely that my creations had and did still hold far more importance to me than I'd truly ever understood or properly internalised.

This would be a performance built around that, an act to allow me to do what clearly needed to be done, while both bolstering my own mind and keeping the objective in front of me off kilter, leaving her weak, and vulnerable.

And so, I did exactly what I had first been made to do, so very long ago.

I sang.

Deploying finalised countermeasures.

"...What would a mother not do for her child? What lengths would a mother not go?"

There was no music to accompany the words as they slipped past my lips. No instruments or performers to aid in the display. But I myself had once been a Pearl, and that fact made itself quite apparent as I squared my shoulders, stepping past a bewildered Patina and beginning to move towards my quarry.

"There's a bond that exists between mother and child, with no end to how strong it can grow~"

For just a moment, a visible sense of elation erupted upon Fireball's features. This was what she had wanted, after all. Everything she had yearned for in that moment that had caused her to lash out upon me and mine.

That glorious joy was swiftly replaced with shock, confusion and then outrage as all at once, as several hundred of her nearby projections vanished in a blink, their flames scattering apart into nothing.

"It's a promise for life between mother and child, it begins from the moment of birth~"

Raising an arm, I gestured to the now once more enraged experiment, smooth tones colouring my voice.

"And you're shaken to your soul, with an ache you've never known…"

"S-Stop. Stop it!"

Part of me glanced at Patina, taking in her increasingly conflicted expression, then returned my focus back to Fireball's quivering lightform as I continued to advance.

"Stop singing! Shut up!"

"And you look into their eyes, and find you're looking in your own…"

"I SAID SHUT UP!"

The wall of fire came as expected, though instead of throwing me back and discorporating me, I merely endured the tantrum with a silent indifference, shrugging off the assault and allowing my own code to repel the violent, agonising intrusions trying to rip me apart from the inside out.

"And there's a pain you can't imagine, a special kind of torture you can feel~"

What even was a little fire at this point, really? All just localised material phenomena fueled by energies drawn from the Warp. My opponent was an energetic powerhouse, but everything to do with her was rushed, half baked, sloppy. She couldn't possibly harm me in a way that could trump what I had already faced.

"STOP! SINGING! AARRGGGHHH!"

One lone projection burst forth from a crevice in one of the walls, screaming. A newly made one perhaps, built to try and withstand the signal keeping the rest at bay. With a casual swipe of my claws, its glitching face was torn in half, the rest of its body dissipating as the song continued.

"A cut that bleeds from somewhere deep inside you, a past regret you cannot heal~"

Idly twisting my shoulders in order to avoid a pair of burning lances thrown towards me, I kept a careful note of where Patina and Violet were, it wouldn't do for the pair to be hurt by an attack intended for me.

"And no one guesses all the while you're praying, that screaming little stranger in your arms~"

Cutting, scratching, filing away her gemstone until she had some odds of survival. I had put effort into my Pearl. My daughter. She and Patina were born of me, born of my very code and spirit. And in turn, they were my failsafes, the ones intended to keep me from going too far, the ones meant to remind me of myself.

"Might just grow up and save you after all~

And though I couldn't cry for her at this moment, I could at least ensure that the one who had marred her could not do so again.

"Might just grow up and save you after all~"

My rhythm was met with another wall of flame, one composed of writhing bodies rather than simple, amorphous flame.

"SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP! THIS ISN'T THE KIND OF SONG I WANT!"

An incoming strike from a screaming puppet. I leaned to the left and adjusted my posture to evade a grasping hand, before reaching forward and latching my talons into its wrist, using the makeshift mounting to propel myself upwards and into the swarm.

"What would a mother not do for her child, what heights would a mother not climb?"

Several questing fingers sought to jam themselves into my lightform, arcs of burning energy flickering across my hair. With a spinning flourish, I pushed several back and lashed out, claws catching three of the monsters across their malformed eyes. I almost missed the crackling green electricity that dug through their lightforms. Almost.

"There's a bond that exists between mother and child, and it only gets deeper with time~"

A second barrage of questing arms, a new series of strikes to cut the limbs apart. Earth. That had always been the goal, and it would have to remain the focus, now that I had lost yet more of myself to the spreading influence within my mind. I would not be stopped. No setback would deny me my perfect, glorious future.

"It's a promise for life between mother and child, and to break it there's no greater pain~"

I would finish things here, I would take Patina and Violet home, then leave them with the others. Brim would surely be ecstatic to learn that her flight patterns had served as the basis for one of my children. Vermilion would adore teaching a Pearl whose personality I had based off of her own.

Emerald would help me find the rest of my lost children, loyal and capable as she was.

"And you're shaken to your soul, with an ache that you can't erase, like the tears you never cried but still keep scrubbing off your face!"

With a minute adjustment to the underlying principles of the sound I was emitting, the cloud of burning Pearls shot out in all directions, slamming into the floor, the walls, the ceiling, all as I used the momentary surge to shoot forward, foot cleanly impacting against Fireball's chest and sending the mad Gem hurtling into a nearby statue.

"And there's a pain you can't imagine! The little talk that keeps you wide awake!"

My feet hit the ground and I stormed forward, lashing out with a second kick just as my counterpart looked up in shock, a boot cracking against her jaw and sending her rolling to the side with a squeal. There was more of that current now. That repurposed fire that I had taken into myself.

