"Testing, testing one, two, three. Ahem, hello to all our listeners! This is your host for today, Lace J, speaking." The typical gruff voice of a quartz announced, though with an air of rough charisma and an easygoing nature not usually expressed by her kind.

These traits existed in most of them, certainly, but the strict discipline administered by their hard-line superiors often suppressed it time and time again.

But here? Here she was free, and so the same broadcast sounded out from devices across the settlement unabated.

From what could be called the town's square out to the construction site, the personable trio behind the voices spoke at length on a number of varied matters. Chief among them were daily affairs, predictions of robonoid swarms paths for the week ahead - important information to any who would plan to venture out - and a tidbit of mostly benign gossip in between. There was even a crude sort of economic report from Jade on the general barter rates of both local suppliers and surface squatters.

"...and from these vendors," Jade brought up an extensive list of names on a screen to her side. "in the past quarter there has been a sharp decrease of an estimated seven to nine percent in the weight of basic construction materials that a single basic model multitool can be exchanged for. It is... an uncharacteristic level of flux, but rest assured we will find the reason for it on our next journey to the surface."

"But let's not forget about that scrap seller. I wonder how much more expensive they've made all of their 'rare' and 'one-of-a-kind' wares after this." Lace J added, her heavy sarcasm being much to the humour of the other two.

… said reports were not only crude in the sense of their level of accuracy either, as gathering information from such a place was never easy. Evidently there were a few verbal jabs thrown in at some of the more tight fisted or unscrupulous of the surface dwellers, and though no exact designations were given out, many of the long time underground dwellers understood who was being talked about from vague descriptions of appearance or habits alone.

But that was part of their appeal, for the gang of three's - as they had been named by the settlers - entertaining manner made it easy for even the most quickly distracted listener to take notice. Such comedy was needed for the morale of the wider populace too, as the barter rates of many materials had been rising for a few years straight by now, and with the current sudden rise, ten tonnes of building materials were now taking an average of two to three extra wrist mounted multitools than a few years ago.

These devices had come to be accepted as a sort of de-facto commodity currency and common medium of exchange over the millennia with how valuable, impossible to counterfeit, hard to produce in these conditions, thus relatively stable in value, and reasonably durable they were.

However, right afterwards came the most anticipated subject of the day.

"It's at this point I'd like to bring up what I think is the topic on everyone's mind recently." Glass interjected after Jade - who was perhaps one of the few aristocrats present - finished her report.

Despite all the attention he was unwillingly at the centre of, Bolt found himself truly content for the first time in his life. As he walked over to the gap in the cliff face and took up the pickaxe, he found an errant smile creeping onto his face underneath the scrap of green synthetic fibre over his mouth. Though instead of dispelling it, he kept it on as he broke away at the stone.

Humming a quiet tune as the notes came to him, he got back to work. It had only been four days in the settlement so far, but his engineered strength being put to productive use meant that the majority of the large room had already been dug out and now he was doing the more fine and precise work of smoothing out the rough arched roof and circular corners into more organised edges and flat surfaces. Dust filled the air with each strike, and while it did half sting as it settled on his eyes, his quiet glee did not diminish in the slightest.

In fact, the repetitive cycle only ever seemed to heighten his mood each time he completed a circuit of digging and depositing the rubble outside, for each one was another step closer to his humble dream. He had only heard of it barely a few days ago, but the idea of domesticity, to be in an abode among friendly faces, had already kindled a steady fire in the child's spirits. So with a fresh zeal in his movements, he put down the pickaxe and piled the rubble onto a large square sheet of plain fibre on the floor and wrapped said sacking around it before leaving the room-to-be to dispose of the waste.

"I agree, it is amazing to see so many different gems come to us all at once!" Jade remarked.

"...and an organic, can you believe it?" Glass said slowly, almost incredulous of herself as the single word was uttered. "Apparently they just 'appeared out of nowhere' in some sort of pod one day, but I can't help but be, like some people are, well... really skeptical about that."

"Rumours, rumours, rumours, who cares! Let's stick with the facts - they beat up an Agate and got away with it, now that's someone I wanna meet." Lace waved them off while unbidden enthusiasm filled her tone.

As she stood by a tunnel which was the doorway of the room she was working on, Padparadscha commented to no one in particular. "It appears that opinion towards us is mostly positive." Hefting a borrowed pickaxe up to rest on her shoulder to take some time off for the moment, she continued looking on at the program and listening intently.

