Greg was playing his guitar outside of the beach house. When he finished, Isabella and Steven cheered.
"That sounded great!" Steven compliments.
"Oh thanks! I'm thinking about calling it, "Water Witch"." Greg waves his hand.
"Cool." Isabella says.
"And check this out, I can add some vocal distortion too."Greg uses a device to make his voice sound robotic when he spoke into a microphone, "Steven, Isabella, your dad's a robot now. And now that I'm a robot," he causes a distortion, "things will be better and cooler. Please forgive me for being an amazing machine."
"I can't stay mad at my robo dad." Steven says.
"Where's all this awesome energy coming from?" Isabella asks.
"Actually, I was inspired to make some new songs after the ocean got sucked up into space a while back. I even drew up some freaky album artwork." Greg hands them a drawing of his album cover.
"It looks like..." Steven puts a finger on the drawing, "Lapis Lazuli."
Greg takes the drawing back, "Easy with the tender touches, don't want it to get all smudged. Here, Steven, plug this up and help your old man work out this witchy jam." he hands him an electric guitar.
"Yeah! Let's! Jam!" Steven strums the electric guitar but it makes no sound, "Uh? Where my jams at?"
"Steven, look down at the sand." Isabella pointed down.
Steven looks down and picks up the plug in cord, "Ah ha!" he plugs the electric guitar into a T.V., "All right, here we go. Let's..." he strums the guitar again, "... jam!" no sound. He repeatedly tries to strum guitar and says, "Jam!" but still no noise is heard from it.
Greg points to the TV, "Oh, sorry, that's just the T.V. See, you plugged into the video jack but were making audio here. Don't you know video killed the audio star?"
Steven looks around, dazed and confused, "I have no idea what you are talking about."
"That's okay, you leave the details to me. When you're a one-man band you got to know how to do it all lyrics, graphic design, forum moderation, but for me it was all about the audio." Greg says.
"That's amazing, Dad." Isabella smiles.
"Ok, we need a catchy hook!" Greg told them, "Something like..." he starts to play, "Well she's a riptide queen and she's super mean-"
"Woah, hold the phone!" Isabella stopped him, "Now give the phone to us."
"Lapis was not mean, she was just trying to get home. How 'bout this instead? Sis, you sing." Steven strums his guitar.
Isabella: She was trapped in a mirror And it couldn't be clearer. She wanted to leave this place And get herself back in space. And dad you might think she's a criminal. But her friendship comes through subliminal. Lapis Lazuli~ You fled into the bottom of the sea~ Lapis Lazuli~ You were so mad but then you came around to me.
Steven stops playing and Isabella stops singing when a strange and loud noise startles them.
"Uh, what the heck is that?!" Steven asks.
"It must be some kind of weird feedback!" Greg unsuccessfully tries to stop the noise by changing his audio keyboard, "Hm, it's not us."
Steven had his hands over his ears.
"It must be coming from the temple!" Isabella exclaims.
"Let's go check it out!" Steven adds.
"You two go on ahead, this is a gem thing and I don't want to get in the way. Plus I get to eat the rest of this pizza."
"Good thinking. We'll be back." Steven and Isabella run over to the beach house and open the door, the nose intensifying. The two siblings covered their ears.
"What's happening?!" Steven asks.
"What's making all that noise?!" Isabella adds.
"It's the Wailing Stone!" Pearl explains.
Amethyst was covering her ears, "Make it stop!"
"It just activated on its own!" Pearl adds.
"It won't shut up!" Amethyst whines.
Garnet places the stone down, summoning her gauntlet, and slamming it down on top of the stone. The noise stops, but as soon as Garnet lifts her hand up, the noise started up again.
"Stand back!" Pearl exclaims as she bubbles the wailing stone and the noise could be heard lightly ringing inside the bubble to the point where it wasn't blaring, "Ha, it worked, now we can get back to..." The bubble grows large and pops, the noise coming back.
Steven sticks his arm through the hole of the stone and the noise stops, but when he opens his mouth, the noise continues.
