Scene #3057: Red Recruitment Drive

Owner	Pose
Razer	Slum Urbania. Home to the many, many people who have been neglected by the powers that be. The sort of place where there are many people who, with the right nudge at the right time, will find themselves consumed by rage, hate and anger. The sort of people who could become new footsoldiers for Atrocitus' dark crusade against the Guardians of Oa. The Red Lanterns are already there. Notably, Razer appears to be leading them. He stalks towards a young Urbanian man, dark cunning alight in his blue eyes. "Give into your hatred, little human," Razer taunts, "Only your anger is enough to destroy me!" Red light builds around Razer's ring hand, his own feeling focusing the powerful red energy into something he can use. And, just like that, a green burst of energy slams into the wall next to Razer. The Red Lantern turns, scowling. It appears that the Green Lanterns - and any other reinforcements - have arrived!
Peridot	Peridot was among the red lanterns. However unlike the periodontal red villains, she stood out like a sore thumb, being a green-skinned woman wearing green armor. It was clear she was not one of them. Closer inspection only furthered that conclusion. She wore no ring on her fingers, her fingers were not even fingers in the typical fashion anyway. They were disconnected from her palm, floating around her hand. Her expression was one of boredom, but mild interest. Her holopad followed her as she documented the lanterns abilities. She had an interest in the way lanterns controlled and created light constructs. It was very similar to gem technology... not just gem tech, but the way gems existed in physical light-bound forms. It was all very fascinating. She had agreed to accompany Razer and assist his mission in any way someone with a brain as large as hers could in exchange for simply observing how the lanterns worked. So, when the first Green Lantern appeared, Peridot immediately hid behind Razer. The last thing she wanted to do was to get mistaken as a green lantern- for she was green from head to toe. "Bah! You never said anything about resistance!" She grumbled, though she never did quite stop typing to record everything she saw.
Golden	Golden sighs as some overzealous hero jumps in, with green tights and green glowy parts. This can't end well. So.... he jumps onto the scene from the dumpster he was behind, aiming to distract Razer by grabbing onto the Red Lantern and forcing him to deal with the small digimon. He shouts at the young Urbanian. "Run kid! Tell everybody to run! Get them out of here before these guys start knocking down walls!" Golden knows the type of people well; Razer is spoiling for a fight and the brash Green Lantern is gonna bring that fight. The scuffed gold armor that encases the digimon looks eeriely like a setting sun as it reflects Razer's red light, and the sunburst crest on Golden adds its own wan orange light, making him a target for Peridot and Razer.
Razer	"You're right," Razer says to Peridot, voice cool. "That's because there /is/ no resistance to a Red Lantern." As if to prove his point, Razer turns towards the errant Green Lantern and unleashes a beam of burning red energy. The Green Lantern raises his ring and projects a shield. Peridot might glimpse the red energy 'infecting' the green shield and- Then Golden has him! Razer shouts out something incoherent as the young Urbanian turns and runs for it. "Why you little-!" Razer snarls, "Face the power of my rage!" And, just like that, Razer /explodes/, washing the street in a burst of red energy. It's not the most harmful thing, more a sharp kinetic blast, intending to throw Golden back. It'll probably clip Peridot, too, given that she's hiding behind him. Windows shatter, car alarms ring out, and the Green Lantern hides behind his shield as the burst washes over him!
Peridot	Peridot is knocked onto her butt. "Ow-wa!" She rubs her hip as she pushes herself back to her feet. "Watch how you use that!" She takes a few steps back from the battle, ducking behind an over turned car, her metallic boots stomping as she goes. "No different from Jasper!" Once is a slightly more safe location, she opens her holopad once more. She did still have a obligation to assist. Though her brand of assistance tended to be more slow-burning.. more long term damage than merely being able to throw a punch. Peridot collected intel and reasoned how to exploit it. From a distance, her holopad begins performing visual scans of Golden. At first, Peridot couldn't even tell what she was looking at. It appeared to be some manner of monster. It reminded her of a corrupted gem, but it seemed capable of intelligent choice and rationality. "Intriguing." She murmured, rubbing her chin. "Razer. Make it identify itself!" She shouted from her perch of relative safety.
Golden	Golden is flung outward by the blast of rage, clipping the corner of a building and sending a spray of concrete as his dense digizoid body careens off. There's a loud metallic boom as his spherical body collides with the dumpster, making the heavy thing practically /jump/ from the impact. He falls to the sidewalk afterwards. Golden's form fritzes and de-rezzes in places as Peridot performs her scans, looking for all the world like a digital program with inexplicable gaps, fissures, and holes in it. Golden is clearly a paradox; a sentient piece of computer code manifested in reality, and one that should not even be functional at that. There's even glimpses of something compressed within the code, something much larger and more powerful. Somthing locked behind that sunburst symbol. "Will you cut that out?" He says, glaring at Peridot.