"Yeah, looks like we're the talk of the sector right now." Rhodonite said, clasping another pick by the end of its handle while its top lay on the ground and looking to the invar table where the holographic projector lay. With nothing else to occupy them as they did hard labour, the group had decided to leave it active on the sole piece of furniture so they could be informed of wider goings-on whilst they built their home.

Taking the few moments in between him setting down sacking to let the rocks tumble out and getting back to digging, Bolt dropped a comment of his own. "All of us? Or mainly Fluorite and I?"

They had initially politely turned down the offer of an interview for now, citing construction work as a reason, but all of them had a sneaking suspicion that the uniqueness of both their circumstances and the nature of some of the members of their group would lead only to every growing curiousity that had to be sated sooner or later.

Muffled as his words were by the cloth she caught onto his snideness quite quickly, and so joining in with him, if somewhat at the expense of their hosts, she let out a short chuckle. "Well, you two've always been kind of different... in a good way, I mean. I'll admit, when I met the both of you I was surprised too."

For the next few moments she almost seemed distant, fondly reminiscing how she met Fluorite, or rather Ammolite back then, and for the first time being with a kindred being who she could openly confide in without fear of discovery and subsequent reprisal. For a while it almost seemed romantic - two pearls and their partners in fusion escaping their meagre lot in life and striking it out on their own in an untamed wilderness, hiding away from the hostile world above.

But now, the same as with back then, a dose of reality struck before long. 'At least, it would've looked that way if it weren't for all the running for our lives from stars-damned robonoids every other day.'

The flapping of fabric and clacking of rock came as Bolt deposited debris on the far side of the arch, bringing her back to the present in time to hear him agreeing with her sentiments. "Fair enough, fair enough."

"Oh well, that's fine by us." Rightile said in cool neutrality as she peeked out the open doorway leading to their own room, sack in hand as well. "Yeah, it's fine not being in the light." Leftile added, though with a hint of mock cheer.

Calls of agreement rang out from everyone else in the area as each person soon realised what they were referring to, their own distaste for the machines that once incessantly hunted them colouring their replies with relief, as it seemed they would be free of them at last.

"At least Bolt here can stand in the spotlight just fine and knows how to handle 'attention'." Rhodonite said heartily.

Sensing the merriment in the air, and because he knew that she was not exhibiting any deliberate ill will - in any case, she seems to be encouraging more than anything - he let it slide, even if it did hurt a tad that the unintended derision was targeted at his efforts. "Hmph, perhaps being born as a 'weak' and 'pitiful human' is not so terrible of a fate after all." He said instead, quoting the insults flung at him by quartz he duelled over a week earlier.

"Ha! I bet that taught them a thing or two about us 'defects'." The fusion joined in with his loyalist heckling, giving an air jab of her elbow in his direction.

"I would hope so." He said, keeping his solemness within as he looked out to the settlement beyond, for now that he looked back at it, he found another reason to regret taking the attention of those robonoids. 'How many of those quartzes came to capture me, only to be cracked or shattered because their superior's ego demanded they fulfil their 'duty' to her, and not The Empire?'

As much as he disliked thinking of the autocratic regime that ruled the world and the stars above, he hated it far more to bear witness or hear about such tales of self-serving behaviour coming from those officials among the nobility who were supposed to be exemplars of 'perfect' ideals; living by, and dispensing, the law equally and justly.

Even if Imperial rule was still far too draconic for his tastes - what with dispensing the law usually meaning incarceration, likely followed by execution, for any who stepped out of line - there was something about what happened that day which made him realise, now that his fury had given way to clarity, that what occurred was most likely a grade above the usual pointless spending of lives he had heard The Empire apathetically partook in. 'Maybe I should have been less harsh on that jasper, she was likely only so fervent since she was under such direct observation… maybe.

Lives, people, spent to further the personal goals of their superiors rather than to be given at least the meagre dignity that they died to further gemkind as a whole.

Not wishing to dwell on the topic any further, he spoke up as their talking quieted down, steering the topic away from previous events and to a subject he knew he needed to bring up eventually. "Now that I look at it, it seems as if the structure I had in mind will take far more resources than what we have." He half muttered, no longer looking at the town and instead down at the pile of metal that had been left there out front of the large stone arch.

Though it was a generous, and free, contribution by the community to them no doubt, it was barely enough to complete the front wall and massive sliding door. Never mind the other wall on the far end along with a roof long enough to fill the gap in between the two closest arches, nor for any other materials they may wish to use later for comfortable furnishings or appealing decorations.

