Fortunately Pearl isn't offended in the slightest. "I was-- I am? A gem," she explains, tripping up trying to decide on what tense is the correct one to use here. Saying that she no longer is a gem at all feels wrong, but saying that she is one presently is also factually incorrect? A horrible conundrum.

"As a human, you'd probably classify us as "aliens"," she continues. "We're an inorganic race of people characterized by the sapient gem stones that serve as the core of our consciousness, which can project physical bodies comprised of hard light."