Cracked Gemstones Ch. 01

"Garnet, you can speak up, don't worry, I won't let them hurt you." She gently guides Garnet in front of her and pets her like a mother looking over her child. "I also if you actually looked in the folder with my proposal, have been testing the long term mental effects for a long time, also I did not have any example of the test, so I could not feed her the answers. This is pure mastery of the subjects. Also if you read what I put down, I would suggest saving this until someone is at least in the third grade as K-2 are more for building interactions with other people."

"I am just shy. I can assure you I have no mental issues caused by the use of Mis. Sapphire's visor. I feel better than I have in quite a long time thank you very much" Garnet smiled at the group nestling into Sapphire slightly. "I see... Well, we will take it into consideration but given the...monopoly you would have on this technology I doubt it will see wide use for a long time and especially not in colleges." The board nods in agreement. Garnet frowns at the group how DARE these pathetic insignificant bugs reject Sapphire's ideas.

Sapphire smiles "Well you see, I would be willing to outsource a cheaper, affordable visor that still is acceptable for school usage which as I said, you would know if you had read the files I submitted. This system would also allow employers to quickly look over students' statistics on how well they learn a given subject rather than an archaic grading system. Also, my system would work best with the teachers still being involved, able to easily hold virtual classes. This would allow students who stay home sick to get rest and keep up with their studies and interactions with the teacher and other students."

"Like we said, Miss. Gemstone this wouldn't be implemented for a long time. We aren't rejecting your concept but it would need to be rolled out slowly. Let's say 20 years." The old man grinned clearly just making a marker after he would have retired to avoid becoming obsolete. Garnet just stood glaring at the board of directors, having been told she could speak freely had made her far more lively and openly annoyed with the board.

Sapphire grinned widely then. "Well then, I suppose I'll just have to roll out my own method of making this go faster for those who need this kind of help." She turns around "Come along Garnet, we have plenty of work to do if we are to make sure this system is implemented"

"Yes ma'am!" Garnet went back to her empty smile walking obediently behind Sapphire. After exiting the room and getting outside Garnet looked up at Sapphire. "What are you going to do?" She was curious given her current lack of headset no longer having it telling her everything Sapphire wanted constantly. It was rather late at night and a black car pulled up with Emerald driving. 'Hi Sapphy I'm home. Rachel was very receptive to the new Exo along with being incredibly happy to know you care so much. How did things go with your little Garnet?' She smiled at the two getting out of the car and opening the car door for them. Garnet quietly smiling slid into her seat. Emerald slipping her garnet-colored visor back on her. 'There we go sweety'

Sapphire smiles wide 'Well, they seemed 'interested' but ultimately have put it on delay for 20 years, I am going to speed it up. We are buying Change Collage and fully implementing the system, easily in a 2-year window we can have our average test scores so high above all other schools I could maybe have the department of education overturned completely.'

Garnet smiled wide hearing about that. 'Well, that sounds like a plan to me. The amount we make off of military contracts at this point should easily cover the costs.' Emerald nodded driving back to Garnet's apartment first. She has everyone unload heading inside the apartment. Emerald had a small bag with her as they walked in. 'I'm gonna go make a charger for your visor in your room. You aren't to have your visor off at all unless you are sleeping.' She smiled walking into the room and getting to work. Garnet just sat down on her couch looking up happily at Sapphire.

Sapphire smiled 'Also I imagine we can have the new model visors ready in a month or so, those you will be able to sleep in.' She pet Garnet some 'Your job starting tomorrow will be budgeting the school. I am going to buy it outright, I need you to select the least invasive most easily mass-produced visors so we can get a good start. Then I will have you aiding in other school-related projects while I check out another person who could use our loving care'

'Yes, mistress Sapphire I won't disappoint you!' Garnet smiled and nestled into Sapphire's petting. 'Whoever you found must be really lucky.' Emerald soon returned, stretching a bit from bending down so much. 'Alright, you are all set up Garnet now you be a good girl.' She smiled petting Garnet a bit before giving Sapphire a kiss. 'I will be here to pick you up bright and early so get your rest you had a big day.' With that Emerald and Sapphire left Garnet at the apartment. Once the two left, Garnet's home settings activated where she would act and seem like a very normal girl in case someone visited. 'I see everything with Garnet went well today. She seems like you were able to buff out all those small imperfections today.' Emerald grinned getting in the car with Sapphire.