Razer	"It's me you should be worried about," Razer tells Golden, stepping towards him with slow, inexorable steps. Red energy is already building around his ring again, burning around his hand. "Now-" And some part of Razer swallows his pride at being told what to do and it's probably visible on his face, "-Now, tell me who you are, so I might know the name of who I'm about to destroy!" Yes. Smooth. It doesn't sound like Peridot was telling him what to do at all. He swipes his hand in the direction of the Green Lantern and a great red whip scythes through a support strut, burying him under a cloud of debris. It won't kill the fool but it'll allow Razer some time to focus on this little being.
Peridot	Peridot blinks. She recognized the computer code easily enough. She spent most of her days shoulder deep in it. A digital program given physical form? "Fascinating!" She suddenly very much wanted to capture this being and study it. If it was a digital program running on.. perhaps a magic-based generator. Gems were not computer like in their core, but like this creature their physical bodies were composed of light. "Be wary!" Peridot calls out. "There is a powerful force at it's core that is currently sealed away. If it is released it may become problematic for you." Not so much for her, if things got too hairy she would be fleeing. That much was certain. Her fingers spun in place as she increased the size of her holopad by a few inches. "I will attempt to interface." She was dangerously close to the battle. But her holopad begin to emit sonic frequencies, undetectable to the human ear-- but anything that could pick up radio frequencies would be at risk. She was attempting to see if she could hack into the creature from where she was. Perhaps she could take a peak at its mind. Oh that would be a glorious day for science.
Golden	It takes a very intimate knowledge of Digimon to hack them successfully. Something that, as far as Golden knew, only their god-computer Yggdrasil had accomplished. But strange things happen when dealing with a fundamentally damanged digimon, and the hacking does... /something/. He's not actually sure what's going on because the hacking attempt plays utter havoc with his ability to remain stable, given his damaged core. Wild and crazy signals spew forth from the digimon, causing all manner of digtal devices within eyeshot of Golden to go haywire. Car alarms blare, TVs flip channels and show vistas of a lost world and old battles, audio system warble with voices of the dead that Golden knew. The poor digimon isn't even able to react to Razer, voice degrading into a horrendous modem screech as he flails trying to escape the flood of memories and voices being ripped from him. "Make it stop! I don't want to remember!" Even the voice is different; deeper, more resonant. Then the sunburst crest flares a bright orange and washes over the badly fragmenting digimon, locking Peridot out and stabilizing Golden's form. The digimon is bowed, trying to recover. "You want to know who I am?" He finally says to Razer in his normal voice, the crest still burning bright. "I'm a Guardian." And he leaps at Razer, arm cannon blasting away. "We stand against the darkness!"
Razer	The bizarre events that unfold in the wake of Peridot's hacking attempt gives Razer a moment's pause. "What in the name of Grotz-?" But he audibly scoffs at Peridot's warning. "Then we'll just see how problematic this little creature can become," Razer comments, turning back to look at Golden... ...only take a volley of cannon blasts to the chest. Razer goes flying backwards, chest smoking and red aura flaring, and slams into a wall. Dust falls around him. "Very well then, 'Guardian'," Razer states, "But you'll find my rage is bright and terrible!" His words rise into a howling scream, and Razer's ring lets fly with a burning whip of red energy, like he's intent on scything down Golden where he stands!
Zwei	Zwei doesn't even need to be physically present in Urbania to pick up on such a volume of severely anomalous signals. With metaphorical eyes and ears all over huge swaths of the multiverse's sector zero digital infrastructure, it'd be pretty difficult to miss an event of this magnitude, and with the action in Shiva slowing down to a crawl, there's plenty of time to spare in the dual life of a tireless consciousness perpetually balanced between fascination and ennui. At some point, someone else seems to have come in to watch the battle play out; a local boy dressed in a worn out hoodie, sat over the corroded guard rail of a cheap, corrogated aluminium apartment balcony. For all intents and purposes, he appears superficially normal. His height and weight check out with his vital signs; everything from his respiration volume to his thermal footprint matching up perfectly with an average, somewhat malnourished human male between the ages of sixteen and twenty one, with the only immediate oddity being his totally flat and level heart rate despite sitting so close to a miniature warzone. That's about as far as the similarity goes for the truly curious however. There's a good chance an irrelevant human might simply be ignored, but he doesn't seem to be counting on it.
Peridot	Peridot identifies the complex code. That much didn't surprise her as her eyes poured over it. As with most things technology related- a lot of high-end pieces required specialization to do anything useful. And though Peridot was really good with digital war fronts, she could see the level of proficiency would require years of study. Practice on a captive, no doubt. She had neither the time, or inclination to become that good in such a narrow field as Digimon hacking. She was however able to detect various anomalies. She exploited those to take a peek at what was under this creatures hood, recording whatever emissions he made for later study. Then as all the digital devices in their vicinity started rattling around. Her screen suddenly fills with red flashing exclamation points. "It's no good. I'm locked out." She grumbles. But she at least got something to call her new file. Her interfaces switches over to audio recording. "This is Peridot, log date Z.89. Save document, Guardian-001. Analyze security anomalies present. We may not be able to hack these creatures... but perhaps I can create a backdoor I can use in the future if these leaks remain unaddressed."
