Why don't you let yourself just be somewhere different?

[comesofar]

It could be worse. They could have broken down in the van. Greg would've been very upset if they'd broken down in the van.

The station wagon had been in the Crystal Gems' possession for decades, such an unremarkable item that even Pearl could barely remember how they'd obtained it. It had certainly seen better days, even with as little use as it got. She wished it had given out closer to Beach City, of course, but compared to some of the things she'd worked on - robots, the drill, Peridot's old ship - it was incredibly primitive.

"In fact," she murmured to herself as she peered inside the hood again, "I wouldn't be surprised if I had it fixed before Steven gets back." She'd sent him off on his own - reluctantly, but he was far older and more mature now - to get himself food. Steven was only half-Gem, after all, and his stomach had been actually rumbling. It must be quite the inconvenience, she mused as she poked around, to have to stop and consume things so often.

Comments

[comesofar]

"I see," she said, although... She couldn't quite understand why someone would bother tracking a snake. They weren't exactly hard to come by, and besides, there were books for that sort of thing.

But the device - that truly held her interest. She leaned a bit closer. "You certainly are!" She hadn't thought humans could create such a thing as that. "You said she's a teammate? Does she also study wildlife?"

[beingthecreature]

Seeing her interest, he popped the creature pod out and held it in the palm of his hand so Pearl could see it better.

"She sure does! We all do. In fact, it was her idea to get the whole team as we are right now together. Me and my brother go out and get the information on different creatures, Aviva- the inventor -creates different things for that and from our data, Jimmy is the pilot of our ship, and Koki is the creator of it and the mechanic. Together, we're the Wild Kratts, creature adventurers extraordinaire."

[comesofar]

Pearl looked at the device for a while, speaking softly as she checked it out. "And you have a ship! That's remarkable." She paused just a moment before pointing out, "I'm not sure where my friend is, exactly, but if you'd like to come along for the ride, I would love to hear more about the technology your team uses."

[beingthecreature]

He glanced at her a moment then smiled, nodding. "Sure! Just lemme send a message to my team real quick." This was accomplished on his creature pod as he walked around to the passenger side of the car. Once he was in and ready to go, he glanced over at her.

"So, what would you like to hear about?"

[comesofar]

Pearl began driving down the road. Fortunately, the streets were clear for the time being, allowing her to move down slowly and keep an eye out for a place that it seemed Steven might have stopped at.

"Let's start with the ship."

[beingthecreature]

"The Tortuga! Got it." Pictures or video would have to wait, he knew better than to distract a driver. Of course, when Martin was behind the wheel it never seemed to matter one way or another...

"It's huge, easily room for the five of us and the space we need, and a garage in the second level. It's shaped like a tortoise but has a sea turtle mode for more aerodynamic flying, and with it we can float on the ocean, soar the skies, and even skim the edges of the atmosphere! Wherever there's interesting creature adventures to be found, the Wild Kratts Tortuga isn't far behind."

[comesofar]

Pearl frowned a bit, confused. She was about to double-check that a tortoise was, in fact, a turtle-like creature - she was pretty sure? - when Chris explained just how far the Tortuga could go. Her confusion seemed to grow stronger, then.

"And... Your team built this ship?"

[beingthecreature]

"Sure did! Koki and Aviva, mostly. But I don't know how long it took, 'cuz when Martin and I joined the team, it was already built. I know it takes long enough to work on it when it needs maintenance, though."

Of course, that could also just be his eternal impatience to go creature adventuring that was talking...

[comesofar]

Pearl would never understand why humans always seemed in such a rush to do what usually boiled down to a waste of time, but still-

"I'm impressed. That's... Not something I would've thought possible."