fandomhigh | Library, Wednesday

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Library, Wednesday

Peridot was an actual, literal gemstone with a hard-light projection for a body. Whatever was happening on the island this week, she was not only immune by virtue of being an inorganic object, she was also immune by virtue of finding everything involved with organic reproduction to be seriously icky.

Not that she knew what was going on, really. Some dogs had behaved a little too enthusiastically in class today. People were cranky on the radio. And there was a gremlin in the library attempting to convince her to run away with him and live in the sewers and cracks in the walls forever.

She was going to have to take a pass on that, but she appreciated the offer.

[OOC: Open!]

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"It really is!"

And Rufus' dog used to chew on it.

"I miss it. Earth's technology does the job, but it requires a ludicrous number of workarounds in order to be functional."

Yes, but Dark Nation was a dog and didn't know better.

So there.

"Is there no way of obtaining another?"

"I could attempt to re-create something close," Peridot replied, "but to get another one of the same thing, I'd have to go to Homeworld and mug another Peridot for hers."

Which was tempting. Impossible. But tempting.

Super tempting.

"On a scale of one to a hundred, how impossible would that be?"

"A solid ninety-seven point four."

She'd considered it before.

Rufus thought about those odds.

Those were terrible odds.

"Are you busy this weekend?"

Rufus. Rufus, no.

"Not so far as I'm aware, no."

Rufus was getting such a look.

"Are you thinking of making a trip to Homeworld??"

That was insane. Insane.

"It'd be educational," Rufus said, with a straight face. "And I'd even leave Dark Nation here."

"Educational for you, until a Ruby kills you," Peridot replied. "I already know Homeworld. I don't stand to learn much before getting shattered."

She was pretty sure about that.

"There's still a two point six chance of success," he reminded her. "Sometimes impossible odds are the best ones."

Peridot was squinting so much harder now. Space was a big place, and while she was sure Rufus had seeing a lot of interesting things in his time on the island, Homeworld was something else completely.

And yet.

"You'll have to do exactly as I say," she cautioned. "I don't even know if the air is safe for you to breathe."

Against all odds, it somehow actually was.

"I'm willing to risk it," Rufus said, with absurd confidence. "And I can listen to orders."

When it suited him.

Peridot was going to have to drag Rufus bodily to a portal from an army of well-armed Topaz and it was going to be a disaster.

"Well... good."

She paused for another moment.

"You know they want me shattered there, right? I'm a traitor to my Diamond?"

He looked at her thoughtfully.

"That is a significant part of the risk," he agreed. "Nor would I be particularly pleased if that happened."

That was as close as he was going to get to saying they were friends.

"If you deem the risks unacceptable, we'll not go."

But where was the fun in that?

Peridot shifted her weight around uneasily for a moment, before replying, "I really miss my screen."

She was willing to chance it, maybe. Maybe? Rufus seemed confident that they would survive. And if it was just a matter of getting in there, poofing some other Peridot, and then making off with her limb enhancers...

"Let's do it."

This was the stupidest thing she'd done since that time she'd tried to see if Tip could fly.

His confidence had nothing to do with survival.

It was just how Rufus rolled. If he died, eh, oh well. It wasn't like he'd care at that point.

"Well then," Rufus said, smiling slightly. "Let's. Now that that's decided, what are some of the things I should expect?"

"That would depend on where we go," Peridot noted. "If we find our way to one of the few still-functional Kindergartens, there's almost always a Peridot at work there. They're also put to work in almost any engineering situation, research, piloting warships..."

They were pretty multi-purpose, really.

There were worse things than being multi-purpose.

"Which would be the least risk?" Rufus asked, leaning against the desk.

Peridot frowned a little as she considered.

"The Kindergartens, these days," she admitted. "They aren't as busy as they were back in Homeworld's glory days. It's business as usual, there, and while newly emerged Gems are usually ready to step directly into their roles, there hasn't been much need to create armies for quite some time."

"And you'd know them well, wouldn't you? You mentioned, a while back, that you used to be a... Kindergartener?"

All the more reason to go there rather than elsewhere.

"A certified Kindergartener," Peridot agreed, with no small measure of pride. "There are Gems still emerging today that I injected myself."

That was great. She could take pride in her work while it murdered them both.

Yes. Lovely.

"As long as they don't kill us," he pointed out. "Are... emerging Gems likely to go after us on sight?"

Peridot considered.

"If I have limb enhancers on, I'll be fine," she mused. "But you're organic. You're..." She looked almost apologetic. "Uh, vermin."

There wasn't really much in the way of organic matter on Homeworld.

In that there was none.

"That's not a new one for me."

All things considered, he was taking it pretty well. AVALANCHE had said worse about him.

"If we were caught, would pretending I was your prisoner help?"

"If I had limb enhancers at the time," Peridot said again, frowning a little more. "If not, I might as well be an off-color. They'd kill you and shatter me. Or put me on trial. That's almost worse."

No Gem in her right mind would believe that an unarmed Era Two Peridot would be able to take a prisoner. Never mind an alien prisoner.

"If you're lucky, they might just arrange to send you to the zoo."

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