Golden	Golden is vastly outclassed by Razer, and the rage lash hits him, sending him skidding across the concrete and asphalt and crashing into the base of the apartment building, just under where the strange boy is. Golden lies there for a moment and thinks as the dust clears. "Yeah yeah, I've heard that before." He says as he rights himself and shakes off the debris and dust. "I'm a big mean nasty guy and you should cower before me! The first guy who tried to do that to me?" Here, Golden makes a motion with his metal claw that suggests somebody's face was ripped off. The MetalMamemon grins at Razer. "He didn't like it much. How about you? Up for some radical facial reconstruction?" He says, taunting Razer before cutting loose with another energy bomb from his arm cannon and leaping to one side.
Razer	"If you knew what was good for you," Razer shouts, "You'd be begging at my feet!" He raises his ring hand and swipes at the energy bomb, detonating it and sending him flying backwards. Razer somersaults and lands on his feet, breathing heavily. And, with each breathe, red curls of /something/ slip from between his fanged teeth. Razer lets loose with a chain, aiming... above Golden. And then, finding purchase on some part of the apartment building, Razer pulls back and down - and goes to bring down some of the apartment building, right on top of Golden! That local boy is just in the wrong place at the wrong time, maybe. Peridot is broken out of her recording by a flash of green energy as that Green Lantern manages to extricate himself from the debris Razer had blasted him under. He's a humanoid alien, with four eyes and four arms. Only one ring, though. "Are you assisting that red monster? I'll give you one chance to surrender!"
Peridot	She continues her log with a monotone voice. "Hm.. this damage does not appear to be the default state. It's likely to be missing pieces from the make-" She jolts as the debris next to her reveals a new and scary threat. "Ee-yah!" She turns to face the green lantern, squinting. Mentally she did a few calculations. If they were anything like the red lanterns, she would likely struggle just to escape. But this Lantern appears to have been injured, not operating at maximum capacity. If Peridot was willing to stick around for anything, it was an unfair fight that put her at an advantage. She raised her arm at the creature, her holo-pad disappearing and a blaster taking its place. "Surrender? to a mutant like you? You will bow before gem kind, worm!" The built-up charge releases from her arm. A powerful blast, too powerful for even its wielder lances forward. Peridot is knocked immediately from her feet, and sent sliding along the ground in the opposite direction of the green lantern, her back slamming into more rubble. "Ow!"
Zwei	The kid doesn't seem to have been there very long before getting caught up in it. Of course, he was practically begging for it with the way he was sitting right in the front row seats of the splash zone, so to speak, but that's some record time even in that case. Razer's penchant for totally unnecessary collateral damage goes on file with a metaphorical checkmark. Of course at that point, there's basically no sense in even half-assedly attempting to continue the already somewhat weak facade. There's a quiet, airy 'whump' as the deliquent youth disappears from the rusted crossbar mere moments before Razer's chain sinks its teeth into it in his place. He seems to have vanished into thin air for the few moments it takes for the ramshackle old building to totally collapse as the dust and noise drown out everything else, but shortly thereafter, he comes back into view, hitting the pavement hard enough for it to crack, without flexing his knees. Not terribly subtle. "Oh c'mon, I was just watching!" he complains in an eerily, vaguely familiar tone, despite his completely unfamiliar voice.
Razer	The Green Lantern raises his ring, projecting a wall of solid energy! Peridot's blast crashes into it and sends the unlucky Lantern flying backwards, out of sight once again. That is, until bands of green energy come whirling out of a nearby storefront, trying to bind Peridot so she can't escape! Razer stares at the collapsed building, panting hard, acrid red smoke curling from his mouth. When Golden doesn't reappear, Razer evidently decides that he's gone - for good. The arrival of the strange youth, however, draws his attention. "Then continue to watch, and spread word of the inevitable victory of Lord Atrocitus' crusade!" Razer turns from him then, and assists Peridot by slashing away at some of the green energy bands. The red energy parts them like a chainsaw through butter.
Peridot	She made a mental note, the durability of the hardened bands of light was far more than her own bodies capability for damage. As the bands wrapped around her she lets out a gasp, as she is lifted into the air. "Stupid little.. whatever you are!" She grumbles as her legs flailed uselessly. As Razer cuts the bands she falls to the ground in a kneeling position. readying another charge with her blaster. "Not that I intend to tell you how to run your mission, Lantern." She started in a tone that suggested she was at least trying to be helpful, as a form of gratitude. "But don't forget the reason we are here. Leveling this filthy city while blowing these... green lanterns apart might be fun, but it does not serve your immediate goal." Her time with Jasper had conditioned her to be the voice of reason, when large battles broke out. The next part of managing the orange gem. Giving her an objective that serves the mission and gives them a specific task they likely already want to do. Peridot wondered if it would work on Razer. "Capturing one of these green lanterns however, and putting them on display may serve to sway others to your strength once the battle has concluded."