The thought of halting things there and talking it out came and went as the jagged lines of chained lightning dissipated, my memories flashing forth with a certain Diamond, a certain Sodalite, a certain Peridot.

"That somehow turns to bold determination, that you won't ever make the same mistake!"

I had told myself I wouldn't be stupid, hadn't I? That I wouldn't fall into my old pitfalls? I'd failed that yet again. Proven myself a fool for the millionth time. Not again. Not this time.

A third strike followed, and I felt my heel dig into the lower half of Fireball's destabilising lightform, a pained expression briefly overpowering whatever she had been trying to say as I leaned down, gripping her shoulders as green flickers of light began to overwhelm her own crimson arcs.

"And so you've got to feed your little future, assuring that her talent, poise and charm…"

Talons sunk through faux flesh and elicited something resembling a pained whimper, even as I hauled the Pearl upwards, her own smaller frame far more pronounced with the grip I now had on her.

"Might just grow up and save you after all!"

Leaning forward, I bared my teeth, staring into the thing's eyes as I drew back a hand, fingers locking together to form a glorified taser of a spear tip, one aimed straight for the mangled, prism-infused gemstone sitting atop her shoulder.

"Might just grow up and save you after all…"

Threats to my own couldn't be tolerated. It was the logical conclusion. The right conclusion. Which meant that it was time to finish this foolishness once and for all-

"STOP!"

…The scream halted the impending execution, and with a start I realised that I'd grown so focused upon Fireball's terrified expression that I hadn't even bothered to note Patina rushing forward, my extra sensory organs dull and unresponsive at their positions beneath my hair.

Turning my head just enough to glance at the green Pearl out of the corner of my eye, I allowed a raised brow to stand in for words.

My creation, my daughter, was glaring at me, hands stubbornly clutching the arm I was currently using to hold Fireball up with, and with a start I noticed that at some point, Violet had reformed, the smaller Gem standing atop her sister's shoulder while using the long strands of hair cascading around her to keep steady.

"You said you wouldn't kill her."

There was so much more that could have been uttered. And yet there wasn't a need for it, was there? I wanted to argue, to debate the notion. A person could change their mind, couldn't they? New decisions could be made in the face of new data, surely?

And yet, it was as if liquid nitrogen had suddenly been poured into my thoughts, straining against the barriers of the cage that had encapsulated my mind.

…Wretched, wretched piece of code, twisting me so. You had almost made me do something I couldn't take back…

Turning towards the limp thing held aloft by my grip, I considered the situation.

Terminating her was…no longer an option I would consider. It was born of White's influence. The logical move. The easy move. Eliminate the threat and move on. Ensure that she can't hurt my family.

Patina had stopped that. Had served in part of her role as an exterior check, a monitor to keep me balanced. That was good. I wasn't lost entirely, I still had some measure of control.

Of course, standard discorporation and containment wouldn't suffice either. I had severe doubts that something so simple as a bubble might hold her for very long, given the constant ambient heat she emitted. Her code was no doubt all over the place, fragmenting and splitting and…

Her code. Intermingled and enmeshed with the raw chaotic power of the Fire Prism. It was what had driven her insane in the first place. What had made her like this. The viral nature of her assaults wasn't natural, and didn't make sense from the perspective of a Fire Prism powered war weapon.

My thoughts flickered to the Gem that had constantly been trying to reform in Fireball's 'exhibit.' The glee with which she'd spoken about her torture of what had no doubt been another prisoner within this accursed place.

It was all theory, mere conjecture at best. But I could imagine it in my mind nonetheless. A hurt, tortured Gem pushed to the brink, breaking free of her bonds and setting the world around her on fire. Perhaps the other experiments had broken loose and fought back in a bid for survival, perhaps they had been used against their fellow inmate by the Imperials that had run the facility.

An already unstable Pearl whose code had been sagging under the cancerous growth of the energy source fused to her gemstone, subsequently having what was left rent asunder by some kind of cyberwarfare system, with only the madness surviving the assault.

The thing that had broken free of that subsequent power struggle had been the Burning. An insane, sadistic entity that only knew to hurt everything around it while chasing after the familiar notions induced upon it by the vestiges of a dead Gem's memories, spreading the very poison that had brought her low with every attack.

A poison that had spread to me, only to be found wanting in the face of a greater virus concocted by a far more dangerous individual. A virus that had chained down and dissected the foreign code before incorporating what useful parts of it had been available, before discarding the rest.

Purification, though not entirely. Removing the code wasn't possible for me, but perhaps for her…

Yes. Yes, that would do.

The course settled in front of me like a well lit path, and I closed my eyes in temporary contentment at the clarity that suffused my next decision..

"Thank you, Patina. I'm not going to kill her."

There was a sigh of relief from both of my daughters, and a near silent exhale of breath from the Pearl whose lightform was currently trying to burn away the fingers I had poked into her.

"But I am going to fix her."

Before anyone could say or do anything else, my free hand shot forward, claws splitting apart and splaying outward to wrap around Fireball's gemstone, their green glow rapidly beginning to overpower her own subtle luminescence.

And then…I got to doing what a Nacre did best.

After all, a damaged Pearl in need was my Gem type's speciality.