Fighting fire with fire

Purple's palanquin

Rachel had been shown her palanquin and left to it. The agate guided her towards her pearl and merely disappeared onto the nearest warp pad. "Well..." Rachel said, "this sure is something."
The "something" in question was her palanquin. It was incredibly small in comparison to the others. Whilst the other palanquins were shaped like a tall box. Rachel's, on the other hand, was shaped more like a hexagon. The walls had gaps in. They were shaped like curling vines. The colour upon it was patchy at best. With shades ranging from a deep purple to a bright maroon. It was obvious to Rachel that it was done incredibly quickly and shoddily. The pearl stood outside was in a similar state to the palanquin. The gem on its stomach was maroon and more of an oval than a circle. Her large eyes and dilated pupils made her seem fearful, but of what? Her outfit didn't resemble Rachel's in any shape or form and she refused to look her in the eye. Rachel stepped inside the palanquin and all hope of high-quality craftsmanship was obliterated in mere seconds. The walls were cracked slightly, the curtains were frayed at the ends and the control panel was fit for a ruby. "This sure is something..." Rachel laughed awkwardly. She turned to the pearl, who had followed her in. "So, what do you want to do?"
The pearl looked up at her and spoke. Her voice was cold and monotonous, "I was created to follow your orders. Due to this I am not allowed to choose, it is always your choice. You can order me to choose something though, if you require me to."
Rachel frowned. She didn't like being in charge. "Hmm...well...I order you to choose what you want to do." She cringed at her own words, she hated having to order someone about.
The pearl suddenly bowed, "of course my diamond!" She stood up again and her eyes began to dart around the room. "I believe we should access the control panel and focus on the task white diamond set us."
Rachel wandered over to the panel and scanned the flat, curved block. The "buttons" weren't even pointing outwards. "Do you require assistance in activating the control panel?" Pearl asked.
"Yeah, that'd be nice." Rachel smiled back.
The pearl took Rachel's hand and placed it on the panel. A purple outline suddenly lit up and the panel came to life. A large holographic screen raised from the top and there was a main message. A message from white diamond.

Dearest Starlight,
I must apologise for my agate's ignorance. She will be shattered immediately to make up for it. I have tasked you with what is referred to as the heart. The tasks you shall undertake include assigning gems to diamonds and filling in reports based on planets. The reports will be done using information gathered by scouts. Other than that you have no other tasks.
That is all,
White diamond.

Rachel frowned. What that it? The others had so much to do and she had nothing. "Pearl?" Said Rachel
"Yes my diamond?"
"Am I able to message Violet on this?"
The pearl began to think hard, "I believe you are capable of contacting other diamonds upon the device. However, it would not be advisable. They are currently distracted by their assignments."
Rachel had stopped listening, she was already sending a message to Violet.

Hey Vi, u wanna meet up later? This stuff is sooooooo boring >:(
- Rachel. :)

She pressed send and she immediately received a message back.

Greetings Purple,
I am pleasured to receive a message from you. However, due to my assignments, I am incapable of meeting up with you. I am free in five centuries. Please contact me later on.
- Violet

Rachel was confused. Why was Violet talking so strange? She usually didn't call her Purple either. She guessed it might've been her pearl that responded. She got out of her seat and walked towards the door. Pearl stood in her way. "Pearl. Could you move please?" Rachel asked, trying to push past.
"I am afraid not, my diamond. White diamond commanded me to prevent you from distracting the other diamonds. It is unprofessional."
Rachel suddenly snapped back, "I don't care if it's unprofessional, I want to see Violet! Something isn't right!"
The door of the palanquin suddenly slammed shut and she was bathed in darkness. The faint glow of the control panel was her only source of light. The pearl then cleared her throat, "white diamond also installed a program within the palanquin. To prevent you from leaving the palanquin, it automatically activates a lockdown procedure until you calm down."
Rachel began to cry, she didn't want to be alone. It wasn't fair. Why was she being treated like a kid? She closed her eyes and everything began to fade to black. Pearl began to whisper, as though she was talking to someone else.

"White diamond, I apologise but it is advisable, if you want to prevent another pink situation, that you send purple for reconditioning."

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Thank you to Craftfury for adding my story to your reading list! I really appreciate it! I don't want to spoil the ending but I have to say the ending isn't happy. Sorry! I also want to apologise for how short this chapter is. There's probably a few more parts left before this book is finished. Hopefully things might take a turn for the better.