Office hours, Tuesday, September 13, 2016

[sith_happened]

Anakin wasn't hiding in his office. He wasn't sulking, either. He was brooding. It was an entirely different vibe! He left the door slightly open and sat there with the lesson plan and a cup of black coffee.

Which he enjoyed. Really.

...shut up, Kanan.

[OOC: So open.]

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[sith_happened]

"Why is it always the planet-destroyers?" Anakin groaned. "What possible use could blowing up a planet be for anyone?"

[era_two_triangle]

"It's a far more expedient means of extracting resources from an entire planet," Peridot offered, helpfully. "Blow it up from the inside and then harvest the resources from the resulting asteroids, rather than carving it open from the outside heading in."

[sith_happened]

Anakin, through a supreme act of will, did not beat his head against his desk until he passed out. "Uninhabited planets?"

[era_two_triangle]

There was a long pause before Peridot answered, because... she had a sneaking suspicion that her answer was not going to be the right one.

"... Nnnnno."

Yeah. That was probably the wrong answer.

"The weapon is still in its prototype stage and hasn't actually destroyed anything yet, though."

Which probably didn't change the fact that it would, and soon.

[sith_happened]

Anakin sighed heavily. "In my experience, those weapons aren't built so they can just be left around, collecting massive amounts of space dust. I saw one in my galaxy exterminate a pacifist planet of billions because they had a political disagreement."

[era_two_triangle]

"Well, it isn't in a place where it can collect space dust," Peridot offered, because that, at least, was an easy reply. "It's underground. Far, far underground, implanted in the planet's core."

... Poised to obliterate a planet of billions because of a political disagreement.

[sith_happened]

Awesome.

"And what kind of safeguards are in place?" Anakin asked.

[era_two_triangle]

"You mean in case, over the past several thousand years, the Diamonds have suddenly decided that they actually don't want to destroy the planet?"

There had been plenty of time to terminate the cluster, if they had a mind to.

[sith_happened]

"Yes," Anakin said. "Since they aren't in a hurry, maybe they don't need to do it at all."

[era_two_triangle]

Peridot pursed her lips slightly for a moment in thought before replying.

"I suppose, if they had a mind to, it would be possible to drill down to the planet's core to break apart the fused Gem shards before they manifest a body..."

Weaponized shattered Gems. Billions of broken consciousnesses all forced into one mind. Because the Diamonds were nothing if not horrifying, apparently.

[sith_happened]

"They've used fused Gems to power this thing?"

Anakin, that was maybe a little loud and screechy.

[era_two_triangle]

"This thing is fused Gems," Peridot replied, wincing faintly at the sound. "All of the shards of shattered Gems that could be collected after the rebellion."

Sometimes, Peridot, a little bit of contrition in your words might go a long way. Maybe get on top of learning how to do that.

[sith_happened]

Anakin's eyes went wide. "That's horrifying."

He coughed, vainly seeking serenity and open-mindedness. "To my viewpoint, at least."

[era_two_triangle]

"It's probably horrifying for the Gems who are part of the Cluster, too," Peridot replied, matter-of-factly. "I don't envy them one bit."

SERIOUSLY, PERIDOT.

[sith_happened]

"They're still aware?!"

[era_two_triangle]

Peridot sighed and shrugged her shoulders.

"As aware as any shattered Gem would be," she explained. "When a Gem shatters, each shard contains a fragment of their mind. A broken piece of awareness that will never be whole again. It's the closest my people have to dying. We live until we're broken, and then we just kind of... exist."

She chewed on the inside of her cheek.

"I don't believe they understand what's been done to them. They're still millions of pieces of broken minds trying desperately to find the rest of their individual selves. They're just... together. Eventually they'll figure out how to form a body out of hard light, like mine, but pieced together out of parts of the Gems they used to be. That body's the weapon. It's what will ultimately destroy the... the planet that the Cluster has been embedded into. There's no failsafe for it. There's not exactly a launch button, either."

[sith_happened]

"So this could be considered a giant mass suicide attempt?" Anakin replied, blinking rapidly.

[era_two_triangle]

Peridot sighed almost as if she was in pain. Oh, organic sentients. They really didn't get it, did they?

"It could be considered," she said, slowly, "the exact opposite. They'd be creating a body in order to try to find the rest of themselves. It would destroy the planet they're buried inside, leaving them exposed to space, but Gems don't need air to breathe. We're inorganic beings. Our bodies aren't real, or even necessary. But they can certainly do a great deal of damage when the body that manifests is, say, larger than the planet that it's manifesting in."

She held her hands together, and then spread them apart, letting her floating fingers keep going for a few feet in every direction.

"Boom."

[sith_happened]

Anakin flinched. "I've seen the boom. I've felt the boom. It's not good."

[era_two_triangle]

"Particularly not for those residing on the planet going boom," Peridot agreed, reclaiming her fingers as she spoke. "But if the cluster wants to form, it's going to form. There isn't much to be done about that, not without taking radical steps."

[sith_happened]

"What kind of radical steps?" Anakin asked. Anakin loved radical steps. Anakin "Sure, Let's Kill Children" Skywalker embodied radical steps.

[era_two_triangle]

"Tunnel all the way to the planet's core, and destroy the Cluster before it can form," Peridot replied, shrugging her shoulders faintly. "Terminate it. If it can't create a body, it won't destroy the planet."

[sith_happened]

"Oh," Anakin said. "I thought it would be something hard."

Anakin, unlike yours, most cultures don't have inexplicable holes in all of their architecture.

[era_two_triangle]

"It's easier if you have the time and the resources in order to create a drill that can not only reach, but also withstand the immense heat and pressure of the planet's core," Peridot pointed out, raising an eyebrow. "Have you got a drill like that just sitting in storage, waiting for the opportunity to save a planet?"

Still not naming that planet, nope. Peridot wasn't going to skimp on details, but that was one that she was going to keep her mouth shut on for a while longer.

[sith_happened]

"Probably," Anakin admitted. "We have mastered space flight for millennia."

It was probably named the Nostril of Palpatine or something.