Another Name (SU fanfic)

9. BACK TO WORK

After seeing Tiny, Clinohumite wants to find out what her superior knows. So the next day she makes sure to work close to the quarry's entrance, that's where Fire Agate will be most of the time. When she comes the orange gem leaves her tasks and goes to talk to her.
C: "My Agate." Makes a diamond salute.
FA: "You found another carved rock? Just put it with the rest. How many times do I have to say it?"
C: "It's not a rock. Yesterday I was thinking about the missing gems and how the warriors noticed you changed after the blowing ruby disappeared."
Fire looks at her like someone already brought the subject up recently.
FA: Defensively. "And what?"
C: Decides to go to the point. "Where is Ruby 67B? Where are all the others? You know something. Don't you?"
The agate makes a big sigh.
FA: "Your freak of friend told me you fail to understand my position. It better stay that way."
Clinohumite can't believe Tiny actually talked to her.
FA: "Ask her, if you want to know. Sure you'll see her again and I won't notice. But now I'm here so..." In usual angry imperative tone. "Go back to work!"

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Apatite lets herself fall on her knees. She barely managed to get to the meeting point and Tiny isn't there. The week has been much harder than expected, she doesn't have energy to function or to keep pretending she's not sad any longer. She sits on the floor, leans her head on a wall corner and cries, even though she's trying with all her will to stop it.
If the little pearl comes at all, she will arrive any moment now, and if she sees her being so pathetic she might not give her the clock. She fears she won't survive much longer without it, and she's not sure she's able to care about it anymore. The new cycle will start in less than two hours, it's too soon, way too soon, she won't have time to recover. Very vivid images of her failures and their consequences cross her mind, then she can't help to imagine what it's to come, tenses and curls closing her eyes and holding her legs. Her inability to stop the cry makes her feel even worse and she has to suffocate a yell...

Tiny doesn't arrive at the meeting point as early as she wanted to, but she has more than an hour until Apatite's next turn begins. She assumed there would be a reaction as soon as she entered the teal gem perception range. There's none. She turns the last corner to find her lying on the ground.
T: "Apatite?" Walks towards her. "Sorry I kept you waiting. I've been trying to find out what happened to..."
Then notices the teal gem position is probably very uncomfortable and she doesn't look conscious. Tiny panics due an old trauma, runs to Apatite and checks if her gemstone is fine. It is indeed. Still, she almost won't move, so the pearl pushes her to turn her around and lie her on her back, there's no sign of physical harm, the only thing unusual is how slow she breaths. That's when she notices the teal gem is sleeping, and that's surely the reason she asked for an alarm.
T: "Please... Wake up..."

From Apatite's point of view, just after the yell she hears a dampened voice, she opens her eyes, the perspective changed. She gets startled because she became inactive without meaning to and there's someone right there. Her reaction is to sit as fast as she can moving away from the presence, who happens to be Tiny. If it had been anyone else she'd be in serious trouble.
T: Confused, in soft voice. "You did that on purpose?"
A: "I..."
Apatite thinks what would sound less weird when a sudden fear invades her.
A: "Am I late?"
T: "No."
Pearl takes the small device out of her gem and sets the alarm.
The teal gem is relieved, then considers how things bigger than a gem can go in and out of it, and then sees what Tiny is doing. It makes her suspect she already knows why she wanted the clock, but she said she'd tell her, so she does it anyway. Her slow talking and weak voice show how tired she is.
A: "The accident did more than erase my memory. I have a strong preference to rest between a quarter and a third of my time, and when I can't I need some cycles to adapt, then I'm only half slept the hole time and my performance worsens, and if I have to use lots of energy, I end like this."
Tiny says nothing, she looks focused in her thoughts. Apatite's fears wake.
A: "I thought I'd fit in... but I just want to go back to the ship..." Gets more anxious. "But I lost it... and Peri is gone..." Breathes faster. "What am I going to do?"
The teal gem looks down and covers her face with her arms to hide the tears forming in her eyes. Shortly after she feels a little hand on her leg.
T: "How long do you need to recover?"
Apatite feels nervous and somewhat annoyed, even though she can't tell why. She dries her tears and looks at Tiny.
A: "What would you do? What would it matter? In two or three assignments I'll be like this or worse again..."
T: "Let's solve problems one by one. I'll hack the system to give you an invented work, I just need a number of cycles."
A: Surprised. "You can change...?"
T: "Just the number, please. I don't have much time. Twenty, thirty?"
A: "With five I should do... could it be ten?"
The pearl gives Apatite the clock.
T: "Sure. Hide it in your hair, this way no one will see it and you'll surely hear it, after, in your gem. Rest and make sure to be there when Turquoise comes. Ok?"
A: "Yes."
Tiny sets off in a rush leaving Apatite confused. Even if she can hack the orders, Turquoise will have questions, as she's usually the one who assigns the tasks to the individual apatites. But at this point she can only hope for the best.
After hiding the small device she falls sleep again and some minutes later the alarm wakes her up. It's too strident, which does the job, but it makes her head hurt. She takes the clock away from her ears, turns it off and puts it in her gem.