Garnet removes Steven from the stone, shoves a couch cushion through the hole, places the rest around the stone, and sets Steven on top of it, "I don't understand, that thing has laid dormant since we found it."
"I haven't heard a Wailing Stone activate since we used them for the rebellion, and I've never heard it sound like that!" Pearl says.
"Someone is trying to send us a message." Garnet concludes.
"But who? We've rounded up all the Wailing Stones on Earth, and we're not sending this message to ourselves. Unless... Amethyst?! Is this a prank?!" Pearl asks.
"No way! I want it to stop! I don't like it!" Amethyst exclaims, pulling her hair.
"If it's not coming from Earth, then a Gem must be sending this message from space." Garnet says
"Are Gems supposed to sound like that when they send a message?" Isabella asks.
"No, no, we should be hearing a voice. Maybe this signal is too advanced for the Wailing Stone to process. That would explain the distorted audio." Pearl explains.
"Audio... Our daddy-o knows audio!" Steven exclaims.
"Uh... you mean Greg." Amethyst corrects him.
"Yeah!"
"I don't know..." Pearl whines.
"Don't whine, let's try it." Garnet told her.
Greg was searching through his van on the beach as the Gems were sitting down on couch cushions, "I can't believe it! You need help with sound stuff? You've come to the right guy! Ah ha!" he takes out a device, "The Lubitz Cardioid Condenser 680! It's got warm tone without too much top end."
"Uh, plus it's got a big honking sponge thing." Amethyst points.
"I know, isn't it awesome?" Greg removes the couch cushions from the stone, causing Steven, Isabella, and the Gems to cover their ears. He plugs in his device and starts tuning, "Now I'm going to add some reverb and some low octave effects, I'm also adding some fuzz 'cause who couldn't use more fuzz? Now if I directly input the Wailing Stone and run it through a flanger we might get what you're looking for."
"Flangers aside do you really think a signal like this is compatible with your analog devices?" Pearl asks.
"Don't worry Dad." Isabella says.
Steven uses the device from earlier to distort his voice, "It'll work!"
"Well, here goes nothing." Greg pushes a button as they all get knocked back, the noise intensifying even more.
"This is even worse!" Amethyst pulls on her hair again.
"I'm sorry!" Greg apologizes.
"Dad you can do it, you're the audio daddy-o!" Steven encourages him.
"Yeah!" Greg tries to configure noise as the sound starts to lower in volume.
"It sounds like music." Isabella told him.
"Yeah, that's real nice." Greg says as the noise changes into a more musical tone, "Yes, yes. Woo hoo!"
"But, it's not supposed to be music. It's supposed to be a message!" Pearl places her hands on her hips.
"Okay, hold on I got this." Greg tunes the noise again, "It's changing!"
"It almost sounds like a voice." Isabella says.
"Almost got it!" Greg told them.
All of a sudden the engine of Greg's van shorts out and the noise stops, "Oh great."
"What's happening, where's the signal?" Pearl demands.
"Uh, looks like the van battery couldn't handle all this." Greg told her.
"I had a feeling this wouldn't work, there's just no way that Greg's equipment can interface with our ancient Gem technology." Pearl crosses her arms.
"Ah... come on Pearl, you can't be ready to give up yet." Steven told her.
"Look, we just got to keep trying. Sure we don't have the latest and greatest Gem tech, but-" Greg gets cut off when Garnet remove the device. The noise starts again but she then puts back the couch cushions and the noise stops.
Garnet places a hand on Greg's shoulder, "It's okay Greg, you tried. Back to the temple. We'll figure something else out." she jumps back to the beach house.
"What a waste of time." Pearl jumps after her.
"See you later... Gregory." Amethyst jumps away as well.
"Ah, come on y'all!" Steven tries to jump, but he lands on his butt.
"Steven, we can't super jump." Isabella told him.
Greg takes his guitar and sits on the beach, sighing, "I really blew it, huh?"
"Ah, Dad." Steven starts.
