"Math things? And what do you remember about how many it's safe to use, how many have you had..."

"There was a newspaper story about a guy who could multiply and divide and add up any numbers in his head really really fast after using a white crystal. He was a banker, I think? ...I only used one. I think probably about ten is safe?"

....Pelape checks the condition of her pocket everything.

It's in her pocket. It's not broken. It's got 84% charge.

"Does this look like anything you have on this planet?" she asks, holding it up, pressing her finger to the reader to go from splash screen to apps.

"It looks like magic."

"Okay."

...white gem and a red gem. Can she get one or both of them to keep her pocket everything working and connect it to the internet. Can she aim her whole planet at finding this place.

"...What is it instead of magic?"

A decent chunk of red and a teeny tiny bit of white can totally give her the ability to charge her pocket everything!

This much white definitely cannot give her the ability to make the pocket everything connect to her internet!

"It's electricity and - advanced technology, like, the guns had to be invented, this also had to be invented. I didn't invent it, everyone has them where I'm from. What happens if you use only part of a gem?"

"I want to learn about it when we're not trying to not die! ...It gets dimmer and you can use it later."

"I don't know that much, unfortunately, but I'm hoping I can keep it working and I can show you stuff. How does partly using a gem work with the limit on how many you can have? Do all colors count the same?"

"...Dunno but I'd guess they count partially to the limit? It's not like, poof, you touched the wire and you're dead now. It's 'progressive'. And dunno but I'd guess they count the same?"

"Are there symptoms as you take more?"

"It hurts."

"So if it doesn't hurt I probably have room for more? What's our - destination, now that your - purchaser - is dead, is there somewhere you want to go, what are we likely to run into on the way."

"...Dunno. California is west. And Mexico is south. And I think Salt Lake City is north? There's desert and mountains."

"What do you know about those places? You'd - have work translating, in California, right? Do you want to continue that way?"

"I don't know. I'm scared. ...Jervis got these crystals from a hiding spot and maybe someone will come looking for them. Lots of people are moving to California because it's big and empty and the government said you can have five acres if you're going to farm. Salt Lake City has Mormons. I don't know much about Mexico. There was a war? I don't want to go east."

"What's a Mormon?"

"Some kind of religion? People don't like them much in the East. I think because they say you can get married twice...? They seemed stuffy but not evil to me."

"People usually can't get -? Not important.

"There are - two general approaches I could try here. One is that I could load up on powers that should help us get to California or Salt Lake City, whichever, and focus on - living out the rest of my life here, getting you set up safe somewhere with or without me along.

"The other is that I can try to figure out powers that will let me contact my planet. But even if I tell them exactly where we are, with pictures of the stars at night and all, they will not have a great way to get here.

"Or I could just try to work out how to get a power to go between the planets myself."

"...It sounds like you want one of those more than the other."

"I don't love the prospect of spending the rest of my life on a planet where a pocket everything looks like magic and people sell children. My planet has many deficiencies but those aren't among them. But I don't know how likely it is that I can hold enough magic to get in touch, let alone travel there, and - I'll pretty much immediately lose control of the situation, if I bring them in."

...Oh, that doesn't sound good at ALL.

"...I think 'buying' me isn't quite right... The President made slavery illegal when they beat the Greybacks actually, so it was more like a bribe or paying bail..."

"That's... slightly reassuring, sure."

He clutches his forehead and groans in frustration.

"Even if you're the only one with magic? Since your planet doesn't have any? They fall from the sky sometimes and people are always trying really hard to go get them."