Apatite arrives at her position looking terrible, but in time. She does her best to act normal, for that she can't react to the group of apatites glancing at her dreiction and giggling.
When the guard one makes the signal the relaxation ends and everyone goes to their places to wait in silence doing a diamond salute.
Soon enough Turquoise enters and begins to distribute the tasks, at one point she makes a weird surprised face, but continues with the list as usual, when the last and biggest group departs the superior tells them she'll join them later. After, only her and 525 remain at the base.
Tq: "Come down."
Apatite does as told.
Tq: Menacing. "I don't know why you've been given this assignment, but you better keep your focus on it all the time. Understood?"
A: Salutes confused. "Yes, my Turquoise."
Tq: Half whispering, worried, almost scared. "This is important... it's a special request from White Diamond herself."
A: Confused. "What?!"
Tq: Bends down to talk closer to her subordinate. "If you make the slightest mistake all of us will share your destiny. You, can't, fail."
The little teal gem can't believe Tiny managed to enter the system as if she was White Diamond and wonders whether she did it with that mysterious power of hers. Also she finds it's kind of funny that Turquoise tries to turn to her relationship with the rest of the group to persuade her to act flawlessly when she's been basically denied said relationship.
A: Still saluting, makes an effort to stand straighter. "I promise I'll do everything right."
Turquoise looks outside, she's not relieved.
Tq: "A pearl will take you... to wherever you have to go. I'm not allowed to know. I hope you come back in one piece."
A: "Thank you, my Turquoise."
Apatite is not really thinking what she says, if her superior told her 'I hope they turn your gem to dust' her reaction wouldn't have changed. Her mind is still too busy not believing what's happening. She wonders where will Tiny take a regular size pearl out of when a big Tiny enters the base and gracefully salutes Turquoise.
T: "My Turquoise. Is the subject ready?"
Tq: "Yes."
A: Realization to herself. "Shapeshifting."
Both Pearl and her superior make faces that tell Apatite two versions of the same story, in short: Please behave.
A: Contains a yawn and salutes. "It is an unmeasurable honor to serve the greatest and most glimmering Diamond."
Tq: "May I ask why is her presence requested?"
T: "You may ask, but I'm afraid I'm not allowed to answer. I'll bring her back in fifteen cycles." Salutes. "My Turquoise." Indicates Apatite to go first. "Please..."
They walk out of the base in silence leaving Turquoise confused. When they are isolated enough Apatite stops pretending she's able to keep a regular sized pearl walking fast rhythm, she slows down and breathes deeper. Tiny matches her velocity.
T: "Sorry, I always have to walk fast." Looks at the teal gem. "Dear, you can barely move. Come."
Pearl picks the teal gem up.
A: Faint, trying to complain. "I can walk..."
T: "You can't keep your head up. Sure Turquoise was terrified when we left."
Apatite doesn't remember it that way.
A: "Was she?"
She can feel Tiny is walking, but she can't keep her eyes open anymore.
T: "I'll tell you about empathy later."
There's silence until there's an opening door sound and it turns darker. Apatite manages to open her eyes to see if there's any danger. They're just in an empty room.
T: "I'm going to send you to a safe place, stay there and rest."
A: Weak. "How are you going to..."
The pearl answers the unfinished question bubbling Apatite, who finds floating in the bubble very relaxing.
A: "Oh..."
T: "We'll talk about all of this when you wake up."
The teal gem nods lightly as Tiny sends the bubble off.