"We could always ask Silver." Padparadscha suggested after some fourty or so seconds, the extended length of the delay showing her unwillingness to ask their hosts for more where her tone did not.

"Mmm, well, it wouldn't hurt to try." Rhodonite shrugged, sounding rather unsure of it, if a bit more willing to make an attempt.

He hummed, quickly seeing the merit in trying, for even if they were unable to gather anything now, it would at least lead to Silver taking notice and giving a bit more consideration to their project. "I could go, seeing as this room is the furthest ahead. No harm in spending some time away from it." He said, pointing his thumb backwards.

"Shouldn't one of us come with you?" Rhodonite said. "To help ease things up."

He may have allowed some good faith to the de-facto leader as he rationalised their suspicions towards him, since protecting others was something they could see eye to eye about, but it was no great secret that there still remained some friction between them, despite Rose's efforts to smooth over relations the other day. As such, he saw the benefits of coming over in the company of at least one of the gems for the sake of helping along any potential discussions, even if only a little.

"I suppose that would be helpful," He said, understanding her concerns, "in that case, who wants to go?"

After a short pause, Rhodonite spoke again. "...since I brought it up, I guess I should, if no one else minds."

They were met with the casual and simple responses of "Nope, that sounds alright to me," And "Nah, nothing from me," from the Rutiles as they returned to work.

"That sounds fair to me as well," Followed soon after by the seer's own cheery approval, "though, also please ask Fluorite when she will be finished, if you can find her, and if we can borrow some power tools. We will be needing them soon." She added.

"Ah, thank you for reminding me." Bolt turned back momentarily to say to her just as he was about to depart. "I thought I had forgotten about something."

As the two left the construction site, a late call of "No problem," from her caught their attention for a brief second longer before they carried onwards.

Whilst they were still near, the pair turned to the side and took some time to admire their work as they spotted the rapidly growing piles of rubble out front of the arch. There were two of them in total, one on either side, and though their height was capped at head height for the sake of convenience of disposal, this only meant each gathering of debris was instead spread out in a thick mat for about seven or so meters before it gave way to another two meters of thinly about strewn pebbles and rocks.

It was barely a four minute walk at a leisurely pace before they arrived in the outskirts of the settlement proper, where they then began to follow the grid-like arrangement of roads on their way to the centre.

The buildings were packed, though not overly so, for Zircon had apparently seen to it that organised zoning be implemented from the very moment the first structures cropped up. While not everyone tried to maximise how much they could cram into their plots by buildings as wide then as tall as was allowed, enough did that in an instant it gave an impression that the place was far more dense and urban than it was in reality.

Flickering holograms of stylised words standing sentinel outside of various establishments, the perpetual low rumble of conversation, the buzzing, chipping and whirring of a hundred machines - at once all of it invaded the senses.

It distracted everyone, albeit in different ways. From newcomers who were unused to the rowdy and unkempt nature of the place, for while it was far smaller in scale, the clutter contrasted heavily to the eerie efficiency and etiquette fuelled world above, all the way to veterans who had grown filters to simply ignore all the hustle and bustle beyond their personal sphere so they could get on with the day to day.

And yet, all focus from the chaotic community was slowly being dragged away from the daily turmoil and instead onto something, or rather, someone else entirely.

News had spread fast, so as they walked down the streets, Bolt especially could sense the sudden drop in volume that soon followed wherever he went. He felt himself be the subject of many cursory glances from passersby, curious eyes from windows and the general small crowds outside each building.

However, interested as they were in the group and the organic that came with them, they had also heard of their wish for privacy for now, and so out of respect for that many of the cursory glances remained as that - cursory. Just a short peek to see if the unique stranger that had been accepted among their midsts was as the program said.

Though some of the more friendly or outgoing locals did still give him a wave or said hello, he saw no harm in replying and so he cordially returned his own greetings in kind.

"Do you think this'll really work?" Rhodonite asked him, breaking the silence between them that had encompassed their journey so far. "I mean, I hope it does, but it just doesn't seem likely."

"I am not so hopeful myself, but if anything, explaining our situation will at least mean she hears what we need so she can better plan how to aid us later." He reasoned.

"Heh, you always have these things thought out don't you?"

"Not all the time." His expression may have been faced forwards and neutral, but the words he used betrayed his meaning.

