Unstoppable crying and sobs, protective curled position, self-smoothing soft swings, and only partially understandable mumbling about what she's afraid of and what she lost. Apatite's fears awakened after her realization.
Tiny had seen all this before, an anxiety attack. She tried to calm her guest down wrapping her with a blanket and telling her to breathe as slowly as possible, achieving a limited success. Then she had to contain her own fears, for that she discarded any kind of data emission and any alteration to Apatite's program, all was within the regular parameters for her kind.
About forty minutes later the teal gem is sitting on the big couch inside a cloth cocoon with only her eyes and nose outside, calmed again, repeating in whispers how embarrassed and sorry she is.
T: "This happens sometimes. Don't worry."
Tiny is by her side unsure about what to do in the long term.
T: [If someone discovers there's a second maximum level code, White will find out, it'll be erased, and I won't be able to help anyone else. Still, I'll regret it if I let her face the anvil. I have to solve her mystery.] Sighs. "I'm going to take a risk for you."
A: Weak and sad. "No... it's useless, hopeless... No one else has to get hurt because of my defects... only me. Thank you for these days."
T: "I'm sorry." Jumps down the couch and and turns to look up to the teal gem. "It's not your decision to make."
In the time it takes Apatite to unwrap herself and follow Tiny, the pearl gets to her working space under the big desk and introduces an instruction to the gem net.
A: Stops by the pillow she previously left on the floor defeated. "No...!"
T: Unsummons the keyboard. "It's done. Undoing it would be twice as dangerous for me, and very suspicious too. White wouldn't doubt about an order she already gave."
A: Shakes her head slowly. "What have you done?"
T: "One in every ten days you'll have a special assignment."
A: Worried. "You shouldn't have... In the end I'll fail, everyone will know about me."
T: "You have a chance to fight."
A: Annoyed. "I don't want to fight!"
T: Quietly. "It's way worse when you want to, and you're not able to."
Tiny thinks for the shortest moment she sees a light blue glow irradiating from these big teal eyes, which should be impossible since the color doesn't match and she's in the wrong angle for it to be a reflection from the window.
Apatite looks like she understood what she meant. She says something short in a whisper, probably in Apatitish.
T: "Are you ok?"
A: Not much louder. "Thank you." Turns around and goes back to the couch to wrap herself with the blanket.
The attack opened the way for Apatite's accumulated sadness to drain out, it'll take time, and Tiny can't think of anything to shorten it.
Meanwhile, she still owns a story to Green Sapphire, and probably another to Clinohumite, so when her guest falls sleep again the pearl leaves her a note and goes out to pay her debts.
Green liked the story about the gem immune to gem magics, although she would have liked a more conclusive ending.
Now Tiny managed to find the orange peridot at the quarry.
C: Accusingly. "You! You actually did it!"
T: "I told you I would. Why are you so surprised?" Gestures with the hand towards herself. "Bend your head down if you want to keep talking."
Clinohumite does so, the pearl jumps inside her bright red hair and lies down holding her head with arms and legs.
C: "That's new, and quite relaxing."
T: "You want a massage?" Moves her hands and feet a bit.
C: "No need."
T: "You wouldn't believe what walls tell you if you give them a back massage. The down side is that they're all together, so you have to be prepared for the hole corridor if you begin."
As she speaks, Clinohumite walks and bends, she probably went back to work in an uncrowded spot.
C: "Is there any place in this planet you haven't got into?"
T: Chuckles. "Maybe two, or three..."
C: "So, you discovered what happened to the missing gems?"
T: "Apparently, they're being kidnapped by a specie named Tighdel, they get instant kills using laser pistols."
C: Exited. "They could be saved. We have to..." Corrects herself. "Someone descent has to inform the Authority. This is a direct attack against the Empire."
T: "It's not."
C: "What?"
T: "Blue Diamond knows about it. If someone denounces what she's doing with the aliens you'll have interrogators all over the place."
C: Worried. "They'll find out about the off colors... we'll get shattered." Sighs. "We have to get out of here."
T: "I don't think it's an imminent threat... for most of the unit. If there's any warning sign I'll take your gems to the underground."
C: "I don't like the perspective, stranded forever. There has to be another way... at least for me."
T: Curiously. "Do you have a plan?"
C: "We all do. Mine is to sing for the elite."
T: "An ambitious one, hm...? That's what pearls are for."
C: "Pearls are to carry stuff around and there are seraphinites too. Look, I've heard Pink Diamond throws parties. Personal servants wouldn't sing in public, but I would."