Sapphire grins 'Oh Emmy, I had a wonderful time buffing those out. I literally made Garnet cum out Noah for starters.' She sends her raw excitement through the link 'Next we will acquire Obsidian, I expect great things from her.'

'Oh, very nice Sapphy.' Emerald started the car driving them back to the factory. 'Well, your appointment is in two days. I have you set up with a nice hotel room once you arrive in NY. Her compliance should be less than necessary. I've designed her visor to acquire full control off the bat to make her transition here...Peaceful' She grinned parking and stepping out of the car to head back down to bed. 'Rachel was taking in the subtle triggers very well though. Letting her think she has any control seems to be the best way to get her to work at maximum efficiency.'

'Oh thank you very much, Emmy, I'll gently encourage her to start off, but if that fails then oh well. You also confirmed that no one would miss her right? I don't need to deal with the authorities even if they are looking in a different state.' Sapphire smiled over at Emerald as they got back home themselves.

'Not only will she not be missed she has gone out of her way to make an enemy of everyone. She's already a year into transition and has cut contact with family because of disagreements on transition. Along with that, she keeps herself isolated at school because she has been hurt emotionally in the past and her trust and people have been damaged.' Emerald nodded leaning on Sapphire's side gently nuzzling into her a bit. 'Trust me I plan each gemstone perfectly for your collection.'

'Thank you, Emmy, I just wanted to be extra sure before I begin. While we will be more forceful, I will still attempt to be convincing...While I am on my flight, would you mind having our in with the news do an interview with Garnet and talk about the visor learning system? If she is a loner, I bet she keeps up to date with online articles, so spreading that news would do wonders. It would have a bonus side effect of putting pressure on the department of education. Bring along relevant medical information so we can head off any naysayers.'

'I already had a scheduled interview to talk about our AR visors so I will send them an addendum and inform them we will be revealing a new product during the interview. That is likely to get us prime time given our brand recognition in the area. I swear your logo is all over the city babe. It really is Sapphire's city.' Emerald smiled kissing Sapphire while they rode the elevator down.

Things stayed this way for a year. Sapphire would occasionally collect another gemstone and slot them into her empire. Garnet becoming the public relations expert she turned out to be very popular with the younger demographics much to Emerald's delight. By the end of the year they had collected Garnet, Obsidian, and Jade. All who would carpool to the factory every day from Sapphire's private apartment complex. Rachel sent weekly updates on the cloning possibilities. It seemed to be that even with advanced technology making a single clone infant would take 10 years of incubation to ensure issues don't arise. The Change College was fully bought out by the end of the year Sapphire filling every class with teaching headsets that also checked for anyone who would be exceptional enough to become another one of her gemstones. Along with the checks the visors also had subtle obedience programming in them so the students all had loyalty to Sapphire's brand and would turn a blind eye to anything they saw.

Sapphire sat in her office, running a simulation on the newest cloning information. They had tried a few times with previous information and the clones kept dying, irritating her with the current technology. Sure she had advanced technology amazingly fast, but for all her power, she was impatient and wanted her way. She had built up her correspondence with Rachel and was doing her own work on the side. "I could probably knock 2 years off of her view of possibilities for cloning."

