Chương 58: LOG-054.

I'd sent off Rose, eventually. No matter how much part of me longed for her presence, she'd needed time to... come to terms with everything I'd revealed. Naturally. That, of course, left me with actually finishing up construction of the drill. My lips curled upwards in annoyance for just a moment at Viridian's continued sense of withheld information, before I finally let loose a despondent sigh. It was... fine.

I didn't necessarily need anything more from her right now, and there was work to be done besides the fact. The cheeky component in question seemed more than happy at the new arrangement, almost taunting my failure at getting her to open up, even as she 'sank' deeper into my consciousness, letting Pearl take the forefront for now.

The first hour began well enough, mostly focused on initial preparation. My Holorinas zipped around the makeshift workshop I'd converted the control room into, their lithe translucent forms gathering materials and organizing potentially useful tools at my direction. Idly, I adjusted the blueprint projecting itself onto a flat screen just a few feet away from me, its projected green surface shimmering as I made slight modifications based on my extensive knowledge.

Moving with a familiar, practiced ease, my movements remained fluid and comfortingly confident even as I began to tear into several broken appliances with Viridian's borrowed claws, plucking out what useful components and materials still remained. Slowly but surely, the shape envisioned both on the screen and in my mind began to take form, carefully fitted together with a veritable mishmash of different pieces keeping it relatively intact.

One of the holographic constructs handed me an only somewhat dented wrench, and my expression turned slightly irritated as it failed to achieve its purpose, breaking apart in the face of materials it simply hadn't been designed for. Then I had a thought.

A flash of light from both of my gemstones later, and I was watching in fascination as a spear and a singular gauntlet began to visibly merge with one another, before taking on a roughly similar shape to the discarded piece of equipment behind me, talons melding together and the shaft of the weapon (though really, it felt like more of a tool than anything else) widening slightly to fit my fingers better.

I smiled in contentment as the not-quite-wrench finally settled into my hands, then I was tightening bolts with swift, sure motions, even as I hummed a small tune in the green glow of the chamber around me. The second hour heralded the start of actually assembling the framework beyond the initial skeleton and mechanical organs I'd made up separately. The 'body' (for lack of a better immediate term) of the drill began to take shape.

I welded a mixture of metal plates and repurposed alloys taken from the walls around me together with the use of one of the limb enhancers, sparks flying but never truly touching me as I somewhat giddily moved around, enjoying the process extensively. The four Holorinas worked in tandem as well, holding pieces steady and fetching more supplies for the task at hand. Eagerly, my eyes scanned the ongoing work at a constant, steady rate, ensuring every part was aligned as well as they could be.

"Precision is key." I murmured, a small smile playing on my lips. It was at the fourth hour that the phrase finally rang true. With the framework effectively complete, I instead turned my attention to the more delicate components. Circuits and adhoc wiring were carefully placed, each connection double and triple checked. The holographic Pearls around me mirrored my movements in turn, each one handling a different part of the intricate work.

Occasionally, I would pause to tweak a design or improve a connection, my mind racing with calculations. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it. It felt... good. Especially with the additional processing I could do with two minds making up my own.

"Not so bad now, is it?" Hm ph. Regardless of my components' grumpy responses to the fact that I was objectively correct about our talents, my satisfaction only continued to rise as I truly got into the flow of things.

"Hmmhm. Hmmhmm... hmmm." The sixth and seventh hours were largely spent on integrating the more vital Imperial technology into the drill's systems, namely in order to ensure it could actually withstand the levels of heat and pressure I was designing it for.

It was where Pearl was begrudgingly forced to accede authority to Viridian for just a little while, as my mind instead recalled the many, many impromptu 'lessons' I'd taken while aboard the Retaliator, recognizing some of the layouts in front of me, even if they were decidedly archaic in construction. Holographic interfaces eventually lit up as I activated newly formed or repurposed systems, my fingers dancing over custom controls.

The Holorinas assisted, naturally, running diagnostics and linking components that would have been a little harder to reach thanks to my larger than average lightform. The eight, ninth and tenth hours were mostly taken up by further testing and calibration, largely for the sake of redundancy, alongside final assembly.

A brief trip outside was needed in order to scout out and secure an appropriately intact drill head from one of the injectors littering the Kindergarten, which in turn took some time to refit to the primary chassis that had to be dragged outside as well with the help of all four Holorinas.

Finally. It's done. It had been almost twelve hours, and I was in the middle of ensuring that I'd successfully melded my drilling machine to the Roaming Eye's hull when I finally heard footsteps, shortly followed by familiar voices echoing throughout the Kindergarten's vast area.

"Yoho woah! What the heck is that thing?!" The mask had reasserted itself before the sentence had even escaped the purple Quartz's mouth, an impeccable smile plastering itself across my f ace as I caught Rose staring at me out of the corner of my vision. I turned, expression becoming ever so slightly smug as Amethyst ran ahead of the other Crystal Gems (and Vermilion, of course) to instead stare at the results of my labour with wide, almost star filled eyes.

My bells jingled as I idly flicked some stray hair out of my face.

"Oh nothing much. Just the work of art that's going to save this planet and everything living on it from their untimely destruction, that's all." I strode forward, slipping in between a visibly impressed Garnet and a still uncertain Rose (not that she was showing it all too much), my hands wrapping around both of their shoulders and pulling them in close as I shut my eyes, basking in the atmosphere of it all and taking on a lighthearted tone.

"No need to thank me, of course. Just happy to help save the day. And Earth." The brief act drew a giggle from the hidden Diamond, lightening my own spirits in turn. Then I felt a hand pat at my back, prompting me to twist and stare at my own eyes reflected in my fellow fusion's visor. She had a grin on her face, now.

"Glad to see you've gotten the kinks worked out, Harlequin." My smile widened, even as I firmly shoved down the acute sense of self loathing my components were both feeling at the moment.

"It turns out Pearl and Viridian are both quite compatible! Even for Gems of the same type. I suppose it's similar to Honey Lemon, in a way?" I directed a pleased look at Vermilion, the smaller crimson Gem blushing slightly as she stared back up at me. Li ar. Oh shut up. It's true. Technically. Even if it wasn't in the way I was presenting things.... Oh well.

Discarding the stray, unneccesary thoughts, I instead clapped my hands, gesturing to the Roaming Eye with a tilt of my head, which only prompted another set of jingles from the bells attached to my hat.

"So! I've come up with a... well it's mostly the bare basics of a plan. Potentially. Technically." I blanched as everyone's eyes turned to me, a hand coming up to scratch at the back of my neck awkwardly.

"It's a little improvised and I was mostly occupied by getting us a way to actually reach the Cluster but... it should... probably work?" A second of silence passed after my hesitant statement, before Rose gently nodded, eyes fixed to my own.

"Alright. What... what have you come up with?" There was an undertone of desperation there. One a Gem could only identify if they had a very specific sense of context. Which, rather fortunately for the faux Quartz, I did. You know what to do. You have the details. Please. Help. The plea swept away any sense of unease I might have felt. After all, it was the one thing I was truly, utterly confident in. I did know what to do.

I did have the details, even though I'd had to bully them out of my stubborn, secretive little components. And I had the will to damn well see it all through! I was made to be perfect. I was perfect, and I was going to help solve our problems while using said perfection to its fullest, as a matter of course.

"We're going to have to make a really big bubble."