Rhodonite opened her mouth slightly, as if to say something, but pursed her lips instead found herself unable to come up with anything fitting to say. "Sorry I dampened the mood." He said with a hint of an apologetic look forming on his face. "Ah, here we are." Coming in first, he pushed aside the chain curtain, the clinking metal links acting to alert the home's owner of guests.

"Hello?" Silver called out to them as she soon climbed down the stairs. "Who is it?"

"Hi, Rhodonite and I would like to discuss something with you."

"Sure, what's it you need to talk about?" Silver replied as she arrived at the bottom, walking closer to them but still maintaining a respectful distance.

"We do not have enough resources to complete our project." He said, doing away with any flowery speech and putting it simply. "So we have come here to ask if there is any way at all you could help us with that." He then explained.

At this, Silver nodded. After all, it was at her workshop where he drew up the many drafts, all of them ambitious in scale, of the new group's home on the day of arrival, whereupon on the next the both of them spent a good amount of the day analysing and then deliberating as to which one would be the best bring into reality.

Even after calling on her endless experience in the field of building, her wearied and toughened eyes could find few faults in his designs. Though that did serve to rekindle embers of errant suspicion, for she had to admit, while she never bought much into the Rose Quartz's speeches about organic life, riveting as they were, she had learnt enough from them so that, far as she knew, organics were born not knowing much of anything, and the fact that he was was barely a fraction of a cycle old - 'fresh out of the ground' so to speak - but capable of so much added to that

However, she waved off those thoughts and carried on with talking with him, since he had not directly done anything to give her any reason to distrust, if anything he seemed to be willing to be helpful in many ways. And in the end, discussions were uneventful, finishing when they had both agreed on the most utilitarian design that emphasised structural stability and ease of use - the deciding moment in the discussions being when she rightly pointed out that they could always renovate it later.

"Sorry to say, but no, I can't help you much there. We just don't have much of anything that we can spare right now." She said, sounding genuinely regretful even through the plain and impartial voice she put on. "As you've probably heard from the gang of three, recently it's been costing us a facet and a cut to trade for anything. Normally stockpiling for a while and cutting off demand drops rates back down soon enough, but recently it just ain't been working…"

"I understand." Bolt said, maintaining manners even if he was disappointed with how quickly they were told that there were no other options. "Though is it possible that you could still supply us with some power tools? I believe we can still finish at least one part of the building with what we have."

"I'll see what I can do - come back tomorrow and I'll probably have something for you to pick up."

"Thank you for your time." He said with a last nod as he was about to go back outdoors.

"Hold on, isn't there at least something we can do to help ourselves then?" Rhodonite said evenly, staying for a little while longer and hoping to get a little more.

"Tell you what," Silver recalled the pair as she thought on their words, "there's actually a shipment that needs to be picked up, pretty big one too. You're pearl and ruby fusion, he strong armed the grittiest quartz I've ever seen, so how about the both of you go up with Pery to help with… negotiations and spread out the load so she can bring it all back in a single trip?"

"...How does that actually help us though?" She confronted, only to wince on the inside soon after as she did not mean to come across so blunt.

However, other than blinking rapidly for a few moments, Silver seemed to not care so much. "Look, I see where you're coming from, but instead look at it like this, you'll eventually need to go to the surface on your own to trade. But this way you'll be going with someone who knows their stuff - and you'll be doing the community a service." She stopped speaking for a time to bring up a holoscreen on her own multitool before then hastily typing up a message to her lieutenant. "There. Just told her to bring a bit extra with her, so you two can each have one to use and a few more to trade with so you can get something for all your troubles." She informed them as she shut the screen off again.

"Ummm… thanks." Rhodonite said slowly, not knowing what to make of the decision but otherwise complying. "Where do we go now then?" She said, the remnants of surprise still colouring her voice, for she did not expect to gain so much so quickly.

"Her place, right across the road. She should be there right now."

"Alright." She said in acknowledgement as she walked out. "The surface? I didn't think I'd be going there so soon… I wonder what it's like?" She asked herself these questions during the short hop to the other side, realising a little too late that she could have asked for more context to prepare them for the journey.

"I was going to ask the same." Bolt concurred as he looked at her, only to lazily shake his head as he came up with a simple solution. "Nevermind though. We could always ask Pery about it on the way up - there should be plenty of time for her to explain it all in detail."