Emerald sat next to Sapphire spinning a bit in her chair and groaning. "This suuuucks." She was also desperate to get it done. "Even with those projections, the clone will need to be at least 5 before we can start with even the most tentative of testing. Once we know the first one will work as a host body we can likely wait for the second until we have transferred into her body." She pulled up another scan on the laptop one of Sapphire's brain. "Because we don't have infinite time. Sadly your implant seems to have shortened your lifespan greatly from how long it should have been. I would still give you a solid 30 years before it becomes an emergency but after that it's likely your brain will slowly be able to handle less and less because of the continuous strain on it for so long of having your implant." She sighed and hugged Sapphire. "Sorry to sound like a downer. I'm just worried and this clone is the best chance for us to get what we both want."

Sapphire nods "I agree, if I die too soon, all our work here will have gone to waste, and I do not want to leave the world to be regressed due to those who are greedy for their positions of power." She sighs a little "We will keep attempting to make a functioning clone, but I predict 1999 will be the earliest we can make this work. In the meantime, we can advance biological technology as far as we can to make it as stable as possible for the clone...Have Obsidian focus on our medical R&D, and then have Jade open talks with the medical association, see if we can just get general medical technology fast-forwarded. I bet they would appreciate being able to train doctors up faster as well. Our VR tech would allow for plenty of practice in a surgical setting as well."

"Yes ma'am." Emerald went quiet for a moment. "It's done. Everything will be laid out as you asked, another thing though. We have a relatively positive PR thanks to Garnet but I need to ask you to go on a talk show this week. You haven't been seen in half a year on an interview and it's hurting sales because people are thinking you're twiddling your thumbs and letting your underlings do everything for you." Emerald sighed, shaking her head. "I can have you accompany Garnet this weekend if you can fit that in. We also have another possible gem at Change University I'm currently monitoring and setting the visors to isolate them now."

Sapphire nods "Yeah, I'll go with Garnet, though let her know I will handle a majority of the questions, she is going to be there given her personal high public image. Also if this is an issue, I think I will schedule myself for talk shows every few months...and perhaps I should make appearances at the technology expo this summer."

"While I would advise more public relations from yourself overall I don't think you need to do more than show up at expos once a year and I and Garnet can handle the rest. People just like to see your face when we announce new products. That's why we have been talking about just having a yearly convention that's just ours to show off our tech." Emerald smiled, kissing Sapphire gently. "I'm sure you'll do great during the interview."

Sapphire smiles and kisses her back "I think we can do that, I know we have worked a little with video calls and such, but if we can advance that technology enough, I bet we could post full videos of our conference and spread info much faster. I've also heard video games have been getting popular with younger crowds, perhaps on the side, we can open up communications with developers on how to best utilize our tech."

"That's where our newest and youngest gemstone comes in." Emerald grinned, pulling up a picture of a tall lanky young man with blond hair. "This is 'Anthony' he is majoring in video game design with a co-major in programming. I have been isolating her for collection because along with her above-average intelligence she is the most in-touch person with that part of the world that I could find as anyone with real potential. I would say she would be a perfect pearl for your crown."

Sapphire grins wide "Oh I do think my crown is lacking a pearl. Do you want to go ahead and organize a little meet and greet? I think we have much to talk about, she looks quite stunning as well, little polishing and we can get set up quite easily in that market." Sapphire starts penning in the talk show date as well as the expo "You just keep me in the loop on important dates and I will make sure I'm there."

"Well the reason I was bringing Pearl up was because she has finally been properly isolated. She is ready for pick up whenever you have the time to go retrieve her. While I could do it myself I know you enjoy collecting your gemstones far too much to not do it yourself." Emerald giggled a bit. Sapphire always had so much fun with polishing a gemstone and it made Emerald incredibly happy to watch her do it. Knowing she was the most important and that all of these others were just tools to make the crown jewel look even more stunning. "I can set up an appointment this evening if you wish. She is another of the shy types so it shouldn't be nearly as rough to get her to listen as it was with Obsidian. That's the one time I am glad we have the complete lockdown option she really had some bite in her."

