LOG-016.

  "Hm."

  I tilted my head as sparks continued to burst from the crawler's cut open chest cavity, its sole optic occasionally flashing a weak, pale blue before going dark again. Getting up from the crouch I'd taken next to it, I dusted off the small bit of dust and dirt that had managed to get on to my appropriated limb enhancers and stared down at the wreck.

  I'd at least identified (sort of) most of the primary components inside of the machine's casing. Frustratingly, there had been a small module which I was starting to suspect was some kind of primary processor or computer core, but considering the damned thing had a large jagged cut running through it, chances were I'd need to look for a different specimen if I wanted a chance to study whatever code the drone was actually running off of.

  "It's getting light again."

  Vermilion's voice drew my gaze to the sky, noting the small bits of sun peeking through the ever present carpet keeping most of the environment shaded. Part of me couldn't help but notice the way the Pearl visibly brightened as a small ray gradually crept closer to us, part of it lighting up her form as she stepped towards it.

  "It is."

  Turning back towards the wreck, I nudged the end of it with my foot, sighing as the light sputtered one more time and finally died out entirely.

  Shaking my head, I stepped away from the dead crawler and pat my fellow Pearl's back as I began to make my way towards the small path we'd been using to (slowly) explore the edge of the 'perimeter' we'd established.

  It was just a series of lines in the loose soil, mostly. The hope was that we'd notice if any of the marks were disturbed, giving us, if not advanced warning, at least the knowledge that something else was close by.

  "Come on, we still need to find a dry spot to let the Lazuli out in."

  Vermilion's response was to shiver, one hand wringing around the other as she stepped past the crawler to follow me.

  "A-are you sure it's a good idea to unbubble her? What if she tries attack us again?"

  My eyes narrowed slightly, noting a small, squat looking building in the distance, at least when compared to some of the larger structures around it. One of the walls had almost entirely collapsed at some point, but the closest puddle of revoltingly brown and black liquid was a few paces away from the starfighter, which was in turn a good few minutes away from the area we were making our way towards.

  It would just have to do.

  "If she tries something, we poof her and start again. We need any information she might have. I'm fairly sure she'll get the memo eventually."

  A second passed in silence as I used the newfound reach my limb enhancers provided to scale my way up a large mound of shattered rubble, taking a moment to scan our surroundings for signs of...just about anything really.

  Anything that wasn't us.

  "But...she's a Lapis Lazuli and we're Pearls! What are we supposed to do-"

  The familiar feeling of a phantom grip on my shoulder. The almost burning desire to remove it. That was how I summoned it now. The remembered fear, frustration and anger brought a flash of light with them, one which flowed out from my gemstone and pushed some of the faux fingers from the limb enhancer aside, a now familiar gauntlet settling over the edge of it.

  I gave Vermilion a cool look from my position atop the mound, bringing up the weapon and flexing the wickedly sharp talons making up its digits, despite my actual hand not being within the weaponized mass of light.

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  "If she causes trouble, I'll handle it, alright?"

  A second passed as my Batchmate stared at me, before quickly nodding.

  "Y-yes my-"

  Her mouth shut with a hasty click, but the aborted sentence was more than enough. One brief, horrified glance at my much longer arm, topped by outstretched, flexing claws was enough for the entire gauntlet to crumble apart into motes of light that eventually faded into nothing.

  I wasn't blind. The resemblance, while loose, especially when one factored in colour, was still most definitely there. I just hadn't truly considered how much stronger it might be when taken from an outsider's perspective.

  "I-I..."

  Proper words failed to spill from Vermilion's lips, but her rapidly twitching fingers told me more than enough. There was a sorrowful look on her face now. One that I didn't like at all, but could absolutely understand, unfortunately.

  I did my best to wave the nonverbal apology off, standing up straight and trying to glance away.

  "Not your fault. I...wasn't thinking. I'm sorry."

  A sniffle drew my attention back to her, and the resulting sight made something within me twist uncomfortably.

  There was a shine to her eyes, but the tears didn't manage to make it out before her hand came up to wipe them away, even as she clambered up after me.

  Thud.

  "Don't be sorry. Please don't be sorry..."

