She touched the weapon to her gem and with a sparkle, the gun dissolved into the triangle crystal. "Steven, I'm sorry I startled you"
Steven furrowed his eyebrows and kneeled on the ground, his hand, still covered in robonoid goo, pooled on the floor and his uniform. Reaching his clean hand out, he lowered Peridot to a sitting position and looked into her eyes deeply.
"Peridot" He said firmly, like he was the parent "You're hiding something from me"
Peridot bit her lip and took fidgeting to a new level, her unattached fingers literally conjuring boxing rings and having a knockout tournament (her left index finger won). Weighing up the pros and cons, she decided he would eventually find out anyway.
"The Earth kindergarten has been commissioned for reactivation" She informed him as gently as she could, her brash voice making it difficult.
"What's a kindergarten?" He asked, his young age shining through despite all his wisdom, Peridot was shocked sometimes at what the crystal gems hadn't told him.
"It's a type of factory we gems build on alien worlds. It makes gemlings." Her eyes looked up from their stare contest with the floor to gaze into Stevens dark pupils. Then it clicked, the life of these gems wasn't a good thing.
"What happens at these factories?" He asked, knowing the answer already.
"Death, the fall of the planet. The planet will be consumed and shredded so that not a thread of DNA remains" Peridot held her head in a small nest she had made with her fingers. How could she had been so stupid to believe this sort of thing was okay? The belief that gems were the only true sentient creature was wrong and arrogant.
The diamond commandments say that they should be kind, fair and just but also tolerates this sort of behaviour. Peridot found Steven's stories of the humans from Terra to be more caring and empathetic than in the life she had ever known. You were programmed for a job and if you malfunctioned, you could be replaced. There was no true worth.
Steven stood up, furious. His gem glowed with the itch to summon his bubble or shield but the enemy wasn't so clear cut. "We have to do something Peridot, my friends, my family! What they are doing is evil!"
One of her fingers reached out to calm Steven down and promptly got caught in his curls. She snatched it back and him as well. She pulled him into his gesture that she now knew well, closeness never truly shared by gems although touching is allowed. She hugged him.
"The Diamond authority might not seem fair and it probably isn't. In our culture though none of these crimes are viewed as wrong and on some planets they are encouraged." Peridot rubbed her gem impatiently and in fury. She wanted to do something.
"Well, I say we do it." A blue haired gem entered the room smiling "I need an adventure, this new homeworld is too boring for my tastes"
"Only because your programmed job is archaic" Peridot chuckled at the gem that had string hanging from her wrists. It was a sure fire way to keep her busy.
"Programming?" Lapis asked, confusion etched on her delicate features and stance.
"Anyway Steven, I agree. We can't sit here and let people die when we can do something" Lapis stiffened at the statement "I saw enough of that in the mirror"
"What can we do?" Steven asked. "We need a battle plan, that's what Garnet always said"
Lapis Lazuli didn't even flinch at the challenging question. "You will do nothing"
"But!" Steven interjected, "Lapis you can't do this! We need to help!... I need to help."
His face fell and tears welled. Lapis immediately dropped to the floor to his height in a crosslegged position, the strings around her were removed of water and crumbled away.
"Listen Steven, we need to be careful about this" Lapis' eyes spoke tales that she would never elaborate on "We can't afford to be caught, so for now you shall go to school"
"Peridot." Lapis stood up and grabbed both of her green friends shoulders, "Let's get ourselves a spaceship"
Peridot smiled, despite the growing tingles in her gem. The same shocks plaguing the poor half gem, curled up on his rudimentary bed that night.