However, just as she was about to reply, her attention all at once was summoned as she heard a voice, warm with an undertone of sultriness, that she never expected to hear ever again. "Rhodonite, Bolt, I have been waiting for you two."

"Ammolite?" Rhodonite said, standing confused and almost worried for a number of awkward moments before she comprehended what was going on. "Wait wait wait, so where's-"

"Ah, do not worry about her, Sphene is simply with Pery looking at some sort of machinery or the other." Ammolite dismissed her concerns.

Then, before Bolt could even breathe the first syllable of why they had sought her, or rather Fluorite, out, Ammolite was already ready to respond. "Hmm, I see." She said, sounding almost sagely. "It is good to see construction progressing so swiftly, but it will be some time before she finishes. Though, once you collect the materials, I could still be of some help in assembling the first few parts of the hangar door." She offered.

Talking to sapphires was always a massive headache for anybody fortunate, or rather unfortunate, enough to meet one and for them to also then be deemed worthy of the seer's time. And while Ammolite was not like her counterparts in that regard, her future vision certainly was, leading to conversations often skipping entire sections as she predicted the other side's motives and intentions before it had even manifested in their minds.

"Still stuck with your old habits huh?" Rhodonite said, now toting a chummy grin. "But thanks, and it's good to see you again."

She flashed a snarky smile before replying. "Sorry about that, though same with you too."

"Right, so-"

"The two of them are…" Ammolite purposely cut herself off, gauging Rhodonite's unimpressed response before guffawing soon after. "Oh come on, you have known me for long enough by now to know I was joking that time."

"Mhmm."

"Anyways, what were you saying?" She asked as her laughter died down.

"No, no, it's fine, you go on." Rhodonite told her with false smarm, her own grin growing back.

"If you say sooo… where did he go?" She asked, her smile shifting to a look of slight concern as she realised Bolt was no longer at Rhodonite's side.

"Ha, that's not going to work on- wait, where did he go?" She said in sudden but cautious alarm and turned to look to her side at the alleyway between the two houses.

Happy to leave them to catch up with eachother but growing somewhat tired of the delay to the task at hand, Bolt walked off on his own to the back of the building where he had heard two distinct voices, one familiar and one not, conversing.

Now with curiousity and intrigue as to what Fluorite's other half would be like, he sped up his pace and soon found Pery, identified by her signature hairstyle that was upside down to the usual triangular shape of her type, standing side by side with a giant of a figure, easily towering over him at two and a half times his own current height.

Having a palette consisting of differing shades of bright yellowish greens, they sported a simple uniform, as expected of yellow court gems. Along that was the strong, somewhat rectangular head shape of many a quartz that was paired with the calculating, almost cold, facial features of a peridot. Then, all of it was finally topped with long, wild hair that tapered sharply at the sides and top of her head.

"Alright, so the problem with this component is that... there are so many I have no idea exactly where to start." Sphene muttered as she crouched down to take a look at the ruined containment unit, which was about the width and length of a meeting table and the height of an average person.

"Well that's helpful." Pery said, looking up to the giant, her half disappointed half blank expression nonetheless remaining undeterred by their size.

"Hey, you were the one who brought me here to help you in the first place." She countered, the stubbornness of the singular citrine in her components suddenly taking centre stage for a moment - only for it to quickly falter as she heard footfalls and saw who they belonged to. "Besides, I'm going to need to take a far more detailed look into this if you want to know everything that needs to be fixed. Even the tiniest fault in one of these things could be catastrophic, whether it be a single loose plate that's slightly out of place because of a- Bolt?"

"Yes, that is me, and you are Sphene I suppose?" He surmised as he stopped a meter or so short of her.

"Yep. So, who finally told you?" She asked.

"Ammolite, she is right outside." He answered simply. "Though, what is that you are working on?"

"Figures." She replied at the reveal, also now grinning at the familiarity of his curiousity rapidly leading to questioning. "It's a ship's damaged singularity containment unit - it makes faster-than-light travel safer." She answered freely and in some detail, knowing full well he would ask more if she did not, though at the same time sounding only half concentrated as she simultaneously worked on the item.

"For a ship?" He asked, repeating her words slowly as he stomached the fresh revelation.

"You heard it right - I was just as surprised as you when I heard about Smarty's little project." Sphene said, jerking her head partially sideways to point to the techie.

"Hmm? Oh yeah, I've been working on it for about, what, three- three and a half thousand years by now?" Pery said, being willfully ignorant of the sudden nickname. "Wow I've been at this for a while." Half whispering to herself, she spent some time thinking about how no one had really asked her about it before and reflecting on how, relatively, little time there was left until what was practically half of her entire new life's work was done.

