Red Diamond (English Version)

RD - 02: Skills

"Her gemstone was split. Broken." Said Pearl.

"Is that possible?" Steven asked.

"That's something very rare." Said Peridot. "The few reports that exist about it, describe that the gems which managed to emerge from their holes with their gemstones split or broken did not last more than a few minutes. They couldn't even have a stable form and did not show any signs of conscience."

"Go on, Pearl." Said Amethyst.

Pearl wasn't comfortable with all that, however, her curiosity won over her.

Pearl started reading.

***********

My gemstone was split. Half on each shoulder. I hugged myself to be able to feel both pieces of red diamond.

I wasn't feeling well. Something inside me was burning and I needed to let it out.

Around me, beyond the diamonds, there were some gems that I should be able to recognize, I knew I should, but I didn't know who or what they were.

Yellow once more was yelling at White about how I was a failure and a big waste of the planet's precious resources.

She was right. I agreed with everything she was saying, but then, why did her shouts piss me so much?

I didn't know.

One more thing that I didn't know.

I couldn't take it anymore. All the anger, the insecurity, the anguish... I let it all out yelling at her.

"Could you, please, shut up?" I shouted at Yellow. "My head hurts." I added, a bit more calmly.

At that moment, many things happened.

I could noticed that many gems, which I saw far away, disappeared. Blue hold onto Yellow as if a strong wind was trying to bring her down. Yellow looked at me with a offended, surprised and angry look. While White, for the first time, expressed something. I couldn't identify what it was at the time, but remembering of that moment, it seems to me it was relief.

"What just happened shows that we still need to know more about Red Diamond's condition before considering her a waste of resources, don't you agree Yellow?" Said White.

"Yes." Yellow replied.

"She surely is stronger than she looks." Said Blue.

"We need to know what she can or cannot do. We need to test her." Said Yellow.

Then the tests began.

Yellow personally took care of it. She was present at every experiment, checked every result, and if she didn't like what she saw, she would have them redone countless times.

She loved to ridicule my failings, but she would get strongly frustrated with my triumphs.

I don't even remember what kind of tests I did or what they were for.

***********

Pearl stopped reading.

"That's horrible." Said Pearl.

"Tests..." Said Peridot. "Give me the tablet, Pearl."

Pearl handed the device to Peridot who immediately began searching for something in it.

"Found it." Said the green gem. "There are some results of these tests here. Let me see... This one seems interesting."

Peridot started reading.

***********

The tests have shown that Red Diamond's gem irregularity does not negatively affect the stability or resistance of her physical form.

Red Diamond was able to withstand several direct attacks on her body, being even able to easily regenerate destroyed parts.

At no point in the tests did her physical form appear to be unstable or shapeless.

***********

Peridot stopped Reading.

"Steven, are you all right?" Peridot asked.

Steven was pale and tears flowed out of his eyes.

"How could they do this to her?!" The boy said.

"In truth, they did much more than just that." Said Peridot.

"Peridot!" Pearl scolded. She stood up and went to Steven kneeling beside him immediately being hugged by the boy. "I think that's enough for today!" She said firmly staring at Peridot. "Let's go Steven."

Steven was so astonished that he only let himself be guided by Pearl, while Amethyst was silent staring at the grassy ground in front of her. She also seemed shaken by everything she had heard.

"And you?" Peridot asked Amethyst. "Won't you go away too?"

"Tell me the rest, Peri." Amethyst asked. "What else was different about this diamond?"

"Hum... I found a sort of list of skills and defects." Said the green gem.

Peridot started reading.

***********

The tests indicated that Red Diamond is able to:

-Change her physical form at will and indefinitely without collateral damage or cost of magic.

-Summon weapons from each part of her gemstone and modify them at will.

-Use telekinetic powers.

-Locate places on planets or space via coordinates without the aid of equipment.

-Move faster than light in any environment, including space, allowing her to make interplanetary travels without a spaceship.

The results show that Red Diamond has trouble (ht) or is incapable of (io):

-Reading and writing. (ht)

-Learning how to operate and interact with equipment and machines. (ht)

-Understanding and processing a lot of information at the same time. (ht)

-Performing classification and organization processes. (ht)

-Recognizing gems other than diamonds. (ht)

-Creating her own gems. (io)

-Fusing. (io)

***********

Peridot stopped Reading.

"And what does all this mean?" Amethyst asked.

"In simple and practical terms: She was strong but she was dumb." Said Lapis Lazuli landing next to Peridot.

"Lapis, were you listening all this time?" Peridot asked.

"I didn't have much choice since I was right above you." Lapis replied as she pointed to the structure fixated to the barn's outer wall.

Amethyst suddenly gets up and walks away.

"What happened to her?" Lapis asked.

"I guess this imperfect and wrong gem thing still bothers her." Said Peridot.

"What are you going to do now that your audience is gone?"

"I'll see what else I find out about this Red Diamond. Are you interested?"

"No, thanks." Said Lapis. "I already know more than enough." She went flying somewhere while Peridot went back to rummaging through the files on her tablet.