Shard Times

*Shard Times* is a side story in *With Pearl and Ruby Glowing*.

## Synopsis

Treasure Agateva loses her job as a parole officer due to her true nature being revealed during her and Bobbie DeMayo's trial, so she tries to find a new job. Keyword being *tries*.

## Plot

### Job Seeking

Following the Agateva vs. DeMayo trial, Treasure lost sympathy from the public, the judge, and her boss, leaving her without a job. After her mother Holly was arrested when Dolores Abbagale called the cops on her, she also didn't have a place to stay, so she decided to go out looking for a job and was willing to take anything.

### Ma-Jo's Barbeque

Treasure walked into Ma-Jo's and handed her application to Ma-gang Ji, but Gang saw her name on it and went into the back to get his brother. Choe came out and refused to hire her, saying he'd rather join Jo than let her work at the restaurant, which worried Gang. Choe reassured him in Korean that he was just making a point, but Treasure thought he was insulting her and got mad, so Choe strongly suggested she leave. Just then, Bobbie walked in to ask about her paycheck and was terrified to see Treasure standing there, so Gang got Treasure to leave by faking a call to the police to report her.

### Red Sun Food

When Treasure approached Honghai's family food truck, ta initially wanted to reject her because of her criminal record and ta hated law enforcement. However, ta agreed to overlook it if she ate the hottest item on the menu to prove she could deal with working around spices. Treasure accepted the challenge, but she couldn't even handle a single bite. Honghai then charged her five dollars for the kebab.

### Calisota City Studio

Treasure tried to apply to be a crew member on *Late Night with Bev*, but Yut Plangklang tossed her resume as soon as she handed it to him. He told her he's always known how horrible she was, he's just allowed to say it out loud now, and if she didn't leave he would do to her what he threatened to do to his sons' school principal and security guard.

### Spacetries

Treasure walked into Spacetries expecting to see Lars Barriga at the counter, only to see Laci Blue, the girl Treasure's sister Lacey ran off with, standing there. She changed her mind about applying there and left, which Laci agreed with.

### Pallet Road Veterinary Clinic

Wilhelmina hadn't been keeping up with the news due to her and Wallace's honeymoon, so she wasn't aware of what Treasure did. However, due to Treasure not having the right certification, Wilhelmina couldn't hire her.

### Encanto

Alma refuses to hire Treasure because her grandchildren work in the shop. When Treasure argues with her, Alma grabs a pistol and cocks it to scare her off.

### Robinson R&D

Treasure approached Wallace (who, like his wife, didn't know what she did) to apply for the maintenance position at the lab, so Wallace went to speak to the R&D team. When the team returned, they refused to let her work with them because their teenage kids came by sometimes, so they told her to get out or they'd drag her out themselves. Treasure called their bluff, so they did just that and more.

### Birds of Paradise Adult Club

José Carioca didn't recognize Treasure and was initially interested since he needed bouncers, but saw on her application that she's on the sex offender registry, so he asked what she was charged for. She reluctantly told the truth, but tried to insist that what happened with her and Bobbie was consensual because she was sixteen. José didn't buy it and said no.

### Pizza Planet

When Treasure arrived at Pizza Planet, the manager insulted her for raping Bobbie, but also tried to hit on her because she "figured [she'd] be up for it". This weirded Treasure out and she left.

### Sweet Delights Bakery

Youngyeon and Younghwa Jeon were about to give Treasure a job, but she ruined it by asking if Hwa was dropped on her head and Christie refused due to the bakery's clientele including children. Gi-sae arrived during the commotion and told Christie that she was kicked out of the Palace for harassing Bobbie, so Christie threatened to call the cops. Treasure scoffed at this, but Choe walked in and was angry to see her in the bakery, so he asked Gi to help him get her out and they beat her up.

### Club Technochocolate

Treasure didn't even get a chance to show her resume to Bubs because he heard about her from his DJ long before every bad thing she did that didn't have to do with Bobbie came out. She left the office and ran into the Cheat, the DJ of the club and the person who reported her for punching Gi, and she wondered how they got a job there due to their criminal record. The Cheat pointed out that conning, vandalism, and theft are tame compared to statutory rape, and when Treasure tried to protest, they told her not to bother pulling the victim card because they never believed her to begin with. Treasure angrily called them a "son of a whore", which prompted them to call Mayor over to deal with her.

### Largest Ever Pet Shop

Poppy Pawsley wouldn't hire Treasure because Whittany, Brittany, and some of the other employees are minors and they also sell pets to children. Poppy asked Brittany for the phone so she could call Eliza to get Treasure out, but Treasure didn't want to find out Eliza was like and bailed immediately.

### Zhuzhu's Noodles

Treasure walked into the restaurant and saw Tang and Zhuzhu arguing about noodles. She asked about the dishwasher position, but Zhu didn't want her around Xiaotian and refused. Treasure pointed out she wasn't into boys, but Zhu didn't care and told her to leave. She complied because, after dealing with Gi and Choe and needing stitches from the ordeal, she didn't want to get into another fight.

### Funland

Treasure walked up to a clown and asked where she was supposed to hand in her application. When the clown didn't respond quickly enough, she shouted at her and said she would take any job, prompting the clown to ban her from the park. Treasure refused to leave, but Onja, her daughter Polly, and her girlfriend Jasper saw her. The couple yelled at her stay away from Polly and threatened to call security if she didn't leave the park.

### Pink Diamond Resort

Noreena, Cornelia, Jay-Jay, Gigi, and Axel were angry to see Treasure at the resort and refused to let her work there because of the trial and her complicity in Holly abusing them. When Treasure dismissed their complaints and claimed that she didn't have it easy either, her sisters called her out on her bullshit, pointing out that she wasn't the one that was raped and she helped hold them down for their mother. When the resort's guests started whispering about her, she blew up at them, pointing out that the only reason Bobbie felt so bad and tried to kill herself was because everyone harassed her and said she deserved it. Before leaving, Treasure asked everyone who they thought Bobbie would rather be locked in with: someone who upset her or someone who livestreamed the whole thing.

### WaddleWorld

After her meltdown at Pink Diamond went viral, Treasure sat in an alley and waited to die, but Gi came up to her and asked to talk. She rebuffed his attempts to help her because she thought she was beyond help, but he offered to take her to lunch and help her get a job. They went to Krusty Burger, where Gi explained to Treasure his story and how, while Choe and Gang won't forgive him, he realized he was wrong and is working on being a better person than he was years ago. He believed that Treasure could also do the same if she tried, so he told her that there was a remote moderator job opening at WaddleTech and he was willing to let her stay with her and Hwa for a while, which she accepted.