Only for that focus to be broken the next moment once she realised that there had been a notification sitting there on the physical screen of her multitool, and on realising it had come from Silver of all people, she withdrew from the conversation to open the holoscreen and read it. Mumbling something unintelligible under her breath, she first messaged Zircon to take a few multitools from the reserve and leave them outside her place before walking in the direction of her garage to prepare extra transports for departure.

Raising an eyebrow at their actions, Sphene questioned them. "Why are you leaving all of a sudden?"

"Apparently I'm now supposed to be taking him and Rhodonite up to the surface for a pick up - Silver's orders." She grumbled, for while she had on occasion taken newcomers topside before, more often it fell to Rose to guide them.

"What?" Sphene blurted before composing herself as much as she could at the thought of it. "Don't tumble my rocks here, why?" She asked the techie.

"It is supposed to be part of an exercise of sorts - to get us used to travelling to the surface." Bolt stepped in.

"Yes, what he said. It also shouldn't be too dangerous if they follow my lead, since I've been doing this for a long time now." She said, turning back around and disappearing into her garage properly this time.

If anything, the most dangerous part of the journey was not the robonoids they would face on the way, as she had a countermeasure for them, but completing the deals themselves. More than she would like some of the cracked former soldiers above often became rather twitchy at the sight of off colours like them. However, she refrained from mentioning that for now, as Sphene already seemed on the verge of contesting the idea, even if it had come from the de-facto authority of the place.

"Are you sure about this?"

"Mostly - she has likely been doing this for thousands of years, so what better guide can you ask for than that?"

Despite now finding herself wanting to drop a few words about having a better attitude and patience in response to the rhetorical question, Sphene held her tongue. To her, and in truth to many, the old rebellion veteran's personality was at times comparable in coarseness to sandpaper, but they at least knew the limits of how much of their mind they could speak around certain people. So aside from a perpetual mild impertinence, they were tolerable enough.

That, and the status they had toiled for meant most people, though often subconsciously, held them in some sort of regard.

"See, there he is." Ammolite told Rhodonite beside her as they walked in. "I see you two have been getting acquainted."

"Haha, yeah, little pebble over here's been keeping me company." She said in a laid back manner.

"Little? I am not that small, not anymore at least." He prodded, though still amused by the nickname.

"True, but if you look at your head, then you'll realise the pebble part still applies." Sphene said, snickering under her breath.

Unable to formulate a response, Bolt stood there with an expression of mock hurt as everyone else chuckled good naturedly, if still at his expense.

"Do not worry about her." Ammolite eventually sided with him, feeling the need to even the odds.

As the noise faded, the group found themselves in an awkward silence for a few minutes. "So." Rhodonite began, wanting to make idle conversation as she waited the time out before departure. "What's that you're working on?"

"Singularity containment unit."

"Oh, for what?" She asked, clearly having no idea what it was other than the name.

"A faster-than-light capable ship - apparently the people here have been planning to leave Homeworld for some time now." She replied, sounding just as half focused as before.

"Hold on, but wouldn't that be… really dangerous?" She instantly questioned the wisdom of the plan.

"It would be, but Ammolite here has been kind enough to give out a number of visions, and odds are we've got good chances of making it out." A pause. "Mainly because those clods won't be expecting a thing." Sphene added a few seconds later.

"Oh hush," She chided, "though about that, I feel as if I should have mentioned this earlier but there was..." She shivered imperceptibly for barely the blink of an eye before carrying on, "something causing interference with my visions."

"What do you mean?" Sphene said, care and concern tinting her tone.

"It is… difficult to explain. It was as if a small number of timelines I tried to view simply would not let me walk upstream to peer into the pools." She said, sounding a smidge agitated. "No matter how much I tried to force myself to walk forwards I tensed up, and when I did manage to I- I stepped back… terrified, even when I knew there was nothing there." She closed her eyes and took a breath.

"Ammie, are- are you alright?" Sphene stood up from her work, filled with a sudden tactful attentiveness that was otherwise naturally scarce among the types of gems who made her up, and yet she had developed it slowly over the years. "You never said anything about this earlier."

Similar emotions welled up on Bolt's face as he wordlessly offered his open palm up to her as a contact point for his powers. Even if he had no idea exactly how to reliably call on his newfound ability, he felt the need to try anyway, for her sake.

