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.]

Comments

[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.

[era_two_triangle]

"So have we," Peridot replied, sighing. "That doesn't mean I have a giant, heat-resistant drill just sitting around, waiting to be forced all the way down to the middle of the planet, where it will then have to break apart everything before the Cluster forms and destroys the planet. Which could happen any day now. Hypothetical drills don't do this world much good."

[sith_happened]

"We have miners for removing ore from asteroids without destroying them via giant explosions," Anakin mused.

[era_two_triangle]

"Are the asteroids as big as... say... Earth?"

You know, just by means of comparison. Honest.

[sith_happened]

Anakin's eyes narrowed. "Purely hypothetically, of course?"

[era_two_triangle]

Peridot ducked her head just the slightest bit.

"Purely. Of course."

Dammit, Anakin. Peridot was starting to like this planet, and now that she was kind of stuck on at least some version of it, the idea of Earth exploding didn't appeal all that much. She was starting to get tempted to do something very, very bad.

At least by Gem standards.

[sith_happened]

Anakin looked dubious. "You'll let me know if that that changes."

[era_two_triangle]

Peridot... also looked dubious. And perhaps a tiny bit shifty.

"... Of course. If anything changes, you'll know."

Because boom.