The Soul Gem

Alive

"How do we make him...not...do that?" Amethyst asked Garnet and Pearl. What she was referring to was Ermac moving with his robotic mannerisms, which was freaking out every gem he tried to interact with. It didn't help that the Crystal Gems now know the context behind Ermac's real purpose. He was meant to be not only a prototype for the Cluster, but also the kill switch for Earth should Pink Diamond not be able to fight back...herself in a sense.

"I don't know...he's at least trying to interact," Pearl said with an awkward shrug.

"He's scaring everybody though. He needs to loosen up," Garnet added.

"...how many do you think there are?" Amethyst asked, still looking at Ermac's attempts of socialization.

"Hm? What do you mean?" Garnet asked.

"He's supposed to be a prototype of the Cluster...which means he's apparently big fusion. So...how many gems do you think are in there?" Amethyst detailed. That thought made Garnet grit her teeth a bit. As a living example of fusion being a show of love, Garnet wasn't too keen on trying to interact with what is in essence...a graveyard's worth of corpses that were just crammed into another corpse that was forced to be suscitated until it started moving. He looked alive, he sounded alive, he moved...he talked...by all means and accounts, Ermac is...technically alive. There's just...something missing from Ermac that should have brought him to life long ago.

"With how big the cluster is with a few billion? He....might be a few hundred...maybe thousands? We won't know, unless he himself knows how many are combined inside of him," Garnet explained, still not fully certain on what to do with Ermac.

"There has to be something we can do! We can't just let him mull about like this! This isn't what Steven would do. He would be trying to make friends with Ermac, break Ermac's shell! Even try to figure out how to help Ermac," Pearl blared out. This caused the aforementioned gem to turn his attention to them. He gave a stiff and formulaic wave....still wasting no movement to try and show any emotions.

"Amethyst, you're arguably the most relaxed out of all of us. You try to talk to him first," Pearl suggested.

"I ain't talking to him! He creeps me out!" Amethyst shouted back at Pearl. This outburst caused Ermac to tilt his head in confusion at the words being said.

"You're doing great buddy! Don't worry!" Amethyst said with an awkward chuckle. Ermac gave an emotionless thumbs up before trying to interact with more gems, to...varying avail.

"Hmm...maybe Ruby and Sapphire can try talking to him?" Pearl suggested again.

"Ruby would try to punch him because of his existence, Sapphire would try and hold Ruby back and accidentally freeze to the floor," Garnet immediately said.

"Why don't you try talking to him, Pearl? You might have a bit more insight into how to help him," Peridot piped up.

"Excuse me?" Pearl asked with a confused side eye glance.

"You're telling me you've never felt like you've lost your purpose for existing?" Peridot asked.

"Hm...well...when Rose began Steven...I will admit. It felt like I had lost something that helped me function. As we got to know him though, Steven gave us all new purpose. I suppose it is worth a try to appeal to his lost nature," Pearl said with a sigh, as she walked over to Ermac.

"How are you interacting, Ermac?" Pearl asked the gem.

"No one wishes to converse with us. Are we...doing something wrong?" He asked.

"No no. It's just...a....hm. You just need to learn how to express yourself," Pearl replied.

"We do not know how to do that...we think," Ermac said, his hand twitching as if some parts of him were trying to rise out.

"Well...what would you like to talk about?" Pearl asked Ermac.

"We do not know," Ermac replied simply.

"Why are you so...indecisive, Ermac?" Pearl asked. Ermac simply put his hand over his gem, not quite sure how to answer that question himself.

"We...hear many...thoughts within our...gem," Ermac said in a stilted manner, as if it wasn't the single presence that was addressed as Ermac speaking of his own volition. It seemed like Ermac was being puppeteered within his own form to speak that phrase.

"Many thoughts? What does that mean?" Pearl asked in slight surprise.

"We are....a cluster...we are thousands within one...not by choice...but by intricate force," Ermac said, making Garnet cringe more at the mental image she was getting her dual minds.

"Well....why don't you start with trying to interact with....us. With us! Yeah, try to make friends with the three of us before you try to make friends with Little Homeworld at large," Pearl suggested.

"Make...friends?" Ermac said, still clueless about the idea of social interaction.

"Exactly. If you have so many people as a part of you. You're bound to have something in common with us," Pearl said as she nudged him towards the other Crystal Gems. He took steps that were stilted, getting closer to the group in a way akin to a marionette being led around on its strings.

"How may we...be...a friend?" Ermac asked, trying his best to do an icebreaker...it was at least an effort.