Don't let me be alone

Chapter 4 Crystal Clod Number Six

Peridot had no idea how to handle The Steven's leg hug, or being part of the Crystal Gems, or Pearls demonic glare. Or really anything. She just wanted to see something familiar. Like her robonoids, or Lapis Lazuli.

Peridot bit her lip as The Steven led her up the sandy ramp to the Crystal Temple, talking about where she would love and other nonsense. All she could think about was Lapis. She felt so bad for the poor blue gem. When she had arrived on Homeworld, Lapis was immediately taken into custody by the Diamond Authority Royal Guard. That in itself was bad enough. When Lapis was informing Peridot, she tried to be as kind and concerning as possible toward the frail, sad Lapis. She didn't respond super well, which was to be expected.

Steven led Peridot inside, talking about food and beds. Peridot was in another world, only half listening to him.

During her custody, Peridot did everything she could to keep Lapis from receiving any form of abuse or punishment. Sometimes the guards would force prisoners to fuse with eachother, just for the fun of it. Peridot kept Lapis faaaaar away from any other gems, refusing to allow that to happen to her, although she never told Lapis she had helped her. Another failure on her part.

"Peridot? Are you there? Helllooooo!" Steven said, waving his hand in front of her face.

"Oh! Sorry...Steven? My thoughts were elsewhere. Please repeat your last sentence." She said. Garnet giggled in the background, irking Peridot.

"I was just saying that I was about to get your robots. You can program them to find Malachite, right?" Steven said.

"Of course. If I'm left to my thoughts I'm sure I can come up with something to get them to do that." She said. Garnet giggled again when she said that.

"What is funny?" Peridot asked her.

"Nothing. Your intentions with this mission are...sweet." She replied.

Peridot blushed a deep green and looked away. "She knows...why do I even keep it a secret!" She thought bitterly.

"Don't worry, I would have found out eventually." Garnet said quietly.

Peridot blushed again then walked away quickly to the robonoids The Steven was pulling from a box. She was elated to see some of her tech in tact for once, something that was becoming increasingly rare.

"What! Number one?! You're okay!!!" She said, picking up one of the robonoids and holding it to her chest happily.

"Number one?" Pearl asked, her curiosity finally getting the best of her.

"Yes! This is the first robonoid I ever made! I'm so glad they didn't smash you!" She let the little thing crawl around on her hair, excited. "You still work too!"

"How can you tell it's the first one? It looks exactly like every single other one of those stupid marbles." Amethyst said grumpily. Pearl was obviously curious to know as well.

"This "stupid marble" is more complex than anything ever made on earth, and it took me almost 50 years to make. I know every single detail I put into making it, and how it acts. This one's primary programming is...to keep me company..." She says sadly. "That's why it crawls all over me. I designed it that way."

Peridot takes the other two robonoids and begins typing commands on her finger pad. In about 30 seconds they have all the commands they need to look for large fusion gems.

"That took way longer than it should have but it's done!" Peridot said proudly. The others just gaped at her, especially Pearl.

"That was a long time for you?" Steven asked.

"I expected you to work on programming for a few days!" Pearl said, amazed even though she hated Peridot. Peridot just stood there, embarrassed.

"On homeworld they don't give you much of a chance to be social. It's just work. Efficient, mind numbing work. When you get bored, or lonely, you think of things to do. I primarily made my robonoids. Yellow Diamond considered it a useful skill, and I could use them to help me work. I know everything about them." She said, smiling as Number One crawled around in her hair.

"How many have you made?" Steven asked with a smile.

"2,345,789,571. I started making them...ohhhh since I was five...soooooo 230 years ago." Peridot said simply. Again the others gaped at her. She blushed again and turned away.

"Well these two are ready to go. They can pinpoint Malachite in about 20 minutes. We should probably come up with a suitable attack plan for separating Lapis and Jasper" Peridot said.

"Oh we don't plan on separating them. We plan on destroying them." Said Pearl.