"I told you Peridot, I don't know why the coolant keeps leaking!" Pearl sighed, rubbing the base of their nose. "I've been trying to fix this problem for too long; it's not essential, we just have to be much more careful when we go for the real drill."

The green Gem looked over the machinery, frowning thoughtfully.

"Peridot?"

"Ah, yes. I know what to do in this situation." They hopped off Amethyst's shoulders, and began to walk to the barn. "Just give me a moment to gather the supplies."

"But... what are you going to do?" Pearl called, before they felt a hand on their shoulder.

"Don't worry, P. I think she's got this."

"Ah, well, I guess it can't hurt to try one last time." Pearl looked over at the blackboard. "It would be helpful to have some margin of- Amethyst! What did I tell you about doodling on my calculations!"

"Whoops."

Meanwhile, Peridot had walked into the barn. There they stopped, hearing a vaguely familiar voice from the upper floor.

"Hello?" The green Gem called, and almost immediately there was a great crashing sound. "Garnet, is that you? What's going on up there?"

They quickly skipped up the new stairs that had been constructed, peeking out at the top floor.

The lamp next to Steven's bed had been upturned and broken, but other than that nothing had changed... and nobody was there.

Strange, Peridot thought. Not wanting to remain here any longer than necessary, they grabbed a roll of duct tape and left.

"There you are, Peridot." Pearl was standing alone near the drill. They appeared pleased but this dropped as soon as they noticed what was in Peridot's hand. "Wait, you want to use duct tape on the drill?"

"I constructed a working communicator to Homeworld using nothing but this, spare parts and gold." The green Gem waved the tape in front of Pearl. "So I firmly believe this will fix the coolant."

All of a sudden, a dark figure dropped down from the sky and landed on the drill. Aventurine grinned. "Coolant? What's that?"

Peridot's eyes widened. "Did you just-"

"Fly?" The cloaked Gem winked. "Who says I can't?"

"Gravity."

"You make a fair point. Anyway, what's coolant?"

The green Gem went over to the drill with the tape, so Pearl cleared their throat. "It's a fluid, used to prevent devices from overheating. We were going to forego it in this drill since it stubbornly refuses to work, but if Peridot can somehow manage to fix it, it could lengthen the amount of time this drill can work for before it overheats... though I highly doubt mere duct tape will ever work in such a complex design."

"I fixed it." There was a call from the drill. Pearl started.

"Y-you whaaat?"

"It stopped leaking. I fixed the coolant."

"Hmm... it seems to be working. I guess we'll just have to discover if it holds up in our next test drive."

Aventurine raised their singular eyebrow. "Another test drive? You guys checked off every problem on your little list. The Cluster isn't going to incubate forever, you know."

Pearl rolled their eyes. "We have to make sure this drill is completely fit for the mission before we start. If it breaks in the mantle, we run a high risk of being killed. Even if we somehow managed to get out, it would take too long to build another one. This is our only shot."

"Hey, you're the one building the drill. Your call... I'm just saying it'd be a shame to die for the sake of coolant." They paused and sat down, their legs dangling off the edge of the drill. "Which is another rad invention Homeworld never thought of. I mean, limb enhancers are fancy n'all but we missed out on stuff like coolant and the wheel?"

"Yes, yes, very interesting." Pearl crossed their arms, frowning at the drill. "Hmm... perhaps we could just get the Cluster over and done with. It shouldn't take too long for – Sugulite – to smash it into pieces, and if the coolant breaks then we'll just have to bubble the shards later. Yes, I think this could work! I think we could probably do it tomorrow, the day we scheduled the test drill!"

Peridot looked up. "Who'd be coming? We can't all fit."

"I think just Garnet, Amethyst and me. I can work the controls in the safety of the drill, the other two can use Garnet's heat resistance to survive while they're smashing the Cluster." Pearl thought out loud. "Steven would have to stay up here on his own, though..."

Aventurite jumped down to the ground, their cloak fluttering around them. "We can take care of Steven, right Peridot?"

"Nyeh..."

"Or more Steven taking care of us, hah! Anyway this sounds like a good plan, pearl. I'll relay it to Garnet."

Pearl looked up sharply. "Wait! I don't think-!"

But Aventurine was already gone. The pale Gem rolled their eyes.

"I suppose this is now the plan. It... could be worse."

Peridot raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong with it?"

"...Nothing I can see at the moment. I just wish I had a little more time to think about it properly." They let out a sigh, and then picked up a screwdriver. "Oh, well... I suppose it is for the best. Let's just give this drill its final touch ups, eh?"

Peridot grinned, and held up the duct tape.

"Preferably without the duct tape, Peridot."