Zwei	The kid withdraws his hands from the front pocket of his ratty looking hoodie, planting them on his hips with a distinctively un-masculine cant, tilting his head with an expression that anticipates deep chagrin. "Wow really? I mean, you always sounded kind of single minded over the radio, but I didn't really figure you for this /simple/ minded as well~ Are all the Red Lanterns as bad as you, or are you just abnormally dense?" That's a lot of incredibly unsubtle sass coming from someone who looks like they shoplift chocolate bars for funsies on weekends. His attention turns to Peridot next, regarding her with a more critical eye. Oddly, he doesn't seem to pay any notice to the green lantern at all, despite the outnumbered and beleaguered hero being the central focus of the reason everyone else is here. "What about you? Are you shopping around for replacement idiots, or is your current hotheaded muscle busy with something else? Oh, doubling up maybe?" The cheeky little git sure seems familiar with these two.
Razer	The Green Lantern floats rather serenely from the wrecked building, landing on his feet. He flexes all four of his arms and adopts some sort of martial arts stance. "I am Sy'rax, Green Lantern of Sector 2712, and I'll stop you and your allies! Have at you!" Sy'rax says, blasting away at Peridot once more. "Be my guest," Razer tells Peridot when she mentions capturing him. He doesn't seem to pay the rest what she said much mind and, instead, turns to look at the kid. "No," Razer says, "They're /worse/. Now, stop talking!" It seems to have been a feint, however, because Razer suddenly leaps at Sy'rax, his fist burning with hateful energy!
Peridot	Peridot squinted as she was directly addressed. This kid appeared to know about Jasper. Could it have been the broadcast tower leak? No, she hadn't revealed any personal details about the larger gem. She didn't particularly recognize him, or his voice either. Which she found somewhat frustrating. "Log supplement. A small human has presented himself on the battle field. Appears to be in possession of intel not standard of human larvae." She sneered some. "It is apparent he has been looking into the affairs of gem kind. Update optional mission parameters. Eliminate if it does not conflict with primary objective." "Identify yourself, Filthy human! And prepare to be documented!" As Razer speaks to her. Her brows lay flat. "Well it's your mission! I'm not going to do all the heavy lift-" as Razer leaps towards the green lantern, Peridot is clipped by the ring blast. Knocking the wind out of her, she doubles over, holding her stomach. "Hwwweeeze..."
Zwei	The anonoymous youth sighs out loud, waving one hand in a vague, noncomittal manner. "Geez, I'm awful at this whole 'mysterious stranger in disguise' thing. Maybe I need to lay it on a little thicker? Strike a dramatic pose? Puns? Well actually, maybe it would have been a better idea when two ideological antitheticals aren't in the middle of their usual blood feud actually." He stops briefly, as if mulling it over. "Yeah, I think that seems most likely. Ah well, there's always next time." Finding that the trope doesn't seem to work so well in real life, Weiss decides to finally give it up. The visage of a shifty little street urchin fizzles away in so much visual distortion, and along with it, the humanoid lifesigns vanish completely, leaving a cold spot of biological activity in its place. A woman of completely indeterminate age is left behind instead, not only a couple of inches taller, but of a dramatically different build. White skin -- not pale caucasian, but actual, synthetic matte white -- nickel coloured hair, and lurid, faintly luminescent green eyes instantly make her stand out as human in appearance only as lip service. Her clothes are entirely different too, being an post-modern fashion ensemble in precise greys, blacks and greens. Her voice is instantly recognizable now, no longer modulated to sound male. "Sorry, no humans here~" Peridot probably has the equipment to be aware of the incredibly intense, split-second blast of multi-layered scanning wavelengths she and Razer are subsequently hit with. "I was bored. Sue me~"
Razer	While Razer and Sy'rax attend to their little multi-colored feud, it should give Peridot and Zwei ample time to converse - or do whatever they wish. The street lights up with red flashes and green flashes and a plethora of shouted curses and proclamations. According to Zwei's scans of Razer, however, he seems to be a humanoid alien with a biological makeup that'd point towards being a young adult. The ring on his finger is putting out a phenominal amount of energy, and it seems to correspond to Razer's emotional stage. The angrier he gets, the more power he has. Who knows if there's a theoretical limit. Eventually, though, Razer casts Sy'rax down, the Green Lantern smouldering. Before Razer can say anything, however, his ring glows. The voice from the ring is dark and regal and it cows Razer into instant obedience. With barely a glance behind him, Razer takes off into the air, leaving a red trail behind in his wake, called to Atrocitus' side.
