LOG-211.

The realisation that Fireball, as the Pearl liked to call herself, appeared personally immune to the broadcast specifically intended to keep her out came and went as more of an idle thought than anything else.

If she could have bypassed Atoll's defences and entered the facility personally, why had she not done so? Fear of her actual body being damaged? Some kind of preference for using intermediaries? Simple, raw madness?

Who knew, but it was just one among many thoughts that flashed through my mind as the crazy little thing led us on a self described tour of her home…while the ever so helpful alien code focused upon the task of preparing me for her eventual attack.

Subject's lightform has exotic elemental properties. Subject's Prism continuously channels Warp produced energy into subject's lightform. Subject's lightform level of energy and the rate of infusion makes it impossible to dispatch through traditional means. Standard discorporation will not be possible without ship grade weaponry or similar levels of damage. High probability of destabilisation if the link between subject's gemstone and Prism is disrupted. High probability of detonation if the outer shell of the Prism is pierced.

...Great.

"Oh, oh, and this is what's left of the old Tourmaline unit assigned to the Moissanites! Their armour was really tough, but they burned good once I managed to slip through the cracks!"

Peering over the excitable Gem's shoulder while feigning an expression of interest, I took in the sight of what might have been some kind of aquarium at some point. It had the shape of one at least.

Now though, it served as nothing less than a macabre display for a few dozen different purple shards, each one visibly singed around the edges.

"Fascinating, and you shattered these soldiers entirely by yourself?"

"Yes! They were trying to stop me from getting all the other Gems, so I had to deal with them first."

Dangerous, very dangerous. But this was a dangerous game I was playing, one that I evidently hadn't prepared perfectly for.

…Annoying. Even as my shoulder briefly brushed against Fireball's, yet more of that utterly virulent code clashing against my own tightly wound defences and being isolated, dissected and analysed in turn-progress estimated at 78% completion-while I considered the price that would be paid for my own inability, and the mistakes that had led to it.

There had been a rush, of course. I hadn't been aware of what kind of timetable I was working with, and there had been demonstrable proof that the Pearl now leading me over to another room had been working to penetrate Atoll's defences.

But, I could have likely taken a lesser risk in waiting just a little longer for the sake of additional preparation. The Baroques being forced to remain outside to hold off the majority of the generated swarm was an unfortunate complication, and one that I should have considered.

Just a week or two spent tinkering, and I very possibly could have replicated the broadcast devices that allowed the facility to generate the same signal slipping out from my lips every time I opened them. Perhaps even less, if I had just outright salvaged the original models. A safe zone could have been made, and then we'd have had three additional weapons to use against our enemy.

But that's what it all was, wasn't it? If I did this, if I had just done that. More mistakes being made because I was in a rush, because I was impatient.

I wanted to go home, but I was flinging myself into making mistakes in the process of trying to go about that as quickly as I could. There were no doubt ways I could have, should have done better.

Something to think on. To internalise, when I had the chance.

"Are you even listening to me?"

Turning to regard the Pearl at my side, I reached over and promptly mussed up her wild, unrestrained locks of hair-est, 83% complete, target's gemstone and Prism appear to lack complete synchronisation, resulting in brief episodes of conflicting processes-while wrenching down the urge to flinch my hand back, watching as Fireball's features scrunched up in confusion before lighting up with glee throughout the headpatting.

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"I'm always listening."

It burned, of course. Had I not already begun to familiarise myself with the exact kind of damage being done every time contact with her lightform was made, I was certain the scalding sensation would have caused a younger, less experienced version of myself to rear back, or perhaps even cry out.

"It doesn't feel like you're listening! And you have to listen! Or I'll burn you! Just like I burned all the others!"

But instead I just smiled, even as we emerged in what was unmistakably an amphitheatre of some kind, Patina, Violet and Atoll quietly following behind us at a safe distance.

"Of course."

The trio had been justifiably quiet throughout this strange process of mine, more than content to leave me alone in manoeuvring around Fireball's…eccentricities.

A generous term, considering that, among other things, the Pearl was beholden to some blatant flavour of sadism. She'd shown me an 'art piece' that had consisted of another experiment she had encountered during her rebellion.

It was some kind of half melted gemstone surrounded by burning flames, trying to reform every few minutes only for the mangled lightform that emerged to promptly discorporate in response to the immediate damage. Painful looking, to say the very least.

