The gems left Steven behind, mostly because he couldn't breathe underwater. So his morning was overall no different from the usual. He had a pleasant lunch with Connie as they talked. "So you won the science fair by doing crystal gem research?" She nodded exctiedly. "Yep. They found it to be so interesting, how the weapons can phase entire elements of geography. Also, the only other one with a chance was a baking soda volcano, and no one wanted to see those win again." 

Steven nodded in agreement, as water shot up from the ocean. Falling spot-on the beach, Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl came from the mission. But, Garnet was carrying some type of pod, with the other two looking at it with concern. Steven opened his mouth to talk to them, with no response. 

Connie looked at the pod with curiosity as they ran past. "What's all that about?", she asked in wonder. Steven shrugged as he explained the previous night's events. When he was done, Connie looked back at where the Gems had run. Her phone rang as she wondered, stopping her short. Leaving by orders of Mrs. Maheswaran, the friends waved goodbye.

-----------------------

Garnet set the escape pod down gently onto the living room, the two members of the crew standing anxiously behind her with readied weapons. Garnet too summoned her gauntlets and broke open the door. A minute passed. There went another. The smoke cleared. Amethyst walked to the pod and looked inside. 

"It's dead." 

"What? Whatever is in there can't possibly be dead.", Pearl reasoned. She looked inside herself, and to her surprise, whoever was in there was either dead, or close to being. Listening carefully, she heard slow breaths, and beamed with pride. Amethyst gave a snarl, and they continued examining the girl inside.

"See? She's not dead, she's unconscious." "Whatever." 

Garnet carried her out of the pod, to which they finally got a good look. It was indeed a girl, who looked as if she were in her teenage years. She was relatively tall, with very pale skin, and hair that assessed mixed colors of blue, brown, and pink. Garnet had carried her bridal style to the couch, to which they saw her face among the hair. 

She looked familiar. It was for a reason they didn't know, and collected high doubts of the ones they had in mind. She hissed on an injury and turned, showing her gem. 

Amethyst shuddered. Garnet gasped. Pearl was this close to fainting.

It was shattered. It was shattered and spread across her hair. The traces showed to be some sort of moonstone, and it brought them a dread they hadn't faced in ages. 

Because they knew. They knew who it was. And the worst thing they could think about was the fact they'd have to tell-

"Hey guys! What's up?"