Peridot

You, run as fast as your legs will carry you and be clever.

And she had. The moment they had rendered Garnet and Jasper useless, Peridot sprinted away, sliding between the legs of a guard, kicking in a vent opening and crawling into it. She used the system of ladders and tubes to make her way through the building. She was so used to freedom on Earth, she'd never wanted to come back to Homeworld, but being a Crystal Gem now, she was part of the mission. She knew how to repair ships and fly them better than Pearl. She knew the ins and outs of Homeworld, too and had already told Steven where he might find who he called the 'off color gems'.

Still…she worried now what they would do to those they'd captured. She had not been the most obedient technician at one point and she'd paid for it. Her supervisor had it out for her. She was caught using tech for non-work related purposes and she was beaten for it. She was caught singing and they'd done something to her voice to make it nasal and unpleasant. She insisted on being called a nickname, on individuality and she was whipped for it. She fell in love…for that she'd been imprisoned, tortured for days and her significant other was shattered before her eyes. As for her, they'd altered her mind, leaving the torture, but hiding the reasons why. After that, she'd obeyed. She followed every order given to her without question or complaint.

It wasn't until she'd been stranded on Earth and formed an alliance with the Crystal Gems that she was finally able to break from that. She could be herself – be free – say and do what she wanted without fear of being hurt. And slowly as Steven had taught her about music, about oceans, about friendship and love, her mind began remembering and she began to put those broken memories together until she knew her whole past again. Peridot thought back to all the times she'd asked Steven if unfamiliar objects were weapons, so afraid these rebels would torture her. Now she was a rebel and if she was discovered here…it would not end well.

She shimmied up a ladder, having crawled through the vents for a long time – an hour or longer possibly. First of all, she'd need limb enhancers, otherwise she'd stick out. Second, she needed to find out where they'd taken Gar…Sapphire, as she remembered they'd been split and Ruby had gone with Amethyst. She also needed to find Jasper and Pearl. Then, they needed to all somehow get back together with Steven and the off-colors if he found them.

"I want you to find them…" came a calm, authoritative voice.

Peridot stopped moving and peeked out of a slot in the vent system. She saw Yellow Diamond in her quarters discussing something…no, not something – them – with quartz soldiers.

Yellow Diamond moved around a few screens in front of her. "The pearl, defective amethyst, ruby and peridot can all be shattered. We have no use for them. We'll make it a public execution to send a warning to the masses. Alter the sapphire's memory and place her back in Blue Diamond's court. When you find Rose Quartz, you are to bring her to me."

"And what about the jasper?" Another voice asked. Peridot couldn't see who it belonged to.

"Already taken care of."

"Yes, my Diamond."

Peridot glanced around the room to see whatever she could and noticed a bubble floating up near the ceiling with a rose quartz gem inside. Why would Yellow Diamond have one here? That made no sense as Steven had said he'd seen a bunch of them in the human zoo compound. Okay, so they were going to shatter them publically meaning Pearl was likely in the prison and Sapphire was somewhere in Blue Diamond's domain, which presented a problem, but at least she was safe. The other problem was that she had no idea where Jasper was and, honestly, some brute force could go a long way in this situation.

She didn't have that…she was going to have to be clever. At least with limb enhancers, she'd have defensive weapons, so she turned and followed the tunnels toward the medical labs. She'd only been there to get her enhancers and have them updated every so often. As a Kindergarten Tech, she was not involved in fixing gems or even making them…well, not that way. Yes, shortly before she went to Earth, they'd started experiments to breed gems. This made little sense and she'd never known that to be done, but apparently thousands of years ago, it was. She'd peered into the nursery once where the peridots there were trying to keep the gemlings under control, but most of them were militant gems and peridots had nothing in the way of maternal instinct and little strength to keep these small, but powerful gems under control. Especially not Era Two peridots like herself.

She finally found her way and passing by a vent, she heard another peridot exclaim: "But it won't work!"

Peridot peeked through the slits in the vent and saw two of her former work mates talking, two she'd once considered such good friends they secretly gave each other names. The one speaking was Spark since her limb enhancers constantly seemed to conduct static electricity and her hair stood on end. The second she'd given the name Bright Eyes even though…well…she had no eyes. She only had dark sockets with a glowing green light in them. Peridot felt a bit bad about this. She remembered being strapped to a table and whipped when she failed to answer the question about what her purpose was. Bright Eyes had attempted to give her a clue and was quickly hit in the face with the electric whip, damaging her eyes beyond repair. The lights in her sockets were no replacement; she could see within her mind the things required for work, could detect electronics and understand screens, but beyond that, she never saw anything again. However, despite what had happened, they had become friends over the hundreds of years they'd worked together.

"What do you mean?" Bright Eyes asked.

Spark held up a lock of short, yellow hair. "The whole basis for the hormone induced euphoria is that they can detect each other's pheromones, but how do we make it work if one of them can't smell?"

"Do we have a serum for that?"

"No. The trigger for the extreme heat is the induction of the pheromones, which have to go through the nasal passages. I don't know what to do. They've already had everything done, but when I brought the lock of hair to the carrier, I realized…it won't work on her. It's supposed to make them irresistible to each other, but she will still have full cognition…full realization that this is happening and that she…isn't a willing participant."