Sapphire giggles a little "Yeah, mind you every single one of them has been unique in their own way, but Obsidian was the most challenging, and that made it so the moment when she finally accepted her position, I think that was the sweetest reward." She grins "Well, I'll go speak with Anthony on whatever is the earliest you can set the meeting to."

"Sapphy we own her school. We can go collect her now if you wish. Class did just end after all. She should be in her single person dorm currently. If you want to I will go prep one of our 'emergency' visors although I doubt it will be needed for her, and we can go and get her." Emerald smiled softly at Sapphire. "You've needed a relaxing project after these weeks of working on the clone project let's just enjoy making your new pearl together." She then got up and went off to go get everything set up for the collection knowing Sapphire could always just contact her inside the visor with anything she wanted.

Sapphire chuckles a little 'Yeah, keep the emergency one on hand, but something nice and easy to take my mind off everything will do just fine.' She straightened up her outfit before beginning her trek down to the parking garage to meet with Emerald down there.

Emerald pulled up with the Sapphire Inc. Branded black car that she had started using when Sapphire was going out for PR stuff helping the brand more. It was a quick drive to Sapphire's college. They had kept the original name but everyone knew exactly what it was. The competition to get into this college was overwhelming. Every class was packed because Sapphire and Emerald kept the price leagues below other colleges and could teach people in one year what they would normally learn in four. Once they arrived Emerald dropped off Sapphire out front before going to park. Everyone who went to school there's eyes were glued to the massive elf. Many backed away but others stepped closer eyes filled with fascination. After a short walk to room, 20B Sapphire would arrive at 'Anthony's' room.

Sapphire gave some curt knocks. "Hello, Anthony? This is Sapphire Gemstone, I have a wonderful opportunity for you." She kept herself with a smile, she had worked on the shy types before, while there was the fun of the challenge of Obsidian, Garnet to this day was probably her favorite, and the shy ones were always so fun to watch grow into their forms.

Anthony curiously opened the door. He was in a game shirt and pajama pants. "Oh I'm so sorry Ma'am I wasn't expecting anyone today if you are willing to wait a moment I will get changed into something more appropriate." His eyes were wide as the blush formed on his face sure he was tall but Sapphire was still a foot taller than him.

Sapphire smiled and shook her head "Really, it's ok, no need to be dressed in any special way. How you are dressed doesn't change what you are capable of that I wish to talk about Anthony." She takes his blush as permission and steps into his dorm, letting her hand gently run along his shoulder.

"I'm not really anything that special... People in classes barely even notice me these days even with my grades... I've never been great with people." Anthony shuddered slightly but followed Sapphire curiously. He had heard a lot about her so seeing her here seemed larger than life. Especially him taking interest in him.

Sapphire smiled "You know you are very capable, our visors are able to track quite a lot about a person. We have noticed a mix of your interests and potential that would be useful in our next focused technological field, primarily we are looking to create a branch of Sapphire Inc. focused on working with video game companies on making full-on VR capable games." She gives him a look "And a mix of your interest in the subject, focused schooling, and willingness to work towards a goal we believe would make you a perfect fit for this new branch."

"Wait... you've been tracking everything about everyone? That's a horrible violation of personal privacy. That kind of information you are talking about you could entirely figure out a person's personality before you ever even talk to them..." Anthony gives her a nervous look starting to slowly back away. "I hate to sound prude but there are so many things both illegal and morally reprehensible about that... Theoretically if you could tell THAT much about me that wouldn't be all you're capable of that would be only a step away from brainwashing especially with the way the learning visors work!" He is pale and absolutely horrified.

"It sounds to me like you didn't read the school waver that well" She giggles somewhat "We state in there that we will on top of tracking your grades along with the advanced learning, we are testing our surface reading in order to determine interests and gauge for potential job openings, which while starting off as just for Sapphire Inc. Other companies will be able to ask us for let's say a selection of students that would in theory be interested and viable for their work, and we could send notes of reviewal to the relevant students to give them interviews. In the case of my company, and the fact that this is still in its infancy stages, I figured I would come out personally."