The small mine sat on the outskirts of the lovely Beach City, abandoned for decades. It was a moderately-sized shaft, rotting wood barely holding the roof up. Grass, vines and weeds had overtaken most of the entrance, but grew no further than that. From there, mushrooms took over, covering the inside with a bio-luminescent glow. It normally went unnoticed by visitors, and the locals simply deemed the place an old relic from a time long passed, from before even their great-grandparents.
The mushrooms ceased, however, when it became clear that something-or someone- had been there recently. The stone of the walls soon gave way to a strange, green solid, like a clear metal. It seemed to pulse with a life of its own, and the elevator built for transporting crew members before had been replaced by a high-tech, jet-powered cage. The tunnel beneath it seemed to carry on to infinity, darkness overtaking the entire cave short of the bottom, where even more green light could be seen emanating from within.
It was just outside of this mine that the small shape fell from the sky, seeming to crash to the ground and shatter. Small chunks of green metal flew in all directions, and the sudden explosion from the impact disappeared faster than it had arrived. As nature continued undisturbed, aside from a few startled animals, the bits and pieces scattered about soon began twitching in their resting places, moving towards a large piece in the center of the impact crater. The pieces began sealing themselves together, a strange white gel sticking them to each other. Soon, where pieces had been scattered now lay the original object, a small, green sphere about the size of a human hand. It sprouted legs from its base, making its way up from the crater and into the mine shaft, where it crawled into the elevator, all the while making a peculiar "wump-wump" sound. The elevator began descending with its new passenger, a silent alarm alerting the dweller inside that the machine had been activated. The resident paid no mind, however;she had known this was coming. As the large metal cage drew closer to the bottom, a voice could be heard from deep within, finally clear as the elevator reached the bottom:
"Log date: 7-6-9."
Peridot sat in her makeshift headquarters, drawing her one finger across the screen projected by the other four. As her orb reached her, she picked it up, dropped it on the table in front of her, and continued.
"Peridot here. Though the new orbs have proven able to withstand Earth's gravity when dropped from space, this miserable planet has started to become more of a burden than first anticipated." She grunted. "Jasper and Lapis are nowhere to be seen, though the presence of the latter is missed far less than the former. I need my escort to keep these new experiments safe." She sighed, almost seeming sad for an instant. "The Cluster is gone. After years of hard work, those Crystal Gems once again broke my things! This is getting ridiculous." She turned to a capsule sitting in the back of the shaft, her demeanor shifting entirely as she smirked. "However, I was able to find something...worthwhile. I only hope it will work as well as the old experiments."
She closed the screen, dismissing her log as she moved over to the capsule and eyed the prize inside. A gem sat inside, white with a hint of gray, like a swirling cloud sat on the surface and yet inside. It was a perfect triangle, and twirled inside like it was doing tricks for its captor. Peridot only spent a moment admiring its peculiar nature before her arm began beeping. Bringing her hand up, her fingers once again reconstructed the screen, showing she was receiving a transmission. As she opened it, her vision was filled instantly with the face of her leader, Yellow Diamond. Peridot saluted as the transmission opened, and then went to ease as Yellow Diamond spoke.
"Peridot." she said, her voice smooth and deceptively silky, "How goes the new research."
"Very well, ma'am." the green Home-world Gem replied. "The subject hasn't shown many actions recently, but vital signs are still emerging, so...there's hope yet."
"I certainly hope so." the yellow-eyed ruler said. "Can you proceed with your research as planned?"
"For now, yes." Peridot replied hesitantly, "But Jasper's, well...out of commission. If the Crystal Gems find me here..."
"Irrelevant." Yellow Diamond interrupted. "Reinforcements will arrive within the week."
"So soon?" Peridot asked, shocked.
"Of course." her boss answered. "I was sending them to you anyway. Figured the help would be useful either way." She gave Peridot a sideways glance as she said, "I am right, yes?"
"O-Of course!" Peridot hastily replied. "I will await their arrival happily."
"Any specific location to give them?" Yellow Diamond asked, checking her non-existent nails.
"I will contact them when they arrive." Peridot replied.
Yellow Diamond laughed. "Excellent!" she said. "Report to me when you get new results."
"Of course, ma'am." Peridot said, saluting as the image disappeared. As her boss disappeared from view, she gave a deep sigh, turning back to the capsule and placing a hand on the field holding it in place.
"I only hope you save my behind before yours expires." she said quietly, her voice echoing slightly in the emptiness of the mine.
The jewel didn't respond. Peridot paid it no mind, turning back to her work on her orbs. They still had flaws, and she was determined to fix them.
Unbeknownst to her, the gem behind her flashed brightly for an instant, focusing its point at her. It slowly began rotating again afterwards, but the implication was clear; it was mocking her.
Peridot began humming a tune to herself, a habit she had picked up from observing humans. If she only knew what she held within her grasp, her orbs would matter less than nothing to her.
But she didn't know, and so the signal went unnoticed, and work continued unhindered.