Just another reason to keep everyone else away from her. A little longer, and I…and White's code would have whatever the Fire Prism was doing to her figured out, and then I could hopefully strike her down without getting all of us horribly incinerated in the process.

Long term containment would probably be difficult afterwards, considering the sheer heat constantly flowing out from her shoulder, but that was something I could figure out after rendering her helpless.

Subject's link to its holographic projections appears to be instantaneous in nature, though not persistently online. Subject's holographic projections are assumed to have a certain level of autonomy when there is no direct control. Subject's holographic projections should be capable of creating their own projections, predicted to be less accurate and less efficient. Subject's level of control is assumed to be degraded for the less stable version of holographic projections.

"And we're here!"

A short twirl punctuated the statement, and I found myself glancing around at…more of the same really.

Burned walls. Burned floors. Burned ceiling. Had she lost her mind before or after making everything look the same, I wondered?

"And what, exactly, are we here for?"

My question earned a giddy expression from the experiment as she hopped in place, landing on one foot while the other pressed against her ankle, slightly wobbly arms held out at her sides.

"To dance! You'll teach me to dance! Oh, and I'll practice with those other Pearls you've got! The weird metal thing can wait in the corner, it doesn't look like much of a dancer."

It took everything for my eyes not to narrow dangerously at the sudden attention being directed towards a surprised Patina, with Violet visibly glaring back from atop her Batchmate's head.

Of course if Fireball noticed the latter's less than pleased expression, she didn't do anything about it, instead looking back from the pair as her gaze fell to the floor.

"It's not like I have any of my own Batchmates left. The Moissanites ruined all of them. I think. Or maybe I did that? No, probably not…"

Her brief second of contemplation ended as she clapped her hands, looking back up at me with an expectant smile.

"Alright, start! What do we do?"

Staring at the Pearl, I silently stepped forward, arms extending before I grabbed hold of her shoulder and hip respectively.

"First of all, you're going to straighten your back. That posture would have gotten you smacked in the Reef. And second of all, I think we're much better off focusing on a solo routine before we get into multi-Gem dancing-"

A hand slapped at my own-analysis est, 95% complete-and promptly left a distinctly Nacre part of my own programming feeling somewhat disgruntled, even as Fireball stepped back and stomped a foot, the act conjuring up a brief ring of sparks around the impact site.

"No! I want them to do it with me! Do you have any idea how long I've been alone? I'm sick of it! Sick of it sick of it sick of it! Make them dance! Or-a song! Make them sing a song! Or you can sing a song!"

There was an unspoken threat to her tone, and if I looked closely I could see those tattoos of hers writhing ever so slightly, possibly in response to her agitation, or to something slightly less clear.

…Just a few more points of contact, and I could finish this. Reaching forward, I planted a hand on the irate Pearl's shoulder, settling for a smile I knew had reassured Vermilion on more than one occasion.

Analysis est, 96% complete.

"You'll get your chance, but we should really focus on the fundamentals first. Perhaps we can even mix some music into the performance as well? After all, don't you want a good-"

What happened next was so…different, that it genuinely threw me for a loop. I had grown incredibly used to reading everything from an individual's posture, to their microexpressions, and all the way up to the subtle intonations in their vocal patterns, all little things that led to me picking apart Gems like living puzzles.

There was no sign that Fireball was going to so much as move, let alone attack. No adjustment of her lightform, no flash or darkening of her eyes.

And yet in less than a second, I found myself feeling an intense heat around my gemstone, and as I looked down, I couldn't help but quietly note that it really was unfair just how easily accessible the very core of my being was.

Countermeasures briefly flared, and then horrifyingly enough, failed as the burning Gem dug her fingers further into my lightform, successfully gripping the entirety of my being in her hand.

Critical level of overheating detected. Critical level of energy overload detected. Analysis est, 97% complete. Code incursion detected, code incursion isolated. Vulnerability fixed. Emergency energy bleed mode activated. Emergency heat dump in process. Code incursion detected. Code incursion detected. Code incursion detected, code incursion isolated. Vulnerability removed. High level of overheating remains. Code incursion detected, code incursion isolated. Analysis est, 98% comple-high probability of damage to crystalline structure detected, initiating emergency reboot.

The code I had been injected with didn't bother to say anything beyond that utterly ominous message, even as my world turned horribly bright, and then terribly, terribly dark.

…