Greg: I could have tamed you, I could have shown I could depose you from your loud throne, but in the end I wasn't good enough. I just showed the Gems I ain't got the stuff.
He stands up.
Greg: Oh Wailing Stone, I tried so hard to fly but I was thrown. Oh Wailing Stone, I gotta tell the Gems 'cause they should know. Have a little, have a little, have a little faith in me, I just wanted to help. You know I have a little, have a little, have a little expertise, I know it's not much but I know if it could come in handy I'd want to be there. I think so highly of you, it just isn't fair that you have so little faith...
"Eh, that's a B-side." Greg looks back at them.
"Dad, I hate seeing you like this, there's gotta be something else we can try." Isabella says.
"Eh, I don't know. I mean, sound and stuff like this, this stuff's my whole world, and if I can't figure this out then I don't know, maybe it isn't even sound." Greg told her.
"Dad, if it isn't sound then what else could it be?" Steven wonders.
"I got it!" Isabella snaps her fingers.
"Is it some other thing I'm not good at?" Greg asks as Isabella points to her eyes, "Magic... eyeballs... Oh my days, it's video!"
"We have to tell the Gems! Video!" Steven exclaims as he and Isabella start running to the beach house.
"Hey, slow down!" Greg runs after them before running into the beach house. He starts talking without facing the Gems, "I just want to help, have some faith in-"
"We're over here." Amethyst told him as he turns around to face them. Isabella and Steven walk in.
"I know my audio equipment seems like a pile of Earth junk to y'all but-"
"Greg, it's okay." Garnet told him.
"No it's not, you guys don't give up on anything, except for me. Come on... it's not like I can make it any worse!" Greg says as the Gems look at each other.
The Gems, Steven, Isabella, and Greg go back to Greg's van.
"Okay, go for it Garnet." Pearl told her.
Garnet holds jumper cables and generates her own electrical current to power up the van.
"Okay Amethyst, try it now." Pearl says.
"I've never started a car with a key before." Amethyst turns the key as the van starts up, "Ha, that's way easier!"
"The battery is ready to go." Pearl told them as the Gems walk over.
"The Wailing Stone is ready." Isabella adds.
"Ready with the video cord, Steven?" Greg asks.
"Ready." Steven plugs the cord into the TV. A sound starts and the video is full of static.
"Is that it?" Pearl asks.
"Just a second." Greg says.
"I hear something." Steven told them.
"Me too." Isabella adds.
"Come on!" Greg tunes some more before the video becomes clearer to reveal a familiar gem.
"Steven! Isabella!"
"Lapis!" Isabella and Steven exclaim.
"I did it!" Greg says.
"I can't believe my flipping eyes!" Pearl said in shock.
"Everyone, listen up!" Garnet orders.
"I hope you're able to hear this. There's a Gem looking for you two, she even knew your names. I don't know how! I didn't tell her, I swear! She's on her way to Earth, and she's not alone. Steven, Isabella, Homeworld is not the way it used to be. Everything here is so advanced! I can't even understand it. There's no way anything on Earth can stand up to it. Please, don't put up a fight, It'll only lead to devastation!-" the video cuts off as everyone becomes silent.
"It's Peridot, she must be talking about Peridot." Pearl concludes.
"She's coming for us!" Amethyst exclaims.
Pearl and Amethyst freak out, "What are we going to do?!"
"Woo, we did it." Garnet told them.
"What?" Pearl asks.
"We got the message." Garnet adjusts her visor.
"But-"
"It's got!" Garnet grits her teeth before shaking Greg's hand, "Thank you Greg, we would not have received this message without your help."
Greg starts to tear up, "You... you're welcome."
"My dad is..." Isabella auto tunes her voice to sound robotic, "the best!"
"Oh my gosh, Steven, your sister's a robot! Help, I can't relate to my robot daughter!"
Steven speaks in a robotic voice, "My mind is the internet, I know every continuity mistake ever made on television."
Greg, Isabella, and Steven laugh loudly.