  Shifting slightly, I tried to avoid squirming as the Pearl wrapped her arms around my midsection. The hug was nice, but the height difference caused by the limb enhancers made it a little awkward, to say the very least.

  Slowly patting her head (the other option was her shoulders, something I wasn't very keen on doing), I stretched my other arm out, pointing towards our destination.

  "It's...alright. Come on. We can recompose ourselves in there, better than having something catch us outside. I'm...sure the Lapis can wait a little longer while we take some time to ourselves."

  I was going to take these damn things off. Maybe not immediately, but once we were properly settled they were going back into storage until I needed them again.

  A bit of inconvenience was preferable to looking like a fucking monster.

  ---

  It had taken some work, but I was now relatively certain that we were as secure as we could reasonably get. There was no moisture around here, at least not enough to truly be weaponized by an enemy hydrokinetic if the limb enhancers' basic sensors weren't lying to me.

  The appendages hadn't been explicitly designed to take in and record environmental data like the set a Kindergartener Peridot might use, but some functions just kind of remained universal. After all, most of them supposedly (if the technicians aboard the Retaliator were to be believed) came from the same basic initial design. Why wouldn't they leave in some of those standard functions?

  Aside from that, Vermilion had somewhat predictably busied herself with cleaning and hauling away any dust and loose debris left behind from what was likely centuries of neglect and environmental damage. We could at least be sure that our captive Lazuli wasn't going to get a chance to bash a stray shard of metal or piece of rock against our gemstones anytime soon.

  It was after all the work was done that we'd mostly just stood in the center of the building, either occasionally sneaking glances at each other or staring around at different parts of the building.

  If I needed to hazard a guess...it had likely been a warehouse, maybe. I didn't see any other reason why the ceiling was so high, or why the entire structure was completely open, save for a small shuttered area near the back.

  Shaking my head, I wrenched my gaze away from the stray cracks running across one of the walls.

  No more stalling. Otherwise I'd probably chicken out and we'd be right back to fucking square one.

  With the characteristic flash of light that accompanied something being withdrawn from my internal storage, I gently pulled the soft green bubble away from my gemstone, staring at the motionless blue form held within the sphere.

  "Might want to step back for this. Just in case she decides to get violent."

  I noted the soft pitter patter of dancing shoes making their way somewhere behind me, and took in a deep, entirely unnecessary breath. For just a moment, part of me wondered whether I'd be keeling over as a human from all the most likely hazardous particles carried within that one motion, before I forcibly shunted the pondering, distracting thoughts away.

  A second flash heralded the return of my summoned weapon, and from there, all it took was a light poke with a finger to pop the container keeping the gemstone within aloft.

  The blue teardrop dropped to the floor with a slight clatter, and I stepped back, tensing as it began to shine almost immediately.

  The glowing mass that burst out from around the gemstone was vague at first. A wave of almost incredibly light blue, almost bordering on white, that steadily travelled downwards for a second, before beginning to take on a more defined, mannequin like shape.

  From there, further details began to express themselves as the initial shape was refined even further. Hands, feet, hair and eventually clear facial features. As the Gem slowly dropped further towards the ground, the material of her pseudo-Quartz uniform wrapped itself over her lightform, followed by the brief billowing of the simulated material that made up her jacket settling over all of it.

  It was a fascinating, beautiful process to watch, and part of me decided that I'd ensure the memory remained a little more prominent than some of the others, so I could immediately recall it later if needed.

  Unfortunately for the freshly reformed Lapis Lazuli, the pretty sight didn't stop me from lunging forward and ramming my shoulder into her chest just as her feet hit the floor, tackling her into the ground.

  "Move and I'll cut you, got it?"

  It was as I was positioning the claws of my gauntlet just around her gemstone (I figured there wasn't anything less threatening than the possibility of her true body getting scratched to shit) that her eyes opened and locked with my own.

  I expected a fearful look. Or maybe a hateful stare. A curse. A sneer. A whimper. Something along those lines. Something negative, in conjunction with the situation I was forcing her into.

  What I most definitely didn't expect was for a flood of dark blue to spread across the rock cutter's face, accompanied by a peculiar emotion entering her eyes as she gasped out a single word.

  "Wow..."