"All right, I'll leave your mechanisms be," says Loki agreeably. "I appreciate the hammock, although I'm not sure why you have one if you're typically alone."

"It's basically just a rope-bag. Useful for hanging things outside the ship if my cargo hold is full. Have you worked with plants before?"

"Not extensively. But I believe I will be able to water them for you. If you also want me to prune them into dwarf versions of themselves I will have more trouble."

He gives a little smile. "That won't be necessary. The strawberries are about ripe, though, so you could pick some of those. And I need to repot some potato sprouts soon. But that can wait. Would you mind coming to the cargo hold and helping me rearrange a few things? You're pretty strong, and we're listing to the right because of that tree."

"I can rearrange your cargo," agrees Loki.

"I think I have the gist. Floating islands, of which that one was apparently medium-sized, and ships between them, and some Midgardian living things but apparently also some native, and I imagine this causes all sorts of logistical problems especially with collecting raw materials, as you mentioned. One doesn't usually walk long distances on one's own feet; that's what horses are for."

"I've never heard of horses before. And yes, that's about the gist of it. There's also the danger of falling, especially children falling - my jacket has a glider built in, so even if I fall I'll probably be able to glide onto another island. And bad weather - if you go too low the air fills with sulfur, and if you go too high it fills with hydrogen. I lost half my glass when I suddenly flew into a crosswind, once. Is there anything you need other than the hammock and maybe something to eat?"

"I'd expect the islands with children on them, and perhaps even those with adults, to be fenced, but perhaps the children can get around such precautions and dare one another to do it? Food and the opportunity to sleep are my most immediate needs - I may be used to eating more than you're expecting me to, but I can go on short rations for a few days if supplies are limited. In the medium-term I would like paper."

"I want the paper for long-term information storge. Anything short-term I have alternatives for that won't use up a scarce resource."

"How would I know what you want the paper for? Well, like I said, paper is expensive. You already helped with the tree and the cargo and you're going to help with the plants, so I'll feed you and give you two charcoal sticks and... Let's say twenty sheets of wetmill paper. It's already been remade a few times, so it's a bit flimsier than you might be used to, but it'll work."

"I can make do with that for the time being," Loki nods. "Thank you."

"Alright. You can find your paper in the box labelled 37 on the right shelf. Charcoal sticks are in the narrow box next to it. There's food in the kitchen, eat what you like. Please only take what I said you could. I've got to go work on the engines, and unless you're secretly a mechanic I don't think you can help with that."

"I'm not a mechanic. I might understand how things worked if I investigated them closely, but likely not quickly enough not to get in your way. And you do not need to fear for the contents of your boxes on my account."

"Well, it has land, and seas, and a fairly consistent variety of air above them. Asgardians live on it. We are ruled by Odin, who has been queen for a very long time. What else do you want to know?"

"What do people do with their time? Most people here fly ships, or work farms, or make crafts. We don't really have queens - it's hard to rule lots of islands when they can just float away if they don't like you ruling them. I visited a few towns that had kings, but they only ruled the one town. How are asgardians different from humans?"

"We're stronger - you noticed - and tougher, and longer-lived, but I believe those are all the genuinely inherent differences, and some of them may be deliberate enhancements from long ago, since lapsed from memory."

"I noticed you seem to be heavier, too. I don't suppose I can become asgardian? I would very much like to be longer-lived."

"We're denser - I was categorizing that under 'tougher'. I don't have a way to turn you into an Asgardian, I'm afraid, and I've never heard of it being done either, and by the time I could even potentially make any useful progress on it via independent development you would probably already be dead."

"Shouldn't have gotten my hopes up. How would you - develop a way to turn people asgardian? Are you a doctor?"

"I've never been taught any medicine, but I tend not to think of anything as out of my reach if I spend enough time on it."

"I could sleep now, but if it's useful to have someone up monitoring things on a night shift I can do that too," she mentions.