Peridot	She blinked a few times, one of her eyes shut from the jolt she just took to the mid section. "Ah!" She points suddenly. "You're the-- voice from the radio! You... actually gave me useful intel." She paused somewhat. Now that the source of the 'leak' had been confirmed. It actually served to make her less immediately threatening. Like seeing how a magician does their trick. She knew about her and Jasper because of unsecured communication that Peridot herself initiated. She winces as her various alarms went off from being scanned. It revealed Peridot's body to be an illusion for the most part. All of the energy was concentrated in the gem located in her forehead. That was her true form. A sentient space rock. Even the energy in her blaster seemed to be flowing from her gem. The odd thing about her, however, was her arms and legs ended at the elbow and knees. Her feet and hands were entirely mechanical. She was effectively a cyborg gem. "Rude." Pursing her lips, Peridot answers by dissipating her blaster and bringing her holopad back out and proceeds with some scans of her own of a similar nature. It seemed without her 'muscle' Peridot didn't intend on fighting (that is, unless she gained some surprise upper hand.) "You want to tell me who and what you are?"
Zwei	Weiss is almost definitely aware that Peridot knows she scanned her, but doesn't seem intent on following it up with any kind of visible reaction to her findings. She's more or less had enough fun at the gem's expense by now. She doesn't seem to particularly care to stop Peridot from doing it in return either. Her own design is significantly more mundane in basic concept than either of the Confederates, and relatively self-obfuscating, giving off unnaturally little in the way of actual emissions or communications for what is ostensibly a robotic body, even if it appears to be completely non-metallic. The nitty gritty minutae of the countless systems that pack her human-form frame is more or less unintelligible, but what isn't being hidden is the monolithic distortion in spacetime that seems to occupy a space in superposition over her, as if she actually weighed millions of tons. "Exodus-class planetary subjugation Armiger: Zwei." she replies much more plainly. "This-" she points to herself. "-is Weiss. She's the sub-unit I do all my skulking and chatting with." Okay, now the question of identity just got way more confusing. "I'm actually a pretty big name around a lot of circles in this sector. You must be sticking with a small crowd in that superfactional thing of yours." It wouldn't be terribly difficult for Peridot to find some operational history with those names, coming up as strictly unaligned, with infrequent joint actions with both the Union and Confederacy, and a number of notable cross-world scientific achievements, but little else than that. "Really though, nobody could /possibly/ miss all that interference you and that digimon were making. I'm kind of curious what you're doing here, tagging along with one of those Red Lanterns of all people. Don't you have gem stuff to be doing?"
Peridot	Peridot absorbed the information with seemingly little hesitation. After all, her job before being stranded on earth had mostly revolved around going to hundreds of different planets. She had seen life, intelligent life in all manner of strange configurations. Mechanical, biological, and everything in between. She appeared to understand. "To be fair, it was the... digimon's doing, technically. I merely looked through the window." She said with mild disdain aimed towards the now departed Golden. She made various taps on her holopad, seemingly documenting this interaction. "Robonoids are handling several hundred task as we speak. None of which will require my attention or intervention for at least three hours. Gem stuff is well under control." She looked up momentarily. "As for my involvement with the lanterns. It is exclusively a scientific expedition to, as you say, expand my admittedly small interaction and intel on the denizens of this planet, and my faction.. the light constructs and batteries of the lanterns piqued my scientific curiosity. But to put it more plainly." She clears her throat. "I was bored." The smallest of smirks spreads across her face. "Sue me."
Zwei	Weiss shrugs aimlessly at the glance in the direction from which Golden had escaped from. "Honestly I don't know all that much about them individually either. I mean, aside from the history lessons they love giving everyone about their war anyways. That particular one, I haven't actually spoken to though, so I was marginally curious about what all that fragmented garbage data was about." She runs her fingers absently through her hair, held back by an odd, revolving set of ring segments not in actual physical contact. "You can probably tell, but I don't have much of a stake in anything going on right here and now. The whole Union vs Confederacy thing is waaaay outside of my list of concerns. Individual, Kardashev 1 or above cultures are more in my range of interests though, so I figured I might as well stop by~" She laughs with surprising genuity at the rest. "Good answer~! A good practice too! You'd be amazed how far just checking things out whenever the opportunity arises will get you in the multiverse. I'll admit, you seemed a lot more uptight and clueless over the radio than you actually are. I kind of make it my business to keep tabs on new unifications possessed of a certain minimum level of technology, so I'm pleasantly surprised." It seems blindly obvious that she doesn't need to actually stop to think before saying anything, but is likely doing so anyways for the sake of conversational flow. "Soooo~ How's it going? Found out anything worthwhile yet? Word on the grapevine is that a lot of new gems are appearing these days."
Peridot	"My alignment with the confederacy is more one of convenience. They allow me the resources and aid I need in order to perform my missions and scientific expeditions." She walked and continued talking, by its very nature inviting Weiss to follow, or let it end there. "We have our own word for what you mean, but to put it in your terms. Gems are type 2, on the slow transition to type 3." She wanted to conclude that with 'at least, we were' there was still a lot she didn't know about her homeworlds status in the multi-verse. At the accusation of being uptight and clueless, the corners of her lips tighten. "Normally, I don't take the time to learn about a planets culture. The same way the humans do not take time to learn about an anthill before they construct one of their highways over it. However, my current predicament has me stranded in the ant hill. And so, I must wear ridiculous antenna. I don't have to like it, though." "If you are as pragmatic as you say, perhaps we could trade intel on a more... mutually beneficial playing field. I am a repository of information about my universe, information you could not possible posses given the recent unification. And I am the only being on this entire planet who is up to date on all of it." She seemed what proud of this fact.
