Chapter 18: A Second Chance
STEVEN: Did I... Did I really just die!?
CONNIE: I hoped it wouldn’t come to this. But I expected that this would happen.
STEVEN: You expected me to die!?
CONNIE: Pearl wasn’t kidding when she said there were powerful Gems after you.
If you didn’t have this ace up your sleeve... You’d hardly stand a chance.
STEVEN: Ace up my sleeve!?  Wait a second…
(He turns around)
STEVEN: This is... This is the fish thing!?
CONNIE: I told you before that the yellow stars are save points.
This is what they save you from.
STEVEN: From death…
CONNIE: Since the Gem invasion begin, it seemed that humans were at an insurmountable disadvantage.
Humans have no weapons other than the tools they create. Their physically weaker and less durable than Gems.
But there is a rare ability that few of us possess. And it allows us to turn the odds to our favor.
That ability is known as DETERMINATION.
STEVEN: So how do you know about all this?
CONNIE: Err… This isn’t the first time. There was this incident during sword practice. Had nothing to do with Pearl! No! It was an...
STEVEN: This has happened to you before...
CONNIE: A few times...
STEVEN: Then why are you in my head again? I figured you were a ghost or something... But how can you be a ghost if you can cheat death like this?
CONNIE: I already said it’s embarrassing, OK. I made a series of poor decisions that lead me here...
STEVEN: So I’m not dead. That’s good. But err...
Fused Quartz is still amazingly strong.
CONNIE: I gave you a quick overview of her stats. Her defenses are pitiful compared to her offenses.
STEVEN: Are you saying I should fight her!?
CONNIE: She’s a fusion. Fusions just split up when you hurt them badly enough.
STEVEN: Still... I really don’t like hurting people.
CONNIE: Steven, Pearl was right on one thing. It’s very unlikely that you’ll be able to get through the entire Underground without fighting back.
STEVEN: But...
CONNIE: I trained alongside Pearl, you know. If you need help I could lend you some muscle memory.
Specifically to help you aim for non-lethal weakpoints. Poofing’s easy enough if you know where to aim.
STEVEN: I’m still not sure about this... I got the sense that she really didn’t want to hurt me.
CONNIE: Well hurting you is her job.
STEVEN: Or is it... I’ve got one last thing I want to try, Connie.
CONNIE: If you insist. Worst comes to worst I think you’ll just end up back here again.