Tiny feels the extra movement of what must have been Clinohumite gesturing.
T: "Then you should perfect your singing."
C: Outraged. "My performance is flawless already."
T: "Is that what you think?"
C: Doubts for a second and nods. "Yes. Everyone loves it."
T: "The transitions between registers are... brusque, and long notes end... low, not to mention how everyone knows when the difficult part comes because your face betrays you."
C: "I always forget you're still a pearl."
T: "You'll have to sing better than a regular size one to have a chance. And you've got potential. If you follow my instructions..."
C: Surprised. "Do you want to teach me?"
T: "Only if you're willing to learn."
----------
Meanwhile Apatite wakes up, reads the note and realizes she's alone. For the first time in almost her entire life she's both on her own and has nothing to do. Tiny wrote she'll come back before the end of the cycle, that leaves the teal gem some empty hours.
She's in no rush. First, she takes a proper look at the place. She guesses where the rooms for cleaning and feeding are. The rest is confusing. There's a round table with a jar containing an artificial duplicate of plant reproductive organs on top. She has no idea of how it could have been used, still it seems to fit in the space. There are frames hanging on the walls, some of landscapes full of organic life, one of a tall shiny building, and one of what looks like a nephrite, an agate, and a larimar smiling, except their colors don't fit, the nephrite has two eyes and nose, and the larimar is even smaller than she should.
At some point Apatite runs out of things to inspect. She doesn't know what to do, so she tries to remember how she filled her time before Peridot boarded the ship. She realizes most of her memories of that period are missing or fragmented. A few still remain: some songs she never forgot, the terrible error notification sound and how it played whenever she tried to press the ship's buttons, that time she managed to take a panel out and finally find a dark place to sleep, a very faint image of the anomaly from the window, clearer images of stars coming and going from that same window, and being on the floor staring at the ship's ceiling.
That last one makes the teal gem feel completely terrified, oppressed, like gravity drastically increased to the point she falls on her knees and down to the floor unable to move, staring at another ceiling this time. Her rational self feels ridiculous, gems automatically adapt their forms to gravity plus she looked at the ship's ceiling many times during her way to Homeworld and never felt anything strange.
A: "It's just a memory, just a memory, just a memory..."
She closes her eyes still repeating her mantra, until she remembers a presence, hatred, frustration, revenge, greed, and then nothing.
Apatite takes a deep breath and everything goes back to normal. She climbs on the couch and wraps herself with the blanket, it's all she can do to feel safer. Then wonders whether the presence was ever real, how a memory could be so intense, and how was she able to feel those unwanted feelings.
----------
About three months later Peridot 5yU receives good news. One of the off kindergarten locations she cataloged will be used to plant a top grade gem, this is an honor among kindergarteners.
She guesses her finding has been processed this early because the Diamonds have been wanting to create this particular kind of gem for a while, a pink spinel.
From now on Peridot will be treated with some respect. She'll still be used as a hiddenite replacement, as she showed to be good at it, but she'll be allowed to take descent equipment and won't be sent alone on her missions anymore.
After receiving the news the green gem meets Enstatite about a mile away from the kindergarten and tells her what happened and what it means. She'll have to leave on her own.
E: "So this is where we have to say goodbye."
They both are quite uncomfortable, the unexpected situation hasn't allowed them to think ahead how to act.
P: "I'm glad my life will change for the better... I wouldn't have minded it to happen a bit later though."
E: "This colony is less terrifying now than it was three months ago. I'll be fine." Smiles. "Thank you."
P: Smiles back. "Thank you for helping with the prospecting."
E: "I only dug holes, that's what shovels are for." Shrugs.
P: "They were nice holes... ...?"
That didn't sound like Peridot wanted it to, Enstatite looks very confused. 5yU steps forward, bends down, and hugs the brown gem tight.
P: "I'll miss you."
The miner is not used to this amount of affection so her first reaction is to get tense, although being warped in somebody else's arms feels nicer than she thought it would, so she hugs back after a couple of seconds.
E: "I'll miss you too."
The strength of the hug diminishes slowly until they barely touch, then both gem step backwards.
P: "Take care."
E: "I will. You too." Peridot nods. "Goodbye."
P: "See you... someday."
The technician turns around walks away.
YOU ARE READING
Another Name (SU fanfic)
FanfictionA pearl too small to fit in, an alien betrayed by his own people, a peridot punished for being too kind, and a separated couple. These apparently unconnected characters will end being linked up by the consequences of an event that will ultimately tr...