Zwei	Well if Zwei had gone through all the effort of sending Weiss out here, what would be the point of wandering off now? There's nothing currently pressing that Asche isn't already capable of handling in spades, and the core fleet is pretty sleepy right now. The infiltration Armiger walks alongside the gem in surprisingly good humour, matching pace with her precisely. "Oh you're familiar with the terminology then! Excellent! Sometimes we get these kings and emperors of entire spacefaring races who have no idea how a star works, so please excuse me if I'm being a little basic here." "I feel like that's kind of a waste." she concludes firmly. Pointedly, she hasn't called it 'wrong'. "Unlike anthills, cultures takes thousands or millions of years to pop up, and they don't usually last very long before they drastically change or else die out. Believe it or not, I'm sort of representing my species in a-" she waves her hand noncommittaly. "-vaguely similar way to you are with yours, currently. Even if you're just going to blow it up, there's a significant value in documenting it as fully as you can before you do. Even if you don't think there's anything worthwhile to learn, someone else might always see something in it you weren't interested in, and keeping accurate and detailed account of history is extraordinarily helpful in predicting the future." She smiles coyly. "Being superior doesn't mean you shouldn't pay attention~" Curiously little has been divulged outside of that narrow topic. "Mmm, that's what I usually do. Information is about the only thing of verifiable value to me. Hearing it straight from you would be significantly easier than trying to snoop around your universe for weeks on end, and it builds a better working contact besides. I'm not going to sugarcoat the answers to what you ask me though. Having been, and still being, involved in an extensive number of ongoing events in this sector, I can tell you right now that putting up a good poker face will be a lot more valuable in a great many situations than shooting people with lasers. To be honest, from whom I've encountered of your kind, you seem like the smart one, so I trust you'll be able to try and be as objective as possible about it."
Peridot	"Blow it up?" She asked, with a raised eyebrow. "We do not blow planets up." Her nose tilted upwards. "In fact I have a vested interest in preventing such an event. We gems abandoned this planet six thousand years ago. I came here initially to check on scientific experimentation that was initiated by my precursors an abandoned due to the war. And now I am stranded. My mission now is solely to relocate my home planet. Reestablish contact with Yellow Diamond. Ensure my species is not extinct. Hence my alliance. The confederacy allows me to go to the lengths I need in order to do these three things. I predicted the union would not." "Mingling with the... natives is strictly prohibited in a routine situation. We have found doing so can result in the poisoning the mind of even the most dedicated of gems. Rebellions have increased as we began to exponentially claim life supporting solar systems. Yellow Diamond will forgive me, I am certain. Though I am normally the conqueror, I am forced to be the diplomat in order to achieve success. Crystal gems are a particular breed of rebel gems. Halted our progress in this system. They are making the transition to type 3 problematic, therefore I intend to destroy them as high priority secondary objective." "I am the smart one." She confirms. "But it's a sad little hill I rule over." She inspects her floating fingers. "Aside from Jasper, all other gems you meet have been living among the apes for thousands of years. They are hopelessly out of date... and Jasper... well. You know Jasper."
Zwei	"It's just an expression." Weiss says airily. "But another point in your favour~ Fully two thirds of level two and above civilizations around here seem to commonly hold the belief that destroying planets demonstrates some kind of intrinsic cultural superiority, rather than just heinous inefficiency, so I'm glad we're slowly gravitating outside of cartoonishly evil, violent, totalitarian space empire territory here." The words taken at face value are obnoxiously jaded, and patently somewhat disrespectful, but the tone she delivers them with fully and sincerely implies nothing but being mildly, pleasantly surprised. "If you're talking about Earth though . . . well you've probably found out that there are a /lot/ of them. It's the single most commonly unified planet, usually owing to variants of humanity being the single most commonly unified dominant species. Most of them are what you're already used to. A few of them are very different. A lot of them are totally worthless. A lot of them may yet impress you. It's a bad idea to hold onto the idea of all Earths and all humans being the exact same as they were before any of this happened. On the plus side though, if your scientific research involved them, your potential samples just exponentially multiplied in size!" "That's not an uncommon state of affairs." she concludes after a brief pause. "It isn't infrequent that people unify away from their worlds, and take some time to find them again. In your case, I can't imagine it'll take as long as most, assuming they're still alive. You're also correct in assuming the Union would probably be more of an obstacle than a help, and you'll hear no criticism from me for obvious reasons. What you need to consider however, is that those other gems used to mingling with other species now have a significant advantage in terms of access to previously unavailable magic and technology that is still unfamiliar to you, simply as a matter of alliance with the humans that invented it, in worlds where different conditions allowed it to exist." She smiles briefly. "It's good that you're cognizant of this though! The biggest rookie mistake you can possibly make in this situation is assuming that you're still the top dog and blindly charging into something you have no knowledge of. Doing that is pretty much a game of Russian roulette in the multiverse." Weiss stops suddenly, planting her heel. "So, here's my advice. Downplay the xenophobia in public. You don't actually have to care about or respect humans; only pretend that you don't hate them. Keep Jasper on a tight leash until they learn to handle themselves. Expand your range of contacts, even if you have to talk to a bunch of useless people once and never again. Optionally, look into the Syndicate. It's separate from factional obligations, and deals almost entirely in shared intelligence. If you can give people the impression that you're capable of cooperating with them, this'll go a lot faster. Trust me when I say that it's much easier to get what you want that way than tediously blasting through every single person who takes offense to what you do. The last thing you want is to give the Crystal Gems more allies, right?"
