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I was in the cockpit, watching the other two. Pearl and Sapphire were sitting on the floor playing checkers—a scene that had become common over the last few years—though it was clear Sapphire was using her future vision to cheat in the most blatant way possible.
"I win," Sapphire said with a smug smile, moving the last piece.
I simply shook my head from my seat while watching Pearl throw a tantrum worthy of an aristocrat. For my part, I decided to get up; now that Project Perfection was finally finished, I felt like I needed to relax my gem mind so I wouldn't end up frustrated or with a system error. I sat near the console, listening to their laughter, and for a moment, I got lost in thought. We hadn't had many moments of real bonding—the kind that didn't involve running from monsters or welding metal plates.
I nodded to myself while trying to dig through the little I remembered of my past life. "What was it that brought a family together... or whatever we are? Friends? Yeah, maybe," I thought. "What keeps them together? Owing someone money? We don't have a cent. Gifts? Could be. A Fortnite event?"
"Damn, that's it," I said to myself with a smile as I stared at the vastness of space through the glass. I quickly began typing private instructions for Yarbis.
"Find me a nebula, and make it snappy, Yarbis," I entered into the console, prompting the AI to immediately get to work on the navigation calculations.
After a few minutes, the route was plotted; all that was left was for me to take the helm and head that way. I stood up and walked over to where Pearl was. I don't know if it was because of the fusion from a while back, but I felt much closer to her, so without thinking much about it, I rested my head on her shoulder while watching her lose to Sapphire for the eleventh time in a row.
Sapphire looked up from the board and glanced at both of us with a smile that told me she already knew where this was going.
"Do you think you can do it?" she asked with a spark of expectation in her eyes.
I raised an eyebrow, waiting for her to finish the sentence, even though deep down I knew exactly what she meant. I wanted her to say it herself.
"Fusion, obviously," Sapphire added, keeping her eyes fixed on Pearl.
I glanced at Pearl, who turned an intense shade of bluish-pink from blushing, and then looked back at Sapphire with a half-smile.
"And why don't I just fuse with you instead?" I blurted out.
Sapphire's smug grin vanished instantly. Her face went completely blank, processing the idea and not knowing how to respond to the possibility of sharing a mind with me.
"Hahahaha!" I let out a clean laugh at her reaction. Pearl couldn't hold it in anymore either and started laughing at the traumatized look on Sapphire's face.
Definitely, this was the kind of atmosphere we needed before heading back into the seriousness of space.
"Well, whatever," I said as I stood up and took Pearl's hand. Instantly, I felt that familiar pull coursing through my gem, a mixture of energy and data intertwining perfectly. We gave off a warm light before our forms unified.
The fusion was, in a word, flawless. Opalite was back, but this time she wasn't the slime-covered warrior from years ago; this was an elegant version, with two arms and an outfit that combined Pearl's sophistication with the tactical functionality of my suit. Her hair was blue with white streaks, and both gems—the one on my chest and the one on Pearl's forehead—glowed with a new intensity.
I sat in the captain's chair, but not before grabbing Sapphire like a sack of potatoes and settling her beside me as I took control.
"What's going on?" Sapphire asked, barely recovering from the shock of the previous joke.
"Nothing, though right now the Silica part of me doesn't want to share any of her secret plans with me," Opalite replied with a voice that was a perfect harmony of both, while her hands executed commands at a speed Yarbis could barely follow.
Sapphire made herself comfortable on my lap, watching with fascination how the fusion was much more strategic and fluid at the controls. "Hey, I have a question," Sapphire said, looking up.
"Tell me," Opalite replied with a serene smile.
"What does it feel like to be a fusion?" Sapphire asked with genuine curiosity.
I stopped programming for a moment and rested a hand on my chin, processing the answer with both sides of my mind.
"Well, if you want our experience... it's weird, not gonna lie, but fascinating at the same time," Opalite explained. "It's like being yourself but not. You feel like you're in two different ships but navigating a single route. It's as if Pearl says something, but Silica is thinking it at the same time; I'm a blend of both, a third person who understands the two of them. My Silica side was pretty scared at first, and my Pearl side didn't even have fusing with anyone in mind, but now, experiencing this union... let's just say we like the benefits."
I looked toward the main screen. The route to the Crystal Nebula was getting closer; violet colors began to lick the hull of the ship.
Sapphire nodded in silence, but her face was a picture; she seemed to be having "Vietnam flashbacks," likely reliving memories of her own life in the Empire that she hadn't told us yet.
For my part, I touched both gems: the one on my chest representing my Silica side, and the one on my forehead where Pearl's essence resided. We were one, and that mental clarity helped me finish adjusting the ship's final details as we dived into the heart of the nebula.