"No, not quite, and thank you for the offer, but perhaps later." She said, looking to either of them in turn and seeing Bolt retract his arm while Sphene started to return to her work, if slowly. However, despite the sheer frustration of being denied sight of potential dangers that had even the most minimal chance of affecting those she was so close to, she maintained her calm. "Honestly though, in practically all of the timelines I saw, the venture ended successfully, with us leaving this cracked galaxy for another, far, far away." Crude as the insult in the middle was, Ammolite sounded subtly blissful at the idea of finally escaping to a place where they could live in solitude and peace. A place where even the long arm of The Empire was unable to reach far enough to grasp them.

"And then we go 'find a nice planet somewhere three galaxies over, hopefully with a… biosphere so' the tough little pebble over here 'is comfortable too'." Sphene said, quoting what Ammolite had said earlier, if inserting the nickname in place of the child's name - looking first to her other half, then nodding to him for a second, then back - all of it done with a reserved smile. "Isn't that right?

Spending a little time chuckling at the recital, Ammolite replied after a few seconds. "Took the words right out of my mouth."

At the various proclamations, he visibly became less guarded against the risks of leaving the world and more intrigued, almost starry-eyed, at the prospect of exploring the universe beyond first hand. "Well, your predictions have not been wrong so far." He pointed out, even if he had only been given a few so far. "Though, what is a 'biosphere', was it?" He said to Sphene, testing the new word.

"Not too sure about this, but I think it's an environment where organics can live, or something like that."

"Sorry to interrupt, but... what's the point of building everything if we're gonna, y'know, leave it all?" Rhodonite spoke her mind.

"Ah don't worry about that, it'll actually be a long while before the thing is anywhere near ready and not just a big metal shell." Sphene replied as she crouched back down to take a look at the component again. "It's still missing quite a few of the vital parts, which are probably going to be a pain in the rocks to get a hold of from down here."

"You're telling me." Pery said as she finally emerged back out of the garage. "Since you certainly know this stuff better than me, can I trust you to… just get on with it while I'm gone?"

"Sure." Sphene replied neutrally. "Before you go though, do you know where I can find a scanner or something? Because the damage definitely runs deeper than what you first told me and I'll need some actual equipment to get an in-depth analysis."

"Yeah, there's probably a spare multitool in the section labelled 'portables' down there." Pery pointed to the garage. "Just, once you're done rummaging around, put everything back in its place please." She told them. "Nothing there quite fits your size, but it'll likely still be workable if you put it on your finger or whatever." She advised before gesturing for Rhodonite and Bolt to come with her.

"First off, let me take those off of you." Pery said as she pointed to the pickaxes they were still carrying, and seeing no reason no to, the pair handed them over one by one, after which she then absorbed them into her own, more advanced, personal multitool's miniature pocket dimension. "I'll hand them back over once we get topside." 'Because you might need to use them for… unusual purposes.' She kept the thought for herself.

Once that was done, they passed through the alleyway and came out front. However, the two stopped, petrified for a weighted moment at the sight of their transports as they hovered menacingly, just above ground level.

"Are those..." Bolt said, a confusion burdened grin replacing his previous apprehension once he sighted that the objects that he once hated with a burning passion had numerous gung-ho edits made to them, as if the machines would now be serving to aid instead of destroy him.

"Shattering robonoids? Yup." Pery said nonchalantly, topping it off with a shrug after she gathered up the multitools left on the table at the front of her house, gave the two a single one each, stored the rest of the basic tools in her own and mounted one of the reprogrammed machines before then finally plugging the seatbelt and footstraps into place. "Hop on, and put all your straps in, because if you don't… well it isn't gonna be my fault when you fly off." She told the two, pointing to the other robonoids she had 'reappropriated'.

While still slow to accept that this would be their mode of transport, the two got on as instructed, though now their apprehension was now fuelled by another source. Once they sat down, they could see the slapdash modifications made on it far more clearly.

First there were the control surfaces - an unhinged panel near the very front with thick, reinforced wires streaming out of it that were inserted into two seperate sets of manually operated surfaces. One being a pair of pedals at feet level at the middle of the machines' sides, and the other being a pair of bars rising out of the front that ended in knurled handles with multiple buttons jutting out of either one in different places.

