Sovi holds out her hands for peanuts.

Margaret can't actually see Sovi's hands and grow more peanuts at the same time, because of the limitations of starscape, but she can flip back and forth really fast and it only slows her down a bit. Soon Sovi will have all the peanuts she can carry.

Sovi starts eating peanuts steadily.

Margaret observes the difficulties of shelling and eating a double handful of peanuts in the absence of a table, utensils, and pockets. "Would you like me to make you a bag, or at least something you can set those down on?"

"That might be good."

The peanut plant is temporarily replaced by a modified pitcher plant, with three enormous pitchers missing their various slippery and acidic chemical coatings and instead waxy all over. Margaret picks all three, hands one to Sovi, and switches back to peanuts.

Sovi prods the pitcher curiously, then fills it with peanuts and goes back to eating. "What are these?"

"The peanuts? They're a kind of seed, they have a lot of protein in them so they're filling and give you energy. And they keep well and we might be able to grow some from the seeds. I'll make some fruit when we get tired of these and have some reserves built up." She's alternating putting peanuts into the other two pitchers, one for her and one for Daz.

"Why can you grow plants out of your arm?"

"I'm a magical girl. Back home, some women get the ability to change their bodies, and if they make enough changes"--she gestures at her scales--"they can change their clothes and get other, unique powers. I can sense danger, and see how things are going to move before they do it, and sometimes I make prophecies like the one that said sailing wouldn't help."

"Will this happen to me?"

"That is . . . a good question. On Earth it happens to girls between about eight and sixteen years old. I don't know if it can happen here, and I don't know if you're enough like an Earth human that it can happen to you, and I don't know if you count for magical purposes as being older than sixteen. It only happens to one girl in fifty anyway, so probably not even if it is possible. Sorry."

"I don't know exactly how old Daz made me to look. I don't think he has ever known anyone who used to be a child."

"Huh . . . I guess that makes sense, if you can make adults and it's a hard life here. Do you know how many people are on this planet?"

"No. Not many."

"I wonder if there's anyone who knows more about farming. And spinning and weaving and stuff, I can make cotton but I don't know how to get from there to clothes and bags and stuff."

"Probably not. You might have to make people with any skills you need."

"Making people is another skill I don't have. At least I assume it's a skill. And are you saying you can make people who are better at stuff than you are?"

"Of course. Daz made me speak your language and he doesn't."

"So it isn't just copying other people's skills. Huh. What else do you know that Daz doesn't?"

"Not very much. He wasn't sure what else there was to know."

"Hmmm. How much do you need to know about a skill to be able to give it to somebody? The language thing suggests not much. Is knowing what things can be accomplished with it enough?"

"I don't know."

"Okay. If Daz doesn't know either, I guess our immediate options are to try to start farming and stuff with what we can figure out, or to set out looking for more people and see if we can trade food for knowledge and other goods. Unless you have a better idea."

"I don't think anyone else on this round is going to know much."