After a couple of minutes, I heard Sapphire say something in a small, almost fearful voice.
"Do you think... do you think I could fuse with Silica later?"
Opalite was a bit surprised. Both parts of the fusion thought the best option for Sapphire's first experience would be Pearl, due to her stable nature, but since Sapphire had brought it up, there was no problem.
"Sure, but just wait, okay? I want to show you something first," Opalite said while covering Sapphire's eyes with a couple of her floating fingers. "And no using future vision," I added, glancing at the small gem, who only let out a complicit giggle.
Slowly, the ship submerged into the heart of the Crystal Nebula. Opalite herself was in awe; the view was unreal. I slowly pulled my fingers away from Sapphire's face. She fell into absolute silence as she observed the best of what space has to offer: columns of incandescent gas refracting light as if they were floating diamonds, creating an eternal rainbow in the vacuum.
We stayed in a comfortable silence, so deep that the fusion with Pearl faded away naturally. Now all three of us were there, watching in fascination. Even I was shocked; in neither of my two lives had I seen something so beautiful, so perfect, and so close.
I leaned toward Sapphire. I noticed she had brushed her hair away from her face, revealing her single eye so as not to miss a single detail of the wonder before her. I leaned against her back, looking over her head.
"Did you like it?" I asked with a genuine smile.
"It's the best thing I've ever seen in my life," she finally replied, her voice thick with emotion.
Suddenly, I felt a pull. It wasn't a system error or an attack; it was her. Sapphire was seeking the connection, initiating the fusion process out of pure instinct and a desire to share that feeling. I was a bit surprised, but I didn't resist; I let myself be swept away by that tide of cold, serene energy.
We were both enveloped in a brilliant light that flooded the cockpit. Pearl, still absorbed in the nebula, had to look away due to the intensity of the glow, watching in amazement as our forms intertwined to create something new.
A new figure appeared in the cabin, emerging from the light with a grace that defied physics. She was a tall woman, easily reaching 2.4 meters. Her attire was a perfect balance: an elegant dress that flowed like water, but with the structural details and tactical reinforcements of my suit, creating a unique combination of royalty and functionality.
Her skin was a pale, refined light blue, almost ethereal. Her hair was pulled back in a pure white mushroom style—an impeccable hairstyle that fell strategically over her face, hiding the three eyes that resided beneath.
She stood still for a moment, taking in the vastness of the nebula and her mind's new perspective. It wasn't just Silica processing data, nor just Sapphire seeing the future; it was an entity that understood the logic of the universe and the beauty of its destiny at the same time.
Pearl took a step back, looking at the new gem in awe.
"How... how do you feel?" Pearl whispered.
The fusion moved her hands, watching how Silica's floating fingers now moved with the delicacy of a dance. A calm smile appeared on her face.
"It's like seeing the code of destiny written in the stars," the fusion said, her voice deep and crystalline. "I am Sodalite... and now I understand why Silica works so hard to protect this little piece of nothing."
Note: I have named the fusion Sodalite.
I sat down with an elegance that didn't entirely belong to me as I brushed the hair from my face. My three eyes were revealed: the bottom two, dark and analytical like Silica's, and the top one a bright yellow—Sapphire's eye, which kept projecting fragments of possible futures.
Sodalite was happy. There was an immense warmth flowing through our physical form; the Sapphire part felt liberated, as if she had been holding her breath for centuries waiting for this moment. On the other hand, the Silica part had finally let her walls down; the fear of losing herself in another mind had vanished, replaced by the fascinating efficiency of processing the universe with a vision that went beyond the present.
I stayed there, sitting on the command throne, admiring how the colors of the nebula refracted in my three eyes... until Sodalite's smile froze suddenly.
"Shit!" I exclaimed as my hands flew to the control panel with a speed that surpassed human limits.
The yellow eye began to blink frantically. The future branched into a thousand forms of death and destruction.
"Pearl, get to the weapons! We're under attack!" I shouted, my voice resonating with an authority that made Pearl jump out of her seat.
"Alert, alert! Incoming attack!" Yarbis announced, his voice now blending with the hum of the defense systems activating.
Pearl's eyes went wide, but she didn't hesitate; her training and her trust in the fusion made her sprint toward the artillery sector. Sodalite knew that, right now, our union was the only advantage we had against whatever had found us. We wouldn't unfuse—not now that our minds were a single quantum computer capable of predicting the next shot.
I began to navigate, performing impossible evasive maneuvers as the first laser blasts grazed the ship's hull, lighting up the cabin with flashes of blinding white.
"Dammit!"
The hunt had begun.
End of Chapter 21.