Bright Eyes was silent for a moment and sighed before speaking. "Yellow Diamond specifically asked for this pairing…she is rational and logical and must've known…"

"I don't think I can put her through this."

"You have to! If we pull the plug now...Yellow Diamond could have us shattered…" Her voice was tinged with fear. "She could have us harvested…force us to fuse…make us part of a monster. Is that what you want?"

"I want to know why she's so insistent. Why is she breeding only the military gems? We're not at war. Why wouldn't we just grow them in Kindergartens? I want to trust My Diamond, I do, but…something isn't right."

Bright Eyes stood and turned in Spark's direction. "That's a very dangerous attitude to have. You would be wise to stop – now – if you don't want her whipping you, cutting out your tongue…or worse."

"You know, maybe if every pearl and peridot and ruby and every other gem they think is so beneath them rose up together, we could take them on and show them…"

Peridot's friend slapped Spark. "Get in there and do your job! I don't want to see anyone else here get…hurt."

Spark's expression turned to one of sympathy. "I know 5XG was our friend…and you miss her, but that was a long time ago…"

"Yellow Diamond ruthlessly shattered her – blew her to a million pieces by detonating a communicator! And for what? For calling her a clod, which is much less severe than suggesting an uprising, so unless you want to be destroyed, I suggest – highly suggest – that you get in there, carry out this experiment and get the desired results Our Diamond wants!"

Spark glumly nodded and walked out while Bright Eyes flopped back down in her chair and hung her head. Her breathing became heavy until finally her shoulders shook and she let out a couple of sobs.

Peridot sat back against the wall of the vent and sighed. Well, no wonder Yellow Diamond hadn't tried to find her and punish her. They thought she was gone for good. This could be to her advantage. Yellow Diamond hardly knew the peridots working under her; in fact, she'd had to ask clarification before realizing which peridot had used the communicator to contact her and where she was calling from. Part of her wanted to go down there and comfort her friend, but Bright Eyes thought she was shattered so it would probably just freak her out. Instead, she continued on her way to the tech lab and when she arrived, seeing it was deserted, she popped the vent and went in. She immediately tapped into the computer, setting the program needed for limb enhancers. Realizing she could set the size, she chose to make her leg extensions four inches taller than normal. She lay on the table and let the automatic machines do their job, fitting her with the metal attachments. They'd been upgraded since she was last on Homeworld and though she didn't have time to discover all the differences, she noticed they did have cool yellow stripes on them now.

Now was the time to get to work. She made her way to the nursery and peeked inside. There had to be twenty to thirty gemlings in there – multiple amethysts and jaspers, three topazes and an agate. No rubies, but then, rubies were pretty common.

"Can I please have my finger back?" One of the peridot nannies asked of an amethyst gemling who was holding one of the fingers from her arm attachment.

Another peridot was having trouble separating two little jaspers who thought fighting was a good idea. She shouldn't interfere even though she knew exactly what to do and she was pretty sure she had never actually met these peridots.

"No, don't put that in your mouth!"

She had to do something now as the small amethyst was trying to eat the finger. Peridot marched over and smoothed out the mane of light purple hair. "Hey there, are you hungry?" She received a nod in response. "Okay, if you give this nice friend her finger back, we'll get you something yummy."

The gemling thought for a moment before spitting out the finger letting it roll on the floor. Peridot picked her up and set her on her hip then made her way over to the nanny trying to get the jaspers under control. "They need to exercise; that's why they're like this. You should have an area where they can run."

"We're not equipped to handle this! We weren't made for this!"

"I know." She used her fingers to give the fighting gemlings sharp pinches on their necks just as their parents might do if they were here…if their parents even knew these were theirs. They seemed shocked at first but straightened out when Peridot raised her voice. "Hey! Knock it off!" She turned to the nanny. "They're soldier gems; you need to be less like their friend and more like their drill sergeant. They respond to that."

Peridot walked over to a nearby shelf, plucked a piece of pumice from it and gave it to the amethyst gemling. The little one's eyes lit up and she cooed gratefully as she happily munched on the stone. Peridot handed her back to her nanny. "Amethysts love their snacks."

"Thank you. How do you know so much?"

"Research. I actually talked to quartzes about what works and what doesn't. When do their parents come pick them up?"

"Their parents? Their parents are off being warriors; they don't have time for babies."

"But quartzes are so much better at parenting; I mean…" she almost wanted to say that rose quartz gems were mother gems, but decided against it. Technically, rose quartzes no longer existed. "Maybe try asking some of them. They may have some innate knowledge about how to care for young ones."

The other peridot thanked her again and then she was on her way. Why were they only breeding warrior gems when they weren't actively at war? And why breeding? Well, that was obvious – even though the gemlings had to grow up, it was a lot quicker than growing gems in the ground. Then she remembered what Spark had said about an uprising. Of course…they were called common gems because they were just that – common – there were LOTS of them. Tens of thousands of pearls, thousands of peridots and rubies…and not nearly as many amethysts, jaspers or topazes…only a handful of agates. There had been tension between the working class and elite gems for centuries on Homeworld and from what she'd heard between Spark and Bright Eyes, it was ready to explode. If, in fact, there was an uprising, it was entirely plausible with the rubies fusing and the peridots having defensive weapons in their limb enhancers that they could overthrow the Diamond Authority. And this is what Yellow Diamond feared.

