"Not at all. Think of it as just another iteration of the same challenges we faced in learning to create Corals, Ambers, and Pearls. If we'd drained the biosphere on Daraisalu before Evandemilaki discovered that amber came from trees, we might never have figured it out. And after we found our first piece of natural coral it took us three more planets before we understood enough about it to start using it to make Gems. We're not going to get three chances to study humans. The odds of organic life developing sapience must be incredibly low, and even though there are a lot of commonalities, we've never found the same species of organic life on two different worlds. Once I understand humans, I'm confident I'll be able to maintain them with minimal disruption to our existing planets. And if they turn out to be unsustainably delicate, I can always cancel the project."

"Those planets had less essential mineral composition."

"The planet's mineral composition isn't going anywhere."

"She does have a point."

"You've said that this is a preliminary report and you need more time to study this planet," says Evandemilaki. "Very well: take more time. We can reconvene to discuss this situation again in forty days, by which time I anticipate you will be much better informed about the nature and maintenance requirements of your... humans."

She nods.

"Yes, Evandemilaki. I think that is very reasonable. Thank you."

"I look forward to hearing your report."

Elilandemilaki smiles. "I look forward to writing it."

And Evandemilaki closes the channel.

So.

She directs all her resources toward studying the locals. There's some disbelief from her subordinates, but she explains her reasoning, with adjustments for individual variation, and nearly everyone who initially expressed doubt ends up understanding where she's coming from.

Forty days go by. It's not enough time to answer all her questions, but it's a very good start. And she's more sure than ever that bringing humans into the empire is the right decision. It would be a criminal waste to kill them all.

In the control room on the moon base, she opens a channel to Homeworld.

"Initial results are promising," she says.

"Continue."

"I don't yet have a complete picture of how to sustain a human population offplanet, but I've confirmed my impression that it's going to be easy once I'm familiar with the details. It's amazing how organic life can be simultaneously so fragile and so robust... I have a much clearer idea now of what I'm going to need to do to get this planet where I want it to be. I don't think I'll need any further resource investment from Homeworld - just time and the Gems and supplies I have with me."

"Can you supply us with more detail than that?"

"Many of the finer details depend on background knowledge. Understanding organic life requires... a bit of a paradigm shift. But I've made great strides in narrowing down which parts of this planet's environment are necessary to human survival and which are incidental, and a few initial forays into teaching the humans useful skills have shown excellent results for the amount of time taken."

Lisandemilaki frowns, concerned. "What do you mean, 'a bit of a paradigm shift'?"

"They don't work on the same principles we do. They have different needs, different strengths, different weaknesses. It's fascinating, really. You won't have to worry about me getting bored out here."

"Bored," she says carefully, "is not and has never been my primary concern for you."

"No, I suppose it wouldn't be."

Evandemilaki is frowning slightly in the shadow of her hood.

"I don't think this is going to work," she says.

That is... not promising.

"What do you mean?"

She spends a few seconds thinking over her next words.

Then:

"The only two Gem species in which we have completely halted production despite having the resources to make more are Ambers and Corals. In both cases, the sticking point is the difficulty and expense of creating a consistent result. Those are also the only two Gem species that develop in constant contact with specific organic lifeforms. Pearls used to have similar problems, until we developed the technology to grow them artificially. It seems clear that the organic influence is what causes that instability. Perhaps someday we will learn how to grow Ambers and Corals without their messy organic substrates, but how would we create an inorganic human? I understand your enthusiasm. I trust your assessment of the potential gains. But I don't think you fully understand the risks."

"...I see where you're coming from," says Elilandemilaki. "I agree that I was overly idealistic to think of integrating them into the empire. But even with minimal contact, minimal opportunity for organic instability to affect Gem society as a whole, I still think the humans can be useful enough to justify the time it will take me to remove them from their planet."

"How?"

"We could use my human planet, wherever I end up settling them, as a manufacturing center. Right now, eighty percent of Spinels work in factories. I don't think that's an optimally fulfilling role for them; I think that if we didn't need Gems to do those jobs, the Spinels who are currently building our vehicles and assembling our warp pad maintenance equipment could be happier working alongside the lucky twenty percent as artists and calligraphers and librarians."

"Is it only Gems that organic creation has a negative effect on?" she asks, half to Elilandemilaki and half to Evandemilaki.