The safety features themselves did not inspire much confidence either, for while the seat did have a strap, the part was connected only to an extended rectangular chunk of metal that itself was held onto the machine solely by welding. Then there were the footstraps, which were little more than strips of synthetic fibre a clip on their ends - and the strips themselves were only contained within a metal box welded to the side of the pedals, with a hole cut into the top, and a buckle opposite for the clip to lock into.

"What do all of these do?" She asked as she climbed into place and did the seatbelt and straps up as told, dumbfounded as to what each hastily re-wired mechanism controlled.

"Ok, so first hold onto the handlebars. On the right handlebar there's two controls as you can see, press on the wide rectangular button on the front with your four fingers to accelerate. Then if you want to break, let go of it and instead press on the circular button on the inner side with your thumb." She explained as plainly and succinctly as she could, as if reciting an instruction manual, and with a quiet huff of impatience escaping her nose at the end.

Despite following on with the instructions, Rhodonite questioned the wisdom of allowing them, who had so little experience with complex machinery, to travel on a long and perilous journey using one. "Are you sure this is a good idea, to go on these things I mean?"

"Unless you want to climb all the way from the bottom of the mantle to the crust, then be my guest. 'Sides it's not as hard as you think it is. Just take it slow, don't go overboard and you should be fine." She assured her. "Most of the time people pick up the controls quick enough once they get over the whole 'this used to be a killer robot' thing."

"Hah, yeah." Rhodonite said, sounding half hollow as most of her focus was centred on learning the controls. "About that, how did you even get a hold of these thi- ings!" She stuttered as she accidentally pushed the button too far, causing the machine to suddenly jerk forwards.

"Eh, it wasn't too hard. One 'random' falling rock here, another falling rock there - if you make it look like an accident no one will look too hard as to why a few robonoids disappear every now and then."

Concerning as some of her words sounded when taken out of context, Rhodonite ignored it as she paid attention to the rest of Pery's instructions. "Alright, so with the left handlebar there are two smaller square buttons next to eachother on the front. The one to your right," She specified, "when pressed makes the 'noid face up, and the one on your left makes it face down - and please try not to hold onto both for too long. Last time someone did it sucked asphalt for me to fix everything that burst." She said, a modicum of spite tainting her tone as she remembered the incident. "And lastly, right pedal turns right, left pedal turns left - and you also shouldn't press these at the same time. Haven't tested what happens yet, but that doesn't mean I want anyone to try to find out."

"What of this button?" Bolt pointed to the other circular one on the inner side of the left handlebar.

"Aha, that one's for… emergency purposes," She said somewhat vaguely, "because the energy beam on these things do still work."

While the pair did raise an eyebrow at the new information, they continued trying out the controls nonetheless while still following her instructions of what to and not to do - along with now giving the other circular button a wide berth, seeing as they were in a populated area.

Though the rapid fire tutorial was over, it was a further uneventful hour before they truly departed, since Pery was considerate enough to take them on a few rings around the air above settlement for them to practice free of obstacles.

As they travelled further and the settlement faded into a collection of multi coloured splotches on a canvas of drab grey, Bolt brought up a point that sprung up in his mind to Pery. "I have a question."

"Go ahead."

"I know you told us to take it slowly, but what if we encounter other robonoids?"

"Bah, don't worry about that. Last I checked the system that emits IFF codes in these are still intact, so the dumb things will leave us be when they notice that we're supposedly doing the same job." Pery dismissed, though still understanding their initial fears. "Just gotta make sure not to stay near them for too long, else there's a chance their bored as frack monitors might eventually notice that there's a few 'noids taking unscheduled patrol paths... and assume direct control before they start blasting us."

And on that ever so disconcerting final note, their grips on the handlebars tightened as they approached the end of the facet, now being met with a steep and enormous cliff face that their guide directed them to point their vehicles up and parallel to in order to confront the dizzying and lengthy vertical climb - a daunting reminder of exactly where they were going.

But with someone as seasoned, if gritty, like her to show them the way, they felt confident enough to press on.

A/N:

It always struck me to remember how big the shattering robonoids were compared to the repair ones, big enough that Lars could sit on one, so from the near the beginning of this fic I've been giddy with the idea of making them be vehicles. Though the weaponised hoverbike idea did come a little later, it seemed so ridiculous but so awesome that I couldn't help but note it down then choose it over all the rest to be the final concept.

Also, important as it is to set up events up for later, the slow pace of the fic so far has gotten even me bored, but I have FINALLY finished placing the dominoes, so now all I've gotta do is tip the first one over.