They were breeding gems in case of an uprising…a rebellion. Is that why she was keeping a rose quartz in her domain…and so many in the zoo? Actually, Steven had seemed to think it was Blue Diamond who was unable to get rid of the bubbled gems, but were they really just around because Blue missed Pink Diamond so much…or was there more to it?

Peridot looked around quickly before ducking into a nearby computer room. She used her new floating fingers to pull up the screen and look through files. This came so naturally back to her and she loved having the technology, though now she knew it was not her tech that defined her. With or without the limb enhancers, she was still Peridot.

Here it was – rose quartz properties…they were big, of course, great warriors, generally obedient, caring…and then she remembered what she'd said in the nursery. She remembered that Steven's mother had given her life so he could exist. They were the mother gems; they were the ones who would be ideal for raising these gemlings if their parents couldn't. But why then keep them bubbled? Just because one had supposedly shattered a diamond? Her eyes fell on the last quality…healing. She gasped.

I know you fixed Lazuli's gem!

They were healers! And the Diamonds probably each had one to heal themselves and even their high ranking warriors with their tears. That's why they still held onto them, but wouldn't dare unbubble them for help raising the gemlings…or share their healing powers with gems they deemed undeserving. If she could somehow get to Yellow Diamond's domain, release the rose quartz trapped there, then maybe…

The door opened and Peridot turned to see a topaz standing there…she was large and intimidating. And she had two gems on either side of her head…she was a fusion. Peridot swallowed hard realizing she'd been caught and she was probably going to be carried off to face Yellow Diamond and be shattered for real. Before she knew it, a large hand was pinning her to the wall by her neck.

"You think you can play with others like toys? Use your science to make us do what you want? What the Diamonds want?"

What in the stars was she talking about? Peridot tried in vain to pull the hand from her neck. "I-I don't know…"

"Well, now I'm going to do what I want! Now you're going to feel what it's like to have no control!"

She crashed to the floor and felt her back hit the wall as she was kicked. What on Homeworld was this gem so angry about? What had she done? "Please, I'm not…"

"Shut up! Disarm your defenses now!"

Okay…okay…the best thing to do was to follow her instructions and try to reason with her. Surely there was a way out of this. After all, Topazes weren't the smartest of gems. "L-listen, we can talk about this…we can be logical about th-this." She realized they were strong, however, as she was slammed back up against the wall, a forceful hand on her chest.

"Is it logical to breed two gems against their will?"

Peridot's eyes flickered up to the gem's short yellow hair…the same hair she'd seen in Spark's hand. She'd been wronged by what Yellow Diamond was trying to do. "I'm not part of the breeding program. I'm a kindergartener."

"You are just like them."

"I am not!" Warrior gems needed to be spoken to forcefully. "Now put me down you thick-headed clod!"

The warrior's hand was near-crushing her chest at this point. "You do exactly as I say, or I'll shatter you." Her free hand groped the sexless area between Peridot's legs. "You can't shape shift, can you?"

"Of course not. What kind of moronic question is that?" This earned her a hard blow to the face.

"You have quite a mouth on you, don't you?" A large thumb grazed her lips. "You have a mouth."

Oh stars…what was the topaz going to do to her? She was forced to a kneeling position and looked on in horror as the other gem undid her pants and a large…part…fell out. So…she'd been a sire…and didn't seem too happy about it. Peridot's eyes darted away, looking toward the door but realizing she'd never make it. Her hair was grabbed and before she knew it her mouth was full with…well, she didn't want to think about it.

"You bite me and you're shattered, got it?"

Peridot gave a slight nod and tried to think of why this was happening. Why in the world would the topaz be doing this? This wouldn't result in gemlings…didn't she know that? Era Two gems couldn't have gemlings. Diamonds…she felt like she could choke between her throat being pounded and the smell. Finally, something flooded her mouth and she was pushed away like she was nothing. Peridot gagged; she spit on the floor. It tasted awful and the back of her throat felt bruised.

"How does it feel?"

Like she did something very wrong; like this had been unnatural and unnecessarily cruel. Deep down, she knew she hadn't done anything to anyone…but in following Yellow Diamond's orders, this gem had been mistreated by the gems in her caste. Oh stars, she'd better answer or else she'd be hit again…or worse.

But before she could, there was a loud banging on the door, and another that broke the door from its place and caused it to crash to the floor. There was a momentary pause, then, a husky, familiar voice spoke. "What? I wasn't enough?"

Peridot wiped her mouth with the back of her limb enhancer and looked over to see Jasper standing in the doorway. She had her helmet on and her eyes burned with anger. She was ready to fight. A large orange hand tugged on Peridot's arm sending her sliding across the floor and out of the room where she bumped up against the wall.

"Run!" Jasper commanded.

Peridot didn't need to be told twice. She scrambled to her feet and took off down the hall.