Peridot held her head in her floating fingers, attempting to alleviate the pain. She had found a ship, it was decommissioned and probably not safe but it was all she could do. It was up to Lapis now.
Finally, Lapis came back with the covered basket and Peridot lifted out the blue bubble stuffed with gems. Tonight's watch roster, she could see the circuits waiting to be rewritten as they shone multi-coloured hues. She recognised a few, a classmate and a few guards. All life's will is so malleable, so easily taken from the path.
Disembodied fingers floated to pick up a micro screwdriver while every circuit board in her crystalline control room was screaming at her to stop. The pain made a horrifying orchestra with her tools and the whispers to 'follow the path'. The sickening irony that presented itself made her want to scream.
Lapis had left a while ago, her wet feet making the suction noise that they always did. The blue gem had spoken to her, an empty husk of syllables and assumed meaning that were drowned out by the voices. She couldn't stop, not even for a second. She had to do this for them, the simple sentiment the only thing keeping her from losing herself.
She worked for hours in this state, slowly losing any sense of composure she had beforehand. Vague mumbles fell from her hologram tongue like a mantra. Until she was finally completed and placed the fragile subjects back in their corners.
"…." Buzzing filled the empty workstation, the gemling guardians had long left and the others were shut down in their vulnerable state. "…Peri…." A blue blur waved in front of Peridot's face. Peridot closed her eyes, the hypnotised green pupils disappearing in favour for pure white.
"Follow the diamond authority!" Peridot whacked her fingers against the smaller gem, creating a dark blue mark that quickly mixed with a blush from infuriated tears. "You have strayed from the path to enlightenment; you have been damned to corruption."
Peridot opened her screen, intending to report the rebellion. The very word made her sick. Did she really think she would benefit from helping the weakling and broken mirror? The thought was laughable, no one could escap… disobey. Why would they want to? The great diamond authority is all knowing and is the only path. Peridot couldn't see why… no that wasn't it. Peridot couldn't SEE.
Shapes, colours and dimensions bloomed in the lime tinted vision but she couldn't SEE. She couldn't remember. What was she trying to remember? The task was so clear! The path…
"Peridot… stop please" The shaky voice called out to the green gem, intermixed with gasps of pain. "Please remember, you were helping me!" Steven lay on the floor beside Lapis, his body curled in the foetal position and sweat dripping off a feverous forehead.
For one crucial second the fog lifted. Steven! A practical stranger who had shown her that everyone she knew were strangers. No friendship, no love. She was fighting for a better way of living! Peridot was fighting for her blue friend who had suffered more than she would know. She was fighting for freedom… against her own programming.
"Get in." Peridot gasped, her projection wavering due to the pain. "The autopilot should do it, take Steven"
The small blue gem stomped her foot down, making a squelching sound that sounded almost comical. It wasn't "I...we can't just leave you behind. Look at you! They're torturing you! It's just like the mirror." She wailed, water running down her cheeks, a very human habit.
"I'm not trapped in an object." Peridot corrected Lapis, confusion mixing in with the agony of the fight that was raging through her circuits.
"Not you, me!" Lapis stood tall beside the two gems on the floor in pain, her hair ragged and her eyes wild "I watched for 5000 years, I watched friends and foes die! My captors holding me up, letting me see so I would tell them what they wanted. Then the loneliness, the same view of that darned galaxy warp that defines eternity."
"Lapis please!" Peridot looked at her with milk white eyes, flashing a tint of green. "Please… go. I can't go with you. I'll sabotage the ship, you can't tie me up, my fingers aren't attached. Bubbles are too fragile for a small spaceship. I'll fight it as long as I can, escape while you have the chance."
That night, every guard looked away from the sky as a half human and a mirror gem escaped atmosphere. All the while, a citizen of the empire fought viciously against the rules of her own body. Those who were led astray were looked over, corruption by rebellion obscuring the path to enlightenment.