Resonance in the Void

CHAPTER 13: Beneath the Surface

Peridot's breakdown was slow, almost imperceptible at first. She was still going through the motions, performing her duties with the same mechanical precision she had always prided herself on. But there were moments—tiny moments—where the cracks showed.

Her fingers would hesitate over the control panel, her eyes flickering with doubt. She would start a sentence, only to trail off halfway through, as if she wasn't sure what she was even saying anymore. And sometimes, when she thought no one was looking, she would just... stop. Stare off into the distance. Lost.

Lapis could see it all, watching from behind the shimmering barrier that separated them. She knew what was happening, knew that Peridot was teetering on the edge of something—something dangerous, something that could break her completely. But Lapis didn't push. Not yet.

Instead, she waited. Watched. And when the time was right, she would act.

One day, after a particularly tense encounter with Jasper, Peridot lingered outside Lapis' cell longer than usual. She was tapping away at her tablet, but her movements were sluggish, her eyes unfocused. Lapis could tell she wasn't really paying attention.

"You're not sleeping," Lapis said, her voice soft but insistent.

Peridot didn't respond, her fingers still moving mechanically across the screen.

"Peridot," Lapis said more firmly, stepping closer to the force field. "You need to stop."

Peridot's fingers froze, and for a long moment, she didn't say anything. Then, in a voice so quiet Lapis almost didn't hear it, she whispered, "I can't."

Lapis' heart ached at the vulnerability in Peridot's voice. She had seen this before—seen the way loyalty to Homeworld could break a Gem, twist them into something unrecognizable. And now, Peridot was on the verge of that same fate.

"You can," Lapis said gently. "You don't have to keep doing this."

Peridot shook her head, her eyes squeezing shut as if she was trying to block out the world around her. "If I stop... if I let myself question... I don't know what I'll do."

Lapis' voice was soft, but it carried the weight of her own experience. "It's terrifying, I know. But sometimes... sometimes the only way to find yourself is to let go of everything you thought you knew."

Peridot's hands trembled, her fingers tightening around the tablet. "But what if I lose everything?"

Lapis' gaze softened, her heart breaking for the Gem standing in front of her. "Maybe you'll find something better."