LOG-012.

  Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck-

  "Hold on a second-hey!"

  My heel slid against the surface of the polished panelling beneath me for a second, then I was wildly shoving myself to the side before bounding down yet another hallway, the Lazuli's voice barely audible beneath the sound of even more rushing water roaring ahead of her.

  "Stop!"

  Gems didn't really need to breathe, what with none of them having lungs and such. I still did my best to mimic the motion of it whenever I figured I could get away with it though, since it made me feel better. Sometimes.

  The more immediate benefit to this simple fact was that instead of panting and gasping from the effort and exertion of sprinting throughout the ship, I just silently continued planting one foot in front of the other, my dancing shoes barely impacting the ground before I was moving through the air in yet another bounding leap.

  Which was all well and good, up until I turned another corner only to quite literally run into a shut down door, my lightform impacting with the barrier and causing both Sixteen A and I to topple with near identical cries.

  Unfortunately, getting back up while shoving my fellow Pearl's grasping hands off of me cost us the few precious seconds I'd managed to build up with all my running, and I barely managed to hold back a second screech as the roiling wave of water ground to a halt just a foot or two away from us, its owner following behind it shortly after.

  The wave began to move forward.

  The sound of my crimson hued Batchmate pressing herself against the door in terror as the terraformer took a quick step towards us was quiet, the tips of her fingers desperately searching for something that might possibly open up the slab of armour blocking our escape.

  I startled as she went for me first, prompting what might have supposed to have been a comforting look from the blue Gem. "It's okay! Look, I know you must both be confused but we don't have a lot of time and-"

  My body leaned back, eyes closing and the back of my head hitting the door with a dull thump as she reached for me with an outstretched hand.

  Then the crawling sensation of fingers wrapping around my shoulder made its horrid presence known, and everything went blank.

  ---

  "Pfft, yeah, I guess I am! Well ah, first thing's first, you need to actually summon a weapon to use it. It probably won't work for you, but the way a soldier like me does it is pretty simple!"

  Facet 2I4Q, Cut 7XE lifted her gladius into the air, gently running a hand along the blade's length.

  "The first time is almost always programming, instinct, whatever. You just kinda...feel it. Maybe you're angry about falling out of your hole and smacking your face in the dirt for the first time and want to hit something, or an Agate shows up and starts yelling at you so you're a bit scared-er, not that I was scared, but regardless! The first time just kind of happens, normally."

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  The Jasper dropped her gladius, the weapon dissolving into thin motes of light which scattered into nothing seconds letter.

  "After that, you just gotta recall that feeling and bam! Summoned weapon!"

  ---

  Don't touch me. Don't fucking touch me let me go-

  The sensation of pulling. Something briefly resisting before finally snapping apart and flowing around my hand, right as I thrust the limb forward with a strangled whimper mixed with what might have been an aborted attempt at a growl.

  "Urk-!"

  I opened my eyes to see a pair of blue orbs staring at me in shock, the Lapis Lazuli's mouth hanging open. Slowly, ever so slowly, both of us looked downwards.

  A shiver ran through my body as I saw what was left of my hand, considering the rest of it was piercing through her midsection.

  "..."

  The small cloud of a lightform bursting apart associated with discorporation washed over me. Followed by the clink of her tear shaped gemstone landing in the palm of my hand.

  My gauntleted, clawed hand.

  I could hear a rushing in my ears just then. Both that of the water that had once been suspended falling apart and pooling at our feet, and something less tangible as I stared at the impossibly sharp implement attached to my arm.

  "Make me proud."

  I shivered again, my Caretaker's voice echoing in my head as I hesitantly brought my hand closer-

  "W-what is that?"

  Flinching, my head turned to face a shocked looking Sixteen A, the Pearl staring down at the gemstone carefully held within my gauntlet.

  My gauntlet.

  Mine.

  Part of me wanted to scream at the thing. Another wanted to grab my red Batchmate, find the nearest storage closet and cry for the next few cycles.

  A giggle escaped my lips instead.

  "It's a weapon."

  My eyes flicked back to the gemstone. For just a moment, I pictured a different shape. Triangular. Green.

  Crack.

  Crackle.

  Snap.

  No. No, I'm not there. This isn't...that.

  Desperately forcing the vile memory away and shoving it back into the fucking darkness it belonged, I instead recalled the method I'd used to carefully bubble various perfumes to keep them from potentially bumping into and knocking each other over while in storage.

  A second later, a light green, see through sphere was formed around the Lapis Lazuli, right before I shoved the entire thing into my gemstone, half of the evidence of my deviancy disappearing with a simple, if shiny flash.

  Glancing back up at Sixteen A, I opened my mouth to speak, only to stumble as the entire ship seemed to shake, alarms only now beginning to blare throughout the hull.

  Shaking my head, I waved my hand and barely repressed a relieved sigh upon seeing the clawed gauntlet disappear into soft motes of light.

  "We...we need to go. Now."

  Her eyes stared at my hand.

  "But..."

  Sighing, I slowly turned around and started walking, trying my level best to ignore the almost nostalgic sensation of water brushing against my feet.

  "Whatever. Come with me or stay here but I'm leaving either way, before something finds us."

  A few seconds of silence passed. Then the sound of a second set of hesitant footsteps joined my own.

  We were further away from the bridge than before, and who knew what areas of the Retaliator were crawling with the organic raiders that we'd seen attacking our Jaspers, alongside whatever possible Gems they also had with them.

  But I recognised this particular hallway.

  And most importantly, I knew for a fact that it connected to the hangar bay.

  I had no plan. No reassurances. No contingencies. Nothing.

  But I was done with putting up with this shit.

  Part of me panicked, demanding I try and return to my Emerald so she could tell me and Sixteen A what to do. Part of me wept, begging me to go find a nice spot to curl up in and hide until all of this blew over and I could go back to normal again, craving the careful status quo I'd managed to establish.

  Part of me, ever so different and inherently alien compared to the other pieces looked at what I was doing...and sang.

  And all the while, the phantom sensation of something clicking into place around my hand remained, followed by a similar feeling on my other limb as I led my fellow Pearl onwards.

  I was done, and I wasn't going to tolerate another second of any of this.