Peridot	Her hands interlock behind her back. "I had this very conversation with Jasper. Before our last expedition and after discussions on the radio." She squints. "She wishes me to do the very thing you suggest we should not do. However the conclusion I came to is very much what you are suggesting." She looks to Weiss as she stops as well. "Therefore I begrudgingly grant you a point, though you have awarded me two." "I find it difficult to turn off. But I have made efforts to not treat allies with the same disdain I reserve for my non-gem dissenters. I am creating alliances that previously Homeworld would never maintain. This is not how gems do things. I imagine I will be writing several instructional manuals upon my return." "If you are not bound by neutrality, consider that an incentive to aid me in maintaining my position, as represenative of Homeworld on this planet. I will always seek the pragmatic solution to a problem and I sit at the helm of considerable fire power. If I am gone, Jasper will have to replace me. Her methods will be far less delicate than mine. This will result in the permanent loss of information. You, and the syndicate stand to gain more with me at the reigns."
Zwei	Weiss cracks a smirk of her own at that. "Then my assumptions are more or less vindicated. There are a lot of people who've been in your situation and screwed it up royally. I got the suspicion that you might be different from when I was feeling you out earlier, and I'm not feeling disappointed yet." She laces her fingers together behind her head, as if the gesture of stretching particularly means anything to her. "Since you're being so forthright, I'll be honest too. I've made it my business to be connected to, or at least have ears with, a /lot/ of very different people. You've made some waves. There's some interest. There are also some concerns. People are on the fence about what to make of you. I'm a lot bolder than them, and I have a lot less obligations and constraints, so I make it my business to check these things out when nobody else will. I think you're a strong potential candidate for a few very useful positions, and ideally, I'd like to see things work out so that you get one of them. At the same time though, you're a work in progress right now, and your situation has a not-insignificant chance to blow up. I can help, but as much as I think it'd be a waste of talent, I won't be the one bailing you out if you make an enemy of the wrong person, and I won't hesitate to employ Asche's touch if required." Weiss finally slips atop a mailbox, folding one leg over the other as if the perch were actually comfortable. "So that's how it is. You're smart. You have potential. You seem to know what you're doing. You're also sitting on a couple of landmines and flying some warning flags. Play your cards right and I can see to it that you get places. I'm going to be the closest thing you find to a gem outside of your world in a great many ways, and I'm also your senior in the multiverse, so assume I know what I'm talking about. Check my CV if you have doubts~" With that, she displays her own holopanel, though it isn't exactly clear from where it is projected, scrolling off a brief list of personal communication frequencies and some information on a ship, listed as the 'SCV Convergence of Arms' "If you're willing to give it a shot, consider me your cheshire cat from here on out~ I promise to use at least 50% less riddles than the real thing, though the multiverse is approximately twice as mad."
Peridot	"Positions?" Her head tilts. She had little dealings with the Syndicate. She hardly had dealings with the Confederates- save the few instances where she established a give or take relationship. Or the bargain she had struck with Vega to save one of her unaligned assets. Previously she would had simply laughed at this kind of offer. The only position she needed was that of her old job. A cog in a very big wheel. An important cog, serving directly under the diamond authority.. but a cog none the less. She had a measure of distrust in her eyes. She even looked around; she didn't want any other gem to see her taking this seriously. "What manner of position? With who? It cannot conflict with my duties to my home planet." She also acknowledged the growing list of enemies. Some more troublesome than even the gems. Though the crystal gems would always hold a special place in her heart as particularly meddlesome. She had already benefited from her alliance, and so the risk reward cycle had convinced her to do even more non-gem things. "Very well. I will consider you.. an informant, of sorts. A cheshire cat." She lacked the information to know what the cheshire cat was, but it was easy enough to arrive at the proper context. "In return, I will provide information about my home. If you are as useful as I expect you to be. I will lend my considerable brain power to some efforts of your choice, so long as it does not conflict with my prime directives. For task that require a more primitive approach, I will even lend Jasper, or Lapis." "Earn my trust and I may even ask you to consult on our more.. sensitive operations. The ones I don't talk about on the radio."
