A Gem Destabilizer is an Era 2 weapon designed to instantly destabilize a Gems physical form. It is a product of the advanced Gem technology which has developed in the 5,000 years since the Crystal Gems severed all contact with the Gem Homeworld.
Appearance
The Gem Destabilizer resembles a goldish-brown arrowhead-tipped tuning fork with a pale yellow, oval-shaped orb suspended between the tips. It gives off streams of static energy between the orb and the hilt.
Abilities
Gem Destabilizers essentially dissolve a Gem's body on contact with the operational end. Lines of yellow energy course through their body, dismembering them upon release and therefore forcing the Gem's consciousness to retreat into their gemstones. This process will disrupt even the most stable of Gem fusions. The containment fields of Gem prison cells, such as those seen aboard the Gem Warship, utilize a similar effect, destabilizing any part of a Gem's physical form that comes into contact with them.
While archaic Gem weapons employ brutal force from which a Gem may require days or weeks to recover, a Gem Destabilizer will merely knock a Gem out of commission for a short period; perhaps for only a few hours. This is still sufficient to collect and imprison the inactive gemstone, and also allows for the Gem to be interrogated shortly after capture, making it arguably more efficient than the older method of proofing and bubbling.
Gem Destabilizers and the containment fields used in prison cells have proven to be ineffective against the half-Gem, half-human Steven. Subjection to either device results in him being only slightly shocked; this is probably due to his body being organic and not an illusion as stated by Pearl and Garnet.
Trivia
- Both Jasper and Peridot are seen wielding a Gem Destabilizer, implying it is a standard issue personal defense weapon for Homeworld Gems.
- A Gem Destabilizer seems to be based on a tuning fork and the principle of mechanical resonance. All crystalline compounds have a resonant frequency, which causes them to fracture when exposed to a certain wavelength of sound.
- The fact that it creates an electrical charge suggests that it might also be based on a close-range taser, a weapon that uses an electric shock to subdue a target.
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