Zwei	Weiss continues to be annoyingly vague. "I'm not talking about a position in a company or something. Not necessarily anyways. I'm not just talking about the Syndicate either. I'm talking about positions of influence. Niches this corner of the multiverse needs filled. I'd assume Yellow Diamond would look favourably on one of her subordinates finding her way back with piles of resources, new technology, powerful allies, and or extensive information on new territory. Either way, those are all things that would be extremely useful in finding you way back in the first place." She considers for an instant, before going through the motions of counting on her fingers. "If you want to be explicit, I have a personal working relationship with the head of the Syndicate and the sector's neutral territory, the leadership of the Union currently owes me favours, as do several members of both factions, I have top clearance in mutiple, research, development and manufacturing giants, proprietary and restricted equipment and materials from several worlds, reliable informants from many times that number, an extensive and comprehensive log of the capabilities of half the active Elites in the sector, and a sizable contingent of armed and dangerous allies from high-profile military, private security, and mercenary groups, to say nothing of the assets from my own world I obviously have at my disposal. I don't work for anyone but myself either. In fact, I make that a very strict point." Her tone is constantly kept serious and neutral, not trying to overwhelm or impress so much as it seems like she's listing citations for a thesis. "Basically, if you need it, I can probably get it. If you don't know how, I can probably tell you. Ideally you'll simply be acting on information and opportunities that are already beneficial to you and gemkind, which also happen to align with my interests out of convenience, and I assure you that you won't find someone else whose interests are as convenient to match as mine." Finally, she offers her hand, clearly knowing full well the gesture is entirely pointless, but insisting on it regardless. "In the end, it comes down to the fact that I like having talented friends~ It's normal to feel a little bit hesitant, but I'm sure you'll pick up on it very quickly. We have a lot more in common than you realize right now."
Peridot	Peridot looks to the hand. The gesture doesn't seem entirely wasted. She had already had several dealings with humans, and while the first few vacant stares had been brushed off. Eventually one had deigned to inform her on the ritual that had previously been lost to her. She reaches forward and takes it. Shaking hands with her is a strange sensation in itself. Her fingers floated around the stump of her palm. They were hard, but warm. Made of different stuff than the more fleshy appearance of her exposed shoulders and face. Weiss could feel the invisible tethers of energy that offered resistance, that allowed those fingers to operate as a hand. "Well then. This has been a very informative scientific expedition for me indeed." She concludes in a serious tone. "I severely dislike ignorance. Even if I am the one in possession of it. While you take the time to deliberate, the first bit of information I require is a database on the known creatures of this world. Saiyains... Digimon. Guessing at what these denizens are has grown tiresome. If I'm to be a gem diplomat... perhaps the first gem diplomat in over six thousand years, I will need to know more about these beings. Friend or foe." "And then perhaps, next we will meet aboard my ship. A far better setting than this..." She looks around the cityscape with a less than impressed expression. "...ecosystem." She finishes. "And if you yourself perform a scientific excursion, I would not be quick to turn down an invite." She formed her fingers into her floating holopad typing in a few dashes. This summons down a floating green orb on the ground near her. A large hole appeared as the 'metal' seemingly shifted around to create it. Robonoids poured out of the vessel, likewise flattening themselves, as their legs splay out like fingers. One by one they created steps which lead up into the pod. "I will leave a robonoid with you. It will serve as a sample for basic gem tech. You may scan it, dissect it, then destroy it if it serves no further purpose." A robonoid hops down from the pod walking over to Weiss. It behaved almost in a puppy like manner, it was hard to imagine one simply destroying one once it outlived its usefulness. "Otherwise you seem smart enough to know how to contact me." She finishes in a more dry tone.
Zwei	Weiss lets show an unguarded smile at shaking hands with the gem. "Saiyans, digimon, pokemon, cybertronians, Servants, Exalted, gods, demons, angels, dragons, Agarthans, DBs, capes, benders, kamui, SPARTANS, fleet daughters, abyssals, witches, youkai; you name it~" It's a simple enough request after all, and something easily gained by listening. "Admittedly, somewhere less run down would be nice. I'm sure we'll have plenty of chances for that though. I consider most of what I do as a kind of high impact scientific process!" She looks with unguarded interested to the robonoid, aware of its disposable nature just from a glimpse, but anticipating examining it no less for it. "I have my ways~ Ideally with a quick look at this I can set something up in your native transmission format too, or at least something compatible with whatever storage medium you use. OS compatibility is still kind of a pain. In the meantime, I'll put in a few words at a couple of places. You'll probably hear back pretty soon." Leaning down to scoop up the drone by hand, she casually tosses her hair over one shoulder, gives a jaunty little wave, and disappears with the aid of the least flashy and dramatic teleportation imaginable, finally leaving Peridot to continue with her business.